Tawna Bandicoot

"This time, no one will catch me."

- Tawna

Tawna (also known as Tawna Bandicoot) is a genetically mutated eastern barred bandicoot who appears in Crash Bandicoot, Crash Boom Bang!, and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, with cameo appearances in several other games. An alternate universe counterpart of Tawna appears as a playable character in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. She was Crash's girlfriend before eventually leaving him.

Crash Bandicoot
In the first Crash Bandicoot game, after being captured from the wild as a regular bandicoot, she became another mutant creation of Dr. Neo Cortex and Dr. Nitrus Brio. When Tawna's boyfriend Crash escapes and falls out a window after Cortex's bungled attempt to brainwash him, Cortex decides to move on and select Tawna as his replacement. After waking up on N. Sanity Island, Crash is determined to get back to Cortex Castle, save Tawna and thwart Cortex's evil plans of world domination. Tawna appears throughout the game at the end of her bonus levels, but cannot be interacted with.

Once Crash has collected enough gems, he can make his way through The Great Hall and be reunited with her on the balcony that awaits. The two then fly away on a large bird. After Crash defeats Cortex, he is also reunited with Tawna upon the blimp. The couple take the airship and fly into the sunset.

Crash Bandicoot (manga)
As in the source material, Tawna has been taken prisoner at Cortex Castle. She is referred to as Crash's friend, rather than his girlfriend, though Crash later refers to her as his "beloved". She can be seen alongside Dr. Cortex in the first issue, but is not rescued until the second, when Crash breaks into the room where she is held. They appear to have a tearful reunion, until Crash gets distracted by apples instead (much to her annoyance). Tawna offers encouragement to Crash in his battle against Cortex, and begins to cry when she believes he's been crushed under the rubble of the destroyed castle. She is relieved to see he's unharmed, but becomes unsettled when he and Cortex dress up as women in the manga's ending.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex no Gyakushuu!
In the Japanese manual for Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, it is stated that Crash and Tawna broke up leading to her dating Pinstripe, explaining her absence in the game. This is meant to line up with the manga (which was released at the same time). This tidbit is completely absent in any other version of the game, and is mostly exclusive to the Japanese lore of the game outside of a mention in the Official Strategy Guide for Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex and Crash Boom Bang!. Tawna was effectively replaced as the female lead by Coco Bandicoot.

Crash Bandicoot: Dansu! De Jump! Na Daibouken
Tawna is mentioned several times and makes cameos in ''Dansu! De Jump! Na Daibouken'', though she never appears in person. In the first chapter, I'm the Hero!, Crash is dreaming about Tawna congratulating him for saving the world. He wakes up and goes to see where Tawna is, only to find a note from her saying that she's left him for Pinstripe, which sends him into a depression. A pin-up poster of Tawna can also be seen in Crash's room. Tawna doesn't appear again until the final chapter, ''GO! To Outer Space on a JetPack!'', where Crash dreams about Tawna coming back to him and asking him to take her back.

Crash Bandicoot: Warped and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
A picture of Tawna can be spotted in the Bandicoot House on the fireplace, implying that she and Crash are still staying on good terms with each other.

Crash Twinsanity
Tawna only makes a cameo appearance as a picture that appears on the sign of Moulin Cortex. In a deleted scene, Dingodile was going to have dinner with Tawna in his cabin as opposed to just reading a book.

Crash Boom Bang!
She is an unlockable playable character in the game, making her first proper appearance in a Crash game since Crash Bandicoot and her first appearance as a playable character.

Crash: Mind Over Mutant
There is a poster of Tawna inside Crash's house on Wumpa Island.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
Tawna reappears in the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. She is shown as more competent, beating down a lab assistant before being captured in Cortex's castle. She also manages to briefly escape Cortex before being captured again at the end of the Tawna bonus levels.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
Tawna makes an appearance in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled as a Bronze Tier reward in the game's first Grand Prix, Nitro Tour which launched on July 3, 2019. She appears alongside Isabella, Megumi, Ami and Liz to form the Nitro Squad. CTR Nitro-Fueled is the first game to feature Tawna with a voice, revealing her to be a tough, no-nonsense woman determined to win no matter the cost, or the enemy. Completing the Grand Prix also grants her an alternate motorsport-themed costume, which seems to grant her energized power.

If she was not obtained during the Nitro Tour Grand Prix, she can be purchased at the Pit Stop alongside her Motorsport outfit as of the Spooky Grand Prix update.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
Tawna is mentioned after her alternate reality counterpart rescued Crash and Coco from pirates. According to Coco, she and Crash had previously lost contact with their universe's Tawna. A cushion sporting Tawna's mugshot can also been seen at the end of the game's very first Bonus level, atop a sofa where she presumably would have waited for Crash as she did in the bonus stages from the original game.

Personality
Given her limited appearances, her personality is yet to be deeply explored, but small bits of her personality are known.

In her original appearance in Crash Bandicoot, she seems little more than a damsel in distress, being easily held captive by Cortex and waiting for Crash to save her. Even then, she is shown to be a little more than that, as Cortex considered her to be a replacement as his general after Crash's escape.

In the Crash Bandicoot production bible, her intended personality is described in more detail than what was shown in-game. She's described as "the perfect balance between beauty and brains", and is said to have tried inspiring revolution amongst Cortex's minions and reasoning with N. Brio.

In Nitro-Fueled, Tawna is a headstrong, confident bandicoot, willing to do whatever it takes to claim her trophy. She's very self-assured, throwing aside her past as a damsel in distress to do what she really wants. This was also shown to a lesser extent in the N. Sane Trilogy remake of Crash Bandicoot, where she attempts to fight off Lab Assistants attempting to detain her before being outnumbered, and constantly escapes to meet Crash for the Tawna Bonus Stages before being recaptured by Cortex.

Physical Appearance
Tawna is significantly taller than Crash, her long blonde hair and breast size being based on celebrity Pamela Anderson. She has orange fur on her arms and legs, a peach muzzle, green eyes and a small, blonde tail. Her clothing consists of a rose red sleeveless shirt, blue shorts, red socks and brown high-top sneakers. She also has dull rose eyeshadow, long eyelashes and red lipstick.

In Crash Boom Bang!, her shirt was changed to a pink crop top. Her shorts were also made shorter, and her shoes were changed from brown to bright red with white socks. Her eyeshadow was changed to a pale lavender, her ears were made longer, and her muzzle was changed to a cream color.

In the N. Sane Trilogy and Nitro-Fueled, Tawna's design was reverted to her original design, but with a few changes. Her shirt is now magenta and features white trim and a white outline of Crash's mug, her shorts have become denim with a dark brown belt, and her shoes are now red with white socks. Her body shape is also altered a bit, having a smaller chest and hip size, and being more proportionate. Her eyeshadow was made a similar shade of magenta to her shirt, and her lipstick was changed to pink.

Crash Bandicoot

 * Manual

"Love of Crash's life, this unfortunate she-bandicoot is next on the list for experimentation by the nasty Doctors. What's a bandicootess to do (other than pout convincingly) to let her hero know he'd better hurry if he wants somebody to come home to."

Crash Boom Bang!

 * In-Game

"Tawna, the blonde bombshell, is crazy about Pinstripe."

Appearances

 * Crash Bandicoot
 * Crash Bandicoot (manga)
 * Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (NTSC-J manual only)
 * Crash Bandicoot: Dansu! De Jump! Na Daibouken (cameo)
 * Crash Bandicoot: Warped (cameo)
 * Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (cameo)
 * Crash Twinsanity (cameo)
 * Crash Boom Bang!
 * Crash: Mind Over Mutant (cameo)
 * Skylanders Academy (mentioned)
 * Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
 * Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
 * Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (cameo, mentioned)

Crash Bandicoot
Tawna and Crash grew very close while imprisoned in Cortex Castle, and entered a romantic relationship together prior to the events of the first game. They clearly cared deeply for one another, with Tawna repeatedly escaping the castle to meet Crash for the Tawna Bonus Rounds before being re-captured by Cortex. She was noticeably absent after the first game, which went unexplained in-universe, though Crash and Tawna still seem to be on good terms as Crash keeps a picture of her above the fireplace, as seen in Warped.

Pinstripe Potoroo
In early Japanese canon, Tawna leaves Crash for Pinstripe after the first game, as shown in the Japanese Cortex Strikes Back manual and ''Dansu! De Jump! Na Daibouken''. This was never addressed or even implied by Naughty Dog in the western canon. They have never been shown interacting in any games. The only instance of Tawna showing interest in Pinstripe in-game is in the Japanese-developed game Crash Boom Bang!, in which her bio at the character select screen states that she is "crazy about Pinstripe".

Her profile in the bio mentions she attempts to inspire revolution among Cortex's minions which may have included Pinstripe.

Doctor Nitrus Brio
Though they have never been shown interacting in-game, the Crash Bandicoot Production Bible mentions that Tawna attempted to reason with N. Brio whilst imprisoned in Cortex Castle.

Nitro Squad (Ami, Isabella, Liz and Megumi)
In Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, Tawna forms a racing team known as the "Nitro Squad" with former trophy girls Ami, Isabella, Liz and Megumi. They were all introduced as playable together in the Nitro Tour Grand Prix, and are often seen racing together in promotional images, implying friendship and camaraderie amongst the group.

Gallery
See: Tawna/Gallery

Trivia

 * According to Naughty Dog, Tawna's design was based off celebrity Pamela Anderson, for her blonde hair and breast size. She was also based on Jessica Rabbit.
 * After Crash Bandicoot, Naughty Dog removed her from the series as Universal Interactive wanted her to be redesigned as they felt she wasn't appropriate for a child friendly game. Sony also wished for her removal, according to character designer Charles Zembillas, which led to the introduction of Coco Bandicoot as the female lead for future titles. Tawna was eventually given a slightly less sexualized redesign for the N. Sane Trilogy, which was developed by Vicarious Visions. This same design reappears in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.
 * The Japanese ending of Crash Bash has Crash mistake a hologram created by Coco to be Tawna. The hologram itself resembles Isabella and was intended to look like Coco reimagined as an adult.
 * Tawna was originally named Karmen during the first game's development.
 * Tawna's shorts were originally green before they changed it to a dark blue. Her muzzle also had no skin tan, her entire face being orange furred. In-game artwork of her can be seen in levels such as The Great Hall in her original color scheme. She was also originally wearing high heels in her concept art.
 * Tawna is mentioned in unused dialogue for Cortex in Crash Tag Team Racing.
 * She never had any dialogue at all since her first appearance (though she has gameplay grunts in Crash Boom Bang! and can be heard gasping in the opening cutscene of N. Sane Trilogy). She officially made her speaking debut in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.
 * Like the rest of the Nitro Squad in Nitro-Fueled, Tawna has an associated Paint Job seen in marketing screenshots. This Paint Job was not on the selection screen prior to the Back N. Time Grand Prix and not for sale until the Spooky Grand Prix, even though the AI drivers would use it randomly prior.
 * In Skylanders Academy, she was mentioned in the episode called The Skylands Are Falling! when Crash says that he's going to find her and save the world from Dr. Cortex, although Crash refers to her as his friend as opposed to girlfriend.
 * Additionally, in the German dub and the Portuguese dub of that same scene, Crash erroneously uses a masculine pronoun when referring to Tawna instead of a feminine one.
 * Tawna, alongside the Nitro Squad, are the only bandicoots to have visible tails, as Crash, Coco, Crunch and Fake Crash all lack them. It's worth noting that this is a common inconsistency among the anthropomorphic characters in the series.