James Bond Jr Online

Maximillion Cortex is rich and clever both by name and by nature and, of course, a master criminal too. A tad more cultural than some of his crooked peers, with a huge interest in the arts and mythology, Cortex has little interest in money for its own sake, preferring to amass priceless artefacts to add to his illegally-acquired collection. In order to pursue his dishonest trade he's prepared to ride roughshod over anybody in his way, and is particularly disgusted by do-gooders hoping to preserve the world's cultural heritage for the public. In spite of his brilliant mind, he seems strangely insistent on retaining his choice of minions - namely Leftbrain and Rightbrain, a pair of bunglers every bit as idiotic as Cortex is intelligent.

Despite being one of the TV series' least seen recurring villains, Cortex nevertheless played a prominent role in the Super Nintendo James Bond Jr. game, the relevant segment of which is based on the episode Leonardo da Vinci's Vault. Cortex also appears in an earlier episode, Lamp of Darkness, although it's thought that the two may fall the wrong way around in the running order, since James clearly recognises Cortex in 'Lamp of Darkness' and vice versa, but neither explicitly say so in 'Leonardo da Vinci's Vault'. It doesn't appear to be suggested in either episode that Cortex is a S.C.U.M. agent - although of course this does not mean that he is not. On both occasions he is seen with his personal assistants, Leftbrain & Rightbrain, who are never seen working for any other villain and whose names are clearly derived from his own. One interesting point is that, in 'Leonardo da Vinci's Vault', Cortex's eyes seem to flash hypnotically at one point near the beginning - as if he has some kind of special power.

Appearances:
- Lamp of Darkness
- Leonardo da Vinci's Vault