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Penelope Mouse - Blog Posts
There was no reason to make Penelope a villain in Thieves in Time. While she was never one of my TOP favorite characters in the series, I liked her addition in Sly 3 and what her skillset could offer to the gang. Plus, it was sick how she took on LeFwee and smacked him around.
Surely there was a better way to bring Penelope back. I don't know what that way is, exactly, but I believe there had to be one.
"I still don't understand Sanzaru's decision in making Penelope a villain. It's was such a bad move. One of, if not THE worst part of Sly 4."
Confessed by: Anonymous
Trying to pull myself out of a rough patch so thought I’d do a headshot of this angel. Did start as only a sketch but I got carried away
Thieves In Time Rewrites...
A lot of rewrites will do one of two things with Penelope.
One route has her following canon and being straight up evil.
Another route has her being kidnapped and either blackmailed or brainwashed.
Thieves In Time Redux not only marries both routes (in that Penelope is responsible for the game's events, and escapes from a kidnapping situation), but also takes a third option. It has her dragged into the adventure so she can learn a lesson or two about friendship.
Sly4 AU where Penelope is really missing, and there's a jealous doppelganger.
Sly4 AU where Penelope really was hypnotized and Bentley doesn't lose her.
Fixing Thieves in Time Penelope
Thieves in Time was a pretty good game overall, but I am STILL pissed about what they did to Penelope. ‘She thinks Sly is a bad influence’ like excuse me? Even if that made any kind of sense (it doesn’t), am I the only one who remembers that she had a bit of a crush on Sly when she first joined the Cooper Gang? And suddenly her inventions are awful, even though they recruited her because she was as good if not better than Bentley? I call bullshit, fuck you very much.
I’ve come up with three alternate ways they could have done Penelope’s story that actually make sense and don’t feel out of character:
Option 1 Mind Control: Le Paradox has Miss Decibel hypnotize Penelope to make her give him the designs for the time machine. He decides to keep Penelope on-hand to maintain his blimp, and to serve as a hostage should the Cooper Gang uncover his plans and try to stop him. Upon their arrival in England, Sly and the Gang immediately learn that Penelope is working for Le Paradox and are devastated. During a recon mission, Sly and Bentley discover devices similar to Miss Decibel’s record players, which keep Penelope hypnotized. Bentley immediately begins drawing up plans to destroy the devices and free Penelope. The boss fight against her still happens, but with the plan being to destroy the hypnotic devices keeping Penelope under Decibel’s control. The Cooper Gang succeeds and Penelope is freed, reuniting with Bentley and rejoining the Gang for the rest of the game.
Option 2 Double Agent: Penelope catches wind of someone trying to get their hands on the designs for the time machine, and does a little investigating on her own. This leads her to Le Paradox, who offers her a position working for him. Recognizing the threat Le Paradox’s plan poses to her friends and boyfriend, Penelope agrees, and she sabotages his plans and tech every chance she gets. Throughout the game, she leaves clues for the Cooper Gang to find (such as the sheriff’s badge), trusting them to thwart Le Paradox’s operations. She’s ordered to go to England to work alongside the Black Knight, who is revealed to be Raleigh from the first game (Le Paradox arranged his escape from prison in exchange for a chance at revenge on Cooper and the Gang). In the final fight, Penelope reaffirms her allegiance to Bentley and the Cooper Gang, and she and Bentley work together to dismantle the giant robot, allowing Sly to land the final blow to take down Raleigh. As in Option 1, Penelope and Bentley reunite, and Penelope rejoins the Gang for the rest of the game.
Option 3 Dangerous Threats: Le Paradox threatens to erase Bentley from history unless Penelope gives up the designs for the time machine to save him. Terrified of losing her true love, Penelope reluctantly agrees, and Le Paradox keeps her close by as a hostage and to prevent her from tipping off Bentley and the Gang. She is sent to Medieval England and is kept prisoner in the castle by the Black Knight (who could be Raleigh as in Option 2, or a new character) and is forced to design and build the mechanical guards for him. Once in England, Sly discovers Penelope’s location and sneaks into the castle to confront her. When she reveals Le Paradox’s threats, Sly reassures her that together they can keep Bentley safe, and convinces her to escape with him and return to the Gang. Penelope and Bentley reunite at the hideout, and she gives the Gang useful information about the Black Knight’s plans and weaknesses. During the boss fight, Penelope again comes through for her friends by being the one to finish off the Black Knight and reveal the next time period they need to travel to.
In all three versions, Penelope and Bentley both serve as tech experts during the final confrontation with Le Paradox, making use of their combined talents to help achieve victory (while also being totally adorable together: finishing each other’s sentences, hugging and holding hands, kissing, all of it).
Got a request from @mx-kit for this pinup of penelope from Bentley's Hackpack. As always, I take any requests for future acquisitions
Penelope and Henriette Cooper Gijinka
First pic: Henriette "One Eye" Cooper
Second pic: Penelope
Thieves In Time Redux Mission Recaps #2
Here is everything Penelope does in each mission... This includes who is assigned to each mission. You'll notice some of them were reassigned from canon.
Check out what happens in each mission here.
Bold: New mission
Italics: Reassigned
Paris Tutorial:
Sly's Segment (Sly): Nothing.
Bentley's Segment (Bentley): Follows Bentley through the sewers.
Penelope's Segment (Penelope): Tries to find Bentley after getting separated from him. Saves him from a guard's wrath.
Murray's Segment (Murray): Nothing.
Turning Japanese:
Photo Op (Sly): Nothing.
Breakout (Sly): Nothing.
Sushi House Startup (Sly): Nothing.
Something's Fishy (Bentley): Helps Bentley and Murray advance further in the fish caves. Also snoops around for information, but only hears ill words about El Jefe.
Pretty In Pinker (Murray): Nothing.
Tiger Tail (Penelope): Convinces Bentley to follow El Jefe instead of her. Goes snooping around the geisha house for information, but only hears general grievances against El Jefe's boss.
Spiked Sushi (Rioichi): Nothing.
Altitude Sickness (Sly): Joins the group for the mission. Tries to go rogue in pursuit of the blimp. Runs into Sly and El Jefe's duel, then decides to help Sly via aerial support. Also gets scolded for running off, mostly by Bentley.
Go West, Young Raccoon:
Under Arrest (Sly): Nothing, though she does convince Sly to take out some of Toothpick's men.
Jailhouse Blues (Bentley): Nothing, though she does have a lengthy chat with Bentley about her running off last episode.
Cooper For Hire (Bentley): Helps Murray protect Bentley from a bed of scorpions.
Saloon Bug (Sly): Snoops around Toothpick's office, then opts to move further ahead for more information. She finds very little apart from Toothpick's men complaining about their boss.
Blind Date (Tennessee): Nothing, though she does gain permission to stay behind while the boys try to fetch Carmelita.
Jail Break (Penelope): Joins Tennessee and Carmelita to free the boys from jail. Focuses on freeing Bentley.
Grand Key Larceny (Murray): Wins at a mechanical bull riding competition in disguise.
OP: Gold Digger (Sly): Placed on van retrieval duty with Murray. Also provides aerial support during Toothpick's boss fight.
Clan Of The Cave Raccoon:
Stone Age Reconnaissance (Sly): Nothing.
Unexpected Ties (Sly): Nothing.
Getting Stronger (Bob): Demonstrates events for Bob. Falls ill after the mission is cleared. Placed on bed rest for several missions.
Going Up (Murray): Nothing. Bed rest.
Starving Starving Hippo (Murray): Nothing. Bed rest.
Ice Ice Bentley (Bentley): Nothing, though she does gather enough strength to check up on Bentley. (No, she does not go in person.) Bed rest.
Duty Calls (Sly): Nothing. Released from bed rest after this mission. Has seen the error of her ways by the beginning of the next mission.
OP: Jurassic Thievery (Penelope): Placed with Murray and Carmelita. Provides aerial support for Bob. Gets roped into The Grizz's boss fight with Murray. Helps Murray with the boss fight, even dealing the final blow.
Of Frogs And Mechs:
Shopping Spree (Sly): Nothing.
Juggling Act (Sly): Nothing.
Cane Swipe (Penelope): Helps Sly distract the Black Knight's guards so he can steal back Sir Galleth's cane via aerial support.
Eye In The Sky (Sir Galleth): Nothing.
Mechanical Menace (Sir Galleth): Nothing, though she does offer Sly advice on salvaging his broken relationship with Carmelita.
Short Supply (Murray): Helps Murray out in the tavern.
Untitled SSH (needs new name) (Penelope): Follows the Black Knight around instead of Sly. Bentley joins her in the blacksmith's. Sir Raleigh is exposed as the villain of this episode, alongside his creation Robo-Penelope.
Hard Target (Sly): Gets kidnapped after mission is completed.
Princess Out Of Distress (Bentley): Escapes from said kidnapping situation. Runs into impostor and fights her. Bentley helps her defeat said impostor. Also includes a double love confession.
OP: Frog Trap (Sly): Impersonates impostor in order to severely weaken Raleigh and free Sly from the villain's clutches. Declares loyalty to Team Sly. Helps everyone finish the villain off.
40 Thieves:
Lost And Found (Sly): Nothing, though she is stated to have helped Bentley perfect some new technology for Sly.
Open Sesame (Sly): Nothing.
Rug Rats (Salim): Sends her car into the tower to help Salim free one of his allies.
Up In Smoke (Bentley): Helps Bentley during his portion of the mission.
Copy Cats (Murray): Joins Sly and Murray in person, then gets trapped in with Murray. Manages to get Murray out of the caves safely, but not before helping Sly find another of Salim's allies.
Heavy Metal Meltdown (Rename?) (Salim): Submits an EDM track for use in the mission, which turns out more effective than in canon.
Untitled New Mission (Penelope): ?????????
All Rolled Up (Sly): Finds an alternative to Carmelita having to belly dance, though the cop does still have to stay behind. Joins the boys for the hangar raid, pulling more than her fair share of weight. Gets outed as Le Paradox's ally, then refuses to rejoin him. Helps defeat Miss Decibel.
Paris Epilogue:
Deja Vu All Over Again (Penelope): Leads the blimp raid. Starts the final boss fight. Refuses to rejoin Le Paradox again. Also ends said boss fight and wins, even saving Sly one final time in the process.
Was Penelope serious about having ten years of martial training? Like, how old was she when she started?
…For that matter, how old was she when she started the whole Black Baron thing? I mean, we know it was because of the age requirement so she probably wasn’t 18 yet. And it sounds like ACES has been going for probably over five years (at the bare minimum), and if Penelope and the main trio are currently about 21-ish…
Yeesh, she must’ve gotten into it really young, huh?
Petition for Sly 3 to get a proper sequel that’s just the girls kicking ass
…..does the sly cooper fandom still exist
did the sly cooper fandom ever exist
The time has come for Act 3. This covers the final two missions of the episode.
You might have to fill in some of the blanks yourself, but Penelope somehow winds up in a final duel with her impostor, with her signals jammed.
It's during this duel that Robo-Penelope reveals something to the player. The real Penelope designed Le Paradox's blimp. Robo-Penelope did everything else.
With this reveal, we finally understand why Penelope has been behaving so strangely. She's been acting out of guilt. She feels undeserving of the boys' friendship. Even so, she's willing to pull every last bit of her weight to make sure they never get hurt again.
Note: Imagine this playing during the Penelope/Robo-Penelope mirror match.
After defeating her impostor, Penelope, now consumed by an overwhelming amount of guilt, feels the need to confess her treachery to someone. She decides on telling Bentley, knowing full well doing so would break his heart all over again.
Then again, he does deserve to know the truth, does he not?
Cue Penelope's painful confession to Bentley. The only thing she doesn't reveal is her true motive, as she doesn't want to justify anything she or her impostor did.
And that "motive" relating to money, fame, power, and Bentley's potential? All fabricated by her impostor.
After that and a tearful apology, she tries to leave the Cooper Gang forever... only to be stopped. Bentley asks her if any of her treachery was worth it. She says it wasn't, and all she did was lose everyone she cares about.
Guess what? Bentley is satisfied with that answer. He forgives Penelope, believing that being kidnapped, impersonated, and hated by everyone she loves was the perfect punishment for her attempted betrayal. He also refuses to leave her or punish her further, now that she's learned her lesson.
Sly and Murray are spared from learning the truth until after our heroes leave Conquest Island.
Finally, the rest of the Robo-Cooper Gang is destroyed, followed by their creator, Sir Raleigh, getting royally clapped.
Penelope remains reinstated, even after Sly and Murray learn the truth.
As for what happens afterwards... I'm not sure. This is all during Episode 2 of 6.
I want to believe Penelope was kidnapped and impersonated. She still designed the blimp. Her impostor (an evil robot) did everything else. Even her motive was fabricated.
Here's something that could happen in Sly 5.
When the boys (Sly, Bentley, and Murray) eventually find out and take her back, she's going to be a guilt-ridden mess hell-bent on destroying her impostor and her creator for breaking Bentley's heart and making everyone hate her, with several measures of self-loathing for nearly doing the same thing herself.
The reunion scene would need to happen early in the episode in which this story takes place, during the second mission, and no later. That way, the player can get used to her being fully playable for the first time ever before the boss fight.
All three boys, while elated to have Penelope back, will quickly notice that something is seriously wrong with her. They think her impostor did everything, including designing the blimp. When they ask her what's wrong, she refuses to elaborate.
Bentley is especially concerned, but incredibly proud of his reinstated girlfriend for her enduring loyalty.
Cue Penelope pulling her weight several times over during her return episode and defeating her impostor, only to be consumed by all the guilt and confess to none other than Bentley about her treachery by the end. The only thing she doesn't reveal is her motive, saying it doesn't matter because what she did was wrong.
And because I love a good, happy ending, she will be forgiven. She's already spent the entire episode proving herself in spades. As for Sly and Murray's reactions? I'll leave that for you to decide. Would Sly drive himself crazy over not knowing her motive? I think he might.
I realize she will need a very sympathetic motive for this idea to work.
Time for Act 2. This covers several missions. Oh, and Penelope is now fully playable. She's seated between Sly and Bentley. I'm giving her those Morph Wrenches I previously talked about. She also has a title: The Wild Card.
With the threat of the Robo-Cooper Gang looming, our heroes agree that solo missions are temporarily off-limits. They will now only go out in pairs or as a group of four... at least until those robots bite the dust.
Most of the gang's missions revolve around shutting down charging stations for the Robo-Cooper Gang.
Penelope is put to work very soon after her reinstatement. While she does pull more than her fair share of weight, it's clear there's something seriously wrong with her. She refuses to elaborate whenever the boys try to ask her.
Bentley is especially concerned, but incredibly proud of his girlfriend for her enduring loyalty. He's fallen in love all over again, doting on her every chance he gets.
Robo-Penelope becomes quite the thorn in our heroes' side, especially Penelope's. The latter sees the former as a very personal enemy, jumping at any chance to take her impostor down. She even manages to save Bentley from the robot's wrath at least once.
As for Sly and Murray...
Sly now feels bad about ditching everyone back at Kaine Island, and has even apologized to Penelope for doing so.
Murray is happy to have his younger sister back. He now refuses to call her anything other than "Sis".
With the Robo-Cooper Gang now severely weakened, our heroes are ready to scrap their impostors.
Final act coming soon.
I want to believe Penelope was kidnapped and impersonated. She still designed the blimp. Her impostor (an evil robot) did everything else. Even her motive was fabricated.
Here's something that could happen in Sly 5.
When the boys (Sly, Bentley, and Murray) eventually find out and take her back, she's going to be a guilt-ridden mess hell-bent on destroying her impostor and her creator for breaking Bentley's heart and making everyone hate her, with several measures of self-loathing for nearly doing the same thing herself.
The reunion scene would need to happen early in the episode in which this story takes place, during the second mission, and no later. That way, the player can get used to her being fully playable for the first time ever before the boss fight.
All three boys, while elated to have Penelope back, will quickly notice that something is seriously wrong with her. They think her impostor did everything, including designing the blimp. When they ask her what's wrong, she refuses to elaborate.
Bentley is especially concerned, but incredibly proud of his reinstated girlfriend for her enduring loyalty.
Cue Penelope pulling her weight several times over during her return episode and defeating her impostor, only to be consumed by all the guilt and confess to none other than Bentley about her treachery by the end. The only thing she doesn't reveal is her motive, saying it doesn't matter because what she did was wrong.
And because I love a good, happy ending, she will be forgiven. She's already spent the entire episode proving herself in spades. As for Sly and Murray's reactions? I'll leave that for you to decide. Would Sly drive himself crazy over not knowing her motive? I think he might.
I realize she will need a very sympathetic motive for this idea to work.
Here’s your intermittent reminder that Penelope the mouse
is introduced as explicitly a better RC specialist than Bentley
a top-tier engineer and mechanic
so good at dogfighting than when she became a combat pilot “at a young age” she was instantly elevated to celebrity status
very convincing at pretending to be a different age and gender???
apparently wasn’t lying about being a trained boxer
can hack pretty good
easily matches and contends with Bentley’s intellect and could, therefore, plan heists pretty good
just fuckin picked up a sword and used it to murder a guy who had dedicated his life to being an old-timey pirate captain, and, by extension, swordfighting.
Penelope could kick the ass of the collective Cooper Gang at any point and the only reason she doesn’t is to be polite
Let me spell out the first act of this episode. This would consist of the first two missions.
Our three heroes tail a certain "mouse" to a place called Conquest Island. They find out she's found a new boss: Sir Raleigh, who escaped from prison a while ago. The boys don't know what their plan is, but they're going to stop it.
It's Bentley who tails this "mouse" into Raleigh's fortress, only to make a shocking discovery. He's been following a robot this entire time!
Raleigh, thinking he's already won, brings out the real Penelope to gloat to her. Turns out she's been kidnapped and impersonated.
And that impostor? Turns out it was her our heroes fought back in Medieval England. It was her who broke up with Bentley. And her who built that blimp for Le Paradox. The real Penelope is innocent.
It also turns out Raleigh has an entire Robo-Cooper Gang at the ready, and he's hoping to have everyone eventually kidnapped and turned against each other.
The villainous frog basically goes "Your name's been thoroughly ruined! Those friends of yours hate you! Why not work for me?"
Only to be told to stuff it. The real Penelope says she only wants to work for one person; that being Sly Cooper. She also hasn't forgiven her impostor for breaking Bentley's heart. She says these things knowing full well she might never be allowed back in the Cooper Gang.
Bentley, who witnessed this entire scene, orders an immediate rescue mission. When the boys find her, Penelope is terrified (thinking they're here to kill her), but she does agree to go with them after a tearful reunion.
After having Penelope reinstated, our heroes swear revenge against Raleigh for what he did to her. Bentley also takes her back.
Penelope has her life back, but... something is seriously wrong with her. And she's not talking about it.
Second act coming soon.
I want to believe Penelope was kidnapped and impersonated. She still designed the blimp. Her impostor (an evil robot) did everything else. Even her motive was fabricated.
Here's something that could happen in Sly 5.
When the boys (Sly, Bentley, and Murray) eventually find out and take her back, she's going to be a guilt-ridden mess hell-bent on destroying her impostor and her creator for breaking Bentley's heart and making everyone hate her, with several measures of self-loathing for nearly doing the same thing herself.
The reunion scene would need to happen early in the episode in which this story takes place, during the second mission, and no later. That way, the player can get used to her being fully playable for the first time ever before the boss fight.
All three boys, while elated to have Penelope back, will quickly notice that something is seriously wrong with her. They think her impostor did everything, including designing the blimp. When they ask her what's wrong, she refuses to elaborate.
Bentley is especially concerned, but incredibly proud of his reinstated girlfriend for her enduring loyalty.
Cue Penelope pulling her weight several times over during her return episode and defeating her impostor, only to be consumed by all the guilt and confess to none other than Bentley about her treachery by the end. The only thing she doesn't reveal is her motive, saying it doesn't matter because what she did was wrong.
And because I love a good, happy ending, she will be forgiven. She's already spent the entire episode proving herself in spades. As for Sly and Murray's reactions? I'll leave that for you to decide. Would Sly drive himself crazy over not knowing her motive? I think he might.
I realize she will need a very sympathetic motive for this idea to work.
Thieves In Time Redux Van
Remember the view of the van's sun visor? Those three photos it had? Instead of the Bentley/Penelope photo, we get this...
And at the end of Episode 4, it's replaced with a new photo starring these four as they are now, with Murray picking his brothers and sister up from behind. Cuuuuute!
I'd love to see someone draw that. Have Penelope sandwiched between Sly and Bentley. She is the main protagonist of my fanfiction, after all...
I'm assuming Carmelita takes the picture for them...
I'd draw it myself, but I'm no good at drawing art. Again, I'm just a writer with big ideas.
The other two photos can stay the same.
"I for one love the Penelope twist. The twist of her being the Black Baron, that is!"
Confessed by: Anonymous
As I may have already said, I'm a sucker for a good redemption arc.
I'm always on the hunt for more.
Thieves In Time Redux Meme #4
Here's Episode 4 in a nutshell...
And the best part? She does it all without any of the other heroes figuring out she was behind the Black Knight's creation.
And everyone ends up absolutely adoring her. Especially Bentley. He's gonna be so proud of her... The reason? She started this adventure not even wanting to go. To see her going this hard is damn impressive.
Writing this episode is going to be so much fun...
For extra fun, imagine this playing during the second phase of Raleigh's boss fight.
And this for the second phase against Robo-Penelope.
Thieves In Time Redux Meme #3
Oblivious Guilt Slinging at its finest. With a massive splash of Becoming The Mask. And it keeps going until Le Paradox reveals her secret during All Rolled Up. In case you forgot, that's the tail end of Episode 5.
Thieves In Time Redux Meme #2
For context, this is one of Penelope's actions during Something's Fishy. Episode 1. It's during a newly added RC Car segment.
For more context, this "gate" is something she could have opened in seconds. It's something she designed herself.
And these "higher expectations" might make future snooping sessions a bit harder. Whoops. And even worse, she comes out of this one empty-handed.
But at least her boyfriend and honorary older brother like her better now?