2025-07-02 23:39:00 by ComicBook.com

The Jedi have a rough go of it during the Star Wars prequel trilogy. After centuries of peace, the Sith return in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, with Darth Maul causing problems on Tatooine and Naboo. He even kills Qui-Gon Jinn before losing a duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi and falling down a shaft. Count Dooku takes Maul’s place in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, showing Obi-Wan and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, that there’s more to being a Jedi than being strong in the Force. However, Dooku can’t be responsible for the entirety of the Separatist Army, so he outsources some of his work to General Grievous, a Kaleeshi warrior who has a thing for cybernetics. Videos by ComicBook.com Grievous’ military tactics prove too much for the Republic to handle, and it spends years trying to bring him down. The Jedi aren’t the answer, though, because Dooku trains Grievous to use a lightsaber. However, there was a time when Grievous didn’t look nearly as menacing as he does in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. General Grievous Almost Looked a Lot Like His Revenge of the Sith Lackeys During the development phase of Revenge of the Sith, Lucas knew that he wanted to add another villain to the mix. He decided a robotic character would work best because they would tease Anakin’s fate at the end of the movie. As with any Star Wars character, the artists at Lucasfilm had to come up with plenty of design options. Some of them looked like IG units, which would have made sense given IG-11’s reputation in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. However, the design wasn’t what Lucas was looking for, and he ended up going with one that showed more flesh, revealing just how far the Kaleeshi had gone to make himself stronger. Not every design ended up on the cutting room floor, though. One of them ended up being used in Revenge of the Sith for the MagnaGuards, Grievous’ personal bodyguards. They show up early in the final prequel movie, when Obi-Wan and Anakin arrive on the Separatist flagship to rescue Chancellor Palpatine. Grievous takes them captive, but they aren’t in chains for long. R2-D2 helps his friends escape and retrieve their lightsabers, which is when the MagnaGuards jump into action. Using their electric staffs, they try to take on the Jedi, who make quick work of the droids. The MagnaGuards reappear on Utapau but don’t bring much to the table, making it clear that Lucas made the right choice when choosing Grievous’ design. The Clone Wars Would Have Been Over Sooner Without General Grievous General Grievous makes his live-action debut in Revenge of the Sith, and the Jedi are already afraid of him. Genndy Tartakovsky’s Star Wars: Clone Wars provides some context, with Grievous hunting down Jedi around the galaxy before kidnapping Palpatine from his office on Coruscant. Mace Windu crushes Grievous’ chest plate before the Separatist leader can escape into the atmosphere, which is where he gets his iconic cough. However, the animated series is no longer canon after being replaced by Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The more recent animated series paints a similar picture, but Grievous is even more menacing. Upon Dooku’s request, he travels to Dathomir to wipe out the Night Sisters, which is no small feat. After all, the clan deals with magic that draws its power from the dark side of the Force. They’re no match for Grievous, though, and he wipes out their forces. The rest of the war sees Grievous face off against Maul, Yoda, and several other major Force users. He lives to tell the tale every time, which is why the Jedi are so eager to take him off the board in Revenge of the Sith. It’s unlikely that Grievous would have found himself in the same spot if Lucas had chosen to go with any design but the one he landed on. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is streaming on Disney+. Did you know that the MagnaGuard’s design was originally considered for General Grievous in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith? Are you glad that George Lucas made the choice that he did for the character? Let us know in the comments below!