Juice is a mysterious biomorph who appears in Rift Apart. Two different dimensional versions of Juice appear.
He is capable of generating extreme amounts of bio-electricity; a highly unusual ability that made him the perfect power source for Kedaro Station's Rubion Forge. The name Juice derives from this ability and was a term used by workers at the facility when referring to him in boosting the forge's power levels.
History[]
Before Rift Apart[]
The creature was a being native to the depths of Cordelion's oceans. In Rivet's dimension, Emperor Nefarious noticed it swimming near his Kedaro Station and had it captured for usage as a battery in his Rubion Forge.
In dimension ???, a counterpart of the creature was first discovered by a utility robot named Junk Bot working at Kedaro Station, who took a liking to and developed an affection for it. To Junk Bot's dismay the creature was forcibly captured and harvested for it's extreme amounts of bio-electricity and used as a living battery for the Rubion Forge the same as in Rivet's dimension. This alternate dimension appears to be an offshoot of Rivet's, the old remains of Nefarious Troopers in the abandoned station indicate that an alternate Nefarious Empire and presumably an alternate Emperor Nefarious was in control of the facility at one point before the creature broke free and went on a rampage. It can be deduced that Junk Bot is the one who inevitably broke it free of it's enclosure, leading it to decimate the facility and leaving it abandoned for several years. During these years Junk Bot named the creature Juice and stayed with it on the abandoned station, where the utility bot's mental health deteriorated in his extended isolation. In Rivet's dimension Junk Bot's counterpart had no such relationship with the creature, meaning this did not occur and it remained a battery.
Rift Apart[]
Juice hunting Ratchet through the abandoned station.
When Ratchet and Kit traveled to planet Cordelion to use Kedaro Station's Rubion Forge to create a new Dimensionator, they accidentally alerted the facility and initiated a lockdown. Their only option left was to strike a nearby Blizon crystal and shift into another dimension. In this alternate dimension they found that the station was dilapidated and deserted, allowing them to enter the premises and hopefully find another Blizon crystal to get back to Rivet's dimension. Whilst navigating the abandoned station Ratchet and Kit met Junk Bot, who proceeded to help them find some more Blizon and during this they met Juice, who aggressively attempted to lunge at Ratchet before being stopped by a sudden closing door. Junk Bot iterates that Juice is his best friend and a great listener, despite the creature's attempts to kill him on occasion. Juice actively stalks Ratchet throughout the area and violently attacks their descending elevator to the lower floors. Junk Bot happily remarks that he has never seen Juice so "playful" as the creature usually roams the station and keeps to himself. Ratchet and Kit gladly use the Blizon that Junk Bot leads them to, to escape back to Rivet's dimension and away from Juice.
Ratchet's attempt to use the Rubion Forge to build the Dimensionator ends in failure however, as he accidentally uses the machine with auxiliary power only, causing it to malfunction and be destroyed. With no other choice, Ratchet and Kit retreat back to the abandoned dimension to escape the station's pursuing Nefarious Troopers. Here they decide to try and use the decrepit facility's dormant Rubion Forge and power it up again. After Glitch clears the forge of Zeta Viruses, Junk Bot recounts that it's power source was downstairs the last he saw it. In his deficient mental state he seems to have forgotten much of Juice's and his own past. Whilst looking for the power source downstairs, Ratchet and Kit run into Juice multiple times as he attempts to attack them while they escape through several pressure locked doors. Using broken slurpion jelly cannisters, Ratchet is able to distract Juice as his weapons do not have any affect on the creature's near impenetrable shell. As Ratchet and Kit are disabling the locks to a blast door so they may advance and find more Blizon, they come across an old station video log showing one of Junk Bot's first encounters with Juice just before he was captured and taken to be used as the forge's power source. After escaping from Juice again through the blast door, the next room suddenly floods with ocean water. Ratchet luckily manages to use his O2 filtrator and magneboots in time to stay composed, allowing him to navigate Cordelion's ocean floor and walk through the Fennessy trench. Juice can be seen swimming above him through the ocean, again stalking Ratchet as he makes his way towards an airlock leading back inside the station. In the next room Ratchet and Kit are finally able to find another Blizon crystal to return to Rivet's dimension and attempt to find the destroyed forge's power source. Juice however jumps down from the ceiling and ambushes them, but Ratchet is able to escape him one last time using the Blizon.
The other Juice being used as a living battery for the Rubion Forge.
After fighting off several waves of Nefarious Troopers towards the forge's power source in Rivet's dimension, Ratchet and Kit discover for themselves that Juice himself was the power source. Kit pleads to Ratchet that they must free him after seeing his dismal predicament. After liberating him Ratchet tensely tried to make his peace with this version of Juice and to his surprise, the creature reciprocated with it helping Ratchet defeat the station's Elite Security Detail. When asked if he knew another way to power the Rubion Forge, this Juice then lead Ratchet to another Blizon Crystal and shifted along with him to the abandoned dimension again. While the dimension ???'s Juice was aggressively advancing on Junk Bot, the Juice from Rivet's dimension angrily lunged at his counterpart.
The two versions of Juice meet each other.
The two Juices intensely sized each other up but eventually both became calmed and collected by the other. The Juice of Rivet's dimension then gestured to his counterpart towards the forge and the two used their bio-electricity together to power it up, allowing Ratchet and Kit to finally create the Dimensionator correctly. Junk Bot happily laughs whilst petting the two now docile Juices and celebrates the inclusion of new friends. The two Juices then playfully chase eachother around the Rubion Forge while Ratchet and Kit say their farewells to Junk Bot and take the elevator back up to the surface to find another Blizon crystal, returning to Rivet's dimension once again.
Junk Bot in dimension ??? after the events of Rift Apart.
In the ending credits, Junk Bot is seen on the surface of Kedaro Station happily greeting several more benevolent members of Juice's species in the Cordelion waters.
Characteristics[]
Juice's scale to Ratchet.
Juice has an impenetrable shell thanks to living at depths of crushing pressure and so it is immune to Ratchet's weaponry. Juice consumes bio-electricity, storing and amplifying it within it's eight stomachs. The spines on his back indicate his temperament; when they are flared he shows anger, when they turn violet and are lowered he shows contentment. He also has a strong taste for slurpion jelly, many cannisters of the orange substance can be found around the abandoned Kedaro Station and when spotted he will immediately rush towards it to eat.
Junk Bot's penchant for inventing nicknames led him to create a number of them for Juice such as Juicy, Juicini and JC. Concept art shows that Juice's finalized design almost had six eyes, with three on each side of his head.
Alternate Juice concepts.
Juice displayed great amounts of aggression to those around him due to the trauma he had endured from being held captive and forcibly harvested for his bio-electricity. His true nature however shows that he is naturally benign and playful once he has been calmed. Being separated from others of his kind for several years also seems to have heightened his stress induced hostility, as he would still on occasions attack Junk Bot and anything he felt was a threat to him using his sharp, scythe-like arm appendages. Once united with another of his kind however, Juice was able to regain composure and became docile. Junk Bot's initially outlandish assertion that Juice was actually very friendly and affectionate turned out to be true. He displays a good degree of intelligence as he recognizes those that help him and understands Ratchet's speech when asked questions. He can also effectively communicate verbally with others of his species using a series of seemingly unintelligible grunts. Juice's species seems to be very sociably dependent on one another, becoming highly distressed when alone and comforted when with other members of their kind.