History Literature / DuneMessiah

* CopiedTheMoralsToo: [[spoiler:The plot to use the ghola Hayt to assassinate Paul fails because they copied Duncan Idaho's morals too well, including his UndyingLoyalty to the Atreides family. This resulted in Hayt not only resisting the trigger command, but reclaiming the full memories of the original Duncan Idaho, something that no ghola had been able to do before.]]

* FutureImperfect: Paul has to tell people who Hitler and Genghis Khan were, and clearly has an imperfect understanding himself.

** Scytale's elaborate infiltration as Lichna involve making Paul bring Chani with him to Otheym's house, which [[spoiler:the traitorous Qizarate plan to attack with a Stone-Burner]], but this whole move goes anywhere as soon as he refuses and is never explained. It is not be even related to their later plan of [[spoiler:getting Chani to die so they can offer Paul an awakened ghola of hers]], because this option only comes to be after [[spoiler:they discover through Hayt it is possible to wake up gholas' memories after all]].

* BrotherSisterIncest: Paul and Alia have incestuous overtones, certainly not helped by the Bene Gesserit's clear intention to find a way of bargaining for Paul and his sister to produce an heir. At one point, Paul walks in on Alia training with a dummy in the nude, and notes "a disquieting femaleness about her that he had never considered in his sister". For her part, Alia foresees via the spice the possibility of becoming pregnant, but only via a man she is unable to see; and as "oracles" present blind-spots to one another, she worries it may be impossible to avoid the fate. [[spoilers: Paul's decision to walk into the desert was in all likelihood partially motivated by avoiding this future.]]

* DeconstructorFleet: For TheChosenOne, the MessianicArchetype, and [[TheHero hero]] tropes, continuing from ''Dune''.

* IDieFree: [[spoiler:Paul's]] spoken to Tandis before he walks out into the desert to die.
-->"Now I am free."

-->There are problems in this universe for which there are no answers. Nothing. Nothing can be done.

* KillMeNowOrForeverStayYourHand: Duncan Idaho comes back to life with the help of the Bene Tleilax who brainwash him to kill Paul-Muad'Dib. Paul knows this, and deliberately gives him a chance near the end of the book to kill him. Idaho snaps out of his brainwashing and lets Paul live.
* LonelyAtTheTop: Paul at the height of his power has no one to truly understands him, and his love Chani dies in childbirth.

----

* AscendedExtra: Duncan Idaho, in the first book, 'dies' [[spoiler:only to become the only character to feature in all six novels of the original series]].
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Due to the intense religious deification around Paul, there's a common belief that he simply won't die and will ascend to a higher plane of awareness. [[spoiler:When Paul leaves them to walk into the desert several speculate that this happened to him]].

* BrotherSisterIncest: Paul and Alia have incestuous overtones. At one point, Alia engages a sparring robot nude, before Paul stops her from almost killing herself. It's certainly not helped by the Bene Gesserit's clear intention to find a way of bargaining for Paul and his sister to produce an heir.

* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: Chani, though she dies relatively late.

Creator/DenisVilleneuve, director of ''[[Film/Dune2021 Dune: Part One]]'' and ''Film/DunePartTwo'', has started working on a script to adapt the novel.

* MonochromaticEyes: A result of high-level Spice addiction, when enough ingestion saturates the blood stream and stains the eyes. Described in the books as "blue-on-blue".

* SexlessMarriage: Much to Irulan's consternation, her marriage to Paul turns out to be this; he considers Chani to be his real wife, in everything but name.

* VirginSacrifice: Farok, an elderly Fremen, recounts of old times when they would sacrifice virgins to [[SandWorm Shai-hulud]]. Liet-kynes put a stop to it when he took power and Farok views that as one of many changes that has pushed them away from their roots.

* AddledAddict: The {{Fantastic Drug}}s within the setting of ''Dune'' take a toll on people.

* GeneticMemory: Bene Gesserit Reverend Mothers (and Wild Mothers such as the Fremen's and Rebecca) get genetic memories of all their female ancestors, while the Kwisatz Haderach gets them for ''all'' his ancestors, as do children of these two. [[CloningBlues Gholas]] can gain past life memories this way too, by being manipulated into doing something their original self would never have done. The discovery of Ghola memory resurrection is a central plot point.

* UpToEleven: Alia Atreides engages in a sparring match with a mechanical swordsman, which gets faster, and creates more lights (which reflect off its prismatic body to distract its opponent) every time it is struck. It's noted that the greatest swordsmen in the universe can strike it seven times before it becomes too fast to safely continue. Alia manages to strike it eleven times, before Paul stops her by throwing a knife at the off switch, ''which is on the machine''.

[[caption-width-right:244:His third eye's the one that's ''not'' blind]]
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* ElectronicEyes: "Metal Eyes" are a form of augmentation wherein artificial mechanical eyes replace damaged or lost organic ones, allowing for much better vision. Farok explains some of the paranoia about them, with many believing that the eyes end up controling one's mind. When Duncan Idaho is resurrected as Hayt he's given a pair.

* EyeScream: Paul Atreides' eyes are burned out of his face by being too close to the explosion of a stone-burner nuke. It's stated that this is a common use for the stone-burner. Also, many people have their eyes gouged out in fights.

* YouNeedToGetLaid: All but invoked by name by Stilgar, when he and Paul catch the fifteen years old Alia sparring a fighting golem...on the highest setting... nude.

* TheRemnant: The Sardaukar have been reduced significantly after Paul's ascension. There is only one remaining legion after the time skip between this book and ''Dune'' and they operate as royal-guard for Emporer Corrino in his exile on Salusa Secundus. Paul admits unease to allowing even a fraction of the group to continue to exist under the fallen Emporer.

* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler:Paul's]] spoken to Tandis before he walks out into the desert to die.
-->"Now I am free."

* {{Cuckold}}: When Paul refuses to give Irulan a child, she says she'll find another father and will "Cuckold [him]". Paul doesn't even flinch at the threat.
-->'''Paul''': Cuckold me all you wish, but no child.

* BigBad: The Guild/Bene Gesserit/Tleilaxu conspiracy