Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

""...the first game to truly deliver the long-sought 'You are playing a Pixar movie' experience.""

- The New York Times, regarding this game.

The first game of the Ratchet and Clank series on the PlayStation 3.

The duo faces off against Percival Tachyon, self appointed Emperor of the Polaris Galaxy, who is set upon the extermination of all Lombaxes. Being a Lombax himself, Ratchet naturally doesn't take kindly to that. The game goes a lot into how the rest of the Lombaxes died disappeared.

This includes a downloadable game Quest for Booty on the PlayStation 3 network. "QfB" takes place directly after the end of "ToD", and.

"Qwark: "This isn't the time for vanity, it's time to show the galaxy how utterly AWESOME I am!""
 * Action Girl: Talwyn Apogee
 * Exclusively Evil: Everyone Ratchet talks to in Tools Of Destruction considers the Cragmites to be this and consider the Lombaxes as "saviors of the Universe" due to having completely exterminated the Cragmites. It could be argued that Tachyon, who is trying to bring them back, is really Lawful Evil though, after all, he is an emperor.
 * According to several NPCs, the Drophyds are almost as bad, though it is mentioned that Tachyon bought their loyalty with Raritanium. And then there's the Kerchu, whose position is ambiguous. (They mercilessly attack anyone who enters their territory, and there isn't a single species in the universe that isn't violently allergic to them.)
 * Beam Spam: The RYNO IV
 * Book Ends: The game begins and ends on the same musical riff.
 * Comically Missing the Point:

"Cronk: "Hey, I just finished stacking those, you vandal!""
 * Crate Expectations: Lampshaded.

"Attention lads! Usage of IRIS supercomputer is restricted to educational purposes only. Do not download games, music or... alternative cinema without me approval!"
 * Development Gag: "In the unlikely event the Dimensionator creates a time-space singularity and tears the fabric of the Universe asunder, please log an "A" bug and notify a programmer immediately." -- Even yellow furry aliens follow Sony's QA procedures.
 * Difficult but Awesome: Two weapons fit firmly into this category, the Tornado Launcher and the Razor Claws. The former is controlled using Sixaxis, but is very powerful and has a wide variety of uses, some of which aren't immidiately obvious. (like keeping it stationary to act as a makeshift shield, controling it while using a different weapon, or simply bringing bolts and raretanium closer to you.) The latter gains power the more enemies you kill in a row without taking damage, and as it is a melee weapon, this is easier said than done. It also boosts both Bolt AND Raretanium drop rates, and since it runs off the same principle as the Challenge Mode multiplier, you can rack up HUGE amounts of cash with it provided you're good at No Damage Runs.
 * Disappeared Dad: Max Apogee, Talwyn's father. We end up never finding out what happened to him.
 * The Dragon: A strange case. IRIS reveals that the Pirates were built by Tachyon when he was a child, to help scavange materials for his army. After they had outlived their usefulness, he abandoned them on a remote planet, after which they kind of acted on their own from then on. So technically speaking Captain Slag is a fomer Dragon gone rogue. It's clear Tachyon never trusted him from the start though, as he built the Holo-Pirate Disguise so he could spy on Slag and make sure he wasn't pulling a Starscream on him. He would later offer the disguise as an arena prize in hopes of luring Slag to his death.
 * Embarrassing First Name: Tachyon's first name is "Percival".
 * The Emperor: Emperor Tachyon.
 * Enemy Civil War: Kerchu City is an entire level centered on this. Of course, both sides will attack you mercilessly, but until they see you they'll focus in beating the crap out of each other.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: The following transmission from Captain Slag:
 * Enemy Civil War: Kerchu City is an entire level centered on this. Of course, both sides will attack you mercilessly, but until they see you they'll focus in beating the crap out of each other.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: The following transmission from Captain Slag:

"The Lombax should die A fiery, awful death Cupcakes are yummy"
 * Haiku: Courtesy of Tachion:

": What? Can't a who's never told an honest truth in his life go blatantly out of his way to help the guy who killed his best friend and captain?"
 * Heel Face Mole: joins Ratchet after 's defeat, mostly so he can quickly double-cross him in Quest For Booty. He lampshades the shameless insincerity of his Heel Face Turn when asked about his motives.

"Mr. Zurkon: "Why can't Mr. Zurkon shoot puny Fongoids?""
 * Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Mr. Zurkon (From Tools and Crack) takes great delight in destroying his enemies, and will grumble and complain if there is no one on screen to kill. In Crack, he even wants to take shots at NPCs:

"Zephyr: "Ah, a chance to show off my superior online capabilities!" Cronk: "Yeah, too bad your CPU has a 43% failure rate.""
 * Hypocritical Humor: Ratchet pokes fun at the fact that the Lombaxes' greatest, most dangerous creation is, claiming that there's no way a Lombax would create something so ridiculous. Clank then goes on to list all of Ratchet's boneheaded inventions, including electro-shock undergarments (Ratchet tries to justify that last one as "Stunderwear", claiming it to be a huge seller on Umbris).
 * A bit of Fridge Brilliance here: from what we have seen of Umbris, the inhabitants there may have... uses for "Stunderwear"
 * Inexplicably Identical Individuals: The Grummels. Explained by stating that they are clones of the last Grummel.
 * Join The Army, They Said: Emperor Tachyon's recruitment video.
 * The Jimmy Hart Version: The music for the pirate levels contains a very Pirates of the Caribbean-esque riff.
 * Kick the Dog: In Tools Of Destruction, after Emperor Tachyon reveals that the Lombaxes fled their own dimension to escape his wrath, with the hope he would spare Fastoon if they did so, he continues with this; "Only two stayed behind... The keeper of the Dimensionator... and his infant son. " *waits a moment to let to the realization sink in for Ratchet* "I took great pleasure in destroying your father, Lombax- pity he sent you to Solana before we could meet."
 * Last of His Kind: In Tools Of Destruction, Ratchet is revealed to be the last of the Lombaxes (though see Series Continuity Error below) and Tachyon is the last of the Cragmites which, by happenstance were exterminated by the Lombaxes.
 * A Crack in Time reveals the existence of a second Lombax, General Alister Azimuth, who has been in hiding since Tachyon defeated the Lombaxes..
 * Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Delivered by the Plumber; "Almost didn't recognize you boys in high def."
 * And then there's the description for the RYNO 4-Ever, which states that it is "too gameplay-destabilizing to ever be used. Ever."
 * Let's Play: One of the funniest ever recorded.
 * Man Hug: Ratchet and Clank almost have one on Reepor before they realize that Talwyn is watching. They settle for a brofist instead.
 * Mythology Gag: Several in Zordoom Prison. Listening carefully to the announcer reveals that Slim Cognito and Ace Hardlight are inmates. There's also a bit of foreshadowing in the mention of a Vorselon, Flint.
 * And then there's the absolutely massive list of questions you can ask the IRIS supercomputer, many of which are obscure trivia from earlier games only the most devoted fans will know.
 * Noodle Incident: What Ratchet was thinking when he invented the Anti Matter Bathroom Buddy or electroshock undergarments, the world will never know. All Ratchet has to say for himself is that "Stunderwear" was a huge seller in Umbris.
 * No Sell: Electricity-based weapons (the Shock Ravager, Razor Claws and Mag-Net Launcher, but strangely NOT the lightning bolts fired from the upgraded Tempest Launcher) have no effect on electrified enemies. A similar situation exists with Shielded enemies and (almost) all non-explosive weapons, but electrical attacks penetrate them.
 * Recurring Riff: There's at least one that can be tracked through the game-- in the opening cutscene all the way through the ending.. If you're listening, you can even hear it in Quest For Booty after being shot to Hoolifar, while Ratchet's still waking up.
 * Repurposed Pop Song: The Groovitron tracks (1 and 11) have been heard being used by Rite Aid and even The Daily Show.
 * Roboteching: The RYNO IV's Beam Spam kind of does this, only it looks a lot more uncontrolled. It's difficult to explain.
 * Sealed Evil in a Can:
 * Sequel Hook: The end of both Tools of Destruction and (especially) Quest for Booty.
 * Series Continuity Error: Tools of Destruction reveals Ratchet to be the last of the Lombaxes... but in Going Commando, Angela Cross is one too. Whoops.
 * Apparently Word of God has said she's a separate but similar species. Regardless, in the prison in Tools of Destruction they mention "prisoner's of Lombax descent", so Angela could also be half-Lombax.
 * Space Pirate: Captain Slag and his crew.
 * The Starscream: Quest for Booty reveals
 * Take That: In Tools of Destruction, Talwyn's two robot pals have the following conversation poking fun at the Xbox 360. Roughly paraphrased:
 * The Starscream: Quest for Booty reveals
 * Take That: In Tools of Destruction, Talwyn's two robot pals have the following conversation poking fun at the Xbox 360. Roughly paraphrased:


 * Teleport Spam:
 * Tempting Fate: "Qwark may be a lot of things, but I'm sure he wouldn't surrender the Dimensionator just to spare his own life."
 * Video Game Cruelty Potential: In Tools of Destruction, if you destroy a robotic suit with a Drophyd in it, the Drophyd will fall out and kind of lay there... until it sees Ratchet, at which point it will freak and quiver with fear. You can then either hit it again or step on it to finish it off... for bolts.
 * Visual Pun: Toss a Groovitron at the centipede-like enemies on Cobalia, and they do The Worm.
 * What Could Have Been: According to developer commentary, in an early draft of the script, Talwyn would betray Ratchet and give the Dimensionator to Tachyon, in order to bring back her father.