How does the saying go? Yavin showers bring Makeb flowers? As spring gives way to summer, I thought I’d take a look at one of the most (but not, to my surprise, completely) unique pets in Star Wars: The Old Republic, the Makrin Creeper Seedling.
This weird little pet was initially available as a reward for players who pre-ordered SWTOR’s first expansion Rise of the Hutt Cartel but is now available to everyone as one of the rotating options purchased from the Galactic Seasons token vendors on Fleet. When the Makrin Creeper Seedling was suggested for this project, I thought it was the only pet of its kind in the game, but during my research I discovered that there is a second Makrin pet, the Juvenile Makrin Creeper, a pet so rare I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in the game!
Makrin Creepers are described as very large creatures often indistinguishable at first glance from a wooded hillock or copse of trees, most notable for their six spider-like creeping legs which gives them their name . They are normally docile, but can be dangerous if provoked thanks to their thick bark-like hide, enormous size and long, jagged limbs. Players first encountered Makrin on the planet Makeb during Rise of the Hutt Cartel, but they can also be found on Odessen in the wilderness outside the Alliance base.
An adult Makrin Creeper waters itself at an oasis on Makeb.
The codex entry for the Makrin does not clearly address the question of whether they are animal or vegetable. It is very possible their appearance is an adaptation that allows them to better hide from predators, similar to earthborn Phasmids (or stick bugs) or the Orchid Mantis. However, like so many other aliens in Star Wars, I think it’s safe to suggest Makrin Creepers are likely a hybrid of plant and critter, and possess traits and properties of both. I have neither found an official classification nor thought of an entirely satisfying one myself. Should we call them Botansects? Or perhaps Bugflowers?
Plant-like creatures appear in very many stories from our own culture, from the Dryads of Greek mythology, the Fighting Apple Trees in Wizard of Oz to the Ents of the Lord of the Rings and Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. It should come as no surprise that plant-like creatures appear all over Star Wars lore as well.
The first of these was likely created by artist Ron Cobb as part of the concept art for aliens meant to inhabit the Mos Eisley cantina in the very first Star Wars movie. This “Ambulatory Plant” did not make it into the film, but like so many other unused designs, it found its way into Star Wars lore through the comics and novels and games of the Expanded Universe where it was identified as a Revwien.
Jedi Master Ood Bnar, dreaming of a Datacron on Ossus.
There are many other botanical aliens across the galaxy, but players of Star Wars: The Old Republic may have encountered two others during their adventures. The first is the Neti Jedi Master Ood Bnar, one of the longest living individuals in all of Star Wars lore. Ood Bnar appeared in some of the very first stories in the Old Republic setting, and while he remains deep in slumber on Ossus at the time of SWTOR, he will reward resourceful players with access to a datacron and a sprig from one of his branches.
The Curse has a hunger that cannot be sated.
The latest plant-like creature we encounter in SWTOR is the Curse, the fearsome final boss in the games most recent and most excellent flashpoint, Shrine of Silence. The Curse a horrid outgrowth of Voss’s Dark Heart, and Illeva has reasonably suggested that the Curse might be related to the Drengir, an invasive race of malevolent, carnivorous plants that threatened the galaxy during the High Republic era.
Let none of these fearsome, flowering foes dissuade you from adopting a Makrin Creeper Seedling of your very own! It may not be as floofy and huggable as a Loth cat, but when it sprouts to full size, you’ll have made a loyal treehouse-sized, walking forest friend!