Summary

• Despite Chani's small role in the first Dune movie, Part Two reveals her significance in the story and future of the galaxy.
• The film adaptation changes key aspects of Chani's character and relationship with Paul that are explored further in the books.
• Chani's story in the Dune books reveals her powerful skills, tragic fate, and potential for a happier ending after thousands of years.

Though Zendaya's role as Chani in Dune might have been small in the first movie, Dune: Part Two saw the character become a huge part of the story. Readers of the books by Frank Herbert were likely not surprised by the expanded role in the sequel as they know that Chani plays a significant role in not just the tale of Paul Atreides, but the entire future of the galaxy for thousands of years after. However, even with the character being explored further in Dune: Part Two, there are aspects of Chani that only book readers will know.

With director Denis Villeneuve splitting the first book into two parts, there are key characters in Dune who have limited or non-existent roles in the first movie only to become more important in the sequel. Chani is mostly teased in the first movie through Paul's dreams in Dune but there is far more to her character than simply being the love interest that Paul has seen in his visions. Whether there are things not yet explored about Chani in the movies or things changed for the adaptation, there is a lot more the Dune books reveal about the character.

1 Chani Is Not The Narrator In The Books

The Book's Narrator Is Absent In The First Movie

The first Dune movie opens with a stark change from the books. Chani is the narrator, even though she appears in roughly seven minutes of the entire movie. Book readers know that the novel is essentially narrated by Princess Irulan, the eventual wife of Paul Atreides and the daughter of Emperor Shaddam. However, this character is not introduced until Dune: Part Two with Florence Pugh cast in the role.

Irulan narrates the book through snippets from her journals and observations that provide context from the future of the book on its present events. However, changing this to have Chani be the narrator allows her a way to have a presence in the movie despite her limited screen time. Perhaps as a nod to the book, Dune: Part Two includes Irulan's narration to open the movie.

2 In The Books, Liet Kynes Is Her Father

The Movie Changed The Gender Of The Character While Ignoring Her Key Connection

There are several significant changes the Dune movies made to the books, but the first movie changed a key character who has a strong connection to Chani. In the book, Liet Kynes is a half-Fremen Imperial Planetologist who marries a Fremen woman. Liet Kynes serves as an advisor to House Atreides as well as a link to the Emperor, a tenuous political tightrope that ultimately leads to their death in the book and movie.

He is also the father of Chani but the first movie changed the character to be portrayed as a woman. While it is possible the intention was to have Kynes by Chani's mother, neither Dune movie refers to this familial connection.

3 Chani Helps Paul Win The Duel

Chani In The Movie Is Sure Paul Will Die

Both Dune films end with Paul fighting in a duel to the death, but it is the first Dune movie that shows Paul's first kill. After being challenged by a Fremen looking to gain power, Paul is forced to kill Jamis in a knife fight. However, Chani's role in the fight is much different than in the books.

In the movie, Chani offers Paul her knife but is very open about the fact that she does not think he can defeat Jamis. However, in the book, she gives him advice on how to win. Her counseling Paul plays into their eventual relationship in the books, with a mutual trust that builds over time and leads to their exchanging ideas and experiences that make them both stronger. However, the movie seems to lean more into her mistrust of outsiders.

4 Chani Eventually Becomes Paul's Concubine

Dune 2 Suggests Their Relationship Is Doomed

Paul's visions of Chani come true in the movie, in a way. As is the case in the books, the two eventually become lovers and Chani becomes his concubine. She is at his side through his ascension to the role of Muad'Dib among the Fremen and the defeat of the Harkonnens on Arrakis. She remains his lover when he becomes Emperor in later books. While this may happen in the planned third Dune movie since Paul plans to marry Irulan, the end of Dune: Part Two shows their relationship fractured and Chani leaving.

5 Chani Does Not Become Paul's Wife

Will Chani Remain At Paul's Side In The Movies?

Despite the clear attraction between Paul and Chani in the movie as well as her prominence in his visions, she does not become his wife in the books. Like with his parents, Duke Leto and Lady Jessica, this arrangement is purely political, as it allows Paul to marry Princess Irulan and secure his power in the galaxy. Chani never loses her place in Paul's heart despite this arrangement, though she takes some convincing. Both Paul and Lady Jessica lobby her to accept it, with Jessica's experience being a key factor.

6 There's A Discrepancy In Chani's Birth Date

The Dune Books Feature Several Timeline Inconsistencies

Dune is a movie set in the far-distant future, thousands of years from the present. Book readers know dates are plentiful in the text and quite important, which has led to a major discrepancy in Chani's birthdate. In the Dune novels written by Frank Herbert, Chani's birth year was given as 10,178.

Her birth year was different in the Prelude to Dune prequel novels written by Herbert's son Brian Herbert and author Kevin J, Anderson. She is said to be born in 10,174. The movies don't get into such details which saves them from making similar errors in the continuity.

7 Chani Dies And Is Resurrected

The Books Contain A Strange Future For Chani

Chani's life is in many ways tragic. In the books, she dies in childbirth giving birth to her and Paul's twins, Leto II and Ghanima. Though she has a chance to come back to life as a ghola, a clone essentially, Paul declines this and prefers to respect her life as it was. That's not the end for Chani, however. A ghola of Chani ultimately does manifest in the 2006 sequel Hunters Of Dune, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J, Anderson. She returns along with Paul to help defeat a new generation of highly advanced machines.

8 Chani Gets A Happy Ending

Paul And Chani Find Peace After Thousands Of Years

Despite the unusual and sometimes tragic nature of her life, Chani does get a semblance of a happy ending. In the Sandworms Of Dune sequel novel from 2007, set five thousand years after the events of the first book in the series, gholas of Paul and Chani are reunited in life. They return to Arrakis and begin to restore the Fremen to their original way of life.

The two fall in love again and oversee a peaceful and somewhat idyllic reversion to nature on Arrakis. For Paul and Chani, it's a kind of happily ever after the original versions didn't get. However, it seems unlikely this will ever occur in Denis Villeneuve's movies. If the third Dune movie is made, the story seems to be setting up a much more tragic end for Paul and Chani.

9 Chani Is Powerful Due To The Weirding Way & Use Of The Voice

Chani's Skills Become More Advanced Over Time

Book readers know that Chani is one of the most powerful characters in the Dune books thanks to the Weirding Way. Though not as explicitly discussed in the movies, the Weirding Way is the Fremen term for the Bene Gesserit martial art known as prana-bindu. Already a skilled warrior among the Fremen, Chani becomes even more powerful after being trained in the Weirding Way by Paul and Lady Jessica. She is able to use The Voice as he does in battle, contributing to the ultimate defeat of the Harkonnens.

10 Chani's Ghost Possesses Her Child

Chani Learns About Controversial Bene Gesserit Trick

Other Memory is a powerful ability of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, and the bloodline of Paul Atreides, who inherited it from his mother Lady Jessica. This genetic memory of ancestors allowed the spirit of Chani to effectively possess the body of her daughter Ghanima when she is an adult. This spiritual takeover is known in the books as Abomination. Chani only relents when Paul himself returns through the body of their son, Leto II. Chani then becomes a guardian of sorts for her daughter, protecting her from potential takeovers by other ancient spirits.