Zephyr

Biographical information
Homeworld	Igliak
Residence	Apogee Space Station Meridian City, Igliak
Membership	Polaris Defense Force Zordoom Prison (former inmate)
Physical description
Species	Robot
Gender	Male
Behind the scenes
Portrayed by	Paul Eiding

Lieutenant Commander Zephyr was a supporting character in Tools of Destruction, the Ratchet & Clank comic series from Issue 2 onwards, All 4 One and Into the Nexus. He was one of two ancient warbot caretakers of Talwyn Apogee, along with Cronk, who fought in the Great War.

Zephyr was an ancient warbot who has fought in nineteen galactic wars, and served alongside Cronk. He wielded a gun that fired three burst shots at a time. While also old and senile, he was portrayed as more cognitive than Cronk. He and Cronk served as Talwyn's guardians, and helped Ratchet and Clank since their search for the "Lombax Secret". He was killed when the Nebulox was destroyed by Vendra Prog and the Thugs-4-Less, trapped in the spaceship before it was destroyed.

History

Before Tools of Destruction

Zephyr first met Cronk when they were stationed together at the Zenith Outpost in Meridian City during the Phylax Intrusion. Since meeting, the two fought in nineteen galactic wars, three interstellar battles, one planetary misunderstanding, and a lunar argument. The duo fought in the Great War, making them centuries old at least.

Zephyr and Cronk two fought a combined 6,132 battles, and at some point, the two had a third companion who was destroyed some time before Tools of Destruction.

After the Great War, Zephyr and Cronk continued to fight in numerous battles together, including the Arachnid Squabble on Praxus Seven. Another time, during the Forfolax Emancipation of 23, the two were stationed at the Folstoid Plateau to secure the gelatonium refinery so as to be able to transport fuel to the Meridian armory, and fought zombie dung dragons with only a rusty spork and a roll of toilet paper stolen from Igliak. Another time, the two infiltrated the hideout of Ulysses L. Ironfist and a gang of hillbilly ninjas that stockpiled the trillium reserves of the Polaris Galaxy to hold Igliak hostage. The duo enjoyed old episodes of Lance and Janice on holo-film players together.

Cronk and Zephyr became accomplices of Max Apogee. Before he disappeared after a space pirate raid, the two promised Max they would watch over his daughter, Talwyn Apogee.

Tools of Destruction

Zephyr and Cronk on Ardolis

Zephyr and Cronk threatened Ratchet and Clank over intercom and deployed defenses in "Search the Station", when Ratchet and Clank infiltrated the Apogee Space Station. Zephyr ordered they lay down their weapons and "prepare for a whoopin'", and recognized Ratchet as a lombax when he reached them. At this point, Talwyn ordered them to stand down. From this point onwards, Cronk and Zephyr befriended Ratchet and Clank, and searched with them to find the "Lombax Secret".

Zephyr with Cronk and Talwyn on Fastoon.

In the pirate base, Ardolis, after Talwyn obtained the lombax artifact, Zephyr claimed his mother was "half-lombax" and the two made artifacts such as those "out of papier-mâché", but was horrified when Cronk claimed to to be a "renowned expert in lombax history" and believed the device to be a zombie death beam. Ratchet eventually activated the artifact, and it was merely a star map to Rykan V.

In "Breach the Security Barrier" the anti-spacecraft fire prevented Talwyn from landing on Rykan V, leading her to reluctantly send Cronk and Zephyr to land via HALO jump to destroy them. After Cronk planted a bomb on the security barrier door to the spaceport and forgot the thermite fuse, Zephyr scolded him before running over to light it himself. In "Defeat the Imperial Forces", Zephyr claimed that in his day, he had to wait for enemies to stand in line as he only had one bullet, and in "Destroy the Artillery Turrets", the group eventually made it through. Zephyr accompanied them to the Center for Advanced Lombax Research bunker, where he recognized and activated the holo-film player.

Following Ratchet and Clank to Sargasso, Zephyr came with Talwyn and Cronk, and the group landed a distance away from Ratchet. The Imperial Army had followed them, and after failing to lose them in the swamp, they ended up in Zordoom Prison, Viceron. When Ratchet freed Talwyn, Talwyn freed Cronk and Zephyr from the scrap compressor.

When Captain Slag took the Dimensionator, Clank radioed Talwyn for support in the Ublik Passage; Talwyn followed, but Ratchet pressed on ahead, not wanting to wait. Talwyn, Cronk, and Zephyr then did accompany them to Reepor; during the HALO jump, Cronk said that the jump reminded him of the time they "did a HALO jump with that lombax and his metal buddy into the cragmite homeworld", leading Zephyr to scold him that that was occurring in the present. In "Deactivate the Forcefields", while he and Cronk took over the cannons and used them to deactivate the forcefields, Zephyr touted his superior online capabilities while Cronk mocked the 43% failure rate on Zephyr's CPU. Thereafter, Cronk was badly damaged, and Talwyn and Zephyr stayed behind to have him repaired.

In "Return to Fastoon", Cronk and Zephyr accompanied Ratchet and Clank as they destroyed the Magna-Cannons to allow Talwyn to land. During "Find Tachyon", Zephyr accompanied them as they fought through to the Court of Azimuth. After Tachyon was defeated, Zephyr was seen at the Apogee Space Station, roleplaying as Ratchet while using his OmniWrench.

A Crack in Time

Zephyr can be heard talking to Cronk during the credits, slating Cronk for sleeping through the whole game.

Ratchet & Clank comic series

Cronk and Zephyr on the cover of Issue 3

Ten months prior to events of Lost and Spaced, Cronk and Zephyr were assigned as bodyguards for presidential candidate Artemis Zogg. Five months prior to Lost and Spaced, after Zogg lost the election to Qwark, he ordered them to accompany him when leaving to use his Helios Project. During this time however, they secretly worked with General Glahm, an agorian locked up in the Vartax Detention Facility, for months, with an eventual plan to escape. As they were spying on Zogg, their original plan was to break Glahm out to send a word to Talwyn Apogee, but they changed the plan to have him also break out Ratchet and Clank upon learning they were there.

In Friends with Benefits, this escape plan was executed. As Cronk and Zephyr helped Ratchet escape the facility, Zephyr questioned how Mr. Klink continued to go along with Zogg's descent into evil, surprised Klink did not possess more backbone. In Lost and Spaced, Cronk and Zephyr brought Ratchet and Clank to the Apogee Space Station, where the two caught up with Clank while bathing in GrummelNet oil. During Multiple Organisms, Zephyr stayed with Qwark as they attempted to rebuild Zogg's device so as to return the planets once the Surinox Shard was obtained, seeking advice from Al before Qwark gave up and asked terachnoids for help. In Bros Before Foes, as the group had returned, Zephyr fought alongside Cronk and the Galactic Rangers to defend the Apogee Space Station from Zogg's Zurkon attack.

All 4 One

Cronk and Zephyr provided mission support to Ratchet, Clank, Qwark and Dr. Nefarious. When an Ephemeris kidnapped the four, Cronk and Zephyr used Ratchet's nav-unit to track them, though he fell asleep during travel and accidentally stranded the two in the middle of Magnus's asteroid belt, making him unable to retrieve them. Thereafter, they deployed Apogee Communication Pods around the planet to monitor the group, and send them weapons and upgrades from GrummelNet.

The two were able to reunite with them, after Lawrence rescued their ship in the search for Nefarious. They landed and recovered Ratchet, Clank and Qwark, while Nefarious left with Lawrence.

Into the Nexus

Let us go, ya darn space witch!

Zephyr's last words, Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus

Cronk and Zephyr were tasked alongside Ratchet and Clank to deliver and escort the dangerous criminal Vendra Prog from the Nebulox Seven Prison Ship to the Vartax Detention Center. The two were then tasked to awaken Vendra from cryosleep in order to deliver her to the guards. However, Vendra used her telepathic abilities to stir the heroes awry.

Vendra's brother, Neftin Prog then arrived with the assistance of the Thugs-4-Less to strike the ship, disabling its defenses and recovering Vendra. Cronk and Zephyr fought to repel the intruders, though Vendra and Neftin caught them and tied them up to the ship. Ratchet and Clank arrived to free them, though Vendra trapped them in a telepathic bubble, rendering them helpless. Neftin insisted that killing Cronk and Zephyr was unnecessary, but Vendra decided to do so anyway, and set off explosives with the ship that Cronk and Zephyr were trapped inside, causing them to die.

After Ratchet and Clank defeated the nethers, Cronk and Zephyr's spirits were shown to have crossed over into the afterlife, as their ghosts both exchanged banter with one another in the Intergalactic Museum of History, where statues were created in their honor, before looking for femdroids.

Characteristics

Appearance

Zephyr was a red and metallic robot, with well-armored broad shoulders, and a beak-like head, and had a thruster coil as part of his design. He was shorter than Cronk, and appeared to be less prone to disrepair.

Personality

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Zephyr is depicted as being smarter than Cronk, though still old and senile. He will often correct Cronk's mistakes, referring to him as a "darn fool", and often argued and competed with him over who was right. Nonetheless, the two were extremely close.

Zephyr would often recall past histories. Given the outlandish nature of some of his stories, and the claim of his mother being half-lombax, his stories often appeared to lack credibility.

Abilities

In his prime, according to his own stories, Zephyr was a very potent fighter with little weaponry, able to battle dragons with only a spork and roll of paper. Around the time of Tools of Destruction, in spite of Zephyr's age, he was capable to hold his own in battle, Zephyr fired a carbine blaster which fired intervals of three rapid shots, distinctly different from Cronk's slower blasts.

Zephyr's better memory helped in battle when Cronk is forgetful. Zephyr claimed he had superior online capabilities to Cronk, while Cronk claimed Zephyr's CPU had a 43% failure rate.

Behind the scenes

Cronk and Zephyr concept art from Tools of Destruction.

Zephyr was voiced by Paul Eiding, the voice of Colonel Roy Campbell from the Metal Gear series. Zephyr's arguments with Cronk over in which they bickered about their specs and capabilities was meant to represent console fanboy wars between PlayStation and Xbox.

Zephyr, along with Cronk, appears as skins in Tools of Destruction and Full Frontal Assault.

Zephyr is the name of a level in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage also made by Insomniac Games.

References

Games

• Insomniac Games (2007). Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
• Insomniac Games (2009). Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
• Insomniac Games (2011). Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
• Insomniac Games (2013). Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.

Books

• Sony Interactive Entertainment (2018). The Art of Ratchet & Clank [Book]. Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 978-1506705729.

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