Babylon 5: Character Bios: Londo Mollari
Of all the characters in the series, I feel most affinity for Londo Mollari. He is played exceptionally well by Peter Jurasik and is probably marginally ahead of Ivanova as being the wittiest of the Babylon 5 characters. He has certainly got a questionable history of double dealing, assassination and subversion. But he seems to carry it off with such wit. Definitely a dangerous and untrustworthy geezer.
If you were in the pub with Londo you would be having a ball. His jokes would be poignant and very funny. He would get as drunk as you and say more than a few things to wind people up. Next to Ivanova, he would be the centre of attention.
He was once a decadent nobleman but rapidly gained favour in the royal court because of his dealings and resultant successes with the Shadows. He regretted this alliance and was frightened of the effects that the Shadows had, and were having on his people. He will most likely be the next Emperor. Unfortunately, he is now so elevated in political circles, that he must be careful what he says in case it offends or causes trouble. The only person he can really trust his friend Vir.
Londo believes that he has seen his own death and that it will be at the hands of G’Kar.
He first met Morden in 2258 and gradually struck up an alliance with the shadows who helped him. With their help he manipulated and schemed. Another strategic alliance was with the vicious Lord Refa. Londo was the one who ordered the Shadows to attack the Narn listening post in Quadrant 14, thereby starting the Second major Narn/Centauri war. At its end it was Londo who was seen to be the orchestrator of the final victory and the person who managed to secure an unconditional surrender with relatively little loss of Centauri life.
Londo Assassinated the Emperor Cartagia in episode five of Series Four, The Long Night he took Cartagia to an antechamber while the court were toying with G’Kar. Londo attempted to stab Cartagia with a poison dagger but fumbled the attempt only for Vir to finish the job for him. The emperor was dead moments later. Londo is then able to remove the Shadow presence from Centauri Prime and evacuate the Centauri 
from the Narn Homeworld as previously agreed with G’Kar. Londo usually achieves all his objectives with deadly precision.
Unfortunately, towards the end of the saga, we learn that the great Londo Mollari is not now, as he was. It seems that the Shadow legacy caught up with him and the servant race of the Dark Spidery ones (Drahk) managed to fit the poor Londo with a ‘Keeper’.
Londo’s actions are not now his own! Londo is a puppet, doing the bidding of a race of nasties who are content to bide their time until they are strong enough to attack the Alliance.
However, Londo would prove the phrase ‘power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely’. I think he’s great!
“What do you want, you moon-faced assassin of joy?”
Londo to Vir, Born to the Purple
“There comes a time when you look into the mirror and realize that what you see is all that you will ever be. Then you accept it, or you kill yourself. Or you stop looking into mirrors.”
Londo, Chrysalis
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The ‘Fun-people biographies’ are © 1999 – 2019 Tony Fawl.
Not for reproduction without the authors express permission
The BABYLON 5 names, characters and everything else associated with the series are the property of J. Michael Straczynski, TNT and Warner Brothers, a division of Time Warner Entertainment Company. All rights reserved.
