 Crash Bandicoot , or simply Crash , is the title character and primary protagonist of the Crash Bandicoot series . Introduced in the 1996 video game Crash Bandicoot , Crash is an eastern barred bandicoot who was genetically enhanced by the series ' main antagonist Doctor Neo Cortex and soon escaped from Cortex 's castle after a failed experiment in the " Cortex Vortex " . Throughout the series , Crash acts as the opposition against Cortex and his schemes for world domination . While Crash has a number of offensive maneuvers at his disposal , his most distinctive technique is one in which he spins like a tornado at high speeds and knocks away almost anything that he strikes . 
