I and many other fans always had this idea in the back of our minds. That somewhere in the Cooper's long line of Master Thieves....there existed the least honorable in the clan. Meaning somewhere in the many MANY tangled cultural webs of the Cooper lineage; there were a few bad apples in the family tree.
But what isn't commonly done, is basing that particular Cooper off a historical figure. A prolific criminal....who was never caught.
So it is on a whim I began thinking of an evil Cooper. And thus in the time of Thadeus Winslow Cooper (Victorian England) that I thought up Thadeus's evil brother; Johnathan Alister Cooper.
Johnathan was Thadeus's younger brother who never got to inherit the secrets of the Thievious Raccoonus. Overcome with hate and jealousy, he ran off and decided to delve into a new book; the 'Book of the Black Arts.'
Reading this book caused Johnathan to have visions and delusions of grandeur. He soon associated himself with underground cult known as 'The League of Darkness'; who were an occult group. He quickly rose in their ranks and was their most valid member, commiting dastardly deeds to terrorize the citizens of London whether it would be through robbery, arson, and perhaps more famously...murder!
His murderous acts became famous; but his identity remained anonymous. But as reports grew; Thadeus began to suspect his brother was behind all this. Once confirmed, he tried to find Johnathan before Scotland Yard could. (Who was feverishly looking for him.)
But Johnathan found Thadeus first in some odd twist of fate. (Namely when time began to change thanks to Le Paradox's meddling.) Thadeus was imprisoned in London Tower when Johnathan framed him for a murder he committed.
Luckily Sly arrived on time (quite literally through time) and rescued Thadeus. But the family reunion for once was not one of warmth. Sly soon began to feel a huge pang of shock and horror when he realized the man behind a Cooper's capture....was another Cooper.
As if it wasn't bad enough; Thadeus revealed that through occult means, Johnathan planned to reenact the same attempts as Guy Fawkes and destroy Parliament; and then move onto other landmarks like the London Bridge. Johnathan's goal was spreading fear and chaos throughout he city; and pinning his brother for it for personal reasons as well as his own goals of obtaining true power.
Bentley then noticed all accounts of Johnathan's murders and then pointed out how similar they were to another prolific villain from British history. Then came the biggest shock of Sly's family tree. He did indeed have bad blood coursing through some of it's branches. But nothing prepared him for the most shocking thing about his Cooper nemesis.
Sly and Thadeus knew him as Johnathan Alister Cooper.....but history would come to him simply as; 'Jack the Ripper!'
So after finally swallowing the fact that a Cooper was one of the most notorious and mysterious criminals in all history; and what he plotted on doing....he had no choice but to do something even more insidious than turning himself into prison like he did with Tennessee Kid Cooper
For the first time a Cooper....had to confront and defeat....ANOTHER Cooper!
Carmelita Fox was with Sly on this too. She was the one suggesting that in order to bring down someone this prolific and dangerous; it might actually help to ally themselves with Scotland Yard's police forces.
They were after the man whom the papers dubbed 'Jack the Ripper' after all; so to finally catch him would mean putting an age old mystery to rest and making London safe again.
(Although before Le Paradox messed things up; Johnathan was eventually defeated by Thadeus who did indeed ally himself with Scotland Yard to capture him. The alliance agreed to make his arrest a secret as to avoid widespread panic; and to avoid embarrassment that Scotland Yard had to use one infamous criminal to capture another.)
So here I have the three main proponents who are now heavily involved in stopping the Evil Cooper doing his dirty deed; Carmelita Fox, Sly Cooper and Thadeus Winslow Cooper himself. I don't have much reference to Thadeus or how we might eventually look to be in the eventual sequel (if any); but I suppose his moustaches might've been better black or brown than white. But against the BG; I just went with it. XD
Now both the title and the silhouette of Johnathan Alister Cooper is indeed based loosely off the Johnny Depp movie about Jack the Ripper; 'From Hell.' It also references a James Bond movie; 'From Russia....With Love.' Obviously they can't use such a word in the Sly series like 'Hell'....oh wait....can they? O.o
Not only is Johnathan a direct reference to Jack the Ripper; but his middle name also derives from another imposing British historical figure: Alister Crowley. This obvious relates to Johnathan's involvement with the occult.
The full name was also suggested in a conversation I had with my bro
![:iconfox-mccloud:]( "fox-mccloud")
; who pointed out that men with the name Johnathan or John are nicknamed 'Jack' in England and that his initials JAC nearly spell out and sound like 'Jack.'
Thadeus Winslow Cooper's exploits happened during the late 1880's and early 190's; during the time Jack the Ripper murders were reported.
Now of course being partially a kid's game; it won't mention that his victims were prostitutes. And odds are they would never use this idea. But the idea of an evil Cooper that Sly would eventually face in time is something I'd like to see.
And from my end; making him one of history's most prolific villains seemed like a sinisterly fun idea.
The dark streets of Victorian London will be a perfect setting for Sly and his crew if the sequel to Thieves in Time comes out. I really do look forward to it.
Sly Cooper, Carmelita Fox and Thadeus Winslow Cooper III belong to Sony.
Johnathan Alister Cooper belongs to me
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's Birthday Art Jam!
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