Thufir Hawat
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Thufir Hawat is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Hawat is a major character in the landmark novel Dune. In the 1984 movie he was portrayed by Freddie Jones.
In Dune, the Mentat Master of Assassins who served under the Atreides family for multiple generations, until Duke Leto Atreides is killed by a Harkonnen attack.
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, recognising good talent, and seeking a replacement for the late Mentat Piter De Vries, wishes to utilize Hawat's immense abilities. The Baron manages to press Hawat into service by making him chemically dependent on a substance provided by the Harkonnens, but also by suggesting Hawat can achieve revenge for the assassination of Duke Leto by helping the Harkonnens to destroy House Corrino. The Baron, himself a dangerous intellect, also keeps Hawat's abilities in check by feeding him false data, specifically, permitting him to believe that Jessica Atreides was the traitor responsible for the Atreides' destruction.
In spite of these immense obstacles, Hawat very nearly brings down the Harkonnens from within, playing the ambitions of the na-Baron Feyd-Rautha against his uncle, and facilitating an assassination attempt that is nearly successful. Concurrently, Hawat engineers an attempt against Feyd's life by sabotaging his appearance in the combat arena. Instead of facing a drugged slave, Hawat arranges for Feyd to confront a trained Atreides soldier with his capacities fully intact. These schemes underscore the deadly cunning of Hawat, who had clearly earned his legendary reputation as a formidable commander.
At the conclusion of the novel, Hawat chooses death rather than betrayal of Paul Atreides.fr:Thufir Hawat