âI look forward to adding your lightsabers to my collection.â
―General Grievous
General Grievous is a major antagonist in the Star Wars universe, being one of the secondary antagonists of the prequel trilogy. He is the secondary antagonist of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005), where he was created using computer-generated imagery and voiced by Matthew Wood. Wood reprised his role in the 2008 animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, where Grievous is one of the main antagonists.
Grievous served as the Supreme Commander of the Confederacy of Independent Systems' Droid Army during the Clone Wars. While not Force-sensitive, he trained in all lightsaber combat forms under the Sith Lord and Separatist leader Count Dooku to rival the Jedi of the Galactic Republic. Throughout the Clone Wars, Grievous murdered numerous Jedi and collected their lightsabers as trophies, making him one of the most infamous and feared Jedi hunters in the galaxy. He developed a rivalry with Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, who eventually killed Grievous in Revenge of the Sith.
Aside from the films and animated series, the character appears in various other Star Wars media, such as books, comics, and video games, which explore more of his backstory.
Grievous was cold, cruel, sadistic, ruthless, brutal, immoral, reckless, restless, loyal, short-tempered, calculating, and very intelligent.
Though Grievous had virtually 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 honor her memory.
Though he hated 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 perhaps 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 and Abilities
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.
Space Survivability: Because he was a cyborg, Grievous did not need to breathe 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 was one of the few warriors in the Galaxy to know all seven major forms of lightsaber combat, and the only being among these that was not Force-sensitive.
Form I: Grevious was highly skilled in Shii Cho.
Form II: Grevious was highly skilled in Makashi.
Form III: Grevious was highly skilled in Soresu.
Form IV: Grevious was highly skilled in Ataru.
Form V: Grevious was highly skilled in Shien/Djem So.
Form VI: Grevious was highly skilled in Niman.
Form VII: Grevious was highly skilled in Juyo/Vaapad.
Jar'Kai: Grevious was a master of Jar'Kai; he was one of the deadliest practitioners of the style.
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 Separatist Droid Army, Grievous was a highly skilled tactician and a capable leader.
Appearances
Revenge of the Sith
General Grievous in 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. Boarding a small spacecraft, he 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 Obi-Wan, 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 Obi-Wan. The chase ended on a landing platform, where Obi-Wan and Grievous fought hand-to-hand. Grievous eventually overpowered Obi-Wan and nearly kills him, Grievous then grabs Obi-Wan and holds him up, which allows Obi-Wan to grab the cyborg's chest plate and pull it apart, exposing his remaining organs encased in a gut-sac. This move enrages Grievous who knocks Obi-Wan off and tumbles over the edge. Just as Grievous walks over to finish Obi-Wan off, Obi-Wan uses the force to pull a blaster to him, and shoots 5 times into the cyborgs gut-sac. Igniting the oils preserving his organs. Incinerating the famed cyborg from within.
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.
Towards the end of the War, Grievous took possession of the base of Hondo Ohnaka for his treason. He faced Ahsoka Tano at the same time but she managed to escape much to his anger.
General Grievious is a playable character in Star Wars: Force Arena as a Legendary squad leader card.
In Printed Media
Grievous has appeared in or is mentioned in many novels relating to the Clone Wars. In Tales of the Republic, Grievous attacked a sacred Jedi temple on the planet Ledeve shortly after his lair on Vassek was raided by Kit Fisto and Nahdar Vebb. Tracking down and killing the two Jedi stationed there, Grievous attempted to raid the temple in retaliation, but was drawn deeper inside by a floating sigil hovering inside a waterfall in the center of the building. Enraged that he couldn't grab it, Grievous jumped through the waterfall, finding himself floating through a cosmic landscape, where strange voices mocked his quest for knowledge and power before they made him appear as he once was; a kaleesh warrior, whole and watched as the voices unmade him again, leaving him as only his organs and eyes inside the void. The voices mocked him for trying to take and destroy powers he did not understand, while informing him that his cybernetics had caused him to cut himself off from the Force, rendering him small and unworthy. Grievous emerged from the waterfall unharmed, but was visibly disturbed by what he had encountered. To that end, he ordered an orbital bombardment on the temple, but unknown to him, the waterfall and its glowing sigil survived, reappearing in spite of the temple's destruction.
Grievous was introduced as a villain in the non-canon 2003 animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars, voiced by John DiMaggio in the second season and Richard McGonagle in the third season, before making his live-action debut in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005).
Due to the fact that Anakin and Grievous are shown meeting for the first time in Revenge of the Sith, the team behind The Clone Wars had to carefully avoid ever letting them meet face-to-face.
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. His cybernetics were meant to be an outdated predecessor to those Vader would receive upon his transformation into a Sith.
In the ongoing Star Wars comics by Marvel Comics, he also inspires the enhancements of a rival of Darth Vader, the Imperial Mon Calamari commander Karbin, whom Vader later kills.
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 be a continuity error or simply a stylistic choice.
Grievous' Clone Wars character model was updated in season 7 to more closely resemble how he appears in Revenge of the Sith.
In Legends, Grievous originally had a tragic backstory in which he was forced to serve the Separatists after obtaining his cybernetics. This would later be changed to him having to willingly accept these enhancements to make him appear more like a monster.
Within Star Wars Legends material, Grievous was born Qymaen jai Sheelal and was a Kaleesh warlord who developed a personal vendetta against the Republic and the Jedi. After suffering great injuries in a ship crash, he was rescued by Count Dooku, who had him rebuilt as a cyborg.
General Grievous on Villains Wiki
