Gustav Gale
"We knew you show up soon, rodent." |
Gustav Gale is an anthropomorphic Russian flying fish, and he appears in Sly Cooper: Age of Thieves. He is the boss of WW1 Netherlands alongside Amber.
Background[]
Once an amateur pilot from Moscow, Russia, Gustav Gale became fascinated with military aircrafts, and proceeded to train himself to become worthy of piloting one. However, while he was successful in his endeavors, the Russian government soon discovered that Gustav was actually the enforcer of the infamous Fishtovski crime family and Gustav was locked away, with his pilot license being permanently revoked shortly afterward. When he escaped prison, Gustav persistently took down any pilot he could, becoming the most feared rogue pilot in the country and vowed to regain what he viewed as his rightful place as part of the Russian military.
For awhile, he went into hiding in Darwin, Australia, where he encountered Amber, who was also on the lamb. The two became inseparable ever since, with each one having their own unique motivations for breaking major laws.
Biography[]
Alliance with Penelope and Chronos[]
He was the hardest mercenary to recruit, according to Penelope, and Chronos had to pull some strings to make it happen. Gustav was eventually given the task of developing weapons in WW1 Netherlands, thereby allowing the minerals that Le Dude would mine in Celtic Scotland to be of use. After hearing enough of the plan, he asked Amber to come along, which she gladly did. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had met Penelope before.
Taking to the Skies[]
Otto van Cooper was already onto Gustav's plans, as the technology Gustav brought with him was more than enough to tell him something wasn't right. Gustav, however, shot down Otto's plane mid-takeoff, grounding Otto and throwing him into a torture chamber. While Amber handled the technical aspects of the weapons designing, Gustav provided the manpower to keep his minions working, and of course, keeping Otto van Cooper under lock and key. Forcing all of the locals into their homes, the town that Otto called home was now one giant weapons development factory.
Encounters with the Cooper Gang[]
Gustav would only be mentioned by Amber once before disappearing into the weapons development facility. However, in the mission where Sly gets his Repairman Costume, Gustav finally appears, furious that Sly Cooper had infiltrated one of his hangars. Ordering his guards to kill Sly, he heads off into the night, believing that the Cooper Gang's main thief wouldn't escape alive. He would soon be proven wrong when he encountered him and Penelope, who he was shocked to see on the good side, on one of the Cooper Gang's later jobs.
During one final job before the main assault, Penelope ventured off to face Gustav on her own, thinking that she can take him on without support. During their confrontation, Penelope and Gustav realized that they had met each other before. Due to her delusional mindset from earlier, she hadn't remember much about her life. Before her eight birthday, Penelope's mother and father were challenged to a dogfight by Gustav, who at that point was an international criminal. Penelope's mother and father were killed during the ordeal, leaving Penelope homeless and alone. She vowed to become a pilot and avenge her parents, but Gustav had fallen into obscurity around this time, with many rumors circulating that he had finally met his match. This led Penelope to letting go of her anger, and she chose to live the good life as the Black Baron, an identity she made to get into piloting competitions that she originally hoped would lure Gustav to his death, but later got used to using for the sake of achieving fame and fortune. After a short skirmish, Gustav tactically retreated, as the prototype Clockwerk was finally constructed. The revelation that Clockwerk was seemingly being built made the Cooper Gang frantic in their effort to defeat Gustav, Amber and Chronos, leading to an aerial battle between Otto van Cooper and the prototype Clockwerk. Eventually, the prototype was destroyed, but part of the machine broke off a part of Otto's plane, forcing him to parachute to safety.
Defeat and Incarceration[]
After the destruction of the prototype Clockwerk he and Amber piloted, Gustav, along with Amber, fought the Cooper Gang on foot, specifically against Penelope, who was trapped. Eventually, after what felt like forever, Penelope avenged her parents' death and defeated Gustav and Amber.
During the credits, it's revealed that Amber and Gustav were sent to Europe's highest security prison. Unlike Amber, who was stuck in an improved version of Penelope's cell, Gustav was forced to be in a giant fish tank, far away from his piloting gear, and with his life sentence, Gustav was guaranteed to stay there.
Appearance[]
Gustav Gale has light blue scales, a periwinkle set of front fins, which have opposable thumbs and four fingers. He also has legs to walk with and wears a breathing apparatus for his gills. Clothing-wise, Gustav wears a dark yellow tuxedo with Penelope's logo on his right sleeve. Due to his diminutive size, he walks around in a small walker built by Penelope prior to her switching sides. This walker comes with two large robotic arms, but leaves the cockpit completely vulnerable to an attack from above.
Personality[]
Gustav is extremely confident is his piloting skills, and prides himself in believing that he is the best. However, he manages to remain realistic enough about his own abilities that he doesn't let pride get in the way of key judgements. Highly impatient, he prefers using brute force to intimidate his guards into doing what he says, making sure everyone around him is afraid of him, his way of making others pick up the pace. A bully at heart, he doesn't tolerate weakness, and doesn't rely so much on words as he does actions. He never compliments his troops, but at least he isn't as merciless as Amber is. His serious nature tends to make him very intolerant of jokes as well.
Abilities[]
Having bettered his piloting skills, Gustav Gale is now among one of the top flyers in the world, capable of performing fantastic feats when in the cockpit of a plane. Gustav and Amber can also use positive and negative charges to electrocute opponents, with Gustav using the positive charge. This, of course, was provided by Penelope, something she would greatly regret. In his battle mech, Gustav can fire small missiles from his mech's arms and legs, making him a threat both on land and in the air.
Guards[]
Fearsome Falcons[]
The Fearsome Falcons act as Gustav's flashlight guards.
Selfish Squirrels[]
The Selfish Squirrels are one of two varieties of rooftop guard, one that emphasizes attack variety and physical attacks.
Furious Firecrests[]
The Furious Firecrests are the second type of rooftop guard. They call for help when they are overpowered, and will even attack with long-range weapons.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Gustav was given the codename "The Persistence" due to the length of time he has tried to regain his position in the Russian military.
- Claiming victory over Gustav and Amber will reward the player with the "Surf and Turf" Trophy.
- Defeating Gustav and Amber in under two minutes as Otto van Cooper will reward the player with the "Wet Behind the Ears" Trophy.