Nefarious Troopers

For Emperor Nefarious' troopers from Rift Apart, see Nefarious Troopers (Rivet's dimension).

People
Leader	Dr. Nefarious
Notable members	Fred
Locations
Headquarters	Tombli Outpost, Zanifar (formerly) Nefarious Space Station
Other locations	Vorselon's warship Axiom City, Terachnos Tombli Outpost, Zanifar Nefarious Space Station

Nefarious Troopers are a type of enemy in A Crack in Time. They are robots that served Dr. Nefarious in the Polaris Galaxy during his campaign to take control of the Great Clock. Nefarious Troopers were built within and had a hold on much of the Breegus System, serving as the Doctor's main army.

History

Before A Crack in Time

Prior to entering the Polaris Galaxy, Dr. Nefarious used different forces in the Solana Galaxy, namely the tyhrranoids and soldier bot forces seen in Up Your Arsenal. The Nefarious Troopers differ in being somewhat built in Nefarious' image. Many were repurposed from machines with menial functions, such as drive-through menus and civilian robots attending dental school.

The Nefarious Troopers were first manufactured at the Tombli Outpost, Zanifar, a base built by the fongoids for Nefarious two years prior to the events of A Crack in Time. After the fongoids had finished, Nefarious Troopers began herding them into containment camps. Though the Nefarious Space Station was constructed as Nefarious' new main base of operations, the Tombli Outpost remained the main base where Nefarious Troopers were manufactured.

Nefarious Troopers were deployed in Axiom City, Terachnos as a garrison "for protection" of citizens, likely due to Pollyx Industries' alliance with Nefarious and the terachnoids having no military of their own.

A Crack in Time

Nefarious Troopers arrived in the Great Clock after Nefarious betrayed the Zoni and unleashed the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler on the Clock. Clank was able to evade them, though Nefarious later knocked Clank out. Nefarious and his troopers left the Clock later, but the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler remained behind.

The troopers aided Lord Vorselon in his invasion of Quantos, where they battled Ratchet and Captain Qwark. Thereafter, Ratchet, Qwark, Alister Azimuth, and later Clank would battle the Nefarious Troopers around the Breegus System.

During this time, several Nefarious Troopers were required to audition for roles in Dr. Nefarious' "epic romantic action comedy space opera" named Night of the Living Squishies. Several were killed in the process of the audition.

Ratchet freed the fongoid prisoners in the Tombli Outpost, who thereafter shut down the Tombli Outpost. After the Nefarious Space Station was destroyed by Ratchet and Clank, the Nefarious Troopers presumably dwindled in numbers.

After A Crack in Time

In Before the Nexus, some remnants of the Nefarious Troopers appeared in Axiom City, and attacked Ratchet and Clank during their pursuit of Vendra and Neftin Prog.

Characteristics

Dr. Nefarious standing in front of two Protomantises.

Appearance

Nefarious Troopers come in a variety of shapes and with different weapons but have a few common features. Most have a visible cranium covered by green glass, and all have three stalks that appear to be antennae or eyes. The most common units have torsos that either float with four short tentacles in place of legs or have a single unicycle wheel for movement.

As with many of Dr. Nefarious' creations, Nefarious Troopers were built partly in his likeness. In this case, their visible glass craniums resemble Nefarious' own forehead.

Behavior

The troopers are governed via a hive control that issues them specific orders from Dr. Nefarious and his subordinates. To deviate from specific commands, the hive control must be rebooted. Nefarious Troopers also use Dr. Nefarious' terminology, referring to organic life forms as "squishies" and frequently saying the word "annihilate".

Despite this, many troopers possess free will and are capable of making casual conversation, having life ambitions outside of being enforcers (presumably related to their repurposing from past pieces of machinery), and showing fear.

Units

Ground forces

The smallest Nefarious Trooper units are Microdrones. These are small swarmer drones that attack with electrical jolts from their metallic pincers. If three of them come together, they can merge into either one of the most common two types of troopers.

Standard troopers come in four types: Splitterbots, Protoguards, Arc Strikers, and Cyclobombers. These differ in their movement types and weapons, with the first two being much more common as well. The Splitterbots and Cyclobombers are both grounded with wheels for movement, where the Splitterbots are melee troopers using twin buzz saw blades, while Cyclobombers uses long-range launchers that fire through the air in an arc and explode on impact. The Protoguard and Arc Strikers are hovering troopers, where Protoguards fire dual energy blasters at range, while Arc Strikers fire wide, electric arcs along the ground at their opponents.

The Protomantis is the strongest form of Nefarious Trooper. These are large, bulky robots with four legs and thicker chassis, granting them greater durability. They have twin gatling guns, giving them range and firepower, and can also spawn small swarms of Microdrones.

Microdrone

Arc Striker

Cyclobomber

Protoguard

Splitterbot

Protomantis

Vehicles

A dropship.

Nefarious Troopers are deployed by flying saucer dropships that teleport troopers to the ground and are armed with twin missile launchers. In space, Nefarious forces include many fighters that, similar to the dropship, resemble flying saucers. They are only deployed by security satellites, but Vorselon's warship also holds a large contingent of them to combat hostile ships.

Behind the scenes

Concept art.

The Nefarious Troopers were based on robots from science fiction B-movies, showcasing Dr. Nefarious' own preference for presentation and dramatic flair over functional and working designs.

A mini-game in the Insomniac Museum allowed players to design their own custom pair of agorian warriors and pit them against up to four waves of Nefarious Troopers, starting with standard units and ending with a Protomantis in the final round.