Rute Gunnay was a male Neimoidian who functioned as an advisor for Nute Gunray, the Viceroy of the Trade Federation. His appearance was so similar to Gunray's that people sometimes confused the two. During the time of the Clone Wars, Gunnay also worked as an aide within the Galactic Senate of the Galactic Republic.
In 19 BBY, he held a position on the Confederacy's Separatist Council and was present with the other members on the planet of Mustafar when Darth Sidious, the leader of the Confederacy, informed them to anticipate the arrival of his apprentice, Darth Vader. Vader then carried out the killing of Gunnay and the rest of the council using his lightsaber under the orders of Sidious.
Rute Gunnay, a male Neimoidian, was employed by the Trade Federation as an advisor to its Viceroy, Nute Gunray. He also served as an aide to a senator in the Galactic Senate of the Galactic Republic throughout the Clone Wars. This was a conflict where the Trade Federation sided with the Confederacy of Independent Systems against the Republic, despite Senator Lott Dod still representing them in the Senate. As an aide, Gunnay's duties included drafting documents, discreetly sending messages, and organizing clandestine meetings for senators driven by self-interest.
By 19 BBY, Gunnay was the Trade Federation's representative on the Confederacy's Separatist Council, working alongside Rune Haako and Gunray, who were both more experienced advisors. Following the Battle of Coruscant, the council was relocated from the planet Utapau to a mining facility situated on Mustafar for increased security. Darth Sidious, the Confederacy's secret leader, then made contact with the council through a hologram. He spoke with Gunray while Gunnay observed. Sidious congratulated the viceroy and informed him and the rest of the council that his apprentice, Darth Vader would be arriving soon to handle them.
As promised, Vader, formerly the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, arrived shortly after and was greeted by Gunray. However, the Sith Lord then used the Force to seal the doors of the room where he, Gunnay, and the other council members were standing. Having received orders from Sidious to eliminate the council, Vader attacked with his lightsaber, swiftly cutting down everyone in the room. As Haako pleaded for mercy, Vader slashed Gunnay across the chest, causing him to scream before falling dead near one of the room's tables. Vader proceeded to kill the remaining members of the council, including Haako and Gunray. Afterward, the facility where they died was destroyed by lava flows from Mustafar.
Rute Gunnay's initial appearance was in the prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, which premiered on May 19, 2005. Colin Ware, a make-up artist in the creature department for the film who also played the Neimoidian Lushros Dofine, played the character. Before filming the scene where Vader kills Gunnay, Ware and the other actors portraying Separatist Council members received "how to die" instructions from the stunt supervisor. However, during the first take, a camera crane was inadvertently moved into his path without his knowledge, causing the actor to collide headfirst with the crane and fall to the floor. During the re-take, Hayden Christensen, the actor playing Vader, forgot to strike Ware down before leaving and then turned back to find Ware waving at him. Christensen then poked Ware in the belly with his lightsaber prop and the makeup artist gave an overacted dive.
Within current Star Wars canon, the character's name was first revealed in the mobile card game Star Wars: Force Collection, which initially launched in 2013. Even though Force Collection's launch occurred before the Star Wars canon reset of 2014, Leland Chee, a member of the Lucasfilm Story Group, verified that the game was consistently updated to align with canon.
In the Star Wars Legends continuity, the reference book Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary, authored by James Luceno and released on April 2, 2005, mistakenly identified the character as Nute Gunray. The name was corrected to "Rute Gunray" in the 2006 reference book Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary. Subsequently, the name Rute Gunnay, an anagram of Nute Gunray, was first used in the reference book Dressing a Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars, authored by Trisha Biggar and released on October 11, 2005. The character's complete name was later revealed to be Aruteous Gunnay in "The Devious Neimoidians Revealed," an article featured in the "Rogues Gallery" section of Star Wars Insider 147, a magazine released on January 21, 2014. This name was suggested by the article's supervisor Leland Chee so that the character's name was not just an anagram.