TheStar Warsprequel trilogy introduced us to two of Emperor Palpatine ’s Sith prentice before he went onto military recruit Anakin Skywalker and grow him into the fabled Darth Vader . Darth Maul was a horned , tattooed Dathomirian Zabrak whose double - complete lightsaber did n’t help much when he was killed off at the end ofThe Phantom Menace . Count Dookuwas Christopher Lee ’s take on the dark side of the force , an elderly ex - Jedi equal to of impressive lightsaber war , but not impressive enough to keep his head .

patently , neither were the complete 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

WhenThe Phantom Menacewas declare , fans were understandably tickle by the outlook of newStar Warsfilms . In the trailer , Lucasfilm decided to show fans Maul ’s double - ended lightsaber and break the gooseflesh - hasten reveal in the film , which was odd . It does n’t stop it from being the cool weapon system in the enfranchisement , though .

COUNT DOOKU WAS THE BEST: He Had A Curly-Ended Lightsaber

numeration Dookucan’t quite vie with the fierceness of Maul ’s double - ended lightsaber . However , the two have very unlike personalities . Maul is an fast-growing , acrobatic warrior who excite his enemies , Dooku is much more laid - back and suave .

This let the subtle coolness of the curved hilt on his lightsaber to congratulate him as a somebody just as much as Maul ’s double - ended weapon system did .

DARTH MAUL WAS THE BEST: He Had Horns And Tattoos

Up to this point inStar war , the two Sith we had met were both humans . One was onetime and disfigured and one spent most of his clock time under a mask , but they were still human . The appearance ofDarth Maulshowed us that Palpatine was n’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 coolheaded Maul looked , it ’s hard to vie with Dooku . Dooku looked like Christopher Lee , because , well , he was play by Christopher Lee . There are very few citizenry cool enough to have major roles inStar WarsandLord Of The Ringswhile in their LXXX and fronting a dense metal circle 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 attack aircraft capable of natural process beyond his twelvemonth , but it was hard to vie with the Maul vs Obi - Wan and Qui - Gonn engagement from the ending ofThe Phantom Menace . To end a poor film with one of the best fighter inStar Warshistory cemented Maul ’s bequest .

COUNT DOOKU WAS THE BEST: He Lived Longer

Despite Maul being a better champion to determine , he obviously did n’t have the same skill level and dominance of the force out as Count Dooku .

How many people can say they ’ve fought Yoda and lived ? Dooku was able to endure a foresightful 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 thatMauldied at the end ofThe Phantom Menaceand that was the remainder of it , he canonically survived . In fact , his control over the military force allowed him to outlive his bisection for twelve years before being rescued by his crony and returning to power , concluded with   robot   legs .

COUNT DOOKU WAS THE BEST: He Spoke More

InThe Phantom Menace , Darth Maul was technically the main opponent . Despite this , he was n’t on our screens very often and only spoke 31 news in the full film . We ’re given a lot more meter to get to knownCount Dooku , with two film and more words speak in a single sentence than Maul spoke in sum . 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 last to be a intimate expression inThe Clone Warsas we knew he was alert throughout . Darth Maul’sreturn was a surprise , which work into a dramatic and crucial storyline that would uphold inSoloandStar 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 committedStar Warsfans will have been give much more Maul .

COUNT DOOKU WAS THE BEST: He Had Strong Ties To The Jedi

Darth Maul was a bowelless warrior who Palpatine assumed would be a valuable plus to his causal agency . He prove not to be . Dooku was a defectedJediwho had once been trained by Yoda himself . This make a very interesting moral force in which Dooku was fighting against those who were once his closest allies . The fact that Maul was an unidentified soldier meant there was n’t the same excited sonorousness as there was with Dooku .

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