TNT Crate

The TNT crate! A classic design. I got the idea from cartoons!
Neo Cortex, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time

The TNT Crate is an explosive crate that appears in many games of the Crash Bandicoot series. As its name suggests, it is filled with TNT/dynamite. It is by far one of the most dangerous crates, even though destroying it is required to get all the crates in the level. Unlike Nitro Crates, there are no crates designed for detonating all the TNT crates in a level. Trying to destroy a TNT Crate with spin attack is deadly. Instead, they are dealt with individually by jumping on them (or simply headbutting them in space or while underwater), which starts a visible three mark countdown. The player should then retreat to a safe distance as the TNT crate will explode once the countdown expires. Most other methods of attacking it will cause it to detonate immediately, making the player lose a life, or a Aku Aku mask.

In the Polar riding levels of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, TNT crates start the timer automatically without Crash touching them. In the Ripper Roo boss fight of Cortex Strikes Back and El Pogo Loco in Crash Bash, he places TNT and nitro tiles on the ground, which count down from six seconds in the former.

In Crash Team Racing, Crash Nitro Kart, and the Nitro-Fueled remake of Crash Team Racing, the TNT Crate appears as a Power-Up for racers. When one is hit, the driver must jump repeatedly to try and get it off their head before it explodes. If successful, the crate goes flying behind them and explodes upon hitting the floor, damaging anyone too close. If they fail, it sends the driver crashing. If the player is Juiced Up, it becomes a Nitro Crate, which explodes immediately on contact. Ripper Roo uses TNT crates normally in his boss challenge, and Komodo Joe and Nitros Oxide launch TNT crates which explode on impact, as if they were on their head, in conjunction with deploying Nitro Crates as normal. In Nitro-Fueled, the TNT Crate also appears as an alternate skin for the Iron Checkpoint Crate.

In Crash Twinsanity, the TNT crates are used to clear paths, by exploding near Nitro Crates, and take down nearby obstacles. During the battle against N. Gin, he throws TNT crates, and are used to explode his crow's nest.

TNT crates in Crash: Mind Over Mutant count down when touched at all, as opposed to only when bounced on like in most other games. They damage Crash, titans and other crates around them when they explode.

In Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, TNT barrels can be picked up and carried by Dingodile using his vacuum gun. These can be shot at enemies or at obstacles to demolish them. TNT barrels spawn indefinitely in one place and are not included in the level's crate count.

In Skylanders Imaginators, Crash's attacks include throwing TNT crates and spinning them into foes.

In Japan, this crate usually has a bomb symbol instead of "TNT".

Descriptions

Crash Bandicoot

Manual

"Jump on this to start the 3 second fuse. Don't hang around for the explosion or Crash will need more than some glue to be reassembled. NEVER EVER Spin Attack a TNT box. (Just a suggestion.)"

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

Manual

"Jump on these to start a 3 second fuse. Don't hang around for the explosion or Crash will need more than some glue to be reassembled. Beware also of starting a chain reaction with other TNT boxes."

Crash Bandicoot: Warped

Manual

"Jump on it to light the 3-second delay fuse. Then run away. Spin these and...BOOM!"

Crash Team Racing

Manual

"Release this box of boom onto the track and if a player runs over it, the box lands on their head. After a short countdown, the big bang hurls the driver into a tumbling crash. The player can try to hop enough times to get the crate off their head before the TNT blows up."

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex

Manual

"Hop on these to trigger the 3-second delay fuse. Stand clear before they blow! Careful not to spin these or...BLAMMO!"

Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure

"Hop on these to trigger the three-second delay fuse. Stand clear before they blow! Be careful not to spin these or...BLAMMO!"

Crash Nitro Kart

Manual

"Drop these on the track to give the racers behind you a nasty surprise. If you run into one of these killer crates, it'll latch onto your head and start counting down. When the timer runs out, you'll wipe out when it explodes in your face. Try hopping madly to get it off your head."

Crash Twinsanity

Manual

"Explodes immediately if broken, or counts down from 3 before exploding if jumped on."

Appearances

Variations

Red with bomb symbol

Japanese versions of the series

Gray with red LEDs

Crash of the Titans

Gray with dynamite bar icon

Crash of the Titans (GBA version only)

Red with big yellow letters saying TNT and yellow LEDs

Crash: Mind Over Mutant

Big TNT

Crash Bandicoot.

TNT Barrel

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time

Gallery

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Traditional Chinese	TNT 箱 TNT xiāng	(same as English)
Simplified Chinese	炸药箱 Zhàyào xiāng	Explosive Box
French	Caisse TNT	(same as English)
German	TNT-Kiste	(same as English)
Italian	Casse TNT	(same as English)
Japanese	💣ばこ (1) バクダンばこ (2/3) ばくだん箱 (CTR) 💣bako (1) Bakudan bako (2/3) Bakudan hako (CTR)	💣 Box (1) Bomb Box (2/3) Bomb Box (CTR)
Korean	TNT 상자를 TNT sangjaleul	(same as English)
Portuguese	Caixa TNT	(same as English)
Russian	ящиков с динамитом yashchikov s dinamitom	Box of Dynamite
Spanish	Caja TNT	(same as English)
Thai	ลัง TNT Lạng TNT	(same as English)
Turkish	TNT Sandıklarına	(same as English)
Vietnamese	Thùng TNT	(same as English)

Trivia

According to Crash's profile in Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!, he hates TNT crates.
In the flashback tape Bandicoot vs Wombat Eval in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, Dr. Neo Cortex reveals that he created TNT and nitro crates and got the idea from the cartoons.
In earlier versions of the first game, the TNT crate (and its harmless counterpart) have an accelerating countdown, and do not display a number.