Cragmites are a species in Tools of Destruction, mentioned in A Crack in Time, All 4 One, Into the Nexus, and Rift Apart. They are a militaristic race of insecto-reptilian warriors from planet Reepor in the Polaris Galaxy, that once formed the tyrannical Great Cragmite Empire, until they were defeated by the lombaxes during the Great War. It was widely believed the "Lombax Secret" was used to vaporize them all, but in truth, the lombaxes used the Dimensionator to banish the entire cragmite race to another dimension. Centuries later, the last remaining cragmite, Percival Tachyon, formed the Imperial Army, primarily comprising drophyds he had provided nanotech combat suits for, and forced the lombaxes to flee the dimension, before going on to conquer much of the galaxy in the pursuit of returning his race.
Ratchet and Clank first met a cragmite in Tools of Destruction when Tachyon attempted to hunt down Ratchet, believing him to be the last lombax in the universe. Thereafter, Ratchet and Clank searched Polaris for the "Lombax Secret", to try to find the device that had been used to defeat the cragmites, and prevent them from rising again.
History[]
Great Cragmite Empire[]
The rise of the Great Cragmite Empire was seen by many as the largest threat the universe had ever seen, whose rule spanned from the Nundac Asteroid Ring to Praxus XII.[2] The cragmites wiped out over a dozen races and decimated countless others at the pinnacle of their empire's rule,[3] moving from galaxy to galaxy, using and discarding planets after depleting all of their natural resources.[2] The ghost-like loki were one such victimized race, whose homeworld of Toranux was wiped out by a cragmite warrior named Bagogg, who returned after escaping the planet and destroyed it.[4]
The lombaxes led Allied Polaris in a revolt against the cragmites, beginning the Great War. The cragmites had allies of their own, including Zorthan,[5] and their elite assassins wore Terraflux armor.[6][7] During the war, to stop Allied Polaris convoys sent through the Ublik Passage between the Verdigris and Praxus sectors, the cragmites detonated a nearby neutron star to block them, rendering the passage unusable.[8]
The two sides were evenly matched, and the war became a stalemate.[2] The turning point for the war came when the Center for Advanced Lombax Research invented the Dimensionator,[9] and banished the cragmites to dimension X2-49.[10] The cragmite homeworld of Reepor thereafter lay dormant for years.[11] It was believed if the cragmites had won the Great War, the entire universe would have eventually fallen under their terrible rule.[12]
Tachyon's rule[]
Several lombaxes listening to Tachyon's ideas in a flashback.
Percival Tachyon, the last cragmite in the universe, was discovered by lombax trillium miners on the Kreeli Comet, centuries after the war, and raised on Fastoon.[9] As a hatchling, Tachyon learned of his true origins, setting him upon the path of seeking vengeance on the lombaxes and using the Dimensionator to free the cragmites. He spent years creating an army, forging an alliance with the drophyds, and building the space pirates to scavenge materials for his troops' nanotech combat armor.[10] Tachyon shared his own invention ideas with the Center for Advanced Lombax Research, gaining the trust of their elder councilman, Alister Azimuth,[13] and in turn was given access to all of their technological secrets. With this, Tachyon was able to complete his Imperial Army[14] and betrayed the lombaxes, attacking Fastoon and forcing them to flee the universe using the Dimensionator.[15]
Thereafter, Tachyon conquered much of Polaris in the pursuit of returning the cragmites to power, and finding the hidden Dimensionator to release them from their banishment. Any planets not under Tachyon's rule were consolidated under Free Polaris, with Meridian City on Igliak as their capital. The Imperial Army fought for years to conquer Igliak, but were unsuccessful against the combined forces of the free planets in the Verdigris Sector.[16] Tachyon's army also conquered Stratus City on Kortog to seal off the Hall of Knowledge, declaring knowledge contraband,[17] so as to prevent people learning about the Great War.[18] Nonetheless, the cragmites were still notorious and well-known as oppressors.[2][19] Despite the vast reach and power of Tachyon's new empire, it was but a mere shadow of what the Great Cragmite Empire once was.[3]
Tools of Destruction[]
Tachyon releasing the cragmites with the Dimensionator.
The Imperial Army hunted down Ratchet while also searching for the Dimensionator, known as the "Lombax Secret", to bring the cragmites back.[20] After eventually obtaining it from Captain Qwark, Tachyon released an army of cragmites on their homeworld of Reepor. Clank fought them with the Zoni in "Search for Ratchet", before Ratchet fought them in "Escape the Cragmite Caves".
Seizing the opportunity this presented, Tachyon then invaded Meridian City with the cragmites and his enforcers. In "Save Meridian City", Ratchet and Clank fought back against them and repelled the invasion. Tachyon then returned to Fastoon, where he intended to release all of the remaining cragmites and colonize the lombax homeworld. Ratchet, Clank, Talwyn Apogee, Cronk, and Zephyr battled Tachyon's cragmite and drophyd forces in "Return to Fastoon" to stop him. Ratchet and Clank eventually defeated Tachyon in battle, and the cragmites were banished once more.[21]
Following his defeat and banishment to dimension A2-66, Tachyon's empire was dissolved and jurisdiction of its territories was returned to the Polaris government.
After Tools of Destruction[]
Cragmite hunter targets at a shooting range.
In Issue 3: Lost and Spaced of the comic series, Talwyn Apogee and Sasha Phyronix used images of cragmite hunters for target practice in a shooting range at the Apogee Space Station.
In All 4 One, the Loki Master intended to begin his decades-spanning plan of decimating the universe with monsters possessed by the loki. He had wished to exact vengeance on the cragmites for the destruction of Toranux, and make Reepor his first target, but lamented that they would not be present to witness the loki return, and instead chose Igliak.[22]
In Into the Nexus, Emperor Tachyon and the cragmites appeared as exhibits at the Intergalactic Museum of History; in the Hall of Villainy and the Lombax History Wing.[23]
In Rift Apart, when the Festival of Heroes in Megalopolis came under attack from the Goons-4-Less, Clank considered the cragmites as possibly being the perpetrators.[24]
Characteristics[]
Biology[]
Percival Tachyon.
The cragmites have a mixture of reptilian and insectoid characteristics, with six legs and two arms in adult form, and grey/purple-ish skin. They have large mouths with sharp carnivorous teeth, and can spit poisonous stomach acid as babies. They possess reptilian skin and faces, while their limbs and horns appear to be chitinous in nature, and are oriented like those of various arthropods.
Cragmites reproduce by laying eggs,[9] and also by splitting into multiple baby cragpoles when a matured cragmite dies. Cragmites all began as cragpoles, before growing into cragmite hunters, and finally into cragmite warriors.[25] However, Emperor Tachyon, while an adult cragmite, is said to be a runt amongst his species, who is far shorter than the others and has a different form, suggesting that other types of cragmite may exist which are not seen.
Matured cragmites come in varying shapes and sizes. They are mostly slow and rarely move by walking, but rather by demolecularizing themselves and shifting to another location, similarly to short-range warping, during which they are temporarily impervious to conventional harm. The baby cragpoles lack arms and are incapable of warping but can move quickly, spit stomach acid, and bite enemies.
Habitat[]
Cragmite ruins on Reepor.
The cragmites were indigenous to planet Reeporāa dark, toxic planet, covered in oceans of green sludge-like liquid. When banished with the Dimensionator, they were locked away in dimension X2-49, marooned on a dying star approximately 8.2 million kilocubits away from the nearest life form, where they, according to the IRIS Supercomputer, remained "angry and bored".[10]
Behavior[]
The cragmites are a militaristic and aggressive race of conquerors, notorious for their warmongering and hubris, and are known to destroy all species that oppose with them. They are not entirely beyond making allies with those beneficial to them, such as Zorthan[5] and the drophyds.
Though cragmites were generally said to be dimwitted,[2] Tachyon as a child brought in designs "light years" beyond what the Center for Advanced Lombax Research were using,[14] suggesting a high degree of intelligence in a select few.
They had their own written language, which was understood by some non-cragmites.[26] Aside from their violent ways, much about cragmite behavior and society is unknown, as only Emperor Tachyon is ever shown talking, and Tachyon was raised on Fastoon. Tachyon's rule was authoritarian and dictatorial, sending civilians to life sentences in Zordoom Prison for slight transgressions,[27] or forcing them to compete in the Imperial Fight Festival for entertainment;[28] it is likely the cragmites were not too dissimilar. While Tachyon displayed great acts of cruelty, it was suggested that even he was not fully aware of how truly evil the cragmites were.[12]
Cragmites were known to recite tales to their young, in the form of children's stories. The account of the cragmite warrior, Bagogg, and his plights with the shapeless loki on planet Toranux, became an ancient legend in cragmite society, and was told as a children's story called "Bagogg and the Loki." The tale eventually became believed to have been fictional.[26][4]
Military[]
The cragmites formed entire armadas made of several warships and warriors,[29] and their elite assassins wore Terraflux armor.[6][7] They were known to have the capability to detonate neutron stars,[8] and possessed powerful, planet-destroying weapons, such as the 'Class Three Planet Smasher', one of which was used by Bagogg to destroy Toranux.[4]
Aside from the imperial cruisers, it is unknown what, if any, vehicles are used by the cragmites, as when led by Tachyon, thier forces were bolstered with drophyds from the Imperial Army. This included the Tachyon gunships, Tachyon transport ships, and enforcers.
Units[]
Three types of cragmites are fought: the baby cragpoles, the adolescent cragmite hunters, and the adult cragmite warriors. The cragpoles are the most numerous of these; they are baby cragmites that spit stomach acid and bite to defend themselves, and spawn in groups of three or four after a matured cragmite dies.
The cragmite hunters and cragmite warriors are two variants of developed, weapon-wielding cragmites, with the hunters being the smaller of the two. The hunters fire quick rounds of long-range energy blasts at foes, while the larger, more durable warriors fire three green, slower energy blasts at medium range, and swipe in close combat.
Behind the scenes[]
A cragmite warrior appears as an unlockable skin in Tools of Destruction.
When designing the cragmites, Insomniac explored the shapes of several insects and crustaceans to give them a creepy design.[30]
Similarly named kragmites appeared in The Adventures of Captain Starshield, however these kragmites are unrelated to the cragmites that debut in Tools of Destruction.
Citations[]
- ā Ratchet & Clank (2016 game) menu § "Cragmites"
- ā 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Tools of Destruction script § "Make a Trade with the Smuggler (gameplay)"
- ā 3.0 3.1 Tools of Destruction menu § "Planet Reepor"
- ā 4.0 4.1 4.2 All 4 One script § "Trek through the Ruins of Uzo City (gameplay)"
- ā 5.0 5.1 Tools of Destruction script § "Return to the Fight Festival (gameplay, cont.)"
- ā 6.0 6.1 Tools of Destruction script § "Armor"
- ā 7.0 7.1 Tools of Destruction menu § "Terraflux armor"
- ā 8.0 8.1 Tools of Destruction menu § "Ublik Passage"
- ā 9.0 9.1 9.2 Tools of Destruction script § "A Vision of Talwyn"
- ā 10.0 10.1 10.2 Tools of Destruction script § "IRIS Questions and Answers"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "Infiltrate the Cragmite Base (gameplay)"
- ā 12.0 12.1 Tools of Destruction script § "Repair the Lombax Ship (gameplay)"
- ā A Crack in Time script § "The General and Kaden"
- ā 14.0 14.1 A Crack in Time script § "The Fall of the Lombaxes"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "Find Tachyon (gameplay)"
- ā Tools of Destruction menu § "Planet Igliak"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "Explore the Hall of Knowledge (gameplay)"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "Make a Trade with the Smuggler (gameplay)"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "Hitch a Ride with the Smuggler (gameplay continued)"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "All That and Travel Too?"
- ā A Crack in Time script § "The Story so far"
- ā All 4 One script § "Infiltrate Ephemeris and Defeat Nevo Binklemeyer (gameplay)"
- ā Into the Nexus script § "Find the Dimensionator (gameplay)"
- ā Rift Apart script § "Defeat the Goons-4-Less! (gameplay)"
- ā BradyGames 2007, p. 196-197
- ā 26.0 26.1 All 4 One script § "Launch Dr. Croid's Escape Pod (gameplay)"
- ā Tools of Destruction menu § "Planet Viceron"
- ā Tools of Destruction menu § "Planet Mukow"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "Escape the Cragmite Caves (gameplay)"
- ā The Art of Ratchet & Clank, p. 154
References[]
- Video games
- Insomniac Games (2007). Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
- Insomniac Games (2009). Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
- Insomniac Games (2011). Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
- Insomniac Games (2013). Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
- Books
- BradyGames (2007). Ratchet & Clank Future Tools of Destruction Official Strategy Guide [Book]. BradyGames. ISBN 0744009774.
- Sony Interactive Entertainment (2018). The Art of Ratchet & Clank [Book]. Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 978-1506705729.