Neither Darth Vader nor Kylo Ren: Alexandre Astier Loves This Underrated Star Wars Villain

A great fan of pop culture, Alexandre Astier is a huge admirer of this cult character from Star Wars, who is never really mentioned among the memorable villains.

When we think of villains in the Star Wars universe, names like Darth Vader, Palpatine, Darth Maul, or Count Dooku immediately come to mind. We often forget a fascinating antagonist who first appeared in Revenge of the Sith: General Grievous.

He is the commander-in-chief of the droid army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. Half-droid, half-organic, he is killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi during the Battle of Utapau in the final moments of the conflict.

A Mythical Villain

Alexandre Astier has never forgotten this character with an intimidating design! The creator of Kaamelott even praises him at our microphone during the promotion of the film Minions and Monsters, currently in theaters, in which he lends his voice.

"I am a huge fan of Grievous in Star Wars. I am crazy about this character. He was, if I understood correctly, inspired by a stapler," he states, referring to the robotic face of the great villain.

I am a huge fan of Grievous in Star Wars. I am crazy about this character.

"There is a making-of of the guy who created him; he looked at his stapler from the side, and he said: I started from that," continued Alexandre Astier. In reality, it is not a stapler but the nozzle (the head) of a spray can.

The designer, Warren Fu, had one in front of him, and it gave him the idea for Grievous's head design. However, it is not a direct copy but rather a starting point for the silhouette. The spray nozzle inspired him to create an elongated and pointed face, with flared cheeks on the sides and a very pronounced central nose or beak.

Lucasfilm

An Inventive Design

"I love this character. I allow myself to say 'monster' because he is biological inside," concluded Alexandre Astier, who rehabilitates General Grievous, still too often underestimated in the galaxy of great villains of the intergalactic universe created by George Lucas.

The very inventive Warren Fu combined the shape of a spray nozzle with other more artistic and cinematic influences, notably the eerie masks (like that of Michael Myers), shrunken heads for the bony and macabre aspect, and a gothic aesthetic inspired by The Crow.

It is this blend that gave Grievous his characteristic face, which evokes a skull, a mask, and a machine at the same time. Looking at a spray nozzle from the side, one can indeed recognize proportions quite close to the general's head, but the final design is the result of several combined inspirations rather than a simple reproduced object.

Beyond Revenge of the Sith, General Grievous also appeared in the series The Clone Wars, where his story is explored in a bit more depth.