Cornelius is a man. I mean he is an idea, and by idea I mean he is a man. Once, during a plague of mice on the farm where he was growing up, he converted his parent’s barn into a giant power station using thousands of hamster wheels and the natural desires in mice to “climb and run”. Cornelius was hailed as a boy genius and people came from around the world to see the boy and his invention. Several Newspapers sent their reporters to interview him. Cornelius built a pressroom inside the power station so the reporters could safely observe the inner workings without having to come in contact with the mice. The reporters and his parents were killed there. The powerhouse collapsed as the mice’s desire to climb and run was superseded only by their desire to chew. After the accident Cornelius went mad with grief and devoted his life to becoming a mad scientist. He constructed a lair inside an active volcano and crafted airplanes and weapons greatly superior to those manufactured anywhere else in the world. He had henchmen but was, in the end, ultimately alone. So, once he ran out of self-hatred and teenage angst he reentered the world to become a musician. The only problem is… he’s not very good.