Lawrence is a minor antagonist in Up Your Arsenal and A Crack in Time, with appearances in Deadlocked and All 4 One. He is Dr. Nefarious' robot butler. Lawrence has saved Nefarious' life more than once, and serves him loyally. However, he often spites Nefarious with subtle insults.
Per the Qwark vid-comics, Lawrence has served Nefarious ever since he was an organic lifeform, and remained at his side after he was transformed into a robot. When Captain Qwark defeated Nefarious in Metropolis, Lawrence incapacitated Qwark and rescued Nefarious.
Lawrence served under Nefarious during his war against the Solana Galaxy, in which Nefarious plotted to transform all organic lifeforms to robots with the Biobliterator, and again in the Polaris Galaxy when Nefarious plotted to control the Great Clock to alter time. On both occasions, Lawrence was responsible for teleporting Nefarious away from danger, inches before death. However, when Nefarious' plot to defeat Qwark, Ratchet, and Clank with a Light-Eating Z'Grute failed, Lawrence resigned, only to return to Nefarious' employ at the end. Lawrence was not present for the events of Rift Apart as he had been placed on paid paternity leave and only appears in the credits alongside his partner and newborn child, with Nefarious paying his family a visit.
History[]
Before Up Your Arsenal[]
Lawrence was hired or created at some point by then-organic life form Dr. Nefarious, an archetypal mad scientist. Others told him his intellect would be squandered under Nefarious' employ.[1]
Per the Qwark vid-comics, Lawrence assisted Nefarious in the creation of the amoeboid, amassing them in the swamps of Blackwater City, Rilgar; hoping to use them to eliminate all life on the planet. Lawrence remarked sardonically that it would resolve qualms about the doctor's madness.[2] Captain Qwark either coordinated the cities defenses from the women's restroom - or defeated Nefarious' amoeboid army, causing Nefarious to flee in disgrace with Lawrence, while Qwark clung onto their ship.[3]
The duo traveled for six days until reaching Nefarious' secret base on Magmos. Once there, Qwark attempted to disguise himself as a pizza delivery woman to infiltrate Nefarious' laboratory. Nefarious was surprised at Qwark's stupidity, though Lawrence remarked that even "drooling idiots" can achieve success in some fields such as mad science, a subtle jab at Nefarious.[4] Even after Nefarious activated his base' defenses, Qwark defeated Nefarious there, causing him to transform into a robot. Lawrence remained with Nefarious following the transformation.
Lawrence then accompanied Nefarious to Metropolis, Kerwan, where Nefarious unleashed an army of insectoid swarms. While Lawrence went to pick up new crushed velvet curtains for the torture chamber, Qwark defeated Nefarious, and tossed his head into a trash can. Lawrence returned and caught Qwark off-guard, incapacitating him with a hammer, picked up Nefarious, and took them both back to Nefarious' lair. While leaving Qwark in a secret prison, Nefarious demanded Lawrence give him a massage, allowing Qwark to escape.[5] Lawrence suggested flooding the facility with boiling acid to kill off Qwark, which Nefarious was keen for,[6] though this did not kill Qwark. Meanwhile, Lawrence attempted to screw Nefarious' head back onto his body, but screwed it on backward by accident. This infuriated Nefarious, but in a fit of rage, he froze up, and began playing a Lance and Janice episode. Lawrence opted not to fix the malfunction.[7]
Up Your Arsenal[]
Following Nefarious' tyhrranoid invasion of Veldin, and during an invasion of the presidential palace on Marcadia, Nefarious broadcast a message to the Solana Galaxy, in which he addressed robots claiming the "hour of your liberation" was at hand. Lawrence appeared on this broadcast, translating it into sign language.
Lawrence continued to perform Nefarious' chores upon his flagship, the Leviathan, while Nefarious watched episodes of Secret Agent Clank. Lawrence informed Nefarious when his base on Aquatos had been infiltrated, and elaborated that Captain Qwark and his newly-formed Q-Force were behind the attack.[8] Lawrence later appeared on Supervillain Weekly, filmed on Daxx, where he briefly discussed the Biobliterator, and questioned the use of the term "superweapon" to describe the weapon.[9] He also, along with Nefarious, beamed a transmission on-board the Starship Phoenix taunting the Q-Force.[10]
Later, Ratchet and Qwark confronted Nefarious on the Leviathan, though Nefarious had merely set them up for a trap to kill them, and initiated a self-destruct sequence. Lawrence teleported them both out after initiating the sequence, though he left Nefarious hanging for a few minutes, presumably for his own amusement.[11] Lawrence also accompanied Nefarious to Metropolis, where Nefarious first used the Biobliterator to transform the city's population to robots. Lawrence handed Nefarious the switch for the Biobliterator, though not before mistakenly handing one that displayed a hologram of Nefarious' performance for Galactic Idol.[12] Once Ratchet encountered them, Lawrence teleported himself and Nefarious away after Nefarious taunted Ratchet and sent Klunk to defeat him.
Ratchet and Clank confronted Nefarious on Mylon, where the final Biobliterator was located. Nefarious called on Lawrence to annihilate Ratchet, though Lawrence was playing bass guitar elsewhere,[13] and Nefarious was only able to reach Lawrence' holographic voicemail, leaving Nefarious to fight them alone.[14] After Ratchet defeated Nefarious, Nefarious called Lawrence once more before he could begin his solo, titled "Bass Odyssey". Lawrence then teleported both of them to the Biobliterator, attempting to kill Ratchet and Clank, though Captain Qwark interrupted its fire with his shuttle at the last minute.[13]
Ratchet, Clank and Qwark destroyed the Biobliterator, causing its reactor to detonate. It was set to detonate within sixty seconds, though it detonated a lot sooner, meaning Nefarious could not specify a destination for Lawrence to teleport them to.[15] As a result, Lawrence teleported them on board an asteroid in space, far out of range of any planet or space station to teleport to. Lawrence speculated that another planet could come along within five to ten thousand years, and simply played his bass guitar in space.[16]
After Up Your Arsenal[]
Lawrence and Nefarious then drifted on the asteroid throughout space for about one year. In Deadlocked, the asteroid drifted towards the Shadow Sector's DreadZone Station. Lawrence had informed Nefarious that a space station was coming within range, but as they arrived, they found it had exploded, infuriating Nefarious.[17]
After about another year, the asteroid had drifted out of Solana and towards the Polaris Galaxy before eventually crashing onto planet Zanifar where the two sought refuge with a local Fongoid tribe. Nefarious went through a mental crisis with his defeat by Ratchet and Clank still haunting him and so partook in a series of soul-searching regimes to find himself again, all with Lawrence accompanying him. During a spirit walk on planet Quantos, Nefarious discovered the existence of the Great Clock and began forming an elaborate plan to use it and rewrite history to erase his and all villains' defeats, so heroes like Ratchet and Clank are always the losers.
Nefarious slowly manipulated the Fongoids into believing he was a good and righteous being, brainwashing them and using them as labour to construct his Tombli Outpost, where he had legions of starships and robotic Nefarious Troopers created to aid him in his new campaign. The Doctor then partnered with Pollyx; the Terachnoid CEO of Pollyx Industries and used his company's hoarded knowledge on the Clock and it's elusive creators; the Zoni, to learn more about them and develop equipment to combat and contain the strange beings. He eventually was able to make contact with their leader; Orvus and requested a private meeting with him. Nefarious then sprung a trap, had him captured and forcibly interrogated Orvus on how to enter the Clock's sealed master control center, known as the Orvus Chamber. Orvus refused to ever reveal it to him but before he mysteriously dissipated, Pollyx was able to find a residual image from the Zoni's databanks, revealing that Clank is Orvus' heir and the only one that can unlock the Chamber. The other Zoni were unaware of what had happened to Orvus or his meeting with Dr. Nefarious and so during the events of Tools of Destruction, the Doctor offered to help them find their new master, whom they made contact with multiple times before eventually abducting Clank and bringing him to the Clock to fulfill his birthright.
Quest For Booty[]
After defeating the ghost space pirates, destroying the union between Captain Slag and Darkwater, and retrieving the Fulcrum Star, Ratchet used the Obsidian Eye on planet Merdegraw to find where Clank had been taken when he was abducted by the Zoni. It was revealed to Ratchet that overexposure to Zoni energy had caused Clank to malfunction and they had met a doctor who claimed to be capable of repairing him, who turns out to be Dr. Nefarious. On his way to Clank's mneumonic station to again probe his memories in search of the key to the Chamber, Nefarious trips on one of Lawrence's feather dusters, falling down the stairs and angrily shouting his name. Lawrence is seen alongside Nefarious surveying Clank in the closing pages of Rusty Pete's story book.
A Crack in Time[]
Clank was at first held by the Zoni and Nefarious, though the Doctor's partnership ended with the Zoni when it became clear that they would not give him access to the Orvus Chamber. Nefarious unleashed his Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler, causing heavy damage to the Great Clock and scattering the thousands of Zoni present at the facility. The Clock's machinery is especially susceptible to sonic weaponry; a fact Lawrence apologizes for having slipped his mind. The damage done to the equipment shuts off the mneumonic station for a few moments, allowing Clank to reawaken and attempt an escape.
Clank is eventually incapacitated by Lawrence using the orb of gratuitous immobilization, but instead of returning him to the mneumonic station, Nefarious has a better idea and leaves Clank undisturbed to eventually lead them into the Chamber himself. Clank meets with Sigmund; the Great Clock's junior caretaker, to learn more about Orvus and eventually access the Chamber. While this happened, Lawrence stayed at the Clock to spy on Clank and reported his ongoing progress to Dr. Nefarious via hologram after the Doctor had returned to the Nefarious Space Station.
Later, Lawrence discusses with Nefarious the estimations calculated by Pollyx as to exactly how many paradoxes will be required for his plan and which other villains will participate in it. Lawrence however expresses concern at the Doctor's hastiness to use the Chamber and suggests they let the Terachnoids examine it first before fully testing the machine. Nefarious in turn taunts Lawrence and calls him chicken. After Clank eventually opened the Chamber as Nefarious had predicted, Lawrence incapacitated both him and Sigmund with the orb again before reporting the news to the Doctor. Ratchet, Clank and Qwark later infiltrate the station with disguises, where Ratchet uses a hologuise of Nefarious himself. Using this disguise, he calls Lawrence and issues him orders enabling the Lombax to reach mission control and destroy Nefarious' docked ship fleet using the station's own Hypernova Defense Laser.
Lawrence arrived back at the Nefarious Space Station to pick up the Doctor and head back to the Clock to finally use the Orvus Chamber. Ratchet and Clank returned to the station after surviving Nefarious' Asteroid Flinger 5000 and confronted him in a final battle to stop him from potentially destroying the universe. Lawrence was ordered to move the ship out of harm's way, though it soon became a battlefield between them. Lawrence fired the ship's cannons during this battle at Ratchet to assist in the fight. When Nefarious fell unconscious upon being defeated, Lawrence used the ship's escape pod to leave while the ship hurtled towards the space station. Moments before the ship crashed into the station and exploded, Lawrence teleported Nefarious' unconscious body away and onto the escape pod. After being unable to locate any remains of Nefarious or Lawrence in the station's debris, the Polaris government later discovered their means of escape but were unable to deduce their current location.[18]
All 4 One[]
Lawrence continued to work with Nefarious in a new plan of his to get revenge against Ratchet, Clank and Qwark. After luring the three to Luminopolis, the Doctor ordered Lawrence to reanimate a Light Eating Z'Grute to have it destroy his enemies. The plan however backfired on Nefarious, getting himself caught in the crossfire of the huge monster and leading Lawrence to flee the scene hastily announcing his resignation.
Lawrence returned much later once the Loki Master was defeated, piloting Cronk and Zephyr's ship down to the surface of planet Magnus and came under Nefarious' employ once again, claiming that the market for evil sidekicks was rather thin. Lawrence then flew the two off in the stolen ship whilst discussing with Nefarious how best to avoid the Polaris Defense Force patrols.
Rift Apart[]
Lawrence is not present for the events of Rift Apart as he had been placed on paid paternity leave by Dr. Nefarious. In his place, the Doctor hired Goons-4-Less to assist him in his plot to steal the repaired Dimensionator during the Festival of Heroes in Megalopolis. The goons however frequently fail in their job to kill Ratchet and Clank, leading Nefarious to angrily decry them as useless and frustratedly proclaim that this is what he gets for giving his assistant paid paternity leave.
Emperor Nefarious has his own assistant, F-44, though she bears no real similarity to Lawrence aside from their shared role.
In the ending credits sequence, the Doctor is seen silently bidding an end to his brief stint as emperor in Rivet's dimension and leaves Emperor Nefarious' office to go visit Lawrence and his family, where he dotes on their newborn, robot child.
Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
Lawrence is a fairly pear-shaped, well-dressed, humanoid robot. He has bright blue eyes and wears a traditional butler suit, with a black suit jacket and blue bow tie.
His appearance between Up Your Arsenal and A Crack in Time remains largely unchanged with small exceptions. Those being the additions of gold colored buttons on his suit jacket lapels and cuffs. His high collar has also been changed from being his white undershirt's to his black suit jacket's.
Personality[]
Lawrence speaks with an upper class English accent. Lawrence serves Nefarious loyally in a variety of tasks. Many of his tasks include daily chores, such as laundry,[8] home decorations, and massages.[5] However, Lawrence also carries out more important tasks for Nefarious, including defeating his enemies, several times rescuing him either through teleportation or one time by incapacitating Qwark with a hammer, or by spying on enemies such as Clank. Lawrence appears to equivocate the two tasks in importance,[5] and is entirely detached from any importance of his work.[13]
Though Lawrence does not complain about his chores, he regularly makes subtle jabs at Nefarious' expense, which Nefarious appears to be totally oblivious of.[12] Lawrence thinks lowly of Nefarious' intelligence, and during his subtle insults has called him a drooling imbecile,[4] a moron,[8] and a twit.[12] Lawrence considered Nefarious' malfunction, and the opportunity to whack him, the best part of his day.[11]
Abilities[]
As well as performing chores for Nefarious, Lawrence is occasionally a combatant, with Nefarious expressing confidence in his ability to annihilate his foes.[19] In the Qwark vid-comics, he proved able to incapacitate Qwark with a hammer, and during Nefarious' fight against Ratchet and Clank in A Crack in Time, operated a turret to destroy them. Lawrence frequently teleports himself and Nefarious away from danger, and has done so twice to save Nefarious from near-death situations at the hands of Ratchet and Clank.[16][18] He also utilized the orb of gratuitous immobilization to incapacitate an enemy when necessary.
Lawrence is also familiar with sign language, and has helped broadcast Nefarious' messages with it. He is a bass guitar enthusiast, which he plays left-handed, and has written solos, one of which he named "Bass Odyssey".[13] Lawrence is rather intelligent and has on multiple occasions given Nefarious helpful advice in his schemes. He was warned by unknown individuals before going to work for Nefarious that his intellect would be squandered under the Doctor's employ, a decision he often expresses regret for.
Behind the scenes[]
Lawrence can be seen spying on Clank during Clank gameplay sections in A Crack in Time. To see him better, before fighting the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler, the player must move to the back ledge of the right side of the flooring before the bossfight area, use three heli-pack boosts and stay next to the wall and then see him standing on a ledge.
Multiple copies of Lawrence appear as small enemies in PlayStation Home in the Firing Range (future). He can also be heard during PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.
In the Ratchet & Clank movie, a blueprint for Lawrence appears on a wall of Nefarious' possessions in the same style as the drawing of the vitruvian man by Leonardo da Vinci. This suggests that in this movie continuity, Lawrence would have later been created by Dr. Nefarious himself to be his assistant rather than simply an employee of his like in the main games continuity.
Citations[]
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Qwark goes Undercover"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Emergency Plan Number 2"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Qwark Holds His Breath"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Up Your Arsenal script § "Somebody Order a Pizza?"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Up Your Arsenal script § "Redecorating the Torture Chamber"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Play vid-comic Episode Five (gameplay)"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Who's Butt is This?"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Up Your Arsenal script § "Dirty Laundry and Whatnot"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Supervillain Weekly"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Phoenix 5"
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Up Your Arsenal script § "Find Nefarious (gameplay)"
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Up Your Arsenal script § "Find Dr. Nefarious (gameplay)"
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Up Your Arsenal script § "Defeat the Biobliterator (gameplay)"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Defeat Dr. Nefarious (gameplay)"
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Agent Clank's Next Mission"
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Up Your Arsenal script § "Bass Odyssey"
- ↑ Deadlocked script § "You make me feel like a young boy again!"
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Ratchet & Clank: Issue 1: Ears of War page 15.
- ↑ Up Your Arsenal script § "Defeat Dr. Nefarious (gameplay)"
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