Dooku's first lightsaber

"It is obvious that this contest cannot be decided by our knowledge of the Force, but by our skills with a lightsaber."

- Dooku

Dooku's first lightsaber was a curved-hilt lightsaber constructed and used by Dooku as both a Jedi Master and a Sith Lord.

Specifications


When Dooku first set about creating this weapon, he chose a configuration that had no connection to either the weapon wielded by his first tutor, Yoda, nor to the style in fashion at the time. Studying Jedi Archive records, Dooku based his new weapon design after the curved hilts that were standard during the heyday of Form II lightsaber combat. The curve allowed the hilt to fit better into his hand, allowing for superior finesse and precise blade control.

The emitter featured both an angular blade guard and a thumb trigger that activated the weapons dual-phase setting, shortening the blade for a close quarters surprise attack. The first third of the weapon casing was a solid piece that contained an inclined focusing chamber and a series of thermal radiator grooves along the inside of the curve. The crystal chamber was positioned in the joint between this piece and the handgrip. Concealed beneath the fabric covering of the handgrip was a magnetic adhesion plate that secured the weapon to Dooku's belt when not in use. The final third of the hilt contained the activator and the three power cells. The first cell, a compound power cell, was contained in the bend in the hilt directly below the handgrip. The second, a Phase A cell, was positioned next to the activator, a red pinky trigger. The last cell, the reserve, was contained in the weapon's pommel.

History
Dooku constructed his lightsaber with a blue crystal shortly after becoming a Jedi Master, deliberately using a design that had little connection to the standard lightsaber he had wielded as a Knight. The Jedi had entertained a long interest in such designs, including a short, handwritten comment to that effect in his copy of the The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force next to the brief description of a curved-hilt lightsaber. Notably, this weapon saw use against the True Mandalorians during the Battle of Galidraan. When Dooku left the Jedi Order, he took his lightsaber with him. When he joined the Order of the Sith Lords as Darth Tyranus, the Count converted the weapon into a Sith lightsaber by replacing the original crystal with a scarlet synthetic gem, improving the blades cutting power at the expense of maneuverability. But despite renouncing the Jedi way, Dooku would continue to greet opponents with the traditional Makashi salute.

Tyranus Confronting the Jedi
"Brave of you, boy, but I would have thought you had learned your lesson.''" "I am'' a slow learner."

- Darth Tyranus and Anakin Skywalker

During the start of the Clone Wars, Darth Tyranus is challenged by Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi at a hangar where his starship is docked. After Tyranus released a barrage of Force lightning and blasted Skywalker, Tyranus draws his lightsaber and engages Kenobi. Tyranus's elegant Form II bladework quickly wore away at Kenobi's Form III defense. During a bladelock, Tyranus had a wide grin on his face as the Sith Lord uses his weapon to push Kenobi's blade aside, and suddenly jabbed and slashed at the Jedi Knight's arm and leg to bring his opponent down. As Tyranus raised his lightsaber for a killing stroke, Skywalker leapt into action to block the Sith Lord's blow.

When Skywalker used two blades to began to unleash of flurry of broad Form IV attacks, Tyranus is briefly left off his guard. But since neither Ataru nor the two-blade fighting style were forms that Skywalker had received advanced training in, Tyranus recovers his guard and drives Skywalker back, forcing his opponent to revert to his standard Form V practices when the Sith Lord masterfully disarmed him, destroying Skywalker's second weapon's hilt in mid air. As Skywalker quickly retreated to regain composure against Tyranus, the two engaged in a flurry of swordplay where each one is seemingly equally matched. Despite Tyranus finally bringing down Skywalker by slashing off the Padawan's arm with a sudden undercut, Tyranus had to catch his breath.

Immediately afterwards, Tyranus and Yoda regarded one another. After failing to kill Yoda with telekinesis, Tyranus brandished his lightsaber. Tyranus unleashed his full Form II mastery but Yoda's own mastery of Form IV held off his former Padawan's relentless attacks. Driven back by Yoda and realizing that he could not win, Tyranus distracted the Grand Master by using the Force to topple one of the hangars power columns onto Kenobi and Skywalker. As Yoda broke off to telekinetically catch the power column, Tyranus was able to quickly board his ship and escape.

Rematch with Anakin Skywalker
"Your training has come a long way, boy."

- Dooku

As the political leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Count Dooku rarely engaged in battle and his lightsaber remained largely idle but would occasionally get his hands dirty. When the Separatists and the Galactic Republic try to gain the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure's favor, Dooku engages in a rematch with Anakin Skywalker. Dooku personally intercepted, believing Skywalker had Rotta. After Dooku's barrage of lightning gets blocked when Skywalker absorbed the attack with his lightsaber, Dooku brandished his lightsaber and the two charged each other. Eventually, the Count managed to slash the Jedi Knight across the back, cutting his opponent's backpack in half and supposedly killing the Huttlet. After Skywalker revealed that his backpack was full of rocks to Dooku and that Rotta is actually with Ahsoka Tano, the two continued their battle. But after another long and vicious bout of swordplay, their duel is left as a draw when Anakin left to save Ahsoka by stealing on Dooku's own speeder.

Stolen by Hondo Ohnaka
After crash landing on Vanqor, Dooku was provided with transport by Hondo Ohnaka. Once his lightsaber is quietly stolen during the trip, Dooku is captured by Ohnaka's pirate gang upon their arrival on Florrum. Ohnaka attempted to ransom Dooku to the Republic by displaying the lightsaber as proof of capture. Although Dooku later managed to escape, he wasn't able to retrieve his lightsaber remains unknown.

For the remainder of the war (and his life), Dooku wielded a lightsaber of a similar design.

Behind the scenes
When Dooku was originally being conceived for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, early concept art depicted him as a female Sith. However, as the character was developed and Christopher Lee was cast, the concept art was shelved with the curved hilt of Dooku's lightsaber being the lone holdover. The final hilt was designed to resemble a rapier handle, down to the guard.

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 film
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron