Dimensionator

The original form of the Dimensionator.

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 design was in the form of a weapon 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 3¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer. The device uses Phase Quartz as a power source 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

Blueprints for the helmet model of the Dimensionator.

The Dimensionator was created during the Great War by eight lombax architects on Breegus Minor. Using a Surinox Shard, they were able to build a device that could replicate its capabilities of bridging gaps through realities, something that took over three Arcturian cycles of research.

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. The device was eventually used to exile the cragmites, ending the war. Blueprints for the original Dimensionator were stored in the Interdimensional Archives, at an ancient lombax outpost on Savali.

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, so as to find a perfect dimension for the lombaxes to hide in. After being loaned the Dimensionator by Kaden, he decided he would need a year and three weeks of no sleep to complete the task. After being asked to speed up his process, Mags converted the device into a helmet used by voice commands.

When Emperor Tachyon's Imperial Army attacked Fastoon, the lombaxes escaped to their dimension; Mags left a copy of the Dimensional Map in the Savali Archives and attempted to find the lombaxes, though they were scattered across numerous dimensions. Among the lombaxes who remained in Ratchet's dimension were Kaden, his infant son Ratchet, the exiled Alister Azimuth, and Angela Cross.

Max Apogee obtained and relocated the device to Kerchu City, Jasindu. He and Angela Cross, a victim of Tachyon's crusade against lombaxes, then fled the dimension.

At some point, the Plumber obtained a 3¾ 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. Ratchet first learned of it as a hypothetical device that could vaporize the cragmites from the Smuggler, while Tachyon put out recruitment ads for the Imperial Army, featuring Captain Qwark, pointing them to the Apogee Space Station as a possible location. The army also identified Rykan V as a possible location, but had not identified the other test site of the Center for Advanced Lombax Research on Sargasso.

The Dimensionator on Jasindu.

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 3¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer and hinted that the Dimensionator was not a device that vaporized the cragmites. 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, believed that a wormhole device was too dangerous for anyone to possess. 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, and Captain Slag took the device.

Emperor Tachyon using the Dimensionator to release an army of cragmites.

After defeating Slag, Ratchet and Clank had a heated argument about what to do with the Dimensionator. Captain Qwark, trying to prove himself as a hero, took it from them and pledged to throw it into a black hole. However, he used a shuttle headed for Reepor, the cragmite homeworld. This allowed Tachyon to take the device from him and release an army of cragmites, and used 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.

Clank holding the washer.

Ratchet wearing the repaired Dimensionator.

With his invasion of Meridian City repelled by Ratchet and Clank, Tachyon returned to Fastoon with the intention of releasing all of the remaining cragmites, and colonizing the lombax homeworld. Ratchet confronted Tachyon on Fastoon in the Court of Azimuth, where Tachyon opened a portal to the lombax dimension, and offered Ratchet a chance to leave and join his race. Ratchet declined, knowing no one anywhere would be safe with the Dimensionator in Tachyon's possession, and fought him. The Dimensionator became damaged in the ensuing battle and malfunctioned, pulling Tachyon, Ratchet, and Clank to an asteroid field in another dimension. On Tachyon's defeat, he fell into a wormhole and became trapped in dimension A2-66, and Ratchet briefly repaired the Dimensionator with the 3¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer, allowing him and Clank to return home again. At the Apogee Space Station, Cronk wore the broken Dimensionator and re-enacted the battle playfighting as Tachyon, with Zephyr as Ratchet.

Eventually, the Dimensionator was moved to the Lombax History Wing of the Intergalactic Museum of History, a museum thought to be impenetrable.

Subsequent appearances

The Dimensionator briefly appeared in Clank's subconscious after being pulled out of a pipe by the Plumber in A Crack in Time, along with multiple other items from Clank's memories. 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 also those who had been killed by Tachyon.

In All 4 One, the remains of a Dimensionator or a similar looking device, were seen briefly in a junk pile behind the wigwump's burrow in the Deadgrove. It is not acknowledged at all, however, and appears simply as a visual easter egg.

Into the Nexus

The twin crime team, Vendra and Neftin Prog, had planned to steal the Dimensionator from the Intergalactic Museum of History, for use in their plans of releasing their fellow nethers from the Netherverse, but changed their plans, opting to instead build their own version of it.

Neftin Prog using the counterfeit Dimensionator.

Using a coerced workforce of kidnapped terachnoids from Pollyx Industries, the Progs forced them to build transdimensional portal technology, and they created a counterfeit Dimensionator, dubbed a "low-rent Dimensionator" by Ratchet. The device was not a true Dimensionator, however, incapable of the same boundless abilities as the original, and was only able to stabilize portals to the Netherverse in the Zarkov Sector, where the walls between the two dimensions were significantly thinned after twenty years of Vendra's constant transdimensional experimentation. To function, the device also needed to be used in conjunction with Vendra's own powers to connect with the Netherverse. Visually, it appears largely the same as the lombax Dimensionator, but with a rougher and more unrefined design, with the lombax plushie and extended boxing glove seen on the original replaced with a plushie of the nether leader, Mr. Eye, and an extended hatchet. Upon Vendra using it to release Mr. Eye on Silox, he betrayed her and trapped her in the Netherverse. The counterfeit Dimensionator was then left broken and abandoned in the Netherverse by Vendra.

The original Dimensionator and Vendra were concluded to be the only hopes of sending the nethers across the barrier and back to their own dimension, and so, Ratchet, Clank, and Neftin made an alliance to acquire the Dimensionator and rescue Vendra. Aiming to halt their efforts, however, Mr. Eye and the nethers rampaged their way across the Polaris Galaxy towards Igliak, seeking to destroy the Dimensionator before it could be used against them. Ratchet and Clank retrieved the Dimensionator from the Intergalactic Museum of History and got it to Neftin and Pollyx, who conducted repairs on it whilst the duo fought back the nether invasion of Meridian City. During it's reparation, the Dimensionator once again required a new 3¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer. Upon making it functional again, Neftin used the Dimensionator to send Clank to Vendra and retrieve her from the Netherverse, whilst Ratchet battled Mr. Eye. Once Vendra was rescued, Neftin opened another portal to the Netherverse, and Vendra used her powers to force Mr. Eye and the nethers back inside.

After its brief uses, the Dimensionator was left more heavily damaged than ever. Clank questioned Ratchet that if it was functionable, would he use it to find the lombaxes, but Ratchet declined, believing there was more for him in this dimension now than in theirs, in reference towards Talwyn. As they were leaving the museum, however, Clank secretly took the Dimensionator with him.

Rift Apart

Dr. Nefarious steals the newly repaired Dimensionator.

Over the next few years, Clank repaired the Dimensionator, and in the process returned it back to its original design. At some point, Dr. Nefarious discovered this, devised a new plan to use it, and spent years researching coordinates for a dimension where his counterpart had always succeeded. During Megalopolis' Festival of Heroes, Clank gifted the newly repaired Dimensionator to Ratchet so he could find the lombaxes, however, Dr. Nefarious attacked the festival and stole it, seeking to use it to go to a dimension where he always wins. In the ensuing skirmish, Ratchet shot the Phase Quartz power core of the device and the Dimensionator began badly malfunctioning, subsequently causing dimensional anomalies to begin spreading wildly. Before it exploded from the damage, Dr. Nefarious used it to bring Ratchet, Clank and himself to Rivet's dimension.

The Emperor makes his return and seizes the newly built Dimensionator for himself.

With the help of Gary, Clank learned how to repair dimensional damage, and found that the only way to stop the coming dimensional cataclysm was with another Dimensionator. While Rivet and Clank acquired Phase Quartz to power the device, Ratchet and Kit acquired the blueprints from the Interdimensional Archives, and made use of Kedaro Station's Rubion Forge to build a new Dimensionator. Upon meeting together at Zurkie's to use it, however, the four were ambushed by Dr. Nefarious and his Nefarious Troopers, who claimed the Dimensionator. Ratchet and Rivet fought back, leading to Rivet and Kit battling with Dr. Nefarious, who used the Dimensionator to warp them to multiple locations in his attempts to destroy them. Though Rivet and Kit succeeded in defeating Dr. Nefarious, his counterpart, Emperor Nefarious, arrived and claimed the Dimensionator for himself, using it to escape with his counterpart.

The Emperor sends Quantum through a rift to Zordoom Prison.

With the Dimensionator under his control, Emperor Nefarious began making more rifts to send his forces across the galaxy, and subjugate any remaining resistance to his rule, accelerating the dimensional damage further. 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. The Emperor then used it to banish Captain Quantum and the space pirates to Zordoom Prison. Feeling unsatisfied despite his victories, the Emperor decided to begin conquering other dimensions, but he required a map to navigate them, leading him to launch 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 wildly in his search for it. The Emperor's overuse of the Dimensionator causes the walls between dimensions to deteriorate further, allowing undead creatures from a nightmare dimension to begin breaking into Rivet's universe. As Clank retrieved the map from the anomaly, Emperor and Doctor Nefarious took Ratchet prisoner, forcing Clank to hand it over, to which the Emperor then sent the two to Zordoom Prison. Kit attempted to attack the Emperor in her warbot form, only for Dr. Nefarious to use the Dimensionator to likewise send her to Zordoom.

Rivet stops the Emperor from overclocking the Dimensionator and destroying the dimensions.

Using the map, Emperor Nefarious located his counterpart's home dimension and, in a grand announcement, planned to conquer it, starting with Megalopolis, much to Dr. Nefarious' outrage, using the Dimensionator to allow his fleet passage through. In retaliation, 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 furiously used the Dimensionator to summon all of his reinforcements, only for Kit to arrive and assist Rivet in the ensuing battle against him and his troopers. Upon being brought to the brink of defeat and refusing to accept failure, the Emperor attempted to overclock the Dimensionator to collapse every dimension, but was stopped by Rivet, allowing the Dimensionator to fall back into the hands of Ratchet. With the Dimensionator in hand, Ratchet opened a rift to call upon an angry Kraken, which then dragged Emperor Nefarious inside.

Clank, armed with his newly acquired knowledge on how to fix the cataclysm, used the Dimensionator to repair all of the damage that had been done and averted the collapse. With the battle won and over, Ratchet and Clank offer to return Rivet and Kit home, and Ratchet suggests 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 the events of Ratchet & Clank, which the lombaxes used to manufacture their Dimensionators during the days of the Great War. The device's power source is Phase Quartz; a rare crystal that can only be found in the mines of Blizar Prime, and is one of the rarest minerals in the universe.

The original model resembles a handheld firearm, with a keypad for inputting dimensional coordinates, a crank that needs to be turned at least two full times to charge, and a trigger to fire a shot that opens a rift to the intended location.

The helmet model required a 3¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer on the primary reflux coil to function. 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 intended destination. While in use, a large metal sphere with two antennae, some springs, and seemingly erroneous pieces including a lombax plushie and an extended boxing glove appear as the sphere opens portals to a location.

Capabilities

The original model is used by inputting dimensional coordinates, and when used in conjunction with the Dimensional Map, possesses the preset locations of every dimension in existence.

The helmet version is voice commanded and can find a dimension based on minimal voice input. When worn on a user's head, the helmet version appears able to read their thoughts somewhat in finding a specific location or person, as the simple voice command of "Find home" was sufficient to return Ratchet to what he considered his home dimension, and Neftin Prog's command of "Find Vendra" opened a portal directly to his sister.

The Dimensionator'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.

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 wildly spreading across Ratchet and Rivet's universes, eventually leading towards a dimensional cataclysm. Though the lombaxes had predicted this was possible, they deemed it unlikely during initial testing.

Behind the scenes

Concept art of the helmet Dimensionator's two modes.

The team challenged themselves to make the design for the Dimensionator as crazy as possible, relishing in the potential for a zany reveal.

The helmet model of the Dimensionator can be unlocked as a head item in the competitive mode of Resistance 2.

Mags' redesigning of the Dimensionator into that of a helmet is a retcon of what was previously seen in Tools of Destruction, in which the Dimensionator was shown through visuals to have always had a helmet design from its initial development at the Center for Advanced Lombax Research.

In the animated short Ratchet & Clank: Life of Pie, Dr. Nefarious invents a similar device called the Portalizer. Resembling a handheld weapon, it stabilizes interdimensional portals when fired after inputting coordinates.

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.