Dune: The History Of House Harkonnen

Quick Links

• Introduction To The Harkonnens

• Major Harkonnen Characters

• Harkonnen Rule Over Arrakis

• Did Feyd-Rautha Kill His Mother?

• Why They Wanted The Atreides Gone

• Why Do They Look Like That?

• The Downfall Of The Harkonnens

• Feyd-Rautha’s Crucial Role In The Bene Gesserit Plan

• The Harkonnen Blood Legacy

House Harkonnen is one of the great houses in the Dune universe. It is a part of the Lansraad and, as shown in the first book of the series and in the two first movies, has a deadly rivalry with House Atreides, their centuries-long nemesis.

Dune: The History Of House Atreides

From Ancient Greece to Arrakis, there is a long history for House Atreides in Dune.

The Harkonnens ascended to a great house later than most, under the leadership of Baron Dimitri Harkonnen, which eventually led to the circumstances under which the main Dune series begins. Without the Harkonnen there is no Paul Atreides, in more ways than one. Here is the history of the fearsome great house, led by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.

Beware of spoilers for the ending of the first book and second film (2024)!

Introduction To The Harkonnens

While the ruler of House Atreides is a duke, first Leto and then Paul in the movies, the ruler of House Harkonnen is the Baron. The differences between how the great houses are seen are immediately evident in the weight of their titles.

Frank Herbert frequently underlined the importance of words, and this is no mere coincidence. In the monarchic systems we’ve always had on Earth, a duke is much more powerful than a baron. In the Dune Universe, this is no different.

House Atreides had gained enough power and influence to pose a threat to the Padishah emperor, while House Harkonnen worked their machinations in the shadows.

Despite their shorter history as a great house, they were chosen by the Emperor as the allies needed to dismantle the Atreides, and had been given the fiefdom of Arrakis 80 years prior. That is likely because of how brutally effective they proved to be with their industrialization of their home planet, Giedi Prime, the planet with the black Sun.

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen maintained the track-record of efficiency and profit-first approach that his father had started. The Harkonnens control the flow of the spice Melange with no admonishments from the empire. They are the kings of industrialization, especially because they embody the saying “the ends justify the means”.

They disregard Arrakis and the Fremen entirely, seeing nothing but the spice. Their own planet was morphed beyond recognition into a hellscape of pollution where most things can’t survive. They were, indeed, the perfect candidates to make the spice flow out of Arrakis.

Major Harkonnen Characters

The most important characters to mention from the Harkonnen family are those closest to the Baron. The monarchic regimes of the great houses put all power in the ruler’s hand, who effectively functioned as the king of the house.

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is that figure here. His son would then inherit this power, but since he never has any, it has to go to one of his two nephews. This is the trio that leads House Harkonnen in the Dune series.

• Baron Vladimir Harkonnen: The ruthless ruler of House Harkonnen. He is described in the books in the same way that he is portrayed in the movies: a morbidly obese man, so massive that he needs gravitational suspension to be able to move. He is as sadistic as any member of the house and seems to have a complete disregard for most human life. Despite his beastly appearance and behavior, he is extremely intelligent and cunning, always making plans within plans.
• Na-Baron Feyd-Rautha: Feyd-Rautha is Vladimir’s choice for his heir, hence the na-Baron title (meaning heir-apparent). He is as ruthless as his uncle and as, if not more, psychotic as his brother. Feyd is a great warrior and one of the main candidates to become the Kwisatz Haderack under the Bene Gesserit’s plan. He takes over control of Arrakis in the latter parts of the first book and during the second movie.
• Beast Rabban: Rabban is the governor of Arrakis for the majority of the time that the Harkonnens spend there, but he is not much more than his uncle’s puppet. He is incredibly ruthless, but lacks the cunning and intelligence that both Vladimir and Feyd-Rautha possess. On the other hand, he is the most vicious and ruthless of the three, earning the nickname “beast” for killing his own father in a fit of rage.

Harkonnen Rule Over Arrakis

It isn’t clear in the books how it happened, but the Harkonnen eventually gained the fiefdom of Arrakis. This made them one of the most powerful houses of the Landsraad quickly, as they were ruthlessly efficient in their industries.

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They ruled over the Dune for over 80 years, with Beast Rabban serving as the governor during the novel’s timeline. They temporarily lose control of the planet with the plan, made in conjunction with the Emperor, to destroy House Atreides, but regain it quickly when the plan is, apparently, successful.

Beast Rabban loses his hold of the country with his inability to deal with the Fremen attacks, led by Paul Atreides. Baron Vladimir Harkonnen appoints Feyd-Rautha as the new governor, who leads the planet until Paul manages to completely take over.

Did Feyd-Rautha Kill His Mother?

According to Denis Villeneuve’s Dune Part 2, yes, he did. In Frank Herbert’s books, though, there is no mention of it ever happening. Feyd-Rautha is raised by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, but not because he killed his mother, simply because the Baron saw him as an ideal heir.

He is taken from his parents, both of them alive. It isn’t clear what happened to his mother, but his father is later killed by his brother, Beast Rabban.

It seems that Denis Villeneuve made this decision to justify why Lady Fenring is the one doing the Gom Jabbar trial to Feyd Rautha, and not the Reverend Mother. She mentions that she didn’t go because Feyd would see her as a mother figure, but that doesn’t really explain how Lady Fenring would seduce Feyd Rautha to ensure his bloodline would survive.

Why They Wanted The Atreides Gone

Although it isn’t clearly outlined in the Dune books written by Frank Herbert, the author mentions afeud that has been going on between the families for generations when the events of the first book begin.

The feud between the two houses was caused by many things, but supposedly goes back to an ancient fight called “The Battle of Corrin”. According to the first Dune book, “an Atreides had a Harkonnen banished for cowardice” after the battle took place. This would likely bring disgrace to the family’s name.

The Harkonnens never forgave this, as their culture seems to value power, through all means, above all else. Their generational hatred for the Atreides never wavered, so when the Emperor wanted the house gone, the Harkonnens were more than willing to make it happen.

This would remove a political enemy of both of these parties, while also giving the Harkonnens a revenge they had been working towards for generations.

Why Do They Look Like That?

The Harkonnens don’t have any specifically described appearance in the Dune books, except for characters like the Baron and Feyd-Rautha. Vladimir is indeed morbidly obese, described in the books as “grossly and immensely fat”. The decision to make them completely hairless was made by Denis Villeneuve, who justified his choice in an interview with Variety:

“I loved the idea that Harkonnens are a society that doesn’t like hair,” Villeneuve says. “They remove everything. They want to be as far away from any part of their past as possible, where they are coming from. There’s a will of purity.”

The Downfall Of The Harkonnens

As you’ll know if you’ve seen the movies or read the first book, the plan doesn’t go well for the Emperor or the Harkonnens. Paul Atreides, his mother Jessica, and a few other members of the house survive and start a rebellion in Arrakis with the help of Fremen.

Slowly, but surely, they start picking the Harkonnen control apart, weakening them significantly. Paul’s ascension as the Muad’dib, the Kwisatz Haderach, eventually turns him into the harbinger of their doom, practically eradicating their house from the universe.

In the books, Beast Rabban dies in a Fremen attack after losing control of Arrakis to his brother. In Villeneuve’s movie, he is personally killed by Gurney Halleck. Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is the second to fall, killed by Alia Atreides, Paul’s sister. In the Dune Part 2 movie, he is killed by Paul.

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Last, but definitely not least, Feyd-Rautha falls, beaten by Paul in a duel. This happens in both the movies and the book. The Emperor chooses Feyd-Rautha as his champion, and Paul Atreides defeats him in a close bout, likely due to his more advanced prescient abilities.

With the fall of the three possible rulers and with Arrakis under Atreides’ control, House Harkonnen slowly withers out of existence. Paul eventually gets dominion of Giedi Prime, their home planet, and effectively eradicates the great house.

Feyd-Rautha’s Crucial Role In The Bene Gesserit Plan

The movie doesn’t have enough time to completely explain the importance of Feyd Rautha to the overarching narrative, but it manages to present the most important points. It is obvious that he and Paul Atreides are two sides of the same coin. Both destined for greatness, coming from two very different, yet oddly similar backgrounds.

They’re both excellent fighters and extremely intelligent. They’re both shown as leaders, beloved by their followers. The Bene Gesserit test both of them with the Gom Jabbar trial, because they’re both candidates to be the Kwisatz Haderach.

This is why Lady Fenring is sent to keep the Feyd-Rautha bloodline alive, as a plan C in case both Paul Atreides and Feyd perished in the battle over Arrakis. In one of the alternate futures that Paul sees after taking the water of life, it’s likely that he’d have seen one in which Feyd-Rautha becomes the chosen one, and House Atreides is the one that disappears without a trail.

The Harkonnen Blood Legacy

Despite their disappearance as a political entity, the Harkonnen never truly vanished from the Dune universe. Although Baron Vladimir Harkonnen didn’t have a direct heir, he did have a daughter: Lady Jessica Atreides. He was seduced by a Bene Gesserit woman, as described by Paul himself in the first book:

"You're the Baron's own daughter," he said, and watched the way she pressed her hands to her mouth. "The Baron sampled many pleasures in his youth, and once permitted himself to be seduced. But it was for the genetic purposes of the Bene Gesserit, by one of you."

In their plans that spanned for thousands of years, the Bene Gesserit kept mixing heirs from all great houses in the attempt to create the Kwisatz Haderach. This makes the Baron Paul’s grandfather, and an essential piece in the narrative that unfolds in the book and movies.

As we mentioned in the introduction, without the Harkonnen there is no Paul Atreides, no Kwisatz Haderach as we know it, and no Dune.

Additionally, Feyd-Rautha was seduced by Lady Fenring before his death, impregnating her. Through Paul and Lady Fenring’s child, the Harkonnen blood will likely never truly disappear from the Dune universe.

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