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| “ | Why prolong the inevitable? I will kill you! | „ |
| ~ Feyd-Rautha to Paul Atreides. (Dune, 1984) |
| “ | You humiliated our family. You humiliated me. Kiss or die. | „ |
| ~ Feyd demands his older brother Rabban to pledge his allegiance to him. |
| “ | May thy knife chip and shatter. | „ |
| ~ Feyd copies Paul Atreides' taunt before their final duel. |
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, born Feyd-Rautha Rabban, is the secondary antagonist of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune and its various adaptations.
He is an ambitious yet sadistic descendant of House Harkonnen and the younger brother of the brutal "Beast" Rabban, thus serving as the youngest nephew of the insidious Vladimir Harkonnen himself. As such, Feyd is a product of the Bene Gesserit breeding program and is also the first cousin once removed of the protagonist, Paul Atreides, in addition to being Paul's archenemy.
In the 1984 film, he was portrayed by Sting, who also portrayed Zarm in the first two seasons of Captain Planet and the Planeteers. In the miniseries, he was played by Matt Keeslar, who also portrayed Dennis Pollock in Law & Order. In Dune: Part Two, he was portrayed by Austin Butler, who also played DJ Chase on Arrow and Tex Watson in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Quick Answers
What is Feyd-Rautha's role in the Dune franchise?
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How does Feyd-Rautha's character contribute to the Harkonnen family dynamics?
What is Feyd-Rautha's full birth name in the Dune series?
Personality[]
| “ | This is a Harkonnen animal! | „ |
| ~ Gurney Halleck to Paul, describing Feyd. |
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, born Feyd-Rautha Rabban until he was adopted into the Great House of Harkonnen by Vladimir Harkonnen, was the product of a Bene Gesserit breeding program. Unlike Paul, who was raised by a loving father, Feyd-Rautha was raised by his uncle, the tyrannical Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, and would, as a result, evolve into a charismatic leader, a deadly fighter, and a sociopathic heir.
Raised in an environment of anger, violence, manipulation, and brutality at the hands of his uncle, Feyd-Rautha evolved into a cunning yet impulsive youth who desired to usurp his uncle as Baron of Giedi Prime and Head of House Harkonnen. Although not as repulsive nor deplorable as his malevolent uncle, he turned out to be just as power-hungry and maliciously cunning, to the point of lacking empathy in general. Feyd-Rautha also proved to be a highly sadistic individual, such as when he enjoyed talking down to his enemies; this is best exemplified in his confrontation with Paul, in which Feyd gleefully taunts him when the latter starts to look at Jessica.
Like his uncle, Feyd-Rautha believed fear and power were necessary to keep people in line. When he fought the gladiator in the arena, he purposefully put on a show in order to show off his fighting prowess.
At the same time, Feyd-Rautha's self-preservation has made him cautious. Wanting the outcome of the arena fight with the gladiator to go a certain way, he had a trigger word embedded in the gladiator's mind, as well as secretly poisoned one of his blades. He also attempted to use a poisoned blade in his fight with Paul Atriedes on Arrakis, disregarding the rules of Kanly and showing that Feyd-Rautha lacked principles or honor.
Feyd-Rautha is someone who was raised as the favorite—the heir—and clearly enjoys praise. His good looks, athletic and combat abilities, and his position as the Baron's heir make him a target of attention. He spends much time with slave women, who likely give him their undivided affection. In addition, Feyd is a pure narcissist; when he comes out of the baths, he stands and hails himself. More than that, he seems to be a very cunning man with women.
Feyd-Rautha, despite his intelligence, lacked subtlety, patience, and finesse. He despised his uncle, desiring to not only kill him but to take the Baron's title early. His recklessness made him eager, and thus he was the target of Thufir Hawat's manipulation, who assisted Feyd-Rautha in organizing the gladiator incident to replace the Baron's slave master with his own man. This victory spurs him on, and he attempts to assassinate the Baron by planting poison in one of his uncle's slave boys.
In a ironic twist, however, it was Hawat who warned the Baron of the attempt. Feyd-Rautha's recklessness fails; his guards and spy slavemaster are killed, and he is forced to massacre the entire slave quarter filled with women as a punishment, angrily promising in his head to one day kill his uncle.
Biography[]
Background[]
Feyd was born in the name Feyd-Rautha Rabba Harkonnen many years ago on the planet Lankiveil to his parents, Abulurd Rabban and Emmi Rabban.
It turned out that Feyd was his father's full hope for a son who would not have to inherit the dishonor of the name of Harkonnen and be a worthy heir instead of his older and much more brutal son, Glossu. Feyd was named in honor of his own maternal grandfather, Rautha Rabban, who was killed on Glossu's orders. When Baron Vladimir Harkonnen heard of the murder, he decided to take Feyd from his father and raise him on Giedi Prime as a possible heir of his own.
Moreover, Feyd's surname was merged with Harkonnen, and over that time, the Baron came to favor Feyd himself more than Glossu because of his actions.
Dune[]
The Prince of House of Harkonnen and The Breeding Program[]
After becoming the Baron's heir, Feyd gained a major stake in House Harkonnen and became its own primary prince. Quickly, he started to enjoy his newfound life, as well as the House Harkonnen's attempts to destroy their enemies, especially House Atreides.
Feyd, much like Paul, was also the main product of a centuries-long breeding plan that was organized by the Bene Gesserit, who had planned their own alliance: joining an Atreides daughter to a Haroknnen son, uniting those powerful houses, finishing their own feud, and thus assuring that their offspring would finally have a high probability of becoming the Kwisatz Haderach.
Role in the House of Harkonnen[]
One day, the Baron had planned a strategic alliance, hoping to marry Feyd to Princess Irulan Corrino, the eldest daughter of Emperor Shaddam IV, and thus give the Harkonnens full influence as well as the option to take control over the throne. In order to promote Feyd's personal power, he is to be installed as the ruler of Arakkis after a long period of tyrannical misrule by Glossu, which made Feyd appear as the savior of the people.
Feyd's personal ambition and impatience to inherit the Baron's place and power allowed him to be manipulated by Thufir Hawat, a counselor to the Atreides who had been captured by the Baron. Both of them were nearly killed as a result of Hawat's machinations.
The Final Duel and Death[]
Feyd was famed for his prowess in single combat and his willingness to break the formal rules of "kanly," which governed this type of challenge, by using a hidden poison spur in his fighting attire. In their fierce fight, Feyd nearly succeeded in killing Paul in single combat while Paul was deciding whether to attempt the paralysis command and owe the Bene Gesserit his own victory or risk his life instead. However, Paul decided to kill Rautha and owed his victory.
Trivia[]
- In Alexander Jodorowsky's failed adaptation in 1973, Feyd-Rautha's role was given to Mick Jagger. Had the film been made, Jagger would have been the first singer to play the role instead of Sting in Lynch's adaptation.
- Feyd-Rautha was the third cinematic role for rock impresario Sting, after "Quadrophenia" (1979) and "Brimstone & Treacle" (1982).
- He is also one of the inspirations for Random Hajile, a character from the Konami video game Snatcher.
- David Lynch was originally going to have Feyd emerge from the steam bath completely nude, but this would have necessitated an R rating for the film, so instead they had him wear a speedo in that scene.
- Reportedly, Sting later offered it to Austin Butler.
- Feyd-Rautha did not appear in the 2021 film, due to the fact that it only covered the first half of the book.
- Sting and Austin Butler, both of whom played Feyd-Rautha in 1984 and 2024, got a picture taken together at the premiere for Dune: Part Two.
- In Denis Villenueve's adaptation, Feyd-Rautha has his own pet concubines named Harpies. They fed organs and corpses to them as meals. In addition, Feyd-Rautha's Harpies are new additions to the film and do not appear in the books.
- To play Feyd-Rautha, Austin Butler inspired himself on Gary Oldman's past roles as Norman Stansfield, Drexl Spivey and Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg and some of Heath Ledger's acting (most likely the Joker).
- In the 2024 adaptation, Feyd-Rautha somewhat takes up the role of Count Fenring in the novel in that he also had the potential to be a Kwisatz Haderach. This change was made to better establish Feyd-Rautha as Paul's opposite. He is also honorable, albeit in a twisted way, as he never uses poisoned daggers like his original adaptation, never tries to usurp his uncle, while he did threaten to kill him as the Baron rigged the Arena fight, wants a fair fight with Paul to decide who's ultimately the better warrior and when he is killed by Paul, he compliments him for being a worthy opponent and congratulates him on a fight well fought.
External Links[]
- Feyd-Rautha on the Wikipedia
- Feyd-Rautha on the Dune Wiki
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 Villains
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House Harkonnen House Corrino House Atreides Honored Matres Others | ||