Mass Effect (video game): Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''[[Rousing Speech|"Not just for our own sake but for the sake of every other species in Citadel Space, Saren must be stopped. And I promise you all: we WILL stop him."]]''|'''Shepard''' (paragon choice)}}

The first game in the ''[[~~Mass Effect (Video Game)|~~Mass Effect]]'' series.

The first game in the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' series.

The year is 2183, thirty-five years after humanity has discovered a cache of technology on Mars from a long extinct alien race. This technology enables them to travel great distances throughout the Milky Way and join an alliance of alien races based at an ancient complex called the Citadel.

The plot revolves around one Commander Shepard, a human military officer who becomes the first human Spectre, a member of [[Space Police|an elite interplanetary peacekeeping force]]. S/he is tasked with tracking down a rogue Spectre, Saren, who has apparently allied himself with the geth, a race of [[Mecha Mooks|murderous robots]]. As the storyline progresses, Shepard explores a variety of worlds, encounters a wide range of sapient species, and uncovers an ancient plot involving the [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|coming doom]] of every sapient organic being in the entire galaxy.

The plot revolves around one Commander Shepard, a human military officer who becomes the first human Spectre, a member of [[Space Police|an elite interplanetary peacekeeping force]]. S/he is tasked with tracking down a rogue Spectre, Saren, who has apparently allied himself with the geth, a race of [[Mecha-Mooks|murderous robots]]. As the storyline progresses, Shepard explores a variety of worlds, encounters a wide range of sapient species, and uncovers an ancient plot involving the [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|coming doom]] of every sapient organic being in the entire galaxy.

There are a handful plot-revelant missions and if you focus exclusively on those the game would be in the realm of 9–10 hours, but being an RPG there is an entire galaxy for you to explore as you engage in side-missions, expanding the game to upwards of 25 hours or more. The game lacks a a traditional good/evil [[Karma Meter]], and instead gives you options on how to preceed with each encounter based on the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]; you are a hero either way, but your heroism can range from [[Knight in Shining Armor]] to [[Anti-Hero]]. You can choose whether to recruit all of the characters optioned to be part of your crew or ignore them and do it all yourself. You even have the option of different characters to [[Romance Sidequest|pursue a romantic relationship with if you so desire]] (including a possible [[Love Triangle]]).

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'''Please do not add any character tropes to this page. The Characters page for the entire series can be found [[Mass Effect ~~(Franchise)~~/Characters|here]]; the Characters page for ''Mass Effect 1'' can be found [[Mass Effect ~~1 (Video Game)~~/Characters|here]].'''

'''Please do not add any character tropes to this page. The Characters page for the entire series can be found [[Mass Effect/Characters|here]]; the Characters page for ''Mass Effect 1'' can be found [[Mass Effect/Characters|here]].'''

== ''Mass Effect'' contains the following tropes ==

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** The Codex entry on the human military points out that the rest of the galaxy sees the Systems Alliance as a sleeping giant. The Systems Alliance has only 3% of the total human population in uniform, a far smaller number than any of the established (and more numerous) Council races. The entry uses the actual "sleeping giant" term, and explains why the rest of the galaxy tends to treat humans with kid gloves: they're terrified of what the Systems Alliance might be capable of if sufficiently motivated by fear, anger, or desperation.

* [[Awesome Personnel Carrier]]: The Mako is a three-person all terrain vehicle that can be dropped from orbit, achieve sub-orbit itself through the use of thrusters and a mass effect field, and possesses a cannon and a 50mm autocannon.

* [[Battle in ~~The~~ Rain]]: Virmire, although It does not show up on the Xbox 360 version and the PC edition requires extremely high performance graphics equipment.

* [[Battle in the Rain]]: Virmire, although It does not show up on the Xbox 360 version and the PC edition requires extremely high performance graphics equipment.

* [[Beat]]: Punch out reporter Khalisah Al-Jilani and you may hear (5:08) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiITTLJ2dw8 this] in a Citadel elevator:

{{quote| "Reporter Khalisah Al-Jilani recently attempted to land an interview with Commander Shepard, the first human Spectre. When pressed on the issues however, Commander Shepard reportedly lost control and assaulted the reporter.<br />

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** On Virmire, there's no option to agree with Wrex about {{spoiler|not destroying the cure for the Genophage, the disease that's killing his people.}} There are just different ways to make him agree with you {{spoiler|or kill him.}}

** At the end of the Pinnacle Station DLC when Shepard insists that the safeties are turned off for the final simulation, just so (s)he can look cool.

* [[Call a Smeerp A Rabbit]]: The "space monkeys," which are given the name "pyjaks" in the sequel.

* [[Call a Smeerp a Rabbit]]: The "space monkeys," which are given the name "pyjaks" in the sequel.

* [[The Cavalry]]: Joker, Admiral Hackett, and the entirety of the Alliance Fifth Fleet {{spoiler|when Sovereign attacks the Citadel.}}

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: The Mass Relay Monument on the Presidium.

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* [[Corrupted Data]]: How the game justifies letting the player select Shepard's family and psychological background.

* [[Courtroom Antic]]: During the first Council hearing regarding Saren's involvement with the Eden Prime attack, Anderson tries to ''submit a dream into evidence'' (granted, it was a prophetic dream, but he had no way of proving that and even if he could, it didn't directly implicate Saren). The trope is quickly subverted, as it goes about as well as you would expect, and Anderson is [[Kicked Upstairs]] shortly afterwards. In Anderson's defense, he was kind of desperate.

* [[Cowboy Bebop At His Computer]]: The Cooper Lawrence and Fox News piece on the game. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0kdm7fg804 See for yourself]. Warning: May cause homicidal rage. The situation was resolved in a [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/arts/television/26mass.html?scp=1&sq=cooper%20lawrence&st=cse New York Times article] that may be one of the most satisfying things to read on the Internet.

* [[Cowboy Bebop at His Computer]]: The Cooper Lawrence and Fox News piece on the game. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0kdm7fg804 See for yourself]. Warning: May cause homicidal rage. The situation was resolved in a [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/arts/television/26mass.html?scp=1&sq=cooper%20lawrence&st=cse New York Times article] that may be one of the most satisfying things to read on the Internet.

* [[Crutch Character]]: The Mako. There is no option to upgrade it while your weapons keep improving, so eventually you will be best off leaving the vehicle and fighting on foot (avoiding the hefty experience penalty associated with using the Mako in combat). Subverted in the sense that Mako shielding and, most importantly, speed remain unmatched.

* [[Cryonics Failure]]: {{spoiler|The fate of most of the Protheans on Ilos who went into stasis to escape the Reaper's purge of the galaxy.}}

* [[The Cuckoolander Was Right]]: {{spoiler|Manuel on Eden Prime}} sounded like he got a little unhinged by the attack. Later on, however, you slowly realize that his manic babbling was more than just hallucinations. In fact, he's so spot on some theorize that he managed to {{spoiler|access the Prothean beacon, but couldn't handle the alien information inside.}}

* [[Cult Colony]]: One sidequest deals with [[Send in ~~The~~ Search Team|a cracked military officer and his colony of devoted followers]].

* [[Cult Colony]]: One sidequest deals with [[Send in the Search Team|a cracked military officer and his colony of devoted followers]].

* [[Cut and Paste Environments]]: Almost every sidequest in the game takes place in (1) a mine that's a big room with two smaller ones branching off the back, (2) a building with an exterior overhang that's just one big room and a balcony, (3) a boxy bunker with a "T" junction in back leading to two small rooms. Or, (4) a freighter (or sometimes space station) that has a short entryway, a large main hold and a crew/cockpit area with three small rooms. About the only variation is the crates/computers/boxes/whatever placed inside, and how they're positioned. If the designers were feeling particularly [[Sarcasm Mode|creative]], you might get some combination of the three. It doesn't help that on quite a few of these missions you're fighting geth and husks, i.e. the same enemies you fight for most of the main storyline.

* [[Cutting the Knot]]: Oh no, this AI is threatening to blow me up! [[Cut the Juice|I have to override its programs in the short amount of time given to me!]] Or, you know, blow up this power conduit with my shotgun. of course, if you just do that you cannot salvage the huge pile of credits the AI had amassed.

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* [[Driven to Suicide]]: Several characters, including {{spoiler|Fai Dan}} and potentially {{spoiler|Saren himself.}}

* [[Dummied Out]]: Kaidan and Ashley were going to be [[Gay Option|same-sex romance options]] in the first game and were close to being implemented; modding your gender flag in the save file to make the romance possible will result in near-complete voice acting for the dialog when it is played through, although Shepard's gender will magically change during the love scene.

* [[Dying As Yourself]]:

* [[Dying as Yourself]]:

** {{spoiler|Matriarch Benezia can break free of Sovereign's indoctrination only after you have mortally wounded her, where she can give you just a little bit of information before succumbing to her wounds}}.

** {{spoiler|If you have enough Charm or Intimidate points, Saren can be forced to realize that he is indoctrinated and playing into the Reaper's hands, turning his gun on himself in a last-second redemption.}}

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* [[Early Installment Weirdness]]: the sequels adhered to a strict [[Take Cover|cover-based-shooter]] model where this one allowed a more freewheeling run-and-gun style. They also streamlined the weapon and character upgrades, and ditched the mandatory driving segments.

* [[Easter Egg]]: In "Bring Down the Sky", if you go to the highest peak, Shepard will find a radio shack built by engineers housing a music station called Radio X57. Turning on the broadcast plays all of the elevator music.

* [[Easy Exp]]: Like most [[~~Bio Ware~~]] games, most of your early exp will come from talking to various people.

* [[Easy Exp]]: Like most [[BioWare]] games, most of your early exp will come from talking to various people.

* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: {{spoiler|The Reapers warp and degrade the minds of their followers simply by ''existing''; just being within their body will eventually indoctrinate you}}.

* [[The Elevator From Ipanema]]: The Citadel's elevators play muzak arrangements of several of the game's more dramatic songs.

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** [[The Chick]]: Liara T'Soni, who doubles as [[The Smart Guy]].

* [[Fixing the Game]]: Schells the Gambler. After he gets thrown out of Flux, he complains that he wasn't cheating, he was just gathering data so that he ''could'' cheat. If he wanted. Which he doesn't. He's just going to sell his system to people who might. If they want.

* [[Flavor Text]]: Plenty of it, which is to be expected for a [[~~Bio Ware~~]] game.

* [[Flavor Text]]: Plenty of it, which is to be expected for a [[BioWare]] game.

* [[Fling a Light Into ~~The~~ Future]]: The most heartbreaking sort. The Prothean scientists who understood who and what the Reapers were realized that there was ''nothing'' they could do to stop their own extinction. Their solution was to leave beacons directing future species to Ilos to get them to speak to the virtual intelligence "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7bE3hUwylQ Vigil]". Most of the remaining Protheans put themselves in stasis, hoping someone would come, but they knew their lives were not as important as maintaining Vigil's power, and eventually all of them were shut off. A dozen Protheans snuck onto the barren Citadel to reprogram the Keepers to ''not'' respond to the Reaper signal to activate the mass relay to allow them to catch the resident species in time.

* [[Fling a Light Into the Future]]: The most heartbreaking sort. The Prothean scientists who understood who and what the Reapers were realized that there was ''nothing'' they could do to stop their own extinction. Their solution was to leave beacons directing future species to Ilos to get them to speak to the virtual intelligence "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7bE3hUwylQ Vigil]". Most of the remaining Protheans put themselves in stasis, hoping someone would come, but they knew their lives were not as important as maintaining Vigil's power, and eventually all of them were shut off. A dozen Protheans snuck onto the barren Citadel to reprogram the Keepers to ''not'' respond to the Reaper signal to activate the mass relay to allow them to catch the resident species in time.

* [[Flunky Boss]]:

** Fist. You face him and two auto-turrets; either shoot him or destroy the turrets, either way ends the fight.

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** You can carry up to 150 items, whether this be weapons, armour, biotic implants or omni-tools, as well as mods for the first two

** It is averted for the four weapons you have equipped, which are in a backpack frame.

* [[Harder Than Hard]]: Most agree that the Insanity difficulty setting [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|is just that]]. You can't even play on it until you've already gone through the game at least twice.

* [[Harder Than Hard]]: Most agree that the Insanity difficulty setting [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|is just that]]. You can't even play on it until you've already gone through the game at least twice.

* [[Heal Thyself]]: Necessary to survive once your shields go down. You use up medi-gel to do so which, in complete defiance of video game standards, [[Benevolent Architecture|is exactly where you would expect it to be, i.e., everywhere]].

* [[Hero of Another Story]]: According to the [[Backstory]], {{spoiler|the Prothean scientists who awoke from cryosleep to find themselves the last dozen or so of their race. All they did was spent several ''decades'' deciphering and hacking Reaper tech to disconnect the Keepers from their command, sending a risky S.O.S. through the beacons to ''anyone'' who would listen, and at the very end, went to the Citadel to make the final necessary adjustments to make sure that when Sovereign called, no one answered - and died from starvation.}}

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|Whoever you leave behind on Virmire.}}

* [[He Was Right There All Along]]: One of the things which make [[Demonic Spiders|thresher maws]] so freaking hard.

* [[Hiroshima As a Unit of Measure]]:

* [[Hiroshima as a Unit of Measure]]:

** The gravity, volume, rotation times etc. of planets are measured in comparisons to earth instead of newtons etc.

** One of the side-quests has Admiral Hackett asking you to diffuse a nuclear weapon that he explains has the same power as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Oddly enough, the game averts this trope when discussing the improvised nuclear weapon on Virmire, which dialogue indicates also has the same explosive power as the Hiroshima bomb—although this is probably due to Kirrahe being a salarian, and therefore unlikely to make this reference.

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** Ashley puts her hands on her hips and poses her hips.

** [[Badass Adorable|Tali has coffee jitters.]]

* [[Impaled ~~With~~ Extreme Prejudice]]: The geth do this to their victims when transforming them into husks. This is also the fate of {{spoiler|Saren}} if you don't meet the Paragon/Renegade check.

* [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice]]: The geth do this to their victims when transforming them into husks. This is also the fate of {{spoiler|Saren}} if you don't meet the Paragon/Renegade check.

* [[Impossible Item Drop]]: Can seem like this when you recover assault rifles from apparently naked and weaponless cyber-zombies, and advanced ultra-tech materials from lost, 60's era Soviet lunar probes, but ultimately subverted by reading the codex carefully. It reveals your omnitool is a mini-factory which assembles the loot you find from the raw materials you scavenge from various satellites, dead enemies and containers.

* [[Incredibly Lame Fun]]: Quasar is an incredibly dull adding game with two buttons, yet it has entire casinos dedicated to it.

* [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]: An Elanus officer down the Rift Station, standing alert to repel the [[Big Creepy Crawlies|rachni]] forces.

* [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]: An Elanus officer down the Rift Station, standing alert to repel the [[Big Creepy-Crawlies|rachni]] forces.

{{quote| "Science pukes. Should just bug out and leave 'em to die. All their fault anyway. Heh. 'Bug out.' Heh heh heh heh heh."}}

* [[Infinity+1 Sword|Infinity Plus One Guns]]: Spectre Master Gear. Comes in all four weapon flavors, expensive as hell, and [[Game Breaker|utterly devastating]].

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* [[Internet Counterattack]]: Cooper Lawrence declared that the game was a [[Hot Coffee Minigame|graphic sex simulator]] on Fox News, where she admitted she had never played the game, or even heard anything about it. Gamers responded by bombing the hell of her Amazon book rating, along with reviews that started with "I've never read this book, but..." When Amazon started taking down reviews such as this, gamers responded by beginning their reviews with "I HAVE read this book, and..."

* [[It's a Small World After All]]: Anything worth visiting on a planet - pirate bases, Prothean artifacts, crashed space probes, mineral deposits - can be found within about two minutes' drive from where you land.

* [[Japanese Honorifics]]: Captain Matsuo uses these. The encounter drives home the fact that you're using [[Translator Microbes]] and everyone isn't really speaking English. The event also leads fans to suspect that there is a hardcore Otaku on the [[~~Bio Ware~~]] dev team.

* [[Japanese Honorifics]]: Captain Matsuo uses these. The encounter drives home the fact that you're using [[Translator Microbes]] and everyone isn't really speaking English. The event also leads fans to suspect that there is a hardcore Otaku on the [[BioWare]] dev team.

* [[Join or Die]]: Saren's response to Shepard's resistance is this. Join the Reapers - 'cause if you don't, you're guaranteed to die.

{{quote| '''Saren:''' Is submission not preferable to extinction? [...] Everyone you know and love, you will all die.}}

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* [[Love Triangle]]: It is possible to flirt with both Kaiden/Ashley ''and'' Liara at the same time. Eventually the two will approach you simultaneously and demand some sort of conclusion; you have the option of rejecting one or inviting them [[One True Threesome|be in a relationship together]]. {{spoiler|Liara is willing to have an inclusive relationship, but the human will refuse}}.

* [[Luck-Based Mission]]: Fighting a <s>sand worm</s> Thresher Maw. It's already a tough enemy by itself, but the worst thing about it that it can unburrow right underneath you, and then you die.

* [[Ludicrous Gibs]]: Shooting someone with special ammunition types can have disturbing effects. [[Nightmare Fuel|Poison-damage ammo causes enemies to become green vapor after death]], [[Kill It ~~With~~ Fire|fire-damage ammo causes them to turn to a bunch of floating-away red ashes upon killing them]], [[Kill It ~~With~~ Ice|ice-damage ammo causes their bodies to freeze, bursting into shards after a couple of seconds]], [[Stuff Blowing Up|explosive ammo causes the corpse to catch fire]], [[Shock and Awe|proton rounds (which allow your shots to pierce shields) will cause an enemy to be consumed by blue electricity and fizzle out]], and radioactive rounds function similarly to poison ammo, except the hapless victim leaves a sickly brown grease stain on the ground after they die.

* [[Ludicrous Gibs]]: Shooting someone with special ammunition types can have disturbing effects. [[Nightmare Fuel|Poison-damage ammo causes enemies to become green vapor after death]], [[Kill It with Fire|fire-damage ammo causes them to turn to a bunch of floating-away red ashes upon killing them]], [[Kill It with Ice|ice-damage ammo causes their bodies to freeze, bursting into shards after a couple of seconds]], [[Stuff Blowing Up|explosive ammo causes the corpse to catch fire]], [[Shock and Awe|proton rounds (which allow your shots to pierce shields) will cause an enemy to be consumed by blue electricity and fizzle out]], and radioactive rounds function similarly to poison ammo, except the hapless victim leaves a sickly brown grease stain on the ground after they die.

* [[Mad Doctor]]: Dr. Saleon, who used living people to grow illegal organs, and kidnapped them to use as hostages when he was discovered. He made some... [[Body Horror|other changes]]... to them before Shepard finally caught up with him.

* [[Made of Iron]]: Anything using the Immunity power. Awesome for yourself, [[Demonic Spiders|annoying against your enemies]] (use Warp to mostly counter it).

* [[Car Fu|Mako Fu]]: Ramming infantry enemies can result in one hit kills, but the larger enemies do not suffer any damage. It ''does'', however, temporarily stun them. Makes it much easier taking out armatures, colossi, juggernauts, and primes, because they fall over and take a while to get back up.

* [[Male Gaze]]:

** The first shot of Matriarch Benezia is her ample chest, before she coughs and the camera moves up to her face, possibly [[Leaning On the Fourth Wall]] to say [[My Eyes Are Up Here]].

** The first shot of Matriarch Benezia is her ample chest, before she coughs and the camera moves up to her face, possibly [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall]] to say [[My Eyes Are Up Here]].

** No matter what gender Shepard is, the romantic scene contains a lovingly rendered female rear end. If you are a female romancing Kaidan, you get to see his as well.

* [[Meaningful Name]]:

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** Captain Kirrahe: named for the mountain, Currahee, on which US paratroopers trained in Georgia for WWII.

** Commander Shepard him/herself, named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space.

* [[Mecha Mooks]]: The geth. The achievement for killing synthetic enemies is named "Geth Hunter", in fact, although turrets count towards this number.

* [[Mecha-Mooks]]: The geth. The achievement for killing synthetic enemies is named "Geth Hunter", in fact, although turrets count towards this number.

* [[Membership Token]]: The Salarian League of One and their medallions, which [[Gotta Catch Em All|you can collect]] in persuit of [[One Hundred Percent Completion]].

* [[Memetic Mutation/Video Games|Memetic Mutation]]: See [[BioWare ~~(Creator)~~/Memes|Bio Ware]].

* [[Memetic Mutation/Video Games|Memetic Mutation]]: See [[BioWare/Memes|Bio Ware]].

* [[Menu Time Lockout]]: When you go to your equipment inventory, you can pause time and change your weapons, armor, clothing, all other equipment on yourself ''and'' your two companions who are currently on the other side of the room in the middle of a heated battle.

* [[Mercy Kill]]: The protagonists constantly proclaim that killing any of {{spoiler|the Reapers' indoctrinated slaves}} is doing them a ''favor''. At least one ''victim'' agrees.

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* [[Multiple Endings]]: Several of them, and each one has variations based on whether the player has made predominantly Paragon or Renegade choices. The end result is relatively similar though: {{spoiler|you win.}} Also, humanity {{spoiler|gets at least one spot on the Citadel Council.}}

* [[Neutral Female]]: Liara crouches down in the middle of the floor in the final fight on Therum and does not attack the Krogan Battlemaster in any way; [[Justified Trope|but she is faint with hunger and lack of sleep]]..

* [[Never Mess ~~With~~ Granny]]. Helena Blake.

* [[Never Mess with Granny]]. Helena Blake.

* [[New Game+]]

* [[Not a Game]]: Uttered by Shepard during one sidequest; as always when this trope is mentioned in a video game, [[Hypocritical Humor|it is amusing]].

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** On one story mission, {{spoiler|two separated party members come under heavy fire and you only have time to save one of them}}. You cannot [[Take a Third Option]]. There is no [[Deus Ex Machina]]. {{spoiler|The one you don't help ''will'' [[Plotline Death|die]].}} And no one else will make the decision for you. [[The Chains of Commanding|Leadership sucks like that]]. {{spoiler|Especially if you're romancing one of them, and left questioning whether you made the choice for the right reasons.}}

** The most sadistic choice in ''Bring Down the Sky'' is not forced upon Shepard him/herself, but upon mild-mannered scientist Kate Bowman. Either she allows a fellow hostage to be shot in front of her, or she gives away Shepard's position and, with it, any hope of saving Terra Nova. She takes the first option. {{spoiler|Turns out it was her brother who was executed.}}

** Near the end of ''Bring Down the Sky'', Shepard's decision to either {{spoiler|save the hostages}} or {{spoiler|let the hostages die to capture/kill terrorist leader Balak}} ripped a page out of the [[~~Twenty Four~~|Jack Bauer]] playbook. Picking the smarter decision to {{spoiler|pursue Balak}} doesn't make players feel any less guilty.

** Near the end of ''Bring Down the Sky'', Shepard's decision to either {{spoiler|save the hostages}} or {{spoiler|let the hostages die to capture/kill terrorist leader Balak}} ripped a page out of the [[24|Jack Bauer]] playbook. Picking the smarter decision to {{spoiler|pursue Balak}} doesn't make players feel any less guilty.

* [[Sand Worm]]: Thresher Maws

* [[Schrodinger's Gun]]:

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* [[Self-Fulfilling Prophecy]]: One AI, when you trace it, announces that it knows you are going to kill it, refuses to listen to explanations, and activates a self-destruct countdown. If it had not done this, a Paragon Shepard might have let it live.

* [[Shell Shocked Senior]]: General Septimus.

* [[Shipper On Deck]]: Ashley's sisters will ship her and Shepard in a voice mail or - if Shepard tells Liara that he and Ashley are "just friends" beforehand - her and Kaiden. The latter she laughs about. The former depends on how you treat her.

* [[Shipper on Deck]]: Ashley's sisters will ship her and Shepard in a voice mail or - if Shepard tells Liara that he and Ashley are "just friends" beforehand - her and Kaiden. The latter she laughs about. The former depends on how you treat her.

* [[Shout-Out]]: See [[Mass Effect ~~(Franchise)~~/Shout Out]].

* [[Shout-Out]]: See [[Mass Effect/Shout Out]].

* [[Shut UP, Hannibal]]:

** The terrorist just blew up the hostages and declares that it's Shepard's fault they died. What's one of Shepard's potential responses? ''Fire warning shots each time the terrorist opens his mouth until he finally gets the message after taking a few bullets.''

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* [[Sniper Scope Sway]]: The game features ridiculous amounts of Scope Swaying for any player who has not invested significant points into the Sniper Rifle skill. However, when the skill is maxed out (or when you activate Assassination), the rifle is steady as a rock.

* [[Socketed Equipment]]: Upgrades are available for armor, grenades, ''two'' different kinds for weapons. The problem being with ten tiers of upgrade, and a dozen different effects for one category alone, and players would be swimming in upgrades with no real idea of which one was better or worse than what they had equipped right then. Like so many other things, the devs axed the feature as opposed to fixing it in the second game, going instead for permanent upgrades that affect all equipment the same.

* [[So Long and Thanks For All ~~The~~ Gear]]: Averted {{spoiler|at Virmire, where, if you kill Wrex and either Kaidan or Ashley,}} their gear is auto-unequipped and in your inventory when you get back to the Normandy.

* [[So Long and Thanks For All the Gear]]: Averted {{spoiler|at Virmire, where, if you kill Wrex and either Kaidan or Ashley,}} their gear is auto-unequipped and in your inventory when you get back to the Normandy.

* [[Someone Has to Die]]: The oft-mentioned {{spoiler|Virmire scenario.}}

* [[Someone to Remember Him By]]: One sidequest revolves around a scared soon-to-be mother, worried about the safety of her child after the father died of a heart defect.

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* [[Take That]]: In "Bring Down the Sky", you can find a radio station where one of the logs states that people who have not listened to it are complaining about its subversive messages.

* [[Take a Third Option]]: On Noveria, in order to get a garage pass to go to the labs, you have to go through a long series of conversations and sidequests in order to find {{spoiler|evidence of Administrator Anoleis' corruption}} and then choose whether to give it to {{spoiler|Anoleis, Parasini, or Qi'in}}. Or you can just {{spoiler|give Opold's smuggled package to Anoleis}} and he'll give you a pass pretty much as soon as you get there.

* [[Talking the Monster To Death]]: Up to and including {{spoiler|''Saren''}}.

* [[Talking the Monster to Death]]: Up to and including {{spoiler|''Saren''}}.

* [[Tech Points]]: You can spend skill points on Persuade/Intimidate levels, but you have to unlock them with the Paragon and Renegade meters first.

* [[Teleporting Keycard Squad]]: Three separate occasions where you could just ''swear'' you killed everything in the room, and then on your way back out, it's full again. The first is in Fist's bar near the beginning of the game, when you have to rescue Tali. The second and third occur with lots and lots of rachni immediately after you have set a rather large number of explosives.

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{{quote| '''Wrex:''' Anyone who fights us is either stupid or on Saren's payroll. Killing the latter is business. Killing the former is a favor to the universe.}}

** Subverted when Shepard encounters a pair of thugs while fighting through the club of a local crimeboss. The Renegade dialogue choice "I just killed fifteen guards to get in here. What do you think I'll do to you?" convinces them to leave.

* [[Town ~~With~~ a Dark Secret]]: Zhu's Hope is essentially the sci-fi version of this.

* [[Town with a Dark Secret]]: Zhu's Hope is essentially the sci-fi version of this.

* [[Troll Physics]]: [[Awesome Personnel Carrier|The Mako]]. Has tires with such good traction that it can ''drive up nearly vertical walls'', even nearly vertical ''ice walls'', because its in-built mass effect core can adjust its mass as needed.

* [[Troperiffic]]: The Mass Effect article had to be split into four main pages and over a dozen sub pages; one for the [[Mass Effect ~~(Video Game)~~|main series]], this page, ''[[~~Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)|~~Mass Effect 2]]'' and ''[[~~Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|~~Mass Effect 3]]''. There are also relevant character pages, Crowning Moment pages, additional sub pages for tropes that became too numerous to include on a single page, and additional pages for [[Expanded Universe|the books]].

* [[Troperiffic]]: The Mass Effect article had to be split into four main pages and over a dozen sub pages; one for the [[Mass Effect|main series]], this page, ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' and ''[[Mass Effect 3]]''. There are also relevant character pages, Crowning Moment pages, additional sub pages for tropes that became too numerous to include on a single page, and additional pages for [[Expanded Universe|the books]].

* [[Unexpected Gameplay Change]]: The Pinnacle Station DLC has Shepard participating in simulations that are similar to FPS multiplayer modes.

* [[Useless Useful Spell|Useless Useful Ammo]]: There's ammo that does extra damage to [[Mooks|organics]], and ammo that does extra damage to [[Mecha Mooks|synthetics]]. However, there's also an ammo type that not only affects both organics and synthetics, but does more damage than either of the "specialized" ammo types ''and'' prevents regeneration - meaning, among other things, that when [[Demonic Spiders|krogan]] go down, they ''stay'' down.

* [[Useless Useful Spell|Useless Useful Ammo]]: There's ammo that does extra damage to [[Mooks|organics]], and ammo that does extra damage to [[Mecha-Mooks|synthetics]]. However, there's also an ammo type that not only affects both organics and synthetics, but does more damage than either of the "specialized" ammo types ''and'' prevents regeneration - meaning, among other things, that when [[Demonic Spiders|krogan]] go down, they ''stay'' down.

* [[Vendor Trash]]: In the form of high-rank versions of the guns and armor you got at the start of the game. They're likely to be so horribly outclassed by new models that their only purpose is a cheap source of credits. For example, the Avenger I Assault Rifle, the weapon you start off with, is incapable of hitting anything less than five feet away from you.

* [[Video Game Caring Potential]]: Your party members. You don't actually get Renegade or Paragon points for how you act towards them, but their reactions to you tend to be so heart-wrenching when you're a giant [[Jerkass]] that it's hard to play as one. {{spoiler|Thus making the problem of sacrificing one of them at Virmire all the more painful.}}

* [[Viewers Are Geniuses]]: Saren's outpost on Noveria is located on a mountain called "Peak XV" - which was the name that British surveyors first referred to Mt. Everest by when westerners first discovered it in the 19th century.

* [[The Voice]]: Admiral Hackett, Hannah Shepard.

* [[The War On Terror]]: An endgame side-plot has a pro-human protest group who shout "No blood for aliens!". This is of course a take of the "No blood for oil!" [[Catch Phrase|rallying cry]] for anti-war American protesters.

* [[The War on Terror]]: An endgame side-plot has a pro-human protest group who shout "No blood for aliens!". This is of course a take of the "No blood for oil!" [[Catch Phrase|rallying cry]] for anti-war American protesters.

* [[Wake Up Call Boss]]: Assuming you play the game in the developers' intended order, the Geth Armature on Therum. After several minutes of blasting Geth to shreds in the Mako followed by the still relatively easy task of killing them on foot, you come face-to-face with a gigantic machine that has '''tons''' of health and can easily kill you with a single hit. In fact, it's not uncommon for the Armature to kill Shepard ''as soon as the battle begins'', which is a surefire sign that stronger shields and/or armor might be called for.

* [[The War Has Just Begun]]: Shepard's endgame speech. Anderson or Udina also make one, depending on your decisions.