General Grievous is a villain from the fictional Star Wars universe. He is the leader of the military forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and an enemy of the Jedi. Though a member of the Kaleesh species, his physical body is a fusion of a powerful robotic structure and an organic brain, nervous system and sensory organs. Another interesting fact about him is that he nearly killed Boba Fett in a Republic siege of Xagobah. While he was voiced by John Di Maggio in Chapter XX of the Cartoon Network Star Wars microseries, Clone Wars, Richard McGonagle took over the voicing of Grievous for the rest of the micro series, and Matthew Wood voices Grievous in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Dark Horse began publishing a 4-part comic book about General Grievous in March 2005.
Grievous was known as a Jedi hunter, killing them for sport and collecting their lightsabers to proudly place around his belt as trophies and use them in his battles. The general possessed strategic ingenuity and flawless cunning. He was a commander in the Separatist régime and became their leader upon Count Dooku's death at the hands of Anakin Skywalker.
Background information
Transformation to Cyborg
General Grievous was originally a warlord on his native planet Kalee. The Kaleesh had conquered the land and seas of their planet, and displayed pride in their superiority by wearing masks cobbled from the bones of their most feared animals, the mumuu and the karabbac. Warrior families would hand down these bone masks from generation to generation, adorning it with fresh blood prior to every hunt or campaign.
Grievous wore such a mask in his battle against the hated Huks, a neighboring species. He weathered countless close calls as he unleashed destruction on Kalee's enemies. He would return home to his wives and offspring, bloodied but emboldened, ready for battle again. During the war with the rival Huk worlds, the Republic was called in to settle the dispute. Because the Huk were rich in resources compared to the barren Kalee world, the Republic sided with the Huk and sent several Jedi Knights to attack the Kaleesh. Grievous and his armies were defeated and his homeworld was left in ruins, to suffer in poverty and shame of defeat.
These extremely harsh times led Grievous to become a security chief for the Intergalactic Banking Clan. San Hill, leader of the Banking Clan, noticed that Grievous was both a brilliant strategist and an excellent fighter, and mentioned him to the Confederacy of Independent Systems leader, Count Dooku (secretly the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus). Led by Darth Sidious, the Sith Lords conspired to draw Grievous into the Separatist army. Despite Hill's generous offers, however, Grievous still continued to refuse to lead the Separatist army.
Sidious, Dooku, and Hill arranged to have a bomb planted on the shuttle Grievous was on, and to blame it on the Republic. Grievous was mortally wounded in the crash, and his shattered, dying body was taken to the planet Geonosis, where his brain, eyes, and other organs were to be implanted into a droid body forged by Geonosians that would complement his natural reflexes. After much resistance from the still-conscious Grievous - a warrior of his status, he felt, should die on the field of battle - the metamorphosis was complete.
The suit, built of Durasteel and armorplast-plated Duranium, was built to resemble Krath war droids. His armorplast plates were strong enough to stop a bolt from even a starfighter's laser cannon. Each human-sized hand had 6 fingers (3 to each half-arm when they split to produce 4 arms). His hands and feet were capable of magnetizing when needed, allowing him to grip on to surfaces even in zero-G with incredible strength. His internal organs were enclosed in a layer of pressurized synthflesh with an organic fluid to prevent the organs from being damaged by bacteria and harmful germs, and also to maintain a suitable temperature to keep his organs alive and functional. His organs were nourished by artificial arteries keeping them alive with blood, allowing him to survive in a vacuum (in space, for example), an advantage he would display in escaping from Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker on his flagship. His transformation stripped him of all emotion except for anger, however.
It might have been his rage at the Republic, whom he believed caused his shuttle crash; it might have been a feeling of gratitude toward the Separatists for saving his life and giving him a new and improved body; or it might have been the modification that Banking Clan scientists made to his brain while he was unconscious; but when Grievous woke up in his new body he was more than willing to take up Hill's offer and agree to lead the Separatist troops throughout the galaxy against the Republic.
Lightsaber Ability and Lack of the Force
During the Clone Wars, Grievous was particularly hostile toward the Jedi; he made it a personal goal to hunt them down and humiliate each Jedi by defeating them and keeping their lightsabers as his personal prize. Grievous resented the Jedi having sided with the Huk in the earlier wars. In addition, he had had a personal friendship with the bounty hunter Jango Fett, who had then been killed by Jedi Master Mace Windu with a lightsaber. It was believed that Grievous briefly adopted Boba Fett after Jango's death. Somewhat surprisingly (at least when considering his proficiency with the lightsaber), the General was completely incapable of using the Force. Despite this handicap, General Grievous was trained in lightsaber combat by Count Dooku, and almost defeated the Sith Lord in sparring sessions on several occasions.
General Grievous was active from the very beginning of the Clone Wars. His existence was kept secret, however, since no Jedi had escaped his presence alive. He was inside the catacombs of Geonosis during the Battle of Geonosis. It was there that he would kill his first Jedi, although the exact numbers are not known. It was his rearguard actions in the catacombs against the clone troopers and Jedi that would allow Nute Gunray and the rest of the Separatist leadership to flee with their lives. The Jedi who would later find their dead comrades thought that perhaps it was a wild animal that had torn them apart. They found it unusual, however, that all of the dead Jedi were missing their lightsabers.
Grievous first revealed himself to the public when he attacked and dispatched a team of seven Jedi Knights in an aggressive display of lightsaber mastery during the Battle of Hypori. With his mechanical enhancements and attributes combined, he was able to battle five Jedi single-handedly. Only four survived the onslaught. The Separatist general began the swift conquest of several Outer Rim planets, much to the dismay of the Republic. Time after time, Grievous's ability to strategize attack plans with brilliant ideas and destructive results made the Republic's star fleet commanders fearful of his abilities and talents. Grevious led the assault into the inner systems, along the Corellian Trade Spine, conquering world after world.
The General would go on to best many other Jedi Knights and Masters with his swordsmanship. Jedi Master Mace Windu did battle with General Grievous and the match ended in a stalemate with neither fighter being able to best the other. Additionally, sophisticated computers slaved to Grievous' organic brain assisted the cyborg in perceiving patterns within his opponents attacks. They would then suggest that Grievous alter his stance and posture, along with the angle of his parries, ripostes, and thrusts accordingly. However, within Grievous's impenetrable defense, Windu was able to discern a single shatterpoint: a lack of appreciation for simplicity. It was for this reason that Windu supported the decision to allow Obi-Wan Kenobi, with his direct and no-frills saber style, to apprehend the General on Utapau.
Battle of Coruscant
Grievous would later resurface during the Battle of Coruscant, using the first wave of his attack as a distraction to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine. In the process, he killed Foul Moudama and Roron Corobb. Shaak Ti survived, but her lightsaber became an addition to his grisly collection. Just as he withdrew with his prize, however, Grievous was gravely injured when Windu used the Force to crush his chest. Over Coruscant, Lt. Commander Needa of the Integrity contacted Grievous and asked him to surrender. Grievous responded that if the Republic fleet did not allow his forces to escape, he would execute Palpatine live on the HoloNet. Subsequently, Grievous was cornered by Kenobi and Skywalker onboard his vessel, the Invisible Hand but escaped by smashing a window on the ship and allowing himself to be blown into space.
MagnaGuards
The general displayed amazing dexterity and was capable of fighting with six lightsabers simultaneously by dividing his mechanical arms into four and holding a lightsaber in each prehensile foot while using the repulsorlifts in his legs to float. Grievous traveled with his droid bodyguards, a set of IG-100 series MagnaGuards, who wielded electrified staffs made of phrik alloy, which could defend against most weapons, including lightsabers. This is the first time Star Wars fans have seen an non-lightsaber weapon that can withstand the cutting power of a lightsaber itself in a movie.
His movements imitated those of a monkey in his stance and general lightsaber control. Not only could he produce an extra pair of arms, he could use his feet as hands. His "unorthodox" moves mainly involved misdirection with his many limbs, something only the most experienced and talented of Jedi could withstand. Much of this misdirection involved releasing a lightsaber from one limb and catching it with another, sometimes even while two other limbs are performing the same trick. The opponent, focused on limbs which are no longer dangerous, was then struck.
Weakness
Grievous' only recognized weakness in battle was his inability to take a direct hit from a "Force Push," a telekinetic power the Jedi regularly made use of. In Grievous's first witnessed encounter with the Jedi (i.e. The Battle of Hypori), the Knights attempted to fling objects at him using the Force in order to avoid lightsaber combat. Unfortunately, given the general's superhuman reflexes, this approach proved futile. Grievous was supremely confident as a duelist, but after Windu used the Force to crush Grievous' entire torso, he developed a sickly cough, his reflexes were slowed, and he became craven.
Under the control of Dooku
He commanded the droid armies of the Separatists under Darth Sidious and Count Dooku. During the Clone Wars, Grievous was continuously hunted by the Republic and the Jedi. He managed to narrowly escape each time.
Relationship with Viceroy Gunray
It was Viceroy Nute Gunray who paid the highly expensive cost of rebuilding General Grievous, and when the Viceroy was first introduced to the General he made the mistake of treating him as another droid. Grievous deeply resented being treated as just another droid, and disliked Viceroy Gunray instantly. Gunray opposed Grievous shortly before the Battle of Utapau, making note of the escape of Chancellor Palpatine and the death of Count Dooku, and informing the General that he doubted his ability to keep the council safe, however, Grievous quickly dismissed Gunray and sent him to Mustafar. Ironically, Gunray outlived Grievous (though not by long).
Battle of Utapau
While on the planet of Utapau, Grievous was ambushed by Kenobi. Faced with another true master of the Force and still weak from his encounter with Windu, Grievous lost two of his arms and fled the battle, despite several close calls on his attempts to cut Kenobi down. Kenobi pursued Grievous as scores of Battle Droids and Clone Troopers clashed around them. The pair engaged in a desperate bout of hand-to-hand combat as Grievous attempted to flee in his personal starfighter. Grievous, being made mostly of hard steel, fared more than well against Kenobi's weak flesh. However, Kenobi was able to expose Grievous' internal organs, since his protective torso was already damaged, and destroyed them with a few well placed blaster bolts, killing him.
Fall of the Republic
Unbeknownst to Kenobi, however, Palpatine had instituted Order 66, a command to all clone troopers to turn on and kill their Jedi generals. The resulting purge ended in the murders of all Jedi, except for Kenobi and Yoda, and Skywalker's transformation into Darth Vader. All of this may not have been possible without Grievous' efforts on behalf of the Separatists, which Palpatine used as an excuse to gradually solidify his power and erase nearly all opposition.
Like Darth Maul and Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus before him, Grievous' appearance and role in the film is meant to foreshadow a characteristic of Palpatine/Darth Sidious's greatest apprentice, Darth Vader. Darth Maul was an enforcer of Sidious' will, sent to keep control over Sidious's other servants, and kill any who resist him. Dooku was an intimidating fallen Jedi with a commanding presence who became a Sith, and Grievous was a brilliant, cunning, remorseless military strategist and the most feared and most powerful Jedi Hunter the galaxy has ever seen, slaying dozens and dozens of Jedi with ease in 3 short years, and, at his peak, becoming the best lightsaber duelist in the Galaxy, more skilled than even the best of Jedi Masters.
Kills and Trophies
Grievous's Recorded Jedi Kills
- Daakman Barrek on Hypori
- Soon Bayts on Boz Pity
- Roron Corobb on Coruscant
- T'chooka D'oon on Vandos
- Adi Gallia on Boz Pity
- Sha'a Gi on Hypori
- Jmmaar on Vandos
- Foul Moudama on Coruscant
- Nystammall on Tovarskl
- Puroth on Tovarskl
- Tarr Seirr on Hypori
Grievous's Lightsabers
A gift from Count Dooku
Obtained during the Republic extraction from Vandos
Obtained on the fire plains of Tovarskl
Obtained at the Boz Pity altercation
Obtained at the Battle of Hypori
Obtained at the Battle of Coruscant
- Foul Moudama
- Roron Corobb
- Shaak Ti
- Anakin Skywalker (temporarily)
- Obi-Wan Kenobi (temporarily)
Behind the Scenes
General Grievous was developed for Episode III as a powerful new villain on the side of the Confederacy. The initial instructions that director George Lucas gave the Art Department were very open-ended: "a droid general." From that vague direction, the artists developed a lot of explorations, some purely mechanical, some not, for General Grievous' look.
The initial design for General Grievous was done by Warren Fu. That initial sketch was refined and made into a foot-tall maquette sculpture. That was further refined when it was made in to a realistic computer-generated model by Industrial Light and Magic. This was one of the most complicated models ever created by ILM, with many parts of differing physical qualities. General Grievous is completely computer-generated imagery in the movie. On set, Duncan Young read the lines off-screen, while Kyle Rowling wore a bluescreen or a greenscreen suit to act out the fights with Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Movie Notes
- Gary Oldman originally agreed to provide the voice for Grievous in the film. He later pulled out because the film featured actors who are not part of the Screen Actor's Guild, of which Oldman is a member. This report is disputed by Matthew Wood, who provided the final voice. He claims that Oldman is a friend of producer Rick McCallum, and agreed to submit a voice audition, but that his involvement never went beyond that. Lucas never officially offered him the role.
- Grievous has an asthmatic cough for most of the movie's length. This was meant to exhibit Grievous's organic side (so that the audience would know he was more than just a droid). However, because previous portrayals of Grievous did not have this weakness, the second season of the animated Clone Wars series showed that the cough was due to an injury sustained during his encounter with Master Windu who Force-crushed his torso.
Quotes
Clone Wars
- "Jedi, you are surrounded; Your army decimated. Make peace with the Force now, for this is your final hour. But know that I, General Grievous, am not completely without mercy. I will grant you a warrior's death. Prepare!"
- "Run, Jedi, run! You have only prolonged the inevitable. *laughs sinisterly*"
- "And so it ends, a valiant effort, but in the end...utterly futile!"
Revenge of the Sith
- "The Negotiator, General Kenobi, a pleasure. We've been waiting for you. And Anakin Skywalker, I would have expected someone of your reputation to have been... older."
- "Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection."
- "JEDI SCUM!"
- "Crush them! Make them SUFFER!"
- "Time to abandon ship!"
- "It won't be long before the armies of the Republic track us here. I am sending you to the Mustafar system in the Outer Rim. It is a volcanic planet which generates a great deal of scanning interference. You will be safe there."
- "Be thankful, Viceroy, you have not found yourself in my grip... Your ship is waiting."
- "General Kenobi. [laughs] You are a bold one. Kill him."
- "Back away! I will deal with this Jedi slime . . . myself!"
- "You fool! I have been trained in your Jedi arts, by Count Dooku!"
Trivia
- When introduced to the general public in Chapter 20 of the Clone Wars cartoon, Grievous has five fingers, while in Revenge of the Sith, he has six (two are opposable thumbs so that he may hold four lightsabers when he separates his arms). This happened because Lucas used the cartoon to introduce Grievous sometime before his actions in Revenge of the Sith were fully worked out, and so he did not know what Grievous would be doing or that he would have four arms. In the second season of the cartoon he still has five fingers(with two thumbs) when using two arms but has six when they split into four....
- Chronologically, his appearance in Chapter 25 of the Clone Wars cartoon comes immediately before Episode III and it explains why, in Revenge of the Sith, he constantly wheezes when he talks.
- Matthew Wood reprised his role as General Grivous for the October 2005 Halloween audiocast from the official Star Wars website. It is available only to hyperspace members, however.