Star Wars Outlaws: Nix the Galactic TomCat
- Jul 27
- 5 min read
A Reluctant Cat-Lover is Born through the Obnoxious But Cute Antics of Nix
This little space critter really grows on you.
By: Stephen Wilds, Guest Contributor
Video games have made a lot of progress when it comes to giving us useful companions, solid partners in crime that actually help manage the waves of enemies, provide distractions, or at least fetch us some ammo in the heat of battle.
Early on in the marketing campaign for Star Wars Outlaws, people took an interest in Nix, the little creature that was out to steal hearts and show that this franchise isn’t all about heartless droids attempting to drop dry one-liners. The game may not have been incredibly well received, but most fans agree that Nix and his relationship with Kay Vess were among the best parts.
This little space critter really grows on you.
GALACTIC TOMCAT
A lot of people seem to compare Nix to a dog when discussing his qualities, but I've always seen him as more of a cosmic feline. I’m not a fan of cats – allergic to them, even – but my wife loves the little goblins, and so we have two. Many of Nix’s mannerisms feel like our two cats combined into one less annoying, much more valuable alien.
Nix is a new creature in the Star Wars lore—a Merqaal. He’s small, but still big enough to cause some damage with his claws and sharp teeth. This creature is soft with brownish fur, while also having patches of blue-gray scales, providing a mixture of textures when petting. The thing possesses big dark green eyes, ear-like tentacles that act as feelers and make me think of giant whiskers, a tail, and a big goofy smile; it’s hard not to be intrigued when we see it. For some, the love is instant, but I wasn’t quite convinced.
Mechanically, Nix isn’t just there to look cute (even if it succeeds). He’s described as Kay’s left hand, the greatest tool she has access to. He’s an intelligent creature, meaning Kay can give an array of commands during combat, usually sending him off to attack enemies, grab items like health and weapons, or even trigger explosive containers. Outside of a firefight, he’s potentially even handier, able to fit into small places, open doors, distract guards, sabotage alarms, find treasures, and help us cheat at Sabacc (the card game). Nix is somewhat stealthy and extremely agile, able to stick to many surfaces, making him the perfect operative for traversal, thievery, and espionage. Observant players who take full advantage of Nix’s abilities will save themselves a lot of time and trouble.
CUTE, BUT DEADLY, AND CUTE
I think it was the first time I saw this little ally activate an explosive a Stormtrooper was carrying that made me realize I didn’t hate him. I don’t usually use the word ‘love’ when referring to animals, but when one rolls this hard, it’s hard to deny.
Nix isn’t just a tool. A few minutes with him and we are quickly reminded that he’s his own creature and has a vivacious personality. This thing is mischievous, trying to play innocent when he’s caught misbehaving, emoting with those big eyes and tentacles, even giving shrugs or pushing himself down when he’s scared. Nix is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, who does an excellent job. Many of his sounds for Nix’s communication are similar to when my cats try to let out these great meows, but the noise is more cut off and pathetic, yet somehow charming, because they’re really trying hard to be heard.
He loves attention, evident by his mannerisms when we send him out to distract the bad guys, or if Kay playfully points a blaster at her friend, he over-dramatically plays dead. She clearly loves her little partner, but sometimes he acts the fool and runs ahead or roams in dangerous places. Nix can be too playful during serious times, randomly stopping to make shadow puppets to mess with Kay, or taking items that he wasn’t instructed to fetch.
Sometimes he’s just padding around, climbing up on everything, or perched on Kay’s shoulder and getting in her face for attention. My cats do this too, as if they want to remind me it’s getting close to feeding time, or they have some serious philosophical question they want to look me in the eyes for.
Many of these actions aren’t too surprising, as the development team at Massive Entertainment took inspiration from their own pets for his movements and quirks. This is a game that, of course, allows us to pet Nix, but it also gives us an objective to pet other creatures, to make him jealous. We have to keep him humble.
PROTECT HIM AT ALL COSTS
"My wife ordered me to do anything I had to, sacrifice everything just to save Nix. It sounded dumb at first, but soon I realized I missed having him too,"
The game also wants to mess with us a bit by having Nix captured at one point, all because of a Sabacc game gone wrong. Someone takes Kay’s friend and offers him up as payment, causing the beast to end up in Jabba’s Palace.
When this happened, my wife ordered me to do anything I had to, sacrifice everything just to save Nix. It sounded dumb at first, but soon I realized I missed having him too, and I may have cheered loudly when he bit the cruel Hutt.
To Kay, and maybe to some of us, Nix isn’t just a pet—he’s family. I have to admit that this ugly little cosmic cat has moxie, and by the end of our time together, he won me over, endearing me to the adventure, to the point that some of the game's shortcomings were easier to ignore.
I don’t like him as much as Kay – she actually shares meals with him and got a tattoo of its weird face, which is probably going too far – but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I already miss seeing him sitting on the back of the speeder bike, waiting impatiently to leave. Okay, I’ll admit, I kind of want one now.
Since he’s from a jungle planet, do I need to worry about flea collars and ticks?
Wilds is a freelance writer who loves pizza and is allergic to his wife's cats. He is also one who writes for various entities, waking up late in the day to struggle with commas, broken controllers, and nightmares of Silent Hill, as well as old cartoons that only got one season.
˖ ꗃ ﾍ(^･･^=)~
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