Grox

"The Grox are machines with absolutely no sense of humor! They destroy entire races and never offer an explanation of what it is that ticks them off!"

- Blocks of Chance Volume 8

"The Grox are a source of utmost terror. They have exterminated many races."

- Tablet of Prosperity Volume 7

"The Grox are a race of machines. They are incapable of happiness and understanding the profit motive"

- Tablet of Prosperity Volume 8

"Helping the Grox is good for your survival."

- The 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 impish appearance. They have an astonishing number 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 2400 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 Scolls 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 Spore Galaxy follows a specific symbol, as to their archetype, causing them to follow it and oppose the Grox.

Grox Spaceship

 * Name: Grox
 * 2,000 HP (offensive), 2,700 HP (defensive), 3,600 HP (ally fleet)
 * 150 DPS
 * Nearly as fast as the player

Abilities

 * Unlimited Mega Repair Packs
 * Cloak

Basic

 * Name: Grox Grumbler
 * Type: Military Land
 * 390 HP
 * 22 Military Power
 * 17 Speed

Abilities

 * Mine Spice from Spice Geysers.
 * Immunity to natural hazards.
 * Reduced damage taken from player's weapons

Basic

 * Name: Groxoplane
 * Type: Military Air
 * 210 HP
 * 18 Military Power
 * 66 Speed

Abilities

 * Mine Spice from Spice Geysers.

Basic

 * Name: Oceanic Grox
 * Type: Military Sea
 * 443 HP
 * 38 Military Power
 * 17 Speed

Abilities

 * Mine Spice from Spice Geysers.

Grox Buildings
City Hall: Grox Platz

Factory: Grox Stacks

Entertainment: Grox-o-Plexx

House: Grox Sweet Grox

Basic

 * Name: The Grox
 * Type: Creature (Half cyborg machine)
 * Diet: Carnivore
 * Sight
 * Hearing
 * Mating Call
 * Graspers
 * Sprint: 5
 * Bite: 2
 * Strike: 3
 * Sing: 1
 * Dance: 4
 * Pose: 2
 * Health: 2
 * Speed: 5

Abilities

 * Too toxic for cargo hold.

Without implants (natural abilities)

 * Hearing

Grox History
"It is not known who or what created the Grox, or why"

- Scrolls of Harmony Vol. 9

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

- Stones of Life

Feared and hated by every empire in the galaxy, the Grox as a species are extremely delicate and weak and have only survived due to their incredible knack for machinery and technological advancement. As they developed among incredibly hostile species, they themselves grew to believe that the only way to survive in the universe was through aggression and expansion. They are an ancient race, having been spacefaring for eons while nearly all other races weren't even sapient yet. Although their minimal senses and strength have been enhanced by cybernetic implants, they're still among the most feeble sentient lifeforms in the galaxy, but make up for it with incredible military might, and the ability to prosper on barren planets. Unlike most land creatures, Grox are air intolerant. As such, they can only survive on T0 planets. If a planet's terrascore is raised, the planet cannot be inhabited by Grox unless anti-terraformed. It may be true that, since every religious artifact mentions that the Grox must be opposed, they are of another archetype; it would appear that they are an archetype unto themselves. For some reason they wish to see it that nobody gets to the center of the galaxy!

Culture
"The Grox are machines with absolutely no sense of humor! They destroy entire races and never offer an explanation of what it is that ticks them off!"

- Blocks of Chance

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 behavior 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, the common Galactic Currency.

Toxicity
The Grox are 'toxic', as exposure to air causes them to disintegrate. If the player abducts a Grox citizen, they are incinerated 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.

Aggression
The Grox are almost two times as distrusting as a Warrior Empire (-25 or -40 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 will attack systems tens of thousands of parsecs away in their Cold war on all fully organic life, and once attacked the receiving planet of the Grox raid always seems to be too shell shocked to communicate with the player's UFO. The Grox Empire also demands bribes from their homeworld. These bribes are much higher than a Warrior Empire's or a Zealot Empire's.

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 and Knights view them as the ultimate challenge and rivals, Traders regard them as enemies of universal happiness, Zealots hate them for religious reasons, and Shamans and 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"). They are disliked still more for being cybernetic, abandoning parts of their meek organic selves in order to turn them into enormously powerful entities.

What the Rare Artifacts say about The Grox
"The Grox are machines with absolutely no sense of humor! They destroy entire races and never offer an explanation of what it is that ticks them off! Even if you bring the Grox a present, they may not like you! The Grox kill anyone who tries to approach the center of the galaxy. We never wanted to go there, anyway."

- Blocks of Chance

"The Grox are an experiment that has not yet run its course. The Grox are a machine race that guard the center of the galaxy against all life-forms. It is not known whether their ultimate objective is to prevent us from breaking in, or to prevent something else from breaking out. Some of our theoreticians suggest that the motivation for the Grox's actions may lie in the difference between machines and organic life, though there seems to be no way to test this hypothesis."

- Books of Science 8-10

"Spode's greatest enemies are the Grox and those who believe in the false God That Will Come. The Grox are a machine race incapable of understanding the Word of Spode. They are a blasphemy in machine form. The Grox prevent us from shining the light of Spode on the center of the galaxy. On the Day of Reckoning, we shall destroy them in Spode's holy name!""

- Scrolls of Faith 6-8

"The Grox are a soulless race of killing machines. They oppose the Life Force in every way! They are incapable of enlightenment or transcendence. It is not known who or what created the Grox, or why. Some of our peers say that all answers are to be found at the center of the galaxy, but the Grox will not permit anyone to approach."

- Scrolls of Harmony 8-10

"The Grox are a machine race that have blockaded the center of the galaxy. They are extremely dangerous. We have not managed to establish a working relationship with them. It is widely believed that the Grox are guarding some form of treasure at the center of the galaxy. There is no evidence for this, but we cannot discount the possibility."

- Scrolls of Order 9-10

"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. They have established a security zone surrounding the center of the galaxy and our intelligence has been unable to determine what goes on behind the blockade. Though the Grox are formidable, machines are incapable of warrior spirit. In time, once the technology gap is narrowed, we will prove more than a match for them."

- Stones of Force 9-10

"The Grox are the ultimate evil in the galaxy. They are machines that exist entirely outside of nature. The Grox are the ultimate perversion, machines designed to live outside of nature, for purposes that are deeply unnatural. Whatever their motivations might be, they are not comprehensible to living being. The Grox are known to have destroyed several sentient races. The Grox have established a killing zone around the center of the galaxy. No one may enter this zone and live. We theorize that the center of the galaxy may contain vital clues to the origin of the Grox. Live inside nature, and oppose the Grox! That is the duty of every sentient being."

- Stones of Life 5-10

"The Grox are a source of the utmost terror. They have exterminated many races. The Grox are a race of machines. They are incapable of happiness or of understanding the profit motive. The Grox have blockaded the center of the galaxy, so that we cannot trade there."

- Tablets of Prosperity 7-9

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


"The Grox are a machine race that have blockaded the center of the galaxy. They are extremely dangerous. We have not managed to establish a working relationship with them."

- Scrolls of Order Vol.9

If you wish to ally with the Grox, it is HIGHLY recommended that you do not have any allied ships with you, as they may destroy the Grox ships, which will give you a -70 relationship boost. 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 Busters (or 4 Planet Busters and Fanatical Frenzy), 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 with them. 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. However, sometimes the embassy still gives you a +10 relationship boost. 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 non-Grox planets to get a +50 relationship boost for breaking the Galactic Code. Give them 100,000 spore bucks 4 times to receive a maximum +10 reputation. It is possible to ally with the Grox once you have a +70 relationship with the them, so you need to earn a total of +140 reputation (they start with -70). It is easier if you colonize a planet a near them so that you can re-energize. Even if you don't, you still can establish trade routes with them.. 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 (around +200) with will declare war on you. Most of your allies will cancel their alliances with you, unless you have an active trade route. 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 3,600 health to add to your fleet, which is better than any other empire (it is highly recommended that you keep the Grox spaceship with you in case of attacks from pirates or other aliens). For that you will automatically receive the Dance With The Devil badge. It is quite humorous watching the war declarations and incoming transmissions showing on the screen when this is done. If you met a lot of alien empires across a spiral arm then you won't be able to see it any more because of the incoming transmissions. To see it again, save the game, go to the main menu and log back on. The incoming transmissions won't be there any more but the war declarations will still be there. You only need to make up with the alien empires around your colonies. The other empires across the galaxy won't do anything to you until you answer their war transmissions.(see below)

How to defeat Grox
Many players, having gotten most or all of the badges and achievements, turned their attention to possibly the greatest challenge the game presents; destroying the Grox Empire. However, a problem quickly presented itself; there are a few star systems that, because of the reduced maximum travel radius when approaching the Galactic Core, are too far away from any other star to be reached. This means that with a normal copy of the game, the Grox cannot be totally defeated.

Maxis, under pressure from the community to fix the issue, has released a mod that will address the problem of unreachable star systems near the core. Player will have to manually place the mod into their data folders but this does allow players to reach every Grox system. The reply on Sporums from MaxisCactus bringing this issue to a close.

Expanded Travel Radius Mod (Maxis Solution)

This mod increases the travel radius when in the galactic core zone to 10 parsecs (a travel radius of 9.8 parsecs is needed to reach all the stars in the galactic core area). This mod will work with your current saved games.

To use it, save it to your Spore Data folder. You’ll need to have updated to patch three in order to run this mod. If you patch your Spore game after using this mod, this file will be automatically deleted. To get the mod after patching, simply download it again.

This mod is available for both PC and Mac.

The player must download this Mod if he/she wishes to defeat the Grox and get the Badge Outta Heck. Download it here!

Although The Grox have 2000+ planets, they can be defeated planet by planet. How to do it: Have the Mega Bomb weapon and fly over their planet running away from their fighters. use the mega bomb as you fly over the colony and lap around and hit them again. If you're spot on you can take the colony out with one shot, otherwise it may take a few tries. Additionally, use a mega laser to destroy the colony. It would be reccommended that you use a shield because they will shoot at you. By using the laser allows you to save your mega bombs and use them when you need them elsewhere. After all colonies are gone, the fighters will leave, unless they're already targeting you, in which you can fly in circles and take them out with the Mega Proton Missle. (flying in circles makes it difficult for the Grox to shoot you) By using this method and you can take out about ten systems before needed to recharge. Colonize planets on your way to the center and you can carve a path.

Another thing; if you are well and truly tired of the Grox, then you can spend a month or 2 completely annihilating them. If the mod you use allows instant recharge of weapons, then changing to Zealot and using Fanatical Frenzy on every system really helps, as you destroy them, your empire grows! Closer to the core, however, Grox colonies become harder to destroy or capture.



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. You can play as the Grox in the tribal, civilization or space stage by saving the Grox PNG shown here, then dragging it over the creator and using the hack to allow you to save.


 * In the Creature stage and Tribal stage, a spaceship occasionally will appear and abduct creatures and plants from the player's home planet. Using the spyglass or clicking on 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 nearly every other living creature is perfectly symmetrical.


 * To edit The Grox, put the PNG in the Creatures folder. Then, enter Spore, go to Sporepedia, then go to the 'everything' sub folder. 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.


 * It's probable that the first name Maxis gave to the Grox was Grob. One proof is that if you open the Spore_game.package (files with all contents on the game, found on the "Data" folder) using a special program and go to prop/#02CB089D (where information about the badges are located) there will be two files called "grobally.prop" and "grobdefeat.prop" (notice it's written grob, not grox). Both have information about the "Badge Outta Heck" and "Dance With the Devil" badges which you acquire defeating and allying with the Grox.


 * 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.


 * If you end your alliance with the Grox, they will take it a bit harsh, saying that anyone else would love to ally with them.


 * 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 vagueness, 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 a 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". Parts very similar to it have been released to players in Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack they are called "Necrye" and "Hubba Hubba".


 * When pressing "i" near a cybernetic part of the body, you will see its properties. The parts all have the same name and stats as a normal part from either the Creature Editor or the Space outfitter.


 * Contrary to popular belief, the cyborg parts are not clothing from the space outfitter, 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 zarb zub zub worb", which are common alien names/language in pop culture.


 * You cannot trade with the Grox. The button for the trade window is always grayed out, no matter how high your relationship meter is.This is most likely due to the fact that nobody would ever want to trade with them,due to their extreme hostility (however, they can still steal equipment from defeated empires, yet they do not).


 * Rather strangely, the Grox seem to not be affected by dense gravity, if they were their muscle and bone mass would shrink and weaken beyond use.


 * If Soothing Song is used on the Grox, all empires in a close distance will wage a war on your empire.


 * Some state that the Grox become tougher when Patch 3 is installed, this has sparked rage in the spore community because many players "have had enough of the Grox".


 * The number of the planets the Grox control is 2400. Backwards, this number is 0042 (42).  This could possibly mean that the Grox are the antithesis to Life, the Universe, and Everything.


 * Allying with the Grox will give you a -200 in your relationship with all other empires. There will be lots of incoming messages.


 * There is a Maxis creature named "Knot The Grawx". It sounds a lot like "Not The Grox" and looks a lot like a penguin.


 * The name "Grox" was used as a name for a concept creature on SporeWiki as early as in 2006. This is almost certainly a coincidence.


 * The Grox is also name of cow-like reptile in the board game Warhammer 40k background.


 * The equivalent of the Grox in Spore Creatures DS is Gar' skuther, despite differences such as Gar' skuther being a singular entity of an unknown species, as opposed the Grox being an empire. Gar' skuther also has cyborg parts, but these are in fact normally usable without cheating.


 * If you ally with Grox and then take an archetype-changing mission from another empire, the Grox will now also have an archetype-changing mission in their mission list. However, they automatically decline, saying only "***".


 * You are able to use Galactic Code-breaking weapons against most of the Grox planets, without this damaging your relationship with other empires. This is due to the Grox being the only spacefaring race in a huge area.
 * If you manage to get past the outer Grox planets and towards the galactic core (probably using cheats, or by defeating them systematically), it's a good idea to colonize some planets to keep you supplied with weapons.


 * If you have set up some colonies in the Grox empire, there's a chance of other nearby planet becoming space faring. They are usually T1 planets, so it's a good idea to improve their planets to T3 and use the race advancing tool to improve your relationship and speed up their advancment process.


 * Sometimes, an empire will reference the Grox in its dialogue. When Ecologist empires contact you from out of a solar system, they sometimes say "As long as you are not machine life, we welcome you", referencing the Grox. Additionally, when a Warrior empire is telling you about their philosophy, they will say that "there is only one empire that [they] cannot defeat, but you are not them".

Grox Parts
Below is a list of all the parts that are exclusive to the Grox. They are all considered illegal parts, meaning the game will not allow you to save creatures using them, unless you bypass this with a hack or mod of some sort.

Taxonomy

 * Kingdom:
 * Phylum:
 * Class:
 * Order:
 * Family:
 * 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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Grox being played in Tribal stage

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