Monthly Archives: September 2025

From the very start, the Nefarious Blurrg was guaranteed a place in this project. It has long been one of my favorite pets in Star Wars: The Old Republic and was certainly the first Cartel Market pet I unlocked for use across my account. Blurrg pets come in many varieties, but this one’s striking red, scaly hide and black stripes draw attention and let you know even before seeing its name that it is the most nefarious of the bunch.

A big part of the fun of this project for me has been exploring the origins of these pets and seeing how they are connected to other creatures both real and imagined. To my surprise, the Blurrg has put down footprints in every little era of Star Wars‘ lore. To most Star Wars fans, Blurrgs are familiar as the surly lizard mounts ridden by Din Djarin and the Ugnaught Kuiil in the very first episode of The Mandalorian, but a Blurrg pet appeared in SWTOR seven year earlier, and fans of the Clone Wars cartoon will recognized the use of Blurrg mounts in an episode three years before that in 2009.

A production illustration of Blurrgs at home on the range from The Mandalorian.

The origins of Blurrg’s stretch even farther back into Star Wars history to the early days of The Empire’s Strikes Back’s development in the late 1970s, with a few more stops along the way.

What we now call as a Blurrg had its start in the creation of the creatures that eventually became Tauntauns in Episode 5. It’s obvious if you compare them side by side. Both have long tails, Tyrannosaurus-like bodies, with sturdy back legs and teeny tiny forearms. During Empire’s development, Industrial Light and Magic’s artists, creature designers and animators explored the possibility of the mounts used by the Rebels as being lizards rather than the more mammalian Tauntauns eventually seen on screen.

Creature design for The Empire Strikes Back that inspired the Blurrg.

The original design must have struck a chord with someone at ILM because in 1985, this design was revisited and reused for the movie Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. The creatures seen in this TV movie were brought to life in delightful stop motion animation and remain recognizable as the Blurrgs we see in Star Wars today.

The stop-motion animated pack animal from Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.

It’s interesting to reflect back on a time after the conclusion of the original trilogy when the Star Wars franchise was most prominently carried by the Ewoks, who starred in their own comic books, Saturday morning cartoons and television movies. This media was definitely aimed at children rather than adults or even teenage fans, was clearly made with a limited budget, and not lacking at all in cheese, but it does serve as a reminder that Star Wars doesn’t have to be completely serious all the time.

In 1995, during the heyday of the Expanded Universe, the creatures were formally identified as Blurrgs in the book, The Illustrated Star Wars Universe. This book is a travel guide of the major worlds seen in the Star Wars films, and I imagine the creature’s name is meant to be indicative of its call or moo. Curiously the illustration of the Blurrg used in the book seems to have been an early design that does not match what was seen in the movie. The book’s depiction of the Blurrg was later adapted for use in Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars’ first MMO-RPG.

Blurrgs as we now know them found their place in modern Star Wars lore in the Clone Wars and later Star Wars: Rebels animated series before finally returning to their live action roots in The Mandalorian. They have the bodies of a dinosaur, the clompy feet of a rhinoceros, and the full, furious face of a fish. They are ridiculous, but I think that is a big part of their charm. As we have seen many times, they are hybrids of different animals, but in a final form that any kid can instantly understand. Yeah, you can ride them like horses, but they’re probably not going to be happy about it!

Many Blurrgs (left to right): Speckled, Hooded, Lurker, Striped, Nefarious, Mottled, Sublime and Mossrankle Blurrgs.

In SWTOR, Blurrgs only exist as pets. There are no full-sized adults to encounter in the wild nor mounts that players can ride. Still, there is a wide variety of Blurrg pets to collect in colors certain to match any player’s fancy. With the exception of the Umbral Blurrg, a retired pet included with a Cartel Coin promotion, all Blurrg pets came from the Cartel Market, and, for the most part, remain reasonably priced on the Galactic Trade Network. As I write this, the Mossrankle Blurrg is currently available for purchase from the limited time Subscriber Token Vendor, but I recommend collectors check the auction house before spending the more precious tokens on a pet.

Should you adopt a Blurrg of your own? Some pets adore their owners. Some are as loyal as the day is long. Some bring joy after a long, hard day. The Nefarious Blurrg follows us reluctantly and silently judges our every move. Sometimes we all could use a little bit of that in our lives.

The Nexu was one of the most highly requested pets for me to include in the project. The subject of this installment is the Woodland Nexu. There are several varieties of Nexu pets available in Star Wars: The Old Republic, but with this particular version, I was able to depict one whose source is not the Cartel Market and whose appearance most closely matches the Nexu as it appears in its Star Wars debut in Episode 2: Attack of the Clones. This pet allows me to explore the philosophy behind how the Nexu and many, many other creatures in Star Wars lore are created; we can see how mixing and matching qualities of different animals from our world can lead to fictional creatures whose first impression can tell a viewer all they need to know about the creature.

The Woodland Nexu pet can be purchased from either faction’s Kessan’s Landing reputation vendor at Legend rank for the cool price of 1 million credits. An alternative pet, the Wasteland Nexu is available from the Spoils of War vendor for 75,000 credits and 125 Tech Fragments. There are also a few other Nexu that come from the Cartel Market, but they are from more exotic breeds than the two pets on the vendors. There are also several Nexu mounts, most of which also come from the Cartel Market, but if you participate in the PVP seasons, you can save up Season tokens to purchase one of two distinctive armored Nexu mounts. Finally, if you’d like to fight alongside a Nexu, one is available from the Cartel Market as a creature companion.

Nexu first appeared in Star Wars in 2002 in the arena melee during the climax of Attack of the Clones. The Nexu was designed by Lucasfilm Concept Sculptor Robert E. Barnes. His initial designs were more lion-like, an appropriate choice given the Nexu was meant to fight our heroes in a colosseum, but he revised the creature when he realized that George Lucas wanted “a feeling, not a literal translation” of the kind of creatures we might expect to see in such an encounter.

Nexu design by Robert E. Barnes from The Art of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

George Lucas has a design principle that has become known as “The Three Second Rule.” Much of Star Wars’ setting is weird, alien, and fantastic, but it is also grounded enough that it remains familiar to the audience who ought to be able to “connect right away” with its vehicles, creatures, and strange technology as soon as it appears on screen. “The designs have to live by themselves” without explanation. And in that regard, Barnes’ Nexu succeeds brilliantly. It’s not meant to be just an alien lion; it’s meant to be a fearsome and disturbing predator.

Barnes described the Nexu as a “mutated hybrid” and it certainly is that. Nexu have the toothy maw of a shark, the four eyes of a jumping spider, the pelt and stripes of a jungle cat, the claws of a velociraptor, the spines of a porcupine, the forelimbs of a primate, and a long split, rat-like tail. Look, I’m a cat person, but there is nothing adorable about the Nexu. This isn’t a fuzzy house cat or lazy space-tiger, it is every inch a nightmarish predator. You won’t need three seconds to realize that.

On the irradiated jungle world of Taris, this full grown, wild Nexu smiles for the camera.

I think this design explains why the Nexu is so distinctive that it has reappeared often throughout Star Wars lore. It can be seen on screen in the Bad Batch and, of course, throughout Star Wars: The Old Republic. Players will encounter Nexu early on Taris, but they also show up on Voss, Corellia and Nathema.

Nexu are said to be trainable so perhaps a domesticated Woodland Nexu kitten won’t chew off your face, but be careful when you sleep because it may just go for your toes when you least expect it!