House Corrino
House Corrino is a family that features in Dune.
Contents |
History
House Corrino was a noble aristocratic family that existed within the Old Empire. It was said to had been founded by Viceroy Faykan Butler who was the grandson of Xavier Harkonnen and grandnephew of Serena Butler. Faykan had married Jessica Boro-Ginjo who was a descendant of both the first Grand Patriarch Iblis Ginjo and also of the last Emperors of the Old Empire. After the Battle of Corrin, Faykan took much of the credit for the victory in the events of the Butlerian Jihad and announced that he intended to change his name to Corrino in recognition of this historic event. The battle fought near Sigma Draconis in the year 88 B.G. settled the ascendancy of the ruling House from Salusa Secundus with his family being renamed as House Corrino. He then combined the positions of Viceroy and Grand Patriarch into one office, declaring himself Emperor of Humanity.
Since then, members of this Imperial House had ruled as Padishah Emperors of the Known Universe for over 10,000 years from the time of the Butlerian Jihad. During the Jihad, Fremen had learned much about the old Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV. The eighty-first Padishah of House Corrino to occupy the Golden Lion Throne and reign over this Imperium of uncounted worlds had used Arrakis as a testing place for those policies which he hoped to implement in the rest of his empire. His planetary governors on Arrakis had cultivated a persistent pessimism to bolster their power base. They had made sure that everyone on Arrakis, even the free-roaming Fremen, became familiar with numerous cases of injustice and insoluble problems; they had been taught to think of themselves as a helpless people for whom there was no succor.
At some point, a renegade House was responsible for devastating Salusa Secundus with atomics leaving the world a barren wasteland. In response, House Corrino subsequently exterminated the rogue House and erased their name from history.
In an attempt to discredit House Atreides and retain their hegemony, the Imperial House Corrino under the leadership of Shaddam IV, devised a plan to dispose of their potential rival by ordering them to take over the planetary fief of Arrakis, and then disposing of them through their hated rival House Harkonnen, via an audacious, and highly illegal, invasion of the planet. Initially the plan looked to have succeeded. Duke Leto Atreides I was killed, and his family abandoned in the deep desert. However, a gradual uprising by the native Fremen, led by the mysterious Muad'Dib caught both House Corrino and House Harkonnen off-guard. After the Arrakis Revolt and the Battle of Arrakeen, House Corrino was forced to relinquish the Golden Lion Throne, after thousands of years of rule, to the Atreides. The Corrinos witnessed the legitimization of Atreides rule through Paul Atreides' marriage to Shaddam's eldest daughter Princess Irulan Corrino. Shaddam IV and the remainder of his family were then sent into effective exile on the harsh planet Salusa Secundus, where one of Shaddam's four other daughters, Wensicia Corrino plotted the Great House's re-emergence.
House Corrino would bring their Sardaukar back to a pre-Arrakeen edge, but they were still no match for the abandoned ferocity of Fremen.
Twelve years after their exile, House Corrino’s actions centered on a conspiracy to undermine the Atreides Empire and regain the Golden Lion Throne. Princess Irulan Corrino, serving as the Empress-consort to Paul Atreides in name only, functioned as a key operative for the Bene Gesserit within the imperial court on Arrakis. To prevent the birth of an Atreides heir who might displace Corrino claims, Irulan systematically administered secret contraceptives to Paul’s concubine, Chani, over the course of several years. Beyond these domestic actions, Irulan joined a high-level political conspiracy alongside representatives from the Spacing Guild, the Tleilaxu, and the Bene Gesserit, aimed at assassinating Paul Atreides. This group utilised a Tleilaxu ghola of Duncan Idaho, named Hayt, and a Face Dancer named Scytale to execute their plot. Meanwhile, the former Emperor Shaddam IV remained in exile on Salusa Secundus, maintaining a reduced force of Sardaukar while his daughters, specifically Irulan and later Wensicia, sought avenues to restore the family's power. The conspiracy ultimately resulted in the death of Chani during childbirth and Paul Atreides' abdication and disappearance into the desert, though Irulan eventually defected from her family's and the Sisterhood's interests to become the guardian of Paul’s twin heirs.
However, Wensicia's plans were also foiled by the Atreides, and her son, Prince Farad'n Corrino became the official concubine of his step-cousin, the Crown Princess Ghanima Atreides. In addition to providing the Atreides offspring that were needed for Leto II's Golden Path, Farad'n also acted as his official scribe. Despite this, and the reality that House Corrino had lost most of its power, the House continued to exist at least through the end of Leto II's reign.
Overview
In appearance, House Corrino were a noble family of humans that existed within the empire that dominated the known universe. A long nose was said to be a characteristic common within the lineage of House Corrino. They were the sovereign dynastic rulers of the Imperium who maintained their authority through a combination of feudal political structures and overwhelming military force. They were defined by their status as the occupants of the Golden Lion Throne and their command over the Imperial Sardaukar, an elite military corps trained on the harsh prison planet Salusa Secundus. The family members typically displayed the physical traits associated with their bloodline, such as the slender, elegant features and red-gold hair seen in Emperor Shaddam IV, who often wore the grey and silver uniform of a Sardaukar officer embellished with gold rank insignia. They resided in opulent imperial courts, such as those on the planet Kaitain, and later on Salusa Secundus following their relocation. Their political identity was tied to the Padishah Emperor's role as the presiding officer of the Landsraad and a primary shareholder in the CHOAM Corporation, which granted them control over the universal economy and spice distribution. The house maintained its lineage through strategic marriages and the education of its daughters, like Princess Irulan, in the Bene Gesserit ways, ensuring they remained central to the complex web of imperial power, religious influence, and genealogical preservation.
Over the subsequent millennia, the Imperial House Corrino maintained a firm grip on the Empire. House Corrino's rule was defined as absolute while one of its members sat on the Golden Lion Throne. Moreover, House Corrino maintained a large vote in the Landsraad Council, larger than any other Great House.
The family were noted to had done terrible things in order to gain power.
They were noted to have holdings within CHOAM.
As a noble house, it maintained its own network of spies.
During their Imperial rule, House Corrino maintained arguably the most powerful army in the known universe that were the Sardaukar. Through their superior abilities the Corrinos were capable of crushing any military opposition. It was said that the only way the Corrino Sardaukar could be defeated would be through the combined forces of all the Great Houses of the Landsraad.
The Imperial House Corrino's ancestral planet was Salusa Secundus that was the original seat of imperial power since the Butlerian Jihad. It was the third planet of Gamma Waiping and had been designated Imperial Prison Planet after removal of the Royal Court to Kaitain. On the world, a place of residence of the noble family was at Corrino Castle.
Members
- Faykan Butler :
- Elrood IX : a male human who was the father of Shaddam Corrino IV where he died in the year 10,156 with his child succeeding him.
- Shaddam Corrino IV : a male human who ruled as Padishah Emperor where he was the 81st of his line of House Corrino. to occupy the Golden Lion Throne. His reign was from 10,156 until replaced by the 10,196 Regency set up in the name of his eldest daughter, Irulan. His reign was noted chiefly for the Arrakis Revolt which was blamed by many historians on Shaddam IV’s dalliance with Court functions and the pomp of office. The ranks of Bursegs were doubled in the first sixteen years of his reign. Appropriations for Sardaukar training went down steadily in the final thirty years before the Arrakis Revolt. He had five daughters named Irulan, Chalice, Wensicia, Josifa, and Rugi with no legal sons. Four of the daughters accompanied him into retirement. His wife, Anirul was Bene Gesserit of Hidden Rank who died in 10,176.
- Irulan Corrino : a tall female human with blonde hair, face of chiseled beauty, and green eyes that looked past and through others with her being the daughter of Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV. She was said to be trained in the deepest of the Bene Gesserit ways, destined to be a Reverend Mother. Within the Imperium, she held significantly powerful status as Princess Royal.
- Wensicia Corrino :
- Farad'n Corrino :
Notes
- House Corrino was created by Frank Herbert and featured in the setting of the Dune universe.
In other media
Television
Films
Video games
Comic Books
Appearances
- Dune:
- Dune: House Corrino:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
