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Space pirates are a recurring organization in the Ratchet & Clank series. With their first appearance in Up Your Arsenal, their first prominent appearance is in Tools of Destruction as secondary antagonists, before appearing as the main antagonists of Quest for Booty, and as cameos in subsequent titles. They are an organization of robots known as decadroids[a] who primarily inhabit the Polaris Galaxy, with a few known in the Solana Galaxy. The space pirates are also known to be capable of fighting as undead zombies due to curses.

Space pirates were created by Percival Tachyon originally to harvest materials he needed. They have been led by Captain Angstrom Darkwater, Captain Blackstar, Captain Romulus Slag, and by Rusty Pete. The symbol of the space pirates is typically a stylized, robotic skull closely resembling the face of their original captain, Darkwater. The space pirates' base is on Ardolis, though they have hideouts and outposts throughout the galaxy.

In Rivet's dimension, their alternate dimension counterparts are encountered, seen throughout Rift Apart.

History[]

Before Ratchet & Clank[]

Life can be lonely when sailin' the skies, searchin' each planet for the lost lombax prize. Ol' Percy that built us does love us no more, and one of these days we'll settle the score. Been mighty alone since that's all we've got, just the money and cup to make a full pint of grooog!

Rusty Pete and the space pirates singing a shanty about Tachyon, Tools of Destruction script § "Infiltrate Slag's Fleet"

The space pirates were engineered by Percival Tachyon when he was just a child. They were created to scavenge materials to be used for the drophyd's nanotech combat armor for Tachyon's Imperial Army.[3][4] Their original captain was Angstrom Darkwater.[5] When the army was completed, the pirates were abandoned on Praxus VII.[3] The pirates vowed revenge against Tachyon ever since, even searching for the Dimensionator to spite him, something they sang about in a pirate chanty.[4]

The space pirates were in opposition both to Tachyon (who invented a Holo-Pirate Disguise to spy on them.[6]) and the lombaxes. Alister Azimuth and Kaden once defended a vullard settlement from them.[7] Pirates also attacked the terachnoids, causing Pollyx Industries to invent the Dynamo of Doom to ward them off.[8]

Captain Darkwater met the Zoni, who gave them the Fulcrum Star to communicate with him. Thereafter, suspecting his first mate Romulus Slag may betray him, he placed a curse from an ancient terachnoid incantation and a coupon for one free curse at the Hoolefar Magic Emporium binding his soul to his body to protect it.[9] The Curse of Darkwater also meant that his crew would return as undead pirates when he was reborn.[10][11] Romulus Slag later did betray Darkwater, becoming the captain,[12] with Rusty Pete becoming his first mate.

At some point years before the events of Tools of Destruction, the pirates raided the Apogee Space Station and solely stole a lombax artifact pertaining to the Dimensionator.[13]

Captain Blackstar, leading a crew of undead ghost pirate robots, operated in the Solana Galaxy, in the early days of the fifth Solarian equinox,[14] becoming known as the "Scourge of Solana".[15] Because his crew disliked him and were prone to mutiny, he designed his Blackstar armor to thwart mutiny attempts.[16][15] Blackstar's ghost pirate robots came to battle the Galactic Rangers and Captain Qwark. The rangers fought the pirates in the Battle of Hamachi Flats, one Ranger claiming to have fought them with "nothing but a Qwack-O-Ray and a half-charged crotchitizer",[17] while a pirate recounted encountering Sasha Phyronix aboard the Starship Phoenix.[18] Qwark's battles with Blackstar were depicted in the Qwark vid-comic Booty is in the Eye of the Beholder, in which Qwark claimed to have defeated him and been awarded a fee for his services.[19] Following his defeat, the pirates named Blackstar Memorial Radio Tower, the Pirate Radio headquarters on Ardolis, in his memory.[20][b]

One of the early space pirate captains from the Andromeda System was named Julis MacGuffin. As with Blackstar, a mountain, Mount MacGuffin, was named for him on Ardolis.[20]

At some point, the space pirates captured the IRIS Supercomputer and sealed it off from the public at the Kreeli Comet.[21] Captain Slag also restricted the use of the IRIS Supercomputer to prevent other pirates from using it to download games, music, or cinema,[18] though the pirates ultimately damaged it to the point it was unusable anyway.[22]

Tools of Destruction[]

The space pirates first encountered Ratchet and Clank in the Voron Asteroid Belt during "Battle the Space Pirates", intercepting his route from Fastoon to Mukow. The pirates attempted to take their ship, Aphelion, but were surprised both by the ship's speed and their firing back. Captain Slag ordered they withdraw for a team building exercise in the Andromeda System and unleashing Puffy Pants Wallis against them.[23]

Infiltrate the Pirate Hideout cutscene

Space Pirates on Ardolis.

Space pirates offered the Smuggler bolts in exchange for leviathan souls, and the Smuggler, in hiring Ratchet to do this, revealed the pirates' base of Ardolis.[24] Ratchet, Clank, Cronk, Zephyr, and Talwyn traveled to the base in search of Max Apogee's lombax artifact. In "Infiltrate the Pirate Hideout", Ratchet obtained the artifact, Talwyn just saving him before Slag could catch him in the treasure room.[25] In retaliation for stealing from them, Slag ordered the pirates catch Ratchet in the Rakar Star Cluster in "Evade the Pirate Fleet". After Ratchet evaded them successfully and destroyed a few of their harvesters, Slag broke the pirates off for a yoga class at Sargasso Sam's meditation station, leaving Iron Crotch Caruso to fight them.[26]

The Awesomeness of IRIS 2

Pirate ships outside the IRIS Supercomputer.

Tachyon put up the Holo-Pirate Disguise as a prize for the Magnetum Tournament of the Imperial Fight Festival, hoping to lure Slag there to his death.[6] Ratchet won this for himself, and in "Infiltrate the Pirate Camp", used it to infiltrate the pirate hideout on Kreeli Comet to activate IRIS.

Infiltrate Slag's Fleet cutscene

Slag and Rusty Pete with the Dimensionator.

After Ratchet traced the Dimensionator to Kerchu City, Jasindu, in "Escape from Slag's Clutches" the pirates intercepted Ratchet at the Verdigris Black Hole, located near their Pegasus Outpost moon base. Deducing he had found the Dimensionator, the pirates attempted to stop Ratchet there, but Ratchet destroyed their moon base and evaded them, leaving them to send Greasepalms McGee after them and then carry onto Jasindu.[27] In Kerchu City, the pirates foight the kerchu and ultimately took the Dimensionator from Ratchet, before then returning to their hideout in the Ublik Passage.[28] There, in "Defeat Captain Slag", Ratchet defeated Slag, and was thus crowned the new captain by Rusty Pete.[29] Rusty Pete later attempted to teach Captain Qwark to be a pirate.[30]

Quest for Booty[]

Fight the Pirates cutscene

Pete pretending to be Slag.

After Clank was kidnapped by the Zoni, Ratchet learned about Angstrom Darkwater and the Fulcrum Star from IRIS,[31] traveling to Merdegraw accompanied by Talwyn, where they met Rusty Pete at the Azorean Sea. Instead, encountering a group of pirates led by Sprocket, the pirates told them that Darkwater was dead,[32] and fought them in "Fight the Pirates". However, Rusty Pete, pretending to be Slag, instead had them sent to Hoolefar Island.[33]

Find the body of Captain Darkwater cutscene

Pete merging Slag and Darkwater.

Rusty Pete met them at Hoolefar Island and took them to Morrow Caverns, guiding them by GPS and using Slag's head.[34] In "Find the body of Captain Darkwater", Rusty Pete led them to Darkwater's body, where he betrayed Ratchet by placing Slag's head in Darkwater's body, bringing both of them back in the same body,[35] and unleashing the Curse of Darkwater, also bringing the undead pirates back.[36] The undead pirates then attacked Hoolefar Island, who Ratchet fought off in "Battle the Undead Pirates".

Ending from QFB cutscene 1

Darkwater and Slag's union severed

After repelling them, Ratchet and Talwyn traveled to Darkwater Cove. In "Solve the Riddles of Darkwater", Ratchet solved puzzles placed around the island, but Talwyn was captured.[37] Tracking them to the Azorean Sea, in "Recover the Fulcrum Star", Ratchet defeated Captain Darkwater, releasing Slag's head again, causing Rusty Pete to jump into the water to save him. Pete left the Fulcrum Star behind, and thereafter, Pete and Slag rowed on a crate away, with Pete reading Slag stories of the events that had led them there.[38]

A Crack in Time[]

During the events of A Crack in Time, Rusty Pete and Captain Slag, Slag still a head on a stick, are heard on their space radio station, Pirate Radio.[39] At some point, Rusty Pete also founded "Rusty Pete's School of Piracy", which was advertised on space radio, with Slag being one of the school's teachers.[40] Around this time, space pirates also continued attacking the vullards.[41]

Comic series[]

A buccaneer appears as an inmate at the Vartax Detention Facility, being held in the cell next to Ratchet and Clank. The pirate helps Clank procure the cell keys from a guard using the kinetic tether on Ratchet's OmniWrench, and in turn is freed. The buccaneer later instigated a prison riot with the other inmates to keep the guards busy, allowing Ratchet and Clank to escape the facility.[42]

All 4 One[]

A living buccaneer appears as one of the objects strapped to the King Sepiad throughout its boss battle. The pirate is seen flailing to get free, but fell off of the lighthouse along with the sepiad when it was defeated.[citation needed]

Into the Nexus[]

In "Find the Dimensionator", Ratchet explored a pirate exhibit at the Intergalactic Museum of History, that featured Slag, Pete, and the undead pirates. By this point, Slag retired from his life of piracy and went onto live as a semi-professional beatboxer in Stratus City.[43]

Rift Apart[]

By the events of Rift Apart, Rusty Pete became the new captain of the space pirates in his dimension, entering an alliance with the galactic government, promising to only loot people when no one was looking.[44] In "Navigate the Parade Route", he was a co-host in Megalopolis, Corson V at the Festival of Heroes, along with Captain Qwark and Skidd McMarx, no longer antagonistic to Ratchet and Clank. Ratchet and Clank later encountered the alternate counterparts of the space pirates, led by Captain Quantum and Pierre Le Fer, in Rivet's dimension.

Characteristics[]

Physical characteristics[]

The space pirates are robots known as decadroids.[a] These are humanoid, armored robots, with heads resembling skulls. Though most pirates appear as typical humanoids with a simple pirate figure, pirates such as the swabs and rogues have different larger appearances, where the former have hunchedback figures, and the latter are more ape-like figures with cannons built into their hands.

Despite being robots, they are apparently capable of becoming inebriated by drinking grog.[22] A number of pirates have eye patches or peg legs,[45] which is possibly aesthetic.

Behavior[]

Pirates are entirely hostile, engaging in attacking and looting cities, killing people and plundering them for loot. Most of the ships they attack do not fight back.[23] Pirates often are motivated by bounties of money[46] or bets involving grog.[23] Pirates wash their clothes very rarely.[25]

Pirates follow a strict code. Among the rules of the code are how to skewer an opponent,[47] the rules of how one becomes captain, and rules against wasting grog.[29]

Pirates have a love for women, who they call "wenches".[29]

Hierarchy[]

Pirate code dictates that the last person who killed the captain becomes captain themselves.[29] For this and other reasons, pirates rarely held much loyalty for their captains, often planning mutinies.[15][18]

Pirate captains heavily favor their first mate, and little compensation is given for lowly pirate crewmates. The typical crew compensation under Slag did not include a medical, dental, or 401(k) plan, while Rusty Pete had employer paid benefits and stock options, prompting one pirate to discuss a potential mutiny.[18] Despite how heavily the first mate was favored, no ship has ever been named after a first mate in pirate history.[39]

Society[]

Find the Mayor cutscene 1

Decadroid written in Darkwater's Journal.

Pirates write in a language known as "Decadroid", a language that can be read by the Smuggler but very few others.[2]

Pirates are well known for drinking at pubs[27] and singing chanties. Pirates also "dance the jig" to pirate songs, a skill possessed to the point where doorkeepers required one prove oneself as a pirate by dancing.[48] Among other forms of entertainment for the pirates are gambling in games of Blargian Roulette,[49] and playing the sport hoverball (which peg legged pirates were excluded from), having a game against the drophyds.[18]

Among their pirate chanties are a chant about a woman from Ardolis warning them of a life of crime,[25][29] one about plundering,[39] one about drinking ninety-eight bottles of grog,[22] one about a woman named Wendy,[46] and one about searching for the Dimensionator to spite Tachyon.[4] The pirates also had a "Song of the Dead", which was simply "I'm a Little Teapot".[1] Pirate Radio also broadcast a number of songs the pirates enjoyed,

Known pirate camps and hideouts are located on Ardolis, Kreeli Comet, Ublik Passage, Merdegraw, in the Voron Asteroid Belt, the Rakar Star Cluster, and the Pegasus Outpost near the Verdigris Black Hole.

Units[]

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Infantry[]

The most common space pirate footsoldiers are buccaneers, corsairs, and hardy buccaneers. These are the standard humanoid pirates, where the buccaneers are melee footsoldiers wielding pirate swords. Hardy buccaneers also wield swords, but use strong shields when approaching enemies. The corsairs are gun-wielding pirates who use pistols that resemble pirate guns, slowly firing ranged projectiles.

The more unique pirate footsoldiers are the swabs and rogues. The swabs are bigger, electrified pirates that are much tougher than normal pirates, but also fight at melee range with their hook hands. The rogues are much larger pirates which mostly fire from their cannon in place of their right hand, which fires exploding cannonballs at range.

Vehicles[]

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Space pirates use flying vehicles stylized from typical privateer pirate ships. They are as such wooden vehicles with large masts, although the masts are purely aesthetic as they fly using thrusters. The space pirate ships also make use of cannons typical to privateers, though these cannons fire explosive vessels. These privateer-like ships range from larger battle cruisers to the smaller pirate transport vessels.

Space pirates also make use of a number of starfighters fought by Aphelion. Certain space pirates had unique larger pirate demolition vessels:[23] Puffy Pants Wallis, Iron Crotch Caruso, and Greasepalms McGee. Two of these were metal ships designed around large skulls, while one still had a similar round design. Pirates deployed them against Ratchet to deal with Aphelion solo, suggesting they were deployed against small starfighters.

On land, pirates have few vehicles aside from the Skull Walker. This is a small four-legged mech used by Darkwater's space pirates, firing rapid fire laser cannons at its enemies. As such, it serves as heavy weaponry.

Behind the scenes[]

Enemies from GC concept art

Obsolete cleaning robots, cut enemies whose design later influenced the creation of several types of Space Pirates

Originally, in place of space pirates, obsolete cleaning robots were designed. This idea was later scrapped, but several models of the Obsolete cleaning robots models later were used as space pirates.[50] When developing for Tools of Destruction, the designers wanted to make worlds seem more real and immersive by creating characters and themes and building them through the game; rather than Ardolis being a one-planet theme, they wanted to make the pirates a lasting part of the game. They began with the collection of pirate enemies, before creating Slag and Pete, and unique gameplay elements around them.[51]

There is a space pirate skin for every playable character in All 4 One. Several space pirates appear as skins in the multiplayer of Full Frontal Assault; undead pirates Scurvy, Gultch and Scallywag appear as part of the Pirates Pack as well as Rusty Pete as part of the Future Pack.

Pieces of space pirates could be seen at various locations in A Crack in Time, including a pirate treasure chest and pirate skull located on Torren IV, as well as a Rogue's head in the Nefarious Space Station trash compactor. In the 2016 re-imagined game, a treasure chest with a space pirate logo appears in the waters of Pokitaru.

Notes[]

Annotations[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Captain Darkwater refers to Slag as a "no-good decadroid".[1] "Decadroid" is also the name of the pirate language.[2]
  2. The story of Captain Blackstar is somewhat ambiguous. The comic narrator questioned his existence, believing Qwark's story to be ridiculous.[14][19] However, the presence of the Blackstar armor[15][16] and the Blackstar Memorial Radio Tower[20] confirms that the captain was real. Additionally, other stories in the Qwark vid-comics, including Dr. Nefarious' invasion of Metropolis in Deja Q All Over Again, and Qwark's hideout in The Shaming of the Q, suggests that Qwark's battle with him did occur (although it was likely embellished), and Captain Darkwater's ghost pirates seen on Merdegraw confirms that ghost pirates exist.

Citations[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Quest for Booty script § "Find the body of Captain Darkwater (gameplay)"
  2. 2.0 2.1 Quest for Booty script § "Find a Translator (gameplay)"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Tools of Destruction script § "IRIS Questions and Answers"
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Tools of Destruction script § "Infiltrate Slag's Fleet (gameplay)"
  5. The Art of Ratchet & Clank, p. 166
  6. 6.0 6.1 Tools of Destruction menu § "Holo-Pirate Disguise"
  7. A Crack in Time script § "Master the Hoverboots (gameplay)"
  8. A Crack in Time menu § "Dynamo of Doom/(Omega) Dynamo of Devastation"
  9. Quest for Booty script § "Find the Mayor (gameplay)"
  10. Quest for Booty script § "Warn Mayor Worley (gameplay)"
  11. Quest for Booty script § "Escape Morrow Caverns (gameplay)"
  12. Quest for Booty script § "Explore Hoolefar Island (gameplay)"
  13. Tools of Destruction script § "Search the Station (gameplay)"
  14. 14.0 14.1 Up Your Arsenal script § "Qwark Comic Introduction"
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Tools of Destruction script § "Armor"
  16. 16.0 16.1 Tools of Destruction menu § "Blackstar armor"
  17. Up Your Arsenal script § "Assassination (gameplay)"
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 Tools of Destruction script § "Infiltrate the Pirate Camp (gameplay)"
  19. 19.0 19.1 Up Your Arsenal script § "Qwark Has a Big Heart"
  20. 20.0 20.1 20.2 Tools of Destruction script § "Catch up to Talwyn (gameplay)"
  21. Tools of Destruction script § "The Awesomeness of IRIS"
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 Tools of Destruction script § "The Battle for the IRIS (gameplay)"
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 Tools of Destruction script § "Battle the Space Pirates (gameplay)"
  24. Tools of Destruction script § "Get to the Space Station (gameplay)"
  25. 25.0 25.1 25.2 Tools of Destruction script § "Find the Treasure Room (gameplay)"
  26. Tools of Destruction script § "Evade the Pirate Fleet"
  27. 27.0 27.1 Tools of Destruction script § "Escape from Slag's Clutches (gameplay)"
  28. Tools of Destruction script § "Defeat the Kerchu Guardian (gameplay)"
  29. 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 Tools of Destruction script § "Defeat Captain Slag (gameplay)"
  30. Tools of Destruction script § "I'm Gonna Need More Grog"
  31. Quest for Booty script § "Opening"
  32. Quest for Booty script § "Azorean Sea 1 (Planet Merdegraw, Drogol Sector, Polaris Galaxy)"
  33. Quest for Booty script § "Fight the Pirates (gameplay)"
  34. Quest for Booty script § "Meet Rusty Pete at the beach (gameplay)"
  35. Quest for Booty script § "Find the body of Captain Darkwater (gameplay)"
  36. Quest for Booty script § "Escape Morrow Caverns"
  37. Quest for Booty script § "Track Down Captain Slag (gameplay)"
  38. Quest for Booty script § "Ending"
  39. 39.0 39.1 39.2 A Crack in Time script § "Pirate Radio"
  40. A Crack in Time script § "Rusty Pete's School of Piracy"
  41. A Crack in Time script § "Collect Warp Drive Components (gameplay)"
  42. Ratchet & Clank: Issue 2: Friends with Benefits
  43. Into the Nexus script § "Find the Dimensionator (gameplay)"
  44. Rift Apart menu § "Rusty Pete"
  45. Tools of Destruction script § "Doorkeepers"
  46. 46.0 46.1 Tools of Destruction script § "Infiltrate the Pirate Hideout (gameplay)"
  47. Tools of Destruction script § "Fight Your Way into the City (gameplay)"
  48. Tools of Destruction script § "Doorkeepers"
  49. Tools of Destruction script § "Make a Trade with the Smuggler (gameplay)"
  50. Insomniac Games 2012
  51. Tools of Destruction script § "Robot Space Pirates"

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