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Count Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe, appearing as the main antagonist of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and the Star Wars: The Clone Wars film (portrayed by Christopher Lee) and as the primary antagonist in the Star Wars: Clone Wars and the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series (voiced by Corey Burton).
Although he was once a respected Jedi Master, he falls to the dark side of the Force and becomes Darth Tyranus, Darth Sidious' second Sith apprentice, the Separatists' leader, and the instigator of the Clone Wars to help lead the destruction of many worlds throughout the galaxy.
Depiction[]
Film and television[]
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones[]
Introduced in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Dooku appears as the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, a federation of planetary systems rebelling against the Galactic Republic. He claims to be angered by the Galactic Senate's bureaucracy as well as the apparent unwillingness of the Jedi Council to aid oppressed galactic systems.
After he captures Obi-Wan Kenobi on Geonosis, Dooku informs Kenobi that he's attempting to save the Republic. Dooku also states that he was saddened by the loss of Kenobi's former master (and Dooku's former apprentice) Qui-Gon Jinn. After Kenobi refuses to join him, Dooku promptly sentences him to be executed.
After an army of Jedi and clone troopers rescue Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala, Anakin and Kenobi chase and engage Dooku in a lightsaber duel in which Kenobi is incapacitated and Anakin loses his right forearm. When Yoda arrives to save them, Dooku fights Yoda to a stalemate to which Dooku distracts his former master by trying to make a large pillar fall on Anakin and Kenobi. Dooku then escapes from Geonosis as Yoda is distracted. When he returns to Coruscant, Tyranus shows the Geononsian designs to Sidious and informs his master that their plan is working: "The war has begun".
Star Wars: Clone Wars[]
During Star Wars: Clone Wars, Dooku leads the Separatists in attacks upon the Republic, sends Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress on a mission to fight Anakin, and personally trains General Grievous in lightsaber combat.
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith[]
In the opening of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Dooku encounters Anakin and Obi-Wan while they are sent to rescue Chancellor Palpatine (Sidious' alter ego) from Separatist leader General Grievous's flagship outside of the planet Coruscant. The film's novelization states Sidious and Dooku intend to turn Anakin to the dark side and that Dooku intends to appoint him as head of a new Sith Army.[1] Dooku and Sidious seek to eliminate Obi-Wan, a steady influence on Anakin.[2] Sidious promises him the operation will result in the destruction of the Jedi and the Republic, to be replaced by the Galactic Empire.[3] In the ensuing duel, Kenobi is incapacitated which leaves Anakin and Dooku to fight alone. Anakin channels his hatred of Dooku and taps into the dark side to overpower him, severing both Dooku's hands and leaving him helpless. Palpatine then orders Anakin to kill Dooku; after initial hesitation, Anakin decapitates Dooku in cold blood. The novelization depicts this scene from Dooku's point of view: he realizes that Sidious had never truly intended for him to be his apprentice but had merely been using him as a means to engineer the Clone Wars and as a placeholder for his true apprentice Darth Vader.[4]
Star Wars: The Clone Wars[]
In the 2008 film, Dooku plots to bring Jabba the Hutt into the folds of the Confederacy by enlisting Ziro (Jabba's uncle) to kidnap Rotta (Jabba's son). After Ziro's agents deliver the Huttlet to the planet Teth, Dooku contacts Ziro again to arrange for Ventress to take custody of Rotta. Jabba requests Jedi assistance to rescue his son, and Dooku plans for Ventress to frame Anakin for the crime but the plot fails.
In the television series' first episode "Ambush", Dooku tries to broker a treaty with Toydaria. During the Malevolence episodes ("Rising Malevolence", "Shadow of Malevolence" and "Destroy Malevolence"), he commands General Grievous and his heroic new flagship, the Malevolence. He then sends Ventress to free Gunray. He also tests Grievous by sending Kit Fisto and his padawan to fight Grievous and possibly kill him.
In "Dooku Captured", he is imprisoned by pirates but escapes in the following episode along with Kenobi and Skywalker. After that, he orders one of his generals to destroy a colony with a new weapon but fails. In "Liberty on Ryloth", Dooku orders his servant Wat Tambor (leader of the Techno Union) to retreat after learning of the arrival of Mace Windu. However, he does not evacuate in time and Dooku orders the droids to destroy his base, though the attempt fails.
Dooku and the Confederacy officially back the Death Watch, a group of Mandalorian terrorists whose goal is to bring down the government of the pacifist New Mandalorians. Dooku urges Governor Pre Vizsla of Concordia (the Death Watch's leader) to give the Galactic Republic a reason to send a military presence to Mandalore which Dooku believes will inspire the inhabitants of Mandalore to start a revolution spearheaded by the Death Watch movement. But his plan falls through. Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore presents her case to the Galactic Senate, urging them to hold off a military force, despite the attempts of a Death Watch assassin, sent by Dooku and Vizsla, to silence her. Dooku orders Vizsla and his men to hold off the attack force, claiming he has further plans for them.
In the following story arc, Dooku is ordered to prove his loyalty to Sidious by killing his own assassin Ventress whom Sidious fears have grown too powerful to control. Dooku follows his orders, albeit reluctantly. But unknown to Dooku, Ventress survives and turns to the Nightsisters to have revenge on her former master. After a failed attempt to personally kill Dooku, Ventress takes part in the Nightsisters' plan to have her replacement apprentice Savage Opress (the brother of Darth Maul) as her own secret weapon against him by having Dooku unknowingly train his killer. But the plot falls apart when Opress attempted to kill both Dooku and Ventress. After dealing with the Nightsisters, believing both Ventress and Mother Talzin have been killed off by Grievous's forces, Dooku refocuses his attention to Opress whom he fears will become more of a threat due to now being masterless, while sensing his eventual meeting with Darth Maul. Dooku is seen later via hologram guiding King Rash of Onderon with his false rule over the system and Grievous on taking over Florrum.
Dooku finds out the clone trooper Tup executed Order 66 prematurely and works behind the scenes to stop the Republic's investigation. He then manipulates the Banking Clan and its representative Rush Clovis into putting all their resources in the hands of the Sith, bringing war to the planet Scipio. The Jedi find a lightsaber belonging to deceased Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas—whom Dooku murdered years earlier—and start an investigation. Sidious forces Dooku to clean up their trail. Dooku confronts Anakin and Obi-Wan on Oba Diah, revealing his alter-ego Darth Tyranus to the Jedi, and they realize that it was he who created the clone army. Some further investigation by Yoda prompts Dooku and his master to perform a Sith ritual in an unsuccessful attempt to break the Jedi Master; Dooku appears to fight Anakin in the illusion, but is executed in a manner very similar to his eventual demise.
During the Siege of Mandalore, Ahsoka Tano is informed of his demise in the Battle of Coruscant at Anakin's hands by Obi-Wan, who tells her that it is important to capture Maul, being the only way the Jedi can discover the true identity of Darth Sidious after Dooku's death.
Tales of the Jedi[]
A younger Count Dooku serves as one of the two protagonists of the animated miniseries, Tales of the Jedi. He is the focus of the second, third, and fourth episodes, which depict his life as a Jedi, his increasing dissatisfaction with the corruption in the Jedi Order and the Senate, and his eventual fall to the dark side. The miniseries also focuses on Dooku's friendship with his padawan Qui-Gon Jinn.
Expanded Universe[]
Comic books[]
In the Star Wars: Republic series, set during the Clone Wars, Dooku trains multiple Dark Jedi apprentices, most of whom he uses as minions. His apprentices include Ventress, Tol Skorr, and renegade Jedi Quinlan Vos, who initially intends to infiltrate the Separatists as a spy for the Jedi Council but instead nearly falls to the dark side.
Novels[]
Dooku appears as the main antagonist or a secondary villain in many Star Wars Expanded Universe novels.
Legacy of the Jedi[]
In Jude Watson's Legacy of the Jedi, Dooku is first tempted by the dark side of the Force as a child when he and fellow Padawan Lorian Nod steal an ancient Sith Holocron from the Jedi Archives and he informs his friend to stay in the Order; he is intrigued by the Sith's open embrace of power and realizes that he is just as capable of treachery as they are. Lorian eventually lands Dooku in trouble for stealing the holocron which Lorian had stolen but Dooku got off scot-free and Lorian was banished from the Order. Years later, he encounters and eventually kills Nod.
Yoda: Dark Rendezvous[]
In Sean Stewart's Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, Dooku attempts to trap Yoda by offering to negotiate an end to the Clone Wars. Despite his attempts to convert his former master to his cause, he is ultimately unsuccessful but is very nearly swayed in turn by Yoda to return to the Jedi Order. But the intervention of Anakin and Obi-Wan enrages him and ends any efforts of rapprochement before they can begin, leaving both Yoda and Dooku in deep thought following the confrontation as Dooku feels condemned to being a Sith and Yoda feels that any attempts to turn his former student back to the light have been rendered impossible. In the novel, it is also revealed that Dooku always resented his parents for "giving him away" to the Jedi Order.
Labyrinth of Evil[]
In James Luceno's Labyrinth of Evil, Dooku engineers Grievous' transformation into the Separatists' cyborg commander and trains him in lightsaber combat. He then schemes with Sidious to invade Coruscant in what he believes to be a plot to kill Obi-Wan and initiate Skywalker into the Sith.
Dark Disciple[]
An unfinished sixth season arc of The Clone Wars was adapted into the 2015 novel Dark Disciple by Christie Golden. In the story, Dooku commands a genocidal attack on the planet Mahranee, leading the Jedi Council to send Master Quinlan Vos on a mission to assassinate Dooku. Vos partners with Dooku's former apprentice Asajj Ventress for the mission. The two confront Dooku on the planet Raxus Secundus, where Dooku was being awarded at a ceremony, but are no match for the Sith Lord, who captures Vos and forces Ventress to flee. Dooku takes Vos to Serenno, where he tortures him, eventually turning him to the dark side. Sometime later, the Jedi Council liberates Vos with the assistance of Ventress. However, upon deducing that he has turned to the dark side, the Council sends him to face Dooku again as a test of loyalty, with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker tailing him. Vos defeats Dooku, but spares his life and instead demands Dooku to lead him to Darth Sidious. Obi-Wan and Anakin arrest them and take them to Kenobi's Venator-class Star Destroyer. Vos and Dooku escape aboard Ventress' ship, killing two Jedi and many clone troopers in the process. They are shot down and crash-land on Christophsis, where they seek refuge in a Separatist tower, which is soon under attack by Jedi and Republic forces. Dooku attempts to kill Vos with Force lightning, but Ventress sacrifices her life and saves Vos. After killing Ventress, Dooku escapes the planet.
Thrawn: Alliances[]
In Thrawn: Alliances, Dooku is mentioned by Duke Solha and Padmé Amidala while they fight at Mokivj. Solha establishes that the Count had dispatched him and his siblings to Mokivj to produce cortosis B2 super battle droids for the Clone Wars.
Dooku: Jedi Lost and Master & Apprentice[]
In the audiobook Dooku: Jedi Lost by Cavan Scott, Dooku meets his sister Jenza, brother Ramil, and father Count Gora, when he visits his homeworld of Serenno as a Jedi Initiate. Dooku begins corresponding with Jenza, keeping their communications a secret for years. The audiobook also details several adventures Dooku has with his best friend, Sifo-Dyas, and Dyas’s Jedi Master, Lene Kostana. During one mission, Dooku sees visions of many different futures through the Force, which shake him to the core. Eventually, Dooku becomes a Jedi Knight, trains two Padawans to knighthood, and joins the Jedi Council, hoping to bring about real change in the Republic. However, after he saves his homeworld of Serenno from invaders, he decides to remain to help his planet rebuild, leaving the Jedi Order and becoming Count Dooku of Serenno.
The novel Master & Apprentice by Claudia Gray recounts several adventures from Qui-Gon Jinn’s apprenticeship under Dooku, as well as Dooku’s obsession with Jedi prophecies and seeming use of Force Lightning during a mission. The novel also reveals that Dooku had one other apprentice before Qui-Gon, Rael Averross.
Gallery[]
References[]
- Bibliography
- Stover, Mathew. Revenge of the Sith. Lucas Booka, Century, London. ISBN 0-7126-8427-1
- Notes
- Further readings
- The New Essential Guide to Characters, 1st edition, 2002. Daniel Wallace, Michael Sutfin, ISBN 0-345-44900-2
- Reynolds, David West. Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 2002. ISBN 0-7894-8588-5
- Luceno, James. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 2005., ISBN 0-7566-1128-8
- Slavicsek, Bill & Collins, Andy. Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Revised Core Rulebook, hardcover, 2002., ISBN 0-7869-2876-X