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| “ | Army or not, you must realize... you are doomed! | „ |
| ~ General Grievous's to Obi-Wan Kenobi, also his last words before meeting his demise. |
| “ | Jedi scum! | „ |
| ~ Grievous' quite famous quote in Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. |
| “ | Jedi! You are surrounded, your armies are decimated! Make peace with the Force for this is your final hour. But now that I - General Grievous am not completely without mercy. I will grant you a warriors death. Prepare! | „ |
| ~ Grievous' first ever spoken line. |
General Grievous is the cyborg supreme commander of the CIS Droid Army and a major antagonist in the Star Wars franchise. He was the secondary antagonist of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and one of the main antagonists of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars film and TV series.
Grievous has an extremely ruthless and undemonstrative personality. He becomes argumentative and impatient with battle droids that serve him when they do not fulfill his desires to the point into destroying one of them. It is not uncommon for him to destroy one of his droids in his anger. Although General Grievous is strong, he underestimates the power of the Republic and the Jedi which leads to his loss in some of the battles.
He was voiced by Matthew Wood throughout his various appearances in Star Wars related media.
Personality
Grievous is a cold, ruthless and treacherous individual who shows no 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 also very arrogant and manipulative, but also has a somewhat cowardly and pusillanimous side; he tends to flee when the tide is against him. Despite this, he is also quite indefatigable and 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, despite his villainy, Grievous is also somewhat assured, sympathetic and compassionate, caring for his people and Kummar. And on one occasion, he even showed pity for a Jedi, letting her land minor hits on him before giving her a clean death. And he seems to care greatly of his pet Gor as when he realized that Kit Fisto and Naddar Veb killed him he was enraged and smashed his control room with his fists. 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.
Biography
Background
Grievous was known as a fearsome warrior that has killed a countless number of people throughout the galaxy. Originally a freedom fighter on his homeworld of Kalee, the man who would come to be known as General Grievous quickly became a feared force on the battlefield.
As a commander, Grievous lead his people to victory over those who had invaded their home. However, during the battle, he was involved in a violent crash when his speeder was destroyed, injuring and even mutilating his body. Despite this, Grievous' tactical prowess had attracted attention from the Sith Lords Palpatine and Count Dooku, who, with the help of the Intergalactic Banking Clan and the willing approval from Grievous himself, rebuilt Grievous as a cyborg to become more powerful. The cyborg body included versatile mechanized extremities, leaving only a select few internal organs as well as his eyes, brain, heart, and lungs organic.
Dooku trained Grievous in the ways of the Sith and Jedi (despite Grievous being neither), especially in the art of lightsaber combat. Grievous excelled in his mastery of the weapon, leading it to become one of his primary weapons aside from his blaster sidearm.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Grievous speaking with Dooku aboard 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, Count 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, 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, angering Grievous. Grievous demanded his battle droids to repair the ion cannon immediately, which they complied to do.
Eventually, Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Grievous faced many times throughout the war, attacked 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, the cyborg successfully captured the senator via tractor beam, leading his forces to the hangar to apprehend the hostage.
Grievous dueling with Obi-Wan aboard the Malevolence.
However, Padmé 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 the senator, eventually being informed that the ion cannons repairs would take less time than expected. Anakin and Obi-Wan eventually arrived on board the Malevolence 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 Obi-Wan eventually escaped him much to the cyborg's rage.
Later, a battle droid contacted Grievous and told him the ion cannon was almost completely repaired, and Grievous ordered the ship to escape, but before it could, the ion cannon malfunctioned and did not fire, the ship instead heading into a nearby moon. Realizing he was defeated, Grievous headed for his starfighter and escaped as the Malevolence crashed.
Grievous next targeted the Republic's cloning facilities on Kamino to stop the production of clone troopers. Grievous sent droid squads to seize the Republic sector outpost and hot-wire the stations' "all-clear" signals to prevent the Republic from learning of the impending invasion. With brutal efficiency, the robots infiltrated the base by shooting the sergeant's leg and lost no time to kill the sergeant and three clones recruits, forcing the remaining four clones to flee the base. The droid commander reported his success to General Grievous. Satisfied, Grievous contacted Asajj Ventress on Kamino, where she was making preparations for the invasion. However, a squad of clone troopers defeated the droid squads and destroyed the base. Alerted, the Republic fleet flew to the system and Grievous was forced to retreat.
Grievous leading his forces to attack Bothawui.
Grievous' next target was the planet Bothawui, which housed a Republic intelligence center. The Jedi Counci dispatched Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan learner, Ahsoka Tano, with a newly-christened fleet of Venator-class Star Destroyers to stop the cyborg. Grievous cut the Jedi out of their hyperlanes and engaged the Jedi three times in open space before Skywalker and his fleet escaped and took a direct course to Bothawui.
Grievous fled from his ship in Soulless One. His starfighter was pursued by Skywalker but Grievous was able to jump to hyperspace and retreat thanks to debris that damaged Skywalker's fighter. Gha Nachkt accessed R2-D2's memory bank and finds that the droid contains every Republic strategy. He demands more money but Grievous decides to kill him with his lightsaber.
Grievous dueling with Ahsoka.
Grievous confronted Tano and her clone squad on listening post after ordering his IG-100 MagnaGuards to guard R2-D2. The general killed all the clones but Rex and Denal. Ahsoka defended herself against Grievous's blows and retreated to a room filled with spare droid parts to hide, only for a traitor astromech droid to give her away. Grievous destroyed her comlink, and she managed to escape through a vent.
Grievous dueling Vebb and Fisto.
Upon his arrival at his lair on Vassek, Grievous was confronted by Kit Fisto and Nadhar Vebb along with their squad of clones. Grievous engaged them only for his legs to get cut off just above the knees. However, the cyborg escaped his control room where he was repaired by a medical droid Grievous then ordered his MagnaGuards to isolate the area, also having his enemies' ships destroyed, though Fisto's astromech droid got his starfighter to safety.
Grievous left the intruders at the mercy of his pet Roggwart, Gor, before being contacted by Dooku, who confirmed to Grievous that this was a test for him since his defeats had shaken Dooku's faith in the general. Grievous decided to play along and Fisto and Vebb soon found the entrance to Grievous' control room. But as they tried to sneak in, Vebb chose to confront Grievous instead, despite Fisto trying to convince him otherwise. In the midst of their argument, EV-A4-D locks Fisto away from Vebb and the Jedi defeated all five of Grievous' guards.
Grievous fighting Fisto, despite missing a hand.
Vebb proceeds to attack Grievous, but the general killed the young Jedi by pulling a blaster on him as they fought. Grievous engaged Fist in combat, but he started to gain the upper hand until some of Grievous' MagnaGuards arrived, turning the odds against him. As R6-H5 arrives with his starfighter, Fisto escaped and returns to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
Grievous eventually captured Jedi Master, Eeth Koth, and then contacted the Jedi Temple. In his message, he declared his victory over the Jedi to show one of the MagnaGuards torturing Koth promising that the Jedi Master's death would be slow, much to the horror of the Jedi watching.
Grievous dueling Eeth Koth.
However, Plo Koon and Commander Wolffe noticed a coded message made by hand gestures of Koth, which was decoded by Obi-Wan, telling them that Grievous was in the Saleucami system.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Adi Gallia thus departed to rescue Eeth Koth and capture Grievous. Kenobi entered the Separatist ship and fought the MagnaGuards and eventually Grievous.
Count Dooku secretly instructed General Grievous to order a group of explosive droids disguised as sanitary units on Coruscant to conduct sabotage on Coruscant power generator. Grievous contacted the droids and ordered them to proceed. Grievous's units were successful in making the Republic deregulate the banks.
Grievous with Ventress during the invasion of Kamino.
After the destruction of the moon post on Rishi, General Grievous and Asajj Ventress planned an attack oh the cloning facilities on Kamino Grievous attacks the barracks to kill all the clones he can find there, while Ventress heads for the main DNA storage to grab the prime DNA sample of the clones' template. Grievous ordered his droids to throw the other clones out of there but was confronted by Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the two engaged in a lightsaber duel. Grievous escapes with Ventress when a Trident unit crushes the platform where they are on.
Soon afterward, Grievous suffered a humiliating defeat when he attempted to invade Naboo. Jar Jar Binks (posing as Gungan Boss Lyonie) distracted Grievous in a series of negotiations long enough for the Gungan Army to shut down Grievous's invasion force. As Grievous pursued Jar Jar, he slaughtered many Gungan Grand Army soldiers. At that moment, General Tarpals intervened and engaged Grievous in a duel. Although he was mortally wounded by the cyborg, Tarpals impaled Grievous through his chest which allows the Gungan Army to bombard the wounded general with energized projectiles and capture him. However, Grievous was freed in a prisoner exchange with Skywalker between Dooku and Padmé Amidala.
Grievous dueling Ventress on Dathomir.
After Savage’s trumpery, Grievous was ordered by Count Dooku to wipe out Asajj Ventress, Mother Talzin, and her fellow Nightsisters on Dathomir. Grievous took a Separatist Fleet to Dathomir and landed his forces. The Separatist forces successfully defeated the Nightsisters, with Grievous himself killing Old Daka while Mother Talzin escaped through the use of her magic. The Separatists were unable to capture or kill Asajj Ventress, who also escaped.
After forcing Kenobi to a retreat on Floruum, Grievous and his forces took Ohnaka's base as retribution for previously holding Dooku to ransom. Grievous prepares to board the Jedi's speeder tank, which forces R2 to execute some risky maneuvers in an attempt to shake him off. However, this move leaves the tank crashed instead. The stunned Jedi recover just as Grievous moves in for the kill when Ohnaka's escape ship, the rebuilt Slave I, arrives on the scene to pick him up. Ahsoka sends her youngling charges to the craft and engages Grievous in combat to cover their escape. She then barely escapes onto the ship on her own, and before Hondo has a chance to properly repay Grievous for his cordiality, a squad of AATs forces them to withdraw for good.
Grievous appears as a major character in the four-part comic series, Son of Dathomir, an unproduced story arc intended for The Clone Wars season six. The cyborg general is sent by Dooku to hunt down the rogue Sith Lord Darth Maul, who has become a significant threat to Sidious's plans. Grievous is ordered to only wound Maul's forces, but not kill him; this is in order to draw out Mother Talzin, who is later revealed to be Maul's blood mother. Though he thinks it foolish to keep Maul alive, Grievous does as he is told. He takes a huge army of droids to Zanbar and attacks Maul's army of Death Watch warriors. Despite heavy casualties, Grievous' droids ultimately win the battle. During the battle, Grievous briefly fights Maul and wins, forcing him to flee. Later, Grievous and Dooku are lured into a trap by Maul and his minions and are taken prisoner in order to draw out Sidious. However, Grievous soon escapes and rejoins Sidious, who orders Grievous to attack Dathomir again, where Maul and Talzin are planning using Dooku as a sacrifice to restore Talzin to full strength. Sidious fights Talzin while Grievous duels Maul again. Maul eventually overpowers Grievous and Force-pushes him through a wall. Grievous quickly reappears, however, and after Sidious and Dooku have subdued Talzin (who has thrown Maul out of the battle to save his life), Grievous stabs her through the chest with his lightsabers, killing her.
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Near the end of the war, General Grievous led a daring mission in the kidnapping of Chancellor Palpatine in the Battle of Coruscant under the orders of Count Dooku. Keeping his prisoner in the custody of Dooku aboard his flagship, Grievous was unsurprised when Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker arrived to stage a rescue.
The Jedi proved victorious, with Anakin killing Dooku and freeing the Chancellor, but were soon apprehended by Grievous’ droids. Brought before him, Grievous took their lightsabers, boasting that they would make a fine addition to his collection.
Thanks to some of R2-D2’s clever trickery, however, the Jedi regained their weapons and cornered the droid army leader. In a last-second move, Grievous shattered the bridge viewport and escaped into space.
Grievous headed for a major Separatist base on Utapau. Speaking with Darth Sidious, he was assured that the war was coming to an end, and the Separatists would be victorious. Still, it would prove to be short-lived comfort for the walking terror. Obi-Wan soon arrived with a battalion of clones, and the Battle of Utapau began.
General Grievous duels Obi-Wan on Utapau
The General and Obi-Wan dueled, and despite wielding four lightsabers at once, Grievous was dismembered and once again tried to flee. Obi-Wan gave chase, and the two eventually fought in a knock-down drag-out fist fight.
Grievous' demise.
The Jedi had lost his lightsaber and found himself dangling from a cliff, and Grievous appeared to have the upper hand. As the General menacingly lurched forward, prepared to deliver the final blow, Obi-Wan used the Force to draw Grievous' blaster into his hand. He shot Grievous in the chest, five times, igniting what remained of his organic matter, and the menace was no more.
Legacy
Karbin's cybernetics were said to have been inspired by the late Grievous.
Years after Grievous' death, a Mon Calamari named Karbin was modified with cybernetic enhancements by an Imperial researcher named Cylo, who intended to create people such as Karbin to replace Darth Vader as the Emperor's new apprentice. In Karbin's case, he was modified after the late Grievous.
After the Battle of Endor, it was implied that when building Mister Bones, Temmin Wexley had use some of Grievous' programming to create him.
Powers and Abilities
Grievous is an extremely destructive, powerful, and deadly fighter, being one of the most proficient Jedi hunters to exist. He is extremely proficient, efficacious, and authoritative 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. This fact can be interpreted that Grievous has been weakened after Mace Windu uses Force Crush on him after attempting to kidnap Sidious, which damages his organ resulting in his constant coughing and declining in strength.
Grievous is also perfectly willing to use more dishonest, manipulative, and 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's 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 and influential pilot, said to be as good at handling a ship as he is with a lightsaber.
Quotes
| “ | I'm no errand boy. And I'm not in this war for Dooku's politics. I am the leader of the most powerful droid army the galaxy has ever seen. | „ |
| ~ General Grievous while dueling Obi-Wan Kenobi during the space Battle of Saleucami. |
| “ | Eeth Koth, isn't it? I've been looking forward to meeting you. (Eeth Koth: Your reputation precedes you, General - the reputation of a coward and a murderer.) Murderer? Is it murder to rid the galaxy of you Jedi filth? | „ |
| ~ Grievous upon meeting Eeth Koth. |
| “ | Hondo. (Hondo Ohnaka: General Grievous, I presume? What a surprise. Have a seat. What, may I ask, is the honor?) You can dispense with the pleasantries, pirate. This planet is now under Separatist control. | „ |
| ~ Grievous upon meeting Hondo. |
| “ | Ah, yes, the Negotiator: General Kenobi. We've been waiting for you. (Battle Droid: Excuse me.) That wasn't much of a rescue. (Battle Droid: You're welcome.) And, Anakin Skywalker, I was expecting someone with your reputation to be a little... older. (Anakin Skywalker: General Grievous, you're shorter than I expected.) Jedi scum! | „ |
| ~ Grievous and Anakin Skywalker meeting for the very first time. |
| “ | (Obi-Wan Kenobi: We have a job to do, Anakin, try not to upset him.) Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection. (Obi-Wan: Not this time. And this time, you won't escape.) (Anakin: Artoo!) CRUSH THEM! Make them SUFFER! | „ |
| “ | Don't bother with them! Keep the ship in orbit! | „ |
| “ | You lose, General Kenobi. | „ |
| ~ General Grievous after being surrounded by both Kenobi and Skywalker on the Invisible Hand. |
| “ | Time to abandon ship. | „ |
| ~ Grievous preparing to launch all the escape pods along with himself. |
| “ | 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, you will be safe there. (Nute Gunray: SAFE?! Chancellor Palpatine managed to escape your grip, General. Without Count Dooku, I have doubts about your ability to keep us safe.) Be thankful, Viceroy! You have not found yourself in my grip. Your ship is waiting. | „ |
| “ | General Kenobi. You are a bold one. Kill him. | „ |
| “ | BACK AWAY! I will deal with this Jedi slime myself. (Obi-Wan: Your move?) You fool! I've been trained in your Jedi Arts by Count Dooku. Attack, Kenobi! | „ |
Trivia
- Grievous never fought Anakin in a lightsaber duel, the closest they got to a fight is when Grievous used a MagnaGuard electrostaff to break the glass of the Separatist ship in order to kill both Anakin and Obi-Wan.
- 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 a wheezing and heavy breathing cyborg.
- Though most 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.
- Grievous was first introduced as a villain in the Legends 2003 Clone Wars Cartoon but was soon changed by George Lucas in Revenge of the Sith. Grievous was soon written as a more heroic backstory but Dave Filoni changed Grievous's entire history and made him still a villain at heart.
- Grievous's full name in the non-canon Star Wars: Visionaries is Qymaen jai Sheelal. In the Legends storyline, Qymaen was a Kaleesh warrior that fought in a war against the Yam'rii. He met and grew a strong relationship with a female named Ronderu Iij Kummar. When she died, Qymaen took on the name Grievous, growing a strong hatred for the Yam'rii. He was eventually reconstructed into a cyborg by the Confederacy of Independent Systems after a near-death experience when his ship was secretly blown up by Count Dooku.
- The sound effect of Grievous’s laugh came from George Lucas when he had bronchitis during the filming of Attack of the Clones.
- Grievous hates being called a droid.
- Grievous is 7 feet tall and 345 lbs.
