Paul Atreides / Paul-Muad'Dib / Usul
Paul Atreides is the son of Duke Leto and Lady Jessica. At the start of the novel, he is an intelligent, well-trained 15-year-old boy with signs of being the Kwisatz Haderach (namely his "truthsense"—an ability to read people's motives—and his prophetic dreams). On Arrakis, he becomes Duke Atreides and leader of the Fremen, the Lisan al-Gaib, taking the names Muad'Dib and Usul. Paul's training and exposure to spice allow him to see through space and time, seeing avenues of the future as well as extensive knowledge of the past. He has a son with Chani and marries Princess Irulan.
Paul is troubled by visions of a violent, intergalactic jihad in his name, which he tries and ultimately fails to prevent. At the end of the novel, at 18-19 years old, he becomes next in line to the Imperial Throne by controlling spice production, outmaneuvering the Emperor and the Guild.
Lady Jessica
Lady Jessica is the Bene Gesserit concubine to Duke Leto, mother to Paul, even though the Bene Gesserit instructed her to have a daughter. She trains Paul in the Bene Gesserit way. Lady Jessica survives the fall of House Atreides. She becomes a Reverend Mother among the Fremen, converting the Water of Life while her daughter Alia is still in the womb. Lady Jessica is an advisor and sometimes adversary to Paul as he becomes the leader of the Fremen. It is revealed that Jessica is actually the daughter of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (it's normal for Bene Gesserit to have no knowledge of their family).
Lady Jessica is described as tall, bronze-haired, with an oval face and wide-set green eyes. She mourns deeply for Duke Leto, and at the end of the novel, she asks Paul to let her return to Caladan to seek stillness and peace.
Duke Leto Atreides
Duke Leto Atreides is a powerful, well-respected leader on Caladan before the Padishah Emperor assigns him to rule Arrakis. When House Atreides is betrayed by Dr. Yueh, Yueh puts a poisoned tooth in the Duke's mouth, with which the Duke kills himself and members of House Harkonnen in a final act of resistance.
Leto is described as having long black hair, olive skin, and hawklike features. Though Leto loves Jessica, he never marries her so that other Great Houses will still consider him a valuable marriage prospect (he says that keeping Jessica a concubine is his regret in life). Leto and Paul have a good relationship, and Paul learns a lot about leadership from his father.
Thufir Hawat
Thufir Hawat is the Mentat for House Atreides, serving for three generations. He trains Paul in the Mentat way. After the fall of House Atreides, he is the Mentat for House Harkonnen, but only because the Baron has given him a deadly poison and will withhold the antidote if Hawat doesn't work for him.
Thufir Hawat dies in Paul's arms at the end of the novel, choosing to not assassinate him, staying loyal to House Atreides.
Gurney Halleck
Gurney Halleck is the Warmaster for House Atreides, described as a warrior-minstrel. Halleck is Paul's favorite among his teachers, and he's an excellent musician, often singing and playing the baliset. He's described as being an ugly lump of a man, with an "inkvine scar" on his jaw given to him by Rabban in a Harkonnen slave pit on Giedi Prime. His younger sister died in a pleasure house for the Harkonnen troops. When Halleck believes that House Atreides has fallen, he stays on Arrakis to get revenge on Rabban; he reunites with Paul and participates in the final battle.
Duncan Idaho
Duncan Idaho is a swordmaster for House Atreides, and he's one of Paul's teachers. He is an ambassador to the Fremen, joining Sietch Tabr with Stilgar while maintaining loyalty to Duke Leto. He dies in battle, allowing Jessica and Paul to escape from a legion of Sardaukar. Idaho is described as a ladies' man with curly hair and a dark complexion.
Dr. Wellington Yueh
Dr. Yueh is a Suk doctor in service of House Atreides. His wife, Wanna, was captured years ago by House Harkonnen, and the Harkonnens use this as a wedge to break his Imperial Conditioning (which stops him from inflicting harm). Dr. Yueh betrays House Atreides so that the Harkonnens will reunite him with Wanna if she is alive, which he doubts (she isn't; she died years ago).
However, Dr. Yueh gives the Duke a poisoned tooth that he can use to try to kill the Baron; he also arranges Jessica and Paul's escape from Arrakeen, giving them Fremkits and the Atreides ducal ring.
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is the cunning and cruel leader of House Harkonnen. The Baron hates Duke Leto and conspires to kill him and all of House Atreides. He is uncle to Rabban and Feyd-Rautha, father of Lady Jessica (unbeknownst to her) and grandfather of Paul and Alia. Alia eventually kills the Baron with a gom jabbar.
The Baron is morbidly obese and can only move with the help of suspensors that nullify gravity around his body. He is described as having red hair in a distinctive widow's peak. He is portrayed as incredibly sadistic with pedophilic tendencies, particularly toward young boys, and he regularly has people killed, tortured, and enslaved.
Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen
Feyd-Rautha is the younger nephew of Baron Harkonnen. He is the chosen na-Baron, heir to House Harkonnen, and he is depicted as clever and sneaky. He is renowned for his prowess in individual combat, but he often goes against the rules, using poisoned blades and darts to defeat his opponents. Despite using such tricks, Feyd is killed by Paul in one-on-one combat.
Glossu Rabban Harkonnen
Rabban Harkonnen, known as "the Beast," is the older nephew of Baron Harkonnen. He has the traditional Harkonnen strength and cruelty, but he is not very cunning. The Baron places Rabban in charge of Arrakis, knowing Rabban will be terrible to the people so that when Feyd-Rautha takes over they will love him by comparison.
Piter de Vries
Piter de Vries is Mentat to House Harkonnen. He is addicted to spice, so his eyes are tinted blue, and his lips are dyed red by the sapho juice used by Mentats. He is described as tall, slender, and effeminate, as well as twisted, reckless, and sadistic. He enjoys torturing people, and he wants Lady Jessica as his reward for overthrowing House Atreides. He is killed by the gas emitted from Duke Leto's poisoned tooth.
Stilgar
Stilgar is a Fremen leader, naib (head) of Sietch Tabr, uncle of Chani. He is well respected by his tribe and others. He is a reasonable leader and a strong warrior, and he comes to admire Paul-Muad'Dib as Lisan al-Gaib. Stilgar protects Paul and Jessica among the Fremen until they are accepted, and he teaches Paul to ride sandworms. He is described as having a thin nose and a thick black beard, as well as purely blue eyes, like all Fremen.
Chani
Chani is a Fremen warrior, the daughter of Liet-Kynes and niece of Stilgar. Paul has prescient visions of her before they meet; they become lovers, and Chani bears him a son, Leto II, who is killed in a raid by the Emperor. Chani is a fierce warrior, and she supports Paul in everything, even him marrying Princess Irulan out of political necessity. Chani has long red hair and purely blue eyes.
Liet-Kynes / Dr. Kynes
Liet-Kynes, known by some as Dr. Kynes or Liet, is the imperial planetologist and Judge of the Change on Arrakis when House Atreides takes over. He is initially on the side of the Emperor and House Harkonnen. Liet-Kynes is father to Chani and the secret leader of the Fremen, guiding them in a quest to change the ecology of Dune to support human life.
Liet-Kynes is a secretive man devoted to the Fremen people. Both Paul and Jessica observe that he never seems to be telling the entire truth. Liet-Kynes comes to recognize Paul as the Hero foretold by both the Fremen and his father, and he helps Paul and Jessica escape from the Sardaukar. Liet-Kynes dies in an explosion of a pre-spice mass after being abandoned in the desert by House Harkonnen.
The Padishash Emperor Shaddam IV
The 81st Emperor holds the Imperial Throne, one-third of the political tripod that rules the cosmos (the others being the Landsraad and the Guild). Shaddam IV is a powerful and conniving man, though he displays less outright cruelty than Baron Harkonnen. He fears the Landsraad (the Great Houses) rising against him, and he supports killing Duke Leto because Leto's fighting forces are beginning to rival the Emperor's Sardaukar. He is father to Princess Irulan and others; Princess Irulan describes Count Fenring as being Shaddam IV's only real friend.
Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
The Reverend Mother is a highly ranked sister of the Bene Gesserit, in service of the Emperor. She was Jessica's teacher during Jessica's Bene Gesserit training on Wallach IX. She is a proud, intelligent woman with advanced truthsaying abilities. She tests Paul with the gom jabbar; by the end of the novel, she believes that he is the Kwisatz Haderach.
Princess Irulan
Princess Irulan is the daughter of Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, trained in the Bene Gesserit way. She is promised to be Paul's wife at the end of the novel. She is described as being tall and blonde with a regal bearing. Though she has very few lines in the main text, each chapter of Dune begins with an excerpt from the records Irulan kept of the events surrounding Paul-Muad'Dib.
Count Hasimir Fenring and Lady Margot Fenring
Count Fenring is a trained killer and Mentat in service (and friendship) of Emperor Shaddam IV. He is a genetic eunuch and a failed attempt to produce the Kwisatz Haderach. He is described as weaselish with large eyes, and he is invisible to Paul's prescient vision. He refuses the Emperor's order to kill Paul-Muad'Dib. His wife, Lady Margot, is a beautiful sister of the Bene Gesserit; they scheme together to seduce Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, and Lady Margot bears Feyd-Rautha's daughter to preserve his bloodline.
Jamis
Jamis is a Fremen warrior who does not believe that Jessica and Paul are the ones foretold by prophecy. He challenges Paul to a fight to the death, and he's killed, which initiates Paul into Sietch Tabr.
Harah, Kaleff, and Orlop
Harah is Jamis's mate (Fremen don't usually marry), and after Jamis is killed, responsibility for Harah is transferred to Paul for one year. She has two sons, Kaleff and Orlop, who admire Paul and accept him as their caretaker. Harah is a proud woman who is offended that Paul doesn't take her as a mate, though she comes to support the family, protecting Alia from the rest of the tribe when she exhibits strange behavior.
Reverend Mother Ramallo
Reverend Mother Ramallo is the elderly Fremen Reverend Mother at the time Jessica comes to Sietch Tabr. When Jessica purifies the Water of Life and becomes the Reverend Mother, Ramallo's life and memories join with Jessica (and Alia, still in the womb).
The Shadout Mapes
The Shadout Mapes is the first Fremen Jessica meets, the head housekeeper on Arrakeen. "Shadout" is a Fremen honorific meaning "well-dipper," a sign of respect. The Shadout Mapes tests Jessica to see if she's really the one foretold by legend. She approves of Jessica and gives her a crysknife. She is killed by Dr. Yueh while she's trying to warn the Duke of his betrayal.
