Nute Gunray Nute Gunray was a Neimoidian male who served as the Viceroy of the Trade Federation and a high - ranking member of the Separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems . Gunray led the Trade Federation through its invasion of the planet Naboo , at the behest of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious — who was secretly Sheev Palpatine , the Senator of Naboo , and who had engineered the conflict to be elected Supreme Chancellor . The Federation invasion was repelled and Gunray was arrested , but he avoided prison after four trials in the Supreme Court . Ten years later , Gunray had become a member of the Separatist Alliance , pledging Federation military support for the impending war against the Galactic Republic . After the outbreak of the Clone Wars , Gunray was an influential member of the Separatist leadership , and attempted to bring worlds such as Rodia into the Separatist cause . By the end of the war , which had been manipulated by Darth Sidious from both sides , the Separatists were in disarray following the deaths of their political leader , the Sith Lord Count Dooku and cyborg General Grievous . The surviving Separatist leaders sought protection on Mustafar , where they and Gunray were killed by Darth Vader at the behest of Darth Sidious . Biography . The Naboo Crisis . Nute Gunray was serving as Viceroy of the Trade Federation during the Naboo Crisis . The Crisis had arisen as a result of a dispute between the Trade Federation and the Galactic Republic relating to the taxation of trade routes to outlying systems . At the instigation of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious — secretly Naboo Senator Palpatine — the Trade Federation decided to force a resolution to the dispute by blockading the planet Naboo with a fleet of modified battleships , cutting off all shipping to the planet . Gunray commanded the blockade itself from his flagship " Saak ' ak " , a Droid Control Ship . In response to the Naboo Crisis , Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum dispatched two Jedi , the Jedi Master Qui - Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi - Wan Kenobi , to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the dispute . Viceroy Gunray allowed the Jedi emissaries to land their ship " Radiant VII " in the " Saak ' ak " hangar bay . After learning that the emissaries were Jedi , Gunray and the ship ' s captain Daultay Dofine panicked and contacted Darth Sidious via Hologram . Sidious ordered Gunray to kill the two Jedi and to invade the planet Naboo , claiming that he would " make the invasion legal " in the Galactic Senate . Under Gunray ' s orders , the emissary ' s ship " Radiant VII " was destroyed and poison gas was released into the reception room hosting the two Jedi . Gunray also dispatched a squad of Security Battle Droid s to finish off the Jedi . However , the two Jedi managed to survive the poisoning and quickly dispatched the battle droids . Shortly later , Gunray was contacted by the Naboo Queen Padmé Amidala , who refused to sign a treaty with the Trade Federation . The two Jedi emissaries then attempted to breach the " Saak ' ak " command bridge but were driven away by droideka s . Despite the threat posed by the Jedi , Gunray still proceeded with the invasion . However , he ordered his battle droid commanders to be on the look out for the two Jedi . C - 9979 landing craft were used to land the Trade Federation ' s droid army on Naboo , which then proceeded to occupy the capital Theed and other major centers . The Trade Federation ' s droid army succeeded in occupying Naboo with little resistance and managed to capture Queen Amidala and her entourage . Following the occupation of Theed , Gunray visited the captured Queen herself and reiterated his demand that she sign a treaty with the Federation . When she refused , he ordered his battle droids to send her to Camp Four . Gunray suffered a setback when the two Jedi and a local Gungan guide named Jar Jar Binks managed to free the Queen and her entourage , and escape offworld . Meanwhile , Viceroy Gunray and his lieutenant Rune Haako presided over the occupation of Naboo from the Theed Royal Palace . Under his orders , Naboo ' s population were forced into slave camps where they experienced starvation and hardship . In Amidala ' s absence , Gunray attempted to force Governor Sio Bibble to sign the treaty with the Trade Federation but the Governor refused to back down . In the Galactic Senate on Coruscant , the Trade Federation ' s Senator Lott Dod managed to block Queen Amidala and Senator Palpatine ' s efforts to request Republic intervention in Naboo . However , Queen Amidala , at the instigation of Palpatine , managed to outmanoeuvre the Trade Federation by calling for a vote of no confidence against Chancellor Valorum . As the occupation deepened , Viceroy Gunray ordered the droid army to move against the Gungan s , Naboo ' s amphibious indigenous civilization , who lived in underwater bubble cities like Otoh Gunga . Facing little resistance , the Trade Federation removed most of their fleet from Naboo with the exception of the Droid Control Ship " Saak ' ak " . The diminished Trade Federation naval presence enabled Queen Amidala , her entourage , her Jedi allies , and Binks to land their starship on Naboo . Queen Amidala managed to rally the Naboo resistance and to forge an alliance with the Gungan leader Boss Rugor Nass . Seeking to drive out the Trade Federation , Amidala devised a three - pronged battle plan which involved the Gungan Grand Army marching on Theed to draw away the droid army . Meanwhile , Naboo forces under Amidala and her Jedi allies would infiltrate Theed and capture the Viceroy . Naboo forces would also capture the hangar bay at the royal palace and use their N - 1 starfighter s to destroy the Droid Control Ship , incapacitating the droid army . In response to this renewed threat from Amidala and the Jedi , Darth Sidious dispatched his Sith apprentice Darth Maul to reinforce Viceroy Gunray . After receiving reports that the Gungan Grand Army was marshaling outside Theed , Darth Sidious ordered Viceroy Gunray and Haako to send the droid army to wipe out the Gungan forces . During the Battle of Naboo , Gunray commanded the Trade Federation ' s forces from the safety of the Theed Royal Palace . With the bulk of the droid army preoccupied with the Gungans , Queen Amidala and her Jedi allies were able to infiltrate the Royal Palace and secure the N - 1 starfighters , which proceeded to launch a starfighter strike on the " Saak ' ak " . While Master Qui - Gon and his Padawan Kenobi took on Darth Maul in a lightsaber duel , Queen Amidala ' s forces fought their way through the Royal Palace . Gunray ' s droideka s managed to capture Queen Amidala and some her party and brought them into the throne room , where Gunray reiterated his demand that she sign a treaty with the Trade Federation . However , the Queen ' s disguised handmaiden arrived in the throne room with reinforcements , confusing Gunray and his battle droid bodyguards . The Naboo managed to disable Gunray ' s bodyguards and take the Viceroy and his lieutenant captive . Meanwhile in space , Anakin Skywalker destroyed the Droid Control Ship with a missile fired from his starfighter . This effectively disable the entire Federation droid army ; turning the tide of the battle decisively in favor of the Naboo and their Gungan allies . Meanwhile , Kenobi managed to seemingly kill Darth Maul but lost his Master Qui - Gon , who succumbed to injuries inflicted by Darth Maul . With the defeat of the Federation ' s droid army , Viceroy Gunray and Rune Haakao surrendered to the Naboo . They were then transported to Coruscant to face trial for their crimes on Naboo . The Clone Wars . The Separatist Crisis . Despite being subjected to four trials in the Galactic Republic ' s Supreme Court , Viceroy Gunray escaped imprisonment and remained leader of the Trade Federation . Ten years after the events of the Naboo Crisis , Nute Gunray and the Trade Federation joined the growing Secessionist Movement under the leadership of the charismatic Count Dooku ; a former Jedi who had become Darth Tyranus , Darth Sidious ' new Sith apprentice . The Secessionist Movement was a confederation of a thousand star systems and corporations that were dissatisfied with the rampant taxation and excessive corruption within the Galactic Republic . This movement later developed into the Confederacy of Independent Systems . Nute Gunray agreed to join the Separatists in return for one concession : that his old adversary Amidala , now a Senator in the Galactic Senate , be killed as revenge for his capture during the Naboo Crisis . Count Dooku agreed and arranged for the bounty hunters Jango Fett and Zam Wesell to assassinate the Senator . The bounty hunters launched two unsuccessful attempts which only drew the Jedi Order ' s attention to the existence of a clone army being created on the planet Kamino . While pursuing Jango Fett Obi - Wan Kenobi , now a Jedi Knight , discovered that a droid army was being constructed for the Separatists on the desert planet Geonosis . On Geonosis , Viceroy Gunray , Rune Haako , and the leaders of several powerful commmerce guilds attended a secret meeting with Count Dooku where they pledged their support for the Separatist Movement . With their new droid army , the Separatists hoped they could mount a successful challenge against the Republic and their Jedi defenders . Shortly later , Kenobi along with Senator Amidala and Anakin Skywalker were captured by Geonosian security forces following a skirmish in the Geonosian droid factory . After Amidala and her companions were sentenced to death and forced to fight in the Petranaki arena , a delighted Gunray attended the proceedings , accompanied by Haako , Count Dooku , the Geonosian leader Poggle the Lesser , Jango Fett , and his son Boba Fett . Gunray ' s hopes for revenge against Senator Amidala were dashed when the Senator and her Jedi allies managed to fight off the arena creatures — a nexu , a reek , and an acklay — and the Geonosian guards . Gunray and his Separatist allies suffered another blow when Jedi and Clone trooper forces under Masters Mace Windu and Yoda attacked the Petranaki arena . During the ensuing Battle of Geonosis , Viceroy Gunray and his Separatist allies oversaw the battle from a secure bunker . The Separatist deployed their Droid Army which proved inferior to the Republic ' s Clone troopers . With the battle turning in favor of the Grand Army of the Republic and their Jedi commanders , Gunray and the other Separatist leaders fled Geonosis . This battle marked the spark of the Clone Wars , a galactic - wide conflict between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems . Capture on Rodia . Following the Battle of Geonosis , Nute Gunray turned his attention to the Mid Rim world of Rodia . The planet had been attacked by pirate s and Rodia ' s Senator Onaconda Farr had appealed to Viceroy Gunray for help . The Viceroy agreed to send relief supplies to Rodia in return for one small favor : kidnapping his long - time foe Senator Amidala . Farr was a close friend of the Naboo Senator and called her to Rodia under the pretext of seeking aid from the Republic for the Rodian people . Senator Amidala was escorted by her long - time friend Representative Jar Jar Binks and the protocol droid C - 3PO . Upon arriving , Senator Amidala and C - 3PO were captured . After learning of her capture , Gunray ordered that she be manacled as a precaution before he traveled to Rodia to meet her . However , Gunray ' s plans encountered an unexpected obstacle in the form of Binks , who managed to elude the Viceroy ' s battle droids and trick them into believing that he was a Jedi . In the midst of the commotion , Amidala and C - 3PO managed to escape and contact the Republic for assistance before they were recaptured by Gunray ' s battle droids . After arriving on Rodia , Gunray applied pressure on Senator Farr by withholding relief supplies until Senator Amidala was executed . When Senator Farr protested , Gunray responded that the planet was now under his protection . After Gunray ' s droid forces had recaptured Senator Amidala and C - 3PO , he assembled a trio of droideka s to execute them . Before Gunray could carry out the sentence , Binks and a Kwazel Maw monster that he had befriended named " Bogey " burst out from the swamp and overwhelmed the droidekas . The Viceroy attempted to flee aboard his " Sheathipede " - class transport shuttle but " Bogie " knocked it into the swamp . He was then held by Senator Amidala at gunpoint . Shortly later , Senator Farr arrived and revealed that he and Senator Amidala had planned to trap Gunray all along . Shortly later , Republic forces arrived and took Gunray into custody . Escape from Republic custody . Following the events on Rodia , the captive Viceroy Gunray was transferred aboard the " Venator " - class Star Destroyer " Tranquility " for trial on Coruscant . Due to his high status in the Confederacy , the Jedi Council dispatched the Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and Anakin ' s Padawan Ahsoka Tano to guard Gunray . The two Jedi were reinforced by a squad of Senate Guard s led by Captain Faro Argyus and a squad of Clone troopers led by Commander Gree . In response to Gunray ' s capture , Darth Sidious and his apprentice Count Dooku dispatched the Dathomirian dark side assassin Asajj Ventress to infiltrate the " Tranquility " and rescue the Trade Federation Viceroy . While in captivity , Gunray was interrogated by Unduli and Tano but refused to cooperate . When a frustrated Tano threatened the Viceroy , Master Unduli chastised the younger Jedi . Their interrogation was interrupted by the arrival of Separatist attack force consisting of Vulture droids and three Separatist boarding ships . While Separatist droids boarded the " Tranquility " , Ventress took advantage of the chaos to sabotage the ship ' s power generator s . After Unduli departed with several Clone troopers to fight the intruders , Ventress managed to overpower Ahsoka and free Gunray . Before Gunray could escape with the dark side warrior , Master Luminara returned to the cell and fought with Ventress in the ship ' s elevator shaft and generator room . While Luminara was dueling with Ventress , Gunray was locked in his cell with Tano and Captain Argyus standing guard . Unknown to the Republic and Jedi , Argyus was a traitor who was secretly working for Count Dooku . When Ahsoka departed the brig to help Luminara , Argyus took the opportunity to overpower his fellow commandos and free Gunray . Commander Gree managed to overpower Argyus but was knocked in the head by Gunray . The Viceroy and his rescuer then escaped on a Republic ship in the lower hangar and were joined by Ventress , who had escaped her Jedi foes in an escape pod . Gunray was present when Ventress killed Argyus by impaling him through the chest with her lightsaber . Assisting General Grievous . Following his escape , Nute Gunray assisted Count Dooku to lure Jedi Master Kit Fisto , and Jedi Knight Nahdar Vebb , and several Clone troopers into a trap at General Grievous ' s fortress on Vassek . Count Dooku wanted General Grievous to prove his worth to the Separatist cause by killing the intruders . As part of the plot , a hologram of Gunray was used to taunt his Jedi and Republic pursuers . Shortly later , the Jedi and Clone troopers were attacked by Grievous . Nahdar Vebb and all the Republic clones present on the mission , with the exception of Fisto , were killed . Working with Cad Bane . Under Darth Sidious ' orders , Viceroy Gunray dispatched several Trade Federation " Munificent " - class star frigates to assist the Separatist bounty hunter Cad Bane on the planet Devaron . Bane had stolen a Jedi Kyber memory crystal , which contained information of value to Sidious , and kidnapped the Jedi Master Bolla Ropal . Despite Bane ' s successes , Gunray was furious to learn that Bane had lost four " Munificent " frigates to Republic forces during the Battle of Devaron . When the Neimoidian demanded compensation , Bane promised that Darth Sidious would compensate the Viceroy once the crystal had been opened . After Bane killed Ropal for refusing to open the crystal , the bounty hunter managed to kidnap Anakin ' s apprentice Ahsoka Tano during a skirmish aboard his " Munificent " frigate . Taking Ahsoka hostage , Bane was able to force Anakin to open the memory crystal . After extracting the desired information from the memory crystal , Bane escaped and reported his success to Gunray , who offered to send him a rescue ship if he disclosed the data from the crystal . However , Bane refused and insisted on sending the information directly to Darth Sidious . Bane escaped into space as the last ship in Gunray ' s fleet was destroyed . Last Days of the Clone Wars . Following the death of Count Dooku and the defeat of the Separatist fleet during the Battle of Coruscant , Nute Gunray and the other leaders of the Separatist Council met with General Grievous on the planet Utapau . With the Republic closing in on the Separatist leadership , Grievous informed the Council that he was transferring them to the volcanic planet of Mustafar for their safety . Gunray responded by questioning the cyborg General ' s ability to protect them , citing Grievous ' failure to capture Supreme Chancellor Palpatine on Coruscant . In the light of Dooku ' s death , Gunray doubted the General ' s ability to protect him and the other Separatist leaders . Angered by Gunray ' s complaints , Grievous remarked that the Viceroy should be thankful not to find himself in his grip before dismissing the Council , telling them that their ship was waiting . Death . After seducing Anakin Skywalker to the dark side and initiating the Jedi Purge , Darth Sidious dispatched his new apprentice , now called Darth Vader , to Mustafar to kill Gunray and the other Separatist leaders . Sidious also informed the Separatist leaders of Darth Vader ' s arrival but claimed that he had come to make peace with them . After Vader landed , Gunray greeted the Sith apprentice , who then proceeded to shut the blast doors and execute the Separatist Council with his lightsaber . The Trade Federation Viceroy was the last to be slain . As Vader cornered Gunray , he told the Sith apprentice that the war was over and that Sidious had promised them peace . However , Darth Vader ignored Gunray ' s desperate pleas for mercy and proceeded to slash him across the chest with his lightsaber , killing him . The end of the Clone Wars also coincided with the transformation of the Galactic Republic into the first Galactic Empire . Following Gunray ' s death , the Trade Federation and its assets were dissolved by the Empire . Personality and traits . As Viceroy of the Trade Federation , Nute Gunray was an avaricious and calculating business leader who was primarily concerned with maximizing profits and his own well - being . His opposition to the Galactic Senate ' s taxation of trade routes led him to impose a military blockade of the planet Naboo . Gunray wanted to force the - then Naboo Queen Padmé Amidala to sign a favorable treaty with the Trade Federation . His desire to achieve these goals led him to blockade and subsequently occupy Naboo , which generated much hostility towards both Gunray and the Federation . While the wider galactic public thought that the Viceroy ' s Invasion of Naboo was solely motivated by greed , few were aware that Gunray was being manipulated from behind the scenes by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious . Due to Amidala ' s role in his defeat on Naboo , Gunray harbored a deep grudge towards the Naboo politician and made several attempts on her life in the years following the Invasion of Naboo . Gunray ' s vindictiveness towards Senator Amidala led him to pledge the Trade Federation ' s support to Count Dooku ' s emerging Confederacy of Independent Systems . As an opportunistic bully , Gunray used the Trade Federation ' s wealth to manipulate the Rodian Senator Onaconda Farr into luring Senator Amidala into a trap in return for sending much - needed aid to the planet Rodia . However , Farr and Amidala took advantage of Gunray ' s vindictiveness and opportunism to capture the Viceroy . While Gunray preferred to leave most of the fighting to his battle droids , he was still capable of physical action when push came to shove . During an escape hatched by the traitorous Senate Commando Argyus , Gunray assisted his rescuer by knocking out the Clone Commander Gree . Behind the scenes . Nute Gunray was played by Silas Carson in all of the Prequel trilogy films . Carson also acted as Lott Dod , the Jedi Master Ki - Adi - Mundi , and the unidentified Republic pilot who was killed at the beginning of " " . Gunray ' s back - story was subsequently expanded in several Legends novels and comics . In Terry Brooks ' of " The Phantom Menace , " Nute Gunray was given a deeper , more fearful personality as well as extra dialogue . In the Canon ical television series , Gunray was voiced by Tom Kenny . In a deleted scene of " Attack of the Clones " , Gunray was going to assist to the judgement of Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker . In the " Revenge of the Sith " original script , Gunray was set to hide under the table with Rune Haako . After Haako is killed by Skywalker in an attempt of escape , Gunray was going to call the Droideka s and would try to escape , but finally , he would be decapitated by Anakin , who would have been destroyed the Droideka s at that time . Although this scene was apparently deleted from the movie ' s script , it ' s possible that the scene was filmed but was cut . In the , Gunray could be killed by Padmé Amidala in the final level . In the , Gunray escapes from the room of the Separatist Council and enters in his ship for escape from Mustafar , but Skywalker finally destroys the ship , which sinks in the lava river , killing Gunray . In " Angry Birds Star Wars II " , Gunray ' s death is very different . He dies during the events of " The Phantom Menace " , because he witness the Battle in Naboo from his " Lucrehulk " - class Battleship . After the battle finishes in the space , Anakin Skywalker fires from his Starfighter a proton torpedo which hits the Lucrehulk , killing Gunray in the explosion and destroying the battleship .