Technology of the Dune universe
Encyclopedia
The technology of the Dune universe is a key aspect of the fictional setting of the Dune series
of science fiction
novels written by Frank Herbert
, and derivative works. Herbert's concepts and inventions have been analyzed and deconstructed in at least one book, The Science of Dune (2008). Herbert's originating 1965 novel Dune
is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history. Dune and its five sequel
s by Herbert explore the complex and multilayered interactions of politics
, religion
, ecology
and technology
, among other themes.
The Butlerian Jihad
, an event in the back-story
of Herbert's universe, leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines
", a collective term for computers and artificial intelligence
of any kind. This prohibition is a key influence on the nature of Herbert's fictional setting. In Dune, ten thousand years after this jihad, its enduring commandment remains:
Atomics is the term used to refer to nuclear weapon
s in the Dune universe
. Like real-world nuclear weapons, atomics presumably derive their destructive force from nuclear reaction
s of fission
or fusion
, and Herbert notes that "radiation lingers" after their use. However, the author never delves into the specifics of the technology or explores in detail how it may have evolved by the time of Dune' s far-future setting.
In the initial Dune novels, the Great Houses of the Landsraad
own "family atomics" as heirlooms, keeping a secure, hidden cache as weapons of last resort in their wars. Though such possession is necessary to secure power, the use of atomics against humans violates the chief prohibition of the Great Convention, the "universal truce enforced under the power balance maintained by the Guild
, the Great Houses, and the Imperium." Paul Atreides
notes in Dune that "The language of the Great Convention is clear enough: Use of atomics against humans shall be cause for planetary obliteration." The atomics themselves act as a military deterrent
— any House which violates the Great Convention flagrantly (such as using atomics openly in warfare) faces the possibility of massive retaliation from any number of the other Houses. As Paul notes via epigraph
in Dune Messiah
(1969), "any Family in my Empire could so deploy its atomics as to destroy the planetary bases of fifty or more other Families."
One type of atomic weapon is the stone burner, the explosion and radiation of which can be precisely adjusted depending on the desired effect. Stone burners emit "J-Rays", a form of radiation that has a tendency to destroy the eye tissue of anyone surviving the initial radiation blast. If of sufficient power, a stone burner can burn its way into the core of a planet, destroying it:
to blast a pass through a wild desert mountain range called the Shield Wall. He considers this act to be in accordance with the Great Convention because the atomics are not used against humans, but rather against "a natural feature of the desert." A stone burner is used in an attempt to assassinate Paul in Dune: Messiah; he survives but is blinded for the rest of his life. In God Emperor of Dune
(1981), the God Emperor Leto II
notes that since his 3,500-year reign began he has "searched out all of the Family atomics and removed them to a safe place."
prequel
trilogy
by Brian Herbert
and Kevin J. Anderson
(1999–2001) it is revealed that a renegade House of the Landsraad had devastated the capital of the Corrino Padishah Empire
, Salusa Secundus
, with atomics and rendered the planet essentially uninhabitable. Padishah Emperor
Hassik Corrino III had relocated the Imperial throne to the planet Kaitain
, and the attacking House had been subsequently exterminated. During the events of the series in 10,175 A.G., Padishah Emperor
Shaddam Corrino IV
uses atomics to destroy House Richese
's artificial laboratory moon of Korona. Part of Shaddam's plan to ensure his own spice monopoly
, the explosion causes a quarter of the planet Richese's population to go blind from the resulting light produced by the destruction of the Richesian mirrors stored on Korona. Finally, the persecuted Earl Dominic Vernius plans to use atomics to attack Kaitain; when his hidden base on Arrakis is discovered by the Padishah Emperor's Sardaukar
army, Vernius ignites a stone burner to destroy himself and as many of the Sardaukar as he can.
The Legends of Dune
prequel series (2002–2004) establishes that the first human victory of the Butlerian Jihad
(the crusade against the thinking machines
) is the 200 B.G. destruction of Earth and the Earth Omnius using atomics. "Pulse atomics" calibrated for use against the gel circuitry of the thinking machines are also used at end of the war to systematically wipe out every single machine-controlled planet. It is this action, and the millions of human slaves who are killed in it, which ultimately leads to the ban on atomic warfare in the Great Convention; it is also the origin of the feud between the Harkonnens and Atreides.
Axlotl tanks are a fictional technology in the Dune universe
created by Frank Herbert
. Axlotl technology is also mentioned in Herbert's novels Destination: Void
and the The Jesus Incident
but not elaborated upon. The name is presumably derived from the axolotl
, an aquatic salamander native to Mexico
known for its regenerative abilities.
A trade secret
of the Tleilaxu
, an axlotl tank is a "device for reproducing a living human being from the cells of a cadaver," a type of clone
called a ghola. Later in the series, the axlotl tanks are engineered to be capable of also replicating the spice melange, previously only available on the desert planet
Arrakis
where it is created naturally as part of the life cycle of giant sandworm
s.
ghola. Their nature is a well-guarded Tleilaxu secret. During his 3500-year reign which ends in God Emperor of Dune
(1981), Leto II
purchases countless Idaho gholas produced for him in the tanks.
Within the 1500 years between the events of God Emperor of Dune and Heretics of Dune
(1984), the Tleilaxu discover an artificial method of producing the spice melange in their axlotl tanks as well. Some melange users, like the Bene Gesserit
, prefer the natural melange of Arrakis to the Tleilaxu substitute, claiming increased potency.
In Heretics of Dune, Miles Teg
recalls how his Bene Gesserit mother Lady Janet had said that "No one outside of [the Tleilaxu] planets has ever reported seeing a Tleilaxu female." Wondering whether the Tleilaxu breed or simply rely on the tanks to reproduce, Miles had asked, "Do they exist or is it just the tanks?" Janet confirmed that females do indeed exist. Later in Heretics, Teg's own daughter, Reverend Mother Darwi Odrade, theorizes that the axlotl tanks may be, in fact, "surrogate mothers" — Tleilaxu females somehow transformed. Soon, the current Duncan ghola recalls his repeated "births" from the tanks:
In Chapterhouse: Dune, the last remaining Tleilaxu Master Scytale
is coerced into revealing the means of creating the tanks to the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood.
prequel
trilogy
(1999–2001) by Brian Herbert
and Kevin J. Anderson
(the plot which occurs before the events of 1965's Dune
), the Tleilaxu attempt to create artificial melange called ajidamal using axlotl technology; the best results are gained by using a Bene Gesserit sister to create an axlotl tank. However, the project ultimately fails.
A cymek is a type of cyborg
, or machine-human hybrid, in the fictional Dune prequel universe
. They appear in the Legends of Dune
prequel
trilogy
(2002–2004) by Brian Herbert
and Kevin J. Anderson
. The only organic part of a cymek is its brain; in the series, living humans willingly have their brains transplanted into large mechanized bodies with the intent of extending life indefinitely.
(1965), a group of 20 ambitious humans see the stagnation of the Old Empire
and realize that their small band can take control of it with the aid of thinking machines
. Calling themselves the Titans
, they rule humanity for a hundred years and rename themselves after famous historical and mythological figures, most notably Agamemnon, Ajax, Barbarossa, Dante, Hecate, Juno, Tlaloc and Xerxes.
Ten years into their reign, their leader Tlaloc is killed in a freak accident. Realizing their mortality and limited lifespans, they seek a way to extend their lives. Juno is inspired by the cogitors, ancient philosophers whose brains had been installed in fluid-filled canisters so that they might analyze the universe indefinitely; they are living and retain awareness and consciousness, and the ability to communicate should they choose. The Titan Agamemnon is the first to become a cymek, his brain transplanted into a canister which, through special interfaces, is installed into a large, fearsome, and weaponized body. In cymek form, the remaining 19 Titans are virtually unstoppable, and continue their tyrannical rule of the universe for another 90 years. Growing complacent, the Titans are themselves overthrown and enslaved by Omnius, a sentient
computer network given too much autonomy; Omnius controls the universe for the next 900 years. The Titans recruit humans from the enslaved, Omnius-controlled "Synchronized Worlds" to become neo-cymeks, footsoldiers who could more fully understand human strategy and thought processes than machines.
A small group of worlds, united as the League of Nobles, resist the initial Titan rebellion and remain free from machine rule. With the thinking machines ever-persistent in their intent to enslave or destroy all humans, the League initiates the Butlerian Jihad
, mankind's century-long crusade against the machines. The humans are ultimately victorious, destroying Omnius, the Titans, the neo-cymeks and all thinking machine forces. With all thinking machine technology henceforth banned, new organizations arise, composed of humans who had developed specialized skills during the Jihad to replace and exceed technology, including the Spacing Guild
, Mentat
s, and the Bene Gesserit
.
created by Frank Herbert
. Like clone
s, they are "manufactured" human duplicates grown in an axlotl tank from cells collected from a deceased subject. Through specific stresses, gholas can be made to recall the memories of the original, including their moment of death. In Herbert's Dune
series, the technological process is developed and initially monopolized
by the Tleilaxu
; in later novels the process is also used by the Bene Gesserit
.
The first ghola featured in the series Hayt in 1969's Dune Messiah
is a resurrection
of the corpse of Duncan Idaho
. Later gholas are grown from a few cells, as in the case of subsequent Idaho gholas provided to Leto II
, as described in God Emperor of Dune
(1981). The Tleilaxu can control
their creations by forcing them into a hypnotic
state with some predefined sound (often a specific humming or whistling noise) that has been pre-conditioned into each ghola.
under post-hypnotic suggestion
. The attempt fails but, as hoped by the Tleilaxu, the stress of attempting to kill someone who was deeply loved in the ghola's previous life breaks the mental barrier between the ghola's consciousness and the life memories of the original. Hayt recovers the full memories of the original Duncan Idaho. The Tleilaxu are now able to offer Paul a similar ghola "resurrection" of his deceased beloved Chani
to gain leverage over him, but he refuses.
In God Emperor of Dune, over Leto II's 3,500-year reign he has, as constant companions, a series of Duncan gholas with restored memories of the original Idaho but not the memories of the previous gholas. They are perfectly reconstructed incarnations made from a few cells, created as needed in the time span of one to two years. In this novel, one of the Duncans recalls how, as a blank ghola, he was tasked to kill a Face Dancer duplicate of Leto's father and Duncan's friend, Paul, and the psychological stress awakened his memories. Fifteen hundred years later in Heretics of Dune
(1984), Leto is dead and the Bene Gesserit are the consumers of Duncan gholas. The current Idaho ghola recovers the memories of the original like his predecessors; however, the later attempt by the Honored Matre Murbella
to sexually imprint him results in his recovery of the memories of all his ghola incarnations. It is later determined that the Tleilaxu had mixed the cells from multiple Idaho gholas to make this one.
Though intense psychological trauma is the key to unlocking the memories of a ghola, the actual situation contrived to accomplish this is specific to each individual. With military genius Miles Teg
is killed in Heretics of Dune, a ghola of him is born in Chapterhouse: Dune (1985) on orders from Teg's own daughter, Bene Gesserit leader Darwi Odrade. His former memories are unlocked using sexual imprinting.
The discovery of how to reawaken a ghola has tremendous consequences for the Tleilaxu Masters themselves; they subsequently use the technology of axlotl tanks and memory recovery to grant themselves effective immortality. Every Master is "recreated" upon his death with recovered memories, accumulating many generations of knowledge and experience and permitting planning on a timespan of millennia
.
(1998), the Harkonnen
Mentat
is allegedly a ghola cloned from Tleilaxu flesh vats, and in Emperor: Battle for Dune
(2001), House Ordos
constantly deploy their own gholas in assassination and infiltration missions. This is particularly effective in tricking the Sardaukar
and Fremen
into allying with House Ordos. On a much larger scale, they plan to use a ghola of the now-deceased Corrino
Emperor
to claim the Golden Lion Throne, with the Executrix as the true leaders behind the so-called "puppet Emperor".
A heighliner is a type of fictional starship
used for interstellar travel
in the Dune universe
created by Frank Herbert
. These enormous spaceships are the "major cargo carrier of the Spacing Guild
's transportation system."
Duke Leto Atreides
speaks of them in Dune
(1965):
Heighliner operation requires both a Holtzman drive and a Guild Navigator
. The drive uses the Holtzman effect
to "fold space" and allow virtually instantaneous interstellar travel. The Navigator uses a limited form of prescience to find a safe path through folded space and guide the ship, which is made possible through the use of melange. Navigators are confined to giant tanks, completely immersed in highly-concentrated orange spice gas.
Unable to land, heighliners jump from point to point, parking in planetary orbits. Orbital ferries or interplanetary spacecraft load and unload the heighliner. Special laws govern travel aboard a heighliner; heighliners are considered neutral territory
and all acts of war aboard heighliners carry stiff penalties.
According to the Legends of Dune
prequel
trilogy
(2002–2004), heighliners are invented by Norma Cenva
during the Butlerian Jihad
. The Prelude to Dune
prequel trilogy (1999–2001) establishes that in subsequent millennia, the ships are manufactured on the planet Ix
. During the events described in the 2001 prequel Dune: House Corrino
, a heighliner is expertly spacefolded into a cavern under the surface of Ix, incapacitating an occupying army during the Atreides-led liberation of the planet. In the novel, heighliners are noted to be more than 20 kilometers long.
An Ixian Probe is a fictional device in Frank Herbert
's Dune universe
used to capture the thoughts of a person (living or dead) for analysis. Ixian Probes are mentioned in Herbert's Heretics of Dune
(1984).
As described in Heretics of Dune, the probe is an interrogation
device of Ix
ian manufacture which "can raid the mind even of a dead person." However, the substance shere blocks the effects of the probe, and will protect a person who has taken it even in death. The probe itself or how it works are not described, but when Miles Teg
sees a T-Probe for the first time, he believes it is an Ixian Probe. The T-Probe consists of a hood with a series of electrode
s attached to the skull, controlled by an operator; the notable difference is that shere has no effect against a T-Probe.
A lasgun is a fictional directed-energy weapon
in the Dune universe
created by Frank Herbert
. In Terminology of the Imperium, the glossary of the 1965 novel Dune
, Herbert provides the following definition:
The interaction of a lasgun beam and a Holtzman field results in subatomic fusion
and a nuclear explosion
. The magnitude of this blast is unpredictable; sometimes it destroys only the shielded target and gunner, sometimes the explosion is more powerful than atomics. Using lasguns in a shielded environment can result in military and environmental catastrophe, though at one point in Dune Duncan Idaho
deliberately allows shield-lasgun contact as a discouragement to his enemies. In God Emperor of Dune
(1981), lasgun fire is described as "blue arcs"; a lasgun is noted to be "heavy" in Chapterhouse: Dune (1985). A cutteray is described in Dune as a "Short-range version of a lasgun used mostly as a cutting tool and surgeon's scalpel."
A no-chamber is a fictional stealth technology
in the Dune universe
created by Frank Herbert
. Originally called a no-room in Herbert's God Emperor of Dune
(1981), it is a construct that hides anything inside from prescient vision, as well as more conventional means of detection, including sight. A no-globe is a larger construction of no-chambers, and a no-ship is a no-chamber in starship
form, with enough limited prescience to be capable of interstellar travel
without the use of a Guild Navigator
.
deduces that the new Ix
ian Ambassador Hwi Noree had been "born" in what would come to be known as a no-room to shield her creation and upbringing from him. Hwi had been created by the Ixians from the cells of Leto's friend/nemesis Malky but as Malky's direct opposite–using Tleilaxu
ghola technology–designed to be irresistible to Leto. The no-room is an improvement upon a device the Ixians had previously created for Leto to record his thoughts into a written journal and hide them from prescient vision.
In Heretics of Dune
(1984), Miles Teg
, the Bene Gesserit
Lucilla
and the Duncan Idaho
ghola hide in a no-globe on Gammu, created by the Harkonnens
millennia before when the planet had been called Giedi Prime
. It is a sizeable complex, noted to be "Very ancient but the chambers are still intact and functioning." The exact era of its creation is not specified, but it is written that "Gammu was Giedi Prime, a Harkonnen place ... They were rich ... Rich enough to accomplish the secret installation of a no-room ... even of a large no-globe ... Bribes, third-party purchases, many transshipments ... The Famine Times were very disruptive and before that there were all those millennia of the Tyrant
... When the Harkonnens kept their heads down or lost them."
No-ships are in use at the time of Heretics of Dune; like no-chambers, anything inside a no-ship is hidden from prescient vision and other means of detection, and the ship itself is invisible to sight or photography. However, a no-ship has much greater technological capability than a no-chamber, as it can perform the functions of a Guild Navigator. Specifically, a no-ship's computer
is capable of enough limited prescience to successfully navigate its way through foldspace. Teg steals a massive no-ship from the fierce Honored Matres
on Gammu in Heretics of Dune, and its Great Hold alone is noted to be one kilometer in length, large enough to transport an adult sandworm
. In Chapterhouse: Dune (1985), the Bene Gesserit initially confine Duncan and Murbella
to this no-ship on Chapterhouse for their own protection from prescient spying. As Murbella becomes the leader of a New Sisterhood composed of both the Bene Gesserit and Honored Matres, Duncan and Teg flee Chapterhouse with Sheeana and other passengers on the no-ship.
In Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse Dune it is suggested that certain characters of Atreides
ancestry have the ability to use their prescient powers to "see" no-ships. This ability to nullify no-field invisibility is unleashed in Miles Teg after he is interrogated with a device called a T-Probe. Teg's subsequent ghola duplicate also retains that unique ability after his memories are re-awakened.
(2006) and Sandworms of Dune
(2007), the novels by Brian Herbert
and Kevin J. Anderson
which complete Frank Herbert's original series, the fleeing no-ship is named the Ithaca by its passengers in homage to the long journey of the mythological Greek
hero Odysseus
to his home of Ithaca
. Accompanying Duncan, Teg and Sheeana are some 150 refugees, including the (apparent) last Tleilaxu Master Scytale
, some Bene Gesserit Sisters, and a group of secret Jews. They seek a new world onto which to introduce the captive sandworms on board, as well as a new home for the Jews, but are in constant pursuit by the Unknown Enemy who seek to ensnare the ship in an inescapable tachyon net. With the help of genetic material possessed by Scytale, the passengers of the Ithaca begin growing gholas of historical heroes such as Paul Atreides
and Lady Jessica to assist them in the final battle they know is coming against the Unknown Enemy.
prequel
trilogy
(1999–2001) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, the creation of the Harkonnen no-globe is attributed to a man named Chobyn. He invents the technology and builds the no-globe for Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
immediately prior to the events of Dune
(1965). However, Chobyn is killed and the technology lost until it is reinvented by the Ixians millennia later during the reign of Leto II.
In the Dune universe
created by Frank Herbert
, an ornithopter (or thopter) is a type of aircraft that is one of the primary modes of transportation on the desert planet
Arrakis
. Herbert describes ornithopters as "Aircraft capable of sustained wing-beat flight in the manner of birds" in his 1965 novel Dune
. The craft achieve takeoff
primarily though the beat of their wings, with jet
power assisting in propulsion and stabilization:
The wings themselves, consisting of "delicate metal interleavings," are adjustable in length through a "retractor bar" or manually. They are fully extended when the jetpods are used little or not at all:
The wings are shortened when more jet thrust is used or the 'thopter uses the "jet-boost" alternative mode of takeoff, and tip to assist in braking.
In the 1984 film adaptation Dune
, ornithopters are depicted as wingless and jet- or rocket-propelled. The ornithopters in the 2000 Sci Fi Channel
miniseries
Frank Herbert's Dune
have moving wings, but are not propelled by them.
A stillsuit is a fictional body suit in Frank Herbert
's Dune universe
, first introduced in the 1965 novel Dune
and appearing in every subsequent novel in the series. Stillsuits are worn by the native Fremen
of the desert planet
Arrakis
to maintain their body moisture in the harsh environment. The Science of Dune (2008) analyzes Herbert's stillsuit and its feasibility in the real world as described.
is assisting Duke Leto Atreides
with the fitting of his stillsuit, he explains it in this manner:
A T-Probe is a fictional device in Frank Herbert
's Dune universe
used to capture the thoughts of a person (living or dead) for analysis. T-Probes appear or are referenced in Herbert's Heretics of Dune
(1984) and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985), as well as the sequel
s Hunters of Dune
(2006) and Sandworms of Dune
(2007) by Brian Herbert
and Kevin J. Anderson
.
As described in Heretics of Dune, the probe is a non-Ix
ian interrogation
device brought by the Honored Matres
from The Scattering. It is attached to the body through a series of "medusa contacts" placed around the skull and on major nerve centers. An operator can increase or decrease the power supplied to the probe to maximize its efficacy while at the same time not overloading the nervous system of the subject. While being subjected to the probe, Miles Teg
's Mentat
thinking deduces that not only can it "command his body as though he had no thinking part in his own behavior," but also "The whole spectrum of his senses could be copied into this T-probe and identified ... The machine could trace those out as though it made a duplicate of him." The probe builds a 'digital framework' of the person which can be subjected to stimuli, and will respond as the person would. The T-Probe also causes massive, virtually unendurable pain in a living subject. Shere only prevents the T-Probe from recovering memories directly (as it does for the Ixian Probe) and does not impede any of the other features. Memories can still be guessed at from the model the probe constructs. The T-Probe is what causes Miles Teg
's brain to change its structure, giving him the blinding speed and amazing abilities seen at the end of Heretics of Dune. This mental alteration continues in Teg even after being 'reborn' as a Tleilaxu
ghola in Chapterhouse Dune.
A Weirding Module is a sonic weapon introduced in and specific to Dune
, the 1984 David Lynch
film adaptation of Frank Herbert
's 1965 novel of the same name
. In the film, the device is a sonic beam weapon that translates specific sounds into attacks of varying potency, used by House Atreides
and later by the Fremen
armies. In the novel, Paul Atreides
and his mother Lady Jessica teach the Fremen the Bene Gesserit
martial art referred to by the Fremen as the weirding way.
Director David Lynch
is said to have adapted the weirding way into the Weirding Module because he did not like the idea of "Kung-fu
on sand dunes". The change literalizes Paul's line "My own name is a killing word." In the novel, the Fremen shout his Fremen name, "Muad'Dib
," as a battle cry; in the film, the Fremen are surprised to find that saying "Muad'Dib" is a powerful trigger for the Weirding Module.
The Weirding Module appears in the computer games Dune
(1992) and Emperor: Battle for Dune
(2001), and the concept is adapted into "sonic tanks" for the games Dune II
(1992) and Dune 2000
(1998).
Arrakis
; the native Fremen
use a type of air well
called a windtrap to condense moisture from the air and collect it in vast catch basins. They also collect moisture from the dead using a device called a deathstill. The Fremen accomplish long-distance coded communication using a distrans, a steganographic
device that produces a "temporary neural
imprint
" on the nervous system of bats or birds. The message imprint is carried within the animal's normal cry, and can later be separated out using another distrans. A palm lock is a lock or seal keyed to a specific human hand, a solido is a projected three-dimensional image, and a poison snooper is a device which can detect poisons by analyzing radiation in the "olfactory spectrum." In Dune, the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
employs a cone of silence, a sound-deadening field used for privacy, though it does not visually obscure lip movement. In Heretics of Dune (1984) Herbert mentions an Ixian damper, a similar, portable device described as a "black disc" which is buoyed midair by suspensors; it hides words from anyone without the proper coded translator, and projects distortions that hide the precise movements of lips and the sounds of voices.
Herbert mentions other unnamed technologies in the Dune series. In Dune, the Bene Gesserit
Reverend Mother Mohiam
"tests" young Paul Atreides
using a box that inflicts pain through "nerve induction
". It is described as "a green metal cube about fifteen centimeters on a side," with one open side revealing a blackness so dark that no light penetrates it. Paul is forced to place his hand into the box and not remove it until Mohiam allows him. He experiences first coldness, tingling, then itching, followed by "the faintest burning" which soon intensifies to the point that "he could feel skin curling black on that agonized hand, the flesh crisping and dropping away until only charred bones remained." The pain stops, and when he is permitted to remove his hand, it is unmarked and unharmed. This device is later referred to as the "agony box" in Heretics of Dune, and is noted to be used for interrogation as well.
In God Emperor of Dune (1981), Moneo Atreides uses a "memocorder," a tiny handheld device described as "a dull black Ix
ian artifact whose existence crowded the proscriptions of the Butlerian Jihad
." In the same novel, the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Anteac writes a message to be sent to her Sisterhood:
In Heretics of Dune, Reverend Mother Lucilla
recognizes a device called a "hypnobong" in use on the street, witnessing a passerby lean into a concave basin and then lift his face "with a shudder ... staggering slightly, his eyes glazed." She notes that the device is "outlawed on all of the more civilized worlds."
Dune (franchise)
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...
of 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...
novels written 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...
, and derivative works. Herbert's concepts and inventions have been analyzed and deconstructed in at least one book, The Science of Dune (2008). Herbert's originating 1965 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...
is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history. Dune and its five sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s by Herbert explore the complex and multilayered interactions of politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, among other themes.
The Butlerian Jihad
Butlerian Jihad
The Butlerian Jihad is an event in the back-story of Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Occurring over 10,000 years before the events chronicled in his 1965 novel Dune, this jihad leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines", a collective term for computers...
, an event in the back-story
Back-story
A back-story, background story, or backstory is the literary device of a narrative chronologically earlier than, and related to, a narrative of primary interest. Generally, it is the history of characters or other elements that underlie the situation existing at the main narrative's start...
of Herbert's universe, leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines
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...
", a collective term for computers and artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
of any kind. This prohibition is a key influence on the nature of Herbert's fictional setting. In Dune, ten thousand years after this jihad, its enduring commandment remains:
Atomics
Atomics is the term used to refer to nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s 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...
. Like real-world nuclear weapons, atomics presumably derive their destructive force from nuclear reaction
Nuclear reaction
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, a nuclear reaction is semantically considered to be the process in which two nuclei, or else a nucleus of an atom and a subatomic particle from outside the atom, collide to produce products different from the initial particles...
s of fission
Nuclear fission
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...
or fusion
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
, and Herbert notes that "radiation lingers" after their use. However, the author never delves into the specifics of the technology or explores in detail how it may have evolved by the time of Dune
In the initial Dune novels, the Great Houses of the Landsraad
Landsraad
The Landsraad is a fictional organization in Frank Herbert's Dune universe. It is the assembly of all noble Houses in the Imperium.-Overview:...
own "family atomics" as heirlooms, keeping a secure, hidden cache as weapons of last resort in their wars. Though such possession is necessary to secure power, the use of atomics against humans violates the chief prohibition of the Great Convention, the "universal truce enforced under the power balance maintained by the 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...
, the Great Houses, and the Imperium." 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...
notes in Dune that "The language of the Great Convention is clear enough: Use of atomics against humans shall be cause for planetary obliteration." The atomics themselves act as a military deterrent
Deterrence theory
Deterrence theory gained increased prominence as a military strategy during the Cold War with regard to the use of nuclear weapons, and features prominently in current United States foreign policy regarding the development of nuclear technology in North Korea and Iran. Deterrence theory however was...
— any House which violates the Great Convention flagrantly (such as using atomics openly in warfare) faces the possibility of massive retaliation from any number of the other Houses. As Paul notes via 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 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), "any Family in my Empire could so deploy its atomics as to destroy the planetary bases of fifty or more other Families."
One type of atomic weapon is the stone burner, the explosion and radiation of which can be precisely adjusted depending on the desired effect. Stone burners emit "J-Rays", a form of radiation that has a tendency to destroy the eye tissue of anyone surviving the initial radiation blast. If of sufficient power, a stone burner can burn its way into the core of a planet, destroying it:
The original series
In Dune, Paul uses an atomic device on the surface of ArrakisArrakis
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...
to blast a pass through a wild desert mountain range called the Shield Wall. He considers this act to be in accordance with the Great Convention because the atomics are not used against humans, but rather against "a natural feature of the desert." A stone burner is used in an attempt to assassinate Paul in Dune: Messiah; he survives but is blinded for the rest of his life. In God Emperor of Dune
God 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:...
(1981), the God Emperor Leto 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...
notes that since his 3,500-year reign began he has "searched out all of the Family atomics and removed them to a safe place."
Prequels
In the Prelude to DunePrelude 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...
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...
(1999–2001) it is revealed that a renegade House of the Landsraad had devastated the capital of the Corrino Padishah Empire
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:...
, 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...
, with atomics and rendered the planet essentially uninhabitable. 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:...
Hassik Corrino III had relocated the Imperial throne to the planet Kaitain
Kaitain (Dune)
Kaitain is a fictional planet in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.In Herbert's 1965 novel Dune, it is mentioned briefly as the seat of power of Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, the Royal Court being previously located on the planet Salusa Secundus.The Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy ...
, and the attacking House had been subsequently exterminated. During the events of the series in 10,175 A.G., 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 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...
uses atomics to destroy House Richese
House Richese
House Richese is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Their homeworld is the planet Richese, which is described thus in the glossary of Dune:- The family :...
's artificial laboratory moon of Korona. Part of Shaddam's plan to ensure his own spice monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
, the explosion causes a quarter of the planet Richese's population to go blind from the resulting light produced by the destruction of the Richesian mirrors stored on Korona. Finally, the persecuted Earl Dominic Vernius plans to use atomics to attack Kaitain; when his hidden base on Arrakis is discovered by the Padishah Emperor's Sardaukar
Sardaukar
The Sardaukar are a fictional fanatical army from Frank Herbert's Dune universe, primarily featured in the 1965 science fiction novel Dune, as well as Brian Herbert and Kevin J...
army, Vernius ignites a stone burner to destroy himself and as many of the Sardaukar as he can.
The Legends of Dune
Legends of Dune
Legends of Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe.* Dune: The Butlerian Jihad * Dune: The Machine Crusade * Dune: The Battle of Corrin...
prequel series (2002–2004) establishes that the first human victory of the Butlerian Jihad
Butlerian Jihad
The Butlerian Jihad is an event in the back-story of Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Occurring over 10,000 years before the events chronicled in his 1965 novel Dune, this jihad leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines", a collective term for computers...
(the crusade against the thinking machines
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...
) is the 200 B.G. destruction of Earth and the Earth Omnius using atomics. "Pulse atomics" calibrated for use against the gel circuitry of the thinking machines are also used at end of the war to systematically wipe out every single machine-controlled planet. It is this action, and the millions of human slaves who are killed in it, which ultimately leads to the ban on atomic warfare in the Great Convention; it is also the origin of the feud between the Harkonnens and Atreides.
Axlotl tank
Axlotl tanks are a fictional technology 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...
. Axlotl technology is also mentioned in Herbert's novels Destination: Void
Destination: Void
Destination: Void is the first science fiction novel set in the Destination: Void universe by the American author Frank Herbert. A revised edition, edited and updated by the author, was released in 1978...
and the The Jesus Incident
The Jesus Incident
The Jesus Incident is the second science fiction novel set in the Destination: Void universe by the American author Frank Herbert and poet Bill Ransom...
but not elaborated upon. The name is presumably derived from the axolotl
Axolotl
The axolotl , Ambystoma mexicanum, is a neotenic salamander, closely related to the Tiger Salamander. Larvae of this species fail to undergo metamorphosis, so the adults remain aquatic and gilled. It is also called ajolote...
, an aquatic salamander native to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
known for its regenerative abilities.
A trade secret
Trade secret
A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable, by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors or customers...
of the Tleilaxu
Bene 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...
, an axlotl tank is a "device for reproducing a living human being from the cells of a cadaver," a type of clone
Cloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
called a ghola. Later in the series, the axlotl tanks are engineered to be capable of also replicating the spice melange, previously only available on 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...
where it is created naturally as part of the life cycle of giant sandworm
Sandworm (Dune)
The sandworm is a fictional form of desert-dwelling creature from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. They first appear in the 1965 novel Dune, considered to be among the classics in the science fiction genre, and are iconic of the Dune series.In the series, the sandworms called Shai-Hulud...
s.
The original series
The tanks are briefly mentioned in Dune: Messiah (1969) as the source of the Duncan IdahoDuncan 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...
ghola. Their nature is a well-guarded Tleilaxu secret. During his 3500-year reign which ends in God Emperor of Dune
God 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:...
(1981), Leto 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...
purchases countless Idaho gholas produced for him in the tanks.
Within the 1500 years between the events of God Emperor of Dune and Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune is a 1984 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, fifth in a series of six novels. It was ranked as the #13 hardcover fiction best seller of 1984 by The New York Times.-Plot introduction:...
(1984), the Tleilaxu discover an artificial method of producing the spice melange in their axlotl tanks as well. Some melange users, like 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...
, prefer the natural melange of Arrakis to the Tleilaxu substitute, claiming increased potency.
In Heretics of Dune, Miles Teg
Miles Teg
Miles Teg is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.-Description:In Heretics of Dune , Miles Teg — the former Supreme Bashar of the Bene Gesserit — is noted to be 296 standard years old and to have a striking resemblance to his ancestor, Leto Atreides I...
recalls how his Bene Gesserit mother Lady Janet had said that "No one outside of [the Tleilaxu] planets has ever reported seeing a Tleilaxu female." Wondering whether the Tleilaxu breed or simply rely on the tanks to reproduce, Miles had asked, "Do they exist or is it just the tanks?" Janet confirmed that females do indeed exist. Later in Heretics, Teg's own daughter, Reverend Mother Darwi Odrade, theorizes that the axlotl tanks may be, in fact, "surrogate mothers" — Tleilaxu females somehow transformed. Soon, the current Duncan ghola recalls his repeated "births" from the tanks:
The axlotl tanks! He remembered emerging time after time: bright lights and padded mechanical hands. The hands rotated him and, in the unfocused blurs of the newborn, he saw a great mound of female flesh — monstrous in her almost immobile grossness ... a maze of dark tubes linked her body to giant metal containers.
In Chapterhouse: Dune, the last remaining Tleilaxu Master Scytale
Scytale (Dune)
Scytale is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. In the novel Dune Messiah , Scytale is a Tleilaxu Face Dancer who participates in the conspiracy to topple the rule of Paul Atreides. He later returns as a ghola and Tleilaxu Master in Heretics of Dune and...
is coerced into revealing the means of creating the tanks to the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood.
Prelude to Dune
In the Prelude to DunePrelude 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) 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 plot which occurs before the events of 1965's 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...
), the Tleilaxu attempt to create artificial melange called ajidamal using axlotl technology; the best results are gained by using a Bene Gesserit sister to create an axlotl tank. However, the project ultimately fails.
Cymek
A cymek is a type of cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
, or machine-human hybrid, in the fictional Dune prequel universe
Dune (franchise)
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...
. They appear in the Legends of Dune
Legends of Dune
Legends of Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe.* Dune: The Butlerian Jihad * Dune: The Machine Crusade * Dune: The Battle of Corrin...
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...
(2002–2004) 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 only organic part of a cymek is its brain; in the series, living humans willingly have their brains transplanted into large mechanized bodies with the intent of extending life indefinitely.
Legends of Dune
Over 11,000 years before the events of Frank Herbert's DuneDune (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...
(1965), a group of 20 ambitious humans see the stagnation of the Old Empire
Old Empire (Dune)
The Old Empire is a fictional galactic empire in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The term has been applied to two distinct eras in the fictional history of the Dune series.-The Padishah Empire:...
and realize that their small band can take control of it with the aid of thinking machines
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...
. Calling themselves the Titans
Titan (Dune)
The Titans are a group of fictional characters in the Legends of Dune series of novels, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson and set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert...
, they rule humanity for a hundred years and rename themselves after famous historical and mythological figures, most notably Agamemnon, Ajax, Barbarossa, Dante, Hecate, Juno, Tlaloc and Xerxes.
Ten years into their reign, their leader Tlaloc is killed in a freak accident. Realizing their mortality and limited lifespans, they seek a way to extend their lives. Juno is inspired by the cogitors, ancient philosophers whose brains had been installed in fluid-filled canisters so that they might analyze the universe indefinitely; they are living and retain awareness and consciousness, and the ability to communicate should they choose. The Titan Agamemnon is the first to become a cymek, his brain transplanted into a canister which, through special interfaces, is installed into a large, fearsome, and weaponized body. In cymek form, the remaining 19 Titans are virtually unstoppable, and continue their tyrannical rule of the universe for another 90 years. Growing complacent, the Titans are themselves overthrown and enslaved by Omnius, a sentient
Strong AI
Strong AI is artificial intelligence that matches or exceeds human intelligence — the intelligence of a machine that can successfully perform any intellectual task that a human being can. It is a primary goal of artificial intelligence research and an important topic for science fiction writers and...
computer network given too much autonomy; Omnius controls the universe for the next 900 years. The Titans recruit humans from the enslaved, Omnius-controlled "Synchronized Worlds" to become neo-cymeks, footsoldiers who could more fully understand human strategy and thought processes than machines.
A small group of worlds, united as the League of Nobles, resist the initial Titan rebellion and remain free from machine rule. With the thinking machines ever-persistent in their intent to enslave or destroy all humans, the League initiates the Butlerian Jihad
Butlerian Jihad
The Butlerian Jihad is an event in the back-story of Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Occurring over 10,000 years before the events chronicled in his 1965 novel Dune, this jihad leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines", a collective term for computers...
, mankind's century-long crusade against the machines. The humans are ultimately victorious, destroying Omnius, the Titans, the neo-cymeks and all thinking machine forces. With all thinking machine technology henceforth banned, new organizations arise, composed of humans who had developed specialized skills during the Jihad to replace and exceed technology, including the 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...
, Mentat
Mentat
A Mentat is a profession or discipline in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Mentats are humans trained to mimic computers: human minds developed to staggering heights of cognitive and analytical ability.- Overview :...
s, and 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...
.
Ghola
A ghola is a fictional creature in the Dune universeDune 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...
. Like clone
Cloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
s, they are "manufactured" human duplicates grown in an axlotl tank from cells collected from a deceased subject. Through specific stresses, gholas can be made to recall the memories of the original, including their moment of death. In Herbert's 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...
series, the technological process is developed and initially monopolized
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
by the Tleilaxu
Bene 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...
; in later novels the process is also used by 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...
.
The first ghola featured in the series Hayt in 1969's 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...
is a resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
of the corpse 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...
. Later gholas are grown from a few cells, as in the case of subsequent Idaho gholas provided to Leto 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...
, as described in God Emperor of Dune
God 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:...
(1981). The Tleilaxu can control
Mind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
their creations by forcing them into a hypnotic
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
state with some predefined sound (often a specific humming or whistling noise) that has been pre-conditioned into each ghola.
The original series
Before the events of Dune: Messiah, gholas are merely physical copies without the memories of their original incarnations. The ghola Hayt is programmed by the Tleilaxu to kill Emperor Paul AtreidesPaul 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...
under post-hypnotic suggestion
Post-hypnotic suggestion
A Post-hypnotic suggestion is a behavior or thinking pattern that presumably will manifest after a subject has come out of the so-called "hypnotic state" .According to a psychologist at the University of New South Wales:...
. The attempt fails but, as hoped by the Tleilaxu, the stress of attempting to kill someone who was deeply loved in the ghola's previous life breaks the mental barrier between the ghola's consciousness and the life memories of the original. Hayt recovers the full memories of the original Duncan Idaho. The Tleilaxu are now able to offer Paul a similar ghola "resurrection" of his deceased beloved 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...
to gain leverage over him, but he refuses.
In God Emperor of Dune, over Leto II's 3,500-year reign he has, as constant companions, a series of Duncan gholas with restored memories of the original Idaho but not the memories of the previous gholas. They are perfectly reconstructed incarnations made from a few cells, created as needed in the time span of one to two years. In this novel, one of the Duncans recalls how, as a blank ghola, he was tasked to kill a Face Dancer duplicate of Leto's father and Duncan's friend, Paul, and the psychological stress awakened his memories. Fifteen hundred years later in Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune is a 1984 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, fifth in a series of six novels. It was ranked as the #13 hardcover fiction best seller of 1984 by The New York Times.-Plot introduction:...
(1984), Leto is dead and the Bene Gesserit are the consumers of Duncan gholas. The current Idaho ghola recovers the memories of the original like his predecessors; however, the later attempt by the Honored Matre Murbella
Murbella
Murbella is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. She appears in Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune by Frank Herbert, as well as Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.-Storylines:Murbella is raised as an Honored Matre, and...
to sexually imprint him results in his recovery of the memories of all his ghola incarnations. It is later determined that the Tleilaxu had mixed the cells from multiple Idaho gholas to make this one.
Though intense psychological trauma is the key to unlocking the memories of a ghola, the actual situation contrived to accomplish this is specific to each individual. With military genius Miles Teg
Miles Teg
Miles Teg is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.-Description:In Heretics of Dune , Miles Teg — the former Supreme Bashar of the Bene Gesserit — is noted to be 296 standard years old and to have a striking resemblance to his ancestor, Leto Atreides I...
is killed in Heretics of Dune, a ghola of him is born in Chapterhouse: Dune (1985) on orders from Teg's own daughter, Bene Gesserit leader Darwi Odrade. His former memories are unlocked using sexual imprinting.
The discovery of how to reawaken a ghola has tremendous consequences for the Tleilaxu Masters themselves; they subsequently use the technology of axlotl tanks and memory recovery to grant themselves effective immortality. Every Master is "recreated" upon his death with recovered memories, accumulating many generations of knowledge and experience and permitting planning on a timespan of millennia
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
.
Dune games
There are also mentions of gholas in the Dune games. In Dune 2000Dune 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), the 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...
Mentat
Mentat
A Mentat is a profession or discipline in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Mentats are humans trained to mimic computers: human minds developed to staggering heights of cognitive and analytical ability.- Overview :...
is allegedly a ghola cloned from Tleilaxu flesh vats, and 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....
(2001), House Ordos
House Ordos
House Ordos is a mercantile House in the Dune universe as presented in the Westwood Studios Dune video games produced from 1992 to 2001. The House is listed in the non-canon Dune Encyclopedia by Willis E...
constantly deploy their own gholas in assassination and infiltration missions. This is particularly effective in tricking the Sardaukar
Sardaukar
The Sardaukar are a fictional fanatical army from Frank Herbert's Dune universe, primarily featured in the 1965 science fiction novel Dune, as well as Brian Herbert and Kevin J...
and 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...
into allying with House Ordos. On a much larger scale, they plan to use a ghola of the now-deceased 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...
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:...
to claim the Golden Lion Throne, with the Executrix as the true leaders behind the so-called "puppet Emperor".
Heighliner
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
used for interstellar travel
Interstellar travel
Interstellar space travel is manned or unmanned travel between stars. The concept of interstellar travel in starships is a staple of science fiction. Interstellar travel is much more difficult than interplanetary travel. Intergalactic travel, or travel between different galaxies, is even more...
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...
. These enormous spaceships are the "major cargo carrier of the 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...
's transportation system."
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....
speaks of them in 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...
(1965):
A Heighliner is truly big. Its hold will tuck all our frigates and transports into a little corner — we'll be just a small part of the ship's manifest.
Heighliner operation requires both a Holtzman drive and a Guild 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...
. The drive uses the Holtzman effect
Holtzman effect
The Holtzman effect is a fictional scientific phenomenon in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert, beginning with the 1965 novel Dune...
to "fold space" and allow virtually instantaneous interstellar travel. The Navigator uses a limited form of prescience to find a safe path through folded space and guide the ship, which is made possible through the use of melange. Navigators are confined to giant tanks, completely immersed in highly-concentrated orange spice gas.
Unable to land, heighliners jump from point to point, parking in planetary orbits. Orbital ferries or interplanetary spacecraft load and unload the heighliner. Special laws govern travel aboard a heighliner; heighliners are considered neutral territory
Neutral territory
A neutral territory is a territory that is not an integral part of any state , and yet is not terra nullius, but is the object of an agreement under international law between at least two parties...
and all acts of war aboard heighliners carry stiff penalties.
According to the Legends of Dune
Legends of Dune
Legends of Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe.* Dune: The Butlerian Jihad * Dune: The Machine Crusade * Dune: The Battle of Corrin...
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...
(2002–2004), heighliners are invented by Norma Cenva
Norma Cenva
Norma Cenva is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Mentioned briefly in Herbert's God Emperor of Dune , she plays a large role in the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
during the Butlerian Jihad
Butlerian Jihad
The Butlerian Jihad is an event in the back-story of Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Occurring over 10,000 years before the events chronicled in his 1965 novel Dune, this jihad leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines", a collective term for computers...
. 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....
prequel trilogy (1999–2001) establishes that in subsequent millennia, the ships are manufactured on 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...
. During the events described in the 2001 prequel 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...
, a heighliner is expertly spacefolded into a cavern under the surface of Ix, incapacitating an occupying army during the Atreides-led liberation of the planet. In the novel, heighliners are noted to be more than 20 kilometers long.
Holtzman effect
The Holtzman effect is a scientific phenomenon which makes defensive force shields and instantaneous space travel (among other things) possible through its application in Holtzman shields, foldspace or Holtzman drives, suspensors, and glowglobes.Ixian Probe
An Ixian Probe is a fictional device in 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...
used to capture the thoughts of a person (living or dead) for analysis. Ixian Probes are mentioned in Herbert's Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune is a 1984 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, fifth in a series of six novels. It was ranked as the #13 hardcover fiction best seller of 1984 by The New York Times.-Plot introduction:...
(1984).
As described in Heretics of Dune, the probe is an interrogation
Interrogation
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
device of 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...
ian manufacture which "can raid the mind even of a dead person." However, the substance shere blocks the effects of the probe, and will protect a person who has taken it even in death. The probe itself or how it works are not described, but when Miles Teg
Miles Teg
Miles Teg is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.-Description:In Heretics of Dune , Miles Teg — the former Supreme Bashar of the Bene Gesserit — is noted to be 296 standard years old and to have a striking resemblance to his ancestor, Leto Atreides I...
sees a T-Probe for the first time, he believes it is an Ixian Probe. The T-Probe consists of a hood with a series of electrode
Electrode
An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit...
s attached to the skull, controlled by an operator; the notable difference is that shere has no effect against a T-Probe.
Lasgun
A lasgun is a fictional directed-energy weapon
Directed-energy weapon
A directed-energy weapon emits energy in an aimed direction without the means of a projectile. It transfers energy to a target for a desired effect. Intended effects may be non-lethal or lethal...
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...
. In Terminology of the Imperium, the glossary of the 1965 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...
, Herbert provides the following definition:
LASGUN: continuous-wave laser projector. Its use as a weapon is limited in a field-generator-shield culture because of the explosive pyrotechnics (technically, subatomic fusionNuclear fusionNuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
) created when its beam intersects a shield.
The interaction of a lasgun beam and a Holtzman field results in subatomic fusion
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
and a nuclear explosion
Nuclear explosion
A nuclear explosion occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from an intentionally high-speed nuclear reaction. The driving reaction may be nuclear fission, nuclear fusion or a multistage cascading combination of the two, though to date all fusion based weapons have used a fission device...
. The magnitude of this blast is unpredictable; sometimes it destroys only the shielded target and gunner, sometimes the explosion is more powerful than atomics. Using lasguns in a shielded environment can result in military and environmental catastrophe, though at one point in Dune 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...
deliberately allows shield-lasgun contact as a discouragement to his enemies. In God Emperor of Dune
God 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:...
(1981), lasgun fire is described as "blue arcs"; a lasgun is noted to be "heavy" in Chapterhouse: Dune (1985). A cutteray is described in Dune as a "Short-range version of a lasgun used mostly as a cutting tool and surgeon's scalpel."
No-chamber/No-ship
Stealth technology
Stealth technology also termed LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection...
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...
. Originally called a no-room in Herbert's God Emperor of Dune
God 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:...
(1981), it is a construct that hides anything inside from prescient vision, as well as more conventional means of detection, including sight. A no-globe is a larger construction of no-chambers, and a no-ship is a no-chamber in starship
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
form, with enough limited prescience to be capable of interstellar travel
Interstellar travel
Interstellar space travel is manned or unmanned travel between stars. The concept of interstellar travel in starships is a staple of science fiction. Interstellar travel is much more difficult than interplanetary travel. Intergalactic travel, or travel between different galaxies, is even more...
without the use of a Guild 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...
.
The original series
In God Emperor of Dune, Leto IILeto 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...
deduces that the new 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...
ian Ambassador Hwi Noree had been "born" in what would come to be known as a no-room to shield her creation and upbringing from him. Hwi had been created by the Ixians from the cells of Leto's friend/nemesis Malky but as Malky's direct opposite–using Tleilaxu
Bene 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...
ghola technology–designed to be irresistible to Leto. The no-room is an improvement upon a device the Ixians had previously created for Leto to record his thoughts into a written journal and hide them from prescient vision.
In Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune is a 1984 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, fifth in a series of six novels. It was ranked as the #13 hardcover fiction best seller of 1984 by The New York Times.-Plot introduction:...
(1984), Miles Teg
Miles Teg
Miles Teg is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.-Description:In Heretics of Dune , Miles Teg — the former Supreme Bashar of the Bene Gesserit — is noted to be 296 standard years old and to have a striking resemblance to his ancestor, Leto Atreides I...
, 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...
Lucilla
Lucilla (Dune)
Lucilla is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.-Heretics of Dune:In Heretics of Dune , Reverend Mother Lucilla is a young, attractive Bene Gesserit Imprinter sent by Mother Superior Taraza to Gammu, where the Bene Gesserit are bringing up a new Duncan Idaho ghola...
and the 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...
ghola hide in a no-globe on Gammu, created by the Harkonnens
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...
millennia before when the planet had been called 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:...
. It is a sizeable complex, noted to be "Very ancient but the chambers are still intact and functioning." The exact era of its creation is not specified, but it is written that "Gammu was Giedi Prime, a Harkonnen place ... They were rich ... Rich enough to accomplish the secret installation of a no-room ... even of a large no-globe ... Bribes, third-party purchases, many transshipments ... The Famine Times were very disruptive and before that there were all those millennia of the Tyrant
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...
... When the Harkonnens kept their heads down or lost them."
No-ships are in use at the time of Heretics of Dune; like no-chambers, anything inside a no-ship is hidden from prescient vision and other means of detection, and the ship itself is invisible to sight or photography. However, a no-ship has much greater technological capability than a no-chamber, as it can perform the functions of a Guild Navigator. Specifically, a no-ship's computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
is capable of enough limited prescience to successfully navigate its way through foldspace. Teg steals a massive no-ship from the fierce Honored Matres
Honored Matres
The Honored Matres are a fictional matriarchal organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. They are described as an aggressive cult obsessed with power, violence and sexual domination...
on Gammu in Heretics of Dune, and its Great Hold alone is noted to be one kilometer in length, large enough to transport an adult sandworm
Sandworm (Dune)
The sandworm is a fictional form of desert-dwelling creature from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. They first appear in the 1965 novel Dune, considered to be among the classics in the science fiction genre, and are iconic of the Dune series.In the series, the sandworms called Shai-Hulud...
. In Chapterhouse: Dune (1985), the Bene Gesserit initially confine Duncan and Murbella
Murbella
Murbella is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. She appears in Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune by Frank Herbert, as well as Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.-Storylines:Murbella is raised as an Honored Matre, and...
to this no-ship on Chapterhouse for their own protection from prescient spying. As Murbella becomes the leader of a New Sisterhood composed of both the Bene Gesserit and Honored Matres, Duncan and Teg flee Chapterhouse with Sheeana and other passengers on the no-ship.
In Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse Dune it is suggested that certain characters of 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...
ancestry have the ability to use their prescient powers to "see" no-ships. This ability to nullify no-field invisibility is unleashed in Miles Teg after he is interrogated with a device called a T-Probe. Teg's subsequent ghola duplicate also retains that unique ability after his memories are re-awakened.
Sequels
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) and 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 novels 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...
which complete Frank Herbert's original series, the fleeing no-ship is named the Ithaca by its passengers in homage to the long journey of the mythological Greek
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
hero Odysseus
Odysseus
Odysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
to his home of Ithaca
Ithaca
Ithaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and...
. Accompanying Duncan, Teg and Sheeana are some 150 refugees, including the (apparent) last Tleilaxu Master Scytale
Scytale (Dune)
Scytale is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. In the novel Dune Messiah , Scytale is a Tleilaxu Face Dancer who participates in the conspiracy to topple the rule of Paul Atreides. He later returns as a ghola and Tleilaxu Master in Heretics of Dune and...
, some Bene Gesserit Sisters, and a group of secret Jews. They seek a new world onto which to introduce the captive sandworms on board, as well as a new home for the Jews, but are in constant pursuit by the Unknown Enemy who seek to ensnare the ship in an inescapable tachyon net. With the help of genetic material possessed by Scytale, the passengers of the Ithaca begin growing gholas of historical heroes such as 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...
and Lady Jessica to assist them in the final battle they know is coming against the Unknown Enemy.
Prelude to Dune
In the Prelude to DunePrelude 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) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, the creation of the Harkonnen no-globe is attributed to a man named Chobyn. He invents the technology and builds the no-globe for 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...
immediately prior to the events of 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...
(1965). However, Chobyn is killed and the technology lost until it is reinvented by the Ixians millennia later during the reign of Leto II.
Ornithopter
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...
, an ornithopter (or thopter) is a type of aircraft that is one of the primary modes of transportation on 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...
. Herbert describes ornithopters as "Aircraft capable of sustained wing-beat flight in the manner of birds" in his 1965 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...
. The craft achieve takeoff
Takeoff
Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle goes from the ground to flying in the air.For horizontal takeoff aircraft this usually involves starting with a transition from moving along the ground on a runway. For balloons, helicopters and some specialized fixed-wing aircraft , no...
primarily though the beat of their wings, with jet
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
power assisting in propulsion and stabilization:
Leto fed power to the wings, felt them cup and dip — once, twice. They were airborne in ten meters, wings feathered tightly and afterjets thrusting them upward in a steep, hissing climb.
The wings themselves, consisting of "delicate metal interleavings," are adjustable in length through a "retractor bar" or manually. They are fully extended when the jetpods are used little or not at all:
... the Duke kicked on the jet brakes. The ship bucked as its tail pods whispered to silence. Stub wings elongated, cupped the air. The craft became a full 'thopter as the Duke banked it, holding the wings to a gentle beat ...
The wings are shortened when more jet thrust is used or the 'thopter uses the "jet-boost" alternative mode of takeoff, and tip to assist in braking.
In the 1984 film adaptation 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...
, ornithopters are depicted as wingless and jet- or rocket-propelled. The ornithopters in the 2000 Sci Fi Channel
Sci Fi Channel (United States)
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
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...
have moving wings, but are not propelled by them.
Stillsuit
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...
, first introduced in the 1965 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...
and appearing in every subsequent novel in the series. Stillsuits are worn by 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 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...
to maintain their body moisture in the harsh environment. The Science of Dune (2008) analyzes Herbert's stillsuit and its feasibility in the real world as described.
Description
As described in Dune, a stillsuit is a "body-enclosing garment" of Fremen design which performs the "functions of heat dissipation and filtering bodily wastes," as well as retaining and reclaiming moisture. As the planetologist Liet-KynesLiet-Kynes
Liet-Kynes 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...
is assisting 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....
with the fitting of his stillsuit, he explains it in this manner:
It's basically a micro-sandwich — a high-efficiency filter and heat-exchange system. The skin-contact layer's porous. Perspiration passes through it, having cooled the body ... near-normal evaporation process. The next two layers . . . include heat exchange filaments and salt precipitators. Salt's reclaimed. Motions of the body, especially breathing and some osmotic action provide the pumping force. Reclaimed water circulates to catchpockets from which you draw it through this tube in the clip at your neck... Urine and feces are processed in the thigh pads. In the open desert, you wear this filter across your face, this tube in the nostrils with these plugs to ensure a tight fit. Breathe in through the mouth filter, out through the nose tube. With a Fremen suit in good working order, you won't lose more than a thimbleful of moisture a day..."
Analysis
In his essay "Stillsuit" in The Science of Dune, John C. Smith suggests that "Stillsuits designed using strict literal interpretations from the Dune books probably would not work and most likely would cook the wearer like a Crock-Pot ... However, engineering solutions can be envisioned for all the suit's shortcomings."T-Probe
A T-Probe is a fictional device in 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...
used to capture the thoughts of a person (living or dead) for analysis. T-Probes appear or are referenced in Herbert's Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune is a 1984 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, fifth in a series of six novels. It was ranked as the #13 hardcover fiction best seller of 1984 by The New York Times.-Plot introduction:...
(1984) and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985), as well as the sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s Hunters of Dune
Hunters 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) and 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) 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...
.
As described in Heretics of Dune, the probe is a non-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...
ian interrogation
Interrogation
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
device brought by the Honored Matres
Honored Matres
The Honored Matres are a fictional matriarchal organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. They are described as an aggressive cult obsessed with power, violence and sexual domination...
from The Scattering. It is attached to the body through a series of "medusa contacts" placed around the skull and on major nerve centers. An operator can increase or decrease the power supplied to the probe to maximize its efficacy while at the same time not overloading the nervous system of the subject. While being subjected to the probe, Miles Teg
Miles Teg
Miles Teg is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.-Description:In Heretics of Dune , Miles Teg — the former Supreme Bashar of the Bene Gesserit — is noted to be 296 standard years old and to have a striking resemblance to his ancestor, Leto Atreides I...
's Mentat
Mentat
A Mentat is a profession or discipline in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Mentats are humans trained to mimic computers: human minds developed to staggering heights of cognitive and analytical ability.- Overview :...
thinking deduces that not only can it "command his body as though he had no thinking part in his own behavior," but also "The whole spectrum of his senses could be copied into this T-probe and identified ... The machine could trace those out as though it made a duplicate of him." The probe builds a 'digital framework' of the person which can be subjected to stimuli, and will respond as the person would. The T-Probe also causes massive, virtually unendurable pain in a living subject. Shere only prevents the T-Probe from recovering memories directly (as it does for the Ixian Probe) and does not impede any of the other features. Memories can still be guessed at from the model the probe constructs. The T-Probe is what causes Miles Teg
Miles Teg
Miles Teg is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.-Description:In Heretics of Dune , Miles Teg — the former Supreme Bashar of the Bene Gesserit — is noted to be 296 standard years old and to have a striking resemblance to his ancestor, Leto Atreides I...
's brain to change its structure, giving him the blinding speed and amazing abilities seen at the end of Heretics of Dune. This mental alteration continues in Teg even after being 'reborn' as a Tleilaxu
Bene 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...
ghola in Chapterhouse Dune.
Weirding Module
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...
, the 1984 David Lynch
David 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...
film adaptation of 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 1965 novel of the same name
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...
. In the film, the device is a sonic beam weapon that translates specific sounds into attacks of varying potency, used by 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...
and later by the 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...
armies. In the novel, 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...
and his mother Lady Jessica teach the Fremen 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...
martial art referred to by the Fremen as the weirding way.
Director David Lynch
David 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...
is said to have adapted the weirding way into the Weirding Module because he did not like the idea of "Kung-fu
Chinese martial arts
Chinese martial arts, also referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu , are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" , "sects" or...
on sand dunes". The change literalizes Paul's line "My own name is a killing word." In the novel, the Fremen shout his Fremen name, "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:...
," as a battle cry; in the film, the Fremen are surprised to find that saying "Muad'Dib" is a powerful trigger for the Weirding Module.
The Weirding Module appears in the computer games Dune
Dune (video game)
Dune is a 1992 video game, based upon Frank Herbert's science fiction novel of the same name. Developed by Cryo Interactive and published by Virgin Interactive, is the first of the Dune computer games. Dune blended adventure with economic and military strategy, and is considered by many the most...
(1992) and 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....
(2001), and the concept is adapted into "sonic tanks" for the games Dune II
Dune 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).
Other technologies
Herbert's series of Dune novels are peppered with other technologically advanced devices. In Dune (1965), water is scarce on the desert planetDesert 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...
; 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...
use a type of air well
Air well (condenser)
An air well or aerial well is a structure or device that collects water by promoting the condensation of moisture from air. Designs for air wells are many and varied, but the simplest designs are completely passive, require no external energy source and have few, if any, moving parts.Three...
called a windtrap to condense moisture from the air and collect it in vast catch basins. They also collect moisture from the dead using a device called a deathstill. The Fremen accomplish long-distance coded communication using a distrans, a steganographic
Steganography
Steganography is the art and science of writing hidden messages in such a way that no one, apart from the sender and intended recipient, suspects the existence of the message, a form of security through obscurity...
device that produces a "temporary neural
Neural network
The term neural network was traditionally used to refer to a network or circuit of biological neurons. The modern usage of the term often refers to artificial neural networks, which are composed of artificial neurons or nodes...
imprint
Imprinting (psychology)
Imprinting is the term used in psychology and ethology to describe any kind of phase-sensitive learning that is rapid and apparently independent of the consequences of behavior...
" on the nervous system of bats or birds. The message imprint is carried within the animal's normal cry, and can later be separated out using another distrans. A palm lock is a lock or seal keyed to a specific human hand, a solido is a projected three-dimensional image, and a poison snooper is a device which can detect poisons by analyzing radiation in the "olfactory spectrum." In Dune, the 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...
employs a cone of silence, a sound-deadening field used for privacy, though it does not visually obscure lip movement. In Heretics of Dune (1984) Herbert mentions an Ixian damper, a similar, portable device described as a "black disc" which is buoyed midair by suspensors; it hides words from anyone without the proper coded translator, and projects distortions that hide the precise movements of lips and the sounds of voices.
Herbert mentions other unnamed technologies in the Dune series. In Dune, 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...
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...
"tests" young 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...
using a box that inflicts pain through "nerve induction
Nerve induction
Nerve induction is a theoretical method of creating a sensation by stimulation of the sensory nerves rather than by actual stimulus.The concept is mentioned in the 1965 science fiction novel Dune by Frank Herbert as a method to inflict pain with no actual injury.No known real-life analogues...
". It is described as "a green metal cube about fifteen centimeters on a side," with one open side revealing a blackness so dark that no light penetrates it. Paul is forced to place his hand into the box and not remove it until Mohiam allows him. He experiences first coldness, tingling, then itching, followed by "the faintest burning" which soon intensifies to the point that "he could feel skin curling black on that agonized hand, the flesh crisping and dropping away until only charred bones remained." The pain stops, and when he is permitted to remove his hand, it is unmarked and unharmed. This device is later referred to as the "agony box" in Heretics of Dune, and is noted to be used for interrogation as well.
In God Emperor of Dune (1981), Moneo Atreides uses a "memocorder," a tiny handheld device described as "a dull black 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...
ian artifact whose existence crowded the proscriptions of the Butlerian Jihad
Butlerian Jihad
The Butlerian Jihad is an event in the back-story of Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Occurring over 10,000 years before the events chronicled in his 1965 novel Dune, this jihad leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines", a collective term for computers...
." In the same novel, the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Anteac writes a message to be sent to her Sisterhood:
On Anteac's lap lay a small square of inky black about ten millimeters on a side and no more than three millimeters thick. She wrote upon this square with a glittering needle one word upon another, all of them absorbed into the square. The completed message would be impressed upon the nerve receptors of an acolyte-messenger's eyes, latent there until they could be replayed at the Chapter House.
In Heretics of Dune, Reverend Mother Lucilla
Lucilla (Dune)
Lucilla is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.-Heretics of Dune:In Heretics of Dune , Reverend Mother Lucilla is a young, attractive Bene Gesserit Imprinter sent by Mother Superior Taraza to Gammu, where the Bene Gesserit are bringing up a new Duncan Idaho ghola...
recognizes a device called a "hypnobong" in use on the street, witnessing a passerby lean into a concave basin and then lift his face "with a shudder ... staggering slightly, his eyes glazed." She notes that the device is "outlawed on all of the more civilized worlds."