Character from Bastion by Phil Tucker
The Academy's autocrat — a man who mistakes control for order and discovers that the Great Soul he tried to crush was the one prophesied to change everything.
Praximar runs the Academy the way a warden runs a prison: with rigid rules, absolute authority, and the genuine belief that order serves the greater good. He is not stupid or cartoonishly evil — his methods have kept Bastion's Great Soul production pipeline functioning for longer than most people remember. The problem is that his definition of 'functioning' doesn't include room for someone like Scorio. His treachery in Book 1 — sabotaging Scorio's progression, manipulating the Final Gauntlet — comes not from personal hatred but from institutional reflex. Scorio threatens the system. Praximar is the system. The collision was inevitable. What makes Praximar interesting rather than disposable is that he's partially right. Structure matters. Discipline matters. The Academy exists because uncontrolled Great Souls are a danger to themselves and everyone around them. Praximar's failure isn't in wanting order — it's in being unable to recognize when order has become oppression.
Projects authority through every detail of his presentation — Academy robes worn like armor, posture that dares contradiction, eyes that evaluate rather than observe. His physical presence communicates that the Academy is an extension of his will.
Also known as: The Chancellor, Praximar