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In Dune, Are the Guild Navigators non-humanoid?


I finished the first book recently, and am watching the movie. It threw me that the navigators look like they do in the movie.


I don't remember them being non-humanoid, and if they were I missed it.


So, in the novels, are they? And if so, where is it first mentioned? Please avoid spoilers.




Answer



The appearance from the movie (assuming you are talking about the David Lynch version; I haven't seen the others) is not inconsistent with the books.



They are human, or, rather, they were. But they don't look it now, and you would be hard pressed to prove it to anyone who didn't know their history. Keep reading, it's explained in the later books.



As far as I can tell, it's only alluded to in Dune (Paul mentions his intent to spot a Navigator, only to be scolded by Leto); but in Dune Messiah, it's made quite clear.


In Dune:



“I’m going to watch our screens and try to see a Guildsman.”


“You won’t. Not even their agents ever see a Guildsman. The Guild’s as jealous of its privacy as it is of its monopoly. Don’t do anything to endanger our shipping privileges, Paul.”




Then, in Dune Messiah, right at the beginning:



Scytale looked at the Guild envoy. Edric swam in a container of orange gas only a few paces away. His container sat in the center of the transparent dome which the Bene Gesserit had built for this meeting. The Guildsman was an elongated figure, vaguely humanoid with finned feet and hugely fanned membranous hands—a fish in a strange sea. His tank’s vents emitted a pale orange cloud rich with the smell of the geriatric spice, melange.



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