:"''He was one of the most brilliant Jedi I've ever had the privilege of knowing''." —
Jocasta Nu
(''. He is a supporting villain in ''
Attack Of The Clones '' and ''
Revenge Of The Sith ''.
Dooku is a
Sith Lord whose
War Crime s during the
Clone War s indirectly brought about the
Great Jedi Purge and the fall of the
Galactic Republic . His
Sith name is Darth Tyranus, a name obviously derived from "
Tyrant " but particularly more at "tyrannous." The name Dooku is said to derive from the
Japanese word "doku" (毒), which means
Poison . However, "Count Dooku" could simply be a joking reference to "
Count Dracula ", whom Lee has depicted in many
Hammer movies. His full birth name is unknown, but it is believed he has no other name beyond ''Dooku'' (similar to his old master,
Yoda , and his second master,
Darth Sidious ).
Dooku was once an esteemed
Jedi Master , apprentice to
Yoda and Padawan to
Thame Cerulian . As soon as Dooku became a Jedi Knight, he immediately wanted an apprentice. He considered
Qui-Gon Jinn to be his best choice. He manuevered to get Qui-Gon first, after the first time he saw Qui-Gon in lightsaber training, at 10 years old.
"Dooku knew that a Master would be judged by the prowess of his Padawan, and he wanted the best of the best. When Yoda had given his approval of the match, Dooku was satisfied. Another step had been taken toward his goal - to surpass Yoda as the greatest Jedi ever." - Legacy of the Jedi
Dooku was such a skilled warrior among the Jedi that, in 44 BBY, he led the Jedi in combat against the
Mandalorians . Almost all of the Mandalorians were slaughtered, except for
Jango Fett and several others spread throughout the galaxy. Almost a third of the attacking Jedi fell to the Mandalorian guns. After this battle, Dooku became skeptical of the Republic and sensed corruption within it, leading to his resignation from the
Jedi Order . His
Bronzium bust is displayed in the
Jedi Archives , along with the rest of the
Lost Twenty , the only Jedi Masters ever to resign their commissions from the Jedi Order.
An accomplished
Philosopher ,
Orator ,
Warrior Force -adept and lightsaber duelist, he was regarded as one of the greatest Jedi in the Order's twenty-thousand year history as much for his strength of character as his strength in the Force. With a deep voice and seductive
Charisma , this
Political Idealist and wealthy
Aristocrat displayed elegance, class, and intelligence.
Dooku had been a practitioner of the Force for nearly eight decades, and he and his student
Qui-Gon Jinn would surely have sat on the
Jedi Council if it were not for their maverick views. In addition, Dooku is a master swordsman, specializing in the ancient, seldom-used and elegant
Form II Makashi art, which makes use of his special curved saber hilt. Form II is known for its efficiency in lightsaber versus lightsaber combat, as it was created for the sole purpose of lightsaber combat. Dooku chose the style because of his beliefs in elegance and gallantry. This fighting style makes him an able match to the skilled
Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice,
Anakin Skywalker .
Dooku left the Jedi Order around the time of the
Battle Of Naboo and reclaimed his family title as
Count of
Serenno . He was frustrated by the
Bureaucracy of the
Galactic Senate , as well as the unwillingness of the Jedi Council to aid oppressed
Galactic systems. The disastrous
Battle Of Galidraan soured him towards continued service to the
Republic ; the death of Jinn, his favorite
Padawan , proved to be the final straw.
Unhappy with the power of the Senate and the new
Chancellor , he began to think of ways to return the Jedi to their former glory. Rumors suggest that at this time he secretly studied the dark side via the
Sith Holocron s in the
Jedi Archives . Dooku believed that one could draw from both sides of the Force — light and dark — equally in order to achieve perfect balance. He believed that as long as he was not tempted to either side he would be able to harness the power needed to change the galaxy for the better.
It is unknown exactly how or when Dooku first came into contact with
Darth Sidious (Palpatine's
Sith alias), the mysterious
Dark Lord Of The Sith (and the Master of the late
Darth Maul , who slew Jinn). However, Dooku eventually fell to the dark side and became Darth Sidious' apprentice, taking the Sith name Darth Tyranus. The two Sith Lords orchestrated the
Clone Wars as part of a larger scheme to turn the Republic into the
Galactic Empire . Their plan was to destroy the Jedi Order and use its remnants as the basis for a new Sith Army.
Ten years later, the
Machiavellian Dooku came out of hiding, appearing on
Raxus Prime and heavily criticizing the Republic and the Jedi Order for their hypocrisy and corruption. Dooku, on the orders of political mastermind Darth Sidious, publicly called for entire systems to
Secede from the Republic and join the Separatist movement, culminating in the formation of the
Confederacy Of Independent Systems . The first meeting of the CIS was hosted on the planet
Geonosis , where Obi-Wan Kenobi was captured by the Geonosians and accused of
Espionage . Dooku claimed that he had no power over the decision. Cunningly, Dooku deflected suspicions of Chancellor Palpatine's involvement in the plot by simply telling Obi-Wan the truth about the conspiracy. Dooku added that the hostile Jedi would never believe such an allegation coming from him. Dooku may in fact have been trying to acquire Obi-Wan as his own apprentice, intending to wrest power from Palpatine; the Sith
Rule Of Two mandated that there be only two Sith Lords at any given time.
Dooku almost let go of Separatist leader
Denaria Kee , but Senator
Passel Argente threatened to resign if she was dismissed.
Shu Mai , President of the
Commerce Guild , convinced Dooku that letting go of the
Corporate Alliance leaders would cost the Separatists or the CIS leaders a considerable amount of power, so Dooku let Denaria Kee stay on the CIS.
Later, when Anakin Skywalker and
Padmé Amidala arrived to rescue Obi-Wan, they were captured and sentenced to be eaten alive by large beasts in a
Colosseum -style arena. However, the executions were interrupted by the sudden arrival of Jedi reinforcements, led by Jedi Master
Mace Windu . Though the Jedi were overwhelmed by the new
Droid army of the CIS, they were soon rescued by Jedi Master
Yoda , who led the very Clone Army Dooku helped create, forcing the Separatists to retreat.
.]]
Count Dooku fled to his secret hangar, but he was followed by Obi-Wan and Anakin. The headstrong padawan rushed at Dooku, but was rendered unconscious when the Sith Lord blasted him with Force lightning. Obi-Wan was left alone to engage Dooku in a lightsaber duel that the Count easily won after stabbing Obi-Wan in the shoulder and thigh. As he was about to deliver the killing strike Anakin once again charged forward, barely intercepting Dooku's blade before it severed Obi-Wan's head from his shoulders. As they fought Dooku sensed an unusual amount of Force power in the padawan, but Anakin could not overcome his opponent's sheer skill with the saber, and the fight ended with Dooku slashing through Anakin's swordarm at the elbow. Tyranus was again thwarted from escaping by the arrival of Yoda, his former master. The Sith's mastery of the dark side led him to believe that he could best his old teacher in combat...this was a mistake. He at first attempted to use the Force to overpower Yoda, hurling stones, machinery, and even Force lightning at the tiny master, but Yoda easily deflected all of these. At last it came down to a contest of lightsabers, and again Dooku found himself hopelessly outmatched. As skilled as he was in the art of combat, Dooku did not have Yoda's power or speed and he was quickly reduced to using defensive measures. Realizing that this was a fight he was not going to win, Tyranus hurled a large metallic column to crush the unconscious forms of Obi-Wan and Anakin, and Yoda was forced to release the Dark Lord to save the lives of his comrades. Count Dooku soon arrived on
Coruscant , where he met with Sidious and informed him that the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems were officially at
War .
In the video game ''The Clone Wars'', Count Dooku leads the army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, or the Separatist Army, as in the films. He hires Cydon Prax to replace the deceased Jango 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 '''', 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 took up a few apprentices of his own, though of the non-Sith variety:
Sev'rance Tann ,
Asajj Ventress ,
Durge ,
Tol Skorr ,
Kadrian Sey , and
General Grievous . He also acted as the political figurehead of the CIS. Of course, even though Dooku's co-conspirators were aware that he was a Sith and a servant of Darth Sidious, they were unaware of their being mere puppets in a larger scheme. Near the end of the Clone Wars, Dooku had Grievous capture and imprison Palpatine to trick the Senate into believing he had been kidnapped, thus creating the sympathy necessary to give the Chancellor even greater emergency powers.
During the opening of the ''
Revenge Of The Sith '', Anakin and Obi-Wan battle Dooku while trying to save Palpatine. Dooku had orders to kill Kenobi, defeat and capture Anakin, and then turn Anakin to the dark side of the Force. Palpatine had convinced Dooku that Kenobi's death would make Anakin vulnerable to the dark side. Once turned, Dooku believed, Anakin would be the perfect commanding general of his new Sith Army, built from the remnants of the Jedi Order.
But Dooku never imagined the outcome of the duel. Though able to block against the saber strikes of the two Jedi, he was forced onto the defensive. He Force pushed Kenobi out of the way but was pursued by Skywalker, who brutally hammered at the Sith. As Obi-Wan rejoined the fight Dooku realized that his opponents were more dangerous than he could have thought possible. Tyranus kicked Skywalker against a wall and locked Obi-Wan in a Force grip before hurling him across the room, leaving him unconscious. But then Skywalker barreled at him and Dooku found himself fighting for his life. Not only had Anakin mastered Djem So, an extremely powerful saber style, but his connection to the Force had greatly intensified since his last duel with the Dark Lord. In the end Anakin repaid the Count for his humiliating defeat on Geonosis by cutting off not one, but both, of Dooku's hands. Sidious had promised Dooku that he would intervene in the unlikely event that Anakin won the duel, but unfortunately for Dooku, he only realized Palpatine's betrayal in the moment before his death. In reality, Palpatine never intended Dooku to be the true apprentice; Dooku was merely a placeholder for Anakin and a tool for engineering the Clone Wars. At Palpatine's insistence, Anakin decapitated the helpless Sith Lord. Skywalker would later become
Darth Vader , Palpatine's third and greatest apprentice.
As a Padawan, Dooku's favorite training was lightsaber combat. His swordsmanship was uncanny even to the most revered Jedi Masters. Though styles like Form III, Form IV and Form V were more practical in the Age of Blasters, the competitive spirit in Dooku drove him curiously towards mastery of Form II Makashi lightsaber combat. Form II was a concentration on lightsaber to lightsaber combat. Resentful of the needlessly rambunctious acrobatics of Form IV (which better suit a specimen like Yoda, not a human), Dooku saw Form II as the perfect rebuttal to all forms of lightsaber combat. As such, it was a more elegant, precise and classical style. His mastery of Form II indeed made him one of the greatest swordsman of the Jedi Order. His superior swordsmanship earned him assignment as the Order's leading instructor and principal for advanced lightsaber combat. Although highly respected for his abilities, his pride was a cause for alarm amongst his peers, as he possessed an aggressive and competitive nature not normally seen in Jedi. His Form II mastery, paired with his deep connection with the Force, made Dooku a nearly impossible adversary to overcome. Dooku was so well versed in lightsaber combat that he could defeat opponents without the use of the Force, and even able to hold his own against three or four opponents by himself despite the fact that Makashi was less efficient and less effective with multiple opponents.
His Padawan would show the same rebeliousness that Dooku himself had shown Yoda. It would be Qui-Gon's devotion to Form IV that would, as Dooku saw it, lead to his death at the hands of the Sith Lord Darth Maul.
Dooku's grasp on Form II only grew during his descent into the dark side of the Force. Athough reaching 80 standard years of his life, Dooku managed to stay in good physical condition, enabling himself to use acrobatic skills and speed which most Jedi Masters his age could not have accomplished. Using aggression more freely, Dooku would arrogantly assume that he could finally defeat Yoda in combat. His victory over Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker at the Battle of Geonosis was a given due to the fact that neither Obi-Wan or Anakin were trained in the lightsaber-to-lightsaber combat of Form II. However, when he fought his former master Yoda he was still unable to overcome Yoda's overwhelming speed. Dooku had to concede to his former master. He escaped the duel and spent the next three years honing his craft.
Dooku would lose once and for all to Anakin Skywalker in a duel during the Battle of Coruscant. Old age and arrogance had caught up with the old Sith Lord. Skywalker had abandoned the passive aggression of defensive combat that had been taught by his elders, and mastered the more offensive Form V Shien/Djem So lightsaber combat. Drawing on the forsaken powers of the dark side,Anakin eventually killed Count Dooku by decapitating him at the Chancellor's urging.
In the novel his final words are to Anakin, whom he advises "Beware the dark side" just before Skywalker decapitates him. Along with him went the lightsaber combat of Form II. No other Jedi even in Luke Skywalker’s time is known to still use it or even know of it. If Luke had known and learned the skills and techniques of Form II then his fight with Darth Vader would have given Luke an advantage over him and future Dark Jedi.
Of course, years later the same thing was going to happen to Darth Vader. He was going to be replaced by his son,
Luke Skywalker . In
Return Of The Jedi when Palpatine says to Luke: ”Now, fulfill your destiny and take your father’s place at my side.” This also shows that Palpatine was never planning on keeping either Maul, Dooku, an injured Vader - or possibly even Luke - as his apprentice for any long periods of time.
There is a parallel between Count Dooku and the
Wizard Saruman in
''The Lord Of The Rings'' Film Trilogy (both of whom Lee portrayed). In both
Saga s, the character is a
Fallen Hero who is seduced by power and uses deception to hide his true intentions. Both Saruman and Dooku imprison a heroic character (
Gandalf The Grey and
Obi-Wan Kenobi , respectively) and offer him a chance to join them. In both situations, the hero refuses and escapes. The two possess excellent oratory skills, as Saruman can use his voice to control others and is described as "honey-tongued," while Dooku leads the propaganda campaign for the Separatists. Both are servants to a greater evil (
Sauron and Darth Sidious, respectively) and both are masters of their particular art.
Dooku and Saruman both studied the dark arts in secret, before they became "officially" evil. In the end, Dooku is betrayed by his master. Though Sauron could easily have sent some of his limitless military forces to Saruman's aid, he declines, in effect doing the same thing as Sidious. (In the original book, Saruman works independently, though unwittingly serving Sauron through his actions; in the movies, however, their relationship is much closer.)
There is also an intentional parallel between Dooku and Anakin, as both are former Jedi who become apprentices to Darth Sidious. In addition, aside from his name, Dooku does have many similarities to
Dracula (again portrayed numerous times by Lee in movie adaptations), for both are
Villainous , erudite and sophisticated
Count s who wear a cape and dress in black.
The design of Count Dooku's lightsaber is inspired by
Filipino native weaponry, like the
Barong . Some have said that the defeat of Dooku is like that of
Robert E. Lee during the
American Civil War , who could not bear to fight and kill his fellow Virginians in battle.
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"http://wwwstarwarscom/databank/character/countdooku" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Star Wars Databank Count Dooku
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