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!