Uka Uka

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Uka Uka
Uka Uka, as seen in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
First appearance	Crash Bandicoot: Warped (1998)
Latest appearance	Crash Team Rumble (2022)
Species	Voodoo mask

Uka Uka (sometimes spelled Uka-Uka) is a recurring antagonist in the Crash Bandicoot franchise.

Physical traits

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

Personality

Uka Uka is a psychopathic villain with an inflated ego, believing that he is superior to the point that he often refers to himself as "the Great Uka Uka" in earlier games, athough Neo Cortex and N. Tropy have also referred to him similarly. Despite this, he is capable of rare generosity, namely when he spares Cortex's life after Cortex inadvertently sets him free with the ruins of his space station. In contrast, he seems to respect N. Tropy for his greater relative competence. Uka Uka largely looks down on his older brother Aku Aku, whom he sees as feeble. In Crash of the Titans, it is implied that Uka Uka has fallen into a "shame spiral" due to his constant losses and that an earlier depression led to him engaging in bulimia. It is also claimed that he is extremely self-conscious about his lack of a body.

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

Powers

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

Uka Uka is the exact opposite of Aku Aku, who is benevolent, calm, patient and empathetic. Conversely, Uka Uka is malevolent, short-tempered, impatient, and cruel. Uka Uka is the manager of the Cortex Commandos, being ultimately the driving force behind Dr. Neo Cortex's plot for world domination, and frequently gets upset at Cortex for his repeated failures.

Biography

Early life

Prior to the events of the game, Uka Uka were friendly partners with his older brother, Aku Aku, until his younger brother unknowingly became pure evil wanting to destroy the world and his older brother had to lock him up in a temple from Cortex Island. Uka Uka, on his prison, gave instructions to the bad intentioned guys that visited his temple and nobody fail to him. With Dr. Neo Cortex and N. Brio's arrival, Uka Uka gave them instructions on how to take over the world.

Crash Bandicoot: Warped

Uka Uka first appears in Crash Bandicoot: Warped. Here, Uka Uka recruits Dr. Neo Cortex to fulfill his desire to enslave humanity. Aku Aku states that eons ago, he imprisoned Uka Uka underground to protect Earth from his evil, but Uka Uka somehow managed to escape. Prior to the game's events, Uka Uka provides Cortex and Dr. N. Brio with instructions on how to take over the world. Along the way, Cortex loses the Crystals and the Gems, and his space station is destroyed. The rubble of the ruined space station eventually crash-lands onto Earth, destroying the underground prison, and finally freeing Uka Uka. Upset with the doctor's failure to retrieve the Crystals and the Gems, Uka Uka recruits Dr. N. Tropy, who has created the Time Twister, allowing them to collect the Crystals and the Gems in their original places. When Crash intervenes and destroys the Time Twister, Uka Uka is trapped inside a time prison with Cortex and N. Tropy, who have been turned into infants.

Crash Team Racing / Crash Nitro Kart

Both Uka Uka and Aku Aku serve as a tutor for the player in the racing games Crash Team Racing and Crash Nitro Kart, giving general tips for the player after a trophy is won. The two masks also act as invincibility power-ups during the races, protecting the player from enemy attacks and wiping out anyone the player touches. Who protects the player depends on whether the character is good or evil, with Aku Aku protecting Crash, Coco, Polar, and Pura (as well as Crunch in the latter games), and Uka Uka protecting Dr. Cortex, Dr. N. Gin, Tiny, and Dingodile.

Crash Bash

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

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex

In Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, after somehow escaping from the time prison, Uka Uka scolds Cortex and the rest of the villains for their less-than-impressive evil productivity. Fed up with the doctor's incompetence, Uka Uka concludes that if global domination is to ever be achieved, Crash should be handled with personally. 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 the doctor responsible, and attempts to attack him, but doing so causes their newly-built space station to overload, forcing the evil doctor and Uka Uka to evacuate. Their escape pod lands in the depths of Antarctica, preserving both of them in a block of ice.

Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced

In Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Uka Uka recruits Dr. N. Tropy to help him pull off another evil plan, which involves hypnotising the Bandicoots into joining the side of evil. When both N. Trance and N. Tropy are defeated, Uka Uka promises a real adversary in the near future.

Crash Twinsanity

In Crash Twinsanity, three years after the events of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, 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. 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. After briefly considering handing Cortex over to the Evil Twins, Uka Uka does not play a major role for the rest of the story, apart from being the Hit marker for Cortex and Nina.

Crash Tag Team Racing

While Uka Uka himself doesn't appear in Crash Tag Team Racing, a gate that resembles a mix between his old model and his new model can be seen in the Mystery Island section of the game.

Crash Boom Bang!

Uka Uka also appears as a purchaseable power-up in the party game Crash Boom Bang!

Crash of the Titans

In Crash of the Titans, Uka Uka teaches Dr. 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 Dr. 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. When Cortex fails to defeat Crash, Uka Uka becomes furious, and announces that he is replacing Dr. 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 senses Aku Aku's presence nearby. He decides to stay in the lab and kill Crash Bandicoot himself. Uka Uka confronts Crash as the penultimate boss by using Dr. Cortex's Evolvo-Ray on himself, giving him a gargantuan body made from the tree's wood. However, Crash destroys the Evolvo-Ray, defeating Uka Uka, who claims that he will have the last laugh (he also laughs after he said this to be sure), as Nina is about to launch the Doominator, threatening the existence of Wumpa Island. Uka Uka is absent from the Nintendo DS version.

Quotes

Main article: List of Uka Uka quotes

Flavor text

• Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex instruction booklet (page 17): "The evil twin mask of Aku Aku, Uka Uka is the controlling force behind Cortex’s obsession with conquering the world."

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Uka Uka.

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  Crash Bandicoot: Warped

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  Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy