Coco Bandicoot

Coco Bandicoot is a video game character and a secondary protagonist of the Crash Bandicoot series of video games. In the series, Coco is described as the highly-intelligent and spirited younger sister of Crash Bandicoot, the main protagonist of the series. She often aids her older brother by building gadgets ideal for the situation or even tagging along with Crash in his journeys, using self-taught martial arts to defend herself.

Coco was created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin, and was originally designed by Charles Zembillas. Coco's inclusion as a playable character in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex was met with a generally lukewarm response among critics, while her voice has received mixed reviews. However, her inclusion as a playable character in Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time was met with positive responses.

Design and characteristics

Coco's availability as a playable character in Crash: Mind over Mutant was omitted from the PlayStation 2 version of the game due to her distinct animations taking up much of the console's memory. In the PlayStation 2 version, she is replaced by a white-furred version of her brother named "Carbon Crash". Coco is voiced by Vicki Winters in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, by Hynden Walch in Crash Team Racing and by Debi Derryberry from Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex onwards. In the Japanese version of the series, she is voiced by Haruna Ikezawa in the PlayStation games, by Ema Kogure in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity, by Satomi Arai in Crash Tag Team Racing and by Risa Tsubaki in Crash Boom Bang!.

Just as her brother Crash was, Coco was genetically engineered through the use of Doctor Neo Cortex's and Doctor Nitrus Brio's Evolvo-Ray. Coco is notable for her high intelligence; her intelligence quotient is said to be as much as 164. Like her brother, Coco has a fearless nature and is willing to take any chance, unafraid of making mistakes. She is a fan of martial arts films and masculine sports such as wrestling and NASCAR. She is also shown to be a skilled scooter rider, using this talent to outrace a Japanese tsunami on one occasion.

Plot overview

Before the events of the series, Coco was an ordinary bandicoot until she was taken from the jungle and genetically enhanced by Doctor Neo Cortex. Coco is first seen in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back living on N. Sanity Island with Crash. One day, when the battery for her laptop runs out, she sends Crash off to find a replacement battery for her. When Coco discovers that Crash is gathering Crystals for Cortex, she becomes suspicious of Cortex and decides to hack into Cortex's computer and see what he's really up to. What she finds are detailed schematics for an improved Cortex Vortex and a suspicious-looking space station. She learns of Cortex's real plan just as Crash has gathered all the Crystals, and reveals Cortex's intentions to Crash before he can give the Crystals to Cortex. After Cortex's plan is foiled, Coco is called upon by Aku Aku in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped to use Doctor Nefarious Tropy's Time-Twisting Machine and gather the powerful Crystals in their original places before Cortex does so. Coco helps by gathering the Crystals in 17th century China, the 18th century Pacific Ocean, and World War I Europe. She is also responsible for the defeat of Cortex's right-hand man Doctor N. Gin on the Moon, with her new pet tiger Pura assisting her.

When the Elementals wreak havoc on the Earth in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Coco activates a new Portal Chamber for Crash to use. She helps Crash gather the Power Crystals needed to stop the Elementals by collecting them in a tsunami-ravaged China and an avalanche zone. She also stops an armada of Cortex's space stations from striking Earth. Near the end, she helps Crash and Crunch escape from Cortex's malfunctioning space station. In Crash Twinsanity, Coco is ambushed by Doctor Neo Cortex, who disguises himself as her in order to lure Crash into a trap. Many moments later, Coco believes that Cortex kidnapped Crash, and travels to the Iceberg Lab to confront him. With a swift kick, she attacks Cortex and sends the Power Crystals he was holding flying into the Psychetron. The resulting chain reaction leaves Coco paralyzed until the end of the game.

Coco's availability as a playable character in Crash: Mind over Mutant was omitted from the PlayStation 2 version of the game due to her distinct animations taking up much of the console's memory. In the PlayStation 2 version, she is replaced by a white-furred version of her brother named "Carbon Crash". Coco is voiced by Vicki Winters in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, by Hynden Walch in Crash Team Racing and by Debi Derryberry from Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex onwards. In the Japanese version of the series, she is voiced by Haruna Ikezawa in the PlayStation games, by Ema Kogure in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity, by Satomi Arai in Crash Tag Team Racing and by Risa Tsubaki in Crash Boom Bang!.

Coco is fully playable in Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, but has the same moveset as Crash in both. Though, she comes with her own animations. Even though Coco first appears in Cortex Strikes Back, the use of time travel from Warped allows her to be playable in all three games from the N. Sane Trilogy.

Other appearances in the series
Coco is a playable character in Crash Team Racing and Crash Bash. The epilogue of Crash Team Racing states that Coco opened up her own Internet dating service after the events of the game. In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, Coco builds a device that reverses the effects of Cortex's Planetary Minimizer. In Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Coco is abducted by N. Trance and is brainwashed alongside Crunch and Fake Crash. Coco battles Crash in a large battleship inside an active volcano, with Crash attacking the craft while it is reloading its weaponry. Upon snapping out of N. Trance's control, Coco becomes a playable character, gathering two Crystals in space while escaping the wrath of a fireball created by N. Tropy. Coco is a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart as well. In one cutscene, she uses her hacking skills to put the hyperactive Nash to sleep. In Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage, Coco teams up with the Professor to track down Ripto and Doctor Cortex. Later in the game, they're both kidnapped by Doctor Cortex's niece, Nina Cortex, who keeps them locked up in cages. After being freed from her cage, Coco suggests that Crash and Spyro put a tracer on Cortex and Ripto as to allow the heroes to track the villains back to their hideout. Coco's last major contribution to the story is constructing a portal to Cortex's and Ripto's lair. Coco is a playable character in Crash Tag Team Racing. In the game's story, Coco discovers the sole clue to whoever stole MotorWorld's Power Gems, which is Wumpa Whip. Because of Crash's high consumption of the beverage, she briefly believes (along with the others) that Crash is the culprit, despite the fact that Willie Wumpa Cheeks is the park's lone source of Wumpa Whip. At the end of the game, Coco returns the park's deed to Von Clutch, to whom it belongs. Coco plays a central role in Crash Boom Bang!, in which she is invited by the Viscount to the World Cannonball Race in his search for the Super Big Power Crystal.

Cultural impact
Merchandise
Coco 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 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.

Critical reception
Coco's inclusion 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, Goldstein 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." Matt 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."

On the other hand, Coco's inclusion as a playable character in the N. Sane Trilogy and Crash 4 was met with positive reception. Patrick Arellano at Comic Book Resources included her in a list of "5 Game Remakes That Added A New Character For The Better." Cubed3 writer  Luke Hemming stated "...the ability to replay all levels as Coco Bandicoot, also add a welcome level of replayability in the linear first outing." Reviewing the N. Sane Trilogy, Aiman Maulana from New Straits Times observed that she has the same moveset as Crash, to which he stated "What's the purpose of this? Well, this game is catered to casual gamers so the developers want to cater to a general audience. Having Coco Bandicoot as a playable character will encourage more female gamers to play." At PlayStation Universe, Kevin R. considered the ability to play as Coco a "neat extra touch," but wished to see her with her own moveset. Denny Connolly at Game Rant stated "...swapping between characters should be a fun addition for fans of the original trilogy," due to the fact she has her own personality and animations in the game. Stacey Henley from The Guardian declared that Coco "adds a fresh dimension to the game," along with Cortex, Tawna and Dingodile in Crash 4.

Coco's redesign in Crash Bandicoot: One the Run was met with criticism by Cristina Alexander from TheGamer; Alexander stated "Restoring Coco to her original design and making her look as unappealing as possible instead of using her Crash 4 design in a mobile endless runner game kind of defeats the purpose of rebooting the Crash Bandicoot franchise and updating their looks to keep up with the times." In another article from TheGamer, Mark Sammut described her as  "awesome," and noted "Coco might not be the most layered character ever, but her consistent characterization in the early games clearly left an impression on many players." Sammut also stated that the use of smartphones and taking selfies "fits Coco's personality."

She was included among the "50 Greatest Heroines In Video Game History" by Complex's Michael Rogueau, whom cited her as a "cute sidekick." In 2016, Adam Starkey at Metro suggested a spin-off focusing on Coco, noting "The Bandicoots would certainly benefit from some franchise building outside of the main marsupial himself, with Coco being our prime candidate."

References

Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1997
Category:Crash Bandicoot characters