Cortex's Ray Gun



Cortex's Ray Gun (or Blaster) is a recurring weapon in the Crash series that Cortex uses whenever he is on his hoverboard.

In Crash Bandicoot, Cortex uses his gun in his battle with Crash at the end, shooting pink, blue, and green energy bolts that hurt Crash.

Cortex uses it again with a similar attack in his battle at the end of Crash Bandicoot: Warped, this time only shooting red energy bolts.

In Crash Bash, Cortex uses his trusty blaster as his "kick" move but can also use it to pick up crates, and throw it a great distance in the Crate Crush minigames. His ally N. Brio uses a similar blue ray gun.

After Crash Bash, the ray gun isn't seen again until Crash Twinsanity, and is seen the most in this game. We find out that the gun runs on ammo and it plays a crucial part in Cortex's levels as the doctor has no other form of defence. Ammo is stored in Ammo Crates found all over the map. During boss fights, Cortex's ammo is infinite. It once again has a green energy bolt which Cortex can hold in for a powerful shot (it takes five ammo).

Cortex's ray gun appears again in the GBA version of Crash of the Titans.

In Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, Cortex's ray gun has the ability to transmogrify certain objects. When fired at a moving obstacle (such as an enemy bird), it can turn the target into a stone platform, a gelatin platform that Cortex can bounce on, or back into the original creature.

Plasma Blast
The standard use of the ray gun. Creates a blast of plasma energy to eradicate the target, with the color of the plasma changing depending on the game. Can also create floating bursts of plasma, as seen in Cortex's Crash Bandicoot boss fight.

The plasma blast also has a more powerful charged shot when playing as Cortex in Twinsanity. This charged shot was intended for breaking the shields of enemies, more specifically the teddy bears in Gone a Bit Coco. No such shielded enemies made it to the final game however, rendering the charged shot useless.

Tractor Beam
In several instances, Cortex's ray gun shows the ability to pick up and carry objects by levitating them with a tractor beam. This is first shown in Crash Bash, where Cortex carries crates in the Crate Crush gamemode using this method. This is also seen in It's About Time, when Cortex uses the tractor beam to kidnap Kupuna-Wa.

Stun
In Twinsanity, the ray gun possesses a stun mode, able to completely paralyse its target temporarily. Cortex uses this on Coco in the game's intro to get her out of the way of his plan, and uses this as his main attack when thrown by the player during gameplay.

Teleport
In Twinsanity, Cortex frequently travels around using teleportation. This was revealed to be a function of the ray gun when Cortex mentions a removing a teleporting function from the gun in It's About Time.

Love Ray, Incinerate and Disintegration
Modes only seen for a few seconds on the gun's dial in Twinsanity's intro. They have never been used on screen, leaving their exact effects unknown.

Transmogrify
The main function used during Cortex's levels in It's About Time. Transforms living things into floating platforms, either solid or gelatinous, without killing them. Can also turn platform creatures back into their original form.

Hairdry
This harmless, self-explanatory function is mentioned in a voiceline by Cortex in It's About Time.

Appearances

 * Crash Bandicoot
 * Crash Bandicoot (manga)
 * Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
 * Crash Bandicoot: Warped
 * Crash Bash
 * Crash Bandicoot Blast
 * Crash Bandicoot & Spyro Adventure World
 * Crash Twinsanity
 * Crash Tag Team Racing (mentioned)
 * Crash of the Titans
 * ''Skylanders: Imaginators
 * Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
 * Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time 
 * Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!

Trivia

 * In Crash Tag Team Racing, Dr. Cortex may say "Now you do a good job as my partner or I've got a ray gun with your name on it!" when clashing with other vehicles, and he may say "When I get my ray gun, you're through!" when hit by Crash.