Star Wars: Sith Lords Are Our Specialty – The Count Dooku Breakdown
Yoda’s apprentice, Jedi, local representative, Sith, and leader of the Separatists, Count Dooku has done it all.
Count Dooku is pretty consistently an antagonist throughout the Star Wars stories. But this character’s history is long, weird, and even a little tragic.
Early Life
Dooku was born during the High Republic to the leading family of the planet Serenno. Count Gora and Countess Anya quickly saw their son’s force sensitivity manifest, but instead of being proud and happy for his powers, they instead feared him and considered him a freak. They contacted the Jedi Order to have them take Dooku off of their hands, but instead of waiting for their arrival they left their infant son outside of the palace to be found by the Jedi… or spine-wolves. Gora didn’t care much which one.
Dooku was brought to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and when he was old enough to begin his training, he worked hard, excelling in all of his classes, and made sure to follow all of the Jedis’ rules. Unfortunately, this and his generally regal attitude didn’t help him make any friends. And when he did finally manage to connect with other children, the occasion was also marked by a young Dooku being drawn to an ancient Sith Carving and then learning of his parents abandoning him as a baby.
Days as a Jedi
After completing his Initiate Trials Dooku was selected as an apprentice by none other than Master Yoda. Together they went on missions all over the galaxy, including taking on a Terentatek on Kashyyyk. But Dooku didn’t always feel supported or heard by the Jedi Council. When fellow apprentice, Sifo-Dyas had a vision of a solar storm hitting the planet Protobranch Yoda and the Council forbade them from warning the people of the planet because force visions are not absolute. In the end, the vision came to pass and much of the population was killed in the solar storm that Sifo-Dyas had foreseen. Dooku blamed the Jedi Council for this tragedy and for not acting sooner.
Despite this though, he stayed with the Jedi, eventually rising to the status of Jedi Master and earning a seat on the High Council. While he served on the Jedi High Council Dooku was introduced to Senator Palpatine of Naboo- who was secretly with Sith Darth Sidious and would eventually take Qui-Gon Jinn as an apprentice.
Leaving the Jedi Order
Becoming steadily more disillusioned with the Jedi since his youth, Dooku eventually grew to see them as too strongly tied to the government. He took this time to return to his home planet and became involved in an invasion which resulted in Dooku killing his estranged brother, claiming his family fortune and the title of “Count” for himself, and leaving the Jedi order to lead on Serenno.
Darth Sidious approached Count Dooku at this time to recruit him to the Sith despite already having an apprentice in Darth Maul. Dooku accepted and began serving the Sith by laying the groundwork for the Clone Wars, including overseeing the creation of a clone army. He would then go on to form the Separatist Movement.
The Clone Wars
Count Dooku had a leading role in the Clone Wars. His assassination attempts on Senator Amidala caused Jedi investigations, which would slowly pull his involvement and plans into the light. But even as the war officially began, he continued attempting to recruit more people and planets to the Separatist movement, including the Hutts, the Death Watch movement on Mandalor, and General Grievous, who he had been training as a sort of apprentice.
His final battle was against Anakin Skywalker towards the end of the Jedi’s connection to the light side of the Force. Egged on by Palpatine, Skywalker dueled, defeated, and decapitated Count Dooku.
His own movement didn’t live on much longer with the rise of the Empire unifying everything in the Galaxy under an iron fist.
What is your favorite Count Dooku moment or quote? Do you think this is a tragic character who could have had another path or an unrepentant bad guy? Do you think Dooku has one of the best lightsaber designs in the galaxy? Let us know in the comments!
May The Force Be With You, Adventurers!
