Papu Papu

"Papu much tired of watching puny slugs race so slow! Papu want in action, to lay boom down big! And prove Papu is world's best driver. Papu move so fast, you munch tracks."

- Papu Papu

Papu Papu is the leader of the tribesmen who appears on N. Sanity Island. He lives in the Native Village along with the other tribesmen.

Crash Bandicoot
Papu Papu's first appearance was in Crash Bandicoot, where he is the first boss. He is infuriated when Crash awakens him from his slumber in his throne. Papu Papu attacks Crash and a battle ensues. Papu Papu uses his tribal staff to fight Crash; however, the marsupial outsmarts and defeats him by knocking him out. This is accomplished by jumping on his head when his staff is down on the ground.

In the game's epilogue, he sells the castle ruins of Cortex Castle and opens the Big & Tall Shop to raise more money.

Crash Bandicoot (manga)
Papu Papu appears in the first issue only. He tends to add "papu" to the end of his sentences when he speaks. Crash and Aku Aku arrive at his hut by crashing through the ceiling, landing right on top of Papu Papu. He at first claims not to want any trouble, but feels insulted and attacks when Crash says they don't have time to talk to him. He swings at Crash with his staff, but their battle soon turns into a dance. He is eventually defeated when Crash baits him with a "flame spin attack", then spins him from behind. Afterwards, Papu Papu points them in the direction of Cortex Castle on a faraway island.

Crash Team Racing


Papu Papu reappears in CTR as the second boss in the game. His home track is Papu's Pyramid in The Lost Ruins. He throws both green and red beakers to try to slow his opponent down, both by dropping them and by throwing them backwards. Like Tiny, Dingodile, and Doctor Nefarious Tropy, Papu Papu was a speedy racer at the expense of poor turning and acceleration. He can be unlocked by completing the Green Gem Cup in adventure mode or by holding L1 + R1 buttons while pressing Left, Triangle, Right, Down, Right, Circle, Left, Left and Down on the main menu. His kart is yellow.

After the events of CTR, he became a wrestler and changed his name to "Mr. Bad Belly". Unfortunately, his signature move, the Bad Belly Bounce, was eventually banned after several of its victims suffered severe rope friction burns.

Crash Bash
In Bash, Papu Papu is summoned by Uka Uka as the first boss of the game. His battle arena is similar to boards like Jungle Bash, etc. He is surrounded by a ring of fire for protection. He summons Crash clones to fight the player. When they are defeated, Papu Papu laughs, disabling the fire and leaving him vulnerable. At this time, he must be hit with a block or TNT. After the third hit, he is ultimately defeated when a block crushes him. After suffering injuries, he goes back to leading his tribe.

Crash Twinsanity
Papu Papu has a minor appearance in Twinsanity. He is first seen when Doctor Neo Cortex reveals he envies the life of the tribesmen in Totem Hokum. Cortex later bumps into Papu Papu, who captures him, takes him to the native village, and has him tied to a totem pole. Crash storms the village and uses a worm to save Cortex. After Crash frees him and destroys the totem pole, Papu Papu sends the rest of the tribe after the Bandicoot.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
Papu Papu returned as a boss in the N. Sane Trilogy. While his boss fight in the remake of Crash Bandicoot is similar to the original one, Papu Papu now sports five hit points instead of three (like in the Japanese version of the original game) and will spin around in the air before collapsing on his back upon his defeat, allowing Crash to use him like a trampoline.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
Papu Papu retains his role as The Lost Ruins' boss, instead being carried by his servants as he meets the player character. He is also unlocked upon being beaten, and retains his stats as a speed-type character. In his new epilogue, he still becomes a professional wrestler under the moniker of Mr. Bad Belly. His signature Big Bad Belly Bounce would be so popular that it created world-wide dance phenomena.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
Papu Papu is referenced to in It's About Time. While he himself isn't depicted, in the level Rush Hour, a holographic sign with the word "Papu" on it can be seen in the background. A small gold triangle is also on the sign, which is likely referencing Papu's Pyramid.

Physical appearance
Papu Papu is large, and has tan skin. He sports a green skirt, red cuffs on his arms, a mask above his head, wields a scepter, has red tattoos on his cheeks, red lips, and has a collar on his neck. In the first game, his scepter is depicted brown, with a yellow ball, and multicolored feathers. His mask is blue, with red eyes, and has black feathers on top of it. His collar is light-blue with dark blue stripes. In Crash Team Racing, his appearance is slightly different, as his mask is purple instead of blue, and his collar has his dark blue replaced with white. For some reasons, his racing model depicts the feathers on his mask are purple. In Crash Bash, his appearance was changed again, as the mask on top of his head and his cuffs are yellow instead of blue and red, within the former having pink eyes, and his collar is pink and purple instead of light-blue and dark blue. In Crash Twinsanity, his collar resembles a blue necklace with a red gem, his mask is still yellow, except that it has blue eyebrows and nose, the eyes are changed back to the red color, and the feathers are red, yellow and blue. He has tattoos on his arms instead of cuffs, and his skirt has a red emblem representing his mask, and is more detailed than previously. In Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy, his appearance is changed again with more tattoos on his body, the ball on his scepter is replaced with a skull, and his skirt is composed of four sheets attached to a rope.

Personality
Papu is an arrogant and short-tempered village chief. He is bilingual, capable of speaking at least two languages: English and his own native language. In Crash Team Racing, Papu speaks in third-person and with lack of pronouns, much like Tiny Tiger. In Crash Twinsanity, however, he speaks his native language, though mostly only to the tribesmen of his village. He is capable of building and operating a race-kart and has knowledge of magic.

He is generally a neutral character, but initiates conflict if disturbed. Crash's trespassing into his village is prone to angering him, although Uka Uka seems to be in good terms with him as seen in CTR and Crash Bash. He aspires rule his tribe in peace and be left alone.

Crash Bandicoot
“We think Papu Papu is native for “Pass me that dish again, mate.” This animated mountain of a feller has a fuse as short as he is big.”
 * Manual

Appearances

 * Crash Bandicoot
 * Crash Bandicoot (manga)
 * Crash Team Racing
 * Crash Bash
 * Crash Twinsanity
 * Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
 * Crashmoji
 * Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
 * Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled Digital Comic
 * Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (referenced)

Gallery
See: Papu Papu/Gallery

Trivia

 * In the Japanese version of Crash Bandicoot, Papu Papu has 5 hit points instead of 3 and he swings faster whenever he gets hit, making him harder to beat. This was carried over to N. Sane Trilogy.
 * Papu Papu, along with Komodo Joe, Pinstripe, Penta Penguin, and Ripper Roo do not return as racers in Crash Nitro Kart.
 * Papu Papu is the first boss ever fought in a Crash Bandicoot game.
 * He has had many headdress variations in each one of his appearances.
 * In Crash Bash, Uka Uka refers to him as "an old friend".
 * Out of all the human characters in the series he is the most normal looking one having neither a strange skin color nor any metal parts on his body.
 * He has made a total of 4 appearances in the series, appearing in two main series games and two spin-offs.
 * In Crash Bash he has his yellow hair ornament which was seen in his artwork for Crash Bandicoot.
 * In some early copies of CTR Papu Papu had a different icon: his mouth was a darker shade of red and the hair ornament was a blackish grey.
 * Papu Papu is the only human boss in CTR, as well as in Crash Bash.
 * Crash Twinsanity is the only game Papu Papu is in where he is not featured as a boss.
 * The original CTR is the only time Papu appears without his staff. Every other game he appears in, including the newly remade CTRNF, features an appearance by the chief's signature weapon.
 * In addition to ruling over his tribe, Papu Papu is hinted to be a shaman or have some sort of magical connection. In Crash Bash he's able to cause tremors, generate a fire shield, and summon Crash-like minions out of thin air. Later appearances beginning with the N. Sane Trilogy add a glow to his headdress and staff.
 * In the design bible for Crash Bandicoot under the placeholder name, Willy Wombat, Papu Papu was described as a warrior in his youth and that Aku Aku was once a member of his tribe.