Count Dooku
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Star Wars character | |
| Count Dooku / Darth Tyranus | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Portrayed by | Christopher Lee (Episodes II and III) Corey Burton (Star Wars: Clone Wars) |
|
|
|
| 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 |
Count Dooku 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 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 also plays a substantial role in the "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games.
Yoda was his master while Dooku was a Jedi. Count Dooku is a powerful Jedi Master and Sith Lord, the successor of Darth Maul. His Sith title is Darth Tyranus.
Contents |
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Films
Dooku first appears 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, aka the Separatists, a federation of planetary systems rebelling against the Galactic Republic. The film reveals that he was trained by Yoda and later by Thame Cerulian, (although the movie doesn't mention this) and was the master of Qui-Gon Jinn.
Dooku is angered by the bureaucracy of the Galactic Senate, as well as the apparent unwillingness of the Jedi Council to aid oppressed galactic systems. Qui-Gon's death at the hands of Sidious' 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 Masters ever to resign their commissions from the Jedi Order.[citation needed]
In Attack of the Clones, the investigation of a failed assassination attempt on 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. (Expanded Universe material explains that Dooku had murdered him). 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 Kenobi refuses to join him, and is then sentenced to death.
Prior to his capture, 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 large group of Jedi forces and the new Clone Army. He then attempts to capture Dooku with the help of his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker. The two are unsuccessful; Kenobi is incapacitated, and while Anakin proves to be more of a challenge he loses his right arm in a duel with Dooku. The Sith Lord then faces Yoda, whom he is unable to defeat. He distracts Yoda by nearly killing Kenobi and Anakin, escapes from Geonosis and flies to a secret facility on Coruscant. There, he gives Sidious the rudimentary blueprints for a Geonosian-designed superweapon: the Death Star.
In the opening of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin and Kenobi are sent to rescue Palpatine from Separatist leader General Grievous' flagship, the Invisible Hand. In the novelization of Episode III, Dooku plans to kill Kenobi and then surrender to Anakin. Palpatine tells Dooku that without Kenobi's influence, Anakin will be easily turned to the dark side.
But during the ensuing lightsaber duel the plan goes terribly wrong. The saber skills of the two Jedi have dramatically improved since the confrontation on Geonosis, and Skywalker has become more powerful than the Count had thought possible. Dooku manages to knock Kenobi unconscious after incapacitating him with a Force choke and hurling him across the room, but Anakin overwhelms his defenses with an onslaught of brutal Djem So bladework. The young Jedi repays the Count for his humiliating defeat on Geonosis by cutting off not one, but both of Tyranus's hands. In his final moments, as Palpatine (later revealed to be Sidious) goads the young Skywalker (while Obi-Wan is knocked out) into delivering the killing strike, Dooku realizes that Palpatine never intended him to be the true apprentice; rather, he was merely a placeholder for Anakin Skywalker and a tool for engineering the Clone Wars.[citation needed] Anakin then crosses two lightsabers in a scissor-like motion, severing the helpless Sith Lord's head in cold blood.
[edit] Expanded Universe
[edit] Clone Wars series
In the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003-2005), Dooku is voiced by Corey Burton. 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 one of the villains in the upcoming sequal to the Clone Wars series, the computer animated 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. 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.
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.
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 — as a ploy to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi and initiate Anakin Skywalker into the Sith. (He is, of course, unaware that Sidious truly plans to sacrifice him).
[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, a Wikia wiki
|
||||||||||||||||||||
