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Veldin is a planet in the Solana Galaxy featured in Ratchet & Clank, Going Commando, Up Your Arsenal, and the Ratchet & Clank comic series issues. It is a desert planet with a rocky terrain and few large bodies of water. The planet is home to Kyzil Plateau, the location of Ratchet's home—his garage. There is also a sector of the planet known as the F-Sector, which Ratchet and Clank also later visited.

Veldin is where Ratchet grew up and met his longtime companion Clank, when the latter crash-landed on the planet. The two returned when the planet was under attack by Chairman Drek, who wished to destroy Veldin and use its orbital position for his new planet. The two defended the planet itself and attacked Drek's fleet in the Veldin orbit. Years later, they returned to Veldin to defend it from an attack from the tyhrranoids, led by Dr. Nefarious. Ratchet and Clank once again defended Veldin after it was stolen by Artemis Zogg, who took it to his Artemis Galaxy, and later placed the planet in mortal peril to extort them.

History[]

Before Ratchet & Clank[]

Ratchet, who was born on Fastoon in the Polaris Galaxy, was sent to Veldin by his father, Kaden, when he was young. Veldin was where the lombax grew up, living in a garage. He dreamed of exploring the galaxy but was unable to do so, lacking a robotic ignition system for a starship.

Ratchet & Clank[]

Ratchet finds Clank screen

Ratchet discovers Clank at the crash site.

In the beginning of Ratchet & Clank, Clank crash-landed on Veldin in the Kyzil Plateau after fleeing robots from Quartu. Ratchet then ventured through the plateau to find the crashed ship and brought the unconscious Clank back to his garage. Upon returning, Clank awoke and presented Ratchet with an infobot that revealed Drek's plans to steal a large chunk of Novalis for his new world. In exchange for travel, he provided Ratchet a robotic ignition system that would allow the two to leave the planet.

Hey, what the..

The duo confronts Drek on Veldin.

Later, the duo found out that Drek intended to use his Deplanetizer to destroy Veldin, in order to move his new planet to occupy Veldin's orbital position. In order to track the location of Drek and the Deplanetizer, they infiltrated Drek's fleet in the Veldin Orbit. They then returned to Veldin to confront Drek. After battling through his blarg guards and fighting his Ultra Supreme Executive Chairman Drek-Mech, the two were able to blast Drek off to his new world, flip the Deplanetizer over and destroy it, saving the planet from destruction and presumably killing Drek.

Following this, Clank moved in to live with Ratchet, while their life settled down, following Drek's defeat and their new galactic celebrity status.

Re-imagining[]

The 2016 re-imagined game is primarily an unreliable retelling of events by Qwark.
The re-imagined game primarily describes Captain Qwark's account of events. As Qwark is an unreliable narrator, and contradictory events are in-universe fiction (though those which correspond still apply). Please see Project:Bulletin board/Canon for the wiki's coverage of canon.
Head to the fairgrounds cutscene 1

Ratchet and Grimroth Razz in the garage.

In the re-imagining, Ratchet is raised by Grimroth Razz on Veldin, as he is presumably the last of his kind, and was abandoned by his biological parents for unknown reasons.

One day, Ratchet received news that the Galactic Rangers were holding tryouts for a new recruit at the fairgrounds. Ratchet was successful in the tryouts but was rejected by Qwark, the leader of the Galactic Rangers, for his bad record. Later at night, as Ratchet was feeling depressed, he discovered a defect warbot crashlanding on the planet. After booting up again, the warbot warned Ratchet that an army was coming to attack Aleero City. Ratchet calmed the robot and offered to repair him first back at the garage, then the two formed an alliance soon after.

Ratchet shaking Clank's hand from R&C (2016)

Ratchet giving Clank a handshake.

The warbot defect, whose full name was "Warbot Defect B54296", was then given the name "Clank" for short, by Ratchet. Making their way back to the garage, Ratchet and Clank fought their way through the blarg, who were swarming the plateau in search of Clank at the behest of Chairman Drek. When they made it back to the garage and the blarg were eradicated, Ratchet successfully repaired Clank. Ratchet falsely claimed that he was a friend of the Galactic Rangers and could help Clank, to which he accepted. The two then set off for Aleero City on Kerwan.

Following the destruction of Novalis by the Deplanetizer, Ratchet returned to Veldin out of shame for his failure to save the planet. Clank and the Galactic Rangers however came to find him at Grim's garage, and convinced him to continue the fight against Drek and Dr. Nefarious. The group then forged a plan of attack on the Deplanetizer to stop it from destroying Umbris, along with the rest of the system. Following their victory, Ratchet again returned to work at Grim's garage, where Clank came to stay with him, affirming their tie as inseparable partners.

Going Commando[]

Behind the Hero, Part I 1

Ratchet and Clank on Behind the Hero in Ratchet's garage.

During an interview for Behind the Hero on Veldin, in which Ratchet and Clank detailed their lives following Drek's defeat, the two were teleported away to a ship by the Megacorp CEO Abercrombie Fizzwidget. He appointed Ratchet as a Megacorp commando and offered Clank an apartment in Megapolis on Endako. The duo then traveled to the Bogon Galaxy.

Up Your Arsenal[]

Intro movie 6

Darla Gratch covering the tyhrranoid invasion.

Veldin came under attack by tyhrranoids led by Dr. Nefarious. After seeing a Channel 64 News report from their home on Endako in Bogon, the two traveled back to Solana using a gravimetric warp drive. They joined forces with the Galactic Rangers to repel the invasion in "Save Veldin!", driving them back to their base in F-Sector.[1] Using the Rangers' dropship, in "Eliminate the Enemy Forces", the two then followed the tyhrranoids to F-Sector and defeated them. They were then contacted by Galactic President Phyronix for a new mission.

Later on, Dr. Nefarious intended to use the Biobliterator to transform Veldin's population into robots.[2] Before he could do this, Ratchet and Clank destroyed the Biobliterator and defeated Nefarious.

After Up Your Arsenal[]

During Ratchet's Dreamtime sequence in Size Matters, his garage from the Kyzil Plateau appears.

Veldin was mentioned briefly in Tools of Destruction by Captain Qwark, narrating for the Imperial Fight Festival, claiming during the challenge "Light a Match, Mustachio!" that it was the deadliest gas he'd experienced since taking Helga to an all-you-eat grubsnucker buffet on Veldin.

Veldin was mentioned again in A Crack in Time on space radio, as the trailer for the film A Boy and his War Grok was released when Ratchet arrived in the Corvus Sector, revealing that the film was shot on Veldin.[3]

Comic series[]

Veldin captured

Veldin being transported to the Artemis Galaxy.

Ratchet and Clank returned to their home on Veldin after the events of A Crack in Time to retire. Qwark, now the galactic president of the Polaris Galaxy, requested they investigate the disappearances of planets across the universe, but Ratchet declined.[4] Using the Helios Project, Artemis Zogg transported Veldin to his Artemis Galaxy, intending to use it as the galaxy's private junkyard.[5] Under Zogg's tyrannical rule, Veldin's inhabitants were enslaved and forced to work for their sunlight.[6]

Zogg later used Veldin as leverage against Ratchet and Clank, transporting the planet into deep space without sunlight and demanding the duo surrender in exchange for its safety.[7] After Ratchet and Clank complied, Zogg reneged on his promise, stating that sacrificing Veldin would demonstrate the lengths he was willing to go to protect his galaxy, discouraging any future incursion attempts.[8] The duo then stole the Surinox Shard, without which the Helios Project could not function, and escaped Zogg's warship in a transport orb to the now-frozen Veldin.[9]

Zogg sent his warbots to Veldin to kill Ratchet and Clank and recover the shard. The duo used an EMP to disable the machines, giving Ratchet a chance to escape to the Planetary Defense Center to find a way off the planet, though this also temporarily deactivated Clank.[10] At the Planetary Defense Center, Ratchet encountered Glahm, who took control of its surface-to-space missile defense system.[11] Ignoring Ratchet's warning that Talwyn Apogee might still be aboard, Glahm fired missiles that destroyed Artemis Zogg's ship.[12] Eventually, Sasha Phyronix and Cronk located Ratchet via bioscan and rescued him. After offering comfort, they set off to save Veldin and other planets.[13] When Zogg was defeated, Veldin and the other stolen planets were restored to their original locations.[14]

After the comic series[]

In Into the Nexus, a portrait of the Kyzil Plateau appears behind Chairman Drek's exhibit in the Hall of Villainy, at the Intergalactic Museum of History.

In Rift Apart, a parade float depicting Ratchet and Clank's first meeting on Veldin is present at the Festival of Heroes in Megalopolis.

Geography[]

Overview[]

Kyzil Plateau from R&C (2002) screen 1

Kyzil Plateau at daytime.

Kyzil Plateau from R&C (2002) screen 2

Kyzil Plateau at night.

Bar kyzil

Veldin residents in a bar.

Veldin is covered almost entirely in desert and rocky terrain, with few, large bodies of water. It is home to several large buildings built into the features. It is also home to horny toad wildlife, which attack by biting their prey, and skreeducks, pterodactyl-like creatures flying in the skies of the planet.

In Ratchet & Clank, Veldin is a mostly barren planet devoid of much life, containing a few empty buildings and some shipwrecks. At first, Ratchet could not travel past Clank's shipwreck, though during the second visit, he ventured through several larger buildings, in which he was to make use of each of his gadgets. In Up Your Arsenal, Veldin was war-torn, as all the buildings were almost all damaged or destroyed by the tyhrranoid invasion. None of the wildlife was present, as Ratchet instead fought an army of tyhrranoids.

While little of Veldin's civilization was seen in the games, the comic series revealed that the planet is home to multiple residents (of various species) said to be numbered in the millions,[7] and has its own Planetary Defense Center.

Re-imagined differences[]

The 2016 re-imagined game is primarily an unreliable retelling of events by Qwark.
The re-imagined game primarily describes Captain Qwark's account of events. As Qwark is an unreliable narrator, and contradictory events are in-universe fiction (though those which correspond still apply). Please see Project:Bulletin board/Canon for the wiki's coverage of canon.

What was Ratchet's garage is now a much larger business run by his adoptive father Grimroth Razz. The world also has two different paths to take. Due to the major difference in the mission, the direction of the original path goes backwards.

Blarg troopers, mechs, dropships, and Gadgetron test dummies appear as new enemies. Heliogrubs are also present at night. Veldin can be re-visited anytime after completing the first mission, when it originally could not be accessed again until the end of the game. Also, a teleporter leading to the Insomniac Museum can be found in the garage in challenge mode.

Ratchet & Clank (original)[]

Ratchet's garage area[]

Kyzil Plateau from R&C (2002) map

Map layout of the Kyzil Plateau.

Ratchet's garage from R&C (2002)

Ratchet's garage in Ratchet & Clank.

Located on the southern end of Kyzil Plateau is Ratchet's cylindrical-shaped garage. It sits near the edge of a steep cliff, and it has a partial fence attached to it from the right side. On the inside is a poster of Captain Qwark on the left wall, as well as several ship components placed along a rack on the back wall. Several thin antenna-like structures stem from the roof.

Beyond the garage is a short, rocky path that leads to a white bridge crossing over a large gap. Midway through the path, one will find the ruins of a large ship. Not far from this site is the crash site where Clank landed, located within a large, circular section. The crash site was cleared when he and Ratchet returned to the planet in the final mission.

Water tank area[]

Following the crash site is another white bridge that crosses over in the water tanker area. Located just past the bridge is a gate that would require use of the Trespasser. A magne-strip is attached to the outer wall of a large pool of water that would initially have to be drained to reveal a switch at the bottom, which would require use of the Thruster-Pack's slam function to unlock the door ahead.

Kyzil Plateau from R&C (2002) screen 3

A set of platforms.

The path continues through a small cave-like area, with a few climbable ledges and deep pits. The area is littered with large platforms, as well as smaller, circular platforms. Stemming from the large platform are a group of several circular platforms that circle around to another platform. What follows are more platforms and a Swingshot orb that allows the player to cross the gap to a gate blocking entry to the penultimate area.

Final area[]

Kyzil Plateau from R&C (2002) screen 4

Two Swingshot targets.

The final area consists of terrain surrounded by some large rocks and peaks, featuring some shallow water and a hole further ahead near a large gap. To the right, a secret platform can be found around the corner, with a grind rail connected to it, thus leading to a secret passage that loops back to the area. Going forward, a versa-target floats above the gap, followed by a tube that leads to a large open field. To the left is another tube the leads to some circular flooded room, which contains a small tube leading to another tube, which features a top opening on the right that leads a small section with a Ultra-Mech Pad.

The large, open path leads past some rocky peaks and around the corner to the first boss area. To the left lies a series of hovering platforms leading across to some high terrain. More of these hovering platforms continue to lead from plateau to plateau until wrapping up at the Deplanetizer.

Up Your Arsenal[]

Ratchet's garage area[]

Ratchet's garage from UYA

Ratchet's garage in Up Your Arsenal.

The area of Veldin in Up Your Arsenal is geographically very similar, with the same flora and rock plateaus as seen previously, though much of it passes through war-torn buildings due to the tyhrranoid attack. Ratchet's ship lands on a wide plateau in front of a large structure built into a rock mountain. A bridge on the left from the plateau is destroyed, meaning the structure is instead accessed by climbing a set of plateaus on the right to another entrance. The structure inside has a damaged crater on the floor used to drop down to a cave below. This cave leads to a circular room with a green dome ceiling on the edge of the structure, with a circular platform in the center and five elevated platforms around the room in between large, destructible, tanks of water.

A set of stairs in the room leads outside to a wider open area with a metallic floor in the middle of the ground and an open gate just past it. Past the gate is Ratchet's original home seen in Ratchet & Clank, but the left-most arch bridge has been destroyed, and a fallen piece of debris instead crosses a gap on the right. Past this is the area is essentially identical, save for Ratchet's garage, destroyed at the time of the attack.

F-Sector[]

F-Sector is an area used as a tyhrranoid base[1] which featured in Darla Gratch's Channel 64 News report. It consists mainly of a wide plateau forming the main area, with two destroyed towers, two smaller elevated plateaus on top of the main area, and is otherwise surrounded by rocks. On the left end of the main area is a gate, initially locked, out to a rock wall connected to a bridge which leads to a small, circular plateau in which the dropship arrived to pick Ratchet up at the end of the mission.

Ratchet & Clank (Re-imagined)[]

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Grim's workshop[]

Kyzil Plateau from R&C (2016) screen 2

Ratchet's garage in the re-imagining.

Grim's workshop on the Kyzil Plateau is where most residents come for spaceship repairs. This garage has been Ratchet's home residence, ever since he was left on its doorstep, when he was just a baby. His room is high up in the rafters, which he can reach with his Swingshot.

The Fair Grounds[]

Kyzil Plateau from R&C (2016) screen 3

The Fairgrounds in the re-imagining.

When his childhood heroes, the Galactic Rangers, were holding tryouts at the Kyzil Plateau's fair grounds to find a new member for their team, Ratchet leapt at the opportunity. The young lombax went to the tryouts and aced the test thanks to his natural, acrobatic abilities as well as his skill with gadgets and weapons. However, Captain Qwark and the Rangers were not impressed. So, they rejected Ratchet, for some crimes such as "possession of an illegal gravity repulsor" and "willful disruption of the space-time continuum".

Behind the scenes[]

Veldin from UYA concept art

Concept art of Veldin from Up Your Arsenal.

During the boss fight with Chairman Drek in Ratchet & Clank, in the original NTSC version, and the subsequent Ratchet & Clank Collection port, a glitch prevents the actual boss battle theme from playing, and the player will instead only hear the standard Veldin theme for the second visit, unless you complete the Giant Clank portion of the battle outside of the platform, standing on Veldin's soil. In all other regions and the Greatest Hits release of the game, Drek's boss battle music plays normally.

The largest building in Up Your Arsenal is inspired by lombax ears.[15]

Veldin's icon in Up Your Arsenal shows that one of the continents on the planet bear a strong similarity to Eurasia.

Gallery[]

Citations[]

References[]

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