Aku Aku

"It is I, Aku Aku! My duty is to protect you. You may summon me by breaking open these crates. Call me thrice, and I shall grant you special powers."

- Aku Aku

Aku Aku (Japanese: アク アク Aku Aku), sometimes spelled Aku-Aku is the ancient voodoo mask spirit of an old witch doctor and the twin brother of Uka Uka. Aku Aku is the secondary protagonist of the Crash Bandicoot franchise, and assists Crash Bandicoot and his friends on their adventures. His role is being the overseeing spirit guardian of Wumpa Islands.

In the main Crash Bandicoot series, the player can free Aku Aku from an Aku Aku crate. He allows them to sustain another hit from an enemy or obstacle, after which Aku Aku leaves them. When the player collects a third Aku Aku mask, they become temporary invincible. In this regard, Aku Aku is comparable to Sparx from the Spyro franchise.

Personality
Aku Aku cares deeply for the Earth and all who inhabit it, protecting Crash whenever needed and acting as a father figure to the Bandicoots. He'll do anything the protect the planet, even locking his twin brother away in an underground temple. Overall, Aku Aku is a kind, benevolent and empathetic spirit who loves the Earth, making his name an ironic one, seeing as "Aku" is Japanese for "evil" or "wickedness". However, the most accepted meaning of his name is a pun on the rapanui word "aku-aku", that means "spiritual guide".

Aku Aku's personality is expanded in Crash of the Titans. While Aku Aku remains a stern individual for most of the time, he is capable of showing an occasional witty side, a trait displayed when he quickly compares the Mojo Temple to the Texas School Book Depository, along with his descriptions of the enemies in the game.

Appearance
Aku Aku appears as a floating wooden mask with yellow, circular, pupil-less eyes, a red, pointed nose, large lips, a green goatee and four (or more) multi-colored feathers perched on top of his head. Aku Aku's redesign in Crash of the Titans shows him having a larger, more humanoid/primate head, along with one extra feather on his head. His goatee is missing, having been replaced with green hair on the sides of his head.

Abilities
Similar to Sparx in the Spyro the Dragon series, Aku Aku's primary function is to protect Crash from harm. If Crash has one Aku Aku mask, it will protect him from one attack; if he has two, he'll resist two attacks. If Crash picks up three Aku Aku masks, he'll enter a state of temporary invincibility and will not be harmed from any enemy attacks, Nitro crates, and TNT crates. He will, however, be killed by either falling into bottomless pits, falling into water, or getting crushed in a chase level. In Crash Twinsanity, having three Aku Aku's will no longer protect Crash from explosions by TNT or Nitro crates, or destroy enemies by walking into them, as it did previous titles. Aku Aku also has many other abilities. In the first installment, he can be used as a source of light in levels which are too dark to navigate safely. In the Cortex boss fight in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, it is shown he and his twin brother Uka Uka are able to produce various forms of what is assumed to be witch doctor magic. In Crash of the Titans, Crash uses Aku Aku to cover the Titan's face and take control of the creature. Aku Aku can also be used by Crash as a shield and a skateboard. Whenever Aku Aku can sense a person, he can teleport a certain distance towards that person. In the Game Boy Advance version of the game, Aku Aku can transform into various vehicles for Crash to use.

Crash Bandicoot 1-2
Aku Aku is the ancient voodoo mask spirit of an old witch doctor, who looks over the southeast Australian islands as if he was its god. When he sensed Crash's and Coco's journey to ruin Doctor Neo Cortex's plan for world domination, he befriended them and scattered copies of himself to aid them. Copies of him are hidden in marked crates, and when broken, the mask will be released, and will protect Crash and Coco from one enemy attack. Collecting three in a row without getting hit will result in Crash and Coco becoming temporarily invincible from anything except deep water and bottomless pits.

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
Unlike the previous two Crash games, Aku Aku talks and has an important role in the storyline as the leader mentor and father figure of the bandicoots in Crash Bandicoot: Warped. When Uka Uka is freed from his jungle prison, it is revealed that Uka Uka is Aku Aku's evil twin brother, whom he constantly opposes and has the same strength and power (as evidenced in the final battle against Doctor Cortex, in which he holds off Uka Uka's attacks, and Uka Uka likewise holds off his). Aku Aku mentioned that he locked Uka Uka away in a temple prison many eons ago to protect the world from his malice. But now that he is free, he must be stopped at all cost. He then leads Crash and Coco to the Time Twister machine so that they can gather Power Crystals scattered across time. Near the end, he holds off Uka Uka's attacks while Crash battles Neo Cortex.

Crash Bash
In Crash Bash, Aku Aku and Uka Uka attempt to decide whether good or evil is stronger. Aku Aku decides that the bickering can go on no longer, and that they must settle this once and for all time. When Uka Uka prepares to fight, Aku Aku stops him, reminding him that the Ancients would not allow it. Uka Uka suggests holding a contest, with Aku Aku's players going against his. Aku Aku agrees with this, and they summon the teams. Aku Aku summons Crash Bandicoot and Coco Bandicoot, while Uka Uka summons Doctor Neo Cortex, Doctor Nitrus Brio, Tiny Tiger, Koala Kong, Dingodile, and Rilla Roo. Aku Aku protests saying that Uka Uka's side has too many players and demands that Uka Uka surrender two of his team. Aku Aku chooses Tiny and Dingodile to play for the good side. The two teams engage in a number of contests, of which the good side is eventually the winner. Aku Aku then reveals that this contest was simply a plot by Uka Uka to steal the crystals. As a penalty, he ejects Uka Uka into space.

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
When natural disasters start ravaging N. Sanity Island, Aku Aku goes to see what his evil twin brother Uka Uka is planning. When he does, he rushes to the Bandicoots with an urgent message and demands that Coco get her new Portal Chamber working so that they can gather Crystals and stop the Elementals. He serves his usual role as a protecter from this point on.

Crash Twinsanity
Aku Aku once again serves as Crash's protector in this game. After Uka Uka's defeat to the hands of Crash and Cortex, Aku Aku convinces Uka Uka to join him and defeat the Evil Twins. However, despite their vast power together, they are still no match for the reality-bending powers of the Evil Twins, and the masks continue their roles as Crash's/Cortex's protector.

Crash of the Titans
In Crash of the Titans, Aku Aku is briefly kidnapped by Doctor Neo Cortex, but is soon rescued by Crash. In-game, Aku Aku acts as Crash's source of power and his skateboard in certain sections. It is also revealed that Aku Aku is the older of the twins.

Crash Racing games
Aku Aku (along with Uka Uka) appears as a tutor for the player in the racing games Crash Team Racing and Crash Nitro Kart, giving general tips for the player after a trophy is won. The two masks also act as invincibility power-ups during the races, protecting the player from enemy attacks and wiping out anyone the player touches. Who protects the player depends on whether the character is good or evil, with Aku Aku protecting Crash, Coco, Polar, Pura and Crunch and Uka Uka protecting Cortex, N. Gin, Tiny and Dingodile. Aku Aku does not serve this purpose in Crash Tag Team Racing, only having a cameo appearance in the "Tiki Turbo" track.

Allies

 * Crash Bandicoot
 * Tawna Bandicoot
 * Coco Bandicoot
 * Polar
 * Pura
 * Baby T.
 * Fake Crash
 * Penta Penguin
 * Ami
 * Megumi
 * Liz
 * Isabella
 * Dingodile
 * Tiny Tiger
 * Crunch Bandicoot
 * Chick and Stew
 * Ebenezer Von Clutch
 * Pasadena O'Possum
 * King Chicken

Voice actors

 * He is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in the first and second Crash game.
 * In Crash Bandicoot: Warped onwards, he is voiced by Mel Winkler.
 * He is voiced by veteran seiyu Kenichi Ogata in the Japanese dubs of the games.

Trivia

 * In nearly all of the games, Aku Aku is seen having his usual 4 feathers on the mask, with the exception of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, in which he has 7 feathers.