George Cooper
From the Tamora Pierce Wiki
| George of Pirate's Swoop | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tortallan character | |
| Biographical information | |
| Nickname | |
| Aliases | The Whisper Man |
| Born | 400 H.E. or 413 H.E.[1] |
| Died | |
| Race | |
| Nationality | Tortallan |
| Title | Baron of Pirate's Swoop |
| Physical description | |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | 6'4" |
| Weight | |
| Hair | Brown |
| Eyes | Hazel |
| Gift | |
| Magic | The Sight |
| Family information | |
| Ancestors | Rebakah Cooper |
| Grandparents | |
| Parents | Eleni Cooper, Myles of Olau (adoptive) |
| Siblings | |
| Husband | |
| Wife | Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau |
| Lover | |
| Children | Thom, Alan and Alianne |
| Descendants | Ochobai, Ulasu and Junim Crow |
| Other | Rispah Cooper (cousin), Coram Smythesson (cousin-in-law) |
| Affiliation | |
| Rank | Second in command spymaster |
| Position | |
| Occupation | |
| Affiliation | Tortall |
| Bibliographical information | |
| First mentioned | ' |
| First appeared | Alanna: The First Adventure |
| Last appeared | ' |
| Latest appearance | Terrier |
George Cooper gained the position of king of thieves early in life, to be precise at the age of seventeen. Later he married Alanna of Trebond--with whom he subsequently had three children--and was granted estates by the Crown, becoming Baron George of Pirate's Swoop. He then put his talents learned among the thieves to use by helping his father-in-law and stepfather, Myles of Olau, as his second-in-command as the realm's spymaster and became respectable. He was also known as The Whisper Man by his contacts.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Rogue
George was the son of Eleni Cooper, a former priestess in the Temple of the Mother, and an unknown temple worshipper. George grew up in the rough Lower City, where he learned to steal and speak slang. By the time he was seventeen[2], George had become the Rogue, or The King of Thieves, in the capital city of Corus. He later became a good friend of Alanna, whom he met as Alan, claiming he trusted his intuition in befriending her[3]. He taught her to fight barehanded or with a dagger, in order to give her the upper hand in her feud with Ralon of Malven. He also sold to Alanna her first horse, Moonlight, and Jonathan of Conté his horse Darkness. He gave Moonlight to Alanna at a significantly lower price than he should have gotten, telling Jonathan he would "give her [Moonlight] to the boy outright, if he'd take her"[4]. George was the first of Alanna's associates in Corus she trusted with the truth about her sex and after he learned that she was secretly a girl, he began passing letters between Alanna and her brother Thom.
By the time of Alanna's term as a squire George was already in love with her, although this love should remain unrequitted. He repeatedly told and showed her how deep he was in love with her, but at the time Alanna was still afraid of loving anyone and later Jonathan was her lover.[5] It was only after her Ordeal of Knighthood and estrangement with Jonathan in the Great Southern Desert, at the tribe of the Bloody Hawk, when Alanna came to live at George's house in Port Caynn that they became lovers. George had been in Port Caynn because some local members of the Court of the Rogue there had been misbehaving and proven to need the direct control of their Rogue. After an attempt on his life from a maid sent by a new member of the Rogue called "Claw", George felt that he had to return to Corus. Alanna didn't want to face Jonathan so soon after their estrangement and returned to the desert, thus temporarily ending her relationship with George.[6] In the following weeks and months George was busy with keeping his throne and fight back Claw and the members of the Rouge Claw had won for his cause, because Claw wanted George's position but wasn't ready to fight for it in single combat as was tradition. He eventually wom over Claw by killing him in a fair fight.[7]
[edit] Baron and Second-in-command Spymaster
When Jonathan was crowned king, George was given a pardon. He gave up his life of crime and became the Baron of Pirate's Swoop. Only a few months after the Coronation Day Battle George proposed to Alanna and she accepted. He and Alanna married not long afterwards, still in 439 HE[8]. Eventually, George used the skills of his past to assist Tortall's spymaster, Myles of Olau, who was also his father-in-law and stepfather.
George and Alanna settled down at Pirate's Swoop and had three children: Thom and the twins, Alan and Alianne, or Aly. In the summer of 449 HE George helped to defend Pirate's Swoop and Queen Thayet as well as her two oldest children Prince Roald and Princess Kalasin during the siege of his home.[9] Through Alanna he also got to know her squire, Nealan of Queenscove and he met Keladry of Mindelan on the Royal Progress.
Because Alanna was often called away due to her being the King's Champion, George was the dominating parent in his children's life, especially Aly's. His daughter was the only one of his children showing an interest in his work and George appreciated it, because he needed someone like that at that time. Thus he taught her what he knew and even took her with him when he met with spies. This went on until she was twelve and he realized that he was putting his daughter in danger, when they were meeting with a contact and it turned into violence. Although Aly handled herself well George wouldn't take her along to meetings afterwards.[10]
When Aly was asking for a real spy's work at sixteen George wouldn't put her to work. When Aly simply vanished one day George was worried for her but didn't tell his wife because he didn't want to make her anxious too, because she needed to be focused in the Scanran War. Once Alanna learned of Aly's vanishing she got angry with George. In the meantime he put all efforts into finding her again, following Aly's trail to the Copper Isles and the Balitang family. At Tanair he tried to buy Aly, whom he thought to be a household-slave. However, his daughter told him that she wanted to stay in the Isles with the Balitangs and explained about her wager with Kyprioth. George in turn revealed that he knew the Trickster God.[11] He saw his daughter again the following year when Dovasary Balitang had become Queen of the Copper Isles, when George was part of the Tortallan delegation. At that occassion he also met Aly's future husband Nawat Crow.[12]
[edit] Physical description
George is a tall, lean young man with white teeth and tan skin. Like his mother, he has bright hazel eyes and brown hair, which he cuts short like most commoners. He is also described as having a beaky nose, inherited from his father, that is too large for good looks, but he looks handsome when he smiles. He is supposed to be around six feet 4 inches. He is heavily muscled and has eyes that are full of mischief. He carries a number of knives and daggers as to be always ready for an attack, legacy of his time as the Rogue, or the King of Thieves in Tortall. His daughter Alianne, the main character of Trickster's Queen, is also always armed, and has George's hazel eyes.
[edit] Relationships
[edit] Romance
From the first time he saw her, George took a liking to Alanna of Trebond. He was the first of her friends to know that "Alan" was a girl. George waited for Alanna for eight years, weathering her relationships with both Jonathan and Liam Ironarm. His patience paid off, as eventually he "finally tamed himself a Lioness."
[edit] Family
Fern Cooper ┬ unnamed man │ ┌—————┴————————————————————————┐ │ │ Ilony Cooper ┬ unnamed man ? ┬ ? │ │ ┌—————————————————————┬——————————————————┴┬———————————————┬———————————————┐ Philben Cooper ┬ Delene Cooper │ │ │ │ │ │ Rebakah Cooper Diona Cooper Lorine Cooper Willes Cooper Nilo Cooper 4 children │ 6 generations │ ┌┴——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————┐ │ │ Myles of Olau — Eleni Cooper ┬ unnamed man Trebond unnamed │ │ │ George Cooper ┬ Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau Rispah Cooper ┬ Coram Smythesson │ │ Trebond ┌———————┬———————┬——————┬—————┬—————┬————┬—————┴┬—————┬—————┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Jonthair Alinna Thomsen Mylec Daran Liam Thayine Rose Elenna Buran
In addition to his mother, Eleni, George also has a stepfather/father-in-law, Myles of Olau. One of his known ancestors is Beka Cooper. George marries Alanna, and together they have three children: Thom (named for Alanna's deceased brother), and twins, Alianne and Alan. Alianne grows up to marry a man called Nawat, and they give George his first grandchildren: triplets Ulasu, Junim, and Ochabai.
[edit] Appearances
- Terrier (prologue)
- Alanna: The First Adventure
- In the Hand of the Goddess
- The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
- Lioness Rampant
- Wild Magic
- Squire (minor character)
- Lady Knight (only mentioned)
- Trickster's Choice (minor character)
- Trickster's Queen (minor character)
- Terrier (prolouge)
[edit] Notes and references
- ↑ Tortallan timeline: Although we are given the year 400 HE in the prologue of Terrier, 413 is probably more accurate and goes with Alanna's estimation of his age at the beginning of Alanna: The First Adventure
- ↑ Trickster's Queen, Cp. 1 (p. 9; Random House paperback)
- ↑ Alanna: The First Adventure, Cp. 2 (p. 48; Random House paperback)
- ↑ Alanna: The First Adventure, Cp. 5 (p. 122; Random House paperback)
- ↑ In the Hand of the Goddess
- ↑ The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
- ↑ Lioness Rampant
- ↑ Trickster's Choice, Cp. 1 (p. 7; Random House paperback)
- ↑ Wild Magic
- ↑ Readergirlz; "December: In the shadow of fame"; December 5, 2009
- ↑ Trickster's Choice
- ↑ Trickster's Queen
[edit] See also
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