Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and all great art has its inspirational source material. But if any Star Wars fans watching Dune 2 in theaters this past weekend were thinking that things looked a little familiar, it's because they are, just not the way Star Wars fans might think.

Star Wars has a simple story. On a broad scale, the original trilogy is little more than a classic hero's journey done well, and the Prequel Trilogy is a classic tragic hero's downfall done... questionably. (And I say this as one of the biggest Star Wars fans and nerds you will ever come across.) But unfortunately, many fans have the well-earned reputation of being scruffy-looking nerf-herders, with little awareness of what spawned their favorite space fantasy. 

George Lucas drew heavy inspiration from many sources, including Frank Herbert's Dune series, which was released in 1964; almost 10 years before A New Hope. And while Dune itself was inspired by Isaac Asimov's Foundation series among other things, Lucas's use of Herbert's themes - especially for the prequel trilogy - is approaching rip-off level. 

Herbert himself took a shot at Lucas and Star Wars in the fifth book in his series, Heretic of Doom, written in 1984. "'He's a three P-O,' they said, meaning that such a person surrounded himself with cheap copies made from déclassé substances." That's not a story most Star Wars fans would tell you. 

Recently, both Star Wars and Dune fans have come to blows over the similarity of their IPs, and the nature of sand, with plenty of memes created in the fallout. This is where the fun begins. Here are 29 memes from the Dune VS Star Wars meme war.