Clockwerk

Clockwerk
Gender	Male
Species	Eurasian Eagle Owl (originally, later ambient-robotic)
Died	c. 2002
Relationship	Fiendish Five (Allies) Cooper Clan (nemesis) Sly Cooper (enemy)
Affiliation/s	Fiendish Five
Weapon/s	Death ray Electric ring launcher Poison gas Plasma launcher Talons
Status	Deceased
Voiced by	Kevin Blackton
Appearances
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus Sly 2: Band of Thieves commercial Sly 2: Band of Thieves Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves (mentioned) Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time

Revenge is the prime ingredient in the fountain of youth. I've kept myself alive for hundreds of years with a steady diet of jealousy and hate, awaiting the day when I would finally eclipse your family's thieving reputation.
― Clockwerk

Clockwerk (stylized as CLOCKWeЯK) was the main antagonist of Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus. He was an ambient robot-like Eurasian Eagle Owl who served as leader of the Fiendish Five and nemesis of the Cooper Clan. He was consumed by jealousy for the Cooper Clan's reputation as thieves and hated them to such a degree that he replaced his mortal body with soulless machinery just to keep up with them through time. He was presumably destroyed by Sly Cooper, though his legacy continues to haunt the Cooper Gang to the present day.

He was voiced by the late Kevin Blackton.

History

Background

Clockwerk and the Fiendish Five

While his exact origin is completely unknown, it's certain that Clockwerk has lived for thousands of years, having replaced his real body with machinery, via the chip which was fueled by his hatred and envy of the Cooper Clan. For almost all of his life, Clockwerk hunted the Coopers, who were always one step ahead of him. Very few Coopers knew about Clockwerk; other than Sly and his father Conner, Henriette Cooper was the only Cooper known to have interacted with him. The few that knew of his existence wrote how his parts worked in the Thievius Raccoonus. Around Sly's birth, Clockwerk founded the Fiendish Five and led them in an attack on the currently living Coopers. He was responsible for the murder of Conner and his wife, along with the theft of the Thievius Raccoonus, which contained all the family's thieving secrets. Following this, he took off with a section of the Thievius Raccoonus and the rest of the Fiendish Five returned to their own endeavors with the pages of the Coopers' legacy in their possession.

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

Main article: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

Enough, Sly Cooper! It ends here. I'll finish you like I finished your father. Then the Cooper line will be erased and the only master thief will be Clockwerk!
― Clockwerk to Sly Cooper during their final battle

At the time Sly gathered his own gang and began to target the members of the Fiendish Five, Clockwerk was a mysterious, aggressive, and widely unknown member who was referred to only as the "last" member of the Fiendish Five by Bentley and Sly. He never convened with any of his cohorts. Instead, he provided them with high tech hardware, including two hovercrafts commandeered by Sly, which Bentley identified as having a notably unique alloy that only originates from the Krakarov Volcano in Russia, where Clockwerk set up his base of operations.

Clockwerk's silhouette

After Sly began reviewing the pages he gathered from the Thievius Raccoonus, he started noticing a silhouetted bird in the background of pictures featuring his ancestors and connected them with the vague reports on the appearance of Clockwerk. Curious about what this could mean, Sly and his gang headed to the Krakarov Volcano to confront the fifth member of the Fiendish Five.

Based in the volcano, Clockwerk had built a giant death ray and tried to destroy the Cooper Gang with it as they entered his headquarters. Sly, Bentley, and Murray were able to pass through unharmed from the deadly weapon, due to Sly's use of a roof-mounted machine gun, and continued through the facility despite Clockwerk also sending swarms of robo-falcons and fire slugs after them.

Devising another trap, Clockwerk had already captured Carmelita Fox and used her as bait to lure Sly into his gas chamber, where he planned to finish him off with poison. It was at this time that Clockwerk revealed himself through a televised screen and mocked the Cooper Clan for letting their emotions get the better of them, since it has always been their downfall. However, Bentley hacked into Clockwerk's security system and managed to release both Sly and Carmelita from the gas chamber. Sly and Carmelita made a temporary truce and plotted to take down Clockwerk together, with Sly planning to use Carmelita's jetpack to battle him from the sky. In their advance, they destroyed Clockwerk's death ray, while Sly retrieved the jetpack and used it as he finally confronted Clockwerk face to face.

The battle between Sly and Clockwerk

The two exchanged a few words, and Sly learned of Clockwerk's past; replacing his entire body to outlive and annihilate the Cooper Clan in an attempt to eclipse their legendary thieving reputation. They engaged in an aerial battle, with Sly receiving support from Carmelita. Eventually, the pair defeated him and Clockwerk plummeted into the molten lava of the volcano. He then rose again, albeit damaged, and desired to finish off the raccoon. Sly questioned how Clockwerk could have been negligent of the fact that Conner Cooper had a son and wondered why he did not kill him after he murdered his family, to which Clockwerk revealed he left the young Sly alive to prove a point: the Cooper line was nothing without the Thievius Raccoonus. However, Clockwerk was wrong as Sly pointed out that great Cooper thieves make the Thievius Raccoonus, not the other way around. Clockwerk refused to acknowledge his chatter, determined to kill Sly like he had killed his father and claim the title as master thief solely for himself.

Clockwerk hinting that he is not finished yet

After engaging in one last battle, Sly shot Clockwerk down a second time, forcing him to plummet once again into the volcano's lava. Because he refused to be destroyed, Clockwerk began activating his self-repair system to rejuvenate his heavily damaged form. While attempting this last-ditch effort, Sly traversed over to the archaic bird and destroyed his head. As Sly did so, however, Clockwerk attempted to torment his rival one last time and openly declared he was superior, and that Sly would never be rid of him before finally being put out of commission. The battered and destroyed parts floated in the lava and were left to rot when the gang departed. However, one of the eyes lit up with pure hate, showing that the evil owl was not yet finished for good.

Sly 2: Band of Thieves

Main article: Sly 2: Band of Thieves

Now he's back. In pieces, sure, but the threat is real. Does the Klaww Gang even realize what they've stolen?
― Sly Cooper on Clockwerk's status

The Clockwerk parts were recovered by INTERPOL following the battle and, after two years, he was put on a Cairo museum display in Egypt. This museum began the "Clockwerk Restoration Project" in an attempt to put the bird back together. Sly and the gang, realizing the threat of such actions, decided to steal the parts to prevent a possible revival of Clockwerk.

However, a criminal organization known as the Klaww Gang got to Clockwerk and split his body parts between each member to use for their own purposes, before Sly and the gang could steal the parts themselves. The gang managed to take back most of the parts from the various Klaww Gang members during their travels. Unfortunately, right when they had the chance to collect the Clockwerk talons, they were incapacitated and imprisoned in the sawmill by Klaww Gang member Jean Bison. Bison and his men raided the Cooper Gang's safehouse and sold all of the Clockwerk parts (including the talons which were not collected) to his associate Arpeggio.

Clockwerk's robotic body was eventually reassembled on Arpeggio's flying air fortress. Neyla, who had previously been an ally of Sly but then betrayed him, was in fact conspiring with Arpeggio and had been helping him gather the parts. Arpeggio was knowledgeable of Clockwerk and his secret of immortality through his consumption of hatred; he desired to become one with the ancient frame and be reborn with eternal life. However, before Arpeggio could merge with the parts, Neyla double-crossed him and merged herself with Clockwerk instead, dubbing herself as "Clock-La".

Sly witnessed this and, along with Bentley and Murray, tried to weaken her so they could finally finish off what remained of Clockwerk. Teaming up with Carmelita yet again to defeat the robotic bird, Sly battled Clock-La using a door-mounted machine gun on Carmelita's helicopter. After sustaining a large amount of damage, Clock-La destroyed the blimp and captured both Murray and Bentley, leading Sly on a dangerous chase through the skies over Paris. Sly landed on Clock-La's back and succeeded in damaging the robotic bird, forcing her to land, which also released Bentley and Murray from her grip. During this skirmish, the revelation of Clockwerk's true source of power, the Hate Chip, was discovered, and the gang came up with a plan to destroy it. With Murray's help, Bentley was able to enter the open beak of Clockwerk and remove the chip. But before he could exit, the beak suddenly snapped down on Bentley, crushing his legs. Murray picked up the paralyzed turtle and, with the Hate Chip in hand, the three left the area as Clock-La exploded.

The Cooper Gang and Carmelita watching the Clockwerk parts rust away into dust.

To their surprise, the parts were still in perfect condition despite the explosion, as an effect of the Hate Chip still being fueled by Clockwerk's never-ending hatred for the Cooper Clan. Carmelita, having just arrived on the ground, stomped on the Hate Chip, causing the parts to immediately disintegrate, killing both Neyla and mostly Clockwerk, ending his reign of terror on the Cooper Clan once and for all.

Legacy

COOPER! You will never be rid of me! Clockwerk is superior!
― Clockwerk's final words

Unfortunately, the damage the beak had done to Bentley confined him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and acted as a reminder of Clockwerk's last words in the first game. Though Bentley claims to have moved past what the villainous owl had done to him, he is still sometimes haunted by the fact that he would never be able to walk again.

After defeating Penelope in "Of Mice and Mechs," however, Bentley seems to have finally conquered this tragedy, as the ending cinematic showed a dream sequence of him defeating both Clockwerk and the Black Knight.

In the Gungathal Valley, Sly finds one of Clockwerk's eyes, which survived the destruction of the Hate Chip, revealing that a piece of Clockwerk still exists and that he might not be gone for good.

Characteristics

Physical appearance

Clockwerk was a giant ambient-robot eagle owl made entirely of metal. He has large yellow eyes (red in his original organic form). The inside of his mouth is the same color as his eyes are. He also has three large talons on each foot, and a large brow that was constantly pulled down in anger. When he was attacking, Clockwerk either had plasma shooters on his feet and back, or electric ring shooters on his head and the tips of his elbows.

In his organic form, Clockwerk was covered in light brown feathers. He had bright red eyes and three white talons on each foot. The inside of his mouth was colored in dark red.

Clockwerk was capable of speaking English, Japanese, and Russian.

Personality

Is it inappropriate to refer to him as a monster? No, not at all. What kind of person stays alive for hundreds of years with the express intention of wiping out a rival's family line?
― Sly Cooper musing about Clockwerk

Clockwerk was obsessed with proving himself superior to the Cooper Clan. He can be identified as a psychopath, being able to endure thousands of years of waiting before planning to finish off the Cooper name with Sly. He openly mocked the Cooper family whenever he had the chance. He was able to create advanced technology and numerous plans on how to eradicate the elusive Sly Cooper, while he invaded his lair in Russia.

This gave his boasts some merit but also led to developing a superiority complex, stating that his robotic form was perfect for granting him immortality just to keep up with the Coopers through history. Overall, Clockwerk was an evil, bitter, and obsessed character who desired nothing more than the eradication of his nemesis, Sly Cooper, and his ancestors, at whatever cost, even his own body. This, however, proved to be his downfall.

Despite his overwhelming hatred of the Cooper Clan and his obsession to eradicate them, he was willing to put this aside if it meant shaming the clan to the public as he spared Sly the night he stole the Thievius Raccoonus to prove to the world the Cooper Clan was nothing without their Thievius Raccoonus.

Abilities

Perfection has no age...
― Clockwerk to Sly

Clockwerk's biological body was at some point replaced with robotic parts, and a highly advanced piece of technology called the Hate Chip imbued his new body with the ability to never rust or decay and could even repair it after taking incredible damage. This allowed him to survive beyond his intended life span as a mortal being. Clockwerk's body was equipped with a multitude of weapons, including missiles, laser emitters, launchers that could fire electrified rings, and an energy weapon within the eyes (although this and the missiles might have been an addition made by Arpeggio as they're only used by Clock-La). In addition, Clockwerk was extremely resilient to damage, as simple weapons like Carmelita's shock pistol and jetpack missiles were individually ineffective against him. In addition, Clockwerk's body could survive being heavily damaged and submerged in molten lava; this could be contributed by the Hate Chip and Clockwerk's self-repairing body. He also had spare engines in case his wings were too damaged to allow flight. In the event that all but his head was disabled, it could detach and fly using small jets.

In part for his ability to survive with a combination of his hatred and mechanical improvements, Clockwerk was remarkably intelligent. He constructed a lair in the Krakarov Volcano, while developing multiple weapons and vehicles for the Fiendish Five to use for their own personal schemes. These included hover vehicles and his death ray, as well as a gas chamber which was used to incapacitate Sly. He was able to think accordingly and execute cunning plans, assaulting and slaughtering Conner Cooper and being able to lure Sly into his gas chamber by manipulating his feelings for Carmelita. He also created a legion of mechanical birds, similar to him, and hordes of lava monsters to do his bidding.

Two years later, Clockwerk's body was fully repaired by Arpeggio so that each individual member of the Klaww Gang could use their share of the Clockwerk parts for their own purposes. Each individual part had also served its own purpose in Clockwerk's design as a Cooper hunter. They included a heart that acted as a tireless pump, eyes with powerful entrancing qualities, and talons capable of slicing through steel. All of the parts assembled would create Clockwerk's frame and were the basis for helping him live through time and would later help spark his partial rebirth as Clock-La. With the destruction of the Hate Chip, Clockwerk's body, and therefore Clockwerk himself, was permanently destroyed.

Parts

The known Clockwerk parts that were used by the Klaww Gang:

Part	User	Purpose
Tail feathers	Dimitri	Print counterfeit money
Wings	Rajan	Status symbol
Heart		Increase spice production
Eyes	Contessa	Facilitate hypnosis
Lungs and stomach	Jean Bison	Increase spice distribution
Talons		Facilitate deforestation
Brain	Arpeggio	Unknown
Hate Chip		Obtain immortality (planned)

Behind the scenes

In the Japanese version, he was voiced by Naoki Kusumi. In the Italian version, he was voiced by the late Vittorio Bestoso. However, due to an audio error, most of his lines were slowed down and lowered to the point that it became incomprehensible to listen to. This issue is only present in the original PS2 release.

Gallery

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus Clockwerk's silhouette on "Tennessee Kid" Cooper's page Clockwerk's silhouette on Rioichi Cooper page Clockwerk's silhouette on Slytunkhamen Cooper's page Clockwerk's silhouette on Otto van Cooper's page Clockwerk falling into the lava Concept art The different images at the bottom of Clockwerk's health meter Oh No He Didn't Trophy (Defeat Clockwerk) Sly 2: Band of Thieves Some of the Clockwerk parts. Clockwerk's body schematics. Clockwerk's original form. Clockwer's original form (full view). Clockwerk's mechanical body. Clockwerk's remains. Arpeggio near the Clockwerk Frame. Clockwerk In Sly 2 Intro Cinematic Clockwerk's Wings On Statue Clockwerk's Heart The Clockwerk Eyes Clockwerk's Lung 1 Clockwerk's Lung 2 Clockwerk Sly 2 Animated Cutscene Neyla near the Clockwerk Frame. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time The Dragon Claw Statue in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time Clockwerk appearing alongside the Black Knight in Bentley's imagination “Clockwerk was here” Clockwerk's Eye Treasure In Thieves In Time Sly Holding Clockwerk's Eye From Thieves In Time

Trivia

• He speaks English, Japanese, and Russian.
• Clockwerk's name is a play on the word "clockwork", referring to time or the purely mechanical.
• In the real world, owls are natural predators of raccoons, thus Clockwerk's position as arch-enemy of the Cooper Clan makes sense.
  • Clockwerk's species, the Eurasian Eagle Owl is an especially notorious hunter, known to even hunt deer at times. It is also one of the largest species of owl in the world.
• Clockwerk seems to be incredibly adept with technology, seeing how he came from the ancient past, but somehow managed to transform himself into an immortal robot fueled by pure hatred and construct a highly advanced base inside an active volcano. This ultimately makes Sir Raleigh's purpose as the chief machinist of the Fiendish Five questionable.
• Clockwerk's voice actor, Kevin Blackton, was uncredited for Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus. For many years, fans believed that Clockwerk was voiced by Ross Douglas (who voiced Jean Bison in Sly 2: Band of Thieves) until it was later proven by Kevin Miller (Sly Cooper's voice actor) that Clockwerk was voiced by Kevin Blackton.
  • The Japanese voice for Clockwerk was originally Naomi Kusumi, but in the HD release, he was replaced with Kunihiko Yasui.
  • Blackton also provided the voices for Muggshot and the Panda King in the same game, as well as in Sly 3. Although Raleigh did not appear in Sly 3, he did in the first game, and was also voiced by Blackton.
• In Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, Carmelita says that her shock pistol can't hurt Clockwerk, but can create holes in his armor. In fact, Clockwerk can also take damage, as his mechanical body only prevents him from aging.
• Clockwerk's final line in the first game foreshadows his near return in the next game, and the irreparable damage done to Bentley after his final defeat in the second game.
  • It might also mean that his hatred for the Cooper Clan would rage on forever after, which is implied with Clockwerk's Eye being a collectible treasure in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time.
• After the credits in the English version of Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, Clockwerk's head is shown, and then his eyelids open and reveal red eyes. In the Japanese version, Clockwerk has blue eyes.
  • In Sly 2's reenactment of this scene, the eyes are yellow.
• He is the only deceased member of the Fiendish Five. The Panda King lives free in China, while the other three members are still incarcerated.
• The Dragon Claw Statue and Clockwerk's Eye are the only two Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time treasures that make direct reference to Clockwerk. The Dragon Claw Statue has the words "Clockwerk was here" scratched into the bottom, and the Clockwerk Eye has a description which implies that the destruction of the Hate Chip did not completely destroy Clockwerk and that the Cooper Gang had not truly seen the last of him.
• In "Breakout!", Sly wondered out loud if "Rioichi has crossed paths with Clockwerk".
• Clockwerk also makes appearances throughout Thieves in Time. The earliest appearance he has made in the timeline is 10,000 BC. In every single Thieves in Time episode, Clockwerk can be seen occasionally perched on a building or natural structure. In this game, his body more closely resembles an owl as opposed to an eagle as in earlier appearances.
  • He is oddly still robotic in his earliest appearance. Whether this was an oversight or intentional is unknown.
    • Clockwerk has been proven to be the oldest villain of them all anyways, due to the fact that he was around during Ancient Egyptian times.
    • One theory is that Clockwerk is actually from the future, which is also where he more likely got his robotic technology. He may have used time travel to take a one-way trip back in an attempt to rewrite history by facing every Cooper of every era until he wiped them out.
• It is unknown how Clockwerk was able to get the technology to make his body fully robotic.
  • It is also unknown how Clockwerk was able to survive for over 10,000 years with this technology.
• His pseudo-Latin scientific name is "Diabolocus Machina", according to the binocucom in Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, which can be translated to mean "diabolical machine".
• Clockwerk and his individual parts are considerably smaller in Sly 2: Band of Thieves.
  • There is also the addition of two pairs of spikes on his wings in Sly 2, which have never been explained, and his beak is markedly different in appearance and motion than in Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus.
• The shape of Clockwerk's feet is different than that of a real owl, which are zygodactyl (two talons in the front, two talons in the back) whereas Clockwerk has anisodactyl feet (three in front, one in back) similar to an eagle.
  • Strangely, Clockwerk only has three talons on each foot, rather than four in cinematic cutscenes from Sly 2: Band of Thieves.

Appearances

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus Police Headquarters (cutscene) "Tide of Terror" (cutscene) "Sunset Snake Eyes" (cutscene) "Vicious Voodoo" (cutscene) "Fire in the Sky" (mentioned only) "The Cold Heart of Hate" Sly 2: Band of Thieves A Shadow from the Past (cutscene) "The Black Chateau" (his tail feathers appear) "A Starry Eyed Encounter" (cutscene; his wings appear) "The Predator Awakes" (his heart appears) "Jailbreak" (half of his heart appears) "A Tangled Web" (his eyes appear) "He Who Tames the Iron Horse" (blueprints; his brain mentioned; his lungs and stomach appear) "Menace from the North, eh!" (his talons appear; his brain mentioned) "Anatomy for Disaster" Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves - 1. "An Opera of Fear" (mentioned only) Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (cameo) "Turning Japanese": "Breakout!" (mentioned) "Go West Young Raccoon": "Blind Date" "Clan of the Cave Raccoon" "Of Mice and Mechs" "40 Thieves": "Copy Cats"