'Star Wars' Day is sign of franchise's mass appeal. It owes a lot to Frank Herbert's 'Dune'
'Star Wars' appeared to borrow so many ideas from the Dune novels, that when 'The New Hope' was first released in 1977, author Frank Herbert famously said, “I will try hard not to sue.”
Eric LagattaA young man on a desolate desert planet discovers he has mystical powers and rises up to lead a fanatical rebellion to overthrow an oppressive galactic empire.
Stop us if you've heard this one before.
The premise may be one instantly recognizable as Luke Skywalker's hero's journey in the original "Star Wars" trilogy. In fact, those who don't know any better may have seen "Dune: Part Two" in theaters a couple months ago – or more recently when it hit streaming – and come away thinking they just watched a "Star Wars" ripoff.
After all, Paul Atreides’ journey on Arrakis mirrors much of Luke Skywalker’s own adventures in the galaxy far, far away.
But 12 years before "A New Hope" hit theaters in 1977, Frank Herbert authored a novel titled "Dune" that appeared to greatly influence George Lucas' own science fiction creation.
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"Star Wars," of course, is an amalgamation of many things that came before it, including the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa. But "Dune," first published in 1965, is without a doubt one of the biggest pieces of media to influence "Star Wars."
The two series share an enormous amount of DNA – so much so that Herbert famously said, “I will try hard not to sue" in an interview with The Associated Press after the theatrical release of "A New Hope" - then simply called "Star Wars" before subsequent sequels and prequels were released.
Herbert never did sue, but he also never appeared to get over his bitter feelings over the years when frequently asked about the similarities before his death in 1986.
"Dune" fans have also theorized that Herbert even worked in a dig about Lucas into "Heretics of Dune," the fifth in his series of novels. At one point in the book, Herbert appeared to invoke the name of "Star Wars" robot C-3PO by describing a fictional pejorative, "three P-O," for a person who, as the author wrote, surrounds "himself with cheap copies."
Whether you call them homages, inspirations or downright rip-offs, there are a lot of ideas "Star Wars" seems to have borrowed from "Dune." In celebration of "Star Wars" Day, here is a look at just seven of them.
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The desert worlds of Tatooine and Arrakis
Both "Star Wars" and "Dune" are set in massive galaxies where interstellar travel is not only possible, but a mundane part of daily life.
While many planets make up their respective universes, much of the action takes place on very similar nearly uninhabitable desert worlds covered in sand at the far reaches of their galaxies.
In "Star Wars," Luke Skywalker spends his formative years on Tatooine, the same planet where his father, Anakin Skywalker, also was raised as a slave. "Dune" is literally named for the desert planet officially known as Arrakis where almost all of the plot is set.
In the novels – and Denis Villeneuve's movies – the Atreides move to Arrakis to take over production of the valuable fictional spice melange that drives commerce, and also war.
The sandy planets even both have twin celestial bodies viewable from the surface – two suns on Tatooine and two moons on Arrakis.
It's on their respective worlds that Luke and Paul – and even Anakin, in the prequel trilogy – begin to understand and embrace their destinies.
Sarlaccs and sandworms
The planets have one other gaping similarity: giant people-eating worms.
In "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi," viewers meet a sand-dwelling creature with a massive toothy maw called a Sarlacc. The creature bears a striking resemblance to the monstrous sandworms of "Dune," which even provide transportation to the daring Fremen who ride them into battle.
Unlike the speedy sandworms, though, the sarclaccs don't move. Instead, they prefer to lie in wait for when Jabba the Hutt sees fit to come along and feed them some poor souls. You may remember fan-favorite bounty hunter Boba Fett seeming to succumb to one in "Return of the Jedi" before Disney+ resurrected him for his own series.
Evil interstellar empires
The worlds of "Dune" and "Star Wars" are ones lorded over by malevolent – and even outright evil – emperors.
In the original "Star Wars trilogy," that emperor is of course the infamous Palpatine, the dark lord and Sith who masterminded the fall of the Jedi. In the first "Dune" novel, it's the Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV who oversees the interstellar Imperium and plotted with the Harkonnens to end the Atreides line.
In both sagas, both overlords eventually meet their downfall, along with the collapse of their totalitarian government.
Paul Atreides, Luke Skywalker and the messiah narrative
"Chosen one" narratives are hardly limited to just "Star Wars" and "Dune," but the prophesied heroes of the sagas sure have a lot in common.
Both Paul Atreides and Luke Skywalker possess some unrivaled supernatural abilities, and both use those abilities to lead their followers into a bloody rebellion.
Neither Luke nor Paul rose to power by happenstance: Their paths, in fact, were laid out for them long before either were born.
Luke Skywalker was prophesied to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the force. In "Dune," a more sinister plot by the Bene Gesserit’s shadowy Missionaria Protectiva set the stage years before Paul arrived on Arrakis for him to become the messiah, or Lisan al Gaib, to the native Fremen.
It even turns out that both of them are descendants of the main villain: Paul is the grandson of antagonist Baron Harkonnen, while in one of the most famous plot twists in cinematic history, Luke is revealed to be the son of Darth Vader.
The Force of 'Star Wars' and 'Dune's' The Voice
Speaking of the Bene Gesserit, the ancient religious order of women appears to have strongly influenced Lucas when he created the Jedi and the Sith of "Star Wars."
Like the Jedi Knights and Sith Lords, the Bene Gesserit are trained in superhuman abilities and use their standing to manipulate and engineer galactic events.
The Bene Gesserit use something called the Voice to bend others to their will and sense others' emotions. The power is not unlike the supernatural "Force" of "Star Wars" that allows Jedi to use mind tricks to persuade and manipulate others.
Sardaukar vs. Stormtroopers
Fans have often made comparisons between the Fremen on Arrakis and the Tusken Raiders native to Tatooine as two cultures making their homes in harsh deserts.
The Fremen, though, also play a role reminiscent of the Rebel Alliance in "Star Wars." The Rebel Alliance may not be made up of religious fanatics like the Fremen, but both play a crucial role in toppling tyrannical rulers.
The Fremen and Rebel Alliance even fight against similar elite imperial troops: The Sardaukar of "Dune" and the stormtroopers of "Star Wars."
The Galactic Empire’s troops wear white armor and prefer blasters, even if they famously can't aim worth a darn. The Sardaukar, meanwhile, use a mix of blades and laser rifles called lasguns while in combat.
Other similarities, from princesses with similar sounding names to devilish rogues
We could go on and on, but here are just a few more similarities between the two series:
- Princess Leia, the sister of "Star Wars'" main protagonist, has a name that sounds a lot like Princess Alia, whose brother is Paul.
- Jason Momoa once described his character, Duncan Idaho, as "Han Solo-esque." Both characters are renegades with courage to spare and secret hearts of gold, but considering who came first, it may be more accurate to describe Han as "Duncan-Idaho-esque."
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com