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I don't know the exact significance of the word "Darth" in the Sith world, but I think it was a word of honor for powerful Sith. That's why Anakin was given this title for his new name.

All powerful Sith in the canon had this word in their names: Darth Plagueis, Darth Bane, Darth Sidious, Darth Vader, Darth Maul, etc. As such name similarity can't be names given by their parents, I can assume they were given such title as an honour.

Now, look at Count Dooku... he was a powerful Sith too. So, why wasn't he given this title?

Darth word to address Dooku hasn't been used in the movies, as far as I know. If you are claiming that Darth and Lord words are the same, give citations because my vocabulary rejects it.

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    A really minor nitpick: not all powerful Sith Lords were named "Darth". Naga Sadow wasn't, for example. But at least in the movies, what you say is true.
    – Andres F.
    Jan 28, 2012 at 13:41
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    This question was asked before Disney canon existed, and attracted several answers. You can't just invalidate all of these answers by changing your question. Rolled back in accordance with site guidelines for question edits that invalidate existing answers.
    – Wad Cheber
    Nov 28, 2015 at 7:01
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    meta.stackexchange.com/questions/43478/…
    – Wad Cheber
    Nov 28, 2015 at 7:06
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    @SS-3.1415926535897932384626433 The top answer seems correct to me. The "Lord Tyranus" clip is definitely real, we have precedent for Lord and Darth being used interchangeably in the original trilogy, and in the Ep II script I see Jango referring to a "Darth Tyranus" earlier in the movie. Since this is all straight from the movies, how does the Disney canon change affect any of it?
    – Ixrec
    Nov 28, 2015 at 10:57
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    @SS-3.1415926535897932384626433 For the record, I think it would be completely valid to ask a new question like "Are Darth and Lord always interchangeable when referring to Sith?" that specifies Disney canon.
    – Ixrec
    Nov 28, 2015 at 11:00

16 Answers 16

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+200

He was addressed as "Darth Tyranus" by Darth Sidious in the Clone Wars episode "The Rise of Clovis".

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    (sigh) congrats on finding the clip before I could. Like C-3PO, I say in despair "curse my metal body, I wasn't fast enough. It's all my fault". (out of curiosity, were you already looking for a Clone Wars clip before I mentioned looking for one in my answer? lol)
    – RedCaio
    Nov 29, 2015 at 0:59
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    @RedCaio - I hadn't seen the edit to your answer, just saw the edit to the original question (and the bounty) that they wanted a definite example of "Darth Tyranus" in canon, so I thought of the Clone Wars series (I did a google search of the site springfieldspringfield.co.uk which has transcripts of all the episodes)
    – Hypnosifl
    Nov 29, 2015 at 15:03
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    @RedCaio - That was a suggested edit by Jeremy Banks that I just approved--looking at the edit history, apparently he changed my original url of youtube.com/watch?v=o4gXZF748vk to the new url of youtu.be/o4gXZF748vk?t=5m45s (changed "www.youtube.com" to "youtu.be", got rid of "watch?v=", and added "?t=5m45s" to the end), I'll have to remember that trick in the future.
    – Hypnosifl
    Nov 29, 2015 at 20:46
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    @Hypnosifl I just tried it but I must've been doing something wrong. I did find YouTubeTime.com and it works swimmingly! :)
    – RedCaio
    Nov 29, 2015 at 22:08
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    Video clip is dead
    – Valorum
    Jul 16, 2016 at 19:52
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He was: he was known as Darth Tyranus.

The name "Tyranus" is used in Attack of the Clones a few times and Sidious calls Dooku "Lord Tyranus" at the end of the film. "Lord" and "Darth" are often used interchangeably by Sidious when referring to his Sith apprentices.

In order to disguise his Sith identity, the Count usually goes by Dooku.

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    In exactly the same way, it could be noted, as Darth Sidious publicly went by the names of Senator Palpatine, then Chancellor Palpatine and finally Emperor Palpatine.
    – eidylon
    Jan 28, 2012 at 5:39
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    Kind of ruins the plausible deniability for you if your henchman standing next to you is called "Darth Vader".
    – Oldcat
    Nov 20, 2014 at 19:13
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    If I remember correctly then even Lea titled him as Lord Vader and not Darth, it wasn't until Obi Wan later used Darth as his title. This gives precedence that Palpatine didn't announce him publicly as Darth Vader.
    – TheAI
    Jan 21, 2015 at 9:27
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    @TheAI actually, Obi-Wan calling him "Darth" in Episode IV was a bit of a goof. At that time, the character's actual first name was "Darth" and Obi-Wan calling him that was intended to reflect that they had previously been on a first-name basis. That is, in fact, the only time ANYWHERE that he is referred to as simply "Darth". Anywhere else, it's "Vader", "Lord Vader", or "Darth Vader". Neat bit of trivia there, though.
    – Omegacron
    Apr 2, 2015 at 19:31
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    @TheAI - that is incorrect - when she first encounters Vader on the Tantive IV blockade runner she says: "Darth Vader -- only you could be so bold" Tarkin calls him Lord - "Lord Vader will provide us with the location of the Rebel fortress by the time this battle station is operational. We will then crush the Rebellion in one swift stroke"
    – NKCampbell
    Nov 24, 2015 at 22:33
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From the official script for Attack of the Clones:

JANGO I was recruited by a man called Darth Tyranus on one of the moons of Bogden.

And:

OBI-WAN One more thing. Jango mentioned he was recruited by someone named Darth Tyranus. Any idea who that might be?

YODA With the forename Darth, a Sith he must be.

And:

COUNT DOOKU The Force is with us, my Master.

DARTH SIDIOUS Welcome home, Lord Tyranus. You have done well.

http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Star-Wars-Attack-of-the-Clones.html

From the official script for Revenge of the Sith:

DARTH SlDIOUS: His death was a necessary loss, which will ensure our victory. Soon I will have a new apprentice . . . one far younger and more powerful than Lord Tyranus

http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Star-Wars-Revenge-of-the-Sith.html

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    Worth that the scene with Obi-Wan and Yoda from the script didn't actually make it into the movie. And vynsane also mentions in another answer that in the filmed version of the scene with Jango, he said he was recruited by "a man called Tyranus", without the "Darth".
    – Hypnosifl
    Nov 24, 2015 at 22:22
  • Which makes sense. The Jedi were already pretty stupid to just accept the idea of the Clone Army (after the Senate's approval) without further investigation. If they'd known explicitly that the order was placed by a Sith, the Jedi stupidity levels required to make the plot still work would multiply exponentially.
    – Wolfie Inu
    Dec 1, 2015 at 5:55
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At the end of Attack of the Clones Dooku meets up with Sidious. Sidious says to him: "Welcome home, Lord Tyranus. You have done well."

He is Darth Tyranus and Darth Sidious gave him the name. There is no question of this.

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He may have been given the title by Sidious, but that is never clarified in the movies. He is referred to by the cloners as Tyranus in Attack of the Clones. This is his Sith name, but it remains to be seen if it was bestowed upon him by Darth Sidious or if he gave it to himself.

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Count Dooku's Sith name was Darth Tyranus.

Count Dooku: The Force is with us, my Master.

Darth Sidious: Welcome home, Lord Tyranus. You have done well.

- Attack of the Clones

Darth Sidious uses "Lord" and "Darth" interchangeably when referring to his Sith apprentices:

  • He refers to Darth Maul as "Lord Maul" almost exclusively in Ep I

  • He refers to Darth Tyranus as "Lord Tyranus" in Ep II

  • He refers to Darth Vader as both "Darth Vader" and "Lord Vader" extensively throughout the films.

It seems to be purely coincidental that the actual words "Darth Tyranus" are not spoken in the films. This is simply because

  1. Darth Tyranus goes by Count Dooku when surrounded by separatists because they don't known he is Sith.

  2. Sidious happens to use "Lord" rather than "Darth" the one time they converse alone.

Count Dooku calls himself Darth Tyranus in the Revenge of the Sith video game:

enter image description here

AND He is called "Darth Tyranus" in this Clone Wars episode

It is 100% official canon: Dooku did have a "Darth" title - it was Darth Tyranus.

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To my knowledge, the only direct naming of Count Dooku as Darth Tyranus is outside of the movies, in comics, books and toys. The two times the name Tyranus comes up in the movie, it is without the Darth prefix: As other answers have already stated, Sidious refers to him as "Lord Tyranus" in their meeting on Coruscant towards the end of the film. The other time the name comes up, during Obi-Wan's tense discussion with Jango Fett, Fett says he "was recruited by a man called Tyranus" - no mention of the word "Darth" appears in conjunction with the word "Tyranus" in the final version of the film. The script at imsdb includes scenes and dialogue cut or modified before the film was finalized.

By the time of the final lightsaber duel it is clear that Count Dooku uses the Dark Side of The Force, but it can only be inferred that he has taken on the name Darth Tyranus, it is not explicitly stated anywhere in the movie. Most characters still refer to him as Count Dooku throughout the film and even the beginning of Episode III.

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    Just a spelling note, it's written "Tyranus" rather than "Tyrannus", even though the name is obviously inspired by words like "tyranny" or "tyrannical" (or perhaps Lucas was inspired by the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex?)
    – Hypnosifl
    Nov 24, 2015 at 22:40
  • Thanks Hypnosifl - edited the post to correct the spelling.
    – vynsane
    Nov 25, 2015 at 14:26
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In The Clone Wars TV series, (Series 3) Episode 10 entitled "Heroes On Both Sides", the Separatist senator Mina Bonteri (and indeed the other senators who are members of the "Confederacy of Independent Systems") is apparently convinced that Dooku is merely a (Confederate/Separatist) senator:

Padme Amidala: "I sense Dooku's dirty hand in all of this."

Mina Bonteri: "He's just the leader of the Senate, he's not the leader of the entire Universe!"

Padme Amidala: [Sighs] "Oh, I forgot. You actually admire the man."

It is likely that many members of the Confederacy of Independent Systems would be greatly disturbed if they knew that a Sith Lord was controlling their operations- the Confederacy provide funding for the Separatists in the war, and not all of their members are entirely sympathetic to their aims.

While some members of the Confederacy did not hold any qualms negotiating and conspiring with the Sith in the past- such as the Trade Federation and the Galactic Banking Clan, these particular organisations also operate in both Senates in order to enact money-making schemes from the conflict.

The people they are extorting within the Confederacy, however, joined due to their want of remaining independent from the Republic senate, which they feel is corrupt. They didn't sign up for support from Sith Lords, thus Darth Tyranus takes up a pseudonym as Count Dooku, so he is indistinguishable from his real motives.

However, if either side listened to each other more, they would perhaps realise that both their leaders were not as honourable as they made out to be. This probably displays the best example of people believing what they're told, as long as it's in line with what they're inclined to believe.

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  • To the best of my knowledge, Dooku was never a senator. Are you sure she wasn't referring to Palpatine, who was the leader of the Senate? Also, the leaders of the Trade Federation (a prominent member of the CIS) worked with Darth Sidious in Episode I -- so they probably didn't care too much about being involved with the Sith.
    – Null ♦
    Jun 11, 2015 at 19:34
  • I specifically watched the episode, you can double-check it: youtube.com/watch?v=TKgRIkWdKd0, point 12:10. It may just be lazy or inconsitent writing, but that's what she said word-for-word.
    – Mikasa
    Jun 11, 2015 at 19:36
  • Also, I mentioned that "many" not "all" members of the Confederacy would have been uncomfortable with working with the Sith. In a different episode- can't remember which though, someone mentions that one of the members of the Trade Federation was betrayed by Sidious and was not a fan of him.
    – Mikasa
    Jun 11, 2015 at 19:39
  • I believe she meant that Dooku was leader of the Confederate, rather than the republic senate, as in the same episode we see a hologramatic version of Dooku hosting a vote on whether or not to try and open peace negotiations with the Republic. He says that "a vocal vote is needed", and eventually concludes that "democracy wins", thus they will go ahead with their plans to open negotiations.
    – Mikasa
    Jun 11, 2015 at 19:41
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    Ah, yes, this is clearer now -- Dooku appears to be the leader of the Confederate Senate. +1 for this find.
    – Null ♦
    Jun 11, 2015 at 20:49
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Dooku was bestowed the title of Darth Tyranus by, then Sith Lord Darth Sidious, shortly after the presumed death of his apprentice, Darth Maul at the hands of Jedi master Qui-gon Jin. Afterwhich he reclaimed his family title of 'Count' for use in his public persona as head of the separatist senate

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    Qui-Gon didn't kill Maul. Obi-wan did! Rather, Maul killed Qui-Gon!
    – Octopus
    Dec 23, 2015 at 21:50
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Umm....but he was given the Darth title as he was the apprentice of Darth Sidious.

Jango Fett: "I was recuited by a man called Tyranus on one of the moons of Bogden." NOTE: The original script was: "I was recuited by a man called Darth Tyranus on one of the moons of Bogden." http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Star-Wars-Attack-of-the-Clones.html

Darth Sidious: "Welcome home Lord Tyranus."

Also, when a Sith calls another guy with a Red Lightsaber and a black cloak Lord, he is referring to him as a Sith Lord and at that time, according to the Rule of Two, there are to always be Two and no more and they are given the title of Darth. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Rule_of_Two/Legends It should also be noted that Sidious was not a very avid follower of the Rule of Two. https://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-Sith-break-the-Rule-of-2/answer/Braden-Dodge

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"If you are claiming that Darth and Lord words are same, give citations because my vocabulary rejects it."

The canon book "Lords of the Sith" seem to make it fairly clear that "Lord" is an appropriate title commensurate with "Darth" - to be a Sith Lord is to have the "Darth" pre-fix.

Throughout the book, Vader is called "Lord" by those around him, as well as Darth.

Also - the book references Anakin's murder Dooku and uses the name Darth Tyranus

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  • You bring up some good points. In it's current state, I can't tell if this is a comment (on my answer?) or is its own answer.
    – RedCaio
    Nov 29, 2015 at 0:31
  • I considered it an answer - feel free to edit to make it more clear :)
    – NKCampbell
    Nov 29, 2015 at 2:03
  • Oh, I get it now. At first I thought you were talking to me when you said "If you are claiming that Darth and Lord words are same, give citations ..." but I now realized you weren't. lol
    – RedCaio
    Nov 29, 2015 at 2:12
  • Also, Leia refers to Vader as Lord.
    – Octopus
    Dec 23, 2015 at 21:51
  • @Octopus - I have no memory of this - when did that happen?
    – NKCampbell
    Dec 23, 2015 at 22:04
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Count Dooku/Tyranus was given the title Darth. This can be inferred just by watching the 6 movies.

First some facts:

  • Vader has been given the title Darth since he is called Darth Vader.
  • The Emperor and Darth Sidious are the same person.

In Star Wars: Attack of the Clones:

DARTH SIDIOUS

Welcome home, Lord Tyranus. You have done well.

Source: http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Star-Wars-Attack-of-the-Clones.html

In Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

EMPEROR

You have done well, Lord Vader. And now I sense you wish to continue your search for young Skywalker.

Source: http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Star-Wars-Return-of-the-Jedi.html

Since the same person calls both Vader and Tyranus 'Lord' and Vader has been given the title 'Darth' by deduction it can be inferred that Tyranus has also been given the title 'Darth'.

One could argue that Tyranus has never been explicitly called 'Darth' in the movies but I would say Vader has had a lot more screen time than Tyranus so the movies might have not been given the chance to let someone call him 'Darth Tyranus'.

One could also argue that the above doesn't prove that 'Lord' and 'Darth' are the same since this hasn't been said explicitly anywhere in the movies but I would say that Darth Sidious/Emperor doesn't really call anyone else 'Lord' in the movies either.

In the end of the day it's what you want to believe but I think this is proof enough for me to put this question to rest.

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Lord Sidious addresses Dooku as Darth Tyranus in Star Wars Clone Wars in Season 6 Episode 6 "The Rise of Clovis"(6:40).

"Darth Tyranus, it is time for you once again to recruit our friend Clovis."

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His Sith name was Darth Tyranus but, as he was already a famous politician before become a Sith, he kept the name Dooku as a public persona. So the galaxy knew him as Dooku but he called himself (as did his adversaries) Tyranus.

Jango Fett mentions him in AotC, where he says "I was recruited by a man named Tyranus on the...), meaning that he knew Dooku's Sith name.

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He was, his sith name is darth tyranus but because he wanted the jedi to believe he had just left the jedi he went under the name of count doku. When darth sisdious was clouding the light side of the force he was able to stop them seeing count doku was his second apprentice (after darth maul) and he was able to take control of the senate and posed as senator palpetine.

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    How does this add anything that's not already covered in the other answers?
    – user8719
    Jul 26, 2014 at 21:28
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According to The Clone Wars (Tv series, not AotC), Dooku is Darth Tyranus.

source: The Clone Wars

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    Welcome to the site! Your answer, IMHO, is correct. You might consider adding quotes, links, or clips to back your source.
    – RedCaio
    Nov 29, 2015 at 2:15
  • Hi Jess, welcome to the site! You may want to take the tour.
    – Raj
    Jan 17, 2020 at 20:32

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