Editing List of Dune characters (section)

=== Duncan Idaho ===
{{main|Duncan Idaho}}
Duncan Idaho is the Swordmaster of House Atreides, and one of Paul's teachers. In ''Dune'', Leto sends Duncan to build a relationship with the mysterious native Fremen of Arrakis, people tempered by the planet's harsh conditions who Leto realizes are an underestimated and untapped resource. Leto allows Duncan, impressed with the Fremen and their ways, a dual loyalty to both the Atreides and Stilgar, but he is later killed helping Paul and Jessica escape from the Harkonnens. Duncan is revived by the [[Bene Tleilax]] as the [[ghola]] [[Mentat]] Hayt in ''Dune Messiah'', and works with Paul's sister Alia to unravel the conspiracy against the Atreides. The Tleilaxu have secretly programmed Hayt to seduce Alia, weaken Paul psychologically and then kill him. The trauma of the attempt restores his memories of being Duncan. He is married to Alia in ''Children of Dune'', but she has succumbed to the dangers of her unique birth and become possessed by the persona of the deceased Baron Harkonnen. As Alia becomes more power-hungry and attempts to assassinate her mother Jessica, Duncan spirits Jessica and Paul's children Leto II and Ghanima away. He manipulates Fremen naib Stilgar, a loyal Atreides advisor, into killing him, knowing that the act will force Stilgar to join the rebellion against Alia or be executed by her out of political necessity.

Thirty-five hundred years later in ''[[God Emperor of Dune]]'', a series of Duncan gholas provided by the Tleilaxu have served the seemingly immortal God Emperor Leto II Atreides one after the other. Most of these have been killed by Leto himself, as the serial Duncans, pledged to the Atreides in a time when justice reigned, tend to rebel against the hallmark tyranny and oppression of Leto's rule. The newest Duncan is as disillusioned as his predecessors, and after falling in love with the Ixian ambassador [[#Hwi Noree|Hwi Noree]] (who is engaged to Leto), he joins Atreides descendant [[#Siona Atreides|Siona]] in her plot to assassinate Leto. He allows them to succeed, and as he dies, Leto reveals that his millennia-long plan for humanity's ultimate survival—called the [[Golden Path (Dune)|Golden Path]]—has come to fruition. Siona and her descendants will be invisible to prescient sight, and the end of his millennia of oppression will spark a mass diaspora of humankind which will come to be known as [[The Scattering (Dune)|The Scattering]].

Fifteen hundred years later, the Bene Gesserit become the consumers of Duncan gholas in ''[[Heretics of Dune]]'' and ''[[Chapterhouse Dune]]''. The Sisterhood suspect that the Tleilaxu have implanted the gholas with some secret purpose, and when latest Duncan regains his memories, he agrees. The [[Honored Matres]], a violent matriarchal order with the ability to enslave men using their unique sexual talents, have arrived from the farthest reaches of the universe, wreaking havoc and destruction, and obliterating Tleilaxu worlds. An attempt by the Honored Matre [[#Murbella|Murbella]] to sexually imprint Duncan triggers the hidden Tleilaxu purpose: to conquer the Honored Matres by using a better version of their own sexual techniques. All the memories of the previous Duncans are unlocked in the current one as he and Murbella imprint each other. Addicted to each other, they are confined to a [[no-ship]] on the Bene Gesserit homeworld, [[Chapterhouse (Dune)|Chapterhouse]]. There, Duncan trains other men to enslave Honored Matres, until he and Sheeana escape in the untraceable ship.

Duncan is portrayed by [[Richard Jordan]] in the 1984 film.<ref name="dune maslin"/> [[James Watson (actor)|James Watson]] plays the role in the 2000 miniseries,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/jason-momoa-dune-reboot-cast-villeneuve/|title=Jason Momoa in Talks for Denis Villeneuve's ''Dune'' Movie Reboot|date=February 14, 2019|first=Sandy|last=Schaefer|website=[[Screen Rant]]|access-date=February 22, 2019|archive-date=February 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215155929/https://screenrant.com/jason-momoa-dune-reboot-cast-villeneuve/|url-status=live}}</ref> and is succeeded by [[Edward Atterton]] in its 2003 sequel.<ref name="fries">{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2003/tv/reviews/children-of-dune-1200542893/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821193344/https://variety.com/2003/tv/reviews/children-of-dune-1200542893/ |title=Review: ''Children of Dune'' |first=Laura |last=Fries |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=March 11, 2003 |access-date=August 21, 2015 |archive-date=August 21, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Jason Momoa]] portrays Duncan in the 2021 film.<ref name="ew dune 2021"/>