Neyla

You won't stop me! Not the Cooper Gang, not Interpol, not anyone!
― Neyla after her bi-plane is destroyed by Bentley's RC Helicopter

Neyla, also known as Constable Neyla, Captain Neyla and Clock-La for a short time, was the main antagonist of Sly 2: Band of Thieves. She betrayed almost every person in the game and nearly became immortal. She was able to do this through her charm and manipulation of others. She was the second as well as the last main villain while the Cooper gang was on Arpeggio's Blimp.

Biography

Background

Neyla grew up in New Delhi. Her childhood was described as having little opportunity and not much to live for. However, she didn't feel weakened by the life around her and had a strong power over persuasion and was capable of hiding her true motives; she could fool anyone into trusting her within the first few minutes she spoke to them. She somehow managed to leave her poor and unfortunate life in New Delhi and sneaked into a university in Great Britain. She had a strong control over many people at the university, and skillfully created what was considered a 'homework ring'; manipulating others to do her work while she relaxed and then took all the credit. At some point at her time in the university, her manipulation and persuasiveness was detected by the authorities and her 'homework ring' was broken, and she was discovered. However, Interpol saw this strange young woman as an opportunity, as her powers impressed them. They believed she could get inside the criminal mind and had the power to defeat the criminal element. This offer may have possibly sparked her mind onto building some sort of a "master plan" for herself.^[1]

The Initiation of the Master Plan

...you're my protege...

― Arpeggio

At some point, maybe even before she was taken on by Interpol, Neyla had met a young parrot known as Arpeggio. The two formed a strong bond and formed an ingenious plan to gather an ancient robotic owl known as Clockwerk for themselves; however, she had a much bigger plan which would leave Arpeggio with nothing and her with unlimited power. She enforced a trust in Arpeggio who named her his "protege." Eventually the two formed the Klaww Gang, and found the location of the Clockwerk parts; they were being held at a museum in Cairo as part of a major exhibit. They utilized the Klaww Gang resources to break into the museum and all took a share of the Clockwerk Parts. Neyla presumably researched the Clockwerk parts, as she knew perfectly well that they were the keys to immortality; but she hid her ulterior motives from her master Arpeggio.

Fall of the Klaww Gang

That Constable Neyla... was her reference to the Klaww Gang just a slip of the tongue, or an intentional clue? Either way, it's my only lead on the missing Clockwerk parts.

― Sly pondering after his first face to face with Neyla

Both Neyla and Arpeggio planned to take back all the Clockwerk parts. With Neyla's strong position in Interpol, and her trust in the Klaww Gang, she could overpower everyone piece by painful piece. Neyla joined Carmelita Fox in the Cairo Museum. Carmelita believed they were there to bust Sly Cooper; however, Neyla had her own plan. When Sly revealed his presence, Carmelita and Neyla came out of hiding. Carmelita began talking of her usual ways of busting Sly Cooper and claimed that he had already stolen the parts and that he was returning to the scene of the crime. He was telling the truth that he had not already stolen the Clockwerk parts, but Carmelita didn't believe him until Neyla stepped in. She knew the Klaww Gang had already stolen the parts, but hinted to Sly it could well have been a Klaww Gang job. This hint, however, made a distrust between Carmelita and Neyla. Neyla stalled Carmelita so that Sly was able to escape to hunt down the Clockwerk parts.

Neyla presumably followed Sly Cooper to see which Klaww member he would attack first, so that she could lead Interpol to where he was going. In order for her true plan to work, she needed to gain the trust of the Cooper Gang. Sly was running along the rooftops of Paris when Neyla ambushed him. Sly himself seemed to think Neyla wasn't showing her true motives when she went as far as to say, in a dry voice, "Hold it Cooper". Neyla made it perfectly clear she was in fact herself a criminal and even revealed that she knew the true power of the Clockwerk parts. Sly mistakenly thought she was helping him so he could get hold of the parts and destroy them. Rather, she was only using Sly's gang as a pawn in her plan to collect the parts. She showed a small portion of her persuasive power to Sly and made him pursue her to the back entrance at Dimitri's nightclub. She gave Sly the key she stole from Interpol for Dimitri's backdoor and left. She then let Sly defeat Dimitri and take the Clockwerk parts, then broke into the clandestine printing area Dimitri had established using the parts. Carmelita was none the wiser of the whereabouts of the Clockwerk parts. Dimitri remained quiet throughout his arrest; he was presumably unaware of Neyla's involvement with the Klaww Gang.

Betray — Neyla betrays the Gang and Carmelita

Coincidentally, both Neyla and the Cooper Gang ended up in India at Rajan's Indian palace party. It is possible she was invited by Rajan as all the Klaww Gang members (with the exception of Dimitri) were also there. Although there was no conflicting evidence that Arpeggio and Neyla spoke, they were possibly aware of the Cooper Gang's presence and knew they were planning to steal the Clockwerk Wings. Neyla remained in her disguise until Sly needed her help. Under his advisement, she danced with him so that Carmelita would accept his offer for a later dance, which served as a distraction during the Gang's heist, in which Murray would steal the Clockwerk wings. With the Clockwerk wings now in the vulnerable Cooper Gang's hands, the next phase of Neyla's and Arpeggio's plan was underway. Arpeggio gave her permission to betray the Cooper Gang, and, in a diabolical act of duplicity, also frame Carmelita as a traitor to Interpol and further herself in the ranks. Initially, Neyla helped Sly collect half of the Clockwerk heart then accepted his date to Bollywood. Later, she crushed Sly's heart and initiated her betrayal on the Cooper Gang, Carmelita and Rajan. In a blunder, she overlooked Bentley, who eventually rescued his fellow team members.

Neyla's next phase of her plan was to arrest the Contessa, a high ranking prison warden in Interpol, who Neyla knew herself was a Klaww Gang member. Neyla used her power in Interpol to hire all stripes of additional firepower to take down the Contessa, who was hiding in her castle, and precipitated a small war in Prague. All three members of the Cooper gang were aware of Neyla's presence. She, however, seemed completely oblivious to theirs during the main operation. Neyla slowly waited for the Cooper Gang to get rid of the Contessa; then, when the time was right, she jumped into the castle tower of the Contessa and stole one of the Clockwerk eyes, hinting that she was indeed affiliated with Arpeggio. Sly had to chase her to get the eye, at some point during the chase she lost her balance and fell into a web. She demands Sly to give it back to her, but the Contessa smacks her off. The Contessa then engaged in a fight with Sly but was easily defeated. Neyla took the opportunity and arrested the Contessa thus promoting herself as Captain and enforcing her trust within Interpol. Despite not being able to get the eye back in Prague, Neyla knew the eyes would eventually be in her control and kept attempting to take the Clockwerk parts to hide her true motives. She used a plane, presumably from Interpol, to attack Sly Cooper whilst he was on Iron Horse Train 3. She was defeated by Bentley, who uses his RC Chopper to damage the plane enough for it to start malfunctioning and crashes off screen, which blows up both the plane and Neyla. Neyla quickly starts ordering her fellow officers around for a man-hunt on the Cooper Gang and Carmelita, but to no success.

A Taste of Immortality

Stupid Arpeggio. I double crossed the Cooper Gang, Interpol and Carmelita... what made you think I wouldn't do the same to you?

― Neyla

The final phase of Neyla's plan was nearing. She didn't show up in the Canadian Lumber Camp; instead, she took shelter on board Arpeggio's air fortress, whilst they both waited for the Clockwerk parts. Jean Bison (a member of the Klaww Gang operating the Canada camp) knocked the Cooper Gang out during their attempted heist, raided their supposed Safe House and sold all the Clockwerk Parts off to Arpeggio. Whilst the Cooper Gang made up with their massive loss and sneaked on board the blimp, Neyla and Arpeggio began constructing Clockwerk.

Bentley managed to find where Arpeggio was on board the blimp, it was there that the Cooper Gang found out Neyla had been in league with Arpeggio the entire time. The Cooper Gang attempted to stall Clockwerk's construction. Their efforts, funnily enough, helped Arpeggio and Neyla, when Bentley's plan backfired and locked Clockwerk's parts into place. Neyla let Arpeggio compose a diatribe about his master plan and waited quietly until the time was right. Once Arpeggio finished revealing his master plan to Sly, he told Neyla to hold Sly down while he began to enter the Clockwerk Frame.

However, she knocked his actuating apparatus to the floor and finally revealed her own plan. She taunted him about his naive trust in her, then entered the Clockwerk frame herself, becoming Clock-La. She opened her new eyes and looked down on her former master. Arpeggio tried to muster up some form of a threat, but she was far more superior than him and crushed him in her beak, killing him. She then took flight and shouted "Behold, Clock-La is born!" and with a giant screech, broke out of the blimp. She was now the most dangerous threat on Earth.

Clock-La's Finest Hour

It was as if nothing could ever hurt them.

― Sly referring to Clock-la's metallic body

Clock-La was now on the last stage of her plan. Using all the Klaww Gangs plans, she would gain immortality through Clockwerk's powers. Dimitri had fed almost all of Paris a special spice which caused a strong hatred of everything. Arpeggio had created a large hypnotic light ray to hypnotize all of Paris to power Clockwerk into immortality, using the collective hatred of the Parisian citizens as an energy source. Carmelita returned in anger and realized that, in order to defeat Neyla, she and the Cooper Gang had to put their differences aside and work together.

Neyla was now in Clockwerk's body, with her intelligence and the power of the frame. To initiate her downfall, Sly and Carmelita teamed up in a dog fight against Clock-La, who used most of Clockwerk's powers to her advantage. Sly and Carmelita had the upper hand until Neyla flew directly into the core of air fortress and blew it into fragments. Afterwards, Clock-La became angry, and then grabbed the hangar that Murray and Bentley were in and began flying away, knowing that Sly would follow her to rescue his teammates. Sly jumped out of the helicopter and made his way over to Clock-La using his paraglider. When he managed to actually land on Clock-La herself, he matched her in personal combat. Sly easily gained the upper hand, as Neyla was heavily limited in her attack options. Sly delivered a final blow, and Neyla crashed into Paris. Now unable to move, Neyla began speaking in her own disbelief (much like Clockwerk in the first game). She then summoned lasers all around her to defend herself, possibly so she could heal (again akin what Clockwerk attempted to achieve two years earlier).

Neyla's Face In Clock-La — Neyla in the Clockwerk frame

Now with the upper hand, the Cooper Gang began tearing away at her main power source. Bentley was about to deactivate Clock-La's main power source -which was the hate chip- when Murray's attention slipped and Clock-La's unstable beak fell on him, paralyzing Bentley's legs. As Murray picked up Bentley and ran, Clock-La exploded. Minutes later, Sly realized that even after the long drawn out battle, Clock-La was in perfect condition, despite her body being fragmented. Carmelita showed up, angered at missing Clock-La. She destroyed Clock-La's hate chip because it was the only thing on hand; as it was the main source of her power and immortality, the Clockwerk Parts rusted and deteriorated as time finally caught up to them, killing both Neyla and Clockwerk, eliminating their threat.

Legacy and scar on the Cooper Gang

The most notable scar that Neyla left on the Cooper Gang was paralyzing Bentley, even though she didn't actually plan it out. This also left Murray psychologically scarred for quite some time, leaving the gang for a few months for some deep pacifist training under the Guru's teachings. Eventually Bentley and Murray got past that dark chapter in their lives although they would never quite forget it. She left any chance of Clockwerk returning almost impossible. She and Arpeggio planned the break in at the museum in Cairo, stealing Clockwerk's parts that were no threat at all at the time. Neyla reveals that Clockwerk's main power source was the hate chip, thus providing the Cooper Gang with the information necessary to destroy Clockwerk, and her along with him.

Appearance

Neyla is a beautiful tigress with violet fur and markings. In Sly 2: Band of Thieves, she wears head jewelry, a red and golden decorated hijab, wields a whip and, during a dance with Sly Cooper, can be seen to have long black hair. She has green eyes, a rare eye color. She also wears a blue tank-top and brown shorts with a belt and dark green hiking boots. which are similar those of Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider series (this is presumed coincidental by some).

Personality

You might have a new body, Neyla, but you're still the low-down, back-stabbing coward we've beaten time and time again. This won't be any different

― Sly insulting Clock-la just before bringing her down.

Neyla's outside appearance was very charming; she would be so generous as to be used for two of Sly Cooper's plans (first for the key to Dimitri's disco, then at the ballroom dance in India). She appeared to the Cooper Gang as a cop who was close to the line of being an honest cop to a vigilante. She was actually a psychopath and she hated anyone who got in her way. She was a psychotic and manipulative schemer and held no social activity for long. Anyone she befriended would usually be used then tossed aside. It is possible that to her, being just a normal person like everyone else just wasn't enough as she sought immortality and the body of Clockwerk (which she did obtain).

Abilities

Neyla could easily rival Sly in his abilities to sprint, free run and perform parkour, etc. She was arguably a pro with her whip, never injuring herself once and taking out her foes in just one hit. She could perform a high level of psychological warfare; she could charm anyone she met and had a unique talent beyond many other people to hide her true motives, no matter how big they were; no one could guess the truth in her mind. When she changed her body to Clock-La, her powers were enhanced to the level of Clockwerk's, so she possessed many of his abilities and effected very little changes to it.

Neyla's Goons

Neyla has two kinds of mercenaries: tanks and warplanes. Neyla hired them to defeat the Contessa. All of them are quite powerful, despite being limited to ground power and air power. They can only be found in Prague.

Tanks

These super heavy tanks sense everything! These tanks park themselves when they attack and then fire several times. While shooting, the other tanks nearby begin to realize a target is around and thus the firepower gets stronger. To defeat them, you need a tank of your own and then fire three times in a row.

Warplanes

These warplanes are super fast and strong. If one of them sees you, it tosses out a stick of dynamite from above that takes out a massive amount of health. They'll sometimes get in Sly's way when you try to Paraglide around, but won't harm you otherwise. To actually take them down, you need the machine gun on the Contessa's blimp with Bentley. They must be shot down quickly before they get too close and attack with bullets of their own.

Appearances

Sly 2: Band of Thieves
- A Shadow From The Past
- The Black Chateau
- A Starry-Eyed Encounter
- The Predator Awakes
- A Tangled Web
- He Who Tames the Iron Horse
- Anatomy for Disaster
Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
- Honor Among Thieves (episode) (indirectly mentioned only)
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
- Episode 4: Of Mice and Mechs (appears as Clock-La cutscene)

Trivia

Neyla is one of six British antagonists in the series. Including her there's Sir Raleigh, Arpeggio, Dr. M, Miss Decibel, and the Black Baron.
Also, even though she was Born in New Dehli, she has a British accent. It would make no sense that she was born in England, since there are no tigers in England.
Neyla is first one to betray the trust of Cooper Gang. Second one would be Penelope. But unlike Penelope, Neyla was never a member of the Gang.
Neyla has shoulder-length black hair.
She has a paraglider of her own.
Neyla hints at her master plan a couple times in the game.
Neyla seems to be quite impatient because during her chase missions if Sly doesn't catch up in time the mission will be restarted.
She is the second boss that is a tiger of some sort, first being Rajan and the third being El Jefe.
Neyla is also the second boss to be a wild cat of some sort, the first being Rajan, third being Don Octavio, and fourth being El Jefe.
Neyla is the third female main villain in the series, after Ms. Ruby, The Contessa and Ms. Decibel, but she is the first and only female final boss, (as Clockla).
She is the only main antagonist in the series who dosen't have a vendetta against the Cooper Clan.
Neyla is the only other female character Sly flirts with.
neyla is the only main villain who shares a voice actor with a main hero being carmelita as both were voiced by alesia glidewell(however panda king and muggshot share the same actor as well)
along with slys ancestor henriette and his mother neyla is the only female character to be deceased(however neyla is the only 1 with an onscreen death)

References

↑ Sly 2: Band of Thieves instruction manual

Template:Navbox characters Sly 2

[1] Sly 2: Band of Thieves instruction manual

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