History Characters / DuneDenisVilleneuveCorrinoEmpireAndBeneGesserit

[[caption-width-right:350:''"An animal caught in a trap will gnaw off its own leg to escape. What will you do?"'']]

->''"We're Bene Gesserits. We don't hope. [[TheChessmaster We plan.]]"''\\

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dune_irulan.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"In the shadows of Arrakis lie many secrets. But the darkest of them all may remain the end of House Atreides."'']]

->''"Prophets get stronger when they die. Let the conflict turn into war. You then bring peace."''\\

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/left_exit_12_off_ramp.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"We are the Sardaukar. The Emperor's blades. Those who stand against us fall."'']]

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: To a point. Even if he still ordered the Atreides to be wiped out and openly considers Leto's virtue a weakness, the film version of Shaddam seems to be tormented for what he had to do, doesn't gloat on Feyd-Rautha's chances to kill Paul, and is quick enough to recognize Paul's victory that some reflection for his actions might be implied. He is also more conciliatory and pleasant than his arrogant literary version. [[spoiler:The implications from Mohiam stoked his actions in wiping House Atreides put the possibility that had his jealously not been encouraged by the Bene Gesserit out of fear of the unruliness of the Atreides bloodline, he might have not even gone with the extermination to begin with given how much more somber he is overall with the action.]]

* GracefulLoser: [[spoiler:She takes the Atreides' victory quite well, implictly satisfied the Kwisatz Haderach has succeeded even if not to her benefit. When Jessica taunts her over it, Mohair simply states that Jessica should know "there are no sides".]]

* GracefulLoser: [[spoiler:She takes the Atreides' victory quite well, implictly satisfied the Kwisatz Haderach has succeeded even if not to her benefit. When Jessica taunts her over it, Mohair simply states that Jessica should know "there are no sides".

->''"We're Bene Gesserits. We don't hope. We plan."''\\

** [[spoiler:Paul's army completely destroys the Sardaukar in the sequel, using a combination of atomic weapons, sandworms, sheer numbers and ferocity.]]

** Because the films cut out a lot of the political and societal state of the Empire, the Bene Gesserit and their plans for the kwisatz haderach comes across more as a power grab on their part they've worked on for centuries, while in the book it's a complex plan to avert a BadFuture they foresee due to the inevitable collapse of the Empire.

* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: In line with him being much older physically, this version of film talks an acts as a fragile, tired elderly gentleman who is being forced to come out of retirement, while in the novel he was nothing short of arrogant and insultant.

* AdaptationalWimp: In the book the Emperor is not nearly under the thumb of the Bene Gesserit as he is in the movie. [[spoiler:Book Mohiam is helpless to stop him from killing the Atreides, while in the film she's the one tricked him into it.]] This is even represented visually as he's almost always seen with Mohiam standing over him while he sits, symbolizing how she's the real power. He's also a lot older in the film and generally shown as more weak and impotent, while the book version was middle aged, and acted far more combative. In the book his downfall was also not treated as a done deal, the way Mohiam and the Baron do, both plotting for his replacement.

* AgeLift: He's described as having the looks and physique of someone in their fifties in the book but here seems to be the same age as Creator/ChristopherWalken, who was 80 during filming.

** Irulan's narration [[InformedAttribute claims]] that Shaddam saw Duke Leto as [[LikeASonToMe a son]], [[SubvertedTrope but]] little in Shaddam's own behavior shows that this is the case, as Shaddam orchestrates Leto's death and remorselessly tells Paul that Leto was a weak man.

* InformedAttribute: Irulan's narration claims that the Emperor loved Duke Leto like a son, but the only thing Shaddam himself has to say about Leto is that he was "a weak man" [[VirtueIsWeakness for believing in ruling with one's heart]]. Whether Shaddam was just taunting Paul or Irulan was spectacularly wrong in her judgement of her relatives is left ambiguous.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Because the films cut out a lot of the political and societal state of the Empire, the Bene Gesserit and their plans for the kwisatz haderach comes across more as a power grab on their part they've worked on for centuries, while in the book it's a complex plan to avert a BadFuture they foresee due to the inevitable collapse of the Empire. [[spoiler:They also have no role in the Atreides' extermination, and in fact are very much against the idea as they value the line as part of their plans and worry the resulting conflict may wipe out both Atreides and Harkonnen.]]