Grizz

"You know why The Grizz loves skating? It's clean, man. It's like, just me and the ice. No complications, no hassles, no worries."

- The Grizz

The Grizz, or simply Grizz, is a male black bear with black fur and brown eyes. He teamed up with Cyrille Le Paradox, and was the antagonist for "Clan of the Cave Raccoon" in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. He planned on forging cave paintings in the past, only to dig them up in the present and make him worth a fortune.

He was voiced by.

Background
As a child, the Grizz loved to ice skate, as it made him feel free, as well as for its "cleanness," where it was just him and the ice. However, he would eventually became a common street thug and graffiti artist with a penchant for rapping. One night, after he was caught by police tagging a wall with graffiti, he was suddenly bailed out and thrust into the limelight by a meandering pop artist. He had his primitive art hailed as a brilliant new style called "Paleo-graffiti" and, for only a short time, he enjoyed celebrity status.

His fame was short-lived, however, when people soon got over the fad, realizing that his art wasn't as good as they originally thought, and he was re-thrown into the gutter from whence he came. Resentful on how he was treated by the art community, he returned to his criminal roots, quickly becoming the top art thief on INTERPOL's most wanted list. He was one of Inspector Carmelita Fox's main and largest targets, aside from Sly Cooper, and he had simply vanished before he could be arrested. The Grizz was hired by Le Paradox to erase the first Cooper from history, Bob Cooper.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
While in the prehistoric era, Grizz captured all of the local Pterodactyls and their eggs to use for paint. This eliminated Bob's role as the food provider for his tribe and title as the greatest egg thief ever. This made Bob depressed, fall into a slump and become out of shape, which made it easy for Grizz to imprison him in his fortress and steal his cane. Grizz was later followed by Bentley into his Cold Storage Caverns. There it was revealed that Grizz stole the pterodactyl eggs to make paint. He then would used the paint for his prehistoric art operation, where he and his crew would paint phony cave paintings and go back to the present day, where they would dig them up and sell them for a fortune. Unfortunately, his deal with Le Paradox hadn't gone very well since all the eggs were stolen by Grizz, which frustrated him, needing to keep his counterfeit painting production going in spite of the fact that Le Paradox was neglecting him. Unbeknownst to the Cooper Gang, Carmelita had been tailing Grizz on her own and gained the security codes and schematics to his mountain base. After sharing her intel with Bentley, the Cooper Gang, Bob, and Carmelita infiltrated the Purple Paw Paint Factory to defeat Grizz once and for all. According to Bentley, Grizz increased the security in his factory (most likely because he was expecting them). After the Cooper Gang interfered in his plans, he battled with Murray, using his skills as an ice skater to try and defeat him, but was ultimately bested by the hippo and sent to jail, where he was given a long prison sentence. While doing time, the Grizz continued to rap and paint, making portraits of his fellow inmates, despite his accidental spray and singing awfully as it seemed in the conclusion.

Physical appearance
The Grizz is a large black bear. He wears a purple tracksuit with two vertical yellow lines going down the right side of his torso, as well as a single yellow stripe on each sleeve, which are rolled up to his elbows. He has a yellow belt around his waist with a gold belt buckle. He also wears brown boots, and around his neck is a gold chain necklace that has a gold pendant. He carries either a large paint brush or scepter in his left hand. On his head is a medieval English crown. He has short white fingernails, though they are substituted for more realistic long, black bear claws in cinematic cutscenes.

Personality
The Grizz uses his large, threatening appearance to try and push others to do what he wants. He speaks with an African American dialect and a high level of arrogance, thinking he can defeat anyone. He tends to shout every word that flies out of his mouth. While on the phone with Cyrille Le Paradox, the Grizz lets a different side come to light, one that sees the world as being against him, to the point where he sees Le Paradox and the Cooper Gang are equally against him. He often raps his thoughts and many of his sentences.

Abilities
He is an expert ice skater, able to skate backwards, twirl, jump and move very fast. He can use his skating abilities in combat, generating shockwaves or blocks of ice to attack with. As a bear, he also has great physical strength that he can use to knock icicles and stalactites from the cave ceiling.

While the art world quickly grew tired of his so-called "paleo-graffiti," the Grizz still used his artistic ability to create intricate locks, as well as burying his art in the past to be dug up in the present for money.

Trivia

 * In all of the artwork featuring the Grizz, he carries a scepter, giving him a much more kingly appearance. However, in the actual game, he carries a golden, bejeweled paintbrush. Many fans believe this was mainly done as a red herring to keep the Black Knight's identity, and Penelope's betrayal, a secret from the public until the release of Thieves in Time, as Miss Decibel and the Grizz, then called Grizzle B, had their artwork released at a time when not much about Medieval England and Ancient Arabia were known.
 * Only an ice sculpture of the Grizz in "Clan of the Cave Raccoon" retains the scepter.
 * The Grizz was originally planned to be voiced by Biz Markie, who actually did some demo readings pre-production, but Sanzaru chose the current actor instead.
 * When Grizz sprints in the job "Duty Calls," his feet sound like a basketball dribbling.
 * The Grizz bears a striking resemblance to Dimitri, as they both are artists, are associated with the color purple, enjoy hip-hop and are very much a "comic relief" in their respective criminal organizations. This, in turn, may make the Grizz an homage to when Dimitri was a villain.
 * He is the only member of Le Paradox's crew that doesn't ever fight Sly Cooper, making him one of twelve villains overall never to fight Sly alone. The others are Rajan, Octavio, Jean Bison, Arpeggio, the Mask of Dark Earth, Captain LeFwee, the Mutant Primate, the Mutant Fish, Wildman Weezner and the Moat Monster.
 * When he is incarcerated, his prison tag number is 6592.
 * Despite the fact his name comes from the term "grizzly bear," he is a black bear.

Appearances

 * Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
 * 3. "Clan of the Cave Raccoon"
 * E. "Epilogue" (cutscene)