Qwark

Biographical information
Homeworld	Kerwan
Residence	Metropolis, Kerwan (condominium) Cerullean Sector (undisclosed townhouse) Meridian City, Igliak (temporary presidential residency)
Membership	Drek Industries (former official endorsement spokesman) Gadgetron Corporation (former salesman) Megacorp (former tester) Nabla tribe (former leader) Q-Force (leader) Percival Tachyon (former confidant) Imperial Army (former private) Polaris government (former president)
Physical description
Gender	Male
Behind the scenes
Portrayed by	Jim Ward (2002-2021) Scott Whyte (2021)

Captain Copernicus Leslie Qwark, commonly known as Captain Qwark, is a major supporting character in the Ratchet & Clank series. Originally introduced as an antagonist in Ratchet & Clank and Going Commando, he later became an ally following Up Your Arsenal. He has appeared in nearly every installment, with playable roles in Secret Agent Clank, All 4 One, and Full Frontal Assault.

Qwark is an intergalactic celebrity superhero from Kerwan in the Solana Galaxy, widely recognized as a heroic icon—brave, noble, and accomplished. In reality, he is egotistical, incompetent, and often takes credit for others' achievements. On multiple occasions, he has worked with villains for personal gain, only to be exposed and defeated by Ratchet and Clank.

Initially admired by Ratchet, Qwark betrayed the duo while secretly in league with Chairman Drek and later attempted to orchestrate the Protopet crisis for personal fame. However, when his long-time nemesis Dr. Nefarious resurfaced, he returned to fight against him as leader of the Q-Force. Over time, he embraced a more genuine heroic role—though still prone to arrogance, cowardice, and blunders.

Beyond his adventures, Qwark is known for his self-promotional antics, merchandise, and even serving as President of the Polaris government. Despite his flaws, he remains a recurring, if unreliable, ally to Ratchet and Clank, often providing comic relief while occasionally proving his worth.

History

Early history

Qwark never knew his parents, as they were killed at a young age by faulty technomite technology. He was put up for adoption and raised by the cyclophic monkeys on Florana at a young age. However at a later date Qwark mentioned his mother as being alive.

Qwark bullying Nefarious during 9th-grade biology class.

According to the Qwark vid-comic series, he was still in high school at 26 years old, and attended the same ninth-grade biology class as an organic Dr. Nefarious, whom he would bully severely by doing things such as call him "that freak with the headgear", pour chemicals on his head, clean the chalkboard with his pants (while he was still wearing them) and give him atomic wedgies. Despite the poor treatment, Nefarious still considered him a friend. During his time at high school, Qwark undertook eight years of theater workshops.

Qwark, at some point, attended the Kerwan Learning Annex school, where he learned to draw schematics. At another point, he undertook a three-week hero correspondence course, attaining the title of captain, and became known as "Captain Qwark".

Qwark allegedly faced many villains throughout his hero career, told through vid-comics among other media. Considering Qwark's nature, it is unknown how much of these stories were actually true. Al described one story in which he had an evil twin brother, Quasar Qwark, who he defeated in battle. He also claimed to have battled a squid-beast on Oceania 8, defeated a mechanical monster as well as the Jack of All Trades, saved a city on Venantonio from numerous threats, inflated a hot-air balloon with his lungs, rescued space nuns from a space kudzu, and protected a dam on Hydrano from cactus beasts. He also had a challenge named after him in Annihilation Nation: the 100 round "Qwarktastic Battle", which was described as having only ever been beaten by one man. It was eventually claimed by Qwark that he had saved all life in the galaxy exactly two-hundred and forty six times. Qwark's many alleged heroic claims led to him accepting hundreds of awards he, by his own admission, did not actually earn. At some point, Qwark established the deceptively named 'Qwark for Tots Scholarship Fund,' a charity that actually funded makeovers for himself, administered by attractive women.

Qwark clinging onto Nefarious' ship while holding his breath.

As told in the Qwark vid-comic series, Qwark defeated the robotic pirate ghosts led by Captain Blackstar, for which he received a sizable sum of bolts, and donated it to the Qwark for Tots Scholarship Fund. After this, he traveled to Blackwater City, where (depending on the source) he either coordinated the city's defenses from the women's restroom at Galaxy Burger, or singlehandedly defeated Nefarious' army of amoeboids, before following Nefarious back to a base on planet Magmos. There, Qwark unsuccessfully tried to sneak into the base, but he was able to confront and defeat Nefarious, whom he recognized as his former classmate. He attempted to give Nefarious a wedgie for old time's sake, but accidentally knocked him down into the machinery that would transform Nefarious into a robot.

Qwark after defeating Nefarious once more.

Later, while Qwark was training on his fitness course in Metropolis for his fitness trainer Helga von Streissenburgen, the robotic Nefarious attacked the city with an army of insectoids, though Qwark was once again victorious in defeating him. However, Nefarious' butler Lawrence incapacitated and imprisoned him. Qwark was able to flee, and he hid in his hideout on the Thran Asteroid Belt, fearing that Nefarious would return for revenge. Due to Nefarious' inactivity, Qwark assumed he was gone for good and returned to his career as a high-profile superhero.

Qwark's return to his career.

Qwark became an intergalactic celebrity and made many public appearances, including endorsing Big Al's Roboshack for commercials and presenting prizes for the Blackwater City Hovercon Intergalactic Hoverboard Competition. The story of his battle against Nefarious was told through vid-comics, though the story released to the public was unfinished due to missing pages in the script, ending with Qwark defeating Nefarious in Metropolis in Deja Q All Over Again. This meant only four of the five issues were published, though another, The Shaming of the Q, detailing Qwark's subsequent capture by Nefarious and escape, was kept by Qwark himself and never released.

Re-imagined early history

The 2016 re-imagined game is primarily an unreliable retelling of events by Qwark.

The re-imagined game primarily describes Captain Qwark's account of events. As Qwark is an unreliable narrator, and contradictory events are in-universe fiction (though those which correspond still apply). Please see Project:Bulletin board/Canon for the wiki's coverage of canon.

The 2016 re-imagining gave a different account of Qwark's time as a hero; he was head of the Galactic Rangers, commissioned by Galactic President Phyronix. The team consisted of himself, Cora Verolux, Brax Lectrus, and Elaris. At some point prior to Elaris' role as technical support, the role had been occupied by an organic Dr. Nefarious, who after mistreatment by Qwark, left the team and became a criminal. Nefarious had, at one point, attempted to atomize Kerwan's Aleero City, before Qwark stopped him, at which point he was imprisoned, and faked his own death in a subsequent prison escape. Qwark had also twice halted Neftin Prog's attempt to turn the entire population of Aridia colorblind.

Ratchet & Clank

Ratchet and Clank meeting Qwark in person.

Qwark was hired by Chairman Drek as the highly paid spokesperson for his new planet. Drek tasked Qwark with stopping Ratchet and Clank, who posed as threats to his plans. Ratchet and Clank, unaware of this, sought Qwark's help in stopping Drek, which Qwark was aware of. Qwark traveled to Blackwater City to present the prize for the hoverboard race. Knowing this, Ratchet and Clank located him on the planet. Qwark owned a trailer located around the corner from where the races took place. Outside was his bouncer, who prevented Ratchet and Clank from entering after Qwark had dealt with enough reporters. The two bribed the bouncer to gain themselves entry.

Qwark betrays Ratchet and Clank.

When they entered the trailer, Qwark suddenly recognized who they were and offered to train them as heroes at his headquarters on Umbris. After surviving Qwark's training gauntlet, he revealed his true intentions to them and dropped them in a pit to face the blargian snagglebeast, leaving them there to die. The two survived, and Ratchet was left furious by the encounter, no longer seeking Drek's defeat but rather revenge against Qwark.

Drek reprimanding Qwark.

Qwark returned to Drek to report on his progress, where Drek expressed anger at him for his failure, and demanded that he follow his orders from then on. He then sent Qwark to use a starfighter to ambush and defeat Ratchet and Clank at the Gemlik Base in the orbit above planet Oltanis, threatening to terminate their endorsement deal if he failed again, which would ruin Qwark.

Qwark as Steve McQwark, selling the Gadgetron PDA.

Ratchet shot Qwark's ship down using a jet fighter and claimed victory, causing Qwark to crash-land on Oltanis. Here, he went into hiding, posing as Steve McQwark, a fake Gadgetron salesman. He sold the PDA, which he claimed was a Gadgetron Corporation product, which Ratchet purchased from him. As Steve McQwark, he would continue to sell bogus merchandise claiming to be Gadgetron products, including the infamous Personal Hygenator, which he used to fund his comeback.

Ratchet & Clank re-imagined

The 2016 re-imagined game is primarily an unreliable retelling of events by Qwark.

The re-imagined game primarily describes Captain Qwark's account of events. As Qwark is an unreliable narrator, and contradictory events are in-universe fiction (though those which correspond still apply). Please see Project:Bulletin board/Canon for the wiki's coverage of canon.

While in prison, Captain Qwark, sharing a cell with Zed, also met a new arriving inmate, Shiv Helix, a criminal who turned out to be one of his fans. Helix informed Qwark that he had pre-ordered the Ratchet & Clank holo-game, which is based on the Ratchet & Clank holo-film based on Qwark's life. Qwark then lamented that he would never be able to tell his side of the story, but Helix wanted him to share it with him. Qwark then gave in and began telling Helix his own version of the film's events.

Qwark rejecting Ratchet.

When Chairman Drek began destroying uninhabited planets, such as Tenemule, with the Deplanetizer in order to construct New Quartu, President Phyronix commissioned Qwark to recruit another Galactic Ranger. Qwark searched the galaxy for recruits, hosting tryouts on Veldin, where among the tryouts was a young lombax named Ratchet. Qwark, however, rejected Ratchet due to his reckless past and inexperience, thereby failing to find a recruit on the planet before returning to Kerwan. Shortly afterwards, Chairman Drek's warbots invaded Kerwan, which Qwark and the Rangers attempted to fend off, only for their Class G Dreadship to be destroyed by an unknown starship piloted by Ratchet and Clank, ending the attack. After being put on the spot by journalist Dallas Wanamaker's question, Qwark then recruited Ratchet and Clank to the Rangers.

The Rangers halo-jumping into Skorg City.

Qwark conducted Ratchet's training and granted him the protosuit used by the Rangers, while Clank worked with Elaris. He then gave Ratchet a new starship and sent him off to several missions, beginning with the Blarg Tactical Research Station. However, unbeknownst to Ratchet, Qwark began to grow jealous of Ratchet's increasing popularity, which overshadowed his own. After Ratchet gathered schematics for an XK-81 Jetpack, Qwark, Ratchet, and the other Rangers conducted an assault on Quartu's Skorg City, Drek's home of operations. He gave the team a straightforward plan, drawn up himself with crayons: to HALO drop into the city, fire at enemies, and take Drek into custody to be home "in time for waffles". Despite protests from Clank and Elaris that the plan would fail, the other Rangers voted in favor of Qwark's more simplistic, less thought-out plan.

In an event from the film that Qwark omitted from his tale to Shiv, after being cornered by Zurkons from within the factory on Quartu, Qwark was approached by Drek, who persuaded him to join forces with him, preying on his jealousy of Ratchet.

Qwark revealed to be working for the blarg.

The Rangers were unable to apprehend Nefarious but instead captured Drek's robot assistant Zed, who revealed that Drek would use the Deplanetizer to destroy Novalis next. During the Rangers' subsequent attack on the Deplanetizer, Qwark told the others he would "try to reason" with Drek, before shutting off communications and flying on ahead, while the other Rangers were attacked. He arrived to be catered to by several blarg, relaxing within the station. Later, after Ratchet had been captured by Drek, infiltrating the station alone in search of Qwark, Ratchet spotted him, to his disappointment and Qwark's embarrassment. When Drek destroyed Novalis, despite its population evacuated, Qwark began to feel remorse for his decision. Qwark confronted Drek about his deception and learned that Dr. Nefarious was still alive and working with Drek, before being ushered away.

Qwark about to battle Ratchet.

When Ratchet and Clank infiltrated the Deplanetizer to stop it from destroying Umbris, Qwark fought the two in an attempt to stop them, out of anger towards Ratchet for ruining his career. Qwark even used a Tornado Launcher to trap him, but Ratchet warned him that if Umbris exploded, all life in the galaxy would perish, including them, making Qwark realize the error of his ways, before Dr. Nefarious arrived to kill the three of them. Qwark helped them stop Nefarious, who subsequently fell from his space station. Qwark, along with Ratchet and Clank, fled to the Deplanetizer's teleporter on Drek's scooter, before he was then thrown off the scooter and onto the glass surrounding Drek's bridge, apparently unable to make it back up. Qwark advised the two to save themselves and leave without him, but with Ratchet's assistance, Clank improvised by pulling the teleporter out from the floor, allowing Qwark to make an escape with them. After celebrating with Ratchet and Clank, Qwark was imprisoned for his crimes of helping Drek.

In the film, Qwark then went on an apology tour around the galaxy and published a book titled "Look, I Said I Was Sorry, Alright?", telling journalist Juanita Alvaro to prepare to be blown away by his "epic humility". This was omitted from his tale to Shiv.

Qwark finished his tale while doing community service with Shiv. In Qwark's imagination, Ratchet and Clank then arrived and greeted the captain, after which Shiv promptly stole Ratchet's ship; Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark gave chase.

Between Ratchet & Clank and Going Commando

Captain Qwark on trial.

Disguised as "Steve McQwark", Qwark sold one million Personal Hygenators to finance his comeback, one of which was purchased by Ratchet. Qwark kept his personal merchandise in his hideout on the Thran Asteroid Belt. However, due to his illegal sales, Qwark was ordered by the Galactic Court to pay 6,000,000,000 bolts to those suffering from Personal Hygenator Syndrome, which caused users severe irritation in sensitive body areas. Qwark refused, kept his funds and fled to planet Pokitaru but was arrested for attempting to flee the courts and placed in prison awaiting his trial.

Captain Qwark planning his comeback with the Protopet

Qwark later escaped by flushing himself down the toilet to freedom, after which his whereabouts were unknown, as the authorities said he had been missing for six weeks. He fled to the Bogon Galaxy, where he kidnapped Abercrombie Fizzwidget, the CEO of Megacorp, and locked him in the supply closet. Impersonating Fizzwidget, he then pushed up the release date of Megacorp's latest product, the Protopet, then known as the "Experiment", before Angela Cross could tame its flaws, setting up his big comeback.

Going Commando

Qwark disguised as Fizzwidget, recruiting Ratchet and Clank.

Disguised as Fizzwidget, Qwark attempted to oversee mass production of the Protopet, though employee Angela Cross, disguised as the "Unknown Thief", stole the Protopet and took it to her flying lab on planet Aranos. In response, Qwark enlisted Ratchet and Clank and transported them to the Bogon Galaxy, providing Ratchet with commando training and hiring him to chase after the thief.

Qwark, disguised as Fizzwidget, 'accidentally' crushing the Star Explorer.

Ratchet and Clank eventually acquired the Protopet from Angela and returned it to Qwark on planet Tabora, where he "crushed" their ship with his own thinking it was a landing pad and left them stranded on the planet, but made it appear accidental. After this, Qwark became less responsive to Ratchet and Clank, when they tried in vain to warn him about the dangers of the Protopet, unaware that they were intentional. Qwark invited them to meet him at his Deep Space Disposal Facility with the password "Qwarktastic", though the password simply caused the facility's defenses to attack Ratchet; Qwark again made it appear as if this were due to his incompetence implying that the password only works on certain days. Following this, Ratchet and Clank, along with Angela Cross, whom they had teamed up with, gave up on reaching out to Fizzwidget, and thus Qwark remained out of sight. Apparently, Megacorp eventually became wary of "Fizzwidget"'s abnormal behaviour, according to the Thugs-4-Less Leader, and hired Thugs-4-Less mercenaries to protect him, although it was quite probably Qwark pretending to be a Megacorp executive who hired them.

Qwark removing his disguise.

When they chased down the Protopet at the Megacorp Headquarters on planet Yeedil, Clank's admirer warned Ratchet and Clank that Qwark was still at large. Qwark shot her, and revealed his disguise to them: he had created the Protopet menace in order to save the galaxy from them and redeem himself as a hero while framing Ratchet, Clank, and Angela for unleashing the Protopets. When trying to use Angela's Helix-o-morph to fix the original Protopet, he accidentally mutated it due to having the battery put in backwards. This forced Ratchet and Clank to defeat the Protopet. Angela, meanwhile, freed the real Fizzwidget and then fixed the Helix-o-morph and transmitted its signal across the galaxy to cure other Protopets and effectively end the threat.

Qwark testing the Crotchitizer.

After this, Qwark was made to work at Megacorp testing gadgets with other test dummies, and was last seen testing the Crotchitizer. However, he later returned to Solana in exile on planet Florana among the monkey tribes for an unknown period of time. There, he befriended the monkey Skrunch, though he also accidentally mated with Skrunch's sister during mating season.

Up Your Arsenal

Qwark as the Florana Tree Beast.

When Dr. Nefarious attacked the Solana Galaxy once more, President Phyronix received a top-secret report on Qwark's whereabouts, as Qwark was the only man to have ever faced Nefarious and beat him. He then requested Ratchet and Clank track down Qwark, citing a report in Nature's Mysteries about the "Florana Tree Beast". In "Find the Mysterious Man", Ratchet and Clank then encountered the Florana Tree Beast, which was in fact Qwark, who had suffered amnesia and wore a native mask. Qwark demanded they walk the Path of Death and was surprised when they survived. They then fought him, and after taking his mask, Qwark believed Ratchet to be his new leader. Ratchet and Clank escorted him back to the Starship Phoenix, along with Skrunch, where Sasha Phyronix prepared a custom living area for Qwark.

Qwark with Skrunch as he regains his memory.

Ratchet later completed the Qwark vid-comic Booty is in the Eye of the Beholder, detailing Qwark's battle against the robotic pirate ghost Captain Blackstar. After watching it, Qwark regained his memory. President Phyronix appointed Qwark the leader of the war against Nefarious, and assembled the Q-Force. This team consisted of himself, Sasha, his former fitness instructor Helga, hoverboard racer Skidd McMarx, Big Al from the Roboshack he had formerly endorsed earlier in his career, Skrunch, Ratchet, and Clank.

Qwark claims credit for Tyhrranosis.

Qwark coordinated several missions for the Q-Force. The first mission required Ratchet and Clank to infiltrate the underwater hideout on Aquatos where they would find Nefarious' Office, while the second required them to lead an attack on Tyhrranosis to destroy the Momma Tyhrranoid after disabling the defenses around Korgon Base. Both these missions sent Ratchet and Clank on the front lines. Qwark made excuses for not being involved himself but was actually completely uninvolved, and during the Tyhrranosis battle he was simply at the lunch buffet with Helga, before jumping in the spotlight at the last minute after Ratchet defeated the Momma Tyhrranoid to score an interview with Darla Gratch in which he claimed credit.

Qwark telling Ratchet and Clank to go ahead.

Later, when Ratchet learned that Nefarious was located in his star cruiser, the Leviathan, Qwark met up with Ratchet at the Zeldrin Starport, where the cruiser was refueling. He met up with Qwark and Skrunch at the starport, along with Klunk, Nefarious' clone of Clank that had been spying on them. However, Nefarious had been luring them to the cruiser just to self-destruct it and kill them both. As Nefarious teleported out, Qwark remained claiming he had "spotted something important". This was the master plan, a data disk containing plans for the Biobliterator, which he left behind on Zeldrin after landing his escape pod.

Qwark, disguised as a woman, calling the Supernova Taxi service.

Qwark disguised himself as a woman and used the Supernova Taxi service to return to his hideout on the Thran Asteroid Belt, fearing for his life following the near-death experience, and remained in exile, opting to remain out of the war. As his escape pod had not been detected leaving the Leviathan, Qwark was presumed dead.

Qwark in hiding.

After playing the vid-comic The Shaming of the Q, Ratchet and Clank learned of Qwark's hideout on the Thran Asteroid Belt. In "Find Captain Qwark", the two fought through the defenses of Qwark bots and lawn ninjas on Qwark's base, and found him locked behind a forcefield. After Clank and Skrunch unlocked the forcefield, they met Qwark, who explained he was in hiding. Ratchet and Skrunch berated Qwark for his cowardice and selfishness, while Clank appealed to his emotion, convincing him to return to the war that the people of Solana still believe in him for he still has a chance to redeem himself and become the hero he always wanted to be.

After some time and thought, Qwark decides to return to his friends and later flew to Mylon in his shuttle, and during "Defeat the Biobliterator", he saved Ratchet and Clank from the transformed second Biobliterator's missile firing at the last minute, helping them destroy it and defeat Nefarious. Finally, Qwark attended the premiere of the Secret Agent Clank movie premiere along with Skrunch.

Deadlocked

Qwark with Skrunch in his character epilogue.

Qwark did not appear physically in Deadlocked, but delivered a message to Ratchet and Clank over comlink following the destruction of DreadZone Station. In it, Qwark called the rumors of heroes being kidnapped for DreadZone "baloney" based on the fact that he had never been kidnapped, mocking the idea of making a show about heroes that did not star Captain Qwark. He also informed them they had missed the last three copies of the Qwark Cadets Fan Club, but that he had kept behind snacks and newsletter copies. Qwark was described as, around the time, maintaining a life of "heroism and civic duty", except on Wednesdays.

Size Matters

Qwark in 'disguise' on Pokitaru.

Qwark followed Ratchet and Clank to Pokitaru, where they were vacationing, in the hopes of joining in on their next adventure. After Clank questioned if he should instead be with his family, Qwark broke into tears and explained he had been raised by monkeys on Florana. Luna, a technomite robot interviewing Ratchet, listened in on the conversation, but then was subsequently abducted in a staged kidnapping, causing Ratchet and Clank to chase her using to Ryllus using a technomite artifact. Qwark claimed to know about the technomites, and secretly accompanied them to Ryllus.

Qwark showing his family tree.

Ratchet allowed him to use the ship's computer to research his family tree, in exchange for Qwark giving them advice (though all he could offer was to "try that big building"), where he received a message from a website named "Faux-Family.com". This was false evidence that the technomite leader, Otto Destruct, had planted to make Qwark believe Destruct was his father. Qwark first told Ratchet and Clank about the site after arriving on Kalidon, and later unsuccessfully tried to tell them his father was the leader of the technomites while they were on Challax, though both times they seemed uninterested in his story.

Ratchet being assailed by Doctor Qwarks during his dream.

During Ratchet's sequence in the Dreamtime, he encountered many chainsaw-wielding Qwarks as enemies.

Qwark trying to switch minds with Otto Destruct.

When Ratchet and Clank caught up with Otto Destruct on Quodrona, Qwark appeared to help Destruct by grabbing the Shrink Ray from Ratchet. Destruct promptly betrayed Qwark by shrinking him and then using it himself, although he remained oblivious to the betrayal. After Ratchet and Clank defeated Otto Destruct, Skrunch arrived with a newspaper revealing Qwark's true parents, enraging Qwark. He confronts Destruct on knowing the truth of his parents and used it against Qwark to get what he wanted. Qwark first tried to get even by using Destruct's own intelligence machine against him to swap Destruct's high brainpower with his own low-grade intellect. Ratchet and Clank tried to reason with him to stop before Destruct shrunk Qwark again and Skrunch interrupted him, causing Destruct's intelligence to be swapped with that of Skrunch. Otto with his reduced intellect, chewed on the shrink ray, causing it damage. As such, Qwark was unable to be returned to his original size, at least for a while. Later, the still miniaturized Qwark followed Ratchet and Clank to Clank's apartment on Endako, telling stories of his heroic deeds of Oceana 8 to three miniature Ratchet clones. At some point, Qwark had returned to his original size.

Secret Agent Clank

Secret Agent Clank is in-universe fiction.

Secret Agent Clank is an in-universe holofilm in the Secret Agent Clank fictional series. Its events are a fictional movie within the Ratchet & Clank universe. Please see Project:Bulletin board/Canon for the wiki's coverage of canon.

Klunk anonymously sent Qwark a large sum to write an autobiography and have Barney as his biographer. The goal was that Qwark would use his tracking device to follow Clank, in an attempt to steal his glory. This would allow Barney to transmit updates to Klunk and keep tabs on Clank during Clank's investigation into the Eye of Infinity theft. While following Clank, Qwark told several false stories to Barney, including fighting a mechanical monstrosity in Asyanica, fighting the Jack of All Trades on Rionosis, saving a town in Venantonio multiple times (in a series of stories he sung in a musical to a crowd of amoeboids in the town's opera house), saving space nuns and orphans from the space kudzu at the spaceship graveyard, and protecting the fish-men's dam from cactus pirates on Hydrano.

Qwark eventually caught up to Clank after Clank defeated Klunk in his base on Hydrano. He accidentally activated a teleporter to Klunk's satellite, allowing him to pull the Eye of Infinity from Klunk's satellite laser, inadvertently destroying it and stopping Klunk's galaxy-threatening laser. Barney then told Qwark the entire plan, causing Qwark to attempt to strangle him in rage. Barney then transformed into an Ultra-Mech form to attack Qwark, though Clank stopped him.

Qwark on a defeated Jack-of-all-Trades.

Qwark noticing the Eye of Infinity.

Qwark threatened by a giant Barney.

Tools of Destruction

While serving as Chief Volunteer at Kerwan's Planetary Defense Center, Qwark urgently requested help from Ratchet and Clank when the Imperial Army—led by Emperor Tachyon—began attacking Metropolis. Qwark surrendered to them after defeating just two drophyds, justifying it by working undercover, supplying information to Ratchet and Clank. Qwark became Private Qwark for the army after completing training that required he eat a certain amount of mucus-filled grothslugs necessary for induction, filmed a recruitment video for the army, and became an announcer at the Imperial Fight Festival on Mukow. As Tachyon's confidant, he was required to perform humiliating tasks such as lancing Tachyon's boils.

Qwark talking to Ratchet and Clank at the Imperial Fight Festival.

Qwark sent a holo-vite to Ratchet and Clank to come to the arena, and in "Find Qwark", he modified the arena teleporter to auto-equip Ratchet with a disguise named Mustachio Furioso that used nano-molecular facial reconfiguration, allowing him to participate undetected. There, he gave Ratchet information on the army's attack on the Apogee Space Station, and later gave them an infobot that he had found in Tachyon's underwear drawer, which detailed the IRIS Supercomputer. Qwark admitted to Ratchet his struggle under the pressure of the undercover operation, but simple words of encouragement from Ratchet renewed his resolve.

Qwark taking the Dimensionator on Ublik Passage.

At Ratchet's request, in "Jailbreak", Qwark helped Ratchet and Clank from his "Townhouse of Solitude" and provided information to help break into the Zordoom Prison to free Talwyn Apogee. After freeing her, Qwark sent them coordinates for Kerchu City on planet Jasindu that he had stolen from Tachyon's computer, where the Dimensionator was located. When Ratchet and Clank defeated Captain Slag on the Ublik Passage and seized the Dimensionator, Qwark took the Dimensionator before the two could decide what was best to do with it, and promised to prove his worth as a superhero by hurling it into a black hole.

However, he took a shuttle that was bound for the nearest planet, which in this case was Reepor, the cragmite homeworld. There, Tachyon took Qwark prisoner and used the Dimensionator. Qwark was taken to Meridian City, Igliak, and after Ratchet freed him in "Rescue Qwark", he had a breakdown as he felt unworthy of his superhero reputation, before promising to coordinate the relief effort when Ratchet suggested going to Fastoon.

Qwark and Rusty Pete.

At the Apogee Space Station, Qwark was taught to speak pirate with Rusty Pete, right when Clank was taken by the Zoni. Following the events of Tools of Destruction, Qwark recorded a holo-film titled My Blaster Runs Hot, (but mistreated a producer on set), and also starred in a film and TV show named Unicop. At some point, he placed at number 97 in a ranking of Kerwan's 100 most eligible bachelors, and went on vacation to the Maktar Resort Single Mingle.

A Crack in Time

Qwark and Ratchet while searching for Clank.

Around the events of A Crack in Time, Qwark's movies My Blaster Runs Hot and Unicop were advertised on space radio, and Qwark began a press tour. However, a leaked recording of him mistreating a lighting director on the set of My Blaster Runs Hot led many fans to boycott the movie. Meanwhile, Qwark advertised for a moisturizing lotion named "Q-Pore," but it was pending approval at the time of the advertisement.

Qwark escaping with the fongoid prisoners.

Qwark accompanied Ratchet in the Aphelion as they traveled to the Breegus System in search of Clank. They crash-landed in Zolar Forest, Quantos, and in "Search Zolar Forest", met local fongoids and went with them to their village. There, the fongoids taught them more about the Zoni, but they and Qwark were abducted by Lord Vorselon, an agent working for Dr. Nefarious, and brought onto Vorselon's warship for questioning. Qwark tried to negotiate an escape but was mocked. Ratchet instead freed him, and Qwark remained with the fongoids to gather information for Ratchet, first on Alister Azimuth.

Qwark taming Snowball.

Qwark eventually learned of the agorian warriors from the fongoids, who grew tired of Qwark and paid for the agorians to pick him up. After failed talks with the agorians, they signed him up for the Agorian Battleplex. In "Win the Bronze Tournament", Ratchet helped him defeat a war grok to win, which Qwark then tamed and named "Snowball". Qwark then learned from the agorians of a secret entrance into Nefarious' space station and devised a plan.

"Nurse Shannon" alongside Ratchet in a Nefarious Hologuise.

Qwark thereafter infiltrated the Nefarious Space Station, disguising himself as a nurse named "Shannon". While there, he devised a plan to scan Dr. Nefarious for a hologuise to destroy Nefarious' fleet from within, a plan he disclosed to Ratchet and Clank when they joined him. In "Destroy Dr. Nefarious' Armada", they successfully destroyed the fleet but were captured, although Nefarious malfunctioned before executing them.

Qwark and Snowball left stranded on an asteroid near the remains of the Nefarious Space Station.

Qwark was able to escape at some point, only reappearing after Ratchet and Clank returned to the station in "Confront and Destroy Dr. Nefarious", where they witnessed him fighting several Troopers alongside Snowball. After the destruction of the space station he and Snowball were left stranded and trapped on an asteroid.

After A Crack in Time

Qwark took credit for Dr. Nefarious' defeat. Unicop was eventually cancelled, leading Qwark's agent, Cyrus, to declare he would never speak to Qwark again. He went took residence in his "Townhouse of Solitude" in Polaris' Cerullean Sector.

Captain Qwark announcing his own presidential campaign.

Ten months prior to the events of Lost and Spaced, Polaris Minister of Defense, Artemis Zogg, sought Qwark's endorsement for his presidential campaign. Zogg also informed Qwark about his Helios Project, a technology that used the Surinox Shard to move entire planets. A month later, Cyrus convinced Qwark to launch his own presidential campaign, which Qwark announced at an event where he had initially planned to endorse Zogg. Five months later, Qwark was elected president and cancelled the Helios Project, believing it to be dangerous, citing Tachyon's incident years earlier. This led Zogg to steal the project for himself.

Comic series

Qwark talking to Ratchet and Clank about the missing planets.

The Helios Project began stealing planets, leading to calls for Qwark's impeachment, many of which came from Terachnos, which was eventually stolen as well. In Ears of War, President Qwark visited Ratchet and Clank on Veldin, seeking their help. Clank noted the Helios Program in Qwark's notes, which Qwark denied knowing about; Ratchet declined to help, having retired.

Months later, in Lost and Spaced, after Igliak was stolen, Qwark and the Polaris Defense Force used the Apogee Space Station as a base, offered by Talwyn. As planets were also stolen from Solana, the base was also used by Sasha and the Galactic Rangers; Sasha angrily confronted Qwark about his inaction, leading Qwark to confess his knowledge about Helios. Zogg later contacted them, threatening to kill Veldin's population if Ratchet did not surrender. When Qwark asked why Zogg didn't simply capture Ratchet, Zogg responded that he wanted Qwark to watch his kingdom be stolen planet by planet.

Al insulting Qwark.

In Thanks for the Armories, Qwark devised a plan for Ratchet to pretend to surrender in order to steal the Surinox Shard. Meanwhile, in Multiple Organisms, Qwark and Zephyr worked on building a device to use the shard to return the planets. Initially, they relied on Al for remote tech support, but eventually sought help from the terachnoids after Al insulted Qwark's capabilities.

Qwark telling Ratchet to use the wrench on the Shard.

In Bros Before Foes, Ratchet returned with the shard, but Zogg attacked the Apogee Space Station. Qwark fled with the shard to his ship, intending to escape, ignoring Sasha's request for help, but Clank tied him down with duct tape. When Zogg confronted him, Qwark apologized for running against him and pleaded with Zogg not to punish the entire universe for his mistake. Zogg ignored him, but Qwark passed on the information about the shard's vulnerability to negative energy, which allowed Ratchet to hit it and create a portal that banished Zogg. Two weeks later, all planets were returned. Qwark was credited for "defeating a crazed planet thief with arms tied behind his back", and his approval rating rose by one point.

All 4 One

During Qwark's presidency, several attempts were made on his life. His presidency was tainted by the galaxy being in debt, the city of Luminopolis, Igliak considered a "shambles", and him taking a lavish Meridian City retreat forged from raritanium.

President Qwark in his office.

President Qwark assured Kip Darling in an interview that the search for Dr. Nefarious was ongoing. He took Ratchet and Clank with him to Luminopolis, Igliak, to accept an "Intergalactic Tool of Justice" award, only to be caught in a trap set by Dr. Nefarious, who unleashed a Z'Grute to assassinate them. When the plan backfired and the Z'Grute turned on Dr. Nefarious, Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark allied with him to defeat it. During the chaos, they were abducted by Ephemeris, which had come for the Z'Grute. Ephemeris transported them to the Minion Training Center on Magnus, where they were freed by an orphaned tharpod named Susie. At Clank's suggestion, Qwark stated that Dr. Nefarious must work with them to find a way off-world, to which Nefarious begrudgingly agreed.

Cronk and Zephyr tracked Qwark's nav-unit to Magnus but were unable to retrieve them due to being stranded in an asteroid field, meaning the four still needed another way to escape. After learning of the tharpods' oppression by the collector minions, Qwark was initially fearful of getting involved. However, Ratchet reminded him that helping could win him thousands of potential vo ters, parades, and groupies, which swayed him.

Qwark while being teamed up with Ratchet, Clank, and Nefarious.

During their journey, Nefarious contemplated killing Qwark, and at one point, he attempted to do so, only to almost fall to his own death—saved at the last moment by Qwark. Over time, Qwark and Nefarious developed a reluctant camaraderie. However, after they defeated the Loki Master, the mastermind behind the collector minions, Qwark was disappointed when Nefarious fled alone.

Full Frontal Assault

Qwark aboard the Starship Phoenix II alongside Ratchet and Clank.

At some point during his time as Galactic President, Qwark spent taxpayer money to have workers at the Hall of Knowledge build a galactic weather control grid into the galaxy's defense network, to make sure the weather was always pleasantly sunny for his presidential visits.

Facing off against the Qwark Mech.

Three months after Qwark lost the next presidential election, he, Ratchet, and Clank resided aboard the Starship Phoenix II, and complained of boredom. When Stuart Zurgo, a former superfan of Qwark who had felt betrayed by Qwark's scandals, contacted them about three Planetary Defense Centers he had deactivated, Qwark, elated at now having something to do, re-formed the Q-Force with Ratchet and Clank. Zurgo eventually revealed his identity (Qwark recognizing him as a writer of disturbing fanfiction) and plan: to gain Qwark's access key to the weather control grid and throw it into chaos, framing Qwark through a hologuise. The group defeated Zurgo aboard his Qwark mech in his lair on Ebaro. As they headed off to clear Qwark's name and bring Zurgo to the authorities, Qwark accidentally dropped Zurgo off an elevated bridge, causing him bodily harm.

Before the Nexus

Qwark hosted a Captain Qwark vid-comic convention, which a terachnoid scientist named Fleebar Snuttleblast was believed to have skipped his work at Pollyx Industries to attend, before it was discovered he had been kidnapped by Vendra and Neftin Prog. Qwark later provided advice to Ratchet and Clank via communicator, during their pursuit of the Prog twins through Axiom City.

Into the Nexus

Qwark had written and published his own memoir entitled Muscles, Memories, and Masks: My Life as a Legend, which was handed out for free at the Intergalactic Museum of History gift shop in Meridian City, Igliak. He had also sponsored an exhibit in the museum's Solana galactorium, which showcased an interactive replica of the Biobliterator.

After Talwyn Apogee briefed Qwark on Ratchet and Clank's situation in the Zarkov Sector, Qwark contacted them and insisted on lending his full support, and headed to Yerek with Aphelion in tow. Qwark helped the duo escape a horde of nethers using his ship's tractor beam, before then safely landing with them in the Meero Ruins, where he expressed his respect for Cronk and Zephyr after learning of their deaths. On the news that Vendra Prog had built a counterfeit Dimensionator, Qwark assured the duo that the real one was safe and secure at the Intergalactic Museum of History. Qwark however forgot the code to shut down the museum's security system, requiring Ratchet and Clank to fight the defenses to reach it.

Qwark later went to Meridian City with Neftin Prog and Pollyx to help fix the Dimensionator, and banish the unleashed nethers back to the Netherverse, working from the city's racketball club as Ratchet and Clank fought back the nether invasion. During the final battle with Mr. Eye, Qwark gave Ratchet (unhelpful) combat advice via communicator.

Rift Apart

Qwark hosting the Festival of Heroes with Skidd McMarx and Rusty Pete.

Qwark helped organize Megalopolis' Festival of Heroes, which he also hosted alongside Skidd McMarx and Rusty Pete, providing commentary on Ratchet and Clank's life journey so far, which was planned to culminate in Clank gifting the repaired Dimensionator to Ratchet, until the festival was interrupted by the Goons-4-Less and Dr. Nefarious.

Though Qwark did not take part in the adventure Ratchet and Clank would have in Rivet's dimension, they met his counterpart, Quantum, a former resistance member and old comrade of Rivet's, who later became captain of the space pirates. When speaking of Qwark to Quantum, Ratchet mentions Qwark's many flaws, but appreciates his will to always keep trying to be a hero in spite of them, inspiring Quantum to try and do the same. Nobody named Captain Qwark was known to exist in Rivet's dimension.

Qwark, Quantum and Pierre Le Fer watch the reparation of the dimensions.

During Emperor Nefarious' cross-dimensional invasion of Megalopolis, Qwark lended his support to the rebel forces in their efforts to defeat him. Qwark met with his counterpart and gave him lessons in making heroic speeches as they battled the emperor. After Emperor Nefarious' defeat and the reparation of the damage to the dimensions, Qwark continued coaching Quantum, teaching him heroic poses.

Characteristics

Appearance

Concept art of Qwark from Up Your Arsenal.

Qwark is a rather tall humanoid, typically depicted about twice Ratchet's height. His official height (as per All 4 One) is 10'5" (317.5cm). He has blonde hair, blue eyes (green prior to Tools of Destruction), peach-colored skin, three-fingered hands, and a large cleft chin. Qwark's proportions are exaggerated, with a large, muscular upper body shaped like an inverted triangle atop a smaller, compact lower body. He has a tribal tattoo on his left arm, which he received whilst on Florana. Though he resembles a human more than any character in the series, his exact species is unknown.

His most common attire is his iconic superhero costume, which consists of green spandex that covers most of his body, green gloves, a yellow belt, metallic bronze-colored boots, a red antenna on his head, and a Qwark logo on his chest (an atom with a yellow lightning bolt resembling the letter "Q"). Qwark has been known to wear other outfits, such as a suit and tie while serving as the President of the Polaris Galaxy and facing time in court, though he often wears these over his superhero costume. Qwark has never been seen maskless.

R&C (2002)

Tools of Destruction

A Crack in Time

All 4 One

R&C (2016)

Rift Apart

Personality

Qwark rewarding himself for his heroics.

Qwark is a narcissist who portrays himself as embodying all the traits of a perfect hero, such as strength, bravery, nobility, and intelligence, but in reality is cowardly, selfish, gullible, bumbling, and foolish. He is particularly conceited regarding his own appearance and physique, and is normally driven by the pursuit of fame and money, though after Up Your Arsenal, he can be persuaded to do the right thing, and deep down has the desire to be a true hero. Qwark's cowardice and stupidity make him primarily comic relief, yet his capacity to be both helpful and dangerous can make him unpredictable. In Rift Apart, Ratchet notes to Qwark's counterpart, Quantum, that despite all of his flaws and mistakes, Qwark is always there when he is needed and never stops trying.

A notable character trait of Qwark's is his penchant for embellished storytelling. Qwark will often tell stories of his own heroic adventures, with dramatic narration, though these are implied to be exaggerated or false, with him often making up claims entirely or taking credit for good deeds performed by others. Qwark has told stories of his adventures in vid-comics, opera performances, and holo-films. Qwark greatly dislikes nature and wildlife (a trait he ironically shares with his nemesis, Dr. Nefarious), and enjoys the luxurious comforts of civilization; the exception to this is his great affection for the cyclophic monkeys of Florana. He has an aversion to large bodies of water due to his poor swimming skills. One of his favorite foods is meatloaf, and he is allergic to prunes. His personal email address is captainpectoral33@q-force.com.

Abilities

Qwark lifting a ten ton weight.

Qwark has demonstrated a high degree of strength, showing himself able to break down large stone doors, and defeat various enemies with his bare hands. Using days of kung-fu class training, Qwark developed his own 'Crouching Kitten style' martial art, featuring moves like the Crouching Kitten Chop and the Crouching Kitten Jump-Kick of Sorrow. He claims his signature move is 'The Silent Possum,' which involves him curling into a fetal position while mentally projecting himself to a happy place. He describes his overall fighting style as a mixture of Crouching Kitten and Sleeping Possum. Qwark has been shown capable of battling and defeating the same enemies Ratchet fights, but is hampered by his cowardice, and lacks in perceptiveness, making him vulnerable to surprise attacks. Qwark displays the ability to not need any sort of breathing apparatus whilst in a vacuum, as he could hold his breath for an incredibly long time (allegedly as long as six days), and even talk while doing so.

The Qwark vid-comics depict Qwark as quite athletic and physically powerful, able to perform high jumps, consecutive wall-kicks, and defeat various hostile creatures and robots with his punches. He also utilized a number of handheld weapons, including an energy blaster, flame blaster, and bomb launcher.

Qwark using his boomerang to fight Ratchet and Clank.

Qwark makes use of a wide variety of equipment in battle. He primarily uses his own personalized blaster, and has skillfully piloted ships in aerial combat. In the Ratchet & Clank movie, he typically wielded a Combuster, and fought Ratchet using multiple weapons, including a Cryoshot, Spiral of Death, Warmonger, and Tornado Launcher. During his boss fight in the re-imagined game, he primarily used his Combuster, and occasionally utilized a Warmonger, Agents of Doom, and Groovitrons. In All 4 One, Qwark's melee weapons were his fists, which he referred to as his "Fists of Justice". He made use of a great array of GrummelNet weapons, as well as his own RYNO VI Protosuit, and his special weapon, the Quantum Deflector. Qwark also possessed skill with throwing spinning boomerang-like blades, utilizing them during his battle with Ratchet in Up Your Arsenal, as well as his comet-strike in All 4 One.

An illustation from one of Qwark's operation plans.

Using his education in schematic artistry, Qwark devises plans of operation for missions, which are fairly simplistic and typically drawn using crayons, but nonetheless are effective. Though often foolish and bumbling, Qwark becomes remarkably resourceful when driven, devising intricate schemes to either thwart or assist Ratchet and Clank. Due to his time on Florana, Qwark is able to fluently speak and understand the languages of the Nabla Forest natives and cyclophic monkeys.

Celebrity monetization

Qwark presenting a commercial for Al's Roboshack.

Exploiting his status as a high-profile celebrity superhero for money, Qwark has entered into many business ventures in personal brand licensing, acting, and endorsement as a corporate spokesperson. By the events of Ratchet & Clank, Qwark's popularity had faded, leaving him a washed-up superhero who stayed relevant only through corporate endorsements—hosting commercials, presenting awards, and infamously serving as the official spokesman for Drek's new planet. When promoting or presenting something, Qwark would often declare it 'Qwarktastic!'—his signature seal of approval, regardless of quality—or tell his audience to 'Have a Qwarktastic day!'

Qwark has his own company named Qwark Enterprises, which is responsible for managing his personal brand. A Qwark bot was used as an avatar by Qwark to present his fitness course in Metropolis and provide liability disclaimers, stipulating that Qwark Enterprises was not legally responsible for sprains, broken bones, snapped tendons, bruised egos, or accidental death incurred while taking the challenge. The company has patented a number of Qwark's fighting moves, infringements on which can result in legal action from his lawyers. He also owns Qwark's Spandex Hero Emporium, a vigilante depot and winery, and a prepared food ordering and delivery platform named Qwark's Grub Grab, which delivers around the Solana Galaxy.

As an actor, Qwark has starred in multiple holo-films and holovision shows, including My Blaster Runs Hot and Unicop (both made by Vox Holo-films), and also a double-team production named Hero Sandwich. Qwark had a talent manager named Cyrus, who administered his role as Unicop, and he later had a falling out with after the show's untimely cancellation. He also had his own holovision channel named the Qwark Classic Channel, and starred in the episodic series, Dogfight Over Death Canyon. He also appeared in video games, most notably his own series of Qwark vid-comics—which chronicled his alleged heroics—and the arcade adaptation of his starring holo-film, My Blaster Runs Hot: The Game.

He has licensed and endorsed numerous products under his own brand, including: Captain Qwark Tearless Shampoo and Conditioner, a breakfast cereal named Frosted Qwarkios, Qwarktastic Chewable Vitamins, Q-Force tote bags and travel mugs, a Qwark energy drink, the Qwark Suppositractor for treating incontinence (which may also cause incontinence), and a moisturising lotion named Q-Pore (which has a number of potentially lethal side effects). Qwark has also authored books—including the exercise guide Body by Qwark and his memoir Muscles, Memories, and Masks: My Life as a Legend—though neither sold well and were often given away for free.

Disguises

Qwark, disguised as a woman, calling the Supernova Taxi service.

Throughout the series, Qwark has donned many disguises to escape publicity. He cites his eight years of high school theater workshops in enabling him to play his personas. In Ratchet & Clank, Qwark used his most basic disguise of wearing a mustache and selling merchandise under the alias "Steve McQwark", selling PDAs, Personal Hygenators and other bogus merchandise that he claimed were official Gadgetron products. Later, in Going Commando, he disguised himself as the CEO of Megacorp, Abercrombie Fizzwidget, and took over to manage the company; while several employees close to Fizzwidget noticed a change in personality when Qwark donned the disguise, they dismissed it as simply a byproduct of Fizzwidget's age. Qwark has also often disguised himself as female, affecting his voice to sound higher, with his most notable female disguise being "Nurse Shannon" used in A Crack in Time.

Qwark has gone under the aliases "Steve McQwark", "Nurse Shannon", "Strong Jaw", "Stefan Qwarkanopolus", "Finnegan O'Qwarksalot", "Walter Qwarkowski", "Herschel Qwarkenstein", "John Quincy Qwark", "Lucius Von Qwark", "Shirley Bigguns", and "Porky Qwarky".

As an enemy

Ratchet fighting against Qwark aboard the Deplanetizer.

Qwark and enemies bearing his likeness have been fought on multiple occasions. In the original Ratchet & Clank, he was fought piloting a starfighter given to him by Drek at the Gemlik Base. In the re-imagined Ratchet & Clank, the duo fought Qwark aboard the Deplanetizer, where he wielded his own Combuster, Warmonger, Agents of Doom, and Groovitrons against Ratchet. In Up Your Arsenal, he appeared as a boss as the Florana Tree Beast on Florana, and hostile Qwark bots guarded his hideout in the Thran Asteroid Belt. In Deadlocked, an unlockable cheat called "Kill Qwark!" turns DZ Strikers into Qwark bots.

Clank fighting against mini Qwarks in his subconscious.

Figments of Qwark appeared as enemies in the minds of both Ratchet and Clank: as chainsaw-throwing Doctor Qwarks in Ratchet's Dreamtime sequence (Size Matters), and as miniature versions within Clank's subconscious (A Crack in Time). These mini Qwarks initially attack Clank with their fists, but later variants wield blasters. In Full Frontal Assault, a giant Qwark mech made in his likeness was piloted by Stuart Zurgo and served as the game's final boss.

Behind the scenes

Character development

Qwark's early red design

Concept art of Qwark from Up Your Arsenal

Captain Qwark was designed near the start of production by Dave Guertin. Guertin presented several options for the emblem on his chest or his eye color, and originally presented the character with a red suit. This was to avoid comparisons with Blasto, a relatively popular franchise on the original PlayStation. Qwark shares a similar name with the Star Trek character Quark, who ironically was portrayed by Armin Shimerman, the voice actor of Dr. Nefarious in the Ratchet & Clank series. Quarks are elementary particles that make up protons and neutrons in atoms, hence the Q logo resembles a molecule.

Aspects of Qwark parody elements of superheroes from pop culture, particularly Superman. Qwark's hideout on the frozen Thran Asteroid Belt takes much inspiration from Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Qwark also referred to his townhouse residence in the Cerullean Sector as his "Townhouse of Solitude".

The names of many of Qwark's aliases are parodies of famous real-world figures such as American actor Steve McQueen and US president John Quincy Adams.

Qwark was voiced by Jim Ward in every appearance (since the 2002 original game), until the 2021 animated short film, Ratchet & Clank: Life of Pie. His scene in which he provided the commercial for Al's Roboshack in Metropolis was the scene which Insomniac used to determine the humor of the game. Citing complications of Alzheimer's Disease and COVID-19 in 2021, he was forced to retire from voice acting, and thus was unable to reprise his role in Rift Apart. Instead, Scott Whyte provided the voice of Qwark in the game.

Unused dialogue in Tools of Destruction revealed Qwark originally had lines during the invasion of Metropolis that added new information to the character. His lines included talk of an amusement park named Qwarkland, describing himself as an honrary ambassador for the city as he surrendered to Tachyon, and a notice inviting single female refugees from the morning invasion to report to his personal quarters at the Planetary Defense Center.

When developing the 2016 re-imagining game of the original Ratchet & Clank, Qwark's narration was selected after a short discussion internally to unify the stories between the game and the re-imagined movie, as his over-exaggeration and falsehoods in his storytelling allowed them creative freedom while still unifying the stories together.

Gameplay development

The boss fight in Up Your Arsenal was programmed by Tony Garcia. Originally, Captain Qwark was going to taunt Ratchet throughout the battle fight with voice lines, referring to himself as "Steve". Qwark would refer to Ratchet as a "dung beaver", and remark that Ratchet was "strangely familiar" and would "make good dinner" for his monkey. This dialogue is seen in early builds of the game. Some developers for Up Your Arsenal wanted Qwark's AI to be advanced for the boss fight against the Biobliterator at the end, but this was not achievable due to the limited amount of time left.

TJ Fixman had desired to write for a Captain Qwark 2D side-scroller prequel, similar to the vid-comics in Up Your Arsenal, but was never able to before he left Insomniac.

Non-canonical appearances

Qwark has appeared in the manga, Ratchet & Clank: Gagaga! Ginga no Gakeppuchi Densetsu.

Made by Insomniac Games, an introduction video presented by Qwark and Ratchet played to the audience of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) Awards at the DICE Summit in 2010.

In the short film, Ratchet & Clank: Life of Pie, Ratchet and Clank encounter Qwark when brining the Portalizer to the weapons museum in Galactic City, resulting in him using it to enter a portal to the Pizza-Verse, in hopes of becoming their spokesperson, with his poor behavior leading to an invasion by the native toppings.

Non-Ratchet & Clank cameos

Qwark appears in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale in the Metropolis stage. In it, he will begin walking around flexing in the background and admiring a gold statue of himself, before a Hydra tosses him away. He later returns and battles the Hydra, and manages to defeat it. Qwark is also mentioned at the end of Ratchet and Clank's arcade mode story, when the duo mention he would have enjoyed the tournament, but was likely still angry at Ratchet for packing him a pair of Stunderwear prior to the game's events.

In Minecraft, a Qwark skin is included in Skin Pack 2 in PlayStation versions of the Legacy Console and Bedrock Editions.

Reception

Captain Qwark received a positive reaction overall. IGN praised his character as "pretty hysterical", commending the voice acting and listing him as an example of the great cast in Up Your Arsenal. GameSpot referred to him as the "center of attention when on screen", and claimed that his "consistent string of jokes maintains a goofy, lighthearted vibe throughout your quest"; they later referred to him as a "narcissistic buffoon", and said that his narration of the 2016 Ratchet & Clank game is "central to [its] charm", while his remarks on Ratchet's equipment is as "entertaining as it is helpful". Likewise, Hardcore Gamer expressed disappointment at his reduced screen time in Into the Nexus, listing him as an example of a character who "mean[s] a lot to fans of the franchise". GamesRadar listed Qwark as number 5 of their top 7 "Best Frenemies", while IGN listed Qwark as their 54th in their list of the "100 Videogame Villains".

Qwark became such a vital part of the series that fans became upset when he was left out of games.

References

Video games

• Insomniac Games (2002). Ratchet & Clank [Game]. Sony Computer fEntertainment. PlayStation 2.
• 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.
• High Impact Games (2007). Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation Portable.
• High Impact Games (2008). Secret Agent Clank [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation Portable.
• Insomniac Games (2007). Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
• 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 (2012). Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
• Insomniac Games (2013). Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
• Insomniac Games (2016). Ratchet & Clank [Game]. Sony Interactive Entertainment. PlayStation 4.
• 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.
• Fixman, TJ (2010). Ratchet & Clank (Issue 3: Lost and Spaced) [Book]. Wild Storm.
• Fixman, TJ (2010). Ratchet & Clank (Issue 4: Thanks for the Armories) [Book]. Wild Storm.
• Fixman, TJ (2011). Ratchet & Clank (Issue 5: Multiple Organisms) [Book]. Wild Storm.
• Fixman, TJ (2011). Ratchet & Clank (Issue 6: Bros Before Foes) [Book]. Wild Storm.

Websites

• Insomniac Games (2021, August 21). "Ratchet & Clank: 10 Years of Concept Art". From IGN. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017.
• Fixman, TJ [@TJFixman] (2018, August 29). 2) A Qwark prequel - I wanted a Qwark-only side-scrolling game that showed how he came to don the spandex. [Tweet]. Twitter.
• Philips, Greg (2016, April 29). "The Ratchet & Clank Movie Hits Theaters Today". From PlayStation Blog. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017.
• Dunham, Jeremy (2004, October 29). "Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal Review". From IGN. Archived from the original on July 27, 2017.
• McShea, Tom (2009, October 27). "Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time Review". From Gamepost. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017.
• Dunsmore, Kevin (2013, November 11). "Review: Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus". From Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017.
• Moser, Cassidee (2016, April 11). "Ratchet & Clank Review". From GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017.
• Reparaz, Mikel (n.d.) . "The Top 7 Best frenemies: Page 2". From GamesRadar. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017.
• IGN (2010, May 11). "The Top 100 Videogame Villains". From IGN. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017.

Videos

• Price, Ted; Schafer, Tim [@GDC] (2015, December 21). Devs Play S2E02 · "Ratchet & Clank" with Ted Price and Tim Schafer [Video]. YouTube.
• Allgeier, Brian; Fixman, TJ [@GDC] (2018, June 26). 15 Years of Ratchet & Clank: A Lombax Story [Video]. YouTube.
• Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [@uselesspodcasts] (2012, March 19). Ratchet & Clank 3 Dev Commentary: 2 - Florana and Tony's Crates [Video]. YouTube.
• Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [@uselesspodcasts] (2012, December 30). Ratchet & Clank 3 Dev Commentary: 36 - Doctor Nefarious [Video]. YouTube.
• Insomniac Games (2022, November 1). RATCHET 20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION LIVESTREAM. Archived from the original on November 13, 2022.