Megacorp is a colossal corporation featured in Going Commando, with minor appearances in subsequent games. They are a leading manufacturer of all products in the Bogon Galaxy, including weapons, gadgets, robotics, appliances, and commercial entertainment, ran by CEO Abercrombie Fizzwidget. Megacorp vendors, as well as larger Megacorp stores, appear on all planets in the Bogon Galaxy, supplying weapons and ammo. Megacorp appears to have a complete monopoly on all products in the Bogon Galaxy, and is also in possession of a large militaristic robotic security force.
Megacorp initially hired Ratchet and Clank, as a commando and head accountant respectively. Ratchet was tasked with tracking down the Protopet, a biological experiment stolen by Angela Cross, a former employee. After he and Clank retrieved it, they learned that Megacorp had sinister intentions to mass-produce and market the Protopet in spite of its violent tendencies. Ratchet and Clank teamed up with Angela Cross to stop the Protopet crisis before they learned that the CEO Fizzwidget had in fact been impersonated by Qwark, who had manufactured the crisis to stage a comeback. They then defeated Qwark and tamed the Protopet.
History[]
Early history[]
Megacorp originally began as a weapons business. One of their products, the Triple-B, or "Big Badass Bomb", was instrumental in beating out Megacorp's competitors, allowing Megacorp to become the one and only choice in the Bogon Galaxy.[1] One of these competitors was Gadgetron Corporation, who were driven out of the Bogon Galaxy, leaving their base on Barlow abandoned for years.[2]
Megacorp during their expansion had little regard for the wildlife of planets. On Tabora, Megacorp Manufacturing and Mining deforested the entire planet into an "easily navigable desert" in order to mine the planet.[3]
Megacorp also hosts entertainment shows broadcast around the galaxy, including the Galactic Gladiators hosted in the Maktar Resort, and the Megacorp Games hosted on Joba.
Ratchet & Clank re-imagined[]
In Qwark's version of the events of the original game and in the accompanying movie, Megacorp had a minor presence in the Solana Galaxy. The Megacorp logo featured in billboards on planets Kerwan and Rilgar, with one featuring Qwark advertising the B20 Crotchetizer. Starlene announced that Megacorp had partly sponsored the hoverboard races in Blackwater City, and were taking preorders on their upcoming product, the Protopet.[4] Megacorp's Bouncer could also be bought from Gadgetron vendors, as a game preorder bonus.
In the original version of events, Megacorp had no known presence in Solana.
Prior to Going Commando[]
Qwark, viewing it as the perfect opportunity to stage a comeback after his reputation had been in tatters for working with Chairman Drek, sought out a new fanbase in a new galaxy, to rescue them for a disaster he would create. After financing his plan by selling 1,000,000 Personal Hygenators,[5] he then kidnapped Mr. Fizzwidget and locked him in a supply closet.[6]
Megacorp began working on a new pet, internally named "Experiment #13" and later known as the Protopet, worked on by Dr. James T. Fullbladder, who recommended it be immediately destroyed in the Deep Space Disposal Facility after its violent tendencies led it to eat its handlers.[7] Another scientist, Angela Cross, worked in the genetics division at Megacorp, on fixing the Protopet's flaws. Though she had been extremely close to solving the problem, Qwark, disguised as Fizzwidget, pushed up its release date.[8] This meant her invention, the Helix-o-morph, had not been used.
Angela Cross then left Megacorp and donned a disguise, becoming known as the "Unknown Thief", and stole the Protopet, taking it back to her flying lab on Aranos.
Going Commando[]
After seeing Ratchet and Clank in an interview on an episode of Behind the Hero, Qwark teleported Ratchet and Clank to his ship, and hired Ratchet as a commando to track down the Unknown Thief, while Clank was hired as Megacorp's head accountant and given an apartment in Megapolis, Endako.[9] On his mission, Ratchet would purchase and make use of Megacorp weapons and gadgets, and was supplied a starship, the Star Explorer.
While Ratchet was unsuccessful in his first attempt to retrieve the Protopet, Qwark kept in contact with him, and he and Clank eventually tracked the Thief to the frozen base on Siberius, and retrieved the Protopet. Qwark asked them to return the Protopet to him in the mining area of Tabora, though he crushed their ship and left them abandoned on the planet. Ratchet and Clank believed that this was merely Fizzwidget acting senile. After they met up with the Thief, who revealed herself to be a female lombax named Angela Cross, they found Dr. James T. Fullbladder's report in the testing facility, Dobbo, in which he recommended the Protopet be destroyed. They then unsuccessfully tried to contact Mr. Fizzwidget to warn him.
Megacorp (or Qwark) hired the Thugs-4-Less, despite them at the time being hired by Angela Cross. Though they were apprehensive at first to betray their current client, they were quickly persuaded by Megacorp's large offer of bolts.[10] Megacorp continued mass-producing the Protopet, cloned from the original in their Protopet Factory on Yeedil,[11] and advertised free samples being given away in the Silver City, Boldan, in their first filmed commercial titled "Why Is Billy Sad?".[12] The Protopets were shipped around the galaxy from the distribution facility on Smolg in large quantities, which they referred to as "paperweight" shipments. The Thug Leader grew suspicious of this and planned to demand larger involvement in the crisis before Ratchet and Clank defeated him.[8]
Eventually, Ratchet, Clank, and Angela infiltrated the Protopet Factory on Yeedil. There, Qwark revealed that he had been disguised as Fizzwidget all along, and planned to broadcast live him using Angela's Helix-o-morph to cure the Protopets. However, he instead mutated it into the Mutant Protopet, as the battery had been put in backward.[6] Ratchet and Clank defeated it, while Angela retrieved the real Mr. Fizzwidget, and subsequently cured the other Protopets by amplifying the Helix-o-morph's signal with Megacorp's TV transponders.[6] Qwark was then employed by Megacorp as a tester for the crotchetizer.
After Going Commando[]
During Up Your Arsenal, Ratchet made use of five Megacorp weapons: the Bouncer, the Lava Gun, the Miniturret Glove, the Plasma Coil, and the Shield Charger. These were supplied by Slim Cognito, though Mr. Fizzwidget had cut a deal with him to make the weapons free.[13]
During A Crack in Time, Megacorp were sponsoring deathmatches at the Agorian Battleplex to promote their new and improved model of crotchetizer in the Polaris Galaxy.[14]
In Rift Apart, an alternate dimension version of Megacorp is shown to exist in Rivet's dimension, with their logo brandished on several signs and cargo containers, and billboards featuring their Protopets, meaning that this Megacorp also sells a plethora of products like it's counterpart. With this dimension subjugated by the Nefarious Empire and ruled by Emperor Nefarious, this Megacorp is under the control of the Empire, with all it's business ventures and profits going to the benefit of the Emperor.[15] Megacorp's Bouncer could also be bought from Mrs. Zurkon or Ms. Zurkon in challenge mode.
Characteristics[]
Business[]
Megacorp appears to have a monopoly over most industries in the Bogon Galaxy, and has referred to itself as the "one and only choice".[1] It is a manufacturer and exporter of a large variety of weapons, gadgets, robotics, appliances, and more. The shopping malls, as seen in the Megacorp Outlet, Oozla, in the promenade area of Canal City, Notak, as well as throughout Allgon City, Damosel, all sell Megacorp products, which include clothing lines and breakfast cereal. Megacorp also has a hand in gambling, as seen with slot machines in the Maktar Resort. They also had vendors on essentially every planet, selling weapons and ammunition.
One of Megacorp's most famous product devices is their crotchetizer. They have continually created new iterations of the device, including a portable pocket version known as the B20 Crotchetizer.[16][17] By the events of A Crack in Time, Megacorp had been selling crotchetizers for over thirty years.[14] The exact function of the crotchetizer has never been disclosed.
Megacorp is an unethical business, as demonstrated by its deforestation of the entirety of Tabora from a forest planet into a barren desert.[3] It also used squirrels to test its rockets, until it ceased this practice after pressure from Squirrel Rights activist groups, at which point it instead simply released mutant test-squirrels into the wild.[18] Additionally, Megacorp stole the Trespasser technology from its competitor, Gadgetron, to use in the Infiltrator.[19] However, Megacorp also has a division named Megacorp Against Senseless Brutality, which sends out warnings to those who attack civilians.[1]
Much like Gadgetron, Megacorp offers a HelpDesk service which provides information to commandos. The Megacorp HelpDesk girl has an identical voice to the Gadgetron HelpDesk Girl, suggesting they are similar robot models.
Entertainment[]
Megacorp broadcasts the Galactic Gladiators and Megacorp Games events, both of which are gladiatorial combat events taking place in the Maktar Resort and on planet Joba respectively. The gladiators that participate are biologically engineered by Megacorp,[18] as well as Megacorp robots normally used for security. Megacorp's own elite gladiators are represented by their own Megacorp Elite Gladiator Association.[18]
Team Megacorp Racing also presents hoverbike racing that takes place on Joba adjacent to the Megacorp Games.[20]Additionally, the Desert Riders, a well-known hoverbike gang, all use Megacorp hoverbikes.[21]
Megacorp also marketed the Protopet as a pet and friendly companion to children.
Military[]
Megacorp hired commandos, which trained in martial arts, heavy weaponry, survival skills, stealth, macramé, ballroom dance, and origami.[9] These were given standard-issue Commando-Matic body armor including a Megacorp Helmets, weapons in the form of the Lancer[22] and Gravity Bomb, and special starfighters, of which Ratchet's Star Explorer was one. They also had an endorsement deal in the Special menu for a much more expensive silver-colored Star Explorer priced at 4,640,000,000 bolts. Other than the standard body armor, they also had other types available made out of tetrafiber, duraplate, electrosteel, and carbonox.
Aside from this, Megacorp's forces appear to be primarily robotic security forces. The MSRs, namely the Megacorp Security Robot I - Chainsaw Model and Megacorp Security Robot II - Flamethrower Model are common around the Bogon Galaxy, as are PX6 BladeBalls and Megacorp Chickenbots. When defending their own important facilities, however, they use the militaristic Megacorp Troopers, Megacorp Hover Tanks, and Megacorp Robot Guards. Their Megacorp Sweeper Bots and Megacorp Laser Bots, which handled cleaning tasks in Endako, also served as impromptu security machines.
During the Protopet crisis, Megacorp still hired the Thugs-4-Less to track down Ratchet and Clank, suggesting that their own military was entirely for security purposes.
Behind the scenes[]
Though the Megacorp HelpDesk has an identical voice to the Gadgetron HelpDesk Girl from the original Ratchet & Clank, the HelpDesk girl's voice went through many iterations for a new voice, including having a British accent, for Going Commando.[23]
Citations[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Going Commando script § "Explore the Weapons Facility (gameplay)"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Scout the ruined machinery (gameplay)"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Going Commando script § "Megacorp's History of Tabora"
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2016 game) script § "OPTIONAL: Win the hoverboard race (Rilgar) (gameplay)"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Remember, you bought it from Steve..."
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Going Commando script § "Defeat the mutated Protopet (gameplay)"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "If you are watching this, you're fired..."
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Going Commando script § "A shipment of... paperweights"
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Going Commando script § "Behind the Hero, Part I"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Thugs-4-Less Gets a New Employer"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Mommy where do Protopets come from?"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Why is Billy Sad?"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Other"
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 A Crack in Time script § "Announcer"
- ↑ Rift Apart script § "Nefarious City"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Explore the Crash Site (gameplay)"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Supernova Taxi"
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Going Commando, Monsterpedia
- ↑ Going Commando menu § "Infiltrator"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Mega Mega Megacorp Games"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Desert Riders Ad"
- ↑ Going Commando menu § "Lancer"
- ↑ Stout, Garcia July 21 2011 9:45
References[]
- Insomniac Games (2003). Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2.
- Insomniac Games (2004). Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal [Game]. PlayStation 2.
- Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [@uselesspodcasts] (2011, July 17). Ratchet & Clank 2 Dev Commentary: 2A - Oozla [Video]. YouTube.