Count Dooku

Count Dooku aka Darth Tyranus (Sith name) is a fictional character in the "Star Wars" franchise, created by George Lucas. One of the main antagonists of the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy, he appears in both ' (2002) and ' (2005), played by Christopher Lee, as well as associated media, such as books, comics, television series, and video games. The character is voiced by Corey Burton in animated series ' (2003-2005) and ' (2008-2020), while Lee reprised the role in the 2008 that launched the latter series.
In the "Star Wars" universe, Dooku is the ruler of his home planet of Serenno, a political enthusiast, and a former Jedi Master, who was trained by Yoda and mentored Qui-Gon Jinn. After becoming disillusioned with the corruption within the Galactic Republic's Senate and losing his faith in the Jedi Order, he eventually falls to the dark side of the Force and becomes Darth Sidious' second apprentice after Darth Maul, as the Sith Lord "Darth Tyranus", and predecessor of as Sidious' right-hand Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker). Dooku plays a pivotal role in Sidious' rise to power, leading the Confederacy of Independent Systems, made up of numerous planetary systems seeking independence from the Republic, throughout the Clone Wars, and engineering the creation of the clone army used by the Republic in their conflict with the Separatist Alliance. Although Dooku hopes this will allow him to rule the galaxy alongside Sidious, whom he secretly plots to overthrow, he is ultimately betrayed by his master, who arranges his death at the hands of Skywalker.
Count Dooku's character and Christopher Lee's portrayal in the prequel films were met with generally positive reactions from fans and critics. Since the release of the films, Dooku has been highlighted as one of the best "Star Wars" villains, and a foil for Anakin Skywalker, whose transformation into Darth Vader is foreshadowed through Dooku's own fall to the dark side. The character has also become very popular among the "Star Wars" fanbase, gaining a cult following.
Portrayal.
Count Dooku was portrayed by Sir Christopher Lee in "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith", while Kyle Rowling performed the lightsaber action sequences. Lee also voiced the character in the , but was replaced by Corey Burton in the . Burton had previously voiced Dooku in the 2003 micro-series "", and went on to voice him in most of his video game appearances; most recently, "Star Wars: Battlefront II" (2017).
Appearances.
Films.
"Attack of the Clones".
Count Dooku is introduced "" as a former Jedi Master who abandoned the Order after losing faith in their traditions and the Jedi Council's judgement. He is also the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, a federation of planetary systems rebelling against the Galactic Republic. Dooku says that the Republic is corrupt, and that its politicians are more interested in maintaining the bureaucracy and enriching themselves than in helping poor, oppressed systems.
Dooku recruits bounty hunter Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison) to assassinate Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) on Coruscant; the attempt on her life fails, however. When a fight with Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) forces Fett to flee from Kamino to Geonosis, the bounty hunter rendezvous with his benefactor. After capturing Obi-Wan on Geonosis, Dooku tells him that he is attempting to save the Republic, explaining that thousands of senators are under the influence of a Sith Lord named Darth Sidious. When Obi-Wan refuses to join him, Dooku reminds him of his late master, Qui-Gon Jinn, who was Dooku's apprentice and shared many of his views on politics and Jedi traditions. Padmé and Obi-Wan's Padawan Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) later travel to Geonosis to save Obi-Wan, but are also captured, and all three are promptly sentenced to death.
A Jedi strike team eventually arrives on the planet to rescue the trio, and they are soon joined by the Republic's new clone army, resulting in a large-scale battle between the Republic and Separatist forces. Dooku tries to flee, but Obi-Wan and Anakin follow him and engage him in a lightsaber duel. Dooku subdues Anakin with a blast of Force lightning and wounds Obi-Wan with his lightsaber. When Anakin comes to Obi-Wan's defense, Dooku cuts off the young Padawan's arm. Just as Dooku is about to escape, his old Jedi Master, Yoda (Frank Oz), arrives and duels him. Unable to match Yoda's speed and agility, Dooku distracts him by using the Force to dislodge a large pillar and send it hurtling toward Anakin and Obi-Wan. While Yoda is busy saving them, Dooku escapes. After he arrives on Coruscant, Dooku shows the Geonosian designs of the Death Star to Sidious and informs his master that their plan is working: "The war has begun."
"Revenge of the Sith".
In the opening of "", set three years later, Dooku and Separatist commander General Grievous (Matthew Wood) have kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) — Sidious' alter ego— as part of a plan orchestrated by Palpatine to lure Anakin to the dark side of the Force. Anakin and Obi-Wan board Grievous' ship and confront Dooku, who knocks Obi-Wan unconscious, leaving Anakin to face the Sith Lord alone. Anakin gives in to his hatred of Dooku and uses the dark side to overpower him, severing both of Dooku's hands and leaving him helpless. Sidious, as Palpatine, then tells Anakin to execute Dooku on the spot; after initial hesitation, Anakin brutally decapitates Dooku. This act sets off a chain of events that leads to Anakin's eventual fall to the dark side and transformation into Darth Vader, thus succeeding Dooku as Sidious' third apprentice and accomplishing what Dooku couldn't: helping Sidious eliminate the Jedi Order and form the Galactic Empire.
"The Clone Wars" (film).
In the 2008 CGI film "", 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 (voiced by Nika Futterman) 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 (voiced by Matt Lanter) for the first time since their encounter in "Attack of the Clones". The duel ends in a draw, and Anakin and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) eventually foil Dooku's plan.
Television.
"The Clone Wars".
In the 2008 animated series "", set in between "Attack Of The Clones" and "Revenge Of The Sith", Dooku is the puppet leader of the Separatists, and a primary antagonist. In addition to sending Grievous and Ventress on missions to antagonize 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 (Anna Graves) of Mandalore urges the Galactic Senate to hold off a military force.
In the third season, Dooku is forced to eliminate his apprentice Ventress to prove his loyalty to Darth Sidious. Ventress survives, however, and works with Mother Talzin (Barbara Goodson) to kill Dooku by giving him Savage Opress (Clancy Brown) as a replacement apprentice. During a confrontation between Dooku and Ventress, Savage turns on both. In the fourth season, Dooku defeats Anakin in three separate lightsaber duels, and gets his revenge on Ventress by having General Grievous order the systematic genocide of the Nightsisters. 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, 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 (Robin Atkin Downes) into putting all their resources in the hands of the Sith, bringing war to the planet Scipio. Later, 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 Sidious to perform a Sith ritual in an unsuccessful attempt to break the Jedi Master; in a vision experienced by Yoda, Dooku fights Anakin, who swiftly defeats and executes him, in a manner very similar to his eventual demise.
Count Dooku does not directly appear in the seventh season. However, as the events of "Revenge of the Sith" are concurrent with the season's final arc, Ahsoka Tano is informed of his demise 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.
Novels.
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.
"Star Wars: Legends".
Dooku appears extensively in the "Star Wars" Expanded Universe, including novels, comic books and the 2003 TV series "". In 2014, Lucasfilm labeled such material non-canon to the franchise, and rebranded them as "Star Wars: Legends".
Comic books.
In the "" 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 appears in Parts 1, 2, and 4, and is mentioned in Part 3. In Part 1, he is first tempted by the dark side of the Force as a child when his best friend and fellow Padawan Lorian Nod steals an ancient Sith Holocron from the Jedi Archives. When Nod is caught, Nod lies and says that the theft was Dooku's idea. However, Dooku manages to convince the Jedi Council of the truth, and Nod is then expelled from the Jedi Order. It is later implied that Dooku himself steals the Holocron because he is intrigued by the Sith's open embrace of power and realizes that he is just as ruthless as they are. Nod's treachery leaves Dooku with a great bitterness and intolerance of any form of betrayal, as well as an even more pronounced coldness to strangers. In Part 2, set 13 years later, he is a Jedi Knight, and takes Qui-Gon Jinn as his Padawan apprentice. By now, he is capable of masking emotions such as anger and hate that the Jedi Code forbids, stating that they in fact make him stronger. He encounters Nod while defending a Senator from space pirates, and defeats him in combat, almost executing him. However, Qui-Gon convinces him to spare Nod's life, and he and Dooku turn Nod over to the authorities. In Part 3, set 32 years later, Qui-Gon, now a Jedi Knight, remarks that he has not seen Dooku in years, noting that their relationship was never friendly. Finally in Part 4, set in the midst of the Clone Wars, Dooku, now a Sith, kills Nod after his former friend refuses to join the Separatists.
In Sean Stewart's "", Dooku attempts to trap Yoda by offering to negotiate an end to the Clone Wars. Dooku attempts unsuccessfully to sway Yoda to his cause, while Yoda nearly convinces Dooku to return to the Jedi Order. When Anakin and Obi-Wan appear unexpectedly, Dooku believes that Yoda was trying to set him up to be captured, and renounces his former master once and for all. 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 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. It also explains that Dooku believes that Palpatine's staged kidnapping is part of a plan to kill Obi-Wan and recruit Anakin into the Galactic Empire as the commander of its army, while Dooku and Palpatine will rule the galaxy together. The novelization depicts Dooku's death scene from his point of view; in his final moments, he realizes that Palpatine used him as a means to engineer the war and as a placeholder for Anakin, whom he intended to be his apprentice all along.
"Star Wars: Clone Wars".
During the 2003 animated miniseries "", Count Dooku leads the Separatists from behind the scenes, taking the Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress (voiced by Grey DeLisle) as his apprentice while training General Grievous in lightsaber combat. In the final episode, he and Grievous kidnap Palpatine, setting the stage for "Revenge of the Sith".
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 Yoda and Dooku portrayed in "Attack of the Clones", and a Hasbro Count Dooku lightsaber.