| NOTE: Only the version appearing in the 2021 film series was approved as Pure Evil, so the information in this page should only pertain to those films |
| “ | Uncle, how could we let this happen? How can the Emperor TAKE EVERYTHING WE'VE BUILT AND GIVE IT TO THAT DUKE?! HOW?! | „ |
| ~ Rabban to the Baron on the Emperor giving Arrakis to the Atreides, and his villainous breakdown (2021 film). |
| “ | Look who's back from the dead. | „ |
| ~ Beast Rabban's last words in Dune: Part Two. |
Rabban Harkonnen is the secondary antagonist of the 2021 epic science fiction film Dune and a major antagonist in its 2024 sequel Dune: Part Two.
He is the brutish, impulsive, and heavily violent elder nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen yet is equally as evil, serving as his chief enforcer when it comes to subjugating Arrakis and it's local population, the Fremen, as well as the older brother of Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen.
He is known as the Beast for his penchant for violence and brutality. He is also the arch-enemy of Gurney Halleck, whose family he killed and playing a critical role in eliminating most of House Atreides.
He was portrayed by Dave Bautista.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
In General/Background[]
- Rabban's penchant for cruelty is noteworthy even by the standards of the Harkonnens with his every impulse he delivers through violence, earning him the moniker of the Beast.
- Has killed Gurney Halleck's family, and to make him remember such traumatizing event, gave him a scar on his face.
- Despite his violent and impulsive nature, Rabban is shown to be a complete coward as he often flees from anything that may be too much for him. This proves that while he will gleefully kill anyone beneath him, he will flee from anyone that has the upper hand on him.
- While his uncle Vladimir and his younger brother Feyd are far worse than him, Rabban easily stands out since unlike those two, he doesn't possess much resources and isn't exactly as strategic than them, as he is more of an impulsive brute.
Dune[]
- As one of Baron Harkonnen's chief lieutenants, he is the one enforcing the Harkonnen oppression on Arrakis' local population, the Fremen, who were massacred and forced to hiding, so that the Harkonnens can extract Arrakis' spice fields and prosper. When the Emperor orders Arrakis to be given to House Atreides, he rants to his uncle on how they can no longer have the planet under their thumb.
- Is the one personally leading the charge executing the Baron's scheme to wipe out House Atreides. Leading his soldiers and the Sardaukar, he has the entire city of Arrakeen laid to waste to wipe out any and all members of the clan. All who survived the attacks met 2 grisly fates under Rabban's hands once they are captured and rounded up:
- Sent off to be enslaved in the Harkonnen gladiator games in Giedi Prime, an instant guarantee of death for all as they are (usually) drugged before the arena battles.
- Bound and lined up by the dozens so that Rabban can personally behead every last one of them in cold relish.
- While this is the Emperor and the Baron's scheme, it is made clear as the one leading the charge on the field, Rabban is equally responsible for this, with Gurney killing him for his critical role on the massacre of the Atreides.
- Gleefully enacts the Baron's orders for genocide against the Fremen to have Arrakis all to himself so that he can finally exterminate those he deemed as "desert rats".
Dune: Part Two[]
- When Paul/Muad'Dib frequently thwarts his genocidal attacks, Rabban beats one of his men to death in frustration on being unable to kill the Fremen, as well as for trying to give him helpful advice.
- Snaps the neck of another one of his men just for losing sight of Paul and the Fremen.
- He tries to attack Paul and the Fremen, but when they begin to overwhelm him and his men, he cowardly runs away from them.
- When Paul/Muad'Dib and the Fremen attacked Arrakeen, instead of protecting his family, he chose to cowardly flee from the battle.
- When Gurney arrives to kill him, he tries to fight back and kill the man, but was quickly defeated and killed by Gurney, avenging his family and friends that were killed by Rabban.
- While Rabban has a humiliating conga in this sequel, such as getting threatened by his uncle for his failure and even beaten by Feyd-Rautha, forced to kiss his feet as a result, each of his humiliating moments are ultimately played for satisfaction as he was a terrible individual to begin with.
- And even regardless of his humiliation, Rabban's cruelty and violence is not forgotten and is taken seriously, with the Fremen treating his Fremen genocide as an actually urgent matter, even after Feyd takes over, and Gurney makes it clear Rabban should not get away with his actions, as he holds him in contempt for the death of his family and the massacre of the Atreides and goes on executing him for his crimes.
Trivia[]
- In an interview, Dave Bautista stated he portrayed Rabban with some nuance as a man who just desperately wants his uncle's approval. However, none of this is present in the film in which Rabban was presented as a violent, gleeful war criminal, which is because Dennis Villeneuve, the director of the Dune films, states Rabban is only a coward at heart and nothing more.
- It's worth noting that even though Rabban does sometimes show sign of this, none of it makes him sympathetic since he often takes his frustrations on his own men who didn't have anything to do with his insecurity and desperation to seek his uncle's approval. The fact he was willing to abandon him to save himself further makes him unsympathetic.
External Links[]
- Rabban Harkonnen on the Villains Wiki
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 Pure Evils
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