Percival Tachyon

"Emperor Percival Tachyon! Crown Prince of the Cragmites, conquerer of space and time, and, pending the obliteration of a few insubordinate species, Ruler of the Universe!"

- Emperor Tachyon formally introduces himself to Ratchet

Emperor Percival Tachyon was the main antagonist in Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Tachyon was the last of the Cragmites in all of the Polaris galaxy and their crowned prince, a position he likely inherrited somewhere from his family heritage. To show his position of power, Tachyon wore a crown with a large red jewel and carried a scepter with the Cragmite insignia. He was notably recognized for having a short and unfeared appearance. Tachyon compensated for this by traveling atop a giant walking throne, having undoubtably strict authority, and an obnoxiously loud and high-pitched voice.

History
"Ratchet: The Lombaxes raised you! How could you do this to them? Tachyon: Those filthy creatures had the gall to pity me!"

- Tachyon and Ratchet about the Lombaxes

Long before Tachyon was born, the mighty Cragmite Empire rose to power and began the Great War by battling the Lombax race over control of Polaris. At some point before or during the war, to preserve their legacy, the Cragmites placed an egg of theirs on Kreeli Comet in hopes that the hatchling would be able to one day carry on their lineage should they be opposed or defeated. That egg's dormant child was none other than Percival Tachyon, who was kept safe but unaware of the hostile war ragging in the galaxy. Eventually, the legendary Dimensionator (or "Lombax Secret" as it was known to those other than the Lombaxes) was created by the leaders of the Lombaxes and used to transport all of the Cragmites to another dimension.

The one thing the Lombaxes had not counted on was Tachyon. During an expedition on Kreeli Comet, a small egg was found. When the hatchling emerged, the Lombaxes recognized the tiny creature as a Cragmite. Normally, upon discovering one more Cragmite in the galaxy, the Lombaxes would have killed it to keep Polaris safe. However, this Cragmite was small, defenceless, and seemingly feeble. Out of deep pity, the merciful Lombaxes took the young Tachyon to their home planet of Fastoon. It was here that the descendant of the most evil beings in the Universe would grow under the watchful eye of his rival species.

The Lombaxes went to much effort to hide the truth of Tachyon's origins from him. He was taught to believe in the goodness and peace the Lombax race offered. However, after a number of years, Tachyon somehow stumbled upon the origins of his race. He learned that he was a Cragmite, and discovered that the other Cragmites, a powerful force over Polaris, were sent away to an alternate dimension by the Lombaxes, using a mysterious treasure known as the "Lombax Secret". Tachyon was then fueled with rage, anger, and contempt, hating that his foster family had lied to him for years and imprisoned his anscestors. These acts of retaliation in the Great War were deemed "horrors" by Tachyon, who, with his loathe of Lombaxes immensely high, was determined to restore the Cragmite Empire.

Empire Rebirth
"The horrors committed by your race during the Great War shall finally be reversed!"

- Tachyon to Ratchet

Tachyon built a large band of Space Pirates to do his bidding. Sending them to various locations across the Polaris galaxy, Tachyon's goal was to collect and salvage advanced machinery for compensation of his race's fallen empire. The pirates obediantly did as Tachyon ordered, traveling all across the galaxy and pillaging pieces of Lombax technology used to build advanced robotic devices. Soon, Tachyon had an endless supply of the equipment he needed. It is apparent that the pirates had battled Lombaxes frequently to get the technology, as Romulus Slag became familiar with their smell. When it was evidant that his empire was on the way to its rebirth, Tachyon no longer needed the Space Pirates and banished them to the remote world of Praxus Seven. Despite this, they became an active threat to Tachyon, setting up hideouts across Polaris and pillaging under the leadership of various captains, free of Tachyon's will.

Needing an army to temporarily replace his Cragmite bretheren, Tachyon took all of his salvaged machinery collected by the Space Pirates and travelled to the aquatic world of Zaurik. There, he forged an alliance with the Drophyd race. They were a species of small, seemingly feeble, fish-like creatures, in a low physical standing just like Tachyon, who understood them quite well for this reason. He offered the race a large amount of Raritanium in exchange for their servitude. They accepted, and became Tachyon's loyal commando enforcers, made lethal combatants with the collected machinery Tachyon recieved from the Space Pirates. They were given powerfully advanced mechanical suits that turned them into the proper soldiers Tachyon needed. This new Imperial Army would form the back-bone of the soon-to-be completely rebuilt Cragmite Empire. Tachyon then set up his base on the Cragmite homeworld, Reepor, the location of their last battle with the Lombaxes.

The planet Reepor had been turned dormant thanks to the Lombaxes, reduced to nothing but ruin, and Tachyon intended to return it to its former glory. His primary goal was to gain revenge on the Lombax race by exterminating them and bringing back the Cragmites. Taking possession of the vast Imperial Cruisers his species' empire had left behind, Tachyon formed an armada and reforged the Cragmite Empire, with himself as the emperor destined to bring back the Cragmites and make it a whole again. To begin this goal, Tachyon and his Drophyd enforcers went to Fastoon in hopes of destroying the Lombaxes.

Fastoon Battle
"I spent years building an army large enough to lay waste to this infernal planet!!"

- Tachyon to Ratchet

Upon Tachyon's arrival, the Lombaxes did not have much defence against Tachyon's vast warships and enforcers. Out of defence options, the generals stood no further chance against Tachyon, who proceeded to lay waste to Fastoon and crumble it to ruin just as the Lombaxes had done to Reepor. Among the sky forces fighting Tachyon's troops was the Aphelion, who was shot down by Drophyd seeker ammo. Her pilot either retreated or was killed in the chaos. As Drophyds marched upon the Court of Azimuth, Tachyon was robbed of his chance to kill all the Lombaxes when they escaped to another dimension while behind the court's walls. General Azimuth also fled separately, having been split apart from his allies in the midst of the battle.

The Guardian, the Dimensionator's keeper, used it to send his race to safety while staying behind with his infant son. They managed to escape Tachyon's wrath long enough for The Guardian to send his son safely away to the Solana galaxy. He also left clues across Polaris to allow a Lombax, namely his son, to one day find the Dimensionator, which was later hidden on Jasindu. Tachyon spent the next few years hunting down the Guardian and his son, intent on killing them. While he missed the oppurtunity to capture the young son (who would later grow up to be the hero Ratchet), Tachyon managed to confront The Guardian in combat. After he defeated the Lombax, he savored the ending of his life.

Tools of Destruction
"Typical Lombax... So noble, so courageous, and so very dead!"

- Emperor Tachyon to Ratchet

Metropolis Attack
"My gripe is not with the people of this archaic planet, but with you! Surrender your, 'deathbot', and simply allow us to kill you, no one else need be harmed!"

- Tachyon to Ratchet and Clank

Over the years, while Ratchet and his newly acquired robotic partner, Clank, had a series of exciting adventures and saved Solana and Bogon from various evil doers, Tachyon was able to track him down. On Ratchet's favored Solana planet, Kerwan, Tachyon assaulted the city of Metropolis during rush hour while Ratchet was working on a jet bike. Captain Qwark, working as the head of the Planetary Defense Center, encountered the Drophyd commandos and sent a distress call to Ratchet and Clank. While Qwark briefly attempted to battle the troops, he soon resorted to running like the coward he was. Being lucky enough to destroy two of the Drophyds, Qwark was inevitably captured and frozen in a block of ice. The prisoner was taken to Tachyon himself, who was not impressed by the "hero". Qwark, desperate to save his own life and wanting to keep Metropolis safe, pledged allegiance to the Cragmite Empire as Tachyon's confidant, while secretly planning to steal information on Tachyon's plans to aid Ratchet and Clank.

Meanwhile, Ratchet fought through groups of Tachyon's forces as the rest of the city was blown apart building by building. Tachyon, inside the cruiser he was piloting, chased Ratchet when he attempted to escape along the grindrails. Trying to blast Ratchet with the warship's guns, the Lombax dodged his attacks, but fell right into a trap. At the end of the rails, Ratchet and Clank landed on a platform and were surrounded by Drophyds. Tachyon then brought the cruiser down to the platform and emerged atop his mobile throne. He was not impressed by the last Lombax, underestimating him as being small and weak. Ratchet and Clank were in turn not impressed by Tachyon himself, and even laughed at his name when he formally introduced himself. The emperor became furious and demanded to be recognized as the royal Cragmite he was. When Clank stepped forward, Tachyon thought he was so primitive and was amused since the Lombaxes were such renouned engineers. Ratchet falsely warned Tachyon and his men that Clank was a menacing deathbot to intimidate them, though Tachyon himself was not fooled.

His patience dwindling, Tachyon requested Ratchet surrender and be executed, promising that Metropolis would be spared if he complied. Ratchet at first agreed, but threw Clank to the cruiser, allowing him to board it and prepare their escape. Tachyon, with his large throne walker, blocked Ratchet and prepared to kill him. The Lombax managed to knock him over with his wrench and boarded the ship as the Drophyds opened fire. The cruiser's autopilot transported the duo to Polaris, where Tachyon pursued them. As Ratchet and Clank met new allies and traversed Polaris fighting Tachyon's empire, Tachyon made several broadcasts to citizens and his soldiers in attempts to find the Lombax. He also charged Ratchet for stealing one of his Imperial Cruisers and being part of the resistance, which had become active once again after Tachyon ressurected the Cragmite Empire, despite the fact that he had been the only Cragmite active at the time.

Imperial Fight Festival
"Attention, troopers! I would like to share with you a poem I wrote last night. *Ahem* The Lombax shall die a firey, awful death! Cupcakes are yummy..."

- Tachyon broadcasting on Mukow

During his travels, Ratchet happened upon Planet Mukow and competted in the Imperial Fight Festival in disguise thanks to a hint from the undercover Qwark. At the first challenge, Qwark introduced the Drophyd audience to his "new best friend", Emperor Tachyon, who watched the match from a projection screen. At first, there were no cheers from the troops, angering Tachyon. He snapped his fingers and his enforcers cocked their guns to motivate the audience, who immediatly cheered for Tachyon, much to his delight. After the disguised Ratchet completed the course, Qwark slipped them an info disc, some clue to Tachyon's plot. Tachyon ordered Qwark to come to him, as he had boils and needed them lanced. Disgusted, Qwark came to him, whispering for Ratchet to pray for him. It was apparent that Tachyon had Qwark doing a number of less than desirable tasks, as when Ratchet and Clank came to the arena again, Qwark gave them another clue, an infobot which he found in Tachyon's underwear drawer.

Lombax Secret Found
"How do you like my planet, Lombax? It's been dormant for years thanks to your kind!"

- Tachyon on Reepor

Eventually, finding the clues left by his father, Ratchet located the "Lombax Secret", which was revealed to all as the Dimensionator. Unfortunately, it was stolen by the interferring Captain Slag and Rusty Pete along with their band of Space Pirates. Ratchet defeated Slag and claimed the Dimensionator, but it was once again stolen, this time by Qwark, who had come to realize that he wasn't a true hero and wanted to redeem himself by destroying the device. As Qwark got into an escape pod to try and throw the machine into a black hole, he was automatically sent to the nearest planet, which happened to be the home of Tachyon's empire and the Cragmites, Reepor. Tachyon sent in his enforcers to fend off Ratchet, Clank, and their new allies, Aphelion, Talwyn Apogee, Cronk, and Zephyr, while he went after the Dimensionator. He soon cornered Qwark on a high platform in the former Cragmite Capitol. Pinning the pitiful captain under his mechanical throne walker's foot, he claimed the Dimensionator and put it on in place of his crown. Ratchet eventually caught up to them, but found he was too late.

Tachyon laughed maniacally in the face of his triumph and thought it was fitting that the Lombaxes' last son and the Cragmites' prince met on the very ground their ancestors last battled. Assuring Qwark he would deal with his deceit later, Tachyon declared that the long awaited rising of the Cragmites would occur at last and pulled the cord to activate the Dimensionator. It did nothing, prompting Tachyon to pull it again. An awkward pause followed, everyone confused at what was wrong. Tachyon furiously pulled again, this time activating the powerful device. He commanded it to find the Cragmites, laughing maniaclly as his brothers were transported back into Polaris one by one. Thunderous booms sounded as the evil creatures came out of their portals, possibly signalling the rest of the galaxy of their return.

In the ensuing chaos, Clank and an unconcious Ratchet were knocked into the large chasm below. After fighting their way past Cragmites and back to their ships, Ratchet and Clank reunited with one another and discovered from Aphelion that Tachyon and his fully rebuilt Cragmite Empire were attacking Meridian City on Planet Igliak. They all went to find Tachyon's Cragmite dropships bombing and almost destroying the city. Tachyon made frequent broadcasts to the city, gloating about the Cragmite's return and finally being able to bring down the capitol of free Polaris. Qwark was found to be imprisoned there, and Ratchet and Clank fought through the Cragmites and Drophyds to reach him. He was shown to be having a tearful breakdown in his cell. He stated that Tachyon was "so off his top 8" and continued to show how hysterical he was for not being the hero he thought he was. Clank, with help from his mystical allies, the Zoni, deduced that Tachyon was heading for Fastoon. Ratchet agreed, and all but the cowardly Qwark went to stop Tachyon's plans.

Final Battle
"Welcome home, my furry friend. The last time I saw Lombaxes on Fastoon, they were running with their tails between their legs!"

- Tachyon on his fight with the Lombaxes

Tachyon's final plan was to lead the Cragmite Empire into the dimension the Lombaxes retreated into so long ago to end the race rivallry once and for all. Ratchet and his friends fought through Tachyon's forces until the emperor flew to them inside a cruiser. Over a loud speaker, Tachyon expressed his desire to destroy Fastoon and mocked the Lombaxes for "running with their tails between their legs". Ratchet asked what he did to them, and Tachyon told him to meet him in the Court of Azimuth for answers. Before flying off, Tachyon crashed his cruiser into a building and cliff, saying "Son of a!..." in anger. Ratchet and company eventually made it into the court, where Tachyon talked about his victory over the Lombax homeworld and the death of Ratchet's father. He also opened a portal that showed the dimension the Lombaxes were in, a futuristic city.

Tachyon gave Ratchet an ultimatum: either go home to his race or stay and suffer the consequences. Pondering either meeting his family or fighting with his friends, Ratchet chose to stay, as he knew that if he left, his friends would not be able to defeat Tachyon and defend the Lombax dimension from destruction. Tachyon closed the portal and declared Ratchet to be dead. After a brief fight, during which Tachyon utilized the weaponry of his walking throne and prepared to use the Dimensionator's weapons, a malfunction caused Tachyon's throne to freeze. He hollered out in despair and banged the "infernal machine" to work, suggesting malfunctions with it were common for Tachyon. The Dimensionator accidentally activated and sucked the screaming Tachyon into an alternate dimension. Ratchet jokingly pointed out that Clank was correct about the danger of wormhole devices, prompting Clank to give him a serious and upset glare. While Ratchet tried to assure Clank that Tachyon was dead, the arm of Tachyon's mechanical throne reached out of the hole and grabbed Ratchet by the foot, pulling the two into the closing asteroid dimension with him.

The three were transported into an asteroid dimension, with the large asteroid they were standing on slowly breaking apart. Tachyon stood his throne upwright, enraged at how Ratchet had ruined his plans and determined to kill him. The fearful Ratchet told Clank that they were "so screwed" and prepared to finish the fight with the Cragmite emperor. During the second phase of the battle, Tachyon utilized the full power of his mechanical throne as well as his Cragmite teleportation powers to serve as a greater opponent for Ratchet. After a long final confrontation, Ratchet at last defeated Tachyon, knocking over his deactivated throne and removing the Dimensionator from his head. The angered Tachyon got up one last time and declared that Ratchet could not kill him, as he was the only one in all of Polaris who knew about Ratchet's true purpose and even his actual name.

Declaring the inevitability of the Cragmite Empire's return and that Lombaxes would never find true sanctuary from his wrath, he was thrown off of the asteroid as it began to completely break apart, yelling at Ratchet as he drifted away toward a black hole. He seemed to be sucked in, but since his race had the power to split their atoms and effectively teleport themselves, his survival seemed likely. Either way, Ratchet had ended the reign of Percival Tachyon and the Cragmite Empire and brought peace to Polaris for the time being.

Behind the scenes

 * Andy Morris provided the voice of Tachyon.
 * As depicted in Concept Art imaging for Tachyon, he was originally going to have a small pet of an unknown species.

Trivia

 * Tachyon is one of few characters to at least come close to swearing.
 * He is one of the only two of Ratchet's foes to work alongside Captain Qwark, the other being Chairman Drek, who, coincidentally, also matches Tachyon's category in relatively small physical stature.
 * If Tachyon does return in the future, it may be in the next upcoming game, Ratchet &amp; Clank Future: A Crack in Time, since it will explore more of Ratchet and Clank's origins. However, the confirmed antagonist (the main one, at least) is Doctor Nefarious, so this is uncertain.
 * Tachyon could be considered the primary antagonist of the series due to his involvement with all of Ratchet's life and his species. Some fans take Nefarious as the main antagonist due to his recurring appearences, so either of them holding the position is debatable.
 * An unnamed Hoolefoid stated that Ratchet defeated Emperor Tachyon with "both hands tied behind his back".

Appearances

 * Ratchet &amp; Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
 * Ratchet &amp; Clank Future: Quest for Booty (mentioned only) *