Dune Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Dune Wiki
Nudune This article or section refers to elements from Expanded Dune
There are separate pages for this subject as it appears in the other canons, the reasons for this are explained here

Naib Stilgar was a Fremen who was the Naib of Sietch Tabr and the Governor of Arrakis from 10196 AG onwards. He was a close friend and chief advisor to Emperor Paul-Muad'Dib Atreides.

Biography[]

Early life and with Kynes (10140s-10191)[]

Stilgar was born in Red Wall Sietch; he was the brother of Frieth. By the year 10154 AG, he was a young man and good friends with Turok and Ommun. This year he and his friends were saved by Planetologist Pardot Kynes from bullying Harkonnen bravos. The act resulted in a lifelong friendship and in Stilgar adopting Kynes' dream of transforming Arrakis into a clement and green planet along with the other Fremen. By 10166 AG, Stilgar, Turok and Ommun had become the Planetologist's most loyal and devoted guerilla lieutenants. They had also become the secondary leaders under Kynes of the many Fremen sietches who had joined the plan to terraform Arrakis by 10170 AG.

Stilgar himself brought the news of Pardot's death in a cave-in at Plaster Basin to his nineteen-year-old son Liet-Kynes in 10174 AG. In the years following this event Stilgar developed an equally close relationship with Liet, the new Planetologist. Stilgar led a raid on Hadith Sietch in 10175 AG. Stilgar became Naib of Sietch Tabr later in the year when he called out and defeated the existing Naib. He went on to establish himself as one of the most respected and fearsome Fremen.

Desert War (10191-10193)[]

Change of fief[]

Upon the change of the Arrakis fief in 10191 AG from House Harkonnen to House Atreides, Stilgar was befriended by Atreides Swordmaster Duncan Idaho, who had been sent in advance by Duke Leto Atreides to gauge and study the Fremen. In Idaho's reports to Leto, Idaho had judged Stilgar to be a 'good example' of the Fremen of Arrakis. Indeed, through Idaho's relationship with Stilgar and his tribe, he became so impressed with the Fremen and their ways that Idaho accepted dual loyalties to the Atreides and to Stilgar.

Open war[]

After House Harkonnen attacked Arrakis and House Atreides went renegade, beginning the Desert War, the remaining members of the Atreides family, namely the Ducal heir Paul Atreides and his mother, the Lady Jessica, sought refuge with Stilgar and his tribe, who spared them after trying to take their water and being bested. Stilgar soon became a good friend of Paul's. However, over time, as Paul developed his prescient powers, Stilgar became more of a religious follower. As the War reached it's climax, Stilgar fought during the Arrakis Revolt, which culminated in the Battle of Arrakeen in 10193 AG, after which Paul became Emperor and Stilgar was granted the stewardship of Arrakis.

Muad'Dib's Jihad (10193-10205)[]

Sack of Kaitain[]

In 10194 AG, Stilgar led the forces of Paul's loose Jihad on the sack of the former Corrino capital world of Kaitain. The world fell easily to Stilgar and his Fedaykin forces, as Elias and other troops, ransacked the buildings of Corrinth City. As the Fremen gutted the Imperial Opal Palace, the Imperial Necropolis, and destroyed countless museums, members of the Landsraad became concerned about the Dune-warriors sensibilities.

Paul arrived on Kaitain in 10196 AG to address the Landsraad for the first time since assuming the Royal Throne, the Emperor explained that the destruction of Kaitain was the true ending of the Corrino Empire. Stilgar listened behind Paul, as many of the nobles fell into line behind House Atreides. Others, such as Earl Memnon Thorvald, of House Thorvald, had witnessed the sack of Kaitain firsthand, stormed out of the Assembly, to foment a rebellion.

Near-Death on Jericha[]

Stilgar led many battles throughout the Atreides Empire for Muad'Dib, but later in the year of 10196, Stilgar had a life-changing experience on the planet Jericha. As Stilgar led Jihadi troops against the rebel guerilla forces of Earl Memnon Thorvald; the Atreides' commander, Burbage, had warned Stilgar of attacking Thorvald's forces in the mountains in a frontal assault, and told Stilgar to attack in stealth.

Stilgar ignored the warnings of Burbage and attacked first with ornithopters and other air craft. The forces of Thorvald were arrayed in the mountains and had suspensor-suppressing equipment, which casued all of the aircraft to crash. Still committed to a forceful attack, Stilgar and the Jihadi forces had to confiscate ruh-yaks from the local Jericha townsfolk, and make a dangerous journey up into the hill country. As the ruh-yaks crossed over the river, Stilgar and his Fremen, began to panic, and some started to drown. As Stilgar had a near-death experience as the river water filled his lungs, Burbage lifted him out of the water, and began pumping his lungs, and saved his life. Stilgar decided to retire to Arrakis, and become Paul's chief advisor.

Later life (10205-10217)[]

In 10205 AG, at the end of Paul's Jihad, Stilgar helped him settle the Tupile Treaty and the matter of the Ixian Confederacy. In 10207 AG, when Paul walked into the desert, blind, Stilgar executed the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, Korba the Panegyrist and the Guild Steersman Edric, disobeying Paul's prior orders against this. A few months later, Stilgar and Jessica secretly agreed to take the water of Paul's concubine Chani Kynes, who had died in childbirth, for safekeeping while the Regent Alia Atreides was engrossed in her search for the rebel Bronso Vernius of Ix and his associates.

In 10217 AG, later in the regency of Alia, who had become possessed by the ego-memory of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Stilgar declared Sietch Tabr neutral in the war between the allies of the Lady Jessica and her grandchildren and Alia. However, he killed the Duncan Idaho ghola (Hayt) who was Alia's wife, after Duncan killed Javid, violating sanctuary, and so was forced to turn against the Regent. After this, he was instrumental in allying the Fremen tribes with the allies of Jessica. Upon the ascension of Leto Atreides II not long after, Stilgar thought of a time earlier in the year when he thought of slaying Leto while he was sleeping, and privately noted that it was now 'too late'.

Legacy[]

Stilgar lived a long and prestigious life, thanks in no small part to his diet of melange, a pervasive ingredient in all Fremen food and drink. Stilgar's descendants flourished well into the reign of Leto II the God-Emperor, and probably beyond.

He wrote a preface for the book "Muad'Dib, The Man" for the Princess Irulan.

Ghola during Kralizec[]

Stilgra was one of the first historical figures reborn as part of Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Sheeana's ghola project aboard the no-ship, the Ithaca. His ghola grew up on the vessel, and formed a close bond with the ghola of his former friend, Liet-Kynes. Stilgar's memories were successfully restored through a recreation of his near-death experience on Jericha.

After a decade of wandering, the no-ship found the planet Qelso, which was slowly being converted to a desert by sandworms seeded previously by the Bene Gesserit. Stilgar and Kynes stayed behind to help a group of natives both slow the advance of the desert, but prepare for the inevitable aridity of the world. Later, following Duncan Idaho's merging with the independent robot Erasmus, Duncan returned to Qelso with an army of Thinking Machines to halt the spread of the desert.

Behind the Scenes[]

Stilgar was played by Everett McGill in the 1984 Dune movie; by Uwe Ochsenknecht in the 2000 Dune miniseries; and by Steven Berkoff in the 2003 Children of Dune miniseries.

Appearances[]


Preceded by
Unknown
Naib of Sietch Tabr
10175 AG -
Succeeded by
None
Preceded by
Glossu Rabban
Governer of Arrakis
10193 AG - 10217 AG
Succeeded by
None
Advertisement