General Grievous had a strange history in the Star Wars franchise before his live-action debut in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. In the film, Grievous is the dreaded leader of the Separatist military, yet he repeatedly flees the Jedi as soon as he loses the upper hand. Grievous’ portrayal in Revenge of the Sith is seemingly a major departure from his first appearance in 2003’s Star Wars: Clone Wars, with the micro-series portraying Grievous as a terrifyingly proficient Jedi-killer.

As it turns out, George Lucas changed his mind on how he wanted Grievous portrayed after his debut. For viewers whose introduction to General Grievous was in the original Clone Wars micro-series, Grievous is a frightening antagonist who is seemingly unstoppable, even when battling seasoned Jedi Masters.

Naturally, many of these viewers were likely disappointed in Grievous’ far tamer portrayal in Revenge of the Sith, which saw Grievous easily lose a lightsaber duel with Obi-Wan (despite Kenobi being one of the Jedi Order’s most skilled warriors). The modern canon’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars depicts Grievous similarly to Revenge of the Sith, however, arguably making it even more difficult to take him seriously.

George Lucas Originally Meant General Grievous To Be A Powerhouse… But Changed His Mind

According to Clone Wars showrunner Genndy Tartakovsky in a commentary track for one of the show’s DVD releases, George Lucas initially described General Grievous as “this ruthless, totally capable Jedi killer.” Tartakovsky and the rest of the Clone Wars creative team introduced Grievous accordingly, having him cut through a group of Jedi during the Battle of Hypori.

This ᴅᴇᴀᴅly portrayal of Grievous would continue throughout the series, with Grievous slaughtering clone troopers, non-clone Republic forces, and Jedi during the Battle of Coruscant as he pursued Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Lucas would change his mind about Grievous during production of Clone Wars, however.

In the same commentary track, Tartakovsky would note that Lucas later decided that Grievous should be “one of those old B-serial villains who does something bad…twirls his mustache and then runs off.” By this point, the original Clone Wars series had already canonically depicted Grievous as a frighteningly ᴅᴇᴀᴅly warrior and leader.

The then-upcoming Revenge of the Sith would portray the General according to Lucas’s new vision. Thanks to clever thinking on the Clone Wars showrunners’ parts, the Star Wars Legends continuity has two scenes that succinctly explain how both visions of General Grievous coexist – and explore Grievous’ characterization in the process.

How The Original Clone Wars Microseries Fixed General Grievous’ Portrayal

The Clone Wars showrunners had the challenging task of changing Grievous to match Lucas’s new vision for the character after having already depicted him as matching Lucas’s initial description. They achieved this with one of the show’s best scenes, which has Count Dooku train Grievous in lightsaber combat and psychological warfare.

While Grievous’ swordsmanship is exceptional, it is Dooku’s advice on how to break the spirits of the General’s Jedi opponents that is revealed to be his greatest weapon. Dooku teaches Grievous to surprise, intimidate, and instill fear in his enemies before battling them, ensuring they are off-balance. Dooku taught Grievous that if any of these advantages were lost, he must retreat.

Indeed, each time Grievous cut through Jedi and Clone forces, he had already gained these advantages before the fighting began, but Grievous notably does not heed Dooku’s advice when Mace Windu suddenly confronts him in the series finale. Rather than retreating, Grievous, having just defeated three Jedi Masters, arrogantly prepares to fight Windu, who is not surprised, afraid, or intimidated by the general. Windu immediately uses the Force to crush Grievous’ chest, damaging his organs and defeating him instantly.

Grievous’ training under Dooku and defeat on Coruscant in the Clone Wars micro-series explain his portrayal in Revenge of the Sith. Grievous never recovered from Windu’s attack, which severely weakened him and gave him his signature cough. Moreover, Grievous learned the hard way to follow Dooku’s advice.

This further explains why he was so eager to retreat in Revenge of the Sith. Even if Grievous was at full strength, however, neither Anakin Skywalker nor Obi-Wan Kenobi feared or were surprised by him in Revenge of the Sith, and likely would have defeated him in a direct confrontation.

The Original Microseries Was Retconned By The Clone Wars

2008’s The Clone Wars had the advantage of being developed after the release of Revenge of the Sith. Unsurprisingly, its portrayal of General Grievous closely matches George Lucas’s newer vision of the villain, portraying him as a much weaker combatant who is far more eager to run from the Republic than fight their forces.

While Grievous is shown killing clone troopers and Padawans (with difficulty at times), he struggles against veteran Jedi Knights and Masters, requiring underhanded methods to have even a chance of defeating them. For viewers and readers of previous Clone Wars-era properties, this portrayal was disappointing.

Of course, The Clone Wars, despite debuting before the Star Wars franchise’s April 2014 partial reboot, does not fit into the Legends continuity (formerly known as the Expanded Universe). The Clone Wars showrunner Dave Filoni has said himself that he never considered the series to be set in the Expanded Universe, and indeed, the show constantly contradicted established lore at the time. For these reasons, The Clone Wars and its different depiction of General Grievous should only be considered part of the modern canon.

In Dave Filoni’s own words via Star Wars Insider #135:

Some people want Grievous to be Darth Vader, but he’s not. That’s a critical thing to remember. Fandom made him this powerful weapon of fear before we saw Revenge of the Sith, which is what Dooku wants you to think of Grievous. But as Obi-Wan sees in the movie, when you meet him face-to-face, he isn’t this terrifying creature. In fact, much like any Frankenstein’s monster, there’s this sadness to him, about what he probably once was and what this mechanized wickedness has turned him into.

Filoni’s quote incorrectly attributes General Grievous’ portrayal in the Clone Wars micro-series to “fandom” when, in July 2012 (when the Insider issue with Filoni’s quote was published), the Clone Wars micro-series and its ᴅᴇᴀᴅlier portrayal of Grievous were still officially canon. The Star Wars fandom thought of Grievous as a powerful antagonist because he was canonically depicted this way. Moreover, this more powerful portrayal was due to George Lucas’s view of the character before he changed his mind.

Tales Of The Empire Finally Made A More Competent Grievous Canon Again

Despite his previous statement, Dave Filoni would portray General Grievous as a powerful warrior in his miniseries Star Wars: Tales of the Empire. This arguably causes a continuity issue in the modern canon, however, as Grievous’ appearance in Tales of the Empire is concurrent with The Clone Wars season 4.

That season, much like the others in The Clone Wars, portrayed him as an underwhelming warrior. Despite The Clone Wars and Tales of the Empire being made after Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, the properties presented Grievous inconsistently and, unlike the Clone Wars micro-series, did not properly explain his different portrayals.