Yukon Cornelius

Origin
Yukon Cornelius is a character from the 1964 Rankin/Bass television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He was an arctic prospector who met a reindeer who would later become Santa's 9th(see notes) and Hermey while they were trying to avoid the Abominable Snowmonster. Seemingly searching for valuable minerals at the North Pole, he was originally considered a greedy character (as he was referred to by Sam the Snowman).

Yukon accompanied the pair in their travels to the Island of Misfit Toys and back. He was a blustery but, benign, character and ended up helping not only the reindeer and Hermey, but also the Abominable Snowmonster, or "Bumble" as he refers to him, as well.

Throughout the special, Yukon wa shown tossing his pick axe into the air, sniffing, and then licking the end that contacts the snow or ice. This lead the audience to believe that he was searching for either silver or gold, though it turned out that he was actually seeking peppermint, as revealed at the end of the original version of the special.