N. Gin

N. Gin (Japanese: エヌ・ジン/Enu jin) (spelt 'N-Gin' in Crash Tag Team Racing and Crash of the Titans) is an insane cyborg lackey who stands in for giving assistance to Doctor Neo Cortex when he starts, replacing Doctor Nitrus Brio after the events of Crash Bandicoot as his right-hand man. As of Crash: Mind over Mutant, he has been replaced (without his knowledge) by the very person he succeeded.

Pre-series history
As a child, N. Gin was a classmate of Cortex and Brio in Madame Amberly's Academy of Evil. After working at a stapler factory for a time, N. Gin went on to become a world-renowned physicist in the defense industry. However, due to a budget cut, one of his missile projects ended up faulty and, as a result, went awry, lodging itself into N. Gin's head. With his intellect, N. Gin was able to stabilize the weapon and reconstruct it as a life support system at the cost of his sanity. Because the missile is still live, it activates whenever N. Gin is stressed or angry, leaving him with a large headache (a trait inspired by creator Jason Rubin's own chronic migraine headaches). Shortly after the missile incident, N. Gin was taken in by Doctor Neo Cortex to replace the double-crossed Nitrus Brio.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
In Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, N. Gin studies a large Crystal found by Doctor Neo Cortex after his defeat to Crash Bandicoot and discovers that 25 smaller "Slave Crystals" are needed alongside this "Master Crystal" in order to power Cortex's new "Cortex Vortex" device. When Crash is ordered by Doctor Cortex to give the Crystals he has gathered to N. Gin, N. Gin attempts to take the Crystals by force, by using a heavily armed mech, leading Crash to believe that N. Gin was one of Nitrus Brio's minions. As a result, Crash sent N. Gin's mech into the vacuum of space using Wumpa Fruit. N. Gin also tries to stop Coco's holograms from getting through, but is unsuccessful. N. Gin then joins Cortex's next plot.

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
In Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, N. Gin constructs a superior model suit of mobile armor called the Advanced Mech that can transform into a space fighter and dock with a huge weapon platform.

N. Gin uses this machine to confront Coco Bandicoot, only to fail once again, falling out of his mech; he screams "Aaargh! Not again!". During his second form, Pura comes into view of Coco Bandicoot's craft, seemingly adding another gun to it.

Crash Team Racing
N. Gin is a playable character in Crash Team Racing, driving a violet high-acceleration kart. His home track is N. Gin Labs. After Oxide was defeated, N. Gin opened a custom auto parts store in Toledo, Ohio, which closed after his "Clear-the-Road" missile system was recalled when it caused havoc on many freeways.

Stats:
Speed: 4/7

Acceleration: 7/7

Turning: 3/7

Difficulty: Intermediate

Crash Bash
In Crash Bash, N. Gin appears as an obstacle in N. Ballism, the third Ballistix arena, launching balls at random players. In the crystal challenge, N. Gin launches balls only at the player(s) and not at the AI opponents.

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
In Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, N. Gin is an attendee of Uka Uka's bad guy convention and is, ultimately, the one who reveals the secret of Crunch Bandicoot; Cortex's new super-weapon. For the rest of the game, N. Gin serves as an obstacle in several of the levels. His name is incorrectly spelt N-gen in the instruction manual.

Crash Twinsanity
In Crash Twinsanity, during the very first boss battle, N. Gin is seen operating the Mecha-Bandicoot. Once defeated by the player, he stomps on the center piece and falls through along with the Mecha-Bandicoot. He is not seen until the level High Sea Hi-Jinks where he is commanding his battleship. When seeing him in the ship working, his appearance shows yellow skin and bulges of skin ripping through his vest. After battling N. Gin the second time, he is seen dropping right onto dozens of TNT crates. His final appearance shows him alongside Doctor Nefarious Tropy and Dr. Nitrus Brio inside the Evil Twins' treasure vault, but is soon ran out by Spyro the Dragon.

Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure
In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, N. Gin battles Crash in the skies with a weapon platform similar to the one he piloted in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. He is later merged with Cortex, Tiny and Dingodile, and becomes Mega-Mix. After chasing Crash down a space station hall, Mega-Mix is left inside the space station, which explodes with the villains in it.

Crash Nitro Kart
N. Gin is a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart, driving for Team Cortex, with Cortex, Tiny, and N. Tropy, in a kart with high turning prowess. He has a slight redesign; his cyborg eye is now black with only a red dot instead of a normal eyeball and pupil. In one cutscene, N. Gin considers creating cybernetic sharks as new henchmen after racing Nash. In the end, the trio is stranded on Terra, but eventually return home.

Stats:
Speed: 2/7

Acceleration: 4/7

Turning: 6/7

Difficulty: Beginner

Crash Tag Team Racing
N. Gin is a playable character in Crash Tag Team Racing. He has more of a zombified appearance. In the game's story, N. Gin convinces Cortex to join in the search for Von Clutch's missing Power Gems, so that he can use Von Clutch's theme park as a new base of operations (although Cortex later claims the idea as his own).

His clashed weapon is a rocket launcher. Whilst its fire rate is on the slow side, it makes up for it in its power. Easily being able to destroy unclashed/normal cars in two solid hits whilst still having a decent ammo size of 40 rockets. In the battle arena Jungle Rumble, his weapon is available for use in the center of the arena. As such, he is a good candidate for scoring high on the Rolling Thunder challenges for the race tracks.

His cars are the:
 * Extreme Surplus (Tier 1)
 * Category: Armour (Armor in America)
 * How to unlock: Bring the plutonium to N. Gin in the Midway.
 * Junkulon Prime (Tier 2)
 * Category: Speed
 * How to unlock: Buy the ballerina outfit from Happily Ever Faster.
 * Doom Buggy (Tier 3)
 * Category: Handling
 * How to unlock: Bring his slippers from Tyrannosaurus Wrecks.

Crash of the Titans
"Attention filthy monkeys! I have lost my toast recipe. Repeat, my family recipe for toast has been lost. The butter supply arrives shortly but I'll have nothing to put it on! Somebody help me! I wrote the recipe on a little post-it note, but can't find it. Also, Crash Bandicoot has been sighted, yada yada yada, peace out, homies."

''-N. Gin speaking over his PA system.''

In Crash of the Titans, N. Gin opposes Cortex's replacement by praising Cortex's stationery. N. Gin is next seen in his weapons factory, which appears on the outside as a version of the Statue of Liberty modeled after N. Gin. This factory constantly bombards the surrounding area with all kinds of explosives in an attempt to hinder Crash. Inside the factory, N. Gin communicates to his workers through the factory intercom, making announcements, singing inspirational songs or alerting the workers of Crash's presence. In the factory's crown, N. Gin spends his days performing on his enormous pipe organ. When confronted by Crash and Aku Aku, N. Gin indirectly reveals to them that he has mixed feelings over Cortex's replacement to Nina (due to the acting up of his split personalities); one side likes Cortex and the abuse he brings to him and wishes for his return, while another side approves of Nina's new way of doing things, believing that she is a more efficient leader than Cortex. Eventually, the two sides reach a compromise and tell Crash of Uka Uka's whereabouts in the hope that he will also free Cortex, planning to shower them with doom later on.

Crash: Mind over Mutant
In Crash: Mind over Mutant, N. Gin leads an attack on Crash Bandicoot when Coco and Crunch become addicted to Cortex's and N. Brio's personal digital assistant, fleeing to a small observatory on Wumpa Island afterwards. When Crash and Aku Aku catch up to him, N. Gin reveals that ever since Cortex escaped the Doominator, he has been secretly watching the Bandicoot family and collecting information on them, hoping to be rewarded with the ownership of Wumpa Island if Cortex is triumphant in his current plot. For some reason, he also expresses a desire to eat Coco, calling her "delicious". After Crash fends off N. Gin's army of Ratnicians, N. Gin is sternly told by Aku Aku to leave the island, to which he reluctantly complies. His voice can also be heard in the credits. In the DS version, you can see him as a piece of concept art.

Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage
In Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage, N. Gin appears as a trading card.

Crash Boom Bang!
N. Gin has a cameo appearance in the "Silhouette Quiz" minigame in Crash Boom Bang!.

Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2
N. Gin is a playable racer and has gone back to his classic look but is less detailed. He is unlocked when 37 mission points are acquired.

Personality
During his first appearances, N. Gin is portrayed in a similar light to that of Cortex's previous henchman Nitrus Brio: he is less impulsive than Cortex or Uka Uka and prefers to think over the situation rather than rushing to a solution, which usually leads to a loud rebuttal by his superiors whenever he questions their way of doing things, as shown in the opening cinematics of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, the latter in which N. Gin actually contemplates the fact that Crash Bandicoot might simply be too powerful for him and the others to defeat.

N. Gin's behavior becomes more deranged by Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity, becoming prone to fits of giggling.

In Crash Tag Team Racing, N. Gin is depicted with D.I.D (dissociative identity disorder), sadomasochism and as an extremely effeminate madman, prone to fits of yelling, sobbing, giggling as shown when he is ordered to destroy Crash and his friends and acting with feminine mannerisms and making doomsday weapons out of odd items such as fuzzy slippers. He is shown to have low self-esteem and cross-dressing tendencies, at one point asking Crash to buy him a ballerina outfit so that he can feel more attractive. It's also shown that N. Gin appears to suffer from severe depression (This is evidenced when Crash attacks him, as he will sometimes randomly blurt out that his is happy that Crash is trying to kill him and asks how he can thank him. More evidence to support this is when N. Gin is racing and another racer brushes up against him and he expresses that he likes that they are trying to kill him). Possible reasons for this are because he hates himself (His failed attempts to destroy Crash in the past could be a source), the fact that Cortex constantly ridicules him (He once described N. Gin as having bad complexion, which he seems to take seriously, as he asks Crash for his opinion on the matter). Whether this is a part of his D.I.D characteristic or a stand-alone condition is unknown, as this trait is only seen in Crash Tag Team Racing. It may also be a result of his low self-esteem.

N. Gin briefly shows a misogynistic side when he informs Crash of his sister's whereabouts in Crash of the Titans, expressing disgust at the thought of girls and eventually is disgusted of Coco. This contradicts with a statement he makes over his factory's intercom, in which he expresses a desire for women. On a miscellaneous note, N. Gin enjoys muffins and cupcakes, but hates preppies, citing their music and wavy hair as reasons against them. While N. Gin is a masochist, he only enjoys pain if it is bound to logic, demonstrated by his reaction to Cortex spitting scalding hot tea all over his face despite having dumped his entire tea cup prior to that. He also has a large affiliation with the word "doom".

Also, in Crash of the Titans, he appears to be a bit of a suck-up. This is shown in the cutscene when Cortex is replaced and out of surprise, Cortex spits his drink on N. Gin. Even though he screams out of pain, he says "Thank you master!" and "Agh! Thank you again, hotter then the first!" when Cortex dumps his whole drink on his face, but it is apparent he does have a limit for how much he can tolerate, because when Cortex spits on him again he just says, "Aww, come on, he didn't even have a cup."

Physical Appearance
N. Gin is a stocky, red-haired (black in Crash Tag Team Racing and dark blue as of Crash of the Titans) cyborg with only half a face. He wears attire identical to that of Cortex, with the addition of numerous large bolts located all over his lab coat. Perhaps the most prominent distinguishing feature of N. Gin is the large missile protruding from the right side of his head. This being the result of a near fatal accident, he single-handedly reconstructed it as a life-support system, turning nearly half his head into metal. The missile is still live and was only thought to be activated only when N. Gin was stressed or angry, but as revealed in Crash Tag Team Racing, he can activate the missile at will, usually to stabilize a vehicle. While the eye located on the non-mechanical side of his head is somewhat small, the eye on the other side of his face is large, circular, and with a small black pupil occupying it (although in Crash Nitro Kart, this eye is replaced by a black electronic eye with a red pupil). In terms of height, N. Gin is somewhat shorter than Cortex, but appears to be as tall as him in Crash Tag Team Racing. In the same game, N. Gin's skin takes on a greyish tone, as opposed to the peach/pink of earlier games (Cortex once described N. Gin as "having bad complexion"). An alternate costume in the game depicts N. Gin in a ballerina outfit, bought by Crash to increase his effeminacy and self-esteem. In Crash of the Titans, N. Gin's skin and hair color take on a bluish scheme, and the pupil on the human half of his face is larger. Besides these differences, N. Gin looks similar to what he did in past games. According to the Nintendo DS version of Crash of the Titans, N. Gin is 1.25 meters tall (4 feet, 1 inch) and weighs 63 kilograms (139 pounds).

As a child in the Academy of Evil, N. Gin is shown to have a paper airplane stuck in his head, foreshadowing the missile lodged in his head later in his life. This is revealed in an unlockable piece of concept art in Crash Twinsanity.

Portrayals
N. Gin's voice in most of his appearances is styled after classic movie actor Peter Lorre, who was often regarded as the quintessential simpering, creepy henchman archetype. In the Naughty Dog games, Doctor N. Gin is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in the English versions and by Vincent De Bouard in the French versions. In the English version of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, N. Gin is voiced by Corey Burton, who also voices Doctor Nefarious Tropy in the same game. In Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity, he is voiced by Quinton Flynn in the English versions and by Bernard Bouillon in the French versions. In the games starting with Crash Tag Team Racing, he is voiced by Nolan North in the English versions and by Christophe Lemoine in the French versions. In the Japanese version of the series, he is voiced by Kazuhiro Nakata in his speaking appearances up to Crash Twinsanity and by Mitsuru Ogata (who also voiced Doctor Nitrus Brio and Rilla Roo in the series) in Crash Tag Team Racing.

Quotes
"KILL THE BANDICOOTS. WITH VIOLENCE AND NEW HOSE. HAHAHAHA!

— N. Gin, Crash: Mind over Mutant

Trivia

 * For a time, N. Gin held the record for the most hit points in a boss battle for the boss fight against him in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (5 hitpoints), Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped (5 and 7, equaling 12). This record would be broken by the Deathbot in Crash Twinsanity (6, 4, and 4, equaling 14), Mutated Cortex with 36 hitpoints, and Air Crunch with a whopping 100 hitpoints.
 * Although after Twinsanity, N. Gin's name was spelt 'N-Gin', the mission in Crash: Mind Over Mutant is named "Find N. Gin". this could mean Radical changed it back by then.
 * In all the games he appears in that he has a speaking role in excluding Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, until Crash Twinsanity, N. Gin has a robotic echo on his voice when speaks. However as of Crash Tag Team Racing, the robotic echo on his voice is no longer present.
 * In the Nintendo DS version of Crash of the Titans, when N. Gin is defeated by Crash Bandicoot, the missile in his head explodes, sending him flying around in the style of a deflating balloon.
 * The name N. Gin is a pun on the word "Engine".
 * in Titans and Mind Over Mutant (as mentioned above), N. Gin's personality has become more twisted and demented than in previous titles. A possible reason is if one compares his older models to the Titans one, it appears the missile has gone deeper into his skull, thus causing more psychological damage. This may also explain his pale skin color by the end of the franchise.
 * The human half of N. Gin's head and clothes bears a striking resemblance to Dexter from the Cartoon Network show Dexter's Laboratory. Even his personality is a lot like Dexter's.
 * For some reason, in Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, N. Gin had Tiny's theme, Tiny had Dingodile's theme, and Dingodile had N. Gin's theme. The reason for this mix-up is not explained.
 * N. Gin is one of two characters who appeared at Crash's "birthday" who later appeared as a boss (the other being Dingodile).
 * In Crash of the Titans, N. Gin makes a reference to the cartoon show Invader ZIM, stating over the intercom that Crash and Aku Aku are after his "radioactive rubber pants". Also, his affiliation with the word "doom" might also be an unintended reference to Invader ZIM, since "doom" is used numerous times in both dialogue and episode titles.
 * N. Gin is seen impersonating a Tusken Raider from Star Wars in Crash: Mind Over Mutant when he first appeared with a gang of Ratnicians.
 * In Crash of the Titans, after N. Gin is defeated, he is seen arguing with himself with the camera angles changing every time his other half speaks, which is a parody of the Lord of the Rings movies. In those movies, the creature Gollum argues with his alter-ego, which is exactly what N. Gin does in that cutscene. N. Gin even repeats one of the lines of that movie character, "Master is our friend.". (referring to Doctor Neo Cortex). Then the camera angle changes. "You don't have any friends.", responds his other half.
 * N. Gin's backstory is very likely a reference to Phineas P. Gage, who was involved in an accident that launched a metal tamping bar into his brain, damaging the prefrontal cortex and resulting in a much more sinister personality.
 * The metal plate that covers N. Gin's face shows some inconsistency on the area it covers. In Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, if the player looks closely the metal plating covers the right side of his face, but leaves a bit of his cheek exposed. In Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, in his Time Twister holograms his cheek is now completely covered. This switches between the two occasionally in the other Crash Bandicoot games.
 * The color of N. Gin's missile wings change constantly throughout the series. In his promotional design from Cortex Strikes Back, and in Crash Tag Team Racing, Crash of the Titans, and Mind over Mutant, the missile wings are chrome. In N. Gin's in-game designs from Cortex Strikes Back, Warped, Crash Bash, The Huge Adventure, and Crash Twinsanity, the missile wings are silver. In his out-of-kart model from Crash Team Racing and in Crash Nitro Kart, the missile wings are green. In N. Gin's in-kart model from CTR, the missile wings are red. And in The Wrath of Cortex, the missile wings are black.
 * His name is misspelled as "N. Jin" on the website of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped and in Mind Over Mutant for the DS. Interestingly the name Jin in Japanese terms means "benevolence", but in different characters in the Japanese alphabet can even translated as "demon" or "devil". Something of which N. Gin's role and character in both Crash of Titans and M.O.M has been attributed to.
 * N. Gin seems to dislike Tiny; this is shown in Crash Nitro Kart when N. Gin thinks Tiny broke something and asks him what he broke in a scolding voice. Despite this, Tiny will usually be the character to pair up with N. Gin in Team Race mode.
 * It is never revealed what the "N" actually stands for. In an interview, Jason Rubin said he didn't know what it stood for either but was sure that there were notes around somewhere that revealed the secret. Like most of "N" doctors, N. Gin's first name might be pun for some chemical or mineral in this case nitric acid which sometimes is used for fueling rockets and missiles.
 * According to the Twinsanity concept art, when N. Gin was young, he had a paper plane instead of a missile in his head.
 * N. Gin doesn't seem to acknowledge Nitrus Brio at all. This may be because he was Cortex's original assistant, which would make N. Gin jealous of him. This can be highly supported since Cortex reunited with Brio and abandoned N. Gin on Wumpa Island, there is even a point in a cutscene where N. Gin talks to himself doubting if Cortex has betrayed him or not.
 * In the rather humorous quote: "You don't have any friends! He always kicked you in the tucus...and other GENTLE SPOTS!", hints that Dr. Cortex kicks N. Gin many numerous times in the crotch (much to N. Gin's disturbing pleasure).
 * N. Gin may have trouble with reading (though he can spell letters), shown in a intercom announcement: "En *dash* Gee Eye En. What does that spell? IIIII don't know...Eehehe..."
 * N. Gin in Crash Nitro Kart looks lumpy and distorted in certain cutscenes.
 * Though not canon to the franchise in Crash Tag Team Racing, N. Gin states during the ending credits that he is was named after a state in New England famous for maple syrup. This could mean that the unknown "N" in his name is not real and took on a different name.
 * In CTTR, if the player is having trouble unlocking his third car and talks to him enough, the help text that appears at the top of the screen will state that I'm (referring to the writer of the text) going to go and write some accounting software, and never gives the player any helpful advice for this mission.
 * In one of the gags in CTTR, another N. Gin is formed by the fusion of a Park Drone with a camel.
 * In CTTR, Coco, while interacting with Crash, says "Hi Crash! Do you think N-Gin is cute? I like the way he waddles."
 * N. Gin character development and accent is based off on Dr. Frankenstein's apprentice, Igor who bears a striking resemblance and shares the same accent. It is also known that by the end of the franchise he repetitively refers Cortex as being his "Master" a homage to Igor himself (the quirky personality starts to develop more by Mind Over Mutant).
 * He is the first boss of the series to have a boss fight completely outside the usual platform genre. Instead it uses the same concept as the flying levels Bye Bye Blimps and Mad Bombers.
 * In CTTR, N. Gin name-drops the Blue Oyster Cult song "Don't Fear the Reaper". He then slips into a Christopher Walken impression and claims he needs "more cowbell"; this is a reference to the "More Cowbell" skit on Saturday Night Live, in which famous music producer Bruce Dickinson (played by Christopher Walken) tells fictional band member Gene Frenkle (played by Will Ferrell) that he wants more cowbell in the song.
 * In Warped, during the N. Gin boss fight, he has no 3D model inside the Mech. Instead a 2D sprite is present. It is noticeable when the Mech becomes its second form.
 * It is possible that N. Gin is the most reasonable of all the villains, since in The Wrath of Cortex he said that maybe they should surrender in trying to beat Crash since he is too good for them.