General Grievous
General Grievous is a villain from the fictional Star Wars universe. He is a general of the Confederacy of Independent Systems' army and an enemy of the Republic, especially the Jedi. Though a member of the Kaleesh species, his physical body is a fusion of a powerful robotic structure and an organic brain, nervous system and sensory organs. Although he was voiced by John Di Maggio in Chapter 20 of Cartoon Network's animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars, Richard McGonagle took over the voicing of Grievous for the rest of the micro series, and Matthew Wood voiced Grievous in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Dark Horse began publishing a four-part comic book about General Grievous in March 2005.
Grievous was a Jedi hunter, killing them for sport and collecting their lightsabers to proudly place around his belt as trophies and use them in his battles. The general possessed strategic ingenuity and flawless cunning. He was a general in the Separatist army and became their leader upon Count Dooku's death at the hands of Anakin Skywalker.
Biography
Transformation into a Cyborg
General Grievous was originally a warlord on his native planet Kalee. The Kaleesh had conquered the land and seas of their planet, and displayed pride in their superiority by wearing masks cobbled from the bones of their most feared animals, the mumuu and the karabbac. Warrior families would hand down these bone masks from generation to generation, adorning it with fresh blood prior to every hunt or campaign. Grievous wore such a mask in his battle against the hated Huks, a neighboring species. He weathered countless close calls as he unleashed destruction on Kalee's enemies. He would return home to his wives and offspring, bloodied but emboldened, ready for battle again. During the war with the rival Huk worlds, the Galactic Republic was called in to settle the dispute. Because the Huk were rich in resources compared to the barren Kalee world, the Republic sided with the Huk and sent several Jedi Knights to attack the Kaleesh. Grievous and his armies were defeated and his homeworld was left in ruins, to suffer in poverty and shame of defeat. Grievous lost everything he held dear.
During these extremely harsh times, Grievous became a security chief for the Intergalactic Banking Clan. San Hill, leader of the Clan, noticed that Grievous was both a brilliant strategist and an excellent fighter, and mentioned him to the Confederacy of Independent Systems leader, Count Dooku (secretly the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus). Led by Darth Sidious, the Sith Lords conspired to draw Grievous into the Separatist army. Despite Hill's generous offers, however, Grievous refused to lead the Separatist army.
Sidious, Dooku, and Hill arranged to have a bomb planted on the shuttle Grievous was on, and to blame it on the Republic. Grievous was mortally wounded in the crash, and his shattered, dying body was taken to the planet Geonosis, where his brain, eyes, and other organs were to be implanted into a droid body forged by Geonosians that would complement his natural reflexes. After much resistance from the still-conscious Grievous - a warrior of his status, he felt, should die on the field of battle - the metamorphosis was complete.
The suit, built of Durasteel and armorplast-plated Duranium, was built to resemble Krath war droids. His armorplast plates were strong enough to stop a bolt from even a starfighter's laser cannon. Each human-sized hand had six fingers (three to each half-arm when they split to produce four arms.) His hands and feet were capable of magnetizing when needed, allowing him to grip on to surfaces with incredible strength, even in zero gravity. His internal organs were enclosed in a layer of pressurized synthflesh with an organic fluid to prevent the organs from being damaged by bacteria and harmful germs, and also to maintain a suitable temperature to keep his organs alive and functional. His organs were nourished by artificial arteries keeping them alive with blood, allowing him to survive in a vacuum (in space, for example), an advantage he would display in escaping from Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker on his flagship. This transformation, when combined with his ruthlessness as a warlord, turned him into an unfeeling, implacable killing machine, incapable of any emotion other than blood-lust.
It might have been his rage at the Republic, whom 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.
The Clone Wars
During the Clone Wars, Grievous was particularly enraged toward the Jedi; he made it a personal goal to hunt them down and humiliate each Jedi by defeating them and keeping their lightsabers as his personal prize. Grievous resented the Jedi having sided with the Huk in the earlier wars. In addition, he had a personal friendship with the bounty hunter Jango Fett, who had then been killed by Jedi Master Mace Windu with a lightsaber. It was believed that Grievous briefly adopted Boba Fett after Jango's death. Somewhat surprisingly (at least when considering his proficiency with the lightsaber), the General was completely incapable of using the Force. Despite this handicap, General Grievous was trained in lightsaber combat by Count Dooku.
General Grievous was active from the very beginning of the Clone Wars. His existence was kept secret, however, since no Jedi had escaped his presence alive. He was inside the catacombs of Geonosis during the Battle of Geonosis. It was there that he would kill his first Jedi, although the exact numbers are not known. It was his rear-guard actions in the catacombs against the clone troopers and Jedi that would allow Nute Gunray and the rest of the Separatist leadership to flee with their lives. The Jedi who would later find their dead comrades thought that perhaps it was a wild animal that had torn them apart. They found it unusual, however, that all of the dead Jedi were missing their lightsabers.
Grievous first revealed himself to the public when he attacked and dispatched a team of seven Jedi Knights in an aggressive display of lightsaber mastery during the Battle of Hypori. With his mechanical enhancements and attributes combined, he was able to battle five Jedi single-handedly. Only three survived the onslaught. The Separatist general began the swift conquest of several Outer Rim planets, much to the dismay of the Republic. Time after time, Grievous's ability to strategize attack plans with brilliant ideas and destructive results made the Republic's star fleet commanders fearful of his abilities and talents. Grevious led the assault into the inner systems, along the Corellian Trade Spine, conquering world after world.
The General would go on to best many other Jedi Knights and Masters with his swordsmanship. Jedi Master Mace Windu battled General Grievous and the match ended in a stalemate with neither fighter being able to best the other. Additionally, sophisticated computers slaved to Grievous' organic brain assisted the cyborg in perceiving patterns within his opponents attacks. They would then suggest that Grievous alter his stance and posture, along with the angle of his parries, ripostes, and thrusts accordingly. However, within Grievous's impenetrable defense, Windu was able to discern a single shatterpoint: a lack of appreciation for simplicity. It was for this reason that Windu supported the decision to allow Obi-Wan Kenobi, with his direct and no-frills saber style, to apprehend the General on Utapau.
Battle of Coruscant
Grievous would later resurface during the Battle of Coruscant, using the first wave of his attack as a distraction to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine (who, unbeknownst to Grievous, was Sidious in civilian disguise.) In the process, he killed Foul Moudama and Roron Corobb. Grievous responded that if the Republic fleet did not allow his forces to escape, he would execute Palpatine live on the HoloNet. Subsequently, Grievous was cornered by Kenobi and Skywalker onboard his vessel, the Invisible Hand. Skywalker and Kenobi were taken prisoner, but escaped and fought Grievous. Once the cyborg realized that he was cornered, he escaped by smashing a window on the ship and allowing himself to be blown into space.
MagnaGuards
Grievous traveled with his droid bodyguards, a set of IG-100 series MagnaGuards, who wielded electrified staffs made of phrik alloy, which could defend against most weapons, including lightsabers. This is the first time Star Wars fans have seen a non-lightsaber weapon that can withstand the cutting power of a lightsaber itself in a movie.(An expanded universe substance called cortosis also exists.
Fighting Technique
His movements imitated those of a monkey in his stance and general lightsaber control. Not only could he produce an extra pair of arms, he could use his feet as hands. His "unorthodox" moves mainly involved misdirection with his many limbs, something only the most experienced and talented of Jedi could withstand. Much of this misdirection involved releasing a lightsaber from one limb and catching it with another, sometimes even while two other limbs are performing the same trick. The opponent, focused on limbs which are no longer dangerous, was then struck. Even a Jedi which masters defensive lightsaber training could only last so long against the General's unpredictable style of combat. The most impressive display unfortunatly only occured in the cartoon series Clone Wars though, so many of the General's Unorthodox movements were never actually seen in the film thus making the General somewhat of a flawed character to those who have simply watched the film and nothing else. Also in Clone Wars, it is much easier to see the anxiety that Grievous creates for the Jedi both with his stealth tactics and relentless, unforgiving technique with a lightsaber.
Weakness
Grievous' only recognized weakness in battle was his inability to use the Force. He was not a Jedi or a Sith, and he had no Force wielding capabilities. His flawless lightsaber style was only enhanced by his experienced fighting techniques, the computers connected to his brain, and the lightsaber fighting styles taught by Count Dooku. (Also known as Darth Tyranus.) Unlike the Jedi Knights and Masters, Grievous could not use the Force to guide his lightsaber or to foresee potential dangers in a duel.
In the Battle of Hypori, when General Grievous first appeared, the Knights facing Grievous started to use the Force to project items towards the General, as to avoid lightsaber combat. Grievous had no problem deflecting and dodging the projectiles, but the Knights noticed the General's lack of response; he wasn't trying to hit them from afar with projectiles. He couldn't use the Force.
During the Battle of Coruscant, Grievous was assigned the task of capturing Chancellor Palpatine (Grievous was unaware of the Chancellor's true identity). The General overcame three Jedi protectors to escape with the future Emperor. However, when he tried to escape, Jedi Master Mace Windu dealt him a crippling blow by using the Force to crush his chest. This attack generally slowed Grievous down, making him wheeze and cough and gasp for air almost all the time. This is the explanation of General Grievous' wheezing when he first appeared in Revenge of the Sith, and his frequent coughing while talking.
When Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi was sent to defeat Grievous, he was confident in his capabilities. He uses his expert defense and the Force as offense, eventually winning.
Under the control of Dooku
He commanded the droid armies of the Separatists under Darth Sidious and Count Dooku. During the Clone Wars, Grievous was continuously hunted by the Republic and the Jedi. He managed to narrowly escape each time. When Grievous fought in the Clone Wars, he suffered no defeats during any battle in which he was directly in command of the CIS, or tampered with by Emperor Palpatine.
Relationship with Viceroy Gunray
It was Viceroy Nute Gunray who paid the highly expensive cost of rebuilding General Grievous, and when the Viceroy was first introduced to the General he made the mistake of treating him as another droid. Grievous deeply resented being treated as just another droid, and disliked Viceroy Gunray instantly. Gunray opposed Grievous shortly before the Battle of Utapau, making note of the escape of Chancellor Palpatine and the death of Count Dooku, and informing the General that he doubted his ability to keep the council safe. Grievous quickly dismissed Gunray and sent him to Mustafar. Ironically, Gunray outlived Grievous (though not by long).
The Invisible Hand, General Grievous' command ship, was originally intended for Viceroy Nute Gunray's use. However Count Dooku gave the ship to Grievous. This added further to the hostility between the general and viceroy.
Battle of Utapau
While on the planet of Utapau, Grievous was ambushed by Kenobi. Faced with another true master of the Force, Grievous showed his four arms and engaged Kenobi in combat, but Grievous lost two of his hands and fled the battle after a Republic ambush. Kenobi pursued Grievous as scores of battle droids and clone troopers clashed around them. The pair engaged in a desperate bout of hand-to-hand combat as Grievous attempted to flee in his personal wheel-bike transport. Grievous, being made mostly of hard steel, fared more than well against Kenobi's humanoid body. However, Kenobi was able to expose Grievous' internal organs by opening his breastplates and destroyed them with a few well placed blaster bolts, killing him.
Fall of the Republic
Unbeknownst to Kenobi, however, Palpatine had instituted Order 66, a command to all clone troopers to turn on and kill their Jedi generals. The resulting purge ended in the murders of essentially all Jedi, (except notably Kenobi, Yoda, and Echuu Shen-Jon, and Skywalker's transformation into Darth Vader). All of this may not have been possible without Grievous' efforts on behalf of the Separatists, which Palpatine used as an excuse to gradually solidify his power and erase nearly all opposition.
On His Failure to Defeat Obi Wan
Fans of Grievous on several Star Wars Forums, including theforce.net, have theorized that Grievous loss to Obi Wan Kenobi can be attributed, not to Obi Wan's supposed superior lightsaber combat skills, but to the fact that Grievous was rendered practically immobile after his encounter with Mace Windu on Coruscant. General Grievous, as featured in the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoons, is a highly mobile killer, who relies on his quick reflexes and agility to overcome opponents. This theory holds weight when observing General Grievous performance in the Clone Wars series, in which he easily outmaneuvers and destroys all Republic Forces with relative ease, with Grievous performance in Revenge of the Sith, in which General Grievous relies on overwhelming Obi Wan with 4 lightsabers. He has lost his ability to jump several feet in the air, his ability to run, and his wet hacking cough seems to have negatively affected his lightning quick reflexes. By the time Obi-Wan is facing Grievous, he is no longer the stealthy, agile opponent able to rely on two lightsabers that he was against previous Jedi opponents. Instead, Grievous attempts to quickly finish Obi-Wan with four lightsabers and, as a result, loses two arms in combat. However, most fans disregard this theory on that the events of the Clone Wars, while canon, heavily exaggerate the protagonists performance i.e. Mace Windu destroying a Seismic Tank using a tactic that involves jumping 50 feet into the air and Grievous being able to reach the ceiling of an Acclamator Class Assault Ship from the ground (at least 100 feet).
On the other hand, in the novelization of the film, Mace Windu himself indicates that Obi-Wan Kenobi, with his absolute mastery of Form III Soresu combat, is the ideal agent to be sent to destroy Grievous. Soresu combat was developed in the age of blasters. It is a purely defensive form that places a Jedi at the eye of a storm. At its best, a pure dedication to Form III could yield not only perfect deflection of blasters, but to lightsabres as well. A barrage of lightsabre attacks from a non-force user like Grievous even in close quarters proved ineffective for the droid general. Despite Grievous' combat training mechanisms which serve to overcome an opponents patterns, Kenobi's perfect mastery of Soresu renders this skill obsolete since the simple function of Soresu is to deflect attacks of all sorts. This is stated by Windu himself in the novel. Windu for all his power is a master of Vapaad. And though its an aggresive and less predictable style, it does not safeguard the Master who uses it in a defensive sense. Grievous' training chips found a way through this weakness. Windu also concludes that Grievous for all of his power, lacks an appreciation for simplicity. Obi-Wan need do no more than wait out Grievous attacks with his Form III and use some sweeping Form IV Ataru slashes when a hole in his offense is available.
Of course when Obi-Wan confronts the General without his lightsaber, he is at a physical disadvantage to Grievous. But he still manages to overcome him through his usual brand of cunning.
Grievous as a tool of the Sith
Like Darth Maul and Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus before him, Grievous' appearance and role in the film is meant to foreshadow a characteristic of Palpatine/Darth Sidious' greatest apprentice, Darth Vader. Darth Maul was a ruthless, fearsome enforcer of Sidious' will, sent to keep control over the Sith Lord's other servants, and kill any who resisted him. Dooku was a fallen Jedi with a commanding presence who became a Sith, and Grievous was both a cyborg and a brilliant, remorseless military strategist. He was the most feared and most powerful Jedi Hunter the galaxy had yet seen, slaying dozens of Jedi with ease in three short years. At his peak, he was among the best lightsaber duelists in the galaxy. His chronic cough, and inability to use the Force, also foreshadow Vader's shortcomings: Vader's injuries rob him of much of his Force ability, due to his mutilated body, and force him to use an artificial respirator. (It is for these reasons that Palpatine later seeks Luke as a replacement.) Grievous was also part of what Sidious calls the "ideal Jedi trap". Sidious' manipulation of the cyborg and Obi-Wan was useful to him in several ways. Grievous was irrestible bait, and only Obi-Wan was fit to face him and destroy him. This allowed Sidious to kill three birds with one stone: eliminating Grievous, getting Obi-Wan out of his way, and leaving Anakin vulnerable.
Kills and Trophies
Grievous's Recorded Jedi Kills
- Daakman Barrek on Hypori
- Soon Bayts on Boz Pity
- Roron Corobb on Coruscant
- T'chooka D'oon on Vandos
- Adi Gallia on Boz Pity
- Sha'a Gi on Hypori
- Jmmaar on Vandos
- Foul Moudama on Coruscant
- Nystammall on Tovarskl
- Puroth on Tovarskl
- Tarr Seirr on Hypori
Grievous's Lightsabers
A gift from Count Dooku
Obtained during the Republic extraction from Vandos
Obtained on the fire plains of Tovarskl
Obtained at the Boz Pity altercation
Obtained at the Battle of Hypori
Obtained at the Battle of Coruscant
- Foul Moudama
- Roron Corobb
- Shaak Ti
- Anakin Skywalker (temporarily)
- Obi-Wan Kenobi (temporarily)
Behind the Scenes
General Grievous was developed for Episode III 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, some not, for General Grievous' look.
The initial design for General 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 and Magic. This was one of the most complicated models ever created by ILM, with many parts of differing physical qualities. General 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.
Movie Notes
- Gary Oldman originally agreed to provide the voice for Grievous in the film. He later pulled out because the film featured actors who are not part of the Screen Actors Guild, of which Oldman is a member. This report is disputed by Matthew Wood, who provided the final voice. He claims that Oldman is a friend of producer Rick McCallum, and agreed to submit a voice audition, but that his involvement never went beyond that. Lucas never officially offered him the role.
- Grievous has an asthmatic cough for most of the movie's length. This was meant to let the audience know he was more than simply a droid. However, because previous portrayals of Grievous did not have this weakness, the second season of the animated Clone Wars series showed that the cough was due to an injury sustained during his encounter with Master Windu, who Force-crushed his torso. Lucas, who was suffering a bout of bronchitis during an early filming stage, supplied the sound effect.
Trivia
- When introduced to the general public in Chapter 20 of the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series, Grievous has five fingers, while in Revenge of the Sith, he has six (two are opposable thumbs so that he may hold four lightsabers when he separates his arms). This happened because Lucas used the cartoon to introduce Grievous sometime before his actions in Revenge of the Sith were fully worked out, and so he did not know what Grievous would be doing or that he would have four arms. In the second season of the cartoon he still has five fingers(with two thumbs) when using two arms but has six when they split into four. It may be possible that Grievous merely had a new finger added before Revenge of the Sith.
- Chronologically, his appearance in Chapter 25 of the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series comes immediately before Episode III and it explains why, in Revenge of the Sith, he constantly wheezes when he talks.
- Matthew Wood reprised his role as General Grievous for the October 2005 Halloween audiocast from the official Star Wars website. It is available only to Hyperspace members of the official website, however. Wood again reprised his role in the video game of Revenge of the Sith
- Matthew Wood again reprised his role as Grievous for the game Battlefront II.
- General Grievous can be rebuilt and fought by the players of Star Wars: Galaxies in a quest in the Revenge of the Wookies Expansion.
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