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The Glove of Doom is a weapon featured in Ratchet & Clank and its re-imagined re-release, Up Your Arsenal, Size Matters, and Rift Apart. It is a glove manufactured by Gadgetron that disperses small androids dispersed known as the Agents of Doom. The Agents are dispensed from DoomEggs[1] launched from the Glove of Doom, and act as kamikaze explosives, running towards an enemy and exploding on contact. The Agents also made a cameo in Secret Agent Clank.

The Glove of Doom can be upgraded to the Gold Glove of Doom in Ratchet & Clank. In the re-imagined release and Rift Apart, it can be upgraded to the Apocalypse Glove, deploying Agents that deal more damage upon self-destructing. In Up Your Arsenal and Size Matters, the Agents of Doom can be upgraded to the Agents of Dread, with Agents that are capable of using lasers and ranged weapons.

History[]

Ratchet first acquired the Glove of Doom during the original Ratchet & Clank, from a vendor. The Ultra Supreme Executive Chairman Drek-Mech also threw out Dark Gadge-Bots to attack Ratchet, resembling larger Agents of Doom. In Captain Qwark's retelling of events, Ratchet also acquired the Glove of Doom later in the adventure, and Captain Qwark himself deployed Agents of Doom against Ratchet, during "Stop Captain Qwark", which were spawned from a blarg generator thrown from his own Glove of Doom.

Ratchet later acquired the weapon, named simply the Agents of Doom, in Up Your Arsenal and Size Matters. During Secret Agent Clank, Agents of Doom were deployed by Robo-Ratchet to attack Clank.

Both Ratchet and Rivet made use of the Glove of Doom years later during Rift Apart.

Characteristics[]

The Glove of Doom in the original Ratchet & Clank itself is a black glove that fits onto Ratchet's hand, with a green circle in its center. In Up Your Arsenal and Size Matters, the Agents of Doom glove is a red, bulkier glove with silver fingers, which retains the central green circle.

The Agents of Doom robots are short, with a large circular head, blue eyes with the left eye larger than the other, and sharp teeth. In the re-imagined Ratchet & Clank, once upgraded to the Apocalypse Glove, the Agents of Doom fly with a blue jetpack towards enemies to attack them before self-destruct, and upon reaching contact with an enemy exploded in a blast radius that could damage nearby enemies. When upgraded in Up Your Arsenal and Size Matters, the Agents of Doom can also carry weapons on their shoulders, and fly jetpacks.

Gameplay[]

Overview[]

In all appearances, the Glove of Doom throws an egg which deploys the Agents of Doom to seek out and attack nearby enemies. It is therefore a defensive, strategic weapon, allowing the player to focus on bigger targets while the Agents supplement Ratchet's damage or attack smaller targets nearby. Between games, the Glove of Doom changes in its upgrade paths, in the functionality and abilities unlocked by the upgraded Agents, and therefore, in which enemies it is strategically strongest against.

Ratchet & Clank (2002)[]

Glove of Doom from R&C (2002) gameplay

The Agents of Doom in action.

The Glove of Doom is available for purchase from a vendor at Eudora for 7,500 bolts (reduced to 5,000 bolts with the Persuader). The weapon can be upgraded to the Gold Glove of Doom for 10,000 bolts and 4 gold bolts. This can first be purchased in the gold weapons room on the Gemlik Base, and later accessed in challenge mode in the gold weapons room reached with a teleporter at the Tobruk Crater, Novalis.

The weapon deploys its Agents of Doom to self-destruct when coming into contact with an enemy, or to bite them first repeatedly to damage them. This means that they are best for fighting small groups of medium or larger enemies, as their damage could be split between multiple enemies or concentrated on a single enemy with no major cost. The Glove of Doom is only useful against grounded enemies, as it cannot target flying enemies. The Agents are also vulnerable to being destroyed by enemy fire, making them strongest against melee enemies.

Up Your Arsenal[]

Agents of Dread gameplay

The Agents of Dread in action.

The Agents of Doom weapon first becomes available for purchase once Ratchet reached the Annihilation Nation, Station Q9. They upgraded to the Agents of Dread with use. Once entering challenge mode, the Mega Agents of Dread may be purchased for 660,000 bolts (594,000 with a discount), and then upgraded to the Giga and Ultra Agents of Dread.

The Agents of Doom fill the same function at V1, in that once deployed, they hunt out and destroy enemies on ground by self-destructing. However, they become much more versatile once upgraded. At V2, they gain laser cannons, which they will fire at enemies until they run out of ammo, at which point they will self-destruct the enemies as usual. The V3 upgrade improves the rate-of-fire of these cannons. At V4, the Agents gain jetpacks. The first set of V4 Agents deployed will hover around Ratchet and protect him, functioning as synthenoids, until out of ammo. Any newly deployed Agents will act as normal on the ground, or replace those that ran out of ammo while in hover mode.

When upgraded to Agents of Dread at V5, the Agents deal far stronger nuclear explosions upon self-destructing, and their laser cannons are replaced with more powerful missile launchers. The Agents must be upgraded to remain useful, as at earlier levels, their damage drops off compared to other more versatile weapons such as the Annihilator or Disc Blade Gun. Conversely, the fully upgraded Omega Agents of Dread has 12 ammo and a power of 12,000, which is theoretically more powerful than the RYNOCIRATOR.

Size Matters[]

The Agents of Doom become available for 25,000 bolts upon reaching Ryllus, and can be upgraded to the Agents of Dread with use. The Launcher Mod for the weapon is available for 20,000 bolts, and in challenge mode the weapon may be upgraded to the Titan Agents of Dread, and another mod, the Explosive Mod, became available for 450,000 bolts.

Similar to Up Your Arsenal, the weapon begins basic, but becomes much more versatile upon upgrading. At the first level, they are only capable of biting enemies. At V2, they gain bomb launcher cannons, which become energy blasts at V3. At V4, the agents gain a jetpack, and the first set deployed will fly around Ratchet and protect him, making it a useful weapon. The Launcher Mod improves their range damage, and the Explosive Mod allows them to self-destruct after being used up. At all levels, the Agents are an all-around good autonomous weapon to substitute Ratchet's existing weapons, but should not be relied upon as a main source of damage.

Ratchet & Clank (2016)[]

The Glove of Doom is one of the later weapons available for purchase. It becomes available at the Deplanetizer, for 35,000 bolts, and can be upgraded using raritanium upgrades. With use, it upgrades to the Apocalypse Glove, improving its capabilities and damage, while not drastically changing its function. These Agents of Doom with the Apocalypse Glove used a jetpack to fly towards enemies and attack them. In challenge mode, the Apocalypse Glove may upgrade to the Omega Apocalypse Glove for 300,000 bolts.

The Glove of Doom functions more similarly to the weapon in the original Ratchet & Clank in that its Agents of Doom remain melee robots without gaining ranged capabilities. However, they still become more versatile upon upgrading them. The Glove of Doom's Agents have a greater explosion radius when self-destructing, and when upgraded to the Apocalypse Glove, are able to fly with a jetpack towards enemies. This makes them even more broadly useful against most enemies and groups, and allows them to be strong against flying enemies.

Rift Apart[]

The Glove of Doom can be acquired in the Blizon Mines, Blizar Prime for 22,500 bolts after completing "Find Phase Quartz". It can likewise upgrade with raritanium, wherein upgrades provide broad improvements to the Agents but not substantial differences in function. With use it upgrades to the Apocalypse Glove at level 5, an upgrade that improves its capabilities but does not drastically change its function. In challenge mode, the Apocalpyse Glove can be upgraded to the Omega Apocalypse Glove for 300,000 bolts.

The weapon deploys Agents that seek out and bite enemies, but do not immediately self-destruct. The Agents also take fire from other enemies, allowing them to be used to distract more powerful foes. The Agents are particularly effective at combating large waves of enemies and preventing Ratchet or Rivet from being overwhelmed by hordes of stronger enemies. They can also be used to strike at enemies appearing behind cover, and enemies that use shields such as the space pirates. Though the Glove of Doom is less useful against flying enemies, its potency against grounded units and its ability to take from from and overwhelm enemies makes it a very broadly useful weapon.

The Glove of Doom has a unique role among Ratchet or Rivet's arsenal, and remains useful throughout the game once acquired. It can be used in tandem with other support weapons, such as Mr. Fungi, the Bombardier, and the Topiary Sprinkler to great effect. In comparison to such weapons, the Glove of Doom has more of a narrow focus on combating melee enemies, but excels in this area.

Behind the scenes[]

Glove of Doom from R&C (2016) concept art

Glove of Doom concept art for re-imagined release

The Glove of Doom was an office favorite among Insomniac Games employees,[2] explaining the weapon's reappearance in subsequen titles.

In the Insomniac Museum in Going Commando, a cut weapon known as the "Hounds of Doom" can be found, which have a similar appearance to the Agents but with the shape of a dog. The Glove of Doom is also left within the game's files, though firing it does not throw out any Agents and the weapon's texture is glitched.

The Agents of Doom in the 2016 reimagined Ratchet & Clank bear a resemblance to the Gadge-Bots from the original game, and were greatly increased in size in comparison. The intent had always been for the Agents of Doom to be larger, but this could not be achieved on PlayStation 2 hardware, as their models had a high polygon count which was not scaleable with multiple Agents deployed.[3]

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