Dune character art - Fremen and Imperial Sardaukar

A very, very long time ago I did a character sketch of Wellington Yueh, a doctor from Frank Herbert's Dune. At the time I intended this to be the first of a series of character designs from the book, which is one of my all-time favourite sci-fi/fantasy novels, however I never got around to doing more. Seven or so years later, I sketched out a few further designs to coincide with my latest entry on The Back-Up Blog - Adapting the Unadaptable, Part 2, Dune.

I started out with perhaps the two most iconic combatants from the book - the Fremen insurgents, and the Sardaukar, the imperial guard of the Padishah Emperor. OK, I tell a slight lie. I actually started off with Paul Atreides, the main protagonist (not a Fremen, but hiding out with them after his family get thrown out of power), then decided to go generic and do a standard Burseg officer for the Sardaukar.

My thought processes when designing these two:

 - Fremen: David Lynch's Dune featured Fremen in organic-looking shiny black wetsuits with no hoods or breathing apparatus. They looked intimidating, but would fry the unfortunate wearer in an instant out in a low-moisture salt flat. The Sci Fi Channel mini-series was closer to the mark, with its hoods and cloaks, but unfortunately ended up sacrificing any sense of menace or indeed competence in the process (one reviewer called it Lounge Wear). Fanart frequently gives them futuristic exoskeletons with glowy bits, like Iron Man's suit, which feels very wrong given the low-tech, run-down feel of the setting. The only book cover art to depict them makes them bright blue and gives them KKK hoods, which while certainly intimidating does rather muddle the metaphors. I wanted to create something with just enough high-tech to indicate that this is a futuristic environmental suit, while also keeping a natural feel in-keeping with the traditional lifestyle of the Fremen. The alternate hood, though not in the book, is a lot closer to how a real stillsuit would look, with a fully enclosed face and UV-resistant goggles. This could be worn by Fremen regulars in the background and implied to be worn by the main cast off-screen.

 - Imperial Sardaukar: Probably one of the most memorable enemy mooks in all of sci-fi, the Sardaukar are given a legendary rep in the book, and, unlike Star Wars' Storm Troopers, they generally manage to live up to it. Unfortunately, this hasn't carried over to previous adaptations. Lynch makes an effort to make the Sardaukar badass, even showing one dispatching several Fremen single-handedly before he at last succumbs, but chose to dress them in an industrial waste hazard suit with glowing green faces. The mini-series is even worse - in an obvious attempt to suggest the Pope's Swiss Guard they have floppy hats and iridescent chestpieces. Jodorowsky's abandoned adaptation would have given them gimp masks and mohawks. For my design I wanted something between an SS officer (as the cruel, supercilious but brutally efficient agents of a totalitarian empire), a US marine (as the technologically advanced force invading a desert world) and an Ottoman Janissary (as the elite protectors of the Emperor). The idea that they have a mask is solid, as otherwise people would start to ask why no-one recognised them if they were supposed to be levies from the existing houses (when in fact they are entirely drawn from Salusa Secundus, a 'hell world' not unlike Arrakis, but a cratered wasteland rather than desert); I went for a simple balaclava, the design recalling pulp hero The Shadow as well as more recent bogeymen including ISIS mujahideen. I left in a couple of nods to the mini-series design for the Harkonnen - the flaps of the body armour recall haidate and the helm is a fusion of a German WW2 helmet and Edo-era samurai.

I've added additional designs for the Atreides and Harkonnen.