Character from Dune by Frank Herbert
The Baron's brutish nephew appointed to grind Arrakis into submission — too cruel to inspire loyalty and too dull to realize he is the expendable first act in his uncle's plan to install Feyd-Rautha as savior.
Rabban shouts when a normal voice would serve, hits when a word would suffice, and kills when imprisonment would be more useful. He is not stupid in the way of the genuinely simple — he is intelligent enough to follow orders and execute strategy, but lacks the imagination to see beyond immediate force. His uncle gave him one instruction for Arrakis: squeeze. Rabban can squeeze. He suspects the Baron favors Feyd but cannot articulate why this bothers him beyond jealousy. He knows he is being used but cannot compute the shape of his uncle's plan because it requires him to imagine his own expendability, which his ego will not permit. He compensates for insecurity with escalating brutality, which is exactly what the Baron's plan requires. His cruelty is not sadistic pleasure but frustrated incompetence — he hurts people because it is the only tool he trusts. Among Harkonnen society, where manipulation is art, Rabban's directness is both his weakness and, occasionally, his accidental strength. No one expects honesty from a Harkonnen.
Thick and heavy, built like a wrestler gone to seed. Dark hair, coarse features, heavy brow that shadows small, mean eyes. A thick neck and sloping shoulders that convey physical menace. Dresses in military utilitarian style without finesse. Moves with surprising quickness for his bulk when angry, but otherwise has the heavy tread of a man who expects people to get out of his way. Perpetually flushed, as if permanently on the verge of rage.
Also known as: Rabban, Beast Rabban, Glossu Rabban, Rabban Harkonnen