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.
Development
Creation and casting
In 2002, George Lucas conceived of General Grievous as a powerful new villain for Revenge of the Sith, specifically envisioning the character as a cyborg droid general to reflect and foreshadow Anakin Skywalker's transformation into Darth Vader at the end of the film. Fu's sketch was made into a -tall maquette sculpture which was then refined into a realistic computer-generated model by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). This was one of the most complex models ever created by ILM at the time as many of its components were of differing physical qualities. Comparisons have been drawn between Grievous' appearance and Jacob Epstein's sculpture Rock Drill.
In the lead-up to Revenge of the Sith, Grievous made his first ever appearance in the season two finale of Clone Wars. The character's voice was provided by John DiMaggio. Grievous would return in a more prominent capacity in the third and final season, with Richard McGonagle replacing DiMaggio in the role.
Numerous actors auditioned for the role of Grievous in Revenge of the Sith. Lucas wanted Grievous to sound as if he was speaking through a cybernetic voice box. So, every audition was put through the same computerized layer of processing by Matthew Wood, supervising sound editor at Skywalker Sound, to create a "synthesized timbre".
Having previously performed voices for other Star Wars projects, Wood took Lucas' feedback on the various auditions he modulated and submitted his own under the pseudonym Alan Smithee. Wood approached Grievous as a "classic villain" and used a gruff and harsh voice with an Eastern European accent for his performance. Some of the audio effects for Grievous' cough in Revenge of the Sith were recorded by Lucas himself while he had bronchitis. Grievous was created entirely through CGI in the movie. During filming, Grievous' dialogue was read off-screen while Kyle Rowling wore a motion capture suit to perform the character's fight scenes with Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Characterization
Relationships
Mentorship tree
Reception
General Grievous has become a fan favorite character and is considered one of the most popular villains in the Star Wars franchise.
Several entertainment publications have placed General Grievous in "Top 10 Star Wars Villains" lists. While the character's limited presence in Revenge of the Sith was criticized, his greater role and appearances throughout the Clone Wars in both the 2003 and 2008 animated series were praised for expanding on Grievous' character. Amanda Derby from Screen Rant wrote: "Greet a Star Wars fan with the words, 'Hello there,' and they'll likely respond with, 'General Kenobi'. This alone is a testament to the popularity of General Grievous. Though it's hard to say whether fans love him for his skill or his meme-ability, there's no denying that Grievous is a favorite."