The Thievius Raccoonus (Thieves in Time)

Lore & Background

The Thievius Raccoonus is, within the Sly Cooper universe, the definitive compendium of every heist ever conceived by the Cooper family line. It is not merely a book of instructions; it is treated as a living artifact, its pages shifting and revealing new plans to those worthy of reading them. In the original 2002 game, it is the MacGuffin that drives the entire plot. By Thieves in Time, it has become something more dangerous in the wrong hands: a key that, when combined with Clockwerk's temporal machinery, allows the villain to reach into any era and extract the heists the Coopers have already completed, erasing them from history.

Clockwerk is a clockwork automaton of extraordinary intellect, driven by a desire to prove that mechanical precision surpasses the improvisational chaos of the Cooper family. His plan is not simply to steal the book but to unmake the heists it records, reducing the Cooper legacy to blank pages. The crew's mission in this final heist is therefore not a simple grab-and-run; it is a race through shifting time, past the very levels they have already conquered, to reach Clockwerk's workshop before the last page is torn out.

The heist's emotional weight comes from its framing: every time Sly, Bentley, Murray, and Caracotta pass through a previous era, they see the versions of those heists being dismantled. The book is not just a target—it is the memory of the family, and losing it means losing who they are.

In Their Own Story

The workshop smells of oil and ozone. Gears the size of carriage wheels grind overhead, and the Thievius Raccoonus sits open on a pedestal of brass, its pages fluttering as though caught in a wind that isn't there. Clockwerk's many arms move with metronomic precision, each one peeling a page free and feeding it into a furnace that burns time itself.

Sly drops from a ventilation shaft, landing in a crouch. Bentley is already at the console, fingers flying over a panel of dials. Murray crouches behind a gear-stack, a wrench in each paw. Caracotta's engine idles outside, the caracal's ears flat with impatience.

"Last page," Sly murmurs, eyes on the book. "Bentley, freeze the gears. Murray, I need a path across the flywheel."

The workshop shudders. Clockwerk turns, a dozen eyes clicking open. "You cannot steal what I have already unmade, little raccoon."

Sly grins. "You unmade the heists. You didn't unmake the raccoon."

He moves.

Reader's Guide

Target: The Thievius Raccoonus, held in Clockwerk's clockwork workshop. The book is the final objective; reaching it requires clearing the temporal gauntlet that guards the workshop.

Obstacles: The approach is layered with Clockwerk's mechanical defenses—rotating gear platforms, timed pressure plates, and clockwork sentries that patrol on fixed cycles. Because the heist takes place in a time-distorted space, certain sections shift between eras mid-sequence, altering the layout you must navigate. Bentley's gadgets (bombs, grapples, EMP devices) are essential for disabling the larger mechanisms, while Murray's brute force handles obstacles that resist technical solutions.

Story arc placement: This is the final heist of Thieves in Time. All prior missions across different time periods feed into this confrontation. The game's time-manipulation mechanics—briefly freezing or rewinding local time—reach their peak utility here, as Clockwerk's defenses are designed to be unsolvable in real-time alone.

What makes it memorable: The heist is a gauntlet of previously seen environments recombined and corrupted by Clockwerk's temporal interference. You pass through fragments of earlier levels, now broken and reversed, before reaching the workshop. The final sequence is a multi-stage fight-and-steal hybrid: disable the clockwork arms, protect Bentley while he extracts the pages, and grab the book before the workshop collapses.

Hidden objectives: Thorough exploration of the workshop reveals bonus pages and a secret Cooper family note tucked behind the pedestal. Completing the heist without triggering a single alarm grants a unique crew pose at the end credits.

Did You Know?

• The Thievius Raccoonus was first referenced as a plot device in the 2002 original Sly Cooper game, making it the franchise's oldest MacGuffin.
• Clockwerk, the antagonist of Thieves in Time, is a clockwork automaton whose design draws on steampunk aesthetics, making him visually distinct from the franchise's earlier animal villains.
• Caracotta, the crew's driver, is a caracal (a wild cat species) and has served in that role since the first game, providing the team's getaway vehicle across all four main titles.
• Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time was developed by Sucker Punch Productions, the same studio behind the original three Sly Cooper games, marking their return to the series after a gap of several years.