Not Your Average Sith Lord
A Brief Examination of the Mysterious Count Dooku

By Kat
Staff Writer

April 4, 2009

Count Dooku's manner and appearance differentiate him from his dark side peers in the Star Wars films.

Each of the other Sith Lords in the Star Wars films has an exterior appearance that vividly reflects his internal moral decay. Darth Maul looks like the devil, Darth Vader boasts menacing black armor ("more machine now than man"), and Darth Sidious features a pale, deformed face that is is constantly shrouded by a hood. Similarly, each of these villains produce sounds that serve as aural cues to their evil. Darth Maul grunts and snarls, Darth Vader produces a mechanical breathing sound, and Darth Sidious exhibits a cackling laughter.

So what about Count Dooku? He looks like a normal human being and he doesn't really make any memorable, characteristic sound as the other Sith Lords do.

Mysterious Count Dooku

Dooku does, however, display other Sith Lord traits. He wields a red lightsaber, like each of the other Sith Lords. He also is able to produce Force lightning, another talent indicative of dark side tendencies.

Despite these Sith Lord traits, arguably, the Star Wars character that Dooku is most similar to isn't even a Sith Lord. His cool, refined, almost dignified demeanor seems most similar to that of A New Hope's Grand Moff Tarkin. Ironically, actors Christopher Lee (Count Dooku) and Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarken) appeared together in several Hammer Films*. Coincidence? Perhaps. Either way, Dooku looks, sounds, and behaves differently from the other Sith Lords in the Star Wars films.

* Hammer Films is a UK production company most known for its horror films in the 1950s to 1970s.

Back to Articles

Not Your Average Sith Lord A Brief Examination of the Mysterious Count Dooku

Not Your Average Sith Lord
A Brief Examination of the Mysterious Count Dooku