Novalis

"Using highly sophisticated technology, which you couldn't possibly understand, we will be extracting a large portion of your planet and adding it to our new one. Unfortunately, this change in mass will cause your planet to spin out of control and drift into the sun where it will explode in a flaming ball of gas, but, of course, sacrifices must be made. Thank you for your co-operation."

- Drek

Novalis was the second planet introduced in the Ratchet &amp; Clank series, and was home to The Plumber. It was targeted by Drek due to its renowned sewer systems. A Gold Weapons room was located here.

History
Novalis was a pristine planet with the Solana Galaxy, hosting an advanced civilization throughout the planet. Not only was Novalis known for being the best place to pick up a Jabo Sandwich, it also had the finest sewers in the galaxy. The most famous town on Novalis lay inside Tobruk Crater, in which long ago a mighty asteroid created when it smashed into Novalis.

Unfortunately, Novalis soon attracted the attention of the Blarg, whose homeworld of Orxon had become overly polluted and overpopulated to such a degree, it rendered the Blarg completely homeless. Chairmen Drek had moved implemented a new strategy to create a new homeworld for the Blarg, by extracting bits of planets to create a new single new one. Chairmen Drek informed the citizens of Novalis view a broadcast that Novalis had several planetary components needed to create his new planet, which required the Blarg to take their pristine sewer systems, but literally a giant chunk of the planet itself as well. Drek informed the people of Novalis that this change in mass would cause the planet to spin out of control until into exploded into a fiery ball of gas after smashing into their sun, but informed them that scarifies must be made. After the broadcast was meant the end, Drek immediately showed his utter lack of care for the people of Novalis, mockingly demanding those that didn't like it could form a line behind him an kiss his ass. Unfortunately for Drek, this part of the message seen by the citizens of Novalis, which anger Drek greatly.

In attempt to peacefully resolve the situation, Drek asked the Novalis Chairmen to meet him aboard Drek's Flagship to discuss the issue to get them to cooperate. Drek politely informed the Chairmen to please order all citizens to leave the Tobruk Crater, which was going to be extracted from Novalis after Drek's forces dozed down the city. The Novalis Chairmen immediately stated he would not comply, which made Drek respond that he had no choice in the matter. The Chairmen warned that Captain Qwark would prevent this land grab from occurring, which caused Drek to laugh, since Qwark served him. The Chairmen; however, was unaware of this alliance, and quickly insulted Drek how Qwark could easily defeat the small sized Drek, which made Drek lose his temper. He ordered his Robot Commander to rid the Chairmen, who begged Drek to stop this madness now. Drek at first appeared to agree with the Chairmen, which surprised the Chairmen greatly, causing him to reply "Really?" However, Drek was in reality just taunting the man, and he ordered that the Chairmen be escorted out of his warship.

Upon arrival, Ratchet crashed his ship on the surface of the planet, forcing him and Clank to go and locate a new one.

Their arrival on the planet allowed them to witness its destruction. Because the Novalis Chairman had refused to order the evacuation of the planet to leave way for the extraction of the Tobruk Crater, Drek had ordered its invasion, resulting in a mass bombardment of the city located within the crater.

While Ratchet and Clank explored the waterworks, The Plumber informed them that most of the population was fleeing, but that he couldn't leave himself because of "socio-economic disparity." However, the duo helped him by buying his Infobot for 500 bolts, which contained coordinates to planet Aridia.

Later, they were able to rescue the planetary chairman, who offered them a courier ship so that they could leave the planet and then continue looking for Qwark.

It's presumed Novalis was completely destroyed during the conflict, but it's possible, though highly unlikely, that Ratchet and Clank managed to save Novalis from having a chunk being extracted from it.

Description
Aside a small population of Amoeboids in one of its larger caves, Tobruk Crater appeared to be a generally clean area of Novalis full of villages, caves, and sewers. Novalis seemed to be inhabited by Novalians.

Climate
Novalis mostly had a temperate climate with mild weather like on Earth.

Tobruk Crater
Tobruk Crater was the capital city of Novalis and home to the Novalis Chairman. As its name implies, the city was located within a crater. It was surrounded by a valley filled with several houses for the citizens, and a river runs through the city. There were massive cave and pipe systems within the crater, and a series of skyscrapers lie on the other side of the city. Drek started his planet-building scheme on Tobruk Crater despite the pleas of the people. When the Novalis Chairman protested Drek's request to extract Tobruk Crater and insulted him, Drek had him dragged off and launched an attack that left much of the city in ruins. The citizens fled the crater on escape transports, leaving the city deserted with the exception of the invasion forces. It is unknown what has become of the city since then.

Tobruk Crater was where Ratchet and Clank acquired the Courier Ship from the Chairman following the destruction of Ratchet's Ship, and where they first met The Plumber. He gave them an Infobot for Planet Aridia in exchange for some bolts to pay for his escape from the planet.

Gold weapons room
There was a gold weapons room located in the Tobruk Crater area, it was accessible after the game had been completed.

Items on Novalis

 * Aridia Infobot
 * Kerwan Infobot

Residence

 * The Plumber
 * Novalis Chairman

Non-native

 * Peckbots
 * Birdbots
 * Blarg Bombers
 * Amoeboids

Trivia

 * According to a Ratchet & Clank instruction manual, a Jabo Sandwich was a speciality in Novalis.
 * It is a bit of a mystery that Novalis was still there when you leave and come back as Drek said it would hurl into the sun and be reduced to a flaming ball of gas, though its most likely just a gameplay mechanic.
 * If you are going to the Gold Weapons room and it had to finish the level first, there is also a glitch where you can go to the room even without finishing the level yet.
 * Deforestation is a problem on this planet just like Eudora
 * It appears in the beta version of Up Your Arsenal as the first planet.
 * The planet itself looks like an upside-down Todano featured in the sequel Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

Behind the scenes

 * The unfinished sketch to the right by John Fiorito displays further exploration that would become Insomniac's style: exotic alien vegetation, craters, and retro-futuristic structures with rounded aerodynamic forms. Eventually this concept evolved into planet Tobruk Crater, the first full campaign level in Ratchet & Clank.

Appearances

 * Ratchet & Clank
 * Ratchet & Clank (PS4)
 * Ratchet & Clank (movie)

Notes and references
Novalis