Luke Skywalker and Paul Atreides: Two very similar characters, two different works of sci-fi. Luke lives on a Desert planet with two Suns. Paul lives on a desert planet with two moons. Luke's adopted parents die on a desert planet. Paul.s father dies on a desert planet. Luke begins to discover his powers on this planet. Paul begins to discover his powers on this planet. Both are the sons of powerful, important men. Both are biologically linked to the "bad guy" of their respective series.. Both are thought to be the chosen ones. Both share very similar powers. Both are great pilots. Both fight with "swords". Both fall in love with a mystery girl they do not know before they meet her. Both rebel against the current rulers of the universe. Both win.
I don't know about this one. Espiecally that last part. "Both win" duh. They're both heroes. It should maybe be noted that Luke started of in a low-born rank in a society in the galaxy's armpit and later
joined the rebellion. Paul, on the other hand, was only a handful of deaths/assinations away from being the heir to the empired, his planet was the Jewel in the empires crown and
started the rebellion and eventually became master of the universe. Yes they both have a "mystical power" but don't a lot of heroes out there?
Han Solo and Duncan Idaho/Stilgar: Duncan and Han are both the good "bad boys" of their respected series.. Both are best friends to Luke and Paul. Both are great pilots. Both are ladies men. Both look similar. Han Solo helps teach Luke how to survive in the big bad universe run by the emperor. Stilgar helps teach Paul how to survive in the big bad planet run by the Baron. All three are people Luke and Paul look up to.
I don't know about this one either. Han Solo was more of a vagabound mercanary then a mentor for Luke. I don't really think Luke 'looked up to him' either. In the second movie there was more cammradie between them, but I think they veiwed eachother more as equals. The connection between Han and Duncan being ladies men is valid though.
Obi-wan Kenobi and Gurney Halleck/Stilgar: While having little screen time in Star Wars, Obi-wan correlates to two characters in Dune. Gurney Halleck is Paul's mentor, Obi-wan is Luke.s. Obi-wan is Luke's first teacher, Gurney and Stilgar are Paul.s teachers. Obi-wan, although dead, continues to help/teach/advise Luke throughout the movies. Gurney, thought to be dead, returns to do the same with Paul after he learns that Paul is still alive. Stilgar becomes Paul's teacher after he fleas to the Desert. Both Obi-wan and Stilgar save their young charges in the desert before taking them under their protection. Both had been watching Paul/Luke before this event. Both had met Paul/Luke before this event. Both were known to Paul/Luke's parents. All three are expert fighters. All three will do anything for their young charges, including die.
This connection I think is probably more valid than the two previous. Espiecally when it comes to Obi-wan and Stilgar. They where both "the mystery man out of the desert" who eventually become the hero's teachers.
Yoda and Thufir Hawat: Both, in there prime, were the best fighters around. Both had great mental abilities. Both were major influences in the hero's life. The hero in both actually witnesses the deaths of both. Both are older, grandfatherly-like teachers. Both taught the hero's other teacher as well.
I'll have to re-read
Dune one of these days, but I think this one makes sense.
Owen and Duke Leto Atreides: Both are the "fathers" of the main characters. Both are very much in love with their wives. Both are very protective of there children. Both only have one son as a child. Both are killed by the enemy early on in there respective works.
I think I disagree with this one for similair reasons I disagree with the Luke/Paul connection. Espiecally since Leto was such a huge influence in Paul's life, whereas Owen was someone who was more intent on guiding Luke on the path of a humble mostiure farmer. They did both die at the hands of the enemy, but Leto's death had a lot more histroy to it and involved major players in the story, whereas the death of Owen and Beru was just an incidental whacking.
Leia and Chani/Irulan/Alia: Leia and Chani are both strong women characters who are great fighters and can hold there own against any other character in there respective works. All three are related to the main characters of their stories, all three in some romantic way. Two of them are Princess's, and the third is the Daughter of the most powerful Fremen and niece to the second most powerful (daughter of Liet, niece to Stilgar). Leia and Alia are both sisters of the hero's. Both fall in love with the good "bad boys" of their series (Leia with Han, Alia with Duncan). Both have similar sounding names. Both are just about (and possibly more) powerful than there chosen one brothers. Both are captured by there father/grandfather and tortured by him.
I agree with this accept for the part of being "captured and tortured" by the father/grandfather.
Darth Vader and Baron Vladimer Harkonnen: Both are the "big baddies" of there universes. One is the father and the other is the grandfather of the hero of both works. Both "capture" and torture one of the important female leads in both works (Harkonnen captures and tortures Alia, Vader captures and tortures Leia). Both of the captured women are the sisters of the main character, and are the daughter/granddaughter of the villains who capture them. Both end up dying in the end. Both are servants of a great and powerful Emperor.
About the only real connection here is that they where both main villians. I think this one is weak. I don't think the "father connection" is good enough for a plagairism case. The persona of both these Characters was just to diffrent for me to think Lucas got the inspiration for vader from the Baron.
Emperor Palpatine and Emperor Corrino: Both are Emperors and bad guys in there respective universes. Both rose to power through manipulation and murder. Both try and fail to kill the hero of there works. Both have relatives of the hero as there followers. Both end up losing to the "chosen one". Both of there empires fall.
So their both Emperor's who lose to the good guy? I can't agree with that. The manipulation and murder part is valid though. I should also add that the Emperor in Starwars was threatened by the hero for vastley diffrent reasons than Emperor Corrino.
Tuskan Raiders/Jedi and Fremen: Both are Desert Dwellers. Both are conscious-less beings who have no qualms about killing people who stumble into there territories. Both try to kill the main hero (although in Dune they eventually adopt him). Both wear similar clothing. The Fremen and Jedi also have quite a bit in common. They are both the greatest fighters in there respective empire. They are both oppressed societies with the ruling class enacting programs of genocide. From both cultures come the "chosen one" who defeats the corrupt empire. Both are ancient societies with great importance put on philosophical matters.
I don't recall the Tuskans being painted as this "ancient culture" or "greatest fighters." I recall them as being an incidental plot device that had very little affect on most of the story. I recall them as being
antagonists against the hero. I don't see how they fit in with
anything philosophical.
Storm Troopers and Sarduakar: Both are the Emperors soldiers. Both are supposed to be elite. Both are the main tool of the bad guys in the books. Both meet a superior force lead by the hero of the series. Both are responsible for the deaths of the heroes parents.
I don't see this one at all. The responsibility of the deaths of heroes parents in Dune was more the result of plans within plans, not the empires super soldiers. The storm-troopers and Sarduaker are both "the Black Shirts" in a good respect though.
Jedi and Bene Gesserit: Both are ancient societies which exist only to serve mankind. Both are expert fighters. Both are incredibly selective when it comes to there members. Both have the ability to detect truth. Both have the abilities to control minds. Both give the training which results in the chosen one they are both searching for, both of which are outside of there direct control and end up defying there respective orders (Paul defies the Bene Gesserit, Luke deifies Yoda).
Good connection here. Of course, the Bene Gesserit where largely on the Empire's side.
The Empire and The empire: Both are feudal-type systems, run by a powerful Emperor. Both are corrupt. Both fall to the hero of there respective works. the relative of the hero in both works have high places in both Empires.
Both stories have Empires that fall.
Not enough. The empire in star wars was republic that became an empire not a feudal planet baronary.
Dune and Tatooine: Both are desert planets. One has two moons, the other two suns. Both are the homes of the hero and his teacher. Both are under the control of the big bad guy. The fathers of the hero's both die on these worlds. Dune has sandworms. A part of Tatooine called "The Dune Sea" has a creature which resembles sandworms called the sarclac.
I agree with the sand worms here! But again, one planet is an incredibly insignifant world, the other is the Jewel of extreme importance.
Overall, I think the more valid connections are only on a superficail level. When you move a little deeper, I think it unravels.
However... if I could see the source for this:
The most damning peice of evidence that Star Wars is derived from Dune is that the original script was rejected by the studio because it was almost exactly the same as Dune.
I might be convinced of the plagiarism case.
What good does 
