Iakin Nefud

Captain Iakin Nefud was the captain of the House Harkonnen guard. A corporal in the personal guard of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, he rose to command after the Harkonnen seizure of Arrakis, when his quick thinking spared the Baron from the poison that claimed the life of Duke Leto Atreides. He was a Semuta addict whose promotion guaranteed him a ready supply of the drug.

Rise to Guard Captain#

Nefud served as a corporal in the personal guard of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, under Captain Umman Kudu, when the Harkonnens attacked the Atreides on Arrakis and captured Duke Leto Atreides. When the Duke attempted to kill the Baron with a poisoned false tooth, he instead slew Kudu and the Baron's Mentat, Piter De Vries. Watching from outside the room, Nefud swiftly identified the poison gas, ensured that none of it escaped, and escorted the Baron to safety.

Impressed by his quick thinking and efficiency, the Baron at once promoted him to Guard Captain. The Baron knew Nefud to be a Semuta addict, and to Nefud the promotion meant that he would never again want for the drug.

Captain in the occupation#

Nefud's first duty as captain was to investigate how the Duke had slipped the poison tooth past his predecessor. He carried out the inquiry and reported to the Baron, bringing word that Thufir Hawat and Doctor Kynes had been captured. The Baron ordered Nefud to kill Kynes; Nefud at first balked, arguing that killing an Imperial servant would carry consequences, whereupon the Baron commanded that the death be made to look like an accident.

Shocked that Hawat had been taken alive, the Baron instructed Nefud to play along with the suspicion that the Lady Jessica, rather than Doctor Yueh, had betrayed the Atreides. Nefud also saw to it that Hawat's meals carried a residual poison together with an antidote that could be withheld should the captured Mentat refuse to enter the Baron's service.

Later service and fate#

Three years later, Nefud still served the Baron. While he lay in a Semuta trance in his quarters, the Baron stormed in, furious that Nefud had failed to recognize his nephew Feyd-Rautha as a threat and had missed a potential assassination attempt. Nefud escaped the Baron's wrath and restored himself to favour by killing the Slave Master who had conspired with Feyd in the plot. His ultimate fate was unknown, though he may have been killed during the Battle of Arrakeen.