Polar

 ''This article is for Polar. You may be looking for the reboot counterpart.''

Polar is a polar bear cub from the Crash Bandicoot series. Being Crash's pet, he helped Crash get through various dangerous icy passageways. Debuting in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, he has appeared in many kart racing titles, and has made assorted cameos in other mainstream Crash Bandicoot titles.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
In Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Polar makes his first appearance in the snow-themed warp room. If a player body slams on Polar only one time, the player will get an extra 10 lives. Polar also appears as Crash's transportation in the levels Bear It (level 8), Bear Down (level 13), and secret level, Totally Bear (level 26). He also appears in the last quarter of Un-Bearable (level 15), where Crash must ride him to get away from a much bigger polar bear. After the adventure, Crash took Polar in as a pet off-screen.

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
In Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, Polar only appears in the opening cut-scene where he gets woken up from sleep hearing Uka Uka's evil laugh. He then appears in the lounge of the Bandicoot House listening to Aku Aku's story about his history with Uka Uka. Polar for some reason is seen running out when Aku Aku, Crash and Coco are heading to the Time Twister, but he gets left behind and he looks slightly frustrated at this. His final appearance is in the full ending where he is seen in the lounge next to Crash again with everyone, including new fellow pets Pura and Baby T.

Crash Team Racing
Polar is a playable character in Crash Team Racing. His home track is Polar Pass. Along with Pura and Ripper Roo, his best stat is handling, and as such, he is classified as a character for beginners. He is one of the eight starter characters, and can be chosen as the player's character in the Adventure mode where Aku Aku is his tutor. In the opening cut-scene he can be seen in his kart, reading a book called "How to Drive" upside down. In the epilogue, it is revealed that he becomes a taste tester for an unnamed leading ice cream company.

Stats:
Speed: 2/5

Acceleration: 3/5

Turning: 5/5

Difficulty: Beginner

Crash Bash
In Crash Bash, polar bears that appear identical to Polar are ridden in the Polar Push mini-games. Since there are several of these bears, however, they cannot actually be Polar.

Crash Twinsanity
In Crash Twinsanity, he is seen at Cortex's gathering of villains and holding a baseball bat. Most people thought this was because of being left behind in Warped or because of being constantly ridden on by Crash in the second game. However, the creators said he was put in there as a joke for fun so could just be classed as a random polar bear.

Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure
In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, Crash rides Polar in the middle sections of Frostbite Cavern, Snow Crash and Snow Job, while being chased by a yeti.

Crash Nitro Kart
In Crash Nitro Kart, Polar was brainwashed by N. Trance, along with Dingodile and Pura, into racing for Team Trance. However, in the Team Bandicoot ending, he is shown relaxing on the beach with Crash, Coco and Crunch, revealing that he eventually escaped his brainwashing, and also assuming Pura escaped too but he does not appear in any cutscenes like Fake Crash and N.Tropy. Similar to Crash Team Racing, he excels in handling. Polar can be unlocked by winning the Blue Gem Cup. He has good turning like Coco, N. Gin, Zam and Pura.

In Crash Nitro Kart, Polar is seen showing traits of cowardice. Examples of this are present when he has his head down during a particularly high jump. It is believed that this trait stems from being under the hypnosis of N. Trance, and is not present when he is not under his mind control. Polar appears to be much more insane and psychotic in this game because of the mind control, rather like Dingodile.

Stats:
Speed: 2/7

Acceleration: 4/7

Turning: 6/7

Difficulty: Beginner

Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage
Polar makes a cameo in Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage as a trading card.

Crash Boom Bang!
In Crash Boom Bang, Polar makes a cameo as part of the Silhouette Quiz minigame. He is shown as an anthropomorphic and wearing jean shorts, similar to Pura's new look.

Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D
Polar appears as a playable racer in Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D. He drives the Der Pickle kart from Crash Tag Team Racing.

Crash Bandicoot
Crash initially used Polar as transportation during his second adventure twice. The third time around, Polar willingly helped him escape a larger polar bear and Crash was grateful for it. He then took Polar in as a pet and he's been loyal to his master ever since.

In Crash Nitro Kart, despite being brainwashed into racing for N. Trance, Polar does not show any signs of malice towards any of the characters, suggesting that he became a neutral character, rather than an evil one for this game.

Trivia

 * Polar barks like a dog, just like Pura meows and makes noises like a cat.
 * In Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, he sits outside the a warp portal and isn't shown going in them after Crash, but he still arrives in the level before Crash does.
 * In Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, if the player jumps on Polar seven times, the player will earn ten extra lives.
 * Even though Polar is seen upset at Crash in Crash Twinsanity, the creators revealed that was just a joke to put in for fun.
 * Polar was originally going to appear in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, but he was cut for unknown reasons.
 * In the beta version of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Polar used to say "nyeh" instead of him barking like a dog. This was most likely a placeholder, as the creators may not have had a voice actor for him yet.
 * Polar is one of the 2 pets under Crash's care: the other being Baby T.