List of Dune Bene Gesserit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is a comprehensive list of Bene Gesserit sisters (and rare male initiates) from the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Links are provided for characters discussed in more extensive Main articles.
| Contents: | Anirul - Anteac - Bellonda - Chaola - Chenoeh - Corysta - Doria - Dortujla - Farad'n - Geasa - Harishka - Hesterion - Iriel - Irulan - Janess - Janet - Jessica - Lucilla - Luyseyal - Margot - Miles Teg - Mohiam - Murbella - Odrade - Ramallo - Raquella - Rebecca - Rinya - Sabanda - Schwangyu - Sheeana - Suipol - Syaksa - Tamalane - Taraza - Tawsuoko - Wanna |
|---|
[edit] Anirul
[edit] Anteac
In God Emperor of Dune, the Truthsayer Tertius Eileen Anteac comes to Arrakis in 13,725 A.G. with Luyseyal for an audience with the God Emperor Leto II that coincides with the Royal Festival held every ten years. They receive a message from Othwi Yake, Assistant to the Ixian Ambassador, that Face Dancers have infiltrated the Ixian Embassy, and are planning to assassinate Leto II. They try to warn Leto, but the message doesn't reach his convoy in time; however, the plot fails, as Anteac and Luyseyal knew it would. They achieve little in their meeting with Leto II, and he takes the priceless vial of spice-essence with which they hoped to test his mortality. He reminds Luyseyal of the lesson learned from past over-machined societies: "The devices themselves condition the users to employ each other the way they employ machines." Later, Leto enlists Anteac's aid in detecting the Face Dancers, who by that time have replaced everyone in the Ixian Embassy except the new Ambassador, Hwi Noree. In particular, Anteac identifies the duplicate of Hwi's assistant Othwi Yake, who has been killed and replicated since the original sent his warning to Anteac. Leto's chief minister Moneo Atreides suggests to the God Emperor that Anteac is a secret Mentat, a skill prohibited in the Empire by Leto himself; Leto agrees but says that it amuses him. Hwi shares her knowledge of the environment in which she was brought up with Anteac, who has been conscripted by Leto to lead a Fish Speaker assault on Ix, to wrest the secret of Hwi's origins. Anteac is shocked at the knowledge that Hwi is to marry Leto, and at the same time annoyed that her order had allowed so talented a woman as Hwi to pass through their training program without turning her into one of them. With Anteac's faithful assistance, Leto's forces successfully invade Ix and capture Malky, but Anteac is killed.
Some 1,500 years later in Chapterhouse Dune, the Duncan Idaho ghola recalls his past incarnation from the time of Leto II, noting that he met with Anteac on orders from the God Emperor to suppress the Mentat school the Bene Gesserit had hidden on Wallach IX. It is revealed that Bellonda is a descendant of Anteac's.
[edit] Bellonda
[edit] Chaola
Before the events of the Prelude to Dune series, Chaola Fenring (also known as Cirni) is lady-in-waiting to Habla, the fourth wife of Padishah Emperor Elrood Corrino IX, and serves as wet nurse to both her son Hasimir Fenring and Crown Prince Shaddam. According to one source, Chaola may also have been a sister to Elrood IX. Chaola's son Hasimir proves to be a failure for the Bene Gesserit breeding program; as Paul Atreides himself notes in Dune, "Fenring was one of the might-have-beens, an almost Kwisatz Haderach, crippled by a flaw in the genetic pattern — a eunuch, his talent concentrated into furtiveness and inner seclusion." Nonetheless, the bloodline manipulations of the Bene Gesserit produce a supremely intelligent and perceptive killer in Hasimir Fenring, who later serves as Emperor Shaddam's chief counsellor.
[edit] Chenoeh
As related in God Emperor of Dune, Quintinius Violet Chenoeh, specially trained as an oral recorder, is sent (with Tawsuoko) by Syaksa to Arrakis on a fact-gathering mission in 13,725 A.G. She is invited to converse with the God Emperor himself, and he is uncharacteristically indulgent of her questions and somewhat generous with his own information, however cryptic. Lord Leto tells Chenoeh that he plans to restore "outward spiritual freedom" for mankind, and then refers to Siona Atreides as his "achievement" (which the Sisterhood correctly interprets as being related to Leto's own breeding program). Leto then says, "You will return to your Superiors with my message, but these words keep secret for now. I will visit my rage upon your Sisterhood if you fail." Chenoeh complies, following Syaksa's own warning: "You must do nothing which will bring down his wrath upon us." Leto relates how he and his sister Ghanima were able to escape the disaster of Abomination, and also makes one of the earliest references to his secret journals, later found at Dar-es-Balat. He knows he will ultimately be perceived as a tyrant, and wishes to preserve his "feelings and motives ... lest history distort them too much." At the same time, he warns "Beware of the truth," and shares what he calls "the greatest mystery of all time" by which he composes his life: "The only past which endures lies wordlessly within you." Leto tells Chenoeh that by virtue of his taking her into his confidence, "You will become here an integral part of my myth. Our distant cousins will pray to you for intercession with me!" He also foretells her later death during her attempt at becoming a Reverend Mother through the Spice Agony. Chenoeh's account of their secret conversation is found after her death, and it is later noted that "the persistent Cult of Sister Chenoeh assumes new significance because of the journals' disclosures." Chenoeh and Tawsuoko also bring back to Chapter House proof (in the form of a written eyewitness account of Leto's statement) that, as rumored, Leto executed nine historians in 12,333 A.G.
In Heretics of Dune, she is quoted via epigraph: "Life cannot find reasons to sustain it, cannot be a source of decent mutual regard, unless each of us resolves to breathe such qualities into it." — Chenoeh, Conversations with Leto II
[edit] Corysta
In the short story Dune: Sea Child, Corysta is a Reverend Mother who, out of love for the child, would not hand over to the Sisterhood the baby they had tasked her to conceive. It is taken from her anyway, and as punishment, Corysta is banished to Buzzell to work in the operation harvesting valuable soostones. The Honored Matres later conquer the planet, enslaving the Bene Gesserit there. Corysta nurtures a foundling Phibian until it, too, is taken from her by the Matres when she refuses to tell them the secret location of Chapterhouse.
When Murbella's forces retake Buzzell in Hunters of Dune, Murbella shares minds with Corysta, learning all she can about the situation on Buzzell but also experiencing Corysta's past. She recognizes Corysta's value and loyalty and puts her in charge of the soostone operation. Corysta manages to improve the efficiency and output of the operation, which is the Sisterhood's only source of revenue besides melange and essential to their plan to amass arms for a final battle with the Unknown Enemy.
[edit] Doria
Ambition leads Doria, an Honored Matre, to reluctantly join the Bene Gesserit as Murbella hopes to unite the opposing organizations. Though Doria seeks to learn the impressive skills of the Bene Gesserit, her Honored Matre impulsiveness and resistance to authority are difficult to shake. A chief advisor to Murbella in Hunters of Dune, Doria is one of the few assimilated Honored Matres with access to sensitive Bene Gesserit breeding Records. Doria and Bellonda are on opposite sides from the beginning. Hoping to force them to at least respect each other's differences, Murbella makes them partners managing the spice operations on Chapterhouse. Thirteen years after the escape of the no-ship Ithaca, Doria kills Bellonda in a final confrontation. An outraged Murbella forces Doria to share minds with Bellonda, and makes her the sole Spice Operations Director. Six years later, driven to the brink of insanity by Bellonda's incessant chatter within her mind, Doria is eaten alive by a sandworm.
[edit] Dortujla
In Chapterhouse Dune, Dortujla is the the head of the Sisterhood keep on Buzzell, having been sent to the cold aquatic planet years before as punishment for the so-called "Jessica crime" — a love affair, forbidden by the Bene Gesserit as a weakness that could compromise their performance. Dortujla comes to Odrade at Chapterhouse, reporting that Handlers and their half-man/half-cat enslaved Futars have offered alliance against the Honored Matres, who have yet to make a move on Buzzell. Dortujla's Mentat analysis, however, suggests that the Handlers somehow intend dominance, and that the Matres intend to colonize Buzzell. Odrade sees an opportunity; she orders Dortujla to return to Buzzell and make contact with the Matres, brokering a meeting between Odrade and the Honored Matre leader (in which the Bene Gesserit will supposedly surrender) on Junction — the old Spacing Guild complex above Gammu — which the Matres control. Dortujla is tortured by the Honored Matres and forced to watch her party be murdered and fed to captive Futars; however, she witnesses a Futar using its immobilizing scream (which has "qualities of Voice") against the Matres. Later, Dortujla accompanies Odrade, Tamalane and the acolyte Suipol to meet the Great Honored Matre Dama on Junction, as Miles Teg leads a force to attack Gammu. Dortujla and her party are eventually slain by the Honored Matres, but the Bene Gesserit conquest proves successful with Murbella left as leader to both the Bene Gesserit and the Honored Matres.
[edit] Farad'n
[edit] Geasa
In Heretics of Dune, the Duncan Idaho ghola remembers Luran Geasa, his first chief instructor. She had become very attached to him, but was sent away after allowing him to discover (at age eight) that he was a ghola.
[edit] Harishka
Harishka is the Mother Superior in the Prelude to Dune trilogy, as the Sisterhood nears the fruition of its breeding program.
[edit] Hesterion
In Heretics of Dune, Hesterion is Archivist councillor and advisor to Mother Superior Taraza and one of the few sisters with access to sensitive breeding records. Hesterion is the first advisor to suggest that the Tleilaxu ambition is to produce a complete prana-bindu mimic, and she is correct.
[edit] Iriel
Iriel is tasked to cultivate the Cult of Sheeana on Gammu; in Hunters of Dune, she discovers the Honored Matre plan to send Obliterators on a Spacing Guild heighliner to destroy Chapterhouse. She and some of her followers barely escape Gammu with their lives, but manage to reach Chapterhouse and warn Murbella in time. Soon after, Iriel is killed in the Bene Gesserit takeover of Gammu.
[edit] Irulan
[edit] Janess
[edit] Janet
Janet Roxbrough, the mother of Miles Teg, taught him the Bene Gesserit ways.
[edit] Jessica
[edit] Lucilla
[edit] Luyseyal
In God Emperor of Dune, the Truthsayer Marcus Claire Luyseyal comes to Arrakis in 13,725 A.G. with Anteac for an audience with the God Emperor that coincides with the Royal Festival held every ten years. They receive a message from Othwi Yake, Assistant to the Ixian Ambassador, that Face Dancers have infiltrated the Ixian Embassy, and are planning to assassinate Leto II. They try to warn Leto, but the message doesn't reach his convoy in time; however, the plot fails, as Anteac and Luyseyal knew it would. They achieve little in their meeting with Leto II, and he takes the priceless vial of spice-essence with which they hoped to test his mortality. He reminds Luyseyal of the lesson learned from past over-machined societies: "The devices themselves condition the users to employ each other the way they employ machines."
[edit] Margot
[edit] Miles Teg
[edit] Mohiam
[edit] Murbella
[edit] Odrade
[edit] Ramallo
[edit] Raquella
Raquella Berto-Anirul (born 137 B.G.), grand-daughter of Vorian Atreides and Karida Julan, is the founder of the Order. During the events of Dune: The Battle of Corrin, Raquella establishes the Humanities Medical Commission with fellow doctor (and her lover) Mohandas Suk in 107 B.G. after the burnout of a catastrophic virus (the Demon Scourge) genetically engineered and unleashed by the thinking machines to destroy humanity. In 88 B.G., Raquella travels to Rossak with Suk in their roles as doctors to help fight another outbreak of this plague. After being infected herself, Raquella makes a miraculous recovery due to "healing water" found on the planet. Paranoid and feeling that the doctor might somehow usurp her power, the leader of the Sorceresses of Rossak poisons Raquella with the Rossak Drug. Rather than killing her, the ordeal awakens Other Memory within Raquella. Her body changed by her ordeal with the Scourge, she manages to internally convert the poison into a harmless substance, thus being the first to undergo what would later become the Spice Agony. Soon thereafter, Raquella also discovers the new ability to command others with Voice. She conceives a daughter with Suk, but remains on Rossak to continue her work as he pursues his goal to form the greatest medical school ever seen (later known as the Suk School). Raquella assumes authority over the Sorceresses and their breeding programs, and founds the Bene Gesserit school of thought.
In Dune: House Atreides, Raquella's namesake Anirul Sadow-Tonkin stands on the spot where "the first Mother Superior, Raquella Berto-Anirul ... had delivered her legendary orations to the embryonic Sisterhood. Raquella had forged a new school from a group of desperate and pliable acolytes still stinging from centuries under the yoke of thinking machines."
[edit] Rebecca
Rebecca is a "wild" Reverend Mother discovered by Lucilla in Chapterhouse Dune. Lucilla, fleeing the destruction of Lampadas by the Honored Matres (and carrying the priceless shared-minds of all the planet's Reverend Mothers), is forced to land on Gammu. Once there she seeks out the hidden Jews, whom she knows will give her sanctuary. They are obligated to turn her over to the Honored Matres for their own survival, but before they do, Lucilla Shares with Rebecca, transferring the knowledge of the "Lampadas horde." Rebecca and the Jews eventually escape Gammu with the Bene Gesserit forces, and Rebecca is able to pass on the 7,622,014 Lampadas shared-minds to the Sisterhood.
In Hunters of Dune, Rebecca is on the no-ship Ithaca when Sheeana and Duncan Idaho use it to make their escape from Chapterhouse. She later offers herself as a volunteer to become one of the axlotl tanks used to produce the important gholas of Paul Atreides, Leto II and others.
[edit] Rinya
Rinya is the eldest daughter of Murbella and Duncan Idaho, born a few minutes before her twin sister Janess. She and Janess are rare exceptions to the Bene Gesserit rule that daughters must not know their true parents. Murbella chooses to disclose her identity to them because she feels that of her children, these two had the most promising talents. In Hunters of Dune, Rinya is a prodigy, ambitious, impatient, and unquestionably talented. Her twin sister shares the same qualities, but with just a hint more caution. Rinya always has to be first for everything, and thus she demands to be allowed to undergo the Spice agony, wanting to become a Reverend Mother at the age of fourteen, just like Sheeana had done. During the ritual, Janess rushes forward and cries out that her sister isn't ready for the test, that Rinya herself told her so. She attempts to stop the proctors from inserting the poison but is blocked by Bellonda. Rinya fails and dies, Murbella not knowing whether Janess's prescience had forseen it, or if she had caused it.
[edit] Sabanda
Sabanda is a young Reverend Mother in Chapterhouse Dune who is captured and interrogated by the Great Honored Matre Dama on Junction. Sabanda dies without revealing anything to the Honored Matres (except the fact that Sheeana is alive and, to Sabanda's amusement, the fact that Mother Superior Odrade calls the Matre leader "Spider Queen").
[edit] Schwangyu
In Heretics of Dune, Schwangyu is in charge of the Duncan Idaho ghola project on Gammu. As the leader of a faction of the Sisterhood who believe that such gholas are a danger to the order and its goals, she has been subtly encouraging the ghola's failure. By the time Lucilla arrives to teach Ghola-Idaho and bind his loyalty to the Sisterhood with sexual imprinting, he has already been tarnished by Schwangyu and nurses hate for the Bene Gesserit, hoping to escape their control of his life. Despite Schwangyu's efforts to seduce Lucilla to her side, Idaho blossoms under the training of Lucilla (and Miles Teg), and Schwangyu begins to realize that she has much underestimated Lucilla.
[edit] Sheeana
[edit] Suipol
In Chapterhouse Dune, Suipol is an acolyte chosen to serve and accompany Odrade on her voyage with Tamalane and Dortujla to meet the Great Honored Matre Dama on Junction, as Miles Teg leads a force to attack Gammu. Odrade describes her as a "dark little thing with a round, calm face and manners to match. Not one of our brightest but guaranteed efficient." Suipol and her party are eventually slain by the Honored Matres, but the Bene Gesserit conquest proves successful with Murbella left as leader to both the Bene Gesserit and the Honored Matres.
[edit] Syaksa
As related in God Emperor of Dune, Syaksa sends Chenoeh and Tawsuoko to Arrakis on a fact-gathering mission in 13,725 A.G. Her warning to Chenoeh that "You must do nothing which will bring down his wrath upon us" encourages Chenoeh to obey the God Emperor's command to withhold certain of his statements from the Sisterhood. Syaksa and four other Reverend Mothers (Yitob, Mamulut, Eknekosk and Akeli) incorporate information gleaned from this mission into an "assessment of the state of the Empire" for that year (before the subsequent assassination of Leto II). Syaksa believes that the religious character of the Fish Speakers is slowly being devolved under Leto II. She further attributes to him a motive based on the concept of hydraulic despotism, in which a government structure maintains power and control through exclusive control over a basic resource needed to live (in this case, melange), proposing that he is building the Empire toward an even greater dependence on the spice.
[edit] Tamalane
Tamalane is one of the Duncan Idaho ghola's first chief instructors on Gammu in the events before Heretics of Dune. In Chapterhouse Dune, she tours Chapterhouse with Odrade to visit and to consider a promotion for Sheeana, and check the progress of the planet's conversion to desert. Tamalane accompanies Odrade, Dortujla and the acolyte Suipol to meet the Great Honored Matre Dama on Junction, as Miles Teg leads a force to attack Gammu. Tamalane and her party are eventually slain by the Honored Matres, but the Bene Gesserit conquest proves successful with Murbella left as leader to both the Bene Gesserit and the Honored Matres.
[edit] Taraza
Alma Mavis Taraza is the Mother Superior in Heretics of Dune who brings Bashar Miles Teg reluctantly out of retirement to guard the latest Duncan Idaho ghola. Taraza blackmails Tleilaxu Master Waff to find out all he knows about the new threat to the Old Empire known as the Honored Matres, as well as the fact that the Bene Tleilax have included their own agenda within the ghola. She also manages to divine that Waff is a secret Zensunni, which finally gives the Sisterhood a way to manipulate the Tleilaxu. Assigned to take command of the outpost on Rakis by Taraza, Odrade makes an alliance with Waff using this very knowledge of his religious beliefs. This alliance plays into Taraza's master plan: to destroy Rakis and free humanity from Leto II's own plan. An alliance with the Tleilaxu, the only remaining source of melange, would be essential after such a scenario. Taraza then considers a secondary plan of seeding other planets with sandworms with the help of the "sandrider" — a girl named Sheeana who has the power to control the worms. But when the Honored Matres finally attack Rakis, Taraza is killed with the first attack, cut down by lasguns. Luckily, Odrade has time to merge minds with her before escaping with Sheeana into the desert on a worm.
[edit] Tawsuoko
As related in God Emperor of Dune, Tawsuoko is sent (with Chenoeh) by Syaksa to Arrakis on a fact-gathering mission in 13,725 A.G. In addition to the record of Chenoeh's somewhat enlightening conversations with the God Emperor, she and Chenoeh bring back to Chapter House proof (in the form of a written eyewitness account of Lord Leto's statement) that, as rumored, Leto executed nine historians in 12,333 A.G.
[edit] Wanna
Wanna Marcus (born 10,092 A.G.), the wife of Suk doctor Wellington Yueh, was instructed not to bear him any children; she told him she was infertile due to an industrial accident. Immediately prior to the events transpiring in Dune, she is kidnapped by the Harkonnens, who use the threat of her death to break Yueh's Suk conditioning and force him to betray Leto Atreides I. Yueh gives in to their demands, and then finds out (as he suspected) that Wanna had already been killed (presumably in 10,186 A.G., per the Dictionary of Muad'Dib by the Princess Irulan, as referenced via epigraph in Dune).
| The extended Dune series |
|---|
| by Frank Herbert: Dune • Dune Messiah • Children of Dune • God Emperor of Dune • Heretics of Dune • Chapterhouse Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson: |
