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The Zoni are a race of extradimensional creatures featured in Tools of Destruction, Quest for Booty, and A Crack in Time, and mentioned in other following entries. They are powerful beings of bio-energy who can manipulate time and space at their will. 117,000 Zoni operate and maintain the Great Clock, the universe's keeper of time. Neither organic nor robotic, they wear metal suits to survive in other dimensions. The Zoni are a hive-minded race, much more powerful in groups, and their power multiplies the more of them are present. They are led by the creator of the Great Clock, Orvus.

Clank began seeing visions of the Zoni after his arrival in the Polaris Galaxy, though they were invisible to everyone else, including Ratchet. The Zoni helped Clank in his quest for the fabled Lombax Secret, providing guidance and zeptotech upgrades. Once his quest was complete, they took Clank with them to the Great Clock to fulfill his destiny but brought in Dr. Nefarious to repair him. Nefarious betrayed them after they denied him access to the Orvus Chamber, unleashing a Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler to damage the Clock and chase the Zoni away. Ratchet then found 40 Zoni scattered throughout the Breegus System, which he could capture inside a Zoni Vessel and use to grant upgrades to his ship, Aphelion.

History[]

Before Tools of Destruction[]

Eons prior to the events of Ratchet & Clank, the Zoni entrusted the fongoids of the Polaris Galaxy with the gift of time travel, hoping it would enrich their lives as it had their own. Over the course of 3,000 years, their overuse of time travel and creation of multiple time paradoxes wore the space-time continuum thin. This caused a rip in space and time that destroyed 83 celestial entities,[1] and opened small anomalies to the Netherverse.[2]

The Great Clock was created by Orvus to repair the rift.[1] It was operated by 117,000 Zoni,[3] but was still a fragile device, as using it as a time machine would cause a temporal catastrophe.[4] At some point, Orvus came to planet Viceron and appointed Sigmund as its Junior Caretaker, while creating Clank to eventually be his successor as the Head Caretaker.[1] Thereafter, only those in the Breegus System appeared aware of their existence. The fongoids revered the Zoni, and especially Orvus, as religious icons.[5]

At some point, the captain of the space pirates, Angstrom Darkwater, encountered a the in the Breegus Star Cluster. The Zoni[a] gave Darkwater a Fulcrum Star to talk with them after returning to Polaris. Darkwater treasured it to the point of cursing to bind his soul to his body permanently to protect it, and built the Obsidian Eye to use it to communicate with them,[6] but had plans to eventually betray them and pillage their dimension.[7]

Tools of Destruction[]

His Past Is Inside

Clank's vision of Stratus City.

The Zoni first appeared to Clank when he was knocked unconscious during his trip to the Polaris Galaxy, coming to ensure his survival before bringing him home.[8] They showed him a vision of Stratus City on Kortog, directing him to the Hall of Knowledge. When Clank reached it, they gave him the zeptotech Robo-Wings[9] modification and guided him there in "Fly to the Hall of Knowledge". As Ratchet could not see the Zoni, he expressed confusion at first.[10]

On Fastoon, during "Search the Mine", they helped Clank find a part of Aphelion, and told him they were here to help him "destroy it"[11] (referring to the Dimensionator before Clank had learned of the device). At the Apogee Space Station, in "Search the Station", they gave Clank the Geo-Laser modification. They also guided Clank to the lombax testing facility on Sargasso in "Search from the Sky"; Ratchet expressed concern that Clank had fried a sisterboard, as he still could not see them.[12]

I'm Gonna Need More Grog 2

The Zoni taking Clank to the Great Clock.

The Zoni then helped repair the IRIS Supercomputer in "Repair the IRIS" and told him that Talwyn Apogee was held in Zordoom Prison and would be executed. At this point, after Clank suggested destroying the Dimensionator, Ratchet lost patience with Clank, calling the Zoni his "imaginary friends," but still begrudgingly traveled there to rescue her.[13] On Reepor, in "Search for Ratchet", the Zoni helped Clank return to Ratchet and urged him once again to destroy the Dimensionator,[14] telling Clank that the cragmites would attack Fastoon again next;[15] at this point, Ratchet trusted Clank that the Zoni existed.[16] After Tachyon was defeated, the Zoni appeared to abduct Clank, this time revealing themselves to the others,[8] taking him to the Great Clock.

Quest for Booty[]

Intro from QFB cutscene

Ratchet and Clank see Captain Darkwater with the Zoni while using the IRIS Supercomputer.

Ratchet and Talwyn followed a lead from the IRIS Supercomputer about Captain Darkwater,[17] which led them to the Obsidian Eye. Using it, Ratchet located the Zoni, who were working with Dr. Nefarious to have Clank repaired, in the Breegus Nebula.[18]

A Crack in Time[]

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The Zoni worked with Dr. Nefarious at first, who pretended to be an ally of the Zoni who claimed to fix Clank. However, when it became clear they would not grant him access to the Orvus Chamber, Nefarious instead unleashed the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler to chase them from the Clock and damage it, causing the Zoni to scatter. Ratchet could find 40 of the Zoni throughout the Breegus System, capturing them in a Zoni Vessel and using them to repair and fix the Aphelion.

After Ratchet and Clank stopped Nefarious, and after Clank left the Great Clock in the hands of Sigmund, the Zoni appear to have returned to the Great Clock and fixed the remaining time anomalies.

Characteristics[]

Appearance[]

OrvusChronoscepter

Orvus holding the Chronoscepter

The Zoni are neither mechanical nor biological beings, and are instead made of pure bio-energy. They do not appear in their pure form in Ratchet and Clank's dimension, but appear in metallic casing. With the exception of Orvus, the Zoni lack visible mouths.

Habitat[]

The Zoni hail from their own Zoni dimension, though 117,000 Zoni reside within the Great Clock.

Behavior[]

The Zoni are powerful ceatures, capable of almost anything. But they are also hive-minds, and must be kept together for their energy to work.

The Zoni are a hive-mind, which function better in groups. Zoni are almost always found floating together in groups of three, and when speaking, will speak in unison. When separately, scattered Zoni on their own appear to float around aimlessly until captured in a Zoni Vessel. While the Zoni are very intelligent and can keep track of time, they are not omniscient and cannot predict the future, as they could not predict Nefarious' betrayal.

Abilities[]

Friendly little creatures they are. Can manipulate time and space to their will!

Angstrom Darkwater, writing in his personal journal, QfB

The Zoni are made of bio-energy, and their bio-energy is the most powerful resource in the entire omniverse.

The Zoni are very intelligent and extremely powerful, able to phase in and out at will, fire energy at enemies, fix or energize machinery, levitate objects, or freeze time. They can appear invisible and non-existent to those who they do not wish to be seen by, and can grant visions of the future. They are also known to have gifted the fongoids the ability to travel through time.

Despite seeming all powerful, they possess a weakness: they are greatly affected by sonic weaponry, and powerless against Dr. Nefarious' Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler. Zoni can also be captured in a Zoni Vessel which they do not appear to be able to escape from. The Zoni do not appear to be mortal, however, as when damaged, they will stand back up shortly after a fall. When energizing an object, they will sometimes disappear afterwards, as their energy has been exhausted.

Technology[]

The Zoni also created powerful technology, using zeptotech, a superior form of nanotech which is smaller (zepto refers to "one sextillionth" while nano refers to "one billionth"). When upgrading Clank, the Zoni provide Clank with both the Robo-Wings and the Geo-Laser devices. The Zoni also created the Chronoscepter and Time Bombs, devices which can manipulate time and are used by caretakers of the Great Clock.

The Great Clock in Ratchet and Clank's universe is also a Zoni invention by Orvus, the brightest Zoni.

Gameplay[]

Tools of Destruction[]

The Zoni are controlled by Clank in a similar manner to the Gadge-Bots from previous games. The Zoni fire at enemies on their own, and after being attacked will not die, but will rather lie on the ground for a few seconds before again standing up. They also allow Clank to slow down time, and appear to also be affected by Clank's slowing of time. When found, they will follow Clank throughout until used up with Charge Up.

Three commands can be given to the Zoni: Levitate, allowing Clank to hover for a certain amount of time; Manipulate, allowing them to fix objects (provided he enough are used at a time); or Charge Up, energizing an object allowing Clank to proceed to a new area (using up the Zoni in the process).

A Crack in Time[]

Vapedia zoni

Ratchet collecting a Zoni with his OmniWrench on planet Vapedia

Finding Zoni

Ratchet after finding a Zoni in space

In A Crack in Time, 40 Zoni spread across five sectors in the Breegus System appear as collectibles that Ratchet can obtain to find Clank, and provide upgrades for the Aphelion. Zoni are found throughout several planets, similar to gold bolts as well as earned from completing missions on moons. Collecting the Zoni places them in a Zoni Vessel, and Zoni are collected by Ratchet grabbing one in mid-air with the OmniWrench. Collecting Zoni also grants Ratchet nanotech experience.

After collecting 40 Zoni, Ratchet is challenged to defeat Lord Vorselon again. Defeating him grants the player access to the Insomniac Museum.

Other[]

Zoni skin from SAC render

The Secret Agent Clank zoni skin.

The Zoni are an unlockable skin in Secret Agent Clank. They are unlocked using the cheat Left, Left Right Up, Down, Down, X on the pause menu. The code is revealed in Tools of Destruction.

Behind the scenes[]

Zoni from TOD concept art

Concept art for Tools of Destruction.

The Zoni were given prominent round eyes similar to Clank, to maintain the connection.[19]

The Zoni were voiced by Richard Horvitz, an actor for c:resistance:Resistance: Fall of Man who was a fan of the Ratchet & Clank series. Jackie Weyrauch, Dialogue Specialist at Insomniac Games for Tools of Destruction, learned this after Horvitz quoted lines of dialogue and gave detailed descriptions of boss battles, leading Weyrauch to look for a way to include him. Though concerned she would be unable to include him at first, his audition for the Zoni was perfect. Each Zoni line was recorded seven times to create an illusion of a group of Zoni. The lines were then processed by adding a second of silence at the start and end of each file, raising the pitch by three semitones while preserving the duration of the file, reversing the dialogue, applying reverb, reversing it again, trimming the silence from the file, and then normalizing it.[20]

The Zoni are mentioned in the 2016 re-imagined game, despite originally being unheard of outside of the Breegus System of Polaris.[citation needed] They are mentioned by characters such as Grimroth Razz through phrases like "What in Zoni's name just exploded?!", and a small picture appears. The lightning bolt that hit a robot factory on Quartu which created Clank was also caused by the Zoni.[21]

The Zoni appear in PlayStation Move Heroes as Clank's special move, they hover above his head and shoot at enemies to aid him.

A Zoni also appears as a downloadable Minion for Ratchet and Clank in the game PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

Notes[]

Annotations[]

  1. Angstrom Darkwater claims "their leader" gave Darkwater the Fulcrum Star.[6] It is unknown if the leader Darkwater refers to is Orvus or simply the leader of a small group of Zoni. Orvus is not known to leave the Great Clock often, but given that the Zoni are a hive mind and have no other known leaders, it is likely him.

Citations[]

References[]

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