Who Is The Villain In Dune

In many works of fiction the villain is the epitome of evil with some contrived motive such as ruling the world or destroying it for no other reason than that is what villains do. In others they are such a shade of grey, they are almost indistinguishable from the hero. While the first serves it’s purpose as the villain, the shallowness of the character destroys the sense of conflict. The second adds that dimensionality but confuses the reader to the point of not knowing where their sympathies should lie. In Dune, Frank Herbert uses the characterization of The Baron Harkonnen to build a mood of evil.
In our first encounter with the Baron we instantly know he is the villain. “It was a relief globe of a world, partly in shadows, spinning under the impetus of a fat hand that glittered with rings (20).” We see the globe, and the Baron behind it in shadow. The image of a fat hand with many rings makes you think of a wealth gained dishonestly being gorged on. The word that comes to mind is: bloated. Even in this one sentence we can glean much about the character of the Baron. This is not an isolated example. Every word of characterization helps build the mood although nothing is explicitly said.
It is only human to try and satisfy your guilt by denying the wrongness of the actions in the first place. “Failure was, by definition, expendable. The whole universe sat there, open to the man who could make the right decisions. The uncertain rabbits had to be exposed, made to run for their burrows. Else how could you control them and breed them?(285)” The Baron is pawning his actions off on the way the world works, and trying to stifle his guilt. Again we see the power struggle emerge through his desire to “control” and “breed” the populus. Evil desires to control. Here Frank Herbert is trying to characterize the Baron as a corrupted