Zoni

People
Leader	Orvus
Notable members	Clank, Orvus
Locations
Headquarters	Great Clock
Other locations	Zoni dimension
Connections
Allies	Fongoids
Enemies	Nefarious Troopers

The Zoni are a race of extradimensional creatures featured in Tools of Destruction, Quest for Booty, and A Crack in Time, and mentioned in other subsequent entries. They are powerful beings of bio-energy who can manipulate time and space at will. The Zoni operate and maintain the Great Clock, the keeper of time created by their leader, Orvus. The Zoni are a hive-minded race, neither organic nor robotic, wearing metal suits in other dimensions.

Clank began seeing visions of the Zoni after his arrival in the Polaris Galaxy, though they were invisible to everyone else, including Ratchet. They first helped Clank in his quest for the fabled Lombax Secret, providing guidance and zeptotech upgrades. Once his quest was complete, they took Clank with them to the Great Clock to fulfill his destiny but brought in Dr. Nefarious to repair him. Nefarious betrayed them when they denied him access to the Orvus Chamber, chasing the Zoni away with his Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler. Ratchet then found Zoni scattered throughout the Breegus System, which he kept inside a Zoni Vessel to grant upgrades to his ship, Aphelion.

History

Ancient history

Eons prior to the events of Ratchet & Clank, the Zoni entrusted the fongoids of the Polaris Galaxy with the gift of time travel, hoping it would enrich their lives as it had their own. Over the course of 3,000 years, their overuse of time travel and creation of multiple time paradoxes wore the space-time continuum thin. This culminated in a rip in space and time that destroyed 83 celestial entities, and opened small anomalies to the Netherverse.

Orvus created the Great Clock to repair the rift. Operated by around 117,000 Zoni, it then maintained temporal normality in the universe, and it was forbidden from being used as a time machine. Despite the events leading to the rip in space and time, the Zoni entrusted the fongoids with the Zoni Vessel.

At some point, Orvus came to planet Viceron and appointed Sigmund as its Junior Caretaker, while creating Clank to eventually be his successor as the Head Caretaker. Thereafter, only those in the Breegus System appeared aware of their existence. The fongoids worshipped the Zoni, and especially Orvus, as religious icons, as fongoid lore described them as guardians of time.

In most of the universe, the Zoni were unknown and thought to be mythological.

Before Tools of Destruction

Pollyx Industries was founded to locate and sequester Zoni technology. However, Pollyx quickly began selling their findings to tyrants for profit.

Darkwater meeting the Zoni.

The then-captain of the space pirates, Angstrom Darkwater, encountered the Zoni in a voyage to the Breegus Star Cluster on the third of August. Their leader gave him a Fulcrum Star to communicate with them when he returned to Polaris. Darkwater treasured it to the point of cursing himself to bind his soul to his body permanently to protect it, and built the Obsidian Eye to use it to communicate with them, but had plans to eventually betray them and pillage their dimension. As a result of Darkwater's meeting, the hoolefoids came to know of the Zoni, but only second-hand.

Max Apogee once claimed to have found a Zoni temple somewhere inside the caverns, but his refusal to create a holo-map caused skepticism.

Dr. Nefarious made contact with the Zoni after he learned of the existence of the Great Clock from the fongoids. Two years prior to A Crack in Time, he tricked Orvus into meeting with him on his base on Zanifar, and though he failed to learn the location of the Orvus Chamber from Orvus, he learned that Clank was Orvus' heir. Though Orvus escaped, Nefarious had successfully tricked the Zoni into partnering with him.

Tools of Destruction

Clank's vision of Stratus City.

After Dr. Nefarious told the Zoni where Clank was, the Zoni first appeared to Clank when he was knocked unconscious during his trip to the Polaris Galaxy, coming to ensure his survival before bringing him home. They showed him a vision of Stratus City on Kortog, directing him to the Hall of Knowledge. When Clank reached it, they gave him the zeptotech Robo-Wings modification and guided him there in "Fly to the Hall of Knowledge". As Ratchet could not see the Zoni, he expressed confusion at first.

On Fastoon, during "Search the Mine", they helped Clank find a part of Aphelion and told him they were here to help him "destroy it" (referring to the Dimensionator before Clank had learned of the device). At the Apogee Space Station, in "Search the Station", they gave Clank the Geo-Laser modification. They also guided Clank to the lombax testing facility on Sargasso in "Search from the Sky"; Ratchet expressed concern that Clank had fried a sisterboard, as he still could not see them.

The Zoni taking Clank to the Great Clock.

The Zoni then helped repair the IRIS Supercomputer in "Repair the IRIS" and told him that Talwyn Apogee was held in Zordoom Prison and would be executed. At this point, after Clank suggested destroying the Dimensionator, Ratchet lost patience with Clank, calling the Zoni his "imaginary friends," but still begrudgingly traveled there to rescue her. On Reepor, in "Search for Ratchet", the Zoni helped Clank return to Ratchet and urged him once again to destroy the Dimensionator, telling Clank that the cragmites would attack Fastoon again next; at this point, Ratchet trusted Clank that the Zoni existed. After Tachyon was defeated, the Zoni appeared to abduct Clank, this time revealing themselves to the others, taking him to the Great Clock.

Quest for Booty

Ratchet and Clank see Captain Darkwater with the Zoni while using the IRIS Supercomputer.

The Zoni continued to work with Dr. Nefarious, who had convinced them that he was there to repair Clank. Ratchet and Talwyn followed a lead from the IRIS Supercomputer that led them to Captain Darkwater and then the Obsidian Eye. Using it, Ratchet witnessed the Zoni bring Dr. Nefarious in for a supposed repair.

A Crack in Time

The Zoni preventing Nefarious from finding the key to the Orvus Chamber within Clank.

Dr. Nefarious continued to try to access the Orvus Chamber from Clank's brain. When he lost patience with them and exhausted all attempts to do so, Nefarious unleashed the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler to chase them from the Clock, although doing so also damaged the Clock's machinery and unwittingly freed Clank. As a result, the number of Zoni in the Great Clock dwindled from 117,000 to 105, as they fled.

The Zoni spread across the universe, with several being found in the Breegus System. After fongoid Chief Alpheus presented Ratchet with a Zoni Vessel, he collected 40 and used them to repair the Aphelion, which they did so willingly. Ratchet found many more of these Zoni throughout his adventure, and when Dr. Nefarious exiled him and Clank to Morklon, they protected him during the crash.

After Ratchet and Clank stopped Nefarious, and after Clank left the Great Clock in the hands of Sigmund, the Zoni appear to have returned to the Great Clock and fixed the remaining time anomalies. Space radio reported they had all ceased, but had no knowledge of the Great Clock or Zoni.

Characteristics

Appearance

A statue of a Zoni in Gimlick Valley.

The Zoni are neither mechanical nor biological beings, and are instead sentient beings comprised of pure bio-energy. They are extra-dimensional beings hailing from their own dimension, and do not appear in their pure form in Ratchet and Clank's dimension, but confine themselves in metallic casings to survive. With the exception of Orvus, the Zoni lack visible mouths.

Behavior

The Zoni are a hive-mind, which function better in groups. Zoni are typically floating together in groups of three, and when speaking, will speak in unison. When separated, they cannot function on their own; in gameplay, scattered Zoni on their own appear to float around aimlessly until captured in a Zoni Vessel.

The Zoni are known to be friendly. Based on their trusting of Nefarious, they also appear to be naive.

Society

Zoni to Latin translation.

The Zoni hail from their own Zoni dimension, though 117,000 Zoni reside within the Great Clock. As they are a hivemind, it is unknown how much of their own society they have.

The Zoni have their own alphabet, a substitution cipher of the Latin alphabet, which comprises circular outlines and dots. The Zoni alphabet can be seen in several pieces of Zoni technology, such as the keyboard of the Obsidian Eye, and Dr. Nefarious' scan of Clank's brain in the mnemonic station.

Abilities

The Zoni are made of bio-energy, and their bio-energy is the most powerful resource in the entire omniverse.

The Zoni are very intelligent and extremely powerful. Able to bend time and space to their will, they can phase in and out, fire their bio-energy at enemies, fix or energize machinery, levitate objects, or slow time. They can appear invisible and non-existent to those who they do not wish to be seen by.

The Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler chasing the Zoni.

Despite seeming all-powerful, they possess a weakness in the form of sonic weaponry, as the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler not only defeated them but damaged their equipment. The Zoni do not appear to be mortal; while controlled by Clank in gameplay, when damaged, they will stand back up shortly after a fall. When energizing an object, they will sometimes disappear afterwards, as their energy has been exhausted.

While the Zoni can keep track of time, they are not omniscient, and their ability to view the future seems limited. They can grant visions of the future, but cannot predict it, as they could not predict Nefarious' betrayal.

Technology

Orvus holding the Chronoscepter.

The Zoni also created powerful technology, using zeptotech, a superior form of nanotech which is smaller. When upgrading Clank, the Zoni provide Clank with both the Robo-Wings and the Geo-Laser devices. The Zoni also created the Chronoscepter and Time Bombs, devices which can manipulate time and are used by caretakers of the Great Clock. The Time Bomb in particular harnesses quantum energy to temporarily inhibit the passage of time.

The Great Clock in Ratchet and Clank's universe is also a Zoni invention. With a design using over 4.3 trillion parts, it is the most complicated piece of machinery in the known universe. The computer governing it runs on an advanced PK-73 sisterboard with a raritanium vector shell; the only other such sisterboard in existence can be found inside the IRIS Supercomputer (the second-most complicated piece of machinery).

Gameplay

Tools of Destruction

Clank accompanied by several Zoni on Reepor.

The Zoni are controlled by Clank in a similar manner to the Gadge-Bots from previous games. The Zoni fire at enemies on their own, and after being attacked will not die, but will rather lie on the ground for a few seconds before again standing up. They also allow Clank to slow down time, and appear to also be affected by Clank's slowing of time. When found, they will follow Clank throughout until used up with Charge Up.

Three commands can be given to the Zoni: Levitate, allowing Clank to hover for a certain amount of time; Manipulate, allowing them to fix objects (provided enough are used at a time); or Charge Up, energizing an object allowing Clank to proceed to a new area (using up the Zoni in the process).

A Crack in Time

Ratchet capturing a Zoni.

Main article: Rescue all Zoni

In A Crack in Time, 40 Zoni spread across five sectors in the Breegus System appear as collectibles that Ratchet can obtain to find Clank, and provide upgrades for the Aphelion. Zoni are found throughout several planets and moons, similar to gold bolts, as well as earned from completing several Battleplex arena challenges. Zoni are collected by Ratchet grabbing one in mid-air with the OmniWrench, who then places them in his Zoni Vessel. Collecting Zoni also grants Ratchet nanotech experience.

After collecting 40 Zoni, Ratchet is challenged to defeat Lord Vorselon again. Defeating him grants the player access to the Insomniac Museum.

Other

The Secret Agent Clank zoni skin.

The Zoni are an unlockable skin in Secret Agent Clank. They are unlocked using the cheat , , , , , on the pause menu. The code is revealed in Tools of Destruction.

Behind the scenes

Concept art for Tools of Destruction.

The Zoni were given prominent round eyes similar to Clank, to maintain the connection.

The Zoni were voiced by Richard Horvitz, an actor for c:resistance:Resistance: Fall of Man who was a fan of the Ratchet & Clank series. Jackie Weyrauch, Dialogue Specialist at Insomniac Games for Tools of Destruction, learned this after Horvitz quoted lines of dialogue and gave detailed descriptions of boss battles, leading Weyrauch to look for a way to include him. Though concerned she would be unable to include him at first, his audition for the Zoni was perfect. Each Zoni line was recorded seven times to create the illusion of a group of Zoni. The lines were then processed by adding a second of silence at the start and end of each file, raising the pitch by three semitones while preserving the duration of the file, reversing the dialogue, applying reverb, reversing it again, trimming the silence from the file, and then normalizing it.

The Zoni appear in PlayStation Move Heroes as Clank's special move, they hover above his head and shoot at enemies to aid him.

A Zoni also appears as a downloadable Minion for Ratchet and Clank in the game PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

References

• 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 (2016). Ratchet & Clank [Game]. Sony Interactive Entertainment. PlayStation 4.
• Sony Interactive Entertainment (2018). The Art of Ratchet & Clank [Book]. Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 978-1506705729.