Grievous

Born into a family that included his father years prior to the Clone Wars as Qymaen jai Sheelal, the Kaleesh male who would one day become "Grievous" hailed from the Wild Space planet Kalee. Sheelal was born in the midst of a near-constant war between the Kaleesh and the technologically superior Yam'rii, an insectoid species from the desolate planet Huk in the same star system. The Yam'rii would ruthlessly invade countless worlds in the sector, stealing their resources and selling their populations into slavery. The Kaleesh had fallen victim to the Yam'rii, whose focus on Kalee had yielded horrifying results. All the same, the Kaleesh were also powerful people who conquered other societies. In fact, since his childhood, Sheelal worshipped the , watching them return home with spoils of war from those they conquered.

Sheelal was taught how to use a slugthrower, the Czerka Arms Outland rifle, by his father. By the age of eight he served as a sniper and had already killed forty enemies. As he matured, Sheelal experienced a rapid rise in rank, becoming a feared warrior and warlord. He learnt brutal and determined strategy, battle tactics, and warfare in the war against the Yam'rii. Becoming a successful warlord of Kalee, Sheelal bore a natural capacity to instruct, encourage, and manage his fellow Kaleesh warriors effectively. Shrouded in a cloak and head wrap, as well as donning a mask carved from the skull of a predatory animal known as a mumuu, the proud warrior used weaponry like a curved sword and an elongated curved shield in battle.

He developed a habit of collecting weapons as trophies from numerous enemies. Like others of his species, he became known for his lack of mercy and obsession with the glory gathered in war, valuing bravery in combat above all else. He became a revered warrior and one of the greatest military leaders, and began to be regarded as something of a legend by his people. At that time, Sheelal also began to develop a deep hatred for the Galactic Republic. He was further frustrated by the realization that the Jedi Knights of the Jedi Order, the protectors of the Republic, were nearly undefeatable in close combat through their possession of supernatural abilities originating from the mystical energy field known as the Force. He despised the Jedi for their skill.

Rightfully, the infamous Kaleesh warrior earned a remarkable and bloody reputation among his people and others, eventually taking up the moniker "Grievous". Over his years of battle, Grievous traveled and battled alongside Kalee's best warriors, the Izvoshra. He would assemble them into his elite bodyguard, with each a in command of troops of their own. Seemingly always alongside their warlord leader, the courageous Izvoshra shared in his victories and love of battle alike.

Accompanied by his Izvoshra, Grievous turned his attention to the stars to continue his conquests. Over the course of his exploits, Grievous came to topple nations, slay kings, and murder legends. At some point, he encountered a Wookiee warrior and decapitated a member of the Skrilling species. Grievous also led his people in a ruthless all-out war against the Yam'rii with increased vigor and determination while on the offensive. In time, the Kaleesh forces successfully drove the Yam'rii from their world. Grievous launched a series of devastating campaigns on Huk itself, sweeping across the barren Huk worlds, where he relied on the help of his bodyguards. However, the Yam'rii took an unexpected turn and sought assistance from the Republic. The Republic and the Jedi intervened, siding with the Yam'rii against the invaders. The Kaleesh faced punishment; embargos and penalties were enforced, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths from starvation. At the time, Grievous's hatred only deepened, and he developed a personal vendetta against the Republic and the Jedi for their assistance to the Yam'rii.

After their catastrophic intervention, he swore to exact terrible vengeance against the Republic and the Jedi for his people's suffering. Fortunately for Grievous, his reputation had drawn the attention of the Sith—Darth Tyranus, who discovered Grievous for the Sith and was also known as Count Dooku, and his Sith Master, Darth Sidious, secretly the Republic politician Sheev Palpatine—who saw his great potential as he led his war effort. Legend claimed that they specifically were interested in his strength, power, and will to succeed. The Sith had been recruiting minions who possessed unique skills and a deep hatred of the Jedi, both of which Grievous had in abundance. As per the plan for the Clone Wars, the Sith needed to recruit someone to lead a droid army. In particular, Grievous' hatred for the Jedi pushed him to near-madness and made him easily exploitable.

It may have been the hatred he felt that drove Grievous to join the InterGalactic Banking Clan. However, when Grievous became an enforcer for the Banking Clan and requested his elite Izvoshra bodyguards, they refused and forbade him from continuing to utilize his loyal Izvoshra, instead he led the IGBC's droid army, which he despised. Grievous then asked for more advanced droids than the Trade Federation's simple combat droids, which he criticized for relying on commands from a central computer and being incapable of learning from their mistakes on their own. After requesting a more intelligent personal guard and consulting with Count Dooku, Holowan Laboratories' engineers were then authorized to construct a specific series of droids to fulfill Grievous's exacting standards. Thus, the IG-100 series MagnaGuard combat droids, or the prototype of autonomous combat with heuristic programming, were created.

At the time of their creation, various fighting techniques were implanted in their memory, but Grievous insisted on having them erased of all knowledge so that he could train them himself. He also ordered the MagnaGuards under his command to be outfitted in distinctive cloaks with half hoods, with mumuu markings, a nod to the traditions worn by warriors on his homeworld. Grievous was phenomenally successful, and the IGBC considered him to be one of their most valuable resources, and his exploits had already attracted Dooku and Sidious, who had important plans for him.

Grievous chose to become a cyborg, receiving his enhancements over time, after the Sith gave him an unquestionable chance. They had been looking to test technologically advanced beings, and Grievous agreed to take on the tests. After accepting Dooku's invitation, Grievous sacrificed practically all of his physical body and nerve endings to increase his combat abilities and gain the strength and speed to rival even a Jedi Master through cybernetics. He became an even more threatening and fearsome warrior. These augmentations turned an already capable warrior into a nearly unstoppable killing machine on the battlefield, giving him capabilities beyond those of a normal soldier. According to legends of Grievous's mental state, however, the augmentations did little to settle his mind and led to increased anger.

His transformation occurred over a period of time; Grievous gradually traded many of his biological parts for upgraded mechanical ones to become a murderous cyborg with one obsession: killing Jedi. By the time of his choice, Grievous had grown psychotic and thus saw his enhancements as a logical development. One day, Grievous' shuttle was critically sabotaged in San Hill's assassination attempt, causing his troop carrier to crash and throw him from the wreckage, nearly killing him and destroying most of what remained of his original body. Rumors would later be spread that the crash was orchestrated by Dooku, which was indeed the case.

Following the gruesome shuttle crash that left him seriously injured and nearly ended his life by an enemy assault, the Kaleesh warrior regained consciousness in a bacta tank and discovered that he had been nearly totally gutted and mutilated by surgical FX droids. Dooku claimed that a Jedi was responsible for the sabotage, fueling Grievous's hate for them and to accept to reconstruction. He agreed to the Count's offer of life-saving surgery and return to military service. Even though Dooku was directly responsible for the shuttle crash that resulted in Grievous' injuries and subsequent transformation, no evidence, at the end of the day, existed that Grievous was a victim in someone's grand design: despite Dooku's actions, Grievous had already decided to become a cyborg and was in that process no matter the count's actions. Later historical work even disregarded the idea that Dooku was involved in the general's reconstruction as a shadowy manipulator due to evidence from Grievous's own life: it had been Grievous himself who wanted to be changed into a cyborg, no matter what role Dooku played in the final steps.

Separatist cybernetics experts and Geonosian surgically reconstructed Grievous with assistance from medical droids, including the FX-9 surgical assistant FX-6, under the supervision of Dooku. Among the repairs and improvements provided by the Geonosian biotechs, some areas of Grievous's brain were altered without his knowledge in order to make him a smarter and faster fighter. Such upgrades included the installation of . Furthermore, his brain areas was also modified, with brain tissue wired directly into and carried electrical signals, to better facilitate the use of his cyborg body. However, his memory center was also tinkered with to suppress memories of his past, to concentrate more, and increase his aggression.

While Grievous' vision was enhanced by cybernetic implants, his eyes were his own, with enough skull remaining behind them to protect the organic muscles and tendons required for them to function normally. His lungs were given implants as well. Many critical decisions were made regarding what should be kept of his mangled body: by the time the Kaleesh warrior had been rebuilt, very little of his original form remained. These remaining structures largely consisted only of his eyes, portions of his brain, bone marrow, spinal column, cord, a pair of damaged lungs, his liver, several vital internal organs, and his cold heart.

The portions of his digestive system required to maintain his organic elements were preserved as well, all implanted into a duranium alloy body that encased him for the rest of his life. His form was completed with two mechanical arms that could split into four, turning him into a four-armed cyborg monstrosity, two LX-44 robotic legs, and integrated sensors that allowed him to touch and feel the world, but his mind began to fracture. Grievous's armor, made of durasteel composite duranium and armorplast, was not as indestructible as Mandalorian beskar, but it was significantly easier to manufacture and repair. The cyborg's body was purposefully designed to resemble Grievous's Kaleesh body and warlord armour, including a faceplate that paid respect to his past existence, replicated the mask he formerly wore, evoked his people's culture, and also mimicked the shape of his snub nose, bony protrusions on his chin, and those karabbac's teeth. An ultrasonic vocabulator that formed Grievous's speech increased his rough, powerful voice and nearly exactly matched his original voice, located behind his mask's duranium teeth, where his teeth should have been if he still had a mouth. Due to his already compromised lungs, his speech occasionally degraded into a rasping, random coughing fit.

However, Grievous's spinal cord carried signals to and from his robotic limbs and body, as well as his remaining organs. Millions of pin-point were inserted into his brain from the lining of his helmet, to monitor brain activity and improve nerve signal timings. His head unit, which additionally retained parts of his skull, could be opened to allow for electronic repair or replacement, as well as further surgery. Though the cyborg's skeletal structure bore various call-backs to his Kaleesh past, the vast majority of resemblances to other Kaleesh eliminated; only his beady gold reptilian eyes with slit pupils, flat nose, and elongated ears remained, surrounded by dark, tortured skin extending somewhat upward to the forehead beneath his faceplate. At first sight, only his eyes, eyelids, and remaining skin indicated the Kaleesh speckles' reptilian ancestry were clearly visible, revealing his being's cyborg nature horribly alive beneath his inanimate steel mask. According to some claims, only his eyes resembled the man he once was, and looking into them was like gazing into the gaping maw of a black hole.

As a cyborg, he did not have to eat or drink and could survive in a vacuum or underwater; he was also immune to poisons and toxins. A synthskin gut-sack sealed underneath his external armour plates and ribs, many of which were carved to seem like bone rather than metal, protected his remaining vital organs. The technology that was used for Grievous's conversion into a cyborg wasn't perfect; his heart and lungs were weakening, with his organic lungs irritated by their implants, giving him a persistent cough for the rest of his life and, eventually, difficulty breathing. That information was in the Sith's possession in case they had additional candidates for conversion in the future. The General was given his first new weapon by Dooku, a lightsaber belonging to a long-dead friend of a former Jedi. Grievous continued to add other weapons to the collection he had started when he was still a warlord on Kalee.

Furious that his body had been entirely replaced with that of the droids he hated despite it being his own wish to become a cyborg that put him down such a path, Grievous slaughtered all the guards present at his resurrection. Disgusted by his cyborg body, Grievous reluctantly accepted the job of Supreme Commander of the Separatist Droid Armies. No longer recognized as the person he once was and more machine than alien, there was near to nothing left but metal, mechanical actuators, armorplast, and hatred. With his living Kaleesh flesh traded for cyborg implants, Grievous claimed that his changes were improvements he chose to celebrate. Grievous was then chosen and given training with a lightsaber by Dooku himself, renowned for his swordsmanship dating back to his Jedi days. When it came to dealing out death, he was a voracious learner. For him, the differences in saber styles were simply military techniques to learn. Despite his lack in Force-sensitivity, he mastered several classic Jedi arts and was able to adapt quickly to an opponent's fighting style. His impressive, incredibly effective fighting style resulted from a combination of Dooku's and a combat program. He spent hours on end watching holovids of Jedi in combat and reading all the training manuals Dooku could supply him with.

In addition to his training he received, Grievous passed on everything he learned to his bodyguards to ensure their utmost effectiveness in combat. He subsequently used them as sparring partners to keep himself sharp. The MagnaGuards shared his fearsome reputation and carried out his orders more unquestioningly than even his former supporters. Grievous was rarely seen without at least two by his side, forming a shield around him that few could pass. Grievous voluntarily submitted to mechanical modifications, altering and improving his cybernetic body.

The statues lining the halls of his fortress told a story of a transformation in the privacy of his inner sanctum. Indeed, some stories stated that Grievous was already a cyborg when Count Dooku recruited him, as evidenced by the statues on Vassek's third moon. As recounted in one legend, when Grievous's transformation was occurring over time, he initially only made simple enhancements before moving onto more extreme changes. The legend said Grievous transformed himself because he admired the logic of droids and wanted to mirror their infallibility, strength, and power. Although Grievous was clearly confused about his final form, he despised his merely mechanical militia, perhaps implying deeper thoughts about his own drastic transformation. Regardless of how he came to be, Grievous' cybernetics greatly improved his skills, providing him an obvious advantage in battle.

A modified EV-series medical droid, named EV-A4-D, was given to Grievous by the Separatists to serve as a surgeon, doctor, and cybernetics repair mechanic. With access to all of Grievous's medical and cybernetic records and a significantly increased intelligence, the fairly caustic and slightly sadistic droid became the ideal foil for him, as well as his doctor, who was one of the galaxy's few individuals who knew his master's secrets. A4-D always kept spares for the general and helped in the design and installation of the additional parts his master demanded. In this regard, his claim that he chose his own modifications could be considered true from a particular twisted perspective in addition to the literal perspective. He also owned an enormous roggwart named Gor, whom he had enhanced by EV-A4-D with whip-like cybernetic limbs attached to his back and an attached to his body. Gor, like his master, was given a chest plate to protect his vital organs and a helmet to protect his braincase. Grievous showed Gor some affection, and during his numerous absences, Gor was tended after by his medical droid.

While he claimed his old form was no more than weak flesh, Grievous retained several reminders of his past life. As a cyborg, Grievous frequently wore a Kaleesh cloak, which was a vestige of his past identity, as well as a fearsome mask that was often worn by Kaleesh warriors. By the time he owned his fortress on the third moon of Vassek, Grievous had several that depicted his progression from his organic life into that of a cyborg. One of these depicts him as a Kaleesh warrior holding aloft a decapitated enemy head of a Skrilling and a sword in the other. This fortress was the closest thing he had to a home and served as a hideaway and safe place, where he could undergo repairs when damaged in battle. When Grievous became a cyborg, he thought about his past and the life he lost.

Grievous received his cybernetic enhancements and was trained in lightsaber combat by Dooku, who invited him to join his Separatist movement. Grievous accepted the invitation and allied himself with other members of the Confederacy and the leading Executive Separatist Council, including members San Hill, who, unbeknownst to Grievous, was secretly behind the assassination attempt, and Poggle the Lesser. All of them entrusted to him and Dooku their invaluable resources and large droid armies. Grievous was in direct opposition of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order, whom he had long regarded as mortal enemies. According to legend, although Grievous had the outward appearance of a machine, Grievous was pleased, for he alone understood his true potential and that he still had some of what made him a living, breathing man. He believed that set him apart from the rest of the Separatists, droids and organics alike. However, neither droids nor organics found themselves comfortable in his company.

The CIS and Republic were soon launched into opposite warring sides of the galactic conflict known as the Clone Wars with the Battle of Geonosis,, which Grievous, whose cyborg form was built around his few body parts, secretly took part in, though he was not seen. While it was entirely by accident, Grievous's first clash against members of the Jedi Order came during the battle. He was positioned within the Stalgasin hive catacombs on Geonosis when the battle began, and while retreating, the cyborg ended up dueling a number of Jedi who incidentally wandered into the tunnels in the midst of the battle. Grievous prevented the Jedi and the clone troopers from reaching the Separatist Council and escaped through the hive tunnels beneath Geonosis, leaving none of the Force-sensitives he encountered alive to speak of his existence, meaning his involvement in the war's opening battle was not discovered by the Republic until much later.

Grievous was granted the rank of general in the Confederacy military, and Dooku personally bestowed upon him the title of Supreme Martial Commander of the Separatist Droid Armies, which he gladly accepted, and thus acted as Commander-in-Chief, becoming a key Separatist leader and the absolute leader of the Separatist Droid Army. Grievous also evolved as Count Dooku's main battlefield commander and most formidable enforcer, making him a key player in the Separatists' hopes to topple the Republic. During the early weeks of the war, he publicly emerged onto the scene as a major Separatist leader. Grievous brought a new wave of fear, and with it the threat of panic and chaos across the galaxy; the war expanded faster than the Republic could comprehend, and there was now a very real chance of losing. As later proclaimed in the legend he made for himself, Grievous swiftly became accomplished during his tenure as one of the most fearsome warriors of the Separatists.

According to legend, he had risen in the ranks as a result of the many campaigns he had fought on behalf of his masters, claiming victory after victory. He earned a name for himself amongst the powerful figures leading the Separatist movement, in part because of his sheer commitment to being the best soldier he could be. Soon enough, Grievous found himself promoted to the rank of general and given command of vast armies and fleets. Grievous outstripped every command officer in the Republic, killing numerous Jedi and leading the Confederacy to victory in a series of battles, quickly earning a reputation as a savage, merciless brute and tactical genius, becoming one of the Separatists' best generals and military minds, and becoming a legendary status, whose name became infamous and, due to his choice of battle tactics, synonymous with the worst excesses of brutality and slaughter. His fearsome reputation was bolstered by his combat prowess and a personal fleet of specialized killing machines and vehicles. The news of his abilities, and subsequent victories, caused doubt in the Republic's military ranks, as well as pure fear in the hearts of his victims.

As the Clone War proceeded to spread throughout the galaxy, Grievous and his forces engaged the Grand Army of the Republic, and, under his command, the Separatist Droid Army attacked and conquered numerous Republic planets. With four arms, four lightsabers, and complete army behind him, Grievous was regarded as unstoppable and was probably individually responsible for more Jedi deaths during the war than anybody else. Anyone witnessing Grievous march forth alongside his accompanying battle droids would find it difficult to believe he wasn't entirely a machine. As the Separatist Army's imposing leader, Grievous and the tales of his brutality and victories would strike fear throughout the Republic, although the Confederate populace were not told the stories of the General's bloody onslaughts. Ultimately, many Republic citizens—as well as some citizens in CIS territory— came to see Grievous as the face of the Confederacy despite Dooku's status as its official leader. Those who knew the Kaleesh warrior's true nature saw this face as a brutal and terrifying one. Grievous also share his name with The Grievous Legion, a battle group that included at least one vulture droid.

During the war, the clone troopers of the Republic Military, having nicknamed the Confederacy's battle droids "clankers," accordingly nicknamed Grievous the "head clanker;" Grievous was also referred to within the Republic as the "droid general." While the war against the Yam'rii had given Grievous a vendetta against the Republic, the Clone Wars had changed him; indifferent to the Republic and the politics of the war as a whole, his only goal was to see the extermination of the Jedi Order, which led to him escalating the war as his quest to wipe out the Jedi once and for all carried on. Only Grievous's hatred of Jedi and his unwavering faith in his own abilities gave those standing against him a chance.

Grievous fought against numerous Jedi during the war, defeating and killing many of the Order's members, drawing from his lifetime of expertise and the advantages provided by a powerful duranium droid physique directed by the warped mentality of a physically devastated warrior. He has demonstrated himself to be a formidable foe more than a match for his adversaries; even the Jedi did not engage foolishly, becoming one of the galaxy's greatest fighters. Thus, the general became the most skilled and feared Jedi hunter of the war, quickly amassing a considerable number of lightsabers and other trophies from bested opponents. Grievous often maintained a strategy of elusiveness, making it difficult for the Republic's forces to locate him despite it being one of their primary objectives.

During the war, Grievous came to duel Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi numerous times, developing a history between them that made it so Grievous would choose to engage Kenobi over others. Grievous harbored a deep hatred for Kenobi. Their confrontation turned the two into mortal adversaries, and their immense abilities were evenly matched. Each time was inconclusive, but both realized that this could not always be the case. Kenobi's former apprentice, Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, considered him a monster that needed to be stopped, even making it a personal mission to find Grievous. However, Grievous and Skywalker would not meet face-to-face until the war had nearly reached its conclusion.

Towards the beginning of the war, on a where Obi-Wan Kenobi, his Padawan apprentice Anakin Skywalker, and Senator Padmé Amidala were on a , Grievous had sent his battle droids, including a MSE droid, to infiltrate their Consular-class space cruiser. Then, on their screen, Grievous appeared, revealing that everything was proceeding according to his plan. Kenobi was right to suspect he was involved, and Grievous relates to his concerns. Grievous ordered his droids to attack, he knew that the facilities were defeatable. He now reveals his true intention, knowing that there was nothing they can do to stop him. Grievous successfully reprogrammed their ship's flight computer, irreversibly directing them into the sun. Grievous explained to Padmé that while they were luckily against fighting battle droids, a little droid snuck into their ship. While Anakin instructed Obi-Wan to remain in command, Padme assured him that they would handle the droid, but Grievous reminded them that they cannot stop his droid in the same way they cannot change the direction of the ship and then ordered the droid to eliminate the Senator and the two Jedi. However, Kenobi and Skywalker took back control of the ship by having the mouse droid shoot at the control panel, and then the two Jedi destroyed the mouse droid, leaving only Grievous to admit defeat.

At some point in the war, Grievous led a fleet of Providence-class Dreadnoughts to the Moon of Staggec with the aim of taking a valuable item from Republic Senator Yarua. There, he and his droid forces captured Yarua, Senator Padmé Amidala, and their associates. Shortly after, the droids also captured Yarua's daughter Viiveenn and Kenobi. Once Kenobi was restrained, Grievous interrogated Yarua and Viiveenn about their hidden item. Just then, Kenobi appeared behind Grievous and asked for Yarua and Viiveenn to be released. Grievous responded by drawing his lightsabers and engaging the Jedi in combat. Force pushed by Kenobi, Grievous immediately took Viiveenn hostage, only for Yarua to tackle him into space, sacrificing himself and allowing his daughter to escape along with the Jedi. While successfully escaping from the Separatists, Kenobi assumed Grievous was dead, but Yoda warned him not to underestimate him.

Some time later, Grievous launched an assault that failed to capture Outpost 716, forcing Count Dooku to dispatch his personal assassin and apprentice, Asajj Ventress, in another attempt to capture the outpost. Darth Sidious doubts Dooku's faith in his two students, however, Ventress successfully captured Outpost 716.

Shortly into the war, Grievous met in person with the droid mercenary AD-W4 to hire him to oversee the Separatists' operations on the planet Hissrich. Grievous admitted that he would have liked to fill this role himself, but could not as he had the entire Separatist Droid Army to command. AD-W4 was skeptical, but after seeing the payment available, left to fulfill the job. AD-W4 served as commander of the droids on the planet and battled with Jedi Master Mace Windu and his Jedi squad. Grievous later checked in via hologram to see the progress of AD-W4, and the droid falsely claimed to have killed Windu; however Grievous demanded the Jedi's lightsaber as evidence, which was not presented. Ultimately, the droid was defeated and Hissrich was lost to the Republic.

During the early weeks of the war, Grievous had an encounter with Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi that left the Cerean with scars across his cheek that took time to heal. At some point, Grievous and Jedi Knight Pablo-Jill had a duel over the world of Duro in a collapsing satellite city. Jill was left injured and lost his blue-bladed lightsaber to Grievous. At some point, Grievous killed Jedi Master Jmmaar and took his green-bladed lightsaber in order to add to his own collection.

A while later, after the incident on Cato Neimoidia, Grievous . The battle on the fourth moon of Parein II marked Grievous's IG-100 MagnaGuards' first serious test, in which a new weapon, his personal TSMEU-6 wheel bike, was utilized for the first time. With Grievous in command and leading his troops at the front, the Republic forces led by Jedi General Sannen were utterly crushed. Sannen bravely tried to confront the cyborg directly, but the Jedi was instead stabbed in the with an electrostaff-wielding MagnaGuard.

According to legend, early in the Clone Wars, Grievous was tasked with a critical mission; he was to travel to the distant ice planet Alamass and deploy his army of droids in an assault that would destroy a strategic enemy stronghold. The operation was a dangerous and difficult one, at which Grievous ultimately failed due to his tactical droid's betrayal. Grievous decided to take the risk even though sending an army there would have cost him a third of his droids along the way, and as he prepared to deploy an army of droids to the planet, his tactical droid disobeyed his programming by altering the plan Grievous had given the Droid Army: Grievous's orders would lead to Separatist victory. Eventually, the general was forced to admit his defeat to his Sith masters, becoming Grievous's first major loss.

Some point, Grievous was contacted to by Tarr Kligson with the coordinates and traveled with two MagnaGuards and several battle droids to a large space station, The Haven, orbiting around the moon known as Kligson's Moon. Upon arriving, Grievous has come to offer Telemak, the station's guardian, the protection of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, but Telemak cut him off before he could finish, knowing what he wanted—more droids to join the Separatist Droid Army. Mocking the general, claiming that he cannot best the Galactic Republic with the ones he now "enslaves." Grievous was disappointed that they would remain here, rusting away, waiting for their dead leader to return instead of taking the opportunity he offered them to exact retribution on the Jedi Order that destroyed Ajax Sigma. Before he could say anything further, Telemak declared that they do not serve organics, and the negotiations were done and surround him with droids. Grievous happily accepts and, tired of diplomacy, attacks Telemak and its droid army. Grievous destroyed numerous droids, but he lost all B1 battle droids and may have overestimated the droids' capabilities since they wanted to be "free" and thought it would be pointless to utilize them for the Separatists.

However, one of his MagnaGuards was destroyed, and Telemak proceeded to mock Grievous, who then went to kill Telemak personally, but he was seized by several of Telemak's droids. He got them all off, as none of them were a match for him, but Telemak informed him that there were many of them, prepared to sacrifice themselves, and asked Grievous if he would like to see how many he could defeat. Grievous realized he had no time dealing with Telemak's droids and called in his Sheathipede-class transport shuttle, jumped on board, promised to return to wrap up the conversation once the Republic fall and Telemak could keep its army since the Separatists could build more since droids are disposable, and left the station.

At one point, Grievous attacked the frozen moon Caliban, and while invading the moon, he destroyed a bridge in the process. He also captured Jedi General Kenobi and Clone Marshal Commander Cody, along with their squad of clone troopers and ordered them to rebuild the bridge, to allow him to freely move weapons and battle droids across the moon. Kenobi, however, answered that he and the clones would not have to work for Grievous, since according to the Galactic Accord of Systems, no war prisoner could be forced into manual labor. The Separatist general smacked Kenobi to the ground and threatened him with death if he would not follow his orders.

Kenobi and the clones started constructing the bridge, but, during the operation, Grievous was distracted by a group of native Qubeys, in league with Kenobi, who piled on top of him and managed to steal back Kenobi's lightsaber, which had been tucked into Grievous's cloak, without the cyborg noticing. Although the bridge was completed sometime later, Grievous ordered the battle droids to execute Kenobi and his men, but the Qubeys ambushed the droids, allowing Kenobi to engage Grievous while the clones reclaimed their blasters. In the ensuing battle, Grievous overwhelmed Kenobi, but when he was right where the Master wanted him, Kenobi used the Force to cause an avalanche, burying Grievous and his droids. Kenobi and the clones escaped on a Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry gunship, realizing that staying to capture Grievous would put the Qubey further in danger, and they destroyed the bridge before Separatist reinforcements could arrive.

At some point during the Clone Wars, Grievous infiltrated the Arquitens-class light cruiser Stellar Rise and brought along four IG-100 MagnaGuards aboard with the intent of stealing High Republic–era artifacts. Grievous sliced through with his blue lightsaber, hacking clone trooper Checkbox vertically in two, who, while taking inventory of crates that had been picked up near the Kazlin system, noticed something off about the boxes he was going through that sounded like a stone mite-like noise was coming from the one closest to him. Upon entering the bridge, the MagnaGuards quickly dispatched the entire deck crew in under a minute. Grievous spared the ship's captain, Lozz Beraf, intimidating him, but then Jedi Knight Anap Ree-Di showed up and ordered him to let go of the captain and leave. Earlier, the cyborg had been watching the Jedi Knight on her mission in search of Jedi artifacts. Her piercing green eyes with a crystal-gaze and her seeming confidence caught his attention, but he had yet to demonstrate to her his full potential. He slowly produced four lightsabers, activated them one by one, and displayed a menacing demeanor. She remained motionless; her gaze locked on him. As the Jedi was about to be struck by all four MagnaGuards jumping forward, swinging their electrostaffs, she managed to draw , blocking their attacks and somersaulting backwards to dodge the others, landing like a loth-cat.

Grievous stopped the attack of his droids, but she darted out of the bridge. He ordered the droids to follow her, tracking the fleeing Jedi to a small area of the ship that was identified as the barracks. Once more, the Jedi emerged out of nowhere, attacking unexpectedly from behind and severing off one of the MagnaGuards' arms while wielding its electrostaff, the remaining three droids launched their attack, delivering blow after blow on the Jedi's green blade repeatedly and driving her out of the barracks. Now, Grievous ignited two lightsabers and closed in for the kill. At that point, four clone troopers emerged, armed with weapons of their own. As they, too, struck from the rear, the MagnaGuards were caught off guard, and one of them was almost totally dissolved. Grievous snarled in anger and flung one of his lightsabers in a low arc that sliced through the two troopers' legs, rendering the fight an equal one, and retrieved the blade before turning his attention to the problematic Jedi, igniting three more from his cloak and rushing on her at speed. To his utter joy, he noticed a fleeting glimmer of confusion rather than terror, but regardless of her emotions, Grievous saw the Jedi retreating and would soon have her cornered.

His adversary used the Force with a movement of her hand to open a blast shield behind her and stepped through it backwards, almost losing her footing. Grievous brought down two of his blades on her, which she parried, while the other two swept low and almost took out her legs. The seemed prepared Anap simply soared above the lightsabers and kicked Grievous' chest as the movement of his two lower arms unbalanced him. He pressed his attack once more, nearly disarming the Jedi with a maneuver meant to catch her by surprise. For a minute, Grievous stepped back, and the Jedi did something unusual. She waved her hand once more and lowered the shield, separating them from the battle between the troopers and IG-100 droids. He found the idea amusing that she would have felt he was defenseless without his MagnaGuards. Anap then informed Grievous that Master Jocasta Nu had described her as having an "old soul," to which he replied that would soon be all that remained of her. Grievous moved forward, spinning his lightsabers at near-impossible speeds, intent on striking a fatal blow. In a pitiful attempt at defense, she threw her ignited lightsaber at him, and he watched as it went harmlessly by, landing in an ancillary walkway. Ultimately, Grievous was tricked into entering an escape pod by Ree-Di, and the Republic ship jumped to lightspeed, leaving him alone and adrift in space.

Around the time of the Battle of Christophsis, Grievous had spread Republic forces thin, which hampered Republic efforts to locate Rotta the Hutt after he was secretly kidnapped by the CIS. After its victories on Christophsis and Dantooine made the war seem like it was swinging in the Republic's direction, Grievous took command at Hypori and led a brutal slaughter of clone troopers and Jedi. During the battle, a group of Jedi Knights were taken by surprise. After the battle, the wreckage of an Acclamator-class cruiser that crashed earlier on Hypori remained as a grim memorial.

Grievous was also known to lead starfleets within the Confederate Navy to further his conquest of Republic planets, with his ships leaving the worlds wrecked and burned. As he was leading the Separatist forces in the Clone Wars, Grievous was given the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser Malevolence[92] as his flagship. From the Malevolences bridge, Grievous could command millions of battle droids, and he used his new warship in the Malevolence Campaign, wherein he executed attacks on Republic fleets that left no survivors. Grievous simply gradually unveiled the capabilities of his new ship. For weeks, he tore through Republic shipping, destroying cargo vessels and their escorts, like he had done with his own abilities. For month, rumors circulated of a terrifying new Separatist weapon alongside widespread concern over the cyborg general. Once such attack came with the Battle of the Phu system, where the Malevolence wiped out three Venator-class Star Destroyers under the command of Jedi Master Ares Nune.

Following that victory, while stationed in the Abregado system with Count Dooku aboard, a Republic fleet led by Jedi Master Plo Koon and Clone Commander Wolffe aboard the Venator Triumphant arrived in the system to engage the warship. The mega-ion cannons of the Malevolence disabled the Republic fleet's deflector shields, and fired on the defenseless Star Destroyers. The entire fleet was destroyed, although a few individuals managed to survive by launching away from the vessels inside escape pods. General Plo Koon, Commander Wolffe, Clone Sergeant Sinker, and clone trooper Boost were the only survivors, having been eventually rescued by Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano aboard the G9 Rigger-class light freighter Twilight. As a result of the escape of survivors, Dooku's trust in Grievous was shaken, and the Sith Lord left to discuss the matter with his master, Darth Sidious.

After later destroying a Republic convoy in the Ryndellia system, Grievous, as instructed by Dooku via hologram, took the Malevolence to destroy a Republic medical facility that was treating over 60,000 wounded clones. In order to reach the target, the Malevolence had to navigate around the Kaliida Nebula, a time-consuming journey that frustrated Grievous. Upon arriving at its destination, the ion cannons of the Malevolence were disabled by a small strike force of fighters led by General Skywalker. After this, a Republic fleet led by Obi-Wan Kenobi aboard his flagship the Negotiator arrived and attacked Grievous' crippled ship. Grievous was forced to retreat, but Dooku came up with a new plan; taking Senator Amidala hostage. After Amidala's ship was captured, the Republic fleet stopped firing, and a rescue team was sent to board the Malevolence led by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker aboard the Twilight.

Grievous fought Obi-Wan Kenobi briefly and overpowered him but as he prepared to kill the Jedi, Kenobi jumped onto another vehicle, saluting the general as he left, and the two Jedi managed to escape with Padmé and her protocol droid C-3PO. Grievous ordered the Malevolence to retreat to hyperspace, arranging to meet his warship at a Separatist base in Sector Four. Grievous pursued Twilight in his personal starfighter, the Soulless One, with a squadron of Vulture droids, but Skywalker had sabotaged the navigation system of the Malevolence so that when the ship engaged its hyperdrive, it crashed directly into the nearby Dead Moon of Antar. Grievous escaped in his starfighter, Soulless One, but he had personally disconnected a transmission with a questioning Count Dooku.

While Grievous escaped, the Separatist effort suffered a blow. The ship's loss was undoubtedly a blow to Darth Sidious' plans and the Separatist movement, as well as a poor return on such a large investment of time and resources. In addition, the absence of the Malevolence kept the arrogant Grievous at bay. Only a few months after this session, Grievous would face Luminara Unduli in person at Nadiem in the Outer Rim.

The Republic would make efforts to locate Grievous, but, even after Clone Intelligence spotted him in the Balmorra system, the general remained out of the Republic's sight. Several standard weeks after his sighting in the Balmorra system, Anakin Skywalker was losing sleep while searching for the cyborg, but he denied himself his needed rest until Grievous was found. While Obi-Wan Kenobi believed that they would know if Grievous entered their current quadrant, the general was currently preparing to launch an attack on Kamino. Under the Separatist invasion plan, Grievous would be able to remain undetectable, as he was to take over the Rishi Station. Seizing the listening outpost would enable the Separatists to keep its all-clear signal broadcasting; Republic forces would assume Kamino was still secure, meaning Grievous's fleet could launch a surprise assault on the planet.

Grievous, determined to stop the clone production on Kamino, sent a team of BX-series droid commandos to seize Rishi Station from the clone troopers stationed there. After the commando droids had taken control of the station, Grievous was contacted by their captain aboard his Munificent-class star frigate, who informed him that the outpost was secure, and that they managed to disable the alarm and activate the all-clear signal. Grievous ordered him to keep the signal activated, so as not to draw the Republic's attention and lose the element of surprise.

After ending the transmission, a battle droid informed the general that their spy on Kamino, Asajj Ventress, was contacting him. Ventress assured Grievous that everything was ready for their invasion. Pleased, the general informed her that he had almost reached their rendezvous point. However, the station was soon visited by Clone Captain Rex and Clone Commander Cody, who were inspecting the station as part of a security checkup. The two clone officers soon discovered the outpost had been taken, and met with the survivors and retook the station from the commando droids. When communication with the droids was abruptly cut off, Grievous sent a battalion of B1-series battle droids to inspect the station and was informed that there were clones in the station. One of the clone troopers, Hevy, sacrificed himself to destroy the base, which angered Grievous as he believed that the droids had blown it up instead. The base's destruction ended the all-clear signal and alerted the Republic fleet to Grievous's location. Upon the Republic's arrival, the Kaleesh cyborg immediately realized that his forces were heavily outgunned, and ordered his fleet to make a full retreat out of the system, therefore postponing the Kamino invasion. Knowing it was only a matter of time before Kamino was targeted again, General Grievous was given a 'dead or alive' warrant by the Galactic Senate.

Only a short time after the Malevolence offensive, Grievous launched another campaign, targeting Republic fleets in the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories by using the newly created Skytop Station, a Separatist battlesphere that served as a listening post. Able to locate and ambush Republic fleets without warning, Grievous moved his forces against the Republic's forces in the Outer Rim, and, due to the victories he gained, the Republic's foothold in the Outer Rim began to slip from their disastrous losses. Despite suffering a few serious setbacks, Grievous continued on his march, leading the Separatists to numerous triumphs and proving himself a nearly indestructible opponent for both the Jedi and the Republic, leaving a trail of conquest and destruction across the galaxy. In a single month, he led Separatist forces in the invasion of several planets and the capture of vital hyperspace lanes leading to Bespin, Kessel, and Mon Calamari. Anakin Skywalker and his battle group fought against Grievous's forces in the campaign, but failed to stop Grievous's advance.

His next move was to capture Bothawui, the Bothan homeworld and a vital intelligence planet for the Republic. However, Grievous pulled the Republic fleet out of hyperspace and engaged the Jedi and their clone troopers before they could reach Bothawui. Grievous reconsidered his decision to stop pursuing Skywalker's fleet in order to help coordinate attacks against Republic forces stationed near the planet Falleen. With the help of Count Dooku and Asajj Ventress, Grievous led an agile fleet to attack Falleen and captured the planet for the Separatists before preparing to take the planet of Bothawui in the Mid Rim Territories to attack Skywalker's fleet with information from his spies. After the Republic battle group at Falleen was wiped out, the fleet under the command of Grievous continued on to Bothawui, which was of high strategic value and was currently being protected by Skywalker and a weary fleet of Republic cruisers. Realizing that attacking from above would put them at a disadvantage, Grievous moved the fleet through the asteroid field to engage Skywalker's fleet, knowing that the asteroids would protect him from any surprise attacks. Before Skywalker led Gold Squadron the engagement, this tactic allowed Grievous to damage the Republic cruiser.

Skywalker then deployed into the Gold Squadron from his flagship, the Resolute, to try and draw out the general. As Grievous' fleet exited the asteroid field, it was able to severely damage one the Republic cruisers, but was quickly outflanked by All Terrain Tactical Enforcers hidden on the asteroids. Grievous was shocked and angered that Skywalker knew what he was planning to do, and ordered an immediate retreat. However, the battle droid commander was dumbfounded as to where to go, so Grievous abandoned his flagship and the droids in annoyance. He quickly fled in his personal starfighter, Soulless One, rather than risk destruction or capture. He fled, leaving the Separatist fleet to be destroyed. Both actions were indicative: Skywalker frequently chose bold, maneuvers, while Grievous fled as soon as he realized a battle was not in his favor. He was soon spotted by Skywalker, who attempted to pursue him in his Delta-7B Aethersprite-class interceptor but was soon sent spinning out of control as a result of the damage his fighter had sustained earlier in the fight. Meanwhile, Grievous had managed to power up the Soulless Ones hyperdrive, allowing him to jump into hyperspace. The rest of Grievous' fleet however, was destroyed. However, Grievous' victory over Falleen helped offset his first unsuccessful invasion on Kamino, as well as his attack on Bothawui.

Following his loss at Bothawui, Grievous contacted the Trandoshan salvager Gha Nachkt, and requested that he search the debris field for an astromech droid, telling him to rendezvous at Skytop Station on Ruusan's moon once the droid was located. The droid in question was R2-D2, the astromech droid of General Skywalker, with Grievous suspecting that he held vital military secrets within his memory banks that could aid the Separatists.

Later, Grievous was contacted by Nachkt, who informed him that he had the droid in his possession and was en route to their rendezvous point. He also revealed that Skywalker had boarded his ship looking for it, and believing it to be valuable, requested more money than they had previously agreed upon. However, Grievous threatened him, telling Nachkt to not anger him and to arrive as fast as he could, or else there would be consequences.

Not soon after, Grievous detected Skywalker's fighter's beacon, which had been activated by R3-S6, Skywalker's replacement astromech droid, who in reality was a Separatist spy. Having fallen into his trap, Grievous aboard his new command ship suddenly dropped out of hyperspace and attacked, destroying his hyperspace transport ring, preventing his escape, proceeding to launch an entire squadron of vulture droids to kill the Jedi, and ordered his cruisers to move in. However, Skywalker was rescued by the timely arrival of his apprentice Ahsoka Tano and the Twilight, Skywalker's freighter. The General then ordered his ships to prevent their escape, but the Twilight was able to navigate between the two battleships, causing them to collide with each other, destroying the vulture droids. The Jedi's ship then jumped to hyperspace. In his anger, Grievous physically decapitated an unfortunate battle droid who had pointed out to him that the Jedi had escaped.

Nachkt soon arrived at Skytop Station with R2-D2, and proceeded to disassemble the astromech droid and sift through his memory banks for any vital information. Grievous listened as Nachkt revealed that the data within the astromech had never been erased and contained a wealth of information that they could exploit. Trying to use this to his advantage, Nachkt demanded double the agreed price, but Grievous, having grown tired of his incompetence, proceeded to impale him with his lightsaber, killing him with Grievous cackling in his death. He was then informed by the spy R3-S6 that the Jedi had infiltrated the station in order to rescue the droid. Grievous ordered R3 to distract them until he arrived, and tasked his IG-100 MagnaGuards with taking care of the astromech while he confronted the Jedi.

Grievous then found Skywalker's apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, along with Captain Rex and a squad of clone troopers. He engaged them in combat and managed to kill all of the clones except Rex and "Denal," who were saved by the timely intervention of Ahsoka. As she confronted the general, she was quickly overpowered, and knowing she couldn't finish him on her own, she successfully evaded his assaults and was forced to retreat further into the station, with Grievous and R3 giving chase after her. While searching one of abandoned spare parts rooms for her, Grievous was informed that Skywalker had gone to rescue his astromech. He then had R3 go to the hangar and ensure that Skywalker would not escape. Hanging from the ceiling, Grievous found Tano and clamped a metal hand around the Padawan's throat, examining her fallen lightsaber with his free hand.

Believing he had won, Grievous taunted his prisoner, saying Skywalker would be next after he eliminated her. Despite Tano's claims that her Master would destroy Skytop Station, Grievous believed otherwise. However, Tano's beliefs proved true when the Republic squad detonated the explosives in the reactor room, crippling the listening post's repulsorlift systems. As the station shook from the impact, Tano managed to use her lightsaber to sever the hand clamped around her throat. Although Grievous attempted to slash her with one of his lightsabers, Tano retrieved her weapon and escaped through an air duct. Their objective complete and R2-D2 safely back with Skywalker, the Jedi made their escape. Grievous then retreated aboard the Soulless One as the station collapsed around him.

With the loss of the Malevolence, Grievous had been forced to command Munificent-class star frigates as his flag ships. This defeat brought a degree of satisfaction for the Neimoidian Viceroy Nute Gunray, who despised the General for receiving preferential treatment from Count Dooku. Eventually, Grievous decided he instead wanted the Providence-class Dreadnought Invisible Hand to fill the role of his flagship, demanding the vessel from Nute Gunray. Following that, none other than Darth Sidious himself quietly but firmly ordered Gunray to give Grievous the Invisible Hand. Gunray erupted with wrath, but he could not refuse. This brought a terrible joy for the cyborg. The ship was indeed turned over to Grievous, who used it throughout the conflict in addition to other flagships. At the very least, Grievous used the Invisible Hand to further solidify his terrible reputation for violent excess, and he used his flagship to great effect. The Invisible Hand became well-known and feared throughout the Republic and was a constant threat in battles for key Republic worlds. Like on the Malevolence before it, Grievous could command millions of droids from the bridge of the Invisible Hand.

At some point prior to the discovery of his lair by the Jedi, Jedi Master Neebo was on the moons of Sanjin. Neebo was attempting to protect refugees on the moons, but she was presumed missing. However, Jedi Master Kit Fisto and his former apprentice Nahdar Vebb later found her lightsaber among the trophies of the Jedi Grievous had murdered, and Vebb believed that what was in the room were trophies from the Jedi Grievous had killed. There were also rumors that Grievous once had a laboratory built on the moon of Gentes. During the war, Grievous ravaged the homeworld of a loathsome rascal named Ralakili, leaving the man with a hate for droids that culminated in him running droid fighting pits in the Lodge on the planet Vandor.

Later in the war, Grievous was instructed by his master to return to his fortress on the third moon of Vassek. When he arrived, he found that his MagnaGuards had been deactivated. Grievous failed to meet the Sith's expectations, losing a few campaigns despite some victories, but the blunders were serious enough that Count Dooku, having laid a trap for the general in order to test his abilities, lured the Jedi and clones to Grievous's fortress, believing Viceroy Nute Gunray was there even though he wasn't, leaving Grievous to live or die. With the Jedi having infiltrated the base and his bodyguards deactivated, the Count had hoped to punish Grievous for his recent failures.

Inside, Grievous was caught off guard by Jedi Knights Kit Fisto and Nahdar Vebb, as well as a squad of clone troopers led by Commander Fil. Grievous extended two lightsabers and confronted the two Jedi in lightsaber combat, holding them off, then separating his arms and producing two more lightsabers. During the duel, the clone fired ascension cables at his general's legs, latching onto them, and Fisto managed to sever the lower half of his leg, but the cyborg, whose limbs gave him great mobility, climbed onto the roof and fled. However, the two Clones forced Grievous back to the ground, forcing him to cross blades with Vebb, who was able to knock away one of his lightsabers. Ascending to the roof once more, Grievous battled Fisto using a dead clone, forcing the Jedi Master backward and tossing the body on top of Vebb. He dropped down, then escaped back to the roof while taking a blaster shot to the face, and entered the command center.

In his control room, Grievous then spoke with his medical droid, EV-A4-D, who told him that his MagnaGuards had been remotely deactivated. Reactivating his droid guards, he locks down the fortress and sets off a trap that kills another clone. As the Jedi and clone tried to reach the control room, Grievous led them into a large room resembling a fighting arena, which was one of Grievous's favorite tricks to annoy them with, and unleashed his pet roggwart, Gor, whom he told it was time to entertain our guest. Fisto warns Vebb and Fill that they are about to encounter something considerably more dangerous than the general. After his repairs, Grievous checked on the Jedi to see whether they had been killed, but he discovered that the Jedi had killed his beloved pet instead. Grievous was angered at his pet's death, which further fueled his hatred for the Jedi, and promised vengeance, but was interrupted by Count Dooku, who called Grievous to inform him that it was he who had allowed the Jedi into his home in order to review his usefulness following his previous failures at the Jedi's hands.

An enraged Grievous was determined to hunt down and kill Fisto and Vebb, despite EV-A4-D's claim that he required rest. Upon leaving his command center, Grievous was warned by his doctor that the Jedi were ready to attack him and readied himself for battle. Vebb cut his way through Grievous' MagnaGuards while Fisto slipped inside the command center. Grievous then engaged Padawan Nahdar Vebb in a fierce duel; due to his multiple limbs, Grievous easily killed Vebb with a dirty, but well-timed blaster shot. The General then added Vebb's lightsaber to his collection. Fisto saw the duel and his former apprentice's death on video, along with Grievous threatening and intimidating him.

With Vebb dead, Grievous pursued Fisto, forcing the Jedi onto the castle's outer platform. He appeared before him, climbing onto the platform from behind and faced the Jedi Master in combat. As the two fought, Fisto deactivated his lightsaber and snuck up on Grievous, taking advantage of the dense fog that surrounded the castle. Grievous positioned his four lightsabers in front of him to defend himself, but Fisto attacked him from behind, nearly taking the general by surprise as he perfectly timed Fisto's attack. The two continued their fierce lightsaber duel, and despite Grievous's superior lightsaber skill, Fisto gained the upper hand and managed to sever one of Grievous's hands holding Vebb's lightsaber, reclaiming the weapon in respect of his fallen comrade. Fisto pushed him with the Force, causing him to lose his balance, but he recovered quickly and continued the duel with renewed vigor. Suddenly, three MagnaGuards arrived and joined Grievous in battle to support their leader's attack, and Fisto was quickly surrounded and outnumbered. Grievous ordered Fisto to surrender, but the Jedi managed to escape when his ship appeared, jumped into its open cockpit, and returned to Coruscant, knowing where the general's hideout was.

The test highlighted Grievous' capabilities: he could be a great match for a Jedi master in hand-to-hand combat; however, it also demonstrated the weaknesses in the Jedi Order that had been evident since the Clone Wars begun. Shortly thereafter, Grievous contacted Dooku and told him that he had defeated the Jedi, but that Fisto had escaped. Dooku congratulated Grievous on his victory but stated that he could have done better and that there was still room for improvement before leaving the cyborg to ruminate on his failures. Grievous barely survived, but he knew the cost of failing the Sith again. Grievous's hatred for Dooku became stronger as he sensed treachery; it was a betrayal he was unwilling to forgive. However, he would soon have his revenge. Immediately, on the General's order, EV-A4-D was recovered and rebuilt, and continued to serve the cyborg until the conclusion of the war. With the Republic having discovered his lair, however, Grievous was forced to abandon Vassek 3 and relocated his base of operations.

Later in the war, Grievous led the blockade of Felucia, and Skywalker, Kenobi, and Tano were sent to break the blockade. The fight between the Republic and the Separatists was ferocious at the Battle of Felucia, and the Republic forces were on the verge of disaster. Separatist planetary blockade in orbit was shattered by Republic cruisers, and rescue gunships were deployed to airlift survivors to safety. Eventually, the Republic forces were outnumbered and nearly overrun by the Separatist Droid Army and were pushed off Felucia, with the Separatists securing the strategic planet. After Padmé Amidala discovered Senator Rush Clovis was allied to the Separatists and conspired with them to fund a new droid factory on Geonosis, Grievous used his agile fleet to attack and invade the planet Dorin to drive Republic forces away from Geonosis, but the forces led by Skywalker and Tano defeated Grievous's forces on Dorin, allowing them to soon join Luminara Unduli, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Obi-Wan Kenobi for the second invasion of Geonosis. Grievous's invasion of Dorin demonstrated that, despite inconclusive reconnaissance and information, the planet had once again become a priority target.

At some point during the war, near the planet Arda in the Outer Rim, General Grievous managed to ambush Jedi Master Eeth Koth's flagship and boarded the vessel with a force of battle droids. He soon overwhelmed his forces and confronted Koth on the ship's bridge, where he revealed he had been looking forward to meeting the Jedi Master. Koth noted that Grievous's reputation, that of a murderer and coward, preceded him, Grievous disagreed and asked whether it was murder to kill the Jedi before kicking Koth back. The two began a brief, but intense duel, and, after Koth managed to Force push Grievous into a viewport, the General's MagnaGuards shocked him. Koth was defeated by Grievous in the front and MagnaGuards from behind, and he was quickly brought to his knees by the MagnaGuards' repeated blows, which allowed Grievous to pick up the Jedi by his neck and carry him off the ground. Instead of killing the Jedi as he normally would have, the Separatist commander took him prisoner, partly to attract more Jedi for him to kill but mostly because he liked the misery it caused. In addition, Grievous added Koth's lightsaber to his collection.

Grievous then sent a message to the Jedi Council, showing himself torturing Koth and promising to kill the Jedi Master, as he knew that it would be painful to the other members of the Order. He promised he would hunt down and eliminate the remaining Jedi.

Unbeknownst to Grievous however, Eeth Koth had managed to communicate a secret message to the Council through the use of hand signals, telling them that he and Grievous were stationed in the Saleucami system. In response to Grievous's threat, the Council sent a team of their best Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Adi Gallia to rescue the Jedi Master. Once they arrived, Kenobi sought out and engaged Grievous in an effort to distract him, while Skywalker and Gallia snuck aboard Grievous' ship to rescue Koth. However Grievous, having earlier deduced that he was being tricked, had laid a trap for the Jedi. Nonetheless, his attempts to stop them were futile and Skywalker and Gallia were able to successfully rescue Koth. Meanwhile, Grievous had managed to gain the upper hand in his duel with Kenobi, but his Commando Droids on his ship had been overwhelmed by Skywalker and Gallia. Unfortunately, his Recusant-class light destroyer, which had served as his flagship in the battle that had broken out, was taking heavy fire from Skywalker's trio of Star Destroyers and was nearly destroyed. Forced to withdraw from his duel and flee, the general attempted to land on the planet of Saleucami in a Trade Federation landing ship. However, the craft malfunctioned, and Grievous and the droids were forced to evacuate into escape pods.

However, Obi-Wan Kenobi followed Grievous to Saleucami in an attempt to capture the cyborg general. Grievous recognized that he and his squad of B1-series battle droids needed to escape before they were located, only to then see Kenobi's Acclamator-class assault ship overhead. One of Grievous's battle droids reported that their escape pod's transmitter was destroyed, making it impossible to contact the fleet as Grievous had ordered. When the B1 stated that there was only one surviving escape pod, Grievous responded that they needed to reach it as fast as possible, as its transmitter could still be functional, and ordered for his units to find him a form of transportation. With Grievous using a reek for transport through the underbrush and having appropriated several eopies to be their pack animals, Grievous and his droids moved towards the escape pod in the wetlands.

However, the General did not allow for his battle droids to ride on creatures for transport, draining the B1's power cells. The droids verbally complained about their low power, to Grievous's clear annoyance, but Grievous continued their march despite being told about their situation. Eventually, a B1 brought their situation up once more, but Grievous responded by using his green lightsaber to cut down the unit. Now scared, two other B1s said they had no more complaints, and their march continued into the later hours of Saleucami's day. However, Kenobi and his forces, having performed a robolobotomy on a B1 found at the landing craft's crash site, were able to locate Grievous's initial pod. Kenobi deduced they were heading for another pod and spoke with the clone trooper Jesse. The Jedi General reported that Grievous was on the move and ordered for Jesse and his squad to move towards the final pod, so that way the Republic could have all their possible firepower when confronting Grievous. Kenobi and his forces then moved to the west to catch the cyborg general.

Elsewhere, Grievous was frustrated that they had not reached the pod. One of his B1s, which were now running very low on power, responded that they were nearly there, although the unit's low power caused it to mix the sentence's words into the wrong order. Another B1 was able to clarify they were only a kilometer away, but both these droids ran out of power and closed down. Grievous and his remaining droids did make it to the pod, but the incoming Republic forces had come close enough to get a visual. Grievous immediately asked a B1 if their transmitter was working, knocking the B1 to the ground after hearing the unit did not know and had yet to use it. Grievous ordered another B1, who was surprised that Grievous had reached them, to send a signal to the fleet, but this droid then told Grievous that multiple life-forms were closing in. After hearing this, Grievous ordered for the droids to take up battle positions. One B1 fired a missile directly at the All Terrain Tactical Enforcer Kenobi was riding on, but the Jedi Master was able to jump off before it was hit and charged forward with his clone soldiers. As the battle raged, Grievous questioned where his shuttle was, but his answer eventually came when a Sheathipede-class transport shuttle flew overhead, which the General was relieved to see.

Kenobi ordered for an AT-TE to take the shuttle down, but, during its second landing attempt, a clone gunner reported that the mass-driver cannon was overheated. Kenobi ran in stop Grievous himself, but, after a B1 alerted Grievous that the Jedi was behind him, Grievous was able to block Kenobi's lightsaber. Engaging in a brief duel, Kenobi was able to disarm Grievous of one of his lightsabers, but the cyborg kicked Kenobi away. Climbing to the top of the escape pod, Grievous told the shuttle's B1 pilots to not land, and instead he fired an ascension cable to the bottom of the starship. The shuttle was then able to fly away from the Republic Army, leaving Kenobi crestfallen. While Kenobi told Clone Commander Cody to tell their cruisers to stop the shuttle, General Grievous was ultimately able to escape and continue to serve in the war.

Eeth Koth had been successfully rescued, but the disappointment of missing out on a much larger victory lingered. After Grievous escaped from his Republic pursuers on Saleucami, he saw that the world would be a good outpost. As a result, he deployed a large Separatist force, which fought an enemy blockade of Saleucami, to the planet. Sometimes later, Grievous' efforts were prevented by the Republic fleet along the Hydian Way, bolstered by Plo Koon.

Despite the failure of their first attempt, Grievous and Ventress planned to launch another invasion of Kamino. However, a transmission between the two was intercepted by the Galactic Republic, and as a result the 501st Legion was deployed to Kamino in preparation for the impending attack. As the two conferred before the battle, Grievous decided to start their initial assault on Tipoca City, home of the Republic's cloning facilities. Jedi General Shaak Ti was already on Kamino, while Wullf Yularen was in charge of a Republic blockade against Grievous' . As Grievous engaged the Republic blockade, Ventress, with her Trident-class assault ships and AQ-series battle droids, attacked the city. After the initial struggle, Grievous managed to break through the blockade and land on the surface with the remainder of his forces, desperate to deny his rival commander the opportunity to claim all the credit.

Once there, he proceeded to speak with Ventress about their objectives: Grievous would assault the clone trooper barracks while Ventress would get a sample of Jango Fett's DNA, the Grand Army's prime clone. During the assault, Ventress managed to acquire the DNA sample, but her escape was prevented by Skywalker, and in the ensuing fight the sample was lost. Elsewhere, Grievous was confronted by Kenobi and the two engaged in a heated battle until a Trident ship destroyed the pier they were fighting on. Grievous, thinking Kenobi had been killed in the explosion, made his escape aboard a flight pod. He then rescued Ventress from Skywalker and the clones. Both Separatist commanders failed in their tasks and were forced to flee. As the war continued, clone production resumed, and the Separatists faced a growing number of clones. Nonetheless, Grievous' attack demonstrates two things: any planet in the Republic was vulnerable, and the Republic has intelligence leaks.

Dooku, at the behest of his master, ordered Grievous to arrange an attack on Coruscant. Grievous managed to accomplish this by assigning several infiltrator demolition droids disguised as cleaning droids, which Grievous was not above supervising the creation of special units though he generally despised droids. The demolition droids managed to sabotage Coruscant's Central power distribution grid, disabling power to the area while the Galactic Senate was voting on the Confederate–Republic peace initiative, effectively ending the initiative. Coruscant suffered more damage from the droids than from any other attack in 1000 years, with many more explosions and many more casualties.

Following their success on Felucia, the Separatists begin construction several outposts on the planet, planning to maintain a droid presence there. The Republic's war effort was affected by their victory, and it would take weeks for them to regain any type of initiative. Plo Koon, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano led the 104th Battalion into enemy territory, with the help of clone tank divisions, seeking to shatter the Separatists' control on Felucia. Grievous learned that Republic forces led by Koon, Skywalker, and Tano fought to reclaim the planet from the Separatists. In retaliation, Grievous supplied one of his outposts overseen by the tactical droid TZ-33 on the planet with reinforcements to secure the system. The Separatist base was quickly taken over by the Republic, taking control of Felucia and the surrounding region but the battle would not end here.

After King Yos Kolina, of the Mon Calamari, who had sought the Republic and Jedi for assistance in preventing civil war in his world, was assassinated, Prince Lee-Char was supposed to be his successor, but his inexperience and youth worked against him. Kolina's assassination has pushed the planet's Quarren and Mon Calamari inhabitants to the verge of civil war. By the time the Republic dispatched Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala to try to ease tensions and ensure Lee-Char's ascension went smoothly, Grievous' fleets had taken over much of the surrounding space. The Separatists, for their part, sent the bloodthirsty Karkarodon warlord Riff Tamson to represent their interests, who, unbeknownst to them, was responsible for Kolina's death.

After suffering a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Naboo, the Trade Federation and, later, the Separatist armies had long desired to seize control of the planet, but this time, Count Dooku, backed by General Grievous, took the lead in the scheme. Dooku had long been interested in Naboo due to its connections to Palpatine, both as Republic leader and Sith Lord. Grievous enjoyed the chance to fight on Naboo, but he did not overwhelm the Gungans as he had expected. However, he had responsibilities, and Dooku was on Naboo to ensure that the General carried them out.

Later during the Clone Wars, Grievous suffered a defeat when he attempted to invade Naboo. Count Dooku and his agent, Minister Rish Loo, managed to seize control of the Gungan Boss Lyonie as well as the Gungan Grand Army. The Gungan Army would not march on Theed, but Grievous arrived on Naboo, demanding to speak to Lyonie about why the Gungans had withdrawn their support. Naboo's representative, Jar Jar Binks, posing as Boss Lyonie, and Gungan General Roos Tarpals were set out to distract him from launching their attack. Tarpals accompanied Jar Jar into the Separatist transport, where he met the Separatist leader, whom he was horrified to learn was General Grievous. Tarpals slipped out of the meeting to alert Padmé Amidala of the situation. Padmé suggested the Gungans deactivate the droid army and then capture the isolated Grievous. Meanwhile, after the Count had killed Rish Loo, who was now useless to him, Anakin encountered Dooku. Still impersonating Lyonie, Jar Jar kept Grievous waiting as long as he could, but the cyborg eventually lost patience and chased a terrified Binks out of his shuttle, only to discover his droid army deactivated and himself surrounded by Gungans waiting for him.

Grievous laughed; no Gungan army, no matter how large, could compete with him, but the general made the mistake of mocking the warriors who surrounded him, who were obviously terrified of his presence. The cyborg rejected the Gungans' suggestion that he surrender and ignited two of his lightsabers. Though his men were successful in deactivating the droid forces, they had a more difficult time dealing with Grievous, who remained a significant threat. There was a real danger that he would flee before help arrived, and Tarpals wouldn't let that happen, realizing there was only one way to subdue the cyborg. Grievous killed several militiagungs, but General Roos Tarpals intervened and engaged him in a duel. Tarpals, knowing he had no chance against the Separatist General, sacrificed himself in order to get close enough to Grievous to insert his electropole into the droid's body, allowing the cyborg to run him through with his lightsaber, and was abruptly impaled. Although he was mortally wounded by the cyborg, Tarpals impaled Grievous through his chest, shorting out the cyborg's internal systems and making him easily capturable, which allowed the Gungan Army to bombard the injured general with energized projectiles and capture him. Fortunately, and humiliatingly for Grievous, Dooku, having been ordered by Sidious to free the cyborg warlord, whose role in the Sith plot was crucial, captured Skywalker and forced Padmé Amidala to agree to a prisoner exchange. However, Grievous would soon have the opportunity to demonstrate that he was still useful to his lords.

While at the head of a small fleet, two Munificent-class frigates he commanded from a Providence, Grievous launched a surprise attack on the flagship of Jedi Council member Adi Gallia, who was heading back to Coruscant from a mercy mission on Aleen. With the combined power of his three warships trumping that of Gallia's single Republic Star Destroyer, Grievous and his forces quickly boarded the ship and engaged the 91st Recon Corps. Gallia, forced to abandon ship, was separated from Commander Neyo and the other members of her men long enough for Grievous to capture her after a brief, but intense duel with the Council member.

This behavior caused Jedi Master Plo Koon to quickly dispatch a group of Republic ships and launch a rescue mission. Sometime later, the General attacked and destroyed a pirate ship for target practice. However, Grievous's ship was then boarded by Plo Koon and his forces, who emerged from hyperspace with no less than five Republic Star Destroyers, rescued Gallia, and forced Grievous to flee.

General Grievous was involved in a project that oversaw the construction of a new type of battle droid and superweapon that would be known as Megadroid, these droids would be manufactured on the planet Golatha before being unleashed during the Clone Wars. The project was dubbed . Arriving at a Separatist base on Enthenium, Grievous was informed of the state of the factory in Golatha and that the new droids would be able to commence field tests by the end of the week before seemingly leaving. The General soon returns only to find Jedi Master Yoda using one of the base's computers to gain some insight into the secret project.

Greeting the Jedi Master, the Kaleesh cyborg commented on how it was a pleasure to meet him after being trained by Yoda's former student, Count Dooku. Having learned of the Jedi Grand Master's legendary reputation, Grievous hoped to meet him in combat one day, and that time had finally come. Grievous ignited one of his sabers and engaged in a duel with the Grand Master. Though more threatening, Yoda understood that Grievous was more mechanical than life. Pointing out the disadvantage that Yoda had with his small size, the General was quickly proven wrong after the Jedi Master jumped over him and landed a strike on his head. He regarded the mark that was left on his faceplate's forehead as a lucky strike that could be easily repaired after he would take the Jedi's head from his shoulder. While Grievous continued to engage, he was frozen in place by Yoda with the Force, with the Grand Master claiming that despite his use of Jedi weapons, he did not possess the same skills as all other Jedi had nor their connection with the Force before pushed him away into the wall. After colliding with the wall, the cyborg stood up unharmed, and continued his duel with Yoda before being interrupted by his army of battle droids that tried to shoot the Jedi Master while unintentionally giving him time to jump into a conduit and escape after stealing Grievous' lightsaber with the Force. Unfortunately, Yoda was able to successfully escape the separatist base and return to the Jedi with information on Operation: Titan.

About two years after the Jedi had infiltrated his lair, Grievous hunted two Jedi on Ledeve. He killed a Mikkian Jedi in the forest, collecting her lightsaber from her body, and tracked down her Padawan, waiting for him atop his T-6 shuttle. Grievous ignited all four blades and leaped at the apprentice, killing him. He obtained the boy's lightsaber, as well as a datapad revealing the location of the Jedi Temple. Pleased with his find, Grievous set out through the jungle to find the ancient structure, and this was repaying them for breaking into his home by entering theirs.

Grievous scaled the temple and entered it, discovering a hallway of Jedi statues. Reminded of his own statues on Vassek, believing those to have been earned where the Jedi were not, Grievous reduced the statues to rubble before moving on. He evaded several traps set within the temple, climbing the ceiling to avoid a pit of lava and dodging spikes. He scrambled under other booby traps and eventually came to the central chamber. Believing the temple's secrets to be his, Grievous reached into a waterfall in an effort to obtain a shining sigil from within, but was unable to grasp it. Blaming a sensor error, Grievous kept trying to grab the image until he grew angry enough to fling himself into the raging water.

The general found himself floating in a strange, cosmic landscape, and was addressed by ephemeral voices that mocked his quest for knowledge and his own cybernetic upgrades. Grievous then was made to appear as he once was, in his original Kaleesh body, as the voices accused him of seeking to destroy a power he did not understand. Grievous felt his limbs detaching from his body, watching in shock as he was unmade, and was left as little more than a collection of bodily organs floating in the void, the voices still mocking him for being "small." Grievous emerged from the waterfall unscathed, and attacked the flow with his blades, but was unable to cause any damage to the shining entity within. Disgusted, Grievous left the temple and sent its coordinates to a Providence-class Dreadnought in orbit. He ordered the ship to fire, and the ensuing laser strike obliterated the entire temple, leaving only a smoldering crater that Grievous observed until nightfall. Secure in the belief that he had burned the entity he encountered, Grievous departed—missing the sight of a glowing sigil amidst the devastation.

After the failed assassination attempt on his life by his former apprentice Asajj Ventress, who had been aided by Mother Talzin and the Nightsisters from Dathomir, Dooku summoned Grievous. Dooku ordered him to attack Dathomir and wipe the Nightsisters out. Grievous, who had long desired to eliminate his old rival, readily accepted.

Grievous then took a Separatist fleet to Dathomir and landed his forces on the planet. Knowing that the Nightsisters were formidable foes and cautious not to underestimate them, he gave them no chance, heeding his master's grave warnings. It may seem extreme, but he wanted to be certain that his cunning foes wouldn't stand a chance. He had his Hyena-class Droid Bombers launch an airstrike on their village, before beginning to land their C-9979 landing crafts to send in his ground troops to attack them. Despite being severely outnumbered and outgunned, the Nightsisters were initially able to hold their ground. This prompted Grievous to deploy several of his Armored Assault Tanks, which escorted a lone Defoliator Deployment Tank in order to burn the forest, which successfully managed to drive the Nightsisters back. Unfortunately, Talzin had sought the assistance of Old Daka, the eldest of the Nightsisters, who used her magick to raise the Army of the Dead as reinforcements. With Ventress leading the charge, the Nightsisters pushed forward, destroying the Defoliator Tanks and fighting their way to the open field from where Grievous was commanding his troops. Both armies halted their positions opposite one another.

Ventress then challenged Grievous to a duel, proposing that if he won then Nightsisters would surrender to him, but if she won then Grievous and his army would leave Dathomir. The two then engaged in a fierce lightsaber duel and initially seemed equally matched, until Ventress severed one of Grievous' four mechanical arms and knocked him to the ground. Holding all the cards militarily, with no intention of honoring the result of the duel, and no longer entertained by the sport of it, Grievous ordered his battle droids to kill her. Ventress tried to fight them off, but was shot in her shoulder. As Grievous attempted to finish her off, a large wave of Nightsister zombies attacked him, with both armies once again engaging each other in combat. With the assistance of one of her fellow Nightsisters, Ventress was able to escape in the ensuing chaos.

Whilst cutting down the attacking zombies, Grievous was contacted by Dooku, who was being magically attacked in a way similar to voodoo by Mother Talzin. Dooku ordered Grievous to follow the Nightsister magic to its source and kill Talzin before she could torture him to death. Grievous followed the green magic trail to the Nightsister village and a secret cave where both Talzin and Daka where performing their magic rituals, killing several Nightsisters on the way. Grievous then ordered one of his commando droids to create an entrance to the cave, where he violently murdered Daka, and prevented Talzin from further torturing Dooku, but she vanished into the Force before he could kill her too, safety escaping Grievous's blades. With Daka's death, all the arisen Nightsisters returned to the grave, leaving the rest overwhelmed and outnumbered and eventually massacred by Grievous' army, putting an end to their resistance. While the Nightsisters had battled bravely, the battle left more witches dead than droids where they had fallen, leaving no one to care the dead.

Unbeknownst to them, however, Ventress and Talzin had managed to survive the battle. Ventress found her way off Dathomir, while Talzin, whom Grievous believed to be dead, was forced to dissolve her physical form, seeking refuge into the spiritual realm.

Around that time, a small group of Nightsisters flee for their lives after an overwhelming assault from a wave of battle droids sweeps through the burning forest, only to run into Grievous himself, who impaled one of them behind with one of his lightsabers and then attacked Morgan Elsbeth, as she and her clan were distracted when several commando droids arrived and rained fire on them. However, Selena intervened, ordered her daughter to stay back, and used two sickles enchanted with magick to attack Grievous while he activated his second lightsaber. Grievous followed Selena further into the forest, away from the site of the battle, and exchanged blows with her until Selena hooked Grievous's blades beneath her sickles, but he released them and unleashed a powerful strike against her weapons, breaking her defense and forcing her to be pushed back.

Grievous moved forward, spinning two of the lightsabers toward Selena, as Morgan had her own battle, fighting one of the command droids, leaving her defenseless and forcing her to withdraw into the woods. Spinning one of his lightsabers in front of him and the other behind him, Grievous switches between the two blades to strike the elderly Nightsister repeatedly, then strikes her sickle from below with his lightsabers, once again breaking her defense and leaving her open. He seized Selena by the body, pressed her to the ground, and hurled her across the ground. Grievous slowly approached Selena and prepared to strike her down, but she rose to her feet and blocked his attack. They engaged in blade-lock, and as Morgan turned to help her mother, Grievous activated a third blade from his left arm, stabbing Selena in the torso. In her final moments, Selena ordered her daughter to run. Grievous laughed, then struck Selena down with his three lightsabers. After striking down Selena and mockingly yelling at Morgan to run, Grievous ordered his forces to annihilate the remaining Nightsisters, leaving the landscape a burning wasteland.

To route out any surviving Nightsisters, Grievous deployed patrols of HMP droid gunships, probe droids and battle droids across the forests and mountains following the battle to hunt down anyone that might have survived the Separatist invasion.

Sometime after the battle, Dooku told Grievous that with the Nightsisters dead, there was no one to control the rogue Savage Opress, whose powers he felt growing, to which Grievous simply mocked Dooku's notion that Opress could pose a threat to them.

Though Grievous's arrogance and overconfidence led to his capture by Gungan and Republic forces on Naboo, necessitating Dooku's intervention, Grievous was forgiven for saving Dooku's life during his attack on Dathomir. With the Nightsisters no longer a threat and Asajj gone, Grievous was used once more to settle his master's personal score and was sent to the planet Florrum to overrun the infamous pirate Hondo Ohnaka's base in retaliation for an earlier humiliation Dooku had suffered at Hondo's hands. The Sith Lord still holds a grudge against the Weequay pirate and his crew, having previously held him captive, although Grievous had been overjoyed by his master's frustration, arrogant capture, and brutal punishment.

In deep space, Grievous led the Separatist fleet, formed HMPs and hyena droid bombers into strike groups, and launched an all-out attack. During an ambush by Grievous, the Republic forces were quickly defeated, and intent on the capturing or killing of his arch-rival. The gunships dropped B1 and B2 battle droids as Grievous himself trailed behind in his Sheathipede-class shuttle and then boarded Obi-Wan Kenobi's command ship without losing a single capital ship. There, he tore through the clone trooper ranks until he made his way with one of the clones grabbed and pinned to the ground and crushed the clone's neck with his foot to Kenobi, whom he proceeded to duel and overpower by kicking the Jedi back against a Republic gunship, while clone troopers and droids battled around them. However, Kenobi managed to escape and abandon his ship, but not before rigging it to self-destruct, forcing Grievous to retreat and abandon all the useful information in the ship's memory banks. With Kenobi overwhelmed, the entire system was now under Separatist control.

Sometime later, Grievous and several droid transports landed on Florrum, and battle droids unloaded rows after rows unfurled from their racks and began to march, followed by commando droids and super battle droids parading in front of him, stalking out of his ship, hands clasped behind him. When Grievous and his droids entered the hall where the pirates were feasting, Ohnaka greeted the cyborg and invited him to join in the fun. He climbed onto the table and grabbed his coat collar, ignoring his words, informing him that Florrum was now under Separatist control and that the pirate himself had a new master, and threw him to the floor and displayed a hologram of Dooku. The Count asked if he remembered the last time they met in person, when he was his prisoner, and tried to bargain him off. Despite Ohnaka's protests, Grievous ordered the droids to escort him to his cell.

Grievous was soon informed that Ahsoka Tano, her fellow Jedi younglings, and a group of pirates had freed Ohnaka, fought through the droid forces, and fled the outpost. He then ordered his tanks to level the prison section. As they were escaping, Grievous pursued them in his combat speeder, aided by three commando droids piloting STAPs, and then boarded their WLO-5 battle tank and exchanged several blows with the Padawan. When they crashed, the general made his way back, crawled on all fours, and gathered his prey, but Ohnaka and Katooni arrived with Slave I, and the younglings were able to jump aboard. Grievous then fought Tano, who both charged at each other and Grievous's blades whirled in blurred circles, but Ahsoka backflipped and slashed. Ahsoka used the Force to drive him back, but he then stabbed his four lightsabers into the ground as he skidded backward, slowing himself.

Grievous launched himself at her, but she flipped in the air, and though she proved to be a much more formidable opponent than in their previous encounter, Grievous was still more than a match for her. They fought with their lightsabers crossed again and again. Grievous grabbed Ahsoka with his clawed feet, hurled her in the air, and smashed her down as he charged, his blades spinning rapidly as she kept rolling, before leaping onto her feet and meeting his four blades with her two. An exhausted Ahsoka shoved Grievous hard enough, then jumped over him and fled, leaping onto the ship. Hondo opened fire on Grievous, but was forced to retreat when Armored Assault Tanks arrived, leaving Grievous to laugh in victory.

Grievous's assault on Hondo Ohnaka's pirate base on Florrum all but destroyed Ohnaka's power base. The pirates retreated for a while, but when the Separatists lost interest and left, Ohnaka's crew returned to control a planet that was hardly useless to anyone else.

Sometime later, Grievous sent an encoded transmission to other members of the Confederacy, but the transmission was also intercepted by the Jedi Council. However, Republic Intelligence was unable to break the new encryption technology used in the transmission, and the Republic feared this was leading to an upcoming major attack. In order to understand the transmission the Republic sent D-Squad, a group of Republic droids, to a Separatist dreadnought to retrieve an encryption module.

Near the end of the war, a large Kyber Crystal was discovered. Torul Blom, the Governor of Pau City, began negotiations with Count Dooku. With the help of Sugi weapons dealer, he wanted to sell him the crystal. Grievous was sent by Dooku to acquire a massive kyber crystal from Sugi arms dealers led by Endente. The deal was to take place on the neutral world of Utapau, with local Amani being used as bodyguards. At least two Magnaguards were present in the early days of the event, and more of them, as well as other droids, arrived later with Grievous. The Jedi Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi learned of the arms deal when they came to the planet to investigate the mysterious death of Jedi Master Tu-Anh. They tracked down the crystal and stole it from those who were trafficking in it. Grievous was reassured that the crystal was in route when the Sugi returned empty-handed to his office.

However, the general had ordered his MagnaGuards to scout the area, and he was well aware that the object was in the Jedi's hands. The cyborg decapitated Endente without hesitation after telling him that he was no longer useful to him, and then started off in search of the two Jedi and the crystal, accompanied by several MagnaGuards. A chase was engaged in the caves of Utapau. Eventually, the cyborg general's speeder crashed with a horde of varactyls, allowing Anakin and Obi-Wan to flee to Pau City. Soon after, Grievous was contacted by Governor Blom who told him that he had captured the two Jedi again, and the crystal was therefore being placed into a separatist shuttle. The cyborg arrived in time, however, Anakin and Obi-Wan had escaped, once again. Grievous stabbed Blom with a lightsaber just as he was about to apologize, mocking his apologies and acknowledgement of error They, however, continued their mission, following the crystal to the space above Utapau.

The pair of Jedi chased the ship carrying the crystal, but the pair themselves were being chased by Grievous in his fighter and several droid fighters. The crystal was brought to a Separatist supply ship, which the pair crashed their ship into the hyperdrive of. Choosing to do a "number five special," they abandoned their craft in escape pods, but boarded the supply ship in different hangars. While Skywalker did not encounter resistance, only seeing one unarmed OOM pilot battle droid which he scared off, Kenobi was forced to deal with the crystal's droid escort. After Kenobi cut down several battle droids, Grievous and two vulture droids entered the hangar. Kenobi demanded that his nemesis surrender, and the two engaged in a brief duel, with Grievous quickly overpowering Kenobi, resulting in Obi-Wan's capture.

While Grievous prepared an execution chamber for Kenobi, battle droids secured the crystal, with it eventually being taken to the ship's vault. Skywalker was able to eventually free Kenobi and the pair eventually reclaimed the crystal. The pair learned that the crystal could fire back energy, such as laser fire, which they used to fight their way to the hangar. When they had secured a ship, Obi-Wan made several AATs fire at the crystal, causing it to overload. While the crystal's explosion destroyed the ship, Grievous chased after the Jedi in his fighter. The pair ultimately escaped into hyperspace while the explosion grew, destroying the Separatist fleet above the planet, and Grievous was flung into space in his starfighter. With the destruction of the massive kyber crystal, he had once again failed to fulfill the tasks assigned by his ruthless superior.

Within months of the arms deal, the Confederacy launched a secret invasion on the world of Utapau, which Grievous took part in. During this invasion, the general's preferred vehicle was a TSMEU-6 personal wheel bike. The Utapaun peoples were disappointed, as they had hoped that the defeat of Grievous and the loss of the crystal would restore relative obscurity to their world. General Grievous returned, this time with an occupying force, led thousands of battle droids and MagnaGuard detachments, and refused to be confronted by the planet's ruling Utapaun Committee. The Separatist high command had selected Utapau as a hiding place for the Executive Separatist Council and decided to seek safety there. Grievous ordered his MagnaGuards to kill all of their members, much to Tion Medon's horror. With the threat of immediate destruction over Pau'ans and Utai, the Port Administrator had no choice but to comply with Grievous' demands, and a small Confederate base was established in Pau City, where, under orders from Darth Sidious, the Separatist Council was safely hidden. Before long, a massive modified core ship had taken over much of the city's Level 10, serving as the Separatist droid forces' command center.

Grievous was later seen with Dooku on the Separatist capital planet of Raxus Secundus where Dooku was receiving the Raxian Humanitarian Award. Grievous was in charge of security, and he briefly fought Quinlan Vos, who was there on orders of the Jedi Council to kill Dooku. Vos ambushed the general and his droids to prevent them from assisting Dooku, who was under attack by Ventress, Vos' partner in the assassination. Even as Grievous rushed for the two lightsabers at his waist, Vos grabbed hold of them with the Force before he could, and as the Kiffar Jedi had predicted, Grievous bellowed and charged. Stepping to the side almost leisurely, Vos cut upward with his lightsaber, slicing the general's left hand at the wrist, and flying into Vos's grip; the mechanical limb with the comlink still clutched in its metal fingers dropped to the floor. Suddenly, Grievous spread all four arms wide and then charged, and Vos met him halfway. As they clashed in midair, Grievous was the heavier of the two, and his momentum pushed them back toward the wall. He clenched his right hands around Vos's throat and threw him hard, attempting to slam him into the walkway's unforgiving stones. However, Grievous made the mistake of letting him out of his grasp and landed in an easy crouch. Vos threatened Grievous to stay, then locked the cyborg in a chamber before leaving. Grievous yelled and pounded his hand against the walls, and one of the battle droids tried to open the door.

After escaping the center security, Grievous emerged, and Vos immediately spun just in time to see him and place his boot in Dooku's stomach, surprising the count, before shifting his weight and kicking Grievous with his other. The cyborg then tumbled over the railing, dragging Ventress down with him. As the two plunged downward, she landed hard on a lower-level ledge, her head dangling over the side. Grievous stood atop her with his foot on her throat, grasping her with four hands, and throwing her down to the level below them. Ventress slammed against the wall next to one of the windows, slumped to the ledge, and received a nasty beating. Suddenly, Grievous leaped in her direction, and she then turned to face and rolled to the right. Ventress was injured, bewildered, and had lost her lightsaber. She snarled and charged at Grievous, delivering a barefoot kick that still managed to send the larger and heavier cyborg reeling backward. He growled, apparently taken aback. Ventress reached out in the Force to seize Vos's lightsaber, jumped to the lower level and began reducing the battle droids to scrap metal, battling the blasts directly into one, slicing through another, and kicking a third off the ledge. Ventress turned her attention to the general, and he reached down for his lightsabers, only to discover them missing. Grievous then instructed his battle droids to detain her while he went to assist with the count. Shortly after, Grievous arrived with reinforcements, Vos was captured, and Ventress escaped.

After Zabrak Nightbrother Maul had escaped from Sidious, unknowingly falling into his plan to lure out and destroy Talzin, and was tracked to the Death Watch-controlled moon of Zanbar, Grievous was ordered by Dooku to hunt down Sidious' former apprentice. Dooku then ordered him to direct his entire droid fleet at Maul's recently formed crime syndicate—the Shadow Collective and ordered him to destroy his army and wound his pride, but not to kill him. This was in order for him to draw out Mother Talzin, Maul's mother and one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy. Grievous thought it foolish to keep Maul alive, but Dooku reminded Grievous that it was not wise to question the plans of Darth Sidious, and that he as Dooku's apprentice would carry out his orders to the fullest degree. Grievous then moved his fleet to Zanbar and launched several landing craft to destroy the Mandalorian warriors, starting off the Battle of Zanbar.

Basing his calculation on their experience compared to the clones they normally fought, Grievous knew that the chances of his droid army gaining a victory in this battle were unlikely. Deploying his droids after telling them as such, Grievous watched the fighting unfold from a landing craft until he spotted Maul on the battlefield. After sending out four of his IG-100 MagnaGuards to weaken Maul, Grievous emerged from his ship and engaged at least one Mandalorian super commando in battle, easily killing him with his lightsabers. Maul disposed of the Magnaguards and turned his attention to the cyborg general and engaged Grievous in single combat. Neither Maul nor Grievous was able to gain the upper hand in the duel, but Grievous, per his orders, taunted Maul, telling him that the battle was lost.

However, Maul had held several Gauntlet fighters in reserve and ordered them to drop firebombs onto the battlefield. This left both factions' resources almost depleted. Maul, realizing Zanbar was lost, fled into a Gauntlet fighter and retreated from Grievous. Grievous then contacted Count Dooku via hologram and informed him he had fulfilled his master's wishes; Maul was on the run. Dooku then congratulated Grievous. Maul now believed the Sith were out to destroy him and his Syndicate, but would not learn of their true intentions until it was too late. Grievous knew their goal was the witch Talzin, but did not understand what value Maul held for the Witch. Dooku told him all would be revealed as their plans unfolded.

After leaving Zanbar, Dooku rendezvoused with Grievous, gathering the fleet after Separatist spies reported that Mandalorian warships were amassing on the planet of Ord Mantell, confirming Maul was in league with the Black Sun who controlled the planet. Grievous once again questioned the Dark Lord's obsession with destroying Mother Talzin; Dooku explained to Grievous that Talzin was an older and fouler creature than Grievous understood, and that she would have to be destroyed before she disrupted Darth Sidious' plans. Grievous' super tactical droid Tey-Zuka reported to the cyborg general that a lone transport shuttle had left Dathomir moments ago, with Ord Mantell being a possible destination. Dooku believed Talzin was aboard and ordered the fleet to move to Ord Mantell.

Soon they arrived and Grievous ordered the fleet to begin bombarding the city from orbit. With the city now in ruins, the landing crafts began their assault. Grievous believed Maul's forces would soon be on the run but became suspicious when he realized he had not seen any Mandalorian warships. Tey-Zuka calculated that they had been destroyed before they could lift off but Grievous knew better—they were planning a sneak attack. The Gauntlet fighters appeared from behind Ord Mantell's moon, attacking the Separatist fleet. Grievous had been lured into a trap. Tey-Zuka reported a fighter had attached itself to the hull of Grievous' Providence-class Dreadnought—but before the droid could finish, Maul interrupted. He gave Grievous an ultimatum; either he shut down the battle droids that were killing his troops—or he would die.

With the General dismissing his threats, Maul then charged Grievous, tackling him into a transparisteel viewport. Dooku had also been captured as well. Maul contacted Sidious via hologram after traveling to Vizsla Keep 09, threatening to kill them both unless he met Mother Talzin's demands. Sidious refused, instead stating he had no further use for them. Maul decided not to kill them, but ordered Grievous to the brig. Grievous told Dooku that it would be unfortunate if the next time they met he would have to add Dooku's lightsaber to his collection.

Dooku, who was still on the bridge of the ship, later used the Force to unlock Grievous' cell. Grievous escaped, killing the Mandalorians that were guarding him and several more while searching for a way off the ship. He soon found an escape pod, ejecting from the carrier and escaping from Maul.

Shortly afterward, Grievous regrouped with Darth Sidious aboard the Scimitar; which was originally Maul's personal starship; and they made their way to Dathomir where Dooku's signals were emanating from; just as Sidious predicted. Sidious ordered Grievous to cloak the ship from view and make their way to Dathomir's surface. They landed and the pair approached a chamber said to hold a stone column that was the heart of Mother Talzin's power. The chamber was located very near the Nightbrother village where Maul was born. Grievous blew an opening in the wall of the chamber, entered and stated he was about to kill Maul. Sidious followed, stating only the Dark Lord's plan shall rule the galaxy. Dooku appeared, though he was now possessed by Talzin, who at the time was still unable to take physical form.

The four engaged in lightsaber combat; Grievous attacked Maul while Sidious freed his apprentice from Talzin with the use of Force lightning. Talzin returned in the flesh while Sidious told her she was going to die here. Maul took advantage of this distraction and used the Force to shove Grievous through the opening the explosion had created. Sidious attacked Talzin with a Force lightning barrage while Talzin defended Maul and herself with magick, which was capable of deflecting blaster fire and Force lightning, as her son implored her to fight on. Dooku recovered and strengthened his master's assault against the witch. Knowing that escaping was impossible, Talzin threw Maul into his ship over his desperate objections. Grievous reentered the chamber calmly striding towards the now beaten Talzin, whose defenses were bypassed as she collapsed to her knees from the exertion; Grievous then ignited his lightsabers and plunged them through the witch's chest. As Grievous decisively destroyed Talzin, striking her down for the second and final time, the magicks rushed out of her body once and for all, putting a stop to her renewed quest for ultimate power.

As the Droid Army attacked the nearby Nightbrother village, Darth Sidious took a moment to congratulate Dooku and Grievous; Maul's future had been erased while theirs was more certain than it had ever been. At some point following these events, the Confederacy launched an effort to retake the planet Christophsis as revenge for its previous defeat. Because of how personal winning the planet was to Dooku, Ventress suspected that Grievous would be involved in the battle. Having allied with the Jedi and the rescued Quinlan Vos to try and kill Dooku again, she informed the Jedi Council of such, but their efforts ended in failure when Dooku escaped and Ventress, acting to save Vos from being struck by Force lightning, appeared to be mortally wounded. Grievous rescued Dooku, but Vos had redeemed himself. Towards the end of the war, the Crispus Commons bomb shelter was constructed in the unlikely event Grievous or Dooku would try to destroy the Crispus Commons veteran facility on the planet Gorse.

Grievous fought Jedi General Depa Billaba on Haruun Kal. There his troops decimated her clone troops, while he personally engaged the Jedi Master in a duel and almost ended her life. Six months after his victory over Billaba, Rackham Sear and General Kleeve discuss the plan for an attack on the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and destroy the central tower, having paid the Duros bounty hunter named Cad Bane, who had infiltrated the temple a year before, for the necessary information. While Kleeve was opposed Sear's idea and saw it as a suicide mission, Grievous backed Rackham, remarking his patriotism, and if the tower falls, both the Republic and Separatists will realize that neither the Jedi Order nor the Republic are invincible, thus changing the direction of the war. He and Kleeve then sent in their top explosives expert, Captain Rackham Sear to carry out a bombing on the Jedi Temple.

After Captain Sear's mission failure, Grievous then went to Kardoa with Kleeve and Sear's brother, Colonel Coburn Sear. There, Grievous saw Billaba leading the Republic forces. Grievous then demanded that she must die. However, Kleeve saw his obsession with killing Jedi as a distraction and warned against attacking before he left for Kaller. Grievous left as well for Mygeeto. However, he left Colonel Sear to deal with Billaba and her forces. Grievous then waited for Billaba and her forces to come to Mygeeto. There, he and Colonel Sear confronted Billaba and her apprentice, Caleb Dume. The General was able to duel her again during the Third Battle of Mygeeto, initially quickly overwhelming her forces with dozens of battle droids when he destroyed the bridges of the mesa until the Fang fighters of Skull Squadron under Skull Leader Fenn Rau destroyed the battle droids attacking. While Sear, after killing the clone trooper near him, faced Dume, Grievous entered into a lightsaber duel with Billaba, brandishing two lightsabers and striking her repeatedly, expressing his belief that he had already defeated her and wouldn't make the same error of not verifying her death. Billaba blocked Grievous's every strike, responded that she was no longer the same person as before and saw herself as capable of defeating him, and hit Grievous with a Force push.

Grievous remerged to resume their battle, activated two more, and counterattacked. Two of his blades aloft narrowly missed her, while the other two he swept low, intending to take her out, but she parried and managed to cut off two of Grievous's hands. However, Grievous slashed her with one of his lightsabers, significantly injuring her. Despite that, she continued fighting until Dume, Commander Styles, and Captain Grey came to aid her and opened fire on Grievous, while Dume then went to Billaba. Styles and Grey opened fire, but Grievous spun two lightsabers to deflect their blaster bolts, as Billaba and Dume then attempted to surround the cyborg from behind. He was then forced to retreat before the two could even do so, sliding down from the structure with his lightsabers, regretfully allowing her to live. After the cyborg fled, leaving Mygeeto with the Republic, Billaba did not order a pursuit, as she had long since learned to live with remorse.

Ultimately, the Republic held all the momentum for the third year of the war. Despite General Grievous's successes on Dathomir, Florrum, and elsewhere, the Separatists were driven by the Republic out of the Core and Colonies and into the Mid Rim and Outer Rim, and, in the campaign known as the Outer Rim Sieges, in the hopes of forcing a surrender, to blockade several key Separatist worlds in that region, the Republic Military kept up the pressure. As the Republic sought to end the war, the Outer Rim Sieges became increasingly important. The Separatists suffer from a structural geographical weakness in terms of territorial borders, as they were unable to use the Hydian Way to cut through the Republic's Core Worlds to reinforce worlds across the galaxy, and the Hutts control the more circuitous Triellus Trade Route, making it extremely difficult for the Confederacy to move troops and supplies between their and trailing territories. The Separatists were especially vulnerable to the Republic's coordinated series of sieges, draining the Separatist Council's fighting spirit.

Coruscant, unsurprisingly, was still well-defended, and their fleet had been significantly weakened due to having to drop their strength to a different position in the Outer Rim, but it seemed unthinkable that no one would attack them by surprise. When the Nexus Route coordinates were kept safe, preventing the Separatists from attacking the capital directly, it appeared that the threat had disappeared, but the Jedi Order was unaware that by sharing the coordinates with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, they were essentially sending the knowledge directly to their enemies. With the Separatists on the verge of defeat, a major victory was required to break the Republic's will and the power of its assaults. Then, Count Dooku informed Grievous with the news that he was expecting; Darth Sidious had obtained the coordinates for Grievous and his fleet to leap from the Outer Rim directly to Coruscant, as well as a plan to kidnap the Supreme Chancellor, it seemed that the CIS could recover and emerge victorious. Gathering his forces for an attack on the Core's heart, Grievous thought that such an attack will cause the recall of Republic forces participating in the Outer Rim Sieges, therefore removing or at least rendering the blockades permeable. It was a risky gamble that, if successful, could signal the end of the conflict. Towards the end of the war, a Separatist surrender seemed as though it would come in due time, but the sieges also encompassed when Grievous launched a massive offensive, pushing the Republic to the brink. The Jedi Council has sent its Generals, far from the Core Worlds, to support the beleaguered clones in reaction to this overwhelming attack, but the majority of fronts remained open.

At one point during the sieges, Grievous was aboard the bridge of a starship. During the sieges, Grievous attempted to take control of the shipyards on the planet Anaxes, located at the Coreward edge of the Outer Rim, where the Republic owned a number of important shipyards. Grievous's desire led to a lengthy, bloody battle, led by Separatist forces under the Harch Admiral Trench. Additionally, Grievous played a decisive role in the outbreak of conflict between the Wookiees and the CIS. For the Separatists, Kachirho was a key place because it was simple to defend while also being an excellent landing strip for droids. Grievous, however, was primarily interested in the Claatuvac Guild Archives because it contained many unknown space roads. The Wookiees were overly aggressively persuaded to join the Separatists by Grievous' battle droids. The Separatists decided to focus all their efforts on Kachirho, a coastal city situated amidst freshwater lakes in the Wawaatt Archipelago. After struggling to find a suitable entry point for the invasion, the Trade Federation managed to find a site to gather their troops in the Wawaatt Archipelago, taking advantage of the hollows in the tree canopy and the few areas of open ground. The Federation considered it a great starting point for a ground campaign because it is not protected by thick forests, unlike other Wookiees cities in the interior, and it is more accessible to orbital attacks.

Initially, the Wookiees attempted to remain neutral in the conflict, but the importance of the planet compelled both sides to enter into a series of negotiations with the of Kashyyyk to try and persuade them to join their cause. After a long wait for a favorable decision, Grievous became impatient and directed a large-scale attack, hoping the threat would "persuade" the Wookiees to accept the conditions posed by Count Dooku and his allies. The decision, however, turned out to be a dire mistake for the Confederacy, and the Wookiees responded angrily, declaring an all-out war on the forces threatening to attack them, kicking off the Battle of Kashyyyk. The failed attack on Kachirho's refinery began with an invasion of the planet following their occupation in an effort to reverse their declining fortunes in the war with help from the Claatuvac Guild's information. The Confederacy's deployment of a secret force of battle droids and warships had strewn Kashyyyk's night sky with a harsh light as they arrived, which became visible to the Wookiee natives on the surface.

With the Republic Military busy with the Outer Rim Sieges raging across the galaxy's spiral arms, Coruscant was left with fewer defenses. With Republic strategists unworried, Sidious arranged for Grievous to launch a massive assault to capture his own alter ego, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine. Grievous, however, was entirely unaware of Palpatine's real identity. Dooku had earlier relocated his command post to Grievous's flagship, the Invisible Hand, allowing him to be close to Grievous and ensure his orders were carried out, but even though a creature like the cyborg general posed no threat to the Sith Master, Sidious did not want any setbacks to his plans. Grievous and his forces emerged from hyperspace with hundreds upon hundreds of C-9979 landing craft and thousands upon thousands of their Vulture droid and Droid tri-fighter escorts swept past toward the planet's surface and opened fire on the fleet of ships guarding Coruscant, wreaking destruction on the planet. The Coruscant Home Defense Fleet was caught off guard, and, with the chaos and Confederacy navy providing cover, Grievous and a strike team could land on Coruscant's surface. Within minutes, a significant number of Republic Star Destroyers protecting the cityworld were reduced to fiery rubble, with the Invisible Hand accounting for a large percentage of the deaths. In space, Droid tri-fighters quickly decimated Republic ARC-170 fighter squadrons, while droid fighters flying to the battle on the surface supported the battle droids with their passes, spraying enemies on the ground with fire, immobilizing Jedi Masters Yoda and Mace Windu long enough for Grievous to act.

Amidst the chaos and panic, Dooku remained in orbit and directed the aerial attack on Coruscant, while Grievous brought dozens of large forces of MagnaGuards with him to distract any Jedi during his escape, took the surrounding chaos to make a shuttle landing, flew down to the planet itself, and landed in the Executive District, commanding an armed team, and then appeared in Palpatine's apartment, accompanied by his electrostaff-equipped MagnaGuards. Despite Shaak Ti and Corobb's best efforts to get Palpatine to safety, Grievous fought his way through layers of Republic security forces, including clone troopers and Jedi protectors, to secure Palpatine, eliminating everyone either by subduing or killing them, killing Jedi Master Roron Corobb, whose lightsaber he claimed, during his hunt for Palpatine. During the defense, Kit Fisto attempted to defend the Chancellor from Grievous. He also incapacitated Ti using electrified cables and claimed her weapon as well. He then took a single, but invaluable prisoner, the Chancellor, and carried him away aboard his flagship, the Invisible Hand, leading him to the still-waiting Dooku in Communications tower, where Dooku took charge of keeping Palpatine captive. Grievous was also warned by Dooku that the Jedi would stage a rescue mission. Grievous had already captured Palpatine and returned to his flagship by the time the Coruscant Home Fleet had finally established assault positions.

Before Grievous could escape into hyperspace with the captured Chancellor, Republic reinforcements arrived into the battle with the Invisible Hand as their main target. While the Home Fleet moved to prevent Grievous from reaching a jump point from which the Separatist leaders could escape, thus keeping the Invisible Hands in the midst of the battle, a rescue squad under Kenobi and Skywalker, who had rushed to Coruscant from the planet Yerbana upon learning of Grievous's attack, raced to board the Invisible Hand while Commander Honor Salima of the Home Fleet rallied her vessels to stop the Separatists from escaping or disengaging. Amid the slugging match that the battle devolved into, Kenobi, Skywalker, and Clone Flight Squad Seven raced forward despite squadrons of droid fighters confronting them, resulting in many of the clone pilots being shot down. However, the two Jedi managed to board the Invisible Hand and race toward its Conning tower to save Palpatine. Upon returning to the bridge, Grievous was informed of the Jedi incursion by his Neimoidian captain, but the cyborg merely laughed at how Dooku's prediction had come true.

Fighting past the battle droids who tried to stop them, the two Jedi make it to Palpatine and were confronted by Dooku, whose presence proved to be fortunate for the Republic; the two clashed with Dooku until Skywalker bested the Separatist Head of State and killed on Palpatine's orders. His death was a major blow to the CIS. Meanwhile, the Invisible Hand was surrounded by Home Fleet Strike Group Five under by Lorth Needa, who demanded its surrender. Needa did not believe Grievous's claims that Palpatine was a prisoner on board. Although he gave the cyborg ten minutes to prove himself before his ships opened fire, Grievous did not surrender. Informed by one of his OOM pilots that they had located the Jedi in Hallway 328, Grievous had them trapped within a ray shield and escorted to the bridge by droids. In a moment that filled Grievous with satisfaction, Obi-Wan and Anakin were marched onto his bridge in electrobonds.

An OOM command battle droid handed the two lightsabers to Grievous, who took them in his metal claws and weighted them. According to the Jedi, constructing their own lightsaber was not simply a weapon but also a piece of art that perfectly reflected its owner. A comprehensive analysis of the lightsaber could reveal much about the Jedi who made it, but there would be time for that later. Turning to face his prisoners, Grievous expanded to his full height. He enjoyed looking down on them, the terror in their eyes as they wondered what awful weapons were behind his long cloak, and the fear as they stared up at his expressionless metal face. Grievous and Anakin Skywalker finally meet face-to-face, both mocking one another, with Skywalker angering him in the process. He swept his cape back, revealing the lightsabers hanging from its lining, boasting that adding their lightsabers would make an excellent addition to his collection.

Still unaware that Dooku had been killed, Grievous was delighted to have captured his old adversary Kenobi and the legendary Skywalker, and he was also already overjoyed and celebrating his total control over the entire fleet when he was briefly distracted by Skywalker's droid, R2-D2. Using that, Obi-Wan retrieved his weapon back using the Force and freed himself and Anakin. The two Jedi were free, standing back-to-back fending off blaster fire from the surrounding droids. Some crew members have been hit by blaster shot, and Grievous does not intend to suffer the same fate. He's willing to let the Jedi tire themselves out battling the droids, then he approaches one of the ship's pilots and orders them not to deal with them and to keep the ship in orbit. Ironically, Grievous' battle droids dragged the Chancellor to safety, while the Jedi focused on dealing with the general's bodyguards. Obi-Wan and Anakin, now accustomed to dealing with even phrik alloy electrostaff-wielding MagnaGuards, destroyed IG-101 and IG-102, leaving them free to corner Grievous. The ship's gravity abruptly altered, and within minutes, the ceiling was below. A few droids responded swiftly enough to magnetize themselves, but the majority of them join the Jedi, who seize the chance to dismember a handful of them. A Neimoidian pilot, in terror, announces that the ship is disaggregating. Grievous realizes there's no purpose in remaining to win this battle, and it's best to let the Jedi dissolve with the ship. Suddenly, the gravity returned to normal, and the Jedi plummeted to the floor and ran toward the Kaleesh general. Almost all of the droids had vanished, and now they were pursuing him. The Chancellor was quickly rescued for the second time, and Grievous was trapped on his own bridge.

Realizing that the odds were against him, the general declared that Kenobi had lost and shattered the front window of the cruiser with an electrostaff. The cyborg was dragged into space as the compressed air inside the ship rushed into the vacuum, while Obi-Wan and Anakin fought not to follow him. Kenobi, Skywalker and the Chancellor managed to stay in the ship, but Grievous was sucked into space. Using a grappling hook built into his arm and his clawed feet to latch onto the hull of the ship, Grievous climbed back onboard the ship to reach the escape pods. As he moved along the smooth metal, he remarked to himself how easy it was to have a droid body.

The Separatist commander took off and rapidly flew away in his own escape pod from the wreckages of his flagship, abandoning everyone on board. Grievous usually employed the Soulless One as a means of escape, but because he didn't have the fighter available at the Battle of Coruscant, it worked in his favor, as he would have lost it along with his flagship, the Invisible Hand. At that time, his personal fighter had spent months on a small landing platform on Utapau. By this, Anakin and Obi-Wan discovered that he had survived by doubling back and grabbing an escape pod. The Trade Federation shuttles were close enough to take him up, and the clone fighters were too preoccupied with attacking his droids to notice him. Grievous' escape pod was recovered by the Lucrehulk-class Battleship Profusion. With Palpatine out of his grasp, Grievous ordered his forces to flee and led the two-thirds of his armada capable of fleeing into hyperspace.

With a full third of the Separatist fleet used in the battle over Coruscant having suffered major damages and failures, much of the navy was decimated and could not follow Grievous to safety. Following Dooku's unexpected death, which struck a major blow to the Separatist cause and the Separatists' hopes, Grievous succeeded him as Head of State, turning the Supreme Commander into the leader of the entire Separatist Alliance. While Grievous had always been in command of the droid army, his promotion left him with complete control over Separatist forces as both the military and political head.

Despite the usefulness of such a promotion, Grievous remained subservient to Sidious, whom he continued to loyally serve. After the Jedi foiled his kidnapping of Palpatine, Grievous ordered a brutal, but clearly desperate, counterattack across numerous star systems even though the CIS had largely been forced on the defensive as the Outer Rim Sieges continued. Despite being used in his counterattack, the legions of battle droids Grievous could command were severely depleted, whereas the Republic was securing more and more victories across the galaxy.

In the final weeks of the Clone Wars, Grievous, ever the faithful servant to Sidious, was ordered to return to Utapau in the Outer Rim and safeguard the increasingly irrelevant Separatist Council. In reality, Sidious had other plans for Grievous, who failed to realize he was being tricked again. The cyborg had one role left to play in the Sith Lord's schemes: to act as bait to draw Kenobi away from Coruscant and Anakin Skywalker. With his Grand Plan to bring down the Republic and Jedi Order in motion, Darth Sidious did not care if Grievous or Kenobi lived or died.

Grievous particularly disliked Utapau, a planet where he had been humiliated by Kenobi and Skywalker during the kyber crystal endeavor, and regarded its people as wretched worms. All the same, he returned to the planet in his personal Sheathipede-class transport shuttle with some force, deriving some satisfaction by taking the Pau'un leaders hostage and beginning to transform their capital into a droid factory. Grievous had taken over a large portion of the city and was holding the populace captive, threatening them with fiery annihilation if they revealed his existence. When Grievous arrived, his droids informed him that the planet is under his command. Uninterested and instead focusing on his mission to speak to the Separatist Council, the cyborg did not have to wait long for Sidious to reach out to him. One of his MagnaGuards informed him that someone was trying to contact him. Grievous hurriedly bowed to the hologram of the hooded figure who had appeared.

Under the direct order of Sidious, Grievous was to relocate the Council to the planet Mustafar, with Sidious further promising Grievous that the end of the war was near. Wondering if Sidious, despite his greatness, realized what the useless raid on Coruscant had cost their cause, the general asked Sidious if Dooku's death impacted the coming end, but Sidious seemed unconcerned, reassuring Grievous that his death was a necessary loss and that he would soon have a new, younger and more powerful apprentice. Sidious also told him to remain on Utapau until the new apprentice had joined their cause since he didn't want to waste any time before finding a replacement. However, after the end of the communication, he remained immersed in his thoughts for some minutes. Had Grievous knew Sidious' plans, he would have an easier time sharing his confidence. Grievous remained uncertain about his new role.

General Grievous was hiding in the Outer Rim, and the Jedi Council had scoured all the Republic systems but found no sign of Grievous and recommended searching the outlying systems despite having few ships available.

In light of Dooku's recent demise and the Republic's other significant victories, the task of capturing or killing Grievous had a new sense of urgency. Although such a mission had been attempted before, the end of Grievous looked like it could be the key to crippling the CIS military and finally end the war. In the days after the Battle of Coruscant, the Republic received word that Grievous was hiding on Utapau, with Sidious, under his alter-ego of Chancellor Palpatine, claiming to Skywalker that Clone Intelligence located the general. With the war coming to its close, Sidious no longer needed Grievous as his pawn as the cyborg had played his role: all of Grievous's campaigns had served to distract the Jedi Order from learning of the Sith conspiracy unfolding around them on Coruscant. Grievous's bloodthirsty rampage was finally set to end, with the cyborg soon to pay for his arrogance in believing he could dominate the Jedi.

Although Palpatine advised the Jedi Council to send Skywalker to challenge Grievous, they felt a Jedi Master with more experience was needed to finally defeat the cyborg warrior, with the Council also judging Skywalker as little more than Palpatine's puppet, so Kenobi was sent to confront him. After Obi-Wan had discussed his plan with Cody and other members of the 212th combat personnel, they both recognized that finding Grievous on Utapau was a great chance to deal a major, if not fatal, blow to the Separatist Army. Promising to notify Cody as soon as he learned of Grievous' presence, Kenobi arrived on Utapau, where he was immediately met by Tion Medon, a senior member of the Utapaun government who was under significant pressure despite his preternaturally calm demeanor; while a core ship was not an unusual sight, even as far out as Utapau, Medon whispered that Grievous was present and holding the populace hostage with numerous battle droids, further declaring that Grievous was a force to be reckoned with. Kenobi's arrival was watched by a MagnaGuard and two B1 battle droids, but Kenobi sent his starfighter away under R4-G9's control to trick the Separatists into thinking he had departed.

Meanwhile on Level 10, Grievous found himself at the back of a room, watching the Separatist Council members with disgust. Unknowingly watched by Kenobi, Grievous directed the Council to safety on Mustafar with a little annoyance and rebuffed Gunray, whom he threatened when the Viceroy openly doubted his ability to keep them safe. With the Council departing and having earned a degree of satisfaction from demonstrating Gunray's weakness, Grievous waited for his insufferable Jedi enemy to arrive, hoping he would not have to wait long, while speaking to a B1 battle droid. Suddenly, however, Kenobi revealed himself by simply jumping into the middle of the room and greeting the general. With his MagnaGuards and other battle droids around him, Grievous exuded a gloating sense of confidence. Applauding Kenobi's audacity, Grievous ordered his bodyguards to kill the Jedi Master, who instead handily defeated all four Magnaguards. Grievous's droid army then moved to fire on Kenobi but were called off by the general, who decided to engage Kenobi himself to wash away the shame of their previous confrontation and prove his value to Sidious.

Unknowingly, however, Grievous had played directly into Kenobi's hands as the Jedi General waited for Cody and the 212th to arrive. Due to their many prior clashes, Kenobi was well prepared for the duel and determined to prevent him from escaping in a fight that was clearly not going to be easy. Given permission by Kenobi to make the first move, Grievous unveiled four lightsabers—all of which were powerful weapons from Jedi he had previously defeated—and laughed. One of his primary four lightsabers in the duel was none other than Shaak Ti's. Kenobi steeled himself with the promise to not let Grievous add his own lightsaber to the collection, and thus began a duel along a walkway suspended above the hanger's lower levels.

Grievous stomped forward and utilized a spectacular fighting maneuver, a preferred tactic, spinning two of the blades over his head to form a lethal shield that resembled a fatal laser-saw effect, while dragging the other two along the ground, burning the floor and sending sparks hurtling toward Obi-Wan as he stalked closer and closer, his weapons a blur of light. Grievous was thrilled to take on Kenobi in what they both believed to be their final battle, thinking that he was the better fighter. However, his presumption would prove to be incorrect. Initially, Obi-Wan slowly took a step back, but he overcame his fear and allowed the Force to guide him. Waiting for the right moment, he struck his lightsaber between Grievous' flashing blades and battled bravely, slashing another attack from him. Though the Jedi deflected the blow, he knew he would not be able to keep up that pace for long and switched tactics. He leaped, flipping over Grievous, while the cyborg's other two stabbed where he once stood, and the Jedi landed behind him. Grievous turned and faced the opposite direction, then attacked him. Kenobi took the general's surprise as an advantage to swirl past his defense, blocking and ducking his violent strike repeatedly.

Kenobi limited Grievous to moving along the catwalk, neutralizing Grievous's usual, more wide-ranging fighting style. Keeping the fight close to the cyborg, Kenobi drew on the knowledge he had gained from their numerous duels, having become familiar with Grievous's tricks and movements after so many encounters. He stayed composed, aimed wisely at Grievous's vulnerable wrist, and sliced off one of the cyborg's hands, clattering down onto the deck, along with the lightsaber it held. Grievous backed away, staring in surprise at his smoking stump. Furious and losing his focus, Grievous launched a wild attack, advancing with his spinning weapon at his opponent, but Obi-Wan continually deflected it. In a matter of seconds, the laughter died in his artificial throat as yet another hand severed and fell to the deck, releasing the lightsaber it had formerly wielded. With all but two lightsabers and the hands that held them lost, the fight evened out, and the cyborg's situation began to fall apart.

As Obi-Wan gained the upper hand and maintained the lead, Grievous was forced back further and further. The surrounding droids, who had watched as their leader continued to lose ground, suddenly were unable to assist Grievous in fighting back when, right on cue, the 212th ambushed the Separatists, filling the air with a hail of blaster bolts. Swarms of LAAT/I gunships floated down into the sinkhole, and clone troopers rappelled down from the gantries overhead. Fighting broke out all over Pau City between droid and clone forces, who were furthered backed by the local Utapau resistance. The Separatist droid forces were thrown into such disarray by the 212 Battalion's unexpected and furious onslaught that they barely had time to organize an effective defense of their positions in Pau City. Obi-Wan was disappointed if he had any hope for Grievous to surrender; instead, while the troopers engaged the battle droids, Grievous resumed the duel and gloated that, with or without an army, Kenobi was doomed despite the surrounding chaos. Undaunted, before his opponent could adapt, Kenobi blasted the general with a tremendous Force push, propelling him up forcefully in the air to crash into a hanging cargo module from the ceiling. The impact knocked the lightsabers out of his hands, while Grievous slipped past the floor's edge and tumbled to the lowest level.

Stunned and completely disarmed, the cyborg landed hard but survived, hunched like a spider.Defeated and realizing that the odds were turning against him, Grievous saw an opportunity to adopt his usual tactic of fleeing a battle that had turned against him. He went directly for his waiting wheel bike as Obi-Wan hurried down to the site where Grievous had fallen, arriving just in time to see his opponent shot away at the controls of his wheel bike. While he failed to crush Obi-Wan, who had barely made the leap to the lower level, he unleashed havoc on any clone troopers in his path. Kenobi was well aware that Grievous thought he could flee while his droids stalled him, but he chased after the fleeing cyborg relentlessly throughout the hanger.

Pushing one trooper aside with his bike's legs, then grabbing two more clones and throwing them into a sinkhole as he sped past, and landing on the outer hull of the Core Ship that served as the Separatist base, the general's bike handled the shift in terrain in stride. Soon after, the Varactyl-mounted Kenobi trailed closely behind Grievous on the skin of the core ship, struggling without the magnetic adhesion Grievous' wheel bike possessed. Kenobi even lost his lightsaber in the chaos. While the prospect of fighting the cyborg without his lightsaber was certainly unsettling, Kenobi did not stop to retrieve it so as to not give Grievous a chance to escape. Commander Cody recovered the weapon and reported the state of the battle back to the Jedi Council at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, letting them know that Kenobi had tracked down and confronted the cyborg General on Utapau. Mace Windu then had Anakin Skywalker deliver the news Chancellor Palpatine and wait for his reaction, fearful that they would need to take control of the Republic from the Chancellor.

Pursued by Kenobi on a varactyl named Boga, Grievous attempted to flee to Soulless One on its landing platform a distance from the main Separatist base. Surrounded by blaster fire and explosions, Grievous rushed as if the road was clear, avoiding collisions or crushing anyone in his path. Through increasingly packed tunnels, however, Grievous was forced to slow down to avoid a swarm of droids, whereas Kenobi's mount, able to achieve feats the General's wheel bike could not, moved to the tunnel's ceiling to avoid traffic congestion. Kenobi thus gained ground on Grievous in the chase for the landing platform, accelerating once more and catching up to the general. Obi-Wan had just caught up with the general when the Separatist leader, able to control his bike and battle, grabbed an electrostaff from its mount and began attacking Kenobi. Obi-Wan was able to take the General's staff and try a few stabs of his own, but he grasped the weapon and drew both it and the Jedi over to him. While the Jedi and the Separatist fought on the bike, Boga backed off while remaining in pursuit.

The two opponents fought for the upper hand as the wheel bike careened through narrow canyons and over sharp turns. With the staff being wrestled for, Grievous drew his blaster, the Grievance striker. Obi-Wan dodged, but Grievous lost control of the bike during the struggle, flipping the two combatants off before the bike flew off into one of Utapau's many sinkhole abysses and exploded upon impact with the ground far below. Having arrived at the landing platform, both opponents recovered quickly, with Grievous lifting the blaster as Obi-Wan snatched the electrostaff. Kenobi knocked the gun out of Grievous's hand and landed a few blows on the general himself, bending, but not breaking, the cyborg's metal. Grievous was knocked to the ground, and Obi-Wan plunged the shaft into his abdomen, but the cyborg kicked Kenobi clear, sending the staff flying from his grip with such speed that the Jedi could not stop it. With no weapons, the two engaged in a hand-to-hand combat that Grievous was coldly confident of winning.

Grievous closed in, with his second swing knocking Kenobi back and against the Soulless One, putting Obi-Wan at a disadvantage. As he utilized his considerable strength to defeat Kenobi, the cyborg general's physical strength appeared to give him an advantage. Grievous continued his assault, lifting Kenobi and narrowly missing the Jedi's head with a terrifyingly powerful punch that heavily dented the starfighter. However, noticing that one of Grievous's plates was loose, just as it appeared like he may lose the battle against the cyborg taking the initiative, Kenobi took advantage of Grievous' new action by grabbing the metal plates and pulling with all his might, managing to rip open Grievous' chest plates to see his gut-sack. Alarmed, Grievous tossed Kenobi aside. Wounded but far from defeated, Grievous moved on Obi-Wan, chuckling, and attempted to crush him with his mechanical feet, whereas Kenobi attempted to knock down Grievous with a Force-enhanced kick to the leg. However, Kenobi's kick only succeeded in hurting himself.

Grievous laughed even louder, hurling Kenobi off the landing platform, and proceeded to gloat, but the Jedi manipulated his position via Force and caught hold of the edge. Grievous stalked to where Kenobi was struggling to lift himself back up to safety, dangling in the nothingness above the bottomless pit of the city. Confident that his greatest adversary would perish, Grievous charged Kenobi with an electrostaff to finish him off, only for Kenobi summon Grievous' blaster—abandoned a few meters from him and forgotten by its owner,—with the Force. Despite Grievous's powerful armour, a spectacular end was still inevitable. In defense of his own life, Kenobi took a careful aim and shot Grievous five times in his exposed gut-sack through the gaps in his chest armor, igniting the fluid that was keeping his organs alive. Grievous' remaining biological components ignited, spectacularly incinerating the famed cyborg from the inside; screaming in pain, Grievous let out a sound halfway between a choke and a metal rustle before a succession of explosions and flames tore apart his body, blasting out his eye sockets.

With that, Grievous was already dead. His few organic remains proved to be his downfall as they were devoured by the fierce fire, destroying him. The cyborg's lifeless body collapsed over the hangar floor, leaving behind a smoldering, empty, blackened metal shell, and then hit the ground with a clang, no longer motivated by life, hatred, or a desire to destroy. After years of seemingly unstoppable terror, the general's murderous streak and reign of terror had come to an end at the hands of Kenobi: after so many attempts during the previous years, Kenobi had ended his menace in a fitting, if sad, manner for the being whose obsession with physical prowess rendered him unrecognizable to anyone who had ever seen his natural face. Indeed, all that remained of Grievous was the lifeless shell that was his cyborg remains; the so-called improvements he had sacrificed so much of himself to have were left abandoned by Kenobi, who walked to the empty shell and threw down the blaster in disgust, as he considered blasters very uncivilized method in his opinion. Kenobi spared his rival one more look and breathed a sigh with relief before returning to the battle aboard his awaiting varactyl.

The news that Grievous was dead made it seem like victory was inevitable for the Republic forces. Still, Kenobi did not have time to elaborate and instead encouraged the clones to launch an offensive against the now-leaderless droids. With Grievous killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi, the beleaguered droids were further stunned, but continued to fight the clones, who were commanded to take control of the planet. Without a clear front to fight on and disarray in the line of command, the droids were reduced to small pockets of resistance that were quickly overwhelmed. With Grievous' death, the conflict that had claimed countless lives seemed to be coming to a conclusion; the end of the war appeared to be in sight, but the Jedi did not suspect that it would also be the beginning of the end. Across the battlefields, Jedi generals felt victory.

Meanwhile on Mustafar, the Separatist Council cowered, not realizing they had one more fatal part to play in the Sith plan. With Darth Sidious' true identity revealed to Anakin, the Jedi Council had received word of Grievous' death. As news of his death spread, Mace Windu and several other Jedi led an attempt to stop the Supreme Chancellor and stormed into the office, giving Palpatine, who accepted it as General Grievous was destroyed but was not surprised that the Jedi arrived sooner than expected, the opportunity to surrender and renounce the Senate's extraordinary powers. With Grievous' defeat on Utapau, the Separatist leadership collapsed, and the battle's outcome spread throughout the galaxy, informally ending the war despite the fact that numerous other fronts were still active.

Unfortunately for Grievous, his wish to see a galaxy devoid of the Jedi Order was all but fulfilled, but only after his death; a short time after Grievous's demise, Sidious, using his alter ego of Chancellor Palpatine, ordered the clone troopers across the galaxy to execute Order 66, turning the soldiers against their own generals. Escaping from his clone troopers, Kenobi survived and fled Utapau aboard Grievous's personal starfighter, the Soulless One, running past the smoking remains of his cyborg rival one final time, but without even sparing Grievous a fleeting glance. After successfully communicating with Senator Bail Organa and boarding the Alderaanian diplomatic cruiser, the Tantive III, where Kenobi would meet Organa and Master Yoda, the starfighter remained docked in the hangar. As planned, the clones turned on their Jedi generals, seemingly reading the war to end in total victory for the Separatists. Gunray succeeded Grievous as Confederate Head of State and commander of the droid army, believing that, with both Separatist leaders dead, the war was in his favor and more power would be his.

In truth, however, Sidious no longer had any use for the Confederacy and dispatched his new apprentice Darth Vader, the very pupil he had told Grievous of, to wipe out the Separatist Council; Vader was none other than Anakin Skywalker, whom Sidious had managed to turn Skywalker to the dark side of the Force. With the Jedi all but destroyed, Sidious was able to step up and claim credit for defeating the Separatist. Placing the galaxy under Sith control for the first time in one thousand years, Sidious transformed the Republic into the First Galactic Empire. After his encounter with Kenobi on Mustafar, Vader was left severely injured and barely alive, horribly scarred and broken, and had undergone reconstructive surgery from various droids, including FX-6, the same droid that worked on Grievous's armor, to be encased in black armor equipped with various mechanical limbs and life support systems. As Grievous was, Darth Vader was more mechanical than a living being and became feared throughout the galaxy.

Later, Kenobi flew Grievous' starfighter to Nar Shaddaa with a newborn passenger, Luke Skywalker, and sold the ship for transportation to the planet Tatooine, subsequently bringing Luke there to live with the Lars family. After that tragic occurrence, the Soulless One's ultimate fate was unknown.

Shortly after the formation of the Galactic Empire, and while successful, Order 66 did not completely eliminate all the galaxy of Jedi. Darth Sidious brought to completion an old notion with the formation of his long-planned project of a small, secretive elite group comprised of Force-sensitive Jedi hunters, the Imperial Inquisitors, to be trained under Vader. Stripped of their identities and assigned numbers, the Brothers and Sisters of the Order of Inquisitors corrupted the Jedi teachings in a very different way from how Grievous had. However, similar to how the General's mechanical hand could spin while wielding a weapon, the double-bladed lightsaber's semi-circular guard allowed the blades to spin around the hilt automatically while remaining stationary, increasing control over the weapon and attack power and forming a devastating circle of light that could defeat any opponent. The Inquisitors hunted down Jedi, just like Grievous had. As the Inquisitors and Vader pursued the last of the Order and its survivors retreated into hiding, the Order's heritage was flouted by the Empire's lies.

By 14 BBY, five years after the Empire took power, it was rumored that Vader was a counterpart to Grievous that Palpatine had been holding in reserve. Also, during that year, Moff Wilhuff Tarkin returned to Coruscant to meet with Emperor Palpatine. While in the Imperial Palace, Rear Admiral Nils Tenant reunited with Tarkin and asked if he had been in the Western Reaches. Tarkin, who had actually been stationed at Sentinel Base as part of Project Stardust, claimed he had and was still hunting Grievous's former allies.

Several months into the Iron Blockade, between 4 ABY and 5 ABY, the Smuggler, a young scoundrel from Burnin Konn, sent a member of their crew to the planet Belsus to salvage valuable equipment from the rumored ruins of Grievous' laboratory.

Sometime between 19 BBY and 5 BBY, knowing not to underestimate his enemies, Maul scoured planets in search of advantages, with one lead to a on the planet Damanos. Deep within the castle, he experienced a Force vision of Grievous, who claimed to be expecting him before attacking by jumping from the ceiling with his four lightsabers bearing down. Maul managed to dodge in time, but the room seemed to darken, enabling "Grievous" to almost hide in the shadows despite his four ignited lightsabers. "Grievous" also took the moment to mock Maul by reminding him of the last time they were face-to-face: when he murdered his beloved mother. To further mock Maul, "Grievous" also questioned how it felt to know his sworn foe Kenobi was the one to kill him, thereby robbing Maul of a chance for revenge.

An enraged Maul struck at "Grievous" and relieved him of one of his lightsabers, causing a shriek of pain from the vision of "Grievous," before removing another appendage and pinning down the vision of the cyborg general. More than aware that he was not the real Grievous, the vision continued to mock and taunt Maul, asking if the knowledge of his mother's murder's death had brought the Zabrak any peace or comfort before kicking the distracted Maul off his mechanical form. While Maul expected another wave of attacks, the vision then silently stood in place as Maul's anger about all he had lost—his family, his power—boiled over. "Grievous" finally spoke again by noting how Maul never let go of his rage, causing the former Sith apprentice to rush the cyborg apparition, only for "Grievous" to block every strike, all without going on the attack himself. Instead, "Grievous" continued to taught Maul about his losses and laughed at Maul's rage, making him feel vulnerable in ways he did not comprehend, despite losing another hand. However, "Grievous" displayed no reaction and continued to push at Maul's emotions until the Sith warrior struck down "Grievous" in the same way the cyborg had killed his mother. The vision then vanished before Maul, who felt no satisfaction at striking down the foe he had dreamed of killing, just as the specter had predicted.

Count Dooku and General Grievous had intended to eliminate the Nightsisters with their invasion, but they failed to fulfill their purpose since a few witches managed to survive into the Imperial Era. All the same, Grievous's massacre was regarded as the end of the Nightsisters, who had been brought into a single clan by Talzin and thus were crushed as an organization. Over the years and decades that followed, those who survived waited for the proper opportunity to swear to seek vengeance to avenge their fallen sisters, whom they witnessed slaughtered by an armored warrior brandishing a lightsaber whose identity no one knew, leading countless troops into battle for Dathomir's soul. In the aftermath of Order 66, fallen Jedi Taron Malicos lied to the Nightsister Merrin about Grievous' massacre in an attempt to manipulate her into teaching him magick. Malicos claimed that the Jedi had been the ones who ordered the massacre. Five years after Order 66, Merrin finally learned the truth from Cal Kestis.

Sometime afterwards, Kestis and his master Cere Junda told Merrin that Grievous was always a puppet of Emperor Palpatine, as were all Separatist leaders. Although she wished to enact her revenge on those who destroyed her "heart", the fact that Grievous was dead forced Merrin to target Palpatine and his Imperials. Dathomir was all Merrin ever saw and felt when fighting the Empire, continuing to see Grievous's stark white visage reflected in each stormtrooper helmet. Between 12 BBY and 11 BBY, while undertaking a mission to the planet Murkhana, she was reminded too much of her home, with even a flash of a shiny white fragment making her think Grievous was present. However, she knew he was dead and would never return. In 2 BBY, Maul traveled to Dathomir with Ezra Bridger, and upon arrival, he walked Ezra through the battle's aftermath, claiming to Bridger that he was the last survivor of the slaughter. Shelish, who was not present at the time her people died, sometimes returned to Dathomir in search of information about the fate of her sisters. Her daughter Deathstick carried on with the knowledge that she could have been part of something bigger than herself, but it was taken from her.

Enraged after witnessing her mother's death and the massacre of her people during the Clone Wars, Morgan Elsbeth, a human Nightsister, used that hatred to build her industry, ultimately driving her to help strengthen the Imperial Navy during the reign of the Galactic Empire by plundering entire worlds of their resources.

Obi-Wan Kenobi adopted the alias "Ben," went into exile in the Jundland Wastes, and remained in hiding for most of the years on Tatooine, watching over and protecting the young Luke Skywalker. While in hiding, after an argument with Owen Lars, Kenobi recalled his confrontations with Count Dooku, General Grievous, and Darth Maul and realized to himself that danger appeared to follow him wherever he went, but he always got rid of it. Obi-Wan decided that as long as he lived, Luke would be safe. Around 0 BBY, while waiting out a raging sandstorm on Tatooine, Kenobi wrote a set of journals, one of which he reflected on the aftermath of the Battle of Hypori and Grievous.

Years after Grievous' death, an Imperial researcher named Cylo began working on the creation of cybernetically-enhanced individuals; these individuals were designed to be possible replacements for Darth Vader as the Emperor's apprentice. One such individual, Karbin, had a cybernetic body installed by Doctor Cylo, who claimed to have been inspired by the body of Grievous. While finding the design interesting, the Doctor considered it merely a first step compared to Karbin, who, like his predecessor, had the ability to wield four lightsabers at the same time, making the Mon Calamari cyborg just as dangerous as the Separatist leader had been, but with one notable difference: a propulsor built into his skeletal structure to give him an advantage in battle.

Some time after the Battle of Endor, Temmin Wexley implied that he had downloaded some of Grievous' old programming into Mister Bones, his robotic B1 battle droid bodyguard. Wexley had indeed added Grievous's programming to his B1, though he did not fully appreciate who the deadly cyborg had been despite his programming being the most significant of the "moves" he added. Among Bones' memories was one of wielding four lightsabers with four hands and the blades spinning, like how Grievous had once dueled.

During the later New Republic Era, self-described Jedi history buff Karr Nuq Sin learned about Grievous's demise on Utapau in the school he attended on the desert planet Merokia, remembering the general's death as the effective end to the war. In 32 ABY, Sin, RZ-7, and Maize Raynshi visited Utapau for the first time on a mission to learn more about the long-dead Jedi Order and its history.

For all the suffering he had spread throughout the galaxy, Grievous was held in high regard by at least one Kaleesh; during his travels across the galaxy, an artist met the Kaleesh, who bragged about Grievous, though not by name. The artist wrote down in his journal that he was told about a revered warrior who supposedly had cybernetic upgrades for combat. When the artist's notes were published by the Graf Archive at some point after the Battle of Oetchi in 34 ABY, they were accompanied by information on Grievous and the Kaleesh.

At some point, the owner of the store Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities on the planet Batuu, an Ithorian collector named Dok-Ondar, came into possession of a mumuu-carved Kaleesh mask originally worn by Grievous. He also acquired the cloak he wore as a cyborg and displayed it in his shop. Half century after the Kaleesh warlord gained galactic infamy for his role leading the Separatist droid army, Grievous was referenced in several works also stemming from Batuu, including a toy of the cyborg general that was sold at Black Spire Outpost. After the Battle of Crait in 34 ABY, Grievous's old enemy Hondo Ohnaka featured Coruscant in his book Galactic Explorer's Guide and, due to his role in the Battle of Coruscant, included Grievous in the "Rogue's Gallery" section for the planet.

A Kaleesh warlord who stood at 2.16 meters in height, Grievous, born as Qymaen jai Sheelal, possessed red colored skin and slit-pupilled golden eyes, as well as an elongated facial structure with slitted nostrils alongside a series of four spiky growths which protruded from his chin. Often donned with a Kaleesh mask sculpted from the skull of a Mumuu, a hostile predator native to his homeworld of Kalee, Grievous wore the mask throughout the duration of his people's war with the Huk. With a desire to become the leader of the largest and greatest military force within the entire galaxy, as well as possess the capability to combat Jedi, whom he had perceived as nearly invincible as a result of their powerful connection to the Force, the Kaleesh also aspired to become a great warrior and gained the reputation of an infamous warlord who developed vast numbers of enemies.

When transformed into a reconstructed cybernetic warrior following his decision to embark on such a path and a gruesome shuttle crash, Grievous's brain was altered by Separatist engineers without conscience by the Kaleesh, which resulted in an increase in intelligence, agility and strength, as well as a deep and violent disposition for the Jedi following the false revelation by Count Dooku that the Jedi were responsible for his condition. As a result, Grievous was tall, and his metal-plate body resembled the form of a mechanical skeleton, similar to armor but welded together with no room for flesh. In almost any meeting, it was a powerful presence that could intimidate others. With his cybernetic transformation, Grievous received claw-like feet, as well as a set of arms which were capable of separating themselves into an additional set, as well as a skull-like Kaleesh mask that had been specifically sculpted for his new body, from which his eyes peered through revealed his being's cyborg nature. Furthermore, located behind a set of duranium teeth crafted to mimic those of the karabbac beast from his homeworld, Grievous's hoarse voice was emitted from an ultrasonic vocabulator.

Alongside a hatred for political matters, Grievous had developed an understanding that his involvement in the Clone Wars was an opportunity to eliminate the Jedi Order and command the Separatist Droid Army, as opposed to serving Dooku's political ambitions. However, as a result of his preeminent desire to eradicate the Jedi, many within the Confederacy, such as General Kleeve, considered his personal goals as a distraction which prevented his successes in the war. The general himself had a deplorable lack of a sense of humor and considered killing them to be a form of enjoyment, but he was able to put his duties ahead of it. He was quite proud of his position within the Separatist organizations and told others to refer to him as "general". He was also referred to as "My lord" by members of the Confederacy military, such as Asajj Ventress and TV-94.

Grievous was known for his cruelty and ruthlessness and was seen as the Separatists' best general. Given his reputation, Grievous was feared throughout the galaxy as a strategic genius and for his hunting prowess. After Count Dooku, the Republic viewed General Grievous as the second biggest threat in the war. The Republic described Grievous as a mechanical monstrosity, a portrayal that appealed to deep-seated droid anxieties. Flying from one disaster to the next, Grievous was a symbol of terror across the galaxy, whether he was setting his armies against entire worlds or engaging enemies in close-up and deadly combat, striking terror in the hearts of Republic soldiers more than any other feared combatant of the Clone Wars. One of the most terrifying and formidable combatants throughout the conflict, he was both a strategic mind and a battlefield nightmare. According to legend, even the Jedi shuddered when his name was mentioned and feared meeting him in battle, as none could match his sheer relentlessness and determination.

Behind Grievous' mask lurks one of the era's shrewdest military strategists, one who isn't afraid to retreat if the odds were stacked against him. If he was outmatched, Grievous preferred short battles and continuous retreats, realizing it was best to survive and regularly avoiding capture by the Republic, slipping away to fight another day, and constantly frustrating Republic commanders who sought his capture or death. However, Grievous has been persuaded by the CIS's limited and unreliable resources to see the need for a quick and trustworthy evacuation strategy on even the safest of postings. He regards withdrawal as more of a setback than denying the Republic complete triumph. While the general earned a reputation throughout the Republic and among Jedi for retreating when the odds were stacked against him, his immediate superiors admired his cautious selections and astute tactical judgements. Grievous, Trench, and their fellow commanders were placed in charge of the broader campaign objectives. Grievous' campaigns against the Galactic Republic threatened the very existence of the Jedi Order.

The brutal strategy he learned as a warlord required the Jedi to command clone troopers, which are made through technological advances. Many of the Jedi Council recognized the dangers to the Order, but they were pressured by the next incursion or the next loss of a world to the cyborg Separatist Leader. Another outlined in the legend of the Battle of Alamass, Separatist leaders believed Grievous could be relied upon to complete critical missions, for his record was nearly unblemished and he was highly regarded for his tactical insight, which provided the Separatists with numerous victories. While Dooku dealt with matters of state, including military operations for the Confederacy of Independent Systems, General Grievous supervised the logistics and tactics of its vast droid armies. The general oversaw a large number of capable admirals and generals recruited from across the Galaxy. He could impose better control over his forces, thanks to the droid commanders who eliminated the unauthorized thoughts and suggestions from underlings with internal strategic prowess. Only a few brilliant sentients, such as Admiral Trench, managed to stay in charge of offensive operations.

Cold, calculating, vain, deceitful, and unconcerned with the rules of combat outlined by the Galactic Accord of Systems, his cruelty was not limited to the field of battle. Civilians and other non-combatants suffered, with Grievous devastating the populations of entire worlds. His tactic was to exploit the compassion of his foes, targeting civilians and forcing his opponents to priorities the protection of innocents. This left his troops to focus on victory at any cost. The General was aware of the Jedi's soft spot for innocents and did not care himself about civilian casualties, exploiting the Jedi compassion for civilians and the clone troopers under their command. Dooku considered Grievous a successful leader due to the cyborg's ability to see the big picture; the general carried out high-handed tactics such as employing listening sites to ambush Republic fleets and attempting to invade Kamino to stop clone production. He despised being paired with other commanders, never taking orders well. He saw it as an insult to his abilities as a leader and warrior. Though Grievous felt that he would emerge victorious, he was also arrogant enough to dismiss his subordinates' recommendations for caution.

Throughout the war, he exploits his agile fleets to his advantage, disrupting the Republic with attacks on planets such as Falleen and Dorin. Unable to calculate where the droid general would strike next, the Republic became distracted and left previously conquered worlds to fall under Separatist control. Being in command of the largest droid army ever created, even when Grievous made mistakes his setbacks were often only temporary. He did suffer defeats, however, Grievous and Ventress' failures were never serious enough to undermine Darth Sidious' plans, both agents needed to be reminded that they were not irreplaceable. Grievous' reputation of being a cunning wraith who dived in and out of conflicts silently and swiftly served as a valuable weapon in the armory of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and his personal starfighter was an continuation of that reputation. He regularly commanded naval engagements from his flagship dreadnought, the Invisible Hand, demonstrating that being a cyborg had not weakened his tactical skills, but his combat, experience, and brutality shined in hand-to-hand combat. Grievous was frequently seen leading his forces from the front lines, utilizing his enhanced physical capabilities to attack opposing forces, crushing all who came within reach, including Jedi.

Not only was General Grievous a callously brilliant strategist, but his own skills as a warrior made him a deadly opponent in his own right. The cyborg participates in the fighting directly, frequently leading his droid forces from the front in a horrifying demonstration of his lightsaber skill as well as the might and toughness of his mechanical body, and challenging Jedi Generals in hopes of adding their lightsabers to his collection. Grievous could be heard on the battlefield, nursing a brutal hacking cough, yet despite this drawback, he proved to be the most fearsome of opponents, with his whole, fast-moving physique best described as a living weapon. The General demonstrated that one need not be strong in the Force to threaten even the greatest Jedi in combat, Grievous believed himself to be a superior warrior to all Jedi, frequently sought to prove himself in combat, and believed that his mechanical limbs made him superior to all foes. Grievous's inability to see how much better his improved cyborg abilities were than the slow-witted droids under his command was one of his weaknesses. He had little understanding of the Force, though he believed that the improvements made to his body gave him a greater power than that of the Jedi he hunted. He replaced this gap of knowledge with an appetite for destruction, especially of the power he did not truly comprehend. However, transforming his body into a fighting machine left Grievous' organic anatomy weak inside his armor.

Grievous' hatred for the Jedi was well known throughout the galaxy and was stated by him on many occasions. A feared Jedi hunter, he was well known for his brutality and ruthlessness. Grievous takes macabre pleasure in beating Jedi on the battlefield and much likes pursuing them. While a fearsome warrior, he is known to be quick to run from a fight when the tide was turned against him, frequently scuttling away to safety using all four limbs. This tactic worked, until his final encounter with his nemesis, Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi, with whom Grievous shared a fierce rivalry. The Jedi considered devious tactics as pitiful, but Grievous held no notions of honor. Though Mace Windu and the rest of the Council branded Grievous a coward who would always flee and hide, the truth was that he was an unrelenting and experienced opponent who, despite not being able to use the Force, defeated numerous foes. Kenobi could recognize the cyborg's mechanical cough from anywhere.

Grievous has a brooding, sarcastic personality and seemed to show some signs of being sadistic, as he savored every kill he made, including those of children, and mostly enjoyed the anguish of torturing his victims, which he even demonstrated in a message to the Jedi Council. He also enjoys utilizing his victim's lightsabers in battle and would even wear them to frighten any opponents he comes across. When Kenobi and Skywalker were brought into his custody on the Invisible Hand, the satisfied Grievous would have smiled if it was possible for him. Grievous had supreme confidence in his own abilities, and was often arrogant, believing himself to be untouchable. Grievous also insisted on fighting Jedi personally whenever possible, even when injured, which betrayed a sense of recklessness and restlessness in the cyborg general. This was shown by his refusal to heed EV-A4D's advice to recuperate after his first bout with Kit Fisto and his former apprentice Nahdar Vebb. He acted recklessly again when he fought Obi-Wan on Utapau, which proved to be his undoing.

A collection of weapons started from his times as a warlord of Kalee, Grievous takes satisfaction in his expanding collection of war trophies from his victims, the lightsabers from Jedi he has taken from life to death since the beginning of the war, along with other souvenirs, such as a macabre case of severed Padawan's braids struck down before their knighting. By the end of the Clone Wars, he had nearly a hundred in his macabre collection and had been rumored to have captured or killed dozens of Jedi, including Jedi Master Neebo and the recently knighted Nahdar Vebb. Fortunately, Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi managed to avoid being counted among Grievous' list of victims.

Grievous kept a gloomy trophy room in his hidden lair and carried many stolen lightsabers in the lining of his cape or on his waist. Although Grievous killed many Jedi during the Clone Wars, his greatest prizes were the lightsabers of Pablo-Jill, Eeth Koth, Roron Corobb, and Shaak Ti. Nahdar Vebb's lightsaber was briefly a part of his collection but was lost when Kit Fisto reclaimed it. At one point, Grievous gained the lightsaber of Jedi Master Jmmaar. His vicious streak extended beyond the Jedi, and it was not just them that faced his ruthlessness, as he personally killed Gungan General Tarpals on Naboo, and massacred the Nightsisters of Dathomir. There, he wiped out an entire clan of witches, including one of the oldest and wisest Nightsisters, Old Daka, with no mercy, leaving only a couple survivors. Even more, he had the honor of finally eliminating one of the most powerful Nightsisters, Mother Talzin, who had survived his previous brutal assault on Dathomir.

Despite his actions in the war, Grievous was loyal to both of his masters, Count Dooku and Darth Sidious, who both considered the cyborg as nothing more than a useful tool, and an important part of their plan for the Clone Wars. While Grievous had minor clashes with Dooku, he held great respect for the Confederacy's leader, who assisted in his training and whose orders the general would carry out without hesitation. He shared his master's confidence, such as when Dooku informed him of Savage Opress's growing power, to which Grievous simply laughed at the notion that Opress could pose a threat to them. When Maul and Mother Talzin kidnapped Dooku, Grievous was trusted enough by Sidious to accompany him to Dathomir to deal with them.

While fleeing the Battle of Coruscant, Grievous decided that, with any luck, he would be able to blame the disaster on Dooku. Grievous did not feel regret for the Count's death at the hands of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, even if Dooku had helped him in lightsaber combat; rather, he viewed having full control over the Separatist forces as immensely helpful. In a meeting with Darth Sidious and other Separatists, Grievous learned of a new and even more powerful "apprentice" but never learned of their identity. While Sidious had no need for the cyborg, when faced by Kenobi and forced to battle him, Grievous sought to show himself worthy of Sidious. Grievous also has some regard for others' patriotism.

Despite being on the same side, General Grievous and Asajj Ventress shared a rivalry, and this suited Count Dooku perfectly and was very much the Sith way. However, implied a perpetual conflict between them and that they worked separately rather than together. Grievous and Ventress were constantly tested and challenged by Dooku, in the same way Sidious repeatedly tested and challenged him. Grievous seemed to hold a little respect for her, as he praised her on her style and noted that they could be equals, but Ventress dismissed the idea.

While he was unaware that Dooku had turned on Ventress and considered her a traitor, the general openly declared that he had always been superior to her. The two did share a similar trait: a dislike for battle droids, and both also shared an animosity for the Jedi Order for their own personal reasons; for Grievous, the Republic and the Jedi intervened in his war with the Yam'rii, siding with the enemy and leaving his people to starvation. While Ventress believed that the Jedi had abandoned her master, Ky Narec, on Rattatak.

Grievous had always disliked Nute Gunray, the Neimoidian Viceroy who led the Separatist Council, Gunray, in turn, despised Grievous for Count Dooku preferential treatment of the cyborg. He threatened to kill Gunray, when the Neimoidian was brave enough to publicly criticize the cyborg. Gor was one of the few creatures that Grievous cared for, displaying a certain affection for his cyborg pet and being dismayed upon learning of the creature's death, which became another reason for his hatred of the Jedi. He also developed a kind of bond with his medical droid EV-A4-D, though he yelled at him from time to time and humiliated him, he let him criticize him without tearing him apart. Grievous shared his secrets with his medical droid, one of the few entitles in the galaxy who knew Grievous's secrets.

Despite proudly overseeing the Separatists' droid armies, Grievous also had a disdain for battle droids, especially B1 models, and was one of many Separatist commanders who became upset by the droid's limitations, had little regard for them, saw them as incompetent, mass-produced, weak, and stupid poor soldiers given a magnificent mission above their means, and would not hesitate to destroy or abandon them in an instant. Grievous was frequently dissatisfied with the droid army's failure to fulfill his high expectations, and he was not afraid to use harsh physical punishment to express his frustration. Legend claimed he was so willing to harm them because, in some ways, the droids reminded him of his own flaws. This habit often caused Dooku to remind Grievous that the droids were expensive and that they were made to follow orders, not question them. Distracting him with a lightsaber in a foul temper, right after a humiliating defeat, was never a good idea for the battle droid in question.

According to the legend, Grievous could not see the similarities between himself and the droids he harassed, believing that his organic heart made him stronger and better than the droids he tried to think he was nothing like. Considering the general's hatred of battle droids, his mechanized MagnaGuards had to be impressively tough to survive his demands. He outfitted them with Kaleesh cloaks and head wraps echoed the outfits worn by his companions as a tribute. Grievous sometimes enlisted Commerce Guild forces for combat on rocky worlds or in urban areas, while OC-9 homing spider droids served as heavy armor and siege weaponry, with modified Spelunker probe droids providing reconnaissance and sabotage.

With his four arms, smooth skull-like metal mask, and clawed feet, Grievous looked like something from a nightmare caused by the spice, instead of looking like a real individual. He was more machine than living creature, but the amber slitted eyes that peered through his mask, staring down at opponents, revealed a dreadful malice: underneath the armor was the heart of an evil warlord, who was regarded as an evil individual by his foes. Grievous reacted violently and felt humiliated if anyone mistaken him for a droid. Even so, Grievous recognized that his new form was frightening. He has claimed that he underwent a complete body reconstruction in an effort to gain an advantage over Jedi but was sensitive about his upgrades, claiming them to be "improvements" to the droid EV-A4-D. Legend specified in order to enjoy the benefits of both organic and inorganic lifeforms, he believed he could be as strong and versatile as a droid, with all the cunning, passion, and capacity for emotion of an organic being. On Utapau, it was not the first time he gloated over how his metal mask revealed no emotion, which was useful for Grievous when dealing with the Separatist Council; Grievous regarded them as ignorant beings who could not realize the extent of his disdain for them.

The legend of the Battle of Alamass made further claims about Grievous's mental state; despite his military prowess, the general was still unhappy, for though he changed his body, he was not satisfied with his fate in life. In truth, he would never find peace or completion in the continued modification of his form, for deep down he sought escape, and no matter how much he might change what he was, he could never change who he was. Being a creature who was ruled by his heart, however, the general could never see that in himself. As a result, the general who would become a cyborg was a troubled soul, and he expressed his troubles by the only means he knew how-violence. Grievous became angrier and more vengeful he became, lashing out at anybody he thought was weak.

The pathological hatred he felt toward the Jedi, against whom he had sworn to exact a terrible vengeance for crimes against him and his people, caused Grievous to target Jedi one by one. After the catastrophic intervention of the Galactic Republic and Jedi in a conflict between his people and the Huk decades earlier, Grievous believed it is his duty to rid the galaxy of Jedi "filth." By the time of the Clone Wars, Grievous cared not for the Republic or any political motivation to fight and instead focused his energy on destroying the Jedi Order.

Although devoid of a powerful connection to the Force, Grievous was a highly skilled warrior who was capable of proficiently wielding lightsabers in combat against his enemies as a result of the training received from Count Dooku, a Sith Lord once a Jedi Master. A master of several forms of lightsaber combat, Grievous was capable of quickly adapting to the fighting styles implemented by his opponents. Furthermore, due to the enhancements provided to him by his cybernetics, the Kaleesh often utilized and relied on his strength and agility during his encounters with Jedi.

A skilled lightsaber combatant who specialized in the form known as Jar'Kai, which contributed to his personalized style of combat, Grievous utilized the advantage of his additional limbs during battle with others, which thereby allowed him to wield four lightsabers as a result and employ a personalized variation to overwhelm opponents. With the strategy of three key elements of fear, surprise, and intimidation to undermine an enemy's abilities, and if any of these were absent, it would be preferable to withdraw and reestablish them. Throughout the duration of his time as a warrior, Grievous often clashed blades with numerous Jedi. Many who faced him on the battlefield were slain by his blade, and surviving that confrontation was something very few others could accomplish, such as Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi on several occasions throughout much of the Clone Wars, as well as Ahsoka Tano, the Padawan of Anakin Skywalker, whom he was able to quickly overpower in their first encounter by rendering her unconscious for several seconds after tossing her to the side during their aboard Skytop Station, where he utilized intimidation tactics, such as roaring, to discourage his opponent. However, while Tano had improved by the time of their second encounter on the planet Florrum, as she utilized the Force to gain an advantage, Grievous was once again able to overpower the Padawan through the implementation of his additional limbs and clawed feet.

According to the Kaleesh himself, he was able to withstand assaults from strike teams of Jedi. Members of the Jedi Council struggled to challenge the Kaleesh cyborg, such as Eeth Koth; Grievous dueled Koth and was able to push him back, although he then used his MagnaGuards to subdue him. He dueled Jedi Master Kit Fisto; though Grievous lost one hand, he still held his own against Fisto until the MagnaGuards showed up and surrounded the Nautolan Jedi. Once, Grievous fought Master Adi Gallia in the middle of a firefight, defeating her and taking her as prisoner. When battling Obi-Wan Kenobi, they often fought to a stalemate or an interruption, on Caliban; onboard Grievous' superweapon battle cruiser, the Malevolence; aboard the cruiser Surrogator in the Saleucami system; on Kamino; and aboard Kenobi's command ship the Negotiator near Florrum. Grievous was also able to duel Master Yoda; though the Grand Master's Force abilities proved to be too much for the General to handle, he was still able to hold his own despite not losing a single limb.

Although Grievous almost defeated Kenobi multiple times, Grievous successfully defeated him above Utapau, yet was later slain on that same planet by him. Their great battle to the death has become legendary. He fought Depa Billaba in at least two different duels; in the first, he severely injured Billaba and nearly killed her, putting her in a six-month coma, and in their second duel, despite Billaba having severed two of his upper hands, Grievous landed a glancing blow on her back. During his mission to capture the Chancellor, Grievous dueled Shaak Ti; Ti managed to fight further, but Grievous managed to get the upper hand. He ensnared her with electrified cables, which knocked her unconscious.

Despite often clashing with members of the Jedi Order, Grievous could also face even the most intimidating of opponents, such as the former Sith Assassin Asajj Ventress; in their duel on Dathomir, Grievous held his own, even kicking Ventress back before getting one of his limbs severed and thrown to the ground, which he responded to by violating the rules of their agreement and telling his droids to intervene. Later, in their duel on Serenno, Ventress was on a mission to assassinate Count Dooku, but Grievous got another opportunity at killing the former Sith assassin; after falling downward, the cyborg toppled over Ventress, pressing his foot against her throat, then grabbed her with all four hands and flung her to the level below. Earlier in that mission, Grievous fought Quinlan Vos, losing his lightsabers and hand at first, but eventually overpowering Vos in midair and pushing him back into the wall before being locked in a security center. Grievous also encountered the former Sith Lord Maul, whom he considered too dangerous to let live; they engaged in two separate duels to a stalemate.

He chose a very unorthodox style while contending with the Jedi, using his four arms to his advantage. While Grievous had no Force ability, he countered his lack of supernatural abilities with his upgraded cybernetics: his artificial limbs and cybernetic systems allowed the reflexes and agility that made him deadly to the Jedi whom he ran into. He could wield four weapons at once and spin his mechanical hand while wielding the lightsabers so quickly that they formed devastating energy pinwheels to devastating effect. This became one of his favorite tactics, spinning two or all four arms quickly to form a lethal shield from the blades of his swords, yet most Jedi he faced were quick enough to resist this strategy. Grievous could fight with lightsabers while also wielding a blaster at close range, a lethal double threat for even an experienced, Force-sensitive opponent. He could also rotate his torso; when clones piled on top of him during the Battle of Saleucami, he used that ability to throw the troopers off him.

While Grievous often engages his foes directly in battle, he also has a tendency to use unorthodox and underhanded methods. Grievous would resort to any means necessary to cement a victory, whether it is intimidating bravado, dirty tactics, or anything in between; he did this when he blocked Nahdar Vebb's lightsaber with his own while he grabbed a blaster with another arm, allowing him to shoot Vebb several times in the torso. Against Obi-Wan Kenobi, he used one of his arms to grab him and throw him to the ground, then attempted to crush him beneath his mechanical feet. He would sometimes send in MagnaGuards to soften up an opponent and tire them out enough for him to gain the upper hand.

Not only could Grievous use his lightsaber to block another's, but he could deflect attacks like blaster shots and boomas by just deflecting or spinning against them. He could also throw his lightsaber at his opponent by spinning his hand or simply throwing it.

Grievous was very fast as he was able to use his cybernetics to crawl on the ground and make a quick escape if he needed to. His extra magnetic, clawed limbs assist him in scurrying with spider-like agility, allowing him to effortlessly climb walls, cling to the starship exterior panels, or rapidly scale vertical metal surfaces and even ceilings with ease to reach otherwise inaccessible spots. Not only was he fast, but he also had enhanced strength, Grievous was able to send someone across the corridor or on top of an entire gunship, nearly knocking it over with a single kick, threw a varactyl off his body, crushed the Mandalorian soldiers' armor and skulls with his bare hands and feet, and delivered a single blow powerful enough to make a dent. His hand-to-hand combat abilities far exceeded those of an ordinary soldier, as he utilized his two or four arms fighting in a unique style, lifting, throwing, choking, and crushing with either just his bare hands or powerful durasteel feet that were magnetized and so sharp that they were effectively talons. Additionally, he could even seize weapons like an electro-staff, which he could then transfer to his hand.

With a metal body stronger than any droid's shell, Grievous was very durable and could even resist explosions from fuel barrels. However, his biological remains very much were not fire proof, but they remained safe behind his armor. Thanks to his cyborg form, Grievous was able to survive in space and grip effectively onto a ship's hull. When Kenobi kicked at him during the Battle of Utapau, Grievous hardly felt it, but it very much hurt Kenobi. Unlike most opponents, the Kaleesh cyborg could afford to lose a limb or two during battle, seemingly unfazed by his injuries, which may slow him down but not stop him. Thus, he could face even the most formidable opponent without fear of pain or injury, nor did he need to temper his attack out of concern for retaliation. However, damage and defeat forced him to return home for repairs and medical checks.

In addition, his formidable armorplast plating on top of dulled-down duranium armour has proven sufficient to withstand damage on numerous occasions, unharmed after being hit with a Force push hard enough to crack a ship's window, being slammed into a wall hard enough to cause a cloud of dust, or being tackled by someone against a ship's window, but seemed to have little effect on him. Grievous takes no harm when he crashes his speeder into a herd of varactyls or when he walks past the fortifications of Mother Talzin's magick barrier, assaulted by Sidious and Dooku's Force lightning. After having been hurled back with a Force shove against the heavy machinery hard enough to make an enormous dent, then tumbling down, despite losing his last two surviving lightsabers, he still has the ability to escape.

On his homeworld, Grievous had previously demonstrated his talents and proven himself to be a brilliant military leader, training and leading his people expertly. That trait remained when he became a cyborg general in command of the Separatist Droid Army. Grievous was also a competent strategist as he used his massive army to overwhelm his opponents. Grievous recognized that clone troopers were superior than his droids. He had developed a method capable of defeating a Jedi and the clones under his command by deploying a mix of command droids and MagnaGuards. The Kaleesh cyborg utilized his strategic abilities to prioritize the pursuit of Jedi generals, board their ships, and apprehend them. Grievous threaten the Jedi Council with such great threat that a team of their best Jedi were dispatched.

Grievous led a devastating campaign in the Outer Rim, crushing multiple legions and fleets along the way. In the Battle of Bothawui, Grievous was able to lead his fleet through Bothawui's planetary ring, taking advantage of asteroids to defend himself from surprise attacks, and using this strategy allowed him to damage a Republic cruiser until Skywalker realized what he was up to. He was able to correctly anticipate the Republic's movements and accurately foresee Anakin's tactics during the Battle of Saleucami. Grievous was also able to fool the Republic forces during the Battle of Kamino with his ships taking heavy casualties, completely fooling even Anakin, but Obi-Wan Kenobi, his rival, was the only person who eventually identified his plan. Later, he led his fleets to victory against Kenobi's, the Republic's wise, tactical Jedi General, and took over his flagship without losing a single capital ship.

He can calculate with certainty, based on experience that the odds are against them at the Battle of Zanbar. Grievous's army crushes Maul's Shadow Collective in two consecutive battles, even on the verge of victory at Ord Mantell. He was also able to recognize that Maul had yet to deploy warships during the Battle on Ord Mantell. Tey-Zuka calculated that the enemy ships had been destroyed, but then their dreadnought was hit, and Grievous recognized that they had been lured into a trap. He managed to lure Depa Billaba into a trap, cutting off her exits and surrounding her with droids on Mygeeto. He also had an advantage because he could directly command his battle droids with his two antennae built into his head and even access the system via comlinks built into his cybernetic systems, directing the Invisible Hand's defense.

The General gained a reputation as a talented flier and piloted a customized Belbullab-22 starfighter known as the Soulless One. He was skilled enough to avoid and escape Anakin Skywalker's starfighter. Not only did Grievous successfully avoid each laser fire, but he also managed to achieve hyperspace without a single shot, demonstrating his superior cyborg-enhanced piloting skills. Although it should be noted that Anakin almost shot him down, but his starfighter lost a piece of shrapnel embedded in the fighter that caused it to careen off course. Despite the ship's advantages, Grievous frequently utilized it to flee danger rather than flying into battle. Grievous recognized that, while he was an amazingly talented fighter on the ground, his skills as a fighter pilot, while not insignificant, were no match for those of a Jedi.

Despite not having Force sensitivity or official Jedi training, Grievous fought with stolen lightsabers. Not only skilled in lightsaber combat, he also owned a custom DT-57 "Annihilator" blaster pistol called the "Grievance Striker." He would use any means necessary to succeed in battle, such as an electrostaff or other models of blaster, such as the DC-17 pistol or E-5 rifle. Grievous was equipped with grapple lines built into his wrists, which he could launch at a long distance to attach himself to objects.

The General also piloted a customized Belbullab-22 starfighter known as the Soulless One. Not only did he use his own starfighter, but the brutal cyborg used other vehicles, including a combat speeder and a modified wheel bike

Grievous was developed for the 2005 movie Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith as a new villain on the side of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The character made his first appearance in the Star Wars Insider piece "Republic HoloNet News Core Edition 15:3:02" from issue 75—which was released on April 6 of 2004 but was shipped to subscribers starting March 19—after an indirect mention in Star Wars Insider 73's "CIS Shadowfeed Dispatch 15:01:15 Edition" on January 13 of that year. Although he went so far as to grace the cover of Star Wars Insider 75 and had been introduced to the Star Wars fanbase by StarWars.com on March 15 as the "New Face of Evil," Grievous's introduction is considered to have come on April 8, 2004, within "Chapter 20" of the 2003 animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars. As of 2014, these stories are now considered to be part of the Star Wars Legends continuity. Canonically speaking, Grievous made his first appearance in Revenge of the Sith.

While Grievous would only have around six minutes of screen time in the final film, with Darth Sidious actually being the film's primary antagonist, StarWars.com had teased Grievous's coming role in Revenge of the Sith on May 26, 2004, claiming that Grievous would be "the Villain of Episode III." In Revenge of the Sith, the character was portrayed by Matthew Wood, the film's supervising sound editor. In his first appearance in Chapter 20, Grievous had been voiced by John DiMaggio before Richard McGonagle took on the role for the rest of the original Clone Wars series. However, StarWars.com had confirmed before release of Revenge of the Sith that Grievous "[wouldn't] necessarily" sound in the film like he did in that animated series. Since Revenge of the Sith, Wood has retained the role of Grievous, portraying the droid general in the 2008 animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and numerous other post-Revenge of the Sith appearances.

During the development of Revenge of the Sith, Grievous was created when it was clear that, with Dooku dying early in the film, the movie would need a new villain. Director George Lucas requested Lucasfilm's art department make a "droid general," specifying that the character needed to be reminiscent of the Original trilogy's Darth Vader without being a copy of the famous Sith Lord. Lucas also noted to the crew that Grievous needed to clearly and visually be a cyborg, denying early designs that depicted his mask with robotic photoreceptors. Amongst the artists of the Episode III art department who made designs for Grievous were Derek Thompson, Erik Tiemens, Alex Jaeger, and Warren Fu; the latter was the man whose concept was made into Grievous, even though it was only a quick sketch that he was not very impressed by. Lucas, meanwhile, was instantly impressed by the drawing.

According to StarWars.com, artists Robert Barnes, Iain McCaig, and Ryan Church were also involved in creating Grievous. When interviewed The Star Wars Archives: Episodes I–III, 1999–2005, Wu stated Grievous's white coloration was created to be the opposite of Darth Vader's black suit, further noting that, within Chinese culture, the color of white represents death. Another one of Fu's concept drawings for Grievous was made into his IG-100 MagnaGuards. The finalized character would emerge from discussions between Barnes, McCaig, Church, and Wu, followed by sketches, and then followed by a maquette, with that maquette helping to refine the vision for the character. Grievous's design was finalized around the end of 2002, only six months before shooting for the movie began. After Lucas approved the maquette design, Industrial Light & Magic began its work on creating the character's CGI model.

During production, the crew found it hard to film the duel between Kenobi and Grievous when the cyborg warlord uses all four of his hands. After considering having one actor sit atop another or having one suspended from the ceiling to achieve the tall general's multiple armed attack run, it was decided to use two stunt performers, with one standing in front of the other, to achieve the scene, but it was decided this strategy did not work out. Their next idea was to have one performer learn both Grievous's above and below attacks, allowing the complete attack run to be assembled out of both passes in post-production. In the end, it was decided that Grievous should lose several of his hands quickly to make filming easier on the crew, explaining why Grievous only briefly uses all four of his limbs to duel in Revenge of the Sith.

Grievous's computer generated design was approved in March of 2004. According to StarWars.com, as of May 26 of that year, Grievous's model had yet to "painted," nor had his body language and animation been refined or developed. As such, Grievous's model had not yet been added to the cut of the film as it existed at that time. No voice actor had been found at that time as well, with producer Rick McCallum hypothesizing that voice-work for Grievous and the rest of the cast would begin sometime between August and November of that year. Before Matthew Wood was cast in the role of Grievous, British actor Gary Oldman was offered Grievous' role. Oldman expressed excitement at joining the film and was slated to provide Grievous' voice at Skywalker Ranch during post-production of Revenge of the Sith, but it turned out that the film was being developed by filmmakers who weren't part of the Screen Actors Guild, of which Oldman is member from, leading Oldman to decline the role out of respect and solidarity to the Guild and to avoid violating the union's rules.

According to San Hill - Banking Clan Chairman - Base Series 1, which was released as part of Star Wars: Card Trader, Grievous proved to be a volatile ally towards San Hill, Poggle the Lesser, and Dooku in the time before his cyborg transformation. As such, the three began conspiring to destroy Grievous and rebuild him into a super-cyborg of servitude. At the time, Lucasfilm Story Group member Pablo Hidalgo said this was an outdated Legends reference based on the character's backstory from the comic "The Eyes of Revolution." However, as other modern sources have canonized "The Eyes of Revolution"-inspired details, the Story Group may have changed its mind.

As established by the reference book Star Wars: On the Front Lines and supported by episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, only a few days pass between the Battles of Coruscant and Utapau. "The Duel for Peace" states that Kenobi had not seen Grievous in a long time before the Battle of Utapau. However, they had last seen each other face-to-face in the Battle of Coruscant mere days prior. Star Wars Bust Collection 68 also claimed that Grievous hid on Utapau in "the closing weeks" of the war after the Battle of Coruscant. However, as only a few days pass between the Battles of Coruscant and Utapau, that cannot be accurate.

The 2023 reference magazine states that Grievous requested a more advanced battle droid after becoming Supreme Commander of the Separatists, which led to the development of the MagnaGuard. The majority of sources, however, state that Grievous requested such droids back when he was fighting for the InterGalactic Banking Clan, placing the creation of the MagnaGuards earlier in the Star Wars timeline. This article sides with the majority of sources and states that Grievous requested his advanced droid troops during his days as an IGBC enforcer. The presence of MagnaGuards in 33 BBY via to their appearance in Darth Maul (2017) 3 helps to narrow down the timeline further.

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