History NightmareFuel / Dune

-->'''Mentat Roma Atani''': Your contract is terminated. You will now serve as an example to future strategists.[[{{MeaningfulEcho}} Fear is an efficient tool of management.]] ''(Leaves you trapped with your predecessor.)''

* 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.

** Contaminators: [[{{HumanoidAbomination}} Faceless, fleshy and misshapen creatures]] that turn the people they kill into [[SpawnBroodling more of their own kind]] thanks to a man-made virus.

-->'''Mentat Roma Atani''': Fear is an efficient form of management.

** Contaminators: [[{{HumanoidAbomination}} Faceless, fleshy and misshapen creatures]] that turn the people they kill into more of their own kind thanks to a man-made virus.
** Leeches: Tripedal insectoid "tanks" that fire their own larvae at their foes. On death, [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong the foe transforms into another Leech.]]

** The planet is dry. ''Very'' dry. So much so that the local [[ProudWarriorRace Fremen]] have to recycle and purify the water from both [[IAteWhat themselves]] and [[HumanResources their own dead.]] In fact, ''spitting'' is considered a ''gracious compliment'' in their culture.

** 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, up to and including ''simply walking'' which are capable of devouring ''spice harvesters WHOLE.''

* 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 ''billions and the complete sterilization of FIVE planets.'' [[{{Understatement}} Being Muad'Dib is hard.]]

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

* 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.'']] Just in case the reader forgot just how evil he and his house are.
* Before leaving them in the desert to die, two Harkonnen soldiers briefly consider forcing themselves upon Jessica as she and Paul lay barely conscious.

** Contaminators: [[{{HumanoidAbomination}} Faceless, fleshy and misshapen ''things'' that turn the people they kill into more of their own kind thanks to a man-made virus.

* Axlotl Tanks: The devices the Bene Tleilaxu use to create gholas, face dancers and other creatures used to be human women. Even worse, House Tleilax does this ''to '''all''' of their women'' - once they've reached puberty their mind are wiped clean, they're mechanically enhanced and are literally turned into breeding machines.

* House Ordos is driven by two things: [[MoneyDearBoy profit]] and the [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney efficient means]] of attaining said profit. Even if it means violating the Great Convention by violating Guild rules or dabbling in illegal technology.

-->'''Strategist:''' Why won't they just let us die?

!!General

** The David Lynch adaptation gives the audience a close-up view of one. It's ''not pretty.''
*** David Lynch takes quite a few liberties with the source material: Navigators actually resemble semi-humanoid manta rays, which admittedly still in the realm of nightmare fuel, but not ''that'' bad.
* Axlotl Tanks: The devices the Bene Tleilaxu use to create gholas, face dancers and other creatures used to be human women. Even worse, House Tleilax does this ''to '''all''' of their women'' - once they've reached puberty their mind are wiped clean, they're mechanically enhanced and are literally turned into breeding machines.

* The David Lynch film adaptation has the Baron’s servants bearing grotesque scars on their ears and eyes, as if they were the victims of some demented surgery.
** Foremost among them is a creepy, rhyming doctor that injects [[FacialHorror the Baron’s sores and boils with fluid,]] making sure they’re [[NauseaFuel properly infected.]]

!!2021 Film
* The makers of the film spent over a year perfecting the design of the Sandworm to make sure it looked as intimidating and prehistoric as possible. [[{{GoneHorriblyRight}} They succeeded.]]
* A blink-or-you’ll-miss-it scene in the trailer shows Baron Harkonnen’s elephantine form emerging from what looks like a bath of crude oil. It lasts only a second or two but it leaves a powerful impression.

** 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, capable of devouring ''spice harvesters WHOLE.''

* Axlotl Tanks: The devices Ordos use to create ghola, face dancers and other creatures used to be human women. Even worse, House Ordos does this ''to '''all''' of their women'' - once they've reached puberty their mind are wiped clean, they're mechanically enhanced and are literally turned into breeding machines.

* [[FatBastard Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.]] Full-stop. A [[TheChessmaster calculating,]] [[CompleteMonster sadistic]] [[PaedoHunt pederast]] that is so morbidly obese that he requires an [[{{Acrofatic}} anti-gravity harness]] to move. His [[AlwaysChaoticEvil entire House]] is driven by greed, brutality and cruelty and busies himself in the first book with [[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 ''Dune'', ''it will kill your mind''. [softreturn]

* [[FatBastard Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.]] Full-stop. A [[TheChessmaster calculating,]] [[CompleteMonster sadistic]] [[PaedoHunt pederast]] that is so morbidly obese that he requires an [[Acrofatic anti-gravity harness]] to move. His [[AlwaysChaoticEvil entire House]] is driven by greed, brutality and cruelty and busies himself in the first book with [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] his two nephews into ensuring House Harkonnen's supremacy on the galactic stage.

* 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 WTF.
** The framing device for the film entails dog-like humanoids discovering a “Museum of Man” in a ruined city, housing a giant crucified robot that projects the rest of the film itself out of its eyes as a history exhibit. The robot does this while weeping, might we add.

* [[FatBastard Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.]] Full-stop. A [[TheChessmaster calculating,]] [[CompleteMonster sadistic]] [[PaedoHunt pederast]] that is so morbidly obese that he requires an anti-gravity harness to move. His [[AlwaysChaoticEvil entire House]] is driven by greed, brutality and cruelty and busies himself in the first book with [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] his two nephews into ensuring House Harkonnen's supremacy on the galactic stage.

* House Ordos is driven by two things: profit and the efficient means of attaining said profit. Even if it means violating the Great Convention by violating Guild rules or dabbling in illegal technology.

** The Harkonnen army finalizes their conquest of Arrakis by dropping their pants and taking a shit on the floor. Simultaneously. All one thousand of them.

* The Harkonnen homeworld, Giedi Prime, is an accurate reflection of its owners. It is a [[GaiasLament polluted,]] volcanic hellscape that is so befouled by industry that is soil is absolutely saturated with machine oil even after ''three thousand years'' since the Baron's death.

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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 ''Dune'', ''it will kill your mind''.

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. "Fear is the mind-killer" indeed.

"Fear is the mind-killer" indeed. '''No spoiler warnings ahead!'''

* This is 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.

* In the David Lynch film adaptation, there is a small alien creature called a "Sqoog", which is kept in a small glass case to be ''crushed and sucked dry'' like a cider press. Even the ''juiceboxes'' on Giedi Prime involve some form of torture.

** Storms of static electricity that often [[Wormsign predict the coming of a Worm.]]

** 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, capable of devouring ''spice harvesters WHOLE.''

* The Ordos is led by a group of four mechanically-conjoined rulers known as the Executrix - all of whom share a [[HiveMinds single mind.]] Their sole representative is the Speaker, a [[HumanoidAbomination cyborg...man thing]] that handles [[VoiceOfTheLegion all of their communication abilities.]] [[FridgeHorror Nobody knows what happened to the original lineage of House Ordos.]]

* House Ordos is driven by two things: profit and the efficient means of attaining said profit. Even if it means violating the Great Convention by violating Guild rules or dabbling in forbidden technology.
* The Ordos is led by a group of four mechanically-conjoined rulers known as the Executrix - all of whom share a single mind. Their sole representative is the Speaker, a [[HumanoidAbomination cyborg...man thing]] that handles [[WithManyVoices all of their communication abilities.]] [[FridgeHorror Nobody knows what happened to the original lineage of House Ordos.]]

* [[FatBastard Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.]] Full-stop. A [[TheChessmaster calculating,]] [[CompleteMonster sadistic]] [[PaedoHunt pederast]] that is so morbidly obese that he requires an [[Acrofatic anti-gravity]] harness to move. His [[AlwaysChaoticEvil entire House]] is driven by greed, brutality and cruelty and busies himself in the first book with [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating]] his two nephews into ensuring House Harkonnen's supremacy on the galactic stage.

* The Harkonnen homeworld, Giedi Prime, is an accurate reflection of its owners. It is a [[GaiasLament polluted,]] [[TheMordor volcanic hellscape]] that is so befouled by industry that is soil is absolutely saturated with machine oil even after ''three thousand years'' since the Baron's death.

* This is 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]] took so much inspiration from this series.

* The Harkonnen homeworld, Giedi Prime, is an accurate reflection of its owners. It is a [[GaiasLament polluted,]] [[TheMordor volcanic hellscape]] that is so befouled by industry that is soil is absolutely saturated with machine oil even after ''three thousand years'' since the Baron's death.