Ace Hardlight

"There is no need for introductions because everyone knows I am the undefeated, grand champion and greatest DreadZone exterminator in the universe."

- Ace Hardlight on his fansite.

Ace Hardlight was once a famous hero who had mysteriously vanished from the face of the Solana galaxy, never to be seen again. However, reasons lead to suspect that it was at the time of his disappearance that he'd been kidnapped by the Vox empire to become one of the many contestants on Gleeman Vox's show DreadZone. During his time in DreadZone, he started to enjoy his work and became one of the best at it, topping many leaderboards. He was later defeated by Ratchet shortly before the destruction of the DreadZone station. Ace Hardlight did survive his defeat however and ended up in Zordoom Prison.

Later on in the ending events in Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time it is announced that Hardlight has been released from prison.

Early life
Ace was destined to be a galactic hero, but perhaps destined to be a falling star as well. Born into tough times, Ace spent his first birthday at an orphanage on the distant planet of Bolden 3. Ace was there for four years before he was adopted by a group of heroes called the Sonic 6. They had accidentally blown up a planet while saving a starship and wanted to improve their public image. As Ace grew up, he became the biggest, the strongest, and the smartest among the group of heroes. He went on many successful missions with them and soon they were calling themselves the Sonic 7. . Ace Hardlight then became an intergalactic hero. For a while he was unbeatable and unstoppable however another mission went wrong, and it accidentally resulted in the destruction of Bolden 3. Ace and his commrades had blown up the very same planet that Ace was from and the orphanage that had taken him in. Ace fell into a deep sadness and disappeared until he later found Gleeman Vox.

Exterminator
Quickly rising in the ranks, Ace Hardlight finally became the number one ranked contestant at the DreadZone Station after using a Quantum-Demoleculizer that Vox News anchorwoman Juanita had smuggled in his locker to shoot his former hero and DreadZone rival, Captain Starshield, in the back which killed him. It was Hardlight's thirteenth hero-kill of the season, and allowed him to become the leader of the Exterminators.

Popularity
"He's a pompous [censored] with the charisma of Blargian Gnat cheese!"

- Gleeman Vox explaining the drop in Ace Hardlight merchandise sales.

Although Ace Hardlight's popularity had always remained notorious, the arrival of Ratchet, Clank, Big Al and the resulting formation of Team Darkstar eventually caused him to become unpopular. This caused a sharp drop in Ace Hardlight merchandise sales and quickly angered Gleeman Vox who threatened to replace him.

Fall and redemption
As Ratchet rose through the ranks, slowly defeating Ace's team of Exterminators and gaining immense fan support, Hardlight became progressively more frustrated. However, he later discovered that Clank and Al had been trying to find a way to remove Gleeman Vox's special Deadlock collars which was strongly prohibited. This prompted Ace to shoot the former roboshack owner although he did not kill Al. Nevertheless, Ace ultimately fought Ratchet in the Battledome and was defeated. Although having spat out many arrogant comments during the fight, Ace Hardlight used what seemed to be his last breath to warn Ratchet not to let Vox do to the Lombax what he had done to him. Now defeated, Ace Hardlight seemed to have redeemed himself. He also said Ratchet was the real hero now. After Ratchet refused Vox's offer to replace Ace, he used Vox News to slander Ratchet further by falsely claiming he had killed Ace in combat. This was merely propoganda so that Vox could sell a memorial Ace Hardlight action figure for a large sum of bolts and also make the Lombax look like a villain. This did not work, however, and Ace was simply thrown out of DreadZone.

Zordoom Prison
"Inmate number 510D, Hardlight, Ace, please report to the mess hall for kitchen duty."

- Zordoom Prison announcer.

When Ratchet went to free Talwyn at a later time from Zordoom Prison, his name was heard via a PA announcement, confirming he was sent to Zordoom Prison after the events in DreadZone.

Release
Sometime around the events of Ratchet's search for Clank, Ace was released from Zordoom Prison.

Trivia

 * In Tools of Destruction, you can hear Ace summoned over the Loudspeaker in Zordoom prison.
 * In Going Mobile, there were many Ace posters in the Battle Arena.
 * In Tools of Destruction, when looking at any armor, the Armor vendor Grummel will mention that Ace Hardlight once wore the very same armor.
 * In Quest for Booty, a group of Hoolefoids were having a conversation; with one of them saying "When's that poor excuse for a mayor gonna do something about this vandal. He took my VG9000 game system, my Ace Hardlight action figure, even my Courtney Gears holiday album..."
 * In A Crack in Time, Ace was mentioned on the Space Radio by Kip Darling, saying 'When we come back, we'll chat with former gladiator and recently released prisoner, Ace Hardlight. Is he truly rehabilitated? Or is it only a matter of time before he's discovered inside the Polaris Galactic Bank... with a pair of stockings over his face? We'll find out, right after this...' confirming that he was released from Zordoom Prison.
 * The Silencer got its name after Ace used it to "settle" a dispute with his former agent during his DreadZone years.
 * All the mentions about him in the Future series would imply that he was well known to the people of Polaris, implying that DreadZone may have showed on HV in the Polaris Galaxy during the past when it was still live.
 * He resembles the Playstation One video game character Blasto.
 * A rather unknown trick, if you have the Hunter Mine Launcher or Stalker Mine Launcher it will actually block Ace Hardlight's blaster shots. This generally works better with the Stalker Mine Launcher, due to it's increased mine size. This is a great strategy for defeating him and/or getting the "Ace in the Hole" skill point.
 * Ace Hardlight is a main character in the Ratchet & Clank Manga: Volume 2. His appearance looks much more humanoid than in the games. He is also an ally to Ratchet & Clank; rather than a villian.
 * Early in the game's development, he would throw Flashbangs in combat, and also use Morph weaponry.

Appearances

 * Ratchet: Deadlocked
 * Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile (appeared on posters)
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
 * Ratchet & Clank comic series
 * Ratchet & Clank: Issue 3: Lost and Spaced 
 * Ratchet &amp; Clank Manga: Volume 2 (non-canon)