Tawstripe

Tawstripe
art by YAPWEE
GENERAL
Crash Bandicoot
Character	Tawna Bandicoot
Character	Pinstripe Potoroo
Canonical?	Canon
Status of Relationship	Dating
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Het

1

Tawstripe is the het ship between Tawna and Pinstripe from the Crash Bandicoot fandom.

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.

In 2024, an official concept art surfaced of Tawna holding her infant child, which means she and Pinstripe would still be together like in the Japanese canon. As expected, this sparked both a negative and positive wave of interest in the ship, leading some to imagine what their future would be like as a family.

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. Sometimes they are in a pre-established relationship. And other times 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.

On AO3, the ship currently has one written work in the Pinstripe Potoroo/Tawna tag.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Pinstripe Potoroo/Tawna tag on AO3

FAN ART

pinstripextawna tag on DeviantArt

tawnaxpinstripe tag on DeviantArt