| “ | I sense great fear in you, Skywalker. You have hate. You have anger. But you don't use them. | „ |
| ~ Count Dooku's last words to Anakin Skywalker, foreshadowing the latter's transformation into Darth Vader. |
Count Dooku, also known as Darth Tyranus, is a major antagonist in the Star Wars franchise. He is a former Jedi Master, the Sith apprentice of Darth Sidious and leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
He was portrayed by Christopher Lee.
His Qualities[]
What Makes Him Entertaining?[]
- Christopher Lee gives a model performance for him as a calm, charismatic, and complex yet still diabolical figurehead. Corey Burton voicing him in his animated appearances also managed to be just as good.
- He is an anti-villain with genuine good intentions.
- He is very charismatic, as he was able to create the Separatists by swaying millions in the galaxy against the Republic, some who were genuinely disgusted by the Republic's corruption and wanting it to change and others who want to continue their greed. Regardless of whichever motivation for leaving the Republic, it certainly helps that Dooku was right about the Republic's corruption (as we see two examples in Tales of the Jedi and the bureaucracies that kept Palpatine's predecessor Chancellor Valorum from doing as much as he wished for the people of Naboo), even if he ends up becoming no better.
- He was so charismatic that even after the rise and fall of the Galactic Empire, there were still a few Separatists who sought to finish what Dooku started.
- Has plenty of memetic lines, examples including "I've been looking forward to this", "This is just the beginning!", and "Good. Twice the pride. Double the fall."
- Like his Sith master, though not close to his level, Dooku was a master manipulator who successfully kept his true plan with Sidious secret from the Separatists and the Kaminoans. He also manipulated Rush Clovis into a deal that ultimately resulted in control of the banks while Clovis ended up taking the fall
- He is pragmatic enough to know when to dispose of a pawn as he tortures Savage for killing King Katuunko when he ordered him to be brought back alive and tried ordering Wat Tambor to evacuate Ryloth due to his value on the Separatist Council. He also knows better than to prolong a losing battle as he orders Kalani to salvage the remaining armies of Onderon when it's clear that the rebels on the planet, even giving silent approval to the droid shooting Sanjay Rash dead.
- He also rightfully calls Pre Vizsla a neophyte after the plot to provoke a Republic invasion of Mandalore fails, Dooku dissuades Vizsla from trying to take the planet by force, pointing out that without the Separatist army or support from the people, he has no chance of actually keeping Mandalore.
- He is one of the best lightsaber duelists and force users when he was both a Jedi Master and a Sith Lord, able to hold his own against Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Yoda and it's even implied he could rival (and possibly surpass) Mace Windu's skills as well.
- He successfully curb stomped three Nightsisters (his former apprentice Ventress being one of them) even after being hit with a vision disturbing dart and the three Nightsisters being hidden by shadows, while, funnily enough, in his pajamas.
- He trained two apprentices with great efficiency, to the point where Sidious feared his first one Ventress was growing too powerful. Even his torturing of Savage with Force Lightning during his training is balanced with genuine teachings of the dark side. He is a wise leader who didn't reveal everything he knew all at once like Darth Plagueis did.
- His fall from the light to the dark side is played for sympathy in Tales of the Jedi, showing how good intentions can corrupt someone into a monster if he goes too far. His death in Revenge of the Sith is also sympathetic due to how shocked he looked at being realized he was used and how Anakin was reluctant to do the deed.
- Even if he stopped acknowledging it at the time of the start of the Clone Wars, his relationship with Qui-Gon Jinn was genuine in a manner similar to a father and son. Qui-Gon's death was a devastating moment for Dooku and it only brings him further down the deep end.
- He has a measure of dignity in his final moments, staying silent as he is killed and embracing his inevitable end instead of begging for undeserved mercy or revealing Palpatine's true nature.
What Makes Him Detestable?[]
- He becomes more hypocritical at the time of the Clone Wars, to which the titular TV series is where most of his worst acts are. He even becomes more condescending as the show continues, bringing to doubt the sincerity his intentions once seemed to have.
- He has several Kick the Dog moments in the show, like having Twi'lek villages bombed just to give the Republic a warning about the price of victory, and murdering a whole innocent civilization that was loyal to the Republic and killing off his own senators who oppose the war. The fact that he wanted to kill an innocent and utterly defenseless baby Hutt says a lot about how many standards he has about doing anything to obtain his endgame, no matter how disgusting or reprehensible. Even though he claims otherwise, any "standards" Dooku allegedly has are very hypocritical and outright false. To clarify, he feels regretful about killing Yaddle and betraying Ventress, despite not caring about slashing Anakin's backpack when he thought Jabba the Hutt's son was in there and betraying all of his Jedi friends, and while he helps Obi-Wan and Anakin escape Hondo, it's mostly because he himself needed to escape too.
- What keeps him from being magnificent is that Dooku was easily fooled into thinking that Sidious actually wanted him to rule by his side, when really he was meant to be just a placeholder until he was ready to sway Anakin into becoming his new apprentice, and only realized the truth when Palpatine straight up orders Anakin to kill him. Not to mention his ironic last words were that Anakin wasn't using his hate and anger against the very man who amputated him, when he seemed hateful and angry to the last degree all throughout their contest. He was also gullible enough to not predict Anakin's backpack had rocks and Ahsoka Tano actually had Jabba's infant son, and he whined that Anakin's "treachery" was predictable despite having literally just proven the opposite. He even exaggerated that he had an ingenious contingency for such an occasion, which says a lot when his brilliant countermeasure is just simply sending more droids on her. Previously, he broke off from his attempts on Anakin's life to pelt him with sand, which says a lot about Dooku's maturity when he's too busy throwing sand at Anakin of all people to take their duel seriously.
- He laughs maniacally when Anakin steals his speeder bike and leaves him stranded, which many viewers found to be rather awkward and uncharacteristic.
External Links[]
- Count Dooku on the Villains Wiki
- Count Dooku on the Disney Wiki
- Count Dooku on the Star Wars Wiki