Mass Effect 3: Difference between revisions

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The third in the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' series from [[BioWare]], the esteemed creators of the ''[[Dragon Age]]'' and ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Knights of the Old Republic]]'' series, and the final game starring Commander Shepard.

Several months after [[Mass Effect 2|the second game]], the Systems Alliance has had Shepard brought to Earth and relieved from duty for his/her actions.<ref>~~either~~ for destroying a batarian relay to delay the Reapers or just for working with Cerberus, depending on whether the player completed the "Arrival" DLC in ''~~ME2~~''</ref> Soon after, though, the Reaper fleet finally arrives in the Milky Way and attacks Earth, leaving millions dead and humanity vulnerable to extinction. After escaping the devastation, Shepard is reinstated and embarks on one last mission: unite the other races of the galaxy, build a fleet capable of rescuing the human race from the Reapers, and launch a final battle for the fate of all sentient life.

Several months after [[Mass Effect 2|the second game]], the Systems Alliance has had Shepard brought to Earth and relieved from duty for his/her actions.<ref>Either for destroying a batarian relay to delay the Reapers or just for working with Cerberus, depending on whether the player completed the ''Arrival'' DLC in ''Mass Effect 2''.</ref> Soon after though, the Reaper fleet finally arrives in the Milky Way and attacks Earth, leaving millions dead and humanity vulnerable to extinction. After escaping the devastation, Shepard is reinstated and embarks on one last mission: unite the other races of the galaxy, build a fleet capable of rescuing the human race from the Reapers, and launch a final battle for the fate of all sentient life.

Like the second game, ''Mass Effect 3'' allows players to import their save files from the other two installments, altering the storyline to match the choices your Shepard made in ''1'' and ''2''. But ''~~ME3~~'''s plot varies drastically depending on the save file; over one thousand variables are recorded in each save, and ''every'' decision made can have an impact on the story - even choices made in the original game that were never addressed in the second. In fact, this means there are far more widespread possibilities of what is going to happen in the end and thus some MAJOR story tropes may never come into play for a given playthrough.

Like the second game, ''Mass Effect 3'' allows players to import their save files from the other two installments, altering the storyline to match the choices your Shepard made in ''Mass Effect 1'' and ''Mass Effect 2''. But ''Mass Effect 3'''s plot varies drastically depending on the save file; over one thousand variables are recorded in each save, and ''every'' decision made can have an impact on the story... even choices made in the original game that were never addressed in the second. In fact, this means there are far more widespread possibilities of what is going to happen in the end and thus some MAJOR story tropes may never come into play for a given playthrough.

In terms of gameplay, combat is still based on the ''Mass Effect 2'' system, but with some new additions, most prominently the ability to [[Unnecessary Combat Roll|roll]] even when out of cover. Shepard also has a new heavy melee attack (this varies depending on class, but most of them use a device known as an omniblade). Combat will be more difficult than the other games, as enemies will now adopt roles like "cover buster" or "suppressor" to force players to occasionally lose health. All types of weapons can now be carried by any player, regardless of class, but a "weapon weight" system has been instituted to preserve the balance between weapons and powers - the number and size of the weapons you carry will affect your power cooldowns, with certain classes getting improved weight for certain guns.

In terms of gameplay, combat is still based on the ''Mass Effect 2'' system, but with some new additions, most prominently the ability to [[Unnecessary Combat Roll|roll]] even when out of cover. Shepard also has a new heavy melee attack (this varies depending on class, but most of them use a device known as an omniblade). Combat will be more difficult than the other games, as enemies will now adopt roles like "cover buster" or "suppressor" to force players to occasionally lose health. All types of weapons can now be carried by any player, regardless of class, but a "weapon weight" system has been instituted to preserve the balance between weapons and powers: the number and size of the weapons you carry will affect your power cooldowns, with certain classes getting improved weight for certain guns.

Two elements from the original ''[[Mass Effect 1]]'' - grenades and weapon modifications - return to the series with a slight redesign. Grenades are now a class-specific power, and they're thrown like traditional grenades instead of Frisbees. As for mods, ''Mass Effect 3'' returns to a [[Gun Accessories]] setup (instead of the second game's universal upgrade system); mods you buy or find need to be added at "weapon benches" after you acquire them. Weapons' appearances also change depending on the selected mods.

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With this game, [[BioWare]] has added an entirely new element known as ''Galaxy at War''. Players can unlock alternate ways to increase Shepard's "galactic readiness level" - the amount of troops, ships and resources the commander can use against the Reapers - by playing different gameplay modes outside the main single-player campaign. The main addition is 4-player co-op; in this mode, none of the protagonists of the series appear, so players will create their own original characters and fight to liberate key positions from Reaper control. However, while using ''Galaxy at War'' can increase the chances of saving the galaxy in the single-player story, participation in it is entirely optional and all but the most [[Golden Ending|golden endings]] are available so long as the right choices were made in the campaign.

The game was released on March 6, 2012 in North America and on March 9, 2012 in Europe. Any qualms purists had over the addition of multi-player were soon forgotten: first when people started playing the game and then when people started reaching [[Gainax Ending|the end of the game]]. Reactions to the endings indicate that ''Mass Effect 3'' is well on its way to creating one of the biggest [[Broken Base]]s in gaming history. After an unprecedented fan outcry, [[BioWare]] announced the [http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/04/05/mass-effect-3-extended-cut-free-dlc-to-expand-ending-this-summer/ Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut], a free DLC pack to be released in the summer that will add some scenes further explaining each ending.

The game was released on March 6, 2012 in North America and on March 9, 2012 in Europe. Any qualms purists had over the addition of multi-player were soon forgotten: first when people started playing the game and then when people started reaching [[Gainax Ending|the end of the game]]. Reactions to the endings indicate that ''Mass Effect 3'' is well on its way to creating one of the biggest [[Broken Base]]s in gaming history. After an unprecedented fan outcry, [[BioWare]] announced the [http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/04/05/mass-effect-3-extended-cut-free-dlc-to-expand-ending-this-summer/ ''Mass Effect 3'' Extended Cut], a free DLC pack to be released in the summer that will add some scenes further explaining each ending.

The [[Xbox 360]] version includes an exclusive voice command feature; players with Kinect can issue verbal orders to squadmates during combat and read an option from the [[Dialogue Tree]] aloud to select it during conversations.

The [[Xbox 360]] version includes an exclusive voice command feature: players with Kinect can issue verbal orders to squadmates during combat and read an option from the [[Dialogue Tree]] aloud to select it during conversations.

* [[Fandom Gank]]: The insanely huge backlash to this game's ending when it first came out. The fandom's reaction is equal parts "Huh?" and "You gotta be kidding!", this grew to such a size that [[BioWare]] release a [[DLC]] to explain in an acceptable way on what happened. It's debatable if they succeeded, since the franchise managed to stay alive for [[Mass Effect: Andromeda]], which seems to redeemed the property.

* [[Fandom Gank]]: The insanely huge backlash to this game's ending when it first came out. The fandom's reaction is equal parts "Huh?" and "You gotta be kidding!", this grew to such a size that [[BioWare]] release a [[DLC]] to explain in an acceptable way on what happened. It's debatable if they succeeded, since the franchise managed to stay alive for ''[[Mass Effect: Andromeda]]'', which seems to redeemed the property.

== Tropes A - F ==

* [[Abnormal Ammo]]: In an age of mass accelerators, ''anything'' can be used as ammo for a gun. Notable examples include a geth sniper rifle that shoots a jet of ferrofluid at relativistic speeds (a la the Thanix cannon from ''[[Mass Effect 2]]''), a krogan shotgun that shoots spikes, and (if you played the [[Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning]] demo) an assault rifle that shoots ''explosive chakrams.'' The Resurgence Pack adds the Kishock Harpoon Gun, which lets you impale enemies on glowing red spears. Jokes are also made within the game about a gun that fires Thresher Maws, although sadly it never makes an appearance.

* [[Abnormal Ammo]]: In an age of mass accelerators, ''anything'' can be used as ammo for a gun. Notable examples include a geth sniper rifle that shoots a jet of ferrofluid at relativistic speeds (a la the Thanix cannon from ''[[Mass Effect 2]]''), a krogan shotgun that shoots spikes, and (if you played the [[Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning]] demo) an assault rifle that shoots ''explosive chakrams''. The Resurgence Pack adds the Kishock Harpoon Gun, which lets you impale enemies on glowing red spears. Jokes are also made within the game about a gun that fires Thresher Maws, although sadly it never makes an appearance.

* [[Aborted Arc]]:

** The "Dark Energy buildup" which caused the sun of Haestrom to prematurely age, and that concerned the Quarians and some factions so much in ''Mass Effect 2'', is never brought up in this game. [http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/somethingawful-the-plot-of-me3-changed-dramatically-big-big-spoilers.250066288/ Production information has revealed that this was originally going to be the motivation for the Reaper cycle], that the use of Mass Effect technology would ultimately destroy the universe so the Reapers eliminated life once it began to pose such a threat, but this was cut out of the story early in its development.

** The "Dark Energy buildup" which caused the sun of Haestrom to prematurely age, and that concerned the Quarians and some factions so much in ''Mass Effect 2'', is never brought up in this game. [http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/somethingawful-the-plot-of-me3-changed-dramatically-big-big-spoilers.250066288/ Production information has revealed that this was originally going to be the motivation for the Reaper cycle], that the use of ''Mass Effect'' technology would ultimately destroy the universe so the Reapers eliminated life once it began to pose such a threat, but this was cut out of the story early in its development.

* [[Air Vent Passageway]]:

** A little boy uses this during the Reaper invasion. The vent is big enough for him to crawl through (though Shepard cannot fit), and the vent is not soundproof, allowing Shepard to detect the kid rather easily. This does not stop the kid from [[Stealth Hi Bye|disappearing behind a corner in the few seconds when Shepard looks away]] a minute later.

** During Liara's introduction, she escapes a pair of Cerberus troops through an air vent. They follow her in and she then ''leaves'' the vent, and uses their vulnerability to unleash biotic hell on them.

* [[Alas, Poor Villain]]: {{spoiler|The Illusive Man. Either he commits suicide after Shepard and Anderson make him realize that he's been indoctrinated, or he takes one last look at Earth after being shot by Shepard and reaffirms his love for his homeworld.}}

* [[Alas, Poor Villain]]: {{spoiler|The Illusive Man. Either he commits suicide after Shepard and Anderson make him realize that he's been indoctrinated, or he takes one last look at Earth after being shot by Shepard and reaffirms his love for his homeworld}}.

** {{spoiler|A bit more on that second one. Remember how the game ''starts''? Shepard sets off on a journey... to save Earth. [[Not So Different|Which is exactly what the Illusive Man has been trying to do]].}}

** {{spoiler|A bit more on that second one. Remember how the game ''starts''? Shepard sets off on a journey... to save Earth. [[Not So Different|Which is exactly what the Illusive Man has been trying to do]]}}.

* [[Alien Invasion]]: By [[Abusive Precursors|The]] [[Eldritch Abomination|Rea]][[Sapient Ship|pers]]

* [[Alien Invasion]]: By [[Abusive Precursors|The]] [[Eldritch Abomination|Rea]][[Sapient Ship|pers]].

* [[All Your Base Are Belong to Us]]: The Reapers invade the Earth and the other species' various home worlds.

* [[Alternate Character Interpretation]]:

** In-universe, {{spoiler|Udina's}} exact motive for siding with Cerberus is debated. The codex makes it fairly clear that he was simply a desperate man willing to take extreme measures to protect his ~~homeworld—however~~ futile the effort may have inevitably been.

** In-universe, {{spoiler|Udina's}} exact motive for siding with Cerberus is debated. The codex makes it fairly clear that he was simply a desperate man willing to take extreme measures to protect his homeworld... however futile the effort may have inevitably been.

** Also in-universe, Joker reveals that he subscribed to the [[Fandom Nod|common fan theory]] that the Council believed in the Reapers and were preparing for them, but weren't letting Shepard in on it because "you know, Cerberus." He ends up being disappointed.

** Also in-universe, Joker reveals that he subscribed to the [[Fandom Nod|common fan theory]] that the Council believed in the Reapers and were preparing for them, but weren't letting Shepard in on it because "you know, Cerberus". He ends up being disappointed.

* [[Ancient Astronauts]]: The Thessia mission reveals that {{spoiler|the goddess Athame, one of the oldest asari religions and the goddess that asari characters so frequently swear by, was actually a Prothean. She and her assistants protected the asari from an alien invasion, taught them agriculture and basic mathematics, and used genetic manipulation to grant them biotic abilities. She also left a Prothean beacon on the planet for the asari to find; though they could never fully activate or understand it without the Prothean cipher, their isolated breakthroughs were what allowed the asari to become the most advanced race in the galaxy}}.

* [[And This Is For]]: "That was for {{spoiler|Thane/Miranda/Kirrahe}}, you ''son of a bitch!''"

* [[And Zoidberg]]: During the mission to rescue "Eve", Wrex tells Shepard and Liara there is no one else he'd rather be on a party with - cue a cough from Garrus (provided both of them are in your squad).

* [[And Zoidberg]]: During the mission to rescue "Eve", Wrex tells Shepard and Liara there is no one else he'd rather be on a party with... cue a cough from Garrus (provided both of them are in your squad).

* [[Another Side, Another Story]]: Multi-player mode highlights how the entire galaxy is fighting for survival. Players will create new characters who fight back against the Reapers and performing well will help boost the war effort in the single player campaign.

* [[Anyone Can Die]]: There is a memorial set up on the ''Normandy'', which lists every crew member (SR-1 and SR-2 both) that dies over the course of the series. As characters die in this game, their names are added to the wall. Characters that ''will'' die (Provided they survived to this game) include {{spoiler|Thane, Legion, Udina and ''David Anderson''}}, and characters which ''may'' die (~~Depending~~ on player choices in both this and past games) include {{spoiler|Wrex, Jack, Mordin, Tali, Miranda, Captain Kirrahe, the Salarian Councilor, Steve Cortez}} and many others.

* [[Anyone Can Die]]: There is a memorial set up on the ''Normandy'', which lists every crew member (SR-1 and SR-2 both) that dies over the course of the series. As characters die in this game, their names are added to the wall. Characters that ''will'' die (Provided they survived to this game) include {{spoiler|Thane, Legion, Udina and ''David Anderson''}}, and characters which ''may'' die (depending on player choices in both this and past games) include {{spoiler|Wrex, Jack, Mordin, Tali, Miranda, Captain Kirrahe, the Salarian Councilor, Steve Cortez}} and many others.

* [[Apocalypse How]]: Earth will suffer at least a Class 0: The Codex states that around 1.86 million people are "processed" every day, aside from those killed in fighting the Reapers. It is not the fastest of extinctions (it could take a decade at that rate), but it is an inevitable one.

* [[Are These Wires Important?]]: Ask James to {{spoiler|take out one of the geth cannons on the quarian homeworld}}, and he'll "start [pulling] wires out, see what happens." He then begins to kick the control panel. Repeatedly. Other characters take a more delicate approach to deactivating it.

* [[Arm Cannon]]:

** The Cannibals sport these. ''They are made of whole human corpses.''

** The Cannibals sport these. ''They are made of whole human corpses''.

** Kai Leng and the Cerberus Phantoms have a [[Power Palms]] version of this, thanks to their cybernetic implants.

* [[Armor-Piercing Attack]]: Armor-Piercing ammo, rather than merely giving a bonus against a certain type of protection like in the last game, actually allow you to shoot through cover. There is also a mod for each category of weapon that allows you to shoot through armor and cover, and the [[Big Freaking Gun|Anti-Material Rifles]] do not need special ammo. Their effects stack. Combine all three... and enemy cover means nothing to you.

* [[Armor-Piercing Question]]: {{spoiler|When you make the decision of whether to let to quarians destroy the geth, Legion asks you the question which your decision should be based around:}}

* [[Armor-Piercing Question]]: {{spoiler|When you make the decision of whether to let to quarians destroy the geth, Legion asks you the question which your decision should be based around}}:

* [[Artificial Brilliance]]:

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** Nemeses, the Cerberus snipers, have no melee or short range attacks. Phantoms, the ninjas, have extremely powerful melee attacks, but mediocre ranged offense. Individually, these two get around those shortcomings by running around the battlefield, maintaining the most effective range for their fighting style. When paired together, however, the Nemesis will stand in one spot, and lure in melee and shotgun fighters to the Phantom's attack range.

** Assault Troopers throw grenades behind your cover to force you to change locations, and goad you into a shootout so that their melee and shotgun-preferring comrades can walk up behind you undisturbed.

** Unlike in ''Mass Effect 2'', if you cloak as an Infiltrator at close range expect the general area where you are standing to get riddled with bullets as nearby enemies attempt to scare you away. They also now have better awareness of you, as they will notice you if you bump them or start a heavy melee with your glowy omnitool.

** Unlike in ''Mass Effect 2'', if you cloak as an Infiltrator at close range, expect the general area where you are standing to get riddled with bullets as nearby enemies attempt to scare you away. They also now have better awareness of you, as they will notice you if you bump them or start a heavy melee with your glowy omnitool.

** Rocket soldiers, in particular, will time their shots to hit just as you duck out from cover. If you are particularly entrenched and [[Grenade Spam]] doesn't work the enemy ''will'' gang up and rush you.

** Rocket soldiers, in particular, will time their shots to hit just as you duck out from cover. If you are particularly entrenched and [[Grenade Spam]] doesn't work, the enemy ''will'' gang up and rush you.

* [[Ascended Glitch]]: The game acknowledges that the paragon resolution to Conrad Verner's meeting in [[Mass Effect]] glitches out in the second with Conrad acting as if you had picked the renegade option instead. Upon meeting him on Citadel, he apologizes for claiming you stuck a gun in his face when you had not. He explains that he was "under a lot of stress" at the time.

* [[Ascended Glitch]]: The game acknowledges that the paragon resolution to Conrad Verner's meeting in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' glitches out in the second with Conrad acting as if you had picked the renegade option instead. Upon meeting him on Citadel, he apologizes for claiming you stuck a gun in his face when you had not. He explains that he was "under a lot of stress" at the time.

* [[Ascended Meme]]: Before Javik's name became officially known, he was commonly referred to on forums as "Prothy the Prothean". This gets a hearty lampshade from him.

{{quote|'''Javik:''' ''Your "Joker" pilot insists I call myself Prothy the Prothean. I insisted he allow me to throw him out the airlock.'' }}

* [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence]]: {{spoiler|Two of the three big choices at the ending lead to this for Shepard. In the Control ending, Shepard effectively merges with the Reaper collective consciousness and takes control of every single one of them. In Synthesis ending, Shepard's essence is absorbed and transmitted across the entire galaxy, making all organics partly synthetic and vice versa.}}

* [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence]]: {{spoiler|Two of the three big choices at the ending lead to this for Shepard. In the Control ending, Shepard effectively merges with the Reaper collective consciousness and takes control of every single one of them. In Synthesis ending, Shepard's essence is absorbed and transmitted across the entire galaxy, making all organics partly synthetic and vice versa}}.

* [[Aside Glance]]: After making his "[[Hunt for Red October|Russian National Anthem]]" joke during the geth dreadnought boarding cutscene, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqt3aW6clAo Joker glances deliberately into the camera].

* [[Attack Its Weak Point]]:

** Cerberus' [[Mini-Mecha|Atlas Mechs]] have a large cockpit that can be shattered with enough hits, but shooting their rear eezo drives will kill them even quicker. Also, while the logical tactic for defeating Cerberus' Guardians is to flank them, it is most expedient to just take aim and [[Boom! Headshot!|shoot them in the head]], [[Subverted Trope|right through]] [[Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me|their shields]] viewport with a [[Hand Cannon]] or [[Sniper Rifle]]. If you can't get that shot, their feet are also unprotected. There is even an achievement for doing this 10 times: "Mail Slot."

** Cerberus' [[Mini-Mecha|Atlas Mechs]] have a large cockpit that can be shattered with enough hits, but shooting their rear eezo drives will kill them even quicker. Also, while the logical tactic for defeating Cerberus' Guardians is to flank them, it is most expedient to just take aim and [[Boom! Headshot!|shoot them in the head]], [[Subverted Trope|right through]] [[Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me|their shields]] viewport with a [[Hand Cannon]] or [[Sniper Rifle]]. If you can't get that shot, their feet are also unprotected. There is even an achievement for doing this 10 times: "Mail Slot".

** How Shepard racks up {{spoiler|his/her first on-foot Reaper kill}}.

* [[Awesome but Practical]]:

** Gameplay previews show that this [https://web.archive.org/web/20150112091812/http://gamerant.com/mass-effect-3-demo-hands-on-impression-tao-97364/ is how the Omni-Blade works.] Mooks can be offed with a quick hit, clearing the area of nuisances and letting you save ammo. Run up to a centurion, slash him, then take advantage of the recoil and blast him away with your shotgun. Yank a guy from around a barrier and perforate him. Rush the sniper and take them out without taking too long to finish them.

** Gameplay previews show that this [https://web.archive.org/web/20150112091812/http://gamerant.com/mass-effect-3-demo-hands-on-impression-tao-97364/ is how the Omni-Blade works]. Mooks can be offed with a quick hit, clearing the area of nuisances and letting you save ammo. Run up to a centurion, slash him, then take advantage of the recoil and blast him away with your shotgun. Yank a guy from around a barrier and perforate him. Rush the sniper and take them out without taking too long to finish them.

** The Scorpion heavy pistol is essentially a mini-grenade launcher. It is also very powerful and accurate, with its only downside being its high weight and less damage compared to the assault grenade launcher - which isn't a problem, since you're most likely an Adept or non-soldier not much else.

** The Scorpion heavy pistol is essentially a mini-grenade launcher. It is also very powerful and accurate, with its only downside being its high weight and less damage compared to the assault grenade launcher... which isn't a problem, since you're most likely an Adept or non-soldier not much else.

** Cryo skills, if not this, have at least been taken out of the [[Awesome Yet Impractical]] zone; you can now chill/slow enemies without having to expose their health bars, and several other abilities can be specced to combo on frozen targets.

** Cryo skills, if not this, have at least been taken out of the [[Awesome Yet Impractical]] zone: you can now chill/slow enemies without having to expose their health bars, and several other abilities can be specced to combo on frozen targets.

* [[Awesome Yet Practical]]: Cryo powers, in a welcome shift from the second game. Several other powers can now be spec'ed to work better on frozen stuff, and enemies will slow down when hit even if they're shielded or armored.

* [[Back for the Dead]]: {{spoiler|Assuming he survived the Suicide Mission, Thane's only possible role in the plot is to die protecting the Salarian Councilor.}}

* [[Back for the Dead]]: {{spoiler|Assuming he survived the [[Suicide Mission]], Thane's only possible role in the plot is to die protecting the Salarian Councilor}}.

* [[Badass Army]]: Building an army of the greatest Badasses of the entire galaxy.

* [[Badass Bystander]]:

** If you spared him in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', Aresh (the [[Arc Villain]] of the Pragia side-mission) turns into one of these. {{spoiler|Living as a lowly worker since that time, a group of evacuating civilians are shocked to witness him unleash his biotic power to protect them as they make their escape. He performs a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to save everyone.}}

** If you spared him in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', Aresh (the [[Arc Villain]] of the Pragia side-mission) turns into one of these. {{spoiler|Living as a lowly worker since that time, a group of evacuating civilians are shocked to witness him unleash his biotic power to protect them as they make their escape. He performs a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to save everyone}}.

** Jenna - the C-Sec informant from a sidequest in the first game - intervenes with her omni-tool to {{spoiler|save Conrad Verner from a Cerberus operative if you did her quest in Me1. Then she and Conrad hook up.}}

** Jenna - the C-Sec informant from a sidequest in the first game - intervenes with her omni-tool to {{spoiler|save Conrad Verner from a Cerberus operative if you did her quest in Me1. Then she and Conrad hook up}}.

* [[Badass Teacher]]: {{spoiler|Jack}}, post-''[[Mass Effect 2]]''.

* [[Bag of Spilling]]:

** Played straight; all of your DLC armor from the second game will carry over, but you must purchase all of it once again from vendors on the Citadel. Other pieces of armor must be found during missions throughout the game.

** Played straight: all of your DLC armor from the second game will carry over, but you must purchase all of it once again from vendors on the Citadel. Other pieces of armor must be found during missions throughout the game.

** Averted with the collectibles from the previous game, which are hidden in crates throughout the ship, the Space Hamster can be found in Jack's room at the bottom of engineering scurrying around and, provided she was taking care of them and survived the Collector base, Kelly Chambers can give you your fish back.

** The upgrades you bought for the Normandy (Thanix Cannon, Heavy Ship Armor, Multicore Shielding) transfer as a War Asset bonus.

* [[Batter Up]]: The batarian classes in multi-player have unique melee animations. If using a two-handed weapon, they involve [http://youtu.be/BasebmHiqIo?t=1m31s clubbing the enemy with the gun as if it were a baseball bat].

* [[Bayonet Ya]]: Shotguns can now accept bayonet modifications to increase their damage as a melee weapon. This is ''awesome.''

* [[Bayonet Ya]]: Shotguns can now accept bayonet modifications to increase their damage as a melee weapon. This is ''awesome''.

* [[Beam Spam]]: Harbinger attacks the invasion force {{spoiler|in the run to the Conduit}}

* [[Beam Spam]]: Harbinger attacks the invasion force {{spoiler|in the run to the Conduit}}.

* [[BFG]]: The Cain makes a reappearance in the mission to take back Earth. You use it to {{spoiler|drop a Reaper-Destroyer sized AA battery. It only takes one shot, and it homes in.}}

* [[BFG]]: The Cain makes a reappearance in the mission to take back Earth. You use it to {{spoiler|drop a Reaper-Destroyer sized AA battery. It only takes one shot, and it homes in}}.

* [[Big Badass Battle Sequence]]: There are three large-scale battles between opposing forces throughout the game:

** The Reaper invasion of Palaven, the turian homeworld, is preceded by the fight between the Reaper fleets and the turian navy, the most powerful military force in Citadel space.

** The Quarian attempt to re-take their homeworld involves full-scale war with the geth, including the geth's command-and-control dreadnought, along with the three endings stemming from this.

** The attempt to retake Earth is the largest single battle sequence in the game series, and includes space, air and ground scenes involving thousands of individual ship and character models.

* [[Big Bad Duumvirate]]: Between the Reapers and the Illusive Man; Cerberus constantly interferes with Shepard's attempts to defeat the Reapers out of a belief that they can ''control'' the Reapers. {{spoiler|Unfortunately for the Illusive Man, the Reapers are ultimately better at the game, and the Illusive Man is indoctrinated and simply playing into their hands. According to Javik they pulled the same trick last cycle as well.}}

* [[Big Bad Duumvirate]]: Between the Reapers and the Illusive Man: Cerberus constantly interferes with Shepard's attempts to defeat the Reapers out of a belief that they can ''control'' the Reapers. {{spoiler|Unfortunately for the Illusive Man, the Reapers are ultimately better at the game, and the Illusive Man is indoctrinated and simply playing into their hands. According to Javik, they pulled the same trick last cycle as well}}.

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]:

** In the first level, the ''Normandy'', with Kaidan/Ashley and James Vega aboard, shows up to rescue Shepard and Anderson from Reaper forces right as they are about to be overrun.

** The final battle to retake Earth with every allied fleet and war asset you can muster, including yourself. Cannot get bigger than that.

* [[Bigger Bad]]: {{spoiler|The Catalyst, an ancient AI that created the Reapers and started the repeating cycle in the first place. It does not appear until the final scene of the game, where it acknowledges that its plans have been defeated and it needs to develop a new "solution" with Shepard's help.}}

* [[Bigger Bad]]: {{spoiler|The Catalyst, an ancient AI that created the Reapers and started the repeating cycle in the first place. It does not appear until the final scene of the game, where it acknowledges that its plans have been defeated, and it needs to develop a new "solution" with Shepard's help}}.

* [[Big Good]]: Admiral Hackett.

* [[Big No]]: Flat out parodied in the Blasto audio drama.

{{quote|[[Dull Surprise|Blasto]]: [http://youtu.be/nXf7HC7iYEY?t{{=}}8m6s Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.]}}

* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: As the game outright tells you in the first 5 minutes, you cannot save everyone. It is possible to lose allies and entire species before you even reach the final battle, {{spoiler|and regardless of which choices or endings you get, you ''will'' have to sacrifice quite a lot to win, including the entire mass relay network and in most cases Shepard and the Citadel as well.}}

* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: As the game outright tells you in the first 5 minutes, you cannot save everyone. It is possible to lose allies and entire species before you even reach the final battle, {{spoiler|and regardless of which choices or endings you get, you ''will'' have to sacrifice quite a lot to win, including the entire mass relay network and in most cases Shepard and the Citadel as well}}.

* [[Blasting It Out of Their Hands]]: The best way to deal with Cerberus Phantoms, who can [[One Hit KO]] you with their sword, is to remove it from them like this. Since you cannot dilate time in multi-player and you won't get a gun that can kick up a storm of lead that can properly knock it off, though, this is much, ''much'' harder than it sounds.

* [[Blasting It Out of Their Hands]]: The best way to deal with Cerberus Phantoms, who can [[One Hit KO]] you with their sword, is to remove it from them like this. Since you cannot dilate time in multi-player, and you won't get a gun that can kick up a storm of lead that can properly knock it off though, this is much, ''much'' harder than it sounds.

* [[Blood From the Mouth]]: {{spoiler|Mordin}} if you shoot him, {{spoiler|Kai Leng}} after you kick his ass, {{spoiler|Shepard}} in the ending.

* [[Bloodier and Gorier]]: ''Mass Effect'' is more violent than ever.

** Heads will now explode into a spray of gore if you get a head shot with various weapons including sniper rifles, shotguns, and heavy pistols. This can also be caused by a head shot to an enemy with low health.

** Heads will now explode into a spray of gore if you get a head shot with various weapons including sniper rifles, shotguns and heavy pistols. This can also be caused by a head shot to an enemy with low health.

** There are several methods of making your enemy's whole body explode, entirely reducing them to bloody chunks. To name a few (all used on enemies with a low enough health to cause this), Carnage, Warp, a shot from a Widow, Black Widow, or Javelin, landing a sticky grenade on the targeted enemy, shrapnel grenades, any "nukes" (a player nickname for the heavy weapons).

** There are several methods of making your enemy's whole body explode, entirely reducing them to bloody chunks. To name a few (all used on enemies with a low enough health to cause this), Carnage, Warp, a shot from a Widow, Black Widow or Javelin, landing a sticky grenade on the targeted enemy, shrapnel grenades, any "nukes" (a player nickname for the heavy weapons).

* [[Blue and Orange Morality]]: {{spoiler|The Catalyst views "preserving" advanced organic life in Reaper form as preferable to allowing what it sees as an inevitable organic/synthetic war to take place that will just as inevitably end in synthetic life taking control of the galaxy. Therefore it harvests organic life at the apex of its civilization before such a war can happen, allowing the next generation of organic life to develop.}}

* [[Blue and Orange Morality]]: {{spoiler|The Catalyst views "preserving" advanced organic life in Reaper form as preferable to allowing what it sees as an inevitable organic/synthetic war to take place that will just as inevitably end in synthetic life taking control of the galaxy. Therefore it harvests organic life at the apex of its civilization before such a war can happen, allowing the next generation of organic life to develop}}.

* [[Body Count Competition]]:

** After rescuing defecting Cerberus scientists, who you only located because of Specialist Traynor's analysis of Cerberus data, Traynor jokes that she is going to begin putting little decals on her terminal to keep score every time she "analyzes the crap out of some data."

** If you have romanced either Tali or Garrus, before the final mission you will find the two of them talking in the Main Battery where they are making bets on the upcoming fight and who will perform better.

** If you have romanced either Tali or Garrus, before the final mission, you will find the two of them talking in the Main Battery where they are making bets on the upcoming fight and who will perform better.

* [[Body Horror]]:

** {{spoiler|If you choose the "Control Reapers" ending, as he/~~she~~ is holding the crucible controls Shepard's face will start to burn and peel apart, spreading to the rest of his/her body.}}

** {{spoiler|If you choose the "Control Reapers" ending, as s/he is holding the crucible controls Shepard's face will start to burn and peel apart, spreading to the rest of his/her body}}.

** {{spoiler|The "Synthesis" ending has Shepard slowly dissolve in the Catalyst's beam.}}

** {{spoiler|The "Synthesis" ending has Shepard slowly dissolve in the Catalyst's beam}}.

** Everything about Reaper-made enemies. Cannibals are mutated batarians using ''whole human bodies'' for [[Arm Cannons]], Brutes are krogan/turian fusions with the head ripped out and replaced with a turian skull.

** The art book originally had the Rachni as fused with rotting human corpses. Bioware deemed this too disgusting. They kept it with the Cannibals though.

** It's confirmed in this game that being impaled on the Dragon's Teeth is actually the ''preferable'' way of being turned into a Husk. Being infected with Reaper nano-tech will also have the same end result, only it's much slower and the victim remains conscious throughout the whole process, {{spoiler|as those who went to Sanctuary found out the hard way}}.

* [[Boisterous Bruiser]]: Krogan characters in multi-player will often laugh joyfully after killing an enemy.

* [[Bond One-Liner]]: Shepard has the option of pulling this off after killing a Reaper, if you take the renegade option. See [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner]].

* [[Bond One-Liner]]: Shepard has the option of pulling this off after killing a Reaper, if you take the renegade option. See [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner]] below.

* [[Book Ends]]:

** When Thane is first encountered is ''Mass Effect 2'', he prays for "the wicked," but reveals that the prayer is for himself, not the target he just killed. {{spoiler|When he dies in this game, his final words are again a prayer, but this time they are not for him, but for Shepard}}.

** When Thane is first encountered is ''Mass Effect 2'', he prays for "the wicked", but reveals that the prayer is for himself, not the target he just killed. {{spoiler|When he dies in this game, his final words are again a prayer, but this time, they are not for him, but for Shepard}}.

** Just before you take control of Shepard for the first and last time {{spoiler|he/~~she~~ is thrown off his/her feet by a Reaper attack, gets a handgun and is told to move forward by Anderson.}}

** Just before you take control of Shepard for the first and last time, {{spoiler|s/he is thrown off his/her feet by a Reaper attack, gets a handgun and is told to move forward by Anderson}}.

** One of the last conversations with Joker aboard the Normandy is him reminiscing about Eden Prime. The camera angles used when Joker and Shepard speak are identical to those used the first time you ever speak to Joker in Mass Effect 1.

** One of the last conversations with Joker aboard the ''Normandy'' is him reminiscing about Eden Prime. The camera angles used when Joker and Shepard speak are identical to those used the first time you ever speak to Joker in ''Mass Effect 1''.

** {{spoiler|1=Both this game and the original ''Mass Effect'' end with Shepard facing off against an indoctrinated [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], who can be talked into realizing his indoctrination and committing suicide, before Shepard comes face to face with the mastermind behind it all as he/~~she~~ is forced to decide what fate to chose for the galaxy. Just as in the first game, the very last enemy that Shepard engages in combat is a Reaper-controlled turian; Saren in ~~ME1~~, a Marauder here.}}

** {{spoiler|1=Both this game and the original ''Mass Effect'' end with Shepard facing off against an indoctrinated [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], who can be talked into realizing his indoctrination and committing suicide, before Shepard comes face to face with the mastermind behind it all as s/he is forced to decide what fate to chose for the galaxy. Just as in the first game, the very last enemy that Shepard engages in combat is a Reaper-controlled turian; Saren in ''Mass Effect 1'', a Marauder here}}.

* [[Boring but Practical]]: You have got sniper rifles, flashy grenades, energy blades, missile launchers, and magical science powers, yet the most surefire way to deal with enemies in multi-player is to just flank them. You will realize this when [[Artificial Brilliance|they do it to you, too.]]

** The Mantis sniper rifle, particularly in multiplayer. It's slow firing but powerful, is the lightest of the sniper rifles. It doesn't have the raw damage of the Widow, but a skilled player who can consistently [[Boom! Headshot!|headshot]] enemies doesn't ''need'' that much damage.

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** The Disciple shotgun. Its damage might be underwhelming, but it's surprisingly accurate and is the lightest shotgun available.

* [[Boss in Mook Clothing]]: Banshees. Huge barrier and armor amounts cause them to take a ton of damage before going down. Their attacks are also very dangerous, with the strongest being a one hit kill.

* [[Bottomless Magazines]]: {{spoiler|The Carnifex that Shepard picks up after being fried by Harbinger never needs a reload.}}

* [[Bottomless Magazines]]: {{spoiler|The Carnifex that Shepard picks up after being fried by Harbinger never needs a reload}}.

* [[Bribing Your Way to Victory]]:

** Many War Assets are either reduced or completely unavailable if you have not purchased and completed the DLCs of the first two games.

** Unlike in the pre-launch demo, multi-player equipment packs can be bought for real money if you do not want to grind for them with in-game currency.

* [[Bring Help Back]]: Shepard has to do this; s/he leaves Earth during the Reaper attack in order to gather reinforcements and return in force.

* [[Bring Help Back]]: Shepard has to do this: s/he leaves Earth during the Reaper attack in order to gather reinforcements and return in force.

* [[Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu]]: {{spoiler|No matter what you do, the total death toll will be in the millions or more by the end, the Mass Relays are going kaboom, and Shepard will probably be dead. Worst case scenario? The Reapers are defeated, but [[Earthshattering Kaboom|Earth is destroyed]] and ''all life in the galaxy'' is completely wiped out.}}

* [[Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu]]: {{spoiler|No matter what you do, the total death toll will be in the millions or more by the end, the Mass Relays are going kaboom, and Shepard will probably be dead. Worst case scenario? The Reapers are defeated, but [[Earthshattering Kaboom|Earth is destroyed]] and ''all life in the galaxy'' is completely wiped out}}.

* [[Bullet Time]]: In addition to being an activated ability that the Soldier class retains from the second game, this now accompanies the sound of glass breaking when Shepard's [[Deflector Shields]] [[Critical Status Buff|get taken down]]. Other classes had similar abilities streamlined or removed; the Vanguard's charge slows time automatically now, and the Sniper Concentration mod means that anyone (not just an Infiltrator) can slow things down when scoping in; Infiltrators can just make it last longer and free up a mod port.

* [[Bullfight Boss]]:

** Brutes fit this trope. They love to charge at you and do large amounts of damage if you do not leap out of the way. You even get an achievement if you manage to kill a brute while it is charging.

** The {{spoiler|Reaper}} on Rannoch. Though it does not physically charge you, the mechanics of dodging its main attack (which moves in a straight line), then attacking it while it is vulnerable for a moment are the same.

* [[The Bus Came Back]]: Liara and the Virmire Survivor were two of the first four party members to be confirmed for the game, after being [[Demoted to Extra]] during ~~ME2~~.

* [[The Bus Came Back]]: Liara and the Virmire Survivor were two of the first four party members to be confirmed for the game, after being [[Demoted to Extra]] during ''Mass Effect 2''.

* [[Bus Crash]]: A few secondary characters, assuming they survived the previous installments.

** {{spoiler|If quarian marine Kal'Reegar survived Haestrom, he ends up dying covering a turian squad's escape.}}

** {{spoiler|If quarian marine Kal'Reegar survived Haestrom, he ends up dying covering a turian squad's escape}}.

** {{spoiler|If you spared the asari scientist from Virmire Rana Thanoptis in ''[[Mass Effect 1]]'' and ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', she kills a number of high ranking asari officials, and then when incarcerated shoots herself in the head.}}

** {{spoiler|If you spared the asari scientist from Virmire Rana Thanoptis in ''[[Mass Effect 1]]'' and ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', she kills a number of high ranking asari officials, and then when incarcerated shoots herself in the head}}.

** {{spoiler|If you spared him in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', Aresh from the Pragia side-mission dies saving a bunch of evacuating civilians from a Reaper attack.}}

** {{spoiler|If you spared him in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', Aresh from the Pragia side-mission dies saving a bunch of evacuating civilians from a Reaper attack}}.

** {{spoiler|The reporter Emily Wong is never referred to in the actual game, but the promotional Twitter event before release has her relaying news of the Reaper attack before being mortally wounded and crashing her flying news van into a Reaper.}}

** {{spoiler|The reporter Emily Wong is never referred to in the actual game, but the promotional Twitter event before release has her relaying news of the Reaper attack before being mortally wounded and crashing her flying news van into a Reaper}}.

* [[Buxom Is Better]]:

** Matriarch Aethyta can tell Liara that one of the things that attracted her to Matriarch Benezia was her impressive bustline. Liara [[Too Much Information|does not really want to know about that]].

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** Returning squadmates frequently make references to missions from the previous two games, remarking how things have changed (or remained the same) over the past two years. These occur even if these squadmates were not present for the original mission.

** In one of Shepard's conversations with EDI, she questions Shepard about the behavior of some prisoners of the Reapers, and Shepard asks her if "submission is preferable to extinction." Saren had asked Shepard this same question in the first game.

** During your first conversation with him, Joker lampshades the fact that Shepard was not entirely respectful towards the Council in ''~~ME1~~''. This line also occurs if you never hung up on the Council during the first game, losing the effect.

** During your first conversation with him, Joker lampshades the fact that Shepard was not entirely respectful towards the Council in ''Mass Effect 1''. This line also occurs if you never hung up on the Council during the first game, losing the effect.

{{quote|'''Joker''': Let me know if you want to patch a comm to the Council so you can hang up on them again. You know, for old times' sake.}}

** The music that plays over the Game Over screen, both for single and multi-player, is still Saren's theme.

** The music that plays over the [[Game Over]] screen, both for single and multi-player, is still Saren's theme.

* [[The Cameo]]: [[The Stinger|After the credits,]] Buzz Aldrin (the second man to set foot on the moon) voices a character known only as Stargazer, who, {{spoiler|in the [[Distant Finale|distant future]], [[The Storyteller|relates Shepard's exploits]] to a child.}}

* [[The Cameo]]: [[The Stinger|After the credits]], Buzz Aldrin (the second man to set foot on the moon) voices a character known only as Stargazer, who, {{spoiler|in the [[Distant Finale|distant future]], [[The Storyteller|relates Shepard's exploits]] to a child}}.

* [[Canned Orders Over Loudspeaker]]: At Grissom Academy, {{spoiler|a Cerberus shill tries appealing to students' want to help Earth in order to pacify them. All while [[Mooks|cerbies]] are dragging students away screaming. You can put a stop to it if you find one of the generators powering a cyberwarfare computer and shoot it, allowing Kahlee to interject and reassure the students that Shepard's on the scene.}}

* [[Canned Orders Over Loudspeaker]]: At Grissom Academy, {{spoiler|a Cerberus shill tries appealing to students' want to help Earth in order to pacify them. All while [[Mooks|cerbies]] are dragging students away screaming. You can put a stop to it if you find one of the generators powering a cyberwarfare computer and shoot it, allowing Kahlee to interject and reassure the students that Shepard's on the scene}}.

* [[Casual Danger Dialogue]]: {{spoiler|~~M!Shepard~~ pulls this off on the geth dreadnought towards a romanced Tali after she [[Take My Hand|saves him]] from falling to his death due to a damaged elevator. A stark contrast to a ''very'' worried Tali.}}

* [[Casual Danger Dialogue]]: {{spoiler|MaleShepard pulls this off on the geth dreadnought towards a romanced Tali after she [[Take My Hand|saves him]] from falling to his death due to a damaged elevator. A stark contrast to a ''very'' worried Tali}}.

* [[Catapult Nightmare]]: Throughout the game, Shepard has several nightmares about those lost in the war, typically waking up in this fashion.

* [[Catch Phrase]]: EDI's "That was a joke" is back with a vengeance.

* [[Central Theme]]: Casey Hudson describes Mass Effect 3's theme as "victory through sacrifice". Several characters can or will sacrifice themselves for their loved ones or to complete the mission. {{spoiler|And depending on your choices over the series, Thane, Anderson, Lt. Victus, Captain Kirrahe, Mordin, Wrex, Legion, Miranda, Grunt and even Shepard are possible examples.}}

* [[Central Theme]]: Casey Hudson describes ''Mass Effect 3'''s theme as "victory through sacrifice". Several characters can or will sacrifice themselves for their loved ones or to complete the mission. {{spoiler|And depending on your choices over the series, Thane, Anderson, Lt. Victus, Captain Kirrahe, Mordin, Wrex, Legion, Miranda, Grunt and even Shepard are possible examples}}.

* [[Chain Lightning]]: The Overload ability [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Or0fly8vA0&feature=player_embedded can be] upgraded to do this.

* [[Chain of Deals]]: What the plot boils down to. The constant [[Continuity Cavalcade]]s, [[Character Development]] and, well, massive galaxy-saving stakes help it feel glamorous (and [[War Is Hell|hellish]] when it needs to).

* [[The Chains of Commanding]]: One of the primary themes of the game. During a late-game conversation, Shepard can chew out Joker for making a particularly ill-timed joke. Joker then explains that Anderson asked him to look out for the Commander, and that Shepard is under more stress than any other person he knows (to the point of referencing the character's chosen war history from the first game). Shepard can then choose to either forgive Joker or blow him off for attempting to make light of the situation s/he's in.

* [[Character-Magnetic Team]]: By the time the finale rolls around, Shepard can assemble a truly massive team. Not only can the player character convince almost all the races in the galaxy to help, but you can amass a sizable group of squadmates (including a newly-minted Spectre, an N7 candidate, the feared "Archangel of Omega", a newly-honored Quarian admiral, a {{spoiler|living Prothean}} and an advanced AI capable of giving ground support), but you can have delegates from races come aboard, have past squadmates show up and hang out on your ship, and even bring back two of the engineers from the previous game if you pardon them.

* [[Character Blog]] / [[Day in The Limelight]]:

* [[Character Blog]]/[[Day in The Limelight]]:

** Prior to release, the devs released a [http://blog.bioware.com/2011/12/22/shepard-off-duty/ blog post] by Commander Shepard detailing his/her off-duty hours. Naturally, the writing is [[Gender Neutral Writing|vague]] so that it can fit most playthrough styles.

** A Twitter account was made for the [https://twitter.com/#!/AllianceNewsNet Alliance News Network], which was used by Emily Wong to chronicle the Reaper invasion of Earth.

* [[Charged Attack]]: A few weapons, such as the Arc Pistol, the Graal Spike Thrower, and the Kishock Harpoon Gun, can be charged up for a more powerful attack.

* [[Charged Attack]]: A few weapons, such as the Arc Pistol, the Graal Spike Thrower and the Kishock Harpoon Gun, can be charged up for a more powerful attack.

* [[Chekhov's Armory]]: Played for laughs during Conrad's appearance. If you completed three separate, completely unrelated sidequests in the first game, they will be referenced and used as part of Conrad's dissertation on dark energy. After which Conrad gets into a scuffle, and his survival is dependent on the outcome of yet another unrelated sidequest.

* [[Cherry Tapping]]: It is possible to kill even high level enemies by punching them repeatedly. In fact, at normal difficulty, Soldier!Shep can punch an enemy's shields out completely with a few hits, if s/he is willing to take the gunfire.

* [[Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends]]: {{spoiler|[[Beta Couple|Tali'Zorah vas Normandy and Garrus Vakarian]]}}, should you have romanced neither of them.

* [[Clock Tower]]: Coats spent three days sniping [[Our Zombies Are Different|husks]] from inside a broken Big Ben; this was the content of one of the first trailers.

* [[Collectors Edition]]: The "N7 Collector's Edition". It comes with most of a set (sans assault rifle) of N7 weapons, alternative outfits for squadmates, a [[Team Pet|robotic dog]] for the Normandy, and the "From Ashes" [[Downloadable Content|DLC]] (which otherwise has to be bought separately). Outside the game, it also has a 70-page artwork book, an iron-on/Velcro N7 patch, the game's soundtrack, and a limited edition Dark Horse comic—the first issue of ''Mass Effect: Invasion''.

* [[Collectors Edition]]: The "N7 Collector's Edition". It comes with most of a set (sans assault rifle) of N7 weapons, alternative outfits for squadmates, a [[Team Pet|robotic dog]] for the ''Normandy'', and the ''From Ashes'' [[Downloadable Content|DLC]] (which otherwise has to be bought separately). Outside the game, it also has a 70-page artwork book, an iron-on/Velcro N7 patch, the game's soundtrack, and a limited edition Dark Horse comic—the first issue of ''Mass Effect: Invasion''.

* [[Command Roster]]: Just like in the other two games, ''Mass Effect 3'' has this.

** [[The Captain]]: Shepard

** [[The Captain]]: Shepard.

** [[Number Two]]: The Virmire Survivor

** [[Number Two]]: The Virmire Survivor.

** [[Wrench Wench]]: Tali. Adams is also a [[Mr. Fixit]], but less important to the plot.

** The Scientist: Liara

** The Scientist: Liara.

** [[Communications Officer]]: Samantha Traynor

** [[Communications Officer]]: Samantha Traynor.

** The Security Officer: Garrus

** The Security Officer: Garrus.

** [[Space Marine|The Marine]]: James

** [[Space Marine|The Marine]]: James.

** [[The Medic]]: Initially none, but Dr. Chakwas or Dr. Michel can be recruited.

** [[Ace Pilot]]: Joker for the ship itself, Steve Cortez for the shuttle.

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* [[Crapsack World|Crapsack Galaxy]]: Reaper invasions will ruin anyone's day, and [[It Got Worse|it is only gonna get worse]].

* [[Critical Status Buff]]: In the main campaign, losing your shields will give you a few seconds of [[Adrenaline Time]].

* [[Crossover]]: Of the promotional kind, with ''[[Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning]]'' - Downloading the ''Amalur'' demo will unlock the Reckoner Knight armor for Shepard; completing it will unlock the Chakram Launcher weapon. Downloading the ''~~ME3~~'' demo will unlock N7 Armour & completing it will unlock Omniblade daggers. It is all in good taste however - the crossover armor and weapons only resemble the originals superficially and do not break immersion, as they do appear [https://web.archive.org/web/20130209061034/http://buttonmasher.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/AmalurArmour.jpg appropriately high-tech in Mass Effect] and [http://thecontrolleronline.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/reckoning_shepardarmor_011.jpg medieval/magical in Kingdoms of Amalur]{{Dead link}}.

* [[Crossover]]: Of the promotional kind, with ''[[Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning]]'': Downloading the ''Amalur'' demo will unlock the Reckoner Knight armor for Shepard; completing it will unlock the Chakram Launcher weapon. Downloading the ''Mass Effect 3'' demo will unlock N7 Armour and completing it will unlock Omniblade daggers. It is all in good taste, however: the crossover armor and weapons only resemble the originals superficially and do not break immersion, as they do appear [https://web.archive.org/web/20130209061034/http://buttonmasher.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/AmalurArmour.jpg appropriately high-tech in ''Mass Effect''] and [http://thecontrolleronline.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/reckoning_shepardarmor_011.jpg medieval/magical in Kingdoms of Amalur]{{Dead link}}.

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]:

** The Reapers vs. Earth. According to the Codex entry "The Fall of Earth", the Reapers conquer the planet in a matter of ''hours''. While escaping Earth, players will see that the previously enormous fleet that was gathered in orbit around Earth has been completely devastated, and we later learn that Arcturus Station (the Systems Alliances' capital) was destroyed, along with the ''entire'' Second Fleet. Many of the battles that directly involve Reapers turn into this. The turians are suffering massive casualties despite having the most powerful military in the galaxy. Thessia, home of the asari, falls.

** In the final level {{spoiler|Harbinger personally appears to kill the ''entire'' ground force heading to the conduit to the Citadel, wiping the entire area clean in seconds. Only Shepard and Anderson survived, and Shepard cannot even walk properly afterwards}}.

** In the final level, {{spoiler|Harbinger personally appears to kill the ''entire'' ground force heading to the conduit to the Citadel, wiping the entire area clean in seconds. Only Shepard and Anderson survived, and Shepard cannot even walk properly afterwards}}.

* [[Curse Cut Short]]: Jack repeatedly does this to herself in order to maintain a professional appearance in front of her students. One notable exchange between her and Joker ends with a [[Hard Cut]] [[Quip to Black|to Black]].

* [[Cyberspace]]: {{spoiler|'''You enter the geth consensus'''. Legion helps by filtering the experience into something Shepard's mind can comprehend, though. As the disembodied Legion voice converses with you, you may notice that the walkway tiles appearing for your convenience flash in unison with Legion's voice: ~~You~~ are actually walking on Legion.}}

* [[Cyberspace]]: {{spoiler|'''You enter the geth consensus'''. Legion helps by filtering the experience into something Shepard's mind can comprehend, though. As the disembodied Legion voice converses with you, you may notice that the walkway tiles appearing for your convenience flash in unison with Legion's voice: you are actually walking on Legion}}.

* [[Damn You, Muscle Memory!]]:

** Paragon and Renegade interrupts were rebound from R2 and L2 to R1 and L1 in the [[Play Station 3]]. Might cause you to miss one or two.

** In multi-player, different characters have their powers mapped to different hotkeys.

* [[Darker and Edgier]]: The number of dead is in the millions already. Trillions more lives are at stake. The developers have said they want to make this game edgier, but still with more humor, as well. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfvo5ueKJY8 Liara is literally darker], as well as personality-wise. [[Word of God]] says it's intentional.

* [[Darkest Hour]]: {{spoiler|Right after the Thessia mission: Thessia falls to the Reapers, Shepard fails on his/her mission to recover the crucial data to finish ~~The~~ Crucible and the Reapers are curbstomping everywhere, with even the turian fleet now in full retreat from Palaven.}}

* [[Darkest Hour]]: {{spoiler|Right after the Thessia mission: Thessia falls to the Reapers, Shepard fails on his/her mission to recover the crucial data to finish the Crucible and the Reapers are curbstomping everywhere, with even the turian fleet now in full retreat from Palaven}}.

* [[Dark Reprise]]:

** "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5JvbD2Zc9I An End, Once And For All]" is a [[Lonely Piano Piece]] version of "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCk4RiKH9H0 The End Run]" from ''[[Mass Effect 2]]''.

** Mordin sings "Model Of A Scientist Salarian" during a scene on board the Normandy after the Sur'Kesh mission. He later repeats the same song to keep himself calm as {{spoiler|the Shroud implodes on Tuchanka during the genophage cure dispersal}}. Immediately following that, a reprise of the original ''[[Mass Effect]]'''s menu theme "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w097Q0fZE-A Vigil]" plays.

** Mordin sings "Model Of A Scientist Salarian" during a scene on board the ''Normandy'' after the Sur'Kesh mission. He later repeats the same song to keep himself calm as {{spoiler|the Shroud implodes on Tuchanka during the genophage cure dispersal}}. Immediately following that, a reprise of the original ''[[Mass Effect]]'''s menu theme "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w097Q0fZE-A Vigil]" plays.

** During the end credits, a slower (and slightly more unnerving) version of "Leaving Earth" plays as the final track.

* [[The Dead Have Names]]: The Normandy gets a memorial wall, which lists the names of every single crew member that died over the course of the trilogy.

* [[The Dead Have Names]]: The ''Normandy'' gets a memorial wall, which lists the names of every single crew member that died over the course of the trilogy.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]:

** Joker loves doing this, and EDI tries this, with mixed results...

** Garrus embodies this trope. He is rarely serious but always remains stoic (although his jokes are more of [[Gallows Humor]] variety).

** Javik, of a more jerkassed, angry variety.

* [[Death From Above]]: {{spoiler|Shepard kills one of the smaller Reapers by calling down orbital strikes from the entire quarian fleet.}}

* [[Death From Above]]: {{spoiler|Shepard kills one of the smaller Reapers by calling down orbital strikes from the entire quarian fleet}}.

* [[Death of the Hypotenuse]]: With {{spoiler|Thane}} or {{spoiler|potentially Miranda}} if you cheated on your ~~ME1~~ love interest with them, in {{spoiler|Miranda's case if you break up with her she will die regardless of the help you provide her.}}

* [[Death of the Hypotenuse]]: With {{spoiler|Thane}} or {{spoiler|potentially Miranda}} if you cheated on your ''Mass Effect 1'' love interest with them, in {{spoiler|Miranda's case, if you break up with her, she will die regardless of the help you provide her}}.

* [[Death or Glory Attack]]: The new [[Magic Knight|Vanguard]] ability, Nova, takes down your barriers to deliver a powerful [[Shockwave Stomp]]. Fortification (available for certain Soldiers) also buffs your melee damage when deactivated now.

* [[Death or Glory Attack]]: The new [[Magic Knight|Vanguard]] ability Nova takes down your barriers to deliver a powerful [[Shockwave Stomp]]. Fortification (available for certain Soldiers) also buffs your melee damage when deactivated now.

* [[Defcon Five]]: Averted in an email, stating about the traffic emergency and the Alliance declaring SABER One (presumably the equivalent of DEFCON in ME) when the Reapers invaded Earth.

* [[Defector From Decadence]]: It seems that not all of Cerberus is in lockstep with The Illusive Man's apparent [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|vault off of the slippery slope]]. Your War Assets have a whole folder dedicated to "Ex-Cerberus". {{spoiler|Jacob and a bunch of security and science personnel have officially severed ties with the Illusive Man and have holed up on Arrae. Rescuing them adds to your War Assets - the science team helps the Crucible Project, while Jacob becomes an anti-Cerberus consultant for the Alliance.}}

* [[Defector From Decadence]]: It seems that not all of Cerberus is in lockstep with The Illusive Man's apparent [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|vault off of the slippery slope]]. Your War Assets have a whole folder dedicated to "Ex-Cerberus". {{spoiler|Jacob and a bunch of security and science personnel have officially severed ties with the Illusive Man and have holed up on Arrae. Rescuing them adds to your War Assets: the science team helps the Crucible Project, while Jacob becomes an anti-Cerberus consultant for the Alliance}}.

* [[Defiant to the End]]:

** Emily Wong, dying of wounds inflicted while reporting on the Reapers, {{spoiler|rams her skyvan into one at high speeds}}.

** Rila, one of Samara's Ardat-Yakshi daughters, {{spoiler|realizes she is indoctrinated and manages to hold onto her own senses long enough to stare down a Banshee and blow them all to hell.}}

** Rila, one of Samara's Ardat-Yakshi daughters, {{spoiler|realizes she is indoctrinated and manages to hold onto her own senses long enough to stare down a Banshee and blow them all to hell}}.

* [[Degraded Boss]]: The Atlas mech is encountered as a boss during Priority: Sur'Kesh. They are encountered on later missions as normal enemies. This can be oddly reversed if the From Ashes DLC is downloaded (~~See~~ [[Sequence Breaking]]).

* [[Degraded Boss]]: The Atlas mech is encountered as a boss during Priority: Sur'Kesh. They are encountered on later missions as normal enemies. This can be oddly reversed if the ''From Ashes'' DLC is downloaded (see [[Sequence Breaking]] below).

* [[Demoted to Extra]]:

** Most of the ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' squad members fall here. Garrus and Tali are the only ones to return as full squad members and most only appear in optional, albeit somewhat long and involved, side missions, although a few ({{spoiler|Mordin and Legion; Miranda and Thane to some extent}}) play more significant roles.

** Harbinger. Remember how much of a [[Large Ham]] he was in the last game? Because he does not even have ''lines'' in this one.

* [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything]]: The plot accounts for the consequences of nearly everything Shepard has and has not done over the course of both prequels, including DLC content, and brings characters in and out of narrative based on whether you recruited them, helped them, left them to their own devices, or got them killed during the Suicide Mission. For vital plot quests, stand-ins will take the place of important characters that are missing. Even acknowledged bugs from the previous game have a place in the game's narrative: Conrad Verner may apologize for claiming that you pulled a gun on him even though you did not, as he was just under a lot of stress at the time.

* [[Diabolus Ex Machina]]: Literally. {{spoiler|Harbinger's unexpectedly accurate beam attack puts an end to the tentatively optimistic tone of the final battle.}}

* [[Diabolus Ex Machina]]: Literally. {{spoiler|Harbinger's unexpectedly accurate beam attack puts an end to the tentatively optimistic tone of the final battle}}.

* [[Died in Your Arms Tonight]]: {{spoiler|If Miranda succumbs to her wounds from Kai Leng she dies in Shepard's arms; if you were in a romance with her, they admit their love and kiss one last time just before she dies.}}

* [[Died in Your Arms Tonight]]: {{spoiler|If Miranda succumbs to her wounds from Kai Leng, she dies in Shepard's arms; if you were in a romance with her, they admit their love and kiss one last time just before she dies}}.

* [[Dies Wide Shut]]: {{spoiler|If Thane dies, he passes away like this, and Shepard mournfully closes his eyes. However, due to a bug, they stay open in the next shot}}.

* [[Disney Death]]:

** Provided you {{spoiler|earned Grunt's loyalty in the previous game}}, he can survive his charge into the enemy.

** Provided you had enough War Assets, during the climax {{spoiler|your squadmates vanish after Harbinger's attack during the run towards the Conduit. During the ending scene, they are inexplicably on the Normandy and unharmed. [http://youtu.be/r3PQT4c_r7Q A scene in which they get hit by the beam before Shepard] was cut in development.}}

** Provided you had enough War Assets, during the climax, {{spoiler|your squadmates vanish after Harbinger's attack during the run towards the Conduit. During the ending scene, they are inexplicably on the Normandy and unharmed. [http://youtu.be/r3PQT4c_r7Q A scene in which they get hit by the beam before Shepard] was cut in development}}.

* [[Disney Villain Death]]: {{spoiler|How Tali [[Driven to Suicide|commits suicide]], should you allow the geth to upgrade but fail to make peace between them and the quarians}}

* [[Disney Villain Death]]: {{spoiler|How Tali [[Driven to Suicide|commits suicide]], should you allow the geth to upgrade but fail to make peace between them and the quarians}}.

* [[Distant Finale]]: The post-credits cutscene takes place far enough in the future after the [[Final Battle]] that humanity regards the player character as ''The'' Shepard, implying that the events of the game have passed into legend.

* [[Do I Really Sound Like That?]]: The Shepard VI mentioned in the second game makes an appearance. Its dialogue options depend on whether the player character is primarily Paragon or Renegade. After going through all available sequences, the real Shepard questions if s/he really does sound like that.

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** The game opens with Shepard escaping from the destruction of Vancouver, Kaidan Alenko's hometown, and learning about the initial Reaper landings in London, where Anderson was born.

** On the mission on Palaven's moon, Garrus points out the largest of the orange splotches covering his home planet and mentions that his hometown was there.

** The ''Normandy'' never visits Armali, Liara's home on Thessia, {{spoiler|but the Thessia mission ends with the fall of the entire planet}}.

* [[Downer Beginning]]: With human outposts on Mars and Luna going dark, Reapers landing on Earth in the hundreds if not thousands and Shepard leaving Anderson behind and forced to flee from a now Reaper-occupied planet, it is hard to say this is anything but.

* [[Downer Ending]]: One of the endings. If you do really poorly, then {{spoiler|the Crucible misfires and wipes out all life in the galaxy.}}

* [[Downer Ending]]: One of the endings. If you do really poorly, then {{spoiler|the Crucible misfires and wipes out all life in the galaxy}}.

* [[Driven to Suicide]]:

** By repeatedly returning to the hospital and passing by a certain pair of asari, you can hear the story of a spec-ops soldier whose mission failed spectacularly, all because she took a shower and left her gun in her room. {{spoiler|She repeatedly asks for a gun through the whole conversation, which you can grant her on Spectre authority. She uses it to kill herself.}}

** By repeatedly returning to the hospital and passing by a certain pair of asari, you can hear the story of a spec-ops soldier whose mission failed spectacularly, all because she took a shower and left her gun in her room. {{spoiler|She repeatedly asks for a gun through the whole conversation, which you can grant her on Spectre authority. She uses it to kill herself}}.

** {{spoiler|Tali, if you side with the geth over the quarians, resulting in the genocide of the latter. Or if you fail to [[Take a Third Option]].}}

** {{spoiler|Tali, if you side with the geth over the quarians, resulting in the genocide of the latter. Or if you fail to [[Take a Third Option]]}}.

** {{spoiler|Samara tries to kill herself [[Honor Before Reason|so as not to be forced to kill her last daughter]], but can be prevented by a Paragon interrupt.}}

** {{spoiler|Samara tries to kill herself [[Honor Before Reason|so as not to be forced to kill her last daughter]], but can be prevented by a Paragon interrupt}}.

** {{spoiler|Rana Thanoptis, the asari scientist you spared on Virmire in ''[[Mass Effect 1]]''. It turns out that she did not get out in time to avoid being indoctrinated after all.}}

** {{spoiler|Rana Thanoptis, the asari scientist you spared on Virmire in ''[[Mass Effect 1]]''. It turns out that she did not get out in time to avoid being indoctrinated after all}}.

** {{spoiler|Gavin Archer, should you choose not to tell him the fate of his brother at Grissom Academy. Overcome with guilt over his actions back in the Overlord DLC, he will pull out a pistol and end his own life.}}

** {{spoiler|Gavin Archer, should you choose not to tell him the fate of his brother at Grissom Academy. Overcome with guilt over his actions back in the ''Overlord'' DLC, he will pull out a pistol and end his own life}}.

** {{spoiler|If Kelly Chambers survived Mass Effect 2, she will later confess to you that she sent communiques to the Illusive Man behind your back concerning all the things she had learned about you and your crew. If you snap at her for doing so, she will break down into ashamed tears, and you will hear about her killing herself by cyanide capsule.}}

** {{spoiler|If Kelly Chambers survived ''Mass Effect 2'', she will later confess to you that she sent communiques to the Illusive Man behind your back concerning all the things she had learned about you and your crew. If you snap at her for doing so, she will break down into ashamed tears, and you will hear about her killing herself by cyanide capsule}}.

** {{spoiler|The Illusive Man, if you Paragon sweet-talk him into figuring out he is indoctrinated. A nice callback to how you could get Saren to do the same in the first game.}}

** {{spoiler|The Illusive Man, if you Paragon sweet-talk him into figuring out he is indoctrinated. A nice callback to how you could get Saren to do the same in the first game}}.

* [[Dual-Wielding]]: Turians and human Sentinels [https://web.archive.org/web/20150112091812/http://gamerant.com/mass-effect-3-demo-hands-on-impression-tao-97364/ can] Dual Wield omni-blades!

* [[Dude, Not Funny]]: In-universe example: after {{spoiler|the fall of Thessia}}, Joker says that he bets the asari wish they had more commandos and fewer dancers. Shepard is not amused.

** On Sur'Kesh, a yahg prisoner escapes the salarian confinements and runs off. If Garrus and Liara are in your party, Garrus will crack a joke about the yahg hunting Liara down. She doesn't find it funny.

* [[Earth Is a Battlefield]]: Earth is one of the first targets of the Reapers, and they concentrate their efforts there, mostly because [[Humans Are Special]] and Shepard, a human, [[Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?|really pissed off the Reapers.]] However, the fighting is primarily done by resistance forces led by Admiral Anderson; Shepard spends very little time there.

* [[Earth Is a Battlefield]]: Earth is one of the first targets of the Reapers, and they concentrate their efforts there, mostly because [[Humans Are Special]] and Shepard, a human, [[Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?|really pissed off the Reapers]]. However, the fighting is primarily done by resistance forces led by Admiral Anderson; Shepard spends very little time there.

* [[Earthshattering Kaboom]]: {{spoiler|If you don't accrue enough War Assets, this can happen.}}

* [[Earthshattering Kaboom]]: {{spoiler|If you don't accrue enough War Assets, this can happen}}.

* [[Easter Egg]]: Bioware has said that there are secret Kinect voice commands that they leave for players to discover. For example, saying [[Evil Dead|"boomstick" switches to the shotgun]].

* [[Eating the Eye Candy]]: Should you {{spoiler|continue a relationship with Kaidan before the Cerberus Coup mission}}, Fem!Shep will grab an eye-full of Kaidan's butt as they both board the Normandy after you re-recruit him.

* [[Eating the Eye Candy]]: Should you {{spoiler|continue a relationship with Kaidan before the Cerberus Coup mission}}, Fem!Shep will grab an eye-full of Kaidan's butt as they both board the ''Normandy'' after you re-recruit him.

* [[Elevator Action Sequence]]: After Kai Leng and some Phantoms board an elevator, Shepard's team opens the opposite shaft and rides up after him. You have to disable Leng's elevator (and the one he takes after that) while fending off Cerberus troops. On the upside, take the power conduits out fast enough and you can send the opposition plummeting.

* [[Elite Mooks]]:

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** The multi-player centers around a team of player-controlled special forces operatives.

* [[Emergency Weapon]]: The omniblade function of the omnitool is explicitly stated in the Codex to be such for Alliance marines. The program was a firmware update that was pushed out as standard issue to Alliance omnitools to deal with the threat of multiple husks at close range. It uses the omnitool's minifacturing feature to quickly "forge" a single-use, [[Absurdly Sharp Blade|Absurdly Sharp]], diamond blade, suspended in a [[Minovsky Physics|mass effect field]] to compensate for the material's brittleness, and [[Power Glows|highlighted with holograms]] so the wielder can see the otherwise nearly transparent blade. The codex also states that more technically minded soldiers are known to make alterations to the default program, customizing the blade to their own ergonomics and fighting practices, or adding effects such as [[Elemental Powers|a sheath of explosive, poison, or super-cooled gas]] to the blade. This is reflected in game play by different classes having different visual effects for their omniblade.

* [[Empty Room Psych]]: Just because you are allowed to explore every room of the ''Normandy'' now (compared to ''2'' granting you access to areas as you recruited squadmates) does not mean they will all be filled. Life Support, notably, remains empty through the end of the game.

* [[Empty Room Psych]]: Just because you are allowed to explore every room of the ''Normandy'' now (compared to ''Mass Effect 2'' granting you access to areas as you recruited squadmates) does not mean they will all be filled. Life Support, notably, remains empty through the end of the game.

* [[Empty Shell]]: One of the conversations you can listen in on is an argument over whether a man who is essentially brain dead, but is being kept alive by a VI implanted in his head, is truly alive or not. {{spoiler|In the final assault on Cerberus, the same conversation can be had for '''''you'''''; Shepard discovers a video archive of his/her reconstruction by Cerberus, and can wonder if he/~~she~~ is not ''really'' Commander Shepard, but is just Shepard's body being driven around by a VI that Cerberus cooked up. Whichever party member is with you will vehemently disagree}}.

* [[Empty Shell]]: One of the conversations you can listen in on is an argument over whether a man who is essentially brain dead, but is being kept alive by a VI implanted in his head, is truly alive or not. {{spoiler|In the final assault on Cerberus, the same conversation can be had for '''''you'''''; Shepard discovers a video archive of his/her reconstruction by Cerberus, and can wonder if s/he is not ''really'' Commander Shepard, but is just Shepard's body being driven around by a VI that Cerberus cooked up. Whichever party member is with you will vehemently disagree}}.

* [[End of an Age]]: {{spoiler|The mass relays are wiped out in all endings, breaking the Reaper cycle but also ending any realistic notion of interstellar travel.}}

* [[End of an Age]]: {{spoiler|The mass relays are wiped out in all endings, breaking the Reaper cycle but also ending any realistic notion of interstellar travel}}.

* [[Enemy Chatter]]: The Cerberus troops give constant updates of their situation to each other. The Marauders (turians husks) also chatter in some kind of mechanical language that sometimes seems to contain barely understandable words like "destruction."

* [[Enemy Chatter]]: The Cerberus troops give constant updates of their situation to each other. The Marauders (turians husks) also chatter in some kind of mechanical language that sometimes seems to contain barely understandable words like "destruction".

* [[Enemy Mine]]: Basically many of the other alien species from the series who have had major issues with each other as well as humans attempt to put aside their differences to take down a common enemy. How well they manage get along however, depends on the choices made.

* [[Enemy Mine]]: Basically, many of the other alien species from the series who have had major issues with each other as well as humans attempt to put aside their differences to take down a common enemy. How well they manage get along, however, depends on the choices made.

{{quote|''I never thought I would say this to the human navy, but we need you.'' -''[[Fantastic Racism|Batarian]] Commander.''}}

{{quote|''I never thought I would say this to the human navy, but we need you.'' -''[[Fantastic Racism|Batarian]] Commander''.}}

** You can go so far as to convince ''Balak'', one of the most ardently anti-human batarians in the galaxy, to join Shepard's cause.

** Other significant points are when you get the krogans, turians, and salarians to work together to ''cure the genophage'', the krogans joining up with the turians to take back Palaven, and the geth and quarians making peace. Again, however, this all depends on how you play the game. It is entirely possible to miss all of this.

** Other significant points are when you get the krogans, turians and salarians to work together to ''cure the genophage'', the krogans joining up with the turians to take back Palaven, and the geth and quarians making peace. Again, however, this all depends on how you play the game. It is entirely possible to miss all of this.

* [[Escort Mission]]: Shepard and company have to pull this toward Eve and Mordin.

* [[Eternal Recurrence]]: Said by {{spoiler|the Catalyst}} regarding why the Reapers continually destroy organic life.

* [[Et Tu, Brute?]]: {{spoiler|Getting full salarian support requires betraying the krogan and sabotaging the genophage cure. This may also require killing your old buddies Wrex and Mordin. Mind you, Mordin can be persuaded to assist you, but only if Wrex and Eve are dead: without their moderating influence, he is not confident that the Krogan Rebellions will not happen again. Shepard also has the option to kill Mordin, Legion and the Virmire Survivor for different reasons.}}

* [[Et Tu, Brute?]]: {{spoiler|Getting full salarian support requires betraying the krogan and sabotaging the genophage cure. This may also require killing your old buddies Wrex and Mordin. Mind you, Mordin can be persuaded to assist you, but only if Wrex and Eve are dead: without their moderating influence, he is not confident that the Krogan Rebellions will not happen again. Shepard also has the option to kill Mordin, Legion and the Virmire Survivor for different reasons}}.

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: After {{spoiler|the attempted Cerberus coup on the Citadel}}, two smugglers forced off of Omega can be heard talking in Purgatory. Both of them are disgusted at how clean and nice the club is, but when the turian smuggler suggests they steal military medical supplies while they are stuck on the Citadel, the Human smuggler threatens to turn them ''both'' in if he does anything of the sort. She points out that Earth is dying and she is not going to try to make money off the Alliance ''now'', while they are fighting to save the human race.

* [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones]]: If you spared Morinth in the previous game, a terminal at the Ardat-Yakshi Monastery reveals that despite her hatred of Samara, Morinth still has a soft spot for her sisters Rila and Falere. {{spoiler|Unfortunately, by the time you get there Morinth is probably well on her way to becoming an indoctrinated slave of the Reapers.}}

* [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones]]: If you spared Morinth in the previous game, a terminal at the Ardat-Yakshi Monastery reveals that despite her hatred of Samara, Morinth still has a soft spot for her sisters Rila and Falere. {{spoiler|Unfortunately, by the time you get there, Morinth is probably well on her way to becoming an indoctrinated slave of the Reapers}}.

* [[Even Mooks Have Loved Ones]]: While raiding a Cerberus base for Reaper tech that they are studying, you can find two journals from "C. Talavi" as he records his experiences as he joins Cerberus; the first is full of excitement at finally being there, the second is sapped of all emotion after he has been [[Slave Mooks|integrated]]. Later, aboard the Citadel you can encounter a Private Talavi, serving in the Alliance, who is unhappy at being assigned to fight Cerberus instead of the Reapers because her younger brother has joined the organization.

* [[Even Mooks Have Loved Ones]]: While raiding a Cerberus base for Reaper tech that they are studying, you can find two journals from "C. Talavi" as he records his experiences as he joins Cerberus: the first is full of excitement at finally being there, the second is sapped of all emotion after he has been [[Slave Mooks|integrated]]. Later, aboard the Citadel, you can encounter a Private Talavi, serving in the Alliance, who is unhappy at being assigned to fight Cerberus instead of the Reapers because her younger brother has joined the organization.

* [[Everything's Better with Dinosaurs]]: One sidequest involves finding an alien dinosaur fossil. To give to the salarians. ''Which the salarians then clone. '''And the krogan then ride.''''' [[Missed Moment of Awesome|Of course, you never get to see this.]]

* [[Everything's Better with Dinosaurs]]: One sidequest involves finding an alien dinosaur fossil. To give to the salarians. ''Which the salarians then clone. '''And the krogan then ride.''''' [[Missed Moment of Awesome|Of course, you never get to see this]].

* [[The Extremist Was Right]]:

** The moment the first Reaper descends, the Committee collectively realize just why Shepard claims that causing the destruction of an entire star-system did nothing more than ''slow them down''.

** If you get enough war assets, you find out that {{spoiler|the Illusive Man}} was right, and it is possible to {{spoiler|control the reaper, although it was not possible for ''him'' to do it.}}

** If you get enough war assets, you find out that {{spoiler|the Illusive Man}} was right, and it is possible to {{spoiler|control the reaper, although it was not possible for ''him'' to do it}}.

* [[The Faceless]]: All human player characters in multi-player wear helmets that completely conceal their face.

* [[Faceless Goons]]: All the Cerberus troops conceal not only their face, but their entire body from head to toes in armor. {{spoiler|This hides that the experiments done on them have given them a husk-like appearance.}}

* [[Faceless Goons]]: All the Cerberus troops conceal not only their face, but their entire body from head to toes in armor. {{spoiler|This hides that the experiments done on them have given them a husk-like appearance}}.

* [[Fan Disservice]]: Banshees. Never has a naked asari been less appealing.

* [[Fantastic Racism]]:

** EDI observes that the majority of batarian refugees fleeing into Citadel space are a lot less intolerant of humans than they were before. She speculates that with the collapse of their government and its [[Big Brother Is Watching|totalitarian rule]] they no longer feel as compelled to tow the party line set out by their [[Fantastic Caste System|ruling caste]] that they should hate humans.

** EDI observes that the majority of batarian refugees fleeing into Citadel space are a lot less intolerant of humans than they were before. She speculates that with the collapse of their government and its [[Big Brother Is Watching|totalitarian rule]], they no longer feel as compelled to tow the party line set out by their [[Fantastic Caste System|ruling caste]] that they should hate humans.

** Javik, though he can come around a bit. In the days of the Prothean Empire most of the races now ruling the galaxy were in the most nascent stages of sentience and were thus "primitive" when compared to the technologically and biologically advanced Protheans.

** A subtle one on the Citadel. After {{spoiler|Menae}}, you can overhear the asari minding the Citadel Gift Shop on the Presidium Commons telling a customer that all sales proceeds go to helping the turian war effort. The customer asks her if her husband is turian, but the asari (Ereba) says the her husband is actually krogan. The customer then says, lightheartedly, that she hopes he knows who is the enemy, to which Ereba is shocked almost speechless.

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** [[The Hero]]: [[Player Character|Commander Shepard]], as usual.

** [[The Lancer]]: Kaidan/Ashley and Garrus.

** [[The Big Guy]]: James Vega

** [[The Big Guy]]: James Vega.

** [[The Smart Guy]]: EDI, as the ship's onboard AI {{spoiler|and later android lady squadmate}}, and Tali, as the ship's Engineer and tech expert.

** [[The Chick]]: Liara, who is the most visibly affected by the war, particularly after {{spoiler|Thessia}}, though, as the Shadow Broker, she also has shades of [[The Smart Guy]].

** [[The Chick]]: Liara, who is the most visibly affected by the war, particularly after {{spoiler|Thessia}} though, as the Shadow Broker, she also has shades of [[The Smart Guy]].

** [[Sixth Ranger|The Sixth Ranger]]: {{spoiler|Javik}}, the only squadmate who is not returning from a previous game or with you from the start of ''3''.

** [[Sixth Ranger|The Sixth Ranger]]: {{spoiler|Javik}}, the only squadmate who is not returning from a previous game or with you from the start of ''Mass Effect 3''.

* [[Flaming Sword]]: The engineer's version of the omniblade is on fire.

* [[Flanderization]]: In-Universe example, the Shephard VI that Mouse made in the previous game is now available for interactions. However, since the VI is so simplistic it takes the basic personality of Paragon!Shep or Renegade!Shep and blows them way out of proportion. The VI "brags" that it can predict what the actual Shepard would say with 7% accuracy. Shepard even lampshades it him/herself by complaining about how "I don't really sound like that...do I?"

* [[Flanderization]]: In-Universe example, the Shephard VI that Mouse made in the previous game is now available for interactions. However, since the VI is so simplistic, it takes the basic personality of Paragon!Shep or Renegade!Shep and blows them way out of proportion. The VI "brags" that it can predict what the actual Shepard would say with 7% accuracy. Shepard even lampshades it him/herself by complaining about how "I don't really sound like that... do I?".

* [[Flash Step]]:

** What asari characters do, instead of rolling in Multiplayer, at the cost of [[Cast from Hit Points|draining some energy from their barriers]].

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* [[Flaunting Your Fleets]]: The "Fleets Arrive" sequence includes all of the amassed fleets you've acquired jumping into the Sol System in succession, along with Joker and several galactic representatives reporting their fleets as ready.

* [[Fling a Light Into the Future]]:

** Designs for the Crucible, an incomplete and impossibly advanced anti-Reaper superweapon, are left by the Protheans for the species of the next cycle to use. {{spoiler|We later learn that the Crucible is only partly of Prothean design. It originated many, ''many'' cycles in the distant past, and was passed down through time from one cycle to next, each adding their own improvements, with the hope that someone in a future cycle would be able to iron out all the details and build it.}}

** Designs for the Crucible, an incomplete and impossibly advanced anti-Reaper superweapon, are left by the Protheans for the species of the next cycle to use. {{spoiler|We later learn that the Crucible is only partly of Prothean design. It originated many, ''many'' cycles in the distant past, and was passed down through time from one cycle to next, each adding their own improvements, with the hope that someone in a future cycle would be able to iron out all the details and build it}}.

** In a direct [[Call Back]] to the first game, Liara made plans for very detailed instructions on who the Reapers are and how to fight them them so various time capsules can be put in place in the event they do not win and any future species are able to recover the vital information.

** Javik, the Prothean Avatar of Vengeance, was to wait out the extinction of the Prothean Empire with one million other Protheans in stasis pods hidden on Eden Prime, intending to awake once the Reapers had returned to dark space, then uplifting and conscripting the primitive races (Humanity and contemporaries) to re-arm for the next cycle's end. Unfortunately, Reaper assaults on the bunker damaged their sensor equipment and the VI managing the stasis pods felt that it was too dangerous to wake the pods without being sure that the Reapers had left, so it decided to keep all pods active until a new species discovered them. As time progressed and power began to run out, the VI deactivated the pods one by one until only Javik was left alive to be woken by Shepard.

* [[Flunky Boss]]: Kai Leng. In the first fight, he is backed up by a single gunship, and in the second he is helped by Assault Troopers.

* [[Foe-Tossing Charge]] / [[Punched Across the Room]]: Krogans in multiplayer can do this as their 'heavy' attack and will cue [[Oh Crap]] reactions from foes who see them coming.

* [[Foe-Tossing Charge]]/[[Punched Across the Room]]: Krogans in multiplayer can do this as their 'heavy' attack and will cue [[Oh Crap]] reactions from foes who see them coming.

* [[Foreshadowing]]: In Shepard's dreams, the dream always ends with the boy burning, but the final dream ends with {{spoiler|Shepard seeing him/herself burning alongside with the boy. The Catalyst takes the form of that boy during the ending, all of which feature Shepard burning along with it.}}

* [[Foreshadowing]]: In Shepard's dreams, the dream always ends with the boy burning, but the final dream ends with {{spoiler|Shepard seeing him/herself burning alongside with the boy. The Catalyst takes the form of that boy during the ending, all of which feature Shepard burning along with it}}.

* [[A Form You Are Comfortable With]]:

** When Shepard {{spoiler|enters the geth consensus, Legion turns the Reaper code removal device into a gun since, as Legion puts it, "we wish to provide familiarity."}} Shepard takes it as a left-handed compliment.

** {{spoiler|The Catalyst appears as the boy from Shepard's dreams.}}

** {{spoiler|The Catalyst appears as the boy from Shepard's dreams}}.

* [[For Science!]]: Dr. Brynn Cole, a defecting Cerberus scientist, explains that "science must never bow to tyranny." One of the reasons she and other Cerberus scientists left the organization, apart from [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|the Illusive Man's aggresive contract terminations]], was because they wanted to pursue their research as they saw fit.

* [[Fossil Revival]]: One mission has requires searching for fossils to resurrect a once dead dinosaur species called the Kakliosaur. Shepard even says he found the fossil encased in amber.