Character from The Expanse by James S.A. Corey
Former MCRN admiral who stole a fleet, colonized Laconia, and built an empire using protomolecule technology. A philosopher-king dictator who injected himself with the alien substance, becoming something more — and less — than human.
Duarte is terrifying because his argument is coherent. Humanity is scattered across thirteen hundred worlds connected by alien infrastructure no one understands, threatened by whatever killed the Ring Builders, and governed by fractious democracies that can't agree on lunch. His solution — unified authoritarian rule under someone with the vision and will to prepare for existential threats — is monstrous and might also be correct. He was a brilliant MCRN strategist who saw the ring gates open and realized Mars was dying — its terraforming dream made irrelevant by a thousand habitable worlds. So he stole a third of the Martian fleet, cut a deal with Marco Inaros for cover, and disappeared through a gate to Laconia, where Ring Builder technology let him build warships in orbital construction platforms. He spent thirty years building his empire while the rest of humanity fought over scraps. The protomolecule injection was his final gamble — becoming posthuman to lead humanity through its next crisis. It worked, granting him expanded consciousness and apparent immortality. Then it kept working, and his mind began operating on timescales and dimensions that made him increasingly unable to function as a human leader. Teresa watched her father become a statue on a throne, conscious but unreachable. His empire continues without him, run by people interpreting the will of a god who can no longer speak.
Tall, distinguished man with the bearing of a career military officer who became something grander. Silver-streaked dark hair, strong jaw, and calm grey eyes that project absolute certainty. In his early Laconian years, he wears simple military uniforms that emphasize competence over grandeur. After the protomolecule injection, his appearance subtly shifts — skin too smooth, movements too precise, eyes that occasionally seem to focus on things no one else can see. He ages wrong, or rather stops aging at all, which unsettles everyone around him.
Also known as: Duarte, Winston Duarte, High Consul Duarte, the High Consul