Don Corneo
Don Corneo is a character appearing in the Final Fantasy VII series. He serves as the notorious underworld boss ruling over Wall Market, an entertainment and red-light district in the slums of Midgar. Infamous for his unrestrained greed and extreme lechery, he routinely collects young women from across the slums to hold elaborate bride auditions for his personal indulgence.
Overview
Don Corneo is a character appearing in the Final Fantasy VII series. He serves as the notorious underworld boss ruling over Wall Market, an entertainment and red-light district in the slums of Midgar. Infamous for his unrestrained greed and extreme lechery, he routinely collects young women from across the slums to hold elaborate bride auditions for his personal indulgence.
Appearance
He is defined visually by his heavy, heavily overweight build and an unrefined aesthetic. His residence and personal quarters feature gaudy, eccentric decorations reflecting his peculiar tastes.
Personality
Although he routinely projects a foolish demeanor and speaks with eccentric verbal quirks, Corneo is fundamentally ruthless, cunning, and greedy. When cornered or pressured, his lighthearted facade vanishes into severe volatility. Despite his crude nature, he is an effective leader who expertly uses bribery and intimidation to command the outlaws under his rule. He also exhibits a strong fascination with headstrong and bold women.
Abilities
Corneo relies on his sharp cunning and coercive leadership to command his syndicate of thugs. His private quarters are fitted with hidden trapdoors designed to drop unsuspecting targets straight into the subterranean sewers. Rather than fighting personally, he relies on unleashing his trained pet monsters, such as Aps and Laps, to battle his enemies.
Background
After long maintaining iron control over Wall Market, Corneo was cornered in his mansion by Cloud Strife and his companions, forcing him to leak Shinra's plan to destroy the Sector 7 plate. Marked for target by Shinra's Turks due to the breach, he fled Midgar. He resurfaced in Wutai, where he kidnapped Yuffie Kisaragi and the Turk agent Elena for another bride selection, only to be thrown off the Da-Chao Statue by Reno. Nevertheless, he survived and continued his illicit schemes elsewhere, including an attempt to seize control of the Gold Saucer.
Relationships
His operations were disrupted when Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, and Aerith Gainsborough infiltrated his estate and interrogated him. He held a high opinion of his former subordinate Leslie Kyle, completely unaware that Leslie was secretly seeking revenge against him. Following his leak of classified information, he became an enemy of Shinra's Turk operatives—Reno, Rude, and Elena—and also came into conflict with Yuffie Kisaragi after attempting to abduct her.
Trivia
His name is associated with the Kanji characters '古留根尾'. The interior of his mansion contains various decorative screens featuring comedic Kanji puns based on the names of famous food dishes.
