General Grievous

"Army or not, you must realize... you are doomed!"

- General Grievous's most famous line General Grievous, original name Qymaen Jai Sheelal, is the secondary antagonist in Star Wars Episode lll: Revenge of the Sith and in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series (2003-2005) and then in the second series that aired (2008-2014); after his master Count Dooku betrayed Asajj Ventress in season 3, General Grevious then took the role as the true secondary antagonist for the rest of the entire series.

Grievous has a ruthless, demanding personality. He easily becomes impatient with battle droids that serve him when they do not fulfill his desires. It is not uncommon for him to destroy one of his droids in his anger. Although General Grievous is strong, he sometimes underestimates the power of the Republic and the Jedi which leads to his loss in some of the war's battles.

Early Life
General Grievous was once a Kaleesh named Qymaen jai Sheelal, living on planet, Kalee, which was constantly attacked by the Yam’rii, technologically advanced insectoid creatures whom the Kaleesh called the Huk. Sheelal’s father taught him to fight and he became an excellent marksman, killing many Huk with his skills. He also shared a close relationship with Ronderu Iij Kummar, a sword-wielding mercenary that Sheelal met after a vivid dream lead him to her.

The two became partners in battling the Huk, teaching each other how to use their weapons, and were soon revered as twin demigods by the Kaleesh. However in one battle, Sheelal and Kummar were separated from each other and Kummar was killed by the Huk, her body falling into the Jenuwaa Sea. Sheelal was consumed by despair and set off to the monolith at Abesmi, begging the gods to bring Kummar back, to at least let him see her one last time, but to no avail. Sheelal did what he could to try and forget his lost partner, marrying 10 wives and having 30 children, but this didn’t work. He realized that all he could do was grieve Kummar for the rest of his life and abandoned his old name and identity, taking on the name, Grievous.

Grievous became a fearsome warlord, gathering a team of bloodthirsty, elite Kaleesh warriors known as the Izvoshra. He was finally able to drive the Huk from Kalee, but refused to stop there, forcing them back further and further until he began invading their colonies. Grievous’ destruction of the Huk finally drove them to seek help from the Galactic Republic, resulting in the Jedi being sent in to end the conflict. Huge fines and trade embargos were put on the Kaleesh, driving them into poverty and starvation. However, San Hill, leader of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, contacted Grievous, offering to pay off Kalee’s debts if he served as an enforcer for them. While he was disgusted at the idea of becoming hired muscle, Grievous knew that the agreement would save his people and quell a part of him that wanted to keep fighting.

He became leader of the IGBC’s droid army and excelled in his new role, while the clan did as it promised and freed Kalee from its debt and embargos. However, Grievous missed the Izvoshra and the IGBC refused to hire any other Kaleesh. Thus, he demanded a more intelligent and skilled battle droid and Hill had the IG-100 MagnaGuards created. Grievous was still unsatisfied with these mindless droids and made them be reprogrammed to watch him fight so they would learn how to fight like his former comrades.

Fall and Rebirth
Grievous later learned that Huk had vandalized sacred Kaleesh burial sites and the Republic had taken no action. Enraged, he left the IGBC and returned to Kalee to gain revenge on the Huk. Angered, Hill thought of having Grievous killed, but realized that the Kaleesh might reap horrible revenge if the attempt failed. Hill made plans with Poggle the Lesser, Count Dooku, and Darth Sidious to ensure Grievous became a permanent servant. As Grievous was setting out to resume the fight with the Huk, he was unaware that an ion bomb had been planted on his ship and his pilot seat had been rigged to allow remote ejection. The bomb went off, causing Grievous’ ship to crash in the Jenuwaa sea, and he was ejected at the last second by Dooku, while all his Izvoshra died.

Grievous’ badly wounded body was salvaged and kept barely alive by Dooku as he was transported to Geonosis, while the Sith planted the idea that the Jedi had placed the bomb on his ship in his mind. Grievous’ body was rendered near useless and San Hill approached him with an offer to rebuild him. The Kaleesh agreed, eager for revenge, but on the condition that they wouldn’t tamper with his brain. Grievous’ brain was transplanted into a new and stronger droid body and was indeed altered, despite his request. The Geonosians removed disturbing memories and enhanced his aggression and equilibrium.

When the procedure was finished, anything left of Sheelal was gone and General Grievous was all that remained. Hill, wanting to use the cyborg as means of countering Dooku’s growing influence, presented Grievous to the Sith Lord. Dooku named him Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies in the war with the Republic and gave him his first lightsaber, which had belonged to the Jedi, Sifo-Dynas, whose blood had been used to keep Grievous alive before the experiment. The cyborg was, however, ashamed by his new robotic form and insulted at being named commander of droids.

Grievous immediately destroyed all the MagnaGuards around him, declaring he was no droid. He proceeded to make himself and his MagnaGuards sport appearances resembling that of Kaleesh despite Dooku finding it vain. However Grievous would over time come to respect Dooku and Sidious and instead came to hate the arrogant and cowardly Nute Gunray, Viceroy of the Trade Federation, mainly for the Viceroy questioning the cyborg’s leadership and treating him like a mindless droid. Grievous only tolerated him because he was needed for the Confederacy to win the war with the Republic.

Beginning the Clone Wars
Grievous first battled in the Clone Wars, when he fought to protect the Separatist Council from Jedi and Republic clone troopers, leaving none alive to reveal his existence. Grievous managed to impress Dooku with his skills and the Sith Lord began training him to fight with lightsabers, which he excelled at. Grievous learned all seven classic styles of lightsaber wielding, until he had become the most skilled of Dooku’s apprentices, truly flourishing after the death of Sev’Rance Tann

Grievous finally made himself known when he led a massive attack against the Jedi on Hypori, wiping out all their soldiers with his tactics. The cyborg went after the Jedi himself, cutting down the Jedi Daakman Barrek, as he tried to call for reinforcements. Grievous then called off his super battle droids, so he could have the remaining Jedi to himself and called out to them, saying he’d grant them a “warrior’s death,” before advancing on them out of sight and waiting. A Padawan, unable to take the tension anymore, ran into the open, screaming, where it was easy for Grievous to leap out and kill him. He quickly lunged back into cover, watching the Jedi from on top of the wrecked transport, before attacking, easily holding his own against them. One by one, Grievous cut down or badly wounded his opponents until only Ki-Adi-Mundi remained.

However as they battled, a team of elite clone troopers came to Mundi’s rescue, driving Grievous off, though he managed to slay several of them. As the clones retreated with Mundi and the only surviving Jedi, the cyborg took the fallen Jedi’s lightsabers for his collection, saying they had only prolonged the inevitable.

Some time later, Grievous was pitted against Asajj Ventress and Durge by Count Dooku. He managed to take down the two, saying that he was the future, and brought the unconscious Ventress to Dooku, asking if he could jettison the two. Dooku instead had them put in bacta tanks, saying they’d proven themselves, but Grievous had still humiliated the two Separatist commanders in battle, proving his own worth as supreme commander. Grievous would go on to become infamous throughout the Republic, feared as “The Knight Slayer” and the face of the Confederate forces.

Battles on the Malevolence
During the war, Grievous was put in charge of the Separatist warship called "The Malevolence," which possessed a powerful ion cannon capable of obliterating entire Republic fleets. Grievous destroyed several fleets on the Malevolence and Jedi general, Plo Koon, eventually took a fleet to deal with Grievous, but his fleet was no match for the Malevolence's ion cannon. Koon and a few of his troops survived, but were faced with ships sent by Grievous to destroy the Republic escape pods. Koon and his men were eventually rescued by Jedi knight, Anakin Skywalker who then delivered news of the weapons to the Republic.

Later, Dooku gave Grievous permission to attack a Republic medical station in the Kaliida Nebula. However, upon arrival, Anakin and a fleet of Republic ships emerged from hyperspace to defend the medical station and destroy the Malevolence. Grievous had no choice but to engage Anakin's fleet in battle. Grievous then aimed the ion cannon at the medical station and ordered his droids to open fire. Before they could fire, however, the Republic fleet attacked and disabled the ion cannon and caused it to explode, damaging the hyperdrive and angering Grievous. Grievous demanded that his battle droids repair the hyperdrive immediately, which they complied to do. Eventually, Obi-Wan Kenobi arrived with another fleet and opened fire on the Malevolence.

Grievous ordered the Malevolence to escape into Separatist space. Dooku then contacted Grievous and informed him that Senator Padme Amidala was tricked into heading into the nebula and suggested he capture her and escape. When Amidala's ship arrived, Grievous successfully captured the senator via tractor beam. Grivous and his droids headeed for the hangar to apprehend the hostage. However, Amidala overloaded her ship's reactor and when Grievous and his droids entered, the ship exploded and destroyed the droids. Grievous survived and began hunting for the senator. Grievous was informed that the hyperdrives' repairs would take shorter time than expected. Later, Anakin and Obi-Wan arrived on board the Malevolnce and rescued Amidala.

Obi-Wan left to sabotage the ship while Anakin sabotaged the ship's navicomputer. Grievous eventually tracked down Obi-Wan and fought him on the rail jets, but he jumped onto another rail jet with Grievous in pursuit. Grievous fought Obi-Wan again, but Obi Wan escaped by jumping onto another passing rail jet, further infuriating Grievous. Later, a battle droid contacted Grievous and told him the hyperdrive was completely repaired, and he ordered the ship to escape, but before it could, the hyperdrive malfunctioned, further angering Grievous. Realizing defeat, Grievous headed for his starfighter and escaped as the Malevolence crashed into a nearby moon.

Encounters with Anakin and Ahsoka
Afterwards, Grievous led the Separatists in several battles with the Republic, fighting Anakin and Ob-Wan on two occasions, and later captured several hyperlane routes. Grievous then moved to capture Bothawui, which was critical to the Republic’s intelligence. Anakin and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, were sent to stop his plans, but he managed to cut them out of their hyperlanes and attack them three times, before they managed to reach Bothawui. Grievous gave up on pursuing Anakin’s fleet and instead attacked Republic forces on the planet, Falleen, successfully capturing it with help from Count Dooku and Asajj Ventress.

Grievous then moved to take Bothawui, forcing through the planet’s asteroid belt and engaging Anakin’s fleet. However he found that a squad of AT-TE walkers had been deployed on the asteroids behind his own forces, resulting in heavy damages to his fleet. Grievous retreated, leaving one of his droids in charge, and was pursued by Anakin in his own starfighter. However the Jedi’s ship had suffered damage from debris, allowing Grievous to make his escape. Afterwards, Grievous managed to “buy” R2-D2, Anakin’s astromech droid, from a Trandoshan scavenger. Grievous had a spy droid, R3-S6 put in the Republic that would replace R2 as Anakin’s astromech droid, which eventually allowed him to ambush the Jedi while he was on a scouting mission. However Ahsoka came to her master’s aid, allowing him to escape, much to Grievous’ fury.

Grievous then went to receive R2 from the scavenger, Gha Nachkt, ordering that he take the droid apart so as to access his memory banks. When it was found that R2 did have all his memory intact, Nachkt asked for a larger payment, but Grievous simply cut him down. The cyborg then learned that Jedi were out to destory the space station he was on and commanded his MagnaGuards to guard R2, while he dealt with the Jedi.

Grievous engaged Ahsoka and a squad of clone troopers, easily wiping out most of the clones and engaging in a game of cat and mouse with the Padawan, who only barely evaded him. Meanwhile, the clones planted explosives in the station’s reactor and Grievous was eventually contacted by R3, who told him that Anakin had arrived to retrieve R2, before evacuating with the clones. Grievous ordered the droid to keep Anakin and the clone troopers from escaping and managed to corner Ahsoka, strangling her.

But the Republic’s bombs went off, sending the station falling out of the sky, and the Padawan managed to sever Grievous’ hand, escaping. The cyborg managed to get away aboard the Soulless One, angered at leaving empty-handed. Afterwards, Grievous managed to have more successes in the war. He was able to take over JanFathal with use of Republic code keys, successfully invade Kothlis and drive off a Republic fleet sent to stop him, and driving the Republic out of the Nexus Ortai system.

Invading Kamino
Grievous planned to attack the facilities on Kamino producing clones for the Republic, so as to stop the Republic from reinforcing their army. As part of this plan, Grievous had his droids take over all Republic bases around Kamino and got Asajj Ventress to help make preparations for the invasion. The cyborg finally launched his invasion, but as he approached Kamino, he found that one of his squads was not responding. Determined not to let the Jedi learn of his plans, Grievous sent in reinforcements, but the squad of clone troopers holding out destroyed the base, alerting the Republic to Grievous’ presence. Their fleet quickly arrived and attacked the cyborg’s fleet, forcing him to retreat.

Grievous returned to his castle on the third moon of Vassek, where he found his MagnaGuards shut down, before being faced by the Jedi, Kit Fisto and Nahdar Vebb, and a unit of clone troopers. Grievous engaged them, though he lost the legs in the fight, but managed to keep going. He escaped the Jedi and managed to reactivate the MagnaGuards, before sealing his enemies inside his castle. Grievous watched as the Jedi were forced to evade his traps and MagnaGuards, eventually releasing his pet roggwart, Gor to attack them, while his assistant droid, EV-A4-D, repaired him.

However, Grievous found that the Jedi had killed Gor, much to his rage, and was contacted by Dooku. The Sith Lord told him that he’d deactivated the MagnaGuards and let the Jedi into Grievous’ base to test him after al his recent failures. The cyborg said he would play Dooku’s “little game” and set out to hunt down the Jedi, refusing to rest despite his recent repairs. Grievous engaged Vebb, while Fisto escaped the room the cyborg trapped them in, and managed to shoot him dead, taking his lightsaber for his collection.

Grievous went after Fisto next, but the Jedi eventually managed to sever one of his hands, before finally escaping with his starfighter. Grievous contacted Dooku, who had expected him to be able to finish off Vebb and the clone troopers, but was disappointed to learn that Fisto had survived. The Sith Lord said there was room for improvement and ended the communication, much to Grievous’ anger.

Continued Invasions
Grievous later invaded Felucia, eventually defeating the Republic’s forces with sheer numbers. He then attacked Dorin, so as to distract the Jedi and keeping them from attacking Geonosis and its droid factories. As Grievous enjoyed the battle, he was contacted by Ventress with information from Dooku. Though the cyborg was annoyed by the Dark Acolyte toying with him, she eventually informed Grievous that a large Republic fleet was heading to Dorin, led by Anakin and Ahsoka. The general was confident he could deal with them, but Ventress openly stated her lack of faith in his abilities. Grievous sent his forces to fight the Jedi, but was defeated yet again.

The Republic became focused on capturing the cyborg, but he constantly launched unpredictable strikes. Eventually a Jedi, Eeth Koth, was captured by Grievous, who contacted the Jedi Temple to proclaim his victory. The cyborg promised to give him a slow death as he tortured Koth, but unbeknownst to him, the Jedi was giving a hand signal to give away Grievous’ location. A group of Jedi were sent to rescue Koth and take down the cyborg. Obi-Wan contacted Grievous so as to lure him aboard the Republic’s ship, while Anakin and Adi Gallia boarded the general’s ship. Grievous fought Obi-Wan, revealing that he was aware of the Jedi on his ship, who were ambushed by commando droids.

The cyborg was forced to retreat after he was unable to take down Obi-Wan while his ambush was also defeated. Grievous ordered his crew to fire on the Republic ship, planning to escape just before it was destroyed. However Gallia saved Obi-Wan, before the Jedi landed their escape shuttle back on Grievous’ ship. The cyborg made his escape to Saleucami and Obi-Wan pursued him, but Grievous was able to call for pickup and fight off the Jedi before escaping. Grievous and Ventress joined forces to attack Kamino again at the command of Dooku. As their ships attacked, the cyborg used his transport ships to shield his flagship. However this was actually a deception with aqua droids building assault crafts in the debris.

Grievous led these crafts in attacking Tipoca City, but as he made to kill a commander, Ventress beat him to it. The cyborg complimented her on her skills being a match for his own, but the Dark Acolyte said that while Dooku taught him to wield a lightsaber, they were not equals. The two went to complete their objectives with Grievous attacking the clone barracks, where he faced Obi-Wan yet again. However Obi-Wan slipped away when a Confederate assault craft destroyed the platform they were on and Grievous escaped into a shuttle with Ventress.

Later, while the Republic Senate and Separatist Parliament were in conference about seeking peace, Grievous was ordered to send droids to sabotage the meetings, which was successful. The cyborg later led his troops, along with Count Dooku’s new Gungan allies in an attack on Naboo, but was briefly distracted from his plans by Jar Jar Binks, pretending to be the Gungan, Boss Lyonie, and Roos Tarpals. However, Grievous finally lost his patience, only to find that all his droids had been deactivated, and he was surrounded by the gungans. He fought them off, but when he cut down General Tarpals, the general shocked him into submission and he was captured. Luckily for Grievous, Dooku had captured Anakin and arranged for a prisoner exchange, leading to the cyborg’s release.

Battling for Dooku
Grievous received an order from Count Dooku to kill Asajj Ventress and the Nightsisters of Dathomir. He led the Separatist Fleet to Dathomir, where at first, his droids had a hard fight against the Nightsisters. However Grievous burned down the forest the witches lived in, driving them out to face him. He was challenged to a duel by Ventress, on the condition that if he lost, he would withdraw from Dathomir, but if he won, the Nightsisters would surrender. Grievous accepted, confident of victory, but she actually managed to sever one of his hands and knocked him to the ground. However the cyborg had no intention of keeping his word and ordered his battle droids to kill her.

Ventress was hit in the shoulder with a laser blast and Grievous prepared to finish her off, but the undead warriors of the Nightsisters attacked. The cyborg was forced to fight them off, while Ventress escaped. Grievous was contacted by Dooku, who was in the clutches of Mother Talzin and being tortured by her magical powers. He was told find and finish Talzin by following the magic to her and Grievous did so, cutting down the Nightsisters as he went, before he arrived at her village. Grievous killed Talzin’s Nightsister guards and Old Daka, another witch of Dathomir, before trying to finish off Talzin as well. She disappeared into green smoke, but Grievous still managed to free Count Dooku from her spell, before exterminating the rest of the Nightsisters.

Grievous was later informed of Savage Opress’ rise to power by Dooku and was dismissive of the idea that Opress was a threat. However the Sith Lord warned Grievous that anyone with any relation to Opress would be on his hit list. Grievous was next ordered to attack the Florrum system, sending Obi-Wan and his forces into retreat, before being sent to deal with the pirate, Hondo Ohnaka, for holding Dooku ransom. However, several of the pirate’s men had been sent to capture Ahsoka Tano and six young Jedi in training. The two groups were forced to team up to deal with Grievous and managed to free Ohnaka, before making for the pirate’s collection of stolen ships.

Grievous pursued them and cornered Ahsoka and the younglings, who fled to Ohnaka’s ship while the Padawan fought the cyborg. Despite being at a disadvantage, Ahsoka managed to stall Grievous long enough for the younglings to get to safety and escaped. The cyborg was fired on by the ship, but several AAT’s came to his aid, forcing the Jedi and pirates to escape.

Taking the War to the Jedi
Grievous continued to lead the Separatists to many victories, but still had his share of defeats as well, though through it all, he still managed to kill a number of Jedi and Republic leaders. However, the destruction Grievous wrought and the victories he brought continued to etch him into the minds of the Republic as a symbol of fear. On one occasion, the cyborg captured several Jedi in training, planning to make them into cyborgs similar to himself. Grievous was tracked down by the Jedi’s probe droids, but he easily destroyed them and it only served to alert him that they were looking for him. The Padawans managed to escape with help from an Ugnaught and Grievous went after them, briefly cornering them, only for the Jedi to show up. He managed to kill the two Jedi that attacked him, though the Padawans were led to safety by Commander Cody.

During a battle on Boz Pity, Grievous killed the Jedi Master, Soon Bayts, before he could do anything to defend himself. He then faced Mace Windu, only to be knocked out when the Jedi threw a STAP on him and he was carried away by his bodyguards. In another battle on Xagobah, Grievous came across a young Boba Fett while he was protecting Wat Tambor and managed to easily defeat him.

The young bounty hunter only survived by playing dead and Grievous left the planet with Tambor and Ventress. The cyborg also gained an even greater hatred for Nute Gunray after several encounters between the two of them. In the first, Gunray went to Cato Neimoidia to get back some of his valuables, which resulted in the Republic’s forces tracking him down. Grievous was forced to deal with them, though he would have preferred to let them capture Gunray. On another, Gunray lost his mecho-chair, which resulted in the Republic finding out that Grievous was planning to attack Belderone. The cyborg was ambushed upon his arrival and forced to retreat, though he managed to kill 27 Jedi. Grievous was enraged and confronted Gunray, only barely able to restrain himself from attacking the viceroy.

Attack on Coruscant and Demise
Darth Sidious, realizing the Jedi were on to his secret identity, ordered Grievous to invade Coruscant and capture Chancellor Palpatine. The cyborg immediately launched a massive attack with secret hyperspace routes he’d be given by Sidious. Grievous used various diversionary tactics to keep the Republic’s forces busy, while he searched for Palpatine. A group of Jedi were bringing Palpatine to a secret bunker, but Grievous and MagnaGuards quickly cornered them on a maglev train. He fought Mace Windu and Kit Fisto and was eventually knocked off of the train, but was picked up by a hijacked gunship. Grievous managed to reach Palpatine’s bunker with six of his MagnaGuards, entering using codes he received from Sidious.

He cut a blood swath through all of the guards and dueled and beat Shaak Ti, leaving her alive only to let the Jedi know he’d captured Palpatine. Grievous retreated with his captive and was briefly confronted by Mace Windu who used the Force to crush the plating around his internal organ sac. This badly damaged Grievous’ lungs and made the breathing problems he’d already suffered even worse. The cyborg was pursued by Anakin and Obi-Wan, who boarded his ship the Invisible Hand.

The two Jedi managed to kill Count Dooku and rescue Palpatine, but was caught in a trap by Grievous. They were brought before the cyborg, who gloated over his victory, but the Jedi freed themselves and engaged the general’s two MagnaGuards. Grievous decided to cut his losses and escape, shattering the bridge window and clinging to the outside hull. The cyborg retreated to an escape pod and was picked up by another ship in his fleet, before ordering a retreat to Utapau. However Grievous was tracked down by the Republic’s forces, who were determined to take him down as with Dooku’s death, he was the Separatist Head of State and their last major commander.

Grievous was informed that Obi-Wan would be coming after him and he had the Separatist Council sent to Mustafar, while he waited for the Jedi. The cyborg, still suffering from his encounter with Windu, was soon confronted by Obi-Wan. Grievous immediately revealed his four arms and engaged him, fighting somewhat sloppily and being unable to break the Jedi’s defense. Eventually, Obi-Wan cut off two of Grievous’ hands just as the Republic attack force engaged the army of droids.

The cyborg fled, enraged and shocked at his inability to defeat Obi-Wan one on one, but was pursued by the Jedi. Eventually Grievous was cornered on the landing platform of the Soulless One, gaining the edge with his mechanical body. However Obi-Wan broke open the plates surrounding his gut-sack and Grievous knocked him off the platform, only for the Jedi to hang on. He attempted to finish him off, but Obi-Wan used the Force to snatch the cyborg’s blaster and fire at his gutsack. The oil inside ignited all of Grievous’ biological parts, finally bringing the villainous cyborg to an end.

Personality
Grievous is cold and ruthless, never showing mercy to any enemy, even when he was a Kaleesh. His shuttle crash left him with a sense of bitterness for being cheated of a warrior’s death and though he chose to become a cyborg, believing that flesh was weak, Grievous is secretly ashamed of his new form. He also began comparing himself to the Jedi and became determined to be able to match them, leading to him doing anything in his power to improve himself. Grievous has no problem with sacrificing others for himself and often exploits the Jedi’s compassion for their soldiers. Grievous is also known and feared for his cruelty and brutality.

He is very arrogant, but also has a somewhat cowardly side; he tends flees when the tide is against him. Despite this, he is also quite relentless; he is totally determined to destroy the Jedi, and will sometimes fight them even when he is in a bad condition. This is shown when he fought Obi-Wan despite the fact that he was still weak from a crippling blow inflicted by Mace Windu, showing a mild form of recklessness.

However, Grievous is not completely heartless, caring for his people and Kummar, and on one occasion, even showed pity for a Jedi, letting her land minor hits on him before giving her a clean death. Grievous hated Nute Gunray for thinking of him as nothing but a servant droid, which enraged him to no end and saw the viceroy and the other Separatist leaders as greedy weaklings. Grievous also had something of a rivalry with Asajj Ventress, but the two shared one trait; a dislike and contempt for the mindless battle droids of the Separatists, which he often destroyed to alleviate his frustration.

Abilities
Grievous is an extremely powerful and deadly fighter, being one of the most proficient Jedi hunters to exist. He is extremely proficient at wielding lightsabers, using his own unique form, which utilizes extremely fast barrages of strikes and more powerful blows to overwhelm his enemies. Grievous can split his arms in two, giving him four arms to fight with and can spin his torso, arms, and wrists in deadly, blindingly fast storms of death. Grievous can even use his feet just as well as his hands and his ability to wield his lightsabers in this unorthodox and fast flowing style makes him able to hold his own against several opponents at once. However, in his final duel against Obi-Wan Kenobi, Grievous uses all four of his arms and lightsabers, but each lightsaber is quickly disarmed by his opponent.

Grievous is also perfectly willing to use more underhanded tactics, for example, pulling a blaster to finish his opponents. He is a skilled general and tactician, using chaotic, seemingly random strategies that can easily trick his opponents. Grievous is quick to target civilians in battle, forcing his enemy to make the choice between victory and protecting innocents. He can also control his droids through antennae in his head, making him even more in control during battles. Grievous’ mechanical body is far stronger, flexible, and agile than most other creatures and can also survive the vacuum of space. He is also a skilled pilot, said to be as good at handling a ship as he is with a lightsaber.

Similar Villains

 * Destro (G.I. Joe: A real American hero)
 * Ernie the Giant Chicken (Family Guy)
 * Cassius (Little Nicky)
 * Wolf Boss (Kung-Fu Panda 2)
 * Starscream (Transformers G1 series)

Trivia

 * In Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Grievous has six fingers on each hand, but in the Clone Wars, Grievous has only four on each hand, and in the animated series, he has five fingers on each hand.
 * Each villain in the Star Wars prequels foreshadows a different aspect of what Anakin will become. Grievous represents the wheezing and heavy breathing cyborg.
 * Though must likely a coincidence, the enemy called Grievous Bodily Arm from the Dragon Quest series shares more similarities with General Grievous than just their names.
 * Grievous's death is the final cryptic display of how powerful a Jedi Obi-Wan became, displaying how powerful he will be against Anakin when their final duel on Mustafar breaks out.