Uka Uka

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Uka Uka
Uka Uka in Crash Twinsanity
Game series	Crash Bandicoot
First game	Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
Creator(s)	Naughty Dog
Voice actor(s) (English)	Clancy Brown Alex Fernandez (Crash Twinsanity)
Voice actor(s) (Japanese)	Ryūzaburō Ōtomo

Uka Uka (ウカ ウカ, Uka Uka^?, a.k.a. "The Great Uka Uka", "Mighty Uka Uka" in Twinsanity) is a fictional video game character from the Crash Bandicoot series, and is one of the major antagonists of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. The character also appears as a secondary villain in subsequent installments of the series.

Uka Uka is a floating voodoo mask spirit, and the evil twin brother of Aku Aku (Uka Uka's name is 'Aku Aku' spelled backwards). As an evil twin, Uka Uka is the exact opposite of his brother; while Aku Aku is benevolent, calm, and empathetic, Uka Uka is manevolent, short-tempered, impatient, and cruel, showing little (if any) happiness throughout the entire series. He is ultimately the driving force behind Doctor Neo Cortex's plot for global domination, and is frequently upset with Cortex for his repeated failures,^[1] which usually leads to Uka Uka attempting to murder Doctor Cortex.

Uka Uka was originally created by Naughty Dog as a presence that was able to cause even Doctor Cortex to cower in fear, and bring him to his hands and knees. Emotion sketches of Cortex begging for Uka Uka's forgiveness were the inspiration of the shot design and animation for the cinematic introductory sequence of Warped.^[2]

Contents 1 Personality and appearance 2 History 2.1 Other appearances 3 Other information 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Personality and appearance

Like Doctor Neo Cortex, Uka Uka is a megalomaniacal villain who wants nothing more than the enslavement of mankind and the destruction of the world. In fact, he is so bent on destroying the world, that he's actually willing to save the world from threats greater than himself for the sheer purpose of destroying the world himself (as evidenced in Crash Twinsanity).^[3] He usually seeks to obtain the power needed to accomplish this deed with either the Power Crystals or the Gems, which is often the case in most games.^[4][5] However, when Crash Bandicoot thwarts such plans, he constantly blames Cortex for such failures, and tries to kill him, though to this day he has never succeeded in carrying out that deed. He also seems to have an egotistical side; in the earlier games, he commonly referred to himself as "The Great Uka Uka", though Neo Cortex^[6][7] and Nefarious Tropy^[8] have also referred to him as such names out of fear and reverence of him, respectively. Although Uka Uka generally despises Cortex due to his incompetence, he does occasionally have his generous moments and spares Cortex's life, specifically after Cortex inadvertently set him free with the ruins of his space station.^[9] He is also seen showing something of a respect for Nefarious Tropy, whom he sees as more competant than Neo Cortex.^[8] Despite this, Uka Uka largely looks down on everyone around him, especially his twin brother, whom he sees as "feeble".^[10][11]

Despite being the twin brother of Aku Aku, Uka Uka differs greatly from him in terms of physical appearance. Uka Uka is generally larger than his twin brother, and his "skin" is of a black color in contrast to Aku Aku's brown. While Aku Aku possesses a green goatee, Uka Uka sports a large red beard, which becomes a brownish color in later games. His nose is small and rectangular, as opposed to Aku Aku's long, pointed nose. Lastly, while Aku Aku has four to six feathers attached to his head, Uka Uka sports three bones; one is tied to his forehead, and two are seen dangling on ropes from both sides of his person (though they do not swing with his movements until Crash Twinsanity). Another notable feature is the yellow stripe located on his forehead.

[edit] History

Several eons before the events of the series, Uka Uka was locked away by Aku Aku in an underground prison as to protect the Earth from his will.^[12] Several millenia later, Uka Uka recruited Doctor Cortex to fulfill his desire to enslave humanity, only to have Doctor Cortex lose the Crystals and the Gems, and have his space station destroyed. The rubble of the ruined space station eventually crash-lands onto Earth, destroying the underground prison, and finally freeing Uka Uka.

Upset with Cortex's failure to retrieve the Crystals and the Gems, Uka Uka recruits Doctor Nefarious Tropy, who has created the Time Twister, which will allow them to collect the Crystals and the Gems in their original places. When Crash intervenes and destroys the Time Twister, Uka Uka scolds Cortex and the rest of the villains for their less-than-impressive evil productivity.^[13] Fed up with Cortex's incompetence, Uka Uka concludes that if global domination is to ever be achieved, Crash should be handled with personally.^[14] Deciding to use Cortex's new super-weapon to wipe out Crash Bandicoot, he revives the Elementals to act as the super-weapon's source of power and bring it to life.^[15] When Crash imprisons the Elementals, defeats the super-weapon, and brings it to their side, Uka Uka pins the blame squarely on Cortex, and attempts to kill him, but in doing so causes their newly-built space station to overload, forcing Cortex and Uka Uka to evacuate.^[16] Their escape pod lands in the depths of Antarctica, preserving both of them in a block of ice.

Three years later, Uka Uka is freed from a wall of ice, but is enraged to see that Cortex has teamed up with Crash in order to defeat the Evil Twins,^[17] and transforms into an Ice Titan in order to kill both of them. When he is defeated, Uka Uka attempts to flee, but Aku Aku stops him and tells him about the Evil Twins' plot to destroy the Earth. Frightened by the fact that someone else is trying to destroy the world (a job that he believes is his), Uka Uka temporarily teams up with his twin brother,^[3] only to be defeated alongside him by the Evil Twins' ability to warp reality.^[18]

[edit] Other appearances

Uka Uka (along with Aku Aku) appears as a tutor for the player in the racing games Crash Team Racing and Crash Nitro Kart, giving general tips for the player after a trophy is won. The two masks also act as invincibility power-ups during the races, protecting the player from enemy attacks and wiping out anyone the player touches. Who protects the player depends on whether the character is good or evil, with Aku Aku protecting Crash, Coco, Polar, and Pura, and Uka Uka protecting Doctor Cortex, N. Gin, Tiny, and Dingodile.

Uka Uka appears as the captain of the 'Evil Team' in the party game Crash Bash, where he holds a tournament with Aku Aku to decide whether good or evil is truly stronger. During the events of the tournament, Uka Uka decides to use the tournament to gather the Crystals as to use them to obtain ultimate power. Uka Uka also acts as an obstacle during the "Melt Panic" minigame, in which he attacks the players by freezing them, encasing them in giant snowballs, shrinking them, or crushing them with a one-ton weight. The outcome of the tournament depends on who wins the tournament. If Crash, Coco, Tiny, or Dingodile win, Uka Uka's plan is revealed just in time for Aku Aku to protect the Crystals from his clutches. Just before Uka Uka can destroy Cortex and Brio for their incompetance, Aku Aku seals away the Crystals and sends Uka Uka flying into the vacuum of space. However, if Cortex, Brio, Koala Kong, or Rilla Roo win, Uka Uka claims the Crystals and obtains ultimate power. The destruction that stems from this is never revealed. Uka Uka also appears as a purchaseable power-up in the party game Crash Boom Bang!.

In the Game Boy Advance installments of the Crash Bandicoot series, Uka Uka shows his usual annoyance with Cortex for failing him one time too many. In Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Uka Uka recruits Doctor Nefarious Tropy to help him pull off another evil plan, which involves hypnotising the Bandicoots into joining the side of evil. When both N. Trance and Nefarious Tropy are defeated, Uka Uka promises a real adversary in the near future.

[edit] Other information

In Crash Team Racing, Uka Uka's theme is heard while using him as an invincibility power-up. His theme here is quite similar to that of his twin brother Aku Aku, being largely driven by drums, only somewhat more sinister in nature.^[19] In Crash Twinsanity, all of the music is performed a cappella by Spiralmouth. Uka Uka's theme was created to capture a "hard rock" feel, with a singer impersonating an electric guitar, accompanied by a prominent chorus throughout the song.^[20]

In contrast to Aku Aku's soothing voice, Uka Uka's voice is harsh and growly. In much of his console appearances, his voice is provided by The Shawshank Redemption star Clancy Brown, who also voices Doctor Neo Cortex in the same series. Brown has voiced Uka Uka in all but one of his speaking appearances; in Crash Twinsanity, Alex Fernandez took over the role, as Clancy Brown did not reprise either role for the game (Lex Lang replaced Brown as the voice of Doctor Cortex). Ryūzaburō Ōtomo, a seiyū known in Japan for his low voice, dubs over Uka Uka in the Japanese versions of the games.^[21]

[edit] See also

• Aku Aku
• Doctor Neo Cortex
• Evil twin
• List of Crash Bandicoot characters

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Crash Mania's Crash-O-Pedia article on Uka Uka

[ Edit ]

 

Crash series

Heroes	Crash Bandicoot | Aku Aku | Coco Bandicoot | Crunch Bandicoot
Neutral	Doctor Nitrus Brio
Villains	Doctor Neo Cortex | Ripper Roo | Doctor N. Gin | Komodo Brothers | Tiny Tiger | Uka Uka | Doctor Nefarious Tropy | Dingodile | Elementals | Mega-Mix | N. Trance | Nina Cortex | Emperor Velo XXVII | Evil Twins
Other Characters	List of Crash Bandicoot characters