From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please rewrite this article or section to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective.

Star Wars character
Count Dooku / Darth Tyranus
Portrayed by	Christopher Lee (Star Wars Episodes II, III and The Clone Wars)
Position	Former Jedi Master Dark Lord of the Sith Count of Serenno Leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems
Homeworld	Serenno
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Jedi Order Order of the Sith Lords Confederacy of Independent Systems

Count Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. He is the main villain of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and a supporting villain in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. He plays a substantial role in the "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games. In his television and video game appearaces, Count Dooku is portrayed by voice actor Corey Burton. In all of his film appearances, which consists of the prequel films and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, he is played by Christopher Lee.

In his various appearances, Count Dooku is a powerful Jedi Master and Sith Lord, the successor of Darth Maul. He would in turn be replaced by Palpatine's third and most powerful apprentice, Darth Vader. Dooku's Sith title is Darth Tyranus.

[edit] Depiction

[edit] Films

[edit] Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Dooku first appears in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones as the Sith apprentice of Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid). He is also the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, a federation of planetary systems rebelling against the Galactic Republic. Dooku claims to be angered by the bureaucracy of the Galactic Senate, as well as the apparent unwillingness of the Jedi Council to aid oppressed galactic systems.

Dooku captures Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan MacGregor) on Geonosis. Dooku tells Kenobi that he is 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. He also states that he was sad at the loss of Kenobi's former master and Dooku's former apprentice, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson). Kenobi refuses to join Dooku, who promptly sentences him to be executed.

A clone trooper and Jedi force rescue Kenobi, along with Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christiansen) and Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman). Anakin and Kenobi chase Dooku and engage him in a lightsaber duel in which Kenobi is incapacitated and Anakin loses his right arm. Yoda (Frank Oz), Dooku's former master, then fights the Sith Lord. Unable to defeat Yoda, Dooku distracts him by trying to make a large pillar fall on the two Jedi; Dooku escapes from Geonosis as Yoda is busy saving them. Dooku flies to Coruscant and delivers to Sidious the blueprints for the Geonosian-designed Death Star.

[edit] Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

In the opening of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent to rescue Chancellor Palpatine (ultimately revealed as Sidious' alter ego) from Separatist leader General Grievous(Matthew Wood)'s flagship. In the ensuing duel, The saber skills of the two Jedi had dramatically improved during the intervening years, though they initially did not reveal this to the Count, using only basic sword techniques. Both Jedi suddenly changed their saber styles mid-battle and began to wear down the Sith Lord's defenses, although he swiftly re-adjusted. Dooku had initially been toying with them, but he soon knew he was in for the fight of his life.

Eventually, Dooku was able to regain the upper hand when he used the Force to levitate Kenobi and hurl Skywalker into a wall at the same time. The Count then Force-choked Kenobi and telekinetically hurled him across the room. Kenobi was knocked unconscious, but Dooku collapsed a balcony on the Jedi with the Force for good measure. Getting to his feet, Skywalker carried on the fight alone.

During their one-on-one duel, Dooku taunted Anakin, calling on him to use his fear, hate and anger.(The film's novelization makes clear that Sidious had ordered him to kill Kenobi and make Skywalker his apprentice.)However, with Palpatine's encouragement, Anakin channeled his hatred of Dooku and tapped into the dark side of the Force. Refusing to be intimidated by the Sith Lord's casual victory over Kenobi, Anakin drove Dooku back and overpowered him. With an elegant maneuver, he proceeded to slice off both of the Count's hands, bringing him to his knees. Unarmed, Dooku was at the Jedi Knight's mercy.

Expecting his Master to intervene and save his life as Sidious had promised to do in the case of defeat, Dooku instead was shocked to see the Dark Lord goad Skywalker to deliver the deathblow. It was then that Dooku came to realize the second deception: Sidious never intended for the Count to survive; he was simply the tool used to create the Confederacy and make Sidious's plan truly possible. Anakin, holding both his and Dooku's lightsabers crossed before Dooku's throat, killed Dooku and saved the chancellor and Obi-Wan.

[edit] Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Dooku is featured in the movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In the film, in a plot to bring Jabba the Hutt(Kevin Michael Richardson) into the folds of the Confederacy. Count Dooku enlisted Jabba's uncle Ziro to kidnap Jabba's son Rotta. After Ziro's agents delivered the young Huttlet to the planet Teth, Dooku contacted Ziro again to arrange for Asajj Ventress(Nika Futterman) to take custody of Rotta. Jabba had requested Jedi assistance to rescue his son, and the Count wished for Ventress to frame the crime on would-be rescuer Anakin Skywalker(Matt Lanter)

As Separatist and Republic forces battled on Teth, Dooku met with Jabba personally on Tatooine. In one of several audiences with the Hutt, Dooku displayed a partially forged recording of Skywalker and Rotta that Ventress had produced. This recording enraged Jabba, who demanded that Rotta be rescued and Skywalker's head delivered to him. The Count agreed, and commanded Ventress to retrieve Rotta from Skywalker and return him alive to Jabba. However, Ventress was unable to prevent the escape of Skywalker, his new Padawan Ahsoka Tano(Ashley Eckstein), and Rotta from Teth.

On Tatooine, Dooku informed Jabba that Rotta had been killed by the Jedi, and offered to kill Skywalker in return. He dispatched IG-100 MagnaGuards in fighters to destroy Skywalker's incoming ship, the Twilight. While the fighters were destroyed, they succeeded in disabling the vessel, which crashed in the desert. Tano and Skywalker split up after landing, with Ahsoka carrying Rotta and Skywalker playing decoy.

Dooku sent other MagnaGuards to lay in wait along the route to Jabba's Palace, but was delayed in seeking Skywalker by a message from Ziro the Hutt, who was concerned about their plot. However, their discussion was interrupted by the discovery of Senator Amidala eavesdropping on Ziro. Dooku suggested that Ziro sell her to one of Dooku's allies and collect the bounty, and left to confront Anakin.

Riding his speeder bike into the desert, the Count soon discovered Anakin, who was waiting for him. Dooku sliced Anakin's backpack as the two engaged in a duel. As Skywalker was acting as Ahsoka 's decoy, the backpack contained only rocks and not Rotta. Skywalker noted that he'd delayed Dooku long enough for A to reach the palace. Dooku, not fooled, then displayed a hologram of Tano fighting MagnaGuards, telling Skywalker that the MagnaGuards would kill Rotta, but Ahsoka would be delivered to Jabba alive to face his vengeance.

After Anakin defeats dooku, He sprints to Dooku's speeder, Anakin stole it from him and raced to Jabba's throne room to defend Ahsoka from the Hutt's wrath. However, the young Togruta made it past Dooku's minions and delivered the infant Hutt to his father. While enormously pleased at the return of Rotta, Jabba still demanded the deaths of the Jedi for other slights. However, before a battle between the Jedi and Jabba's men was ensured, a call from Senator Padmé Amidala(Catherine Taber) delivering evidence of Ziro and Dooku's involvement in the kidnapping deflected Jabba's fury onto his uncle and the Separatists.

[edit] Expanded Universe

[edit] Clone Wars series

In the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003-2005), Dooku is portryaed by voice actor Corey Burton and is the main villain of the series. During the series, he leads the Separatists in attacks upon the Republic. He also sends Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress on a mission to kill Anakin Skywalker — Palpatine's ploy to test the young Jedi's worth as an apprentice — and trains General Grievous in lightsaber combat. In the series' final episode, he orchestrates an attack on the planet Coruscant in which Grievous kidnaps Palpatine, setting the stage for Revenge of the Sith. Dooku is also the main villain in the television adaption of the movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars .

[edit] 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, most notably, 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.

[edit] Novels

Dooku appears as a main or secondary villain in many Expanded Universe novels.

[edit] Legacy of the Jedi

In Jude Watson's Legacy of the Jedi, he 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 on 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. Years later, he encounters (and eventually kills) Nod.

[edit] Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

In Sean Stewart's Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, he attempts to trap his former Master by offering to negotiate an end to the war; This novel reveals that Dooku had always resented his parents for giving him away to the Jedi Order.

[edit] Labyrinth of Evil

In James Luceno's Labyrinth of Evil, he engineers General Grievous' transformation into the Separatists' cyborg commander, and trains him in lightsaber combat. He then schemes with Sidious to invade Coruscant — thus setting the stage for Revenge of the Sith — in what he believes to be a ploy to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi and initiate Anakin Skywalker into the Sith.

[edit] References

• 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

[edit] External links

• Count Dooku in the Star Wars Databank
• Dooku on Wookieepedia, an external wiki