Bentley (Sly Cooper)
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Bentley is a fictional character featured in the Sly Cooper series of video games developed by Sucker Punch Productions for the PlayStation 2. Like Murray, Bentley has no surname given to him, supposedly in the Japanese version Bentley actually has a surname, "Wiseturtle". His voice is provided by Matt Olsen. It is often said that Bentley and Olsen share a striking resemblance to each other, aside from the obvious species difference.
This turtle, a trusted friend of the game's title character, is an expert in computer-hacking and other electronic devices. He's also quite well read, often stating "I read about this...." when deducing something new and alien to the team. It is revealed in the second game that he has asthma. In the third game, he is revealed to be allergic to tomatoes. Another of his catchphrases is "If I did my math right, and I always do my math right."
Bentley is quite a popular character in the series due not only to his great contribution and bravery to the team, but because of his great character development and his dedication to the Cooper gang. It has been said by fans of the game that because of his enormous character development, many consider Bentley the alternative main character of the Sly Cooper series. While the Cooper Gang are a true team, Dr. M's statement at the end of the third game stating that Bentley is the most contributing member of the gang are arguably true. Despite this however, he has also shown that he is rather fiercely protective of his best friends at the same time, as shown by his emotional reaction to events such as Sly and Murray's capture in Sly 2, and his reunion with Murray as well as his dilemma at the end of the third game. Bentley's apparent casual attire is a red bow tie around his neck, and what appears to be a short sleeved dress shirt and sweater-vest worn humorously underneath his shell. This is his outfit in Sly 1 and is seen a few other times in the others. In Sly 2, Bentley wears what appears to be either a bullet proof vest or a safety vest, along with complimentary knee and elbow pads, showing humorously that Bentley is a safety first type of guy. He also wore a rather trendy-looking hat on his head. In Sly 3, as well as being confined to a wheelchair, Bentley now wears what appears to be blue bicycle safety gear and helmet. Bentley wears glasses throughout the games.
Bentley is listed as being 18 in the first game. Since Sly 2 takes place two years later, this would make Bentley 20 by the second game and possibly 21 by the third.
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[edit] Story
Bentley met both Sly and Murray the hippo when the three were in the same orphanage as children. Bentley has no knowledge of his family, having been delivered anonymously to the orphanage while still an egg. Bentley would often hide under his bed from bullies and study technology and read lots of books, eventually meeting Sly and Murray. Finding he and his intellect and knowledge fit in perfectly with Sly's cunning and adventurous flair, and Murray's strength and enthusiasm, he formed a bond that would become lifelong.
[edit] Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
Bentley changes the most as the games progress. In the first game, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, he is portrayed as a quiet, timid shut-in. Sometimes even a bit stressed and uptight, although he does this only because he wants to protect his friends any way he can. Helping Sly and Murray from behind the scenes, Bentley was essential to the Cooper gang's exploits in retrieving the Thievius Raccoonus even though he never set out of the safe house. Bentley does most of the planning, but when Sly fell victim to a gas chamber trap, he put aside his fears and did some superb hacking to save the day and Sly's life.
[edit] Sly 2: Band of Thieves
In Sly 2: Band of Thieves, Bentley has changed. Bentley becomes the team's expert in explosives and mechanical variety. Bentley also shows that he's capable of extremely advanced planning; even more so than the first game. Bentley is arguably the glue of all the team's plans and strategies. Accompanying Sly and Murray across the world to recover the lost pieces of Clockwork, many things change for Bentley along the way. As opposed to the timid shut in he once was, Bentley is now willing to perform field work for the team. As the game starts, the player is given the impression that this is Bentley's first time doing actual field work, as evidenced by his unrelenting tenseness on the field and his standoffish way of speaking. This wears away slowly however, as the game progresses. During Episode 4 however, Bentley finally gets to show just what he's made of when Sly and Murray are captured by The Contessa and Bentley is left to fend for himself. Bentley becomes the main character temporarily, all cut-ins are of Bentley's insignia during the end of Episode 3 and most of Chapter 4 instead of Sly's insignia, which is usually shown. Humorously, instead of "Sly and the Gang in..." during the intro of Episode 4, the title reads "Bentley saves the gang in.." with the "and" crossed out. Bravely taking the challenge at hand by himself, Bentley manages to save his friends and seems to gain a great deal of confidence in his ability finally.
Bentley continues to greatly help the team, becoming much more forward with the others due to his experiences. Sadly however, eventually a sudden tragedy strikes Bentley at the climax of the game. After Sly defeats the evil Clockwork, Bentley enters the robot's jaws in an attempt to remove the "Hate Chip" which controls the creature. He was crushed by the jaws, and as a result, is confined to a cool, robotic wheelchair he customized himself in the sequel Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. Murray feels very psychologically hurt by this since he was holding up the jaws himself and his strength gave out. Bentley however, holds absolutely no ill will towards his friend believing that he did everything he could and that it wasn't his fault.
[edit] Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
He shoots a lazer gun and then gets crippled by his fight with Clockwork. In between the second and third game, Sly and Murray recover Bentley from the hospital he was staying in. He shows however, that he feels insecure with going back and feels like he'd be a "burden" to the team now that he's crippled. Sly has none of that however, and the three escape, although Murray later leaves the team to do some soul searching, and settles in Australia to train himself with a Guru. Judging from Bentley's reunion with Murray in the third game, it seems he greatly missed his friend.
In Sly 3, Bentley grows more still. He plays quite a central role in the third game's story. As well as having to deal with his paralysis, Bentley seems surprisingly brash at times now. At various times in the game, Bentley confronts the villain of the episode by himself and is quite verbally offensive. Bentley has also quite successfully turned his weakness into his greatest strength, as Bentley's wheelchair is tricked out with all sorts of technology making Bentley quite a threat.
Bentley agrees to help Sly open the Cooper vault and after a rather dramatic reunion with Murray, the three go on to build an elite team of thieves to tackle this challenge. Eventually, he finds a love interest: the mouse pilot known as Penelope. At first however, she is attracted to Sly and Bentley shows very subtle but strong feelings of jealousy over this. He can't bring himself to hate his friend however, but luckily he is able to prove his incredible heroism by saving Penelope twice. She returns the favor, and their blossoming love serves as an inspiration to Sly in his relationship with Carmelita Fox. Penelope is also the only character Bentley has shown even a small amount of insecurity over his disablement to.
Throughout the game, Bentley's contribution to the team effort is greatly emphasized. Not only does Bentley strive day in and day out to come up with a master plan to tackle the vault, all the jobs in the game arguably would never have been possible without Bentley. As well as the jealousy against Sly due to Penelope's attraction to him at first, it is hinted that there may be a notion that Bentley does all the real work and Sly takes all the credit. The games' villain Dr. M reveals he was the previous Cooper gang's "brain" like Bentley, and he tries to convince him that Sly isn't his real friend. Bentley himself begins to have a suspicion that all he and Murray are to Sly are subordinates and not friends since only Sly is allowed to enter the vaults' superstructure. Murray reminds Bentley however, that if the two had switched places Sly would be happy for Bentley because he's something more than credit or treasure, he's a true friend. Bentley's doubt is cleared and he stands by his beloved friends to the end, proving that they have a true friendship the previous gang seemed to lack.
[edit] Epilogue
After the final battle, Sly disappears. Bentley eventually finds that Sly has seemingly become an amnesiac due to an injury. Bentley finds Sly's cane and equipment as well as all of his family's stockpiled treasure after. When the team splits up and goes their separate ways, Bentley and Penelope are the last ones remaining, constructing a new Cooper Vault to maintain the legacy. Bentley seemingly inherits the Thievius Raccoonus in the end, becoming the first non-Cooper to write in the book.
Bentley however, is far too smart to be fooled by Sly's "amnesia", which is quite obviously implied to be an act to get close to Carmelita. While spying on Sly and Carmelita, Sly winks at him and Bentley can only chuckle and comment "That sneaky Devil!" Whether the team gets back together or not is up in the air, although Bentley rather boldly states that while the gang's adventures may be over for now, the possibilities of something even bigger aren't. Upon saying this, Bentley refers to building a time machine to find out if the gang will ever get back together as The Cooper Gang again.
| Games | Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus | Sly 2: Band of Thieves | Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves |
|---|---|
| Heroes | Cooper Clan | Cooper Gang:Sly Cooper | Bentley | Murray | Guru | Penelope |
| Anti-Heroes | Carmelita Fox | Panda King | Dimitri | Lt. Gronk | Minor characters |
| Villains | Fiendish Five:| Clockwerk | Sir Raleigh | Muggshot | Mz. Ruby | Klaww Gang: | Arpeggio | Constable Neyla | Jean Bison | Contessa | Rajan | Doctor M | Octavio | Mask of Dark Earth | General Tsao | Captain LeFwee |
