Uka Uka

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Uka Uka
Uka Uka in Crash of the Titans
Game series	Crash Bandicoot
First game	Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped (1998)
Created by	Naughty Dog
Designed by	Charles Zembillas Joe Pearson Raine Anderson (2007)[1]
Voiced by (English)	Clancy Brown (1998-2003)[2][3][4][5] Alex Fernandez (2004) John DiMaggio (2007)
Voiced by (Japanese)	Ryūzaburō Ōtomo (1998-2004)

Uka Uka (ウカ ウカ, Uka Uka^?, a.k.a. "The Great Uka Uka", "Mighty Uka Uka" in Crash Twinsanity) is a fictional video game character from the Crash Bandicoot series, and one of the major antagonists of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. The character also appears as a secondary villain in subsequent installments of the series.^[6][7]

Uka Uka is a floating voodoo mask spirit and the younger twin brother of Aku Aku.^[8] Uka Uka is the exact opposite of his brother; while Aku Aku is benevolent, calm, patient and empathetic, Uka Uka is malevolent, short-tempered, impatient, and cruel, showing little (if any) happiness throughout the entire series^{[citation needed]}. He is ultimately the driving force behind Doctor Neo Cortex's plot for world domination^{[citation needed]}, and is frequently upset with Cortex for his repeated failures, which usually lead to Uka Uka trying to murder Doctor Cortex.^{[citation needed]}

From Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped to Crash Nitro Kart, Uka Uka's voice is provided by The Shawshank Redemption star Clancy Brown, who also voices Doctor Neo Cortex in the same series.^[2][3][4][5] Brown, alongside Mel Winkler and Debi Derryberry, would become one the longest-lasting cast members of the English Crash Bandicoot series, voicing Uka Uka in all but three of his appearances. In Crash Bash, Uka Uka's voice is of a similar tone to that used in Warped, but his speech is choppy and disjointed. Additionally, no voice actors are credited in the game's credits or the manual. It is thereby possible that Uka Uka's (and Aku Aku's) voice is computer-generated. In Crash Twinsanity, Alex Fenandez took over the role of Uka Uka, with Lex Lang taking over the role of Doctor Cortex. In Crash of the Titans, Uka Uka is voiced by Futurama star John DiMaggio, who had previously voiced Tiny Tiger in Crash Nitro Kart. In the Japanese version of the series, Uka Uka is voiced by Shadow the Hedgehog cast member Ryūzaburō Ōtomo, a seiyu in known for his low voice in Japan.

[edit] Conception and creation

Concept drawings of Uka Uka's appearance in Crash of the Titans

Uka Uka was originally created by Naughty Dog as a presence that was able to cause even Doctor Cortex to cower in fear, and bring him to his hands and knees. Emotion sketches of Cortex begging for Uka Uka's forgiveness were the inspiration of the shot design and animation for the cinematic introductory sequence of Warped.^[9] For Uka Uka's appearance in Crash of the Titans, a number of different concept designs were conceived (many of them with visible mouths) before the final design was decided on.

[edit] Characteristics

[edit] Personality

Uka Uka is a psychopathic villain with an inflated ego, believing that he is superior to the point that he often refers to himself as "The Great Uka Uka" (『偉大なるウカウカさま』, Idainaru Uka Uka sama^?, lit. "Great Lord Uka Uka")^[10][11] in earlier games, though Neo Cortex^[12][13] and Nefarious Tropy^[14] have also referred to him similarly. Despite this, he is capable of rare generosity, namely when he spares Cortex's life after Cortex inadvertently sets him free with the ruins of his space station.^[15] In contrast, he seems to respect Nefarious Tropy for his greater relative competence.^[16] Uka Uka largely looks down on his older brother Aku Aku, whom he sees as feeble.^[17][18] It is implied in Crash of the Titans that he has fallen into a "shame spiral" due to his constant losses and that an earlier depression led to him engaging in bulimia. It is also claimed that he is extremely self-conscious about his lack of a body.^[19]

While Uka Uka's purpose is to conquer or destroy the world, he is willing to temporarily save it from other threats as he considers the act "his job".^[20] In most of his appearances, he seeks to accomplish this by obtaining power from the Power Crystals or Gems.^[21][22] After Crash inevitably thwarts his plans, Uka Uka blames Cortex for their failure and attempts to magically assault him,^{[citation needed]} an example of his tendency to blame others for his own mistakes.^[23]

[edit] Outward appearance

Uka Uka in The Wrath of Cortex. Uka Uka has kept this general appearance from his debut up to Crash Boom Bang!.

Despite being the brother of Aku Aku, Uka Uka differs greatly from him in terms of physical appearance. Uka Uka is generally larger than his twin brother, and his "skin" is of a black color in contrast to Aku Aku's brown. While Aku Aku possesses a green goatee, Uka Uka sports a large red beard, which becomes a brownish color in later games. This beard is obviously absent in Crash of the Titans, in which Uka Uka lacks the lower jaw needed to possess one. His nose is small and rectangular, as opposed to Aku Aku's long, pointed nose. Lastly, while Aku Aku has four to six feathers attached to his head, Uka Uka sports three bones; one is tied to his forehead, and two are seen dangling on ropes from both sides of his person (though they do not swing with his movements until Crash Twinsanity). Another notable feature is the yellow stripe located on his forehead. In Crash of the Titans, Uka Uka is shown to have undergone a drastic redesign, resembling a large red skull with pointed teeth, large eyebrows, white pupils, and an absent lower jaw. The bones upon his person have also doubled from three to six, with three bones hanging from large feather-like appendages on each of his sides.

[edit] Abilities

Uka Uka shares many of his brother's abilities, such as flight and the ability to protect his wearer. It is hinted in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped that he can possess his wearer, as shown by Cortex's reaction to Uka Uka being removed from his face;^[24] this is more emphasized in the Japanese version of the game, in which Doctor Cortex and Uka Uka's seiyûs speak their lines together while Cortex is wearing Uka Uka. It would make sense that Uka Uka is able to 'jack' and possess people akin to his brother Aku Aku's ability in Titans and Mind Over Mutant. Uka Uka's main offensive ability is a small energy volt which he often uses to punish Dr. Cortex. He can also create an artificial body out of matter or energy through physical contact, as shown in Crash Twinsanity and Crash of the Titans, in which Uka Uka assembles bodies out of ice and Wumpa Island's tree, respectively.^[25] However, this body shares any weakness its components did; for example, his ice-body is weak to fire.

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Past history

Uka Uka's past has never been explored during the series, other than that long ago, Aku Aku imprisoned him underground to protect Earth from his evil.^[26] In the third episode of Crash of the Titans, hieroglyphics depicting this event can be seen.

[edit] Naughty Dog era

Several millennia after his incarceration, Uka Uka recruits Doctor Cortex to fulfill his desire to enslave humanity, only to have Doctor Cortex lose the Crystals and the Gems, and have his space station destroyed.^[27] The rubble of the ruined space station eventually crash-lands onto Earth, destroying the underground prison, and finally freeing Uka Uka. Upset with Cortex's failure to retrieve the Crystals and the Gems, Uka Uka recruits Doctor Nefarious Tropy, who has created the Time Twister, which will allow them to collect the Crystals and the Gems in their original places. When Crash intervenes and destroys the Time Twister, Uka Uka is trapped inside a time prison with Doctor Cortex and N. Tropy, who have been turned into infants.

[edit] Traveller's Tales era

After somehow escaping from the time prison, Uka Uka scolds Cortex and the rest of the villains for their less-than-impressive evil productivity.^[28] Fed up with Cortex's incompetence, Uka Uka concludes that if global domination is to ever be achieved, Crash should be handled with personally.^[29] Deciding to use Cortex's new super-weapon to wipe out Crash Bandicoot, he revives the Elementals to act as the super-weapon's source of power and bring it to life.^[30] When Crash imprisons the Elementals, defeats the super-weapon, and brings it to their side, Uka Uka holds Cortex responsible, and attempts to kill him, but in doing so causes their newly-built space station to overload, forcing Cortex and Uka Uka to evacuate.^[23] Their escape pod lands in the depths of Antarctica, preserving both of them in a block of ice. Three years later, Uka Uka is freed from a wall of ice, but is enraged to see that Cortex has teamed up with Crash in order to defeat the Evil Twins,^[31] and transforms into an Ice Titan in order to kill both of them. When he is defeated, Uka Uka attempts to flee, but Aku Aku stops him and tells him about the Evil Twins' plot to destroy the Earth. Opposed to the fact that someone else is trying to destroy the world (a job that he believes is his), Uka Uka temporarily teams up with his twin brother,^[20] only to be defeated alongside him by the Evil Twins' ability to warp reality.^[32] After briefly considering handing Cortex over to the Evil Twins, Uka Uka does not play a major role for the rest of the story, apart from being the Hit marker for Cortex and Nina.

[edit] Radical Entertainment era

Uka Uka announces the replacement of Doctor Neo Cortex. Beside him is Nina Cortex, whom he plans on using to replace Doctor Cortex.

In Crash of the Titans, Uka Uka teaches Doctor Cortex a new process called Mojo mutations, which uses a magical substance known as Mojo to mutate any living creature into a loyal minion of Cortex. At the Temple of Zoom, Uka Uka leaves Doctor Cortex to destroy Crash and Aku Aku while he returns to the base with an enormous amount of stolen Mojo and Coco Bandicoot at tow.^[33] When Cortex fails to defeat Crash, Uka Uka becomes furious, and announces that he is replacing Doctor Cortex, much to the shock of his minions.^[34] In a lab on the island's giant tree, Uka Uka expresses his relief with Nina Cortex's higher competence, but senses Aku Aku's presence nearby. He decides to stay in the lab and kill Crash Bandicoot himself.^[8] Uka Uka confronts Crash as the penultimate boss by using Doctor Cortex's Evolvo-Ray on himself, giving him a gargantuan body made from the tree's wood.^[35] However, Crash destroys the Evolvo-Ray, defeating Uka Uka, who claims that he will have the last laugh(He also laughs after he said this to be sure), as Nina is about to launch the Doominator, threatening the existence of Wumpa Island.^[36] Uka Uka is absent in the DS version of the game.

[edit] Other appearances

Uka Uka (along with Aku Aku) appears as a tutor for the player in the racing games Crash Team Racing and Crash Nitro Kart, giving general tips for the player after a trophy is won. The two masks also act as invincibility power-ups during the races, protecting the player from enemy attacks and wiping out anyone the player touches. Who protects the player depends on whether the character is good or evil, with Aku Aku protecting Crash, Coco, Polar, and Pura (as well as Crunch in the latter games), and Uka Uka protecting Doctor Cortex, N. Gin, Tiny, and Dingodile.^[3][5] While Uka Uka doesn't appear in Crash Tag Team Racing, a gate that resembles a mix between his old model and his new model can be seen in the Mystery Island section of the game.

Uka Uka appears as the captain of the 'Evil Team' in the party game Crash Bash, where he holds a tournament with Aku Aku to decide whether good or evil is truly stronger. During the events of the tournament, Uka Uka decides to use the tournament to gather the Crystals as to use them to obtain ultimate power. Uka Uka also acts as an obstacle during the "Melt Panic" minigame, in which he attacks the players by freezing them, encasing them in giant snowballs, shrinking them, or crushing them with a one-ton weight. The outcome of the tournament depends on who wins the tournament. If Crash, Coco, Tiny, or Dingodile win, Uka Uka's plan is revealed just in time for Aku Aku to protect the Crystals from his clutches. Just before Uka Uka can destroy Cortex and Brio for their incompetence, Aku Aku seals away the Crystals and sends Uka Uka flying into the vacuum of space. However, if Cortex, Brio, Koala Kong, or Rilla Roo win, Uka Uka claims the Crystals and obtains ultimate power.^[22] The destruction that stems from this is never revealed. Uka Uka also appears as a purchaseable power-up in the party game Crash Boom Bang!.

In the Game Boy Advance installments of the Crash Bandicoot series, Uka Uka shows his usual annoyance with Cortex for failing him one time too many. In Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Uka Uka recruits Doctor Nefarious Tropy to help him pull off another evil plan, which involves hypnotising the Bandicoots into joining the side of evil. When both N. Trance and Nefarious Tropy are defeated, Uka Uka promises a real adversary in the near future, foreshadowing Nina Cortex's takeover in Crash of the Titans.

[edit] Reception

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

[edit] See also

• Aku Aku
• Doctor Neo Cortex
• Evil twin
• List of Crash Bandicoot characters

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Uka Uka

• Crash Mania's Crash-O-Pedia article on Uka Uka.