The Atreides family rules over the planet Caladan. House Atreides is one of several important and influential houses that rule the universe under the control of the Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV. Duke Leto Atreides is the head of House Atreides. His concubine Lady Jessica has given him a son named Paul. Lady Jessica is a member of the Bene Gesserit, a secretive intergalactic sisterhood whose members are trained in physical and mental conditioning that grants them near superhuman abilities.

When Paul is a teenager, he dreams about a desert planet. Lady Jessica comes to him just before dawn and informs him that he must meet with the head of the Bene Gesserit, the Reverend Mother Mohiam. Paul is taken into a room where the Reverend Mother holds a poisoned needle called the gom jabbar to his neck and instructs him to place his hand in a mysterious box. She believes that Paul may be the Kwisatz Haderach, a messianic figure who is destined to bring enormous change to the universe. To test Paul’s abilities, the box inflicts an intolerable pain on whoever’s hand is inside. If Paul flinches, the gom jabbar will kill him instantly.