List of Crash Bandicoot series characters

Crash Bandicoot is a series of platform video games published by Activision. The series was formerly developed by Naughty Dog from 1996 to 1999, and by Traveller's Tales, Eurocom and Vicarious Visions from 2000 to 2004. The series features a large cast of distinctively quirky characters designed by numerous different artists, the most notable of which include Charles Zembillas and Joe Pearson. In addition, it features an all-star cast of veteran voice actors.

The series centers on the conflicts between a mutated bandicoot named Crash Bandicoot and his creator, Doctor Neo Cortex. Crash acts as the main playable character of the series, though other characters have had occasional player access, most notable Coco Bandicoot and Doctor Neo Cortex, as well as Crunch Bandicoot. Out of the numerous characters in the series (numbering over sixty), only a few have significantly contributed to the story of the series.

Protagonists

Crash Bandicoot

Aku Aku

Aku Aku, also known as Holiugd, is the guardian of the Wumpa Islands and the father figure of Crash Bandicoot and his friends. Aku Aku is the spirit of an ancient witch doctor encased in a floating, wooden mask. During Crash's missions to stop Doctor Cortex, he scattered copies of himself throughout the travels in an effort to aid him in his mission.^[1] Whenever Crash possesses an Aku Aku mask, he will be shielded from one enemy attack or contact. Collecting three Aku Aku masks gives Crash temporary invulnerability from all minor dangers, but does not protect from falling down holes.^[2] In his English speaking appearances, he is voiced by Mel Winkler up to Crash Twinsanity, and Greg Eagles in Crash of the Titans and Crash: Mind over Mutant. In the Japanese versions of his speaking appearances, he is voiced by Kenichi Ogata up to Crash Twinsanity.

In the first game and Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, he is a background character that helps Crash. In Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, his evil twin brother Uka Uka is introduced when the ruins of Cortex's space station crash into Earth and set Uka Uka free so Aku Aku tells Crash and Coco Bandicoot the story of how he locked Uka Uka up in an underground prison many eons ago.^[3] He then gives the two the assignment of gathering Crystals that lay scattered throughout time and keep them from the hands of Uka Uka and Doctor Cortex.^[4] During Crash's final fight against Doctor Neo Cortex, Aku Aku fends off Uka Uka's attacks while the fight is in session. Aku Aku appears in Crash Team Racing as a tutor for Crash, Coco, Polar and Pura, giving them useful tips and tricks throughout the game. He also appears as a power-up during the races, protecting the said characters from all attacks and obstacles while giving them a speed boost.^[5] However, he cannot protect the characters from chasms and deep water.^[5] In Crash Bash, in order to resolve his constant fighting with Uka Uka, Aku Aku summons Crash and Coco as part of a contest between his players against Uka Uka, Aku Aku is later allowed to have Tiny and Dingodile into his team as to even out the number of players between them. During the course of the tournament, Aku Aku begins to suspect that Uka Uka is using the tournament to disguise a secret plot of his own. He discovers this plot to steal Crystals just in time for his team to win. Aku Aku locks the Crystals up into a secret cabinet for safekeeping, and banishes Uka Uka into the vacuum of space as punishment for trying to abuse the power of the Crystals.

When disasters ravage the world in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Aku Aku discovers that Uka Uka and Doctor Cortex have unleashed a group of destructive masks known as the Elementals, and calls upon Crash and Coco to gather Crystals and return the Elementals to their hibernation state. In Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Aku Aku saves Crash from being kidnapped by Nefarious Tropy and N. Trance, and sends him off to gather Crystals so that he may be able to reach the villains. Aku Aku reprises his role from Crash Team Racing in Crash Nitro Kart, giving useful advice and acting as a power-up for the characters Crash, Coco and Crunch. In Crash Twinsanity, Aku Aku convinces Uka Uka to join him in order to defeat the Evil Twins, but both are easily defeated when they attempt this. Aku Aku has a cameo appearance in Crash Tag Team Racing as the tiki masks in the "Tiki Turbo" track. He also appears as the tutor in Crash Boom Bang!, giving the player instructions on how to play the game. In Crash of the Titans, Aku Aku is captured by Doctor Neo Cortex, but is rescued by Crash Bandicoot. Throughout the game, Aku Aku gives the player basic instructions, shields Crash from enemy attacks, and transforms into a skateboard to help Crash traverse slippery terrain. He reprises this role for Crash: Mind over Mutant. Aku Aku is one of the only two characters in the game unable to be controlled by Cortex's NV device, as the device is too small to fit on his head.

A reviewer for Game Revolution compared the mechanics of the Aku Aku masks to the shields of the Sonic the Hedgehog series.^[6] John Scalzo of Gaming Target commented that the "booooo-ahhhhhh!” chant made by Aku Aku is "pretty slick".^[7] The sound quality of Aku Aku's voice in Crash Team Racing was praised by SolidSnake of PSX Extreme,^[8] while Arnold Katayev, in his review of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, negatively described Aku Aku's voice as "melodramatic".^[9] Steven Rodriguez, in his Nintendo World Report review of Crash Nitro Kart, described Aku Aku's voice when giving advice between races as "sexy" and cited it as the best part of the game's audio, but admitted that "even he gets rather annoying."^[10] In his review of Crash of the Titans, Brian Rowe of Game Revolution, while citing the ability to "slap Aku Aku’s face into the ground and ride it like a surfboard" as "harshly inconsiderate", considered it "payback for his gratingly poor impersonations of that other floating head of wisdom – Frylock."^[11]

Coco Bandicoot

Coco Bandicoot is the younger sister of Crash Bandicoot. Just as her older brother, she was genetically engineered through the use of Doctor Neo Cortex's and Doctor Nitrus Brio's Evolvo-Ray.^[12] Coco's most notable trait is her high intelligence;^{[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]} her intelligence quotient is said to be as much as 164.^[19] Like her brother, Coco has a heroic personality and a fearless nature, as she is willing to take any chance to help her family save the world from evil,^[18] unafraid of making mistakes.^[12] She is a fan of martial arts films,^[12] wrestling^[20] and NASCAR.^[21] She is also shown to be a skilled scooter rider, using this talent to outrace a Japanese tsunami on one occasion.^[12] Coco was created by Naughty Dog as a counterbalance to Tawna (Crash's girlfriend in the first game) that would appease Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, who weren't comfortable with a "super sexy" character being alongside Crash. Charles Zembillas' first sketches of Coco were drawn on March 18, 1997, when Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back was in development.^[22] She is voiced by Vicki Winters in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back,^[23] Hynden Walch in Crash Team Racing,^[24] and Debi Derryberry from Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex onwards.^{[25][26][27][28][29]} In the Japanese version of the series, she is voiced by Haruna Ikezawa in the PlayStation games, Ema Kogure in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity, Satomi Arai in Crash Tag Team Racing and Risa Tsubaki in Crash Boom Bang!.

Before the events of the series, Coco was an ordinary bandicoot like Crash until she was taken from the jungle and genetically enhanced by Doctor Neo Cortex.^[12] Coco is first seen in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back living on N. Sanity Island with Crash. One day, when the battery for her laptop runs out, she sends Crash off to find a replacement battery for her.^[30] When Coco discovers that Crash is gathering Crystals for Cortex, she becomes suspicious of Cortex and decides to hack into Cortex's computer and see what he's really up to. What she finds are detailed schematics for an improved Cortex Vortex and a suspicious-looking space station.^[31] She learns of Cortex's real plan just as Crash has gathered all the Crystals, and reveals Cortex's intentions to Crash before he can give the Crystals to Cortex.^[32] After Cortex's plan is foiled, Coco is called upon by Aku Aku in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped to use Doctor Nefarious Tropy's Time-Twisting Machine and gather the powerful Crystals in their original places before Cortex does so. Coco helps by gathering the Crystals in 17th century China, the 18th century Pacific Ocean, and World War I Europe. She is also responsible for the defeat of Cortex's right-hand man Doctor N. Gin on the Moon, with her new pet tiger Pura assisting her. Coco is a playable character in Crash Team Racing and Crash Bash. The epilogue of Crash Team Racing states that Coco opened up her own Internet dating service after the events of the game.^[33]

When the Elementals wreak havoc on the Earth in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Coco activates a new Portal Chamber for Crash to use. She helps Crash gather the Power Crystals needed to stop the Elementals by collecting them in a tsunami-ravaged China and an avalanche zone. She also stops an armada of Cortex's space stations from striking Earth. Near the end, she helps Crash and Crunch escape from Cortex's malfunctioning space station. In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, Coco builds a device that reverses the effects of Cortex's Planetary Minimizer. In Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Coco is abducted by N. Trance and is brainwashed alongside Crunch and Fake Crash. Coco battles Crash in a large battleship inside an active volcano, with Crash attacking the craft while it is reloading its weaponry. Upon snapping out of N. Trance's control, Coco becomes a playable character, gathering two Crystals in space while escaping the wrath of a fireball created by N. Tropy. Coco is a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart as well. In one cutscene, she uses her hacking skills to put the hyperactive Nash to sleep. In Crash Twinsanity, a teenage Coco is ambushed by Doctor Neo Cortex, who disguises himself as her in order to lure Crash into a trap so he can finally destroy him. Many moments later, Coco believes that Cortex kidnapped Crash, and travels to the Iceberg Lab to confront him. With a swift kick, she attacks Cortex and sends the Power Crystals he was holding flying into the Psychetron. The resulting chain reaction leaves Coco paralyzed until the end of the game. In Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage, Coco teams up with the Professor to track down Ripto and Doctor Cortex. Later in the game, they're both kidnapped by Doctor Cortex's niece, Nina Cortex, who keeps them locked up in cages. After being freed from her cage, Coco suggests that Crash and Spyro put a tracer on Cortex and Ripto as to allow the heroes to track the villains back to their hideout.^[34] Coco's last major contribution to the story is constructing a portal to Cortex's and Ripto's lair.

Coco is a playable character in Crash Tag Team Racing. In the game's story, Coco discovers the sole clue to whoever stole MotorWorld's Power Gems, which is Wumpa Whip.^[35] Because of Crash's high consumption of the beverage, she briefly believes (along with the others) that Crash is the culprit, despite the fact that Willie Wumpa Cheeks is the park's lone source of Wumpa Whip. At the end of the game, Coco returns the park's deed to Von Clutch, to whom it belongs.^[36] Coco plays a central role in Crash Boom Bang!, in which she is invited by the Viscount to the World Cannonball Race in his search for the Super Big Power Crystal. In Crash of the Titans, Coco is on the verge of creating a device that will be able to recycle butter when she is captured along with Aku Aku by Doctor Neo Cortex. When Nina replaces Cortex, Coco is brainwashed and is forced to finish the Doominator. She ends up completing the Doominator, but is rescued by Crash and is able to stop it at the end of the game. In the Nintendo DS version of the game, she appears as a vendor selling upgrades for Crash's abilities. Coco is a playable character in the cooperation mode of the Wii and Xbox 360 versions of Crash: Mind over Mutant. At the beginning of the game, Coco converts the Doominator's eye into an entertainment system.^[37] After seeing an infomercial advertising the "NV", a do-anything personal digital assistant, she receives an NV along with Crunch and quickly becomes addicted. Soon enough, the NV, which Dr. N. Brio filled with negative Mojo, transforms her into a ferocious beast who tries to kill Crash using a giant basketball-launching machine. After being defeated and informed (to her disappointment) that the NV had a negative influence on her,^[38] she uses the Doominator's eye to access Cortex's blog and learn what Cortex is planning.^[39] She is accessible as the second player's character from that point on. Coco's availability as a playable character in Crash: Mind over Mutant was omitted from the PlayStation 2 version of the game due to her distinct animations taking up much of the console's memory.^[40] In the PlayStation 2 version, she is replaced by a white-furred version of her brother named "Carbon Crash".^[41]

Coco has been featured in two series of Crash Bandicoot action figures produced by the now-defunct Resaurus. For Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Resaurus produced a Coco Bandicoot figure bundled with figures of a penguin and lizard from the game. The Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped series featured two different figures of Coco, including one bundled with Aku Aku and Crash Bandicoot figures.^[42] Coco's inclusion and incorporation as a playable character in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex was met with a generally lukewarm response among critics. Hilary Goldstein of IGN felt that Coco was a "less powerful" and "less enjoyable" character than Crash and that "she was just not fun the way Crash is". On the subject, Hilary added that "Crash is a silly creature to look at. He's almost absurd, which works great with his various animations. Coco isn't really silly at all. The game isn't called Crash and Coco so why must I be forced to play her? Rather than add variety, Coco detracts from the only real selling point of the game -- Crash Bandicoot."^[43] Matthew Gallant of GameSpot noted that "When you play a level as Coco instead of Crash, there's no explanation or warning given--you'll simply enter the level's portal as Crash and come out the other end as Coco. It's not all bad, but compared with (Super Mario) Sunshine, it seems very uneven."^[44] Debi Derryberry's voice acting as Coco has garnered mixed reviews in the series as a whole. Arnold Katayev of PSX Extreme was positive about her voice in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex,^[45] while Matt Keller of PALGN felt that her voice in Crash of the Titans was "annoying".^[46]

Crunch Bandicoot

Crunch Bandicoot is a genetically altered bandicoot who was originally created by Doctor Cortex to destroy Crash Bandicoot. After his defeat, Crunch had a change of heart and now tries to be a positive role model to children. He is Crash and Coco's older brother and protects them from harm. He is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex and Crash Nitro Kart, and Chris Williams (in the style of Mr. T) in the Radical Entertainment games. In the Japanese version of the series, he is voiced by Yūji Kishi in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex and Crash Nitro Kart, Masafumi Kimura in Crash Tag Team Racing, and Shinya Fukumatsu in Crash Boom Bang!. Crunch is the only bandicoot to have had different eye colors, as his eyes were green in The Wrath of Cortex, blue in Crash Nitro Kart, and red for Crash Tag Team Racing onwards.

Crunch was created by Doctor Cortex in private as a superweapon that would be capable of frightening power. Doctor N. Gin and Doctor Nefarious Tropy (who only had a slight understanding of the project) were the only other individuals who knew about the weapon. During a bad guy convention held by Uka Uka, Tropy and N. Gin reveal the weapon in desperation for one good plan to defeat Crash Bandicoot, whom Uka Uka wants eliminated.^[47] Doctor Cortex formally announces the superweapon, but reveals that it is still missing a power source.^[48] Hearing the word "element", Uka Uka brings up the Elementals, a group of destructive masks that could create enough energy to bring the secret weapon to life. The weapon, who is Crunch Bandicoot, attempts to defeat Crash with the aid of the Elemental masks, but when Crunch is defeated in Cortex's space station, he snaps out of Doctor Cortex's control. Although his first instinct is to introduce his fist to Cortex's face, Aku Aku informs Crunch of the space station's imminent destruction, and the group decides to flee back to Earth.^[49] Back on Earth, Crunch shows his gratitude toward the Bandicoots, and becomes part of the Bandicoot family.^[50] In Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Crunch is abducted by N. Trance and is brainwashed alongside Coco and Fake Crash. Crash battles Crunch on a flying carpet over the skies of Saudi Arabia, with Crash firing shots of energy at Crunch whenever the latter is stunned by exploding Nitro crates. Upon snapping out of N. Trance's control, Crunch becomes a playable character in some of the Atlasphere levels. Crunch is a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart as well. In Crash Twinsanity, Crunch has a cameo in Crash's "birthday party", which is a gathering of past Crash villains. While Crunch is in the gathering, he actually believes that it is really Crash's birthday, donning a green paper crown and holding a slice of cake. Crunch has a minor appearance in Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage, aiding Crash in the "Weighlift" segments of the game.

Crunch appears as a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart Crash Tag Team Racing and Crash Boom Bang!. In Crash of the Titans, Crunch is ambushed by Doctor Cortex during the beginning of the first episode, leaving him frozen from the neck down. He stays this way until the end of the game, in which the Doominator's collapse is able to set Crunch free. Crunch does not appear in the DS version of the game. In the Game Boy Advance version, Crunch is taken prisoner by Tiny Tiger by order of Neo Cortex. He is freed upon Tiny's defeat. Crunch appears in Crash: Mind over Mutant and becomes addicted to the NV device alongside Coco to the point where he is unable to help Crash and Aku Aku when they are attacked by N. Gin's Ratnician army.^[51] He is later mutated by the bad Mojo transmitted by the NV and runs off, leaving a mutated Coco to fend off Crash. He is later found at the Junkyard, where Nitrus Brio commands Crunch to attack Crash. He is soon freed from the NV's control, but continues to be beaten up by Crash for a short time. He then decides to go back home and get some sleep.

Antagonists

Doctor Neo Cortex

Doctor N. Gin

Doctor N. Gin (spelled N-Gin in the Radical Entertainment games) was the right-hand man of Doctor Neo Cortex, replacing Doctor Nitrus Brio after Crash Bandicoot.^[52] He has since been replaced by the person he succeeded, Nitrus Brio. He is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in the Naughty Dog games, by Corey Burton in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, by Quinton Flynn in Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity, and by Nolan North (in the style of Peter Lorre) in the Radical Entertainment games. In the Japanese version of the series, he is voiced by Kazuhiro Nakata in the games up to Crash Twinsanity, and by Mitsuru Ogata in "Crash Tag Team Racing". His name is a wordplay on the word "engine".

As a child, N. Gin was a classmate of Neo Cortex and Nitrus Brio in Madame Amberley's Academy of Evil.^[53] After working at a stapler factory for a time,^[54] N. Gin went on to become a world-renowned physicist in the defense industry. However, due to a budget cut,^[52] one of his missile projects ended up faulty and, as a result, went awry, lodging itself into N. Gin's head.^[52] With his intellect, N. Gin was able to stabilize the weapon and reconstruct it as a life support system at the cost of his sanity.^[55] Because the missile is still live, it activates whenever N. Gin is stressed or angry, leaving him with a large headache (a trait inspired by creator Jason Rubin's own chronic migraine headaches).^[52] Shortly after the missile incident, Doctor N. Gin was taken in by Doctor Neo Cortex to replace the double-crossed Doctor Nitrus Brio.^[52] Studying a large Crystal found by Cortex after his defeat by Crash Bandicoot, N. Gin discovers that 25 smaller "Slave Crystals" are needed alongside this "Master Crystal" in order to power Cortex's new "Cortex Vortex" device.^[56] When Crash is ordered by Doctor Cortex to give the Crystals he has gathered to N. Gin, N. Gin attempts to take the Crystals by force, only to be sent spiraling into the vacuum of space when Crash destroys his prized mecha. After the destruction of this mecha, N. Gin constructed a superior model: a suit of mobile armor that could transform into a space fighter and dock with a huge weapon platform.^[57] N. Gin uses this machine to confront Coco Bandicoot on the Moon in "Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped", only to fail once again. N. Gin appears as a playable character in "Crash Team Racing" and as an obstacle in a "Ballistix" level in "Crash Bash". The epilogue of "Crash Team Racing" states that N. Gin opened a custom auto parts store in Toledo, Ohio, only to have it close down after a massive recall due to the damage caused by his patented "Clear-the-Road" missile system.^[58]

In Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, N. Gin is an attendee of Uka Uka's bad guy convention, and is ultimately the one who reveals the secret of Crunch Bandicoot, Cortex's new superweapon.^[47] For the rest of the game, N. Gin serves as an obstacle in some of the levels. In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, N. Gin battles Crash in the skies with a weapon platform similar to the one he piloted in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. He is later merged with Doctor Cortex, Tiny and Dingodile, and becomes Mega-Mix. After chasing Crash down a space station hall, Mega-Mix is left inside the space station, which explodes with the villains in it. N. Gin is a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart. In one cutscene, N. Gin considers creating cybernetic sharks as new henchmen after racing Nash.^[59] In Crash Twinsanity, N. Gin appears during the first boss battle, piloting the Mecha-Bandicoot in an attempt to eliminate Crash. When all of its weapons are destroyed, the Mecha-Bandicoot stomps a hole into the floor and falls into a cavern. N. Gin is later seen as the captain of his own battleship. At the crow's nest, N. Gin tries to destroy Crash with a barrage of missiles, occasionally tossing a TNT Crate. This leads to the eventual collapse of the crow's nest, causing N. Gin to land on his head onto a pile of TNT Crates, creating a large explosion that sinks the battleship. N. Gin is last seen teamed up with N. Tropy and N. Brio, with all of them trying to steal the Evil Twins' riches. However, they are driven out by Spyro the Dragon.

N. Gin is a playable character in Crash Tag Team Racing. In the game's story, N. Gin convinces Neo Cortex to join in the search for Von Clutch's missing Power Gems so that he can use Von Clutch's theme park as a new base of operations (although Cortex later claims the idea as his own).^[60] He has a cameo appearance in the "Silhouette Quiz" minigame in Crash Boom Bang!. In Crash of the Titans, N. Gin opposes Doctor Cortex's replacement by praising Cortex's stationery.^[61] N. Gin is next seen in his weapons factory, which appears on the outside as a version of the Statue of Liberty modelled after N. Gin. This factory constantly bombards the surrounding area with all kinds of explosives in an attempt to hinder Crash. Inside the factory, N. Gin communicates to his workers through the factory intercom, making announcements, singing inspirational songs, or alerting the workers of Crash's presence. In the factory's crown, N. Gin spends his days performing on his enormous pipe organ. When confronted by Crash and Aku Aku, N. Gin indirectly reveals to them that he has mixed feelings over Cortex's replacement to Nina. One side likes Doctor Cortex and the abuse he brings to him and wishes for his return, while another side approves of Nina's new way of doing things, believing that she is a more efficient leader than Cortex. Eventually, the two sides reach a compromise, and tell Crash of Uka Uka's whereabouts in hopes that he will also free Cortex, planning to shower them with doom later on.^[62][63] In Crash: Mind over Mutant, N. Gin leads an attack on Crash Bandicoot when Coco and Crunch become addicted to Cortex's and Brio's personal digital assistant, fleeing to a small observatory on Wumpa Island afterwards. When Crash and Aku Aku catch up to him, N. Gin reveals that ever since Doctor Cortex escaped the Doominator, he has been secretly watching the Bandicoot family and collecting information on them, hoping to be rewarded with the ownership of Wumpa Island if Cortex is triumphant in his current plot. After Crash fends off N. Gin's army of Ratnicians, N. Gin is sternly told by Aku Aku to leave the island, to which N. Gin reluctantly complies.^[64]

Uka Uka

Uka Uka is the evil younger twin brother of Aku Aku. Uka Uka was created by Naughty Dog as a presence that was able to cause even Neo Cortex to cower in fear.^[57] He was voiced by Clancy Brown from 1998 to 2003, by Alex Fernandez in Crash Twinsanity, and by John DiMaggio in Crash of the Titans and Crash: Mind over Mutant. He is voiced by Ryūzaburō Ōtomo in the Japanese versions of his appearances up to Crash Twinsanity.

Uka Uka first appears in Crash Bandicoot: Warped, where he shares the role of main antagonist with Doctor Cortex. Several eons before the events of the series, he was locked away by Aku Aku in an underground prison due to his malevolent nature.^[3] Several millennia after his incarceration, Uka Uka recruits Doctor Cortex to fulfill his desire to enslave humanity, only to have Cortex lose the Crystals and the Gems, and have his space station destroyed.^[65] 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. And, since Cortex's failure also managed to set him free, Uka Uka still felt a sense of gratitude and generosity. 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. Uka Uka appears in Crash Team Racing as a tutor for the characters Cortex, N. Gin, Tiny, and Dingodile, giving them useful tips and tricks throughout the game. He also appears as a power-up during the races, protecting the said characters (along with Ripper Roo, Papu Papu, Komodo Joe, Pinstripe Potoroo and Doctor Nefarious Tropy) from all attacks and obstacles while giving them a speed boost.^[5] However, he cannot protect the characters from chasms and deep water.^[5] In Crash Bash, in order to resolve his constant fighting with Aku Aku, Uka Uka summons Cortex, Brio, Tiny, Dingodile, Koala Kong, and Rilla Roo as part of a contest between his players against Aku Aku. Uka Uka is later forced to relinquish Tiny and Dingodile to Aku Aku's team to even out the number of players between them.

In Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Uka Uka scolds Doctor Cortex and the rest of the villains for their less-than-impressive evil productivity. Fed up with Cortex's incompetence, Uka Uka concludes that if global domination is to ever be achieved, Crash should be handled with personally.^[66] 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. When Crash imprisons the Elementals, defeats the super-weapon, and brings it to their side, Uka Uka holds Cortex responsible and fires an energy blast at him out of anger, but in doing so causes their newly built space station to overload, forcing Cortex and Uka Uka to evacuate. Their escape pod lands in the depths of Antarctica, stranding them both on a sheet of ice. Uka Uka oversees the evil plots of both Neo Cortex and Nefarious Tropy in Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure and Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced respectively, becoming annoyed when both of them fail. Uka Uka reprises his role from Crash Team Racing in Crash Nitro Kart, giving useful advice and acting as a power-up for the characters Neo Cortex, N. Gin, Tiny Tiger and N. Tropy. In Crash Twinsanity, 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, and transforms into an Ice Titan in order to kill both of them, considering that he still held a grudge against Cortex for his past failures. 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, only to be defeated alongside him by the Evil Twins' ability to warp reality.

Uka Uka has a cameo appearance in Crash Boom Bang! as a purchaseable power-up. 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.^[67] 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. In a lab on the island's giant tree, Uka Uka expresses his relief with Nina Cortex's higher competence, but begins to sense Aku Aku's presence nearby, and decides to stay in the lab and kill Crash Bandicoot himself. 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. When the Evolvo-Ray is destroyed, Uka Uka claims that he will have the last laugh, as Nina is about to launch the Doominator, threatening the existence of Wumpa Island. Uka Uka is absent in the Nintendo DS version of the game. In Crash: Mind over Mutant, Uka Uka is subdued and placed in a milking machine by Doctor Neo Cortex and Doctor Nitrus Brio so that he can be used as a source of the bad Mojo needed to control those using the mass-produced NV device. He is eventually freed by Crash and Aku Aku, and promises to take the two to Cortex's new space station if his magical bones are returned to him. When this task is completed, Uka Uka keeps his promise and warps Crash and Aku Aku to Cortex's space station as an act of vengeance against Cortex.

Tiny Tiger

Tiny Tiger (erroneously named Taz Tiger in the pause screen of the North American version of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back) is a minion of Doctor Neo Cortex. He is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in the PlayStation games, by John DiMaggio in Crash Nitro Kart, by Chris Williams (in the style of Mike Tyson) in Crash of the Titans and Crash: Mind over Mutant, and by Nolan North in the Nintendo DS version of Crash of the Titans. In the Japanese version of the series, he is voiced by Fumihiko Tachiki in the PlayStation games, and by Masafumi Kimura in Crash Nitro Kart.

It is implied in at least two instruction manuals that Tiny was Doctor Cortex's first foray into genetic alteration.^[12][68] However, this conflicts with what was established by Naughty Dog, who confirmed that Ripper Roo was Cortex's first serious creation.^[69] Following the orders of Doctor Nitrus Brio, Tiny attempts to eliminate Crash as the third boss of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, but is unsuccessful in the end. By Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, Tiny has joined forces with Doctor Neo Cortex and Uka Uka. His first duty working under Cortex is attempting to take whatever Crystals Crash and Coco have gathered and bringing them to Cortex in the Colosseum.^[70] Tiny is once again unsuccessful, as a fight against Crash in the Colosseum proves fruitless. Tiny appears as a playable character in Crash Team Racing and Crash Bash. The epilogue of Crash Team Racing states that Tiny moved to Beverly Hills and founded a chain of fitness clubs after the events of the game.^[71]

In Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Tiny is an attendee in Uka Uka's bad guy convention, not speaking a single line in the entire game. He later serves as an obstacle in certain levels, literally standing in Crash's way in an attempt to hinder him, as well as operating various flying vehicles in levels involving planes or spaceships. In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, Tiny serves as the third boss, fighting Crash near a large waterfall. He is later merged with Doctor Cortex, N. Gin, and Dingodile, and becomes Mega-Mix. After chasing Crash down a space station hall, Mega-Mix is left inside the space station, which explodes with the villains in it. Tiny is a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart. In the game's story, Tiny is seen playing checkers with himself (and later, attempting to assist N. Gin) when the tower the villains are standing in is abducted. When Emperor Velo is defeated, Tiny, Cortex, and N. Gin are teleported to Terra, where Tiny gains the respect of the inhabitants. Tiny has a cameo appearance (along with other Crash villains) in Crash Twinsanity during Crash's "birthday party". In the crossover game Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage, Tiny acts as the second boss, attempting to obliterate Crash in a frozen tundra with a tank. Tiny has a cameo appearance in Crash Boom Bang!, appearing in the "Silhouette Quiz" minigame. In Crash of the Titans, Tiny protests Neo Cortex's replacement alongside Doctor N. Gin by praising Cortex's stationery.^[61] Tiny is the one in charge of the mining operations seen in Episodes 5 through 7, responsible for destroying a portion of the jungle and obtaining minerals from the volcano. When Crash distrupts these operations, Tiny confronts Crash directly and voices his displeasure in both Crash's antics and the fact that he wasn't invited to Crash Tag Team Racing.^[72] When Crash confronts Tiny with the Shellephant, Tiny decides to reveal the whereabouts of Crash's sister.^[73] Although Tiny isn't seen physically in Crash: Mind over Mutant, his voice can be heard in the game's credits when he tries to correct Crunch when he mixes up his metaphors.

Dingodile

Dingodile is the ally of Doctor Neo Cortex. Dingodile was conceptualized by Naughty Dog employee Joe Labbe, who requested a character that was a cross between a dingo and a crocodile.^[57] Charles Zembillas drew the first sketches of Dingodile on February 4, 1998.^[74] At certain points, the character alternatively wore an Australian-style hat, had a "mop of scruffy hair" and walked on all fours.^[75] Naughty Dog initially wanted Dingodile to be a fire-breathing character before Zembillas suggested giving him a flamethrower to make him "much more interesting". The final sketches of Dingodile were drawn on February 12, 1998. Zembillas has expressed happiness at Dingodile's enthusiastic following amongst fans.^[76] Dingodile is voiced by William Hootkins in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, by Chip Chinery in Crash Team Racing, by Dwight Schultz in Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity, and by Nolan North in the Nintendo DS version of Crash of the Titans. In the Japanese version of the series, he is voiced by Keisuke Ishida in the PlayStation games, and by Hajime Iijima in Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity.

Dingodile made his debut in the video game Crash Bandicoot: Warped as the second boss of the game. Here, he is seen serving under Uka Uka and Doctor Cortex, attempting to take whatever Crystals Crash has gathered and bringing them to Cortex during the Ice Age under his orders.^[77] Crash encounters Dingodile as he is about to kill a penguin, who runs away upon Crash's arrival. When Dingodile is defeated, he warns Crash of the more powerful enemies he will face ahead as the penguin he tried to kill earlier hops up and down on his charred body.^[78] Dingodile is a playable character in Crash Team Racing and Crash Bash. The epilogue of Crash Team Racing states that Dingodile created an animal breeding program to create unique and interesting pets.^[79]

Dingodile appears as an attendee of Uka Uka's bad guy convention. He later serves as an obstacle in certain levels, firing spurts of flamethrower ammo in an attempt to stop Crash. In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, Dingodile serves as the first boss. He fights Crash in a shark-infested underwater cavern, and fires torpedoes at the cavern ceiling in an attempt to impale Crash with the falling stalactites, but eventually manages to impale himself, leaving him open for attack. He is later merged with Doctor Cortex, N. Gin and Tiny Tiger, and becomes Mega-Mix. After chasing Crash down a space station hall, Mega-Mix is left inside the space station, which explodes with the villains in it. Dingodile is a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart. In the game's story, Dingodile is seen assisting Doctor N. Gin when the tower the villains are standing in is abducted. The next time he is seen, he is brainwashed by N. Trance and racing under N. Trance's team, which drives green vehicles. In Crash Twinsanity, Dingodile is seen as one of the attendees of Crash's "birthday party" (which is really a gathering of past villains in the Crash series). After watching the ensuing boss battle, he discusses lunch with Ripper Roo. Later, he is seen reading inside a small shack, but is interrupted when a large snowball (containing Crash and Cortex) crushes the shack with him in it. As Cortex laments his humiliation, Dingodile learns of the Evil Twins' treasure,^[80] and secretly follows Crash and Cortex to the boiler room of Madame Amberley's Academy of Evil, where he tries to kill Crash for the treasure, believing he already has it. However, with the help of the boiler room's emergengy sprinkler system, Crash is able to disable Dingodile's flamethrower and beat him into submission. Dingodile is last seen laying unconscious in the boiler room. While Dingodile doesn't appear in the console version of Crash of the Titans, he appears as the first boss in the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance versions on the game. In the Nintendo DS version, Dingodile is assigned to stalling Crash Bandicoot while the other villains gather materials and build Neo Cortex's new CortexBot. Dingodile attempts to defeat Crash with a new water cannon, but ultimately fails. In the Game Boy Advance version, Dingodile is given the task of sending barrels of oil from Wumpa Island to Tiki Island. He is defeated by Crash, who attacks him with inhabited beehives.

Doctor Nefarious Tropy

Doctor Nefarious Tropy is a henchman of Uka Uka and the self-proclaimed master of time. He was created by Naughty Dog as a time-traveling boss that would fit in a time-traveling plot.^[57] Charles Zembillas drew the first sketches of Tropy (and the doodle he created as Naughty Dog was describing the character to him) on January 22, 1998.^[81] Tropy's wearable time-traveling device was conceptualized early on in the character's design evolution and initially appeared as a belt-like contraption that featured a digital read out displaying the year Tropy intended to travel to.^[82] At one point in its aesthetic development, Tropy's time machine was covered in clock gears and mechanisms, including a cuckoo clock on the machine's lower-right area;^[83] Zembillas assumed that the details could be created as a texture in Adobe Photoshop and placed over the modeled character's polygon structure.^[84] Furthermore, the pistons on the back of the machine were connected to each other through joint-like bearings.^[83] These details were ultimately omitted for being too complex for the original PlayStation console to handle.^[84] The exhaust pipes and pistons were retained due to their reflection of Tropy's unhealthy obsession with time.^[57] Tropy is voiced by Michael Ensign in all his speaking appearances excluding Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, in which he is voiced by Corey Burton. He is voiced by Masaru Ikeda in the Japanese versions of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, Crash Team Racing and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex and by Haruo Satō in the Japanese versions of Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity. His name is abbreviated as N. Tropy, which is a play on "entropy", a comment on his clock-like form.

Doctor Nefarious Tropy is introduced by Uka Uka in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped as the creator of the Time-Twisting Machine, a device that will aid Neo Cortex in his quest to gather the Crystals in their original places in time. He later acts as the third boss of the game, battling Crash with his gigantic tuning fork. When Cortex is defeated, the Time-Twisting Machine implodes on itself, trapping Cortex, Uka Uka and Tropy in a time prison, where they are transformed into infants. Tropy appears in Crash Team Racing as the player's opponent during the Time Trial races and later as an unlockable playable character. The game's epilogue states that Tropy resumed his time machine hobby after the events of the game, and was last seen entering an ancient rainforest.^[85] N. Tropy has a minor appearance in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, in which he is an attendee of Uka Uka's convention and an occasional enemy in the game, attempting to hinder Crash's progress. He is the main antagonist of Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, in which he kidnaps Crunch, Coco and Fake Crash and hypnotizes them into working for him. He is later defeated by Crash and is forced to take a group picture with the Bandicoots. Tropy is an unlockable character in Crash Nitro Kart, where he races under Neo Cortex's team. Tropy appears again in Crash Twinsanity, where he works with Doctor Nitrus Brio in order to learn the whereabouts of the treasure of the Evil Twins. When interrogating Crash proves fruitless, the duo attack him, sending him back to Cortex's Iceberg Lab. They eventually reach the treasure trove of the Evil Twins, but are chased out by Spyro the Dragon. Tropy also has a cameo appearance in the "Silhouette Quiz" minigame in Crash Boom Bang!

Doctor Nitrus Brio

Doctor Nitrus Brio is a scientist who formerly worked under Doctor Neo Cortex. Brio was created by Naughty Dog as a foil for Doctor Cortex: "meek to Cortex's strength, logical to Cortex's emotional, successful (his inventions work) to Cortex's failure."^[69] Brio is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in the English versions of Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bash, and by Maurice LaMarche in Crash: Mind over Mutant. He is voiced by Mitsuru Ogata in the Japanese version of the series up to Crash Bash. His name is often abbreviated to "N. Brio", a wordplay on "embryo".

As a child, Nitrus Brio was a classmate of Neo Cortex and N. Gin in Madame Amberly's Academy of Evil.^[53] Brio is responsible for creating the first fully functional Evolvo-Ray.^[86] However, his lack of self-esteem allowed Doctor Cortex to take credit for the creation.^[86] Brio is the penultimate boss of the first game, transforming himself into a hulking beast (through use of his trademark mutagenic agent), to combat Crash. After his failure, Brio left Cortex to become a bartender. Whilst away, he plotted to destroy Cortex for good with the use of a giant laser. Brio manages to convince Crash to gather the 42 Gems needed for the laser to be operational, and gives him the honor of activating the weapon, destroying Cortex's space station. While Brio does not appear in Crash Team Racing, a brand of beakers used as weapons during the races feature his name. Brio reunites with Cortex as a playable character in Crash Bash.

In Crash Twinsanity, Brio teams up with Doctor Nefarious Tropy to defeat Crash and steal the Evil Twins' treasure. He appears alongside Tropy in a boss fight, immediately following Crash's escape from N. Gin's battleship, in which Brio (after being instructed by N. Tropy to "get changed") drinks a potion to transform himself into a large, green frog-like monster. He then appears (in his human form) alongside N. Tropy and N. Gin again in the Evil Twins' fortress, claiming the Twins' treasure for themselves. However, they are thwarted by Spyro the Dragon, who had been trapped in the Twins' vault. Brio reunites with Neo Cortex once more in Crash: Mind over Mutant, in which he aids in the development of the NV, a personal digital assistant that can control both mutants and bandicoots. He uses recycled parts from the Sludge Junkyard to mass-produce NVs and create a new space station for Doctor Cortex. Throughout the game, he claims to be the inventor of numerous things, including recycling,^[87] Slinkies^[88] and endings (though he does acknowledge he did not invent LiteBrite).^[89] He is found in the Junkyard with a brainwashed Crunch Bandicoot by Crash and Aku Aku, who are then attacked by Crunch under Brio's orders. When Crunch is broken free from the NV's control, Brio is forced to reveal the whereabouts of Uka Uka, who is acting as the source of the negative Mojo needed to control those wearing NVs. He is then told to leave the island, but promises that it is not the end.^[89]

Nina Cortex

Nina Cortex is the niece of Doctor Neo Cortex. She is voiced by Susan Silo in Crash Twinsanity and Amy Gross in Radical Entertainment games though Debi Derryberry in the DS version of Crash of the Titans. She sometimes aids her uncle in his quest for world domination, though they have had a recent falling-out due to a failed plot headed by her and Cortex's boss Uka Uka. Nina Cortex was originally created by Traveller's Tales as a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart before development duties of the game were transferred to Vicarious Visions. During her conception it was undecided whether she would be Neo Cortex's daughter or niece, hence the deliberate discrepancies regarding her relationship with Cortex in Crash Twinsanity. As everyone kept referring to her as Neo's niece, the label stuck and became official. Her appearance was based on one of the designers working at Traveller's Tales. An early design of her depicted her wearing a white lab coat similar to Neo Cortex's.^[90]

Nina is known to be more ambitious and egotistical than her uncle;^[18] even Aku Aku believes that Nina is "a lot smarter than Cortex ever could be."^[91] Despite her self-admittedly antisocial demeanor,^[92] she is said to have a love for animals.^[93] Nina's most distinguishing features are her spring-loaded steel bionic hands, which were given to her by her uncle Doctor Cortex.^[18][94]

When Nina Cortex started to show signs of a kind heart, Doctor Cortex modified her arms with bionic parts and enrolled her in Madame Amberly's Private Academy, which he himself attended as a child. She doesn't see her uncle again until the Evil Twins threaten the existence of the N. Sanity Island in Crash Twinsanity, during which Doctor Cortex sneaks her out of the school to assist him in defeating the Evil Twins. When Crash, Cortex and Nina travel to the Tenth Dimension, Nina is kidnapped by the feral Evil Crash and taken to his house for a tea party, where Cortex soon rescues Nina.^[95] She later helps in defeating the Evil Twins by destroying the power sources of their Deathbot.

In Crash of the Titans, Nina appears as the main antagonist. When Cortex once again fails to dispose of Crash Bandicoot, she reveals that she was behind his actions throughout the game and even has Uka Uka serve under her. In the Nintendo DS version of the game, Nina attempts to take over Cortex's plot on her own accord when she realizes that she's merely a henchman. When Crash confronts her inside the Doominator, Nina boards her giant Arachnina Titan and battles Crash, only to lose. When the Doominator is disabled, she is rescued from the falling contraption by Doctor Cortex, who reveals that he is proud that she betrayed him,^[96] but proceeds to drop her off at his public school as punishment for doing so, as seen in Crash: Mind over Mutant. When she is eventually visited by Crash and Aku Aku, she angrily accuses Crash of ruining her life and refuses to help them stop Cortex's ongoing plot. When Crash and Aku Aku get desperate, she forces the two to kiss each other and save her science fair project.^[97] She then uses the said project to determine the location of Crunch and Brio, who are at the Sludge's Junkyard.^[98]

In Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage and Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy, Nina is recruited by Doctor Cortex to kidnap Coco Bandicoot and the Professor.^[99] When Spyro and Crash arrive to save Coco and the Professor, Nina chases down Crash, only to soon be captured in a cage. Nina is a playable character in Crash Tag Team Racing, in which she aids Doctor Cortex and N. Gin in trying to take over Von Clutch's MotorWorld.

Nina's introduction in Crash Twinsanity was met with a positive response among critics. James B. Pringle of IGN said that Nina "almost steals the show with her sassy skip and her Bionic Commando-like extension arm" and admitted that he "actually wouldn't mind seeing more of Nina in the future."^[100] Nick Valentino of GameZone praised her as "an inventive character", a "very welcome addition to the series" and "one of the many highlights this game has to offer". He also compared her bionic arms to Bionic Commando.^[101]

Minor characters

• Polar is Crash Bandicoot's pet polar bear cub. He lets Crash ride him in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, helping him through some snow levels and helping him escape from a larger polar bear. There was a secret easter egg in Cortex Strikes Back, that if Crash continuously bounced on top of Polar for a short while in the second warp room it would award the player multiple extra lives. He appears in the opening sequence of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped as a resident of Crash's home and is a playable character in Crash Team Racing and Crash Nitro Kart. In Crash Team Racing, he is seen in the options screen, reading an upside-down racing manual. He has been hypnotised by N Trance in Crash Nitro Kart. The epilogue of Crash Team racing says he became an ice cream tester. He appears in "Crash Bash" in the polar push minigames where characters ride on him. He also makes cameo appearances in Crash Twinsanity as a guest at Crash's "birthday party" (during which he stands upright and wields a baseball bat), but the developers of Crash Twinsanity said they put him in the gathering because Polar wanted to get revenge on Crash for always riding on him. In Crash Boom Bang! in the "Silhouette Quiz" minigame. Polar is voiced by Debi Derryberry in Crash Nitro Kart. Polar is voiced by Satomi Kōrogi in the Japanese versions of Crash Team Racing and Crash Bash.

• Pura is Coco Bandicoot's pet tiger cub. Originally, Pura was going to be a panda, but Naughty Dog decided to make him a tiger to show a clear difference between Polar and himself. He made his debut in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, helping Coco across the Great Wall of China. He is a playable character in Crash Team Racing, Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Boom Bang!. He makes a cameo appearance in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex as a resident of the bandicoots' house. Pura is voiced by Paul Greenberg in Crash Nitro Kart. He is voiced by Taeko Kawata in his Japanese-speaking appearances excluding Crash Nitro Kart, and by Asuka Tanii in Crash Boom Bang!.

• Ripper Roo is a boss character in the first and second games in the series. He is a kangaroo who was mutated by Doctor Neo Cortex and zapped by the Evolvo Ray twice, giving him a demented personality (emptily wide-open eyes, hanging tongue, bound in a straitjacket) and distinctive maniacal laughter. He mainly attacks through the use of his razor-sharp toenails and laying down TNT and Nitro tiles. As of the second game, he has a second personality that is much more sane than his dominant one; however, an explosion is enough to get him back to his old self. He has additional appearances in Crash Team Racing as a boss character and Crash Bash as an obstacle. In Crash Twinsanity, he appears with the rest of Dr. Cortex's minions just before Crash starts battling against Dr. Cortex. Ripper Roo is voiced by Katsumi Suzuki in the Japanese version of Crash Team Racing (he can speak fluently in CTR's Japanese dub). His laugh is an adjusted, higher pitched version of a laughter track recorded in The Lady and the Tramp by Dallas McKennon.

• Nitros Oxide is an extraterrestrial who claims to be the fastest racer in the galaxy. He is named after the anesthetic gas nitrous oxide. Oxide is non-playable boss character in Crash Team Racing and starter playable character in Crash Nitro Kart, attempting to turn Earth into a concrete parking lot. After being thwarted in this plan, he fled back to his native Gasmoxia and only returned to racing after years of seclusion and therapy.^[102] He subsequently appears in Crash Bash as the final boss of the game's story mode. He returns as the main antagonist in Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D in which he teams up with Doctor Neo Cortex and Ripper Roo in an attempt to banish Crash Bandicoot and his friends from N. Sanity Island. Oxide made a brief cameo in the beginning scene of the menu in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex and oddly in the beginning of Crash Twinsanity at Crash's birthday party. Oxide is voiced by David Anthony Pizzuto in Crash Team Racing and by Quinton Flynn in Crash Nitro Kart. He is voiced by Junpei Takiguchi and Chafurin in the Japanese versions of these respective games.

• Papu Papu is the obese chief of the native tribe of N. Sanity Island. He is neither on Crash's nor Cortex's side, but will capture and/or eat anything that steps into his territory. He possesses a large staff which he tries to defeat Crash with. He first appears as the first boss in the original game, and later as a boss in both Crash Team Racing and Crash Bash, where he uses the staff to summon miniature versions of Crash. In Crash Twinsanity, he captured Cortex. Papu Papu is voiced by David Anthony Pizzuto in Crash Team Racing and by Dwight Schultz in Crash Twinsanity. He is voiced by Yū Shimaka in the Japanese version of Crash Team Racing.

• Pinstripe Potoroo is a boss character in the first Crash Bandicoot game. He is a destructive mutated potoroo who wears a red pinstripe suit armed with a fully loaded tommy gun, and speaks using an Italian accent, which is a reference to the Italian Mafia. The game's last non-human boss, he is perhaps the most intelligent of Cortex's early creations, CEO of his corporation on Wumpa Island. After Crash defeated him, he began his own nuclear power plant and industrial corporation, replacing Cortex as the island's top man. He also won the heart of Crash's former girlfriend Tawna. He also acts as a boss character in Crash Team Racing. He also appeared in Crash Twinsanity as a cameo at Crash's fake birthday party. Pinstripe is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in all of his speaking appearances.

• Tawna was the former girlfriend of Crash Bandicoot. She made her debut on the first Crash Bandicoot game, being trapped for observation on Neo Cortex's castle after being experimented on. Crash then invades Cortex's castle, defeats him and saves her. The marketing director of Universal Interactive Studios objected to Tawna's initial design on "basic sexist principles".^[103] The director's behavior concerning the issue unnerved the president of Universal Interactive so much that he requested Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin to change the character to the director's specifications. The incident proved to be such an unpleasant experience that Tawna was omitted from future Crash Bandicoot titles. Some people think that Tawna ended up going off with Pinstripe Potoroo^[104] Tawna would later make cameos in Crash Bandicoot 3 and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, at a photo on Crash's house; in Crash Twinsanity, at the sign of Cortex-owned nightclub Moulin Cortex; and at a poster on Crash's house in Crash: Mind over Mutant. But it was not until Crash Boom Bang! that she became a playable character. Crash Boom Bang! is the only game in which she speaks, being voiced by Akiko Toda.

• Koala Kong is a boss character in the first Crash Bandicoot game. He is a mutated koala who tosses around boulders using his superhuman strength. Similar to Tiny Tiger, Koala Kong is tall and muscular. He was defeated by Crash at the summit of Wumpa Island's volcano. After his defeat, he became a Hollywood movie star. He is a playable character in Crash Bash. He also appears in Crash Twinsanity at Crash's fake birthday party thrown by Cortex.

• Fake Crash is possibly a clone of Crash Bandicoot with thick eyebrows and an big-toothed overbite. He is a hidden character in much of the games beginning with Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. He is a playable character in Crash Team Racing and the Japanese version of Crash Bash. Fake Crash is voiced by Michael Connor in Crash Team Racing and by Dwight Schultz in Crash Nitro Kart. He is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi in the Japanese versions of the games up to Crash Nitro Kart, and by Makoto Ishii in Crash Boom Bang!. In Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Dr. N. Tropy attempts to abduct Crash Bandicoot, but Aku Aku intervenes and Fake Crash is abducted instead.

• Carbon Crash is a clone of Crash Bandicoot that looks almost exactly like Crash, but with white fur, turquoise tattoos and black hair. Carbon Crash is playable in Crash of the Titans and Crash: Mind over Mutant and is equal to Crash physically, mentally and emotionally. Like Crash, Carbon Crash is voiced by Jess Harnell.

• The Komodo Brothers, Joe and Moe, are a duo of anthropomorphized Komodo dragons who dress in Ottoman-esque outfits and attack with scimitars. They initially appeared as bosses in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. Joe is the taller, thinner, faster and smarter brother, and the one with a speaking role. Moe is the shorter, fatter, slower and stronger brother, and the one who does most of the attacking, which could mean he is and more violent than Joe. Joe appears, alone, as a boss in Crash Team Racing. The two Komodo Brothers then appeared together as bosses in Crash Bash. Joe is voiced by David Anthony Pizzuto in the English-speaking version of Crash Team Racing, and by Wataru Takagi in the Japanese version.

• Evil Crash is an evil and ferocious version of Crash Bandicoot from the Tenth Dimension. He first appeared in Crash Twinsanity, acting firstly as a villain (kidnapping Nina Cortex and chasing Doctor Cortex), but ironically ends up a hero, devouring the Evil Twins. He has a cameo appearance in Crash Tag Team Racing as an alternate costume called Nega Crash. Evil Crash has a cameo appearance in the "Silhouette Quiz" minigame in Crash Boom Bang!.

• The Elementals (consisting of Rok-Ko the Earth Elemental, Wa-Wa the Water Elemental, Py-Ro the Fire Elemental and Lo-Lo the Air Elemental) are a group of evil masks revived by Uka Uka in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex to act as a power source for Crunch Bandicoot. They were sealed away once more by the efforts of Crash Bandicoot and Aku Aku. Rok-Ko was voiced by Thomas F. Wilson in the English version and by Toshiaki Kuwahara in the Japanese version. Wa-Wa was voiced by R. Lee Ermey in the English version and by Kappei Yamaguchi in the Japanese version. Py-Ro was voiced by Mark Hamill in the English version and by Toshitaka Shimizu in the Japanese version. Lo-Lo was voiced by Jess Harnell in the English version and by Masaru Ikeda in the Japanese version.

• The Evil Twins, Victor and Moritz, are mutated parrots who formerly belonged to Neo Cortex as a child, and the main antagonists of Crash Twinsanity. During Cortex's first experiments with the Evolvo-Ray, the parrots were accidentally sent to the Tenth Dimension,^[105] a gloomy and twisted mirror universe version of the Earth. The ultra-dimensional radiaction gave them psychokinetic and reality-warping powers.^[106]

Years later, the Twins leave their dimension in order to get their revenge on Cortex and destroy the Wumpa Islands. However, with the use of the Psychetron, Crash Bandicoot, Neo Cortex and Nina Cortex travel to the Tenth Dimension in order to stop the Twins' plans. They attack the trio with a mech, but fail. They flee, but are eaten by Crash Bandicoot's Tenth-Dimensional counterpart Evil Crash soon after.

Victor is the most serious and sinister-looking of the duo, and is distinguished by his voice tone that is lower than Moritz's, while Moritz serves as the duo's comic relief, being gullible, naïve and gluttonous. Their names derive from Victor Moritz, a character from James Whale's 1931 adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein. Both of the Twins are voiced by Quinton Flynn in the English-speaking version of Crash Twinsanity; however, in the Japanese dub, Victor is voiced by Shinpachi Tsuji and Moritz is voiced by Setsuji Satō. Ironically, Quinton Flynn would voice another bird-like character, Chick "Gizzard Lips", in the next Crash Bandicoot game, Crash Tag Team Racing.

• Madame Amberly is the headmistress of the Academy of Evil, and the former teacher of Neo and Nina Cortex. Appearing only in Crash Twinsanity and serving as the penultimate boss of the game, she is a humongously obese, monocle-wearing German-accented woman who needs iron cables attached to her back in order for her to move about, and has a letter "A" tattooed on her forehead, like Cortex and Nina have a "N" on theirs. She also has the ability of manipulating electricity, and is known for hating Cortex since he was a child, constantly calling him a "cry-baby" and a "little worm".

In the events of Crash Twinsanity, Cortex returns to his former school in order to fetch his niece so she can fix the Psychetron, and meets Amberley at her organ room. After being mistaken for a barber by her,^[107] he has an emotional breakdown and decides to get his revenge for the constant verbal abuse he suffered from her during his student days, and with the use of his raygun, destroys the cables attached to Amberley's back, making her plummet into a green toxic substance. It is unknown if she survived the fall or not. She was voiced by Susan Silo in the English dub of the game, and by Noriko Suzuki in the Japanese version.

• N. Trance is a subordinate of Doctor Nefarious Tropy. He is an egg-like being who is the self-proclaimed Master of Hypnotism. He first appeared in Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, in which he brainwashed Crash's comrades and forced them to battle Crash. In Crash Nitro Kart, he brainwashes Polar, Pura and Dingodile into racing for his team. He is voiced by Tom Bourdon in the English version of Crash Nitro Kart and by Setsuji Satō in the Japanese version.

• Rilla Roo is a hybrid of a gorilla and a kangaroo. His only appearance is as a playable character in Crash Bash. Rilla Roo is voiced by Mitsuru Ogata in the Japanese version of Crash Bash.

• Emperor Velo XXVII is the organizer of the Galaxy Circuit. He appears as a hologram for much of Crash Nitro Kart, and only appears in person for the final race against him. His true form, The Real Velo, is exceedingly short, and is a playable character. Both forms are voiced by Steven Blum in the English version of Crash Nitro Kart. Emperor Velo is voiced by Haruo Satō in the Japanese version, while the Real Velo is voiced by Kōki Miyata.

• Krunk is a mandrill-type animal who is the Champion of Terra and a native himself. The first time Krunk is seen he is confident in his racing ability. Upon seeing any team he tells Velo to send them back to earth but Krunk soon accepts them and races. When losing, Krunk is seen with is head down telling them that Terra actually copied Earth instead of Earth copying Terra. On his Home Track, Jungle Boogie, he uses Spike Fruits as weapons but in the GBA Version he uses TNT Crates. Krunk is voiced by Marshall R. Teague in the English version and by Kosei Hirota in the Japanese version.

• Nash is a cybernetic shark-like creature who is the champion of Barin. He was engineered to always keep moving and never even sleeps. After losing to Team Bandicoot, his brain is hacked by Coco, allowing him to sleep. He is voiced by Billy West in the English version and by Mitsuaki Madono in the Japanese version.

• Norm is a book-loving mime who is the Champion of Fenomena and A Demon On The Racing Track. Norm is first reading a book quietly when Velo orders him to split in half releasing his inner half known as Big Norm. Big Norm's appearance shows a tightly wearing stripped shirt, gloves, and a little red hat. After both are defeated Big Norm shows his nice side by congratulating both teams and says they can win the Galaxy Circuit, because they work together. After Velo appears, both versions of Norm merge back together. Velo suggests new ways to motivate Normm by taking his books away. Both Norms home track is Out Of Time. When racing the Norms use mimecrates as weapons but in the GBA version they use TNT Crates. Big Norm is voiced by André Sogliuzzo in the English dub and by Tetsuo Goto in the Japanese dub.

• Geary is the, as Velo puts it, pinnacle of robotics and the Champion of Teknee. Geary is described as a clean freak and, on the track, races with some of his cleaning robots. When losing to either teams in adventure mode he is punished by Velo to first clean his trophy vault and them clean the entire coliseum (which is odd, being that he's obsessed with it). In the Game Boy Advance version, Geary is unlocked by beating him on his home track Android Alley. When racing Geary uses Cleaning items as weapons. He is voiced by Paul Greenberg in the English version of Crash Nitro Kart and by Hiroshi Iwasaki in the Japanese version.

• Zem is a large, vulgar troll, goblin or ogre who races alongside Oxide. He is first seen on top of the podium in the Crash Nitro kart Introduction along with Zam, and his master Nitrous Oxide. On the Track, Zem is very gross by burping and laughing very sickly. Out of all the members of Team Oxide, Zem has the best speed. He is voiced by André Sogliuzzo in the English version of Crash Nitro Kart and by Yasuhiro Takato in the Japanese version.

• Zam is a Dog-Froglike or Lizardlike creature who races alongside Oxide and Zem. Out of all the members of Team Oxide, Zam has the best speed. He is voiced by Billy West.

• Ebenezer Von Clutch is a zany, yellow-green-skinned, German-accented cyborg, founder and owner of the MotorWorld Amusement Park in Crash Tag Team Racing. At the beginning of the game, it is shown that the Power Gems that kept MotorWorld up and running were stolen, and since then the park has fell into disrepair and decay. Von Clutch's own Black Power Gem, a special gem that serves as his artificial life support, was also stolen (by Willie Wumpa Cheeks, as it is later revealed), and he proposes giving the deed of the park for he who finds all the Gems. In a fourth wall-breaking cutscene, he also reveals himself as being an assiduous fan of the Crash Bandicoot franchise.^[108] He is voiced by Danny Mann in Crash Tag Team Racing's original English-language dub, while in the Japanese port he is voiced by Hiroshi Ōtake.

• Pasadena O'Possum is, as her surname says, an anthropomorphized opossum girl who speaks with a southern accent. She is an employee at Ebenezer Von Clutch's amusement park MotorWorld in Crash Tag Team Racing, and as the game's plot follows on, she starts to develop a crush on Crash Bandicoot. She is voiced by Shanelle Workman in the English-speaking dub of Crash Tag Team Racing, and by Iho Matsukubo in the Japanese dub.

• Willie Wumpa Cheeks is the mascot of Ebenezer Von Clutch's amusement park MotorWorld, and the source of the Wumpa Whip drink in Crash Tag Team Racing. He is an anthropomorphized Wumpa Fruit with a tap (from where the Wumpa Whip drink comes from) for a nose who speaks mostly through cryptic limericks. As the game's story develops, it is revealed that he stole Von Clutch's Black Power Gem, as well as the other Power Gems who kept the MotorWorld Park up and running, although it is never specified why he did it. As Crash and his friends are about to discover where he hid Von Clutch's Black Power Gem, Willie is liquefied by Neo Cortex and his allies. It is revealed in the end of the game that Willie hid the Black Power Gem inside his tap nose though. Willie is voiced by Roger L. Jackson in the English-speaking dub of Crash Tag Team Racing, and by Masato Funaki in the Japanese dub.

• Chick "Gizzard Lips" and Stew are a pair of anthropomorphized chickens and veteran sportscasters who serve as the tutors of Crash Tag Team Racing. Chick is the calmest of the duo, and speaks with a low, fluid voice tone, while Stew serves as the duo's comic relief, being more fast-talking and constantly making jokes about the subject in question. He also changes the hat/hairdo he is wearing every time the camera swaps to him. Chick is voiced by Quinton Flynn (who previously voiced both of the Evil Twins in Crash Twinsanity) and Stew is voiced by Duane Shepard in the English version of the game; in the Japanese dub, they are voiced by Keiichi Takahashi and Keiji Himeno respectively.

Chick's and Stew's personalities are respectively based on Howard Cosell and George Foreman/Charles Barkley.

• The Park Drones are the exploited and underpaid employees of Ebenezer Von Clutch's amusement park MotorWorld, who appear solely in Crash Tag Team Racing. They sell Power Crystals and alternate costumes to Crash Bandicoot in the hopes of, with the money, leaving MotorWorld so they can find better jobs. They also operate mini-games, that Crash can play in order to receive extra Power Crystals. All the Drones wear khaki hazmat suits and gas masks. The Drones' voices are provided by Bill Farmer, Chris Coppola, Charles Dennis, Jess Harnell and Roger L. Jackson in the English version of the game, while the Japanese voices are provided by Takaya Kuroda, Kazuhiro Anzai, Yasumichi Kushida, Keiichi Takahashi and Masato Funaki.

• The Viscount (ビスカント・デビル, Bisukanto Debiru) is an extremely wealthy Tasmanian devil who tricks Crash and his friends into searching for the Super Big Power Crystal for him in Crash Boom Bang!.

• Yaya is a friendly giant panda who appears in Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D and Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2. She teams up with Crash and Coco to help win the racing tournament Nitrous Oxide, Dr. Neo Cortex and Ripper Roo have set up.

• Penta Penguin is a penguin that makes two minor appearances in the Crash Bandicoot series. The first is in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, when he makes a brief appearance before the Dingodile boss fight. The second appearance is in Crash Team Racing, where he is unlockable by a special code at the main menu.

• Farmer Ernest is an anthropomorphized emu farmer who runs an orchard of Wumpa Fruit trees in the outskirts of N. Sanity Island. His only appearance so far was in Crash Twinsanity, where he asks Crash and Cortex to rid his orchard of voracious Wumpa Fruit-eating worms in exchange for a Power Crystal; Cortex, however, paralyzes him with his raygun and takes the crystal anyway. He is voiced by Alex Fernandez in Twinsanity's English-language dub and by Haruo Satō in the Japanese one.

• Rusty Walrus is a large blue walrus that served as the chef of N. Gin's battleship in Crash Twinsanity. After Crash Bandicoot defeats N. Gin atop the crow's nest of the battleship, he falls through the ceiling of Rusty's kitchen, where Rusty mistakes Crash for the meat he was about to cook. Crash runs away, and Rusty tries to catch him, but to no avail. He was voiced by Dwight Schultz.

References

Crash Bandicoot series Games Main series Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Warped The Wrath of Cortex Twinsanity Crash of the Titans Mind over Mutant Racing Team Racing Nitro Kart Tag Team Racing Party Bash Boom Bang! Spin-offs The Huge Adventure 2: N-Tranced Purple: Ripto's Rampage Mobile games Other articles Characters Crash Bandicoot Doctor Neo Cortex Voice actors