Ace Hardlight

Ace Hardlight was, according to Ratchet, once a famous hero who had mysteriously vanished from the face of the 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.

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 became an intergalactic hero. He was unbeatable and unstoppable…until that one fateful day. The Sonic 7 was on a typical galaxy-saving mission, when it accidentally blew up another planet. It was Bolden 3. Ace and his hero friends had blown up the very same planet that Ace was from. The orphanage that had taken him in was gone. Ace fell into a deep sadness and disappeared. As the legend goes, that is when he met Gleeman Vox. The rest is DreadZone history.

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 former hero and DreadZone rival Captain Starshield in the back, killing him. It was Hardlight's thirteenth hero-kill of the season, and allowed him to become the leader of the Exterminators.

Popularity
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 downright unpopular. This caused a drop in Ace Hardlight merchandise sales and quickly angered Gleeman Vox, who called him a "pompous [censored] with the charisma of Blargian Gnat cheese".

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, the latter discovered that Clank and Al had been trying to find a way to remove Gleeman Vox's special Deadlock collars, which, strongly prohibited, prompted Ace to shoot the former roboshack owner, although not killing 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 his last breath to warn Ratchet not to let Vox do to the Lombax what he had done to him (implying that he may not have been as evil as his actions would lead one to believe). Finally, he was defeated. 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.

Trivia

 * In Going Mobile, there are many Ace posters in the Battle Arena.
 * In Tools of Destruction, you can hear Ace summoned over the Loudspeaker.
 * In Quest for Booty, a group of Hoolefoids were having a conversation about their poor excuse of a mayor, with one of them saying, 'Ace Hardlight took my Ace Hardlight action figure'.

Appearances

 * Ratchet: Deadlocked
 * Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile (Appears on posters)
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (Mentioned only)
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty (Mentioned only)