List of Dune characters

[5][6][7] Dune follows Paul, the scion of House Atreides, as his family is thrown into the dangerous political intrigues centered on the desert planet Arrakis, only known source of the oracular spice melange, the most important and valuable substance in the universe.

[15] In Dune, Paul is the teenage son and heir of Duke Leto Atreides and Lady Jessica, whose family is thrown into the dangerous political intrigues centered on the inhospitable desert planet Arrakis, only known source of the oracular spice melange, the most important and valuable substance in the universe.

A fan of the novel, he told The New York Times, "I was a science fiction junkie ... [Director John Harrison] captured Herbert's prophetic reflection of our own age, where nation-states are competing with the new global economy and its corporate elements.

The Baron's intent to exterminate the Atreides line seems close to fruition as Duke Leto is lured to Arrakis on the pretense of taking over the lucrative spice mining operation there, previously controlled by the Harkonnens.

The Honored Matres, a violent matriarchal order with the ability to enslave men using their unique sexual talents, have arrived from the farthest reaches of the universe, wreaking havoc and destruction, and obliterating Tleilaxu worlds.

In Dune, Mohiam subjects 15-year-old Paul Atreides to a life or death test of his humanity: he is inflicted with excruciating pain, but must exert control over his survival instinct and withstand it, or be killed instantly with a poisoned needle.

As Paul seizes control of the all-important planet Arrakis and makes his final bid to usurp the Padishah Emperor's power, he is challenged by Feyd, the current Harkonnen leader after the deaths of the Baron and Rabban.

In forms such as diary entries, historical commentary, biography, quotations and philosophy, these writings set tone and provide exposition, context and other details intended to enhance understanding of Herbert's complex fictional universe and themes.

[37][38] In Dune, a widespread rebellion of the native Fremen on Arrakis creates a disruption in the production of the all-important spice melange, bringing Shaddam and his court, including Irulan, to the planet to impose order.

[18] Shaddam IV of House Corrino is the Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe, whose power is secured by his armies of fierce Sardaukar warriors and control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the all-important spice melange.

In Dune, the Atreides are lured to Arrakis on the pretense of taking over the lucrative spice mining operation there, but soon fall prey to a catastrophic attack by their longtime enemies the Harkonnens, whose forces are secretly bolstered by the fierce Sardaukar warriors of the emperor, Shaddam IV.

The Baron hopes to channel Thufir's desire for revenge away from House Harkonnen, and keeps his abilities in check by feeding him false data, specifically, permitting him to believe that Leto's concubine Lady Jessica had been the traitor responsible for the Atreides' destruction.

Emmet Asher-Perrin of Tor.com wrote: There are a few clever changes made in order to connect the two stories better, the primary one being that rather than having Princess Irulan work as a conspirator against Paul alongside the Bene Gesserit, the Spacing Guild, and the Tleilaxu, her sister Wensicia is brought to the fore sooner and given that role.

Deposed Emperor Shaddam IV's daughter Wensicia, Irulan's younger sister, plots from exile to place her son Farad'n on the throne and executes an assassination attempt on nine-year-old Leto and Ghanima.

"[29] The characters Leto and Ghanima were aged from ten-year-olds to teens for the miniseries, which Emmet Asher-Perrin of Tor.com called "a smart move here, as finding two ten year old kids who had the ability to behave as though they had millennia of ancestral memory bubbling up inside of them was always going to be an impossibility.

Farad'n is also appointed as the Royal Scribe and renamed "Harq al'Ada" (the "breaker of habit"), and relinquishes his control of the remaining Sardaukar to Leto, effectively surrendering House Corrino's claim to the Imperial throne.

Some 1,500 years later in Chapterhouse: Dune the Duncan Idaho ghola recalls his past incarnation from the time of Leto II, noting that he had met with Anteac on orders from the God Emperor to suppress the Mentat school the Bene Gesserit had hidden on Wallach IX.

In Heretics of Dune, Bene Gesserit Mother Superior Taraza sends the young and attractive Lucilla to Gammu, formerly the Harkonnen homeworld Giedi Prime, to teach the teenage Duncan Idaho ghola whom the Sisterhood is raising there.

Lucilla and Burzmali arrive at a Bene Gesserit safehouse, but discover that it has been taken over by the fearsome Honored Matres, a violent matriarchal order from the farthest reaches of the universe who have been wreaking havoc and destruction on Tleilaxu worlds.

In Chapterhouse Dune (1985), Odrade is accompanied by Tamalane, Dortujla and the acolyte Suipol to meet the Great Honored Matre Dama on Junction, as retired Bene Gesserit Supreme Bashar Miles Teg leads a force to attack Gammu.

In Heretics of Dune, Sheeana's talent is revealed after her impoverished village is wiped out by a sandworm which refuses to harm her, and then whisks her to the capital city of Keen (formerly Arrakeen) when she climbs on to its back in the long-forbidden Fremen tradition.

In Heretics of Dune, Waff successfully replaces High Priest Hedley Tuek with a Face Dancer duplicate loyal to the Tleilaxi, but loses control of the impostor due to its eventual complete assimilation into its new form.

Alma Mavis Taraza is the Bene Gesserit Mother Superior in Heretics of Dune who brings former Supreme Bashar Miles Teg reluctantly out of retirement to guard the latest Duncan Idaho ghola.

In the sequel novel Hunters of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca is aboard the untraceable no-ship which Sheeana and Duncan Idaho use to flee the Bene Gesserit planet Chapterhouse.

Trapped on Corrin, the thinking machines have surrounded the planet with a human shield of slave ships, and Xavier's grandson Abulurd Harkonnen defies Vorian's orders to reactivate their weapons and attack.

Initially loyal to machine leader Omnius and hoping to eventually secure his immortality by becoming a cymek, Ginjo is manipulated into fostering ideas of rebellion as part of a psychological experiment by the independent robot Erasmus.

In Dune: The Machine Crusade, Holtzman calculates that the field could be modified to prevent penetration from physical projectiles, and Norma agrees, correcting the flaws in his concept but noting that objects could still pass through the shield at a slow enough speed.

Desmond uses a "great power" granted to him by his near-death experience on Arrakis to psychically immolate Imperial Truthsayer Kasha Jinjo, whose burned body reminds Valya of Raquella's dying prediction.

In the Great Schools of Dune series, Valya plots to rise within, and ultimately take control of, the fledgling Bene Gesserit, while galvanizing her siblings to help her visit Harkonnen vengeance on the bloodline of Vorian Atreides.