Doctor Neo Cortex

Doctor Neo Periwinkle Cortex is the main antagonist from the Crash Bandicoot games.

Cortex is a professional evil scientist born in Peoria, Illinois and he is known as the creator of his nemesis: Crash Bandicoot.

Appearance
Cortex appears as a short, yellow-skinned, large-headed human with a giant permanent tattoo symboled N (which according to the official Crash Bandicoot website and Wrath of Cortex official strategy guide, stands for "Nerd, or more appropriately- Neo") located on his forehead since the age of 3. In all of the games before the Radical Entertainment era, this N appears to be painted or branded on; in Crash Tag Team Racing and Crash of the Titans, the N is shown to be metal-plated. He is most often seen wearing a lab coat, with some sort of black clothing underneath, and donning rubber (leather in later installments) gloves and boots. Cortex is balding, with hair only on the sides of his head and a thick strand on top. Whatever hair he does have is black (blue in some games) and frazzled. He is also shown to have a short beard and bushy eyebrows with the same color along with this. His eyelids are prominently red in most of his appearances, while they are black in select ones. The top of his head is typically depicted as being either unusually flattened or nearly-flattened towards the top. Cortex is a person of short stature in most of his games, seldom being taller than Crash in any of them (with the exceptions of Crash of the Titans, Crash Mind Over Mutant and to a lesser extent Crash Bash and Crash Twinsanity). As a child at the Academy of Evil, Cortex's appearance was largely the same, the biggest difference being a full head of hair, trimmed eyebrows and lacking a beard. The N on his forehead is also depicted as lowercase rather than uppercase.

Personality
Cortex embodies many of the classic traits of psychopathy, being short-tempered, reckless, having no apparent conscience (as cited by Doctor Nefarious Tropy in Crash Twinsanity), and frequently manipulating others to get what he wants.

Like many stereotypical villainous mad scientists, Cortex holds a grudge against other scientists for ridiculing his outlandish (yet workable) ideas, and was originally driven towards world domination by the desire to prove his colleagues wrong. This no longer seems to be the case, as it is revealed in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped that Cortex is working under the orders of Uka Uka (Aku Aku's evil twin), one of the only two individuals that Cortex fears (the other being Madame Amberly). Although Cortex talks big and acts confident in most of his appearances, he can be shown to become nervous (sometimes downright spineless) when put in the face of extreme and immediate danger (i.e. confronting Uka Uka, running out of ammo while fighting enemies, etc.).

Another notable personality trait is his stubbornness and inability to plan ahead or learn from his mistakes; he often relies on his minion Tiny Tiger to eliminate Crash by himself, despite the fact that Tiny is too incompetent to do so alone. This impulsive behavior is first witnessed in the opening cinematic of Crash Bandicoot, in which Cortex refuses to heed the warnings of his then-henchman Doctor Nitrus Brio and tries to make Crash the general of his army, despite numerous past failures. Cortex can become quite irritated or agitated when things don't go his way, especially in Crash Tag Team Racing; while most other characters express mild annoyance when Crash fails to perform an errand for them, Cortex scolds and lashes out at him the minute he comes back empty-handed, calling him a "blithering imbecile", "cantankerous twerp" and saying "You're the worst mutation I've ever created!". Mutually supportive relationships with other characters is also evident in the crossover game Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage, in which Doctor Cortex temporarily teams up with Spyro the Dragon villain Ripto to destroy both Crash and Spyro, only to start bickering with Ripto at one point.

Cortex is not above lying and deceiving others to fulfill his evil desires, most of which include gathering Crystals to power up his doomsday weapons. He frequently uses the gullible Crash Bandicoot to complete these deeds, most evident in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Tag Team Racing, claiming in both games to use the weapons for "mass helping people" as he puts it. His egotistical tendencies also cause him to alter facts about his life, claiming himself to be the most popular student in his school, even though in reality he was an object of hatred among many students, one going as far as to toss a dagger in his direction.[3] Cortex's vain side becomes most obvious in Crash Tag Team Racing, in which he often calls himself such things as beautiful and pretty. He also owns an airship which he uses from time to time, a possible reference to his inflated ego.

For most of the time, Cortex doesn't care for the lives and feelings of others, caring only for himself and what he wants. While this seems to be the case in most games, the one moment in which Cortex actually shows concern for someone else is in Crash Twinsanity, in which at one point his niece, Nina Cortex, is kidnapped by an evil version of Crash. It is at this point clear that Nina is the only living thing that Cortex cares about, with the latter going as far as thoughtlessly putting himself in danger of being mauled by the ferocious Evil Crash during the level "Bandicoot Pursuit". Besides this instance, Cortex is largely unempathetic, seeing others only as tools for his quest in world domination (although presumably he likes N. Gin, Tiny and Dingodile really, as he puts up with them despite their past failings). It is unknown whether Cortex feels any regret for replacing Nina's hands with metallic death-traps, though this is unlikely, given Cortex's psychopathic tendencies.

Abilities
Neo usually fights with simply a laser gun and some explosives, yet is considered tough enough to be almost on par with Crash in some games.

Neo specializes in turning animals into his slaves, and has made world domination his goal through said brainwashed slaves. His signature Cortex Vortex is his Mind-Control Device. He even attempts to brainwash the entire planet in the second game, although thankfully he's thwarted. It's also implied that he aims to do the same thing in the third game.

Neo is an expert in genetics, biology and neuroscience and does tinker with machines and have some scattered knowledge of other subjects, but he outsources the heavy thinking regarding quantum mechanics, robotics and chemistry to his colleagues.

Most games portray Cortex as wimpy and cowardly (Crash does not take his physical threats seriously at all in Mind Over Mutant until he "cheats"). The Rollerbrawl mechanics of Twinsanity however had Cortex actually engage in comedic Good Old Fisticuffs with Crash, arguably making him the one villain closest to actually matching him.

Trivia

 * Ironic to the general opinion about them, the Spanish dub of the Titans duology has the most similar portrayal of Cortex in the games where he was voiced by Lex Lang, Twinsanity being the least similar.
 * in CTTR, one of Cortex's quotes is: "1.2 gigawatts of power!". This is a reference to the film series Back to the Future.
 * Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced is the only game not to feature Cortex because he failed to stop Crash again. But he does appear on multiplayer mode.
 * Cortex appeared in all main series Crash games as a final boss except Crash Twinsanity, and Crash of the Titans.
 * His name is a pun on the neocortex, a part of the brain.
 * Cortex's middle name has been revealed to be Periwinkle by Ebenezer Von Clutch in Crash Tag Team Racing.
 * Cortex's initials are, ironically, NPC (an acronym for 'Non-Playable Character' in video game lingo).
 * Cortex is one of the few characters to ever break the fourth wall during the series, along with Coco, N. Brio, Tiny, Ebenezer Von Clutch, N. Gin and a certain Crash of the Titans enemy type being the only others.
 * His theme in Crash Bandicoot 2 is his fastest theme.
 * In the original versions of the first three games, Cortex uses a different icon for each of them. In the remaster trilogy, Cortex uses the same icon for the remasters of the first and second games. Since the icons Cortex uses in the original versions of the first and second games are very similar anyway, it is understandable why the developers didn't trouble to make his icon different for each of the three remaster versions of the games
 * .Apparently Cortex's specialty as a scientist is in the area of biological sciences. This would mean that he have extensive knowledge about genetics and biotechnology, being able to create and/or manipulate organisms in the laboratory, seeking to understand their physiological and genetic processes to create mutant animals (like Crash and Coco).
 * In Crash 1's level 'Generator Room', the 'N' on his forehead is missing whenever he appears on the TV screens.
 * When he is turned into a baby at the end of Warped, the 'N' on his forehead is lower case.
 * The "N" on his forehead likely stands for his first name "Neo". However, the back stories say it was tattooed on his forehead at age 3 for "Nerd".
 * Cortex once called Nina his daughter but covered it up when he saw Crash coming up behind him, which means only the doctor knows the real relationship between him and Nina.
 * Cortex has appeared in three stages (adult, child in Twinsanity, and baby in Warped)
 * After Twinsanity, Cortex seems to have somewhat befriended Crash in a way. In Crash Tag Team Racing,Crash helps Cortex out a lot, though they are still enemies. This might be a direct homage to DBZ characters, Goku and Vegeta who started off as enemies once and later off befriended one another despite their history.
 * In Crash Tag Team Racing, it is implied that Cortex had served in the Vietnam War, in the Da Nang Air Base. This gives much of clue of what Cortex's age was during the war, though it's highly unlikely what year he did join. If he did serve at Da Nang back at the beginning of the war he chronologically would be 37 years old during the years of the Naughty Dog trilogy.
 * According to Clancy Brown during an interview, he stated the reason why he stopped doing the voice of Dr. Cortex was that Universal gave minimum wages to the actors and that he was never told about the Crash games (Wrath of Cortex and Crash Nitro Kart) during the time. Another reason for Lex Lang replacing Clancy Brown was that in an interview Lex Lang stated that parents didn't like Clancy's impersonation of the character and thought it was too mean for younger audiences and wrote letters to Universal about the problem.
 * In one concept design, Cortex appears to have a hunched back.
 * In the Naughty Dog era, Cortex was more evil but in the Traveller's Tales era, he is somewhat eager and angry, yet somewhat cowardly, and during the Radical era, he seems more comical. However, he is more ruthless in the Radical era.
 * Curiously, when he is turned into a baby in Warped, he has his adult hairstyle and beard, but when he is seen as an 8-year old, he has no beard and a different hairstyle.
 * Cortex and N. Brio should technically both take credit for the Evolvo-Ray, since Cortex built the original (faulty and instead ended up functioning as a "one way" inter-dimensional teleport for Victor and Moritz) Evolvo Ray prototype. N. Brio improved it greatly, but Cortex took credit for it all anyway.
 * In Twinsanity, there is a glitch to play as him at the Iceberg Lab.
 * Cortex has always been the last boss in the main PS1 games.
 * Through most boss fights with Dr. Cortex, each theme goes through a subsequent pattern, going from slower to faster and then slower again.
 * In Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Cortex is revealed to have red irises. However, promotional art from Crash Bandicoot has show Cortex to have pink irises.
 * Cortex's full name is derived from Greek and Latin origins meaning that his name "Neo Periwinkle Cortex" means "New Bark Flower" or "New Flower Shell".
 * Because of his appearance and personality change in Crash of the Titans and his voice being provided by Lex Lang, Cortex has met mixed receptions among his fans. Some fans have preferred Cortex's original appearance and have favored Clancy Brown as the iconic voice for Doctor Cortex while others are more accepting of the changes and have praised Lex Lang for his voice work of the Doctor.
 * Cortex, along with Crash, N. Gin, and Coco are one of the four characters that are playable in all of the racing games.
 * Cortex bears a very strong resemblance to the British actor Roger Delgado. This could most likely explain his somewhat British accent and debonair in Crash Bandicoot 2-3 with him finishing a sentence with a "ta-ta for now". Ironically, to some of his minions (namely N.Gin) Cortex is replied to gracefully as "The Master". A role Delgado was famous for playing in the British TV show Doctor Who.
 * Dr. Cortex in Crash of the Titans proves to be more ruthless and maybe even evil compared to Naughty Dog's Dr. Cortex as is shown in one of the last levels that his Titans' heads are placed on mantles in the corridors of the Doominator.
 * In Crash Twinsanity, Cortex will frequently perform acts of superhuman speed in order to reach distance or to return to Crash after he's thrown him. This ability cannot be used during stages where he is a playable character.
 * Dr. Cortex's nationality can debated among fans as to whether he is British or Hispanic in origin, though some evidence can be pointed out that he is British given his elegance and cunning in the sequels made by Naughty Dog, along with his ending catchphrase "Tata for now" and him sporting a cup of tea in Crash of the Titans (stereotypical traits of British people). It can also be proven that Dr. Cortex favors big game hunting as a hobby since he kills his own Titans for fun and hangs their heads as trophies.
 * Apart from N. Brio, Cortex is the second evil scientist to actually resurrect prehistoric animals back to life (i.g. the Titans).
 * In Crash Bash, the Japanese epilogue mentions Cortex's attempt to rule the world using a giant mech modeled after his Lab Assistants. He nearly succeeds in completing the robot, until Tiny unwittingly ruins his plans by removing one of its screws.
 * Despite Cortex claiming that Crash is his worst creation, logically Crash is Cortex's best creation. Being able to operate many mechanical items with ease, being able to fend off any enemy or boss, being able to survive most conditions and hazards. Crash mostly appears to be brave, running into dangerous situations with a clear head (whatever that may be for Crash). There have been times (other than boss battles) that he's even outsmarted and reacted to events faster than his creator, like in Twinsanity, even if it does mean Cortex gets put through some pain and distress.
 * This technically makes Ripper Roo Cortex's most destructive creation. Despite being almost hyper-intelligent, he is completely unstable, highly destructive, and extremely erratic. The irony of it is that Cortex wasn't able to control Crash and is rather annoyed on his personality, it is also that Cortex's high bolstered ego is what also ruined his chances of controlling Crash, if he had listened to N. Brio and took more caution into his invention the Cortex Vortex he most likely would have control over Crash to this day.
 * In CTTR, Cortex has a chance of saying "Burn baby, burn! ...Disco Inferno!" when destroying another racer's car. This is a reference to the song known as "Disco Inferno" made by The Trammps.