Aku Aku

Aku Aku is the deuteragonist of the Crash Bandicoot series. He is a witch doctor spirit who now lives as a wooden mask who guides Crash, his sister Coco and their friends as they defeat the forces of evil. In most platforming Crash games, if 3 masks are found, Crash becomes invincible for a limited amount of time, with Aku Aku being placed on Crash's face during this period. He is also a father figure to Crash, Coco and their friends.

Long ago, Aku Aku was once a powerful human shaman who used his magic to fight against evildoers, particularly his villainous brother, Uka Uka. At some point, both Aku Aku and Uka Uka left behind their mortal shells and their spirits came to inhabit ancient tribal masks, effectively making them immortal. Afterwards, Aku Aku was able to imprison his brother within a hidden temple to protect the world from his evil, and then went into hibernation himself for unknown reasons.

After Crash escapes from Cortex's castle, he washes up on N. Sanity Beach. There, he finds and frees Aku Aku from a crate, who provides his magical services throughout the game, scattering Aku Aku crates all across the three islands. He does not have a speaking role in this game, except in the Japanese version, where he gives hints when he is freed, but it's only in text, aside from the chant heard whenever a mask is collected in all other versions. Being the spirit of good that he is, he joins Crash in his quest to stop Cortex's plan to conquer the world and rescue Tawna.

In the manga, Crash first awakens on N. Sanity Beach with Aku Aku shouting at him. He introduces himself as a witch doctor and guardian of the island. He is already aware of Crash's story and how Tawna was kidnapped, and convinces Crash that they should team up to stop Doctor Cortex. Though he does truly care for Crash, he has little patience for his antics and often makes asides when Crash does something he finds stupid. Still, throughout the first issue he guides Crash through the jungle, teaching him about the various types of crates they encounter. Crash later uses Aku Aku to become invincible during the fight against Papu Papu. It wears off before they have any chance to fight back, however.

In the second issue, Aku Aku accompanies Crash at Cortex Castle to offer help and encouragement, but does not participate in the fight to save Tawna.

Once again, Aku Aku aids Crash in his adventure by providing protection against the dangers he comes across. He is still capable of little speech, and he doesn't act upon Cortex tricking Crash into collecting the crystals for him. He continues giving hints in the Japanese version, this time with animation and voice acting.

For the first time in the series, Aku Aku plays a large role in the story, and has the ability to speak in full sentences other than Japanese. At this point, he had become somewhat of a parental figure to Crash Bandicoot, as well as his sister, Coco.

After a piece of shrapnel from the Cortex Vortex plummets to Earth and demolishes Uka Uka's underground prison, Aku Aku hears his evil laughter in the distance, signifying his return, terrifying him. After explaining to Crash and Coco of his past with his brother, he then brings them to the Time Twister machine and instructs them to collect the crystals scattered across time before Cortex and Uka Uka do.

Later, he joins Crash as they confront Uka Uka and Cortex in a final battle. While Crash deals with Cortex, Aku Aku is locked in a fierce battle with Uka Uka; the two of them soon become an obstacle in and of themselves. The two can actually damage Crash by creating an energy beam between them that grows larger gradually, brawling around the arena, and spinning around for a second, then plummeting to the ground and creating an explosion several times around the arena, which Crash must avoid along with Cortex's attacks. Like with Uka Uka's attacks, Aku Aku could hurt Crash by accident if he's too close, and he can't protect him because he's busy fighting against his brother. Thus, if Crash takes damage, he will lose a life.

Crash and Aku Aku defeat Cortex and Uka Uka, but the Time Twister malfunctions and self destructs due to N. Tropy's defeat, sending the two villains into a time portal. Having just escaped, Crash, Coco and Aku Aku are seen in their home, when Aku Aku lights a fire in their fireplace. Aku Aku tells them of how the Time Twister was unable to sustain itself and how fortunate they were to escape they were caught in the explosion. After a cutscene with Cortex, N. Tropy and Uka Uka starts, Aku Aku states that he has no idea what happened to their enemies, but believes that they will not be seeing them again for a long time.

Like in the previous games, he protects Crash or Coco from any obstacle, aside from falling. And as usual in the Japanese version, he gives hints when freed.

In the adventure mode of Crash Team Racing, Aku Aku serves as the player's tutor for the good characters and welcomes them to the adventure arena. He guides them on their quest to save the world from Nitrous Oxide and tells them a little bit about the world they're in. After a race, he congratulates the racer and gives the good characters racing advice, such as how to power slide successfully or get a TNT Crate off their head. His hints can be re-heard in the menu section "Aku Aku's Hints". He also appears as an item for the good characters, speeding them up and giving them temporary invincibility from incoming weapons, in addition to acting as a weapon to anyone touching him. He makes another brief appearance in the opening menus, coming out of the Naughty Dog crate with Crash, Cortex, Coco, Tiny and Oxide.

Aku Aku and Uka Uka meet inside a temple in hyperspace and attempt to end their conflict by holding a contest. Uka Uka submits Cortex, |N. Brio, Dingodile, Rilla Roo, Tiny and Koala Kong as his players, leaving Aku Aku with only Crash and Coco. Aku Aku, realizing that his brother has too big an advantage, evens the odds by switching Tiny and Dingodile to the good side. He then leads his team through various minigames in order to defeat Uka Uka's side. During the tournament, he becomes suspicious of Uka Uka's intentions and finds out that he plans to steal the crystals, using them to harness their power. In Space Bash and Snow Bash, Aku Aku can be collected as a power-up that acts as a temporary extra hit point.

After spotting an assortment of unusual weather occurrences, Aku Aku comes to the conclusion that Uka Uka has released the Elementals. He appears inside a temple in hyperspace, where Uka Uka denies any mischief; however, the Elementals themselves soon show up and attack Aku Aku, who barely escapes. After appearing back home, he reveals to Crash and Coco what has happened and that they must collect the crystals to stop Cortex and Uka Uka. Delighted at Coco's new VR HUB device, he allows them to use the machine to begin their adventure. During boss battles, Aku Aku often uses his powers to weaken Crunch and the Elementals, giving Crash an opening to attack. He and Crash succeeded in defeating Crunch Bandicoot and each of the Elementals. After the final battle the Elementals are defeated for good and Crash, Aku Aku and Crunch escape. At the end, Crunch is revealed to have been brainwashed and thanks Crash and the gang, who accept him as a new member of their family.

He later appears in The Huge Adventure to help Crash defeat Dr. Neo Cortex. Aku Aku is the one who told Crash he must collect all 20 crystals to power the machine capable of stopping Cortex's Planetary Minimizer.

In N-Tranced, he helped Crash find a way to get to N. Tropy and N. Trance's base and ruin their evil plan. When N. Tropy attempted to abduct Crash, Aku Aku was able to free him. Using the crystals Crash collects, he helps save Crunch, Coco, and Fake Crash from mind control before defeating N. Trance and N. Tropy.

In Crash Nitro Kart, Aku Aku has a similar role to Crash Team Racing, serving as the tutor for Team Bandicoot. In the beginning of the game, he is seen discussing weight loss with Crunch before their home is abducted and sent to Velo's Citadel. Like his brother Uka Uka for Team Cortex, Aku Aku gives the player tips and hints regarding driving skills, info on objects in the hub world, and even tips on how to use weapons effectively. He gives occasional warnings during races, when one of his racers falls out of bounds or attacks a teammate.

Aku Aku reappeared in the third handheld title, Ripto's Rampage when he and Coco noticed strange beasts walking around they called Crash. So Crash and Aku Aku set out when they met Spyro and Sparx where they teamed up to stop Cortex and Ripto.

Aku Aku maintains his usual role of giving Crash extra hit points upon collecting masks hidden inside crates, but he cannot protect Crash from TNT or Nitro crates. He protects Crash from almost all other enemies. He, upon spinning the first Aku Aku Crate at the beginning of the game, gives a small speech to Crash. He states that it is, once again, him, Aku Aku, and he states that his duty is to protect the player. This may have been added in to explain his purpose to new players of the Crash Bandicoot franchise. Later, after Uka Uka is defeated, he teams up with his evil brother to defeat the Evil Twins, but they are unsuccessful, as shown when the Evil Twins appear to return the lifeless masks to Crash and Cortex. Victor, as stated to Crash and Cortex: "Fools! Did you really think that these party toys could defeat us!". Aku Aku also suggests handing Cortex over to the Evil Twins. He helps the team throughout the game.

Aku Aku masks make cameos in Tag Team Racing as masks held up by spears on the track Tiki Turbo and can be heard saying his noise when he is summoned.

Aku Aku appears in this game giving out tips and is a special power-up for players. He also tells the player the results of mini games.

Aku Aku drops his role of supplying mask crates for extra hit points in favor of staying with Crash at all times. Crash has the ability to "jack" a stunned titan by placing Aku Aku over its face, allowing him to control its movements and powers. When not jacking a titan, Crash can also summon Aku Aku at will to block light attacks. Parts of certain levels also allow him to ride on Aku Aku like a sled. In the beginning of the game, Cortex attempts to kidnap Coco and Aku Aku, but only succeeds in taking Coco; Crash manages to rescue Aku Aku and retrieve him by knocking his cage free from Cortex's airship. Aku Aku's appearance has changed significantly from the previous games, though not as drastically as his evil brother, Uka Uka. Aku Aku now has a wider and broader face than his original model, and has feathers covering the top and side edges of his face.

He still helps Crash jack titans, but is no longer visible on the titan's face. A jacked titan's eyes instead change from red to green, and the cloud of dark mojo surrounding it disappears. Aku Aku is also able to shrink one titan at a time so that it fits inside Crash's pocket. He also gives Crash various hints throughout the game. Sledding on Aku Aku's face does not return in Mind Over Mutant.

Just like in Crash Team Racing and Crash Nitro Kart, he helps Crash giving him some hints and advice in the game about Power ups and his quest to help Yaya. Aku Aku's face is grey in this game, yet his item icon shows his usual brown color.

Aku Aku appeared in Skylanders: Imaginators. In the game, he provides a temporary shield for Crash whenever he revives after losing a life. One of Crash's possible upgrades makes the effect last longer, as well as making Crash run faster during this time. Aku Aku also speaks for Crash Bandicoot, who is only capable of saying short words. He also acts an NPC in the Adventure Pack level, Thumpin' Wumpa Islands. He has five feathers instead of four. In this game, he appears to have bolts on his eyebrows.

In the remake of the first three games, Aku Aku returns to his role as being supplied inside Aku Aku Crates. He also appears on the hint screen during load times, but no longer supplies hints during levels, not even in the Japanese translation.

Aku Aku returns to his role in the Nitro-Fueled remake of Crash Team Racing, where he gives the good characters instructions on what to do during the Adventure Mode and as a power-up during the races. Penta Penguin, King Chicken and Iron Checkpoint Crate can both use either Aku Aku or Uka Uka.

Aku Aku wakes Crash up from a nap to alert him of what is happening. He is surprised to see Lani-Loli awake, and figures something terrible must have happened.

In the Legacy of Chris Thorndyke,

And for his normal form, he is reprised by Greg Eagles in the English dub and Kenichi Ogata in the Japanese dub.

For his Spike form, he is voiced by Roger Craig Smith in the English dub, and he is voiced by Tomokazu Seki in the Japanese dub.

For his Goar form, he is voiced by Patrick Seitz in the English dub, and he is voiced by Fumihiko Tachiki in the Japanese dub.

For his Snipe form, he is voiced by Matthew Mercer in the English dub, and he is voiced by Mamoru Miyano in the Japanese dub.

For his Rhinoroller form, he is voiced by Fred Tatasciore in the English dub, and he is voiced by Tetsu Inada in the Japanese dub.

For his Shellephant form, he is voiced by Matt Hullum in the English dub, and he is voiced by Jin Yamanoi in the Japanese dub.

For his Magmadon form, he is voiced by Jamieson Price in the English dub, and he is voiced by Jouji Nakata in the Japanese dub.

For his Stench form, he is voiced by Vic Mignogna in the English dub, and he is voiced by Shinichiro Miki in the Japanese dub.

For his Sludge form, he is voiced by Bill Fagerbakke in the English dub, and he is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi in the Japanese dub.

For his Scorporilla form, he is voiced by Tom Hardy in the English dub, and he is voiced by Akio Otsuka in the Japanese dub.

For his Ratcicle form, he is voiced by Travis Willingham in the English dub, and he is voiced by Banjo Ginga in the Japanese dub.

For his Battler form, he is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker in the English dub, and he is voiced by Chikahiro Kobayashi in the Japanese dub.

For his Ee-Lectric form, he is voiced by Crispin Freeman in the English dub, and he is voiced by Kazuya Nakai in the Japanese dub.

For his TK form, he is voiced by Tom Kenny in the English dub, and he is voiced by Shidou Nakamura in the Japanese dub.

For his Grimly form, he is voiced by Brian Drummond in the English dub, and he is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita in the Japanese dub.