Nicholas Foxworth Crane is the only son of Ivy and Julian Crane. In his early twenties, Fox was sent away at a young age by his mother Ivy, who couldn't bear to have any reminders around of the mistake she made by choosing love over money. Like his sisters (most likely one is older and one is younger), Fox has never forgiven his mother for the way she treated the three children that belonged to Julian, and had a certain amount of resentment for Ethan as well, because he was the one that Ivy liked. Fox is the obvious Crane heir, since he has been the only option since Alistair disinherited Ethan in 2000. An extremely spoiled and headstrong young man, Fox made trouble in both North American and European schools. Finally out of university, Fox comes home, presumably to assume his rightful place as the Crane heir.

When Fox first arrived back in Harmony, he was amused to see all the changes that had taken place since he left. No one was particularly happy to see him, especially after it was learned he came home because he gambled all his money away. He soon made friends with his father's attractive young wife, Theresa, in part to anger his family, who despised Theresa for all she had put them through. His relationship with Theresa was purely platonic, and he soon begin to see that there was more to Theresa than meets the eye, especially when he saw her scheming first hand.

Upon meeting Whitney Russell, he fell hard for her, and taking a page out of Theresa's book, is cozying up to Whitney and Chad by pretending to be their friend and giving them relationship advice. Rather than be shocked when Theresa stated that she would do anything necessary to take Ethan away from his wife and child, Fox agreed to help her break up their marriage. In return, she would help him take the woman he wants from the man she loves. He had hated Ethan from childhood because Ivy always made Ethan her number one priority. Despite his plans, though, he was a little leery of joining up with Theresa, especially once he began to wonder if she wanted Ethan and Gwen's child to die.

Fox regretted his actions when his and Theresa's scheme played an instrumental role in the death of Gwen's daughter Sarah, and was shocked when Theresa told him that she honestly believed that the baby died because God was supporting what they were doing to get the ones that they loved. When Ethan turned his back on Theresa, they all returned to Harmony as a group. Fox continued to lust after Whitney and to scheme to break up her and Chad, but when his father had a surprising heart to heart talk with him, Fox realized that if he truly loved Whitney he would not continue to try to hurt her, and when Theresa erroneously assumed that she was the woman he was deeply in love with, he went along with it, willing to settle for a relationship with Theresa because he could not have his true love.

Although Fox did not love Theresa, he cared about her a great deal as a friend. The two became lovers one night, and when Theresa lost her son in court after attacking Gwen and Rebecca, Fox was there for her. Even when she began plotting to become pregnant in an attempt to blackmail Ethan and Gwen into forcing the courts to return her son to her, Fox remained by her side, although he was uncomfortable with her plans. He assisted her in being implanted with Gwen and Ethan's child, but was confused when she attempted to seduce him a few days later, reminding her that it could impact the pregnancy. He was surprised when she told him she had betrayed him, but relieved as well. When Theresa overheard him admitting his love for Whitney and told her, he admitted it -- glad that his secret was out in the open at last.

Fox and Whitney made love, and when she told him she was pregnant, he was thrilled to think they would be having a child together. He made all sorts of arrangements for the baby, but when he learned he would have to leave Harmony for a short time, he gave Whitney his power of attorney in case she needed to conduct any business on his behalf. He went down to the Crane compound to help Ethan rescue Katherine and Gwen, and when he returned, he learned that Whitney had given birth to a baby boy. He was thrilled -- until he found out that she had used his power of attorney to give the baby up for adoption. He tried to get his son back without any success, and while he was furious with Whitney, he was still in love with her. Eventually he learned that the baby, who was adopted by Chad, hadn't actually been his at all -- it was Chad's baby.

While trying to get over Whitney, Fox began a relationship with Kay. What started as sexual chemistry soon turned into love as Fox began helping her raise her daughter Maria, and the two began planning a life together. When Maria's father, Miguel, came back to Harmony, Fox worried that Kay still wasn't over him, and saw her concern over Miguel's relationship with Siren as jealousy.