Understanding the Great Houses of Dune
The Great Houses of Dune are the major seats of power that constitute the Landsraad in the Dune universe. Under the rule of the Padishah Emperor, houses could be differentiated into the Great Houses and the Minor Houses.
They’re distinguished by their level of control, especially over spice. Great Houses control entire planets, their economies, and armies. They’re the big players, the movers and shakers. Minor houses, on the other hand, are like the spice farmers, managing smaller fiefs and answering to the big shots. Think of it as a feudal system with a dash of interstellar drama. Each house usually maintains a base of operations on a specific planet, typically their ancestral home world. Banished houses were exiled to the set of planets collectively known as Two-Three. Banishment was usually decreed by the Emperor or by a ruling of the Landsraad. This would usually occur because the House violated the Great Convention by employing atomics against human beings, or because the offending house committed a terrible crime such as high treason. It was said that only the combined military power of all the major Houses in the Imperium would have been enough to defeat the Sardaukar armies of the Kwisatz Haderach Emperors.
A delicate balance was struck between the Houses Major and the Imperial House, since all the Great Houses were never expected to ally themselves together against the Emperor or anyone else.
The Big Three Houses
Now let’s spotlight the Big Three, the heavyweight contenders vying for dominance. These Big Three would usually have their own standing army flag, symbol, coat of arms, and representative colors. Both the books and the films focused almost entirely on these three families
House Atreides
Led by Duke Leto, the Just House of Atreides is usually known as the Good Guys, noble, honorable, and all about justice. House Atreides maintained the planetary fief of Caladan and had their center of operation on the planet, which they had also ruled for 20 generations. Furthermore, House Atreides kept Caladan, a lush, prosperous paradise with relatively low industrial levels, in stark contrast to House Harkonnen’s capital, Giedi Prime. However, the house was also proficient in war. It maintained swordmasters, war masters, and Mentats to train and lead their army, and then even developed its own battle language at the request of the Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV.
Duke Leto the First moved the house to planet Arrakis to take over mining operations of the spice melange from House Harkonnen. However, Duke Leto the First was walking into a trap set up by the newly formed alliance between House Harkonnen and House Corrino. Notable characters in the Atreides family are Paul, Muad’Dib, Leto the First, Alia, and Atreus, the ancient founder of the House, the reigning Imperial house.
House Corrino
With Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV on the throne, House Corrino is cunning, power-hungry, and has a knack for political maneuvering. The Imperial House Corrino was once the deadliest and grandest major house found within the known universe and for many thousands of years with the Imperial family of the Imperium. The official residence of the house, Corrin, was on the planet Kaitain, while their personal fief was the ancestral exile planet Selusa Secundus. During their Imperial rule, House Corrino maintained arguably the most powerful army in the known universe, the Sardaukar. Through their superior abilities, the Corrinos were capable of crushing any military opposition. It was said that the only way the Sardaukar could be defeated would be through the combined forces of all the great houses of the Landsraad.
The Corrinos were presumably just rulers of the Imperium as no other issues other than Arrakis were known, but they would backstab and use treacherous tactics in order to maintain their seat of power, but without getting openly involved, such as when they supplied Sardaukar to the Harkonnens to deal with the Atreides. Notable members of House Corrino are Emperor Shaddam IV and Princess Irulan.
House Harkonnen
Picture the opposite of the Atreides. Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is the embodiment of villainy. House Harkonnen was a great House of the Landsraad, with their capital on the heavily industrialized Giedi Prime. The Harkonnens were the historical enemies of House Atreides of Caladan, with whom they maintained an ancient feud since the Battle of Corrin. They also came to be recognized for their underhanded and sinister political tactics, fueled by ambition, malevolence, hatred, and brutality. Typically ruled by Asiridar Baron, the Harkonnens were essentially annihilated after the Battle of Arrakeen, though the family line was continued on Giedi Prime, which was later renamed to Gammu. Notable members of House Harkonnen are the Baron, Vladimir, Fade, Ratha, and Raban.
The Other Great Houses
While both the books and the films almost entirely focus on the big three houses, there are eight other great Houses that have interesting backstories and motivations.
House Fenring
Mysterious and deadly, House Fenring was usually led by an accountant, and it was also close to the Imperial House. A known head of House Fenring was Count Hasimir. He was an assassin as well as a friend and confidant to the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV. This major house never had a secure homeworld, though it was usually situated near House Corrino.
House Ginaz
House Ginaz was an ally of the House Atreides during the time of Duke Leto the Just. It was renowned throughout the Imperium for its Swordmaster School. Presumably many great houses would send a gifted soldier to be trained at this school. It was said that to reach the Ginaz School 10th level was to be a superior warrior in every way, even more adept than Imperial Sardaukar. Anyone who graduated from the Ginaz school was awarded the title Sword Master of Ginaz. During the time of Duke Leto the First, the Atreides maintained their own Sword Master in the form of Duncan Idaho. Sword Masters were more than mere soldiers and often functioned as chief tacticians, military advisors, and even tutors to the houses whom they served.
House Halleck
Loyal to the Atreides cause, House Halleck was known for its fierce loyalty and epic ballads. It was supposedly established by Gurney Halleck, a general of Emperor Paul Atreides, who later rose to Siridar, governor of Caladan and of Gammu, which he renamed to Giedi Prime.
House Metulli
House Metulli is best known as being the spice broker. Money talks and they’ve got a lot of it. The only other information we know about House Metulli is that Gurney Halleck had heard that 321 liters of the spice melenge have been used to buy half of Planet Nova Brunt from House Metulli, feuding with the Atreides.
House Moritani
House Moritani motto seems to be snap first, ask questions later. Their ancestral home was the planet Grumman. House Moritani had a long-standing feud with House Ginaz, which eventually saw the latter defeated in a war of assassins. The emperors of House Corrino, particularly Shaddam, the 4th, supported House Moritani and House of Atreides, supported House Ginaz. Duncan Idaho, a Sword Master of the Ginaz, stated that his sword was first blooded on Grumman, indicating that his first real experience in Mortal Kombat was part of this feud.
Whether this was before or after he entered the service of House of Atreides is ambiguous, not in the original books.
House Ordos
House Ordos is part of the extended Dune universe. House Ordos was a mercantile great house whose home was on the ice-covered planet Sigma Draconis 4 in the Sigma Draconis star system. House Ordos was most famous for its smuggling of forbidden Ixeon technologies into their home planet, and for the wealth that makes them paranoid but powerful. The Ordos perhaps have their ancient Earth origins in China since their family name is the same as that of the Ordos desert. The economy of their planet is based entirely on trade and smuggling. They were pretty insidious and had a tendency towards sabotage, expensive weaponry and illegal technologies imported from Planet X.
House Vernius
Known as the Tech Geeks of the Galaxy House Vernius has some of the best gadgets and technologies. This house was a bloodline ancient at the time of the Battle of Corrin, which specialized in technological innovations and their home world was on the Planet X. After an intense economic war with the House Richese, they won the right to manufacture the lucrative highliners for the Spacing Guild.
House Richese
A fire red Ruby ring from Hegel was the sign of their Earl rivals to even the Tleilaxu in the Tech Gamehouse. Richese was known throughout the Imperium for the manufacture of machines. A rivalry existed between the House Richese and House Vernius for the honour of being a major supplier of technology to the Imperium. It was, however, generally accepted that House Vernius on the Planet of X typically produced superior machines to the Richesians.
And there you have it, the Great Houses of Dune, each with its quirks, alliances, and vendettas.
