Clockwerk was the main villain of Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, and the leader of the Fiendish Five. Clockwerk is the one who recruited all the members of the Fiendish Five as he felt the need to form a team full of talented villains. Clockwerk was the main reason for the tragedy of Sly's parents, making Clockwerk the Cooper Gang's biggest rival. This attack, led by Clockwerk, would be the event that started the adventures of Sly Cooper and the gang.

Clockwerk was fueled by jealousy of the Cooper family because of the great thieving reputation they had for themselves. His jealousy became hate, and Clockwerk then replaced his body with metal and machinery just to make sure he could keep up with the Cooper Clan throughout all of time, and eventually outlive them. It became Clockwerk's life-long mission to destroy Sly Cooper and eradicate the Cooper Clan once and for all. This is what drive Clockwerk throughout Sly 1, and his jealousy is also what drove Clockwerk to steal the Thievius Raccoonus in the first place, to learn the moves and skills of the Cooper Clan

Clockwerk has been alive for thousands of years, and secretly spied on the Cooper Clan throughout time. In fact, not all of the Cooper Clan even knew of his existence. It is revaled evantually that Clockwerk is even in the background of many of the pictures of Sly's ancestors found in the Thievius Raccoonus, only confirming his obsession with the Coopers as he was always watching. Players also may notice Clockwerk spying on them from a secret location throughout the game in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time.