Line #14 YMMV/Foundation


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The Mule - while most accept that he gave himself that name because [[spoiler: he is sterile]], some read his line "I call myself the Mule - but not because of my strength, obviously" as an indication that [[spoiler: he has a GagPenis]].
2	* ContinuityLockOut: Creator/IsaacAsimov put his series on a decades-long hiatus in the 1950s partly because ''he'' was exhausted from having to reread the material to keep it consistent and to write an engaging synopsis of previous events to prevent new readers from feeling locked out of the current story. A fan later handed him a long list of inconsistencies within the ''Foundation'' stories.
3	* DracoInLeatherPants: The Mule has quite a following on Deviantart.
4	* FanNickname: "The Killer B's" -- Benford, Bear, and Brin.
5	* FanonDiscontinuity: Many fans of ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy'' restrict the canon of the series to just that trilogy, excluding the {{Sequel}}s and {{Prequel}}s, including those of ''Literature/TheSecondFoundationTrilogy''.
6	* HilariousInHindsight:
7	** ".... people had no real conception of the fact that the Empire was running down. They had been more or less running their own affairs since the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Zeonian revolt]]..."
8	** In Seldon's speech during the Mule's invasion, he says that "For the first three centuries the percentage probability of nondeviation is nine-four point two" -- or to put it another way, there's about one chance in twenty that something would go wrong. The Foundation rolled a [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons critical failure]].
9	* {{Narm}}:
10	** Hardin shouting "''The Galactic Empire is dying''!" No wonder one Encyclopedist called it a "hysterical" statement. The original version is even more narmy, with Hardon declaring "If you ask me... ''The Galactic Empire is going to pot!''" Asimov wisely changed this bit of dialogue to something more dignified.
11	** An antagonist in the first book, Prince Regent Wienis, is a conniving and brutish usurper who murdered his brother and planned to kill his nephew. The shine comes off certain dramatic moments involving the guy when you listen to at least one Audiobook recording which pronounced his name "Weenis," and does the same with the world-destroying battlecruiser that shares his name.
12	* ParanoiaFuel: Everything is part of Seldon's plan. EVERYTHING you'll ever do or think of doing is part of His plan. And you that sudden idea ? It's not yours, the Second Foundation manipulated you .
13	* RootingForTheEmpire: Since Asimov was thinking in terms of a grand future history where there are [[GreyAndGreyMorality no such things as "heroes" and "villains"]], there are plenty of antagonists who still come out as capable, sympathetic people in opposition to the protagonists:
14	** The original Galactic Empire itself is still worthy of admiration:
15	*** The Committee of Public Safety in charge of internal security on the Homeworld, Trantor, exiles Seldon and his followers to the edge of the galaxy... but recall that he had 100,000 people following him and he's been actively telling everyone who will listen that the Empire will fall. The Committee is simply desperately trying to keep galactic civilization running. Exile seems remarkably civilized in comparison to what even a modern state would do to its dissidents. In fact, for another three hundred or so years, the Empire, still civilized and infinitely better than the barbarous kingdoms the Foundation faces out at the periphery, is actually the first port of call for some of the heroes through the series (who need to be in the space of a power the Foundation respects.) The Foundation is, after all, an aggressively expanding nation, and its methods of control over other star systems have included theocracy and plutocracy.
16	*** General Bel Riose wants nothing more than for the Galactic Empire, now in serious decline two hundred years after Seldon's death, to become strong and great again. He is saddled with a traitorous second-in-command and a suspicious Emperor, and up against an enemy that possesses more powerful technology than his own (although his own resources are just sufficient for the task, as he is a military genius.) In a normal space opera, ''he'd'' be the hero.
17	** The Mule is TheWoobie and has a sympathetic backstory. At this point in its history, the Foundation is a fascist HereditaryRepublic that is crushing the freedom of its independent traders and citizens alike. The Mule's empire, in comparison, is well-run and free (as long as you don't try to topple his government.) Of course, the Mule killed millions of people and sterilized multiple planets. Not to mention that he waylaid the Foundation's predicted reformation from the civil war that never emerged thanks to the external threat he presented. And because of that, we don't get to see what kinds of death and destruction a civil war between two equally matched opponents (by design) would wreak across the Foundation, as deliberately set in motion by Hari Seldon himself.
18	** The Foundation itself, in the novels ''Literature/FoundationsEdge'' and ''Literature/FoundationAndEarth'', represent the last desperate attempts by normal humans to maintain their free will and liberty. Not everyone wants to be in a [[spoiler:Hive Mind, or in the alternative, ruled by a cabal of elites with psychic powers. Although the fact that Mayor Branno wants to play GalacticConqueror and rule the galaxy from Terminus simply means the loss of liberty to a non-psychic imperial regime.]]
19	* TooBleakStoppedCaring: After the Foundation became more oppressive, ruthless and prone to brainwashing there are hardly any factions worth rooting for.
20	* ValuesDissonance:
21	** The near-complete lack of female characters in a story with such a huge scope can be troubling for modern readers.
22	** Trevize's gut revulsion to Solarians, psychics, and the very idea of aliens just comes off as xenophobic bigotry today. While their use of the pronoun "it" for the hermaphroditic Solarians is acknowledged as dehumanising in the novel, the character's total blindness to using the singular "they" is rather annoying.
23	** Even with them being the bad guys, the [[https://archive.org/stream/Astounding_v29n04_1942-06_dtsg0318#page/n17/mode/2up original illustration]] of Anacreoneans saluting their king can look... jarring today. Given that the story was written during World War 2, [[DeliberateValuesDissonance it was probably meant to be.]]
24	%%* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Magnifico
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Context YMMV / Foundation