Origin
General Grievous was originally a Kaleesh warlord named Qymaen jai Sheelal. Grievous was born during the Huk War where the insectoid Huks were trying to conquer the reptilian Kaleesh for slave labor. Grievous’ father decided to focus his son’s rage by teaching him to use a slug throwing rifle. At the tender age of 8 years old, Grievous had already amassed forty kills under his belt and by twenty-two he had so many kills he was considered a demigod by his people.
Once he had matured, Grievous had a prophetic dream where he hunted and killed a dangerous beast using a sword. This dream had such an effect that Grievous went into the forest to enact the dream. Once he found the creature, he encountered a Kaleesh woman who had already slain the beast. This woman, Ronderu lij Kummar, would become Grievous’ partner and his treasured love.
The pair became known as living incarnations of a Kaleesh story. The two would go on to form a strong bond and teach each other their fighting techniques. This was the first time Grievous learned to use a sword. Their battles and accumulated kills during the Huk war would have both recognized has demigods and saviors of their people.
During one encounter, Ronderu and Grievous were separated and she fell to the Huk’s barbed spears. She would meet her end in a watery grave. Grievous was sent into a long spiraling depression. He pleaded with his gods to just see her one more time, though his prayers were never answered. Grievous would take his anger out on the invaders. He went on to expel every Huk from his planet as well as taking several wives and having thirty children though nothing would snap him out of his depression. This his when Grievous left behind his birth name Qymaen jai Sheelal and became General Grievous.
Creation
General Grievous was created by George Lucas for his last Star Wars live action film Revenge of the Sith. However General Grievous’s first on-screen appearance was in the 2003 Star Wars the Clone Wars mini-series in chapter 20. As a powerful new villain on the side of the Separatists. Lucas’s own instructions to the art department at Lucasfilm to conceptualise a ‘droid general’ allowed them great flexibility with formulating Grievous’ design.
Major Story Arcs
Beginning of the Cyborg
Once Grievous started to eliminate the Huk worlds in revenge for his partners death, the Huk turned to the Galactic Republic for aid. When the Republic were convinced to side with the Huk, the Kaleesh would face economic hardship from embargo’s, Republic sanctions, and hefty fines. Hundreds of thousands of Kaleesh died during this time of poverty. San Hill of the Intergalactic Banking Clan saw an amazing opportunity. He proposed to alleviate some of the Kaleesh’s debts and, in exchange, Grievous would work for him as an enforcer of the Banking Clan. At first, Grievous was reluctant; not wanting to serve as a thug for the Banking Clan. Despite this, he longed for the thrill of battle and wanted to help his people so he agreed. Prohibited from bringing his Kaleesh elite, Grievous was given command of the Banking Clan’s Battle Droids instead.
Grievous was appalled with their performance and demanded intelligent and more capable droids. Count Dooku commissioned the IG-100 Battle Droids and had each of them programmed with the skills of a 100 swordsmen. Grievous, again, was in great dismay at their skills and had them programmed according to his own movements and techniques. The Banking Clan kept their promise and took over the debt of the Kaleesh with Grievous becoming an efficient enforcer.
Through his actions, The Banking Clan seized overdue payments on Ord Mantell and received Phult Designing Systems as a subsidiary. Soon Grievous heard of the Huk desecrating a Kaleesh ceremonial ground and the Republic’s inaction against this atrocity. Grievous returned to his Kaleesh warriors and abandoned his contract with the Banking Clan to take up arms against the Huk. San Hill was disappointed in this and even considered assassinating the Kaleesh warlord though he feared his reprisal if he survived the attempt. San Hill conspired with Poggle the Lesser of Geonosis, Count Dooku, and Darth Sidious to force Grievous into permanent servitude. Grievous and his elites boarded a ship named Martyr and headed for the Huk homeworld.
Unknown to the group, the Separatists had placed an ion bomb on board. The bomb went off destroying the ship and killing the Kaleesh elites though Grievous’ pod was rigged to allow him to escape. The hit into the water did a great deal of damage to Grievous’ body and Dooku had to use the force to keep him from going into cardiac arrest. Dooku then used the Force to blame the Republic for the bombing and put this thought into Grievous’ mind.
His body was destroyed and the Seperatists told him he would never recover properly. Grievous once again proved his strength and appeared to prove them wrong though San Hill had the medical droids actually cause more injuries to prove their point. San Hill and Dooku offered to rebuild the Kaleesh if he would renew his contract with the Separatist army. Desiring vengeance Grievous agreed on the condition that his mind would not be tampered with.
The Banking Clan and Geonosian scientists composed a duranium body in the same design as the Krath War Droid complete with LX-44 robotic legs and Dooku used the blood of a frozen Jedi, Master Sifo-Dyas to fuel the process. Unknown to Grievous, the scientists did tamper with his mind by removing certain harmful memories and increasing his rage factors. They altered his eyes to have extended vision and work in the vacuum of space and also increased his equilibrium to allow him to use his new body. After the procedure, Grievous wanted to see if he had become force sensitive thanks to Sifo-Dyas’ blood though this wasn’t the case. San Hill presented Grievous to Dooku who was taken aback by the final result. Dooku proclaimed him the General of the Droid Armies and presented him with his first lightsaber, the blade of Sifo-Dyas.
Grievous then proceeded to slaughter his IG-100 droids and declare that he was not a droid in protest. General Grievous was born in full. The basis for his transformation would be used on Darth Vader and his armor after his due with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Grievous would initially see Palpatine and Dooku as only necessary political leadership and became particularly angry at Nute Gunray and openly questioned his leadership.
Clone Wars Begin
Grievous’ first known action during the Clone Wars was during the battle of Geonosis where he was released into the catacombs to guard VIP members of the Separatists from Jedi and Clone companies. The general, despite being unarmed, left none alive to tell of him and greatly impressed Dooku who began to teach him the seven styles of Lightsaber combat. Grievous learned quickly and became the single best fighter under Dooku’s command though he still viewed him below his other protege Ser’vance Tann, a Chiss Dark Jedi and an expert military strategist.
Battle of Hypori
Grievous would not come out on his own until Tann was killed one month later. Grievous would make his first public appearance during the battle of Hypori. Leading a large detachment against a Republic task force, Grievous decimated most of the forces. Grievous personally killed Jedi Master Daakman Barrek and destroyed his holo-communicator while he was communicating with Master Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.
The remaining Jedi took refuge in a shot down Acclamator-Class Assault Ship. When the B2 Battle Droids within Grievous’s detachment surrounded the craft, Grievous ordered them to stand down and offered the Jedi a warriors’ death. Tarr Seirr, Sha’a Gi, Aayla Secura, K’Kruhk, Shaak Ti, and Ki Adi Mundi prepared themselves for a fight. Gi, being a padawan, rushed out of the safety of the wreckage, ending up being crushed to death by Grievous. After a display, Grievous leapt away in a nigh-imperceptible blur and hid in the shadows atop the vessel. Grievous, like a hound stalking its prey and patiently waiting for them to walk within range, descended from the wreckage and engaged the Jedi in a duel using two lightsabers. After an extended exchange, Grievous dodged out of the way of a force push from Ki Adi Mundi, leaping to a wall and rebounding off of it into the middle of the Jedi, sending dust and debris into the air. K’kruhk, having been isolated, charged into the cloud of smoke only to be sliced by Grievous, left in a death-like state.
Shaak Ti proceeded to use the force to hurl rocks and debris at the general as a distraction for Tarr Seirr, who rushed at Grievous from behind him while he was occupied with the oncoming objects. Grievous used his mechanical feet to grab Tarr Seirr and slammed him into the ground, breaking his neck. After grabbing Aayla as well, he flung them into the wreckage, incapacitating Aayla Secura and killing Tarr Seirr. Grievous was then able to focus on the remaining Jedi Council Masters. By making good use of his cybernetic enhancements, Grievous spun his wrists, effectively turning his lightsabers into buzzsaws. After deterring the two from attacking for a moment, Grievous launched a powerful kick at Mundi, sending him flying into a tower of rubble as the entire structure collapsed on the Jedi Master. Having successfully separated them, Grievous attacked Shaak Ti with a steady offensive and, though she barely managed to save herself from getting killed with the force, she was knocked out after being thrown into rubble. Master Mundi got up from out of the rubble and tried to retrieve his lightsaber from under Grievous though the general grabbed it with his foot and used that along with the two he was already holding. Mundi then used the Force to grab one of the lightsabers on Grievous’ belt and once again engaged the General in a duel, putting up a valiant last stand. Mundi, Shakk Ti, and Aayla were saved only by the timely arrival of the ARC Troopers lead by Captain Fordo and their Republic Gunship which held off Grievous long enough for them to escape though they failed to even hit Grievous a single time.
Mission To Trenchant Space Station
Six months into the Clone Wars, Dooku needed to appoint a commander for the entire Droid Army. His three potential candidates were General Grievous, Durge, and Asajj Ventress.
Dooku then pitted the Bounty Hunter and Dark Jedi against Grievous. As the three hadn’t met before this, Dooku set them up in the perfect situation for Grievous to prove if he was truly worthy of the title as Supreme Commander of the Separatist Droid Army. Durge and Asajj Ventress were ordered by Dooku to search Trenchant space station for an unknown intruder.
As the duo entered the station, they were ambushed by Grievous. Grievous threw Durge across the room as Ventress searched for him. Using stealth and the environment to his advantage, Grievous gets the drop on Ventress, knocking her off a platform below the ceiling. Durge grabbed Ventress and flew around with his jetpack, eventually landing as Grievous revealed himself from the shadows, staring them down. Durge, successfully stunning Grievous with his electric bolars, provided an opening for Ventress to slam her sabers into Grievous’ back. Durge took this opportunity to sprint towards the general, punching him through several objects. As Grievous gathered himself, re-igniting both of his lightsabers, he dashed towards Durge, gutting and decapitating him, effectively removing him from the battle. Ventress then engaged him in a duel, getting the better of him and force pushing him into a tube of liquid. Grievous then gets up and almost chokes Ventress to death.
With Ventress and Durge having lost the battle despite a combined effort, resulting in both of them suffering great injury, Grievous was promoted to commander of the entire army. Dooku then placed Durge and Ventress into bacta tanks for the sake of their recovery since he didn’t want to lose his most skilled agents. Grievous became the premiere Jedi killer in the ranks of the Separatists, surpassing even the death count amassed by Durge in his near 2000 year track record and even being nicknamed the “Knight Slayer” across the holonet.
The Malevolence & The Battle of Abregado
Grievous, as Supreme Commander, took the Malevolence, a Subjugator-class heavy cruiser, as his personal flagship. This experimental warship possessed twin ion cannons that made it capable of disabling the power systems of entire fleets, rendering them completely defenseless against the dreadnought’s follow up offensive of mass-turbolaser fire. Under Grievous’ command, the Malevolence went on to surprise a number of Republic fleets and left no survivors to tell the tale. Despite this, rumours within the Republic began to spread of a new mystery Separatist weapon due to these disappearances. Growing fearful, the Jedi Council sent Jedi Master Plo Koon to investigate the situation.
After a few successful raids Grievous stationed himself in the Abregado system with Count Dooku. Having tracked the Malevolence to the Abregado system, Plo Koon launched an attack with a small fleet of 3 Venator-class Star Destroyers, unknowing of the ship’s deadly weapon. In response to this, Count Dooku, commanding the ship alongside General Grievous, ordered the Malevolence to jam all communications – interrupting Koon as he attempted to relay his position to Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, stationed in the nearby Bith system. Grievous had the Malevolence fire its ion cannons causing the ships to lose all power to their deflector shields, engines and weaponry. The Venators were then mowed down by a barrage of turbolaser fire. Plo Koon and several squads of clones were able to escape within some of the escape pods though this didn’t mean they were safe.
Dooku dispatched a contingency of droids called ‘Pod Hunters’ which probed the area and destroyed any stragglers. Luckily for Master Plo Koon, Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano rescued him and the clones that were with him. Having destroyed the pod hunter crew of droids, the Jedi alerted Grievous and Dooku to their presence. They were able to escape the ion cannons by jumping into hyperspace and Dooku deemed their mission a failure since the Republic would soon learn of their prized weapon, the Malevolence. His trust in Grievous’ ability was somewhat shaken by this and he soon left the vessel. Grievous then used the ship to ambush a Republic medical fleet, destroying everything including the escape pods this time. Dooku then contacted General Grievous with a new target for the ship within the Ryndellia star system.
The Kaliida Nebula was the home to a secret Republic medical facility that had at least 60,000 wounded clone troopers and Jedi. Grievous then had to plot an elaborate route around an asteroid field to get within firing distance of the facility, delaying the assault. Once the Republic learned of this incoming attack, they dispatched Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano who flew with Shadow Squadron using Y-wing Fighters.
Grievous was able to destroy most of the squadron by sending out a force of vulture droids to engage Shadow Squadron and firing his ion cannons though Anakin was able to damage the cannons enough that they had caused a chain reaction inside the ship, disabling most of the weapon systems and even its hyperdrive. Grievous then tried to retreat though his escape route but was blocked by three Venator-class Star Destroyers commanded by Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Luckily for the General, Senator Amidala coincidentally appeared in her shuttle while on a trip to Naboo. Grievous seized this opportunity and she was taken aboard the Malevolence as a hostage. Amidala would go on to overload the engines of her ship and use the distraction and as an attempt on Grievous’ life. Amidala was able to get a message to the outside Republic forces while aboard.
Desperately wanting to save his wife, Anakin Skywalker boarded the ship in the Twilight along with Obi-Wan Kenobi and R2-D2. After successfully securing the Senator, the groups arrived on different sides of a large chasm, which was dominated by an extensive rail jet system that allowed travel across the length of the massive ship.
With Amidala having overheard earlier that the hyperdrive was nearly repaired, the trio came up with a new plan: Skywalker instructed R2-D2 to find C-3PO, while Kenobi would ensure that the Malevolence‘s hyperdrive stayed offline. Kenobi’s objective was overheard by Grievous, however, who was monitoring all internal communications – and Kenobi was intercepted by Grievous at the ship’s engineering station, with the cyborg general accompanied by Droidekas, B2 Super Battle Droids and B1 Battle Droids. This would be the first time the two soon-to-be rivals ever meet, with Grievous landing behind Kenobi, greeting him with the famous “hello there” that would eventually be reciprocated by Kenobi in the Battle of Utapau.
As a battle between them ensued, Kenobi used his force abilities to safely leap behind the destroyer droids, sheltering in their blind spots before pushing the droidekas into the other droids, allowing him the chance to escape. The Jedi would then be pursued by Grievous, and the two partook in a brief duel in the midst of the rail car system – with Grievous knocking Obi-Wan on the ground after a charged strike. After their brief exchange, Kenobi made his escape on a passing rail jet.
Meanwhile, Amidala and Skywalker made for the bridge having dealt with several super battle droids that were pursuing them. Anakin destroyed any remains of the droid crew on the ship before hot-wiring the vessel and leaving a “surprise” for Grievous. Amidala cleaned up the destroyed droids and the pair exited the bridge just as another droid crew arrived. On the way down, the two encountered C-3PO and R2-D2, and the four of them made for the Twilight. Kenobi arrived at the airlock just as the group enter, and they quickly detached from the doomed Malevolence.
With the rescue team clear, the Republic cruisers opened fire on the Malevolence once more – and Grievous jumped into his personal starfighter the Soulless One in hot pursuit of the Jedi. Grievous was contacted whilst chasing the Twilight and informed that the hyperdrive had been repaired. Grievous, delighted, ordered the ship to retreat to the secret Separatist base in ‘Sector Four’. However the navi-computer malfunctioned and directed the Malevolence towards the nearby Dead Moon of Antar – courtesy of Skywalker’s earlier work. The droid pilots were unable to reset the navi-computer, sending the heavy cruiser crashing into the Dead Moon of Antar. Grievous fled the system, cutting off a transmission with Dooku in the process out of frustration. The threat of the Malevolence was no more.
Battle of Bothawui
Grievous’ next target was the planet Bothawui, which served as the intelligence center for the Republic. Once the Jedi Council caught wind of the attack, they dispatched Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano with some newly built Venator Class Star Destroyers in order to form a blockade over the planet, stationing themselves within the safety of an asteroid field.
Grievous, at this point, had amassed a large Separatist fleet and overwhelmed the planet of Falleen before setting course for Bothawui. Taking time to accumulate a group of Banking Clan Frigates, the skirmish fleet dropped out of hyperspace far outside the edge of the planetary rings, not yet within range of the Republic vessels.
Knowing that the Venator cruisers would have the firepower advantage if they were below the Separatist frigates, Grievous decided it would be beneficial for them to go straight through the asteroids instead of above them. Having assessed the situation, Grievous determined that a flank maneuver or any attempts to attack the fleet from behind would be thwarted and impossible due to the environment, claiming ‘the asteroids would protect them’. What he didn’t know, however, was that Anakin Skywalker was keeping up with his track record of cunning battlefield tactics and tricks, leaving another surprise for the general and his droid army, right under their metal noses.
The Republic forces began launching starfighter squadrons out from their hangars as the frigates drifted closer, making their way into attack position. Patiently waiting for when the moment was right, Anakin Skywalker ordered the pilots to take evasive action, causing momentary distractions for the Separatists. Up until this moment, the Venator cruisers were not going to last much longer, having sustained heavy turbolaser fire from the combined 6 Banking Clan Frigates. One of the Venators had already lost its bridge, shield generators and stabilizer and the others were beginning to give in as well. Just as all hope seemed lost and Grievous ordered his droids to finish them off, the Republic sprung their trap.
As Skywalker ordered for them to unveil the surprise, Captain Rex and a contingency of clones manning a massive force of AT-TE walkers revealed themselves to have attached onto the surface of one of the asteroids behind the Separatist fleet. Before Grievous could react to this unexpected maneuver, the walkers unloaded their heavy cannons onto the nearest Frigate, decimating its hull and leaving it to be destroyed. This sudden turn of events had messed with Grievous’s strategy, allowing the remaining Venators to fire away at the fore-Frigates with their forward cannons, effectively destroying half of the fleet and turning the tables.
General Grievous, realising that he had been outplayed, left for his starfighter in retreat, launching out of the exploding Frigate. Anakin spotted the Soulless One and gave chase in his Delta-7, firing a continuous stream of laser cannon fire at the General. Grievous, putting his piloting skills to the test against the best flyer within the Jedi Order and Republic, evaded the shots with ease, beginning to power up his hyperdrive. Anakin, noticing this, ordered R2-D2 to put all power into the engines, though due to some asteroids damaging his fighter, he was unable to catch the general and ended up damaging his fighter instead, having used it over the limits of what the Delta-7’s hull could withstand.
Grievous then fled into Hyperspace, unsatisfied with his defeat. However, after receiving word from a Trandoshan dealer named Gha Nachket about a Republic droid that fell into his possession, Grievous realised it wasn’t so much of a loss after all. This droid, named R2-D2, had information about the Republic that could give Grievous an edge in the war so he agreed to buy the droid. While Grievous went to purchase his droid, his spy droid R3-S6 was assigned to stalk Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, activating his homing beacon to let Grievous know about Anakin’s location. He took two frigates and surprised Anankin’s fighter in an attempt to capture him, though Ahsoka arrived to save her master by piloting the freighter Twilight.
Mission to Skytop Station
After losing the Jedi, Grievous retreated to a listening outpost over the planet of Ruusan to arrange for R2-D2 to be brought to him safely. Instead, Grievous was able to get the droid for free since he killed the Trandoshan dealer when he tried to up the price of the droid, frustrating the cyborg. After dismantling R2-D2’s chassis into several parts for information extraction, Grievous was informed of a squad of clones accompanied by a Jedi who had penetrated the listening outpost.
Personally heading towards the lower sections of the outpost, Grievous faced off against the group, scoffing at the fact that the Republic would send a mere Padawan in attempt to destroy his spy station and igniting a single blue-bladed lightsaber. After Ahsoka over-confidently dashed towards Grievous in an attempt to strike the general down, she was promptly dismissed, proving the great disparity in lightsaber skill between the two. General Grievous then shrugged off a blaster shot to the head, leaping at the squad of clones, killing all but two of them. Before he could finish off Captain Rex, Ahsoka intercepted his blade with her own, challenging the general to an extended duel. Grievous, declaring that she was not a threat, pulled out a second lightsaber before launching an offensive against the Jedi padawan.
Although Ahsoka was able to avoid most of his attacks due to her agility and nimbleness, the young Jedi quickly realised she was no match for Grievous and made a run for it, hiding within a large storage room. Tano was able to lead Grievous on a game of cat and mouse, buying time for the surviving clones and for Skywalker to arrive until Grievous grabbed her by the throat, snatching her lightsaber in the process. After the surviving troopers detonated explosives Tano, despite originally being at Grievous’s mercy, was able to escape in the confusion, reclaiming her lightsaber from the General and cutting off his hand before heading into a ventilation shaft, barely escaping with her life.
After cutting down some of Grievous’s IG-100 Magnaguards and being surprised at their durability, continuing to attack the esteemed Knight even after being decapitated, dismembered or cut in half, Anakin retrieved his astromech droid R2-D2 and made for the Twilight. The explosions came from the outpost’s repulsor lift system which sent the skystation plummeting to the ground. Following an exchange between R2-D2 and R3-S6, resulting in the spy droid’s destruction and Grievous escaping the station’s destruction in his personal starfighter. Due to recently wasting Separatist resources and opportunities, Palpatine gave Grievous some Republic codes that allowed him to capture the planet Jan. Fathal, restoring his reputation. Grievous was also able to conquer Nexus Ortai by forcing the Republic out though his invasion of Kolthier was repelled.
Grievous’ Lair
Due to his varied and sporadic results in battles Dooku decided to test the General again to see if he was worthy of leading the armies. Grievous was tasked with attacking the clone production facilities on Kamino to hault the Republics reinforcements. To prevent the Republic from fortifying the planet Grievous stealthy used BX-Commando Droids to eliminate all outposts in the sectors and keep their signals to all clear. Grievous sent Asajj Ventress to oversee the operation. Once his fleet was moving in on Kamino Grievous learned the droids that took over the moon above Kamino were not responding.
Grievous sent another squad of droids to fix the problem though a squad of Clone Troopers destroyed the outpost and alerted the Republic to the attack. The Separatists were quickly outgunned and forced to retreat. The Republic then issued a “Dead or Alive” warrant for General Grievous. After this failure Grievous returned to his home castle on the planet Vassek. This is where he stored the trophies, his pet Gor and his personal medical droid. When Grievous return home though he found his personal IG-100 bodyguards destroyed. Grievous soon encountered Jedi Kit Fisto and his former padawan Nahdar Vebb with a squad of Clone Troopers. The jedi were able to cut off Grievous’ legs when the clone troopers held him down with grappling hooks.
Grievous was forced to escape the Jedi through a blast door though he was able to kill several troopers on his way even using one as an impromptu melee weapon. Grievous then sealed his castle and had his IG-100 Magna guards at the exits. He then dropped a clone trooper into an incinerator pit. and conferred with the Jedi via hologram. After Kit Fisto destroyed the hologram, Grievous released his pet to”entertain the guests” while his repair droid fixed up his damaged chassis.
Once he checked on Gor’s progress he found his pet killed by the Jedi which angered him greatly. Grievous then learned it was Dooku who lead the Jedi to his castle as a test for the general. Grievous stated that he would “play the Count’s little game,” and resolved to hunt down the Jedi for sport, ignoring his repair droid’s advice that he wasn’t currently fit for combat. When Grievous next confronted the Jedi. he was able to casually kill Vebb by locking lightsabers with him and blasting him in the stomach with his free hand. Fisto, having watched the fight on camera on a screen within Grievous’ lair, was very distraught upon losing Nahdar. Grievous then followed Kit Fisto to the upper platforms and engaged the Jedi master in a duel. Fisto used the fog to his advantage and hid from the general during one instance of the fight. After a heated duel, Fisto disarmed the general of one of his blades and used it to dual wield, using his knowledge of Shii-Cho to gain the advantage against Grievous’s multi-blade style. After an opportunity presented itself, Fisto used the force to subdue the general though he soon found himself outmatched when the IG-100 droids arrived to assist Grievous. Despite the perilous situation, Fisto was able to escape since his droid R7 had brought his Delta-7 starfighter. Kit Fisto was the first Jedi to survive an encounter with Grievous while he was using all four of his arms.
Third Battle of Kamino
Grievous’ next campaign was against the very production center of the Republic’s reinforcements, Kamino. Grievous combined his forces with that of Asajj Ventress again. Obi-wan and Anakin intercepted codes and got wind of the attack though they could not prevent Grievous and his fleet from getting to Kamino. When the Confederate fleet broke the Republic blockade, Grievous then used his own transport ships as shields against the turbolaser fire. Obi-Wan knew that Grievous would not sacrifice these ships without reason, so he investigated the wreckage and Grievous sued the downed ships to deploy aquatic battle droids onto Kamino. With that the assault on Tipoca City started.
Grievous and Ventress’ squads would decimate an ARC Trooper squad and then go their separate ways. Ventress would go on to try and steal a sample of the cloning process while Grievous would assault the barracks. Grievous and his troops were ambushed by some clone cadets commanded by Captain Rex and Commander Cody who held them off long enough for Obi-Wan to arrive and duel General Grievous. Grievous was successful in disarming Obi-Wan and tried to crush him on his foot while mocking the Jedi and his clones. After Kenobi forced pushed Grievous off of him, Grievous was forced to retreat to a landing platform where he could duel more easily.
Once the fight started again, a Confederate landing craft crashed and knocked Obi-Wan into the water below. With his opponent seemingly gone Grievous enter a landing ship and moved on, picking Ventress up on the way. later Grievous commanded an assault over the planet Felucia and with sheer numbers forced the Republic off the planet and gained it for the Separatists. Grievous also attacked the planet Dorin as a distraction for Geonosis, where several underground droid factories. Ventress then called Grievous to inform him of an impending attack from a Republic fleet commanded by Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano. Grievous was confident he could hold off the Jedi though he was unable to do so and Dorin was reinforced against further attacks. After this Grievous ambushed a Venator-class Star Destroyer commanded by Eeth Koth of the jedi council.
Koth had his troops abandon the ship while he faced Grievous and his Magnaguards on the bridge. Koth was able to defeat his commando droids and faced Grievous though was captured and tortured in a Holo message to the Jedi council. During a daring raid to rescue Eeth Koth, Adi Gallia and Skywalker boarded Grievous’ ship to rescue the Jedi master while Grievous boarded the Republic ship to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi. During their duel Grievous revealed he knew about the rescue attempt. When Adi and Anakin found Eeth Koth they were ambushed by commando droids thought this failed. With his plan failing Grievous retreated to his own ship and ordered it to engage the Republic cruiser hoping to destroy it after he retreated thus killing Kenobi and trapping Adi Gallia and Anakin Skywalker on the Confederate ship.
This again did not work since Adi was able to save Obi-Wan while Anakin evacuated Eeth Koth. Grievous was forced to use a landing craft and take it to the planet below, Saleucami. Obi-Wan followed with a squad of Clone Troopers and once again dueled Grievous though he was able to get away, irritating Obi-Wan
War Time Crimes
Grievous went on to become the most successful general on the CIS’ side. One notable diplomatic victory was when he convinced the Togorians to defect from the Republic and ambush their Republic protectors. Grievous dueled the Republic general Waldan Bridger and defeated him easily. Grievous though did suffer some setbacks as well. When he tried to invade the city of Nadiem he was defeated when Padawan Barriss Offee played dead to get behind enemy lines and detonated high explosives that collapsed a stone wall to destroy most of the invading droids.
Master Saesee Tiin commanded a blockade that prevented reinforcements and Grievous was forced to flee the battle though he wounded Jedi Master B’dard Tone and killed his padawan adding to his Jedi kill count. Grievous would then put into motion “Operation Durge’s Lance” which had the goal of taking over the Republic core worlds. Many planets would fall including Duro, whose surrender was made public over the Holo-Net. Grievous would also orbital bombard the planet Humbarine, one of the founding members of the Republic, forcing its surrender as well.
Grievous’ despicable act was releasing the Brain Plague on Loedorvia which killed every human, Duro, Near human, Falleen, and most other species. This act earned him the fear of almost every being in the Republic. Grievous was able to capture Ambassador Quiyyen during this campaign and killed the pursuing Jedi T’chooka D’oon and Jmmaar though the manage to get the ambassador to awaiting transports rescuing him. T’chooka’s padawan Flynn Kybo was angered by his masters death and was desperate for revenge against the General. He gathered a group of jedi on a mission of vengeance. During this unauthorized mission Grievous captured a Mon Calamari ship and killed its Jedi protector Quarmall as well as capturing several Jedi younglings.
Grievous hope to turn them into cyborg being similar to himself as an elite fighting unit. Flynn Kybo used a number of probe droids to locate Grievous on Belsus. Grievous destroyed the droids with ease and chased the padawans until he was forced to duel the Jedi B’dard and Flynn. He was able to kill both though Flynn cut a gas line an an attempt to kill Grievous which prevented him form re securing the younglings he was holding hostage. Grievous would later lobby for increased use of biological warfare against the Republic using the battles of Honoghr and Loedorvia as examples. Several months later, on Bozy Pity Grievous commanded a droid army in opposition to Jedi-led Republic forces that had arrived there.
The cyborg general dueled Jedi Master Soon Bayts, surprising the Jedi and crushing his head in his claws before Bayts had time to raise his lightsaber. Grievous then took his lightsaber, using it to combat the clone troopers. Stunned at this, Jedi Master 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. Jedi Master Mace Windu arrived at this moment, and, using the Force, smashed a battle droid STAP on top of him. Grievous was knocked unconscious but was later rescued by his bodyguards, who took him to escape the planet with Count Dooku.
Internal Struggles
During the battle of Xagobah, Grievous was called to protect Wat Tambor, who was being hunted by a skilled bounty hunter. The bounty hunter was actually Boba Fett on his first mission. He was trying to collect the bounty that Jabba the Hutt placed on Tambor’s head during the confusion of the battle. Boba was able to penetrate the fortress and attacked Tambor in his private room. Wat Tambor was able to hold off Boba long enough for Grievous to start hunting the young bounty hunter throughout the fortress. Fett used a holoshroud to appear as Durge though this didn’t fool Grievous who knew Durge was deployed elsewhere. He was close to killing Boba Fett and only failed when he faked his death. Grievous was then forced to retreat with Wat Tambor and Asajj Ventress when Clone Troopers proceeded to storm the fortress.
While Grievous was on relatively good terms with Tambor he was on incredibly bad one with Nute Gunray. Gunray had casued a lot of headaches for the General when he forced him to go back to Cato Neimoidia to retrieve some of his valuables. This let the Republic find the Confederate meeting place and Grievous was forced to save Gunray from being capture by clone pilots. Later on the Republic found Gunray’s mechano-chair and learned of the CIS’ plan to invade Belderone. Grievous led the CIS Fleet into a republic ambush. The battle forced Grievous to flee though he did kill 27 more jedi. Grievous soon learned it was Gunrays fault and did everything but physically harm the Trade Federation‘s leader. His hatred of Gunray was shared with Palpatine.
Endgame
Grievous was on the run after Gunray failed to keep vital information from the Republic’s hands. Palpatine then proposed a bold move to disable the entire Republic. Grievous and Dooku would lead an assault on Coruscant and kidnap the Supreme Chancellor, who was Palpatine anyway. Grievous was on Kashyyyk at the time planning the early stages on that assault when he was called away. Grievous used a secret trade route given to him by Palaptine and the battle was underway. Grievous used suicide Vulture droids to attack civilian targets to keep the Republic’s forces split between damage control and fighting off the invasion. Grievous himself would stalk the Chancellor among the floor of Coruscant. Grievous found a force sensitive clone trooper named X2 and fought him in a duel though neither could best the other.
Grievous would go on to chase the Supreme Chancellor through his own secret tunnel network while he was being guarded by Jedi Master Shaak Ti was in charge if keeping Palpatine safe. While she was dueling a large number of Magnaguards, Grievous cut through 4 Jedi to get to Palpatine and then dueled and defeated Shaak Ti, leaving her alive to spread fear. When Grievous was loading the Supreme Chancellor onto his transport he was confronted by Mace Windu. Instead of dueling the general mace force crushed his chest plate injuring his lungs and overall weakening the general for the rest of his life. Once aboard his flagship, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker arrived to the battle with fresh reinforcements and engaged in a dramatic space battle over Coruscant. After the infiltrated the Invisible Hand, where Anakin killed Dooku and they rescued the Chancellor though were caught in a ray shield trap and brought before General Grievous.
After feigning weakness the two Jedi recovered the lightsabers and dueled the Magnaguards aboard the bridge. Grievous then used an electro-satff to break the ships window and let himself be sucked into the vacuum to escape. Getting into one of the escape pods from the outside in, Grievous escaped to another CIS ship and ordered the retreat. The fleet made its way to Utapau. Grievous’ movements were being tracked however by the Null-Class ARC troopers and relayed this information to the Republic. With Count Dooku’s death Greivous was made the public Head of State for the entire CIS. He was ordered by Palpatine to evacuate the heads of the CIS to Mustafar while Grievous waited on Utapau for Obi-Wan Kenobi’s impending attack which was warned by Palpatine.
Death and Legacy
General Kenobi decided to go on before his main forces and dueled the General among the battle droids. Grievous started the fight using his four arms since he has dueled the Jedi before and tried to overwhelm him. Kenobi’s mastery of soresu allowed him to block all of Grievous’ strikes and slice off two of his hands and then Commander Cody’s troops arrived starting a huge battle on Utapau’s surface.
Grievous opted to retreat on his personal wheel bike though Kenobi pursued him on his steed Boga. After a prolonged chase through the canyons both Grievous and Kenobi landed on his personal platform where Grievous’ starfighter was waiting. The battle was reduced to hand to hand combat with Grievous’ droid body giving him the advantage since Kenobi lost his lightsaber during the chase. Kenobi was able to rip open Grievous’ chest plate and reveal his gut sack of organs which anger the General who tossed Kenobi aside and almost launched him off the platform. Greivous lost most of his weapons so he grabbed an Electro-staff to finish him off. Kenobi though used the force to grab Grievous’ own blaster and took aim for his chest.
After blasting the organ sack Grievous convulsed since his remained biological components incinerated and he fell over dead. Greivous would go on to enter his species pantheon of Gods and have a temple modeled after him in his honor. On a galactic note, Grievous would go on to be remembered as one of the most feared beings in the Galaxy.
N-K Necrosis
During the Galactic Civil war when the Empire was waring with the Rebel Alliance, Nycolai Kinesworty was employed by the Empire to construct advanced combat droids for their use. Kinesworthy was studying death and its functions which allowed him to create a complex droid brain. The doctor then dubbed the project N-K in reference his own name. Kinesworth then recruited a scientist names Trun Lorn who helped move the project along when they were transferred to Kashyyyk. After presenting the project to the local Imperial overseer, they were allowed to host the project inside the Myydril Caverns on Kashyyyk. Lorn hired the assassin droid IG-72 to capture 2 outdated IG-200 Magnaguards which were reprogrammed to act as
bodyguards for the project. The Imperial Overseer took the scientists to Utapau and offered the body of General Grievous as a starting point for the project. The body was later integrated with the experimental droid brain. This reanimated the body into an advanced combat droid named N-K Necrosis. Grievous’ mind was mostly wiped so the Magnaguards had to teach the same techniques that Grievous taught them over 20 years ago.
Grievous chose a double bladed lightsaber has his primary weapon, this particular lightsaber was actually owned by Darth Zannnah, the apprentice to Darth Bane who instilled the Rule of Two into the Sith Order. Like Grievous before him N-K Necrosis would use a BlasTech blaster pistol as well and an Utapaun Nightblade. N-K would also discover his original starfighter Souless One in the hanger. At some point after the Battle of Yavin, Lorn kidnapped N-K Necrosis and the Magnaguards for his own personal use and stored them deep within the Myyydril Caverns.
A group of spacers, at the behest of Kinesworthy, investigated the caverns where they discovered an old B1 Battle droid. The droid told the spacers about a seemingly ordinary crystal that would bring N-K Necrossi to life and asked them to retrieve it. The spacers did, but were confronted by Lorn and the Magnaguards who forced them to relinquish the crystal. After reviving N-K, Lorn had the droids attack the spacers though they destroyed the droids and looted them for parts and stole the Souless One. Many of N-K Necrosis parts ended up on the black market. His mask was purchased by an Imperial Governor who believed it to be a Kaleesh work of art.
Powers and Abilities
Following his cybernetic transformation, Grievous was renowned as the greatest Jedi killer the galaxy had ever seen, surpassing even the likes of Durge and potentially the Sith Lord Darth Vader who would come after him. His mechanical body offered him many enhancements. Grievous was gifted with strength over 10x that of even peak human capabilities, blinding speed that even Jedi could not match and durability which allowed him to withstand bursts from a starfighter’s laser cannon or glancing lightsaber blows. It also offered him enhanced vision, senses, balance, mobility, nigh infinite stamina, endurance and reaction time.
After his training from Dooku, Grievous had working knowledge of every form of lightsaber combat as well as his personal unorthodox style that took advantage of his maneuverability and strength, effectively hybridising all of the lightsaber techniques he’d learned. Grievous had enough dexterity to drop lightsabers and catch them with his feet or other arms for surprise attacks from nearly any angle due to his mechanical movement capabilities. Grievous had four arms that were initially kept as two to hide that advantage.
If Grievous fought a particularly powerful adversary or was having difficulty finishing them off normally, he would separate his arms and use four lightsabers for an increase in offensive output, speed and unpredictability, forcing even the greatest Jedi on the defensive and usually overwhelming his opponents’ defenses within seconds. Grievous was also a notable pilot who even gave Anakin a run for his money, having engaged the Jedi Knight in a dogfight and casually evaded a continuous stream of blaster fire from Skywalker. Grievous’ weakness was the sack inside his chest that held what was left of his organs which could be exploited underneath his incredibly durable armor plating.
Other Media
Movies
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith – Grievous’ first theatrical appearance which focuses on the end of the Clone Wars. Grievous is notable for trapping Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in the beginning after their duel with Count Dooku. Grievous’ duel on Utapau is the last we see of him, being defeated by Obi-Wan.
TV Series
Clone Wars 2003 Series – This was General Grievous’ first ever appearance in Star Wars Legends. A handful of episodes deal with his hunt for Jedi and the final episode has him kidnapping Palpatine setting the stage for the movie.
The Clone Wars 2008-2020 Series – The CGI series has General Grievous as a main antagonist, showing his involvement throughout the Clone Wars and cementing his rivalry with Obi-Wan Kenobi. The show is filled with numerous interactions and battles between the general and Jedi of all levels, illustrating how Grievous uses his cybernetic enhancements to close the gap between and gain the upper hand against his force-sensitive opponents.
Video Games
Star Wars Battlefront II (2005) – Grievous appears as one of the “hero” units for the CIS.
Star Wars Battlefront Elite Squadron – Grievous appears as one of the “hero” units for the CIS.
Star Wars: Republic Commando – Grievous’s ship Souless One can be observed leaving during the battle of Geonosis and Grievous himself can be briefly seen during the last level on Kashyyyk briefly.
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels – Grievous can be unlocked by completing story mode
Star Wars Galaxies – Taking place during the Galactic Civil War, Grievous’ body was used in the N-K Necrosis project.
Lego Star Wars – Grievous appears as a boss and can be unlocked as a playable character in free play mode.
Star Wars Episode III: The Video Game – Grievous serves as one of the first bosses in the video game, as well as a playable character in the multiplayer mode.
Star Wars Battlefront II (2017) – By October 2018, General Grievous will serve as a playable hero for the dark side.