The third in my Dune series of conceptual sketches, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (10110-10193) was the Siridar-Baron of planet Giedi Prime during the reign of Corrino Emperor Shaddam IV .  He was the third son of Siridar-Baron Gunseng Harkonnen (10079-10130) and Baroness Muertana (later known as the "Black Window").  It was written that House Harkonnen, "even in an era of deadly political maneuvering and ruthless exercise of power was noted for its overweening cynicism and cruelty, its hunger for power and profit, and its total subordination of means to ends."  Vladimir Harkonnen "embodied the characteristics of his ancestry to a high degree: shrewd, cunning, a glutton in every sense, he carried the weight of approximately 180kg at the time of his death, most of it borne by suspensor units placed about his person."

House Harkonnen would forever be linked by blood with arch enemy House Atreides through the Baron's daughter, the Lady Jessica, whom he inadvertently sired through trickery by the Bene Gesserit Gaius Helen Mohiam.  The young Lady Jessica would grow up not knowing who her father was, and neither would the Baron be aware of her existence, but she would go on to become the Bene Gesserit concubine of Duke Leto Atreides and bear the Duke a son, Paul, against the will of the Bene Gesserit who had demanded she bear a daughter.  The Baron and his House would come to play a pivotal role in the death of the Duke, the ending of Shaddam IV's reign and the accession of Duke Paul "Muad'Dib" Atreides to the Golden Lion Throne in 10193.  Even beyond his death, the Baron would return to manifest himself within Paul's sister, Alia, fuelling the Bene Gesserit fears of Abomination and playing a key role in her demise.  It was said that Alia's fall was the fall of House Harkonnen.