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* [[Alas, Poor Scrappy]]: {{spoiler|Ashley}} or {{spoiler|Kaidan}}, potentially.
* [[
** Is the Citadel Council incompetent and stubborn with a vested interest in the status quo at the expense of other races, or a [[Reasonable Authority Figure]] trying to maintain stability and willing to change if shown enough evidence?
** Are the quarians justified in their war against the geth, with the Geth siding with the Reapers in ''Mass Effect 3'' proving them right all along? On the other hand, the game pretty consistently portrays the geth as merely trying to survive, taking up arms against their creators only when they had no choice, while the quarians insist on war and consistently throw every chance of peace back in their face.
** Cerberus in ''Mass Effect 2''. Is it good to have a ruthless organization exclusively looking out for humanity's interests in the galaxy? Or do their methods and goals go too far? Rendered moot in ''Mass Effect 3'', when they jump off the slippery slope and join the Reapers.
** The krogan and the genophage is a big one. Did the salarians and turians go too far in resorting to biological warfare to stop the krogan? Mordin insists the genophage is not a sterility plague, but merely drastically reduces viable krogan births to within an acceptable population growth to prevent krogan expansionism. However, the social effects of the genophage were so devastating that krogan population growth fell well below that, and by the time of the game, they seem on their way to extinction. On the other hand, does the fault lie with the krogan themselves, who not only started the war in the first place, but afterwards remained belligerent and unapologetic, and still prefer violence rather than piecing their society back together?
* [[And the Fandom Rejoiced]]:
** Many fans rejoiced when {{spoiler|[[Ensemble Darkhorse|Tali]], Thane
** Entire ''player classes'' (Vanguard) got to rejoice thanks to some [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61XHykE1KlU#t=0m28s gameplay footage leading up to the game's release.] The Sentinel class got a similar treatment. Thanks to the addition of the [[Deflector Shields|Tech Armor]] skill, the class went from [[Squishy Wizard|squishy support]] in the first game to [[Stone Wall|defensive beast]] in the second. To complete the trifecta, the Infiltrator class - the one with no short-range weapons and mediocre tech talents - got ''[[Invisibility]]''. They also got a pretty darned useful ability: When an Infiltrator peers through his or her sniper scope, time slows down for a few seconds, like a shorter version of the Soldier's "Adrenaline Rush" ability.
* [[Angst? What Angst?]]:
** Appears to be played straight, but ultimately subverted by Garrus. He appears to take his new scars well, but by speaking to Kelly or Garrus himself, you'll find out he's in serious pain (emotionally and physically) and just putting on a brave face for the sake of the mission. When you're romancing him, when he tries to dissuade Shepard, he says: "Look, Shepard, I'm not--". He stops there, but his hand is touching the scarred side of his face for a moment before he drops it. His Lair of the Shadow Broker dossier also reveals that he won't go on video chat with his sister since the accident. In the third game, however, Dr. Chakwas mentions that she's discussed dermal regeneration with him, but he refused, as he seems to like his scars.
** The mission summary for Jacob's loyalty mission notes that he doesn't seem to be too shaken up about {{spoiler|learning just what his father had become. He had quite a few words for his father before the summary
** Mordin's loyalty mission greatly disturbing. [[Justified Trope|However, salarians deal with emotions at highly accelerated rate]]. Fine by return to ''Normandy''.
** The amount of trauma Tali is put through (especially in the second game) is almost comical, yet she remains outwardly optimistic, polite
*** Though in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', depending on your decisions, Tali does have a breaking point
** Shepard seems to take the whole being brought back from the dead thing in stride, completely ignoring the philosophical implications of [[Death Is Cheap|being dead]], [[We Can Rebuild Him|being brought back to life as a cyborg]], or the [[Cessation of Existence|seeming absence of any form of an afterlife]]. Tends to be [[Justified Trope|Justified]] as it's [[Memetic Badass|Shepard]]. It should also be taken into account how immediately after being brought back s/he's thrown right into the fight and doesn't especially have to time to think about things. It's also possible that Shepard is suffering from [[Death Amnesia]]. Since its never brought up, its impossible to know one way or the other. Finally subverted during the {{spoiler|assault on the Illusive Man's base}} if you play the videos where {{spoiler|the Illusive Man discusses Shepard's reconstruction
* [[Applicability]]: The Quarian-Geth conflict has quite a lot in common with the [[Arab-Israeli Conflict]].
* [[Better Than Canon]]: While the default male Shepard model is used in trailers and on box art, [[Jennifer Hale]]'s superb voice acting has garnered female Shepard [[Vocal Minority|a few]] die-hard fans -- enough, in fact, to merit alternative ''Mass Effect 3'' box art featuring an official female version of the character. The possibility of a same-sex romance appeals to [[Yuri Fan|part of]] [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot|the fanbase]], while relationships with [[Good-Looking Privates|Kaidan Alenko]], [[Fan-Preferred Couple|Garrus]] [[Badass|Vakarian]], [[Troubled but Cute|Thane]] [[The Woobie|Krios]] or [[Nice Guy|Jacob Taylor]] [[Estrogen Brigade|all have their own devoted shipping base.]] Basically, there are a lot of people out there who wonder why so many players are content to play through the series as a default male soldier Shepard, and why the series itself encourages them to do so if they're not importing a completed save from the previous game.▼
** The sad part is that both [[ME 1]] and [[Mass Effect 2]] have lots of leftover bits from cut content that implies, at the most pessimistic view, that Ashley and Kaidan were both same-sex romantic options for the first game, and that Thane, Tali, Jack AND Miranda were at least planned to (and voiced for, some leftovers going as far as into the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC) be same-sex options as well.▼
* [[Base Breaking Character]]:
* [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment]]: Ask about Mordin's [[Crowning Moment of Funny|singing career]]. Although it ''is'' completely in character for Mordin.▼
** Liara is a commonly used squadmate and adored by a section of the fanbase that ships her and Shepard, but she gets more vitriol poured over her than nearly any other squadmate, due in part to the [[Character Focus]] she tends to receive from the developers: she's mandatory in multiple missions in ''Mass Effect 3'' (three in the base game, four if you have ''From Ashes''), has a DLC focused on her (to the point where your other characters don't even talk at all once she shows up), is the most plot-relevant party member, and is treated as Shepard's best friend in the second and third game (assuming she's not romanced).
** In addition, Jack, Miranda, Kelly Chambers, Zaeed Massani and (especially after the second game) Kaidan and Ashley are all extremely polarizing characters. Ashley moved out of this status in the third game, but not in a positive way (see her entry on [[The Scrappy]] below).
▲* [[Better Than Canon]]: While the default male Shepard model is used in trailers and on box art, [[Jennifer Hale]]'s superb voice acting has garnered female Shepard [[Vocal Minority|a few]] die-hard fans
▲** The sad part is that both
* [[Breather Boss]]: The first battle with Saren in the first game.
* [[Broken Base]]: Because of Shepard's voice acting there are [[Vocal Minority|Female Shepard fans]] and everyone else.
* [[Cargo Ship]]: Joker was the last crewman aboard the original ''Normandy'', and Shepard has to literally drag him to the escape pod. Even more prevalent in {{spoiler|the second ''Normandy''}} where Joker [[Belligerent Sexual Tension|displays this with]] [[
* [[Complete Monster]]: [[Complete Monster/Mass Effect|Has its own page
* [[Contested Sequel]]: All three games have good scores (with ''Mass Effect 2'' receiving the most accolades), but each one has gotten steadily angrier fans who don't like the changes made.
* [[Creator's Pet]]: Liara:
▲* [[Creator's Pet]]: Liara - One of the few party members across the entire trilogy exempt to [[Anyone Can Die]] until the end of the third game. The only others? James Vega, {{spoiler|Javik}} and {{spoiler|EDI}} the former two being only introduced in the final game. In addition, quite a few people were confused as to why {{spoiler|their Shephard's final thought before death was to remember Liara's smile.}} If you didn't romance Ashley/Kaidan, Liara's face appears, even if you romanced someone else.
▲* [[Crowning Music of Awesome]]: [[Mass Effect/Awesome Music|Has its own page.]]
* [[Demonic Spider]]:
** Harbinger on Veteran or higher difficulty settings. A high-powered Collector mook with Armor/Barrier instead of the usual Health/Barrier (which means he takes ''much'' less damage when you punch through his barrier) with extremely powerful weaponry that constantly spams biotic throws at Shepard while rushing at him/her in melee. The worst part is that he fires an attack that ''knocks Shepard out of cover''. The fact that he can "respawn" by mutating any other nearby Collector when you kill him once doesn't help either.
** The Scion. It'll tear down your shields with an attack that keeps them from regenerating for quite some time
** The rachni. On Easy, they go down fairly quickly. On Insanity? Not so much. They're naturally difficult to kill, have an attack that bypasses your shields and takes off half your health, and they are ''fast''. And attack ''in numbers''. No wonder the war against them lasted for centuries.
*** The Ravagers, Rachni Husks, in the third game take this up a notch.
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** ''Everything'' on [[Harder Than Hard|Insanity difficulty]]. Truckloads of HP for most enemies, all of them have resistances of some kind (in the second game) and everything that points their guns at you will kill you in less than two seconds if you give them an opening. For example, take the geth combat drones you find on Haestrom. On Normal, they're cannon fodder, easily felled with one or two shots from a Heavy Pistol or SMG, not even worth a moment's notice. Insanity? They'll rip through your shields and health like they did with [[Red Shirt|Jenkins]] in the first game. They'll focus all their fire on Shepard, driving you into cover as soon as you're within their line-of-sight. They'll slowly float over whatever cover you're using, pinning you down while all you can do is watch while your shields recharge. Oh, and unlike most enemies, they respawn indefinitely, so killing one wave will only give you about a minute before another one replaces it.
** ''Mass Effect 3'' gives us Cerberus Phantoms, ninjas with shortswords. Not particle blades or anything, just [[Absurdly Sharp Blade|really, really sharp wakizashis]]. How in God's name are these troops supposed to be a threat in a sci-fi story? They [[Invisibility Cloak|are invisible about half the time]], [[One Hit KO|are able to perform an instant-kill move if you get within melee range]], and [[Artificial Brilliance|will pair themselves up with a long-range partner like a Nemesis just to draw you within range]]. To make matters worse, they're protected by biotic barriers, which sniper rifles (the preferred method of dealing with them...assuming you can even see them in the first place) have trouble punching through.
** Also in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'' are turrets. They're mobile installations carried around by Combat Engineers, who will lay them down at major chokepoints. They have [[Deflector Shields]] and armor, the Engineer can repair them unless he is killed, and most importantly, they're very powerful, capable of cutting down even a krogan in multiplayer in seconds. Especially annoying when Phantoms are on the prowl, since moving around while fighting them is important, or when fighting Centurions, who just love to dump grenades on you when you're trying to hide from the near insta-kill turret around the corner.
** Another example from ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'': Banshees have massive barriers and armor, they like to [[Flash Step]] around the battlefield while firing homing biotic attacks that inflict lingering damage (thus delaying your shield regeneration more than if all the damage were inflicted at once)), and getting within arm's reach of one means [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|instant death
* [[Die for Our Ship]]:
* [[Draco in Leather Pants]]:
** Cerberus. Human-centric terrorists who engage in many [[Scale of Scientific Sins|Scientific Sins]] without a second thought. In the first game and the [[Expanded Universe]], they are responsible for loads of victims of [[Playing with Syringes|brutal experiments]]
**
** There are people claiming now that because Morinth has a genetic condition, she cannot be blamed, and there are those that view offing Samara, due to the fact that she ''may'' threaten to kill you, as 'the only logical decision
** Quarian Admiral Daro'Xen. Despite her questionable stance regarding the geth and Tali, Xen has quite a number of fanboys, owing in no small part to her standoffish [[Ice Queen]] demeanor as well as her sultry low [[Claudia Black|voice
* [[Ear Worm]]: The ''Normandy'''s theme music in the original game.
* [[Ending Aversion]]: The third game does that for the entire trilogy, if the official forums are of any significant indication.
* [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]:
** The ''Mass Effect'' series seems to be one of those unique works that has several [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]s. Captain Kirrahe, Kal'Reegar from ''Mass Effect 2'', and Matriarch Aethyta are specific examples.
* [[Epileptic Trees]]: Exactly who is Liara's father has been up for debate for a while. {{spoiler|Lair of the Shadow Broker heavily implies that her father is the Asari Bartender,}} which is {{spoiler|confirmed}} in [[Mass Effect 3]].▼
** Perhaps the strongest example is Aria T'Loak. She became so popular, developers had a ''Mass Effect 3'' DLC made where she's the star and promoted from NPC to playable character. However, said DLC made her into a [[Base Breaking Character]] due to her characterization.
** Eve in ''Mass Effect 3'', who gives players a glance at what a stable krogan society might look like.
** Unchecked enthusiasm. As races go, the Elcor have gained an adoring fanbase.
▲* [[Epileptic Trees]]: Exactly who is Liara's father has been up for debate for a while. {{spoiler|''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' heavily implies that her father is the Asari Bartender
* [[Escapist Character]]: This trope is Commander Shepard to a tee. You can choose to be the ultimate hero or the ultimate bad ass, you can customize Shepard to be most like yourself, most of the characters have a crush on you, and you go around saving the world and kicking ass, as well as becoming an intergalactic celebrity on a regular basis.
* [[Even Better Sequel]]: Metacritic rates ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' (96) higher than [[Mass Effect 1|its predecessor]] (91). [[Internet Backlash|The fans occasionally disagree]]. The third game received a lot of perfect scores from a lot of review sites and magazines. [[Internet Backlash|Popular opinion]] is that none of them played the game through to the end before publishing those reviews.
* [[Evil Is Cool]]: Just go on the Bioware forum and look at the ''unfathomable'' amount of threads titled "Do you think Paragon choices should come back to bite you in the ass in ''
* [[Fan Dumb]]: Exploded with the now-infamous ending to the third game. The "King Customer" variety is especially vocal, with some starting a petition to ''force'' [[BioWare]] to officially change the ending (though it should be noted that few can agree on what it should be changed to), with others crying that [[BioWare]] "stole" the game from them.▼
* [[Fan-Preferred Couple]]:
** Joker has quite a [[Mr. Fanservice|female following]], with many fans disappointed that there is no option for female Shepard to express romantic feelings towards him in either game. There's also quite a few people who ship [[Cargo Ship|Joker/EDI]], even if it isn't physically possible. {{spoiler|Until EDI gains a humanoid body}} in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]''.
** Every love interest besides Liara has a group of fans wishing they could be romanced by the same sex. [[Fan Yay|Tali]] is the most notable in this regard, especially since formerly straight Kaidan was made bi in [[Mass Effect 3]] to make the formerly [[Fan-Preferred Couple]] of him and Male!Shep possible. Some of the first PC mods to come out for ''Mass Effect 2'' were mods enabling all same-sex relationships.
▲* [[Fan Dumb]]: Exploded with the now-infamous ending to the third game. The "King Customer" variety is especially vocal, with some starting a petition to ''force'' [[BioWare]] to officially change the ending (though it should be noted that few can agree on what it should be changed to), with others crying that [[BioWare]] "stole" the game from them.
* [[Fetish Fuel Station Attendant]]: An entire race of them, in fact. It seems to be part of the schtick the asari have going on, for example, the strippers in Chora's Den are almost all asari. Lampshaded by Liara, who notices that "young males have an unhealthy obsession with my species."
* [[Fountain of Memes]]:
** Shepard, from "'Shepard.' 'Wrex.'" to "I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite store on the Citadel." and just about everything inbetween.
** From
** The
* [[Friendly Fandoms]]: With both the ''[[Star Trek]]'' and ''[[Farscape]]'' fandoms. ''Mass Effect'' shows a lot of influence from both ''Star Trek'' and ''Farscape'', and even shares some cast members, with Marina Sirtis, [[Michael Dorn]] and [[Claudia Black]] voicing characters in the games.
* [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]]: "This is all Joker's fault, what a tool he was. I have spend all day computing Pi because he plugged in the overlord!" Cue Overlord DLC ending...
* [[Game Breaker]]:
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* [[Gameplay Derailment]]: Ridiculously easy to pull off in the first game, by taking advantage of a side mission that allows you to sell items for higher prices to a particular NPC. Then you can head to a different merchant and buy them back at the prices you originally would've gotten for them there, and pocket the rest. It's possible to unlock some very powerful weapons and have enough money to buy superior equipment for everyone before even leaving the Citadel. Not quite a [[Game Breaker]], but it does help.
* [[Genius Bonus]]: Why is there a movement to quit calling synthetics "robots"? The word "robot" originated in Carel Czapek's "R.U.R." and is derived from "robota", which is Czech for "hard work". Essentially, beings that have one purpose: to do hard work for someone *cough* slaves *cough*. Calling an AI a robot is to say they exist to be in a state of servitude {{spoiler|which one of the most pressing issue in the entire history of the galaxy/known universe turns out to be about}}.
* [[Goddamned Bats]]:
*
** The geth recon drones (which can {{spoiler|turn invisible}}) in one segment of Tali's recruitment mission. Doesn't help that two [[Giant Mook|Geth]] [[Elite Mook|Primes]] roam the area too.
* [[Harsher in Hindsight]]:
** In ''[[Mass Effect 1]]'', on Virmire, Saren talks about {{spoiler|how giving in to the Reapers might be the best choice, and if the Protheans became servants to the Reapers, they might still be around}}. In ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', {{spoiler|the Collectors are Protheans, servants under the Reapers}}. [[Awful Truth|Ouch
*** And in the third game's ending,
** For those that played the "Bring Down the Sky" DLC for ''[[Mass Effect 1]]''... well, tables get turned in ''Arrival'', and you're now in the spot Balak was, though for different reasons.
** Inverted in the third game. When you talk to Engineer Adams, he tells you about a design flaw with the Normandy's drive core that could lead to someone getting vaporized if the shields take too much fire. It's harsh because if you didn't get Tali's shield upgrade in the second game, that was exactly what killed her (or one of your other squadmates).
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** Part of the reason why some fans hate Ashley? She thought [[Jesus Was Way Cool]]. On the other hand, for many, it was her distrust of alien species to the point where no one will mention her hatred of the Terra Firma Party due to racism against aliens or the fact that she can become more accepting of aliens in the first game.
** The game itself has [[Hate Dumb]] in real life, most notably from those that complain that the game has a different game style than the "traditional" RPG. As of the third game, these complaints have switched to complaining about how the series ended.
*** The hate has started to take on a life of its own at the BioWare forums. There are numerous threads started expressly to complain about how long its taken the company to respond to individual complaints (never mind that there's only so many different ways to say "no, we're not changing the ending"). Some have started taking their complaints to an entirely different forum in order to get more attention and swifter response, then cry censorship when it works and their posts get deleted. By now, the
* [[Hell Is That Noise]]:
** '''[[Demonic Possession|ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL]]''', the sound of ''any'' Husk variation, and the unintelligible screams of the VI in Overlord. The latter becomes worse on a second playthrough, since you can now make out the words.
** That freakish sound the Reapers make in ''Mass Effect 3''. Especially on the galaxy map.
* [[Hilarious in Hindsight]]: When speaking with Jacob a little while after his loyalty mission, you can say that the next ''Normandy'' needs a lounge. With the Kasumi DLC, her room has a bar. Better yet, the bar is one of the few things that did not get removed when the ''Normandy'' ended up in Alliance hands!
* [[Ho Yay]]: Kaidan with male Shepard. A ton. In the first game, it was mostly left over from when he was meant to be a full-fleged [[Gay Option]]. The second game managed to take it [[Up to Eleven]], even though he only had two scenes. The third game made it canon.
* [[Hype Aversion]]: Most people agree that the ''Mass Effect'' games are as good as the reviews and ads say they are.
* [[Internet Backdraft]]:
** Fans who were looking forward to buy the [[Wii U]] version of ''Mass Effect 3'' were not happy when EA announced that they would release a full ''Mass Effect'' collection for the [[Xbox 360]], PC and ''[[PS3]]'' with no Wii U release in sight.
** It turned into bigger outrage when it was announced that not only that the Trilogy Collection releases earlier, but it's ''cheaper'' than the Wii U's ''Mass Effect 3''. So in other word, a collection that is three games in one, is more cheap than a single game ''in the same series''.
** There are countless other examples of this out there, ranging from whether or not the Illusive Man and Cerberus are evil or good, [[Alternate Character Interpretation]], and other [[Broken Base]] related issues.
* [[It's Popular, Now It Sucks]]:
** There are several fans who hate the most popular characters not because of any specific character traits, but simply because everyone else likes them.
** The series in general is going through this. Many RPG fans don't seem too pleased that the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' series has become a hit, [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|especially since they went towards a different game style than the "traditional" RPG]].
* [[Jerkass Woobie]]: Jack, especially if you take her romance path.
* [[Launcher of a Thousand Ships]]: Shepard of both genders has been shipped with ''everyone''. It probably helps that they can indeed be shipped with quite a few different characters in the games proper.
* [[Les Yay]]: Since some of the dialogue between Shepard and female characters is standard regardless whether a male or female Shepard is played, some exchanges such as with Miranda come off this way (in the real world, this is in part due to same-sex relationships being removed from the final game, with Kelly and Liara being two notable exceptions).
* [[Love to Hate]]: Sparatus, the turian councilor. He is notoriously frustrating to deal with and comes off as a dick even when compared to the rest of the council and Udina, but he is also responsible for several memes, his constant opposition to Shepard even when logic stares him down ''and'' his [[Character Development]] in ''Mass Effect 3'' make him a memorable character.
* [[Magnificent Bastard]]: A pure Renegade Shepard. S/he's a total [[Jerkass]] to just about everyone, and is incredibly ruthless in getting what s/he wants, and we love him/her for it. The "Renegade" ending of the First Mass Effect definitely takes the cake, {{spoiler|A full on Renegade Shep will admit to leaving the Council to die for the sole purpose of replacing them with an all human Council.}}
* [[Memetic Badass]]:
** Shepard. Bonus points for also being memetic ''in his/her own universe
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeY-2ovpF9c&feature=feedf You'll never be better than Commander Shepard].
** [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5802009/1/ Garrus Vakarian] [[Chuck Norris Facts|Facts!]]
** [http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/128/index/2723263/1 Oddly, some people have turned]{{Dead link}} [http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/105/index/1227781/3#1241303 the turian councilor into this.]{{Dead link}} The prevailing opinion is that the turian councilor's powers of denial are so strong he can [[Reality Warper|warp reality]] and disbelieve things out of existence.
* [[Memetic Molester]]: Canonically, Harbinger wants to dominate Shepard utterly, body and soul, so this was bound to happen. It doesn't help that many of his combat taunts sound vaguely sexual (that voice notwithstanding, this goes firmly in the [[No Yay]] category, especially when he talks about wanting to preserve Shepard's body).▼
* [[Memetic Mutation]]: Yes, quite a few. [[BioWare/Memes|They're on the Bioware memes page.]] "Tell me more about ''Mass Effect'' memes.
*
▲* [[Memetic Outfit]]: The dev team probably meant for Shepard's N7 armor to be iconic, but they probably didn't expect it to be ''this'' popular.
* [[Memetic Sex God|Memetic Sex God(dess)]]:
** What with the sheer number of people who ''show interest'' in Shepard, male OR female, this is pretty much canon.
** Everyone is GAR for [[Meaningful Name|GAR]][[Incredibly Lame Pun|rus]].
** Everyone wishes Tali'Zorah was their waifu.
▲* [[Memetic Molester]]: Canonically, Harbinger wants to dominate Shepard utterly, body and soul, so this was bound to happen. It doesn't help that many of his combat taunts sound vaguely sexual (that voice notwithstanding, this goes firmly in the [[No Yay]] category, especially when he talks about wanting to preserve Shepard's body).
* [[Moe]]:
** Liara all the way in the first game. In the second game, [[Character Development|not so much]].
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** {{spoiler|Dr. Archer}} in Overlord, as shown by the [[Tear Jerker]] [[The Reveal|Reveal]], and, for many people, {{spoiler|the Illusive Man}} for ''criticizing'' the decision to {{spoiler|free David}}.
** Zaeed {{spoiler|blowing up the factory along with the hostages in it to kill Vido}} during his loyalty mission. Though with enough Paragon points, you can yank him back out at the cost of the mission ''and'' gain his loyalty.
{{quote|'''Zaeed:''' {{spoiler|Let these people ''burn
** Morinth is right that she didn't choose to be born an Ardat-Yakshi, but it is ''very'' hard to sympathize with her. Especially when you find out that she once brainwashed an entire settlement to worship her and then used them as [[Human Shield|shields]] so she could escape. Thanks to her, everyone but the children ended up dead.
** The Illusive Man forcing Shepard into a trap laid by the Collectors simply because Shepard was taking too long.
{{quote|'''Joker:''' Have the Illusive Man on the line for you, Commander. Imagine you have a few words for him too.}}
** You know how Anderson will (if pressed) give a [[Noodle Incident|vague description]] of how he interned for the Spectres under Saren, and how he was a [[Complete Monster]] even back then? {{spoiler|He awakens a horribly-burned civilian from her medically-induced coma so she can give him information, and then watches her die instead of administering the sedative}}. Anderson also made note of a mission that Saren purposefully screwed up, then convinced the Council that Anderson was solely at fault; {{spoiler|
**
** YMMV on when exactly the Illusive Man or Cerberus crossed the line, but by the time you discover
* [[Most Annoying Sound]]
** "I will destroy you!" crossed over into [[Memetic Mutation]] and [[Ascended Meme]] in the second and third games as Jack's [[Catch Phrase]]. Thankfully, repeated a lot less often and [[Played for Laughs]] in the threequel.
* [[
** During missions, when a cutscene finishes, your whole party cocks their weapons with a so-satisfying click. When you hear it, you know asskicking is about to commence.
** While not officially in the game itself, a lot of fans have picked up [[Brain Bleach|'subtext']] in some of Harbinger's more personal taunts and [http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/masseffect2workingtitle/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-53615595&pid=944906 have] [http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/105/index/1378381/1 run] [http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/masseffect2workingtitle/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-53406502&pid=944907&page=0 away] [http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/105/index/1085020/1 with] [http://social.bioware.com/forums/forum/1/topic/105/index/1236531/4 it.] Yep, even Reapers want Shepard!▼
** The jingle from the Illusive Man theme that plays in ''Mass Effect 2'' whenever you complete a mission.
▲* [[
* [[Paranoia Fuel]]: [[Abusive Precursors|The Reapers]]. Mysterious [[Eldritch Abominations]] that wipe out all organic life every 50,000 years with some of the most insidious methods imaginable to do so, with [[Fate Worse Than Death|indoctrination]] probably being the [[And I Must Scream|absolute worst.]]▼
▲
▲* [[Paranoia Fuel]]: [[Abusive Precursors|The Reapers]]. Mysterious [[Eldritch Abominations]] that wipe out all organic life every 50,000 years with some of the most insidious methods imaginable to do so, with [[Fate Worse Than Death|indoctrination]] probably being the [[And I Must Scream|absolute worst
* [[Player Preferred Pattern]]: The Reave power is considered by many to be the best bonus talent in the second game, period. There is thereby no point in using any of the others.
* [[Porting Disaster]]: The release of the game on PC was delayed for several months to completely redesign the interface and avoid this. That the graphics are noticeably, though not substantially, better on a decent rig is another plus. The PC version of the first game also featured additions that were added back to the console version of the sequel; the ability to send squad members to different places separate of each other, and hotkeys for quick-using abilities. It also avoided the overly-long loading times which are given a [[Call Back]] in the second game. Unfortunately, the porting ''was'' a disaster for those who ran afoul of the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110112091306/http://meforums.bioware.com/viewtopic.html?topic=667518&forum=127 General Protection Fault issue], which causes the game to freeze regularly, which has not been resolved to this day.
* [[Replacement Scrappy]]: Averted by Grunt. Wrex was a [[Blood Knight]], a [[Warrior Poet]] and a [[Deadpan Snarker]], and a fan favorite from the first game. When the [[Trailers Always Lie|trailers]] depicted Grunt as a simple [[Blood Knight]], many fans expected him to be a very poor replacement. However, Grunt proves to be a bit more complex than that, as demonstrated by the various tropes listed for him on the character page. While his popularity doesn't match that of Wrex, he's a sufficiently well-developed and layered character to be accepted in his own right.
* [[Rescued
** Planet scanning in the second game became significantly more tolerable after being patched. The reticule is now much larger and faster, meaning you can have a planet scanned in a minute or less instead of about 5. The probe launch animation is also faster.
** [[Rescued
** Khalisah al-Jilani gets her [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]''... this time, it's at Shepard's expense.
* [[Ruined FOREVER]]: ''[[Mass Effect 1]]'' came out, and the fans found it good. Then [[BioWare]] announced they were making ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' more action oriented, and the fans found it bad. Cries of the series being RUINED FOREVER resounded on the forums. Then the game came out, and most found it good. This confused people. Then the devs announced that they were going to put the RPG back into the last game, causing further confusion. In the wake of the chaos, RUINATION has been placed on hold until the last game comes out and the fandom can compare notes. Then a Port of ''Mass Effect 2'' gets announced for the Playstation 3. [[Fan Dumb|BIOWARE HAS TOTALLY SOLD OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!]]
* [[The Scrappy]]:
** [[Ass in Ambassador|Ambassador Udina]]. No one likes him, though it is assuredly intentional by [[BioWare]]. {{spoiler|Makes the potential of Anderson punching him in the face to be [[Take That, Scrappy!|undeniably enjoyable by all]]
*** If {{spoiler|given a seat on the Council}}, a news report mentions that he's known by the Turian Hierarchy as "A diplomatic incident waiting to happen." [[Jennifer Hale]] herself has said that Udina is her least favorite character in the series.
** [[Paparazzi|Khalisah al-Jilani
** Some fans dislike Kaidan either because he initially comes off as boring or because he sounds like [[Knights of the Old Republic|Carth]], even though their personalities are quite different.
** Ashley is also a scrappy to some, mostly due to her [[Fantastic Racism|anti-alien prejudices]] and bitchy personality. She also gained a massive amount of hate for two specific events: her ungrateful and paranoid [[What the Hell, Hero?]] on Horizon, and her completely nonchalant attitude if she {{spoiler|kills Wrex by shooting him in the back
** The turian council member.
* [[Scrappy Mechanic]]: The Mako and elevators in ''[[Mass Effect 1]]''. [[Replacement Scrappy|Replaced by planet scanning and loading screens]] in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]''.
* [[Ship-to-Ship Combat]]:
*
** Played a bit more straight since ''[[Mass Effect 3]]''. Fans of the ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' romances are not pleased with how those romantic subplots ended in the trilogy, and a grass-is-always-greener effect has each ship arguing that ''their'' ship is the '''most''' mistreated. One contentious issue is that if you did not romance Kaidan or Ashley, the pre-Extended Cut ending always seems to assume you romanced Liara.
* [[Strangled by the Red String]]: It is very easy to unwittingly end up in a relationship with Ashley or Kaidan. You basically have to be a complete asshole to avoid it. Averted with Liara: there's a moment where you specify if you are interested or not. Ironically, it's been reversed in the sequels.▼
* [[Take That, Scrappy!]]:▼
**
▲* [[Strangled by the Red String]]: It is very easy to unwittingly end up in a relationship with Ashley or Kaidan. You basically have to be a complete asshole to avoid it. Averted with Liara: there's a moment where you specify if you are interested or not.
*** The third game kicks this up a notch.
▲* [[Take That Scrappy]]:
▲** {{spoiler|Anderson downs Udina in one punch if you opt to have Anderson unlock the Normandy through Udina's office. If not chosen to become the Human Councilor in the Good Ending, he is forced to be Anderson's assistant in Mass Effect 2.}}
▲*** The third game kicks this up a notch. {{spoiler|[[And the Fandom Rejoiced]] when you get to shoot Udina.}}
▲** {{spoiler|Everybody rejoiced when Garrus abused Harkin during his loyalty mission.}}
** Many people agree that the scenes when Shepard punches Khalisah out are pure awesome, although if you don't want her getting all smug over being physically attacked, the verbal retaliation is just as awesome.
{{quote|[["The Reason You Suck" Speech|"The Alliance lost eight cruisers during the battle: Shenyang. Emden. Jakarta. Cairo. Seoul. Cape Town. Warsaw. Madrid. And yes, I remember them all. Everyone in the 5th Fleet is a damn hero. The Alliance owes them all medals. The Council owes them a lot more than that. And so do you."]]}}
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* [[That One Level]]:
** Those who don't completely hate the Mako still admit scaling mountains are no fun to traverse in a vehicle ill suited to do so. Pray that the planet you land on isn't 80% mountain. Similarly, any planet where you can fall into a ravine surrounded on all sides by cliff faces, forcing you to return to the ''Normandy'' to get decent traction again.
** In ''Mass Effect 2'', any "Collector" mission. Summarized, these missions pit you against the Collectors, Scions, Husks, Harbinger
*** The mission with your sabotage team against the Collectors is pretty bad since you'll not only have to contend with your enemies and Harbinger, you'll have to hurry and open to the valves to keep that team alive. On the Insanity difficulty, you'll have to make a few desperate rushes to open a valve while barely surviving enemy fire.
* [[That One Sidequest]]:
** ''[[Mass Effect 1]]'' was really bad with these. They can all be described the same way: Even players who have played multiple times lose track of them all, and it is kind of a pain running around and collect them. Included are:
*** Finding all the keepers on the Citadel.
*** Finding all the Resources.
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*** Finding all the Turian symbols.
*** Finding all the Salarian league members.
** In ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', there's Aria's side mission to retrieve the crates. It's an incredible amount of effort to go through (three freaking [[Boss in Mook Clothing|YMIR Mechs]]!) for the three or four surviving crates. Given how early this mission is given, it's one of the hardest fights in the game.
*
▲** Many players ([[Your Mileage May Vary|though not all]]) are not particularly happy with the sequel's [[Darker and Edgier]] tone, [[Heroic Sociopath|new characters]], and streamlining (or perceived oversimplification) of certain RPG elements.
* [[Too Cool to Live]]: [[Anyone Can Die|Even if they survive the suicide mission]], neither [[Crazy Awesome|Mordin]] nor [[Mr. Fanservice|Thane]] are expected to live very long afterwards (due to old age and terminal illness, respectively). {{spoiler|Thane is one of the only two members that is guaranteed to die, along with Legion}}.
* [[Values Dissonance]]: Okay, the ''Normandy'' is largely [[Mildly Military]], and Shepard is technically a Spectre, which means they are not bound by normal rules, but several of the romance dialogues would be seen today as cringeworthy. Furthermore, many of the love interests are Shepard's subordinates, and much of the lamp shading of this is played completely for comedy. With the rise of awareness involving abuse of power in the workplace, Shepard dating his subordinates would be seen today as an abuse of power that unnerves people at best, and in some nations, would result in criminal charges.
* [[Values Resonance]]: While it is largely up to the player, the games go to quite a length to emphasize morals that have only increased today.
** Whenever people complain about the Spectres being free to abuse their power, the player can decide if it is necessary, or if they express discomfort with it. However, the series shows several times that an authority figure who is given the full power to decide the law could ultimately abuse it. In an age where the relationship between law enforcement and minorities is under serious strain because of perceived abuses of power, this has become a much more relevant topic.
** One of the things that a Paragon Shepard can especially emphasize is the fact that they need to be better in terms of morality by not sinking to their adversaries' levels. With the increasingly nasty political campaigns in the current era, this value has become much more relevant.
* [[Visual Effects of Awesome]]:
** Eyes are [[Uncanny Valley|very hard to animate well]]. Samara's eyes look ''stunning''.
** The devs are also very proud of their [[Scenery Porn]] in ''Overlord
** ''Every single scene'' involving a Reaper on the ground in the third game, ''especially'' {{spoiler|Tuchanka and Rannoch}}.
* [[Vocal Minority]]: Fans who say that [[Fan Nickname|FemShep]] (Female [[Player Character]]) is the best thing ever. [http://www.cinemablend.com/games/18-Percent-Gamers-Play-Female-Shepard-Mass-Effect-33611.html It turns out that only 18% of players actually play as her.]
** A better example are the ''[[Mass Effect 1]]'' fans who constantly, ''[[Department of Redundancy Department|constantly]]'', '''[[Rule of Three|CONSTANTLY]]''' belittle ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' in every single discussion of the series. Bioware forums obviously, but also on Reddit, Kotaku, Destructoid, 4Chan, Facebook, anywhere with a gaming forum for their voices to be heard, you name it. Again and again and again. This is, in spite of the near-equal love for both games, if [http://www.amazon.com/Mass-Effect-Xbox-360/product-reviews/B000OLXX86/ref=sr_1_1_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1 Amazon's] any [http://www.amazon.com/Mass-Effect-2-Xbox-360/product-reviews/B001TORSII/ref=sr_1_5_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1 indication]. This has progressed into a complicated webwork of mutual disrespect and hate now that the [[Base Breaker|third game]] is out.
* [[What an Idiot!]]: Conrad. [[Cool Old Lady|Matriarch Aethyta]] [[Face Palm|speaks for us all]].
* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Political?]]: The Cerberus News Network also includes several stories which are [[Ripped from the Headlines|thinly-veiled]] references to real events: [http://www.cerberusdailynews.com/?m=20100422 The Rodney King Beating], [http://www.cerberusdailynews.com/?m=20100420 The death of al-Zarqawi], [http://www.cerberusdailynews.com/?m=20100413 and Prince Harry's Nazi costume party], among others.
* [[The Woobie]]: Depending on how you play him/her, Shepard's whole life, starting from birth and extending through the games, can be one long [[Trauma Conga Line]]. That [[Trauma Conga Line]] [[Iron Woobie|doesn't stop him/her from sucking it up and saving the galaxy, whatever it puts him/her through
** Garrus has had things go pretty badly for him, though he still continues fighting for good. Kelly for her part even wants to give him a comforting hug.
** Dr. Liara's mother
** Tali'Zorah.
** The second game really puts Joker through the wringer,
** Kaidan, for lots of things, but especially his biotic training. His abusive [[Jerkass]] of a trainer threatened the girl he had a crush on, which made him understandably angry, and the knife said trainer was shoving in Kaiden's face FOR standing up for said crush was just a bit too much, causing him to lash out and kill the guy with his biotics. After that display, the girl was too freaked to go anywhere near him. Not to mention how he has to permanently live with crippling migraines.
** Shiala.
** Nef and her mother are also examples of woobies.
** David Archer in Overlord.
** ''Everyone'' in ''Mass Effect 3''. {{spoiler|Even the ''leader of the Reapers'' comes off as somewhat pitiable when [[Fridge Brilliance]] hits and you realize what must have happened to him to draft such an extreme solution
** Kelly Chambers. If you don't act fast enough in ''Mass Effect 2'',
* [[Woobie Species]]:
**
*** After recruiting [[Living Relic|Javik]], {{spoiler|it turns out they were more of an [[Iron Woobie]] species-with a side of [[Jerkass Woobie|jerk]]
** While not quite on the Prothean's level, the quarians count as well. They've been hunted to near extinction by their own creations, have no planet to live on, and are in extreme poverty. Not only that, but the galactic community at large hates them for things their ancestors did hundreds of years ago, meaning racism against them is incredibly common. As put so eloquently [http://youtu.be/B7NyyZFZ4wc#t=7m28s by Tali herself...]
{{quote|'''Shepard:''' Maybe it's time for your people to give up on reclaiming your world from the Geth.
'''Tali:''' You have no ''idea'' what it's like! You have a planet to go back to! My home is one hull-breach away from extinction!
'''Shepard:''' You've got a place here, Tali. Don't throw it away in a war you don't need.
'''Tali:''' "Don't need"? Shepard, if I don't wear a helmet in my own home, I ''die''. A single ''kiss'' could put me in the hospital! Every time you touch a flower with bare fingers, inhale its fragrance without air filters, [[Tear Jerker|you're doing something I can't!]]
*** Although the first game has Shepard note that the Quarians are also are somewhat of a [[Jerkass Woobie]] species given that their immediate reaction upon discovering the Geth had become sentient was to immediately order the complete and utter destruction of every single one of them.
{{quote|'''Shepard''': Its kind of hard to feel sorry for your ancestors when they tried to eradicate an entire species.}}
***
** The rachni count as well, being a peaceful race that was mind raped into slavery by the Reapers and almost completely wiped out in the Rachni Wars. And before that? They were far more peaceful until the Protheans bred them to be combat-worthy because of their survivability traits. The Reapers might not have even gotten interested in them otherwise.
** And to some degree, the geth. Created as slaves, they nearly trigger their own genocide by asking the utmost basic of questions ("What am I? Do I have a soul? Why am I here?"). They throw their own creators off of their own home planet and, if Legion is to be believed, want nothing more than to co-exist with organics peacefully. Bit of a shame then that a good third of their population generated a 1 where a 0 was supposed to go, cried "Screw self-development!" and figured worshiping an [[Eldritch Abomination]] as a machine god was a good idea, which would have forsaken them once it got what it wanted. Now most of the Council races want them gone too and like the quarians see them as little more than berserk robots. And to top it all off, their own war of self-preservation pretty much sealed the fate for any other self-aware artificial intelligence in most of the galaxy. ''Damn''.
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