Gleeman Vox

"For the love of Blarg, cut out all the sappy melodrama before you lose my entire audience!"

- Gleeman Vox

Gleeman Vox, also known as Mr. Vox or simply Vox, was the founder and owner of Vox Industries and DreadZone, the latter which he created because of his belief that he'd acquire stupendous ratings with a show that pitted the galaxy's heroes against each other. He showed affection to little else than his pet Slugha and to a high bolt revenue from selling Exterminator products. He had a cybernetic arm that allowed him to play holograms. Gleeman Vox also owned Vox Airlines, among many other Vox Industry subsidiaries, which he used to transport DreadZone contestants.

Early life and history
Gleeman Vox was a Slademan and, due to his success as a promoter, was quite wealthy. According to Dallas Wanamaker, Gleeman Vox watched as two guys were fighting over a breakfast burrito, which gave him the idea of a reality show where heroes were forced to fight to the death in battle.

Meeting Ace Hardlight
One day, Ace Hardlight, a famous intergalactic super hero, ship's auto-pilot malfunctioned and crash landed by the home of Gleeman Vox. When they met, Gleeman Vox offered him popularity and fame if he assisted him in creating DreadZone. Ace Hardlight accepted this opportunity and thus began the reality show, DreadZone.

DreadZone
The popularity of DreadZone increased over the years. Ace Hardlight became part of a team of highly trained gladiators called the Exterminators. The Exterminators were one of the longest running DreadZone teams, comprised of Shellshock, Reactor, the Eviscerator and Ace Hardlight as their leader. Although the Exterminators were one of the most popular teams on DreadZone, Ace Hardlight was commonly disliked by viewers. The team held a record number of kills, being responsible for the death of many DreadZone contestants, including The Omega Twins and Mad Monkey McKnight. He had his own quarters.

Captain Starshield's death
While on Catacrom Four, Captain Starshield, a famous super hero captured by Vox long ago, was finishing off Gladiator bots in DreadZone. However, Ace Hardlight then unexpectedly appeared behind him and shot him with a rocket launcher before Starshield could shoot him with his upgraded Lancer, killing him.

Kidnapping
Shortly after Ratchet, Clank and Big Al were called by mayor of Metropolis, Sasha, from Marcadia. She told them about Captain Starshield's death and warned them to be careful. However, the ship was then infiltrated by robots from DreadZone and the heroes were captured and fitted with Deadlock collars with which Vox could send a six thousand volt electric charge through their bodies to kill them if they ever attempted escaping DreadZone Station, or if they caused DreadZone ratings to slip. Nonetheless, Ratchet's Team Darkstar proved to be quite competent and rose fast in the contestant rankings.

Defeat of Ace Hardlight and DreadZone's destruction
As Ratchet rose through the ranks, slowly defeating Ace's team of Exterminators, Hardlight became progressively more frustrated. However, he later discovered that Clank and Al had been trying to find a way to remove Gleeman Vox's special Deadlock collars, which was strongly prohibited. This prompted Ace to shoot the former roboshack owner (although he did not kill Al). Nevertheless, Ace ultimately fought Ratchet in the Battledome and was defeated. Although having spat out many arrogant comments during the fight, Ace Hardlight used what seemed to be his last breath to warn Ratchet not to let Vox do to the Lombax what he had done to him. Now defeated, Ace Hardlight seemed to have redeemed himself and also said Ratchet was the hero now.

Vox then made an offer to Ratchet, allowing him to replace Ace. Ratchet refused and Vox retaliated by using Vox News to slander Ratchet further by falsely claiming he had killed Ace in combat. This was merely propaganda so that Vox could sell a memorial Ace Hardlight action figure for a large sum of bolts and also make the Lombax look like a villain. This did not work, however, and Ace simply retired and was put in Zordoom Prison. Vox then offered Ratchet the "opportunity of a thousand lifetimes" as he put it, making the Lombax the captain of the Exterminators and the new star of Dreadzone, claiming that the two of them would make billions. He also tried to make the Lombax sign a contract to promote toys, clothes, foods, and personal hygiene tools. He claimed Ratchet would get record deals, movie rights, reality shows, video games and appear on commercials. Ratchet, however, did not want to be Vox's pet and said to the thunderstruck Vox, "You honestly think I'd kill other heroes to get rich? You're not just corrupt. You're stupid." Furious, Vox sent Ratchet on a death mission at the Ghost Station (also known as the Gauntlet of Doom, which was supposedly "mathematically proven to be unbeatable").

Ratchet survived and when the Lombax returned, Vox then placed detonators all around DreadZone Station, forcing Ratchet to complete one last mission at the Battledome by threatening to blow up the station if he did not succeed. Vox did this because he believed it would help him achieve the highest ratings possible.

Death of a Salesman
Ultimately, however, Ratchet defeated Gleeman Vox in the Dome, who allowed the station to explode anyway. The Lombax escaped with Clank and Al on the station's last hovership, along with Vox News anchormen Dallas Wanamaker and Juanita Alvaro, other DreadZone contestants that managed to get on the ship, his team-mates Merc and Green, the three children who supported Ratchet and even Vox's pet, Slugha, leaving Vox to be blown apart in the very explosion he set off.

Vox was killed when DreadZone Station exploded just as Ratchet and his allies escaped. His severed robotic arm was later seen floating among the station debris.

Legacy
In A Crack in Time, Vox Holo-films is mentioned by the announcer of My Blaster Runs Hot.

Behind the scenes

 * Early in development, he would emit copies of the Exterminators in combat.

Appearances

 * Ratchet: Deadlocked
 * Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

Non-canon

 * Ratchet & Clank Manga: Volume 2
 * PlayStation Home