"Unstoppable. He is unstoppable." ~ K'Kruhk

 

Height: 2.16 meters

 

Weight: 159 kilograms

 

Physicality: Grievous was a Kaleesh cyborg whose entire body, save his organs and eyes, has been replaced with mechanical parts made from duranium alloy, an extremely durable material capable of withstanding blaster shots, electro-staff shocks and glancing blows from a lightsaber, though could be cut by such a weapon.

 

His mechanised form granted him immense strength and agility, capable of lifting up a fully grown human male with an arm - or a foot - with extreme ease and attacking with as many as twenty strikes per second. His six-fingered arms could split into two giving Grievous the ability to use four limbs to either wield lightsabers or considerably improve his speed, and his hands could spin in 360 degree motions as well as his torso. His legs were fitted with repulsorlifts making him capable of jumping considerably distances and having his feet double as hands. He was also capable of surviving hard vacuum thanks to his protective gutsacks.

 

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Melee Abilities

 

Grievous was trained by Count Dooku in all seven forms of lightsaber combat, excluding Vaapad, and developed him own unorthodox fighting style that incorporated all seven forms of lightsaber combat and played to the strengths of his physical capabilities. His style involved rapid flurries from multiple angles, powerful hacking attacks, four pronged needle strikes and whirlwinds of lacerating energy which he created by spinning his hands and torso - sometimes simultaneously - in a buzz saw like action. And while Dooku criticized him for lacking finesse he displayed remarkable fluidity and precision. His rotatable wrists afforded him excellent agility, and made him capable of blocking the attacks of his enemies with efficiency and ease. Combined with his multiple appendages he was capable of cycling through various attack sequences with remarkable speed, having no need to perform complex maneuvers or realign his position. Grievous was also very fast, easily capable of keeping up with and sometimes outperforming his opponents.

 

Aside for lightsaber abilities Grievous was also capable of performing more physical melee attacks, often grappling his opponents with a claw or a foot and tossing them to the ground sometimes in congruence with his lightsaber sequence – making him all the more unpredictable.

 

Ranged Abilities

 

As a Kaleesh warrior Grievous became an excellent marksman, however upon becoming a cyborg he rarely resorted to such tactics. Though on one occasion used it to catch his enemy off-guard within the midst of a lightsaber duel.

 

Other Abilities

 

Grievous’ improved cognitive abilities allowed him to analyse his opponent’s attacks in the midst of combat and respond to them by performing complex algorithms in his brain. This proved effective even against Mace Windu’s highly erratic and rapid Vaapad style. Grievous also had duracord tendrils secreted in his arms which once electrified could incapacitate his opponents in a stun net.

 

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Strengths

 

Grievous’ greatest strength is his unorthodoxy. Against unprepared opponents, Grievous dominates. His style is entirely alien to contemporary lightsaber duelists and eschews convention, most therefore find themselves incapable of mounting an effective defence or offense. This is most potently demonstrated when he was first unleashed upon the Jedi during the Battle of Hypori – proving that even skilled Jedi Masters such as Shaak Ti and Ki-Adi Mundi had little against the abnormalities of his techniques. Such an advantage is comparable to the style of Exar Kun which likewise used an unorthodox style to confuse and swiftly overwhelm his opponents.

 

Coupled with this is his remarkable flexibility afforded by the unique capabilities of his body, quadruple appendages, rotatable wrists, repulsorlift feet and advanced cognitive abilities make him able to exploit all and any weaknesses his enemy might reveal. Therefore in combat his preferred and most effective technique is simply to overwhelm his opponent, sowing confusion with his extraordinary style before capitalising on his opponents own flaws. All of which he is able to exploit unlike other duelists restricted to the particular moves, maneuvers and objectives of their own styles Grievous is capable of exploring multiple avenues of attack, one of which is bound to produce results.

 

Weaknesses

 

Grievous’ ability to exploit the weaknesses of his opponents also becomes a dependency, and therefore falters against those who simple don’t have flaws in their defense or are otherwise capable of exploiting the specific weaknesses in his own form and/or handling the unorthodoxy of his style. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Kit Fisto are among the few who possess these capabilities, Kenobi’s use of pure Soresu against Grievous not only made him capable of processing the intricacies of his opponents form, but recognising and exploiting its weaknesses, and ultimately creating a defence with no weaknesses of its own. Whereas the simplicity of Fisto’s style allowed him to place greater concentration on handling Grievous’ own style, with the dubious possibility of Shii-Cho’s advantages against multiple opponents proving effective against Grievous’ multiple lightsabers.

 

Grievous also suffers from extreme arrogance, often underestimating his opponents to the point of being overcome by them. This is specifically evident in his duels against Asajj Ventress and the Gungan Warriors, both of which he underestimated and as a result put little effort into his engagements with them, performing notably sloppy and brutish attacks and leaving large openings for his opponents to exploit. He also often fails to exploit the vulnerabilities of his own opponents in favour of gloating and mockery, allowing them to recover.

 

He was also notably weak against Force-based attacks, having no means of defending himself against such powers. Often Grievous would find himself slammed against walls or otherwise thrown back forcing him into retreat or giving his opponents the opportunity to exploit a weaknesses or otherwise recover and prepare a defence.

 

Finally, Grievous' body being mainly mechanical, he is considerably vulnerable against ion weaponry.

 

Counter-Strengths

 

Unfortunately for Grievous, these weaknesses are most damning in his effectiveness against Jedi and he has few counter strengths. In the words of Count Dooku “you must have fear, surprise, and intimidation on your side. But if any one element is lacking it would be best for you to retreat.” And indeed is Grievous finds any of the above weaknesses stacked against him, retreat is the best option.

 

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Quotes, Clips and Scans

 

Grievous managed to hold his own against Mace Windu by replicating his extremely complex style:

 

His sole setting was attack. Successful at analyzing Mace's lightsaber style, those same computers suggested that Grievous alter his stance and posture, along with the angle of his parries, ripostes, and thrusts. The result wasn't Vaapad, but it was close enough...

 

--Taken from Labyrinth of Evil

 

Grievous' flurries proved so intense that he almost overwhelmed Kenobi in their opening bout:

 

Grievous, snarling fury, ramped up the intensity and velocity of his attacks—sixteen per second, eighteen—until finally, at twenty strikes per second, he overloaded Obi-Wan's defense.

 

--Taken from Revenge of the Sith

 

Grievous demonstrates the devastating effectiveness of his unorthodox style:

 

 

Grievous uses his physical capabilities to subdue Kenobi... before proceeding to gloat:

 

 

Grievous exploits a saber lock to kill Nahdar Vebb:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVjbBNQiS0s&t=0m44s

 

Grievous demonstrates his incredible strength:

 

 

Grievous endures an explosion and take no damage:

 

 

Thoughts: Grievous is arguably the most powerful non-Force sensitive in galactic history and certainly the most effective Jedi killer. Against Jedi he is often underestimated but we mustn't forget the massive advantage that this unorthodox gives him against even the most skilled of duelists. Here's also hoping this will help us make sense of the discrepancies in Grievous' combat abilities across the forms of media he's appeared in.

 

If you've got any suggestions for future in-depths or any quotes, clips or scans to add feel free to post below.

 

And as always thoughts and opinions are welcome!

Edited January 15, 2015 by Beniboybling

For those who are interested, I'd like to elaborate on the effects of overconfidence on Grievous' style.

 

To do so we should observe the following videos:

 

Here, in his duel against Jedi Master and Council Member Eeth Koth he uses a series of intricate attacks:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VHkNU8whzc&t=1m25s

 

And here against Kit Fisto he does the same:

 

 

Yet here, against Sith Acolyte and 'underling' Asajj Ventress his attacks are notably more sloppy, to the point where he forgoes all aspects of his refined technique and engages in an all-out slugging match:

 

 

And of course, the infamous Gungan Encounter... just look at those arms:

 

 

The contrast is nothing short of shocking. Notice how in the first two Grievous not only constantly rotates his body and limbs and altogether applies his full capabilities, and attacks multiple zones in rapid succession, yet in the second two applies the same slashing attacks again and again, making no effort to utitlise the advantage of unorthodoxy and willing castrating himself purely out of arrogance. Heck, even his whirly blade of doom move looks notably more sloppy when applied against Ventress in comparison to Fisto. And it is clear that he underestimated both Ventress and the Gungans:

 

"I've always been greater than you!"

 

"[Laughing] [More Laughing] You can't be serious!"

 

Whereas against highly skilled Jedi Council members, he has reasons to go all out. Its certainly a damning weakness of Grievous' and its effect should not be underestimated. In full fighting shape he would have likely massacred the Gungans, and his engagement with Ventress would have at least been significantly longer.

Edited November 30, 2013 by Beniboybling

I was hoping you would do a Grievous thread eventually. This was very much needed, especially for people who like to say "lolz gungans"

 

Great work once again.

I was hoping you would do a Grievous thread eventually. This was very much needed, especially for people who like to say "lolz gungans"

 

Great work once again.

Lolz Gungans indeed...

Grievous thinks he is awesome at duels but most of the time he gets his *** handed to him. When he does win at a duel however it is mostly because he cheats as seen in his duels with Ethe Koth (I probably spelled his name wrong). Grievous also cheated in his fight with Ventress. Overall Grievous is a better General than he is a lightsaber combat specialist.

Grievous thinks he is awesome at duels but most of the time he gets his *** handed to him. When he does win at a duel however it is mostly because he cheats as seen in his duels with Ethe Koth (I probably spelled his name wrong). Grievous also cheated in his fight with Ventress. Overall Grievous is a better General than he is a lightsaber combat specialist.

There is no such thing as cheating in combat.

Grievous thinks he is awesome at duels but most of the time he gets his *** handed to him. When he does win at a duel however it is mostly because he cheats as seen in his duels with Ethe Koth (I probably spelled his name wrong). Grievous also cheated in his fight with Ventress. Overall Grievous is a better General than he is a lightsaber combat specialist.

 

1. How does one cheat in combat?

2. Eeth Koth.

3. Grievous is awesome at duels.

Hey Aurbere could you add this one to the index?

Hey Aurbere could you add this one to the index?

 

I thought I did. Well, it's there now.

1. How does one cheat in combat?

 

Calling a 1v1, then falling back because he loses and getting his droids to finish for him?

I was hoping you would do a Grievous thread eventually. This was very much needed, especially for people who like to say "lolz gungans"

 

Great work once again.

 

It's a legitimate argument, anyone with blade skills can overwhelm him en masse, if people aren't afraid of him, and start to think they have the upper hand, they probably will end up taking him out. He has a major weakness to electrical weaponry and Ion weapons... He's also not as mobile and good at escaping to the level of those like Ventress.... All in all he's pretty overrated... Sure, he's great for a non force-sensitive, and if i hadn't been so late to the Kaggath I likely would have taken him myself, but he's not as incredible as many people perceive him to be, just my thoughts.

 

Oh, and Lolz Gungans.

Edited December 10, 2013 by Selenial

It's a legitimate argument, anyone with blade skills can overwhelm him en masse, if people aren't afraid of him, and start to think they have the upper hand, they probably will end up taking him out. He has a major weakness to electrical weaponry and Ion weapons... He's also not as mobile and good at escaping to the level of those like Ventress.... All in all he's pretty overrated...

 

Oh, and Lolz Gungans.

Ki-Adi-Mundi, K'Kruhk, Shaak Ti and Aayla Secura disagree.

 

All in all I think Grievous fares better against multiple opponents. His style is more geared towards it.

 

Less mobile than Ventress? Possibly, possibly not. He can turn into spider form and move incredible fast and his body makes him far more flexible and capable of acrobatics. And altogether he has a pretty good track record for escape...

 

I don't know about electrical weapons though. Take electrostaffs for example, Grievous was completely immune to this weapon. In fact its quite bizarre that the electropole really shouldn't be any different. A mistake I guess.

 

Ion weapons are definitely a weakness though, in fact I think I might add that in.

 

Altogether I think Grievous has been represented significantly differently across multiple genres, and its easy to just pick one and roll with it. But given that they are all canon we have to integrate them somehow.

Calling a 1v1, then falling back because he loses and getting his droids to finish for him?

To quote Darth Bane:

 

"Honor is a fool's prize. Glory is of no use to the dead."

 

Ventress was deceived by Grievous' "honor" into thinking he would play fair, he didn't - she paid for it.

Ki-Adi-Mundi, K'Kruhk, Shaak Ti and Aayla Secura disagree.

 

All in all I think Grievous fares better against multiple opponents. His style is more geared towards it.

 

Less mobile than Ventress? Possibly, possibly not. He can turn into spider form and move incredible fast and his body makes him far more flexible and capable of acrobatics. And altogether he has a pretty good track record for escape...

 

I don't know about electrical weapons though. Take electrostaffs for example, Grievous was completely immune to this weapon. In fact its quite bizarre that the electropole really shouldn't be any different. A mistake I guess.

 

Ion weapons are definitely a weakness though, in fact I think I might add that in.

 

Altogether I think Grievous has been represented significantly differently across multiple genres, and its easy to just pick one and roll with it. But given that they are all canon we have to integrate them somehow.

 

Ki-Adi-Mundi, K'Kruhk, Shaak Ti and Aayla Secura were all tired from one of the biggest battles in their careers as generals, they were made scared ****less by Grevious before he engaged them, you could see the sweat and fear coming off Ki-Adi as he prepared to face him. I mean, if you look at it more in depth, you'll notice he faces off against the 4 of them, starts to get pushed back, goes into some crazy whirly stuff that is now non canon (It's impossible, given what we know of him now.... His cybernetic parts over living tissue and all that) then is forced to take them 2v2... To be honest, I think if they weren't all fresh out from their battles, Ki-Adi and Shaak Ti would have taken him out alone, if not Ti herself.

 

I'm pretty sure the Electropole being a weakness of his has overriden the previous canon about electrostaves not harming him, it makes sense, he's living tissue, a direct jab would hurt that part, and it should over-load the circuits if given a chance to get in any of them...

 

Also, would an EMP take him out? o_o

To quote Darth Bane:

 

"Honor is a fool's prize. Glory is of no use to the dead."

 

Ventress was deceived by Grievous' "honor" into thinking he would play fair, he didn't - she paid for it.

 

That's neither here nor there, he couldnt take them 1v1 and he cheated to get out of it.

 

Doesn't mean cheating was the wrong thing to do, just means you cant say Grevious doesn't cheat.

Calling a 1v1, then falling back because he loses and getting his droids to finish for him?

 

Pretty sure I would call that 'using the tools available to him.'

Ki-Adi-Mundi, K'Kruhk, Shaak Ti and Aayla Secura were all tired from one of the biggest battles in their careers as generals, they were made scared ****less by Grevious before he engaged them, you could see the sweat and fear coming off Ki-Adi as he prepared to face him. I mean, if you look at it more in depth, you'll notice he faces off against the 4 of them, starts to get pushed back, goes into some crazy whirly stuff that is now non canon (It's impossible, given what we know of him now.... His cybernetic parts over living tissue and all that) then is forced to take them 2v2... To be honest, I think if they weren't all fresh out from their battles, Ki-Adi and Shaak Ti would have taken him out alone, if not Ti herself.

 

I'm pretty sure the Electropole being a weakness of his has overriden the previous canon about electrostaves not harming him, it makes sense, he's living tissue, a direct jab would hurt that part, and it should over-load the circuits if given a chance to get in any of them...

 

Also, would an EMP take him out? o_o

Well lets not throw around words like non-canon now, its still canon. You might want to explain that cybernetic parts over living tissue thing, I'm not quite sure what your getting at there...

 

But anyways, like Dooku said: “you must have fear, surprise, and intimidation on your side. But if any one element is lacking it would be best for you to retreat.” He certainly had a significant advantage in that respect here, that said we are still talking about some of the most skilled and powerful Jedi in the Order.. Even after the exertion of the battle itself they remain capable and deadly warriors. Certainly leaps and bounds above a Gungan.

 

Assuming what the outcome would be if we consider them at full fighting condition, well its pure speculation really. I expect a more accomplished duelist such as Shaak Ti could take him down alone. But I'm not confident about the others, especially given the fact that none of them, with the possible exception of Shaak Ti, really have any counters to his form. That said they do have the Force to fall back on, Grievous' No #1 weakness.

 

All in all though, putting Grievous in an abstract space and eliminating his ability to manipulate the environment I feel somewhat defeats the point of his purpose, and why he is so deadly and effective at what he does.

 

Concerning the electrostaff, looking at the video again and comparing it to when Kenobi struck him directly in the chest. I'd hypothesize that the white parts of his body had resistant capabilities, but the black areas, possibly restricted only to the chest and spinal area, do not and can be electrocuted. That said the electricity seems to burn all over his body, yet in ROTS when struck on the white parts it has no effect - I don't know what to think there.

 

Could Grievous be taken out by an EMP? If not dodged, momentarily yes, but he would quickly recover unless immediately restrained, given that Grievous physically struggle when the Gungan's capture him. Furthermore, the electrical effects seemingly had no lasting damage on his actual body.

That's neither here nor there, he couldnt take them 1v1 and he cheated to get out of it.

 

Doesn't mean cheating was the wrong thing to do, just means you cant say Grevious doesn't cheat.

Well I'm challenging the notion that you can "cheat" in battle, when there are no rules.

 

The only real rule in combat is kill or be killed, lets be honest. We're not playing dejarik. And in the end if it isn't "wrong" to cheat then who the hell cares?

 

EDIT: Accusing Grievous of "cheating" from Bane's perspective would therefore be a petty and desperate attempt of the incapable appealing to a higher sense of order that simply doesn't exist.

Edited December 10, 2013 by Beniboybling

Well I'm challenging the notion that you can "cheat" in battle, when there are no rules. Just arguably petty decorum who in Bane's opinion, is imposed by the weak, to give them an advantage. Though regardless of Bane's opinions one thing is certain is that there is nothing stopping Grievous from playing by the rules other than empty promises.

 

The only real rule in combat is kill or be killed, lets be honest. We're not playing dejarik.

You can cheat in combat if there are pre defined terms, grevious signed an oral contract when he agreed, and thus he cheated

No matter how meaningless his word is, he still cheated, even if we all knew he would cheat, it's still cheating.

 

Anyway, I've said what I wanted to say in this thread, it's an analysis after all think I'm done.... However, I'd guide you to the ventress thread, I raised a point that's always been a curiosity of mine.

You can cheat in combat if there are pre defined terms, grevious signed an oral contract when he agreed, and thus he cheated

No matter how meaningless his word is, he still cheated, even if we all knew he would cheat, it's still cheating.

 

Anyway, I've said what I wanted to say in this thread, it's an analysis after all think I'm done.... However, I'd guide you to the ventress thread, I raised a point that's always been a curiosity of mine.

Grievous signed no contract, he made a promise to Ventress that he never intended to keep. He lied. He never engaged in Ventress' game in the first place, just decieved her into thinking he did.

 

And your thoughts are appreciated, gonna update Grievous' thread with a few things.

There is no cheating in combat, unless there are rules set in place, but that is more for like boxing and so forth. Edited December 11, 2013 by Wolfninjajedi

There is no cheating in combat, unless there are rules set in place, but that is more for like boxing and so forth.

 

Thats the thing, no matter how stupidly unenforceable the rule was, and how likely it was he'd not listen to it, it was still a rule, and he still broke it, thus he cheated,

Thats the thing, no matter how stupidly unenforceable the rule was, and how likely it was he'd not listen to it, it was still a rule, and he still broke it, thus he cheated,

 

Wait when was this now? Though Grevious isn't really one to play fair anyway.

Edited December 11, 2013 by Wolfninjajedi

Wait when was this now? Though Grevious isn't really one to play fair anyway.

 

I'm pretty sure they're referring to this:

 

 

Vow established from 15-30 sec then breaks it at the minute mark

Ah, Grievous - one of my all time favorite Star Wars villains.

Aren't all those lightsabers he uses trophies from Jedi he's killed?

That right there pretty much proves he's an enemy not to be underestimated - sure, he probably "cheated" in a lot of those fights, but in the end he survived (and one could argue Jedi/Sith "cheat" all the time with the advantages the Force gives them).