Okay, has anyone else tried connecting the dots between the Cooper Clan members? Because recently I just started and in doing so, by putting them on a timeline, I’ve noticed that many of them are probably direct relatives to each other
Now bear in mind, this is me operating under the understanding that all of these Coopers are directly descended from one another (because that’s what an ancestor is, not an uncle, an aunt, or a distant cousin once or twice removed), plus Sly himself has said more than once that he’s from a long LINE of thieves, so let’s just work with that in mind.
I’m also basing this off of all available information from all of the games, primarily Thieves in Time
Some examples:
Rioichi and Henriette
In Thieves in Time, we learn that Rioichi was alive and already well-established during the chapter “Turning Japanese” (roughly in his 30’s or 40’s at the time) in the year 1603.
Later in the game in the chapter “40 Thieves” Sly discovers treasure that would later be stolen by Henriette in the year 1616, thirteen years after Rioichi, making her more than likely his daughter. Though it does make me wonder why a Japanese guy would give his daughter a name like Henriette. But then again this is a family that has a thieving reputation dating back to the dawn of time and a centuries old book with seemingly unlimited pages to record it so let’s not think too hard here about logic.
Thaddeus and Tennessee
We also learn I n Thieves in Time, “Go West Young Raccoon” that “Tennessee Kid” Cooper was active in the year 1884, during the Wild West (which for any non-Americans was roughly around 1865 to the 1900s, though that’s a matter of debate for some). Let’s assume he’s somewhere in his late 20’s or early 30’s, putting his year of birth in either the 1860’s or 1850’s.
We also know, thanks to dialogue from Sly 3, that Thaddeus Winslow Cooper the III was active during Victorian London which lasted from 1837 to 1901. From here, things get tricky. In “Goodbye my Sweet” we get a look at Thaddeus’ section of the Thievius Raccoonus, which gives us two different contradicting dates to work with. His chapter is shown to have been penned in 1839, however, the included picture of Thaddeus is shown to have been made in 1893, roughly nine years after the Cooper Gang’s encounter with Tennessee.
Based off this, my preferred theory is that Thaddeus is Tennessee’s grandfather, or (and I can’t think of a single reason why Clockwerk would allow this fly) Thaddeus and Tennessee are cousins in some way.
And before someone brings up the Cooper Vault, and how Tennessee’s shrine comes before Thaddeus’, I’d like to point out that also in the vault, Sir Galleth’s shrine comes before Salim Al-Kupar, despite Salim having lived some 300 years before him.
Otto and Conner
And here is where the Cooper record comes to its blurriest. While we do have an idea of when Conner was born (with him having died in 1992, and his birth year suspected to be around the 1960s, maybe the late 50’s), we know next to nothing about Otto, besides that he was an ace pilot and skilled mechanic. It is generally accepted that he was active during WW1 or WW2.
If Otto was around for WW1, then at the very least he was born in the 1890’s, but there’s a small snag named Tennessee that says otherwise. If he was born in the 1890’s then he’d almost certainly be Kid Cooper’s son. Which raises the question of why Otto is presumably European (seeing as his surname is Van Cooper) while Tennessee is unashamedly American.
Now if Otto was around for WW2, it would put his year of birth around the 1910s, putting some room between him and Tennessee, while also closing the distance between him and Conner, at the latest, Conner would have likely been in his late 40’s if Conner was born in the 1950’s, maybe he was even in his 50’s. But what really cinches this for me is that Otto and Conner were both technologically savvy, with Otto and his planes, and Conner with computers. As for how Conner is (presumably) American and how Otto is European, well……. I got nothing. I guess Conner must’ve changed it for whatever reason
Thoughts or headcanons?
