History Characters / StarWarsCountDooku

* InadequateInheritor: Sidious views him as this.

* TheAce: During his days as a Jedi, he was one of the best swordsmen, Force-users, and negotiators the Order had ever seen to the point that he was still held in incredibly high regard even after he left the Order. He is able to fight his master Yoda and often had the upper hand in his duels with Mace Windu, the best of the Jedi swordsmen who both manage to almost defeat Sidious. His variety of skills is one of the things that makes him so dangerous, as he often relies on his superior command of the Force to overwhelm enemies whose sheer physical strength are otherwise too great for Dooku to easily overcome.

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* TheAce: During his days as a Jedi, he was one of the best swordsmen, Force-users, and negotiators the Order had ever seen to the point that he was still held in incredibly high regard even after he left the Order. He is able to fight his master Yoda and often had the upper hand in his duels with Mace Windu, the best of the Jedi swordsmen who both manage to almost defeat Sidious.

* MasterSwordsman: He was one of the most skilled lightsaber duelists in the Jedi Order, and turning to the Dark Side did nothing to lessen his skill. He comfortably kills [[spoiler: Yaddle]] in single combat, despite her power and experience, with the only thing slowing her death being her attempts to talk him down and his wobbling on the edge of the Dark Side. He consistently manages to take down Obi-Wan and Anakin on his own and holds up well against Yoda. He also teaches Asajj Ventress the ways of the Dark Side and trains General Grievous into a powerful swordsman who's able to slay Jedi in single combat [[BadassNormal without the Force]]. Just to underline the point, when Ventress comes for him with two other Nightsisters, all of them functionally invisible and having drugged a sleeping Dooku, he duels all of them to a standstill, ''blind'', and even when they get him down, this just opens them up to be fried with Force Lightning and hurled out a window.

* TheAce: During his days as a Jedi, he was one of the best swordsmen, Force-users, and negotiators the Order had ever seen to the point that he was still held in incredibly high regard even after he left the Order. He is able to fight his master Yoda and had the upper hand in his duel with Mace Windu, the best of the Jedi swordsmen who both manage to almost defeat Sidious.

* InadequateInheritor: Along the master-apprentice chain, he regards Anakin as this. Dooku is very proud of Qui-Gon, and similarly holds Obi-Wan in high regard. However, he sees Anakin as little more than an unrefined brute unworthy of Dooku and Qui-Gon's legacy.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: The novelization of ''Revenge of the Sith'' exposes his internal monologue, and he holds ableist views towards Anakin's [[ArtificialLimb prosthetic arm]], seeing it as being undignified and that Anakin should just have learned to fight one-handed, [[{{Jerkass}} nevermind]] that he's the one who cut off Anakin's arm in the first place.

** His Sith Name "Tyranus" is derived from the Latin word ''tyrannus'' meaning "illegitimate ruler", which later morphed into the modern English word "tyrant". Appropriate for a would-be despot.

* FatalFlaw: [[TheUnfettered Extremism]], ironically much like Anakin. In theory, Dooku could have been one of the greatest forces for good in the galaxy, and despite his ego, pre-FaceHeelTurn he was genuinely the best choice for BigGood other than Yoda. He is just as perceptive of corruption as his student Qui-Gon and has no respect for senators he views as corrupt even pre-FaceHeelTurn to the point of being openly rebellious at times, he is one of the few force-users who could pose a threat to Yoda or Sidious (and if he fully embraced the light and did more genuine good in his means regardless of the end, perhaps even rival them on his own), to the point Sidious was wary of the potential for Dooku to overthrow him with assistance from Ventress (a powerhouse in her own right) should she be trained more completely, and with his vast wealth, he could have fought lobbying with his own lobbying, or helped the downtrodden through personal charity, perhaps even growing a movement through this to challenge the corruption of the republic. Additionally, with his wealth he still could've easily funded a clone army not under Sidious' control, as he and Sifu Dias saw the future of a war, and had Dooku still been on the Light Side doing this, Order 66 would've been impossible, and he is personally formidable enough that no one other than Sidious could have assassinated him to coopt the army in such a scenario, which would've risked his own exposure. Lastly, because of said perceptiveness, distrust, cynicism, and intelligence, a light-sided Dooku likely would have figured out exactly [[BigBad what Palpatine was really up to]] well before it was too late. However, his willingness to do what "needs to be done" ultimately corrupts this, and is exploited by Sidious to make an increasingly less well-intentioned minion, and not only does he end up being ThePawn for Sidious, he ultimately ushered in the [[MythologyGag very thing he swore to destroy]] in Sidious' oppressive, corrupt regime that went against everything Dooku initially was against.

** Dooku is on the recieving end of this in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', where Palpatine goads Anakin into killing Dooku not simply to push him further into the Dark Side but to also tie up a loose end. Dooku knew almost everything about Sidious' grand conspiracy, and the Jedi would want to interrogate him for further information on his master. With Dooku's death, the Jedi are forced to find other means to gain more intel on Sidious, enough time for Palpatine to seduce Anakin to the Dark Side.

* HoverBike: He uses a Flipknot speeder bike to flee the Separatist headquarters on Geonosis as they are losing the battle that starts the Clone Wars and later encounter Anakin on Tatooine during the Clone Wars in order to retrieve Jabba the Hutt's son.

** He criticizes Grievous for smashing battle droids that annoy him, on the grounds that they are expensive.

* PreMortemOneLiner: After accepting his turn to the dark side, Dooku delivers one to the defeated Yaddle before killing her.

** Dooku was also this to his birth father, Count Gora of Serenno, when he was found to be Force-sensitive. Gora immediately contacted the Jedi so they could take him away, but not before abandoning baby Dooku naked and alone in a dangerous forest. When Dooku returned years later as a Padawan, Gora treated him with just as much disgust and refuses to even acknowledge him as his son.

-->''"Master Kenobi, you disappoint me! Yoda holds you in such high esteem! Surely you can do better!"''

$$

* ThatWasntARequest: Invoked; when Queen Miraj remarks that she has no desire to execute Anakin, He snaps she's not being given a choice in the matter.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/count_dooku_3.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"The Sith control everything.\\
You just don't know it."'']]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here to see his ''Clone Wars'' appearance]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dookuenjoyshisjob_sw_1_3.png[[/labelnote]]]]

** Despite his boasting, it's clear he sees Yoda as this, as he still has some respect for his master if saluting him before they duel is any indication.

* BadassBoast: When fighting [[TheMentor Yoda]]

'' Yoda [[NoSell effortlessly deflects]] all of Dooku's [[ShockAndAwe Force lightning]] attacks on him''\\

-->'''Dooku''': Master Windu, you have fought gallantly, worthy of recognition in the archives of the Jedi Order. Now it is finished. Surrender and your lives will be spared."

* BeardOfEvil: Dooku may have a beard, but he's a ruthless antagonist to the heroes. Of note, ''Tales of the Jedi'' shows he didn't have a beard when he was Qui-Gon's master, but he did start growing a beard after nearly killing a corrupt and vicious senator.

* FeelingTheirAge: Suffers this on account of his age. He's still one of the best swordsmen and most powerful Force Users in the galaxy, but in the 'Revenge of the Sith' novelization, he admits to feeling tired and wanting to retire. While fit for a man of his age, Dooku's physical deadliness comes from his long years of experience and finesse-based fighting technique that few can match. When he goes up against Anakin's UnstoppableRage, a combination of his age and his fighting style cause his defenses to quickly crumble.

* {{Foil}}: Per Creator/GeorgeLucas, he's one to Anakin, specifically the anger both men have towards the Jedi Order. Both grew to distrust (and eventually betray) the Order, but Anakin held out for so long because he wanted to be a Jedi more than anything else, only for the events of ''The Clone Wars'' to shatter his faith in the Order and towards his downfall into Darth Vader. Dooku, however, saw this downfall coming long before most others, and was all too happy to fight against his old comrades when the opportunity presented itself.

** In ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTalesOfTheJedi Tales of the Jedi]]'', [[spoiler: he killed Yaddle on Palpatine's orders since she could've told the Jedi about Maul's now-ex Master]].
** In ''[[AudioPlay/StarWarsDookuJediLost Dooku: Jedi Lost]]'', [[spoiler: Dooku himself did to his sister Jenza after she realized he was falling to the dark side, who he had killed by Ventress]].
** In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E2RisingMalevolence Rising]] ''[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E2RisingMalevolence Malevolence]]''", Dooku also orders the deaths of any fleets the ''Malevolence'' attacks in order to prevent the Republic from finding about the warship or it's giant ion cannon.

* InTheHood: Not usually, as his attire doesn't have a hood, but he's introduced wearing a hooded over-cape in ''The Clone Wars''' movie (which actually does the same with other characters who rarely wear a hood, like Ventress and Ahsoka).
* IWantThemAlive: In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E14WitchesOfTheMist Witches of the Mist]]", Dooku orders Savage to bring King Katuunko to him alive. Dooku was displeased, to say the least, when all Savage returned with was the king's corpse.
* InTheHood: In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS6E2Conspiracy Conspiracy]]", he wears a hood when contacted by Lama Su in order to conceal his identity, since the Kaminoans know him only as "Tyranus".

* InterimVillain: He is a subversion. In the prequel trilogy, Darth Sidious is the Man Behind the Man for Nute Gunray and Rune Haako in ''The Phantom Menace''. In ''Revenge of the Sith'', he establishes himself as the Galactic Emperor, wipes out the Jedi Order and reorganized The Republic into The Empire. In ''Attack of the Clones'', he had a minor role (even as Chancellor Palpatine), whereas Count Dooku was given more screen time and treatment as a Big Bad, but in a subversion, Sidious was the one that pushed for the formation of Dooku's organization (the Confederacy), and intentionally placed Dooku as a scapegoat while he pulled the strings from the shadows. Furthermore, the threat of the Separatists prompted the development of the Clone Army, later known as the Imperial Stormtroopers. In ''The Clone Wars'', Dooku serves as one of the main antagonists of the series.
* ItHasOnlyJustBegun:
** When Dooku escapes Geonosis, he says this to Yoda:
--->'''Dooku:''' This is just the beginning!

* KickTheMoralityPet: [[spoiler: In ''Dooku: Jedi Lost'', Dooku has Asajj Ventress murder his sister Jenza when she tries to turn him away from the dark path.]]
* KickTheSonOfABitch: In addition to his crimes against the heroes and innocent people, Dooku is also responsible for the deaths of a few unsavory characters, such as Rish Loo (who betrayed his people to the Separatists), Miraj Scintel (who presided over a society of slavers), and Lom Pyke (a crime lord who murdered Sifo-Dyas and deals in narcotics).

* MoralEventHorizon: InUniverse. In ''Dark Disciple'', his massacre of the Mahran race solely for being Republic citizens is considered to be the tipping point for the Jedi Council to decide to have him assassinated, [[GodzillaThreshold something that normally goes against their principles]].

* WeakButSkilled: Well, not that Dooku can be considered weak at all, but his Form II: Makashi fighting style is this, utilizing precise parries, fluid ripostes and light, accurate cuts to redirect and intercept an opponent's blows. Dooku is in fact the most finesse-oriented duelist among the lightsaber wielders in the Canon, beating out most other characters in terms of raw skill (Yoda, Windu[[note]]Dooku and he were always considered to be roughly equal, and were the top contenders for the second most powerful member of the Jedi Order[[/note]] and Palpatine are implied to be the only duellists of greater skill), but at 83 years old, he has a disadvantage at physical strength, stamina and raw power. This is why he was able to pick open Obi-Wan's StoneWall defense, but ultimately loses to Anakin's [[AttackAttackAttack relentless offense]].
** However, this is somewhat [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] along with Maul in the grand scheme of things. Dooku, along with Maul, has the martial skill to actually hold his own against Sidious (or in Dooku's case, his only peers at the start of the Clone Wars, Yoda and Mace Windu), but neither has the force power necessary to fend off his telekinetic power as Vader[[note]]himself hampered by mental trauma and his cybernetics being weak against force lightning[[/note]] and Yoda do, to the point doesn't seem able to resist Sidious' force choke from lightyears away.

** Defied during Asajj's first assassination attempt on Dooku. She overwhelmingly has the advantage, having stealth, two other nightsisters, and managed to poison and blind Dooku, who's fighting style is ''mainly'' for one-on-one fighting. He manages to best all three of them in the end.
*** Her second attempt goes no better. Dooku is able subdue both Ventress and Savage, and once Savage turns against them both and escapes, Dooku disarms Ventress in less than a minute.
* WorldsBestWarrior: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] compared to some other examples in the verse, and he isn't the WorldsStrongestMan (and among Sidious' apprentices, he is the weakest in terms of potential despite being the best student of his generation), but he is in the running for characters the next level down, and is easily one of the best force users on either faction in terms of martial prowess or skill with the force. He doesn't quite measure up to the likes of Yoda, Anakin or Palpatine in terms of raw force power, but he isn't far off and he is a match for the best in terms of raw skill. He is also considered to be the best user of the fencing lightsaber form (Makashi) in the Order's history.

** As far as Sidious' apprentices are concerned, Tyranus was the only one Sidious did not truly value as a student or successor, but simply as a pawn to be discarded when the time came. Maul was taken in long before taking TheChosenOne became an option, and was still seen as a WorthyOpponent of sorts after becoming a rival Sith Lord, while Sidious spent years meticulously seducing Vader to the Dark Side, and [[AdaptationalNiceGuy in the canon]] genuinely admitted to Vader that, in spite of his crippling, he is still everything Sidious hoped he would be. When discussing his previous apprentices with Vader, Sidious even comments that Maul was a lamentable loss, but Tyranus was little more than a "proton torpedo"; he fulfilled his purpose and was done away with.

* WorldsBestWarrior: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] compared to some other examples in the verse, and he isn't the WorldsStrongestMan (and among Sidious' apprentices, he is the weakest in terms of potential despite being the best student of his generation), but he is in the running for characters the next level down, and is easily one of the best force users on either faction in terms. He doesn't quite measure up to the likes of Yoda, Anakin or Palpatine in terms of raw force power, but he isn't far off and he is a match for the best in terms of raw skill. He is also considered to be the best user of the fencing lightsaber form (Makashi) in the Order's history.

* FatalFlaw: [[TheUnfettered Extremism]], [[Irony much like Anakin]]. In theory, Dooku could have been one of the greatest forces for good in the galaxy, and despite his ego, pre-FaceHeelTurn he was genuinely the best choice for BigGood other than Yoda. He is just as perceptive of corruption as his student Qui-Gon and has no respect for senators he views as corrupt even pre-FaceHeelTurn to the point of being openly rebellious at times, he is one of the few force-users who could pose a threat to Yoda or Sidious (and if he fully embraced the light and did more genuine good in his means regardless of the end, perhaps even rival them on his own), to the point Sidious was wary of the potential for Dooku to overthrow him with assistance from Ventress (a powerhouse in her own right) should she be trained more completely, and with his vast wealth, he could have fought lobbying with his own lobbying, or helped the downtrodden through personal charity, perhaps even growing a movement through this to challenge the corruption of the republic. Additionally, with his wealth he still could've easily funded a clone army not under Sidious' control, as he and Sifu Dias saw the future of a war, and had Dooku still been on the Light Side doing this, Order 66 would've been impossible, and he is personally formidable enough that no one other than Sidious could have assassinated him to coopt the army in such a scenario, which would've risked his own exposure. Lastly, because of said perceptiveness, distrust, cynicism, and intelligence, a light-sided Dooku likely would have figured out exactly [[BigBad what Palpatine was really up to]] well before it was too late. However, his willingness to do what "needs to be done" ultimately corrupts this, and is exploited by Sidious to make an increasingly less well-intentioned minion, and not only does he end up being ThePawn for Sidious, he ultimately ushered in the [[MythologyGag very thing he swore to destroy]] in Sidious' oppressive, corrupt regime that went against everything Dooku initially was against.

* BadassBaritone: He's portrayed and voiced by Christopher Lee and Corey Burton, who both manage to make his voice sound deep.

* BaddieFlattery: Just before [[VillainExitStageLeft his escape]], Count Dooku commends Obi-Wan for his skill in infiltrating the Dooku's kidnapping conspiracy and taking it down from the inside. In Dooku's eyes, this proves Obi-Wan is a great Jedi, unlike Anakin Skywalker, who Dooku reprimands for his poor form.

* WorthyOpponent: He considers Obi-Wan to be this; Dooku even genuinely compliments him after Obi-Wan successfully foiled his attempt to kidnap Palpatine ''twice'' in one day. He complimented Windu during the First Battle of Geonosis.
-->'''Dooku''': Master Windu, you have fought gallantly, worthy of recognition in the archives of the Jedi Order. Now it is finished. Surrender and your lives will be spared."

** In ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTalesOfTheJedi Tales of the Jedi]]'', [[spoiler: he killed Yaddle on Palpatine's orders since she could've told the Jedi about Maul's now-ex Master]]