Leto Atreides II
James McAvoy as Leto II in the Children of Dune minseries
Gender	Male
Date of birth	10,207 AG
Date of death	13,725 AG
Occupation	God Emperor
Parents	Paul Atreides and Chani
Siblings	Ghanima Atreides
Affiliation	House Atreides Fremen
Real-Life Information
Portrayed by	James McAvoy (2003 miniseries)
First appearance	Dune Messiah
Final appearance	God Emperor of Dune [1]

Leto Atreides II (10,207-13,725 AG) is a fictional character in the Dune universe, created by Frank Herbert. Leto is a central character in Children of Dune and is the title character of God Emperor of Dune. He is son to Paul Atreides and Chani, twin to Ghanima and the grandson of Leto Atreides I, for whom he was named. Leto Atreides II, Dune (miniseries) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ... James Andrew McAvoy (21 April 1979[1]) is a BAFTA-winning Scottish actor. ... Children of Dune was the sequel to the 2000 Dune miniseries produced by the United States Sci Fi channel. ... Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, portrayed by Giancarlo Giannini in the Dune miniseries The Padishah Emperor was the title of the hereditary rulers of the Padishah Empire in Frank Herberts fictional Dune universe. ... Paul Atreides, as portrayed by Kyle MacLachlan in David Lynchs Dune (1985), wielding the infamous Weirding Module. Paul Orestes Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... Chani (short for Chanisihayah) is a fictional character featured in Frank Herberts science fiction Dune universe. ... Ghanima (meaning spoil of war in the Fremen language) is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... Emblem of House Atreides from Emperor: Battle for Dune For the novel of the same name, see Dune: House Atreides. ... Spoiler warning: The Fremen are a group of people in the Dune series of science fiction novels by Frank Herbert. ... James Andrew McAvoy (21 April 1979[1]) is a BAFTA-winning Scottish actor. ... Children of Dune was the sequel to the 2000 Dune miniseries produced by the United States Sci Fi channel. ... Dune Messiah is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the second in a series of six novels. ... God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert published in 1981 — the fourth novel in the Dune series. ... Alice, a fictional character based on a real character from the work of Lewis Carroll. ... Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert and published in 1965. ... Frank Patrick Herbert (October 8, 1920 – February 11, 1986) was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. ... Children of Dune Children of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, third in a series of six novels set in the Dune universe. ... God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert published in 1981 — the fourth novel in the Dune series. ... Paul Atreides, as portrayed by Kyle MacLachlan in David Lynchs Dune (1985), wielding the infamous Weirding Module. Paul Orestes Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... Chani (short for Chanisihayah) is a fictional character featured in Frank Herberts science fiction Dune universe. ... Ghanima (meaning spoil of war in the Fremen language) is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... Duke Leto Atreides, portrayed by William Hurt in the Dune miniseries Leto Atreides I is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ...

Children of Dune

Leto is named for his paternal grandfather Duke Leto Atreides I, who was killed in the Harkonnen/Imperial invasion of Arrakis. He is the second child of Paul to bear that name, the first having been killed as an infant by the Emperor's Sardaukar. Duke Leto Atreides, portrayed by William Hurt in the Dune miniseries Leto Atreides I is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... Emblem of House Harkonnen from Emperor: Battle for Dune For the novel of the same name, see Dune: House Harkonnen. ... Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, portrayed by José Ferrer in Dune (1984) Shaddam Corrino IV is a character in the fictional Dune universe of Frank Herbert. ... Arrakis, (الراقص ar-rāqiṣ, the dancer) later Rakis (informally known as Dune) is a fictional desert planet featured in the Dune series of novels by Frank Herbert; it is the home of the Fremen (Zensunni wanderers) and later, the Imperial Capital under the Atreides Empire. ... Emblem of the Imperial Sardaukar from Emperor: Battle for Dune The Sardaukar were a fictional army from Frank Herberts Dune universe, primarily featured in the science fiction novel Dune. ...

In Children of Dune, Leto and his twin sister Ghanima are nine years old. Because of the spice ingested by their mother, Leto and Ghanima are "pre-born", meaning that, as fetuses in their mother's womb, they were awakened to consciousness and to their genetic memories; thus, they are born as fully matured human beings in the bodies of infants. At the start of the novel, Leto is not prescient to the degree that Paul was, but he senses the test his father faced — to embrace a prescient vision of the universe is to set the universe on that path, a terrible responsibility that comes with terrible power. At the end of Dune Messiah, Paul forsook that responsibility by walking into the desert — his time as the Fremen messiah had shown him that he was not strong enough to be messiah/tyrant to the universe. Leto believes that he must face the same test. Ghanima (meaning spoil of war in the Fremen language) is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... Look up Melange in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Prescience is the ability to predict the future through vision. ... Dune Messiah is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the second in a series of six novels. ... Spoiler warning: The Fremen are a group of people in the Dune series of science fiction novels by Frank Herbert. ... In Judaism, the Messiah (Hebrew: , Standard  Tiberian ; Aramaic: , ; Arabic: , ; the Anointed One) at first meant any person who was anointed with oil on rising to a certain position among the ancient Israelites, at first that of High priest, later that of King and also that of a prophet. ...

At the same time, the Imperium Paul created is ruled by his sister Alia Atreides as regent. The horror of the pre-born, the reason the Bene Gesserit call them "abomination", is that they are easily possessed by the ego-memories of their ancestors. When Bene Gesserit awaken to their 'other memories' in the ritual of the spice agony, they are adults with fully formed personalities, and can withstand the inner assault of their forebears; the pre-born have no such defense. Like Leto and Ghanima, Alia was pre-born, and she succumbs to the pressure under an intense dose of spice. Among her ancestors is the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, still hungry for revenge against his enemies, the Atreides. Alia is possessed by him, and unconsciously turns against the Atreides empire, plotting to kill Leto and Ghanima and to tear down the Imperium in a bloody civil war. Alia Atreides, portrayed by Daniela Amavia in the Children of Dune miniseries. ... The Bene Gesserit (as seen in the prologue of an alternate version of the David Lynch Dune film. ... Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, portrayed by Ian McNeice in the Sci-Fi Channels Dune miniseries The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ...

Leto faces the test his father refused to take, and embraces prescience, its visions, its attendant power, and the terrible price it will extract — to follow his vision, Leto will become a symbiote with the sandworm and rule for thousands of years, effectively immortal until humanity evolves enough to kill him. By doing so, he will set the universe on "The Golden Path", a future in which humanity's survival is assured. Following an assassination attempt by House Corrino Leto disappears into the desert leaving Ghanima behind. He finds Jacurutu, a sietch that has been forbidden to anyone by Fremen law. There he finds the means to live for millennia by merging with sandtrout into a new symbiotic form of being. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about living for infinite period of time. ... The Golden Path, [1] a term with such precendents as Buddhisms Eightfold path and Isaac Asimovs Prime Radiant, is Leto IIs strategy to prevent humanitys destruction in Frank Herberts fictional Dune universe. ... Emperor Frederick Corrino IV, played by Adrian Sparks, seated on the Golden Lion Throne (as seen in the computer game Dune 2000 by Westwood Studios) For the novel of the same name, see Dune: House Corrino. ... A sietch is a Fremen desert settlement in the Dune stories. ... A photo of a sand trout from a Dune movie. ...

Independently, Leto and Ghanima both solve the problem of the pre-born. Leto constructs his own personality out of an executive committee of his ancestors; with all (the important ones) possessing him, none can possess him individually. As part of Leto's plan, Ghanima hypnotizes herself to believe that Leto was killed in the assassination attempt; the intense mental discipline this demands builds a safe haven in Ghanima's mind for her own personality to safely develop.

At the end, following his test and his embracing of his vision, Leto returns to wrest the Imperium from Alia and take his rightful place as Emperor.

God Emperor of Dune

Leto as God Emperor, from the paperpack cover of God Emperor of Dune

A little more than 3,500 years have passed, and Leto is now almost fully transformed into a Sandworm. He is almost invulnerable to physical damage; his single weakness that he shares with the sandworms, an intense vulnerability to water, is a secret. "Leto's peace" has kept the universe quiet for that time, and the entirety of human society has become an audience for him. He is their emperor; he is their god. His all-female army of Fish Speakers keeps order and acts as priestesses (according to Leto, a female army is a nurturing disciplinarian, while a male army is essentially predatory and always turns against its civilian support base in the absence of an enemy). Image File history File links Size of this preview: 189 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (203 × 644 pixels, file size: 101 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This image is of a book cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned either by the artist who created the cover or the... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 189 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (203 × 644 pixels, file size: 101 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This image is of a book cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned either by the artist who created the cover or the... The Fish Speakers are a fictional army from Frank Herberts Dune universe, as depicted in the Dune series of science-fiction novels. ...

Desolate Dune is gone, nothing but a memory within the Oral Histories Leto has created and encouraged, replaced with verdant Rakis. Except for Leto, the sandworms are extinct. Arrakis even has a great river named after Duncan Idaho. All that is left of the "ocean without water" bahr bela ma is a preserve set aside for Leto alone. This remnant is called Sareer (Arabic for "bed"), which is about the size of California. The old institutions, the Bene Gesserit, the Bene Tleilax, the Spacing Guild, the houses Major and Minor, the Landsraad, the technocrats of Ix, and CHOAM, have all faded from power in the face of Leto's hydraulic despotism: since he has absolute control of the Spice on which the whole universe depends; he has the universe in the palm of his hand, and ruthlessly enforces his simplistic order. Arrakis, (الراقص ar-rāqiá¹£, the dancer) later Rakis (informally known as Dune) is a fictional desert planet featured in the Dune series of novels by Frank Herbert; it is the home of the Fremen (Zensunni wanderers) and later, the Imperial Capital under the Atreides Empire. ... Duncan Idaho is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... Arabic redirects here. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... The Bene Tleilax or Tleilaxu are an extremely xenophobic and isolationist society in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... The Spacing Guild is a fictional organization in Frank Herberts Dune universe created in a series of science fiction novels starting in Dune and ending with Chapterhouse Dune. ... The Landsraad was a fictional organisation in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... Ix is a fictional planet featured in the Dune novels by Frank Herbert. ... The Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantile or CHOAM is a fictional universal development corporation in Frank Herberts Dune universe, which is first mentioned in Dune. ... Hydraulic despotism is a term for despotic rule supported by control of a single, necessary resource. ...

Leto has taken over the Bene Gesserit's breeding program for himself, the same program that produced his father, the Kwisatz Haderach. His Golden Path is nearly assured now, and 3,500 years of rule has begun to bore him. The trap of prescience is an existence without surprises; Leto is also such a long-lived creature that he has seen it all, especially with the help of his other memory. There is nothing left for him to do but to ensure that humanity will survive. To accomplish this, he has spent the last three millennia enforcing quiescence on humanity: people rarely travel, rarely fight in wars, rarely do anything but live and worship him; the millennia of repression create in humanity a deep and urgent need to explode upon the universe, scattering itself beyond the reach of any single tyrant. The Kwisatz Haderach is a fictional name of a prophesied messiah figure in the Dune universe, created by Frank Herbert, and later extended by his son, Brian Herbert, alongside science fiction author Kevin J Anderson. ...

Leto must find a solution in which he dies without destroying his people. If a god was to commit suicide, his worshippers would commit suicide with him. For a god to fade, so would his people. The only way Leto can die and not take his followers with him is in revolution, so he breeds for the person who will overthrow him: Siona Atreides, the daughter of his majordomo, Moneo. Siona is the first human to carry a gene that makes her invisible to prescience, and thus uncontainable by it. Since she cannot be seen in a vision, she cannot be controlled by a vision. The tyranny of prescience will end with her — humanity can never again be bound by a powerful prescient like Muad'dib or the God Emperor himself. Siona Atreides is a fictional character in Frank Herberts Dune universe. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Siona's partner in revolution is Duncan Idaho, the constant companion of Leto throughout the long millennia. For his entire reign, Leto has had a ghola of Duncan in charge of his Fish Speaker army. The Duncans represent the old Atreides loyalty, along with everything vital in humanity, so something in the Duncans always rebels against the holy blasphemy Leto has created; many Duncans die trying to kill Leto. When Siona finally arrives, she finds in Duncan a justification for revolt. Duncan Idaho is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... A Ghola is a creature in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ...

Meanwhile, the rest of the universe is scheming to kill Leto as well. The Bene Tleilax try many ham-fisted schemes; the technocrats of Ix are smarter. They craft a human to seduce Leto. First they create Malky, a being of perfect evil, a devil to Leto's God. Malky is a charming Lucifer, and as ambassador to Leto's court he plumbs the depths of Leto's piety. In Dune Messiah, the Face Dancer Scytale reveals to a Reverend Mother that the Bene Tleilax created their own Kwisatz Haderachs, and discovered that Kwisatz Haderachs will die before becoming their opposites (and so can be killed by manipulating them into betraying themselves). Malky's purpose is to get Leto to turn on his holy creation, but he fails because the Ixians don't realize that Leto, more than anyone, knows the blasphemy he has created. Malky is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... This article is about the star or fallen angel. ... Dune Messiah is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the second in a series of six novels. ... Face Dancers are a type of human in Frank Herberts fictional Dune universe. ... Scytale is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... A Reverend Mother is a fictional character appearing in the novel Dune, being a Bene Gesserit woman who has finished her training. ...

Artist Michael Stribling's representation of Leto as God Emperor

At the same time as Leto is breeding a psi-invisible human, Ix invents another solution: no-chambers. A no-chamber is an electro-mechanical construct that hides its contents from prescient vision. Inside the first no-chamber, the Ixians grow their next attempt: Malky's niece, Hwi Noree, who shall replace him as Ix's ambassador. Hwi is the opposite of Malky, a creature of pure goodness. Where Malky failed, Hwi succeeds. Leto falls in love with her, and plans to marry her. He is not alone in loving her, however, for his current Duncan has also fallen to her charms. By this chain of events, Leto weakens his godhood enough to allow Siona's revolt the possibility of success. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 434 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (606 × 836 pixel, file size: 116 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Leto Atreides II from Dune, as illustrated by artist Michael Stribling. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 434 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (606 × 836 pixel, file size: 116 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Leto Atreides II from Dune, as illustrated by artist Michael Stribling. ... Michael Stribling is an artist perhaps best known for his covers of the DC Comics series JLA Classified. ... A no-chamber is a construct that hides whatever inside it from prescient/oracular vision in the Dune series of science fiction novels by Frank Herbert. ... Hwi Noree is a fictional character in Frank Herberts fictional Dune universe. ...

Leto planned to wed Hwi in what remains of an old Fremen village near the former Sietch Tabr, but changes his mind at the last instant to use the Museum Fremen's Tuono Village, the place where Moneo had sent Siona and Duncan in an attempt to keep the peace and keep Duncan alive, safe from the God Emperor's wrath. However, that is not to be.

The Royal Peregrination, the journey on foot for any of Leto's trips, to Tuono has all the appearance of a normal trip. However, Siona and Duncan, both well aware of the God Emperor's coming and his schemes to breed them, are primed for rebellion, not quiscent acceptance. Siona uses her power over Nayla, Leto's pet Fish Speaker, to set in motion his demise. At the point of the Sareer's guardian wall that opens to allow for the passage of the Idaho River, Nayla, caught in her faith in Leto, opens fire on the bridge with a lasgun, destroying it as Leto and Hwi are crossing, dropping them into the Idaho River. The water destroys Leto's sandworm body, decomposing it into the sandtrout that will lock up the water in their bodies, recreating the conditions for the sandworms to re-appear, each with a pearl of Leto's consciousness and adaptability inside it. Leto dies, his last vision that of the Golden Path, shining brightly in humanity's future. His total reign spanned 3509 years.

After Leto's death, driven by the Famine Times and the pent up desires of thousands of years of Leto's peace, humanity explodes out of the universe in waves of migration known as The Scattering, as predicted and forced by Leto's Golden Path. The Scattering is a fictional event that takes place in Frank Herberts Dune books. ...

The sandworms which once again travel Dune after Leto's death carry, in his words, "a pearl of his awareness locked forever in an endless dream." They (and Leto) are worshipped as the Divided God, and their existence keeps humanity locked on Leto's Golden Path. In Heretics of Dune, the Mother Superior of the Bene Gesserit Taraza (and her immediate successor, Odrade) manage to save one sandworm from Rakis before it is destroyed by the Honored Matres. Heretics of Dune is a 1984 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, fifth in a series of six novels. ... The following is a comprehensive list of Bene Gesserit sisters (and rare male initiates) from the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... Reverend Mother Odrade, also known as Darwi Odrade or Dar is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... The Honored Matres are an organization in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert in his Dune series of novels. ...

Hunters of Dune

More than 1500 years after his death, Leto II is brought back as a ghola onboard the no-ship Ithaca in Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's continuation of the original series, Hunters of Dune. Even at a very young age, Leto shows signs that he may be more than he seems. During an assassination attempt, he somehow transforms into a small sandworm and defends himself before reverting to an innocent one-year-old. As he grows older, he displays an uncanny intelligence and is very withdrawn. Duncan Idaho, reflecting, says it was cruel to bring Leto II back without his twin sister, who was so much of the original Leto II's life. A Ghola is a creature in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... A no-ship is a fictional type of spacecraft from the Dune science fiction series by Frank Herbert. ... Ithaca is a fictional no-ship from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ... Brian Patrick Herbert (born 1947) is a best selling American author who lives in Washington state. ... |200px| ]] Pseudonym: Gabriel Mesta Born: March 27, 1962 ) Oregon, Wisconsin, U.S. Occupation: Author Genres: Science fiction Debut works: Resurrection, Inc Influences: The War of the Worlds Kevin J. Anderson (born March 27, 1962) is a prolific American science fiction author. ... Hunters of Dune is the first part of the seventh book (until recently, called Dune 7) of the original Dune series, along with Sandworms of Dune. ... Duncan Idaho is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ...

Sandworms of Dune

In the concluding novel Sandworms of Dune, Leto (like Sheeana) can control the worms. After his memories are returned, he leads the seven worms to wreak havoc in Synchrony, homeworld of the Thinking Machines. Leto tells Sheeana that once again he is the God Emperor. The largest of the seven sandworms, Monarch, allows Leto to jump down its gullet. Leto is presumed dead, all seven worms fuse together into one massive worm, and the God Emperor returns once again to a deep sleep within the planet's surface. The ultimate fate of the Golden Path, or the worms' status on Synchrony, is left open. Sandworms of Dune is the second part of the seventh book (until recently, called Dune 7) of the classic Dune series, along with Hunters of Dune. ... Sheeana Brugh is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ...

Notes