President Phyronix, referred to often as the Galactic President, is a support character in Up Your Arsenal and the comic series, mentioned in other titles. He is the Galactic President of the Solana Galaxy, with command over the Galactic Rangers, and the father of Sasha Phyronix.
History[]
Ratchet & Clank re-imagined[]
In the film and Qwark's retelling of events, President Phyronix does not appear himself, but issues numerous statements which are relayed by Captain Qwark and the news by Dallas Wanamaker.
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President Phyronix on a news report by Dallas Wanamaker.
Upon the news of planet Tenemule's believed destruction by a supernova, President Phyronix's statement called it a "tragic natural disaster." With the growing belief the multiple destruction of uninhabited planets was caused by a sinister force, Phyronix recommended to Qwark that he recruit a new Galactic Ranger.[1]
After the blarg invaded Kerwan and attempted to destroy the Galactic Rangers, President Phyronix personally spoke with Qwark and gave him the go-ahead to bring Chairman Drek to justice for his actions.[2]
Following Qwark's betrayal and the destruction of Novalis by the Deplanetizer, President Phyronix issued a galaxywide alert to all Solana citizens, urging residents to remain in their homes while authorities managed the crisis.[3] At the height of the reported "Crisis in Solana" and revelation that Dr. Nefarious was the architect behind the assault, President Phyronix attempted to dispel panic and went on record saying, "The threat is under control, and should be neutralized in a few hours."[4]
Up Your Arsenal[]
President Phyronix instructing Ratchet and Clank to find Captain Qwark.
The war against Dr. Nefarious began the year that President Phyronix was up for re-election, which would take place in the fall.[5] After planet Veldin came under attack by tyhrranoids fighting under Nefarious, President Phyronix sent the Galactic Rangers to combat them. The battle was being lost, until Ratchet and Clank warped to Solana from the Bogon Galaxy and fought back against the attack, during "Save Veldin!". After driving the tyhrranoids back from F-Sector during "Eliminate the Enemy Forces", President Phyronix congratulated them both through a message, in which he mistook Clank for his fictional persona, Secret Agent Clank, from the holovision series, which President Phyronix was a huge fan of.[6] Phyronix then instructed Ratchet and Clank to find Captain Qwark, the only man who had ever faced Nefarious and lived, sending them to Florana after receiving a top-secret report that Qwark had been sighted there.[7]
President Phyronix asking Ratchet and Clank to repair Marcadia's laser defense shield.
Later, the presidential palace on Marcadia was invaded by the tyhrranoids during a surprise attack. He sent an emergency transmission to his daughter Sasha aboard the Starship Phoenix, and Sasha deployed both the Galactic Rangers and Ratchet to defend the palace.[8] After reaching the palace, in "Secure the Area", Ratchet and Clank repelled the tyhrranoid attack with the Rangers in Operation: IRON SHIELD. President Phyronix congratulated them both, and assigned them the mission "Repair the Laser Defense Shield", in which they repaired the city's laser shield.[9]
When Qwark regained his memory and formed the Q-Force, President Phyronix appointed Qwark in charge of the fight against Nefarious.[10] From this point on the President was less directly involved, though he gave his condolences after Qwark's apparent death following "Escape the Starship" when he did not escape Nefarious' self-destructing cruiser, the Leviathan.[11]
President Phyronix with robotic implants.
Later, Nefarious used the Biobliterator to transform the population of Metropolis into robots. President Phyronix appeared to have given up on the fight, as in an interview with Darla Gratch, he stated that robots would make up 100% of the galaxy's population in the following week, which would apparently help his re-election campaign as he himself was half-robot.[5] For this interview, Phyronix showed that half of his face was robotic, a look that was never seen following the interview.
After the war with Nefarious was over, the President appeared for the premiere of the latest Secret Agent Clank movie.
After Up Your Arsenal[]
Phyronix was re-elected after the Nefarious war. He remained relatively quiet after the war with Nefarious was over, though he was mentioned in a few other titles. Vox News alleged that he had been involved with an amoeboid mafia scandal and installed his daughter as mayor of Metropolis to cover it up.[12] Vox News also claimed that Ratchet had voted against the president, causing a rift between him and Sasha,[13] and also that the president had been trying to set Sasha up with Captain Starshield.[12]
President Phyronix at some point knew Artemis Zogg, then defense minister of the Polaris Galaxy, and referred to him as "Artie".[14]
The president partially visible while out of frame, awarding Ratchet and Clank.
Phyronix was briefly mentioned during Deadlocked, but did not appear or intervene. According to Secret Agent Clank, after Size Matters, Phyronix awarded Ratchet and Clank medals for defeating Otto Destruct.[15] After Clank's covert rescue and defaming of Ratchet, Phyronix was debriefed by Ms. Cute Anastasia Bot, who pardoned Ratchet per her recommendation.[16]
Ratchet & Clank comic[]
President Phyronix is confronted by Artemis Zogg.
In Issue 3: Lost and Spaced of the comic series, Phyronix was abducted by Artemis Zogg whilst on a goodwill trip to Polaris, and lost communication with his daughter and advisor, Sasha. As Phyronix was visiting Zaurik, Zogg used the Helios Project to transport the planet to his Artemis Galaxy and met Phyronix in person.[17]
Zogg offered him Phyronix the role of Vice President of the Artemis Galaxy, but stated if he refused, he would be forced to work in Zaurik's trillium mines. Phyronix attempted to appeal to Zogg that Zogg was acting just as much of a dictator as Percival Tachyon had been, and refused to serve Zogg out of moral principle. Zogg was unmoved and chose to abandon him there.[14]
Following Zogg's defeat, President Phyronix and Sasha were reunited.[18]
Characteristics[]
President Phyronix is a large male cazar with dark brown fur and blue eyes. He typically wears a dark blue suit with golden highlights. Though he revealed himself to be half-robot during an interview, after this, he was never seen with a robotic face again.
Phyronix is shown to be a passionate leader who cares deeply for his daughter. He also provided positive upbeat encouragement following the apparent death of Qwark.[11] Phyronix is also characterized as placing his political career and personal electability ahead of salient issues. This was seen when he gave up following Nefarious' Biobliterator attack on Metropolis, instead focusing on how it would affect his electoral chances.[5] At other times, he is uncompromising in his noble beliefs, as seen during his confrontation with Artemis Zogg.
Phyronix believed Secret Agent Clank was real, and acted as a crazed autograph hound.[6]
Behind the scenes[]
President Phyronix was voiced by Lindsay Schnebly. Phyronix was inspired by Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, sharing similar voices.[19] His comment about his electoral chances following the Biobliterator attack, in which he claimed to be half-robot, was a direct reference to Bill Clinton's triangulation and efforts to appease everyone for the purpose of electability.[20]
While President Phyronix did not appear in the original Ratchet & Clank, his image is shown in a news report in the 2016 re-imagined movie and is mentioned several times by name in both the film and re-imagined 2016 game, as the incumbent president at the time.
Citations[]
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2016 game) script § "Head to the fairgrounds (gameplay)"
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2016 game) script § "Find a train to the Hall of Heroes (gameplay)"
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (movie) script § "Scene 14"
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2016 game) script § "Locate the Gravity Stabilizer (gameplay)"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Up Your Arsenal script § "Phoenix 7"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Up Your Arsenal, game manual (NTSC-U/C), p. 9
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Eliminate the Enemy Forces (gameplay)"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Meet Sasha on the Bridge (gameplay)"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Hit 'n Run (gameplay)"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Captain Qwark Returns"
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Up Your Arsenal script § "Phoenix 6"
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Insomniac Games October 14 2005
- ↑ Insomniac Games October 19 2005
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lost and Spaced, p. 16-17
- ↑ Secret Agent Clank script § "The Plan Revealed"
- ↑ Secret Agent Clank script § "Sucks to be Klunk"
- ↑ Lost and Spaced, p. 4, 15
- ↑ Bros Before Foes, p. 19
- ↑ Stout, Garcia March 2012 17:34
- ↑ Stout, Garcia September 2012 1:12
References[]
- Video games
- Insomniac Games (2004). Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal [Game]. PlayStation 2.
- Insomniac Games (2016). Ratchet & Clank [Game]. Sony Interactive Entertainment. PlayStation 4.
- Bibliography
- Fixman, TJ (2010). Ratchet & Clank (Issue 3: Lost and Spaced) [Book]. Wild Storm.
- Fixman, TJ (2011). Ratchet & Clank (Issue 6: Bros Before Foes) [Book]. Wild Storm.
- Websites
- Insomniac Games (2005, October 14). "News Update". From Insomniac Games. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019.
- Videos
- Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony (2012, March 12). Ratchet & Clank 3 Dev Commentary: 1 - Intro [Video]. uselesspodcasts. YouTube.
- Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [@uselesspodcasts] (2012, September 16). Ratchet & Clank 3 Dev Commentary: 28 - Qwark's Crash Site [Video]. YouTube.