Character from Foundation by Isaac Asimov
A mentalic mutant who broke the Seldon Plan — an outcast clown who could adjust human emotions at will, conquering the Foundation and half the galaxy before the Second Foundation stopped him.
The Mule is what happens when psychohistory's blind spot walks in the door. He is a genuine mutant — unpredicted and unpredictable — whose ability to reach into minds and adjust emotional states makes him the single greatest threat the Seldon Plan has ever faced. He can convert enemies into loyal servants, shatter morale across an entire planet, or make a general surrender by simply removing his will to fight. Beneath the terrifying power is a profoundly lonely man. He grew up as a freak, mocked and abused, and his conquest of the galaxy is partly revenge and partly a desperate search for belonging. He doesn't want to destroy civilization — he wants to be accepted by it. His relationship with Bayta is the closest he comes to genuine human connection, and her rejection devastates him more than any military defeat. He is brilliant at strategy, reading people with mentalic precision and conventional insight combined. But his emotional damage makes him predictable in ways he can't see: he always needs to be loved, always needs to prove himself, and the Second Foundation exploits exactly this vulnerability to finally contain him.
Painfully thin, almost skeletal, with a disproportionately large nose dominating a narrow, homely face. Long, gangly limbs that move with an awkward, marionette-like quality. Large, sad eyes that seem perpetually apologetic. As Magnifico, he wears a jester's motley. As the Mule revealed, he dresses in simple military clothing that hangs loosely on his gaunt frame — power has not made him less ugly, only less ashamed.
Also known as: The Mule, Magnifico Giganticus, Magnifico, The First Citizen of the Union