Crash Bandicoot (Fandom)/Ships

CoconGin
CoconGin is the ship between Dr N. Gin and Coco Bandicoot.

Canon
In almost every game in which both N. Gin and Coco have appeared together, they are depicted as enemies. However, there have only ever been a handful of instances where the characters interacted or even acknowledged each other's existence. The first time N. Gin and Coco are shown together is during N. Gin's boss fight from Crash Bandicoot: Warped, where Coco challenges N. Gin's robot-mech on the moon and defeats him.

N. Gin and Coco would only end up interacting for a second time canonically in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, when N. Gin shows up in the Hazardous Wastes dimension to taunt Crash and Coco upon their arrival. Additionally, during a series of Flashback Tapes for Coco, N. Gin takes over as the one running the experiments and makes numerous observations about her at Cortex's expense. These include acknowledging Coco's affinity for technology and mistakenly referring to her as a cat.

Outside of direct interactions, both characters have made remarks about each other. In Crash Tag Team Racing, Coco may mention that she finds N. Gin cute and then comment on how she likes the way he waddles. N. Gin, however, does not appear to think the same of Coco. In Crash of the Titans, upon being beaten by Crash, N. Gin will tell him where Coco is likely being held captive, referring to her as "your revolting sister" and then showing his disgust towards girls. In Crash: Mind Over Mutant, N. Gin at one point calls Coco 'delicious' while holding a knife and fork, before covering up and saying 'precious.'

Fanon
Despite the minimal appearances together, N. Gin and Coco are a rather popular ship. This is likely done as the two characters are seen as 'good-and-evil' counterparts. In fact, they often share many similarities with each other in the roles they play throughout the series, and even share the same stats in several spin-off titles. This in turn has led to many fans shipping them together romantically. It is arguably the most popular ship for N. Gin and one of the most popular ships for Coco.

Fandom
DEVIANTART

Tawstripe
Tawstripe is the het ship between Tawna and Pinstripe.

Canon
Due to some controversies surrounding Tawna’s design in the first Crash Bandicoot game, creator NaughtyDog was asked to remove the character from the series. While the exact circumstances under which this happened are unclear, no in-universe explanation was provided for Western audiences. However, Japanese fans would receive one with the release of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. According to the Japanese game manual, Tawna left Crash for Pinstripe as she felt that Crash was too young and immature for her. This same story is shown again at the start of the tie-in manga ''Crash Bandicoot: Dansu! De Jump! Na Daibōken''.

Since then, however, Tawna has never been depicted alongside Pinstripe in any media — including those where Pinstripe made official appearances. The only exception to this was Crash Boom Bang!, where Tawna’s character profile explains that she is dating Pinstripe. Furthermore, the game was developed by a Japanese studio, so therefore follows the Japanese canon.

The only time this relationship has been addressed by any Western media was a promotional screenshot for Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled. The image shows Crash, Pinstripe and Tawna all in one shot as they race in one of the game's tracks. Given the game’s tendency to make references to the franchise’s past, this was likely done as a nod to the Japanese canon.

Fanon
Owing to how the case for Pinstripe and Tawna as a couple was only established in Japan, many Western fans tend to classify this relationship as “fanon”. However, that has not stopped the pairing from becoming one of the most popular ships in the Crash Bandicoot fandom. Its main rival is Crawna, as it depicts Tawna with her original boyfriend, Crash, instead of Pinstripe.

Often in fan-fiction, this ship is used whenever Pinstripe is involved with the plot. The exact depiction of this tends to vary, from having them in a pre-established relationship or having the story’s premise focuses on either Pinstripe taking Tawna away from Crash or Tawna leaving Crash for Pinstripe.

In some cases and depending on the context, Crashadena is also depicted alongside this ship; an example of it is a fanart of both couples together and apparently on good terms with each other.

Fandom
DEVIANTART