List of Crash Bandicoot characters
"Crash Bandicoot" is a series of platform video games created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin. Formerly developed by Naughty Dog from 1996 to 1999, by Traveller's Tales, Eurocom and Vicarious Visions from 2000 to 2004, and by Radical Entertainment from 2005 to 2008, the series is currently published by Activision. The series features a large cast of distinctive characters designed by numerous different artists, which include Charles Zembillas and Joe Pearson. It also features a cast of veteran voice actors. The series centers on the conflicts between a mutated bandicoot named Crash Bandicoot  and his creator, Doctor Neo Cortex. Crash acts as the main playable character of the series, though other characters have had occasional player access, such as Coco Bandicoot and Doctor Neo Cortex. Protagonists. Crash Bandicoot. Crash Bandicoot is the title character and main protagonist of the "Crash Bandicoot" series. Crash is a mutant eastern barred bandicoot who was genetically enhanced by the series' main antagonist Doctor Neo Cortex and soon escaped from Cortex's castle after a failed experiment in the "Cortex Vortex". Throughout the series, Crash acts as the opposition against Cortex and his schemes for world domination. While  Crash has a number of offensive maneuvers at his disposal, his most distinctive technique is one in which he spins like a tornado at high speeds and knocks away almost anything that he strikes. Aku Aku. Aku Aku is 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. During Crash's missions to stop Doctor Neo Cortex, he scattered copies of himself throughout the travels 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. Producer David Siller provided his "Ooga Booga" and gibberish voice clips. His speaking voice was provided by Mel Winkler from "" to "Crash Twinsanity", by Cornell John in "Crash Bash", and Greg Eagles from "Crash of the Titans" onwards. Aku Aku was named after a Polynesian restaurant near the Alewife station that featured giant tiki statues out front. Steven Rodriguez of "Nintendo World Report", in his review of "Crash Nitro Kart", described Aku Aku's  voice when giving advice between races as "sexy" and cited it as the best part of the game's audio, but admitted that "even he gets rather annoying." In his review of "Crash of the Titans", Brian Rowe of "GameRevolution", while deeming the ability to "slap Aku Aku’s face into the ground and ride it like a surfboard" as "harshly inconsiderate", considered it "payback for his gratingly poor impersonations of that other floating head of wisdom – Frylock." Lucas Sullivan of "GamesRadar+", in a dedicated installment of the "Why I Love" series, compared Aku Aku's charm to that of  Mumbo Jumbo of "Banjo-Kazooie", adding that his vocalizations and protective hovering within Crash's vicinity exuded more personality than the power-ups in the "Mario" series. He also enjoyed Aku Aku's speaking role in the series' later installments, describing his voice as having a "vaguely Morgan Freeman-esque timbre". The staff of "GameRevolution" included Aku Aku in a list of the best power-ups in video games, describing him as an "all-around swell guy". Coco Bandicoot. Coco Bandicoot is the younger sister of Crash Bandicoot. Just as her older brother, she was genetically engineered through the use  of Doctor Neo Cortex's and Doctor Nitrus Brio's Evolvo-Ray. Contrasting Crash, however, Coco was made highly intelligent, and her intelligence quotient is said to be as much as 164. Like her brother, Coco has a heroic personality and a fearless nature, as she is willing to take any chance to help her family save the world from evil, unafraid of making mistakes. She is a fan of martial arts films, wrestling and NASCAR. She is also shown to be a skilled scooter rider, using this talent to outrace a Japanese tsunami on one occasion. Coco was designed  by Charles Zembillas and Naughty Dog as a counterbalance to Tawna (Crash's girlfriend in the first game) that would appease Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, who were not comfortable with a "super sexy" character being alongside Crash. Charles Zembillas' first sketches of Coco were drawn on March 18, 1997, when "" was in development. She is voiced by Vicki Winters in "Cortex Strikes Back", Hynden Walch in "Crash Team Racing", Debi Derryberry from "" to "," Tara Strong in the third season of "Skylanders Academy", and by Eden Riegel in "". Coco has been featured in two series of "Crash Bandicoot" action figures produced  by 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. Coco's inclusion and incorporation 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, Hilary 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." Matthew 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." Matt Keller of "PALGN" felt that her voice in "Crash of the Titans" was "annoying". Crunch Bandicoot. Crunch Bandicoot is a large and muscular genetically altered bandicoot with bionic enhancements that was created by Doctor Neo Cortex to destroy Crash Bandicoot. He first appears in "Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex" as the final boss of each level, teaming up the with the Elementals. After his defeat, Crunch has a change of heart and joins Crash's  family. He is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson in "Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex" and "Crash Nitro Kart", Chris Williams in the Radical Entertainment games, and Ike Amadi in "Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled". Tawna. Tawna is the love interest of Crash who first appeared in "Crash Bandicoot". By the time of Crash's creation, she is the only other creature to not have been subjected to the Cortex Vortex. After Crash is ejected from Cortex's castle, Tawna spends her captivity matching wits with Cortex, attempting to reason with Brio, and fomenting rebellion amongst Cortex's henchmen. After  Crash defeats Cortex and rescues Tawna, they live idyllically together until Tawna leaves Crash for Pinstripe preceding the events of "Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back". She and Pinstripe later appear as playable characters in the party game "Crash Boom Bang!". An alternate version of Tawna is a playable character in "". She is originally from a dimension known as the "Tawnaverse", where she is the protagonist of her home universe instead of Crash. During production of "Crash Bandicoot", Tawna was originally named Karmen, and was based on actress Pamela Anderson, but her design was scaled back to be less provocative . Naughty Dog omitted Tawna from further entries in the series based both on objections from Universal Interactive's marketing director for her perceived sexist nature, and to appease the desire of Sony's Japanese marketing team for a more girlish female supporting character. Tawna is voiced by Debi Derryberry in the "N. Sane Trilogy", Misty Lee in "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled" and by Ursula Taherian in "Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time". Antagonists. Doctor Neo Cortex. Doctor Neo Cortex is the main antagonist of the "Crash Bandicoot series" and the archenemy of the titular character, Crash Bandicoot. Cortex  is a mad scientist who seeks to achieve world domination as an act of vengeance for the ridicule he has suffered in the past. To achieve this goal, Cortex mutated a collection of animals into his soldiers. He eventually created Crash Bandicoot, but rejected him as unworthy of being in his army and removed 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. Uka Uka. Uka Uka is the evil younger twin brother of Aku Aku and the supervisor of Cortex's plots for world domination. He was sealed in an underground prison by Aku Aku many years ago, but was freed in "" when the ruins of Cortex's space station plummeted to Earth and destroyed his prison. He was voiced by Clancy Brown from 1998 to 2003, by Cornell John in "Crash Bash", by Alex Fernandez in "Crash Twinsanity", and by John DiMaggio from "Crash of the Titans" onward. Dingodile. Dingodile is a former subordinate of  Doctor Neo Cortex who is a mutated hybrid of a dingo and crocodile. He has often appeared as a boss or playable character in the series. In "", Dingodile has retired from Cortex's service in favor of operating a diner. Dingodile is voiced by William Hootkins in "Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped", by David Anthony Pizzuto in "Crash Team Racing", by Dwight Schultz in "Crash Nitro Kart" and "Crash Twinsanity", by Nolan North in the Nintendo DS version of "Crash of the Titans", and by Fred Tatasciore from "Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy" onwards. Dingodile was conceptualized by Naughty Dog employee  Joe Labbe, who requested a character that was a cross between a dingo and a crocodile. Charles Zembillas drew the first sketches of Dingodile on February 4, 1998. At certain points, the character alternatively wore an Australian-style hat, had a "mop of scruffy hair" and walked on all fours. Naughty Dog initially wanted Dingodile to be a fire-breathing character before Zembillas suggested giving him a flamethrower to make him "much more interesting". The final sketches of Dingodile were drawn on February 12, 1998. Zembillas has expressed happiness at Dingodile's enthusiastic following amongst fans. Doctor Nefarious Tropy. Doctor  Nefarious Tropy is a pompous scientist who specializes in time travel and fights using a giant tuning fork. Tropy is voiced by Michael Ensign in the Naughty Dog games, "Crash Nitro Kart" and "Crash Twinsanity", Corey Burton in "Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex", "Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy" and "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled", and JP Karliak in "Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time", with his female counterpart voiced by Sarah Tancer in "It's About Time". Tropy was created by Naughty Dog as a time-traveling boss that would fit in a time-traveling plot. Charles Zembillas  drew the first sketches of Tropy (and the doodle he created as Naughty Dog was describing the character to him) on January 22, 1998. Tropy's wearable time-traveling device was conceptualized early on in the character's design evolution and initially appeared as a belt-like contraption that featured a digital read out displaying the year Tropy intended to travel to. At one point in its aesthetic development, Tropy's time machine was covered in clock gears and mechanisms, including a cuckoo clock on the machine's lower-right area; Zembillas assumed that the details could be created as  a texture in Adobe Photoshop and placed over the modeled character's polygon structure. Furthermore, the pistons on the back of the machine were connected to each other through joint-like bearings. These details were ultimately omitted for being too complex for the original PlayStation console to handle. The exhaust pipes and pistons were retained due to their reflection of Tropy's unhealthy obsession with time. Nina Cortex. Nina Cortex is the gothic niece of Doctor Neo Cortex who sometimes aids him in his quest for world domination. She is voiced by Susan Silo in "Crash Twinsanity", Amy Gross in  the Radical Entertainment games, and Debi Derryberry in "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled" and the DS version of "Crash of the Titans". Nina Cortex was originally created and designed by Duke Mighten for Traveller's Tales as a playable character in "Crash Nitro Kart" before development duties of the game were transferred to Vicarious Visions. During her conception it was undecided whether she would be Neo Cortex's daughter or niece, hence the deliberate discrepancies regarding her relationship with Cortex in "Crash Twinsanity". As everyone kept referring to her as Neo's niece, the label stuck and became official. Her  appearance was based on one of the designers working at Traveller's Tales. Nina's introduction in "Crash Twinsanity" was met with a positive response among critics. James B. Pringle of IGN said that Nina "almost steals the show with her sassy skip and her "Bionic Commando"-like extension arm" and admitted that he "actually wouldn't mind seeing more of Nina in the future." Nick Valentino of GameZone praised her as "an inventive character", a "very welcome addition to the series" and "one of the many highlights this game has to offer". He also compared her bionic arms to "Bionic  Commando". Nitros Oxide. Nitros Oxide is the main antagonist of "Crash Team Racing". He is an extraterrestrial from the planet Gasmoxia who claims to be the fastest driver in the galaxy, and challenges Crash and his friends to race him under the threat of the Earth being turned into a concrete parking lot and its inhabitants enslaved. He also appears as a boss character in "Crash Bash" and as a playable character in "Crash Nitro Kart". He is voiced by David Anthony Pizzuto in "Crash Team Racing", by Quinton Flynn in "Crash Nitro Kart", and by Corey Burton from "Crash  Team Racing Nitro-Fueled" onwards. Evil Twins. The Evil Twins, Victor and Moritz, are the main antagonists of "Crash Twinsanity". Originally Cortex's pet parrots, they were transported to the Tenth Dimension during Cortex's first experiment with the Evolvo-Ray and mutated by the environment's "reverso-radiation". Years later, they attempt to exact revenge on Cortex and destroy the Wumpa Islands, but are defeated by Crash, Cortex and Nina, and they are eaten by an evil version of Crash. Both twins are voiced by Quinton Flynn. Supporting protagonists. Polar. Polar is a polar bear cub that Crash uses  as a mount in certain levels of "Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back" and the "Bears Repeating" level of "Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time". He appears as a playable character in "Crash Team Racing" and "Crash Nitro Kart". Polar is voiced by Debi Derryberry in "Crash Nitro Kart" and Misty Lee in "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled". Pura. Pura is a South China tiger cub that Coco uses as a mount in the China-themed levels of "Crash Bandicoot: Warped". He appears as a playable character in "Crash Team Racing", "Crash Nitro Kart" and "Crash Boom Bang!". Pura  is voiced by Paul Greenberg in "Crash Nitro Kart" and by Misty Lee in "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled". Baby T. Baby T is a young "Tyrannosaurus" that Crash uses as a mount in some prehistoric-themed levels of "Crash Bandicoot: Warped". He appears as a playable character in "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled", in which he is voiced by Ike Amadi. Quantum Masks. The Quantum Masks − consisting of Lani-Loli, Akano, Kupuna-Wa and Ika-Ika − are a group of extra-dimensional masks who appear in "" and can give Crash and Coco a unique power. Lani-Loli  is a worrisome, panic-prone mask who can phase objects in and out of existence. Akano is a stoic and terse mask who can grant Crash and Coco a powerful "Dark Matter Spin" that allows them to glide. Kupuna-Wa is an omniscient mask with an elderly woman's personality who can temporarily slow the flow of time. Ika-Ika is a two-faced mask with separate personalities − one a mild-mannered old man and the other a self-deprecating and negative young man − who can reverse gravity. Lani-Loli is voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz; Kupuna-Wa  is voiced by Cherise Boothe; Akano is voiced by Fred Tatasciore and Ika-Ika's old and young halves are respectively voiced by Tatasciore and Zeno Robinson. Supporting antagonists. Doctor N. Gin. Doctor N. Gin is the ill-tempered right-hand man of Doctor Neo Cortex, replacing Doctor Nitrus Brio after "Crash Bandicoot". A former defense industry physicist, a nuclear missile lodged itself into his head during a failed experiment. N. Gin was able to retool the missile into a life support system, though the missile tends to go off during fits of anger. N. Gin often appears as a  boss character, usually battling Crash and his friends with large mechas. N. Gin is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in the Naughty Dog games, by Corey Burton in "Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex", "Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy", "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled" and "Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time", by Quinton Flynn in "Crash Nitro Kart" and "Crash Twinsanity", and by Nolan North in the Radical Entertainment games. Matthew Hahn, in his book "The Animated Peter Lorre", identified N. Gin as one of several animated caricatures of actor Peter Lorre. Tiny Tiger. Tiny Tiger is a hulking and  brutish thylacine subordinate of Doctor Neo Cortex who often appears as a boss in the mainline games and as a playable character in spin-offs. He is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in the PlayStation games, by John DiMaggio in "Crash Nitro Kart", "Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy" and "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled", by Chris Williams in the Radical Entertainment games, and by Nolan North in the Nintendo DS version of "Crash of the Titans". Doctor Nitrus Brio. Doctor Nitrus Brio is a treacherous subordinate of Doctor Neo Cortex who created the Evolvo-Ray. He often appears as a boss  character who uses chemical concoctions as a weapon and to increase his own power. Brio is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in the Naughty Dog games and "Crash Bash"; Maurice LaMarche in "Crash: Mind over Mutant" and "Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy"; Tom Kenny in "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled"; and Roger Craig Smith in "Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time". Brio was created by Naughty Dog as a foil for Doctor Cortex: "meek to Cortex's strength, logical to Cortex's emotional, successful (his inventions work) to Cortex's failure". Ripper Roo. Ripper Roo is a crazed kangaroo who  was one of Cortex's first experiments with the Evolvo-Ray and Cortex Vortex. Following his initial transformation, Cortex impatiently subjected the dazed and unresponsive Ripper Roo to the Cortex Vortex and switched it to overload for 24 hours, resulting in Ripper Roo's chaotic mental state. Ripper Roo is perpetually bound in a straitjacket and is armed with razor sharp toenails. He is in a constant state of agitated motion, is unpredictable in his behavior and is prone to fits of maniacal chortling. Ripper Roo appears as a boss character in "Crash Bandicoot", "Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back  and Crash Team Racing", and as an obstacle in the "El Pogo Loco" level of "Crash Bash". Ripper Roo's laughter in the original PlayStation titles is a sample of a hyena (voiced by Dallas McKennon) from the 1955 film "Lady and the Tramp". He is voiced by Jess Harnell in the "Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy" and by Andrew Morgado in "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled". Papu Papu. Papu Papu is the obese and short-tempered chief of N. Sanity Island's native tribe of Lemurian descendants. Although formerly a great warrior, he has become lazy and content to  let Cortex's activities go unnoticed by his tribe, attributing the increasing pollution and shortage of fish to divine retribution. He appears as a boss character in "Crash Bandicoot", "Crash Team Racing" and "Crash Bash". In "Crash Twinsanity", he captures Cortex after he stumbles into his village, and orders Crash's capture after Crash rescues Cortex. Papu Papu is voiced by producer David Siller in "Crash Bandicoot", by David Anthony Pizzuto in "Crash Team Racing" and by Dwight Schultz from "Crash Twinsanity" onwards. Komodo Brothers. The Komodo Brothers, Joe and Moe, are a pair of mutated scimitar-wielding Komodo dragons  who appear as boss characters in "Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back" and "Crash Bash"; Joe appears alone as a boss character in "Crash Team Racing". Joe is lean and smart while Moe is large and strong. Joe is voiced by David Anthony Pizzuto in "Crash Team Racing". Moe is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in "Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back" and "Crash Bash". Both brothers are voiced by Fred Tatasciore in the "Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy" and "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled". Pinstripe Potoroo. Pinstripe Potoroo is a potoroo clad in a red pinstripe suit and often armed  with a tommy gun. He appears as a boss character in "Crash Bandicoot" and "Crash Team Racing" and as a playable character in "Crash Boom Bang!". Pinstripe is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in "Crash Bandicoot" and "Crash Team Racing," by Jess Harnell in the "Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy", and by Robbie Daymond in "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled". Koala Kong. Koala Kong is a mutant koala who was Cortex's second experiment with the Evolvo-Ray, which granted him super-strength. As Cortex was reluctant to subject Kong to the Cortex Vortex following his failure with Ripper Roo, he  allowed Kong's brain to develop at its own pace. Kong then acquired a fixation with the "Rocky" film series and adopted Rocky Balboa's persona, adopting a New York accent, addressing everyone he speaks to as "Adrianna", and a determination that makes him a durable foe. Koala Kong appears as a boss character in "Crash Bandicoot" and as a playable character in "Crash Bash" and "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled". He is voiced by Fred Tatasciore in the "Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy" and "Nitro-Fueled". Elementals. The Elementals − consisting of Rok-Ko, Wa-Wa, Py-Ro and  Lo-Lo − are a group of evil masks revived by Uka Uka in "" to act as a power source for Crunch Bandicoot. They are sealed away once more by Crash's efforts. Rok-Ko, Wa-Wa, Py-Ro and Lo-Lo are respectively voiced by Thomas F. Wilson, R. Lee Ermey, Mark Hamill and Jess Harnell. They reappeared in "Crash Bandicoot: On the Run" as mini-bosses, working alongside Uka Uka.