Grox

The Grox are a sentient species of cyborg aliens generally considered to be the most evil and hostile in the galaxy. They are most notable for their evil and hostility, but are also notable for their asymmetric, weak appearance. They have a astonishing amount of colonies surrounding the galactic core, serving as an obstacle to the player. They are drastically aggressive and only seem to be able to live on otherwise uninhabitable T0 planets. Raising a planet's T-Score will make it impossible for the Grox to inhabit it. It is very hard to defeat the Grox since their amazingly vast empire spans over circa 1000 star systems. The followers of Spode believe that the Grox are the greatest evil, even more so than regular persons who reject the will of Spode, and only The False God That Will Come is hated as much as them. And since everyone hates the Grox, the scrolls of faith, harmony as well as the scrolls of order, the stones of force and life, and the tablets of prosperity, even the blocks of chance mentions them as the most unearthly beings in the galaxy. And for that matter, all the creatures in the world follows a specific symbol, as to their archetype, causing them to follow it and oppose the grox.

Basic

 * 2,700 HP
 * 150 DPS
 * Nearly as fast as the player

Abilities

 * Unlimited Mega Repair Packs
 * Cloak

Basic

 * Carnivore
 * Machine

Abilities

 * Too toxic for cargo hold.

Nature
Feared by every empire in the galaxy, the Grox as a species are extremely delicate and weak and have only survived due to their incredible intelligence, mainly at mechanical work and cybernetics technology. As they developed around incredibly hostile species, they themselves grew to believe that the only way to survive in the universe was fierce aggression/expansionism and seeing other lifeforms as slime not deserving of even their disapproval. Although their minimal senses and weakness have been slightly enhanced with cybernetic implants, they still are among the most feeble sentients in the galaxy, but make up for it with incredible military might, and the ability to prosper in barren, dead planets. Unlike most land creatures, Grox have a strange intolerance to air, although they necessarily don't have to live in a vacuum (Though they might breath a different gas instead of oxygen). As such, they can only survive on T0 planets completely devoid of other life. If a planet's terrascore is at least T1, the planet cannot be inhabited by Grox without anti-terraforming the planet to T0. It may be, since every religious artifact mentions the Grox must be opposed, they follow another archetype. What this archetype is remains to be seen. Although it is apparently obvious that they have something against or for the center of the galaxy, whether they're protecting something or fighting against it remains as well. Either way, they act suspiciously, as they are known to be the most powerful in the galaxy.

Culture
The implants of the Grox serve an important religious as well as functional purpose. The meaning are to not only be distant from others, but to remind of their own physical weakness, which is why other empires are unfit to roam the universe, because they don't deserve their gifts. They also take part in the culture of others, though it is a mixture an attempt to mimic the average life form behaviour to manipulate them. They are bad at acting with a normal personality without drawing attention to their cyborg anatomy, but they understand the Spice trade and Sporebucks.

Toxicity
The Grox are 'toxic', as exposure to air causes them to disintegrate. If the player tries to abduct a Grox citizen, they are instantly destroyed because they are 'too toxic for your cargo hold.' This 'toxicity' is shrouded in mystery, but it does indeed tie in to how the Grox Empire is viewed by other civilizations, as an abomination of incomprehensible size that must nonetheless, be feared, or it could mean "morally toxic" (any influence from them could cause a spieces to lose it's morals). It is likely related to their implants or how they survive on T0 planets.

Aggression
The Grox are over twice as distrusting as a Zealot Empire (-30 compared to the Grox's -70). They also have a resistance to relationship improving devices, such as the Super Happy Ray. The Grox are extremely hard to defeat or ally with due to their size and aggression. They only willingly work for fellow cyborgs, or the rare organic life form that appeases them to the point of owing a favour.

In Other Culture
Almost all philosophies hate the Grox. Scientists, Bards, and Diplomats do not actively hate them, as Scientists somewhat admiring and curious about them, Diplomats regard them as a powerful potential ally and Bards think of them as "no fun at all" and say they are "not explaining what ticks them off". Warriors/Knights view them as the ultimate challenge and rivals, Traders regard them as enemies of universal happiness, Zealots hate them for religous reasons, and Shamans/Ecologists say they are unable to reach harmony due to their murders and hatred of nature. They are also disliked due to the ownership of the contested Galactic Core, desired by all except Bards ("We never wanted to go there anyway").

Dealing with Grox
Although the manual says "they don't understand relationships" you may still deal with Grox (or kill them).

How to ally with Grox


"Even if you bring them a present, they may not like you"- The Blocks Of Chance

To ally with the Grox fly towards the center of the galaxy, you will come across them way before you get there. You need 5 Planet Bombs, the Super Happy Ray, and a few health packs to heal while you're going to their planets for missions. They will attack you until you become allied. Do missions for them until you receive the maximum +50 reputation. You can plant an embassy on one of their planets, but they will attack it before you are allied with them. Use the super happy ray until you receive a maximum of +30 reputation for "using friendly tools," even with the best energy pack, you will need to recharge a few times before you're done. Blow up 4 innocent planets (not the Grox) or more until you've maxed to 50 (you'll receive +50 rep. with the Grox for "breaking Galactic Code"). Give them gifts of 100,000 spore bucks 4 times to receive a maximum +10 reputation. It is possible to ally with them once you have a positive 70 relationship with the Grox, so you need to earn a total of +140 reputation (they start with -70). It is easier if you colonize a planet a little near them so you can re-energize, but you can still establish trade routes with them if you don't. When you become allied with the Grox, you receive -200 reputation with every other empire in the game and anyone with whom you do not have an excellent relationship with will declare war on you. Those with whom you have a +200 or more relationship will probably cancel their alliances but not declare war, and if you have active trade routes they might stay allied with you. If you have lots of money you can pacify anyone who declares war on you by bribing them, this will erase the -200 reputation from allying with the Grox. The Grox will give you a ship with 3600 health to add to your fleet, which is better than any other empire. For that you will automatically receive the Dance With The Devil badge. (see below)

How to defeat Grox


"The Grox are the greatest military challenge on our Horizon. The Grox are a race of machine warriors, armed with powerful weapons unknown to us."- The Stones of Force

You have three basic options when trying to defeat the Grox — terraforming, conventional warfare or planet busting. The Grox control some 600 to 1,000 systems and thus will take a long while. When you are on a Grox planet, a quick way to destroy a city and many others is to use a mega laser. You will not get a automatic capture system from most if not all Grox stars, so another way to kill them off is to use an Anti-matter bomb, since it would require recolonizing anyway. Detailed information on defeating Grox is in the Badge Outta Heck article.

An interesting note is that some Grox systems may be unreachable by normal means, forcing players to use Modifications. This makes the Badge Outta Heck badge impossible to earn by normal playing. Why Maxis created a badge that can't be normally earned is still unknown...

Trivia

 * It is possible to play as the Grox using hacks. This does not let you have their empire or archetype but does let you play the game using the Grox Creature.


 * In the Creature stage and Tribal stage a spaceship can be seen abducting other species from the player's home planet. Using the spyglass or clicking the ship will show what ship it is. Sometimes this is a Grox ship.


 * Their asymmetry is likely a symbol of their evil in the Spore universe, where every other living creature is perfectly symmetrical. Although it is possible to make a creature asymmetrical. To edit The Grox, put the PNG in the Creatures folder. Then, enter Spore, go to Sporepedia, then go to the 'everything' subfolder. Click the search and enter 'Grox' or 'The Grox'. Double click their image. If you just click the edit button it will come up with an error message. The error message reads "This creation uses Spore parts that are not installed". Technically this is not true as every copy of Spore has the cyborg parts. Players merely can not use them.


 * If you ally with the Grox, go to one of their cities to hear their anthem. The player will hear only static and keening, but if the player waits enough, the static will disappear and one of the Grox will start singing happily in a deep, strangely not robotic, voice. (see below) This has been likened to the poetry of the Vogons from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.


 * The Grox are believed to be based largely on The Borg from the Star Trek series, in fact their name in the coding (and original name) is groB, which is Borg backwards, and sometimes when they declare war, they will say "Resistance is futile", a famous Borg quote.


 * They may also be based on the idea that humans are becoming more dependent on technology, and how we (humans) may not even have been able to survive this long without our intelligence.


 * Through means of a hack. It is possible to play as them in their original form.


 * The Grox can be dragged and dropped into the creature editor, provided one can find the PNG, when loaded. Clicking on an asymmetric part instantly turns it symmetric, the parts do not have morph handles and the robot cranium is VERY glitchy when symmetric, they also can not be saved without a Hack unless the eyes are removed and the cybernetics are taken off


 * The followers of the Books of Science call them an experiment that has not run its full course. Despite the vaugeness, there is seemingly more for the Grox in the future.


 * The Grox often make humorously poor threats and compliments due to their misunderstanding of the culture and personality of normal species, like "You will not get a holiday card this year" and "Good work! You are a credit to all slow thinking carbon based lifeforms".


 * When the Grox declare war on you, their message declaring war to you finishes with the words "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!", a reference to Dalek from the Doctor Who series.


 * Strangely enough, playing as the Grox causes you to be called the The Grox Empire in space and your color is a bright red, as opposed to their signature dark maroon.


 * If the player is allied with the Grox and uses the hologram scout near one of their cities, if the player looks at a citizen, they will see that the bright red usually seen on them is not in the detail section and, they will see a magenta-maroon color instead, this is possibly an explanation to why playing as the Grox has your color be the same bright red as seen on the Grox individual in the communication screen.


 * When a Grox colony surrenders, the transmission reads "Grox Surrender. Does Not Compute" This is a reference to robots in popular culture doing something outside of their capabilities, or when one actions against their will.


 * It is still possible to ally them without breaking Galactic Code


 * The Grox have an unique kind of eye, resembling the Beady Eye with visible eyelids, it has been nick-named "Cute eye" or "Grox eye" (though when pressing "i" over it, its name will be "Eyebissed". It is possible it will, or a part very similar to it, be released to players in Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack.


 * When pressing "i" near a cybernetic part of the body, you will see its properties. For example: the Grox mechanic foot is called "Dirtchargers" which is actually the Tyrannosaurus-like foot, or their mechanic abdomen is called Jozz Iiluminator, whoch is actually a helmet in the Space outfitter.


 * Contrary to poular belief, the cyborg parts are not Space clothing, but creature parts, possibly an attempt by Maxis for players to not access the bionic parts.


 * Occasionally, the Grox in the communication screen will say [the voice, not the text] "Arb arb zub zub worb". Which is common alien names/language in pop culture

Taxonomy

 * Kingdom: Animalia
 * Phylum: Chordata
 * Class: Synapsida
 * Order: Therapsida
 * Family: Groxidae
 * Genus: Mechanicaos (OluapPlayer, 2008)
 * Species: Mechanicaos cruelis (OluapPlayer, 2008)

Video
How to Ally with the Grox

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The Grox Anthem

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