Fanclub We are not droids! *The official General Grievous fanclub v2.0*

Yikes. Grievous could have been Discount Kid Thrawn. Lucas did right by rejecting that one. Just my 2¢.

 

Discount kid Thrawn. Good one.
I think it can generally be agreed that the design that was chosen was the best. It just seems more real and organic, and stands out from the others. I think it would stick out even if you hadn't seen any of them before.
Warren Fu said he came up with his original design, which was just the mask with the eyes, one afternoon and he wasn't originally going to present it until somebody else working there insisted he did. Amazing how these things always seem to happen like that. The best inspiration so often seems to come when one isn't trying to think about it.

 

Having got around to watching those 'making of' videos, a few things:

• It is great to see somebody else latch onto a design like that; George Lucas, no less. He seemed particularly decisive about it compared to much hemming and hawing over the others.
• "Quick, run for the high-quality scanner!"
• These people can draw b----- brilliantly (and the animation team were obviously pretty good as well).
• It is also clear to me that I do not have the creative ability to just search for, and create usable ideas sitting in a room looking around. (But I'm brilliant at using other people's ideas for my, ahem, own.)
• It is sad to me that, ultimately, Grievous has not (it seems) become particularly iconic (even from his looks), because he is a much more visually striking character than anyone else in Star Wars (after all, everyone seems to remember a man who appeared for about five minutes with some paint and thorns stuck to his head, and who had even less character). And with the eyes, I don't think they were emphasised in the filming enough. Even where there is the close-up, the camera is at a slight angle: he should (at some point anyway) just stare dead straight (as he does often enough in Clone Wars), and he should stare into the camera a few (i.e. even dozens) more times as well. (After all, his eyes could have a sort-of hypnotic effect on the audience; they certainly affect me enough when looking at artwork.)
• Somebody, commenting on this sight (ca. 2005) no less, scanned the Warren Fu story from Visionaries and stuck the pictures on the internet. The story itself is not particularly anything to write home about, but the ending sequence (stripped of any unnecessary text and the conversations between other characters) where Grievous --- in effect --- chucks Star Wars' most violent wobbly would go nicely framed on my wall.

 

Yes. The Visionaries story is not that great story wise - if they managed to wipe out his humanity (boy, talk about misapplied words) then I think they would have wiped out almost everything else as well. He clearly can recall his own nature clearly, so still must have some. Minds don't work that way, even in Star Wars. It also doesn't give (especially) great motives (Why him specifically? What if he died, then what would the CIS leaders do? Why is a banker involved in a war? What were the republic's motives in siding with the unnamed enemy? and so on...)
The one thing it does do is set up his story in a unique manner (something well gone over in the PT backstory thread) and is a great exposition of Fu's drawing style with the pale washed colours. He is a Star Wars Visionary. The actual story it self is so-so, but better than the current canon.
With respect to Grievous' story nobody has been treated like he has been, and his story is quite tragic, going from noble warrior trying to defend his home to an involuntary psychomaniac. I've read some FanFics in which he does regain more of his memories than the vague remnants he has when he first emerges in cyborg form, and realises how he has been treated. Makes for a very interesting character. I think the best casting for him is not as a villain but as an anti-hero whose reprehensible actions are mostly beyond his control. He may be command an army, but its of robots that can be switched off at any point. In reality he is little better than a glorified slave. In the stories I've read you can see a character where his old self emerges and fights against his new self and his situation, dividing and eventually destroying him. Not many characters in Star Wars can even be though along these lines, let alone presented that way without really altering his story timeline.

Also, I can't believe his image isn't more widely spread. Darth Maul is one-quarter of the character and not nearly as good a design, yet most people know his image = Star Wars. Most people I know wouldn't even recognise Grievous, and could only hesitantly draw the link with SW. It's a real shame, because that design is fantastic. I can't help but think that people rejected him because of his characterisation in the film.

P.S. I'd like people to share their favourite stories and images here if they so wish like in other threads, as well as their thoughts.

P.P.S CIS Droid I found your slash posts in the PT social thread. Talk about funny. Good to see you look the same places I do

 

KaleeshEyes its just fun to go to Devianart and see the weird ships Grievous is associated with . Some pretty funny comics aswell, and some genuinely great art of the good general.

Darth Maul in TPM was a good antagonist, but lousy character i agree. I did like him in TCW though. Turned him into a tragic character instead of a bland antagonist.

Thats why i like it, its so surreal, such a weird, but interesting concept that shows Grievous went through a lot of unique designs

 

Well, if you put it that way, I can understand. I guess it's like how Luke Skywalker was originally called Annikin Starkiller, and how Stormtroopers used to wield lightsabers, etc. It's all interesting stuff that could have been cool and well-thought out in a way entirely different from how it's cool and well-thought out now.

 

MY PERSONAL TOP TEN GENERAL GRIEVOUS EPISODES FROM STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS

General Grievous is my favorite legitimately evil Star Wars villain. Though there are villainous characters that I hold in higher esteem than Grievous, like Darth Vader, Darth Revan, and Kylo Ren, but what I find fascinating more than any sense of menace they provide is their character arcs. But Grievous...

Grievous is a monster. He is dedicated to destroying the Jedi, not because of pursuit of power like Sidious, or pursuit of order like Vader. He just hates the Jedi a lot. Perhaps it is because he wishes that he could be one of them, or perhaps he believes they wronged him at one point, or maybe both.

Whatever the reason, he is a half-man, half-metal psychopath whose chief pleasure in life comes form murdering Jedi. He is a brilliant strategist, and the best non-Force sensitive combatant in the Galaxy. He is pure, unfiltered, terrifying menace, the likes of which have never been seen in Star Wars, and likely never will again. And we all love him for it.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the series responsible for much of my perception of the character, more so than any other piece of SW canon. So, I have decided to compile a list of my top 10 favorite episodes of TCW featuring the cyborg general, both as a tribute to Grievous and as a contribution to the General Grievous Fan Club. The criteria for an episode to be eligible for this list is simple: Grievous must appear within the episode. It can be as the main antagonist, or it can be as a cameo. I am not considering the length of screen time that Grievous has in an episode, but what he does with that time what effect he has on me as the viewer. I would also invite fellow fans to make similar lists if they find their favorite Grievous appearances missing from my list. So, without further ado...

10. "Nomad Droids"
Like I said, Grievous need not be in the episode for a particularly long period of time, he must only be particularly memorable in that time. In a very brief, yet cool cameo, Grievous invades a Republic cruiser and personally defeats Adi Gallia offscreen. Too bad we had to sit through Artoo and Threepio's antics throughout the episode instead of seeing more Greivous action. But what we do see is seriously cool, and worthy of an entry on this list.

9. "Heroes on Both Sides"
This particular non-Grievous centric episode boasts the memorable scene where, in less than a minute, Grievous talks down to a member of the High Separatist Council, gives a rousing, sinister speech to his droid suicide bombers, and orchestrates a bombing of the Galactic Senate itself. Not bad for a brief cameo.

8. "Massacre"
Grievous and his Droid army vs. Ventress and a Nightsister zombie army? Yes, please. Even though Ventress, Talzin and co. get the spotlight here, it's fun to see Grievous commanding an army to beat the living (and nonliving) crap out of an army of witches.

7. "Duel of the Droids"
A lot of fans think Grievous appears weak in this episode, but I disagree. If wiping out a squad of clones, and whacking around Ahsoka Tano (only losing due a conveniently timed detonation) is Grievous when he's weak, then Grievous is my favorite TCW villain even when he is at his weakest.

6. "Shadow of Malevolence"
In this early episode, Anakin's sense of duty and friendship towards his troops is effectively contrasted with Grievous' callous disregard for them. The scene where he destroys one of his own droids for not being able to hit anything with a turret is one of my favorite Grievous moments.

5. "A Necessary Bond"
At Dooku's behest, Grievous takes over Florrum and decimates Hondo Ohnaka's base. And he also happens to get a rematch with Ahsoka Tano, which goes much better (for Grievous) than before.

4. "Arc Troopers"
When Grievous and Ventress team up to attack Kamino, they are constantly at each other's throats with very entertaining results. As an added bonus, Grievous fights Obi-Wan to a stalemate, while his rival loses to Anakin. Top that, Asajj!

3. "Bound for Rescue"
Grievous' rivalry with Obi-Wan was always one of my favorite aspects of his character. While his battle with Kenobi aboard a Republic cruiser plays second fiddle to the adventures of Ahsoka and her team of younglings on Florrum, Grievous and Obi-Wan's battle is easily the more entertaining of the two intertwined plots.

2. "Grievous Intrigue"
This one just barely loses out as my favorite, but still has plenty to offer. From Grievous's capture of Eeth Koth to his highly memorable duel with Obi-Wan and Adi Gallia, this has always stood out as one of my favorite episodes of the entire series. But it barely loses out to...

1. "Lair of Grievous"
Was there really ever any doubt? Taking the top spot is the classic episode where Grievous faces a member of the Jedi Council, his recently promoted Padawan, and an elite squad of Clone troopers, and comes out on top. Now that's totally badass. Though Dooku says that there is room for improvement, Grievous-centric episodes don't get any better than this.

I apologize for the length of this post. Nonetheless, I hope you all enjoyed it, and are inspired to make lists of your own.

 

Short version:
10: Nomad Droids
9: Heroes on Both Sides
8: Massacre
7: Duel of the Droids
6: Shadow of Malevolence
5: A Necessary Bond
4: ARC TROOPERS
3: Bound for Rescue
2: Grievous Intrigue
1: Lair of Grievous

 

Captain Han Solo Great list, only thing i would change is number 6, i would put my personal favorite of the malevolence arc "Rising Malevolence" in its place. Grievous debut in TCW and a really great episode in itself.

Have you seen the unfinished animated Utapau arc? Grievous is in that arc and he´s great.

 

The reason I didn't put that episode in the list is because Grievous doesn't really do anything there except command droids and make an ass of himself in front of Dooku. Destroy Malevolence almost made the cut, but in spite of how cool he is in that one, there are other eps with much cooler scenes. I almost did an Honorable Mentions, but my post was too long already. I don't want to get a bad rap on my first week here.

And no, I haven't seen the unfinished episodes, or Season 6 for that matter. I have read Son of Dathomir and Dark Disciple, though. Grievous kicks plenty of butt in those, by the way.

 

Grievous is great in SoD, havent gotten my hands on DD yet but it looks good.

 

Anyway, a few days ago I promised a lengthy post about how General Grievous became more than just a silly character and animated action figure for me. I think it's only right that your fan club president should make such a post. CIS Droid and Captain Han Solo my replies are at the bottom.​

I hope I don't weird anybody out ​

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Anyway, Buddy Rich style drum roll please...​

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My first encounter with the character of General Grievous was some years back in, you guessed it, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The character that was presented there was a character of two halves. As I have explained before, he was the most visually striking character I had ever seen in Star Wars or anywhere else for that matter. That design just exuded coolness and was very unique when most of the main characters in Star Wars are either obviously human or alien derived or completely robotic. Unfortunately the character that was presented in the film left me scratching my head quite a bit. For a supposedly dangerous villain he just seemed so unthreatening. Italian or Russian accent aside he just seemed helpless in any sticky situation, getting comprehensively walked over on his own ship, then almost getting walked by Kenobi as well. He seemed quite unintelligent and was also very subservient (why does everybody in these films just say yes to Sidious? Learn to think for yourselves please). His death was a different matter all together. The idea of being heroically defeated after a lengthy battle against a somewhat stronger opponent seems good until you get to the details, which the Devil is well present in like it is for so much of the Prequel Trilogy. You had the running away, which was supposed to make him a coward (although I'd run if I'd had two hands cut off and been force-whacked. Was quite sensible actually) and getting killed by your own weapon is never a dignified way to go, especially if you go up like a firework in the process (somewhow Hasbro turned this into a marketing opportunity). So I took away from the film a not very good impression of the character, but though he looked great, with those eyes of course capturing my attention.​

My impression of his character elsewhere is quite variable. In the original Clone Wars I think he is much closer to what he should have been if he was supposed to be a maniac Jedi killer. He didn't speak much but kicked a whole bucketload of arse right up until his final six seconds of screen time, which were obviously inserted as an afterthought after Lucas finally decided on his character.​

In The Clone Wars I got the what was somewhere between the two characters from the previous works. He's a significantly better fighter than in the film, and occasionally actually wins something, but he still seems quite impotent due to the fact that he never gets a hold on the characters we actually care about, Like Obi-wan and Anakin. Of course this is because they need to be around for RotS, but it does greatly affect how Grievous' character is played out. He also continues with the incredible lack of dignity that he had in the film, a unique thing amongst Star Wars characters. He gets his own ship destroyed thanks to that smug prat Obi-wan (TCW and RotS made me hate Obi-wan and the Jedi in general. They're smug, arrogant, deluded and stupid), gets his legs pulled off -in his own 'homel-, is always being chastised for his 'failures' and so on, and the series succeeded in ruining his backstory as well. But he was better. Although I didn't like his design Matthew Wood finally succeeded in nailing his voice and the he was presented as a stronger character more befitting of his appearance. Of course things couldn't always be better and 4/4 came along and succeeded in finishing off his dignity and strength as a character, but ignoring that his depiction in TCW is quite good at times, although variable.​

Now, when you get interested in a character you tend to start seeking out things with said character in them. I was well aware of his (now Legends) backstory but it was a bit disjointed. It did however make me aware that a very different character could be presented and I almost subconsciously went to see out that character. All through the film and tv series with him in them I found him impossible to hate, which of course is a prerequisite to being a good villain. He seemed to be on a hiding to nothing, a disposable leader without having any real power. He seemed to be always under Dooku and Sidious' thumbs, and lacked any real free will and most notably and dignity. Reading his backstory made him seem a tragic character, one who was taken against his will and had his life destroyed by the greed and fecklessness of others. Sure he was a psychomaniac but it was hard to reconcile the idea of him being a complete a-hole against how he had been treated in life. No other Star Wars character had an arc like he did and (despite the shortcomings of the story) I began to feel sympathy towards what is supposed to be an unlikeable character. So of course I was lead into the world of fan fiction and art, where people are not limited by the need to fit into a storyline or an old mans ill conceived ideas about a character (or the need to finish their stories, unfortunately). Here I could find the depiction I was looking for, that of an anti-hero. There is a popular depiction of General Grievous as a divided character, one whose old self and new self clash and eventually destroy him, and I think this is a good depiction of his character, one that gives him much more depth than anything depicted before. The fan written works manage to achieve what all the canon works fail at, which is giving him real emotional depth. Where he can be happy and angry and sad and so on. You really can sympathise with him in as the once-proud warrior is reduced to an unthinking machine.​

The real thing that gave him the character to become my favourite was him being shown with sadness and frustration at his life. It just did;t seem right that he should be treated the way he was and somehow I developed an emotional attachment to him, something which seems impossible at face value. With his blazing yellow eyes communicating his every emotion he somehow captured my soul, just as Star Wars itself did.​

One of the more moving images I have found in my exploration is this one, which also was rather noticed by somebody else as well. It puts such a different spin on his character, one for whom things became too much.​

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ORIGINAL PAGE

Anyway, if you got through that, thanks for reading
I'm not sure I conveyed everything I wanted too, but it's a good attempt.

Seen bits of it; a shame that season seven was never actually produced. I've also taken a look at some pics you stuck up here lat year. The design it seems they were going to use looked great, and it seemed like he was generally going to be a little more arse-kicking and so on. Of course then the show was cancelled
I also wonder if they were going to turn the lights on in that series (ever notice how many TCW episodes are lit like a Scottish winter day)

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You're in good company ​

 

KaleeshEyes

That picture is seriously affecting my face (Aaaaaaaaaaarrrgh!)

Hmmmmmmm.

 

My favorite Grievous potrayel besides the micro series has to be Labryinth of Evil. Not only did it potray him as a brilliant general but I remember a chapter were Grievous was reminiscing his past, one of the few times I had sympathy with the character.

 

Chancellor Yoda; Pretty sure that was an earlier development drawing after it was decided that they were going with that design. You can see it in the making of video when Lucas is banging on about his nature and the poetry of it (if you've watched the RedLetterMedia reviews you'll get how this applies).


And if you try hard enough you can be quite sympathetic with him a considerable amount of the time. If you read my essay/diatribe above you see that

Yes, I have three words to describe it. 'Aarrggh, 'Argh' and 'Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhh!!!'

 

Thanks as I edited because I couldn't seem make it show
for some reason. But anyways, yes I do remember seeing it in that web doc, just one of my favorite artworks for him for some reason. Plus I love how the magna guards have black eyes, making them look dead.

 

Chancellor Yoda to post the image open the image in its own page (so just the image is displayed), by right click > open image in new tab or whatever, then go to post Insert/edit image on the comment toolbar and paste the url into the box.
It should appear in your post before you submit it.

 

Oh no , I know how to put images on a computer, but I'm using a iPod that for reason doesn't have the Insert image option. So I tried to copy and paste the link to the image as I thought it worked before. Oh well doesn't matter with me really, thanks anyways.

 

Oh well, it's link to the google display, not a link to the image itself; and being on a mobile device is interesting. On my iPod 'mobile websites' won't even load, they just crash the browser

 

Mines a little better but still crashes at times. But it especially crashes when I get on pages filled with videos.

On Grievous that web doc had to be one be one of my favorite docs on ROTS.

 

Rubbish. There is nothing more fun on these sites than spending an hour and a half typing up a 600-word essay.

Also, CIS Droid's post on p. 399 of the P.T. social thread

And some of the fan artwork has left me mentally scarred.

 

Thanks. I thought long posts were a taboo around here. Clearly I was wrong.

And as for the art...HOLY BANTHA CRAP!!! So scary-yet so sad at the same time.

 

I got it from my library; Sith-spawn scalpers have made it impossible to purchase for a semi-reasonable price.

 

1/1Just for the sake of it I am going to do a slightly serious commentary on Grievous' Visionaries Story.
Please don't take too seriously. There's a bit of that, but not much. No emoji, couldn't fit them all in.
A lot of the questions can't be answered in a comic format, but who cares?
Also, there's only 13 pages, not 14. I don't know if one is missing.

Peter Criss style drum roll please...

Story: Star Wars: Visionaries: The Eyes of Revolution written and illustrated by Warren J.Fu
The format is as follows: Page as section title, line/panel

Page One 1/1: So that's what Kalee looks like. I though it was a desert planet, that looks like a sea level Peru. Also, what appeals? 2/1-2: Ah, the last hope trope. Also, what is the Republic's motive here? They are a bunch of ********s though, so it's not surprising. 3/1: Ah, spirituality. One of my least favourite subjects. 3/2: British humour 3/3: Give us a shot we haven't seen
Page Two 1/1: I'd like to debate the aerodynamics of that ship. 2/All: Classic, alarm and light, electricity and 'failure'. What crash stories don't feature such a sequence? 3/1: Effect what? Not the greatest choice of word
Page Three 1/1: Explosion on contact with water AKA every classic James Bond film. 2/1: Great illustration that. 3/All: Never knew Sith lightning could be used to revive. Very clever. Also I can imagine Dooku's motivation for this is because it looks good on video.
Page Four 1/1: Creepy 2/1: That makes no sense whatsoever. 2/2: HAL 9000 3/1: I don't want to image this one in real life. 3/2-4/1: Dooku needs him because? Taking a big risk for an experiment.
Also, when I saw the scene with Luke from Empire I instantly though 'geez, wouldn't want to have an encounter with their medicine'. My opinion has not changed.
Page Five 2/1: Good england 3/1: San Hill's syntax makes me think he would be incredibly annoying in real life. I'd probably punch him in the face. 4/1-2: Organisation names assigned at random. What does a banker have do here? Motives = Not explained. 4/3: Brilliant use of euphemistic statements here.
Page Six 1/1 What troops? In an 'accident'? 1/2-3 Refer to p5-3/1, he'd have no teeth to grin with. Also two of those phrases make no sense in the order they're in. Switch them around, then we're talking 2/1 Can I get this guy to write speeches for me? 3/1 If you wait, he'll tell you, you nong.
Page Seven 1/1-3/1 Thank God our politicians don't speak like this. Reduces the number of assassinations. Also the 'you're ours now' reveal.
3/2-3 The 1984 moment. Also why the long face San? And your action here would kill him in about a minute, if that.
Page Eight 1/1 And most people on death row are there willingly as well. 2/1 Now you pull out the scare quotes. 2/2 Apparently SW brains work differently, or he would have massive damage. Why would his brain be dying anyway? It's not like his oxygen's been cut off or something. And your movie character doesn't seem to know the true meaning of hate either. 3/1-4/2 The entire reason for this sequence seems to be to make Sypho-Dias relevant. I know some people chuck a fit over what this scene means in terms of force sensitivity, but refer to the first line of my current signature please.
Page Nine 1/1 Everybody is always working for somebody else. Also no evidence for your statement (and that's in the whole book)(and in the film)
ALL: It seems that even PT related comics can't be free of boring exposition. 2/2 top: Finally we get to his character 2/3 Big word 'nearly'. Came back to bite you, didn't it? 3/1 That's a ****ing cool shot and why couldn't he jump that high in the film. 3/2 'Embraced'. I'd have used 'forced into', but go your own way.
Page Ten 1/1 Ah, one of those 'friends' 2/3 You sure know how to turn a phrase. 3/2 There's a smug face 3/4 !!!Dat Eye!!!
Page Eleven All frames: Exposition is trite, damn are are the images cool
Page Twelve 1/2 Bonus points for getting the word 'subjugation' in. 2/1 How did he do that when he had no control over what was going on?
Page Thirteen 2/1 Or maybe not. 2/1-3/3 That's self evident, unless SW world has never heard of the term 'cyborg'.

I'd love to see a short film of this and I think it would get a Briggs Score* of at least $5

(Serious hat on)
While the story is decent and the illustration great I think it portrays his transformation as being too absolute. Heck even bits in LoE contradict this, and it leaves little room for character development unless can be seen that it is less absolute than the Sith would like to believe, which is entirely possible. Also I don't like how they said they altered his mind. It doesn't make any sense from a scientific perspective and seems outlandish even by SW standards. An idea I saw in a fan fiction of them sticking implants in his brain is much better because it's more believable.
The story does do a good job of making all the separatist leader look like absolute a-holes though. It's very easy to hate them. It does however make one sympathetic for Grievous as implies that all his supposed bad actions are completely not his fault (another disadvantage of the absoluteness).
The other issue is that the character motives aren't well explained at all.
I know it's a comic so you won't get very deep, but it does pose some serious issues that are not addressed in later texts (Serious hat off)

* Named after a blogger who came up with the idea of rating films by how much you'd pay or have to be payed to see them

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Captain Han Solo There's nothing in the rules saying you can't make long posts. It just disrupts the flow of the threads a bit so is somewhat frowned upon. This is a fan thread and (in any case) I think it's nice to see peoples thoughts fully displayed so you can have a fulfilling conversation. Better than a buch of one-liners. Just try quoting smaller sections or only tagging to prevent quote overload (I think I'm mini-modding a bit here, but advice is advice)

That image is one of my favourite SW images. It shows such a different character and is very sad. It's a very powerful one.

I'll have to use that one.

 

Er...