In today’s edition, we’ll talk about my childhood favorites: the Mentats.
MENTAT: that class of Imperial citizens trained for supreme accomplishments of logic. “Human computers.”
Thufir Hawat inner monologuing in the 1984 version of Dune
I found something utterly captivating about people trained to be the smartest person in the room.
They can retain information and data like a computer and run complex probability calculations in the blink of an eye - mind you, they can do all this without the help of Spice.
So, while Earth’s notable lack of Spice prevented me from ever becoming a Kwisatz Haderach or even a prescient Guild Navigator, Herbert assured my 13-year-old self that all I needed to become a Mentat was the right training.
Because Mentats didn’t need Spice to be Mentats.(Yes, Piter de Vries certainly developed a well-documented taste for it, but that was… more of a personal choice than a professional one.)
In Paul Atreides’ time, most Mentats preferred sapho juice - a potent stimulant extracted from barrier roots of the planet Ecaz that stained their lips ruby red.
“It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning.”
Piter de Vries and his sapho juice in the 1984 version of Dune
Sapho juice helps boost mental acuity, but it’s more like coffee for the super-brain than an absolute necessity. This is underlined by the fact that the later books never once mention it.
Speaking of later books, in this article, I’ll cover everything the original six Frank Herbert books tell us about Mentats.
This time around, I’m sticking exclusively to core canon. No Encyclopedia additions and none of the expanded universe stories - just the good stuff, straight from the source.
SPOILER WARNING: CONTENT FROM THE ORIGINAL 6 BOOKS
So, let’s start at the beginning:
What Are Mentats?
As Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam explains to Paul:
“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.”
[…]
“The Great Revolt took away a crutch,” she said. “It forced human minds to develop. Schools were started to train human talents.”
Mentats aren’t just savants with a knack for arithmetic. They’re humans whose minds have been systematically rewired from infancy to process information like machines - even better.
Discount Gargamel is cosplaying as the Harkonnen Mentat in the real-time strategy video game Dune II (1992)
They store and cross-reference data, analyze probabilities, and spot patterns that would remain invisible to normal human perception.
Think of them as walking quantum computers with a personality... and occasionally, a spice addiction that would make a Guild Navigator blush.
And speaking of personalities, contrary to what many might imagine a “human computer” to be like, mentats aren’t emotionless robots in human skin.
Thufir Hawat’s loyalty to House Atreides runs bone-deep.
Piter de Vries was intentionally made to be a “twisted” mentat.
Duncan Idaho retains his passions across multiple ghola incarnations.
Miles Teg’s moral compass never wavers despite his computational abilities.
And Bellonda is as opinionated as she’s loyal.
They feel everything we do - they’ve just learned to put those feelings in a mental lockbox while they’re busy computing.
Gimli himself will advise you on strategy if you choose to play as the Atreides in the RTS video game Dune 2000
🔒 In the full article: (3922 words | ~15.5 mins to read)
The in-universe origins of Mentats
Physical characteristics
Mentat training methods
The Mentat state of mind
Limitations and vulnerabilities
Mentat philosophy and wisdom from the Mentat Handbook
Why Leto II banned Mentats
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