Launching in June 2021, the long-awaited upcoming new Ratchet and Clank game will become available on PlayStation 5. The console's SSD-based loading times will allow players to travel through worlds and dimensions of Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart in a seamless fashion.
An element that caught many fans by surprise while watching the trailer for Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is that a new Lombax character appears at the end of it, a female Lombax to be exact. Since then, the character's reveal has since sparked many discussions about her origins, her name, how familiar the fans could really be with her, and more.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart Trailer
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart's developer Insomniac Games released a trailer for the game in June of last year, and fans have been on the edge ever since. The trailer shows the pair traveling through worlds and dimensions, chased by robots, riding a primordial beetle, skateboarding on a mono-rail, gliding on the glass of a skyscraper, riding a pterodactyl, and landing on a pirate ship. This is where an explosion sets the pair literally a rift apart, with Clank slipping away from Ratchet.
When Clank lands, he immediately refers to Ratchet as if he was present, and then notices he isn't. He calls for him, and at this point, a female Lombax—the same species Ratchet belongs to—lands on the ground as well. Bewildered, she asks "Who?" as if she already knew Clank, but not this Ratchet character.
The ending of the trailer resulted in many fans wondering if the female Lombax could be a female version of Ratchet himself, in a different dimension. Some theories are based on the fact that the newly introduced character was not given a name by Insomniac Games, further fomenting the possibility that she could simply be Ratchette. This is likely to be discovered only when Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart comes to PS5.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart's Female Lombax, Theories and Rumors
Another theory is based on a comment from Creative Director Marcus Smith, stating that it is indeed unfair of Insomniac Games to reveal the character without providing more information on her. He went on to say that fans would be feeling "rosy" soon at the news that will be revealed. This made some Reddit users go on about how the character could be called either Rosy or Rosie, but another user stating that the name could instead be Rivet, from Rosie the Riveter.
Another element that made fans go crazy is that the character is shown having a tail. This made some players wonder if that could mean that the previously retrieved piece of lore that female Lombax specimen never having tails is now invalid, or if this character is from a dimension where her fellow specimen all have tails.
Some fans are supporting the initial theory that the Lombax is indeed a female version of Ratchet with the fact that the game's title could hint at the gameplay being equally split into two parts, one with Ratchet being the leading character, and one where Clank teams up with the new, mysterious girl. This could mean having the game divided in two, much like The Last of Us 2's story follows two separate arcs, one for the main character, Ellie, and one for Abby.
Finally, the female Lombax could just be from a dimension where her species is not nearly extinct. Another theory is that the character is instead the daughter of Alister Azimuth, the Lombax that Ratchet teamed up with in the events unfolding during Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time. Overall, the general consensus is that if she was a whole new character with no link nor relation to past games, then her name wouldn't be kept a secret by Insomniac. However, the mystery is likely to be solved when Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is released.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart arrives on PS5 exclusively on June 11, 2021.
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