N. Brio

Doctor Nitrus Brio (also known as N. Brio, or simply Brio) is a scientist who formerly worked under Doctor Neo Cortex. Brio's loyalty has fluctuated throughout the series, working on his own accord in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, with Doctor Nefarious Tropy in Crash Twinsanity and even returning to Cortex's side in Crash: Mind Over Mutant. His name is a play on the word "embryo" (a fact that he himself alludes to in Crash: Mind Over Mutant).

Pre-series history
Like most of the characters in the series, Brio's age is uncertain, though a piece of Crash Twinsanity concept art suggests that Brio is the same age as Cortex and N. Gin. As a child, Nitrus Brio was a classmate of Neo Cortex and N. Gin in Madame Amberly's Academy of Evil. Brio is responsible for taking Neo's original faulty Evolvo-Ray and refining it into a fully functional weapon. However, his lack of self-esteem allowed Doctor Cortex to take full credit for the creation.

Crash Bandicoot:
At the start of the series, Brio acts as an assistant to Cortex. While he is somewhat loyal, he has his doubts over whether Cortex's plans can actually work. He stutters when speaking, Brio acts as the penultimate boss of the first game, drinking a potion and transforming himself into a hulking monstrosity to combat Crash. When defeated, he sets the castle on fire. When he wakes up, he decides to go up against Cortex who didn't give any credit to Brio all these years. In the non-canon ending, it was revealed he worked as a bartender prior to this game.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Nitrus Brio reappeared in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, appearing in a hologram when Crash got his first gem, attempting to convince Crash Bandicoot to save the world by gathering the Gems he needs to destroy Cortex's space station instead of the Crystals that Cortex needs to control the Earth, threatening to destroy Crash if he keeps gathering the crystals. When Crash continues to gather Crystals, Brio recruits Ripper Roo and creates the Komodo Brothers and Tiny Tiger to assassinate Crash and keep him from gathering the Crystals for Cortex. Brio finally manages to convince Crash to gather the 42 Gems needed for the laser to be operational, and gives him the honour of activating the weapon, destroying Cortex's space station. He appears to have doubted that Crash would find all the gems, as in the 100% ending he says, "You have acquired all of the Gems. Incredible! Crystals are not the only means of harnessing planetary energy. Right! The Gems have that ability as well. And with them, I can destroy the Cortex Vortex... forever!

Crash Bash
In Crash Bash, Brio is surprisingly called by Uka Uka to fight on the Evil side in the battle against Aku Aku's Good side. Similar to Cortex, he uses a blue ray gun to stun his opponents. He has the same characteristics of Cortex. He is the champion of Crate Crush levels. His battle cry is an old laugh that was also heard in the Disney films Fun and Fancy Free and Aladdin.

Traveller's Tales era

Crash Twinsanity

In Crash Twinsanity, Brio teams up with Doctor Nefarious Tropy to defeat Cortex and gain the Evil Twins' Treasure. He appears alongside Tropy in a boss fight, immediately following Crash's escape from N. Gin's battleship, in which Brio (after being instructed by N. Tropy to "get changed") drinks a potion to transform himself into a large, green frog-like monster. While in this form, he bounces around on the iceberg trying to squash Crash. He then appears (in his human form) alongside N. Tropy and N. Gin again in the Evil Twins' fortress, claiming the Twins' treasure for themselves. However, they are thwarted by Spyro the Dragon, who had been trapped in the Twins' vault, when he breathes fire on them.

Crash: Mind over Mutant
Brio reunites with Neo Cortex once more in Crash: Mind over Mutant, in which he aids in the development of the NV, a personal digital assistant that can control both mutants and bandicoots. He uses recycled parts from the Sludge Junkyard to mass-produce NVs and create a new space station for Doctor Cortex. Throughout the game, he claims to be the inventor of numerous things, including recycling, and also claims to have an interest in falconry and "classical" cheeses. He is found in the junkyard with a brainwashed Crunch Bandicoot by Crash and Aku Aku, who are then attacked by Crunch under Brio's orders. When Crunch is broken free from the NV's control, Brio is forced to reveal the whereabouts of Uka Uka, who is acting as the source of the negative mojo needed to control those wearing NVs. He is then told to leave the island, but promises that it is not the end.

Personality
Brio is a shy and meek man, which serves as a contrast to Doctor Cortex's megalomania. He has never had people respect him or take him seriously (a fact he laments in Crash: Mind over Mutant), resulting in a low self-esteem. It is this weakness that originally caused him to join Doctor Cortex in his plot for world domination. However, it is also this weakness that allowed Cortex take the full credit for an invention that Brio was more responsible for attaining any sort of effectiveness. Most notably was the first functional Evolvo-Ray, which Brio did not actually create, but perfected it's original faulty design into a more effective weapon. This betrayal on Cortex's part is a continuing source of disdain for Brio and is the prime motive for his abandonment of Cortex following the events of Crash Bandicoot. As a way of making up for his mistake of allowing Cortex to take credit for his inventions in the past, Brio has developed a notable level of self delusion, as he cites himself as being the actual inventor of the Evolvo-Ray (Even though he only perfected it) and also credits himself with several other things that he couldn't possibly have created, like the Bible. In the earlier games he stuttered and occasionally laughed like a madman whenever he spoke. This could be a result of the bolts in his head, or too many failed potions. In the game Crash Bash, these talking mannerisms are taken to a new level when, instead of stuttering or laughing, he would babble on nonsensically, nobody being able to understand him. Crash Bash is the only game in which this "nonsense speaking" is heard or used.

Outward appearance
Brio appears as a taller figure than Doctor Cortex, with an equally tall head, which has twin electrode-like bolts attached to the sides like Frankenstein's Monster. While Cortex and N. Gin wear white lab coats, Brio wears a green one in most of his appearances, but wears a lab coat similar to that of Doctor Cortex in Crash Twinsanity. In some instances his lab coats do not feature sleeves. Unlike Cortex, who has black hair, Brio has almost no hair to speak of, with his eyebrows being the only pieces of visible hair on his body, though a piece of concept art for Crash Twinsanity suggests that Brio had a strand of blonde hair on his head during his childhood. In Crash Twinsanity, Brio's skin has become more wrinkled, and has noticeably darkened, taking on an almost grayish hue. Possibly due to the not insubstantial amount of mutagenic chemicals he's been known to ingest over the years. According to Cortex the mutagen tastes like "peppermint barf, with a hint of..." It is also implied that the mutagen has an addictive effect on Brio, as he's almost always seen carrying and sipping from a beaker of the stuff, although it appears he does this to keep himself in a relatively human state, turning into a musclebound green monster whenever he gets sufficiently enraged and drinking the mutagen to reverse it.

Portrayals
Brio was originally voiced by Brendan O'Brien in the English versions of Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bash. He is voiced by Michel Mella and Sergio Tedesco in the French and Italian versions of Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bash. He is voiced by Maurice LaMarche as of Crash: Mind Over Mutant. He is voiced by Vincent Violette and Angelo Nicotra in the French and Italian versions of Crash: Mind over Mutant respectively. In the Japanese version of the series, he is voiced by Mitsuru Ogata in the games up to Crash Bash.

Trivia

 * In the intro of Crash Bandicoot when Crash is being put into the Cortex Vortex, Brio is speaking but his mouth isn't moving. This was an error in the game.
 * Brio's theme in Crash 2 is somewhat hard to hear because Brio is talking over it. How it was supposed to sound remained a mystery for 15 years until Josh Mancell shared the song.
 * His name is a pun on the word "embryo." Ironically his head is shaped much like that of a theropod dinosaur egg.
 * N. Brio's first name is factional pun on the word "Nitrous" which is commonly known as laughing gas. This is easily defined while the character always laughs during his dialogue.
 * He has the most health in a single phase boss fight, with a total of 9 Hit Points.
 * In Crash: Mind Over Mutant he shouts the word "Hadouken" a reference to the character Ryu from the Street Fighter franchise.
 * Despite being a frequently recurring character, he has never appeared as a playable character in a racing game.
 * He doesn't have a single line in Crash Twinsanity, despite being one of the bosses in the game.
 * He worked with Dr. Cortex in Crash 1 then no longer worked with him until Crash: Mind Over Mutant.
 * He, just like Koala Kong, and Tawna, is one of the characters from the original Crash Bandicoot not to have made an appearance in Crash Team Racing.  However, his beakers are included in the game, and called "N. Brio Beakers" which suggests that he may have originally been planned to be in the game.
 * He bears a resemblance to the Old Man in the Shortz film, The Tell Tale Heart, just as Dr. Cortex resembles the Narrator/main character.
 * In almost every game he made an appearance, Dr. N. Tropy. didn't appear and vice-versa. However, Crash Twinsanity didn't follow this trait, as they teamed up in a boss battle.
 * Doctor Nitrus Brio is one of 2 characters to feature in Crash Bandicoot 1 and Crash Bandicoot 2 and not to feature in Crash Bandicoot 3; the other is Ripper Roo.
 * Although Brio has a new outfit in Mind over Mutant, most of the cutscenes show him wearing his old uniform from the first Crash game.
 * The monster he turns into in Crash Bandicoot bears a slight resemblance to The Hulk.
 * The bolts lodged into his head is based on Frankenstein's monster as the character similarly has bolts on his neck.
 * If looked in a certain perspective, N. Brio's head is shaped much like a lava lamp.
 * N. Brio is the first scientist to have brought back an extinct animal (e.g. Tiny Tiger) the second being Dr. Cortex (though generally all of them are genetically spliced into modern day animals).
 * N. Brio was going to have a minigame based on him, but the scraped it off, and used Beach Ball.