Ebenezer Lynxley
Ebenezer Lynxley is a Canada lynx who was historically credited as the founder of Zootopia and inventor of the Weather Walls. In truth, he stole the Weather Wall technology from its true inventor, Agnes De'Snake, murdered the family's tortoise maid, framed Agnes for the crime, and used the Weather Walls to bury Reptile Ravine under Tundratown's snow—erasing the entire reptile population from Zootopia's history.
The Original Crime
Approximately one hundred years before the events of the series, Agnes De'Snake developed the Weather Wall system—revolutionary technology that could create climate-controlled districts, enabling mammals of all species to live together. She asked Ebenezer Lynxley to be her business partner and investor.
Instead, Ebenezer:
- Stole Agnes's patent and designs
- Murdered the family's tortoise maid
- Framed Agnes for the murder
- Used the Weather Walls to expand Tundratown over Reptile Ravine
- Drove all reptiles out of Zootopia
- Took sole credit as Zootopia's founder
The Lynxley family governed this stolen technology for a century, building their dynasty on fraud, murder, and the systematic erasure of an entire species.
Legacy
Ebenezer's crimes are the foundational injustice of the entire series. Every antagonist—from Milton Lynxley to Clawrence Lynxley to Mikhail Icener—operates within the framework of power Ebenezer created through theft.
His statue in Zootopia was destroyed during a chase sequence in Zootopia 2. The Lynxley Journal, long credited to Ebenezer, actually contains a secret map to Agnes's hidden patent—readable only by a pit viper's heat-sensing abilities.
Agnes's failsafe code—FOR_ALL, from the founding phrase "Built by two, for all"—ultimately saves the city in the series finale (S05E21), vindicating the true founder across a century.