Dune Villain Baron Harkonnen Had A Bizarre Anime Cameo
Director Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part Two" is lighting the world on fire right now, much like Paul Muad'Dib's (Timothee Chalamet) jihad will be doing to the known universe after the movie's end. The sequel enjoyed a box office debut twice as big as the first "Dune" did in 2021. Unlike was the case with David Lynch's 1984 "Dune," which earned too little for sequels, it seems that Warner Bros. now has its next blockbuster franchise.
From the Worms to the Spice (which the movies hardly explain), the world of "Dune" is quite weird. One of this bizarre iceberg's tips is the villainous Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, leader of the Harkonnen feudal house. Played in the recent movies by Stellan Skarsgård, the Baron is about 600 pounds (reflecting his gluttonous wealth) and to get around, he doesn't walk, he floats with anti-gravity belts. Frank Hebert's original "Dune" books were an influence on "Star Wars" (think of how both Arrakis and Tatooine are inhospitable desert worlds). Though George Lucas has not confirmed it outright (to my knowledge), I'd bet he had the Baron in mind when creating Jabba the Hutt.
The influence of "Dune" also stretches across the globe, as seen by Kouta Hirano's manga "Hellsing" (plus its anime adaptations). The young vampire Seras Victoria even wields a weapon named for the Harkonnens.
Baron Harkonnen in Hellsing
Even outside of the "Dune" homage, Hirano pulls a lot from the West for his story. "Hellsing" posits itself as a sequel to Bram Stoker's "Dracula," where the Lord of the Vampires (going by Alucard) serves the descendants of Dr. Abraham Van Helsing by hunting his own kind. It's even set in England (this is why, while I think Alucard's seiyu Jouji Nakata stacks up well against other Dracula actors, the best way to experience "Hellsing" is dubbed in English).
Seras Victoria is like Lucy Westenra in "Dracula," a young English girl made a vampire by Alucard (though Alucard did so to save her life, not out of lust like he did with Lucy). Seras, lacking much choice, joins her maker hunting vampires. In "Hellsing" chapter 7 (adapted in episode 2 of the anime, "Hellsing Ultimate"), she's gifted a six-foot-long cannon that's designed for destroying tanks with depleted uranium and/or explosive shells. You need heavy firepower to kill vampires, and Seras' new super strength means she can carry the gun even though it's taller than her.
What is the cannon's name? The Harkonnen. In "Hellsing" chapter 14 (and episode 3 of "Hellsing Ultimate"), Seras slumbers in her coffin and has a dream where she meets the "spirit" of her gun, who looks just like Baron Harkonnen (down to the floating). She panics — either she hasn't read "Dune" or she has and knows how terrible the Baron is — but the Baron tries to calm her and tells her he's a friend. When he says that Seras's misfortune has just begun, she resumes screaming.
If you're familiar with "Dune" from the Villeneuve movies, you may not recognize the Baron in "Hellsing." This is because of Villeneuve's choices in adapting the Harkonnens.
Adapting the Harkonnens across Dune
In Villeneuve's "Dune," the Harkonnens are all bald albinos who dress in Spartan black clothing. However, they aren't described this way in the original book. In fact, the previous "Dune" adaptations (Lynch's and the 2000s Sci-Fi Channel miniseries) portrayed the Harkonnens as having colorful clothes and red hair. Compare the Baron as played by Kenneth McMillan in Lynch's movie (seen above) to Skarsgård's version. Even more tellingly, look at Sting's sexy Fayd-Rautha Harkonnen (in Lynch's adaptation) and then at Austin Butler's scary one (in "Dune: Part Two").
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times in 2021, Villeneuve said he envisioned the Harkonnens as having been poisoned by their polluted homeworld, the industrialized Geidi Prime. As for the Baron, the director wanted him to be less of a caricature: "I was trying to bring him closer to the spirit of a gorilla than a fat baby. I wanted to get away from a feeling of decadence and more toward a feeling of power." A caricature is exactly what the Baron is in "Hellsing," and though the coloring doesn't quite match, he looks much like he did in Lynch's "Dune."
For reference, "Hellsing" was published from 1997 to 2008 (and the anime from 2006 to 2012), long before Villueneve's "Dune" and back when Lynch's "Dune" was the movie most people associated with the name. This can be heard in the family name; "Hellsing" pronounces this as "Har-Conan," a la the 1984 "Dune." However, the more recent "Dune" films have it pronounced "Har-Kuh-Nen," which is more accurate to Herbert's intention and real life ("Härkönen" is a real name with Finnish roots).
"Hellsing" is a much less complex story than "Dune," but it's no stranger to being weird either.
"Dune: Part Two" is now playing in theaters.