The Foundation series is a science fiction book series written by American author Isaac Asimov. First published as a series of short stories and novellas from 1942 to 1950, and subsequently in three collections, for nearly thirty years the series was a trilogy: Foundation (1951); Foundation and Empire (1952); and Second Foundation (1953). It won the one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series" in 1966.[1] [2] Asimov later added new volumes, with two sequels, Foundation's Edge (1982) and Foundation and Earth (1986), and two prequels, Prelude to Foundation (1988) and Forward the Foundation (1993).
The premise of the stories is that in the waning days of a future Galactic Empire, the mathematician Hari Seldon spends his life developing a theory of psychohistory, a new and effective mathematics of sociology. Using statistical laws of mass action, it can predict the future of large populations. Seldon foresees the imminent fall of the Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a Dark Age lasting 30,000 years before a second empire arises. Although the momentum of the Empire's fall is too great to stop, Seldon devises a plan by which "the onrushing mass of events must be deflected just a little" to eventually limit this interregnum to just one thousand years.
The plot of the Foundation series spans centuries, and its various characters each appear in one or two of its nine installments.[3] Charles Elkins described its characters as "undifferentiated and one-dimensional" speaking with an "impoverished vocabulary". He wrote that their consciousness "shows absolutely no historical development and hence fails to evoke in the reader any feeling for the future universe they inhabit". Elkins argued that characterization in general is subordinated to the overall conception of Asimov's project.[4] James E. Gunn wrote that though the series of lead characters Lathan Devers, Salvor Hardin, Limmar Ponyets and Hober Mallow "may seem interchangeable", they are "as differentiated as the personages in most histories."[5]
Through the eyes of the characters the inevitability of the forces of history, made manifest in the Seldon Plan, is demonstrated to the reader repeatedly. Elkins sees the characters in Foundation not as "tragic heroes. They are nondescript pawns, unable to take their destiny into their own hands." Only those elite few characters who understand the Plan can be considered free, with the Mule through his non-human psychic powers as the only exception. But while Elkins attributes the Foundation series a sense of "pervading fatalism",[4] Gunn and Nicolas David Gevers point out that the obstacles presented in Asimov's galactic history are overcome by active individual characters "through the initiative and competence which the Foundations nurture in their citizens".[5] [6] Donald E. Palumbo asserts that it is exactly the "flatness of character and setting" which permit the series "to be a masterpiece".[3] The heroism and depth of individual characters is consciously taken back by Asimov for the true hero of the series to stand out: "the sublime history of humankind itself".[5] [7]
An eight-part radio adaptation of the original three novels, called The Foundation Trilogy, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1973.
In 2021, Apple TV+ premiered a television series adaptation of the novels, Foundation, created by David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman. In 2023, Asimov's daughter Robyn Asimov, an executive producer for the series, said:
In the Foundation and Empire (1952) story "The General", Imperial General Bel Riose of Siwenna coerces Ducem Barr to aid him in his persecution of the Foundation, which Riose hopes to destroy both as a perceived threat to the Galactic Empire and to further his own ambitions.[8] [9] Barr is Riose's best choice as an "expert" on the Foundation, his father Onum having met Foundation-aligned Master Trader Hober Mallow during the events of "The Merchant Princes" in Foundation (1951).[10] Barr aligns himself with Lathan Devers, a Foundation trader who has let himself be captured by Riose to disrupt the general's operation from the inside. When Devers' machinations are exposed, Barr helps him escape further interrogation by knocking Riose unconscious and fleeing the planet with Devers in tow. They travel to the Imperial capital planet, Trantor, and plot to implicate Riose and Emperor Cleon II's Privy Secretary Ammel Brodrig in a nonexistent conspiracy to overthrow Cleon. Though Barr and Devers are caught by the Secret Police, they escape and later learn that Riose and Brodrig have been arrested for treason and executed.[8] [9]
Josh Wimmer and Alasdair Wilkins of Gizmodo described Barr as an old revolutionary and assassin who "hates the Empire like no other character in the series", and sees the Foundation's predictions about the fall of the Empire as the vengeance he could never have imagined for his lost family and ruined planet.[10] In the last chapter, Asimov uses the character of Barr to explain the political dynamics of why Riose would never have been able to defeat the Foundation: a strong emperor's sense of self-preservation would never allow him to tolerate a subordinate who develops potentially threatening power.[8] [9] Wimmer and Wilkens called Barr a "great character ... and his world-weary pragmatism coupled with supreme faith in the Seldon Plan is an intriguing combination."[10]
Barr is voiced by Peter Howell in episode four "The General" of the 1973 BBC Radio 4 adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11]
Barr is portrayed by Jesper Christensen in season two of the 2021 Apple TV+ television series adaptation Foundation.[12] [13] In the 2023 episode "A Glimpse of Darkness", Barr witnesses a presentation on Siwenna by High Claric Poly Verisof and Brother Constant of the Church of the Galactic Spirit, extolling the virtues of the Foundation and Seldon's predictions. He records it using special technology in his left eye. In "Where the Stars are Scattered Thinly", Bel Riose and his husband/second-in-command Glawen Curr visit Barr to follow up on the recording. Barr, an Imperial loyalist, has been sending reports to the Empire for 40 years, none of which have been acknowledged until now. Riose and Curr learn that the Foundation has provided the clarics with auras, protective force shield technology forbidden to everyone except the Emperors, and whisper-ships, a Foundation-created type of jumpship which can perform faster-than-light travel without requiring a Spacer to navigate. When a mob of villagers arrives for the Imperials, Barr helps them escape and asks Riose to shoot him to death, so that he may avoid interrogation and torture. Riose kills Barr and flees.[12]
In the Second Foundation (1953) story "Part I: Search by the Mule", the Mule has yet to find the elusive Second Foundation. He sends his agent Han Pritcher on his sixth search, this time accompanied Bail Channis, the only one of the Mule's followers who is "Unconverted", or not influenced by the Mule's psychic powers to serve him. The Mule tells Pritcher that Channis's untainted mind will allow him to be more capable of making intuitive leaps which might help in the search. In fact, the Mule has determined that Channis is a Second Foundation agent who intends to lead the Mule into a trap. Secretly followed by the Mule and his fleet, Channis leads the search to the desolate planet Tazenda, a plausible location for the Second Foundation. On a nearby world, Rossem, Pritcher draws his atomic blaster on Channis, who he now suspects to be an agent of the Second Foundation. Pritcher is correct, but Channis possesses a psychic ability similar to the Mule's and uses it to free Pritcher from the Mule's control. The Mule appears, and reveals that his fleet has destroyed Tazenda. The Mule uses mental torture to extract the true location of the Second Foundation from Channis's mind: Rossem. The First Speaker of the Second Foundation arrives and informs the Mule that he has been defeated. Channis had been preprogrammed to believe that the Second Foundation is on Rossem, but it is not. Second Foundation agents have traveled to Kalgan and the Foundation worlds to undo the Mule's Conversions and orchestrate an insurrection, and his fleet is too far away to prevent it. When the Mule experiences a moment of despair, the First Speaker is able to seize control of and alter his mind: he will return to Kalgan and live out the rest of his life as a peaceful despot. Channis's mind is later restored by the First Speaker.[14] [15]
Channis is voiced by Trader Faulkner in episode seven "The Mule Finds" of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11]
Introduced in Foundation and Empire in "The General", Cleon II is the last great Emperor of the Galactic Empire. Threatened by the rising power and popularity of one of his own generals, Bel Riose, Cleon has him recalled and executed for treason.[8] [9] Wimmer and Wilkins described Cleon II as "the aging, infirmed emperor whose great mind has been let down by his faltering body."[10] Nicholas David Gevers suggested that Cleon II is based on the Byzantine emperor Justinian I.[6] Cleon II is voiced by William Fox in episode four "The General" of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11]
In the prequel novel Prelude to Foundation (1988), Emperor Cleon I learns of mathematician Hari Seldon's nascent concept of psychohistory, which might theoretically make it possible to predict the future. Brought before Cleon, Seldon emphasizes his belief that developing it as a science is likely impossible. Subsequently, interest in Seldon's work by unknown parties puts him in danger, convincing him of psychohistory's potential importance.[9] [16] Wimmer and Wilkens described Cleon as "basically decent but woefully inadequate" but also "a fairly entertaining character, who has me absolutely convinced that ruling a whole galaxy could be just a drag if you were born at the wrong time".[16]
In Forward the Foundation (1993), Seldon and his foster son Raych thwart the scheme of populist Jo-Jo Joranum to become Cleon's First Minister and then overthrow him. The emperor subsequently appoints Seldon as his First Minister. Joranum's associate Gambol Deen Namarti's own plan to assassinate Seldon using a drugged Raych is also foiled, but Cleon is killed by a gardener trying to avoid promotion. A military government subsequently takes over, lasting for a decade.[9] [17] [18]
In the 2021 television series adaptation Foundation, the 12,000-year-old Empire has been ruled for 400 years by a revolving trio of Cleon I clones: Brother Day (portrayed by Lee Pace), a Cleon in his prime; Brother Dusk (portrayed by Terrence Mann), a retired and aging Cleon who serves in an advisory role; and Brother Dawn (played by Cooper Carter as a child and Cassian Bilton as a young adult), a young Cleon being trained to succeed Brother Day.[19] Though cloning does not factor in Asimov's novels,[20] [21] the television series introduces a "Genetic Dynasty", surreptitiously administered for centuries by the regal Lady Demerzel, secretly a unique, ageless robot.[22] [23]
In the Second Foundation story "Part II: Search by the Foundation", Arcadia "Arkady" Darell is the 14-year-old daughter of Dr. Toran Darell II, and granddaughter of Bayta and Toran Darell. She has a keen sense of observation and deduction, and has learned that her Foundation member father is part of a cabal seeking the secret location of the Second Foundation. Arkady stows away with Foundation agent Homir Munn when he travels to the planet Kalgan to search for clues to the Second Foundation's location. Munn is rebuffed by Lord Stettin, the current warlord of Kalgan, but Arkady manipulates his flighty consort, Lady Callia, to persuade Stettin to allow librarian Munn access to the Mule's palace for research purposes. Stettin becomes suspicious of Munn and arrests him. Stettin also shows interest in marrying Arkady, and she escapes with help of Lady Callia. At the spaceport, Arkady meets trader Preem Palver and his wife, who help her flee the planet and take her to their home on Trantor. With Palver's help, Arkady sends a coded message to her father with what she has determined is the location of the Second Foundation. Dr. Darell invents a device which reveals several Second Foundation sleeper agents, and Arkady is tested to make sure she has not been compromised. Dr. Darell is relieved to find that the results are negative, not knowing that the Second Foundation did actually "adjust" Arkady shortly after birth, rendering their influence impossible to trace.[14] [15]
Wimmer and Wilkins described Arkady as "overconfident and impetuous, but witty and awfully smart for a kid."[15] They wrote, "It's remarkable just how perfectly Asimov captures the occasionally obnoxious precociousness of the gifted teenager ... but he also folds in Arkady's romanticism and femininity without ever making them seem silly or stereotypical."[15] Folk-Williams wrote that Arkady "is introduced with a lot of subtlety as a strong character, but she loses that depth and agency as the story unfolds. Like many others, she only has a moment in the story as she serves the needs of the plan, and then she's gone."[14] Donald M. Hassler called Arkady the "concluding key figure" of the original Foundation trilogy.[7] Wimmer and Wilkins praised her as "one of the best characters Asimov ever created", and one who belonged on "the short list for science fiction's all-time greatest heroes".[15] However, they criticized Asimov' decision to have Arkady's mind tampered with, describing it as "callous and cold", and "an unnecessarily harsh ending for such a wonderful character."[15]
Arkady is voiced by Sarar Frampton in episode eight "Star's End" of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11]
Bayta and Toran Darell are a newly married couple in the Foundation and Empire story "The Mule". Bayta, a descendant of a great Foundation family, and Toran, who is part of a Trader family, learn that a mysterious figure called the Mule has conquered the barbarian planet Kalgan with no military force and no resistance from the Kalganians. The Darells investigate, but soon leave Kalgan with the fugitive Magnifico, a "strange, gangly creature" who is the Mule's former court jester. On Terminus, they seek out elder Foundation scholar Ebling Mis for advice. The complacent Mayor Indbur of Terminus is nonplussed about the danger posed by the Mule, believing that the pending hologram from Hari Seldon will tell them how to handle this latest crisis. Instead, Seldon predicts a civil war between the Foundation and the Traders. The Mule's forces arrive, and Indbur surrenders immediately. The Darells escape with Mis and Magnifico to find the rumored Second Foundation, their only hope to stop the Mule. At what remains of the Great Library of Trantor, Mis works tirelessly to discover clues to the secret location of the Second Foundation. Dying, Mis announces that he knows where the Second Foundation is. Bayta kills him before he can reveal the location, having just realized that Magnifico is the Mule, who seeks the Second Foundation so he can destroy it. He is a mutant who can sense and manipulate the emotions of others, an ability he has employed to conquer planets bloodlessly, and to compel Mis to work himself to death. The Mule promises to find and destroy the Second Foundation, the only threat to his eventual reign over the entire galaxy, but Bayta asserts that it has already prepared for him, and will react before he has time to stop it.[8] [10]
John Folk-Williams described Bayta as "the real star of this story, a fairly well realized female character who is considerably smarter and more observant than her young husband and who often carries the burden of explaining what's going on to her less aware companions." He noted that the final chapters "give Bayta the central role in seeing through the Mule's special powers of mind".[8] Wimmer and Wilkins called Bayta "a very different type of character from anyone who has previously appeared in Foundation". They noted that she is only the second female character to appear in any Foundation story,[10] and Folk-Williams deemed Bayta "one of Asimov's better attempts at a woman character".[14] Wimmer and Wilkins explained that the Mule subtly controls the emotions of everyone in the story except for Bayta, "the sole person in the entire galaxy who, of her own volition, treated him like a person ... and that of course was his undoing."[10] Noting that the Mule's psychic manipulations "subtly made Toran Darell far braver and far stupider than he really was", Wimmer and Wilkins wrote that "it feels weird to know that a key character like Toran wasn't acting himself throughout most of the story."[10]
Bayta is voiced by Angela Pleasence and Toran by Gary Watson in episode five "The Mule" and episode six "Flight from the Mule" of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11]
In March 2024, Apple TV+ announced that Synnøve Karlsen and Cody Fern had been cast as Bayta and Toran Mallow for season three of the 2021 television series adaptation Foundation.[24]
In Prelude to Foundation, reporter Chetter Hummin warns young mathematician Hari Seldon that his nascent theory of psychohistory has attracted the dangerous attention of Eto Demerzel, the First Minister and chief advisor to Emperor Cleon I. Pairing Seldon with Streeling University historian Dors Venabili, Hummin assists him in his danger-fraught tour of several of Trantor's 800 varied sectors, evading capture by Demerzel while gathering information he hopes will inform if and how psychohistory can be developed into a predictive science. Hummin is revealed to be Demerzel, who has seen the importance of psychohistory to humanity's future and has manipulated Seldon to help him bring it to fruition. Seldon confronts Demerzel with his determination that the First Minister is a robot. Demerzel confirms that he is one of the last surviving robots from the Robot Wars, R. Daneel Olivaw, a prominent character in Asimov's Robot series. He has been guiding human development for centuries, and needs psychohistory to hopefully mitigate the anarchy that will be precipitated by the inevitable and imminent fall of the Empire. Thanks to Demerzel's guidance, Seldon has realized that Trantor itself possesses the diversity and complexity, at a manageable scale, required to build his calculations.[9] James E. Gunn compared Seldon's revelation that Demerzel is a robot to the sequence in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon in which Hugh Conway guesses correctly that the High Lama is the 250-year-old monk Perrault.[9] Wimmer and Wilkens described Demerzel as scheming and mysterious, and Hummin as "impossibly well-connected", adding "there's a lot of fun to be had with Hummin and Demerzel's attempts to pass convincingly as humans."[16]
In Forward the Foundation, ambitious politician Jo-Jo Joranum schemes to replace Demerzel as First Minister, with the goal of ultimately deposing Cleon I. Realizing the danger, Seldon has his foster son Raych "reveal" that Demerzel is a robot. Joranum accuses Demerzel, who seemingly proves himself to not be a robot by laughing, as a human would. A humiliated Joranum is exiled to a distant planet. Demerzel subsequently steps down to focus his efforts elsewhere in the universe, and Cleon appoints Seldon as his First Minister.[9] [17]
A gender-swapped and expanded version of the character is portrayed by Laura Birn in the 2021 television series adaptation Foundation.[25] This Lady Demerzel is majordomo to the revolving trio of Emperor clones, Brothers Dawn, Day and Dusk. Only the emperors themselves are aware that Demerzel is secretly an ageless robot, the last surviving android from the ancient Robot Wars.[19] Rafael Motamayor of Vulture wrote, "Demerzel is Foundation biggest secret weapon—a character the show is mostly keeping a mystery while slowly unraveling just how central to every aspect of the story she really is."[26]
In the Foundation and Empire story "The General", Foundation trader Lathan Devers lets himself be captured by Imperial General Bel Riose to disrupt Riose's overtures against the Foundation from the inside. With Emperor Cleon II's Privy Secretary Ammel Brodrig present to observe Riose, Devers attempts to implicate Riose in a nonexistent attempt to overthrow Cleon. His machinations are exposed, but Ducem Barr helps him escape further interrogation by knocking Riose unconscious and fleeing the planet with Devers in tow. They travel to the Imperial capital planet, Trantor, and plot to influence Cleon directly with Devers' invented conspiracy, implicating both Riose and Brodrig. Though they are caught by the Secret Police, they escape and later learn that Riose and Brodrig have been arrested for treason and executed.[8] [9]
Wimmer and Wilkins wrote of the character, "Devers clearly wants to be in the mold of the larger-than-life characters we met in Foundation, but he lacks the cunning of a Salvor Hardin or a Hober Mallow. What's worse, Devers is the best the Foundation's got—he's an above-average man living in an era of mediocrity going up against the Empire's last great men."[10]
Devers is voiced by Michael Harbour in episode four "The General" of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11]
See main article: Gaal Dornick. Introduced in Foundation in the story "The Psychohistorians", Gaal Dornick is a gifted young mathematician, newly awarded his doctorate, who has been invited to the Imperial capital planet Trantor from his home planet Synnax by famed mathematician and psychologist Hari Seldon. Seldon has developed the science of psychohistory, which uses sophisticated mathematics and statistical analysis to predict future trends on a galactic scale. Knowing that Dornick is possibly the only person in the galaxy capable of fully understanding his work, Seldon reveals his prediction of the unavoidable and relatively imminent fall of the Galactic Empire. He has conceived a plan, in which Dornick's participation is crucial, to mitigate the duration of this societal collapse. Under surveillance by agents of the Committee of Public Safety since his arrival, Dornick is arrested and interrogated. As orchestrated by Seldon, he and his followers are exiled to the distant planet Terminus, where he intends to execute this plan by establishing the Foundation.[9] [27] Describing "The Psychohistorians" as "28 pages of nonstop world-building", Wimmer and Wilkins note that "the ostensible protagonist, Gaal Dornick, is such a non-entity that he barely even counts as an audience identification figure".[28]
Dornick is voiced by Geoffrey Beevers in episode one "Psychohistory and Encyclopedia" of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11] [29]
A gender-swapped and expanded version of Dornick is portrayed by Lou Llobell in the 2021 television series adaptation Foundation.[25] [30] She is a mathematical prodigy from an ocean world where science and mathematics are considered heresy, and forbidden.[31] [32]
See main article: Salvor Hardin. Introduced in Foundation in the story "The Encyclopedists", Salvor Hardin is the first mayor of Terminus City, the primary settlement on Terminus. Hardin believes Terminus is in danger of political exploitation by the four neighboring prefectures of the Empire. Identifying the kingdom of Anacreon as the most powerful of the four, Hardin visits the others and convinces them that they must resist nuclear power from falling to Anacreon alone. The three issue a joint ultimatum that all be allowed to receive nuclear technology from Terminus City, ensuring that the Foundation is indispensable to all.[9] [28]
In "The Mayors", Anacreon launches a direct military assault against Terminus using an abandoned Imperial battlecruiser. Hardin secretly installs a kill switch into the cruiser, causing the crew to mutiny. Maddened by this failure, Prince Regent Wienis of Anacreon orders Hardin's execution, but his royal guardsmen refuse to obey him. He then attempts, but fails, to kill Hardin himself.[9] [28]
Hardin is voiced by Lee Montague in episode two "The Mayors" of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11] [29]
A gender-swapped version of Hardin is portrayed by Leah Harvey in the 2021 television series adaptation Foundation.[25] [30] She is the Warden and protector of Terminus, 35 years after Seldon's trial.[19] [25]
See main article: Hober Mallow. Introduced in Foundation in the story "The Merchant Princes", Hober Mallow is a Master Trader for the Foundation. He and his ship, Far Star, are sent to Korell to investigate the disappearance of three Foundation vessels in the vicinity. A Foundation missionary, Reverend Jord Parma, seeks sanctuary, but Mallow suspects subterfuge and turns Parma over to the Korellians, whose laws forbid Foundation missionaries to be on the planet under penalty of death. Mallow negotiates the sale of Foundation devices to the ruler of Korell, and soon the planet is dependent on them. Mallow is later tried for murder on Terminus for condemning the missionary to death, but is exonerated when he proves that Parma was actually an agent of the Korellian secret police. Mallow's popularity results in his appointment to Mayor of Terminus. Korell subsequently declares war on the Foundation, and when Mallow imposes an embargo on them, the Korellan economy collapses due to its dependency on Foundation technology, thus forcing its surrender.[9] Wimmer and Wilkins described Mallow as "larger-than-life", and "one of the strangest characters Asimov ever created, a heartless bastard who's described physically more like a particularly intelligent shaved bear than a normal human."[28]
Mallow is voiced by Julian Glover as in episode three "The Merchant Princes" of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11] [29]
Mallow is portrayed by Dimitri Leonidas in season two of the 2021 television series adaptation Foundation.[13] He is a roguish trader and con man with a "sarcastic personality and questionable morals, who is summoned against his will to serve a higher, selfless cause."[33]
In the Foundation and Empire story "The Mule", Ebling Mis is the Foundation's first real psychologist since its founding. He is warned by Bayta and Toran Darell about the Mule, a mysterious figure who has conquered the planet Kalgan and is planning to do the same to other worlds. Mis tries to warn Mayor Indbur of Terminus of the danger posed by the Mule, but is rebuffed. The Foundation soon falls to the Mule, and Mis flees with the Darells and Magnifico, the Mule's former jester, to find the rumored Second Foundation and seek their aid. At what remains of the Great Library of Trantor, Mis works tirelessly to discover clues to the secret location of the Second Foundation. Dying, Mis announces that he knows where the Second Foundation is. Bayta kills him before he can reveal the location, having just realized that Magnifico is the Mule, who seeks the Second Foundation so he can destroy it. He is a mutant who can sense and manipulate the emotions of others, an ability he has employed to conquer planets bloodlessly, and to compel Mis to work himself to death. The Mule promises to find and destroy the Second Foundation, the only threat to his eventual reign over the entire galaxy.[8] [10]
Wimmer and Wilkins called Mis "the liveliest character of the series since Salvor Hardin", and described him as "so deliberately over-the-top—and so fun to read because of it ... he's like one of Heinlein's classic old men, Jubal Harshaw or Lazarus Long, with a heaping dash of comic outrageousness that wouldn't work in Stranger in a Strange Land or Time Enough for Love (they're too ponderous) but fits perfectly in the slightly cartoonish universe of the Foundation."[10] They also remarked on the "brutality" of the "compulsive gradual suicide" visited upon Mis by the Mule, and called the character's death at Bayta's hands "a horrifying moment".[10] Wimmer and Wilkins wrote that "Mis is on the verge of unwittingly selling out everything he's ever lived for, forcing a dear and innocent friend to destroy him".[10] They argued, "[Mis's] death really does signal the end of the Foundation as we have come to know it. Up till that moment, things have still felt a bit like a game ... the Mule might have taken over Terminus and Haven, but there's little sense of any enormous casualties. You feel like, heck, maybe even if he did win, things wouldn't be so awful ... and then Mis is gone, and in a manner as ugly and unhappy as anyone could imagine ... it hits home just how awful things are, just how terribly the Mule has disturbed the order of things."[10]
Mis is voiced by Maurice Denham in episode five "The Mule" and episode six "Flight from the Mule" of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11] [29]
Mis will be portrayed by Alexander Siddig in season three of the 2021 television series adaptation Foundation.[34] The character is described as a "self-taught psychohistorian and diehard fan of Hari Seldon."[34]
See main article: The Mule (Foundation). In the Foundation and Empire story "The Mule", a mysterious figure called the Mule has conquered the planet Kalgan with no military force and no resistance from the Kalganians. Foundation-aligned newlyweds Bayta and Toran Darell leave Kalgan with the Mule's fugitive court jester, Magnifico Giganticus, and soon the Foundation falls to the Mule as well. The Darells and elder Foundation scholar Ebling Mis escape with Magnifico to find the rumored Second Foundation, their only hope to stop the Mule. After tireless research, a dying Mis announces that he knows where the Second Foundation is. Bayta kills him before he can reveal the location, having just realized that Magnifico is the Mule, who seeks the Second Foundation so he can destroy it. He is a mutant who can sense and manipulate the emotions of others, an ability he has employed to conquer planets bloodlessly, to "Convert" Foundation intelligence officer Han Pritcher into a loyal agent, and to compel Mis to work himself to death. The Mule promises to find and destroy the Second Foundation, the only threat to his eventual reign over the entire galaxy.[8] [10] [15]
The Second Foundation story "Part I: Search by the Mule" finds the Mule still searching for the elusive Second Foundation. Pritcher is accompanied on his latest search by Bail Channis, a follower of the Mule who remains "Unconverted" by the Mule's psychic powers and who the Mule suspects is a Second Foundation agent. Pritcher deduces that Channis is a spy, but Channis possesses a psychic ability similar to the Mule's and uses it to free Pritcher from the Mule's control. The Mule appears and uses mental torture to extract the true location of the Second Foundation from Channis's mind, but the First Speaker of the Second Foundation arrives and informs the Mule that he has been defeated. While the Mule has been focused on Channis, Second Foundation agents have traveled to Kalgan and the Foundation worlds to undo the Mule's Conversions and orchestrate an insurrection, and his fleet is too far away to prevent it. When the Mule experiences a moment of despair, the First Speaker is able to seize control of and alter his mind: he will return to Kalgan and live out the rest of his life as a peaceful despot.[14] [15]
Magnifico/The Mule is voiced by Wolfe Morris in episodes five, six and seven of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11]
The Mule is portrayed by Mikael Persbrandt in season two of the 2021 television series adaptation Foundation.[13] [35] Decider called the introduction of the Mule "one of the show's most long-awaited moments".[35] The role was recast with Pilou Asbæk for season three.[24] Additionally, Magnifico will be portrayed by Tómas Lemarquis.[24]
In the Second Foundation story "Part II: Search by the Foundation", farmer and trader Preem Palver and his wife are at the spaceport on Kalgan when they meet teenager Arkady Darell. Arkady is fleeing Lord Stettin, the warlord of Kalgan, so the Palvers take her with them to their home on Trantor. Palver later helps Arkady send a coded message to her father, Dr. Toran Darell II of the Foundation, containing what she believes is the location of the Second Foundation. Stettin launches an invasion of the Foundation which fails, and the discovery of several Second Foundation sleeper agents convinces the Foundation that they have eliminated the threat of the Second Foundation. Palver, however, is secretly the First Speaker of the intact Second Foundation, and has orchestrated Stettin's attack, its failure, the discovery of Palver's own agents and even Arkady's participation to convince the Foundation that they have triumphed.[14] [15]
Palver is voiced by Cyril Shaps in episode seven "The Mule Finds" and episode eight "Star's End" of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11]
Palver will be portrayed by Troy Kotsur in season three of the 2021 television series adaptation Foundation. The character is described as "the leader of a planet of psychics."[36]
Introduced in Foundation in the story "The Encyclopedists", Dr. Lewis Pirenne is the chairman of the Foundation's Board of Trustees and the leader of the Encyclopedists. He dismisses Mayor Salvor Hardin's concerns about the Foundation's susceptibility to interference by nearby regimes, believing that their focus should be on creating the Encyclopedia Galactica and not local politics. When Hari Seldon's Time Vault opens and Seldon reveals that the encyclopedia was merely an excuse to establish the Foundation away from Imperial control, Pirenne realizes that he was wrong and cedes leadership of the Foundation to Hardin.[37] [38]
Book Analysis and Shmoop explained that Pirenne is rigid and resistant to change, which is ultimately in conflict with Seldon's Plan.[37] [38] Wimmer and Wilkins described Pirenne as a "useless twit".[28]
Pirenne is voiced by Roy Spencer in episode one "Psychohistory and Encyclopedia" of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11]
Pirenne is portrayed by Elliot Cowan in season one of the 2021 television series adaptation Foundation.[39] He is the Director of the Foundation and first successor of Hari Seldon, and comes into conflict with Salvor Hardin over how to handle the arrival of the Anacreons to Terminus.[40]
In the Foundation and Empire story "The Mule", Han Pritcher is a Foundation intelligence officer and secretly a member of the Democratic Underground on Terminus, planning to overthrow Mayor Indbur. Though ordered by the Mayor to investigate renegade traders, he instead looks into the sudden takeover of the planet Kalgan by the Mule. Pritcher attempts to assassinate the Mule in a suicide attack to thwart his conquest of the Foundation, but the Mule is a mutant and uses his psychic powers to "Convert" Pritcher into one of his most loyal followers.[10]
In the Second Foundation story "Part I: Search by the Mule", the Mule has yet to find the elusive Second Foundation. He sends Pritcher on his sixth search, this time accompanied by Bail Channis, the only one of the Mule's followers who is "Unconverted", or not influenced by the Mule's psychic powers to serve him. The Mule tells Pritcher this will be an advantage to their quest, but he actually believes that Channis is a Second Foundation agent who intends to lead the Mule into a trap. Secretly followed by the Mule and his fleet, Channis leads the search to the desolate planet Tazenda. Pritcher draws his atomic blaster on Channis, who he now suspects to be an agent of the Second Foundation. Pritcher is correct, but Channis possesses a psychic ability similar to the Mule's and uses it to free Pritcher from the Mule's control. The Mule appears, but while he has been focused on Channis, the Second Foundation has orchestrated an insurrection on Kalgan, and his fleet is too far away to prevent it. When the Mule experiences a moment of despair, the First Speaker of the Second Foundation is able to seize control of and alter his mind: he will return to Kalgan and live out the rest of his life as a peaceful despot. Pritcher joins him.[14] [15]
Wimmer and Wilkins wrote of Pritcher, "He breaks rules without a second thought ... but his code of honor forces him to be as honest about it as he possibly can. Before defying his orders, he tries to work through the appropriate official channels, even though he knows it's futile."[10] They describe Pritcher's final Conversion by the Mule as "crushing", writing that "more than any other character in this story, Pritcher was an individual, and it's so sad to see him reduced to a puppet of the Mule, albeit still a charming and unconventional one."[10] Wimmer and Wilkins wrote that the Converted version of the character in "Search by the Mule" is "a tricky protagonist to really connect with" due to "a lot of second derivative characterization".[15]
Pritcher is voiced by John Justin in episodes five, six and seven of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11]
Pritcher will be portrayed by Brandon P. Bell in season three of the 2021 television series adaptation Foundation.[24]
See main article: Bel Riose. In the Foundation and Empire story "The General", Imperial General Bel Riose governs the planet Siwenna. He investigates the Foundation and is soon determined to destroy it, both as a perceived threat to the Empire and to further his own ambitions. Foundation trader Lathan Devers lets himself be captured by Riose to disrupt his overtures against the Foundation from the inside. With Emperor Cleon II's Privy Secretary Ammel Brodrig present to observe Riose, Devers attempts to implicate Riose in a nonexistent attempt to overthrow Cleon. His machinations are exposed, but Ducem Barr, a Foundation sympathizer forced to aid Riose, helps him escape further interrogation by knocking Riose unconscious and fleeing the planet with Devers in tow. They travel to the Imperial capital planet, Trantor, and plot to influence Cleon directly with Devers' invented conspiracy, implicating both Riose and Brodrig. Though they are caught by the Secret Police, they escape and later learn that Riose and Brodrig have been arrested for treason and executed. Asimov later explains the political dynamics of why Riose would never have been able to defeat the Foundation: a strong emperor's sense of self-preservation would never allow him to tolerate a subordinate who develops potentially threatening power.[8] [9] [25] Riose is loosely based on Belisarius, a great general of the Roman Empire who served Justinian I during the 6th century AD.[4] [6]
Riose is voiced by Dinsdale Landen in episode four "The General" of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11] [29]
Riose is portrayed by Ben Daniels in season two of the 2021 television series adaptation Foundation.[33] He is the last great general of the Superliminal Fleet, imprisoned by Emperor Cleon for breaking orders to save troops, despite still achieving a victory.[25] [41] In exchange for his freedom and a reunion with his husband, Glawen Curr, Riose agrees to investigate the dissident Foundation on behalf of the Empire.[25] [41]
See main article: Hari Seldon. Introduced in Foundation in "The Psychohistorians", famed mathematician and psychologist Hari Seldon has developed the science of psychohistory, which uses sophisticated mathematics and statistical analysis to predict future trends on a galactic scale. He has predicted the unavoidable and relatively imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, which will spark a Dark Age lasting 30,000 years. Seldon has conceived a plan which, by his calculations, will limit this interregnum to 1,000 years. He orchestrates his own trial by the Commission of Public Safety, the ruling body of the Empire, who are displeased with his predictions and the potential chaos they would incite. As Seldon anticipated, the Commission does not want to martyr him, so he and his 100,000 followers are exiled from Trantor, the center of the Empire, to the distant and nearly inhospitable planet Terminus. There Seldon intends to establish the Foundation, "a repository of crucial, civilization-preserving knowledge" that will enable society to revive itself more quickly and efficiently.[9] [27] Describing "The Psychohistorians" as "28 pages of nonstop world-building", Wimmer and Wilkins wrote that in the story, "Hari Seldon isn't so much a character as he is the living embodiment of psychohistory, an ethereal presence who's about as relatable as Gandalf. It wouldn't be until Prelude to Foundation ... that Seldon would become an actual character."[28]
Seldon is voiced by William Eedle in several episodes of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11] [42]
Seldon is portrayed by Jared Harris in the 2021 television series adaptation Foundation.[19] [30]
In Prelude to Foundation, reporter Chetter Hummin introduces young mathematician Hari Seldon to Streeling University historian Dors Venabili, who subsequently joins Seldon in his danger-fraught tour of several of Trantor's 800 varied sectors. Seldon is gathering information he hopes will inform if and how his nascent theory of psychohistory can be developed into a predictive science. He realizes that Trantor itself possesses the diversity and complexity, at a manageable scale, required to build his calculations. But he also requires the emotional support of Venabili, and does not care that she may also be a robot.[9] [16] In Forward the Foundation, Seldon and Venabili have married, and adopted the former street urchin Raych. But their relationship is strained, and they continue to grow apart.[43] Venabili begins an investigation centered on the Electro-Clarifier, a new device co-invented by Tamwile Elar and built by Cinda Moray, which enhances the abilities of Seldon's Prime Radiant. Venabili believes the Electro-Clarifier is aging Seldon and Yugo Amaryl prematurely, but instead she discovers it is actually killing her, because it only affects the positronic brains of robots.[9] [43] She finally admits to Seldon that she is a robot, and having killed Elar to protect him, reveals that the combination of the device's effects and breaking the First Law of Robotics by harming a human has caused irreparable damage. Dying, she tells Seldon that his love made her human.[9]
Wimmer and Wilkins wrote that though Venabili's death delivered "a genuine sense of tragedy ... Dors was a hard character to get a fix on—there was always a faint coldness about her".[43]
Introduced in Foundation in the story "The Mayors", Poly Verisof is the Foundation ambassador and High Priest on Anacreon. After Salvor Hardin discovers a plot against him orchestrated by Prince Regent Wienis, he employs the aid of Verisof, who uses his mass following to instigate a mob against Wienis that helps assure Hardin's victory.[28] [37]
Wimmer and Wilkins wrote that though Verisof does not believe in the religious culture established on Anacreon, he does not "think any less of the believers or wish them any harm" and recognizes religion as "the best way of doing some good at a time when science has become tainted with the Empire's failure."[28]
Verisof is voiced by William Fox in episode two "The Mayors" of the 1973 radio adaptation The Foundation Trilogy.[11]
Verisof is portrayed by Kulvinder Ghir in season two of the 2021 TV series adaptation Foundation. He is High Claric of the Foundation's propagandist Church of the Galactic Spirit.[13] Verisof, who was a child at the dawn of the Foundation, is Brother Constant's superior and companion.[35] [39] He is described as "Whip-smart and sardonic, he's also a terrible drunk — intelligent enough to see the path he's on, but too cynical to change.[33] The character is portrayed as child by Jairaj Varsani in season one, and the season two episode "Where the Stars Are Scattered Thinly".[13]
The 2021 Apple TV+ television series adaptation Foundation invents several characters who do not appear in Asimov's series of novels.[25]
Brother Constant is a claric of the Foundation's propagandist Church of the Galactic Spirit, portrayed by Isabella Laughland in season two.[13] [33] Described as "cheerfully confident", she is a "true believer" in Seldon's Plan whose job is to extol its virtues and "whose courage and passion make her hard not to love."[33] Introduced in the 2023 episode "A Glimpse of Darkness", Constant is also the daughter of Foundation Director Sef Sermak and his husband Pater.[35] In "King and Commoner", she and her superior, High Claric Poly Verisof, escape capture on Korell with trader and con man Hober Mallow.[41] Hari Seldon tasks Constant and Poly to begin peace talks with the Empire in "Where the Stars are Scattered Thinly".[12] They are promptly arrested when attempting to do so on Trantor in "Why the Gods Made Wine".[47] In "The Last Empress", Mallow saves Constant from execution by the Empire, and they consummate their relationship.[26] [48] In the season two finale "Creation Myths", Mallow puts Constant in the only remaining escape pod of the doomed Imperial flagship Shining Destiny, and sends her to safety as he and General Bel Riose sacrifice themselves on the exploding ship.[49]
Jeffrey Speicher of Collider wrote that Constant's "straightforward, shoot-from-the-hip manner is one of the most fun and refreshing aspects of a mind-bending show that can sometimes feel a little overwhelming with the pure size and scope of the stories it takes on."[50] Julia Glassman of The Mary Sue described Constant as "one of the funniest and most relatable figures in the series" and "a thoroughly funny, lovable character", and calling her "the queen of deadpan gags."[51] Richard Edwards of Space.com described the character as having "charm to spare".[52] Sean T. Collins of Decider praised Constant's "forthrightness and directness" in propositioning Mallow,[48] and Speicher agreed that her "straightforward and refreshing approach to expressing her feelings for Hober brings a natural and organic dynamic to [their] romantic storyline."[50] Speicher described the relationship between Constant and Mallow as "the best romantic relationship in Foundation so far."[50] Collins appreciated that "Constant is attracted to, not repulsed by, Hober's swagger."[41]
Glawen Curr is the husband and second-in-command to General Bel Riose, portrayed by Dino Fetscher in season two.[13] [53] In the 2023 episode "King and Commoner" (S02 E13), disgraced Riose is freed from imprisonment at the Lepsis penal colony and reunited with Curr, both men having been previously told that the other was executed. Restored to his position as Fleet Supremus, Curr joins Riose in his investigation of the dissident Foundation on behalf of the Empire.[25] [41] In "Where the Stars are Scattered Thinly", Riose and Curr visit Imperial informant Ducem Barr on Siwenna and learn that the Foundation, and by extension their propagandists the Church of the Galactic Spirit, possess forbidden technology.[12] Riose and Curr debate their options for turning against Empire in "A Necessary Death" (S02 E07), but Riose ultimately declares any such action to be too great a risk.[54]
The Imperial fleet faces off against the Foundation in "Long Ago, Not Far Away" (S02 E09). Riose believes he can end the conflict without violence. The Emperor clone Brother Day, however, baited by Hari Seldon, orders Riose to crash the Invictus, an ancient Imperial warship commandeered by the Foundation, into Terminus to devastate the planet and destroy the Foundation. Riose reluctantly does so, even though he knows Curr is on the surface.[55] [56] A scheme orchestrated by Seldon destroys the Imperial fleet in the season two finale "Creation Myths". Riose kills Day, but is trapped on his doomed flagship and dies in its destruction. Meanwhile, Curr and the population of Terminus have escaped the planet's destruction via Seldon's Vault.[49]
Gary Grimes of Attitude described the emotional reunion of Riose and Curr as "a cornerstone moment in the high-octane series".[57] The series depicts their homosexuality as a non-issue. Fetscher said: "It was so refreshing that our characters' sexualities were just incidental ... In this world, sexuality is very different. It's just the same as you have blue eyes and I have brown eyes. In lots of ways, it's really inspiring because it's not so far in the future."[57]
Raych Foss is the close friend and protégé of Hari Seldon, portrayed by Alfred Enoch.[19] There is an immediate attraction between Foss and mathematical prodigy Gaal Dornick when they meet in "The Emperor's Peace".[58] During the multi-year journey to Terminus to establish Seldon's repository of human knowledge in "Preparing to Live", Dornick and Foss have begun a romantic relationship. Seldon disapproves, as he values science and detachment, and considers emotion and human relationships as distractions.[32] [58] The relationship between Seldon and Foss is also strained, as evidenced by Foss's apparent bitterness about what happened to his real father after he chose to live with Hari, and his alarm when he learns from Dornick that Seldon's computations are not complete.[32] In the middle of her daily swimming ritual, Dornick has a sudden urge to seek out Seldon, and stumbles upon Foss stabbing him to death. Foss ushers her into an escape pod with the murder weapon and jettisons her from the ship.[32] [58] In "Upon Awakening", Dornick awakens from cryosleep 34 years later, aboard an automated starship prepared by Foss. He has been executed for Seldon's murder, and she is believed to be an accomplice.[59] [60]
A digital, holographic copy of Seldon's consciousness, stored in the knife Foss used to kill him, explains himself to Dornick in "Mysteries and Martyrs". Afflicted with a rapidly escalating neurological disorder, he had planned to commit suicide to preserve his followers' devotion to his genius, while Dornick helped establish the Foundation on Terminus and Foss was to take the digital Seldon elsewhere. Foss and Dornick's unexpected relationship had jeopardized this plan, so Seldon had convinced Foss to kill him as the only way to guarantee Dornick's future, but in fact to force their separation. Foss had foiled this plan as well by sending Dornick off in the escape pod intended for him.[60] [61] In "The Missing Piece", Seldon explains that Foss was supposed to lead a secret, Second Foundation which Seldon created on his home planet, Helicon, and urges Dornick to let the starship take her there but refusing to give details. Done with Seldon's manipulations, Dornick instead takes the escape pod on a journey to Synnax that will last 138 years.[62] Foss and Dornick are revealed to be the biological parents of Salvor Hardin in the 2021 season one finale episode "The Leap".[63]
Foss is named after, but not based on, Seldon's adoptive son Raych from Asimov's prequel novels Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation.[25]
Sareth is the newly crowned Queen of Cloud Dominion, portrayed by Ella-Rae Smith in season two.[13] [64] She is described as "used to being underestimated", which she uses to her advantage, "charming her way into the Imperial Palace with biting wit, all while on a secret quest for revenge."[33] [39] The reigning Cleon clone, Brother Day, decides to halt the genetic degradation of his bloodline by marrying and fathering an heir with her.[22] [64] Lady Demerzel, an ageless robot and the real power behind the Imperial throne, schemes to be rid of Sareth and retain the Genetic Dynasty of Cleon clones she has administered for centuries.[65] Sareth and Brother Dawn, Day's successor, fall in love and flee Demerzel, with Sareth carrying Dawn's child.[22]
The character Sareth is original to the TV series, and Screen Rant noted that she was added as part of the expansion of Emperor Cleon's role in the series.[25]