Dune 2's Most Powerful Characters, Ranked

The following contains spoilers for
Dune: Part Two
, now playing in theaters.

The universe of Dune is a complex place. Frank Herbert’s seminal space opera has as much in common with the religious and political machinations of Game of Thrones as the sci-fi/fantasy adventures of Star Wars. Herbert’s novels and Denis Villeneuve’s cinematic adaptations introduce a great breadth of characters with vital roles to play in shaping the changing hierarchy of the universe. In order to play their parts, the characters of Dune: Part Two wield power in a variety of forms: political, religious and even supernatural. Characters’ connections to these interconnected power structures determine the influence they exert and, ultimately, their capacity to assume power over others.

Dune: Part Two opens with the words “Power over Spice is power over all,” delivered in the war chant of the Emperor’s Sardaukar. The fight for control over the Spice fields of Arrakis determines much of the movie’s central conflict, pitting House Harkonnen and the Emperor against the Fremen and the survivors of House Atreides. All the while, in the background, the sisters of the Bene Gesserit watch over everything and draw their own plans to control the balance of power in the universe. With so many factions vying for power, the truly powerful are distinguished by their ability to shape the destinies of all.

10 Stilgar Is the Fremen’s Most Knowledgeable Leader

Javier Bardem’s Stilgar is the leader of the Fremen tribe encountered by Paul Atreides and his mother, Lady Jessica. Hailing originally from the southern regions of Arrakis where faith plays a far stronger role than in the north, Stilgar is a strong proponent of the prophecy of Lisan al Gaib and pushes the Fremen to accept Paul as their prophesied messiah.

Stilgar is a strong and wise leader of the Fremen, well versed in the ways of the unforgiving desert of Arrakis. When Paul rises to prominence as the Lisan al Gaib of the Fremen, Stilgar offers up his life, and other Fremen leaders encourage Paul to take it. The only way he can be made a Fremen tribal leader is to kill the tribe’s current leader. However, Paul refuses to do so, recognizing Stilgar’s value as one of the greatest and most knowledgable leaders in the ranks of the Fremen.

9 Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen Thrives on Sheer Brutality

The violent Feyd-Rautha is brought to life with horrifying flare by Austin Butler. He is the nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and is the Baron’s chosen na-Baron — the heir to his noble title. At the start of Dune: Part Two, the Baron has placed Arrakis under the control of his other nephew, Glossu Rabban. However, when Rabban struggles to control the Fremen or maintain the Spice harvest, Feyd-Ratha is chosen to replace him as a superior candidate.

Feyd-Rautha is introduced to Dune: Part Two in a stunning arena battle, showcasing his brutality. In terms of sheer physical prowess and combat capability, he is perhaps the strongest character in the entire film. However, despite being groomed for the Imperial throne by both the Baron and the sisters of the Bene Gesserit, Feyd-Rautha ultimately remains little more than a pawn of these higher powers, unable to share their clear vision of the bigger picture where Arrakis and the Imperium are concerned.

8 Baron Vladimir Harkonnen Attempted a Coup for the Throne

As the patriarch of House Harkonnen and the former Governor of Arrakis, the fearsome Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is portrayed by Stellan Skarsgård in Dune: Part Two. In addition to these roles, the Baron is also the uncle to Feyd-Rautha and Glossu Rabban. House Harkonnen is one of the Great Houses of Dune‘s Landsraad, and the ruling council of the universe’s landed gentry. Vladimir Harkonnen greatly increased his house’s power and wealth when he took ownership of Arrakis and its valuable Spice fields.

Dune: Part Two sees Baron Vladimir Harkonnen re-establishing his control of Arrakis, this time protecting himself by installing his nephews as governors of the planet while the conflict with the Fremen continues. The Baron even sets in motion a plan for House Harkonnen to claim the Emperor’s throne, using Feyd-Rautha as his puppet ruler. However, all these plans come to naught when he is faced with the wrath of the Emperor and the blade of Paul Atreides.

7 Princess Irulan Is the Heir to Emperor Shaddam IV’s Throne

Daughter of Emperor Shaddam IV, Princess Irulan is heir to her father’s throne and has been trained as a sister of the Bene Gesserit. Played by Black Widow and Oppenheimer star Florence Pugh, Princess Irulan’s role is minimal, but plays an important role in the world of Dune. The novel is punctuated with extracts from her many literary works, charting the rise of Paul “Muad’Dib” Atreides and the final years of her father’s reign.

In Dune: Part Two, Irulan accepts the role for which she has been prepared: to marry the heir to either House Atreides or House Harkonnen in order to ascend to the role of Empress. Her role is to keep the universe under the control of both House Corrino and the Bene Gesserit. As a member of the Sisterhood, she possesses greater insight into intergalactic affairs than her father does and puts her training to good use in advising his course of action. Irulan goes on to play an important role in the second Dune novel, Dune Messiah, as wife to Paul Atreides and Empress of the Imperium.

6 Lady Margot Fenring Schemes to Make a Harkonnen the Kwisatz Haderach

Léa Seydoux’s Lady Margot Fenring is introduced in Dune: Part Two as a guest of the Harkonnens on their home world of Giedi Prime. She arrives alongside her fellow Bene Gesserit sisters to observe Feyd-Rautha’s performance in a staged arena battle. While in the novel Lady Margot is the wife of a nobleman close to the Emperor, Count Fenring was cut from Dune: Part Two in order to have the movie focus more heavily on the Bene Gesserit.

As an experienced Bene Gesserit close to the Harkonnens, Lady Margot becomes pivotal in the Sisterhood’s plans to shape the future in Dune: Part Two. When it becomes clear Paul Atreides has become a threat to their mission, Lady Margot assesses Feyd-Rautha’s potential to replace Paul as the prophesied Kwisatz Haderach. She even seduces and is impregnated by him, in order to preserve the Harkonnen bloodline for the Bene Gesserit’s future benefit.

5 Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV Rules Over the Entire Universe

In terms of direct political power, nobody in the world of Dune could claim to be more powerful than the Emperor of the Known Universe — a role fulfilled at the start of Dune: Part Two by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, played by the legendary Christopher Walken. The Emperor oversees all the Great Houses, commands the formidable Sardaukar and wields supreme executive power over the universe.

Though his sight does not stretch as far as that of the Bene Gesserit (whose advice he relies upon in his leadership), Emperor Shaddam IV is no pawn. He acts decisively and is not afraid to bring Great Houses and nobility to heel when they threaten the stability or security of his leadership. It is only when his forces are utterly annihilated by Paul Atreides’ Fremen that he submits to Paul as the new Padishah Emperor.

4 Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam Manipulates Every Major Power

Chief among the Reverend Mothers of the Bene Gesserit, Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam trained Paul Atreides’ mother, Lady Jessica, in the Bene Gesserit ways before becoming the Truthsayer of Emperor Shaddam IV. As the Emperor’s own Truthsayer and the Reverend Mother at the heart of the Imperium, Mohiam oversees all the plans and machinations of the Bene Gesserit, manipulating every major power in the universe. She is portrayed in Dune: Part Two by Charlotte Rampling.

As well as instructing all other Bene Gesserit, overseeing plans to determine who will become Emperor after Shaddam IV and driving the universe towards the arrival of the Kwisatz Haderach — a ruler under Bene Gesserit control — Reverend Mother Mohiam possesses the seemingly superhuman abilities of all Bene Gesserit sisters. She is able to use the Voice to control the will of others and access the genetic memory of all Reverend Mothers who came before her.

3 Alia Atreides Has Access to the Reverend Mothers’ Genetic Memory

Alia Atreides is Paul’s younger sister, and has a far smaller role in Dune: Part Two than she does in the novel. While the novel’s time jump sees Alia being born and growing into a toddler of wisdom and knowledge far beyond her three years of age, the film adaptation leaves out the time jump and so Jessica remains pregnant with Alia until the end of the movie. However, Alia still makes her presence known. Paul even glimpses her future in a vision, seeing an adult Alia played by Anya Taylor-Joy.

After Jessica ingests and converts the poisonous Water of Life while pregnant, she finds that this Bene Gesserit ritual has not only given her access to the genetic memory of the Reverend Mothers, but has passed this ability on to her daughter. As a result, even as an unborn fetus, Alia is able to telepathically communicate with her mother and exhibits great insight throughout the movie. In Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune, Alia’s access to her genetic memory proves to be her undoing, allowing her to be possessed by a remembered version of her maternal grandfather, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.

2 Paul Atreides Becomes the Emperor of the Known Universe at a Cost

Paul Atreides is portrayed by Timothée Chalamet in Dune: Part Two, and was always destined for great power. Born male due to his mother’s defiance of the Reverend Mother Mohiam’s orders that she conceive a daughter, Paul was raised by Jessica to become the Kwisatz Haderach — a male with the powers of the Bene Gesserit sisters, as well as the ability to see into the future. Paul realizes this destiny in Dune: Part Two, after ingesting the Water of Life in order to gain the powers he needed to defeat the Harkonnens.

Using his newfound ability to see into the future, Paul is able to identify the one slim path to victory for himself and the Fremen. By the end of Dune: Part Two, he takes Princess Irulan’s hand in marriage and becomes the new Emperor of the Known Universe. While Paul Atreides is the most powerful character in Dune: Part Two in terms of his supernatural capabilities and his ultimate ascension to the imperial throne, the great tragedy of Paul is that he is a prisoner of time and fate. He finds himself at the mercy of the path laid before him, unable to avoid the Holy War of his prescient visions.

1 Lady Jessica’s Manipulations Provoke a Holy War

Paul’s mother, Rebecca Ferguson’s Lady Jessica, goes from Bene Gesserit sister to Reverend Mother of the Fremen in Dune: Part Two. Jessica had always been a significant and rebellious member of the Bene Gesserit, defying their orders so that she could give Duke Leto Atreides I a male heir, whom she hoped would also become the Kwisatz Haderach. When she undergoes the ritual to become a Reverend Mother, Jessica’s mind is greatly expanded and she establishes herself as a direct opponent to the Reverend Mother Mohiam and the Bene Gesserit of the Imperium.

Paul’s dreams of the future suggest that he has been set upon the path to Holy War by his mother’s actions. It is Jessica who has plotted Paul’s path towards becoming the Kwisatz Haderach. She also convinces the rest of the Fremen to believe in the prophecies surrounding Paul, and she similarly drives Paul down the destructive path towards Holy War. She may not possess her son’s prescient abilities, but it is Lady Jessica who wields supreme power in Dune: Part Two.

Dune: Part Two is now playing in theaters.