Dune
A connected guide to Frank Herbert’s original Dune novels, selected games and the major screen adaptations of Arrakis.
Dune begins with Frank Herbert's 1965 novel about power, ecology, religion and empire on the desert planet Arrakis. The first six novels written by Herbert form the core literary sequence, following the consequences of Paul Atreides' rise far beyond the events adapted most often for film.
Games tend to approach the setting from a different direction. Strategy titles make the struggle between houses and control of spice into systems the player can manipulate, while Dune: Awakening turns Arrakis into a survival space. Screen adaptations repeatedly return to the first novel, each emphasizing different parts of its enormous political and ecological structure.
Books
The written spine of the world.
Games
Where the world stops being observed and starts responding.
Film & TV
The world reimagined through performance, sound and moving image.
Inside Dune
People, places, houses, artifacts and creatures connected across the world.
Baron Harkonnen
The head of House Harkonnen and a principal antagonist of the first Dune novel.
Chani
A Fremen warrior closely connected with Paul and the future of Arrakis.
Arrakis
The desert planet at the centre of the Dune universe and the only natural source of spice.
Caladan
The ancestral homeworld of House Atreides.
Crysknife
A sacred Fremen blade traditionally made from a sandworm tooth.
Melange
The spice that drives the economy and politics of the Dune universe.
Sandtrout
A life stage connected with the ecological cycle of Arrakis.
Sandworm
The colossal desert creature of Arrakis, deeply connected with spice and Fremen culture.