Dune: Prophecy - who's who and spoilers from the books

Although it's not based on a book, the prequel show's story focuses on some of the characters we know from the expanded universe.

In the upcoming Dune: Prophecy series several characters from the Dune novels take center stage, while others appear in flashbacks.

Before we dive in, here's a recent video where the actors introduce their characters and discuss their motivations at the beginning of the show—it's well worth a watch.

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SPOILER WARNING

While the series may deviate from the source material and indeed introduces its own original characters, it still builds upon the expanded Dune universe. As such, some of the details below might contain spoilers for the series.

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Characters from the Books

Valya Harkonnen

Valya Harkonnen, the second Mother Superior of the Sisterhood, has motivations that are both complex and layered. While she genuinely works to stabilize and increase her order's power, she is also driven by vengeance against the Atreides, who played a role in the downfall of House Harkonnen following the Butlerian Jihad - humanity's uprising against its robot overlords.

Valya is a frighteningly powerful woman, in both literal and figurative senses. She trained on Ginaz to become a swordmaster (same as Duncan Idaho), and even before becoming a Reverend Mother, she perfected her use of the Voice.

In her first three years as Mother Superior, Valya began transforming the Sisterhood, renaming it the Bene Gesserit (meaning "well-behaved" in Latin.)

Tula Harkonnen

Valya’s sister and advisor. One of her claims to fame is murdering Orry Atreides on their wedding night, acting on her sister's orders.

She grapples with the stigma of her family name and the desire to either redeem or leverage it for personal power. Her arc reflects the challenges of overcoming deeply ingrained societal prejudices and the shadow cast by the Harkonnen legacy. This traces back to the betrayal of Abulurd Harkonnen during the Battle of Corrin, which led to the Harkonnens' fall from grace within the Imperium.

Emperor Javicco Corrino

Speaking of the Battle of Corrin, it was General Faykan Butler who ascended to the Golden Lion Throne, adopting the name Corrino. Javicco is the great-great-grandchild of Faykan and a direct descendant of the Butler family.

Javicco is mentioned by name in the books, but only as one of the four children of Salvador Corrino, the previous emperor.

Reverend Mother Dorotea

Although she will only appear in flashbacks, she remains an immensely important figure in the Sisterhood's history. She was the second Reverend Mother ever - a title that is not given, but earned.

Bene Gesserit undergo a near-death experience to access the memories of all their female ancestors (often referred to as Other Memory) and awaken the full potential of their abilities.

She served as the Truthsayer to Salvador Corrino and founded the orthodox Sisterhood on Salusa Secundus (of Sardaukar fame).

Originally, she was meant to be the co-leader of the Sisterhood with the person who ultimately became her killer: Valya Harkonnen.

Mother Superior Raquella Berto-Anirul

Another flashback character, but certainly the most important one.