Creation

Captain Gooden was created by Kelly Thompson and Meredith McClaren in Black Cloak 1.

Major Story Arcs

Captain Gooden is the head of the Kiros Police Department and its agents, the Black Cloaks.

While the Black Cloaks are in theory an independent organization that can oversee the royal family as well as normal citizens, Gooden feels susceptible to pressure from the royals.

When the crown prince, Freyal III, is killed, Gooden assigns his best officers, Phaedra Essex and Theron II of Pax. However, when they want to start questioning the people at the palace, he warns them he can’t entirely protect them.

Later, when the Queen starts to feel threatened, she apparently pressures Gooden again and he sends out an arrest announcement for both Essex and Pax, forcing them to go underground.

This alert is presumably later canceled once they prove the Queen has been running a conspiracy to secretly absorb the magical energy from the beloved furry animals known as the Taka. Essex destroys the machine and the city undergoes fires and floods. The Queen is sent to prison and the most prominent Dracona (who is also Phaedra’s father) becomes Prime Minister.

When Kiros seemingly has its first serial killer, Captain Gooden is in a fury to get the cases solved, and can’t believe Pax wants him to reinstall Essex as a Black Cloak. However, once Pax explains that an ancient, thought-extinct monster has been seen, he relents.

When Pax asks for help after discovering more victims, Gooden provides it, but is ambivalent about whether Pax and Essex are more help than harm.

Eventually, Pax and Essex solve the case.