General Grievous

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Published August 20, 2026

General Grievous is the cyborg Star Wars villain who became a Reddit meme template in early 2017, most famously through the 'This will make a fine addition to my collection' image macro. The format flourished inside the wider Prequel Memes wave that hit r/dankmemes and r/PrequelMemes that year.

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Overview

General Grievous is a cyborg villain from the Star Wars franchise who became a meme template in 2017, most famously through the 'This will make a fine addition to my collection' image macro3. The character first appeared in the 2004 Cartoon Network animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars and later played a bigger role in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith1. His four-armed lightsaber-wielding design and raspy voice made him a memorable villain, though fans often mocked his incompetence in the live-action film5.

The meme format typically pairs a screenshot of Grievous holding stolen lightsabers with a caption where he covets something new, then reveals its location foolishly. Reddit's r/dankmemes was the main hub where the format spread in early 20174.

Origin & Background

Platform
Reddit (r/dankmemes)
Date
2017

General Grievous debuted in Chapter 20 of the Cartoon Network series Star Wars: Clone Wars, which aired on April 8th, 20041. He returned as a major antagonist in the 2005 film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, where he fights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker while holding Chancellor Palpatine hostage during the opening space battle1.

On February 2nd, 2014, a Meme Generator template using Grievous' image was uploaded, but no consistent joke stuck to it and the format sat dormant for years2. The character re-entered meme circulation in early 2017 when an image macro built on his 'This will make a fine addition to my collection' line, delivered to Obi-Wan in the film before Grievous foolishly reveals where the stolen lightsabers are kept, spread on r/dankmemes4.

How It Spread

Beyond the 'fine addition' macro, Grievous became a fixture of the Prequel Memes movement that grew across r/dankmemes and r/PrequelMemes throughout 20174. His voice lines, coughing fits, and awkward Episode III moments were remixed into reaction images and multi-panel edits, feeding the broader ironic revival of Revenge of the Sith3.

An alternate spinoff called Grieve-tan reimagined the general as a Japanese schoolgirl on 4chan's /co/ board, giving the character a small fan-art following outside the Reddit ecosystem3. Grievous also appeared in Mr. Plinkett's video review of Revenge of the Sith, where the reviewer flagged the character as bafflingly incompetent, a criticism that later fed the ironic tone of the jokes.

Urban Dictionary entries from Star Wars fans praised his Clone Wars appearances while mocking the film portrayal, describing him as a wasted villain who was killed by Obi-Wan with a blaster5. That split reception, iconic design against fumbling execution, is what many of the jokes trade on.

How to Use This Meme

The template typically uses a still of Grievous either brandishing lightsabers or delivering his 'fine addition' line, with captions swapping in whatever the poster wants to hoard. Common convention places the punchline in a reveal panel where Grievous shows exactly where he keeps the item4.

Frequently Asked Questions