<P> The idea for Cortex was conceived while Andy Gavin, Jason Rubin, Dave Baggett, Randy Cartwright and Mark Cerny were eating "mediocre Italian" near Universal Interactive Studios . Gavin came up with the idea of an "evil genius villain with a big head" who was "all about his attitude and his minions". Rubin, having become fond of the animated television series Pinky and the Brain, imagined a "more malevolent Brain" with minions resembling the weasel characters in Who Framed Roger Rabbit . After Gavin performed a "silly villain voice" depicting the attitude in mind for the character, the villain's name, Doctor Neo Cortex, was instantly formulated . Gavin and Rubin described Cortex to character designer Charles Zembillas as "(having) a huge head but a tiny body, he's a mad scientist, and he dresses a bit like a Nazi from the Jetsons". Jason Rubin owns the original sketches of Cortex by Zembillas . Because Cortex's game model was unable to walk properly due to the short length of his legs, the character was kept stationary in much of his appearances . Cortex is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in the first Crash Bandicoot game, by Clancy Brown from Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back up to Crash Nitro Kart and by Lex Lang from Crash Twinsanity onwards . In the Japanese versions of the games, he is voiced by Shōzō Iizuka up to Crash Tag Team Racing and by Yōsuke Akimoto in Crash Boom Bang! . In a flashback to Cortex's childhood in Crash Twinsanity, he is voiced by Debi Derryberry in the English version of the game and by Noriko Suzuki in the Japanese version . </P> <P> Cortex's main motivation for conquering the world stems from extensive ridicule he had suffered in the past . His overseer and advisor throughout his world domination plots is Uka Uka, whom Cortex ironically feared at first to the point that he got down on his hands and knees in his presence . Overtime, this fear of Uka Uka would disappear, leading to Cortex opposing his own replacement in Crash of the Titans and eventually revolting against him in Crash: Mind over Mutant, citing a desire to "run this operation (...) again" as justification for his actions . Cortex has been described as having an ego "the size of a hot air balloon". His egomania often blinds him to others' hatred of him to the point where he delusively believes that he is in fact loved by everyone, including those he considers his enemies . While he frequently declares himself to be aesthetically attractive, he has displayed self - conscious behavior about his physical appearance on at least one occasion . In addition, he dislikes personal habits that he deems disgusting, and once went as far as placing a bounty on someone who ate sandwiches while going to the bathroom . </P> <P> Cortex was once described as having a "huge head and bright yellow skin" by a minor character in Crash Tag Team Racing . His most distinguishing feature is the large N located on his forehead, the origin of which is unknown . However, in the back of the Prima Strategy Guide for Crash Team Racing, it states that the N was tattooed on his head by his childhood bullies . The N stands for nerd . Cortex is near - bald with the exception of a few areas on his head; Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin humorously explained that Cortex only uses Rogaine on those select areas . The hair that he does have is black (blue in recent installments) and frazzled . In much of his appearances, Cortex is dressed in a white lab coat, black underclothes and matching gloves and boots (yellow in earlier games and reddish - brown in later appearances). Cortex stands 1.6 meters (about five feet and three inches) and weighs 59 kilograms (130 pounds). </P> <P> Cortex's full birth name is given as "Neo Periwinkle Cortex". According to the strategy guide for Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, he was born as the youngest son in a family of circus clowns . Unlike the rest of his family, Cortex was sickly, introverted and preferred studying science over making people laugh . Because of this, he bore the brunt of numerous jokes, which would culminate in a large "N" (standing for "nerd") being tattooed onto his head at the age of three by a particularly cruel group of performers . Some time afterward, a freak explosion implicitly caused by Cortex would incapacitate his entire family and leave Cortex to fend for himself . Cortex's desire for world domination would stem from this incident . At the age of six, Cortex attended high school only to be similarly tormented by the students . It is here that Cortex would befriend Nitrus Brio, an equally intelligent youth who would become subservient to Cortex's every whim . Afterward, another freak explosion implied to be Cortex's and Brio's doing demolished the high school along with most of the surrounding town; during that time, Cortex and Brio were taking shelter in an abandoned plutonium mine . At around eight years old, Cortex and Brio attended Madame Amberly's Academy of Evil, where they became classmates of N. Gin . It was here that Cortex began constructing the Evolvo - Ray, which he would use to create an army of super-animals . Due to the incomplete nature of the Evolvo - Ray, a test run results in the disappearance of Cortex's pet parrots Victor and Moritz . </P>

What does the n on cortexs head mean