Organizations of the Dune universe

As Frank Herbert's Dune (1965) begins, the known universe is ruled by Shaddam IV, the 81st Padishah Emperor of House Corrino, whose power is secured by his control of the Sardaukar, his brutally efficient military force. Imperial power is balanced by the assembly of noble houses called the Landsraad, which enforces the Great Convention's ban on the use of atomics against human targets. Though the power of House Corrino is unrivaled by any other individual House, they are in constant competition with each other for political power and stakes in the omnipresent CHOAM company, a directorship which controls the wealth of the entire Empire. The third primary power in the universe is the Spacing Guild, which monopolizes interstellar travel and banking through its proprietary use of melange-mutated Guild Navigators who perform the necessary computations to safely navigate "folded space". The matriarchal Bene Gesserit possess almost superhuman physical, sensory, and deductive powers developed through years of physical and mental conditioning. While positioning themselves to serve mankind, the Bene Gesserit pursue their goal to better the human race by subtly and secretly guiding and manipulating human bloodlines and the affairs of others to serve their own purposes. "Human computers" known as Mentats have been developed and perfected to replace the capacity for logical analysis lost through the prohibition of computers. The Bene Tleilax are amoral merchants who traffic in biological and genetically engineered products such as artificial eyes, "twisted" Mentats and a type of clone called a ghola. Finally, the Ixians produce cutting-edge technology that seemingly complies with (but sometimes pushes the boundaries of) the prohibitions against computers, thinking machines and conscious robots put in place 10,000 years before as a result of the Butlerian Jihad. The doctors of the Suk School are the universe's most competent and trusted; those who have received the "Suk Imperial Conditioning" are incapable of inflicting harm. The Swordmasters of Ginaz are an elite group of master swordsmen whose fighting skills are prized and unmatched. Equally fierce in battle are the native Fremen of the desert planet Arrakis, known as Dune. Naturally honed to excellence in harsh conditions rivaling the planet on which the Imperial Sardaukar are trained, the Fremen are misunderstood and underestimated by the other powers in the universe. Seeing the eventual extinction of mankind through prescient vision, in Children of Dune (1976) Paul's son Leto II devises an extended plan to save humanity, but becomes a symbiote with the sandworm of Arrakis to gain the long lifespan needed to see this plan to its end. Thirty-five hundred years later in God Emperor of Dune (1981), Leto still rules the universe as a 'benevolent tyrant', with the help of his all-female army, the Fish Speakers. He forbids any spiritual outlets other than his own compulsory religion, and maintains a tight monopoly on melange and space travel. Through his own selective breeding program among the descendants of his twin sister Ghanima, Leto finally achieves Siona, whose actions are hidden from prescient vision. He engineers his own assassination, knowing it will result in rebellion and revolt but also in an explosion in travel and colonization. The resultant chaos and severe famine on many worlds cause trillions of humans to set off into the freedom of unknown space and spread out across the universe in a diaspora later called the Scattering. Fifteen hundred years later, as Heretics of Dune (1984) begins, the balance of power in the Empire rests among the Ixians, the Bene Gesserit, and the Tleilaxu. The Spacing Guild has been forever weakened by the development of Ixian machines capable of navigation in foldspace, practically replacing Guild Navigators. Ixians are at their apex with their alliance with the Fish Speakers; but Bene Gesserit analysts see them as a failing power, because Ixian society has become a bureaucracy and no great inventions have come out of the workshops of Ix for centuries. The Bene Gesserit control the sandworms and their planet, now called Rakis, through their influence over the Rakian Priesthood that worships the sandworms as the Divided God, Leto II, and now actively participate on interstellar politics and even have their own standing armies. But the Tleilaxu have also discovered how to synthetically produce melange, and they are preparing to subjugate the rest of humanity. As a large influx of people begin to return from the Scattering, the Bene Gesserit find their match in a violent and corrupt matriarchal society known as the Honored Matres. A bitter and bloody war erupts between the orders, but in Chapterhouse: Dune (1985) it ultimately becomes clear that joining the two organizations into a single New Sisterhood with shared abilities is their best chance at survival against the approaching enemy, who had driven the Honored Matres into the Old Empire. ==Bene Gesserit==

The Bene Gesserit are a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. The matriarchal group is described as a secretive and exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman powers and abilities that can seem magical to outsiders. Under the guise of humbly "serving" the Empire, the Sisterhood is in fact a major power in the universe, using its many areas of influence to subtly guide mankind along the path of their own plan for humanity's future. The Bene Gesserit also have a secret, millennia-long selective breeding program to bolster and preserve valuable skills and bloodlines as well as to produce a theoretical superhuman male they call the Kwisatz Haderach. == Bene Tleilax ==

The Bene Tleilax, also called Tleilaxu , are an extremely xenophobic and isolationist society in the Dune universe. Genetic manipulators who traffic in biological products such as artificial eyes, gholas, and "twisted" Mentats, the Tleilaxu are a major power in the Imperium. The race is ruled by a small council of Tleilaxu Masters, whose genetically engineered Face Dancer servants have the ability to mimic any human. The Masters themselves possess a bland and diminutive appearance intended to cause other races to underestimate them. In Heretics of Dune (1984), it is revealed that they are a secret totalitarian theocracy, ultimately seeking domination of the universe. Despite their influence, the Bene Tleilax are universally distrusted and inspire disgust because their products, though desirable, push the moral limits of what humanity at large considers acceptable and can involve extensive physiological and physical manipulation of human life. Tleilaxu Masters are the leaders and real minds of the Bene Tleilax. After Dune Messiah (1969), the Tleilaxu have the ability to regain their genetic memory with ease, allowing them to live forever, using their axlotl tanks to create gholas of themselves. In Heretics of Dune, it is noted that Tleilaxu sperm "does not carry forward in a straight genetic fashion... Gaps occur", and that they are "naturally immune to an Ixian Probe", an interrogation device which normally can extract information even from the dead. The Tleilaxu are described as short, dwarf-like characters with gray skin, hair and eyes, elfin features, and pointy teeth. Another 1,500 years later in Heretics of Dune (1984), the Tleilaxu routinely provide the Bene Gesserit with Duncan Idaho gholas, and have also developed the ability to grow the spice melange in the same axlotl tanks they use to grow gholas. Secretly a theistic Zensunni society, the Tleilaxu believe they are on the brink of taking control of the Imperium. They have perfected their Face Dancers, who are now perfect mimics, able to copy the memories and consciousness of the people they imitate. Virtually undetectable to all but the Bene Gesserit, these Face Dancers begin to replace leaders in the Imperium as a means for the Tleilaxu to seize control. The plan fails as, over time, the Face Dancers come to believe they are the people they have copied and elude their genetically programmed loyalty to the Tleilaxu Masters. Prequels In the Prelude to Dune (1999–2001) prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Anderson, it is noted that the founder of the Bene Tleilax had been a Master named Xuttuh. Master Hidar Fen Ajidica heads Project Amal, an early attempt by the Bene Tleilax to create synthetic melange in order to eliminate dependence upon the planet Arrakis, intending an eventual Tleilaxu takeover of the universe, Ajidica sends "improved" Face Dancers off to unexplored systems. The ancestors of the Bene Tleilax are featured in the Legends of Dune (2002–2004) prequel series by Brian Herbert and Anderson. They are a civilization of human merchants known as the "Tlulaxa", specializing in slaves and replacement organs. They claim that the organs are grown artificially in organ farms, but in reality, the vast majority of the organs are harvested from slaves. The Tlulaxa do have working organ farms, but they are used mainly as a front for slave harvesting operations and provide only a small fraction of the replacement organs. Emperor: Battle for Dune The Tleilaxu are one of the five subfactions in the 2001 computer game Emperor: Battle for Dune. ==CHOAM==

The Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles (CHOAM) is a universal development corporation in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe, first mentioned in the 1965 novel Dune. CHOAM controls all economic affairs across the cosmos, though it is still at the mercy of the Spacing Guild's monopoly on interstellar travel. In a 1980 article, Herbert equated CHOAM with OPEC, the real-world intergovernmental organization which is a major power in the petroleum industry. He writes in Dune: CHOAM's management and board of directors are controlled by the Padishah Emperor and the Landsraad, the assembly of noble Houses, with the Spacing Guild and the Bene Gesserit as silent partners. Because of its control of interplanetary commerce, CHOAM is the largest single source of wealth in the Empire; as such, influence in CHOAM is a central goal of political maneuvering. In Dune, Herbert notes: Before the climactic battle in Dune, Paul Atreides and the Fremen watch the Padishah Emperor's encampment to see whether he will raise the Atreides flag, indicating a recognition of Paul's claims, or the banner of Paul's Harkonnen enemies. Instead, the Emperor raises the flag of CHOAM, as a reminder to all of the combatant parties that economics trump political considerations. Prequels In the Great Schools of Dune novels that take place eight decades after the end of the Butlerian Jihad, Josef Venport, the director of Venport Holdings (Venhold), the largest foldspace transportation company in the universe and the only company utilizing Navigators, forms Combined Mercantiles to mine spice on Arrakis. While ostensibly an independent company, it's an open secret that Combined Mercantiles works for Venhold. Presumably, the company eventually evolves into CHOAM. ==Fish Speakers==

The Fish Speakers are the all-female army of the God Emperor Leto II Atreides in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe, appearing primarily in God Emperor of Dune (1981). Named so because "the first priestesses spoke to fish in their dreams," the organization is founded by Leto after the events of Children of Dune (1976). In Dune (1965), Leto II's father Paul Atreides overthrows Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV when Paul's fierce Fremen army manages to defeat Shaddam's previously-unstoppable Sardaukar forces. Though the religiously loyal Fremen and the remnants of the Sardaukar are later at Leto's disposal, Leto (possessing the life experiences of his ancestors over millennia through Other Memory) has come to believe that male-dominated military organizations are essentially predatory and will turn on the civilian population in the absence of an external enemy. Ruling for 3,500 years as a human-sandworm hybrid, Leto molds his Fish Speaker army into both a military and religious force that also functions as the bureaucracy for his tyrannical empire. As Leto sees his Golden Path for humanity's survival from extinction coming to fruition, he allows himself to be assassinated at the end of God Emperor of Dune (1981). Control of the Fish Speakers passes to Duncan Idaho and Siona Atreides. By the time of Heretics of Dune (1984), the influence of the Fish Speakers has significantly waned in comparison to the Bene Gesserit, Bene Tleilax, and Ixians, the latter two now having great control over the Fish Speakers. By then, the Fish Speakers have also incorporated men into their ranks, and have little in common with the force maintained by Leto II in terms of philosophy or practices. Also by this time, many of the leaders of the Fish Speakers have been replaced with Tleilaxu Face Dancers, essentially making the Fish Speakers, and the realms under their domain, puppets of the Tleilaxu. In Chapterhouse: Dune (1985), the unlocking of Murbella's Other Memory confirms the Bene Gesserit's suspicions that the violent Honored Matres are descendants of Bene Gesserit who had fled into the Scattering following Leto's death. ==Fremen==

The Fremen are a secretive and misunderstood tribe of humans in the Dune universe. As the resident population of the desert planet Arrakis – who came there after thousands of years of wandering the universe – when Dune (1965) begins they have been long overlooked by the rest of the Imperium and are considered backward savages; in reality they are an extremely hardy people and exist in large numbers, their culture built around the commodity of water, which is extremely scarce on Arrakis. == Honored Matres ==

The Honored Matres are a fictional matriarchal organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe, described as an aggressive cult obsessed with power, violence, and sexual domination. They are a renegade off-shoot of the Bene Gesserit that develops in the diaspora known as the Scattering, which occurs after the death of the tyrant Leto II Atreides in God Emperor of Dune (1981). After Leto II's death, the galaxy-spanning Imperium collapses, according to his plan. Representatives from each major race and order of the Empire spread out beyond the known universe in fleets of untraceable no-ships, beginning the journey along Leto II's Golden Path to save mankind from destruction. Freed from millennia of forced stagnation, trillions of people within the Old Empire flee into unexplored space, "scattering" humanity over a volume of space exponentially larger than the Old Empire itself. Over the next 1,500 years these isolated explorers and colonists develop into their own new cultures. One of the major powers that arises during the Scattering are the "Honored Matres", theorized to have originated from a fusion of Bene Gesserit missionaries and members of Leto II's all-female military force known as the Fish Speakers. Their name is derived from the Bene Gesserit rank of "Reverend Mother". While the Bene Gesserit seek to manipulate power from the shadows, the militaristic Honored Matres seek direct control through ruthless conquest. In Heretics of Dune (1984), set 1,500 years after the death of Leto II and 5,000 years after the time of Paul Atreides, the Honored Matres suddenly return to the known space of the former Imperium, wreaking havoc and leaving destruction in their wake. The Honored Matres conquer and rule through sexual enslavement, sheer physical power and the terror inspired by their draconian methods. They are completely without mercy and quick to anger, often resorting to extreme measures of violence in the face of the slightest provocations. The leadership succession practices employed by the order are also severe: a subordinate sister who manages to kill the leader, the so-called Great Honored Matre or Matre Superior, takes her place. The Honored Matres exercise a form of fighting similar to what the Bene Gesserit refer to as prana-bindu, but they execute movement at a speed that far outmatches that of their Bene Gesserit contemporaries. This is coupled with their fighting style, known as Hormu, which is centered on the use of kicks to weak points on the body. The combination of these produces a warrior that is superhumanly fast and more than a match for any fully trained Reverend Mother in direct combat. In addition to their extremely violent tendencies, the Honored Matres are characterized by sexual imprinting abilities far superior to those of Bene Gesserit Imprinters. The Honored Matres are able to imprint a man sexually by amplifying his orgasmic response to such an ecstatic height that the victim of an imprinting becomes "addicted" to his imprinter, thereby becoming a willing slave of the Honored Matre who "marks" him. As the Bene Gesserit rely on melange and its many beneficial properties, the Honored Matres employ (and are similarly addicted to) a different drug that stimulates the production of adrenaline and other chemicals typically produced by the body when experiencing pain. In addition to heightening the senses and responses of a user, this stimulant causes the eyes of an addict to be covered in flecks of orange when agitated, and when an addict is completely enraged the eyes are consumed by the color orange. Focusing on refining their martial abilities compared to the Bene Gesserit, the Honored Matres lose several of the Bene Gesserit's non-martial skills. Honored Matres are capable of using combinations of language and tone in order to compel listeners into obedience on a subconscious level, but nowhere near as potently as the Bene Gesserit Voice. Most importantly, the Honored Matres lack the precise control over their internal chemistry possessed by the Bene Gesserit, making them vulnerable to toxins and disease in ways the Bene Gesserit are not. The returning Honored Matres actively seek to forcibly regain these skills from the Bene Gesserit, leading Lucilla to discern that the Honored Matres are in fact fleeing back to the space of the old Imperium, after being defeated by enemies that used biological warfare against them. Tleilaxu Master Waff notes that Honored Matres are "far more terrible than Reverend Mothers of the Bene Gesserit." Scholar Kara Kennedy views the Honored Matres, in the context of the discussion of women's sexual agency in the novels, as "a foil to the Bene Gesserits' attitude towards sexuality". In Heretics of Dune, the Honored Matres capture the teenage Duncan Idaho ghola, who is loyal to their enemies, the Bene Gesserit. Young Honored Matre Murbella is tasked to use her sexual imprinting talents to enslave Duncan to force his allegiance to them. The Tleilaxu have secretly programmed the ghola with the male equivalent to the imprinting power of the Honored Matres, which is unlocked by Murbella's attempt. Duncan and Murbella imprint each other, and in her weakened condition Murbella is easily captured by the Bene Gesserit. Following a Bene Gesserit plan, Miles Teg goads the Honored Matres into destroying the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of melange. The Bene Gesserit have, however, escaped with a single sandworm, which they will use to restart the spice cycle on their own secret homeworld. In Chapterhouse Dune (1985), the Honored Matres have destroyed all Tleilaxu worlds and have targeted the Bene Gesserit. They intend to assimilate the technology and superhuman skills of the Sisterhood, and then exterminate them. The Honored Matres capture and torture as many Bene Gesserit Reverend Mothers as possible to glean their secrets, while the Bene Gesserit hope to decipher their new enemies' motives, and learn enough about the fearsome Honored Matres to defeat them. It is also revealed that the Honored Matres are fleeing a powerful "unknown enemy" who had conquered their own massive empire out in the Scattering. Murbella decides to join the Bene Gesserit. During a Bene Gesserit attack on the Honored Matres, Murbella kills the Great Honored Matre Logno with her Bene Gesserit-enhanced fighting skills, and the Honored Matres are awed by her physical prowess. The Bene Gesserit Mother Superior Darwi Odrade is also killed, and Murbella secures the leadership of both groups, per Odrade's plan. Murbella intends to merge the two orders into a New Sisterhood, which displeases some women on both sides. Sequels The Honored Matres also appear in Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, which conclude the original series. Joining forces under Murbella's rule, both the Honored Matres and Bene Gesserit struggle to coexist. Renegade Honored Matres still persist, led by Matre Superior Hellica and maintaining strongholds on captured worlds such as Buzzell, Gammu and Tleilax. Over the course of twenty years, Murbella leads the Sisterhood against the renegades, culminating in the Battle of Tleilax, where Hellica is killed and the planet is completely destroyed. Killing Hellica, Murbella discovers that she is in fact a Face Dancer duplicate. With the fall of Tleilax, and the revelation of Face Dancer infiltration, the unbalanced and vindictive breed of Honored Matres is crushed. Murbella soon learns the "missing link" in the origin of the Honored Matres by exploring their past through Other Memory. Initially a hybrid group of Bene Gesserit and Fish Speakers, they had developed their violent tendencies with their third addition: awakened Tleilaxu females. The best kept secret of the Tleilaxu—that their famed axlotl tanks are in fact their race's females kept in a vegetative state—had been laid bare before the matriarchal alliance, and their wrath had known no bounds. Attacking every Tleilaxu planet on their way out of the galaxy, the martial prowess of both the Fish Speakers and the Bene Gesserit had ensured their victory. They had managed to liberate a number of the axlotl tanks, and their next task had been to rehabilitate the brain-dead women. The fledgling order had enjoyed a modicum of success, and eventually the Tleilaxu females, angry at their males for treating them in such a way, had vowed revenge. Thus, when the Honored Matres burst upon the universe again, they take special care to lay waste to every extant Tleilaxu world, though the Honored Matres of later generations cannot remember the origin of their own hatred for the Tleilaxu. Murbella also discovers the true nature of the unknown Enemy: they are the resurrected thinking machines, thought destroyed 15,000 years before, at the end of the Butlerian Jihad, but amassing a force to finally exterminate humanity. Through Other Memory she witnesses the Honored Matres' first encounter with the unknown Enemy. A young Matre commander had invaded an area controlled by the remnants of the machine empire, with initial success. However, the thinking machines' retribution had been terrible, especially when they had realized that humans still existed. The machines had destroyed the Honored Matre empire, and the remnants had then fled back to the Old Empire to build a new dominion. ==Ixians==

The Ixians are a technological culture in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. They provide both simple and sophisticated mechanical devices to the rest of the Imperium. Though Ixian technology is commonplace and considered essential, it sometimes tests the limits of the anti-technology proscriptions established in the aftermath of the Butlerian Jihad, humanity's crusade against computers, thinking machines, and conscious robots. Among the Ixians' inventions later in the series are the no-chamber, a construct that hides anything inside from prescient vision and long-range instruments, and the no-ship, a no-chamber in starship form that does not require a Guild Navigator to fold space. By the time of the events described in the 1965 novel Dune, Ix is the leader in providing technology to the Imperium. Ixian devices are ever-present, but the society itself is unseen until later in the series. The sequel to Dune, Dune Messiah (1969), refers to the "Ixian Confederacy". In God Emperor of Dune (1981), Leto II Atreides's precognition shows him that his Golden Path has prevented a future in which the Ixians released, and ultimately lost control of, self improving hunter-seekers that would eventually consume all organic life in the known universe. Leto talks about his relationship with the former Ixian ambassador Malky, who had been specially raised and trained by the Ixians to be a "tempter", the "Devil to Leto's God." The Ixians had intended for Malky to manipulate Leto into doubting his own purpose; the plan had ultimately failed. They had later created Hwi Noree, a female designed specifically to attract, seduce, and hold influence over Leto. In the novel, Leto meets Hwi and sees this intent, but cannot dismiss his attraction to her. The Ixian embassy on Arrakis is infiltrated by Tleilaxu Face Dancers, who kill and replace everyone there—except for Hwi—as part of an assassination attempt on Leto. The attempt fails, but Leto later allows himself and Hwi to be killed by Siona Atreides as part of his own plan for the universe. The Ixians had kept Hwi's development a secret through the use of their new invention, the no-room (later called a no-chamber), a construct which is able to hide the people within from prescience, as Guild Navigators can. The Ixians had also created the Navigation Device which would eventually take the place of Guild Navigators and help fuel the diaspora known as the Scattering. Combining these two technologies later results in the no-ship, a starship that can remain unseen and does not require a Navigator to fold space. By the time of the events described in Heretics of Dune (1984), the power of the Ixians seems at its apex with their alliance with the Fish Speakers; however, Bene Gesserit analysts see them as a failing power, because Ixian society had become a bureaucracy and no great inventions had come out of the workshops of Ix for centuries. As the Honored Matres conquer the Old Empire, the Ixians are reduced to a barely tolerated technological combine. In Chapterhouse: Dune (1985), the latest Duncan Idaho ghola suggests that Leto had never "suppressed" Ix because "he was fascinated by the idea of human and machine inextricably bound to each other, each testing the limits of the other." Prequels In the Prelude to Dune (1999–2001) prequel trilogy, Ix is a beautiful, untouched planet that remains so by having no development on the surface. The industry of Ix is subterranean, mainly consisting of labs and factories. The Ixians are the galaxy leader in technological production and have the monopoly on producing the starships known as heighliners. House Vernius rules the planet, but the Padishah Emperor Elrood IX Corrino holds a grudge against Earl Dominic Vernius for two reasons: Dominic had married Elrood's former concubine, Shando Balut, and Ix's new, larger heighliners negatively impact Imperial tax revenue on cargo. Elrood secretly grants the Tleilaxu the right to occupy Ix by force (with the help of his Sardaukar army) and remake it into a laboratory station for Project Amal. This secret project seeks to produce a synthetic version of melange which the Tleilaxu Master Ajidica calls ajidamal, or amal. The Emperor wants to take over the spice monopoly by making sure that he has the only access to spice, thus controlling the Spacing Guild. The Tleilaxu seize control of Ix and rename it "Xuttuh" after their founder, and House Vernius is forced to go rogue. Although Ajidica manages to create an artificial melange that seems to have the original's properties, it is proven to have adverse effects when two Guild Navigators, unknowingly testing the substance, cause the destruction of their heighliners. When Duke Leto Atreides invades Xuttuh and reestablishes Rhombur Vernius as the ruler of Ix, all the records of Project Amal are destroyed. ==Landsraad==

The Landsraad is a political body in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. As established in Herbert's 1965 novel Dune, it is the assembly of all noble Houses in the Imperium, and plays a very important role in the political and economic power balance of the Empire, which is shared among the Landsraad, the Padishah Emperor, and the Spacing Guild (the Bene Gesserit prefer clandestine manipulation to overt action and therefore remain a "silent" fourth power in the Empire until the fall of Leto II Atreides). The Emperor's power derives from Imperial control of the seemingly invincible military forces of the Sardaukar, and of the planet Arrakis and its priceless melange, a source of endless wealth. The Landsraad represents the unification of all the other ruling families, known as Houses, to create a check against the individual power of the Emperor, a theoretically comparable force. Both the combined Houses and the Emperor are in turn dependent on the Guild for interstellar travel. This delicate balance of power initially serves to prevent any particularly ambitious or destructive faction or individual from upsetting the stability of society. Individual Houses are in constant competition for fiefdoms, financial and political power, and Imperial favor. The High Council is the inner circle of the Landsraad during the time of the Faufreluches, "the rigid rule of class distinction enforced by the Imperium." The council is "empowered to act as supreme tribunal in House to House disputes." A grievance is brought before the High Council in a Bill of Particulars. Shortly after the assassination of his father Duke Leto Atreides and the Harkonnen/Corrino invasion of the planet Arrakis in Dune, Paul Atreides expresses a desire to put forward a Bill of Particulars to the Landsraad High Council to express his grievance and point out the laws that had been broken by this invasion. Paul believes that his grievance would be supported because the Great Houses would never endorse the Sardaukar eliminating them one by one (which is, of course, one of the principal reasons why the Landsraad exists to begin with). The Judge of the Change is "an official appointed by the Landsraad High Council and the Emperor to monitor a change of fief, a kanly negotiation, or a formal battle in a War of Assassins. The Judge's arbitral authority may be challenged only before the High Council with the Emperor present." As a political body, the Landsraad predates the end of the Butlerian Jihad (itself 10,000 years before the events of the novel) by approximately 2000 years. It was at some point referred to as the Landsraad League, and held influence over more than 13,300 worlds immediately after the Jihad. The word Landsraad is a compound word meaning "council of the land" (the 's' indicates possessive case). The word exists in several Germanic languages. It was still written as landsraad in Danish until the spelling reform of 1948 saw it changed to landsråd. Herbert borrowed the word from a Scandinavian language. When asked, he defined the Landsraad thus: Prequels It is established in the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy (2002–2004) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson that the predecessor to the Landsraad is the League of Nobles. The League is the system of government employed by the remaining free humans before and during the Butlerian Jihad; it is feudal at its core but slightly more democratic than the Landsraad, as the League members vote for which Viceroy they prefer to govern them. After the Jihad and the accession of Faykan Corrino to the new Imperial throne, the Landsraad is formed by the League in order to keep the power of the Corrinos in check. ==Mentats==

A Mentat is a type of human, presented in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. In an interstellar society that fears a resurgence of artificial intelligence and thus prohibits computers, Mentats are specially trained to mimic the cognitive and analytical ability of computers. In Herbert's Dune universe, a historical movement known as the Butlerian Jihad results in the strict prohibition of all "thinking machines", including computers, robots and artificial intelligence of any kind. More than simply calculators, Mentats possess exceptional cognitive abilities of memory and perception that enable them to sift large volumes of data and devise concise analyses. They can accurately assess people and situations by interpreting minor changes in body language or intonation. Early training occurs without the subject's knowledge, and at a certain age they are made aware, and given the choice to continue. Though human nature brings an ethical component to a Mentat's logic and reasoning, the Tleilaxu can create "twisted Mentats", who are sociopaths free from the usual constraints of human morality and ethical boundaries. Mentat capabilities can be greatly increased by taking sapho juice, an addictive drug extracted from roots found on Ecaz. Repeated use leaves a permanent "cranberry-colored stain" on the user's lips. In Dune (1965), House Atreides Mentat Thufir Hawat is considered to be one of the finest Mentats of his time, and his protégé, Paul Atreides, is trained as a Mentat. Twisted Mentat Piter De Vries serves as advisor and strategist to the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in Dune. In Dune Messiah (1969), the Tleilaxu restore renowned Atreides swordsman Duncan Idaho to life as a ghola, Hayt, imbued with the powers of both a Mentat and Zensunni philosopher. In Heretics of Dune (1984) and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985), Miles Teg has an illustrious career as a combined Mentat and high-ranking leader of the Bene Gesserit military forces. In God Emperor of Dune (1981), Leto II outlaws the Mentat order and crushes any renegade training schools he finds. The Bene Gesserit preserve the Mentat discipline, assuming that Leto knows of this through his prescience, and approves. Later, in Chapterhouse Dune, the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Bellonda learns from Other Memory that the Order of Mentats was founded by Gilbertus Albans. Prequels The origin of the first Mentat is later explored in the Legends of Dune (2002–2004) prequels written by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert. During the Butlerian Jihad, thinking machine leader Omnius sees humans as animals, but the independent robot Erasmus argues that any human can become brilliant. Omnius picks a nine-year-old, blond-haired boy who appears to be the wildest and most unkempt of all, and challenges Erasmus to prove his theory. Erasmus calls the boy Gilbertus Albans, thinking that this sounds like a smart human's name. After initially failing to make progress by using a system of benevolence and rewards, he switches to a system of strict supervision and punishment, and the method works. By emulating Erasmus, whom he has come to consider his father, Albans becomes the first human to display computer-like cognitive and calculation capacity on the level of thinking machines. Because of Gilbertus' remarkable memory, organizational ability and capacity for logical thinking, Erasmus nicknames him "Mentat", created from the words "mentor", "mentee", and "mentation". ==Padishah Emperors==

The Padishah Emperors are the hereditary rulers of the Old Empire in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. In Herbert's originating novel Dune (1965), it is established that while the Padishah Emperor is supreme sovereign ruler of the known universe, power is shared, in a quasi-feudal arrangement, with the noble houses of the Landsraad and with the Spacing Guild, which possesses a monopoly over interstellar travel. Dune establishes that Salusa Secundus had been the homeworld of House Corrino, and at some point the Imperial Court had moved to the planet Kaitain. As Dune begins, the 81st Padishah Emperor is Shaddam IV, but by the end of the novel he is deposed by Duke Paul Atreides in 10,193 A.G. (After Guild) ==Rakian Priesthood==

The Rakian Priesthood is a priestly body that worships the Divided God, Leto II Atreides. They rule Rakis during the time the Lost Ones are returning from the Scattering, approximately 1500 years after Leto II's death. They are presumably descendants of the Fish Speakers priestesses. The Rakian Priesthood maintain that both Muad'Dib and his son Leto II were hallowed, and that Leto was God Himself. Their canon details how, after his death, Leto divided into the sandworms and became Shai-Hulud, hence the term "Divided God". The Priesthood is largely populated with individuals who lack insight, but possess ambition. After Leto's death, they maintain a brutal rule over Rakis, marked by random executions. Other powers from the Old Imperium, including the Bene Gesserit, the Fish Speakers, and the Bene Tleilax, have come to find them a troublesome, ignorant group. The Bene Gesserit, however, enjoy a particularly great influence over the priesthood. At the time of the discovery of Sheeana, the Priesthood is led by the High Priest Hedley Tuek, a descendant of Esmar Tuek. Tuek is eventually killed by the Tleilaxu and replaced with a Face Dancer, with the approval of the Bene Gesserit. However, the Face Dancer eventually comes to believe that he is Tuek. The entire Rakian Priesthood is later annihilated, along with the planet's population, when the surface of Rakis is sterilized by the Honored Matres. ==Sardaukar==

The Sardaukar are a military force from Frank Herbert's Dune universe, primarily appearing in the 1965 science fiction novel Dune, as well as Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999–2001). They are soldier-fanatics loyal to the Padishah Emperors of House Corrino, who have ruled the known universe for over 10,000 years at the time of the events of Dune. The key to House Corrino's hold on the Imperial throne, the Sardaukar troops are the most formidable professional military in the universe in that time. They are secretly trained on the inhospitable Imperial prison planet Salusa Secundus, and the harsh conditions there ensure that only the strongest and most ferocious men survive. Sardaukar training emphasizes ruthlessness, near-suicidal disregard for personal safety, and the use of cruelty as a standard weapon in order to weaken opponents with terror. Their uniforms are described as gray with silver and gold trim. ==Spacing Guild==

The Spacing Guild is an organization in the Dune universe whose monopoly on interstellar travel and banking makes it a balance of power against the Padishah Emperor and the assembled noble Houses of the Landsraad. Mutated Guild Navigators use the spice drug melange to successfully navigate "folded space" and safely guide enormous heighliner starships from planet to planet instantaneously. Essentially apolitical, the Guild is primarily concerned with the flow of commerce and preservation of the economy that supports them; though their ability to dictate the terms of and fees for all transport gives them influence in the political arena, they do not pursue political goals beyond their economic ones. ==Suk School==

The Suk School is a prominent medical school in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. Suk doctors are the universe's most competent and trusted physicians. Those who have received the "Suk Imperial Conditioning" are incapable of inflicting harm upon their charges. These individuals bear a black diamond tattoo on their foreheads, and wear their hair long and bound in a special silver ring. ==Swordmasters of Ginaz==

The Swordmasters of Ginaz are a school of martial artists in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. They are mentioned briefly in 1965's Dune and its 1969 sequel Dune Messiah. "Terminology of the Imperium" in the Appendix of Dune notes that House Ginaz are "one-time allies of Duke Leto Atreides" and are "defeated in the War of Assassins with Grumman." Duncan Idaho is noted to be a "Swordmaster of the Ginaz," which leads to his body later being sold to the Tleilaxu as "a master swordsman, an adept of the Ginaz School." Prequels The school's origins are detailed in the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy (2002–2004) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Jool Noret of the ocean-covered planet Ginaz uses personal tragedy to make himself a fierce and innovative warrior, distinguishing himself in the ongoing war against the machine forces of Omnius in the Butlerian Jihad. Despite his reluctance to bask in fame or accept students, young warriors flock to Ginaz for training; he concedes, and eventually his unique fighting style becomes an art in its own right. Ultimately, the mercenaries of Ginaz are considered the most elite warriors available outside the Imperial Sardaukar. ==Thinking machines==

(left) and Erasmus) from the cover of Dune: The Machine Crusade (2003) Thinking machines is a collective term for artificial intelligence in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. The Butlerian Jihad a human crusade against thinking machines is an epic turning point in the backstory of the Dune universe. The thinking machines are first mentioned in 1965's Dune, the glossary of which includes the following: JIHAD, BUTLERIAN: (see also Great Revolt) — the crusade against computers, thinking machines, and conscious robots begun in 201 B.G. and concluded in 108 B.G. Its chief commandment remains in the O.C. Bible as "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind." He knew this experience, but could not change the smallest part of it. No ancestral presences would remain in her consciousness, but she would carry with her forever afterward the clear sights and sounds and smells. The seeking machines would be there, the smell of blood and entrails, the cowering humans in their burrows aware only that they could not escape . . . while all the time the mechanical movement approached, nearer and nearer and nearer ...louder...louder! Everywhere she searched, it would be the same. No escape anywhere. ==Titans==

The Titans are a group of warlike cyborgs in the Legends of Dune (2002–2004) trilogy of prequel novels, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson and set in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. Over 11,000 years before the events of Frank Herbert's Dune (1965), a group of 20 ambitious humans see the stagnation of the Old Empire and realize that their small band can take control of it with the aid of thinking machines. Calling themselves the Titans, they rule humanity for a hundred years and rename themselves after famous historical and mythological figures, most notably Agamemnon, Ajax, Barbarossa, Dante, Hecate, Juno, Tlaloc and Xerxes. Eventually the group separates to each rule their own worlds in the galaxy, utilizing the thinking machines that had originally brought them to power as the means to control entire planets. Realizing that their human bodies are fragile and their lifespans limited, the Titans find a way to extend their lives indefinitely: installing their brains with the help of specialized interfaces into large, walking machine bodies. Calling themselves cymeks, the Titans become virtually unstoppable in these new fearsome, weaponized bodies. Having pushed to the very farthest limits of artificial intelligence, their own machines run their empire for them for a century. Then, having mistakenly given one attendant AI program too much autonomy, the Titans suddenly find themselves overthrown and enslaved by an AI consciousness calling itself Omnius that seizes control of the entire known universe through the interconnected machine network. For over 900 years the Titans live in perpetual servitude to Omnius, cruelly subjugating humanity, quelling human insurrections and secretly plotting their own return to power. The murder of young Manion Butler at the hands of the independent robot Erasmus finally incites the Butlerian Jihad; the last remaining free humans fight for a century before finally destroying both Omnius' forces and the remaining Titans in the Battle of Corrin. ==References==