Shaddam Corrino IV

Shaddam Corrino IV is a character in the fictional "Dune" universe of Frank Herbert. Shaddam IV is Padishah Emperor of the known universe at the time of Herbert's novel "Dune". His ascension to the throne is chronicled in the "Prelude to Dune" prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

Shaddam IV is portrayed by José Ferrer in the 1984 David Lynch film adaptation "Dune", and by Giancarlo Giannini in the 2000 "Dune" miniseries. In the 1984 film, Shaddam is said to be over 200 years old, as the Guild representatives remind him of the importance of the spice melange, which extends life.

Shaddam was born in year 10,134 A.G. [Shaddam's birthdate was "revised" to 10,119 in the "Prelude to Dune" series with the note that "In the appendix to "Dune", there were typographical errors in respect to the birthdates of Shaddam Corrino IV and Count Hasimir Fenring, as evidenced by conflicting ages shown in the text of the novel."] (After Guild), the son of Elrood Corrino IX, the 80th Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe and the ruler of the Imperial House Corrino. During his childhood, Shaddam became close friends with Count Hasimir Fenring, whose mother Lady Chaola Fenring was a Bene Gesserit and lady-in-waiting to Shaddam's mother Habla, the fourth wife of Elrood IX. Lady Fenring served as wet nurse to both her son Hasimir and Shaddam; according to one source, Fenring's mother may also have been a sister to Elrood.

Shaddam is described as "red-haired" by his daughter Irulan via epigraph in "Dune".

"Prelude to Dune"

In year 10,156, Shaddam succeeded his father as the 81st Emperor of the House Corrino; it was speculated that he and Fenring had somehow orchestrated Elrood's death. This was confirmed in "" when Elrood was poisoned by slow acting chaumurky administered to him by Fenring (at Shaddam's bidding). It was also revealed that not only had Shaddam been complicit in the murder of his elder brother, the Crown Prince Fafnir, but he had slipped contraceptives into the food of his own mother, Habla, so she couldn't conceive another son to rival him.

According to Paul Atreides, Shaddam managed to secure his throne by providing the Spacing Guild with melange from planet Arrakis and arranging his own marriage to a Bene Gesserit. His marriage to Lady Anirul Sadow-Tonkin Corrino (who died in year 10,176 A.G.) resulted in the birth of five daughters: Irulan, Chalice, Wensicia, Josifa and Rugi.

Shaddam's lack of legitimate sons (orchestrated by the Bene Gesserit) ensured that he was the last Emperor of House Corrino. His heir would be a son-in-law belonging to another noble House. This realisation did not prevent Shaddam from efforts to maintain imperial power. Years 10,156 through 10,172 would see the ranks of nobility double in number. The growing competition among the nobles effectively prevented them from joining against the Emperor.

The foundation of Shaddam's power at the time were considered to be the Sardaukar, his imperial army of soldier-fanatics.

"Dune"

During the events of the original novel "Dune", Shaddam reportedly felt threatened from reports about his cousin Duke Leto Atreides, whose small army trained under Thufir Hawat, Gurney Halleck and Duncan Idaho was stated to be well-trained enough to rival the Imperial Sardaukar. Consequently, the Emperor conspired with Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, leader of House Harkonnen and longtime rival of Leto.

Leto was pressured to surrender his native planet Caladan to Count Fenring (siridar "in absentia") and to receive in exchange Arrakis, the only known source of the all-important spice. Leto chose to obey, but he and most of his army were soon slain as a result of a combined invasion by Sardaukar and Harkonnen forces. The Emperor considered the threat posed by the House Atreides to have ended. However, the Lady Jessica (the illegitimate daughter of Baron Harkonnen and concubine to Duke Leto) and her son Paul Atreides survived. They were given sanctuary by the Fremen and as a result of their skills would soon rise to their leadership.

By year 10,193 Paul had managed to lead the Fremen in capturing most territories of Arrakis. As a result, the Fremen were able to threaten the spice trade. The Emperor and part of his army soon arrived to address this challenge. Shaddam would prove to be overconfident in the superiority of his forces over their enemy. Despite the advice of Baron Harkonnen, Shaddam only took minimal precautions for the possibility of an attack against them in the stated belief that the Fremen would not even dare to approach. The attack found them unprepared. The Fremen managed to slay most of the present Sardaukar. The Emperor and his escort had to surrender. He was brought to Paul, who proceeded in stating his terms. As Chani was Paul's official concubine, he demanded to receive Princess Irulan as wife and to be named heir to the throne. Shaddam had to agree.

In 10,196 he was effectively exiled to his ancestral planet of Salusa Secundus along with his four younger daughters and Count Fenring. This ended his reign of forty years. Princess Irulan was named Regent but her consort effectively acted as Emperor. According to "Appendix IV: The Almanak en-Ashraf (Selected Excerpts of the Noble Houses)" in "Dune", Shaddam IV died in 10,202 A.G. after 68 years of life. (10,134 to 10,202.) Peculiarly, in the epigraph which opens the novel's first chapter, Princess Irulan (Shaddam's daughter) states that Paul Atreides was born in the 57th year of Shaddam IV; as the novel begins when Paul is fifteen years old, the dates in Appendix IV would necessarily require that Shaddam IV be dead prior to the novel's opening. Since it is unlikely that Princess Irulan would be so grossly mistaken about the lives of her father and her husband, this probably represents either a mistake on Herbert's part, or an intentional obfuscation.

Computer games

As the 1984 film inspired many of the visual elements of several of the "Dune" video games, the appearance and costuming of Emperor Frederick Corrino IV from the games "Dune II" and "Dune 2000" strongly resembles the José Ferrer representation from Lynch's "Dune". In the storyline, the Emperor puts the three Great Houses of the Landsraad — the Atreides, the Harkonnens and the Ordos — in a war for the supremacy of Arrakis. In the end, the Emperor is murdered by the Bene Gesserit Sister Lady Elara.

In a bid for the Sardaukar's support in the War of Assassins during the period of "", the Ordos create a ghola of the now-deceased Frederick Corrino IV using genetic samples smuggled directly from the Imperial Capital, Kaitain. Through mass propaganda, they intend to convince the Imperium that the Emperor had escaped; once Ordos controls Dune, everything will be as it was before the War began, with the Ordos Executrix as the true leaders behind the puppet Emperor, an Illuminati per se. (In a minor continuity error, the Ordos mentat explicitly refers to the Emperor as Shaddam IV--not Frederick--during the ending movie for that campaign.)

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