Pets of the Old Republic: #16: Mischievous Miniprobe

With the Nar Shaddaa Nightlife Event back in full swing, I figured a trip to the Smuggler’s Moon would be appropriate for the next installment of Pets of the Old Republic. The Mischievous Miniprobe feels like the best pet to have out when trying your luck (or lack thereof) at the slot machines.

This is the second droid I’ve featured in this project, and it is one of the most unique pets in all of the game. The Mischievous Miniprobe flies and beeps alongside you, and it will occasionally open up to spray you with sparkles and confetti. This miniprobe’s programming is clearly meant to remind you not to take yourself too seriously.

The original source of this pet is the Cartel Market, but it is currently not available for purchase, and at least on Star Forge, it will cost you many, many pretty pennies to buy from the auction house of the Galactic Trade Network. This is such a delightful and unique pet, that I hope that it might find its way back to affordable sale one day.

If a droid floats in a Star Wars movie, it’s probably evil.

Floating droids of this type go back to the earliest days of Star Wars, as seen by the Interrogation Droid in A New Hope and the Imperial Probe Droid from The Empire Strikes Back.

Miniprobes both in Star Wars lore and SWTOR tend to favor a spherical construction, so the Mischievous Miniprobe’s design is unusual in its class. Shintar remarked that this pet reminded her of an old school telephone receiver, but I would not suggest putting this droid up to your ear lest you want a face full of confetti!

“Non sequitur. Your facts are uncoordinated…”

I don’t know if it’s intentional, but the robot that Mischievous Miniprobe first brought to my mind was the space probe Nomad from the original Star Trek episode “The Changeling.” Both robots float, have long central “torsos” and antennas atop their heads. The head of the Miniprobe recalls the T-series astromechs that are common in the Old Republic, but Nomad’s low-budget 1960’s aesthetic doesn’t feel too far off from Star Wars’ 1970s style. Attach some spindly robot arms and legs to Nomad and you’ve practically got IG-88!

Regardless, a Mischievous Miniprobe is not likely to threaten the lives of the crew of any starship in a galaxy far, far away, but someone with an electro-mop may have to clean up the literal mess it leaves in its wake!

Within SWTOR lore, the only other droids that seem to have a similar structure are the Iokath Technolith remotes. We have encountered Zakuulan gods of rage, passion, envy, apathy, sorrow and death. I am certainly drawing together the most narrow of threads, but perhaps the Mischievous Miniprobe was created by or in tribute to an unseen trickster god from the Machine God pantheon. I would not be shocked to learn that even on Iokath there was a place for their version of the Coyote spirit or Loki.

This miniprobe does not seem like one that fancies mischief.

If you’ve been following my Pets of the Old Republic project, you may have noticed that I’ve fallen a bit behind lately. This summer I have had opportunities to spend more time with family and friends, and something had to give. It’s unlikely that I will finish this series when I’d originally intended, but I promise I will finish it! I received so many great suggestions for pets to feature that I fully intend to cover them all.

And maybe this will give Broadsword time to finally slip a Porg into SWTOR…