Feyd-Rautha

Sixteen-year-old Feyd, the younger nephew and heir of Baron Harkonnen, is described as dark haired, and "round of face and with sullen eyes". He is lean and muscular in contrast to his morbidly obese uncle, and is a deadly fighter. The Baron also notes that the "full and pouting look" of Feyd's lips is "the Harkonnen genetic marker". Feyd and his elder brother Glossu Rabban are the legal sons of Baron Harkonnen's youngest half-brother, Abulurd Rabban, who had "renounced the Harkonnen name and all rights to the title when given the subdistrict governorship of Rabban-Lankiveil". The character Feyd serves as a narrative foil to Paul Atreides, son of the Baron's enemy, Duke Leto Atreides. Ari Szporn of Comic Book Resources wrote, "Both [Paul and Feyd] are charismatic, cunning young noblemen who have received the greatest education and combat training. But where Paul displays compassion and loyalty, Feyd cares only for himself and the acquisition of power." ==Appearances==

Dune As Dune begins, Feyd-Rautha figures heavily in the Baron's plans to gain power for House Harkonnen. The Baron favors the handsome and charismatic Feyd over Feyd's older brother Glossu Rabban ("The Beast") because of Feyd's intelligence and his dedication to the Harkonnen culture of carefully planned and subtly executed sadism and cruelty, as opposed to Rabban's outright brutality. Feyd's ambition and impatience to inherit the Baron's title and power spur him to attempt his uncle's assassination. The attempt fails, prompting the Baron to reveal to his nephew the lofty plans he has for him, possibly to even have him ascend the throne as Emperor. The Baron explains that the elevation of House Harkonnen means more to him than power in his own lifetime, so if Feyd promises to forego any further assassination attempts, he will voluntarily step down and let his nephew succeed him—after his plot against the Emperor has succeeded. Feyd agrees, but as punishment for his assassination attempt, the Baron forces Feyd to single-handedly slaughter all the female slaves who serve as his lovers so that Feyd will learn the price of failure. Named after his maternal grandfather, Rautha Rabban, who had been murdered by Glossu, Feyd becomes honorable Abulurd's hope for a son who would not have to inherit the dishonor of the name Harkonnen, and a worthy heir in comparison to his older, murderous son, Glossu. The Baron decides to take the infant Feyd from his father to raise on the Harkonnen homeworld Giedi Prime as another possible heir for himself, and as punishment for Abulurd's attempts to sever all his ties to House Harkonnen. In time, the Baron comes to favor Feyd over Glossu. ==In adaptations==

Director Alejandro Jodorowsky intended Mick Jagger to play Feyd in his planned 1970s film adaptation of Dune, which was never made. Feyd is portrayed by Sting in the 1984 David Lynch film Dune, Brigid Brown of BBC America called Sting a "scene-stealer" in the film. Matt Keeslar played the character in the 2000 miniseries ''Frank Herbert's Dune. Emmet Asher-Perrin of Tor.com'' called his portrayal "the strangest casting choice you've ever seen," adding that "it's also hard not to love the strangeness of it." Feyd does not appear in the 2021 film Dune, which covers the first part of the book, but director Denis Villeneuve subsequently confirmed that the character would appear in the 2024 sequel film Dune: Part Two. Austin Butler entered negotiations to join the cast as Feyd in March 2022, and his casting was confirmed in May 2022. Butler has been praised for the role, and Brooks Vernon of Screen Rant wrote, "The performance was memorably psychotic, and there is a high level of physicality and charisma in it that helps Austin Butler play well onscreen against Timothée Chalamet [as Paul Atreides]." Feyd, based on his appearance in Dune: Part Two, appears alongside Paul Atreides as a playable character in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0. ==Merchandising==

A line of Dune action figures from toy company LJN was released to lackluster sales in 1984. Styled after David Lynch's film, the collection featured a figure of Feyd as well as other characters. In October 2019, Funko announced a "Dune Classic" line of POP! vinyl figures, one of which was Feyd in a blue jumpsuit, styled after Lynch's film. An alternate version of Feyd in his blue loincloth was released for the 2019 New York Comic Con. ==References==