Baron Vladimir Harkonnen

Siridar Baron Vladimir Harkonnen was one of the most feared, hated, and admired men in all the Imperium. From his home on Giedi Prime, the Baron ruled with an iron fist, sans velvet glove.

A corpulent and venal man, the Baron took great pleasure in the discomfort his appearance caused in others. So fat that he required a suspensor harness for mobility, Baron Harkonnen delighted in making his allies and rivals alike uncomfortable. As a younger man he took great pride in his body, until a virulent disease corrupted his hard work. The loss of his athletic physique remained a sore point to the Baron, although he hid this vanity to all but those who knew him well.

Baron Harkonnen was a man of brutal policies but was possessed of a subtle mind. Having raised his House to untold heights of power, his schemes and plots were multitudinous, some decades in the offing. He was a man who did not brook failure in his subordinates, and even his own heirs feared and hated him, a fact of which he was keenly aware and, indeed, encouraged. His closest confidant was the twisted Mentat Piter de Vries, chosen by the Baron precisely for his perverse and cynical mind. It was de Vries whom the Baron encouraged to play his nephews against one another to better control them. This cruelty in policy dripped down to every level of the House, and those that toiled under the Harkonnens suffered terribly.

It was the Baron’s maneuvering that maintained House Harkonnen in control of Arrakis and the spice melange. The House’s fortunes swelled under the Baron’s rule, eclipsing every accomplishment of his forbearers. The wealth gained legitimately was only eclipsed by the embezzling and hoarding of spice that occurred under the Baron’s direction.