Hidar Fen Ajidica

Master Researcher Hidar Fen Ajidica was a gnomelike member of the Bene Tleilax who led the secret Project Amal on the captured world of Ix for twenty years. Tasked with creating an artificial substitute for the spice melange, he eventually plotted to break away from the Imperium with his own narcotic-bound army and a force of improved Face Dancers, only to die during the Great Spice War as Atreides forces liberated Ix. (Dune: House Atreides; Dune: House Corrino)

Origins of Project Amal#

Hidar Fen Ajidica was brought to Kaitain by Count Hasimir Fenring and Crown Prince Shaddam Corrino IV to propose a spice substitute to Padishah Emperor Elrood IX. Moved by prejudice, Elrood was startled to see him and nearly dismissed him outright, but at the urging of Fenring and Shaddam he allowed the Tleilaxu master to speak. Together the men planned the Suboid Revolt on Ix to seize the planet's manufacturing capacity and support the costly research program. Ajidica was installed as chief researcher and governor of Ix, and it was during this period that he developed a deep hatred for Fenring, who had been appointed imperial spice minister. (Dune: House Atreides)

The synthetic spice#

After twenty years of work, Ajidica and his researchers produced Amal, which proved at best a low-quality spice. Using a captured Bene Gesserit sister turned into an axlotl tank, he created Ajidamal, a superior product to Amal yet still not an acceptable substitute for natural melange. He began using one or the other to bribe and addict the Sardaukar guards stationed with him, building a private army loyal to himself. He then conceived of taking his subordinates and breaking away to found his own empire funded by the synthetic spice. Part of this plan involved improving upon existing Face Dancers and dispatching them as colonists for his new domain. (Dune: House Harkonnen; Dune: House Corrino)

Downfall and legacy#

Ajidica's plans were disrupted and then destroyed when Atreides forces landed to liberate Ix and restore House Vernius to power. He died from a terrible fall, with some assistance from Count Fenring, though he was already in his death throes from an extreme hemorrhagic reaction brought on by long-term addiction to the spice substitute Amal. To conceal the imperial presence in the project, Fenring destroyed all of Ajidica's work. (Dune: House Corrino)

The improved Face Dancers he had created carried his legacy far beyond his death. Five thousand years later they returned to the Core Worlds around the time of the Honored Matres, further enhanced by the Enemy. There the Face Dancers, under their leader Khrone, attempted to act as double agents and turned on the Thinking Machines during Kralizec. Unknown to them, the machine Erasmus had installed a genetic kill switch, which he activated simultaneously across the galaxies, destroying every Enhanced Face Dancer in an instant. (Hunters of Dune; Sandworms of Dune)