Count Dooku

Count Dooku (also known as Darth Tyranus) is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. In the prequel films, he is played by Christopher Lee, and 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.

Dooku was a Jedi Master and powerful Sith Lord. His Sith name is Darth Tyranus (tyrannus incidentally being the Latin word for "tyrant", from Greek tyrannos)); his full birth name is unknown.

Biography

As a youngling, Dooku was trained by Yoda and then later became the Padawan of Thame Cerulian. Dooku was the Master of Qui-Gon Jinn. 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.

Count Dooku in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

Dooku's first canonical appearance in the Star Wars universe is 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, or the Separatists, 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 are 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 by serving it.

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's former apprentice, Lord 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.

Powers and abilities

Dooku is recognized as being gifted with extraordinary potential in the Force, and frequently uses it in combat. He is also capable of using Force lightning, and is the only swordsman apart from Yoda traditionally held capable of defeating Mace Windu. Dooku had a curve-handled red-bladed lightsaber which is also know as Form II Red Light Saber.

Attack of the Clones

File:The Seduction of Dooku.jpg

Dooku communicates with his Sith Master Darth Sidious.

In Episode II, the investigation of a failed assassination attempt on the life of Padmé Amidala leads to the discovery of the erasure from the Jedi archives of the records of the planet Kamino, where a weapon used to kill Padme's would-be assassin originated; it is later revealed that Dooku performed this erasure. 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 the Star Wars motion picture "Attack of the the Clones", reveals that Sifo-Dyas had indeed ordered the clone army, approximately 10 years prior. 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 Republic will be defenseless. Kenobi is subsequently captured by Dooku's forces, and Dooku attempts to get him to join his cause by telling him that he is only attempting to save the Republic from the influence of a Sith lord, 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 sentenced to death.

File:Dooku yoda.jpg

Count Dooku faces Jedi Master Yoda.

Prior to his capture, however, Kenobi informs 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 Jedi task force and the Clone Army, and attempts to capture Dooku with the help of his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker. The two are unsuccessful; Kenobi is incapacitated, while Anakin loses his right forearm 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.

The Clone Wars

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 10 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 non-Sith variety: 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 and 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 battle 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 a student 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.

Revenge of the Sith

In the opening of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin and Kenobi are sent to rescue Palpatine from Grievous' flagship, the Invisible Hand, where Dooku awaits them. Palpatine has ordered Dooku to kill Kenobi and then surrender to Anakin, to push Anakin to the dark side. Then, Dooku believes, he and his master will destroy the Jedi Order and form the Galactic Empire. 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 knocks Kenobi unconscious, leaving Anakin alone in the fight. Angered by Dooku's taunts, Anakin abandons his Jedi restraint and fiercely overpowers his opponent, severing both of his hands and leaving him completely defenseless. Darth Sidious had promised Dooku that he would intervene should Anakin win the duel, but his master instead orders Anakin to kill him. After a moment's hesitation, Anakin decapitates the helpless Sith Lord. In the moment before his death, Dooku realizes that Palpatine never intended him to be the true apprentice; Dooku was merely a placeholder for Anakin and a tool for engineering the Clone Wars.

When Nerds Collide

Dooku Arrives at Slcoum skewes school as David fights Him With Obi wan Kenobi And he Kills Kenobi Anakin came and fight him Alone without david Then david runs TO the lunch room anakin gave The master A chance to kill him and he zaps his Lightsaber into his dead

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

External links

• Count Dooku in the StarWars.com Databank
• Dooku on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki