Tiny Tiger

Tiny Tiger is a thylacine with an ironic name initially created by N. Brio. He is often seen working for the mad scientist, Neo Cortex, and is arguably his most loyal animal minion. In most games, Tiny is essentially the more rampaging, bestial counterpart to Koala Kong's self-infatuated muscleman disposition.

Out of all of Neo Cortex's animal minions, Tiny makes the most appearances in the Crash Bandicoot series, appearing in nearly every game. His design and personality underwent significant changes in later games until the release of the N. Sane Trilogy.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Tiny made his debut in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back as the third boss of the game. Under the orders of Doctor Nitrus Brio, Tiny attempts to stop Crash from gathering crystals by crushing him under his feet inside a space station. There is no floor in the room they fight in, but rather an endless chasm, with nine mechanical platforms set up in a three-by-three fashion to save both of them from falling to their doom. However, all of these platforms are faulty, eventually malfunctioning and deactivating. Crash uses this to his advantage, and tricks the gullible Tiny into jumping into the resulting gap that is created by these faulty platforms. Crash must repeat this strategy two more times to defeat Tiny. Every time Tiny falls with a platform, it returns up with him, until finally he is too exhausted to keep fighting.

Crash Bandicoot: Warped
In Crash Bandicoot: Warped, it is revealed that Tiny survived his previous fall. Here, he serves under Uka Uka and Doctor Neo Cortex, attempting to take whatever crystals Crash and Coco have gathered and bringing them to Cortex in the Colosseum of Rome under his orders. Crash encounters Tiny wearing Gladiator Armor in the Colosseum chained to two columns (a la Samson), which he snaps free from with ease. Tiny then proceeds to try and crush Crash under his feet, just as he did in their last encounter. When Tiny tries to impale Crash with his trident, the trident becomes stuck in the ground, leaving Tiny open for attack. Tiny then summons numerous lions to try and eat Crash. After this cycle is repeated two more times, Tiny is knocked out. Afterwards, Cortex laments Tiny's failure and asks Crash to be more "reasonable" with his minions.

Other major appearances
Tiny is a playable character in Crash Team Racing, driving a green-colored, high-speed, low-control kart. He has a garage resembling a medieval dungeon, where he keeps his kart along with several stacks of crates, and likes to use it as an exercise room. Tiny has a comically easy time lifting, tossing, and even bending his enormous weights. His home track in the game is Tiny Arena. In the intro he attempts to "fix" his kart with a mallet, only to smash it. Like Dingodile, Papu Papu and N. Tropy, he excels in speed but is not good at turning. After Oxide's defeat, he moved to Beverly Hills to form his own chain of fitness clubs. He would go on to make millions thanks to his Tiny-Bo exercise video.

In Crash Bash, Tiny is summoned by Uka Uka to battle against Aku Aku's team (Crash and Coco), alongside Cortex, N. Brio, Dingodile, Koala Kong and Rilla Roo. However, he is switched over to Aku Aku's team along with Dingodile, as Uka Uka's team had too many players. His evil counterpart is Koala Kong.

In the Crate Crush levels, Tiny can kick other players or crates which is very short ranged, but he makes up for it with an excellent throwing distance. Because of his massive size, Tiny also moves quite slow.

In the Polar Push minigames, Tiny can give a powerful charge, whenever he charges into smaller players (like Crash) it is possible they will fly off the edge of the arena. Tiny's charging meter however, takes a short minute to fill up again.

In Ballistix, Tiny can deliver a double shockwave to deflect the balls.

In the Crash Dash levels, Tiny is much harder to be pushed around and can exert more force in his push.

In the Tank Wars levels, his shots are short-range, but deal a large amount of damage. In these levels, Tiny's weaponry are spiked cannonballs.

In Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Tiny is an attendee at Uka Uka's bad guy convention, not speaking a single line in the entire game, besides growling noises. His sole action in the convention is attempting to clutch a hologram of Crash Bandicoot. He later serves as an obstacle in certain levels, literally standing in Crash's way in an attempt to hinder him, as well as operating various flying vehicles in levels involving planes or spaceships. His first in-game appearance was the second level in the first Warp Room, Tornado Alley, where he is one of the pilots firing at Crash to defend Cortex's generators, alongside N. Gin, N. Tropy, and Dingodile. He then was seen in Smokey and the Bandicoot as an enemy racer against Crash's jeep. Next, he appeared in Eskimo Roll, where he literally stands in Crash's way to hinder his progress, with Dingodile and N. Tropy shooting at the bandicoot with their flamethrower and tuning fork, respectively. Later, Tiny appeared in the third level of the fourth Warp Room, Crashteroids, where he, N. Gin, N. Tropy, and Dingodile attempt to hinder Coco's progress of shooting down the three space stations assembled by Cortex by shooting at her with their own space shuttles. His next-to-last appearance in the game was the third level in the fifth warp room, Medieval Madness, where he plays the same role as he did in Eskimo Roll. His final appearance in the game was the in fourth level of the sixth Warp Room, Solar Bowler, and as mentioned before, plays the same role as he did in Eskimo Roll and Medieval Madness, but only the Master of Time appears alongside him.

In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, Tiny serves as the third boss the game. He once again dons his gladiator attire and fights Crash near a large waterfall. His fighting style here is much like that in Crash Bandicoot: Warped, leaving Crash to beat him into submission whenever his trident is stuck to a platform. He is later merged with Cortex, N. Gin, and Dingodile, becoming Mega-Mix. After chasing Crash down a space station hall, Mega-Mix is left inside the space station, which explodes with the villains in it.

In Ripto's Rampage. Tiny acts as the game's second boss and appears at the end of the Arctic Cliffs; having been sent by Cortex to defeat Crash. Tiny engages Crash in a tank battle, where he is periodically guarded by barriers, and can fire shots into the air in order for them to land on Crash. After his defeat, Ripto expresses disappointment over Cortex's minion; only for the scientist to reply that he made the mistake of thinking Tiny would not fail his expectations again.

Tiny is a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart, driving for Cortex's team in a high-speed, low-control kart. In the game's story, Tiny is seen playing checkers with himself and later attempts to assist N. Gin when the tower they're standing in is abducted. At the end of the "Team Cortex" side of the story, he assists Cortex in his power play against Velo, overpowering him as his master steals his scepter, though it breaks in the scuffle, teleporting the team to Terra. After being seen holding Velo's symbol of power, Tiny gains the respect of the inhabitants (much to Cortex's frustration).

In Crash of the Titans, Tiny first appears in a cutscene when Cortex is replaced at the end of Episode 4: The Temple of Zoom. Tiny is the one in charge of the mining operations seen in Episodes 5 through 7, responsible for destroying a large portion of the jungle and obtaining minerals from the volcano for the purpose of constructing the Doominator. When Crash interferes, Tiny orders his titans to defeat him, promising the mutant who accomplishes this task half the day off on Tuesday. When Crash confronts Tiny with the Shellephant, Tiny reveals the whereabouts of Crash's sister, who was kept in N. Gin's Weapons Factory at the time.

Tiny's bestiary entry from Crash of the Titans for the Nintendo DS states the following:


 * He likes weightlifting and dislikes weaklings.
 * His height is 2m (~6'7") and his weight is 90kg (~198lbs).

Tiny is a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart 2. He doesn't play a role in the game's story, but is still aligned with the villains. He appears in his Crash of the Titans design, and can be unlocked by crushing 50 karts in a single round of Monster Truck Mode.

In Crash Bandicoot: Nitro Kart 2. Tiny appears as a playable character in this game. In the game, he drives Crash's Crikey car from Crash Tag Team Racing and is given his old look again.

Tiny reprises his role as a boss in the N. Sane Trilogy remakes of Cortex Strikes Back and Warped.

In Nitro-Fueled. Tiny retains his role and his class in the remake of the original game.

In his updated epilogue, fans that admired his strength and physique pushed him to make an online series of fitness videos called "Tiny-Bo", which quickly became viral. As a result, he moved to Beverly Hills to start his own fitness club chain and to sell his patented lemongrass and avocado infused supplements.

Tiny was added to On the Run! as a boss for Crash or Coco to defeat in the Season 2 update. Once again armed with tridents, he attacks by stabbing electrified tridents into the ground to form obstacles and by slamming his trident into the ground to tear up the pathway. Like all bosses, he is defeated by chasing him and throwing Boom Berries at him to reduce his health bar to zero, then using the Portal Weapons crafted beforehand to send him back to his own dimension. His face can be seen pictured on Crash's back on the Knight and Ancient Greece skins.

Minor appearances
In N-Tranced. Tiny makes a cameo as a playable character in the multiplayer atlasphere mode.

Tiny has a cameo in Crash Twinsanity during Crash's "birthday party" (a gathering of past Crash villains). His full model can be seen in the Concept Art.

Tiny makes a cameo appearance in Crash Boom Bang!, appearing in the "Silhouette Quiz" minigame.

Although Tiny doesn't appear physically in Crash: Mind Over Mutant, his voice can be heard during the credits, in which he attempts to correct Crunch when he mixes up his metaphors.

In It's About Time. Tiny makes a cameo in a portrait in Cortex Castle, wearing his gladiator attire from Warped.

Physical appearance
Despite his name, Tiny has always been rather large. Before Crash Twinsanity and Crash of the Titans, Tiny appeared to be an orange, muscular creature with sharp fangs and pointed claws. He was often seen wearing spiked shoulder pads, metal bracelets, a green leopard-spotted loincloth, and red sneakers. Due to the circumstances of the boss fight against him in Crash Bandicoot: Warped, his attire is updated to include a gladiator helmet, an armored left arm, two belts across his torso, and a trident at hand. For an unexplained reason, Tiny also dons this attire in Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure. For another unexplained reason, he does not have spiky shoulder pads in Crash Nitro Kart.

Tiny's species has varied over the years. The aforementioned erroneous name "Taz Tiger" suggests that he is a thylacine, although his behavior is very much that of a common tiger. In Crash Twinsanity, Tiny is deliberately redesigned to look like a thylacine, where he had lighter fur, a smaller head and stripes on his back (due to oversight, his tail isn't part of his model). This was taken to the other extreme in Crash of the Titans when Tiny was redesigned again to resemble a feline tiger of unknown subspecies. Tiny is fully clothed in this redesign, donning an attire that resembles that of a U.S. Marine. According to the Nintendo DS version of Crash of the Titans, Tiny is 2 meters tall (6 feet, 7 inches) and weighs 90 kilograms (198.45 pounds), putting his body mass index at 22.5 (normal range).

Personality
In his earlier appearances, Tiny was depicted to be a hot-tempered and fierce but unintelligent creature. He is extremely loyal to Doctor Cortex, following his every whim without question and guarding him fiercely. To his master's annoyance, however, he contributes little in terms of intellect, usually dismissed and treated like a child. He is also somewhat clumsy, as demonstrated in Crash Nitro Kart, in which he flattens Dingodile while rushing to assist N. Gin. If something breaks, Tiny is the first to be blamed. Unlike Crash, who is somewhat smarter than him but can only speak a few words, Tiny is capable of speech, but often speaks in the third person, reflecting his low intelligence. He can manage several vehicles and technical utilities competently, however, having scuffled with the bandicoots not just toe-to-toe, but in tanks, dog fights and kart races. He's also a team player, as his personality in Megamix would fiercely remind Cortex's that they are winning together than alone.

Generally any enemy of Cortex is an enemy of Tiny. He shares his sadistic animosity towards Crash, taking great pleasure in trying to squash him. When fighting Crash, Tiny tends to be so fixated on destroying the bandicoot that he often leaves himself open to retaliation or arena hazards. Nevertheless, Cortex seems to believe that he "has a good heart". Among his fellow villains, Tiny is portrayed as docile and oblivious.

However, in Crash of the Titans, Tiny underwent drastic changes in both personality and intellect: his intelligence has increased to an average level, above that of Crash's. He is no longer a cardboard beastly monster who constantly bellows his desire to smash certain objects; rather, he is a considerate individual who continues to battle Crash due to his unhappiness with being just a bit character in the series. He has grown something of a liking to Crash (or revealed to have never disliked him), describing him as one point as "stupendous and fantabulous". While this incarnation of Tiny is considerably less evil than in the past, he is still willing to aid Neo Cortex in his time of need, specifically when the latter faces replacement.

Creation and early development
Tiny's character was initially conceived for the original Crash Bandicoot as one of Cortex and Brio's many mutant soldiers. During development, his name was originally "Tazmanian Tiger" or simply "Taz Tiger". In the production bible, his bloodthirsty nature is attributed to brutal footage shown to him in the Cortex Vortex and a lengthy treatment period. He and the Komodo Brothers were omitted and later re-imagined for the second game.

Trivia

 * In the original North American NTSC-U release of Cortex Strikes Back, the pause menu during Tiny's boss fight erroneously calls him "Taz Tiger".
 * In other lyric sheets for the cartoon cutscenes, Tiny is mentioned as "Tazmanian Tiger".
 * In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, Tiny's boss fight plays Dingodile's theme instead.
 * Tiny, along with Dingodile, Polar, Pura, Fake Crash, and Dr. N. Tropy, are the only returning characters of Crash Team Racing and Crash Nitro Kart that didn't return in Crash Tag Team Racing; Tiny points out in Crash of the Titans that he is still mad about not being "invited" to the game.
 * Tiny is the only boss character from Warped to not make a physical appearance in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.
 * He has a cameo in Skylanders: Imaginators as a statue during a musical minigame, along with Dingodile.
 * By the time of the events of the Crash Bandicoot series, thylacines were long since extinct as in real life, as the last one (named Benjamin) died in captivity in 1936.
 * In the German localization of Crash Team Racing, Tiny's name has undergone a literal translation into "Kleiner Tiger" (lit. "small tiger") despite having retained his original English name in all other games prior to and following CTR.
 * The same translation error can be seen in Tiny's signature track from CTR, Tiny Arena, which received the name "Kleine Arena" (lit. "small arena") in the German version despite the track being among the longest ones in the game. It retained the same name in the German version of Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled.