Dune Cross Reference

An oft-debated subject here at the Skywalker Paradigm is whether the ideas for a desert planet and spice (ala "spice mines of Kessel") are a rip-off of Frank Herbert's Dune, or an ode to it (I claimed rip-off, Sara said ode). In the middle of February 2005, I went looking for evidence and immediately found the Star Wars Origins site by Kristen Brennan. It's an incredible site representing thousands of hours of research. If you're a Star Wars fan, you definitely want to check it out. Looking at the Dune page, I found the table below that charts similarities Kristen Brennan had found in the two epics:

Star Wars
Dune
Princess Leia Princess Alia (pronounced a-leia)
Villain turns out to be hero's father Villain turns out to be hero's grandfather
Tatooine a desert planet Arrakis (Dune) a desert planet
Sandcrawler - Vehicle piloted by Jawas, "left over from a forgotten mining era long ago" Sandcrawler - Vehicle piloted by Arrakins, used to mine for spice
Moisture Farmers (like Uncle Owen) Dew Collectors: "...used by Fremen to line concave planting depressions where they provide a small but reliable source of water"
Spice Mines of Kessel (mentioned in passing) Spice is the most valued commodity in the universe, mined from Dune
Jedi Mind Trick - Jedi ability which controls the actions of others The Voice - Bene Gesserit ability which controls the actions of others
Jedi Bendu, the Jedi training technique which gives them excellent internal control as well as supernatural prowess in combat Prana Bindu, the Bene Gesserit training technique which gives them excellent internal control as well as supernatural prowess in combat2
Vision of Obi-Wan appears to Luke on Hoth, while he's seemingly dying Vision of Pardot Kynes appears to Liet-Kynes in the desert, while he's dying
The Trade Federation has a monopoly on shipping in space The Spacing Guild has a monopoly on shipping and transportation in space
Luke practices his lightsaber technique against an automated training remote Alia practices her sword technique against an automated training dummy
Millennium Falcon barely escapes from the jaws of giant, sightless space slug before it falls back into the asteroid. The Duke's ornithopter barely escapes from the jaws of a giant, sightless sandworm before it falls back into the dunes.
Luke spies on the Sandpeople using electrobinoculars Paul spies on the Fremen using electric binoculars
Repulsors - Small devices which counteract gravity (used in the landspeeder, speeder bikes, pod racers and Jabba's barge) Suspensors - Small devices which counteract gravity (used to suspend the Baron Harkonnen and Glowglobes)
Jabba (1983) is a worm/slug thing, about 15 feet long, with human-like facial features, arms and hands, who sits atop a dais Leto II, God Emperor of Dune (1981), is a worm/slug thing, about 15 feet long, with human-like facial features, arms and hands, who sits atop a dais

At first I was convinced that this was proof of plagerism, but Sara (who is convinced Lucas did not write Star Wars so much as he channeled it) saw the deeper truth; namely, that they are in fact the SAME story, just from different viewpoints. More amazingly, in a counter-intuitive twist, Lucas may be presenting the 'real' story that Herbert wrote a mythologized version of (and before you send the hate mail remember that life is but a dream and this is all for fun).

While Dune has had three seperate movie translations of its written word, Star Wars has only the one version (Special Edition chicanery aside). There is no 'other version' of Star Wars where Luke Skywalker is played by Keanu Reeves - oh wait ... maybe there is ...

Jabba the Hutt supposedly rules an organized crime 'empire' that deals in spice (actually, Jabba is no mere gangster - he lives in a palace, sits on a throne surrounded by his court, over his dungeon, and rides around on a royal barge. Jabba is, in fact, royalty) So how do we get the God Emperor of Dune out of that? Much the same way we get tales of gods and goddesses in the Iliad - take out all the myth and we are left with a historical account of the Trojan War.

The real question to ponder here is this; Did princess Leia kill Leto II?

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