10 Great Movie Characters Killed Off Immediately In Sequels

The Star Wars prequels told the story of Anakin Skywalker, from his humble beginnings on Tattooine through to taking his place at Emperor Palpatine's side as Darth Vader. There were a lot of moving pieces in the story, namely the Emperor's previous apprentices.

Thanks to the Sith rule of two, Palpatine had to have an apprentice at all times, and of course, they had to be disposed of to ultimately make way for Vader. Maul was seemingly killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi, while Dooku lasted a little longer.

Though the Sith Lord had a larger role throughout Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Christopher Lee's villain didn't appear throughout Attack of the Clones too much. He appeared even less so in Revenge of the Sith.

It was Anakin's murder of Count Dooku at the beginning of Episode III that truly started his path on the dark side, and it seems as though the man known as Lord Tyranus was essentially included solely to give Skywalker that opportunity. He was behind the creation of the Clone Army, but that could have been Palpatine on his own, or anyone really. Star Wars needed someone expendable for Anakin to execute at the order of Palpatine, and this was Dooku before Revenge of the Sith really got going.