Stilgar (2000)

Stilgar was a secondary protagonist in the 2000 television miniseries Dune and its 2003 sequel Children of Dune. Stilgar was the naib (leader) of Fremen community Sietch Tabr.

He was portrayed by Uwe Ochsenknecht in the 2000 miniseries Dune and by Steven Berkoff in the 2003 miniseries.

Growing up on the planet Arrakis, Stilgar was a formidable Freman warrior who would eventually become the leader of the local Freman community. Stilgar encountered the young Paul Atreides and his mother, the Lady Jessica. Jessica convinced the Freman leader to grant them sanctuary. Paul requested that he be called Paul Muad'Dib, and was welcomed by Stilgar and the others into the tribe.

Over the next two years Stilgar served as Paul's right hand as the Atreides and Freman brought the production of the spice melange to a standstill on Arrakis. During this time Stilgar feared that the day was coming when Paul would have to obey Freman tradition and the two would have to engage in a duel to the death to determine who would be leader of the Freman. After Paul successfully took the water of life, he declared that he would not follow that particular tradition since it would be depriving himself of the best Freman leaders.

Stilgar helped Paul plan and carry out the attack on the Harkonnen and Imperial forces in the capital, and was there when the Emperor was forced to surrender to Paul after Paul killed Feyd Rathua-Harkonnen. He would become General to the new Emperor Atreides afterwards.

Many years later Stilgar allied with the Lady Jessica and Paul's children to oppose Alia Atreides, who had become possessed by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's spirit. After Alia's death Stilgar returned to the deserts of Dune, determined to live out his days as a traditional Freman.