Mr. Crumb

Mr. Crumb (or Crooncrool Crumb, internally during game development)^[2] is an evil ghost and the main antagonist of the 1998 handheld game, Crash Bandicoot. He also appears as a boss in Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!.

Appearances[]

Crash Bandicoot (99X)[]

As described in the game's manual, Mr. Crumb was a miserly, friendless and selfish old man with a big mansion hiding a huge pile of treasure. His estate is rumored to be full of ghosts, restlessly wandering the mansion grounds, causing trouble to any who dare come there. Some say Crumb made an evil deal on his deathbed to awake the ghosts to guard his gold. He was so selfish that upon his death, his unholy spirit would remain on Earth and keep the hoard safe forever. It is said the undead have risen from their graves and walk the night. Zombies break from their ancient underground crypts and search for souls. Spirits of the forest make the woods impassable. And the ghost of Mr. Crumb himself walks the dusty halls of his mansion hideaway.

Crash, tempted by the allure of "forbidden treasure" and the rumours surrounding the mansion being haunted, dares to enter Mr. Crumb's mansion to try and collect it. Along the way, he finds himself up against Mr. Crumb and his undead army.^[3]

In the LCD version of the game, Mr. Crumb was replaced with Mr. Crool.

Crash Bandicoot: On the Run![]

Mr. Crumb reappears for the first time in 23 years in On the Run!, as one of the many bosses in the game for Crash or Coco to defeat. He appears to have taken up dancing while he was gone. In his boss fight, he attacks by making tombstones appear to block the path, with one of them disappearing at the last moment so the player character can get through, by making duplicates of himself appear and throwing balls of ghostly energy down the path, or by summoning mummies. 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.

He also appeared as the host and main antagonist of Season 6: Mr. Crumb's Dimension of Screams.

Characteristics[]

Physical description[]

Mr. Crumb looks like a ghost with huge hands and long fingers. He is wearing a black cloak. His head is a big skull with eyes and his jaw is loose from his head, showing a long tongue. According to one of the developers of the video game, the character and his appearance is based on Looney Tunes' character Count Bloodcount.

In concept art released by a developer for 99x, Mr. Crumb's coloration is shown. His tail and hands are light blue and his cloak is purple. His skull is the expected shade of bone white, while his eyes have black scleras and blue pupils.

His appearance in On The Run! gave his look a significant overhaul. His lower jaw is now connected to his head, but is missing a single tooth and his ghost tail is sky blue. He wears a monocle and a tall purple top hat with a pink ribbon. His cloak is replaced with a purple tuxedo with sky blue cuffs and a bow tie in the latter color. His hands are also skeletal, with long claws and golden rings on each finger.

Personality[]

Mr. Crumb is very miserly and cruel. He never had any friends and never intended to have any. What was important to him was his immense treasure that he would protect until death and beyond. He is also very vain and evil, so much so that he comes to terms with supernatural beings to achieve his goals. The character doesn't have a voice in the game, as he only has the audio file of a scream when he gets hit. But according to an interview with a developer, Mr. Crumb would have a Scottish accent.^[2]