Gwen Cooper
From Relativespace
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| Gwen Cooper | |
| Character Journal: | so_welsh |
| Race: | Human |
| Home Planet: | Earth |
| Home Era: | 2008 |
| Affiliated with: | Jack Harkness (Torchwood), Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Suzie Costello, Ianto Jones |
| Writer: | Saskia |
Contents |
Basic Character Information
Entry Point
Gwen enters the game the night of the end of the episode They Keep Killing.
Physical Description
Personality
Gwen's compassion plays an integral part throughout the series. In Day One, she is the only one, initially, to see the infected Carys as a person, and not just another case. Her research into Carys' background wins the approval of Jack and perhaps ultimately contributes to Carys' salvation. Ghost Machine showed Gwen becoming over-involved in her determination to prevent the future, which ultimately led to her failure to do so, and the involuntary manslaughter of another, which deeply affected her. In subsequent episodes she refused to believe that Jack would have killed Ianto or that he was able to sacrifice a young girl to save the world and in the episode Countrycide her inherent humanity was once again highlighted - her violent physical reaction to one of the corpses, and her intense need to understand how, and why, the villagers could commit such atrocities, acting as examples of this.
She is determined to understand the motivation of a cannibal in Countrycide, and the revelation that he does it because it "makes [him] happy" leads her to pursue an affair with Owen, which she laments. She blames her experiences at Torchwood for "changing her", and it is apparent that it saddens her.
In Greeks Bearing Gifts, she is quick to forgive Toshiko for her telepathic intrusion, noting it is not her place to judge as she has been having an affair with Owen and admits she has no intention of stopping.
In They Keep Killing Suzie, it became apparent that Suzie Costello is a parallel, a foil to Gwen. Like Gwen, she was in a relationship with Owen, was the only one who held the empathy required to use the resurrection gauntlet but unlike Suzie has the strength to retain her sanity. Her early mastery of the glove is an apparent testimony to the incredible degree of compassion required to operate it.
