Why General Grievous is vastly under-appreciated

General Grievous is one of Star Wars’ most underrated characters. Here’s why more fans should love this sinister character.

General Grievous was an intimidating and terrifying figure in the galaxy during the Clone Wars. As the leader of the droid army, he was feared by the people of the Republic, the Jedi Council and even to some degree by Count Dooku and Darth Sidious. How can a character that is feared on that level not be more respected?

When dissecting who he is, General Grievous is the perfect Jedi killing machine — he’s a Kaleesh warrior fueled by rage and mechanically enhanced by Count Dooku to become a tool of the Dark Side and the Separatists. While Grievous was not Force-sensitive, he was a serious threat to the Jedi. His mechanical enhancements gave him superior level strength and lightning-quick speed that could rival the best of the Jedi. Because of the enhancements, Grievous was able to study and mimic any Jedi’s fighting style in the middle of any duel along with being able to take on multiple Jedi at once without any sort of issue, along with being trained in lightsaber combat by Count Dooku. Besides being an elite level lightsaber duelist that could stand toe-to-toe with even the highest-ranking Jedi, Grievous was a brilliant military strategist & tactician.

The threat that General Grievous presented to the Jedi and the galaxy was unparalleled. But for some reason, Grievous is not really respected at the level that he should be. There are a few reasons for this. In Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Grievous was depicted as a clumsy, rusty, sick cyborg. The movie did not give Grievous the respect he deserves.

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In The Clone Wars TV show, we were able to see glimpses of what Grievous was capable of. Leading an assault against Asajj Ventress and the Nightsisters of Dathomir. But the show still did not give Grievous his proper respect. The show depicted Grievous as an overly arrogant depowered creation, allowing a padawan-leveled Ahsoka Tano to hold her own against him.

The show and movies severely de-powered Grievous, thus doing his character a serious disservice. The moment where we really saw the true power of General Grievous was in the 2003 Clone Wars show. The moment follows Grievous taking on a group of six Jedi (including two Jedi Council members, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Shaak Ti). He killed Tarr Seirr and Sha’a Gi with ease while injuring K’Kruhk, Ayla Secura and Shaak Ti. Any being that is able to take on six Jedi alone and take them all out with relative ease is extremely powerful, a serious threat, and is a true force to be reckoned with.

Grievous has been done a disservice by the creators of Revenge of the Sith and The Clone Wars TV show. I view this as a travesty to a truly unique character. There is no other being of any kind in the Star Wars universe that is similar to Grievous. A legitimate argument can be made that he is one of, if not the most, deadly lightsaber duelist in Star Wars history. Grievous is a unique character on many levels that deserves to be respected by all serious Star Wars fans.

What do you love most about General Grievous? Let us know down below in the comments.