Character from Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Master Trader and later Mayor of Terminus — the man who proved that commerce is a more powerful weapon than religion, and that you can conquer worlds by making them economically dependent.
Mallow is a new breed — the trader-politician who understands that the Foundation's religion-based control is a spent force. Where Hardin weaponized faith, Mallow weaponizes commerce. He sees that selling nuclear gadgets creates dependency more reliable than any priesthood, because people will abandon their gods before they'll abandon their conveniences. He thinks like a businessman, not a statesman, which makes him more dangerous than either. He refuses to rescue a missionary on Korell because saving one man would cost a trade agreement worth billions — and he's right, which is what makes it so uncomfortable. He is blunt, impatient with ceremony, and openly contemptuous of the Foundation's religious trappings. His trial for abandoning the missionary becomes his political masterstroke. He turns the courtroom into a demonstration of his philosophy: the old ways are dead, trade is the new weapon, and he is the man who understands the new galaxy. He wins not by defending himself but by making his accusers look obsolete.
Big, physically imposing, with a trader's weathered complexion from years on starships. Heavy-jawed, broad-shouldered, wearing expensive clothes with a deliberate lack of refinement — a rich man who wants you to know he earned it with his hands. Dark, shrewd eyes that calculate profit margins in real time. Moves with the rolling gait of someone more comfortable on a ship's deck than in a council chamber.
Also known as: Hober Mallow, Mallow, Master Trader Mallow