Shellshock

"Target acquired, terminating with extreme prejudice!"

- Ivan Von Shellshocktonberg

Ivan Von Shellshocktonberg, better known by his DreadZone name Shellshock, was a famed cyborg, ex-soldier and former member of the Exterminators, previously the most successful DreadZone team in history. Incredibly masculine and aggressive, this Omega Series Warbot took pleasure in taking out "sissy" contestants on DreadZone. He was also Commander of DreadZone's forces.

Life as Go-Comet Greeter to a soldier in the Obanian Army
"They said I was too crazy to fight! I showed them crazy!"

- Shellshock.

Ivan spent ten years working as a greeter at a Go-Comet bot part retailer. He retired after a freak parasailing accident rendered him paralyzed from the neck-up.

Friendly Chemicals, a subsidiary of the Obanian Army, offered him a fully mechanical headpiece and a job in the Army. He accepted. Six months later while on the Obani Moons, his brain was destroyed by a cruise missile that hit his head during the Obani Moon War, and was replaced with a coffee machine's AI chip. As a result, Shellshock was immune to pain (but not damage) and made a great cappuccino.

Although his headpiece protected most of his head, his body was destroyed. He was then fitted with a fully mechanical armor suit, and his damaged brain tissue was replaced with a super-charged AI chip from a Mr-Headache Coffee Machine. He was now more robot than man.

Fighting in many battles, he became a decorated war hero, but he could not take the deep pain that was left in his mind, which eventually boiled over. Late into the Obani Moon War, he went AWOL.

Life on DreadZone
"Initiate Annihilation Program!"

- ShellShock

Changing his name to ShellShock, Ivan joined DreadZone to become a gladiator. No longer a war hero, he found motivation in gaining revenge against the worlds he hated.

His skills at annihilating foes soon came to the attention of the Exterminators, the most successful DreadZone team in the known history of the competition at that point. He eventually became a member and was the lowest ranked member under Reactor, the Eviscerator and Ace Hardlight.

His membership within the team had mixed reactions as Ace Hardlight considered Shellshock to be too old and too stupid to be a true exterminator. Shellshock; however, became good friends with Reactor, and they used to carpool to work together. They also designed a DreadZone challenge named Air Drop, in which a fleet of DreadZone Dreadnaughts piloted by the DreadZone Volunteer Air Force would practice bombing runs on the The Tower of Power, causing DreadZone contestants to run for cover while they fought DreadZone gladiators.

Shellshock was later voted Sexiest Robot Alive by Vox Magazine.

Shellshock and the Twins
"Ha ha ha! Those Omega Twins went down like wee little girly men!"

- Shellshock

Shellshock continued to exterminate gladiator after gladiator with ease as part of his career on DreadZone; however, he was afraid to fight Captain Starshield like all the other Exterminators, with the sole exception of Ace Hardlight. Fortunately for Shellshock, Ace Hardlight took care of Captain Starshield in the third season of DreadZone.

By the start of the fourth season he had taken out three contestants, including the The Omega Twins, who were two teenage girls. Shellshock later faced off against Plutonium Jones (also known as "The Muscle"), a mysterious gladiator with a shrouded past, at the Battledome in the DreadZone Station. The battle was intense, but in the end Shellshock finished Plutonium Jones with a 360° Tomahawk finishing move, winning an Extermination of the Day Award from Vox News.

Following his match with Plutonium Jones, Shellshock was interviewed by Vox News hosts Dallas Wanamaker and Juanita Alvaro on his recent successes. Still in a good mood following his recent kill, he boasted how his battle with The Omega Twins had been quite easy, since he claimed they fought like "wee little girly men." Vox News Dallas Wanamaker found Shellshocks remarks to be quite ironic, since the twins were teenage girls after all. Shellshock noted it was quite ironic, but his attention soon shifted from Dallas to Juanita. He gladly greeted Juanita, and then asked her whether she was wearing Ace Hardlight Underwear, as he knew she was a fan of Ace Hardlight. Juanita; however, sheepishly ended the interview with Shellshock and moved on to discuss Courtney Gears' recent recovery, but later in that news segment Dallas mentioned that Ratchet was next up to fight Shellshock.

Showdown on Kronos


Preparing for his upcoming battle with Ratchet, he had his DreadZone forces take control of Dark City on the planet of Kronos as part of an episode of DreadZone. In order to win, he would need to finish Ratchet off in the dark forbidding city while the Lombax proceeded to enter the locked down Dark Cathedral of Kronos.



When Ratchet and his two Combat bots Merc and Green arrived, they began to clear through Shellshock's forces and managed to reactivate one of the spotlights to the Dark Cathedral, which would unlock the front door. Shellshock then decided it was time to take out the Lombax and after a very brief introduction by Dallas, the massive warbot descended upon Ratchet from his location high above the ground in a dramatic manner. Catching the Lombax off guard, the pumped up Shellshock flexed his mechanical body toward the Lombax, before exclaiming it was time for Ratchet to die. Shellshock then charged the Lombax with a barrage of weapons, causing Ratchet to keep on his toes to avoid serious injury. Ratchet; however, fired back, and eventually Shellshock was sent fleeing.

Shellshock then ambushed Ratchet once again following the activation of second and final spotlight, but Ratchet was able to throw him off just like before, causing Shellshock to flee into the Dark Cathedral.

Later, Shellshock ambushed Ratchet numerous times in the Dark Cathedral, but each attempt failed to kill the Lombax. Eventually, in the last room within the Dark Cathedral, Shellshock was killed by Ratchet, causing the old warbot to collapse on the floor of the Dark Cathedral.

Defeat, death and legacy
Shellshock's defeat by Ratchet led many DreadZone fans to start rooting for Ratchet, as no Exterminator had ever been defeated by a contestant before. While many fans found a new hero and team to idolize, Gleeman Vox was greatly distraught over Shellshock's loss, as Shellshock was six million bolts worth of hardware that was no longer usable. However, Gleeman Vox now saw Ratchet as a potential cash cow for his business empire due to the Lombax's ability at taking the warbot out. On the other hand, Ace Hardlight wasn't impressed that Ratchet had taken out Shellshock; he claimed that Shellshock was too slow and stupid to be an exterminator and that he should have been retired years ago, causing Vox to remark that Shellshock was "retired" now.

Later on, Vox News mourned the loss of Shellshock along with Reactor and the Eviscerator.

Merchandise
As with many DreadZone contestants, Shellshock featured in DreadZone merchandise. Shellshock was featured on an Exterminator card with a strength of ammunition, a weakness of heat, and the element Libra. The card's ability was stated as "Helmet - Debris counters are reset at start of each round."

Personality
"Chammon! How can I get crazy if you're not hitting me!"

- Shellshock

Shellshock was an overly aggressive warbot, enjoying all the testosterone he got from killing contestants on DreadZone. Shellshock was also quite crazy, as he mentioned the Obanian Army thought he was too crazy to fight, causing Shellshock to show them real craziness. He was considered psychotic by Dallas Wanamaker.

In addition to being angry and crazy, he also had an extremely masculine personality, and anything that wasn't "manly" in his eyes was a "sissy." Some things he considered sissies were the Omega Twins, the R.Y.N.O. and the Apocolator.

Dull "Reactor" Bookworm
"What's this? Team Darkstar must dodge a massive bomb drop coming from a fleet of dreadnoughts? What psychos thought this challenge up? What's that, Reactor and Shellshock? I didn't know they were friends. Didn't they use to carpool together?"

- Dallas Wanamaker

Shellshock was good friends with fellow Exterminator Dull "Reactor" Bookwarm, whom he used to carpool to work with. They also designed the mission Air Drop together, a Battledome arena.

Ratchet
"I will clean my armor with your face!"

- Shellshock

Throughout his battle with Ratchet, he clearly underestimated the Lombaxes ability to fight back, gloating about how he was going to finish him off. He realized only too late that Ratchet was no ordinary contestant, resulting in his defeat and death.

Abilities
Shellshock had a move he called his "Dishnorable Discharge", a ground pound that released a wave of fire.

Behind the scenes
Ivan Von Shellshocktonberg first appears in Ratchet: Deadlocked and also appears in the multiplayer section of the game as a skin. He is later seen in a poster in Neftin's Hideout in Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus.

In the high definition re-release of Ratchet: Deadlocked, his image is used for the trophy Shock-King.

Shellshock is voiced by Jim Ward, who also voices Captain Qwark and Otto Destruct among other characters.

Cut content
According to cut audio files, he was discharged from the military for incinerating his commanding officer on twenty-six different occasions. It is also mentioned that he served as a door greeter for Dallas Wanamaker's Dallas Loves Everything Charity Event. Apparently, the more people donated, the less he beat the guests on their way out.

Also from the same cut audio files, Shellshock also wasn't actually voted the "Sexiest Robot Alive" by Vox Magazine, as Juanita just made this up to fool Dallas. However, when the actual game came out, most of the original quote was stripped from the game except the beginning part in which Juanita states Shellshock was voted "Sexiest Robot Alive."

Inspiration
The character Shellshock is clearly based on famed actor, body builder and former Republican California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Both Shellshock and Arnold speak in an Austrian accent and Shellshock even uses Arnold's famous "Chammon!" quote several times throughout his encounters with Ratchet. Lastly, not only does is Shellshock overly muscular like Arnold, but his appearance also resembles the Terminator cyborgs of Terminator series, which Arnold played as during his role in those movies.

Trivia

 * He is the only Exterminator not to be fought in the Battledome.
 * He also seems to have the same build as a Mega Bot from Up Your Arsenal, and even dies in a similar way in his death cutscene.

Appearances

 * Ratchet: Deadlocked
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty
 * Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus


 * Non-canon
 * PlayStation Home