Gunray, Nute

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Homeworld:
  Neimoidia

• Species:
  Neimoidian

• Gender:
  Male

• Size:
  1.91 meters

• Vehicle:
  Trade Federation Battleship, Neimoidian shuttle

• Affiliation:
  Trade Federation, Confederacy of Independent Systems

• 

From the Movies

Neimoidians are known for their exceptional organizational and business skills, but Nute Gunray was more cutthroat than most. His unscrupulous nature saw him ascend to the position of Viceroy of the Trade Federation. As the executive officer of the Trade Federation, it was Gunray who led the blockade and subsequent invasion of Naboo. The assurances of Darth Sidious, his shadowy Sith benefactor, led Gunray down this ambitious and blatantly illegal path.

Once Naboo was under siege, Gunray attempted to force the planet's monarch, Queen Amidala, to sign a treaty that would legitimize the occupation. During the subjugation of the planet, Gunray proved that he was willing to commit any atrocity in pursuit of commercial gain and power. He boldly set himself up in the Queen's former throne room, taunting the planet's governor, Sio Bibble, while Naboo's population suffered the effects of the embargo.

Gunray's cowardly true colors showed themselves when Naboo freedom fighters stormed the Royal Palace. The Neimoidian cowered behind squads of battle droids, fearing that the fighting would spill too close to his throne room. Queen Amidala infiltrated her own palace and blasted through Gunray's protectors. At gunpoint, Amidala declared Gunray's occupation over.

Arrested by Republic officials, Gunray and his lieutenant, Rune Haako, were carted off to answer for their crimes. They risked losing their lucrative trade franchise from this botched endeavour.

But even justice could be bought in the final corrupt years of the Republic. After four trials in the Supreme Court, Gunray still held his position of Viceroy.

When Count Dooku's Separatist movement began tearing apart the Republic, many of the galaxy's largest business concerns were attracted to the idea of galactic reforms that would benefit commerce. Gunray was one of them, though he made his allegiance to the newly formed Confederacy of Independent Systems contingent on the assassination of Padmé Amidala.

To that end, the bounty hunter Jango Fett recruited Zam Wesell to kill the Senator of Naboo. Though Wesell failed, Amidala was eventually captured by Separatist forces and was to be executed before Gunray. Amidala proved hard to kill, and when the shooting started at the first engagement of the Clone Wars, Gunray again turned coward and fled the conflict.

Gunray grew tired of the war, and the visions of riches and conquest promised by the Separatists' secret benefactor, Darth Sidious, would not salve his aches for peace. He questioned General Grievous' leadership, even risking the ire of the cyborg general.

When Sidious moved the Separatist leadership to Mustafar, Gunray thought the end of the war was near. He was right, but his demise soon followed. Darth Sidious betrayed the Separatists, having used them to engineer his ascent to Emperor of the galaxy. No longer needing them, Sidious dispatched his apprentice Darth Vader to kill them. Vader sliced through Separatist commerce baron after baron with his lightsaber blade, leaving the sniveling Gunray for last.

The terrified Neimoidian pleaded for peace, but Vader silenced him with a slashing blade through the torso.

From the Expanded Universe

Underhanded schemes such as the acquisition of Dorvalla's lommite ore mines paved Gunray's ascent to the Trade Federation Directorate. His unquestionable avarice and drive drew the attention of Darth Sidious, who recruited Gunray and his associates -- Rune Haako, Daultay Dofine and Hath Monchar -- in a covert Sith plot.

Sidious' machinations did away with the remainder of the Trade Federation Directorate. During a cleverly staged assault at an Eriadu trade conference, Gunray was lured away from an attack that killed the other Directorate members. As such, Gunray found himself with the title of Viceroy, and Sidious had an even more powerful pawn at his disposal.

Behind the Scenes

The Neimoidians were initially designed to resemble the lean, wiry battle droids that they command in The Phantom Menace. The look was based on the assumption that the Neimoidians had created the droids in their own image. A last-minute design change resulted in the more humanoid beings depicted in the final design of the characters. These changes allowed for the characters to be portrayed by live actors, rather than being entirely computer-generated.