In a secluded archipelago 300 miles (480 km) west of Tasmania, the mad scientist Doctor Neo Cortex uses his "Evolvo-Ray" to genetically alter the local wildlife into an anthropomorphic army of soldiers for the purpose of world domination. Among these soldiers is an eastern barred bandicoot named Crash, who Cortex selects to be the general of his army. The day before Crash is subjected to the "Cortex Vortex", a machine intended to brainwash him, he becomes attached to a female bandicoot named Tawna. Crash is rejected by the Cortex Vortex and is chased out of Cortex's castle, plummeting to the ocean below. As Cortex prepares Tawna to be used in Crash's place, Crash washes up on a smaller island and resolves to rescue Tawna and defeat Cortex. He is aided in his mission by Aku Aku, a witch doctor spirit who acts as the guardian of the islands. Crash undertakes a trek across the archipelago that spans several months. He traverses through a native village and defeats the hostile tribal chief Papu Papu. Cortex receives news of Crash's approach and dispatches his soldiers to dispose of Crash. After Crash defeats Ripper Roo, Koala Kong and Pinstripe Potoroo, he reaches Cortex's stronghold and faces Cortex's assistant Doctor Nitrus Brio, who battles Crash by ingesting a potion to transform himself into a giant green monster. Crash escapes to Cortex's airship, while Cortex boards a hovercraft and attacks Crash with a plasma gun as his castle burns behind them. Crash deflects Cortex's energy bolts against him and sends Cortex falling out of the sky. Tawna embraces Crash as the two ride Cortex's airship into the sunset. In an alternate ending, Crash and Tawna escape Cortex's castle on a large bird, and an epilogue elaborates on the fates of the game's boss characters following Cortex's defeat and disappearance. Papu Papu sells the remains of Cortex's castle to a resort developer and uses the proceeds to open a plus-size clothing shop; Ripper Roo undergoes intense therapy and higher education, and authors a well-received book discussing rapid evolution and its consequences; Koala Kong moves to Hollywood and becomes a film actor; Pinstripe opens a sanitation company in Chicago and prepares for a gubernatorial campaign; and Brio rediscovers a love for bartending.