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House Harkonnen are the main antagonists of the 1965 novel Dune and its many adaptations.
They are the House initially responsible for Arrakis before it was given to their arch-rivals, House Atreides. In a conspiracy with the Emperor and several other factions, the Harkonnens plot to cause the downfall of House Atreides and become the most powerful House in the known universe.
In contrast with the Atreides, the Harkonnens are brutally notorious and savagely dishonourable to the core. They are hedonistic, ruthless, conniving and bloodthirsty, - as they're willing to commit countless atrocities, be it murder, torture, or even genocide, as means of getting what they want or simply for the pleasure of it. Their main sources of income are slavery, gladiators, and spice. This is most particularly the case when they ruled Arrakis in a reign of tyranny that is often shadowed by their power-hungry and sadistic tendencies.
History[]
Given charge over the planet Arrakis, the only known source of Spice Melange, the Harkonnens were able to greatly propel their wealth and influence through the mining of the spice. The Harkonnens persecuted the Fremen and took all steps to maximize spice mining while minimizing cost, allowing them to profit massively off of distributing spice across the universe while also keeping as much wealth and spice to themselves as they could.
Eventually, the House's head, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, began to develop greater ambitions than just simply ruling over Arrakis and conspired to become the ruler of the Imperium, starting with ousting their rivals in House Atreides. The Emperor, who was wary of House Atreides's growing power, reluctantly began plotting with the Harkonnens to destroy House Atreides before they could become a potential rival to his own house, House Corrino. As part of the plot, Arrakis was temporarily taken away from the Harkonnens and given to House Atreides. They then conducted an invasion of the planet and ousted House Atreides from power, killing the head of the house, Leto Atreides, and largely destroying the Atreides army. Lady Jessica, Baron Harkonnen's daughter - and their son Paul were chased into the desert, and they were both believed by the Harkonnens to have died in the desert.
What neither the Barron nor the Emperor counted on was that Jessica and Paul would survive and seek refuge with the Fremen. After an initial confrontation, Paul and Jessica were welcomed to join the Fremen, and both would soon become important Freman leaders. Jessica would become a Reverend Mother to the Fremen while Paul worked with the Fremen to bring spice production to a virtual standstill.
After Paul drank the water of life—being the first man to successfully do so ever—he and his Fremen allies made plans to attack the Harkonnen and their allies. By then, the spice shortage was so critical that the Emperor had traveled to Arrakis to personally oversee the resolution of the crisis. In the battle that followed, the Emperor's forces were handily defeated by the Fremen. The Baron was killed by his granddaughter Alia Atreides, and Rabban met his end as well, leaving Feyd as the new leader of the House.
Feyd challenged Paul to single combat. The two combatants were fairly evenly matched, but ultimately Paul managed to outmaneuver and kill Feyd, rendering the House extinct. Control of Giedl Prime was given to the people of Caladan. Gurney Halleck led an effort to dismantle the heavy industry on the planet and restore its natural habitat. Even though the House itself was extinct, the Harkonnen bloodline continued through the descendants of Leto and Jessica.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The name "Harkonnen" is presumably derived from the Finnish surname "Härkönen".
- Frank Herbert chose that as the Houses last name because he believed it sounded "Soviet".
- Frank Herbert said in later interviews that the Harkonnens were based on the Nazis.
- The 1984 film and 2000 miniseries portrayed the Baron and his nephews as primarily having red hair. For the 2021 film, instead of portraying them with red hair, the Baron and Count Rabban are completely bald, as are all of the other members of the House and attached personnel.
External Link[]
- House Harkonnen on the Dune Wiki
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 Villains
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House Harkonnen House Corrino Bene Gesserit House Atreides Honored Matres Others | ||