Juanita Alvaro[1] is a character in Deadlocked and the Ratchet & Clank movie, with a brief appearance in the 2016 re-imagined Ratchet & Clank. She is a news anchorwoman and sports commentator associated with Dallas Wanamaker, best known for commentating on DreadZone and as an anchor on Vox News.
In Deadlocked, Juanita commentated on DreadZone alongside Dallas, and was an anchorwoman for many shows on the Vox Network. She was particularly sadistic in her commentary, vocalizing a strong disgust towards Ratchet, and acted violently towards Dallas in response to his inappropriate comments towards her. In the re-imagined Ratchet & Clank, she was a reporter who gave news interviews.
History[]
Ratchet & Clank re-imagined[]
Juanita appeared in the Ratchet & Clank film, with a brief appearance in Qwark's retelling of the events, as a news reporter in the Solana Galaxy. Juanita reported on the opening of Skidd McMarx' McMarx Sports Shack on Aridia, and was seen in Skidd's message to his uncle, Agnogg Buckwash, as a celebrity who attended.[2] After Ratchet and Clank saved Kerwan by destroying a blarg warship and fending off an attack, she briefly questioned Captain Qwark,[3] and interviewed them before their ship was destroyed.[2] Following the Deplanetizer's destruction, Juanita interviewed Qwark about his apology tour and his book, Look, I Said I Was Sorry, Alright?, in which he told her to prepare to be blown away by his "epic humility".[3]
Before Deadlocked[]
Juanita was an anchorwoman for many shows on the Vox Network, including Vox News, The 'Zone, Galactic Glamour, and most notably DreadZone.[4] She worked alongside Dallas for six years, during which time he would sexually harass her;[5] in response, she reacted with violence, many times on-air. Unlike Dallas, Juanita stuck more closely to the scripts provided, and did not question the material.[4] Juanita had a crush on Ace Hardlight, owning his underwear[6] and taping 72 pictures of herself to his locker saying "Call me, I'm desperate".[7]
In the run-up to Ratchet's arrival on DreadZone, Juanita detailed slanderous stories about Ratchet and his allies, including claiming Sasha Phyronix was involved in corruption. She also put spins on stories involving Gleeman Vox and his businesses, spinning a deal in which Courtney Gears signed over most of her rights to Vox as a favorable deal, and claiming the involvement of Captain Starshield in DreadZone was completely voluntary. Prior to Starshield's battle with Ace Hardlight, however, Juanita tipped the battle in Ace's favor by leaving a Quantum-Demoleculizer, a weapon that could kill in one hit, in his locker.[7]
Deadlocked[]
Throughout Ratchet's run on DreadZone, Juanita offered hateful and slanderous commentary. She made many outlandish claims, calling him a "mafia crime boss",[8] "threat to children, endangered species, and common decency",[9] and bringing up things in his past without context.[10] Juanita mused on air about and rooted for Ratchet's death,[11] and at one point laughed when believing Eviscerator would disembowel him.[12]
When Gleeman Vox rigged the DreadZone Station to blow, Juanita changed her tone on Ratchet completely, rooting for him to save everyone on-board the station.[13] She also lost her patience with Dallas, mocking him as childish for breaking down on-air,[14] and becoming enraged when he gambled while their lives hung in the balance.[15]
Juanita was able to leave in an escape shuttle containing Dallas, Clank, Al, Ratchet, Slugga, Venus, Vernon, Eugene and two test dummies. Afterwards, she began a new reality holovision show, Juanita and Dallas, in which the two lived together as a married couple. Though the marriage was supposed to have been a stunt, Dallas switched in a real Justice of the Peace for the ceremony. Though they were described as living their lives in "marital bliss", a still from the show depicts Juanita trying to kill him with bear traps, an anvil, a bomb, and the Harbinger.[16]
Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
Juanita is a humanoid robot with glowing blue eyes, red hair, and an hourglass figure. Her attire is a green dress over a blue shirt.
Personality[]
Juanita is a professional host for DreadZone, sticking much more closely to the script and running cover stories for Vox.[4] Juanita also engaged more in slanderous commentary towards Ratchet, making efforts to paint him as a criminal and a dangerous threat.[8][9] The only time she ever broke from her script is in the final episode of DreadZone when she could not believe what she was reading; this was also when she first rooted for Ratchet, and against Vox.[13] Juanita's professionalism was in great contrast to Dallas, resulting in her often showing immense disdain and frustration towards him, especially when correcting his errors. Juanita acted violently towards Dallas, in response to his admitted sexual harassment of her; nonetheless, the two worked together for six years on DreadZone[5] and even thereafter when married for the Dallas and Juanita reality show.[16] Juanita had a crush on Ace Hardlight, whom she had a crush on to the point of wearing Hardlight underwear[6] and placing photos of herself all over his locker saying "Call me, I'm desperate".[4]
Juanita is very sadistic and cruel. In addition to the hyperbolic smears of Ratchet, Juanita mused on-air about his death. She claimed to have eaten lombax brains served by her mother for breakfast as a child,[17] spoke gleefully about a potential agonizing death for him from the King Leviathan,[18] and broke into a fit of rage when describing the pain she would like to inflict on him.[6] This was not exclusive to Ratchet; in the final episode where she rooted for Ratchet against Vox, she encouraged Ratchet to destroy Vox, his family, and "make him cry into his next life".[15]
Juanita's sadism is also seen in her reactions to Dallas: as well as violently hurting him on-air, she also put poison in his coffee,[4] and at one point expressed a desire to kill him.[19] Juanita's sadism extended beyond a hatred of individuals, as she once commented that her favorite part of Galaxy's Most Painful Home Movies was watching people slam their crotches into the railing after missing a jump.[20]
Behind the scenes[]
In Deadlocked, Juanita was voiced by Nika Futterman, who provided the voice of several other female characters in Deadlocked, including Hydro Girl, Janice, Vernon and Courtney Gears. In the 2016 movie, Juanita was voiced by Tabitha St. Germain and had a very different accent; she had no lines in the 2016 game.
Unused audio files for Deadlocked indicates she once spent eight years at a female prison on Dalon 4.[21]
In the 2016 game, the holocards mistakenly refer to Juanita as Darla Gratch rather than Juanita. In the movie, she is referred to as Juanita by herself and in the credits.
Both Juanita and Dallas make a brief appearance on the Corson V of Rivet's dimension in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
Ratchet & Clank Manga: Volume 2[]
Juanita appears in the non-canon Ratchet & Clank: Bang Bang Bang! Critical Danger of the Galaxy Legend manga, as an anchorwoman alongside Dallas commentating on DreadZone. Her appearance is largely similar to her original appearance.
Citations[]
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (movie)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ratchet & Clank (2016 game)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ratchet & Clank (movie)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Insomniac Games official website October 14 2005
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Deadlocked script § "Destroy the Central Core (gameplay)"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Deadlocked script § "Shellshock and the Twins"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Insomniac Games official website October 28 2005
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Deadlocked script § "News Break"
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Deadlocked script § "News Blues"
- ↑ Deadlocked script § "Yay Ace!"
- ↑ Deadlocked script § "Juanita"
- ↑ Deadlocked script § "Eviscerator Battle (gameplay)"
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Deadlocked script § "Sneaky Lombax"
- ↑ Deadlocked script § "Destroy the West Generator (gameplay)"
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Deadlocked script § "Defeat Gleeman Vox (gameplay)"
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Deadlocked, Extras § "Dallas and Juanita"
- ↑ Deadlocked script § "Sarathos Sprint (gameplay)"
- ↑ Deadlocked script § "Where the Leviathans Roam (gameplay)"
- ↑ Deadlocked script § "Node Overload (gameplay)"
- ↑ Deadlocked script § "Enemies are Such a Grind (gameplay)"
- ↑ Deadlocked unused dialogue § "Juanita Alvaro"
References[]
- Insomniac Games (2005, October 14). "News Update". From Insomniac Games. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019.
- Insomniac Games (2005, October 28). "News Update - Sports Update". From Insomniac Games. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019.
- Insomniac Games (2005). Ratchet: Deadlocked [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2.
- Greg Off (2005). Ratchet Deadlocked Prima Official Game Guide [Book]. Prima Games. ISBN 0761552049.