Sardaukar
Encyclopedia
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al fanatical army from 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...
's 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...
, primarily featured in the 1965 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 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...
, as well as 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...
's 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....
prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
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...
(1999–2001).
Background
The Imperial Sardaukar are soldier-fanatics loyal to the Padishah EmperorPadishah 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:...
s of House Corrino
House Corrino
Imperial 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...
, who ruled the Known Universe (the Imperium) for over 10,000 years until the events of the first novel in the series, Dune. The key to House Corrino's hold on the Imperial throne, the Sardaukar troops are the foremost soldiers in the universe and are feared by all. They are secretly trained on the devastated Salusa Secundus
Salusa Secundus
Salusa 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...
, the Imperial Prison Planet, as the harsh conditions there ensure that only the strongest and most "ferocious" men survive. It is noted of Salusa that "the mortality rate among new prisoners is higher than sixty percent." Sardaukar training emphasizes ruthlessness, near-suicidal disregard for personal safety, and the use of cruelty as a standard weapon in order to weaken opponents with terror. In Dune, a Sardaukar Colonel sneers at Dr. Yueh
Wellington Yueh
Dr. Wellington Yueh is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is primarily featured in the 1965 novel Dune, but also appears in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
's mere mention of the word "pity". Of the elite fighters it is noted that "The commonest Sardaukar trooper lives a life, in many respects, as exalted as that of any member of a Great House." Their uniforms are described as gray with silver and gold trim.
Dune
As Dune begins, the 81st Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV
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...
has put Duke Leto Atreides
Leto Atreides I
Duke Leto Atreides I is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He features in the novel Dune by Frank Herbert and in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson....
in control of the desert planet
Desert planet
A desert planet is a single-biome planet on which the climate is mostly desert, with little or no natural precipitation. Desert planets are known to exist; Mars is often considered a prime example. Indeed, many terrestrial planets would be considered desert planets by this definition...
Arrakis
Arrakis
Arrakis — 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...
, known as Dune, which is the only natural source of the all-important spice melange, the most valuable commodity in the known universe. Leto is aware that Shaddam, threatened by the rising power and influence of 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...
, has sent him into a trap; failure to meet or exceed the production volume of their predecessors, the vicious House Harkonnen
House 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...
, will negatively affect the financial and political position of the Atreides. Further, the very presence of the Atreides on Arrakis inflames the 10,000-year-old feud between Houses Atreides and Harkonnen. A subsequent surprise attack on the Atreides by Harkonnen troops — bolstered by two legions of Sardaukar in Harkonnen colors – and made possible by a traitor on the inside results in the decimation of the Atreides forces, and the death of Leto. His 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:...
Lady Jessica and son Paul
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...
escape and find refuge with the native Fremen
Fremen
The Fremen are a group of people in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. First appearing in the 1965 novel Dune, the Fremen inhabit the desert planet Arrakis and are based on the desert-dwelling Bedouin and Kalahari Bushmen. In Herbert's novels, Arrakis is the sole known source...
of Arrakis, a fierce people with secretly large numbers and fighting skills rivaling the Sardaukar. The Fremen prove capable to holding their own against the Sardaukar, and are even able to defeat and capture the "undefeatable" Emperor's soldiers. Paul's training in 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...
weirding way and galvanization of their rebellion under his command makes the newly-allied Fremen forces unstoppable.
Using the Bene Gesserit compulsion technique called the Voice, Paul himself manages to compel the Sardaukar Captain Aramsham to humiliate himself by surrendering. However, Aramsham's Sardaukar stoicism is so great that he will not even give his name until Paul uses the Voice again. Aramsham, the epitome of a loyal soldier, finally submits to his sworn enemy, symbolically sealing the doom of the old Corrino order. When, following the Battle of Arrakeen, Paul tells a captured Sardaukar officer (of the "blond, chisel-featured caste" said to be "synonymous with rank" in the Sardaukar) to bring a message to the Emperor, he at first stoically ignores Paul; only Paul's warning that "your Emperor may die" causes the captured officer to agree to take the message. The defeat of the Sardaukar and Paul's stranglehold on the spice supply allows him to depose Shaddam, marry his eldest daughter Princess Irulan, and ascend the throne. Paul indicates that he would order the restoration of the ecology of Salusa Secundus as part of his plan to exile Shaddam and his family to the devastated world.
Children of Dune
During the events of Children of DuneChildren of Dune
Children of Dune is a 1976 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, third in a series of six novels set in his Dune universe. Initially selling over 75,000 copies, it became the first hardcover best-seller ever in the science fiction field...
(1976), Princess Wensicia, younger daughter of Shaddam IV, initiates a plot for her family and the Sardaukar to return to power. By this time, Paul has allowed the Corrinos to retain only a relatively small Sardaukar force. He has improved conditions on Salusa under the guise of making the planet more hospitable for the exiled Corrinos, but with the intent to render it an ineffective training ground for more soldiers. Seeing this motive, Wensicia's son Farad'n
Farad'n Corrino
Farad'n Corrino is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He appears in Herbert's 1976 novel Children of Dune, and his infancy is chronicled in the 2008 interquel Paul of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J...
has tried to maintain the strict discipline which keeps the Sardaukar at their best. However, Wensicia's efforts fail, Farad'n voluntarily surrenders the army to the new Emperor, Paul's son Leto Atreides II
Leto Atreides II
Leto Atreides II is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Born at the end of Dune Messiah , Leto is a central character in Children of Dune and is the title character of God Emperor of Dune . The character is brought back as a ghola in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J...
.
God Emperor of Dune
The text of God Emperor of DuneGod Emperor of Dune
God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert published in 1981, the fourth in the Dune series. It was ranked as the #11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly.-Plot introduction:...
notes that during the 3,500-year reign of Leto II after the events of Children of Dune, one of Leto II's many gholas (clones) of Duncan Idaho
Duncan Idaho
Duncan Idaho 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 became a breakout character as the readers liked him and was revived by Herbert in 1969's Dune Messiah...
had led the remnants of the Sardaukar in an unsuccessful revolt. This revolt, the Sardaukar's original defeat on Arrakis, and the general decline of the Sardaukar organization had all finally resulted in Leto II's abolishment of the Sardaukar corps. Their replacements are the all-female Fish Speakers, Leto II's personal army, who had Sardaukar blood in their veins. Leto believed that male-dominated military organizations were essentially predatory and would turn on the civilian population in the absence of an external enemy, and had "a strong tendency toward homosexual activities."
The Dune Encyclopedia
The Dune Encyclopedia (1984), written by Dr. Willis E. McNellyWillis 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....
to accompany the Dune books, was authorized by Frank Herbert but somewhat contradicted by him in subsequent works and declared 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...
by his estate. The Encyclopedias two articles on the Sardaukar note that the Sardaukar battle flag is plain black, and that those who became Sardaukar had once been members of a warlike ethnic group on Salusa Secundus called the Sardau. Another article on an "Aramsham, Otto" mentions that after the fall of the Corrino dynasty, the captain writes books hearkening back to the glory days of the Sardaukar. One is called The Sardaukar Strike! and another is called Sardaukar Victorious; the article goes on to say that he ended his life by suicide, unable to adjust to new realities.
Dune games
The Sardaukar appeared in the Dune RTS games. In Dune IIDune II
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty is a Dune computer game released in 1992 by Westwood Studios...
(1992) and Dune 2000
Dune 2000
Dune 2000 is a real-time strategy video game, released by Westwood Studios in 1998 for Microsoft Windows, and later ported to the PlayStation. It is a partial remake of Dune II, which is also based on Frank Herbert's Dune universe. The story of the game is similar to Dune II, and is continued in...
(1998) they served as House Corrino's infantry in the single player campaigns, although in Dune 2000 they could also be trained by a Harkonnen player in a multiplayer game. In Emperor: Battle for Dune
Emperor: Battle for Dune
Emperor: Battle for Dune is a Dune video game, released by Westwood Studios on June 12, 2001. It is based in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe....
they are one of the five sub-factions.