Characters / Dune (Westwood)

These are the characters from Dune II, Dune 2000 and Emperor: Battle for Dune.

Characters from the original book series can be found here.

For an index of the voice actors and voice actresses who have their own page on this wiki, see here.

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Main Houses

Atreides

The Atreides

One of the major Houses, hailing from the planet Caladan, a lush, oceanic world. They are ruled by the patriarch of the Atreides family, who takes the title of Duke.

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• Adaptational Heroism: While the Atreides are presented in an overall positive light in the books, they're not without flaws and are more of A Lighter Shade of Grey rather than a Knight in Shining Armor faction. The videogames makes them straight up good guys who want to conquer Arrakis to protect it from the evil Harkonnen and Ordos and want to use the spice "for the good of all".
• Blue Is Heroic: The only good faction in the games and has blue as primary colour. This is an inversion from the books where the Atreides sigil is a red hawk and Leto Atreides is known as the "Red Duke".
• Death from Above: In Dune 2000, the Atreides can call an Ornithopter air strike after upgrading their High-tech factory.
• Faction Calculus: The Atreides are the Balanced faction, with moderately powerful, average speed and decently armored but versatile units. Their Sonic Tanks can serve as an effective anti-infantry, anti-vehicle and siege weapon. In Dune 2000, this is also reflected in their Combat Tank: the Atreides variant is the most average of all, having average armor, speed and rate of fire.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Post-Dune 2000, relations between the Atreides and Fremen are strained until an enemy assault on Caladan during a diplomatic meeting between the two helps them iron things out. Notable in that Duke Achillus himself fights on foot in the mission where this occurs, probably a big reason the Fremen decide the Atreides are worthy allies.
• The Good Kingdom: The Atreides are the only unambiguously good faction of the games. Compared to the insidious Ordos and the violent Harkonnen, the Atreides dynasty was always composed of just and wise rulers, and Duke Achillus is no exception. Even if they aspire to control Arrakis and the spice, they're genuinely concerned for the Fremen, with whom they try to restore the now-broken trust and forge a new alliance.
• Good is Not Nice: While the Atreides are by far the most morally good faction, they're not to be trifled with either. Fail too much and they'll offer your water to the Fremen as a gesture of goodwill.
• Paradise Planet: Caladan is a lush and fertile ocean planet.

Dune 2

Cyril

• Blue Is Heroic: As Mentat of the noble House Atreides, he wears a blue garment.
• Bookshelf of Authority: Remove "-shelf" from the trope; the book he's shown always holding in his arm fuels his image as a wise Mentat.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: He has blond hair and is a very gentle, compassionate Mentat.

Dune 2000

Noree Moneo

Played by: John Rhys-Davies

• Captain Ersatz: Of Thufir Hawat, though with a hit of Adaptational Attractiveness.
• Deadly Euphemism: At your second briefing, he orders you to "persuade" the Harkonnen to flee the Imperial Basin, remarking that you've got to be "very persuasive".
• Gunpoint Banter: After Fremen Kari somehow frees herself from the restraint chair, the following briefing has her keeping Noree at knifepoint as he attempts to brief you.
• Killed Offscreen: Only in the Harkonnen campaign; his corpse is subsequently plundered by the Harkonnen for intelligence. In the others, his fate is not mentioned.

Emperor: Battle for Dune

Duke Achillus

Played by: Michael Dorn

• Better to Die than Be Killed: If a Harkonnen player chooses to invade Caladan, Harkonnen troops will find the already dead body of Achillus, who chose to commit suicide rather than grant the Harkonnen the pleasure of capturing and torturing him. In the Ordos campaign, however, his fate is unknown.
• Benevolent Boss: Unlike Rakan or the Executrix, he is not bringing in a new strategist because he killed the previous one and comments that the new commander looks promising and eager to learn (as opposed to the other two, who threaten the commander upon arrival). If the commander performs poorly, he threatens only to dismiss them; however, the distrust from the Fremen caused by the commander's failures forces Achillus to hand them over to the Fremen as a gesture of goodwill. And when Mentat Kolinar Koltrass offers his resignation over not forseeing the Guild's betrayal, Achillus refuses it and tells him to not "play the fool".
• Big Good: He's the leader of the Atreides, the only morally white faction of Emperor.
• Captain Ersatz: Downplayed. He's one of Duke Leto Atreides in broad lines, being The Good King and the leader of the only unambiguously good faction of the setting. Beyond that however, the absence of equivalents for Paul Atreides or Jessica leads Duke Achillus to have a very different role compared to Duke Leto: Duke Achillus remains alive through the campaign and eventually becomes Emperor of Arrakis. Also, he's subject to Race Lift, being Black instead of dark Caucasian.
• The Good King: Just, caring and wise ruler of House Atreides.
• Hero Antagonist: Being the leader of the only undoubtedly good faction, he fulfills this role if the player chooses the Ordos or the Harkonnen.
• You Have Failed Me: Despite being the only Benevolent Boss of the game, if the commander performs horribly he'll have no choice but to hand them over to the Fremen as a gesture of goodwill. They intend to kill the commander to gain their water.

Mentat Kolinar Koltrass

Played by: Nicholas Worth

• Captain Ersatz: Of Mentat Thufir Hawat, bearing a very close resemblance of the character in Dune (1984).
• Casting Gag: When presenting the trade offers from Ix or Tleilaxu he closes with "The choice is yours"... the same words he used to threaten the American people as Premier Romanov.
• Facial Markings: He displays the expected red marked lips which characterise Mentats.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: A minor case. When Atreides frigates are being attacked on the Guild Heighliner and the Guild gives the Atreides permission to defend themselves, he suggests actively destroying the Harkonnen and Ordos frigates. Such Collateral Damage is easily attributed to the chaos of battle, after all.
  Kolinar: There are also Harkonnen and Ordos frigates on that ship. It is quite possible that some of them might... disappear. In the chaos of the battle. (smug smile).
• Unusual Eyebrows: Very thick eyebrows.

Harkonnen

The Harkonnen

Hailing from the planet of Giedi Prime, a heavily industrialized planet, House Harkonnen is most famous for its underhanded and sinister political tactics, gaining power frequently by assassination. They maintain an ancient feud with the Atreides. The Harkonnen have a reputation for ambition, malevolence, hatred and brutality.

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• Cosmetically Different Sides: In Emperor, there's no gameplay difference between Gunseng and Copec's campaigns: the missions remain the same and the cutscenes' are almost identical, just with swapped roles and altered dialogues.
• Critical Existence Failure: Averted in Dune 2 and Dune 2000, where their units will slow and fire slower at low health. In Emperor however, an Harkonnen vehicle will move at full speed and fire at full efficiency even at critical health, making this a straight example.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: The Harkonnen love doing this, but they enjoy doing it more to their enemies. This is far more displayed in Emperor than in the previous games, when they go invade either Caladan or Draconis IV, the Baron (either Copec or Gunseng at this point) specifically orders to bring Duke Achillus or the Executrix alive to him, to have them tortured slowly to death, to his great pleasure.
• The Empire: A militarist, oppressive empire where cruelty, backstabbing and absolute disregard for human life are the norm.
• Faction Calculus: The Harkonnen are the Powerhouse Faction, with powerful and heavily armored but slow and pretty straight-forward units. Their Devastator (Tank in Dune 2/Dune 2000, Mech in Emperor) perfectly reflects that. In Dune 2000, this is also reflected in their Combat Tank: the Harkonnen variant has the toughest armor by far but the slowest rate of fire (but not by much) and is the slowest.
• Fire-Breathing Weapon: In Emperor, the Harkonnen extensively use incendiary weapons such as Flamethrower Infantry, Flame Tanks and Flame Turrets.
• Industrial World: Giedi Prime, to the point of being an entire planetary Polluted Wasteland.
• No Cure for Evil: Zigzagged in Emperor. The Harkonnen cannot heal their units directly but they can gain self-healing if they gain enough veterancy levels (two of the three maximum levels). Averted in Dune 2/Dune 2000 where they have the Repair Pad like the other two Houses.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: The evilest faction of the games has red as their primary colour with brown, black and other dark tones as secondary colours.
• Red Is Violent: The Harkonnen aren't simply evil: they're violent, bloodthirsty and Ax-Crazy.
• Villain Protagonist: If the player chooses them.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: In the cutscene following the defeat of either Gunseng or Copec, the victorious brother will attempt to brief the commander on the following mission, while being only slightly bothered by the defeated brother moaning as he is tortured in the specially designed Ixian chair.
  Gunseng: "Brother, please! I'm trying to have a conversation here! <sighs, annoyed> I'll have to contact you later when it's a little less NOISY!"
  Copec: "A few minor complications, but overall, a lovely day! <Slasher Smile> Just lovely."
• You Have Failed Me: If the commander performs horribly, he'll be tortured for days from the Baron before having his heartplug removed.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Implied. The Harkonnen ending is the only one where the Commander is glaringly absent; considering the House's nature, it's reasonable to assume they were disposed of once the Golden Lion Throne was in House Harkonnen's hands.

Dune 2

Radnor

• Bald of Evil: Completely bald and Mentat to the evil Harkonnen.
• Klingon Promotion: The manual says that he murdered the previous Harkonnen Mentat and took his position.
• Prayer Pose: He appears in this position, which further fuels his sinister nature.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: It's not particularly glaring, but is the result of his red garment and his large, pitch black eyebrows.
• Sinister Schnoz: A noticeable large nose for a mean Mentat.
• Smug Smiler: Has this perpetually printed on his face.

Dune 2000

Hayt De Vries

Played by: Robert Carin

• Artificial Human: He's a ghola, a human created in a Tleilaxu vat out of the flesh of corpses.
• Blood Lust: After removing the heartplug from the captive Fremen woman, he sucks the blood on it.
• Captain Ersatz: Of Piter De Vries and the similarity between them is uncanny, especially compared to the one from Dune (1984). Beside sharing the surname, they're physically almost identical and show the same frantic, nervous mannerism and gesticulation.
• Desecrating the Dead: Slaps in the face and toys with the corpse of Mentat Noree Moneo.
• Evil Smells Bad: The captive Fremen woman comments that he stinks like a corpse. He's aware of it and doesn't care.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: He gets very touchy with the captive Fremen woman.
• Meaningful Name: Is called Hayt and belongs to one of the most vicious, hate-driven factions in the game. Hayt is also the name of the first named ghola in the Dune books.
• Motor Mouth: Downplayed, but speaks notably quickly next to the other Mentats. Most notable in his introductory cutscenes, with his rapid recitation of the Mentat mantra and subsequent threats to the player.
• Unusual Eyebrows: Very thick and curved eyebrows.

Emperor: Battle for Dune

Baron Rakan

Played by: Michael Mc Shane

• And Your Reward Is Clothes: During the course of the campaign he grows impressed and decides to award you... a shipment of slaves. Which serve literally no gameplay purpose. It's all reduced to that single cutscene.
• Blood Lust: A deleted scene has him licking with excitement the blood of the heartplug removed from the previous commander.
• Captain Ersatz: Of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. Unlike the original, gravely obese and needing an anti-gravity device to carry around his weight, Baron Rakan is only overweight and can walk on his own, though he suffers from failing health. Also, he shows no sign of Depraved Homosexual, and his two heirs are his own sons instead of nephews.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Downplayed: he really should have expected one of his sons to eventually betray him. Still, he's shocked when he realises he's been poisoned by Copec.
• Evil Redhead: Red-haired and ruler of the Always Chaotic Evil Harkonnen.
• Fat Bastard: Head of a Always Chaotic Evil house, checks several evil tropes, and is overweight.
• Hollywood Heart Attack: Has one shortly after the Mentat Yanich Kobal introduces him to the new commander.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: That's how he threatens Mentat Yanich when first seeing the commander:
  "If this one performs as badly as the last one I'll have you strangled along with it."
• Pet the Dog: At first, Baron Rakan is very unimpressed at seeing the Commander. But after a few successful missions, he grows appreciative of the Commander and rewards him with a shipment of his own personal slaves. While this serves no gameplay purpose, it is a quite a nice gesture from him.
• Suddenly Shouting: When Gunseng dares to question this orders to attack the Atreides/Ordos forces aboard the Heighliner, Rakhan goes from speaking to angrily shouting for Gunseng to obey him or be replaced.

Prince Copec

Played by: David Reynolds

• Cain and Abel: At first he appears as Cain with Gunseng being Abel: Copec is the less capable than his brother and is clearly envious towards him. He then takes the first step in treachery when he poisons their father. The trope however can be subverted if the player sides with Gunseng, who will torture and kill Copec, and for the rest of the campaign will prove to be hardly any better than him.
• Captain Ersatz: To Glossu Rabban: he's the Fat Idiot, older heir to House Harkonnen and nearly identical in appearance as Rabban from Dune (1984). The rivalry with his brother however is an original trait.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Should the player side with Gunseng, Copec will be put on an Ix chair designed to torture him for weeks before he dies. Torture methods include electric shock and drills.
• Desecrating the Dead: Angered over Duke Achillus having killed himself with poison, to avoid the capture and torture from the Harkonnen, he throws the body on the floor and orders that he's resurrected as a ghola, so that he can be tortured over and over again.
• Fat Idiot: Has strokes of it, being far less outwardly competent and more whiny than his brother, throwing a tantrum over not being assigned to Arrakis and having to take care of his father's needs. Despite this, he also shows signs of intelligence in some areas - he's smart enough to use an untraceable poison to kill the Baron, and orders that Gholas be made of the enemy leaders so that he can torture them, rather than torturing the soldiers who killed them.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Has a moment of this when he finds out Duke Achillus committed suicide to avoid capture and torture: he whines and gives kicks around like a child.
• Self-Made Orphan: He murders his father Baron Rakan with a colourless, odourless Tleilaxu poison poured in his food.

Prince Gunseng

Played by: Joel Christian

• A Lighter Shade of Black: A very Downplayed case, but he's trusting of the commander's potential and shows him respect, obeys without question his father's orders, performing admirably when he's sent to Arrakis and is sceptical of violating the Great Convention (though he ultimately doesn't hesitate doing so); finally, he's appalled at discovering that his brother poisoned their father.
• Cain and Abel: Zigzagged: Even though Copec is more overtly treacherous and poisons their father, Gunseng has no qualms about defying his power and, should he be successful, leaving Copec to be tortured for days before dying.
• Captain Ersatz: To Feyd-Rautha: the lanky, blond, younger and much more competent heir of House Harkonnen, plus bearing a striking resemblance to Feyd-Rautha from Dune (1984). The rivalry with his brother however is an original trait.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Should the player side with Copec, Gunseng will be put on an Ix chair designed to torture him for weeks before he dies. Torture methods include electric shock and drills.
• Death by Irony: A trifecta of it - The Ix chair was ordered by and designed to his specifications, intended for use on Copec. If you side against him, Gunseng is the one put in the chair by Copec. The latter even lampshades the irony of the situation.
• Desecrating the Dead: Angered over Duke Achillus having killed himself with poison, to avoid capture and torture by the Harkonnens, he throws the body on the floor and empties an entire clip into it.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: The Ix chair Gunseng is put in if Copec wins their civil war is in fact designed following Gunseng's instructions. Copec even lampshades it with a big smile on his face.
  Copec: "Delicious irony."
• Kick the Dog: Despite being a minor example of A Lighter Shade of Black, he's so angered at the discovery that his troops burned the Ordos palace along with the Executrix, whom he wanted alive to be tortured, that he orders to torture the soldiers who burned the palace instead, for denying him the pleasure.
• Lean and Mean: Compared to the Fat Bastard that is his father and his brother. Of course, less weight doesn't come with less evil.
• Mythology Gag: In The Dune Encyclopedia, Gunseng Harkonnen is the father and predecessor of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (who's the youngest son), and died poisoned by his other son during a banquet.
• Pragmatic Villainy: He shows skepticism when he's ordered to attack enemy frigates before they land on Arrakis, as that would be a violation of the Great Convention. Though he ultimately proceeds with it when Baron Rakan remains adamant and Copec calls him "baby brother".
• Spiteful Spit: Gives one when Copec poisons their father and declares himself Baron, though Copec laughs it off as being greeted in accordance with local Dune custom ("a gift of your water, isn't that the expression?").
• White Hair, Black Heart: He has light blond hair contrasting with his brother and his father's red hair. He's still just as cruel and brutal, just slightly smarter and better at hiding it.

Mentat Yanich Kobal

Played by: Vincent Schiavelli

• Captain Ersatz: Downplayed. He can be compared to Piter de Vries in the role, but it was Hayt De Vries from Dune 2000 who truly resembled the original Harkonnen Mentat, both in appearance and mannerism.
• Facial Markings: He displays the expected red marked lips which characterise Mentats.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • His smug smile drops quite quickly when the Baron threatens to have him strangled along with the commander should they fail him.
  • When Yanich ends up on the receiving end of the Baron's temper at Draconis IV or Caladan, he's visibly quite rattled even before the Baron starts physically threatening him.
• Perpetual Frowner: Downplayed - his default expression seems to be a frown, but he does repeatedly smile (ranging from Psychotic Smirks to Slasher Smiles) in cutscenes.
• You Have Failed Me: He's almost victim to this when the Heighliner strands the Harkonnen at Caladan or Draconis IV: the Baron (at this point Copec or Gunseng) threatens Yanich to find immediately a solution. He comes up with a plan to have the Harkonnen armies brought secretly back to Arrakis with the help of the Arrakeen Smugglers' guild. It works and he's spared.

Ordos

The Ordos

A mercantile House whose home was an ice-covered planet, Sigma Draconis 4, in the Sigma Draconis star system. House Ordos was most famous for its smuggling of forbidden Ixian technologies into their home planet, and for the wealth that makes them paranoid, but powerful.

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• A Fate Worse Than Death: Failing commanders are decapitated and have their head kept artificially alive on a podium, so that they can be used as an example to future officers.
• Animal Motif: The Ordos as a whole are associated with snakes, symbolic of their tendency toward manipulative behaviour and cold-blooded pragmatism.
• Bad Boss:
  • Dune 2000 has them test a type of Ixian nerve gas on Edric O (the NPC mentat).
  • Practically every speech they give in Emperor ends with an unsubtle intimation that you'll be made an example of if you fail them, and their punishment for failure is incredibly harsh compared to the other two Great Houses'.
• Canon Immigrant: House Ordos was not in the books, only mentioned in the now non-canon Dune Encyclopedia. They were added in the game to be the in-between of the Atreides and the Harkonnen.
• Deadly Gas: Poisonous gas is widely employed by the Ordos by the time of Emperor, through Chemical Troopers and Gas Turrets.
• Expy: To House Corrino as well as to the Harkonnens based on their portrayal in the books.
• Faction Calculus: The Ordos are the Subversive faction, relying on relatively weak, highly mobile but cheap units to overwhelm their opponent. Their Deviator tanks perfectly reflect their subversive nature. In Dune 2000, this is also reflected in their Combat Tank: the Ordos variant is the fastest, both in speed and rate of fire but has the weakest armor of the three.
• Greed: They're obsessed with the concepts of profit, efficiency, contracts and success. Their language even has over three hundred words for "profit" and none for "Trust" or "Honour".
• Green and Mean: Green faction and, since Emperor, a veritable villainous faction.
• Hover Tank: In Emperor, the Ordos have three of them in their arsenal : the Laser Tank, their APC and the Deviator.
• Language Equals Thought: As the introduction to House Ordos in Emperor mentions:
  In the language of the Ordos, there are no words for the concepts of 'trust' or 'honour'. There are more than three hundred for the concept of 'profit'.
• Mad Libs Catchphrase: Ordos Mentats, with the exception of Ammon, tend to conclude their sentences with phrases that start with "That is".
• No Name Given: Their own home world had no name in Dune 2 and Dune 2000. Not the case anymore in Emperor, their homeworld is named Draconis IV.
• Regenerating Health: In Emperor, all of the Ordos' vehicles have self-healing by default. The downside of that is if the vehicle is hit on its armor by any weapons (even as weak as a pistol shot), it will slow considerably for a few seconds.
• Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Draconis IV is a massive arctic planet.
• Snakes Are Sinister: The Ordos' symbol is a snake, signifying their cunning, cold and deceiving nature.
• Token Minority: Their Earth roots are implied to be in China, due to the desert of the same name, while the Atreides and Harkonnen hail from Greece and Russia/Finland, respectively. It's also worth noting that the mentat from Emperor is East Asian.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In Dune II and 2000, the Ordos were at worst a selfish faction merely interested in profit and the control of Arrakis, not excessively malicious but beyond any moral pretense. In Emperor however they're just a few steps below the Harkonnen in terms of villainy, with the extensive use of forbidden technologies and A Fate Worse Than Death reserved to commanders who fail being examples.
• Villain Protagonist: If the player chooses them.

Dune 2

Ammon

• Badass Arm-Fold: His constant position.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Dune 2000 manual reveals that he was accused of embezzlement and executed after the events of Dune 2. This makes him the only Mentat from Dune 2 whose whereabouts are elaborated.
• The Team Normal: Unlike Edric (a cyborg at the very least) and Roma (a young woman instead of an older man and lacking a Mentat's usual eccentricities), Ammon is a more typical specimen of Mentat.
• Token Good Teammate: Downplayed, but since the Ordos in Dune 2 are a far less morally perverse faction than they are in the sequels, it comes unsurprising that their only character here is far less cruel and malicious.

Dune 2000

Edric O

Played by: Richard Marcus

• Ambiguously Human: It's unclear whether Edric O is a cybernetically enhanced Mentat, an Artificial Human or a Mechanical Lifeform that looks human. All that's known for sure is that enough of him is organic that he can get high on and addicted to Spice and doesn't count as a "thinking machine," but even that raises the question of whether he's human or ghola. Edric offhandedly states that he is Ixian technology during one briefing, further fuelling the ambiguity of his humanity.
• Bad Boss: Calmly threatens to put the player commander in a pain amplifier for the rest of their life if they fail to restore Spice production.
• Bald of Evil: Not a lock of hair on his head. Likely it's to better handle tinkering with the hardware of his brain.
• Brain/Computer Interface: While he's having nerve gas tested on him by his superiors, he manages to upload his own consciousness on a widescreen while his body flinches and shakes.
• Catchphrase: He punctuates all orders with "That is the mission" and all advice with "That is advice." He also uses variations of this when threatening the player character or intoxicated by Spice.
• Cool Chair: He spends all of his time sitting on a robotic chair. It seems he's completely connected to it due to his cybernetic nature and the fact that he's never seen once in a different place.
  • It's the very same chair that was designed by H.R. Giger, and was meant to appear in Jodorowsky's Dune.
• Creepy Monotone: He speaks robotically, with short and to the point sentences that show no emotion. Which further fuels the ambiguity of his "humanity".
• I Am Legion: He sometimes refers to himself in plural.
  Edric O: My name is Edric O. Mentat to the House Ordos. We will brief you on your mission.
• Kick the Dog: Threatens to put the player in a pain amplifier if they fail to restore Spice production.
• Technicolor Eyes: As the campaign progresses, he develops blue iris and sclera because of Spice exposition.
• Vader Breath: At first, he breathes heavily at every few sentences. He gradually drops it as he's slowly intoxicated by the Spice.
• Voice of the Legion: As effect of the Spice exposition, his voice slowly becomes deeper and gains a reverb.

Emperor: Battle for Dune

Executrix Council

Voiced by: Gregg Berger, Diane Michelle, Neil Ross, Susan Silo

• Amazing Technicolor Population: The Speaker has green skin.
• Hive Mind: The Executrix is comprised of four entities, sitting on fluctuating chairs and sharing a single mind, all connected to a creature called "The Speaker" through which they communicate.
• Humanoid Abomination: The Speaker looks like a tall human with green skin, almost white irises, an odd black stone set into its forehead, numerous cables trailing out of its bald head, and some kind of speaker-like device attached to its mouth. It's unclear what exactly it is, if a Human Alien, an Artificial Human or a Cyborg.
• I Am Legion: Being the union of four different beings, they refer to themselves through the "we/us" pronouns.
• Kill It with Fire: If the Harkonnen invade Draconis IV, it's confirmed that the Executrix were burned alive along with the great hall, despite the Baron's order to have them captured alive. It's implied they died in a similar fashion if the planet was invaded by the Atreides, but not outright confirmed.
• Mouth of Sauron: The Speaker is a weird green-skinned humanoid who's connected to the Executrix and vocalises their thoughts.
• Shadow Dictator: If they emerge victorious from the War of Assassins, they'll put in charge of the Imperium a ghola clone of the late Emperor Corrino, while remaining de facto rulers of the empire behind the throne.
• Starfish Language: When the Speaker is talking, an unintelligible mutter can be heard along the English-speaking voices of the Executrix. It could be implied it's the Speaker's native tongue, if it has any.

Mentat Roma Atani

Played by: Minae Noji

• Catchphrase: Similar to Edric O, she tends to conclude her sentences with "That is the directive," or "That is the imperative."
• Contrasting Replacement Character: While Edric O was an emotionless and Ambiguously Human Mentat (being capable of Brain Uploading, it's unclear if he was a sophisticated android or a human with cybernetic implants), Roma Atani is a consciously calculating and cruel servant of the Ordos ruled by the barely-human Executrix.
• Dragon Lady: A cold, ruthless woman mentat portrayed by a Japanese-American actress.
• Foil: She contrasts the other Mentats of Emperor, and of the Dune universe in general. While most mentats are plain looking middle-aged men with weird mannerisms or facial traits, Roma Atani is a young woman, calm and collected, and lacks the red marked lips or Unusual Eyebrows most other Mentats have.
• Oh, Crap!: When the Executrix's Great Hall comes under attack from malfunctioning Tleilaxu weapons, her tone is much more urgent and emotive than in the rest of the campaign. Particularly notable considering that she maintains her calm even when the Spacing Guild betrays House Ordos.
• The Stoic: Generally maintains a level, calm demeanour and tone, with little in the way of emotion whenever she speaks.
  • Not So Stoic: When the Executrix comes under threat, Atani is visibly unsettled and breaks her usual calm to shout orders at the Commander.
• Token Minority: The only female and non-Caucasian Mentat of Emperor.

Sub houses

Sardaukar

The Sardaukar

• Animal Motif: Lions. Their sigil resembles a lion's head, and they serve an Emperor who sits on the Golden Lion Throne. Appropriate, considering the way that the lion traditionally symbolizes ferocity, loyalty, and regality.
• Code of Honor: In Emperor, the Sardaukar are motivated by their strong sense of honor. This is probably why they will go against the Guild's Emperor Worm as the Spacing Guild attempts to seize the throne without even fighting on the war.
• Death World: Salusa Secundus, which doubles as a Penal Colony as well, is a hostile world and the perfect place of training the Imperial Sardaukar. This is consistent with the books.
• Elite Mook: Each Sardaukar soldier is incredibly tough and armed with powerful weapons.
• Final Boss: In the campaign of Dune 2 and Dune 2000, regardless of the House chosen by the player, the Emperor and his Sardaukar will always be your final opponent.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: The Sardaukar Caid in Emperor - he immediately smells a rat when the Corrino Ghola is introduced, rather than immediately bowing down as his direct superior does, and stops his commander from absentmindedly ingesting a poisoned drink by recognising an unfamiliar servant.
• I Fight for the Strongest Side!: The main reason why they join the War of Assassins in Emperor, holding that the strongest House is worthy of the throne. They will automatically offer their support to the player's House when it invades one of the others two Houses' Capital on Arrakis.
• More Dakka: The Imperial Shock Trooper seen in Dune 2000 and Emperor is armed with a heavy machine gun capable of killing any infantry in one shot.
• Praetorian Guard: The Sardaukar serve as elite army of the Padishah Emperor. In Emperor, with Emperor Corrino dead, they are left without purpose and they will ally themselves to the House they judge the strongest, to serve a new Padishah Emperor.
• Properly Paranoid: Turns out that the Caid had good reason to be suspicious of the Corrino Ghola — it's genetically programmed to serve and obey House Ordos, rather than being the Emperor as he was.
• Space Marine: The Sardaukar in the games wear heavy armor. In Dune 2000 and Emperor, they wear distinctive black armor with a green square visor, echoing their portrayal in Dune (1984).
• Sword and Gun: The Elite Sardaukar in Emperor has a lasgun and a sword, the latter of which can One-Hit Kill any infantry close to them.
• Trial by Combat: In Emperor, they intend to subject the three Houses to this by letting them battle over Arrakis, to evaluate them and then ally with the one they judge the strongest.

Fremen

The Fremen

• Badass Native: The native people of Arrakis and very capable of fighting. Considering what Arrakis is, it is not hard to see why they are like this.
• Beast of Battle: The Fedaykin Warrior can set up a "thumper," which summons a sandworm that they can use into battle.
• Cold Sniper: The Fremen Warrior in Emperor.
• Human Resources: An essential part of Fremen culture consists of reprocessing the bodies of their dead to obtain water. As disgusting as it sounds, this is necessary in a Thirsty Desert such as Arrakis, where water is drammaticaly scarce.
• Invisibility Cloak: All Fremen warriors in Dune 2000 and Emperor are stealthed.
• Make Me Wanna Shout: The Fedaykin Warrior in Emperor is armed with a weirding module, like in the David Lynch film.
• Spiteful Spit: Inverted: For the Fremen, spitting is a gesture of utmost respect, interpreted as "offering their own water" to someone else.
• Technicolor Eyes: Exposure to the Spice since their birth stains their sclera and iris of an intense blue.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: By the end of the Emperor campaign, they will find themselves forced to side with the Harkonnen or the Ordos to stop the Guild's plot and the Emperor Worm.
• Thirsty Desert: The planet of Arrakis.

Ix

The House of Ix

• Arch-Enemy: To the Tleilaxu in Emperor, due to radical doctrinal differences and their competition in the scientific fields.
• Action Bomb: Their Infiltrators.
• Foil: To the Tleilaxu. They are a fascist, technocratic House, in which the scientist elite rules and the Ixians provides mechanical, highly advanced technological units. This contrasts the Tleilaxu, who are religious fanatics that believe machines are evil and provide biological weapons, mutants units created from their Flesh Vats. They hate each other too.
• Invisibility Cloak: Their Infiltrators are stealthed.

Tleilaxu

The Bene Tleilax

• Arch-Enemy: To the Ixians in Emperor.
• Artificial Human: The gholas are created from the reprocessing of human corpses, then sold as expendable foot soldiers. There's even a clone of the late Emperor Corrino to serve as a Puppet King in the case of the Ordos' victory.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Both of their units are hyper-specialised to fight one type of enemy : the Contaminator is great a mutating an army of infantry but is useless against anything else and the Leech can infect any vehicle but cannot do anything against anything else. Both also share a weakness to defensive structures and airborne units.
• Double Agent: In Emperor, they've been bought by the Guild before the game even starts. Any alliance you make with them is temporary and they'll always betray you by the final mission, if not before.
• Foil: To the Ixians. See the Ixians entry above.
• Humanoid Abomination: Their Contaminator is a mutant created from their Flesh Vats, capable of transforming any infantry in another Contaminator.
• Organic Technology: The Tleilaxu rejects conventional machinery and chooses instead to produce their own creation out of organic resources.
• Spawn Broodling: The Tleilaxu units, Contaminators and Leeches, attack infantry and vehicles respectively and convert them into more of themselves.

Spacing Guild

The Spacing Guild

• Final Boss: They serves as this for the Emperor campaign by engineering the Emperor Worm, regardless of the House chosen by the player.
• Shock and Awe: In Emperor, their units' attacks are displayed as a form of lightning attack.

Others

The Bene Gesserit

Lady Elara

Played by: Musetta Vander

The Bene Gesserit concubine and advisor of Emperor Corrino. She appears in both Dune 2000 and Emperor.

• Compelling Voice: A common skill for a Bene Gesserit.
• Small Role, Big Impact: While she only appears sparely in cutscenes, Lady Elara is responsible for secretly shipping the Commander to Arrakis in Dune 2000. This results in the fall of Emperor Corrino by the House chosen by the player. This trope is even more pronounced in Emperor where she appears even less, by killing Corrino, she starts the War of Assassins of the second game.
• Treacherous Advisor: She is seen by Emperor Corrino's side most of the time as his advisor. But in reality, she is plotting his demise. She even kills him personally.

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