Lawn ninjas, and lawn ninja generators, are enemies featured in Up Your Arsenal, with mentions in Going Commando, Deadlocked, and Tools of Destruction. They are Megacorp products that are used as a defense system. Captain Qwark ordered the products to defend his hideout on the Thran Asteroid Belt, which Ratchet and Clank encountered when fighting him.
History[]
The lawn ninjas were originally rejected from the testing facility on Dobbo.[1] However, they were later completed and ordered by Captain Qwark to defend his hideout on the Thran Asteroid Belt,[2] working for a very low cost, which suited Qwark's cheap lifestyle.[3]
During "Find Captain Qwark", Ratchet and Clank fought a group of lawn ninjas that defended Qwark's hideout, alongside Qwark bots. They were unable to access Qwark's room as it was protected by a forcefield, requiring Clank to use a crack in the wall to enter the underground caverns and deactivate it. In "Unlock the Forcefield", Clank fought more lawn ninjas in the caverns.
Lawn ninjas were mentioned in Deadlocked, appearing on one of the Exterminator trading cards.[4] Qwark in Tools of Destruction mentioned that GrummelNet Industries were launching their own lawn ninjas.[5] A hoolefoid in Hoolefar Island, Merdegraw ordered a lawn ninja after the island's supply beacon was repaired.[6]
Characteristics[]
Lawn ninja generator.
Lawn ninjas are short creatures with the appearance of a garden gnome. They wear red hats and attack using two katanas. They are also capable of digging themselves underneath the ground, visible by the tips of their hats, and pop out when seeing an intruder. Lawn ninjas can also be fired out of a generator, designed to resemble a miniature cannon, which generates more lawn ninjas repeatedly.
Combat[]
They are small enemies with a melee attack only, and pose little threat to Ratchet. They can be dispatched with the Lava Gun or Plasma Whip quickly. When a cannon generates lawn ninjas, it should be destroyed to prevent more appearing. For Clank, lawn ninjas pose a slightly higher threat, but can be defeated using simple punches. Their attacks are fast and have decent reach, and they will backflip after attacking. They appear to prefer chasing Skrunch over dealing with Clank however, making him a useful distraction.
Behind the scenes[]
The lawn ninjas were originally introduced as a joke in Going Commando, but revived by Mike Stout when designing the Qwark's hideout level in Up Your Arsenal as he had liked the joke so much and had free reign to design enemies for the level.[7] His idea was that Qwark would have ordered large amounts of lawn ninjas from Megacorp's catalog to defend his base.[2]
Citations[]
References[]
- Video games
- Insomniac Games (2003). Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2.
- Insomniac Games (2004). Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal [Game]. PlayStation 2.
- Insomniac Games (2005). Ratchet: Deadlocked [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2.
- 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.
- Bibliography
- Greg Off (2004). Ratchet & Clank Up Your Arsenal Official Strategy Guide [Book]. BradyGames. ISBN 0744005000.
- Videos
- Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [@uselesspodcasts] (2012, September 24). Ratchet & Clank 3 Dev Commentary: 29 - Qwark's Hideout [Video]. YouTube.