30 Greatest Star Wars Characters

25. Count Dooku

In truth, Count Dooku should be heralded as one of the absolute best Star Wars villains, but the prequels never really devoted enough time to fully develop his backstory.

Much like his apprentice Qui-Gon, Dooku (later named Darth Tyranus) was a rebel on the Jedi Order and a master swordsman. Seeing great corruption in the Rebublic, he leaves and goes his own way, before falling under the tutelage of Lord Sidious.

The interesting thing about the Count, though, is that he's secretly one of the more sympathetic Sith Lords out there. Yes, he succumbs to evil as the Clone Wars progress, but there was a time where he genuinely believed what he was doing was just, hoping to put an end to the corrupt Republic bureaucracy in order to fashion a system of government that governed justly.

Obviously that didn't work out, but when you scratch beneath the surface, Dooku becomes one of the most fascinating figures in Star Wars history.