Angela Cross, also known as the Unknown Thief,[5] is a major support character in Going Commando, with mentions in later titles. She is a lombax[3][4] who was formerly employed as a genetic scientist at Megacorp in the Bogon Galaxy, and worked on fixing the Protopet's flaws. When the Megacorp CEO, Abercrombie Fizzwidget (Captain Qwark in disguise), pushed up its release date, she complained to management of the enormous dangers, but was fired, and in retaliation became a rogue thief to prevent it from being released. Initially an adversary to Ratchet, who had been hired by Megacorp as a commando to apprehend her and retrieve the Protopet, she later befriended him and Clank in order to stop Megacorp from mass-producing the killer animal as a pet.
Sometime after Ratchet left the Bogon Galaxy, Angela became a target of Percival Tachyon's vendetta against the lombaxes. She was assisted in her escape by Max Apogee, and was last seen fleeing the Cerullean Sector in his starship. Her whereabouts, as reported on space radio, were thereafter unknown.[3]
History[]
Before Going Commando[]
Angela was an employee for Megacorp who worked in the genetics division and lived in a home on Grelbin granted to her by a generous employee bonus package.[6] Her role was to fix the Protopet's flaws,[7] and she invented a device known as the Helix-o-morph, to cure its violent tendencies.[8] She had been close to succeeding in curing the Protopet before shipping it to stores, when Qwark, disguised as the Megacorp CEO, Abercrombie Fizzwidget, suddenly pushed the release date of the Protopet forward shortly before Angela could finish.[7] When she complained to management that it could not be controlled, she was fired.[2]
After Angela left Megacorp, she hid her identity with a mask, a voice changer, and a hooded cape, to become the Unknown Thief. She stole the Protopet and took it to her flying lab on planet Aranos, though she did not destroy it.
Going Commando[]
The Unknown Thief holding Ratchet at gunpoint.
Ratchet was hired by the Fizzwidget-disguised Qwark as a Megacorp commando, tasked to infiltrate Angela's flying lab and retrieve the Protopet. Angela was waiting for him before he took it, and held him at gunpoint before she went on the run to find a way to destroy it. She hired the Thugs-4-Less for protection, asking them to meet her at Oozla.
The Unknown Thief on Oozla with the Thugs-4-Less.
On Oozla, she arrived and robbed a map, with the help of the Thugs-4-Less. She then was identified in the Maktar Resort, where the Thugs-4-Less, working for her, towed a moon-sized jamming array into the station's orbit, interrupting the annual Galactic Gladiators broadcast.[9] After this, Angela visited Clank's apartment in Megapolis on Endako and kidnapped him, taking him hostage. Afterward, she sent a threatening message to Ratchet, depicting Clank electrocuted and decommissioned, warning Ratchet that he, too, would be harmed if he continued to pursue her. When Ratchet arrived to rescue Clank, she instead shoved him into the same room as Clank with no apparent means of escape, though Clank was able to escape through an air duct.
The Unknown Thief on Siberius, preparing to dispose of the Protopet.
Angela next passed by Notak to acquire more chemicals,[10] before returning to her frozen base on Siberius, where she planned to destroy the Protopet. Shortly after purchasing the chemicals and returning to her base, she sent a transmission asking for more to be delivered to Siberius after the Protopet destroyed many of their containers.[11] Ratchet and Clank tracked her to the base thereafter, tracing back the transmission she sent, where they managed to defeat her and retrieve the Protopet, delivering it to the Fizzwidget-disguised Qwark.
Angela confronts Ratchet and Clank on Tabora, demanding they hand over the Protopet.
Angela tracked them down to Tabora, where they had met with the Fizzwidget-disguised Qwark, demanding they hand over the Protopet. However, she tripped up, revealing her identity as a female lombax after her mask fell off. When Ratchet disclosed that he had already parted with the Protopet, she bcame exasperated, telling him he had put all of Bogon in imminent danger, and left him with a telescreen containing a commercial for the Megacorp testing facility on Dobbo, ominously asking him to watch if he had any intention of "fixing the mess" he had made.[12] Ratchet and Clank were confused as to what it meant, but regardless, they traveled to Dobbo to learn more. From this point on, she kept in contact with the two, and they worked together to stop the emerging Protopet crisis.
Angela being caught by the Thug Leader.
Whilst they were on Todano, Angela contacted Ratchet and Clank to warn them she had lost her contract bid with Thugs-4-Less to Megacorp,[13] despite it normally being against their policy to shift clients, due to Megacorp's more generous offer of bolts,[14] and that the Thugs had taken over her flying lab on Aranos, and transformed it into the Thugs-4-Less Prison.[15] As Angela was infiltrating the Thugs-4-Less fleet on Gorn, looking for information on Megacorp's distribution activities, she was caught by the Thug Leader and taken to their headquarters on Snivelak.[16] Ratchet and Clank later defeated the Thug Leader in his Giganto-Mech at the Thug HQ and rescued Angela, where she then revealed she had stolen a transmission from the Thug Leader, detailing Megacorp's shipping plans on Smolg.[17]
Ratchet and Clank meet Angela at her home on Grelbin.
Angela returned to her old home on Grelbin to find her Megacorp ID badge, which they could use to break into Megacorp Headquarters.[7] Using a Galactic Greeting balloon-o-gram she sent to them on Smolg,[18] Angela invited Ratchet and Clank to Grelbin, where they worked out a plan to infiltrate the Protopet Factory on Yeedil, to defeat the Protopets by stopping the original from which the others were being cloned.[19]
Qwark reveals himself to have been disguised as Fizzwidget to Ratchet, Clank and Angela.
After they reached the Protopet duplication facility, before they could stop it, Clank's admirer warned them that the disgraced hero, Captain Qwark, had manufactured the Protopet menace. Shortly after, Captain Qwark revealed himself to have been using a Fizzwidget disguise and attempted to cure the original Protopet using Angela's Helix-o-morph, to fix his tarnished reputation by painting himself as the hero and blaming Ratchet, Clank, and Angela for the Protopet crisis. As Qwark attempted to cure the Protopet, however, he instead amplified its destructive tendencies and caused it to mutate to the Mutant Protopet and eat him.[8]
Angela cures the Protopet using her Helix-o-morph.
While Ratchet and Clank defeated the Mutant Protopet, Angela found the real Abercrombie Fizzwidget, who had been tied up in a supply closet. She was unable to diagnose the problem with the Helix-o-morph until Clank pointed out the battery had been placed backwards. She then amplified the Helix-o-morph with Megacorp's TV transponders to cure the other Protopets across the galaxy and render them harmless.[20]
Angela with Ratchet, Clank, and Clank's admirer in Clank's apartment.
In the following events, Angela was seen hanging out with Ratchet and Clank in their apartment on Megapolis, commenting on having heard a rumor that Qwark was now working at Megacorp.[21]
After Going Commando[]
Angela in her Unknown Thief disguise at the premiere.
During the ending of Up Your Arsenal, Angela went to the premiere of the latest Secret Agent Clank holo-film, in her Unknown Thief disguise.
Around a year before Tools of Destruction, at the time when Emperor Tachyon came into power, he hunted for Angela as part of his vendetta against the lombaxes.[22][3] Angela fled with the help of Max Apogee, and was last seen fleeing the Cerullean Sector in the Polaris Galaxy using his starship. Almost three years later, during A Crack in Time, the starship was recovered by galactic authorities, who discovered that it had been sent via autopilot from Jasindu, where Max Apogee had left the Dimensionator in Kerchu City under the kerchu's protection.[3] Angela has not been seen since.
Angela was alluded to in Ratchet & Clank: Issue 5: Multiple Organisms, wherein Artemis Zogg attempted to taunt Max Apogee's daughter, Talwyn, claiming that her father had abandoned her and fled the dimension "all to save the life of a lombax he barely knew".[23]
In Rift Apart, whilst playing as Rivet, on a return visit to the Zordoom Prison processing center, she will reminisce aloud on how the last time she broke out of the prison, it was with "Angela", whom she has not seen for a long time.[24]
Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
Angela Cross, disguised as the Unknown Thief.
Angela is a female lombax with yellow fur, thin dark eyebrows, blue eyes, and two large pointy ears with brown stripes. She is notably taller than Ratchet, by about two heads. Flowing from the back of her head, is a long tuft of fur in the form of a ponytail with brown stripes. She wears a blue and grey jumpsuit with light turquoise accents, which also covers her neck and head, leaving her face, ears and ponytail exposed. She wears brown leather gloves, as well as a grey utility belt, and grey metallic boots. Her belt and boots feature red accents on the metal, which exude a light glow.
She does not have a tail. Though it was said by Pepper Fairbanks that female lombaxes do not have tails, this was during an argument with her hated co-host, whom she consistently butts heads with; Kip Darling, who was skeptical of Angela's validity of being a lombax from her lack of a tail. Her penchant to often argue the opposite of him makes her claim nebulous. In this instance, the two were also acting as a proxy for the series' fanbase, as the argument of Angela being a lombax or not due to her lack of a tail, has been the subject of much debate for years. It is currently unknown why Angela does not have a visible tail, while the only other female lombax to appear; Rivet, does. Rivet being from a different dimension may also explain any discrepancies why this is, as her tail is also different from any other lombax seen in the series so far, like that of a raccoon's, instead of a lion's.[3]
As the Unknown Thief, she also wears a dark blue mask with light glowing turquoise eyes, red armor covering her torso and shoulders, and a dark red cloak over her head, which flows into a long cape. Due to her armor and her voice changer, her gender appears more ambiguous as the thief, and most mistake her for male.
Personality[]
Angela emphasizes the urgent need to stop the Protopets.
As the Unknown Thief, Angela initially appears to be a morally ambiguous character, working with the Thugs-4-Less and intimidating innocent people to achieve her goals, to the point of robbing a Megacorp store and kidnapping Clank, despite him having no role in Ratchet's mission to apprehend her at the time. She harbored strong resentment for Megacorp, describing their business as "imperialistic eco-fascism".[25] Her villainous persona and actions were ultimately in the pursuit of a greater good in saving the galaxy, which she was determined to achieve by any means necessary. When Angela's true intentions were revealed, and she teamed up with Ratchet and Clank, she eventually warmed up to them and became a trusted ally of both.
Angela is characterized as somewhat eccentric, with Ratchet commenting "she's got a few bolts loose."[26] While an intelligent and practical thinker, she is also shown to be impulsive and headstrong. She is expressive and forthright in both her body language and emotions, never hesitating to voice herself on matters she feels strongly. Angela has strong moral convictions, arguing vehemently with her management about the dangers of releasing the Protopet early, to the point of being fired, and continuing her cause at risk to her own life to prevent its release and protect the galaxy. Unlike Ratchet and Clank, she gave up quickly on trying to convince who they thought was Fizzwidget, believing he was senile,[7] though she was not the only employee to share this thought and recognize his behavior had changed.[27]
Angela is shown to be very smart and resourceful, inventing a gadget capable of curing the Protopet and able to keep in contact with Ratchet and Clank while maintaining a low profile, to the point of using a balloon-o-gram to send a message when she had no other options.[18] Though intelligent, she has a tendency to overthink and focus on intricate details, causing her to sometimes make simple mistakes or overlook straightforward solutions; such as when she mistakenly gave Clank a discount coupon instead of her ID badge,[19] and did not notice her Helix-o-morph had its battery in backwards.[20] Angela is also notoriously clumsy and accident-prone, both in and out of her thief disguise. She commonly trips over items, even inadvertently allowing a Protopet to destroy several chemicals shortly after purchasing them.[11] She was also unable to sneak around aboard the Thug ships on Gorn without revealing her location by sneezing.[16]
Abilities[]
The Unknown Thief on a hoverboard.
In battle, as the Unknown Thief, Angela Cross is a skilled fighter and utilizes a hoverboard to fly through the air in combat. She is also shown to be exceptionally agile, able to jump high into the air and dodge an OmniWrench attack from Ratchet.[25] Her primary weapon is a high-powered blaster, a weapon she is able to maintain an accurate aim with. She is also capable of using automated machine gun turrets, shockwave blast grenades, and homing bombs.
Angela is very intelligent, with expertise as a geneticist, and a keen tactical mind. She was able to cure the Protopet's violent tendencies using the Helix-o-morph, where other Megacorp staff failed to do so and instead simply recommended the Protopet be destroyed.[28] However, she was unable to identify that the Helix-o-morph's problems stemmed from the battery being inserted backwards, due to her tendency to overthink and overlook simple solutions.
Behind the scenes[]
Concept art.
When Angela's mask fell off on Tabora, there was no trace of the rest of her thief apparel with the exception of her boots, belt, and jumpsuit. This is likely an error, but it may also be possible that her costume was a hologuise.
In unused dialogue from Up Your Arsenal, Clank's admirer expresses outrage that her and Angela were excluded from the game, lamenting how close Angela was to being Ratchet's love interest. She is also surprised to hear that Ratchet has fallen in love with Sasha, claiming that people will not accept it and that "he needs to hook up with another lombax like Angie."[29]
Prior to A Crack in Time, there was huge debate among fans whether or not Angela was, in fact, a lombax, given her lack of a tail and the fact that Tools of Destruction referred to Ratchet as "the last lombax in the universe". This debate was referenced in the radio news when Kip Darling questioned the fact that she is a lombax based on her lack of a tail. To further clarify this, senior writer T.J. Fixman reiterated at the Ratchet & Clank tenth-anniversary panel at PAX 2012 that Angela Cross is a lombax.[4] Fixman also clarified Angela's story in a fan interview, claiming that he loved the character despite never having the chance to write for her.[22] Former developer Mike Stout referred to her as a lombax during his Developer Commentary with Tony Garcia, suggesting that she was known as a lombax internally at the time and also referenced the debates about her lack of a tail.[30] In The Art of Ratchet & Clank, Insomniac's caption apologizes to fans for the confusion caused over her species by her lack of a tail.[31]
In A Crack in Time, a paint job for the Constructo Bomb is named the "Angela Special", featuring a grey, pink, black and turquoise color scheme, in reference to Cross. Insomniac later regretted its inclusion, saying it was "rubbing salt in the fans' wounds over Angela".[32] Additionally, a handful of electronic signs around Axiom City on planet Terachnos contain lombax alphabet writing displaying the name "Angela" repeatedly.
Unused dialogue of Alister Azimuth from A Crack in Time makes reference to someone who Azimuth and Kaden had met once when visiting Ratchet's mother on Vapedia, during her school days when she and Kaden were still dating. Azimuth describes her as having been a "delightful, pretty, but very clumsy" girl named "Lorna Cross". She was a friend of Ratchet's mother, who attended school with her on Vapedia, and shared a residence with her on the planet's northern ridge. She was likely intended to be a relative of Angela's, given the clear similar traits and sharing of a surname, possibly her mother.[a]
Angela had a holocard in the Ratchet & Clank 2016 re-imagined game.[2] She also made an appearance in the non-canon Ratchet & Clank: Gagaga! Ginga no Gakeppuchi Densetsu manga.
In the 2016 movie, while Clank is scanning for Ratchet's species, he tells Clank there "aren't many of us left, at least not in this galaxy", a possible allusion to Angela in Bogon or Azimuth in Polaris.
Notes[]
Annotations[]
- ↑ Alister Azimuth: "Vapedia's a beautiful planet. Y'know your mother went to school here. Kaden and I came out here to visit her once back when they were still dating. She and her friend had a place on the northern ridge. Now, what was her name? Delightful and pretty, but uh, very clumsy. Ahh, Lorna. Lorna Cross."[33]
Citations[]
- ↑ Going Commando, Monsterpedia
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ratchet & Clank (2016 game) menu § "Angela Cross"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 A Crack in Time script § "Angela Cross"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Fixman September 2012
- ↑ Going Commando, Monsterpedia
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Find Angela (gameplay)"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Going Commando script § "A shipment of... paperweights"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Going Commando script § "Remember, you bought it from Steve..."
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Investigate the Megacorp store (gameplay)"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Ad for Slim's Illegal Ship Mods"
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Going Commando script § "And I need it delivered..."
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Find a way out of the underground tunnels (gameplay)"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Search the rocket silo (gameplay)"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Thugs-4-Less Gets a New Employer"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Thugs-4-Less Prison Video Brochure"
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Going Commando script § "Meow"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Rescue Angela (gameplay)"
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Going Commando script § "A Galactic Greeting"
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Going Commando script § "Mommy where do Protopets come from?"
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Going Commando script § "Defeat the mutated Protopet (gameplay)"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Qwark Starts a New Job"
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Kubak12, 2015
- ↑ Multiple Organisms, p. 5
- ↑ Rift Apart script § "Viceron"
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Going Commando script § "Find and confront the thief (gameplay)"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Megacorp Testing Infomercial"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "A Free Pizza Party to the Squad who Bags Him"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "If you are watching this, you're fired..."
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal, unused dialogue
- ↑ Stout, Garcia July 2011 8:48
- ↑ The Art of Ratchet & Clank, p. 110
- ↑ Stevenson November 2017, 51:05
- ↑ A Crack in Time, unused dialogue
References[]
- Video games
- Insomniac Games (2003). Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2.
- Insomniac Games (2009). Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
- Bibliograhpy
- Sony Interactive Entertainment (2018). The Art of Ratchet & Clank [Book]. Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 978-1506705729.
- Websites
- Kubak12 (2015, July 10). "T.J. Fixman interviewed by fans!". From Ratchet Galaxy. Archived from the original on November 7, 2019.
- Videos
- Fixman, TJ (2012, September 5). "Ratchet & Clank - The 10th Anniversary Celebration Panel (PAX 2012)". From IGN. Archived from the original on November 7, 2019.
- Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [@uselesspodcasts] (2019, June 2). Ratchet & Clank 2 Dev Commentary: 12A - Todano 1 [Video]. YouTube.
- Stevenson, James [Games @Insomniac Games] (2017, November 28). Insomniac Live - Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time - pt 3 [Video]. YouTube.