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The Smuggler, real name unknown,[a] is a support character in Tools of Destruction, Quest for Booty, A Crack in Time and Into the Nexus, with a cameo in Before the Nexus. He is a runner of illegal black market goods who ran into and often traded with Ratchet.

The Smuggler is a trader, a thief, and a hunter who travels throughout the Polaris Galaxy. His chief companion is a parrot, who participates in and advises his business operations. He has worked with many different clients in return for a fee, and traded in bolts, leviathan souls, and many other high value weapons, gadgets and items, including the RYNO IV and RYNO V.

History[]

Before Tools of Destruction[]

At one point, the Smuggler won his parrot in a game of Blargian Roulette with Captain Slag, in which Slag wagered the parrot while the Smuggler waged his good eye.[2] At another, he purchased a modified Gyro-cycle from a lombax in the Vorox Nebula.[3][b] The Smuggler also once saw Max Apogee heading toward Kerchu City, Jasindu.[4]

Tools of Destruction[]

Explore the Spaceport cutscene

Ratchet and Clank meeting the Smuggler.

During a smuggle run, the Smuggler and parrot forgot to check their ship's gelatonium gauge, leading them to Cobalia, only to find the gel plant shut down. In "Explore the Spaceport", Ratchet and Clank ran into the Smuggler, themselves stranded there without a ship. To solve both their problems, the Smuggler offered to give them a ride off the planet if they reactivated the gel plant, giving them a Gelanator to help.[5] After reactivating it, the Smuggler offered to take them to Stratus City, Kortog, and on the way gave them some background on the Great War and the cragmites. When entering the atmosphere of Kortog, a bioscan detected a lombax aboard, causing the Smuggler to jettison Ratchet and Clank.[6]

Get to the Space Station cutscene

The Smuggler on the Nundac Asteroid Ring.

The Smuggler later received an offer from the space pirates in Ardolis for bolts in exchange for leviathan souls, leading him to the Nundac Asteroid Ring with many basilisk leviathans found. In "Make a Trade with the Smuggler", when Ratchet and Clank arrived, the Smuggler smugly apologized for ejecting them but offered the launch code to the Apogee Space Station in exchange for three leviathan souls.[7] After selling them, the Smuggler kept his word and granted the code. He then offered more bolts in the mission "Sell Your Souls".

The Smuggler later encountered Ratchet and Clank on Rykan V. There, he sold them the Gyro-cycle allowing them to access the lava refineries, while giving Ratchet a Mr. Zurkon.

Following this, the Smuggler was hired by the kerchu to traffick fossermites to Outpost L51 on Sargasso, to scare away the tumfoids.[4] When Ratchet and Clank arrived, seeing an inactive launch pad with a Decryptor that could reactivate it, the Smuggler offered to part with it in exchange for more leviathan souls[8] found on the planet from the grunthors. The two traded leviathan souls with him, including several more in the mission "Soul Searching".

When Ratchet found holo-plans for the RYNO IV, a weapon banned in eight galaxies, the Smuggler took a keen interest in how dangerous the weapon appeared to be, offering to build it for them if they gave him and let him keep the plans. The Smuggler admitted, after seeing the weapon's chromodynamic amplifier in the eighth piece of the plan, the weapon would be too dangerous even for him, but kept his word and built them the weapon when they brought him all of the plans.[9]

Quest for Booty[]

Find the Guy with the Beacon Part conversation

The Smuggler on the Hoolefar Island beach.

The Smuggler, working with space pirates, sabotaged Hoolefar Island by cutting out the island's wind turbines (and thus its power supply)[10][c] as well as removing the only VersaBolt around that controlled the supply beacon's connection to the power supply with a crowbar, hoping to sell the same bolt back.[11][12] Other hoolefoids cited vandalism of the island and stolen goods, including a VG-9000 Game System, a Courtney Gears holiday album, and an Ace Hardlight action figure.[10]

When Ratchet first encountered the Smuggler, he made small talk before ushering Ratchet away.[10] In "Find the Guy with the Beacon Part", the Smuggler sold the VersaBolt back to Ratchet so as to repair the island's beacon. The Smuggler remained on the island, and in "Find a Translator", he offered Ratchet his services as a decadroid translator to translate the map to Darkwater Cove, then taking Ratchet to the island for a fee. Upon arrival, calling Ratchet his "favorite customer", he gave Ratchet back his Predator Launcher and Nano-Swarmers that he had found floating near the island.[13] When Ratchet returned from investigating the island, he took Ratchet back to Darkwater's fleet on the Azorean Sea. The Smuggler also sold Ratchet an Alpha Disruptor for 50,000 bolts.

A Crack in Time[]

The Smuggler gave sidequests to Ratchet in the Phylax and Bernilius sectors, paying him bolts to destroy Dr. Nefarious' patrol ships and spy satellites, allowing him to freely conduct his business activities once more.[14][15]

Similarly with the RYNO IV, Ratchet collected holo-plans for the RYNO V througout the Breegus System, which the Smuggler offered to build for the lombax, in exchange for allowing him to keep the plans.[16] After collecting the full holo-plan, Ratchet met with the Smuggler at the Axiom City spaceport on planet Terachnos, where the weapon was assembled and their deal was finalized.[17]

After A Crack in Time[]

At some point after A Crack in Time and before All 4 One, the Smuggler visited planet Magnus, and sold the RYNO V holo-plans to Dr. Croid, who later modified it to build the RYNO VI Protosuit.[18]

Before the Nexus[]

As Ratchet pursued Vendra and Neftin Prog, who had kidnapped Fleebar Snuttleblast, the Smuggler provided assistance by giving him advice through a communicator.[19]

Into the Nexus[]

The Smuggler met Ratchet and Clank on planet Thram in the Zarkov Sector. He agreed to give Ratchet a pair of hoverboots if he gave him 10 gargathon horns. While searching for the gargathons, Clank speculated that the hoverboots the Smuggler obtained belonged to Ratchet in the first place. After getting the hoverboots, he gave Ratchet and Clank a part required to repair a jetpack station and a key to the Nebulox Vault in exchange for more horns while also giving additional bolts. He also paid Ratchet for finding his missing parrot.

Characteristics[]

Appearance[]

The Smuggler is a blue alien who roughly resembles a bipedal, blue bovine. He wears an outback/akubra style hat, and eye patch on his left eye (though his eye appears to work fine), and black clothes with a sleeveless top. He also carries a dagger with him at all times.

Personality[]

The Smuggler is a lawless character, who has frequent run-ins with the authorities and other criminals. He appears to not be guided by loyalty or moralty. He worked with the kerchu[4] and space pirates,[7] jettisoning Ratchet despite his respect for the lombaxes[6] but nonetheless working with them thereafter. The Smuggler strictly worked outside the law however, holding a deep dislike for Tachyon[6] and never working for him.[5]

Beyond working with questionable individuals, the Smuggler also has questionable business practices, stealing items and then sold them back at a price. His jettisoning Ratchet over Stratus City demonstrates his willingness to preserve his own self-interest over his clients. Despite this, the Smuggler was true to his word with the deals he made, upholding his agreement to give Ratchet the RYNO IV[9] and giving him the Decryptor[4] and launch codes.[2]

Behind the scenes[]

The Smuggler was voiced by Jess Harnell. The design of his alien race focused on cows and livestock to accentuate his rural character traits.[20]

When under the effects of a Groovitron in Tools of Destruction, the Smuggler will perform an Irish dance jig.

The Smuggler appears as a skin in the multiplayer of Full Frontal Assault.

A figurine of the Smuggler appeared in PlayStation Home.

Notes[]

Annotations[]

  1. When the Smuggler was about to reveal his name to Ratchet, his parrot interjected quickly to demand no names were used.[1]
  2. The Smuggler later noted that the lombax looked like Ratchet, implying the lombax may have been Kaden.[3]
  3. The Wind Turbine Operator at Hoolefar Island mentioned that the wind turbines had stopped working three times in one year,[10] suggesting the Smuggler may have been a repeat saboteur of the island.

Citations[]

References[]

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