Emperor Velo XXVII

Emperor Velo the 27th (sometimes known simply as 'Velo') is a large goblin-like alien who claims to be the ruler of a galactic empire as well as stating that he is his galaxy's most accomplished racer. He serves as the main antagonist of the video game Crash Nitro Kart - abducting the Bandicoot family as well as Doctor Cortex and his minions and forcing them to race, with the warning that Earth would be destroyed if they refused.

He later appears in the 2019 remake of CTR, Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueld, as an unlockable racer in the Gasmoxian Grand Prix. After recieving a message form Nitros Oxide saying that he had a new galactic ruler joining him, we see a remastered Velo in his hover bike, ready to race. It should also be noted that Velo has his own time trial times, much like Oxide.

Personality
Although Velo truthfully is a good racer, he is also extremely egotistical (shown by the fact his Coliseum at the top of his planet resembled his head) and domineering - showing contempt to those who he views as lesser than himself. He was also shown to kidnap other species with racing capability throughout the universe and force them to race for both entertainment and their freedom (with Velo warning any racers that if they refuse to compete, he would destroy their world). Although he was shown as having a violent temper when pushed far enough, Velo was mostly cool headed.

Velo had two teams to race against the competitors. The first was the Green Team (Team Trance) - led by the evil extra-dimensional alien known as N.Trance (who would hypnotize members of the other teams to race for him). The second was the Yellow Team Oxide - which was Velo's personal team and included the racers Nitros Oxide, the Milky Way Galaxy's former fastest racer, along with his two henchmen Zam and Zem (all of whom were from the planet of Gasmoxia).

Information
Emperor Velo ruled a large empire, with thousands of subjects who (in appearance) looked like small goblins. However, his subjects frequently craved entertainment - which was most frequently high speed kart racing. Looking for new racers from other worlds, Velo learned of the racing talents of Crash Bandicoot and his friends - who had previously defeated the alien Nitros Oxide (thus stopping him from turning the Earth into a giant parking lot and enslaving its inhabitants). Seeing them as adequate, Velo abducted the Bandicoot family (Crash, Coco, Crunch, Fake Crash, Polar, Pura (Spyro in the handheld version) and Aku Aku) as well as Dr. Cortex and his allies (N.Gin, Tiny the Tiger, Dingodile, N.Tropy and Uka Uka).

Upon their arrival, Emperor Velo introduced himself to the two teams - stating how he had heard of their racing prowess and so had selected them to represent Earth in his racing tournament. Velo promised that if they won, he would grant them their freedom but if at any point they refused to race, he would destroy Earth. The Bandicoots immediately accepted due to not wanting the Earth to be destroyed, while Dr. Cortex and his allies agreed as they felt it should be only them who conquered/destroyed the Earth. Polar, Pura/Spyro and Dingodile were taken by N.Trance and put under his hypnosis - forcing them to race for him.

The two teams - Team Bandicoot and Team Cortex - both race first on the planet Terra, with the team the player is using winning all four races on the planet and gaining four trophies. This grants them the right to face Terra's champion - Krunk (a native who accuses Earth of copying Terra). One member of the team races Krunk one-on-one and beats him - forcing Krunk to relinquish his Boss Key to the team who beat him and to be scolded by Velo for his failure.

Following their victory at Terra, the teams move onto the next planet in the circuit - Barin. Winning all four races and gaining another four trophies, the team the player is controlling faces against Barin's champion - a cybernetic shark called Nash. Once again, one team member faces off against Nash in a race and defeats him - with Nash reluctantly been forced to hand over his key.

Now halfway through, the teams move onto Fenomena. After bringing their total trophy number to twelve trophies, the player's team meets Fenomena's champion: Norm. Norm, however, shows a unique ability as he splits into two forms (one resembling his original form and the other called Big Norm). Both Norm and Big Norm race the player's character choice in a more difficult race, although the team member manages to win and defeat both Norm and Big Norm. After merging back together and giving the team his key, Velo dismisses Norm - admitting that he thought Norm was close to beating the team during the race.

The teams then move onto the final planet in the circuit - Teknee. Finally collecting the last four trophies, the winning team is forced to race Teknee's champion - a robot called Geary. Geary proves to be a solid opponent, but is nonetheless beaten in a one-on-one race and forced to hand over his key before Velo sends him away. Having won the circuit, the winning team is told that they must now face the Galactic Champion - who is revealed to be Velo himself.

After racing Velo and managing to beat him in a long race, Velo appears to start getting angry but collects himself. Having been beaten, he allows the team to go but states that, true to his word, he will destroy Earth as they refuse to race anymore. Angry, the winning team demands a rematch - to which Velo agrees to if the team collects all the Time Trial relics from the tracks on the previous planets.

After doing so, the winning team races Velo once again on his track. Upon defeating him for a second time, Velo this time loses his temper and his body literally explodes - revealing that his body was a robotic suit and that the 'real' Emperor Velo is only a small goblin creature like the rest of his subjects. The ending then goes one of two ways:

If Team Bandicoot wins: Velo, having accepted defeat and lost any influence he had over his subjects, offers his scepter to Crash - relinquishing his empire to the Bandicoots. Although Crash does consider this, he ultimately rejects the idea and gives the scepter back to Velo - who sends the Bandicoots (along with Polar and Pura) back home.

If Team Cortex wins: Velo refuses to give up his power to Cortex and fights with him for the scepter, with Tiny's interference allowing Cortex to grab it. Cortex uses the scepter to try and sent them back to Earth, but it malfunctions and instead sends them to Terra. Tiny manages to fix the scepter and is worshiped as a King - much to the annoyance of Cortex.

Portrayals
Both of Velo's forms are voiced by Steven Blum (who also voiced Crash in the same game) in the English version of Crash Nitro Kart, while Andre Sogliuzzo voices both his forms in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. In the Japanese version of the game, Emperor Velo is voiced by Haruo Satō, while the real Velo is voiced by Kōki Miyata.

Appearances
Crash Nitro Kart - PS2, Xbox, GameCube, GBA, N Gage Crash Team Racing Nitro Fuled- Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch