Walloper

"Fits like a glove and hits like a truck."

- Description for the Walloper in the Secret Agent Clank instuction booklet.

The Walloper is a weapon manufactured by Gadgetron that features in Ratchet & Clank, Going Commando, and Secret Agent Clank. It appeared in Up Your Arsenal when used by test dummies. It is a melee weapon which does not use any ammunition, making it an economically useful weapon, and while deals more damage than the OmniWrench, is notably less versatile.

The Walloper cannot be upgraded in Ratchet & Clank but could be upgraded to the Mega Walloper in Going Commando. It can be upgraded to the Marauder in Secret Agent Clank, and in challenge mode, to the Titan Marauder.

Ratchet & Clank
In Ratchet & Clank, the Walloper was made available for purchase from a vendor on planet Gaspar and onward. It could be bought for 7,500 bolts, or 5,000 bolts with the Persuader. Additionally, several test dummies fought on Kalebo III had Wallopers equipped to fight Ratchet.

Unlike many other weapons in the game, the Walloper could not be upgraded to a gold weapon.

Going Commando
In Going Commando, the weapon was among many Gadgetron weapons that could be purchased on Barlow from the Help Matron. Depending on whether the player had a Ratchet & Clank save file, the Walloper could be purchased for free, or would cost 8,000 bolts. During challenge mode, the player could purchase an upgraded Mega Walloper from any Megacorp vendor.

Up Your Arsenal
The Walloper could not be used by the player in Up Your Arsenal, but the test dummies which equipped Wallopers from the original Ratchet & Clank made a return, in the VR Deck on the Starship Phoenix.

Secret Agent Clank
The weapon made an appearance in Secret Agent Clank with a drastically different design to previous appearances. It was the first appearance in which the Walloper can properly be upgraded, and is upgradable to the Marauder. In subsequent playthroughs, the Marauder can be upgraded to the Titan Marauder. According to the description, a punch from this version could tear a hole in a wall large enough to drive a spaceship through.

Characteristics
In all its appearances aside from Secret Agent Clank, the Walloper has the typical appearance of a boxing glove. It has a silver cuff attached to Ratchet's arm, but is otherwise a lighter silver metallic glove. When Ratchet uses the weapon, it produces a blue aura, as Ratchet swiftly moves in the direction he is facing to attack enemies.

In Secret Agent Clank, the Walloper is a mostly blue weapon, with a red blade at its center. It also features silver marks and small spikes. The Marauder upgrade features more blades facing away from the weapon, and a larger red blade, though it uses the same color scheme.

The animation of Ratchet's use of the Walloper is very similar to the animation used by Jak's punch animation in the Jak and Daxter series, though when executed, Ratchet is more committed to completing a full punching cycle.

Combat
The walloper excels in powerful short range propelled bursts, which launch Ratchet directly forward. Aiming the walloper requires little skill, simply turn Ratchet into the direction of an enemy and use the weapon to strike it. The walloper has a slightly wider range than Ratchet, meaning it has some use in small clusters and can even block projectiles in mid-air.

Despite the increase in damage and range compared to the standard melee weapon, the omniwrench, the Walloper has a short time in which Ratchet is vulnerable to damage or flanking attacks. Said moment occurs directly when he finishes striking and he holds his punching pose for a split second. At this point, an unharmed enemy could attack from the side or perhaps shoot Ratchet from a distance.

Lastly, the Walloper is nonetheless free to use and can be quite useful if one manages to easily close in on lone enemies to take out and intends to save ammo to avoid spending bolts.

Weapon mods
The Walloper had several mods in Secret Agent Clank. "The Lightning Speed Mod speeds up the Walloper strike, while reducing windup time. The user also travels much farther. It has to be seen to be believed!"
 * Lightning Speed Mod

- Mod Description

The mod cost 10,000 bolts.

"The Earthquake Mod allows the Walloper to be engaged mid-air. Press O mid-jump to strike the ground and cause a localized ground tremor."
 * Earthquake Mod

- Mod Description

The mod was obtained by winning the challenge Max Security Cells, Past Due.

Behind the scenes
In a behind-the-scenes video in the Goodies menu of the original Ratchet & Clank, an early version of the Walloper is seen being used. According to this footage, the early version of the Walloper did not launch the player forward nor had the blue force field effect. Original concept art also looked slightly different to the final version. Its original name was the Walloper 3000, which was likely due to simplicity reasons.

The weapon makes a brief appearance in the Ratchet & Clank movie when Ratchet uses the weapon in a battle against Captain Qwark. This version looks like the Constructo Pistol from A Crack in Time, but fires a hydraulic fist rather than a blast.

A bug in Going Commando made the Walloper invisible if it were equipped while Ratchet was holding onto a ledge or ladder. This bug also occurred with the Seeker Gun and HK22 Gun.

If one owns a cheating device such as GameShark, a code to unlock a gold Walloper is available, along with the gold Taunter, gold RYNO, and more. Like all gold weapons, it has gold plating. Its range is slightly increased, does double the damage, and the blue field is now green, and slightly larger. Since the gold weapons are not intended to exist, its weapon symbol is a grey chicken on a white background beneath a red circle with a bar through it, similar to those found on "no parking" signs, a possible joke towards the notion that gamers did not tend to be women, as in "no chicks." (Link to codebreaker codes, guide with GameShark V2/Action Replay V2 codes.)

In-game summaries
"Walloper! Punch people hard."

- Vendor Description (Ratchet & Clank)

"Gadgetron's most popular short range weapon, the Walloper really packs a punch! This 'punching glove' is the perfect device for close range combat, when projectile weapons just won't do the job."

- Help Menu Description (Ratchet & Clank)

"The Walloper is the only known wearable device capable of sending objects into orbit. An unfortunate marketing campaign aimed at the youth model rocket crowd resulted in massive lawsuits, but the subsequent promotion for prison-based license-plate stamping has so far met with success. What could possibly go wrong?"

- Weapon Description (Secret Agent Clank)

Appearances

 * Ratchet & Clank
 * Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
 * Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
 * Ratchet & Clank (movie)
 * Ratchet & Clank (PS4) (Insomniac Museum Only)


 * Other
 * Secret Agent Clank


 * es= Guantazo