N - K Necrosis N - K Necrosis was a highly advanced combat droid created from the body of the late General Grievous of the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Galactic Civil War . Doctor Nycolai Kinesworthy , a cybernetic scientist , was hired by the Galactic Empire to create the Necrosis droid . Dubbing the project " N - K , " Kinesworthy established a shop in the Myyydril Caverns on the planet Kashyyyk to begin work on the droid . He eventually hired the scientist Treun Lorn to help advance the project . After Lorn hired the assassin droid IG - 72 to retrieve a pair of outdated IG - 100 MagnaGuards to serve as N - K ' s bodyguards , the dark side Prophetess Merili led the two scientists to one of Emperor Palpatine ' s secret storehouses on Utapau , where she provided them with the mechanical body of the cyborg Grievous . After placing an advanced droid brain in the mechanical body , Kinesworthy dubbed the completed project " N - K Necrosis , " and renamed the aging MagnaGuards " NK - 3 . " The NK - 3s instructed Necrosis on how to fight with a lightsaber , with Necrosis wielding a double - bladed lightsaber that contained the Bane ' s Heart crystal . At some point around the Battle of Yavin , Lorn stole Necrosis and his NK - 3 bodyguards to use them for his own purposes . In 1 . 5 ABY , a group of spacers investigated the lower regions of the Myyydril Caverns at the behest of Kinesworthy . During their investigations , the group inadvertently aided Lorn in activating Necrosis . They then defeated both N - K Necrosis and his bodyguards before taking whatever they deemed valuable . Biography . Creation . During the Galactic Civil War , Doctor Nycolai Kinesworthy , a highly regarded cybernetic scientist , was employed by the Galactic Empire to construct an advanced combat droid . Kinesworthy ' s study of death and its aspects helped him to create a cutting - edge droid brain . With that complete , the doctor dubbed his project " N - K , " a reference to his own name . Kinesworthy recruited a well - known scientist named Treun Lorn , who helped him move the project beyond a theoretical stage . Both scientists then transferred the project to the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk . There , the project was presented to the planet ' s Imperial overseer , the dark side Prophetess Merili , who allowed Kinesworthy to host the project within the Myyydril Caverns on Kashyyyk . After Lorn hired the assassin droid IG - 72 to round up two outdated IG - 100 MagnaGuards , which were to serve as bodyguards to the advanced battle droid , Merili took both Kinesworthy and Lorn to the planet of Utapau . At one of Emperor Palpatine ' s secret storage warehouses there , she gave the two scientists the droid body of Grievous , the dead Confederate cyborg general who had been killed at the end of the Clone Wars . The droid body later hosted Kinesworthy ' s experimental droid brain and be reanimated into the advanced combat droid , N - K Necrosis . The two MagnaGuards — renamed " NK - 3 " — instructed the reanimated Grievous how to fight with a lightsaber , utilizing the same fighting techniques that Grievous taught the MagnaGuards nearly two decades earlier . Necrosis carried a variety of weapons , as well as the deed to Grievous ' s starfighter , the modified Belbullab - 22 starfighter " Soulless One " . Necrosis chose a double - bladed lightsaber containing the crystal Bane ' s Heart , an artifact that once belonged to the Sith Lord Darth Zannah , as his primary weapon . He was also presented with the weapon that had destroyed Grievous : a modified BlasTech blaster that had been dubbed the " Grievance Striker . " The droid also carried an Utapaun Nightblade as well . Death . At some point around the time of the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY , Lorn kidnapped Necrosis and his bodyguards for his own means and stored them deep within the Myyydril Caverns . In 1 . 5 ABY , however , a group of spacers investigated the depths of the Myyydril Caverns during the height of the Galactic Civil War , at the behest of Kinesworthy . During their investigation , the spacers found the cave where Necrosis had been stashed , which was protected by a watchful B1 battle droid . The droid gave the spacers a quest to find a special crystal , which had the ability to bring Necrosis to life . After the spacers retrieved the crystal in another region of the caverns , the battle droid gave the spacers access to the cave where Necrosis was kept . Inside , the spacers spoke to Lorn , who demanded they hand over the crystal . After the spacers complied , Necrosis and his two NK - 3 bodyguards appeared and engaged the group in a fierce battle . The spacers defeated and destroyed both Necrosis and his NK - 3 guards . They also looted the destroyed droid bodies , taking anything that was deemed valuable , which included Bane ' s Heart , other weaponry , the deed to the " Soulless One " , and parts of Necrosis ' s droid body . The looted parts of Necrosis ' s droid body , which were considered valuable components , were sold on the Invisible Market . Supposedly , Necrosis ' s duraplast armor mask had been purchased by a high - ranking Imperial admiral , rumored to be Grand Admiral Thrawn , as a Kaleesh work of art . Characteristics . Due to the advanced heuristic programming from Kinesworthy ' s new droid brain , N - K Necrosis had traits similar to the former host of his body , the late General Grievous , though Kinesworthy assured Necrosis that he was better . Along with the considerable fighting prowess that he had acquired through training with the NK - 3s , Necrosis also acquired an almost Human penchant for analysis , and often wondered whether he was in fact superior to Grievous and not simply a shell of him . Necrosis found himself pondering who Grievous had been , feeling something akin to envy toward the living intelligence that had once inhabited the body . While serving under Lorn , Necrosis referred to him as " master . " N - K Necrosis was highly advanced in melee combat and used the same lightsaber techniques that Grievous once taught his MagnaGuard bodyguards during the Clone Wars . Unlike other lightsaber crystals , Necrosis ' s , the Bane ' s Heart crystal , was alchemically - treated , thus making the overall weapon more powerful . Both Necrosis and his NK - 3 guards favored melee combat over a ranged variant . Since Necrosis had stronger armor , he was more powerful than his NK - 3 droids . Necrosis ' s droid body , made of duranium alloy , had the appearance of a Krath war droid . While the entire body was cybernetic , a notable feature was the inclusion of LX - 44 leg s . Behind the scenes . N - K Necrosis first appeared in the MMORPG online game " Star Wars Galaxies " . In April 2005 , a month before the theatrical release of — in which Grievous appears — Sony Online Entertainment , the creator of " Star Wars Galaxies " , released the game ' s second expansion , titled . The expansion introduced the planet of Kashyyyk into the game , including the N - K Necrosis . Upon killing the NPC , N - K Necrosis commonly dropped a deed to Grievous ' s starfighter , a cybernetic arm , and a semi - rare weapon . In some looting cases , the weapon would be substituted with another cybernetic arm . More rarely N - K Necrosis dropped the Bane ' s Heart lightsaber crystal . Author Abel G . Peña mentioned the character N - K Necrosis in two stories regarding Grievous ' s life : " " from " Star Wars Insider " 86 , and " " , a StarWars . com online supplement . Necrosis is also given an entry in " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " .