General Grievous

"General Grievous, you're shorter than I expected."

- Anakin and Grievous' first meeting. General Grievous is a character in the Star Wars universe and one of the secondary antagonists of the prequel trilogy. He was the secondary antagonist of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and a main antagonist in the Clone Wars TV series. He was primarily voiced by Matthew Wood. According to the Revenge of the Sith DVD, series creator George Lucas instructed his creative team to create a villain that foreshadowed Anakin Skywalker's transformation into Darth Vader: the heavy breathing, the cyborg body, and his seduction into a malevolent faction that hunts down and destroys Jedi.

Personality
Grievous was cold, cruel, sadistic, ruthless, brutal, immoral, reckless, restless, loyal, short-tempered, calculating and very intelligent.

Though Grievous had little to no compassion for comrades, allies or enemies, he was not completely heartless and emotionless as he did occasionally show empathy; Grievous cared deeply for his people, especially for his female partner Ronderu lij Kummar. The two were very close, and after her death, Grievous was left distraught and angry. His rage only intensified, and he became determined to crush the Huk, if for no other reason than to honour her memory. Though he disliked being told what to do, Grievous was very loyal and respectful to his superiors, especially Count Dooku and Darth Sidious. Grievous also showed a certain amount of attachment to his pet Roggwart Gor; he treated the beast like a beloved pet rather than a monster, and was visibly shocked and angered by his death at the hands of Kit Fisto. Gor's death left Grievous evermore hateful of the Jedi.

Despite his intelligence and fighting skills, or rather because of them, Grievous was arrogant to the point of occasionally underestimating his opponents. This pride, as well as his other negative traits was what eventually lead to Grievous' death at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Powers

 * Cyborg Strength: As a cyborg, Grievous was physically stronger then most other sentient beings.
 * Cyborg Durability: As a cyborg, Grievous could take far more damage then most other sentient beings.
 * Cyborg Speed: As a cyborg, Grievous's physical speed and agility could match that of most Force-users.
 * Ability to survive in Space: Because he was a cyborg, Grievous did not need to breath air and could survive indefinitely in outer space.

Abilities

 * Lightsaber Skills: Despite his lack of Force-sensitivity, Grievous was highly skilled in lightsaber combat and a highly gifted duellist. He was one of the greatest lightsaber duellists of his time, as he killed dozens of Jedi, from Padawns to Jedi Masters. He was personally trained by Count Dooku, and was able to utilize not only his hands but also his feet when wielding lightsabers. Grievous' knowledge of lightsaber combat was such that he knew all seven forms.
 * Form I: Grevious was a master of Shii Cho.
 * Form II: Grevious was a master of Makashi.
 * Form III: Grevious was a master of Soresu.
 * Form IV: Grevious was a master of Ataru.
 * Form V: Grevious was a master of Shien/Djem So.
 * Form VI: Grevious was a master of Niman.
 * Form VII: Grevious was a master of Juyo/Vaapad.
 * Jar'Kai: Grevious was a master of Jar'Kai; he was arguably the deadliest practitioner of this technique.
 * Expert Hand-to-hand Combatant: Grievous was highly skilled in unarmed combat.
 * Expert Pilot: Grievous was highly skilled in piloting most speeders and most types of flying crafts.
 * High-Level Intellect/Expert Tactician/Leader: Grievous was highly intelligent. As the Supreme Commander of the Droid Army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Grievous was a highly skilled tactician and a capable leader.

Revenge of the Sith
General Grievous was trained in Jedi combat by Count Dooku in the Clone Wars and served as his highest commander. He was sent to capture Chancellor Palpatine on Coruscant, who he brought aboard his ship. Despite this, his arch nemesis, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker, pursued and rescued the Chancellor, after killing Dooku. During the mission, Grievous caught them in a ray shield and captured them, but they were able to reclaim their weapons and break free of their chains. As they engaged Grievous' MagnaGuards, Grievous escaped the ship by shattering the window with a high-voltage electrostaff and fleeing through it. He then fled to the sinkhole planet of Utapau. There, Darth Sidious ordered him to move the Separatists to Mustafar, which he did. Soon after, Clone Intelligence Units located him there. As a result, Grievous was tracked down by Kenobi, and the two dueled after Obi-Wan survived his MagnaGuards. Eventually, Grievous lost his lightsabers and tried to escape in a mechanical wheel bike, although he was pursued by Kenobi. The chase ended on a landing platform, where Kenobi and Grievous fought hand-to-hand. Grievous eventually overpowered Kenobi and nearly killed him, but was defeated by his opponent when the Jedi exposed the cyborg's heart and innards, Force-pulled a blaster to him, and shot at it. Grievous burst into flames and fell to the floor, dead.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Grievous appeared as the secondary antagonist for most of the show. After his ship, the Malevolence, was destroyed by the Jedi, his master Count Dooku punished him by leading a team of Jedi to his base on Vassek. It is also revealed on Vassek that after being hired by the Separatists and Count Dooku, Grievous willingly accepted his cybernetic enhancements to further his abilities. In order to prove himself to Dooku, he unleashed both his beloved pet Roggwart, Gor, and his magnaguards and slaughtered a squad of Clone troopers and killed Jedi Knight Nahdar Vebb. The only man that escaped from the conflict was Master Kit Fisto, who dueled Grievous to a draw. Grievous' loss of Gor in the battle to the blades of the Jedi furthered his already deep hate of their order.

He captured Jedi Eath Koth aboard his ship and sent a hologram of his torture to the Jedi Temple. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Adi Gallia went on a mission to rescue him, with Kenobi distracting Grievous while they did so. After failing to defeat the Jedi he fled to a nearby planet, for safety. After being tracked down by Kenobi, he managed to escape yet again.

Grievous would later duel Asajj Ventress and defeat her when Dooku assaulted the home of the Nightsisters on Dathomir after Ventress' assassination attempts on Dooku for his betrayal of her. He would also personally aid Darth Sidious in destroying Mother Talzin, leader of the Nightsisters and Darth Maul's mother, when Talzin and Maul used Dooku as part of their plot to return her to physical form.

Disney INFINITY 3.0
Grievous appears in Disney INFINITY's third installment as a boss in the Twilight of the Republic Play Set.

Star Wars Weekends
General Grievous was a meetable character for Star Wars Weekends in Walt Disney World Resort from 2005 to 2006 and 2009 to 2010.

Trivia

 * In the 2003 Clone Wars miniseries by Genndy Tartakovsky, it turns out that General Grievous didn't always have his famous nasty cough. But, he ended up getting it at the end of the series after he confronted Mace Windu, who crushed his organs with the Force, mainly his lungs.
 * It is interesting to note that the number of fingers Grievous possesses on his hands changes considerably. In the movies and comics, he has six fingers per hand. In the 2008 Clone Wars series he has four per hand. Though the reason for the change is unknown, it likely could be considered that Grievous was continuously undergoing upgrades. It may also a continuity error.
 * General Grievous' design was so popular that in the non-canonical "Star Wars: Legends" continuity, several variants of imperial stormtrooper and droid were based off of him including the Terror Trooper and the Terror Biodroid.
 * In the same "Legends" continuity, Grievous' body was posthumously turned into a lightsaber wielding droid called NK-Necrosis.