House Dooku

House Dooku was a royal house of the planet Serenno, one of the six Great Houses that ruled the planet. The Head of the family bore the title of Count Dooku of Serenno.

History

Fall of the Republic

During the last century of the Galactic Republic^[5] House Dooku was one of the six Great Houses, the wealthiest and most powerful families of the planet Serenno,^[3] located in Outer Rim Territories^[7] and site of its ancestral lands.^[8] Itself one of the most powerful and wealthy families in the galaxy,^[9] it was protected by a security team.^[3]

In 102 BBY the House saw the birth of a male member,^[10] that in future would being known simply with his family name.^[6] His parents allowed him to be taken by the Jedi Order^[2] as they had another son to continue the Dooku bloodline.^[1] Unlike most younglings, he was aware of his origins and felt driven to prove himself worthy of them.^[10] While Dooku was trained by the Jedi,^[6] his brother took the title of Count of Serenno and was married to a woman named Kostanza, with whom he had a child, Adan Dooku. However, during his son's childhood the count died, leaving his son to take his place as the new count. Because of Adan's youth, his mother acted as regent.^[1]

Meanwhile in 32 BBY^[11] Dooku, as a consequence of the death of his former apprentice Qui-Gon Jinn and due to his growing disenchantment with the Jedi way, left the Jedi Order.^[6] Shortly thereafter, he met with Sumpreme Chancellor Palpatine and informed him that he intended to claim his hereditary title of Count of Serenno and that he sought a potential alliance with the Sith, as he believed that they shared his aim to reforge the galaxy.^[12] He became secretly Darth Sidious' next Sith apprentice, Darth Tyranus.^[6] With his arrival back to Serenno and claiming his family title of Count^[13] that was his birthrigth,^[9] Adan and Kostanza left the planet in self-exile to Alderaan.^[1] He became the master of his family fortune and one of the wealthiest men in the galaxy.^[13] He moved his base of operations to a cliff-side palace with a commanding view of the lush forests of his homeworld.^[8]

As plans laid by the Sith for over a decade began to come to fruition, Dooku reappeared on Raxus Prime in 24 BBY,^[14] commandeering a Republic communications station in the Tion Hegemony^[15] 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.^[16] When the Clone Wars broke out^[6] two years later,^[11] Dooku led the Head of State of the Confederacy of Independent Systems^[6] for the following three years,^[11] as the Great Houses of Serenno supported him and the Separatists.^[3] During the war he continued to operated from his palace on the planet.^[4] As Serenno was now in line with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Adan remained on Alderaan through the war, becoming friends with Viceroy Bail Organa.^[1] Dooku's revelance continued until he was killed by Anakin Skywalker aboard the Invisible Hand during the Battle of Coruscant.^[17]

During the final stages of the Clone Wars, Adan returned to Serenno to claim the vacant title of Count, much to the disdain of the other Serenno houses, who saw no value in a Count that was raised on another planet.^[1]

Imperial Era

After the end of Clone Wars, Darth Vader was sent to Serenno by Palpatine to enact the retaliation of the Galactic Empire on the six ruling Houses. Vader had previously discussed the Galactic Empire's role with Serenno, but had not told the young Count of his true intentions. Vader declared that since all of the other great houses had allied themselves with the deceased Dooku, they must purge the traitors in their midst by executing the current heads of every house. Dooku vehemently protested, but could do nothing as Vader revealed the final part of the deal—the sons must kill their own fathers, in order to ascend, and if anyone resisted, all of them would be killed. As Dooku watched in horror, the sons massacrated the assembled nobles. He was spared as he was in exile during the Clone Wars.^[3]

In time, Adan Dooku had a son^[1] around 13 BBY ^[18] named Bron Dooku, with his wife, Maite.^[1] During his father's reign, Bron regularly travelled with Adan aboard the Dooku airship Windrunner. As part of his training to become the next Count, he was taught by his father about politics, and how to look at situations realistically and pragmatically.^[3] Eventually, Dooku was branded as a target for assassination by an individual within the Imperial hierarchy, in cooperation with Borgin of House Borgin. Imperial agent Jahan Cross was sent to complete the job.^[1] Around 3 BBY,^[19] the Dookus attended the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Alderaan Ascendancy Contention in Aldera. Organa found some time to speak to Adan in solitude, attempting to persuade the Count to join the growing insurrection against the Galactic Empire. Organa believed the Count had great influence, despite the second guesses of the Count himself due to his upbringing on Alderaan and the conflict his origins had caused with the other Houses of Serenno. Cross, donning a fake suit of Mandalorian armor created by Imperial Intelligence to impersonate Boba Fett, took aim at the Count through one of the room's windows. The shot hit Dooku directly in the heart and breached the room's window. Dooku's young son, Bron, witnessed the murder.^[1]

Bron went with the other House Lords aboard the Windrunner to decide his fate. He then met Jahan Cross, whom he knew as Ambassador Cross's son. Bron was then kidnapped by Aveca Dunn during the Bloodskull's attack,^[3] and was rescued by Cross.^[20] Bron was taken to Otoh Dooku, where Borgin's security chief Hovus Jorrick and his guard watched over him until Cross and Candra Tymon took him. He was pursued by Jorrick's guard^[21] and Boba Fett, until Fett fired a missile at his shuttle, appearing to kill Bron. In reality, though, Bron had been taken to Alderaan to be raised by Bail Organa until he took his title and position as Serenno's regent if he wanted to.^[22]

Individuals

• Dooku, Sith Lord and Count of Serenno^[1]
• Dooku's brother, Count of Serenno^[1]
• Kostanza Dooku, the former's wife^[1]
• Adan Dooku, Count of Serenno^[1]
• Maite Dooku, wife of Adan Dooku^[1]
• Bron Dooku, son of Adan and Maite Dooku^[1]

Family tree

Dooku's father[2] ♂

Dooku's mother[2] ♀

Dooku ♂

Dooku's brother ♂

Kostanza Dooku[1] ♀

Maite Dooku ♀

Adan Dooku[1] ♂

Bron Dooku[1] ♂

Behind the scenes

The house fist appeared in the form of Dooku in the novel The Approaching Storm released in 2002.^[23] It was first identified as House Dooku in Agent of the Empire – Hard Targets 2, the seventh issue of the Star Wars: Agent of the Empire series of comics^[3] released on November 21, 2012.^[24] In the comic series "Dooku" is used as the family name,^[1] as several members are named Dooku as their last names.^[1][3]

In the new Canon the house is named House Serenno^[25] and the name "Dooku" does not qualify as the character's first nor last name, with it instead being a singular name. In this version Serennian aristocracy only use a singular name while being formally addressed as members of House Serenno. Therefore, Dooku's full name is not "Dooku Serenno," but the count would answer to the formal title "Dooku of House Serenno".^[26]

Appearances

Sources

• Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary
• "Dark Forces: The Villains of Star Wars" — Star Wars Insider 113
• The Official Star Wars Fact File Part 34 DOO 1–4: Count Dooku (as "Dooku family")

Notes and references