Grox

“Being useful to the Grox is good for your survival.”

- The Grox

The Grox is an empire of space-faring creatures present in Spore. The primary antagonists of Space Stage and serving as the final obstacle towards the player's goal of reaching the Galactic Core, the Grox controls 2,400 systems in an approximately 2,000-parsec circumference around the Galactic Core, the Grox possess the largest and most formidable non-player empire in the Space Stage. The Grox are innately territorial and hostile to all other empires in the galaxy (including the player), and possess a unique and unobtainable archetype.

Overview

Characteristics

“The Grox are the ultimate evil in the galaxy. They are machines that exist entirely outside of nature.”

- Stones of Life 5

All in-game information regarding the Grox (with the exception of the Books of Science) unanimously view them as the primary antagonistic force of the galaxy; an extremely hostile machine race with unnatural characteristics that have established a massive territory around the Galactic Core. Other in-game information, such as the Scrolls of Harmony theorise that the Grox were 'created' for unknown reasons and purposes, though many other sources surmise that they are protecting, or guarding against something of value hidden within the galactic core. The view of the Grox being unnatural beings is reasoned by their ability to survive solely on T0 planets; they cannot survive on planets of a higher T-score, and abducted Grox are immediately destroyed, being categorised as 'too toxic for your Cargo Hold'. The abundance of T0 planets within the vicinity of the galactic core allow for the Grox to spread and colonize planets rapidly as part of the game's mechanics to keep the Grox as a formidable obstacle. The Grox are far more distrusting than Warrior archetypes (an innate relationship modifier of -70 as opposed to the Warrior archetype's -15 or -30) and are immediately hostile to the player. As a result, the Grox are difficult to either defeat or ally due to their aggression and survivability.

Almost all philosophy archetypes are mutually hostile to the Grox. Scientists and Diplomats do not actively hate them; Scientists treat them neutrally as a scientific curiosity, and Diplomats view them as a potentially powerful ally. Bard archetypes comically view them as "no fun at all", and accuse them of "not explaining what ticks them off". Warrior and Knight archetypes belligerently view them as rivals who present the 'ultimate challenge', while Traders view them as enemies of universal happiness and prosperity. Archetypes such as Zealots, Shamans and Ecologists are far more acrimonious towards the Grox, with Zealots treating them as anathema to Spode. Shamans and Ecologists view them as perverse and against the harmony of the natural order. They are uninamously viewed as enemies due to the contested ownership of the galactic core, which all archetypes treat with desire.

The Spore Guide at the "Space Stage" tab includes "The Grox!" section, which encourages the player to watch out for them. It implies that they are a race that all other races fear, as well as highly combative and protective of their space despite little known about them. Those who encounter them may share stories of the Grox's destructive force with the player.

Creature

The Grox are unique in that they possess ten creature parts that are exclusive to them and asymmetrical (which was impossible to replicate prior to Patch 1.05). The Grox are not available or found in the Sporepedia, along with their associated buildings and vehicles, besides in the Space Stage. Their loadable PNG exists in the game files concealed, albeit it cannot be edited without third-party exploits.

The parts that the Grox possesses are D'orca mouth, Eyebissed eyes, Kitty senses, Bulbous Fingers and Prongripper graspers, Pads and Dirtchargers feet, and Snogtib Cap, Beam Me Helmet, Jazz Illuminator, Comet Sighter, Cap. Cornhall, Smarnocker, and Moon Gas Sensor details. The ten Grox parts are visually shown below, independently of the Grox creature. These parts are unavailable to the player in creators without third-party mods.

Buildings and Vehicles

Unlike other non-player empires whose buildings and vehicles are randomly chosen, the Grox are assigned unique assets that are inaccessible to the player without being edited. Multiple identical replications of the Grox's assets are available via Sporepedia and SporeWiki.

Buildings

Vehicles

In-Game Dialogue

The Grox's unique archetype gives them a distinctive voice, characterized as a series of machine-like sounds with wildly fluctuating and 'glitched' character:

The following dialogues are cut from the final game:

Strategy

Notes

Trivia

• The Grox have a unique, non-procedurally generated anthem which can be heard if the player hovers over a Grox-owned city (video).
• A crashed spaceship can sometimes be found during the Creature Stage, which will remain on the planet throughout the game. If it is a Grox ship, it will have a purple cloud floating over it (with no effect on the player).
• In both the Creature Stage and Tribal Stage, spaceships will occassionally abduct creatures from the player's planet. More often than not, the ship is the Grox Spaceship.
• The Grox's resemble the cryptid aliens from the Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter
• As it takes over one billion years in-game to reach the Space Stage, it is assumed that the Grox are at least as old due to their encounters in earlier stages.
• Little is mentioned about the Grox in Spore's owner manual. It only states to 'beware the Grox, as they do not understand relationships'.
• If the Grox are defeated and the player starts a new game, the Grox will not appear once the player reaches the Space Stage.
• During the game's beta stages, the Grox were named Grob.
• If you end your alliance with the Grox, they will take it quite personally. They will say that 'anyone else would love to ally with them', despite being universally hated by all other empires.
• It is impossible to trade with the Grox. The trade button will always be greyed out, no matter how high the player's relationship is. However a rare glitch will allow one to trade with them. If one were to meet the Grox before any other empire, one may trade with them, although they will not have the 'advanced technology' that other empires claim they have.
• The Grox offer twice the payment for their missions. For example, an eradication mission usually pays 75,000 Sporebucks, but the Grox will offer 150,000.
• If the Soothing Song ability is used on the Grox, all empires within a certain distance will instantly lose a number of relationship points, usually resulting in declaring war.
• Allying with the Grox will lower relationship points by 200 for every empire in the entire galaxy to instantly declare war. If one uplifts a planet with a Monolith, they will also instantly declare war once they reach the Space Stage.
• The Grox are believed to be based largely on the Borg from the Star Trek series. In fact their internal name is ‘Grob’, which is ‘Borg’ spelled backwards.
• Sometimes, when they declare war they will say “Resistance is futile!”, a famous Borg quote, or “EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!”, a reference to the Daleks from the Doctor Who series.
• In “Oh, Say Can You Say?” (A Dr. Seuss book) there is an animal called a Grox.

PNGs

Game-compatible PNGs for the Grox's assets, including the Grox creature itself, are available here to download: