Rivet

Biographical information
Residence	Sargasso (foster home)
Membership	Resistance
Physical description
Height	1.5 meters
Weight	40 kg
Species	Lombax
Gender	Female
Behind the scenes
Portrayed by	Jennifer Hale

Rivet is a playable character in Rift Apart. She is a lombax from an alternate dimension, said to be the dimensional counterpart of Ratchet. Rivet makes her debut in Rift Apart as a member of the Resistance force fighting against the evil Emperor Nefarious and his tyrannical empire.

When Clank gets separated from Ratchet, she takes him with her after finding him in Nefarious City following the Dimensionator's destruction. She later teams up with him and Ratchet to help them stop the dimensional cataclysm. On the way, she meets Kit, the counterpart of Clank, with whom she eventually forms a bond after a rocky start to their relationship.

History

Before Rift Apart

Rivet was raised by the morts on Sargasso, working for their gelatonium refineries as a delivery person.

Rivet came to work for the Resistance movement, alongside others including Captain Quantum, though Quantum eventually left for the space pirates. Throughout this time, she had few friends outside of the morts, and no companion, conducting her missions alone.

One day, Rivet found a secret entrance into the Emperor's tower and attempted to sneak in alone, only to have warbot KT-7461 (who would later be named "Kit"), while working for Emperor Nefarious, sneak up on her and blast off her right arm before suddenly stopping its attack. Following this, Rivet built herself a robotic arm, but had a deep mistrust of robots.

At some point, Rivet broke out of Zordoom Prison with Angela Cross.

Rift Apart

During a Resistance mission to steal an infobot on Nefarious City, Corson V, Rivet came across Clank, damaged from his and Ratchet's dimension-jumping conflict with Dr. Nefarious. Highly suspicious of him, Rivet doubted his stories of how he had come from another dimension, took him to her hideout to scan his brain to validate his stories, before regretting it as they revealed his honesty, eventually resolving to work with him. After obtaining a part to repair Clank's communicator from Pierre Le Fer at Zurkie's, the group agreed they needed to build another Dimensionator, with Rivet and Clank looking for Phase Quartz on Blizar Prime.

While searching for Phase Quartz, Rivet appreciated Clank's assistance as she was not accustomed to working with a partner, and expressed confusion that Ratchet was afraid to meet the lombaxes as she would have eagerly embraced the chance. Upon finding Blizar Prime destroyed in Rivet's dimension, they discovered that the mining platform had caused the destruction shortly after activating the mining drill. Dislodging the drill to save the planet, Rivet chose to save Clank from the mining laser, sacrificing the Phase Quartz to the laser. She then suggested they seek out the Fixer on Torren IV to repair it, but upon arriving, found the Fixer in an existential crisis, unable to fix anything as he was broken himself. When the Fixer identified Clank as a "fellow broken one," Rivet assured Clank he was no more broken than she was, referring to her also having lost an arm; this inspired Clank to declare himself "fixed," calming the Fixer, at which point he mended the Phase Quartz.

Rivet nervously meets Ratchet in person for the first time.

At Zurkie's, Rivet regrouped with Ratchet and Clank and met Kit to build the device, only for Dr. Nefarious to take it from them. Rivet and Kit teamed up to defeat him, but Emperor Nefarious returned and took the Dimensionator, then launched an attack on Sargasso. Rivet and Kit teamed up, but mutually agreed that despite seeing Ratchet and Clank's closeness that their partnership would be temporary as they were both used to working alone. After defending Sargasso, Rivet opened up about her story of losing her arm; Kit realized that she was the warbot responsible but was interrupted before she could confess to Rivet.

Rivet learns the truth about Kit.

Defending the Dimensional Archives on Savali from Emperor Nefarious, Kit revealed her warbot form to confront Emperor Nefarious. Rivet was frightened by Kit and felt betrayed, while Kit, Ratchet, and Clank were sent to Zordoom, leading Rivet to follow. There, she broke out Clank, Captain Quantum, Phantom, and the Resistance. Clank urged Rivet to forgive Kit; though she was uncertain she could, she vowed to save Kit regardless. After rescuing Ratchet and Kit, Rivet attempted to forgive Kit, but the latter chose to isolate herself on Savali. Rivet scolded Kit for cowardice and not attempting to be a good partner. Ratchet voiced his disapproval, leading to a brief argument which they quickly resolved, moving forward without Kit.

After Emperor Nefarious announced his plans to invade Ratchet's dimension, the Resistance decided to travel to Ratchet's Corson V to stop him. Ratchet defeated the Emperor's Imperial Power Suit, and Rivet confronted the Emperor directly. The Emperor summoned all his followers against her, while Kit returned in her warbot form to defend her, telling Rivet she was right in that she could run no longer. Rivet defeated Emperor Nefarious, and after Clank fixed the dimensions, she apologized to Kit, considering her a friend. They decided to become a team, and Ratchet offered to take Rivet to the lombax dimension. The celebration in Ratchet's dimension included Ratchet, Clank, Rivet, and Kit.

Characteristics

Appearance

Rivet is a lombax with white fur with pigeon blue stripes, thin dark eyebrows, a small light pink nose, and light blue eyes. The fur on her forehead resembles a tuft of hair. She wears a pair of black goggles with blue lenses on her head, silver hoop earrings in each ear (two on the right and one on the left), a black and gray jumpsuit with a silver belt, an orange scarf, a black left glove with two orange stripes almost at the end, and black boots with an orange detail. She also has a yellow bionic right arm which she used to replace her real right arm that she had lost from Kit.

Unlike the only other known female lombax, Angela Cross, she has a bushy tail similar to that of a raccoon or a fox and noticeably different from those of Ratchet and Alister Azimuth, who both have tufted tails similar to that of a lion. This may be because Rivet is from a different dimension, giving her anatomical differences. Rivet also uses a Hammer as her main weapon.

Personality

Rivet:

Your Nefarious— he looks a lot like mine. Evil like him, too. And that lombax... I know it might sound crazy, but...

Clank:

...you think he is your dimensional counterpart.

Rivet:

Or something! (sighs) Look, whatever's going on here, we're gonna fix it.

Clank:

We? I thought robots are "not your thing"?

Rivet:

Not all of them, just... most. You know, like the Emperor, his stupid followers, pirates— ...yeah. I see the irony, too.

Rift Apart § "Head to the Hideout"

Rivet is heroic, sassy, quick to act, and light-hearted, making witty jokes in tense situations. She often sacrifices her safety and comfort to protect others. Rivet has an unbroken spirit, continuing to stand up to Nefarious despite always losing. Because most people Rivet encounters work for Emperor Nefarious, she has few friends; this leads her to become somewhat socially awkward, but also means that she is very protective of the few friends she has, including the morts, and Clank after befriending him. Rivet attempts to cheer others up when they are down; however, her aforementioned awkwardness means this can be ineffective.

Rivet suffers from PTSD as a result of losing her arm and her past failures. Her experiences have left her to become suspicious of everyone she meets as a potential threat, with an additional prejudice toward robots, especially due to the pirates and the Emperor's followers. This led her to dismiss Clank's story as preposterous until she scanned his brain to confirm it was true. She later was grateful for being able to work with Clank, leading her to trust Kit at first to the point of opening up about her past. Although her friendship with Kit fell apart after learning how Kit was responsible for her arm, she eventually grew past her mistrust and resolved to become teammates with her.

Rivet has many similarities with Ratchet in being heroic, headstrong, and light-hearted, and their similarities lead them to at times say the same words as one another. Rivet's trust issues are a trait she does not share with Ratchet, who did not have the same experience as Kit. Because of this, while Ratchet was hesitant to find the lombaxes and nervous about giving up his life in his dimension, Rivet had no such skepticism and was confused by Ratchet's, eager at the idea as she had fewer close family to give up. Despite this, she was also nervous about meeting Ratchet initially.

Behind the scenes

Development

Rivet's story was inspired by the 1946 movie It's a Wonderful Life, as Insomniac Games imagined what Ratchet's life would be like without Clank. Though an early idea would involve two Ratchets, creative director Marcus Smith felt this would lead to a "cheap soap opera where somebody's got an eye patch and you know that one's evil". Insomniac also wished to avoid counterparts being polar opposites of the characters, feeling diametric forces were difficult to do with more complex characters as opposed to one-dimensional ones. This led to designing characters that were true to their core character but shaped by different circumstances.

Lead writer Lauren Mee and lead animator Lindsay Thompson described Rivet as a character "shaped by tough efforts to survive in a dark dimension who hasn't let those experiences rob her of her optimism and compassion". When passing her to different animators, they made sure never to make her cynical, dark, or cruel, and to make her socially awkward but not shy.

When casting voice actors, the team sent out a character description and listened to submissions without knowing who the actors were. Jennifer Hale was cast based on her audition, as it stood out due to embodying the toughness, vulnerability, and charm desired for Rivet. Though the intention was not to hire an industry veteran, it helped in recording sessions as the team would sometimes schedule four hour recording sessions which Hale would wrap up with over an hour to spare due to nailing her lines.

Reception

Rivet received a very positive reaction following her introduction in Rift Apart, both for her personality and for Jennifer Hale's voice acting performance. Steve Watts, writing for GameSpot, called Rivet the real star of Rift Apart and a strong addition to the series, to the point of wishing she had her own standalone game. He said that Hale's voice acting introduces a "disarming amount of emotional heft", successfully portraying tinges of self-doubt and loneliness even while Rivet maintains heroic determination. Jonathon Dornbush, writing for IGN, concurred, praising Hale's performance and calling Rivet one of Insomniac Games' best-written characters, saying her distinctive personality made her more than simply a gender-swap of Ratchet. Andrew Reiner, writing for Game Informer, said that the game delivered satisfying answers to who Rivet is and what happened to her, saying she energized the story, but felt that her moveset and arsenal in gameplay being a carbon-copy of Ratchet's was a missed opportunity.

References

• Stedman, Alex (2021, May 25). "‘Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart’: Inside the Making of Rivet, the New Playable Protagonist". From Variety. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023.
• Reiner, Andrew (2021, June 8). "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Review – Dazzling Dimensional Duality". From Game Informer. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021.
• Dornbush, Jonathon (2021, June 8). "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Review". From IGN. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021.
• Watts, Steve (2021, June 8). "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Review - A Riveting Adventure". From GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021.
• Insomniac Games [@insomniacgames] (2021, November 30). Get ready for #TheGameAwards by suiting up as some of your favorite characters in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart! Download our #RatchetPS5 cosplay guide. Make something? Share your pictures with us! Direct download: https://insom.games/RatchetCosplayGuide [Tweet]. Twitter.