A fearsome foe who came and went during the course of the prequels was General Grievous. A multi-limbed droid with freaky organic eyes, he should perhaps have passed immediately into the Intergalactic Hall Of Fame, alongside the franchise's most hissable villains. That he isn't widely praised is more a comment on fans' disappointment with Episodes I - III than a lack of ingenuity on the designers' part. Darth Maul had his double-ended lightsaber, but with Grievous you had four assassins in one. Even the humbug-faced Maul would've struggled against the twirling blades of this cutthroat customer. Indeed, the bronchial bad guy hoarded sabers like trophies, giving the finger to the powerful Jedi Council and adding insult to injury. Obi Wan had a few tussles with the General in the first half of Episode III, leading to an epic showdown on rocky planet Utapau. This sequence not only depicted Grievous at his most deadly, it showed us Kenobi at the full height of his powers - an encounter you could well imagine Alec Guinness looking back on with a twinkle in his eye.
I am a journalist and comedian who enjoys American movies of the 70s, Amicus horror compendiums, Doctor Who, Twin Peaks, Naomi Watts and sitting down. My short fiction has been published as part of the Iris Wildthyme range from Obverse Books.
