The Hunchback (also referred to as "The Hunchback of Pine Lake") was once Simon Backle, an expert motor boat race driver with a reputation for winning at any cost (even murder). One such case was the Pine Lake "Canadian Open Boat Race of 1929," where Backle intended to win the $50,000 prize by sabotaging the boat of the only driver capable of besting him: Joe Mason. During the race, Mason's boat burst into flames as Backle intended, but in an ironic twist of fate the flaming wreckage crashed into Backle's boat and horribly disfigured him.