The Star Wars franchise is typified by its narrative breadth and the range of characters and settings that it fosters, with this being a core factor in the franchise's unprecedented success over the past 45 years. The massive potential of storytelling within the IP's universe has ensured that the franchise is adaptable to a huge range of different media types, and the realm of video games is no exception.
That being said, it remains that there are huge swathes of popular Star Wars lore and characters that are relatively underrepresented within the video game medium. For example, the fan-favorite character of General Grievous offers a lot in the way of a pertinent involvement in the main Star Wars story while possessing a fascinating background and skill set, making him a perfect candidate for a protagonist role in his own dedicated game.
The Background of General Grievous
Many keen Star Wars fans will remember General Grievous from the now fondly remembered prequel trilogy of mainline Star Wars films. A foreboding and sinister figure, General Grievous was a key member of the Separatist Alliance, and was in turn one of the most important players in the infamous and grueling Clone Wars.
Grievous was born Qymaen jai Sheelal, and possesses a backstory that goes much further beyond the face value appearance that many will know him from in the aforementioned prequels. Born on the warring planet of Kalee, Qymaen grew quickly to become a swift and ruthless warlord, with his prowess for warfare earning him the moniker Grievous. After successfully repelling invading Yam'rii forces from his home world, Grievous' planet would become devastated thanks to Jedi intervention, marking the beginning of a life-long feud between himself and the iconic Jedi Order.
Noting his affinity for combat and his resentment toward the Jedi, it was not long before Grievous' exploits earned the attention of the malicious Sith, who quickly began molding Grievous in their own image to fight the Jedi. Attaining a cybernetic body and learning lightsaber combat under the tutelage of the talented duelist Count Dooku, General Grievous became imperative to the Separatist war effort.
What a General Grievous Game Could Look Like
General Grievous acting as a protagonist within a game centered around him would be a perfect fit for tons of Star Wars fans, with many having long stated their desire to fully explore the backstory of the character in more tangible detail. With there being very little media adaptations of Grievous' origins outside of books, a video game could be the perfect stage to tell such an anticipated story.
A Grievous game would resultantly do well to begin telling his origins as a native warlord and his aforementioned dealings with the Jedi Order. With a majority of gameplay then focusing on his teachings under Count Dooku, a fantastic opportunity would then be present in Grievous learning new lightsaber abilities and receiving new cybernetic enhancements, blending both storytelling and gameplay progression.
The story could even portray the early stages of the Clone Wars, with the player then controlling a fully-trained Grievous against Republic forces, with the commandment of droid units opening up another fascinating avenue of potential gameplay. With how popular this era of Star Wars has become thanks to the success of the animated Clone Wars series and the contemporary nostalgia of the prequel trilogy, Grievous being given his time to shine in his own game makes sense now more than ever. Given the potential cameos other fan-favorite characters could make and the unique opportunities for interactive storytelling, a Star Wars title starring General Grievous could be extremely successful.