Count Dooku
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Count Dooku is a fictional character from the Star Wars franchise, appearing in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (portrayed by Christopher Lee).[1] He was also voiced by Corey Burton in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Once a respected Jedi Master, he falls to the dark side of the Force after the death of his former apprentice, Qui-Gon Jinn, and becomes Darth Sidious' second apprentice under the name Darth Tyranus. As the founder of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, he instigates the Clone Wars. Dooku was trained by Yoda as a Padawan learner.
Appearances
Films
Attack of the Clones
Introduced in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Count Dooku appears as the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, a federation of planetary systems rebelling against the Galactic Republic. He 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 to assassinate Padmé Amidala on Coruscant; the attempt on her life fails, however. When a fight with Obi-Wan Kenobi 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's 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 promptly sentences him to death.
After an army of Jedi and clone troopers rescue Obi-Wan, Anakin Skywalker and Padmé, a battle breaks out between the Republic forces and Dooku's army. Dooku tries to flee, but Anakin and Obi-Wan 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, Yoda confronts him and engages him in a lightsaber duel. Unable to match Yoda's speed and agility, Dooku distracts his former master 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 Darth Sidious and informs his master that their plan is working: "The war has begun."
Revenge of the Sith
In the opening of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, set three years later, Dooku and Separatist commander General Grievous kidnap Supreme Chancellor Palpatine - 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 taps into the dark side to overpower him, severing both of Dooku's hands and leaving him helpless. Palpatine then tells Anakin to kill Dooku on the spot; after initial hesitation, Anakin brutally decapitates Dooku. This act sets off a chain of events that leads to Anakin's fall to the dark side and transformation into Darth Vader.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
In the 2008 CGI film Star Wars: The Clone Wars, 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 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 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 eventually foil Dooku's plan.
Television
Clone Wars (2003 and 2008 series)
During the 2003 animated miniseries Star Wars: Clone Wars, Count Dooku leads the Separatists from behind the scenes, taking the Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress 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.
In the 2008 animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Dooku is the leader of the Separatists. 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 of Mandalore urges the Galactic Senate to hold off a military force.
In the third season, Dooku is forced to eliminate Ventress to prove his loyalty to Sidious. Ventress survives, however, and works with Mother Talzin to kill Dooku by giving him Savage Opress as a replacement apprentice. During a confrontation between Dooku and Ventress, Savage turns on both. In the fourth season, after defeating Anakin in three separate lightsaber duels, Dooku gets his revenge on Ventress by having Grevious order the systematic genocide of the Nightsisters. Believing both Ventress and Talzin have been killed, Dooku's knows the only threat left to him is Savage while sensing his eventual meeting with Darth Maul. 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 into putting all their resources in the hands of the Sith, bringing war to the planet Scipio. 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 his master to perform a Sith ritual in an unsuccessful attempt to break the Jedi Master; Dooku appears to fight Anakin in the illusion, but is executed in a matter very similar to his eventual demise.
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 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 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. Dooku is intrigued by the Sith's open embrace of power and realizes that he is just as capable of treachery as they are. When they get caught, Dooku says that the theft was Nod's idea; Nod is then expelled from the Jedi Order. Years later, Dooku encounters and eventually kills Nod.
In Sean Stewart's Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, 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 suspects 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 novelization of Revenge of the Sith 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.[2]
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 Jedi master Yoda and the Count Dooku,[3] and a Hasbro Count Dooku lightsaber.[4]
Portrayal
Count Dooku was portrayed by Christopher Lee in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, while Kyle Rowling did most of the lightsaber sequences. The character was voiced by Corey Burton in Star Wars: Clone Wars (as well as most of the video games).
Lee reprised his role to voice the character in the 2008 animated film, while Burton returned to voice the character in the subsequent TV series.
References
- Bibliography
- Stover, Mathew. Revenge of the Sith. Lucas Booka, Century, London. ISBN 0-7126-8427-1
- Notes
- ^ "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones". Sir Christopher Lee Web.
- ^ Stover 2005, pp. 76–79.
- ^ "Yoda takes on Count Dooku in battle to be Christmas number one". Daily Express.
- ^ "Star Wars Count Dooku Electronic Lightsaber". entertainmentearth.com.
- Further readings
- The New Essential Guide to Characters, 1st edition, 2002. Daniel Wallace, Michael Sutfin, ISBN 0-345-44900-2
- Reynolds, David West. Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 2002. ISBN 0-7894-8588-5
- Luceno, James. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 2005., ISBN 0-7566-1128-8
- Slavicsek, Bill & Collins, Andy. Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Revised Core Rulebook, hardcover, 2002., ISBN 0-7869-2876-X
External links
- Count Dooku at StarWars.com
- Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki
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