Morton Valenti

"...Morton Valenti...you remember that name Mr. Chairman. Because one day...this is going to be you."
Morton Valenti was the temporary acting Chairman of the Galactic Federation after Keaton's impeachment, and was known for his history of opposition to the cultural mixing of races. He was also the supposed leader of both the Civil Guard and the Humanists at the time of his death.

The Magnolia Project
Though any direct involvement Valenti had is buried by an extensive coverup, he was the head of the Civil Guard at the time of the project, and oversaw much of it. Whether he ordered or simply went along with it is unknown, but since the project's exposure, he's often shown interest in using the research, claiming that the damage had already been done, and there was no point in letting it sit. Though certain people (Keaton) do know of his involvement, any credible sources have been kept quiet or discredited through blackmail, manipulation and threat of lawsuits. However, to avoid complications, he resigned as privately as possible.

Senator
Shortly after leaving the Civil Guard, Valenti became a Senator of the Galactic Federation and remained in that position for quite a long time. Here, he subtly pushed for more human control in the Federation, particularly its military, and was successful. He also worked to divide the other races as much as possible without coming off as too suspicious, but was a strong opponent to any possibility of peaceful relations with the Space Pirates, citing previous actions by the race.

Keaton's impeachment
After the Warp in Reality, Valenti began putting pressure on then-Chairman Keaton. After months of aggravation, Keaton finally snapped on Valenti, insulting not only him and the Humanists but all of Humanity. Valenti later used this, along with accusations of a Vanerian conspiracy, to have him impeached; though the Chairman quit before this was possible. Valenti then took the place of temporary acting Chairman after a short verbal war with Ceil Marietus and a bit of help from secret Humanist members Wonoro Terremeed and Mira Corvallis. As revenge, Valenti later electrocuted Ceil and punted his head over a building, with the misconception that it would kill him; it didn't, but few people believed that Valenti would do such a thing.

Taking the lead
With his new position, Valenti instantly got to work plotting the downfall of the galaxy's other major species, and humanity's rise to the top. This was aided by the fact that, due to their lack of control, Malaya's Keaton clone army went berserk and attacked Federation space, leaving behind half-destroyed ships, including the Hydronomicon. The wreckage of this ship was brought to a Civil Guard space station named Falune, where much of it's technology was stripped, adapted and copied, including the Cloning Vats, which Valenti's people began to reproduce and use in the production of an army of those with unique abilities; the Guardians.

The Plague
During this time, the Space Pirates faced an epidemic of Phazon-mutated Staphylococcus Aureus, which was instantly publicized as being bio-warfare by the Federation. Valenti made very few attempts to appease the Pirates, but when it was made clear that the Pirates could possibly wipe out the Federation, he folded and ordered for anti-biotics to be distributed to the Pirates at scattered Federation planets. For a short time, all was well between the races, though the Pirate leadership, in particular Halley Kiraviem, became wary of the new Chairman.

Collapse
When Zebes gained a Leviathan, Valenti ordered an all-out attack on the planet to prevent the Pirates from using Phazon to control the universe. However, even with the help of the Guardians, the attack both on and in the space around the planet was a massive failure, and resulted in the destruction of much of the Federation fleet and the loss of countless, mostly human lives. Eventually, Admiral Halley himself headed an attack on the Falune, ordering the surrender of all Federation weaponry and a complete allegiance to the Space Pirates. Valenti flatly refused, saying that the Pirates would destroy or enslave them afterward, but eventually, decided to personally face off against Halley.

Though Valenti originally tried to make it his own station, the location for the face-off was decided to be the abandoned Kolok. Valenti stepped into the nanobot injection machine in his personal lab, then took a fighter craft down to the Kolok. There he hunted down Halley, displaying a new set of abilities stolen from his test subjects including magnetic manipulation, throwing lightning bolts and creating green crystals and burning energy from thin air. After a long fight, it was eventually Valenti's own abilities that killed him, overloading his body and, at the end, causing another part to melt down every time he used one. With no way of healing himself that wouldn't cause further damage somewhere else, he instead healed the unconscious Halley's wounds, and attached his wrist-console to the Admiral with the words "I like you" displayed; a final taunt.

When Halley awoke, the Chairman's head was found sitting on top of a melted pile of skin and clothing.

Personality
Valenti was a natural researcher, and nearly every action he made showed this. It is implied that his wife was killed in an experiment, and when his son, Orion Valenti, died, he not only failed to show any remorse, but he used the corpse as another object to experiment on. He had no regard for life in general, including his own, unless it managed to interest him. He enjoyed taunting people to see what their reactions were, and in the case of combat or politics, used his knowledge in the matter to frustrate them into slipping up. He was a brilliant speaker, but constantly made enemies due to his ruthless criticism and ruthlessness in general, and that was his downfall.

Trivia

 * Morton Valenti was originally inspired by the Inner Demons character Marinus, though is more conniving.
 * After the Magnolia Project, he had an aversion to using psychics in any expiriments.
 * He had no problem with using human shields, and was very quick to do so.