Ratchet & Clank Wiki
Register
Advertisement

The Aphelion is a ship and character in Tools of Destruction, A Crack in Time, All 4 One, Full Frontal Assault, and Into the Nexus. She is a sentient lombax ship that fought against Emperor Tachyon during his invasion of Fastoon. After Ratchet and Clank fixed her, she became Ratchet's ship during his time in the Polaris Galaxy.

There are two words written in Lombax on Aphelion; one reads as "Aphelion" and the second one as "angel".

History[]

Before Tools of Destruction[]

Aphelion was presumably constructed by the lombaxes as a fighter craft, as she was armed, and fought for them on Fastoon. During Tachyon's invasion, Aphelion fought against the drophyds in Tachyon's Imperial Army. She lay down suppressive fire over the Court of Azimuth before the drophyds shot her down using seeker ammo (which she considered "cheating"), in a crash that damaged her memory banks.[1]

Tools of Destruction[]

Explore the Lombax City cutscene

Ratchet finding Aphelion on Fastoon.

In "Repair the Lombax Ship", after Ratchet and Clank arrived in the lombax ruins of Fastoon, they gathered parts for her to repair her. Aphelion then introduced herself to Ratchet and told her what she knew of the lombaxes, before using her HD-47 Optical Holo-screen to view a Holo-Vite from Captain Qwark inviting them to the Imperial Fight Festival on Mukow.

Shortly after taking off, in "Battle the Space Pirates", on route to Mukow, Aphelion ran into space pirates in the Voron Asteroid Belt. The pirates attempted to steal the ship, but were surprised both by them firing back and the speed Aphelion had, before withdrawing for a team building exercise in the Andromeda System and unleashing Puffy Pants Wallis against them.[2]

After Ratchet and Clank stole from the space pirates on Ardolis, the pirates intercepted them at the Rakar Star Cluster in "Evade the Pirate Fleet" to reclaim the lombax artifact, but withdrew due to being late for a yoga class at Sargasso Sam's meditation station, leaving Iron Crotch Caruso to face them.[3]

Search the Cragmite Homeworld cutscene

Ratchet flying Aphelion into Reepor.

In "Escape from Slag's Clutches", Slag's pirates intercepted Aphelion at the Verdigris Black Hole on the way to Jasindu, deducing from Ratchet's trajectory that it was the location of the Dimensionator. Piloted by Ratchet, Aphelion destroyed their Pegasus Outpost before flying through the black hole to lose them, using the proto shield to make it through. Slag's pirates locked in for Jasindu and left Greasepalms McGee to fight them in the black hole, while they abandoned Ratchet.[4]

During "Return to Fastoon", when Aphelion took Ratchet and Clank back to fight Tachyon on Fastoon again, Aphelion protested being unable to shake the drophyd attacks. Clank suggested jettisoning excess cargo, though Aphelion instead ejected Ratchet and Clank to perform a HALO jump to land.[5]

A Crack in Time[]

Ratchet traveled with Captain Qwark in the Aphelion to the Breegus System. A time anomaly caused the ship to crash on Quantos, before being suspended mid-air.[6] Exploring the planet's Zolar Forest, the two found fongoids, who were able to show them Zoni inside the Temple of Zahn. Using a Zoni Vessel granted by them, in "Find the 3 Zoni Necessary to Repair Aphelion", Ratchet collected three. The Zoni not only repaired Aphelion, but upgraded her.

Ratchet and Clank later used Aphelion throughout their adventure in the Breegus System. Aphelion was used to explor multiple different sectors and various moon bases, planets, and depots, complete missions, and fight other foes in dogfights.

All 4 One[]

Aphelion transported Ratchet, Clank, and President Qwark to an awards ceremony in Luminopolis for Galactic President Qwark. This turned out to be a set up for a new plan of attack from Dr. Nefarious. However, after unleashing a Light-Eating Z'Grute upon the city of Luminopolis, his plan went haywire, and Ratchet, Clank, Qwark, and Nefarious himself were forced to work together in order to stop the beast. Following it's rampage on the city, the Light-Eating Z'Grute tore and bit into the Aphelion, impaling her and draining the ship's light-energy.

Full Frontal Assault[]

Aphelion was repaired by Ratchet after he returned to Luminopolis and she became a member of the new Q-Force, stationed on board the Starship Phoenix II.

Into the Nexus[]

During Into the Nexus, Aphelion was towed to planet Yerek by Qwark and used again by Ratchet and Clank while pursuing Neftin and Vendra Prog.

Characteristics[]

Appearance[]

Aphelion is a lombax starfighter. Her design closely resembles that used by Alister Azimuth's own ship seen at various points. Her wings are capable of expanding to an X-shape, presumably in combat mode, while the typical long wings are seen during flight. Her default appearance gives her a dark brown paint job, but in A Crack in Time, her default appearance when upgraded by the Zoni has a bright blue appearance.

Personality[]

Aphelion is a sentient starship. For the most part, Aphelion only provides aid similar to a flight computer, reporting nearby enemies,[7] scanning for suitable landing sights,[8] and reporting on the weather.[9] However, she does have a personality of her own. Namely, she provides snarky comments, such as commenting on Ratchet's flying,[2] calling drophyds "cheats",[1] as offering to make it "look like an accident" after introducing two online dates in space that she finds repulsive.[10]

Equipment and abilities[]

Aphelion is fitted with rapid fire cannons, a missile system which can be charged, and a rear-facing rapid-fire turret piloted by Clank. Aphelion is fitted with a proto shield allowing it to survive inside a black hole.[4] Her thrusters have extremely potent speed, capable of easily reaching 800 cubits a second, something the space pirates had never seen before.[2] She also has landing flaps and stabilizers for landing.[6]

Aphelion has sensors, including thermal sensors,[11] capable of detecting enemies and other anomalies. She is also fitted with an HD-47 Optical Holo-screen[1] that can play Holo-Vites, infobots placed in a slot, and the galactic map. She is fitted with an ejector seat, used for HALO jumps, and once threatened against Qwark.[6]

After being upgraded by the Zoni, Aphelion had a number of new weapons. This began with the Pulse Cannons, dual Zoni blasters fire energy bolts with surgical accuracy.[12] Later upgrades included the powerful Zoni shield named the Quantum Reflector,[13] the Swarm Rockets that could vaporize most short-range starships,[14] and the Xulian Overthruster for added speed.[15]

Aphelion likely runs on gelatonium, as Azimuth's own ship does.[16]

Gameplay[]

Tools of Destruction[]

Aphelion is piloted in three on-rails space segments in Tools of Destruction. In which, the player can steer Aphelion around the screen and move her rapid fire laser around independently, or charge up a multi-target blast that homes in on enemies. She is used to battle various space pirate ships, destroy blockading objects, and shoot static defenses such as mines and satellite turrets, as well as bonus targets for gold bolts, cargo containers for raritanium. The missions each include short turret segment in which Clank controls the turret behind Aphelion, and culminate in a boss battle.

A Crack in Time[]

Aphelion can be upgraded by the Zoni in A Crack in Time. After Ratchet collects a certain amount of Zoni, Aphelion can receive an upgrade. The upgrades include weapon, armor and thruster upgrades, as well as a Ship Tether and a forcefield known as a Quantum Reflector.

Behind the scenes[]

The Aphelion was designed to loosely resemble Ratchet's lombax silhouette.[17]

In PlayStation Move Heroes, Aphelion appears in the background of the Metropolis stage. In PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, Aphelion appears as Ratchet and Clank's level 3 super move; they jump into Aphelion and launch lasers and missiles at enemies from a first-person perspective.

The Aphelion appears in the Insomniac Museum in the 2016 reboot.

Citations[]

References[]

Template:Navbox characters acit

Advertisement