Swabs are enemies in Tools of Destruction and Quest for Booty. They are large, electrified, hunchbacked space pirates who attack at melee range. Swabs are heavily armored, and combined with their speed and electrification (making them immune to the Shock Ravager and Mag-Net Launcher) are very deadly.
Ratchet and Clank first fought them in Ardolis, before later fighting them in the Kreeli Comet. A stronger elite varaiant, red and grey in coloration, are fought in Jasindu and the Ublik Passage. They also fought swabs in the Azorean Sea in Quest for Booty.
Swabs often hide in chests, which have to be pushed into place by another pirate, and jump out when Ratchet is near (sometimes even destroying other nearby pirates). Their toughness means that only stronger weapons, such as the Fusion Grenade and Plasma Beasts and later the Alpha Disruptor or Negotiator), are effective against them.
Captain Slag has some similarities to swabs in being electrified and using a hook as a weapon.
