A list of characters and tropes associated with the long-running
Crash Bandicoot series.
The Good Guys
Crash Bandicoot
"Whoa!"
A genetically advanced Eastern Barred Bandicoot and inhabitant of the Wumpa Islands. Once an ordinary bandicoot, he was snatched from the wild by Doctor Neo Cortex and subjected to the Evolvo-Ray as part of Cortex's plan to make Crash the general of his "Cortex Commandos", which would be used to dominate the world. However, he was later deemed unworthy of being in Cortex's army and was dismissed from Cortex's castle. As an act of revenge and to rescue a female bandicoot named Tawna, Crash traveled through the Wumpa Islands, defeating Cortex's henchmen along the way. He eventually stole Cortex's airship, defeated Doctor Cortex, and escaped alongside Tawna. Nowadays, he attempts to live a quiet life on the Wumpa Islands. However, his relaxation tends to be interrupted by another world domination plot by Doctor Neo Cortex, forcing Crash to once again defeat him in order to put his life back in order.
Tropes associated with Crash:
- American Kirby Is Hardcore: Crash was "cutened" up for the Japanese release. He even got a funky dance created by the Japanese that was carried back into the American versions. Some have speculated that this design change combined with Radical Entertainment's radical character redesigns that would make such things look awkward is what's making Radical's Crash games a no-go for the Japanese.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Though he somehow figures his way through Cortex's schemes rather competently, he often shows a poor attention to the problems at hand, shrugging off having his arch enemy inserted into his brain or accidentally deactivating his robot buddy.
- Big Brother Instinct: As dumb as he is, he visibly cares about his little sister, especially comes into play in later titles, threatening Coco's life is often one of few ways the villains can grab Crash's attention.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Even pre-Flanderization, Crash seems a little...unhinged in demeanor.
- Everything's Better with Spinning: His main form of offense.
- The Fool: Not the smartest guy around but somehow always comes out on top, granted depending on the gamer's competance, he takes a few lumps along the way though.
- Go Karting with Bowser: Crash has this going on with Doctor Neo Cortex from time to time.
- Good Is Dumb
- Goomba Stomp: Wherever spinning won't work, this usually will.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal
- Heroic Mime: Alternates between this and The Unintelligible.
- Heroic Sociopath: Displays a rather sadistic sense of humor at times, shown especially in Crash Tag Team Racing. Also a bit apathetic at times, though that may be due more to his stupidity and spaciness.
- Idiot Hero
- Iron Butt Monkey: So much the developers put special treatment in animating every possible manner he can lose a life in the game.
- Jack-of-All-Stats: In the racing games, he is this alongside Doctor Neo Cortex.
- Kindhearted Simpleton: Sometimes a bit more sociopathic than usual examples, though usually means well despite his cluelessness.
- Mascot with Attitude
- The Pollyanna: For all he's put up with, he's pretty happy-go-lucky.
- The Unintelligible: Alternates between this and the Heroic Mime.
Aku Aku
"Hoobiga!"
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. When he sensed Crash's mission to stop Doctor Cortex, he scattered copies of himself throughout the Wumpa Islands in an effort to aid him in his mission. 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. He didn't become a full-fledged character until
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, in which he had his first speaking role.
Tropes associated with Aku Aku:
Coco Bandicoot
"Crash? Crash! Crash, my battery's fried. Make yourself useful, big brother, and go get an extra battery for me."
The highly intelligent and spirited younger sister of Crash. Like Crash, Coco was also an ordinary bandicoot until she was taken from the jungle and genetically enhanced by Doctor Neo Cortex.
Tropes associated with Coco:
- Adrenaline Makeover: Compare her designs since Crash Nitro Kart to her designs in the Naughty Dog games.
- Bare Your Midriff: Starting with Crash Nitro Kart.
- Big Little Sister: Coco is often slightly taller and significantly more intelligent and sane than her "big brother" Crash (granted this depends on the creative team, in Mind Over Mutant for example she is shorter than Crash and almost as demented and childish as he is).
- Bratty Half-Pint: Especially in the Radical titles, more a Cheerful Child earlier on.
- Buffy Speak: Seems to gained a tendency for this in the Radical series...and stuff.
- Child Prodigy
- Distressed Damsel: Happens more and more in recent titles, the villains seem to be fond of using her as hostage bait for Crash.
- Genius Ditz: In later titles while still somewhat a techno whiz, she seems rather childish, melodramatic and less resourceful outside her talent, the point of some of her inventions such as a 'Butter Recycling' device can also be placed into question.
- Remember the New Guy: She was introduced as Crash's sister in Crash 2 with absolutely no explanation as to where she came from. The manual for The Wrath of Cortex would much later establish that she's one of Cortex's mutants, same as Crash, but even so we don't know how she escaped Cortex's control or where she was during the first game.
- Teen Genius
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Seems snarkier and more materialistic in later titles, the supposed nature-lover also seems less than compassionate about the state Cortex's machines are reducing Wumpa Island into.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Butter.
- Women Are Wiser: More prominent in earlier titles. She's more of a bratty Genius Ditz in later games, but still somewhat saner than Crash and Crunch.
Crunch Bandicoot
"Don't be a fool! Stay in milk!"
A genetically altered bandicoot who was originally created by Doctor Cortex to harness the power of the Elementals and destroy Crash Bandicoot. After his defeat to Crash, Crunch had a change of heart and now tries to be a positive role model to children.
Tropes associated with Crunch:
The Bad Guys
Doctor Neo Cortex
"Oh, how I hate bandicoots..."
A mad scientist who seeks to achieve world domination as an act of vengeance for the ridicule he has suffered in the past. Hoping to achieve this by mutating the local animals into his soldiers, he eventually creates Crash Bandicoot, the titular character of the series, but soon rejects him as unworthy of being in his army and removes 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.
Tropes associated with Doctor Neo Cortex:
- Amazing Technicolor Population: He has yellow skin, though in the earlier games his skin is more subtly yellowish than the Simpsonesque hue it would later take.
- Arch-Enemy
- Bald of Evil
- Beard of Evil
- Big Bad: Demoted To Dragon upon Uka Uka's arrival.
- Brought to You by the Letter "N"
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: In Twinsanity, he has no idea what the Evil Twins are talking about when they say he ruined their lives and justifies it by saying he's ruined the lives of so many he can't be expected to remember them all.
- Butt Monkey / Chew Toy: In Crash Twinsanity.
- Camp Straight: Albeit with some rather...suggestive quotes in later titles.
- Card-Carrying Villain: This aspect slowly becomes more obvious as the series progresses.
- Chaste Toons
- Circus Brat: According to at least one strategy guide, he was raised to a family of circus performers.
- The Comically Serious: Arguably his role in early games, became increasingly clownish as the series progressed however.
- Embarrassing Middle Name: Neo Cortex's middle name is "Periwinkle".
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones / Uncle Wolf: He genuinely cares for Nina, albeit in his own twisted way.
- Evil Sounds Deep
- Evilutionary Biologist: He's been attempting to create an army of super-animals since he was eight years old.
- Genius Ditz
- Jack-of-All-Stats: He is this alongside Crash in the racing games.
- Jerkass
- Large Ham: Even more so in the later games.
- Mad Scientist
- Manipulative Bastard: Manages to be this in the second game.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate
- My Brain Is Big
- The Napoleon: Implied to have been bullied for his short stature, even built a planetary minimizer to shrink the Earth so that its civilians could "look up to" him.
- Punny Name: His name is a reference to the external section of the brain.
- The Starscream=/=The Dog Bites Back: Spends several years under Uka Uka's abusive command, though following Mind Over Mutant, well, let's just say Uka Uka will never want to eat cake again.
- They Called Me Mad!: The catalyst of his quest for world domination.
Doctor N. Gin
"Enjoy your screaming doom!"
Doctor Neo Cortex's faithful right-hand man. As a child, N. Gin was a classmate of Neo Cortex and Nitrus Brio in Madame Amberly's Academy of Evil. N. Gin then went on to become a world-renowned physicist in the defense industry. However, due to a budget cut, one of his missile projects ended up faulty and, as a result, went awry, lodging itself into N. Gin's head. With his intellect, N. Gin was able to stabilize the weapon and reconstruct it as a life support system at the cost of his mental stability. Because the missile is still live, it activates whenever N. Gin is stressed or angry, leaving him with a large headache. Shortly after the missile incident, Doctor N. Gin was taken in by Doctor Neo Cortex to replace the double-crossed Doctor Nitrus Brio.
Tropes associated with Doctor N. Gin:
- Amazing Technicolor Population: In the Radical games, he has chalk white skin.
- Butt Monkey: Perhaps the most prominent after Cortex, though granted he does kind of enjoy most of it.
- Cloudcuckoolander: More and more so with each title it seems.
- Doomy Dooms of Doom: "Doom" happens to be one of N. Gin's top favorite words.
- The Dragon
- He-Man Woman Hater: At one point in Crash of the Titans he expresses a disgust of women in general. One of his lines in the next game, however, implies he is a Stalker with a Crush to Coco.
- Humongous Mecha: He's rather fond of creating and piloting these... until his Radical incarnation, anyway.
- Evil Redhead: Originally. The Radical version (pictured here) depicts him with black hair instead.
- Genius Ditz
- The Igor
- Large Ham
- Mad Scientist
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate
- Punny Name: His name N. Gin, easily sounds like engine.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The fact that his voice is a Peter Lorre impersonation becomes more obvious as the series goes on.
- No Indoor Voice: N. Gin is prone to very frequent fits of yelling in the Radical Entertainment games.
- No Name Given: It has never been revealed what his first name is.
- The Renfield: Usually loyal to Dr Cortex (though see The Starscream below). Even assisted Crash in thwarting Nina in hope that he would rescue his former master.
- Split Personality: Titans indicates he has one in one scene, with one side wanting to support Cortex and the other Nina.
- The Starscream: Despite his Undying Loyalty, he does turn on Cortex and side with Brio and N. Tropy in Twinsanity and briefly goes along with Nina's takeover in Crash of the Titans as well.
- Subordinate Excuse: In later games his relationship with Dr Cortex leans into this, even referring to him as his friend at one point.
- Too Kinky to Torture: N. Gin has been known to outright thank people who inflict physical pain upon him, particularly Doctor Cortex.
Tiny Tiger
"Stop! No more, please! You're just too stupendous and fantabulous! Honestly, you are just awesome."
A hulking mutant henchman. Originally a cohort for Dr Nitrus Brio he is reverted to Cortex's most faithful henchman in
Warped.
Tropes associated with Tiny Tiger:
Uka Uka
"I will kill Crash Bandicoot. Kill him... forever..."
Doctor Cortex's overseer and the evil younger twin brother of Aku Aku. Long ago, he was sealed away in an underground prison by Aku Aku due to his incredibly malicious nature. However, this prison would be destroyed many centuries later by the wreck of Cortex's space station, setting him free and allowing him to carry out his plot for world domination.
Tropes associated with Uka Uka:
- Bad Boss: Oh, so much. In the later games, this is arguably Uka Uka's defining characteristic.
- Big Bad
- Cain and Abel: Cain to Aku Aku's Abel.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Became this starting with Crash Bash.
- Evil Sounds Deep
- Evil Twin
- Expressive Mask: Bonus points in that he is a mask. Though that factor kinda decreases with his Radical Entertainment redesign as he lacks a lower jaw in those games.
- God of Evil: Pretty godly in terms of his power. And certainly evil.
- Knight of Cerebus: Definitely in Warped and Crash Bash, but he was toned down considerably in later games.
- No Indoor Voice: Clancy Brown gave Uka a progressively loud, perpetually yelling voice. John De Maggio toned this down with a more calmer depiction though still has tendencies of this.
- Large Ham
- The Man Behind the Man
- Sdrawkcab Name: His name is the name of his older twin brother Aku Aku reversed.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: He was locked away in an underground prison by Aku Aku many eons ago until the prison was destroyed by Cortex's destroyed space station at the beginning of the third game.
- The Unfought: He didn't get an actual boss fight until Twinsanity and Crash of the Titans, despite being one of the main villains before then.
- You Have Failed Me: He threatens to punish Cortex for his failures all the time, though only twice did he actually go through with it: At the end of The Wrath of Cortex he tries to kill him and in Crash of the Titans he fires him and replaces him with Nina.
Dingodile
"Bring out the butter. I'm gonna make toast!"
Tropes associated with Dingodile:
Doctor Nitrus Brio
"This isn't the end! I invented endings! Why don't people take me seriously?"
Tropes associated with Doctor Nitrus Brio:
- The Dragon: To Cortex in the first game, only to betray him in Cortex Strikes Back and rekindle in Mind Over Mutant. He was also N. Tropy's dragon in Twinsanity.
- Heel Face Turn: He betrays Cortex and assists Crash in the second game, but turns evil again in time for Crash Bash, Twinsanity and Mind Over Mutant.
- Large Ham: Especially in Mind Over Mutant.
Brio: Strike him with your large man-hand!
- Mad Scientist
- Psycho Serum: Which he uses to transform during Crash's battle with him in the first game.
- Punny Name: His abbreviated name is a pun on the word "Embryo". He hangs a lampshade on it in Mind Over Mutant.
N. Brio: Yes, it is I, N. Brio! My name sounds like a fetus.
- Speech Impediment: Brio had a pretty bad stutter in the first game and in Cortex Strikes Back, but it is gone by the time of Mind Over Mutant, in fitting with his newly-gained confident personality.
- Took a Level in Badass: He is a lot more assertive and confident in Mind Over Mutant than in the previous games, where he was very meek and submissive. However, his annoyance over Cortex wrongly taking the credit for the creation of the Evolvo-Ray has lead to Brio making claims that he inventeted pretty much everything that exists.
- The Voiceless: In Twinsanity, N. Tropy does all the talking.
Doctor Nefarious Tropy
"Now you're on my time, you little skunk! Give me the Crystals!" A henchman of Uka Uka and the self-proclaimed master of time.
Tropes associated with Doctor Nefarious Tropy:
Nina Cortex
"Have you come to deliver me from boredom?" The niece of Doctor Neo Cortex. She sometimes aids her uncle in his quest for world domination, though they have had a recent falling-out due to a failed plot headed by her and Cortex's boss Uka Uka.
Hinted in one line in Twinsanity to actually be Cortex's daughter, but nothing's come of it since then.Tropes associated with Nina Cortex:
And the Rest
Polar
A young polar bear who is an occasional ally of Crash.
Tropes associated with Polar:
Ripper Roo
A kangaroo who was mutated by Doctor Neo Cortex and now has a demented personality and distinctive laughter.
Tropes associated with Ripper Roo:
Pura
A tiger cub who is an occasional ally of Coco.
Tropes associated with Pura:
Nitros Oxide
"Survival of the fastest!" An extraterrestrial who claims to be the fastest racer in the galaxy. He is best known as the
Big Bad of
Crash Team Racing, though he has had other appearances in the series.
Tropes associated with Nitros Oxide:
Papu Papu
The obese chief of the native tribe of N. Sanity Island. He is neither on Crash's nor Cortex's side, but will capture and/or eat anything that steps into his territory.
Tropes associated with Papu Papu:
Pinstripe Potoroo
A mutated potoroo who wears a red pinstripe suit and wields a fully-loaded Tommy gun.
Tropes associated with Pinstripe:
Tawna
Crash's love interest in the first game.
Tropes associated with Tawna:
Koala Kong
A mutated koala who tosses around boulders using his superhuman strength.
Tropes associated with Koala Kong:
Fake Crash
A clone of Crash Bandicoot with thick eyebrows and an overbite.
Tropes associated with Fake Crash:
Komodo Brothers
Two mutated Komodo Dragons, named Joe and Moe, who have served as boss characters in the series.
Tropes associated with the Komodo Brothers:
Evil Crash
An evil and ferocious version of Crash Bandicoot from the Tenth Dimension who appears in
Crash Twinsanity (and in
Crash Tag Team Racing as an extra skin).
Tropes associated with Evil Crash:
The Elementals
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. Consists of Rok-Ko the Earth Elemental, Wa-Wa the Water Elemental, Py-Ro the Fire Elemental and Lo-Lo the Air Elemental.
Tropes associated with the Elementals:
The Evil Twins
"Cower, you fools, before the awesome might of... the Evil Twins." A duo of highly intelligent twin parrots who act as the main antagonists of
Crash Twinsanity.
Their real names are Victor and Moritz, and were formely the pet parrots of Doctor Neo Cortex, whose experimental Evolvo-Ray sent them to the Tenth Dimension and mutated them into the villains they would become. They are eaten by Evil Crash at the end of the game.Tropes associated with the Evil Twins:
Madame Amberley
"You... are in detention!" The headmaster of the Academy of Evil and former teacher of Neo and Nina Cortex, N. Gin and Nitrus Brio.
Tropes associated with Madame Amberley:
N. Trance
An egg-like being from the Fifth Dimension and the self-proclaimed master of hypnotism.
Tropes associated with N. Trance:
- Brainwashed and Crazy: N. Trance's modus operandi is doing this to his foes.
- Cephalothorax
- What Could Have Been: N. Trance was originally meant to have a small role in Crash Twinsanity (and eventually get roasted by Spyro alongside N. Tropy, N. Brio and N. Gin), but he didn't end up making it in. This may be for the best, since N. Trance appearing in the game would have caused a pretty bad Series Continuity Error, seeing as how Twinsanity continues where The Wrath of Cortex left off.
Rilla Roo
A hybrid of a gorilla and a kangaroo who only appeared as a playable character in
Crash Bash.
Tropes associated with Rilla Roo:
Emperor Velo XXVII
The extraterrestrial emperor of an unnamed empire who only appears in
Crash Nitro Kart. He is confident and dominating to the point of being a bully and showing contempt for his lessors, and kidnaps the best racers on Earth (namely Crash, Cortex and the rest of the cast) to prove his own skill in racing.
Upon his defeat to the Earth racers, Velo literally explodes with anger, revealing a pouty, impetuous and childish gremlin not much different from his subjects.
Tropes associated with Velo:
Krunk
The racing champion of the planet Terra who appears in
Crash Nitro Kart. He challenges Earth's racers on the grounds that Earth is a copy of his Terra.
When he loses to Crash's team, he confesses that Terra is actually a copy of Earth.
Tropes associated with Krunk:
Nash
The racing champion of the planet Barin who appears in
Crash Nitro Kart. He is a cybernetic shark engineered to always move, never stopping to even sleep.
He is finally put to sleep when Coco hacks into his helmet.
Tropes associated with Nash:
Norm
The racing champion of the planet Fenomena who appears in
Crash Nitro Kart. He is a book-loving mime who can split into his normal self and a larger, more obnoxious version of himself to race.
Tropes associated with Norm:
Geary
The racing champion of the planet Teknee who appears in
Crash Nitro Kart. He is a robot who is as much obsessed with winning as he is with cleaning, causing him to switch between personalities from time to time.
Tropes associated with Geary:
Zem
A large, vulgar creature who races alongside Nitros Oxide in
Crash Nitro Kart.
Tropes associated with Zem:
Zam
Zem's pet dog-like creature who also races alongside Nitros Oxide.
Tropes associated with Zam:
Ebenezer Von Clutch
A deranged German cyborg who owns the amusement park "Von Clutch's
Motor World". He has only appeared in
Crash Tag Team Racing, in which he begs for Crash and the others to find the Power Gems that keep his park up and running and his own Black Power Gem, his life source.
Tropes associated with Von Clutch:
Pasadena O'Possum
A Texan-accented racing champion and devoted subordinate of Von Clutch. She has only appeared in
Crash Tag Team Racing, and shows a clear infatuation for Crash, something that Crash himself is... less than enthusiastic about.
Tropes associated with Pasadena:
Willie Wumpa Cheeks
The mascot and producer of Wumpa Whip in Von Clutch's
Motor World. He only appears in
Crash Tag Team Racing.
He is later revealed to be the thief of Von Clutch's Power Gems (though he gives no motive as to why he did it) and is soon liquefied by Doctor Neo Cortex.
Tropes associated with Willie:
- Rhymes on a Dime: Willie is quite fond of reciting limericks relating to the current situation.
Chick and Stew
A pair of veteran sportscasters who serve as the tutors of
Crash Tag Team Racing.
Tropes associated with Chick and Stew:
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Chick's voice is clearly channeling Howard Cosell, while Stew's voice has been compared to Charles Barkley and George Foreman.
