Crash Bandicoot, or simply Crash, is the titular character and the main protagonist of the series of the same name. He is an Eastern barred bandicoot living in N. Sanity Island, who was captured and evolved by Dr. Neo Cortex. Throughout his adventures, Cortex is Crash's usual arch-enemy and is always defeated by Crash in order to keep peace on the island. Crash is often accompanied by his ally, Aku Aku, his younger sister, Coco Bandicoot, and their adopted brother, Crunch Bandicoot.
Conception and creation[]
Concept art of Willie the Wombat or Wuzzy Wombat, who would later become Crash Bandicoot.
Crash was created by Naughty Dog intentionally as a character unique to the current design of the 3-D genre, being able to portray multiple emotions merely by facial expression, (a feature rare then due to basic technology in games). The choice of an obscure, commonly unknown animal was commonplace in the platforming industry at the time. Crash's final design (created by cartoonist and Spyro the Dragon designer Charles Zembillas) seems to be largely based on traditional Western animation, progressing as time does.
Physical Appearance[]
Crash generally appears as an orange humanoid-bandicoot with a black nose, thick eyebrows, green eyes and reddish-brown hair on his head, styled into a typical mohawk. Crash's main attire consists of a pair of brown fingerless gloves which he wears in most of his appearances, blue denim jeans that he wears over pink or white boxers (depending on the game) with red hearts on them, and a pair of red Chuck Taylor All-stars Converses. Crash can also don other attires when needed, such as scuba diving gear, a biker's jacket, and numerous others.
In the game Crash Twinsanity, Crash's hair is more brown while the color of his shoes have also changed to gray. He has also gained metal plates on the knees of his pants and wears a belt.
In Crash Tag Team Racing Crash regains his reddish-brown hair and red shoes, although his head is now significantly smaller and his shoulders are more prominent.
Crash gets a major redesign Crash of the Titans that gives him a more feral appearance. His hair is browner again and longer, running a bit further down his back. His orange fur looks jagged and unkept as portions of it stick out around his face and on his elbows (although they appear to be trimmed back in Crash: Mind Over Mutant). He also loses his fingerless gloves to reveal black tribal watermarked tattoos on his hands.
Crash's appearance changes again in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time as it reverts to resemble his original design more, albeit with alterations. He now seemingly has larger ears and a longer snout while his nose is now colored dark brown. His iconic grin also appears to be not as long as before.
Personality[]
Crash's personality is hard to pinpoint, sometimes varying from game to game. Throughout the series, he has always been shown to be willing to help and is very attentive to others. But overall, he has a rather wacky, goofy, loving and cartoonish personality. In simple terms, he is a tornado. His demented behavior was, in fact, extended to actual sadism/masochism in Crash Tag Team Racing, in which he took pleasure in torturing innocent animals, park drones, and even himself (it should be noted that the game is criticized for its over-caricaturisation or even complete change in character personalities). Despite this however, Crash is usually kindhearted, altruistic, humble and laid back. He is not known for his anger; even towards his greatest enemies he rarely maintains a great deal of contempt or grudge. Threatening his little sister seems to be among very few ways of setting off his aggression.
He also has a rather large appetite, and is, therefore, very protective of his Wumpa Fruit. Crash is a very emotional character who is quick to laugh and quick to cry. While he has a danger-loving, fearless nature and loves a good fight, he prefers relaxing in the sun and rarely seeks out trouble deliberately. To the ire of Crunch and the amusement of Coco, in the Radical games, Crash is prone to impolite personal habits such as belching or scratching his posterior. Crash is also easily distracted, as seen in Twinsanity when he fails to catch Cortex during a trust exercise. He is also fairly oblivious to his surroundings, but this could be because of his illiteracy or his failed brainwashing by Cortex Vortex.
Crash seems to be somewhat impulsive, as demonstrated in Crash Tag Team Racing's Die-o-Ramas. In one of them, Crash spins a tree making it fall and crush him, in another he stands on railings with moving gears behind him and ends up falling on them, etc. Crash's intelligence level is something of a question, since he is illiterate and Aku even made a comment that brain damage was "not much of a danger to Crash". However, this may have been a tease, especially since he is shown to be smart enough to prevent Cortex's attempts at ditching him in Twinsanity and has been able to outsmart various bosses far more powerful than himself in the past, like Tiny or N. Tropy, or drive several vehicles, like jeeps, motorcycles, cars and planes, and manipulate some machines, robots and titans Things he does that seem dumb could best be attributed to his obviously impulsive nature. His muteness never seems to cause him trouble, since Aku Aku and Coco can understand him anyway. His sense of right and wrong is also intact, as he helps out those in need.
Things he does that seem dumb could best be attributed to his obvious immaturity and impulsive nature. His illiteracy is probably just because he sees no reason to speak English, especially since Aku can understand him anyway. His sense of right and wrong is also intact since he frequently helps out those in need, and though Cortex has tried to destroy him numerous times, Crash did not object to teaming up with him.
Crash isn´t talkative, being a mute character in very moments, but he can make some sounds, grunts, babbles, screams and moans, like "Whoa!", "Uh-oh" and "Boo-yah". In Crash Of the Titans, Crash is a very limited vocubulary, preferring to speak in unintelligible gibberish; and can say words like Nina, Pancakes, and Wumpa. In the 100% Ending of Crash Bandicoot 4 It´s About Time, he narrates the epilogue. And in some comercials and the Skylanders show he talks normally.
Abilities[]
Crash's most common ability is his tornado spin, upon which he twirls insanely to hit a nearby opponent, similar to the tornado spin of the Looney Tunes' Taz. The power of this attack varies in different games, to the point he can spin constantly or even float on air when using it. He can also spin objects, living or not, to gain a better hit radius. Like other platformers, he can also jump on opponents as well as slide and body slam. A large amount of special abilities can be obtained in various titles. Crash can also ride a whole range of vehicles, such as motorcycles, bi-planes, wave-boards, 4X4 jeeps, karts and a whole range of other cars. In a common tradition to the platform genre, he can also be seen riding a minecart at times.
History[]
Early Life[]
Before Crash was snatched out of the wild in Wumpa Archipelago, Tasmania, Australia, he was a normal bandicoot. He lived with his sister Coco Bandicoot.
Crash Bandicoot[]
Crash is snatched out of the wild by Dr. Neo Cortex and mutated by the Evolvo-Ray. After that Cortex trained him for 9 months, and the tranining was sucessfull. Cortex planned to make Crash the general of his 'Cortex Commandos' for world domination. However, his attempt to brainwash the marsupial with the Cortex Vortex failed, and Crash escaped from his castle. When Tawna, a bandicoot whom Crash grew romantically attached to during imprisonment in Cortex's castle, was selected instead of him, Crash made it his duty to save her.
After traveling throughout the Wumpa Islands and defeating Cortex's minions, Crash confronted and defeated Cortex himself. After that, he and the rescued Tawna flew away on Cortex's airship.
Between Crash Bandicoot and Cortex Strikes Back[]
During the year taking place between the two games, Crash and Tawna lost touch for some reason (according to the Japanese manual, she left the bandicoot for Pinstripe Potoroo). The bandicoot also reunited with his sister, who escaped from Neo Cortex.
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back[]
Crash is asked by Coco to bring an extra battery for her, since her old one got fried. However, Crash is summoned by Cortex to collect Crystals in order to "save" the world. In reality, Cortex plans to use Crash to collect the Crystals in order to enslave everyone on the planet. N. Brio, however, having seemingly turned a new leaf after being replaced by N. Gin as Cortex's assistant, informs Crash that he needs to collect the Gems in order for him to destroy the Cortex Vortex and foil Cortex's plans. After collecting all 25 Crystals, Cortex congratulates Crash, however Coco interrupts the call and informs Crash of Cortex's true intentions. Crash defeats Cortex and sends him flying in space, however the Cortex Vortex remains undestroyed.
If Crash has collected all of the Gems, a scene plays out where a laser cannon absorbs the Gems, and N. Brio fires his laser cannon and destroys the Cortex Vortex for good. The remains of the space station then fall on Earth.
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped[]
Uka Uka is awakened when the remains of the Cortex Vortex crash into his prison. Aku Aku senses his evil twin brother's awakening, and expresses panic about it. Aku Aku, Crash, Coco, and Polar quickly enter the house, and Aku Aku tells them that Uka Uka has awoken and that long ago he locked in a prison, and that he must be stopped. He then takes Crash and Coco to The Time Twister and tells them that they must retrieve the Crystals before Cortex and Uka Uka do. After collecting all of the Crystals, Crash and Coco defeat Cortex and Uka Uka, however, Uka Uka proclaims that there are still the gems, and that he and Cortex still have a chance to triumph.
After collecting all of the Gems, Crash and Coco defeat Cortex and Uka Uka a second time, and send them alongside N. Tropy on a volcanic planet in the distant past. Aku Aku explains that the Time Twister machine could no longer hold itself together, and the heroes were lucky to escape.
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex[]
After Cortex calls a group of destructive masks called The Elementals for help and creates a bandicoot called Crunch, Crash and Coco are told by Aku Aku to go ahead and collect the Crystals before they do. During their adventure, they face Crunch multiple times, and they collect the Crystals. They then engage Cortex in his space station, and defeat him. This frees Crunch from Cortex's control, and they accept him as a member of their family.
Crash Twinsanity[]
Crash and Cortex try to save the world from being destroyed by the Evil Twins. After they are defeated, Cortex attempts to trap Crash in another dimension to never see him again, but his device malfunctions and sends the doctor into the bandicoot's brain, who just shrugs it off.
Crash of the Titans[]
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Crash: Mind Over Mutant[]
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Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time[]
In an alternate timeline, Cortex, Uka Uka, and N.Tropy escape from their time prison they were trapped in at the end of Warped by ripping a hole in the space-time continuum, causing a series of anomalies and other dimensional rifts to be opened in the multiverse. Aku Aku sends Crash to investigate, soon running into Lani-Loni who happens to be one of the four Quantum Masks tasked with keeping the fabric of reality from breaking apart. Lani-Loli enlists Crash and Coco's help to find the other 3 Quantum Masks by traveling through the multiverse. During their travels Crash runs into an alternate dimension version of Tawna who agrees to help solve the multiverse crisis but opts to travel by herself.
Crash and Coco eventually encounter and defeat Cortex yet again, when they do Cortex has a breakdown and pleads to end his rivalry with Crash only for N.Tropy to reveal that he has found a new partner in-crime, a female version of N.Tropy from a different dimension, and now the two N.Tropies plan to destroy the multiverse and recreate it with themselves as the ultimate rulers. Cortex decides to join Crash and Coco feeling that "becoming a good guy" was better than losing to Crash over and over.
With Cortex's help the trio find the last of the Quantum Masks and reunite with Tawna as well as Dingodile who had also gotten involved in the multiverse crisis after retiring from villainy. The five all agree to work together to defeat N.Tropy and shut down his Rift Generator allowing the Quantum Masks to fix the multiverse closing all the dimensional rifts. The Quantum Masks offer to take everyone to the Sn@xx Dimension to celebrate their victory, but their celebration is cut short when Cortex betrays Crash and steals Kupuna-Wa the Quantum Mask of time. Cortex intended to travel back to 1996 and prevent his past self from creating Crash which would undo all of Cortex's past failures. Crash and Coco narrowly manage to chase Cortex to the Wumpa Islands in 1996.
When Cortex fails to convince his past self to stop the creation of Crash, Cortex steals all the Quantum Masks and uses them against Crash in a last ditch attempt to kill him, but Crash ultimately defeats Cortex yet again. With Cortex knocked unconscious after his defeat Crash then witnesses the past Cortex conduct the experiment on Past Crash, during which Present Crash accidentally knocks over the Vortex's power source, causing it to malfunction, meaning Crash was indirectly responsible for his own creation.
The Quantum Masks punish Cortex for kidnapping them and trying to change history by banishing him to a distant dimension, followed by Crash celebrating his latest victory before returning to N. Sanity Island.
Relationships[]
Aku Aku[]
Since the very beginning of the series, Aku Aku has been by Crash's side as his protector, voice of reason and wisdom and father figure. Aku Aku is usually the only ally who joins Crash on pretty much every adventure he goes on with one exception. Aku Aku is capable of understanding Crash and talking for him.
Dr. Neo Cortex[]
Cortex is Crash's creator and archenemy, who constantly tries to destroy him, claiming his creation was a mistake with his existence being a constant reminder. As a result of Cortex constantly trying to take over the world or cause massive chaos, Crash usually has to and always does defeat him. However, due to his gullible nature and quickness to forgive others, Crash can easily be tricked by the doctor from time to time.
Though they are enemies, Crash was happy to work with him to defeat N. Tropy, or any other evil threat.
Coco Bandicoot[]
Crash and Coco share a typical brother/sister relationship, strengthened by their opposite personalities. In
Crash and Coco in Cortex Strikes Back
the earlier games, she ordered him around and used him as a delivery boy, like when she wanted him to get her a new battery for her laptop because the old one had run out in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. However, this ended as Coco's personality changed and she tries to make Crash's life more sophisticated. They always help each other whenever Coco joined in on the adventure.
As proven in Crash of the Titans, Crash is very protective of Coco. Despite his usual apathy towards Cortex and Uka Uka's threats, he is left angered and horrified when they kidnap her and Uka Uka threatens her by saying that Nina will not need her anymore.
From Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy onwards, Crash and Coco have a stronger sibling relationship than ever before. Coco has more of a goofball and cheerful personality that parallels with Crash. When Crash does something silly, she will often laugh and has her own take on his signature dance. In Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, she even encourages Crash to dance with her. In Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, Crash and Coco are more of an action duo and Coco remains at Crash's side through the whole adventure. Throughout the story, they often come into an agreement on things and are shown to enjoy doing things with each other. One of the scenes where this is evident is when Coco encourages Crash to play video games with her. Coco appears to have a far more enthusiastic, pumped-up, and can-do attitude when her and Crash are about to start a new adventure or take on an enemy together. Crash expresses a stronger concern for Coco and is more supportive of her. When Tawna refuses to join up with them, Crash places his hand on Coco's shoulder to help her feel better. Coco also displays a stronger concern for Crash, as she will often get worried about him and stagger back when he gets hurt.
Tawna[]
Crash and Tawna grew very close while imprisoned in Cortex Castle, and entered a romantic relationship together prior to the events of the first game. They clearly cared deeply for one another, with Crash running through the many dangers of the Wumpa Islands in order to save her from Cortex. She was noticeably absent after the first game, which went unexplained in-universe, though Crash and Tawna still seem to be on good terms as Crash keeps a picture of her above the fireplace, as seen in Warped.
Crunch Bandicoot[]
Due to being under Cortex's control when they first met, Crunch was hostile against Crash and was obsessed with crushing him. However, Crash freed Crunch and the two became metaphorical brothers and close friends over the years. The two usually tend to help each other when needed, though they will be forced to fight each other whenever Crunch is made evil again. Crunch acts like an older brother to Crash and Coco despite him being the youngest of the three siblings and Crash being the oldest. As seen in Crash of the Titans, they both tend to tease Aku Aku about the fact he has no body or feet. However, Crunch is often annoyed by Crash's bad habits like burping and his antics, unlike Coco, who is more tolerant of them.
Polar, Pura, and Baby T[]
As the Bandicoots' pets are very close to them, it can easily be said vice-versa. After finding Polar and Baby T in their respective habitats, Crash took them in after he defeated Cortex. Although Crash is rarely seen with Pura, they can be assumed to be good friends.
In Crash Nitro Kart, Polar and Pura, despite being brainwashed into racing for Team Trance, don't show hostility towards Crash or his friends.
Tawna (It's About Time)[]
While Coco reveals that the original Tawna had a falling out with her and Crash, alternate Tawna develops a strong bond with them and is even hinted to have had a close relationship with them in her own universe, as she reveals that she generally knew Crash and Coco's routine when it came to collecting things. Upon first meeting her, Crash appears surprised and confused as he begins to poke at her before she punches him. While both Crash and this version of Tawna don't seem to display romantic feelings for each other, they do express genuine concern for one another. Tawna is willing to do anything in her power to protect Crash. Like his sister, Crash also expresses sadness when Tawna leaves them behind and refuses to join them. Even though this is technically the first time they've met, they still have a familiarity with each other that has made this version of Tawna develop more of a reunited "old friend" relationship with Crash.
Spyro the Dragon[]
During the events of Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage, and Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy, Crash had met Spyro the Dragon, in which the two had fought each other due to being tricked by their enemies, Cortex and Ripto. However, after discovering that they were deceived, they joined forces to put an end to their plans and save their friends and their worlds. Their close friendship is similar to bash brothers, both engaging in competitive tournaments and stopping bad guys together. Of course, Crash is very eager to help Spyro out again first in Skylanders: Imaginators, and then once more in the third season of Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!.
Trivia[]
- In a YouTube video posted in July 2018, animator Butch Hartman revealed he created his own designs for Crash's prototype, Willy, during his time at Hanna-Barbera.
- At the time of its initial release, the character was considered the "unofficial mascot" of Sony, rivaling Nintendo's Mario and Sega's Sonic.
- According to Crash's character profile in Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! is described that he loves wumpa, yo-yos, pancakes and running and he hates Doctor Neo Cortex, TNT crates, Nitro crates and falls.
- As revealed by Cortex in the flashback tapes in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time:
- His real name is "Crashworth Cortex the First" and "Crash" is a nickname.
- The shorts he wears belonged to Cortex and were handed down to him.
- His birthday, as chosen by Cortex, is July 19th.
- In Japanese versions of many games, Crash is able to speak, though he still doesn't speak very often and only does so in short and simple phrases.
- Crash can speak full, fluent sentences in all three official manga adaptations; Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot: Dansu! De Jump! Na Daibouken and Crash Bandicoot: Kattobi! Spin World . This happens again in his appearances in the Skylanders Academy episodes "The Skylands Are Falling!", "Crash Landing", "Days of Future Crash", and "Raiders of the Lost Arkus, Part 2" and also in the 100% ending of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.
- According to The Crash Bandicoot Files, released by Dark Horse Comics, Crash would've constantly impersonated other famous pop-cultural icons, similar to his portrayal in the commercial.
- Crash, Aku Aku and Cortex are the only characters to appear in every single Crash game. However, Crash is the only one of the three to make a full appearance and be a playable character in every game. Aku Aku has a cameo appearance in Crash Tag Team Racing, and Doctor Neo Cortex appears as a multiplayer character in Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced.
- Crash and Cortex are the only two characters that are playable in all of the racing games.
- In Cortex Strikes Back and Warped, Crash's burn death animation is re-used from Crash Bandicoot.
- In real life, eastern barred bandicoots have stripes on their back, hence their name.
- Crash's design is different in Japan, having had his teeth made smaller and his eyes bigger (with Pac-Man eyes) to appeal better to the Japanese market. This design is included as a secret costume in Crash Tag Team Racing, as well as being featured in Crash Boom Bang, a Japanese developed title.
- In the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2011, Crash was voted as the eleventh best video game character.
- In one of Crash's early designs, he was going to have a tail which was cut due to the limitations of the PlayStation. In real life, bandicoots have long hairless tails.
- One of Crash's concept designs had him wear a black mask, making him resemble Zorro.
- Crash has been confirmed to be one of the most popular western video game protagonists in Japan.
- During 2007, Crash had been crowned as a symbolic mascot for the School and Youth Programs, as a part of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
- Although not being an official character in the game, according to statics, Crash, along with Cortex had been the most requested IP's in the All-Stars Battle Royale franchise by Sony.
- Crash was purposely designed with no neck to make his design simpler and take fewer polygons to render. He is the only Bandicoot in the series (not counting his "Fake" or "Evil" duplicates) to be designed in such a way, with other bandicoot characters such as Coco, Crunch and Tawna having far more human-shaped anatomy.
- The Baby Crash who appears in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled causes a time paradox because when Crash was mutated he was an adult, meaning that a mutated Baby Crash cannot logically exist.
- In Chinese localizations, Crash is no longer a bandicoot; in the Traditional Chinese localization of On the Run! he is called a thylacine (袋狼), while in the Simplified Chinese version he is called a wolf (狼). This change affects all bandicoot characters in the game. The reason for this change is unknown, and does not occur in any other localization.
Gallery[]
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