Count Dooku was a menacing Sith Lord and central figure in the Clone Wars. Once a Jedi -- trained by Yoda -- he became disillusioned with the Jedi Order and thirsted for greater power. Dooku voluntarily left the light side behind and became Darth Sidious’ dark side disciple, taking the secret name Darth Tyranus and leading the Separatist army. Dooku advanced Sidious’s secret plot to take over the galaxy, but forgot that betrayal is the nature of the Sith.

Scheming, powerful, and evil to the core, Darth Sidious restored the Sith and destroyed the Jedi Order. Living a double life, Sidious was in fact Palpatine, a Naboo Senator and phantom menace. He slowly manipulated the political system of the Galactic Republic until he was named Supreme Chancellor -- and eventually Emperor -- ruling the galaxy through fear and tyranny.

One of the wealthiest corporate organizations in the galaxy, the Trade Federation controlled most of the interstellar shipping passing through the Rim territories. The Trade Federation was headed by Viceroy Nute Gunray, and even had its own representative in the Republic Senate to lobby for even greater power. On the orders of Darth Sidious, the Trade Federation sent its battle droids to invade Naboo to create a government crisis. During the Clone Wars, the Trade Federation secretly signed on as a member of Count Dooku's Separatist organization, though representatives in the Senate tried to deny this.

A powerful galactic guild comprised of technology firms, the Techno Union was led by its lead engineer, Wat Tambor, during the final years of the Republic. The group helped create the battle-droid armies used by the Separatists, and Tambor pledged its loyalty to Count Dooku during the Separatist Crisis. Despite its Separatist ties, the Techno Union was represented in the Republic Senate, with Gume Saam speaking on its behalf. Tambor died on Mustafar at the end of the Clone Wars.

The Corporate Alliance was one of the galaxy’s powerful trade guilds, led in the final years of the Republic by the Koorivar Passel Argente. The group pledged its forces – including warships and deadly tank droids – to Count Dooku’s Separatist Alliance. Argente died at the conclusion of the Clone Wars.

The InterGalactic Banking Clan was one of the galaxy’s most important commerce guilds. The Banking Clan secretly allied itself with Count Dooku’s Separatist movement, which it bankrolled during the Clone Wars while continuing to do business with the Republic. Revelations of corruption led to the arrest of the Banking Clan’s ruling Core Five and the appointment of Rush Clovis as the Banking Clan’s new leader. But Clovis was ensnared by a Sith plot, which led to the group’s takeover by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.