Lawrence

Biographical information
Membership	Dr. Nefarious (assistant)
Family	Female partner and child
Physical description
Species	Robot (sapient humanoid)
Gender	Male
Behind the scenes
Portrayed by	Michael Bell

Lawrence is a minor antagonist in Up Your Arsenal and A Crack in Time, with appearances in Deadlocked, Quest for Booty, and All 4 One. He is Dr. Nefarious' robot butler. Lawrence has saved Nefarious' life more than once, and serves him loyally. However, he often spites Nefarious with subtle insults.

Per the Qwark vid-comics, Lawrence has served Nefarious ever since he was an organic lifeform, and remained at his side after he was transformed into a robot. When Captain Qwark defeated Nefarious in Metropolis, Lawrence incapacitated Qwark and rescued Nefarious.

Lawrence served under Nefarious during his war against the Solana Galaxy, in which Nefarious waged a war on organic lifeforms with the Biobliterator, and again in the Polaris Galaxy when Nefarious plotted to control the Great Clock to alter time. On both occasions, Lawrence was responsible for teleporting Nefarious away from danger, inches before death. When Nefarious' plot to defeat Qwark, Ratchet, and Clank with a Light-Eating Z'Grute failed, Lawrence resigned, only to return to Nefarious' employ at the end. Lawrence was on paid paternity leave for the events of Rift Apart.

History

Before Up Your Arsenal

Lawrence was hired at some point by then-organic life form Dr. Nefarious, an archetypal mad scientist, to be his personal assistant. Before going to work for Nefarious, Lawrence was warned by unknown individuals that his intellect would be squandered under the doctor's employ; a warning he later came to regret not heeding.

Lawrence escapes Rilgar with Nefarious.

Per the Qwark vid-comics, Lawrence assisted Nefarious in the creation of the amoeboid, amassing them in the swamps of Blackwater City, Rilgar; hoping to use them to eliminate all life on the planet. Lawrence remarked sardonically that it would resolve qualms about the doctor's madness. Captain Qwark either coordinated the cities defenses from the women's restroom - or defeated Nefarious' amoeboid army, causing Nefarious to flee in disgrace with Lawrence, while Qwark clung onto their ship.

Lawrence with Nefarious on Magmos.

The duo traveled for six days until reaching Nefarious' secret base on Magmos. Once there, Qwark attempted to disguise himself as a pizza delivery woman to infiltrate Nefarious' laboratory. Nefarious was surprised at Qwark's stupidity, though Lawrence remarked that even "drooling idiots" can achieve success in some fields such as mad science, a subtle jab at Nefarious. Even after Nefarious activated his base' defenses, Qwark defeated Nefarious there, causing him to transform into a robot. Lawrence remained with Nefarious following the transformation.

Lawrence fixes Nefarious.

Lawrence then accompanied Nefarious to Metropolis, Kerwan, where Nefarious unleashed an army of insectoid swarms. While Lawrence went to pick up new crushed velvet curtains for the torture chamber, Qwark defeated Nefarious, and tossed his head into a trash can. Lawrence returned and caught Qwark off-guard, incapacitating him with a hammer, picked up Nefarious, and took them both back to Nefarious' lair. While leaving Qwark in a secret prison, Nefarious demanded Lawrence give him a massage, allowing Qwark to escape. Lawrence suggested flooding the facility with boiling acid to kill off Qwark, which Nefarious was keen for, though this did not kill Qwark. Meanwhile, Lawrence attempted to screw Nefarious' head back onto his body, but screwed it on backward by accident. This infuriated Nefarious, but in a fit of rage, he froze up, and began playing a Lance and Janice episode. Lawrence opted not to fix the malfunction.

Up Your Arsenal

Lawrence during Nefarious' broadcast.

Following Nefarious' tyhrranoid invasion of Veldin, and during an invasion of the presidential palace on Marcadia, Nefarious broadcast a message to the Solana Galaxy, in which he addressed robots claiming the "hour of your liberation" was at hand. Lawrence appeared on this broadcast, translating it into sign language.

Lawrence informing Nefarious of the Q-Force.

Lawrence continued to perform Nefarious' chores upon his flagship, the Leviathan, while Nefarious watched episodes of Secret Agent Clank. Lawrence informed Nefarious when his base on Aquatos had been infiltrated, and elaborated that Captain Qwark and his newly-formed Q-Force were behind the attack. Lawrence later appeared on Supervillain Weekly, filmed on Daxx, where he briefly discussed the Biobliterator, and questioned the use of the term "superweapon" to describe the weapon. He also, along with Nefarious, beamed a transmission on-board the Starship Phoenix taunting the Q-Force.

Lawrence with Nefarious on Metropolis.

Later, Ratchet and Qwark confronted Nefarious on the Leviathan, though Nefarious had merely set them up for a trap to kill them, and initiated a self-destruct sequence. Lawrence teleported them both out after initiating the sequence, though he left Nefarious hanging for a few minutes, presumably for his own amusement. Lawrence also accompanied Nefarious to Metropolis, where Nefarious first used the Biobliterator to transform the city's population to robots. Lawrence handed Nefarious the switch for the Biobliterator, though not before mistakenly handing one that displayed a hologram of Nefarious' performance for Galactic Idol. Once Ratchet encountered them, Lawrence teleported himself and Nefarious away after Nefarious taunted Ratchet and sent Klunk to defeat him.

Lawrence's voicemail.

Ratchet and Clank confronted Nefarious on Mylon, where the final Biobliterator was located. Nefarious called on Lawrence to annihilate Ratchet, though Lawrence was playing bass guitar elsewhere, and Nefarious was only able to reach Lawrence' holographic voicemail, leaving Nefarious to fight them alone. After Ratchet defeated Nefarious, Nefarious called Lawrence once more before he could begin his solo, titled "Bass Odyssey". Lawrence then teleported both of them to the Biobliterator, attempting to kill Ratchet and Clank, though Captain Qwark interrupted its fire with his shuttle at the last minute.

Lawrence with Nefarious after being defeated.

Ratchet, Clank and Qwark destroyed the Biobliterator, causing its reactor to detonate. It was set to detonate within sixty seconds, though it detonated a lot sooner, meaning Nefarious could not specify a destination for Lawrence to teleport them to. As a result, Lawrence teleported them on board an asteroid in space, far out of range of any planet or space station to teleport to. Lawrence speculated that another planet could come along within five to ten thousand years, and simply played his bass guitar in space.

After Up Your Arsenal

Lawrence and Nefarious stranded on an asteroid.

Lawrence and Nefarious then drifted on the asteroid throughout space for about one year. In Deadlocked, the asteroid drifted towards the Shadow Sector's DreadZone Station. Lawrence had informed Nefarious that a space station was coming within range, but as they arrived, they found it had exploded, infuriating Nefarious.

After approximately a year, the asteroid drifted out of the Solana Galaxy and toward the Polaris Galaxy, passing through the Corvus Nebula. Eventually, the asteroid crashed onto planet Zanifar, where the two sought refuge with a local fongoid tribe.

Lawrence attending anger management classes with Nefarious.

During their time with the fongoids, Dr. Nefarious engaged in soul-searching activities, including attending anger management classes, with Lawrence also participating. After learning about the Zoni and the Great Clock, Lawrence assisted Nefarious in his new campaign in the Breegus System to seize control of the Clock. He was present during Nefarious' interrogation of Orvus at the Tombli Outpost, and later accompanied Nefarious to the Great Clock, where Nefarious attempted to hack Clank's brain to reach the Orvus Chamber.

A Crack in Time

Lawrence reports Clank's progress at the Great Clock to Dr. Nefarious.

Dr. Nefarious lost patience with the Zoni and unleashed the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler on the Great Clock, inadvertently freeing Clank. Lawrence monitored the situation, reporting on the Zoni fleeing the Clock, before stunning Clank using the orb of gratuitous immobilization. Instead of attempting to hack Clank's brain again, Nefarious assigned Lawrence to follow Clank through the Great Clock, allowing Clank to reach the Orvus Chamber on his own.

Lawrence unplugging a power outlet in the Orvus Chamber.

Lawrence remained on the Great Clock, delivering updates to Nefarious via hologram messages to the Nefarious Space Station. He kept Nefarious informed about Clank's progress, Ratchet and Qwark's activities,, and Pollyx's progress in developing the plan. At one point, Lawrence suggested having terachnoids examine the Orvus Chamber before using the Clock, but Nefarious dismissed the idea, mocking Lawrence as cowardly. When Clank reached the Orvus Chamber, Lawrence incapacitated both Clank and Sigmund, sending Clank off to Vapedia. Lawrence then conducted an omni-scan of the Great Clock's machinery.

Lawrence standing at the escape pod with Nefarious.

As Dr. Nefarious prepared a fleet to head to the Great Clock in "Destroy Dr. Nefarious' Armada", Lawrence was fooled by Ratchet's hologuise, allowing them to destroy the fleet. With the fleet destroyed, Lawrence returned to the Nefarious Space Station to pick up Dr. Nefarious, and was present during "Confront and Destroy Dr. Nefarious", piloting the ship. During the battle, when Nefarious demanded Lawrence fire at Ratchet, Lawrence engaged auto-pilot, which resulted in the ship heading directly for the Nefarious Space Station. After Ratchet defeated Nefarious, Lawrence used an escape pod to evacuate before the ship collided with the station, and teleported Nefarious' unconscious body away.

All 4 One

Lawrence reanimating the Light-Eating Z'Grute.

Lawrence continued to work with Nefarious in a new plan of his to get revenge against Ratchet, Clank and Qwark. After luring the three to Luminopolis, the Doctor ordered Lawrence to reanimate a Light-Eating Z'Grute to have it destroy his enemies. The plan however backfired on Nefarious, getting himself caught in the crossfire of the huge monster and leading Lawrence to flee the scene hastily announcing his resignation.

Lawrence returned much later once the Loki Master was defeated, helping Cronk and Zephyr escape an asteroid field, and piloting their ship down to the surface of planet Magnus, where he came under Nefarious' employ once again, claiming that the market for evil sidekicks was rather thin. Lawrence then flew the two off in the stolen ship whilst discussing with Nefarious how best to avoid the Polaris Defense Force patrols.

Rift Apart

Lawrence with his partner and newborn child.

Lawrence is not present for the events of Rift Apart as he had been placed on paid paternity leave by Dr. Nefarious. In his place, the Doctor hired Goons-4-Less to assist him in his plot to steal the repaired Dimensionator during the Festival of Heroes in Megalopolis. The goons however frequently fail in their job to kill Ratchet and Clank, leading Nefarious to angrily decry them as useless and frustratedly proclaim that this is what he gets for giving his assistant paid paternity leave.

Emperor Nefarious has his own assistant, F-44, though she bears no real similarity to Lawrence aside from their shared role.

In the ending credits sequence, the Doctor is seen silently bidding an end to his brief stint as emperor in Rivet's dimension and leaves Emperor Nefarious' office to go visit Lawrence and his family, where he dotes on their newborn, robot child.

Characteristics

Appearance

Lawrence is a fairly pear-shaped, well-dressed, humanoid robot. He has bright blue eyes and wears a traditional butler suit, with a black suit jacket and blue bow tie.

His appearance between Up Your Arsenal and A Crack in Time remains largely unchanged with small exceptions. Those being the additions of gold colored buttons on his suit jacket lapels and cuffs. His high collar has also been changed from being his white undershirt's to his black suit jacket's.

Personality

Nefarious yelling at Lawrence.

Lawrence speaks with an upper class English accent. Lawrence serves Nefarious loyally in a variety of tasks. Many of his tasks include daily chores, such as laundry, home decorations, and massages. However, Lawrence also carries out more important tasks for Nefarious, including defeating his enemies, several times rescuing him either through teleportation or one time by incapacitating Qwark with a hammer, or by spying on enemies such as Clank. Lawrence appears to equivocate the two tasks in importance, and is entirely detached from any importance of his work.

Though Lawrence does not complain about his chores, he regularly makes subtle jabs at Nefarious' expense, which Nefarious appears to be totally oblivious of. Lawrence thinks lowly of Nefarious' intelligence, and during his subtle insults has called him a drooling imbecile, a moron, and a twit. Lawrence considered Nefarious' malfunction, and the opportunity to whack him, the best part of his day.

Abilities

As well as performing chores for Nefarious, Lawrence is occasionally a combatant, with Nefarious expressing confidence in his ability to annihilate his foes. In the Qwark vid-comics, he proved able to incapacitate Qwark with a hammer, and during Nefarious' fight against Ratchet and Clank in A Crack in Time, operated a turret to destroy them. Lawrence frequently teleports himself and Nefarious away from danger, and has done so twice to save Nefarious from near-death situations at the hands of Ratchet and Clank. He also utilized the orb of gratuitous immobilization to incapacitate an enemy when necessary.

Lawrence is also familiar with sign language, and has helped broadcast Nefarious' messages with it. He is a bass guitar enthusiast, which he plays left-handed, and has written solos, one of which he named "Bass Odyssey". Lawrence is rather intelligent and has on multiple occasions given Nefarious helpful advice in his schemes. He was warned by unknown individuals before going to work for Nefarious that his intellect would be squandered under the Doctor's employ, a decision he often expresses regret for.

Behind the scenes

Concept art of Lawrence from Up Your Arsenal.

Lawrence can be seen spying on Clank during Clank gameplay sections in A Crack in Time. To see him better, before fighting the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler, the player must move to the back ledge of the right side of the flooring before the bossfight area, use three heli-pack boosts and stay next to the wall and then see him standing on a ledge.

Multiple copies of Lawrence appear as small enemies in PlayStation Home in the Firing Range (future). He can also be heard during PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

Lawrence's blueprint from the Ratchet & Clank movie.

In the Ratchet & Clank movie, a blueprint for Lawrence appears on a wall of Nefarious' possessions in the same style as the drawing of the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci. This suggests that in this movie continuity, Lawrence would have later been created by Dr. Nefarious himself to be his assistant rather than simply an employee of his like in the main games' continuity.

References

Video games

• Insomniac Games (2004). Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal [Game]. PlayStation 2.
• Insomniac Games (2005). Ratchet: Deadlocked [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2.
• Insomniac Games (2009). Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
• Insomniac Games (2011). Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One [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 1: Ears of War) [Book]. Wild Storm.

Notes

Citations

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