Vorian Atreides

Vorian Atreides is a fictional character in the "Dune" universe created by Frank Herbert. The ancestor of Paul Atreides, Vorian is a key character in the "Legends of Dune" trilogy created by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

Family history

The Atreides family line goes all the way back to the Greeks on Old Earth. Vorian was the twelfth son of the Titan Agamemnon, one of the twenty Titans who conquered the Old Empire, and was a Human Trustee in Omnius' Machine Empire. He began the family house of the Atreides and was Muad'Dib's ancestor.

Life with the thinking machines

Vorian's main role in the thinking machine empire was to accompany the robot Seurat on one of Omnius' update ships, the "Dream Voyager", travelling around through the Synchronized Worlds and delivering various updates of the computer evermind. He was entirely loyal to his father, General Agamemnon, because he wished to become a cymek and a Titan like him. Vor was one of the most prominent "hrethgir" trustees.

Friends

Serena

He met Serena Butler while she was a slave in the household of the robot Erasmus. He fell in love with her, which resulted in Vorian questioning his loyalties. He then fled with her, after the murder of her baby, Manion Butler, to fight with the League of Nobles.

Xavier Harkonnen

After his escape from the synchronized worlds, Vorian became fast friends with Xavier Harkonnen, which is ironic because of the later Atreides-Harkonnen feud. After Xavier assassinated the Grand Patriarch, Iblis Ginjo, Commander/Supreme Bashar Vorian was the only person who tried to clear his name.

Abulurd Harkonnen

As the youngest grandson of Xavier Harkonnen, Abulurd was the only one of the Butler brothers to believe the truth given to him by Vorian. The old supreme commander took Abulurd under his wing, and they became life-long friends while fighting the thinking machines. In 88 B.G., Vorian demanded to reopen the old files, wanting to begin a new investigation in order to clear the Harkonnen name. Vorian's love for the Harkonnen name ended when the Atreides-Harkonnen feud began at the "Bridge of the Hrethgir" during the Battle of Corrin. Abulurd refused to give Vorian the codes needed to re-activate the weapons systems of the Army of Humanity's fleet since he wanted to save the millions of human slaves that Omnius had surrounded the planet with as a human shield. Vorian relieved Abulurd of Duty and then finally after the battle had him face charges of treason, although Vorian thought a charge of cowardice would disgrace the young officer more. Abulurd was then exiled to the cold planet of Lankiveil. The investigation into Xavier Harkkonnen's innocence never took place.

Military service

After Vorian turned to the League of Nobles and joined humanity in its fight against the Synchronized Worlds, Vorian became a major military figure in the Butlerian Jihad. He served with the Army of Humanity for about 135 standard years (he lived much longer than the average human because of the life extension treatment he received from his father), and rose in the ranks so high that they had to create a new rank for him, Supreme Commander. After the Army of Humanity switched to Old Earth ranks, he became Supreme Bashar. During his military career, he had many relationships with different girls at each port, and might have fathered several children. This ended when he landed at Caladan (the home of House Atreides in the original series) and fell in love with a woman there named Leronica Tergiet, with whom he had two sons (Estes and Kagin) before marrying her years later. She would pass away from old age long before him, and it is unknown whether he ever married again or had any other relationships during the remainder of his life.

Post-Jihad

After the Jihad, Vorian left for an anonymous, solitary journey across the Known Universe in order to kill the time he had gained thanks to the life-extension treatment. It is unknown whether he one day returned and became rewarded with a passage into nobility, founding House Atreides, or if that was one of his sons or grandsons.