Glossu Rabban

For the character in the film series, see Rabban Harkonnen

Glossu "Beast" Rabban (10132 AG - December 10193 AG) was the brutish nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, serving as Count of Lankiveil, and Governor of Arrakis during the Desert War.

Biography

Glossu Rabban was the eldest son of Abulurd Rabban, Count of Lankiveil and Vladimir Harkonnen's youngest demibrother. Abulurd renounced the Harkonnen name and adopted his wife's surname of Rabban when given governorship of Lankiveil. At some point, Rabban and his younger brother Feyd-Rautha were taken in by their uncle Vladimir, who effectively adopted them as wards of his household due to him not possessing male heirs of his own. Rabban was most likely to succeed his uncle as Baron of House Harkonnen due to being the eldest, however, he had proven himself to be too brutish and stupid to lead their family, and the younger and more calculated Feyd was chosen as Na-Baron as opposed to Rabban.

Rabban inherited the Harkonnen penchant for sadism and cruelty but not much else. He was most known for his tyrannical but impotent governance of Arrakis during the fiefdom of his Great House. The Baron planned to let Rabban rule the untamed desert planet for a time through terror and submission so that when his favored younger brother took over, Feyd would be welcomed as a hero. His merciless oppression of the local population prompted a lengthy rebellion that severely hindered spice production, spearheaded by guerilla fighters united under the Fremen prophet Muad'Dib, which resulted in Harkonnen control over the Spice Market being temporarily shut down. It's also implied that part of the reason Vladimir Harkonnen allowed Rabban to rule mercilessly besides as a feint to allow his brother Feyd to take over was as part of a long-running plan to depose the Atreides family to manipulate the latter into a trap leading to their deaths.

Despite his lack of cunning, he did possess at least some degree of common sense and foresight - repeatedly warning his uncle and subordinates not to underestimate the Fremen or their numbers - and he posed an insightful enough question about his uncle's politically-sensitive subversion of Dr. Yueh that the Baron himself reconsidered his prior sentiments.

Glossu Rabban's life ended during the Battle of Arrakeen when he was slain by the populace he had brutalized for years.

Description

"The man who stood outside the doorfield of the Baron's bedchamber was low built, gross of face and body, with the Harkonnen paternal line's narrow-set eyes and bulge of shoulders. There was yet some rigidity in his fat, but it was obvious to the eye that he'd come one day to the portable suspensors for carrying his excess weight."

―1965 novel^[src]

Quotes

• Baron: "And so it begins. The trap is set. The prey approaches. A glorious winter is about to descend on House Atreides and all its heirs. The centuries of humiliation – visited upon my family – will finally be avenged."
• Rabban: "But Arrakis was mine!!"
• Feyd: "Shut up, Rabban."
• Rabban: "I did what you said, uncle. I made the people cower. I crushed their vile planet!"
• Feyd: "He said 'squeeze', brother. Not 'crush'."
• Baron: "Rabban aspires to rule House Harkonnen one day, Feyd. And yet he can't even rule himself." - 2000 miniseries

• Piter: "In order for the Empire to survive, the spice must flow. But the production has become..." (glances at Rabban) "...inconsistent. In his wisdom, the Emperor decided only one man is honest enough and loyal enough to be trusted with restoring the spice production adequately. Duke Leto Atreides.
• Baron: "Temporarily interrupting 80 years of Harkonnen rule and all the profits that go with it."
• Rabban (Yells in fury)
• Baron: "I said 'temporarily', you moron."

• Rabban : "Uncle, how can we let this happen? How can the Emperor...TAKE everything we've built, and give it to that DUKE?! HOW?!"
• Piter : "Don't be too sure it's an act of love."
• Rabban : "What does he mean?"
• Baron : "When is a gift not a gift? The Atreides voice is rising. And the Emperor is a jealous man. A dangerous...jealous man." - 2021 film

• Rabban : "We chased them...into a coriolis storm. Winds at 800 kilometers an hour. Nothing survives such a storm. They're dead. It's a certainty."
• Baron : "So it's done, finally. Send word to Giedi Prime, to begin selling our spice reserves. But slowly. We don't want the price to fall. You have no idea how much it cost me to bring such a force to bear here. Now I only have one requirement. Income. So squeeze, Rabban. Squeeze hard."
• Rabban: "Yes, uncle. And the Fremen?"
• Baron: "...kill them all." - 2021 film

• Commander : "L-Lord Rabban. Now that the spice fields have been secured, I...strongly recommend bringing our troops out of Fremen territories. We're losing too many men to the desert."
• Rabban : "Rats."
• Commander : "...I beg your pardon?"
• Rabban : "We're losing men. To rats."
• Commander : [Another officer mouths "Fremen" to him] "Fremen! I can't confirm, my lord. Communications are hectic in the open sands."
• Rabban : "Your orders...were to control the whole planet."
• Commander: "...we are."
• Rabban: "I see only half of it."
• Commander : "As you may recall...the South is uninhabitable, my lord. M-May I suggest you get some rest..." [Cut off by a strike to the throat]
• Rabban : [Smashes the man's face into a console repeatedly] "RATS! HAIRY! RATS! KILL THEM, KILL THEM, KILL THEM ALL! KILL! THEM! ALL!! RATS!!" - Dune: Part Two

Trivia

• The fate of Lankiveil following Rabban's demise is unknown.
• All three screen adaptations introduce Rabban much earlier than the book, in which he appears only once after the deaths of Dr. Yueh, Duke Leto and Piter de Vries.
• While the nature of his death is left vague in the book, his first two adaptations assume decapitation. In the 1984 film, the Baron is informed that the Emperor had Rabban arrested while en route to his ship, and arrives to see his nephew's severed head on a platter. In the 2000 miniseries, realizing there's no hope of escape or mercy, Rabban drops his knife and screams toward the sky as Fremen mobs rush him and dismember his body. However, in 2024's Dune: Part Two, he is fatally stabbed in the throat by his former slave Gurney Halleck.
• His first name of Glossu is only stated in the original novel's appendix and never in the narrative itself. Because of this and Gurney referring to him as Rabban Harkonnen while speaking with Tuek, the book's screen adaptations end up either implying or, in the case of Dune: Part Two, explicitly stating Rabban as his given name rather than his surname. This consequentially downplays his unfavored status - Rabban being the surname of his father's wife after he cut ties with the Harkonnens, thus being denied that surname.
• Rabban's age is never stated in the original Dune novel.

Gallery

Appearances

• Dune
• Dune Messiah (mentioned only)
• Children of Dune (mentioned only)
• God Emperor of Dune (mentioned only)

Preceded by Abulurd Rabban

Count of Lankiveil ? - 10193 AG

Succeeded by Unknown

Preceded by Leto Atreides I

Governor of Arrakis 10191 AG - 10193 AG

Succeeded by Stilgar

v • d • e House Harkonnen
Barons	Vladimir Harkonnen • Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen
Family	Abulurd Harkonnen • Abulurd Rabban • Glossu Rabban
Retainers	Piter de Vries • Umman Kudu • Iakin Nefud • Thufir Hawat • Czigo • Kinet • Pardee • Guild Bank Agent