Pop Culture References of Wizard101: Mirage – Sister Iroolan

Sister Iroolan – Princess Irulan
https://wiki.wizard101central.com/wiki/NPC:Sister_Iroolan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(franchise)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Irulan

Sister Iroolan

Sister Iroolan is a House Tabbi Binny Jezzerit. She seems to be second in command of the Binny Jezzerit order.

Dune, also known as the Dune Chronicles, is an American science fiction media franchise that originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert and has continued to add new publications. Dune is frequently described as the best-selling science fiction novel in history. It won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel and the Hugo Award in 1966, and was later adapted into a 1984 film, a 2000 television miniseries, and a 2021 film. Herbert wrote five sequels, the first two of which were concomitantly adapted as a 2003 miniseries. Dune has also inspired tabletop games and a series of video games.

The Dune Saga

The Dune saga is set thousands of years in humanity’s future. Faster-than-light travel has been developed, and humans have colonized a vast number of worlds. However, a great reaction against computers has resulted in a ban on any kind of “thinking machine”, with the creation or possession of such punishable by immediate death. Despite this prohibition, humanity continues to develop and advance other branches of technology, including ESP and instruments of war. At the time of the first book’s setting, humanity has formed a feudal interstellar empire known as the Imperium, run by several Great Houses that oversee various planets. Of key interest is the planet Arrakis, known as “Dune”. A desert planet with nearly no precipitation, it is the only planet where a special life-extending drug, melange or “the spice”, can be found. In addition to life extension, melange enhances the mental capacity of humans: it allows for the mutated Spacing Guild pilots to navigate folded space and travel the distances between planets; and triggers some of the powers of the Bene Gesserit, a religious group that secretly seeks to control the direction humanity takes. Melange is difficult to acquire, not only due to the harsh environment of Arrakis, but also the presence of giant sandworms that are drawn towards any rhythmic sounds on the sands of the desert. Control of Arrakis, its spice production, and the impact on humanity’s development become the centerpoints of a millennia-long conflict that develops through the series.

Pincess Irulan as portrayed by Virginia Madsen in Dune (1984)

Princess Irulan is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. She first appears in Dune (1965), and is later featured in Dune Messiah (1969) and Children of Dune (1976). The character’s birth and early childhood are touched upon in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999–2001) by Herbert’s son Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson, and she is a principal character in the Herbert/Anderson series Heroes of Dune (2008–2009).

The character of Irulan serves as a de facto narrator in Dune, with excerpts of her later writings used as epigraphs before each chapter of the novel. Within the storyline, Irulan is established as the eldest daughter of the 81st Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV and Anirul, a Bene Gesserit of Hidden Rank, and has four younger sisters and no brothers. In Dune, the character appears in person only near the end of the novel, but continues as a regular character in the sequels Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. Epigraphs attributed to Irulan also appear—to a much lesser extent—in these subsequent novels, and others in the extended series.

Irulan is portrayed by Virginia Madsen in the 1984 film Dune, and by Julie Cox in the 2000 TV miniseries Frank Herbert’s Dune and its 2003 sequel, Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune. The character will be played by Florence Pugh in the upcoming 2024 film Dune: Part Two.

The current list of all the (known) Mirage references can be found here.

Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references but I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.

Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages

Sister Iroolan image is from Wizard101, and is copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment

Covers of the various Dune novels are copyright Chilton Publishing

Viriginia Madsen as Princess Irulan image is copyright Universal Pictures

Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.

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