Plumber

"Ratchet: Look, plumber's crack. Plumber: What did you just say? Ratchet: I said, 'Look - the plumber's back!'"

- Ratchet talking to Plumber on Novalis.

The Plumber, also known as the Mechanic, the Water Worker or the Janitor, was a traveling handyman who would repair any leaky plumbing if the price is right. He has appeared in almost every Ratchet & Clank game since the series began.

The Plumber was part of the galaxy-wide unnamed blue humanoid species, also found on his homeworld, Novalis.

Ratchet & Clank
Ratchet and Clank first encountered the Plumber fixing a pipe on planet Novalis where he sold them an Infobot in exchange for 500 bolts to get a shuttle off the planet, which was being devastated by the Blarg. He later encountered the duo on Batalia, where he found work on trying to fix Fort Krontos's heavy turret. After Ratchet manned the turret and brought down several Blarg Bombers, the Plumber rewarded them with a Metal Detector that his grandfather had invented to find spare change.

Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
During their adventures in the Bogon Galaxy, Ratchet and Clank encountered the Plumber aboard the Flying Lab on Aranos, where he had been called in to unblock a pipe. It turned out that a Captain Qwark Action Figure was the object responsible and he sold it to the duo.

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
He later met Ratchet and Clank once again, this time in the sewers of Aquatos. He claimed he was down there to make something special for his wife out of Sewer Crystals (most likely a necklace). He paid Ratchet and Clank bolts to collect them for him.

Ratchet: Deadlocked
While Ratchet and Clank were competing in DreadZone, the Plumber was called to an emergency involving a sump pump in the Rygylian Nebula although he never came into contact with the duo.

Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
The Plumber also appeared in Ratchet's Dreamtime while he was under the knife at Medical Outpost Omega.

Secret Agent Clank
In Secret Agent Clank, Ratchet encountered him fixing the prison's cold water for the showers and asked Ratchet to give him a hand. This only caused to knock something loose, angering the nearby prisoners who were taking showers.

Ratchet & Clank Future
The Plumber's appearances in the Ratchet &amp; Clank Future series were on Sargasso and in Clank's subconscious.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
In Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, the Plumber was found on Sargasso where he had created a "high speed interplanetary transportation gizmo" which resembled a toilet. He also strangely gave the two heroes a '3 ¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer' just in case they needed it. On top of this, he said that the weapon capable of vaporising the Cragmites they were looking for didn't exist, as he claimed to have been "everywhere in the universe and beyond". This prompted Clank to believe they were just moved instead of destroyed. The washer he gave them helped Ratchet and Clank near the end of the game just after the defeat of Tachyon. The Dimensionator had been broken in the fight, but Clank was quick to see that it was missing the exact type of washer the Plumber gave to them. The washer was used to temporarily repair the Dimensionator and Ratchet and Clank were able to return to the Nundac Asteroid Ring.

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
In Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, Clank used one of the Great Clock's Mnemonic Chambers to take a trip into his subconscious. Although he would primarily do this to learn new skills as Senior Caretaker, he meets the Plumber in one particular instance who claims he took a wrong turn into Clank's memory banks. The Plumber claims to have been originally intending to head into Qwark's brain, which he thought he was in because of all the emptiness he sees. The Plumber then says that Clank must accept his new responsibilities, even though the first steps are the hardest. Cryptically, the Plumber then says to "not risk any more than 6 minutes", before Clank abruptly awakes. Near the end of the game, Ratchet is killed by General Azimuth. After escaping from him, Clank realizes that the Plumber was talking about the Clock's ability to reverse the flow of time. Using this advice, Clank turned back time 6 minutes, preventing Ratchet from dying.

Ratchet & Clank comic series
The Plumber only makes one small appearance in the comic series. In Ratchet & Clank: Issue 6: Bros Before Foes, Ratchet, Talwyn, and Vorn nearly drown from attempting to swim to the opposite side of an aqueduct, as the door from the the inside is locked shut. The Plumber unlocks the door from the outside and pulls the three out just before they faced certain death. The Plumber warns them that the aqueduct isn't for swimming. The three pause for a second, Talwyn asking "Do I even want to ask what he's doing here?" as if she has encountered the Plumber as much as Ratchet has. Ratchet responds, "Maybe later," hurrying off to continue their mission.



Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One
The Plumber will make an appearence in the upcoming title, All 4 One.

Trivia

 * The Plumber had appeared in, or has been mentioned in every single game except Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty and Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile; his frequent re-appearances becoming something of a running joke.
 * The Plumber has a tendency to break the fourth wall in the games he has a line in. An example would be in Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, where he said he would see them in about a year or so. The third game in the series, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, was released a year later. When they encountered him, the Plumber said that they were right on schedule.
 * The Plumber was voiced by Neil Flynn, who played "The Janitor" on the TV sitcom Scrubs, in the first three PlayStation 2 games. However, he was voiced by Jess Harnell in all of his appearances in the Future Sub-series.
 * The Plumber in Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time was looking in (and drops Clank into) a Warp Pipe from the Super Mario Bros. games. He later remarks that "plumbers don't go diving down strange pipes all willy nilly. That'd be ridiculous!"
 * There was an Up Your Arsenal trophy modeled after the Plumber, and could be found on Daxx.
 * In the original Ratchet and Clank game, the Plumber was called 'The Mechanic' according to the missions screen on Novalis which read "purchase infobot from Mechanic".
 * The events of the Future series show the Plumber giving Ratchet and Clank an item and some advice that would inevitably help them at the end of each adventure. This suggests that the Plumber has some sort of ability to see the future situations that Ratchet and Clank will get into and take steps to make sure they succeed. The actual explanation for the Plumber's actions has yet to be explained.
 * In Size Matters, he is the only character in Ratchet's Dreamtime to float in 3D, rather than having a picture of himself.

Appearances

 * Ratchet & Clank
 * Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
 * Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
 * Ratchet: Deadlocked
 * Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (cameo)
 * Secret Agent Clank
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
 * Ratchet & Clank: Issue 6: Bros Before Foes
 * Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One