The Hologuise is a type of gadget in Ratchet & Clank, the 2016 re-imagining, and the 2016 movie. It is a gadget that enables the user to disguise themselves with a hologram to appear as a specific organism or robot depending on the gadget.
The Hologuise is acquired in both the original and re-imagined Ratchet & Clank on planet Kalebo III from Wendell Lumos, the Gadgetron CEO, after beating the hoverboard race; the original allows Ratchet to disguise himself as a sentry-bot, while the re-imagining allows him to disguise himself as Qwark.
History[]
Ratchet & Clank[]
Ratchet and Clank first heard about the Hologuise through a Gadgetron commercial on an infobot, granted to them by the Ultra-Mech Scientist on Quartu after they defeated the Ultra-Mechs. It was only available at the Gadgetron Headquarters on Kalebo III for a limited time.[1]
The two traveled there and met the CEO, Wendell Lumos, who gave them the mission "Win the Hoverboard race". After beating the test dummies at the race, Lumos gave them the Hologuise, as it was all he could give them since they had not been Gadgetron employees for two years, and thus were ineligible for a discount.[2]
Ratchet returned to Quartu, where the Hologuise allowed him to infiltrate the robot factory in "Infiltrate the secure area". In doing so, he met up with Clank's mother. Later, Ratchet used the Hologuise to sneak through Drek's fleet during "Find the coordinates for Drek's laser", allowing him to reach Drek's flagship. Though Drek was not there, he found an infobot confirming Drek was on Veldin.
Re-imagined[]
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Hologuise re-imagined
In Qwark's retelling of events, the Hologuise was also obtained from Wendell Lumos after "Win the hoverboard race" on Kalebo III, after Elaris suggested Ratchet would find it there. Ratchet used this Hologuise to disguise himself as Captain Qwark, and used it to infiltrate the Deplanetizer in "Locate the Gravity Stabilizer". Though Ratchet was able to deactivate the stabilizer, the Deplanetizer's defenses were then made aware of the Hologuise afterwards, and it no longer fooled the guards.
In the holofilm, the Hologuise appeared briefly, also allowing Ratchet and Clank to sneak aboard the Deplanetizer by activating the Hologuise from his ship.
Mechanics[]
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Ratchet, disguised as a sentry-bot, waving to another sentry-bot.
The Hologuise when activated disguises Ratchet as a specific enemy, allowing him to go traverse undetected. It is often used to unlock doors that will not allow Ratchet through otherwise, either by waving at a guard behind the door or completing a short minigame while disguised. Ratchet's movement is restricted with this disguise active, as he often moves more slowly, and often cannot jump while using it. Pressing the fire button with a disguise on will wave at enemies. He cannot use weapons or gadgets.
Behind the scenes[]
Cut helmet model.
The Hologuise was originally planned to be a helmet, but was changed to a handheld gadget. The helmet design can be seen in the Insomniac Museum in Going Commando. Additionally, an unused handheld glove model for the Hologuise can be seen in early builds of the game.[3]
The Hologuise is responsible for several bugs in Ratchet & Clank, though they were fixed in the high-definition remake in the Ratchet & Clank Collection. If the player enters the Blackwater City hoverboard race on Rilgar with the Hologuise, they can walk around the track freely, which is useful for destroying bolt crates with the Taunter, as they will respawn if destroyed off-screen. Also, if the player enters the blarg fighter in Drek's fleet with the sentry-bot Hologuise engaged, Ratchet would be standing on top of the jet. Hologuise gadgets later cause minor glitches in subsequent games.
Phantom uses a Hologuise to disguise himself as a Nefarious City citizen in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.