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This article refers to elements from Original Dune Pages for this subject as it appears in other canons: |
For adaption and Canon equivalents, see Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (disambiguation)
- "Listen to my nephew. He aspires to rule my Barony, yet he cannot rule himself.[9]"
- ―Baron Vladimir Harkonnen on Feyd-Rautha
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (/ˈhɑːrkənən/) (October 10174 AG - December 10193 AG), born as Feyd-Rautha Rabban, was the Na-Baron of House Harkonnen. The cunning and charismatic nephew and heir of Vladimir Harkonnen, he briefly held dominion over Arrakis and assumed the barony before being killed in a duel with Paul Atreides shortly after the Battle of Arrakeen.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Born to Abulurd Rabban, Count of Lankiveil, Feyd-Rautha Rabban was adopted by his uncle, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, at a young age due to him not possessing male heirs of his own. Feyd went on to be favored by the Baron over his elder brother Glossu Rabban. Vladimir later entitled Feyd as his heir and changed his last name to Harkonnen, unlike Glossu, who maintained the Rabban surname. As such, Feyd-Rautha grew up to be charismatic, sadistic, and vicious, with an unending lust for blood and power.
Feyd's role in the Bene Gesserit breeding program was meant to have him marry a daughter of House Atreides in a hope to end their feud and produce the prophesized Kwisatz Haderach. However, the Atreides concubine, Lady Jessica, gave birth to a son, Paul Atreides, instead of a daughter, and the union not only became impossible, but an irreconcilable tension between Feyd and Paul formed, as both were the scions of their bitterly opposed noble houses.
Coming of Age[]
On the day of his eighteenth birthday celebration, Feyd fought in the Giedi Prime gladiator arena against the last enslaved members of House Atreides. The event was attended by his uncle Vladimir, several members of the extended Harkonnen family, and Count Hasimir Fenring with his wife Lady Margot Fenring. Feyd killed the slaves, including one slave that wasn’t drugged. That same night, to preserve the Harkonnen bloodline and maintain millennia of genetic engineering, Margot Fenring was sent by the Bene Gesserit to seduce Feyd and conceive his child using hypnotic suggestion. She succeeded, and the two ended up conceiving a daughter.[10]
Role in House Harkonnen[]
The Baron planned a strategic marital alliance, hoping to marry Feyd to Princess Irulan Corrino, the eldest daughter of the Emperor Shaddam IV, an act that would give the Harkonnens influence over the throne. To promote Feyd's power, he was to be installed as ruler of Arrakis after a period of tyrannical misrule by his brother Glossu, making Feyd appear to be the savior of the populace and a worthy heir to the imperial throne.
Feyd's ambition and impatience to inherit the Baron's title and power allowed him to be manipulated by Thufir Hawat, a Mentat of the Atreides who was captured by the Baron. Both the Baron and Feyd were nearly assassinated as a result of Hawat's machinations. While the Baron was angry at his nephew, he was proud as he felt this action proved he was the true leader the Harkonnens needed. As punishment for his actions, Vladimir had Feyd go down to the slave pits and kill all of the women in the maternity ward.[10]
When Spice operations on Arrakis faced constant attacks from the Fremen rebellion led by their prophet, Muad'Dib, Feyd and his uncle went to Arrakis to assist his brother Rabban in combating the Fremen.
Death[]
During the Battle of Arrakeen, Vladimir and Glossu were both killed, and the whole Harkonnen army, along with the Sardaukar, were defeated by the Fremen. Feyd was captured along with the Emperor and his court, and was brought before Muad'Dib, who was Paul Atreides. Feyd volunteered in the Emperor's place to fight Paul to the death. By using a hidden poison spur in his fighting outfit, he nearly succeeded in killing Paul in ritualized single combat. During this time, Paul was deciding whether to try the paralysis command and owe the Bene Gesserit his victory or risk his life against Feyd in a "fair" fight. Paul ultimately decided not to use the command and killed Feyd by thrusting his crysknife under his jaw and into his brain. Feyd's death ultimately marked the end of House Harkonnen.[10]
Description[]
Feyd's hair was dark[7] and curly.[8] He had thick muscles, heavy shoulders[11] and small feet.[8] Feyd, like other members of the House Harkonnen, had lips that were full and appeared to pout.[12]
Quotes[]
- "I dedicate this truth to ... to my uncle and patron, the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen![13]"
- ―Feyd at his Seventeenth birthday celebration
- "Scum![13]"
- ―Feyd Paralyses a gladiator at his Seventeenth birthday celebration
- "I've learned much from Hawat. But the more I learn, the more I feel we should dispose of him ... and soon.[14]"
- ―Feyd to Vladimir Harkonnen
- "Kanly! Your father named this vendetta, Atreides. You call me coward while you hide among your women and offer to send a lackey against me![15]"
- ―Feyd to Paul Atreides
- "Your own Thufir Hawat taught me some of my skills. He gave me first blood. Too bad the old fool didn't live to see it.[15]"
- ―Feyd to Paul Atreides
- "That woman you were talking to over there. The little one. Is she something special to you? A pet perhaps? Will she deserve my special attentions?[15]"
- ―Feyd taunts Paul during their duel
Gallery[]
Illustrations[]
.jpg "The Illustrated Dune - Feyd-Rautha fighting Gladiator (art by John Schoenherr).jpg (159 KB)")
.jpg "The Illustrated Dune - Paul defeats Feyd (art by John Schoenherr).jpg (157 KB)")
Apocrypha[]
Adaptations[]
Trivia[]
- Feyd's name, like many others in Dune, could originate from Arabic terms. Charles M. Doughty’s travelogue Travels in Arabia Deserta is a text which Herbert is theorised to have drawn many Arabic terms from. In Feyd-Rautha's case, Feyd appears in v1 p. 452 and Rautha appears in v2 p. 237. Feyd is translated as 'booty' and Rauṭha pl. riâṭh is translated as 'a green site of bushes where winter rain is ponded in the desert'. Interestingly, the far more common transliteration is Rauda, so if Herbert found terms from other sources, Feyd-Rautha could have been Feyd-Rauda.[16]
- Feyd-Rautha is depicted with orange hair in the 1984 film, brown in the 2000 miniseries, and fully hairless in Dune: Part Two.
- Three famous rockstars are linked to the role of Feyd-Rautha in adaptations of Dune. Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones' lead singer, was Alejandro Jodorowsky's first choice to portray him in his unmade film adaptation, famed musician Sting portrayed him in the 1984 film, and Austin Butler, who portrayed Elvis Presley in the 2022 biopic Elvis, took the role in Dune: Part Two.
- Near the end of the original Dune novel, it is noted that Margot Fenring has given birth to Feyd's bastard daughter, without his knowledge. She is not mentioned at all in the second novel, Dune Messiah, nor is she ever mentioned again in any of Frank Herbert's original Dune series. Brian Herbert's Expanded Dune novels included an entry set between the first and second books, Paul of Dune (2008), which prominently featured her. Named "Marie Fenring", Margot raises her on Tleilax to train her as an assassin to take revenge on the Atreides. The attempt is foiled and she dies without issue - though given Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's secret parentage of Paul's mother Jessica, technically all subsequent members of the Atreides bloodline are also part-Harkonnen.
Appearances[]
| Appearances of Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen |
|---|
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References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dune - Appendix IV: The Almanak en-Ashraf (Selected Excerpts of the Noble Houses): COUNT GLOSSU RABBAN (10,132-10,193) Glossu Rabban, Count of Lankiveil, was the eldest nephew of Vladimir Harkonnen. Glossu Rabban and Feyd-Rautha Rabban (who took the name Harkonnen when chosen for the Siridar-Baron's household) were legal sons of the Siridar-Baron's youngest demibrother, Abulurd. Abulurd renounced the Harkonnen name and all rights to the title when given the subdistrict governorship of Rabban-Lankiveil. Rabban was a distaff name.
- ↑ Dune - Chapter 48: If both died here that would leave only Feyd-Rautha's bastard daughter, still a baby, an unknown, an unmeasured factor, and Alia, the abomination.
- ↑ Dune - Chapter 35: "I dedicate this truth to . . . " And he paused, knowing his uncle would think: The young fool's going to dedicate to Lady Fenring after all and cause a ruckus!" ... to my uncle and patron, the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen!" Feyd-Rautha shouted.
- ↑ Dune - Chapter 48: "Shall we fight, cousin?" Paul asked.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Dune - Chapter 35: The greeting cheer lifted from the family galleries, and Feyd-Rautha paused to accept it, looking up and scanning the faces--seeing his cousines and cousins, the demibrothers, the concubines and out-freyn relations.
- ↑ Dune - Chapter 35: Feyd-Rautha held up his knives to the sun, saluted the three corners of the arena in the ancient manner. The short knife in white-gloved hand (white, the sign of poison) went first into its sheath.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Dune - Chapter 2: Veriform suspensor chairs ringed it, two of them occupied. In one sat a dark-haired youth of about sixteen years, round of face and with sullen eyes.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Dune - Chapter 35: At the Baron's elbow walked Feyd-Rautha. His dark hair was dressed in close ringlets that seemed incongruously gay above sullen eyes. He wore a tight-fitting black tunic and snug trousers with a suggestion of bell at the bottom. Soft-soled slippers covered his small feet.
- ↑ Dune - Chapter 2
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Dune
- ↑ Dune - Chapter 48: The Emperor was studying Feyd-Rautha, seeing the heavy shoulders, the thick muscles.
- ↑ Dune - Chapter 2: He glanced at Feyd-Rautha, noting his nephew's lips, the full and pouting look of them, the Harkonnen genetic marker, now twisted slightly in amusement.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Dune - Chapter 35
- ↑ Dune - Chapter 38
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Dune - Chapter 48
- ↑ The Harkonnen “Booty-Meadow”
| Preceded by Vladimir Harkonnen |
Baron of House Harkonnen 10193 AG |
Succeeded by None |
House Harkonnen
| |
|---|---|
| Barons |
Vladimir Harkonnen • Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen |
| Family | |
| Retainers |
Piter de Vries • Umman Kudu • Iakin Nefud • Thufir Hawat • Czigo • Kinet • Pardee • "Soo-Soo" |