Foaly
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Foaly is the technical consultant to the Lower Elements Police (LEP), the fairy police in the Artemis Fowl series written by Eoin Colfer. He is the most intelligent centaur on and under the Earth, considers himself to be an unappreciated genius and is the inventor of most of the advanced technology possessed by the fairy world, only rivaled by Opal Koboi.
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[edit] Personal life
Little is known of Foaly's earlier life. There is no obvious indication of his age though he seems to be older than Holly Short. In Artemis Fowl, Foaly is said to have been designing transport pods for over a century. It is revealed in Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident, the Foaly cannot dance well and is single, although it is later revealed he has a girlfriend called Caballine. There are many hints, and even statements, that Foaly has a soft spot for Holly Short.
[edit] Personality
Foaly has a terrible case of paranoia and in the first few books wears a tinfoil hat to avoid having his brain read by aliens or Mud Men (humans). In The Artemis Fowl Files, his interview states that he is aware that those rays have not yet been invented, but you never know if they might have been. He is extremely clever and admires Artemis Fowl for several reasons:
- Artemis is a child genius who is smarter than most, if not all, adult genii.
- Fowl is the only one who ever understands his technological explanations.
These "explanations" usually end up with the person he is talking to more confused about the device in question than they were before he explained it, which, of course, was his intention the whole time. It is explained in Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony that he has met a female centaur, Cabbaline, who he bumped into at a gallery. She is a researcher with PPTV (the most popular television network for fairies) during the daytime and a sculptor at night. Cabbaline is a big fan of one of Foaly's centaur-specific inventions, so typically Foaly has to brag about it. The two apparently go jogging every evening, as long as there is no Artemis or Holly needing assistance.
[edit] Traits and Hobbies
Foaly loves to annoy Commander Julius Root, and considers it a perk in his job because everybody but him is replaceable. Foaly enjoys keeping track of various humans, keeping track of human technologies, explaining his technological marvels to others, and researching conspiracy theories. He also seems to like human soap operas, as is stated in The Eternity Code. Anything that does not involved his "genius mind," and that the "normal individual," can accomplish he calls "grunt work." This is demonstrated in the second Artemis Fowl book, when Commander Root orders him to disassemble and scan various pieces of a shuttle.
[edit] Role in Artemis Fowl
In the first Artemis Fowl book, Foaly's main role is to:
- Set up electronics
- Research
- Comic relief and to annoy Commander Root
Foaly is the only fairy to think that perhaps Artemis Fowl II was one step ahead of the LEP the whole time, which, incidentally, he was. Eoin Colfer further develops Foaly's character and background in the next Artemis Fowl books.
[edit] Role in Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident
- Foaly is framed by former LEP commander Briar Cudgeon and the genius pixie Opal Koboi in the second installment of the series. He has been wrongly accused of being behind the B'wa Kell (a goblin triad association) and world domination.
In the third and fourth Artemis Fowl books, Foaly is very important. In the third, he illegally helps them by giving Artemis fairy technology to use against Jon Spiro and playing the voice of the C Cube to help deceive Spiro.
In the fourth, he figures out that Commander Root was killed by Opal Koboi and uses the Retimager, one of his inventions that matches images with those on the retinas of one's eyes (Allowing Foaly to effectively see what you've seen), to persuade the LEPrecon to search for Holly Short, who was presumed dead and Root's murderer.
[edit] Inventions
Foaly has invented many useful things, including:
- Camfoil
- Time Stop Towers
- The Neutrino Series Guns
- Iris-cam
- Retimager
There is a short invention guide, including blueprints and images of some of Foaly's better known inventions, in Eoin Colfer's book, The Artemis Fowl Files. He also is rumored to be the administrator of www.horsesense.gnom, a fictious fairy website.
A list of all of Foaly's inventions, including a description of each, can be found at here.
