Grievous/Legends

General Grievous is a villain from the Star Wars fictional universe. He is the leader of the robotic armies of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and an enemy of the Jedi. His physical body is a fusion of a powerful robotic structure and an organic brain, nervous system and sensory organs. Another interesting fact about him is that he nearly killed Boba Fett in a Republic siege of Xagoba.

He first appeared in the last episode of season two of the Cartoon Network Star Wars microseries, Clone Wars. He is known as a Jedi hunter and collector of felled Jedis' lightsabers which he uses in battle. In that episode, he is seen dispatching a team of six Jedi Knights in an aggressive display of lightsaber mastery (which he learned from Count Dooku) during the Battle of Hypori. The General displays amazing dexterity and can fight with four lightsabers simultaneously by dividing his mechanical forearms which each employ two opposable thumbs. Grievous travels with two droid bodyguards, who wield electrified rods used for defense against most weapons (including lightsabers). It will be the first time Star Wars fans have seen any type of device that can withstand the cutting power of a lightsaber (except for another lightsaber, of course).

He is slated to be one of the primary villains in the upcoming Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It is said that George Lucas has had his team of computer animators hard at work trying to "lock in" the exact look of the new villain, since he is supposed to be 100% CGI. Many new details of his face and body have been overhauled in order for Lucas to be perfectly content.

The clearest picture yet of the General (aboard his flagship during the opening battle of Revenge of the Sith) can be found at the official Star Wars site.

Background information
Grievous was originally an organic being of the alien race known as the Kaleesh, which was at war with an enemy species known as the Huk. The Republic supported the Huk, and so the Kaleesh ended up getting support from the Separatists and in particular the Intergalactic Banking Clan.

San Hill, leader of the Banking Clan, noticed that Grievous was both a brilliant strategist and an excellent fighter, and asked Grievous to lead the Separatist troops throughout the galaxy against the Republic. Grievous refused, saying that he only cared about the war between the Kaleesh and the Huk, not about the larger conflict between the Separatists and the Republic. Hill brought this to the attention of Count Dooku and Darth Sidious, but despite their offers Grievous still refused to lead the Separatist army.

So Sidious, Dooku, and Hill arranged to have a bomb planted on the shuttle Grievous was on, and blame it on the Republic. Grievous was mortally wounded in the crash, and his unconscious, dying body was taken to the planet Geonosis, where his brain, eyes, and other organs were implanted into a cyborg body forged by Geonosians that would compliment his natural reflexes.

It might have been his rage at the Republic, who he believed caused his shuttle crash; it might have been a feeling of gratitude toward the Separatists for saving his life and giving him a new and improved body; or it might have been the modification that Banking Clan scientists made to his brain while he was unconscious; but when Grievous woke up in his new body he was more than willing to take up Hill's offer and agree to lead the Separatist troops throughout the galaxy against the Republic.