Clank

"Have I ever told you about my son? Remarkable boy. Quite smart! He was born in a robot factory in the Solana Galaxy, but to be precise, he was created much farther away. My son's name is XJ-0461, but the universe knows him as Clank."

- Orvus

Clank, real name XJ-0461, was a small robot (later revealed to also be a Zoni) and Ratchet's long-time companion and friend, and the deutragonist of the Ratchet and Clank series. He was born at the Robot Factory on the Planet Quartu but was created in the Great Clock by his father, Orvus. While Clank's serial number was B5429671, the name "Clank" emerged when Ratchet's homemade ship rocked while flying to Planet Novalis, causing the small robot to hit the side of the ship and making a clank sound. This became his nickname throughout his adventures with Ratchet.

The Zoni referred to Clank as the "Chosen One". Clank's creator was a Zoni named Orvus, who regarded his creation as a son. After finding himself in a gigantic Zoni-made machine known as the Great Clock, Clank became the Senior Caretaker of the Great Clock, but eventually promoted Junior Caretaker Sigmund to be the Senior Caretaker in his place so that he could reunite with Ratchet. He could also transform into an ultra-mech. In this form, known as Giant Clank, he could shoot missiles from his arms, launch energy bombs, and punch enemies.

Creation
Originally, Clank had been part of a production line of sentry-bots at the Robot Factory on Planet Quartu, which manufactured sentry-bots to assist Drek. However, due to what was believed to be a mishap, Clank appeared on the conveyor belt as a small, harmless robot, instead of a large, dangerous sentry-bot. Clank watched an Infobot video of Drek's plans to create a new planet using other planetary components, and was then forced to escape Quartu; robots had begun chasing him, classifying him as a production error. Clank seized control of a spaceship and took off, but was shot down and crashed on the Kyzil Plateau of Planet Veldin, where Ratchet found and took him back to his handmade ship. Clank showed Ratchet the infobot and informed him that he wanted to contact Captain Qwark - Clank believed that only the famous captain would be able to stop Drek's menace over the galaxy. Clank proposed to start Ratchet's ship using his latest robotic ignition system in exchange for a ride to planet Novalis where he would begin tracking down Captain Qwark.

Overview
After crash landing at the Tobruk Crater of Planet Novalis, Ratchet and Clank were forced to look for a new ship together. They acquired one from the Planetary Chairman, who gave them a courier ship and an Infobot that showed Captain Qwark advertising Al's Roboshack on planet Kerwan. This became the duo's next destination. However, when they reached the Roboshack, Big Al informed them that he had not seen Qwark since the video. Nevertheless, he fitted Clank with a special Heli-Pack upgrade to aid them in their journey. Ratchet and Clank eventually found Captain Qwark in Blackwater City where he told them to come to his headquarters, where they would become a team to stop Drek. However, Captain Qwark betrayed them by setting his Blargian Snagglebeast on the duo. From this point on, Ratchet became slightly hostile toward Clank, who he blamed for leading them into the trap. Ratchet wanted to chase after Qwark, but could not start his ship alone. Clank agreed to start it for him but only if he agreed to fly to planet Batalia instead, where they would be able to help out a commando who was having trouble with Blarg attacks. After reaching the commando, they discovered that they needed a pair of Magneboots to continue. The duo headed to the nearest planet that had a known pair of the boots, Orxon, where Clank had to go out on his own due to the lethal levels of pollution in the atmosphere. He found a pair of Magneboots, as well as an Infobot for the Planet Pokitaru. After finishing their job on Batalia, they headed to Pokitaru, where Clank was fitted with a Thruster-Pack upgrade by Bob at his Roboshack. The duo eventually made up after shooting down Captain Qwark at the Gemlik Moonbase, where they viewed an Infobot depicting news of yet another planet being ravaged by Drek's troops. Ratchet agreed that they couldn't lose sight of what was important after seeing the destruction of Gorda City. They later proceeded to planet Quartu, where a scientist was able to give Clank his "Giant Clank" upgrade. Ratchet and Clank also encountered Clank's mother on this planet. Clank was deeply moved by this encounter, and vowed to make his mother proud. Ultimately, Ratchet and Clank returned to planet Veldin and fought Drek on the Deplanetizer. When he was defeated and the Deplanetizer was fired at the Chairman's artificial planet. This backfired when debris fell down from the sky, and the two were propelled over the edge of the Deplanetizer. Clank managed to hold on to it, and Ratchet grabbed his leg. However, the impact of grabbing the ledge damaged Clank's servos in his arm, meaning that Clank couldn't pull both him and Ratchet up to safety. The duo fell, but Clank used his Thruster-Pack to catch Ratchet and break both of their falls. Exhilarated by the survival of his planet, Ratchet left Clank behind, but almost immediately came back and told the robot he'd fix his arm. Then they both returned to Ratchet's garage.

Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
After Chairman Drek's defeat on Veldin, Clank slowly slipped into everyday life before the events of Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, the only remotely interesting things he did were flush out his radiator core and attend the grand opening of Groovy Lube.

During an interview with Behind the Hero, Ratchet was whisked away to the Bogon Galaxy by Abercrombie Fizzwidget. Since Clank did not want to take part in another adventure, he decided to reside in a luxurious apartment given to him by Fizzwidget. Not long after moving in, Clank was kidnapped by a thief. He was soon rescued by Ratchet, after which he decided to join the fight.

Ratchet and Clank soon retrieved the Protopet for Fizzwidget, but not after learning from the thief (now revealed to be Angela Cross) that the Protopet posed an immense threat to the galaxy.

At one point, Ratchet and Clank were kidnapped and put in the Thugs-4-Less Prison, but with help from Clank's friend, a Female Infobot, Clank escaped and freed Ratchet. Eventually, Ratchet, Clank, and Angela were able to infiltrate the Megacorp HQ, return the Original Protopet to a non-feral state, and foil Captain Qwark's plan once again. The galaxy was saved and the duo again had some time to relax.

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Clank became an intergalactic celebrity after Going Commando due to his hit TV show ''Secret Agent Clank. ''Ratchet and Clank remained in Bogon until Ratchet's home planet, Veldin, came under attack from the Tyhrranoids. When Ratchet and Clank returned to the Solana Galaxy to help defend Veldin. Throughout the adventure, Clank was often treated like the main hero, even though he was strapped to Ratchet's back most of the time.

Shortly after becoming a member of Q-Force, Clank found out that evil genius Dr. Nefarious, the person the Q-Force was battling against, was Secret Agent Clank's biggest fan.

After filming an episode of Secret Agent Clank, he was kidnapped by robot pop-star Courtney Gears and taken to Nefarious, who gave him two choices: Join him and rule a galaxy of robots or die with all the organic life forms. Clank chose the latter and Nefarious placed him in a cage and replaced him with an evil clone named Klunk.

Clank was eventually freed by Ratchet in Metropolis, where he apologized for being captured in the first place. On the Planet Zeldrin, Clank discovered evidence that Captain Qwark had survived the crash of the The Leviathan and the duo proceeded to find Qwark at his secret hideout. Clank tries to encourage Captain Qwark to help them defeat Nefarious. After saving the Starship Phoenix, he and Ratchet traveled to Koros where the Biobliterator was docked. With Ratchet's help, Clank made it to an Ion Cannon and saved the lives of countless people by destroying the Biobliterator.

Ater receiving word of a second Biobliterator on Mylon, Ratchet and Clank fought through the Command Center, defeated Nefarious and destroyed the second Biobliterator with Captain Qwark's help.

Ratchet: Deadlocked
Clank and Big Al were captured by Gleeman Vox in order to assist Ratchet in competing in DreadZone. He helped Ratchet by supplying him with information to give Ratchet an advantage over the harsh DreadZone competitions. DreadZone also built a robot that looked similar to Clank, called Alpha Clank. Alpha Clank was more powerful than Clank, and could fight alongside Ratchet in place of his Combat Bots.

Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
At several points in the game, Clank took on the main role and fought his own battles. At one point in the game, after the duo found out that their so-called ally was part of the Technomites, Ratchet ended up getting kidnapped, and it was up to Clank to rescue him. Eventually, after defeating Luna, Clank tried to get the Clone Factory's coordinates from Luna's head. However, Clank was attacked by some Technomites and Ratchet was forced to go inside him using his Shrink Ray to save him. Ratchet and Clank soon defeated Emperor Otto Destruct and saved the galaxy once again.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
The series' next generation installment began with Clank at Ratchet's side, helping him with a new high speed vehicle on Planet Kerwan. Captain Qwark then contacted the duo and told them about heavily armed robotic commandos attacking the Planetary Defense Center. At the Defense Center, attacking Drophyd walkers' sensors identified Ratchet as a Lombax and Clank as a toaster.

After being taken on the highjacked Emperor Tachyon's ship to the Polaris Galaxy, Clank met a race of interdimensional aliens called the Zoni that only he could see. Ratchet discounted Clank's mentioning of invisible aliens believeing he had been damaged in the crash landing on Cobalia.

Throughout their travels in the Polaris Galaxy, the Zoni gave Clank more abilities to help him and Ratchet on their quest, such as the Geo Laser and Robo Wings. When Clank was sent off to venture without Ratchet in smaller places, the Zoni showed up to help him. Clank also gained the ability to slow time and could command the Zoni to manipulate their surroundings to help Clank progress, levitate Clank to glide across gaps, and energize machinery. The Zoni also gave Clank visions of the future which allowed him to forsee the Cragmite return. These visions also helped prevent Talwyn Apogee from perishing in Zordoom Prison. After he and Ratchet defeated Emperor Tachyon, destroyed the Dimensionator and saved the galaxy, the Zoni suddenly appeared, this time visible to all. They captured Clank despite Ratchet's best efforts to save him and disappeared through an interdimensional portal to parts unknown.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty
Clank made only two appearances in Quest for Booty. The first was when Ratchet was washed up on the beach of Hoolefar Island, although it may have been a hallucination. Clank appeared, asked him if he was alright, and disappeared. The second time was when Ratchet was able to find Clank using the Obsidian Eye. Clank was unconscious in a dark room surrounded the Zoni, who said that "the doctor" would fix him. Shortly after that, Dr. Nefarious stepped into the room (and then fell down the stairs).

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
After being suspended inside the Great Clock for over a year, Clank awoke to overhear a conversation between Dr. Nefarious and his butler Lawrence. The robot tried to escape from Nefarious' clutches but was immobilized before he could do so. When Clank woke again, he had been reactivated by a robot named Sigmund, the Junior Caretaker of the Great Clock. Clank learned of his location from Sigmund and traveled with him around the Great Clock.

Clank would eventually enter a Mnemonic Chamber which would allow him to enter his own sub-conscious. Here, Clank learned he had a father named Orvus, and that he had become the Senior Caretaker of the Great Clock and had "inherited" the facility from Orvus. Clank was given a Chronoscepter by Orvus, allowing him to manipulate time in order to overcome the various obstacles that would eventually block his path.

Clank traveled around the Great Clock with Sigmund, fixing time anomalies of various planets before learning that Orvus had left for Dr. Nefarious's outpost on Zanifar two years prior and did not return. While in a mnemnoic chamber, Clank encountered the Plumber, who advised him not to "risk any more than 6 minutes". Shortly afterward, Ratchet contacted Clank using an Obsidian Eye. Clank had Sigmund synthesize a Time Portal and asked Ratchet to save Orvus.

Clank and Sigmund then made their way to the Orvus Chamber, the main control room for the Great Clock. Clank watched a message left by Orvus warning that misuse of the Clock would tear apart reality. However, before Clank could watch the entire message, he was captured by Lawrence and placed in custody of the Valkyries. Ratchet and Alister Azimuth battled the Valkyries at their citadel on planet Vapedia and set Clank free. After being re-united with Ratchet, Clank learned that Orvus had escaped from Nefarious to parts unkown. Clank managed to persuade Ratchet not use the Clock to save the Lombaxes with Azimuth, fearing it would be a repeat of the incident with the Dimensionator.

Clank then traveled with Ratchet to Nefarious' space station where they fought Dr. Nefarious and Lawrence. The duo emerged victorious and were narrowly saved from death themselves by Azimuth. Back on the Great Clock, Clank told Ratchet that he needed to stay at the facility as it was what he was built for. Ratchet reluctantly agreed and started to walk Clank in. Azimuth, outraged at Ratchet's unwillingness to turn back time, snapped and sent an energy blast from his wrench at Ratchet. Clank could do nothing as he watched his best friend die.

Clank managed to avoid similar attacks from Azimuth, race to the Orvus Chamber, and seal the room off from the General. Clank then remembered the Plumber's advice, realizing it was crucial advice about reversing the flow of time. Breaking Orvus' rule on not using the Clock as a time machine, Clank initiated a time shift to reverse time by 6 minutes. Clank tackled Ratchet to the ground just as the energy blast shoots overhead. After Azimuth beat the duo to the Orvus Chamber, the Lombax shifted time back drastically. Ratchet and Clank defeated Azimuth in a final battle while the Orvus Chamber collapsed around them.

After Azimuth sacrificed himself to repair the damage to the Clock, Clank bid Ratchet farewell before the Lombax sadly walked away. Clank, however, realized that finding his own family didn't mean that he could abandon Ratchet. As a recording of Orvus advised Clank to do what is meaningful to him, Clank promoted Sigmund to Senior Caretaker of the Clock by giving him the Chronoscepter and then chased after Ratchet, making it into Ratchet's ship just before the canopy closed. The two heroes then blasted off together.

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One
In All 4 One, Clank, Ratchet, Qwark, and Dr. Nefarious were captured by Ephemeris after Nefarious' evil plan backfired in Luminopolis. Clank's appearance has changed to match 4 One's art style, and is slightly larger than in previous games. After the quartet stopped a light eating Z'Grute from terrorizing the city, Ephemeris arrived and took them to planet Magnus. During the time they were there, Clank seemed to have developed more advanced fighting skills, even using one of his Heli-Pack blades as a boomerang. Over the course of the game, Clank attempted to pull Nefarious out of his evil ways. Eventually, the group was able to stop the Loki Master's plan to bring back the Loki.

Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault
Clank returns along with Ratchet in Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault.

Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile
Clank became trapped inside one of his Secret Agent Clank vid-comics. Alongside Ratchet, they defeated Maximillian.

Secret Agent Clank
Some time after Size Matters,Clank began to work for the Agency, and performed many secret missions. In one of these missions, he explored the Boltaire Museum and witnessed Ratchet stealing the Eye of Infinity, before being caught by the security system. However, the Eye of Infinity had seemed to disappear. Upon investigating the Museum, he found a clue suggesting that the Eye was in possession of Number Woo on Asyanica.

There, he was immediately captured by Number Woo. However, Clank managed to get the upper hand using the Agency Gadgebots, and cornered Woo. Woo told him that he did have the Eye, but that he had given it to Ivana Lottabolts on Glaciara. On Glaciara, Clank danced with the countess and managed to find out that the "Kingpin" had the Eye. Clank found the Kingpin on Rionosis, but the Kingpin was able to escape when the Jack of all Trades interfered. Clank chased the Kingpin across multiple planets, before discovering at the Spaceship Graveyard that his real identity was Klunk.

Klunk stole Clank's ship and escaped, but Clank managed to follow him as Giant Clank to Hydrano, where he finally confronted the doppelganger. Klunk revealed that he planned to use the Eye of Infinity as a laser to blow up every planet in the galaxy and frame Ratchet. However, Clank managed to defeat Klunk and disable the laser with the help of Captain Qwark and Anastasia. He was then able to clear Ratchet's name and free him from prison.

PlayStation Move Heroes


Clank and Ratchet were taken to the Inter-Universal Hero Games just as Tachyon began attacking Metropolis in Tools of Destruction. In the game, he was Bentley's rival, but they later became friends. Clank and Bentley were the first to figure out what was actually going on. Clank slightly irritated Daxter from time to time with his nerdy personality and antics. At the end of the adventure, he and Bentley were the ones who devised the plan for the final strike, which worked to perfection. The two appeared to have kept in contact after the adventure, as shown when Clank talked to Bentley on a communicator in Metropolis afterwards.

Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale
Clank appears along with Ratchet as a one playable character. Clank can use time bombs to stop his opponents and takes them down with his chronoscepter during his level 2 super move.

Ratchet & Clank Manga
In the Manga, Clank is saved by Ratchet at the end of the story due to being attacked several times.

Ratchet & Clank comic series
Ratchet and Clank returned to the Solana Galaxy for some rest and relaxation.

Ratchet and Clank soon learned of a plot by Artemis Zogg to steal planets from the different galaxies. With the help of Talwyn, Cronk, Zephyr, Qwark, Sasha Phyronix, and the Solana Galactic Rangers, they were able to foil Zogg's plans and save these planets. Afterwards, Ratchet and Clank decided to return to Polaris.

Personality
Clank often acted as Ratchet's choregos, acting as the voice of reason against Ratchet's brash personality. He was quite knowledgeable in a variety of subjects, which he never hesitated to show. Clank has shown to be somewhat slower to realize certain things than Ratchet in certain scenarios; for example, in Ratchet & Clank, he mistook the Captain Qwark robot for the real Captain Qwark, and only realized that it was a robot after Ratchet told him so and in Zeldrin, in the video of Qwark dressed as a woman asking for a ride, Clank didn't realize that it was really Captain Qwark. He thought that was his sister until Ratchet said that Qwark was alive.

Appearance
Clank was diminutive in size; 2'2" and 17 lbs according to an Insomniac Games personnel. He had green eyes and was made entirely out of metal. His "eyes" had 2 eyelids. At some scenes (mostly in cutscenes of Size Matters and Secret Agent Clank) Clank's eyes were light blue, likely due to oversights or errors.

Powers & abilities
Clank was a standard model 7.66 robot and ran on XP-88 sisterboards. While normally rather unimpressive, Clank's strength came from his highly modifiable body. He was fitted with the Heli-Pack, Thruster-Pack, Hydro-Pack.

He seemed to have some sort of device for shrinking objects that he puts in his torso. He was able to transform into a Giant Clank ultra-mech using an Ultra-Mech launch pad. He was also upgraded with a weapon called the Clank Zapper which allowed him to damage enemies from his place on Ratchet's back. Shady Salesman Billy sold Ratchet the Levitator, a device which enabled Clank to fly using boost pads.

During Going Mobile, Ratchet found a device called ppClank's Grapple]], which allowed Clank to extend his arms and use them as grappling hooks like the Swingshot.

The Zoni gave Clank the Robo-Wings, the ability to slow down time and the Geo-Laser. Clank also got a Heli-Pack boost in A Crack in Time, allowing him to quadruple jump. Sigmund also installed a Quantum Actuater in Clank's circuitry, allowing Clank to create and use time pads.

In All 4 One, Clank could throw time bombs which could slow down enemies. He also seemed to learn more advanced combat skills, including the ability to throw his Heli-Pack blades as boomerangs.

Clank's Soul and the Zoni
In Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Clank was visited by the Zoni, mystical, ghost-like beings who could decide who saw them, and they revealed to him that he had a soul. Once the Zoni told this to Clank, they began to give him special abilities including time manipulation and levitation. The Zoni then kidnapped Clank at the end of Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, and Ratchet searched for him in Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty and Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time.

In A Crack in Time, Clank learned that he had a father named Orvus, who was a Zoni. It was revealed that Orvus had created Clank in the Great Clock and personally took him to planet Quartu.

Zoni Commands
This is a list of commands that Clank could order to the Zoni:


 * Follow
 * Manipulate
 * Levitate
 * Charge

Trivia

 * Clank's favorite color was green.
 * Clank's favorite number was eighty-three billion and four point seven (83,000,000,004.7).
 * According to Insomniac personnel, Clank was about 17lbs.
 * Clank's birthday was on 26th of October as shown in the Ratchet & Clank Future 2010 calendar.
 * Clank made more appearances in Ratchet: Deadlocked than Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty, even though his name is only in the latter title.
 * Clank is the icon for the original Ratchet & Clank on a PS2 memory card.
 * According to the sketchbook in Ratchet &amp; Clank, Clank was meant to be 3 mini-robots but eventually ended up being 1 robot because Insomniac Games felt it would be too difficult to animate three smaller robots during every scene.
 * Clank said his sprockets were responsible for laughing (especially when being teleported). His laugh was probably derived from Orvus who had an identical laugh to Clank.
 * Clank made only two very small appearances in Quest for Booty, even though his name was in the title.

Guest appearances

 * Clank is an unlockable caddie in Hot Shots Golf Fore! (known as Everybody's Golf in Europe).ResistanceClank.JPG
 * A Clank costume is available as downloadable content for LittleBigPlanet 2.
 * Clank, along with Ratchet, are also downloadable characters, for the racing game ModNation Racers. Unlike most DLC Characters, Ratchet and Clank come paired together, but at the cost of not having their own personal Karts for the game. Clank can be used in any game mode, but will never be referred to by name, only being called "Tag" in carrer mode (like all mods).
 * In Daxter you can find and wear a Clank Mask.
 * A Clank figure can be purchased from the Playstation Home shop.
 * In Resistance: Fall of Man, a Clank Backpack was available for the human soldiers and was unlocked with 100 points.
 * In Resistance 2, the Clank Backpack was also available for the human soldiers and was unlocked at level 29.

Appearances

 * Ratchet & Clank
 * Challenge Clank
 * Ratchet &amp; Clank: Going Commando
 * Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
 * Ratchet: Deadlocked
 * Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile
 * Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
 * Ratchet & Clank: Clone Home (cancelled)
 * Secret Agent Clank
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
 * Race Through Time
 * PlayStation Move Heroes
 * Ratchet & Clank Manga
 * Ratchet &amp; Clank: Issue 1: Ears of War
 * Ratchet & Clank: Issue 2: Friends with Benefits
 * Ratchet & Clank: Issue 3: Lost and Spaced
 * Ratchet & Clank: Issue 4: Thanks for the Armories
 * Ratchet &amp; Clank: Issue 5: Multiple Organisms
 * Ratchet & Clank: Issue 6: Bros Before Foes
 * Ratchet &amp; Clank: All 4 One
 * Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault
 * 8-Bit Mini Mayhem

Non-Ratchet & Clank

 * Hot Shots Golf Fore!
 * Jak X: Combat Racing 
 * ModNation Racers
 * Resistance: Fall of Man
 * Resistance 2
 * PlayStation Home