Mule (Foundation)
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The Mule is a fictional character from Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series. One of the greatest conquerors the galaxy has ever seen, he is a mentalic who has the ability to manipulate human emotions. This gives him the capacity to disrupt Seldon's plan by invalidating Seldon's assumption that human emotional responses to stimuli will remain the same.
[edit] Fictional history
The Mule establishes his empire incrementally, using past conquests to aid new ones: first by mentally converting a pirate band to his allegiance, then a whole planet, then the militarily powerful kingdom of Kalgan, which he obtains by mentally converting the warlord of the planet Kalgan, and then the Foundation. The Mule sets up his own short-lived Galactic Empire — the "Union of Worlds", styling himself "First Citizen of the Union" and making Kalgan its capital planet. Leading up to, during, and for a good time after the Mule's conquest of the Foundation and its trade confederacy, almost no one ever actually sees the Mule or knows what he looks like.
The Foundation, after the death of the Empire, is the sole supplier of nuclear weaponry in the galaxy, and using this asset the Mule begins rapidly conquering surrounding territories, all of which lack nuclear power, sweeping aside the remnants of the Galactic Empire centered around Neotrantor.
The Mule's conquest is amazingly fast: he defeats the Foundation and establishes the Union of Worlds after only five years. Then, just as suddenly, and seemingly randomly, he stops his advance and settles into a five year period of consolidation. This is actually because the Mule fears the mysterious Second Foundation, which is rumoured to be capable of defeating a mentalic individual like himself. According to a hint given by Hari Seldon, the Second Foundation was founded at "the opposite end of the galaxy" from the First Foundation, which was itself founded on the distant galactic rim planet Terminus. However, the true location of the Second Foundation is a total mystery and popular sentiment is that it does not exist. Nevertheless, the Mule launches repeated expeditions in search of the Second Foundation during this period of consolidation.
These expeditions, particularly the last, led by Han Pritcher and Bail Channis, are very nearly successful. Ultimately, however, the Second Foundation succeeds in defeating the Mule, turning him into a relatively harmless individual, lacking ambition, and no threat to the Seldon Plan.
[edit] Nature
The Mule's name is a reference to the sterility of mules, since he too is genetically sterile. Without a child available as a successor, the Mule's empire does not last long after his death.
Physically, the Mule was described a freak. His nose was incredibly long, sticking out over three inches from his face. The flesh of the rest of the Mule's face seems stretched across his skull. The Mule's body was spindly and gangly: he weighed only 100 to 120 pounds (45 to 54 kg), stretched out across a 5'8" (1.73m) frame[citation needed]. Thus his joints, such as the elbows, seemed to jut out from his diminutive musculature. The Mule's meagerness was glandular and could not be compensated for. Furthermore, the Mule's limbs met at awkward angles, giving the general impression of a scarecrow assembled poorly. It was said that one could not look at the Mule without derision. The only aspect of the Mule which was not blatantly farcical were his eyes, which were described as deep brown and perpetually sad. In Second Foundation, it is revealed that the Mule died in his thirties as a result of his lackluster physique.
As a result of the Mule's freakish appearance, his childhood was one of torment, in which he was marginalized and alienated. The Mule became aware of his great mental powers in his twenties, and after becoming aware of his power, he developed a desire to compensate for his earlier life by taking revenge on all humanity in the entire galaxy.
The Mule is a central character in both Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation. In Foundation's Edge we are told that he originally came from planet Gaia, but was regarded as an aberration on a planet where mental powers were being developed for benevolent ends. Although he somehow managed to leave unnoticed, Asimov never expanded on this.
[edit] Origins
According to his autobiography In Memory Yet Green, Asimov modeled his physical appearance on Leonard Meisel, a friend at the World War II-era Navy Yard in Philadelphia. In keeping with the Foundation series being based on the Roman Empire, the Mule has historical parallels with both Attila the Hun and Charlemagne, as well as the Roman Emperor Augustus.
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