Leto believes that he must face the same test.Īt the same time, the Imperium created by Paul is ruled by his sister Alia Atreides as regent. At the end of Dune Messiah, Paul had forsaken that responsibility by walking into the desert - his time as the Fremen messiah had shown him that he was not strong enough to be messiah/tyrant to the universe. At the start of the novel, Leto is not prescient to the degree that his father Paul had been, but he senses the test his father had faced - to embrace a prescient vision of the universe is to set the universe on that path, a terrible responsibility that comes with terrible power. Because of the melange ingested by their mother, which causes unusual effects for the Atreides bloodline, the twins are ' pre-born', meaning that as fetuses they had been awakened to consciousness and to their genetic memories they had been born as fully matured human beings in the bodies of infants. In Children of Dune, Leto and Ghanima are nine years old.

Paul suddenly finds that he is able to see through the eyes of the infant Leto, allowing him to aim and throw a crysknife that kills Scytale. Blinded by the blast of a nuclear weapon called a stone burner, Paul is at a disadvantage when the Tleilaxu Face Dancer Scytale holds a knife over the newborns and threatens their death if Paul does not surrender his Empire to the Tleilaxu. Leto is portrayed by James McAvoy in the 2003 miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune.Ĭhani dies giving birth to Leto and his twin sister Ghanima near the end of Dune Messiah. Leto II is the second child of Paul to bear that name, the first having been killed as an infant by the Emperor's Sardaukar in Dune. Leto is named for his paternal grandfather Duke Leto I Atreides, who is killed in the Harkonnen invasion of the desert planet Arrakis (Dune) during the events of Dune (1965). Leto is the son of Paul Atreides and his Fremen concubine Chani, and the twin brother of Ghanima. Leto also appears as a child in the prequel The Winds of Dune (2009). Anderson sequels which conclude the original series, Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007). The character is brought back as a ghola in the Brian Herbert/ Kevin J. Born at the end of Dune Messiah (1969), Leto is a central character in Children of Dune (1976) and is the title character of God Emperor of Dune (1981).

Leto II Atreides ( / ˈ l eɪ t oʊ ə ˈ t r eɪ ɪ d iː z/) is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.

James McAvoy portrays Leto II in the Children of Dune miniseries (2003).

Frank herbert god emperor of dune