Count Dooku is arguably the most “Star Warsy” among the pantheon of new prequel characters. In casting Christopher Lee, George Lucas wisely tapped into the well of British monster-movie veterans that gave him Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin. And thanks to Lee’s performance, Dooku seemed like he had been a part of “Star Wars” all along, even though he wasn’t introduced until 2002.
In the prequels, and now in “The Clone Wars,” Dooku is part character, part caricature, but that actually works perfectly in an animated series. The animators draw Dooku with severe lines, an exaggeration of Lee’s visage but also a cue that this is one bad guy who should be taken seriously. Corey Burton’s voice work only adds to the effect. Darth Sidious is an unknown to our heroes, and General Grievous truly is a cartoon (albeit an entertaining one), but Dooku has undeniable gravitas.
And Dooku — Sidious’ bridge between apprentices Maul and Vader — truly gets to be a character in this series. As the leader of the Separatists, he’s an unknowing pawn in Sidious’ game, yet he’s not a total fool. He trains Asajj Ventress, and later Savage Opress, as his apprentice assassins, plotting to someday overthrow Sidious.
And the show isn’t done with Dooku’s arc yet. For one thing, I’d like to see the writers incorporate Dooku’s backstory as a fallen Padawan of Yoda’s. This was touched on in Sean Stewart’s solid novel “Yoda: Dark Rendezvous,” but remains largely unexplored.
Maybe Dooku — absent from “Episode I,” underused in “Episode III,” and always the second fiddle to Darth Sidious — didn’t rank among your favorite prequel characters. But “The Clone Wars” has turned him into a legitimately iconic villain.
Main image: Lucasfilm