Quantum Masks

The Quantum Masks are a group of masks that first appeared in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, and they are all siblings. Throughout their quest, Crash and Coco can use their powers to avoid obstacles and cross specific areas. Whenever they use their powers, their outfits change to match the corresponding Quantum Mask.

Pre-series history
Not much is known about the Quantum Masks' past history. At some point in time, they were hibernating for hundreds of centuries.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
When Aku Aku feels a strange power coming from N. Sanity Peak, he warns Crash to go with him to investigate this power. Crash arrives in N. Sanity Peak to investigate the great power who has awoken. He passes through several obstacles within the peak until he finds Lani-Loli, one of the Quantum Masks. Just as Lani-Loli awakes from his slumber, a hole opens below Crash and Lani-Loli and they fall. Upon landing, they encounter the guardian of the Quantum Mask as it starts to chase Crash and Lani-Loli, but they manage to escape the guardian and meet up with Coco and Aku Aku. Lani-Loli then discovers a dimensional rift before explaining the whole dilemma to Crash, Coco and Aku Aku as they go through it, transporting them to the Hazardous Wastes.

Crash, Coco and Lani-Loli begin their quest to find the second Quantum Mask Akano, but N. Gin appears in front of them using a jetpack. Lani-Loli believes that N. Gin was the "aforementioned putz" that he mentioned, but Coco tells him not to worry as N. Gin always loses to Crash or Coco. N. Gin warns them that he will not lose this time and tells them about his preparations for his heavy metal show with his Weapon of Mass Percussion. It turns out that Akano is being used as a power source of W.O.M.P., but is accidentally thrown through a quantum rift into Salty Wharf after the battle, prompting them to go through the rift to find him.

After the bandicoots defeat Louise, they eventually find Akano. Crash picks him up while ignoring Lani-Loli's warnings about Akano being extremely heavy, causing him to slam onto Crash's foot while crying out in agony. Eventually, Akano awakes to find Crash and Coco and starts intimidating them. Fortunately, Lani-Loli tells his brother that the bandicoots are here to help save the multiverse. Akano starts warming up to the bandicoot duo and instructs them to follow him. Lani-Loli shows great enthusiasm for Akano as they enter the quantum rift to the next world.

When they arrive into Tranquility Falls, The quantum rift spat out Coco and Crash and he ends up literally crashing into a gong which rings loud enough to make Coco and Lani-Loli cringe. When Coco asks where the next mask is, Lani-Loli says he isn't sure and that they have to travel to the next quantum rift. N. Brio appears, scaring the mask into Crash's arms while also startling him into jumping onto Coco's arms. Brio tells Crash and Coco to go to his battlefield to get a reward before vanishing in a smokescreen using his flasks. Eventually, the bandicoots arrived at N. Brio's battlefield and they confront him. After that, N. Brio is defeated, accidentally transforming into a pterodactyl and choosing to launch one last assault. Unexpectedly, he lays an egg and flies off. Coco is also mortified by this, but Crash claims the egg before getting dragged out by his sister and they enter the quantum rift to the next world, Mosquito Marsh.

After Crash and Coco face off the enemies and the challanges of the swamp, they find the third Quantum Mask Kupuna-Wa. The Time mask awakes from her hundreds of centuries sleep and she greets the Bandicoots like old friends, kisses Crash and tells him and Coco about their future before Lani-Loli interrupts her before she reveals how they all die and they travel to the 11th Dimension in the year 1954. When they arrive at the 11th Dimension, Cortex (via a holographic message) warns them not to freeze while they try to find him on the mountain. Lani-Loli asks to Coco how many times they beat Cortex, Coco answers three and the mask gets surprised.

After confronting Cortex and finding out about N. Tropy's plan to rewrite the multiverse in his image, he teams up with the bandicoots to head off into the Eggipus Dimension to find the fourth and final mask, Ika-Ika. Eventually, Crash, Coco and Cortex find Ika-Ika sleeping within a dinosaur egg. Lani-Loli wakes him up and tells him about the multiverse crisis. The melancholic side of Ika-Ika has little to no faith of all humanity, while his positive side is more bright on events that are occurring at the moment. The team finds Ika-Ika, having recruited all 4 Quantum Masks needed to avert the crisis. They then proceed to stop N. Tropy by heading off to another dimensional rift.

After the others defeat the N. Tropies and Dingodile does an oxtail to send them to another dimension, all four Quantum Masks reunite to close all the Rift Generator quantum rifts and they decide to celebrate the victory by going to Neon City in the Sn@xx Dimension. After Cortex reached Crash, Coco, Dingodile and Tawna, he realises that with Kupuna-Wa's ability to control time, there is another way to end his constant feuds with the bandicoots. Cortex then captures Kupuna-Wa using his ray gun and runs for his airship. With some assistance from Tawna and Dingodile, Crash and Coco give chase.

When Crash and Coco reach Cortex, he uses Kupuna-Wa to open a quantum rift to go back in time to 1996, in order to undo his greatest failure. The wind pushes Crash and Coco off the airship roof and they grab the edge of airship door, following him back to 1996. Cortex communicates with his past self using his "super secret personal frequency", as the two bandicoots watch over, in an attempt to convince him(self) to abort the experiment which lead to the creation of Crash. This comes to no avail as the past Cortex grows confused and distraught, believing the present Cortex to be an imposter before ordering N. Brio to alert the Lab Assistants in panic.

When they finally arrived at Cortex Castle, Cortex is in a machine, using the Quantum Masks' powers to defeat Crash and Coco once and for all. He respectively uses Lani-Loli to make the platforms disappear sequentially, Ika-Ika to flip the stage upside-down, Kupuna-Wa to slow down and speed up time, and Akano to fire lasers while spinning around. After Cortex is defeated for the second time, a few crates fall on his head and he passes out. Crash frees the past Cortex who goes to his lab to subject the past Crash to the Cortex Vortex, stating that his first order of business will be to dispose of the future Cortex. Crash rests on a eject button which causes the Cortex Vortex to break down, with Coco realizing this being the reason why the experiment failed in the first place. Akano drops on Cortex's back and the other Quantum Masks send Cortex to the end of universe. The Quantum Masks are last seen watching Crash, Coco and Tawna play video games alongside Aku Aku.

Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!
While the masks themselves don't have a significant role, there are skins for Crash and Coco featuring the Quantum Masks' armour from when they are equipped in It's About Time. Lani-Loli and Ika-Ika are for Crash, while Kupuna-Wa and Akano are for Coco.

Lani-Loli
"Alright! Two masks down, two to go! Feeling a little less panicked. I was at a 10 before, now I'm at a solid... let's say 9.78888."

- Lani-Loli Lani-Loli is the Quantum Mask of Phase and the tritagonist of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. With him, Crash and Coco can phase various objects, crates and obstacles in and out of existence. Objects that can be affected appear with ghostly blue wisps floating around them. Objects that are already phased out can be identified by an intangible blue replica in its place. He was the first Quantum Mask to be recruited, found by Crash within N. Sanity Peak and escaping the guardian of the peak.

Physical Appearance
Lani-Loli is an hourglass shaped, light-blue mask. He has two points at the bottom of him, and a wide fan-like crest on the top. There are two round parts on either side of the middle of his face, resembling ears. He has round pure white eyes with purple rims, small purple eyebrows and a mouth with purple lips and bright white teeth. The top half of him is solid, seeming to be made of a sky blue stone, while the bottom half is phased out at all times, being a translucent icy blue. The four prongs of his crest each have one or two arrows, each prong's arrows pointing in a different direction.

Personality
Lani-Loli displays a skittish and anxious personality, seeming to be in a constant state of panic throughout the game. He is almost always worrying about the other Quantum Masks and the fate of the multiverse, until both Dr. N. Tropies are defeated.

Akano
"Ban-di-coot. ...hmm. Follow."

- Akano Akano is the Quantum Mask of Dark Matter. Using his power, Crash and Coco can spin violently after a jump to hover in the air and glide from platform to another. This spin can also be used to break Locked Crates and knock back certain colored projectiles. The spin lasts until the power is turned off again. While spinning, Crash and Coco move automatically, making the player have very little control while moving. Originally meant to be obtained after defeating N. Gin's robot drummer in the Hazardous Wastes, Akano bounced away until Crash and Coco caught up with him in the next world, Salty Wharf, making him the second mask to be recruited.

Physical Appearance
Akano is formed from multiple dark purple rocks, held together by pure force. He is shaped a little like a beaker, with a thinner top widening out into a large chin at the bottom. He has a small mouth that is entirely white on the inside, and pure white eyes with thick eyebrows that extend outwards, curving down on either side of him, almost like handles. There is a strange glowing white glyph on his chin, and a similarly glowing triangular marking on his forehead. Small pieces of rock constantly float around him.

Personality
Akano is a brooding mask who exudes an intimidating aura, one that initially frightens Crash and Coco. He is monosyllabic and says very little in general. He is also much heavier than he appears, heavy enough to cause Crash to accidentally drop him on his own foot. Despite his intimidating demeanour, Akano is a good person at heart, if a little blunt. Even his bundle of nerves of a brother, Lani-Loli, is completely at ease around him. Akano seems to be very fond of food, especially nachos.

Kupuna-Wa
"Wah? What time is it? Oh goodness, I ought to know... Crash! Coco! C'mon, give old Kupuna-Wa a kiss, eh?"

- Kupuna-Wa Kupuna-Wa is the Quantum Mask of Time. With her, Crash and Coco can slow down time, which makes it easier to jump across fast-moving platforms and avoid fast enemies. She was the third mask to be recruited by Crash and Coco, found in Mosquito Marsh.

Physical Appearance
Kupuna-Wa is a round mask, with main part of her face made of a pale beige material. Her lower jaw and eyelids are gold, as well as a golden headpiece around the top of her. The headpiece has turquoise markings on it that resemble the phases of the moon, and it also has the hands of a clock poking out at the top, resembling hair pins. Two hourglasses hang on either side of her face, resembling earrings. A gold line goes down between her eyes like a nose, and her eyes are pure turquoise. The inside of her mouth is whatever colour of what is behind her as there's nothing behind it.

Personality
Kupuna-Wa's nature is reminiscent of a grandmotherly figure and exhibits a very carefree attitude. Given her complete knowledge of all time, her omniscience has made her comfortable with talking about dangerous future events with no concern of the impact such knowledge might have. She has a rather dark sense of humour, and likes playfully teasing Lani-Loli from time to time. Kupuna-Wa is the first female mask to appear in the Crash Bandicoot series.

Ika-Ika
"When's existence ever done anything for anyone, anyway?"

- Ika-Ika (pessimistic) "Oh, don't mind grumpy gus, he's always a downer."

- Ika-Ika (optimistic) Ika-Ika is the Quantum Mask of Gravity. Using his power, Crash and Coco can flip the direction of gravity to walk on the ceiling to solve puzzles and avoid certain hazards. He was the fourth mask to be recruited, found by Crash, Coco and Cortex in the Eggipus Dimension.

Physical Appearance
Ika-Ika is shaped like a double-sided arrow, with one face being on either side, upside-down to each other. The upper, optimistic half is a more turquoise colour, with round, pure yellow eyes, markings resembling mountains, and long curly markings for a moustache that extends down into the other half. The other, pessimistic half fades into a blue colour, with the curls of the other half's moustache resembling puffed cheeks. This side is themed more like the ocean as a contrast to the other half's mountains. This half has a dark blue triangle attached to the tip of the point at the top of it. Ika-Ika flips over depending on which half is in charge at the given moment, with each side sharing the same mouth in the centre, yet still having their own unique voice.

Personality
Ika-Ika has a split personality, visibly demonstrated by opposing faces on his upper and lower halves; one side is refined and optimistic, while the other is gloomy and nihilistic. The two halves are aware of each other, and will often comment on what the other has said. Ika-Ika is the least developed of the four Quantum Masks, being discovered last and having the fewest cutscene appearances.

Notably, the only times both sides are active at the same time is when he gets a proper scare, such as when Lani-Loli screams at him when he's sleeping.

Appearances

 * Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
 * Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! (cameo)

Gallery
See: Quantum Masks/Gallery

Trivia

 * The names of the Quantum Masks each refer to a Hawaiian term:
 * "Lani-Loli" derives from "lani", meaning "sky" or "royalty"; as well as "loli", meaning "change" or "transform".
 * "Akano" derives from "'akano", meaning "substance".
 * "Kupuna-Wa" derives from "kupuna wahine", meaning "grandmother".
 * "Ika-Ika" derives from "ikaika", meaning "strength".
 * Kupuna-Wa can be seen in the PlayStation "It's Time To Play" commercial released months before the game's official reveal, though she is dark blue instead of gold.
 * Despite being male in the original English and in all other localisations, Lani-Loli is portrayed as female in the Portuguese dub.
 * The concept of elemental masks was previously used in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, with the Elementals, who also (ironically enough) appeared in the fourth installment as cameos.

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