Dune (Denis Villeneuve): Fremen / Characters

Main Character Index House Atreides | Fremen | House Harkonnen | Corrino Empire and Bene Gesserit

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Fremen

In General

The natives of Arrakis/Dune, deadly warriors who have adapted to their unforgiving world's lack of water.

Asskicking Leads to Leadership: As in the book, Fremen leadership works on this principle. Jamis tells Stilgar that the strongest leads, and since Stilgar was bested by Jessica, he is no longer the strongest.
Ambiguously Brown: The actors playing the Fremen have a great variety of heterogeneous brown and black skin colors, from Middle-Eastern to Mediterranean to West African. Justified, as the sun-bleached world of Arrakis would favor those with more melanated skin.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: The importance of water on Arrakis means Fremen morality is quite different from offworlders. Spitting at anyone, let alone a powerful Duke, would normally be a grave insult, but for a Fremen it's a gift of their body's moisture and a mark of respect. If any Fremen comes across someone stranded in the desert, they'll kill them so they can distill the water from their corpse, since the person was likely going to die anyway. The Fremen also distill their own dead for their water and seem to have conditioned themselves not to cry, again in order to preserve bodily fluids.
The Dreaded: Duncan Idaho is able to single-handedly kill many Sardaukar but when faced with a single Fremen warrior, proclaims that he has never been that close to dying before and praises their skill as there being no "finer fighter in the Imperium."
Duncan: [admiringly] They fight like demons.
Duel to the Death: When Paul is forced to fight Jamis, despite telling him to yield, Paul is told that Fremen duels are to the death, forcing Paul to kill despite never having killed anyone before until this point.
Facial Markings: Many of them have facial tattoos, but they're small, subtle, and intricate.
Fantasy Counterpart Culture: They are most like the Bedouins of Arabia, being nomadic desert tribes living separate lives from the rest of humanity. Trade oil with "psychic worm dust", and this comparison is made even more blatant.
Fictional Greetings and Farewells: The Fremen way of greeting is spitting out in front of the other person which confuses the Atreides at first.
The Fundamentalist: Stilgar and the vast majority of the Southern Freman remain dedicated to their ancient customs and beliefs, and openly shame those such as Chani who have become disillusioned as heretics and blasphemers. When they believe Paul to be their prophesied saviour, the Lisan al Gaib, the Freman gradually lose all sense of reason and restraint through worshipping him, eventually leading to terrible consequences for the entire universe.
Had to Be Sharp: Arrakis is not forgiving, and every Fremen must prove their worth on the harsh desert world. This is what makes them so valuable in the grand scheme of things, as the harshness of Arrakis has resulted in the Fremen being forged a cut above everyone else when it comes to ferocity, skill, and durability in combat.
He Who Fights Monsters: The Fremen at the start of the story are heroic freedom fighters opposing the tyrannical and genocidal Harkonnens occupying their planet. Then they begin to follow Paul, whose descent into being a Dark Messiah takes the Fremen down a fanatical path with him. By the end of Part Two they are going to invade and wreak carnage on foreign worlds, just like the people they first fought.
Horse of a Different Color: Fremen climb onto sand worms and steer them with hooks as a means of desert transport.
Human Resources: They collect the water on every dead human body they come across, friend or foe, since that resource is scarce on Arrakis.
Knight Templar: The Fremen are ultimately radicalized into this in Part Two through their idolization of Paul, becoming so dedicated to their newfound Messiah that they are gladly willing to embark on a jihad across the universe on his behalf.
Literal-Minded: Chani and Stilgar at least appear to take Gurney's comment that House Atreides has enough nukes to destroy Arrakis literally.
Noble Savage: While the rest of the universe definitely see them as barbarians, they have a much more complex, honor-based culture driven to barbarian-horde status only by the harsh world they must survive on. The noble part is zig-zagged due to the fact that despite being supportive of the protagonists in the end, they are still very aggressive, xenophobic, and merciless. This trope becomes even more complicated when they begin to worship Paul as an idol and prepare to carry out a mass jihad in his name.
Occult Blue Eyes: A sign of a person's body being saturated with spice (and thus, that the person is fundamentally addicted to it) is their eyes turning entirely blue. Because Fremen live on Arrakis, where spice is plentiful (especially in the deep desert where they tend to live), they all share these blue eyes. Spice has numerous effects in the books; while the Fremen are not trained to make full use of it, it does provide them some limited psychic power in the form of intense camaraderie, a few steps below a Hive Mind.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The ever pragmatic Fremen make a point of harvesting the water of all deceased individuals. Even the chemically saturated fluids of dead Harkonnen soldiers are still collected for use as coolant. So it's rather shocking to see the Fremen burning the bodies of their dead opponents en masse after the final battle for Arrakis, seemingly making no effort to harvest their water. It goes to show just how fanatical the Fremen have become under Paul to the point where their usual pragmatism is overruled by their sheer hatred for those who oppose their messiah.
La Résistance: According to Chani, the Harkonnen occupiers are cruel to the Fremen and ravage their lands, and the Fremen have responded with attacks on Harkonnen Spice convoys, but they haven't managed to liberate Arrakis from them (yet).
Pragmatic Hero: They're generally decent people, but they're ruthlessly pragmatic about their survival and willing to kill anyone who isn't useful to them for their water.
Stealth Expert: Fremen are shown ambushing Sardaukar by hiding under the sand with only the tip of a breathing tube protruding. Also Chani was able to blindside Paul, sneaking up behind him while he was pointing a pistol at the Fremen threatening his mother.

Stilgar

Bi-la Kaifa

Played By: Javier Bardem ^{Other Languages}

Appearances: Dune: Part One | Dune: Part Two

"The Mahdi is too humble to say He is the Mahdi. Even more reason to know He is! As written!"

The leader of the Fremen of Sietch Tabr.

Adaptational Comic Relief: Downplayed. Stilgar was quite cheerful and jocular in the novels, but he's much more openly used for comic relief throughout the second film and comes off as even less serious than his literary counterpart. His devotion to the prophecy gets exaggerated and Played for Laughs in a variety of scenes, to which his befuddled fellow Fremen react in accordance. He also makes sometimes highly goofy jokes, which not even Paul finds funny. In the book, he was also a revered and respected Naib, while in the film his own sietch elders feel comfortable laughing at his ideals in his face and are implied to consider him a Bunny-Ears Lawyer of a leader.
Adaptational Dumbass: Downplayed. Stilgar is certainly competent, but he comes across as less savvy and composed than his novel counterpart. Where the novels depicted Stilgar as a charismatic and somewhat serious leader with a sense of humor, here he's a Bunny-Ears Lawyer regarded as something of an oddball even by his tribe.
Adaptation Personality Change: The first film makes him much more stoic and blunt than his novel version. Part Two then goes on the opposite route and emphasizes his passionate devotion to Paul/Muad'Dib to a comical degree. It's also notable than in the books Stilgar only became a Muad'dib hardliner after a long time fighting and living together, while in the film he's instantly in love with the legend from the first moment.
Agent Mulder: He firmly believes in the supernatural and the prophecy of the Lisan al-Gaib. It's Played for Laughs at first, but as Stilgar becomes increasingly fanatical and fundamentalist it becomes much darker.
Baritone of Strength: Stilgar speaks in a low, but powerful voice that conveys his authority without him even needing to raise his voice.
Boisterous Bruiser: He's an efficient fighter, but he's also a gregarious and jocular man prone to cracking goofy jokes.
Characterization Marches On: In the first film, he's quite stoic and blunt. The second film depicts him as being much more jovial and friendly, as well as quite prone to wisecracking.
Cuckoosnarker: In the second movie, Stilgar becomes something of a Bunny-Ears Lawyer character who, despite descending into mindless worship, is very much capable of making sardonic remarks and making even someone like Gurney to laugh at his delivery.
Deliberate Values Dissonance: In most settings, spitting on the table of someone hoping to negotiate with you is a grave insult; in Fremen culture it's the sign of greatest respect, because of how scarce and precious water is to them. Stilgar pauses a moment to consider this before hocking, predicting such an adverse reaction.
The Dragon: As Paul dives headlong into his role as the Lisan al-Gaib, Stilgar becomes his most prominent follower, and it's him who Paul orders to set out on the holy war that closes Part Two.
Empty Eyes: Granted it's partly due to the effects of Spice on the Fremen's eyes, but his eyes really have this effect on several instances.
Funny Foreigner: With his funny southern thick accent and his status as the resident Plucky Comic Relief, is hard for Stilgar not to qualify.
The Fundamentalist: Chani explains to Paul that Stilgar is from the southern Fremen tribes, who strictly adhere to the old traditions and wholeheartedly believe that the Lisan al-Gaib is real. In Part Two Stilgar sees many of the prophesied signs in Paul, directly citing the ancient scriptures that foretold his arrival, and he spends much of the film convincing the other Fremen that Paul truly is their chosen one.
Insane Troll Logic: Stilgar is so convinced that Paul is the Lisan al-Gaib that he believes that any evidence suggesting otherwise — including Paul himself outright denying it — only further proves that he is.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He oddly zig-zags between this and a Nice Guy. He's sincerely kind and friendly, but also quite ruthless and merciless as a result of his culture and upbringing.
Know When to Fold 'Em: Stilgar initially writes off the idea of bringing Jessica into his tribe, but after she gets the better of him and has a knife to his throat, he (wisely) reconsiders.
Loony Fan: At first, Stilgar was funny with his antics about Paul being the Mahdi he waited all his life, but with the time, he gets too carried away by this revelation, startling even Paul with his obsessive devotion to him. There is a chilling scene where Paul tells him that he doesn't believe himself to be Mahdi, and Stilgar yells at him that he doesn't care what Paul believes, only about what he believes, and he believes that Paul is Mahdi.
The Mentor: He personally mentors Paul in the Fremen's ways and teaches him how to survive in the desert.
Nice Guy: Stilgar oddly zig-zags between this and a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. He is a sincerely friendly and warm man, but he's also capable of ruthlessness and cruelty. It's shown most starkly in the contrast between his treatment of Paul and Jessica. He treats the former like a son and cares for him even beyond his belief that Paul is his people's messiah, but he makes it clear to Jessica he's quite willing to kill her if she doesn't become the Reverend Mother because she'll be useless to him otherwise.
No Social Skills: At least in other societies than the Fremen one. He either doesn't understand the Atreides' court customs, or more likely expressly doesn't care. Upon being allowed into Duke Leto's council chamber, he ignores Gurney Halleck's repeated order to advance no further, marching straight up to stand a few feet away from the Duke. He also departs with a blunt "that's all I have to say to you".
Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Javier Bardem uses his natural Spanish accent when playing the character. This is lampshaded in Part Two by explaining he's from the southern hemisphere of Arrakis. Chani (who is from the north and doesn't have a heavy accent) humorously chides Paul for not noticing sooner.
Oh, Crap!: During Paul's final trial to become part of the Fremen in Part Two, Stilgar becomes extremely concerned when Paul summons a far bigger Shai-Hulud than reasonably expected to ride for his first time. Which of course makes his relief and reverence all the greater when Paul succeeds anyway.
Pragmatic Hero: He's quite ruthless about surviving in the deserts of Arrakis and can be quite merciless in doing so, but he's also capable of sincere kindness.
Plucky Comic Relief: Both his goofy sense of humor and his mindless worship of Paul make him into quite a comedic figure, and his antics are frequently used to lighten the mood throughout the otherwise dark second film.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Although initially dismissive of Duke Leto, Stilgar did agree to meet with him at Duncan's invitation, and once the Duke makes it clear that he, unlike the Harkonnens, refuses to oppress or persecute the Fremen, Stilgar seems more open to the idea of a diplomatic relationship with House Atreides. Upon recognizing Paul in the climax from their earlier diplomatic meeting in Arrakeen, he offers to take him in and teach him the Fremen ways, and also accepts Jessica in his tribe after she whoops his own ass.
Religious Bruiser: He is a Fundamentalist Fremen from the South who strongly believe in the prophecy of Lisan al-Gaib. He is also one of the best warriors in the setting and Paul's mentor.
The Stoic: He doesn't display many emotions during his limited screentime in Part One. This is subverted completely in Part Two, as he initially shows a much warmer, almost fatherly side to Paul that tragically descends into mindless worship.
Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Beneath the ideal representation of Fremen pragmatism, discipline, self-sufficiency, courage, and honor, is a thoroughly tired man exhausted from decades of fighting those who would raid his planet and kill his people. Who for all his strength is desperate for a savior to appear, even one that he knows to some extent to be manufactured by the Bene Gesserit.
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: He's stoic and rather blunt towards the Atreides in the first movie but he's a much more jocular, easy-going fellow in the sequel. Justified - as he's strictly in Arrakeen on business and later out with a scouting party in the first movie whereas in the sequel we get more downtime with him, allowing his more easy-going nature to shine through.
Took a Level in Smartass: He's The Stoic in the first film and betrays little emotion, but in the sequel he's quite the jokester and serves as the Plucky Comic Relief. It's implied this is simply because he knows Paul better and he had only been seen in professional or tense situations throughout the first film.
Undying Loyalty: He is ready to throw down his life for Paul shortly after meeting him, as Stilgar believes him the Lisan al Gaib, the prophesied saviour of the Fremen. Stilgar believes in Paul so much, he takes it to comical levels, taking pretty much anything Paul does as a sign of him being the Lisan al Gaib, up to and including Paul saying he is not the Lisan al Gaib. This becomes a much scarier as Paul begins to embrace the identity of Lisan al Gaib, and going along a dark path as a result, with Stilgar still following him unhesitatingly to do whatever Paul wishes.

Chani

"You will never lose me, Paul Atreides... Not as long as you remain who you are."

Played By: Zendaya ^{Other Languages}

Appearances: Dune: Part One | Dune: Part Two

"This *prophecy* is how they enslave us!"

A young Fremen warrior from Sietch Tabr. Paul Atreides keeps having visions of her in his dreams until they eventually meet.

Action Girl: She is shown as a member of Stilgar's band of warriors, who are involved in fighting the Harkonnens. She also manages to get the drop on Paul as he tries to outflank the Fremen threatening his mother. She's shown in full action during the battles of the sequel, taking down an ornithopter and mowing down Sardaukar and Harkonnens alike in the final act.
Adaptation Personality Change: The film version of her is far more cynical than she was in the books; notably, she doesn't buy into the prophecy of the "Lisan al-Gaib" coming to save her people, which in the novels she had no trouble with unless it affected their personal lives, and is concerned by Paul's growing acceptance of that role. At the end of the film when Paul agrees to Irulan's hand in marriage in order to become Emperor, Chani doesn't accept the situation as she did in the book, but is furious, doesn't wait for Paul to explain his reasons to her, and storms out of the Residency to return to the desert.
Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the book, Chani and Jessica are quite close. Jessica regards Chani as a daughter, and it is Jessica's assurance to Chani that Paul's marriage to Irulan is a marriage in name only with Chani being Paul's de facto wife that allows Chani to accept the whole deal. Here because Chani is far more hostile to the prophecy, and Jessica is far more manipulative than her book counterpart, the two are at odds, culminating when Paul almost dies taking the waters of life. Jessica does attempt to talk to Chani before the final battle, but Chani has none of it after seeing Paul having taken the waters of life.
Adaptational Dye-Job: She's a redhead in the book, but Zendaya keeps her natural brunette hair here.
Adaptational Jerkass: She's much more distant and hostile to Paul than in the book, where she rather stood out for being cheerful and calm in the midst of their Mexican Standoff. Also, instead of giving Paul advice about how to defeat Jamis, she only tells him, politely but unconcerned, to die with honor, at most assuring him that Jamis will give him a painless death. In the second film, she grows more protective of him, although she's much quicker to call him out for becoming increasingly unethical.
Advertised Extra: She appears onscreen in the first movie for at most a dozen minutes, most of these (prior to the ending) being in Paul's visions. She is, however, extremally prominent in the second film, becoming the deuteragonist.
The Aloner: She's technically the only Fremen remaining on Arrakis as the Fremen follows Paul to his Holy War, having disillusioned from his actions as Lisan al-Gaib.
Anger Born of Worry: Chani is shown very worried for Paul after he wakes up from his coma, asking him how he feels. Than she switches to angry girlfriend mode and bitch-slaps Paul in front of an entire crowd of people for making her worry like that.
Audience Surrogate: While Paul is still the main protagonist in Part Two, Chani becomes the character the audience should be primarily attached to. She is skeptical of the prophecies Paul is supposedly fulfilling, and concerned of the consequences. It's her opposition to Paul's rise to power, and ultimate rejection of him at the end of the film that make it clear that we are supposed to see what Paul becomes as a bad thing, and that we shouldn't be rooting for him. Villeneuve adapted Chani's role in the story to have her embody Frank Herbert's critique of celebrating a hero.
Blue Is Heroic: She is the only character who wears a blue item, a bandana that she always carries with her. Close to the end of Part Two, she symbolically wraps the bandana around her arm, signifying her revolt against Paul accepting his role as the Dark Messiah of her people.
Broken Pedestal: Chani does begin to look up to Paul throughout Part Two, but embracing his role as Kwisatz Haderach and declaring his intent to marry Princess Irulan is an act of prioritizing power and alliance over their personal connection that alienates Chani.
The Conscience: She serves as this to Paul, encouraging him to not embrace his role as a Dark Messiah and to not go along with Jessica's plan to exploit the Fremen. Tragically, her influence simply isn't enough, as between Paul's personal traumas, Jessica and Gurney's influence, and the Water of Life, she is completely helpless to prevent Paul's descent.
Deadpan Snarker: She's quite snarky and prone to making pithy remarks.
Defector from Decadence: She rides a sandworm away from Arrakeen in defiance of Paul's holy war as the rest of the Fremen board the Sardaukar ships.
Defrosting Ice Queen: Chani initially displays a reserved and even critical demeanor towards Paul, engaging in teasing and sarcastic remarks, particularly in the company of her friend Shishakli. However, as the narrative progresses, Chani warms up to Paul and starts to teach him the way of her people, her interactions with Paul leading to romantic interest in him that blossoms beyond her initial coldness.
Deuteragonist: Chani becomes the second viewpoint character after Paul once she gets a lot more focus in Part Two. Tellingly, the film subtly shows more of her reactions whenever Paul grows into power, and even ends from her perspective, disgusted by his actions.
Disapproving Look: The more her people start to worship Paul for every thing he does they deem it fulfills their prophesy about Kwisatz Haderach, the more worried and disapproving are Chani's expressions through the second movie.
Dissonant Serenity: She's fully confident that Paul will lose his duel with Jamis, and gives him an ancestral crysknife just to add honor to his death, never dropping her polite tone.
Ethereal White Dress: She wears one in Paul's visions, though never wears one outside of it.
Girl of My Dreams: Paul keeps seeing her in his dreams, and eventually gets to meet her.
Indignant Slap: Chani slaps Paul in front of thousands of Fremen for putting his life in danger by drinking the Water of Life.
Kubrick Stare: Paul's dream in the stilltent has her approaching using this view with a direct glare to the viewer. In the second film, she is consistently exhibiting this once she learns of Paul's path towards the fulfillment of the prophecy and is visibly furious.
Love Cannot Overcome: Although Paul foresees her eventually understanding his choices, once victory is achieved, Chani, disillusioned with her people's fanaticism and Paul not only embracing his role as a messiah, but promising to wed Princess Irulan mere moments after swearing his undying love to Chani, chooses to leave Paul behind and return to the desert alone.
Love Interest: To Paul in the second film.
Mysterious Waif: A young woman who mysteriously appears in Paul's dreams until they finally meet in the first film's last scene.
Mood Whiplash: First checking if Paul is ok after he recovers from the Water of Life, then slapping him and walking off.
Morality Chain: Throughout Part Two she tries to serve as The Conscience to Paul, keeping him grounded and not going down a dark path. When he does it's accompanied by the two of them splitting apart.
The Narrator: Chani opens the first film with a dose of exposition for the audience, explaining the situation on Arrakis and the horrors that the Fremen have suffered at Harkonnen hands.
Nice Girl: She's generally amicable and friendly with everyone. She does show some ruthlessness, but she's generally one of the most moral characters.
No Place for Me There: In a sense, as this version of Chani is actively against Paul's actions as Lisan al-Gaib, she decides to return to the desert when her people Fremen chooses to join Paul in the Holy War.
Only Sane Woman: She's this by the end of Part Two, in contrast to her book counterpart. She grows increasingly uncomfortable with her people's blind worship of Paul, and the fact that he increasingly starts to encourage it just to get his revenge on the Harkonnens. After Paul agrees to enter a marriage for political reasons and unleashes the Fremen in retaliation against the other houses for refusing to accept his claim to the throne, she abandons him and returns to the desert alone.
Pet the Dog: Despite believing that Paul has no chance against Jamis, Chani loans him a crysknife that had been a gift from her great-aunt so that he can, if nothing else, die with honor.
Properly Paranoid: As far as Chani is concerned, the prophecy of the Lisan al-Gaib is just a means to enslave the Fremen by stirring them into religious fervor. This is exactly what the Bene Geserit planted the prophecy for and exactly how Jessica, and later Paul, use it to further their own goals. Sadly, by this point, Chani is the only dissenting voice, unable to sway Paul from his chosen path or stop her people from following him.
Proud Warrior Race Guy: Chani is well aware that the life of a Fremen is violent and hard, but she takes pride in her people's largely egalitarian society and the way they have maintained their honor and dignity during their hopeless war against the spice harvesters. She becomes gradually horrified at the resistance's growing ease with less laudable tactics such as atomic weaponry and political maneuvering, and the way they are starting to worship Paul as a messianic figure to be placed above not just themselves but the rest of the galaxy as well.
Race Lift: In the original, all that's known about her ethnicity is that Chani is an Ambiguously Brown redhead with a blond father. Here she is portrayed by mixed-race actress Zendaya. The film counterpart of her novel's father Liet-Kynes is a black woman, but there's no mention of them being related.
Rule of Symbolism: She wore a blue sash either as a headband or an armband. She is the only one who refused to believe the prophecy that survived the battles to the end of the film.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: If Chani's words about Paul being a sincere person is of any indication, she's becomes attracted to him because he is a good man at heart who only wants to help her people.
So Happy Together: Chani and Paul grow very close in the first half of the sequel, culminating with them being in a romantic relationship. Unfortunately, external factors Paul couldn't control force him to accept his role as a Dark Messiah who leads the Fremen to a green paradise, alienating Chani, leading to her abandoning him in the end after witnessing Paul becoming yet another tyrant.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Due to the Adaptational Timespan Change of the second half of the source material with no timeskip happening after Paul becomes a Freman, Paul and she are together for a very short amount of time and never have a family before he enters into a political marriage with Irulan in order to have a better political position to become emperor. While Paul implies he wants her to be his concubine and birth his children as in the book, Chani outright rejects that in this adaptation, leaving him and the other Fremen, returning to the desert as they leave to pursue a holy war, seemingly leaving them split as long as he is embracing the prophecy of the Lisan al-Gaib and leaving them with little of the history they had in the books.
Surrounded by Idiots: Chani, through Part Two, emerges as a strong voice of dissent against the growing messianic fervor surrounding Paul. She remains skeptical of the Kwisatz Haderach prophecy, recognizing it as a potential tool of manipulation by the Bene Gesserit. Her warnings highlight the dangers of blindly following a predetermined path and succumbing to religious fanatism.
Token Good Teammate: By the end, Chani is one of, if not the only, Fremen who realizes that Paul and the Fremen have come to embody every vice that they hate. While she does help take Arakeen, she decides she can no longer support Paul's atrocities and abandons him.
Underestimating Badassery: She thinks Jamis will make short work of Paul and that Paul will get a quick and painless death. She had no idea that Paul has been trained by masters of hand-to-hand combat all his life, enough to easily overpower even fearsome Fremen warriors.
Unrelated in the Adaptation: She's Kynes' daughter in the book, but this adaptation never establishes any connection between the two.
You're Insane!: She tells Stilgar these Exact Words after he tries to tell her why Paul, in a coma after drinking the Water of Life, did what he did. She was pretty much ready to tell Jessica the same, until she was countered by the Voice.

Liet-Kynes

"I serve only one master. His name is Shai-Hulud."

Played By: Sharon Duncan-Brewster ^{Other Languages}

Appearances: Dune: Part One

"Bless the Maker and His water. Bless the coming and going of Him. May His passage cleanse the world. And keep the world for His people."

A prominent imperial planetologist/ecologist of Arrakis and sietch leader. She is also the Judge of the Change, nominally charged with reporting to the Imperium on the progress of the Harkonnen-Atreides handover of Arrakis.

Adaptational Badass: In the book, Kynes was captured and abandoned to a slow, painful fate. Here, not only does Kynes go out on her own terms, but she takes her attackers with her.
Adaptational Nice Guy: This version of Liet is much more helpful and friendly than the aloof novel version.
Defiant to the End: She is lethally wounded by two Sardaukar who accuse her of having betrayed the Emperor. Liet-Kynes proudly declares herself to be loyal to only one master — Shai-Hulud, the great sandworm and doesn't show fear when they're swallowed up alongside their attackers by it a few seconds later.
Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the book, Liet-Kynes dies after being abandoned in the desert by the Harkonnen for his involvement in Paul and Jessica's escape, where thirst and heat-induced deliriums make him imagine his father and his plans to transform Arrakis into a garden paradise. He has the realization that he delivered his Fremen into the hands of a real Chosen One, a terrible fate for a people, and a hint the story will not follow the typical good-prince-ousts-evil-usurper trope, but something darker. In the movie, the female Liet-Kynes is stabbed by Sardaukar before getting on a sandworm, but she pulls a Taking You with Me and the soldiers that killed her are eaten by the worm as well. Her film death scene omits the realization in the book.
Gender Flip: Is played by Sharon Duncan-Brewster in this adaptation, whereas the character was male in the original novel.
Go Out with a Smile: Smiles when the sandworm swallows her and the Sardaukars.
Going Native: An imperial ecologist, she becomes accepted as one of the Fremen and considers herself to be one of them.
The Lost Lenore: Paul is able to deduce that she fell in love with a Fremen warrior who died in battle.
Ms. Exposition: Her main purpose is to introduce the audience to the particularities of the Dune world.
Native Guide: Part of her job is to help familiarize House Atreides with their new fief, since she's an Imperial who's lived on Arrakis long enough to be accepted as a Fremen.
Race Lift: In the book, Kynes's race isn't described beside a mention that he is blonde and the fact that he has a red-haired daughter, implying the character is supposed to be white, or at least Northern African. Certainly, Kynes was previously played by white actors Max von Sydow and Karel Dobrý. In comparison, Sharon Duncan-Brewster is black.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Kynes was ordered by the Emperor to turn a blind eye to the fact that the Atreides were essentially set up and then wiped out, but she breaks her neutrality by helping Paul, Jessica and Duncan to escape, and then plans to go to the Landsraad to tell them the truth of what happened. Shame that the Sardaukar caught up with her...
Surprisingly Sudden Death: After leaving Paul and Jessica, she deploys a thumper and produces a couple of maker hooks, so it looks like she's going to ride a worm to safety, when she's impaled by a Sardaukar blade.
Taking You with Me: Cornered and wounded by three Sardaukar, Kynes goes out thumping on the sand to attract the worm she'd hoped to ride, which devours Kynes and her attackers.
Unrelated in the Adaptation: Her male book counterpart is said to be Chani's father. There is no mention of any relation between Kynes and Chani in the film, and the former is killed before Paul and Jessica even meet the latter.
You Didn't See That: She is the person who is tasked to determine and report whether the handover of Arrakis is done properly, and without foul play. However, she was ordered by the Emperor to not only turn a blind eye to the fact the Harkonnens left the Atreides no good equipment to harvest spice with, but to also ignore the blatantly obvious fact that the Emperor's own elite soldiers are openly supporting the Harkonnen attack against the Atreides.

Jamis

"May thy knife chip and shatter."

Played By: Babs Olusanmokun ^{Other Languages}Claudi Domingo (SP, Spain)

Appearances: Dune: Part One | Dune: Part Two^notespirt only

"The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience. A process that cannot be understood by stopping it. We must move with the flow of the process. We must join it. We must flow with it."

A Sietch Tabr tribesman. He contests the integration of Paul Atreides and Jessica in the sietch and demands a ritual duel to the death to get rid of them.

Adapted Out: His wife Harah and their children go unmentioned, as Paul is never given them as his prize for defeating Jamis as they were in the original novel.
Adaptational Intelligence: Based on Paul's visions, where there was a future where Jamis becomes a mentor to him, and what we see of this paints him as a philosopher and wise figure. This is very far from the Jamis in the book, who is described as a great fighter but with a poor temper and anger issues, and whose main contribution to Sietch Tabr is as muscle. Stilgar notes Jamis' temper as a major flaw that prevents him from being a leader (and would probably have made him a poor mentor).
Alas, Poor Villain: While an antagonistic figure to Paul, his death is still a tragedy. Especially since Paul's visions showed that had things gone just a little differently, Jamis would have been his best friend and mentor.
Bond Villain Stupidity: He had a shot at Paul after kicking him off, but he just stands and shouts instead. This is likely because Paul has just essentially delivered a deathblow to Jamis but not gone through with it; Jamis knows that he has lost and that it was only that Paul hadn't yet gained the resolve to kill a person, or even worse, that he's playing with him, that the duel is still ongoing.
Bullying a Dragon: He demands a duel against the outsiders, first against Jessica (who has just demonstrated she can easily defeat Stilgar), and when told he can't challenge her, Paul. The duel against Paul proves so one-sided Stilgar openly questions if Paul's just toying with him.
The Cameo: His spirit talks to Paul in the sequel during the third act before the latter decides to travel south.
Dies Wide Open: His eyes are wide open while dying. Stilgar closes them for him.
Disc-One Final Boss: Quite literally, as Paul's Duel to the Death with Jamis essentially concludes the first half of the story and causes Paul to grow one step closer to adulthood.
Disproportionate Retribution: Paul knocks him aside as he scrambles up a slope to provide covering fire for his mother as she holds Stilgar hostage. This insult combined with his existing distrust of those not of his tribe causes him to defy his own leader's orders to back down so he can challenge Paul to a duel.
Dramatically Missing the Point: During their fight, Paul immobilizes Jamis and demands that he yield. He doesn't know that giving up is not allowed, but Jamis doesn't know this in turn, so the Fremen subsequently goes ballistic upon believing Paul is just taunting him in an absolutely twisted way.
Either/Or Prophecy: In Paul's visions, Jamis either becomes his mentor, or Paul dies by his hand. Paul kills him in a duel.
Jerkass: Jamis spends his screentime being blunt, aggressive, and antagonistic to both strangers and his own naib, with only Paul's visions of a possible future showing a softer side to him.
Magical Negro: He first appears to Paul in visions, offering advice that is both spiritual and practical. Unfortunately, this is not the case in reality, as his rigid pride prevents him from accepting Paul and Jessica into the sietch.
Oh, Crap!: When Paul first gets the better of Jamis during their duel (and does so rather quickly at that), Jamis' expression shows that he realizes just how much he's underestimated the young Duke and fears he may have bitten off more than he can chew.
Posthumous Character: The second film opens with Stilgar's troop returning to Sietch Tabr carrying Jamis' body, then performing a funeral ritual. He later reappears a couple of times in Paul's visions. His vision is the one that convinces Paul to travel south.
Prophecy Twist: One of Paul's visions of Jamis tells him that he will teach him the ways of the desert. When they finally meet in the climax of Part One, Jamis does indeed teach Paul. Their duel and Jamis' death at Paul's hands is the lesson. On Arakkis, the way of the desert is death and it's kill or be killed.
Screaming Warrior: He lets out primal yells multiple times at Paul during their duel.
Threshold Guardian: His death by Paul's hand marks the end of Paul's life as Duke Leto's son and the beginning of his life as Muad'Dib.
Underestimating Badassery: He thinks he'll make short work of Paul. Needless to say, it's the last mistake of his life.
Villainous Breakdown: Though not really a villain, he goes through this. As soon as it becomes clear in his duel with Paul that he is hopelessly outmatched (and especially after he believes Paul is callously taunting him by repeatedly parrying his attacks and holding the knife to Jamis' throat only to basically ask him to die), he begins screaming violently in an attempt to either psych himself up or unsettle his opponent long enough to find an opening. Though it might also be simple despair upon realizing that he's essentially doomed yet Paul doesn't even have the decency to release him by granting him an honorable death; his subsequent expression upon receiving the kill strike from Paul is peaceful and even relieved.

Shadout Mapes

"The tooth of shai-hulud"

Played By: Golda Rosheuvel ^{Other Languages}Kerygma Flores (SP, LatAm)

Appearances: Dune: Part One

"When you have lived with prophecy for so long, the moment of revelation is a shock."

A Fremen woman who is hired by Lady Jessica to act as the Atreides' housekeeper when they arrive on Arrakis.

Adaptational Name Change: In the book, "Shadout" is a title given to the head of a great family's housekeeping staff. In this film, it seems like "Shadout" becomes her actual first name.
Cool Sword: She's packing a crysknife, though rather than using it herself, she presents it to Jessica as a gift.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Duke Leto finds her fatally run through just before being attacked himself.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Despite the natural stoicism of the Fremen, she gives an anguished cry when she believes that Jessica really is the mother of The Chosen One the Fremen have waited so long for.

Shishakli

"Hey, Muad'dib, Don't embarass us! Call a big one!"

Played By: Souheila Yacoub

Appearances: Dune: Part Two

A member of the northern tribe who is a friend of Chani and fellow non-believer of the prophecy.

Ascended Extra: A bit character in the books. She receives more focus here as Chani's best friend and the audience's window into the more cynical northern Fremen subculture.
Composite Character: She's effectively several Fremen characters from the book combined into one. She has the male Shishalki's name, Harah's initial frostiness but growing respect for Paul, and her death at the hands of the Harkonnen to show things have escalated is similar to Paul and Chani's infant son.
The Cynic: She rejects the southern tribe's prophetic beliefs in the Lisan al-Gaib.
Death by Adaptation: There is no mention of her counterpart dying in the book. The film adds a small scene where she is killed by Feyd-Rautha during the latter's attack on the sietch.
Defiant Captive: After her capture, she refuses to tell the Harkonnens anything. Feyd accepts that she'll never talk and opts to use her death for entertainment rather than try to pry information out of her.
Face Death with Dignity: She stays behind to cover the Fremen escape from Sietch Tabr. She kills nine Harkonnen soldiers before being taken down, and stoically accepts her death without revealing any information about where her tribesmen went.
Fire-Forged Friends: Initially looks down on Paul but grows to respect him after he rides a grandfather sandworm. While not explicitly stated, it could be inferred that her death, caused by her helping the others escape, was a factor in causing him to decide that he could no longer avoid his visions and was a huge factor in him deciding to embrace the prophecy and radicalize the Fremen.
Gender Flip: Her book counterpart was male.
Heroic Sacrifice: She stays behind while Paul and the others flee south, and gets captured and killed by the Harkonnens.
Killed Offscreen: She is last seen with Feyd-Rautha pointing a flamethrower at her, with the scene cutting away just before he pulls the trigger.
Mauve Shirt: A textbook case — she's prominent enough and likable enough that, when Feyd kills her, it stings.
Plucky Comic Relief: Her blunt cynicism and teasing of Paul are generally used for levity in the otherwise bleak second film.
Shoo Out the Clowns: She serves as a Plucky Comic Relief throughout the second film, only to be killed by Feyd just as the film starts becoming darker and heading towards its bleak conclusion.
Vitriolic Best Buds: She initially looks down on Paul, but her genuine insults quickly become playful teasing and she quickly warms up to him.

Reverend Mother Ramallo

"DRINK!"

Played By: Giusi Merli

Appearances: Dune: Part Two

The old Reverend Mother of Sietch Tabr. She's dying, and Jessica is poised to replace her.

Adaptational Badass: Her film version is much more lucid and forceful than in the novel, not to mention she exerts more authority among her peers during the ceremony, and proves to have the Voice, strong enough to startle Jessica (in the novels, being a natural Reverend Mother rather than a trained Bene Gesserit, it's not even hinted that she has it).
Blind Seer: She is revealed to be blind when Jessica is introduced to her (although her eyes are still tainted blue).
Compelling Voice: She uses the Voice to compell a scared Jessica to drink the Water of Life.
Everyone Has Standards: While she may be uncaring of Jessica's reluctance to drink the water of life, using the voice to force her successor to do so before she is ready and watching on with satisfaction as Jessica begins convulsing, Ramallo's demeanor turns to horror when she realizes Jessica is pregnant.
High Priestess: Her job as the spiritual leader for the Fremen.
My God, What Have I Done?: She has this reaction when Jessica, who will replace her as Reverend Mother, goes through the process of drinking the Water of Life because she discovers too late that Jessica is pregnant.
Passing the Torch: She transfers all of her knowledge from previous Reverend Mothers onto Jessica via the Water of Life the latter drinks. The process (and also certainly her old age) kills her.

Other Arrakis beings

Shai-Hulud

Shai-Hulud / Sandworms

Appearances: Dune: Part One | Dune: Part Two

The gigantic worms roaming in the sands of Arrakis. The Fremen call them "Shai-Hulud" (meaning "Grandfather of the Desert"), worship them and use them as transportation.

Ambiguous Situation: The worm that pauses before it crushes Paul; was it simply drawn away by the sound of a Fremen thumper, or did it somehow recognize the Kwisatz Haderach?
Animalistic Abomination: Subverted. The Sandworms are deeply alien creatures and their blood grants psychic abilities, yet they're treated as mundane if dangerous wildlife by most characters.
Antlion Monster: As seen when Liet-Kynes summons one to kill the Sardaukar and herself, some don't even need to breach the sands to swallow their prey, appearing like a giant mouth emerging from below the sands.
Berserk Button: Shields are described as irritating the sand worms and driving them into a killing frenzy.
Bizarre Alien Biology: There is no way that such a colossal creature could exist, much less crawl through sediment at ridiculous speeds. They can feed on both the inorganic sediment and the many sand-plankton inside. Water is considered fatal to them, and they are the source of the spice melange.
- At the very least this adaptation does in the wizard a bit with their locomotion through the sands; sand worms make a constant subsonic vibration as they travel, both through their vocalizations and their general movements, which causes soil liquefaction, a phenomenon where vibrations can cause particularly loose or water-saturated ground to behave like a liquid. This often happens from the rumblings of earthquakes and can be powerful enough to swallow up roads and buildings without the ground actually cracking apart, so the sand worms generating a moving earthquake as they travel does the hard work of breaking up the sub-sand ground for them to dive into, and could go a way towards explaining why they are attracted by vibrations in the sand. However, if something as heavy as the sandworm entered a liquid-like state (without there being the benefits of actual aquatic lifestyles like buyuancy and water currents), then it would simply sink into the sand until it reached bedrock.
The Corruption: Their blood, referred to as the Water of Life, grants anyone who drinks it clairvoyance and near omniscience. However, it changes anyone who drinks it for the worse; Paul and Jessica become much more ruthless after doing so.
Extreme Omnivore: They'll eat just about anything they can catch, from individual humans to enormous spice harvesters to even younger members of their own kind. How they find enough food to support their massive bulk is a mystery.
Fast Tunnelling: They move very fast under the sands, hence the importance of having aircrafts specifically designed to lift the Spice-harvesting machines in the air or jet packs (for non-Fremen that is).
Giant Animal Worship: The Fremen deify these creatures, as heard when Liet-Kynes tells the Sardaukar who are about to kill her that she has only one master — Shai-Hulud, that is. There is great reverence for the beasts, spiritual symbols of the faith of the Fremen, physical embodiments of their One God.
Liet-Kynes: Bless the Maker and His water. Bless the coming and going of Him. May His passage cleanse the world. May He keep the world for His people.
Giant Eye of Doom: The baleen in their mouths surrounding a circular hole in the middle evokes a very giant eye, despite the worms themselves being blind.
Gigantic Adults, Tiny Babies: The adult Sandworms are huge enough to swallow most large vehicles whole. Meanwhile their larvae are the Sandplankton and Sandtrout, both of which are described as the size of krill and gloves respectively. The second film shows a very young worm, which already has the adults' shape but has the size of a big real life snake.
Horse of a Different Color: The Fremen have learned to ride them, which is established when Paul sees a Fremen riding a younger worm at the end of the first film. The second film shows that riding one for the first time is a Fremen Rite of Passage, and larger worms sometimes serve to carry Fremen caravans (such as the one accompanying the now-Reverend Mother Jessica in the South, with a palaquin to protect her from the sand storms). Although considering how gigantic they are, it's more of an Outside Ride thing (they can be steered by using hooks and ropes on their gill-like external organs).
It Can Think: They are capable of emotions like rage. Despite being large omnivorous worms with bad tempers, a scene appears where Paul and a sandworm meet face to face. The sandworm could easily crush him, but it does not, and the two part ways after it senses a Thumper being set off elsewhere.
Lamprey Mouth: They have a ring-shaped mouth with many baleen-like "teeth" that filter the sand. Denis Villeneuve went for that aesthetic instead of the usual "three pedipalps mouth" depiction◊ most previous Dune media and illustrations used. ^note
Monster Delay: It takes more than an hour into the first movie to see a sandworm in full, but the sheer impact of such a creature makes its mark.
Quicksand Sucks: The "soil liquefaction" effect that they create by moving causes this, preventing their prey from fleeing properly. A trio of Sardaukar find this out firsthand courtesy of Liet-Kynes.
Quizzical Tilt: Downplayed. At the desert when Paul and the sandworm meet face-to-face, the latter is slightly tilting its head to the side.
Rent-a-Zilla: They're massive (up to 400 meters long) worm-shaped creatures that are attracted by vibrations in the sand (including footsteps) and attack and swallow whatever causes them. Paul witnesses one of them eating a spice harvester, which is a rather big machine.
Sand Worm: Dune is the Trope Codifier, after all.
Starfish Aliens: The production team made them look more alien and primordial than any other adaptation, replacing the three-pronged jaw from their usual depictions with a jawless maw full of many baleen-like "teeth".
Weaksauce Weakness: The second film shows that submerging them in water will kill them instantly. Of course, that is quite difficult to do in a desert (the one that was killed was a young worm thrown into a pool).
Wormsign: In addition to the sand rippling over them and throwing off clouds of sand and dust as they approach, the vibrations of their movement causes soil liquefaction, essentially turning packed, walkable sand into quicksand. One change from the book is that they no longer seem to cause lightning to strike around them. In the book this occurs because the worms passing through the sand causes terrible charges of static electricity to form, thus making lightning one of the most obvious signs of a worm's presence.

Characters / Dune (Denis Villeneuve): Fremen

Fremen

Stilgar

Played By: Javier Bardem ^{Other Languages}

Appearances: Dune: Part One | Dune: Part Two