Ratchet &amp; Clank (2002) logoUp Your Arsenal logoTools of Destruction logoA Crack in Time logoFull Frontal Assault logoRatchet &amp; Clank (2016) logoRatchet &amp; Clank (2016) logo

The Hologuise, sometimes referred to as the Holo-Guise or another more specific name, is a type of gadget in Ratchet & Clank, Up Your Arsenal, Tools of Destruction, A Crack in Time, Ratchet & Clank (2016 game), and the 2016 movie. It is a gadget that enables the user to disguise themselves with a hologram to appear as a specific organism or robot depending on the gadget. Different forms of Hologuise gadgets have been created by Gadgetron and Grummel Net Industries.

The Hologuise is first acquired in both the original and re-imagined Ratchet & Clank on planet Kalebo III from Wendell Lumos, the Gadgetron CEO, after beating the hoverboard race; the original allows Ratchet to disguise himself as a sentry-bot, while the re-imagining allows him to disguise himself as Qwark. A Hologuise known as the Tyhrra-Guise, which disguises Ratchet as a tyhrranoid, is acquired from Annihilation Nation in Up Your Arsenal. After this, Ratchet acquires the Holo Pirate Disguise which allows Ratchet to disguise as a space pirate. In A Crack in Time, Ratchet disguises himself as Dr. Nefarious to infiltrate the Nefarious Space Station. The Hologuise is later used by Stuart Zurgo in Full Frontal Assault to infiltrate the Starship Phoenix II.

In Secret Agent Clank, the Holo-Monocle by the Agency serves a similar function, though it allows the user to disguise as various enemies.


Ratchet & Clank

The Hologuise is obtained from Wendell Lumos after "Win the Hoverboard race" on Kalebo III. It provides Ratchet a disguise for the sentry-bot, which he uses to infiltrate Quartu's robot factory as well as Drek's fleet. Ratchet cannot jump while the Hologuise is activated, meaning he often needs to deactivate the Hologuise, jump while a robot is not looking, and reactivate it again. Waving at sentry-bots behind locked fields causes them to be fooled and open the door for Ratchet, though entering with the disguise inactive will cause them to activate an alarm and kill him.

2016 re-imagining

Hologuise (re-imagined)

Hologuise re-imagined

In Qwark's retelling, the Hologuise is also obtained from Wendell Lumos after "Win the hoverboard race" on Kalebo III. It is used by Ratchet to disguise himself as Captain Qwark, used to infiltrate the Deplanetizer. It functions otherwise identically to the original, allowing him to sneak past Warbots and wave at them to open doors, but does not allow him to jump while using it. The appearance of the device is very similar to the original.

In the holofilm, the Hologuise is also featured briefly, allowing Ratchet and Clank to sneak on board the Deplanetizer by activating the Hologuise from his ship.

Up Your Arsenal

Tyhrra-Guise render

The Tyhrra-Guise, in Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal.

The Tyhrra-Guise is a Hologuise obtained after completing the first Annihilation Nation tournament. It allows Ratchet to disguise as a one-eyed tyhrranoid, which moves as quickly as Ratchet and can jump. To open several doors or release bridges, Ratchet must interact with tyhrranoids and complete a short rhyhthm minigame to converse with them. Ratchet uses the Tyhrra-Guise twice, once on Aquatos and later on planet Mylon.

Tools of Destruction


Holo Pirate Disguise

The Holo Pirate Disguise was created by Tachyon to spy on space pirates, though it was ineffective as Tachyon could not dance the Pirate Jig required to bypass pirate doorkeepers. Ratchet obtains the disguise after beating an Imperial Fight Festival tournament on planet Mukow, and can use it to access space pirate doors. To do so, Ratchet must dance the Pirate Jig to a pirate doorkeeper, a minigame which requires the SIXAXIS controller to move correctly alongside two other space pirates. Ratchet cannot jump and moves slowly with the Holo Pirate Disguise, and half-way through exploring Kreeli Comet, the disguise becomes ineffective and pirates can see through it.

A Crack in Time

The Holo-Guise is used by Ratchet to infiltrate the Nefarious Space Station and take over Hypernova Defense Laser. It is created by Clank, using a gigamorphic holo-ray installed in Clank to disguise Ratchet as a shorter Dr. Nefarious. It allows Ratchet to sneak by Nefarious' minions, but after completing the mission, Nefarious is alerted to Ratchet's presence and it becomes ineffective.

Additionally, Alister Azimuth suspects that Ratchet is using a Hologuise, before calming down.

Full Frontal Assault

The Hologuise cannot be used, but is used by Stuart Zurgo to disguise himself as the Plumber and sneak on board the Starship Phoenix II.


Hologuise gameplay from R&amp;C (2002)

Ratchet, disguised as a sentry-bot, waving to another sentry-bot.

The Hologuise when activated disguises Ratchet as a specific enemy, allowing him to go traverse undetected. It is often used to unlock doors that will not allow Ratchet through otherwise, either by waving at a guard behind the door or completing a short minigame while disguised. Ratchet's movement is restricted with this disguise active, as he often moves more slowly, and often cannot jump while using it. Pressing the fire button with a disguise on will wave at enemies. He cannot use weapons or gadgets.

Behind the scenes

The Hologuise was originally planned to be a helmet, but was changed to a handheld gadget. The helmet design can be seen in the Insomniac Museum in Going Commando. Additionally, an unused handheld glove model for the Hologuise can be seen in early builds of the game.[1]

The Hologuise is responsible for several bugs in Ratchet & Clank, though they were fixed in the high-definition remake in the Ratchet & Clank Collection. If the player enters the Blackwater City hoverboard race on Rilgar with the Hologuise, they can walk around the track freely, which is useful for destroying bolt crates with the Taunter, as they will respawn if destroyed offscreen. Also, if the player enters the blarg fighter in Drek's fleet with the sentry-bot Hologuise engaged, Ratchet would be standing on top of the jet. Hologuise gadgets later cause minor glitches in subsequent games.

It is possible that Angela Cross' "The Thief" disguise is a Hologuise, as her mask distorts her voice, and grants a hooded cape, sleeves and armor on her torso which disappear when the mask is removed.



  1. RC Lombax: Ratchet & Clank E3 Demo Differences. YouTube. Accessed July 17, 2018.