Paul Atreides

Paul Atreides,he exile of House Atreides, Paul finds himself a leader among the Fremen. Fuelled by the historic prophecies of the Lisan al Gaib and the Kwisatz Haderach, Paul finds himself inching closer and closer to controlling the Imperium. Despite his love and loyalty to Chani Kynes — with whom he had numerous children — Paul marries Irulan Corrino in his quest for the Emperor's seat in the Landsraad, but finds navigating this relationship complex and difficult at times. Paul eventually ascended to the position of Emperor of the Imperium, a position which he would pass on to his son, Leto Atreides II, the God Emperor.

Conception
The Bene Gesserit brought Paul's parents together with the intention of producing an Atreides daughter, who could then mate with a male heir to House Harkonnen to produce the fabled Kwisatz Hadarach, a kind of super-being. However, the plans of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood were thrown into disarray when Jessica, due to her deep love of the Duke Leto, bore a male heir, Paul, to his House rather than a girl.

Upbringing
As the son of Duke Leto Atreides I, Paul grew up with a privileged background on the water-rich planet of Caladan, the ancestral home of House Atreides. Though he lacked companions his own age, he received tutelage from his teachers, men like Thufir Hawat, Duncan Idaho, Gurney Halleck and Doctor Yueh, as well as deep education in Bene Gesserit methods and techniques from his mother. Shortly after his fifteenth birthday in the year 10191 AG, Paul's father revealed to him that his training, through his teachers, had been geared toward turning Paul into a mentat. The theory was that when Paul succeeded his father as Duke of House Atreides, one of the most respected and moral Great Houses of the Imperium, a mentat-duke would truly be a formidable force in the Landsraad. Paul's latent talents also earned him the attention of the Bene Gesserit, who tested him with the Gom Jabbar, as they hoped to salvage their breeding program through him.

The rise of Paul
Paul Atreides accompanied his parents when House Atreides relocated to the desert world of Arrakis to manage mining operations of the Spice Melange. However, when the deception of House Harkonnen and the Emperor Shaddam IV was revealed, he escaped into the desert with his mother and joined the Fremen. Upon proving to the desert people that he was worthy to live among them, he took the name Muad'Dib.

Paul's union with the Fremen, coupled with significant exposure to the Spice Melange, triggered dormant prescient abilities within his bloodline. These abilities, coupled with his leadership skills, military training, and an ancient prophecy of the people of Arrakis, enabled Paul to become the sole leader of the formidable Fremen. It was on Arrakis that he discovered that his maternal grandfather was the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. He would later drink the Water of Life and survived, expanding his consciousness and bringing his prescience near to perfection. He was the first and last male to drink the Water of Life and survive, showing himself to be the Kwisatz Haderach, although he claimed to be something else, something unexpected. Paul claimed, after converting the Water of Life, that he could not only see the future and the past but also the present, which he called "the now." His vision allowed him to see Shaddam IV's great fleet in space above Arrakis, ready to attack.

During this period Paul met and fell in love with Chani, the daughter of planetologist and native Fremen Liet Kynes. Their first son, Leto Atreides II the Elder, was murdered as an infant during a secretive House Corrino raid on a sietch in the southern hemisphere of Arrakis.

Eventually, Paul's position on Arrakis is threatened when the Emperor, the Guild, and numerous other Great Houses come to Arrakis to end the myth of Muad'Dib. Paul is successful in utilising the command of the Fremen to infiltrate Arrakeen, however, and takes over the fief of Arrakis — a position he believed rightfully his as handed to the Atreides by the Emperor himself. Paul is eventually able to conquer both the Harkonnens and the Emperor — the two threatening forces on Arrakis — and, after threatening the Guild, takes control of Arrakis and forces the hand of Irulan Corrino, the daughter of Shaddam Corrino IV. Shortly after, Paul effectively negotiates the end of the long-standing House Corrino and instates himself Emperor of the Imperium.

The New Atreides Empire
Upon crowning himself Emperor in the year 10193 AG, Paul enacted a strategy that had been revealed to him through his prescient abilities. This decision saw the theology (and many customs) of the Fremen thrust into the whole of the Empire. A result of this action was that Paul Atreides himself became a revered god-head on many worlds in the Known Universe. There was resistance, and Paul found himself increasingly isolated from his family and friends as he decided that the Jihad to implement his vision of mankind's future must be bloodthirsty and relentless. Whole planets were sterilized as some of the Great Houses put up a struggle against Paul's relentless Fremen armies.

Final Years as Emperor
After the bloody Jihad that lasted more than twelve years, and claimed billions of lives, Emperor Paul Atreides eventually subdued all outright rebellion. The order of the Known Universe was maintained through the replacement of Corrino imperial power, which was supported by Sardaukar military strength; with Atreides imperial power, supported by Fremen military strength.

Paul's interpretation of his prescient visions also necessitated that Arrakis be transformed from a barren desert planet into a lush and fertile world, with the exception of a small desert for the sandworm to remain alive and keep producing spice. By the end of his rule this plan was well on its way to succeeding. This program had begun under Pardot Kynes as an attempt to harness a planet; however, under Paul, it became part of a plan to save humanity.

Despite his strong leadership and formidable prescient abilities, Emperor Paul Atreides began to feel building pressure from discordant groups within the Empire: notably the Bene Gesserit, Bene Tleilax, fringe groups within the Fremen, and the dethroned but still powerful House Corrino. Among the schemes of his enemies were the detonation of a stone burner near where Paul and his forces stood in Arrakeen, which resulted in his physical blindness. Upon Paul's recovery from this incident, he shocked all by his ability to 'see' despite not having eyes. His perfect prescient abilities allowed him to perceive the world around him.

Death of Chani
Despite being able to 'see' through prescience, doubts began to surface in Paul's mind regarding his interpretation of the future. Feeling increasingly frustrated and out of control, he began to seek a way out. That escape route emerged through the combined treachery of his enemies, a plot conceived in the presence of a powerful Guild Navigator. The Bene Tleilax gave him a ghola of Duncan Idaho, who contained a secret trigger. Concurrently, and part of the plan, Irulan slowly poisoned Chani. As the Princesses' toxins slowly worked their way through Chani's body, the Emperor's Consort died during childbirth. Immediately, the Face Dancer Scytale, who had been posing as Chani's hand-maid, sprung into action and caused the Idaho ghola to remember his Tleilaxu mission, to kill Muad'Dib. As this caused a great mental conflict within Duncan, he remembered his past with House Atreides. Immediately, Scytale realized the great scope of change that had occurred; a ghola had recovered memories of its' former life. Scytale bargained with Paul that the Tleilaxu could bring back a ghola of Chani, complete with her life experiences, for Paul to enjoy in relative obscurity—if the Atreides would abdicate. Instead, Paul killed Scytale.

Walk into the Desert
After the birth of his children, Ghanima and Leto, Paul became convinced he had lost his prescient abilities; he did not foresee the birth of his son, only his daughter. Therefore, as no more than a blind Fremen, Paul disappeared into the desert, offering himself up to Shai-Hulud, as was the Fremen custom for the blind. This action made a powerful statement: it signified to the Fremen that Paul's interest was for the tribe, and that even he, Usul, Paul who was Muad'Dib, was not above Fremen law.

The Preacher
Many years after his apparent death alone in the desert, and while the Atreides Empire was under the regency of his younger sister Alia Atreides, a new figure, The Preacher, appeared from the deep desert. By urging civil disobedience against the Atreides Empire, and warning of the consequences of a green Arrakis, The Preacher attracted an ever increasing number of followers. Many believed this thundering blind stranger to be Paul Atreides, as he was blind and led by a boy.

The Preacher eventually revealed himself to his son Leto, and the two of them travelled throughout Arrakis, breaching the water storage of every sietch so that it would spill out onto the sand. Eventually Leto and the Preacher returned to Arrakeen to confront Alia, who had clearly shown herself to be Abomination by this time. Eventually rising tensions saw Alia commit suicide in front of her mother and Leto. During the ensuing chaos, The Preacher was assassinated in Arrakeen, but not before he had revealed beyond a doubt to Gurney Halleck and Jessica that he was indeed Paul Atreides.

Thus, the great Paul Atreides, son of Leto the Just and the first Atreides to ascend to the Golden Lion Throne since its inception more than ten thousand years prior, was dead, passing into legend for eons to come, laying the way forward for his son to take the Golden Path to its logical conclusion. While Paul envisioned the Golden Path, the ultimate transformation that would see his humanity dissolve into a sandworm frightened him. Upon revealing himself to his son, Paul confessed that his desire to maintain his humanity, and the fear of abject loneliness that the Golden Path would bring, were too much for him. He related that he walked away from what he knew he had to do, and admired but lamented for his son who had taken on the mantle that would see humanity restored, but at the cost of his own.

Appearance
In his youth, Paul was a small boy with an oval face, with tousled coal-colored hair and green eyes. After his time among the Fremen, he grew to a a stringy whipcord of a youth, not as desiccated as the Arrakeen natives, but with ribs there to count, and sunken in the flanks so that the ripple and gather of muscles could be followed under the leathery skin. His oval face was like his mother Jessica’s, but he had stronger bones and a browline reminiscent of his maternal grandfather. He had a thin, disdainful nose, long lashes concealing lime-toned, directly staring green eyes, and a hardness in the expression like the old Duke, his paternal grandfather.

Biographical Notes
In Original Dune it is noted that Paul Atreides was born on Caladan, both in an excerpt from Princess Irulan's Manual of Muad'Dib, as well as through his own thoughts. However in Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's prequel novel Dune: House Corrino, his birth takes place on Kaitain.

In Paul of Dune, it is asserted that Irulan, through her history books, "streamlined the story for mass consumption". This alleviates any concern for inconsistency between the two accounts and maintains the canonical status of the original Dune.

In Other Media
Alejandro Jorodowski wanted his then 12-year-old son Brontis Jodorowski to star as Paul in his unsuccessful attempt to produce a film adaptation of Dune.

In the 1984 movie Dune, the role of Paul was played by long time Dune fan Kyle MacLachlan. In interviews, MacLachlan related that when reading Dune for the first time as a teenager, he imagined himself as being Paul Atreides, and to be provided the opportunity to portray him in a big budget film was a dream come true for him.

In the 2000 and 2003 Sci-Fi Channel mini-series Paul was played by Alec Newman. The actor, who has a Scottish accent, reportedly adapted an American accent in a relatively short span of time just to land the role. In the 2000 miniseries, Paul was initially portrayed as a sort of "spoiled brat" in order to show the audience his growth from Atreides heir to Emperor of the Known universe.

In the Denis Villeneuve's 2021 Dune film, Paul was played by Timothée Chalamet. Villeneuve stated that Chalamet was his first and only choice to play the role of Paul Atreides saying "Timothée has that kind of charismatic power. And I needed that for the audience to believe this young man will be able to raise and lead an army, and then lead a whole planet." Chalamet be reprising the role of Paul Atreides in the sequel to Dune, titled Dune: Part Two, which is scheduled to release on October 20, 2023.

Appearances

 * Dune (First appearance)
 * Dune Messiah
 * Children of Dune
 * God Emperor of Dune (Quoted)
 * Heretics of Dune (Quoted)
 * Chapterhouse: Dune (Quoted)

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