Template:Appearances
The Galactic Rangers are a robot force serving the Solana galactic government, appearing as allies in Up Your Arsenal and Ratchet & Clank comic series. They are a force of identical combat robots that answer to President Phyronix, and are based on the Starship Phoenix, commandeered by Sasha Phyronix. During the war against Dr. Nefarious, Ratchet was inadvertently appointed by them as a military officer; a sergeant.
The Rangers were sent to defend the Solana Galaxy against Dr. Nefarious, during his war against organic lifeforms. Ratchet led the Rangers in many operations against Nefarious' forces of tyhrranoids around the galaxy. Later, the Rangers assisted Ratchet in the battle against Artemis Zogg.
Completing all of the Rangers' operations awards the player with the Friend of the Rangers trophy.
History
Before Up Your Arsenal
The Rangers once fought a sewer war on Aquatos. The Rangers have different accounts of this tale, with one claiming that he defeated a king amoeboid with his bare hands, while another named H-22 claimed the amoeboid swallowed him whole until he was later seen floating on a toilet on planet Barium.[1] The Rangers also fought in a battle against robotic pirate ghosts known as the Battle of Hamachi Flats. One Ranger claimed to have fought an entire army with only a Qwack-O-Ray and a half-charged Crotchitizer.[5]
The Rangers had a riot squad, which used the Concussion Gun.[6]
Up Your Arsenal
The Galactic Rangers on planet Veldin.
The Galactic Rangers, as reported in a news report by Darla Gratch, were deployed to Veldin to repel a tyhrranoid attack.[7] In "Save Veldin!", Ratchet traveled to Veldin from Endako himself, where the Rangers referred to Ratchet as their new sergeant, and gave him both the Shock Blaster and Nitro Launcher to fight through the tyhrranoids in Kyzil Plateau. After this, the Rangers were ordered to travel to F-Sector. Though fearful at first, Ratchet ordered them to take him there in the dropship.[8] In "Eliminate the Enemy Forces", Ratchet then led the Ranger attack on F-Sector and defeated them, after which President Phyronix sent a transmission to the Rangers intended for Ratchet and Clank with a new set of orders.[9]
The Galactic Rangers on Marcadia.
Next, the Rangers were deployed to Capital City, Marcadia, following a surprise attack by the tyhrranoids on the city. In "Get to the palace", Ratchet and a group of Rangers fought through to reach the presidential palace, before reaching a Ranger dropship. This commenced Operation: IRON SHIELD, which took place around the presidential compound. In it, Ratchet first defended the Rangers from a ground assault before commandeering a turret to destroy several tyhrranoid dropships. After this, the Rangers repaired the turret while Ratchet defended them, and then finally activated a set of air defenses to finally secure the palace.
Captain Qwark was placed in charge of the fight against Nefarious by President Phyronix.[10] This effectively meant the Rangers worked underneath the Q-Force. Enacting Qwark's plan, the Rangers invaded Korgon Base on Tyhrranosis. In "Take out the power generators", Ratchet landed with a group of Rangers to destroy the power generators for the mortar cannons. After this, the Rangers assaulted a tyhrranoid military base on Kavu Island in Operation: ISLAND STRIKE. Ratchet first led the Rangers to capture a hovership on the island, before then destroying waves of tyhrranoid dropships. Next, while Ratchet fought off tyhrranoids on the island, the Rangers worked to deactivate the forcefield around the tyhrranoid base on the island. H-26 stuck his finger in the main power transformer, giving his life to deactivate the forcefield.[3] After this, Ratchet led the final assault on the tyhrranoid base, granting the Rangers complete control of Kavu Island.[11]
The Rangers after the battle on Metropolis.
Later, the Rangers defended Blackwater City, Rilgar from a tyhrranoid attack. Ratchet assisted the Rangers once again in Operation: BLACK TIDE, in which he defended the Ranger base and captured the tyhrranoid base. The Rangers then gave Ratchet a pair of Gravity Boots which they had tripped over while fighting the tyhrranoids.[12] After this, the Rangers defended a portion of Metropolis, Kerwan, from the robotic tyhhranoids, known as robonoids. Several explosive charges were placed over the city, meaning Ratchet had to use the hovership to destroy the charges. Ratchet then fended off robonoid attacks, defeated the robonoids that were held up in towers, and finally destroyed tyhrranoid dropships both with the hovership and a turret. To thank him, all the Rangers chipped in and bought Ratchet a Map-O-Matic.[13]
A Ranger giving the Warp Pad gadget to Ratchet.
On Outpost X12, Aridia, the Rangers fought the tyhrranoid forces once more. They asked for Ratchet's help, first trying to trick him by making them believe it was a birthday party for the Ranger H-22, but Ratchet did not fall for it, and simply traveled there willingly.[2] Ratchet first defended the Ranger base and granted access to Red Rock Valley. The Rangers were ambushed there, and Ratchet used the hovership to defend them. After this, Ratchet assassinated the robonoid commanders leading the tyhrranoid forces while the Rangers (allegedly) took part in a mandatory aerobics class,[5] before activating a defensive perimeter around the valley, and finally capturing the tyhrranoid base. The Rangers gave Ratchet the Warp Pad to thank him.
Finally, the Rangers helped Ratchet one last during "Defeat Dr. Nefarious". While Ratchet was chasing Nefarious, several mega bots and soldier bots provided resistance. The Rangers warped in to help Ratchet and allow him to focus on Nefarious.
Comic series
In the comic series the Rangers were rarely involved in ground combat, but aided Sasha in dogfights and helped rescue Talwyn Apogee.
Overview
Characteristics
Galactic Rangers are dark green humanoid warbots. They have a single orange eye with a white reticule on their torso, and a laser blaster in place of a left hand. The Rangers speak with similar-sounding high-pitched robotic voices, and have a sense of comradery, often musing about old battles they participated in.[1][5]
Ratchet ordering a cowardly Galactic Ranger.
The Rangers are notably cowardly, afraid to fight the tyhrranoids, but over time become more confident. At the beginning, the Rangers refused to travel to F-Sector on Veldin out of fear.[8] Throughout several missions, the Rangers would make excuses not to fight, including once claiming they could not fight a battle due to "mandatory aerobics classes",[5] and would often suggest Ratchet complete a task for them by suggesting that "somebody" complete a task to make it safe for them.[12][14] However, by the end during the final mission, the Rangers threw themselves into danger to protect Ratchet, confidently taunting Nefarious' forces.[15]
The Rangers had great respect for Ratchet, referring to him as "Sarge", and were always very thankful for his help. They would often say they will one day repay Ratchet for his help,[16] and at the end of the final three operations, the Rangers gave Ratchet a gift.
Personnel
The Rangers are identical in appearance, but three Rangers were named. One Ranger, named H-26, deactivated the forcefield around the tyhrranoid base on Kavu Island, but was vaporized in the process.[3] Another, similarly named H-22, was reprimanded for stating that he'd heard another Ranger who fought in the Aquatos sewer war had actually been swallowed by the king amoeboid.[1] H-22 was also mentioned when the Rangers tried to trick Ratchet to come to Outpost X12 by saying they were throwing a birthday party in his honor.[2] The only other named Ranger is J-31, who was threatened for making a joke that one Ranger, who fought in the Battle of Hamachi Flats, being named "cabin boy" must have been a "feather in [his] hat".[5]
Additionally, after the formation of the Q-Force, one Ranger appears in the command bridge of the Starship Phoenix. This Ranger would often speak to the other Q-Force members, was a fan of Secret Agent Clank and Annihilation Nation, and appeared totally clueless about what he had to do.[4]
Military
Ratchet and a group of Rangers performing a HALO jump.
The Rangers perform HALO jumps when beginning an assault of a planet. They would arrive in squads of five, with Ratchet being the sixth in a HALO jump. However, after these HALO jumps, only two would normally reach the surface safely. The Rangers normally operate in groups of two or four, marching in pairs on the Starship Phoenix, following Ratchet in pairs during most missions, and defending a position in a group of four. The Rangers make use of cover by hiding behind barricades to then fire.
Around Ratchet, the Rangers rarely used weapons.
Multiplayer
Concept art of Galactic Rangers from Up Your Arsenal
Rangers appear in multiplayer at the main bases and nodes as a defensive force, during Siege and Capture the Flag. They either come in blue or red if affiliated with a team, or grey when defending an uncaptured neutral node.
Behind the scenes
Concept art of a Galactic Ranger.
The Galactic Rangers were originally going to have a completely monotone robotic voice. Mike Stout, one of the designers at Insomniac Games, strongly disliked their voice and went around with a petition to change it, and presented it to Brian Hastings. Hastings was unhappy with Stout going about this so undiplomatically, but nonetheless the Rangers were changed.[17]
The HALO jump performed by the Rangers was programmed by Jerrod Putman and designed by Brian Allgeier as a joke. Allgeier would use the developers' debug menu to cheat himself high up in the air and fall. Allgeier found this fun, and decided to turn it into a feature. Originally, the plan was to have "Ride of the Valkyries" playing during the HALO jump, but Insomniac could not license the music for it.[17]
Programming the Rangers was the biggest challenge of developing the battlegrounds and also the Starship Phoenix. Putman spent most of his time on Veldin programming the movements of the Rangers,[17] and as Insomniac's designers were unable to properly script the movement of enemies, Sean Wissler when working on the battlefields would spent a week rigging a single battlefield mission.[18] This system was reused for Skidd McMarx on Aquatos.[19] On Starship Phoenix, Anthony Yu also had problems programming the Rangers' patrolling movement.[20]
The player was originally going to be able to command the Rangers using an item known as the BullHorn.[21][22] Unused dialogue from the May 26 prototype of the game references the BullHorn.[23]
Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Up Your Arsenal script § "Tower Attack (gameplay)"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Up Your Arsenal script § "Supernova Taxi"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Up Your Arsenal script § "Operation Thunderbolt (gameplay)"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Up Your Arsenal script § "Ranger"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Up Your Arsenal script § "Assassination (gameplay)"
- ↑ Size Matters menu § "Concussion Gun"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Intro movie"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Up Your Arsenal script § "Save Veldin! (gameplay)"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Eliminate the Enemy Forces (gameplay)"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Captain Qwark Returns"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "The Final Battle (gameplay)"
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Up Your Arsenal script § "Counterattack (gameplay)"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Turret Command (gameplay) 2"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "X12 Endgame (gameplay)"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Defeat Dr. Nefarious (gameplay)"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Urban Combat (gameplay)"
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Stout, Garcia March 2012 8:31 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "uselesspodcasts UYA ep1" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "uselesspodcasts UYA ep1" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Stout, Garcia April 2012 1:14
- ↑ Stout, Garcia, Yu April 2012 4:08
- ↑ Stout, Garcia, Yu May 2012 0:40
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal, Scrapped Items on The Cutting Room Floor
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank Wiki 2017 interview with Mike Stout
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal unused dialogue § "Up Your Arsenal May alpha"
References
- Video games
- Insomniac Games (2004). Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal [Game]. PlayStation 2.
- High Impact Games (2007). Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation Portable.
- Videos
- Mike Stout, Tony Garcia (n.d.) . [VF2Qzi3GTq4 Ratchet and Clank 3 - Developer Commentary - Episode 1]. uselesspodcasts. youtube. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019.
- Mike Stout, Tony Garcia (n.d.) . [EpHdUUZ2ULE Ratchet and Clank 3 - Developer Commentary - Episode 4]. uselesspodcasts. youtube. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019.
- Mike Stout, Tony Garcia (n.d.) . [u9OaofPIdpE Ratchet and Clank 3 - Developer Commentary - Episode 8]. uselesspodcasts. Anthony Yu. youtube. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019.
- Mike Stout, Tony Garcia (n.d.) . [UKB2jOV7pB0 Ratchet and Clank 3 - Developer Commentary - Episode 10]. uselesspodcasts. Anthony Yu. youtube. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019.
- Ratchet & Clank Wiki (n.d.) . "Interview with Mike Stout". Interview conducted by Technobliterator.