Murray Hippo (Game Character)

Murray Hippo (マーレー・ヒッポ, Mārē Hippo), is a fictional character and protagonist of the Sly Cooper series. He is a pink anthropomorphic male hippopotamus, best friends and partners in crime with Sly Cooper and Bentley, and is the muscle of the Cooper Gang. He is also the wheelman of the gang who has a great love for his Van, which he is in charge of driving when the gang needs to different locations or make a quick getaway.

As a large pink hippopotamus, he is amazingly strong, but somewhat dim-witted. He often ventures to the field on missions requiring such strength. His demeanor changed drastically between the first and second games, going from a timid getaway driver, to someone much more fearless, often throwing himself into dangerous situations just for the thrill of it. It is stated that he has developed a more serious personality, though he remains a happy-go-lucky hippo.

"Fear the Murray!"
 * —Murray Hippo.

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice Actor: Chris Murphy (English), Takashi Nagasako (Japanese), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (German), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Poland), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)

Appearance
Murray is a hippopotamus with pink skin and brown eyes and is depicted as having a muscular upper body and a large stomach. He wears a blue-green T-shirt and a light blue scarf. From Sly 2 on, Murray dons a maroon wrestling mask, fighting gloves and a large belt. He also wears a pair of driving goggles and white shoes. Before he returns to Cooper Gang in Sly 3, he wears Dreamtime make-up and replaces his scarf with a short yellow cape to indicate his apprenticeship to the Guru.

In Thieves in Time, Murray's belt buckle changes from being a normal frame-style belt buckle, to one with a large wrestling plate on the front, adorned with the Cooper gang's logo. His shoes go from being plain white to white with red stripes. He also has a vertical yellow stripe going down the middle of the back half of the mask.


 * Hair Color: N/A
 * Skin Color: Pink
 * Eye Color: Brown
 * Age: Not Known
 * Birthday: Not Known
 * Height: Not Known
 * Weight: Not Known

Personality
"What if he don't wanna come? I don't want to hurt him."
 * —Murray Hippo, to Bentley before kidnapping General Clawfoot.

One of the few comic relief characters in the game, Murray started off as a coward in Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus. Before the events of Sly 2, his love for masked wrestling, and learning that he can put up a fight in the field, made him discover his strength. He is much bolder in Sly 2, but witnessing Bentley get crippled and his eventual soul search gives him compassion and represses his rage to a point where he can call upon it when need be.

It is implied by several cutscenes that Murray is still a child deep down inside mainly due to his unstable behavior, and despite his incredible strength and his bold personality in both Sly 2 and Sly 3, Murray has a softer side. There are some occasions where he would prefer not to hurt anyone, even though he often mows down enemies gleefully. For instance, Murray was initially hesitant about resorting to violence to kidnap General Clawfoot, on the grounds that he seemed like a defenseless old man; Murray only went through with it when Bentley explained that Murray couldn't physically harm Clawfoot. Murray also has a tendency to take things that do not go as planned harder than everyone else. He is often the first person to cry in these situations, best shown when Neyla betrayed the Cooper Gang, when the team lost the Cooper Van, and when Bentley became crippled. He also felt inadequate to the team for most of the gang's time in Gungathal Valley when he tried to climb an icy wall, only for Bob Cooper to be called in to do it; while climbing icy walls was Bob's specialty, Murray probably felt outdone because he was the one that trained Bob to get back into shape in the first place.

Murray is also extremely determined and loyal, as he helps mend Bentley's fear of Sly not being his friend, and refuses to give up on his associates at any cost. During the rescue of his van, he is told multiple times that it is far too dangerous, but refuses, as the memories of his time with the gang in there is far too precious to him. His determination is so strong, he even moves the Panda King, who notes that Murray shows extreme compassion and heart.

Friends/Allies

 * Cooper Gang
 * Sly Cooper
 * Bentley Turtle
 * The Guru

Neutral

 * INTERPOL
 * Carmelita Fox
 * Penelope
 * Dimitri Lousteau
 * Panda King

Enemies

 * Fiendish Five
 * Clockwerk
 * Muggshot
 * Klaww Gang
 * Neyla
 * Don Octavio
 * Mask of Dark Earth
 * General Tsao
 * LeFwee
 * Dr. M
 * Paradox's Gang
 * Cyrille Le Paradox

Powers and Abilities
Murray's characteristic strength makes him the muscle of the Cooper Gang. This, paired with his large size, makes him a formidable opponent. Most of Murray's abilities center around the use of his fists or body; these include the Thunder Flop and Fists of Flame, among others. Because of his size, Murray is unable to stealthily pickpocket enemies, so he must resort to picking them up and ruffling their clothes to find loot.

Under the tutelage of the Guru, Murray learned the Aboriginal Ball Form, which enables him to curl up into a ball and use his bulk offensively against enemies or objects. Another ability that he obtained from his Dreamtime training was a Temporal Lock that freezes time for a short duration. As the team's getaway driver, Murray is a capable albeit reckless driver. He is also a mechanic, taking care of his van and building Team Cooper's biplane for the ACES Competition. Despite his large appearance, he is also proficient in some artistics, like coloring, drawing and creative dancing.

Early life
"I'll save you, Sly! Just leave it to... The Murray!"
 * —Murray Hippo, during the cookie heist.

In circumstances that have never been revealed, Murray was orphaned at a young age. He was raised at the Happy Camper Orphanage where he met his lifelong friends, Sly and Bentley. At some point during his youth, Murray learned how to drive by hot-wiring cars. He later got a job as a pizza delivery boy, but was fired after dropping too many pizzas.

During their time at the orphanage, the trio made a plan to steal cookies from the headmistress, Ms. Puffin. In the middle of the night, Sly sneaked into Puffin's office to grab the cookie jar while Murray stood by as getaway driver. The "heist" was cut short when the night janitor entered Puffin's office. Promising to keep Sly from getting caught, Murray pedaled his tricycle (the getaway vehicle) away at full speed. However, the tricycle had no brakes, and they crashed. Murray apologized, but cheered up after seeing that Sly had managed to dump the cookies into his hat at the last second. Later, Murray is seen eating all of the cookies without sharing any with the rest of the gang.

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

 * Main article: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

When he was 18 years old, Murray accompanied Sly and Bentley around the world to defeat the members of the Fiendish Five, who had killed Sly's father and stolen the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus. While he mainly acted as the team's getaway driver, Murray made several ventures into the field in order to help Sly retrieve treasure keys. After defeating Clockwerk, Sly contemplated on Murray's bravery and remarked that he couldn't have defeated the Fiendish Five without him.

Theft in Monaco
"My dad was right, you don't have a plan if you don't have a plan B." "I hope plan B involves food. I'm starving."
 * —Sly and Murray.

After restoring the Thievius Raccoonus to its former glory, the Cooper Gang planned to steal a valuable statue called the Venus de Whalo from forger Dimitri Lousteau and his fiancé, Beverly D'Oinkeau. Arriving in Monaco, Murray and Bentley waited outside while Sly sneaked inside Dimitri's mansion. Sly was caught, so Murray came to his rescue by taking out the security guards that surrounded him. Disguised as the guards, the trio lured D'Oinkeau and Inspector Carmelita Fox (who D'Oinkeau had hired to guard the statue) into the attic. Then, they stole the Venus de Whalo.

Outside, Murray loaded the statue into the Cooper Van. Although the theft was a success, Bentley mentioned that they had to wait 45 minutes for their scheduled boat to arrive. Sly left to distract Carmelita while Murray and Bentley waited. 45 minutes later, the Gang narrowly escaped from Carmelita with the Venus de Whalo in tow.

Sly 2: Band of Thieves

 * Main article: Sly 2: Band of Thieves

Spurred on by the minor changes at the end of the first game, Murray completely changed from his previously fearful self. He became more confident, started working out, and started going out into the field as the gang's muscle. He also took on the habit of referring to himself in the third person as "The Murray." Even with his newfound combat prowess however, he still has a passion for driving. He helps the team greatly with the many uses of his great strength, his driving skill, and his excellent ability in battle. Murray's sheer power saves the team on multiple occasions.

Two years after defeating Clockwerk, the Cooper Gang received word that the Clockwerk parts were being held on display at the Museum of Natural History in Cairo. Murray went with the rest of the gang in an attempt to steal the parts so that Clockwerk would never have a chance to be resurrected. Unfortunately, by the time the gang made it to the museum, the parts had been stolen the night before. Following their only lead on the missing Clockwerk parts, a comment from Carmelita's new partner, Constable Neyla, the Cooper Gang decided to track down the members of the Klaww Gang and steal the parts that each of them possessed. Along the way, Murray and the rest of the gang came to trust Neyla, who made it known that she was deliberately helping the Cooper Gang. Murray helped the gang steal the tail feathers from Dimitri and the wings from Rajan. When Rajan went into hiding following the theft of the wings out of fear, the Cooper Gang found out that Rajan retreated to his spice temple, where he was housing the heart.

After retrieving the half of the Clockwerk heart that was helping the production of the Klaww Gang's spice, the Cooper Gang set to work on stealing the other half of the heart that Rajan was carrying at all times. After luring Rajan out of hiding, Neyla appeared and helped Sly reach Rajan under the pretense that she was helping the gang steal the heart. However, Neyla abandoned Sly, which resulted in Rajan knocking a confused Sly unconscious and into a drained pit. Murray, who saw Sly fall into the pit, jumped down to rescue him. However, Rajan followed suit and electrified the pit's walls, with nowhere left for Murray to go. When Murray declared that he would make Rajan fear the Cooper Gang again, Rajan countered by telling Murray that all he saw was a "fat, pathetic weakling." Taking offense to being called weak (while owning up to his frame and relative lack of intelligence), an enraged Murray fought Rajan, eventually knocking him unconscious and stealing his half of the Clockwerk heart. When Neyla showed up again, Murray asked for Neyla to help him and Sly out of the pit. Neyla instead signaled for Carmelita and the Contessa to arrive, and revealed that she had been planning the capture of the Cooper Gang along with the Klaww Gang, effectively betraying the Cooper Gang. After Neyla also unexpectedly framed Carmelita for aiding the Cooper Gang, Murray, Sly, and Carmelita were arrested and taken away by the Contessa.

Murray and Sly were taken to the Contessa's rehabilitation prison to receive hypnotherapy. Naturally, Murray resisted, so the Contessa resorted to forcing Murray to eat food laced with spice, which eventually started to cause him to feel "strange." As it turned out, the Contessa was a secret member of the Klaww Gang and had been using her hypnotherapy skills to brainwash criminals into revealing where they stashed their loot. After a while, a miserable Murray was wandering around the common area when he heard Sly's voice in the vent of the area's back wall. Happy to see that Sly escaped with Bentley's help, Murray told Sly about the spice he was forced to eat and that he needed to get out of the prison as soon as possible. Sly told Murray that Bentley's plan required Murray to be in solitary confinement, where it would be easier to free him. Trusting his friends, Murray got himself thrown into solitary confinement, but that resulted in the Contessa using hypno-boxes to enhance the effects of the spice Murray had been consuming. By the time Sly and Bentley arrived to rescue Murray, Murray's mind was so lost in the spice's effects that their best course of action was to amplify the power of the hypno-boxes so that Murray would destroy the hypno-boxes in a fit of rage. Back to his senses, Murray thanked his friends for freeing him before revealing that he managed to keep the half of the Clockwerk heart he stole from Rajan away from the Contessa. The Contessa made her rounds at that moment, and that resulted in the Cooper Gang chasing the Contessa out of the rehabilitation prison. Following the recent turn of events, the Cooper Gang took an extended break before resuming their hunt for the Clockwerk parts.

Sometime after their escape from the prison, word of the Contessa's corruption spread throughout Interpol, resulting in Neyla, who was closest to the case, being in charge of dealing with the Contessa with war-level firepower. After finding out that the Contessa was in possession of the eyes, the Cooper Gang had no choice but to walk into the war zone and steal the eyes, while also getting payback on the Contessa in the process. Murray helped the gang steal the eyes, in the process freeing Carmelita from the Contessa's attempted brainwashing. While the heist resulted in the Contessa being arrested by Neyla, it also resulted in Neyla being promoted to the rank of Captain, making her an even more dangerous threat to the Cooper Gang.

Murray went on to help the Cooper Gang steal Clockwerk's lungs and stomach from Jean Bison, who retreated to his lumber camp in response. Further pursuing Bison in order to steal the talons, their mission took a turn for the worse when Bison knocked out the Cooper Gang, found their hideout, and sold all the Clockwerk parts they found to Arpeggio, the Klaww Gang's leader. After defeating Bison, the Cooper Gang used the Northern Lights battery Bison had been preparing for Arpeggio to stowaway onto Arpeggio's blimp and steal the Clockwerk parts back, along with any parts Arpeggio had. Murray's beloved van had to be left behind, which saddened Murray as he watched the ice the van was on break and send the van off into the horizon.

Despite the loss, it did not hinder Murray's ability to work in sync with Sly and Bentley as they worked to stop Arpeggio. While planning their heist, the Cooper Gang found out that Neyla had been working for Arpeggio the entire time, making her another secret member of the Klaww Gang. After Arpeggio revealed his master plan to Sly to become one with Clockwerk and achieve immortality using the Northern Lights battery and the Klaww Gang's spice ring, Neyla betrayed Arpeggio and entered Clockwerk's recently reassembled body herself, dubbing herself Clock-La as she killed Arpeggio and took off into the sky. Murray helped the Cooper Gang weaken the blimp's power so that Clock-La's power would be siphoned. After receiving a radio transmission from Carmelita, who was still on the run from Interpol due to Neyla's framing, the Cooper Gang and Carmelita came to a temporary truce to destroy Clock-La. They succeeded, but at a terrible price. At the end of the mission, Murray held open Clock-La's mouth to allow Bentley to remove Clock-La's Hate Chip. Unfortunately, right after Bentley got the chip off Clock-La, her beak unexpectedly closed on Bentley. Shocked, Murray freed Bentley from the beak, only to find out that Bentley was now crippled. A few moments after Clock-La, and by extension Clockwerk, was destroyed, Carmelita announced the end of their truce and prepared to place the gang under arrest. Sly bargained to let Murray and Bentley walk while only arresting him, and Carmelita agreed. Murray and Bentley left their gear behind as they walked away in pain and tears. Free of all accusations, Carmelita was given a promotion and she and Sly were en route to the prison where Sly was going to be booked. However, Murray and Bentley's gear being left behind turned out to be a ruse, and the two managed to take out the helicopter pilot bringing Sly to the prison while setting the helicopter to fly in circles. Upon realizing this, Sly used the opportunity to escape the helicopter via parachute before meeting up with Murray and Bentley. Bentley was eventually sent to the hospital. In spite of the ruse, Murray's emotional wounds were deeper than it seemed, which later caused him to make a tearful decision.

Soul search
"We tried to console him, but going out on his own was something he needed to do. He said he wanted to find his spiritual center."
 * —Sly Cooper.

Murray became increasingly timid of his own actions. He started blaming himself for almost everything that went wrong and even started to show a lack of confidence that Sly had never seen before. After rescuing Bentley from the hospital he was confined in, Murray revealed to his friends that he felt that he was too much of a burden and danger to the team; he announced that he was leaving the gang to find his spiritual center, much to their surprise. Although Sly and Bentley were heartbroken by this, Sly later revealed in the third game that he knew deep down that it was something Murray needed to do, presumably in order to get his thoughts straightened out after the heavy psychological blows sustained from the events of the second game.

Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves

 * Main article: Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves

"Find the match deep inside yourself... light it, and let the fire burn up your guts and boil your blood!"
 * —Murray.

By Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, Murray had given up his violent ways and became a pacifist under the guidance of a mysterious indigenous Australian shaman known as the Guru, contending with himself over the guilt he feels for Bentley's paralysis as well as his own anger. Eventually finding peace in himself, Murray is told by the Guru to travel the world on a soul-cleansing journey. He eventually winds up in Venice, Italy where Sly and Bentley find him. Sly and Bentley not only need him back for their next big heist, but also because they miss him terribly. Murray is at first reluctant because he wants to continue his journey "until the black water runs clear". Sly and Bentley figure out that this is because the local crime boss, Octavio, has been polluting the waters of Venice for dastardly reasons. When Murray meets Bentley the reunion is rather dramatic as Bentley emotionally pleads to Murray that he doesn't blame him for what happened.

Eventually the team confronts Octavio but he hurts Bentley in the process by knocking him off his wheelchair. In a rage, Murray casts aside his aboriginal ways to come to his friend's rescue, fists blazing. After defeating the opera mobster, "The Murray" returns for real. Tough as ever, his training under the Guru has also served to better focus him as well as give him a few impressive abilities he learned making him even more of a threat than before. Although despite all this, deep down he's still lovable silly old Murray. Murray even manages to salvage the van that he had thought he lost in Sly 2. When recovering his van under immense pressure and danger, his perseverance and dedication to his goal inspires the Panda King and becomes one of his deciding factors in finally joining the Cooper gang as a full-fledged member. Murray is often referred to as the team's "Heart", as he seems the most compassionate. At the end of Sly 3, this seems to be true. When Bentley begins to have doubts about Sly's true loyalty to his friends and the glue that holds the team together starts to fade a bit, it's Murray who quells all doubts reminding Bentley of their undying brotherhood bond. Dr. M, the third game's ultimate antagonist, also reveals in the end that Murray is far stronger than Jim McSweeney, the strongman of the previous Cooper Gang.

Demolition derby
"...recently he's been trying to break into the pro racing circuit. Things are looking good; he's got a unique talent of living through crashes others would of found fatal, just always bounces clear."
 * —Bentley.

At the end of events of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, Murray, Bentley and the rest of the Cooper Gang searched Sly across the island, but without success, finding only his 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. Murray, however, stays in close contact with Bentley and the two are still considered close friends. Murray completes his spiritual training with The Guru, and eventually gives into his racing passion and becomes a professional in the stock-van racing circuit, using the team van as his winning ticket. Bentley reports that things are looking very bright for Murray's racing career. It's assumed however, that if Sly were to ever come back and Murray was needed, that The Murray would be there in an instant to help out his best friend.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time

 * Main article: Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time

Murray reprises his role as the Brawn of the Cooper Gang, as well as the driver of the Cooper Van in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. The developers have said that he has matured since the last game, however, he still seems about the same as he was before.

After Sly 3, Murray entered the pro-racing circuit, stock-van class, but had to switch to demolition derby because no one would sponsor him, a result of his high insurance premiums. Bentley asks Murray if he would rejoin the gang, and he quickly agrees.

In the third episode, Murray helps Caveman 'Bob' Cooper train and get back in shape. In one mission, he tries to climb the ice on the wall, but to no avail, Bentley says they don't have the time and calls 'Bob' to climb the wall, Murray lost confidence, to the point where he didn't feel hungry, until he fought and beat Grizz.

After Le Paradox's defeat, Murray began competing in pro wrestling, while still helping to search for Sly's whereabouts with Bentley and Carmelita.

Other Media

 * Timing is Everything

Merchandise

 * The Adventures of Sly Cooper
 * Sly Cooper: To Catch a Thief
 * issue 2

Playable Appearances

 * Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
 * Sly 2: Band of Thieves
 * Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
 * Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
 * Bentley's Hackpack

Non-Playable Appearances

 * PlayStation Move Heroes
 * PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

Notes & Trivia

 * Murray's signature color is magenta.
 * In the cutscene after Muggshot's defeat in Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, he is wearing a hat with "WW" on it. This is a reference to Whoopie World from Rocket: Robot on Wheels, Sucker Punch's first game.
 * Like Sly Cooper and Bentley, Murray can't swim. It was stated in the Sly 2: Band of Thieves instruction manual that it's because the gang didn't take swimming lessons at the orphanage.
 * Unlike Sly and Bentley's species (raccoon and turtle, respectively), Murray's species, the hippopotamus, cannot swim. They can only move in water if it is shallow enough for them to stand in with their heads above the surface.
 * Also unlike Sly and Bentley, he appears to have overcome this weakness, at least with the aid of scuba gear, as he is briefly seen swimming in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. However, wearing the scuba gear in-game does not give him the ability to swim, nor does it affect damage taken from falling in water.
 * As a child, Murray wore a Japanese "Rising Sun" headband.
 * His appearance in the ending of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves references the anime Speed Racer, specifically the ending portion of the show's opening.
 * In the Cooper Vault job, he worked "Recovery Team."
 * According to Dr. M, Murray is far more powerful than Jim McSweeney ever was.
 * During development of the first game, Murray was initially going to be bisexual. This idea was dropped, however, after early tests confused players as to why Murray was talking the way he did.
 * This voice can be heard in some of the early demos for the games. Some of the audio files are also accessible on disc.
 * The trailer "Murray's Mailbag" reveals that the reason Murray doesn't wear pants is because he can't find any in his size, a fact that embarrasses and frustrates him.
 * Murray is normally voiced in Japanese by Takashi Nagasako in Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus and Sly 2. Since Sly 3 (including in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and The Sly Collection), he has been voiced by Hajime Iijima.
 * In Japanese, Murray is called "Captain Murray" from Sly 2 onward.
 * Murray is the only member in the Cooper Gang to cross-dress, and has done so only three times, once in the short "Goodbye My Sweet," another time in The Adventures of Sly Cooper issue 2 and again in Thieves in Time.
 * In Thieves in Time, Murray eats a variety of foods, such as ice cream, pizza and cheeseburgers, while standing idle. If he produces a piece of broccoli however, he holds back his barf, and discards the food.
 * In Thieves in Time, Murray has a miniature figurine of the Guru hanging from inside his Binocucom.
 * Murray's uppercut punch in Sly 2 and Sly 3 cannot kill rooftop guards, since it's used to pick them up. However, it can kill flashlight guards.
 * In Sly 2, it is possible for Murray to quickly take out a flashlight guard with an uppercut immediately after landing a regular punch, as long as the player is quick enough.