Dune: People: Shaddam Corrino
Emperor Shaddam Corrino the 4th, the 82nd Padishah Emperor, ruler of the 
known human universe, and a total putz. The Corrino family ruled the imperium for 11,000 years, but his ineptitude changed all that.
If you were to see Shaddam in a pub, he’d be drinking the most expensive wine available. Actually he’d only think he was. The house would’ve really sold him the cheap stuff, but served it in a fancy glass. Shaddam wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Throughout his entire life, Shaddam was always being controlled by another person. on the beginning it was his father Elrood IX, but it eventually became Count Fenring. His downfall began with his own impatience. Shaddam was annoyed that after turning 37, he was still not Emperor, and that his 157 year old dad was still in charge. Corrinos are notorious for living long lives and Shaddam wouldn’t have started his rule until his life was half over! So he had Fenring kill him! (Fenring was actually the one who gave him the idea) But not before Fenring persuaded Elrood to have the Tleilaxu take over Ix, as House Corrino’s proxy.
House Corrino persuade the Tleilaxu to take over Ix to find a means of creating an artificial source of spice. only the Ixians had the technology and laboratories capable to researching such a feat. This proved to be an awful mistake, that ultimately gave House Atreides considerable influence in the Imperium. It was also a costly one, since Shaddam was blackmailed into repaying the Ixians for the damage done to their planet after they recaptured their world with the help of the Atreides.
During his reign, Shaddam spent much of his money on excessive pleasantries and sent his elite fighting force the Saurdikar off on trite missions, spoiling the warriors.
Even the Bene Gesserit knew of his incompetence, and sent one of their sisters to marry and better control him. For their breeding scheme, they made sure that he produced no male heirs. His wife Anirul bore him only 5 daughters, and then chemically castrated him to be sure that he would never spawn again.
Shaddam lost his empire, when he traveled to Dune to quash the Fremen rebellion there, and regain control of spice production. The full scale rebellion only occurred after he had the Harkonnen take over the Atreides who controlled that world. He gave Arrakis to the Atreides only to be later taken over! While on Dune, Paul Muad’Dib Atreides surrounded him and his forces, and forced Shaddam to surrender his empire to Paul. Shaddam did. He offered his eldest daughter Irulan as a wife to him to cement the change of power.
The bumbling Shaddam is acted by the very competent and excellent Giancarlo Giannini.
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