Grievous/Legends

"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 Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies of the Confederacy of Independent Systems for most of the Clone Wars. Born a Kaleesh, Grievous was transformed into a cyborg after a shuttle crash, a fusion of a Krath war droid's powerful robotic structure and his own organic brain, nervous system, and sensory organs. Brilliant golden eyes with black, reptilian pupils and red-raw sockets were the only visible reminder of his organic past as a Kaleesh warlord.

After being recruited by San Hill, he became head of the CIS military. As the commander, Grievous led the Confederacy to victory over the Republic in dozens of battles. He personally ordered the death of billions, causing citizens across the galaxy to fear the merciless general. Grievous was trained personally by Darth Tyranus in lightsaber combat, and was extremely skilled in the art. He killed over two dozen Jedi in saber combat, earning him the designation of the most notorious Jedi killer since Durge.

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 brutal 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, and 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), the two warriors became legends, twin demigods blessed by their ancestors. Together they mercilessly cut through the Huk invaders in countless campaigns.

Unfortunately, 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 her for 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.

Becoming a cyborg
"Who am I? I am the future!"

- Grievous to Asajj Ventress

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&mdash;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 "collection 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 due 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's 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's 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's 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 gutsack 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 the 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.

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 leaders 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
"Jedi, you are surrounded, your armies decimated. Make peace with the Force now, for this is your final hour. But know that I, General Grievous, am not completely without mercy. I shall grant you a warrior's death. Prepare."

- Grievous to Ki-Adi Mundi and several other Jedi during the Battle of Hypori

Grievous's first public appearance against the Republic was at the Battle of Hypori, where he obliterated an entire Republic task force and defeated 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 comprised of ARC Captain Fordo and several other Advanced Recon Commandos, sent to Hypori by Obi-Wan Kenobi, arrived before Grievous could kill them. 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 onboard 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. Soon the entire Republic would tremble before Grievous's brutality and strategic prowess, and his skill at killing Jedi Knights would have the HoloNet News networks dubbing 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.

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 terrifying invasion of Duro by the General's forces

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 galaxy-wide 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.



For three years, he led the CIS to victories on Banvhar Station, Nadiem, Togoria, and Vandos, among numerous other battles.

In 20 BBY, Grievous baited the Republic forces to Vandos by kidnapping Ambassador Quiyyen. Jedi Knights T'chooka D'oon and Jmmaar were killed in the assault, though the Republic was successful in securing Quiyyen. This led to T'chooka's Padawan, Flynn Kybo, gathering a group of other Jedi, including B'dard Tone and Codi Ty, to take revenge on Grievous, something the Jedi High Council hardly approved of. They eventually tracked him down to the moon Belsus in the Anoat system and attacked. While Codi rescued a group of younglings Grievous had captured, B'dard and Flynn dueled with Grievous himself; both of them were killed. Seven months later, on Boz Pity, Grievous easily killed Soon Baytes and then, with a lot more effort, Jedi Council member Adi Gallia.

During the Second Battle of Xagobah, Grievous dueled young Boba Fett and almost killed him. Fett survived only by faking death. The General hastily retreated from the planet with Wat Tambor before the Republic's clone troopers burst through the citadel.

Grievous's 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, he learned that Gunray had lost his mechno-chair, allowing the Republic to learn that Grievous intended to capture Belderone. Grievous was forced to lead the fleet against 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.

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 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. Palpatine had been taken to a secret bunker onboard a mag-lev train;. Grievous and his MagnaGuards 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 (including Roron Corobb and Foul Moudama) and numerous clones before kidnapping the Chancellor.



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 energy shield, and then surrounded by droids who brought them before Grievous in Invisible Hand's bridge.

As Grievous gloated, the Jedi managed to uncuff 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. Proteced 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 the recently secured planet Utapau in the Outer Rim Territories, where the Separatist Council was hiding.

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 of Grievous
"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.

"Army or not, you must realize you&hellip; are&hellip; doomed." "Oh, I don't think so."

- Grievous and Obi-Wan Kenobi

Grievous fled on his wheel bike, presumably not wishing to continue with the battle, 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, Kenobi caught up with Grievous on his private landing dock, hidden in a small, nearby sinkhole. As they fought hand-to-hand, Grievous showed that he was the better hand-to-hand fighter, making use of his mechanical body and superior strength. 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, snatched his electrostaff and headed for Obi-Wan, intending to finish him off. However Grievous's armor had been damaged by Mace Windu earlier, and Kenobi exploited this by pulling one of his chest plates, revealing the synth-skin gutsack holding Grievous's remaining organs. Using the Force, Kenobi called Grievous's blaster to his outstretched hand. He fired five shots into the general's gutsack just as Grievous was about to reach him. Grievous's flammable organic components burst into flames, charring him from the inside out.

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. The facemask ended up on the Invisible Market, 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.

Legacy
As of the New Republic era, Grievous had entered into his species's religious pantheon, and was worshiped as a deity on Kalee.

Personality and traits
"I'll fight you with one, no two, no&hellip; three arms tied behind my back!"

- General Grievous

Grievous was a cold, merciless being. Even as a Kaleesh, 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. After the Jedi interfered, Grievous grew a great hatred for the Jedi and the Republic. After his shuttle crashed, Grievous was bitter and felt cheated, as he had been robbed a warrior's death. Eventually, when he was offered to become a cyborg, he took the offer. Though he did not know, his anger and hatred had been increased even more by the Geonosians, making him a horrifying enemy. He was an excellent commander, and fought hard to bring down the Republic. However, despite these traits, he was arrogant, which led to his death at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Some said that Grievous was also a coward, as he frequently ran when he was losing a battle.

Though normally brutal, he did show a softer side. Grievous cared for his people, especially Ronderu lij Kummar. The two were very close, and after her death, Grievous became distraught. He took a new name, Grievous, abandoning his old name of Qymaen jai Sheelal to show that he was in mourning.

Talents and abilities
"Unstoppable. He is unstoppable."

- K'Kruhk

Grievous was a cold and calculating general, a brilliant strategist, and a cunning military mastermind. 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 designed to overwhelm his enemies. His mechanical enhancements gave him an edge in close-quarter combat, enabling him to hold his own against several Jedi all at once. However, after his encounter with Mace Windu, his abilities would downplay, perhaps due to loss of confidence in or damage to his cybernetic systems.

Grievous killed dozens of Jedi, from Padawans to Masters, including Roron Corobb, Adi Gallia, Foul Moudama, and Pablo-Jill, 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;Aayla Secura, Shaak Ti, K'Kruhk, Sifo-Dyas, and Darth Zannah.



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 buzzsaw. 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, although he had never been documented doing this.

Generally, he only engaged opponents he deemed worthy, preferring to let his electrostaff-wielding bodyguard droids do most of the fighting, although he would occasionally fight "unworthy" enemies if the situation demanded it.

Battle tactics and strategies
"If you are to succeed in combat against the best of the Jedi, you must have fear, surprise, and intimidation on your side. For if any one element is lacking, it would be best for you to retreat. You must break them before you engage them. Only then will you ensure victory, and have your trophy."

- Count Dooku to Grievous



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 often underestimated his enemies, or was let down by his own troops. He suffered several surprising losses due to these factors.

Grievous 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.

Development and design


Grievous was developed for Revenge of the Sith as a powerful new villain on the side of the Confederacy. The initial instructions that director George Lucas gave the Art Department were very open-ended: "a droid general." From that vague direction, the artists developed a lot of explorations, some purely mechanical and some not, for Grievous's look. The initial design for Grievous was done by Warren Fu. That initial sketch was refined and made into a foot-tall maquette sculpture. That was further refined when it was made in to a realistic computer-generated model by Industrial Light & Magic. This was one of the most complicated models ever created by Industrial Light and Magic, with many parts of differing physical qualities. 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. The promotional art, comic books (until very close to the film's release date), animated series, and especially action figures, including the LEGO mini-figure, 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, indeed, almost black outer side (with a hint of green in some sequences, but this may be due to reflection). It is noteworthy that even two shots of the finished film itself still retain the uncorrected white-colored 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.

In his first appearance in "Chapter 20", Grievous can be seen holding a lightsaber with one foot while he is holding two other lightsabers in both of his hands. The reason that he is not using all of his arms is probably because the idea of Grievous having four arms was not created yet. In addition, Grievous has only five fingers per palm in the series.

The reason for Grievous's cough actually is more complicated than the initial reason planned during production of the last Star Wars 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. Palpatine had in fact injured Grievous and reconstructed him as an experiment with this technology. The cough also foreshadows the trademark breathing of Darth Vader. 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 at least three different Expanded Universe sources (Deep Forest, Star Wars: Obsession, and Clone Wars Volume II, all three of which take place prior to Revenge of the Sith). The cough simply grew worse and more frequent, culminating with Windu's strike, which led to the almost constant violent coughing we see in the final film. In the 2007 History Channel program Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed, Grievous animator Rob Coleman revealed that Lucas and team originally viewed Grievous' cough as a result of a prototype technology that the Vader suit would be the perfection of.

Portrayal
In the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series, the character was voiced by John Di Maggio (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.

On October 25th, 2005, the official Star Wars website released a Halloween-themed audiocast featuring Star Wars sound effects along with new dialogue specifically recorded for the file by Matthew Wood. The file is only available to Hyperspace members. Wood, in character as Grievous, "apologized" to Orli Shoshan for killing off her character of Shaak Ti in a deleted scene from Revenge of the Sith at Star Wars Weekends 2006, saying "Orli, now you can hear what I never got to say to your pretty face. I am very sorry I had to kill you. It wasn't my idea. George wrote the scene, so what was I to do? I am dreadfully sorry. Can you please forgive me?"

Lucasfilms officials have said that Grievous will be voiced by Mathew Wood in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series, unlike the original series. It has also be said that he will be proprtioned differently, being a little bigger. He will also cough, even before his chest is damaged by Mace Windu.

Contradictions
Contradictions exist between Labyrinth of Evil and Clone Wars. In the novel, 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. Also, throughout the EU, especially in Clone Wars, Grievous is depicted as being a fantastic warrior, killing very skilled Jedi easily, while some fans gripe that in the movie he was too easily defeated by Obi-Wan. However, Clone Wars tends to exaggerate, and an explanation for him losing to Obi-Wan could be that he was overconfident, plus that Obi-Wan was described as one of the best lightsaber users in the galaxy, the master of a classic defense form.

Trivia

 * In the non-canon game LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game, Grievous kills Commander Cody, and, in turn, Kenobi kills Grievous using Cody's blaster.


 * Though the canonicity of a pronunciation is debatable, Abel G. Peña, author of the article revealing Grievous's birth name, has stated that he considers the name to be pronounced "Ky-Main High She-lall".


 * In Episode III, Grievous uses four lightsabers, two of which were the same hilt design as Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, even though they still possessed theirs. The other two are supposed to be those of Adi Gallia, who was killed during the Battle of Boz Pity, and Ki-Adi-Mundi, although he was still alive.


 * In Labyrinth of Evil, it is stated that Grievous had repulsorlifts on his legs. If this is so, then Grievous could actually use six lightsabers; however, there is no canonical evidence of him utilizing this technique.




 * While Grievous can deflect blaster bolts (as shown in Star Wars: General Grievous), some fans have debated over whether Grievous could actually do so, saying that Force-sensitivity was required to block blaster bolts with a lightsaber. Since the comic is canon, it is now known that Grievous can do such a thing without being Force-sensitive, although he may be less able to deflect blaster fire towards enemies as Force-users do. This ability can also be seen in Star Wars: Battlefront II and may be from his enhanced reflexes and eye implants.


 * In Clone Campaigns, the expansion pack to Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, General Sev'rance Tann is identified as the leader of the Separatist Droid Army; thus, it seems to have been established that Grievous inherited the position of Supreme Commander from Tann upon her death on Krant at the hand of Jedi Master Echuu Shen-Jon. However, no source has given Tann the title.


 * The death of Grievous in Revenge of the Sith seems to mirror the death of Terak in Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. Both are villains with deep stereotypical villain voices who are caught off guard and attacked in the chest region, after which they die by burning up from the inside.


 * An upcoming action figure of a pre-cyborg Grievous has a removal mask that, when taken off, shows Grievous's original face.