Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Francis Quinn, Nestor-10, Herbie, Peter Bogert, Major-General Kallner, the planet Mercury, Mrs. Weston, Cutie, the Society for Humanity, Consolidated

On the other side of the equation, what links our antagonists together? Well, they're not as smart or as dedicated as the protagonists. For example, Consolidated attempts to destroy Brain in "Escape!" because their own super-computer was destroyed; but Brain out-thinks them and the story ends with US Robots about to play a trick on Consolidated. For another example, Nestor-10 thinks he's smarter than the humans, and it's his pride that trips him up.

But there are some cases that are a little different: the planet Mercury isn't dumb and neither is Peter Bogert. But what makes Mercury and Bogert antagonists is simply that their conditions make it hard for the protagonists to do their work. So, Mercury is hot and that's why it's going to kill Powell and Donovan in "Runaround." Similarly, Bogert is smart, but he's most interested in making the company look good in "Little Lost Robot," whereas Calvin is interested in stopping a possible killer.

So here's something else we learn: in an Asimov story, the antagonist isn't usually a straight-up villain, but just someone (or something) that has a different set of interests than the protagonist. And also isn't as smart as the protagonist. What can we say? It pays to have brains.