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This article refers to elements from the miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune (2000) and Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (2003). Pages for this subject as it appears in other canons: |
"The Beast” Rabban [d. 10193 AG] is a character in the 2000 miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune. He is the eldest nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and the brother of Feyd-Rautha. He is portrayed by László I. Kish.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Rabban and his younger brother Feyd-Rautha were raised by their uncle, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. Despite Rabban being older than him, Feyd-Rautha was considered the immediate heir to the Baron, with Rabban's penchant for wanton and reckless barbarism being heavily implied to be a major factor in this.
Reign over Arrakis[]
Eventually, when he came of age, Rabban was given the position of planetary governor of Arrakis by his uncle. However, under his reign, Spice production on Arrakis became inconsistent. He claimed that Harkonnen ordered him to crush Arrakis when ruling it by making the people cower, although Feyd indicated that Harkonnen actually said "squeeze". The Emperor ultimately transferred control of Arrakis to the Harkonnens' rivals - House Atreides.
Plot against House Atreides[]
Rabban was angered after Spice was removed from Harkonnen control, but was appeased when his uncle informed him and Feyd on his plan of destroying House Atreides with the help of their spy on the inside, though when Rabban attempted to inquire the spy's identity, the Baron insisted he keep that knowledge to himself for the time being.
Later on, he expressed his frustration towards his uncle with how successful Duke Leto Atreides has been with managing Spice productions, and told the Baron that they need to strike quickly. The Baron and Piter de Vries then explained that their plan is to let the Great Houses grow intimidated with how successful Duke Leto is so they will be satisfied for when their plan succeeds. They then observe as Feyd fights and kills a slave, with Rabban growing jealous of his younger brother's favored status with their uncle.
Eventually, growing weary of having to wait, Rabban decided to take matters into his own hands by sending a Harkonnen agent over to Arrakis to assassinate Paul, ultimately exposing the conspiracy prematurely when Atreides sent his severed hands filled with spice back to the Baron to let him know they were now on to him. Largely because of this blunder, as well as Baron Harkonnen ultimately managing to do some maneuvering from the setback by bribing the Spice Guild with an increase in reserves, the elder Harkonnen proceeded to confiscate portions of Rabban's Spice reserves as part of the advance downpayment as punishment, while also backhandedly complimenting his incompetence as allowing them to take down the Atreides even sooner than expected. After the Harkonnens successfully forced Leto to surrender, Baron Harkonnen during his taunts to Leto and making clear the Emperor was the one who ultimately signed his death warrant proceeded to bluntly imply he intended to usurp the Emperor soon (or more specifically, "sack" him), with Harkonnen proceeding to blame Rabban's growing influence for using more impolitic speech.
Presumably afterwards, Rabban resumed command of Arrakis, and proceeded to do public summary executions of the various populace over their allying with Fremen, with Harkonnen watching due to it factoring into his plan to have Feyd-Rautha, his brother, stop him to further solidify Harkonnen control over the Spice production. Rabban was later mentioned by Harkonnen and Feyd-Rautha when bringing the latter before him in regards to his involvement in a botched assassination attempt via a poisoned needle in his favorite slave's thigh, where Feyd defiantly answered in regards to Harkonnen's rhetorical question about needing a good reason to not execute Feyd over the attempted treachery that if he went through with it, he'd be forced to make Rabban his heir instead, with Harkonnen agreeing.
When the Fremen managed to raid the Imperial gathering, Rabban, presumably trying to hunt down Fremen, ended up walking into an ambush by his former prey, with it being made apparent to him that he was going to suffer immediate death. Realizing he could not fight his way out, he then dropped his machete and proceeded to scream towards the sky as he embraced the inevitable as the Fremen rushed him and promptly decapitated him.
Quotes[]
- Baron: "And so it begins. The trap is set. The prey approaches. A glorious winter is about to descend on House Atreides and all its heirs. The centuries of humiliation – visited upon my family – will finally be avenged."
- Rabban: "But Arrakis was mine!!"
- Feyd: "Shut up, Rabban."
- Rabban: "I did what you said, uncle. I made the people cower. I crushed their vile planet!"
- Feyd: "He said 'squeeze', brother. Not 'crush'."
- Baron: "Rabban aspires to rule House Harkonnen one day, Feyd. And yet he can't even rule himself." - 2000 miniseries
- Piter: "In order for the Empire to survive, the spice must flow. But the production has become..." (glances at Rabban) "...inconsistent. In his wisdom, the Emperor decided only one man is honest enough and loyal enough to be trusted with restoring the spice production adequately. Duke Leto Atreides.
- Baron: "Temporarily interrupting 80 years of Harkonnen rule and all the profits that go with it."
- Rabban: (Yells in fury).
- Baron: "I said 'temporarily', you moron."
Notes and Trivia[]
- Unlike in the novel, Rabban and Feyd don’t appear to be too far apart in age. In real life, László Kish is 15 years older than Feyd's actor, Matt Keeslar.
Gallery[]
