Crash Bandicoot (character)

Crash Bandicoot is the titular character and main protagonist of the Crash Bandicoot series. Originally planned to be named Willie the Wombat, he is an Eastern Barred Bandicoot living on N. Sanity Island, who was captured and evolved by Doctor Neo Cortex.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) Naughty Dog once referenced the development of Crash as a character both "goofy yet heroic", and being able to portray it very well.
 * 2) He can spin into place, creating a tornado, which helps him fight against enemies that can kill him in one shot.
 * 3) He always finds a way to defeat bosses, no matter how ridiculous or powerful.
 * 4) * In which, his clownish status has shown that a lot like Donald Duck or Tom from Tom & Jerry: he serves as a constant reminder for all of us to be brave, keep searching, hold family close, and never give up no matter how great the odds are against you; in which shows when trying to do his best and succeeds at this in some games where he can be pretty accident-prone because of something out of his control.
 * 5) His iconic dance which he does after completing every level is timeless.
 * 6) He has saved the world multiple times from numerous maniacal villains like Dr. Neo Cortex, his archenemy, and creator.
 * 7) He is a very emotional character who is quick to laugh and quick to cry.
 * 8) 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.
 * 9) His design is crazy yet funny at the same time.
 * 10) Just Like Earthworm Jim: his cartoony elements relating to slapstick comedy/etc are downright enjoyable and hilarious
 * 11) His "Woah!" catchphrase became an internet meme.
 * 12) He genuinely cares about his little sister Coco, and will stop at nothing if the bad guys threaten her or her life.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Crash's personality is sometimes hard to pinpoint, sometimes varying from game to game.
 * 2) Like Sonic, he barely looks like the animal he's supposed to be and looks more like some kind of goofy fox.
 * 3) He was flanderized in Crash Tag Team Racing (the Radical Entertainment Era to be precise), where he is portrayed as demented in and took pleasure in torturing innocent animals, park drones, and even himself (it should be noted that the game is criticized for its over-caricaturistic or even complete change in character personalities), but at least he still keeps his original goofy personality overall.
 * 4) * This was mentioned because Crash was even more flanderized in other media like the Skylanders cartoon {compared to the video game counterpart of him being more like his original counterpart & being revived in the Skylanders game strangely enough}; Instead of being a zany, slapstick-prone idiot-hero; he was instead depicted as a so-calledly brilliant, guileful & deliberately charismatic hero who can talk in an articulate and curious manner (Which was not his character whatsoever, even for how Crash was able to skillfully defeat his bosses with his bravery in the original games). This also presents how he was not as lovable he was with being "goofy" and "action-loving" like his original counterpart. He seemed to be more of a generic (if tolerable) Australian Guile-Hero with downplayed goofiness, humor & expressions rather than his originally crazed, silly personality. {This was better explained by Caddicarus in his video of The Depressing World of Bad Crash Bandicoot Games}

Trivia

 * Crash was originally named Willy the Wombat. During production of the first game, the marketing director of Universal Interactive Studios insisted that Crash be named "Wez the Wombat," "Wuzzles the Wombat," or "Wizzy the Wombat." Crash was given his final name due to his tendency to crash onto crates. Ultimately, the name Crash was chosen after an ultimatum between Naughty Dog and Universal, who were in favor of the original name. Internally, throughout all of Naughty Dog's games, Crash is still named "willy."
 * At the time of its initial release, the character was considered the "unofficial mascot" of Sony, rivaling Nintendo's Mario and Sega's Sonic.
 * Crash's "wacky" mental state has often been attributed to his exposure to the at-the-time imperfect Cortex Vortex. This has never been concretely stated within the series however, nor has Crash's personality prior to the Cortex Vortex ever been seen.