While there is still just a little time left in SWTOR‘s Life Day event, I thought I’d kick off the New Year with a pet (or two!) that can be earned by players who have participated in the event’s main activity: throwing snowballs at each other and any of the NPCs in the game. The pet is the Snowfallen Wampa Cub, and it was suggested by Kal from Today in Tor. This snow-capped cub is the perfect companion for this time of year whether you’re chilling on Hoth or need to cool off on Tatooine.
There are two Wampa pets available to players, the first is the Hoth Wampa Cub which shares an appearance with its larger, surlier relatives. The second is the Snowfallen Wampa Cub which has a snowball for a head and two eyes and a nose made out of coal; it made me laugh the first time I saw it, and continues to bring a smile to my face whenever it comes out during the holiday season. This Wampa is joined by the Snowfallen Gizka which somehow slipped its way into the background of its big buddy’s portrait!
The Wampa from The Empire Strikes Back, Special Edition
The very first Wampa in Star Wars lore made the mistake of trying to make a meal out of Luke Skywalker during The Empire Strikes Back. Concealed by Hoth’s icy landscape, the Wampa cold-cocked Luke and strung him up in its lair for a late night snack. In the movie’s first of three examples of Luke being able to better channel the Force while hanging upside down, the young Jedi retrieved his dropped Lightsaber and delimbed the poor, hungry Wampa and escaped that frying pan into the fire of the frigid night of the ice planet.
Wampas were originally considered to play a larger role in The Empire Strikes Back during the events on Hoth, culminating with an attack on Echo Base after which several were to have been contained by the Rebels only to be inadvertently released to catastrophic results by attacking Imperial troops.
Gravak’k the Gree Test Subject
In Star Wars: The Old Republic, Wampas are most commonly found on Hoth, but other specimens show up on Rishi and on the snow capped mountains of Copero. There are two named Wampas in SWTOR: the first is Gravak’k, a world boss who appears on Ilum during the Gree event, and the second is Kyramla Gemas’rugam (“Deadly Hairball” in Mando’a) who is the first boss players will encounter in the Blood Hunt flashpoint. In both cases, it seems these Wampas were named by their captors, but there are indications in other Star Wars lore that Wampas might be intelligent creatures and not simply wild animals.
As this post goes live, the Snowfallen Wampa Cub, the Hoth Wampa Cub, and the Snowfallen Gizka can each still be purchased from the “Master of Ceremonies” vendor on either fleet for 60 Snow-Covered Parcels. In addition, decorators can also find Wampa rugs and taxidermied heads and wholes to decorate their strongholds. But if you want a Wampa pet, act fast, the event ends soon!
Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster
The inspiration for the Wampa almost certainly comes from the Yeti, a mysterious humanoid cryptid from the folklore of the Himalayan mountain range of the Indian subcontinent. In western stories, the Yeti is also known more prosaically as the Abominable Snowman and it’s most famous appearance in the pop culture of my youth was in the Rankin-Bass stop-motion animated adaptation of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The Abominable Snow-monster was called “Bumble” and I confess it’s cute, child-friendly appearance in this Christmas special meant that I never really found the Wampa that scary a monster, despite the attempts of the Special Edition of The Empire Strikes Back to make the Wampa seem more fearsome. Ultimately, the Yeti’s status as a misunderstood soul was further solidified in my mind by its appearance in the Pixar classic Monsters Inc.
It’s hard to imagine a cuter interpretation of the Wampa than the Snowfallen Cub who seems more interested in a good snowball fight than making a lunch out of any galactic hero. I won’t claim having this pet at your side will increase the odds you getting a Snow-Covered Parcel when you throw a snowball bomb, but it won’t hurt to try!