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General Alister Azimuth was a major supporting character in A Crack in Time, a Four-Bolt Magistrate of the Lombax Praetorian Guard, and an elder councilman for the Center for Advanced Lombax Research. He was a childhood friend of Ratchet's father, Kaden.

Having become an exile in the aftermath of Emperor Tachyon's purge of the lombaxes, Ratchet met Azimuth on Torren IV after hearing of the General's rebellion against Dr. Nefarious and Lord Vorselon. He also learned that Azimuth was searching for the Great Clock in the hopes of rescuing his people.

According to Vorselon, Azimuth was considered the strongest of his kind.[2]

History[]

Before A Crack in Time[]

Many years ago, Azimuth grew up alongside with Kaden and the two were close friends as children, having many adventures together in their youth. On one such event when Kaden was 15 to 16, Alister stole his father's trillium harvester and used it to bring the two of them out to the Agorian Battleplex so Kaden could compete. Kaden used his own father's ID to gain entrance to the Gold tournament and became the first non-Agorian to win. Alister witnessed it himself but knew the Agorians would never admit a Lombax had won their tournament. Kaden was consequently grounded for a month, but Alister maintains the only other time he ever saw Kaden happier was at the birth of his son.

As they grew older, Azimuth joined the Praetorian Guard and eventually became an elder councilman for the Center. At some point during his tenure, he was the architect behind the Court of Azimuth.[3]

Tachyon Lombaxes

The "inventor" shares his ideas with the lombaxes.

After the War's conclusion, Azimuth was unsure about the state of the galaxy, feeling that more could be done to protect it. Then one day, the lombaxes were approached by a mysterious inventor who claimed to have the solution, possessing ideas for technology far more advanced than their own. Despite being warned by Kaden not to trust him, Azimuth became convinced by his plans and granted the outsider full access to lombax technology to build them.

However, the inventor revealed himself to be Percival Tachyon, the self-proclaimed Prince of the Cragmites who wanted revenge against the lombaxes for banishing his race to another dimension with the Dimensionator. He used the technology Azimuth gave him to build his Imperial Army, crush Fastoon and kill hundreds of the populace before the rest of them were forced to flee to another dimension themselves. For his part in allowing this disaster, Azimuth was forbidden from joining his race as a form of exile and the General would spend years holding himself responsible for the attack and Kaden's death shortly after, though unaware that his friend's son, Ratchet had survived.

Some decades later, the mechanical madman, Dr. Nefarious rose to power within the Breegus System where Azimuth lived in exile. Sensing the disruption the villain and his hired henchman, Lord Vorselon could cause, he began to defy Nefarious by destroying one of his transports, and an outpost in the Korthos Sector belonging to Vorselon, even despite being briefly captured.[4] In those years, Azimuth also learned of the Great Clock and began to research its powers in the hopes of being able to undo his terrible mistake to the point of near-obsession.

A Crack in Time[]

Alister-Ratchet

Azimuth pins Ratchet to a wall, thinking he is an assassin.

During his search for Clank in Breegus, Ratchet sought out Azimuth on Torren IV after being confused for the General by Vorselon, hoping to work together. However, Azimuth initially assumed that Ratchet was an assassin wearing a Hologuise and had been sent by Vorselon or Nefarious to kill him. When Ratchet finally caught up, the General recognized him as Kaden's son and stood down, introducing himself to Ratchet as his father's friend. The two spoke about the Clock, which Azimuth speculated that Clank had been taken to. Gifting Ratchet Kaden's old Hoverboots, he instructed the younger lombax to meet him in Axiom City on planet Terachnos to find a way to talk to Clank.

Alisters story

Azimuth tells the story of his exile.

On Terachnos, Azimuth and Ratchet infiltrated Pollyx Industries, a company that specialized in searching for Zoni technology on behalf of Nefarious. They discovered that the only way to communicate with Clank was through an Obsidian Eye located somewhere on planet Lumos. Once there, after being pushed to explain his exile by Ratchet, Azimuth told the story of his part in the extinction of the lombaxes while also revealing his plan to gain control of the Clock and change the past.

After splitting up to try and draw the attention of Vorselon, Azimuth was captured by the assassin and used as a lure for Ratchet to try and rescue him. Though initially angry at Ratchet for wasting time saving him instead of searching for the Clock, the General eventually admitted his pride in his fellow lombax after learning he had traveled back in time to try and save Orvus.

When Ratchet finally rescued Clank from the Valkyries on Vapedia, Clank warned that misusing the power of the Clock had the potential to destroy the universe. Azimuth remained unconvinced, trying to persuade Ratchet that the Clock was the only way to save Kaden and his mother. Unfortunately, Ratchet was reminded of being tempted by a similar deal with the Dimensionator and chose to heed Clank's warnings because of the risk it posed. Dejected, Azimuth promptly left on his own.

When Ratchet and Clank defeated Nefarious at his space station, Azimuth returned to save them just before the ship they were on was destroyed. Reconvening at the Great Clock, Azimuth was still intent on using it to change the past, but Ratchet insisted that the lombaxes were not in any real danger and that the past should stay where it is. Furious that he was being denied the chance to save his race by one of his own for the second time, Azimuth's years of guilt caused him to snap and kill Ratchet. Knowing that the Orvus Chamber held the master switch for the Clock, the General attempted to beat Clank to it, but was held back by Sigmund. Remembering advice on the maximum limit the Clock could manipulate time, Clank used it to travel back six minutes and save Ratchet's life.

Alister dead

Azimuth sacrifices himself to save time.

In the new timeline, Azimuth successfully reached the Chamber first and activated a time shift to return to the universe back to the lombax era. Even despite the Clock beginning to fracture around him, Azimuth fought Ratchet, convinced that this was the right thing to do. After a long battle, he was finally defeated and saw that the Clock was breaking down. Realizing his reckless actions were on the brink of causing another catastrophe, Azimuth decided to make up for his mistake and used his wrench to halt the time shift. However, the build up of quantum energy from the aborted shift exploded, killing Azimuth in the process.

Ratchet was deeply hurt by Azimuth's death, though Clank noted that his sacrifice was for the good of everyone and that Ratchet should be proud of him. The Lombax kept the General's wrench and pocket watch to act as mementos.

Legacy[]

Alister comic

Ratchet's memory of Azimuth after his death.

After Ratchet returned to Veldin, he still felt some guilt over Azimuth's death, wishing to shut himself away so as not to cause anyone else close to him to be lost.[5] However, Talwyn would remind Ratchet that solitude and guilt were the exact reasons that drove Azimuth to do what he did. Ratchet would later use Azimuth's wrench as his primary weapon during the battles with Artemis Zogg. Even after, Ratchet would be hesitant finding the lombaxes due in part to his experience with Azimuth.

In Into the Nexus, in the Lombax History Wing of the Intergalactic Museum of History, there is a statue of Azimuth located near Ratchet and Clank's, explaining while some of the galaxy's population sees him as a villain, others see him as a hero whose only crime was trying to make up for his mistakes.

Characteristics[]

Appearance[]

Ratchet Azimuth

Azimuth with Ratchet

Alister possessed the normal feline-like traits of other lombaxes, though was much taller and muscular in build compared to Ratchet. He had light gray fur with red-brown stripes, thick black eyebrows, a red-brown nose, and brown eyes with yellow sclera. The fur on the sides of his jaw also resembled a short beard. He wears dark brown and black Praetorian Guard armor with plates on the shoulders and chest. The chest plate in particular had a symbol which somewhat resembled the one on Orvus' head.

Personality[]

Alister was a daring, courageous but often single-minded and stubborn lombax. After realizing that he had left Ratchet alone for most of his life, he tried his best to act as a mentor and father-figure, considering Ratchet to be family. However, while Azimuth felt immense pride in his accomplishments, he also concealed a deep pain within him, blaming himself for Tachyon's rise to power. This shame tormented him for many years, and would often make him violent, impatient and impulsive.

Alister seemed to harbor a form of prejudice against robots and did not consider them to possess the same profound qualities as organics. Whilst in a violent rage he decried Sigmund as being a "miserable, heartless, soulless little robot".[6]

Equipment[]

Photo0360

Azimuth's ship

Alister was a skilled war veteran whose key pieces of equipment were his Praetorian Guard armor, his Hoverboots, his Praetorian OmniWrench and personal mines. He was very skilled at using his boots, utilizing them to reach greater speeds and jump further distances than Ratchet could, as well as grind on grindrails. In combat, he used his wrench as both as a melee and ranged weapon, able to fire negatively charged energy to destroy enemies. He could spin the wrench at high speeds to deflect weapon fire, from any weapon, including the RYNO V. He also possessed explosive mines that could be triggered to detonate on contact or on a timer.

Alister had his own lombax ship that resembled Aphelion used for transportation and combat. It was equipped with powerful ion cannons for use against foes.

Behind the scenes[]

Concept art - Alister Azimuth

Alister Azimuth concept art

Azimuth was developed as a character to introduce another lombax to the series, and was considered to be who Ratchet could have become if he didn't have Clank as the voice of reason. According to senior writer TJ Fixman‏‎, he was also a deeper character than was possible in previous games, and a lot of fun to work on.[7] Fixman had desired to write a prequel featuring Azimuth set against the backdrop of Tachyon's war against the lombaxes,[8] as well as the idea for a novelization featuring Azimuth and Kaden's adventures on Fastoon.[9]

The original concept art and the art of Azimuth inside his pocket watch feature him with a small scar over his right eye. This is absent in his in-game model.

Joey D'Auria provides the voice for Azimuth.

In real life, an azimuth is an angular measurement in a spherical coordinate system.

In both A Crack in Time (after collecting 32 gold bolts) and Full Frontal Assault (in multiplayer), Azimuth is an unlockable skin. Azimuth's OmniWrench is also an unlockable replacement for Ratchet's OmniWrench.

Azimuth also appears as a downloadable minion for Ratchet and Clank in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

Gallery[]

References[]

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