Foaly
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| Artemis Fowl character | |
|---|---|
| Foaly | |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair colour | Brown |
| Eye colour | Golden |
| Species | Centaur |
Foaly is a fictional character in the Artemis Fowl series written by Eoin Colfer. He is the technical consultant to the Lower Elements Police (LEP). 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, rivaled only by Opal Koboi.
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, and in Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony Holly states that she is only in her eighties. It is revealed in Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident that Foaly cannot dance well (four left hooves) and is single, although it is later revealed he has a girlfriend called Caballine in Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony.
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[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 soon be. He is extremely clever and admires Artemis Fowl for two reasons:
- Artemis Fowl is a child genius who is smarter than most, if not all, adult genii.
- Artemis 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, Caballine, who he bumped into at an art gallery. She is a researcher with PPTV (a popular television network in the Lower Elements) during the daytime and a sculptor at night. Caballine is a big fan of one of Foaly's centaur-specific inventions, the "mood blanket", a "multi-sensor massage and homeopathic garment", 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 considered it a perk in his job because everybody but him is replaceable. He delights in bragging and boasting and making sure he is smarter than the general populace and makes sure other People or Fairies know it. 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, western films, and Star Trek as is stated in The Eternity Code and the Artemis Fowl Files. Anything that does not involve 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.
In The Artemis Fowl Files, in an interview with Foaly, he states that he has recently taken up line dancing. In Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony he also shows a habit of singing "Riverbend" songs as he works under pressure. He also says that he enjoys watching videos or reading articles of himself, an example of a centaur's natural arrogance.
[edit] Role in series
In the first Artemis Fowl book, Foaly's main role is to set up electronics, research, to supply 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.
In the second installment, Foaly is framed by former LEP commander Briar Cudgeon and the genius pixie Opal Koboi, who have wrongly accused Foaly of aiding the B'wa Kell (a goblin triad association) in their goal of LEP destruction. However, using Artemis's laptop- which had been left behind in his lab following an earlier visit-, Foaly is able to contact Artemis, Butler, Root and Holly for assistance, subsequently acquiring recorded evidence that Cudgeon was planning to betray Opal that caused the two of them to turn on each other at the last minute.
In the third, initially, he recognizes the emergency call and sends Holly to investigate, and then coaches her through the arduous healing that ultimately saves Butler's life. Later on, he illegally helps Artemis by giving him fairy technology to use against Jon Spiro and by playing the voice of the C Cube to help deceive Spiro.
In the fourth, he figures out that Commander Julius Root was killed by Opal Koboi rather than Holly Short as the footage seemed to suggest. He uses the Retimager, an invention from the second book that matches images with those on the retinas of one's eyes (allowing Foaly to effectively see what the person has seen, regardless of if they remember it), to discover that the Opal that is in a coma is in reality a brain-dead clone of Opal, thus giving Foaly evidence to persuade the LEPrecon to search for Holly Short. She was presumed dead and solely responsible for Root's death, though Foaly helped prove that she had in fact been framed.
In the fifth, he aides in infiltrating the Paradizo estate and reclaiming the kidnapped demon, N°1, from Minerva. He is also solely responsible for discovering the information about the Paradizo in the first place, mostly because they had erased proof of their existence.
[edit] Inventions
Foaly has invented many useful things, including:
- Camfoil
- Time-Stop Towers
- The Neutrino Series Guns
- Iriscam
- Retimager
- LEP Helmet
- DragonFly Wings
- Hummingbird Wings
- Pod
- Plasma Tiles
- Voice Activated Laser
- Sleeper Deeper
- Throat-Mic
- Mood Blanket
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 fictitious fairy website.
A list of all of Foaly's inventions, including a description of each, can be found at [1].
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