Blissenobiarella

Blissenobiarella, known informally as Bliss, is a character in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. She is from planet Gaia, and she appears in the novels Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth.

Character

Bliss is first introduced in Foundation's Edge as the escort for two Foundation men, Golan Trevize and Janov Pelorat, to be received to Gaia. Bliss, like all Gaians, has an enormous affinity for life and can't bear to see life destroyed. She is for long distrusted by Trevize while his partner Pelorat is quickly fascinated, until they become lovers.

Particularly in Foundation and Earth Bliss serves partly as way of exploring the narrative, as she and Trevize engage in frequent debates. In particular Bliss acts as an advocate for Gaia/Galaxia while Trevize, still somewhat uncomfortable with the decision he makes in Foundations' Edge, argues for individuality. As both an individual and an extension of the Gaia group-mind Bliss is extremely intelligent and easily able to debate with Trevize despite his skills as a politician.

In Foundation and Earth, Bliss leaves Gaia with the two men helping them in their search for Earth. Because Bliss is a Gaian, she possesses considerable mentallic powers, which are often used as a plot device in Foundation and Earth to help her companions escape from dangers that they encounter during their quest. She commonly uses her empathic and telepathic powers to help deal with dangerous people and creatures. In addition, she also exhibits psychokinetic abilities as well as the power to help purge others of disease organisms. At the climax of Foundation and Earth she, as an avatar of Gaia, bears witness to Trevize's explanation of why he decided in favor of Galaxia as humanity's best option for future survival.

Robot Controversy

It is suggested that Bliss is a humaniform robot. In Foundation's Edge Trevize accuses her of being a robot guiding her planet Gaia to live by the Three Laws of Robotics. She replies, "But what if I am? I admit nothing, but I am curious. What if I am?", failing to deny the accusation. It is quite clear from Asimov's Liar! that a mind-reading robot could lie to protect its human companions. She may have been motivated to lie for the sake of Janov Pelorat, with whom she was in a relationship. However, this does not explain the implied and completely voluntary denial in Foundation and Earth when she refused to comment under direct and forceful questioning in the previous book. In both instances, the conversation was between Bliss and Trevize in Pelorat's absence.

In Foundation and Earth, she implies that she is not a robot and certain events seem to bear this out. Most notably, Bliss uses her telepathic powers to kill the Solarian Sarton Bander. Although his death was not her intent, the First Law might in theory have incapacitated her if she were, in fact, a robot. Yet despite being quite upset about Bander's death, she quickly regains her composure, and is even able to begin using her powers again immediately. It is notable that even R. Daneel Olivaw was incapable of inflicting serious harm to humans despite his vast powers. This was in fact what had prevented him from more directly controlling human history to achieve his goals throughout his approximately 20,000 year existence. That Bliss was able to kill, even accidentally, and not be disabled for violating the First Law suggests that she may not have actually been a robot. The Solarians had evolved so far as to possibly no longer be considered human; they might also have come from a separate galaxy, as Trevise's thoughts at the end of the series suggest. In either case, the First Law would hold less sway in the matter.

At the end of Foundation and Earth, Bliss states that she hopes to someday bear a child. Childbirth would not at first seem a capability which robots, even recently designed ones such as Dors Venabili, would possess, though its possibility should not be ruled out, nor should it be considered impossible that a robot could hope for it.