Summary
From being the PlayStation’s unofficial mascot to a multi-platform marsupial,Crash Bandicoothas gone through many games. From racers to party games, he’s almost done it all. But they couldn’t outdo the original PS1 trilogy. Or at least not their 2017 remakes in theCrash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy.
Vicarious Visions’ reworking of Naughty Dog’s games finally reached Xbox Game Pass on May 09, 2025, making the trilogy a must-have for people with the subscription service. Whether they do or don’t, they might be curious about just who Crash has been spinning, sliding, and “Woah”-ing against for nearly thirty years. Out of all his different enemies, these are his best foes.
8Crunch Bandicoot
Crash’s Bigger, Badder Brother From Another Mother
Crunch Bandicootis one of the fewpost-Naughty Dog charactersto catch on in the series, though he was only a villain in his first game,Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. He’s basically what Cortex wanted Crash to be: a giant, strong bandicoot with enough brain cells to manipulate them into doing his bidding.
Just as Crash gains powers from Aku Aku andCrash 4’s Quantum Masks, Crunch combines with the Elementals to turn into different super-powered forms in an attempt to crunch Crash. Once he broke free from Cortex’s control, he became a good guy, but he was neat as a dark mirror image of Crash.
7Tiny Tiger
Ironic Name For A Giant Beast
Before Crunch, there wasTiny Tiger. Like the former marsupial, he’s a big, fearsome brute. Unlike Crunch, he’s someone dumber than Crash. With his bulk and fearsome looks, he’s all brute strength and no strategy beyond chasing down Crash. As such, his boss fights often have a simple pattern that savvy players can use against him.
They could lure him into pitfalls inCrash 2, or dodge his leaping trident strikes inCrash: Warped. Yet he fits in well as the archetypal big grunt, having the fierce factor that older heavies like Koala Kong lacked. That is, if fans don’t count his laterCrash of the Titansredesign that made him look like a plushy in a military uniform.
6N.Gin
Every mad scientist needs their Igor, and after working with N.Brio inCrash 1, Dr. Cortex moved on to the notoriousN.GinforCrash 2. He’s a famous physicist, though his true passion seems to be engineering, as he loves using various mechs and vehicles against the Bandicoot and his friends.
He tried to vaporize Crash with one inCrash 2, before finding out it didn’t do so well against Wumpa fruit. His Advanced Mech inCrash: Warpedwas more resilient with its multiple missiles, though it still got wrecked by Coco, Crash’s sister. Even his Doom Rig and Weapon of Mass Percussion inCrash 4couldn’t outdo them. Still, he can always be relied on to provide one mechanical menace or another for a boss fight or two.
5N.Brio
Potion-Mixing Menace
Dr. Nitrus Brio, orN.Briofor short, was Cortex’s original right-hand man before he worked against him inCrash 2. Then he followed N.Tropy inCrash Twinsanitybefore going back to Cortex forCrash Bash,Crash 4, andCrash: Mind Over Mutant. His allegiances are as volatile as his potions. He’s mostly been overshadowed by N.Gin, as he’s had fewer appearances and his exploding beakers and transformations aren’t quite as worrying as N.Gin’s giant rockets.
But he’s earned a higher spot from his appearance inCrash: Mind Over Mutant. His manic behavior was turned up to eleven in that game, and he had the best lines from realizing what “N.Brio” sounds like, to saying he wrote the Bible. It made him the best character in an otherwise average game. Since then, he’s been just as manic, though not quite as wacky as before.
4Dingodile
Aussie Animal Merc With A Penchant For Blasters
With Cortex’s interest in marsupials, theCrashgames are generally thought totake place in Australia. Or at least close to the Land Down Under, as it has as many Polynesian themes as it does kangaroos and potoroos. That said, only one character has an Aussie accent in the games, and that’sDingodile.
He’s a dingo-crocodile hybrid who, though thought to be made by Cortex, works for himself. But if someone’s offering him the chance to flame fools with his flamethrower, he’s unlikely to say so. This explains why he briefly allied himself with the Bandicoot inCrash 4.That said, he’s made his name as one of Crash’s most persistent foes, using a variety of blasting weapons to bring his lives down to zero.
3N.Tropy
Time-Twisting Scientist With A Vain Streak
Nefarious Tropy, orN.Tropyfor short, puts theWarpedinCrash Bandicoot: Warpedin more ways than one. With his Time Twister Machine, he’s the reason Crash and Coco had to travel to different eras to get as many gems and crystals as possible to stop him, Cortex, and Uka Uka from taking over the world in the past, present, and future.
He was essentially Cortex’s more competent rival, to the point where he booted the diminutive doctor in favor of hisalternate-timeline female selfinCrash 4. It helped him come into his own as a villain as he tried to reset all timelines into one of his own making. Before then, he had sparing appearances, from brainwashing Crash’s friends in the GBA gameCrash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, and as a dual boss fight with N.Brio inCrash Twinsanity.
2Uka Uka
The True Source Of Evil In Crash’s World
Given Crash has a magical mask called Aku Aku, it made sense to make an evil equivalent inUka Uka. He comes out of the blue, breaking free from his underground prison inCrash: Warpedby the fallen Cortex Vortex. It turns out he was the true mastermind behind Cortex’s plans. However, disappointed in his failures, he brings in N.Tropy for his own scheme. Since then, he’s often appeared as the key antagonist, driving one peace-breaking plot or another.
He’s also the closest the series has to a scary villain, with his cruel, growling laughs, and his grim relish whenever a player gets a game over inCrash: Warpedand theN.Sane Trilogy. He’s still as cartoony as the rest, though players know things are going to get real when he turns up. That, or he’s about to give the bad guys racing tips inCrash Team Racing.
1Dr. Neo Cortex
Still, the best villain in the series has to be Crash’s first and only true nemesis,Dr Neo Cortex. He’s anevil scientific geniuswho tried mutating animals into his own private army, only to end up creating a wacky bandicoot who’d foil his schemes over and over again. It’s no wonder he ends up feeling so demoralized at the end ofCrash: Warped.
Nonetheless, he keeps on trying to take over the world, be it shrinking it down to fit in his hand inCrash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, or taking control of the Quantum Masks in a last-ditch effort to undo Crash’s creation inCrash 4. Often frustrated, often sad, but always evil, aCrashgame without Dr. Cortex would be like making one without Crash himself.
