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"Ralph, friends who want to stay friends don't discuss religion or politics, and in my case you can add the war to that."
―Cole Phelps

Detective Cole Phelps was the playable protagonist of L.A. Noire. A former officer in the United States Marine Corps, he later returned from the war as a hero, joining the Los Angeles Police Department. Phelps swiftly rose through the ranks and became a Detective.

Biography

Background

Phelps was born in San Francisco in 1920, where both his father and grandfather ran a shipping company. He attended Stanford University. Before the war, he married a woman named Marie and had two daughters with her.

Service in the USMC

Cole went to Officer Candidate School to join the United States Marine Corps. He befriended Hank Merrill and developed an intense rivalry with Jack Kelso.

In the days following his recruitment, he was given top honors for his bravery. However, during his time in the USMC, he was known as the “Dark Shadow,” considered to be “bad luck” whenever someone was under his command during combat. Some of his men greatly respected Phelps, claiming tales of his almost supernatural stealth, killing Japanese soldiers without ever being seen.

In his time with the Corps, many of his troops disapproved of his actions during combat. He was part of a scout team in the Okinawa campaign before being moved to the infantry division when a high-ranking officer at the time needed to push through the enemy line into enemy territory. During the battle for Sugar Loaf Hill, when it was time to push through enemy lines, his battalion and C.O. were killed. As a result, Cole wanted to fall back despite the protest of his close friend, Hank Merrill. Shortly afterwards, he witnessed Hank get blown to pieces by an explosion after they had taken cover in a foxhole, after which went into shock. The next morning, he was found by other USMC servicemen, covered in soot, lying next to Merrill's remains, largely uninjured. As the sole survivor, he was promoted to First Lieutenant and received the Silver Star, the third highest commendation he could achieve. Cole would forever be haunted by his experience and guilt-ridden for being honored for his "lack of courage."

Near the end of his service, he was dispatched (along with many other troops) to clear out settlements and caves for any signs of enemy forces during the battle of Sugar Loaf. Cole, being under strict orders, wanted to clear out every sign of the enemy in the caves and villages, though this caused them to fall behind other squads.

Cole's meticulous attention to detail and insistence on clearing out each and every cave eventually caught up with him; his squad fell far behind other units, and Cole eventually rushed his men into an ambush. This is contrasted with Kelso's approach, where he ordered Cole's squad to carefully approach a cave complex and simply seal the entrance, trapping any and all Japanese, whether civilian or soldiers, within. Ira Hogeboom, armed with a flamethrower and following Cole's orders, surged forward past the ambush and set the cave ablaze; only afterward do Cole and his unit realize the cave was filled with civilians, specifically women and children, who while badly burned, many remain alive and in agonizing pain.

Cole's unit, terrified and distraught about what had just happened, looked to Phelps for an answer as the badly injured women and children writhed in agony around them. Panicking, Cole ordered his men to end the victims' suffering and execute the burned women and children. Protesting loudly, and finally pushed to the breaking point by Cole's orders, Courtney Sheldon shot Cole in the back, taking out his frustration and anger at Cole's hypocrisy. Kelso arrived, taking command of the situation and ordering the Marines out of the cave, ordering them to never speak of the incident again.

After receiving treatment for his wound at an army hospital, Phelps was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps. He returned home to Los Angeles before the end of the war and joined the LAPD shortly thereafter.

Events of L.A. Noire

Joining the LAPD

Starting out as a patrol officer, Phelps demonstrated high potential as an officer, from solving the murder of Scooter Peyton to foiling an armed bank robbery and arresting Wendell Bowers. After solving the murder of Everett Gage, Phelps’ displays of intuition and ability were recognized by Captain James Donnelly.

Promotion to Detective

Phelps was soon after promoted to Detective in the Traffic department and partnered with Stefan Bekowsky. Together the two solved a string of intriguing cases, such as uncovering acts of conspiracies, fraud and even murder, while generating good press for the department. For his hard work and dedication he is transferred to the burglary division.

Promotion to Homicide

Six months later, Phelps was promoted to Homicide and partnered with Rusty Galloway. Phelps and Galloway were assigned to a series of gruesome and brutal murders. However, despite closing the cases and arresting suspects with strong evidence, Phelps began to see that all the murders were connected to each other and to the unresolved Black Dahlia murder. After receiving anonymous letters taunting the Homicide Department, Phelps realized that the true killer - the Black Dahlia murderer - was still at large.

Using the letters, Phelps and Galloway followed clues leading them to several landmarks across the city. At each location, Phelps was able to solve puzzles and elude traps, as he was being set up and tested by the killer. The final clue led to the Christ Crown of Thorns, where they found the killer, revealing himself to be Garrett Mason. Phelps chased after Mason through the church catacombs, finally killing Mason in a shootout in the graveyard.

However, Donnelly arrived and revealed that Mason was the half brother of a powerful and undisclosed politician. As such, Mason’s name and acts were to be kept out of public knowledge and off the official records. To ensure Phelps’ silence, Donnelly promised that the previous, falsely arrested suspects would be quietly released.

Reassignment to Vice

Phelps was later reassigned to the Vice squad by the request of Roy Earle. Their first case together involved solving the stolen morphine distribution from the SS Coolridge robbery, during which they arrested several dealers and killed Lenny Finkelstein in a shootout. During later cases and investigations, Phelps’ time with Earle and the Vice Squad gave him insight into the politics and corruption of the LAPD and the city’s administration.

Phelps and Earle later discovered a violent gang war for the stolen morphine between the Cohen Crime Syndicate and Phelps’ former battalion of Marines. While investigating leads for the morphine, Phelps visited the The Blue Room jazz club and questioned German singer Elsa Lichtmann. He later tailed her to her apartment. In actuality, Phelps had developed a love interest in Elsa over the months and despite him being married, had begun an affair with her.

Phelps and Earle attempted to stop the several assassination attempts on the surviving Marines, sent by Mickey Cohen. Although most of the Marines died, Phelps obtained enough evidence to prove that Courtney Sheldon was responsible for the robbery and morphine distribution. However, before Phelps could close the case and extract a confession from Sheldon and Fontaine, he was summoned by Chief William Worrell, DA Donald Sandler, and Donnelly. They revealed the adultery charges against Cole by his wife, and proceeded in suspending him from the force.

Phelps returned home to Marie, however she refused to listen. Feeling angry, betrayed, and humiliated, she kicked him out. With his affair publicized, turning him into a disgraced cop, Phelps moved in with Elsa.

Demotion to Arson

Following Phelps' suspension, he was demoted to the lowly Arson Squad and partnered with Herschel Biggs, as his adultery charge was yet to be heard in court. Phelps was tasked to investigate a series of house fires. After thorough investigation, Phelps began to suspect that property developer Leland Monroe was somehow benefitting from the fires and possibly causing them. However, Phelps was sternly warned not to investigate Monroe’s affairs due to his prominence and high-level connections in the city's administration.

The investigation came to a grinding halt as Cole's efforts were frozen by the corrupt. Phelps learned of Elsa’s substantial insurance settlement from being named as the sole beneficiary of Lou Buchwalter’s estate, after he was killed in an industrial accident at one of Monroe’s housing development sites. This aroused Cole's suspicion, and he requested that she personally see Jack Kelso to help his investigation.

Thanks to Kelso’s own private investigation, they discovered a conspiracy committed by the Suburban Redevelopment Fund, headed by Monroe with support of most important city officials - including the Mayor, Police Chief and District Attorney. The plan of the group was to build poor quality houses with the intent to burn them down, and to cash in on grand insurance money.

Phelps confronted Kelso at his office at California Fire and Life, apologizing for not being honest and inadvertently involving him in danger. Kelso sensed Phelps' guilt and confronted him about Sugar Loaf Hill, saying that he should stop blaming himself for lacking courage. With their past enmity finally put to rest, the two agreed to help each other solve their respective cases and end the conspiracy.

Phelps and Biggs later discovered the murdered body of Courtney Sheldon, however Earle appeared on scene and slandered Sheldon as “a victim of his own product”. Phelps pulled out his gun at Earle, enraged, and defending the deceased Sheldon as an honorable and brave Marine. Composed, Phelps took the opportunity to tell Earle that SRF's plans were failing, and warned Earle that his corruption would be exposed.

Phelps, Biggs and Galloway investigated the scene of Dr. Harlan Fontaine’s murder, another member of the SRF. They also learned of Elsa’s kidnapping at the hands of the arsonist. Within the office, Phelps deduced that the scheme of the SRF was to extort money not by insurance, but from the government through eminent domain. In order to prove this and bring down the city’s corruption, Phelps was determined to arrest the arsonist to close the case and to rescue Elsa.

They later arrived to Kelso’s aid in a rescue attempt to save Elsa. However, while driving to the river tunnels, they were intercepted by police patrols under the orders of corrupt Police Commissioner Worrell. Making their separate ways through the river tunnels, Kelso and Phelps found Elsa under the protection of Ira. As Kelso lamented the insanity of their former comrade, Ira reminded Phelps of both their parts in the atrocity at Okinawa. Phelps carried Elsa to safety as Kelso performed a mercy kill on Ira.

Death

Cole's last moment

Cole's final moment, before being swept away by the current

"Goodbye..."
―Cole's last words

Helping Elsa and Kelso out the tunnel with the aid of Biggs, Phelps was last to get out. Upon seeing a rushing wave of water coming towards him, Phelps realized that he was out of reach and time to get out. Phelps simply uttered a final goodbye to his friends before being swept away by a violent torrent of water, drowning in the process.

Bekowsky, Dunn, Earle, Galloway, Biggs, Kelso, Elsa, Bowron, Worrell, Carruthers, Pinker, Leary, Petersen, Marie and his two daughters were in attendance at his funeral. Earle delivered the eulogy, praising Cole's actions in the war and his actions while with the LAPD. Earle also denounced the "false" accusations made against him, angering Elsa in the process. When Kelso tried to calm her, Elsa slapped his hand away, saying "And you call yourself his friend..." before leaving. When Biggs pointed out that Kelso and Phelps were never friends, Kelso agreed, but added that he was never Phelps' enemy. Biggs said he believed Phelps knew that.

Personality

As a U.S. Marine Lieutenant in the Pacific during World War II, Cole did not feel much pride in himself in retrospect. He was reckless and overconfident, which caused and ensured his long time rivalry with Jack Kelso. During the war, he was very strict about following and obeying military rules and regulations, unlike some of his fellow marines.

Cole’s actions were also ruinous. As a result, he saw a lot of death and destruction during the war, from his act of cowardice on Sugar Loaf Hill to the atrocity in the cave, all of which impacted him emotionally and mentally. These events continued to haunt him through his life, and seemed to act as a catalyst for Cole to seek personal redemption in his career as a police officer. This also explained why Cole refused to discuss his war experiences with his partners.

As a police officer and later detective, Phelps demonstrated himself as highly intelligent, methodical and adaptable to a range of situations. Cole is driven to keeping the streets of Los Angeles clean and safe from murder, drugs and corruption. He has a strong sense of justice and dedication to protecting the people of Los Angeles, and lacks any political agenda. Whilst interviewing both suspects and witnesses, Phelps doesn't hesitate to use coercion if he isn't provided with an adequate amount of information. For example, when Howard Parnell remained tight-lipped regarding marijuana appearing in factory sealed soup cans, Phelps threatened to have half of the LAPD tear his factory apart to get the information he required.

Cole shows himself to be well educated and intelligent throughout the game, particularly through his knowledge of literature. He recognizes a poem left by a killer as Prometheus Unbound, stating his fondness for Percy Shelley. In addition to his knowledge of Percy Shelley, Phelps seems to admire Shakespeare, as he quotes lines from Shakespeare's play, Hamlet when holding a fake shrunken head in "The Fallen Idol". Furthermore, Phelps was able to learn and speak some Japanese during his time in the Okinawa campaign.

One of Cole’s most defining personal traits are that he is very open-minded and accepting, evident by his lack of sexist or racist views. During WWII, Cole saw both sides as equals and viewed the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor as justified, openly stating that he "respects the Japanese." He earned the disapproval of some, however, by expressing his respectful, almost sympathetic, view towards the enemy.

Cole’s humility mostly derives from experience on Sugar Loaf. Having been praised and awarded for an act of cowardice, Cole held a personal disdain for his glorified image. As a result, he is modest and strongly respects his peers and colleagues, despite their flaws, though Roy Earle is probably the only exception.

It is possible that Cole, like many returning soldiers, found it difficult to relate to his wife after he got back from the war. The stress and trauma of his experiences had changed Cole, causing a strain on his marriage with Marie while making him emotionally distant, causing him to seek comfort in the romance with Elsa. Despite his adultery, he still cared for Marie and their daughters and regrets the pain that he has caused his family.

Weapons and Skills

Cole carried a Colt M1911 pistol, which he took home as a memento of his time in the Marines, as his on-duty sidearm. He uses it with great proficiency. While on the patrol desk, Cole carried the department's standard-issue Colt Police Positive revolver, using it in a bank shootout. As a WWII veteran, Cole can use a variety of other weapons, including shotguns, rifles, sub-machine guns, and automatic rifles.

Cole is a very talented marksman, being able to hit a target from long range with a pistol, as evidenced by him being able to shoot Willy, who was well over 50 yards away. With this being said, he is a talented marksman and a talented combatant with weaponry.

Cole is in close arrangement to peak physical condition, being able to chase and keep up with most criminals with ease. His partner in the patrol desk once even questioned if he ran track in high school due to the remarkable impression left from Phelps. Cole trained in boxing while he was in the Marines, and also has other various hand to hand skills, and he can hold his own against many foes in a fist fight, though this is shown to be limited to individual one on one fist fighting.

Though his detective skills depend on the player throughout the game and how they solve their way through problems, Cole is said to be a remarkable and brilliant detective with an above average knack for getting information out of eyewitnesses and suspects with his communication skills and his affirmative presence as an LAPD officer and detective. Cole is also multilingual as shown when he fluently interrogated a pair of captured Japanese soldiers in their own language during the war. He possesses great interrogative abilities and has a good knack for episonage and spying as shown in optional instances or street crimes where he is required to track down a suspect or eyewitness to gain information.

Among these traits, Cole is intelligent and well versed in many aspects associated with his job as a detective and has shown ample enough knowledge to solve problems that even the most experienced detectives that had been in the department longer than him couldn't solve. Demonstrating a high potency for solving cases so much as to the point of getting promoted and recommended on the behalf of detective Roy Earle to vice, it is no doubt that Cole shows advanced progression in comparison to his detective colleagues and is no doubt an above average intellectually gifted detective. He demonstrates an ample amount of knowledge on literature to the point of a Shakespearen reference during a case and even manages to use his experience in lierature and various other subjects to solve cases. His intellectual capabilities go as far as to allow him to solve cases with the help of Jack Kelso and other partners even with restraints or constrictions involved as shown in instances where he was forbidden from investigating a certain aspect or withheld by "by the book" policies. Cole's intelligence and his capabilties with weapons are accompanied by his proficiency with transportation using a variety of vehicles available at the discretion of the player depending on their performance. In certain street crimes and general mandatory tasks needed to progress the storyline of the game, Cole demonstrates the ability to catch up with criminals breaking the speed limit with precise driving skills and/or reckless driving depending on the play style of the player at hand.

Criminals Killed

Criminals Killed in Street Crimes

  • Floyd Walker - Killed for attempting to rob a jewelry store.
  • Higgins - Killed for attempting to rob a jewelry store.
  • Morgan Boehringer - Killed for injuring a cop and for resisting arrest.
  • Benjamin Keever - Killed for attempting to rob a bowling alley and taking a hostage.
  • Rampley - Killed in self defense and for resisting arrest.
  • Rampley's Boss - Killed in self defense and for resisting arrest.

Criminals Arrested

Criminals Arrested in Street Crimes

Partners

At each desk, Phelps is assigned a new partner.

It is also possible that Harold Caldwell was his partner in the Burglary department, given their friendly nature toward each other.

Case Appearances

Patrol

Traffic

Homicide

Vice

Arson

Trivia

  • At the start of "The Driver's Seat", Captain Gordon Leary introduces Cole as "one of only two LAPD officers who received a Silver Star during the war." The other officer Captain Leary is alluding to might be Lynn Compton, who served in Easy Company (as portrayed in HBO miniseries Band of Brothers), and who served as the lead prosecutor in the trial following the assassination of Robert Kennedy. Lynn Compton received a Silver Star during WWII for his actions at Brécourt Manor and served in the LAPD from 1946 until 1951.
  • While serving in the USMC, Cole did boxing, as mentioned to Roy Earle in The Set-Up. He also hinted to Roy that he didn't always fight a clean fight. When Roy tells Cole he couldn't imagine him fighting dirty, Cole responds "The only reward for taking the fall was a thousand push-ups."
  • He was known as the "Shadow of Death" by his fellow soldiers because of his uncanny ability to sneak up behind both enemies and allies completely undetected. He was also notorious for leading his unit into dangerous situations, which ultimately resulted in his whole company being wiped out.
  • Cole never tries to contact his wife again after demotion to Arson desk, but still wears his wedding ring (possibly out of guilt, though this could have just been an oversight).
  • Phelps owns a reddish-brown Chrysler Town and Country, as seen in the intro cutscene. However, he is also seen driving the police-issue Buick Super, the standard issue vehicle for detectives.
  • Cole's badge number is 1247. Sometimes he will announce his badge number as "Twelve-forty-seven," but other times he announces his badge number as "One-two-four-seven."
  • Cole's casket at his funeral is closed. This could indicate that his body was badly mangled by the violently rushing water, or that his body was never found. However, it is more likely that the LAPD kept the casket closed in order to drape the American Flag over it, as he died in the line of duty.
  • Cole is likely a Presbyterian, as his funeral is held at Chichester Chapel.
  • Cole can speak Japanese well, possibly fluently.
  • Aaron Staton, who played Cole, and Connie Fletcher, who played Cole's wife Marie, are both actually married to each other in real life, and they have a child together, a son named Beckett.
  • His home seen in the opening credits is located on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood. It is the second house to the left from the Alaco gas station. However, it isn't enterable and it doesn't have any interior. Random cars will sometimes be parked on the driveway in front of the garage; this most likely a developer oversight, as Phelps is seen driving a reddish-brown Chrysler Town and Country in the intro cinematic.
  • The scene when Phelps confronts his wife following the disclosure of his affair takes place at a different house, located on the 1400 block of North Ridgewood Place, at the lower-left corner of the "D" in "HOLLYWOOD" on the game map. This house has an interior of a small foyer and living room but the entrance is locked, meaning it is likely that Phelps' family moved at some point after he was promoted to Detective.
  • If the player leaves their current partner behind and drives around the city, Cole has his own dialogue for crashing into things, with most of his comments being of a humorous nature.
  • Phelps spent more time in Burglary than any other desk as a detective, as he spent a total of six months on the desk.
  • "House Of Sticks", "A Polite Invitation", Part I And III Of "A Different Kind of War" and his time on the Burglary desk are the only phases of his detective career that aren't playable.
  • Cole is the third Rockstar game protagonist to die at the conclusion of their respective games. The first being Daniel Lamb from Manhunt 2 (in the second ending mission only), the second being John Marston from Red Dead Redemption, and the fourth being Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2.
  • Cole Phelps' death is very similar to the death of Charlton Heston's character in the 1974 movie Earthquake.
  • The Canadian Character Colby Phelps from the Henry Stickmin game Fleeing the Complex is a reference to him. He appears in one of the elevators during the route Convict Allies (where we side with the new character Ellie Rose and accidentally cause mass prison escape/riot) talking with Darek Gorulik about said riot before both attack Dan the Man, Lil Mikey and Pierre Francois.

Quotes

The Streets of L.A. (Free Roam)

Gamewell

Borrowing a civilian's phone

Gamewell hangup

Ordering a crowd to disperse

Summons partners

Making partner drive

Taking NPC's cars

Carjacking cop cars

Shouting to suspects

Backing out of making a lie accusation

Searches a resident

Makes an arrest

Fistfights

Melee weapons

Gunfights

Tailing admonish for being spotted

Tailing prompt to move in close

Wings fleeing suspect

Gallery

Pre-release and Artwork

In-game Images

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