Kerchu

The kerchu are a species in Tools of Destruction, mentioned in Quest for Booty, A Crack in Time, Into the Nexus and Rift Apart. They are small, furry, orange creatures native to planet Jasindu in the Praxus Sector of the Polaris Galaxy. The kerchu are known as brilliant architects, but are highly territorial. Their hostility to most, coupled with the fact every being in the known universe is allergic to them, means outsiders avoid them.

Ratchet and Clank first encountered the kerchu in a gelatonium facility at Outpost L51 on Sargasso, before encountering them in Kerchu City on Jasindu to obtain the Dimensionator. The kerchu had a number of foot soldiers defending their territory, and a powerful kerchu mechwrecker guarding the Dimensionator.

History[]

Before Tools of Destruction[]

The kerchu engineered the Helios armor,^[1] and the Pyro Blaster.^[2] The Helios armor and Pyro Blaster were similar to the armor and weaponry used by the kerchu pyroguards. A gang of irate kerchu caprenters also designed the Buzz Blades.^[3]

The space pirates pillaged materials from the kerchu to build the Blackstar Memorial Radio Tower on Ardolis.^[4] At one point, after hiding Captain Darkwater's ship, Rusty Pete awoke spooning a kerchu.^[5]

Max Apogee left the Dimensionator at Kerchu City^[6] and left his ship on auto-pilot, before leaving the dimension alongside Angela Cross.^[7] The kerchu guarded it with a kerchu mechwrecker,^[8] despite not knowing what it was.^[9]

Lord Vorselon was sent to Zordoom Prison for a life sentence after kidnapping the Kerchu Ambassador Boogoh.^[10]

Tools of Destruction[]

Migrant kerchu workers were brought in by Emperor Tachyon's Imperial Army to rebuild a tower in Stratus City.^[11]

The kerchu in Outpost L51, Sargasso, hired the Smuggler to traffic fossermites to them to scare away the tumfoids.^[12] In "Investigate the Kerchu Outpost", Ratchet and Clank encountered these kerchu when looking for the Dimensionator.

Ratchet traveled to Jasindu after learning the Dimensionator was located there from the IRIS Supercomputer. The space pirates, seeing Ratchet traveling there, deduced it was the location of the Dimensionator and attacked the planet.^[13] In "Fight Your Way into the City", Ratchet, the pirates, and the kerchu fought inside Kerchu City, the pirates directed to tear up the city until they found it and kill any kerchu they saw.^[14] Ratchet and Clank then defeated the kerchu guardian defending the Dimensionator and obtained it, only for captain Slag to take it from them.^[15]

After Tools of Destruction[]

When authorities found Max Apogee's ship on auto-pilot with Jasindu as its point of origin, kerchu Ambassador Boogoh was unreachable for comment on space radio.^[7]

During Artemis Zogg's presidential campaign, described in Lost and Spaced, Zogg proposed offering small tax incentives to the kerchu in exchange for restricting gelatonium refineries to Sargasso and Jasindu.^[16]

A kerchu prisoner was seen in the Vartax Detention Facility, waiting in line with Ratchet and Clank, during Friends with Benefits.^[17]

The kerchu featured as an exhibit in the Intergalactic Museum of History.^[18]

Rivet's dimension[]

In Rivet's dimension, the kerchu tribe similarly harvested gelatonium on Sargasso, working under Emperor Nefarious for the Nefarious Empire. However, the Emperor wiped them out after they misspelled his name on their tax returns. The morts later came and salvaged their gelatonium factories.^[19]

Characteristics[]

Kerchu are bipedal, furry, orange creatures with sharp buck teeth and horns. They are not shown speaking, but are suggested to have the capability, as the Polaris News sought comment from their ambassador. Every known being in the universe is allergic to kerchu.^[12]^[18] Kerchu are known to have a foul stench, likened to "blarg dung".^[11]

They are a race of angry little rodent-like creatures fixated on mining ore. Their vehicles doubled as construction equipment as well as unconventional weaponry.^[20] They trigger a dreadful allergic reaction to anyone who dares approach them, causing massive fits of sneezing.^[21]

Kerchu are fiercely territorial and hostile to outsiders.^[22] They are described as the most unpleasant race in the galaxy next to the cragmites, making rare exceptions for outsiders such as the Smuggler who they collaborate with.^[12]

Units[]

The kerchu are known for their engineering prowess, as is on display with their soldiers, who attack in mechanized weapons rather than on foot. The kerchu rollers use a metal armor that allows them to roll into a ball covered in blades that shields them and attacks their opponents. The kerchu pyroguards pilot a small vehicle with tractor treads for movement that sprays flamethrowers at enemies. They appear to use the same technology as the Pyro Blaster, a weapon engineered by kerchu^[2] and sold by GrummelNet Industries. The larger kerchu mechwrecker is an immense hovering mech suit piloted by a number of kerchu that defended the Dimensionator, equipped with many missiles and wrecking balls for hands.

Behind the scenes[]

The kerchu's name was derived from the sound of sneezing which they elicit from people.^[21]

According to the unused Galactipedia entry of the kerchu pyroguard: the kerchu are surpassed only by the lombaxes when it comes to engineering.^[23] According to the entry for the kerchu roller: the allergic reaction to kerchu is so strong that a Grummel envoy was not able to even finish a sentence due to suffocating from a fit of sneezes upon going to meet them. The only species not allergic to kerchu are lombaxes, whom the kerchu despise with an intense hatred beyond anything else in the galaxy.^[24]

The kerchu faction were originally going to return in A Crack in Time, but were scrapped in early production. Concept art was however created of new vehicles; the kerchu carrier,^[25] and a kerchu tractor with a new wrecking ball mode.

The animal the kerchu appear to be based on most is the beaver, considering they are both large rodents with pronounced buck teeth, are well-known for their constant working and building habits, and for being aggressive in defending their territory against perceived encroachment.

A kerchu skin is available for the competitive multiplayer mode of Full Frontal Assault as part of the Intergalactic Foot Soldier Pack DLC. During a livestream reveal of the Kerwan multiplayer map, Chad Dezern, the studio director of Insomniac Games, mentioned that the kerchu was blue (team color) as it had dyed its fur. He then revealed that for kerchu it was encouraged that they dye their fur to match their team.^[26][citation needed]

Citations[]

References[]

Video games

Insomniac Games (2007). Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
Insomniac Games (2008). Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
Insomniac Games (2009). Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time [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 2: Friends with Benefits) [Book]. Wild Storm.
Sony Interactive Entertainment (2018). The Art of Ratchet & Clank [Book]. Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 978-1506705729.

[1] Tools of Destruction menu § "Helios armor"

[Pyro_Blaster-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Tools of Destruction menu § "Pyro Blaster"

[3] A Crack in Time menu § "Buzz Blades/(Omega) Doom Blades"

[4] Tools of Destruction script § "Catch up to Talwyn (gameplay)"

[5] Quest for Booty script § "Morrow Caverns"

[6] Tools of Destruction script § "A Vision of Talwyn"

[Angela_Cross-7] 7.0 ^7.1 A Crack in Time script § "Angela Cross"

[8] Tools of Destruction script § "Defeat the Kerchu Guardian (gameplay)"

[9] Tools of Destruction menu § "Survive the Kerchu Onslaught"

[10] A Crack in Time script § "Galactic Trivia"

[Swing_through_the_Docks-11] 11.0 ^11.1 Tools of Destruction script § "Swing through the Docks (gameplay)"

[Trade_Souls_for_the_Decryptor-12] 12.0 ^12.1 ^12.2 Tools of Destruction script § "Trade Souls for the Decryptor (gameplay)"

[13] Tools of Destruction script § "Escape from Slag's Clutches (gameplay)"

[14] Tools of Destruction script § "Survive the Kerchu Onslaught (gameplay)"

[15] Tools of Destruction script § "Defeat the Kerchu Guardian (gameplay)"

[16] Lost and Spaced, p. 18

[17] Friends with Benefits, p. 4

[Find_the_Dimensionator-18] 18.0 ^18.1 Into the Nexus script § "Find the Dimensionator (gameplay)"

[19] Rift Apart script § "The resilient history of Sargasso"

[20] The Art of Ratchet & Clank, p. 150

[artofrac_pg.151-21] 21.0 ^21.1 The Art of Ratchet & Clank, p. 151

[22] Tools of Destruction menu § "Planet Jasindu"

[23] Tools of Destruction unused text § "Kerchu Pyroguard"

[24] Tools of Destruction unused text § "Kerchu Roller"

[25] ttps://www.deviantart.com/creaturebox/art/Kerchu-Carrier-211997354

[Twitch_TV_Metropolis-26] Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault Metropolis Map Reveal

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