The Guru of the Stone, known colloquially as "The Guru" among the Cooper Gang, was a shaman rooted in the Australian Outback. He served as Murray's spiritual master and instructed him in the arts of the Dreamtime. After the Cooper Gang helped him clear miners out of his home, the Guru became the first individual to join the group and aid them in the Cooper Vault heist.
Biography
The Guru's home was a small hut in Yuendumu, Australia. Although, he spent most of his time meditating inside a nearby cave.[1] He studied the mystic arts of the Dreamtime and was also the guardian of the malevolent Mask of Dark Earth, which dwelled deep underground.[2]
Murray's teacher
The Guru sending Murray on a mission
The Guru was visited one day by Murray, who wanted to find his "spiritual center". The Guru agreed to teach Murray in the art of the Dreamtime and sent him to locations all over the globe as part of his training.[3] He also taught him the Aboriginal Ball Form and Temporal Lock.[4]
The next location the Guru sent Murray to was Venice, Italy, where he tasked his student with making "the black water run pure". This black water was actually the tar-polluted water around Venice caused by Octavio.[3] While Murray was completing his assignment, miners arrived in the outback and began excavating opals. They deployed a gyro-copter that honed in on the Guru's Moon Stone and captured him.[1] The miners' excavations disturbed the Mask of Dark Earth which, unguarded, escaped from the caves.[2]
Joining the Cooper Gang
Without his Walking Staff and Moon Stone, the Guru was powerless to escape from his stockade prison and could only watch as the miners tore up the landscape. While the Guru was imprisoned, Sly Cooper showed up to break him out. The Guru refused to leave his prison until his equipment was returned to him. He also requested that Bentley and Murray meet with him individually.[1]
Murray was the first to meet with the Guru. He told his teacher that he had accomplished his task back in Venice and wanted to rejoin the Cooper Gang. Murray also expressed his hopes of the Guru coming along with them. The Guru replied by explaining his current situation with the Mask of Dark Earth and the miners – that only when these two adversaries were dealt with would he join the gang.[5] Later, Bentley visited the Guru and returned his equipment to him. When Bentley asked how the Guru planned to escape from his stockade, the Guru displayed to Bentley his ability to transform and take control of others. Once he had broken out, the Guru set out to destroy the miners' machines that were tearing up the landscape.[6]
The Guru joining the Cooper Gang
During the final phase of the Cooper Gang's operation, Moon Crash, the Guru destroyed the miners' gyro-copter. He also spotted out the Mask of Dark Earth to Murray (who was disguised as the Moon Spirit). When the gang failed to destroy the mask, it took control of Carmelita Fox; however, Sly was able to get the mask off of Carmelita and it was destroyed. The Guru and the Gang watched over Carmelita as she recovered.[7]
As Carmelita began to stir, the Cooper Gang made a hasty retreat. With the Mask of Dark Earth destroyed, the miners gone, and the Guru's home at peace once again, he followed the gang on their travels and was recognized as a new member of the team.[8]
Cooper Vault Heist
As the Cooper Gang's mystic, the Guru aided them as a valuable ally during their operations in Holland. His missions involved assisting the gang in breaking into one of the Belgian supply trucks[9] and possessing a giant wolf within the area to thin out the Black Baron's guards.[10] In China, he assisted Sly in retrieving Bentley's computer back from General Tsao using his telekinetic abilities.[11] During their fight against Captain LeFwee in Blood Bath Bay, the Guru used his abilities to control the Crusher, effectively turning it against the pirate captain.[12] Finally, as they began their final heist at Kaine Island to gain access to the Cooper Vault, the Guru possessed numerous sharks to destroy a magnetic buoy that the cane had clung onto.[13] At the conclusion of the Sly 3 storyline, he took on new students for his Dreamtime course, but was subsequently annoyed by the attention they attracted and fled to New York in order to escape them, figuring "it would be the last place they would look".[14]
Characteristics
Personality
Thanks Guru, you always know just what to say.
― Bentley, after the Guru gives him advice.
The Guru was a pacifist who sought to solve problems with minimal violence; even when threatened, he would try to find a "middle way" instead. He was kind to his comrades and even showed a humorous nature at times. He was also somewhat stubborn, refusing to leave his prison stockade until after his walking staff and Moon Stone were returned to him.[1]
Abilities
The Guru gaining control over a miner
The Guru's most notable ability was the power of hypnosis, as seen when he controlled enemies by mounting himself onto their backs. Another one of his techniques allowed him to morph himself into common objects in order to blend in with his surroundings. To use these abilities, he required the power of his Moon Stone, with which he was also able to communicate with the other team members through their varied Binocucoms.[6]
The Guru using his Moon Stone to communicate with Bentley
The Guru possessed a high degree of telekinesis, and used this technique to lift various objects and guards high above the ground.[11] The Guru also possessed a certain degree of telepathy, as observed when he bridged both Sly's and the Panda King's minds, and also when he read the Panda King's mind in order to discover the reason why he was in a complete state of peace.[15]
Although the Guru taught Murray techniques such as the Aboriginal Ball Form and the Temporal Lock, it is unknown whether or not he was able to perform them himself.
Appearances
Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
- Beginning of the End
- 2. Rumble Down Under
- 3. Flight of Fancy
- 4. A Cold Alliance
- 5. Dean Men Tell No Tales
- 6. Honor Among Thieves
Trivia
- The Guru is the first addition to the Cooper Gang after the founders.
- The Guru and Penelope are the only members of the Cooper Gang that cannot attack alone. However, while mounting himself on a guard's back, he is able to utilize their weapons in combat to attack.
- The credits list him as "The Shaman".
- The Guru is the only new member to join the Cooper Gang not to have been a former antagonist.
- The Guru is the only member in the Cooper Gang not be in a boss fight.
- Throughout the entire game of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, the Guru speaks in a language unknown to the player. However, the entire Cooper Gang seems to understand his words.
- In the aftermath of Honor Among Thieves, it is said that the Guru is a teacher to a group of rockstars. This is a reference to The Beatles who met a guru teacher.
- The Guru makes a cameo appearance in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. He appears as a hanging accessory inside Murray's Binocucom.
- A treasure that appears in the fifth episode of Thieves in Time implies that the Cooper Gang will meet the Guru again in the future.
Gallery
