Who's more evil and sadistic?

[PlagueJester]

I'm reading through Dune: House Atreides now. Through this, I'm getting more information on some background characters, and I was wondering who you guys thought was more evil and why. If you could avoid any plot spoilers, that would be even more excellent.

[ErasOmnius]

Please, take it from someone who lost 12 years of their life defending and cataloging 'those books' by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. Burn 'House Atreides' it if you bought it, take it back to the library or your friend if you borrowed it.

Then read the 6 books by Frank Herbert, or re-read them if you already have read them before.

[Dante]

'Evil' is a subjective term, so I'm hesitant to use it, but 'sadistic' has a clear definition: someone who enjoys the suffering of others. Fenring isn't sadistic, de Vries is practically the archetype of a sadist, but the most sadistic character in Dune is probably Rabban. The only reason de Vries could be 'worse' is because Rabban is essentially a thug while de Vries has the brainpower to evaluate just how to cause the most suffering. Mind you, I've forgotten nearly everything about the prequels, so it's possible that you're considering details which I am not (and do not plan to). I'll put the next part in spoiler tags in case you haven't read Dune, but if you have then there's nothing you won't already know.

If you recall, the Baron actually planned to have Piter rule Arrakis in order to inflict him upon the people, so that when Feyd was ready to assume command he would be seen as a popular saviour rather than another tyrant. In the event, however, Piter was killed and the Baron used Rabban instead.

[PlagueJester]

I'm actually liking this book quite a bit. So far, the only book from the series I've liked more is the first Dune book. The rest were just 'okay.' And I left Rabban out of the voting because he has absolutely no intelligence, so I always figured him like a rabid dog. Not really evil, just bad.

And, I had forgotten about that bit in the original Dune. That does say a bit about Piter.

[Anathema]

Fenring was quite a different character in the original novels, compared to how he's portrayed in the prequels. In the original novels he wasn't evil at all, at least now how I understand the term. He could be a murderer if necessary, but not because he liked the act, but out of loyalty to his Emperor. And in the end, he refused to kill Paul because he respected him and they felt an almost "brotherly" bond to eachother.

I do not remember much of Rabban from the prequels; and he wasn't mentioned very often in the original novel. I've always pictured him as someone with no conscience (and little intelligence), someone who wouldn't hesitate to harm for trivial reasons, but not for sadistic pleasure. This contrasts with the Baron, who always has rational reasons for the suffering he causes.

Piter de Vries, on the other hand, is one of the most evil sadists I've ever encountered in a written book.