Dune Messiah is a 1969 science fiction novel by American writer Frank Herbert, the second in his Dune series of six novels. A sequel to Dune (1965), it was originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in 1969, and then published by Putnam the same year. Dune Messiah and its own sequel Children of Dune (1976) were collectively adapted by the Sci-Fi Channel in 2003 into a miniseries entitled Frank Herbert's Children of Dune.
A player character is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not controlled by a player are called non-player characters (NPCs). The actions of non-player characters are typically handled by the game itself in video games, or according to rules followed by a gamemaster refereeing tabletop role-playing games. The player character functions as a fictional, alternate body for the player controlling the character.
Paul Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is a main character in the first two novels in the series, Dune (1965) and Dune Messiah (1969), and returns in Children of Dune (1976). The character is brought back as two different gholas in the Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson novels which conclude the original series, Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007), and appears in the prequels Paul of Dune (2008) and The Winds of Dune (2009). According to Brian Herbert, Frank Herbert's son and biographer, House Atreides was based on the heroic but ill-fated Greek mythological house of Atreus.
Dune is a 1965 epic science fiction novel by American author Frank Herbert, originally published as two separate serials in Analog magazine. It tied with Roger Zelazny's This Immortal for the Hugo Award for Best Novel and won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966. It is the first installment of the Dune Chronicles. It is one of the world's best-selling science fiction novels.
Duncan Idaho is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He was introduced in the first novel of the series, 1965's Dune, and became a breakout character. He was revived in 1969's Dune Messiah. He is the only character to feature in all six of Herbert's original Dune novels.
Lady Jessica is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. A main character in the 1963–65 novel Dune, Jessica also plays an important role in the later installment Children of Dune (1976). The events surrounding Jessica's conception, her birth and her early years with Leto are chronicled in the prequel trilogies Prelude to Dune (1999–2001) and Caladan (2020–2022) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. The character is brought back as a ghola in the Herbert/Anderson sequels which conclude the original series, Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007).
Alia Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. She was introduced in the first novel of the series, 1965's Dune, and was originally killed in Herbert's first version of the manuscript. At the suggestion of Analog magazine editor John Campbell, Herbert kept her alive in the final draft. Alia would next appear as a main character in both Dune Messiah (1969) and Children of Dune (1976). The character is brought back as a ghola in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson conclusion to the original series, Sandworms of Dune (2007).
Chani is a fictional character featured in Frank Herbert's novels Dune (1965) and Dune Messiah (1969). Known mainly as the Fremen wife and legal concubine of protagonist Paul Atreides, Chani is the daughter of Imperial Planetologist Liet-Kynes and his Fremen wife Faroula, and later the mother of the twins Ghanima and Leto II Atreides. The character is later resurrected as a ghola, appearing in Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007), Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's novels which complete the original series.
Frank Herbert's Dune is a 2000 science fiction television miniseries, based on the 1965 novel of the same title by Frank Herbert. It is written for the screen and directed by John Harrison, and stars Alec Newman as Paul Atreides, William Hurt as Duke Leto Atreides, and Saskia Reeves as Lady Jessica, along with Ian McNeice, Julie Cox, and Giancarlo Giannini. It was an international co-production between the American cable network Syfy, and companies in Germany, Canada, and Italy. This is the second overall filmed adaptation of Herbert’s novel, following the 1984 film directed by David Lynch, and preceding Denis Villeneuve’s two-part film adaptation.
Princess Irulan is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. She first appears in Dune (1965), and is later featured in Dune Messiah (1969) and Children of Dune (1976). The character's birth and early childhood are touched upon in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999–2001) by Herbert's son Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson, and she is a principal character in the Herbert/Anderson series Heroes of Dune (2008–2009).
Dune is an American science fiction media franchise that originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert and has continued to add new publications. Dune is frequently described as the best-selling science fiction novel in history. It won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel and the Hugo Award in 1966 and was later adapted into a 1984 film, a 2000 television miniseries, and a two-part film series with the first film in 2021 and a sequel in 2024. Herbert wrote five sequels, the first two of which were concomitantly adapted as a 2003 miniseries. Dune has also inspired tabletop games and a series of video games. Since 2009, the names of planets from the Dune novels have been adopted for the real-world nomenclature of plains and other features on Saturn's moon Titan.
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen is a fictional character in the 1965 science fiction novel Dune by Frank Herbert. He is the younger nephew and heir of the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, and is depicted as being cruel, treacherous and cunning, though not as much so as his uncle.
A sacrificial lamb is a metaphorical reference to a person or animal sacrificed for the common good. The term is derived from the traditions of the Abrahamic religions where a lamb is a highly valued possession.
A Christ figure, also known as a Christ-Image, is a literary technique that the author uses to draw allusions between their characters and the biblical Jesus. More loosely, the Christ figure is a spiritual or prophetic character who parallels Jesus, or other spiritual or prophetic figures.
Frank Herbert's Dune is a 2001 Adventure video game based on the 2000 Sci Fi Channel miniseries of the same name. The game was not a commercial or critical success, and was one of the last games by Cryo Interactive, which went bankrupt shortly after the game's failure.
Epic is a narrative genre characterised by its length, scope, and subject matter. The defining characteristics of the genre are mostly derived from its roots in ancient poetry. An epic is not limited to the traditional medium of oral poetry, but has expanded to include modern mediums including film, theater, television shows, novels, and video games.
The Dune prequel series is a sequence of novel trilogies written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert, the novels take place in various time periods before and in between Herbert's original six novels, which began with 1965's Dune. In 1997, Bantam Books made a $3 million deal with the authors for three Dune prequel novels, partially based upon notes left behind by Frank Herbert, that would come to be known as the Prelude to Dune trilogy. Starting with 1999's Dune: House Atreides, the duo have published 15 Dune prequel novels to date.
An evil empire is a speculative fiction trope in which a major antagonist of the story is a technologically advanced nation, typically ruled by an evil emperor or empress, that aims to control the world or conquer some specific group. They are opposed by a hero from more common origins who uses their guile or the help of an underground resistance to fight them. Well-known examples are the Galactic Empire in Star Wars, which forms as a result of a fascist auto-coup which abolishes the liberal-democratic Galactic Republic and is opposed by the Rebel Alliance including Luke Skywalker, as well as the Empire of the Known Universe in Dune, whose Emperor plots the downfall of House Atreides, and is opposed by Paul Atreides.
