| “ | You're not gonna do that. You see, I never touched that body, Betty. Or the car. Or went through his phone, or called his contacts. I didn't go to the sewer pipe. It's not my fingerprints or hair they're gonna find. You know, maybe I should call the police, tell them what sort of things my sister's capable of doing. [...] You know, I don't think I'm comfortable being in the same room as someone who's done those sorts of things. It scares me, Betty. You scare me. Can't you see that? You're scaring me, Betty. You're scaring me! | ” |
Chic is a recurring character on The CW's Riverdale. He is portrayed by Hart Denton.
Chic was initially believed to be the eldest child and only son of Alice Cooper, as well as the older half-brother of Betty, Jughead Jones, and Polly Cooper. However, it was revealed that he was merely an impostor. Chic stole Charles Smith's identity. Charles was given up for adoption soon after his birth, and his existence was kept secret by Alice, his biological mother, for many years until she agreed with Betty to search for him, welcoming Chic back into their lives.
Chic was initially believed to have been killed by the Black Hood after Betty gave him up, but it was later revealed that Hal spared Chic and mentored him. After Hal was arrested, Chic went to Penelope Blossom in search of guidance, and with her help, he took up the Gargoyle King persona.
Early Life[]
Chic met Charles Smith out on the streets. They become friends and then moved into an apartment in Centerville. While living together, Chic discovered Charles' past and how he was put up for adoption by the Cooper family, who were living a moderate, suburban life. However, their friendship soon turned to the worst and they argued constantly until one day Chic lost control and allegedly killed Charles during a fight.[1]
Sometime after the supposed murder, Alice and Betty showed up at the hostel asking for Charles, and Chic decided to impersonate him and move to their house, although he always preferred to be called Chic. [2]
Throughout Riverdale[]
Physical Appearance[]
Chic is a young man in his twenties, about 6 feet tall with hazel eyes and the characteristic blond hair of the Cooper family, cut short. He is rather lanky with a well-defined jawline, another trait shared by most of the Coopers. After it was revealed that Chic was not Charles Smith but actually an impersonator, he was chased out of town by the Black Hood. When he returned, he dyed his hair red to resemble Jason Blossom.
Personality[]
Chic is a young man almost impossible to read because he is very good at disguising his true emotions. Easily inclined to outbursts of violence and fits of rage, Chic finds it very easy to manipulate and lie for his own benefit. While pretending to be his former friend Charles Smith, Chic took on the traits of an abandoned son. He was envious of Betty and spoke of his poor childhood with the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, unlike Betty and Polly, who had a more loving upbringing. To make his impersonation of Charles more believable, Chic managed to hide his resentment behind a mask of apparent calm, although it is not entirely clear whether this was the result of lacking the ability to properly express emotions or an introverted character trait, bubbling his own anger inwards.
During his time at the Cooper house, Chic displayed different emotions ranging from apathy to disturbing but also an apparently genuine tentative to bond with Alice, identified as his missed mother-figure. Chic is shown to be manipulative, such as using guilt and raw emotion in order to achieve his goals. Chic has also shown unusual and rather unsettling behaviors, such as when he creepily stared at Betty as she slept.
Chic is also a pessimist, expecting every sort of relationship to be based on personal gains and transactions to the point of using his own body as a commodity. Moreover, Chic suffers from self-loathing, eager to experiment with alternatives to his own miserable life. He shows little to no remorse for his actions and has the tendency to mask his crimes by playing the victim. Chic is also shown cutting members of the Cooper family out of a picture, removing them one by one as he terrors them out of the house.
Relationships[]
Alice Smith[]
Charles is Alice's son, who she gave up for adoption after she got pregnant in high school. Chic impersonated Charles in order to get close to the Cooper family. He first met Alice and Betty when they came to visit him at the hostel. He would later move in with the Coopers in Riverdale, spending much of his time getting to know Alice and Betty especially. He would grow close to Alice during his stint, who sought to make up for the time lost after giving him away years prior. Upon the discovery that he was in impostor, Alice ended her relationship with Chic, who initially claimed to have murdered Charles.
Betty Cooper[]
The relationship between Chic and Betty is quite complicated and at its early stages, strongly influenced by his jealousy towards the Cooper sisters for having been lovingly raised by Alice and Hal. In spite of Chic's harshness, Betty was very welcoming toward him, referring to him as "brother" very quickly. Noteworthy, is the moment in which Chic crept into Betty's bedroom to spy on her while she slept, giving rise to various conjectures to explain similar behavior. However, Betty began to suspect that Chic wasn't who he was claiming to be, and upon the revelation that he wasn't actually her brother, Betty set Chic up to be killed by the Black Hood.
Hal Cooper[]
Chic's relationship with Hal is strongly hostile, mostly due to the fact that Hal was under the impression that Chic was Alice and FP's child. After discovering that he was an impostor, Betty called the Black Hood, who unbeknownst to her at the time was Hal and sought to have Chic killed. However, Hal didn’t kill Chic because he recognized a kinship in him and spared him. Chic begged for mercy and pledged his life to Hal in service of his mission. But it wasn’t just Hal’s mission. He started working with Penelope, who also has a grudge against Riverdale. So together, the three of them worked together to dismantle Riverdale.
Polly, Juniper and Dagwood[]
Chic had an awkward to an almost non-existent relationship with Polly, conditioned by the prolonged absence of Polly from home and the fact that Polly believed that Chic was creepy, as she confessed to their sister, Betty. However, Chic seemed to be warm-hearted towards her children, Juniper and Dagwood, at least until he began to fear that the twins could in some way deprive him of Alice's affection. He then began staring at them menacingly whenever he thought nobody was watching. Of course, this was before the Coopers would learn that Chic wasn't Charles.
Kevin Keller[]
Chic and Kevin
The relationship between Chic and Kevin started when Betty asked her friend to catfish Chic in a desperate attempt to discover something more about the man she thought was brother. After a couple of unsuccessful cam-ings, where Kevin almost got caught talking to Betty, the two of them started to flirt again by chatting online and at some point, Kevin revealed the truth to Chic about how it all started as Betty's plan. Despite this, Chic and Kevin eventually decide to meet in person, with Chic inviting Kevin over to the Cooper house to spend the afternoon together. However, they were interrupted by Betty, and Kevin eventually lost contact with Chic after he learned that Chic wasn't Betty's brother after all.
Appearances[]
Season 4[] |
Season 5[]
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Season 6[]
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Season 7[]
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Trivia[]
- In the Archie Comics, Charles "Chic" Cooper was introduced for the first time in the 1960s Little Archie series as Betty's older brother, whose absence from the vast majority of the stories is justified because he is a secret agent working for the US government.
- Contrary to Riverdale, in the Archie Comics, Charles Cooper and Chic are the same character.
- Chic's profile in "Chapter Twenty-Four: The Wrestler" reads:
- About Me. Always looking to have a good time... every time. I'm a huge fan of new and interesting people. I can do the craziest thing you dreamed about. Get on board and forget about world existing around you – this is going to be another dimension. Let's open up and discover some new secrets :)
- Facts. Age – Old enough to party legally ;) Gender – Male. Build – Slim. Hair Color – Depends on mood. Hair length – Medium. Ethnicity – White. Sexual preference – :) Languages – English.
Gallery[]
- See also: Category:Images of Chic
References[]
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