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General Grievous is the leader of the military forces of the Confederacy of
Independent Systems and an enemy of the Jedi. His physical body is a fusion of
a powerful robotic structure and an organic brain, nervous system and sensory
organs. Another interesting fact about him is that he nearly killed Boba Fett
in a Republic siege of Xagoba. While he was voiced by John Di Maggio in
Chapter XX of the Cartoon Network Star Wars micro series, Clone Wars,
Richard McGonagle took over the voicing of Grievous for the rest of the micro
series, and Matthew Wood voices Grievous in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of
the Sith. Dark Horse is currently publishing a 4-part comic about General
Grievous.
Grievous was
known as a Jedi hunter, killing them for sport and collecting their light
sabers to proudly place around his belt as trophies or use them in his
battles. The general possessed strategic ingenuity and flawless cunning.
Background information
 Grievous was originally an organic being of
the alien race known as the Kaleesh, which was at war with an enemy species
known as the Huk. The Republic supported the Huk, and so the Kaleesh ended up
getting support from the Separatists and in particular the Intergalactic
Banking Clan.
San Hill,
leader of the Banking Clan, noticed that Grievous was both a brilliant
strategist and an excellent fighter, and asked Grievous to lead the
Separatist troops throughout the galaxy against the Republic. Grievous
refused, saying that he only cared about the war between the Kaleesh and the
Huk, not about the larger conflict between the Separatists and the Republic.
Hill brought this to the attention of Count Dooku and Darth Sidious, but despite
their offers Grievous still refused to lead the Separatist army.
So Sidious,
Dooku, and Hill arranged to have a bomb planted on the shuttle Grievous was
on, and blame it on the Republic. Grievous was mortally wounded in the crash,
and his unconscious, dying body was taken to the planet Geonosis, where his
brain, eyes, and other organs were implanted into a cyborg body forged by
Geonosians that would compliment his natural reflexes.
It might
have been his rage at the Republic, who 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
General's Kaleesh and droid background render him unable to call upon the
Force.
Spoiler
warning: Plot or ending details follow.
 He first revealed himself to the public
when he attacked and dispatched a team of seven Jedi Knights in an aggressive
display of lightsaber mastery (which he learned from Count Dooku) during the
Battle of Hypori. With his mechanical enhancements and attributes combined,
it made him able to battle five Jedi single-handly. Only three survived the
ordeal from the somehow invincible foe. The Separatist General began the
swift conquest of several Outer Rim planets, much to the dismay of the
Republic. Time after time, Grievous' ability to strategize attack plans with
brilliant ideas and destructive results made the Republic's star fleet
commanders shudder at their knees. Grievous himself would later resurface
during the Battle of Coruscant, using his first wave as a distraction to
kidnap Chancellor Palpatine. In the process, he killed all Jedi protecting
the Chancellor except Shaak Ti, whose lightsaber he took as an addition to
his grisly collection. In the final moments of General Grievous mission to
abduct Palpatine however, Master Mace Windu manages to severely injure the
General by using the "Force crush" technique on Grievous fragile
metal body. This is the only time the General has been seen to be damaged.
The General
displays amazing dexterity and can fight with four and sometimes 5
lightsabers simultaneously by dividing his mechanical forearms which each
employ two opposable thumbs. Grievous travels with his droid bodyguards, who
wield electrified rods used for defense against most weapons (including
lightsabers). It will be the first time Star Wars fans have seen an
non-lightsaber weapon that can withstand the cutting power of a lightsaber
itself (besides certain weapons introduced in Star Wars: Knights of the Old
Republic in the form of "Melee Weapons").
 His movements imitate those of a monkey in
his stance and general lightsaber control. He has the ability not only to
produce two extra arms from inside his body but also can use his feet as
hands. With one foot to stand on and all his limbs engaged in battle, he can
wield 5 lightsabers at once. His specialist moves dubbed the "unorthodox"
mainly involve misdirection by confusing his enemy using his many limbs which
only the most experienced and talented of Jedi can stand up to. A lot of this
misdirection involves releasing one or two lightsabers from his grip at once,
catching them again with his other limbs then striking his opponent who has
usually by this time had their attention drawn to the limb which now caries
no weapon.
Although
General Grievous has no command of the Force what-so-ever, he still maintains
the lightening quick reflexes and the fighting ability of the Jedi combined.
It is evident that the General has no affinity with the Living Force which is
most obvious when watching him in battle with the Jedi as they cannot feel
his presence, only hear and see him.
His only
weakness in battle so far recognized seems to be his inability to take a
direct hit from a "Force push" (a phrase coined in the Knights of
the Old Republic game). The Jedi
regularly make use of telekinetic abilities. In Grievous first witnessed
encounter with the Jedi (i.e. The Battle of Hypori), the knights attempted to
fling objects at him using the Force in order to avoid lightsaber combat with
the general. Unfortunately, given his superhuman reflexes, this proved
futile.
Movie
notes
 It is said that George Lucas had his team
of computer animators hard at work trying to "lock in" the exact
look of the new villain, since he is supposed to be 100% CGI. Many new
details of his face and body have been overhauled in order for Lucas to be
perfectly content.
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In the latest Homing Beacon newsletter, the Official
Star Wars site revealed who will be playing the voice of General Grievous in
Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith:
In a three-hour recording session, Wood laid
down all of Grievous lines. "He's definitely an evil character. He's the
leader of the droid army, but not a droid. He feels things; he feels things
extremely, I would say. It's a lot of yelling, and shouting out orders, so it
had a lot of drill sergeant to it." 