Ratchet and Clank The main characters in the series are Ratchet, a Lombax
mechanic from the planet Veldin, and his
robotic best friend Clank, who was created in a robot factory on Quartu. However, in
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, it is revealed Clank has a Zoni father named Orvus, who was said to have created this machine and purposefully created Clank. The player controls Ratchet for the majority of each game (with the exception of
Secret Agent Clank), though certain missions will require the player to directly control Clank. Otherwise, Clank sits on Ratchet's back (in a backpack-style fashion) and is used to provide useful jumping, hovering and diving abilities through various upgrades. These upgrades are given over the course of the first game, but Clank retains them through the later ones. Throughout the series, the duo often encounter
Captain Qwark, an ego-driven, false, green-costumed
superhero and former villain that may help or hinder Ratchet and Clank's goals in some way.
Dr. Nefarious, the robotic main antagonist of the series, usually makes an appearance to attempt to conquer the universe. Other villainous characters and antagonists include Chairman Alonzo Drek (who was the owner of the robot factory where Clank was built), Emperor Percival Tachyon, Gleeman Vox, Captain Romulus Slag, Lord Flint Vorselon, Vendra & Neftin Prog, and the Thugs-4-Less (or Goons-4-Less) organization. "The Plumber", a minor recurring character, has appeared in some form or another in most titles.
Captain Qwark Captain Copernicus Leslie Qwark (voiced by
Jim Ward (2002-2021),
Scott Whyte (2021-Present) is the Solana Galaxy's self-proclaimed superhero, though he is in reality a cowardly blowhard whose egotistical actions frequently cause more trouble for Ratchet and Clank. Before becoming an "ally" from
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal and on, he started as the secondary antagonist of the original
Ratchet & Clank and the main antagonist of the direct sequel
Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando.
The Plumber The Plumber (voiced by
Neil Flynn in the first three games,
Jess Harnell in later appearances) is a staple of the
Ratchet & Clank series. He almost always appears with his rear end sticking out of whatever he is working on, and can be surprisingly helpful when he appears. In
Ratchet & Clank and
Going Commando, the Plumber is an NPC that appears on separate occasions. Once later in
Going Commando, he sells Ratchet an item to exchange for another. In
Up Your Arsenal, he returns to ask Ratchet to search for Sewer Crystals, which he will trade bolts for. The Plumber does not appear in
Ratchet: Deadlocked; although the credits state that he had been called away to deal with a "sump pump emergency in the Rygylian Nebula". He appears with a non-speaking role as a memory in part of a dream-state world level in
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, and also appears in
Secret Agent Clank to fix the showers at the prison in which Ratchet is incarcerated, returning them to their typical freezing cold temperature. The Plumber returns in
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, with a new updated design, wearing glasses and having a more detailed outfit. He provides Ratchet with a spare part for the Dimensionator that proves valuable in the game's climax. He then appears once again in
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time in Clank's memory banks. When Clank shows up, The Plumber states that he "must've taken a wrong turn somewhere" and mistook it for Qwark's mind because of the "emptiness". He then tells Clank "I wouldn't risk any more than six minutes", a piece of advice that ultimately allows Clank to save Ratchet from death by reversing time. He appears in
All 4 One when he fixes a transport that allows Ratchet and his allies to travel to Uzo City, but when Ratchet asks for some "cryptic advice" that can used to stop Nevo, the Plumber admits that he does not have any. In
Full Frontal Assault, Stuart Zurgo hologuises as him to damage the Starship Phoenix II. The real Plumber later contacts Ratchet, Clank and Qwark for assistance since he is stuck on a planet. After Ratchet repairs the Plumber's ride, he is confused as he had seen him on the starship. It is after the Plumber leaves that Ratchet and the other two realize that they had been fooled by Stuart. The Plumber appears again in
Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus as the apparent creator of the game's version of the RYNO super weapon, the RYNO VII. He split up the blueprints for it in order to prevent misuse. The player can collect the pieces of the blueprint and have the Plumber build it for them. He reprises his original position in the 2016
Ratchet & Clank in the Novalis sewers, only this time, his last words to Ratchet and Clank before leaving the scene are, "See you in the next reboot." The Plumber appears at the end of the final credits screen of the
Ratchet & Clank film. The Plumber appears in the
Ratchet & Clank comics in
Issue 6: Bros Before Foes. Ratchet, Talwyn Apogee and Vorn Garblak nearly drown after attempting to swim to the opposite side of an aqueduct in the Apogee Space Station, as the door from the inside is locked shut. The Plumber unlocked the door from the outside and pulled the three out just before they faced certain death, warning them that the aqueduct is not designed for swimming. The Plumber is briefly described by Gary, his son, in Rift Apart, while talking to Clank inside a Dimensional Anomaly.
Big Al A recurring character who first appears in the original
Ratchet & Clank,
Big Al (voiced by Chris Hatfield) is the stereotypical computer geek from planet Kerwan with interests in electronics and all things Captain Qwark. Ratchet frequently gets baffled over Al's "techno-speak" and usually relies on Clank to translate. He owns "Big Al's Robo Shack" and supplies Clank with a Heli-Pack. His siblings Bob and Edwina (both which are featured in the Ratchet & Clank) also own similar Robo Shacks that provide further upgrades for Clank. In
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Big Al is chosen to join Captain Qwark's "Q-Force" for his mastery of electronics, though his involvement in the plot is minimal. Al plays a more significant role during the events of
Ratchet: Deadlocked, in which he is captured and made to serve as part of Ratchet's DreadZone support crew. At one point, Al is shot by Ace Hardlight as a warning to Ratchet not to overstep his bounds, but he later returns (with cybernetic parts to cover his wounds) to aid Ratchet in escaping DreadZone. He has not appeared in the original series since, though he is occasionally mentioned during
Tools of Destruction and can be heard during a radio advertisement for his Robo Shack in
A Crack in Time. Al has a minor role in the comic series, he works on returning Veldin back to its normal orbit after Artemis Zogg removes it for his own galaxy. He also appears in the 2016 reimagining, serving the same role as he did in the original game while also later appearing on Pokitaru (replacing Bob), in which he aides the duo again, by installing an upgrade for their ship.
Angela Cross Angela Cross (voiced by
Kath Soucie) is a female Lombax who appears in
Going Commando. She shares Ratchet's affinity for gadgets and devices, though is frequently clumsy and scatterbrained. Despite her shortcomings, Angela was employed by Megacorp and worked in its genetics division on a secret project to create an artificial "Protopet", until she quit when her boss, Mr. Fizzwidget pushed the release date of the creation before she could correct its flaws (namely, its large appetite and savage nature). Angela then disguised herself and stole the prototype creature to get rid of it for good. When Megacorp recruits Ratchet to get it back from her, she hires the mercenary/crime organization Thugs-4-Less to protect her, and tries to get Ratchet out of the way by using his partner Clank as bait. Unfortunately, both tactics fail, and when Thugs-4-Less is bought out of their contract by a third party, Angela (after her identity was revealed) allies herself with Ratchet and Clank to stop Megacorp from releasing the still-highly dangerous Protopet all over the galaxy. Despite being confirmed as a Lombax in
A Crack in Time, Angela has not appeared in any games since
Going Commando. During a Polaris News broadcast in
A Crack in Time, Angela was confirmed as being a Lombax, that she had fled Bogon in Max Apogee's ship during the earlier phases of Tachyon's invasion, and had been missing along with Apogee for over three years, suggesting both she and Apogee used the Dimensionator to escape Tachyon. The report also confirms her species as a female Lombax, claiming that female Lombaxes do not have tails (thus after Rift Apart, this seems no longer to be the case, thus another simpler explanation is that Angela, since she appear to have regardless a ponytail in the shape of Lombax tail, may have lost her original tail in an accident or she may be the result of the cross-breeding of a Lombax with another alien species). In a Full Moon Show Podcast, it was stated that Angela may be brought back if Insomniac Games makes another Ratchet & Clank game.
Talwyn Apogee Talwyn Apogee (voiced by
Tara Strong in
Tools of Destruction and
Quest for Booty,
Ali Hillis in
Into the Nexus) is a Markazian and the daughter of Max Apogee, a famous explorer known for his research into the Lombax culture. When Max vanished, Talwyn continued her father's work in finding the "Lombax Secret", a device said to have been used to eliminate the evil Cragmites from the galaxy. Her main base of operations is a space station in the Nundac asteroid ring, where she is accompanied by her guardian warbots Cronk and Zephyr. In
Tools of Destruction, Ratchet is led to Talwyn after intercepting a message from Emperor Tachyon calling for her death. After explaining his situation, Talwyn agrees to help Ratchet in finding the Lombax Secret and overthrowing Tachyon. In
Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty, Talwyn journeys alongside Ratchet in his search for Clank. She does not physically appear in
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, but is seen in Clank's subconscious and is occasionally mentioned on the radio as having requested songs for Ratchet to listen to while flying through space. She also appears in the comic book mini-series, as well as
Full Frontal Assault as a skin and a full appearance in
Into the Nexus. Talwyn is also briefly mentioned in
Rift Apart, and even appeared in its end credits via cameo appearance. In the re-imaging movie and game, a character named
Cora Veralux (voiced by
Bella Thorne) seems to be Talwyn's counterpart.
Cronk and Zephyr Cronk and Zephyr (voiced by
Daniel Hagen and
Paul Eiding respectively) are a pair of war-robots who frequently accompany Talwyn in her adventures. Heavily rusted and senile from many years of combat, the pair are often heard bickering to each other and rambling about their past experiences but nonetheless serve as reliable allies in Ratchet and Talwyn's search for the Lombax Secret. The pair first appear in
Tools of Destruction and make a voice-only cameo in
A Crack in Time as they bicker during the credits. In
All 4 One, Cronk and Zephyr serve as Ratchet's support team by selling him and his allies weapons. The both of them were dead as a result of Vendra Prog killing them in
Into the Nexus, though their
ghosts make one final appearance in the post-credit ending.
Alister Azimuth Notably prominent in
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time,
General Alister Azimuth (voiced by
Joey D'Auria) is a Lombax and serves as a mentor to Ratchet. He has white and red fur, unlike Ratchet and Angela who have yellow and brown/orange fur. This is not due to age, because although Alister is much older than Ratchet, his fur has been this color since his youth. He uses a double-headed Praetorian Omniwrench as his weapon of choice. In his youth, Azimuth was close friends with Ratchet's father, Kaden, and carries a pocketwatch that holds a photo of the two of them standing together. Azimuth was indirectly responsible for Emperor Tachyon's rise to power and the deaths of Ratchet's parents, as he gave Tachyon full access to Lombax technology in the hopes that he would be able to help them. For his crimes, he was forbidden to join the Lombaxes as they left to another dimension, and has lived in exile ever since. When Ratchet first finds Azimuth, the general initially mistakes him for a Hologuised assassin (sent by either Lord Vorselon or Nefarious) but soon recognizes Ratchet as being Kaden's son and requests forgiveness about the misunderstanding. General Azimuth explains to Ratchet about Clank's presumed connection with the Zoni and how he and Kaden were both aware of the Great Clock's very existence. He then teaches Ratchet on using hoverboots which would come in handy in stopping Dr. Nefarious from taking control of the Great Clock. After Nefarious reminds Azimuth on how he shamed the Lombax race, Azimuth explains to Ratchet how he fell to Tachyon's trickery, and how he plans to use the Great Clock himself, so that he and Ratchet can prevent Tachyon's rise to power and stop the Lombaxes from having to leave for their new dimension. Ratchet initially goes along with the plan, but changes his mind after saving Clank who informs him and Azimuth that the Great Clock could destroy all of existence if misused. Unable to accept Ratchet's change of decision, General Azimuth leaves him. He later appears to rescue Ratchet and Clank after they defeat Dr. Nefarious and takes them to the Great Clock. Despite Azimuth's insistence, Ratchet still refuses to risk using the Great Clock, causing the elder Lombax to kill Ratchet by blasting him with his wrench out of anger. Azimuth then tries to enter the Orvus Chamber, but Clank locks him out and uses the Great Clock to reverse time by six minutes (as previously hinted by the Plumber) so that he can save Ratchet. Azimuth, now blinded by his own selfish desire to save all the Lombaxes, breaks into the chamber and locks the Clock into turning back time to Tachyon's rise to power, before engaging both Ratchet and Clank in a bloody duel as the game's final boss. Once defeated, Azimuth finally realizes his mistake and stops the time shift he created, though at the cost of his own life. Ratchet takes Azimuth's possessions, a pocketwatch and his own Praetorian wrench, as reminders of his mentor. Azimuth makes a small cameo in the first issue of the six-part comic series, where Ratchet is looking at the pocketwatch in memory. Ratchet later uses Azimuth's Praetorian Wrench in the following issues to stop Artemis Zogg in his plans. A Red Team skin based on Azimuth, appears in
Full Frontal Assault.
Into The Nexus features a statue of Azimuth on display in the Museum of Intergalactic History.
Kaden Kaden is the father of
Ratchet and the keeper of the Dimensionator. When the Lombaxes were driven to use the device to escape to another dimension following Percival Tachyon's overrunning of Fastoon, Kaden refused to follow them in order to protect the device. Kaden managed to survive Tachyon's ravaging of Fastoon and was able to hide his infant son (Ratchet) from the Cragmite by sending him to Veldin, but Kaden was eventually found and executed by Tachyon.
Orvus Appearing in
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time,
Orvus (voiced by
Charles Martinet) is the unique Zoni who created the Great Clock as its original Caretaker and is also Clank's "father", as he is responsible for Clank's possession of a
soul. After he is captured by Dr. Nefarious, Orvus teleports to somewhere unknown, and Clank is brought to the Great Clock by the Zoni to become its new Caretaker in his absence. As Clank is trained by the Clock's Junior Caretaker Sigmund (another robot that Orvus possibly granted a soul to) in his new duties, Orvus communicates with him through a series of simulated programs stored in his memory banks. At the end of the game, Clank chooses to continue his adventures with Ratchet and leaves Sigmund in charge of the Great Clock as the Caretaker, and Orvus's final message proclaims that his greatest desire is for Clank to be happy with whatever life he chooses.
Sasha Phyronix Sasha Phyronix (voiced by
Leslie Carrara-Rudolph) is a Cazar who is the captain of the Starship Phoenix and the daughter of the Galactic President. During the events of
Up Your Arsenal, she is in charge of coordinating the Galactic Rangers to combat the growing threat of Dr. Nefarious. She and Ratchet appear to have feelings for each other. In
Deadlocked, she briefly appears in the opening to inform Ratchet, Clank and Big Al about the death of Captain Starshield during his service to Dreadzone as a contestant. Sasha is also about to warn the three about various galactic heroes being captured when she is cut off. She appears a third time in the six issue comic series (set between
A Crack in Time and
All 4 One), where she assists Ratchet and Clank in stopping Artemis Zogg in his plans to create his own artificial galaxy. Despite being considered Ratchet's love interest for a while and vice versa, it appears that after the initial relationship the couple eventually broke up due to a series of disagreements. In
Full Frontal Assault, Ratchet still kept the Starship Phoenix, which means that he still cares about Sasha despite their falling out.
Skid McMarx Skid McMarx (voiced by
Neil Flynn in the first game and
Up Your Arsenal,
Jess Harnell in the 2016 game and
Rift Apart) is a professional
hoverboarder whose name is also spelled Skidd McMarxx. In
Ratchet & Clank, he and his agent are attacked by missiles from the Blarg and end up crashing their ship on Planet Aridia while en route to a big hover-board race, they end up being separated after the crash. Ratchet and Clank eventually find him, he tells the duo that he is unable to return to his ship because of the Sand Sharks in the area. After Ratchet disposes of the creatures, Skid rewards him with a hover-board and tells Ratchet and Clank about seeing them at the hover-board race on Rilgar. In
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Skidd is recruited into Captain Qwark's Q-Force for his "nerves of steel". Calling himself "ShaddowDude", Skidd helps Ratchet and Clank on their assigned mission on Aquatos, despite frequently chickening out and letting Ratchet do all the fighting. He later gets kidnapped by Courtney Gears and is taken to Obani Draco, where he is used as a test dummy for the Biobliterator and turned into a robot. Despite this, Skidd is back to normal by the end of the game (how he was changed back is not revealed, though Big Al mentions that it is possible). Following
Up Your Arsenal Skidd is mentioned as having been picked up by Courtney Gears' old record label.
Helga von Streissenburgen Helga von Streissenburgen (voiced by
Mona Marshall in a German accent) is a robot who is Captain Qwark's portly, heavyset fitness
trainer. In
Ratchet & Clank, Ratchet runs through a fitness course to meet up with Helga in order to claim the reward, a Swingshot, though she also demands that Ratchet must pay for the gadget after stating that his run was "the most pathetic display I has ever seen on that Obstacle course!". Helga is chosen to join the Q-Force for her "sensual powers of seduction" in
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal. Despite her tough appearance, she showed genuine sadness when Qwark "died", stating "Und... we vould frollock in ze fitness course... under ze wee hours of za morning!" Her full name is revealed in a promotional poster for
Tools of Destruction as
Helga von Streissenburgen. Douglass C. Perry of IGN commented positively in the "quirkier" voices in the supporting cast of
Ratchet & Clank and cited Helga (describing her as "the weird athletic woman at the end of the stunt course") as an example.
Skrunch Skrunch (voiced by
Jim Ward) is Captain Qwark's
cycloptic monkey sidekick. Being a monkey, he loves
bananas. He's also seen running around the Starship Phoenix's bridge. Skrunch joins Clank during some of Clank's missions in
Up Your Arsenal to activate out-of-range buttons or distract powerful enemies and is a gunner for Ratchet on Tyrranosis. Skrunch also makes an appearance in
Size Matters. He speaks to Clank twice in the game, first on planet Metalis and again at the end of the game on Quadrona.
Grimroth Razz Exclusive to the re-imaged project,
Grimroth Razz (voiced by
John Goodman in the film,
Travis Willingham in the 2016 game), or
Grim for short, is a
mechanic from the Polaris Galaxy who became the mentor and legal guardian of Ratchet ever since he found him as an infant. He owns a garage on the planet Veldin where he and Ratchet repair ships. In the 2016 video game, Grimroth is revealed to have a twin brother named Felton. Grimroth states that they don't talk much because Grimroth considers Felton to be a slacker.
Doctor Nefarious Doctor Nefarious (voiced by
Armin Shimerman) is the main antagonist of the series. Dr. Nefarious is a robotic
mad scientist and
supervillain with a deep, distinct hatred for organic lifeforms. He is depicted as the arch-nemesis of
Captain Qwark and later of the duo
Ratchet and
Clank. Throughout the series, Nefarious is always accompanied by his loyal robotic butler, Lawrence, who often proves to be much more shrewd than his pompous master. He has a famous trademark gag of that whenever he loses his temper or is put under extreme stress, Nefarious instantly malfunctions and freezes up, while radio waves of episodes from the fictional soap opera series
Lance and Janice are broadcast through his mind, until he is whacked behind the head by Lawrence or someone else.
Emperor Percival Tachyon Emperor Percival Tachyon (portrayed by Andy Morris) was raised by Lombaxes, but when he discovered that the Lombaxes banned his race from the universe he eventually did the same to them, only Ratchet, Alister Azimuth, Kaden and his wife (these two killed by Tachyon), and apparently also Angela Cross, stayed behind. This makes Tachyon a personal enemy of Ratchet's. He also created the Space Pirates, at least those featured in
Tools of Destruction and
Quest for Booty, including Captains Romulus Slag and Angstrom Darkwater and also Rusty Pete.
Chairman Alonzo Drek Ultimate Supreme Executive Chairman Drek (voiced by
Kevin Michael Richardson in the original game,
Paul Giamatti in the film,
Eric Bauza in the 2016 video game) is the oppressive, greedy, misanthropic and sadistic
CEO of Drek Industries and dictator of the Blarg race, not to mention the first main villain faced by Ratchet & Clank and thus a pivotal antagonist in the series. He is also responsible for purposely polluting his home planet Orxon (Quartu in the 2016 reimagining), so that he can profit from building a new planet, but he doesn't deny himself unnecessary sadism to enjoy and unnecessary to his main goals (like destroying all the remaining plants on planet Eudora after fulfilling the necessary quota of trees for New Orxon because the inhabitants don't need to enjoy them, bombing Batalia and polluting Pokitaru for apparently no reason, and ordering his troops to destroy anything that either moves and doesn't move on Oltanis and to have fun in doing so, not to mention his comments off-air about what he really cares of the people of Solana and their goodness). He is also supposedly the former archenemy of Clank, since not only Drek is mainly though indirectly responsible for Clank's creation and tried to kill him from the very first moment he escaped from the Blarg robot factory on Quartu, but he also didn't waste time during the final battle on Veldin to tell Clank how disappointed he was for betraying him, admitting also it was a real shame because Clank was a potential and useful resource for Drek's plans of planetary destruction and conquest. After his mech suit called the Ultimate Supreme Chairman Drek-Mech was destroyed, Chairman Drek ejected and was destroyed when Ratchet and Clank destroyed his world. In his review of
Ratchet & Clank, Gavin Frankle of Allgame stated that Chairman Drek's scenes (along with Captain Qwark's) proved to be more entertaining than those of the main characters. In the 2016 film, Drek's history is similar and that he inherited his company from his father. Around the end of the film, Drek is betrayed by Doctor Nefarious who turns him into a sheep with the Sheepinator and launches him towards his makeshift planet. In the 2016 video game, Chairman Drek's first name is revealed to be Alonzo.
Zed Zed (voiced by Andrew Cowndon in the 2016 film,
Sam Riegel in the 2016 video game) is a small hovering robot who is Chairman Drek's assistant who is exclusive to the re-imaging project.
Robot Lieutenant The
Robot Lieutenant (voiced by
Neil Flynn) is a large intimidating robot minion of Chairman Drek who works as the second-in-command of his robot army. The Robot Lieutenant was responsible for the deforestation of Eudora. When Ratchet and Clank confronted him on Eudora, the Robot Lieutenant fled upon being intimidated by Ratchet's OmniWrench. In
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, the Robot Lieutenant made a cameo at the premiere of the movie
Secret Agent Ratchet. In the 2016 re-imaging film and video games, the Robot Lieutenant is re-imaged as
Victor Von Ion (voiced by
Sylvester Stallone in the film, Mark Silverman in the video game). He is loyal to Chairman Drek who enforces Drek's rules for the Blarg to follow as seen when he is ordered to punish a Blarg named Stanley who got caught texting on his phone during Drek's speech. Due to one of the Warbots named Clank being defective, Victor was ordered to destroy him only for Clank to get away. After Ratchet defeated Victor Von Ion with water from the Starship Phoenix's Fire Suppression Systems, Drek held a memorial for him on the Deplanetizer. == Gameplay ==