Dune: Baron Harkonnen's Creepy Pet Explained

screenrant.com:

Dune’s Baron Harkonnen is a man of many means, but what is his creepy pet supposed to be? Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is a transhumanist social sci-fi space opera that’s based on the cult 1965 Frank Herbert novel of the same name. And while the Dune reboot’s depiction of the Baron Harkonnen is relatively faithful to the novel, Herbert’s book doesn’t mention a creepy spider-like creature with human hands, which appears on Geidi Prime in the scene where the Baron, Piter de Vries, and Reverend Mother Mohiam discuss the House Harkonnen plot.

As the true nature of this creature is unclear, it could be a number of things. Before the Emperor commanded the Atreides to become the new stewards of Arrakis, the Harkonnens were in charge of the desert planet for 80 years. And this has made the Baron a very wealthy and powerful man, able to purchase practically anything in the Known Universe.

Related: Dune's Fremen Origin Explained

In fact, Dune’s Harkonnens are not only known for being brutal but also for their decadent and depraved natures. The Baron’s pet is clearly a representation of Harkonnen vice and overindulgence. And although there’s no mention of such a creature in the first book, the source material could still shine a light on this creepy mystery.

The Baron’s pet looks very much like a creation of the Bene Tleilax, a major Dune house from the books that wasn’t mentioned in the movie. The Bene Tleilax, also known as the Tleilaxu, form an order of isolationist, technologically advanced, and xenophobic genetically-enhanced humans. In the book, the Tleilaxu programmed Piter de Vries into a cold and calculating Mentat to serve the Baron. The Tleilaxu also traffic in artificial organs and even clones, all sold to the highest