House Ordos is an insidious, mercantile House in the Dune universe as presented in the Westwood Studios games. This House only appeared in the Dune Encyclopedia and is never mentioned in the actual novels.

History of the Insidious Ordos

In the Dune games series the Ordos house plays the most greedy and selfish house in the Dune universe, their only purpose is to harvest as much spice as they can and to destroy anything that stands between them and the most valuable source in the entire universe. Their origins are narrated in the game as being an establishment of several wealthy families or 'cartels' who hired expensive but disloyal mercenaries to fight for the House. Their Mentats have often been reported to silently disappear under mysterious circumstances although the player can guess as to their possible fate. The House faces stiff competition for the spice in Arrakis but can still pose a threat.

Since House Ordos was mostly a creation of Westwood, they have evolved over the course of the three Dune computer games. Dune II featured them as a reclusive merchant house that dealt heavily in exotic weapons and trade. They were a sort of middle path between the noble Atreides and the evil Harkonnen. In Dune 2000, they became more mercenary; their soldiers had neither the love of their leaders (like the Atreides had), and they didn't really fear them (like the Harkonnen). They were, however, quite greedy, and driven primarily by profit. Emperor: Battle for Dune shows a much more different look at the Ordos; their soldiers are very nearly machines in the sense that they show no emotion and are driven purely by the desire to dominate. Loyalty and honor are meaningless to them, but their language has over 300 different terms for the concept of profit. Ordos leaders became increasingly mechanical over the course of the games as well, the end result being the Executrix council; four humans (possibly mentats) linked up to a single creature called the Speaker.

Dune II/Dune 2000 History

Planet Information

The home planet of the Ordos is a frigid ice-covered world. It is believed that the Ordos import their agricultural and technological goods from nearby star systems. Acting as traders and brokers, the Ordos produce no physical products but instead rely upon their merchandising skills to make their profits.

House Profile

The Ordos are represented by a group of wealthy families who banded together for greater security. The Ordos have little conscience and seem to gain strength through their sabotage and terrorism. They are protected by their great wealth and their status as a great House is unaffected by their long history of deception.

The Mentat Ammon is in charge of the Ordos operations on Dune. This is the first we have seen of the Ordos as they are not mentioned in the Dune books by Frank Herbert.

Emperor: Battle For Dune History

House Ordos

These aristocrats of the universe are shrouded in mystery and speculation -- which is just how the statesmen of Ordos want to keep it. Run by a secretive cartel of the rich and powerful who specialize in trade and smuggling, House Ordos has no identifiable leader. Even the citizens on this ice-coated, remote planet have little grasp on who controls their fate.

What is known, however, is that the reclusive elite of Ordos has at its disposal radical new technologies that it hopes will put all of Arrakis in its hands. Buying illegal armaments from the House of Ix, the Ordos equips it troops with high-tech weaponry that puts the Harkonnen and Atreides technology to shame. However, money can't buy loyalty: Ordos troops desert with alarming frequency, and, despite its wealth, the Ordos' military strength is shaky at best.

Sigma Draconis

This far-flung planet is icy and inhospitable, but that hasn't daunted House Ordos in its mission of creating a vastly wealthy empire based on trade and smuggling. In fact, the remoteness of Sigma Draconis serves them well, for it aids in the keeping of secrets -- a specialty of the Ordos.

Ordos Main Characters

The Ordos Executrix Council

Four beings with one supermind -- aside from that, little is known of The Council, the mysterious entity that rules the icy planet Draconis 4 with all the efficiency of a computer and all the casual brutality of a dictator. With shields blocking their withered faces, the four beings are neurally networked into a single mind to maximize the efficiency of their plans to rule Arrakis and turn a nice profit. All verbal contact is performed through a hideous Speaker, pictured here.

In Emperor: Alliances, it is revealed that the Speaker is an extremely powerful superweapon that can obliterate entire armies with surging electrical energy.

Ordos Mentat Roma Atani

A human interpreter of the barely-human Ordos Executrix Council, Roma Atani briefs new Ordos generals on the state of the war on Arrakis. Cool and impassive, Atani is not one given to praise or criticism. Like a classic Ordos, her mind is a binary one: either the general fulfills the battle plan or does not. Besides, if the new general does not perform with maximum efficiency, criticism is moot. The Ordos have designed exquisite tortures to express their disapproval.

In Emperor: Alliances, the Executrix reveals that Roma Atani is one of the "twisted mentats" created by the Tleilaxu; she subsequently betrays the Ordos to the Dark Alliance on the Bene Tleilaxu homeworld of Tleilax (which is then destroyed by atomics).

Infamous Ordos Units

The most well known Ordos units include:

Ordos Deviator

Usually takes the place in the Ordos' tech tree for missile launcher vehicles, the Deviator fires a gas that causes the target to turncoat and join the Ordos. "Loyalty is an illusion"

"The deviator fires rockets loaded with an Ixian-developed gas with the capability to effectively alter vehicles’ allegiance by confusing their data receivers to accept transmissions of a certain frequency. The platform itself is of Ordos design, and uses Holtzmann suspensors, making it fast and mobile."

"A hover vehicle, the deviator fires rockets containing a gas which temporarily changes the allegiance of any vehicle, allowing it to be used against its former owners. The deviator carries energy shields that absorb initial damage. Once these are down, it is vulnerable. If damaged, it must retreat and let its health and shields recharge. All the Ordos hover vehicles may cross dustbowls but cannot run infantry down."

Ordos Saboteur

Originally was the Ordos superweapon, opposite the Atreidies Fremen and the Harkonnen Death Hand. Emperor has the Saboteur as a standard soldier. They carry explosives that they use to detonate themselves in an effective suicide attack.

"The Saboteur is a special military unit belonging to Ordos. Trained in the art of espionage and terrorism at the Palace, a single Saboteur can destroy almost any structure or vehicle."

"Saboteurs are conditioned to absolute loyalty to House Ordos. Massive charges are strapped to their body. Their only wish is to detonate themselves amongst the enemy. When fatally wounded, their programming insists their final act is to pull the pin on the charges."

Allies of the Insidious Ordos

House Ix

"These fascist arms dealers have access to terrifying technologies -- and they're happy to pass them along if the price is right. And with Arrakis at the center of an intergalactic struggle, the ambitious Ix only stand to profit. But the wealth isn't exactly shared among the people: a virtual slave culture, the Ix are ruled by an echelon of scientists and technocrats, while the masses toil in the factories and labs and that are the lifeblood of House Ix. Never wishing to soil themselves with actual battle, the Ix feel they are well above the clash over Dune -- but not above profiting from it.

Loathed by many houses such as the Fremen and the Sardaukar for seeming effeminate and overly delicate, the Ix look down on most of their clients as little more than brutes and primitives."

Ixian Projector Tank

"When you target another unit with the projector, you will create a holographic replica of that unit. It is under your control, but has no offensive ability and can be revealed by shooting at it. After a time, the replica will blink out of existence."

Ixian Infiltrator

"The Ixian infiltrator is a floating drone which carries a stealth generator. Stationary or edging slowly forward, it is undetectable. When it reaches its target, it unstealths and detonates the small charge inside it. As well as damaging any unit next to it, the detonation sends out a pulse that reveals any stealthed unit in the surrounding area."

Bene Tleilaxu

"Calling themselves the Bene Tleilax, the leaders of this house are religious zealots who preach ceaselessly about the evils of machines. Thus the technology of House Tleilaxu exalts the primacy of organic life through cloning and re-animating the dead. The House's technologies are as twisted as its religious belief in an imminent holy war that will cleanse the universe of machines.

They are despised by their rivals for different reasons: the Ix hate them as business rivals, the Sardaukar loathe them for defiling their tombs, the Fremen are disgusted with their gruesome technology. But the Tleilaxu, having allied with The Guild, know that the coming Jihad will prove them right."

Tleilaxu Leech

"A creature modified and bred by the Tleilaxu. Extremely fast, it spits a primitive larva at its target. If the target is a vehicle, the larvae will attach itself and start to feed off the structure and contents of the vehicle, burrowing through to try and reach the crew and power source. If it manages to reach these, the unit is destroyed and the larvae begins the next stage of its life, hatching into another leech. Only gunfire or a repair vehicle can remove a leech once it has attached it self to a host."

Tleilaxu Contaminator

"Shambling creatures grown by the Tleilaxu. Immune to pain from wounds, these creatures carry no weapons. Instead they seek to infect other infantry units, taking over their tissues and reforming them to create another contaminator. A single touch from a contaminator is enough to pass on the infection, which usually takes effect immediately."

See also

• Bene Tleilaxu
• Evil Harkonnen
• Fremen
• Guild of Navigators
• House Ix
• Imperial Sardukar
• Noble Atreides