Grievous

"I am Grievous, warlord of the Kaleesh and Supreme Commander of the armies of the Confederacy. And I am not a droid!"

- Grievous

Grievous, born as Qymaen jai Sheelal, was the cyborg Supreme Commander of the Droid Army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems for most of the Clone Wars. Grievous was originally a Kaleesh from the planet Kalee, where he lived his early life. The Kaleesh were at war with the Huk in a conflict known as the Huk War. Qymaen jai Sheelal quickly learned the art of war, specializing in a slugthrower rifle. Quickly amassing a great number of Huk kills, he became a demigod among his people. He would then meet the female Kaleesh Ronderu lij Kummar, a master with the sword. The two became very close before her death at the hands of the Huk. Heartbroken, Qymaen jai Sheelal renamed himself Grievous, and then turned all his anger and grief toward the Huk. Aided by his elite, he forced the Huk off Kalee and then swarmed their world, conquering the Huk homeworld. The Huk turned to the Republic for help, and the Kaleesh were forced back to their own world by the Jedi, and left to starve.

Desperate to help his people, Grievous took a job as an enforcer with the InterGalactic Banking Clan. However, after learning that the Huk had attacked Kalee, he headed home to gain vengeance. IBC Chairman San Hill, after consulting with his ally Count Dooku, leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, arranged for a bomb to be placed on Grievous' shuttle, Martyr. The Kaleesh was critically damaged, but lived, and then, Hill arranged for the final stage of his plan. Grievous was reconstructed as a cyborg, and was presented to Dooku as a potential weapon to be used in the upcoming war the Count planned.

Grievous was made Supreme Commander, and then, proceeded to wreak havoc on the Republic for three years in the Clone Wars. The general was trained in the art of lightsaber combat by Dooku, who was also a Sith. Grievous was a quick study, and would soon be recognized as one of the most skilled duelists in the galaxy. Aided by his IG-100 MagnaGuards, Grievous killed many Jedi. He led the Confederacy of Independent Systems in the Battle of Hypori, where his existence was made public. In the many battles, such as the Battle of Falleen, Mission to the third moon of Vassek, and the Battle of Togoria, the Confederacy was victorious thanks to Grievous's leadership. The fearsome cyborg struck fear into the hearts of many with Operation Durge's Lance, a massive strike at the Core.

In 19 BBY, Grievous led the Confederate Navy in the Battle of Coruscant, an attack on the Republic's capital. Grievous killed several Jedi, and took Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Republic, hostage. However, before his flagship could jump to hyperspace, the Republic Navy arrived. The Chancellor was freed by the Jedi Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who also succeeded in killing Dooku. Grievous fled to the Outer Rim world of Utapau, and attempted to regain control of the war, though the Confederacy had been dealt a great blow with the loss of Dooku. Grievous was killed shortly after arriving in the Battle of Utapau by Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the Confederacy would follow soon after. At some point after Grievous's death, his body was used to create the droid warrior N-K Necrosis, who considered himself the reincarnation of Grievous. However, the droid was killed shortly after his creation by several spacers.

Early life
"And judging from the cloak we found, you are a Kaleesh General, are you not?"

- San Hill to Grievous



Though he would achieve his greatest infamy as the cyborg General Grievous, Qymaen jai Sheelal was originally an organic Kaleesh. These were the reptilian natives of Kalee, a world torn by famine and war that the justice of the Galactic Republic never touched. For generations, Kalee had been assaulted without respite by a technologically superior insectoid species, the aggressive Yam'rii (referred to by the Kaleesh as the "Huk" or "soulless bugs"), who coveted the Kaleesh as slaves.

Sheelal was born on a world still embroiled in this conflict, known as the Huk War, so it was, perhaps, inevitable that he grew up hating the Huk. Sheelal's father, seeking a useful outlet for his son's anger, taught him how to handle a slugthrower rifle. The young Sheelal proved himself an excellent marksman with a mind as finely honed as any weapon; by eight years of age he had already become an expert sniper with more than forty Huk kills to his credit. By the age of twenty-two, he had slain so many Huk that the Kaleesh people considered Sheelal a demigod.

Sheelal's closest comrade was a fellow Kaleesh warrior and mercenary, Ronderu lij Kummar. According to legend, his relationship with this wild and skilled swordswoman had its beginnings in a dream, in which Sheelal saw himself slaying a wild mumuu in the Kunbal jungle with Lig swords. So taken was he with this vision that he set out in his mumuu hunting mask to kill one in reality, but instead of finding a mumuu in the jungle he saw Kummar. He realized that the slayer in his dream had not been himself, but the woman standing before him in a karabbac mask and wielding twin Lig swords. The two of them were, therefore, considered living manifestations of the cryptic Kaleesh parable Sheelal, or The Dreamer/The Dreamt One.



The exact nature of their relationship is uncertain. Some say Kummar was Sheelal's long lost half-sister; some say she was actually his lover. Whatever the truth, their bond, once forged, was considered absolute and sacred. Kummar taught Sheelal to wield a sword, and in turn he introduced her to the powerful Czerka Outland rifle. Both clad in masks, Kummar with her karabbac skull and Sheelal with his mumuu skull (inherited from his father, who had died fighting the Huk), became legends, twin demigods blessed by their ancestors. Together they mercilessly cut through the Huk invaders in countless campaigns.

However, while they were invincible together, they were less so when fighting apart. In one engagement on the beaches of Kalee, the two of them were separated. Kummar died violently on the Huks' barbed shears, and her body vanished into the Jenuwaa Sea. Sheelal, unable even to retrieve her from the waters, was driven to despair and a horrible psychotic depression. Inconsolable he set off on a dangerous journey across the ocean to Abesmi, an island-monolith far from the mainland. There he beseeched the gods to raise her from her watery grave just so he might see her one final time, but the gods remained silent.

Sheelal did what he could to bury his grief. He ended up taking ten wives and siring thirty children, but none of them, spouse or child, seemed to be able to fill the void Kummar's death had left in him. Eventually, he realized that it was his destiny to mourn for her as long as he lived. With this realization, Qymaen jai Sheelal cast off his old identity adopting a name more appropriate to a being destined to grieve forever, and, even more terribly, who was determined that he would not do so alone. He would be General Grievous, as well as heart-broken, for the rest of his life.

In the service of San Hill


Gathering to his side a group of equally bloodthirsty Kaleesh elite, the Izvoshra, Grievous became a vicious warlord and managed to force the Huk from Kalee. But his bitterness did not end with that triumph, and he pushed them further back, storming their colony worlds. His vicious attacks and mass destruction of entire Huk planets ensured Kaleesh victory; until the Huks unexpectedly turned to the Republic for help. Jedi Knights, sent to stop the war, sided with the Huks, and hefty fines and embargoes came down upon the Kaleesh. Kalee ended up in poverty, and hundreds of thousands of Kaleesh starved and died.

The arrival of San Hill, Chairman of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, brought an opportunity to Grievous. Hill saw Grievous's potential as an IGBC "collections agent", and in exchange for his services, the Banking Clan offered to take on Kalee's massive debt, thus helping his people overcome the effects of the embargo. Grievous felt disgust at the notion of being a glorified leg-breaker for a soulless megacorporation, but he understood what the agreement would mean for his people, and besides, there was something in this innate warrior that needed to keep fighting&mdash;if not the Huk, then someone, somewhere. Eventually he agreed, taking command of the Clan's private army of droid enforcers.

The IGBC kept its promise, alleviating Kalee's deficit and resuscitating its trade. In exchange, Grievous became an extremely effective enforcer. It was through his efforts that the IGBC aggressively collected overdue credits from Ord Mantell, and seized Phlut Design Systems when the company defaulted. But he found he missed the comforts of his former life; he wanted his old elite, the Izvoshra, but apart from himself, the Banking Clan would not hire Kaleesh. He would have to make do with droids, but, having no confidence in the IGBC's basic battle droids, he demanded more intelligent models to take the place of his elite. With Dooku's permission, Hill consented and began production on the IG-100 MagnaGuards. Grievous, at first, was disgusted with the droids because they were completely mindless. He soon demanded they be reprogrammed to watch him in combat and learn how to fight like his old comrades in his elite Huk-killing team several years before.

The fall of Martyr


Soon, however, Grievous learned that the Huk had vandalized sacred Kaleesh burial grounds on the colony worlds, and that the Republic had done nothing. This news reawakened his desire to act directly in defense of his people, so he abandoned his contract with the Banking Clan and returned to Kalee to avenge the desecration. San Hill was far from pleased. He considered ordering Grievous's assassination, but he feared the vengeance the Kaleesh would take if he survived. Instead, Hill conspired with Poggle the Lesser, the Archduke of Geonosis, and with their mutual allies, Darth Sidious and Count Dooku, to arrange Grievous' permanent servitude.

On Kalee, Grievous and his Izvoshra boarded his troop shuttle, Martyr. They set off to resume the Huk War, unaware that Dooku, Hill, and Poggle had planted an ion bomb aboard, and rigged Grievous' pilot seat to enable remote-guided ejection. The resulting explosion sent the Martyr plunging into the Jenuwaa Sea. Dooku's remote command ejected Grievous from the wreck at the last moment, but all his Izvoshra perished in the crash. His body, hemorrhaging and in shock, was dragged from the water, and Dooku used a blast of Force lightning to keep him from succumbing to cardiac arrest while en route to Geonosis. It was then that Dooku first planted the idea that the Jedi themselves were responsible for this attack in Grievous' mind. Then, MagnaGuards dragged him to a nearby shuttle, where FX-series medical assistant droids worked to stabilize his condition during the journey. Dooku, in the meantime, traveled to his homeworld of Serenno, to retrieve one more important component in his plan.

Transformation
"More machine than alive, Grievous is&mdash;though more dangerous for it."

- Yoda



Grievous had suffered near-fatal injuries, rendering the body that had survived many battles useless, or so he was told. Planted evidence pointed to a Republic plot. In truth, Grievous once again proved his resilience, and additional injuries had to be added after the crash to make his body as broken as was claimed. San Hill repeated his proposal, including a promise to replace Grievous's broken body. Desiring vengeance against the Galactic Republic and the Huk, he agreed on the condition that his mind would not be tampered with. This was a half-hearted promise at best, as the lies Dooku told Grievous had already destroyed his hold on reality.

Dooku provided blood from the frozen body of Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas as a means of keeping Grievous's body alive during his transit to Geonosis, where Poggle the Lesser and his Geonosian scientists implanted his brain and eyes into a duranium alloy body reminiscent of a Krath war droid, complete with LX-44 robotic legs. His vital organs were housed in a synthskin gut-sack impervious to vacuum. The Geonosians would also alter his brain against his wishes, both to trim away disturbing memories (while enhancing his rage centers) and to enhance his equilibrium, allowing him to better employ his newfound agility. Internal implants were also placed in his eyes to sharpen his vision and to protect them from the vacuum of space. While the midi-chlorian-rich blood of Sifo-Dyas may have played a critical role in maintaining Sheelal's life, Grievous saw it as a personal failure that the transfusion did not also give him a degree of sensitivity to the Force. To San Hill and his allies, however, the experiment was a phenomenal success. Qymaen jai Sheelal had become General Grievous in form as well as spirit. The same droids and techniques used to rebuild Grievous would later be used to transform Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader.

The cyborg project was funded by San Hill to create a military leader that could counter Count Dooku's growing political influence in the Separatist movement, although he presented the finished General Grievous as a twisted gift to Dooku. Though taken aback by his appearance, Dooku was pleased and bestowed upon Grievous the title "Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies", and planned to use him in his efforts to conquer the Republic. He presented him with his first lightsaber, the weapon of Sifo-Dyas.

Grievous was disgusted by his new droid body and took Dooku's appointment as Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies as an insult. He slaughtered his MagnaGuards present in defiance, exclaiming that he was not a droid. He further rebelled by still displaying some of his Kaleesh heritage by adorning himself and his MagnaGuards with masks and cloaks in styles closely resembling those found amongst his people. Grievous, however, would soon come to highly respect both Dooku and Sidious, considering them the Confederacy's only "necessary" political leadership.



Grievous bore a great hatred for Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray, tolerating him only because he was vital to the Confederacy's success. Gunray was arrogant and cowardly, and questioned Grievous's leadership. He treated Grievous like a typical mindless droid even after being told that was not the case.

At some time after his transformation, Grievous learned that the Dark Jedi Kaa and Lii had stolen his collection of Sith lightsabers. Aware of the Dark Jedi's destination, Grievous piloted his personal craft to the acidic world of Dica. After landing his ship, Grievous spotted the Dark Jedi and confronted one of the twin sisters. When he commanded she reveal her name, her sister appeared, and engaged Grievous. Fighting together, the twins were able to sever a part of Grievous's mask and take the upper hand. However, Grievous remained confident and was able to knock the twins' lightsabers out of their hands. Much to his anger though, the weapons landed in an acid lake. Disarmed and outgunned, the sisters quickly retreated. With Grievous' lightsaber collection now destroyed, he resolved to restart the collection, vowing he would now collect Jedi lightsabers.

The beginning of the war
"You've no idea what you have brought upon yourselves. I've mastered your weapon. And combined that skill with the speed only a machine is capable of. How can any living being stand against me?"

- Grievous to B'dard Tone and Flynn Kybo

Grievous was first let loose in the Geonosian catacombs during the Battle of Geonosis where he safeguarded the Separatist Council from Jedi and clone trooper companies; he left none alive to tell of his existence. Dooku, impressed with the general's performance at Geonosis, trained Grievous in the art of lightsaber combat, which Grievous took to at a rapid pace.

Learning all the seven classic forms of Jedi arts&mdash;including the rarely seen Makashi and Juyo&mdash;Grievous quickly surpassed all the other apprentices of Dooku in terms of individual combat. Despite his obvious prowess, and the time and resources expended to creating him, Dooku still viewed him as second to the Chiss general Sev'rance Tann. It was only after Tann's death one month after Geonosis that Grievous truly began to come into his own.

The general revealed


Grievous's first public appearance against the Republic was at the Battle of Hypori, where his tactics resulted in the obliteration of an entire Republic task force. Grievous proceeded to defeat a team of seven Jedi Knights, including Council members Ki-Adi-Mundi and Shaak Ti. These two, along with Aayla Secura and K'Kruhk, were the only survivors of the battle, as a rescue team consisting of ARC Captain Fordo and several other Advanced Recon Commandos, sent to Hypori by Obi-Wan Kenobi, arrived and managed to hold Grievous at bay with great difficulty as the Jedi made their escape. Had the clones not arrived, the remaining Jedi would have likely been killed.

Six months after the Battle of Geonosis, Count Dooku tested the General by pitting him against Asajj Ventress and Durge aboard the Count's Trenchant Space Station. Grievous successfully humiliated both Separatist commanders, thus showing Count Dooku he was worthy of the position of Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies. The General's skill at fighting Jedi would prompt the HoloNet News to nickname him "The Knight Slayer".

As Supreme Commander, Grievous normally traveled with a cadre of droid bodyguards known as IG-100 MagnaGuards, who wielded dangerous electrostaffs made from lightsaber-resistant phrik alloy. His flagship early in the war was the Malevolence, a cruiser with a top-secret ion cannon built in. This cannon was extremely powerful, capable of shutting down all of a cruiser's power, including the shields, with a single shot. Grievous quickly became the face of the Confederacy, and was feared by countless citizens loyal to the Republic.

Fleet actions
The Separatists captured the population of Kiros, a Togrutan colony world. The Togruta were sent to begin a life of slavery on the planet Kadavo and Dooku explained their disappearance by claiming that they were killed by the Jedi. When the Jedi Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano set out to fly to Kadavo to rescue the slaves, Dooku realized that this would expose him as a liar, so he ordered Grievous and Asajj Ventress to rendezvous in the Kadavo system and destroy the slave facility. Grievous took a Separatist fleet to Kadavo and attacked some Republic Venator-class Star Destroyers that were in orbit around the planet, while Ventress led some bombers in an attack on the slave facility. The bombers were all shot down by clone troopers, so she requested that Grievous send some more down. However, more Republic reinforcements arrived out hyperspace, so Grievous refused and fled the system with his fleet, leaving Ventress behind to fend for herself.

Around this time, Grievous led a fleet to reinforce Separatist forces at the strategic world of Nexus Ortai in their battle against the Republic there. His arrival forced the Republic ships to retreat and the Confederacy was able to capture the planet.

After Dooku blackmailed a Republic Senator, he was able to obtain Republic battle plans. Using this information, Grievous was able to repeatedly ambush and defeat Republic forces.

The Malevolence
Grievous commanded the Malevolence in the early stages of the war, and was involved in testing its ion cannon superweapon to ensure its effectiveness. The weapon proved to very powerful, shutting down Republic ships' shields, enabling its turbolasers to destroy them. The Malevolence encountered a task force led by Jedi Master Plo Koon during a final test. The ship destroyed the Republic vessels, but Koon survived. He was rescued by Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, who escaped with news of the new superweapon. Shortly after, Grievous attacked the Ryndellia system, and planned an attack on the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center. However, when the Malevolence arrived, he was met by Skywalker and Shadow Squadron, who disabled the ion cannon, forcing him to flee when Kenobi arrived with a fleet of Republic vessels. Afterwards, the Malevolence was destroyed with the help of Padmé Amidala and Skywalker, with Grievous dueling Obi-Wan Kenobi for the first time. He was infuriated when the Senator and Jedi escaped, and pursued them, only to learn that they'd reprogrammed the Malevolence's navicomputer into the nearby moon.

Attack on Kamino
Soon after, Grievous planned an attack on the world of Kamino, to destroy the Republic's supply of clone troopers. He planned to do this by having BX-series droid commandos capture the Republic listening posts around Kamino, thereby allowing his fleet to attack Kamino undetected. One such post was captured on the Rishi Moon, and Grievous had his fleet assemble above the moon. However, clone troopers were able to destroy the listening post, alerting the Republic to the Separatist attack. A fleet of Venator-class Star Destroyers were immediately dispatched and Grievous was forced to retreat and call off the planned attack on Kamino.

Battles of Falleen and Bothawui


Grievous led Separatist forces during their victory in the Battle of Falleen and afterward began ambushing Republic fleets. He led his forces to Bothawui and fought the exhausted Republic forces under the command of Skywalker there. However, he underestimated the Jedi, and a group of AT-TEs on an asteroid fired at the unshielded sterns of his ships. Grievous ordered a jump to lightspeed, but the droid commander was too incompetent to respond, and Grievous fled in the Souless One. Skywalker pursued him in his starfighter, but his ship, having been badly damaged by a piece of shrapnel, was rocked by an explosion. With Skywalker's ship disabled, and its pilot unconscious, Grievous was able to escape the Republic fleet. However, before the Republic could recover Skywalker, his droid was recovered from the wreckage by a Trandoshan salvager called Gha Nachkt.

Nachkt contacted Grievous and offered to sell him the droid, which contained detailed files of Republic battle plans and base locations. By this time, Grievous had already rendezvoused with a Separatist frigate near Skytop Station, a Separatist listening post hidden on one of the moons of Ruusan. The Republic, having learned of the hidden outpost, commanded Anakin and his fleet to scout the area for the base and any Separatist activity. However, once arriving in the system, Anakin's new droid, R3-S6, who was later revealed to be a CIS spy, alerted Grievous to his presence. Grievous arrived and tried to capture the Jedi, but before he could, Skywalker was rescued by the Twilight.

Acquiring a Republic droid
Soon afterward, Nachkt arrived at Grievous' rendezvous point on Skytop Station and immediately went to work dismantling R2-D2 and accessing its Republic secrets. After realizing how valuable the data contained in the R2 unit really was, Nachkt demanded more money. Grievous simply responded by impaling the Trandoshan with a lightsaber. However, before landing at the station, Artoo had sent out a quick message with the location of the outpost, which was picked up by the Twilight. Skywalker, Tano, and a group of Clones infiltrated the base under orders to destroy it. Once inside, Anakin slipped off in search of R2-D2, leaving Ahsoka and the clones to cripple the station's repulsorlifts. Grievous, having been alerted to the Republic team's infiltration by R3-S6, ordered his MagnaGuards to load Artoo onto his ship while he dealt with the intruders. Grievous confronted Tano and the troopers, managing to kill most of the clones before Tano drew him off. As Grievous and Ahsoka engaged in a game of cat and mouse, Skywalker and the remaining clones planted the explosive charges around the station and recovered R2. Just as Grievous gained the upper hand in the duel, explosions rocked the Battlesphere. Ahsoka, taking advantage of the distraction, severed Grievous' hand at the wrist and escaped through an air duct. Grievous, realizing the station was doomed, rushed to his starfighter and fled the dying station.

Intruders


Afterwards, Grievous traveled to his castle on the third moon of Vassek, where he kept reminders of his past life, such as Kaleesh statues, as well as many spare parts, such as arms and legs, to repair himself with should the need ever arise. While on route to his sanctuary, the cyborg dreamed of his past as a Kaleesh warlord on his homeworld.

Dooku secretly planned to test the General in light of his recent string of failures. To do this, Dooku sent Nute Gunray, who had recently escaped from Republic custody, to the moon and allowed the Jedi to track him there. The Senate dispatched Jedi Master Kit Fisto and his former apprentice, Nahdar Vebb, along with a group of clone troopers, to re-apprehend Gunray. However, when the Jedi entered the castle, all they found was a hologram of Gunray, along with the tracking beacon. Dooku then appeared via hologram, offering them a consolation prize in place of Gunray. Baffled, the group began to explore the castle, quickly learning that the castle was actually Grievous's lair. When Grievous's ship landed, the Jedi were lying in wait. They surrounded the general, and the clones managed to overwhelm Grievous, attaching their tow-cables to his legs. As the cyborg's strength began to waver, Fisto severed his legs. Grievous killed some of the clones, then fled, using the pipes on the ceiling to swing himself to the hidden control room.

As his servant droid A-4D repaired him, Grievous sent his pet roggwart, Gor, to attack the intruders. Gor managed to kill the remaining clone, but was bested by the Jedi. Enraged, Grievous left the control room with his MagnaGuards in search of the Jedi, who witnessed the button combination to open the control room door. As they opened the door, they were spotted by A-4D, who alerted Grievous. Fisto ran through the open doorway and saw Vebb staying on the other side of the door. Vebb elected to hold Grievous off as the door closed, separating the two Jedi. As Vebb cut through Grievous's guards and engaged the general, Fisto bisected A-4D in the control room. However, Grievous was ready for Vebb and pinned his blade down with one of his lightsabers. The cyborg then pulled out his blaster, and shot Vebb, killing the Jedi. He then took Vebb's lightsaber and chased Fisto, who fled to his starfighter outside.

Grievous managed to catch up to him there, and engaged the Jedi. Fisto used the fog on the platform to his advantage, striking then retreating, eventually managing to sever one of Grievous's hands and recover Vebb's lightsaber. As Fisto gained the upper hand, fighting with both sabers, Grievous called in his MagnaGuards. Just then, Fisto's droid arrived in his starfighter, allowing him to escape. After Grievous conferred with Dooku, he learned that Dooku had expected victory over the clones and the young Jedi. Dooku initially thought that Grievous had bested the Jedi Master Fisto as well, and deemed it worthy of recognition; however, when Grievous reported that Fisto had escaped, Dooku crossly stated that there was "room for improvement."

Victorious on all fronts
"So, the Republic would have the galaxy believe that its heart is secure. Today's events, however, show that there is nothing that can stop our forces from total victory."

- Grievous, referring to the invasion of Duro by the Confederacy

Grievous led the CIS to victories on Banvhar Station, and Vandos, among numerous other battles, such as the Battle of Parein II 4. Riding his wheel bike, he led the Confederacy to victory. Jedi Master Sannen was killed during the battle. Another notable battle occurred on Togoria. The feline Togorians defected to the Confederacy. When the Republic, led by General Bridger, arrived at Togoria, they were attacked by the people, who wished to remain with the CIS. Grievous challenged Bridger to a duel, killing him in seconds, and keeping the planet from the Republic.

However, he lost several battles. He failed to destroy the mines on Viidaav during one battle. In the Battle of Nadiem, Grievous suffered another defeat. His droid army was attempting to invade a city on Nadiem and prevent the citizens from escaping. The Jedi Barriss Offee defeated the droids by pretending to be dead and then detonating explosives as they walked by, bringing the canyon walls down on the droids. An orbital blockade ordered by Saesee Tiin prevented additional CIS reinforcements and air forces from reaching the planet. Grievous was forced to flee in his starfighter, severely wounding B'dard Tone and killing his Padawan before escaping into hyperspace.

Months later, Grievous put into motion Operation Durge's Lance, a major Separatist campaign whose goal was the complete conquest of the Core Worlds. Hundreds of planets along the Corellian Trade Spine fell before his forces, including the major world of Duro whose surrender Grievous personally supervised by forcing a public surrender from Hoolidan Keggle in a galaxywide HoloNet transmission. Grievous was also responsible for the orbital bombardment of the heavily populated and urbanized planet Humbarine, one of the founding members of the Galactic Republic, during an hour-long orbital bombardment by the Separatist starfleet under his flagship, Invisible Hand, which resulted in the fragmentation of the planet's crust and presumably the death of most of its populace. He also released the Loedorvian Brain Plague into the Weemell Sector, which destroyed Republic armies and nearly all Humans there. Due to these acts of wanton destruction, Grievous soon became an avatar of terror in the eyes of the citizens of the Republic, as he won battle after battle.



In 20 BBY, Grievous baited the Republic forces to Vandos by kidnapping Ambassador Quiyyen. Jedi Knights, sent to rescue him, T'chooka D'oon and Jmmaar were killed in the assault, though the Republic was successful in securing Quiyyen. T'chooka's Padawan, Flynn Kybo, was infuriated by this, and, desperate for revenge, gathered a group of other Jedi, including B'dard Tone and Codi Ty, to take revenge on Grievous, something the Jedi High Council disapproved of. During their hunt for him, Grievous captured a Mon Calamari ship, and killed Jed Master Quarmall and several of his younglings aboard, but also took some hostage. He planned to use them as Human-droid hybrids, with an exoskeleton droid suit, similar to himself. After Grievous conquered Gentes, several probe droids released by the group of Jedi led by Kybo, located him on Belsus. The Jedi were now determined to rescue the younglings and Padawans he was holding hostage, having learned of them with help from the slicer Rini. Though the probe attacked him, the cyborg had no trouble destroying them, and thus nothing was accomplished besides alerting their interest in him to the general. With help from an Ugnaught, the Padawans escaped, but Grievous was hot on their trail. He confronted them, but at that moment the Jedi arrived. While Codi led them to safety, Grievous dueled B'dard and Flynn, killing them both after Kybo cut open a gas line, causing a large explosion.

Some time afterwards, Grievous proposed that the Confederacy increase its use of bioweapons in attacks on worlds in the Outer Rim, after seeing the results of the devastation caused by them during the Battle of Honoghr. He sent pictures of Honoghr taken six months after the battle to Vjun, to be reviewed by Dooku. After Dooku was forced to leave Vjun, Grievous scheduled a meeting with him.

Severel months later, on Boz Pity, Grievous fought Jedi Master Soon Bayts. Surprising Bayts, he crushed his head in his claws before the Jedi had time to raise his lightsaber. He then took his lightsaber, using it to combat the clone troopers. Stunned at this, Jedi Council member Adi Gallia engaged Grievous in combat. However, even she was no match for the droid general. Grievous used his extra arms to surprise Gallia, stabbing her through the chest with two lightsabers. Mace Windu arrived at this moment, and using the Force, smashed a STAP on top of him. Grievous was knocked unconscious and was later rescued by his bodyguards.

During the Second Battle of Xagobah, Grievous confronted the young bounty hunter Boba Fett, who was on his first mission. After the Republic attacked Wat Tambor's fortress, Fett had taken advantage of the chaos to try and collect on a bounty placed on Tambor's head by Jabba the Hutt. He infiltrated the fortress and attacked Tambor, who shot back at him, and called Grievous to help him. The general left the main battle and entered Tambor's private room, where he attacked Fett, despite the young clone pretending to be Durge with the help of a holoshroud. He easily defeated the boy and almost killed him. Fett survived only by faking death. Grievous then retreated from the planet with Wat Tambor and Asajj Ventress before the Republic's clone troopers burst through the citadel.



Grievous' hatred of Nute Gunray intensified after several incidents. First, the Viceroy insisted on going back to Cato Neimoidia to recover some of his valuables, allowing Republic forces to follow him to a meeting place, where Grievous was forced to kill the clone pilots pursuing the Neimoidian's ship to save Gunray, though he would have preferred to let them capture Gunray. Later, Gunray lost his mechno-chair, allowing the Republic to learn that Grievous intended to capture Belderone. Grievous led the Confederate fleet into an ambush by a group of Republic warships there before ultimately fleeing. Though he killed 27 Jedi in the ensuing battle, Grievous was furious at someone for allowing the Republic to learn of this, and he suspected Gunray was to blame. He confronted Gunray, who revealed that the Republic must have found his mechno-chair after he had left it on Cato Neimoidia by accident. Grievous threatened him, but stopped short of actually physically harming him.

Endgame
"Crush them! Make them suffer!"

- Grievous

After learning that the Jedi were onto him, thanks in part to the recordings discovered from the mechno-chair, Darth Sidious, who was actually Chancellor Palpatine, informed Grievous that he had a special mission&mdash;to invade Coruscant and kidnap the Chancellor. Grievous was on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, leading the Separatists in the opening stages of the battle there, but left for Coruscant. Grievous led his flagship, the Invisible Hand, and the rest of the Confederacy starfleet in an all out attack on the Republic capital, using secret hyperspace routes given to him by Sidious. During the battle, Grievous ordered diversionary tactics, such as sending suicide squadrons of Vulture droids to cause chaos in the city and to terrorize the citizens. While a massive battle raged between Confederate and Republic forces, Grievous led an assault on 500 Republica with intelligence provided by Darth Sidious. The Jedi commanded by Shaak Ti took Palpatine to a secret bunker aboard a maglev train; however, Grievous and his MagnaGuards caught up with them and dueled the Jedi Mace Windu and Kit Fisto on top of the train. The duel ended with Grievous being pushed off the train. However, he was saved by a hijacked LAAT/i, unknown to the Jedi. He then reached the hardened bunker with six of his MagnaGuards in tow, and accessed it using codes provided by Darth Sidious. Cutting a bloody path of destruction through the bunker, he made his way to Palpatine. He quickly killed four of Palpatine's Jedi protectors: Roron Corobb, Foul Moudama, Roth-Del Masona, and B'ink Utrila, as well as a numerous amount of clone troopers before kidnapping the Chancellor. He then dueled Shaak Ti and spared her to inform the Jedi that the Chancellor was gone.

As he fled, Jedi Master Mace Windu Force crushed the plates covering Grievous's internal organ sac, injuring his lungs and aggravating the General's already irritating wheezing and coughing problems; a result of his organic form not taking well to his cyborg implants. This crippling blow injured Grievous for the rest of his life&mdash;which would not be long.

Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, fresh from a victory on Tythe, got wind of what had happened and set off to rescue Palpatine. The Jedi boarded the Invisible Hand after fighting their way through the massive battle and killed Darth Tyranus and escaped with the Supreme Chancellor, but the rescue mission was an elaborate trap. The two Jedi were soon entrapped in an Ray shield, and then surrounded by droids who brought them before Grievous in Invisible Hand's bridge.



As Grievous gloated, the Jedi managed to un-cuff themselves while R2-D2 provided a distraction, and defeated Grievous's IG-100 MagnaGuards. The general then shattered the front window of the cruiser, in order to escape the deteriorating ship and kill the two Jedi. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and the Chancellor managed to stay in the ship, but Grievous was sucked into space. Protected from exposure to vacuum, the general could survive in space.

He used a grappling hook installed in his arm to latch onto the hull of the ship and fled in one of the escape pods, which was later picked up by a Lucrehulk-class battleship. Realizing that his objective had failed, the General and his fleet retreated. The general then managed to board his Sheathipede-class transport shuttle and head for secured planet Utapau in the Outer Rim Territories, where the Separatist Council was hiding. He had previously used Utapau as a base as early as 21 BBY, but unknown to him, he was being monitored there by Clone Intelligence units. They had noticed him doing a number of things there, like meeting potential allies, such as the Regent of Garis, and asking Dooku why he wasn't getting the quadrillions of battle droids that he had been promised. Now that Grievous was there again, the Null-class Advanced Recon Commandos N-6 and N-10 reported this in and Grievous's presence on Utapau became known by the Republic.

With Count Dooku's death, Grievous was now the Separatist head of state. Under the direct order of Dooku's master, Darth Sidious, he relocated the council to the planet Mustafar while he stayed on Utapau, waiting for the arrival of Obi-Wan Kenobi, having been warned by Sidious. Though Nute Gunray and the other council members doubted Grievous's ability to lead, they followed his orders, leaving just moments before Kenobi's arrival.

Death
"Back away! I will deal with this Jedi slime myself!"

- General Grievous

After the Republic received word that Grievous was hiding on Utapau, General Kenobi was sent to kill him. Still weak and injured from his encounter with Windu, he immediately revealed his four arms&mdash;something he usually kept a secret&mdash;in an all-out assault. During the duel, Grievous's craven reflexes kicked in, and his inability to penetrate Kenobi's Form III defense made his offense grow sloppy. Kenobi took advantage of this and altered the angle of his parries to cut Grievous's wrists. Grievous lost two of his hands to Kenobi before Clone Marshal Commander Cody and the 212th Attack Battalion arrived, ambushing the droid army. Fighting broke out all over Pau City between droid and clone forces.



Grievous fled on his wheel bike, surprised and angered by Obi-Wan's ability to fight and gain an advantage in a one on one battle. Pursued by Obi-Wan on a varactyl named Boga, after a prolonged chase and running duel, the two crashed onto Grievous' private landing dock where the Soulless One' waited. As they fought hand-to-hand, Grievous showed that he was the better melee fighter, making use of his mechanical body and superior strength. However Kenobi managed to rip open Grievous' previously damaged chest plates, revealing the synth-skin gut-sack containing Grievous' remaining organs. After striking him a few times, Grievous tossed Kenobi off the platform, but the Jedi managed to catch hold of the edge.

Grievous, deprived of most of his arsenal, picked up a electrostaff and charged at Kenobi, raising the staff to finish him off. But before he could deliver the killing blow, Kenobi used the Force to summon Grievous's personal blaster to his outstretched hand. He fired five shots through the gap in Grievous' chestplate into the general's gut-sack. The oils preserving Grievous' organs burst into flames, incinerating his remaining biological components and killing the famed cyborg.

His mechanical corpse lay on the Utapaun landing platform, never again to hold any organic material or life. General Grievous, despite having defeated several Jedi at once, was bested by a single foe&mdash;Obi-Wan Kenobi.

A partial rebirth
"Am I more in fact than just a droid? Am I alive, and perhaps&hellip; even the reincarnation of Grievous?"

- N-K Necrosis's thoughts

Following the Declaration of a New Order, clone troopers recovered Grievous's body, transporting it and his captured starfighter to one of Emperor Palpatine's secret storehouses on Utapau. There it would remain to collect dust for years, until the cyberneticist Nycolai Kinesworthy used the body of the Confederacy's greatest general for the N-K Project, to create the highly advanced droid N-K Necrosis.

This war droid enjoyed a brief life in the Myyydril Caverns on Kashyyyk, before being destroyed by an anonymous group of spacers. The combatants looted the droid's remains, taking its weaponry and anything else they deemed valuable.

Legacy
The cyborg's face mask ended up on the Invisible Market after N-K Necrosis's demise, where it would be purchased for its artistic properties by a high-ranking Imperial admiral&mdash;purported to be none other than Grand Admiral Thrawn. As of 25 ABY, Grievous had entered into his species' religious pantheon, and was worshiped as a deity on Kalee. He was remembered by the citizens of the wider galaxy as a brilliant commander, and a merciless enemy.

Personality and traits


"All in all, a most unpleasant fellow."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

Grievous was a cold, merciless being. Even as a Kaleesh warlord, he showed no mercy when the Huk, the enemies of the Kaleesh, attempted to capture Kalee. Grievous fought boldly, pushing them back, showing no remorse. When the Jedi interfered, Grievous formed a great hatred for the Jedi and the Republic. After his shuttle crash, Grievous was bitter and felt cheated, having been robbed a warrior's death. When he was offered to become a cyborg, he took the offer, as he had come to see flesh as weak, though he remained secretly humiliated by his resurrection as a cyborg. Though he did not know it, his anger and hatred had been increased even more by the Geonosians. After the crash, Grievous also began to compare himself with the Jedi. Determined to become equal with them, he constantly submitted himself to improvements to boost himself up to their caliber.

On the battlefield, he was an excellent commander and an ingenious tactician, and fought hard to bring down the Republic. However, despite these traits, or rather because of them, he was arrogant. His hubris eventually led to his death at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Some said that Grievous was also a coward, as he frequently fled when he was losing a battle.

Though Grievous was brutal and merciless toward his enemies, he did show empathy. Grievous cared for his people, especially Ronderu lij Kummar. The two were very close, and after her death, Grievous became distraught. His anger only intensified, and he became desperate to crush the Huk. Though he remarried, none of his wives could replace Kummar. Even after his reconstruction as a cyborg, Grievous was not completely emotionless. He even went so far as to display pity toward a Jedi, allowing the Jedi in question to score two minor hits on him before killing her, and when he did, he took care not to mutilate her body.

Grievous despised Nute Gunray, although the feeling was mutual. Their relationship had an extremely rocky start when Gunray, who was used to treating droids as utterly disposable and insignificant, treated Grievous as just another in a long line of command drones. Grievous, with his humiliation due to his resurrection as a cyborg, absolutely hated being referred to as a droid. The general saw Gunray as foolish, weak and arrogant, and often secretly hoped that either Dooku or Sidious would give him leave to kill him. Gunray, in turn, continued to hold the view that Grievous was a servant droid, and even displayed the audacity to stand up to the General and question his orders, though he frequently backed down when the cyborg started resorting to death threats.

Grievous also held Battle Droids in contempt. Finding them weak and stupid, and going so far as to call them useless. They often became frequent targets for his frustration, though his lack of concern for them was critisized by Dooku.

Talents and abilities
Grievous was a cold and calculating general, a brilliant strategist, and a powerful fighter. He was known as one of the greatest Jedi hunters and a collector of the lightsabers of fallen Jedi, which he used in battle with his foes.



Grievous hunted Jedi for sport, keeping the four lightsabers of his most powerful victims within his cloak as trophies of his superiority. Taught all seven main forms of lightsaber combat by Dooku, he developed a personalized unorthodox fighting form, involving prolonged lightning-fast flurries and power moves designed to overwhelm his enemies. However, his lack of finesse frustrated Dooku. His mechanical enhancements gave him an edge in close-quarter combat, enabling him to hold his own against several Jedi all at once.

Grievous killed dozens of Jedi, from Padawans to Masters, including Roron Corobb, Adi Gallia, Foul Moudama, Pablo-Jill, and Nahdar Vebb, collecting the lightsabers of those he killed. Aside from the Jedi he personally defeated, Grievous's collection was known to include lightsabers belonging to at least five beings he did not personally kill&mdash; K'Kruhk, Sifo-Dyas, and Darth Zannah.

Grievous was a skilled tactician and a brutal enemy. He utilized chaotic battle strategies that appeared random, but in fact were carefully calculated to encourage misconceptions. Grievous singled out civilian targets during battles, forcing his enemies to choose between winning the battle or saving lives, a tactic long practiced by the Sith. However, he was arrogant, and sometimes underestimated his enemies. Nonetheless, the cyborg was considered a military genius by many, though some argued that he lacked subtlety. He also had an advantage in that he could directly control his droid armies using the two antennae built into his head, giving him extra control in battle.

Each of his six-fingered arms could split lengthwise in two, thus giving Grievous the ability to use four limbs, each armed with a lightsaber. Able to spin these arms in a whirling storm of deadly lacerating light that few could withstand, he was also able to spin his torso and his wrists in a 360 degree motion at extremely fast speeds continuously, effectively becoming a lightsaber buzz-saw. In addition to this, Grievous had repulsorlifts built into his legs, allowing his feet to double as hands. This would allow him to wield six lightsabers all at once. Grievous tried to keep the nature of his arms a secret, only revealing them when he felt the opponent he was fighting would not live to tell the tale.

The cyborg was also able to survive in the vacuum of space. Grievous was also known as a gifted pilot. Mace Windu believed that he was "almost as adept at handling a ship as he was a lightsaber".

Development and design


Grievous was developed for Revenge of the Sith as a powerful new villain on the side of the Confederacy. Director George Lucas's initial instructions for the Art Department were simply to create "a droid general". From there, the artists developed many different looks for Grievous, some purely mechanical and others more organic. The initial design for Grievous was done by Warren Fu. That sketch was refined and made into a foot-tall maquette sculpture, which was later made in to a computer-generated model by Industrial Light & Magic. The character's name comes from the word grievous, which means "causing great sorrow".

The model of General Grievous was one of the most complicated models ever created by Industrial Light and Magic. Grievous is completely computer-generated imagery in the movie. On set, Duncan Young read the lines off-screen, while Kyle Rowling wore a bluescreen or a greenscreen suit to act out the fights with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

In the audio commentary for Clone Wars Volume II, it is revealed that the inspiration for Grievous's fighting style came from more exotic martial arts such as capoeira.

The outer color of Grievous's cloak clearly underwent last-minute change. Promotional art, many comic books, the animated series, and action figures all featured a bright white cape with a red interior right up to the release of Revenge of the Sith. The film, however, depicts Grievous's cape to have a very dark gray outer side. It is noteworthy that even two shots of the finished film itself still retain the uncorrected garment: first, when the distant Grievous is stalking along the exterior of Invisible Hand and drops into an escape pod; and then in the following shot in which the General descends through the hatch with his cloak billowing out behind his head. A recent Hasbro action figure, essentially a repainted reissue of an earlier sculpt, has featured the "corrected" dark gray cloak.



The reason for Grievous's cough actually is more complicated than the initial reason planned during production of the film. During the production of Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas came into work one day with a cough, and decided that it would be amusing to record it and use it on the new Episode III villain. In-universe, the initial reason for the cough was that cybernetic technology wasn't advanced enough at the time. Another reason was given in Clone Wars Volume II, where Mace Windu crushed Grievous's chest with the Force, and Grievous coughs after the attack. The reason for the cough is a source of great confusion for fans, as either the cough or Grievous's damaged chest were presented in several different Expanded Universe sources. A likely solution is that the cough was always present, as a result of the cybernetic technology used to recreate Grievous being not advanced enough. It then simply grew worse and more frequent, culminating with Windu's strike, which intensified Grievous's cough even more. In the 2007 History Channel program Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed, Grievous animator Rob Coleman revealed that Lucas and his team originally viewed Grievous' cough as a result of a prototype technology that the Vader suit would be the perfection of. The cough also foreshadows the trademark breathing of Darth Vader.

Portrayal
Grievous first appeared in "Chapter 20" of the Star Wars: Clone Wars series, which is set in 21 BBY. It was revealed in that episode (and later mentioned in Labyrinth of Evil) that an unknown foe had been killing Jedi since the beginning of the war, and the Jedi were at a loss as to who was responsible. The series developers originally planned to have Anakin and Obi-Wan fight a regenerated Durge, but George Lucas told them he wanted to introduce a new villain, General Grievous. His backstory was later expanded through novels, comics, and the short stories like The Story of General Grievous: Lord of War and Unknown Soldier: The Story of General Grievous by Abel G. Peña.

In the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series, the character was voiced by John William DiMaggio ("Chapter 20") and Richard McGonagle (Chapters 21-25); for Revenge of the Sith, the Revenge of the Sith video game, and Star Wars: Battlefront II, he was voiced by Matthew Wood. With Matthew Wood's portrayal, Grievous has a stereotypical heavy Russian accent. The character was initially going to be voiced in Revenge of the Sith by actor Gary Oldman; however, he later learned that he was unable to do so, as the movie was being made outside of the Screen Actors Guild, of which he is a member. Grievous is voiced by Matthew Wood in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series, unlike the original series.

Contradictions


Various contradictions surround Grievous, particularly between the novel Labyrinth of Evil and Clone Wars, and the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series and the rest of established canon. In Labyrinth of Evil, Grievous kills the Jedi defending Palpatine quickly, while in the cartoon, he goes on a long chase before finally killing them and capturing the Chancellor. The main contradictions between the animated show and the novel are in regard to the Battle of Coruscant, such as how long the chase lasted. This article attempts to keep it ambiguous when possible, and uses the Labyrinth of Evil description while trying to avoid as many contradictions as possible.

The 2008 show The Clone Wars, as previously mentioned, contradicts much of canon that takes place in or around the Clone Wars. Things pertinent to Grievous include his backstory, as The Clone Wars claims that Grievous wanted to become a Jedi, although he wasn't Force-sensitive, and so chose to have surgery on himself to become a Jedi.

Also, throughout the Expanded Universe, especially in Clone Wars, Grievous is depicted as being a skilled warrior, killing very talented Jedi easily, while some fans gripe that in the movie he was too easily defeated by Obi-Wan.

In the episode Lair of Grievous, Grievous says that he chose to have himself modified. Dave Filoni, supervising director of the series, says that George Lucas had his own ideas about Grievous's backstory, and that Grievous wanted to become a Jedi, but was unable to because he was not Force-sensitive. However, Filoni has stated that he does not wish to eliminate the shuttle crash story, because he respects the Expanded Universe. Thus, it is left somewhat ambiguous, as it could be interpreted that Grievous simply chose to accept San Hill's offer to become a cyborg rather than die, instead of him choosing to undergo surgery when he was a completely healthy Kaleesh simply so he could be like a Jedi.

Certain Target products support the claim that Grievous chose to undergo surgery so that he would gain Jedi powers.

In the CGI The Clone Wars TV show, Grievous is depicted as having four fingers, instead of six. Likewise, in the Clone Wars animated show, he had five fingers for most of the series.

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * LEGO Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick
 * General Grievous Halloween audiocast
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Great Golden C-3PO Hunt
 * Star Wars: Battlefront: Renegade Squadron
 * Star Wars Miniatures: The Clone Wars ad