Nute Gunray

"I never risk my own skin if I don't have to"

- Nute Gunray

Nute Gunray is the Viceroy of the Trade Federation and a major antagonist in the Star Wars universe. He is a major antagonist in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the secondary antagonist of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, the quintary antagonist of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and a minor antagonist in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. He had the Trade Federation put up a blockade, which blocks the Naboo system from certain trade routes.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Nute Gunray is the Viceroy of the Trade Federation while secretly taking orders from the shadowy Sith Lord Darth Sidious, he ordered an illegal blockade of the trade routes to and from the planet Naboo. Using an army of powerful and merciless Battle Droids, Gunray's forces invaded the planet. During the Trade Federation's occupation, Gunray set himself up as de facto ruler, even taking the Queen's throne room for his own. He seemed to take pleasure in the suffering his actions caused the people of Naboo and used it as leverage to try to force Queen Amidala into signing a treaty that would legitimize the Trade Federation's presence on the planet. When the Queen, with the aid of a pair of Jedi Knights, led a group of freedom fighters to end the occupation and take the planet back from the Trade Federation, Gunray was arrested.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
In the ten years follwing the Naboo invasion, the Supreme Court attempted to try Gunray four times, but corruption was rampant in the waning days of the Republic and each time Gunray was able to avoid conviction and retain his position as Viceroy of the Trade Federation. Gunray saw new opportunity in the Separatist movement led by former Jedi Count Dooku and threw the support of the Trade Federation behind the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Dooku knew that war was on the horizon, and the Separatists desperately needed the Federation's battle droids. Gunray had one condition, however: Padme Amidala, Senator and former Queen of Naboo, must be killed. After a failed assassination attempt by the bounty hunters Jango Fett and Zam Wessel, Amidala was eventually captured by the Separatists on the planet Geonosis and was slated for execution. Gunray's hopes for watching the senator die, however, were dashed when Amidala and her Jedi companions managed to hold off their executioners long enough for help to arrive. As Republic gunships, laden with clone troopers and Jedi Knights, descended from the sky, Gunray fled. The Battle Of Geonosis would prove to be the first skirmish of what would come to be known as the Clone Wars.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars
During the Clone Wars, Nute Gunray was appointed as leader of the Separatist Council. At some point during the Clone Wars the swamp planet Rodia was on the brink of starvation as the Rodian Supply Ships were destroyed by pirates. In response, senator Onacconda Farr desperately turned to Nute Gunray for help. When Gunray arrived, he allied himself with the rodian senator, and promised him supplies for him and his people in exchange for capturing senator Padme Amidala. When Amidala arrived and spoke to Farr about his dealings with Gunray, Battle Droids surrounded the senator and took Amidala hostage, but she managed to escape before the viceroy arrived.

Gunray was later informed by his droids that a Jedi was interfering with the Viceroy's operations and Gunray ordered his droids to eliminate both Amidala and the Jedi. Gunray's droids were also able to capture a protocol droid named C-3PO, but not before the droid managed to send a distress signal to the Republic of Gunray's presence on Rodia. When the viceroy met up with Farr, Gunray revealed his true intentions of allying with Rodia: to capture it and bring it under Separatist control. Gunray and his droids found Amidala and Threepio, but before he could order his droids to execute them, the Jedi, who was really representative Jar Jar Binks from Naboo in disguise, emerged from the water on a Kwazel Maw that began attacking the droids. Gunray attempted to flee in the ensuing chaos, but the Kwazel Maw knocked his ship into the swamp and Amidala and Farr held the viceroy at gunpoint as Republic gunships containing clone troopers arrived and arrested Gunray.

After his arrest, Gunray was incarcerated in the Republic warship the Tranquility while the ship headed for Coruscant for trial. Meanwhile, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine informed Farr that he has sent supply ships to Rodia, much to Farr's relief. On board the Tranquility, Gunray was placed under the watch of Jedi General Luminara Unduli, Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano, clone commander Gree, and senate commando Faro Argyus. While on board the Tranquility, Tano and Unduli interrogated Gunray about Separatist secrets. When Gunray refused, Tano threatened him with her lightsaber. However, the Jedi were informed that an army of droids led by Count Dooku's assassin Asajj Ventress, who had been sent to the Tranquility by Dooku to rescue Gunray, had breached their defenses and the Jedi left to confront Ventress. Meanwhile Argyus, who was bribed by Dooku, released Gunray and defeated Gree. The Viceroy and the traitorous commando met up with Ventress and escaped in a small ship, where Ventress killed Argyus when he tried to discredit her.

After his rescue, Gunray schemed with Dooku to trap Jedi Kit Fisto and his Padawan Nadhar Vebb in General Grievous's fortress on the third moon of Vassek by tricking them and leading the Jedi to believe Gunray was on the moon of Vassek. When Fisto and Vebb reached where Gunray was supposedly located, they destroyed his battle droids and revealed a hologram of Gunray who welcomed them to their doom and left. Dooku then appeared and told the Jedi he used the Republic's tracking beacon to lure them to the moon, where the Jedi soon confronted Grievous, who killed everyone part of the search group except Fisto, who escaped to Coruscant after defeating the cyborg general.

Later, Darth Sidious hired the bounty hunter Cad Bane to steal the Jedi holocron from the Jedi Temple to unlock its secrets and kidnap future Jedi and turn them into Sith operatives of Count Dooku. After Bane successfully stole the holocron, Gunray contacted him and angrily scolded his mercenary for losing four of his warships and demanded repayment, but Bane informed the Viceroy of Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano's presence on board his frigate and switched his communications off to confront the Jedi. After escaping the Jedi while heading for the hangar, Bane contacted Gunray and informed him of his success. Gunray then told the bounty hunter to transmit the codes to him, but Bane told Gunray he would hand it to him personally and turned his hologram off. The Jedi foiled Gunray's plan and eventually recovered the holocron, but Bane himself fled in an escape pod.

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Growing weary of the war, Gunray began to question the leadership of the Separatist Movement, but Sidious continued to promise that peace was on the horizon. When the Separatist leaders were moved to the planet Mustafar following the deaths of Dooku at the hands of Anakin and Grievous at the hands of Obi-Wan, Gunray was relocated along with the rest. The end of the war was near, but Gunray would not live to see the peace he had been promised. Darth Sidious, having been recently declared Emperor of a new Galactic Empire, no longer needed the Separatists. He ordered his new apprentice, Darth Vader, to dispose of the Separatist leadership. Vader obliged, and upon arrival on Mustafar, Vader began cutting down each member ruthlessly with his lightsaber, saving Gunray for last. As the last one standing, Gunray begged for mercy, but there was none to be had from the young apprentice, who was none other than Anakin himself. With nothing more to be said, Vader slashed Gurnay with his lightsaber and Gunray was killed, becoming a victim of his own greed.

Species
Gunray is a Neimoidian, a gray humanoid creature with clammy skin and snake-like eyes. Gunray's assistants are Neimoidians as well. He is very cowardly for a leader, although most Neimoidians are known to flee from action.

Trivia

 * He was thought to be the main antagonist in the first film, due to his actions and events, but he was working for Darth Sidious.