Hasimir Fenring
Encyclopedia
Count Hasimir Fenring is a fictional character
in the Dune universe
created by Frank Herbert
. He is featured in the science fiction
novel
Dune
by Frank Herbert, and is also a key character in the Prelude to Dune
trilogy
by Brian Herbert
and Kevin J. Anderson
.
The Appendix IV: The Almanak en-Ashraf (Selected Excerpts of the Noble Houses) in Dune states:
In Dune, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
describes Fenring as "a killer with the manners of a rabbit ... the most dangerous kind." Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen
has this impression of Fenring: "a small man, weak-looking. The face was weaselish with overlarge dark eyes. There was gray at the temples. And his movements — he moved a hand or turned his head one way, then he spoke another way. It was difficult to follow." In her work In My Father's House (referenced via an epigraph
in Dune), Shaddam's daughter Princess Irulan later writes of Fenring: "My father had only one real friend, I think. That was Count Hasimir Fenring ... one of the deadliest fighters in the Imperium." She goes on to describe him as "a dapper and ugly little man."
The non-canon
Dune Encyclopedia (1984) by Willis E. McNelly
invents an extensive, alternate biography for Fenring.
and House Atreides
(he previously had been the Imperial Agent on Arrakis during the Harkonnen regime). As Padishah Emperor
Shaddam's chief counsellor, Fenring is frequently described as "the Emperor's errand boy" in the novel. Baron Harkonnen refers to Fenring as "Ambassador to the Smugglers", indicating Shaddam IV's interest in spice smuggling operations on Arrakis. Fenring is later the Siridar-Absentia of the Atreides homeworld of Caladan while the Atreides occupy Arrakis.
During a subsequent visit to the Harkonnen homeworld of Giedi Prime
, Fenring's wife Lady Margot
, with his knowledge and following orders from the Bene Gesserit
, seduces Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in order to retrieve his genetic material (through conception) for the Bene Gesserit breeding program. Fenring seems complicit in the Bene Gesserit scheme, saying "I can see now why we must have that bloodline."
In Count Fenring: A Profile (referenced via epigraph in Dune), Princess Irulan writes of Fenring's relationship with her father, Shaddam IV:
When Shaddam is forced into a corner by Paul Atreides
in Dune, he and his Truthsayer, the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Mohiam
, realize "they had one weapon left and both knew it: treachery." Fenring is summoned. Shaddam orders him to kill Paul, but Fenring refuses his Emperor's wishes for the only known time: "The Count focused on Paul, seeing with eyes his Lady Margot had trained in the Bene Gesserit way, aware of the mystery and hidden grandeur about this Atreides youth." Paul represents the success of the Bene Gesserit breeding program of which Fenring himself is a failure. Paul himself notes, "Fenring was one of the might-have-beens, an almost Kwisatz Haderach
, crippled by a flaw in the genetic pattern — a eunuch
, his talent concentrated into furtiveness and inner seclusion."
According to Appendix IV: The Almanak en-Ashraf (Selected Excerpts of the Noble Houses) in Dune, Paul ascends the Imperial throne, Fenring joins Shaddam in his forced retirement on the prison planet Salusa Secundus and Fenring dies in 10,225 A.G.
to both her son Hasimir and Crown Prince Shaddam
. It is also noted that according to one source, Fenring's mother may also have been a sister to Elrood. Of her it is written in Dune: House Atreides
:
House Fenring, a House minor long allied with House Corrino, had been a significant part of the Bene Gesserit breeding program to produce the Kwisatz Haderach. Hasimir Fenring had been a prime candidate for this genetic potential, but this did not eventuate, in part due to Fenring developing into a genetic-eunuch. Nonetheless, the bloodline manipulations of the Bene Gesserit had produced a supremely intelligent and perceptive killer in Fenring:
Fenring is also known to have seduced both women and men to his own personal advantage, before meeting his Bene Gesserit wife, Lady Margot Fenring:
In Dune: House Atreides, the Imperial Concubines call Fenring "the Ferret" (and others see him that way as well) because of "his narrow face and pointed chin."
to create synthetic melange in order to remove dependence upon the planet Arrakis, by that time the only source of melange in the Known Universe.
Although Tleilaxu Master Hidar Fen Ajidica manages to create an artificial melange (called ajidamal, or amal) that seems to have the original's properties, it doesn't work properly. During the events of Dune: House Corrino
in 10,175 A.G., Fenring uses two Spacing Guild
heighliners to secretly test the synthetic melange. Disastrously, the first heighliner emerges from foldspace
at the wrong point, strikes the defensive shields of Wallach IX and plummets into the atmosphere to its destruction. The flawed spice also disrupts and confuses the thoughts, feelings and prescience of D'murr Pilru, the Navigator
of the second heighliner. Affected by the tainted melange, D'murr misguides his ship out of the Known Universe and collapses; with a fresh supply of real melange he is able to return the ship safely to Guild Headquarters before dying. All records and laboratories of Project Amal are destroyed by Fenring himself afterward when House Vernius
retakes the planet Ix
, and Shaddam later denies all knowledge of it.
When Shaddam starts to act without Fenring's counsel due to jealousy, he begins making grievous mishaps; namely, using atomic weapons and a biological plague, and threatening to destroy Arrakis ('Dune'). Eventually and with some reluctance, Shaddam again begins following Fenring's advice.
The following quotes and excerpts of Fenring's writings are referenced via epigraphs in the Prelude to Dune novels:
(2006), the first of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's two-part finale to the original Dune series, an ancient knife is discovered on the Atreides homeworld of Caladan that is covered in traces of Paul Atreides' blood. This genetic material is used by the Face Dancer Khrone to create a ghola of Paul, named Paolo, as part of the thinking machine
plot to dominate humanity.
In Sandworms of Dune
(2007), the dagger is used by Paolo in his duel-to-the-death with the Bene Gesserit's own Paul Atreides ghola. It is noted that, among the knife's many notable uses, "Hasimir Fenring stabbed Emperor Muad'Dib
with it and nearly killed him" sometime between the events of the novels Dune and Dune Messiah
(1969).
(2008). Between the events of Dune and Dune Messiah (1969), the Fenrings train their young child as both an assassin and a Bene Gesserit, but reject the interference of the Sisterhood itself in favor of their own plans for Marie to seize the Imperial throne from Paul Atreides. Marie is accepted into Paul's court as a playmate for his young sister Alia
; at a banquet with her visiting parents, six-year-old Marie and the Fenrings execute their well-planned assassination attempt on Paul. Alia manages to kill Marie, but Margot's revelation of her daughter's paternity surprises Paul enough to allow Hasimir to stab him near-mortally. Paul's concubine
Chani
uses the poisonous Water of Life
to help save him, and he lives; rather than kill the Fenrings, he banishes them to Salusa Secundus into permanent exile with Shaddam, whom they now loathe.
's 1984 film Dune
. However, Hasimir plays a minor part in the 2000 miniseries
Frank Herbert's Dune
, where he is portrayed by Miroslav Táborský
. His function here is more of an advisor to the Emperor. Additionally, some of Margot's actions are attributed to Princess Irulan (essentially the Fenrings' visit to Giedi Prime) as part of director
John Harrison
's expansion of Irulan's role.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Dune universe
Dune universe
Dune is a science fiction franchise which originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Dune is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history...
created by Frank Herbert
Frank Herbert
Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...
. He is featured in the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Dune
Dune (novel)
Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert, published in 1965. It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel...
by Frank Herbert, and is also a key character in the Prelude to Dune
Prelude to Dune
Prelude to Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe....
trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
by Brian Herbert
Brian Herbert
Brian Patrick Herbert is an American author who lives in Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Herbert....
and Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels...
.
The Appendix IV: The Almanak en-Ashraf (Selected Excerpts of the Noble Houses) in Dune states:
COUNT HASIMIR FENRING (10,133—10,225) A distaffDistaffAs a noun, a distaff is a tool used in spinning. It is designed to hold the unspun fibers, keeping them untangled and thus easing the spinning process. It is most commonly used to hold flax, and sometimes wool, but can be used for any type of fiber. Fiber is wrapped around the distaff, and tied in...
cousin of House CorrinoHouse CorrinoImperial House Corrino is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Corrinos come to power after mankind's victory against the thinking machines at the Battle of Corrin , and rule until deposed by Paul Atreides approximately 10,000 years later during the events...
, he was a childhood companion of Shaddam IVShaddam Corrino IVShaddam Corrino IV is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is Padishah Emperor of the known universe in Herbert's 1965 novel Dune. Shaddam's accession to the throne is chronicled in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.Born...
. (The frequently discredited Pirate History of Corrino related the curious story that Fenring was responsible for the chaumurky which disposed of Elrood IX.) All accounts agree that Fenring was the closest friend Shaddam IV possessed. The Imperial chores carried out by Count Fenring included that of Imperial Agent on ArrakisArrakisArrakis — informally known as Dune and later called Rakis — is a fictional desert planet featured in the Dune series of novels by Frank Herbert. Herbert's first novel in the series, 1965's Dune, is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and it is...
during the HarkonnenHouse HarkonnenHouse Harkonnen is a powerful noble family in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. The Harkonnens are featured prominently in the original 1965 novel Dune, and are also a major presence in both the Prelude to Dune and Legends of Dune prequel trilogies by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
regime there and later Siridar-Absentia of CaladanCaladanCaladan is a fictional planet in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert, first mentioned in the 1965 novel Dune.-Overview:Caladan, the third planet of Delta Pavonis, is the ancestral fiefdom of House Atreides, who have ruled it for twenty-six generations, from the ancient Castle Caladan...
. He joined Shaddam IV in retirement on Salusa SecundusSalusa SecundusSalusa Secundus is a fictional planet appearing in Frank Herbert's Dune universe. With harsh conditions rivaling those of the desert planet Arrakis, Salusa is used as the Imperial Prison Planet, and is one of two planets on which shigawire is grown .-Dune:In "Terminology of the Imperium," the...
.
In Dune, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
Vladimir Harkonnen
The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is primarily featured in the 1965 novel Dune, in which he is the secondary antagonist, and is also a major character in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
describes Fenring as "a killer with the manners of a rabbit ... the most dangerous kind." Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen
Feyd-Rautha
The na-Baron Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the science fiction novel Dune by Frank Herbert.The younger nephew of the cruel, powerful and cunning Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, the dark-haired, 16-year old Feyd is as lean and muscular as the Baron is morbidly...
has this impression of Fenring: "a small man, weak-looking. The face was weaselish with overlarge dark eyes. There was gray at the temples. And his movements — he moved a hand or turned his head one way, then he spoke another way. It was difficult to follow." In her work In My Father's House (referenced via an epigraph
Epigraph (literature)
In literature, an epigraph is a phrase, quotation, or poem that is set at the beginning of a document or component. The epigraph may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison or to enlist a conventional...
in Dune), Shaddam's daughter Princess Irulan later writes of Fenring: "My father had only one real friend, I think. That was Count Hasimir Fenring ... one of the deadliest fighters in the Imperium." She goes on to describe him as "a dapper and ugly little man."
The non-canon
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
Dune Encyclopedia (1984) by Willis E. McNelly
Willis E. McNelly
Willis Everett McNelly was a professor and writer best known for The Dune Encyclopedia, the 1984 companion to Frank Herbert's classic Dune series of science fiction novels....
invents an extensive, alternate biography for Fenring.
Dune
In the events of Dune, Fenring serves as Governor of Arrakis during the handover period between House HarkonnenHouse Harkonnen
House Harkonnen is a powerful noble family in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. The Harkonnens are featured prominently in the original 1965 novel Dune, and are also a major presence in both the Prelude to Dune and Legends of Dune prequel trilogies by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
and House Atreides
House Atreides
House Atreides is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. One of the Great Houses of the feudal interstellar empire known as the Imperium, its members play a role in every novel in the series. It is suggested within the series that the root of the Atreides line...
(he previously had been the Imperial Agent on Arrakis during the Harkonnen regime). As Padishah Emperor
Padishah Emperor
Padishah Emperor is the title given to the hereditary rulers of the Old Empire in the science fiction Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.-Original series:...
Shaddam's chief counsellor, Fenring is frequently described as "the Emperor's errand boy" in the novel. Baron Harkonnen refers to Fenring as "Ambassador to the Smugglers", indicating Shaddam IV's interest in spice smuggling operations on Arrakis. Fenring is later the Siridar-Absentia of the Atreides homeworld of Caladan while the Atreides occupy Arrakis.
During a subsequent visit to the Harkonnen homeworld of Giedi Prime
Giedi Prime
Giedi Prime is a fictional planet in Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune. A planet of Ophiuchi B , it is the homeworld of the vicious House Harkonnen, the sworn enemies of House Atreides.-Description:...
, Fenring's wife Lady Margot
Margot Fenring
Lady Margot Fenring is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. She is featured in Herbert's Dune , and is a major character in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J...
, with his knowledge and following orders from the Bene Gesserit
Bene Gesserit
The Bene Gesserit are a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. The group is described as an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman powers and...
, seduces Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in order to retrieve his genetic material (through conception) for the Bene Gesserit breeding program. Fenring seems complicit in the Bene Gesserit scheme, saying "I can see now why we must have that bloodline."
In Count Fenring: A Profile (referenced via epigraph in Dune), Princess Irulan writes of Fenring's relationship with her father, Shaddam IV:
No woman, no man, no child ever was deeply intimate with my father. The closest anyone ever came to casual camaraderie with the Padishah Emperor was the relationship offered by Count Hasimir Fenring, a companion from childhood. The measure of Count Fenring's friendship may be seen first in a positive thing: he allayed the LandsraadLandsraadThe Landsraad is a fictional organization in Frank Herbert's Dune universe. It is the assembly of all noble Houses in the Imperium.-Overview:...
's suspicions after the Arrakis Affair. It cost more than a billion solaris in spice bribes, so my mother said, and there were other gifts as well: slave women, royal honors, and tokens of rank. The second major evidence of the Count's friendship was negative. He refused to kill a man even though it was within his capabilities and my father commanded it. I will relate this presently.
When Shaddam is forced into a corner by Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Paul is a prominent character in the first two novels in the series, Dune and Dune Messiah , and returns in Children of Dune . The character is brought back as two different gholas in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J...
in Dune, he and his Truthsayer, the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Mohiam
Gaius Helen Mohiam
Gaius Helen Mohiam is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. She is a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother, and initially appears in the 1965 novel Dune and its 1969 sequel, Dune Messiah. Mohiam also has a major role in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert...
, realize "they had one weapon left and both knew it: treachery." Fenring is summoned. Shaddam orders him to kill Paul, but Fenring refuses his Emperor's wishes for the only known time: "The Count focused on Paul, seeing with eyes his Lady Margot had trained in the Bene Gesserit way, aware of the mystery and hidden grandeur about this Atreides youth." Paul represents the success of the Bene Gesserit breeding program of which Fenring himself is a failure. Paul himself notes, "Fenring was one of the might-have-beens, an almost Kwisatz Haderach
Kwisatz Haderach
In Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe, Kwisatz Haderach is a term which refers to a prophesied messiah and superbeing. In the series, the Bene Gesserit, a matriarchal secret society, hope to create a male who can survive the deadly ritual spice agony that changes a capable female acolyte into...
, crippled by a flaw in the genetic pattern — a eunuch
Eunuch
A eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...
, his talent concentrated into furtiveness and inner seclusion."
According to Appendix IV: The Almanak en-Ashraf (Selected Excerpts of the Noble Houses) in Dune, Paul ascends the Imperial throne, Fenring joins Shaddam in his forced retirement on the prison planet Salusa Secundus and Fenring dies in 10,225 A.G.
Origins
The Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy establishes that Fenring had actually been born in 10,118 A.G.; his mother, Lady Chaola or Cirni Fenring, had been a Bene Gesserit and lady-in-waiting to Habla, the fourth wife of Shaddam's father, Padishah Emperor Elrood Corrino IX, and served as wet nurseWet nurse
A wet nurse is a woman who is used to breast feed and care for another's child. Wet nurses are used when the mother is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself. Wet-nursed children may be known as "milk-siblings", and in some cultures the families are linked by a special relationship of...
to both her son Hasimir and Crown Prince Shaddam
Shaddam Corrino IV
Shaddam Corrino IV is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is Padishah Emperor of the known universe in Herbert's 1965 novel Dune. Shaddam's accession to the throne is chronicled in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.Born...
. It is also noted that according to one source, Fenring's mother may also have been a sister to Elrood. Of her it is written in Dune: House Atreides
Dune: House Atreides
Dune: House Atreides is a 1999 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the first book in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place before the events of Frank Herbert's celebrated 1965 novel Dune...
:
His mother Chaola, an introspective lady-in-waiting, had settled into a quiet home and lived on her Imperial pension after the death of the Emperor's fourth wife Habla. In raising the two young boys together while she attended the Empress Habla, Chaola had given Fenring the chance to be so much more — almost as if she had planned it that way ... These days Chaola pretended not to understand what her son did at Court, though she was Bene Gesserit-trained. Fenring was wily enough to know that his mother comprehended far more than her station suggested, and that many plans and breeding schemes had gone on without his knowledge.
House Fenring, a House minor long allied with House Corrino, had been a significant part of the Bene Gesserit breeding program to produce the Kwisatz Haderach. Hasimir Fenring had been a prime candidate for this genetic potential, but this did not eventuate, in part due to Fenring developing into a genetic-eunuch. Nonetheless, the bloodline manipulations of the Bene Gesserit had produced a supremely intelligent and perceptive killer in Fenring:
Fenring was no stranger to assassination, and killed with his bare hands at least as often as he engineered accidents or paid for thugs. Sometimes he liked blood work, while on other occasions he preferred subtleties and deceptions. When he was younger, barely nineteen, he had slipped out of the Imperial Palace at night and killed two civil servants at random, just to prove he could do it. He still tried to keep in practice. — Dune: House Atreides
Fenring is also known to have seduced both women and men to his own personal advantage, before meeting his Bene Gesserit wife, Lady Margot Fenring:
Emperor Elrood IX, aware of Hasimir Fenring's deadly skills, had made use of him in a number of clandestine operations, all of which had been successful ... Over the years, Fenring had murdered at least fifty men and a dozen women, some of whom had been his lovers, of either sex. — Dune: House Atreides
In Dune: House Atreides, the Imperial Concubines call Fenring "the Ferret" (and others see him that way as well) because of "his narrow face and pointed chin."
Plot
Prior to the events of Dune: House Atreides, Fenring had murdered the Crown Prince Fafnir, older brother to Shaddam, to secure Shaddam's position as heir. The implication in the appendix of Dune that he was later also responsible for the death of Elrood IX is proven true in Dune: House Atreides, when Emperor Elrood IX dies in the year 10,156 A.G., assassinated by a slow-acting poison administered by Fenring on orders from Shaddam himself. Shaddam subsequently gives Fenring the title of Imperial Spice Minister and orders him to supervise Elrood's Project Amal. This project is an early attempt by the TleilaxuBene Tleilax
The Bene Tleilax or Tleilaxu are an extremely xenophobic and isolationist society in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. Genetic manipulators who traffic in biological products such as artificial eyes, gholas, and "twisted" Mentats, the Tleilaxu are a major power in the Imperium...
to create synthetic melange in order to remove dependence upon the planet Arrakis, by that time the only source of melange in the Known Universe.
Although Tleilaxu Master Hidar Fen Ajidica manages to create an artificial melange (called ajidamal, or amal) that seems to have the original's properties, it doesn't work properly. During the events of Dune: House Corrino
Dune: House Corrino
Dune: House Corrino is a 2001 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the third book in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place before the events of Frank Herbert's celebrated 1965 novel Dune...
in 10,175 A.G., Fenring uses two Spacing Guild
Spacing Guild
The Spacing Guild is an organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. With its monopoly on interstellar travel and banking, the Guild is a balance of power against the Padishah Emperor and the assembled noble Houses of the Landsraad...
heighliners to secretly test the synthetic melange. Disastrously, the first heighliner emerges from foldspace
Holtzman effect
The Holtzman effect is a fictional scientific phenomenon in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert, beginning with the 1965 novel Dune...
at the wrong point, strikes the defensive shields of Wallach IX and plummets into the atmosphere to its destruction. The flawed spice also disrupts and confuses the thoughts, feelings and prescience of D'murr Pilru, the Navigator
Guild Navigator
A Guild Navigator is a fictional humanoid in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Humans mutated through the consumption of and exposure to massive amounts of the spice melange, they are able to use a limited form of prescience to safely navigate interstellar space in a starship called a...
of the second heighliner. Affected by the tainted melange, D'murr misguides his ship out of the Known Universe and collapses; with a fresh supply of real melange he is able to return the ship safely to Guild Headquarters before dying. All records and laboratories of Project Amal are destroyed by Fenring himself afterward when House Vernius
House Vernius
House Vernius is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. They are featured in the prequel series Prelude to Dune and Heroes of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J...
retakes the planet Ix
Ix (Dune)
Ix is a fictional planet featured in the Dune series of science fiction novels written by Frank Herbert, and derivative works. In Dune it is noted that Ix is classed with the planet Richese as "supreme in machine culture," and that Ixian solido projectors "are commonly considered the best." In...
, and Shaddam later denies all knowledge of it.
When Shaddam starts to act without Fenring's counsel due to jealousy, he begins making grievous mishaps; namely, using atomic weapons and a biological plague, and threatening to destroy Arrakis ('Dune'). Eventually and with some reluctance, Shaddam again begins following Fenring's advice.
The following quotes and excerpts of Fenring's writings are referenced via epigraphs in the Prelude to Dune novels:
- The worst sort of protection is confidence. The best defense is suspicion. (Dune: House Atreides)
- In plotting any course of revenge, one must savor the anticipation phase and all its moments, for the actual execution often differs widely from the original plan. — Dispatches from Arrakis (Dune: House Atreides)
- Only fools leave witnesses. (Dune: House Atreides)
- There are obvious pressures of working in an environment where one isn't likely to survive even the smallest mistake. — The Rewards of Risk, written in exile (Dune: House Corrino)
Sandworms of Dune
In Hunters of DuneHunters of Dune
Hunters of Dune is the first of two books written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson to conclude Frank Herbert's original Dune series of novels....
(2006), the first of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's two-part finale to the original Dune series, an ancient knife is discovered on the Atreides homeworld of Caladan that is covered in traces of Paul Atreides' blood. This genetic material is used by the Face Dancer Khrone to create a ghola of Paul, named Paolo, as part of the thinking machine
Thinking machines (Dune)
Thinking machines is a collective term for artificial intelligence in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Butlerian Jihad a human crusade against thinking machines is an epic turning point in the back-story of the Dune universe...
plot to dominate humanity.
In Sandworms of Dune
Sandworms of Dune
Sandworms of Dune is the second of two novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson to conclude Frank Herbert's original Dune series of novels. They have stated that it is based on notes left behind by Frank Herbert for Dune 7, his own planned seventh novel in the Dune series...
(2007), the dagger is used by Paolo in his duel-to-the-death with the Bene Gesserit's own Paul Atreides ghola. It is noted that, among the knife's many notable uses, "Hasimir Fenring stabbed Emperor Muad'Dib
Muad'Dib
Muad'Dib is a desert mouse within Frank Herbert's Dune universe. It is also the name for a constellation of stars and is taken as a name by the first novel's hero, Paul Atreides.-Dune glossary:...
with it and nearly killed him" sometime between the events of the novels Dune and Dune Messiah
Dune Messiah
Dune Messiah is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the second in a series of six novels. It was originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in 1969. The American and British editions have different prologues summarizing events in the previous novel...
(1969).
Paul of Dune
Hasimir and Margot are raising Feyd and Margot's daughter — whom they have named Marie — as their own in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson interquel Paul of DunePaul of Dune
Heroes of Dune is a planned interquel tetralogy of novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The potential series was initially referred to as Paul of Dune by the authors as early as 2004....
(2008). Between the events of Dune and Dune Messiah (1969), the Fenrings train their young child as both an assassin and a Bene Gesserit, but reject the interference of the Sisterhood itself in favor of their own plans for Marie to seize the Imperial throne from Paul Atreides. Marie is accepted into Paul's court as a playmate for his young sister Alia
Alia Atreides
Alia Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Introduced in the first novel of the series, 1965's Dune, the character was originally killed in Herbert's first version of the manuscript. At the suggestion of Analog magazine editor John Campbell, Herbert kept...
; at a banquet with her visiting parents, six-year-old Marie and the Fenrings execute their well-planned assassination attempt on Paul. Alia manages to kill Marie, but Margot's revelation of her daughter's paternity surprises Paul enough to allow Hasimir to stab him near-mortally. Paul's concubine
Concubinage
Concubinage is the state of a woman or man in an ongoing, usually matrimonially oriented, relationship with somebody to whom they cannot be married, often because of a difference in social status or economic condition.-Concubinage:...
Chani
Chani
Chani is a fictional character featured in Frank Herbert's novels Dune and Dune Messiah . Known mainly as the Fremen wife and legal concubine of protagonist Paul "Muad'Dib" Atreides, Chani is the daughter of Imperial Planetologist Liet-Kynes and his Fremen wife Faroula, and later the mother of...
uses the poisonous Water of Life
Water of Life (Dune)
The Water of Life is a fictional drug from Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe.In Terminology of the Imperium, the glossary of the 1965 novel Dune, Herbert provided the following definition:...
to help save him, and he lives; rather than kill the Fenrings, he banishes them to Salusa Secundus into permanent exile with Shaddam, whom they now loathe.
Fenring in adaptations
Both Fenring and his wife Margot are omitted from David LynchDavid Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
's 1984 film Dune
Dune (film)
Dune is a 1984 science fiction film written and directed by David Lynch, based on the 1965 Frank Herbert novel of the same name. The film stars Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides, and includes an ensemble of well-known American and European actors in supporting roles. It was filmed at the Churubusco...
. However, Hasimir plays a minor part in the 2000 miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Frank Herbert's Dune
Frank Herbert's Dune
Frank Herbert's Dune is a 2001 3D 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 the last product by Cryo Interactive, which went bankrupt shortly after the game's failure.As Paul, the son of the Duke Atreides's...
, where he is portrayed by Miroslav Táborský
Miroslav Táborský
Miroslav Táborský is a Czech actor who has appeared on Czech television series, as well as in American movies....
. His function here is more of an advisor to the Emperor. Additionally, some of Margot's actions are attributed to Princess Irulan (essentially the Fenrings' visit to Giedi Prime) as part of director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
John Harrison
John Harrison (filmmaker)
John Harrison is a writer, director, producer and composer.Harrison was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. He graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a BS in Theater Arts. For several years after that, he performed on the road with his band Homebrew before moving back to Pittsburgh to take a...
's expansion of Irulan's role.