The main antagonist of the story, Nitros Oxide, is the self-proclaimed fastest racer in the galaxy who threatens to turn Earth into a concrete parking lot and make its inhabitants his slaves. Oxide appears only as an opponent in the game's final race and time trials, and cannot be controlled by the player. Preceding Oxide are four boss characters: Ripper Roo, a deranged straitjacket-wearing kangaroo; Papu Papu, the morbidly obese leader of the island's native tribe; Komodo Joe, a Komodo dragon with a speech sound disorder; and Pinstripe Potoroo, a greedy pinstripe-clad potoroo. The four boss characters, along with an imperfect and morally ambiguous clone of Crash Bandicoot named Fake Crash, become accessible as playable characters if the Adventure Mode is fully completed. Doctor Nefarious Tropy appears as the player's opponent during the Time Trial races and an unlockable playable character, while a bonus character, Penta Penguin, can only be unlocked via cheat code.