History NightmareFuel / Dune

* The most depraved of all of the Tleilaxu's creations are the means by which they create them: [[UterineReplicator the Axlotl Tanks.]] Fleshy, immobile cyborgs connected to giant vats used to birth almost all of their biological marvels, be they Gholas or Face Dancers. The worst part? The Bene Tleilax are so [[StayInTheKitchen monstrously misogynistic]] that all women born to them are ''forcibly lobotomized'' and converted into these horrific machines.

'''No spoiler warnings ahead!'''

* Three words: [[BigBad Baron]] [[FatBastard Vladimir]] [[AmbitionIsEvil Harkonnen.]] A [[TheChessmaster calculating]], [[{{Sadist}} depraved]] [[{{Ephebophile}} pederast]] who is so morbidly obese that he requires an [[{{Acrofatic}} anti-gravity harness]] to move. His entire House is driven by greed and cruelty, where slavery is routine and brutality is a way of life. The Baron's time in the book is spent [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] his two nephews to ensure House Harkonnen's supremacy on the galactic stage.

* ''NightmareFuel/Dune2021''
* ''NightmareFuel/DunePartTwo''

* Futars are [[CatPeople cat-like humanoids]] bred by the Tleilaxu to serve as manhunters. Subhuman in their intelligence, the Honored Matres controlled them through a perverse mix of intimidation, emotional imprinting and even [[BestialityIsDepraved sex.]]

* [[{{AppliedPhlebotinum}} Holtzmann fields]] make for good personal shields, protecting you from almost all projectiles and fast attacks. It becomes a weapon ''against'' both you and your attacker when struck by a [[FrickinLaserBeams lasgun,]] which makes such a ''horrible'' combination with the shield's energy that it produces a ''pseudo-nuclear explosion'' on contact. And you have [[ParanoiaFuel no idea]] if said explosion will destroy either an army or an ''entire city.'' And it's best if you learn to control your breathing while using a personal shield, as it blocks both projectiles and atmosphere - even if you win the duel against your opponent, the exertion will asphyxiate you with your own carbon dioxide. Don't even think about using them in the deep desert, either - the Holtzmann effect does an amazing job at driving Sandworms into an apeshit rage.

You have a universe where the most precious substance is a powerful narcotic, democracy is unheard of, and [[BanOnAI trying to invent or construct any machine in the likeness of a human mind]] [[DisproportionateRetribution warrants your immediate execution]], yet somehow expect this setting ''not'' to be filled to the brim of this? Small wonder why ''[[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Warhammer 40,000]]'' took so much inspiration from this series. There's so much fear in ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', ''it will kill your mind''. [softreturn]

* [[FatBastard Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.]] Full-stop. A [[TheChessmaster calculating]], [[{{Sadist}} depraved]] [[{{Ephebophile}} pederast]] who is so morbidly obese that he requires an [[{{Acrofatic}} anti-gravity harness]] to move. His entire House is driven by greed and cruelty, where slavery is routine and brutality is a way of life. The Baron's time in the book is spent [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] his two nephews to ensure House Harkonnen's supremacy on the galactic stage.

* For all their wisdom, planning and aspiration towards a better future for the human race, the Bene Gesserit are cold, [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative witches]] whose millennia-spanning conspiracies would have the [[Franchise/AssassinsCreed Knights Templar]], [[TabletopGame/BattleTech Comstar]] and [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Tzeentch himself]] green with envy. It's even rumored that failed candidates for the [[MessianicArchetype Kwisatz-Haderach]] included ''[[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Jesus Christ and Siddharta Gautama.]]'' Entire ''religions'' have been built by their false prophecies so they could groom '''''humanity itself''''' to the end-goal of producing a messianic human being with a mind capable of transcending time and space without fault or fail.

You have a universe where the most precious substance is a powerful narcotic, democracy is unheard of, and [[BanOnAI trying to invent or construct any machine in the likeness of a human mind]] [[DisproportionateRetribution warrants your immediate execution]], yet somehow expect this setting ''not'' to be filled to the brim of this? Small wonder why [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Warhammer 40,000]] took so much inspiration from this series. There's so much fear in ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', ''it will kill your mind''. [softreturn]

** Baron Harkonnen interrogates Dr. Yueh by trapping his wife Wanna in a “sadistic-looking machine”, where he and Feyd [[ColdBloodedTorture proceed to turn her limbs into crystal before smashing them into pieces until only her head and torso remained.]] Did we mention that Wanna was apparently [[WTHCastingAgency fourteen years old in the script?]]

* [[FatBastard Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.]] Full-stop. A [[TheChessmaster calculating]], [{{Sadist}} depraved]] [[{{Ephebophile}} pederast]] who is so morbidly obese that he requires an [[{{Acrofatic}} anti-gravity harness]] to move. His entire House is driven by greed and cruelty, where slavery is routine and brutality is a way of life. The Baron's time in the book is spent [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] his two nephews to ensure House Harkonnen's supremacy on the galactic stage.

A universe where the most precious substance is a powerful narcotic, democracy is unheard of, and [[BanOnAI trying to invent or construct any machine in the likeness of a human mind]] [[DisproportionateRetribution warrants your immediate execution?]] Small wonder why [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Warhammer 40,000]] took so much inspiration from this series. There's so much fear in ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', ''it will kill your mind''. [softreturn]

* Faster-than-light travel is monopolized by the Spacing Guild, responsible for training Navigators to fold space and time by binging ridiculous amounts of Spice to the point where they literally ''bathe'' in the stuff. Very few people have actually seen a Guild Navigator because such prolonged, intense exposure to Spice has [[BodyHorror horrifically mutated]] them to the point where they can barely [[WasOnceAMan be considered human at all.]]

* [[{{AppliedPhlebotinum}} Holtzmann fields]] make for good personal shields, protecting you from almost all projectiles and fast attacks. It becomes a weapon ''against'' both you and your attacker when struck by a [[FrickinLaserBeams lasgun,]] which makes such a ''horrible'' combination with the shield's energy that it produces a ''pseudo-nuclear explosion'' on contact. And you have [[ParanoiaFuel no idea]] if said explosion will destroy either an army or an ''entire city.'' And it's best if you learn to control your breathing while using a personal shield, as it blocks both projectiles and atmosphere - even if you win the duel against your opponent, the exertion will asphyxiate you with your own carbon dioxide. Don't even think about using them in the deep desert, either - the Holtzmann effect does an amazing job at driving Sandworms into an [[BerserkButton apeshit rage.]]

* Life on a DeathWorld has turned the native Fremen tribes, already hardened by [[FantasticRacism generations of persecution]], into [[TheSpartanWay natural born killers and survivalists.]] On such a dry and hellish world, the Fremen have no qualms against [[AbsoluteXenophobe killing intruders]] and [[HumanResources dehydrating their corpses for water.]] Which they also do with their ''own dead.'' Water is more valuable than even Spice to the Fremen - Stillsuits recycle it, women will [[GoldDigger sleep for it]] and the most gracious compliment one can give in their culture is ''spitting.''

* Paul's prescience from a combination of the Bene Gesserit's breeding program and his Spice fixation allow him to avenge his family and liberate Arrakis from Imperial rule. With the added bonus of making him the Emperor of the Known Universe. Unfortunately, he also predicts that the Fremen will subsequently lead a violent Jihad ''in his name'', indirectly making him responsible for the deaths of '''''61 billion''''' people, ninety planets and fourty ''religions.'' [[{{KnightTemplar}} And they do just that.]] [[{{NiceJobBreakingItHero}} Thanks to his good intentions]], Paul has ultimately killed more people than Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Pol Pot, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Mao Zedong, Timur and Leopold II '''combined.''' [[{{Understatement}} Being Muad'Dib is hard.]]

* For all their wisdom, planning and aspiration towards a better future for the human race, the Bene Gesserit are cold, [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative witches]] whose millennia-spanning conspiracies would have the [[Franchise/AssassinsCreed Knights Templar]], [[TabletopGame/BattleTech Comstar]] and [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Tzeentch himself]] green with envy. It's even rumored that failed candidates for the [[MessianicArchetype Kwisatz-Haderach]] included ''[[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Jesus Christ and Siddharta Gautama.]]'' Entire ''religions'' have been built by their false prophecies so they could groom ''humanity itself'' into producing a messianic human being with a mind capable of transcending time and space without fault or fail.

** The poison needle itself: The Gom Jabbar. Only 3-4 centimeters in length, yet the meta-cyanide the tip is coated in is poisonous enough to kill a human whale like Vladimir Harkonnen almost instantly. It's part of the toolkit of every imperial household and nearly every single Bene Gesserit sister.

* [[FatBastard Baron]] [[{{Sadist}} Vladimir]] [[TheChessmaster Harkonnen.]] Full-stop. A calculating, depraved [[{{Ephebophile}} pederast]] who is so morbidly obese that he requires an [[{{Acrofatic}} anti-gravity harness]] to move. His [[AlwaysChaoticEvil entire House]] is driven by greed and cruelty, where slavery is routine and brutality is a way of life. The Baron's time in the book is spent [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] his two nephews to ensure House Harkonnen's supremacy on the galactic stage.
** He accomplishes this by letting the brutish and inept nephew Glossu-Rabban rule over Arrakis with an iron fist while grooming is other nephew Feyd-Rautha into becoming an actual leader. This way, when Rabban is eventually abdicated or overthrown for his despotic reign, Feyd's regime will be a guaranteed success because he will look like a hero in comparison.

* One early storyboard and script for Dune, derided by Jodorowsky as a “false script with an idiot drawing”, surfaced on eBay in 2015. It is a goldmine of [[{{WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs}} WTF.]]

A universe where the most precious substance is a powerful narcotic, democracy is unheard of, and [[BanOnAI trying to invent any machine in the likeness of a human mind]] [[DisproportionateRetribution warrants your immediate execution?]] Small wonder why [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Warhammer 40,000]] took so much inspiration from this series. There's so much fear in ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', ''it will kill your mind''. [softreturn]

** Explosive "pre-spice masses."
** And last but not least, the source of the Spice itself: [[{{Sandworm}} massive, kilometers-long worms]] that violently react to any kind of rhythmic vibration - even ''walking.'' And they can devour spice harvesters ''whole.'' [[{{ParanoiaFuel}} Did we also mention that said harvesters produce extreme amounts of rhythmic vibrations?]]

* Their crysknives, whittled from Sandworm teeth, are the Fremen's weapon of choice and a strong symbol of their culture. And they do not unsheathe them unless they are ready and willing to shed blood. When you see its glint, [[OhCrap prepare to die.]]
* Paul's prescience from a combination of Bene Gesserit eugenics and his Spice fixation allow him to avenge his family and liberate Arrakis from Imperial rule. With the added bonus of making him the Emperor of the Known Universe. Unfortunately, he also predicts that the Fremen will subsequently lead a violent Jihad ''in his name'', indirectly making him responsible for the deaths of 61,000,000,000 people, 90 planets and 40 ''religions.'' [[{{KnightTemplar}} And they do just that.]] [[{{NiceJobBreakingItHero}} Thanks to his good intentions]], Paul has ultimately killed more people than Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Pol Pot, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Mao Zedong, Timur and Leopold II '''combined.''' [[{{Understatement}} Being Muad'Dib is hard.]]

* For all their wisdom, planning and aspiration towards a better future for the human race, the Bene Gesserit are cold, [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative witches]] whose millennia-spanning conspiracies would make the [[Franchise/AssassinsCreed Knights Templar]], [[TabletopGame/BattleTech Comstar]] and [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Tzeentch himself]] seethe with jealously. It's even rumored that failed candidates for the [[TheMessiah Kwisatz-Haderach]] included ''[[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Jesus Christ and Siddharta Gautama.]]'' Entire ''religions'' have been built by their false prophecies so they could groom ''humanity itself'' into producing a messianic human being with a mind capable of transcending time and space without fault or fail.

** The poison needle itself: The Gom Jabbar. Only 3-4 centimeters in length yet poisonous enough to kill a human whale like Vladimir Harkonnen almost instantly. It's part of the toolkit of every imperial household and nearly every single Bene Gesserit sister.

* [[FatBastard Baron]] [[BadBoss Vladimir]] [[TheChessmaster Harkonnen.]] Full-stop. A calculating, sadistic [[{{Ephebophile}} pederast]] who is so morbidly obese that he requires an [[{{Acrofatic}} anti-gravity harness]] to move. His [[AlwaysChaoticEvil entire House]] is driven by greed and cruelty, where slavery is routine and brutality is a way of life. The Baron's time in the book is spent [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] his two nephews to ensure House Harkonnen's supremacy on the galactic stage.

* After narrowly avoiding [[ImTakingYouWithMe Duke Leto's assassination attempt]], Baron Harkonnen blows off steam by asking for some [[RapeAsDrama time alone with a slave that looks like Paul Atreides.]]

* [[FatBastard Baron]] [[BadBoss Vladimir]] [[TheChessmaster Harkonnen.]] Full-stop. A calculating, sadistic [[{{Ephebophile}} pederast]] who is so morbidly obese that he requires an [[{{Acrofatic}} anti-gravity harness]] to move. His [[AlwaysChaoticEvil entire House]] is driven by greed and cruelty, where slavery is routine and brutality is a way of life. The Baron's time in the book is spent [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] his two nephews into ensuring House Harkonnen's supremacy on the galactic stage.
** He accomplishes this by letting the brutal and incompetent Glossu-Rabban rule over Arrakis with an iron fist while grooming Feyd-Rautha into becoming an actual leader. This way, when Rabban is eventually abdicated or overthrown for his despotic reign, Feyd's regime will be a guaranteed success because he will look like a hero in comparison.

* Piter De Vries is the personal Mentat of Baron Harkonnen and is just as cruel and sadistic as his master. Not only that, he's a "Twisted Mentat," vat-grown by the Tleilaxu as a way of getting around the mandatory ethics training of the Mentat schools.
* After narrowly avoiding an assassination attempt by Duke Leto, Baron Harkonnen blows off steam by asking for some [[RapeAsDrama time alone with a slave that looks like Paul Atreides.]]
* Before leaving them in the desert to die, two Harkonnen soldiers consider forcing themselves upon Jessica as she and Paul lay unconscious. The only reason that the two survive is because Baron Harkonnen, well aware of Imperial truthsayers, needed them to die in a coriolis storm for the sake of plausible deniability. Fortunately, the two awaken and kill the Harkonnen soldiers. But not before they are left to fend for themselves in the desert.

* [[BigBad Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.]] Full-stop. A [[TheChessmaster calculating,]] [[{{Sadist}} sadistic]] [[{{Ephebophile}} pederast]] who is so [[FatBastard morbidly obese]] that he requires an [[{{Acrofatic}} anti-gravity harness]] to move. His [[AlwaysChaoticEvil entire House]] is driven by greed and cruelty, where slavery is routine and brutality is a way of life. The Baron's time in the book is spent [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] his two nephews into ensuring House Harkonnen's supremacy on the galactic stage.

A universe where the most precious substance is a powerful narcotic, democracy is unheard of, and trying to invent ''any'' kind of computer, robot or otherwise self-aware machine [[DisproportionateRetribution warrants your immediate execution?]] Small wonder why [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Warhammer 40,000]] took so much inspiration from this series. There's so much fear in ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', ''it will kill your mind''. [softreturn]

* [[FatBastard Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.]] Full-stop. A [[TheChessmaster calculating,]] [[CompleteMonster sadistic]] [[{{Ephebophile}} pederast]] who is so morbidly obese that he requires an [[{{Acrofatic}} anti-gravity harness]] to move. His [[AlwaysChaoticEvil entire House]] is driven by greed and cruelty, where slavery is routine and brutality is a way of life. The Baron's time in the book is spent [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] his two nephews into ensuring House Harkonnen's supremacy on the galactic stage.

* The Bene Tleilaxu are masters of bio-technology and both [[BodyHorror their creations]] and [[ManipulativeBastard their ambitions]] have rightfully earned them a reputation as one of the most revolting organizations in the known universe. Their genetic shenanigans aren't just limited to their products, but to ''themselves'' as well, looking more like RubberForeheadAliens than actual humans.

* Sligs. A grotesque [[MixAndMatchCritters slug-pig hybrid]] engineered to produce a surprisingly delicious kind of meat. What most of the galaxy doesn't realize is that the Bene Tleilaxu created this as a StealthInsult against the decadence and corruption of the Imperium.

* The most depraved of all of the Tleilaxu's creations are the means by which they create them: [[UterineReplicator the Axlotl Tanks.]] Fleshy, immobile cyborgs connected to giant vats used to birth almost all of their biological marvels, be they Gholas or Face Dancers. The worst part? The Bene Tleilaxu are so [[StayInTheKitchen monstrously misogynistic]] that all women born to them are ''forcibly lobotomized'' and converted into these horrific machines.