Romulus Slag

"Scourge of Polaris, and winner of Zordoom Prison's semiannual beauty pageant!"

- Captain Romulus Slag describing himself

Captain Romulus Slag, also known as the Scourge of Polaris, among other titles, was the leader of the space pirates and was infamous for pillaging and terrorizing the Polaris galaxy alongside his crew. His first mate and best friend was Rusty Pete. Slag's hands transformed into hooks, hammers, and a grog mug that allowed him to breathe fire. Slag became the pirate captain after double-crossing and killing the previous captain, Angstrom Darkwater (who had appointed Slag as his first mate at the time). Percival Tachyon created him along with the other space pirates at a young age. Slag seemed to be a Swab-type space pirate.

History and Early life
Percival Tachyon, crowned prince of his race, the Cragmites, named himself Emperor of his new empire. His first goal was to eradicate all traces of the Lombaxes, who banished his people to another dimension. He plotted to steal their technology and build weapons to use against them. He began this aim by creating an army of robotic space pirates, and sent them across Polaris to salvage whatever Lombax technology they could find. Alister Azimuth believed that Emperor Tachyon's devices were just the security the galaxy needed, and gave him full access to their machinery and secrets, unaware of his true intentions. This lie was successful, and the space pirates having gathered a sufficient amount of Lombax machinery themselves, the Cragmite prince was determined to get his plans underway with all his accumulated resources. Tachyon later banished the space pirates to Praxus Seven, no longer needing them. However, the space pirates continued to pillage the rest of the Polaris galaxy.

Years later, Captain Darkwater, the leader of the space pirates at the time, traveled to the Breegus Nebula and came into contact with the mysterious inter-dimensional creatures known as the Zoni, whose leader gave him the Fulcrum Star, a device when put into an Obsidian Eye, capable of contacting the Zoni. His first mate, Slag, began to grow jealous of his captain's success. Finally, Slag double-crossed him while they were pillaging Morrow Caverns and fought him. Ultimately, Darkwater, during the battle, knocked Slag's sword out of his hands, however, Slag managed to steal his own blade and defeat Darkwater by decapitating him, and then left the blade stuck in his back. Darkwater, prior to his death, put a curse on himself. Slag then became the new captain of the space pirates and his long time best friend, Rusty Pete, became first mate. The two were known to enjoy drinking grog and singing pirate melodies together. Pete was Slag's right-hand man or robot, always loyal to the captain. Slag and his crew, years later in the Polaris galaxy, became infamous for pillaging and terrorizing the galaxy.

Max Apogee
Slag and his crew were believed to have raided the Apogee Space Station and stole a Lombax artifact from Max. Max went after them but never returned and is believed to have been killed by the Kerchu given that he got as far as Kerchu City., although this is uncertain and others believe that he was killed by Space Pirates.

Stealing the Dimensionator
"Me hearties sing chanties of girls in lose panties who linger by the shore, for six pence I'll love her, then ditch that landlubber, a pirate ever more!"

- Slag and Rusty Pete singing one of their sea chanties

In Tools of Destruction, Slag first appeared with Rusty Pete sending a transmission to Ratchet & Clank after they left Fastoon to give the pirates their ship, Aphelion, or be destroyed. He attacked Ratchet and Clank three times in space while they were flying in Aphelion. Although these attacks were originally motivated by pirate tendencies to rob vessels they came across, they began to hunt Ratchet down as he came to be known as an enemy to the pirates. They managed to shoot down Slag's ships and escaped each time searching for the legendary "Lombax Secret."

Later, after meeting Talwyn Apogee in the Apogee Space Station, Ratchet & Clank traveled to Ardolis to steal back a Lombax artifact the pirates stole from Max Apogee's space station where they confronted the captain and his first mate. While they were singing their sea chanties, Slag sniffed out the Lombax, however, Talwyn threw a smoke bomb at the pirates, and Ratchet and Clank escaped. Slag then also planned on finding the Lombax Secret like the heroes. Ratchet & Clank also infiltrated Slag's hideouts at Ardolis and Kreeli Comet. Eventually Slag and Pete followed Ratchet to Jasindu and took the Lombax Secret, the Dimensionator.

Battle with Ratchet


"Oh, the end be near. Tis beautiful Pete, a bright light, the end of me dark tunnel, wenches as far as the eye can see, each with a pint of grog and a smile for ol' Slag, fare thee well, cruel galaxy, fare thee well."

- Slag's last words before deactivating

Ratchet then went to Slag's fleet in the Ublik Passage and fought through his forces until he found Slag and Pete on Slag's flagship. Ratchet fought and defeated Slag, causing his body to explode, leaving only his head, which Rusty Pete caught in his arms. Slag told Pete of "wenches as far as the eye can see, each holding a glass of grog and a smile for old Slag" before passing. Pete briefly mourned his captain, but then dropped the head and made Ratchet the new "captain" as per the pirate code.

Slag on a Stick


In Quest for Booty, Slag was a secondary antagonist in the game. He was first seen in the game when Ratchet and Talwyn allowed Rusty Pete to help them find the Fulcrum Star. Rusty Pete carried Slag's head on a stick and called it "Slag on a Stick." Pete had also revived Slag by "rerouting his databank to his vocal processor," allowing Slag to regain consciousness and talk. Unknown to Ratchet, however, Rusty Pete wanted to help Slag by attaching his head to Angstrom Darkwater's body.

Slag was able to help Ratchet within Morrow Caverns with several puzzles, which Rusty Pete did not know since he was, as he put it, "a bit grogged up at the time." He even went as far as singing the "Song of the Dead" and helping with the passwords. Along the way he mocked the "dead crew" for not joining his mutiny (Slag had killed these pirates as well). Slag even went as far as challenging and attacking the Pythor if only he had his legs.



The program lives on
Once Ratchet helped Rusty Pete and Slag get into Captain Darkwater's ship, Pete double-crossed Ratchet when saying he will search for "booby traps," which was a trap just for Ratchet. With Rusty Pete jamming Slag's head onto Darkwater's body, a curse that even Pete did not know was triggered. With Darkwater's ghostly voice saying "I forever bind me soul to me body," while Darkwater was revived with Captain Slag's personality, but then Captain Darkwater gained his personality back, and had now returned as an undead being. Darkwater, due to his now conflicting personality began fighting over the body until Rusty Pete said they needed to do some good pillaging. Captain Darkwater was sometimes seen with Slag's personality mocking Ratchet before turning back into Captain Darkwater. Darkwater with His and Slag's personality was eventually fought on Darkwater's fleet whenever Darkwater was not in ghost form.



Defeat
After Darkwater's defeat, Slag was seen again as "Slag on a Stick" stuck at sea with Rusty Pete on a crate. Slag told Pete, who had been narrating Quest for Booty's story, that he didn't want to hear the story the first time. Pete told him there was no need to get cross, to which Slag said, "I'll quit yellin' when you find me a new body! Now start rowin'!" Pete then rowed at Slag's command and the two started heading towards Hoolefar Island.

Pirate Radio
In A Crack in Time, Slag and Rusty Pete left Merdegraw and made it back to Ardolis. They then began hosting a new space radio station, Pirate Radio. The two broadcast advertisements, played songs, took requests, and bickered often over running the set, Slag still lamentably being a disembodied head. Despite their new jobs, the two still upheld their relationship as captain and first mate. Somewhere between the events Rusty Pete also founded "Rusty Pete's School of Piracy," which was advertised on Pirate Radio, with Slag being one of the school's teachers.

Beat Boxer
Following this, Slag completely retired from his life of crime and moved to Stratus City, where he acts as a semi-professional Beat Boxer. A model of him is on dispaly in the pirate section of the Meridian City museum.

Weapons and Abilities
Despite Slag's drunken demeanor, he proved to be a dangerous foe for Ratchet and Clank. Slag's hands could change into a variety of deadly weapons such as hooks and hammers. His hook could fire blue, crescent-shaped energy missiles at opponents. The hammer could be used to crush enemies and create shockwaves. He also had a grog mug that allowed him to breathe fire from a distance.

Slag also showed great skill in swordsmanship, as seen in Quest for Booty when he confronted Ratchet on his fleet using Darkwater's body. Darkwater's body also gave Slag the ability to fly and teleport. Slag also wielded a blaster.

Behind the scenes
Romulus Slag was voiced by Robin Atkin Downes in the English version and Katsuhisa Hoki in the Japanese version. He is a secondary antagonist in Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and the main antagonist in Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty.

Development
Concept art of Captain Slag shows his design with some weaponry concepts, such as 'breathing' flames and an electronic power arm.

Trivia

 * Slag once stabbed a man over a cheeseburger. Ironically, he didn't even want it.
 * Slag appears as a large enemy in the PlayStation Home Firing Range (present).
 * In Captain Qwark's new holo-film My Blaster Runs Hot, Slag played the robotic villain who was evil for no particular reason.
 * If you look at Slag's body, you could see a crack on it. It's unknown how he got the crack.
 * If you look at Slag's belt, you can see a thermometer, it could be possible that it shows how hot it is in his body.

Appearances

 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
 * Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus

Non-canon

 * PlayStation Home