Dune Messiah

A Tleilaxu ghola, or replicated human, Hayt/Duncan Idaho is one of the secondary protagonists of the novel. After Duncan Idaho died protecting Paul in the original Dune novel, his corpse was repaired and genetically modified by the Bene Tleilax into the ghola Hayt. In addition to Duncan’s extraordinary swordsmanship, Hayt is enhanced with Mentat cognitive abilities and Zensunni philosophy. This combination makes Hayt a composite character of Paul’s three mentors from the first novel in the series: weapons master Duncan Idaho, the Mentat Thufir Hawat, and the warrior-poet Gurney Halleck.

The conspirators use Hayt for two purposes: first, to worsen Paul’s ethical dilemma, and second, to prove to Paul that a ghola can fully recover its past identity and tempt him into accepting a Chani ghola in exchange for surrender. Because Hayt is specially conditioned to eventually recall his past self, Hayt’s journey through the novel concerns his endeavor to regain his identity and faithfully serve Paul rather than destroy him as the conspirators intend. His identity crisis causes him to become close to Alia Atreides (who is also struggling to establish her sense of self), and they quickly fall in love.

As killing Paul is antithetical to Duncan’s true nature, Hayt is able to overcome his ghola conditioning and regain his memories as “Duncan Idaho. Killer extraordinary. Lover of many women. Swordsman soldier. Atreides field-hand on the field of battle” (277). His Mentat and Zensunni conditioning allow him to psychologically withstand the knowledge that he had died and was resurrected. At the end of the novel, Duncan kills the Tleilaxu agent Bijaz in a symbolic act of triumph over his creators/tormentors and begins a romantic relationship with Alia.

Alia Atreides, Paul’s 16-year-old sister, is another secondary protagonist of the novel. Alia was born fully conscious and prescient due to being in utero during the Lady Jessica’s spice transformation into a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother. Paul describes Alia as “a Reverend Mother without motherhood, virgin priestess, object of fearful veneration for the superstitious masses” (69). She also has the “blue-in-blue ‘spice-eyes,’” but otherwise looks like her mother, with “a cap of bronze hair, small nose, mouth wide and generous” (68). Alia serves as the high priestess of the Fremen religion and an essential advisor to her brother the Emperor.

Possessing the memories of generations before her birth and frustrated by her religious obligations, Alia struggles to establish her own identity. This struggle is exacerbated by her sexual awakening, and Alia longs to personally experience intimacy. She is immediately drawn to the ghola Hayt and falls in love with him over the course of the novel as they connect over their mutual identity struggles. Alia is reckless and impulsive, taking huge doses of spice to understand Paul’s attempts to shape the future. By the end of the novel, she is distraught over not foreseeing the plot against Paul and devastated by Paul’s exile. In her grief, she begins a relationship with the restored Duncan Idaho. Alia is appointed as regent, maintaining the Atreides dynasty until Paul’s son comes of age.

Scytale, Edric, and Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam lead the conspiracy against Paul; each antagonist allows Herbert to explore different facets of government, religion, and power struggles.

Scytale, a Tleilaxu Face Dancer, can change his appearance and demeanor at will, and the most dangerous of Paul’s adversaries. Scytale is a morally ambiguous character who finds it “easier to identify with the victim than with the attackers” (11), yet insidiously plots to preserve the power of his secretive order. Scytale often appears in disguises meant to make other underestimate him. More than Edric or Gaius Helen, Scytale appreciates the difficulty of entrapping the prescient Emperor Paul and is an ingenious schemer, serving as the mastermind of the conspiracy. Nonetheless, Scytale overestimates his own abilities to deceive Paul, who sees through his disguise and most of Scytale’s plot. At the end of the novel, Scytale makes a last, desperate attempt to force Paul into resigning his political, religious, and economic power by threatening Paul’s newborn children. Again, Paul’s powers enable him to outwit Scytale and kill him.

Edric is a prescient Spacing Guild navigator who must always remain in a tank of spice gas. He is described as “vaguely humanoid, with finned feet and hugely fanned membranous hands—a fish in a strange sea” (12). Edric is the least intelligent and subtle of the conspirators, but his own prescience provides a crucial shield from Paul and Alia’s oracular powers. Edric’s concerns are primarily economic; the Spacing Guild depends on access to spice to maintain their monopoly on interstellar travel. Since Paul controls all spice production, he endangers the Spacing Guild’s autonomy. Edric often overestimates his own powers and abilities, and Paul accepts Edric as a Guild ambassador to gain access to more information about the Guild’s plot against him. At the end of the novel, Edric is executed on Alia’s orders, along with the other conspirators.

The Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam is the powerful leader of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood. Gaius Helen fully recognizes the irony that the Bene Gesserit created Paul, their Kwisatz Haderach with access to both male and female memory, only for Paul to become their downfall. Gaius Helen is motivated by her desire to preserve Paul’s genetic code for the centuries-long Bene Gesserit breeding program. She instructs Irulan to poison Chani to prevent a Fremen heir to the throne, but ultimately rejects Paul’s offer to artificially inseminate the princess because this would violate Bene Gesserit beliefs. A pseudo-religious, pseudo-political order, the Bene Gesserit juxtapose Paul’s own empire with another, established example of a manipulative power structure, suggesting immoral commonalities among all empires, cabals, and secret orders. At the end of the novel, Gaius Helen is killed by Paul’s loyal aide Stilgar for her role in the conspiracy, fulfilling her prediction that she would die on Arrakis.

Chani Keynes is Paul’s cherished Fremen lover and the mother of his first son, who was killed in the war that made Paul Emperor. Chani is described as “purest Fremen,” and occasionally struggles to accept Paul’s decisions when they are incongruent with her cultural beliefs and expectations. Chani loves Paul and is an intelligent and fierce advisor on all political matters. She longs for a family and is furious to discover that Irulan has poisoned her with dangerous contraceptives, resulting in her fatal pregnancy. For much of the novel, Chani attempts to persuade Paul to return to the Fremen stronghold of Sietch Tabr and reconnect with Fremen culture; when she finally does return to her childhood home, Chani is disturbed by the changes Paul’s empire has had on the landscape. Rather than setting Paul on the path to deification, Chani’s death bearing Paul’s twins causes Paul to lose his prescience and free himself from the fate he despises.