Line #83 YMMV/Dune


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2	%% We all know that the Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson novels are [[SarcasmMode the most horrible things in the existence of anything, ever]]. Please do not waste our time inserting Flame Bait on the matter that will just have to be deleted by a more even-minded troper.
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4
5	Works in the ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' franchise with their own YMMV pages:
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7	* ''YMMV/DuneMessiah''
8	* ''YMMV/ChildrenOfDune''
9	* ''YMMV/GodEmperorOfDune''
10	* ''YMMV/Dune1984''
11	* ''YMMV/Dune2021''
12	** ''YMMV/DunePartTwo''
13	* ''YMMV/FrankHerbertsDune''
14	* ''YMMV/FrankHerbertsChildrenOfDune''
15
16	----
17	!!The franchise as a whole
18	* AccidentalInnuendo:
19	** Some fans have taken great glee in pointing out that the gom jabbar scene could accurately be described as "young man sticks his hand into an older woman's box and feels an itchy burning sensation."
20	** In the second book, the scene of Alia's training in the bath could be accurately described as "man walks into his little sister naked and using simulation device".
21	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Are the Fremen pragmatic survivors who have been forced to adopt harsh customs in order to survive on Arrakis? Or amoral barbarians who have allowed their culture to become engulfed by senseless violence ([[KlingonPromotion succession through killing]], duels to the death, inheritance of vanquished foes' wives as spoils, brutal [[RapePillageAndBurn conquest of entire planets]] after Paul's rise to power, etc.)? Is the violence senseless or not, considering the value of a body's water?
22	* {{Anvilicious}}:
23	** For the entire franchise: beware leaders, religion, culture and anything else telling you what to believe and what to do. Also, take care of the environment and don't ruin it. And don't fear, because [[SurvivalMantra fear is the mind killer]].
24	** Spice is essential to the functioning of TheEmpire's economy, including its transport system. It's found in a desert that's home to a tribal society with unfamiliar customs with whom it's necessary to do business to get the stuff, whose religion descends at least partially from UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}. DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Indeed, WordOfGod says the analogy is intentional.
25	** In ''[[Literature/GreatSchoolsOfDune Sisterhood of Dune]]'', the authors just can't hammer it in enough that Religious Fanaticism is Very Very Bad. All strongly religious characters in the book are members of a fanatical and dangerous anti-technology movement, and other characters frequently drop their other business to discuss just how irrational these people are.
26	* {{Applicability}}: Herbert infused the story with a lot of his own libertarianism, environmentalism and skepticism of authority, which can be fit into countless interpretations of real life politics. Even right-wingers, feminists, and other varied groups have also read into it messages supporting their own beliefs.
27	* BadassDecay: By the time of the first ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' book, the Sardaukar, though still considered formidable, can't hold a candle to their glory days (considered to be on the tenth Ginaz level and matching the abilities of a Bene Gesserit adept), which might explain their comparatively poor performance against the Fremen. Farad'n's Sardaukar avert this, however.
28	* BrokenBase:
29	** Paul and Leto II (and Herbert) warn against [[MessianicArchetype Messianic leaders]], those with the power of bending the masses to their will and an agenda supposedly dedicated to a greater good, but they also warn against tribalism itself, as humans do tend to let themselves be dragged by those figures. Paul is certainly an example of how wrong those cases can go even if the Messiahs in charge don't actually try to become tyrants, and Leto II only manages to thwart it by becoming essentially an [[AntiRoleModel anti-Messiah]], a tyrant so omnipotent and despicable that it beats humanity up into never allowing such thing again. Now, is Leto II really different from a regular Messiah, or is Herbert accidentally extolling to fight fire with fire? Debates about it have been raging for half a century.
30	** While most fans agree about the [[{{Sequelitis}} quality]] of the non-Frank Herbert novels (even if some still accept them), there is significant friction between fans of the Creator/DavidLynch [[Film/Dune1984 movie]] and [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci-Fi Channel]] [[Series/{{Dune}} miniseries]] adaptations. Hell, evidence of it is available on these very pages! The casting, acting, and costumes have been criticized by [[BrokenBase both sides]]. Criticisms of each side:
31	*** The [[Film/Dune1984 Lynch version]] suffered from ExecutiveMeddling, extensive voiceover exposition, some changes from the novel, and often an overly "80s feel".
32	*** The [[Series/{{Dune}} SciFi version]] of the first novel had the budget you'd expect from a cable miniseries and is more of an attempt at a TV drama than an outright movie epic. The issue is complicated by the [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci-Fi Channel]] ''Series/ChildrenOfDune'' sequel (which includes the events of ''Literature/DuneMessiah''), which is generally accepted as much higher quality, as well as being the only adaptation of the sequels on film. Since most actors reprised their roles, it's hard to "choose" the Lynch version of the original and still accept the sequel.
33	*** It even extends to the unmade Alejandro Jodorowsky version, opinions on which range anywhere from it being a lost masterpiece, to being an interesting story that wasn't really a good representation of Frank Herbert's novels[[note]]He actually was going to base it on a dream he had which just happened to resemble the novel[[/note]], to being just psychedelic crap.
34	* CommonKnowledge: Several unofficial fan sources give Lady Jessica's full name as "Jessica Atreides", but this is incorrect: while Jessica ''is'' technically a member of the Atreides clan and is the mother of Duke Leto Atreides' children, they aren't married--she's just his concubine. She doesn't really seem to have a surname in-universe, as although her mother did sport one, Nerus, Jessica is never called Jessica Nerus by any character on-page, and it's unclear whether Bene Gesserit naming conventions would actually work like that.
35	* CompleteMonster:
36	** [[FatBastard Baron Vladimir Harkonnen]] is a monstrous figure whose only concern is [[ItsAllAboutMe his own advancement and the glory of House Harkonnen]]. A [[WouldHurtAChild hedonistic pedophile]], the Baron keeps dozens of young boys to use as {{sex slave}}s. Initially lower than the Noble Atreides household, Harkonnen engineers its downfall and Duke Leto's death by using Dr. Yueh's wife to force him to betray House Atreides, only to reveal that she was already dead before having Yueh killed. When Leto's wife and children flee to the desert world of Arrakis, Harkonnen assists in trying to crush the Rebellion in an essential genocide of the Fremen people. Revealing his two nephews, brutish Rabban and intelligent, reserved Feyd-Rautha, Harkonnen plans to assign Rabban to brutalize the Fremen and then later [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness have him removed]] by Feyd to cultivate the Fremen's goodwill with him. When Feyd tries to assassinate Harkonnen, the latter, in amusement, forces him to kill every woman in the pleasure quarter, chiding him "there will always be more women, Feyd." Even from beyond the grave, Harkonnen still manages to bring about even more suffering by [[SplitPersonalityTakeover possessing and manipulating his granddaughter Alia]] in an attempt to get revenge, eventually culminating in Alia's suicide.
37	** [[ABeastInNameAndNature Glossu "the Beast" Rabban]] is the most evil of the Baron's nephews. A barbarous sadist who believes [[MightMakesRight strength to be the defining morality of the universe]], Rabban rejected his own loving parents to instead follow in the footsteps of his uncle the Baron, valuing the man's power and ruthlessness. Becoming a hated [[TheWarlord warlord]] across the galaxy, Rabban [[MurderInTheFamily murdered his own family]] and subjugated his homeworld to brutal tyranny in order to solidify his moniker of "the Beast". Rabban's crushing tyranny sees him head up Harkonnen "pleasure houses" for [[HumanTrafficking sex trafficking]] of countless people; oversee slave pits where he routinely murders the weak, infirmed and elderly; and force [[WouldHurtAChild children]] to participate in "[[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunts]]" in which Rabban tracks down and kills them for sport. Rabban has personal enmity with a variety of allies to House Atreides, from murdering Duncan's parents in front of him; to torturing Gurney's village to death before gangraping and strangling his sister while [[ForcedToWatch forcing the man to watch]]; and poisoning a major water and food supply of the Atreides homeworld. When he is tasked to rule Arrakis with an iron fist, Rabban ushers in his reign by butchering 3 villages and torturing the village children to death in front of their parents for fun, and later leads the genocide attempt against the Fremen with relish.
38	* DesignatedMonkey: Paul refers to Irulan with pointed disdain, and seems to hold her partly responsible for their sham marriage. The author lets this view speak for itself, even though it is hard to square with the princess's actual depiction as a character, or with her future writings.
39	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Duncan Idaho gets somewhat less focus in the first book than the other Atreides lieutenants, but despite this, the swordmaster makes enough of an lasting impression on many readers. [[spoiler:And evidently the series itself, to the point that [[BreakoutCharacter he's the only character]] that all the original novels have in common]].
40	* FandomEnragingMisconception: Calling the Bene Gesserit abilities "PsychicPowers" is sure to open a can of worms. In the series' universe, things like the Voice and the Weirding Way are meant to be simply forms of CharlesAtlasSuperpower, that is, natural human abilities like mentalism and hypnosis trained to an impossible degree; that's why many fans disapproved of the 1984 film giving the Bene Gesserit overt telepathy in an attempt to be gimmicky, because they claimed it just missed the point of the setting. The whole affair becomes blurred, however, because there ''are'' literal psychic powers in the ''Dune'' universe, most notably the Spice-generated prescience and the Reverend Mothers' forehead-to-forehead mind link, but those powers are never completely differentiated from the abilities that can be chalked up to mere enhancement of human gifts (on the opposite, it's implied they are something all humans have in little pieces, which only a selective breeding program can capitalize on to produce a usable seer like the Kwisatz Haderach).
41	* FandomRivalry:
42	** Very old-school ''Dune'' fans (from the pre-movie or Lynch-movie eras) tend to have a pretty intense disdain for ''Franchise/StarWars'' (as a few other trope entries may illustrate); these fans tend to see ''SW'' as highly derivative of ''Dune'', bordering almost on plagarism and changing just enough to qualify as legal.[[note]]During the initial release of ''Star Wars'' beginning in the summer of '77, ''Dune'' jokes were common (and sometimes quite loud) in the audience.[[/note]] (It was ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' that really did it - prior to ''Jedi'' the comparisons were more specious, but with the return to Tatooine, ol' George just couldn't [[UnusualEuphemism keep the sandworm in his pants]] and the similarities became a lot more pronounced.) Younger fans from later eras tend not to care as much, though, having grown up with both works (and truth to be told, nowadays it's all but impossible to find someone who's been introduced to ''Dune'' before being introduced to ''Star Wars''). Since the release of Villeneuve's ''Film/Dune2021'', though, the relationship seems to be moving closer to FriendlyFandoms. Sharing actors such as Oscar Isaac helps, and with the divisive reception the ''Star Wars'' sequel trilogy, fans of epic SpaceOpera who became fans through ''Star Wars'' are seeing what ''Dune'' has to offer.
43	** ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' has many elements inspired by ''Dune'', particularly the God-Emperor of Mankind being very similar to Leto II (both being powerful, psychic {{Manipulative Bastard}}s who are responsible for their setting going completely [[CrapsackWorld crapsack]]). Fans of ''Dune'' tend to look down their noses at [=40k=], while [=40k=] fans tend to think ''Dune'' is pretentious and dull.
44	* {{Fanon}}:
45	** Gaius Helen Mohiam being Mother Superior, or at least the leader of the Bene Gesserit in her time, is assumed by some fans due to her being the highest ranked and most prominent Reverend Mother seen until the fifth book. In reality, nothing in the books suggest this; she is the Emperor's Truthsayer and the Proctor Superior of the Wallach IX school, which do give her a lot of clout, but it's never stated that she is the order's maximum member or that there is nobody higher in the chain of command (her lines in the first book outright state her authority is not supreme and has orders to follow).
46	** It has been entertained that prescience in the ''Dune'' universe is officially just an incredibly advanced Mentat ability, which allows the user to recognize patterns in history repeating over and over, instead of something like summoning information from the future that cannot be inferred from looking into the present. This is true to a point, as both Mentat thinking and prescience are mental abilities and Leto II does state that prescience allows to see history's cycles, but the books also establish that predicting impossible knowledge ''is'' the whole point of prescience and the aspect that differentiates it from other mental abilities in the first place. This can be seen in Paul replacing his eyes with his prescience, which contemplates details not tied to history, as well as the fact that prescient people are invisible to each other, which is essentially a [[TheLawsOfMagic Law of Magic]] which Mentats are not subjected to.
47	* FanonDiscontinuity: Many fans vehemently refuse to acknowledge any ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' books not written by Creator/FrankHerbert. Herbert's son Brian and Kevin J. Anderson wrote two prequel series as well as a sequel series of two novels. Both differences in writing style, as well as serious inconsistencies with the original material, contribute to this reaction.
48	* FanNickname:
49	** [[TheVerse The "Duniverse"]].
50	** There aren't any names applied to characters or concepts in-universe, but many have cropped up to describe {{Fandom}} opinion. Those that only consider the books written by Frank Herbert refer to themselves as "Orthodox Herbertarians", while fans of the prequels and sequels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson are called [[IncrediblyLamePun "preeqs"]]. Then the preeqs retalliated by calling the original fandom "Talifans".
51	** Also, the Herbert Jr. and Anderson books are often nicknamed "[[InNameOnly Mc Dune]]", since they are often accused of having ridiculous amounts of CanonDiscontinuity, {{Flanderization}}, ShrugOfGod and overall shoddy [[ClicheStorm writing quality]].
52	** "Leto 1.5" or "Leto II v 1.0" for Paul and Chani's firstborn son, who was named after the Duke and was killed during the Saudakar attack, to avoid confusion with Paul's other son, the God Emperor Leto II.
53	* FirstInstallmentWins: Although most fans think all of the Frank Herbert-penned books are excellent, they generally seem to prefer the first one. Also, most casual readers only read the first book, as it was adapted for TheMovie.
54	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
55	** ''Dune'' is apparently quite popular in Russia, judging by the amount of Russian-language fanfics on [[Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn AO3]].
56	** The franchise has a bit of a CultClassic status in Spain, with a small but dedicated fandom that seems to enjoy all the memories of al-Andalus and such. An incredibly fancy, nonprofit fan-film adaptation of the book, which apparently covered the story word by word in ''eight hours'' (it would be divided into three), was produced in 2003 by Spanish theater club Mediteatro, who released a trailer that become notorious enough for them to send it to the Herbert state - only for those to [[GoneHorriblyWrong send them a cease and desist letter in return]], threatening with legal action if the entire project wasn't stopped. The film therefore died off, even although its nonprofit nature made the requirement somewhat sketchy, but the trailer resurfaced in the wake of the 2021 film and has been reappreciated today.
57	* HarsherInHindsight:
58	** 14 years after ''Dune'''s publication, [[UsefulNotes/IranianRevolution religious zealots, whose leader was believed by some to be the messianic Mahdi of prophecy, indeed overthrew a Padishah.]]
59	** The scene where Thufir witnesses a Fremen (a culture of desert fighters that descends from Islam) [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror hijacking an airship and crashing it suicidally against his enemies]] has ''not'' aged very well. Thufir's admiration of the act only digs it deeper.
60	** Considering that as of 2015, a ruthless and Machiavellian ruler named [[UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin Vladimir]] is militarily intervening in favor of a [[UsefulNotes/BasharAlAssad brutal authoritarian regime]] in a desert environment to help suppress a rebellion driven at least partially by religious fanaticism and doing so at least partially to ensure the continuous supply and control of a vital resource necessary for transportation. Ironically whilst Vladimir Harkonnen is a DepravedHomosexual, the other Vladimir is a HeteronormativeCrusader.
61	** Even more obviously, the most successful parts of said rebellion are very brutal themselves (and at least as patriarchal as the Fremen) and they aren't just interested in freeing their home country from foreign rule anymore, but their most recent leader has proclaimed himself the rightful religious ruler of a large part of the world and is quite serious about conquering it through jihad... Thankfully the RockBeatsLaser aspect of the books doesn't translate to the real world, at least outside of local guerrilla warfare.
62	* HilariousInHindsight: One of Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV's lines to Feyd-Rautha in the finale of the first book is a short "do it" command. Consider the MemeticMutation of another Emperor's [[Memes/RevengeOfTheSith use of the same dialogue]] in a famous film franchise that was heavily influenced by ''Dune'' years later, and its possible modern readers might get a chuckle that Shaddam Corrino did the line before Sheev Palpatine made it famous.
63	* HoYay: Teg and Patrin, to the point that Teg's daughter and several [[spoiler:other]] Bene Gesserit comment on it.
64	-->The form Patrin's loyalty would take had been clear to Lucilla then. How could Teg have been so blind? ''Love!'' That long, trusting bond between the two men. Schwangyu would act swiftly and brutally. Patrin knew it. Teg had not examined his own certain knowledge.
65	-->'''Teg [thinking]:''' Patrin! Damn you, Patrin! You knew and I didn't! What will I do without you?
66	* ImprovedSecondAttempt: The Creator/DenisVilleneuve [[Film/Dune2021 film]] [[Film/DunePartTwo duology]] ended up better received across the board than the [[Film/Dune1984 1984 film]] as a cinematic adaptation of the first book.
67	* LoveToHate: Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is the cruelest most heinous character in the series but also one of the most entertaining and memorable. His distinctive appearance, hamminess, and snappy dialogue combined with his depravity lead to a villain that captivated audiences for decades.
68	* MagnificentBastard:
69	** [[DarkMessiah Paul Atreides]] is the only son of Duke Leto Atreides and his Bene Gesserit wife, Lady Jessica. After his father's death, Paul departs to Arrakis, aka Dune, with his mother and ascends to lead the Fremen people. Conducting a rebellion against the House of Corrino and his grandfather Vladimir Harkonnen, Paul achieves not only victory but deposes the Emperor and [[TheUsurper takes the throne himself]]. Conducting himself by his prescience of the future, Paul launches a crusade to [[GalacticConquerer unite all humanity]] while setting up his enemies to destroy each other, even allowing his beloved Chani to die to adhere to his future visions before setting off to the desert to die. Returning years later as a mysterious hermit, Paul rallies the people against his sister Alia's tyranny when she is manipulated by the evil spirit of their grandfather, paving the way for his children to seize the universe themselves.
70	** [[TragicVillain Dr. Wellington Yueh]] is a Suk {{medic}} sworn to House Atreides. When his beloved wife Wanna is kidnapped by the Harkonnens, Yueh becomes a [[TheMole reluctant spy and traitor]], seamlessly assisting in the downfall of House Atreides. Knowing Wanna is likely already dead and that he will soon follow but unable to defect taking the chance she may yet still live, Yueh delivers the captive Duke Leto to Vladimir Harkonnen and faces death himself, but not before installing a trap tooth in Leto's mouth so the Duke may [[MercyKill spare himself a slow end]] and perhaps even take Harkonnen with him.
71	* MainstreamObscurity: The books are certainly popular, but ''most'' people are more likely to only know of them through references and parodies involving the sandworms and the catch-phrases listed in MemeticMutation below than to have an actual working knowledge of the plot, themes, and characters. It doesn't help that the saga didn't have the benefit of a story that was easy to adapt and/or friendly to a wide audience, especially at its time (also because many of the story's most interesting and original traits were aped by ''Franchise/StarWars'' shortly after). The series has begun to climb out of this thanks to the Creator/DenisVilleneuve [[Film/Dune2021 film adaptations]], especially with the success of ''Film/DunePartTwo'' finally providing a worthy adaptation to the first novel.
72	* MemeticMutation:
73	** "He who controls the (Spice/X) controls the universe!"
74	** "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer."
75	** "The spice must flow..."[[note]][[BeamMeUpScotty Which is actually from the 1984 Lynch film.]][[/note]]
76	** "Dune is about worms." [[note]]A vastly oversimplified synopsis of the books' plot parodying how hard it is to actually explain.[[/note]]
77	* MisaimedFandom:
78	** The series has [[https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/race-consciousness-fascism-and-frank-herberts-dune a substantial alt-right following]] that views Paul Atreides as an {{Ubermensch}} and an ideal hero and role model. He was anything ''but''. The world of ''Dune'' is a {{dystopia}}, and Paul, as a DarkMessiah and a {{deconstruct\|edCharacterArchetype}}ion of TheChosenOne, is a big reason why -- and he eventually realizes the error of his ways. What's more, Herbert based Paul's journey as a religious and military leader on that of UsefulNotes/TheProphetMuhammad, and the series as a whole is filled with Islamic and Middle Eastern influences; Paul may be a GalacticConqueror, but an Aryan white man he probably isn't. Also the political bent of the Frank Herbert-written books is strongly anti-authoritarian, with the end goal of Paul and Leto II's "Golden Path" being a humanity that is permanently averse to single leaders: ''Literature/DuneMessiah'' only exists because Herbert realized readers were getting the wrong idea and wrote a whole extra novel in an attempt to correct the misconception, and to drive this home, Paul directly compares himself to UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler due to the death toll from the Fremen Jihad.
79	** The series' abundance of Arabian and Islamic elements, especially tied around the main character and his allies, has led many people to see ''Dune'' as a Muslim-friendly work, a particularly tempting view given the low presence of this religion in the science fiction genre compared to Christianity and other faiths. In reality, under all the aesthetical and philosophical elements, the case is basically the reverse; Herbert's stance, and the saga's own {{Anvilicious}} Aesop, is rather that things like Messianism, jihad, theocracy, and organized religion in general are destructive concepts that should be opposed for the sake of mankind's future and free thought. The series' main exponent of all those, Leto II, is tormented precisely because becoming a GodEmperor himself was the only way to avoid greater evils, and is bent on setting mankind in a way that will ensure it never happens again.
80	** The Bene Gesserit, an all-female order of spiritual superhumans, is also appreciated by feminist readers, despite the many reasons why Bene Gesserit should be considered all but such. If we don't count the variety of uncomfortable gender tropes that the Reverend Mothers routinely employ (seduction, marriage for power, human trading), the only point in which the order pays attention to gender is, ironically enough, their plan to achieve superiority in the universe by breeding a male Bene Gesserit, the Kwisatz Haderach, whose power is precisely inherent to his sex. Later books make their ways even less compatible, as when they are confronted by the nightmarishly misogynist visage of [[spoiler:an order that turns all their women into human breeders]], the Bene Gesserit's only reaction is to ask for the method so they can do it themselves.
81	* OlderThanTheyThink:
82	** Zensunni might look like a definitely fantastic religion by the real world standards, but there is a bit of precedent for mixing up Islam and Buddhism in history. The Quran contains a reference to a Prophet of God named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhu_al-Kifl Dhu al-Kifl]], which has been proposed to be an attempt to syncretize Gautama Buddha into Islam ("Dhu al-Kifl" would translate as "The Man from Kifl", ''Kifl'' being the Arabian name for Kapilavastu, where Buddha preached for thirty years).
83	*** Similarly, there's precedent for "Mahayana Christianity", with Christian scholars arguing about how early the mingling between Christianity and Buddhism was.
84	** A man who has trouble walking, and is extremely rich due to controlling a planet with a unique resource no one has managed to replicate? The Galaxy having an empire of a million worlds? A man attempting to liberate said planet, and gradually resorting to more and more extreme measures? ''The Currents of Space'' by Creator/IsaacAsimov, 1952. Admittedly, it had more of an Old South Cotton feel than Middle East Oil. Another man owning part of the same planet is rumored to have rather sick sexual preferences, reminiscent of the Baron's.
85	* OnceOriginalNowCommon: Many people that have watched any of the ''Franchise/StarWars'' original trilogy before reading the ''Dune'' series may lose some of the impact from the many themes, concepts, and twists that ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[FollowTheLeader cloned]] into [[PopCulturalOsmosis pop culture]] more widely.
86	* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: A common reaction to the Brian Herbert/Anderson books.
87	* RonTheDeathEater: Not in fanfiction, but the prequel books make Count Fenring and his BFF the Emperor ''way'' more evil and cowardly than they were originally presented.
88	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The Zensunni, a mix of Zen Buddhism and Sunni Islam, would have been a shocking way to explore syncretism and both religions. Instead, the religion presented in the story is essentially 95% Sunni, 5% Zen, which can feel like a lost chance at those things.
89	* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Dune'' shares various concepts and themes with Frank Herbert's novel ''The Godmakers''. Published as a separate novel in 1970, the four original short stories were all published before ''Dune'' was even written. They include elements such as Axlotl-tanks, Plaz, and even what could be considered a young version of the Bene Gesserit.
90	* TooCoolToLive:
91	** Duke Leto Atreides. He's a good father to Paul, a loving partner to Jessica and a ReasonableAuthorityFigure. Met his tragic end by trying to bring down the Baron Harkonnen with the poisoned capsule from Yueh.
92	** Piter de Vries, [[LoveToHate for a given value of "cool"]]; overlaps with TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot as it's mentioned early on that Baron Harkonnen is prepared to pay a fortune for a crysknife which would allow Piter - who is addicted to spice and therefore has the "blue-within-blue'' Eyes of Ibad - to infiltrate the Fremen community... and the whole plot goes nowhere, as Piter keels over from poisoned gas.
93	* ToughActToFollow: Although most of Creator/FrankHerbert's books are considered great, none of them ever achieved the acclaim that the original ''Dune'' did.
94	* UglyCute: Somewhat hunchbacked and with a scar on his jaw, Gurney is still a badass and friendly old mentor nonetheless.
95	* UnfortunateCharacterDesign: While it would be hard to avoid under the circumstances, the most iconic image of the SandWorm isn't even pretending to not look phallic.
96	* UnintentionallySympathetic: The narration, especially Gurney's POV, portrays Raban as an absolute brute, and not without reason. But considering Rabban has to take his marching orders from the Baron, whom he is quite reasonably scared shitless of, one has to wonder just how much of his more despicable actions are his own voluntary doing, and what kind of a ruler would he be without dear ol' uncle Vlad looking over his shoulder; especially given that his one appearance in the original novel shows him to be way smarter than he's originally made out to be. This is lost in the ''Dune'' adaptations as they give Raban [[AscendedExtra enough characterization more]] to present him as TheBrute who fully embraces the cruelty of House Harkonnen.
97	* ValuesDissonance: See [[ValuesDissonance/{{Dune}} page]].
98	* TheWoobie:
99	** Alia, as a 2-year-old. Later on she becomes DarkerAndEdgier, but her family does precious little to help her cope with being pre-born, or indeed provide any emotional support. Her mother leaves her to return to Caladan when she's still quite young; her brother dumps an entire empire on her shoulders when she's only fifteen and vanishes into the desert, leaving her to keep said empire together and watch over his children; and her mother, nephew and niece write her off the instant there's a possibility of her being an Abomination without even trying to save her, even if there is supposedly 'no cure'.
100	** Leto II. Yes, seriously. [[spoiler:Millenia of loneliness, of being the ultimate asshole ''by necessity'', of having everyone hate his guts, all for the sake of preventing humanity's extinction. And did we mention that he never becomes free from basic human desires like finding love despite being a giant monster worm '''that has no penis'''? Yeah.]]
101	*** And as if that's not bad enough, [[spoiler:Hwi dies]].
102	--> '"Between the superhuman and the inhuman," he said, "I have had little space in which to be human. I thank you, gentle and lovely Hwi, for this little space."'
103	** Princess Irulan gets a really rotten deal, while having done little or nothing to deserve it. She failed to become a Bene Gesserit and then was separated from her family and forced, because of politics, to accept a celibate marriage with a husband who resents her. This despite the fact that ''he'' was the one who demanded their wedding in the first place, to cement his rule. She spends the next decade or so living a lonely existence bereft of emotional comfort, knowing all the while that she's Imperial Consort only in name and she'll never be allowed to bear an Imperial Heir. Oh, and she's also somewhat in love with Paul herself, while it's very clear he considers Chani his ''real'' wife in everything but name. [[AllLoveIsUnrequited It hurts.]] Even when she drugs Chani with contraceptives you can understand why she does it, considering the immense pressure she's under from all sides and the sheer resentment she must feel. Paul puts it best: she's been used as a pawn her whole life, from her father to the Bene Gesserit to Paul himself.
104	*** And then, in ''Literature/ChildrenOfDune'', she actually grows to love Leto and Ghanima as if they're her own children... and then her StupidEvil sister ruins the relationship by trying to kill them.
105	*** This is worse in the miniseries, where Irulan has a greatly expanded role and becomes quite likable as she investigates her own father's conspiracy and does her part to bring it down. Then she gets the same ending from the book and we're still supposed to like it.
106	** Yueh after he betrays Leto (the first), who he cared for and was grateful to, because the Harkonnen either had his wife captive or had already killed her, then taunted him with the fact that he would never be able to know if he gave her up for dead or not unless he broke his oath to Leto.
107	** Farad'n gets a pretty shitty deal. All he wants is to be a historian, but his StupidEvil mother decides to make a bid to kill the twins. [[spoiler:It fails, and to smooth things over, Farad'n has to become the concubine of Ghanima, who's only 9, and gets to look forward to many decades of having to take orders from Leto, who's already on his way towards becoming a creepy little shit.]] Basically, he's a male version of Irulan, with all the attendant misery that implies. However, later books imply that it gets better for Farad'n, as he becomes a trusted ally and friend to Leto and he and Ghanima do grow to love each other. He is a historian 'married' to a woman who incarnates all of human history, what's not to love?
108
109	!!Games
110	* GenreBusting:
111	** The Cryo 1992 VideoGame/{{Dune}} video game was an Adventure/Turn-Based Strategy hybrid.
112	** The ''Dune'' board game was the first major strategy boardgame with wildly different faction powers.
113	* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames:
114	** ''VideoGame/DuneII'', the first RealTimeStrategy game, was a breakout success that inspired ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'', the ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlertSeries Red Alert series]]'' etc. It itself was inspired by the ''Dune'' board game.
115	** While the first ''Dune'' game is nowhere near the classic as its sequel, it is a solid game in its own right.
116	** The ''Dune'' board game is also a classic. It was remade as ''[[https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/104363/rex-final-days-empire Rex: Final Days of an Empire]]'', with all of the ''Dune'' licensing replaced by ''TableTopGame/TwilightImperium'' factions.
117	* SequelDisplacement: Dune II is more often remembered than the first video game adaptation.

Context YMMV / Dune