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!