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Dingodile

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Dingodile
'Crash Bandicoot' character
File:Dingodile titans.jpg
Dingodile in the DS version of Crash of the Titans
First gameCrash Bandicoot: Warped (1998)
Created byNaughty Dog

Dingodile (ディンゴダイル, Dingodairu) is a fictional video game character and secondary villain in the Crash Bandicoot series.

Dingodile is a hybrid of a dingo and a crocodile (his name is a portmanteau of the two words), and a henchman of the series' main antagonist Doctor Neo Cortex. As commonly stated, Dingodile enjoys reading Shakespeare, playing croquet, and roasting orange bandicoots with his flamethrower,[3][4] which he is often seen with. He is one of Cortex's two main mutant followers, alongside Tiny Tiger.

Conception and creation

Dingodile was created by character designer Charles Zembillas when the employee Joe Labbe asked for a character that was a cross between a dingo and a crocodile.[5]

Actor portrayal

During the Naughty Dog era, Dingodile had a raspy, Broad Australian accented voice, which was supplied by the late William Hootkins,[1] who succumbed to pancreatic cancer on October 23, 2005,[6] the first and so far only English Crash Bandicoot cast member to pass away. Dingodile sports a similar voice in Crash Team Racing, but Hootkins' name is not seen in the credits, nor is the role of Dingodile credited to anyone. In Crash Bash, Dingodile emits an uncharacteristically deep laugh, and a sound clip of a dog whining can be heard when Dingodile is injured. From this point on, Dingodile doesn't have a speaking role until Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity, where he is voiced by The A-Team star Dwight Schultz.[2] Shultz's rendition of Dingodile gives his voice a Steve Irwin-esque feel, eliminating the raspy quality in his voice, and making his Australian accent thicker (this is more noticeable in Twinsanity during a cutscene before the boss fight against him).[7] During the boss battle against him in Twinsanity, Dingodile can be heard making warthog-like grunts and snorts upon attacking and losing a life point. TMNT star Nolan North, who voices Doctor N. Gin in the same series, voices Dingodile in the DS version of Crash of the Titans.

Keisuke Ishida voiced Dingodile in the Japanese dubs of Warped, Crash Team Racing, and Crash Bash, with Hajime Iijima voicing Dingodile in all the subsequent games.

Characteristics

Personality

Dingodile's personality isn't explored as thoroughly as the other villains in the series, but it is apparent that Dingodile is a cruel and pyromanical individual, frequently sporting a large flamethrower and willing to kill anything weaker than he is (as evidenced in Crash Bandicoot: Warped, where Dingodile is seen preparing to kill a small penguin during the Ice Ages before Crash's intervention). Dingodile is also known to have his greedy side, willing to betray Doctor Cortex to obtain the Evil Twins' riches in Crash Twinsanity.

While Dingodile may seem like a vicious brute, he is capable of living in a more sophisticated manner; in a stark contrast to the stupidity of Tiny Tiger or his daytime job of burning innocent bandicoots, his hobbies include reading Shakespeare and playing croquet.[3][4] In a deleted scene from Crash Twinsanity, Dingodile is shown to be romantically interested in Crash's former girlfriend Tawna, having a romantic dinner with her in his shack before it is crushed by a giant snowball.[8] This scene does not appear in the final project, and is therefore considered non-canon. It is also hinted at that he is almost or is as intelligent as the doctors in the epilogue of Crash Team Racing, in which he opens an animal breeding program made for the creation of hybrids like himself.[9]

Appearance

File:Dingodile.GIF
Dingodile has kept this general appearance for much of the games he's starred in.

Dingodile is generally portrayed as a bulky mutant with a dingo's body, and a crocodile's stomach and tail (tail became orange-colored instead of green in Crash of the Titans). His lone article of clothing is a pair of large, tan (blue in Twinsanity and Titans), baggy pants, which are traded for sky-blue trunks with a flower design in Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure due to the boss fight against him being underwater. His flamethrower resembles a large cylinder with a red-and-yellow checker design on it. This flamethrower is traded for a yellow torpedo launcher (which also doubles as an air supply tank, as a tube can be seen going from the tank to his glass helmet) in The Huge Adventure, as a flamethrower cannot function underwater. In Crash of the Titans, Dingodile uses a water cannon instead.

History

Doctor Neo Cortex and Doctor Nitrus Brio have both been credited for the creation of Dingodile,[10] though Naughty Dog has never stated who they intended his creator to be. Having said that, he has only been shown in service of the former, otherwise working on his own accord.

Present history

1998

Dingodile made his debut in the video game Crash Bandicoot: Warped as the second boss of the game. Here, he is seen serving under Uka Uka and Doctor Cortex, attempting to take whatever Crystals Crash has gathered and bringing them to Cortex during the Ice Ages under his orders.[11] Crash encounters Dingodile as he is about to kill a penguin, who runs away upon Crash's arrival. In retaliation, Dingodile surrounds himself with large, rotating stalagmites, and shoots small bursts of flamethrower ammo into the air, causing fireballs to rain down from the sky. When Dingodile fires at Crash directly in another attempt to kill him, he ends up destroying the stalagmites that have been protecting him, allowing Crash to attack Dingodile, causing his flamethrower to malfunction and explode. When Dingodile admits defeat, he warns Crash of the more powerful enemies he will face ahead as the penguin he tried to kill earlier hops up and down on his charred body.[12]

2001-2004

Dingodile appears as an attendee of Uka Uka's bad guy convention in Wrath of Cortex, not speaking a single line in the entire game. He later serves as an obstacle in certain levels, firing spurts of flamethrower ammo in an attempt to stop Crash.

In Crash Twinsanity, Dingodile is seen as one of the attendees of Crash's "birthday party" (which is really a gathering of past villains in the Crash series). After watching the ensuing boss battle, he discusses lunch with Ripper Roo. Later, he is seen inside a small shack reading a green book (originally, he was having a date with Tawna, but this was omitted due to time constraints),[8] but is interrupted when a large snowball crushes the shack with him in it. As Cortex laments his humiliation, Dingodile learns of the Evil Twins' treasure,[13] and secretly follows Crash and Cortex to the boiler room of Madame Amberly's Academy of Evil, where he tries to kill Crash for the treasure, believing he already has it.[7] However, with the help of the boiler room's emergengy sprinkler system, Crash is able to disable Dingodile's flamethrower and beat him into submission. Dingodile is last seen laying unconscious in the boiler room.

2007-present

While Dingodile doesn't appear in the console version of Crash of the Titans, he appears as the first boss in the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance versions of the game.[14] In the Game Boy Advance version, Dingodile is given the task of sending barrels of oil from Wumpa Island to Tiki Island. He is defeated by Crash, who attacks him with inhabited beehives.

Other appearances

Dingodile appears as a playable character in Crash Team Racing and Crash Nitro Kart, driving a high-speed, low-control kart in both games.[15] In Crash Nitro Kart, Dingodile is seen assisting Doctor N. Gin when the tower they're standing in is abducted. The next time he is seen, he is brainwashed by N. Trance and racing under Trance's team, which drives green vehicles. His flamethrower is not seen in the game, and he dons a strange device on his head, presumably a brainwashing/control helmet.

Dingodile also appears in the party game Crash Bash, in which he is summoned by Uka Uka to do battle with Aku Aku's team in a tournament. However, he and Tiny Tiger are switched over to Aku Aku's team, because Uka Uka had too many players. Dingodile performs a tail whip as his default attack in the "Crate Crush" levels, and has the ability to fire two-shot volleys in the "Tank Wars" levels.[16]

In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, Dingodile serves as the first boss. He fights Crash in a shark-infested underwater cavern, and fires torpedoes at the cavern ceiling in an attempt to impale Crash with the falling stalactites, but eventually manages to impale himself, leaving him open for attack. He is later merged with Doctor Cortex, N. Gin, and Tiny, and becomes Mega-Mix. After chasing Crash down a space station hall, Mega-Mix is left inside the space station, which explodes with the villains in it.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Naughty Dog (1998). Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment America.
  2. ^ a b Vicarious Visions (2003). Crash Nitro Kart Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment America.
  3. ^ a b Traveller's Tales (2001). Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment America.
  4. ^ a b Vicarious Visions (2002). Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment America.
  5. ^ "Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped Gallery". Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  6. ^ "William Hootkins at Find-A-Grave". Retrieved 2007-08-22.
  7. ^ a b Dingodile: Cozy, ain'it? Rumors are you two chumps have go'n yer mits on some treasha, and I wanna piece of dat pie! / Doctor Neo Cortex: I have no idea what you just said. (Crash Twinsanity)
  8. ^ a b "A Traveller's Tales employee reveals removed content in Crash Twinsanity". Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  9. ^ Text: Dingodile went on to found an animal breeding program for the creation of unique and interesting pets. His motto "Combine them all" spurred such successes as the Gir-bat, Kanga-rooster, and the Dingo-Rilla. (Crash Team Racing)
  10. ^ Eurocom (2000). Crash Bash Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
  11. ^ Dingodile: G'day, mates! Dingodile's the name, and Uka Uka and Cortex gave me orders to bring the Crystals to them during the Ice Ages. So gimme the goods, and shove off! Or I'll roast yaz! (Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped)
  12. ^ Dingodile: You trashed me, mate. No worries, but soon you'll be up against much worse... (Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped)
  13. ^ Doctor Neo Cortex: I've never been so humiliated! No amount of treasure would ever be able to compensate. / Dingodile: (emerging from the ruins of his shack) Treasure, eh? Bonzai! (Crash Twinsanity)
  14. ^ "Interview with Amaze Entertainment". Retrieved 2007-08-25.
  15. ^ Naughty Dog, ed. (1999). Crash Team Racing instruction manual. Sony Computer Entertainment America. p. 25.
  16. ^ Eurocom, ed. (2000). Crash Bash instruction manual. Sony Computer Entertainment America. p. 16.
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