Nute Gunray

Nute Gunray, native to the planet Neimoidia, lived during the later decades of the Galactic Republic. After the disastrous Eriadu Conference, this ruthless Neimoidian male ascended to the powerful position of Viceroy of the Trade Federation, a rise orchestrated by the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious. During his time as Viceroy, Gunray commissioned a Trade Federation advertisement titled Safe In Our Hands. Created by the Federation's public relations firm, Eleven Star Marketing, the ad depicted a Neimoidian hand holding Coruscant in its palm, leading some to believe it represented Gunray's ambitions to control Coruscant and expand his influence. Under Gunray's direction, these interpretations were dismissed as anti-Neimoidian bias.

After a taxation bill failed in the Galactic Senate, Viceroy Gunray, frustrated that Naboo Senator Palpatine's bypass amendment had cost the Trade Federation the support of the Delcontrian faction, consulted with Darth Sidious. Sidious assured Gunray that a new bill would soon be presented to the Senate to regain the Delcontrian faction's allegiance. Gunray, however, muttered something under his breath that Sidious couldn't hear, expressing his doubt.

Concurrently, under Sidious's guidance, Gunray had invested heavily in creating a battle droid fighting force, which was conducting training exercises on Geonosis. When the timing was right, Sidious instructed Gunray to halt these exercises and deploy his new army.

Nute Gunray contacted Queen Amidala of Naboo, introducing himself and forcefully demanding that she sign a treaty with the Trade Federation, effectively granting them control of the entire planet. When Amidala refused, Gunray initiated the next phase of Lord Sidious's plan: blockading Naboo with a fleet of Battleships.

The Naboo Crisis was triggered by a disagreement between the Trade Federation and the Galactic Republic concerning the taxation of trade routes to remote systems. At the urging of Darth Sidious—secretly Naboo Senator Palpatine—the Trade Federation decided to resolve the dispute by blockading the planet Naboo with a fleet of modified battleships, cutting off all shipping to the planet. Gunray directed the blockade from his flagship Saak'ak, a Droid Control Ship. In response, Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum sent two Jedi, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, to negotiate a peaceful resolution.

Viceroy Gunray permitted the Jedi emissaries to land their ship Radiant VII in the Saak'ak's hangar bay. Upon learning that the emissaries were Jedi, Gunray and the ship's captain Daultay Dofine panicked and contacted Darth Sidious via hologram. Lord Sidious instructed Gunray to kill the two Jedi and invade Naboo. Gunray questioned the legality of this action, but Sidious silenced him by assuring the Viceroy that he would "make it legal" in the Galactic Senate. Under Gunray's orders, the emissary's ship Radiant VII was destroyed, and poison gas was released into the reception room where the Jedi were. Gunray also dispatched a group of security battle droids to finish off the Jedi. However, the two Jedi survived the attempted poisoning and quickly defeated the battle droids before advancing on the bridge. Gunray sealed the blast doors of the bridge and called for droidekas, which overwhelmed the Jedi before they could break through. Shortly after, Gunray was contacted by Naboo Queen Padmé Amidala, who again refused to sign a treaty with the Trade Federation. Gunray smugly assured her that he knew nothing of the supposed ambassadors.

Despite the threat posed by the Jedi, Gunray proceeded with the invasion, starting by cutting off all communication to the planet. C-9979 landing craft were used to land the Trade Federation's droid army on Naboo, and OOM command battle droid OOM-9 was ordered to watch for the Jedi. The army then captured the capital city of Theed and other major centers. The Trade Federation's droid army successfully occupied Naboo with minimal resistance, capturing Queen Amidala and her entourage. Following the occupation of Theed, Gunray visited the captured Queen and reiterated his demand for a treaty. She refused, and she and the others were sent to Camp Four.

Gunray faced a setback when the two Jedi and a local Gungan guide, Jar Jar Binks, freed the Queen and her entourage, allowing them to escape offworld. Meanwhile, Viceroy Gunray and Settlement Officer Rune Haako oversaw the occupation of Naboo from the Theed Royal Palace. Naboo's population was forced into camps where they suffered starvation and hardship. In Amidala's absence, Gunray took her throne and held Governor Sio Bibble prisoner. Gunray taunted the Governor from his Mechno-chair, but Bibble resisted Gunray's attempts to break him.

To force Queen Amidala to reappear, Gunray personally visited an internment camp with Bibble as a captive. Gunray brought Bibble before one of the Queen's handmaidens, Saché, telling the Governor that the Naboo had failed to protect their citizens. Saché pleaded with the Governor to contact the Queen and tell her that the death toll on Naboo was "catastrophic." Gunray left, satisfied, and Bibble was forced to transmit a message to the Queen. Unbeknownst to him, that word, being less commonly used, was pre-selected by Amidala and her handmaidens as a coded message.

In the Senate on Coruscant, the Trade Federation's Senator Lott Dod blocked Queen Amidala and Senator Palpatine's efforts to request Republic intervention on Naboo. However, Queen Amidala, prompted by Palpatine, outmaneuvered the Trade Federation by calling for a Vote of No Confidence against Chancellor Valorum.

As the occupation continued, the droid army began to target the Gungans, Naboo's amphibious indigenous civilization living in underwater cities like Otoh Gunga. Facing little resistance, the Trade Federation removed most of their fleet from Naboo, except for the Droid Control Ship Vuutun Palaa. This reduced naval presence allowed Queen Amidala, her entourage, her Jedi allies, and Binks to land their starship on Naboo. Queen Amidala rallied the Naboo resistance and formed an alliance with the Gungan leader Boss Rugor Nass. To drive out the Trade Federation, Amidala devised a three-pronged battle plan: the Gungan Grand Army would march on Theed to draw away the droid army, Naboo forces under Amidala and her Jedi allies would infiltrate Theed and capture the Viceroy, and Naboo forces would capture the hangar bay at the royal palace and use their N-1 starfighters to destroy the Droid Control Ship, disabling the droid army.

In response to this renewed threat, Darth Sidious sent his Sith apprentice, Darth Maul, to reinforce the Viceroy. Gunray detected that the Queen's royal starship had cleared the blockade and landed, and dispatched Battle Droids to salvage the craft. Gunray contacted Darth Maul as he approached Naboo, asking if he wanted to search for the Queen and her party, but Maul suggested that he "let them come to us."

After reports that the Gungan Grand Army was gathering outside Theed, Gunray dismissed them as primitives and requested Lord Sidious's permission to eliminate them. At Sidious's urging, Gunray sent most of his droid army to wipe out the Gungan forces. During the Battle of Naboo, Gunray believed he was safe within the Theed Royal Palace. While the droid army was preoccupied with the Gungans, Queen Amidala and her Jedi allies infiltrated the Palace and secured the N-1 starfighters, launching a starfighter strike on the Vuutun Palaa. While Master Qui-Gon and Padawan Kenobi engaged Darth Maul in a lightsaber duel, Queen Amidala's forces fought their way through the Royal Palace.

Gunray's droidekas captured Queen Amidala and some of her party, bringing them into the throne room, where Gunray triumphantly reiterated his demand for a treaty. However, the Queen's disguised handmaiden arrived with reinforcements, confusing Gunray and his battle droids. Gunray ordered his droids to pursue the decoy Queen, dividing his forces, and the real Queen disabled his remaining droids, capturing Gunray and Haako. In space, Anakin Skywalker destroyed the Droid Control Ship with a missile, disabling the entire Federation droid army and decisively turning the tide of the battle in favor of the Naboo and their Gungan allies. Elsewhere, Kenobi seemingly killed Darth Maul but lost Master Qui-Gon, who succumbed to injuries inflicted by Maul. With the Federation's droid army defeated, Viceroy Gunray and Haako were imprisoned by the Naboo and transported to Coruscant to stand trial for their crimes on Naboo.

Gunray spent the next four years in Supreme Court trials. Kenobi, involved in the trials, found them ineffective. Gunray's lawyers ensured that nothing came of the trials, costing him a fortune in legal fees, but no charges were ever brought against him. His third trial ended in a hung jury, and his fourth found him not guilty, allowing him to keep his assets and titles.

Bitter about his defeat on Naboo, Gunray harbored a deep grudge against Padmé Amidala, now a senator for Naboo in the Galactic Senate, whom he blamed for his legal troubles. Under Gunray's direction, the Trade Federation covertly used TriNebulon News to spread rumors about Amidala, discrediting her early Senate career with negative stories about her youth and inexperience. After Gunray's fourth trial, rumors circulated that he had even placed a bounty on Amidala's head.

After his many trials, Gunray grew increasingly bitter towards the Republic and joined the growing secessionist movement under the leadership of Count Dooku of Serenno—a former Jedi Master who had become Darth Tyranus and Sidious's new apprentice. The Secessionist Movement was a confederation of a thousand star systems and corporations dissatisfied with the Republic's rampant taxation and corruption. In 24 BBY, Dooku delivered the Raxus Address, denouncing the Republic as a futile enterprise rife with favoritism and corruption that harmed the outer systems to benefit the Core Worlds. The Confederacy of Independent Systems was subsequently formed.

Gunray agreed to support the Separatists in exchange for one thing: the death of his old adversary, Senator Amidala, to avenge his loss during the Naboo Crisis. Dooku agreed and arranged for bounty hunters Jango Fett and Zam Wesell to assassinate the senator. The bounty hunters launched two unsuccessful attempts, drawing the Jedi Order's attention to the clone army being created for the Republic on Kamino. While pursuing Fett, Kenobi discovered a droid army being constructed for the Separatists on the desert planet of Geonosis. Spying on their dealings, he saw Dooku, Gunray, Haako, Archduke Poggle the Lesser, and Foreman Wat Tambor walking to a secret meeting, where Dooku discussed the need to convince the Commerce Guild and Corporate Alliance to sign their treaty. Gunray asked about Amidala, stating he would not sign the treaty until her head was on his desk, but Dooku assured him that he was a man of his word.

Upon their arrival for the meeting, every single corporate leader voiced their unwavering backing for the Separatist Movement. The Separatists were confident that their freshly assembled droid army would provide them the means to effectively challenge the Republic, along with their Jedi protectors. Not long after, following a brief conflict within the Geonosian droid manufacturing facility, Kenobi, Senator Amidala, and Padawan Skywalker found themselves captured by the Geonosians. After Amidala and her comrades were condemned to death, they were forced into combat within the Petranaki Arena against formidable creatures, namely a reek and an acklay, in addition to the Geonosian picadors. Gunray, in the company of Haako, Dooku, Poggle, Jango Fett, and his "son" Boba Fett, was present during these deadly games. When the nexu launched a brutal assault on Amidala in the arena, the Viceroy expressed his delight with unrestrained glee. However, the Senator and her Jedi allies managed to evade the creatures, thereby foiling Gunray's hopes of exacting revenge upon her. As they made their escape, Gunray gave Jango the order to assassinate her, but Dooku advised Gunray to be patient, assuring him that Amidala's demise was inevitable.

However, Gunray and his Separatist allies were dealt another significant setback when a Jedi strike team, under the command of Jedi Master Mace Windu, launched an assault on the Petranaki Arena. As the battle erupted, Haako and Gunray remained in close proximity to Dooku, and the Neimodians instinctively ducked for cover as blaster fire whizzed past them. Soon after, clone trooper forces, led by Grand Master Yoda, stormed the arena, compelling Gunray, Haako, and Dooku to seek refuge within the Geonosian War Room. Once inside, the Viceroy remarked on the Jedi's surprisingly large army, and Dooku pondered how they could have amassed such a force in such a short period. Gunray proposed deploying all available droids into battle, but the Separatist Droid Army proved to be no match for the Republic's clone troopers. As the tide of battle turned in favor of the Grand Army of the Republic and their Jedi commanders, Gunray lamented the unfavorable situation, and Haako suggested that they move the Trade Federation Core Ships into space. Following Haako's advice, Gunray retreated from Geonosis to oversee the evacuation of the Trade Federation Core Ships. This particular battle ignited the Clone Wars, a widespread galactic conflict between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

By siding with the Separatists, Gunray was effectively beyond the reach of Republic law, which once again enabled him to evade accountability for his past transgressions, while the Federation maintained a facade of neutrality in order to conduct business with both factions. The officially accepted explanation was that Gunray was leading a rogue faction that was entirely devoted to the Confederacy. In the initial days of the war following Geonosis, Gunray personally journeyed to the planet Nooroyo to engage in negotiations for the trade of its spice exports, unaware that Amidala and Skywalker had also arrived there to rescue members of the Naboo Torada Collective who were residing on the planet. Upon learning about Gunray's presence and the likelihood that he would dispatch someone to their H-type Nubian yacht due to its Naboo origin, Amidala and Skywalker were compelled to expedite their mission and depart without delay. Since Queen Jamillia's sister Antraya was the only member of the collective who was willing to leave, they departed with her alone as a droid starfighter began to approach them.

Several weeks into the war, Gunray and his allies received reports indicating the emergence of a splinter group within the Federation that was attempting to seize control of the organization. Consequently, Gunray and his allies requested Dooku's intervention. This faction, led by Oje N'deeb, did indeed exist and established contact with Amidala during the siege on Hebekrr Minor, with the intention of assuming Dod's Senate seat and rehabilitating the Federation's reputation within the Republic. Upon discovering the existence of this splinter group, Sidious instructed Dooku to prevent Gunray and the others from eliminating the cell, as the Sith Lord intended to utilize them for his own purposes.

Following the Battle of Geonosis, Nute Gunray set his sights on the Outer Rim planet of Rodia. The planet had been targeted by pirates, prompting Rodia's Republic Senator Onaconda Farr to seek assistance from Viceroy Gunray. The Viceroy agreed to provide relief supplies to Rodia in exchange for a minor favor: the abduction of his longtime adversary, Senator Amidala. Farr, a close confidant of the Naboo Senator, summoned her to Rodia under the guise of seeking aid from the Republic for the Rodian people. Senator Amidala was accompanied by her longtime friend Representative Jar Jar Binks and her protocol droid C-3PO.

Upon their arrival, Senator Amidala and C-3PO were taken captive. Upon learning of her capture, Gunray ordered that she be restrained as a precautionary measure before he traveled to Rodia to meet with her. However, Gunray's schemes were thwarted by the unexpected intervention of Binks, who managed to evade the Viceroy's battle droids and deceive them into believing that he was a Jedi. Amidst the chaos, Amidala and C-3PO successfully escaped and contacted the Republic for assistance before being recaptured by Gunray's battle droids. After arriving on Rodia, Gunray exerted pressure on Farr by withholding relief supplies until Senator Amidala was executed. When Senator Farr protested, Gunray declared that the planet was now under his protection.

After Gunray's droid forces had recaptured Senator Amidala and C-3PO, he assembled three droidekas to carry out their execution. Before Gunray could proceed with the sentence, Binks and a Kwazel Maw monster he had befriended, named "Bogey", emerged from the swamp and overwhelmed the droidekas. The Viceroy attempted to flee aboard his Sheathipede-class transport shuttle, but "Bogey" knocked it into the swamp. He was subsequently held at gunpoint by Senator Amidala. Shortly thereafter, Farr arrived and revealed that he and Amidala had conspired to trap Gunray from the outset. Soon after, Republic forces from the 41st Elite Corps arrived and took Gunray into custody.

Following the events on Rodia, the captured Gunray was transferred to the Venator-class Star Destroyer Tranquility for trial on Coruscant. Given his prominent position within the Confederacy, the Jedi Council dispatched Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and Master Skywalker's Padawan Ahsoka Tano to guard Gunray. The two Jedi were reinforced by a contingent of Senate Guards led by Captain Faro Argyus and a squad of clone troopers under the command of Clone Commander Gree. In response to Gunray's capture, Sidious and Dooku deployed the Dathomirian dark side assassin Asajj Ventress to infiltrate the Tranquility and either rescue or eliminate the Trade Federation Viceroy to prevent him from divulging their secrets.

While in captivity, Gunray was subjected to interrogation by Unduli and Tano, but he refused to cooperate. When Tano, in frustration, threatened the Viceroy, Unduli reprimanded the younger Jedi. Their interrogation was interrupted by the arrival of a Separatist attack force consisting of Separatist Vulture droids and three Droch-class boarding ships. As Separatist droids boarded the Tranquility, Ventress exploited the chaos to sabotage the ship's power generators. After Unduli departed with several Clone troopers to confront the intruders, Ventress managed to overpower Ahsoka and liberate Gunray. Before Gunray could escape with the dark side warrior, Master Luminara returned to the cell and engaged Ventress in combat within the ship's elevator shaft and generator room.

While Luminara was engaged in a duel with Ventress, Gunray was confined to his cell, guarded by Tano and Argyus. Unbeknownst to the Republic and Jedi, Argyus was a traitor secretly working for Dooku. When Ahsoka left the brig to assist Luminara, Argyus seized the opportunity to overpower his fellow Senate Commandos and free Gunray. Gree managed to subdue Argyus, but Gunray, unnoticed by the clone Commander, retrieved a fallen blaster and knocked him unconscious. The Viceroy and his rescuer then escaped on a Republic Consular-class cruiser in the lower hangar and were joined by Ventress, who had evaded her Jedi adversaries 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, Gunray assisted Dooku in luring Jedi Master Kit Fisto, his former apprentice 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 of leading the Droid Army by killing the intruders since he recently had been experiencing defeats at the hands of the Jedi thus shaking Sidious's trust in him. As part of the plot, a hologram of Gunray was used to taunt his Jedi and Republic pursuers. Gunray took great pleasure in deceiving the Jedi and laughed as he welcomed them to their doom. Shortly later, the Jedi and clone troopers were attacked by Grievous. 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 payment, Bane promised that Lord Sidious would compensate the Viceroy for his lost forces once the holocron had been opened.

After Bane killed Ropal for refusing to open the crystal, the bounty hunter managed to kidnap Ahsoka 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.

Following the death of Count Dooku at the hand of Skywalker and the defeat of the Separatist fleet during the Battle of Coruscant in 19 BBY, Gunray and the other members of the Separatist Council met with General Grievous on the planet Utapau, which had become their hideout. With the Republic closing in on the Separatist leadership, Grievous informed the Council that he was transferring them to the volcanic planet of Mustafar for their safety, though this order was truly Sidious'. Gunray, however, responded by angrily rising from his seat and questioning the cyborg General's abilities to keep the council safe; citing Grievous' failure to capture Chancellor Palpatine on Coruscant and the death of Count Dooku. Angered by Gunray's complaints, Grievous remarked that the Viceroy should be thankful not to find himself in his grip before dismissing the Council, telling them that their ship was waiting.

The Separatist leaders followed Grievous' instructions and departed Utapau for Mustafar moments before the arrival of Kenobi and the 212th Attack Battalion, who engaged the cyborg General and the Separatist garrison stationed on Utapau. It was during the battle that Kenobi finally killed Grievous, dealing a crippling blow to the Confederate war effort and effectively ending the War.

With his personal riches nearly wiped out, the nationalization of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, and the loss of his assets on Cato Neimoidia, Gunray was left with just the Council in the conflict's final phases. With Grievous' defeat on Utapau, Gunray and the other leading members of the council continued to monitor and command what was left of the Separatist forces from the complex on Mustafar. However, Gunray and the rest of the council, already demoralized by the deaths of Count Dooku and General Grievous, only wanted to sue for peace. Gunray believed that, with Dooku and Grievous dead, he would gain more power and eventually some benefit from the war.

After seducing Skywalker to the dark side and initiating the Great Jedi Purge, Sidious betrayed the Viceroy and the defeated Confederacy, by dispatching his new apprentice, now called Darth Vader, to Mustafar to kill Gunray and the other Separatist leaders. Sidious also informed the Separatist leaders of Darth Vader's arrival, but claimed that he had come to make peace with them. After Lord Vader landed, Gunray greeted the Sith apprentice, who then proceeded to shut the blast doors and execute the Separatist Council with his lightsaber. The Trade Federation Viceroy was the very last to be slain. As Vader cornered Gunray, he attempted to reason with Vader, telling the newly appointed Sith Lord that the War was over and Lord Sidious had promised them peace. However, Lord Vader ignored Gunray's pleas and proceeded to slash him across the chest with his lightsaber, killing him. Rather than recognizing the consequences of joining an alliance with a monster as vile and devious as a Sith Lord, Gunray was blinded by his desire for wealth and power.

Once Gunray and all the Separatist leaders had been disposed of, Vader was instructed by Sidious to transmit the order to deactivate all remaining droid units of the Separatist Droid Army, which, coupled with Sidious' proclamation of his New Order and the reorganization of the Republic into the Galactic Empire, officially ended the Clone Wars.

Vader's slaughter of the Separatist leaders was covered up by the Empire, and official Imperial records stated that Gunray had taken his own life after he realized there was no chance of a Separatist victory. Following Gunray's death, the Trade Federation and its assets were dissolved by the Empire.

Sometime after the Duel on Cloud City, Sidious brutally punished Vader and left him stranded on Mustafar in an attempt to strengthen his connection to the dark side of the Force. During his punishment, Vader found Gunray's decomposing corpse still in the remains of the former Separatist stronghold after he made his way into the complex. The discovery triggered Vader to have a flashback to his slaughter of Gunray and the rest of the Separatist Council.

As the Trade Federation's Viceroy, Nute Gunray held a position of great influence, was known for his duplicity, and was willing to resort to murder for financial gain. While he may not have appeared to be an economic genius on the surface, he was, in fact, a ruthless and formidable business leader whose primary focus was on maximizing profits and safeguarding his own interests. His opposition to the Galactic Republic Senate's imposition of taxes on trade routes led him to establish a military blockade around the planet Naboo. Gunray's objective was to compel the then-Queen of Naboo, Padmé Amidala, to sign a treaty that favored the Trade Federation. His pursuit of these objectives led him to blockade and subsequently occupy Naboo, which generated widespread animosity towards both Gunray and the Federation. While the broader galactic community believed that the Viceroy's invasion of Naboo was solely motivated by greed, few were aware that Gunray was being manipulated behind the scenes by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious.

Gunray harbored a palpable fear of his Sith benefactor, and while his collaboration with Sidious often yielded substantial rewards, the Viceroy frequently expressed frustration with Sidious' apparent disregard for the Trade Federation's profits. Captain Mariek Panaka once observed that it seemed as though only Gunray himself could comprehend his own desires, but Jedi Master Mace Windu believed that Gunray would, at the very least, oppose the killing of civilian Neimoidians to achieve his objectives. Due to Amidala's role in his defeat on Naboo, Gunray held a deep-seated grudge against the Naboo politician and made numerous attempts on her life in the years following the invasion. Gunray's vindictiveness towards Senator Amidala led him to pledge the Trade Federation's support to Count Dooku's burgeoning Confederacy of Independent Systems. Reflecting on Gunray and his actions briefly allowed Amidala to understand what Anakin Skywalker must have experienced when he cut down an entire Tusken Raider camp.

As an opportunistic bully, Gunray exploited the Trade Federation's vast wealth to manipulate the Rodian Senator Onaconda Farr into luring Senator Amidala into a trap in exchange for providing much-needed aid to the planet Rodia. However, Farr and Amidala capitalized on Gunray's vindictiveness and opportunism to capture the Viceroy. Gunray consistently evaded accountability for his crimes. Dealing with Gunray was an unpleasant experience for Sidious, who was content to delegate matters involving the Neimoidian to Dooku. Gunray frequently exploited the prevailing perception of Neimoidian cowardice to his advantage, portraying himself as a mere "innocent pawn" when captured, thereby causing his adversaries to underestimate his true potential for danger. While Gunray preferred to delegate most of the combat to his battle droids, he was still capable of taking physical action when necessary. During an escape orchestrated by the traitorous Senate Commando Argyus, Gunray assisted his rescuer by knocking out the Clone Commander Gree.

Nute Gunray frequently clashed with General Grievous, believing that Count Dooku afforded the cybernetically enhanced general preferential treatment. Grievous, in turn, despised the self-serving Neimoidian Viceroy. Almost immediately, he offended Grievous by dismissing him as a mere droid. Shortly after the Clone Wars commenced, Grievous lost his flagship, the Malevolence, at the Battle of the Kaliida Nebula. This setback brought a sense of satisfaction to Nute Gunray.

Gunray was a Neimoidian male who stood at a height of 1.91 meters (6 feet, 3 inches). He weighed 90 kilograms, possessed red-gold eyes, and had green skin.

As the leader of the Trade Federation, Nute Gunray possessed exceptional negotiation skills. He was also renowned for his ability to evade justice and maintain his titles and wealth.

Nute Gunray donned Neimoidian clothing, which included the Viceroy's collar and his crested fabric tiara. Gunray also wore an elaborate headdress, which served as a symbol of the Neimoidian's affluence. At the time of his death, he was clad in a red Viceroy gown.

Nute Gunray was portrayed by Silas Carson in all of the prequel trilogy films. Carson also played the roles of Lott Dod, Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Antidar Williams in The Phantom Menace. In The Clone Wars television series, Gunray's voice was provided by Tom Kenny.

The name Nute Gunray drew inspiration from two real-life figures. The first was the Republican congressman Newt Gingrich, and the second was former President of the United States Ronald Reagan. The former source was because George Lucas primarily wrote the Trade Federation members in terms of motives and characterizations in response to the 1994 Republican Revolution (which occurred eight days into Lucas's draft-writing the film), specifically then-Speaker of the House Gingrich's Contract with America, and the latter source was as a response to Reagan's SDI program being labeled "Star Wars" without Lucas' permission.