Idea from this:

Oh, you mean Walter? So, Walter watched great inventors do stuff, so he wanted to be like them. Yeah, that's it.

So, he was just a normal kid until his father died. His father was a not-so popular inventor, so that inspired him to become an inventor as well. When he graduated from college, he teamed up with his old school pal, Bill. They made great discoveries and inventions together. But one day, Bill made a machine that would transfer his consciousness into Silver, a robot. After that, Walter shut down the lab and went into hiding for a very long time. Until he found Silver, I guess.

Confused and tired.

They don't really watch any tv shows. -shrugs-