Alfred Bester

_Babylon 5_

Background

In the future, humans evolve to the point where subspecies of telepaths emerge. Able to pry into other people's minds and, in some cases, to attack with mental powers, telepaths must be taught how to control their abilities and use them effectively. For this purpose they are removed from society and placed into the “Psi-Corps” as soon as they are identified, and there they are educated and receive postings to various positions within the Corps. But the Corps is more of an indoctrination camp for a band of elites who begin to look down upon the “normals” who exiled them from society due to fear and hatred. The telepaths find a hero in Alfred Bester, a champion of their people.

With the highest psychic power ranking, P12, Bester is a “Psi-Cop”, an agent of a secret police force who travels the galaxies in search of rogue telepaths who have escaped the jurisdiction of the Corps. Bester supports gruesome experiments to genetically create stronger telepaths and is a constant thorn in the side of the Babylon 5 crew. Eventually Bester attempts to start a war between normals and telepaths, but a sect of telepaths who resent Bester's extremism fight back. Bester is defeated and goes into hiding, but is caught by his archrival, Michael Garibaldi, and is convicted of crimes against humanity.

 

Analysis

Named after a canny science fiction writer (All reet!), Bester is a smug, confident villain. Much like Agent Smith, he is convinced of his own superiority and is not afraid to show it. A schemer in every sense of the word, Bester constantly manipulates everyone around him and arranges convoluted plans to trap the Babylon 5 crew in unpleasant predicaments while Bester attempts to advance his own agenda. He engages in everything from brainwashing to mind control, showing no concern for those he tampers with. Bester's cold, methodical devotion to his cause is perhaps a result of “deathbed scans” in which he scans the minds of those in the process of dying to learn their final secrets. After performing so many of these scans, Bester's own spirit begins to die, and what is left is a merciless shell of a man who no longer loves anything but the nebulous cause he fights for.