Nute Gunray/Legends

"You have done well, Viceroy. When my new apprentice, Darth Vader, arrives, he will take care of you."

- Darth Sidious

Nute Gunray was a Neimoidian from the planet Neimoidia. He was Viceroy of the Trade Federation before and during the Clone Wars, and became a member of the Separatist Council during that conflict.

Early political career (44 BBY–33 BBY)
"As I told you once before, Viceroy, you serve yourselves best when you serve me."

- Darth Sidious

By 44 BBY, Gunray served as the Trade Federation's Senator in the Galactic Senate. He implored the Senate to intervene when the Stark Commercial Combine began attacking Federation transports carrying precious bacta. Gunray demanded the Federation be allowed to increase its Droid Army, though he secretly met with Senator Ranulph Tarkin to bring a more decisive end to the Combine. Gunray was pressured into giving Tarkin the name of the planet on which a conference was to be held between Iaco Stark and Republic representatives.



Gunray himself joined the negotiating team on Troiken, though Stark, aware of Tarkin's plan to attack his forces, sabotaged the Senator's fleet. Aggressive negotiations broke out on Troiken, during which Gunray commanded his battle droid bodyguards to open fire&mdash;without specifying the enemy. Jedi Master Tyvokka was gunned down by Nute's droids, though the cowardly Neimoidian demanded the surviving Jedi help him to his ship.

Unfortunately for Nute, his transport was destroyed, forcing him to tag along with the Jedi as they battled Stark's forces in what became known as the Stark Hyperspace War. Nute Gunray was eventually escorted back to Coruscant in the company of Senator Finis Valorum prior to Stark's defeat. Despite this encounter, Gunray would afterwords deny he had ever seen Jedi in action.

For his dubious role in the conflict, Nute Gunray became Viceroy of the Trade Federation, though he was still restrained by the Trade Federation Directorate. Gunray was contacted by the mysterious Darth Sidious, who promised to make Gunray the sole leader of the Federation, and was also able to grant his forces a much larger and improved battle droid army. These new battle droids figured in Sidious's plan to rid Gunray of the Directorate: during a summit on Eriadu, the droids unexpectedly opened fire on the Directorate, killing all but the absent Nute and the new Federation Senator, Lott Dod. Under the guidance of the enigmatic Darth Sidious, Gunray filled the remaining positions with his associates, Daultay Dofine, Rune Haako, and Hath Monchar, making the Trade Federation a Neimoidian monopoly.

Blockade of Naboo (32 BBY)


Under Sidious' command, Gunray blockaded Naboo from trade routes. Chancellor Valorum dispatched two ambassadors to talk with Gunray aboard Profiteer, and he was shocked to discover that the ambassadors were in fact Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. He swiftly contacted Sidious, at which point Daultay Dofine dared express his concerns about the plan. Sidious ordered that Dofine be kept out of his sight, and Gunray chased him off the bridge.

Sidious told Gunray to kill the Jedi, and Gunray destroyed their ship and released toxic gas into the conference chamber. However, the two Jedi managed to escape, but Gunray decided to keep this secret from Sidious for the time being, as he was concerned over the legality of actually invading Naboo. Sidious assured the Viceroy he would "make it legal". Gunray was smug when talking with Queen Amidala, telling her he knew nothing of any ambassadors. Amidala told Gunray he had gone too far before ending the transmission. Gunray ordered OOM-9 to find the Jedi, but the droids were unable to. The invasion was well-organized, and the planet fully conquered within the day. Viceroy Gunray and Rune Haako entered Theed with their troops and Gunray received word from OOM-9 that they had captured the Queen. Gunray proudly proclaimed victory and marched into the palace.

The outraged Governor Sio Bibble demanded how Gunray planned to explain this invasion to the Senate, to which Gunray replied he and the Queen would a sign a treaty to legitamise the occupation. The Queen quickly told the Viceroy she would not cooperate, but Gunray was not impressed, informing her that the suffering of her people would persuade her to see his point of view. The Queen was marched off to a detention camp, but on her way there was rescued by Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, who managed to get her off the planet and past the blockade. Gunray was now forced to inform Sidious, who not pleased with latest events, he revealed his apprentice to the shocked Gunray and Haako, and told him that Darth Maul would find the Queen.

Gunray quickly secured the planet, with only the Gungan "primitives" eluding him. He set himself up in the Queen's palace in Theed, taunting Governor Bibble from his mechno-chair. He soon grew tired of the Governor's protests however, and informed him he would die much sooner than his people. After unsuccessfully pleading for intervention by the Old Republic Senate, Amidala called for the expulsion of Chancellor Valorum, who was unable to outtalk Senator Lott Dod. Naboo's own Senator Palpatine was elected the new Chancellor.

Despite this, the Senate still would not take action, and Amidala returned home, vowing to liberate her planet or die trying. Gunray reported his success to Sidious, who was pleased, he told the Viceroy that his apprentice Darth Maul was coming to join him. As Maul arrived, Gunray detected the Queen's ship and tracked it to the swamps on Naboo. He reported this to Sidious, who was wary of the Queen's more aggressive motives. Gunray next detected the assembled army of Gungans in the swamps and dispatched OOM-9 and a large majority of his army to crush the them, dismissing them as primitives.



Gunray remained in the throne room with Rune Haako and Darth Maul. Maul left to deal with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn as Gunray became concerned the battle was taking place far too close to him. The Queen was able to work her way into the palace, before being captured and marched before the Viceroy. Gunray ordered her to sign the treaty, but the Queen's disguised handmaiden appeared, confusing him. He ordered his droids after the decoy, believing her to be the real Queen. This was Gunray's fatal mistake. The real Queen used the distraction to take out Gunray's guards and held him and Haako at gunpoint. Gunray was not worried at first, because he thought his droids would break through to rescue him. But his hopes of rescue were shattered when a young boy named Anakin Skywalker destroyed the Droid Control Ship, deactivating his army. With his forces destroyed and Darth Maul killed, Gunray and Haako were captured and sent back to Coruscant to stand trial for their crimes.

Clone Wars (22 BBY–19 BBY)
After four trials in the Republic Supreme Court, Gunray still maintained control over the Trade Federation, although several of his associates were killed in the Battle of Naboo. Sidious then instructed Gunray to join the Confederacy of Independent Systems, which wished to secede from the Galactic Republic. But Nute Gunray would only agree to join the CIS under one condition: the death of Senator Amidala as revenge for his capture ten years prior, which the the leader of the CIS, Count Dooku had promised him and hired a bounty hunter named Jango Fett to kill the senator with bounty hunter companion, Zam Wesell. Much to Gunray's dismay, they both failed when Jango would not let Zam give up her client and shot her with a sabre-dart.



Of course, this proved to be worthwhile to when Obi-Wan Kenobi tracked Jango to the Droid Factory on Geonosis and forced Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker to rescue him, getting themselves captured in the process. Gunray saw his chance for revenge and was delighted when the former Queen was sentenced to death and he would be there to witness it. To his fury, she escaped once again with the aid of over 200 Jedi and the Republic's new clone army, and Gunray was barely able to flee for his own life in the melee between battle droids, Jedi Knights, and clone troopers. The Clone Wars had begun, and Gunray suddenly found himself preparing his droids for war. Gunray was a businessperson, not a commander, but there was no way he could break his ties with the CIS without losing his life.

In 19 BBY, near the end of the Clone Wars, Gunray was trapped in his personal redoubt on the Neimoidian purse world of Cato Neimoidia, quickly being advanced upon by clones and Jedi Generals Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Though the Republic forces managed to penetrate the fort, Nute was able to narrowly escape to a Lucrehulk-class battleship above the planet.

Gunray also found himself at odds with droid leader General Grievous. When the two first met on Geonosis, Gunray viewed Grievous as just another disposable droid, which nearly caused an infuriated Grievous to kill him on several occasions. However, Darth Sidious's insistence that Gunray remain unharmed largely shielded him from the General's wrath.

Gunray doubted the General's abilities, particularly after the defeat at Coruscant, the loss of Count Dooku, and the escape of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Gunray brought up his concerns in front of the Separatist Council, but was dismissed by Grievous.



Shortly after, he and the rest of the Separatist Council were moved to Mustafar by General Grievous at Darth Sidious' command, where Sidious later sent his new apprentice, Darth Vader, to kill them as part of his master plan. Nute Gunray unsuccessfully pleaded for his life before the new Sith Lord. He attempted to reason with Vader, pleading, "The war is over! Lord Sidious promised us peace... we only want...!" He never finished his final sentence, as he was cut down by the Dark Lord's lightsaber.

His body was recovered and taken to Cato Neimoidia, where the Neimoidians considered him a hero and martyr, and placed him in an elaborate tomb. He was succeeded as Viceroy of the Trade Federation by fellow Neimoidian Sentepeth Findos, who soon handed over the Federation's assets to the new Galactic Empire.

Controversy
Gunray was alleged to be having an affair with Lora Besh, who, in 22 BBY, just before the start of the Clone Wars, released an unauthorized biography of Gunray entitled Gunray On Top. It spent at least several months as a top-ten bestseller, and its sales may have increased due to its subject's involvement in the war.

Behind the scenes

 * Nute Gunray was played by Silas Carson.


 * Aside from Darth Sidious, Gunray is the only villain to appear in all three films of the prequel trilogy.


 * There are many theories regarding the origin of Gunray's name. One is that it is a reference to Newt Gingrich and Ronald Reagan. Another theory suggests that Gunray's first name is a pun on the word newt and his last name is a reversal of ray gun, which sounds like "Reagan". Yet another holds that his first name is a pun on Knute Rockne, one of Reagan's more famous roles when he was an actor.


 * A scene cut from Attack of the Clones sees Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala put on trial by the Geonosians. Nute Gunray watches from the side and, when the trial goes on too long, he shouts to Poggle the Lesser: "Get on with it, carry out the sentence, I want to see her suffer!". Poggle the Lesser quickly wraps up the trial and orders his guards to take Anakin and Padmé to the execution arena.


 * A scene in the script for Revenge of the Sith, which did not make it into the film but was probably filmed, featured Nute Gunray and Rune Haako hiding under a table as Darth Vader slaughtered the Separatist Council. Rune Haako panicked and tried to escape, but was quickly killed by Vader (seen in the film), but Nute stayed hidden. As Vader killed the others, Nute quickly got out from under the table and activated the control panel for the doors to open. As the others council members were all killed, droidekas entered and opened fire on Vader. Gunray watched as the smoke cleared and Vader was gone. Vader then dropped down from the roof and destroyed the droids, jumping over to Gunray. This explains why Nute is so surprised when Vader jumps at him&mdash;he thought he had been killed off by the droids.


 * In the Revenge of the Sith video game, Viceroy Gunray escaped Darth Vader in the Separatists control center on Mustafar and attempted to flee in his ship, which was destroyed by the vengeful former Jedi and then plunged into the lava river beneath.


 * In the Revenge of the Sith novelization, Vader responded to Gunray's remark of the promise of peace that Sidious actually said they would be "left in pieces" (though Gunray's body was relatively intact when compared to the other Separatist leaders).


 * Some fans have gained the belief that Gunray became Head of State of the Confederacy when Grievous was killed on Utapau. While Gunray appears to have become the spokesman for the Separatist Council, the time between the Battle of Utapau and the Mission to Mustafar was too brief for there to be any formal election.


 * In the The Phantom Menace video game, you can kill Gunray while playing as Queen Amidala in her final level.

Appearances

 * The Stark Hyperspace War
 * Darth Maul: Saboteur
 * Cloak of Deception
 * Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace


 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Boba Fett: The Fight to Survive
 * CIS Shadowfeed Dispatch 14:9:15 Edition in Star Wars Insider 71
 * Deep Forest
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Reversal of Fortune
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Republic HoloNet News Special Inaugural Edition 16:5:24 in Star Wars Insider 84