Template:Appearances Copernicus Leslie Qwark, most commonly known as Captain Qwark or simply Qwark, is a support character in the Ratchet & Clank series. He is one of the most frequently recurring characters, first as an antagonist in Ratchet & Clank and Going Commando, though later as a support character following Up Your Arsenal, with playable roles in Secret Agent Clank, All 4 One, and Full Frontal Assault. Captain Qwark is an intergalactic celebrity from Kerwan in the Solana Galaxy, who is portrayed, marketed, and revered by the populace as a superhero who is brave, noble, strong, and has defeated many intergalactic villains. In reality, Qwark is a superhero, but sometimes he works with the enemy of the state.
Captain Qwark has allegedly fought and defeated countless villains, including Dr. Nefarious, his nemesis. Ratchet originally idolized Captain Qwark, and Clank sought his help to defeat Chairman Drek. However, after they met him, Qwark betrayed them and revealed he was being paid by Drek, leading to the two of them defeating him before defeating Drek. He later took over Megacorp by masquerading as its CEO, Abercrombie Fizzwidget, and spreading the Protopet menace so that he could pose as the hero to redeem himself and save the Bogon Galaxy, though he was once again stopped by Ratchet and Clank. When Dr. Nefarious returned to the Solana Galaxy, Captain Qwark, after being returned from exile, led the Q-Force in the fight against Nefarious, and upon being convinced by Ratchet and Clank, became a much more moral, if still highly arrogant and unintelligent, hero who would support the duo on their many adventures. Aside from continuing to sell his own brand of merchandise, Qwark became elected as the President of the Polaris Galaxy.
Qwark is a superhero who often provides comic relief. While he has become more moral following Up Your Arsenal, and he has proven far more willing to aid Ratchet and Clank on their adventures, his arrogance, stupidity, and cowardice not only undermine his image as a hero, but have caused the duo grief. At times, Qwark has been known to surrender to the villain in order to save his own skin, while at others, he has unintentionally provoked an enemy. Nonetheless, Qwark has been willing to accompany and support the two, and has often requested their help in defending the universe from threats. Prior to Ratchet & Clank, he was a true hero.
History
Early history
Qwark's parents
Qwark never knew his parents, and 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 from a young age.[1]
Qwark claimed to have at some point attended the Kerwan Learning Annex school where he learned to draw schematics.[2] According to the vid-comics, he attended high school and remained in the ninth grade at 26 years old, and would often bully Nefarious in his biology class, who still considered him a friend in spite of poor treatment.[3] Following this, Qwark attended a three-week superhero correspondence course, and became known as "Captain Qwark." Qwark allegedly faced many villains throughout his 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.[4] He also claimed to have battled a squid-beast on Oceana VIII,[5] defeated a mechanical monster called 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 the Space Kudzu, and protected a dam on Hydrano from Cactus Beasts.[6] Qwark embarked on many adventures for which he accepted hundreds of awards, and only two had involved a confrontation with a Light-Eating Z'Grute.[7] He had written a book documenting his adventures entitled Muscles, Memories, and Masks: My Life as a Legend, which was handed out for free at the Intergalactic Museum of History.[8]
As told in a vid-comic series, Qwark defeated the ghost pirate robot Captain Blackstar, for which he received 1,000,000,000,000 bolts, donated to the Qwark for Tots Scholarship Fund.[9] After this, he encountered Dr. Nefarious on Rilgar, fighting off his army of Amoeboids,[10] and confronted him later at his base after unsuccessfully trying to sneak in, where he threw Nefarious into machinery that would transform him into his robotic form.[3] Qwark later fought the robotic Nefarious on Kerwan, thwarting an attempt to attack the city of Metropolis,[11] though Nefarious' butler Lawrence incapacitated and imprisoned him; he managed to escape, and fled to his hideout on the Thran Asteroid, returning when assuming Nefarious' inactivity meant he was gone for good.[12]
Qwark became an intergalactic celebrity, and made many public appearances, including endorsing Big Al's Roboshack for commercials,[13] and presenting prizes for the Blackwater City Hovercon Intergalactic Hoverboard Competition.[14]
Ratchet & Clank
Captain Qwark and Chairman Drek
Qwark was hired by Chairman Drek as the highly paid spokesperson for his new planet.[15] 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, which Qwark was aware of. Qwark traveled to Blackwater City to present the prize for the hoverboard race, located in a trailer with his bouncer preventing Ratchet and Clank from getting in after Qwark had been hounded by reporters.[16] The two located him on Rilgar, and then bribed his bouncer to let him in.
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. Ratchet was left furious by the encounter, and he no longer sought Drek's defeat, but revenge against Qwark.
Captain Qwark as Steve McQwark, selling the Gadgetron PDA
Qwark returned to Drek to report on his progress, where Drek expressed disappointment at Qwark and demanded he follow his orders from then on. He then sent Qwark to use a starfighter to defeat Ratchet and Clank on the Gemlik Base in the orbit above planet Oltanis. Ratchet shot Qwark's ship down using a jet fighter, and claimed victory, causing Qwark to go into hiding on Oltanis, posing as Steve McQwark. He sold the PDA, a product that 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,[17] used to fund his comeback.
Re-imagined
While in prison, Captain Qwark, sharing a cell with Zed, also met a new arriving inmate, Shiv Helix, a dangerous criminal who turned out to be a fan of Captain Qwark. Helix informed Qwark that he had preordered 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, prompting Helix to request to hear his side. Qwark then told his version of the holo-film's events.[18]
In his retelling and the holo-film, Qwark had been the leader of a team, the Galactic Rangers, commissioned by Galactic President Phyronix. The team consisted of himself, Cora Veralux, 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 believed to have died in a subsequent prison escape.
Qwark recruiting Ratchet and Clank
When Chairman Drek began destroying planets such as Tenemule with the Deplanetizer in order to construct his New Quartu, President Phyronix commissioned Qwark to recruit a new Galactic Ranger.[19] Qwark searched the galaxy for recruits, hosting tryouts on Veldin, where among the tryouts was a lombax named Ratchet. Qwark rejected Ratchet due to his reckless past and inexperience, and failed 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.
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.[18] However, unbeknownst to Ratchet, Qwark began to grow jealous of Ratchet's increasing popularity, which overshadowed his own.[19] After Ratchet gathered schematics for an XK-81 Jetpack,[18] 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 holo-film that Qwark omitted from his tale to Shiv Helix, after being cornered by Zurkons from within the factory on Quartu, Qwark was approached by Drek, who persuaded him to join forces with Drek and betray the Rangers, preying on his jealousy of Ratchet.[19]
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, and began to regret his decision. Qwark confronted Drek about his deception, and learnt that Dr. Nefarious was still alive and working with Drek, before being ushered away having made no progress.
When Ratchet and Clank infiltrated the Deplanetizer to stop it from destroying Umbris, Qwark fought the two to stop them, angry at Ratchet for ruining his life and career. Following the battle, Ratchet made Qwark lament the error of his ways, and apologize to him, before Dr. Nefarious arrived to kill the three of them. Qwark helped them stop Nefarious, who subsequently fell from his space station and crash landed on Umbris. He 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 get up. Asking the two to leave without him, Clank instead pulled the teleporter out from the floor, allowing him to escape with them. After celebrating with Ratchet and Clank, Qwark was imprisoned for his crimes of betraying the Rangers and helping Drek.
In the holo-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.[19]
Between Ratchet & Clank and Going Commando
Captain Qwark on trial
Due to his sale of illegal merchandise, Qwark was ordered by the Galactic Court to pay 6,000,000,000 bolts to those suffering from Personal Hygenator Syndrome that caused users severe irritation and itches in sensitive body areas.[20] Qwark kept his funds and fled to planet Pokitaru, but was placed in jail for attempting to flee the courts.[21] At some point after this, Qwark presumably met Shiv Helix in prison, where he told his story.
Captain Qwark planning his comeback with the Protopet
Qwark later escaped trial by flushing himself down the toilet, after which his whereabouts were unknown.[22] He fled to the Bogon Galaxy 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 Protopet, then known as the "Experiment", before Angela Cross could tame its flaws, setting up his big comeback.[23]
Going Commando
Qwark diguised 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.
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 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",[24] 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.[25] 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.
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, becoming the Florana Tree Beast.
Up Your Arsenal
Qwark as the Florana Tree Beast.
When Dr. Nefarious attacked the Solana Galaxy, President Phyronix requested Ratchet and Clank track down the Florana Tree Beast advertised in Nature's Mysteries, which was Qwark, as Qwark was the only man to have faced Nefarious and lived. When they found Qwark, he had lost his memory and believed he was a monkey, leading the two to escort him back to the Starship Phoenix where he was briefly housed with his monkey friend Skrunch. After Ratchet completed a Qwark vid-comic in front of him, Qwark regained his memory and founded the Q-Force, a team consisting of himself, Sasha Phyronix of the Starship Phoenix, his former fitness instructor Helga, racer Skidd McMarx, Big Al from the Roboshack he had formerly endorsed in his career, Skrunch, Ratchet, and Clank.
Qwark coordinated several Q-Force missions, including the mission to infiltrate Nefarious' base on planet Aquatos and to defeat the Tyhrranoids on Tyhrranosis. Ratchet and Clank were often on the front lines of these missions, though he claimed to credit for the defeat of the Momma Tyhrranoid in an interview with Darla Gratch. When Ratchet learned that Nefarious was hiding out in his star cruiser, the Leviathan in the Zeldrin Starport, Qwark led the mission to confront Nefarious on the ship. The ship self destructed and crashed on the planet, with Qwark going down alongside it, and was presumed dead.
Later, Ratchet and Clank reached the crash site on planet Zeldrin, they found a data disk containing the plans for the Biobliterator, Dr. Nefarious' superweapon, where Qwark's escape pod had landed. After playing through Qwark vid-comic Issue 5: The Shaming of the Q, they learned that Qwark had a hideout on the Thran Asteroid, and found him there, learning he was in exile. Qwark declined to help them defeat Nefarious, and was presumed inactive afterwards, though he later flew in on his shuttle to help Ratchet and Clank destroy the second Biobliterator on planet Mylon, saving them at the last minute. Finally, Qwark was seen watching the Secret Agent Clank movie premier along with Skrunch.
Deadlocked
Skrunch watching TV with Qwark
Qwark did not feature in Deadlocked, though he made a cameo appearance at the end delivering a message to Ratchet and Clank, in which he claimed to still be living in blissful ignorance along with Skrunch.
Size Matters
Qwark spying on Ratchet and Clank on Pokitaru
Qwark was noticed by Clank on Pokitaru, and after Clank questioned if he should instead be with his family, Qwark explained he never knew them, and was adopted and raised by monkeys on Florana. When Luna, a girl interviewing Ratchet, was kidnapped by robots, Qwark followed Ratchet and Clank after grabbing onto their ship and following them to Ryllus. He gave them advice on their next destination in return for being allowed to use the ship's computer to research his family tree. The three later left to planet Kalidon, and Qwark claimed he had found his parents on a website named "Faux-Family.com". Qwark then ran off to a Technomite factory to search for his father.
During Ratchet's time in the Dreamtime, he encountered many chainsaw wielding Qwarks as enemies.
When Ratchet and Clank caught up with Otto Destruct, the leader of the Technomites, it was revealed that Otto Destruct had fooled Qwark into believing he was his father, and Qwark closely followed his father, though Skrunch arrived with a newspaper that showed that Qwark's parents were once great heroes who had been killed by defective Technomite technology. Qwark tried to use Otto's Intelligence Machine to swap intelligence, though after Otto shrunk Qwark with a Shrink Ray, Skrunch operated it instead, swapping Otto's intelligence with Skrunch's. The miniaturized Qwark was later seen in Clank's apartment on Endako, explaining his "heroic deeds" on planet Oceana VIII to three miniature Ratchet clones.
Secret Agent Clank
Qwark as he appears in Secret Agent Clank
Klunk anonymously paid Qwark a large sum of money to write his autobiography, leading Qwark to travel with the biographer B.A.R.N.E.Y.. Qwark then provided false stories about his heroism for the biography while following Clank with a tracking device, which would allow Klunk to keep tabs on Clank.
Qwark using the Suc-Vac 3000
Qwark told B.A.R.N.E.Y. several stories, including fighting a giant robot, matching wits with the Jack of All Trades (using a Suc-Vac 3000 weapon against him), singing in an opera house about his adventures, rescuing space nuns, and fighting wild western Cactus Beasts. Later, after Clank fought Klunk in his underwater base, Qwark arrived on scene, and accidentally activated a teleporter from which he pulled the Eye of Infinity from Klunk's satellite laser, destroying it. As B.A.R.N.E.Y. was programmed to kill Qwark if anything happened to Klunk, B.A.R.N.E.Y. transformed into a giant mech to kill Qwark, though Clank saved him.
Tools of Destruction
Qwark sending the distress call to Ratchet
Qwark worked within the Planetary Defense Center on Kerwan, and following an attack from drophyd commandos led by Emperor Tachyon, requested the urgent help from Ratchet and Clank. While Ratchet and Clank tried to reach the Planetary Defense Center to defend the city, Qwark had in fact surrendered to Tachyon and went with him to the Polaris Galaxy.
While Ratchet and Clank explored Fastoon, the received a "holo-vite" from Qwark using an alias, encouraging them to visit the Imperial Fight Festival on Mukow, in which Qwark was now serving as the announcer. Qwark allowed Ratchet to enter using a disguise, and referred to him in the arena as "Mustachio Furioso". He would continue to serve as the announcer for the Fight Festival and allow them to anonymously compete for more prizes, and contacted them on planet Sargasso to ask them to compete for the Holo Pirate Disguise as the next prize. He also gave them an infobot that he had found in Tachyon's underwear drawer, which featured an episode of the Polaris Compendium of Historical Importantness explaining the IRIS supercomputer.
Later on, 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. After 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. He failed, crashed on planet Reepor, and was captured by Tachyon, who took the Dimensionator and brought the cragmites back.
Qwark had been taken to Meridian City on planet Igliak, where he had hidden and was released by Ratchet and Clank. Qwark was then freed, and returned to the Apogee Space Station where he learnt to speak pirate with Rusty Pete. After Clank was taken by the Zoni, Qwark was as surprised as the others.
Following the events of the game, Qwark recorded a movie titled My Blaster Runs Hot, and also starred in a film and TV show named Unicop, both advertised on Space Radio. Though he did not appear in Quest for Booty, near the beach on Hoolefar Island, a golden Qwark statue can be found half-buried along with copies of his book, Body by Qwark.
A Crack in Time
Captain Qwark in A Crack in Time
Qwark joined Ratchet in his search for Clank, joining him in the Aphelion. The ship crash-landed on planet Quantos, where they met several fongoid citizens to learn more about the Zoni, though Qwark and the fongoids were kidnapped by Lord Vorselon. Ratchet freed Qwark and the fongoids from Vorselon's Warship, and Qwark went to find help. However, in his search, he found the agorian race, who kidnapped him once again, and Ratchet freed Qwark at the Agorian Battleplex after defeating the War Grok, named "Snowball".
Captain Qwark is abducted by Lord Vorselon on Quantos
Qwark disguised himself as a nurse named "Shannon" to sneak into Dr. Nefarious' headquarters at the Nefarious Space Station. Qwark gave Ratchet, now reunited with Clank, the headquarters to the space station, and the three infiltrated the base with Ratchet using a disguise to mimic Nefarious to sneak into the chamber. He attempted to use Nefarious' cannon to destroy Nefarious' ships, but the three were caught and ejected into deep space through an asteroid. Qwark managed to escape, and along with Snowball, battled Nefarious' troops. When Ratchet and Clank returned later to defeat Nefarious and destroy the Nefarious Space Station, Qwark remained stranded by the explosion on a small piece of rock with Snowball.
Post-A Crack in Time
Helios under construction
Following A Crack in Time, Qwark had managed to survive the War Grok and settled in to live in the Polaris Galaxy. He took credit for Nefarious' defeat,
Later, Qwark was contacted by Artemis Zogg, the Polaris Galaxy's defense minister and a politician running for Galactic President who sought Qwark's endorsement. Zogg invited Qwark to view the Helios Program, who was initially keen to endorse Zogg, but was later convinced by Cyrus, his producer for the film Unicop, to run for president himself. When he was supposed to introduce Zogg and endorse him on the campaign trail, Qwark instead announced his own candidacy, and was elected president. He sent a cease and desist for the Helios Program to the Panel of Interstellar Know-It-Alls, believing the technology to be dangerous, and cited Tachyon's incident years earlier.[26]
Comic series
Galactic President Qwark in his ship on Veldin
Qwark arrived on Veldin, where Ratchet and Clank were staying, to request their help, as planets from several galaxies were mysteriously vanishing. Ratchet and Clank inquired more, with Clank making note of a "Helios Program", but Qwark denying having any knowledge of it. Ratchet ultimately declined to help as he was finished being a hero. Qwark flew away, unable to convince Ratchet to help.
Qwark then worked with both Talwyn Apogee and her warbots from Polaris and Sasha Phyronix and the Galactic Rangers from Solana, and they set up base in Talwyn's Apogee Space Station. When Ratchet and Clank agreed to help, Qwark confessed he had lied to them about having no knowledge of the Helios Program, arguing that lying was part of the job description as president, and explained to them that the Helios Program was built based a Surinox Shard, the same comet shard that the lombaxes used for the Dimensionators during the Great War, and explained his history with Zogg as he was convinced by Cyrus to run for president himself rather than endorse Zogg. Qwark then promised to work with Sasha, Talwyn, Ratchet and Clank to stop Zogg from abducting more planets.
Ratchet, Clank and Qwark later eventually managed to defeat Artemis Zogg, as Qwark correctly recalled that charging the Surinox Shard with negative energy would cause it to create a wormhole; this wormhole then entrapped Zogg in the same dimension that Tachyon had been trapped in. Qwark returned to his role as president afterwards.
All 4 One
Qwark in All 4 One in his Galactic President suit
There is no danger, everything is under control.
Qwark on the Nefarious situation, A4O
Qwark was interviewed by Kip Darling regarding the search for Dr. Nefarious, whose status had been updated from "dead" to "alive and at large". Qwark assured the public there was no danger as he looked outside his office and asked anyone he saw about Nefarious, to which he received no answer. Later, Qwark received a call that he were due to receive an "Intergalactic Tool of Justice Award" for defeating a Light-Eating Z'Grute. Despite having never done this, Qwark visited the city of Luminopolis on planet Igliak with Ratchet and Clank following him to receive the award from an anonymous character. However, Dr. Nefarious and Lawrence instead appeared, reanimating the Z'Grute, though losing control over it. Lawrence left, announcing his resignation, forcing Nefarious was forced to team up with Qwark, Ratchet, Clank and Qwark to defeat it, though they were then teleported away by a machine known as the Ephemeris to a testing laboratory on planet Magnus.
Captain Qwark in All 4 One
Qwark's warbots Cronk and Zephyr attempted to retrieve the four, but were stuck in an asteroid field and could not reach them. This forced them to look for a way to escape the world themselves and stop the Ephemeris. A small girl named Susie took the four to the tharpods, a race native to the planet, who explained the Ephemeris in detail to them. Eventually, they worked to destroy the machine and defeat the Loki Master, who had planned to use it to destroy the universe. At times, Nefarious attempted to take Qwark's life, before being stopped by the other two, and Qwark would warm up to Nefarious and save him in times of need.
The four defeated the Loki Master, and Cronk and Zephyr were finally able to arrive with the help of Lawrence. Qwark, Ratchet and Clank believed that Nefarious had changed his ways, though Nefarious instead fled the world with Lawrence and was then still at large as a supervillain.
Full Frontal Assault
Captain Qwark, bored, at the bridge of the Starship Phoenix II
Qwark was defeated at the next election and returned to heroic work, and began to reform the Q-Force in in Polaris, operating the Starship Phoenix II with Ratchet and Clank. Qwark was later contacted by an anonymous character that the Planetary Defense Centers on three planets had been deactivated, and that all of them would be deactivated if a single Polaris Defense trooper was found; only Ratchet, Clank and Qwark were permitted to fight him.
After they defeated the anonymous villain's grungarian forces on planet Markazia, the villain revealed himself to be Qwark fanboy, Stuart Zurgo, a former fan who was captain of the Qwark Cadets Fanclub, whom Qwark had let down. Qwark and the Q-Force defeated his forces on planets Ebaro and Proteus VII, though Zurgo had infiltrated their ship and taken over Ebaro's weather system, plunging the sector into chaos. Qwark and the Q-Force destroyed the generator before invading Zurgo's Lair of Doom to defeat him and bring him into Polaris' authorities. The game ended with Qwark talking with Ratchet about trying to deal with pirates, and receiving a response of needing to clear Qwark's name first.
Into the Nexus
Did someone say something about a savior?
Captain Qwark, ItN
Qwark meeting up with Ratchet and Clank at the Meero Ruins of planet Yerek
When Ratchet and Clank arrived on planet Yerek in the Zarkov Sector, Qwark was sent by Talwyn Apogee to assist, towing the Aphelion. Qwark insisted on coming and searched for the duo within Meero Ruins, spotting them near a cliff, and used a tractor beam on his ship to grab the two and fly off. Qwark's ship later landed in the Meero City Center, where the three could speak. Ratchet informed Qwark that Vendra Prog building a new Dimensionator, and ask Qwark if the real (broken) Dimensionator was safe; Qwark assured them it was displayed at the Intergalactic Museum of History on Igliak, and would be impossible to steal. Clank suggested that Ratchet and Qwark should destroy the Prog Dimensionator to prevent them from bringing more nethers into the universe.
Qwark helped Neftin Prog and Pollyx fix the Dimensionator after the nethers had invaded planet Igliak, to bring back Vendra Prog as part of a deal in which the two would give themselves into authorities if they rescued Vendra from the Netherverse. During the fight with Mr. Eye, Qwark gave Ratchet "helpful" advice.
Characteristics
Appearance
Qwark is a 6'5"[27] human-like being, with exaggerated body proportions; his upper body is large and muscular, while his lower body is small and compact. He has blond hair,[28] blue eyes (green prior to Tools of Destruction), a tribal tattoo received on Florana.[29] His exact species is unknown.[27]
His most common attire is his iconic Q-Force Uniform that consists of green tights that cover most of his body, with gray tights for his arms, green gloves for his hands, a yellow belt on his waist, a red antenna on top and a Qwark logo in the center (a blue and black atom with a lightning bolt that vaguely resembles 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 almost always keeps his tights on underneath, as they often still cover the top half of his face.
Personality
Qwark is a narcissist who portrays himself as having all the heroic qualities, such as strength, bravery, nobility, and intelligence, but is portrayed in reality as cowardly, selfish, gullible, bumbling, and foolish. He 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 galaxy's best interests at heart. Qwark serves largely as a comic relief character, due to his cowardice and stupidity.
A notable character trait of Qwark is his 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 foes entirely, and he often takes credit for good deeds performed by others, and enjoys the publicity of performing good deeds on camera. Qwark's has told stories of his adventures in vid-comics, opera performances, and holo-films.
Abilities
Ah! Pain; my Achilles Heel!
Qwark, A4O
Qwark lifting ten tons
Qwark has demonstrated a high degree of superhuman strength, showing himself in videos to have lifted ten tons with a single arm, and hold back a large boulder on a cliff. Qwark took days of kung-fu classes, resulting in him creating his own "Crouching Kitten style" martial art. He has been shown to be capable of fighting and surviving against large robots, defeating two Drophyd Troopers, surviving being eaten by monsters such as a Blargian Snagglebeast and Swamp Monster II, and vehicles with his body strength alone. The strength is confirmed by his actions in the beginning of A Crack in Time and by his huge muscles. He is also able to fly, as it is shown in a video and in reality. Qwark also did not need any sort of breathing apparatus while out in space, as he could hold his breath for an incredibly long time and even talk while doing so. Qwark is also capable of shrinking himself, as he will in All 4 One when Clank is being used in single player - in order to act as Clank's backpack.
Qwark's throwing weapon in All 4 One
Qwark makes use of a wide variety of equipment in combat. He primarily makes use of his own blaster, a pistol that he wields which fires lasers, and has piloted various different ships. In the re-imagined Ratchet & Clank movie, he typically wields two Combusters, and used a Tornado Launcher against Ratchet; in the re-imagined game, he also used Agents of Doom and Groovitrons during his boss fight. In All 4 One, he made use of a greater array of equipment, had his own RYNO VI Protosuit and a special weapon, the Quantum Deflector, his melee weapon in the game being his fists, here referred to as the "Fists of Justice", he also possessed a unique throwing weapon which he used for his comet-strike.
Qwark also devises plans of actions, these plans are fairly intelligent and tactical and are drawn using crayons.
Disguises
Nurse Shannon
Throughout the series, Qwark has donned many disguises to escape publicity. In Ratchet & Clank, Qwark used his most basic disguise of wearing a mustache and selling merchandise under the alias "Steve McQwark" (a possible reference to the American actor Steve McQueen), 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", "Abercrombie Fizzwidget", "Florana Tree Beast", "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
Qwark as an enemy in Size Matters
Qwark has been fought as an enemy on many occasions. In the original Ratchet & Clank, he was fought piloting a starfighter given to him by Drek in the Gemlik Base. In the re-imagined Ratchet & Clank, the two fight Qwark in the Deplanetizer, where Qwark wielded his own Combuster, Agents of Doom, and Groovitron, against Ratchet. He appeared as a boss as the Florana Tree Beast in Up Your Arsenal on Florana. In Size Matters and A Crack in Time, he appeared as an enemy in the subconsciousness of Ratchet and Clank respectively, as a Psycho Qwark in the dreamtime sequence in the former and a Mini Qwark in Clank's subconscious in the latter.
In Deadlocked, an unlockable cheat called "Kill Qwark!" turns DZ Strikers into Qwark-looking robots.
Relationships
Ratchet and Clank
Qwark panicking in the Aphelion with Ratchet
Qwark went from Ratchet's idol, to his most hated enemy after betraying him to help Drek, to a valued ally. After fighting Qwark on two occasions, Ratchet first allied with Qwark when commissioned to by President Phyronix to fight Dr. Nefarious, and worked for Qwark's Q-Force. Qwark would often send Ratchet on most of the dangerous missions, and take credit for Ratchet's accomplishments. However, when Qwark hid away from the conflict, Ratchet did not give up on him, until he found him and scolded him for cowardice. After this, Qwark helped save Ratchet from the Biobliterator and defeat Nefarious. From then on, Qwark became a close ally with Ratchet, if sometimes useless and unwanted, and often tags along on his adventures and provide help where he can.
Likewise, Clank sought Qwark's help at first before betrayal, though unlike Ratchet, was less driven by revenge against Qwark, more concerned with defeating Drek. When Qwark hid away from the conflict with Nefarious, after Ratchet scolded his cowardice, Clank instead offered Qwark words of encouragement, telling him that he had the chance to become the "hero he has always wanted to be". Qwark has later had much more respect for both Ratchet and Clank, and tried to help them.
Dr. Nefarious
Dr. Nefarious is Qwark's nemesis, and the two frequently scold one another in dialog. According to the vid-comics, they attended the same school as Nefarious, and was in his ninth-grade biology class (while he was 26 years old), and would often bully Nefarious, who nonetheless saw him as a friend. Qwark later fought Nefarious' Amoeboid armies on Rilgar, caused him to become a robot by throwing him into the machinery of his own fortress, and stopped his attack on Metropolis. When Nefarious returned to attempt to turn the entire galaxy into robots, Qwark was commissioned by President Phyronix as the only man to have faced Nefarious and lived to lead the charge against him. Likewise, when Ratchet went on a mission to rescue his friend Clank from Nefarious, Qwark tagged along. Nefarious was later forced to team up with Qwark, as well as Ratchet and Clank, to escape from planet Magnus, during which he warmed up to the three and after leaving, looked solemnly upon a photo of the four of them together indicating his opinion of them had improved.
Q-Force
Behind the scenes
Development
Qwark's early red design
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.[30]
Qwark was voiced by Jim Ward in every appearance. 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.[31]
Qwark shares a similar name with the Star Trek character Quark (who was voiced 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.
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.[32]
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.[33]
Non-canonical appearances
Qwark has appeared in the manga, Ratchet & Clank: Bang Bang Bang! Critical Danger of the Galaxy Legend.
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.
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.[34] 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";[35] 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".[36] 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".[37] GamesRadar listed Qwark as number 5 of their top 7 "Best Frenemies",[38] while IGN listed Qwark as their 54th in their list of the "100 Videogame Villains".[39]
Qwark became such a vital part of the series that fans became upset when he was left out of games.[40]
Gallery
References
- ↑ Size Matters
- ↑ Tools of Destruction
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Qwark vid-comic Issue 3: Shadow of the Robot
- ↑ Deadlocked
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
- ↑ Secret Agent Clank
- ↑ All 4 One
- ↑ Into the Nexus
- ↑ Qwark vid-comic Issue 1: Booty is in the Eye of the Beholder
- ↑ Qwark vid-comic Issue 2: Arriba Amoeba
- ↑ Qwark vid-comic Issue 4: Deja Q All Over Again
- ↑ Qwark vid-comic Issue 5: The Shaming of the Q
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2002 game) script § "infobot - Ad for Al's Roboshack"
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2002 game) script § "Infobox - Newscast from Rilgar"
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2002 game) script § "You really are an idiot."
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2002 game) script § "Hey, hey, hey! Press conference is over!"
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2002 game) script § "Personal Hygienator advertisement"
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Ratchet & Clank (2016 game)
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Ratchet & Clank (movie)
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Behind the Hero, Part II"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Behind the Hero, Part III", bth p3
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbth p3 - ↑ Going Commando script § "A shipment of... paperweights"
- ↑ Going Commando script § "If you are watching this, you're fired..."
- ↑ Going Commando script § "Disable the Disposal Facility's defenses (gameplay)"
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank: Issue 3: Lost and Spaced
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One Signature Series Guide: Qwark's height is mentioned in his profile of the guide.
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal: Revealed on Florana
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank: 10 Years of Concept Art. Insomniac Games (archived). Accessed October 21, 2017.
- ↑ Devs Play S2E02 · "Ratchet & Clank" with Ted Price and Tim Schafer, DoubleFineProd. YouTube. Accessed February 14, 2018.
- ↑ The Ratchet & Clank Movie Hits Theaters Today. PlayStation Blog. Accessed October 21, 2017.
- ↑
Tweet by @TJFixman on Twitter.
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal Review. IGN. Accessed July 27, 2017.
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time Review. GameSpot. Accessed October 21, 2017.
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (PS4) Review. GameSpot. Accessed October 21, 2017.
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus. Hardcore Gamer. Accessed October 21, 2017.
- ↑ The Top 7 Best frenemies: Page 2. GamesRader. Accessed October 21, 2017.
- ↑ The Top 100 Videogame Villains: Captain Qwark is number 54. IGN. Accessed October 21, 2017.
- ↑ 15 Years of Ratchet & Clank: A Lombax Story (@10:25) published by GDC on June 26, 2018 on YouTube. Accessed September 1, 2018.
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