Okay, so I have a confession to make. You know the first name of my character Jard Dooku? Well, I didn’t exactly make it up. I regret to inform you that the name came from none other than SuperShadow. In his “Star Wars Frequently Asked Questions” page, there is a question that states “What is Darth Tyranus or Count Dooku's first name and full name?” SuperShadow responds by saying, “Jard (Count Jard Dooku)”.
Now, to be fair to myself and to deflect the “OMG why would you take a SuperShadow idea” comments that might (but will not likely) arise, I didn’t knowingly do it. As many of you know, I was involved in a lot of anti-SuperShadow stuff back in 2005 and 2006, and that led to me having read basically every page on his website. One of those was the FAQ page where I picked up on the name “Jard”. Later, as I was doing preliminary work on Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One, I chose Jard for Dooku’s first name not realizing that it was from SuperShadow. It wasn’t until awhile later that I realized where it came from, but I’m not exactly concerned that I’m using something from SuperShadow. I like the name so, frankly, I don’t particularly care where it originated.
Now, my Dooku is an interesting character, at least in my opinion. He’s basically an asshole to anyone and everyone without any apparent reason. He’s arrogant, impatient, frustrated and, as we can see with his behavior towards Jar Binks, clearly prejudiced towards lower life forms. Clearly he has some issues, but what they are won’t be seen for awhile. One thing I will say (and something I consider Alternative Star Wars Saga canon until a narrative source states otherwise) is that Dooku lived with his rich family in nobility until he was around one and a half years old, and this posh and spoiled lifestyle unconsciously carried over into his Jedi life. Therefore, while he may be a Jedi Master, he still (unknowingly, mind you) sees himself as the Count of Serenno.
Another interesting thing about Dooku (again, at least in my opinion) is the fact that he’s now Obi-Wan’s former master (as Obi-Wan begins as a Knight in the story as opposed to a Padawan) instead of Qui-Gon. Because of the bitter relationship between Obi-Wan and Dooku, Obi-Wan sees Qui-Gon as much more of a friend and means a hell of a lot to him since Qui-Gon respects Obi-Wan while Dooku does not. Originally, Qui-Gon and Dooku were to have the opposite places in the story (Qui-Gon staying as the master but as a bitter rival, and Dooku as the calm and friendly mentor on the Jedi Council) but I decided that having Qui-Gon be the bitter master was, in my opinion, stupid. That’s why Dooku is in the position he is in now.
Well, that’s all I have to say at the moment. Thanks for reading! 