Count Dooku
Count Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars franchise, appearing as the primary antagonist in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and a supporting antagonist in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (portrayed by Sir Christopher Lee),[1] as well as a recurring antagonist in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (voiced by Corey Burton).
Once a respected Jedi Master, he falls to the dark side of the Force as Darth Sidious's second apprentice under the name Darth Tyranus. As the founder of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, he is the instigator of the Clone Wars.
Contents
Appearances
Film
Attack of the Clones
Introduced in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Darth Tyranus (Count Dooku) appears as the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, a federation of planetary systems rebelling against the Galactic Republic due to his anger against its bureaucracy, as well as the apparent unwillingness of the Jedi Council to aid oppressed galactic systems.
Tyranus recruits bounty hunter Jango Fett to assassinate Padmé Amidala on Coruscant, which fails. When a fight forces Fett to flee from Kamino to Geonosis, the bounty hunter rendezvous with his benefactor. After capturing Obi-Wan Kenobi on Geonosis, Dooku informs Kenobi that he's attempting to save the Republic, explaining that thousands of senators are under the influence of a Sith Lord named Darth Sidious. Dooku also states that he was saddened by the death of Obi-Wan's master, Qui-Gon Jinn, his own former Jedi apprentice. After Obi-Wan refuses to join him, Dooku promptly sentences him to death.
After an army of Jedi and clone troopers rescue Obi-Wan, Anakin Skywalker and Padmé, they chase Dooku. Just as he is preparing his solar-sail craft for launch, Dooku is confronted by Skywalker and Kenobi in a lightsaber duel. When Skywalker charges at Tyranus, the young Jedi Padawan is unprepared for the Sith Lord's Force lightning. With Obi-Wan left alone, Dooku overpowers and wounds the Jedi Master. Dooku then fights Skywalker and eventually severs his right forearm. As he is about to escape, Yoda confronts him. After unsuccessfully attempting to defeat his former master with a combination of Force lightning and hurling machinery and parts of the hangar ceiling at him, Dooku engages Yoda in a lightsaber duel. Evenly-matched, Dooku distracts his former master by trying to make a large pillar fall on Skywalker and Kenobi, distracting Yoda long enough for Dooku to make his escape.
When he arrives on Coruscant, Tyranus shows the Geonosian designs of the Death Star to Darth Sidious and informs his master that their plan is working: "The war has begun."
Revenge of the Sith
In the opening of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Count Dooku encounters Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi while they are sent to rescue Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Darth Sidious's alter ego) from General Grievous's flagship outside of the planet Coruscant. The film's novelization states that Palpatine and Dooku intend to turn the young Jedi Knight to the dark side by eliminating the Jedi Master.[2] Once they replace the Republic with a Galactic Empire, Palpatine and Dooku then plan to use the remnants of the Jedi as the foundation for a "Sith Army," with Dooku as its commander-in-chief and Anakin as its commanding general.[3] In the ensuing duel, Dooku knocks Kenobi unconscious, leaving Anakin to face the Sith Lord alone. Anakin gives into his hatred of Dooku and taps into the dark side to overpower him, severing both of Dooku's hands and leaving him helpless before Anakin, who has both their lightsabers. Palpatine then encourages Anakin to kill Dooku on the spot; after initial hesitation, Anakin brutally decapitates Dooku. The novelization depicts this scene from Dooku's point of view; he realizes that Palpatine had never truly intended for him to be his apprentice, but had merely been using him as a means to engineer the war and as a placeholder for Anakin, whom he intended to be his apprentice all along.[4]
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
In the 2008 CGI film Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Count Dooku plots to bring Jabba the Hutt into the folds of the Confederacy by enlisting Jabba's uncle Ziro the Hutt to kidnap Jabba's son Rotta. After Ziro's agents deliver the Huttlet to the planet Teth, Dooku contacts Ziro again to arrange for his minion Asajj Ventress to take custody of Rotta. When Jabba requests Jedi assistance to rescue his son, Dooku plans to frame the Jedi for the crime. Dooku duels Anakin for the first time since their encounter in "Attack of the Clones". But their duel ends in a draw and Dooku's plan is eventually foiled. Dooku tells Darth Sidious about the failed plan, but Sidious says there are more plans he has.
Television
Clone Wars (2003 and 2008 series)
During the 2003 animated miniseries Star Wars: Clone Wars, Count Dooku leads the Separatists from behind the scenes, taking the Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress as his apprentice while training General Grievous in lightsaber combat.
In the 2008 animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Dooku is the main villain as the leader of the Separatists. In addition to sending Grievous and Ventress on missions to antagonmize the Republic, he works with the terrorist group Death Watch to give the Republic a reason to send a military presence to Mandalore, which would play in his favor. The plan falls through when Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore urges the Galactic Senate to hold off a military force.
In the third season, Dooku is forced to eliminate Ventress to prove his loyalty to Darth Sidious. Ventress survives, however, and works with Mother Talzin to kill Dooku by giving him Savage Opress as a replacement apprentice. During a confrontation between Dooku and Ventress, Savage turns on both. In the fourth season, after defeating Anakin in three separate lightsaber duels, Dooku gets his revenge on Ventress by having Grevious order the systematic genocide of the Nightsisters. Believing both Ventress and Talzin have been killed, Dooku's knows the only threat left to him is Savage while sensing his eventual meeting with Darth Maul. In the fifth season, Dooku plays minor roles via hologram in guiding King Rash of Onderon and Grievous taking over Florrum.
In the sixth season, Count 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 discover Sifo-Dyas' lightsaber 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 matter very similar to his canonical demise.
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. Vos initially intended to infiltrate the Separatists as a spy for the Jedi Council but instead nearly falls to the dark side.
Novels
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.
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.
In James Luceno's Labyrinth of Evil, Dooku engineers Grievous' transformation into a cyborg 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 Anakin into the Sith.
Matthew Stover's novelization of Revenge of the Sith expands upon Dooku's character: it portrays him as an evil man who has no concept of loyalty or friendship, and who despises the galaxy's non-human species.
Toys
A number of toys based on Count Dooku have been produced including the Lego set Lego Star Wars: Duel on Geonosis which recreates the duel between Jedi master Yoda and the Count Dooku,[5] and a Hasbro Count Dooku lightsaber.[6]
Portrayal
Count Dooku was portrayed by Sir Christopher Lee in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, while Kyle Rowling did most of the lightsaber sequences. The character was voiced by Corey Burton in Star Wars: Clone Wars (as well as most of the video games).
Sir Christopher Lee reprised his role to voice the character in the 2008 animated film while Corey Burton returned to voice the character in the subsequent TV series.
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
External links
- Count Dooku at StarWars.com
- Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki
