Mass Effect (video game)/Characters/Antagonists and Npcs

This page is for listing the tropes related to Antagonists And NPCs who first appeared in the original Mass Effect game.

For the pages listing tropes related to Party Members, NPCs and Antagonists who first appeared in other games in the trilogy, see the Mass Effect Character Index.

Saren Arterius


""Your species needs to learn its place, Shepard.""

"Voiced by: Fred Tatasciore"

The primary villain of the first game, a former Spectre agent turned rogue, who takes control of an army of geth and sets out to find an artifact known as "the Conduit." .

Did we forget to mention that his theme song is also the Game Over music?

"Saren: Your species needs to learn its place, Shepard."
 * Arch Enemy: The most personal adversary to Commander Shepard, by far.
 * Artificial Limbs: Has a mechanical arm donated by the geth, and later.
 * Battle Aura: As the only turian biotic encountered thus far, he gets an appropriately awesome charge-up scene whenever he enters into battle.
 * Big Bad:.
 * Boss Remix: A remix of Sovereign's theme.
 * Creepy Blue Eyes: Glowing blue ones too, and if you look really closely, they resemble The Illusive Man's, which hints that.
 * Dark Messiah
 * Deadpan Snarker: During the Council meeting, he mocks the fact that a dream is their sole evidence against him.
 * Draco in Leather Pants: In-universe. Lair of the Shadow Broker reveals that there's at least one documentary portraying him as a misunderstood hero.
 * The fact that during Kasumi's heist, a statue of Saren is seen as a desirable gift, seems to imply that Saren is the subject of a lot of Misaimed Fandom in-universe. The Death Glare Shepard gives the statue doesn't begin to sum up his/her obvious feelings about this.
 * Dying Like Animals:.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: In Revelation, one of the many people he beat for information was a batarian who was going to beat a prostitute. Saren makes clear he is disgusted by this, and then goes on to torture the batarian for information.
 * What makes this noteworthy for Saren is that the prostitute is human, a species he openly despises.
 * Evil Counterpart: Can be seen as a version of Shepard who's willing to cross the Moral Event Horizon in order to achieve "greater good". This is especially made clear in the Paragon ending of Mass Effect 2.
 * Evil Overlooker: Can be seen in the boxart.
 * Evil Sounds Deep: Comes with being voiced by Fred Tatasciore.
 * Fallen Hero: Though the prequel novel makes it clear he was always a Jerkass.
 * Fantastic Racism: While only mentioned in the game, the novel Revelation makes it very clear he hates humans.
 * Fiction 500: He was a major investor in Binary Helix, which allowed him to fund various research projects, not to mention the veritable army of mercenaries he regularly hires.
 * Final Boss: Of the first game, though.
 * Final Boss Preview: The first battle with him on Virmire. This battle is also a Breather Boss compared to the other bosses so far.
 * Freudian Excuse: It's suggested that his racism toward humans is because of his brother's death in the First Contact War.
 * Heel Realization:.
 * Historical Villain Upgrade: In the second game. While Saren is a pretty bad guy to begin with, the Council is quick to demonize him and exaggerate his villainy, in spite of the fact that.
 * Hollywood Cyborg: He lets Sovereign implant him with tech.
 * Knight Templar: "Is submission not preferable to extinction?"
 * Last Second Chance: Shepard can offer him this, and if s/he is persuasive enough,.
 * Machine Worship: Saren convinced the geth to obey him by doing this, acting as the 'prophet' for the return of the Reapers..
 * Mind Over Matter: The only onscreen named turian biotic of the series.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Doesn't that name sound familiar?
 * He is also named after Søren Kierkegaard, the father of existentialism.
 * Necessarily Evil:.
 * NGO Superpower: He's not just a state-sponsored terrorist with years of experience. He has asari commandos. Krogan mercenaries. An army of geth. And Binary Helix, an interstellar biotech conglomerate that pays for all of it. And don't forget his Creepy Starship.
 * No One Could Survive That: At the end of the game..
 * Not So Different: He's ruthless, racist, sadistic and willing to let hundreds die so long as it serves his ends. At many points though, Renegade Shepard can note that he would do the exact same thing.
 * Obviously Evil: In his very first appearance, the cutscene practically draws flashing arrows pointing to the massive number of tubes festooning his back and to the glowing blue lights of cybernetics under his skin.
 * Oh Crap: Has a minor one on Ilos when Joker combat-drops the Mako almost right on top of him.
 * The Paragon Always Rebels: Not that he's a paragon in the sense of the trope's meaning, Saren was still one of the best Spectres before he went very, very, very far off the rails.
 * Post-Mortem Comeback: Gets reanimated into a Husk by Sovereign. His death triggers a lowering of Sovereigns' shields and his balance, allowing the Normandy and the Alliance to take it out.
 * Primal Stance: Normally, Saren's posture is wonderful. However, when he starts to get ticked off...
 * Properly Paranoid:.
 * Rabid Cop: Certainly fits the trope during Revelation.
 * Recurring Boss: Twice. If you count as a separate boss battle, thrice.
 * Redemption Equals Death:.
 * Red Herring: It's implied at the beginning and in the prequel novel that Saren's driving motivation is his hatred towards humanity..
 * Red Right Hand: The massive number of cybernetics he's visibly crammed with, including a geth arm replacing one of his organic ones, kinda screams evil.
 * Rogue Agent: Used to be the Council's best and most famous Spectre.
 * Skippable Boss:.
 * Social Darwinist: He has elements of this.
 * The Paragon Always Rebels: Not that he's a paragon in the sense of the trope's meaning, Saren was still one of the best Spectres before he went very, very, very far off the rails.
 * Post-Mortem Comeback: Gets reanimated into a Husk by Sovereign. His death triggers a lowering of Sovereigns' shields and his balance, allowing the Normandy and the Alliance to take it out.
 * Primal Stance: Normally, Saren's posture is wonderful. However, when he starts to get ticked off...
 * Properly Paranoid:.
 * Rabid Cop: Certainly fits the trope during Revelation.
 * Recurring Boss: Twice. If you count as a separate boss battle, thrice.
 * Redemption Equals Death:.
 * Red Herring: It's implied at the beginning and in the prequel novel that Saren's driving motivation is his hatred towards humanity..
 * Red Right Hand: The massive number of cybernetics he's visibly crammed with, including a geth arm replacing one of his organic ones, kinda screams evil.
 * Rogue Agent: Used to be the Council's best and most famous Spectre.
 * Skippable Boss:.
 * Social Darwinist: He has elements of this.
 * Skippable Boss:.
 * Social Darwinist: He has elements of this.


 * Story-Driven Invulnerability: Refreshingly averted. Every time Saren appears in the earlier parts of the game, it's either in a cutscene where Shepard isn't present, or as a hologram that Shepard is incapable of throttling. When they finally meet face-to-face, it is on.
 * Villain with Good Publicity: At first. He gets exposed quite early on though.
 * We Can Rule Together: To Shepard, twice.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist:.
 * Worthy Opponent: Despite his intense dislike of humans, he's very interested in getting Shepard on his side, going out of his way to do so twice in the middle of a battlefield.

Matriarch Benezia


""Have you ever faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have.""

"Voiced by: Marina Sirtis"

A powerful asari matriarch who acts as Saren's partner. Is also Liara's mother. .

"..."
 * Anti-Villain
 * The Baroness: Only while evil.
 * Bi the Way: As an asari, she doesn't particularly care about her partner's gender.
 * Buxom Is Better: According to Aethtya, who practically goes stary eyed remembering her magnificent rack.
 * Cleavage Window: Aethyta fully admits having been entranced by that rack, "even before she hit the matriarch stage"...
 * Discount Lesbians
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: "His teeth upon my ear... his fingers on my spine..."
 * The Dragon: To Saren.
 * Evil Costume Switch: Implied two games after her appearance, in Mass Effect 3, as Liara tells that when she was a child, her mother loved to dress in yellow.
 * Evil Matriarch:.
 * Flunky Boss: She's damaged, for some reason, by her summoning more and more geth troopers and asari commandos in an attempt to take out Shepard and his/her squad.
 * Evil Costume Switch: Implied two games after her appearance, in Mass Effect 3, as Liara tells that when she was a child, her mother loved to dress in yellow.
 * Evil Matriarch:.
 * Flunky Boss: She's damaged, for some reason, by her summoning more and more geth troopers and asari commandos in an attempt to take out Shepard and his/her squad.
 * Flunky Boss: She's damaged, for some reason, by her summoning more and more geth troopers and asari commandos in an attempt to take out Shepard and his/her squad.


 * Heroic Willpower:.
 * Male Gaze: When we first see her on Saren's ship, the first things we see of her are her rear end as she walks towards Saren, and then her chest before the camera pans up.
 * Humorously, she coughs as if to say My Eyes Are Up Here to the player and BioWare.
 * Mind Over Matter: A powerful biotic, even by the standards of a matriarch.
 * Mind Rape: Quite literal, it seems. Benezia states that Sovereign's hold on her feels like "his teeth are at my ear - fingers on my spine...".
 * Necessarily Evil: She started off helping Saren as a way of trying to dissuade him from his destructive path. ...
 * One Bad Mother
 * Redemption Equals Death
 * Religious Bruiser: Revered among the Asari for her many writings on the subject of Theology.
 * Revealed in Mass Effect 3 that she was one of the few Asari who still actively practice worship to the Goddess Athame.
 * So Proud of You:.
 * Spikes of Villainy: Her headgear has this.
 * Tragic Monster:.
 * Woman in Black
 * Spikes of Villainy: Her headgear has this.
 * Tragic Monster:.
 * Woman in Black
 * Woman in Black

Sovereign a.k.a.


"Voiced by: Peter Jessop"

The immense vessel belonging to Saren. .

WARNING: The entire following entry is one massive spoiler. Read at your own risk.

"Sovereign:"
 * Abusive Precursors: Holds the page quote.
 * Badass Boast: Pretty much his entire speech during Planet Wham, er, Virmire. When combined with his very, very deep mechanical voice, it can give most people the shivers.

""Your words are as empty as your future. I am the vanguard of your destruction.""
 * Bad Boss: He pretty much says flatout that he doesn't give two shits about the geth, and actually seems a bit insulted that they revere him as a god. That, and Reaper indoctrination.
 * Big Bad: In the first game, he's the true force behind Saren.
 * Blue and Orange Morality: He outright tells Shepard that the reapers' motivations are incomprehensible to organics.
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: Sovereign is red, Harbinger is yellow. When Sovereign ASSUMES CONTROL of Saren, the possessed body is red.
 * Cool Starship: ...since he is the starship.
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy: Sovereign is smart enough to actually give a villainous monologue without giving away any details that would really let Shepard know how to stop it. It also turns out that the moment it realized that Shepard was inside Saren's base, it turned around and headed back to kill Shepard immediately, instead of leaving it to the mooks.
 * Eldritch Abomination: Bonus points for being a squid-shaped starship.
 * Evil Gloating: Practically every single line he has.
 * Evil Sounds Deep: Oh, hell yes!
 * Fighting a Shadow: When he possesses Saren. The only time you'll fight him in the game.
 * Karmic Death: Killed by humans in the process of trying to activate the Reaper's relay.
 * I Shall Taunt You: Makes some pretty badass boasts.


 * Not without reason. See Nigh Invulnerability below.
 * The Juggernaut: He tanks fire from two entire fleets without a scratch. Keep in mind, at least a couple of those ships were dreadnoughts, whose main gun pack several times the power of the Hiroshima bomb. In fact, Sovereign was so untouchable that for the most of the battle he doesn't even bother firing back, he simply plows straight through several ships.
 * Laser-Guided Karma: Personally forces a deceased Saren to fight Shepard through a painful Karmic Transformation. Comes back to bite him in the ass once Saren loses.
 * Lightning Bruiser: In naval terms. Sovereign is immense and powerful, but shockingly maneuverable and fast. At one point Joker reports that Sovereign pulls a turn that "would shear any of our ships in half."
 * The Man Behind the Man: The true force behind Saren.
 * Meaningful Name: Both of his names are meaningful; "Sovereign" is Exactly What It Says on the Tin, and "Nazara" is an early Greek translation of Nazareth.
 * Mind Control: Called "Indoctrination" in the game. All Reapers can do it... even when they're dead.
 * Mind Rape: Indoctrination is also this. It's permanent and is about the most horrible fate a person can suffer.
 * The Mothership: This is what everyone on Eden Prime calls Sovereign, for lack of a better word.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Something named "Sovereign" likely doesn't have humble or benign intentions.
 * Averted in Mass Effect 2 when Legion reveals "Sovereign" to be a title coined by Saren and that the Reaper had previously introduced himself to the Geth as "Nazara".
 * Nigh Invulnerability: Comes with being a Reaper. He is destroyed but it takes the combined efforts of TWO ENTIRE FLEETS to finally bring him down ... and after his shields dropped after Shepard killed his vessel, Reaper!Saren.
 * Omnicidal Maniac: As a Reaper, he seeks the annihilation of all advanced organic life.
 * One-Scene Wonder: He only gets a single scene with dialogue, and then one line and a couple of cutscenes after that. But DAMN are they awesome.
 * In just those few scenes, he shows just how powerful ONE Reaper is, as when he's destroyed he brings almost an entire fleet with him.
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Shepard's entire conversation with Sovereign consists of Shepard asking what the Reapers could possibly hope to achieve and Sovereign responding with a barrage of You Suck and 'your-death-is-an-inevitability'-style taunting.
 * Sapient Ship: Par for the course when it comes to the Reapers.
 * Screw You Reapers: All Sovereign ever does is boast about the Reapers' superiority, but what happens to him? He gets blown up.
 * Though he does bring almost an entire fleet down with him. Without even trying.
 * Smug Snake: All the smugness, but with none of the usual incompetence.
 * Time Abyss: Possibly tens of millions of years old.
 * The Unfought: Sort of justified.
 * Vicious Cycle: Unique in that he and his kind are deliberately perpetuating it. Over and over again..
 * Villainous Breakdown: His tone of voice when taking control of Saren's corpse suggests that he's more than a little pissed.
 * Villains Never Lie:.
 * Voice of the Legion: The scary part is that he's not the only one...
 * We Are Legion: Concerning the Reapers. And he's absolutely right, in more than one way.

The Thorian


""Invaders. Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose.""

A sentient alien plant that lives underground on the planet Feros. It is capable of controlling other sentient beings with the spores it produces by using behavioral conditioning to reshape their minds through crippling pain. Malicious and seeing all other life, sentient or otherwise, only in terms of potential thralls, it makes a deal with Saren that goes way far south.


 * Arc Villain: For Feros.
 * Attack Its Weak Point: Shooting its tendrils is a good way to damage it.
 * Blue and Orange Morality: It cannot conceive of any other form of sentient life as anything but a threat or potential thrall.
 * Blame Saren, who broke his promise to the Thorian.
 * Or don't, since in '100,000 years it deigned to actually negotiate with other sentients only once. So, even if that deal had been a good one and it niced up a bit after that, that's a lot of time on the Orange side.
 * Distaff Counterpart:.
 * Eldritch Abomination
 * Hive Mind:.
 * The Hypnotoad/Puppeteer Parasite: A bizarre combination of the two. It uses biological agents to control its slaves, but it doesn't personally invade them to do so.
 * Mind Control: Via extended Mind Rape.
 * People Puppets: Courtesy of its Mind Control powers.
 * Stationary Boss: One that doesn't directly attack you, either. It leaves that job to the Creepers and asari clones.
 * Strange Syntax Speaker: It flips back and forth between this and regular speech.
 * Time Abyss: It's been alive for at least 100,000 years..

Shiala


"Voiced by: Gwendoline Yeo"

An asari who followed Matriarch Benezia when she allied herself with Saren. She was later sacrificed to the Thorian in exchange for its knowledge of the Conduit and was ultimately freed by Commander Shepard. Due to the unique mind meld she experienced as the Thorian's thrall,.


 * The Atoner:.
 * Cloning Greens: The Thorian used her to continuously produce asari-like biotic slaves to fight Shepard when s/he killed it on Feros.
 * Cursed with Awesome: Her exposure to the Thorian caused her to suffer from biotic instability. However, she and the other colonists of Zhu's Hope become a weak Hive Mind, and she can ignore Reaper indoctrination.
 * Face Death with Dignity:.
 * Green-Skinned Space Babe: The first asari to legitimately fit the title at that!
 * Heel Face Revolving Door: If you choose to kill her on Feros, Shepard will discuss this trope before putting a bullet in her head.
 * Heel Face Turn: She understandably became disillusioned with Saren after he fed her to the Thorian..
 * Hive Mind: She and the rest of the Zhu's Hope colonists have developed this by the third game due to lingering Thorian spores, allowing them to much better defend the colony from the Reapers. She also mentions that she believes she still has some degree of indoctrination, but the hive mind effect keeps it at bay.
 * Mind Over Matter: A biotic, like all asari.
 * Phlebotinum Breakdown: For some reason, her powers go on the fritz if she survives being ingested by the Thorian; when you encounter her two years later her skin is green instead of blue, and her biotic powers are weak and erratic when she can use them at all.
 * Ship Tease: With Shepard in the second game.

Rana Thanoptis
An asari neurospecialist working for Saren.

"Voiced by: Belinda Cornish"


 * Evil Genius: To Saren's Big Bad . She was hired by him to study the effects of Reaper indoctrination..
 * Not That Kind of Doctor: Studies neuroscience.
 * Punch Clock Villain: In the first game, all she's doing is helping the krogan with what they view as a cure for the genophage. Ironically, if you kill her then, she won't live to cause more problems in Mass Effect 2 (making an army for Okeer) or Mass Effect 3 (see above).
 * Punch Clock Villain: In the first game, all she's doing is helping the krogan with what they view as a cure for the genophage. Ironically, if you kill her then, she won't live to cause more problems in Mass Effect 2 (making an army for Okeer) or Mass Effect 3 (see above).

Ka'hairal Balak
""Those charges are still on a timer. Better hurry if you want to save your friends.""

"Voiced by: Fred Tatasciore"

A radical Batarian terrorist that serves as the main antagonist of the Bring Down the Sky DLC. He seeks to reignite the war between the Alliance and the Batarians by crashing an asteroid into an Alliance colony.


 * Arch Enemy: Balak especially despises a Shepard with a War Hero or Ruthless background.
 * Arc Villain: Of Bring Down the Sky.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: A high ranking member of the batarian military. Even on his own, he's a tough foe.
 * Enemy Mine: If he survived Bring Down the Sky, he can return in Mass Effect 3 and even be convinced to have his fleet join Shepard's war effort.
 * Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The two make it clear that they really hate one another as well.
 * Fantastic Racism
 * Flunky Boss: Fights with drones and other members of his slaving band.
 * Karma Houdini: In the Paragon ending..
 * It gets worse with him as a War Asset. The batarian fleet is a fairly strong resource, but it sucks knowing that access to it requires working with this terrorist scumbag and mass murderer. Then again, around the time of Mass Effect 3, he murdered a whole bunch of Alliance personnel while trying to help his people survive the Reaper onslaught.
 * La Résistance: Convinced that he is but the first of a wave of batarian terrorists who will initiate a campaign of terror across human space.
 * Never My Fault: Applies this to his species as a whole with his "What the Hell, Hero?" speech about how the Hegemony falling is Shephard's fault in Mass Effect 3.
 * No One Could Survive That:.
 * Not So Different: If you, he will claim this.
 * Revenge Before Reason: How some of his men views his methods.
 * Sadistic Choice:.
 * Shadow Archetype: He's similar to Saren in many respects: state-sponsored terrorists with a grudge against humans and impressive resources. They differ largely in that Saren cares far more about the Reapers to concern himself with anything else, whereas Balak is so prejudiced against humans that he honestly makes Saren look pleasant.
 * Unexpected Successor: When the Reapers tear through the batarian military, he's left as the highest-ranking officer in the entire Hegemony.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: He tries to paint himself as this, but it's averted in that nothing he says justifies what he attempts to do. He even tries to accuse Shepard of when Balak was the one who.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: He tries this if Shepard . He tells Shepard that . At his accusation that "Who's the real terrorist here?", Shepard can retort that "You are. But you're dead."
 * He also tries to blame Shepard for the destruction of the entire Hegemony by the Reapers, though his logic is.... squiffy. The short version is that, by stopping Balak from bombing Terra Nova, the Hegemony "had" to start doing more research on the Leviathan of Dis, an ancient derelict starship the batarians spirited away from a crash site on the planet Dis, in order to get an edge over the Alliance. The Leviathan was a Reaper. Hilarity Ensues, much of the Hegemony's government and military command is indoctrinated, and when the Reapers arrive the Hegemony gets stomped into the mud. And its all Shepard's fault! Shepard can only get him to stand down peacefully by saying whatever happened, they're all in this together now.
 * You Are in Command Now: If he lives,.

Charn
""This was supposed to be a simple slave run.""

"Voiced by: Jason Singer"

Balak's main lieutenant in Bring Down the Sky.


 * The Dragon: To Balak.
 * Dragon Their Feet: He can be convinced to leave the asteroid with a high enough charm or intimidate level.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: He's fine with taking slaves, but dropping an asteroid on a populated planet is too much for him.
 * Pragmatic Villainy: He sees no practical benefit to Balak's plan.
 * Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He had negative opinions on the mission since Balak joined up, and with enough charm or renegade points, can be convinced to leave.

Cerberus
A pro-human Alliance black ops group with the aim of advancing humanity's role in the galactic community. Due to disagreements with Alliance command, they eventually went rogue and became an NGO Superpower in their own right. They appear in a Sidequest Sidestory in the first game, where they are experimenting on Rachni and Thorian Creepers, aiming to create super soldiers. They return in the second game, where they bring back Shepard after his death with the Lazarus Project, in order to stop the Reaper threat. There, they serve as Shepard's main financial backer, rebuilding the Normandy, giving Shepard's team custom weapons, providing intelligence, and paying Shepard after each mission. In the third game, they turn on Shepard and effectively declare war on the galaxy in their attempt to control the Reapers using ancient technology found on Mars.


 * Arc Villain: In the first game Cerberus was encountered in a handful of the assignments, but had no impact on the main plot.
 * Ascended Extra/Chekhov's Army: Became far more important starting with the second game.
 * Faceless Goons: In the third game..
 * Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Mass Effect 3.
 * Kick the Dog: Everything they do, really.
 * Knight Templar: Their aim is to protect humanity. Just looking at the other entries gives you an insight to their methods.
 * Mooks: In both the first game and the third game. In the first game, Cerberus Commandos were the most basic mooks; in the second, it was the Assault Troopers.
 * Gas Mask Mooks: Assault Troopers.
 * Elite Mooks: Centurions in the third game.
 * Cold Sniper: Cerberus Snipers in the first game and the Nemesis snipers in the third.
 * Superpowered Mooks: Research Technicians in the first game and Phantoms in the third.
 * Mad Scientist: They have a habit of hiring them.
 * Mini-Mecha: Their Atlas Mechs.
 * NGO Superpower: In the first game, they were relatively tame, just running a few outposts and research facilities on isolated planets. Later in the series, their power is massively increased. Especially in the third game where they possess, among other things, millions of stormtroopers outfitted with custom weapons and armor, fleets that can challenge the Alliance in straight up combat, enough funds to fund the building of their own weapons, vehicles and armor, hundreds of facilities spread out across the galaxy, and enough resources to . Even with the financial backing they receive from major corporations, their power is ridiculous for a simple human terrorist group.
 * Playing with Syringes: Most of their experiments tend to be nothing short of inhumane as well as being highly impractical. However, according to the Illusive Man himself, most of them tend to be "rogue cells" though it could easily be interpreted as him claiming Plausible Deniability to look good in front of Shepard.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Though calling them "well intentioned" may be stretching it.
 * Playing with Syringes: Most of their experiments tend to be nothing short of inhumane as well as being highly impractical. However, according to the Illusive Man himself, most of them tend to be "rogue cells" though it could easily be interpreted as him claiming Plausible Deniability to look good in front of Shepard.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Though calling them "well intentioned" may be stretching it.

Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau


""I'm not good. I'm not even great. I'm the best damn helmsman in the Alliance fleet.""

"Voiced by: Seth Green"

The pilot of the Normandy. While he is handicapped by brittle bone disease, he's an essential member of the team, serving as Mission Control and all-around piloting badass.

""I guess aren't all bad, huh? They're like EDI's ex-con uncle we don't talk about."
 * Ace Pilot
 * Ascended Extra: Joker goes from being effectively part of the scenery in the first game (never once seen outside of his pilot's chair) to having a much larger role (most notably the one referenced in the spoiler-protected entry just above this one) in the second.
 * Badass Pilot
 * Bring News Back:
 * Can't Have Sex Ever: It is revealed in Mass Effect 3 that he risks breaking his bones even if he just engages in some 'light over-the-cloths action'.
 * Cluster S Bomb: "Shit! Shit! Shitshitshit! What the SHIT?! Shitshitshitshitshitshit!"
 * Covert Pervert: He is playing pornography whilst flying the Normandy. EDI is aware, too.
 * ..."covert"?
 * It WAS supposed to go to his earpiece.
 * After a tour of the Normandy SR-2, Liara mentions that he asked if she and Shepard were planning to reenact scenes from an asari porn vid. She doesn't get the reference, but Shepard might.
 * Shepard definitely gets it as s/he starts rubbing his/her neck, with an embarrassed tone in his/her voice.
 * If you didn't romance her, Joker asked if Liara had "embraced eternity" lately.
 * When Joker informs you that Jack and Miranda have started a fight in the latter's office he'll ask you to take pictures.
 * Covert?
 * Deadpan Snarker: Despite "Joker" originally being ironic, he can lay down snark with the best of them (not surprising, given who voices him).
 * Deadpan Snarker: Despite "Joker" originally being ironic, he can lay down snark with the best of them (not surprising, given who voices him).

"I'm glad that mess is over for Tali, Commander. Some of those quarians... I guess living aboard a ship can really mess with your priorities? Not that I would know... ah, I just burned myself. Great."

"Two years and everything hits the crapper. Teach you to die on me.""

"Joker How do you like that you sons-of-bitches?! Give them hell, girl!"
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?:
 * Disabled Snarker: His bone disease makes him extremely cynical.
 * Dude, Not Funny: In-universe. Though Shepard usually just rolls his/her eyes at his jokes, his crack about the Asari after  is one of the few moments where Shepard will tell him to shut up.
 * Escalating War: He winds up engaged in one of these with EDI, with him muting her until his thumb breaks, her making his chair spin unexpectedly, him putting grease on her camera lenses...
 * Everybody's Dead, Dave:.
 * Also happens when
 * Fake Static: When he lets slip about Shepard hanging up on the Council to Liara, he quickly claims they're "going through some dark matter".
 * Famed in Story: Nowhere near the extent as Shepard, but when he and Garrus exchange some good-natured speciesist jokes in ME3, Joker is indirectly the subject of one of Garrus's, who claims he heard it from a private on Palaven. (Why does the Alliance hire pilots with brittle bone disease? So their marines can beat someone in hand-to-hand drills.)
 * Gaussian Girl: Joker cheerfully claims he was trying to invoke this when he smeared EDI's optics with grease.
 * Green Eyes: Oh, those pretty, pretty emerald eyes...
 * Gunship Rescue
 * Handicapped Badass: Joker has Vrolik's Syndrome, also known as Osteogenesis Imperfecta or brittle bone disease. Basically, he can barely jog, and the slightest injury can break bones.
 * Notably too is that during said sequence, the normally talkative Joker is completely silent. Beware the Nice Ones indeed!
 * At the end of Mass Effect 2,
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Hey! Oz is flying my Cool Starship!
 * Hope Spot: From Mordin. Close to curing Vrolik Syndrome. Current iteration would cause liver failure. Still working on it.
 * I Call Him "Mister Happy": An extremely sozzled Doctor Chakwas will inform you that Joker named his "Admiral Winky." That's right, Admiral, meaning Shepard is outranked by Joker's penis.
 * Improbable Piloting Skills: "It takes skill to bank a ship in vacuum - don't think it doesn't!"
 * Ink Suit Actor: Bears more than a passing resemblance to Seth Green.
 * Insufferable Ace Pilot: Players fresh to the series might scoff at his early claims in the original Mass Effect that he's the best pilot in the Alliance. However, he demonstrates the validity of his bragging again. And again. And again.
 * Insult Friendly Fire: Inflicts this upon himself after Tali's loyalty mission. Living aboard a ship your whole really screws with your priorities - uh, wait...
 * Ironic Nickname: Joker took flight school very seriously, and he was given the name Joker by an instructor who constantly needled him for being so grim. After he graduated with flying colors, he let the nickname become a conventional one.
 * It's All My Fault: In the third game Joker reveals he has been secretly blaming himself for Shepard's death, feeling that because he refused to leave the Normandy it was his fault that Shepard had to come rescue him, got spaced, then had to be rebuilt by Cerberus.
 * It's Personal: Joker has shades of this against the Collector Ship in the second game. It destroyed the first Normandy and dared to do the same to its successor. When Joker opens fire during the suicide mission with the upgraded cannons, he makes it perfectly clear why no-one gets away with laying a finger on his baby.
 * It's Personal: Joker has shades of this against the Collector Ship in the second game. It destroyed the first Normandy and dared to do the same to its successor. When Joker opens fire during the suicide mission with the upgraded cannons, he makes it perfectly clear why no-one gets away with laying a finger on his baby.

"Joker: Yeah, they'd probably make me shave, too. I just spent the last seven weeks working on this baby. No medal's worth that."
 * Let's Get Dangerous: Near the end of the first game, the Normandy is trying to land on a planet that contains the Conduit they and Saren have been looking for. While dodging air defenses and desperately looking for a way to get down, Pressley insists they can't drop the Mako because they're too close to the ground to successfully deploy it. Joker fixes his gaze and states "I can do it." No jokes, no bravado. The best pilot in the Alliance has a job to do, and by God he's going to do it.
 * Like an Old Married Couple: After EDI, their relationship changes. EDI even stops calling him "Mr. Moreau" and starts referring to him as "Jeff."
 * Moment Killer: Cheerfully so in the first game.
 * Non-Action Snarker: In spades.
 * OOC Is Serious Business: In ME3, he gets out of his chair and salutes Shepard before the final mission.
 * Perma-Stubble: He once joked about Shepard recommending him for a medal after saving him/her from "swimming in molten sulfur," but is convinced he doesn't want one since he'd have to deal with the ceremony for receiving it...


 * Plucky Comic Relief: While other characters also have their funny moments, conversation with Joker are almost entirely optional and serve no other purpose than to be a source of comedy.
 * Though as we find out in 3, his constant joking does have a purpose. Basically, it's to keep Shepard from going completely off the deep end, after all the hell s/he goes through.
 * Porn Stash: According to EDI, he has a few zettabytes of the stuff hidden away in the Normandy computers.
 * Putting the Band Back Together: Is the first to rejoin Shepard's crew and clearly wants to try to reunite as many of his former comrades from the first Normandy as he can.
 * : Will enter into a relationship with in Mass Effect 3 if Shepard encourages both of them.
 * Quizzical Tilt: His reaction to EDI's 'humans on their knees' comment.
 * Sarcastic Devotee
 * Scotty Time: Joker apparently deliberately pads his estimates to make himself look good when he pulls off whatever his tasks are in under that. EDI calls him out on this.
 * Ship Tease: With EDI in ME2 overlapping with Belligerent Sexual Tension. While Joker and EDI deny they are flirting, everyone else... isn't convinced.
 * In the third game, FemShep can ask if Joker ever considered the two of them. Joker gently shoots her down, saying in alternate universe, one that didn't have military ranks, Joker would totally rock her world.
 * Shout-Out: The above picture caption quote is referencing another ace pilot who is known for his snarking.
 * This Is Gonna Suck: While he never actually says it, his facial expression and worried "Aw, shit!" definitely fit when.
 * His reaction in the intro of Mass Effect 2, being the first to realise that the Collector War Ship have locked weapons because they can see them.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Despite their frequent spats, he and EDI work best when together.
 * Undying Loyalty: He will follow Shepard to hell and back, like so many other characters.
 * So much so that Anderson, worried about Shepard physically and mentally, asked Joker to take care of him/her.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Gives a quick one to Shepard, blaming him/her for not being on the ship He even threatens to leave but given his Undying Loyalty to Shepard, it's just emotions. EDI points that out as well.
 * So much so that Anderson, worried about Shepard physically and mentally, asked Joker to take care of him/her.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Gives a quick one to Shepard, blaming him/her for not being on the ship He even threatens to leave but given his Undying Loyalty to Shepard, it's just emotions. EDI points that out as well.

Doctor Karin Chakwas


"Voiced by: Carolyn Seymour"

The chief medical officer stationed aboard the Normandy. When Joker joined Cerberus, she went with him, ostensibly to keep an eye on his Vrolik's syndrome, but really to keep an eye on him.

"Dr. Chakwas: I've spent most of my life on warhsips, never knowing what the next mission might bring. I'm used to the hum of engines, the creaking bulkheads, the subtle vertigo when the momentum dampeners kick in. Life planetside is too static, too boring."
 * Ascended Extra: Is there for a bit of exposition early on, and then doesn't have much in the way of new dialog later in the game. In ME2, she becomes the de facto Team Mom of the crew.
 * Drink Order: She prefers a specialty called Serrice ice brandy. You can get a bottle for her in the second game. Which both of you then get completely wasted on.
 * Then has quite a Mood Whiplash as she starts remembering dead crewmembers.
 * Mentioned in 3 that she's not forgotten that Shepard promised that getting hammered on brandy is their new yearly ritual.
 * Good-Looking Privates: Her motivation for joining the Alliance military was, in her words, "handsome soldiers with sensitive souls."
 * Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!: She's looking pretty good for a woman who is at the very least in her sixties. Justified, as the medical advances in the Mass Effect universe are far enough to make people look significantly younger than their age would imply. Chakwas is barely middle-aged in the setting.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: As a polar opposite to the kind, always-looking-out-for-her-patients Chakwas, Carolyn Seymour also voices the Locust Queen in Gears of War.
 * She also voices a large number of minor characters in Knights of the Old Republic, most notably Bastila's mother.
 * Fridge Brilliance: She is a bit "motherly" to Shepard, who has the same voice actress as Bastila (if Shepard is female).
 * Hospital Hottie: The community apparently has something of a fetish for her. Surprisingly there isn't a shipping base for her and Shepard.
 * In Harm's Way: After the destruction of the SSV Normandy, Chakwas was given a post at the Mars Naval Medical Center. A pretty sweet deal actually, but the doctor couldn't stand being in one place for too long:


 * Just a Machine: Gets into an argument over whether synthetics are "alive" with Adams later in the game, providing another either/or support choice for Shepard. Chakwas takes the stance that they're machines, Adams that "machine" doesn't necessarily mean "inanimate".
 * Lady Drunk: Shows subtle hints of having become this by 2 and 3, due to stress and the death of various friends.
 * On the other hand, it might just be limited to getting royally wasted with Shepard, once a year.
 * Last-Name Basis: Right up until the third game, where Shepard can call her Karin over another bottle of wine. She feels that using Shepard's first name would be a disservice to what s/he's fighting for. Or it's just her prerogative as a lady.
 * Noble Bigot: Not towards aliens, but 3 shows that she point-blank refuses to accept artificial intelligences as truly alive. Even though Engineer Adams, who is clearly a good friend of hers, and (depending on the player) Shepard him/herself argue against her, she dismisses their arguments and maintains that they are just machines. This does not change the fact that she is, overall, a good person.
 * Older Than They Look: Granted it's mentioned repeatedly how medical advances have slowed aging in humans, but Chakwas is probably the most telling example.
 * Parental Substitute: Frequently acts a mother-figure towards Shepard.
 * Putting the Band Back Together: Jumps at the chance to come back to the Normandy in both 2 and 3.
 * Significant Anagram: Her name is an anagram of "hacksaw."
 * So Proud of You: Tells Shepard that she's very proud of him/her before the assault on Earth.
 * Team Mom: Chakwas is definitely the most nurturing person on either of the Normandys, and often takes it upon herself to look out for the crew.
 * To Absent Friends: One of the toasts Chakwas and Shepard can share during the brandy drinking cutscene.
 * Undying Loyalty: Do you even need to ask?
 * Undying Loyalty: Do you even need to ask?

Navigator/Executive Officer Charles Pressly
""I know we'll all be court-martialed if this doesn't work out, but part of me loves this!""

"Voiced by: Dwight Schultz"

The navigation officer of the Normandy who is later promoted to XO once Shepard has been given command of the ship by Anderson. He enlisted to follow in his grandfather's footsteps, then received his officer's commission after participating in the Skyllian Blitz.


 * Bald of Awesome
 * Fantastic Racism: A little more than Ashley, especially where turians are concerned, but Shepard can help him to see past this point of view, and his datapad found at the Normandy's indicates that he had grown to respect his otherworldly comrades.
 * : He gets a few conversations and some characterization in the first game—and.
 * Undying Loyalty: He's right behind Shepard's decision to.
 * : He gets a few conversations and some characterization in the first game—and.
 * Undying Loyalty: He's right behind Shepard's decision to.
 * Undying Loyalty: He's right behind Shepard's decision to.
 * Undying Loyalty: He's right behind Shepard's decision to.

Lieutenant Gregory Adams
""If you name a class of Alliance ship, I've probably served on it. Everything from dreadnaughts and carriers right down to frigates like the Normandy.""

"Voiced by: Roger Jackson"

The Chief Engineer aboard the Normandy. He's reassigned to a new post following Shepard's death in the beginning of Mass Effect 2, but he's back under Shepard's command in Mass Effect 3.


 * Big Brother Mentor: Seems to have been one to Tali; she'll note in the second game that she's been having difficulty getting used to his absence.
 * Hyper Awareness: Apparently the only Alliance technician who wasn't fooled for a minute that EDI was "just a VI" program. After she reveals the truth to him, he admits he was genuinely impressed with the way she kept counteracting his attempts to secretly disconnect her.
 * Military Brat: Both of his parents serve on an Alliance agricultural vessel under Admiral Hackett's command.
 * Mr. Exposition: Exists primarily in the first game to explain the Normandy's stealth system and engines.
 * Put on a Bus: Aside from a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo during the intro and a few mentions, he is nowhere to be seen in ME2.
 * The Bus Came Back: He returns in ME3 and is back under Shepard's command once again.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Has no problems with taking Tali under his wing in ME1, despite her being a quarian, and.
 * He also proves to be one of the most open-minded about synthetic life on your entire crew. He takes to EDI and is keen to debate whether she "is" the Normandy or a separate entity, and is quick to assert that any geth just minding its own business has more rights than Cerberus. All without any cajoling or persuade checks on Shepard's part.
 * Shout-Out: Engineer Adams and the Tantalus Drive Core? What about Dr. Adams and the Tantalus Penal Colony?
 * Undying Loyalty: He's completely unperturbed at Shepard's decision to.
 * However, this trope seems to apply primarily to the Alliance;.

The Citadel Council


""Ah yes, "Reapers"...We have dismissed that claim.""

"Voiced by: Alastair Duncan (Sparatus), Jan Alexandra Smith (Tevos), Armin Shimerman (Valern)"

The ruling group of most of the known Milky Way galaxy, consisting of representatives of the three  dominant species.

"Tevos:"
 * Character Tic: When two Councilors look at one, they're about to reach a consensus. Notably, when Valern and Tevos stared down at Sparatus just before they enlisted Shepard as a Spectre.
 * If they look at one who shakes his head, their subsequent decision will negatively affect Shepard. First was with Sparatus - they denied that Saren was responsible for the attack on Eden Prime. Second was with Valern - they rejected to help Shepard take Earth from the Reapers.
 * Commander Contrarian: No matter what you do, even to the point of completely opposite behaviors, Councilor Sparatus will be a jerkass.
 * Dying Like Animals: A winning combination of bats, lemmings, ostriches, and reindeer. Hopefully they'll wise up before the third game, but the vast majority of the fanbase is skeptical.
 * Fantastic Racism: Sparatus, against humans.
 * Valern—or, if he is killed, his dalatress replacement—shows himself to be quite anti-krogan in 3.
 * Isheel (Valern's replacement) actually seems to be one of the few salarians who is not opposed to the krogan cure. She seems to see the pragmatic value of having them as allies against the Reapers.
 * The Federation
 * The Ghost:
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Is that Councilor Quark or Councilor Snyder? Maybe even Councilor Andrew Ryan? Any of those possibilities make the salarians suddenly seem a lot less trustworthy.
 * I Believe That You Believe It: One of the ways they claim the Reapers don't exist; the galaxy only has your word for it.
 * Idiot Ball: Sparatus gets one without any doubt.
 * Ironically
 * Jerkass: Sparatus takes every opportunity to deride Shepard, no matter how the player acts. The other Councilors are decidedly less judgmental.
 * Also,
 * Jerkass Has a Point: Councilor Sparatus. While he's often an ass about it, Shepard does frequently do erratic things and make decisions of galactic importance without bothering to consult the council first.
 * Also when you consider that turians are taught to value discipline, self-responsibility and their government is based on heirarchical meritocracy, it makes sense why he's irritated by Shepard's maverick attitude and insubordinate nature to authority.
 * Also when he is the only council member who believes that it is plausible that
 * Memetic Hand Gesture: To the "point" where "Sparatus" cannot be "mentioned" without "air quotes." "* air quotes* "
 * No Name Given: Until Mass Effect 3, Sparatus and Valern were known only as the Turian and Salarian Councilor.
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat: No matter what Shepard brings to their view, they will never believe him/her.
 * Schmuck Bait: The Citadel itself.
 * Schrödinger's Gun: Sparatus loves using this against you. Kill the rachni: "Do you enjoy committing genocide?" Release the queen: "How long before they wipe us out?"
 * Team Mom: Tevos spends about half of her time in any conversation trying to calm things down between Sparatus and Shepard or Udina.
 * Took a Level in Jerkass: Sparatus was never exactly nice, but he did start off reasonable and actually made some good points. Then Shepard became a Spectre and all bets were off. He takes another level in the sequel, where he essentially tells Shepard that he thinks s/he's completely insane, easily manipulated, and an idiot. This is said with no irony whatsoever.
 * Inverted, surprisingly, in the 3rd game; while Valern coldly shoots down any help for Shepard, Sparatus is the first to help out. Furthermore, Tevos refuses to be at a diplomatic meeting because she thinks it's a wasted effort, purely due to krogan participating in said meeting.
 * Ungrateful Bastard: . The fact you're working for what is essentially a terrorist group may have something to do with it.
 * Taken to the absolute extreme in the third game: After the Reapers invade, their response to Shepard being proven right is;
 * Taken to the absolute extreme in the third game: After the Reapers invade, their response to Shepard being proven right is;

Captain David Anderson


""I know Saren. I know his reputation, his politics. He believes humans are a blight on the galaxy. This attack was an act of war.""

"Voiced by: Keith David"

Former commanding officer of the Normandy, now advisor to Shepard from the Citadel. Was once in the running to be the first human spectre until his efforts were sabotaged by Saren.


 * Badass:
 * In Revelation he
 * In the Shadow Broker's video logs, you can see him holding his own in a Citadel shootout as well as punching Udina in the stomach.
 * He was the first N7 Marine, almost the first human Spectre, does all kinds of crazy stuff in the novels, and in 3 is a Guest Star Party Member. Even more so, he stays behind on Earth, while it's being hammered by the Reapers. Admiral Hackett says that he's the only reason there's still an organized resistance on Earth.
 * Badass Baritone
 * Badass Grandpa: Still badass even as an older captain; when  In the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC, one of the videos the Broker has will show
 * In Retibution, he faces down  which is pretty damed impressive when one considers that the only other person to tackle something like that was
 * Beehive Barrier: Fortification is one of his powers during the intro to 3 - in his admiral's uniform, to boot.
 * Big Good: While not officially leading the Alliance, he's the only authority figure other than Admiral Hackett that Shepard consistently respects. When he's , he and Admiral Hackett share this role, with Hackett being the man behind the  while Anderson is the leader of.
 * Butt Monkey: He has to take crap from
 * Continuity Cameo: You get to meet Anderson's old flame, Kahlee Sanders (from Revelation), in a Mass Effect 3 side mission.
 * Cosmic Plaything: The Universe just piles on the crap for this guy. He still gets up and does his job though.
 * A Day in the Limelight: Mass Effect: Revelation.
 * Desk Jockey: What he's demoted to when Shepard is given command of the ship.
 * In Mass Effect 3, he becomes the leader of the remaining human forces on Earth resisting the Reapers.
 * Doomed Hometown: According to the first Mass Effect novel Revelation, Anderson was born and raised in London.
 * A Father to His Men: Especially when it comes to Shepard.
 * Four-Star Badass: Gets some admirals' stars in Mass Effect 3, and if he was Councilor, he has retired from that post to return to the military. Takes charge of the Resistance on Earth once Reapers start reapin'.
 * The Good Captain
 * Guest Star Party Member: Fights with Shepard directly during the intro level of Mass Effect 3.
 * Hero of Another Story: Of Mass Effect: Revelation and Retribution.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Hey Goliath! And Arbiter! Julius, maybe? What are you doing here?
 * If players played Modern Warfare 2 before playing Mass Effect, they will notice that Sgt. Foley isn't making them do entirely everything.
 * I Need a Freaking Drink: In the two years between Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2, apparently. The Shadow Broker's dossier on him shows that he's two steps from becoming a full-blown alcoholic due to all the booze he's had to down to ignore all the stupid he's been exposed to. His tab at Dionysus Imports: 2 bottles white wine after viewing "Saren: A Hero Betrayed", 1 bottle Gargle Blaster after viewing a documentary on what really happened behind the Citadel attack, 2 bottles Vodka Drunkenski after watching "Path of Lies: A History of the Alliance Military" and a documentary on the airquotes "Reapers" back-to-back. Followed by a call to Kleen Sweep Home Maintenance.
 * Kicked Upstairs: In Mass Effect 3, Captain Anderson is now Admiral Anderson.
 * Knight in Sour Armor: He knows full well the galaxy is run by idiotic politicians and bureaucrats. He does not like this. He gets up and does his job anyway.
 * Nice Hat: He's sporting one in Mass Effect 3.
 * The Obi Wrong:
 * Paternal Substitute
 * Quintessential British Gentleman: According to Mass Effect: Revelation, though he doesn't have the accent.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: One of the two human authority figures Shepard can actually count on throughout the entire series (the other being Hackett).
 * Rebel Leader: During Mass Effect 3, he decides to stay on Earth and lead La Résistance during the Reaper occupation.
 * So Proud of You:
 * Rebel Leader: During Mass Effect 3, he decides to stay on Earth and lead La Résistance during the Reaper occupation.
 * So Proud of You:

Ambassador Donnel Udina


""What? Councilor, do the words "political shitstorm" mean anything to you?""

"Voiced by: Bill Ratner"

A human diplomat at the Citadel struggling to give humans a say in intergalactic politics. And a real jerk about it.


 * Ass in Ambassador: In spades. The turians describe him in the second game as "a diplomatic incident waiting to happen."
 * Awesome Moment of Crowning:
 * In Mass Effect: Retribution, the novel sequel to Mass Effect 2,
 * Beleaguered Bureaucrat: While the Renegade ending leaves no doubt as to the kind of person he is, Udina sometimes seems as tired of politics as everyone else, but he has to deal with it because it's his job. This is most obvious if you talk to him after Feros.
 * Catch Phrase: Frequently utters just why "This is an OUTRAGE!".
 * Divided We Fall: When he grounds Shepard as opposed to letting him/her go after the Conduit because he's afraid of losing the Council's favor.
 * Jerkass: Ambassador Udina seems to enjoy his job a little too much, especially when foiling Shepard.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: If you, does he serve as a "true advocate" for humanity? Balls no. He goes right back to being an Obstructive Bureaucrat and.
 * In Mass Effect 3, it is eventually revealed that
 * Kick the Dog: He was responsible for  in Mass Effect: Inquisition, where he tries to use the fact there could be enemies in the council to further a pro-human agenda.
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat: Though he's fairly helpful at first. But not for long.
 * Pet the Dog: If you convince the Alliance to return Nirali Bhatia's body to her husband, Samesh, or save Chairman Burns from biotic extremists, Udina is nice enough to supply them with Shepard's e-mail address so that they can properly thank Shepard in Mass Effect 2. Udina will do this even if.
 * Slave to PR
 * Took a Level in Jerkass: It's easy to forget, but at the beginning of the first game, while he was not the friendliest guy, he at least would give Shepard the benefit of the doubt. But then he started basing his judgement purely on PR.
 * Ungrateful Bastard: Even if you, don't expect him to give you a warm welcome in the sequel.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Pulls this card when siding with the Council against Shepard near the end of the first game.
 * Took a Level in Jerkass: It's easy to forget, but at the beginning of the first game, while he was not the friendliest guy, he at least would give Shepard the benefit of the doubt. But then he started basing his judgement purely on PR.
 * Ungrateful Bastard: Even if you, don't expect him to give you a warm welcome in the sequel.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Pulls this card when siding with the Council against Shepard near the end of the first game.
 * Ungrateful Bastard: Even if you, don't expect him to give you a warm welcome in the sequel.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Pulls this card when siding with the Council against Shepard near the end of the first game.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Pulls this card when siding with the Council against Shepard near the end of the first game.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Pulls this card when siding with the Council against Shepard near the end of the first game.

Nihlus Kryik
""I move faster on my own.""

"Voiced by: Alastair Duncan"

A turian Spectre trained by Saren, Nihlus was selected to assess whether Shepard was qualified to join the Spectres and mentor him/her if that was the case. During the attack on Eden Prime, he's betrayed and killed by his old mentor.


 * Et Tu, Brute?: Killed by a shot to the head from Saren, his mentor.
 * Mentor Occupational Hazard: Before he got to do any mentoring, even.
 * The Obi-Wan: He was supposed to fulfill this role for Shepard. However, Saren kills him before he could really teach Shepard anything.
 * Sacrificial Lamb: Mere minutes after Jenkins.
 * Sound-Only Death: Saren pulls his gun on Nihlus, and the cutscene ends before he can pull the trigger. Just as gameplay resumes, the player hears a gunshot off in the distance.
 * Worthy Opponent: Samara considers him one.

Dr. Chloe Michel
"Voiced by: Jan Alexandra Smith"

A human doctor who runs a clinic in the Wards. Your interactions with her tend to involve saving her from various gangs of blackmailing lowlifes, and she rewards you with free medigel refills.

"Shepard: Every time I come in here, I see someone threatening you."
 * Damsel in Distress: A mild case.
 * Damsel in Distress: A mild case.


 * Dogged Nice Doctor Girl: Her email in ME2 indicates a crush on Garrus - understandable, since he rescued her in ME1. When Tali learns that the doctor sent Garrus dextro-only chocolates "because they reminded her of him", she either warns a Garrus-romancing female Shepard to watch herself or takes notes for the future.
 * Everything Sounds Sexier in French
 * The Informant: She provides the player with information during several quests. It tends to be information of the sort you wouldn't expect an ordinary clinic Doctor to know.
 * Military Brat: Her parents were both Alliance military.
 * Romantic Runner-Up: Not to Shepard but to Garrus, given that she'll lose out to female Shepard.

Talitha


""It hurts when she...when I remember me. But she wants to remember.""

A slave taken by batarians from the same colony from which Colonist Shepard escaped when s/he was sixteen. Shepard is told about how she escaped, but wants to kill herself, and is asked if s/he can help, having been through the raid.

"Girard: Is she all right? Shepard: I'm fine, thanks for asking."
 * Bald Women: Or stubble headed girl, whatever.
 * Kick the Dog: Shepard can force her to take the sedative and make snide remarks afterwards.


 * Shoot the Dog: Talitha will either do this to herself if she feels threatened by Shepard, or Shepard can order a sniper to do so.
 * Shout-Out: To Crime and Punishment, as stated above, but Shepard's words of comfort are also taken from Aliens.
 * Stockholm Syndrome: She tried to heal the slavers when a woman came along and slaughtered them all.
 * Third Person Person: How Talitha copes with what happened to her; she sees the trauma she faced as happening to another girl.

Admiral Tadius Ahern


"Shepard: So you run the station and the training here? Ahern: Last I checked. It's better than a desk job, and a hell of a lot better than retirement."

"Voiced by: Charles Dennis"

A Systems Alliance officer who commands Pinnacle Station, and is the central character of the Pinnacle Station DLC. He is a veteran of the First Contact War, and provides most of the commentary during the training missions.


 * Badass Beard
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Cool Old Guy: As long as you can impress him in the simulations, he'll give you a Big Fancy House on a remote planet with infinite grenades, medi-gel, a big-screen TV and, most importantly, an avenue to purchase the best equipment in the game.
 * Deadpan Snarker: He tends to be very caustic.
 * Fantastic Racism: He openly carries a grudge against turians, but to be fair, during the First Contract War he was given a near-suicidal mission against dozens of turian mercenaries. He survived.
 * Four-Star Badass: Same as Admiral Hackett, though not with nearly as much political power.
 * Large Ham Announcer
 * Not Half Bad: His initial reaction to Shepard beating the current records.
 * Retired Badass: He's not technically retired, but he no longer participates in war-fighting.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: He's not even mentioned in Mass Effect 2, and you can't visit the apartment he gave you on Intai'sei (though you being dead might have something to do with that).
 * The Bus Came Back: ... Sort of. Pinnacle Station and Intai'sei both show up in 3; the former can be scanned to earn some War Assets (Guard Captain Vidinos' spec ops team), and the latter for a sidequest Plot Coupon.

Captain Kirrahe
""Always a pleasure to watch you work, Commander.""

"Voiced by: George Szilagyi"

The Captain in charge of the Special Tasks Group on Virmire. Worked with Mordin Sends a request to the Council for backup upon finding Saren's base but gets garbled into static so only Shepard and the Normandy comes to investigate. Returns in Mass Effect 3, now a major, provided you saved him on Virmire.


 * All There in the Manual: The Shadow Broker's files on Mordin show how he worked with him.
 * The Captain: Has the rank and the personality for it.
 * Hold the Line: The bases of his Rousing Speech; without assisstance, he will can die doing it.
 * Killed Off for Real: He will not survive if Shepard doesn't help with the base's defences, or if Shepard diverts attention to his troops.
 * Majorly Awesome: If he lives through Virmire, he gets promoted to this by 3.
 * Meaningful Name: Named after Currahee Mountain. A mountain used during WW 2 to train Paratroopers
 * Rousing Speech: A fan of these. Mordin somewhat exasperated with them, preferred to get the job done instead of wasting time with "chest-pounding."
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Mordin. Referred to as a "bit of a cloaca" by Mordin in the present, even if Kirrahe is dead; mission files held by the Shadow Broker reveal that on the mission to, the two of them spent most of the time flinging cloaca-based insults at one another, with Mordin poking fun at Kirrahe's insistence on following the plan to the letter and suggesting that he "has foreign object in cloaca" and Kirrahe losing temper at constant jibes and calling Mordin a "walking cloaca." However, when Mordin was injured in battle and refused to obtain medical attention until his work was finished, Kirrahe admiringly called him "one tough cloaca." Furthermore, cut content from Mass Effect 2 includes an email from Kirrahe (assuming he survived Virmire) in which he admits that he's been exchanging friendly emails with Mordin over special equipment requirements, and remarks that he's "a good agent. Nervy for a tech. Bit of a cloaca, though."
 * Rousing Speech: A fan of these. Mordin somewhat exasperated with them, preferred to get the job done instead of wasting time with "chest-pounding."
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Mordin. Referred to as a "bit of a cloaca" by Mordin in the present, even if Kirrahe is dead; mission files held by the Shadow Broker reveal that on the mission to, the two of them spent most of the time flinging cloaca-based insults at one another, with Mordin poking fun at Kirrahe's insistence on following the plan to the letter and suggesting that he "has foreign object in cloaca" and Kirrahe losing temper at constant jibes and calling Mordin a "walking cloaca." However, when Mordin was injured in battle and refused to obtain medical attention until his work was finished, Kirrahe admiringly called him "one tough cloaca." Furthermore, cut content from Mass Effect 2 includes an email from Kirrahe (assuming he survived Virmire) in which he admits that he's been exchanging friendly emails with Mordin over special equipment requirements, and remarks that he's "a good agent. Nervy for a tech. Bit of a cloaca, though."
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Mordin. Referred to as a "bit of a cloaca" by Mordin in the present, even if Kirrahe is dead; mission files held by the Shadow Broker reveal that on the mission to, the two of them spent most of the time flinging cloaca-based insults at one another, with Mordin poking fun at Kirrahe's insistence on following the plan to the letter and suggesting that he "has foreign object in cloaca" and Kirrahe losing temper at constant jibes and calling Mordin a "walking cloaca." However, when Mordin was injured in battle and refused to obtain medical attention until his work was finished, Kirrahe admiringly called him "one tough cloaca." Furthermore, cut content from Mass Effect 2 includes an email from Kirrahe (assuming he survived Virmire) in which he admits that he's been exchanging friendly emails with Mordin over special equipment requirements, and remarks that he's "a good agent. Nervy for a tech. Bit of a cloaca, though."

Conrad Verner


""You showed me what it meant to be truly extreme. I learned that lesson well.""

"Voiced by: Jeff Page"

Shepard's biggest fan. Initially appearing on the Citadel in the first game, Conrad wants to be just like Shepard, going so far as to try to ask Shepard is s/he will help him become a Spectre. He may or may not survive the ensuing reality check. Reappears in Mass Effect 2, this time wearing a replica of Shepard's armor and trying to be a hero. He later appears in Mass Effect 3, where his story is fully culminated, and we discover interesting Hidden Depths about our favorite Butt Monkey.

"Conrad: Why don't you sit back and let me show you how it's done? I've got some asses to kick."
 * Badass Boast: Not that anyone takes him seriously.

"Conrad: I'm Commander Shepard's squadmate! I'm practically second-in-command!"
 * Badass on Paper:
 * Bi the Way: Implied. His level of obsession with Shepard, including the Stalker Shrine, is not affected by Shepard's sex.
 * Borrowed Catchphrase: "I should go."
 * Butt Monkey
 * Completely Missing the Point: Several times. Put a gun up to his head to prove he's not ready for what he's proposing and he'll think you were teaching him how to be an extreme badass in the second game. He'll also mention how supportive his wife was and how she even paid for his transportation off world. Cue a Face Palm from the asari bartender standing behind him.
 * Desperately Looking for a Purpose In Life: Happens in the first and second games. In the sequel, Shepard can inspire him to do something other than emulating him/her. And in the third, Conrad finally gets to be the badass he always wanted to be—and actually was all along.
 * Dumb Blonde: He's often way too naive for his own good. However...
 * Heroic Sacrifice: . Can be subverted, if
 * Heroic Wannabe: Very much so.
 * Hero Worshipper: So much so that by Mass Effect 3, Conrad is supporting Cerberus because Shepard worked with them in the second game.
 * Hidden Depths:
 * Not only this, but he has no money and is a refugee in 3 because
 * Ignored Epiphany: Even if Shepard chose the Paragon route in 1 (thereby convincing him to stay with his family), he still shows up as a wannabe mercenary in 2.
 * Of course, this is due to a save import error, which will always assume that Conrad was dealt with in a Renegade fashion. Modifying the save to correct the error results results in an accidentally Dummied Out Paragon scene involved Conrad pretending to be Shepard's Lancer.
 * Not only this, but he has no money and is a refugee in 3 because
 * Ignored Epiphany: Even if Shepard chose the Paragon route in 1 (thereby convincing him to stay with his family), he still shows up as a wannabe mercenary in 2.
 * Of course, this is due to a save import error, which will always assume that Conrad was dealt with in a Renegade fashion. Modifying the save to correct the error results results in an accidentally Dummied Out Paragon scene involved Conrad pretending to be Shepard's Lancer.

"Shepard: Conrad may be an idiot, but even he doesn't deserve to be manipulated like that!"
 * Lampshaded in Mass Effect 3, where he apologizes for lying that Shepard pointed a gun at him, saying it was just nerves.
 * Ignored Expert: Part of his backstory.
 * I Just Want to Be Badass
 * Irritation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: He's taken to dressing like Shepard in the sequel.
 * Loony Fan: Oh God yeah.
 * Lord Error-Prone: Big time.
 * Miles Gloriosus: In the second game.
 * Morality Pet: Potentially towards a Renegade Shepard.

"Conrad: I talk to people, y'know? Ask them if they have big problems that only I can solve. You'd be surprised how many people are just waitin' for someone to talk to them. Sometimes I poke through crates, too. Y'know, for extra credits."
 * Never Be a Hero: The point of the second game. Shepard has had intense, high-level specialist military training, and possibly genetic enhancements and faux-psychic powers. Conrad has nothing of the sort. Leave the saving of the galaxy to Shepard. Somewhat subverted in the Paragon ending, though, because Conrad finally gets that there's more than just one way to be a hero.
 * In the third game,.
 * Pet the Dog: In 3 Shepard can ask how he's holding up with the war going on, seems impressed when he admits he spent all his money to get the kids from his charity to safety and when he tries to take the bullet for them, even comforts him that he "did good". Its implied that, for all of his loony antics and how much he exasperates them, Paragon Shepard genuinely might be fond of Conrad.
 * Ship Tease: With Jenna, another minor character from the first game, if Shepard helped her.
 * Squee: This video is how Conrad would've reacted without the import save file bug. Go to about 2:00 to hear him say that meeting Shep again is the happiest day of his life, fanboy squee in every word. If you take the Charm option in his quest and lie that he helped expose a dirty cop, he'll reply with a tiny, quivering, pathetic "Really?", as if he can't believe he actually helped you out. Aww, Conrad!
 * Stalker Shrine: When asked in 3, Conrad admits to having a shrine dedicated to Shepard. He claims it's in good taste, though."It's just a poster with a few candles. It's very tasteful"
 * Stalker with a Crush: In Mass Effect 3 he may reveal that he's not actually married, in spite of the many earlier references to a wife who is also a fan of Shepard...and he has a shrine set up for Commander Shepard somewhere.
 * Taking the Bullet:
 * Ted Baxter: In Mass Effect 2.
 * This Loser Is You: Almost everything he says and does in number two is a take that at the player. Conrad is what would happen if a real person were to emulate an RPG character.
 * In ME2,

"Conrad: Do you really think you'll defeat the Reapers? Shepard: You just asked me that, Conrad. Conrad: Sorry, I like to ask all the questions I can think of, and sometimes I forget which ones I asked already. I should go."
 * In ME3,


 * Conrad also repeats many of the same complaints that those against the whole thermal clip system have in a possible Take That Us.
 * Throw the Dog a Bone: In ME3, he starts off being manipulated by a Cerberus agent and being his normal loony self, but then
 * Too Dumb to Live:
 * We Need a Distraction: Cerberus takes advantage of his overenthusiasm and hero-worship in Mass Effect 3 to have him distract everyone in the refugee camp while a Cerberus agent poisons the medigel dispensers. Once he's told of the error in his ways, he immediately rats out his Cerberus contact.

Gianna Parasini


""You have the right to remain silent. I wish to God you'd exercise it!""

"Voiced by: Wendy Braun"

An oft-undercover internal affairs agent for the consortium on Noveria that Shepard repeatedly encounters through the galaxy, repeatedly enlisting his/her aid in her investigations.


 * Deadpan Snarker: She has quite a tongue when she's not pretending to be a secretary.
 * Drink Order: She cheerfully promises Shepard a beer if s/he helps her arrest Anoleis; she delivers on that promise in the second game,
 * Internal Affairs: Perhaps one of the only good examples in all of fiction; she's the least irritating person who can get you a freakin' garage pass on Noveria.
 * Reverse Mole: When you first encounter her, she's posing as Administrator Anoleis's secretary, but
 * Screw You, Elves: She currently provides the lead page quote.
 * Ship Tease: With Male Shepard in the second game.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Her cameo in 2 implied that she was going to have some future role revolving around dark matter. Ironically she's one of the few minor/supporting characters that doesn't return for the third game.

Harkin


""Secrets are like herpes. If you got 'em, might as well spread 'em around.""

"Voiced by: Roger Jackson"

A disgraced C-Sec officer known for numerous abuses of power and general disorderly conduct. Used as an obnoxious informant in the first game and.

"Harkin: Why don't you sit your sweet little ass down. Have a drink and we'll see where this goes. Shepard: I'd rather drink a cup of acid after chewing on a razor blade."
 * Dirty Cop: Anderson refers to him as an embarrasment kept in office only because humanity needed bodies in C-Sec. He was kicked out the second he was no longer needed politically.
 * Dirty Coward
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Ewww! Mojo Jojo was hitting on Miss Keane!
 * And he calls her Princess.
 * Politically-Incorrect Villain: He attempts to hit on a female Shepard in a manner that seems designed to provoke a hostile reaction.


 * Shut Up, Kirk: "Save yer sermons, this ain't no church."

Khalisah bint Sinan al-Jilani


""Check the vid. We get it? Great, bull-rushed on my own show.""

"Voiced by: April Banigan"

A reporter who tries to get an interview with you in all three games. The first time, she not-so-subtly accuses you of bending over backwards to please the Council; in the second, she'll present your decisions from the previous game in the worst possible light no matter what; in the third, she accosts Shepard about leaving Earth during the Reaper invasion. You have the opportunity to punch her out in every case, and even if you don't take it, the Shadow Broker videos show that plenty of others are less restrained. She returns for a third round in Mass Effect 3 legitimately looking for answers about what's happening on Earth.


 * The Chew Toy
 * Evil Counterpart: Compared to the actual intrepid reporter, Emily Wong.
 * Genre Savvy:
 * Hypocrite: Lair of the Shadow Broker reveals that she's apparently in a relationship with an asari despite her reporting being pretty pro-human/anti-alien. Or maybe "everybody loves the asari!". Even xenophobes.
 * Intrepid Reporter: Sees herself as this.
 * Paparazzi: What she really is.
 * Ironic Name: "Khalisah" is Arabic for "sincere."
 * Meaningful Name: When she makes her third appearance, she really is upset about what's happening on Earth and wants to do anything she can to help.
 * Made of Iron: The fact that she managed to survive getting punched in the face by a krogan should make her count as this.
 * Pet the Dog: In Mass Effect 3, she will once again accost Shepard about leaving Earth, this time legitimately distressed and unhappy. While players have the option to do the usual Renegade interrupt, players who wait will get a Paragon interrupt. Hitting it will have Shepard comforting her, telling her that s/he's doing everything s/he can to stop the Reapers. Shepard even advises her to keep asking the hard questions, and to keep pressing people to aid Earth. This pays off, as her support becomes a legimate war asset in the form of charity funding.
 * Running Gag: The opportunity to sucker punch her.
 * Smug Snake: Especially after any physical beatdown you give her.
 * Too Dumb to Live: One would think that she would learn to stop antagonizing Shepard with questions about how much s/he sucks.
 * Running Gag: The opportunity to sucker punch her.
 * Smug Snake: Especially after any physical beatdown you give her.
 * Too Dumb to Live: One would think that she would learn to stop antagonizing Shepard with questions about how much s/he sucks.

Emily Wong
""This is Emily Wong with FCC News.""

"Voiced By: Anndi McAfee"

An actual reporter. You have the option to give her a good scoop on Fist, and later to help her break a story on the working conditions of traffic controllers on the Citadel. The day before Mass Effect 3 was released in North America, she took over Bioware's AllianceNewsNet Twitter account and chronicled the Reaper attack on Earth.


 * A Day in the Limelight: Her tweets.
 * : After realizing that.
 * : After realizing that.


 * Hot Scoop
 * Intrepid Reporter: Live reporting IN THE MIDDLE OF THE REAPER INVASION.
 * Hot Scoop
 * Intrepid Reporter: Live reporting IN THE MIDDLE OF THE REAPER INVASION.


 * Shout-Out: Possibly. might be a reference to
 * Took a Level in Badass: During the Reaper invasion of Earth. It culminates in her.
 * Unwitting Pawn:
 * Took a Level in Badass: During the Reaper invasion of Earth. It culminates in her.
 * Unwitting Pawn:
 * Unwitting Pawn:

Nassana Dantius


""Shepard? But...you're dead!""

"Voiced by: Grey DeLisle"

A shrewd asari politician and businesswoman. In the first game, she was being blackmailed by her Space Pirate sister, and hired Shepard to "take care" of her. Shepard encounters her again in the second game during the search for Thane, and quickly finds out that she's changed... for the worse.


 * Bad Boss: Very bad...
 * Big Screwed-Up Family: Lets just say trust issues are the least of their problems.
 * Cain and Abel: Subverted. We learn in ME2 that
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: Arguably in the first game,
 * Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Goes from a pragmatic but ultimately decent businesswoman in the first game to a psychotic, ultra-paranoid bitch.
 * Fridge Brilliance: ...or she already was a psychotic, ultra-paranoid bitch who used you to kill a rival.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: It's Azula!
 * This makes the Cain and Abel implications with her a little funny in hindsight.
 * Manipulative Bitch
 * Wrong Genre Savvy: Despite Shepard's insistance, she remains utterly convinced that Shepard is the One-Man Army who's slaughtered their way through the building in order to kill her....
 * Only half-wrong, because Shepard did get to her by killing a lot of people...

Sha'ira (The Consort)


""Remember my words, Commander Shepard. They will give you strength.""

"Voiced by: Gwendoline Yeo"

A well-known and influential asari, Sha'ira offers a variety of personal services to her numerous clients, ranging from conversation and advice to sex. She is highly respected and wields quite a bit of political power.


 * Ancient Artifact: She'll hand over a Prothean trinket if you resolve Xeltan's sidequest before hers, allowing Shepard to experience a vision on the planet Eletania.
 * Bi the Way: Kind of. She's an asari, after all.
 * Blue Skinned Space Babe
 * Boldly Coming: She will see (or "see") anyone, regardless of species or gender, though there is quite a waiting period. Among her known clients are a volus, a human, a salarian, a turian, and an elcor.
 * Graceful Ladies Like Purple: She and all of her acolytes wear purple dresses.
 * High-Class Call Girl
 * Male Gaze/Sexy Walk: Her introduction.
 * Meaningful Name: "Sha'ira" comes from an Arabic word meaning "poetess", or "female poet". Her name also resembles the name of the hetaerae Neaira.
 * No Sense of Personal Space: She gets very... snuggly with Shepard when first asking the Commander for a favour, which is strange since when Shepard first enters the room she tells him/her "That's close enough" even when s/he's at quite a distance. Maybe she likes to make sure she sets the boundaries for any sort of encounter with people, or wants a chance to use her (supposedly excellent) character-judging skills before letting them get too close?
 * The Ojou: Most seem to regard Sha'ira with a kind of reverential awe.
 * Optional Sexual Encounter: With absolutely zero warning, at that. Cue player cries of "the Consort raped me!"
 * Punctuation Shaker: An interesting case, considering no other asari so far is shown to have a given name with an apostrophe. It's possible that Sha'ira is not her real name, however.
 * Since Asari surname's often do have apostrophes, its entirely possible that Sha'ira could just be her last name.
 * Sex Tourism: People will visit the Citadel just to see Sha'ira.

Toombs
An ex alliance solider, and potential former squadmate of Shepard, if you play the Sole Survivor background. Saw his whole unit wiped out on Akuze by a Thresher Maw.

"Voiced by: Chris Postle"


 * Driven to Suicide: Depending on how you play his mission.
 * Shell-Shocked Veteran: Not like you can blame the guy.
 * Sole Survivor: Is the only surviving member of his unit. If Shepard has the Sole Survivor background, they both react with surprise upon seeing the other alive.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: If he survives, he sends Shepard a message tearing him / her apart for working with the people who tortured him. Just be glad you never have to meet him in person...

The Rachni Queen
""We are the mother. We sing for those left behind. The children you thought silenced. We are rachni.""

The Rachni Wars ended with the complete and utter annihilation of the rachni, or so the galaxy thought. Thousands of years later, the Binary Helix corporation discovered a cache of rachni eggs in cryogenic suspension. To their pleasant surprise, one of these eggs was a queen and, once hatched, many interested parties sought to use her to breed an army of rachni soldiers. Shepard encounters the Rachni Queen on Noveria and is presented with a choice: To kill her and end the rachni threat once and for all, or release her so that she can follow her dream of rebuilding her race.


 * Bizarre Alien Biology: She contains the genetic material of her predecessors, which allows her to lay fertile eggs without mating. In addition, rachni communicate through whalesong-like sounds (which may be partially telepathic, since they can be heard in a near-vacuum) that they refer to as 'singing'.
 * Characterization Marches On: In Mass Effect 1 and 2, it is claimed that the Rachni were a peaceful race that were manipulated against their will into war with the rest of the galaxy. In 3, they were still manipulated, but it's indicated that they were pretty hostile anyway and were in fact bred to be vicious and cunning. The queen herself is also presented as being more alien than before, partially achieved by
 * Chekhov's Army: If Shepard spares her life,.
 * Cloning Blues:
 * Did We Just Recruit Cthulhu?: Shepard has the option to do this twice to her, once in the first game and again in the third. If you choose this option in the first, in the second game, and if you play your cards right she keeps her word and helps you build in the third game, leading to an amusing incident mentioned in an email where the Rachni's presence freaks out most of the staff as yet another example of this trope.
 * Damsel in Distress: At least, if the term "Damsel" can even apply to a giant insect. Regardless, the Rachni Queen gets captured in both 1 and 3, both times with Shepard being the only one to rescue her if they so choose.
 * Face Death with Dignity:
 * Genetic Memory: Appears to be the case, at least between generations of Rachni queens.
 * Genocide Dilemma: On one hand, everybody and their grandma tells you about how dangerous the Rachni Wars were. On the other hand, she's done nothing wrong and swears to live in peace. It's up to Shepard to decide how it goes.
 * God Save Us From the Queen:
 * Hive Queen:
 * Last of Her Kind: She is the only remaining rachni queen, which means the rachni race will die with her if she is killed.
 * People Puppets: Although she can do this, she only does it to communicate with Shepard and even then only because the person she's controlling is already (nearly) dead.
 * Depending on dialogue choices, Shepard can show concern that she is doing this in the second game. However, the one that Shepard's worried about is happy to help the rachni.
 * Ironically, some of the backstory clearly hints that
 * Royal We: Though as a Hive Queen who uses telepathy to calm and control her offspring, you could consider it a plural "we" as well.
 * Shout-Out: Done almost whole-cloth (right down to the Queens killing the daughters that didn't share "harmonious" views) from the bugs in Ender's Game.
 * Starfish Alien
 * Voice of the Legion: In 3,
 * We Are The Trope
 * Voice of the Legion: In 3,
 * We Are The Trope

Vigil
""You must break a cycle that has continued for millions of years. But to stop it, you must understand, or you will make the same mistakes we did.""

"Voiced by: David Shaughnessy"

A virtual intelligence on Ilos


 * Cozy Voice for Catastrophes: Understandable, since it's a virtual intelligence.
 * : Vigil's sole purpose.
 * Leitmotif: Vigil's theme is not only the menu music for the first game, but in Mass Effect 2, it's the music played when you and Kaidan / Ashley meet again on Horizon, when you get a hearty welcome from Wrex, and when you have the "date" with Liara on the Normandy after she . In Mass Effect 3, it plays
 * Mr. Exposition: The rare positive variety.
 * No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup:
 * It turns out that the Protheans had several alternate plans,  For example,
 * Omniglot: Learnt English merely by studying Shepard's radio chatter.
 * Fridge Brilliance: Considering the Protheans were extreme Omniglots themselves who could learn an entire species's history just by touching them...
 * One-Scene Wonder