Sardaukar
The Emperor's soldier-fanatics, trained in secret on the prison planet Salusa Secundus.
The Sardaukar are the military force of the Padishah Emperors of House Corrino in Frank Herbert's Dune universe, appearing chiefly in the 1965 novel Dune and in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Soldier-fanatics loyal to the Corrino emperors who have ruled for more than ten thousand years, they are the most formidable professional military of their time and the key to House Corrino's hold on the throne. They are trained in secret on the harsh Imperial prison planet Salusa Secundus.
Lore & Background
As Dune opens, Shaddam IV's power as the 81st Padishah Emperor rests on his control of the Sardaukar. Their reputation as an unstoppable force ends when Paul Atreides' Fremen army, honed by a desert as harsh as the Sardaukar's own training world, defeats them and Paul deposes Shaddam. The remnants of the Sardaukar later stand at the disposal of Paul's son Leto II alongside the Fremen, though Leto chooses to build his own all-female army, the Fish Speakers. In the prequels Emperor Elrood lends his Sardaukar to the Tleilaxu occupation of Ix for Project Amal.
Reader's Guide
Read this page with Salusa Secundus, House Corrino and the Fremen, the only force in the novels that out-fights the Sardaukar. The Landsraad exists in part because the Great Houses would never accept the Sardaukar eliminating them one at a time.
More in Great Houses & Organizations
Elsewhere in Dune
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced