General Grievous

General Grievous
Star Wars character
General Grievous, as depicted in Revenge of the Sith (2005)
First appearance
Created byGeorge Lucas
Voiced by
In-universe information
Full nameQymaen jai Sheelal
SpeciesKaleesh cyborg
GenderMale
Occupation
AffiliationConfederacy of Independent Systems
MasterCount Dooku (lightsaber combat)
ApprenticeIG-100 MagnaGuards (melee combat)
HomeworldKalee

General Grievous is a character in the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. He was introduced in the 2003 animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars (voiced by John DiMaggio in the second season and Richard McGonagle in the third season), before appearing through computer-generated imagery in the 2005 live-action film Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (voiced by Matthew Wood). Wood reprised the role in the 2008 animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the 2024 anthology series Tales of the Empire.

Grievous is depicted as a brilliant military strategist who serves as the Supreme Commander of the Confederacy of Independent Systems' Droid Armies during the Clone Wars. He is a powerful Kaleesh cyborg who has mastered all forms of lightsaber combat, under the tutelage of Count Dooku, to rival the Force abilities of the Jedi of the Galactic Republic. Grievous harbors an intense hatred of the Jedi, and gains a reputation as a feared and ruthless Jedi hunter who collects the lightsabers of his fallen victims as trophies. He develops a rivalry with Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom he clashes with several times during the war, and is killed by Kenobi during their final confrontation in Revenge of the Sith.

Entertainment publications described Grievous as among the franchise's most iconic villains, and his popularity within the Star Wars fandom has earned him a cult following. The character has also appeared in several forms of non-canonical media in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, including novelizations, comic books, and video games. Some of these works explore his past as Qymaen jai Sheelal, a reptilian warlord whose vendetta against the Jedi began when he blamed them for the plight of his people. A ship crash secretly orchestrated by Dooku mortally wounds Grievous and leads to his reconstruction as a cyborg. This origin story was retroactively altered in The Clone Wars, in which it is implied that Grievous willingly augmented his body with cybernetic enhancements to rival the Jedi, although several elements of his original backstory were later reintegrated into the Star Wars canon.


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  1. ^ "Behind the Mask of Grievous in Star Wars: Aliens, Creatures & Droids — Exclusive Excerpt". Star Wars Databank. November 22, 2019. Archived from the original on May 29, 2022. Retrieved May 29, 2022.