Al (Ratchet & Clank)

Al is a supporting character in the Ratchet & Clank series. He is a technological genius who serves to provide support for Ratchet and Clank on their adventures.

He is voiced by Chris Hatfield.

Biography[]

Ratchet & Clank (2002)[]

Al is first seen during a commercial advertising his RoboShack on Kerwan, a service that he runs to provide a repair service for electronics, endorsed by Captain Qwark. Believing that Al will know where to find Qwark, Ratchet and Clank head there to ask. Although he is unable to provide information on Qwark's whereabouts, he is able to install a heli-pack to Clank, which Ratchet pays him bolts to do. He is not seen for the rest of the game, but his work on Clank would be recognized by his brother Bob on Pokitaru, who installed him with a thruster pack. However, it is mentioned at the start of Going Commando that he hosted a wiener roast for the duo, in celebration of Chairman Drek's defeat.

Up Your Arsenal[]

During the tyhrranoid invasion on the Capital City of Marcadia, Al was tasked by President Phyronix to repair the city's laser defense system, but went missing afterwards. The task is reassigned to Ratchet and Clank, who fought their way to the computer, and found Al playing a Qwark vid-comic on the main computer, to their disapproval. Clank figures out why the shields weren't working, and Al corrects this error, restoring them.

When the Q-Force is assembled, Al is tasked to take care of the technological challenges. He would use his abilities to trace the source that Nefarious transmitted a hologram from onto the Phoenix, informing Ratchet and Clank that it came from Daxx. The duo investigate the area and find some useful information. He was present at the Q-Force meetings when discussing Qwark's plans on Aquatos and Tyhrranosis, as well as Qwark's "funeral." Later on, he discovered that it was possible to reverse the effects of the Biobliterator on Skidd McMarx, and turn him back into his organic form. After Nefarious's defeat, he had changed Skidd back, as the latter is seen back in his normal form at the premiere of Secret Agent Clank's latest episode, along with Al himself.

Deadlocked[]

After Sasha Phyronix became the Mayor of Metropolis, Al continued to operate on the Starship Phoenix after Ratchet was left in charge of the ship. Sasha informed them about heroes getting forced to participate in the illegal combat sport DreadZone. Soon after, Ratchet, Clank and Al are all kidnapped and taken there, being forced to wear deadlock collars. While Ratchet is forced to participate in the combat sport, Clank and Al are assigned as engineers to provide logistical and technical support. Al assists Ratchet with configuring his armor, and provides him with battle bots Merc and Green, who were owned by a previous contestant before their demise. Together, they would be known as Team Darkstar. Throughout, he provided upgrades to them as Ratchet advanced in the rankings.

As Al and Clank continue to provide logistical support to Ratchet, they formulate a plan to escape DreadZone. Clank obtains blueprints to the deadlock collars from a tech droid. With the blueprints, Al is able to reverse engineer the deadlock collars, allowing them to be removed. However, this success is short-lived, as Gleeman Vox catches wind and orders Ace Hardlight to ambush them, shooting Al unconscious and forcing Clank to put his collar back on. Al is extracted to receive medical attention, leaving him unable to support Ratchet for some time.

Ratchet completes the Liberator Tournament, defeats Ace Hardlight in battle, and fights through the experimental Ghost Station with only Clank able to support him. He returns to the containment suite afterwards, to Ratchet's surprise, with parts of his body replaced with electronics. Together, he and Clank discover a way to free the contestants imprisoned in DreadZone. They reprogram Ratchet's shuttle to infiltrate underneath the battledome for him to destroy, but Ratchet is ambushed into another trap by Vox. However, Ratchet is still successful in buying time for the other contestants to escape, defeating Vox personally. Ratchet is then extracted by Clank, who removes Ratchet's deadlock collar before it explodes, and the DreadZone battledome subsequently blows up. On the same escape pod, Al fixes a commlink and they begin to receive gratitude calls for Team Darkstar's efforts.