List of Crash Bandicoot characters

Crash Bandicoot is the title character and main protagonist of the Crash Bandicoot series. Crash is a mutant eastern barred bandicoot who was genetically enhanced by the series' main antagonist Doctor Neo Cortex and soon escaped from Cortex's castle after a failed experiment in the "Cortex Vortex". Throughout the series, Crash acts as the opposition against Cortex and his schemes for world domination. While Crash has a number of offensive maneuvers at his disposal, his most distinctive technique is one in which he spins like a tornado at high speeds and knocks away almost anything that he strikes.

Doctor Neo Cortex is the main antagonist of the Crash Bandicoot series and the archenemy of the titular character. Cortex is a mad scientist who seeks to achieve world domination as an act of vengeance for the ridicule he has suffered in the past. To achieve this goal, Cortex mutated a collection of animals into his soldiers. He eventually created Crash Bandicoot, but rejected him as unworthy of being in his army and removed him from his castle. As Cortex's actions endanger the sanctity of the islands the games are set in, Cortex's plans for world domination are often hampered by Crash along with other characters. Crash's constant interference has made eliminating Crash one of Cortex's top priorities along with world domination.

Aku Aku is the guardian of the Wumpa Islands and the father figure of Crash 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 was voiced by David Siller in the first and second games, Mel Winkler from Crash Bandicoot: Warped to Crash Twinsanity, and Greg Eagles from Crash of the Titans onwards.

Aku Aku was named after a Polynesian restaurant near the Alewife station that featured giant tiki statues out front.[3] A reviewer for Game Revolution compared the mechanics of the Aku Aku masks to the shields of the Sonic the Hedgehog series.[4] 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."[5] 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."[6]

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.[7] Contrasting Crash, however, Coco was made highly intelligent,[7][8][9][10][11][12] and her intelligence quotient is said to be as much as 164.[13] 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, unafraid of making mistakes.[7] She is a fan of martial arts films,[7] wrestling[14] and NASCAR.[15] She is also shown to be a skilled scooter rider, using this talent to outrace a Japanese tsunami on one occasion.[7] Coco was designed by Charles Zembillas and Naughty Dog as a counterbalance to Tawna (Crash's girlfriend in the first game) that would appease Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, who were not 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.[16] She is voiced by Vicki Winters in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back,[17] Hynden Walch in Crash Team Racing,[18] Debi Derryberry from Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex to Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled,[19][20][21][22][23] Tara Strong in the third season of Skylanders Academy, and Eden Riegel in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.[24]

Coco has been featured in two series of Crash Bandicoot action figures produced by 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.[25] 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."[26] 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."[27] Matt Keller of PALGN felt that her voice in Crash of the Titans was "annoying".[28]

Doctor N. Gin is the ill-tempered right-hand man of Doctor Neo Cortex, replacing Doctor Nitrus Brio after Crash Bandicoot.[29] A former defense industry physicist, a nuclear missile lodged itself into his head during a failed experiment. N. Gin was able to retool the missile into a life support system, though the missile tends to go off during fits of anger. N. Gin often appears as a boss character, usually battling Crash and his friends with large mechas. N. Gin is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in the Naughty Dog games, by Corey Burton in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time,[30] by Quinton Flynn in Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity, and by Nolan North in the Radical Entertainment games. He had a similar voice of Ren Hoëk.

Uka Uka is the evil younger twin brother of Aku Aku and the supervisor of Cortex's plots for world domination. He was sealed in an underground prison by Aku Aku many years ago, but was freed in Crash Bandicoot: Warped when the ruins of Cortex's space station plummeted to Earth and destroyed his prison. He was voiced by Clancy Brown from 1998 to 2003, by Alex Fernandez in Crash Twinsanity and Skylanders: Imaginators, and by John DiMaggio in Crash of the Titans, Crash: Mind over Mutant, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.

Tiny Tiger is a hulking and brutish thylacine subordinate of Doctor Neo Cortex who often appears as a boss or a playable character. He is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in the PlayStation games, by John DiMaggio in Crash Nitro Kart, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, by Chris Williams in the Radical Entertainment games, and by Nolan North in the Nintendo DS version of Crash of the Titans.

Dingodile is a former subordinate of Doctor Neo Cortex who is a mutated hybrid of a dingo and crocodile. He has often appeared as a boss or playable character in the series. In Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, Dingodile has retired from Cortex's service in favor of operating a diner. Dingodile is voiced by William Hootkins in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, by David Anthony Pizzuto in Crash Team Racing, by Dwight Schultz in Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity, by Nolan North in the Nintendo DS version of Crash of the Titans, and by Fred Tatasciore from Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy onwards.[30]

Dingodile was conceptualized by Naughty Dog employee Joe Labbe, who requested a character that was a cross between a dingo and a crocodile.[31] Charles Zembillas drew the first sketches of Dingodile on February 4, 1998.[32] At certain points, the character alternatively wore an Australian-style hat, had a "mop of scruffy hair" and walked on all fours.[33] 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.[34]

Crunch Bandicoot is a genetically altered bandicoot created by Doctor Cortex to destroy Crash Bandicoot. After his defeat, Crunch had a change of heart and joined Crash's family. He is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex and Crash Nitro Kart, Chris Williams in the Radical Entertainment games, and Ike Amadi in Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled.

Doctor Nitrus Brio is a treacherous subordinate of Doctor Neo Cortex who created the Evolvo-Ray. He often appears as a boss character who uses chemical concoctions as a weapon and to increase his own power. Brio is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in the Naughty Dog games and Crash Bash; Maurice LaMarche in Crash: Mind over Mutant and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy; Tom Kenny in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled; and Roger Craig Smith in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.[35] 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".[36]

Doctor Nefarious Tropy is a pompous scientist who specializes in time travel and fights using a giant tuning fork. Tropy is voiced by Michael Ensign in the Naughty Dog games, Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity, Corey Burton in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, and JP Karliak in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time,[37] with his female counterpart voiced by Sarah Tancer in It's About Time. Tropy was created by Naughty Dog as a time-traveling boss that would fit in a time-traveling plot.[31] 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.[38] 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.[39] 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;[40] Zembillas assumed that the details could be created as a texture in Adobe Photoshop and placed over the modeled character's polygon structure.[41] Furthermore, the pistons on the back of the machine were connected to each other through joint-like bearings.[40] These details were ultimately omitted for being too complex for the original PlayStation console to handle.[41] The exhaust pipes and pistons were retained due to their reflection of Tropy's unhealthy obsession with time.[31]

Nina Cortex is the gothic niece of Doctor Neo Cortex who sometimes aids him in his quest for world domination. She is voiced by Susan Silo in Crash Twinsanity, Amy Gross in the Radical Entertainment games, and Debi Derryberry in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled and the DS version of Crash of the Titans. Nina Cortex was originally created and designed by Duke Mighten for Traveller's Tales as a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart before development duties of the game were transferred to Vicarious Visions.[42] 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.[43]

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."[44] 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.[45]

Ripper Roo is a crazed kangaroo who was one of Cortex's first experiments with the Evolvo-Ray and Cortex Vortex. Following his initial transformation, Cortex impatiently subjected the dazed and unresponsive Ripper Roo to the Cortex Vortex and switched it to overload for 24 hours, resulting in Ripper Roo's chaotic mental state. Ripper Roo is perpetually bound in a straitjacket and is armed with razor sharp toenails. He is in a constant state of agitated motion, is unpredictable in his behavior and is prone to fits of maniacal chortling.[46] Ripper Roo appears as a boss character in Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Team Racing,[47][48][49] and as an obstacle in the "El Pogo Loco" level of Crash Bash.[50] Ripper Roo's laughter in the original PlayStation titles is a sample of a hyena (voiced by Dallas McKennon) from the 1955 film Lady and the Tramp.[3] He is voiced by Jess Harnell in the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and by Andrew Morgado in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.[51][52]

Papu Papu is the obese and short-tempered chief of the native tribe of N. Sanity Island. He appears as a boss character in Crash Bandicoot, Crash Team Racing and Crash Bash.[53][54][55] In Crash Twinsanity, he captures Cortex after he stumbles into his village, and orders Crash's capture after Crash rescues Cortex. Papu Papu is voiced by producer David Siller in Crash Bandicoot, by David Anthony Pizzuto in Crash Team Racing and by Dwight Schultz from Crash Twinsanity onwards.

Tawna Bandicoot is Crash's girlfriend. 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".[56] An alternate version of Tawna is a playable character in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. She is originally from a dimension known as the “Tawnaverse”, where she is the protagonist of her home universe instead of Crash.[57] She is voiced by Akiko Toda in Crash Boom Bang!, Debi Derryberry in the N. Sane Trilogy, Misty Lee in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled and Ursula Taherian in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.[30]

Nitros Oxide is the main antagonist of Crash Team Racing. He is an extraterrestrial from the planet Gasmoxia who claims to be the fastest driver in the galaxy, and challenges Crash and his friends to race him under the threat of the Earth being turned into a concrete parking lot and its inhabitants enslaved. He also appears as a boss character in Crash Bash and as a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart. He is voiced by David Anthony Pizzuto in Crash Team Racing, by Quinton Flynn in Crash Nitro Kart, and by Corey Burton from Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled onwards.

The Komodo Brothers, Joe and Moe, are a pair of mutated scimitar-wielding Komodo dragons who appear as boss characters in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bash; Joe appears alone as a boss character in Crash Team Racing. Joe is lean and smart while Moe is large and strong. Joe is voiced by David Anthony Pizzuto in Crash Team Racing. Moe is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bash. Both brothers are voiced by Fred Tatasciore in the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.

Pinstripe Potoroo is a potoroo clad in a red pinstripe suit and often armed with a tommy gun. He appears as a boss character in Crash Bandicoot and Crash Team Racing and as a playable character in Crash Boom Bang!. Pinstripe is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in Crash Bandicoot and Crash Team Racing, by Jess Harnell in the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, and by Robbie Daymond in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.[58]

Koala Kong is a koala who was Cortex's second experiment with the Evolvo-Ray, which granted him superhuman strength. As Cortex was reluctant to subject Kong to the Cortex Vortex following his failure with Ripper Roo, he allowed Kong's brain to develop at its own pace. Kong then acquired a fixation with the Rocky film series and adopted Rocky Balboa's persona, namely via a New York accent, addressing everyone he speaks to as "Adrianna", and a determination that makes him a durable foe.[59] Koala Kong appears as a boss character in Crash Bandicoot and as a playable character in Crash Bash and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.[60][61] He is voiced by Fred Tatasciore in the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Nitro-Fueled.[51]

The Elementals − consisting of Rok-Ko, Wa-Wa, Py-Ro and Lo-Lo − 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 are sealed away once more by Crash's efforts. Rok-Ko, Wa-Wa, Py-Ro and Lo-Lo are respectively voiced by Thomas F. Wilson, R. Lee Ermey, Mark Hamill and Jess Harnell.

The Evil Twins, Victor and Moritz, are the main antagonists of Crash Twinsanity. Originally Cortex's pet parrots, they were transported to the Tenth Dimension during Cortex's first experiment with the Evolvo-Ray and mutated by the environment's "reverso-radiation". Years later, they attempt to exact revenge on Cortex and destroy the Wumpa Islands, but are defeated by Crash, Cortex and Nina, and they are eaten by an evil version of Crash. Both twins are voiced by Quinton Flynn.

The Quantum Masks − consisting of Lani-Loli, Akano, Kupuna-Wa and Ika-Ika − are a group of extra-dimensional masks who appear in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time and can give Crash and Coco a unique power. Lani-Loli is a worrisome, panic-prone mask who can phase objects in and out of existence. Akano is a stoic and terse mask who can grant Crash and Coco a powerful "Dark Matter Spin" that allows them to glide. Kupuna-Wa is an omniscient mask with an elderly woman's personality who can temporarily slow the flow of time. Ika-Ika is a two-faced mask with separate personalities − one a mild-mannered old man and the other a self-deprecating and negative young man − who can reverse gravity. Lani-Loli is voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz; Kupuna-Wa is voiced by Cherise Boothe; Akano is voiced by Fred Tatasciore and Ika-Ika's old and young halves are respectively voiced by Tatasciore and Zeno Robinson.[62]