General Grievous menaces the Jedi Knights and Clone Troopers of the other Star Wars villains by fighting multiple Jedi simultaneously and cutting them down with ease. Grievous has a habit of collecting the lightsabers of Jedi he’s defeated, and while this idiosyncrasy has been the fodder of numerous memes among Star Wars fans, especially in the post-2014 canon era, it was once a gruesome indicator of the General’s threat to even the legendary Jedi Knights.
While General Grievous’ single live-action appearance in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith leaves his origin and motivation shrouded in mystery, the Legends-era Star Wars: Visionaries graphic novel explores them in detail. Grievous and his species were victimized by the corruption of both the Jedi and Republic, making him easy prey for Count Dooku to manipulate into serving the CIS. Canon’s Grievous is explored in both 2008’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the Age of Republic - General Grievous comic issue, which reveal that he voluntarily had himself turned into a cybernetic killing machine to become the ultimate Jedi killer, motivated by jealously of their power.
While the Legends era and ongoing canon versions of Grievous differ greatly in skill and threat level, both iterations carry a vast and ever-growing arsenal of stolen Jedi lightsabers. In Legends, this includes the weapons of Roron Corobb, Jmmaar, T’chooka D’oon, Foul Moudama, Soon Bayts, and Ur-Sema Du. This is, of course, only the tip of the iceberg in Legends, as Grievous has a massive body count of Jedi, all of whom contributed to his lightsaber collection. The Legends-era Grievous stole lightsabers from Jedi he had not killed as well, with Sifo-Dyas, K'Kruhk, Shaak Ti, and Ki-Adi-Mundi being among the most prominent examples. The Legends-era Grievous even possessed the double-bladed lightsaber of the legendary Darth Zannah, which he acquired by killing an unknown dark side . In canon, Grievous is shown stealing the lightsabers of Ahsoka Tano, Nahdar Vebb, and Eeth Koth, though each weapon is later recovered.
Why & How General Grievous Has So Many Jedi Lightsabers
In Legends, General Grievous is a master of lightsaber combat and psychological warfare, thanks to his tutelage by Count Dooku. Grievous arguably “won” every lightsaber he collects, with the sole exception of Sifo-Dyas’ weapon, which Dooku gave to Grievous by the start of the Clone Wars. While the majority of Grievous’ lightsabers in Legends signify his victory over the Jedi, the weapons of Jmmaar and T’chooka D’oon were likely the General’s most valued weapons, as their creators contributed to the oppression of Grievous’ species by ending the Huk War on behalf of the Republic.
In canon, Grievous is a far less formidable warrior, using underhanded tactics to even stand a chance against Jedi Knights. While in Legends, Grievous’ collection signifies his revenge against the corrupt entity that devastated his people, canon’s Grievous appears to collect lightsabers as a way of feeling superior to the Jedi. General Grievous is a markedly different character in each of the two Star Wars continuities, and while both coincide well with Revenge of the Sith, each timeline frames the cybernetic warlord and his collection of lightsabers quite differently.
