Dune Characters

Paul Atreides is the main man, the head honcho, the tour de force, the principle actor, and the big cheese. That's right, he's the protagonist. So, why wait around here at the introduction? Let's d...

Lady Jessica is Paul's mother and the Bene Gesserit lover of Duke Leto. She is perhaps the second most important character in the story, and considering the long list of characters in this story, t...

Vladimir Harkonnen is the Baron of Geidi Prime. At first, he wants nothing more than to spring Duke Leto off his mortal coil, but afterward, he sets his sights toward securing the Imperium throne f...

Gurney is one of Duke Leto's chief officers. He's also Paul's weapons teacher, a baliset player, and a warrior famous for his skill. In short, he's awesome plus a bag of chips. Gurney represents th...

Duke Leto Atreides is the head of the Atreides family, lover to Lady Jessica, and father of Paul. He's also the guy everyone says is doomed from the start of the book, which is unfortunate, because...

Thufir Hawat is the Mentat Master of Assassins in service to Duke Leto, and he's one of Paul's three teachers. Before we dive into Hawat's character and analyze him for all he's worth, perhaps we'd...

Kynes is the Imperial ecologist on Arrakis and also Chani's father. He initially refuses to take sides in the Harkonnen vs. Atreides scuffle but later aids Paul when it becomes clear that the boy h...

Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen is the nephew of the Baron Harkonnen. He is the same age as Paul, and he's also a skilled fighter. Learning from his uncle's example, Feyd is power hungry, desiring the positi...

Chani Kynes is the daughter of Liet-Kynes, and she's also Paul's love interest. And, um, yeah, that's her character's purpose in a nutshell.Chani provides Dune with its archetypal princess characte...

Dr. Yueh is the doctor for House Atreides—and he's their eventual betrayer.Turncoat TroublesIn literature, there are generally two kinds of traitors. The first kind betray their friends or kingdo...

The Reverend Mother is the leader of the Bene Gesserit, a mysterious and spiritual organization deeply involved with universal politics. Wow, What a WitchThe Reverend Mother is Jessica's counterpar...

Stilgar is the head honcho of Sietch Tibr, and he's the Fremen who originally accepts Jessica and Paul into Fremen society.In many ways, Stilgar is a knight archetype like Gurney. His skills and lo...

Sure, the worms aren't characters in the typical sense, but they are an important part of the story, and hey, where else were we going to put them? Besides, they deserve their time in the spotlight...

In the original Dune, Idaho is a minor character. He shows up only three times: once to introduce Stilgar, once to drunkenly spill the beans about Hawat's plan in front of Jessica, and one final ti...

A Fremen housekeeper for the Atreides, Mapes is the first Fremen introduced to both Jessica and Paul and is therefore the first Fremen the reader gets to know, as well. Through her, we catch glimps...

Piter is a Mentat Assassin to House Harkonnen. He helps plan Duke Leto's demise, and he breaks Yueh's Imperial Conditioning by torturing his wife, Wanna. After the defeat of House Atreides, Piter i...

Alia is Paul's sister and the daughter of Leto Atreides and the Lady Jessica. Since Alia was in the womb when Jessica consumed the Water of Life, she gains consciousness in utero as well as the Oth...

On the surface, Lord Fenring is the Emperor's errand boy. Feyd-Rautha describes him as "a small man, weak-looking," who has a "weaselish" face (35.17). Yet he's actually a skilled Mentat assassin a...

This is the Emperor of the Imperium and the leader of the Sardaukar. Corrino is a prideful guy. We would be, too, if we were emperor of the entire universe, like him. Unfortunately for the Emperor,...

Irulan is the Emperor's eldest daughter and guess what? She's quite the looker. Didn't see that coming now, did you?Paul marries Irulan to secure his position as ruler of the universe (more or less...

Rabban is the Baron Harkonnen's idiotic and cruel nephew. The Baron thinks of his nephew as a "[m]uscle-minded tank-brain" (26.208). Frank Herbert must have felt the same way, because Rabban is les...

Jamis is a Fremen from Stilgar's sietch, Sietch Tabr. Aggressive and quick to temper, Jamis remains unconvinced of Jessica's mystical powers and challenges her champion, Paul, to a duel to test the...

Harah is Jamis's wife and later Paul's servant. She is loyal to Paul, caring for both his sister, Alia, and his son. She eventually becomes one of Stilgar's wives.Harah returns in the sequels Dune...

Esmar TuekA smuggler leader on Arrakis. When Harkonnen agents try to sell the stolen carryall to smugglers, Esmar turns them in to Leto Atreides. Dr. Yueh murders him just before the Harkonnen atta...