Venus Fly Trap



The Venus Fly Trap, or VFT for short, is a poorly known but memorable enemy seen in the games Crash Bandicoot 1, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, CTR, and has a cameo appearance in the first "Jak and Daxter" Game, all games of which were made by Naughty Dog.

Story Games
Venus Fly Traps are mostly known in the series for being a common enemy, and they are always seen on N. Sanity Island, where they use their basic attack, Biting.

Crash Bandicoot (Game)
The Venus Fly Trap first appeared in the first Crash Bandicoot Game. There were three kinds; One that was obviously on land (Land-Traps), and two on the water's surface (Water-Traps). The Land-Trap's head was Colored red with white spots and its stem and leaves were green. The Water-Trap acted like a lily-pad. There were two kinds for the latter - One with green leaves, and another with blue leaves. They also had red heads like their terrestrial cousins. The green-leaved VFT kept its mouth open until it has the opportunity to eat its prey, namely Crash (if you stayed there too long). The blue-leaved VFT kept opening-and-clamping its mouth every 3 seconds, so you would have to time your jumps to avoid getting eaten. The Land-Trap usually appeared in Jungle Levels like Jungle Rollers or levels like Native Fortress, while the Water-Traps appeared in river levels including Up the Creek.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
The Venus Fly Trap reappeared in Cortex Strikes Back, but its looks changed a little; Its Stem and leaves were still green, but its head color was changed to Purple. Why this change was made is currently unknown. It was often seen in levels like Hang Eight and Air Crash.

The VFT had a relative, a plant that, instead of trying to bite Crash, shot seeds like bullets at long range. When at close quarters, the bullet-shooting plant would lower its head and raise spikes to defend itself. However, Crash would simply have to Body-Slam it to defeat it.

Crash Twinsanity
The VFT appeared n Twinsanity as a much larger relative of it, that would bite when Crash was at a Distance. If they are spun or defeated, they will screech and green fluids will fly from them and it would fall down and stay there throughout the whole level.

Racing Series
VFTs are most less known for their minor appearance in a Single Crash Racing Game, using their same Biting attack as a Hazard.

Crash Team Racing
The Venus Fly Trap was also seen in CTR, but only in the Papu's Pyramid track. If you drove too close, the plant would swallow you whole, spitting out only the wheels. Its colors were the same as in Cortex Strikes Back (Purple Head and Green Stem-and-Leaves).

Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage
Venus Fly Traps are common enemies in the First World, Wumpa Village, still repeating their Basic attack.

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
The Crash 2 VFT can be seen in a Hut in the Game, why it appears in the Hut is because of Naughty Dog deciding to have a Cameo of the Crash series in the Jak and Daxter series.

 

Trivia

 * The Venus Fly Trap is very similar to Nintendo's Piranha Plant in appearance, etc. Fans sometimes prefer to call it a Piranha Plant as well, or, because the games it appears in are of the PlayStation console, a PlayStation Piranha Plant. It might also be called an N. Sanity Piranha Plant.
 * Its head-color change could be so as to tell the difference between Crash Bandicoot's Venus Fly Trap and Nintendo's Piranha Plant.


 * It is unknown whether or not the Venus Fly Trap was one of the creatures affected by the Evolvo-Ray, made by Doctor Nitrus Brio. Its more ferocious appearance than its real-life counterpart could be evidence that it evolved via the Evolvo-Ray.
 * The same Venus Fly Trap model used in Crash Bandicoot 2 was later reused in another game by Naughty Dog, Jak & Daxter: The Precursor's Legacy.