|
| “ | So, you're helping Cortex to gather Crystals, and yet you've acquired a Gem! Interesting! Heheheheh! Well Crash, heheheh, know this, as long as you are allied with C-C-C-Cortex, you are my sworn enemy and I will do everything in my power t-t-t-to stop you! Heheheheheh! If the fate of the world is truly your concern, you must g-g-gather the Gems, not the Cr-Cr-Cr-Crystals. If you obtain all 42 Gems I can use them to f-f-f-focus a laser [laughs], a laser beam that will destroy Cortex and the space station he has created. Until then I must use my forces to stop you from gathering Crystals. | „ |
| ~ N. Brio declaring Crash as sworn enemies. |
Doctor Nitrus Brio, also known simply as N. Brio, is a major antagonist in the Crash Bandicoot franchise.
He is a mentally unstable scientist, who served as a former assistant for Dr. Neo Cortex's global domination, brewing potions and transforming animals into mutants. Brio's loyalty has fluctuated throughout the series, whether he's working on his own accords, with Doctor Nefarious Tropy, or even returning to Cortex's side. As of Cortex Strikes Back, he is replaced by Dr. N. Gin. He also seemed to be Cortex's childhood over the years alongside his replacement.
Biography[]
Pre-series history[]
Children N. Gin, N. Cortex and N. Brio with Madame Amberley.
Like most of the characters in the series, Brio's age is uncertain, though a piece of Crash Twinsanity concept art suggests that Brio is the same age as Cortex and Doctor N. Gin. As a child, Nitrus Brio was a classmate of Neo Cortex and N. Gin in Madame Amberly's Academy of Evil. Brio is responsible for taking Neo's original faulty Evolvo-Ray and refining it into a fully functional weapon. However, his lack of self-esteem allowed Doctor Cortex to take full credit for the creation.
Crash Bandicoot[]
At the start of the series, Brio acts as an assistant to Cortex. While he is somewhat loyal, he has his doubts over whether Cortex's plans can actually work. Brio acts as the penultimate boss of the first game, drinking a potion and transforming himself into a hulking monstrosity to combat Crash. The game's epilogue states that Brio rediscovered his true passion for bartending following the events of the game.
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back[]
Nitrus Brio reappeared in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, attempting to convince Crash Bandicoot to save the world by gathering the Gems he needs to destroy Cortex's space station instead of the Crystals that Cortex needs to control the Earth. When Crash continues to gather Crystals, Brio recruits Ripper Roo and creates the Komodo Brothers and Tiny Tiger to assassinate Crash and keep him from gathering the Crystals for Cortex. Brio finally manages to convince Crash to gather the 42 Gems needed for the laser to be operational, and gives him the honor of activating the weapon, destroying Cortex's space station.
Crash Twinsanity[]
In Crash Twinsanity, Brio teams up with Doctor Nefarious Tropy to defeat Cortex and gain the Evil Twins' treasure. He appears alongside Tropy in a boss fight, immediately following Crash's escape from N. Gin's battleship, in which Brio (after being instructed by N. Tropy to "get changed") drinks a potion to transform himself into a large, green frog-like monster. While in this form, he bounces around on the iceberg trying to squash Crash. He then appears (in his human form) alongside N. Tropy and N. Gin again in the Evil Twins' fortress, claiming the Twins' treasure for themselves. However, they are thwarted by Spyro the Dragon, who had been trapped in the Twins' vault, when he breathes fire on them.
Crash: Mind over Mutant[]
Brio reunites with Neo Cortex once more in Crash: Mind over Mutant, in which he helps him develop the NV, a personal digital assistant meant to control its owner. He uses recycled parts from the Junkyard to mass-produce NVs and create a new space station for Doctor Cortex. Throughout the game, he claims to be the inventor of numerous things, including recycling, Slinkies, and endings. He is found in the Junkyard with a brainwashed Crunch Bandicoot by Crash and Aku Aku, who are then attacked by Crunch under Brio's orders. When Crunch is broken free from the NV's control, Brio is forced to reveal the whereabouts of Uka Uka, who is acting as the source of the negative Mojo needed to control those wearing NVs. He is then told to leave the island, which he does, but not before promising that it wasn't the end.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time[]
N. Brio has a new game for the bandicoots that he's got a reward at the end of the testing grounds when defeating his diabolical creations along the way in Tranquility Falls. Later on, the bandicoots get into the end, and Brio congratulates them by giving them a reward, which is actually a trap the whole time.
In this fight, Brio does his same attacks back in the first game, but with him on the floating platform behind the Chinese bell. He throws purple potions to create shockwaves to kill Crash Bandicoot, and throws green potions to summon gooey monsters, which Crash hit them right back at Brio. He also has a inverted potion to make everything go faster. At one health bar, Brio drinks his potions and transforms into a monstrous Hulk with only three health bars. In his monstrous form, he smashes the ground repeatedly to make shockwaves, but when he gets stunned, Crash uses the mask Akano's power to knock Brio right off the arena three times.
After the fight, Brio transforms into a pterodactyl and is about to unleash the reptilian wrath, but painfully poops out a mutant egg. Horrified, Brio flies away and drops some gems through the dimensional worlds.
In the secret ending with the game 100%, it's revealed that N. Brio, still in his pterodactyl form, was captured by a sophisticated Ripper Roo who encased him in a glass museum case for the viewers to take photographs, much to Brio's dismay.
Spin-offs[]
Crash Team Racing[]
While Brio does not appear in Crash Team Racing, a brand of beakers used as weapons during the races feature his name.
Crash Bash[]
Brio returns in Crash Bash, marking his first playable appearance, summoned to play on Uka Uka's side against Aku Aku's team.
Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled[]
Dr. N. Brio is a playable character that can be unlocked during Spooky Grand Prix event in the Pitstop. He is a Acceleration class driver.
Crash Bandicoot: On the Run![]
???
Crash Team Rumble[]
???
Personality[]
Brio is a shy and meek man, which serves as a contrast to Doctor Cortex's megalomania. He was designed as a foil to Cortex: opposite in charisma and scientific success, meek to Cortex's dominating and magisterial behavior, cautious and calculating to Cortex's emotional outbursts and impulsive behavior, patient to Cortex's impatience, and successful to Cortex's failures. He has never had people respect him or take him seriously (a fact he laments in Crash: Mind over Mutant), resulting in a low self-esteem. It is this weakness that originally caused him to join Doctor Cortex in his plot for world domination. However, it is also this weakness that allowed Cortex to take the full credit for an invention that Brio was more responsible for attaining any sort of effectiveness. Most notably was the first functional Evolvo-Ray, which Brio did not actually create, but perfected its original faulty design into a more effective weapon. This betrayal on Cortex's part is a continuing source of disdain for Brio and is the prime motive for his abandonment of Cortex following the events of Crash Bandicoot. In the earlier games, he stuttered and occasionally laughed like a madman whenever he spoke. While the reason for this is unknown, it could be a result of his nervous personality, the bolts in his head, or too many failed potions. Overall Brio acts like a bumbling but cautious assistant with incredibly eccentric mannerisms, a strong stutter, and maniacal laughter.
In Crash: Mind Over Mutant, as a way of making up for his mistake of allowing Cortex to take credit for his inventions in the past, Brio has developed a notable level of self delusion, as he cites himself as being the actual inventor of the Evolvo-Ray (even though he only perfected it) and also credits himself with several other things that he couldn't possibly have created, like recycling, Slinkies, and even claiming to have written the Bible. However, despite now acting more like an insecure lunatic know-it-all, Brio's delusional behavior seems to have helped with his self-esteem. He manages to get rid of his verbal tics and plays a slightly more active role in Cortex's plans (such as helping Cortex advertise and sell NV headsets). Brio also appears to have gained an addiction to drinking his mutagen potions which can cause him to briefly mutate at random moments, especially when he gets angry or upset.
Appearance[]
N. Brio is taller than Doctor Cortex, with an equally tall head, which has twin electrode-like bolts attached to the sides ala Frankenstein's Monster. While Cortex and N. Gin wear white lab coats, Brio wears a green one in most of his appearances, but wears a lab coat similar to that of Doctor Cortex in Crash Twinsanity. In some instances his labcoats do not feature sleeves. Unlike Cortex, who has black hair, Brio has almost no hair to speak of, with his eyebrows being the only pieces of visible hair on his body, though a piece of concept art for Crash Twinsanity suggests that Brio had a strand of blonde hair on his head during his childhood. In Crash Twinsanity, Brio's skin has become more wrinkled, and has noticeably darkened, taking on an almost grayish hue, possibly due to the not insubstantial amount of mutagenic chemicals he's been known to ingest over the years. According to Cortex, the mutagen tastes like "peppermint barf, with a hint of..."
Trivia[]
- His name is a play on the word "embryo" (a fact that he himself alludes to in Mind over Mutant)
- N. Brio is the first scientist to have brought back an extinct animal, Tiny Tiger, who was a thylacine. The second to do the same is Dr. Cortex. Of course, they turn these animals into mutants anyway.
- Brio is the only character whose design was never changed by Radical Entertainment during its development of Crash games; his model looking like a merge between his original look and his Twinsanity look. Although Brio has a new outfit in Mind over Mutant, most of the cutscenes show him wearing his old uniform from the first Crash game.
- In every Crash game, Brio always wears clothes similar to Cortex's, with different colors.
- In Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Brio returned to the ruins of Cortex's Castle and used it as a base to send his minions and oppose Cortex and Crash. At the end of the game, Crash and Coco go there to bring their gems to Brio.
- N. Brio and Crash are indirectly responsible for liberating Uka Uka from his temple prison, giving Cortex one more reason to hate them both, as he has been forced to take orders from Uka Uka ever since.
- N. Brio is one of the few characters from the Naughty Dog era of Crash Bandicoot not to have made an appearance in Crash Team Racing, the others being Koala Kong, Komodo Moe, Tawna, and Baby T. However, his beakers are included in the game, and recalled "N. Brio Beakers".
- N. Brio was initially considered to be included in Crash Nitro Kart, along with Ripper Roo, the Komodo Brothers, Rilla Roo, and Nina Cortex.
External Links[]
- Dr. Nitrus Brio - Heroes Wiki
[]
 Villains
| ||
|
Humans Mutants Aliens Other | ||