Tawna Bandicoot

Tawna Bandicoot is a womanly bandicoot that appears in the first Crash Bandicoot game as Crash Bandicoot's girlfriend. She became absent in following entries in the series, albeit with cameos, with Coco Bandicoot serving as the female supporting character of the series in her stead. She eventually reappeared in Crash Boom Bang! as a playable character, and would later appear in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled in the same role.

Although the original counterpart doesn't physically appear, an alternate universe counterpart of Tawna appears as a playable character in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.

Crash Bandicoot


Tawna first appears in the original Crash Bandicoot game as an ordinary bandicoot that was captured by Dr. Neo Cortex and Dr. N. Brio and mutated by N. Brio's Evolvo-Ray, and one of the only mutant animals not yet brainwashed by the Cortex Vortex along with her boyfriend Crash Bandicoot. After Crash is placed into and rejected by the Cortex Vortex, Crash escapes Cortex's laboratory which causes Cortex to select Tawna as his replacement for the general of his army of mutants, with the plot of the game being Crash racing to rescue Tawna from Cortex before she gets brainwashed. Crash eventually defeats Cortex and reunites with Tawna on top of his blimp as they fly into the sunset.

Alternatively, once the player has collected every gem, the player can access The Great Hall, wherein Tawna awaits Crash on the balcony of Castle Cortex, after which the two of them fly away on a large bird.

Tawna also appears throughout the game at the end of bonus rounds accessed by collecting tokens resembling her face. However, she cannot be interacted with. In Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy ' s remake of the original game, she cheers when Crash reaches her in these levels, only to be dragged away by Cortex.

Other major appearances
Tawna appears as an unlockable playable character in Crash Boom Bang!, which marks her first major appearance in a game 10 years after the original Crash Bandicoot, and her first voiced appearance in a game, where she is portrayed by Akiko Toda. Much like the other playable characters in the game, she participates in Viscount's World Cannonball Race in order to win $100,000,000. Her in-game description suggests she is romantically interested in Pinstripe Potoroo, who is also a playable character in the game. This is in reference to the story included in the manual for the Japanese version of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, and is the first direct reference to this in the games.

Tawna appears as a playable character unlockable in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled's first Grand Prix, Nitro Tour, which launched on July 3, 2019. Her, Ami, Isabella, Liz, and Megumi form part of the Nitro Squad. A promotional screenshot for the Nitro Tour Grand Prix references the story seen in the Japanese Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back manual.



While the regular Tawna isn't present in the game, an alternate universe counterpart of her shows up to rescue Crash and Coco Bandicoot from pirates in the Hook, Line, and Sinker level. After being rescued, Coco mentions how she and Crash had lost contact with Tawna. A cushion sporting Tawna's mugshot can also been seen at the end of the game's very first Bonus level, atop a sofa where she presumably would have waited for Crash as she did in her bonus levels from the first Crash Bandicoot.

Minor appearances


A picture of Tawna appears on the fireplace of Crash's house in Crash Bandicoot: Warped, and later Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. Crash's epilogue in the Japanese version of Crash Bash shows what appears to be Tawna congratulating Crash in person for defeating Uka Uka, with Coco's epilogue revealing that it's actually a hologram of herself as a virtual idol. Tawna also appears on the sign of Moulin Cortex, a burlesque club, in Crash Twinsanity ' s Slip Slip Icecapades level.

Although she doesn't appear in the original Crash Team Racing, internal game data suggests that Ami, Isabella, Liz, and Megumi were all based on her.

Japanese Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back manual


While Tawna is completely absent from Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, the instruction booklet for the Japanese version of the game provides additional details as to what transpired after the first game; namely, Tawna leaves Crash and the Wumpa Islands, referred to as Tasmania in the manual, for Chigago, USA in order to be with Pinstripe Potoroo.

Crash Bandicoot: Dance! Then Jump! Na Daibōken
Tawna appears in two chapters of Crash Bandicoot: Dance! Then Jump! Na Daibōken, a manga adaptation of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot: Warped by Ari Kawashima. Tawna is first mentioned in the first chapter of the first volume as it follows the story present in the manual for the Japanese version of Crash Bandicoot 2, where she suddenly leaves Crash a parting letter as she goes to be with Pinstripe, which causes Crash to engage in activities to make himself seem more attractive to women throughout the manga. She is later mentioned in the final chapter of the second volume as Crash dreams about becoming heroic enough for Tawna to come back to him, kissing Aku Aku in his sleep in the process.

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex Official Strategy Guide
BradyGames' strategy guide for Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex features a section called "The Complete and Authorized History of Crash Bandicoot", which summarizes the events of the first Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Crash Bandicoot: Warped, and The Wrath of Cortex itself. While the events are largely the same as those that occur in the games themselves, the summary mentions Tawna as attempting an escape from Castle Cortex with Crash during the events of the first game, only to be found out by Cortex. Tawna's story about leaving Crash for Pinstripe prior to the events of the second game, which had previously only ever been referenced in Japanese media, is also included in the summary, with Tawna leaving a note to Crash before leaving.

Other appearances
Tawna is present in the two chapters of Takahiro Yamashita's manga adaptation of the first Crash Bandicoot, which largely follows the events of the original game.

Crash Bandicoot


In the first Crash Bandicoot game, Tawna has a design largely reminiscent of a shapely adult woman, inspired by figures such as Pamela Anderson and the character of Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, to the effect of resembling the physique of a real person closer than Crash Bandicoot does and towering above him in stature. Like Crash, however, she has animalesque features inspired by wombats, such as skin covered in orange fur, a tall upwards ear visibly seen on top of her hair, and a peach-colored snout and muzzle on her face, where her nose and mouth go. Tawna has green eyes, blonde [insert hairstyle here] hair and small black eyebrows, and is also shown with makeup, wearing red lipstick and pale rose eyeshadows, noticeable as Tawna is frequently shown with bedroom eyes in the game. Tawna wears a sleeveless burgundy shirt and buttoned blue shorts, and wears a pair of dark red sneakers similar to Crash Bandicoot's, with additional burgundy socks to match her shirt. Unlike Crash, Tawna has a short, fluffy tail at the back of her shorts that is the same color as her hair.

The May 5, 1995 and August 15, 1995 editions of the production bible for Crash Bandicoot featured a different finalized design for Tawna; she is depicted sporting a tank top, which exposed her chest and midriff, a pair of platform heels with ribbons at the base and socks, and shorts with slits on the sides. This design was scaled back to be less provocative. Tawna's render for the Japanese release of Crash Bandicoot depicts her with a lavender tank top and shorts with slits, similar to those seen in the aforementioned production bibles for the game, although she retains her sneakers.

Crash Boom Bang!
Tawna sees a redesign in Crash Boom Bang!, taking Japanese influences into account. Her proportions are altered in order to fit with the chibi-esque aesthetic of the game, reducing her height to be only slightly taller than Crash Bandicoot instead of being significantly taller. Her attire also appears to take after the previously-mentioned render of her used in promotional media for the Japanese release of Crash Bandicoot, as she now wears a magenta-colored tank top instead of the burgundy shirt from her first appearance.

Other changes include the addition of a second ear visible from her hair, with both ears now pointing horizontally as opposed to vertically. The color of her eyebrows are a light brown instead of black. Her shorts are smaller and slightly duller in color, and her sneakers are now a vibrant red to match those seen in Crash Bandicoot's design in the original Japanese version of the game.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy / Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy's remake of the first Crash Bandicoot game features a rendition of Tawna similar in appearance to that of the original game with additional design tweaks. As with all of the characters in the remake, Tawna is rendered with realistic hair, fur, and clothes texturing. Tawna's body shape is altered slightly, having a smaller chest and hip size, being less exaggeratedly proportioned. Tawna's shirt is colored magenta with a monochrome graphic of Crash's face on it, and now features white trim on the sleeves and collar. Her eyeshadow was made a similar shade of magenta to her shirt, and her lipstick was changed to pink. Tawna's shorts are now made of denim and worn with a brown belt, with the shorts' button being on the belt instead of the pants, and her sneakers are now a more vibrant red with white socks to match the color of Crash Bandicoot's sneakers in the remake, as well as the socks he is also shown wearing. This design is also used for Tawna's appearance in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.

Personality
Very little is shown of Tawna in comparison to other characters in the first Crash Bandicoot game. She is shown to be helpless during her time as Dr. Neo Cortex's prisoner, having a shocked expression as she's restrained by two Lab Assistants. Tawna is shown to pose for the player as well as Crash Bandicoot himself in her bonus rounds and in The Great Hall, having interest in showing off her appearance. Given her relationship with Crash Bandicoot in the game, she is shown to care for Crash, hugging him as he rescues her from Cortex.

In Crash Boom Bang! Tawna idly applies makeup and sometimes poses, suggesting she cares a lot about her appearance; her outfit being fashionable as well.

In Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy's remake of the first game, Tawna is depicted to be more proactive, fending off against Lab Assistants while being captive. She no longer poses in her bonus rounds, instead standing idly and jumping enthusiastically as Crash reaches her, but she is shown posing alluringly for Crash in The Great Hall.

In Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, Tawna is shown as competitive and dedicated to winning. She takes losing seriously, looking visibly upset; yet also has a sense of humor, sometimes laughing to herself while driving and on the podium after a win. She retains her romantic traits: she turns her head around to wink at the player, and winks at someone in the audience in several of her podium win animations.

Creation and early development


Tawna was created by Joe Pearson and Charles Zembillas, as were most of the other characters in the first Crash Bandicoot game. Unlike most of these characters, however, Tawna was created to be a supporting character for Crash Bandicoot, specifically being Crash's love interest; to this effect, the May 5, 1995 edition of the production bible for the game describes her as "window dressing". Similar to how Crash Bandicoot was designed as a wombat and formerly called "Willy the Wombat", Tawna had a different name in Karmen, also spelled Carmen, and was designed after a wombat, to then be named a bandicoot in the final release of the game.

Charles Zembillas' first sketches of Tawna, allegedly made on January of 1995, depict Tawna as sporting a body much closer to similar early concepts of Crash, and going through several characterizations ranging from "the girl next door to street walker to dimwitted floozy to plain jane." A more anthropomorphic design would eventually be decided on for Tawna, focusing on conventionally attractive features. Her finalized hand-drawn design would appear on the May 5, 1995 and August 15, 1995 editions of the first game's production bible,, only to then be altered for the game in order to be less provocative.

The earliest publicly-available mention of Tawna being a damsel-in-distress for Crash to rescue can be seen in a document detailing the script of an opening sequence for the first game dated February 20, 1995, written by Joe Pearson, which details Karmen as having been created by Dr. Neo Cortex to be Willy's romantic partner, for the purpose of creating a line of "Uberwombats", only for Cortex to decide to have Karmen for himself after he banishes Willy from his army and castle, with Karmen being opposed to Cortex's advances and intent of war, instead only wishing to be with Willy. This same story would also appear on the May 5, 1995 edition of the production bible; at this point in time, the bible doesn't feature an elaborate description of Karmen unlike most of the other characters mentioned, only describing minor traits that Tawna would have, such as frequently touching up her make-up, loving to shop, and hating being in Cortex's laboratory.

The August 15, 1995 edition of the production bible for the first game revises the opening sequence pitched in the February and May 1995 editions of the document. Tawna, now having her final name, is now portrayed as a more assertive character and acts more reprehensively towards Dr. Neo Cortex's actions, making remarks at Cortex's failure with his army of mutant animals. This edition of the bible also features a more elaborate description of Tawna's character and role in the story, mentioning her to be "the perfect blend of beauty and brains", in which she matches wits with Cortex and attempts to reason with Dr. N. Brio, who at that point was to be a more sympathetic character, also trying to get Cortex's henchmen to rebel against him. Naughty Dog's official website for Crash Bandicoot also echoes this description of Tawna.

The April 8, 1996 prototype of Crash Bandicoot is the earliest publicly-available record of Tawna having her final, scaled-back attire. Tawna's color scheme in this prototype is drastically different, however; her fur and muzzle colors are an orangeish brown both as opposed to separately-colored orange fur and peach muzzle, her shirt and socks are magenta instead of burgundy, her shorts are green instead of blue, and her eyeshadow is blue instead of a pale rose color. Tawna still retained this design in the May 11, 1996 prototype of the game. This coloration of Tawna can be seen in the final game in The Great Hall, although with the pale rose eyeshadow of the final design, as a banner depicting Tawna with the same colors can be seen and Tawna herself is shown sporting the same colors before the player reaches her and activates the ending cutscene, where she is posteriorly shown with her final coloration.

In the end, most of the traits that Tawna is described with in the August 15, 1995 edition of the production bible for the game wouldn't make it into the final game; particularly, both Crash and Tawna's lines were cut from the intro, leaving only Dr. Neo Cortex's and Dr. N. Brio's speech and only showing Tawna being held by two Lab Assistants. However, the game now adds the plot element of Cortex and N. Brio preparing to send Tawna to the Cortex Vortex in order to replace Crash as the leader of his army of mutant animals, of which the earliest public record is present in the April 8, 1996 prototype.

Absence from the series
Tawna Bandicoot stopped appearing in Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot games starting with the release of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back; most notably, her absence in the game is filled by the appearance of a brand new character for the game, Coco Bandicoot. As the Japanese branch of Sony Computer Entertainment, publisher of the first Crash Bandicoot game in all regions, felt uncomfortable with Tawna, a "sexpot" character, being the only feminine character in the series, a suggestion was made to instead have a more juvenile "younger sister" type of character; wanting to appease Sony's Japanese marketing team, Naughty Dog made Coco Bandicoot as the feminine supporting character of the series in Tawna's stead. Despite this, Tawna would be referenced in Japan-exclusive side material, such as the manual for Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and the epilogues added for the Japanese release of Crash Bash, as well as having a cameo in Crash Bandicoot: Warped; additionally, similarly feminine and objectified characters as Tawna would appear in Crash Team Racing, another Naughty Dog-developed and Sony-published Crash Bandicoot title, in the form of Ami, Liz, Isabella, and Megumi.

Tawna Bandicoot would make her first reappearance as a major character in 2006's Crash Boom Bang!, made by the Japanese company Dimps. Tawna would eventually start making prominent reappearances with the release of Vicarious Visions' Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, a remake of the first three Crash Bandicoot games, wherein Tawna is depicted with a more modest figure and a slightly more proactive characterization.

Relationship with Crash Bandicoot
Tawna Bandicoot was designed as Crash Bandicoot's girlfriend, with the first Crash Bandicoot game featuring a plot about rescuing a kidnapped damsel. Following Tawna's subsequent absence from the series, some alterations have been made to this aspect of her character throughout her appearances.

The Japanese manual for Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back explains Tawna's absence, in contrast to versions of the game released for other territories, by stating that Tawna broke up with Crash Bandicoot to pursue Pinstripe Potoroo, a character that also appears in the first Crash Bandicoot game. This story would go on to be referenced in a handful of Crash Bandicoot media, including Crash Bandicoot: Dance! Then Jump! Na Daibōken, a Japan-exclusive manga created by Ari Kawashima that adapts the events of Crash Bandicoot 2 and its manual, BradyGames' officially-licensed strategy guide for Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, as it goes over the continuity of the Crash series,, with its first actual reference in a Crash Bandicoot game being in Crash Boom Bang!, developed by Japanese company Dimps.

Additionally, in Tawna's appearance in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, as well as her references and mentions in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, any references to her being Crash's girlfriend or otherwise are not made.

Trivia

 * Crash mistaking Coco's adult-self hologram for Tawna in Crash's and Coco's ending scenes in the Japanese version of Crash Bash is similar to a gag seen in the first chapter of Crash Bandicoot: Dance! Then Jump! Na Daibōken, where Crash mistakes the regular Coco for Tawna as she enters his house moments after he reads Tawna's parting letter.