Cornelius Coot is the founder of the city of Duckburg, and a historical hero to the residents of Duckburg. The Cornelius Coot statue first appeared in the Donald Duck comic Statuesque Spendthrifts (1952) by Carl Barks. Here, Scrooge and the rich Maharajah of Howduyustan compete at building the largest statue of Duckburg's founder, in an attempt to prove which of them is the richest. This results in Duckburg being filled with increasingly more gigantic statues of its founder. Barks re-used Coot's statue in Statues of Limitations (1957), and The Day Duckburg Got Dyed (1957). Coot's statues have since become an iconic aspect and recurring location in the stories, can be spotted in numerous comics taking place in Duckburg. In a later story by Don Rosa, Cornelius was said to be the grandfather of Grandma Duck, which would make him Donald Duck's great-great-grandfather. However, Coot was not related to Donald in Barks' original stories.