Once again, brains triumph over brawn!
― Bentley, after he defeats Jean Bison[2]

Bentley, the brains, is the deuteragonist of the Sly Cooper series. He is a male turtle with green skin and black eyes which are covered by glasses, which he needs due to being nearsighted.[1] He is best friends with Sly Cooper and Murray, and is a member of the Cooper Gang. His significant other and rival is his ex-girlfriend Penelope.

Bentley first appeared in Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus at the age of 18. His current age is unknown, as he was 20 in Sly 2: Band of Thieves, and 21 in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, but an unknown amount of time passed between that and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. At the end of Sly 2, Bentley lost the use of his legs, and currently uses a highly–modified wheelchair that actually makes him more mobile and powerful than he was while able to walk.

He was voiced by Matt Olsen in all of his game appearances.


Early life

Operation Cookie Connection has begun!
― Bentley during the Cooper Gang's first heist[src]
As a young turtle living with his family in the swamp he called home, Bentley wandered away from his siblings due to his nearsightedness. A relative of Mrs. Puffin found him and delivered him to the Happy Camper Orphanage.[1] He quickly became friends with Murray and Sly when they arrived. They soon combined their skills; Bentley's knowledge, Sly's athleticism and Murray's enthusiasm; and created a lifelong bond.

Their first heist was to steal the orphanage's cookie jar from Mrs. Puffin because of Murray's inability to sleep due to constantly thinking about the cookies. Dubbed the "Cooky-Steelin' Plan by Bentley," the plan was for Sly to hide in Mrs. Puffin's trash can and wait until she left for the night.

Sly 3 Bentley&#039;s Cookie Stealing Plan

Bentley and the gang going over the "Cookie-stealin' Plan."

During the heist, Bentley kept in contact with Sly, via an invention he created called the "cupinator," which was two cans and a piece of string. Both Bentley and Murray waited outside the office's window on a tricycle to escape with. Bentley had calculated that they only had 3 minutes and 42 seconds until the janitor came to clean the room. While Sly got into position, Bentley told him that they had run out of time. Sly, quickly thinking on his feet used the furniture to get to the cookie jar from on top of the bookshelf. Sly then heard the janitor walking down the hall. Murray vowed to save Sly by pedaling away from the window while Sly held onto the cupinator, before he could grab the jar. Not realizing Bentley did not put brakes on the tricycle yet, Murray crashed it. Sly then told the gang that they were lucky; Bentley wondered what Sly meant, as they had (supposedly) failed the mission. Sly then revealed that he managed to store all the cookie's in his cap before Murray saved Sly. The three then began eating the cookies together, and thus the world's greatest gang of thieves was born.

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

In the first game, Bentley is portrayed as a timid, shut-in person. Sometimes, he even seems a bit stressed and uptight, although he only does this to protect his friends in any way he can. He is shown to be somewhat a germophobe, especially fearing the swamps of Mz. Ruby's hideout. Helping Sly and Murray from behind the scenes, Bentley was essential to the Cooper Gang's exploits in retrieving the Thievius Raccoonus, even though he never stepped out of the safety of the Cooper Van. Bentley did most of the planning, but when Sly fell victim to a gas chamber trap, he put aside his fears and hacked Clockwerk's computer to save Sly's life, as well as the life of Carmelita Fox. After the defeat of Clockwerk, Sly later contemplated that he would not have gotten anywhere without the help of Bentley and his expertise.

Stealing from a forger

Sly: Are you there, Bentley? I'm within visual range of Dimitri's mansion.
Bentley: I'm here. From what I've managed to get out of the security system, the grounds are heavily guarded. I'd recommend a second story entry.
― During their heist of the Venus de Whalo[src]
Bentley and the gang planned to steal a valuable statue called the Venus de Whalo from Dimitri Lousteau during a party held at Dimitri's mansion with his fiancée Beverly D'Oinkeau in Monaco. Sly snuck into the mansion's attic, only to find some of Dimitri's guards forging pieces of fine art. Sly then quickly dispatched all of the guards, then told Bentley that they were switching to plan B. Sly was then ambushed by a member of security, with Bentley worried on the other end of the radio. A group of guards then reported to Ms. D'Oinkeau Sly's appearance in the attic. Both D'Oinkeau and Inspector Carmelita Fox, who had been invited to the party to protect The Venus de Whalo, rushed to the scene. When they got there, they didn't find Sly, but found Dimitri's men tied up and knocked out. Both women then realized that Dimitri was a forger. Carmelita then realized that she had been tricked and rushed back to the statue, only to find that it had disappeared and that Sly's calling card with a beret on it was in its place. The guards that had informed D'Oinkeau and Carmelita were actually Bentley and Co., who were now putting the Venus de Whalo in the back of the Cooper Van. Realizing that they ran 12 minutes and 37 seconds over schedule, Bentley told the gang that they had to wait 45 minutes until another boat arrived so they could leave on it. Sly quickly ran off telling the gang that he would keep Inspector Fox busy. Bentley thought to himself that Sly went over schedule on purpose just to see Carmelita again. After distracting Carmelita enough, the Cooper Gang escaped Monaco via the boat, with the Venus de Whalo in tow.

Sly 2: Band of Thieves

Once again, brains triumph over brawn!
― Bentley to Jean Bison after defeating him[2]

In Sly 2: Band of Thieves, Bentley has changed. Bentley became the team's expert in explosives and mechanical variety. He has also shown that he's capable of extremely advanced planning, even more so than the first game. Bentley is arguably the glue of all the team's plans and strategies. Accompanying Sly and Murray across the world to recover the lost pieces of Clockwerk, many things changed for Bentley along the way. As opposed to the timid shut in he once was, Bentley was now willing to perform field work for the team.

Bentley got his own moment when Sly and Murray are captured by The Contessa and he was left to fend for himself. At first, he was slightly afraid, but he knew he had to put his fears aside to save his friends. Bravely taking the challenge at hand by himself with the help of his gadgets, Bentley managed to save his friends and seemed to gain a great deal of confidence in his ability. This event served as a great source of inspiration for him, proving that he can do much more than what he reckons.

Bentley continued to greatly help the team, becoming much more forward with the others due to his experiences. In his first official boss battle, Bentley even took on Jean Bison. Sadly, Bentley's legs were later crippled by the beak of Clock-La as he was removing the Hate Chip. Murray felt very psychologically hurt by this, as he wasn't paying attention. Bentley, however, held no ill will towards his friend, believing that he did everything he could and that it wasn't his fault.

Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves

Bentley: It's no secret, I'm smarter than the other guys. But there's more to it than that.
Dr. M: (chuckles) Like what?
Bentley: Like brotherhood.
― During their confrontation[src]
In between Sly 2 and Sly 3, Sly and Murray recovered Bentley from the hospital he was staying in. He shows, however, that he felt insecure with going back and felt like he'd be a "burden" to the team now that Bentley's crippled. Soon after the gang made their escape, Murray later left the team due to his guilt.

In Sly 3, Bentley continued to mature, and played quite a central role in the game's story. As well as having to deal with his paralysis, Bentley seemed surprisingly brash at times. He has been told more than once he had "gotten devious over the years," since his plans have steadily become more violent and painful for the enemy. At various times in the game, Bentley confronted several villains by himself and was quite verbally offensive. Also, Bentley has quite successfully turned his weakness into his greatest strength, as Bentley's wheelchair was loaded with all sorts of technology, making him a force to be reckoned with. Every weapon Bentley has was integrated into the chair, and was clearly shown in the game (e.g., in binocucom radio messages, while every other character's face was close to the camera, Bentley's is leaning back, as the binocucom is on a mechanical arm). He also made optimizer goggles to see better in dark environments.

Eventually, Bentley found a love interest in Penelope, a mouse with very similar interests as Bentley. At first, however, she was attracted to Sly, and Bentley showed very subtle, but strong, feelings of jealousy over this, and even tried to impress her by saying that he was the brains of the outfit. He couldn't bring himself to hate his friend, but luckily he was able to prove his heroism by saving Penelope twice. She returned the favor, and their blossoming love served as an inspiration to Sly in his relationship with Carmelita Fox. Penelope was also the only character Bentley has shown even a small amount of insecurity over his disability to, and even admitted during the heist in Dead Men Tell No Tales that he wishes he had all of Sly's abilities, which implies that Bentley feels incredibly inferior to Sly's looks, abilities and family skills.

It is hinted that there may be a notion that Bentley does all the real work and Sly takes all the credit. Dr. M reveals that like Bentley, he was the brains of the Gang that included him, McSweeney and Conner Cooper, and he tried to convince Bentley that Sly wasn't his real friend. Bentley himself began to have a suspicion that he and Murray were simply subordinates to Sly since only Sly was allowed to enter the vault's superstructure. Murray reminded Bentley, however, that if the two had switched places, Sly would be happy for Bentley because he's something more than credit or treasure, he's a true friend. Bentley's doubt was cleared and he stood by his beloved friends to the end, proving that they have a true friendship the previous gang seemed to lack.

After the final battle, Sly disappeared. Bentley found Sly's cane and equipment, as well as all of his family's stockpiled treasure soon after the battle with Dr. M. When Sly didn't return after a few months or so, the team had split up and went their separate ways. Bentley and Penelope were the last ones remaining, constructing a new, more advanced Cooper Vault to maintain the legacy. Bentley seemingly inherited the Thievius Raccoonus in the end, becoming the first non-Cooper to write in the book. This emphasizes Sly's statement that Bentley is not a sidekick or lackey, but his "equal;" not only does he get to write in the book like Sly, but Sly entrusts the family legacy and the Cooper Gang itself to Bentley.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time

Bentley&#039;s Introduction in Thieves in Time
Bentley reprises his role as genius and strategist supreme in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. He is still confined to a wheelchair and now wears the pith helmet and bulletproof vest from Sly 2. Bentley also outfitted his wheelchair with two robotic arms.

While building his time machine, Bentley noticed that Penelope has gone missing. Worried that something was wrong, he searched the area and found that the Thievius Raccoonus was losing content right before his eyes. Determined to save the Cooper Legacy, he went and recruited Murray and Sly as quickly as he could, and modified his time machine to fit on to the Cooper Van. They quickly traveled through time to save the book and Sly's ancestors.

Bentley's retains his personality he had in Sly 3, although, he does make many more jokes with Sly throughout the game. This is especially evident in Clan of the Cave Raccoon, when he and Sly had a large back-and-forth with egg-related jokes. He still worried for his friends from time to time and supported them in any way possible, especially when Murray felt saddened when Bob Cooper was selected for a mission instead of him.

In Of Mice and Mechs, Bentley was distraught to find that Penelope's disappearance was really a betrayal of him and the Cooper Gang. She had seemingly sided with Le Paradox. Penelope later affirmed that her betrayal was because she wanted Bentley to see that the two of them could be so much greater, and that Sly was really the enemy. Bentley held the same stance he held in the past against Dr. M, that he and Sly are equals and no one else could get between them. He also realized that Penelope was somehow self-hypnotized by the belief of power and money, and that she failed to realize that Le Paradox was the one in control, not her. He battled her, each one using a mech, and with Bentley being the winner.

Later on, Sly contemplated that Bentley has finally matured into his own self. Bentley's thoughts about the Clock-La incident and his crippled legs, as well as Penelope and his broken heart raced through his head, but each and every time, he came out on top. Sly's trust and pride in Bentley reached an all-time high at this point, and felt pretty confident that with Bentley's new found strength, they would have no problem taking down Le Paradox.

After Sly disappeared at the end of Thieves in Time, Bentley began searching frantically for him. As of right now, Sly is still missing, and Bentley is continuing his search for his best friend. During Penelope's escape from prison, Bentley has recently been receiving mysterious postcards.

Other appearances

The following is based on non-canon content and is not considered to be part of the Sly Cooper continuity.

It looks like three black holes have converged and it sucked us through a Worm Hole into another world.
― Bentley in PlayStation Move Heroes

In PlayStation Move Heroes, Bentley was taken to a mysterious world with Sly where they met with Ratchet, Clank, Jak and Daxter. He has one Combustor, one Disc and one Bolt in his Gadgets. At the beginning of the game, Bentley made a rivalry with Clank because of their intelligence.

Bentley in PS Move Heroes

Bentley in PlayStation Move Heroes.

Bentley also appears in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, where he appears during Sly's level 3 Super Move. He is seen in the binocucom, telling Sly to "Focus on as many targets as possible" as Sly takes pictures of others to defeat them.

Along with the release of Thieves in Time, Bentley had his own title released known as Bentley's Hackpack. This downloadable game features an arcade, named Bentley's Arcade, where various minigames can be played. Coins are rewarded for accomplishments and can then be exchanged to unlock viewable objects from previous games. Presumably, the player takes on the role of Bentley as they go into the arcade and play the mini-games.

Non-canon information ends here.


Physical appearance

Bentley has green skin, an indigo shell (which has a blue rim and blue spots) with a light brown plastron, as well as beady black eyes that are almost always hidden behind thick brow-line tortoiseshell glasses. Bentley's outfit in Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus is apparently casual; he wears a red bow tie around his neck, what appears to be a short-sleeved dress shirt, a watch around his wrist, and a sweater-vest worn underneath his shell. It is also seen a few other times in the next two games. Oddly in this game, he also seems to have two strands of hair on his head, but they aren't seen in cutscenes.

In Sly 2: Band of Thieves, Bentley wears what appears to be a bulletproof vest along with complimentary knee and elbow pads, showing humorously that Bentley is a safety first type of guy. He also wore a pith helmet on his head.

In Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, as well as being confined to a wheelchair, Bentley now wears what appears to be bicycle safety gear and a blue bicycle helmet.

In Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, he once again dons a pith helmet and a bulletproof vest, along with a gray button-up shirt underneath his vest. His wheelchair has also been further modified with robotic arms and boosters. His shell is now just plain blue. During some missions in Go West Young Raccoon, he also dons a fake mustache as a disguise.


Bentley's personality changes throughout his life. As a child, he was very quiet, shut in and a bit of a know-it-all. As he grew older, one constant is his germaphobia, as he constantly worrying for his own and his teammates' health and well-being. He also gets paranoid at times and is more realistic than optimistic. He is always shown to be utterly sure of his great brain power, even in moments of doubt among the rest of the gang. He usually says things like; "No code can stand before me!", and, "Don't I always." No other members of the gang even try to match Bentley intellectually and like him have no shame in admitting he's the smartest.

Bentley also is less confident with coming up with plans on the spot, which Sly and sometimes Murray are able to do, and tends to panic when he doesn't have "all the facts" as stated in "A Friend in Need."

In "Operation: High Road," Bentley implied he's asthmatic and in the 3rd game he stated he was allergic to tomatoes and lemons. The first and last of these statements can't be true as Bentley never has asthma attacks or uses an inhaler (and would never be able to handle the tasks he does if he had asthma, though he could have a mild form of it) and if he were allergic to lemons he never would have survived the lemonade drinking contest (he may have just made it up in an attempt to get out of having to drink the lemonade).

In the first game, he appears happy to help Sly retrieve his family's book but is still panicky, nervous, and uptight. Nonetheless, he manages to pull through in the end and gains some level of confidence from it.

At the start of the second game, he seems nervous and uptight as ever but is nonetheless willing to go out into the field. This nervousness eventually fades as the game progresses; after the capture of Sly and Murray, he is left to fend for himself, subsequently turning over a new leaf for his mannerisms. After pulling himself together and saving his friends, he appears more confident and relaxed than his previous self, even gaining a sense of sarcasm to rival Sly's, often countering Sly's remarks with his own quick wit. He was able to use this to tick off Muggshot and bait him into getting arrested again.

Even after his tragic confinement to his wheelchair, Bentley is still quite confident in his abilities, using his wheelchair to the fullest extent. He is also, as pointed out by Murray, now very devious after all those years. This is backed up by some of Bentley's missions which require many guards killed.

In the fourth game, Bentley sank into a deep depression after finding out she had betrayed them, refusing to talk to anyone, even his lifelong best friends, but his confidence peaks when he defeats his ex-girlfriend Penelope, representing his independence and ability to get over any obstacle.


Bentley's greatest and most primary ability is his intelligence. He proves this through all four games by planning every master operation. He is also extremely skilled with technology, upgrading his wheelchair with various weapons and gadgets as well as inventing numerous devices. He also utilizes a large variety of bombs and darts with different effects.

Bentley is also a master hacker, mathematician, clue decipherer, inventor, gadgeteer, chemist, biologist, tactician, pickpocketer and a demolitions expert. He also has a keen eye for secrets hidden in artwork, is capable of fighting numerous guards and can hold is own in vocalization against opera master Don Octavio. All of this can contribute to Bentley actually being a polymath.

Despite getting top scores at the Lumberjack Games Bentley is the least physically able member of the gang. As such he can take the least amount of hits from enemies and dishes out the least amount of damage with his standard attacks. During the lemonade drinking competition, he drinks his slowest and spills quite a lot. However his gadgets, which can significantly damage (or have other effects based on the used gadget) multiple opponents or ensure a quick escape from battle, more than make up for his limitations.





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