The Dimensionator, also known as the Lombax Secret, is a device featured in Tools of Destruction, Into the Nexus, and Rift Apart, with cameos in A Crack in Time and All 4 One. It is a lombax device developed by the Center for Advanced Lombax Research, capable of creating portals to other dimensions. Its immense reality-warping power made it a highly sought-after device but also one posing incredible danger. The device was touted as the single most important invention in lombax history.
The lombaxes created the device in the Great War to defeat the cragmites. The lombaxes later used the device to move to a new lombax dimension. Emperor Tachyon had his Imperial Army search the Polaris Galaxy to find it to bring back the cragmites, competing against Max Apogee, the space pirates, and Ratchet and Clank to obtain it. Much later, Vendra Prog attempted to use one to bring the nethers into the universe. Years later, Clank repaired and recovered it back to its original form, only for Dr. Nefarious to use it to travel to Rivet's dimension, where Emperor Nefarious then tried to abuse its power to conquer more universes.
The Dimensionator's original form was as a gun that fired portals when one knew the dimensional coordinates (found in a Dimensional Map on Savali). It was later converted into a helmet controlled by voice command, which appeared to use random parts, including a 3Ā¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer. The device uses Phase Quartz for interdimensional travel. All versions of the device are highly unstable, capable of creating portals to the user's destination as well as random, more dangerous universes, potentially leaving them stranded.
History[]
Before Tools of Destruction[]
The Dimensionator was created during the Great War by eight[1] lombax architects on Breegus Minor.[2] Using a Surinox Shard, they were able to build a device that could replicate its capabilities of bridging gaps through realities,[3] something that took over three Arcturian cycles of research.[1]
The center called the device "the most important invention in lombax history". Beta testing participants selected were sent to Rykan V for orientation, and then to the Sargasso testing facility to test it. They were warned to carry pepper spray in the event of arriving in the dimension of Zanifarian death weasels, to log an "A" bug, and notify a programmer if the device created a time-space singularity tearing the fabric of the universe asunder, and to consult a physician prior to using the device if pregnant, with a heart condition, or allergic to interdimensional travel. [1] The device was eventually used to exile the cragmites, ending the war.[2]
After his mapping work on Savali, a genius lombax named Mags was tasked by Kaden and the lombax council to map every dimension in existence, [4] so as to find a perfect dimension for the lombaxes to hide in. [5] After being loaned the Dimensionator by Kaden, he decided he would need a year and three weeks of no sleep to complete the task. [6] After being asked to speed up his process, Mags converted the device into a helmet used by voice commands. [7]
When Emperor Tachyon's Imperial Army attacked Fastoon, the lombaxes escaped to their dimension;[8] Mags left the Dimensional Map in the Savali Archives and attempted to find the lombaxes, though they were scattered across numerous dimensions. [9] Among the lombaxes who remained in Ratchet's dimension were Kaden, his infant son Ratchet,[8] the exiled Alister Azimuth,[10] and Angela Cross. [11]
Max Apogee obtained and relocated the device to Kerchu City, Jasindu. [2] He and Angela Cross, a victim of Tachyon's crusade against lombaxes, then fled the dimension. [11]
At some point, the Plumber obtained a 3Ā¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer, necessary for the primary reflux coil.
Tools of Destruction[]
After failing to eliminate Ratchet in Metropolis, Kerwan, the Imperial Army combed the city for the Dimensionator. [12] Ratchet first learned of it as a hypothetical device that could vaporize the cragmites from the Smuggler, [13] while Tachyon put out recruitment ads for the Imperial Army, featuring Captain Qwark, pointing them to the Apogee Space Station as a possible location. [14] The army also identified Rykan V as a possible location, [15] but had not identified the other test site of the Center for Advanced Lombax Research on Sargasso. [1]
Ratchet and Clank searched for the device with Talwyn Apogee, Cronk, and Zephyr aiding them as they stole a Lombax artifact from the space pirates on Ardolis, which pointed them to Rykan V. On Sargasso, the two met the Plumber, who gave them a 3Ā¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer and hinted that the Dimensionator was not a device that vaporized the cragmites.[16] Ratchet and Clank had strong differences of opinion regarding what to do upon finding it. Ratchet wanted the device, presumably to bring his family back, while Clank, after the Zoni suggested it,[17] believed that a wormhole device was too dangerous for anyone to possess.[2] Nonetheless, using the IRIS Supercomputer, they tracked it to Kerchu City. However, the space pirates, upon seeing them travel there, deduced it was the location of the lombax secret,[18] and Captain Slag took the device.
After defeating Slag, Ratchet and Clank had a heated argument about what to do with the Dimensionator. Captain Qwark, trying to prove himself, took it from them and pledged to throw it into a black hole. However, he used a shuttle headed for Reepor, the cragmite homeworld.[19] This allowed Tachyon to take the device from him and bring the cragmites back, sending them to invade Meridian City, Igliak. Ratchet then blamed himself for not listening to Clank and not destroying the Dimensionator when he had the opportunity.[20]
Ratchet confronted Tachyon on Fastoon in the Court of Azimuth. There, Tachyon opened a portal to the lombax dimension and gave Ratchet a chance to return to his race. Ratchet declined and fought him, but damage to the Dimensionator pulled them into another dimension.[8] Ratchet banished Tachyon to dimension A2-66, before repairing the Dimensionator with the 3Ā¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer.[8] At the Apogee Space Station, Cronk playfully used the destroyed Dimensionator to playfight as Tachyon.[21] Eventually, the Dimensionator was moved to the Intergalactic Museum of History, a museum thought to be impenetrable.[22]
Subsequent appearances[]
The Dimensionator briefly appeared in Clank's subconscious after being pulled out by the Plumber in A Crack in Time. With no Dimensionators remaining, Alister Azimuth sought the use of the Great Clock as the only other way of bringing the lombaxes back. Azimuth even believed this was preferable, as it could bring back not only the lombaxes lost in another dimension but those who had been killed by Tachyon.[23]
In All 4 One, a Dimensionator could be seen briefly on the ground in the cinematic after the wigwump fight.
Into the Nexus[]
Vendra Prog created a low-rent Dimensionator to summon the nether leader, Mr. Eye, to her dimension. Upon doing so, Mr. Eye betrayed her and trapped her in the Netherverse, before going on to ravage the galaxy. Neftin Prog teamed up with Ratchet and Clank, fixing the original Dimensionator to help his sister escape the Netherverse and trap Mr. Eye back in it. Ratchet once again required the use of a 3 3/4 Centicubit Hexagonal Washer to fix the device.
With the device damaged once again, Clank questioned if Ratchet would ever repair it to bring back the lombaxes. Ratchet declined, believing he had everything he needed in his universe, nodding towards Talwyn. As the two left the museum, Clank secretly took the Dimensionator away.
Rift Apart[]
Over the next few years, Clank repaired the Dimensionator, though returning the device to its original appearance, and offered it to Ratchet so he can find the Lombaxes. However, Dr. Nefarious stole the newly fixed Dimensionator, hoping to use it to go to an dimension where he always wins. After Ratchet shot the core of the device, the Dimensionator malfunctioned, subsequently causing a catastrophic dimensional collapse that caused multiple locations and realities to mix. Before it exploded from the damage, the Dimensionator sent Ratchet, Clank and Dr. Nefarious to Rivet's dimension.
With the dimensions on the verge of a total collapse, Clank comes to the conclusion that the only way to fix the damage done is to build a new Dimensionator. With the aid of Rivet, Clank was able to acquire Phase Quartz to power the device while Ratchet and Kit make use of Emperor Nefarious's Rubion Forge to successfully build the Dimensionator. Unfortunately, after meeting together at Zurkie's, the four were ambushed by Dr. Nefarious and Nefarious Troopers who claimed the Dimensionator. However, Rivet and Ratchet fought back, leading to Rivet battling with Dr. Nefarious. The doctor attempted to use the Dimensionator to banish Rivet but failed to work its controls. Though Rivet succeeded in defeating Dr. Nefarious, his counterpart, Emperor Nefarious arrived and claimed the Dimensionator for his own purposes, using it to escape with his counterpart.
With the Dimensionator under his control, Emperor Nefarious began making more rifts to send his forces across the galaxy to subjugate any further resistance to his rule which only makes the dimensional cataclysm worse. Emperor Nefarious used the Dimensionator to send his forces to conquer, then destroy, Rivet's home of Sargasso but after she successfully repulsed his invasion, the Emperor used the device to send Rivet to a pocket dimension to exile her, unaware that she knew how to escape it. Emperor Nefarious then used it to banish Captain Quantum and the space pirates to Zordoom Prison. Feeling unsatisfied despite his victories, the Emperor decided to conquer other dimensions but he required a map to navigate the multiverse. The Nefarious Empire launched an invasion of Savali, seeking the Dimensional Map in the Interdimensional Archives. The Savali monks hid the map in a dimensional anomaly, causing the Emperor to begin opening rifts "willy-nilly" to find the map, causing undead forces to begin appearing on Savali. As Clank navigated the anomaly for the map, Emperor and Doctor Nefarious took Ratchet prisoner, forcing Clank to hand it over. Emperor Nefarious then sent the two to Zordoom Prison. Kit attempted to turn her warbot form on Emperor Nefarious only for Dr. Nefarious to use the Dimensionator to likewise send her to Zordoom.
Using the map, Emperor Nefarious was able to locate his counterpart's home dimension and, in a grand announcement, planned to conquer it, starting with Megalopolis City, much to Dr. Nefarious' outrage, using the Dimensionator to allow his fleet passage through. However, Ratchet, Clank and Rivet gathered all of their allies, including the Goons-4-Less and Space Pirates, traveled through the rift to battle Emperor Nefarious' forces and eventually his massive Imperial Power Suit. When the Suit was brought down, Emperor Nefarious used the Dimensionator to summon reinforcements only for Kit to travel through one of the rifts and destroy the Troopers, leaving the Emperor all alone. Driven to the brink and refusing to accept his failure, Emperor Nefarious attempted to use the Dimensionator to destroy all dimensions if he can't rule over them but was ultimately beaten by Rivet allowing the Dimensionator to fall back into the hands of Ratchet. With the Dimensionator in hand, Ratchet would open a rift to call upon an angry Kraken who dragged the defeated Emperor Nefarious to his doom.
Back in the hands of its creator, Clank, using his newly acquired knowledge on how to fix the cataclysm, used the Dimensionator to repair the damage done by Emperor Nefarious. With the battle won and over, Ratchet and Clank offered to return Rivet and Kit home but Ratchet suggested that they make a "pit stop" along the way.
Characteristics[]
Features[]
The functionality of the Dimensionator was based on the properties of a shard of the Surinox Comet; a transdimensional celestial entity that travels through realities. A shard of this elusive comet fell through the stratosphere of Fastoon hundreds of years prior to events of Ratchet & Clank, which the lombaxes used to manufacture their Dimensionators during the days of the Great War.[3] The device's power source is Phase Quartz, one of the rarest minerals in the universe.[24]
The helmet model converted by Mags, required a 3Ā¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer on the primary reflux coil to function.[8] A cord on the bottom right of the helmet is pulled to use the device, and it takes voice command for instructions on finding the dimension. While in use, a large metal sphere with two antennae, some springs, and seemingly erroneous pieces including a lombax doll and an extended boxing glove appear as the sphere opens portals to a location.
The original model[7] instead resembles a rifle, with a keypad for inputting coordinates, a crank that needs to be turned at least 2 full times to charge and a trigger to fire a shot that opens a rift to the intended location.
Capabilities[]
The original model is used by inputting dimensional coordinates, while the helmet version is voice commanded and can find a dimension based on minimal voice input[7] (as "Find home" was sufficient to return Ratchet to his dimension[8]).
It's capabilities are seemingly boundless, as it has the ability to open portals to any of the infinite dimensions existence is divided into. The device was capable of single-handedly ending the Great War by sending the cragmites to another dimension.[2]
It is however very fragile and unstable, as simple malfunctions can have dire consequences. The most notable example was seen when a shot from Ratchet's Burst Pistol struck the active Phase Quartz power core, causing the device to go critical and dimensional anomalies to begin spreading across Ratchet and Rivet's universes, eventually leading towards a dimensional cataclysm.[25] Though the lombaxes had predicted this was possible, they deemed it unlikely during initial testing.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
The team challenged themselves to make the design for the Dimensionator as crazy as possible, relishing in the potential for a zany reveal.[26]
The helmet model of the Dimensionator can be unlocked as a head item in the competitive mode of Resistance 2.
Citations[]
- ā 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Tools of Destruction script § "Center for Advanced Lombax Research"
- ā 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Tools of Destruction script § "A Vision of Talwyn"
- ā 3.0 3.1 Lost and Spaced, p. 6
- ā Rift Apart script § "Asking the Impossible (I)"
- ā Rift Apart script § "The Reason (XI)"
- ā Rift Apart script § "Who Needs Sleep? (II)"
- ā 7.0 7.1 7.2 Rift Apart script § "One Size Fits All (VIII)"
- ā 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Tools of Destruction script § "Find Tachyon (gameplay)"
- ā Rift Apart script § "This Is Not Farewell (XII)"
- ā A Crack in Time script § "The Fall of the Lombaxes"
- ā 11.0 11.1 A Crack in Time script § "Angela Cross"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "IRIS Questions and Answers"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "Hitch a Ride with the Smuggler (gameplay continued)"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "All That and Travel Too?"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "Defeat the Imperial Forces (gameplay)"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "Investigate the Kerchu Outpost (gameplay)"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "Search the Mine (gameplay)"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "Escape from Slag's Clutches (gameplay)"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "Defeat Captain Slag (gameplay)"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "Escape the Cragmite Caves (gameplay)"
- ā Tools of Destruction script § "I'm Gonna Need More Grog"
- ā Into the Nexus script § "Qwark the Savior"
- ā A Crack in Time script § "Stop General Azimuth at all Costs! (gameplay)"
- ā Rift Apart, script
- ā Rift Apart script § "Guide the Clank Possibilities to the Meta-Terminal (Puzzle 3, Anomaly 1) (gameplay)"
- ā The Art of Ratchet & Clank, p. 143
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.
- Insomniac Games (2021). Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart [Game]. Sony Interactive Entertainment. PlayStation 5.
- Bibliography
- Fixman, TJ (2010). Ratchet & Clank (Issue 3: Lost and Spaced) [Book]. Wild Storm.
- Sony Interactive Entertainment (2018). The Art of Ratchet & Clank [Book]. Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 978-1506705729.