Nute Gunray

**Nute Gunray** is a major antagonist in the *Star Wars* prequel trilogy, appearing as the secondary antagonist of *The Phantom Menace*, and a major antagonist in both *Attack of the Clones* and *Revenge of the Sith*. He also served as a recurring antagonist in the 2008 TV series *Star Wars: The Clone Wars*.

He is the Viceroy of the Trade Federation and later became a high-ranking leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems as the chairman of the Separatist Council. He was one of Darth Sidious' first, and most important, pawns in his plan to attain ultimate power. Following the deaths of both Count Dooku and later General Grievous, Gunray became the de-jure leader of the CIS. However, he was ultimately slain by Darth Vader along with the other members of the Separatist Council on Mustafar.

## History

### *Star Wars: The Clone Wars*

At some point following the Battle of Geonosis, Nute Gunray turned his attention to the Mid Rim world of Rodia. The planet had been attacked by pirates and Rodia's Republic 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 Padmé Amidala was escorted by her long-time friend Representative Jar Jar Binks and her 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 droidekas 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 of the 41st Elite Corps arrived and took Gunray into 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 Skywalker's Padawan Ahsoka Tano to guard Gunray. The two Jedi were reinforced by a group of Senate Guards led by Captain Faro Argyus and a squad of Clone troopers led by Clone 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 or kill 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 Separatist Vulture droids and three Droch-class boarding ships. While Separatist droids boarded the Tranquility, Ventress took advantage of the chaos to sabotage the ship's power generators. 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 Consular-class cruiser in the lower hangar and were joined by Ventress, who had escaped her Jedi foes in a Republic escape pod. Gunray was present when Ventress killed Argyus by impaling him through the chest with lightsaber, and after the death Gunray told Ventress he had "always had a good feeling about" her, which was what he had told Argyus as well.

###

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 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.

Under Darth Sidious' orders, Gunray dispatched several ships of the Federation fleet including *Munificent*-class star frigates to assist the 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 ships 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.

Nute Gunray was killed by Darth Vader, along with the other members of the Separatist Council on the planet Mustafar in 19 BBY, on the orders of Sidious.

## Personality

As Viceroy of the Trade Federation, Nute Gunray was powerful, deceitful and willing to kill for his financial benefit. An avaricious and calculating business leader who was primarily concerned with maximizing profits and his own well-being.

Due to Padme 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.

Gunray often used the pervading view of Neimoidian cowardice to his advantage, claiming he was merely an "innocent pawn" when captured and causing his enemies to underestimate how dangerous he could be.[14] 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.