Tiny Tiger

Villain Overview Gallery

Evil-doer
Full Name	Tiny Tiger
Alias	Tiny Tiny the Tiger Tazmanian Tiger Taz Tiger
Origin	Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Occupation	Doctor Cortex's lead warrior Dr. Neo Cortex's bodyguard and enforcer Dr. N. Brio's warrior (formerly)
Powers / Skills	Superhuman strength Wildness Combat prowess Roaring
Hobby	Fighting. Crushing his enemies.
Goals	Protect his master Doctor Cortex. Kill Crash Bandicoot (both failed).
Crimes	Attempted murder Aiding and abetting Destruction
Type of Villain	Dimwitted Brute

“	BANDICOOTS! I can squash Bandicoots!	„
	~ Tiny Tiger

Tiny Tiger (in Japanese: タイニータイガー), is a major antagonist in the Crash Bandicoot series.

He is a mutant Tasmanian Tiger who frequently serves Dr. Neo Cortex in his schemes to conquer the world and defeat Crash Bandicoot.

History

Creation

At some point following the events of the original Crash Bandicoot, Tiny was (presumably) created by Dr. Nitrus Brio after mutating a Thylacine (also known as a Tasmanian Tiger), and began serving as one of his minions. Despite this, he seems to have more loyalty to Brio's former employer, Dr. Neo Cortex, implying that he may have been one of Cortex's creations.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

Tiny makes his debut as the third boss fought in the game, fighting Crash on board of a space station. He tries to either squash Crash Bandicoot, or make him fall into the pit below using floating platforms. But Crash outsmarts Tiny and defeats the brute.

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped

Tiny appears again as the first boss of the game. He fights Crash in a Roman Colosseum while dressed as a gladiator. Tiny again tries to squash the marsupial and attacks him with a trident. However, the trident keeps getting stuck in the ground, giving Crash an opening to attack Tiny. Despite unleashing the lions afterwards, Tiny is defeated once again.

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex

Tiny reappears alongside other villains to serve as an obstacle within certain levels.

Crash Twinsanity

Tiny is briefly seen among other villains at the beginning of the game's first boss fight.

Crash of the Titans

Tiny appears redesigned in this game, with an entirely new personality, Tiny is now smart and articulate, not preferring fighting and admiring Crash. He is first seen with Neo Cortex and compliments the villain's stationary. Tiny is later confronted by Crash and Aku Aku at a volcanic area on Wumpa Island. Although Tiny isn't eager to fight Crash, he does anyway and is defeated. He then reveals to the heroes that Nina Cortex had taken over her uncle's operations and tells them where to go next.

Crash Mind Over Mutant

Tiny has a brief voice-only cameo appearance during the credits commentary, correcting Crunch when he messes up one of his metaphors.

Spin-Offs

Crash Team Racing

In Crash Team Racing, Tiny Tiger appears as a playable racer. He can be selected in the adventure mode, where he is one of eight characters competing to stop Nitros Oxide from conquering the world.

Crash Bash

In Crash Bash, Tiny Tiger appears as a playable character and anti-hero (with Dingodile). Tiny is summoned with a handful of other villains to assist in the battle between Aku Aku and Uka Uka. Since Uka Uka has too many allies, Dingodile and Tiny are moved to Aku Aku's side to even things out.

Crash Nitro Kart

Tiny is a member of Team Cortex, abducted by Emperor Velo to race for his entertainment. There is a statue and a temple of him on planet Terra, implying that its inhabitants worship him or someone identical to him. In Team Cortex ending, he, Cortex and N. Gin get transported to Terra after Velo's staff is broken. Tiny, however, fixes the staff, which leads to the Terrans bowing to him in awe.

Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled

Tiny Tiger returns in the remaster for Crash Team Racing serving the same role he had in the original game. He is a Speed class driver.

Trivia

• In the North American version of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Tiny is mistakenly labeled as "Taz Tiger" on the pause menu screen.
• Tiny, along with the Komodo Brothers, was originally planned to be in the first Crash Bandicoot game, still with his beta name "Tazmanian Tiger", but he was removed in favor of Koala Kong. So, Tiny was introduced in the second game, presumably as N. Brio's henchmen. However, Naughty Dog put him in the third game in Cortex's service instead of Kong, without never explaining how and why Tiny would have abandoned Brio. Tiny can still be seen in the 1996 early cutscenes that were meant for the first game, along with Kong and the other mutants.
  • However in Cortex Strikes Back, Tiny is fought in Cortex's space station, even having Cortex's logo emblazoned on it in the remake. Thus Tiny's loyalties were unclear in the game.
• Tiny's voice sounds like an impression of a champion boxer Mike Tyson in Crash of the Titans. It has been argued that with his complete redesign and different personality, the only thing that Tiny had was the name.
  • However, Tiny's body structure is still mostly similar to other versions of the character.
• Aside from his appearance in Crash of the Titans, Tiny is only seen with stripes a few times in the series.
  • Tiny had back stripes in Crash Twinsanity, Although because the stripes are on his back and Tiny is always facing towards the screen, they go unseen.
• Tiny is a Tasmanian tiger, which is an extinct marsupial species in real life. Despite this, Crash of the Titans portrays him as a feline tiger instead for unknown reasons.