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I will have Arrakis back for MYSELF! He who controls the SPICE controls the universe and what Piter did not tell you is we have control of someone who is very close, VERY CLOSE, to Duke Leto! This person, this TRAITOR, will be worth more to us THAN TEN LEGIONS OF SARDAUKAR!
Baron Harkonnen's famous quote. (Dune, 1984)
And so it begins. The trap is set. The prey approaches. A glorious winter is about to descend on House Atreides and all its heirs, the centuries of humiliation visited upon my family will finally be avenged...
Alone and vulnerable at the edge of the universe, valiant Duke Leto will finally come face to face with fear. When I'm through, he won't know who to trust, not even that Bene Gesserit witch he sleeps with. They'll all be turning on another like rats in a flood. By the time the traitor is fully revealed, the fate of Atreides will already be sealed.Baron Harkonnen reveals his sinister plans. (Dune, 2000)
I said I would not harm them and I shall not. But Arrakis is Arrakis and the desert takes the weak. My desert. My Arrakis. My Dune.
Baron Harkonnen about getting rid of House Atreides. (Dune, 2021)
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is the main antagonist of the Dune franchise.
He is the Baron of House Harkonnen who rules from his ancestral homeworld of Giedi Prime - exercising a tyrannical rule of exploitation and sadism over the lives of the slaves unfortunate enough to end up in the service of his House. A long-standing rival of House Atreides, the Baron is determined to bring about their end, with particular emphasis on seeing Duke Leto Atreides' humiliating defeat.
Additionally he is also the uncle of Glossu "The Beast" Rabban and Feyd-Rautha, who both serve as his instruments in pursuit of universal domination; with Rabban acting as his brutal enforcer on Arrakis and Feyd being groomed to eventually take the Baron's place as the Head of House Harkonnen—and much more, should the Baron's plans come to fruition. He is also Lady Jessica’s father and the maternal grandfather of Paul Atreides and Alia Atreides, the children of his rival Leto.
He was portrayed by the late Kenneth McMillan in the 1984 film, Ian McNeice in the 2000 miniseries, and Stellan Skarsgård in the 2021 film, who also played Jim Whitlock in Deep Blue Sea, Terry Glass in The Glass House, King Cerdic in King Arthur, Martin Vanger in the 2011 adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and The Grand Duke in the 2015 Disney live-action adaptation of Cinderella.
Quick Answers
What is the ancestral homeworld of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen?
Who is the main rival of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in the Dune franchise?
How does Baron Vladimir Harkonnen exercise his rule over the slaves of House Harkonnen?
What is Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's ultimate goal in relation to House Atreides?
What role does Baron Vladimir Harkonnen play in the Dune franchise?
History
Dune
In the year 10,191 A.G. (23,352 A.D.), Baron Harkonnen and Emperor Shaddam IV devised a plan to rid themselves of the Atreides, the latter intending to remove Duke Leto as a threat before his popularity granted him the influence to usurp Shaddam, the former eager to end his feud with House Atreides in a final and decisive act of revenge.
As always, however, the Baron intended to use the ensuing chaos as an opportunity to seize greater power. Nonetheless, the plan began with the Emperor ordering the Atreides to move from their ancestral homeworld of Caladan to the planet Arrakis in order to take over the Spice-mining operation there. Once they had arrived on the planet, the Baron made use of a traitor among the Atreides, the Suk doctor Wellington Yueh, to sabotage them from within. Normally, persuading a Suk doctor to turn on his masters would have been impossible thanks to the psychological conditioning undergone, but the Baron was able to override this by holding Yueh's wife hostage, ensuring the doctor's total cooperation with House Harkonnen's designs.
With the aid of the Emperor's Sardaukar troops, the Baron was able to stage an ambush on the unsuspecting Atreides, resulting in their forces being either scattered or killed en masse. Amidst the confusion, Duke Leto's wife Jessica and son Paul were forced to flee into the desert, while Leto himself was paralyzed and taken before the Baron to suffer humiliating tortures. Correctly suspecting that his wife had already been murdered, Yueh attempted to allow Leto a fighting chance to decapitate House Harkonnen's leadership by replacing one of his teeth with a poison capsule; unfortunately, not only was the doctor murdered in order to tie up loose ends, but Leto's poison capsule only killed the Harkonnen Mentat Piter de Vries and a handful of guards, leaving the Baron unharmed.
With all oppositions to his power over Arrakis removed, the Baron installed his nephew Rabban as planetary governor, allowing him to brutalize the populace in order to create an enemy that the people could rally against, ensuring that their loyalties would lie with his other nephew, Feyd, when he came to "rescue" them from Rabban's tyranny. However, out in the deserts of the planets, Paul and Jessica joined forces with the local Fremen. Over the years that followed, Paul eventually ascended to the role of Muad'Dib, leader and messiah of the Fremen, allowing him to lead a war of liberation against Harkonnen rule, bringing Spice production to a standstill.
With the galactic community endangered by the potential loss of Spice, the Emperor himself was forced to directly intervene, venturing forth to Arrakis in person. Though the Baron hoped to exploit this by having the Emperor supplanted by Feyd, the conflict ended with the Emperor's forces surrounded by Paul's Fremen warriors, the Emperor's only source of leverage in the standoff being Paul's recently captured sister, Alia. In the confusion, Baron Harkonnen attempted to seize Alia in a public show of loyalty, only for the child to jab him with a poisonous Gom Jabbar, killing him in seconds. Following a duel with Feyd over the fate of the Empire, Paul was eventually able to oust Emperor Shaddam from power and replace him as Emperor of the known universe, ending the novel with Baron Harkonnen dead and his House effectively obliterated.
Children of Dune
However, the death of his body was not the end for the Baron. Because Alia had been exposed to the Water of Life prior to being born, she was susceptible to the memories and personalities of her ancestors, including her grandfather. The Baron manipulated her into acting against her only family, offering to help her resist the multitude of personalities that threatened to drown out her own personality; in reality, this only allowed him to influence her directly, granting him the perfect opportunity to take revenge on the Atreides. However, though his actions ultimately forced Jessica off Arrakis and allowed him to institute a new reign of terror, he was ultimately undone when Leto II returned from the deserts. Having been defeated in combat by the Sandtrout-empowered Leto, Alia was able to regain control of her own mind and kill herself, ending the threat of the Baron once and for all.
Personality
Siridar-Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is a corrupt, cold-hearted, deceptive, degenerate, treacherous, and entirely unmerciful tyrant whose formidable intellect is outshone only by his sheer cruelty and unrelenting ambition. In his pursuit of personal power, he is not only prepared to annihilate House Atreides and condemn the young Paul Atreides to death, but even to sacrifice his own nephew Rabban in a scheme to anoint Feyd as the apparent savior of Arrakis. Furthermore, he is secretly plotting to betray the Padishah Emperor, his one-time partner in the downfall of House Atreides, and have him replaced by Feyd, crowning him as Emperor and granting the Baron a position of direct influence over the affairs of a universe-spanning empire.
The Baron's ruthlessness is apparent in every scene he appears in: should any of his pawns outlive their usefulness, he will not hesitate to eliminate them for the sake of cleaning up loose ends. As soon as Wellington Yueh has completed sabotaging House Atreides from within, the Baron reunites him with his wife as agreed by having Yueh murdered. In order to teach Feyd a lesson, he goes so far as to order the execution of every woman in the pleasure quarter, justifying the mass murder with the dismissive remark that "there will always be more women." The Baron's prized Mentat, Piter de Vries, is fully aware of this ruthless tendency and does everything in his power to ensure that he remains needed, but the Baron knows it will be only a matter of time before Piter's usefulness comes to an end.
Later, when Piter and a guard captain are killed in a botched assassination attempt, the Baron can only reflect that it at least spares him the trouble of having the two of them executed. When he obtains the captive Atreides Mentat Thufir Hawat as a replacement for Piter, he ensures that Thufir will never be able to defect by poisoning him with a latent toxin. Every day, an antidote to the toxin is introduced into Thufir's food, leaving him both symptom-free and effectively oblivious to his affliction. Should the Mentat ever try to escape, he will quickly succumb to the effects of the poison and die.
Baron Harkonnen has a deep loathing of House Atreides, not only due to them being House Harkonnen’s rivals but also due to the longstanding feud between the two houses. The Baron not only committed the Atreides massacre on Arrakis in order to seize control of the planet but also in order to wipe out his rivals once and for all and pave the way for future schemes. Indeed, in conversation with Piter De Vries and Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, the Baron expresses a desire to make sure the other houses were also aware that he brought down the Duke Leto, showing some boastfulness.
Baron Harkonnen is also incredibly cunning, conniving, devious, and manipulative; he preys on the weaknesses of others, and the fear he instills in others is able to help him pressure them into giving him what he wants. He manipulates Wellington Yueh into turning against the Atreides by holding the threat of his wife’s death over the doctor. He was able to draft Thufir Hawat into his service by directing the Mentat’s anger towards Shaddam Corino and Jessica Atreides, even though Hawat knew it was the Baron who was responsible for Duke Leto’s death. And even after Feyd-Rautha attempted to assassinate him, the Baron was still able to keep his nephew in line by promising him the throne of the Imperium.
In conversation with others, Baron Harkonnen has a jovial, avuncular demeanor, often addressing his relatives and servants with endearments. Only when angered or moving in for the kill against his opponents does he allow this façade to slip, revealing himself as the heartless, manipulative schemer he truly is. Here, his lack of empathy becomes apparent, not only ordering mass murders simply to teach Feyd a lesson but also allowing Rabban to conduct massacre after massacre on Arrakis, knowing that "the Beast's" atrocities will make it easier for him to present Feyd as a benevolent ruler to the people of Dune.
A venal, self-indulgent man, the Baron enjoys the luxuries that his immense wealth affords him, not only in the form of his lavish attire and possessions but also the young slaves he regularly molests. Indeed, when he later resurfaces in Alia's mind, he asks only one price for helping her to control the ancestral voices that threaten to overwhelm her: namely, to be allowed to experience carnal pleasure through her.
Quotes
1984 film
I made my peace gesture. The forms of KANLY have been OBEYED!The Baron
Bring in Feyd and Rabban!The Baron calls for his nephews.
This is what I'll do to the Duke and his family.The Baron on his plan to kill the Atreides.
We're knee-deep in Atreides Blood! We gutted them! We gutted them!The Baron as the Harkonnens destroy House Atreides.
Baron Harkonnen: You wish to join your wife, is that it, traitor?
Dr. Wellington Yueh: She lives?
Baron Harkonnen: You wish to join her? So, join her!The Baron has Dr. Yueh killed.
I'm alive. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!The Baron
Come, Feyd, Thufir's a Harkonnen now. Aren't you Thufir?The Baron
Rabban! I place you in charge of Arrakis. It's yours to squeeze, as I promised. I want you to squeeze and squeeze and squeeze! Give me spice! Drive them. Drive them into utter submission! Do not show the slightest pity or mercy! Never stop. Go. Go! Show no mercy!The Baron places Rabban in command of Arrakis.
I won't tell you who the traitor is, or when we'll ATTACK. However, the Duke will DIE BEFORE THESE EYES, and he'll know, HE'LL KNOW, that it is I, BARON VLADIMIR HARKONNEN, WHO ENCOMPASSES HIS DOOM!Baron Harkonnen takes control to kill the Duke.
2021 film
When is a gift not a gift? The Atreides voice is rising, and the Emperor is a jealous man. A dangerous, jealous man.Baron Vladimir Harkonnen explains the Emperor's true motives when giving Arrakis to the Atreides.
There are no satellites over Arrakis. The Atreides will die in the dark.Baron Harkonnen planning the attack on the Atreides.
No Atreides will live.Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
I said I would not harm them, and I shall not. But Arrakis is Arrakis, and the desert takes the weak. My desert. My Arrakis. My Dune!Baron Harkonnen to Piter on giving his "word" to the Reverend Mother.
You have a wonderful kitchen, cousin.Baron Harkonnen taunting a paralyzed Leto Atreides whilst eating his food.
I said I'd set her free. That you could join her. So join her.Baron Harkonnen breaking his word to Dr. Yueh and murdering him.
For hundreds of years, we've traded blood for blood. But no more. Your son is dead. Your concubine is dead. Tonight the House of Atreides falls. And your bloodline ends forever.Baron Harkonnen taunting Leto of his defeat.
The Baron upon hearing of Paul and Jessica's "deaths".So it's done, finally.
Send word to Geidi Prime to begin selling our spice reserves. But slowly. We don't want the price to fall.Baron Harkonnen ordering Rabban to have the spice sold slowly.
You have no idea how much it cost me to bring such a force to bear here. I only have one requirement: income. So squeeze, Rabban. Squeeze hard.The Baron ordering Rabban to mine as much spice as possible.
The Baron orders Rabban to exterminate the Fremen.Kill them all.
2024 Film
The Baron watches Feyd-Rautha in the gladiator arena on Geidi Prime.Show me who you are.
Tighten your grip, Rabban. Or feel mine on your neck.The Baron threatens Rabban.
Don't be hasty.The Baron, to Feyd-Rautha.
The Emperor helped me to destroy the Atreides. He lent his own army to the cause. A serious crime. If it came to light the Great Houses would rise against him, and then who would sit on the throne? Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen!The Baron explaining his plan to overthrow the emperor and make Feyd take his place.
Trivia
- The novel version of the character, while certainly cruel and ruthless, is more of a manipulator and prefers psychological torture to outright brutality, as in the 1984 movie version. In this respect, Ian McNeice's portrayal of Baron Harkonnen in the 2000 Dune miniseries is more faithful to the novel than Kenneth McMillian's version in the 1984 film. Stellan Skarsgård's portrayal in the 2021 film also leans closer to the novel's portrayal.
- Both the movie and miniseries versions of Baron Harkonnen, however, omit any reference to the Baron being a rapist, as in the novel. However, his perverted nature is heavily implied in the film and miniseries adaptations, as he lusts over Feyd in the 1984 film, his young slaves are shown wearing revealing clothing in the 2000 miniseries, and he has Duke Leto Atreides stripped naked after paralyzing him in the 2021 film.
- While it was the purpose of a ceremony, the Baron and Feyd kiss on the lips twice, and linger longer than should be necessary.
- Across the 2021-24 films, many of his slaves (both male and female) are seen somewhat under-dressed and all of them act submissive and shy in his presence, heavily hinting at the Baron's perverted hobbies.
- Unlike other versions, in Dune: Part Two, the Baron is killed by Paul Atreides.
- Stellan Skarsgård's portrayal of the Baron in both Villenueve’s Dune adaptations is inspired by Marlon Brando's Colonel Kurtz performance and the impression of the character.
- His family name was the inspiration for the modified anti-material rifle used by Seras Victoria in Hellsing Ultimate; when the "spirit" of the gun converses with Alucard in his mind, it even looks like the 1984 film version of the Baron.
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