Hal Cooper

"They stole our livelihood, Betty. And I'd die before I let them steal my daughter, too."

- Hal to Betty

Hal Cooper is a recurring character on Riverdale. He is portrayed by Lochlyn Munro.

Hal is the editor and co-owner of the local newspaper, which he runs with his wife Alice Cooper, and the father of Betty and Polly Cooper. He holds a fanatical hatred for the Blossom Family and abhors his own unborn grandchild.

Early life
Prior to the start of the series, Hal married and later had two daughters, named Betty and Polly, with his high school sweetheart, Alice Cooper. Hal and Betty would often spend time together by working on vehicles. He also owns the local newspaper, The Register, along side his wife. Due to his family's history with the Blossom family, he harbours a deep hatred for members of the Blossom family.

Season 1
Hal stood alongside Alice, as the local authorities brought Penelope, Cliff and Cheryl Blossom up to the shore of Sweetwater River, just after the mysterious drowning of Jason Blossom. The following week, he returned to the shore with his wife and daughter, they were forced to stand by as Jason's body was brought to land.

Before leaving their home, Hal and Alice announced to Betty that it would be a long night for them. Alice corrected him as there'll be a lot of long nights due to Jason Blossom's murder. Hal found his wife's tone to be a little unsettling, as it almost sounded like joy. However, Alice was unconcerned with his opinion.

Hal and Alice attended the first annual Taste of Riverdale, in celebration for the upcoming 75th anniversary of their town. Once there, Hal was forced to assist in breaking up a violent altercation between his wife and Penelope Blossom.

Hal and Alice knocked on the door of the Andrews house, he first apologized to Fred Andrews for coming unannounced, but it's been a rough couple months for them. Before Hal could finish his sentence, Alice cut him off, she insisted that Archie and Betty stop spending time together. The relationship is toxic, on both sides, and their recent behavior reflects that, or so Alice claimed.

While Alice was off at a women and journalism spa retreat, Hal took the opportunity to work on his car, however, that was halted as Betty entered the garage, wanting to talk about Polly. Hal explained that Polly and Jason had a fight, he was unsure what the fight was about, but Polly was devastated afterward. He came home from work one day and heard the water running in the bathroom, so he knocked on the door, asking Polly if she was okay, but she didn't reply. Hal then kicked the door down to find a suicidal Polly attempting to commit suicide, this is why she was sent away. After a heartbreaking talk with Betty, Hal proceeded to watch old home movies of Polly that night, while drinking his sorrow away.

Hal later attended Jason Blossom's Memorial, there he had a run-in with Cliff Blossom, they had a brief exchange of words in what looked like a heated conversation from Betty's view, and went their separate ways. Once home, Betty confronted him with news that Polly was engaged to Jason, however, Hal was already aware of this, it goes back to what he and Clifford were arguing about, which was their families, the Blossom clan came extremely close to destroying his family. Cheryl's great-grandfather murdered his grandfather over money. They were business partners in selling and trading maple, but one day, Cheryl's great-grandfather decided that he no longer wanted to share the profits, so he murdered Hal's grandfather. The Blossoms stole their livelihood, he'd die before he's allow them to steal his daughter too, Jason made her sick, so she's not returning home into she's no longer sick. He warned Betty to stay out of it. By the end of the episode, Betty had come to the conclusion that Hal was the culprit that broke into Sheriff Keller's house and stole the evidence regarding Jason Blossom's death.

Having learned that Betty and Jughead secretly visited Polly at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, he questioned if Betty had found what she was looking for while she was there. Much to her disappointment, she didn't. However, that didn't stop Hal from being the target of Betty's suspicions. He hated the Blossom family for stealing the Cooper family legacy, as well as Polly being pregnant with Jason's child, which gave Hal motive. Hal did not attend closing night for the Twilight Drive-In, nor was he with Alice, which that led Betty to believe that he was not only the culprit that broke into Sheriff Keller's house, and stole all the case files on Jason's murder, but that he might have been the person who killed him. Hal and Alice accused Betty of sounding just as crazy as Polly, who Hal claimed was depressed and delusional, and her story about running off with Jason, just a fantasy.

Hal, Alice, Betty, and many other residents of Riverdale orchestrated a search party in an effort to find Polly. They began in the Eversgreen Forest, and headed East since that's the direction Polly would have gone in if she wanted to leave town unnoticed. After a run-in with the Blossoms, Alice announced to the town that Polly was pregnant with Jason's child. The next morning, he and Alice were asked a number of questions by Betty, such as if Polly and the baby would be staying with them at the house. Hal and Alice lied to Betty, they told her that Polly decided to give the child up for adoption as it was the only option, however, Betty already knew that they weren't telling her the truth.

Following Polly's baby shower, which he did not attend, Hal was confronted by Alice, who demanded to know what he said to Polly after the discovery of her pregnancy. According to Polly, Hal made an appointment with a doctor to get rid of Polly's mistake, meaning her pregnancy with Jason Blossom's child. He did this, all the while keeping it from Alice. In a fit of rage, she shoved him, claiming that he did the same thing to Polly, that he did to her many years ago. Hal didn't involve Alice in the procedure as he knew precisely how Alice would react, she'd allow her emotions to get the better of her.

He claimed that Alice wasn't ready and neither was Polly. Sending her to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy wasn't enough because the child belonged to the Blossoms, and he refused to be party to raising a child that had Blossom blood. As tears filled her eyes, and her anger consumed her, Alice shoved Hal yet again, yelling at him to get out the house before she did something they'd both regret.

Alice and Betty came to Hal at The Register, where they presented him with a USB flash drive that contained a tell-all exposé of the corruption surrounding the Blossom family. With motive and the capacity to see it through, Alice and Betty deiced it was time for the Blossoms to answer for all the harm they had caused, everything up to and including them taking Polly, who was currently residing at Thornhill. However, Hal refused to publish Alice's article as it would only serve her personal vendetta against the family. Having been bitter after getting kicked out of the house, Hal changed the login password for the Registers' computer, in preparation that the day would come when Alice would require it's services. He explained that he was kicking her out of the Register just as she kicked him out of their home, and that she was fired, a set back that Alice didn't take a liking to, as she threw a large rock through the glass window of the shop.

Physical Appearance
Hal is a middle-aged man of average height, around 5′ 11″, with a muscular build. He has tan skin, blue eyes and blonde hair. Like his wife, Alice, Hal is typically dressed in professional clothing, suits or collard shits and vests.

Relationships

 * Hal and Alice
 * Hal and Betty
 * Hal and Polly