Sargasso is a planet featured in Tools of Destruction, and the Ratchet & Clank comic series, with mentions in A Crack in Time, All 4 One and Into the Nexus. It is a primordial swampland located in the Verdigris Sector of the Polaris Galaxy, infested with large, deadly creatures such as the grunthors. The planet is also a rich source of gelatonium, with the territorial kerchu operating a gelatonium refinery near its Outpost L51. Prior to the kerchu's arrival, the lombaxes also had a testing facility on the planet.
Ratchet and Clank came to Sargasso in search of the Dimensionator. There, the two found the Smuggler, and traded leviathan souls with him for bolts, while searching for the lombax testing facility. At the facility, the two encountered the Plumber.
In Rivet's dimension, a counterpart to Sargasso exists, as the foster homeworld of Rivet in Rift Apart.
History[]
Before Tools of Destruction[]
Sargasso shown in the live training video for the Center for Advanced Lombax Research.
Sargasso was inhabited by lombaxes, with the Center for Advanced Lombax Research operating a testing facility on the planet for live training and deployment. Among the weapons they tested there were the Dimensionator[1] and the Alpha Disruptor, the first nano-weapon constructed in the Center.[2] The lombaxes vanished and abandoned their facilities following Percival Tachyon's assault on Fastoon.
The kerchu later moved in, constructing gelatonium outposts, including Outpost L51 and Outpost Zulu,[3] as Sargasso was one of the only planets containing gelatonium that was not under Emperor Tachyon's control.[4] Though they were skilled engineers, their territorial nature meant they were hostile to outsiders, with the exception of the Smuggler.[5]
Sargasso had an apparent connection to Sargasso Sam, who taught yoga classes, which Romulus Slag and the space pirates attended.[6]
Tools of Destruction[]
The Smuggler greeting Ratchet and Clank on Sargasso.
Ratchet, Clank, and Talwyn Apogee found coordinates to Sargasso in a recording by the Center for Advanced Lombax Research on Rykan V.[1] Ratchet and Clank arrived safely and met the Smuggler, who offered to trade souls for the Decryptor, a device that could repair the gelatonium-powered robo-ignition pad that Clank's Robo-Wings could interface with. Talwyn, Cronk, and Zephyr, however, struggled to get through the swamp, and were unable to rendezvous with Ratchet and Clank.[5] They were later captured by the Imperial Army and taken to Zordoom Prison.
After acquiring the Decryptor, in "Search from the Sky", Clank was guided by the Zoni towards the lombax testing facility[7] and arrived successfully, commencing "Investigate the Kerchu Outpost". There, the two fought several kerchu at their gelatonium outpost located within lombax ruins. In the ruins, they found the Alpha Disruptor. Meanwhile, Talwyn contacted Ratchet to alert that she had been followed by a Tachyon gunship, and attempted to elude them in the swamp.[2]
The Plumber on Sargasso.
Further in the ruins, Ratchet and Clank found the Plumber within the testing facility, who was working on a "revolutionary, high speed, intraplanetary transportation" device. The Plumber informed them that there was no device in the universe that could vaporize the cragmites (knowing that the Dimensionator did not vaporize them but moved them), before leaving them with a 3 ¾ Centicubit Hexagonal Washer, a key component of the Dimensionator. After the Plumber left, Ratchet and Clank received a transmission from Captain Qwark suggesting that they return to Mukow. Though Clank worried about Talwyn, Ratchet responded that she was safe in Cronk and Zephyr's hands and resolved to meet Qwark first.[2] Ratchet continued to obtain leviathan souls from the grunthors on the planet, selling them to the Smuggler for bolts.
After Tools of Destruction[]
During A Crack in Time, time anomalies were reported on the planet on space radio. On Sargasso, this led to the long-extinct slug-guzzling swamp weasels returning and wreaking havoc on Outpost Zulu, chewing through the kerchu's gelatonium stockpiles.[8] Violent outbursts were also reported on the planet.[9] After Dr. Nefarious was defeated, Captain Qwark's pet war grok, Snowball, was moved to a war grok reserve on Sargasso, where it fed on the many local grunthors.[10]
During the Ratchet & Clank comic series, Sargasso was one of the planets stolen using the Helios Project by Artemis Zogg, and taken to his Artemis Galaxy,[11] with its inhabitants enslaved and forced to work for sunlight.[12] Following Zogg's defeat, Sargasso was returned.[13]
Some time before All 4 One, Ephemeris raided Sargasso for its native creatures; namely its wigwumps, at least one of which was taken to planet Magnus to be used as a host body for the loki.
In Into the Nexus, Sargasso's troglosaurs and wigwumps were featured as exhibits at the Intergalactic Museum of History in Meridian City.[14]
Geography[]
Sargasso is an uninhabitable[4][a] swampland world. Much of the surface, as seen from space, comprises small continents and sprawling archipelagos, on which are a variety of primordial reptile and insectoid life forms. The surface of Sargasso is vitamin rich and is the optimal rooting spot for the spores from the Sargasso Reach.[16]
Among the known wildlife are the insectoid anthropods and the flying grubsnuckers. More notably, the world is home to grunthors, Tyrannosaurus rex-like creatures that are large predators holding leviathan souls, and the colossal troglosaurs, sauropod-like creatures that appear mostly docile.[17] Another creature native to the planet was the immense worm, wigwump.[14] The planet hosts a reserve for war groks.
Outpost L51 was located in an archipelago of islands. The islands are mostly wild, roamed by the dangerous wildlife, outside of a few lombax ruins and kerchu gelatonium drilling derricks.[4] The main gelatonium outpost is hidden in a structure located just away from one of the islands, and a few are seen out in the swamp. Across the islands are little signs of civilization, though robo-ignition pads and other minimal machinery are found throughout them, presumably for the benefit of hunters of leviathan souls. The ruins of the Center for Advanced Lombax Research testing facility remain in a stone structure nearby the kerchu outpost.
Behind the scenes[]
The Holo-Monocle entry of the Sargasso spore displays both its designation and homeworld as "Sargasso"; however the full text for both is actually "Sargasso Reach" but there is not enough space for the game to properly display this.[16]
Sargasso is also the name of a sea in the Atlantic Ocean and the only sea on Earth without a land border. It is often portrayed in popular culture as an area of mystery and unexplained phenomenon, particularly the Bermuda Triangle.
Notes[]
Annotations[]
- ↑ Though the swampland is described as uninhabitable, the planet is not entirely unpopulated. Aside from the kerchu that dwell there, at least one hoolefoid lives there, as a hoolefoid contacted his mother who lived on Sargasso after Hoolefar Island's supply beacon was repaired.[15]
Citations[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tools of Destruction script § "Center for Advanced Lombax Research"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Tools of Destruction script § "Investigate the Kerchu Outpost (gameplay)"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Sargasso Swamp Weasels"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Tools of Destruction script § "Explore Sargasso (gameplay)"
- ↑ Tools of Destruction script § "Rakar Star Cluster"
- ↑ Tools of Destruction script § "Search from the Sky (gameplay)"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Sargasso Swamp Weasels"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "Time Phenomena"
- ↑ George, Schedeen 2010
- ↑ Ears of War, p. 6
- ↑ Lost and Spaced, p. 4
- ↑ Bros Before Foes, p. 19
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Into the Nexus script § "Find the Dimensionator (gameplay)"
- ↑ Quest for Booty script § "Find the Mayor (gameplay)"
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Secret Agent Clank, Holo-Monocle
- ↑ Tools of Destruction
References[]
- Video games
- Insomniac Games (2007). Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
- High Impact Games (2008). Secret Agent Clank [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation Portable.
- Insomniac Games (2008). Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
- Insomniac Games (2009). Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
- Insomniac Games (2013). Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
- 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 (2011). Ratchet & Clank (Issue 6: Bros Before Foes) [Book]. Wild Storm.
- Websites
- George, Richard; Schedeen, Jesse (2010, September 7). "Ratchet & Clank's Vacation Adventure". From IGN. Archived from the original on September 7, 2024.