Cragmites are a species in Tools of Destruction, mentioned in A Crack in Time, All 4 One, and Into the Nexus. They are a militaristic species from the Polaris Galaxy, that once formed the tyrannical Great Cragmite Empire, until they were defeated by the lombaxes during the Great War, where it was said that the "Lombax Secret" was used to vaporize them and destroy the race. One survivor, Percival Tachyon, formed the Imperial Army, primarily comprising drophyds he had provided nanotech combat suits for, and conquered the galaxy in the attempt of returning his race.
Ratchet and Clank first met a cragmite in Tools of Destruction after Tachyon attempted to hunt him down. Thereafter, Ratchet searched Polaris for the "Lombax Secret" to try to find the weapon that had been used to defeat the cragmites, to prevent them from rising again.
History[]
Great Cragmite Empire[]
The Great Cragmite Empire's rule spanned from the Nundac Asteroid Ring to Praxus XII.[1] The race wiped out over a dozen races and decimated countless others,[2] moving from galaxy to galaxy using and discarding planets after depleting all their natural resources.[1] The ghost-like loki were one such victimized race, whose homeworld of Toranux was destroyed by a cragmite warrior named Bagogg who returned after escaping the planet to destroy it.
The Great War was eventually fought against Allied Polaris and the lombaxes. The cragmites had allies including Zorthan,[3] and their assassins wore Terraflux armor.[4] During the war, to stop Allied Polaris convoys sent through the Ublik Passage between the Verdigris and Praxus sectors, the cragmites detonated a nearby neuron star to block them, rendering the passage unusable.[5]
The Great Cragmite Empire and the lombaxes were evenly matched, and the war became a stalemate.[1] The turning point for the war came when the Center for Advanced Lombax Research invented the Dimensionator,[6] and thereafter banished the cragmites to dimension X2-49.[7] The cragmites' homeworld of Reepor thereafter lay dormant for years.[8]
Tachyon's rule[]
Percival Tachyon, the last cragmite in the universe, was discovered by lombax trillium miners on the Kreeli Comet, and then raised on Fastoon.[6] As a hatchling, Tachyon built the space pirates to scavenge materials for the drophyds' nanotech armor.[7] With the help of Alister Azimuth, elder councilman of the Center for Advanced Lombax Research[9] who entrusted Tachyon with all their secrets, Tachyon built the Imperial Army,[10] and the lombaxes fled the dimension.[11]
Tachyon conquered much of Polaris, and any planets not under his rule consolidated under Free Polaris, with Meridian City on Igliak being adopted as their capital. The Imperial Army fought for years to conquer Igliak, but were unsuccessful against the forces of free planets in the Verdigris Sector.[12] Tachyon's army also conquered Stratus City on Kortog to seal off the Hall of Knowledge, declaring knowledge contraband[13] so as to prevent people learning about the Great War.[14] Nonetheless, the cragmites were still notorious and well-known as oppressors.[1][15] The reach and power of Tachyon's empire was only a shadow of what the Great Cragmite Empire once was.[2]
Tools of Destruction[]
The Imperial Army hunted down Ratchet while also searching for the Dimensionator, known as the "Lombax Secret", to bring the cragmites back.[16] After eventually obtaining it from Captain Qwark, Tachyon brought back an army of cragmites on their homeworld of Reepor. Clank fought them with the Zoni in "Search for Ratchet", before Ratchet fought them in "Escape the Cragmite Caves".
Seizing the opportunity this presented, Tachyon then invaded Meridian City with the cragmites. In "Save Meridian City", Ratchet fought back against them. Tachyon then returned to Fastoon, where he intended to release the remaining cragmites and colonize the lombax homeworld. Ratchet, Clank, Talwyn Apogee, Cronk, and Zephyr battled Tachyon's cragmite and drophyd forces in "Return to Fastoon" to stop him. Ratchet eventually defeated Tachyon in personal combat, and the cragmites were banished once more.[17]
Emperor Tachyon and the cragmites were then exhibits in the Intergalactic Museum of History.[18]
Characteristics[]
Biology[]
The cragmites have a mixture of reptilian and insectoid characteristics. They have six legs and two arms in adult form, and have grey/purple-ish skin. They have large mouths with sharp carnivorous teeth, and can spit poisonous stomach acid as babies. They possess reptilian skin and faces, while their limbs and horns appear to be chitinous in nature and are oriented like those of various arthropods.
Cragmites reproduce by laying eggs,[6] and also by splitting into three baby cragpoles when an adult cragmite dies. Cragmites all began as cragpoles, before growing into cragmite hunters, and finally into cragmite warriors.[19] However, Emperor Tachyon, while an adult cragmite, is far shorter than the others and has a different form, suggesting that many cragmites of other types exist which are not seen.
Adult cragmites come in varying shapes and sizes. They are mostly slow and rarely move by walking, but rather by demolecularizing themselves and moving to another location similarly to short range warping. The baby cragpoles lack arms and are incapable of warping but can move quickly, spit stomach acid, and bite enemies.
Though cragmites were said to be dimwitted,[1] Tachyon as a child brought in designs light years beyond what the Center for Advanced Lombax Research were using,[10] suggesting a high degree of intelligence in at least some.
Habitat[]
The cragmites grew up on planet Reepor, which is a toxic planet of green sludge. When banished with the Dimensionator, they were trapped in dimension X2-49, 8.2 million kilocubits from the nearest life form near a dying star, where they, according to the IRIS Supercomputer, remained "angry and bored".[7]
Behavior[]
The cragmites are a militaristic and vengeful race of conquerors, which are known to destroy all species that oppose with them. They are not entirely beyond making allies with those beneficial to them, such as Zorthan[3] and the drophyds.
Aside from their violent ways, much about cragmite behavior and society is unknown, as only Emperor Tachyon is ever shown talking, and Tachyon was raised on Fastoon. Tachyon's rule was authoritarian and dictatorial, sending civilians to life sentences in Zordoom Prison for slight transgressions,[20] or forcing them to compete in the Imperial Fight Festival for entertainment;[21] it is likely the cragmites were not too dissimilar.
Military[]
The cragmites formed entire armadas made of several warships and warriors.[22] They were also known to possess a potent weapon refereed to as a 'Class Three Planet Smasher', which was used by Bagogg to destroy Toranux.
Aside from the imperial cruisers, it is unknown what, if any, vehicles are used by the cragmites, as when led by Tachyon, Tachyon bolstered the cragmite forces with drophyds from the Imperial army. This included the Tachyon gunships, drophyd cyclocannons, and enforcers.
Units[]
Three types of cragmites are fought: the baby cragpoles, the cragmite hunters, and the cragmite warriors. The cragpoles are the most numerous of these: these are baby cragmites that spit stomach acid and bite to defend themselves, and spawn in groups of three after an adult cragmite dies.
The cragmite hunter and cragmite warriors are two variants of adult cragmites, where the hunters are the smaller of the two. The hunters fire quick rounds of long-range energy blasts at foes, while the larger, more durable warriors fire three green, slower energy blasts at medium range, and swipe in close combat.
Behind the scenes[]
A cragmite appears as an available skin in Tools of Destruction.
When designing the cragmites, Insomniac explored the shapes of several insects and crustaceans to give them a creepy design.[23]
Cragmites were originally going to appear in A Crack in Time, as shown in the concept art.
Similarly named kragmites appeared in The Adventures of Captain Starshield, however these kragmites are unrelated to the cragmites that debut in Tools of Destruction.
Citations[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Tools of Destruction script § "Make a Trade with the Smuggler (gameplay)"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tools of Destruction menu § "Planet Reepor"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Tools of Destruction script § "Return to the Fight Festival (gameplay, cont.)"
- ↑ Tools of Destruction script § "Armor"
- ↑ Tools of Destruction menu § "Ublik Passage"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Tools of Destruction script § "A Vision of Talwyn"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Tools of Destruction script § "IRIS Questions and Answers"
- ↑ Tools of Destruction script § "Infiltrate the Cragmite Base (gameplay)"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "The General and Kaden"
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 A Crack in Time script § "The Fall of the Lombaxes"
- ↑ Tools of Destruction script § "Find Tachyon (gameplay)"
- ↑ Tools of Destruction menu § "Planet Igliak"
- ↑ Tools of Destruction script § "Explore the Hall of Knowledge (gameplay)"
- ↑ Tools of Destruction script § "Make a Trade with the Smuggler (gameplay)"
- ↑ Tools of Destruction script § "Hitch a Ride with the Smuggler (gameplay continued)"
- ↑ Tools of Destruction script § "All That and Travel Too?"
- ↑ A Crack in Time script § "The Story so far"
- ↑ Into the Nexus script § "Find the Dimensionator (gameplay)"
- ↑ BradyGames 2007, p. 196-197
- ↑ Tools of Destruction menu § "Planet Viceron"
- ↑ Tools of Destruction menu § "Planet Mukow"
- ↑ Tools of Destruction script § "Escape the Cragmite Caves (gameplay)"
- ↑ The Art of Ratchet & Clank, p. 154
References[]
- Video 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
- BradyGames (2007). Ratchet & Clank Future Tools of Destruction Official Strategy Guide [Book]. BradyGames. ISBN 0744009774.
- Sony Interactive Entertainment (2018). The Art of Ratchet & Clank [Book]. Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 978-1506705729.