Alien Compendium: The Old Republic

The Star Wars MMORPG The Old Republic has been running since 2011, and features a wide array of species from the movies and the Expanded Universe, as well as several unique species created for the game. With the most recent iteration of the “Nar Shaddaa Nightlife Event”, several new aliens were introduced into the game, such as the Aqualish, the Ishi Tib, and the Snivvian. What caught my eye, however, were two entirely new species. Two characters appear in this update, Sellexith and Grenkk. And while they have not been named in the game itself, avid dataminers have determined that in the game data their species are identified as Daichyura and Krex, respectively. With these new additions, I thought it’d be a good idea to have a look at the species from “SWTOR”.

The Daichyura, as already mentioned, is a new species that was created for the “Nar Shaddaa Nightlife Event”. Not much is know about this species, although it does seem to have been inspired by the Vurk (as in Jedi Master Coleman Trebor from Attack of the Clones). Only one character, Sellexith, has been seen so far.

The Esh-kha were an ancient species with equine features. Once considered one of the most feared and dangerous races of the galaxy, they came into conflict with the Infinite Empire. Ultimately they lost this war, and what remained of their species was imprisoned on Belsavis (Outer Rim, L18). During the Cold War, the stasis fields of the prison started to break down, and the Esh-kha were freed. They fought against both the Republic and the Sith Empire, and attempted to return back to the stars.

The Flesh Raiders were essentially heavily mutated Rakata. These low-caste beings were bred as soldiers by the Infinite Empire. After the fall of the Empire, some Flesh Raiders managed to survive on Tython (Deep Core, L10), where they lived a tribal live. They posed a significant threat against the Jedi Order, who erected a Jedi Temple and training grounds on the world sometime after the Treaty of Coruscant in 3,653 BBY.

The Gormak were a reptilian species from the planet Voss (Outer Rim, S6). They shared their homeworld with the Voss, with whom they were locked in an eternal war. Gormak were technologically advanced, and extremely hostile to outsider as well, considering all of them allies of the Voss. While they were the more populous species on Voss, their fragmented tribal culture prevented them from overwhelming Voss-Ka.

The Krex were a reptilian species, with a large horn protruding from their forehead. As with the Daichyura, the Krex were created for a recent update to SWTOR, and their species name has been recovered from game files. Not much is know about the species at this point.

The Sarkhai were a near-human species from the planet Sarkhai (Mid Rim). They had pale skins and white hair, and were known for their tradition of face-painting, which was developed as a way to frighten predators. The Sarkhai developed state-of-the-art defensive technology around the time of the Cold War, and were part of the Galactic Republic.

The Skel were a species of mammals, native to Hoth (Outer Rim, K18). They were short bipeds, standing around 1.2 meters tall, and covered in white fur. The Skel lived in caves and had a simple language of snarls and grunts. Technically not a new addition to the Star Wars universe, the Skell had been developed for the “Design an Alien” competition for Star Wars Galaxy Magazine. Although Leland Chee at one point confirmed that successfully published “Design an Alien” materials could be considered canon, the Skels were never mentioned again until their appearance in SWTOR.

The Voss were a humanoid race from Voss (Outer Rim, S6), a planet they shared with the Gormak. They were conservative, spiritual people, and lived in an isolated city called Voss-Ka. The Voss were guided by the Voss Mystics, Force-sensitive beings with visions of the future. Locked in a never-ending war with the Gormak, every Voss served as a commando at one point in his or her life. Voss had a love of art and architecture, and, although they might have seem grim to outsiders, had a great appreciation for life.

That’s it, the new species of The Old Republic so far. Since the game is still up and running, there may very well be more in the future. I’ll keep an eye out for any new information. Just for fun, and for the sake of completeness, here’s a gallery of all the other species seen in the game (I left out the humans, cause they are pretty obvious).