Star Wars: The 10 best villains of the Skywalker Saga, ranked

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5. Count Dooku

While only being a pawn in Darth Sidious’ game to rule the galaxy, Count Dooku, aka Darth Tyrannus, is a great villain in his own right. A former Jedi who has now become a Sith, there’s something cyclical about Sidious doing the same thing twice. It’s like Dooku was originally a test run for what Anakin Skywalker would become. Nevertheless, the leader of the Separatist army should not be trifled with.

More than just Sidious’s pawn, Dooku is an expert tactician and swordsmen. Throughout the Clone Wars, his tactics constantly keep the Republic on its backfoot with no real ability to gain a true foothold throughout the galaxy. Is it partly because Palpatine is feeding him information? Possibly, but he manipulated and hid the growth of the clone army from both the Jedi and the Republic by using another Jedi who then disappeared. Still, as a fighter, even though he’s much older than most Jedi, he’s able to consistently best multiple Jedi at the same time, often with one hand behind his back.

Beyond those as well, he’s a grand manipulator who has been able to twist entire planets to his schemes and bring them into the war, much to the chagrin of the Republic. So despite the fact that Dooku is often a mere pawn of Darth Sidious, there’s a reason he’s such a useful pawn.

Credit: Lucasfilm /

4. Darth Maul

Who’s been cut in half and survived? Darth Maul has, and he’s angry about it, just as any good Sith Lord would be. Originally Darth Sidious’ first apprentice, Maul is apparently killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi after killing Qui-Gon Jinn. To the shock of everyone, Maul survived solely due to his hatred for Kenobi and is driven insane, only able to move by mechanical spider legs he has made for himself, which are then enhanced by his siblings on Dathomir, the Nightsisters.