House Harkonnen
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House Harkonnen is a powerful fictional noble family in Frank Herbert's Dune novels.
Characteristics
In the storyline of the non can prequels by Brian Herbert and Kevin. J. Anderson, House Harkonnen, one of the Great Houses of the Imperium is driven by a kanly (vendetta) against House Atreides. The vendetta originated when Vorian Atreides exposed the unwarranted shame of Xavier Harkonnen at the Battle of Corrin, the battle that ended the Butlerian Jihad and founded the Imperium, when Abulurd Harkonnen refused an order from Vorian Atreides to kill the millions of humans enslaved by machines.
"You failed me at the moment I needed you most. Never again will I look upon your face. This I swear: From this day forth, let all who bear the name Atreides spit on the name of Harkonnen!" -Vorian Atreides
Because of this, Abulurd, who only wanted to save the innocent people, was laboured a coward and a traitor. His own brother, Faykan Corrino exiled him from the League Worlds, to the frosty planet of Lankiveil. House Harkonnen manipulated its way back into the graces of the Imperium, using the prices of whale-fur to purchase its way into nobility.
By the time of the original Dune novels, some 10,000 years later, the House Harkonnen has built its power on a simple foundation of fear and terror, two tactics that make the Baron Harkonnen's underlings that much more dangerous: risk death on the battlefield or suffer a slow, excruciating death in the Baron's chambers as he watches with relish. With an order based on treachery, soldiers rise through the ranks through deceit, trickery and, if necessary, assassination.
The Harkonnen homeworld at this time is an industrial wasteland with a low photosynthetic potential, called Giedi Prime, which has been wrung dry by the House.
House Harkonnen is ruled by a Siridar Baron. In the first Dune novels, the baron is Vladimir Harkonnen. The twisted mentat Piter De Vries served as the baron's mentat and advisor. In Dune, the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is killed by Alia Atreides, and his heir Feyd-Rautha is killed shortly thereafter by Paul Atreides, effectively crippling the House; during the reign of Leto II, the House dwindled and died, after a disastrous venture which sunk all their remaining fortunes into a no-globe. However, the Baron before Vladmir, Baron Dmitri was, according to the Prelude to Dune series, a more benevolent man who left House Atreides in peace.
Some folk historians in the fictional series hint that the Harkonnens once had some sort of connection with the legendary House of Steel of Old Earth. The name itself came from a region of Earth called Suomi, also Finland. There is no verifiable record of any Harkonnen in any position of power in the House of Steel which existed in a time period called the 20th Century. The House of Steel was named after a dictator, Joseph Stalin whose last name meant steel. In addition, in Heretics of Dune a character mentioned Harkonnen ancestry as being a blend of "Greek, Mameluke and Pathan."
Author Frank Herbert said in later interviews that he modeled the fictional Harkonnens after the Nazi Party.
The official seal of House Harkonnen bears the image of a gryphon within Herbert's continuity. This was altered to a ram for Westwood Studios's video game adaptations.