Dune at 50: Pop Culture Is Hooked on Spice

Dune in Star Wars
Star Wars is my favorite place to look for Dune references. George Lucas admitted he was inspired by Dune when designing the original trilogy. For me, that turns every Star Wars viewing into a Where’s Waldo? of Dune references. (Oh, like your hobbies are any more impressive!)
One of the most obvious nods is Luke’s homeworld of Tatooine, a big ole desert world, just like Arrakis. Both planets have moisture farms and giant-mawed, sand-dwelling creatures. They are also similarly important to their respective heroes. Neither Paul nor Luke were born on these sandy planets, but it was the desert that made them who they are. Can’t exactly bullseye womp rats on Coruscant, can you?
Then there’s the matter of Jabba the Hutt. Jabba made his first appearance in 1983, two years after God Emperor of Dune was released. Jabba is a large worm/slug creature with arms, hands, and human-like facial characteristics. Leto II, the feared/hated Tyrant, is a large worm/slug creature with arms, hands, and human-like facial characteristics. Add a Duncan ghola wearing a gold bikini and you’ve got yourself a scene from Return of the Jedi!
Take a Star Trek to Caladan
Star Trek writers are careful to stay in-universe, especially when it comes to the television series. That hasn’t prevented a few planet names taking inspiration from places in Dune. The most well-known of these hat-tips is Caldonia, briefly mentioned in an episode of The Next Generation, thought to have been named after Paul’s home world, Caladan. It’s no sarlacc in the sand, but it’s not easy to slip something more overt by the canon police.
The Star Trek books aren’t bound by such strict rules. One of the first Deep Space Nine relaunch titles, Avatar by S.D. Perry, is a bracing adventure that picks up right where the television series left off. The Dune easter egg is tucked away in a mention of a carnivorous species of worms from the planet Harkoum. Apparently those greedy things like to chow down on humanoids dumb enough to walk across the desert. If only there was a way to vary your footsteps to create a rhythmless walk that wouldn’t attract their attention…

The Name of the Dune
Kingkiller Chronicles author Patrick Rothfuss likes to give shout-outs to great works of literature. The books reference The Lord of the Rings a few times, and A Song of Ice and Fire. The nod to Dune can be found in The Name of the Wind: a young girl asks to hear a story about the “dry lands” over Stormwahl, where sand snakes come out of the ground and “dry men” hide under the dunes and drink blood instead of water. Guess that rumor about Fremen drinking the blood of their victims spread a little further than intended.
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