Xavier Harkonnen



"Above all, I am a man of honor. This is how I wish to be remembered"

- Xavier Harkonnen

Xavier Harkonnen (223 BG - 164 BG) was a prominent and highly respected military commander leading up to, and during, the Butlerian Jihad. He later murdered the Grand Patriarch Iblis Ginjo: an action that tainted his family's name for many centuries.

Early life
Xavier was born to wealthy and prominent aristocrats within the League of Nobles, Ulf Harkonnen and Katarina Harkonnen. At the age of six, Xavier's parents were killed in an assault by thinking machines, and he was later adopted by Emil Tantor and Lucille Tantor.

Military career
Seen as an upcoming commander, Xavier received a military commission at the age of 19. Soon afterward, he distinguished himself in the Battle of Zimia by taking control of the shell-shocked Salusan Militia and commanding them to a famous victory over the forces of Omnius, specifically a group of cymeks led by Agamemnon. During this battle his lungs were permanently damaged and subsequently replaced by Tlulaxa-supplied organs.

Following the battle, Xavier courted Serena Butler, daughter of Viceroy Manion Butler Senior. It was by Xavier that Serena conceived the martyr, Manion the Innocent, who she bore as a slave of the robot Erasmus on Earth.

After Serena's disappearance from the League of Nobles, Xavier married her sister Octa Butler. Through this union, Xavier became the patron of both the Butler and the Harkonnen families. The couple bore three daughters together, the youngest of whom went on to be the genesis of House Corrino.

During the Battle of Earth, Xavier was credited with the contentious idea of bombarding Earth with atomics, an action that not only destroyed the then Omnius Prime, but also obliterated all life on the planet.

During the Butlerian Jihad Xavier became a Primero in the Army of the Jihad alongside Primero Vorian Atreides, and the two became firm friends, in part because of their contrasting styles of leadership and strategy. Xavier commanded in many victorious such as the Battle of IV Anbus and the Liberation of Ix.

After Serena's death, Xavier accompanied Grand Patriarch Iblis Ginjo in an embassy to invite Tlulax to the League of Nobles. During his stay, he was contacted by a former Tercero of the battle of IV Anbus, Hondu Crehg, who now was a captive, serving as an 'organ repository' for the Tlulaxa. Cregh revealed the truth about the organ farms that supplied the League with replacement organs, as well that some of the alleged attacks of the Machines against the human colonies, were actually captures by the Tlulaxa, led by Ginjo. While in the organ repository room, Xavier was noticed by Ginjo who explained his motives to the Primero. Xavier realized that he would not reach Salusa Secundus alive.

Death
Xavier explained his plans to his adjutant, Quinto Paolo, who accompanied him. Xavier believed he had no other choice, and after Paolo left the return ship on a spacefolder Kindjal with a message to Primero Vorian Atreides, Xavier set the transport ship on a fixed course towards the Thalim star, thus killing himself, as well as freeing humanity from the criminal Patriarch.

However, due to subsequent machinations of Iblis Ginjo's political allies and his widow Camie Boro, the truth of that event was distorted: Iblis was eventually revered as a martyr and Xavier was marked as a traitor. Vorian Atreides (and Paolo) were the only ones who knew the true history; Vorian attempted to clear his name, but decided that such attempts were futile and would only make matters more complex and would divide humanity.

Legacy
As a result, the Harkonnen name became tarnished and Xavier's descendants adopted the surname Butler. Xavier's grandson, Abulurd Butler, later resurrected the name after learning the true account from Vorian Atreides, much to the dismay of both his family and the League in general. After the end of the Jihad Vorian decided it was time to clear this matter and handled Abulurd historical documents to study so that he would prove Ginjo's guilt. Finally he promised that he would help him with this matter after the Battle of Corrin.

But after the unfortunate events that led to the tension between the two friends, Vorian refused to have any relationship with Abulurd, who was exiled, obligated to bear always the shameful name. Because of this, Xavier's reputation was never healed.

In an ironic twist, the man who is seen as one of history's great traitors would be the direct-line ancestor of each and every Padishah Emperor ever to rule humanity (bearing the surname Corrino), as were Atreides emperors Paul and Leto II and the Atreides regent Alia. It would not be until the death of Leto II millenia later that humanity would no longer be ruled by a descendent of Xavier Harkonnen, making his bloodline the longest serving absolute monarchy in human history before or since.

Ghola Over 15,000 Years Later
After the time of the Old Imperium, the Ascension of House Atreides, the reign of the God-Emperor, and The Scattering, the end of the age and the coming of Kralizec began. Duncan Idaho and Sheeana, with various crew and captives, escaped in the no-ship, the Ithaca, from the united Honored Matres/Bene Gesserit capital of Chapterhouse. They were subsequently pursued by the Outside Enemy who tried to ensnare them in their Tachyon net, but the Ithaca escaped by folding space.

As the Ithaca began its' journey from one part of the Universe to another, it was revealed that one member aboard the ship, Scytale, a Tleilaxu Master, had cells of Xavier, Serena Butler, and other leaders from mankind's history; that he kept in a Nullentropy tube. The Bene Gesserit Sheeana, her sisters and acolytes, specifically chose to create a ghola of Serena and Xavier in Axlotl Tanks, as Sheeana began to suspect that the Enemy might be Thinking Machines.

Unbeknownst to them, the Jewish Rabbi aboard the Ithaca, was really an Enhanced Face Dancer. As he pretended to pray with Rebecca, who had volunteered to be an axlotl tank, the Face Dancer killed the unborn gholas of both Xavier and Serena. No other attempt to create a ghola of Harkonnen was attempted before the no-ship was captured by the Enemy.

Discrepancies
In The Dune Encyclopedia the ancestor of House Harkonnen is supposedly Palaigo Corrino, instead of Xavier Harkonnen.Palaigos supposed son Harkonnen Obeshev is the first named Harkonnen in history.

Appearances

 * Hunting Harkonnens
 * Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
 * Whipping Mek
 * Dune: The Machine Crusade
 * The Faces of a Martyr
 * Dune: The Battle of Corrin
 * Sandworms of Dune