Long before memes turned General Grievous and his love of collecting lightsabers into a joke, the 2008 animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars turned the Separatist leader into a shadow of his former self. In the original Star Wars timeline, the Expanded Universe (now known as Legends), General Grievous was a terrifying adversary to Jedi and Clones alike, brutally cutting down the Republic’s best warriors with ease and earning each lightsaber in his collection. In canon, however, Grievous struggles to defeat padawans, let alone Jedi Masters, resorting to underhanded and cowardly methods to win and retreating at a moment’s notice when the situation favors the heroes.
In Legends, the Clone Wars multimedia project covered the three-year conflict, with Grievous being a key antagonist in the 2003 animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars and the Star Wars: Republic comic books. Grievous debuted in Clone Wars “Chapter 20,” eviscerating Republic forces on Hypori and effortlessly fighting five Jedi at once (including two Council members), leaving all but one dead or critically injured with little difficulty. Grievous would go on to lead the CIS to victory in Operation Durge's Lance and the Outer Rim Sieges, notably killing Jedi Master Adi Gallia and brutalizing the ARC Trooper Alpha. At the end of the war, Grievous led the CIS attack on Coruscant, murdering numerous Jedi and Clone Troopers and kidnapping Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.
In the canon version of The Clone Wars, Grievous was far less threatening. The General is shown fighting numerous Jedi Masters but never being able to kill them through direct means. For instance, Grievous was quickly overpowered by Eeath Koth, but thanks to his MagnaGuards repeatedly attacking the Jedi Master from behind, Grievous won the duel. The General was wholly unable to defeat the Nightsister Asajj Ventress without assistance from his droids as well. Against padawans and Jedi Knights, however, Grievous had less difficulty but still relied on trickery for his victories. He overpowered Ahsoka Tano (via an ambush) in their first duel but was unable to capture her, and later proved unable to defeat her in their second encounter. He did manage to kill Jedi Knight Nahdar Vebb, by shooting him with a blaster while their blades were locked. Canon’s Grievous is a far cry from the Legends version.
The discrepancy between the two versions of Grievous comes from statements by George Lucas himself. When Grievous’ character was being created in preparation for his debut in the Legends-era Clone Wars and live-action appearance in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Lucas first described him as a capable Jedi-killer, so Genndy Tartakovsky and his team created a nightmarish villain who cut down the most powerful Jedi and Clones with ease, with his arsenal of lightsaber reflecting his body count. George Lucas later described Grievous as a cowardly, old-fashioned style of villain who flees the heroes whenever possible. Later chapters of Clone Wars honor this by revealing that Grievous was trained in psychological warfare by Count Dooku. While undoubtedly deadly, Grievous’s true strength was in intimidating his prey before fighting. Dooku insisted that he retreat, should he lose this advantage. Not heeding this advice, Grievous learned his lesson the hard way when Mace Windu, unafraid of the cyborg General, critically wounded him. Grievous never truly recovered from his injuries, making him far weaker in Revenge of the Sith.
In canon’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Grievous matches his injured, more cautious, and far less threatening appearance in Revenge of the Sith for the entirety of the war. While this does follow George Lucas’s second description more closely, it comes at the cost of a truly terrifying antagonist. In Legends, there was a constant sense of dread and doom when Grievous appeared, making Mace and Obi-Wan’s victories over him feel relieving and earned. Canon’s Grievous is hardly a threat to padawans, let alone Jedi Masters, so his lightsaber collection, let alone his status as a Jedi killer, felt like a joke well before the memes.