History Characters / StarWarsCountDooku

* FatalFlaw: [[TheUnfettered Extremism]] much like his nemesis Anakin, ironically. 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 Sifo Dyas 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 co-opt 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.

* FeelingTheirAge: Suffers this on account of his age. 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.

* StrongerThanTheyLook: Downplayed in that while he isn't [[FeelingTheirAge getting any stronger]] and can be overpowered by much younger (and therefore much stronger) combatants, but Dooku is still quite strong for a man his age. In ''The Clone Wars'', he's able to knock out a Weequay pirate in only two strikes while handcuffed and during his duel with Anakin and Obi-Wan in Oba Diah, he's able to throw the two around with his kicks and grapples.

* 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.

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/CoreyBurton (''The Clone Wars''[[note]]for the rest of the series[[/note]], ''Tales of the Jedi''), Euan Morton (''Dooku: Jedi Lost'')
->'''Voiced by (Latin American Spanish dub):''' Creator/JoseLavat
->'''Voiced by (European French dub):''' Creator/BernardDheran (Prequel Trilogy and ''The Clone Wars'' up until Season 4), Creator/PhilippeCatoire (Season 5 and 6 of ''The Clone Wars'')
->'''Voiced by (German dub):''' Klaus Sonnenschein, Sebastian Walch (''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTalesOfTheJedi Tales of the Jedi]]'')

** Sidious views him as his only unworthy apprentice, but Dooku is the only apprentice of Palpatine to best Obi-Wan in a clean fight without Kenobi being exhausted from torture, or rusty. Vader has been humiliated by Obi-Wan repeatedly, and Maul lost against Obi-Wan even with Savage as backup.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: To Obi-Wan, despite viewing him as a WorthyOpponent. Kenobi shows himself to be highly competent, intelligent, and skilled throughout the Clone Wars, and a remarkable Jedi, even to the point he's the only jedi alive besides Yoda that [[BigBad Sidious]] has any genuine respect for. Despite that, Dooku consistently and unfailingly manages to best Kenobi, and until their last fight (where Dooku is actually intimidated by Kenobi's skills), it's with relative ease. Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] when you consider [[TacticalRockPaperScissors Dooku's fighting style is in-universe seen as a hard counter to Kenobi's,]] and he's a significantly more skilled telekinetic despite being, at best, only moderately stronger in the force[[note]]Kenobi being able to match a mentally-compromised, but still enraged Anakin's force push means he might actually be ''stronger'' than Dooku in the force, if Palpatine's opinion of how Dooku stacks up to Anakin is any indication[[/note]].

** Dooku in turn sees Anakin as this. Dooku was very proud of Qui-Gon and considered Obi-Wan a WorthyOpponent, but he never saw Anakin as worthy of inheriting his or Qui-Gon's legacy.

* SurpassedTheTeacher: He tries to pull this against his old master [[spoiler:Yoda]], but ends up retreating and distracting his former master to survive.

* SecretIdentity: He hides the fact that he's Darth Tyranus from the public eye. Apart from Darth Sidious, the only people who know that he's Darth Tyranus are people he has covert dealings with such as Jango Fett and the Pyke Syndicate. His secret identity only gets exposed in the final year of The Clone Wars where the Pyke Syndicate accidentally reveals it to Obi-Wan and Anakin, who later tell this to the Jedi Council.

* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: In contrast to the RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver Maul, Dooku looks like a dignified older gentleman who never even develops yellow Sith eyes.

-->'''Dooku:''' I only wish to bring peace and order to the galaxy.\\
'''Yaddle:''' So many have died for what you call "order".\\
'''Dooku:''' Then I will give you ''peace'', Master Yaddle.

* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: His arc in ''Tales of the Jedi'' showcases his gradual disillusionment with the Republic and Jedi Order, resulting in his fall to the dark side and becoming the apprentice of Darth Sidious.

* FatalFlaw: [[TheUnfettered Extremism]] much like Anakin, ironically. 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 Sifo Dyas 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 co-opt 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.

** He genuinely love Elodore Vane, as they were close friends when Dooku was still a Jedi, with it even being lightly implied that even back then that Dooku had feelings for her. Despite, Dooku orchestrated her husband's death and Obi-Wan showing her evidence, he sadly, honored her wishes. Even Darth Sidious himself states that Dooku, even all the way up to his own death at the hands of Anakin, never once stopped loving Elodore.

** Though it doesn't stop him from trying to kill him, he ''does'' have a distinct soft spot for Obi-Wan, perhaps seeing himself a bit like a grandfatherly figure, as Obi-Wan's master Qui-Gon was Dooku's pupil. Notably, he's remarkably insistent on trying to turning Obi-Wan to the Dark Side, even more so than Anakin, instead of simply killing him.

->''"This is just the beginning."''

* OlderSidekick: Dooku was born 20 years before Palpatine, his Sith Master.

* TemporarySubstitute: At the end of the day, this is what Dooku is to Palpatine. With Maul unexpectedly [[NotQuiteDead "killed"]] by Obi-Wan and Anakin still too young and inexperienced to be his apprentice, Palpatine needed a Sith apprentice to help him with his plans and serve as a leader for the Separatists and Dooku, one of his political allies, just so happens to be one of the most skilled lightsaber duelists in the galaxy and is the Count of Serenno. Palpatine then took Dooku under his wing and trained him as a Sith apprentice in Maul's place until Anakin grew powerful enough to defeat him and take his place as Palpatine's final (and true) Sith apprentice.

* YoungerMentorOlderDisciple: Despite being his Sith apprentice, he's actually twenty years older than Palpatine.

* AristocratsAreEvil: He's the wealthy Count of Serenno who later became a Sith Lord, one of the most evil individuals in the galaxy, and the leader of the Separatist Alliance.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He's a nobleman and the political leader of the Separatists as well as one of the galaxy's deadliest fighters.

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: When Anakin slices off his hands in their final fight, his reaction is merely that of silent shock and surprise. It's quite impressive when compared to Mace Windu and Luke Skywalker's agonizing screams when Anakin chopped off their hands off and Anakin passing out from shock when Dooku hacked his arm off at the end of their first fight.

%%* InadequateInheritor: Sidious views him as this.

--->''"This is just the beginning."''

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: When Anakin slices off his hands in their final fight, his reaction is merely that of silent shock and surprise. It's quite impressive when compared to Mace Windu and Luke Skywalker's agonizing screams when Anakin chopped off their hands off and Anakin passing out from shock when Dooku hacked his arm off at the end off their first fight.

** Anakin also cuts off Dooku's arms just as Dooku previously cut off Anakin's arm.

->'''Voiced by (European French dub):''' Creator/BernardDheran (Prequel Trilogy and ''The Clone Wars'')