Amoeboids are enemies in Ratchet & Clank, the 2016 re-imagined release, Up Your Arsenal, Secret Agent Clank, and Rift Apart. They are an artificial race of hostile slime creatures created by Dr. Nefarious and found throughout the Solana Galaxy, infesting sewers on planets such as Rilgar, Aquatos, and Venantonio. Amoeboids notably split into two smaller amoeboids after being hit, until they are down to their smallest form, at which point they can be killed entirely.
Amoeboids also exist in Rivet's dimension and like their counterparts from Ratchet's dimension, these amoeboids are also beings of synthetic origin.[3]
History[]
Before Ratchet & Clank[]
The amoeboids were first created by Dr. Nefarious[4] on Venantonio.[1]
In the sewer war of Aquatos in '62, the Galactic Rangers fought amoeboids.[5]
Qwark vid-comic[]
Amoeboids appear in the second issue, Arriba Amoeba!, of the Qwark vid-comic series. In this issue, Dr. Nefarious gathered his army of amoeboids in the swamps surrounding Blackwater City, Rilgar, seemingly to exact vengeance on those who had called him insane.[4] Captain Qwark then arrived to defend the city by fighting off the amoeboids, while also fighting the extermibots that had been sent to exterminate the creatures and were unable to differentiate between him and the amoeboids. Dr. Nefarious set up spawners around the city to generate these amoeboids.[a]
Ratchet & Clank[]
Ratchet and Clank first saw the amoeboids in an infobot obtained on the Blarg Tactical Research Station, Nebula G34, after "Destroy the warship". The infobot contained a news broadcast from Darla Gratch, reporting on the Hovercon Intergalactic Hoverboard Competition in Blackwater City, taking place around the time the city was attacked by amoeboids. Ratchet and Clank visited Blackwater City and encountered amoeboids during "Win the hoverboard race". Extermibots were sent by the Blackwater City Administration to eradicate the threat,[6] though they also attacked Ratchet.
The duo later encountered amoeboids in the sewers of Jowai Resort, Pokitaru, during "Navigate the sewers". Here, they defeated the amoeboids before encountering Fred for the second time. Later, upon returning to the Tobruk Crater, Novalis, they found amoeboids in a cave only accessible by swimming in the river upstream with the Hydro-Pack.
Re-imagined[]
In Captain Qwark's retelling of events, amoeboids were created by Drek Industries, sent by the blarg to assist the warbots in attacking the galaxy. They were first encountered by Ratchet and Clank in the Tobruk Crater, Novalis, in the caves behind their ship's landing pad, during "Search the caves for hidden treasure" (in different caves to those they appeared in in the original release).[7]
Later, amoeboids were encountered in Blackwater City, Rilgar, during "Travel to the hoverboard event". While the amoeboids infested the city, the Blackwater City Administration closed down the hoverboard race until their extermibots could eliminate them. Ratchet and Clank defeated the amoeboids, and the race was back on.
Amoeboids were encountered once again in the Pumping Station in Jowai Resort, Pokitaru, in "Clean up Amoeboids in Pumping Station". Ratchet and Clank defeated the amoeboids here to obtain the O2 Mask.
Up Your Arsenal[]
Ratchet encountered amoeboids throughout Aquatos' underground tunnels in "Infiltrate the underwater hideout", on the way to reaching Dr. Nefarious' Deep Sea Hideout with Skidd McMarx. The amoeboids fought against the hover bots, though both were hostile to Ratchet. On two occasions during this mission, Ratchet also fought king amoeboids, which were much larger variants that spat balls of slime from their mouths, and carried a sewer crystal in their bowels.
Later on Aquatos, Ratchet also fought amoeboids in the sewers during "Gather Sewer Crystals". Amoeboids were found throughout the slime of the sewers, along with king amoeboids, and had to be fought to obtain the sewer crystals for the Plumber.
Ratchet also played the Qwark vid-comic, Arriba Amoeba!, in which the amoeboids were fought as a common enemy in Blackwater City, along with the extermibots.
Post-Up Your Arsenal[]
According to Vox News, the mayor of Metropolis, Kerwan, stepped down after being involved with a scandal involving illicit funds from the amoeboid mafia, prompting President Phyronix to install Sasha Phyronix as the interim mayor. They also alleged that the President was involved in the scandal. Additionally, a Vox News report claimed that Captain Starshield had saved the Bogon Galaxy in the date G2.15.173 from a pan-galactic amoeboid mafia ring, though it is unknown when exactly this date took place.[8]
Later, in Tools of Destruction, when outside the Planetary Defense Center, an automated message made reference to an attack from a "radioactive amoeboid", suggesting they were activate in Metropolis.
In A Crack in Time, an Amoeboid named Glimglam Farblenash rose to celebrity status and appeared on a special Polaris news segment hosted by Kip Darling to talk about his new comedy album.
Glimglam Farblenash's fame however appears to have been short-lived, suggested during the Comic Series the following year. Qwark's old manager Cyrus praised the Captain's significant celebrity status by stating he makes Ace Hardlight look like Glimglam Farblenash. When asked, Qwark remarked he doesn't remember Glimglam Farblenash, to which Cyrus proclaimed that proves his point.
Secret Agent Clank[]
Ratchet first fought amoeboids while fighting in the Mess Hall of the Prison Planet and later fought them throughout his stay. This included the powerful amoeboid kings.
Clank, during "Crashing the Party", visited the secret laboratory in the sewers of Venantonio, where the acid canals meant that no organism other than amoeboids could survive.[9] While in the lab, he came across experiment #21C for an "Explosive Amoeboid Strain" (some of which he fought) and Experiment #18A: for a "Self-Deodorizing Amoeboid Strain", among other experiments.[10] Later, in "Qwarkography, Ch. 3", amoeboids appeared as actors in Captain Qwark's opera, playing aliens who invaded the city that he destroyed with laser eyes, and cultists for a sea god.[11]
Rift Apart[]
Ratchet first encounters amoeboids coming out of rifts in Megalopolis and on Torren IV. The Battleplex at Zurkie's has a Silver Cup challenge named "Freeze Pop" in which Rivet must defeat 25 frozen Amoeboids. Inside planet Cordelion's Kedaro Station (of Rivet's dimension), amoeboids can be seen floating in large water tanks within the station's biology division and being studied by Science-Bots. In the other alternate dimension version of Cordelion, the Kedaro Station is dilapidated and abandoned with it's once contained specimens running free, here the station is infested with Amoeboids looking for food. In Zordoom Prison's processing centre, several of them can be seen inside a jail cell and inside many more cells and cages throughout the prison.
Characteristics[]
Overview[]
Amoeboids are green, slimy creatures with two arms on their upper body, and glowing yellow eyes (red in the re-imagined release). They have slug-like movement and are as such relatively slow. They appear to have some intelligence as they possess individual names and Vox News claimed they were capable of forming a mafia on at least two occasions,[8] due to being entirely fluid a different part of the amoeboid would do the thinking every day.[1] Amoeboids are always hungry,[1] they are normally hostile to all lifeforms and attempt to devour them. Normal amoeboids will make a laughing noise and raise their arms in the air after attacking. While they wield no technology, some king amoeboids are partially encrusted with thick crystals, and the amoeboid kings wear crowns. Some standard amoeboids had been modified to self-deodorise.[10]
Different types of amoeboids come in different shapes and sizes, though normally only three amoeboids were directly related: larger amoeboids, medium amoeboids, and small amoeboids, where the large amoeboids split into two medium amoeboids, while medium amoeboids split into two small ones.
Habitat[]
Amoeboids appear to primarily prefer underground dwellings, such as caves and sewer systems, almost always appearing near water. However, they are occasionally able to escape beyond these areas and attempt to eat civilians, as was seen in their attack on Blackwater City, where they came from the sewers and expanded outwards. In Tobruk Crater, there is a small cave system filled with a green haze and a collection of strange constructs on the ceilings filled with eyes, out of which slime drips. Amoeboids are found in a large number in this cave, and the constructs appear to be nests.
Known locations of amoeboids include planets Novalis, Rilgar, Pokitaru, Aquatos, and Venantonio, where Ratchet and Clank encountered them, as well as planet Kerwan and in parts of the Bogon Galaxy.[8]
Types[]
Alongside the types described below, radioactive amoeboids are known to exist, being listed among possible threats in the database of Kerwan's Planetary Defense Center.
Name | Location | Description |
---|---|---|
Small amoeboid | Novalis, Rilgar, Pokitaru, Aquatos, Venantonio, Prison Planet, Corson V, Cordelion | Small-sized, weakest in the chain, dealing low damage. They appear on their own and as a result of a medium amoeboid being killed. When they are killed, they simply burst into a spray of slime. |
Medium amoeboid | Medium-sized, dealing moderate damage. They appear on their own and as a result of a large amoeboid being killed. When they are killed, they will split into two small amoeboids. | |
Large amoeboid | Large-sized, with the strongest damage of basic amoeboids. They appear on their own (though they are much rarer than the others), and when alone, they will run around in circles and make loud noises upon seeing Ratchet. When killed, they split into two medium amoeboids. | |
King amoeboid | Aquatos | Giant amoeboids, and the largest type encountered. Most often encountered in the sewers of Aquatos, and before being approached, will be stuck in a wall of slime that forms a barrier in between pipes. They deal heavy damage, with their attacks hitting twice as large as the larger amoeboids, and guard sewer crystals. Mutated variants wearing thicker, spiked armor also appear. |
Red mutant | Venantonio | Red, small and medium-sized explosive amoeboids. They detonate on contact when near enemies, and must be avoided. |
Amoeboid king | Prison Planet | Giant amoeboids who wear a crown, they have the ability to spawn small amoeboids to assist them and when defeated split into four large amoeboids. |
Combat[]
In the original Ratchet & Clank, amoeboids primarily become a threat when attacked by a larger group, as they are only capable of hurting Ratchet in melee range. Therefore, the Pyrocitor is most useful against them, due to its continuous fire being able to take out amoeboids as they split up into their larger form. The Bomb Glove is also adequate, as its decent range and explosive damage work well against groups, while it lets you keep away from their melee attacks. When acquired later on, the Morph-o-Ray is effective against them, as amoeboids will not split up when morphed.
In Up Your Arsenal, the Plasma Whip and Shock Blaster are useful due to their weak constitution and tendency to appear in groups. The N60 Storm and Lava Gun are similarly effective, with the Rift Inducer being strong when they appear in high numbers. In the sewers, the Suck Cannon is a cheap solution against the weakest variants. Once acquired, the Qwack-O-Ray is the most potent weapon against them when exploring the Aquatos sewers, as it takes little time to morph them, and when upgraded, the ducks that appear after morphing will also explode and defeat nearby amoeboids.
In the re-imagined Ratchet & Clank, unlike the original release, amoeboids are much more durable, though still arrive in numbers. The Proton Drum is particularly effective against them due to its continuous pulses, area of effect, and its ability to knock them back before they approach Ratchet. The Pyrocitor's continuous fire is also strong against them. Summoning Mr. Zurkon can allow fire to be focused on the large amoeboids while Zurkon attacks the smaller ones that approach.
Behind the scenes[]
In Up Your Arsenal, Garcia programmed the amoeboids for the sewer section. They proved difficult to code, as the amoeboids had to be split in any orientation in the sewers' tunnels without it looking disorienting.[12]
Notes[]
Annotations[]
- ↑ While fully modelled and in-game, the amoeboid spawners are out of the camera's view and could not be seen in normal gameplay
Citations[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Secret Agent Clank, S. amoeboid and m. amoeboid Holo-Monocle entries
- ↑ Celebrity Amoeboid mentioned in A Crack in Time and the comic series.
- ↑ Rift Apart, Gallery: Amoeboid
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Up Your Arsenal script § "Emergency Plan Number 2"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Tower Attack (gameplay)"
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2002 game) script § "Infobox - Newscast from Rilgar"
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2016 game) script § "OPTIONAL: Search the caves for hidden treasure (gameplay)"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Deadlocked, News Update
- ↑ Secret Agent Clank script § "The Underground Lab"
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Secret Agent Clank script § "Crashing the Party (gameplay)"
- ↑ Secret Agent Clank script § "Qwarkography, Ch.3 (gameplay)"
- ↑ Stout, Garcia, Yu April 2012 2:59
References[]
- Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [@uselesspodcasts] (2012, April 29). Ratchet & Clank 3 Dev Commentary: 8 - Aquatos and Skidd [Video]. Anthony Yu. YouTube.