AI Remade Dune Characters EXACTLY as described in the books

Using AI to recreate characters from Frank Herbert's epic science fiction novel Dune by using descriptions from the book.
Image generated by: app.leonardo.ai/?via=screenai
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[@comicsfr8963]

No matter what movie you will watch, what AI you will use. The best image of a character is the one coming from your imagination.

[@adamnesico]

Mu imagination graphics card is terrible.

[@dannyball9844]

Very true. It's never the same when watch a film

[@dannyball9844]

​@@adamnesicosame. It helps to read more. Sometimes it's good to see a film first if you want a reference image. That can ruin what you create in your head though

[@D4rkmatter]

Based.

[@DrWhom]

This is the zoolander edition. And no blue in blue eyes

[@dudermcdudeface3674]

This so-called "AI" obviously needs a lot of work if its response to "elderly woman" is a 35-year-old supermodel.

[@Balinux756]

It knows what we want.

[@chriskenney4234]

Still better than the movie version of Liet-Kynes

[@dudermcdudeface3674]

@@chriskenney4234 Swaps are fine if there's a reason. I did not see a reason.

[@chriskenney4234]

@@dudermcdudeface3674 I agree, i was commenting off the book version description and the movie character. Not even a swap, they basically made a new character and gave her his name.

[@kenknowlton3085]

As for the Emperor, in his daughter's own words, because of a life consuming spice, he looked to be about 35 years, although he was more than twice that age.

[@rafaelalodio5116]

Funny how the AI imagined Baron Harkonem like some Italian dude from New York.

[@Pierfra007]

that’s how Lynch made him

[@leec7519]

Does he have a collared shirt and vest in the book?

[@mobcharacter4061]

It made him into Chris Cristy.

[@ndhickson3599]

He’s a mob boss lol

[@Tsotha]

a dude on my Facebook friendslist described the AI prompt of the Baron as an Irish bus driver

[@shamrock141]

And this is why AI shouldn't be a deciding factor in art. It's impressive in its recreations, but it extremely narrow in its scope. You start to pick up on the trends and habits it has amd realise just how little variation and interpretation there is in AI, no matter the prompt

[@tommo9757]

It's because typically AI works within the 80% part of the facial feature distribution. Given humans look pretty standard anyway (2 eyes of the same color, one mouth, etc) the results are usually fairly similar.

[@davidgill3356]

I was just saying to someone it’s kind of a one trick pony

[@Rajakarta]

1:50 Virginia Madsen (Dune 1984) is the real closer one to the description of Princess Irulan in the book

[@workingmamma5342]

And the actress who plays Jessica, too. However, Timothée really fits the bill as Paul. MacLachlan was not bad, but Timothée has the best look, and acting for that role.

[@elizabethhuber434]

That's what I was thinking, Actually the AI one looks very close to Virginia Madsen.

[@punkiller666]

whenever the useless subject of "what would (in my opinion) the perfect woman look like", I always think of Ms Madsen's Irulan character.

[@albertocabezas282]

@@workingmamma5342 Yes! Her majestic and elegant shape, her beautiful dark bronze hair, those eyes

[@minsapint8007]

I think that the reimagining of the characters in the new films away from their descriptions in the books worked very well indeed, especially all of the Harkonnens.

[@ScreenAI]

In my opinion, they look better in Denis Villeneuve's films than in the previous adaptations.

[@roriksteader]

Except they turned Frank Herbert's self insert into a black woman for some reason

[@undeadvoxel]

⁠@@roriksteaderDoes Dr Kynes was a Herbert’s self insert?

[@roriksteader]

@@undeadvoxel yes

[@joseffranz3872]

​@@roriksteader Easily the worst casting choice. Zendayas Chani is neat but Kynes has a weird vibe in the new movies

[@LaineyBug2020]

Another fun thing about their descriptions in the book: Duke Leto and the Emperor both had Hawkish features and were said to resemble each other (exceptfir their hair, lol). In the original Dune, he never really talks about this in any detail, just a couple throw awaylines about being distaff cousins. But in his extensive backstory notes, in which Brian Herbert claims to get key outline details for his prequels, we learn that Duke Leto's mother was a granddaughter of Emperor Shaddam's Father. Wheels within wheels!

[@user-ce1cu5my4j]

The baron looks like an italian mobster lol

[@tm502010]

In fairness, the Baron in the book is so fat he can’t stand without assistance from technology. I see him more as an overwrought mega version of Nero Wolf…

[@Schwartzbruder1]

He looks like a dork

[@adamnesico]

Thats how i imagined him the books.

[@albertocabezas282]

And lacks all of the malignancy of the character. That AI representation shows a bland, dull and clumpsy guy.

[@phantomninja01]

The Baron is just someone off the cast of The Sopranos.

[@sowhatzproduction898]

Leto is the one they got right and really not change much at all, meanwhile Duncan somehow became a black african man

[@DoktorRotwang]

It's sort of open to interpretation, isn't it, based on the description? Personally, I always pictured Duncan as a ancient Greek sheep herder.

[@itsacityofapes]

The description does say dark skinned.

[@anitagorse9204]

Lady Jessica and Irulan look ok to me.

[@sowhatzproduction898]

You said Only Africa man is a dark skin? how about Indian then?

[@damonvincent2339]

He IS described with dark skin and curly hair. Why does that threaten you?

[@tm502010]

Accurate, except Duncan is not talked about as Black - just thick black hair…

[@Tbac_1047]

We tend to think of AI as not having prejudice but it begins by being programmed by humans with all the faults that entails.

[@rmartinson19]

Well, he is described as "dark-skinned", but that's pretty vague. From Frank Herbert's perspective as a white American, "dark skin" can mean almost anything, from a moderate tan all the way to coal-black. The AI might have gone with black skin not because of pre-programmed prejudice like the other commenter supposed, but from the opposite. From an outsider's perspective on human skin tones, the term "dark skin" would seem to imply "darker than the average", and the average skin tone for humanity is basically medium-to-dark brown. So for the AI, very dark skin makes sense, because that's how far you have to get into the darker skin tones to be very obviously darker than humanity's average.

[@Dularr]

That one was fine. It's fairly close to the old movie trop. Black actors get killed off first.

[@AnonymousAnonposter]

@@rmartinson19 The description of his face and other characteristics do not suggest that he is sub-Saharan, I always imagined him as half Asian or Arab.

[@rmartinson19]

@@AnonymousAnonposter That's fair, but if what was said in the video is what they fed into the AI software, then it's not surprising that it would make some assumptions. I'm not suggesting what the AI came up with is in any way accurate to how the character was described/intended, I'm just saying that it's understandable how the AI reached its conclusions.

[@LaineyBug2020]

So, this is a long post, but I like how the red hair ties everyone back to Xavier Harkonnen and Octa Butler and Selusa Secundus. Octa had the strawberry blonde red hair, which she passed on to their children. Her sister Serena had amber brown hair, which is in the red hair family too. Given that both sisters have different shades of red hair, you can assume that it was present in the general population of Selusa Secundus. After Xavier's supposed betrayal, their children took the name of Butler. 2 of their Grandchildren changed their names again, but we can also assume that those that kept the name of Butler contributed back to the general population of Selusa Secundus. After the Jihad, one of the Butler grandchildren changed their name, in honor of the Battle of Corrin, to House Corrino. He appointed himself Padisha Emperor of the Universe and moved the throne to Kaitain. That's how Shaddam the IV got his red hair. The 2nd grandchild to change their name chose Harkonnen in an attempt to try and exonerate his grandfather, Xavier. He disobeyed an order in battle because he thought he knew better, which almost cost humanity the battle. The Atreides progenitor (who was best friends with Xavier) had him declared a coward and exiled. And that's where the Harkonnens got their stigma and red hair. Thanks to the clever Bene Gesserit breeding program, Jessica, Paul and Alia got their Harkonnen red hair from the Baron Vladimir himself. So, what about Chani? Her father and grandfather both had sandy blonde hair. It sure didn't come from her Fremen heritage. Her grandfather, Pardot Kynes, was born on Salusa Secundus! He most likely had some of that dormant red hair from gen pop floating around in his DNA! So, sorry for the Ted Talk, but I love that you can go down these logic rabbit holes with Dune and most of it all ties into itself! We need so many more people like Frank in today's society!

[@ScreenAI]

Wow. Glad to learn this.

[@LaineyBug2020]

@@ScreenAI lol, I love sharing about Dune.❤🏜 I've been obsessed for the last 20 years when I first saw the SciFi miniseries and fell in love with Frank Herbert and his Duniverse!

[@adamnesico]

I consider Brians books as cheap fanon. The butlerian trilogy is nonsensical. Read them made me distrust long series where authors simply milk the benefits of an IP.

[@daliilars3350]

I wonder which redhead Zendaya is gonna play next time.

[@DoktorRotwang]

I heard she's up for a Lucille Ball biopic. As a maid.

[@cobra8888]

Batgirl most likely.

[@cement_eater]

honestly don't have a problem with her playing gingers. do have a problem with the fact that filmmakers won't just put her in a red wig

[@Gunleaver]

Chani, Stilgar, Liet-Kynes, Paul & Jessica were exactly like I thought from the books. The rest were so far off, I actually preferred the casting. They mostly looked young enough to be the actual characters' children (Baron, Emperor, Reverend Mother), or old enough to be the characters' grandparents (Mapes, Hawat).

[@catkinandteasel]

You are Balenciaga, Paul

[@megatron0115]

Dune: Rabban goes to Hollywood

[@ReviveHF]

You can see Denis took many artistic license but it still works.

[@dontknownothin8210]

Scifi channel got barron harkonnen almost perfect. Even AI agrees.

[@milutinstankovic4638]

Can we see AI Remade The Sandman characters look exactly in the comic books?

[@ScreenAI]

Interesting concept

[@milton1448]

They messed up the Chani and Liet- Kynes characters

[@zerohero6602]

Exactly

[@StardustRabbit-nk3rc]

Helen was an old woman with long grey hair, but she's awesome here tbh Duncan had tanned skin and was supposed to be hispanic, not black Baron had red hair

[@funkoxen]

The casting on the film is much better and not far off the descriptions. Imagine if the AI had actually cast this film and everyone looked exactly the same as each other.

[@DeusExMau5]

I wish Hollywood didn't hate redheads (btw I'm racist)

[@gzzuss]

??? Jessica chestain Emma watson Emma Stone Bryce Dallas Howard Karen Gillian Juliane Moore Nicole Kidman... Julia roberts

[@breakfastburrito3845]

@@gzzussI thought Emma Watson was a brunette?

[@DeusExMau5]

@@gzzuss How could you miss the point of my comment in the context of Chani's character in Dune?

[@gzzuss]

@@DeusExMau5 just because you racist, not mean you are correct, when you make stupid comments There's a lot successful reds in Hollywood, I just cited the ones who came in my mind... Now If Chani was a redhead it would be really out of place in this movie but Hey, I guess immersion and verisimilitude it's not a priority just the skin color in your little mind!

[@DeusExMau5]

@@gzzuss Considering your response, it is clear to me that you are an expert in stupidity.

[@christopherhaines2492]

That AI depiction of Shaddam IV is actually very spot-on. He would've looked like he was in his 30s, not looking like an elderly man as the movies always seem to portray him, even though he was indeed in his 70s in the book.

[@ScreenAI]

Thank you for noticing that.

[@SergioHernandez-le8wp]

AI's version of Chani and Irulan were much better than the movie. That's actually very close to what i imagined while i was reading it. Oscar Isaac's beard is much more majestic than the AI's version

[@ak_04]

I feel like Princess Irulan should've been more slender, conventionally attractive, with feminine face features. AI did quite well

[@vikib1758]

So Irulan is older that her father, because that is what I seeing here

[@rikk319]

The Emperor was a heavy spice user, which slows aging. In the book it said he looked twice as young as he really was.

[@SpartasEdge]

1:15 So basically Emily Blunt then.

[@youngmonkey2504]

I think this is really cool, the cast was amazing in the movies and I liked the changes made but its cool to see things like this!

[@ScreenAI]

Thanks for watching

[@WillMarth-jm8tt]

The changes made by Hollywood really irritate me. I read the books that were already successful before the actors in this version were born. these films will be forgotten. books don't...

[@carolynallisee2463]

OK, I'm not sure what the AI was thinking when it produced its image of Duncan Idaho. The book does make much of the 'black goat hair' but it also says his eyes had an 'epicanthic fold to them. And whilst thought Jason Momoa was too big and muscular, his Hawaiian heritage gives him the correct facial features for the character... unlike the AI's 'effort'!

[@YouHaventSeenMeRight]

The Emperor is also in his 60's in the book, so maybe adding that fact makes his AI generated image look a little closer to what it should be. Now he looks like a main in his twenties.

[@lecamaroni2279]

Yes but it is mentioned that because of his spice consumption he looks like he is 30. Spice increases longevity

[@rikk319]

How can you read how old he is in the book, but not remember the next sentence that said his spice usage made him look 35?

[@Burnedice]

The movie made Harkonnens looks like bald inmate psychos however Paul Atreides has very thick hair who turned out to be a Harkonnen. The movie didn’t portray the Harkonnens well. 10,000 years prior to Dune movie Harkonnens are heroes who fought against the thinking machines.

[@ap8409]

Won’t be long before there will be no need for live/real actors.

[@ScreenAI]

Indeed

[@scotlandtheinsane3359]

​@ScreenAI Indeed, not! Acting isn't just about looks it's about the imagination.. AI follows rules or haven't you even read the Dune series?!

[@thetooginator153]

@@ScreenAI - You might like the book “The Experts Speak”. It’s a collection of predictions by famous “experts” that turned out to be completely wrong. After reading that book, I realized it’s never smart to say that something is “impossible”. Just because a movie with AI characters looks “off” today doesn’t mean that it won’t be flawless in the future.

[@maestromecanico597]

It’s getting to the point there will be no need for studios, writers, etc. Just upload your favorite IP and the machine will decipher and animate it for you. You can then tweak what to leave in or out. Add new scenes. Alter the appearance/voice of characters as to your own interpretation. 100 fans of Dune will come up with 100 versions of the same story. Great for the fans. The end of the studio system.

[@maxhunter3574]

Wish they went with the book versions on some of these

[@steveoh9285]

Rosie O’Donnell as the Baron.

[@frankrobinsjr.1719]

That was the best Gurney Halleck I've ever seen or imagined.

[@ronanscreed]

What about the olive skin?

[@Denz-El]

I really like how Stilgar and Gurney look in this! 🙂

[@thecarnew5334]

I think denis’ choice to make all the different houses or whatever was necessary, or at least easier for people to identify who was who and who they belonged to.

[@alibaba855]

The AI version of Chani looks a million times better and a lot less constipated

[@coosoorlog]

and about 7 years old

[@alexmason8557]

More expressions in this 5 second scene than the whole movie.

[@smoon4195]

It actually sucks, Zendaya is a better Chani

[@alexmason8557]

@@smoon4195 😭😭😭

[@JohnVKaravitis]

I would definitely do the AI version!!!!

[@micahholt9895]

Stilgar looks like he's about to host the Hunger Games.

[@LaineyBug2020]

Lol, the way all AI characters that aren't still pictures keep moving their head like they're trying to see around you without you noticing!

[@tonyfelder1206]

Interesting. I like the real life film versions better. Can someday show the book versions of James Bond and the characters in from The Godfather?

[@GrmDark]

Gothic dune looks wild bruh

[@gutspillage]

Some of these were amazing, others were absurd. I love this AI generator :D

[@lloydmullins6335]

It Guerney H as I always imagined him.

[@pedroarjona6996]

The Baron was supposedly a handsome man when he was young, before a live of hedonism and intrigue, I don't know if I see that in the AI reconstruction. One of the most distinctive facial features of Dr. Yueh was his Suk Imperial Conditioning tattoo, the AI didn't put it in it's image.

[@Sunbeam21]

Vladimir Harkonnen looking like he’s in a stage version of Bugsy Malone

[@Cheesegrater09]

You forgot to add that the characters are years younger like Paul is 16 or 17

[@theworldmayneverknow3876]

hollywood just hates redheads huh

[@hellund2874]

Book Paul: very skinny, oval face, thin disdainful nose, hard expression AI Paul: fit guy with strong neck. square chiseled face, strong nose with broad nostrils, sweetest doe-eyed expression

[@anamariab2956]

The AI recreated some of th characters way to young. The emperor looks younger than his daughter. :)

[@sanjayraju988]

To be honest the AI nailed Gurney! That was exactly how I pictured from the books.

[@DownButNotOutYet]

I guess it got Chani and Liet-Kynes right but it for sure rendered Emperor Shaddam Corinno the fourth spot on.

[@Charge183IF]

I love how Leto just straight up became an ancient greek. 😂

[@elitestarquake3597]

What on Giedi Prime are “cherubic mounds”?

[@cheyopimienta]

The baron on the English TV series was simply perfect, just like in the book

[@phantomninja01]

AI apparently just turned Princess Irulan into Emily Blunt.

[@spookyladyyy5122]

Interesting concepts...

[@ScreenAI]

Thank you

[@josueduque3071]

The harkonnen have hair in the books?

[@n.nasanguanahano818]

Where is the Beast in Rabban?

[@ZeroCiero]

The AI seems to be pulling from images of actors for its model, which kind of defeats the purpose. Interesting idea though

[@Domarius64]

AI is trained to produce "fashion model" results, even if indirectly - and so these characters look like fashion model interpretations of those descriptions, which I doubt is in the spirit of the book in every single case.

[@oddish2253]

The mini series got it closer

[@agesflow6815]

This exhibition is why we need a Butlerian “Endeavor”…NOW!!!

[@Bikewithlove]

Peter Murphy of Bauhaus would make a perfect emperor.

[@StardustRabbit-nk3rc]

no

[@ankedrolshagen4735]

The best thing about books is that everyone creates their own images in their minds. In my mind, Duncan was never a black man. When I first read the books, I loved everything Polynesian, so my beloved Duncan was a tall Hawaiian man with long curly hair.

[@peterhofer8998]

There are some serious inspirations.

[@judsongaiden9878]

These are all pretty good, but the Baron is supposed to be "grotesquely fat" like Jabba the Hutt or Pearl from 'Blade'.

[@pythagoras-hyperboreios]

Love Gurney and Chani. Some environmental context would have been interesting.

[@TheStOne1]

Why is Yueh Assian?

[@AnonymousAnonposter]

For he is described as one in the books.

[@TheSighphiguy]

they ALL look confused and about to cry.

[@ferdijanzen4100]

in the book, the Emperor is 91 years old -- couldn't the AI factor that in, instead of making him a 25 something?

[@_0______00__________0_______0]

Its been awhile since I read the books, but dont they say that despite his age the emperor looks more like a man in his 30s?

[@StardustRabbit-nk3rc]

he looked like he was 35-40 because of spice

[@AnonymousAnonposter]

And yet in the books everyone notices that he looks like someone in their early 30s.

[@KK-45]

So Chani should have actually been played by Sadie sink (Stranger things) or Sophia Illis (IT). But they chose zendaya?🧐

[@gregspencer2654]

They needed Zadaya for the race quotas for the film. All modern films have quotas on race and alphabet people. It just the way it is now. But it's how you get very weird things sometimes.

[@KujoTV]

sorta like this one but yes the age vector seemed to be way off on some of the characters.

[@IkanaMaskedMan]

There is a character left out... The Sandworms.

[@JohnVKaravitis]

1:52 Looks like Riley Gaines!

[@patrickradcliffe3837]

There some choices from Lynches Dune that fit the bill Linda Hunt as Mapes Feeddie Jones as Hawat Max von Sydow as Kynes Francesca Annis as Jessica Although this Paul with Timothee Chalamet is more accurate. The rest are to far off base from the book.

[@andreasmerkel5717]

To be honest, the most descriptions fits way better to the Movie cast than the AI creations and especially the other Movie or the miniseries

[@michaelsnyder3871]

The book has always portrayed Duke Leto and the Emperor Shaddam as two sides of a coin, one dark and one light with red hair. The Atreides had intermarried with the Corrinos frequently and there had even been an Atreides Dynasty. The Duke and the Emperor were, in fact, distant cousins. As far as the Fremen, they had traveled a long way from Earth, even staying on Salusa Secundus at one time. They had gone from Zen-Sunni, ie. Islamic Buddhism, to ancestor and monster worship, very similar to the pre-Muslim Arabic pagan religious beliefs. At the least, their appearance should be a cross between Arab, Berber, Turkic, Afghan, Uighur, Mongolian, Manchu and Japanese. Remember there are other desert peoples throughout the world from Apache to Bedouin to Mongols and Manchus to Bushmen.

[@slotmaster1570]

I think AI did a pretty good job, but it should have been fed with the approximative age of the character.

[@valkyriedd5849]

Nah, Zendaya was a perfect Chani (maybe sea water and sun for a couple of months would have reddened her hair to match the book description). I ❤ Zendaya though so I'm biased, but then I loved Chani when I read the book forty years ago, a true desert rose; fierce, harsh, tough, enduring and incredibly beautiful.

[@LaineyBug2020]

THANKS SO VERY MUCH for giving her the RED hair she deserves! You have NO idea how frustrating it is to be and OCD Dunatic trying to convince other Dune fans that they missed the 1 line description of Chani's hair color! I used to have the page, paragraph and line numbers memorized before digital readers came along! Just a couple nit picks though... Chani did have the darker olive skin tone in the book. Fremen are supposed to be descendants of Middle East/South Asians. She wouldn't have been as dark as the others because of her Grandfather, Pardot, being Caucasian (hence the reddish hair), but she definitely wouldn't be alabaster. Even if she was 100% caucasian she's still a desert creature! Also, if we're going by book description, the eyes should be solid blue with no white and no distinction between sclera and iris. Just Blue and pupils. They also, didn't fluoresce. That's a holdover from Lynch, like the Baron full on floating instead of just having the suspensors support his weight so he could walk better.

[@workingmamma5342]

He hair was not so red as having some streaks of reddish hair.

[@saber58]

This AI missed the mark by a pretty wide margin.

[@ELMAGODAVE79]

The harkonnens had red hair.

[@ScreenAI]

The books don't mention that they have red hair. In fact, it is mentioned that Feyd-Rautha had dark hair.

[@ELMAGODAVE79]

Ah yes.

[@sammihaka2056]

Lady Jessica - Book description: 'A wide, generous mouth.' interesting, please tell me more! 😘

[@joeldelica8706]

You know what they say in the Dune universe about machines in the likeness of the human mind...

[@bojanboskovic8880]

So, Rabban is a mix of William Shatner and Daniel Craig, huh?

[@Ixodes492]

And the Emperor was not an early 20 something. Hair like a spider web translated as a facial tattoo. Other than that pretty cool.

[@vilo_h5541]

So Lagertha as Princess Irulan?

[@kwisatzhaderach3759]

What happend with Liet?🤔

[@ScreenAI]

Gender swapped

[@hyneephali131]

I like to see what AI would do 8f it where a younger Vladimir Harkkonen from the books little is said

[@JT-si6bl]

Gurney AI is my next door neighbour.

[@en--ev]

Why is it literally *always* the ginger that gets race swapped? What does hollywood have against casting people with red hair?

[@Pasan34]

AI default.config: "If skin note not specified, always make it white"

[@2292fa]

That was cool!

[@herbg4866]

Imma butlerian jihad this whole video

[@sarahprice659]

The AI has interesting ideas about aging. 🤨

[@prasaite]

Leto Atrydes very very close.

[@AndreiClarence1992]

What AI is this

[@ScreenAI]

Leonardo AI. You can check the link in description.