Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen

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Editor's Note: This entry contains minor spoilers for the Dune novels and 2024 film Dune: Part Two; read at your own caution.

About

Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen is a fictional character and one of antagonists who appears in Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune. Portrayed by Sting in the 1984 film adaptation and by Austin Butler in the 2024 film Dune: Part Two, Feyd-Rautha is the sadistic and psychotic yet cunning and ambitious younger nephew and heir of the Baron Harkonnen. Following the release of the 2024 film, the character achieved virality on social media.

Origin

In the Dune novels by Frank Herbert, Feyd-Rautha is a 16-year-old younger nephew and heir of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. Feyd-Rautha is a skilled and deadly fighter and is a sadistic and intelligent individual who harbors ambitions to inherit Baron's title and power. Baron Vladimir Harkonnen favors Feyd-Rautha over his elder brother Rabban, planning for him to overtake the rule over Arrakis as the "savior" of the planet, and later marry Princess Iluran and eventually become the Emperor.

In the 1984 film adaptation of the novel, Feyd-Rautha is portrayed by Sting. In the 2024 film Dune: Part Two, Feyd-Rautha is portrayed by actor Austin Butler (images shown below).^[1]

Spread

Following the premiere of Dune: Part Two on March 1st, 2024, the character achieved virality online as users shared GIFs and clips of Feyd-Rautha and made posts about Butler's performance. On March 1st, 2024, X^[2] user @laserboat999 posted a Downloading Personality meme about the character that received over 1,400 reposts and 10,000 likes in three days (shown below, left). On March 2nd, 2024, X^[3] user @dunehast made a subversion joke comparing Paul Atreides against Feyd-Rautha, which received over 930 reposts and 18,000 likes in two days (shown below, right).

The scene in which Feyd-Rautha kisses his uncle Vladimir Harkonnen during a ceremony, reportedly improvised by Butler,^[4] achieved particular attention in memes. For example, on March 3rd, 2024, X^[5] user @TheGiovanniLago posted a reaction video that received over 1,500 reposts and 25,000 likes in one day (shown below).

Additionally, the character saw comparisons with Joker on social media.^[6]