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Count Dooku
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Star Wars character | |
| Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus | |
|---|---|
|
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| Position | Former Jedi Master, Dark Jedi, Dark Lord of the Sith (with Darth Sidious), Count of Serenno, Leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems |
| Homeworld | Serenno |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Affiliation | Order of the Sith Lords, Confederacy of Independent Systems, Jedi Order, Galactic Republic |
| Portrayed by | Christopher Lee (Episodes II and III) Corey Burton (Star Wars: Clone Wars) |
Count Dooku, also known as Darth Tyranus, is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe and Palpatine's apprentice. In the prequel films, he is played by Christopher Lee, but is voiced by Corey Burton in the video games and the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars. He is the arch-villain in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and a supporting villain in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, in which his demise takes place.
Dooku was a Jedi Master and powerful Sith Lord. His Sith title is Darth Tyranus. His full birth name is unknown.
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As a youngling, Dooku was trained by Yoda and then later became the Padawan of Thame Cerulian. Dooku is one of the greatest Jedi in the galaxy, supremely gifted in his connection to and knowledge of the Force, as well as oratory, philosophy, and lightsaber combat.
Jude Watson's novel Legacy of the Jedi explains that Dooku is first tempted by the dark side of the Force as a Padawan, when his best friend, fellow Jedi apprentice Lorian Nod, decides to learn the ways of the Sith. Dooku feels betrayed, but finds himself intrigued by the Sith Order's open embrace of power, and subconsciously realizes that he is just as capable of treachery as his former friend.
Dooku's first appearance in the Star Wars universe was in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. He is introduced as a once-esteemed Jedi Master who had become disillusioned with the Jedi and became the Sith apprentice of Darth Sidious. He is also the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, a federation of planetary systems rebelling against the Galactic Republic.
In 44 BBY, he leads the Jedi in combat against the Mandalorians. Almost all of the Mandalorians were killed, except for Jango Fett and several others spread throughout the galaxy. Over half of the attacking Jedi fall to the Mandalorian guns, with Fett killing many himself. After this battle, Dooku loses faith in the Republic, sensing corruption within it and in the Jedi order.
Dooku is angered by the bureaucracy of the Galactic Senate, as well as the unwillingness of the Jedi Council to aid oppressed Galactic systems. Qui-Gon's death at the hands of Sidious' deceased apprentice, Darth Maul, proves to be the final straw. As a result of his resignation, his bronzium bust is displayed in the Jedi Archives, along with the rest of the Lost Twenty, the only Jedi Knights ever to resign their commissions from the Jedi Order.
Dooku is recognized as being gifted with extraordinary potential in the Force, and frequently uses it in combat. He is also capable of conjuring Force lightning, and is the only swordsman apart from Yoda traditionally held capable of defeating Mace Windu. In the novels this was suggested to be because Count Dooku studied an older, more archaic form of lightsaber combat similar to fencing, and thus was better at sword-to-sword combat (as opposed to most Jedi, who study a form of lightsaber combat that makes them better able to parry blaster shots). Dooku had a unique red-bladed lightsaber with a curved hilt.
In Attack of the Clones, the investigation of a failed assassination attempt on the life of Padmé Amidala leads to the discovery of the erased records of the planet Kamino in the Jedi Archives, where a weapon used by the assassin originated. Obi-Wan Kenobi is sent to investigate the planet, and he discovers that it is being used as a base for the construction of a clone army ostensibly ordered by the deceased Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas. The novel Labyrinth of Evil, as well as Attack of the Clones reveals that Sifo-Dyas had indeed ordered the clone army, approximately 10 years prior to Obi-Wan's visit. A subsequent visit to Geonosis to follow the clone army's genetic source, Jango Fett, leads Kenobi to discover that Dooku has been working with various corporate elements to build a giant droid army for the Separatists, against which the Jedi will be defenseless. Kenobi is subsequently captured by Dooku's forces; Dooku tries to convince him to join his cause by telling him that he is only attempting to save the Republic from the influence of a Sith Lord named Darth Sidious, who he claims has control of a large number of senators (Sidious is revealed to be Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in Episode III). Kenobi refuses to join him, and is then sentenced to death.
Prior to his capture, Kenobi informed the Jedi and the Republic's authorities about his discoveries, and the Republic takes control of the clone army in order to fight the Separatists. Kenobi is rescued by a large group of Jedi forces and the new Clone Army. He then attempts to capture Dooku with the help of his then arrogant apprentice, Anakin Skywalker. The two are unsuccessful; Kenobi is incapacitated, while Anakin loses his right arm in a duel with Dooku. After fighting to a draw with Yoda, the Sith Lord retreats to a secret facility on Coruscant. There, he gives Sidious the rudimentary blueprints for a Geonosian-designed superweapon, eventually revealed to be the Death Star.
In the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars, Count Dooku leads the Separatist Army, as in the films. He hires Cydon Prax to replace Fett as his bodyguard. He finds the Force Harvester, an ancient Sith artifact, on Raxus Prime. He later finds the pieces, scattered by the ancient Sith, and revives an antique Sith weapon known as the Dark Reaper. The Dark Reaper was first defeated by a Jedi Knight named Ulic Qel-Droma 4,000 years before The Phantom Menace, during the Great Sith War. At the Sith Temple on Thule, it is defeated again by Anakin Skywalker.
In the video game Star Wars: The New Droid Army, a Count Dooku Clone raids the Jedi Temple library ten months after the Battle of Geonosis. This clone oversees the Cortosis Droid project, and is killed by Anakin Skywalker on Metalorn.
During the Clone Wars, Dooku takes up a few apprentices of his own, though of the Dark Jedi variety. They were Sev'rance Tann, Asajj Ventress, Durge, Tol Skorr, and General Grievous. He also acts as the political leader of the Separatists. Grievous and Ventress are the most prominent of Dooku's apprentices in the Star Wars universe. As revealed in the Clone Wars series, James Luceno's novel Labyrinth of Evil and Revenge of the Sith, Dooku molds Grievous into a formidable lightsaber duelist. In Ventress' story arc in the Clone Wars series, the novels Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, The Cestus Deception and the Star Wars: Republic comic book series, Dooku recruits and trains her at Sidious' command, his ultimate plan being to pit her against Anakin Skywalker in order to test the young Jedi's worth as a potential apprentice. Even though Dooku's servants are aware that he is a Sith and an associate of Darth Sidious, they are unaware that they have been manipulated as part of a larger scheme.
As depicted in Labyrinth of Evil, and the final episode of the Clone Wars series, Dooku has Grievous capture and imprison Palpatine to deceive the corrupt Senate into believing he has been kidnapped, thus creating the sympathy necessary to give the Chancellor even greater emergency powers.
In the opening of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin and Kenobi are sent to rescue Palpatine from Grievous' flagship, the Invisible Hand. Palpatine has ordered Dooku to arrive and kill Kenobi and then surrender to Anakin, to push him further towards the dark side. Palpatine leads Dooku to believe that, once turned, Anakin will be the perfect commanding general of his new Sith Army.
During the ensuing lightsaber duel, Dooku's mastery was again apparent as he easily blocked both Anakin and Obi-Wan's blows, eventually isolating Obi-Wan from the battle with a force push. Pursued up the stairs of the bridge by Anakin, Obi-Wan rejoined the fight, at which point Dooku simultaneously kicked Anakin away, locked Obi-Wan in a Force grip, and hurled him across the room, trapping him by dropping part of a platform on his legs. But before Dooku could prepare himself, Anakin kicked the aged Sith Lord over the balcony of the bridge and unleashed his aggression. Dooku again fought ably against Anakin, but despite his initial superiority the young Jedi's embracing of his anger greatly augmented his abilities. Anakin repaid the Count for his defeat on Geonosis by cutting off both of Dooku's hands. Sidious had promised Dooku that he would intervene in the unlikely event that Anakin gain the upper hand, but unfortunately for Dooku, he only realized Palpatine's betrayal the moment before his death. In reality, Palpatine never intended Dooku to be the ultimate apprentice. Dooku was merely a placeholder for Anakin and a tool for engineering the Clone Wars. At Palpatine's demand, Anakin then decapitated the helpless Sith Lord in cold blood with two lightsabers (one being Dooku's own).
- The New Essential Guide to Characters, 1st edition, 2002. Daniel Wallace, Michael Sutfin, ISBN 0-345-44900-2
- Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 2002. David West Reynolds, ISBN 0-7894-8588-5
- Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 2005. James Luceno, ISBN 0-7566-1128-8
- Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Revised Core Rulebook, hardcover, 2002. Bill Slavicsek, Andy Collins, J.D. Wiker, ISBN 0-7869-2876-X
- Count Dooku in the Star Wars Databank
- Dooku on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki