Metropolis

Metropolis was the capital city of planet Kerwan, and one of the biggest cities in the Solana Galaxy with over 3 trillion inhabitants. Al's Roboshack was also located in this city, along with Captain Qwark's fitness course, and was the location where Dr. Nefarious first used the Bio-Bliterator.

Architecture & Landscape
Metropolis was a large, bustling city, and it maybe was the capital sector of a planet-wide city. It appeared to be a very environmentally-friendly city, as the buildings were dotted in plants and moss, and the platforms also were grassy areas as opposed to the expected concrete. The buldings themselves often had bronze caps on them as decorations. It was not unusual in Metropolis to not see the ground below.

The city had varying means of transportation. The most common means was that of flying cars, which flew in pre-designated lanes. Grav Trains ran about on grind rails to provide another means of getting around the city for the average citizen. There are also similar hovering trains, which are used to load cargo around Metropolis. The adventurous commuter could take the grind rails to get around, provided they could avoid the Grav Trains.

Other features included meteor pads and the dense blue-ish fog that gathered in the lower parts of the city, obscuring the view.

Ratchet & Clank
During the time of Chairman Drek's plan to build a new planet, Kerwan was taken over and occupied by Drek's forces, however it is unknown whether Drek actually wanted to use Metropolis for his synthetic planet. A likely alternative was that he expected Ratchet to land in the city at some point, and stationed his thugs there in advance.

It wasn't long before Ratchet & Clank arrived, following the trail of Captain Qwark, who had filmed a commercial for Al's Roboshack. Ultimately, the duo only left the city with a Swingshot, a Heli-Pack, and an Infobot for planet Eudora. However they had also successfully driven off the Blarg and were a step closer to making contact with Captain Qwark.

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Through an issue of the Qwark Vid-Comics, Ratchet found out that Dr. Nefarious had invaded Metropolis once before with an army of robotic Insectoids, but had been thwarted by Captain Quark. Now that he had the Tyhrranoids at his disposal, as well as his Bio-Bliterator, he was ready to extract his revenge on the city. The design of this city at the time of Nefarious' original invasion was practically identical to the design from when Ratchet first visited the city.

The invasion was already in full force when Ratchet & Clank (who was secretly Klunk in disguise) arrived. The skies of Metropolis were alive with Blaster fire and explosions. The design of the city had also changed. There was more walkway for Ratchet to use, and the colours were more dulled. Making their way through this section of the city, Ratchet & Klunk witnessed the Bio-Bliterator change the entire population of Metropolis into robots in a matter of seconds.

The duo eventually came across Dr. Nefarious atop a Mag Train, but he swiftly teleported away, but not before giving a horrible rendition of his "Crushin' on Squishies" single. After battling Klunk, who had now transformed into Giant Klunk, and rescuing Clank, Ratchet helped the Galactic Rangers wipe out the remaining Tyhrranoids situated in another section of the city, also destroying several bombs that threatened to destroy it.

In this part of Metropolis, the colours were a bit darker and more muted, there was less air traffic (likely due to the invasion), and there were no bronze caps on any of the buildings. There was, however, a clock which was always on the time set in the internal clock of the PS2.

Ratchet: Deadlocked
In Ratchet: Deadlocked, Sasha became the Mayor of Metropolis.

During Ratchet's stay in DreadZone, and as a result of his rise to fame, newsreaders Dallas and Juanita used a photo of Metropolis from his first adventure, to depict Ratchet as a malicious criminal, pegging him as destroying Metropolis, not Nefarious.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
The city of Metropolis was once again invaded, but by invaders from another galaxy- The Drophyds. Their leader, Emperor Percival Tachyon, hated the Lombaxes and had attacked Metropolis to hunt down Ratchet, the last Lombax, as well as the Lombax Secret, the Dimensionator, according to IRIS. The Imperial Empire's army quickly overwhelmed the planet's defenses, the city itself sustaining major damage to it's landscape, with several skyscrapers crumpling, and mag-rails torn apart, and sky bridges tumbling into the fog.

Ratchet & Clank managed to destroy a large portion of the army before they escaped the planet, but the army still remained behind looking for the Lombax Secret, leaving much more of the city in ruins. Metropolis soon underwent re-construction, once the army left (at an unknown time). Upon finding IRIS, Ratchet discovered that the inhabitants were stuck watching repeat screenings of Big Al's Bot Wars.

The Metropolis in Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction had a more brilliant and dazzling design due to the games' stunning graphics. Metropolis had a lot less plant and stone activity, and more of the bronze caps from the original location, as well were large glass windows and doors, and a new redesigned architecture and redesigned street lights.

Ratchet & Clank

 * Robomutts
 * Blarg Commanders
 * Blarg Helicopter Commanders
 * Mine Layers
 * Blarg Generators

Ratchet & Clank:Up Your Arsenal

 * One-Eyed Tyhrranoid v2s
 * Three-Eyed Tyhrranoids
 * Four-Eyed Tyhrranoid Commanders
 * Tyhrranoid Dropship
 * Tank Bots
 * One-Eyed Robonoids
 * Three-Eyed Robonoids
 * Robonoid Commanders
 * Giant Klunk
 * Tyhrranoid Saucers
 * Ultra Mecha-Tyhrranoids

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

 * Tesladrones
 * Drophyd Sentry
 * Drophyd Trooper
 * Tachyon Gunship
 * Enforcer
 * Attack Ships

Big Al's Roboshack
Big Al's Roboshack was the shop where Al installed and fixed many gadgets and devices, as advertised by Qwark in the original game. According to Qwark, "If Al can't fix it, it's not broke!". Big Al had also apparently been fixing Qwarks Super-Electro-Gadget since he was "Knee high to a Sandmouse"'. This was where Clank got his Heli-Pack upgrade, elevating him to "The man" status, in addition to being able to help out Ratchet numerous times later in the game.

There were two other Robo Shacks in Solana: Bob's Robo Shack on Pokitaru, and Edwina's Robo Shack on Hoven. Both of these gave Clank Pack upgrades, Thruster Pack and Hydro Pack, respectively.

Captain Qwark's Fitness Course
The Fitness Course was an advertising mechanism to get the people of Solana into the Qwarktastic spirit, as those who completed the Course were awarded a prize from Qwark's Trainer. It was generally impossible for most people, but Ratchet, being the agile Lombax that he was, was able to make it through. Despite this, Quark's Trainer, Helga, felt that it was "one of the most pathetic displays... on that obstacle course", and that it was "weak, weak WEAK!!". Because of this, Ratchet had to pay for the prize, rather than rightfully earning it. The prize turned out to be the Swingshot, yet another invaluable tool in his adventures. It wasn't the last time Ratchet disappointed Helga though, in Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal he had to complete a VR Simulation Fitness Course.

The Fitness Course introduced Ratchet to several key elements of traversing, most importantly the Zip Line and Jump Slots.

The Planetary Defense Center
The Planetary Defense Center is the building assigned to the protection of Metropolis, as well as the rest of Kerwan. Captain Qwark was assigned here prior to the invasion that occurred at the start of Tools of Destruction, and was promptly captured. The building has a telephone-like automated network that can be used for a variety of situations, such as massive deadly space armadas and mutant ameboids. It even has a Spanish translation.

Glitches

 * In the battle with Klunk in Up Your Arsenal, Klunk may fall through the train and die. But the cutscene won't play and the player would have to reset the game.

Trivia

 * Metropolis is the most recurring city in the Ratchet series.
 * When one looks over Metropolis as it appears throughout the series, they will notice that the design changes from each title it appears in. One possible explanation is that the city has undergone rennovations since each visit, however given the size and complexity of the city, this is unlikely. A more logical solution is the idea that Ratchet just visits different sectors of the city with each visit.
 * Metropolis is also the name of the title city in Fritz Lang's 1927 Sci-Fi hit Metropolis. The Planetary Defense Center found in Tools of Destruction bears a similarity to the Tower of Babel from that film (pictured).

Behind the Scenes

 * Insomniac Games decided to put Metropolis on a planet called Caldera, but later on the changed the name to Kerwan.

Appears in

 * Ratchet & Clank
 * Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
 * Ratchet: Deadlocked (Cameo)
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction