Cozen was a parahuman who was the second-in-command of the Red Hand. After their alliance with the Undersiders, she entered into a relationship with Grue.
Personality
Cozen is self possessed and careful, able to survive as a cape for a long time.[1]
She was the second-in-command of the Red Hand[2], and they stuck close to her on missions. She, in turn, stuck up for them, referring to them as a group[3]. Following the death of the leader, she moved up in importance.[4]
Cozen was horrified to see that the Slaughterhouse Nine had killed entire families in the course of slaughtering Killington. Weaver speculated that she "wasn't a fighter. None of the Red Hands were, really. They were professional thieves."[3]
As a civilian she is much more reserved, treating her cape identity as a performance.[1]
Relationships
Brian Laborn
At some point during the timeskip, Cozen and Grue became a couple. This was despite having been on opposite teams at the start, she was Brian's longest relationship.[1]
Taylor Hebert
She and Taylor had a slightly hostile relationship, largely as a result of Taylor having dated her boyfriend.
Taylor described herself as "jealous and hurt and bewildered"; she attempted to tell herself that she "was glad he’d moved on", but didn't quite believe it.[2] Cozen, for her part, accused Taylor of "want[ing] us gone" and "talking like you’re in charge" while they were on a mission against the Nine.[3]
Nevertheless, Cozen described Taylor as "a legend", and betrayed "a trace of fear" when confronting her.[3]
Appearance & Equipment
Cozen was a young woman. She was "a rogue, in the dashing villain sense," wearing a mask around the eyes, and old-fashioned clothes with lace around her cleavage. Her jacket and slacks were festooned with belts, bearing utility pouches and knives. She also wore two gloves, one of requisite to show her allegiance. The glove that wasn’t red had bladed fingertips, with a brace around it to keep these in place.[2]
Taylor described her cleavage as "ample", as well as describing Cozen's gaze as "a narrow, hard look." However, she admits to feelings of jealousy in the same section.[2]
Abilities and Powers
Cozen could create pocket dimensions much like Circus'. However, she could place these 'caches' in fixed locations, rather than simply keeping them on her person. Furthermore, she was not necessarily limited to inanimate objects as she could also store people in them. Lastly caches placed within roughly 25 feet of each other could form a 'network' where objects could be taken from or an individual could be brought to after a delay.[5] In practice, this operated as a form of slow teleportation.[6]
Her abilities only operated ideally when she had total focus without worrying about her safety or other distractions.[6]
History
Background
Joined the Red Hand.
The Timeskip
Cozen walked in step with Grue as he approached Weaver and watched as the Super-Hero pulled Grue into a half-hug, half-shake. She wished Weaver a happy birthday and even met heroes gaze with her own, hard look.[2]
Grue then introduced Weaver to Cozen before Weaver said that it was nice to meet her. Cozen said that the pleasure was hers as she was meeting a legend. She listened as Tattletale and Weaver talked before Grue congratulated her on her upcoming graduation into the Protectorate. Weaver told them that she should be congratulating them, under the mistaken impression because of Imp that the two were married.[2]
Cozen and Grue later had a murmured conversation.[2]
Post-Timeskip
With the alert that the Slaughterhouse Nine had assaulted Schenectady she deployed there with the Undersiders.[3]
Gold Morning
She would ascend to the leadership of the Red Hands. and later attend a meeting of the Undersiders to remember the fallen at the Gold Morning.[7]
The Ice Breaks
She had apparently died, or at least was "gone".[8]
Chapter Appearances
Trivia
- "Cozen" means to cheat or steal, it is also an archaic term deriving from Italian that means 'dealer', in this case, a black market dealer.
- Whether or not Cozen actually died is admittedly ambiguous; Grue notes that one of his girlfriends is dead and the other is "gone".[8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 “Driven. She could really perform, she could put on an act, and I think that’s important when you’re a cape. She had a long history as a thief and a burglar, and I actually got my start as a burglar for hire. [...] I liked that she reminded me of who I used to be. Who I wanted to be, back when I got started. I think I lost sight of all of that.”
[...]
“Out of costume, she was a much quieter person. Like she saved up her energy for the performances when she put her mask on. I liked that part of it. She’d make dinner one night, I’d make it the next. We’d skip lunch, sometimes skip breakfast too, just to sleep in or do other things instead. The way we traded off on the chores and work, it’s like we took turns taking care of each other. It was calm. Even when we were in costume. But-”
[...]
“Year and a half. My longest relationship. We were together when the world ended.” - Excerpt from Infrared 19.g - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Excerpt from Scarab 25.6
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 - Excerpt from Sting 26.1
- ↑ I felt the tears stop at one point, and rubbed them away. I had to try twice before I could voice a question. “How’s Grue doing?”
“Ask him,” Imp said.
I shook my head.
“He’s okay. Cozen made it out okay, but Rook didn’t. So Cozen’s getting a promotion.”
“To leader?”
Imp nodded.
“Ah.”
Is there even anything to lead? How do you manage a group of thieves when everything that’s worth stealing is slowly being erased from the planet’s surface?
I wouldn’t push it. - Excerpt from Extinction 27.3 - ↑ Private email conversation with Wildbow, archived on Spacebattles
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Cozen Pocket dimension could stow/produce items and individuals at range, could act as very slow teleportation, only operated ideally when under minimal stress/undistracted. - parahumanList, bolded edit by Wildbow.
- ↑ Interlude: End
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 She wanted to grab him again, shake him. She wanted to tell him that there was nothing wrong with saying ‘yes’. But ever since Bonesaw had got her hands on him, he’d been even more distant. She could count the people he’d extended any measure of vulnerability to on one hand, and she wasn’t one of those people. Of the two more important ones, one was gone and the other was dead. - Excerpt from Interlude 19.f II
| Leader | Rook (Formerly) • Cozen |
|---|---|
| Members | Getaway • Rifle |
