R. Daneel Olivaw

R. Daneel Olivaw is a fictional robot created by Isaac Asimov. He appears in the Robots and Foundation series. Prominently it can be found in The Steel Vaults, The Naked Sun, Robots of Dawn, Robots and Empire i>, Prelude to the Foundation, Towards the Foundation and Foundation and Earth. He also appears in all the books of the Second Foundation Trilogy, i.e. "Fear of the Foundation". by Gregory Benford, "Foundation and Chaos" by Greg Bear, and "Triumph of the Foundation" by David Brin. Daneel is a very significant character within the universe of the Foundation, since he is the unifying character of all the cycles of the Saga, influencing the destiny of humanity in a space of time of about 20,000 years.

History

Daneel is a robot built by spacers from the planet Aurora (fictional planet) to look like a human, an android. This feature allows you to help Earth policeman Elijah Baley solve crimes. The first encounter between Daneel and Baley occurs when Baley is investigating the murder of Scientist Roj Nemennuh Sarton, the human who helped scientist Han Fastolfe build Daneel. Daneel's outward appearance is identical to the late scientist Sarton.

Daneel and Baley also work together on a murder case on the space planet Solaria, and on the roboticide case of Daneel's brother, another humaniform robot, Jander Panell, on Aurora. In the latter case, she meets R. Giskard Reventlov, a unique robot that is capable of reading people's minds.

On his deathbed, Baley, in an emotional final farewell, commands Daneel to protect humanity as a whole, rather than individuals in particular. Years later, with Elijah Baley dead, Daneel and Giskard must face the plot to destroy the Earth by Kelden Amadiro and Levular Mandamus. To achieve this and since the three laws of robotics prevent it from acting correctly (First Law "A robot cannot harm a human being, or by inaction allow a human being to be harmed". Second Law: & #34;A Robot must obey the orders of a human being as long as this does not go against the first law."Third Law: "A Robot must protect its own existence as long as this does not go against against the other laws".) Daneel concludes that there must be a "Law Zero" of robotics (Zero Law: "A Robot cannot harm Humanity or by inaction allow humanity to be harmed". By this law, the First is modified as follows: "A robot cannot harm a human being or by inaction, allow a human being to be harmed as long as this does not contravene the "Law Zero"). The Zeroth Law destroyed Giskard's positronic brain when he tried to apply it as he violated the first law of robotics. Giskard bestowed his mind-reading abilities on Daneel, who for 20,000 years has adapted to fully obey the zeroth law.

Daneel Olivaw's other identities

Daneel has been manipulating the Galaxy all this time with the help of many robot allies. It was he who established the Galactic Empire and Gaia in order to create a society that did not need robots. Following the identity of Eto Demerzel, he became the prime minister of the Galactic Emperor Cleon I.

When Hari Seldon first arrived on Trantor, R. Daneel Olivaw, under the identity of journalist Chetter Hummin (a play on the word "human"), convinces Hari that the Galactic Empire was dying and that the psychohistory must become a practical science to save it. Using Hummin's identity, he convinced Seldon that Prime Minister Eto Demerzel was after him, and that it was imperative for Hari to escape and try to make psychohistory a reality. He introduces Hari to Dors Venabili, who will become his friend and protector, and his wife-to-be. At the end of Seldon's flight, it is revealed to him that Hummin and Demerzel are really the same person, and that both are the cover identities of R. Daneel Olivaw. Demerzel would briefly appear again in the epilogue to Towards the Foundation , in which it is stated that he was one of the few people who were at Hari Seldon's funeral.

R. Daneel Olivaw appeared again in Foundation and Earth, in which Golan Trevize and Janov Pelorat, both members of the Foundation, make contact with him. Searching for Earth, they find it radioactive, but in the process they come upon Daneel's base on the Moon, a base that the robot has endeavored to hide from galactic consciousness. Daneel tells them of his manipulations in history, including the establishment on Alpha Centauri, the creation of Gaia, and the psychohistory. He eventually convinces Trevize that creating Galaxia is the right choice (performed in the book The Limits of the Foundation ).

In the continuation of the Foundation Saga made by various authors in the late 90's (Fear of the Foundation, Foundation and Chaos and Triumph of the Foundation), Daneel is revealed to have also been the Empress Ruellis, founder of Ruellianism (ethical norms inspired by ancient China).

Other facets of the Daneel myth

In a further evolution of the mythos, developed by Greg Bear in "Foundation and Chaos," it is discovered that Daneel has had to battle for millennia with those robots that did not accept the Zeroth Law; such are the "Calvinian" robots, as opposed to the "Giskardians" headed by Daneel. Behind the humans' backs, the robots have waged veritable robotic civil wars, in which Daneel and his faction have emerged victorious.

In another facet, developed by David Brin in "Triumph of the Foundation," Daneel has tirelessly wrestled with the problem of "chaos," an evil affecting the human race product of an early viral infection, rooted in the genes of the species, and which causes the collapse of societies. To defeat chaos Daneel has arbitrated every means possible: the creation of the Galactic Empire, the induction of conformism by powerful mental transmitters in orbit on every inhabited world, the creation of psychohistory, and finally the creation of Gaia.

Daneel, pressured by his own robots and humans, has had to give in at times. Thus he is exposed in the & # 34; Triumph of the Foundation & # 34;, in which he agrees to consult with humans the fate of the Galaxy, in the person of a & # 34; man who is never wrong & # 3. 4;. Such a character will be Golan Trevize. The robot Lodovik Trema ("Foundation and Chaos" and "The Triumph of the Foundation"), which does not obey robotic laws, came to put it in check, Daneel having to compromise with he. The same did the Hinriad dynasty, which governed the system of Rhodia ("In the star arena"), which neutralized it, tenaciously escaping from the historical amnesia that it sought to impose on humanity (&# 34;The Triumph of the Foundation").

Isaac Asimov said that the reason Daneel appeared so often in his books was because his readers and publishers asked him to. Over time, the character has become a true literary myth -the Secret Guardian of Humanity, the Immortal Servant- and has been addressed and deepened by other authors (G. Benford, G. Bear and D. Brin).