An epic franchise with a complex body of lore, the story of Dune encompasses 15,000 years of human history, and most of that includes space exploration. According to Frank Herbert, humans visited and colonized many planets throughout the universe. Arrakis was only one of many, and its discovery allowed for the development of the Spacing Guild and the ability to travel by folding space.

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It makes sense for this whole franchise to take on the name of Dune because of spice production, which enabled human beings to travel through the universe. Many other notable planets were just as important to human civilization in the future, and even though not all of them make appearances in the books they are mentioned as significant places.

Updated on March 6, 2024, by Kristy Ambrose: Dune II has only been in theatres a few days, a few months late of its original planned release, and both fans and critics are in agreement that it was worth the wait. Instead of the slow burn and political intrigue that makes up the first movie, there's more action on a grander scale, with the Fremen making bigger and more decisive moves against the Harkonnens with Paul Atredies as their leader. The fate of humanity and the universe, with all of its planets, hangs in the balance.

10 Old Terra

The Original Home Of Human Race

Paul-Atreides-Lady-Jessica-and-Planet-Earth-in-Dune

Also known as Earth or simply Terra, this planet is the third from the center of the Sol star system. It is where the human race originated, and most of the great houses trace their ancestral roots back to this planet. The Orange Catholic Bible was composed on Earth, and old societies like the Bene Gesserit would use Old Earth as an inspiration when designing planets thousands of years later.

Old Terra is only mentioned in the Dune novels in a periphery way when Herbert mentions the Greek ancestry of the Atriedes or the Scandinavian roots of the Harkonnen family. At one point in the novel The God Emporer Of Dune, Paul tells Stilgar to research the leaders of the Golden Age of Earth to get an idea of what the rule of Muad'Dib would be like.

By the time of Leto Atreides II, Old Terra had either been lost or destroyed. More likely, the latter, as many thousands of years of exploitation would have taken their toll on the vegetation and resources.

9 Tleilax

A Lonely And Secretive Planet

Lady Jessica in Dune.

The star Thalium was capable of sustaining life on several planets, but this entire system consisted of only one, and it was called Tleilax. It was named after its main inhabitants, the Bene Tleilax, a religious order that was quietly formed on the planet at about the same time as Paul's holy war was starting.

The Bene Tleilax were opposed to Paul's rule as Emporer, and not only did they plan to assassinate him, but used their home planet to carry out genetically modified tests. They bred humans, such as gholas and Face Dancers, to carry out their will throughout the universe. One such attempt was with a ghola named Hayt, who was a copy of Duncan Idaho, but his memories prevented him from carrying out his mission, which was also something the Bene Tleilax had anticipated.

8 Giedi Prime

The Headquarters Of House Harkonnen

Baron of House Harkonnen In Dune Spice Wars

Giedi Prime was the third planet orbiting Star 36 in the Ophiuchi B system, and it has an epic history all its own. Before it was the home of the Harkonnen it was one of the battlefronts in the Butlerian Jihad, which started its descent into a heavily industrialized planet.

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The home base of House Harkonnen, Geidi Prime is an industrial wasteland by the time of the Dune novels. It was also called Gammu, a name that House Atreides gave it after their rivals were defeated and Gurney Hallack was tasked with cleaning the planet and reclaiming some of the original vegetation.

7 Caladan

The Highland Home Of Duke Leto Atreides

Caladan

Caladan is the third planet from the star Delta Pavonis, which is also why it's referred to as III Delta Pavonis. Its first claim to fame is that it's the home of House Atreides, and the family ruled from Castle Caladan for 10,000 years before the Emperor ordered them to leave and administer Arrakis.

Most of Caladan was water, and it's been compared to Scotland when it comes to geography and climate and was famous for exports that included fruits, fine wine, and fish. The dramatic change that moving from Caldan to Dune has on Duke Atreides and his family is part of what sets the tone of the first novel in the series.

6 Corrin

Formerly The Home Planet Of The Royal Family

dune-1984-emperor Cropped

The Emperor's family, House Corrino, took the name of their home planet at about the same time they took over the known universe. The Battle of Corrin was a decisive victory that not only resulted in the rise of the first Padishah Emperor but also the ascendancy of Emperor Corrino and the exile of Bashar Abulurd Harkonnen.

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The history books refer to this period as the age of the Corrino Empire, and the society and infrastructure that's described to readers of the books or viewers of the films is the result of their 10,000-year rule. House Corrino didn't rule from this planet, but had their official seat of power on the planet Kaitan and traced their home world to Salusa Secundus.

5 Salusa Secundus

The Ideal Prison And Military Training Planet

A Bashar shows the Sardaukar to the Mentat Piter De Vries on Salusa Secundus in Dune.

House Corrino originally considered Salusa Secundus to be their home planet, but after it was devasted by a nuclear-level attack, the Emperor and his family moved to Kaitan. The third planet in the Gamma Waiping solar system was converted to a prison planet instead, and movie viewers will recognize it as the home and training ground of the Emperor's guard, the Sardaukar.

After Paul Atreides took the impartial seat of power from Shaddam IV he pledged to restore the planet to its natural glory, not only to reverse the damage done by his predecessors but also to make the planet unsuitable for punishing criminals and training soldiers.

4 Kaitain

The Best Living In The Universe

The Emperor on the Golden Lion Throne with his entourage

It's often depicted with graceful rings like a crown eternally suspended around the imperial seat of the known universe. The planet was a natural paradise fit for an emperor, and it was improved and cultivated to an even higher degree by the imperial court.

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The planet had a history as part of the League of Nobles, so it was already an upper-class society with plenty of resources. The royal family built a castle called the Imperial Opal Palace that was legendary for its opulence and beauty.

3 Chapterhouse

Designed With Old Terra In Mind

Bene Gesserit

The Bene Gesserit didn't exactly advertise the fact that they also had planets that were considered to be a home base. Ancient historical records name a planet called Rossak in antiquity, but after the death of the God Emperor Leto II, the ancient order used a planet called Chapterhouse as their headquarters.

The planet wasn't settled, and the Bene Gesserit was able to hide their presence and even control the weather. After the destruction of the planet Rakis, the original home of the sandworms, the order turned the planet into the desert to accommodate the ones that had escaped the destruction.

2 Synchrony

The Machine Empire Returns

dune-ornithopter

The Butlerian Jihad is one of the most important events in human history, according to the lore of the Dune Universe, because it purged human societies of all thinking machines. This doesn't mean that these machines were wiped out entirely.

After they were driven from their home on Geidi Prime, where their legacy continued for centuries on the heavily industrialized planet, probes were sent into deep space with enough information to rebuild the Thinking Machine society elsewhere. Eventually, one of these probes found a quiet planet in deep space that would eventually be named Synchrony.

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For a full 10,000 years, the machine and human empires evolved separately, with no contact between them until The Scattering. This was when humans ventured into unknown parts of the universe, and it was then that the Honored Matres found one of the machine outposts and destroyed it, bringing machines and humans into conflict again after a millennium.

1 Arrakis

The Planet Of Spice

Arrakis in Dune

It's not possible to talk about important planets in the Dune universe without mentioning Arrakis, also known as Rakis, even more commonly known as Dune. The planet that gives this entire series its name is every bit as iconic, dangerous, and romantic as the planet itself.

There's a high price to pay for those who would seek and gather the spice melange, the coveted substance that opens the mind and makes space travel possible. The mystery and lore surrounding the sandworms are a connection to not only the source but also the purpose of all human life. No matter how far humans go, the greatest journey is always inward, a lesson that humans can only learn on Arrakis.

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