Mule

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 which he uses to forcibly convert people to his cause. 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. The Mule establishes his empire incrementally,... more

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 which he uses to forcibly convert people to his cause. 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. 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,... less