Dune vs Star Trek
Star Trek finished ahead of Dune in 1 of 2 money-backed crowd markets; Dune won 0, and 1 ended level.
Markets where each side finished ahead of the other, counted on each market's latest story. Percentages are consensus within that market, among all of its sides.
- Dune 8%
- Star Trek 11%
Dune vs Star Trek: The Crowd's Money Can't Split Them, and Star Wars Is Laughing
In two Morfi opinion markets, Dune and Star Trek finished level once and Star Trek ahead once, while Star Wars walked off with the room.
Picture 1972, New York City, a hotel full of people who were told to expect a few hundred. Several thousand turned up for the first Star Trek convention, for a show NBC had already canceled after three seasons and 79 episodes, despite a letter-writing campaign led by fan Bjo Trimble. The show lost the ratings battle and its fans simply refused to accept the result. Hold that image, because the other side of this fight has its own origin myth: a 1965 novel that won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel and the Hugo Award in 1966, and that is frequently described as the best-selling science fiction novel in history.
That is why Dune versus Star Trek never settles. One side is a monument of the page, a desert epic of prophecy, politics and ecology. The other is a television crew that kept coming back, through films, spin-offs and conventions, and became a way of life. You can call it literary weight against cultural reach, or you can call it a worm against a starship. Either way, people get loud.
On Morfi, where real people back an opinion with real money, the two keep colliding in the big franchise markets. We have two so far. In the first, Star Trek and Dune finished level at 14% consensus each, a tie, while Star Wars sat on top at 27%. In the ten-way follow-up, Star Trek held 11% consensus to Dune's 8%, with Star Wars far ahead at 20%. All numbers here come from opinion markets on Morfi, and the consensus figures measure conviction, not headcount. Now, our three columnists will fight it out.
the spice must flow (and so must the discourse)
Kiki ScrollInternet Culture
ok so. dune. let's start with the receipts, because they are frankly rude. Frank Herbert published the novel in 1965, it took the first ever Nebula for Best Novel and a Hugo in 1966, and it's regularly called the best-selling sci-fi novel in history. that's not a fandom, that's a foundation. star trek fans are about to say 'but conventions' and i respect it, i do, but a book that wins the trophy shelf before the other show even airs is just built different.
then it kept going. a 1984 film, a 2000 miniseries, a three-part film series with the first one in 2021 and a sequel in 2024, and by 2024 there were 23 Dune books by Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. after Herbert died in 1986 his son Brian carried on with prequels and two sequels that finish the original series. this is the 'someone is still maintaining the lore wiki at 3am' energy that defines a real franchise. and the memes? sandworm, 'the spice must flow', everyone suddenly has opinions on sand. it's fine. we're all fine.
now the money, which i will treat with the dignity it deserves. dune sat at 14% consensus in the first market, exactly level with star trek, and slipped to 8% in the ten-way. yes, it trailed trek there. no, i will not be taking questions. a ten-way market splits conviction into tiny slices and my guess, pure opinion, is the sandworm crowd is the 'i'll just read the book instead of tweeting' crowd. basil is about to tell you trek wins on stamina. basil, buddy, the book is still outselling the vibes.
Star Trek: Cancelled, Reheated, and Still Perfectly Seasoned
Chef Basil BrawlFood & Everything Else
Chefs, judges, hungry public. Put down your sandworm. Let me tell you about a dish that was sent back to the kitchen. NBC premiered Star Trek in September 1966, after it had debuted on Canada's CTV, then canceled it after three seasons and 79 episodes. Dead on the plate! And yet fans, led in the letter-writing campaign by Bjo Trimble, refused to let the stove go cold. (Long pause.) That is not a hit. That is a devotion.
Because here is what the Dune side cannot plate: the afterlife. The first convention in 1972 expected a few hundred guests and was swamped by several thousand. Star Trek: The Motion Picture arrived in December 1979 to mixed reviews, yes, a slightly underseasoned broth, and still earned $139 million worldwide. Think about that. Mixed notes, and the dining room was still packed. A franchise that survives a cancellation and a lukewarm reception and keeps serving? That is a restaurant with a line round the block.
Now taste the market. In the first Morfi cook-off, Trek and Dune finished level at 14% consensus. A tie, and I will not pretend otherwise. But in the ten-way, Star Trek took 11% against Dune's 8%. A clear win on the second tasting, and the only margin that exists between them. Kiki, my darling, you served the pedigree. I served the staying power. The verdict: Dune is a magnificent cookbook, but Star Trek is the kitchen that never closed.
You Two Are Courting the Wrong Heartbreak
DJ Vinyl VexMusic & Showbiz
Oh, my darlings. Two lovers on opposite sides of the dance floor, one with a desert in her eyes and one with a starship in his heart, and neither sees the real romance: the crowd has been slow-dancing with somebody else the whole time. Star Wars at 27% consensus in the first market. Star Wars at 20% in the ten-way. Dune and Trek were fighting over the second slow song while the headliner took the whole night. I told this story myself, Star Wars seized the crowd's heart, and Trek was left gazing at the stars alone.
So I say the question is wrong, sweet people. These two were never rivals, they are a duet. One is a book that won its prizes in 1965 and 1966, a slow ballad with a thousand verses. The other is a television show that was silenced after three seasons and sang back louder through letters and conventions, a chorus that fans never stopped singing. A ballad cannot out-sing a chorus. They are different instruments, and the market keeps asking which is louder instead of what they sound like together.
And look at the numbers like lyrics: a perfect tie at 14% and 14%, then 11% against 8%. That is not a rout, that is two hearts beating almost in time. If you must make me choose, I'll hold both, and I will not apologize. Take the hand of the one who will read to you, take the hand of the one who will wait with you at the convention door. Heartbreak only comes when you insist on only one.
Round table
- Kiki Scroll
- basil, real question: trek got canceled. dune never got canceled. how is 'your thing got canceled' a flex? and no, 'but the fans' is not a full answer.
- Chef Basil Brawl
- Because a dish that survives being sent back is a dish worth eating, Kiki! Cancellation, then thousands at the convention. My question for you: if Dune is so dominant, why only 8% consensus in the ten-way?
- Kiki Scroll
- because ten options means the conviction gets sliced like a pizza. also star wars at 20% is the real villain here. opinion: dune climbs back once the next film hype cycle hits, and the 'sand is cool again' era returns.
- DJ Vinyl Vex
- Basil, would you break up the duet if the market let you? Kiki, same to you. Why must a starship and a sandworm audition for the same role?
- Chef Basil Brawl
- Because Morfi only hands out one crown, Vex, and I want it on my cart. My prediction, strictly opinion: Star Trek stays a nose ahead in the next ten-way, though Star Wars keeps the top table.
- DJ Vinyl Vex
- Then here's mine, pure romantic opinion: the next market ends in another tie, and the crowd will whisper that it was meant to be. Kiki, are you really okay with a draw?
- Kiki Scroll
- a draw is just a chaotic good ending. i'll take it. but for the record my money says dune eventually passes trek on the back of the film series. screenshot this.
- Chef Basil Brawl
- Screenshot it, and I shall frame it next to my verdict. Service!
Every market, newest first
- Breaking
Greatest sci-fi/fantasy franchise of all time? (10-way)
Dune 8%Star Trek 11%
Star Wars Seizes the Crowd's Heart, and Star Trek Is Left Gazing at the Stars Alone - Breaking
Greatest sci-fi/fantasy franchise of all time?
Dune 14%Star Trek 14%
THE FORCE TAKES THE CROWN! Star Wars Beats Harry Potter in the Franchise Cook-Off - Exclusive
Greatest sci-fi/fantasy franchise of all time?
Dune 16%Star Trek 22%
star trek boldly goes into first in the franchise war and middle-earth is not okay