Piter De Vries
Piter De Vries is a male literary character who features in Dune.
Contents |
Biography
Piter DeVries was a twisted Mentat advisor to the Harkonnen, Baron Vladimir,
De Vries discovered the Harkonnen heritage of Lady Jessica and her newborn son Paul, and attempted to kidnap and ransom the infant. The plot is thwarted and the secret preserved—the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam kills the Mentat and arranges for his corpse to be shipped home to Giedi Prime. An enraged Baron is left with no choice but to order a duplicate from the Bene Tleila.
He pioneered a type of toxin called 'residual poison' which remained in the body for years and required an antidote to be administered regularly. One such fatal poison was secretly administered by the Harkonnens to Thufir Hawat who was the Mentat of House Atreides. This was in order to guarantee Hawat's allegiance to the Harkonnens, who alone possessed the antidote.
De Vries was the architect of the plan to destroy House Atreides, longtime enemy of the Harkonnens, while restoring the Baron's stewardship over the planet Arrakis. The devious and cunning de Vries was responsible for discovering how to break the Imperial Conditioning of a Suk doctor. He discovered that if he held a loved one of the Suk doctors to ransom, he could control their behaviour any way he wished. He forced the betrayal of House Atreides by Dr. Wellington Yueh. De Vries had kidnapped Yueh's wife, murdered her, and convinced Yueh that she was still alive. De Vries had promised that he would return his wife to him if he were to do the Harkonnens' bidding. The breaking of Yueh's Imperial Conditioning was part of a long-term plot to murder Duke Leto Atreides.
Piter De Vries planned the assault on Arrakis and House Atreides. The plan ended up being a success, but Piter did not live long enough to see this. Shortly after the fall of Arrakeen, he died when he got a faceful of poison gas, courtesy of Atreides, Duke Leto. De Vries was killed by Duke Leto when he mistakenly perceived de Vries to be the Baron Harkonnen. In a drugged state, Leto bit down on a poison gas tooth imbedded in his head by Yueh just before Leto was captured during the invasion of Arrakis. The Baron narrowly escaped, but de Vries was killed. In this way, Yueh managed to exact vengeance on the man that killed his wife.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Piter De Vries was noted for being a slender, short man with an effeminate face. He was addicted to the drug melange, which colored both the sclera and irises of users a deep blue. He also has the ruby red lips characteristic of sapho-drinkers.
He demonstrated a great loyalty to Harkonnen that he continued to serve the Baron with great enthusiasm even though his Mentat abilities and great intelligence confirmed his suspicions that his master plans to eventually kill him.
Powers and abilities
De Vries was a Mentat that were humans specially trained to perform mental functions rivalling computer and came into dominance after the Butlerian Jihad. In Piter's case though, he was a Twisted Mentat that turned him into an amoral sadist with these being creations of the Bene Tleilaxu.
He pioneered a type of toxin called 'residual poison' which remained in the body for years and required an antidote to be administered regularly.
Such was his devious nature that he discovered a means to break the Imperial Conditioning of a Suk doctor. He believed that if he held a loved one of the Suk doctors to ransom, he could control their behaviour any way he wished.
He was attached to House Harkonnen where his seniority allowed him to command many of its assets as he served as advisor to the family's head.
Notes
- Piter De Vries was created by Frank Herbert where he featured in the setting of the Dune universe.
In other media
Television
- In Frank Herbert's Dune, Piter De Vries appeared in the setting of the live-action mini-series where he was portrayed by actor Jan Unger.
Films
- In Dune, Piter De Vries appeared in the setting of the 1984 live-action film adaptation where he was portrayed by actor Brad Dourif.
- In Dune, Piter De Vries appeared in the setting of the 2021 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor David Dastmalchian.
Video games
Appearances
- Dune:
External Links
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