Today marks the ninth anniversary of This Week in Aurebesh! Each milestone my little project reaches leaves me pleasantly surprised and thankful for all the visitors I have received over the years. I started this blog as a bit of a lark, but it’s taken on a life of its own, and I’m always amazed to see what it continues to inspire in me.
To mark the occasion, I’m starting a new project to draw portraits and highlight just a few of the many, many pets available to players of Star Wars: The Old Republic. The genesis for this came from a pair of tweets from Swtorista and Kal from Today in the Old Republic. Swtorista posted a funny screenshot of her pet Kell Dragon climbing on the furniture, and in response Kal drew, in what must be MS Paint, a quick picture of the dragon. Likewise, I added my own quick version. It was all very silly, but I had fun with the drawing, and I’ve decided to keep it going. Ever since I bought a White Kitten from Lil Timmy during my very first visit to Stormwind in World of Warcraft, I’ve enjoyed collecting pets and that passion has continued into SWTOR.
Number One in this series has to be the Opal Vulptilla Puppy. This version of the pet has been available to players as giveaways from SWTOR and members of its Content Creator Program or as a reward for participation on the game’s test server.
This little fellah is completely adorable. I’m certain he loves scritches, but be careful where you pet him, because it’s not all soft and fuzzy! I like the creature’s mix of textures with its floppy ears, thick fur and iridescent crystal mane.
Vulptillas are available to players as both pets and mounts aside from the Opal presented here. Check the Cartel Market or the GTN for the original Blue pet and mount or the infernal red mount.
SWTOR’s Vulptillas are, of course, inspired by the crystal foxes from my favorite Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi. The foxes in the movie are called Vulptices and share some traits with the Vulptillas but they are not identical. The crystal fur of a Vulptex is much finer than the large shards found on the Vulptilla, and the Vulptex has a leaner, longer frame than the much larger and broader mature Vulptilla.
There is not yet any lore in SWTOR concerning Vulptillas, but it is reasonable to assume that the two foxlike creatures are related. Can Vulptillas also be found on Crait? Or perhaps Vulptillas are natives of Ilum? Given that we have seen at least three different colors of Vulptillas, it leads me to wonder if their crystalline manes are somehow related to the Kyber crystals of the Jedi and Sith.
What Pets Would You Like to See?
My goal for this Pets of the Old Republic project is to create over the next year twenty-five portraits of some of the cutest, grossest, silliest, most loveable pets from the history of the game. I have a list to start on, but I would love to add some suggestions from you!
Is there a favorite pet you’d like to see me draw? Leave a comment below! The pets with the most votes will be added to the queue. In addition everyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a raffle for an Opal Vulptilla pet. And if you have one, already let me know and I’ll send you 450 cartel coins instead. I will select up to 12 winners from among all entries.
Here are the rules:
To enter, leave a comment below with the following information:
- Your character name (be mindful of spaces and special symbols!)
- Your faction
- Your server
- Which pet you’d like to see me illustrate
- Would you prefer an Opal Vulptilla pet or 450 cartel coins?
That’s it! I will accept entries for two weeks from this posting and will randomly select the winners on October 17 at 1 PM ET.
If you prefer not to comment publicly, I will also accept entries via email at twia@generic-hero.com, or through Twitter or Bluesky.
There are no country or server restrictions on any of the prizes that will be awarded.
This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with LucasFilm Ltd, Broadsword or Electronic Arts Inc.
We’re on the honor system here, so one entry per person, please.
Good luck, and you can keep it if you remember to feed, walk it and clean up after it!
My vote goes to the infamously adorable Dwedtoof!
(Jebzan, pubside Star Forge, and 450cc please!)
Not entering into your competition but here are some ideas of iconic swtor pets!
Tauntaun Ram
I would love to see your rendition of the plague tail monkey lizard!
I love the pet Thranta from Alderaan!
Since Dweadtoof has already been mentioned, I’m going to go with Kaon’s very own Midnight Rakling.
Davin Arcaina, Star Forge, Republic Faction, Opal Vulptilla pet
It’s probably already on your list, but just to be safe I’d like to cast a vote for the Fiery Grophet. No prize needed!
B L U R R G
Lucian Elzar
Imperial
Star Forge
I have loved Gizkas ever once they were first introduced so one of those would be so cool!
Lucian needs the Opal vulptilla pet to go with his opal vulptilla mount omg
Since the taun faun and the thrantas have been mentioned, I also like the nerf calf pets. They also have a lovely side quest to earn them. 🙂
Indígo Montoya (or Tarea Voto if characters are weird), Star Forge, Republic, Opal Vulptilla pet
So many cool pets… Oh, how we love our pets. I like the droids and ship models too, they are a lot of fun. The way I do it, I have one character that collects droids, and another that collects all the animals, and a third that collects the ship models.
I have a personal favorite: it doesn’t feel right to have a Sith without an Interrogation droid hovering around. I’ll give a honorable mention for the Harrower Star Destroyer pet, it’s just wicked looking.
*(SexyLekku, StarForge Republic, I already have the Opal Vulptilla)
I love my pets, my favorites are probably the little animals like the turtle and bluurg. But ultimately, my vote goes to the beautiful Striped Bluurg.
Rami Saxon, Star Forge, Imperial, already have the Opal Vulptilla so cartel coins
What can I say, I would ask for a Loth-cat illustration. That’s my first.
But if you wanted a challenge to do something a bit atypical – Devious Creep. XD
Xodlak’ar’nurudo
Star Forge, Imperial, CC because I have an opal Vulp pet & moutn already
I forgot to mention that I have a pet-zoo in my Tattooine SH. Most (not all) of the pets in SWTOR are in the SH. It’s Ohurhi Varad’s Black Market. (Star Forge, Cross-faction technically)
I think the Flirron from Onderon is a cutie, and would love to see your take on it.
Tarabei Kaur
Republic
Shae Vilza
Flirron
Opal Vulptilla (my mount would love a puppy)
Sorry for double post, email didn’t enter properly :/
Vaizha
Republic
Star Forge
Opal Vulptilla pet, please!
The Phantom Vrake is one of my favorite pets. All glowy and fire-colored! I like to put some lava near it in a stronghold for it to bathe/drink. 😀
For non-glowy pets, I’m fond of the Indigo Mantorin. A cute purple pet is an important accessory for a wardrobe full of purple!
Look at us all adoring our animals in here!
Intisar: “the pet with the MOST votes…”
Comments: “hmm that pet has a vote already, so I wanna talk about this OTHER pet nobody’s mentioned yet…”
Literally just thought this EXACT thing! lol
I love the recent promo and event pets, of which at the top of my list are:
Cl-4w from the nightlight event
JR-4 recon droid (my namesake, and inspired by BD-1 from jedi survivor)
BX-24 probe droid (inspired by Darth Maul)
^^ from jr_revolution..
Love the Devious Creep
Would love to see Hutt pets
A Death Star pet
Jawa Pets
Opal Vulptilla I missed along the way.
MY NAME IS ZAHK
MY FACTION IS THE GOOD GUYS
MY FACTION IS THE BAD PLACE THAT MAKES THE SHIPS HAPPEN
THE MOST IMPORTANT PET IN THE GALAXY IS HAIRLESS MUDHORN
CARTEL COINS SUSTAIN ME
I’d like to suggest Juvenile Makrin Creeper as it feels like would be most difficut to draw
*villainous laugh*
(No prize needed)
Your character name: Madam Hatred
Your faction: Imperial
Your server: StarForge
Which pet you’d like to see me illustrate: Dwedtoof
Would you prefer an Opal Vulptilla pet or 450 cartel coins?: Opal Vulptilla
I love the monkey-lizards! I know there’s a vote for the plague tail already, so I’ll suggest the Cyborg!
Siggi, Imp side, Shae Vizla, CC for me please.
Reshma
Empire
Satele Shan server
Opal Vulptilla pet
So many pets I love, but I nominate the Gannifari to be drawn! Akk dogs are so cute and the little pet versions are even cuter.
Davly
Empire
Darth Malgus server
Opal Vulptilla pet
I vote for the cute little tiger Forest Nekarr Cat
Obiwanomalley, Republic, Star Forge
I’d recommend a look at the pets available from vendors during the different events that rotate. For example, each swoop gang has a little droid you can get. There are pets you can get for achievements during the rakghoul event. Gree has some too.
Kara Cameron
Sith Empire
Darth Malgus
Opal Vulptilla
My vote would be for Dwedtoof or the Carbonite-Frozen Kowakian Monkey-Lizard!
I’d love to see your take on the creepy brain-in-a-jar-style Enlightened Spider Droid!
(if I win, no need for codes or pet, thanks)
–Chill