Crash Bandicoot

Crash Bandicoot is the main and titular protagonist of the Crash Bandicoot series. He is a genetically-advanced who lives on N. Sanity Island (an island located southeast of Australia). He is frequently interrupted by his nemesis Doctor Neo Cortex, and must defeat him to put his life back in order. He is often accompanied by allies such as Aku Aku, his sister Coco Bandicoot, and Crunch Bandicoot.

Conception and creation
Crash (originally known as Willy the Wombat) was created by Naughty Dog intentionally as a character unique to the current design of the 3-D genre, being able to portray multiple emotions merely by facial expression, (a feature rare then due to basic technology in games). Crash's final design was done by Charles Zembillas, and it appears to be largely based on traditional Western animation such as . Furthermore, much early concept work (and even vague elements of his final design) resembles characters such as the Tasmanian Devil and Wile E. Coyote.

Early history
Prior to the events of the game series, Crash Bandicoot was evolved by Doctor Neo Cortex using the Evolvo Ray in July 19th. Before being placed on Cortex Vortex, Crash was the Bandicoot Subject Trial Number One tested by Cortex and Doctor Nitrus Brio in January 1st, 1996. Before he was just called Subject, but was named Crash (short for Crashworth Cortex the First) in September 9th, 1996.

Crash Bandicoot
In Crash Bandicoot, Crash started out as an ordinary bandicoot. He would eventually become a test subject of Doctor Neo Cortex's animal mutation experiments. With Doctor Nitrus Brio's Evolvo Ray device, Cortex altered Crash's genetic structure and brain capacity, turning him into an anthropomorphic marsupial. Crash was then subject to the untested Cortex Vortex, which would supposedly make him Cortex's willing servant and general of the Cortex Commandos. The Cortex Vortex was unsuccessful at changing Crash's mind, so Crash was dismissed as a reject. As Cortex attempts to capture Crash, the latter defenestrates himself from Cortex Castle and falls into the ocean.

Later, Crash washes up on the shore of N. Sanity Island. There he learns that a female bandicoot, Tawna, is about to be subjected Cortex's experiments as well. Crash goes on a journey through three islands making up the Wumpa Islands archipelago. Crash fights four bosses along the way including Papu Papu, Ripper Roo, Koala Kong, and Pinstripe Potoroo.

Upon reaching the tallest room of Cortex Castle, Crash proceeds to burn it down and escape on Cortex's airship with Tawna. The final battle suddenly begins when Cortex confronts Crash while riding a hoverboard. The battle ends when Crash knocks one of Cortex's plasma balls into his hoverboard, which malfunctions and self-destructs and causes Cortex to plummet far below. Crash and Tawna reunite, and are seen riding Cortex's airship into the sunset. If Crash has obtained every gem, an alternate ending is shown where Crash uses the gems as platforms to get to a balcony where Tawna is waiting. The both of them take off on the bird into the night.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
In Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, set after the events of the first game, Crash and his sister Coco are relaxing on the beach. Coco asks Crash fetch her a new battery for her laptop. Along the way, Crash is kidnapped and warped into Cortex's Warp Room. Here, Cortex contacts Crash through a hologram, revealing that Cortex survived the fall from the first game's ending, and claims to have changed his ways. Cortex tells Crash that he was kidnapped to gather the crystals, which Cortex could use to stop a deadly force caused by a planetary alignment. Crash agrees to collect crystals on behalf of Cortex.

After collecting a few Crystals, Crash is contacted by a hologram of Doctor Nitrus Brio, who tells him to collect the Clear Gems instead of the crystals so that he can use them to destroy Cortex's space station. N. Brio sends minions along Crash's way to stop him from obtaining the Crystals. Coco also manages to hack into the Warp Room where she expresses suspicion with Cortex's intentions. There are five crystals on each floor of the Warp Room, and collecting them allows Crash to fight a boss before continuing to the next floor. The first boss whom Crash faces is Ripper Roo, who returns from the first game. The second and third bosses are the Komodo Brothers and Tiny Tiger respectively. The fourth boss is Cortex's right-hand man, N. Gin. Crash refuses to give the crystals to N. Gin, so he tries to forcefully take them from him. Crash manages to defeat N. Gin and continues in the last floor of his journey.

Once Crash has collected all 25 Crystals, Coco reveals to him that Cortex's true plan is to use the crystals to enslave the world using the Cortex Vortex. In the final battle, Crash chases Cortex through an asteroid field. After enough hits, Cortex's jetpack malfunctions, leaving him stranded in the depths of outer space. This is followed by the first ending, where Crash returns home and goes to nap on the beach. Meanwhile, Coco ponders what happened to Cortex and is concerned of how the Cortex Vortex is still in space.

In the true ending, once Crash has collected all 42 Clear Gems, N. Brio uses them to power his laser device. N. Brio gives Crash the honor of activating the laser, which destroys the Cortex Vortex.

Crash Bandicoot: Warped
In Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Crash lives in a hut on N. Sanity Island with Coco, Aku Aku, and Polar. The game starts out with them relaxing until a sinister laugh echoes through the air of Earth. Aku Aku tells Crash and Coco that his twin brother, Uka Uka, has been freed from his jungle prison and is plotting world domination with Dr. Cortex and N. Tropy. The group learns that Cortex plans to use the Time Twister to retrieve the crystals from their original location in time. Crash, Aku Aku, and Coco decide to use the Time Twister to try and gather the crystals before Cortex can obtain them.

During his adventure, Crash warps through various time periods and settings to collect Crystals. Cortex sends some of his minions to try and stop Crash. Like in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Crash must gather five crystals in each hub area before he can face its boss. Sometimes when Crash enters a portal, a boss briefly talks to him. Whenever Crash defeats a boss, he gains a new Super Power. The first boss is Tiny Tiger, and the reward for defeating him is the Super Charged Body Slam. The second boss is Dingodile, and defeating him earns Crash the Double Jump power-up. The third boss is N. Tropy, and the reward for defeating him is the Death Tornado Spin. The fourth boss is N. Gin, who is fought by Coco, although she can defeat N. Gin to earn the Fruit Bazooka for Crash.

Once Crash has obtained 25 crystals, he can fight both Dr. Cortex and Uka Uka, who collectively serve as the final boss. After defeating them a first time, Crash earns the Crash Dash ability. When Crash has obtained all 42 gems, he can fight them a second and final time. Once Crash defeats Cortex and Uka Uka again, the Time Twister machine implodes on itself, and Crash, Coco, and Aku Aku manage to safely escape. Back at Crash's house, the group relaxes once more. Aku Aku expresses how lucky they were to have escaped from the Time Twister's implosion and that Cortex or Uka Uka will not bother them for a long time.

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
In Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, which takes place years after the events of Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Crash is first seen in the intro waterskiing. Natural disasters suddenly begin to occur, and Crash learns from Aku Aku that Uka Uka has freed the Elementals, a group of four evil masks with the power to fire, water, wind, and earth respectively. With the aid of Coco's Virtual Reality Hub System, Crash and Coco travel the world in search of crystals so they may put the Elementals back into their hibernation state. Cortex has created a powerful bandicoot named Crunch Bandicoot, who threatens to destroy Crash and conquer the world with help from the Elementals. There are several boss battles in which Crash has to fight Crunch, and in the first four boss battles, Crunch uses the power of one of the Elementals.

Once Crash has put every Elemental back into hibernation, Crunch's elemental powers has reached maximum capacity. At Cortex's space station, Crash battles Crunch a fifth and final time, and manages to defeat Crunch and free him from Cortex's control. Uka Uka accidentally causes the space station to self-destruct, but the Bandicoots manage to escape on Coco's spaceship.

Back at Crash's house, Crunch thanks Crash and the others for saving him. They then ponder if they have seen the last of Uka Uka and Cortex.

Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure
In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, Neo Cortex designs a Planetary Minimizer in another attempt to conquer the world, which he shrinks to the size of a grapefruit. Crash is sent by Aku Aku to gather Crystals, which Coco can use to build a device which will reverse the effects of Cortex's machine. In the ending, Crash tricks Cortex into destroying the Planetary Minimizer, then brings the crystals to Coco, who uses them to return the world to normal size.

Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced
In Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, the intro starts with Crash sleeping soundly on N. Sanity Island. Suddenly, Crunch and Coco are abducted by a strange vortex. When Crash wakes up, the vortex begins to take him, but he is rescued by Aku Aku, creating Fake Crash in the process. Aku Aku informs Crash that N. Tropy is behind the abductions. N. Tropy has used N. Trance to hypnotize Coco and Crunch into working for him. Crash battles Coco and Crunch as well as Fake Crash, who N. Tropy believed to be the real Crash, and frees them from N. Trance's hypnotism. Crash and Fake Crash enter the hideout and defeat N. Trance. N. Tropy flees into another vortex, but Crash follows and defeats him once again.

Crash Twinsanity
In Crash Twinsanity, which is set three years after the events of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crash once again lives a peaceful life, digging up stuff at the beach, when Cortex disguised as Coco calls for him and lures him into the bay, introducing him to the 40-feet-tall Mecha Bandicoot. When Crash defeats the robot, Cortex attacks Crash, sending both of them "rollerbrawlling" through a cavern, eventually coming across the Evil Twins, who've come to destroy Crash's island and devastate Earth. Crash and Cortex team up to destroy these two upstarts with the Psychetron, a machine that'll allow them to travel between dimensions. However, it soon becomes apparent that these twins are from Cortex's past, in fact predating Crash as his first experiment. Recruiting his niece, Nina Cortex, the trio set out to right the wrongs and sweep the rug (or "wrong the rights and sweep the past under the rug" as Cortex plainly puts it). Coming to a final confrontation in the 10th Dimension (in which everything is opposite), the Evil Twins are eventually defeated with the aid of Evil Crash and, upon trying to double cross Crash, Cortex is transported into Crash's brain when he tries to dispose of Crash with his malfunctioning Psychetron.

Crash of the Titans
In Crash of the Titans, Crash travels with Aku Aku to save his recently-kidnapped sister, Coco from Neo and Nina Cortex.

Crash has changed a lot in this game. He has gotten tattoos, rough fur and has learned some basic combat. He can learn more by collecting Mojo. He also can hijack monsters by stunning them, jumping on their back, and using Aku Aku to take control of their minds and force them to do his bidding. He can also babble as a more efficient and more lovable form of communication and smiles almost as much as in Crash Twinsanity. It is also here were he speaks his first real English word, "Pancakes", to which he has picked up a liking to.

Crash Team Racing / Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
In Crash Team Racing and its remake, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, Crash is one of the participants in Nitros Oxide's competition, "Survival of the Fastest," the final results of which would determine whether Earth will be turned into a parking lot, with its inhabitants enslaved. Crash must race many of his friends and foes in several worlds to obtain a Boss Key, allowing him to race that world's boss before progressing to the next one. The final boss is Nitros Oxide, and upon losing to Crash, Nitros Oxide temporarily leaves Earth. Once Crash has obtained every Time Relic, Nitros Oxide returns for a second and final race. After losing again, Nitros Oxide leaves and promises to Crash and the others that he will never interfere with Earth again. In the epilogue, Crash sold his life story, titled "The Color Orange", to a major film studio, which the game says is to be released by the Christmas season.

Crash drives a blue kart, and while shown in-game as having above-average stats in speed, acceleration, and turning, this only holds true for his turning — he actually has poor speed and below-average acceleration. He shares these stats with Doctor Neo Cortex, Komodo Joe, Fake Crash, and (in his unplayable appearance in the original Crash Team Racing only) Nitros Oxide.

In Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, an infant version of Crash known as Baby Crash was added as a playable character as part of the Back N. Time Grand Prix.

Crash Nitro Kart
In the intro for Crash Nitro Kart, Crash is relaxing when his entire house is abducted. The Bandicoot family exit the house and finds themselves on another planet. Cortex and his henchmen have also been abducted. A giant holographic display appears and explains that he is Emperor Velo XXVII, ruler of his planet. He has heard word about their racing skills, and that they must race to entertain his people. If they do not race, he will destroy the Earth. Both Team Bandicoot and Team Cortex accept, and race on a number of tracks, eventually defeating Velo, who then sends them home.

Crash is a member of Team Bandicoot alongside Coco, Crunch, and Fake Crash. He has average top speed, above-average acceleration, and below-average turning. He shares his stats with Doctor Neo Cortex.

Crash Tag Team Racing
In Crash Tag Team Racing, Crash and the others agree to recover the Power Gems of Von Clutch's MotorWorld and find whoever stole them. In the game, Crash has received a very different personality, as he can speak gibberish and appears to take a sadistic pleasure in the pain and suffering of chickens and the Park Drones.

Crash Bash
In Crash Bash, Crash's sleep is interrupted by Aku Aku, who has summoned him to take part in a battle of good and evil against Uka Uka in a series of minigames. Crash is the leader of his team, consisting of himself, Coco, Tiny and Dingodile, the latter two being taken from Uka Uka's side to even the odds. Uka Uka's team is led by Cortex, and includes Doctor N. Brio, Koala Kong and Rilla Roo. The two sides face off in a series of games, of which Crash's team is eventually the victor. It is revealed by Aku Aku that the contest was simply an attempt by Uka Uka to steal the crystals. Uka Uka is then ejected into space, and Crash and his friends go home.

Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage / Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy
In Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage, Cortex teams up with Spyro's nemesis, Ripto to attack both Crash and Spyro's worlds. Crash is tricked into thinking that Spyro the Dragon is attacking the Wumpa Islands, but he discovers the truth after a fight on a bridge, and teams up with Spyro to defeat the combined forces of Doctor Neo Cortex and Ripto. Crash also appears in the paired game, Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy.

Crash Boom Bang!
In Crash Boom Bang!, Crash is one of the attendees of the World Cannonball Race. In the ending, just before the Viscount can make his wish, Crash leaps forward and makes his wish for a thousand Wumpa Fruit.

Appearances in other media
Crash has made several appearances in the Spyro franchise, also produced by Universal. As well as the crossover title, Crash Purple (Fusion in PAL regions), this has ranged from promotional demos, to cameo appearances, though he has appeared less consistently than vise-versa. Crash made a cameo appearance in the Nintendo DS version of The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning in the Dante's Freezer level.

In  episode "", Dash Dingo an obvious spoof of Crash Bandicoot. The villain in the game projects himself as a hologram in a circular room before Dash, which is a parody on Crash 2's warp room holograms. A tweaked-out soundtrack is used, sounding uncannily similar to the games.

In the  episode "Power Play", Illyria and Drogyn are seen playing Crash Bandicoot on an Xbox. Unable to quite get the hang of it Illyria remarks, "I play this game. It is pointless, and annoys me. Yet I am compelled to keep playing."

In the  episode, "The One With Monica's Thunder", Joey is preparing to audition for the part of a nineteen year old. As he greets Chandler in his "teenage" attire, Chandler can be seen playing Crash Team Racing.

In the movie , Crash can be seen in a clothing shop in a game screen.

In , news anchor Tom Tucker looks like he is masturbating because of the camera angle, making panting and groaning sounds, but then it is revealed he is playing a Crash Bandicoot game for an early Game Boy system (although the only Crash Bandicoot games part of the Game Boy line is the Game Boy Advance titles) and says, "Eat my dust Crash Bandicoot!"

In the  episode "Four to Tango", Dawson unexpectedly finds Pacey in his room in the middle of the school day. Pacey's excuse is that he's playing Crash.

On an episode of "", at the beginning of an episode Jimmy is playing Crash Bandicoot on the PlayStation.

Crash Bandicoot has also been referenced in a few Jhonen Vasquez comics, mainly on people's shirts in the comics.

In the Nintendo 64 game , in the Aztec level one of the wall engravings appears to have Crash Bandicoot chained to some torture device.

Characteristics
Naughty Dog once referenced the development of Crash as a character both 'goofy yet heroic', and being able to portray it well. Originally however, he took the role of a silent protagonist and thus expressed little of his personality or opinions (a trait developer Jason Rubin later claimed to regret).

Crash's personality is hard to pinpoint, sometimes varying from game to game. Overall, he has a rather wacky, cartoonish personality, and his signature spin attack is comparable to the from Looney Tunes. Crash's demented behavior was exaggerated in Crash Tag Team Racing, in which he took pleasure in torturing innocent animals, Park Drones, and even himself. Despite this, Crash is usually kind-hearted and laid back, rarely showing true sorrow or anger (though he detests evil, such as Cortex). Crash still lacks a sense of awareness.

Abilities
Crash's most common ability is his tornado spin, upon which he twirls insanely to hit a nearby opponent. The power of this attack varies in different games, to the point he can spin constantly or even float on air when using it, however these advancements generally come as power ups in most games often gained by defeating a boss character. He can also spin objects, living or not, to gain a better hit radius. Like other platformers, he can also jump on opponents as well as slide and body slam. Some of these also gain power ups depending upon the game. A large amount of special abilities can be obtained in various titles.

In games starting with Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Crash is shown to be able to ride a variety of vehicles, such as a Motorcycle, a Jet Sub, a Jeep, and a Bi-plane.

In Crash Bandicoot, Crash can only jump and spin. In Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Crash has gained the ability to slide, crawl, dig underground and body slam. In Crash Bandicoot: Warped, his digging ability was removed, although the game introduces five Super Powers, which are each rewarded for clearing a boss battle. In Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crash has the ability to tip-toe, which allows him to walk on Nitro Crates. In Crash of the Titans, along with his spin attack, Crash has gained the ability to perform more physical attacks, including kicking, punching, and using Aku Aku to take control of monsters along his path.

Love interests
In the first Crash game, Crash had a crush on Tawna. However, according to an early build of the official website, in a matter of months after he rescues her from Cortex, Tawna leaves him a note, informing him that she has dumped him for Pinstripe Potoroo.

In Crash Tag Team Racing, Pasadena O'Possum appeared to be interested with Crash. Whenever Pasadena flirted with him, Crash was apparently disturbed. Whenever she talks about kissing, Crash looks like he would throw up. When she asks for a favor, Crash pants like a dog.

Alternate forms
Many alternates of Crash are known to exist, either as fellow experiments, relatives or forms from alternate worlds.

Fake Crash
Fake Crash is a deformed duplicate of the bandicoot.

Evil Crash/Nega Crash
Evil Crash is Crash's form from the 10th Dimension, and is the complete opposite of his heroic alternate, vicious, inhospitable and lacking rational thought. It also has a tendency to eat anything in sight, and seems to have a liking to Nina Cortex. He would ironically save the day by devouring the Evil Twins.

Carbon Crash
A Carbon Crash is a white-furred clone of Crash that appears whenever there is a second player in Crash of the Titans.

Portrayals
Since his debut, Crash has had a grand total of five voice actors: Brendan O'Brien in the Naughty Dog games, Steven Blum in Crash Nitro Kart, Jess Harnell in Crash Tag Team Racing, Kappei Yamaguchi in the Japanese dub of the games, and Makoto Ishii in Crash Boom Bang!. With a few exceptions, Crash himself does not talk in his early games for the PlayStation. This is in fact common with video games as to allow the audience to play through the perspective of the character, (noticeably, Coco Bandicoot was mute in Crash Bandicoot: Warped). When he does, he speaks in a somewhat high pitched garble, though some of his comments are very obvious. Although it is proven in Crash Tag Team Racing that Crash speaks (albeit by jibbering), his speaking lines are usually short and rare interjections rather than actual conversations. An early CGI commercial for Crash Bandicoot 2 does in fact show Crash speaking fluent English. Interestingly he is given a completely different voice, as well as an Australian accent.

Trivia

 * Interestingly, in the opening of Crash Bandicoot, the computer monitor refers to Crash as 'Bandicoot 1.0', suggesting he is the first bandicoot to be subjected to the Evolv-O-Ray.
 * Crash is allergic to bees, as witnessed in the Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back levels "Diggin' It" and "Bee-Having" when the bees attack Crash.