Rute Gunnay was a Neimoidian male who served as an advisor to Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray. Due to their similar appearances, Gunnay was sometimes mistaken for Gunray. During the Clone Wars, Gunnay also served as an aide in the Galactic Senate of the Galactic Republic.
In 19 BBY, he was a member of the Confederacy's Separatist Council and was with them on the planet Mustafar when the leader of the Confederacy, Darth Sidious, told the group to expect the arrival of his apprentice, Darth Vader. Vader then killed Gunnay and the rest of the council with his lightsaber upon orders from Sidious.
Rute Gunnay was a Neimoidian male who worked in the Trade Federation as an advisor to its Viceroy, Nute Gunray. He also served as a senatorial aide in the Galactic Senate of the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars, a conflict in which the Trade Federation sided with the Confederacy of Independent Systems against the Republic despite still being represented in the Senate by Senator Lott Dod. As an aide, Gunnay was responsible for writing drafts, sending sneaky messages, and managing the secret meetings of self-interested senators.
By 19 BBY, Gunnay served as a representative of the Trade Federation on the Confederacy's Separatist Council along side the more senior advisor Rune Haako and Gunray. Following the Battle of Coruscant, the council was moved from the planet Utapau to a mining facility on the planet Mustafar for their own saftey. Darth Sidious, the secret master of the Confederacy, then contacted the council via hologram and spoke with Gunray as Gunnay watched. Sidious congratulated the viceroy and informed him and the rest of the council that his apprentice, Darth Vader would soon arrive to take care of them.
As promised Vader, formerly the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, soon arrived and was welcomed by Gunray; however, the Sith Lord then used the Force to seal the doors to the room in which he, Gunnay and the other council members stood. Having been ordered to eliminate the council by Sidious, Vader then attacked with his lightsaber and began cutting down everyone else in the room. As Haako cried out for mercy, Vader slashed Gunnay across the chest, causing him to scream and then collapse dead by one of the room's tables. Vader then finished killing the rest of the council, including Haako and Gunray, after which the facility they had perished in was destroyed by Mustafar's lava streams.
Rute Gunnay first appeared in the prequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, which released on May 19, 2005. The character was portrayed by , a make-up artist in the creature department for the film who also portrayed the Neimoidian Lushros Dofine. Prior to filming the scene in which Vader kills Gunnay, Ware and the other Separatist Council actors were given "how to die" training from the stunt supervisor, but during the first take they moved a camera crane into his way without telling him and the actor ran headfirst into the crane and was knocked to the floor. During the re-take Hayden Christensen, the actor portraying Vader, forgot to strike down Ware before leaving and then turned back to find Ware waving at him. Christensen then poked Ware in the belly with his lightsaber prop and the makeup artist gave an overacted dive.
In the current Star Wars canon, the character was first identified in the mobile card game Star Wars: Force Collection, which initially launched in 2013. Although the launch of Force Collection predates the Star Wars canon reset of 2014, Lucasfilm Story Group member Leland Chee confirmed that the game was kept updated to fit with canon.
Rute Gunnay's name is an anagram of Nute Gunray (Pictured).
In the Star Wars Legends continuity, the character was erroneously identified as being Nute Gunray in the reference book Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary, which was written by James Luceno and released on April 2, 2005. The name was changed to "Rute Gunray" in the 2006 reference book Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary before the name Rute Gunnay, an anagram of Nute Gunray, was then first used in the reference book Dressing a Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars, which was written by Trisha Biggar and released on October 11, 2005. The character's full name was then revealed to be Aruteous Gunnay in "The Devious Neimoidians Revealed," an article in the "Rogues Gallery" department of the magazine Star Wars Insider 147, which was released on January 21, 2014. This name was suggested by the article's supervisor Leland Chee so that the character's name was not just an anagram.