This installment of Pets of the Old Republic features the third and final droid to appear in this series. I feel like I should’ve featured more droids given their importance in Star Wars history, so should I return to this project, I’ll be sure to expand their numbers. For today, however, let’s take a good look at another one of my favorites: the Gree Data Core.
The Gree Data Core is, at first glance, simply a hovering cube. It shares design elements with other Gree technology players encounter on during their testing on Ilum, in the Operation Terror from Beyond and the Ancient Hypergate, PVP Warzone. The Core is one of four pets players can collect from the “Relic of the Gree” Event, Star Wars: The Old Republic’s very first recurring event, and one that is still a favorite of mine whenever it comes around. Players can purchase this pet once they achieve the Reputation rank of Newcomer with the Gree Enclave; a level that can be achieved the first week players participate in the event.
A Bit program from Tron can respond with only two states: positive or negative.
I’ve always been fond of the Gree aesthetic for the simple reason that as a child of the 1980s, I thought the movie Tron was cool. By today’s standards, the film’s story is slight, and its once groundbreaking special effects seem rather quaint. I was taken by its neon soaked glow, its terrific electronic musical score, and the fact that it very presciently asked at the start of the internet age who should have access and control of the online world. Finally, it explores the question of how much of ourselves we put into the things we create, a question as old as art itself. And, to be clear, Light Cycles are totally rad.
The first published depiction of the Gree by artist Christian Gossett from the article “The Gree Enclave”.
The Gree made their first appearance in 1995 during the early days of the Expanded Universe in an article written by Timothy O’Brien for West End Games’ Star Wars Roleplaying Game. The Gree have been mentioned here and there in subsequent Star Wars lore, but they’ve appeared most prominently in SWTOR. Many aspects of the Gree that players will recognize from our interactions with them, such as the planet Asation, their extensive use of Hypergates and their interest in maintaining ancient technologies come straight from O’Brien’s writing. The Gree’s distinct neon-piped technology and the color and geometry based metaphors that fill their speech patterns are additions to their lore from their roles in SWTOR.
Portal‘s Weighted Companion Cube really isn’t much of a companion.
I should mention the Gree Data Core’s two most obvious inspirations. The first is the Bit from Tron. The Bit is a small, polyhedral, floating shape that can only communicate using Yes or No answers. They also float above the ground and accompany more complicated programs or users across the Game Grid, much like the Gree pet in SWTOR
However, the Data Core closely resembles the Weighted Companion Cube from the acclaimed video games Portal and Portal 2. Portal is about traversing spaces using technology that resembles Gree Hypergates, so it is reasonable to believe that the Gree would be fans as the game as well. Unlike the Gree Data Core, the Companion Cube is inconveniently immobile and seemingly uninterested in accompanying anyone on their adventures.
A collection of cubes: B1-SAL Probe Droid, Gree Data Core, BX-23 Probe Droid, BX-24 Probe Droid, P1-XL Probe Droid, B25-Sal Probe Droid.
Curiously, cube-shaped pets are very common in SWTOR. In recent years, the game has awarded five more to players as login promotions. The first of these pets was inspired by the infamous “orange pixel” bug from the very, very early days of SWTOR, and contains in its design elements of other droids from across Star Wars lore. The two most recent cubic airborne droids are cousins of the beloved, sad sack droid B2EMO from Andor.
Listen to the Gree speech patterns long enough and it starts to make sense!
Currently, the Gree Data Core is only cube pet available to players, so I highly recommend checking out the Gree Event next time it comes around on Ilum. After that, definitely take time to raid the Terror from Beyond, one of my favorite SWTOR operations. When leveling up a player on the Republic side, also make sure to earn the title “Black Bisector” from the Gree side quest on Coruscant. The player’s interactions with the Gree Operators assisting the reconstruction of Coruscant are both amusing and a good introduction to the Gree’s culture and distinctive dialect.