| “ | I never risk my own skin if I don't have to. | „ |
| ~ Nute Gunray |
Nute Gunray is the Viceroy of the Trade Federation and the supporting antagonist in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, being the secondary main antagonist of Phantom Menace, the quaternary antagonist of Attack of the Clones, the quinary antagonist of Revenge of the Sith and a supporting antagonist of the Clone Wars.
Gunray was the Viceroy of the Trade Federation and later became a high-ranking officer of the Confederacy of Independent Systems as the head of the Separatist Council. He was one of Darth Sidious' first, and most important, pawns in his plan to attain ultimate power. Following the deaths of both Count Dooku and later General Grievous, Gunray became the de facto leader of the CIS. However, he was ultimately killed by Darth Vader along with the other members of the Separatist Council on Mustafar at the end of Revenge of the Sith.
He was portrayed by Silas Carson (who also portrayed Ki-Adi-Mundi in the prequel trilogy and also voiced The Ood in Doctor Who) in the prequel trilogy, and was voiced by Tom Kenny in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
History
Early Political Career
Nute Gunray had joined the Trade Federation at some point in his life and began early on as a junior trade officer but, quickly saw the opportunity for a promotion.The Pulsar Supertanker corporation was being reviewed for expultion and Gunray was the final deciding factor on what would happen. Gunray had ended up supporting the expulsion of the company citing "malicious disregard for profit" and "charitable donations lacking discernible reward". Pulsar's expulsion had resulted in its CEO position in the Trade Federation Directorate to be void but Gunray quickly filled that position. In 44 BBY, Gunray became the Trade Federation's senator in the Galactic Senate and implored the senate to intervene when the Stark Commercial Combine began attacking federation transport carrying bacta.
In response, Gunray had demanded that the Trade Federation be allowed to increase its droid army to combat the attacks on their transports though, he had secretly met with Senator Ranulph Tarkin to bring a more decisive end to the combine. Gunray had been pressured into giving the name of the planet where representatives of the Republic and Iaco Stark was being held at. The negotiations were held on Troiken which were aggressive and ended with a gunfight when he ordered his battle droids to shoot without a specific enemy. Jedi Master Tyvokka was killed and Gunray fled with the help of the other Jedi but, his transport was destroyed and the Stark Hyperspace War broke out and he was eventually taken back to Coruscant.
During the war, Gunray was promoted to the rank of Viceroy and became the head of the Trade Federation but was still restrained by the Trade Federation Directorate. He was eventually contacted by the mysterious Sith Lord Darth Sidious who had promised him that he could make him the sole leader of the Trade Federation and grant him control over a larger and more powerful droid army in exchange for Gunray's services. Gunray had eventually sent the droids to a summit on Eriadu, the droids open fired and killed all members of the directorate except Nute himself and Lott Dod, the most recent senator of the Trade Federation to the senate. To fill the void, Gunray filled the vacant positions with his associates such as Rune Haako, Daultary Dofine, and Hath Monchar, effectively making the Trade Federation and Neimodian monopoly.
Between 39-36 BBY, Gunray had sent a large portion of the Trade Federation Droid Army to the plane of Alaris Prime to colonize it despite the Wookies getting the colonization rights first. This sparked a colonial war on the planer and ended with the Trade Federation being forcibly expelled from the planet. After the war, Gunray had run into legal trouble but was still able to maintain his current position. Shortly before blockading Naboo, Hath Monchar had gone missing and fearing that he'd spill the secrets of Gunray and Sidious' plot, the two tracked him down and eventually had him killed at the hands of the dark lord's apprentice, Darth Maul.
Blockade of Naboo
In 32 BBY, Nute Gunray had ordered that the Trade Federation blockade the planet of Naboo and block off all trade routes to the planet with the official reason being discontent with taxation rates on trade routes in the Outer Rim. Supreme Chancellor Valorum had sent to ambassadors to the Saa'ak/Profiteer to negotiate but in reality, it was Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jin and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi instead. Knowing this, Gunray had quickly contacted Sidious and Dofine expressed concern with the plans but was firghtened by the Sith lord when he angirly told him to stay in line. After Gunray had followed Sidious' orders and invaded Naboo, he was skeptical but, the dark lord had assured him that he would "make it legal" and then told him to kill the Jedi on board.
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