Dooku/Legends

"The best of all would be the strongest student, yes? Wisest? Most learned in the ways of the Force? Best of all, Dooku would be! Our greatest student! Our greatest failure."

- Yoda

Dooku was a Jedi Master who fell to the dark side of the Force and became a Dark Lord of the Sith. Born on the planet Serenno, he was the heir to vast wealth and the noble title of Count. Dooku was taken by the Jedi Order as a child and apprenticed to Thame Cerulian. As a Jedi Knight, he took Qui-Gon Jinn as his first Padawan, and later trained Komari Vosa. Dooku was a respected instructor in the Jedi Temple and one of the most renowned swordsmen of the Galaxy. It was once said that only Masters Yoda and Mace Windu could have fought on equal terms with him.

Dooku spent nearly seventy years as a Jedi, but a disastrous battle on Galidraan shook his faith in the Order and the Galactic Republic. He fell under the influence of Senator Palpatine of Naboo, and left the Jedi Order. After learning that Senator Palpatine was secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, Dooku turned to the dark side and became a Dark Lord of the Sith himself. As Sidious's new apprentice, he was given the Sith name Darth Tyranus.

Reclaiming his birthright as Count of Serenno and his vast fortune, Dooku conspired with Sidious to force the galaxy into a war that would bring the Sith to power. He forged ties between corporations and planets discontented with the Republic, and became the leader of a separatist movement. This movement coalesced into the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and thousands of systems flocked to Dooku's banner and seceded from the Galactic Republic.

As the political leader of the Confederacy, Count Dooku led the organization against the Republic in a conflict that would become known as the Clone Wars. This war culminated in a great battle over the Republic capital of Coruscant. In a duel aboard the Separatist flagship Invisible Hand, Dooku was defeated by Anakin Skywalker. Disarmed and helpless, he was then executed by Skywalker at the instigation of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Dooku's Sith master.

Childhood
"I've seen your heart, and I know how empty it is. I've seen your anger, and I know how deep it is. I've seen your ambition, and I know how ruthless it is. And all of that will ultimately destroy you&hellip; I will never be a Jedi, it's true. But neither will you. You will never be a great Jedi Master."

- Lorian Nod

Dooku was born on the planet Serenno to a wealthy noble family. His parents were stern, but proud of his Force abilities, and willingly surrendered him to the Jedi Order. Unlike most younglings, he was aware of his origins and felt driven to prove himself worthy of them.

By far the swiftest learner in his year, Dooku was particularly apt at telekinesis and combat games such as push-feather. He could easily move objects with the Force by the age of seven, and he won the Twelve-and-Under Tournament at only nine years of age. When he was thirteen, Dooku was chosen by Master Thame Cerulian to become his Padawan learner.

Dooku had several friends when he was younger, including fellow youngling Lorian Nod and alien senatorial aide Eero Iridian. However, Lorian Nod was jealous of Dooku being chosen as a Padawan before him, and stole a Sith holocron from the quarters of Thame Cerulian. After Dooku refused to lie to protect his friend from punishment, Nod implicated Dooku in the theft, and the pair became bitter enemies. Both Dooku and Lorian Nod were examined before the Jedi Council, and Nod was cast out of the Jedi Order. This experience made Dooku wary of friendship and attachment, and he became paranoid about the possibility of betrayal.

Even though he studied under Cerulian, Master Yoda took a particular interest in the young Dooku and was frequently his adviser and confidant. Jedi Master, however, was equally quick to point out Dooku's flaws when necessary. He also assisted in Dooku's lightsaber training as a Padawan. Building from this foundation, Dooku became an accomplished duelist with the weapon. In his later years, it was said that few Masters could equal Dooku's skill with a lightsaber.

Under the tutelage of Thame Cerulian, Dooku became a powerful Jedi. His teacher sat on the Jedi Council, and was a keen historian, even inquiring into the history of the Sith. Dooku was the most gifted Padawan Cerulian had ever seen, and Dooku learned much from his Master. As he grew older and continued to develop, Dooku became an outspoken individual who had strong views about the systemic corruption that plagued the Galactic Republic.

Knight and Master
"Let it be said that I was a good Jedi. I never shirked from duty, nor was I tempted by the dark side."

- Darth Tyranus

Dooku became a Jedi Knight in his early twenties, and immediately took Qui-Gon Jinn as his first Padawan. The pair was quite close in age, with only ten years separating them. During his time as a Jedi Knight, Dooku and his apprentice were assigned to protect Senator Blix Annon from pirates who were kidnapping Senators for ransom. On the Senator's ship, Dooku met up with his old friend Eero Iridian, who was now serving as Blix's aide. Pirates attacked the vessel, exploiting weaknesses in the design, and Blix Annon was kidnapped despite the actions of the two Jedi.

During the raid, Dooku recognized one of the pirates as his old friend Lorian Nod and became obsessed with not allowing Nod to win. He neither told his apprentice that he knew the kidnapper nor did he inform the Jedi Council that he had failed to protect Senator Annon. Suspecting Lorian Nod had also been behind the sabotage of the Senator's vessel, Dooku tracked the security weaknesses in the Senator's ship back to the responsible factory on the polluted ice world of Von-Alai.

With Qui-Gon Jinn's help, Dooku discovered that the factory was owned by Caravan, a corporation belonging to Lorian Nod. While they were investigating further, Eero Iridian arrived. Telling the Jedi that he'd found a worker willing to talk to them, he lured the pair into an ambush. There Colicoid Eradicator droids suddenly appeared and threatened the two Jedi. Iridian had betrayed his early friendship to Dooku and was now working for Lorian Nod. Dooku and Jinn were forced to surrender in order to avoid collateral damage to the factory's numerous child workers. They were injected with toxins that paralyzed them and rendered them unconscious. The incapacitated Jedi were subsequently transported to Lorian Nod's headquarters.

The two Jedi woke up in an unknown room some time later, restrained by stun cuffs. They had been captured by Lorian Nod, who spoke to them and said he planned to hold them until Senator Annon was ransomed. Unfortunately for Nod, the Senator died from a sudden heart attack. This panicked Eero Iridian, who rushed into the room where the Jedi were held and began to argue with the pirate leader. During their quarrel, Dooku broke free from his restraints and used the Force to summon his lightsaber through the door Iridian had opened. Dooku then dueled with Nod, intending to kill him. Only Qui-Gon's objection stopped him from slaying his overmatched foe. Instead, Dooku arrested the two pirates and returned to Coruscant with his apprentice.

After more missions for the Jedi Order, including a final one that lasted two years, Jinn was ready to face the Jedi Trials. Before the pair parted, Dooku advised Jinn that his need for connection with other beings was dangerous, and betrayal should never catch him by surprise. Qui-Gon Jinn passed the Jedi Trials, and became a Jedi Knight. Having successfully trained an apprentice, Dooku was promoted to Jedi Master. While Dooku and Jinn had been an effective team, their relationship after Jinn's Knighting was distant. Dooku acted as a teacher to Jinn, not a friend, and the two drifted apart in later years.

As a Jedi Master, Dooku was one of the most highly regarded lightsaber instructors in the Jedi Order, although he lectured on other topics as well. Recordings of these lectures became mandatory viewing for two generations of Padawans and were recorded on the Great Holocron and Asli Krimsan's holocron. During his time as an instructor within the Jedi Temple, his teachings on methods for conquering arrogance were particularly well received.

Master Dooku was offered a place on the Jedi Council, but he turned it down so that he could remain more independent as a proactive peacekeeper. The Council soon agreed that his skills made him well suited for such field work. Dooku was known as a political idealist and was skilled at resolving disputes throughout the galaxy. One such intervention was in the Sevarcos Dispute of 52 BBY. He was friends with many Jedi, such as Mace Windu and Sifo-Dyas, and he was considered part of the "Old Guard" of potential and then-current Jedi Council members.

Galidraan
"You killed them. You killed them all. We're all dead."

- Jango Fett

Of the many missions Dooku undertook, the deadly skirmish at Galidraan was the most disastrous. An emergency call for aid by Galidraan's governor against a Mandalorian invasion prompted a swift but ill-prepared Jedi response. Dooku was the senior Jedi Master of the twenty Jedi thrown together for the task force, and one of the only ones with knowledge of the enemy they were facing. Komari Vosa, whom Dooku had taken as his second Padawan, accompanied him.

The governor claimed that a small army of Mandalorians was slaughtering political dissidents. This was partially true, as he had hired Jango Fett and his followers, the True Mandalorians, to eliminate his own enemies, and was now working with Fett's enemy Vizsla and the Mandalorian splinter faction known as the Death Watch to destroy Fett and his faction.

Dooku, concerned about the preparedness of his forces, requested reinforcements, but the urgency of the situation required him to use only his initial task force. The Jedi were given the coordinates of Fett's camp and surrounded it; Dooku demanded their surrender. Instead, Jango Fett ordered the Mandalorians to open fire. The encounter decimated both sides. The battle concluded after the deaths of eleven Jedi, the near-complete destruction of Fett's forces, and the capturing of Jango Fett, who was personally responsible for the death of several Jedi. Upon orders from the Jedi Council, Dooku turned Fett over to the planet's governor without further investigation. The governor took Jango Fett's armor and sold him into slavery.

While he was at the time unaware of the extent by which the Jedi had been manipulated, Dooku learned shortly thereafter how the Council and the Jedi had been used to further the governor's personal motives. This deeply offended Dooku and sought the true story behind the Galidraan debacle after he left the Jedi Order. Dooku took a particular interest in the fate of Jango Fett, who had earned his respect as a warrior.

Dooku's apprentice Komari Vosa was one of the survivors at Galidraan and was said to have killed twenty Mandalorians personally. While Dooku praised her skills with a lightsaber, he was not convinced she was worthy of becoming a Jedi Knight. In particular, he was disturbed by her inappropriate romantic feelings for him and her volatile personality. Shortly after the incident on Galidraan, Dooku refused to recommend Vosa for the Jedi Trials and she was released from the Order.

Her release infuriated Vosa, and she somehow managed to attach herself to a Jedi mission to Baltizaar to prove Dooku and the Council wrong. While the Jedi repulsed the ruthless Bando Gora cult there, they took heavy casualties. At the end of the fight Komari Vosa was missing and presumed dead. Dooku submitted a protest to the Jedi Council after Baltizaar, arguing that the Council was wasting Jedi lives for political reasons.

Leaving the Order
"Even though I knew that the Senate was corrupt, the Council was fallible, and Jedi training methods far from perfect, I remained with the Jedi Order for twelve years after Galidraan. Why? Because I still believed that I could accomplish some good as a Jedi. I thought I could bring about some positive changes, right certain wrongs, and do better than maintain the status quo. In short, I was an utter fool."

- Darth Tyranus

After the battles of Galidraan and Baltizaar, Dooku became increasingly withdrawn from the Jedi Order. He refused to accept any more missions from the Jedi Council and became concerned about prophecies he felt were coming true about dark times unfolding across the galaxy. While he discussed his concerns with many of the Order's most prominent Jedi Masters, his friend and fellow Jedi Sifo-Dyas was his closest confidant.

Master Dooku's growing disenchantment with the Jedi way was sensed by Senator Palpatine, who had been watching Dooku for some time and had plans that required someone with Dooku's reputation, skills, and financial resources. Palpatine was secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, and even before the Battle of Naboo he had held several meetings with Dooku to feel out his opinions and cultivate him as an ally. Dooku's behavior and beliefs as a Jedi had previously been within the scope of Jedi orthodoxy. Before he left the Order, however, he flirted with the belief that the dark side of the Force could be called upon without personal corruption.

Dooku made several public condemnations of the Senate after the death of his former Padawan Qui-Gon Jinn in a duel with Darth Maul. Maul had previously been the apprentice of Darth Sidious, raised as a weapon to combat the Jedi Order, but Obi-Wan Kenobi bested Maul in the duel that claimed the life of Dooku's former apprentice. Shortly thereafter Dooku resigned from the Jedi Order, retired to Serenno, and claimed his family title of Count. He neither gave a reason for his decision to leave the Jedi in his public announcement nor did he provide one when summoned before the Jedi Council to explain his actions. Dooku's abrupt departure surprised and disturbed the Jedi Order. He was the last former Jedi Master to be counted among the Lost Twenty, and a bronzium bust of him was created to join the other sculptures of the Lost in the Jedi Archives.

Dark Lord of the Sith (32 BBY–24 BBY)
"Powerful you have become, Dooku. The dark side I sense in you." "I've become more powerful than any Jedi. Even you."

- Yoda and Dooku

Sith apprentice
Dooku's disillusionment with the Senate and the Jedi were no secret to Palpatine, and Dooku was already at least partially under his influence when he left the Jedi Order. Despite the recent death of Dooku's apprentice Qui-Gon Jinn at the hands of Darth Maul, Darth Sidious found it surprisingly easy to convince Dooku to ally with the Sith. After seventy years in the Jedi Order, Dooku abandoned his friends and the Jedi way for the dark side of the Force.

Under the tutelage of Sidious, Dooku was renamed Darth Tyranus and became a Dark Lord of the Sith. With his family holdings on Serenno, he had access to vast reserves of wealth which he used in the service of his new master. Darth Tyranus was soon fully enmeshed in Sidious's schemes. Shortly after Dooku left the Order, Master Sifo-Dyas ordered a clone army in secret from the planet Kamino. Sidious informed Dooku of this, and told him to eliminate his friend and gain control over the army.

Dooku obeyed, murdering the Jedi Master and moving his body to a castle on Serenno. He then paid for Sifo-Dyas's clone army under the name of Tyranus. After the death of Sifo-Dyas, Dooku successfully erased Kamino, Dromund, Dagobah, and thirty-five other star systems from the Jedi Archives, despite no longer being a Jedi himself. Information about secret Jedi hyperspace routes through the Deep Core region in the center of the galaxy were also stolen.

Moving the pieces
"Lord Tyranus, what news of the Mandalorian?" "Jango Fett will soon become our prime clone. Our plans are proceeding as expected."

- Darth Sidious and Darth Tyranus

Count Dooku had officially retired from public life, but he was by no means idle. On a mission to the planet Geonosis, on Sidious's behalf, he impressed Archduke Poggle the Lesser with his knowledge of ancient Geonosian atmospheric sailing vessels and was presented with a Punworcca 116-class interstellar sloop. Dooku was pleased with the ship, and acquired an exotic solar sail he had acquired in the Gree Enclave to install on the vessel. The sail propelled the sloop and allowed it to go to hyperspace without the use of a standard hyperdrive. This distinctive solar sailer remained Dooku's personal craft for the rest of his life, although Count Dooku usually left the piloting to an FA-4 pilot droid augmented with Vulture Droid programming.

Dooku's Sith training was soon interrupted by Sidious with an urgent matter. The Bando Gora cult had reemerged and were dealing in assassination, deadly drugs, corruption, and chaos. Their influence in the galactic underworld was strong enough that Sidious considered them a threat to the plans of the Sith, thanks to their new leader Komari Vosa, Dooku's former Padawan. Captured by the cult on Baltizaar and tortured to the point of madness, she had escaped and seized control of the entire criminal organization. Dooku had previously encountered Vosa in her new identity and allowed her to live as an experiment, but now Sidious commanded her death.

Dooku was also tasked by Darth Sidious with recruiting a template for the Grand Army of the Republic's clone troopers, one that was capable of slaying Jedi. Resolving to complete both of these missions at once, he placed an extravagant bounty of five million Republic credits on Komari Vosa, and pitted some of the galaxy's most fearsome bounty hunters against each other to kill or capture her. In the end, the Mandalorians Montross and Jango Fett faced each other on Kohlma, a moon of Bogden. Jango Fett triumphed over his long-hated rival Montross, although he needed some assistance from fellow bounty hunter Zam Wesell to escape after being briefly captured by the Bando Gora.

In a brutal fight, Fett subdued Komari Vosa and captured her alive. However, Dooku was also on Kohlma and had observed the fight in secret. He slew his former apprentice with the Force, and then revealed his presence to the surprised Jango Fett. Fett demanded payment, but was intrigued at Dooku's offer of greater wealth if he helped to create and train a clone army.

At a later meeting on Dooku's homeworld of Serenno, Count Dooku and Jango Fett addressed the history that lay between them. While Dooku had discovered most of the true story behind Galidraan, only Fett knew what had happened afterwards. Mistrusting Dooku because of his Jedi past, Fett attempted to extort further concessions out of him by infecting him with a biological weapon. The Sith Lord feigned defeat and convinced Fett to tell the rest of his tale while he healed himself with the power of the Force. Finding his leverage suddenly neutralized, Jango Fett agreed to be cloned on the condition he would receive the first clone unaltered to have for his own.

Count Dooku's hand was silently behind many events in the years leading up to the Clone Wars. On the planet Ryloth, he supported the attempted coup of Twi'lek exile Kh'aris Fenn, with the intent that under Fenn's leadership Ryloth would eventually secede from the Republic. As part of his plan to seize power, Kh'aris Fenn had Nat Secura kidnapped to pressure the boy's influential father to concede. When Jedi Master Tholme was captured trying to rescue the boy, Dooku himself intervened to have him spared, believing Tholme could be of later use to him. Due to the actions of Tholme, his former apprentice Quinlan Vos, and Twi'lek Jedi Aayla Secura, Kh'aris Fenn did not succeed in usurping control of Ryloth. Though the Jedi had prevented Fenn's victory, they remained wholly ignorant of Dooku's role in the matter.

During this time Dooku also assisted a Trade Federation assault on Kashyyyk that resulted in the extermination of the army of the Wookiee Trade Guild. The Guild had resisted Trade Federation attempts to tax them. Since there were no Wookiee survivors of the battle, no rumor of Dooku's presence on Kashyyyk reached the Republic.

Introducing Grievous
"I have the Kaleesh general. He was not conscious to witness his "Jedi" captor. In fact, he is completely unaware of what has transpired. You may begin preparations for your experiment."

- Darth Tyranus

While gathering support for secession from the Republic, Dooku was contacted again by Darth Sidious. Sidious expressed interest in the Kaleesh General Qymaen jai Sheelal, later known as General Grievous. Dooku then spoke with San Hill of the InterGalactic Banking Clan about his wish to recruit the general. Qymaen jai Sheelal had previously been the head of the Banking Clan's droid army, but had fallen out of favor due to pursuing a personal grievance against the Huks.

It was known that Grievous would never willingly serve Dooku and his compatriots, but the Count was prepared for this. While the Confederacy of Independent Systems had yet to be formed, San Hill and Geonosian Archduke Poggle the Lesser were already willing allies of Dooku. Together, the three of them hatched a plan, and had a bomb installed on Grievous's shuttle. The explosion sent the shuttle crashing to the ground, gravely injuring the general. By the time Dooku reached the site of the crash, the Kaleesh was already dying. Only a heart stun preserved his life long enough for him to be transported to Geonosis. Separately, Dooku went to Serenno to collect the blood of the deceased Sifo-Dyas. This was transfused into Grievous as an experiment in midi-chlorian transplantation.

On Geonosis, the Geonosians encased what was left of Grievous in a metal body and rebuilt him almost completely. The resulting creation retained only part of the brain, the eyes, and a sack of internal organs from the original Kaleesh. Even Grievous's brain was altered and augmented to make the general a more effective tool of war. The finished product was revealed to Dooku, who was greatly pleased with it. He now had a warrior able to command the droid armies in war, something Dooku himself had no desire to do. Under Dooku's training, General Grievous also became a deadly killer of Jedi.

Leader of the Separatists (24 BBY–22 BBY)
"He is a political idealist, not a murderer."

- Ki-Adi-Mundi to Padmé Amidala

Birth of the Separatist movement
As plans laid by the Sith for over a decade began to come to fruition, Count Dooku reappeared on Raxus Prime in 24 BBY, commandeering a Republic communications station and giving a speech that heavily criticized the Republic for its decadence, hypocrisy, and corruption and the Jedi Order for its complacency. Dooku publicly called for entire systems to secede from the Republic and join the Separatist movement. Separatist sentiment soon spread, and on some planets turned into armed resistance against the Republic. Propaganda in Count Dooku's name flooded communications networks, though much of it could not be directly attributed to him. Dooku himself had a mobile base of operations and no fixed address. Rumored sightings of him were headline news across the Republic.

As his fame grew, Dooku became a figure of great controversy. An unknown party posted a large illegal bounty for his death, and several bestsellers were written about his rise to prominence in galactic affairs. Even as the Separatist movement grew and coalesced around Dooku as a leader, the Jedi Council did not believe he could be behind the violence that the movement sometimes caused.

During this period, Count Dooku sought secret allies for his future plans. The Fondor shipyards were critical to the plots of the Sith Lords, but three schemers plotted to destroy them for their own personal gain. Groodo the Hutt, Senator Rodd of Fondor, and Kuati droid designer Hurlo Holowan formed a pact to crash a ship into the yards, crippling their production. This conspiracy came to the attention of both Count Dooku and Techno Union leader Wat Tambor. Dooku sent Jango Fett to capture the three plotters alive, while Wat Tambor hired the Trandoshan Cradossk to kill them. Jango outwitted Cradossk and his son Bossk to capture Rodd and Groodo, although he subcontracted Holowan's capture to Zam Wesell. Dooku, having convinced Wat Tambor to cancel the other bounty on the trio, accepted the prisoners from Jango. He offered the three of them the opportunity to work for him, in exchange for their lives. Rodd, Groodo, and Holowan accepted Dooku's proposal. Dooku also recruited scientist Jenna Zan Arbor to the Separatist movement, and attempted to enlist Granta Omega, the son of Qui-Gon Jinn's apprentice Xanatos, to his cause. However, Omega was killed before he could enter the Count's service.

Before the Clone Wars, Dooku sent Jango Fett to kill Kuati rebels that were harassing his allies. The bounty hunter brought his son Boba Fett along, gave him a thermal detonator, and used him as a distraction by sending him into the camp where the younger Fett was questioned. The entire encampment of freedom fighters was then killed by Jango on Dooku's orders, and Boba Fett began his training as a warrior.

Dooku's next move was to try and bring the planet Ansion into the future Confederacy. Ansion was the hub of a network of minor alliances, including the Malarian Alliance and the Keitumite Mutual Military Treaty. Due to these pacts, Ansion's secession would prompt many other wavering worlds to consider leaving the Republic. Commerce Guild President Shu Mai and Ansion Senator Mousul orchestrated Dooku's plan through various agents, aiming to split the nomadic tribes of the planet from the city dwellers. The plan failed due to the intervention of Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luminara Unduli as well as their Padawans Anakin Skywalker and Barriss Offee. In response, Dooku shrugged off the loss and informed Shu Mai that Ansion was not necessary in the grand scheme of the Separatist movement.

Shu Mai had also handled a small rebellion among the secret supporters of secession in the Commerce Guild. Industrialist Tam Uliss wished to step up their plans and go public despite Ansion's failure to secede. Shu Mai informed Dooku that she had given this faction an object lesson by killing Tam Uliss in a staged accident. Dooku was pleased, telling Shu Mai that their plans were nearing completion.

A conspiracy revealed
"As I explained to you earlier, I am quite convinced that ten-thousand more star-systems will rally to our cause, with your support, gentlemen."

- Dooku to the Separatist Council

Some of Dooku's allies were more reluctant than others. Nute Gunray insisted on the death of Padmé Amidala, Senator and the former Queen of Naboo who had led to Gunray's defeat in the ill-fated invasion of Naboo, as a pre-condition for the secession of the Trade Federation. Dooku sent Jango Fett to kill the Senator, but Jango decided to subcontract the task to Zam Wesell. The Jedi thwarted Wesell's assassination attempt, and Fett was forced to kill Wesell and leave without killing the senator. The Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi then traced Jango back to his home on the planet Kamino. Kenobi found Jango Fett there, as well as the clone army that Dooku had once ordered.

Fett escaped arrest on Kamino and fled to Geonosis, where a meeting between Dooku, the heads of many major business and economic interests, and selected senators was taking place. Many of these had long been allies of Dooku, such as Commerce Guild head Shu Mai and Archduke Poggle the Lesser. This meeting resulted in the formation of a new Confederacy of Independent Systems to oppose the Republic. Of the major factions present, the Corporate Alliance, Geonosian Industries, the Techno Union, the InterGalactic Banking Clan, and the Trade Federation became signatories to the treaty to form the Confederacy, while the Commerce Guild pledged unofficial support to the fledgling government. Obi-Wan Kenobi, still pursuing Jango Fett, discovered this meeting and attempted to inform the Jedi Council. However, Kenobi was captured by the Geonosians midway through his transmission. He was accused of espionage and thrown into a prison cell.

Dooku decided to interrogate the captive Kenobi personally, visiting the cell where the Jedi was held. Obi-Wan Kenobi immediately accused the Count of treason, but Dooku claimed a great mistake had been made. Dooku questioned Obi-Wan as to why he was on Geonosis, and feigned lack of knowledge when Kenobi confronted him over the presence of the bounty hunter Jango Fett, whom Kenobi had tracked to the planet. Dooku attempted to sway Kenobi to his side, claiming the Republic was corrupt and that Qui-Gon would have joined Dooku if he knew the truth. Kenobi refused to believe that Qui-Gon would have ever abandoned the Jedi Order and the Republic. Dooku then told Obi-Wan that Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord, had control over the Senate. and made one last appeal for Obi-Wan to defect, saying that together they could destroy the Sith. Kenobi refused this offer without any hesitation. Leaving the Jedi in his cell, Dooku mentioned that it would be difficult to secure his release.

Arena bloodbath
"Master Windu. How pleasant of you to join us." "This party's over." "Brave, but foolish, my old Jedi friend. You're impossibly outnumbered."

- Dooku and Mace Windu

Obi-Wan Kenobi's transmission had reached Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala on Tatooine, and the two of them attempted to rescue Kenobi despite orders from the Jedi Council to stay put. Both were captured trying to infiltrate the Geonosian stronghold where Kenobi was being held. Dooku offered clemency in return for Senator Amidala supporting the Separatists, but she refused. The two would-be rescuers were both sentenced to death in the arena by the Geonosians following a quick trial.

Kenobi had also been sentenced to death in the same manner, and the three of them met again in the Petranaki arena. They were chained to poles, and an Acklay, a Reek and a Nexu were released to devour them. Count Dooku, Nute Gunray, Jango Fett, and others observed from a high balcony, while Geonosian spectators packed the stands. However, the execution did not go precisely as planned, and the three escaped their chains. Nute Gunray was furious that the three prisoners weren't dying as planned and ordered Fett to shoot them, but Dooku advised patience and countermanded the order.

The three prisoners were still dodging the arena monsters when the executions were interrupted by the sudden arrival of Jedi reinforcements. Anakin Skywalker had retransmitted Kenobi's message to the Jedi Council, and they had dispatched a strike team led by Mace Windu. Mace confronted Dooku on the balcony. While the Jedi Master could have surprised and killed Dooku then, he did not, as it was not the Jedi way. Instead, the two spoke briefly, and then Jango Fett drove Windu off the balcony and onto the arena floor.

Count Dooku had been anticipating this and revealed that the captured Jedi were simply bait for a trap. Ten thousand battle droids awaited Windu's task force, as well as many Geonosian warriors.

The clones attack
"&laquo;The Jedi must not find our designs for the Ultimate Weapon. If they find out what we are planning to build, we're doomed!&raquo;" "I will take the designs with me to Coruscant. They will be much safer there&hellip;with my master."

- Poggle the Lesser and Dooku

The new Separatist Droid Army of the Confederacy overwhelmed the Jedi task force, and many Jedi died while Dooku observed from the balcony. However, Dooku's associate Jango Fett also perished, decapitated by Mace Windu. After the Jedi had taken significant losses and were trapped on the arena floor, Dooku ordered the droids to cease fire, and called on Mace Windu to surrender. Windu refused.

The remaining Jedi prepared to meet their fate, but their rescue was at hand. Dropships descended from the sky, carrying Master Yoda and many clone troopers. The Jedi Order had taken command of the clone army Dooku had helped create, just as the Sith had planned. The droids opened fire again, but the reinforcements provided enough cover for the arena survivors to escape onto the dropships.

Similar landings took place outside the arena, where Trade Federation core ships had been parked. A clone invasion swept across Geonosis, and the Separatist forces were forced into full retreat. The leadership of the new Confederacy regrouped in the Geonosian command center, and agreed to abandon Geonosis. Dooku pretended not to know how the Republic had gathered such a powerful army in so short a time, while Archduke Poggle the Lesser commanded his warriors to hide in the catacombs under the Stalgasin hive. Poggle also entrusted the plans of the Geonosians' Ultimate Weapon to Count Dooku to keep the Jedi from discovering them.

Jedi confrontation
"As you see, my Jedi powers are far beyond yours. Now, back down." "I don't think so."

- Dooku and Obi-Wan Kenobi

Count Dooku himself fled to his secret hangar on a speeder, closely followed by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. They arrived as Dooku was preparing his solar sailer for launch and confronted him. Obi-Wan instructed Anakin to be cautious in his approach, but Skywalker charged at Dooku. The young Jedi Padawan was unprepared for Dooku's resulting blast of Force lightning and that hit him and telekinetically threw him against the wall of the hangar. Skywalker collapsed to the floor, temporarily incapacitated, leaving Obi-Wan Kenobi alone to face Dooku.

Kenobi successfully deflected another blast of lightning from Dooku with his lightsaber, but as the duel went on, it became clear he was outmatched in blade-to-blade combat. Toying with his apprentice's apprentice, Dooku slashed Kenobi in the arm, and then the thigh. Incapacitated, Obi-Wan dropped his blade and fell to the floor. Dooku raised his lightsaber blade for the killing stroke, but before it fell, Anakin Skywalker, recovering from his previous injuries, hurtled across the room and parried the blow.

Obi-Wan was too injured to rejoin the fight, but he Force-pulled his lightsaber into grasp and tossed it to Anakin. Anakin then attacked Dooku with both blades swinging. While Dooku was initially driven back, he adjusted his tactics, forcing Anakin to retreat and destroying one of his two blades. The duel continued, intensifying, until Dooku found an opening in Anakin's defense and sliced off Anakin's arm. Victorious against both his opponents, Dooku prepared to flee, knowing other Republic forces would arrive.

However, before he could escape, one last Jedi confronted him: Master Yoda. Dooku attempted to defeat his old master with a combination of Force lightning and hurling machinery and parts of the hangar roof at him. When this failed, Dooku insisted on settling their contest with a lightsaber duel. Leaping into action, the two engaged in a spectacular duel. Yoda, using his mastery of the Force, showed great agility as he leaped about the room, but neither was able to gain the upper hand.

However, time was on Yoda's side. Forced to act due to incoming Republic and Jedi reinforcements, Dooku used the Force to topple a massive power column towards the wounded Kenobi and Skywalker to distract Yoda. As the Jedi Master broke off the duel to save the two Jedi, Dooku made his escape in his Geonosian solar sailer. Seconds later, clone troopers led by Padmé Amidala arrived in the hangar.

Having fled the battle, Dooku set his course for Coruscant, landing undetected on the Republic capital with his solar sailer. In the deserted industrial area called The Works, he met with his master and informed him that events were moving forward and the long-planned-for war had begun. Darth Sidious was pleased with what his apprentice had accomplished.

Duel on Bakura
"Anger is useful&mdash;unless it is used against you."

- Dooku to Sora Bulq on Bakura

Immediately after reporting to Sidious in the wake of the Battle of Geonosis and the beginning of the Clone Wars, Dooku headed to his secret base on Bakura to regroup the scattered Separatist forces. However, Jedi Master Tholme anticipated Dooku's journey to Bakura, and lay in wait with Vaapad master Sora Bulq. The pair hoped to capture the Sith Lord, and confronted Dooku while he was still fatigued from the duels fought on Geonosis.

The three combatants engaged in a ferocious lightsaber duel, during which Dooku used Force lightning to take down Bulq. He then tried to bring Tholme over to the dark side, but Tholme refused. Dooku then attacked Tholme, viciously stabbing through his shoulder and back before removing the Jedi's left eye. Finally, Dooku brought the roof down upon Tholme, leaving him under a vast pile of rubble. He then left with the unconscious body of Sora Bulq.

Dooku tended to Sora's wounds and converted him to the dark side of the Force through persuasion. Sora became a loyal ally to Dooku, and a valuable asset for the Confederacy during the war. The Count then dispatched Bulq to rescue Tholme, so that Bulq would be able to work within the Jedi Temple on Dooku's behalf without suspicion.

Artifacts and war machines
"Dooku! I'm going to make you pay for what you've done!" "Ah, young Skywalker. I sensed your presence near. You will be the first to test my new gift for the Republic. I'm curious what effect it will have on a Jedi."

- Anakin Skywalker and Dooku

As the Clone Wars continued, Dooku became more and more feared across the galaxy due to his role as the head of the Separatist forces. One of the first campaigns in the war involved the re-creation of the Dark Reaper, an ancient Sith weapon. The power source of the Dark Reaper, known as the Force Harvester, was buried on Raxus Prime. While Dooku was supervising this excavation, he placed a live bounty on Jango's son, Boba Fett, who had slipped away during the Battle of Geonosis. Boba was captured by bounty hunter and former Jedi Aurra Sing and brought to Dooku on Raxus Prime. Dooku housed the young Fett while he determined how much the boy knew about the Count's Sith identity, and initially indicated that he would take responsibility for his upbringing.

However, Boba Fett ignored the rules Dooku had set for his stay and investigated the excavation. Irritated at this and by Fett's clumsy threat to reveal his dual identities, Dooku ordered the young bounty hunter to be terminated. However, due to the imminent Jedi attack, he left the task to his new bodyguard, Cydon Prax. As a result, Fett escaped Dooku's enforcers and fled.

Dooku and Cydon Prax found the ancient Force Harvester just as forces led by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker arrived and attacked the Separatists with a clone army. Dooku and Prax boarded a cruiser loaded with the Force Harvester as the Republic forces overwhelmed the Separatist army, but Anakin spotted Dooku and charged after him. Encountering one another in the cargo bay of Dooku's ship for the second time, Dooku stated his curiosity about the Force Harvester's effects on a Jedi. The two briefly dueled before Cydon Prax shot Anakin with a tranquilizer dart.

Dooku took the imprisoned Anakin with him to Alaris Prime, one of Kashyyyk's moons, having decided to test the Force Harvester there. His plan was foiled when Skywalker escaped and freed the Wookiees, rallying the resistance. In the confusion, Dooku fled, taking the Force Harvester with him. He used the Harvester on Aargonar, Bakura and Mon Calamari before retreating to Thule to prepare the rest of the Dark Reaper for use.

Dooku's plan for the Dark Reaper was finally thwarted when the Jedi attacked Thule. He unleashed the Force Harvester on the Republic's forces, but Anakin Skywalker destroyed it in the battle, having learned from the spirit of the ancient Jedi Ulic Qel-Droma how to resist the effects of the Sith weapon. With the Force Harvester gone, and Prax also slain by Skywalker shortly before, Dooku fled the field. This series of victories was a coup for Republic propagandists, who claimed the Confederacy was on the run. Dooku attempted to refute this assertion in a public statement, claiming Raxus Prime and other worlds were only temporary bases and the most important Separatist planets remained secure and well-guarded.

Another weapon the Confederacy acquired was a new war machine known as the Decimator. This was stolen from the Republic, due to its potential to swing the war against the Separatists. The machines were captured by Dooku's most trusted General, Sev'rance Tann, on the planet Eredenn Prime. Tann was a Chiss force-user and a skilled tactician who had served Dooku since before the Battle of Geonosis.

Sev'rance Tann then assaulted the Wookiee-inhabited moon of Alaris Prime to capture the activation codes for the Decimators. After that success, Dooku ordered her to invade and capture the Republic energy world of Sarapin with her army. While Tann succeeded in capturing the world, she did not hold it for long. The Republic struck back, retaking Sarapin and later defeating and killing Tann at the Battle of Krant. The Decimators were destroyed in the process, removing the advantage the Separatists had gained from their possession.

A new ally
"The dark side is strong in me, for I am Sith.''" "''A bold claim, but you are not Sith. You wear the trappings of the Sith, you fight like the Sith, but this can be imitated, however. You lack a vital quality found in all Sith. Sith have no fear, and I sense much fear in you."

- Asajj Ventress and Count Dooku

Some time during the early part of the Clone Wars, Dooku traveled to the gladiatorial arena on Rattatak, hoping to find a new servant to carry out his wishes. Upon his arrival, he was greeted by his host and taken to watch the contest. During the contest he sensed a disturbance in the Force and spoke to Asajj Ventress, who had just silently assassinated his guide, challenging her to unleash her fighting skills on the other gladiators.

Ventress did so without question, slaughtering the other gladiators under Dooku's watchful gaze. When she had finished, Dooku applauded her, praising her skills. Ventress replied that she was powerful and claimed to be a Sith. Dooku laughed at her before leaping into the arena and denying that she was a Sith. In retaliation, she attempted to attack Dooku. Dooku was faster than her, however, and incapacitated her with Force lightning.

Dooku brought the unconscious Ventress to a room on Rattatak and waited for her to wake up. When she did, he attacked her as she was exploring her surroundings and they engaged in a vicious lightsaber duel. Taunting her as they fought, Dooku dueled with her across the room. Ventress was skilled, and proved to be a challenge, even for a Sith Lord. However, Dooku brought her down, disarming her of her two lightsabers and then sundering the weapons.

Ventress admitted defeat, but instead of killing his opponent, Dooku introduced her to his master, Darth Sidious, who was impressed by her skill with a lightsaber. Sidious then set Dooku's new servant on a mission to find and kill Anakin Skywalker. Ventress was eager to kill a Jedi and Dooku gave her a pair of lightsabers that had once belonged to his fallen apprentice Komari Vosa.

Dooku and his master watched as Ventress flew off. Dooku was confident that she would quickly dispatch Skywalker; Sidious said that it did not matter either way, as she was only a instrument of their plans. Asajj Ventress encountered Skywalker on Yavin 4, and drove him to use the dark side of the Force to defeat her. She survived and returned to serve Dooku as a commander and acolyte.

Rallying the Confederacy
"In league with the wicked Count Dooku, more and more planets slip&hellip;"

- Yoda

During the first few months of the Clone Wars, Dooku spent much of his time inciting systems to rebel and preparing strategies against the Republic. However, mindful of the ultimate goals of the Sith, he also sabotaged some of its potential victories. The Battle of Kamino was designed by Dooku and his master Darth Sidious to prolong the Clone Wars and scupper any advantage that the Separatists initially had. Commander Merai, a Mon Calamari idealist and one of the Confederacy's best tacticians, planned an assault on the planet Kamino to wipe out the cloning facilities. Jedi Knight Aayla Secura discovered this planned attack, and relayed the information to the Republic. Dooku's agent Tookarti informed the count of these events, but Dooku told him that they did not matter.

The battle went just as the Sith Lords had planned. The Republic fleet ambushed the Confederacy's ships and destroyed many of them. Furthermore, Merai was killed and his fleet routed. Despite the losses the CIS sustained, this was a victory for the plans of the Sith. While Dooku regretted the loss of Merai, Sidious was pleased with how their strategy had effectively ruined all hopes of an early end to the conflict. The critical Kamino cloning facilities had been saved, maintaining the balance of power between Confederacy and Republic forces.

Prevented by Darth Bane's Rule of Two from taking his own Sith apprentice, Dooku instead Dooku built a cadre of Dark Acolytes. As well as Asajj Ventress, Sev'rance Tann and Sora Bulq, Dooku enlisted former Jedi Tol Skorr and Kadrian Sey, and other Force-users such as Trenox. He honed their skills but taught them few, if any, of the Sith secrets.

On the galactic scale of the war, Dooku's charisma swayed many to the Confederate cause&mdash;whole planets pledged themselves to the Separatist cause on the former Jedi's words alone. In addition to his Force adepts, Dooku recruited warriors like the Gen'Dai mercenary Durge to augment the Confederacy's already potent arsenal.

Following the death of Sev'rance Tann, his favored general, Dooku needed to find someone to replace her as the commander of his armies. Dooku had three choices: Asajj Ventress, Durge, and Grievous. To decide who was the best choice, he pitted the three against each other in combat on the Trenchant Space Station. Grievous proved more than a match for his two opponents, even though they worked together against him. Dooku rewarded the cyborg with command of the Confederacy's armies, while Ventress and Durge were left to recuperate in a bacta tank.

General Grievous proved a worthy choice as Supreme Commander. He was revealed to the Jedi on Hypori to devastating effect, outmaneuvering five Jedi at once. His emergence as the commander of the Confederacy's droid armies changed the course of the war from then on, and he slew many Jedi personally.

As the war progressed, Dooku dispatched his commander Durge to Muunilinst to aid San Hill in repelling an imminent Republic assault and pushed the Quarren Isolation League to war on Mon Calamari. He also dispatched droids to Ilum in order to strike a devastating blow at the heart of the Jedi Order, advised Shogar Tok, who was fighting Republic forces on Brentaal IV, and sent droids to aid Alto Stratus on Jabiim.

Dooku also personally took part in missions to recruit more planets to the side of the Separatists. At a meeting on Null he tried to recruit the leaders of several strategic worlds, including Junction V, into the Confederacy's fold. His old enemy Lorian Nod, somewhat reformed, was now running Junction 5, and pretended to be his ally. Lorian had once again betrayed Dooku, though, and was working with Yoda and the Jedi to thwart the Count's plan.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker arrived on Null to investigate, and found that Dooku had hired an assassin to kill Samish Kash, another of the leaders there. At the meeting itself, the leaders collectively decided to stay with the Republic. Displeased, Dooku unleashed battle droids on the dignitaries, but they were all saved by Skywalker and Kenobi, who collapsed part of the room the meeting was taking place in with the Force and crushed the droids. Thwarted, Dooku left the scene, but Lorian Nod pursued him and attempted to sabotage his speeder. Nod was unsuccessful, and Dooku slew him personally before departing Null.

Jedi treason
"I've known the truth about you from the start, Quinlan Vos."

- Dooku

The Jedi Order was not initially united against the Separatists, as a few Jedi even joined Dooku's forces, while others had refused to join their comrades in the war. One Jedi allied with Dooku, Sora Bulq, exploited the Republic's ignorance over his true allegiance and attempted to convince more Jedi to ally with the Separatists at a meeting at his family estate on the moon of Ruul.

This plot to divide the Jedi failed due to the intervention of Mace Windu. Sian Jeisel, one of the wavering Jedi Sora Bulq had previously attempted to sway, even agreed to lead clones in the war. She and two other Jedi were on a Republic troopship that was captured by Dooku's forces. The Jedi expected to be killed, but Count Dooku unexpectedly ordered their release, claiming that all Jedi were his brothers and sisters. Sora Bulq questioned him about this approach in private, and Dooku said that it was to sow dissension among the Jedi, and that even mercy had its uses.

Another Jedi, Quinlan Vos, had originally been dispatched by the Jedi Council to infiltrate Dooku's inner circle. This was a risky gamble by the Jedi, as Vos was dangerously close to the dark side, and Dooku knew this, hoping to use it to his advantage. Vos, on his mission get closer to the Count, dealt with Dooku's agent Tookarti, offering Republic holocomm codes. Tookarti then framed Quinlan Vos as the one who had betrayed the Republic at the Battle of Brentaal IV. Only a few of the Jedi knew of Vos's undercover mission, so Agen Kolar was sent to hunt the supposed renegade Jedi down. Vos escaped Kolar and continued on his mission.

After gaining admittance to the Count's headquarters by fighting Skorr and Kadrian Sey, Quinlan was accepted as an acolyte. His skills were tested by Dooku and Sora Bulq and found satisfactory, so Dooku asked Vos to accompany him on a mission to Tibrin, the planet of the Ishi Tibs. There, Dooku met with the leader of Tibrin, Suribran Tu, a notorious dictator hated by the populace. Suribran offered to defect to Dooku and rule Tibrin for the Confederacy.

Dooku asked Quinlan Vos and Kadrian Sey what he should do with the Ishi Tib ruler. Sey argued that they should accept Suribran's offer, while Vos said that since he was willing to betray the Republic he could not be trusted and allowing his oppressive government to remain would only prove that the Confederacy was no better than the Republic. Dooku accepted Vos's argument and beheaded the Ishi Tib ruler. The population of Tibrin then hailed Dooku as a liberator.

Quinlan Vos soon had another mission to kill Senator Zurros, a Falleen who had earned Dooku's disfavor. Instead of killing the senator, Vos intimidated him into submission. Zurros promised not to betray Dooku, and Quinlan took his topknot and a recording of him begging for forgiveness back to the Separatist headquarters.

Count Dooku was otherwise occupied when Vos arrived. Jedi Master Shylar had been captured trying to infiltrate Dooku's headquarters, and Dooku was interrogating her with the assistance of Kadrian Sey and another acolyte, Tol Skorr. Shylar was a childhood friend of Vos's who had once held romantic feelings for him, and she condemned him as a traitor, but Vos did nothing to save her, mindful of his cover. Dooku accepted Vos's creative interpretation of the orders he had been given about Zurros. He then returned to the torture of Shylar, who died believing Vos had betrayed the Jedi.

Dooku then drew Vos closer to the dark side by taking him to his homeworld of Kiffu. The Count had been negotiating with Sheyf Tinté Vos, Quinlan's aunt, in order to establish a Separatist base on Kiffu's twin planet of Kiffex. Tinté refused to accept Dooku's monetary offer for basing rights, and Dooku ordered her killed. While the Sheyf's guards were slaughtered, Vos rescued his great aunt and led her to safety, killing Dark Acolyte Kadrian Sey in the process.

Dooku pursued Quinlan and caught up with him and Tinté Vos. His cover blown, Quinlan attempted to defend his aunt, but was quickly defeated by the Sith Lord. Dooku then urged Vos to read the woman with his Kiffar psychometry. Vos did so, and learned that his great aunt had sacrificed his parents to Anzati to seize power. Overcome by rage, Vos cut down his great aunt and became submerged in the dark side. From then on, Vos became Dooku's assassin, murdering enemies like Senator Viento and Kh'aris Fenn. As a reward Dooku gave Vos the power crystal of Darth Andeddu's lightsaber.

Other schemes
"The war progresses well. I have dealt out your deaths, your schemes, your betrayals. I have paid for your war with my riches, my time, my friends, and my honor."

- Dooku to Palpatine

While Dooku spent much of his time shepherding the Separatist Council and running the war, he occasionally completed missions for Darth Sidious personally. On one such mission he slipped under the eye of Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi and Aayla Secura to complete a vital task on the planet Hitaka. The two Jedi had been diverted on a supposedly important mission by Palpatine. However, the mission they were given was meaningless, and served only to distract them from his apprentice's work. It was also sometimes necessary for Dooku to take action to protect Sidious's identity, such as when he arranged the death of Jedi General Ronhar Kim at the Battle of Merson.

At another point during the Clone Wars, Dooku watched the testing of a new superweapon, the Planet Killer to see whether it would prove more useful to the Sith than the planned Ultimate Weapon. The weapon was a device on a planet's surface that would destroy the world it was on when it went off. Due to the intervention of Mace Windu the weapon was disabled before it went off, and Dooku had its creator removed.

Later in the war Dooku and his servant, General Grievous, planned to destroy an invading Republic army on Viidaav as the Separatist-allied inhabitants of the planet by rendering the surface uninhabitable. Droids planted charges on the planet and prepared them for detonation. However, the Republic forces and the Viidaav colonists discovered the plot and fought through the droids to stop the detonation sequence. The detonation charges did not go off, and the planet was saved. Dooku kept a careful watch on Grievous, sending his servant Vulpus to observe the General when he decided to do cyborg experiments on Jedi Padawans.

Despite taking no direct action in the Separatist invasion of the critical communications hub of Praesitlyn, Dooku and his dark servant Asajj Ventress advised Admiral Pors Tonith. Tonith was tasked with capturing the planet and denying its use to the Republic. Opposing him were Jedi Generals Anakin Skywalker and Nejaa Halcyon. Skywalker in particular was being watched closely by Dooku and Darth Sidious, who wished to test his power and bring him closer to the dark side. Once again manipulating the battles of the Clone Wars to suit the Sith schemes, Dooku delayed reinforcements to the Separatists until the last moment, resulting in a defeat for Pors Tonith's forces and a victory for the Republic.

Sith knowledge
During the course of the war, Dooku immersed himself fully within the persona of Darth Tyranus, Dark Lord of the Sith. He fully embraced the ancient teachings of the Sith, probing the graveyard world of Korriban for ancient relics he could turn against the Jedi, in addition to long-lost Sith holocrons, such as the one created by the long dead Darth Andeddu. In a daring raid on Coruscant, he even breached the Jedi Temple itself and stole the Sith holocron he had studied as a young man. . Dooku also gifted a Sith holocron to fallen Anzat Jedi Nikkos Tyris.

The Jedi suspected their former comrade was indeed a true Sith, but could not discern the identity of the elusive second Dark Lord. Some, like Quinlan Vos, suspected Sora Bulq to be the one they sought, but this was a deliberate deception on Dooku's part. While some of Dooku's acolytes, like Asajj Ventress, were aware of the existence of Darth Sidious, many were not.

Meeting on Vjun
"I have gone too far down the dark path ever to return."

- Dooku

There were those who thought Dooku might possibly be saved, among them Grand Master Yoda. However, Yoda did not act until Dooku sent a peculiar message to the Jedi Temple. He had spared the life of captured Jedi Jai Maruk and sent him to Yoda with a gift. This gift, a small shell, was significant to both of them, as it recalled a conversation they had had when Dooku was a padawan. After meditating and receiving insight from the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn, Yoda decided to meet with Dooku on the planet Vjun.

Dooku had stressed the need for secrecy to Yoda, but Yoda informed the Jedi Council and Chancellor Palpatine of the vague outline of his plans. Sidious then confronted Dooku over the meeting, but Dooku maintained he meant only to kill Yoda. To meet with Dooku, Yoda slipped out of the temple in secret and was replaced by a double. This double's ship was ambushed and destroyed by Asajj Ventress. As the galaxy reeled at the apparent death of Master Yoda, the real Yoda's location was betrayed by the droid Solis, who was traveling with him.

Asajj Ventress then tracked Yoda down and attacked the escorts he was traveling with. While she slew two Jedi Masters, she was outsmarted and humiliated by Yoda and her ship was destroyed. Dooku was extremely displeased at this turn of events, and was about to order her death. However, Ventress shocked him with a proposal that they both turn on Dooku's master, Darth Sidious. While Dooku did not accept this proposal, he spared her life and ordered her to his headquarters on Vjun.

Ventress's attack had allowed Darth Sidious to pin down the time that Yoda would arrive on Vjun to meet with his apprentice. As Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Sidious spoke with Mace Windu and arranged for Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to be sent to Vjun to assist Yoda if necessary. As they traveled to Vjun, Yoda arrived there and infiltrated Château Malreaux, Dooku's temporary headquarters.

Jedi Padawans Whie Malreaux and Scout and the droids Fidelis and Solis had accompanied Yoda to Vjun. They were left behind in the caverns below the château while Yoda sought out Dooku alone. Asajj Ventress trapped and briefly captured the two Padawans, and both droids were destroyed defending them. Whie and Scout escaped Ventress briefly, but they only escaped death by the arrival of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Ventress had been wounded fighting the Padawans and their droids and fled from Kenobi and Skywalker without a fight. Instead, she then stole their ship and escaped offworld.

Meanwhile. Yoda had gained entrance to Dooku's office through the window. Dooku invited him in, and the pair spoke at some length. After an initial conversation about the Count's childhood and family, the Jedi Master confronted Dooku over his choice to join the dark side, and asked him to explain why the dark side of the Force was superior. After listening, Yoda admitted to having some of the dark side in him, but also claimed there was still some light in Dooku. He challenged Dooku to return to the Order, claiming that he would find more forgiveness from his old Master than his new one.

Dooku seemed to consider this, but the two were interrupted by the chaos of Skywalker and Kenobi ripping through the château's defenses and defenders. Realizing Anakin Skywalker was on Vjun and interpreting this as a betrayal, Dooku lashed out in a cold fury at Yoda. In a brief lightsaber battle he slightly wounded the Jedi Master, but found himself unable to defeat him. Instead, he elected to escape before Kenobi and Skywalker joined the fight.

Battle of Boz Pity
"Even if you kill me, the fighting and death will continue. Of course, you won't kill me. Not today."

- Dooku to Mace Windu

Dooku's disciple Asajj Ventress continued her hunt for Anakin Skywalker, and confronted him once more on the rooftops of Coruscant. While she wounded Skywalker in the ensuing duel, Ventress was defeated and thrown off a building. She was seriously injured in the fall, but Dooku arranged for her rescue and brought her to the world of Boz Pity for medical treatment and cybernetic enhancement. While she recovered, Dooku and General Grievous adopted the medical facility as a temporary headquarters.

The Republic believed Asajj Ventress had died on Coruscant, but Obi-Wan Kenobi was not so sure. He successfully tracked her down to Boz Pity, and brought Anakin Skywalker, numerous clones and most of the Jedi Council with him. His ship, the Intervention, landed near the Separatist facility, and disgorged an army. While the other Jedi fought the CIS droids defending the base, Kenobi infiltrated the MedCenter where Ventress was being treated in a bacta tank. He found Dooku there, and accused him of corrupting her. Dooku denied this, claiming that Ventress had been consumed by anger when he discovered her. Furious at the implication she was weak, Ventress smashed the bacta tank with the Force and broke free.

Tossing Asajj Ventress her lightsabers, Dooku ordered her to kill Kenobi and withdrew. Heading across the battlefield, the Sith Lord was confronted by Mace Windu, who had just taken out General Grievous. Windu attempted to kill Dooku, but Dooku outmaneuvered his old friend with the aid of two IG-100 MagnaGuard droids and rescued the damaged general. Entering his shuttle with Grievous, Dooku spotted Ventress running towards them, pursued by Skywalker and Kenobi.

Perceiving she would not make it to the shuttle in time, Dooku ordered Ventress shot and his shuttle left without her. Seriously wounded, Asajj Ventress then turned on Kenobi, attempting to kill him for driving Dooku away. Skywalker stabbed her with his lightsaber to save Kenobi, and Ventress appeared to die. She survived through a Sith meditation technique, although all present thought her dead.

Defeat at Saleucami
"Your little victory means nothing!" "It means you have lost, Dooku. You will always lose."

- Dooku and Tholme

Quinlan Vos had betrayed Count Dooku to rejoin the Republic during the war, but pretended to remain a double agent for Dooku. Dooku knew of Vos's continued internal conflict with the dark side, and meant to exploit it. While Quinlan's heart was with the Republic, the dark side still had a great hold on him. Vos accompanied an army led by Jedi Council member Oppo Rancisis to Saleucami towards the end of the war, and settled in for a siege that lasted five months. The Confederacy was cloning and training Morgukai assassins at Saleucami, creating their own clone army. Jedi Master Tholme had previously infiltrated the Separatist volcano base, and was trapped inside for the entire siege.

Tholme's ongoing sabotage of the base finally became too much of an irritant for former Jedi Sora Bulq, who was leading the CIS forces. He contacted Dooku, who was disappointed in his failure to catch and kill Tholme. After a discussion with Bulq, Dooku ordered that Quinlan Vos eliminate the Jedi Master for them. Those orders were relayed to Quinlan Vos in the enemy camp, and Vos confronted Tholme in the lava-filled caverns below the Separatist base. While Quinlan Vos did not initially intend to kill his former master, the pair had an argument that escalated to the point of combat. A boulder fell and split the pair, spilling Tholme into a deep lava pit. Assuming that Tholme was dead, Quinlan returned to the Republic lines.

Later, Quinlan was again brought into the Separatist base in secret. He appeared before Sora Bulq and a hologram of Dooku, who had one final test for him. Dooku told him that his lover, Khaleen Hentz, had been a Separatist agent all along, and had seduced Vos on Dooku's orders. He ordered Vos to kill her, but Vos refused, as she was pregnant with his child. Instead, he turned on Dooku's minions.

Master Tholme had survived his fall into the lava. With Aayla Secura, who had infiltrated the Separatist base, he assisted Quinlan Vos in his fight against Dooku's Dark Acolytes. Sora Bulq, and Skorr were both killed by Vos, while the Morgukai Bok was slain by Aayla Secura. Meanwhile, Republic forces destroyed the defenses of the Separatist base and began bombarding it. Vos, Secura, and Tholme escaped the disintegrating base, but the bombardment destroyed the Morgukai cloning facilities. Dooku had lost three powerful allies and an entire army in one battle, but the war waged on.

Endgame
"Your swords, please. We don't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor."

- Count Dooku to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker

The final moves
Dooku had spent much of the war supervising the Separatist Council, allowing General Grievous to command the droid armies. After Boz Pity, he made a temporary home on Kaon. A Confederacy defeat at Cato Neimoidia forced Nute Gunray to flee the world, leaving a critical communications device behind. This mechno-chair was Gunray's secret line of communication to Separatist figures like General Grievous, Darth Sidious, and Dooku himself. Its capture prompted a crisis for Darth Sidious and Dooku, as Sidious was now in serious danger of being unmasked by the Republic and the Jedi.

Concerned, Dooku traveled to The Works to consult with Darth Sidious in person. Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi were tracking down the builders of Gunray's mechno-chair to try and find clues to Sidious's identity. Dooku and Sidious agreed to lure Obi-Wan and Anakin to Naos III, where they would be attacked by bounty hunters hired by Dooku. Sidious also tasked Dooku with the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Dooku's bounty hunters failed in their task, and Skywalker and Kenobi learned about the Sith lair in the Works from the pilot Fa'ale Leh, who had worked for the Sith. This was not in the plan, and shortly after partaking in a sparring session with Grievous,, Sidious urgently contacted Dooku. The Jedi were investigating the Works, and could possibly discover Sidious's secret headquarters on Coruscant under 500 Republica.

To evade Jedi pursuit, Dooku suggested that Sidious leave Coruscant, but Sidious had other plans. To draw his Jedi pursuers off his scent, he arranged to lure Obi-Wan and Anakin to Tythe, using Dooku as bait. Dooku would then kill Obi-Wan and lure Anakin to the dark side. Sidious also ordered Grievous to attack Coruscant simultaneously to the Separatist assault on Tythe.

On Tythe, Dooku waited in a LiMerge Power plasma facility for Kenobi and Skywalker, who landed and began searching for him. They discovered a hologram of him, but were delayed by swarms of battle-droids. Furious, Anakin gave into his anger and unleashed a Force Scream. This massive release of power caused the roof of the building to collapse on the three of them. The first to extract himself the rubble, Dooku was shocked by Skywalker's power and had a brief moment of doubt relating to Sidious' plans. He quickly overcame it, escaped the planet and jumped for Nelvaan to throw the Jedi off his trail. From there, he jumped almost immediately to Coruscant, where a great battle was already in progress. General Grievous had captured Chancellor Palpatine, and was holding him prisoner aboard Invisible Hand, his flagship.

Awaiting the Jedi
"Just as Count Dooku predicted!"

- Grievous

The news of Palpatine's capture shocked the galaxy, and many believed that the Republic was on the verge of collapse. Palpatine had carefully plotted his own kidnapping, however, and even General Grievous was unaware that his hapless captive was also the feared mastermind behind the Confederation. Arriving on the Invisible Hand, Dooku took charge of the prisoner, leaving Grievous to command the space battle outside.

Late arrivals to the fight, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker mounted a rescue mission to save the Chancellor. They boarded the Separatist warship and began to fight their way through its defenses. Dooku observed the pair and ordered Grievous to herd the Jedi towards him and the Chancellor. Speaking to Darth Sidious, Dooku requested that Kenobi be given one more chance to turn to the dark side, citing that a Jedi of Kenobi's integrity would lend support to the planned New Order. Sidious disagreed. Claiming that Kenobi was too indoctrinated by the Jedi way, he insisted Dooku kill the Jedi Master.

Darth Sidious's plan as Dooku understood it was that Dooku would kill Obi-Wan Kenobi, and provoke Anakin Skywalker into enough of a rage that the Jedi would tap into the dark side. At that point, Sidious would reveal himself to Skywalker and convert him to the Sith cause. Dooku would then be "arrested", and defect to the Republic in captivity, re-emerging to aid Sidious in establishing a Sith Empire.

Duel above Coruscant
"I sense great fear in you, Skywalker. You have hate. You have anger. But you don't use them."

- Count Dooku to Anakin Skywalker

The day would not turn out that way, however. Both Kenobi and Skywalker's lightsaber skills had improved dramatically since their last duel, although they initially did not reveal this, allowing Dooku to underestimate them. As the duel wore on however, Dooku soon realized there had been a miscalculation. Both Jedi suddenly changed their saber styles mid-battle and began to wear down the Sith Lord's defenses, although he swiftly re-adjusted. Dooku had initially been toying with them, but he soon realized he was in the fight of his life.

Eventually, Dooku was able to regain the upper hand when he used the Force to choke and hurl Kenobi across the room while simultaneously kicking Skywalker into a wall. Obi-Wan Kenobi was knocked unconscious, but Dooku collapsed a balcony on the Jedi with the Force for good measure. Getting to his feet, Anakin Skywalker carried on the fight alone.

During their one-on-one duel, Darth Tyranus taunted Anakin, calling on him to use his fear, hate and anger. With Palpatine's encouragement, Anakin channeled his hatred of Dooku and tapped into the dark side of the Force. Refusing to be intimidated by the Sith Lord's casual victory over Kenobi, Skywalker drove Dooku back and overpowered him. With an elegant maneuver, he proceeded to slice off both of the Count's hands, bringing him to his knees. Unarmed, Dooku was at the Jedi Knight's mercy.

Expecting his Master to intervene and save his life as Sidious had promised to do in the case of defeat, Dooku instead was shocked to see the Dark Lord goad Anakin to deliver the deathblow. It was then that Dooku came to realize the second deception: Darth Sidious never intended for the Count to survive; he was simply the tool used to create the Confederacy and make Sidious's plan truly possible. Anakin Skywalker, holding two lightsaber blades crossed before Dooku's throat, beheaded the helpless Count and drove one more dark side wedge into his soul.

Legacy
"His death was a necessary loss."

- Darth Sidious on Dooku

Dooku's replacement as Darth Sidious's apprentice was Anakin Skywalker, whose Sith name was Darth Vader, while General Grievous was his successor as the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Dooku's identity as a Sith Lord and the truth behind the Clone Wars both remained obscure to the public for a long time. The official Imperial propaganda line was that Dooku had never truly left the Jedi Order, and the entire Clone Wars had been a Jedi plot to seize control of the Republic.

Long after the Galactic Empire had fallen, after the destruction of the Tedryn Holocron, two Jedi holocrons and one Sith one were discovered by the New Jedi Order. Recordings of Dooku were preserved on all three devices. While the Great Holocron and Asli Krimsan's holocron both showed Dooku as a teacher in the Jedi Temple, the mysterious Telos Holocron contained a narrative by Darth Tyranus of his reasons for leaving the Jedi Order, and shed some light on his true role in the Clone Wars to researchers such as Jedi Master Tionne.

Few of Dooku's students survived him. Dooku's acolyte and student Asajj Ventress may have escaped Darth Vader and the Jedi Purge, since Palpatine's clone still believed she had died at Boz Pity well after the Battle of Endor.

Personality and traits
"He was one of the most brilliant Jedi I've ever had the privilege of knowing."

- Jocasta Nu

Master Dooku was an accomplished philosopher, orator, politician, warrior, and Force-adept, regarded as one of the greatest Jedi ever for his strength of character and his strength in the Force. Yoda considered him both the Temple's greatest student and one of his greatest failures. By the time of the Clone Wars, Dooku had been a practitioner of the Force for nearly eight decades.

Dooku was driven to succeed even as a youngling, and was fully devoted to the ideals of the Jedi Order and of service to the galaxy. He sought to become a great Jedi Master, and did not even consider the possibility of a life outside the Order. There is no indication he ever violated the Jedi policy of non-attachment, or had any sort of romantic relationship even as a Sith Lord. However, his apprentice Komari Vosa was infatuated with him, which was one of the factors that led to her dismissal as his apprentice.

Dooku did not ever forgive betrayal easily. An encounter as a Jedi Knight with Lorian Nod, his former friend who had once tried to frame him, nearly led to Nod's death. However, his padawan Qui-Gon Jinn successfully appealed to Dooku's honor as a Jedi, and Dooku relented. Dooku perceived the Battle of Galidraan as a betrayal by the Jedi Council of the ideals it was supposed to follow, something that greatly influenced his fall to the dark side. And as a Sith, his discussion about returning to the light side with Master Yoda on Vjun immediately broke down when Dooku discovered that Anakin and Obi-Wan were present and interpreted that as a personal betrayal.

As a Sith Lord, Dooku became a Humanocentrist. While he remained a connoisseur of alien art and antiquities, he secretly despised most if not all of the corrupt aliens on the Separatist Council. He divided the entire galaxy into two categories: threats and assets. The threat category was for beings or institutions that interfered with his personal advancement and would have to be eliminated, the asset category being for those who could aid, or at least not hinder his advancement.

By the time of the Clone Wars, Dooku believed that the sorrow and injustice of the galaxy could only be responded to with anger and hate. He came to believe that the Jedi Order should embrace the dark side and rule the galaxy alone without the interference of the Senate. As a Sith, he planned to transform the Jedi into a Sith Army, and intended to forcibly recruit Force-users into such an army. While often assuming a genteel and civilized manner, Dooku had no qualms about torturing or killing hundreds of his former comrades, nor about committing any number of atrocities as leader of the Confederacy.

Lightsaber training
"He is a fencer. Leverage, position, advantage&mdash;they are as natural to him as breathing."

- Qui-Gon Jinn's spirit to Yoda on Dooku

Before his resignation, Dooku was known as one of the most skilled duelists and lightsaber instructors in the Jedi Order. Along with Yoda, Dooku was one of only two Jedi who were known to have bested Mace Windu at sparring, and during the time of the Confederacy Crisis, it was said that aside from Yoda, only Mace Windu would have been his equal on neutral ground. Though styles like Form III, IV, and V were more practical in the age of blasters, Dooku's competitive spirit drove him towards the second form of lightsaber combat, Makashi, though he maintained a working knowledge of other forms as well. He was one of a very few practitioners of this dueling-centric lightsaber form in the Order at the time, and unmatched in his mastery of it.

When he became a Sith Lord, Darth Tyranus had little left to learn about dueling, though he ended up learning the Sith art of Dun Möch, or disrupting an opponent's concentration by the use of taunts. He was nearly successful in using Dun Möch to disrupt Anakin's concentration in his final duel on the Invisible Hand. However, his attempt backfired on him fatally, as his taunts only encouraged Anakin to draw on his anger to break through Dooku's defenses.

Force abilities
"His knowledge of the Force was&hellip;unique."

- Jocasta Nu on Dooku

As a Jedi, Dooku was a renowned student of the Force, and learned many of the Jedi arts. He was recognized as a skilled master of telekinesis, and lectured on the subject as a Jedi Master. His skill in telekinesis was used to augment his dueling prowess, and as a Sith lord, he combined it with the use of Force lightning or Force choke. Dooku had a notable ability to multitask, and used the Force frequently even in the midst of lightsaber combat.

Dooku also had knowledge of the Living Force, and used it once to heal himself of a deadly plague. In addition, he was able to tame monsters and bend them to his will, most notably a Krayt dragon. As Darth Tyranus, he also mastered the Qey'tek meditation, which allowed him to hide his presence in the Force. Opposing Jedi were usually unable to pierce this concealment, although Obi-Wan Kenobi succeeded on Tythe when he was previously aware Dooku was present.

Lightsabers
"Finesse. Artfulness. Economy."

- Dooku to Grievous on the Invisible Hand

As a Jedi youngling, Dooku wielded common training lightsabers under the tutelage of Master Yoda, but after Thame Cerulian took him as his Padawan, Dooku constructed his own lightsaber. This lightsaber was likely the same as the one he carried as a Jedi Knight, with a cylindrical hilt of fairly standard design.

Later in his life, Dooku constructed a more personalized lightsaber. This lightsaber had a curved hilt which allowed for precise movements as well as better flexibility in lightsaber-to-lightsaber combat, and a blue blade. It may have been inspired by the curved blade once carried by Jedi Council member Master Tyvokka. Dooku wielded this saber during the Battle of Galidraan. However, he was seen carrying a saber similar or identical to the one he used as a Jedi Knight in the time just before he left the Jedi Order.

As a Dark Lord of the Sith, Dooku returned to the curved lightsaber design he had wielded at Galidraan. He installed a red synthetic lightsaber crystal into his curved hilt, the mark of a Sith blade, which also contained a dual-phase setting, allowing him to instantly shorten the blade. The curved lightsaber Dooku wielded was the inspiration for the lightsabers constructed by Dooku's final Jedi apprentice Komari Vosa, and wielded by her as the leader of the Bando Gora. After he slew Vosa, the Count gave these unique weapons to his Dark Acolyte, Asajj Ventress. Dooku's own lightsaber was most likely destroyed when the Invisible Hand broke in two over Coruscant, as Anakin Skywalker left it in the room where Dooku was slain.

Non-canon appearances


In a different version of how Dooku recruited Jango Fett to serve as the host for the clone army, Dooku put out an advertisement recruiting Mandalorian aspirants, inviting them to attend an event held at 1138 Miles Lane on Coruscant. In the fine print, it stated the last man, woman, or other standing would be hired. While Dooku observed, Jango Fett showed up and took control of the gathering, verbally abusing and killing his competitors one by one as he enumerated the rules of "Fett Club". Finally, Fett was the last one remaining, and Dooku hired him, telling him to report to Kamino immediately.

At some point during the Clone Wars, Dooku was observing a battle over Kashyyyk from a distance. However, the reception on his television set failed, and he was forced to recruit General Grievous as an antenna. While Dooku was successful in regaining reception, the Separatists lost the battle.

Portrayal
Dooku was portrayed by Christopher Lee in the films. Kyle Rowling portrayed Dooku during most of the character's lightsaber sequences, due to Lee's inability to enact these physical scenes because of his age. Rowling's head was digitally replaced with Lee's during post-production.

Dooku was voiced by Corey Burton in Star Wars: Clone Wars. and all video game appearances with the exception of Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, where he was voiced by Jeff Bennett.

Character origins
"Dooku" was based on the Japanese word "doku," meaning poison. In the Galician and Portuguese languages, "do cu" (pronounced exactly as in "Dooku") literally means "from the ass". For this reason, Dooku's name was changed to "Dookan" in Brazil.

Tyrannus&mdash;or more properly, Tyrannos&mdash;is an ancient Greek word, originally used to describe someone who ruled a city-state after overthrowing the preexisting government. It was a legitimate form of government and the word's meaning was not unfavorable in itself, but over time, as democracy developed, it gained negative connotations and came to mean 'oppressor' or 'tyrant'.

Aside from his name, Dooku has many similarities to Dracula (another famous role assumed by Christopher Lee). Both are villainous, erudite and sophisticated counts who wear a cape and dress in black. Additionally, Lee's Dracula played opposite Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing. Cushing portrayed Wilhuff Tarkin, a character that had some influence on the concept of Dooku.

Continuity
The color of Dooku's hair as a younger man is inconsistent, being shown as blond on the Legacy of the Jedi cover, some shade of brown in Jango Fett: Open Seasons and the Most Precious Weapon comic, and black in several other sources, such as Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force. In addition, Dooku's hair had not completely lost its natural color at the end of Jango Fett: Open Seasons, but it was completely white in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter despite the two sources covering the same time period.

What Dooku's lightsaber color was as a Jedi is also somewhat unclear. He used a green training lightsaber in the Most Precious Weapon comic, and has a green lightsaber similar to his Sith one on the cover of the young adult book Legacy of the Jedi. Dooku was also depicted with a green lightsaber on the cover of one of the issues of Jango Fett: Open Seasons. However, within Open Seasons Dooku had a blue lightsaber blade.

Originally, Dooku was set to wield two lightsabers in combat against Yoda in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. However, the idea was later dropped, and Dooku was stated to dislike usage of multiple blades in Labyrinth of Evil, though the comic version of Episode II kept the idea intact. In a likely reference to this cut sequence, Dooku's first action figure included a secondary lightsaber, albeit with a green blade.

A major continuity difficulty was caused by the events of the Gameboy game Star Wars: The New Droid Army. In the final battle of the game, Dooku was defeated and presumably killed by Anakin Skywalker. This was obviously unworkable within canon, so several retcons were introduced. The first was that the Dooku killed was a Dopplegänger created through the Force. The second was that the Dooku killed was a clone.

Early scripts of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith had more dialogue during Dooku's death scene, after his wrists had been sliced off. Some of the cut portions of this scene can be seen in in the Episode III novel and the comic adaptation. Some of this dialogue was removed because Christopher Lee felt that it was out of character for Dooku to beg Sidious for his life, and Lucas ended up agreeing with him.

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * Fett Club
 * The Way of the Warrior
 * Rather Darkness Visible
 * LEGO Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick