Toothpick

"Time to take a little looksee... AT MY GOLD! Heehee!"

- Toothpick to himself

Toothpick was an armadillo and a villain in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. Part of Le Paradox's gang, he was one of Cyrille Le Paradox's lieutenants, and was sent to Cotton Mouth Bluff, 1884 AD. He planned on stealing gold from that time period and bringing it back to the present, making himself a billionaire. He was the main antagonist of "Go West Young Raccoon."

He was voiced by.

Background
He was originally an Eastern European mobster who grew up loving cowboy movies and gold, so he specialized in gold robberies. He was even behind some of the world's greatest gold heists. Some time later, he abruptly vanished.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
Cyrille Le Paradox invited Toothpick and Miss Decibel to his museum, on the same night the Cooper Gang did their heist to obtain an ancient Japanese dagger from the very same place. Le Paradox hired Toothpick to take out "Tennessee Kid" Cooper, so after traveling to Cotton Mouth Bluff, 1884, Toothpick staged a robbery (which would later go down in history as Tennessee's greatest heist in Cooper lore) and framed Tennessee for it, despite the robbery taking place after Tennessee was arrested. Toothpick could be seen around town during the Cooper Gang's jobs, such as when he arrested Sly for defacing his posters, stealing his lollipop, and taking down his banner. Toothpick converted an abandoned gold mine into a storage facility for his stolen goods, including Tennessee's cane. On his way to the mine, Toothpick was followed by Bentley. Once Toothpick left to inspect his gold, Bentley and Murray let the recently escaped Tennessee Kid Cooper inside the mine, so he could steal his cane back. Toothpick eventually found out the cane was stolen and yelled Cooper's name in anger as he grew in size. Later, Sly planted a bug in the Saloon, which held Toothpick's Office. There he revealed to his guards that he planned on mining all of the gold out of Cotton Mouth Bluff and load it all on his train, so he could bring it back to the present day to become rich. Later, Toothpick's boss, Cyrille Le Paradox would then show up with Carmelita Fox in tow.

Back in the present day, Carmelita witnessed Le Paradox unloading smuggled, stolen treasures into his museum, so the skunk captured her and brought her to Toothpick in Cotton Mouth Bluff to prevent her from blowing his cover. Toothpick had his bull guards tie up Carmelita and put the fox in a runaway stagecoach going down a dangerous path in Cackling Jackalope Canyon. Unbeknownst to Toothpick or his guards, however, The Cooper Gang caught wind of what was happening and sent Tennessee Kid" Cooper to chase the Stagecoach down. Before Carmelita could meet her demise when the stagecoach was about to fall off the road and into a roaring river, Tennessee swooped in at the last second and rescued her. The Cooper Gang arrived in their van to help them, but before they could, Toothpick showed up with his bull guards and held the trio at gunpoint. Toothpick arrested the Cooper Gang and stole their van, before revealing that Carmelita was bait meant to lure them out. Toothpick then decided to use their van to turbocharge his train, effectively trapping the Cooper Gang and Carmelita in Cotton Mouth Bluff. Realizing that the Cooper gang was her only way back to the present day, Carmelita teamed up with Tennesee and broke the Cooper Gang out of jail. The Cooper Gang decided to divert Toothpick's gold train's route and hop on board the train while it was in leaving town, since his train would be heavily guarded while it was stored in his storage facility (Budd Stagg Caverns).

During the heist, Tennessee took the stolen gold back and caught up to Toothpick near the engine of the train. Tennessee attempted to fight, but Toothpick had some rat troopers restrain Tennessee so he could get his cane. He successfully got the cane when he went into ball form and knocked it out of Tennessee's grip. He was eventually stopped by the Cooper Gang when Sly Cooper defeated him aboard his own train. After being defeated, Toothpick was knocked into the furnace of the train, and he was blasted out of the funnel to Tennessee, where Tennessee threw him off the train. Toothpick was stranded in the past, and was sentenced to work on the railroads in a chain gang made up of many of his employees. The sound of train whistles made him go deaf, and, unable to hear an oncoming train or his fellow prisoners trying to warn him, "faded into obscurity."

Physical appearance
Toothpick is a short armadillo that wears red vest over a white dress shirt, a brown belt with a gold buckle and white cowboy hat. In concept art, he wears a brown sombrero instead of the cowboy hat shown in gameplay. On his chest is a gold sheriff's star. He has a single holster on his right hip that holds a revolver. Toothpick has a long snout with buck teeth.

The earlier version of Toothpick as a mobster from eastern Europe depicted him as wearing the same dress shirt, but this time under a green tuxedo jacket with a black and dark gray pin-stripe collar. He also wore a purple necktie and sunglasses.

Personality
Toothpick was an insane and trigger-happy armadillo, as shown when he threatened to break Sly's thumbs (and possibly his pinkie fingers) after his poster vandalism. He'd shown little care for his subordinates, as he barely expressed concern for shooting one on accident and threatened another for criticizing him. Toothpick was very talkative as well when he was heard using an intercom in some of his facilities, making selfish rules for his employees to follow or talking about how he would punish his enemies or guards who don't follow orders.

He enjoyed lollipops, and in particular, Cuban lollipops with bean and rice flavors. Toothpick was also obsessed with gold as he was heard talking through an intercom stating that he polished his gold and didn't want people to touch it or take it. Toothpick was also an ego-maniac, as he plastered the town with posters of himself and dedicated festivals in his own honor. Toothpick had one major weakness; he couldn't stand loud noises, particularly whistles, which aggravated his sensitive ears. If the noise was loud enough that he could never block it out by plugging his ears, he went into an uncontrolled rage that accumulated with him growing to gigantic size, though general annoyances (such as employees questioning his behavior) could also spark this transformation.

Abilities
Toothpick was an excellent shot, skilled with a variety of firearms, making him very dangerous right off the bat. Toothpick carried bombs that form a green laser array which could instantly electrocute Sly to death. Toothpick also threw around dynamite, much similar to his jackalope guards. He also had the ability to grow to a massive size when he became extremely angered which enabled him to create shock waves by slamming the ground and create whirlwinds by spinning and using his cowboy hat. When he became dizzy however, Toothpick shrunk into his normal size before he became vulnerable to attacks. Toothpick could rapidly roll in a ball-like shape to attack enemies like a bowling ball, although he was only shown using this attack on Tennessee Kid Cooper.

Trivia

 * Toothpick hates only one thing concerning the Wild West: the loud sound of train whistles, which hurt his sensitive ears.
 * Coincidentally, this is what caused him to go deaf.
 * Toothpick is the only member of Le Paradox's crew that eventually died. He is also one of only three minor (non-final boss) villains in the series to die, the others being Arpeggio and LeFwee.
 * He is also the only member who became permanently stranded in the past.
 * His death also happens in a more natural way due to becoming deaf and being unable to hear the whistle of the oncoming train, instead of being killed either by defeat or betrayal by another antagonist.
 * He is also the only member that was not captured by Carmelita due to the rush getaway made by Cooper Gang right after the Boss Battle.
 * He is one of two characters known to die when arrested, along with Cyrille Le Paradox's father.
 * Toothpick is the only boss in Thieves in Time to not have a thin, vertical stripe running down his clothing in some fashion. In early concept art, however, he did.
 * Toothpick's makes an appearance in the prologue, along with Miss Decibel and Le Paradox, who are conversing behind a window.
 * In the cinematics where they talk about Toothpick's backstory and he captures Carmelita, he is seen holding two revolvers while in the game he only has one.
 * He also, despite apparently being an excellent shot, never uses this revolver in combat, rather, he only uses it to shoot into the air in excitement during his battle with Sly. The only time it is used aggressively in any way is during "Saloon Bug," where Toothpick accidentally shoots one of his own guards.
 * Toothpick is also never seen in-game without this revolver in his hand, even when he is in his office chair or launched from the train's smoke stack after he is defeated by Sly.
 * According to Bentley, Toothpick adored lollipops, especially a Cuban variety that had to be shipped for weeks. Supposedly, they had the flavor of rice and beans.
 * Toothpick apparently liked to play golf. He mentions to his guards that he would have liked to "break out the old golf clubs" while in Cotton Mouth Bluff, but did not due to the town being "one big sand trap," which would have hindered his ability to play.
 * Toothpick is the first mammal villain not to have fur.
 * He is also one of the five total mammal characters in the series to be furless. The others are Murray, Madame D'Oinkeau, Madame Geisha, Pachyderma Tuskinanny and Miss Decibel.
 * Interestingly, Toothpick is the only one not to be a pachyderm.
 * If you look at Toothpick's costume, you'll notice his Sheriff's badge on the wrong side of his chest. Being a criminal, he's on the wrong side of the law.

Appearances

 * Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
 * P. "Prologue"
 * 2. "Go West Young Raccoon"
 * E. "Epilogue" (cutscene)