Han Pritcher is a character in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series.
Biography[]
Han Pritcher was a captain in the Foundation armed forces, specialized in the branch of the intelligence service, during Mayor Indbur III's reign. He enlisted in 293 FE. While decorated and known to be a great asset, his rebellious character ensured his superiors never considered him for a promotion, keeping him in his rank for many years. Unknown to those same superiors, Pritcher was also a member of the democratic underground that sought to put an end to the time of the Tyrant Mayors.
With the political situation between the authoritarian Foundation and the democratic Trader Planets on the edge of a war, Pritcher chose to ignore orders to go to the planet Haven in order to go to Kalgan and investigate what he thought was more important, the growing threat of the Mule.
While he was at Kalgan, he met Toran Darell and Bayta Darell, a recently married couple from the Association of Independent Traders who had been sent to Kalgan with the objective of learning more about the Mule, as well as Magnifico Giganticus, who claimed to be the Mule's own clown. Knowing of Magnifico's importance, Pritcher convinced the Darells to bring him to Terminus. Upon arrival to Terminus, he was imprisoned for refusing to follow orders, but Kalgan's declaration of war led Indbur to free him, as his predictions had proven right. For the next months, Pritcher continued his work as part of the intelligence service, collaborating as best as possible to determine how to stop the Mule, until the Fall of Terminus.
Knowing he was in danger, Pritcher hid away, contacting one of the few surviving Democratic cells in the planet, which led to his plan to kill the Mule by smuggling a nuclear weapon into the Mayor's palace, in which the Mule was supposedly living. Unfortunately, not only was the Mule away, but he discovered that the viceroy the Mule had named for Terminus was the former warlord of Kalgan.
Several months later, Pritcher was taken to a ship to meet with the one the Darells were traveling in, so he could be converted by the Mule into his service. Joining the Mule's forces, he eventually found and met the Darells, telling them to give up in their attempt to find the Second Foundation by telling them of the Mule's powers - something that allowed Bayta to realize Magnifico was the Mule, preventing him from learning where the Second Foundation hid.
Five years later, Pritcher had reached the role of General and the Mule's most important advisor, being sent on expeditions to find the Second Foundation without result. The Mule tasked him with keeping an eye on the man that would lead the next expedition, Bail Channis, someone who had not undergone the conversion process. The circumstances of the travel led him to believe Channis was a member of the Second Foundation, only to then find himself involved in a game of power between Channis and the Mule, his conversion temporarily undone to turn him against the Mule. Left unconscious for most of the confrontation, the Mule ended up taking him back to Kalgan: the last known fact of him is that he inherited the Mule's position as the First Citizen of the Union of Worlds, only to see most of its holdings breaking away, most importantly a reborn Foundation that fought Kalgan's armies off. It is unknown whether he died on the office or was overthrown by the first post-Mule Warlord of Kalgan.