Fedaykin
the death commandos of Muad'Dib
The Fedaykin were Fremen fighters of Arrakis, first the guerrillas of the Arrakis Revolt and then the personal death commandos of Paul Muad'Dib. By the time of his children they had become the elite of the Jihad army, before Alia Atreides dissolved them and the word returned to its old meaning.
Fedaykin was originally a word for the Fremen guerrilla fighters of Arrakis, used in particular during the Arrakis Revolt against the Corrino Empire and House Harkonnen. It later came to mean the personal guard of Muad'Dib, his death commandos sworn to Paul Atreides. By the time Leto and Ghanima Atreides were born, Fedaykin had become synonymous with the elite of Muad'Dib's Jihad army.
Origin and role#
In its earliest use, Fedaykin named the guerrilla fighters of the Fremen, who fought against the Corrino Empire and House Harkonnen during the Arrakis Revolt. After Paul Atreides rose among the Fremen as Muad'Dib, the word came to mean his personal guard, a body of death commandos founded between 10191 and 10193 AG and sworn directly to him. As his Jihad spread across the known universe, the Fedaykin grew into the elite of his army, and by the generation of his children Leto and Ghanima the name was synonymous with that elite. Many of them learned the weirding way from Paul and Jessica, the Bene Gesserit combat style that made them so feared.
Character and decline#
The Fedaykin were highly religious, as were most of Muad'Dib's fighters, and they would often deliver chants or perform rituals before going into battle. Their fortunes faltered after Paul was blinded and vanished into the Arrakis desert. Alia Atreides then dissolved the Fedaykin, and the term reverted to its original Fremen meaning of guerrilla fighter. By 10219 AG fewer than 200 Fedaykin remained on Arrakis. Among the warriors counted as Fedaykin were Farok, Korba, and Otheym.
Frequently asked questions
- What were the Fedaykin?
- Fedaykin was originally a word for the Fremen guerrilla fighters of Arrakis, used during the Arrakis Revolt against the Corrino Empire and House Harkonnen. It later came to mean the personal guard and death commandos of Paul Muad'Dib, sworn directly to him.
- Who founded the Fedaykin as death commandos?
- Paul Atreides founded the Fedaykin as his personal death commandos after he rose among the Fremen as Muad'Dib. They were established between 10191 and 10193 AG and sworn directly to him.
- Why did the Fedaykin decline?
- Their fortunes faltered after Paul was blinded and vanished into the Arrakis desert. Alia Atreides then dissolved the Fedaykin, and the term reverted to its original Fremen meaning of guerrilla fighter.
- How many Fedaykin remained after they were dissolved?
- By 10219 AG, fewer than 200 Fedaykin remained on Arrakis.
- What were the Fedaykin like in battle?
- The Fedaykin were highly religious, as were most of Muad'Dib's fighters, and they would often deliver chants or perform rituals before going into battle. By the generation of Paul's children, Leto and Ghanima, the name had become synonymous with the elite of his Jihad army.
Gallery
Images via Dune Wiki
Sources
- BookDune, Frank Herbert, Chilton Books, 1965
- BookDune Messiah, Frank Herbert, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1969
- BookChildren of Dune, Frank Herbert, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1976
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Arrakis Revolt
The Arrakis Revolt was the uprising of the Fremen of Arrakis under Paul Atreides in the closing stage of the Desert War. Waged as a guerrilla campaign against the Harkonnen occupiers, it crippled spice production, drew in the Padishah Emperor, and ended with the fall of House Corrino.
Arrakis
Arrakis, known as Dune and later as Rakis, was a harsh desert world in the Canopus system and the only natural source of the spice melange. Home to the Fremen and the sandworms, it became the seat of the Atreides empire and the center of the known universe.
Farok
Farok was a Fremen of Sietch Tabr who rose to Bashar of the Ninth Legion during Muad'Dib's Jihad, leading campaigns on distant worlds before he was killed by the Face Dancer Scytale, who took his shape to lead away Otheym's daughter Lichna.
Fremen
The Fremen were a culture of humans descended from the Zensunni Wanderers who made the desert planet Arrakis their home. Hardened by water scarcity and generations of persecution, they became the finest fighters in the Known Universe and the foot soldiers of Paul Atreides and his jihad.
Ghanima Atreides
Ghanima Atreides was the pre-born daughter of Paul Muad'Dib and Chani, and the twin sister of the God Emperor Leto Atreides II. Married in name to her brother and consort to Farad'n Corrino, she seeded the Atreides, Harkonnen and Corrino bloodlines across the Empire.
Korba
Korba was a Fremen follower of Paul Muad'Dib who rose from the original Fedaykin to become Panegyrist and Priest of the Qizarate, before turning against his Emperor in a conspiracy to martyr him and meeting death at the hands of Stilgar.
Mentioned in22 entries
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Dune Messiah Characters: Who's Who Before Dune: Part Three
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Dune Messiah Explained: Plot Summary and Ending
The full plot of Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah in order, from the conspirators' meeting to Paul's walk into the desert, with the ending explained: why Paul leaves, what happens to Alia and the twins, and how Children of Dune picks it up.
Farok
Farok was a Fremen of Sietch Tabr who rose to Bashar of the Ninth Legion during Muad'Dib's Jihad, leading campaigns on distant worlds before he was killed by the Face Dancer Scytale, who took his shape to lead away Otheym's daughter Lichna.
Fremen language
The Fremen language was a descendant of ancient Arabic and Chakobsa, spoken on Arrakis by the Zensunni wanderers who became the Fremen. Shaped by the ferocity of the desert, it grew rich in terms for sand, wind, and water, and under Muad'Dib it became the sacred language of the Imperium.
Ghadhean al-Fali: the desert Naib who defied the Regency
Ghadhean al-Fali was a desert Fremen of Arrakis, a veteran of the Fedaykin death commandos of Muad'Dib who became a Naib of his people. His protest against the ecological transformation of Arrakis brought an assassination attempt into the Regency court and helped reveal the possession of Alia Atreides.
Gurney Halleck
Gurney Halleck was the Warmaster of House Atreides under Duke Leto and later his son Paul, and one of Paul's principal teachers. A warrior, minstrel, and implacable enemy of the Harkonnens, he served the Atreides line from Caladan to the reign of Leto II.
Korba
Korba was a Fremen follower of Paul Muad'Dib who rose from the original Fedaykin to become Panegyrist and Priest of the Qizarate, before turning against his Emperor in a conspiracy to martyr him and meeting death at the hands of Stilgar.
Last conspiracy against Muad'Dib
The last conspiracy against Muad'Dib was the alliance formed twelve years into Paul's reign to bring down the Padishah Emperor Paul Atreides. It ended with the blinded Emperor walking into the desert and the regency of his sister Alia.
Muad'Dib's Jihad: the holy war that remade the Imperium
Muad'Dib's Jihad is the holy war fought by the Fremen legions in Paul Atreides's name. Paul foresees it all through Dune, and when Dune Messiah opens twelve years later it is still being fought, with sixty-one billion dead by his own count.
Otheym
Otheym is a former Fedaykin of Paul Atreides who comes home from the Jihad dying of a disease caught on Tarahell. In Dune Messiah he hands Paul the names of the Fremen plotting against him, recorded in a Tleilaxu dwarf.
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