The Star Wars prequel trilogy introduced us to two of Emperor Palpatine’s Sith apprentices before he went onto recruit Anakin Skywalker and turn him into the legendary Darth Vader. Darth Maul was a horned, tattooed Dathomirian Zabrak whose double-ended lightsaber didn’t help much when he was killed off at the end of The Phantom Menace. Count Dooku was Christopher Lee’s take on the dark side of the force, an elderly ex-Jedi capable of impressive lightsaber warfare, but not impressive enough to keep his head.
Obviously, neither were the perfect choice for Palpatine, but one had to be better than the other. We’ve compared them below.
DARTH MAUL WAS THE BEST: He Had A Doubled-Ended Lightsaber
When The Phantom Menace was announced, fans were understandably thrilled by the prospect of new Star Wars films. In the trailer, Lucasfilm decided to show fans Maul’s double-ended lightsaber and ruin the goosebump-inducing reveal in the film, which was odd. It doesn’t stop it from being the coolest weapon in the franchise, though.
COUNT DOOKU WAS THE BEST: He Had A Curly-Ended Lightsaber
Count Dooku can’t quite compete with the fierceness of Maul’s double-ended lightsaber. However, the two have very different personalities. Maul is an aggressive, acrobatic warrior who charges his enemies, Dooku is much more laid-back and suave.
This allowed the subtle coolness of the curved hilt on his lightsaber to compliment him as a person just as much as Maul’s double-ended weapon did.
DARTH MAUL WAS THE BEST: He Had Horns And Tattoos
Up to this point in Star Wars, the two Sith we had met were both humans. One was old and disfigured and one spent most of his time under a mask, but they were still human. The appearance of Darth Maul showed us that Palpatine wasn’t opposed to non-human apprentices, allowing for Maul’s horned, tattooed head to fight for him.
COUNT DOOKU WAS THE BEST: He Was Literally Christopher Lee
No matter how cool Maul looked, it’s hard to compete with Dooku. Dooku looked like Christopher Lee, because, well, he was played by Christopher Lee. There are very few people cool enough to have major roles in Star Wars and Lord Of The Rings while in their 80s and fronting a heavy metal band on the side.
DARTH MAUL WAS THE BEST: He Was A Better Fighter
The fight between Yoda and Dooku showed Dooku to be an impressive fighter capable of actions beyond his years, but it was hard to compete with the Maul vs Obi-Wan and Qui-Gonn fight from the end of The Phantom Menace. To end a poor film with one of the best fighters in Star Wars history cemented Maul’s legacy.
COUNT DOOKU WAS THE BEST: He Lived Longer
Despite Maul being a better fighter to watch, he obviously didn’t have the same skill level and control of the force as Count Dooku.
How many people can say they’ve fought Yoda and lived? Dooku was able to live a long life after his Jedi career anyway, and it only came to an end when he was beheaded by his successor.
DARTH MAUL WAS THE BEST: He Evaded Death In The Clone Wars
While fans who are only interested in the films would say that Maul died at the end of The Phantom Menace and that was the end of it, he canonically survived. In fact, his control over the force allowed him to survive his bisection for twelve years before being rescued by his brother and returning to power, complete with robot legs.
COUNT DOOKU WAS THE BEST: He Spoke More
In The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul was technically the main antagonist. Despite this, he wasn’t on our screens very often and only spoke 31 words in the entire film. We’re given a lot more time to get to known Count Dooku, with two films and more words spoken in a single sentence than Maul spoke in total. This allows us to build up much more of a connection to Dooku in the film series.
DARTH MAUL WAS THE BEST: He Had An Impressive Return Post-Phantom
Count Dooku was always going to be a familiar face in The Clone Wars as we knew he was alive throughout. Darth Maul’s return was a surprise, which turned into a dramatic and important storyline that would continue in Solo and Star Wars: Rebels. When Dooku died, he was gone for good. This means that no matter how much of a connection we had to Dooku in the films, the more committed Star Wars fans will have been fed much more Maul.
COUNT DOOKU WAS THE BEST: He Had Strong Ties To The Jedi
Darth Maul was a fierce warrior who Palpatine assumed would be a valuable asset to his cause. He proved not to be. Dooku was a defected Jedi who had once been trained by Yoda himself. This created a very interesting dynamic in which Dooku was fighting against those who were once his closest allies. The fact that Maul was an unknown soldier meant there wasn’t the same emotional resonance as there was with Dooku.