Crash Bandicoot (character)

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Crash Bandicoot, or simply "Crash", is a video game character and the primary protagonist of the Crash Bandicoot series of video games. In the series, Crash is described as a genetically-advanced Eastern Barred Bandicoot who attempts to live a quiet life on a three-island chain southeast of Australia. Throughout the series, his relaxation is interrupted by his nemesis and creator Doctor Neo Cortex, forcing Crash to defeat him in order to put his life back in order. He is often accompanied by such allies as his sister Coco Bandicoot, his friend Crunch Bandicoot and the ancient island guardian Aku Aku.
Crash was created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin, and was originally designed by Charles Zembillas. Crash was intended to be a mascot character for Sony to use to compete against Nintendo's Mario and Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog. Crash has drawn comparisons to Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog by reviewers. His animations have been praised, and his voice has been criticized, while his redesign in the Radical Entertainment games has drawn mixed reactions.
==Conception and creation==
After working on such games as Rings of Power and Way of the Warrior, Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin set out to create a mascot for Sony after realizing that Sega had Sonic and Nintendo had Mario. Wanting their mascot game to be multi-dimensional in character depth as well as gameplay, Gavin and Rubin chose not to base Crash around one attribute such as "fast" or "cute". Crash was originally given the name of "Willy the Wombat". During production of the first game, the marketing director of Universal Interactive Studios insisted that Crash be named "Wez", "Wuzzles" or "Wizzy the Wombat". Crash was given his final name due to his tendency to smash crates. Designer Charles Zembillas described Crash as the most difficult character to draw. On his design, he said that "the mouth and the body were the same shape and I had to figure out how to give him different expressions besides a constant smile. Also, turning his head was a problem. There was no point to articulate the head from the body, so when he looked from side to side or turned to look back, it had to come from his waist." Crash co-creator Jason Rubin considered Crash one of his favorite characters alongside Doctor Neo Cortex and Ripper Roo.
Crash is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in Crash Bandicoot, by Billy Pope in Crash Team Racing, by Steven Blum in Crash Nitro Kart and by Jess Harnell (also known as Wakko Warner from Animaniacs) in the Radical Entertainment games. In the Japanese versions of the games, he is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi up to Crash Nitro Kart and by Makoto Ishii in Crash Boom Bang!.
==Characteristics==
Crash was genetically engineered through the use of Cortex and Doctor Nitrus Brio's Evolvo-Ray. Before being ejected from Doctor Neo Cortex's island fortress, Crash became romantically attached to a female bandicoot named Tawna, who was another one of Cortex's experiments. Crash's separation from Tawna at the hands of Cortex serves as the primary root of Crash's antagonisation of Cortex. 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. Crash has an extremely limited vocabulary, preferring to speak in unintelligible gibberish; the few English words he is capable of speaking include 'Whoa!' (which he often exclaims upon being physically harmed), 'Nina' and 'pancakes'. To the ire of his friend Crunch, but the amusement of his sister, Coco, Crash is prone to impolite personal habits such as belching or scratching his posterior.
In the beginning of the series, Crash's sole offensive maneuvers were jumping onto his enemies and a distinctive technique in which he spins around like a tornado, kicking away anyone or anything that he strikes. In later games Crash can expand his range of abilities by defeating boss characters. The expanded abilities include a powerful splash, the ability to jump while in the air, the "Death Tornado Spin" (a variation of his spinning technique that allows him to hover through the air for a limited time), a bazooka that fires Wumpa Fruit, increased running speed, the ability to safely tip-toe on top of explosive crates, and the ability to jump at incredibly high heights. The games Crash of the Titans and Crash: Mind over Mutant allow Crash to further expand his offensive abilities with new fighting moves learned from collecting a magical substance known as "Mojo" and defeating and "Jacking" Titans (large mutants with unique abilities).
==Plot overview==
thumb|324px|right|Diggah Tunnel Was song by Both Rivera Bandicoot and Crash Bandicoot By Mistake At Motor World During the End Of Crash Tag Team Racing. It Marked the beginning of Coco Bandicoots Crush On Rivera. 
As seen in Crash Bandicoot, Crash was once an ordinary Eastern Barred Bandicoot before 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 is later deemed unworthy of being in Cortex's army and is dismissed from Cortex's castle. As an act of revenge and to rescue a female bandicoot named Tawna, Crash travels through the Wumpa Islands, defeating Cortex's henchmen along the way. He eventually steals Cortex's airship, defeats Doctor Cortex, and escapes alongside Tawna. A year later in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Crash is sent off to get a new laptop battery for his sister Coco, but is soon abducted by Doctor Neo Cortex, who claims to have changed his ways. Crash is then ordered to gather Crystals for Cortex while fighting off opposition from Doctor Nitrus Brio. Once Cortex reveals his hidden intentions, Crash sends Cortex flying off into space and aids Nitrus Brio in destroying Cortex's space station. In Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, when the remains of the space station crash into Earth and set the demonic Uka Uka free, Crash is recruited by Aku Aku to use Doctor Nefarious Tropy's Time-Twisting Machine to gather the powerful Crystals in their original places before Cortex does. Crash eventually gathers all 25 Crystals and defeats Nefarious Tropy, causing the Time-Twisting Machine to implode on itself.
In Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crash is recruited to gather Crystals and return a group of destructive masks named the Elementals to a hibernation state and stop Cortex's new superweapon Crunch Bandicoot. In Crash Twinsanity, after foiling another plot by Doctor Cortex to eliminate him, Crash teams up with Cortex in order to defeat the Evil Twins and restore the natural order of the universe.
In Crash of the Titans, Crash aids Coco in the development of a butter-recycling device. This is interrupted when Neo Cortex arrives and kidnaps Aku Aku and Coco. Crash throws Coco's machine at Cortex's airship, severing the chain holding Aku Aku's cage, which causes the cage to fall into the nearby forest. After Crash rescues Aku Aku, they discover that Cortex and Uka Uka are stealing Mojo from a nearby temple and decide to stop them. Crash is unable to rescue his sister but manages to defeat Cortex, and he begins his search for Coco, interrogating Tiny Tiger, N. Gin, and Uka Uka on her whereabouts. Crash finally confronts and defeats Nina Cortex inside of the Doominator robot, liberates his sister, and averts the destruction of Wumpa Island. Feeling happy for themselves, Crash and his family decide to celebrate their victory with pancakes, which he blurts out (speaking for the first time) in joy. Soon after, in Crash: Mind over Mutant, the NV, a personal digital assistant that everyone must possess, is released to the public. However, this turns out to be a plot by Doctor Cortex and his old partner Doctor Nitrus Brio, who use the NV's Mojo-transmitting powers to control everyone who uses the device. Because Crash is unaffected by the NV, he is able to free his friends from the control of the NV and stop Cortex's and Brio's plot.
===Other appearances in the series===
Crash appears as a playable character in Crash Team Racing and Crash Bash. The epilogue of Crash Team Racing states that Crash sold his life story, titled "The Color Orange", to a major film studio, set to be released by the Christmas season.
In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, Crash is recruited to gather Crystals to power a device built by Coco that will reverse the effects of Cortex's Planetary Minimizer, which has shrunken the Earth to the size of a grapefruit. In Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Crash is awoken from his nap by the kidnapping of Coco and Crunch by Nefarious Tropy and N. Trance. Crash is almost kidnapped himself before being rescued by Aku Aku. He is then sent off to rescue Crunch and Coco, recruit Fake Crash, and defeat N. Trance and Nefarious Tropy. Crash is a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart, in which he is abducted (along with other characters) by Emperor Velo XXVII and forced to compete in the Galaxy Circuit. When Velo relinquishes his power to Crash, Crash seriously considers the possibility of ruling over Velo's empire, but he refuses the offer and leaves Velo with his empire. In Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage, Crash is tricked into thinking that Spyro the Dragon is attacking the Wumpa Islands, but he discovers the truth after a fight on a bridge, and teams up with Spyro to defeat the combined forces of Doctor Neo Cortex and Ripto.
In Crash Tag Team Racing, Crash is recruited (along with other characters) by Ebenezer Von Clutch to gather the stolen Power Gems of his amusement park and win the park's ownership. He also finds Von Clutch's lost Black Power Gem by the end of the game. Crash is a playable character in Crash Boom Bang!, in which he interrupts the Viscount's wish to the Super Big Power Crystal and wishes for a vast amount of Wumpa Fruit.
==Cultural impact==
===Merchandise===
Crash has been featured in two series of Crash Bandicoot action figures produced by the now-defunct Resaurus. For Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Resaurus produced a "Jetboard Crash" (a Crash Bandicoot figure bundled with the jetboard seen in the game) and a "Jet Pack Crash" (a goggle-wearing Crash Bandicoot figure bundled with the jet pack seen in the game). The Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped series featured three different figures of Crash, including one bundled with Aku Aku and Coco Bandicoot figures.
===Critical reception===
As a mascot character, Crash has drawn numerous comparisons to competing mascots such as Mario and Sonic by reviewers. A reviewer for Game Revolution praised Crash's "quirky mannerisms" as "always refreshing", and John Broady of GameSpot described Crash as "disarmingly cute and fuzzy". Doug Perry of IGN was critical of the character, seeing him as "insanely capitalistic", negatively comparing his voice to Luigi of the Mario series and accusing him of being "the most see-through, copycat mascot that ever existed." Louis Bedigian of GameZone also disliked Crash's voice, remarking "it is really annoying to hear a child say, 'Whoa!' every time you fall in the water, especially when you realize that the child's voice is supposed to be Crash." Crash's animations, particularly in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, have been praised as humorous by reviewers. Ryan Davis of GameSpot analyzed Crash's "overextended running style and self-punishing attacks" as establishing him as an "empty-headed but enthusiastic character", and compared his facial contortions to those of comedian Red Skelton. A reviewer for Worth Playing also praised Crash's facial expressions and said "the boy is about as sharp as a sack of hair and he proves it every time the camera zooms in on him, or every time his attention span visibly wanders off to play with the butterflies while other stuff is going on around him. He's great to watch." Crash has been included in a number of GameFAQs' "Character Battle" contests, but never progressed more than one round each time. In a poll held by MSN in late 2008 to determine the most iconic video game character, Crash ranked at #8. However, he also ranked eighth on IGN's top 10 list of video game characters who should die, adding that it would be a mercy killing. IGN editor Colin Moriarty stated that his games add little to innovate the series over the years, rendering the character useless.
Crash's aesthetic design in the games developed by Radical Entertainment has received mixed reactions from reviewers. Brian Rowe of Game Revolution wondered when and why the change happened, but concluded that "it’s better than the popular goatee-of-rage that so many other platform giants are sporting these days." Arnold Katayev of PSX Extreme said he was unhappy with Crash's "pretentious" tribal tattoos and mohawk, "out of character" fighting stance and voice (which he described as "annoying gibberish"). Matt Keller of PALGN also criticized Crash's voice, which he said made Crash sound "like a confused baby". Craig Harris of IGN was more positive on Crash's new appearance and said he "looks a little cooler and more appealing than his more 'Japanese-inspired' edits over the years," while Louis Bedigian of GameZone said that "these changes, no matter how subtle, have really hurt Crash’s appearance as a leading game character". Charles Zembillas, the original designer of Crash, stated that Crash's new design was "pretty cool" and expressed interest in returning to the series and further contributing to his design.
==References==
==External links==
*Crash Bandicoot at Bandipedia at Wikia
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