8 Star Wars Mysteries You Didn't Know Were Answered

Now this is a complicated one.

Throughout the multiple-lightsaber-wielding General Grievous' first and only big-screen live-action appearance in Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, the Separatist commanding officer could be heard spluttering and coughing his way across the galaxy.

It's pretty common knowledge at this point that said coughing was actually none other than George Lucas himself, with the Star Wars creator coming into work with a cough and using that real-life sound for the cyborg villain.

But fans weren't really given an in-universe reason for said cough during Episode III. However, this mystery was actually solved outside of the films - a few times, in typical Star Wars fashion.

One reason behind the coughing fits he regularly unleashes could be seen going down during the 2003 Clone Wars animated series where the character originally debuted. An altercation with Mace Windu resulted in Grievous' chest being brutally Force-crushed by the Jedi Master, a moment which later left him dealing with that painful cough.

However, it was later noted in the Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed documentary that Lucas originally intended the cough to be a way of highlighting how the prototype cybernetic technology of the time was imperfect here, with his lungs actually being irritated by his implants. 

The tech was then later tweaked and improved by the time Anakin went full Vader, with that big bad only having to deal with heavy breathing rather than sounding like his guts were trying to escape his robo-body.