Before he was the lightsaber-hoarding cyborg we all know, General Grievous was already one of the deadliest warriors in the galaxy. In Legends, there’s even a twist to his backstory that not every fan knows—he was almost Force-sensitive.
That’s right. As Qymaen jai Sheelal, the Kaleesh warlord who would later become Grievous, he was said to have a midichlorian count just below the threshold for Force sensitivity. He couldn’t use the Force, but the potential was there.
Here’s what Legends sources have to say about General Grievous
Star Wars: Visionaries Shows How Almost Grievous Became Force-sensitive
Before we break down Grievous’s midichlorian count, let’s start with his origin, told in Star Wars: Visionaries, a Dark Horse comic anthology that revealed one of the most brutal backstories in the galaxy. In the story “The Eyes of Revolution“, we learn how Grievous, once known as Qymaen jai Sheelal, was turned into the cybernetic Jedi killer we meet in Revenge of the Sith.
It was all part of a setup, orchestrated by Count Dooku and the InterGalactic Banking Clan. They rigged a shuttle explosion on the planet Kalee, critically injuring Qymaen and leaving his body barely intact. From there, Dooku arranged for him to be rebuilt as a cyborg, not only upgrading him with combat tech, but also altering him on a biological level.
And here’s where it gets even darker—Dooku had Grievous infused with the blood of Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas. The purpose was clear: to artificially boost Grievous’s midichlorian count and push him closer to Force sensitivity. The procedure failed to make him Force-sensitive—despite the blood transfusion, Grievous never gained any actual connection to the Force.
As a final touch, Dooku presented Grievous with his first trophy—a lightsaber that once belonged to Sifo-Dyas himself. It was a calculated gift, meant to cement Grievous’s hatred for the Jedi and symbolically mark the beginning of his new purpose: to hunt them down and destroy them.
Grievous was never told the full truth. He believed the Jedi were behind the explosion and that his transformation was necessary to avenge his people. Fueled by lies, hate, and manipulation, he became the perfect weapon in Dooku’s war—and one of the most dangerous non-Force users the Jedi ever faced.
However, Grievous’s Midichlorian Boost Didn’t Unlock the Force
Despite Dooku’s twisted efforts, the experiment didn’t succeed in the way he had hoped. The blood transfusion from Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas failed to grant Grievous access to the Force. His midichlorian count may have risen, but not enough to awaken any Force abilities.
This detail is confirmed in The Story of General Grievous, another Legends source. It states:
“No one had truly expected the blood transfusion from Master Sifo-Dyas would give Grievous the powers of the Force, but the prideful general nonetheless interpreted his lack thereof as a personal failure.”
This shows just how far Count Dooku was willing to go—he tried to make Grievous Force-sensitive through the blood transfusion. But in the end, the experiment failed. Still, it’s hard not to imagine how terrifying Grievous would’ve been if it had worked. A cyborg trained in lightsaber combat, already capable of killing Jedi without the Force, with Force powers? That would’ve changed everything.