Gurney Halleck

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Gurney Halleck
Dune character
Patrick Stewart plays Halleck in the 1984 film.
First appearanceDune (1963–65)
Last appearanceThe Winds of Dune (2009)
Created byFrank Herbert
Portrayed by
In-universe information
Occupation
House Atreides
RelativesBeth (sister)[a]
Josh Brolin plays Gurney in the 2021 film and its 2024 sequel.

Gurney Halleck is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is a major character in Herbert's Dune (1965) and Children of Dune (1976) as the War Master of House Atreides, acting as mentor, friend, and advisor to Paul Atreides. He also appears in some of the prequel/sequel novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

Gurney is portrayed by Patrick Stewart in the 1984 David Lynch film Dune. P. H. Moriarty plays the role in the 2000 Sci-Fi Channel TV miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune and its 2003 sequel, Frank Herbert's Children of Dune. The character is portrayed by Josh Brolin in the 2021 Denis Villeneuve film Dune and its 2024 sequel Dune: Part Two.

Characteristics

Halleck is a talented minstrel skilled in the use of the

Leto Atreides and his concubine Lady Jessica, many years after Leto's death it is suggested in Children of Dune that Gurney and Jessica have become lovers.[b] Leto's son Paul Atreides
refers to him as "Gurney the valorous" in Dune, and Duke Leto comments that Paul has named Gurney well.

Appearances

Dune novels

Halleck is Paul's weapons teacher, as well as a skilled musician. He is one of Leto's chief officers, and serves alongside

House Atreides on Arrakis with 73 men. In the years after the attack, he falls in with the melange
smugglers, eventually becoming a powerful figure. His smugglers fall for a Fremen trap—a fake hoard of spice—and are almost killed before Paul, now the Fremen leader "Muad'Dib", recognizes him. Halleck later becomes Jessica's loyal chief officer after nearly killing her, mistakenly believing she betrayed Duke Leto.

In Children of Dune, Gurney returns to Arrakis with Jessica from Caladan. He coordinates a purging of dissidents along with

ornithopter
. With it, he escapes to a rebel sietch, where Leto II and The Preacher arrive. Leto II takes him to Shuloch. After Leto II returns to Arrakeen and takes the throne, Gurney is assigned to Sietch Tabr as part of Stilgar's council.

Prequels and sequels

Gurney's character is further explored in the

Prelude to Dune
prequels (1999–2001) written by Brian Herbert, Frank Herbert's son, and Kevin J. Anderson.

According to the prequels, Gurney Halleck was born on

Ix
for House Vernius, Halleck served House Atreides, eventually becoming Paul Atreides' weapons teacher.

In

nullentropy capsule containing cells carefully and secretly collected by the Tleilaxu for millennia, including the cells of Paul Atreides, Duke Leto, Jessica, and Gurney. A ghola of Gurney is "conceived" in Sandworms of Dune
(2007), a sequel to the original Frank Herbert series written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, but is killed during gestation in an act of sabotage.

In adaptations

Gurney is portrayed by Patrick Stewart in the 1984 David Lynch film Dune.[1] P. H. Moriarty plays the role in the 2000 Sci-Fi Channel TV miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune and its 2003 sequel, Frank Herbert's Children of Dune. The character is portrayed by Josh Brolin in the 2021 Denis Villeneuve film Dune, who reprised the role in the 2024 sequel Dune: Part Two.[2]

Merchandising

A line of Dune action figures, styled after David Lynch's film, was released in 1984 by toy company LJN to lackluster sales. A figure of Gurney previewed in LJN's catalog was never produced.[3][4]

Family tree

Notes

  1. ^ The Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson prequels give Gurney's previously unnamed sister the name Beth.
  2. ^ Gurney's later involvement with Lady Jessica is inferred in Children of Dune as Alia notes, "Gurney Halleck would be with [Jessica] ... Some said he'd become her mother's lover."

References

  1. ^ Maslin, Janet (December 14, 1984). "Movie Review: Dune (1984)". The New York Times. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  2. ^ Kroll, Justin (February 13, 2019). "Josh Brolin Joins Timothee Chalamet in Star-Studded Dune Reboot". Variety. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  3. ^ "Toys". Collectors of Dune. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  4. ^ Daniels, James (January 12, 2014). "Toys We Miss: The Long Forgotten Figures From Frank Herbert's Dune". Nerd Bastards. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
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