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{{quote|''"The Reapers are just a giant nightmare factory that never ends."''|'''Garrus Vakarian''', [[Mass Effect 3]]}}
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* The sidequest "I Remember Me", available to Colonist background players {{spoiler|where Shepard must talk down a deranged former slave woman.}} To make it doubly so, the horrors Talitha describes? What she went through to drive her to the brink of suicide? Shepard was on the same colony the batarians raided and about the only one to escape.
* When {{spoiler|[[Eldritch Abomination|Sovereign]]}} reveals itself. Even better if you'd managed to not spoil yourself before then. The music, [[Evil Sounds Deep|the voice]], and the slowly building sensation of dread you feel as you realise just what it is you're up against.
{{quote|
* Husks are the reanimated corpses of human beings with their nervous systems replaced with technology. The process is done by ''[[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|impaling them on a spike]]''. In fact, ''they don't even have to be dead'' to be converted into Husks. The geth (killer robots) don't ''look'' creepy (they have flashlights for heads), but the noise they make when they spot your squad <s> made this troper nearly stop playing when he first heard it.</s> '''[[Hell Is That Noise|HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH]]''' And then there's Shepard's nightmarish visions of {{spoiler|the Prothean war with the Reapers, which mainly consists of the Protheans getting torn limb from limb by evil cyborgs}}. Further consider this: {{spoiler|What you are actually watching in those visions is not the destruction of the Protheans per se, but their conversion into the Collectors. There's one side mission in which out of the blue you stumble across another Prothean artifact, which gives you the vision you know inside and out: except this time you are hit with the horrible realisation that one of the figure who is vainly trying to flee has four horizontally arranged eyes which are instantly recognisable. Believe it or not, there is a fate worse than extinction.}} And you're not just watching {{spoiler|the Protheans' conversion, either. [[Body Horror|You hear mechanical sawing noises.]] [[Fate Worse Than Death|And screaming. Lots of screaming.]]}}
* Imagine it. You're peacefully going about your business in the wards of the Citadel when suddenly sirens begin to wail. Completely out of nowhere, unknown, gargantuan starships of unfathomable power emerge and exterminate everything, spreading out across your empire and slaughtering, subjugating or {{spoiler|genetically modifying}} everything you hold dear, then using {{spoiler|the liquefied slurry that used to be your bodies to produce and power more of themselves.}} This is the fate of the Protheans, and innumerable species before them. And it's going to happen again, and again, and again... Seriously, the Reapers themselves are the scariest thing in the game in this troper's opinion. Made even worse by several of {{spoiler|Harbinger's}} lines in ''Mass Effect 2'': {{spoiler|"Sentient beings need never fear me." "We are your salvation through destruction." The Reapers believe that they are doing these species a FAVOR.}} The ending of the first Prothean message on Ilos springs to mind. {{spoiler|'''''"Cannot be stopped... cannot be STOPPED..."'''''}} And turned into diesel was the ''lucky'' fate for most of them. The rest {{spoiler|were forcibly mutated into the Collectors.}}
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* Ammo that goes under the category of 'fire', 'ice', or 'poison' in the game will ''disintegrate'' enemies upon killing them. and it ''can'' happen to you.
* Also, Han Olar telling the story of {{spoiler|how he escaped the rachni.}} The scariest part is hearing how the rachni in the labs are beyond saving. Essentially, the gist is that {{spoiler|the rachni are a telepathic sentient species. As long as the smaller ones are within telepathic range of the queen, they become intelligent and sentient. If they're outside the queen's range of influence, they go permanently feral. Just thinking about what that must be like, feeling your connection to the queen go, and then your mind following it, is chilling.}} Humans need contact with others to stay sane {{spoiler|and so do the rachni. Imagine a human child that has never had anyone hold it, comfort it or even ''talk to it.'' That's the rachni you now face.}}
{{quote|
Liara: A child locked in a closet for sixteen years would hardly be sane. }}
* The first appearance of a Thresher Maw nearly sent this troper into convulsions of terror when it burst from the ground just as he stepped out of the Mako. The fact that he had selected the Sole Survivor background, where Shepard's entire unit was once utterly wiped out by a few dozen of the creatures. Just thinking about encountering more than one of them makes me shiver even now.
* The literal swarms of Thorian Creepers crouched fetal position on the floor, just ''waiting'' for you to walk closer, before jumping up, '''skipping''' at you, and then just standing in front of you for a moment, swaying slightly, then ''vomiting acid all over you''. The fact that they look like [[Re Deads]] don't help at all. Remember too that they don't all get up when you get close: they're invulnerable while they're inert, but you could be fending off a wave that's swarming from the next room only to realize that you're surrounded by inert creepers...and they're waking up.
* It gets worse in a similar side mission in ''Mass Effect 2''. {{spoiler|While you're out scanning planets for minerals or side missions, you receive an anomalous distress beacon. EDI tells you there's signs of movement, but no organic life, so you assume either rogue robots or geth, so you create your team appropriately to deal with that. WRONG. The landing cinematic shows a "Blink and You'll Miss It" moment of a husk wandering past the entrance, ignoring you. You decide to go back to the Normandy to reform your team appropriately, but the auto-nav makes it fly away, giving you no choice but to press onwards. Once inside, you find a [[Resident Evil]] style file telling you to get the hell out of there, ASAP. That's when the fun begins. Heading deeper into the mines, you find more Husks than the first Mass Effect ever had, and their [[Incendiary Exponent|exploding cousins the Abominations]]. Deeper in, you find more files telling of the miners' fates, along with some Husks dropping down from the ceiling, before going through one more mass of Husks to destroy the mines and complete the mission. Did I mention that throughout the whole mission, you hear constant shrieks and moans from the Husks, despite you eradicating every single one of them?}}
* The [[Ghost Ship|derelict freighter]] ''Cornucopia''. You're slowly making your way through the labyrinthine cargo hold and then {{spoiler|HOLY FUCKING JESUS [[Zerg Rush|HUSK RUSH]] [[Cluster F-Bomb|FUCKFUCKFUCK]][[Freak-Out|KILLTHEMKILLTHEM]][[Artificial Stupidity|SHOOTYOUIDIOTS!!]]}}
* Indoctrination is the worse thing to happen to anyone. Let's take a situation like Benezia's example, assuming the Reaper has an organic commander like Saren. You initially despise him, can't believe you have to put up with him. And as time goes on, you start agreeing with his commands. You sit at his feet, and smile and nod, while he details all his plans of torture and galactic annihilation. Now, imagine after a while, you are now in a glass box hovering above the world, your arms bound but you are still able to move. It hovers over a man or a woman who looks just like you, as s/he walks through a town, slaughtering innocents. Men, women, children, he kills all of them because the man in the angry mechanical cuttlefish says to. And you try so desperately to stop it, to break the glass by throwing yourself into it, but not even a crack appears. You just keep making yourself weaker, the wo/man quickens their step. And then, when you've finally exhausted yourself, s/he stops, and stands. Just stands, and does nothing else. Maybe mumbles some nonsense. And you lie there, bruised and broken, sobbing until the wo/man dies, and you're finally released. ''That'' is the true definition of Hell. Worse if you consider that, if you aren't like Benezia, you will feel your mind crumbling bit by bit, until you're just a zombie. Imagine every memory, dream, feeling and desire, being slowly erased, while you're unable to do anything except waiting for your mind to be consumed by the void, leaving [[Fate Worse Than Death|no]][[And I Must Scream|thing]]... Remember that hanging around a Reaper is not the only way to get indoctrinated: {{spoiler|Shepard's "paperweight"}} can do it as well.
* Ilos. Think about it, and take the music out. A massive, abandoned city, overgrown with the vegetation of 50,000 years. Completely silent. The only thing you can here is the sound of your own squad's breathing, the sound of wind, and the electronic squawks and clanking of the geth moving around the ruins.
** The Codex mentions that all respirating life (i.e., all animals, insects, fish, etc.) has died out. Then there's what your team will say if you talk to them:
{{quote|
** It becomes even worse when you consider [[Real Life]] abandoned cities like Pripyat are some of the creepiest places on Earth, as any good Stalker will tell you. Then apply [[Recycled in Space]], make it the only habitable planet ''in the solar system,'' cover it with horrific statues of Cthulhu that silently watch you, put in malfunctioning computers that scream "Can not be stopped! CAN NOT BE STOPPED!!!" at you and tell you about the creatures currently eating the brains of the now-dead inhabitants of the planet, and [[Serial Escalation|THEN]] fill it with unspeaking, homicidal robots with plasma weapons who, once they've beaten you down, will stab you onto a ten-foot-tall pole and wait for your organs to dry out in order to turn you into a cyborg zombie. Jesus H. Christ on roller-skates.
** What gets me are the countless cryo pods... {{spoiler|all of them filled with 50,000 year-old-corpses.}}
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* The fact that only Shepard can understand the malfunctioning Prothean VI first encountered on Ilos. Shepard does not merely understand it as one would a language that has been learnt, but literally hears it as ''English!'' Hell, Shepard doesn't even ''notice'' this until its pointed out! This is possibly one of the clearest depictions (aside from visions) that the Prothean Beacon has fundamentally altered Shepard's brain in some way and the sheer power of what effect this has even on a subconscious level.
** That wasn't the beacon's doing; that was the result of a Thorian cramming 50,000 years worth of Prothean essence into your head over a single mind-meld.
* [[Depopulation Bomb|For every thousand women, one is capable of bearing children.]] Roll that one around in your head a bit. As of this writing, approximately 7 billion humans are alive, which would translate into only 3.5 million fertile
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* Thane's [[Photographic Memory]], specifically the flashes of light and the look of his eyes.
** If Kelly survives the suicide mission she descends into this as part of her post traumatic stress.
{{quote|
* After you break Jack/Subject Zero out of the Purgatory prison ship, you get a message from one of the escaped prisoners you may have talked to on the ship. He thanks you for giving him the chance to escape and mentions that he's going to carve your name onto the body of his next victim.
** Not forgetting he promised to kill you too because you took a few pot-shots at him. Don't worry, he'll make sure you find your name carved into said chest just before killing you.
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** The fact that he knew that is one thing. That particular quote "We are Legion, for we are many," was from a man possessed by about 2000 demons at once. That's right, not only did EDI compare Legion to a demon-possessed man, Legion knew it and totally accepted it as a legitimate comparison.
** Legion is 1,183 individual geth conciousness's working as a Gestalt intellect. That Biblical quote fits the context of his existence quite well in this Tropers opinion.
* {{spoiler|Because Reapers apparently perpetuate their genocidal cycle to reproduce, that would mean Reapers aren't just powerful [[Cosmic Horror
** {{spoiler|And as the game heavily implies that the Reapers only choose the strongest civilizations for reproduction and the Protheans/Collectors are still around ... The fact that the almighty Protheans might not have been the strongest civilization in their own cycle together with the supposedly 'Prothean' tubes-for-eyes statues on Ilos scares this troper more than anything.}}
** [[It Got Worse|And it's even worse than that]]: If the age estimates of the Great Rift Valley on Klendagon are accurate, and if {{spoiler|The Reapers really do repeat the cycle approximately every 50,000 years, that means they've got the combined wisdom and technological might of over ''700'' extremely advanced civilizations!}}
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* {{spoiler|The incarnation of the Human Reaper we see in the games is just the beginning. The Collector Edition art book reveals a few early production sketches and paintings that range from traditional Reaper to human forms. One looks like Sovereign, turned backwards, with a face and exposed brain underneath the cuttlefish crown, with the many tentacles rearranged to look like tiny, malformed limbs. A more human design looked like what can only be described as a gigantic Husk fetus made from running candle wax, three times as big as what we see in the game. Also, what we saw and fought was just a larva in terms of development. Full grown Reapers are all heavily armored behemoths, many times larger than what we faced. The thing in that chamber would have grown, and have gained the equivalent of muscles, flesh, and lots and lots of armor before it was even fit to be "born". Be you unimpressed or already scared shitless by what made the final product, realize that ''it could have been much worse''.}}
* The vorcha. Their whole ''kill'em all, KILL'EM ALL,'' '''''KILL'EM ALL!!!!!''''' [[Chaotic Evil]] schitck (seriously, they want to kill as many innocents on Omega as possible to help the Collectors) makes you think: they're not trying to save humanity like Saren did, nor are they indoctrinated, they don't even have a grudge like the batarians, they [[The Dark Knight|just want to see the galaxy burn]].
** Given that they're perceived as being little more than vermin who barely live to see the age of 20 (hard to kill, immune to mass causes of death...yep, space cockroaches), its not surprising. Besides, the [[
** Just for instance, one of them says to you, "Tell Gavron we not kill for him today." Captain Gavron ''himself'' tells you that his job is to keep the vorcha "infestation" on Omega under control. There's no quest with it, but it's left heavily implied that Gavron is playing both ends for his own gain: he has the vorcha murder and steal, and he kills the vorcha.
** On Omega, one of the audio ads in the background offers a 3-, 4- or 5-part plan to wipe out your vorcha infestation for
* The science facility that created Jack. A blood-drenched wreck of a building, you can see holding cells that used to be full of kidnapped children, mutant plants tearing the building apart, Jack's own cell where she was tortured, a giant blood-stain where she killed her first human, and you meet a surviving child who came back and ''wants to rebuild the facility and start everything all over again''. Yikes.
** The room with nothing but a surgical chair and a light over it. "This is a bad place."
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** As for Praetorians, did you ever take a good look inside their "mouths" or whatever those are? I mean a really good look? (Just below the eyes) [http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/6624/61666373.jpg\]
** You're forgetting what happens when {{spoiler|You fail Joker's mini-mission near the end of the main story. Joker gets spotted by a Scion, panics, and falls down. You're then treated to a close-up shot of the Scion from Joker's perspective before a massive hulking claw reaches towards you, followed by a gasp from Joker and a Game Over screen.}}
* Listening to Joker's frantic repetition of "oh shit, oh shit, oh shitshitshit..." as {{spoiler|the Collectors swarm through the ''Normandy'' and haul the surviving crew away to a fate potentially worse than death.}} Considering the number of [[Cosmic Horror
** {{spoiler|Or when a Scion ''rams its hand through his eyes.''}}
** {{spoiler|Well, he's always had his ship to hide behind, and if it came to, Shepard and his/her companions. A man with very fragile bones shouldn't be in that situation, much less soldiers who aren't Shepard. Like he said, the most he can do is break his arm at them.}}
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** Made all the more chilling by your squadmates pointing out that the Collectors could stick every man, woman, and child living in the Terminus Systems in those pods and '''still''' have most of them left over. On '''one. Single. Collector. Ship.''' Now recall the Collector Base at the beginning of the suicide mission. Note how small the ship is in comparison to the base and consider how many more must be in there. We only hear of about 3-4 separate Collector ships out and about over the course of the game. That means that for all the havoc the Collectors wreaked on human colonies around the galaxy, ''they were holding back.'' Additionally, the suicide mission implies that {{spoiler|1=one Collector base = one construction facility for one new Reaper.}} Given the final scenes of the game's ending, how many more bases you suppose there might be?
** The thing that creeped me out the most was that before {{spoiler|the fighting starts}}, someone or something is still out there, SCREAMING. It doesn't help that a scream comes from nearby right as you are told {{spoiler|that the ship has apparently been stalking you.}}
** The {{spoiler|Oculus}} you encounter during the [[Suicide Mission]] are pretty terrifying already, considering {{spoiler|their beams tear holes through the Normandy even with the armor upgrades}}, but the really scary part? Cut content suggests that that they aren't automated security machines. They have pilots. Collector drones, who have been ''taken apart until they are just a nervous system'', wired into machinery and suspended in a gel that keeps it from getting damaged in the vacuum of space.
* The [[And I Must Scream]] situation that the Collectors put people in. The Seeker swarms come in and freeze you. You fall to the ground, conscious but unmoving, and YOU CAN SEE THEM as they come towards you and stick you in pods. You're STUCK like that until they {{spoiler|MELT YOU DOWN FOR GENETIC MATERIALS}}.
* [[Badass|Shepard]] [[The Dreaded|him/herself for his/her enemies.]] Seriously, look at it from someone else's point of view: By the end of ''ME 2'' Shepard has semi bulletproof skin, indestructible bones, heals at absurd rates and is strong enough to ''beat down'' a ''Geth Prime''. This means that Shepard can probably ''punch a hole'' in a shielded and armored synthetic that is arguably a walking ''tank''. And no matter what Shepard's class is, they terrify their enemies; let's take a quick look, shall we?
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*** Or sending another blue ball that causes an explosion that tears you apart. Your skin pulled away from your flesh, your organs crumpled and shredded, the energy pulsing through your body and ripping you apart from the inside.
*** [[Ax Crazy|Then]] [[Bald of Evil|picture]] [[Dark Action Girl|Jack]] [[Psycho for Hire|fighting]] [[Badass|alongside]] [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|Shepard]] [[Bring My Brown Pants|and shit yourself]].
*** ''Jack''? Think about GRUNT!!! How would ''you'' feel if a giant, hulking beast came charging at you, roaring [[
*** Paragon Shepard does not care for your past sins, s/he forgives all. Shepard offers job opportunities for those who get the work done, s/he offers haven like the [[Dragon Age|grey wardens]]. Paragon Shepard may offer mercy and help for your past problems, and secure your loyalty. [[Good Is Not Nice|But not for one moment think s/he does not have you down his/her sights.]] Any traitor that has met the Cutscene Pistol of Doom will either back down or die. Shepard always wins, and his/her crew knows that. Offer one hand, arm the other indeed.
*** Not only that, but if you refuse to back down, you will suffer for your sins. Paragon Shepard will tear apart your unethical research, stop whatever you were doing, and leave you to rot in jail for doing it.
*** [[Good Is Not Soft|"You even think about coming after your brother]] [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|and this bullet will be waiting for you."]]
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*** As Garrus noted, the Harbinger killed this guy, and all it seemed to do was [[Oh Crap|piss him off]].
*** For reference, [[Eldritch Abomination|Sovereign]] ''stayed'' dead. If you threw all the things it took to stop it at Shepard, he may not survive, but damn it, ''he'd survive not surviving.'' So he's essentially unstoppable, ''[[Oh Crap|and you just shot in his general direction]]''.
** Shepard and Liara as a [[Battle Couple]]. The latter is a super crazy powerful biotic who held off mercenaries at dig sites for decades, who is a [[Violently Protective Girlfriend]] to Shepard(she doesn't even have to be Shep's girlfriend/LI) and is on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] against the Shadow Broker. She is indeed referred to as ''the elite'' in her download mission and at the end is perhaps the most powerful person in the galaxy. With mild [[Yandere]] tendencies.
*** No kidding. Even for an asari she's a biotic juggernaut. She's the daughter of one of the strongest asari biotics in the galaxy {{spoiler|possibly two, if Aethyta really is her father}}, and her biotics are as-strong or ''stronger'' than Samara's, a justicar who is ''several centuries her senior'' and Morinth's, an [[Horny Devils|Ardat-Yakshi]] who has absorbed the life force of thousands. She can make black holes with her brain, with you at the center. You ''[[Berserk Button|do not mess with Shepard]]'' while she's around, and if you do, bring a coffee cup, because what's left of you is going home in it.
* Several of your squadmates may be this to your enemies, too. Think about it. A cold, emotionless assassin that could kill you in a heartbeat? A psychotic woman who's an extremely powerful biotic that would kill you without a second thought? A massive, hulking krogan that could break every bone in your body with a single punch?
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** This mission just gets creepier and creepier as you work your way through the winding, claustrophobic mine tunnels, hearing the shrieks and moans of the husks echoing from deep underground. Guess we know what happened to the miners and researchers...
* While we never actually ''see'' how batarians treat their slaves, we certainly hear the details of it. The conditions of the slaves are horrific that it drove a seasoned soldier who witnessed a batarian slave run to become a traumatized, alcoholic wreck. And then there's what they did to Talitha...
* The Derelict Reaper is an extremely creepy playing environment. It's effectively a giant corpse of a dead mecha-god that continues to radiate remnants of its evil will. You will come across [[Apocalyptic Log
* Try picking the wrong biotic to accompany your squad through the seeker swarms in the [[Anyone Can Die|suicide mission]]. Or if you (understandably) don't have the heart to, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkRxe_R6SqI see the consequences for yourself]. The ''screams of agony'' (oh, lord, Tali, Garrus, and Thane) will echo in your brain. I tried it once. ''Once''. [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|Nice job getting one of Shepard's beloved squad killed]].
** "No carrier, no carrier, no carrier, no-..."
** Now think about this. When he says that, he's trying to upload all his memories and programs (which are the actual geth [not the physical form]) and realizing that he's too far away from a mass relay to get everything he has learned and experienced back to his people, which is the most important part of his society, and realizing that all of the over 1000 'people' within him would die there.
*** Whats worse is that in the suicide mission, it was your idea to choose who does what, so if one of your squad mates dies there, their death was not at the collector's fault, it was you to blame. Nobody else is to blame, not the Reapers, not the Collectors, only you are to blame for having a squad mate get killed.
* Jarrahe Station. A space station where the VI went nuts and killed everyone. You have to figure out what happened and shut the station down. The creepiest part? There are no enemies. A fight would have at least helped ease the tension.
** Look around while you're in the living quarters: there's ''half'' a human body lying in one of the rooms. There are no mechs around (if there were, they'd presumably be trying to kill you.) ''What the hell did that?''
* Minor compared to some of the things on this page, but the end of the prologue. Shepard, twisting in terror (and likely pain) due to a suit breach, trying desperately to be able to fix it. Watching Shepard just...flailing and helpless was surprisingly creepy.
** Not as minor as you'd think. Turn off the music in any way you can in any of the levels described as creepy (on the 360 you start your own music and then pause it) and play some of this stuff without music. It is quite... unsettling. Especially the prologue.
** The sound is there along with the sound of Shepard breathing. Though for this troper, the first thought that came to mind was "I [Shepard] make a pretty [shooting] star." after realizing that Shepard would as much burn up on re-entry as anything else.
* The "duct rats" of the Citadel are mentioned in a throwaway conversation during Thane's loyalty mission, but they have some sad stories. Children so poor they play in the ductwork of the Citadel, which nobody really understands since no living race built it. So, from time to time, these kids get crushed, chewed up by fans, dumped into boiling hot liquids, or even ''ejected into space''.
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** [[Futurama|"We're boned."]]
* The Project Overlord DLC has a bunch of minor scenes, creeping through a 'dormant' geth ship, fighting through station after station of green tinted robots wading through corpses, a smoke filled geothermal plant that's collapsing around you, and all through it you keep seeing this green face of the out of control VI, making [[Hell Is That Noise|the most ungodly sound you will ever hear in your life.]]
** This tropette just played that DLC last night (the night before Hallowe'en). Alone. In the dark. With DJ-grade headphones and the sound turned up to eleven. "Shat bricks" is an understatement.
** And all of that is just a precursor to what awaits you in Atlas Station.
*** Rogue VI: [unintelligible sounds] = {{spoiler|"MAKE IT STOP!"}}
{{quote|
*** And then the distorted elevator music from [[Mass Effect|ME1]] playing, cycling from sped up to slowed down, after a computer voice says that it is there to "relieve stress." Did we mention that this is on a {{spoiler|crashed geth ship full of inert [[Homicide Machines]]?}}
** The whole thing is creepy as hell, but it all goes [[Up to Eleven]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp-Z69NHlHM when] {{spoiler|you touch the console, glow green, and are sucked into what is pretty much the Matrix, while your companions frantically try to pry open the now-sealed doors. You then find out the REAL story behind the VI, topped off with a hearty helping of [[Body Horror]]. You know the bad guy is really bad when the ''Paragon'' interrupt is to pistol-whip him.}}
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** This theory doesn't make it any better. They stripped the guys naked, tortured them to within an inch of their lives, then lined them up against the wall and shot them to death.
* Another thing from Ilos. If you come across the warning about the Reapers, you listen to it and tell your squadmates what you hear. And when you move on, the last thing you hear the console say is this.
{{quote|
* We've been this far and nobody's mentioned the "Warp" Biotic ability. Think about what it must be like to be broken down at the molecular level by someone's thoughts.
** Then there's the Lift and Push abilities. Imagine being lifted high into the air, then thrown against a wall at bone-shattering speeds.
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** The ending's worth mentioning. As Jacob confronts his father, Shepard notices a male, crazed, standing there like a zombie. Soon he's joined by several more. S\he points them out to the third member of the squad, who will [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade]] what they will do to Jacob's father if Shepard chooses to abandon him.
** Upping the creepy factor is the partial crew log of a male survivor who obviously hadn't been forced to eat the local vegetation yet.
{{quote|
** Records of [http://youtu.be/cFKO9S-Ty-E one of the women being affected], realizing with horror that she can't remember someone's name or face. Bad enough to have this happen, but to be ''conscious of'' losing yourself?
* Didn't see this one, but remember the Collector Harbinger berates after Shepard wins? He releases control just in time for it to shoot Harbinger a dirty look, and watch the blast coming to kill it. Though this might be a release, all things considered. It's more of a look of 'Daddy? Where are you?' the kind of look a child makes when they've been abandoned before realization fully sets in. Which is all the more horrifying - the Collectors as a species know nothing BUT Indoctrination. They have NEVER in their existence been free.
* Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC: [[spoiler:The (current) Shadow Broker is revealed to be a [http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Yahg yahg], a massive creature said to be more savage as a species than the krogan.
** {{spoiler|If that wasn't enough, [[From Nobody to Nightmare|read his dossier after you beat him]]. While it was nice to see a slaver [[Asshole Victim|get his just end]], there's a few lines at the end where it shows just how easily one of the most powerful people in the galaxy is killed and replaced...''and nobody knows any different''. [[Look on My Works Ye Mighty and Despair|Kind of sobering, isn't it?]]}}
** Even worse for this person is to imagine if the Reapers recruit the Yahg race for their army.
** It would look something like [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6731833/28/Angels_of_the_Storm this]
** How about Yahg HUSKS? Sleep tight!
* One obscure side quest drops you on a geth-infested planet where the fog is so thick you can only see about 10 feet in front of you. You have to walk forward, listening to the clicking of the hordes of invisible homicidal robots, waiting for them to pour out of the fog at you en masse.
* Han Olar's letter, in which he expresses his deep guilt over {{spoiler|the woman whose life he sacrificed to save his own}}, and prays that he is experiencing a dying hallucination, preferring death over his guilt-ridden existence.
* Here is what happens if you let the timer run out in The Arrival DLC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvzWA7oIbF4&feature=related sweet dreams.
** Every [[Nonstandard Game Over]] counts as this. Seeing Joker scrabble desperately at the floor while a Scion bears down on him; hearing your tech specialist scream in agony as they're slowly cooked in a blocked vent; watching EDI get corrupted by an insane VI; Morinth's [[Slasher Smile]] as she melts your brain; watching humanity being slaughtered and mutated by the Reapers...
* Imagine the perspective of The Arrival from the batarian colonists' perspective. You are just a Batarian, not a mercenary or a killer, just a regular colonist, going about your day like nothing is wrong. Then, in what must have looked like forever from where you are standing, cosmic destruction comes straight at you and wipes you and over 300,000 other colonists out.
** Or worse, imagine you're on another colony in the Viper Nebula. You're talking via Relay channel to your family on Arahtot when suddenly the signal is interrupted by a bright flash of light, and then static. Because the relay is gone and the system is lightyears away, there's no way to know that they just got wiped out by a supernova-sized explosion. Instead, all of a sudden Bahak just goes dark, and your colony is cut off from the rest of the galaxy. Then a few hours or days later, a ''fleet'' of bio-mechanical [[Eldritch Abomination|abominations]] descends upon your planet without warning; killing, indoctrinating, and husking anyone they come across. Without the Alpha Relay, there's no way to escape, no way to send a warning, no way to even ask what the hell those things are that are slaughtering your people wholesale. {{spoiler|And worst of all, you personally consigned them to that fate, ''in addition'' to the colonists you killed directly on Arahtot. [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|Nice job, Shepard.]]}}
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* From the promotional material, there are only two words: {{spoiler|''Rachni husks.''}}
** It gets worse. In the game, most enemies have weak points you can strike for an easy kill, and these things are no exception. The twist? Attack that and it unleashes a swarm of mini-rachni that crawl all over your body.
** Also, there are the descriptions of reaperized krogan and asari, which are simply lovely. The krogan are highly aggressive at first, until you manage to cut through their plating. At which point, they start fighting much more defensively. Because they're having trouble fighting and holding their visible intestines in at the same time.
* Wondering how you make a krogan husk even more terrifying? Give it a turian head.
** The potential for asari husks has potential for all kinds of [[Fridge Horror]] when you consider how the asari normally reproduce and how huskification horribly corrupts one's nervous system. Gives you a whole new definition of [[Mind Rape]].
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* Big Ben experiences one at the end of the first trailer. The look on his face is one of sheer terror as the reaper slowly descends upon his position in the clocktower. [[This Is Gonna Suck]] doesn't even begin to describe it.
* Banshees: asari husks. That's all that needs to be said.
** Oh, it's worse. The "Ruthless enemies" trailer shows them using '''Charge'''...before ''impaling Shepard'' on their hands.
** According to one article, at least one variant of the asari husk is ''pregnant''.
** Oh, and as the videos and hacked demo files have shown, they gently stroke and caress your face...''THEN'' impale you.
** The worst part about the banshees is the mission they're introduced in. You arrive at a desolate asari monastery in the wake of a missing squad of asari commands, only to find...[[Nothing Is Scarier|Nothing]]...No visible enemies, complete darkness for a time, and the wails of the banshees in the background.
* Brutes. [[Hybrid Monster|Reaper-engineered hybrids of turians and krogans.]] Leaving aside the fact that we're talking about a cross between a race of [[Space Romans]] and [[Proud Warrior Race Guy
** Hell, they're worse than [[Doctor Who|the Daleks]]. Sure, they exterminate anyone who isn't one of them, but at least they don't inflict the most heinous [[Body Horror]] on people
* From [[All There in the Manual|The Art Book of]] [[Word of God|the Mass Effect Universe]], we see [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120226045261/masseffect/images/a/a8/Tim1.png concept art]{{Dead link}} of the Illusive Man as a [[And I Must Scream|Reaperized monstrosity]] intended for the final battle. [[What Could Have Been|This was eventually cut]] in favour of a battle with someone players were familiar with but the art work is the stuff of nightmares. {{spoiler|If that wasn't bad enough, other concept art suggests TIM goes through some major deterioration in the final game, becoming more husk-like and resorting to a life support machine of some kind just to keep his mind functioning.}}
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs7kix6_8Ks&feature=g-u-u&context=G24bdcd3FUAAAAAAAAAA The new CG trailer for Mass Effect 3] starts off with a child playing with her Alliance fighter in a sunflower field. The camera plays around between her and some actual fighters flying over a city. All seems peaceful and cheerful when suddenly the fighters are shot down, the music is mute and Reapers descend on the cities with lasers. There is no warning of their coming, they don't announce themselves and expect surrender, [[Combat Pragmatist|they straight up destroy everything the moment they're within range]]. The child's look of horror upon seeing a Reaper up close doesn't help either.
** [[It Got Worse|It gets even worse]]. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBktyyaV9LY&feature=g-u-u&context=G24bdcd3FUAAAAAAAAAA The extended cut] shows even greater chaos, along with some recycled clips from the original Big Ben teaser trailer from a different perspective. The icing on the cake is the horrifying fast forward clip showing the process of [[And I Must Scream|huskification]] on a mutilated corpse while [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|hanging from a spike]].
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* That moment when you see the first Reaper descend from the clouds. [[Oh Crap|The defense committee members' reactions say it all.]]
* With the addition of [[Co-Op Multiplayer|multiplayer]] in the demo, you and a squad of skilled human players are this to the [[Player Versus Environment|AI controlled]] Cerberus forces. Rightly so since each player controlled commando is a member of their race's [[Elite Army|special forces]], the best of the best in the Galaxy; fully capable of taking on [[One-Man Army|entire armies by themselves]], and there are four of them working together. Just watching how quickly and mercilessly they massacre wave after wave of Cerberus troopers is awesome yet terrifying. I'm glad I'm on their side.
** You, an [[Cannon Fodder|Assault Trooper]], and the rest of your squad fan out backed by an [[Walking Tank|Atlas]], [[Cold Sniper|Nemesis support]], [[Sentry Gun|turrets]] deployed by [[The Engineer|Combat Engineers]], [[Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me|Guardians]] [[Stone Wall|leading the advance]] and [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja|Ph]][[Katanas Are Just Better|an]][[Invisibility|to]][[Demonic Spiders|ms]] probing the flanks. Your squad leader ([[Smoke Out|Centurion]]) signals a Guardian ahead of you to advance.
** Suddenly, his shield is ripped away from him and [[Boom! Headshot!|his head explodes in a gory mess]]. Within a hearbeat, the Guardian next to him falls forward with his own head missing, having been shot right through the viewing slit of his heavy shield. You and your squad unleash mass-accelerated hell in the direction of the shot but you can't find the sniper.
** The Centurion lays down smoke to cover your advance, when a [[Grenade Spam|cluster of grenades]] fly through the smoke and detonates, wiping out half your squad. A second later, a black hole appears behind you, leaving the other half of your squad suspended helpless in the air where they are easy prey for the enemy sniper.
** One of your fellow assault troopers decides he's had enough of that sniper and lobs a grenade in their general direction. Confident that [[No One Could Survive That]], the two of you approach, only to find a whole lot of [[Nothing Is Scarier|nothing]] where the infiltrator's body should be. Well, nothing but the faint glow of an omni-blade as it tears into your comrade's flank, instantly killing him. As you recover from the shock, you fire blindly into the shadows where the infiltrator used to be, but to no avail; the cloaked bastard gets away and continues to haunt the entire battlefield.
** Your platoon scatters as the Atlas, turrets and Nemeses futily lay down suppressing fire. From behind, a rocket flies from cover and strikes a deathblow to the Atlas, the explosion killing the troopers nearby. A nearby turret suddenly has its shields replenished before it pumps [[More Dakka|a stream of bullets]] [[Hoist by His Own Petard|into the Engineer who planted it]]. [[Attack Drone|A glowing orb of light appears]] and [[Shock and Awe|shocks]] a Nemesis out of cover, where she is torn to ribbons by a stream of assault rifle rounds.
** You see a [[Demonic Spider|Phantom]] charge the nearest enemy commando, only to be frozen in stasis before a blue comet of death hurtles into her, causing her broken body to fly across the room. The [[Professional Killer|Drell]] [[Foe-Tossing Charge|Vanguard]], who proceeds to casually [[Roundhouse Kick]] a nearby squadmate to death, before unleashing another biotic charge into his next group of victims.
** The surviving Engineer attempts to plant another turret to turn the tide of the battle, only to be shocked by electricity, causing his turret overload and explode in front of him while his shield collapses. He is so disoriented that he never sees the flaming omniblade of an Alliance commando scythe into his chest, ending his life. He then turns and [[Kill It with Fire|incinerates]] another Nemesis before [[Pistol-Whipping|pistol whipping]] her to death, just to make sure.
** A second Phantom closes in on the Alliance commando, hoping to get in close and let her katana do its work, when she is [[Foe-Tossing Charge|smacked aside like a rag doll]] by a [[Lightning Bruiser|charging]] [[Blood Knight|Krogan warrior]] in the throes of [[Unstoppable Rage|blood rage]]. He charges into the building across from yours, sending a trooper flying out the window after [[Use Your Head|head-butting]] his squadmates to death.
** [[Everybody's Dead, Dave|Your elite platoon is in shambles]], and all you can do is watch in horror as you hear the cries of your comrades silenced one by one. Only you and your squad's Centurion are still alive, hiding behind a desk. Trying to find a means of escape, the Centurion peaks over the desk to find where the enemy is, only to be grabbed and yanked out of cover by a lithe Asari commando. Turning to flee, all you hear is the thrum of biotic power followed by the sound of [[Your Head Asplode|your squad leader's head being splattered against the floor]].
** Before you can even get 10 paces, you are struck in the side and feel yourself [[Harmless Freezing|rapidly freezing solid mid-step]]. At the mercy of 4 ruthless commandos, you see everything pass as if in slow-motion. The Asari fires a [[Disintegrator Ray|warp]] which speeds towards you, the Drell hurls another pack of [[Grenade Spam|cluster grenades at your feet]], while the Alliance commando hurls a ball of fire that arcs in your direction. But all of that is forgotten when you see the Krogan [[Oh Crap|hurtling towards you like a bat out of hell]], bent on making sure you end your life with [[Megaton Punch|his massive fist shattering your frozen body]]. All you can do is close your eyes, [[Literally Shattered Lives|embrace the inevitable]], and wish that you joined [[Fictional Political Party|Terra]] [[Straw Character|Firma]] instead of [[Nebulous Evil Organisation|Cerberus]].
* The Alliance Daily News for February 27, 2012. ''They're here''.
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** No they're not. '''Now''' they're here (March 4, 2012):
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* From the demo to the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG2mdZ23eP8&feature=g-all&context=G256392aFAAAAAAAABAA launch trailer], we're assaulted by the souless mechanical screams and groans of the Reapers. Every time they rocket through the air, fear and dread are not far behind.
* No matter how scary it gets, you always have the comfort of knowing that there's a screen and a game between you and the Reapers. Now imagine this: You live on the Citadel, and one day you check your omni-tool to see Emily Wong reporting live from Earth, talking about a ship like the one that attacked the Citadel being on Earth. You follow the story as it unfolds with mounting horror as Emily encounters husks and Cannibals, frantically tries to warn people away from certain escape routes, and eventually is directly attacked. You receive the signal loss instantaneously, and with it goes your hope of hearing about the situation - maybe the people in charge will still know about what's going on back home, but you won't. All you can do is imagine and wonder what will happen when the Reapers get to you.
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*** Doubles as [[Fridge Horror]] when you realize that, just before Priority: Earth, {{spoiler|'''[[Inferred Holocaust|you can't access any other system.]]'''}}
* It's discovered in "From Ashes" that the Protheans were a [[Proud Warrior Race]] of [[Space Romans]]...with some of the most powerful [[The Empath|empathic abilities]] in fiction, and with their [[Real Life]] counterparts' tendency to obliterate the culture of the races they conquered, until they called themselves "Prothean" too. Just imagine what it was like facing an invasion fleet of theirs, knowing they can figure out your entire race's history simply by ''touching'' a member of it, and that if-when-they win, everything about who you were, as a people, will be torn apart and fed to the ever-expanding empire. And the thing is-it's either them, or [[Robot War|their enemies]].
** Even better-you know those Prothean outposts on Mars? Javik reveals that yes, they ''did'' uplift promising species...''as servants''. In case you haven't noticed, humanity has a [[The Twilight Zone|small talent for war]], so ask yourself-[[Fridge Horror|what would happen if the Protheans survived to see our capabilities as warriors...?]]
** Javik's own backstory has its own horrors. He commanded a ship much like the Normandy, until it was captured by the Reapers and its crew indoctrinated and sent after him. Imagine for a moment in ME2 that you and your group ''weren't'' conveniently away from the Normandy when the Collectors invaded, and that all hands besides Shepard were taken by the Reapers. Then imagine that you tried to storm the Collector Base on your own, only to be faced with the indoctrinated forms of Garrus, Tali, and the other squadmates (love interests included), and forced to [[Mercy Kill]] every single one as they come after you. ''[[Iron Woobie|That]]'' [[Iron Woobie|is what Javik had to deal with.]]
** How about this? {{spoiler|1=If you fail to rescue Grissom academy, much later, while you're storming Cerberus headquarters you will find this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPJj8efNskM. Yeah, it's not your entire team. But if she's your love interest, you'll have to mercy kill the one you love, indoctrinated and not even recognising you}}
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** Doesn't help when later in the game [[Nothing Is Scarier|you hear voices and see shadowy outlines of former allies. Especially when the dream shows only one bench among windy weather, shaking trees, and the ghostly laugh of said child.]] If you want an idea of how chilling this particular sequence is, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4pqgBw_exw&list=FLdUCk5-dxXiV306c3y2LAQA&index=1&feature=plpp_video listen here]. Combine that with the unnerving music, and you'll be having nightmares of your own.
* After {{spoiler|the attempted Cerberus coup}} on the Citadel, Shepard can listen in on a traumatized asari huntress in Huerta Memorial Hospital. She's twitchy and paranoid, asking what color her eyes are and begging to be kept away from humans, refusing to bathe and repeatedly pleading for a gun. By listening to a counselor's attempts to talk her through what happened, you learn why: {{spoiler|she was on a colony world, staying overnight in a farming community to wait for a shuttle and the rest of her squad. A hero-worshipping fourteen-year-old farmgirl offered her the use of their shower - and when she came out of the shower, still only wearing a towel, the farm was attacked by an Ardat-Yakshi friend of hers who'd been husked into a Banshee. With farmers dying and no way for her to get to her gun, the huntress grabbed the farmgirl and fled into the countryside, where they stayed on the run for several days until she realized that the shuttle wasn't coming back and they had to go back to the farm to radio for help. When they did, they found many of the farmers still alive - and when Hilary, the farmgirl, freed them, they attacked under the influence of indoctrination. The huntress was forced to kill most of them with her biotics, and fled again, taking cover in a barn, but Hilary's leg was broken and she couldn't stop crying. The huntress killed her to keep the noise from leading the Banshee to the both of them, and held out alone until a rescue shuttle finally arrived. The asari government wants to give her a medal for the intel she was able to provide, but she can only miserably blame herself for the deaths of the farmers.}}
** [[It Got Worse|It Gets Worse]]. Eventually, a message pops up in the Spectre terminal regarding an asari huntress's requests to obtain a gun. Authorize it, and {{spoiler|she commits suicide, leaving the hospital staff who were trying to help her demoralized}}.
** It actually gets even worse. The farmgirl that she killed, the one called Hillary? {{spoiler|It's Joker's sister}}
** Actually, it can get even worse than that. Think about it: {{spoiler|Hillary's a hero-worshipper, and her brother's BFF's with Commander Shepard. The asari must ''know'' that Hillary is Joker's sister, even if only because they were together for several days. And when she's in the hospital, she sees you walk by so many times, all the while thinking to herself "I killed your friend's sister." And then what happens? She gets handed a gun, courtesy of none other than Commander Shepard.}}
* Glyph reveals that one colony dealt with an impending Reaper invasion by taking a third option rather than surrendering or fighting a futile ground war: they detonate thermonuclear weapons in all their population centers, sparing themselves [[Mind Rape|indoctrination]] and denying the Reapers a source of cannon fodder.
* The sheer [[Moral Event Horizon|lengths]] Han'Garrel is willing to go to fuel his vendetta against the Geth. {{spoiler|It ultimately culminates in him ''sending his entire race to their doom'' unless you either side with the Quarians or made ''very'' specific choices in ''2'' and the build up to the final choice concerning Rannoch in ''3''.}}
* {{spoiler|Legion's [[Freak-Out|psychotic breakdown]]}} if you {{spoiler|side with the Quarians}}.
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** {{spoiler|Control Ending: Shepard makes a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] but is now (supposedly) in control of the Reapers, but considering the [[Blue and Orange Morality|odd]] [[Insane Troll Logic|logic]] of the Catalyst, there is nothing to say that this won't happen to Shepard's control over time.}}
** {{spoiler|Destroy Ending: All synthetic life is destroyed, so all the Geth are destroyed meaning at best, the Quarians have no help to rebuild their homeworld, at worst you let the Quarians die for nothing. It is implied that all VI type devices are also destroyed, meaning any assitance they provided, be it in weapons, armor, ship interfaces etc will cease to work, leaving survivors in an essential dark age. There is also the possibilty that future races will inevitably create synthetics themselves, and thus the [[Turned Against Their Masters|whole situation will repeat itself again.]] This is also the only ending where Shepard is hinted at surviving, but if [[Wild Mass Guessing|popular]] [[Epileptic Trees|fan theory]] is adhered to, this means that the entire ending is a hallucination of Shepard's, who has now fought off indoctrination attempts...[[It Got Worse|and is lying in ruins, bleeding to death after Harbinger's attack, still no closer to the Citadel beam.]]}}
** {{spoiler|Synthesis: Another [[Heroic Sacrifice]] is made, leading to all organic and synthetic life are fused to make a [[Artistic License: Biology|new DNA]], inferred to occur with Reaper tech, essentially meaning [[From a Certain Point of View|they have won.]] Additionally there is the problem that this choice is forced upon the galaxy by Shepard, [[Not So Different|similar to the goals of the Catalyst/Reapers.]]}}
** {{spoiler|All Endings: If the Crucible wasn't built correctly, ie without enough War Assests, it will not work at all (ergo Reapers will eventually win and cycles continue) or will destroy ALL organic and synthetic life in the galaxy. If it does work, no matter what, the Relays are destroyed. Finally there is the notion of the Normandy outrunning the Crucible's energy blast and crash landing on a remote , which implies they fled Earth and hit the Relay ''WHILST'' Shepard was on the Citadel making their decision. Your [[True Companions]]? They left you to die. As others have aptly put it, ''Goddamnit, Bioware''.}}
*** implicitly, {{spoiler|they assumed that you were dead and all was lost, and wanted to preserve the little that was possible for future generations.}}
* Shepard in [[Mass Effect 3]] and some of the moments here [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1CV86SnSPM just shows] how Renegade Shepard isn't just ruthless to enemies anymore and more than willing to kill comrades if they step out of line. it leaves you knowing the fate of the galaxy lies within an completely ruthless [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|type V anti-hero]].
** You could even argue that some of those moments don't even fit the pragmatic definition of Renegade; [[Moral Event Horizon|they're simply]] [[Complete Monster|evil]], and in some cases, [[Stupid Evil|they even cause]] ''[[Stupid Evil|direct harm]]'' [[Stupid Evil|to Shepard's ability to fight the Reapers.]] {{spoiler|Then you take in [[Wild Mass Guessing|the possibility that Shepard has been indoctrinated]]. Perhaps Renegade Shepard is succumbing to it even ''before'' the ending?}}
** [[It Got Worse|Even worse]], the the most heinous [[Kick the Dog]] moments can only occur if Sheperd mostly made paragon choices in the previous two games. He just... snapped.
* If Shepard killed the original Rachni queen in [[Mass Effect 1]], but spared the her replacement in hopes that she will cooperate with the alliance to fight the Reapers, you will later be informed that as soon as the Rachni reached the construction site of the Crucible, they betrayed the humans in revenge for killing their first queen by massacring every scientists they could get their hands on. Completely wiping out the entire Alliance Engineering Corps.
* {{spoiler|[[Robotic Reveal|Robot]] }} Eva Core {{spoiler|grabbing Kaiden or Ashley, then [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown|brutally and repeatedly smashing their skull against a shuttle doorframe.]] They get better, but it's still pretty disturbing to watch since combat's usually a fairly tame futuristic gun battle.}}
** Oh, and {{spoiler|the Vermire Survivor then gets to team up with Eva's body controlled by EDI, who has a history of violent behavior that the Survivor may know about. No wonder Ash was twitchy...}}
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** Why else would the Reapers point their dreadnought-destroy guns at a single (wo)man? And even that doesn't stop him/her completely.
* The iOS app brings us this rather chilling message considering the context.
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** {{spoiler|The sheer unadulterated remorselessness of Shepard when you pick the Renegade option. He's not trying to justify it. He's ''lying'' to one of his best friends' face on why he screwed the Krogan, betrayed Wrex personally, and shot another in the back to do so.}}
* Illusive Man's {{spoiler|transformation at the end of the game is a bit disturbing.For starters, he has gone completely crazy, is under the control of the Reapers and has '''black veins on his neck'''....}}
* The Sanctuary! {{spoiler|Take a Nazi death camp and mask it as a refugee centers for people to voluntarily sign in to escape horrors of the war, and you have some idea of what the place is like. People by the thousands, if not millions get subjected to deadly experiments and turned into Husks just so that Cerberus can brute force the secrets of the Reaper Indoctrination from them. And what's worse, a great portion of the staff are just as blissfully unaware of the true nature of the place as the refugees, and believe that they'll be allowed into the facility proper once they've fulfilled their quota.}}
** That place was a very extensive base on Horizon, and likely wasn't built in the previous few months. Most likely, it was at least still being built the last time Shepard was sent to Horizon.
* The very last level of the game, when Shepard goes through the Reaper transport beam to {{spoiler|The Citadel}}. The room Shepard arrives in is filled with piles of bloody human corpses. Not to mention the implication of what may have happened there after {{spoiler|The Reapers seized the Citadel and moved it to Earth.}} And that they did so so quickly, you never even got a message about the attack until everything was done.
* Apart from all obvious terror that you witness in your missions, watching how the entire universe deteriorate into a [[Crapsack World]] due to the war is really chilling. Especially in the refugee camp that was set up at the dock holding area in the Citadel, with the sounds in the background consisting of children crying and the TV reporting news that more worlds are being overrun by the Reapers. The general sense of hopelessness is both a tearjerker and terrifying in that it is so real and so personal.
* The final part of London. {{spoiler|The Destroyer is dead, Hammer Task Force is massing, getting ready for the final push. ''And then Harbinger lands beyond the Conduit''.}}
* Take a look at Javik. Then take a look at the Collectors. {{spoiler|Since Collectors are Prothean, [[Body Horror|see how different they are]]. The Reapers removed their mouths and digestive systems, forced the growth of a chitinous tissue, and gave the eyes a strange, soulless glow. Who knows what else has been modified under the skin. It really evokes vibes of the Stalkers of [[Half Life]].}}
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* ''Mass Effect: Retribution'' has a few genuinely creepy parts, mostly because it explicitly spells out what indoctrination is like. The Cerberus experiments on him involving implanting Reaper nanotech having taken [[And I Must Scream]] to new levels, Paul Grayson spends entire chapters desperately trying to exert some kind of control over his body, trying to stop himself, move a muscle, anything- but the Reapers are so skilled that they quickly find ways to keep him incapacitated. By the end, he's trapped within his own body, the Reapers having full control over his body and full access to his memories. [[Fridge Horror]] kicks in when you realize ''this matches the exact same description Matriarch Benezia gave of her indoctrination.'' ("I am NOT myself, I '''''never will be again!'''''")
** What makes it worse is how subtle the Reapers are when they're controlling him. He tries to resist them and commit suicide, and is able to resist a direct effort to control him, so the Reapers instead subtly manipulate his emotional centers to make Grayson decide that suicide is a coward's way out, and instead he seeks help from Kahlee to fight the infestation - which is exactly what they want. In other words, they manipulate it so that Grayson's decisions on how to fight back against them ''helps the Reapers achieve their goals.''
* Hilo'Jaa vas Idenna being described after he was interrogated by [[Complete Monster|Pel]] in ''Mass Effect: Ascension''. He was beaten, cut, burned with acid, [[Eye Scream|had his eyelids removed and one eye was swollen]], [[Finger Damage|fingers broken
* Kicking off the beginning of the Reapers' invasion after Mass Effect 2: Arrival, ''Mass Effect: Invasion'' introduces us to a whole new type of Husk called Adjutants. These creatures were created by Cerberus in an effort to better understand Reaper technology and use it against them. Unfortunately, the Adjutants escape, hijack some ships and raid the Omega space station. With every kill, they assimilate the corpses which, in their own horrific way, rapidly change with newly grown wires, converted flesh and reassembled bone structures into other Adjutants, no matter the species. Spreading like a plague mixed with wildfire, the crime boss Aria has to deal with the Adjutants before they take over the entire station and possibly escape beyond the star system. {{spoiler|To make it worse, it's hinted the Adjutants were released by Cerberus in the first place, and they're not planning on stopping the spread anytime soon.}}
** {{spoiler|It's confirmed TIM intentionally released the Adjutants just so he could take control of Omega}}.
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