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Stuart Zurgo, also known as the Fan Boy,[3] or the Armory Employee,[1][2] is a minor character in Going Commando and the main antagonist of Full Frontal Assault. He is a former employee of the Megacorp Armory on planet Todano in the Bogon Galaxy, and a nerdy Holonet blogger who was a fanboy of Captain Qwark. He first met Ratchet and Clank in Bogon when he was still a fan, but later became disillusioned by Qwark's behavior and his love morphed into a maniacal hatred. This led him to plot to kill his former idol in the Polaris Galaxy, though the Q-Force managed to defeat him.

History[]

Pre-Going Commando[]

Stuart Zurgo was the child of Mr. Zurgo and Lucille Zurgo, originally from the Solana Galaxy. He grew up idolizing Captain Qwark, a celebrity superhero, and became captain of the Captain Qwark Cadet Club. He also wrote several self-insert fan fictions depicting himself as Qwark's sidekick, including The Adventures of Captain Qwark and Sergeant Zurgo (some of which Qwark had read, and found disturbing). Zurgo also built a large Qwark Mech suit, equipped with a Raritanium hull that could withstand a class three meteor shower, a Gadgetron energy shield, omegatech fission blaster, a special blaster that fired a shield bubble, and an emergency escape pod.

In the 2016 game, Zurgo was mentioned by Al as one of the great bloggers who would be speaking on a panel about everything wrong with comic book-based holo-films, alongside Obsidia Van Schmoot.[4]

Zurgo at some point became an employee of the Megacorp Armory on Todano.[1][2] During this time, Zurgo learned that Qwark had been shamed by Ratchet and Clank following Qwark's actions working for Chairman Drek. Zurgo vowed to smite Ratchet when he was given the chance.[2]

Going Commando[]

Bring Qwark Collectible to Armory Employee cutscene

Ratchet and Clank meeting Zurgo

Ratchet encountered Stuart Zurgo during "Investigate the facility interior", where a path within the interior led to a stall that Zurgo had set up. Zurgo was in the middle of his own Qwark roleplay, and upon seeing Ratchet, continued by charging towards him to attack, but missed entirely and fell on his face. Ratchet appeared completely unimpressed, and before he left, Zurgo demanded Captain Qwark merchandise.[2] He then gave Ratchet the mission "Bring Qwark Collectible to Armory Employee". Ratchet gave Zurgo a Qwark statuette, purchased from the Plumber on Aranos. Satisfied, Zurgo gave Ratchet an Armor Magnetizer.

Stuart Zurgo appeared in the fourth segment of Behind the Hero on Qwark, holding the Qwark figure, where the host questioned if Qwark had been "a victim of an overzealous fan".[5]

Post-Going Commando[]

While the Protopet swarms spread across the galaxy, Zurgo traveled to the Solana Galaxy to attend a Captain Qwark convention in Metropolis on Kerwan, in the hopes of meeting his idol in person. He waited three days at the convention, only to learn that Qwark had been arrested and forced to test Megacorp products for kidnapping and impersonating Megacorp CEO Abercrombie Fizzwidget. His faith in Qwark was shaken, but he still viewed Qwark as a hero.

In Up Your Arsenal, Zurgo attended the movie premiere of the Secret Agent Clank film, mere seats away from Qwark.

As time went on, Zurgo became more and more disillusioned by Captain Qwark's scandals, increasingly poor merchandise, and how the universe seemed to forgive Qwark after every misgiving. Eventually, his love of Qwark over time morphed into a hatred, and he lost faith in not only Qwark, but all heroes. Zurgo wished to teach Qwark a lesson.

Zurgo's family first moved from Solana to Polaris, and Zurgo moved into a house on planet Ebaro. He devised a plan over time to exact revenge on Qwark and teach him a lesson, by hacking into the Galactic Weather Grid, which had been installed by Hall of Knowledge brainiacs under Qwark's term as President of the Polaris Galaxy, using the Planetary Defense Center on each planet. With this, Zurgo would throw Polaris into chaos, and use a hologuise to pretend to be Qwark and blame Qwark for his crimes, after killing the real Qwark. Zurgo also stole a Thugs-4-Less pyrocidic charge from one of their outposts in Polaris to blow his base to smithereens if Qwark somehow destroyed the mech. As Zurgo wasn't a strong enough hacker to access the Galactic Weather Grid directly, he would only hack three Planetary Defense Centers and shut them down, hiring grungarians to achieve this.

Full Frontal Assault[]

Zurgo's armor

Zurgo's armor

After sneaking on board the Starship Phoenix II, a vessel operated by Qwark along with Ratchet and Clank, by disguising as the Plumber, he hid himself and sent encrypted transmissions to the ship's computer, Barry. After decrypting the messages, Zurgo appeared in a transmission wearing a face mask, coldly threatening them, and appearing irritated that Captain Qwark was not frightened but rather excited at the chance for action. Zurgo told them that he had deactivated three Planetary Defense Centers across Ebaro, Markazia, and Proteus VII, leaving them defenseless, and telling them that grungarian marauders had begun attacking. Zurgo demanded that only the Q-Force defend these worlds, as if a single Polaris Defense Trooper intervened, he would promptly deactivate all the Planetary Defense Centers in the galaxy.

After the Q-Force reactivated Markazia's Planetary Defense Center, Zurgo sent a holographic transmission to introduce him to the Q-Force at the Korgon Refinery on Markazia. Zurgo revealed his identity, and Ratchet quickly recognized him from the encounter in Bogon, while Qwark recognized him for his fan fiction and leadership of the Cadet Club. Later, in the GrummelNet Plasma Harvester on Proteus VII, Zurgo taunted the Q-Force by hacking the harvesters, occasionally disappearing briefly to troll on the Holonet.

Zurgo, still disguised as the Plumber, eventually stole Captain Qwark's access key for the Galactic Weather Grid, and revealed his plan to disguise himself as Qwark while throwing the galaxy into chaos, blaming Qwark for his crimes. He also hacked the ship, bringing grubsnuckers on board to damage equipment, and causing the ship to continuously play the song "I Am Glad, 'Cause I'm Finally Returning Back Home", often referred to as "Trololo", to annoy the heroes.

Zurgo

Zurgo piloting his Qwark Mech

The Q-Force traveled to Ebaro to deactivate the corrupted Planetary Defense Center that had brought the planet into an ice age. They first restored the Weather Grid before they attacked Zurgo in his Lair of Doom. They fought him in his Qwark Mech, which he had built during his obsession with Qwark, and heavily damaged it until he was ejected out. Zurgo expressed his fury that he had lost to Captain Qwark, before Qwark picked him up to turn him into galactic authorities, but not before accidentally dropping him in a pit while doing a Q Force cheer with Ratchet and Clank, resulting in Zurgo breaking several bones as well as his pride.

Into the Nexus[]

Stuart Zurgo was a self-proclaimed "criminal mastermind" who set out to frame Captain Qwark. His capture resulted in an unfortunate fall from an elevated bridge. He suffered three broken ribs, a broken leg, a fractured collar bone, and severe damage to his pride. He now suffers a fate worse than Zordoom Prison - 50 years house arrest with his mother Lucille.

Docent 427 description of Zurgo.

Following his capture by the Q-Force, Stuart Zurgo was sentenced to 50 years of house arrest with his mother, Lucille Zurgo, a fate that was apparently considered much worse than imprisonment in the Zordoom Prison. His actions would earn him a statue in the Hall of Villainy in the Intergalactic Museum of History on Igliak.

Characteristics[]

Stuart Zurgo is a skinny teenager with glasses, who has a nerdy-sounding voice. During his days as a fanboy, Zurgo wore green Qwark clothing as well as a black cape. Later on, Zurgo instead wore bright orange clothing, with two robotic shoes. Zurgo carried a hammer as a fanboy, and later, carried a much larger one.

As a fanboy, Zurgo was overly obsessed with Captain Qwark. When Ratchet encountered him, he roleplayed as an ally of Captain Qwark right in front of him.[2] According to Qwark, he also wrote disturbing fan fiction, some of which Qwark himself had read. Zurgo even built a giant mech suit in Qwark's honor.

Later on, Zurgo appeared to be much more vengeful, taking his hatred of Qwark far more seriously, and becoming entirely callous. However, his sole motivation for his villainy was to spite Qwark, and he didn't appear to have any grander plans. Zurgo admitted to being a holonet troll, and would frequently speak in holonet slang, using phrases and terms such as "like a boss", "leet", "epic fail", "LOL", and "noob".

Despite his obsession, Zurgo appeared to be very intelligent and resourceful. He was a capable engineer before his villainy, as he developed an Armor Magnetizer and a large mech suit, as well as being employed by Megacorp's armory.[1][2] After the fact, Zurgo managed to hack into Planetary Defense Centers, create convincing hologuises, and had amassed enough wealth to hire grungarian mercenaries.

Behind the scenes[]

Zurgo concept art

Zurgo concept art

In Going Commando, a bonus feature titled "A Day at the Insomniac Museum" refers to him as "Walter", rather than "Stuart Zurgo", suggesting this was an early name for him.[6]

Prior to Zurgo's release, Insomniac Games did not reveal the identity of the villain for Full Frontal Assault. He was described in marketing as a "familiar face from Ratchet and Clank's past",[7] and a villain with a "nasty surprise planned for Captain Qwark".[8]

Zurgo in Full Frontal Assault describes himself as a holonet troll, implying he was a reference to real-life internet trolls. To this end, Zurgo makes frequent references to real-life internet meme culture at the time of the game's release. During the battle with him, using the Groovitron Glove on him would cause him to perform the "Gangnam Style" dance. When he hacked the Starship Phoenix II, he also played the song "I Am Glad, 'Cause I'm Finally Returning Back Home", also known as "Trololo". Zurgo's use of terms such as "leet", "epic fail", "LOL", "noob", and "like a boss" mirror actual internet slang.

Stuart Zurgo's backstory is strongly reminiscent of Syndrome from The Incredibles. Both villains are superfans of their hero (Mr. Incredible for Syndrome, and Captain Qwark for Zurgo) who became disillusioned with them over time and turned to villainy after their hero rejected them.

Citations[]

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