Serena Butler
| Serena Butler | |
|---|---|
| Dune character | |
| First appearance | Dune: The Butlerian Jihad (2002) |
| Last appearance | Dune: The Machine Crusade (2004) |
| Created by |
Brian Herbert Kevin J. Anderson |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Saint Serena |
| Occupation | Priestess of the Jihad |
| Affiliation | Army of the Jihad League of Nobles |
| Spouse(s) | Xavier Harkonnen |
| Children | Manion Butler |
| Relatives |
|
Serena Butler is a fictional character in the Legends of Dune trilogy of novels (2002–2004) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. The series is set during the Butlerian Jihad, the war against thinking machines only vaguely referred to in Frank Herbert's original Dune series (1965–1985).
A beautiful and ambitious woman, Serena Butler (b. 221 B.G.) and her murdered baby Manion Butler inspired the Butlerian Jihad, and became its namesakes in Dune: The Butlerian Jihad.
Serena, the daughter of League of Nobles Viceroy Manion Butler and his wife Livia, was a strong voice for the human rebellion at a young age. She was romantically involved with Xavier Harkonnen, who led the military force on the League capital world of Salusa Secundus. As the story began, Xavier was repelling an attack on the planet by Omnius' army of cymeks, fearsome weaponized machines controlled by disembodied human brains.
In 203 B.G., Serena was captured by the machines and put under the watch of Erasmus, an independent robot on Synchronized Earth who sought to understand humans completely so that the thinking machines could be truly superior. Unfortunately, his methods of study often entailed human vivisection and torture. Erasmus took a liking to Serena, as did the young Vorian Atreides, a human trustee working for the machines. Serena realized she was pregnant with Xavier's child, and later gave birth to a baby boy whom she named Manion (after her father). Erasmus eventually found this distraction inconvenient; he not only removed Serena's uterus, but killed her young son in front of her and his slaves by dropping the child from a high balcony.
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