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'''VideoGame/MassEffect1:''' [[Characters/MassEffectCommanderShepard Commander Shepard]] | '''Party Members''' ([[Characters/MassEffectKaidanAlenko Kaidan Alenko]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAshleyWilliams Ashley Williams]] | [[Characters/MassEffectGarrusVakarian Garrus Vakarian]] | [[Characters/MassEffectLiaraTSoni Liara T'Soni]] | [[Characters/MassEffectTaliZorah Tali'Zorah]] | [[Characters/MassEffectUrdnotWrex Urdnot Wrex]]) | [[Characters/MassEffect1Antagonists Antagonists]] | [[Characters/MassEffect1Npcs NPCs]]\\
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'''VideoGame/MassEffect1:''' [[Characters/MassEffectCommanderShepard Commander Shepard]] | '''Party Members''' ([[Characters/MassEffectKaidanAlenko Kaidan Alenko]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAshleyWilliams Ashley Williams]] | [[Characters/MassEffectGarrusVakarian ([[Characters/MassEffectGarrusVakarian Garrus Vakarian]] | [[Characters/MassEffectLiaraTSoni Liara T'Soni]] | [[Characters/MassEffectTaliZorah Tali'Zorah]] | [[Characters/MassEffectUrdnotWrex Urdnot Wrex]]) Tali'Zorah]]) | [[Characters/MassEffect1Antagonists Antagonists]] | [[Characters/MassEffect1Npcs NPCs]]\\
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[[caption-width-right:200:[[TemptingFate With a name like that, surely he'll be around forever. Right?]]]]
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* '''[[Characters/MassEffectKaidanAlenko Kaidan Alenko]]'''
* '''[[Characters/MassEffectAshleyWilliams Ashley Williams]]'''
* '''[[Characters/MassEffectAshleyWilliams Ashley Williams]]'''
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* '''[[Characters/MassEffectLiaraTSoni Liara T'Soni]]'''
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* '''[[Characters/MassEffectUrdnotWrex Urdnot Wrex]]'''
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!Guest Party Members
[[folder:Richard L. Jenkins]]
!Corporal Richard L. Jenkins
[[quoteright:355:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/richard_l_jenkins_28020482_normal.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:[[TemptingFate With a name like that, surely he'll be around forever. Right?]]]]
-->''"We've got a Spectre on board! That's why I'm so wound up - I can't wait for the real mission to start."''
-->'''Voiced by''': Josh Dean
An over-enthusiastic Alliance soldier from Eden Prime, he is assigned as part of your squad when everything goes to hell there. Continuing in the long Bioware tradition of early sacrificial party members, he dies in the opening few minutes.
[[folder:Richard L. Jenkins]]
!Corporal Richard L. Jenkins
[[quoteright:355:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/richard_l_jenkins_28020482_normal.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:[[TemptingFate With a name like that, surely he'll be around forever. Right?]]]]
-->''"We've got a Spectre on board! That's why I'm so wound up - I can't wait for the real mission to start."''
-->'''Voiced by''': Josh Dean
An over-enthusiastic Alliance soldier from Eden Prime, he is assigned as part of your squad when everything goes to hell there. Continuing in the long Bioware tradition of early sacrificial party members, he dies in the opening few minutes.
to:
[[folder:Richard L. Jenkins]]
!Corporal Richard L. Jenkins
[[quoteright:355:https://static.
[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.
[[caption-width-right:200:[[TemptingFate With
[[caption-width-right:330:Mom was right. I should have brought a
-->''"We've got a Spectre on board! That's why I'm so wound up - I can't wait for
-->''"We finally get out here and the
-->'''Voiced
An over-enthusiastic
A human biotic Sentinel Marine in the Systems Alliance
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* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: He says he's itching for some action just before the Eden Prime mission. Too bad "action" in his case meant watching his homeworld get scorched and being gunned down by a pair of geth recon drones.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite his boundless enthusiasm and naïveté, various characters imply Jenkins was a very competent soldier.
* DecoyProtagonist: He's a placeholder for Ash, who joins about a minute or two after his death.
* DoomedHometown: Eden Prime is this for him. Pity he dies too soon for it to become a plot point. And it's not entirely doomed anyway; there's a DLC mission there in the third game.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: Averted. The ''Normandy'' crew is very upset about his death, and often recall him later in the franchise.
** In ''2'', Dr. Chakwas reminisces about him over drinks with Shepard.
** One interpretation of when Shepard later encounters a young over-enthusiastic mercenary (who is also voiced by Josh Dean) on Omega, the reason they stopped dead in their tracks, turned slowly around and, if taking the Paragon interrupt, broke the kid's gun and ordered them home, was because he reminded them too much of Jenkins.
** His name is on the memorial wall in the ''Normandy'' in ''Mass Effect 3'', and he will be mentioned if Kaidan, James, or EDI is brought to the Eden Prime mission.
** In private moments, Shepard is shown to [[TheChainsOfCommanding give themself grief over Jenkins' death since it was their orders that caused him to run into the ambush]].
* FunPersonified: According to Chakwas. One of her stories involves him pestering Kaidan for a biotic demonstration, only for Kaidan to accidentally throw him so hard across the room, she thought he was seriously injured. Jenkins then leapt up, gleefully exclaiming:
--> '''Jenkins''': That was ''awesome''!
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: If you're on a NewGamePlus, he'll be level 50+ and still die to a few bullets after having been ordered to take point.
* GuestStarPartyMember: Despite being with you for at most a minute or two and dying right before the first fight, he is a fully functional squad member that can be issued orders and even has some skill points for you to assign despite never having an opportunity to use any abilities.
* HeroWorshipper: To Shepard. This is rarely a good sign for a character's mortality rate this early in the story.
* InformedAbility: He's apparently a badass soldier of the Alliance, but he is shot dead in the first half hour of the game and never gets to display it. Then again, it was a surprise attack, and even his replacement barely survived one while losing her entire squad to them.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: If Shepard has a Survivor or Ruthless background, Jenkins can gush about what they've done is worth him being a Spectre candidate, to which Shepard can state that it's a past that brings them bad memories.
* LeeroyJenkins: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], actually, [[MeaningfulName despite the name.]] He's very eager to go out there and see action, but still follows Shepard's orders to the letter and takes point. In the end it still doesn't do him much good; some geth drones ambush the squad and Jenkins gets gunned down before the rest know what's happening.
* MeaningfulName: Downplayed. He's named after LeeroyJenkins, and while he doesn't take it to the level of insubordination, he is rather reckless and eager.
* NaiveNewcomer: Definitely had an incredibly idealistic outlook on the Spectres, and the heroism of Shepard themself.
* SacrificialLamb: He dies just before the player's first battle.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: He got one conversation and a couple of lines. For a [=BioWare=] squad member, that's waving hello in passing.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite his boundless enthusiasm and naïveté, various characters imply Jenkins was a very competent soldier.
* DecoyProtagonist: He's a placeholder for Ash, who joins about a minute or two after his death.
* DoomedHometown: Eden Prime is this for him. Pity he dies too soon for it to become a plot point. And it's not entirely doomed anyway; there's a DLC mission there in the third game.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: Averted. The ''Normandy'' crew is very upset about his death, and often recall him later in the franchise.
** In ''2'', Dr. Chakwas reminisces about him over drinks with Shepard.
** One interpretation of when Shepard later encounters a young over-enthusiastic mercenary (who is also voiced by Josh Dean) on Omega, the reason they stopped dead in their tracks, turned slowly around and, if taking the Paragon interrupt, broke the kid's gun and ordered them home, was because he reminded them too much of Jenkins.
** His name is on the memorial wall in the ''Normandy'' in ''Mass Effect 3'', and he will be mentioned if Kaidan, James, or EDI is brought to the Eden Prime mission.
** In private moments, Shepard is shown to [[TheChainsOfCommanding give themself grief over Jenkins' death since it was their orders that caused him to run into the ambush]].
* FunPersonified: According to Chakwas. One of her stories involves him pestering Kaidan for a biotic demonstration, only for Kaidan to accidentally throw him so hard across the room, she thought he was seriously injured. Jenkins then leapt up, gleefully exclaiming:
--> '''Jenkins''': That was ''awesome''!
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: If you're on a NewGamePlus, he'll be level 50+ and still die to a few bullets after having been ordered to take point.
* GuestStarPartyMember: Despite being with you for at most a minute or two and dying right before the first fight, he is a fully functional squad member that can be issued orders and even has some skill points for you to assign despite never having an opportunity to use any abilities.
* HeroWorshipper: To Shepard. This is rarely a good sign for a character's mortality rate this early in the story.
* InformedAbility: He's apparently a badass soldier of the Alliance, but he is shot dead in the first half hour of the game and never gets to display it. Then again, it was a surprise attack, and even his replacement barely survived one while losing her entire squad to them.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: If Shepard has a Survivor or Ruthless background, Jenkins can gush about what they've done is worth him being a Spectre candidate, to which Shepard can state that it's a past that brings them bad memories.
* LeeroyJenkins: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], actually, [[MeaningfulName despite the name.]] He's very eager to go out there and see action, but still follows Shepard's orders to the letter and takes point. In the end it still doesn't do him much good; some geth drones ambush the squad and Jenkins gets gunned down before the rest know what's happening.
* MeaningfulName: Downplayed. He's named after LeeroyJenkins, and while he doesn't take it to the level of insubordination, he is rather reckless and eager.
* NaiveNewcomer: Definitely had an incredibly idealistic outlook on the Spectres, and the heroism of Shepard themself.
* SacrificialLamb: He dies just before the player's first battle.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: He got one conversation and a couple of lines. For a [=BioWare=] squad member, that's waving hello in passing.
to:
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: He says he's itching for some action just before AfraidOfTheirOwnStrength: Kaidan has struggled with this ever since he accidentally killed a DrillSergeantNasty [[AssholeVictim in self-defense]] and terrified the girl he was trying to protect to begin with. Kaidan has held back his powers ever since out of fear of hurting someone like that again, which is why, despite being one of the strongest human biotics on record, he turned down the Alliance's offer to train him as an Adept in favor of becoming a Sentinel instead. Eden Prime mission. Too bad "action" in makes Kaidan realize that he can't afford to hold back anymore.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Dialogues imply that he harbors feelings for Shepard (irrespective of gender) since the first game, but never acts on it because he is mindful of the hierarchy and because he believes that Shepard's MarriedToTheJob. Obviously averted if Shepard choose to romance him, but played straight if they romance anyone but him.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Kaidan rarely talks about it, but it is implied that people frequently give him a wide berth due to hiscase meant watching biotics, and he is acutely aware of the fact that human biotics are still considered freaks by most. The outdated implants don't help matters.
* AmicableExes: If he and Shepard had something going in ''1'' and don't get back together in ''3'', he takes it significantly better than Ashley and still gets along well with the commander.
* AngerBornOfWorry: If he's romanced and taken to the final mission of ''Leviathan'', he's not happy about Shepard almost getting themself killed.
-->'''Kaidan:''' Never do that again.
* AnimalWrongsGroup: One of hishomeworld get scorched strategies for distracting the guards at the Silver Coast Casino is to claim to belong to one of these.
-->'''Kaidan:''' I'm with the "Varren Anti-Cruelty Association", andbeing gunned down by a pair of geth recon drones.
I cannot ''believe'' what I'm seeing up here!
*BunnyEarsLawyer: ArmorIsUseless: [[spoiler: If Shepard is forced to shoot him, they only shoot him once with the Predator, the weakest pistol in the game. Despite his boundless enthusiasm wearing heavy armor, having kinetic barriers that have withstood dozens of bullets in cutscenes, a personal ability that makes said kinetic barriers even stronger, and naïveté, various characters imply Jenkins was a very competent soldier.
* DecoyProtagonist: He's a placeholder for Ash, who joins about a minute or two after his death.
* DoomedHometown: Eden Prime is this for him. Pityhaving medigel on hand just in case he gets shot, the bullet goes right through him and he dies too soon a few minutes after]].
* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: During the first act of the third game, [[spoiler:he's made a Spectre]]. He also technically ''outranks'' Shepard after getting promoted to Staff Commander in the second game and then Major in the third [[spoiler: provided he lives that long]].
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Kaidan is prone to the occasional non-sequitur and odd, childlike observation.
* BadassBookworm: He is a skilled technician and field medic, which are his official roles in the Alliance. Considering real-world standards for military officers, Kaidan likely has at least one advanced degree.
* BarrierWarrior: In the third game, Kaidan takes this a step above standard biotics. His Barrier power reduces damage until he chooses to dispel it, and Reave temporarily reduces damage anytime itto become hits an organic enemy. Together, they make Kaidan nearly invincible.
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Most of his ''Mass Effect 3'' outfits have aplot point. And it's not entirely doomed anyway; there's a helmet for vacuum conditions, except his From Ashes DLC mission there Palette Swap. The eyepiece apparently overrides it.
* BattleCouple: With Shepard in the first and third games if romanced.
* BeautifulDreamer: Implied if he's romanced in the third game.
-->'''Kaidan:''' You, uh, left without waking me.\\
'''Shepard:''' I didn't have the heart.
*ForgottenFallenFriend: Averted. BeehiveBarrier: Reave gives him a temporary one when used on an organic enemy.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Shepard on Horizon in [=ME2=] and Mars in [=ME3=]. Shepard's sex and relationship with Kaidan is irrelevant.
* BerserkButton: Politicians claiming to "support the troops" while using that to further their own cause, as shown if brought along to the meeting with the Terra Firma protestors.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: For such a soft-spoken, easy-going, and nice guy, he can break your neck with a single powerful biotic blast, and is adept at making your weapons blow up in your face. The''Normandy'' crew whole reason he is very upset so self-controlled is because he knows how easily he could kill someone and doesn't want to.
* BizarreBabyBoom: Was one of the first human biotics after his mother was caught downwind of a transport crash in Singapore, exposing him to Element-Zero ''in-utero''. He's reasonably confident that his specific case ''was'' genuinely accidental, but given the influence that [[EvilInc Conatix]] had after human biotics began emerging and their questionable activities at [=BAaT=], he's highly suspicious about subsequent similar "accidents".
-->"No one "knows". Doesn't mean they didn't happen. As big as the exposures were, it was hard to track down accidentals. [...] [[CouldSayItBut I'm not saying they intentionally detonated drives over our outposts]], but in retrospect, they were ''damn'' quick on the scene."
* BleedEmAndWeep: The defining moment of hisdeath, backstory was when a turian DrillSergeantNasty [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beat the crap out of him]] and often recall tried to kill him later with a knife [[DisproportionateRetribution for trying to stand up for his girlfriend after the same turian broke her arm]], causing Kaidan to lash out and snap his neck. Having never killed anyone before, Kaidan was horrified that someone died because he couldn't control himself, [[AssholeVictim even if it was in self-defense]]. He now keeps a tight lid on his biotics to avoid any repeats of that situation.
* BlessedWithSuck: His L2 implants give him more oomph than the average biotic running the stabler and safer L3s, but he has to deal with frequent migraines. And he's one of the luckier ones in terms of side effects. Some of the other party members, such as Wrex and Garrus, argue that the power is worth the side effects.
--> '''Wrex:''' You don't stop using a gun just because the kickback has a little sting.
* BlueIsCalm: Kaidan's default outfit in ''3'' is blue and white, and he is consistently one of Shepard's more level-headed companions.
* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: To learn how to use his biotics he was sent to one to undergo TrainingFromHell. It started with the corporation that funded it hiring an ''extremely'' racist turian mercenary to train them, who took an immediate dislike to Kaidan politely pointing out his family hadn't fought in thefranchise.
First Contact War, and ended with Kaidan breaking the jerk's neck in self-defense, which led to the entire thing being shut down and almost causing an interspecies incident.
* BreakTheCutie: Kaidan had a very idealistic view of the world in the first game, but he gets a lot darker in the following two.
* BringIt: After Sanctuary, Kaidan will be seething with utter rage.
-->'''Kaidan:''' ''(TranquilFury)'' Can you feel it, Shepard? Feel the quickening? Illusive Man better say his prayers tonight, because we're coming for him. Murderous asshole. Oh yeah. Tide is turning. ''I can feel it.''
* CelibateHero: If unromanced in ''1'', in ''3'' Kaidan will note that Shepard must have noticed he never dated ''anyone'' in all the time they knew him.
* CharacterDevelopment:
** In the first game, he takes a bit of convincing to loosen up and let himself go more often. Come the third, he has to convince ''you'' to take a "sanity check" with him on the Citadel.
** He completely writes off Cerberus as a terrorist organization in ''2'', seeing Shepard working with them as a betrayal. In ''3'', after the mission with ex-Cerberus scientist Dr. Cole, he asks Shepard if the people in Cerberus were good people and wonders if the Illusive Man was once a good person before he became who he is now.
* CharacterTics: In the first game, is often seen holding the side of his head on elevator rides, from his implant migraines. Depending on what dialogue is playing, it can resemble a FacePalm.
* CommandingCoolness: He's reached the rank of Staff Commander in ''2''.
* ConsummateProfessional: Definitely.
** In the first game, Shepard has to repeatedly tell Kaidan to disregard their rank and speak freely, after he admits to being a little uneasy with the idea of befriending a superior officer.
** Noticeably, whenever he's speaking to those of a lower or similar rank, such as Ashley and Joker, he's far more casual and informal. Dr. Chakwasreminisces about him over drinks also mentions he had an OddFriendship with Shepard.
** One interpretation of when Shepard later encounters a young over-enthusiastic mercenary (who is also voiced by Josh Dean) on Omega, the reason they stopped dead in their tracks, turned slowly around and, if taking the Paragon interrupt, broke the kid's gun and ordered them home, was because he reminded them too much ofJenkins.
** His name is on * CovertPervert: He's surprisingly knowledgeable about extranet fetish sites, approves of [[spoiler:EDI's new body]] once the memorial wall shock wears off, doesn't think he would survive an encounter with an [[OutWithABang Ardat-Yakshi]], is noted to be working very hard not to stare at Diana Allers, and implies that he was checking out Jacob during the mission on Gellix.
* CrocodileTears: Shows an unexpected talent for this if he helps infiltrate the casino in ''[[{{DLC}} Citadel]]''.
-->'''Kaidan:''' I've lost a lot of money. Who can I talk to about getting it back?\\
'''Guard:''' I'm sorry, sir, you can't... get it back... No, no, please, sir, please don't cry.
* DangerousSixteenthBirthday: Kaidan was sixteen when he received his [[FlawedPrototype L2 implants]].
* DeadpanSnarker: Not as obvious as the others tend to be, but he has his moments.
--> (''after Shepard is asked for a favor in a dangerous situation'') That's very comforting. Certain death for some, fine for us.
* DefensiveWhat: When he has his most notable CovertPervert moment.
-->'''Lorik Qui'in:''' An asari in a pinstripe suit set tongues wagging among the younger male employees. So to speak.\\
'''Kaidan:''' It does sound like something that you'd find on an extranet fetish site... (''{{beat}}'') What?
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first thing he says is him defending Nihlus against Joker saying he hates him solely for being a Spectre (and not being massively impressed with Joker's piloting abilities), proving that not only is he level-headed but also willing to stand up for those he feels are being mistreated.
* EyeColorChange: Normally brown, but in [=ME3=] they turn blue when he uses his biotics[[note]]Briefly when he uses Reave. Indefinitely when he uses Barrier[[/note]].
* FanDisservice: In ''Mass Effect 3'' you get to see plenty of [[ShirtlessScene shirtless Kaidan]]--[[spoiler:while he's lying in a hospital bed, with his face beaten in and bruised. Sure, he gets better in subsequent trips to the Citadel hospital.]]
* FantasticRacism: He can become this if persuaded by a renegade female Shepard who is in a romance with him. He'll go from saying aliens are saints and jerks like the rest of humanity to calling them damn aliens by the end. This is completely ignored in the next two games. He hates the geth with a passion, being very happy if you let the quarians destroy them. Justified in that, after everything he went through against them, having a personal grudge would be understandable. [[spoiler:If the quarians are destroyed instead of the geth and Tali commits suicide, Kaidan will not only blame them for it but admit he still blames them for Ashley's death on Virmire - and that even if Shepard can forgive them for it, Kaidan never will. This trope is subverted however, if peace has been brokered between the two races, which he shows approval and amazement.]]
-->'''Kaidan:''' Finally, we're rid of the geth once and for all. ''(suddenly [[TranquilFury quiet]])'' Those murdering machines... I can't help draw the parallel. Know what I mean? Yeah, let's just hope the geth don't have the rachni's playbook.[[note]]In other words, "let's hope the geth don't have a way to return after being eradicated".[[/note]]
* FemaleGaze: A romanced Shepard takes a good, long look at his rear as they return to the ''Normandy'' in ''3''. This took no time at all to go memetic. [[http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa335/VivaciousDeimos/tumblr_m0fi5zwTfN1r4nc13.gif A random female NPC]] can also be seen checking him out in the intro.
* FirstGuyWins: If romanced. For Female Shepard, she can start romancing him in the first game and carry it to the end of the third. For Male Shepard, he can stay celibate for the first two games and then jump at the chance to be with Kaidan in the third.
* FlawedPrototype: Kaidan's biotic amplifier implants are L2, a model series that was made before humanity really knew what it was doing when it came to biotics. He suffers migraines... and he's one of the lucky [=L2s=]. He decides not to get retrofitted with [=L3s=], because the [=L2s=] let his powers spike higher, the surgery that would be required has a high risk of complications, and he has a deep distrust of any [[EvilInc Conatix]] offshoots.
* ForgotAboutHisPowers: In the second and third games in order to make sure his story arc matches Ashley's, such as on Horizon when he doesn't think to use a biotic barrier to keep the seeker swarms away, or on Mars when he tries to shoot Eva Core instead of sending her flying.
* FreudianExcuse: [[DefiedTrope Defied]]. Out of all of Shepard's human squadmates, Kaidan has the most [[TrainingFromHell justifiable reason]] to struggle with FantasticRacism, especially against turians. But if suggested that this is the case, Kaidan is not amused and pointedly refuses to use his past like that, because of how [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocritical]] it would be for a human to do so.
-->'''Kaidan:''' If one ass was enough to judge a whole race, [[HumansAreBastards I'd hate humans too]].
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. After Kaidan reveals his full backstory at [=BAaT=], Paragon Shepard is clearly gearing up for a speech about how not all turians are like Vyrnus and Kaidan shouldn't judge all aliens by his example, only for Kaidan to cut it short by revealing that he has already figured that out for himself before pointing out the inherent hypocrisy of judging other races by one bad example while not doing the same to his own.
* GayOption: In the third game.
* GonnaNeedMoreX: After Virmire, Shepard can try to comfort Kaidan by reminding him that humanity gave the turians a boot in the ass despite how much longer the turians had been around. Kaidan dryly remarks that, for the Reapers, they're going to need a bigger boot. [[GodzillaThreshold How right he was]]...
* GoodCopBadCop: He implies in ''Citadel'' that he prefers playing good cop.
* {{Handgun}}: One of his weapon types in the third game, along with assault rifles. In the first game, he was just slightly less terrible with handguns as he was with every other gun due to small bonuses on his passive class skill.
* HandicappedBadass: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. The severe migraines and painful static shocks he gets because of his implants don't slow him down any.
* HealerSignsOnEarly: He is conveniently the first squadmate Shepard gets in the first game and the closest thing the party has to a dedicated healer.
* HeartbrokenBadass: Shepard's death messed him up pretty bad. When the Illusive Man tricked him into thinking his grief was all for nothing, Kaidan was livid. [[spoiler:He gets better in ''3'' though, but only if you talk to him]].
* HiddenDepths: Kaidan initially appears to be just a quiet NiceGuy. Further examination reveals that he is very introspective about his and humanity's place in the galaxy, and he's so reserved because he's terrified of hurting someone if he loses control.
* ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe: The in-universe explanation for why Kaidan wasn't a GayOption in the first game is because he didn't think Shepard would, or [[IncompatibleOrientation could]], feel the same way. Gender flipped if he didn't romance anyone in the first two games and female Shepard finally propositions him.
* AnIcePerson: Uses Cryo Blast, and the only character in ''3'' who can use it other than Shepard.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Kaidan occasionally implies that, deep down, he wishes he weren't a biotic. He's largely made his peace with it by the time the series starts, with the implication that he would be a red sand addict otherwise.
* IncompletelyTrained: By choice and the reason he's a Sentinel instead of an Adept. He got [=BAaT=] shut down before they could finish training any of the students and had enough residual trauma to turn down the Alliance's offer to finish his training in [=BAaT's=] place. He chose to train as a technician and medic instead.
* InformedDeformity: According to Thane, he has scarring that clearly identifies him as a biotic, but even with all the times Kaidan has had his clothes off, those scars are never seen. Then again, [[AwesomeByAnalysis Thane's observational and memetic prowess is much higher than a human's]], so it might not be readily obvious to others.
* IRegretNothing: [[spoiler:His last words if he dies on Virmire.]]
* ItHasBeenAnHonor:
** [[spoiler:His goodbye if Shepard chooses to save Ashley instead of him on Virmire]].
** [[spoiler:If someone other than Shepard shoots Kaidan, Kaidan will be more forgiving.]]
--->'''Shepard:''' Kaidan, why wouldn't you just stand down?\\
'''Kaidan:''' Man... couldn't defend himself. Shepard... I... ''(dies)''\\
'''Shepard:''' ''(sadly)'' It has been an honor.
* JackOfAllStats: In ''Mass Effect 3''. Decent weapon damage, high biotic and tech power (and the only character aside from Shepard who can use both), extremely tough, and an unparalleled ability to contribute to the expanded power combo system.
* JerkassHasAPoint: As harsh as he was about it, Kaidan was correct that the Illusive Man was using Shepard's gratitude about the [[BackFromTheDead Lazarus Project]] to manipulate Shepard, that he was blatantly feeding Shepard false information, ''and'' that he lured the Collectors to attack Horizon (TIM defends this as [[DirtyBusiness necessary]] though). The Illusive Man throws off all pretenses when Shepard decides to destroy the Collector Base, and he was using Shepard for more than just fighting the Collectors, with utterly horrifying results. The jerkass part was born from Kaidan being [[LockedOutOfTheLoop left in the dark on several essential details]], since Liara didn't tell him about the events of ''Redemption'' and their other squadmates from the first game believe Shepard without a word because they weren't seeing the information about Shepard that the Illusive Man was intentionally leaking. [[spoiler:However, he does actually backtrack on this a bit when talking to Shepard in the hospital in ''Mass Effect 3'',and feeling in hindsight that he was actually harsher than necessary since he didn't know all the details. This is also one of the few times he significantly differs from Ashley in conversation, as the latter never really seems to doubt her reaction on Horizon wasn't justified, in order to keep consistency over their [[RedOniBlueOni respective personalities.]]]]
* JustFriends: Regardless of their history from the first two games or Shepard's gender, Kaidan willbe mentioned if Kaidan, James, confess his love for them in [=ME3=]. Shepard can either reciprocate or EDI is brought to invoke this trope. Also applies [[{{Revision}} Retroactively]] with male Shepard in the first two games, as before the third game he was only romanceable if you were female. Kaidan's love confession in that scenario is all about how he wants something more with someone that he's already friends with.
* KeepingTheHandicap: Kaidan could replace his implant with an [=L3=] model and be rid of all the problems that come with the [[FlawedPrototype L2]], but gives multiple reasons for not doing so. The surgery itself is extremely high risk; in his own words, "one wrong slip of the knife and you can't remember your own name." It is also extremely unusual for an [=L3=] to give as much power as an [=L2=], and Kaidan doesn't think it's worth both the risk and the loss of power when he "only" gets migraines. Perhaps most importantly, getting a retrofit would require going through an offshoot [[EvilInc Conatix]], and Kaidan refuses to go anywhere near them because he blames Conatix for the fiasco that [=BAaT=] turned into, and likely for the various ''other'' abuses they were responsible for in the early days of researching human biotics.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Depending on your choices on Virmire... and midway through the third game]].
* TheLancer: A dual role in the first and third games:
** Shares the role with Ashley in the first game [[spoiler:until one of them is killed off]].
** Back in the part in ''3'', sharing with Garrus[[spoiler:, though one or both of them may be dead at this point]].
* LethalChef: Implied to be this in the Citadel DLC. He offers to cook something, and Shepard worries that they survived Sovereign, the Collector Base, plus everything else during the course of the series, and can't believe that the one thing that will really off them is ''Kaidan's cooking.'' [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Later, Shepard can point out that the meal was actually pretty good,]] or that they were [[{{Troll}} teasing Kaidan about how sensitive he is.]]]] Shepard is much nicer if they are in a relationship with Kaidan.
* LetsGetDangerous: In an elevator conversation with Liara, he mentions that up until Eden Primemission.
** In private moments,he'd been generally keeping his biotic mojo on a tighter leash. Afterward, his determination to stop Saren and the geth means he's holding back a hell of a lot less (which might also function as an explanation for why the supposedly already skilled biotic's skills start out so weak, and get stronger as the game goes on).
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: One of the main reasons why [[spoiler: the reunion on Horizon goes so badly]]. Shepardis shown seems to [[TheChainsOfCommanding give themself grief over Jenkins' death since it was their orders that caused him to run into be the ambush]].
* FunPersonified: According to Chakwas. One of her stories involves him pestering Kaidan for a biotic demonstration,only one to think it might be a good idea for Kaidan to accidentally throw him so hard across know what the room, she thought he was seriously injured. Jenkins then leapt up, gleefully exclaiming:
--> '''Jenkins''': That was ''awesome''!
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: If you're on a NewGamePlus, he'll be level 50+ and still die to a few bullets after having been ordered to take point.
* GuestStarPartyMember: Despite being with you for at most a minute or two and dying right before the first fight, hehell is a fully functional squad member that can be issued orders and even has some skill points for you to assign despite never having an opportunity to use any abilities.
* HeroWorshipper: To Shepard. This is rarely a good sign for a character's mortality rate this early in the story.
* InformedAbility: He's apparently a badass soldier of the Alliance, but he is shot dead in the first half hour of the game and never gets to display it. Then again,going on. Unfortunately, it was a surprise attack, and even his replacement barely survived one while losing her entire squad too little, too late since all that left him with were the reports Cerberus itself was leaking to them.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Ifkeep Shepard away from their old contacts. In the third game, rectifying this is an essential part of getting back on his good side. The player also has a Survivor or Ruthless background, Jenkins can gush about what they've done is worth the option of [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential continuing to leave him being a Spectre candidate, to out of the loop]], [[spoiler: which Shepard can state potentially ends in his death because he can't be convinced that it's NotWhatItLooksLike. However, he does confess in one of the hospital scenes that, in retrospect, he could have handled the Horizon affair better than he did]].
* TheLostLenore: Potentially. [[spoiler: As Kaidan or Ashley will be the SacrificialLion for the first game, they]] can also be considered this if apast romance was pursued and they died.
* MagicKnight: [[TookALevelInBadass Grew into one]] by the third game.
* MagikarpPower: He starts weak, but with high levels, no other party member even comes close to competing with him for sheer variety of ways he can screw with the enemy.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: The Feminine guy to [=FemShep's=] masculine girl. Particularly prominent if Shepard is a Renegade, but still present if she's a Paragon. Kaidan also has this dynamic with Ashley.
* MasterOfNone: In the first game[[note]]The first game was less kind to hybrid classes in general. The Sentinel class, and by extension Kaidan, got the short end of the stick[[/note]], [[DownplayedTrope though not nearly to the degree he's typically made out to be]]. Even though he does become more versatile as time goes on and his array of support powers grows, he can never match any of his teammates in terms of combat power. Averted in ''Mass Effect 3'' where his versatility is one of his biggest strengths as well as gaining an assault rifle as a weapon and Barrier, the biotic equivalent of Tech Armor.
* MeaningfulName: "Kaidan" means "shackle" in Ukrainian. In this case, it refers to the mental restraints Kaidan places on himself to avoid losing control and hurting someone by accident.
* TheMedic: Kaidan is the only squadmate in the first game to get the Medicine talent, which decreases the recharge time on the First Aid talent. This also technically makes him a DeadlyDoctor, since Medicine unlocks the Neural Shock ability.
* MightyGlacier: Investing in Kaidan's Barrier power, especially without using his default outfit and choosing the evolution to halve Barrier's recharge penalty, significantly slows down his ability to use his powers in exchange for an enormous boost to his defenses.
* MilitaryBrat: Not as prominent as with Ash, but it is still part of his background and influenced his decision to enlist. If not for Alenko Sr.'s military career, it is very likely thatbrings the family would not have been in Singapore when that transport exploded. It is also very likely the reason that Kaidan was identified later than the other biotics created from the Singapore incident.
-->'''Kaidan:''' I think it's commendable to follow in a parent's footsteps.
* MindOverMatter: One of the oldest human biotics. His [[FlawedPrototype L2 implant]] makes him one of the strongest, but at the cost of severe migraines.
* MiseryPoker: {{Inverted|Trope}}. Kaidan tends downplay his own struggles in favor of pointing out how much worse others have it. When it comes to his implant-induced migraines, "I'm one of the lucky ones," borders on his CharacterCatchphrase, since at least his implant hasn't rendered him physically helpless and/or completely insane like it has others.
* MotorMouth: When hopped up on coffee.
* MrFanservice: Like default Male Shepard, Kaidan's face is [[https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2014-10/30/15/enhanced/webdr03/longform-original-28880-1414696018-6.jpg?downsize=800:*&output-format=auto&output-quality=auto based on a model]]. Combine that with Raphael Sbarge's voice...
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: With [[spoiler:Ashley after Virmire. One of thembad memories.
* LeeroyJenkins: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], actually, [[MeaningfulName despite''will'' always die so it's impossible to finish the name.]] game with both of them]].
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Even though Vyrnnus, the turian DrillSergeantNasty Kaidan killed in self-defense had been a violent and abusive thug who'd threatened Kaidan with a knife for standing up for another girl in the program, Kaidan still regrets that someone, no matter how deserving, died because he lost control and lashed out without thinking.
* NiceGuy: One of the outright nicest characters in the series. [[BewareTheNiceOnes It in no way impedes his ability to kill someone with his brain]]. In fact, he is actually the nicest squadmate in the first ''Mass Effect'': in the first ''Mass Effect'' game, during any major Paragon/Renegade choice, one squadmate will always advise you to take the Paragon option, and the other will always advise you to take the Renegade option. If Kaidan is one of your squadmates, Kaidan will ''always'' advocate the Paragon option, no matter who the other squadmate is (so even the normally Paragon Liara will advocate the Renegade option if Kaidan is the other squadmate). The one exception is [[spoiler:the rachni queen]] if Liara is present, and even then he only pragmatically points out that the acid tanks are not there to be capricious.
* NoodleIncident:
** In the beginning of the first game, Chakwas mentions that Kaidan has over a dozen special commendations. These are never explained.
** In the third game's ''Citadel'' DLC, Kaidan mentions that he once had a run in with the vorcha Mafia at a casino. His only elaboration is that it involved [[NoodleImplements five-thousand credits and a bottle of whiskey]].
* OfficerAndAGentleman: He'svery eager to go out there polite, open-minded, and see action, keeps strict control over himself and his biotic abilities. [[BewareTheNiceOnes And he can kick your ass]].
* OldSoldier: Even though he is thirty-six, at most, by the end of the series, [[WarIsHell everything he's gone through by that point]] has made him feel like one of these, especially compared to his students.
* OneManArmy: [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome It was offscreen]], but Kaidan apparently [[spoiler:fought through Cerberus's soldiers completely on his own to reach the Council during the coup]].
* OptionalPartyMember: After [[spoiler:nearly being killed on Mars, he's absent until Udina's attempted coup, wherein he can actually be killed or, barring that, have his request to return to the ''Normandy'' refused, making him a War Asset instead of a squadmate]].
* OutOfFocus: Like Ashley, Kaidan has a central role in ''Mass Effect 1'''s plot, but plays a much more minor role in the sequels compared to the other original party members. The intended subplot about [[spoiler:the Illusive Man turning Shepard and Kaidan against each other was significantly stripped down, most likely because of the number of [[IdiotBall Idiot Balls]] everyone involved needed to grab for the original plan to work.]] Particularly jarring if you romanced him in the first game, though it can be [[DownplayedTrope mitigated significantly]] if the player goes to talk to him when he asks, [[spoiler:especially since he does confess the shock of seeing Shepard again and with Cerberus made him act more rashly than he feels was appropriate]].
* OverrankedSoldier: This applies in the sequels, where he is promoted unreasonably quickly. In the 2 years between ''1'' and ''2,'' he's been promoted twice, from Staff Lieutenant to Staff Commander. Then 6 months later in ''3,'' he's been promoted ''again'' to Major (O-6 in the Alliance's rank structure, equivalent to Anderson's rank of Captain in the first game), and is 2 ranks higher than Shepard, yet stillfollows answers to them aboard the Normandy. To anyone who knows modern military ranks, this is the equivalent of an officer achieving about 15 years worth of promotions in 2 1/2 years. This might make more sense in wartime, where attrition and military need can see promotions happen much faster, but the Alliance is at relative peace before the Reapers invade in ''3''.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: By the third game, he's actually been promoted ''over'' Shepard, but he still takes Shepard's ordersto because... [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership well]].
** Gameplay wise, he suffers from this in theletter and takes point. In the end it still doesn't do him much good; some geth drones ambush the squad and Jenkins gets gunned down before the rest know what's happening.
* MeaningfulName: Downplayed. He's named after LeeroyJenkins, and while he doesn't take it to the level of insubordination, he is rather reckless and eager.
* NaiveNewcomer: Definitely had an incredibly idealistic outlook on the Spectres, and the heroism of Shepard themself.
* SacrificialLamb: He dies just before the player'sfirst battle.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: He got one conversation and a couple of lines. For a [=BioWare=] squad member,game. With proper skill point allocation, he can single-handedly render any enemy that's waving hello not a thresher maw or the final boss's first form completely helpless, but that's often overlooked in passing.favor of the more exotic and flashy abilities other squad members can use.
** With all the biotics that join the squad in ''[=ME2=]'', it's easy to forget that Kaidan is one of the strongest known human biotics, only behind Jack and [[ExpandedUniverse possibly]] Gillian Grayson, and about even with Biotic Shepard.
* PermaStubble: In ''3''. The Legendary Edition backports it to the first game as well.
* PlatonicLifePartners: If not romanced with Shepard. Shepard even calls Kaidan a brother to them.
* PrecisionFStrike: Kaidan rarely curses, but after the Sanctuary mission, Kaidan gets so angry, he calls The Illusive Man a "murderous asshole". Before that, in ''1'', when Udina screws Shepard over, Kaidan calls him a bastard for it.
* ProperlyParanoid: When Kaidan appears in ''2'', he warns Shepard that the Illusive Man is using the Reaper threat and Shepard's gratitude to control them. If he is brought to Cronos Station in ''3'', Kaidan is not surprised to find a recording of the Illusive Man laying out his plans to make Shepard sympathetic to Cerberus.
* RealMenWearPink: At the beginning of the second game he comes to Shepard's aid wearing the pink and white Phoenix armor (though he's wearing a black one when you meet him later on Horizon).
* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Ashley's red.
* RefugeInAudacity: Second only to [[{{Troll}} Javik]] if he helps infiltrate the casino in ''[[{{DLC}} Citadel]]''. He outright threatens a guard when pretending to mistake him for someone who owes him money, loudly claims that he represents the Varren Anti-Cruelty Association and is very unhappy about what he's seeing, and convinces a guard that he's going to cry.
* RelationshipUpgrade: Shepards of either gender can start a new romance with him in ''3''.
* RelationshipValues: Possesses this in ''3'' with Shepard [[spoiler: and it culminates in a MexicanStandoff at the Citadel. A high value will make him side with you, a lower value requires a reputation check, or he'll refuse to budge and either you or a party member will kill him]].
* TheRedMage: Kaidan uses both biotic and tech powers.
* ScarsAreForever: At the point of his examination by Thane, Kaidan has had his implant and the matching scars for roughly twenty years.
* SemperFi: A special operative, like all biotics, but still a Marine.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan
** The sensitive guy to [=MaleShep's=] manly man. Particularly prominent if Shepard is a Renegade, but still present if Shepard is a Paragon. Unlike most examples, they totally avoid the "Manly Man = {{Seme}}, Sensitive Guy = {{Uke}}" implications if they are paired up.
** In the first game, Kaidan and Wrex represent the two extremes of the Paragon/Renegade meter. Kaidan, Shepard's most Paragon squadmate, is the Sensitive Guy while Wrex, Shepard's most Renegade squadmate, is the Manly Man. This is also reflected in their classes, as Sentinels focus on support while Vanguards focus on offense.
* ShockAndAwe: He has Overload.
* SpaceMarine: Again, if you're a soldier in the Alliance military, you're a Marine.
* StarCrossedLovers: With female Shepard in the second game if romanced in the first. With male Shepard in the third game unless a specific ending is chosen.
* StoneWall: When he's fighting organic enemies, the combination of Barrier and Reave can make him harder to kill than [[TheBigGuy James]], even with the health disadvantage.
* StopBeingStereotypical:
** He expresses the belief that a lot of humanity's problems are because of people like Udina pushing for too much too soon. This also explains his hatred of Cerberus.
** He is also noted to have zero sympathy for biotic extremists.
* SurvivorsGuilt: [[spoiler:If Ashley dies, though he handles it better than she does in the opposite situation]].
* SympathyForTheDevil: In ''3'', after he reconciles with Shepard, Kaidan will reminisce about a mission wherein you can rescue a group of rogue Cerberus scientists. He comments that they were all good people despite being in Cerberus's employ, and wonders if the Illusive Man himself was ever a good person. Shepard has the option of either being accommodating or dismissive towards this line of thought.
* TookALevelInBadass: In ''[=ME3=]'', he went from a [[TheRedMage Red Mage]] focused on crowd control to a MagicKnight with StoneWall tendencies. Storywise, he received a rank up to Major and was declared the second human Spectre; IE, the most badass human in the galaxy after Shepard. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''[[{{DLC}} Citadel]]''.
-->'''Kaidan''': I may be L2, but I've worked very hard, and now I can ''reave''!\\
''[everyone else stares at him]''\\
'''Jacob:''' Really? That's... no.\\
'''Liara:''' That's a bit strange.
* TookALevelInJerkass: A renegade Shepard romancing him can actually push him to become more aggressive, even outright xenophobic, to the point where he demands the Council being sacrificed during the endgame. How bad is it? Every character has a relative renegade/paragon score, which causes characters to give different advice based on who else is in the squad. Wrex, normally your most Renegade squadmate, will actually advocate for the Council to be spared if Kaidan becomes this. It's all gone again in the sequels.
* TrainingFromHell: In his backstory at a BoardingSchoolOfHorrors. Kaidan notes that a significant number of his classmates suffered psychotic breaks, and a few even died.
* TranquilFury: [[BleedEmAndWeep The mess with Vyrnus]] left this as Kaidan's default state when he gets angry, but a particularly extreme case occurs after the mission on Horizon in 3, where [[spoiler:the Illusive Man and Henry Lawson were turning people into husks to try and control them]], Kaidan's seething hatred of the Illusive Man manifests itself in him very calmly wanting to rip the man in half.
-->'''Kaidan:''' After what I saw down there, I have never been more filled with rage.
** Dips into this again when recounting the atrocities committed by the geth if Shepard lets the quarians destroy them, referring to the geth as "murdering machines" in a quiet yet ''intensely'' acidic tone.
* {{Transhuman}}: By nature of being a biotic human. Particularly notable for being one of the very first.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: If Kaidan was not romanced in the first game, there will be considerable UST in the third. This applies equally to both male and female Shepards.
* UnwittingPawn: Since Kaidan was unaware of the Lazarus Project, the Illusive Man was able to turn him against Shepard by strategically leaking information about their survival, [[spoiler:something Udina follows up on if Shepard makes no effort to reestablish their friendship with Kaidan.]]
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Basically has this with Shepard in ''2'', carrying over into ''3''.
-->'''James:''' You know the Commander?\\
'''Kaidan:''' [[BrokenPedestal I used to]].
* WhatTheHellHero:
** He's got some things to say about [[spoiler:Shepard apparently faking their death and working with Cerberus in [=ME2=], though he does get better in [=ME3=] once he's no longer LockedOutOfTheLoop.]] He also protests if Ashley [[spoiler:kills Wrex]], regardless of whether it is on your orders.
** If Shepard is forced to shoot him in ''Mass Effect 3'' when trying to arrest Udina, and never even tried to patch things up in the hospital, his last words are a lot less apologetic.
--->'''Shepard:''' You stood up for the wrong man.\\
'''Kaidan:''' Better... better than killing the wrong man.
* WillfullyWeak: The incident in his past where he accidentally killed his biotic teacher caused him to slightly fear his biotic potential, so instead of developing further he instead focused on other fields to improve on. It's commented a few times that he is a pretty strong biotic, suggesting if he were to sit down and really focus on it, he could be really powerful, but he decides not to due to his concerns over being potentially dangerous to others.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility: To an almost excessive degree regarding his biotics, stemming from an incident where he actually did kill someone without intending to.
* YouShallNotPass:
** In the first game, [[spoiler:at the same time as Ashley's. It's up to you whether he survives over her]].
** In the third game, [[spoiler:this happens ''again'', when he, as a Spectre, stands between you and Councilor Udina. If you haven't done enough socializing with him beforehand, what Ashley did to Wrex, you do to him]].
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Dialogues imply that he harbors feelings for Shepard (irrespective of gender) since the first game, but never acts on it because he is mindful of the hierarchy and because he believes that Shepard's MarriedToTheJob. Obviously averted if Shepard choose to romance him, but played straight if they romance anyone but him.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Kaidan rarely talks about it, but it is implied that people frequently give him a wide berth due to his
* AmicableExes: If he and Shepard had something going in ''1'' and don't get back together in ''3'', he takes it significantly better than Ashley and still gets along well with the commander.
* AngerBornOfWorry: If he's romanced and taken to the final mission of ''Leviathan'', he's not happy about Shepard almost getting themself killed.
-->'''Kaidan:''' Never do that again.
* AnimalWrongsGroup: One of his
-->'''Kaidan:''' I'm with the "Varren Anti-Cruelty Association", and
*
* DecoyProtagonist: He's a placeholder for Ash, who joins about a minute or two after his death.
* DoomedHometown: Eden Prime is this for him. Pity
* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: During the first act of the third game, [[spoiler:he's made a Spectre]]. He also technically ''outranks'' Shepard after getting promoted to Staff Commander in the second game and then Major in the third [[spoiler: provided he lives that long]].
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Kaidan is prone to the occasional non-sequitur and odd, childlike observation.
* BadassBookworm: He is a skilled technician and field medic, which are his official roles in the Alliance. Considering real-world standards for military officers, Kaidan likely has at least one advanced degree.
* BarrierWarrior: In the third game, Kaidan takes this a step above standard biotics. His Barrier power reduces damage until he chooses to dispel it, and Reave temporarily reduces damage anytime it
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Most of his ''Mass Effect 3'' outfits have a
* BattleCouple: With Shepard in the first and third games if romanced.
* BeautifulDreamer: Implied if he's romanced in the third game.
-->'''Kaidan:''' You, uh, left without waking me.\\
'''Shepard:''' I didn't have the heart.
*
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Shepard on Horizon in [=ME2=] and Mars in [=ME3=]. Shepard's sex and relationship with Kaidan is irrelevant.
* BerserkButton: Politicians claiming to "support the troops" while using that to further their own cause, as shown if brought along to the meeting with the Terra Firma protestors.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: For such a soft-spoken, easy-going, and nice guy, he can break your neck with a single powerful biotic blast, and is adept at making your weapons blow up in your face. The
* BizarreBabyBoom: Was one of the first human biotics after his mother was caught downwind of a transport crash in Singapore, exposing him to Element-Zero ''in-utero''. He's reasonably confident that his specific case ''was'' genuinely accidental, but given the influence that [[EvilInc Conatix]] had after human biotics began emerging and their questionable activities at [=BAaT=], he's highly suspicious about subsequent similar "accidents".
-->"No one "knows". Doesn't mean they didn't happen. As big as the exposures were, it was hard to track down accidentals. [...] [[CouldSayItBut I'm not saying they intentionally detonated drives over our outposts]], but in retrospect, they were ''damn'' quick on the scene."
* BleedEmAndWeep: The defining moment of his
* BlessedWithSuck: His L2 implants give him more oomph than the average biotic running the stabler and safer L3s, but he has to deal with frequent migraines. And he's one of the luckier ones in terms of side effects. Some of the other party members, such as Wrex and Garrus, argue that the power is worth the side effects.
--> '''Wrex:''' You don't stop using a gun just because the kickback has a little sting.
* BlueIsCalm: Kaidan's default outfit in ''3'' is blue and white, and he is consistently one of Shepard's more level-headed companions.
* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: To learn how to use his biotics he was sent to one to undergo TrainingFromHell. It started with the corporation that funded it hiring an ''extremely'' racist turian mercenary to train them, who took an immediate dislike to Kaidan politely pointing out his family hadn't fought in the
* BreakTheCutie: Kaidan had a very idealistic view of the world in the first game, but he gets a lot darker in the following two.
* BringIt: After Sanctuary, Kaidan will be seething with utter rage.
-->'''Kaidan:''' ''(TranquilFury)'' Can you feel it, Shepard? Feel the quickening? Illusive Man better say his prayers tonight, because we're coming for him. Murderous asshole. Oh yeah. Tide is turning. ''I can feel it.''
* CelibateHero: If unromanced in ''1'', in ''3'' Kaidan will note that Shepard must have noticed he never dated ''anyone'' in all the time they knew him.
* CharacterDevelopment:
** In the first game, he takes a bit of convincing to loosen up and let himself go more often. Come the third, he has to convince ''you'' to take a "sanity check" with him on the Citadel.
** He completely writes off Cerberus as a terrorist organization in ''2'', seeing Shepard working with them as a betrayal. In ''3'', after the mission with ex-Cerberus scientist Dr. Cole, he asks Shepard if the people in Cerberus were good people and wonders if the Illusive Man was once a good person before he became who he is now.
* CharacterTics: In the first game, is often seen holding the side of his head on elevator rides, from his implant migraines. Depending on what dialogue is playing, it can resemble a FacePalm.
* CommandingCoolness: He's reached the rank of Staff Commander in ''2''.
* ConsummateProfessional: Definitely.
** In the first game, Shepard has to repeatedly tell Kaidan to disregard their rank and speak freely, after he admits to being a little uneasy with the idea of befriending a superior officer.
** Noticeably, whenever he's speaking to those of a lower or similar rank, such as Ashley and Joker, he's far more casual and informal. Dr. Chakwas
** One interpretation of when Shepard later encounters a young over-enthusiastic mercenary (who is also voiced by Josh Dean) on Omega, the reason they stopped dead in their tracks, turned slowly around and, if taking the Paragon interrupt, broke the kid's gun and ordered them home, was because he reminded them too much of
* CrocodileTears: Shows an unexpected talent for this if he helps infiltrate the casino in ''[[{{DLC}} Citadel]]''.
-->'''Kaidan:''' I've lost a lot of money. Who can I talk to about getting it back?\\
'''Guard:''' I'm sorry, sir, you can't... get it back... No, no, please, sir, please don't cry.
* DangerousSixteenthBirthday: Kaidan was sixteen when he received his [[FlawedPrototype L2 implants]].
* DeadpanSnarker: Not as obvious as the others tend to be, but he has his moments.
--> (''after Shepard is asked for a favor in a dangerous situation'') That's very comforting. Certain death for some, fine for us.
* DefensiveWhat: When he has his most notable CovertPervert moment.
-->'''Lorik Qui'in:''' An asari in a pinstripe suit set tongues wagging among the younger male employees. So to speak.\\
'''Kaidan:''' It does sound like something that you'd find on an extranet fetish site... (''{{beat}}'') What?
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The first thing he says is him defending Nihlus against Joker saying he hates him solely for being a Spectre (and not being massively impressed with Joker's piloting abilities), proving that not only is he level-headed but also willing to stand up for those he feels are being mistreated.
* EyeColorChange: Normally brown, but in [=ME3=] they turn blue when he uses his biotics[[note]]Briefly when he uses Reave. Indefinitely when he uses Barrier[[/note]].
* FanDisservice: In ''Mass Effect 3'' you get to see plenty of [[ShirtlessScene shirtless Kaidan]]--[[spoiler:while he's lying in a hospital bed, with his face beaten in and bruised. Sure, he gets better in subsequent trips to the Citadel hospital.]]
* FantasticRacism: He can become this if persuaded by a renegade female Shepard who is in a romance with him. He'll go from saying aliens are saints and jerks like the rest of humanity to calling them damn aliens by the end. This is completely ignored in the next two games. He hates the geth with a passion, being very happy if you let the quarians destroy them. Justified in that, after everything he went through against them, having a personal grudge would be understandable. [[spoiler:If the quarians are destroyed instead of the geth and Tali commits suicide, Kaidan will not only blame them for it but admit he still blames them for Ashley's death on Virmire - and that even if Shepard can forgive them for it, Kaidan never will. This trope is subverted however, if peace has been brokered between the two races, which he shows approval and amazement.]]
-->'''Kaidan:''' Finally, we're rid of the geth once and for all. ''(suddenly [[TranquilFury quiet]])'' Those murdering machines... I can't help draw the parallel. Know what I mean? Yeah, let's just hope the geth don't have the rachni's playbook.[[note]]In other words, "let's hope the geth don't have a way to return after being eradicated".[[/note]]
* FemaleGaze: A romanced Shepard takes a good, long look at his rear as they return to the ''Normandy'' in ''3''. This took no time at all to go memetic. [[http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa335/VivaciousDeimos/tumblr_m0fi5zwTfN1r4nc13.gif A random female NPC]] can also be seen checking him out in the intro.
* FirstGuyWins: If romanced. For Female Shepard, she can start romancing him in the first game and carry it to the end of the third. For Male Shepard, he can stay celibate for the first two games and then jump at the chance to be with Kaidan in the third.
* FlawedPrototype: Kaidan's biotic amplifier implants are L2, a model series that was made before humanity really knew what it was doing when it came to biotics. He suffers migraines... and he's one of the lucky [=L2s=]. He decides not to get retrofitted with [=L3s=], because the [=L2s=] let his powers spike higher, the surgery that would be required has a high risk of complications, and he has a deep distrust of any [[EvilInc Conatix]] offshoots.
* ForgotAboutHisPowers: In the second and third games in order to make sure his story arc matches Ashley's, such as on Horizon when he doesn't think to use a biotic barrier to keep the seeker swarms away, or on Mars when he tries to shoot Eva Core instead of sending her flying.
* FreudianExcuse: [[DefiedTrope Defied]]. Out of all of Shepard's human squadmates, Kaidan has the most [[TrainingFromHell justifiable reason]] to struggle with FantasticRacism, especially against turians. But if suggested that this is the case, Kaidan is not amused and pointedly refuses to use his past like that, because of how [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocritical]] it would be for a human to do so.
-->'''Kaidan:''' If one ass was enough to judge a whole race, [[HumansAreBastards I'd hate humans too]].
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. After Kaidan reveals his full backstory at [=BAaT=], Paragon Shepard is clearly gearing up for a speech about how not all turians are like Vyrnus and Kaidan shouldn't judge all aliens by his example, only for Kaidan to cut it short by revealing that he has already figured that out for himself before pointing out the inherent hypocrisy of judging other races by one bad example while not doing the same to his own.
* GayOption: In the third game.
* GonnaNeedMoreX: After Virmire, Shepard can try to comfort Kaidan by reminding him that humanity gave the turians a boot in the ass despite how much longer the turians had been around. Kaidan dryly remarks that, for the Reapers, they're going to need a bigger boot. [[GodzillaThreshold How right he was]]...
* GoodCopBadCop: He implies in ''Citadel'' that he prefers playing good cop.
* {{Handgun}}: One of his weapon types in the third game, along with assault rifles. In the first game, he was just slightly less terrible with handguns as he was with every other gun due to small bonuses on his passive class skill.
* HandicappedBadass: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. The severe migraines and painful static shocks he gets because of his implants don't slow him down any.
* HealerSignsOnEarly: He is conveniently the first squadmate Shepard gets in the first game and the closest thing the party has to a dedicated healer.
* HeartbrokenBadass: Shepard's death messed him up pretty bad. When the Illusive Man tricked him into thinking his grief was all for nothing, Kaidan was livid. [[spoiler:He gets better in ''3'' though, but only if you talk to him]].
* HiddenDepths: Kaidan initially appears to be just a quiet NiceGuy. Further examination reveals that he is very introspective about his and humanity's place in the galaxy, and he's so reserved because he's terrified of hurting someone if he loses control.
* ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe: The in-universe explanation for why Kaidan wasn't a GayOption in the first game is because he didn't think Shepard would, or [[IncompatibleOrientation could]], feel the same way. Gender flipped if he didn't romance anyone in the first two games and female Shepard finally propositions him.
* AnIcePerson: Uses Cryo Blast, and the only character in ''3'' who can use it other than Shepard.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Kaidan occasionally implies that, deep down, he wishes he weren't a biotic. He's largely made his peace with it by the time the series starts, with the implication that he would be a red sand addict otherwise.
* IncompletelyTrained: By choice and the reason he's a Sentinel instead of an Adept. He got [=BAaT=] shut down before they could finish training any of the students and had enough residual trauma to turn down the Alliance's offer to finish his training in [=BAaT's=] place. He chose to train as a technician and medic instead.
* InformedDeformity: According to Thane, he has scarring that clearly identifies him as a biotic, but even with all the times Kaidan has had his clothes off, those scars are never seen. Then again, [[AwesomeByAnalysis Thane's observational and memetic prowess is much higher than a human's]], so it might not be readily obvious to others.
* IRegretNothing: [[spoiler:His last words if he dies on Virmire.]]
* ItHasBeenAnHonor:
** [[spoiler:His goodbye if Shepard chooses to save Ashley instead of him on Virmire]].
** [[spoiler:If someone other than Shepard shoots Kaidan, Kaidan will be more forgiving.]]
--->'''Shepard:''' Kaidan, why wouldn't you just stand down?\\
'''Kaidan:''' Man... couldn't defend himself. Shepard... I... ''(dies)''\\
'''Shepard:''' ''(sadly)'' It has been an honor.
* JackOfAllStats: In ''Mass Effect 3''. Decent weapon damage, high biotic and tech power (and the only character aside from Shepard who can use both), extremely tough, and an unparalleled ability to contribute to the expanded power combo system.
* JerkassHasAPoint: As harsh as he was about it, Kaidan was correct that the Illusive Man was using Shepard's gratitude about the [[BackFromTheDead Lazarus Project]] to manipulate Shepard, that he was blatantly feeding Shepard false information, ''and'' that he lured the Collectors to attack Horizon (TIM defends this as [[DirtyBusiness necessary]] though). The Illusive Man throws off all pretenses when Shepard decides to destroy the Collector Base, and he was using Shepard for more than just fighting the Collectors, with utterly horrifying results. The jerkass part was born from Kaidan being [[LockedOutOfTheLoop left in the dark on several essential details]], since Liara didn't tell him about the events of ''Redemption'' and their other squadmates from the first game believe Shepard without a word because they weren't seeing the information about Shepard that the Illusive Man was intentionally leaking. [[spoiler:However, he does actually backtrack on this a bit when talking to Shepard in the hospital in ''Mass Effect 3'',
* JustFriends: Regardless of their history from the first two games or Shepard's gender, Kaidan will
* KeepingTheHandicap: Kaidan could replace his implant with an [=L3=] model and be rid of all the problems that come with the [[FlawedPrototype L2]], but gives multiple reasons for not doing so. The surgery itself is extremely high risk; in his own words, "one wrong slip of the knife and you can't remember your own name." It is also extremely unusual for an [=L3=] to give as much power as an [=L2=], and Kaidan doesn't think it's worth both the risk and the loss of power when he "only" gets migraines. Perhaps most importantly, getting a retrofit would require going through an offshoot [[EvilInc Conatix]], and Kaidan refuses to go anywhere near them because he blames Conatix for the fiasco that [=BAaT=] turned into, and likely for the various ''other'' abuses they were responsible for in the early days of researching human biotics.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Depending on your choices on Virmire... and midway through the third game]].
* TheLancer: A dual role in the first and third games:
** Shares the role with Ashley in the first game [[spoiler:until one of them is killed off]].
** Back in the part in ''3'', sharing with Garrus[[spoiler:, though one or both of them may be dead at this point]].
* LethalChef: Implied to be this in the Citadel DLC. He offers to cook something, and Shepard worries that they survived Sovereign, the Collector Base, plus everything else during the course of the series, and can't believe that the one thing that will really off them is ''Kaidan's cooking.'' [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Later, Shepard can point out that the meal was actually pretty good,]] or that they were [[{{Troll}} teasing Kaidan about how sensitive he is.]]]] Shepard is much nicer if they are in a relationship with Kaidan.
* LetsGetDangerous: In an elevator conversation with Liara, he mentions that up until Eden Prime
** In private moments,
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: One of the main reasons why [[spoiler: the reunion on Horizon goes so badly]]. Shepard
* FunPersonified: According to Chakwas. One of her stories involves him pestering Kaidan for a biotic demonstration,
--> '''Jenkins''': That was ''awesome''!
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: If you're on a NewGamePlus, he'll be level 50+ and still die to a few bullets after having been ordered to take point.
* GuestStarPartyMember: Despite being with you for at most a minute or two and dying right before the first fight, he
* HeroWorshipper: To Shepard. This is rarely a good sign for a character's mortality rate this early in the story.
* InformedAbility: He's apparently a badass soldier of the Alliance, but he is shot dead in the first half hour of the game and never gets to display it. Then again,
* InnocentlyInsensitive: If
* TheLostLenore: Potentially. [[spoiler: As Kaidan or Ashley will be the SacrificialLion for the first game, they]] can also be considered this if a
* MagicKnight: [[TookALevelInBadass Grew into one]] by the third game.
* MagikarpPower: He starts weak, but with high levels, no other party member even comes close to competing with him for sheer variety of ways he can screw with the enemy.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: The Feminine guy to [=FemShep's=] masculine girl. Particularly prominent if Shepard is a Renegade, but still present if she's a Paragon. Kaidan also has this dynamic with Ashley.
* MasterOfNone: In the first game[[note]]The first game was less kind to hybrid classes in general. The Sentinel class, and by extension Kaidan, got the short end of the stick[[/note]], [[DownplayedTrope though not nearly to the degree he's typically made out to be]]. Even though he does become more versatile as time goes on and his array of support powers grows, he can never match any of his teammates in terms of combat power. Averted in ''Mass Effect 3'' where his versatility is one of his biggest strengths as well as gaining an assault rifle as a weapon and Barrier, the biotic equivalent of Tech Armor.
* MeaningfulName: "Kaidan" means "shackle" in Ukrainian. In this case, it refers to the mental restraints Kaidan places on himself to avoid losing control and hurting someone by accident.
* TheMedic: Kaidan is the only squadmate in the first game to get the Medicine talent, which decreases the recharge time on the First Aid talent. This also technically makes him a DeadlyDoctor, since Medicine unlocks the Neural Shock ability.
* MightyGlacier: Investing in Kaidan's Barrier power, especially without using his default outfit and choosing the evolution to halve Barrier's recharge penalty, significantly slows down his ability to use his powers in exchange for an enormous boost to his defenses.
* MilitaryBrat: Not as prominent as with Ash, but it is still part of his background and influenced his decision to enlist. If not for Alenko Sr.'s military career, it is very likely that
-->'''Kaidan:''' I think it's commendable to follow in a parent's footsteps.
* MindOverMatter: One of the oldest human biotics. His [[FlawedPrototype L2 implant]] makes him one of the strongest, but at the cost of severe migraines.
* MiseryPoker: {{Inverted|Trope}}. Kaidan tends downplay his own struggles in favor of pointing out how much worse others have it. When it comes to his implant-induced migraines, "I'm one of the lucky ones," borders on his CharacterCatchphrase, since at least his implant hasn't rendered him physically helpless and/or completely insane like it has others.
* MotorMouth: When hopped up on coffee.
* MrFanservice: Like default Male Shepard, Kaidan's face is [[https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2014-10/30/15/enhanced/webdr03/longform-original-28880-1414696018-6.jpg?downsize=800:*&output-format=auto&output-quality=auto based on a model]]. Combine that with Raphael Sbarge's voice...
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: With [[spoiler:Ashley after Virmire. One of them
* LeeroyJenkins: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], actually, [[MeaningfulName despite
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Even though Vyrnnus, the turian DrillSergeantNasty Kaidan killed in self-defense had been a violent and abusive thug who'd threatened Kaidan with a knife for standing up for another girl in the program, Kaidan still regrets that someone, no matter how deserving, died because he lost control and lashed out without thinking.
* NiceGuy: One of the outright nicest characters in the series. [[BewareTheNiceOnes It in no way impedes his ability to kill someone with his brain]]. In fact, he is actually the nicest squadmate in the first ''Mass Effect'': in the first ''Mass Effect'' game, during any major Paragon/Renegade choice, one squadmate will always advise you to take the Paragon option, and the other will always advise you to take the Renegade option. If Kaidan is one of your squadmates, Kaidan will ''always'' advocate the Paragon option, no matter who the other squadmate is (so even the normally Paragon Liara will advocate the Renegade option if Kaidan is the other squadmate). The one exception is [[spoiler:the rachni queen]] if Liara is present, and even then he only pragmatically points out that the acid tanks are not there to be capricious.
* NoodleIncident:
** In the beginning of the first game, Chakwas mentions that Kaidan has over a dozen special commendations. These are never explained.
** In the third game's ''Citadel'' DLC, Kaidan mentions that he once had a run in with the vorcha Mafia at a casino. His only elaboration is that it involved [[NoodleImplements five-thousand credits and a bottle of whiskey]].
* OfficerAndAGentleman: He's
* OldSoldier: Even though he is thirty-six, at most, by the end of the series, [[WarIsHell everything he's gone through by that point]] has made him feel like one of these, especially compared to his students.
* OneManArmy: [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome It was offscreen]], but Kaidan apparently [[spoiler:fought through Cerberus's soldiers completely on his own to reach the Council during the coup]].
* OptionalPartyMember: After [[spoiler:nearly being killed on Mars, he's absent until Udina's attempted coup, wherein he can actually be killed or, barring that, have his request to return to the ''Normandy'' refused, making him a War Asset instead of a squadmate]].
* OutOfFocus: Like Ashley, Kaidan has a central role in ''Mass Effect 1'''s plot, but plays a much more minor role in the sequels compared to the other original party members. The intended subplot about [[spoiler:the Illusive Man turning Shepard and Kaidan against each other was significantly stripped down, most likely because of the number of [[IdiotBall Idiot Balls]] everyone involved needed to grab for the original plan to work.]] Particularly jarring if you romanced him in the first game, though it can be [[DownplayedTrope mitigated significantly]] if the player goes to talk to him when he asks, [[spoiler:especially since he does confess the shock of seeing Shepard again and with Cerberus made him act more rashly than he feels was appropriate]].
* OverrankedSoldier: This applies in the sequels, where he is promoted unreasonably quickly. In the 2 years between ''1'' and ''2,'' he's been promoted twice, from Staff Lieutenant to Staff Commander. Then 6 months later in ''3,'' he's been promoted ''again'' to Major (O-6 in the Alliance's rank structure, equivalent to Anderson's rank of Captain in the first game), and is 2 ranks higher than Shepard, yet still
* OvershadowedByAwesome: By the third game, he's actually been promoted ''over'' Shepard, but he still takes Shepard's orders
** Gameplay wise, he suffers from this in the
* MeaningfulName: Downplayed. He's named after LeeroyJenkins, and while he doesn't take it to the level of insubordination, he is rather reckless and eager.
* NaiveNewcomer: Definitely had an incredibly idealistic outlook on the Spectres, and the heroism of Shepard themself.
* SacrificialLamb: He dies just before the player's
* WeHardlyKnewYe: He got one conversation and a couple of lines. For a [=BioWare=] squad member,
** With all the biotics that join the squad in ''[=ME2=]'', it's easy to forget that Kaidan is one of the strongest known human biotics, only behind Jack and [[ExpandedUniverse possibly]] Gillian Grayson, and about even with Biotic Shepard.
* PermaStubble: In ''3''. The Legendary Edition backports it to the first game as well.
* PlatonicLifePartners: If not romanced with Shepard. Shepard even calls Kaidan a brother to them.
* PrecisionFStrike: Kaidan rarely curses, but after the Sanctuary mission, Kaidan gets so angry, he calls The Illusive Man a "murderous asshole". Before that, in ''1'', when Udina screws Shepard over, Kaidan calls him a bastard for it.
* ProperlyParanoid: When Kaidan appears in ''2'', he warns Shepard that the Illusive Man is using the Reaper threat and Shepard's gratitude to control them. If he is brought to Cronos Station in ''3'', Kaidan is not surprised to find a recording of the Illusive Man laying out his plans to make Shepard sympathetic to Cerberus.
* RealMenWearPink: At the beginning of the second game he comes to Shepard's aid wearing the pink and white Phoenix armor (though he's wearing a black one when you meet him later on Horizon).
* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Ashley's red.
* RefugeInAudacity: Second only to [[{{Troll}} Javik]] if he helps infiltrate the casino in ''[[{{DLC}} Citadel]]''. He outright threatens a guard when pretending to mistake him for someone who owes him money, loudly claims that he represents the Varren Anti-Cruelty Association and is very unhappy about what he's seeing, and convinces a guard that he's going to cry.
* RelationshipUpgrade: Shepards of either gender can start a new romance with him in ''3''.
* RelationshipValues: Possesses this in ''3'' with Shepard [[spoiler: and it culminates in a MexicanStandoff at the Citadel. A high value will make him side with you, a lower value requires a reputation check, or he'll refuse to budge and either you or a party member will kill him]].
* TheRedMage: Kaidan uses both biotic and tech powers.
* ScarsAreForever: At the point of his examination by Thane, Kaidan has had his implant and the matching scars for roughly twenty years.
* SemperFi: A special operative, like all biotics, but still a Marine.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan
** The sensitive guy to [=MaleShep's=] manly man. Particularly prominent if Shepard is a Renegade, but still present if Shepard is a Paragon. Unlike most examples, they totally avoid the "Manly Man = {{Seme}}, Sensitive Guy = {{Uke}}" implications if they are paired up.
** In the first game, Kaidan and Wrex represent the two extremes of the Paragon/Renegade meter. Kaidan, Shepard's most Paragon squadmate, is the Sensitive Guy while Wrex, Shepard's most Renegade squadmate, is the Manly Man. This is also reflected in their classes, as Sentinels focus on support while Vanguards focus on offense.
* ShockAndAwe: He has Overload.
* SpaceMarine: Again, if you're a soldier in the Alliance military, you're a Marine.
* StarCrossedLovers: With female Shepard in the second game if romanced in the first. With male Shepard in the third game unless a specific ending is chosen.
* StoneWall: When he's fighting organic enemies, the combination of Barrier and Reave can make him harder to kill than [[TheBigGuy James]], even with the health disadvantage.
* StopBeingStereotypical:
** He expresses the belief that a lot of humanity's problems are because of people like Udina pushing for too much too soon. This also explains his hatred of Cerberus.
** He is also noted to have zero sympathy for biotic extremists.
* SurvivorsGuilt: [[spoiler:If Ashley dies, though he handles it better than she does in the opposite situation]].
* SympathyForTheDevil: In ''3'', after he reconciles with Shepard, Kaidan will reminisce about a mission wherein you can rescue a group of rogue Cerberus scientists. He comments that they were all good people despite being in Cerberus's employ, and wonders if the Illusive Man himself was ever a good person. Shepard has the option of either being accommodating or dismissive towards this line of thought.
* TookALevelInBadass: In ''[=ME3=]'', he went from a [[TheRedMage Red Mage]] focused on crowd control to a MagicKnight with StoneWall tendencies. Storywise, he received a rank up to Major and was declared the second human Spectre; IE, the most badass human in the galaxy after Shepard. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''[[{{DLC}} Citadel]]''.
-->'''Kaidan''': I may be L2, but I've worked very hard, and now I can ''reave''!\\
''[everyone else stares at him]''\\
'''Jacob:''' Really? That's... no.\\
'''Liara:''' That's a bit strange.
* TookALevelInJerkass: A renegade Shepard romancing him can actually push him to become more aggressive, even outright xenophobic, to the point where he demands the Council being sacrificed during the endgame. How bad is it? Every character has a relative renegade/paragon score, which causes characters to give different advice based on who else is in the squad. Wrex, normally your most Renegade squadmate, will actually advocate for the Council to be spared if Kaidan becomes this. It's all gone again in the sequels.
* TrainingFromHell: In his backstory at a BoardingSchoolOfHorrors. Kaidan notes that a significant number of his classmates suffered psychotic breaks, and a few even died.
* TranquilFury: [[BleedEmAndWeep The mess with Vyrnus]] left this as Kaidan's default state when he gets angry, but a particularly extreme case occurs after the mission on Horizon in 3, where [[spoiler:the Illusive Man and Henry Lawson were turning people into husks to try and control them]], Kaidan's seething hatred of the Illusive Man manifests itself in him very calmly wanting to rip the man in half.
-->'''Kaidan:''' After what I saw down there, I have never been more filled with rage.
** Dips into this again when recounting the atrocities committed by the geth if Shepard lets the quarians destroy them, referring to the geth as "murdering machines" in a quiet yet ''intensely'' acidic tone.
* {{Transhuman}}: By nature of being a biotic human. Particularly notable for being one of the very first.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: If Kaidan was not romanced in the first game, there will be considerable UST in the third. This applies equally to both male and female Shepards.
* UnwittingPawn: Since Kaidan was unaware of the Lazarus Project, the Illusive Man was able to turn him against Shepard by strategically leaking information about their survival, [[spoiler:something Udina follows up on if Shepard makes no effort to reestablish their friendship with Kaidan.]]
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Basically has this with Shepard in ''2'', carrying over into ''3''.
-->'''James:''' You know the Commander?\\
'''Kaidan:''' [[BrokenPedestal I used to]].
* WhatTheHellHero:
** He's got some things to say about [[spoiler:Shepard apparently faking their death and working with Cerberus in [=ME2=], though he does get better in [=ME3=] once he's no longer LockedOutOfTheLoop.]] He also protests if Ashley [[spoiler:kills Wrex]], regardless of whether it is on your orders.
** If Shepard is forced to shoot him in ''Mass Effect 3'' when trying to arrest Udina, and never even tried to patch things up in the hospital, his last words are a lot less apologetic.
--->'''Shepard:''' You stood up for the wrong man.\\
'''Kaidan:''' Better... better than killing the wrong man.
* WillfullyWeak: The incident in his past where he accidentally killed his biotic teacher caused him to slightly fear his biotic potential, so instead of developing further he instead focused on other fields to improve on. It's commented a few times that he is a pretty strong biotic, suggesting if he were to sit down and really focus on it, he could be really powerful, but he decides not to due to his concerns over being potentially dangerous to others.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility: To an almost excessive degree regarding his biotics, stemming from an incident where he actually did kill someone without intending to.
* YouShallNotPass:
** In the first game, [[spoiler:at the same time as Ashley's. It's up to you whether he survives over her]].
** In the third game, [[spoiler:this happens ''again'', when he, as a Spectre, stands between you and Councilor Udina. If you haven't done enough socializing with him beforehand, what Ashley did to Wrex, you do to him]].
Added DiffLines:
[[folder:Ashley Williams]]
[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reaper_war_ash.png]]
[[caption-width-right:280: Nothing like a nice relaxing stroll on the beach... [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter blasting bad guys with my boomstick]]!]]
-->''"Why is it whenever someone says [[WithDueRespect 'with all due respect,']] they really mean 'kiss my ass'?"''
-->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KimberlyBrooks
A human Systems Alliance Marine who specializes in weapons skills and heavy armor. Returns as an optional party member in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' if she survived the first game. She is a romance option for a male Shepard in both ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' and ''Mass Effect 3''.
----
* ActionGirl: Of all of the characters in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', only Wrex can match her for sheer toughness, and no one is as adept with weapons as her. This continues in ''Mass Effect 3'', where her skills are mostly focused on dealing damage (as opposed to James, the other soldier character, whose skills are more focused on survivability).
* AffectionateNickname: "Skipper", towards Shepard. Skipper is a nickname that U.S. Navy crew members commonly use for the commanding officer of the ship. She also calls Kaidan "LT", also a reference to his rank.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer:
** In the military, due to being the granddaughter of the only general to ever surrender to aliens, even though he surrendered to [[TheMenFirst spare his men and civilians]]. For this, he was considered a GeneralFailure and promptly KickedUpstairs.
** She reached the rank of Gunnery Chief before we meet her, which is higher than her father ever got, although she says that she had "crap assignments" until that point. After the first game, she essentially "breaks the Williams Curse", either by [[spoiler:posthumously receiving medals from the turians or salarians for her actions on Virmire, or by finally getting some good assignments and climbing up past the glass ceiling her family stigma imposed thanks to serving with distinction under Shepard]].
* AlmightyJanitor: In the first game, Ashley is a lowly non-commissioned officer due to her family being politically blackballed. This is all in-spite of her [[TheAce exemplary test scores.]] Come ''[=ME2=]'' and ''[=ME3=]'', her work with Shepard is enough for her to finally achieve the ranks she deserves.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Confirmed by the developers to be mostly Hispanic.
* AmbiguouslyChristian: Maybe. In the first game, Ashley is the TokenReligiousTeammate of the crew. The game never goes into deep detail of her faith, outside of believing in God and her father being in Heaven and that she regularly prays. Originally, she was supposed to have a more explicitly religious conversation where she asked Shepard about what they saw after dying, but this was DummiedOut.
* AngerBornOfWorry: If she's romanced and taken to the final mission of Leviathan, she's not happy about Shepard almost getting himself killed.
-->'''Ashley:''' Never do that again.
* AntiHero: A KnightInSourArmor or a PragmaticHero.
* ArmorIsUseless: [[spoiler: If Shepard is forced to shoot her, they only shoot her once with the Predator, the weakest pistol in the game. Despite wearing heavy armor, having kinetic barriers that have withstood dozens of bullets in cutscenes, and having medi-gel on hand just in case she gets shot, the bullet goes right through her, and she dies a few minutes later]].
* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: [[spoiler:She's made the second human Spectre in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''.]]
* TheAtoner: A lot of her actions are fueled by her desire to restore her family's good name.
* BadassFamily: The Williams family is ridiculously badass. Her grandfather, while being most remembered for surrendering to the turians at Shanxi was nonetheless a ''General''. Ashley also mentions that between her sisters, they are trained in hand-to-hand combat, swordplay and marksmanship. Ashley mentions that she once took a leave of absence to deal with her sister's overly horny boyfriend, who tried to push his luck. In the end, she actually didn't do ''anything'', since when the boyfriend tried to hit her sister, her sibling put him into the hospital in [[CurbStompBattle a matter of seconds.]]
* BadassNormal: On teams including a super strong combat robot, a fifty thousand year old Avatar of Vengeance with PsychicPowers, one of the few surviving [[SuperPrototype L2 biotics]], a scientist who also happens to be able to [[MindOverMatter lift a Geth Colossus with her mind]], and a thousand-year old MagicKnight who ''also'' has super strength ''and'' can pick up a Geth Colossus with his mind, what does she bring to the table? She carries lot of guns and mods[[note]] Ammo mods, alternate firing mods like Concussive Shot, etc.[[/note]] and really knows how to use them. [[SimpleYetAwesome This is more than enough to let her hold her own.]]
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Most of her ''Mass Effect 3'' outfits have a helmet for vacuum conditions, except her ''From Ashes'' version. The eyepiece apparently overrides it.
* BattleCouple: With Shepard in the first and third game if romanced.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With male Shepard in the second and third games, if romanced in the first.
* BigSisterInstinct: Part of her backstory involves her taking a leave of absence from the Alliance to help her little sister deal with an overly clingy boyfriend.
* BoisterousBruiser: Her skills center around dealing out as much weapon damage as possible. She's also very enthusiastic, inside battle and out.
* BrutalHonesty: One consistent trait about Ashley is that she never bites her tongue when voicing her opinion. [[spoiler:In fact, it's one of the few things that differentiate her and Kaidan in ''Mass Effect 3'', the most notable example being when she doesn't budge on her reactions on Horizon being justified whereas Kaidan is more uncertain in hindsight]].
* BruiserWithASoftCenter: Hits hard and hits first. Also likes poetry, talks to her sisters back home, and develops a soft spot for Tali.
* CharacterDevelopment:
** She gradually grows more comfortable about working with aliens over time.
** In the third game, after [[spoiler:Victus' son Tarquin]] sacrifices himself to [[spoiler:prevent the bomb on Tuchanka from detonating]], she will tell Tali that she is able to accept others dying in her place because she would make the same sacrifice for them, in contrast to her earlier SurvivorGuilt after [[spoiler:she is saved at the cost of Kaidan's life on Virmire]].
** A romanced Ashley goes from seeing Shepard as the only thing that makes her feel worthy to not needing to hear compliments from him.
* ClingyJealousGirl: A mild case; she feels threatened by Liara's relationship with Shepard in the first game; even Liara lampshades this. In the third game, however, if he dated Tali in the second game, she takes it in stride if Shepard chooses to stay with Tali.
* CommonalityConnection: Ash and Shepard realise they both had the same drill instructor, Gunny Ellison, at the Macapá boot camp, recognizable his AntiquatedLinguistics.
* CoolBigSis: Acts as one to her younger sisters.
** Arguably serves as one for Tali as well. [[spoiler:If the quarians are destroyed and Tali commits suicide, a heartbroken Ashley will flat-out state she saw Tali as a little sister to her]].
* CombatPragmatist: If Shepard is unable to talk Wrex down on Virmire, Ashley will simply gun him down with no warning from behind while he's in the middle of a conversation.
* CovertPervert:
** Pops up if you romance her in the first game. She'll mention that Commander Shepard has a great ass, ''twice'', and will mention it again if broken up with after the Citadel coup in the third game.
** Seems to be a family trait. Her sister comments that male Shepard is cute in the first game, clearly jealous that her sister has such an attractive boss. Cue Ashley turning around and realizing that Shepard is [[RightBehindMe standing right there:]]
---> '''Ashley''': Tell me you didn't hear that.\\
'''Shepard''': 'Fraid I did.\\
'''Ashley''': ''[mortified]'' Shoot me now.
** If Shepard is female, Ash's sister will instead turn her affection to Kaidan.
** In the event that neither she nor James are romanced, Ashley declines Liara's suggestion to join in the pushup demonstration of physical supremacy at the party, clearly enjoying the view.
* CulturedWarrior: Just because she can drill you between the eyes at four hundred meters doesn't mean she can't like poetry. She even tries to romance Shepard with it.
* CustomUniform: Her outfit in the third game looks nothing like other Alliance uniforms or armor.
* DaddysGirl: Ashley's father wasn't around often due to his career, but Ashley was apparently very close to him. A large part of the reason she enlisted was to make him proud.
* DateRapeAverted: During one of her backstory conversations, she'll talk about how her Marine father made sure all his daughters could defend themselves. One foolish boy tried to put some unwanted moves on Ashley's younger sister. He got a ''very'' painful message - in a twist, he apologized to her, and they continued dating (seems some boundaries were set).
* DeadpanSnarker: Despite being dedicated to following protocol, she definitely isn't shy about sassing Shepard.
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:Has shades of this during the first game. If she survives Virmire, after she says she should have been the one to stay behind, one of Shepard's responses is to lose their temper and accuse her of wanting to martyr herself to restore her family's honor. This seems to snap her out of it.]]
* DemotedToExtra:
** During the second game.
** She also is hospitalized early in the third game after being attacked by [[spoiler: Eva Coré]] on Mars, remaining out of action until [[spoiler: the Cerberus coup attempt.]] Ashley is not given much dialogue on ''Normandy'', but the writers have clarified that she has the ''same'' number of lines as Kaidan; her conversations just mostly take place on the Citadel, while Kaidan's are largely restricted to the ''Normandy''. Certain bugged and unused conversations (including one with Liara after the conclusion of ''Priority: The Citadel II'', an unused discussion on morality and death with Shepard in their cabin and unused lines in her date and memorial visit on the Citadel) would have expanded this dialogue further.
* {{Determinator}}: Due to her grandfather being the only human to surrender to alien forces, the entire military hates her and assigns her to the lowest and most degrading posts they can. Despite this, she signed up for the Alliance anyway to help redeem her family name. Shepard notes in the third game that the very first time they met Ashley, she had just seen her entire platoon wiped out by geth and instead of laying down and giving up, her response was to pick up her gun and keep firing. Shepard implies that if they hadn't shown up, she would have likely continued to do so even if it meant she had to defend the colony by ''herself''.
* DidISayThatOutLoud: Pops up several times if Shepard is in a romance with her.
--> '''Ashley''': If you expect to get me in a tinfoil mini-skirt and thigh-high boots, I want dinner first... Sir!
* DistaffCounterpart: Given that Ashley has considerable prowess with a sniper rifle and automatic rifle, is frequently cast as a DeadpanSnarker and in the first game was something of a NobleBigot before CharacterDevelopment, one could make the argument that she's essentially the human, female equivalent of Garrus Vakarian.
* DoomMagnet: As Diana Allers notes to herself in ''3'', Ash... doesn't have the best luck when assigned to guard things. First, her entire unit got wiped out, then in ''2'' there's Horizon, and in ''3'', she's the last woman standing of the council's guard during Cerberus's coup.
* DrinkingContest: This is what constitutes a shore-leave date with Ashley, romanced or not, in the ''Citadel'' DLC.
* DrivenToSuicide: In the first game, after Alenko performs his heroic sacrifice, Shepard will realize that Ash wants to perform a HeroicSacrifice to [[TheAtoner atone for her family's sins]]. They can call her out on it.
* DudeMagnet: She's pretty popular with men, as many show interest in her over the series and side material.
* DyingDeclarationOfHate: If you refuse to patch up your relationship with her in ''3'' and are forced to shoot her during the Citadel Coup, she will curse you with her last breath.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: She's first encountered fleeing from two geth troopers and their drones. She dives to avoid the drones' fire, takes them out with per pistol, then jumps behind cover before readying her rifle in anticipation for the two troopers. After Shepard and Kaidan kill the troopers, she thanks them for saving her life and then blames herself for the loss of the other marines.
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** In spite of how she is less than trusting of aliens, particularly the Council, she references this in ''Mass Effect 2'' to rebuke Shepard's offer of working with [[NebulousEvilOrganization Cerberus.]]
--->'''Ashley''': I'm no fan of aliens, but Cerberus has a habit of being... extreme.
** She also dislikes Terra Firma in the first game, saying that their platform is noble, but too many of their members just use it to spread racism. The fact they keep using Shanxi as a rallying cry [[ItsPersonal also has something to do with her dislike of them]].
** Makes it very clear she distrusts Liara at first meeting and acts surprisingly juvenile about it in a conversation afterwards, but if Shepard points out Liara's lack of social skills means teasing her is probably a bad idea, Ash immediately backs off from thereon out.
* FamilyHonor: The driving force behind her service in the Alliance military.
* {{Fangirl}}: Mildly towards Shepard if they have the War Hero background.
* FanservicePack: In the third game, it seems that her promotion [[spoiler:to Spectre status]] included a boob job.
** Including the lingerie, she wears in the romance scene with Shepard. That doesn't look like regulation military issue (although Traynor and Shepard have [[LawOfConservationOfDetail the exact same set]], so...) Might be a perk of being a Spectre, though, they ''do'' always get the best gear.
* FantasticallyIndifferent: Her reaction to the discovery of Leviathan in ''3''? Total indifference. As she explains to Shepard, she doesn't ''care'' about where the Reapers come from, she just wants 'em dead.
* FantasticRacism: A surprisingly nuanced version of this.
** She doesn't trust aliens and has issues with turians in particular because her grandfather was the commander at the garrison at Shanxi, who was also the only human commander to ever surrender to alien forces. As a Williams, she is already under (unfair) scrutiny for being an alien-sympathizer or not pro-human enough. As a result, the Williams name is something of a curse, and Ashley suffers for it.
** It's important to note that even if she doesn't trust aliens, she explicitly "[doesn't] think humans have some kind of divine mandate, if that's what you mean. I don't think we're superior" nor does she "mean we should mistreat [aliens]". She vehemently criticizes the Terra Firma party for its much more overt racism. She also expresses sympathy for Tali the instant she hears how the Council shafted the quarians after the geth went rogue, and Tali is the only alien whose presence on the ship she doesn't object to on the ''Normandy''. Her only issues with Liara are being a romantic rival for a male Shepard and the daughter of an enemy; she urges Shepard to speak to her after Benezia's death.
** Ash also has trust issues in general, given her reaction to Shepard being involved with Cerberus in the second game and the fact she takes a long time to trust them again in the third. She herself describes her feelings as less "they're aliens" and more "we shouldn't become dependent on them". When push comes to shove, Ash will gladly accept their help, but in the long run, she knows that if they become desperate enough, they'll take care of their own first and leave humanity to fend for itself. The third game shows she's absolutely right, because almost every other species refuses to help humanity until Shepard solves their specific problem.
** She is the only teammate to question whether the mercenary Wrex and/or the cowboy cop Garrus should be allowed to be around sensitive areas of the ''Normandy'' despite the ship being a turian/human project, is also the only teammate to snap at Liara in front of the rest of the team and has to be told to back off for wanting to tease Liara with a racial joke about asari promiscuity. Her being the only one to shoot Wrex makes it look worse in light of all the other details. She doesn't, however, have any concerns about Tali, who has either been allowed to join the team in front of Anderson, who had no comment, or has been assigned to work with Shepard by Udina.
** Her comments on the Citadel in Mass Effect 1 like "I can't tell the aliens from the animals" did not help players' impression of her.
** This trait seems to be [[CharacterDevelopment completely gone]] by ''3'', replaced with a distrust of Shepard because they were [[WhatTheHellHero working with Cerberus]]. She also states that she has difficulty in seeing synthetics as truly alive, although this sentiment is largely shared by the rest of the crew except EDI; many of the crew fought against the geth in the first game.
** She unequivocally hates the geth from the beginning of the series to the end. Her response if Shepard lets the quarians destroy them rather than helping them destroy the quarians or making peace between the two factions sums this up quite well. If taken on the Geth Consensus mission, she's also one of the squadmates (along with Garrus and Javik) who will immediately question Legion's motives and advise against trusting it.
--->'''Ashley:''' I know that wasn't an easy call for you, but I'm glad the quarians came out on top. I just can't see the geth as "real", you know? And ever since Eden Prime, losing the 212... I'll never forgive them for that.
** On the other hand, if Shepard chooses the quarians to die, she will be ''pissed'' because not only does she hate geth, but she was a CoolBigSis to Tali, and will tell Shepard she will ''never'' consider the geth anything but villains and to ''keep them the fuck away from her''.
* FirstGirlWins: If romanced.
* FriendlySniper: She can use sniper rifles, though cutscenes always show her wielding assault rifles.
* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: While far from naive and even somewhat cynical, she cannot comprehend what Cerberus hoped to accomplish [[spoiler:in Sanctuary on Horizon]] and considers her inability to do so what makes her human. [[spoiler:This is also revealed to more or less be the reason she feels she was justified in being angry with Shepard in the second game whereas Kaidan feels he overreacted; doing wrong for the right reasons is still doing wrong.]]
* GoodOldFisticuffs: Her sisters know fencing and aikido. Ashley knows Marine hand-to-hand and admits that she's "more or less a straight-up puncher".
* HangoverSensitivity: Shepard can find her on the floor after she's spent the night drinking some of Vega's mescal. Ash's response is to ask Shep not to speak so loudly... in between pained groaning.
* HeartbrokenBadass: If romanced by Shepard in the first game, it's clear that she took his death hard. It takes until half-way through the third game until she's ready to believe that Shepard is who he claims he is and trust him again.
* HeroWorshipper: To Shepard with the War Hero background.
** She angrily berates a colonist in ''[=ME2=]'' who insults Shepard, declaring that they're in the presence of a ''god''. [[BrokenPedestal She stops being this after that, however.]] Less than a minute after that, in fact.
* HiddenDepths: Her views on human/alien interaction actually delve much deeper than simple racism. While she has trust issues, her views fall more along the line of "we shouldn't become too dependent on them."
** She admonishes Shepard for thinking that just because she is capable of shooting someone between the eyes from 400 yards, it doesn't mean she can't like ''poetry''.
* HighlyConspicuousUniform: Her default armor in the first game is white and pink. ''[[HighlyVisibleNinja Pink]]''. Justified in that, according to the armor's description, it's supposed to be for medics. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation But Ashley doesn't have the Medicine talent.]]
* ImprobableAge: [[AllThereInTheManual Supplementary material]] says she's 25 in the first game, which is really pushing the suspension of disbelief if she's a senior NCO.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: In the third game, to cope with the impending Reaper attack, James gives her a bottle of alcohol. She drinks the whole bottle.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: In conversation about her sisters with Colonist Shepard, she might acknowledge that talking about her family to them is a little thoughtless, given Shepard's family were all killed in the raid on Mindoir.
* InTheBack: She'll kill [[spoiler: Wrex]] this way if Shepard orders her to or takes too long [[spoiler: to talk him down]].
* InTheBlood: She's a fourth generation Marine. She even invokes it during her encounter with Shepard on Horizon in ''2''.
-->'''Ash:''' I'm an Alliance soldier. It's ''in my blood''.
* IRegretNothing: [[spoiler:Her last words if she dies on Virmire.]]
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: [[spoiler:Her goodbye if Shepard chooses to save Kaidan instead of her on Virmire.]]
* IUhYouToo: She and Shepard do this. They "want each other to be happy".
* JerkassHasAPoint: She comes across as quite cynical and distrustful at times, but a few of her observations turn out to be right:
** As harsh as she was about it, Ashley was correct that the Illusive Man was using Shepard's gratitude about the [[BackFromTheDead Lazarus Project]] to manipulate Shepard, ''and'' that he conspired with the Collectors to cause the attack on Horizon (which TIM himself will freely admit once the mission is over). The Illusive Man's manipulations even become increasingly transparent if Shepard argues for destroying the Collector base, and his supportive demeanor fully cracks if the base truly is destroyed. The jerkass part was born from Ashley being [[LockedOutOfTheLoop left in the dark on several essential details]], due to Liara not telling anyone about the events of ''Redemption'', and some of the things she considers (such as Cerberus having secretly brainwashed Shepard or Shepard themselves being an impostor) ''are'' flat-out untrue, but Ashley had no way of actually knowing that and the fact that Miranda had to be explicitly ordered not to do so makes it a valid concern. [[spoiler:Furthermore, she won't back down on her comments on Horizon the way Kaidan will in ''[=ME3=]'', feeling she had every right to react the way she did since Cerberus were still pretty bad people to work with regardless of Shepard's intentions]].
** In ''Mass Effect 1'', she expresses distrust of the Citadel races and believes that relying on them for help is foolish, on the grounds that the aliens would inevitably abandon humanity in favor of protecting themselves. She likens it to a human siccing their beloved dog on a bear to cover their own escape, because as much as the human may love the dog, it still isn't a person. Later in the game she spells out that in this situation, Saren is the bear which the Council are siccing humanity (the dog) on. [[spoiler:In the third game, she's right again. In the opening days of the galaxy-wide Reaper invasion, the federation of the Citadel threatens to break down as every race turns inwards to protect their own territories, leaving humanity alone as the Reapers prioritize the harvest of Earth. It takes Shepherd roaming the galaxy, solving everyone else's problems first, before most of the other races agree to pool their resources into a united war effort.]]
** She also asks that the non-human members of the crew be kept away from any important areas of the ship, on the ground that the Normandy is an Alliance vessel first and foremost and as such its secrets should stay within the Alliance. Fast-forward to the third game, and a description blurb notes that the Quarian Fleet's cloaking technology is "suspiciously similar" to that of the Normandy, implying that Tali ''did'' steal some of its secrets for the Migrant Fleet.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Depending on your choices on Virmire. It's also possible to shoot her midway through the third game when Udina turns traitor but it's not too hard to avoid.]]
* KnightInSourArmor: She's bitter and distrustful of aliens and the Council, but is dedicated to her job and is willing to lay down her life to do the right thing.
* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: If Shepard has the War Hero background, she has a little hero worship at the start of the first game.
* TheLancer: A dual role in the first and third games:
** Shares the role with Kaidan in the first game [[spoiler:until one of them is killed off]].
** Back in the part in ''3'', sharing with Garrus[[spoiler:, though one or both of them may be dead at this point]].
* LastNameBasis: Typically referred to as such in the first game, most often "Chief Williams" or "Williams".
* LettingHerHairDown: As of ''Mass Effect 3''. There's something amusing about James' "she's a fun girl when she actually lets her hair down", given he never met her onscreen before (their first exchange implies they knew each other already, but probably not for long -- presumably while Shepard was detained on Earth).
* LightningBruiser: In the third game, Ashley's weapon damage is second only to Garrus. Whether it's with her [[MoreDakka Marksman]] ability, or by using a combination of Disruptor Ammo, Inferno Grenades, and Concussive Shot in that order to chain together [[CombinationAttack Tech Bursts and Fire Explosions]], Ashley can cause large amounts of damage very quickly with no help from Shepard or the third squadmate. She also has the highest defenses of the five squad members that don't have a damage reduction power.
* LikeParentLikeSpouse: Coming from a family that has been {{military|brat}} for generations, one could argue her attraction to a Male Paragon Shepard is due to Ashley being instinctively drawn towards strong, determined men who are career military. If romanced, in the third game she believes that if her father were still alive, Shepard would be the ''first'' boyfriend her father would approve of and the two of them would get on like a house on fire.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: One of the main reasons why [[spoiler: the reunion on Horizon goes so badly]]. Shepard seems to be the only one to think it might be a good idea for Ashley to know what the hell is going on. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late since all that left her with were the reports Cerberus itself was leaking to keep Shepard away from their old contacts. In the third game, rectifying this is an essential part of getting back on her good side. The player also has the option of [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential continuing to leave her out of the loop]], [[spoiler: which potentially ends in her death because she can't be convinced that it's NotWhatItLooksLike]]. [[spoiler: This plays into helping diversify her from Kaidan in ''Mass Effect 3'' since, after dealing with corruption through most of the first game, she feels she was more than justified to rail at Shepard for seemingly leaving her in the dark]].
* TheLostLenore: Potentially. As Kaidan or Ashley will be the SacrificialLion for the first game, they can also be considered this if a romance was pursued and they died.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: The masculine girl to Kaidan's feminine boy. Ashley also has shades of this with a paragon [=MaleShep=].
* MeaningfulEcho: In the first game, Ash makes the page quote about how 'with all due respect' really means 'kiss my ass.' During the Extended Cut in the third game, when Ash [[spoiler: is injured during the run to the conduit]] and Shepard [[spoiler: orders her to evacuate]], retorts:
--> '''Ashley''': With all due respect, Commander...
* MilitaryBrat: Ashley is pretty quick to let you know that she's the fourth generation of Williams to be in the military.
* MoreDakka: Marksman (buffs accuracy and firing rate) is one of her unique powers in ''3''. This really comes into play if you give her an already fast-firing weapon like the Revenant or Typhoon.
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: With [[spoiler:Kaidan after Virmire. One of them ''will'' always die, so it's impossible to finish the game with both of them]].
* NobleBigotWithABadge: Obviously, her views are influenced by her family's DarkAndTroubledPast, but she believes that alien races are just as susceptible to FantasticRacism as humans are, and that humans should therefore be prepared to go it alone. In any event, she still has concrete standards (namely loathing for the direction the ''more'' racist Terra Firma party has gone, and an absolute refusal to work with Cerberus due to their terrorist activities). She is also a ConsummateProfessional in the field -- if you assign her to lead the salarian STG contingent on Virmire, they come away from it with nothing but respect for her.
* OneWomanArmy: [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome It happened offscreen]], but Ashley apparently [[spoiler:fought through Cerberus's soldiers completely on her own to reach the Council during the coup]].
* OptionalPartyMember: In the third game, after [[spoiler:being severely injured on Mars, she's absent until Udina's attempted coup, wherein she can actually be killed or, barring that, have her request to return to the ''Normandy'' refused, making her a War Asset]].
* OutOfFocus: Like Kaidan, Ashley has a central role in ''Mass Effect 1'''s plot, but plays a much more minor role in the sequels compared to the other original party members. The intended subplot about [[spoiler:the Illusive Man turning Shepard and Ashley against each other was significantly stripped down, most likely because of the number of [[IdiotBall Idiot Balls]] everyone involved had to grab to make the original plan work.]] Particularly jarring if you romanced her in the first game, though it can be [[DownplayedTrope mitigated significantly]] if the player goes to talk to her when she asks; [[spoiler:especially since she does work to explain her position - namely that, after having seen how the WellIntentionedExtremist beliefs affected Saren and Cerberus, she feels she had every right to chew Shepard out for being left in the dark when they looked to be on their same path]].
* OverrankedSoldier: Gunnery Chief (a senior NCO rank) is a somewhat implausible rank for a 25 year old woman to hold especially when she faces the kind of stigma that Ashley holds during a time of relative peace (i.e. before the geth attack on Eden Prime), and in the two years after ''Mass Effect'' is promoted to Operations Chief. And in ''Mass Effect 3'' this is taken even further as somehow, in the six months between ''Mass Effect 2'' and ''Mass Effect 3'', she is able to earn an officer's commission and be promoted to Lieutenant Commander. Note that this is three ranks above the starting officer's rank (it goes 2nd Lieutenant, 1st Lieutenant, Staff Lieutenant, THEN Lieutenant Commander) AND a rank that normally takes many years to earn even for people who began their careers as young Ensigns.
** It's possible that, since her technical scores are exemplary and she kept getting given crap assignments, the brass were trying hard to get her KickedUpstairs with a post on some backwater planet, where she wouldn't be much of a problem.
** Her promotion in ''3'' might be because being part of Shepard's crew opened a ''lot'' of doors for her, since it appears that the while the Alliance tried to hush up the crew about the Reapers, they only were actively trying to discredit ''Shepard''. It also seems that she was being prepared as a possible successor to Shepard as a Spectre. Or at least, Udina probably wanted a Spectre more amenable to his bidding.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Much like Garrus, she's an extreme badass and a fine leader [[spoiler:and, in the third game, gets inducted as a Spectre.]] But when Shepard is around, there's no doubt who's the boss, or [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership why.]] Exemplified if Shepard is the one to kill [[spoiler:Udina]], at which point they immediately take total charge of the situation.
** [[HiddenDepths She will also admit]] that she feels this way in regard to the rest of the crew in the first game. She fears she'll be ineffective against the geth since she can't use biotics or tech like the others.
* PairTheSpares: If unromanced, she can hook up with James in ''Citadel'' if encouraged (though there is no further mention of this, suggesting it was a one time thing).
* PetTheDog: If you talk to her after the Noveria mission, she'll tell Shepard to go comfort Liara [[spoiler:since her mother was killed there after succumbing to indoctrination]]. She also expresses a hope that having Tali on their team will improve people's views of quarians during one of the game's many long elevator rides. As well, she takes the Virmire assignment of leading an assault force of salarians without complaint. In fact, the salarians come out of it with nothing but respect for her.
* PinkMeansFeminine: Subverted; her armor may be pink, but she's tough and hardly traditionally feminine.
* PrimAndProperBun: In the first two games, although Ashley herself is [[BrutalHonesty hardly prim and proper.]]
* ProperlyParanoid:
** Ashley does not trust the Council because she feels if push comes to shove, they will put the good of their own races ahead of humans. Come the third game, [[StrawmanHasAPoint she's proven right.]]
** When she appears in ''2'', Ashley warns Shepard that the Illusive Man is using the Reaper threat and Shepard's gratitude to control them. If she is taken to Cronos Station in ''3'', Ashley is not surprised to find a recording of the Illusive Man detailing his plans to make Shepard sympathetic to Cerberus.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Averted. If Shepard asks about her family in the first game, she relays the time one of her sisters was almost raped by her boyfriend Mike when they were teenagers, but thankfully the Williams sisters all knew self-defense. After Sarah flattened him for trying to rape her on a "romantic walk" in the woods and then flattened him on the pavement ''again'' when he tried to verbally and physically assault her in broad daylight over it, Sarah forgave him. If Shepard expresses apprehension over this, Ashley casually dismisses it, saying he was just a kid.
* RealMenLoveJesus: Though obviously not a man, she's very tomboyish and brings up her faith directly (though it's not spelt out to be Christianity). Shepard can either agree with her (citing there's "[[PrayerIsALastResort no atheist in a foxhole]]," and Shepard's been in plenty of them) or disagree with varying levels of rudeness.
* RealWomenDontWearDresses: Subversion. She's an undeniable badass and certainly never seen wearing a dress in the main games, but when Shepard mentions that he can't see her in a dress, she hesitates, saying "Damn straight you can't." This implies that she thinks she's ''supposed'' to be this way. If you pursue a relationship with her, she's also revealed to be a romantic at heart, while still keeping up appearances of being a hardass.
** Should Shepard romance Miranda in the second game after romancing her in the first, she angrily notes that when she goes into battle it's in ''armor'', not ''[[TakeThat swimwear]]''. Which is hypocritically hilarious if you use the alternative outfit for Ashley in combat (which is her skin-tight leather suit).
** Furthermore subverted in the ''Citadel'' DLC. If you take Ashley with you on the infiltration mission, she'll wear a dress. And if you ''don't'' take her, she'll say that she actually looks good in a dress and wishes she had an opportunity to wear it.
* RedOniBlueOni: The red to Kaidan's blue.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Potentially discussed; after learning about her family's backstory, Shepard can express concern that she hopes for an opportunity to fall on her proverbial sword in order to redeem her family name. [[spoiler:If she's the one left behind on Virmire, it has this effect]]. Not to mention news reports from the second game: [[spoiler:she's been awarded high honors by the salarian and turian governments for her willingness to give her life protecting aliens]].
* RefugeInAudacity: If she's taken to infiltrate the casino in ''[[{{DLC}} Citadel]]''. Her antics include feigning extreme drunkenness, loudly crying about a breakup, and brazenly hitting on a guard.
* RelationshipUpgrade: You can start a new romance with her in the third game regardless of history (the same applies to Liara and Kaidan, though Ashley's romance remains restricted to Male Shepard). "I'm just saying, we've been through a lot. I have to know -- are we going somewhere?"
* RelationshipValues: Possesses this with Shepard in ''3''. [[spoiler: It culminates in a Mexican Standoff. A high-value Ashley will side with you over Udina, while a lower one requires a reputation check, and if the reputation is too low, she will refuse to move and must be killed]].
* ReligiousBruiser: "Hey, if they're trying to find God, I'd be happy to speed them on their way."
* SemperFi: She's in the human military, so natch.
* SentencedWithoutTrial: When Shepard asks her about her grandfather after the First Contact War, she explains that as punishment for surrendering to the turians, the Alliance stripped him of his rank without a trial.
* SheCleansUpNicely: She got a major visual overhaul between ''2'' and ''3''.
* ShipperOnDeck: If Shepard romances her but later romances Tali, Ashley actually approves of their relationship due to her sisterly relationship with Tali.
* ShootTheDog:
** [[spoiler: She kills Wrex on Virmire to protect Shepard if Shepard either orders her to or is unable to talk Wrex down.]]
** [[spoiler: And if Shepard is unable to talk ''her'' down during the Cerberus attack in the third game, Shepard can do the same to her.]]
* ShoutOut:
** Her name is a reference to ''Franchise/EvilDead'''s protagonist. During the Virmire stage, she can also make a comment about her "[[Film/ArmyOfDarkness boomstick]]."
** She also romances Shepard with by quoting Walt Whitman (a.k.a. ''Film/DeadPoetsSociety'').
* ShutUpKiss: Invoked in the third game if the romance was continued.
--> '''Ashley''': Just shut up and kiss me.
* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: She could use shotguns in the first game, affectionately referring to her shotgun as her "boomstick", but she prefers assault rifles. She loses the ability to use shotguns in the third game.
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: Takes the more realistic viewpoint to Paragon Shepard's continual WideEyedIdealist nature.
-->'''Shepard:''' That's a pretty pessimistic way of looking at things, Chief.\\
'''Ashley:''' A pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist.
* SinsOfOurFathers: She is a pariah among the Alliance military because her grandfather was the only human commander to ever surrender to alien forces.
* SoProudOfYou: Her father salutes her after she becomes a Gunnery Chief, a higher rank than he could ever achieve.
* SoleSurvivor: Of her unit on Eden Prime and later, of the Council guard during the coup.
* SpaceMarine: As with all human soldiers in ''Franchise/MassEffect'', literally.
* StarCrossedLovers: With male Shepard in the second game if romanced in the first. Avoided in the third game only if a specific ending is chosen.
* StrawCivilian: Holds this view of non-military folk, particularly politicians. Granted, most of the time [[ProperlyParanoid she seems to be right.]] One elevator conversation has her complaining about how people are going about their daily lives despite the threat of the geth and Saren; other party members' responses vary, but Garrus in particular points out that this is the difference between military and civilian worldviews.
-->'''Ashley''': It's strange. The geth are attacking, and everyone around here is still worried about ordinary business.\\
'''Garrus''': You're military, Chief Williams. They're civilians. Civilians never believe the enemy is coming until they're at the gates.
* SurvivorGuilt: [[spoiler:If she's saved on Virmire, she will express this. In the third game, a conversation between her and Tali showcases her CharacterDevelopment on this regard, as she tells Tali that she can accept Kaidan's sacrifice because she would have done the same thing in his situation, and says that one day, Tali will have her turn to sacrifice herself.]]
* TakeThat: She gives one to [[HollywoodAtheist those who have a problem with people having religious beliefs.]]
* TokenReligiousTeammate: Mainly in the first game. It's not brought up so much in the third. She was going to have a conversation about Shepard's NearDeathExperience, but it got cut.
* TookALevelInBadass: At the start of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', she's a competent but unremarkable marine, and requires aid to survive against a couple geth troopers. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', assuming she survives, she's made a Spectre, essentially meaning she's declared humanity's second most competent agent behind Shepard themself.
* TookALevelInKindness: If romanced by a paragon Shepard in ''Mass Effect 1'', Ashley can get challenged on her views of aliens and end up adopting a more idealistic and accepting view towards them, to the point where she will be character arguing in favor of rescuing the council even if it means sacrificing human lives. Even if not romanced, she develops this way by herself, calling out Terra Firma for racism and getting along well with all her alien squadmates in the elevators.
* UnequalPairing: With Shepard. She also writes an e-mail to her sister warning about the possible implications of this, including possibly having to decide whether your loved one lives or dies. [[spoiler:This becomes HarsherInHindsight after Virmire, when she can potentially be saved because she's romanced, or sacrificed for a romanced Kaidan]]. It's technically averted in the third game, where both she and Shepard have the same rank of Lt. Commander, and the same position of Spectre.
* TheUnfairSex: If romanced previously, male Shepard calls her out on this attitude in ''3'', noting that if he chose to romance someone else in the second game, it was only because Ashley made her feelings abundantly clear on Horizon that they were ''over''.
* UnwittingPawn: Because Ashley was unaware of the Lazarus Project, the Illusive Man was able to turn her against Shepard by strategically leaking information about their survival, [[spoiler:something Udina follows up on if Shepard makes no attempt to reestablish their friendship with Ashley]].
* UpThroughTheRanks:
** Assuming she survived the first game, she goes from a gunnery chief (a grade of noncom) to a lieutenant commander.
** Played straight as she has this attitude to the Alliance, who blacklisted her family ever since Shanxi when her grandfather, General Williams, surrendered in order to save civilian lives. Ashley's struggle to prove herself to the Alliance gets to the point where Shepard can berate her in the first game for wanting to jump on grenades, if it'd mean redeeming the Williams name.
* VasquezAlwaysDies: [[spoiler:Not ''always'', but she is the only female squad member who can suffer a PlotlineDeath as early as the first game, while her girlier colleagues, Tali and Liara, don't face that possibility until part two and three, respectively.]]
* VindicatedByHistory: [[spoiler: InUniverse. If you choose to let her die in the first game, then by the second game she had become a martyr and face of the human fight on Virmire. She gets memorials in her name and all of her family's shameful past is forgotten and has been redeemed.]]
** [[spoiler: Also happens if she is still alive in the third game where she is promoted to Lieutenant Commander and eventually becomes the second human Spectre. She even lampshades it in the game that the Williams family curse is finally broken.]]
** And, perhaps most alarmingly, her FantasticRacism -- the idea that the other species of the galaxy will let Earth burn down if they have their own problems to solve -- is proven 100% accurate in the third game. And by that we mean, "is the ''entire plot'' of the third game."
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: Comes into play if you romance her, especially if she [[spoiler:kills Wrex.]]
* VitriolicBestBuds: An un-romanced male Shepard or a female Shepard can allow this relationship, especially once Shepard finds Ashley suffering from a hangover in Mass Effect 3.
--> '''Shepard''': You know, is it time to test the fire alarm? I think it is!\\
'''Ashley''': I'll pay you a million credits not to do that, sir/ma'am.\\
'''Shepard''': Two million credits, and we have a deal.\\
'''Ashley''': You're a damn space pirate.\\
'''Shepard''': I could order Joker to sing to you over the comm.\\
'''Ashley''': I hate you.\\
'''Shepard''': "I hate you...?"\\
'''Ashley''': Sir/Ma'am.\\
'''Shepard''': As you were, Williams!
* WalkingArmory: In the first game. While everyone was required to carry all four possible weapon types, Ashley was the only squadmate with the potential to use all four effectively. This was removed in the third game when she was restricted to a ChoiceOfTwoWeapons like everyone else.
* WarriorPoet: Inherited her love of poetry, particularly Creator/WaltWhitman, from her father.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Basically has this with Shepard in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', which carries over to ''Mass Effect 3''.
-->'''James:''' You know the Commander?\\
'''Ashley:''' [[BrokenPedestal I used to]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: If she becomes a War Asset in 3, she doesn't appear again, and her fate after the battle for Earth is unknown. Particularly jarring in that, while the other teammates-turned-War Assets can be contacted before the final push, she cannot.]]
* WhatTheHellHero:
** If Shepard is played full Renegade towards her on Eden Prime, she'll call them out on it in the first conversation on the ''Normandy''. Whether Shepard apologizes is up to the player.
** She gets a brief one from Kaidan if she [[spoiler:kills Wrex]]. If she does so without being ordered, Shepard has the option of giving her one as well.
** [[spoiler: Like Kaidan, she doesn't take it well when she learns that Shepard had apparently faked their death to work for Cerberus in ''2''.]]
** If Shepard is forced to kill her in ''3'' when trying to arrest Udina, she says she had to take a stand like you did back in the day. If your relationship is negative, however, she instead gives Shepard these last words:
--->'''Shepard:''' Dammit Ash, he was with Cerberus.\\
'''Ash:''' So were ''you''. I hope the Reapers send you to ''HELL''. ''[dies]''
** Choosing the geth over Tali and the quarians will earn her outrage afterward aimed at Shepard.
* WithDueRespect: She provides the page quote for the Trope.
** Despite her opinion of this line (note her head quote above), she uses it at least twice. Once in the first game when discussing alien crewmembers, and again in the Extended Cut if she's the injured squadmate during the airlift scene.
--->'''Shepard:''' You've gotta get out of here!\\
'''Ashley:''' ''[[ICanStillFight With all due respect]]'', Commander...
** Though her line from above may be an intentional callback on her part to what she said in the first game about what people really mean when they say that. Which makes it a bittersweet funny moment.
* YouShallNotPass: [[spoiler:At the same time as Kaidan's. It's up to you whether she survives over him.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Liara T'Soni]]
!Dr. Liara T'Soni / The Shadow Broker
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%% Image kept on page per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16876359640.05516600
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/me_liara_charshot_0.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Give me ten minutes and I can start a war.]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/liara_war_room_5.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Her appearance post Shadow Broker]]
-->''"You were marked by the beacon on Eden Prime -- you were touched by working Prothean technology. That is why I find you so fascinating."''
-->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AliHillis (games), Creator/JamieMarchi (''Anime/MassEffectParagonLost'')
An [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe asari]] scientist, an expert on the Protheans, and a powerful biotic with powers that can only be matched by an Adept Shepard. Joins Shepard's team after being attacked by the geth. One of three characters who can join your party in all three games - permanently in ''1'' and ''3'', and temporarily in ''2'', via DLC. She is a [[BoldlyComing romance option for a Shepard]] of either gender in both ''Mass Effect'' and ''Mass Effect 3''. She is also the only trilogy character to be voiced in ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda''.
----
* ActionGirl: Prothean ruins are a popular target for pirates and mercenaries looking for quick cash. If you want to excavate them alone, you've got to know your way around a fight.
* AdventurerArchaeologist: Although she'd rather just be an archaeologist. She occasionally makes references to encounters with pirate gangs and hostile wildlife in unexplored systems. Which is actually shooting closer to the actual archaeologist's life in parts of the world.
-->'''Liara:''' Our travels now are somewhat different from my normal excavations. I would prefer lengthier studies... and fewer explosions.\\
'''Wrex:''' It's good for you. A nice explosion now and then keeps the mind sharp.\\
'''Ashley:''' I think you speak for scientists everywhere, Liara.
* AdrenalineMakeover: Compare Liara when you meet her in ''Mass Effect'' to Liara by the end of Lair of the Shadow Broker. Though of course whether the getting the guy/gal part gets played straight/averted/subverted/etc depends largely on the player's own choice.
* AffectionateNickname:
** In a manner of speaking. Whenever Shepard's being sarcastic, they will switch to calling her "Doctor" or "[[LastNameBasis T'Soni]]".
** Her mother calls her "Little Wing" [[spoiler:if she's with Shepard on Noveria when they're forced to kill her mother Benezia]]. Its origin is revealed in the third game by her "father" [[spoiler:Aethyta]].
---> '''[[spoiler:Aethyta]]:''' You're treating her like a baby bird, Nezzy, but she's gonna raise one hell of a storm with those little wings.
* AirVentEscape: How she's reintroduced in 3. While being chased by a pair of Cerberus operatives.
* AlienBlood: In the Extended Cut DLC when injured, she's shown with several blood-stains splattered across her body - which, due to the color of Asari blood, makes her look covered in grape jelly.
* AllForNothing: In ''1'', if you wait until the last possible moment to recruit her, she is enraged that she spent her entire life studying the Protheans only for the answers she was looking for to simply fall into Shepard's lap.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: It's implied throughout the trilogy that she falls in love with Commander Shepard regardless of whether or not you romance her. Obviously averted if you do romance her but played straight if you don't.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Due to being a "pureblood."
* AngerBornOfWorry: If romanced, she shows it, though in a subdued way, when Shepard dives into the ocean in ''Leviathan'', especially after they start coughing uncontrollably and going cold.
-->'''Liara:''' Don't EVER do that again.
* ApocalypticLog: [[spoiler: Made one for Alec Ryder during the events of the third game, just to be on the safe side.]]
-->'''Liara:''' [[spoiler: I don't know if you'll even receive this message, but we corresponded years ago. I remember you spoke about a plan to settle Andromeda. I don't know if your arks made it out of the Milky Way, but the worst has happened here. I'm with Commander Shepard and a brave crew. We're trying to build a weapon to turn the tide, but I fear that the civilization you remember, the people of the Milky Way as you knew them, could be gone forever. You may be all that's left. Please, don't forget us. Keep us alive in your hearts, and tell your children of the wonders that once were. [[ItHasBeenAnHonor On behalf of the crew of the Normandy SR-2, this is Dr. Liara T'Soni signing off]].]]
* ArbitrarySkepticism: [[spoiler: In the third game, Liara seems to be in complete denial when Javik reveals that the asari goddess Athame and her guide Lucen were actually Protheans. When Liara claims that it is impossible, he snarkily comments that it must be an amazing coincidence that the statues and artwork of their myths just happen to look exactly like ''him''. She even has the attitude if Javik isn't present, and the other squadmate points it out instead, saying they can't be ''sure'', even as the other squadmate gets increasingly tetchy with her.]]
* ArtEvolution: A subtle yet noticeable one. In Mass Effect 1 and 2, she had less striking features, such as lighter lips and eyes, pink around her face, and a rather standard casual uniform. Come ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', she has darker lips, intense blue eyes, more defined skin features, and wears a kickass yet sexy uniform.
* AsideGlance: Of gratitude when Shepard refuses to give her up to [[ThatOneBoss the krogan]] on Therum.
* AttemptedRape: Twice in ''Redemption''--a batarian and his cronies attempt to proposition/rape Liara. [[MuggingTheMonster Both times they end up dead]].
* BabiesEverAfter: Alluded to during her romance scene in ''Lair of the Shadow Broker''.
-->'''Liara:''' So, tell me what you want. If this all ends tomorrow, what happens to us?\\
'''Shepard:''' I don't know. Marriage, old age, and a lot of little blue children?\\
'''Liara:''' You just say these things!
* BadassAdorable: In the first game, she's easily flustered and generally socially awkward, especially when dealing with people outside her species. She's also a biotic death machine.
* BadassBookworm: For a girl who spends all of her time buried in her books, Liara is ''horribly'' deadly with her biotic powers. How badass is she, you say? She's the only other character besides Adept Shepard who can use [[GravityMaster Singularity]], and her other biotic powers rival or even surpass Samara's, who has daughters that are ''several centuries her senior''. She's powerful enough that she can send a powerful biotic [[spoiler: Spectre]] with armed backup running for her life. [[spoiler: Then again, her grandfather was a krogan]].
** Hell, from her comments about looking after herself when encountering pirates and looters at Prothean dig sites, she seems to be the Space Franchise/IndianaJones.
* BadassFamily: Liara's mother is said to be a powerful biotic even by asari standards [[spoiler:and proves to be a difficult opponent when the player fights her. Liara's father is also unusually powerful for an asari and once took down a krogan with a head-butt. Liara's paternal grandfather was a veteran of the Rachni Wars and both of Liara's paternal grandparents fought in the Krogan Rebellions, on opposite sides; they killed each other once he found out the truth.]]
* BaritoneOfStrength: Her voice becomes somewhat lower and huskier after the first game, to go along with her tougher and darker attitude.
* BattleAura: Uses her biotic glowing to dissuade some enemies a few times.
* BattleCouple: With Shepard if romanced.
* BestFriend: Throughout the trilogy, Liara, alongside Garrus and Tali, grows to be Shepard's most devoted associate and confidante, even if they aren't romantically involved, as evident in her unique ability to consistently get Shepard to drop TheStoic mask and to open up to her about [[TheChainsOfCommanding the constant stress and fears they're facing]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Yet again. Liara's a very demure young asari who is entirely capable of turning an entire horde of geth into tinfoil with her brain. Ask [[spoiler: the Shadow Broker]] how seriously crossing her tends to go. [[spoiler: [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt Oh wait, you'd just be asking her]]]].
** Doing a quest for her reveals that [[spoiler:one of her assistants is a mole. After informing her of this, the player can go to her office and find out that not only did Liara already kill her assistant, she disposed of her body as well. This is especially hilarious if Shepard calls her to identify the traitor from just outside her office as it can make it appear that she killed and disposed of her assistant in a matter of seconds]].
** Exemplified when you reunite with her in the third game. The Cerberus mooks that were chasing her in the air duct get swept up in a singularity and both take a shot in the chest as they flailed about. They fall to the ground, completely vulnerable to Liara. The demure little blue lady ''exudes'' cold blood in her facial expression as she casually [[DoubleTap double-taps]] the two mooks.
** Liara is capable of telekinetically lifting a Geth Colossus -- which is an armored war machine that single-handedly wipes out small armies, one-shots tanks, and is the size of a ''three-story building''.
** In the comics, she holds back [[http://www.narutoforums.com/xfa-blog-entry/mass-effect-feat-liara-tsonis-biotic-barrier.34048/ hundreds of tons of water]] with her biotics.
* BizarreAlienBiology: Asari reproduce by "melding", where they join their entire nervous system to their partner's and use the electrical impulses to randomize some of their own DNA for the offspring. Galactic science waffles on the subject, but it often turns out LamarckWasRight -- [[spoiler: Aethyta had a krogan father, and notes that she seems to have "a bit of his mouth."]]
** The asari are the setting's only innate telepaths, and they use it as part of the mating process. It's not only logical that asari daughters take after their parents psychologically, it's almost inevitable given the depth of the melding. That, or it has something to do with the fact that every asari that the players know take after an alien parent was also ''raised'' by said parent, making it NatureVersusNurture.
* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:By the time of ''Mass Effect 2'', she's much less innocent and kind as she's had a rough couple of years by then. Cranked up during the Fall of Thessia mission in the third game. She's a complete wreck even during the mission, to say nothing about after]].
* BreakThemByTalking: Liara manages to piss off the Yahg Shadow Broker by basically figuring out how it managed to get off of its home planet and become the new Shadow Broker, giving a [[SmugSmiler smug grin]] upon reminding him that he'd been used as a pet.
* BrokenBird: By ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' she has become one.
* BrokenPedestal: Javik is... not remotely what she expected from a Prothean. For a good while she tries to be neutral about it, but in the Ardat-Yakshi monastery she [[http://youtu.be/HuMWZZLkBnY hears him say]] that the Protheans would never let such monsters walk among them and rather acidly asks "They didn't care for the competition?"
** [[spoiler: After the fall of Thessia, she angrily calls out Javik for not even caring, that she's spent her entire life studying his people and feels like it was for nothing. He's a ''Prothean''... he was supposed to have all the ''answers'']].
** After ''that'', she [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Broker_Terminal#Prothean_Notes:_2186_-_Entry_4 grows up a little]], no longer feeling betrayed but also discarding the pedestal entirely.
** The Thessia mission is a shock even without Javik. [[spoiler: Learning that her government's been breaking its own laws about Prothean technology for centuries rocks her entire worldview]].
** Both are tied closely. Liara has this view of what a culture she idolizes is like, and it very much corresponds the image the Asari in general try to present to outsiders, a peaceful, fostering, advanced, spiritual and scholarly culture. She projects those ideals on the Protheans and on her own people, and she reacts poorly when both fail to meet her expectations, the Protheans by being militaristic and imperialistic, and the Asari by having hoarded knowledge in secret for their own benefits and their spirituality being nothing but a sham from the Protheans who uplifted them.
* CameBackWrong: One of Liara's fears regarding [[spoiler: Shepard, after having handed the Commander's corpse over to Cerberus for the Lazarus Project. However, if she's romanced she says she knew it was really Shepard since the first time she touched them again]].
* TheCameo:
** Is the only main party member from all 3 games to make one in ''Anime/MassEffectParagonLost''.
** In ''Andromeda'', you can come across some audio lectures on studying extinct civilizations, back from when Liara was just an obscure archaeologist. She also [[spoiler:sent Alec Ryder a message during the events of the third game.]]
* CaptainObvious: During parts of ''Lair of the Shadow Broker.'' Frequently lampshaded by Shepard.
* CharacterDevelopment: In the first game, Liara is a stuttering, bookish, nerdy girl (justified, since by asari standards, she's little more than a teenager). [[spoiler:In the second, she has become a ruthless information trader, but her tough attitude is revealed to be a defense mechanism if you romanced her in the first game.]] And by the third, she's double-tapping Cerberus mooks without batting an eyelash.
* CharacterFocus: Becomes more and more prominent over the course of the series to the point where she becomes the {{Deuteragonist}}.
* CharacterTic: Whenever something fascinates her, she adopts what could best be described as a standing up variation of the ThinkerPose.
* ChildProdigy: According to her, her intelligence was noticeable even in her youth. In fact, by asari standards she is still very young (human equivalent of around 19, even though her true age is over a hundred) when she meets Shepard.
-->'''Liara:''' Most scientists dismiss my work. But I'm young and asari, and they're getting older, so we'll see who has the final word.
* TheConfidant: Notably, Liara is the only person Shepard will open up to, as they drop their [[TheStoic stoic]] facade to confess their true feelings on the war against the Reapers.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: In the second installment, where she's somehow become an information broker despite no prior evidence that she had any skills in the field. (she does mention horizontal skill application, her talents in handling data and information for her archaeological digs, putting together information and clues from various worlds and discoveries, is very similar to what information brokers do but with more recent information with living creatures) [[spoiler: If the terminals around the Shadow Broker's ship is any indication, she also doesn't seem to stop some of his business practices]].
** Still presented sympathetically given that she had to do this to succeed as an information broker and [[spoiler:also only uses the resources of the Shadow Broker to help the war effort]].
* CutsceneIncompetence: Along with CutscenePowerToTheMax. A really weird hybrid occurs when you first rescue her in VideoGame/MassEffect1. You're confronted directly by a Krogan Battlemaster and a small squad of Geth Shock Troopers after exiting the room you found her in via an elevator. In the cutscene right before the fight begins, you see her start glowing with a blue aura and balling her fists, which usually means she's about to unleash a biotic attack. Then the gameplay actually starts and she just cowers on the floor while the battlemaster charges you.
** However, she had been in a stasis field for a ''while'' by this point, so it's possible she flared her biotics in an attempt to fight back but the strain of doing so was simply too exhausting. The Codex and ''3'' mention that biotics require a higher calorie intake to keep their abilities at full strength, it's safe to say she's not at her full strength during that scene.
*** MyGreatestFailure: During the Shadow Broker DLC, Liara tells Shepard she was ashamed that all she could do was cower in a corner while they fought the battlemaster.
* DatingCatwoman: Technically, this is her romance with Shepard in ''2''. They're a law-abiding Spectre while Liara's [[spoiler: the Shadow Broker]]. However, [[UndyingLoyalty it makes no problems between them]] because they care for each other too much.
* ADayInTheLimelight: ''Mass Effect: Redemption'' and ''Lair of the Shadow Broker.'' In the third game, she's also a mandatory squadmate in the missions on Thessia and Eden Prime.
* DeadpanSnarker: She becomes this in ''2'', and doesn't hold back from that point.
-->'''Shepard:''' That phone call was pretty damning stuff. How'd you get it?
-->'''Liara:''' It involved the weapon's biometric data, salarian intelligence, and a hanar prostitute with camera implants
-->'''Shepard:''' (*beat*) Seriously?
-->'''Liara:''' No, but the truth is boring.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Undertakes this position by ''3''. It can also be argued she's one for the trilogy as a whole despite only being a DLC squadmate in ''2'', thanks to her critical role in stopping the Reaper threat and her close relationship with Shepard even if you treat her like dirt as a Renegade; behavior that becomes less pronounced as the games go on in regards to how they treat their squadmates.
* DevelopersDesiredDate: Liara is perhaps the one romance option most favored in the series. Aside from being instinctively drawn towards Shepard due to their contact with the Prothean Beacon, she has PlotArmor that prevents her from dying until the very end of the series and gets a lot of interactions with Shepard.
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: In the first game, Liara's attempts to explain why she's so interested in you in purely scientific means leads to a series of flustered, ever-escalating [[DoubleEntendre double entendres]].
* DamselInDistress:
** You recruit her by rescuing her from a horde of bad guys, she doesn't fight once throughout the entire level, and she almost faints even after you've got her on the ship. Add this to her general naivete and she seems like the poster child for this trope. [[BewareTheNiceOnes Then you actually take her into battle,]] and quickly realize that [[BadassInDistress she can take care of herself.]] Lair of the Shadow Broker has her suggest that she's ashamed she had to rely on Shepard back then, like she is now. It should be noted that when you rescue her, she's unarmed and fatigued from being held immobile for goodness knows how long (if you save that mission for last, she thinks she's hallucinating Shepard's party).
--->'''Kaidan:''' When was the last time you ate? Or slept?
* DoubleTap: How she finishes off a pair of Cerberus operatives chasing her during her reintroduction in [=ME3=]. [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill After having already trapped them in a singularity and shot them center mass in mid-air.]]
* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:With Cerberus, to save Shepard's body from the Shadow Broker and the Collectors. The fact that she beats herself up over handing Shepard's corpse to the Illusive Man explains in part her behavior during the second game]].
* FailedASpotCheck: Notable if you bring Javik to Thessia.
--> '''Liara''': Incredible, the Beacon seems to think you are Prothean, Shepard. It must be from the Cipher you got back on Feros, all those years ago.\\
'''Javik''': [[DeadpanSnarker Or it could be the Prothean standing right next to you]].
** Possibly [[SubvertedTrope subverted]], as the Beacon works the same way even without Javik being present, so she is probably right in this regard. Still funny though.
* FamedInStory: By ''3'', her research on the Protheans has become the stuff of ''legend''. One datapad found on Mars has a scientist [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee practically squeeing]] about getting the chance to work with her. In ''Andromeda'', Sara Ryder recognizes her name due to her time spent body-guarding archaeologists (as opposed to Scott, who doesn't).
* FighterMageThief: In ''3'', she is the Mage to James' Fighter and EDI's Thief in the triad of party members you are guaranteed to have.
* FlingALightIntoTheFuture: Taking a cue out from the Protheans in ''3'' she plants several time capsules across many worlds to warn future species in the event that the Reapers aren't stopped. She even has a section devoted to the heroics of Shepard, and you can tell her how wish it told. [[spoiler:If you choose the Refusal ending in ''3'', it turns out that her capsules are successful, and the next cycle defeats the Reapers]].
* {{Foil}}:
** Liara and Tali have character traits that play off one another. In the original game, Liara was cast as the dorky [[TheCutie Cutie]] who loved Shepard and practically worshipped the ground they walked on. But, after she took a DarkerAndEdgier path in the second game, all of those traits fell to Tali. Further, they are both extremely smart and capable women, but extreme opposites in gameplay. Liara is a powerful SquishyWizard with exceptional biotic abilities. Tali is a GadgeteerGenius specced entirely toward Tech. Even their firearms contrast: Liara wields a pistol used at a safe distance, while Tali is outfitted with a ShortRangeShotgun, meaning that even having both in the squad at once means the team is prepared for every conceivable obstacle.
** During the course of ''Mass Effect 3'' Tali can play a large role in retaking her homeworld - in the best case anyway. Shortly therafter, Liara loses her world to the Reapers and rather unfairly blames herself for this. This even gets {{Lampshaded}} by Tali, by pointing out that she might not be the best person to comfort Liara given the irony of the situation.
* FriendlessBackground: Liara admits that she never had friends before because of her [[FantasticRacism heritage as a pureblood]] and was often made fun of because of her interest in science.
* GayOption: For female Shepard.
* GeniusBruiser: She is a briliant scientist, who also happens to have enough biotic power to, essentially, ''lift a freaking ocean''
* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Liara seems to be on the brink of this in the first game if you decide to rescue her after the rest of the main story missions. By the time you get there, she's completely convinced you're a realistic hallucination. So, yes, all that time you spent flying around, she's been locked in stasis.
* GoodAllAlong: Throughout the first game Liara's loyalty is often called into question because she's [[TheDragon Benezia's]] daughter. In the end, she proves she's a hero by doing all she can to fight the Reapers.
* GlassCannon: She isn't the best at avoiding ''or'' taking damage, but her biotic abilities pack quite a punch, and she arguably has the most powerful PsychicPowers of anyone to serve on the Normandy.
* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: She's got blue skin and is regarded as attractive by most other characters.
* GuestStarPartyMember: In the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC mission in the second game.
* {{Handgun}}: One of her weapon types in the third game, along with submachine guns. In the first game, she was just as terrible with handguns as she was with every other gun, though their innate accuracy still made them her go-to weapon.
* HeadbuttingHeroes: She doesn't get along very well with Javik after [[spoiler: the Fall of Thessia]].
* TheHeart:
** Though she doesn't shrink from the fighting, she's (usually) the one who advocates Paragon options, and is generally the "can't we talk this over" squad member.
** There's one exception in the first Mass Effect game: if, during a major Paragon/Renegade choice (like what to do with the [[spoiler:Council]], for example), your other squadmate is Kaidan, Kaidan will advocate the Paragon option and ''Liara'' will go for the Renegade option. If your other squadmate is anyone other than Kaidan, Liara will always go Paragon.
* HeroicBSOD: After the [[spoiler: Fall of Thessia. Her homeworld is burning, she and Shepard have failed their mission, and Kai Leng casually slapped her aside and took the vital Prothean data. On top of all that, the Illusive Man coldly held his successes over her while all she was able to do in response is threaten him over a hologram]].
* HeroWorshipper: Towards Shepard ''big time''.
** In ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', it's shown that her apartment is filled with souvenirs of her travels with Shepard from the first game, Prothean relics, a painting of Ilos, fragments of Shepard's N7 armour and a framed picture of the ''Normandy'' on her bedside cabinet. At the end of the mission, she returns Shepard's dog tags to them, saying she got it from Admiral Hackett. Why she would bother to retrieve that from him probably says a lot about how highly she regards Shepard.
** In the third game, she programs a series of time-capsules to be sent across the galaxy in case the mission fails, with one whole section of the archive devoted ''solely'' to tales of Shepard's exploits. If Shepard encourages her to be the one to decide how they will be remembered, she practically gushes over them.
* HiddenBuxom: If her later appearances in the series are any indication, her scientist uniform in the first game was very effective at concealing her figure, though it may also be that the armor on Liara's new outfit is making her look more endowed than she actually is.
* HiddenDepths: ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' features this in abundance.
* HiddenHeartOfGold: She adopts a facade in [=ME2=] to allow herself to operate in Illium's underworld. "You're threatening to flay people alive now?" Comes back to bite her on the ass when her father mentioned that bluff or no, it made the asari higher-ups nervous enough to consider assassinating her. Her father convinced them not to go through with it.
--> '''Liara:''' ''[flustered]'' I had to make them take me seriously. I wasn't going to actually do it.
* HomosexualReproduction: Both her mothers are asari. [[FantasticRacism Which is why she's shunned so much, as asari-asari relationships restrict genetic diversity]]... and have a higher chance of causing genetic defects like the [[OutWithABang Ardat-Yakshi]].
** Monogendered asari are "female" in the eyes of every other race, possessing the same sex organs and characteristics as would be expected for mammalian females, though one asari serves as the "father," and upon meeting her, she doesn't know who her mother Matriarch Benezia's partner was.
** Ultimately averted. Her "father" is [[spoiler:shown in the third game to be Matriarch Aethyta, the bartender from Illium and then the Presidium, assigned to keep an eye on Liara after Benezia went evil]]. Even though Liara's father is "female," she is very adamant that she is Liara's father, not her second mother, because she "didn't pop her out". When Shepard mentions that humans would call her Liara's "other mother," [[spoiler:Aethyta says "Well I'm not human, am I? [[SophisticatedAsHell Anthropocentric bag of dicks.]]"]]
* HotBlooded: Liara definitely comes across as this in the second and third game. [[spoiler: Matriarch Aethyta]], her father, believes that this is because she's a quarter-krogan. "Well, don't go all blood rage on me."
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: In the ''Redemption'' comic, when Feron tries to warn her that Cerberus is a pro-human hate group, she simply responds "I wouldn't call them a hate group, exactly". Potentially after witnessing their crimes firsthand in the first game, and after dozens of Cerberus agents tried to kill her.
* {{Hypocrite}}: At the end of ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', if the player chooses a certain dialogue option, Liara calls Ashley/Kaidan shortsighted for not trusting Shepard. It doesn't seem to occur to Liara that she could have prevented that whole conflict if it hadn't been for her own shortsightedness in obsessing over revenge to the point of forgetting to tell any of Shepard's other companions what was going on.
* HypocriticalHumor: One of her recordings in ''Andromeda'' has her describing how one can't let their own perceptions color opinions about the Protheans. Naturally, her following summation of them is her biased interpretation of them as ''obviously'' benevolent and enlightened.
* IconicOutfit: The primarily white suit she wears first during the Shadow Broker DLC and then all throughout the third game has far overshadowed her original clothing in the first game.
* IncompatibleOrientation: Can be invoked in the first game by Female Shepard when Liara reveals her feelings to the Commander.
* TheIngenue: Shy, sweet, and easily flustered? Yep.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: During an elevator conversation with Kaidan, she remarks that having a turian drill instructor at [[TrainingFromHell BAaT]] was probably better than an asari, apparently not knowing that said turian was a terrible instructor, massively racist, and wound up getting killed by Kaidan in self-defense because of said racism.
* InUniverseCatharsis: ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' provides closure for Liara's two years of mourning, grief and pain after Shepard's death.
* {{Irony}}: She's first encountered trapped in a Prothean force field. One of her main abilities is ''Stasis''.
* IShallTauntYou: When confronting the Shadow Broker, she [[spoiler: brings up his status as the previous Broker's "pet", triggering his BerserkButton.]] Judging by the files on him, [[spoiler: wherein the previous Broker warned him to watch his temper and that losing it costs him his better judgment, he would have been a far more dangerous opponent in the subsequent battle if Liara hadn't pissed him off]].
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy:
** If you have progressed far enough in the romance with Ashley or Kaidan by the time you get her romance dialogue, she admits she has a huge crush on Shepard but gracefully backs down, saying it is obvious Shepard already has strong feelings for Ashley/Kaidan and that she doesn't want to come between them.
** Also, in the second game, whether Shepard cheated on her or remained faithful to her, she will tell them that if they want to move on, she can accept that and be happy for them.
* ImpliedLoveInterest: Being the only character you can initiate a romantic relationship with across all three games when including DLC, her importance to the narrative by ''3'', and boasting a staggering amount of scripted dialogue with Shepard, romance or not, depicts her as the clear favorite of the dev team. Her final goodbye before the very last mission also has romantic undertones, should you choose to accept it, no matter what. She's also one of few characters who survives to the end no matter what, unless you have low EMS or pick the Refusal ending.
* ItGetsEasier: In the first game, she's one of the least experienced squadmates. In the third, she's introduced stoically and efficiently killing Cerberus troops. If she never talks with Aethyta, she and Wrex have this to say in ''Citadel'':
-->'''Liara:''' Killing people gets less troubling after the first few hundred.\\
'''Wrex:''' It does indeed.
* KarmaHoudini: Liara caused a ''lot'' of trouble when [[PoorCommunicationKills she didn't tell any of the SR1's alumni about the Lazarus Project]]. She is never called out or faces any consequences for it, and even Kaidan/Ashley, the squadmate who suffered the most from being left in the dark, remains on friendly terms with her and doesn't even give a WhatTheHellHero.
* KnightInSourArmor: Becomes this by ''3'' after going through a BreakTheCutie in between ''1'' and ''2'' and getting her InUniverseCatharsis in ''Lair of the Shadow Broker''.
* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee:
** When on Ilos, every other party member remarks on how creepy and ''wrong'' the planet feels. Not Liara. She wants to go over everything with a fine-toothed comb.
** Her reaction to meeting [[spoiler:Javik, a living Prothean, in ''3'']]. Lampshaded by ''everyone'', with Shepard joking that they'll hand over questions to Liara because she looks like she's about to explode.
--> '''Joker''': So has Liara stopped bouncing yet? I'm guessing there may have been some bouncing.
* KnightTemplar: During the interim between the first and second game, though Paragon Shepard can pull her back from this.
* KnowledgeBroker: Becomes one in the second game to get revenge on the Shadow Broker for [[spoiler: his part is stealing Shepard's body and what he did to her friend]]. Regardless of whether or not Shepard aids her against the Broker, [[spoiler: Liara defeats him and inherits his power base, information network, and contacts, turning her into one of the most powerful people in the galaxy]].
* LadyOfBlackMagic: The demure Liara qualifies by the third game. She's an Adept who focuses on devastating enemies with biotic powers, and, by then, wears a graceful white outfit and has become more stoic and composed.
* LadyOfWar: Her ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' outfit, which is also her default attire in ''Mass Effect 3'', gives her a graceful aura. Having biotic powers and being a member of the most graceful race in the galaxy give her bonus points too.
* LightIsGood: Her outfits are all white and bright colors, showing her heroic character.
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Throughout the duration of ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', there is frequent humorous banter and interaction between Shepard and Liara.
* LikeMotherLikeDaughter: Her mother, Benezia, was an influential asari theologian before her FaceHeelTurn. [[spoiler:Her father, Aethyta, is a skilled spy with high-level contacts and is unafraid and very willing to resort to violence as needed.]]
* LonersAreFreaks: Subverted of course since she's a necessary party member, but in her childhood she was thought of as a weirdo because of her admiration for science. Liara admits that she doesn't fit in with others, but Shepard [[VideoGameCaringPotential can coax her out of this]].
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Is very young for an asari at over a century old, and can have a romantic relationship with Shepard, who is only in their early thirties. Like most asari, she chooses not to dwell on the fact that she will probably outlive Shepard by a very, very long time.
* TheMedic: Her class skill in the first game adds to the amount of HP healed by medigel on top of the first aid ability.
* MeaningfulName: Her name may be derived from the Hebrew name "Liora", which means "I have a Light". Shepard, romanced or not, is her guide and primary motivation throughout the games.
** In ''1'', she is fascinated by Shepard because they have been touched by a Prothean beacon, and later get to possess the Cipher. It is also then she developed a crush on them.
** The whole plot of Redemption is about Liara [[HeroWorshipper refusing to let Shepard go]].
** In ''2'', when she has lost Shepard, she becomes [[TookALevelInJerkass noticeably darker]]. After the events of Lair of the Shadow Broker, she returns to a lighter mood. [[spoiler: The possible kiss scene is even bathed in light amidst the dark]]
** In ''3'', she openly admits that if it could save her homeworld, she could become like the Illusive Man. However she keeps to her vow to use her influence to help Shepard rather than [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope fix the problems as she sees fit]]. After [[spoiler: the Fall of Thessia]] only Shepard can push her into regaining composure and acting productively.
-->'''Liara:''' Shepard I... I'm yours...
* AMillionIsAStatistic: {{Downplayed}}. She's sympathetic to the losses inflicted by the Reaper invasion, but she isn't really shaken until she sees it first-hand on the asari home planet of Thessia. This despite having seen it first-hand on Earth (from Mars), Palaven (from Menae), Tuchanka and Rannoch -- and being a RequiredPartyMember on the first two.
* MindOverMatter: Usually holds the spot of most powerful biotic on your squad.
* MinoredInAsskicking: Most people find it more than a little odd that an archaeologist would be so good at combat. Then Liara points out that, since they have potential for containing incredible technology, Prothean ruins are popular targets for pirates and mercenary raids. And Liara has worked in Prothean ruins. Alone. For decades. It also helps that she is from a race of natural biotics, and she is the offspring of two powerful matriarchs.
* MsFanservice: Her romance scenes are by far the most revealing out of any character in the game, and she's notably the only character in ''3'' to get completely naked. Also, in the first game she has a unique fidget animation where she puts a hand behind her head and stretches in a way that shows off her body. Neither of the other female party members have any such animations.
* NerdsAreSexy: Considering that she's attractive and loves science, this trope was bound to follow.
* NeverMyFault: Liara has a tendency to blame others for things that she is responsible for: She yells at Javik frequently for not being what she wanted in a Prothean, but also criticizes Ashley/Kaidan for [[spoiler: their distrust of Shepard when Shep is working for Cerberus in the 2nd game, even though she'd given Shepard over to Cerberus two years ago, and never told Ashley/Kaidan about it.]]
* NoSocialSkills: In the first game. Thanks to a mix of a lonely childhood, long periods of working alone and just what's implied to be natural cluelessness, Liara has very little idea of how to interact with people. At all. Naturally, the time skip between ''1'' and ''2'' means she grows out of this.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Her romance shows that Liara's not really as high and mighty in terms of personality as she seems to other characters. She seems to enjoy ''both'' Paragon Shepard's and [[ActuallyPrettyFunny Renegade Shepard's]] sense of humor.
--> '''Liara:''' I don't want to put pressure on you.
--> '''[[DeadpanSnarker Shepard]]:''' I have fond memories of the last time you put pressure on me.
--> '''Liara:''' (Smirks) So do I.
* NotSoSimilar: In ''3'', if she's brought along to Cronos Station, she momentarily wonders if she would go as far as the Illusive Man has if it would save Thessia. Shepard is quick to tell her otherwise.
-->'''Shepard:''' You're not the same as him. You never could be.
* NotSoStoic: Still has moments of genuine emotion namely [[spoiler: when she and Shepard kill the Shadow Broker, when she hooks up with you later in the Shadow Broker DLC, hearing about a colony that [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled nuked itself rather than face the Reaper invasion]], when Thessia is attacked by the Reapers, and during certain romantic scenes in the third game]].
* NotThatKindOfDoctor: Her doctorate is in archaeology.
* NumberTwo: In ''Mass Effect 3'', she acts as an unofficial XO for the Normandy, with her office in Miranda's old quarters.
* OffhandBackhand: In ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', she uses her biotics to swat aside a Broker Agent without even looking as she runs past, while pursuing [[spoiler:Tela Vasir]].
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: If Shepard never goes through ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', then [[spoiler: Liara assembles a mercenary army and takes down the Broker herself.]]
* OlderThanTheyLook: During the first game, she's 106 years old, which would make her 109 in the third, "barely more than a child." Asari live for about a thousand.
--> '''Ashley:''' Damn, I hope I look that good when I hit your age!
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist:
** Averted. In Peak 15, she may say the following upon the end of the first engagement against the [[spoiler:rachni]]:
--->'''Liara:''' Xenobiology is not my field. Maybe someone in the labs knows.
** Appears again in the third game, where she explains on Eden Prime the difference between an archaeologist and a paleontologist upon being asked about fossils, only to realize midway through her explanation that the one who asked was just kidding.
** While she most likely understands written Prothean, she cannot understand the spoken language and relies on Shepard to explain that a VI recording found on Ilos was a distress signal.
* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Liara threatening to flay a human alive on a vidcall gets thrown back in her face by Aethyta, who tells her saying things like that made the Asari leadership nervous.
* OneWomanArmy: Tears through a couple dozen mercenaries during the events of the interquel comic, ''Redemption''.
* OpenSecret: By the third game, everyone and their mum seems to know that she's the new [[spoiler: Shadow Broker]].
* OutGambitted: [[spoiler: No matter what Shepard does, she ends up being outsmarted by the Illusive Man. The entirety of the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' was a gambit by the Illusive Man to get Liara to kill off his biggest rival and gain his assets, potentially while wasting a company of mercenaries in the process. She had to sacrifice her base and most of her resources to stop him from obtaining them. He still manages to track her down and dispatches troops to finish her off on Mars (albeit incidentally; their primary mission was the Mars Archive). When Shepard finds her, she's the only survivor in a base overrun by Cerberus operatives with no way out]].
* ParentalAbandonment: She never knew her second parent's identity, only her species (another asari -- a major societal no-no, because asari value genetic diversity [[spoiler:and also because that's where Ardat-Yakshi come from]]) and her relationship with her mother was apparently strained. [[spoiler:And that was ''before'' Benezia joined up with Saren and co.]] In the third game, Shepard can find out that her father is [[spoiler:Matriach Aethyta]], and encourage Liara to go talk to her, because at that point, as the Shadow Broker, she does know who her father is.
* PlatonicLifePartners: If not romanced, Liara will have this type of relationship with Shepard by default.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Liara apparently didn't think the rest of the old team needed to know about the events of ''Redemption'', so when Cerberus began leaking information to isolate Shepard from their old contacts, Ashley/Kaidan didn't have the information they needed to see through it. This likely comes from her desire for vengeance distracting her from anything else, as even when Shepard does come to see her, she is clearly distant and almost completely focused and hunting for the Broker. [[NeverMyFault She remains oblivious even after the Shadow Broker is dealt with]] [[{{Hypocrite}} and has the nerve to criticize Kaidan/Ashley for being shortsighted]]. She then wastes a six-month TimeSkip that could have been used to repair some of the damage she caused.
* PowerPerversionPotential: If romanced, Liara is revealed to use biotics during sex.
* PracticallyDifferentGenerations: With her unseen half-sister. Liara states that her age of 106 is a very young adult by asari standards, and Liara was born after her parents had already been together for over a century. This means Liara's sister would have been over a hundred when Liara was born; roughly the same age Liara is during the trilogy. Given [[spoiler: Aethyta's]] advanced age, the difference between Liara and her sister is likely even greater than the minimum.
* PragmaticHero: In the second and third game.
** Softens up at least a little in the third game, becoming a KnightInSourArmor. She has the dubiously legal [[spoiler:Shadow Broker]] resources at her disposal, but uses them to help the war effort, and shows empathy toward all victims of the Reaper invasion.
* RagnarokProofing: Designed her own version of the [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture Prothean Beacon]], in case they failed to stop the Reapers. [[spoiler: Judging from the Stargazer scene or the Refusal Ending, they performed their task admirably]].
* RedeemingReplacement: [[spoiler: To the Shadow Broker, though she wasn't interested in redeeming his name so much as she thought that the organization was too useful to let go to waste]].
* RedundantResearcher: If you save recruiting her for last in the first game, she'll lament how you've learned more about the Protheans in days than she has in her decades-long career.
* RelationshipUpgrade: Liara can be pursued as a romance in ''3'' even if you previously turned her down in the first game.
* ReligiousBruiser:
** In the first game, at least, it's implied that she is quite religious.
** [[spoiler: Javik believes she goes into denial when she rejects his assertion that Athame, the asari goddess [[NoSuchThingAsSpaceJesus was actually a Prothean]] and that his people [[AncientAstronauts influenced]] early asari civilisation]].
* RequiredPartyMember: During ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' in ''Mass Effect 2'' and twice in ''Mass Effect 3''. The first is on Eden Prime in the "From Ashes" {{DLC}}, where you need her knowledge of the Protheans. The second is the mission on [[spoiler:Thessia, Liara's homeworld]]. She also takes James's place in your squad once you encounter her on Mars.
* {{Revenge}}: Her primary goal, as of ''Mass Effect 2,'' is to track down and kill [[spoiler:the Shadow Broker]] for trying to [[spoiler:sell Shepard's body to the Collectors.]] The DLC ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' lets you achieve that goal in spectacular [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge roaring rampage]] style.
* RoaringRampageOfRescue: ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' is all about Liara rescuing Feron from the Broker after he was captured at the end of ''Redemption''. [[spoiler:Liara becoming the Shadow Broker is just an added perk]].
* SanitySlippage: The longer you delay recruiting her in ''1'', the more erratic she becomes. If you recruit her after Virmire, she spends the first half of your conversation with her convinced you're just a hallucination.
* SchrodingersGun: Regardless of whether the player downloaded the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC, Liara is still [[spoiler:the Shadow Broker]] as of the third game. It's just that how she got there is a bit different: [[spoiler:If Shepard didn't help Liara take down the Broker, Liara hired dozens of mercenaries -- all of them the best of the best -- and took on the Broker in a ZergRush. Since they're not [[OneManArmy Shepard]], apparently they all ''died'']].
* SelfMadeOrphan: Potentially, if you make her fight alongside you to take down her mother in the first game. This is actually ''suggested'' by a party member, though, since Liara would know more about her mother, who's causing problems for everyone, than anyone else, and you have to fight Liara's mother one way or another. Subverted in the third game when it turns out her "father" is still alive.
* SheWhoFightsMonsters: Played with. She becomes incredibly ruthless by the second game in her hunt for the Shadow Broker, even if [[MoralityChain Paragon Shep is continuously trying to pull her back.]] [[spoiler: Ultimately subverted, since while she does [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt kill and even take the place of the Shadow Broker]], she vows to only use the vast power to help Shepard fight the Reapers, which may be why Traynor is the one scoring all the victories against Cerberus; Liara's been focused on the Crucible since before Shepard encountered her on Mars.]]
* SheepInSheepsClothing: In the first game, ''everyone'' distrusts Liara because she's the daughter of TheDragon and they assume that she's really a spy trying to sabotage Shepard's mission. She acts like a shy, awkward girl who wants to befriend Shepard, but...she ''really is'' an innocent girl who wants to help. In the end, she proves to actually be Shepard's most loyal ally.
* ShoutOut: An archaeologist called '''[[Franchise/TombRaider L(i)ara]]'''...
* ShrinkingViolet: In the first game.
* ShuttingUpNow: Does this a few times when speaking to Shepard in the first game while alone with them.
* SignatureMove: Singularity. She can use it in all three games, and is one of a handful of biotics who can; she even uses it in her introductory cutscene in ''Mass Effect 3''. The only other biotics who can use it are Adept Shepard, Human & Phoenix Adepts in ''3'''s Multiplayer, and [[spoiler:her 'father', Matriarch Aethyta]].
* SilkHidingSteel: She's very demure and well-spoken, but she's also an immensely powerful biotic who can more than handle herself in a fight. The silk gets ripped away temporarily in ''2'', where she's pursuing a one-woman vendetta against the Shadow Broker. [[spoiler:She wins]].
* TheSixthRanger: If you wait until after Virmire before going to Therum.
* SkewedPriorities: After talking with Vigil, Liara wants to stay and chat with it a little longer. Despite, y'know, their being on Ilos to stop Saren and Sovereign summoning the Reapers to ''kill everyone everywhere'', something they are ''five minutes'' from doing. Shepard calls her out on it, and Liara immediately concedes she got distracted.
* SkilledButNaive: At least in the first game. [[CharacterDevelopment No longer naïve]] [[BreakTheCutie in the second game.]]
* SlasherSmile: In ''Shadow Broker'', she gets off a nasty one after dressing down the Shadow Broker, pressing ''all'' of its {{Berserk Button}}s.
* TheSmartGuy: Certainly isn't lacking in the brains department.
* SpockSpeak: Especially in the first game where she almost never uses contractions and speaks in a very measured, careful tone. She somewhat grows past this in the following games, but not completely.
* SquishyWizard: Liara can only wear light armor and has low health. She makes up for it with spectacular biotic capabilities. Something of a downplayed example, as while her health is very low, her barriers are actually somewhat above average thanks to said biotic capabilities. Still fragile in general though.
** Comes back even more strongly in the third game, where she might be the ''only'' biotic on your squad (if Shepard isn't one, Kaidan's dead and you haven't bought Javik). This can turn her low CON scores into a distinct Achilles heel.
** Interestingly while she's very powerful when supporting the player, Liara is the weakest squadmate in ''3'' when left on her own due to her general fragility, lack of flexibility, and [[ArtificialStupidity poor tactics.]] [[DownplayedTrope While still capable of killing several enemy soldiers in these scenarios]], [[https://vid.me/DRgY sending her alone against a squad of even basic trooper-type enemies]] will usually result in her getting downed quickly. For this reason it's usually best to keep her in the back as a support caster.
* TheStoic: Post time skip and post BreakTheCutie in the second and third games she tends to act like this, almost never raising her voice and becoming somewhat TheComicallySerious mixed with BrokenBird.
* StoryBranchFavoritism: In addition to ascending to the role of deuteragonist, in addition to being one of the very few love interests you can romance in all three games, in addition to being one of the only characters who can be a squad member in all three games -- as if she didn't need enough prominence -- she's also the character with the lowest density of PlotlineDeath options ([[spoiler:specifically, ''none''. She is one of only ''four'' party members who are guaranteed to be alive after the trilogy's final combat segment, and the only one of those four who was recruitable before the third game]]).
** In general, she occasionally has to be reminded of reality by more world-weary characters. For example, if taken on the Ardat-Yakshi Monastery mission alongside Ashley, they get into an argument over the capabilities of a seasoned asari veteran. Liara, having been told that asari commandos are the best soldiers in the galaxy, brags that the centuries of experience of the asari makes them immune to fear and disorganization. Ashley, using her greater knowledge of military matters, counter-argues that when a mission goes bad, there's no knowing how a soldier might react, and that the asari are no more immune to this than anyone else.
** [[spoiler: Her final message to Alec Ryder has her acknowledging they were putting all their eggs in one basket with the Crucible plan, and that there was a very good chance of them still losing despite their best efforts.]]
* SurvivorGuilt: In addition to the guilt she feels for [[spoiler:handing Shepard's body to Cerberus]], it's heavily implied (especially in a romance) that she felt great guilt for surviving while Shepard was killed.
* TemptingFate: In her recordings heard in Andromeda, she describes the Protheans as pretty much utopian society, although in the end she briefly notes that without any living specimen, this cannot be fully confirmed. [[spoiler: She finds one about four years later. Let's just say she was setting herself up for quite a disappointment]].
* ThatCameOutWrong: Her first conversation with Shepard, in which her fascination with their exposure to the beacon leads her to referring to them as an interesting test subject. See her quote above.
* TookALevelInBadass: She starts out as an awkward and bookish archaeologist. In [=ME2=], [[spoiler: she works as a ruthless information broker and is trying to take down the Shadow Broker. When Shepard meets her again, she is threatening to flay someone alive with her mind. She tells Shepard (and in the third game, her father) that she was just bluffing to scare the guy and wouldn't have really done it, but still, quite a change.]]
** [[spoiler:Mind you, that was before she chased Vasir by jumping out a window, and dropped plasma on the Shadow Broker]]. Not to mention how many of the Shadow Broker's mooks she tears through.
** What makes that scene even more powerful (and chilling) is that she's [[spoiler: practically channeling Benezia at that point. "Have you ever faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have." Her mother told Shepard the same thing in [=ME1=].]]
** Even before [[spoiler: working to kill the Shadow Broker]], she displays a lot of determination and ruthlessness in the ''Mass Effect: Redemption'' comic book. Apparently, working with Shepard was a very significant influence.
** ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' has her take two giant levels in badass. The first is when we encounter her in the trade center, where she's [[spoiler: chasing down a Spectre and hurling Shadow Broker agents around like toys]]. Let's repeat that for clarification: Liara is making a freaking [[spoiler: '''Spectre''']] flee from her. The second makes her potentially even more powerful than Shepard.
--->'''Liara:''' Give me ten minutes and I can start a war.
** You know how each character is introduced or provided a tag line? ''The Convict, The Scientist,'' ect? In the DLC Liara is introduced as ''The Elite.''
** Her introduction in the third game has her drop out of an [[AirVentEscape air-vent]], suspend the Cerberus troops chasing her with a [[GravityScrew Singularity]], draw her gun and casually shoot them... [[DoubleTap then once more]], just to make sure.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In Mass Effect 2, combined with TookALevelInBadass above, she also became a ''lot'' more ruthless during her quest to take down the Shadow Broker, ordering hits, coldly dismissing civilian casualties as a necessity, being extremely cold to Shepard (her potential love interest) and more. Mellows out a bit again after the end of the DLC.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Shepard, possibly moreso than anyone else in the series, including other party members. Can also fit with ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend below.
* UnevenHybrid: [[spoiler: A chat between her and her father reveals that she's [=1/4=] krogan. Liara insists that it doesn't work that way; her father's response is how Liara finds out that she has a half-sister]].
* UnreliableExpositor: If asked in the second game about why she gave Shepard's body to Cerberus, she claims she did it because she thought the Lazarus Project could bring Shepard back. The ''Redemption'' comic reveals this to be, at best, highly questionable. The Illusive Man simply tells her to retrieve the body for him without telling her why, and she does so, with her only given reasoning being that [[InsaneTrollLogic Cerberus and Shepard are both human... even if Shepard lost his entire team to a Cerberus operation and spent a significant portion of the first game trying to destroy them]]. Liara actually asks The Illusive Man point blank why Cerberus would want a corpse, and he simply says that, as an asari, she could never understand human traditions- basically indirectly saying that they only plan to bury Shepard, though she arguably might have still felt obliged to do it anyway out of loyalty to Shepard. She's only told about the Lazarus Project after she's already dropped off the body with Cerberus. At the end of the comic, she flat-out tells Miranda that she didn't bring Shepard back for them to revive, and thinks Shepard should just be left to rest. Granted, it's possible she just didn't want to set herself up for disappointment if it failed, but it seems more likely that she just didn't want to admit to Shepard that she never actually believed Cerberus could succeed in bringing them back to life. This is reinforced by her greeting Shepard in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', where she is shocked by seeing Shepard in the flesh despite supposedly being well-aware what the Lazarus Project would do, that they were active in the galaxy again and even paying for their docking fees well before their meeting. This may also explain why [[PoorCommunicationKills she never told anyone else on the SR1 about what she did]].
* UnresolvedSexualTension: Even if you don't romance her, Liara's friendship with Shepard still has a level of this to it. In the third game, [[spoiler: Aethyta]] will note this if the two of them talk, stating that she's surprised that Liara's underwear hasn't caught fire yet.
* UnskilledButStrong: Liara is unique amongst the first game's party members in having no military training. In addition to (and partly as a result of) this, she has only one ability that isn't dependent on her biotics,[[note]]Electronics in the first game, which is arguably also justified by the fact that she specializes in Prothean technology[[/note]] can only wear light armor, and can only use the weakest, most basic weapons (particularly in the first game, where she is the only squadmate without a weapon talent). She makes up for this by being an extremely powerful biotic, especially for her age. Considering [[TheDragon her mother]] [[BossBattle Benezia]], it seems that her power is InTheBlood.
** In the ''Redemption'' comic a group of five or so regular mercenaries manage to subdue her with relative ease, despite her having psychic powers potent enough to lift a ''tank'', and fighting with lethal intent while they weren't. How? Two mercs approached her from the front, she splattered them with a enormous biotic attack, and another merc simply flanked her, grabbed her, and put a gun to the back of her head while she was distracted and on a cooldown. If not for Cerberus's intervention, she certainly would've been killed.
** By the third game, this trope has basically vanished. On Mars, Liara not only has that EstablishingCharacterMoment where she handles two {{mooks}} via combined biotics and gunplay without breaking a sweat, she then replaces James on a fireteam consisting of two of the three humans ''ever'' considered for Spectre status, and fits in seamlessly, even employing standard breaching maneuvers with them. The {{Doylist}} explanation is that Creator/BioWare were cutting costs on the cutscene animations, but a {{Watsonian}} interpretation, just as valid, is that the campaign against ''Sovereign'' gave her a thorough grounding in infantry combat. (This is perhaps underlined by the fact that the three coordinate the maneuver silently, which can only be the product of [[TrueCompanions long experience]].)
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend:
** Following Shepard's temporary demise, she took up a one woman crusade to get their body back from the Shadow Broker and the Collectors. As of the end of the second game, she's still working to track the Broker down and make them pay for ''daring'' to touch Shepard. Or to rescue/avenge Feron, who she may or may not be interested in.
** She doesn't even need to be a girlfriend for this. Even if it's just a friend relationship, she will destroy you if ever try to harm Shepard.
** When you've got a millennium-long lifespan, spending a decade or two hunting down the jerk who messed with your buddy doesn't sound so unreasonable.
* VirginityMakesYouStupid: Though she's depicted as naive, she's not exactly an idiot. Still, she's less streetwise than Tali, who hasn't even spent any time off of a ship, since she spent most of her time alone in Prothean ruins with the only people she ever meets being pirates or looters, who tend to wind up dead.
* VisualDevelopment: Her preferred outfit in Mass Effect 2 and 3 reflects her new {{Stoic}}, LadyOfWar tendencies.
* VocalEvolution: In the first game, her voice is rather high-pitched, and her speech has much more of an awkward, stilted cadence compared to later games. Justified in that she's rather innocent and immature when you first meet her, having spent much of her life not interacting with others socially.
* WarriorTherapist: Shares this role with Garrus towards Shepard in ''Mass Effect 3'', trying to keep them from falling completely into despair.
* WellDoneDaughterGirl: '''[[RunningGag Yes]]'''. She has more than a little friction with her mother, Matriarch Benezia, trying to do something to overcome being the daughter of a highly esteemed individual and [[MalignedMixedMarriage a union between asari]] and she never knew her "father" either. [[spoiler:Unless you coax the two into talking in the third game.]]
-->'''Liara:''' Children shouldn't be burdened with the successes of their parents any more than their failings.
* WhatTheHellHero:
** During the Shadow Broker DLC, if Shepard tries to press her to talk about their relationship, she retorts that Shepard has either moved on (if they hooked up with someone else) or is acting like she can just undo two years of mourning and separation.
** Shepard can give a number to her for her more extreme actions in her quest to get revenge on the Shadow Broker.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: In ''3'', she realizes that she could live long enough to see the whole invasion through, and admits that while she used to feel sorry for shorter-lived species, she's no longer sure. [[spoiler: The Extended Cut's Refusal ending implies that she lives for quite a long time after the Crucible does not fire]].
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Paragon Shepard's interrupts in ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' reminding her of how she was when they met and urging her to not descend into WellIntentionedExtremist territory, not even to protect them.
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: [[spoiler:After she and Shepard kill the Shadow Broker, she takes his place. She's at least the third person to hold the title]].
* YouthfulFreckles: She ''is'' only 108 years old.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Urdnot Wrex]]
!Urdnot Wrex
[[quoteright:539:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bf6d5e3d7e037adb03d92b4a5b656726.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[MemeticMutation Shepard]].[[note]]Wrex.[[/note]]]]
-->''"Anyone who fights us is either stupid or on Saren's payroll. Killing the latter is business. Killing the former is a favor to the universe."''
-->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/StevenBarr
A krogan battlemaster who combines close-combat skills and enormous physical strength and durability with biotic powers. Joins Shepard's team out of both an interest in fighting a good battle and because the money is nice. He becomes a progressive-minded overlord of the krogan people in ''Mass Effect 2'' if he survived the events of the first game, eventually uniting them under his banner.
----
* AfraidOfNeedles: Mordin claims this about Wrex when he's eager to leave his lab and donate tissue samples later. Whether it's true or not, it's hilarious, and then when he finally gets around to it...
--> '''Wrex:''' [[GroinAttack Let's just say scalpels were never meant to cut where he cut.]]
* AffectionateNickname: Affectionately refers to Mordin as "Pyjak".
* AllMenArePerverts: "Eve" dryly tells Shepard that if there's a fertile female to be rescued, Wrex will be on the case instantly. If one goes by the theory "Eve" is Wrex's estranged wife, it's doubly funny. It becomes BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor if the genophage is cured, however.
* TheAllSolvingHammer: One of the first things Wrex usually suggests when confronted by a problem is to eat the individual responsible.
** Whenever a Krogan, be it another clan leader or his own brother, starts giving him shit he simply head butts them. While this is Krogan culture, Wrex is not adverse to head butting people of other species to shut them up.
** Ironically, a Thresher Maw ''Hammer'' is exactly the solution to defeat a Reaper on Tuchanka in ''3'', by [[SummonBiggerFish summoning Kalros]].
* AncestralWeapon: In this case ancestral armor, but also {{Subverted|Trope}}. In the first game, he asks Shepard to retrieve his family's armor from a turian smuggler. However, the constant arms race had rendered it useless, and it's only valuable for personal reasons.
--> '''Wrex:''' My ancestors actually ''wore'' this piece of junk?
* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership:
** He is a krogan, and thus tends to equate ass-kicking with respect (as shown when he head butts another Krogan who is getting too mouthy for Wrex's liking). He may even [[DiscussedTrope discuss this]] with various other crewmembers, by asking them if they could beat Shepard in a fight. Kaidan dismisses the question with how he'd realistically never have to fight his superior officer; Wrex decides that that's why Shepard is his superior officer, and why they would win. Tali (or Liara) asks if krogan size up ''everyone'' for a fight, to which he replies yes; his tone of voice suggests that [[DeliberateValuesDissonance he's genuinely surprised that the other races don't]].
** If he survived the first game, in ''Mass Effect 2'' he's in the process of reforming and uniting krogan society through sheer force of personality ([[UseYourHead and head butting]], when necessary).
--->'''Wrex:''' Speak when spoken to, [[{{Jerkass}} Uvenk]]. [[TeethClenchedTeamwork I'll drag your clan to glory whether you like it or not.]]
** The "who would win" bit sets up a BrickJoke in "Citadel" - [[spoiler:en route to fighting the Clone, Wrex gloats to Ash/Kaidan that they're about to get their answer after all]]. It's also turned around when Zaeed and Javik ask who'd win: him or Grunt? Both immediately respond with a headbutting contest before Shepard shuts it down because they know what comes next, and it would be hell to clean up the resulting destruction.
* BabiesEverAfter: In the third game, [[spoiler:with Eve, and you can even see the baby in some of the endings! Also to his horror, as his pivotal role in curing the genophage has made him very desirable as breeding stock to ''all'' krogan females. And Eve/Bakara encourages them. His poor quad are literally sore from overuse. Also, Bakara wants to name their child after Mordin, which despite suggesting it as a joke he doesn't really want to go through with.]]
* BadassBoast:
** Gives one in the third game. Note that the quote is fully capitalized ''in the game's subtitles'':
---> '''Wrex:''' I AM URDNOT WREX AND '''THIS IS MY PLANET!!!'''
** Wrex gives this winning line to Shepard in London:
---> '''Wrex:''' You're going to win -- because you brought the krogan!
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor:
** Eve says that Wrex has always been enthusiastic around fertile females. [[spoiler:With the genophage cured]], the Citadel DLC informs us that as the leader of the most powerful clan and symbol to the galaxy of the awesomeness of their people, they've been lining up around the corner for his seed. And what's funnier, Eve/[[spoiler:Bakara encourages it, probably to [[RadishCure break Wrex of the habit through forced overindulgence]]]].
-->'''Shepard:''' I can think of worse positions to be in.\\
'''Wrex:''' Trust me, I've been in '''''every''''' position in the past few days...
** As far back as the first game Wrex expressed a desire for the krogan to get their act together and rebuild their species and civilization rather than wasting time fighting each other. By ''3'' he's gotten exactly what he wanted despite being relegated to a supporting leadership role rather than being part of Shepard's crew. He admits that he misses the more carefree nature of adventuring around the galaxy with Shepard but also acknowledges that he did ask for this.
* BerserkButton: Any mention of destroying the krogan's chances of curing the genophage will provoke a violent reaction. It can get Wrex killed in the first game unless you can talk him down, and [[spoiler:you are forced to kill him in the third game if you sabotage the cure]]. The rachni are also a particularly sore topic for him, given the brutal war between them and the krogan.
* BigGood: Becomes this to the krogan on Tuchanka if he lives past Virmire. "Eve" in the third game privately admits to Shepard that Wrex is the greatest thing to happen to Tuchanka in over a ''thousand'' years.
* TheBigGuy: Type 1 (gruff and withdrawn). Also has shades of Types 3 and 5. How big? In the ''Citadel'' DLC, he states that he weighs 800 pounds. Add [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Alternate_Appearance_Packs 220 pounds]] of standard krogan medium armor, plus his [[{{BFG}} Claymore]], sidearm, grenades, ammo, and various other gear, and he probably walks around at half a metric ton.
* BigGuyFatalitySyndrome: Wrex is the biggest and toughest of the original squadmates, and he's the first one who can potentially die (if you can't talk him down on Virmire).
* BizarreAlienBiology: Krogan have secondary ''everything'', from cardiovascular to nervous systems. And four testicles, referred to in the fandom and then in the second game as a "quad". Wrex will say that Shepard has a quad. He'll even say this about ''female'' Shepard.
* BloodKnight: Though he's downright moderate compared to the rest of his species. During the geth hunt in the Armstrong Cluster, he'll note that he's actually been enjoying himself, and will be sad when Shepard's team runs out of geth.
-->'''Wrex:''' They'll sing battle songs about this someday! Reaper blood has finally soaked our soil!
** Though he's not insane. When Shepard notes Wrex didn't help with the Reaper, Wrex mildly says he helped by offering Shepard encouragement.
* BountyHunter: One of many jobs he's taken over the centuries. He first encounters Saren while on the job, unsettling him to the point of quitting -- which ends up saving his life.
* BruiserWithASoftCenter: Not so much in the first game, but played straight from the second game onward.
* CainAndAbel: Abel to Wreav's Cain. [[spoiler:So if he sees Wreav get killed by Kalros in ''3'', he barely cares, saying that he was a pain in the ass anyway.]]
* CatchPhrase: He tries out a few during "Citadel". They generally involve calling himself "Uncle Urdnot". Tali tells him to keep trying.
* CaptainObvious: "I raised the hammers; you have to activate both of them. My advice is: avoid the [[WaveMotionGun giant laser!]]"
* TheCasanova: According to Eve that "if there's a fertile female, he'll be there", and "[he's a good leader] when he isn't trying to sire half of Tuchanka". In the ''Citadel'' DLC, [[spoiler:if the genophage is cured, he'll complain about how he's been [[ReallyGetsAround so busy mating]] that he needs an icepack for his crotch. If Eve/Bakara is still alive, he says that she is encouraging it (probably to try and [[RadishCure break him of the behavior through forced overindulgence]])]].
* CharacterDevelopment: Wrex starts off the first game as the most cynical party member, and then some. He's completely fatalistic and hopeless about the krogan's chances and has spent centuries as nothing more than a mercenary and bounty hunter. If he survives the first game, he decides to make a second go at saving his race and ends up becoming a progressive leader for his people, eventually growing from a common mercenary to arguably the most powerful krogan in the galaxy. If Shepard supports him and his desire to cure the genophage, he ends up being arguably the single most idealistic and hopeful character in the third game's entire story. In fact, he's cracking wise and trying to come up with a new CatchPhrase. When talking to his soldiers in London, he calls them "princesses".
* ChickMagnet: Again, in ''3'' if the genophage is cured... before he discovers [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor how exhausting it is]].
* ChivalrousPervert: On the other hand, he respects women a lot more than the average krogan.
* CoolOldGuy: Wrex is up there, even for a race as long-lived as the Krogan. In the second game, this is given as the reason the krogan are uniting under his leadership. His immense ass-kicking skills don't hurt any, either.
* CoolUncle: The ''Citadel DLC'' particularly highlights that the rest of the squad have come to see Wrex as this [[HonouraryUncle type of figure]]. After Wrex asks if Tali's been taking his advice on shotguns, she replies:
-->'''Tali:''' You're like the crazy, head butting uncle I never had.
* CrazyIsCool:
** In-Universe, the Urdnot Mechanic acknowledges that Wrex is a "crazy old man", but at the same time, what he's saying makes sense and is actually ''working''. Because of this, in the third game, Eve calls him the first bright light the krogan have had in a millennium.
** His crazy awesomeness has combat applicability as well: in the Citadel DLC, he [[spoiler:saves Shepard and a squadmate from a false flag ambush by [=CAT6=] mercs in a C-Sec shuttle by diving out a window and body slamming the cockpit canopy, which causes it to crash. This is a shuttle model which is canonically described to be designed first and foremost for rugged durability and has been stated to be able to withstand 1000 earth atmospheres of pressure. And Wrex, true to his name, wrecks it]].
* CutsceneBoss: In ''Mass Effect 3'', [[spoiler:if Shepard sabotages the cure, Wrex jumps them in the Citadel and all dialogue options lead to him being killed in a non-player-controlled gunfight]].
* CutsceneIncompetence: Ashley downs him with one shot from a rifle in ''Mass Effect 1'' before [[DoubleTap finishing him off with a few more shots]], (Shepard can pistol-whip him and shoot him repeatedly on the ground) and Shepard can kill him with a pistol in ''Mass Effect 3''. He mysteriously forgets that he has barriers and biotic powers. The latter is notable enough that it might actually be SuicideByCop after he's lost all hope for the Krogan.
* DareToBeBadass:
** To motivate the krogan to fight a common enemy rather than fighting themselves and the rest of the galaxy.
--->'''Wrex:''' Now hold your heads high like true krogan. There's a Reaper that needs killing!
** If he's on Earth during the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, he's barking jingo at a squadron, calling them "princesses" and to suck it up.
* DeadpanSnarker: Provides half of the snark in the first game.
* DeathGlare: Displays a great one in ''3'' when the salarian dalatrass insults the krogan. The look on his face makes it clear that he wants nothing more than to pull out a shotgun and leave a large hole in the ''Normandy'''s bulkhead where she was standing. For bonus points, the scene is focused on him, so you get to see just how pissed off Wrex is, taking up the ''entire screen''. While the dalatrass is being incredibly undiplomatic, Wrex is being the cool-headed one -- and Primarch Victus points this out immediately.
* DespairEventHorizon:
** Implied to have gone through a minor one before you meet him. After his father betrayed him he lost hope of reforming his race into anything resembling a proper civilisation, and began roaming the stars and killing people for credits. If he survives the first game he gets renewed hope and has a more successful job at kicking the krogan together.
** [[spoiler:Betray him by sabotaging the genophage cure and he'll completely lose it. He'll withdraw krogan support, leave the galaxy to burn, and try to gun you down with a shotgun to boot. As far as he's concerned, if his species is going to go extinct, humanity can join them.]]
* DirtyOldMan: In ''Mass Effect 3'', according to Eve, he's a bit... enthusiastic about fertile krogan females. By the ''Citadel'' DLC, he's over this. Largely because he's been with so many that his genitals physically hurt. Which says something when you're a member of a species of armored reptilian walking tanks with regeneration capabilities, and you're considered one of the most badass specimens of that species.
* DrivenToSuicide: A possibility, if you make a certain series of decisions. In [=ME3=], if you [[spoiler:sabotage the genophage cure, Wrex will come after you, conveniently forgetting his biotics and shields... [[SuicideByCop Suicide by Shepard.]]]]
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Assuming you never recruit Wrex in the first game, he just sort of dies off-screen between there and ''2''.
* DynamicEntry: [[spoiler:In the ''Citadel'' DLC, when Shepard and a crewmate are pinned down by a shuttle full of mercs, Wrex [[SuperWindowJump crashes through a window]] a few stories above and body slams the shuttle]].
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:If he survives all 3 games, and the genophage is cured without being sabotaged, then his desire to see the Krogan be saved from extinction and become more than just mercenary thugs is finally brought to fruition. If Eve lives, he also has a baby with her.]]
* EnemyMine:
** With the turians in the third game. Despite the fact that neither Wrex nor Primarch Victus are quick to trust the other, Victus is completely in favour of curing the genophage if that's the terms for krogan reinforcements, and Wrex makes good on his promise to send those reinforcements to aid in the defense of Palaven.
** Victus and Wrex also seem to find common ground opposing the [[SmugSnake salarian dalatrass]]. She seems to clearly irritate them ''both''.
* EpicFail: [[spoiler:If you opt to sabotage the genophage cure in ''3'', he comes after you with a shotgun. In all outcomes, he'll miss Shepard with a shotgun ''at point-blank range'' and will be gunned down either by Shepard or C-Sec, despite the former being unarmored and unarmed when Wrex attacks]].
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He is encountered inside the C-Sec offices, where a C-Sec officer is reprimanding him for his attempt to kill Fist. Wrex responds with a series of {{Badass Boast}}s, then proudly declares that he's still going to kill Fist to the officer's face before leaving and telling Shepard to mind his own business. If you talk to him immediately after you conclude your business in C-Sec, he asks to go with you to take down Fist and [[AssholeVictim kills Fist after the crime lord tries to surrender.]] If you don't, and instead wait until after you have dealt with Fist to speak with him, he is impressed by the wreck you made of Chora's Den, and gives you the bounty he was supposed to collect as a show of respect.
* EtTuBrute: In ''Mass Effect 3'', [[spoiler:if you betray the krogan and sabotage the genophage cure, he completely loses it due to the betrayal of a close, trusted friend in Shepard]].
* EveryoneHasStandards: It's clear that he's not ''evil'', but he's decidedly darker than other party members, especially in the first:
** Take him on Virmire when you discover the captured salarians driven to mindlessness by indoctrination, and he's visibly unhappy about it, saying that you don't do that to prisoners -- kill them, sure, but not ''[[MindRape that]]''. This is why he objects to Paragon Shepard releasing them. As far as he's concerned, even though they'd all die in the blast anyway, it'd take a cold person to let them live on like that for any longer than necessary. A cut-and-dried MercyKill is what he would want if he ended up indoctrinated, and hence he agrees to Renegade Shepard opening the door and gunning the salarians down.
** Wrex wishes for the Krogan to be cured of the Genophage more than anything else but there are still lines he won't cross even for a cure. He can be convinced to stand down on the possibility of a cure from Saren when it's brought up that the cured Krogan would effectively be slaves to his will and he outright refused to work with Maelon when he learned just how brutal the experiments that the scientist wanted to perform would be.
* {{Expy}}:
** Wrex is one of many [=BioWare=] characters descended from [[Franchise/BaldursGate Korgan Bloodaxe]] -- a BloodKnight BoisterousBruiser [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenary]] and also an OldSoldier fond of sharing past war stories. He shares this with Zaeed Massani from ''Mass Effect 2'', so unsurprisingly they get along very well in ''Mass Effect 3''.
** He shares many traits with Canderous Ordo, another Korgan-expy from ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''. Both are the team [[TheBigGuy Big Guy]], come from a ProudWarriorRaceGuy culture, and are disillusioned with their cultures' slowly self-destructive behavior. [[spoiler:They also both regain their idealism and become the leader of their people in the second game]].
* FaceHeelTurn:
** Seriously considers one during Virmire. If you're unable to talk him out of it, Ashley kills him to protect you.
** [[spoiler:If Shepard sabotaged the genophage cure in ''Mass Effect 3'', he will return later on, having found out, and tries to kill Shepard no matter what. He also calls off all his support for the war.]] Of course, given the despicable actions Shepard has to do in order for this to happen, you can't really blame Wrex.
* FamilyHonor: While he was never on good terms with his father and was eventually forced to kill him in self-defense, Wrex appears to have been close with his grandfather, swearing an oath before he left Tuchanka that he ''would'' regain their family's battle-armour, stolen by a turian after the war. He can finally achieve this several hundred years later with help from Shepard.
* FamilyOfChoice: He was never on good terms with his father and makes it clear that he and Wreav share only blood. Beyond being a PapaWolf for his entire race he seems to count Shepard's team as family, lampshaded several times when Tali calls him her crazy headbutting uncle or when Wrex refers to Shepard themselves as a brother/sister.
* FantasticRacism: He openly admits to be racist against salarians, and his distrust of them causes him to act up and nearly screw up the negotiations in ''3''. He's not exactly a fan of the turians since representatives of both species played a part in creating the genophage. While he doesn't have any particular hatred for the asari he's quite happy to assume the negative stereotypes about their reproductive habits are true. That said it mostly manifests as ill-natured grumbling and he's perfectly fine with fighting alongside them as part of Shepard's team, and he does end up befriending most of the squad.
* FireForgedFriends:
** Provided that Shepard talks to him and returns his family armor, Wrex eventually sees Shepard as a friend. This becomes a heartwarming FriendshipMoment in the second game when you're reunited with him; Wrex immediately ends a meeting to greet Shepard outright calling them "My friend!" Another FriendshipMoment happens in the third game, if you stay trustworthy and warn the krogan about the shroud sabotage. Wrex tells Eve "I told you we could trust him/her".
** He also becomes this with virtually every other member of Shepard's crew, particularly Garrus. Despite being from two feuding species, fighting at each others' sides have made them comrades.
* FoeTossingCharge: As a guest party member in ''Citadel'', his most common tactic is to charge into the enemy mob and club them with his shotgun. Horrified players will soon realize that Wrex easily has twice as much HP as other party members, [[LeeroyJenkins and thus can survive running out in the open and being shot at by multiple assailants]]. Doubles as a CallBack, since Wrex's combat style in ''1'' was virtually identical.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: One of the elevator conversations in ''1'' has Garrus eagerly wanting to see how the ''Normandy'' handles in a fight. Wrex is one of the squadmates who point out that it would be stupid to get into a head-on fight in a frigate designed for stealth. The opening of the second game proves that viewpoint correct - although, admittedly, the enemy ship belonged to the Collectors.
* FriendlyEnemy: He mentions having one in an asari named Aleena [[spoiler:who is strongly hinted to be a past identity for Aria T'Loak in Mass Effect 2]].
* TheGadfly: Especially in the first game's infamous elevator sequences, where [[{{Troll}} he frequently says outrageous things to your squadmembers just to see how they react.]]
* GeniusBruiser: Wrex is an eight hundred pound lizard-alien with multiple redundant vital organs, and he has been fighting since humanity was still using wooden sailing ships back on Earth. He's also incredibly cunning, has a strong grasp of tactics, and is one of the only Krogan living who actually has a plan to save the species from extinction.
* GoodIsNotSoft: As krogan overlord, he institutes many reforms to save his race from the brink... and if he has to go against tradition or bust heads for it to work, so be it.
* TheGoodKing: If he survives the first game and is aided in the sequels, he goes on to become a major reformer, eventually working himself up to the leader of the entire krogan species, and is on the path to leading them into a new golden age and cultural renaissance.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: All over his shell. It conveniently helps players distinguish him from other krogan.
* GoodThingYouCanHeal: Another par for the krogan course. Initially believed Shepard survived being spaced due to having a redundant nervous system.
--> '''Shepard:''' Yeah, humans don't have that.\\
'''Wrex:''' Oh.... It must've been painful then.
* GrumpyOldMan: Over a thousand years old, and as curmudgeonly as they come. In classic form, he quickly warms up if Shepard makes an effort to get to know him.
* GuestStarPartyMember: In the ''Citadel'' DLC of ''3''.
* GutFeeling: His reliance on this has saved him twice. He correctly predicted a trap by his father Jarrod, even though they were meeting in a place where violence was supposedly forbidden. On a later mercenary job for the turian who he would later discover was Saren, he had such a bad feeling that he left without being paid. All the other mercs he was working with were found dead a week later.
* {{Handgun}}: In the first game, he had access to all weapons but could train with assault rifles and shotguns. In ''Citadel'', his weapons are shotgun and heavy pistol.
* HiddenDepths: An exile from a barbaric race. Utterly ruthless. A one man army. The most vicious bounty hunter in the galaxy. Also quite possibly the most sensitive and caring character towards Shepard other than Liara and Kaidan. And he tried to end his people's infighting, pretty much making him the Krogan equivalent of a hippie. Who says bloodthirsty, thousand-year-old reptilian warlords don't have hearts? Two of them, in point of fact.
* HonoraryTrueCompanion: To the ''Normandy'' crew from the second game onwards.
* HonoraryUncle: The ''Normandy'' crew consider him to be like this, especially Tali:
-->''You're like the crazy, headbutting uncle I never had.''
* HonorBeforeReason: He's loyal to the krogan race, even if that means dying senselessly in a fight with Shepard, if the latter can't talk him down in the first game or [[spoiler:sabotages the genophage cure in the third]].
* HopeBringer: Along with "Eve", he becomes this to the entire krogan species over the course of ''2'' and ''3''.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** For someone who protests to no end that the Genophage is a slow-burn genocide, Wrex is all too willing to advocate genocide against the rachni by wiping out the remaining Rachni Queen on Noveria. It's especially dark if you learn more of the lore and realise the rachni were effectively used as attack animals by past cultures in a way not unlike how the krogan were uplifted to turn the tide during the Rachni Wars.
** Wrex grows distrustful towards Shepard if Maelon's data was destroyed, experiments that Wrex himself had refused to work with due to their brutal nature.
** [[spoiler:If Shepard betrays him by sabotaging the Genophage cure, he withdraws Clan Urdnot's support for the war effort, but not the other clans, despite his work to value all krogan clans.]]
* HypocriticalHumor: Jokes during the Citadel DLC that he can't go crawling through pipes because of "too many varren legs" as a snack. When Tali and Liara tease him a moment later about his size, he's snarling.
* HypotheticalFightDebate: Wrex loves asking who would win in a fight between Shepard and the third squadmate. Funnily enough, it comes to a head when you fight [[spoiler:Shepard's clone]]. He can also be the subject of one versus Grunt in the ''Citadel'' DLC which, depending on the mood of the party you choose to throw, can potentially cease to be be quite so hypothetical.
* ImStandingRightHere: On Noveria, if Garrus objects to killing the rachni queen.
-->'''Garrus:''' We can't exterminate them. Not without the Council's approval. Genocide is one of the reasons we fought the krogan-- ah...\\
'''Wrex:''' You want to learn about genocide, Vakarian? I'll take you to a krogan obstetrician's office.
* {{Irony}}: Wrex is annoyed with how most krogan live up to negative stereotypes and believes that some customs need to be ignored to truly save the species. As a result many krogan despise Wrex for not respecting tradition. Then come ''Mass Effect 3'' and Eve describes what the glorious krogan of ancient times were like and they sound a lot more similar to Wrex than 99% of the other krogan we meet in the series. So it can be argued that the guy closest to being a traditional krogan... is Wrex.
* InformedEquipment: Cutscenes, trailers, promotional art, and the ''Citadel'' squad selection screen all show him wielding the [[{{BFG}} Claymore heavy shotgun.]] For good reason; it's a great weapon to give him in-game.
* IWasJustJoking: In ''3'' he sarcastically suggests naming one of the new krogan children after Mordin as thanks for curing [[spoiler:the Genophage]], probably a girl. Near the end of the game, Wrex tells Shepard that Eve is pregnant and wants to name her child after Mordin. He doesn't share her enthusiasm.
* IWorkAlone: Fortunately, he's a reasonable example of this trope; he prefers to work by himself, but he's perfectly willing to operate with small groups. Shepard also works in small groups, so he's got no problems with that. It's just being part of armies he has issues with.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Wrex is aggressive and short-tempered, but deep down, he cares about his friends and the krogan race. He is the only one besides Joker to comfort Shepard after they are forced to leave either Ashley or Kaidan behind on Virmire. He also gives Shepard a ''very'' warm greeting as the krogan overlord. From a grizzled old cynic like him, that really means something. He even invites Grunt to be part of the clan. As warlord, he does everything in his power to aid his people, [[GoodIsNotNice whether they like it or not]].
--->'''Wrex:''' Shepard! My friend!
** Despite disliking salarians in general, he grows to respect Mordin in [=ME3=], affectionately nicknaming him "Pyjak." [[spoiler:After Mordin sacrifices himself to cure the genophage, Wrex says that he'll honour him by naming one of the newborn children after him. Maybe one of the girls]].
* JustEatHim: He threatens the crooked security goons on Noveria with this. Considering that Wrex is an eight-foot-tall lizard alien, it tends to be effective.
* KilledOffForReal: Possible in the first game, which allows his more traditional but distrustful brood brother Wreav to become leader of Clan Urdnot. Also possible in the third game; [[spoiler:if you sabotage the genophage cure, he'll find out and you'll have to blow him away on the Citadel]].
* KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect: Averted. The Urdnot scientists are actually complaining because Wrex has turned them to ''agricultural'' sciences and focused their efforts on increasing crop yield, irrigation and better farming methods. Only on Tuchanka could the ''scientists'' be upset that the ''Warlord'' doesn't want them to blow things up! In ''Andromeda'', seems like Wrex was onto something, as the crop scientist is one of the most important figures in the krogan colony.
* KnightInSourArmor: Yes, he does help save the galaxy and eventually becomes chieftain of Clan Urdnot but he's also as cynical as they come. If Shepard continuously supports him, he, like Garrus, shows a much more idealistic side as things go on.
* LeeroyJenkins: In ''Citadel'', while most other party member AI have the sense to keep in cover during a firefight, Wrex's primary attack strategy is to charge opponents and melee them. [[MadeOfIron He can survive this and win...]] unless you're playing on Insanity, in which case he predictably gets quickly gunned down.
** Ironically he can even be this on Insanity with the right build which rapidly turns any adventure on the ''Citadel'' into a bit of StrategySchmategy - You can do whatever you and your teammate want, Wrex is gonna be knocking heads around.
* LightningBruiser: Wrex is one of the last living Krogan Battlemasters. Take an eight-foot-tall sapient lizard with multiple redundant vital organs, natural armor, and enough muscle mass to bench press a car. Add centuries of combat experience, and mix with biotic powers rivaling an Asari commando.
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: His interaction with "Eve" in the third game. There are plenty of hints that "Eve" ''really is his estranged wife''.
* LivingLegend: He's renown throughout the galaxy for his exploits, and as the last Krogan to kill a Thresher Maw during his rite of passage, at least until Grunt if he manages the same thing. [[note]]Though on Grunt's part, it is optional, and he also did it with the help of Shepard and another Squadmate, while Wrex did it on his own.[[/note]]
* MadeOfIron: The Krogan are notorious for this to begin with - so much so that they were the only species capable of going to the DeathWorld[=s=] the Rachni lived on. Wrex takes this up a notch; he's nigh unkillable on most difficulties. Up until [[NintendoHard Insanity mode]], Wrex can simply charge into a squad of enemies and murder them all with little effort - and he can still more than hold his own on said difficulty. He just can't walk into the middle of the enemy line with impunity anymore.
* MageMarksman: In addition to his substantial toughness and general combat skills, he's also a biotic.
* TheMcCoy: To Dalatrass Linron's TheSpock and Primarch Adrien Victus and Paragon Shepard's TheKirk, in ''3''.
* MeaningfulName:
** He's called Wrex because he wrecks stuff.
** Also, rex = Latin for king. Fits with him becoming the krogan overlord in the second game.
** According to the devs, they called him Wrex after a Tyrannosaurus Rex, which still comes from "king." This also leads to an amusing ContinuityNod in the second game, where data on Grunt's extranet searches reveal that he [[WikiWalk went from searching about Wrex to reading about dinosaurs]].
* MoralPragmatist: His goal is to ensure the survival of his doomed species. He has developed very pragmatic ideas to help the krogan recover from [[DepopulationBomb the Genophage]], but they're too [[ProudWarriorRace proud and violent]] to listen to him. In the first game, when [[BigBad Saren]] finds a way to breed new krogan, he seriously considers betraying you, and you can only change his mind by either threatening to kill him or making him realize how stupid it would be to join Saren. In the third game, if he survived, Wrex refuses to help in the war against [[AbusivePrecursors the Reapers]] unless you cure the Genophage first, and if you sabotage said cure, he immediately withdraws all krogan support just so that [[TakingYouWithMe humans will go extinct just like the krogan]].
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: His usual suggestion for dealing with problematic individuals is to [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim shoot them]]. He viscerally establishes this if you bring him along to raid Chora's Den - regardless of what Shepard says to Fist, Wrex blows his head off as soon as he's given Shepard the information they need.
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: Invoked in ''3'' if you bring Liara and Garrus along to Sur'kesh, he's deeply happy she's there... oh, and Garrus too. If you don't bring Liara he's just as appreciative of Garrus however, implying he did this just to mess with him.
* MyNameIsInigoMontoya: Uses one in [=ME3=].
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Wrex is somewhere in between playing this straight and averting it. He mostly embraces the overall krogan culture and attitudes, but he's far more willing than most of his race to acknowledge a lot of their actions are idiotically self-destructive (to the point of making some attempt to fix that in the second game).
* NoGuyWantsToBeChased: In the ''Citadel'' DownloadableContent for ''3'', the reason he's on the Citadel at all is because, following [[spoiler:the dealing with the genophage in Priority: Tuchanka]], every single female krogan wants a go with him so that their firstborn can be of his genes. He'd likely have less of a problem if they actually gave him a break.
-->'''Shepard:''' Considering [[WarIsHell everything we've been through]], I can think of worse positions to be in.\\
'''Wrex:''' Trust me, [[DoubleEntendre I've been in every position in the past few days]].
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Wrex very intentionally plays up the stereotypes people tend to have of the Krogan as a whole. In reality, Wrex is every bit as dangerous in combat and physically powerful as the stereotypes would suggest, but he's also been fighting since Earth was still using wooden sailing ships. He deliberately lets his opponents assume he's a bloodthirsty brute.
* OddFriendship: Quite a few:
** With Paragon Shepard in ''1''. Seeing such an [[TheCape idealistic hero]] become friends with such a surly, disillusioned mercenary is a sight to see. Paragon Shepard's influence eventually rubs off on Wrex as he becomes TheParagon for his entire species.
** Dialogue in ''3'' indicates that he's deeply fond of Liara, Tali...[[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Garrus]], in his own way.
---> '''Wrex:''' I have to make friends with the one turian in the galaxy who ''thinks he's funny''.
** Despite Wrex's open dislike of salarians, particularly their ''doctors'', he honestly grows to respect Mordin after he stands his ground against him. [[spoiler:If Mordin sacrifices himself to cure the genophage in [=ME3=], Wrex declares that he's going to name one of his children after him. Probably a girl.]] As mentioned in the first game, this is Wrex's way of sizing people up.
---> '''Wrex:''' Ha! You've got a quad, doctor! Keep her safe!
** He has a soft spot for Tali too, as shown in The Citadel DLC, in part because her preferred weapon, the shotgun, is his too, and he insists on giving her pointers on it.
---> '''Tali:''' I can look after myself, you know...\\
'''Wrex:''' I know, but I'm old and I worry, even though my favorite quarian is all grown up and killing Reapers.\\
'''Tali:''' You're like the crazy head butting uncle I never had...
** If Liara reveals she's one quarter Krogan, Wrex will laugh and tell her he ''knew'' there was something he liked about her.
* OldSoldier: Wrex hints that he was either born during or shortly after the Krogan Rebellions, making him ''at least'' 1,400 years old; definitely up there, even for a krogan. He's been busting skulls for the majority of that time. To put this in perspective, Wrex has been kicking ass for a living ''since Earth's viking age''.
* OptionalPartyMember: He doesn't have to be recruited to finish the first game. Of course, there are repurcussions if you don't...
* OutOfFocus: Of this six original squadmates, Wrex is the only one who never returns to the squad. He still has plot relevancy, but he's relegated to SupportingLeader. Thankfully, he's a GuestStarPartyMember in the third game's ''Citadel'' DLC.
** Whether relatedly or not, he's also the only one of the first six squadmates who isn't a potential LoveInterest.
* TheParagon: For his people, should he survive to the second game. Solidly cements this position should the [[spoiler:real cure for the genophage]] be administered under his reign. Fittingly, he had tried once before but lost faith in his people, and was inspired to try again by another paragon: Commander Shepard. As noted in the {{Irony}} section above, Eve's description of the halcyon days of the ancient Krogan, they sound like they were a lot like Wrex.
* ParentalSubstitute: While not overt, it appears that he's taken this role toward Grunt, being enthusiastic about letting him take the RiteOfPassage to become a member of Clan Urdnot in ''2'' as well as placing him in charge of [[BadassArmy Aralakh Company]] in ''3'', in recognition of Grunt's skill. One of his comments in the second game insinuates that he may be grooming Grunt to be his successor as Overlord of the krogan.
* PapaWolf: Becomes this for his entire species. He also develops a paternal instinct for a few of Shepard's youngest squadmates, particularly Tali.
* {{Patricide}}: He was forced to kill his father, Jerrod after Jerrod called a "peace meeting" at the Hollows (the one place on Tuchanka where fighting is strictly forbidden) only to betray him and kill those loyal to him when it became clear he wouldn't join Jerrod's warmongering cause.
* PenPushingPresident: Downplayed. He still spends chunks of ''2'' and ''3'' in the thick of the action but admits that he wishes he could join Shepard adventuring around the galaxy rather than spending as much time as he does keeping the krogan in line and butting heads with the Council in his de-facto chief of state role. In ''Citadel'' he's ecstatic to finally cut loose after a while.
* ProperlyParanoid: He was hired by Saren once, the turian gave Wrex such a bad feeling that he bailed on the job without even waiting around to get paid. Turns out all the other mercs he was working with were found dead a week later.
** In ''3'' he also knows that the dalatrass won't let the genophage be cured without trying something [[spoiler:which leads him to discovering Shepard's treachery should they take her up on her offer and sabotage the cure]].
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch Deconstructed]]; he knows full well that the krogan people are too attached to their short-sighted warrior traditions to save themselves from extinction. In the sequels, he subjects the trope to {{Reconstruction}} by seizing power of Clan Urdnot and working to return the krogan to a proud warrior race they should have been instead of a race of thugs for hire.
* RadishCure: [[spoiler: "Eve"/Bakara decides to ''encourage'' star-struck lady krogan who want the savior of their race to father their children as of the ''Citadel'' DLC, and Wrex has gone from [[ChivalrousPervert excited at the prospect of doing his part for his revitalized race]] to putting ice packs on his aching quad and sneaking off to have an adventure with Shepard just to get away.]]
* ReallyGetsAround: [[spoiler:If the Genophage is cured, every krogan female under the sun wants a piece of him. Unfortunately for Wrex, he's been having so much sex that he needs a bag of ice for his currently-aching quad.]]
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: We don't know how old exactly Wrex is, but given that he defeated a Thresher Maw ''over'' a thousand years ago and hints that he may have been around during the Krogan Rebellions (which happened in ''700 AD'')... yeah, Wrex is ''very old'', even for a krogan.
** For those not willing to do the math this would make Wrex nearly 1500 years old at the start of Mass Effect. Even Samara would be half a millennium his junior.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: About as reasonable of an authority figure as you can be for an entire species of {{Blood Knight}}s.
** While it's unspoken, it's worth noting that Wrex is perfectly content to allow Shepard, an ''alien'', to serve as a member of Grunt's krantt during their RiteOfPassage, likely because he knows that they [[LoopholeAbuse don't actually have a rule]] that says that the members of your krantt have to be ''krogan''.
*** Who is in the prospective krantt says a lot. Depending on who you take with you, it's either just Shepard, who has iron-clad and gold-plated badass credentials in Wrex's eyes, or Shepard and someone that Wrex fought alongside in the last game, who has also proven themselves as a badass.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: And red skin, red armor, and red guns...
* RedOniBlueOni: Is blue compared to his brother Wreav and the rest of the krogan as their leader, but is red compared to Eve.
* RefugeInAudacity: If he helps infiltrate the casino in ''[[DownloadableContent Citadel]]''. First he'll claim to [[BlatantLies be a food inspector]] (though as krogan leader, he could just [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem declare himself one anyway]]), then he'll just start distracting the guards ''by berating them for doing a bad job''.
* RevengeBeforeReason:
** At a species level, he's initially the only krogan you encounter in the entire game to defy this. Though he retains some of his racial prejudice against salarians and turians he's got no real problems working with Garrus (other than chewing Garrus out for making some InnocentlyInsensitive comments) and Captain Kirrahe (provided you talk him down in the standoff on Virmire). He also laments how the krogan are more concerned with maintaining their grudges than actually preventing their own extinction. By ''2'' he decides to do something about it by unifying the krogan under his rule to focus more on rebuilding krogan society than getting revenge against the turians and salarians. Going by how many of the krogan are following his lead, he does a damn good job of it.
** [[spoiler:In [=ME3=], if you betray his friendship and sabotage the genophage cure, he will come after you on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. To elaborate, he comes to the Citadel armed with a giant shotgun (visitors are forbidden from carrying weapons on the station), assaulting a C-Sec officer and shooting at Shepard in broad daylight. Even if Shepard doesn't kill him himself, it doesn't take long until C-Sec reinforcements arrive and swiftly kill him. He really should've thought of a better plan. Then again, he was probably so angry and hurt that he wasn't thinking straight or didn't care enough for his own safety anymore.]]
* RoyalBlood: To a degree; his father was an overlord of Clan Urdnot. If he survived Virmire, Wrex will take over as clan leader and de facto ruler of the krogan homeworld of Tuchanka in ''2'' and ''3'' (as his dealings have positioned Clan Urdnot to be the most powerful clan).
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Wrex used to have a tribe of his own, though he fled Tuchanka after a fight with his father. Later, he will become the ruler of most of the krogan clans.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: His stance when traditional-minded krogan impede his vision. A necessary evil, for the traditional mindset is what led to the decline of the krogan people in the first place.
* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: In his backstory, he met Saren while working on a job. Something about Saren rubbed him the wrong way, so he left without waiting long enough to be paid. His instincts were right: he was the only merc from that job to survive.
* SelfMadeOrphan: In self-defense, as revealed in the first game and expanded on in the third. He reveals that his father tried to kill him when he was young, so he was forced to have him crushed under the rocks.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Believe it or not he embodies both sides of this trope. The latter is obvious but he shows a surprisingly caring side of himself after Virmire. He's the only one to talk about Ashley/Kaidan's death other than Joker and the Virmire Survivor, and the only character to comfort Shepard over it, telling you he respects your decision. The relationship between him and Paragon Shepard also fits this trope.
* SlaveToPR: He executes a gang leader against your orders because he was hired by the Broker to personally kill him. He even gives you the bounty if you don't bring him along and beat him to the punch -- he won't take credit or payment for something he didn't do.
* SnarkToSnarkCombat: With the human C-Sec officer who tries to warn him away from Fist in the first game.
-->'''Officer:''' You ''want'' me to arrest you?
-->'''Wrex:''' I want you to ''try''.
* SociopathicHero: Mostly in the first game, less so in the sequels.
* SpecialSnowflakeSyndrome: The Codex notes that krogan biotics are exceptionally rare, even as biotics go. So, naturally, the krogan who joins the adventuring party just happens to be a biotic. This was for lack of anyone else to fill the Vanguard slot in the original team.
* TheStoic: It's a significant moment whenever he really does emote.
-->"Shepard."\\
"Wrex."
** When Wrex joyfully bounds out of his "throne" to greet Shepard with unabashed happiness in ''2'', it's fairly startling. Especially in contrast to the cold shoulder they get from the Virmire survivor on Horizon.
** He also appears openly enthusiastic about having Grunt join Clan Urdnot, with almost fatherly pride when he completes the rite. Especially if Grunt kills the Thresher Maw, something no one has done since Wrex himself 1000 years prior.
* StopBeingStereotypical: He dislikes the self-destructive violence of the other krogan, who justify their reckless and bloodthirsty actions with little more than a declaration of "I'm a ProudWarriorRaceGuy!" and leave it at that. Wrex even ended up leaving his clan in his backstory because he became so disgusted with how his fellow krogan kept DramaticallyMissingThePoint about why they were subjected to the genophage in the first place. Should Wrex survive the first game, he's working to change this mindset as clan leader through reforms that defy tradition and the BloodKnight mindset, albeit not without some butting of heads (both figuratively and literally) from the other krogan. [[spoiler:And should Shepard help him go through with it, Wrex will succeed in getting the genophage cured in ''3'', proving him right.]]
* SuicideByCop: Should [[spoiler:Shepard sabotage the genophage cure]], he'll come gunning for them on the Citadel... with no barriers and armed with only a shotgun, in full view of several fully-armed C-Sec officers. It's pretty obvious how he expected the encounter to end.
* SupportingLeader: If he survives the Virmire mission, he's this for all krogan as of the third game, who can provide the second highest amount of War Assets (only behind the Systems Alliance). [[spoiler:This all depends on how you handle curing the genophage, however]]. Even in the mission on Sur'Kesh, he keeps the enemy distracted to make Shepard's mission easier.
* SuperStrength: Like all krogan. Particularly shown in the ''Citadel'' DLC, where he one-arm tosses 150+ kg power-armored mercenaries like hacky sacks.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Provided he survives Virmire and you don't betray him, he mentions multiple times he feels this way trying to keep the krogan in line. It's played for laughs in ''Mass Effect 3'' when he has to explain non-war societal development to them when all they're used to doing is blowing enemies up.
* TakingYouWithMe: If you betray him in ''Mass Effect 3'', he specifically calls off krogan support for the final battle so that humanity will be as doomed as the krogan.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Wrex is uniformly in favor of the most aggressive, violent and destructive solutions to any problem that the squad encounters. He'll offhandedly comment at one point that it's only a complete mission if ''explosions'' are involved. Hilariously lampshaded in ''Citadel'':
--->'''Wrex:''' That's why I love hanging out with you guys. Why shoot something once, when you can shoot it forty-six more times?
* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: Wrex drops a hard one when Allestia Iallis reveals herself to be a sleeper agent for Benezia.
-->'''Wrex:''' We'll see about that, bitch.
* TokenEvilTeammate: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. Wrex admits he pretends to be this, simply because it's ''expected'' of krogan. While Wrex isn't ''evil'', he is the most ruthless of Shepard's original six squadmates. When the player is faced with a major Paragon/Renegade choice, one squadmate will always endorse the paragon choice, and one will always endorse the renegade choice. Wrex is the only party member to always endorse the renegade choice regardless of party combination. Even Ashley, the next most renegade squadmate, will endorse the paragon option if she is in the party with Wrex. The only exception is the "save the Council" decision, where Ashley understandably advocates holding the fleets back and not risking human lives.
* TooDumbToLive: What he thinks of anyone that goes up against Shepard.
-->'''Wrex:''' Anyone who fights us is either stupid or on Saren's payroll. Killing the latter is business. Killing the former is a favor to the universe.
* TookALevelInCynic: Long before the first game began. He tried to change the self-destructive nature of the krogan in the aftermath of the Krogan Rebellions. He was opposed by many warlords, including his own father, Jerrod. His father trying to kill him on sacred ground where violence is forbidden, about the only rule the krogan actually respected, and [[SelfMadeOrphan being forced to kill him in self defense]] caused Wrex to lose all hope in the krogan adapting to the genophage and abandon his plans to reform krogan society.
* TookALevelInIdealism: Starts out as cynical as they come. If continuously supported by Shepard, he becomes more and more idealistic with each game. If [[spoiler:the genophage gets cured]] in the third game, he is arguably the least cynical character in the story.
* ToughLove: Essentially his approach as leader of the krogan. Wrex is absolutely uncompromising and quite harsh in putting his reforms in place, because he knows that they are vital to survival of the krogan people. He may not win all of the popularity contests with the krogan, but everything he does is to their benefit.
* {{Troll}}: Wrex has become this in ''3''.
-->'''Wrex:''' Hell of a showdown back there on Sur'Kesh. Just like the old days, right down to me pulling your ass out of the fire.\\
'''Shepard:''' ''I'' was the one with bullets flying at me!\\
'''Wrex:''' And I gave you the moral support to dodge them! ''(chuckles)''
* TryNotToDie: The worst possible "goodbye" before you try and summon Kalros.
-->'''Wrex:''' I know you're doing this for your own reasons, Shepard, but try to make sure you don't get your ass killed. I wouldn't know what to say at your funeral.
* {{Tsundere}}: Wrex comes off as this as he first appears as a mercenary who just gets the job done for extra cash but he is revealed to have a personality that is unique from other krogan. He is a type 1 male non romantic version of this trope. He actually cares about other people, including his own species as he shows great concern towards the well being of the krogan. He tries to get them to stop being violent towards each other and focus on maintaining his own species, which led to him being betrayed by his own father. He even openly voices this concern towards Shepard several times.
* UncomfortableElevatorMoment: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOg-nLWe71w Wrex seems to really like the elevators.]]
* UndignifiedDeath:
** ''Mass Effect 1'' gives Wrex a rather miserable death, should they choose to deal one out to him. Namely, he can be knocked down with a punch or a shot, and then shot multiple times like a dog. You then have the option of telling Captain Kirrahe to dump his corpse in the swamps. On top of that, he immediately becomes a ForgottenFallenFriend to the rest of the group.
** In ''Mass Effect 3'', if Shepard [[spoiler:sabotages the genophage cure, he is unceremoniously shot dead by either Shepard or C-Sec. His corpse is then spaced like yesterday's garbage and the media portrays him as a random mercenary who turned violent over a gambling debt.]]
* UndyingLoyalty: By the second game, even if he can't go with Shepard, it's clear that he has nothing but undying respect for them and will help them anyway he can. However, Shepard can later lose Wrex's trust by deleting Maelon's research and making no attempt to apologise. If they support the Krogan the entire series, Wrex's loyalty to Shepard is unbreakable.
* UseYourHead: [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership In true krogan fashion]], he uses this to assert his dominance.
** Unfortunately, he doesn't see it when Shepard has the opportunity to follow his lead, headbutting ''the same krogan that Wrex did earlier'' to get him to shut up. The Shaman does see, and finds it hilarious.
** In the Citadel DLC, he and Grunt start headbutting as a prelude to some good old-fashioned asskicking to determine who's the stronger krogan. Shepard shuts it down before it goes too far.
* UnwantedHarem: The Citadel DLC reveals there are downsides to being the clan leader who cured the genophage -- namely, everyone wants their firstborn to have his genes. There's a line of women outside his dwelling that stretches "as far as you can see", he has to sneak out his own bathroom window to get away, and he still gets jumped leaving Tuchanka.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Garrus. They butt heads frequently during elevator conversations in ''1'' but grow to respect each other. By ''3'' their conversations are full of good natured bantering and barb-trading.
* VocalEvolution: Barr gave a much deeper, more gravelly tone of voice for Wrex in ''1'' and ''2'', one which bordered on monotonous at times. When ''3'' rolls around, Wrex has ''much'' more range to his voice than before, and generally expresses a lot more emotion. Justified since his earliest appearances in the series take place very recently after he hit [[DespairEventHorizon rock bottom]], and his experiences with Shepard (whether positive or negative) ended up giving him the push he needed to take charge of his life and his people.
* WastelandWarlord: Becomes the most powerful and influential clan leader on Tuchanka, such that by the third game, he is treated as the de facto leader of all Krogan across the galaxy.
* WhatTheHellHero:
** If he's taken to Noveria and Shepard spares the rachni queen, he's deadset against it. As he reminds you, millions of his ancestors died to defeat the rachni the first time. By the third game he seems to have softened his attitude, though; he merely says to Shepard that if the rachni prove a problem, it's their ass on the line for it.
** If you deleted Maelon's research, he has some choice words for you in ''3'' -- you can apologise, but while he doesn't like mistrusting you, he doesn't immediately accept it; it takes rescuing Eve, following him to the Shroud and trying to patch things up between missions for Shepard to win his friendship back.
** [[spoiler:If you betray his trust by sabotaging the genophage cure, he tries to kill you. On the same occasion, he also calls you out for your actions during the Citadel coup if you killed the Virmire Survivor -- ''and'' for the turian bomb on Tuchanka if you let it go off.]] It's a bit of a low point for Shepard, all in all.
--->'''Wrex:''' [[spoiler:What's the matter? Ashley not around to do your dirty work? Oh right, you killed her, too! And it's time you found out how that feels!]]
* WhatWouldXDo: After the events of the first game, he takes Shepard's example and advice to heart and decides to return to Tuchanka and make another attempt to save his people from themselves.
* WhereItAllBegan: At the end of Priority: Tuchanka, [[spoiler:if Eve is alive]], you will meet up with him at the place where his father ambushed and tried to kill him, and he will remark about how the genophage turned the krogan into "animals".
* WhyDontYaJustShootHim: Wrex is a firm believer in using violence to solve his problems. Sometimes he'll threaten to eat somebody instead, just to spice things up.
* WorldsBestWarrior: On Tuchanka, anyway, but he has some impressive feats throughout the rest of the galaxy, too. The only person probably superior to him is Shepard, and his only clear successor is Grunt. He's also the most capable War Asset among all of Shepard's companions.
* WorldsStrongestMan: [[WordOfGod Chris Priestley]] [[http://web.archive.org/web/20160816183410/https://forum.bioware.com/topic/246325-strongest-squad-member/#entry7231820 confirmed]] that he is the physically toughest of Shepard's followers.
* WorthyOpponent: He considered his FriendlyEnemy Aleena[[note]]who is heavily implied, but never explicitly stated, to be Aria[[/note]] to be this. Wrex also views Shepard as one when they first meet, seeing them as a warrior worthy of his respect. He drops hints in the first game that he believes in a fight Shepard could take him down - which, considering Wrex once single-handedly defeated a ''Thresher Maw'', says a hell of a lot. By the end of the second game, Shepard's probably done a lot of the same things he did, and without the MadeOfIron characteristics that the krogan have going for them. It's no wonder Wrex respects them.
[[/folder]]
!Guest Party Members
[[folder:Richard L. Jenkins]]
!Corporal Richard L. Jenkins
[[quoteright:355:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/richard_l_jenkins_28020482_normal.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:[[TemptingFate With a name like that, surely he'll be around forever. Right?]]]]
-->''"We've got a Spectre on board! That's why I'm so wound up - I can't wait for the real mission to start."''
-->'''Voiced by''': Josh Dean
An over-enthusiastic Alliance soldier from Eden Prime, he is assigned as part of your squad when everything goes to hell there. Continuing in the long Bioware tradition of early sacrificial party members, he dies in the opening few minutes.
----
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: He says he's itching for some action just before the Eden Prime mission. Too bad "action" in his case meant watching his homeworld get scorched and being gunned down by a pair of geth recon drones.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite his boundless enthusiasm and naïveté, various characters imply Jenkins was a very competent soldier.
* DecoyProtagonist: He's a placeholder for Ash, who joins about a minute or two after his death.
* DoomedHometown: Eden Prime is this for him. Pity he dies too soon for it to become a plot point. And it's not entirely doomed anyway; there's a DLC mission there in the third game.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: Averted. The ''Normandy'' crew is very upset about his death, and often recall him later in the franchise.
** In ''2'', Dr. Chakwas reminisces about him over drinks with Shepard.
** One interpretation of when Shepard later encounters a young over-enthusiastic mercenary (who is also voiced by Josh Dean) on Omega, the reason they stopped dead in their tracks, turned slowly around and, if taking the Paragon interrupt, broke the kid's gun and ordered them home, was because he reminded them too much of Jenkins.
** His name is on the memorial wall in the ''Normandy'' in ''Mass Effect 3'', and he will be mentioned if Kaidan, James, or EDI is brought to the Eden Prime mission.
** In private moments, Shepard is shown to [[TheChainsOfCommanding give themself grief over Jenkins' death since it was their orders that caused him to run into the ambush]].
* FunPersonified: According to Chakwas. One of her stories involves him pestering Kaidan for a biotic demonstration, only for Kaidan to accidentally throw him so hard across the room, she thought he was seriously injured. Jenkins then leapt up, gleefully exclaiming:
--> '''Jenkins''': That was ''awesome''!
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: If you're on a NewGamePlus, he'll be level 50+ and still die to a few bullets after having been ordered to take point.
* GuestStarPartyMember: Despite being with you for at most a minute or two and dying right before the first fight, he is a fully functional squad member that can be issued orders and even has some skill points for you to assign despite never having an opportunity to use any abilities.
* HeroWorshipper: To Shepard. This is rarely a good sign for a character's mortality rate this early in the story.
* InformedAbility: He's apparently a badass soldier of the Alliance, but he is shot dead in the first half hour of the game and never gets to display it. Then again, it was a surprise attack, and even his replacement barely survived one while losing her entire squad to them.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: If Shepard has a Survivor or Ruthless background, Jenkins can gush about what they've done is worth him being a Spectre candidate, to which Shepard can state that it's a past that brings them bad memories.
* LeeroyJenkins: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], actually, [[MeaningfulName despite the name.]] He's very eager to go out there and see action, but still follows Shepard's orders to the letter and takes point. In the end it still doesn't do him much good; some geth drones ambush the squad and Jenkins gets gunned down before the rest know what's happening.
* MeaningfulName: Downplayed. He's named after LeeroyJenkins, and while he doesn't take it to the level of insubordination, he is rather reckless and eager.
* NaiveNewcomer: Definitely had an incredibly idealistic outlook on the Spectres, and the heroism of Shepard themself.
* SacrificialLamb: He dies just before the player's first battle.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: He got one conversation and a couple of lines. For a [=BioWare=] squad member, that's waving hello in passing.
[[/folder]]
[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reaper_war_ash.png]]
[[caption-width-right:280: Nothing like a nice relaxing stroll on the beach... [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter blasting bad guys with my boomstick]]!]]
-->''"Why is it whenever someone says [[WithDueRespect 'with all due respect,']] they really mean 'kiss my ass'?"''
-->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KimberlyBrooks
A human Systems Alliance Marine who specializes in weapons skills and heavy armor. Returns as an optional party member in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' if she survived the first game. She is a romance option for a male Shepard in both ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' and ''Mass Effect 3''.
----
* ActionGirl: Of all of the characters in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', only Wrex can match her for sheer toughness, and no one is as adept with weapons as her. This continues in ''Mass Effect 3'', where her skills are mostly focused on dealing damage (as opposed to James, the other soldier character, whose skills are more focused on survivability).
* AffectionateNickname: "Skipper", towards Shepard. Skipper is a nickname that U.S. Navy crew members commonly use for the commanding officer of the ship. She also calls Kaidan "LT", also a reference to his rank.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer:
** In the military, due to being the granddaughter of the only general to ever surrender to aliens, even though he surrendered to [[TheMenFirst spare his men and civilians]]. For this, he was considered a GeneralFailure and promptly KickedUpstairs.
** She reached the rank of Gunnery Chief before we meet her, which is higher than her father ever got, although she says that she had "crap assignments" until that point. After the first game, she essentially "breaks the Williams Curse", either by [[spoiler:posthumously receiving medals from the turians or salarians for her actions on Virmire, or by finally getting some good assignments and climbing up past the glass ceiling her family stigma imposed thanks to serving with distinction under Shepard]].
* AlmightyJanitor: In the first game, Ashley is a lowly non-commissioned officer due to her family being politically blackballed. This is all in-spite of her [[TheAce exemplary test scores.]] Come ''[=ME2=]'' and ''[=ME3=]'', her work with Shepard is enough for her to finally achieve the ranks she deserves.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Confirmed by the developers to be mostly Hispanic.
* AmbiguouslyChristian: Maybe. In the first game, Ashley is the TokenReligiousTeammate of the crew. The game never goes into deep detail of her faith, outside of believing in God and her father being in Heaven and that she regularly prays. Originally, she was supposed to have a more explicitly religious conversation where she asked Shepard about what they saw after dying, but this was DummiedOut.
* AngerBornOfWorry: If she's romanced and taken to the final mission of Leviathan, she's not happy about Shepard almost getting himself killed.
-->'''Ashley:''' Never do that again.
* AntiHero: A KnightInSourArmor or a PragmaticHero.
* ArmorIsUseless: [[spoiler: If Shepard is forced to shoot her, they only shoot her once with the Predator, the weakest pistol in the game. Despite wearing heavy armor, having kinetic barriers that have withstood dozens of bullets in cutscenes, and having medi-gel on hand just in case she gets shot, the bullet goes right through her, and she dies a few minutes later]].
* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: [[spoiler:She's made the second human Spectre in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''.]]
* TheAtoner: A lot of her actions are fueled by her desire to restore her family's good name.
* BadassFamily: The Williams family is ridiculously badass. Her grandfather, while being most remembered for surrendering to the turians at Shanxi was nonetheless a ''General''. Ashley also mentions that between her sisters, they are trained in hand-to-hand combat, swordplay and marksmanship. Ashley mentions that she once took a leave of absence to deal with her sister's overly horny boyfriend, who tried to push his luck. In the end, she actually didn't do ''anything'', since when the boyfriend tried to hit her sister, her sibling put him into the hospital in [[CurbStompBattle a matter of seconds.]]
* BadassNormal: On teams including a super strong combat robot, a fifty thousand year old Avatar of Vengeance with PsychicPowers, one of the few surviving [[SuperPrototype L2 biotics]], a scientist who also happens to be able to [[MindOverMatter lift a Geth Colossus with her mind]], and a thousand-year old MagicKnight who ''also'' has super strength ''and'' can pick up a Geth Colossus with his mind, what does she bring to the table? She carries lot of guns and mods[[note]] Ammo mods, alternate firing mods like Concussive Shot, etc.[[/note]] and really knows how to use them. [[SimpleYetAwesome This is more than enough to let her hold her own.]]
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Most of her ''Mass Effect 3'' outfits have a helmet for vacuum conditions, except her ''From Ashes'' version. The eyepiece apparently overrides it.
* BattleCouple: With Shepard in the first and third game if romanced.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With male Shepard in the second and third games, if romanced in the first.
* BigSisterInstinct: Part of her backstory involves her taking a leave of absence from the Alliance to help her little sister deal with an overly clingy boyfriend.
* BoisterousBruiser: Her skills center around dealing out as much weapon damage as possible. She's also very enthusiastic, inside battle and out.
* BrutalHonesty: One consistent trait about Ashley is that she never bites her tongue when voicing her opinion. [[spoiler:In fact, it's one of the few things that differentiate her and Kaidan in ''Mass Effect 3'', the most notable example being when she doesn't budge on her reactions on Horizon being justified whereas Kaidan is more uncertain in hindsight]].
* BruiserWithASoftCenter: Hits hard and hits first. Also likes poetry, talks to her sisters back home, and develops a soft spot for Tali.
* CharacterDevelopment:
** She gradually grows more comfortable about working with aliens over time.
** In the third game, after [[spoiler:Victus' son Tarquin]] sacrifices himself to [[spoiler:prevent the bomb on Tuchanka from detonating]], she will tell Tali that she is able to accept others dying in her place because she would make the same sacrifice for them, in contrast to her earlier SurvivorGuilt after [[spoiler:she is saved at the cost of Kaidan's life on Virmire]].
** A romanced Ashley goes from seeing Shepard as the only thing that makes her feel worthy to not needing to hear compliments from him.
* ClingyJealousGirl: A mild case; she feels threatened by Liara's relationship with Shepard in the first game; even Liara lampshades this. In the third game, however, if he dated Tali in the second game, she takes it in stride if Shepard chooses to stay with Tali.
* CommonalityConnection: Ash and Shepard realise they both had the same drill instructor, Gunny Ellison, at the Macapá boot camp, recognizable his AntiquatedLinguistics.
* CoolBigSis: Acts as one to her younger sisters.
** Arguably serves as one for Tali as well. [[spoiler:If the quarians are destroyed and Tali commits suicide, a heartbroken Ashley will flat-out state she saw Tali as a little sister to her]].
* CombatPragmatist: If Shepard is unable to talk Wrex down on Virmire, Ashley will simply gun him down with no warning from behind while he's in the middle of a conversation.
* CovertPervert:
** Pops up if you romance her in the first game. She'll mention that Commander Shepard has a great ass, ''twice'', and will mention it again if broken up with after the Citadel coup in the third game.
** Seems to be a family trait. Her sister comments that male Shepard is cute in the first game, clearly jealous that her sister has such an attractive boss. Cue Ashley turning around and realizing that Shepard is [[RightBehindMe standing right there:]]
---> '''Ashley''': Tell me you didn't hear that.\\
'''Shepard''': 'Fraid I did.\\
'''Ashley''': ''[mortified]'' Shoot me now.
** If Shepard is female, Ash's sister will instead turn her affection to Kaidan.
** In the event that neither she nor James are romanced, Ashley declines Liara's suggestion to join in the pushup demonstration of physical supremacy at the party, clearly enjoying the view.
* CulturedWarrior: Just because she can drill you between the eyes at four hundred meters doesn't mean she can't like poetry. She even tries to romance Shepard with it.
* CustomUniform: Her outfit in the third game looks nothing like other Alliance uniforms or armor.
* DaddysGirl: Ashley's father wasn't around often due to his career, but Ashley was apparently very close to him. A large part of the reason she enlisted was to make him proud.
* DateRapeAverted: During one of her backstory conversations, she'll talk about how her Marine father made sure all his daughters could defend themselves. One foolish boy tried to put some unwanted moves on Ashley's younger sister. He got a ''very'' painful message - in a twist, he apologized to her, and they continued dating (seems some boundaries were set).
* DeadpanSnarker: Despite being dedicated to following protocol, she definitely isn't shy about sassing Shepard.
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:Has shades of this during the first game. If she survives Virmire, after she says she should have been the one to stay behind, one of Shepard's responses is to lose their temper and accuse her of wanting to martyr herself to restore her family's honor. This seems to snap her out of it.]]
* DemotedToExtra:
** During the second game.
** She also is hospitalized early in the third game after being attacked by [[spoiler: Eva Coré]] on Mars, remaining out of action until [[spoiler: the Cerberus coup attempt.]] Ashley is not given much dialogue on ''Normandy'', but the writers have clarified that she has the ''same'' number of lines as Kaidan; her conversations just mostly take place on the Citadel, while Kaidan's are largely restricted to the ''Normandy''. Certain bugged and unused conversations (including one with Liara after the conclusion of ''Priority: The Citadel II'', an unused discussion on morality and death with Shepard in their cabin and unused lines in her date and memorial visit on the Citadel) would have expanded this dialogue further.
* {{Determinator}}: Due to her grandfather being the only human to surrender to alien forces, the entire military hates her and assigns her to the lowest and most degrading posts they can. Despite this, she signed up for the Alliance anyway to help redeem her family name. Shepard notes in the third game that the very first time they met Ashley, she had just seen her entire platoon wiped out by geth and instead of laying down and giving up, her response was to pick up her gun and keep firing. Shepard implies that if they hadn't shown up, she would have likely continued to do so even if it meant she had to defend the colony by ''herself''.
* DidISayThatOutLoud: Pops up several times if Shepard is in a romance with her.
--> '''Ashley''': If you expect to get me in a tinfoil mini-skirt and thigh-high boots, I want dinner first... Sir!
* DistaffCounterpart: Given that Ashley has considerable prowess with a sniper rifle and automatic rifle, is frequently cast as a DeadpanSnarker and in the first game was something of a NobleBigot before CharacterDevelopment, one could make the argument that she's essentially the human, female equivalent of Garrus Vakarian.
* DoomMagnet: As Diana Allers notes to herself in ''3'', Ash... doesn't have the best luck when assigned to guard things. First, her entire unit got wiped out, then in ''2'' there's Horizon, and in ''3'', she's the last woman standing of the council's guard during Cerberus's coup.
* DrinkingContest: This is what constitutes a shore-leave date with Ashley, romanced or not, in the ''Citadel'' DLC.
* DrivenToSuicide: In the first game, after Alenko performs his heroic sacrifice, Shepard will realize that Ash wants to perform a HeroicSacrifice to [[TheAtoner atone for her family's sins]]. They can call her out on it.
* DudeMagnet: She's pretty popular with men, as many show interest in her over the series and side material.
* DyingDeclarationOfHate: If you refuse to patch up your relationship with her in ''3'' and are forced to shoot her during the Citadel Coup, she will curse you with her last breath.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: She's first encountered fleeing from two geth troopers and their drones. She dives to avoid the drones' fire, takes them out with per pistol, then jumps behind cover before readying her rifle in anticipation for the two troopers. After Shepard and Kaidan kill the troopers, she thanks them for saving her life and then blames herself for the loss of the other marines.
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** In spite of how she is less than trusting of aliens, particularly the Council, she references this in ''Mass Effect 2'' to rebuke Shepard's offer of working with [[NebulousEvilOrganization Cerberus.]]
--->'''Ashley''': I'm no fan of aliens, but Cerberus has a habit of being... extreme.
** She also dislikes Terra Firma in the first game, saying that their platform is noble, but too many of their members just use it to spread racism. The fact they keep using Shanxi as a rallying cry [[ItsPersonal also has something to do with her dislike of them]].
** Makes it very clear she distrusts Liara at first meeting and acts surprisingly juvenile about it in a conversation afterwards, but if Shepard points out Liara's lack of social skills means teasing her is probably a bad idea, Ash immediately backs off from thereon out.
* FamilyHonor: The driving force behind her service in the Alliance military.
* {{Fangirl}}: Mildly towards Shepard if they have the War Hero background.
* FanservicePack: In the third game, it seems that her promotion [[spoiler:to Spectre status]] included a boob job.
** Including the lingerie, she wears in the romance scene with Shepard. That doesn't look like regulation military issue (although Traynor and Shepard have [[LawOfConservationOfDetail the exact same set]], so...) Might be a perk of being a Spectre, though, they ''do'' always get the best gear.
* FantasticallyIndifferent: Her reaction to the discovery of Leviathan in ''3''? Total indifference. As she explains to Shepard, she doesn't ''care'' about where the Reapers come from, she just wants 'em dead.
* FantasticRacism: A surprisingly nuanced version of this.
** She doesn't trust aliens and has issues with turians in particular because her grandfather was the commander at the garrison at Shanxi, who was also the only human commander to ever surrender to alien forces. As a Williams, she is already under (unfair) scrutiny for being an alien-sympathizer or not pro-human enough. As a result, the Williams name is something of a curse, and Ashley suffers for it.
** It's important to note that even if she doesn't trust aliens, she explicitly "[doesn't] think humans have some kind of divine mandate, if that's what you mean. I don't think we're superior" nor does she "mean we should mistreat [aliens]". She vehemently criticizes the Terra Firma party for its much more overt racism. She also expresses sympathy for Tali the instant she hears how the Council shafted the quarians after the geth went rogue, and Tali is the only alien whose presence on the ship she doesn't object to on the ''Normandy''. Her only issues with Liara are being a romantic rival for a male Shepard and the daughter of an enemy; she urges Shepard to speak to her after Benezia's death.
** Ash also has trust issues in general, given her reaction to Shepard being involved with Cerberus in the second game and the fact she takes a long time to trust them again in the third. She herself describes her feelings as less "they're aliens" and more "we shouldn't become dependent on them". When push comes to shove, Ash will gladly accept their help, but in the long run, she knows that if they become desperate enough, they'll take care of their own first and leave humanity to fend for itself. The third game shows she's absolutely right, because almost every other species refuses to help humanity until Shepard solves their specific problem.
** She is the only teammate to question whether the mercenary Wrex and/or the cowboy cop Garrus should be allowed to be around sensitive areas of the ''Normandy'' despite the ship being a turian/human project, is also the only teammate to snap at Liara in front of the rest of the team and has to be told to back off for wanting to tease Liara with a racial joke about asari promiscuity. Her being the only one to shoot Wrex makes it look worse in light of all the other details. She doesn't, however, have any concerns about Tali, who has either been allowed to join the team in front of Anderson, who had no comment, or has been assigned to work with Shepard by Udina.
** Her comments on the Citadel in Mass Effect 1 like "I can't tell the aliens from the animals" did not help players' impression of her.
** This trait seems to be [[CharacterDevelopment completely gone]] by ''3'', replaced with a distrust of Shepard because they were [[WhatTheHellHero working with Cerberus]]. She also states that she has difficulty in seeing synthetics as truly alive, although this sentiment is largely shared by the rest of the crew except EDI; many of the crew fought against the geth in the first game.
** She unequivocally hates the geth from the beginning of the series to the end. Her response if Shepard lets the quarians destroy them rather than helping them destroy the quarians or making peace between the two factions sums this up quite well. If taken on the Geth Consensus mission, she's also one of the squadmates (along with Garrus and Javik) who will immediately question Legion's motives and advise against trusting it.
--->'''Ashley:''' I know that wasn't an easy call for you, but I'm glad the quarians came out on top. I just can't see the geth as "real", you know? And ever since Eden Prime, losing the 212... I'll never forgive them for that.
** On the other hand, if Shepard chooses the quarians to die, she will be ''pissed'' because not only does she hate geth, but she was a CoolBigSis to Tali, and will tell Shepard she will ''never'' consider the geth anything but villains and to ''keep them the fuck away from her''.
* FirstGirlWins: If romanced.
* FriendlySniper: She can use sniper rifles, though cutscenes always show her wielding assault rifles.
* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: While far from naive and even somewhat cynical, she cannot comprehend what Cerberus hoped to accomplish [[spoiler:in Sanctuary on Horizon]] and considers her inability to do so what makes her human. [[spoiler:This is also revealed to more or less be the reason she feels she was justified in being angry with Shepard in the second game whereas Kaidan feels he overreacted; doing wrong for the right reasons is still doing wrong.]]
* GoodOldFisticuffs: Her sisters know fencing and aikido. Ashley knows Marine hand-to-hand and admits that she's "more or less a straight-up puncher".
* HangoverSensitivity: Shepard can find her on the floor after she's spent the night drinking some of Vega's mescal. Ash's response is to ask Shep not to speak so loudly... in between pained groaning.
* HeartbrokenBadass: If romanced by Shepard in the first game, it's clear that she took his death hard. It takes until half-way through the third game until she's ready to believe that Shepard is who he claims he is and trust him again.
* HeroWorshipper: To Shepard with the War Hero background.
** She angrily berates a colonist in ''[=ME2=]'' who insults Shepard, declaring that they're in the presence of a ''god''. [[BrokenPedestal She stops being this after that, however.]] Less than a minute after that, in fact.
* HiddenDepths: Her views on human/alien interaction actually delve much deeper than simple racism. While she has trust issues, her views fall more along the line of "we shouldn't become too dependent on them."
** She admonishes Shepard for thinking that just because she is capable of shooting someone between the eyes from 400 yards, it doesn't mean she can't like ''poetry''.
* HighlyConspicuousUniform: Her default armor in the first game is white and pink. ''[[HighlyVisibleNinja Pink]]''. Justified in that, according to the armor's description, it's supposed to be for medics. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation But Ashley doesn't have the Medicine talent.]]
* ImprobableAge: [[AllThereInTheManual Supplementary material]] says she's 25 in the first game, which is really pushing the suspension of disbelief if she's a senior NCO.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: In the third game, to cope with the impending Reaper attack, James gives her a bottle of alcohol. She drinks the whole bottle.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: In conversation about her sisters with Colonist Shepard, she might acknowledge that talking about her family to them is a little thoughtless, given Shepard's family were all killed in the raid on Mindoir.
* InTheBack: She'll kill [[spoiler: Wrex]] this way if Shepard orders her to or takes too long [[spoiler: to talk him down]].
* InTheBlood: She's a fourth generation Marine. She even invokes it during her encounter with Shepard on Horizon in ''2''.
-->'''Ash:''' I'm an Alliance soldier. It's ''in my blood''.
* IRegretNothing: [[spoiler:Her last words if she dies on Virmire.]]
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: [[spoiler:Her goodbye if Shepard chooses to save Kaidan instead of her on Virmire.]]
* IUhYouToo: She and Shepard do this. They "want each other to be happy".
* JerkassHasAPoint: She comes across as quite cynical and distrustful at times, but a few of her observations turn out to be right:
** As harsh as she was about it, Ashley was correct that the Illusive Man was using Shepard's gratitude about the [[BackFromTheDead Lazarus Project]] to manipulate Shepard, ''and'' that he conspired with the Collectors to cause the attack on Horizon (which TIM himself will freely admit once the mission is over). The Illusive Man's manipulations even become increasingly transparent if Shepard argues for destroying the Collector base, and his supportive demeanor fully cracks if the base truly is destroyed. The jerkass part was born from Ashley being [[LockedOutOfTheLoop left in the dark on several essential details]], due to Liara not telling anyone about the events of ''Redemption'', and some of the things she considers (such as Cerberus having secretly brainwashed Shepard or Shepard themselves being an impostor) ''are'' flat-out untrue, but Ashley had no way of actually knowing that and the fact that Miranda had to be explicitly ordered not to do so makes it a valid concern. [[spoiler:Furthermore, she won't back down on her comments on Horizon the way Kaidan will in ''[=ME3=]'', feeling she had every right to react the way she did since Cerberus were still pretty bad people to work with regardless of Shepard's intentions]].
** In ''Mass Effect 1'', she expresses distrust of the Citadel races and believes that relying on them for help is foolish, on the grounds that the aliens would inevitably abandon humanity in favor of protecting themselves. She likens it to a human siccing their beloved dog on a bear to cover their own escape, because as much as the human may love the dog, it still isn't a person. Later in the game she spells out that in this situation, Saren is the bear which the Council are siccing humanity (the dog) on. [[spoiler:In the third game, she's right again. In the opening days of the galaxy-wide Reaper invasion, the federation of the Citadel threatens to break down as every race turns inwards to protect their own territories, leaving humanity alone as the Reapers prioritize the harvest of Earth. It takes Shepherd roaming the galaxy, solving everyone else's problems first, before most of the other races agree to pool their resources into a united war effort.]]
** She also asks that the non-human members of the crew be kept away from any important areas of the ship, on the ground that the Normandy is an Alliance vessel first and foremost and as such its secrets should stay within the Alliance. Fast-forward to the third game, and a description blurb notes that the Quarian Fleet's cloaking technology is "suspiciously similar" to that of the Normandy, implying that Tali ''did'' steal some of its secrets for the Migrant Fleet.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Depending on your choices on Virmire. It's also possible to shoot her midway through the third game when Udina turns traitor but it's not too hard to avoid.]]
* KnightInSourArmor: She's bitter and distrustful of aliens and the Council, but is dedicated to her job and is willing to lay down her life to do the right thing.
* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: If Shepard has the War Hero background, she has a little hero worship at the start of the first game.
* TheLancer: A dual role in the first and third games:
** Shares the role with Kaidan in the first game [[spoiler:until one of them is killed off]].
** Back in the part in ''3'', sharing with Garrus[[spoiler:, though one or both of them may be dead at this point]].
* LastNameBasis: Typically referred to as such in the first game, most often "Chief Williams" or "Williams".
* LettingHerHairDown: As of ''Mass Effect 3''. There's something amusing about James' "she's a fun girl when she actually lets her hair down", given he never met her onscreen before (their first exchange implies they knew each other already, but probably not for long -- presumably while Shepard was detained on Earth).
* LightningBruiser: In the third game, Ashley's weapon damage is second only to Garrus. Whether it's with her [[MoreDakka Marksman]] ability, or by using a combination of Disruptor Ammo, Inferno Grenades, and Concussive Shot in that order to chain together [[CombinationAttack Tech Bursts and Fire Explosions]], Ashley can cause large amounts of damage very quickly with no help from Shepard or the third squadmate. She also has the highest defenses of the five squad members that don't have a damage reduction power.
* LikeParentLikeSpouse: Coming from a family that has been {{military|brat}} for generations, one could argue her attraction to a Male Paragon Shepard is due to Ashley being instinctively drawn towards strong, determined men who are career military. If romanced, in the third game she believes that if her father were still alive, Shepard would be the ''first'' boyfriend her father would approve of and the two of them would get on like a house on fire.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: One of the main reasons why [[spoiler: the reunion on Horizon goes so badly]]. Shepard seems to be the only one to think it might be a good idea for Ashley to know what the hell is going on. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late since all that left her with were the reports Cerberus itself was leaking to keep Shepard away from their old contacts. In the third game, rectifying this is an essential part of getting back on her good side. The player also has the option of [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential continuing to leave her out of the loop]], [[spoiler: which potentially ends in her death because she can't be convinced that it's NotWhatItLooksLike]]. [[spoiler: This plays into helping diversify her from Kaidan in ''Mass Effect 3'' since, after dealing with corruption through most of the first game, she feels she was more than justified to rail at Shepard for seemingly leaving her in the dark]].
* TheLostLenore: Potentially. As Kaidan or Ashley will be the SacrificialLion for the first game, they can also be considered this if a romance was pursued and they died.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: The masculine girl to Kaidan's feminine boy. Ashley also has shades of this with a paragon [=MaleShep=].
* MeaningfulEcho: In the first game, Ash makes the page quote about how 'with all due respect' really means 'kiss my ass.' During the Extended Cut in the third game, when Ash [[spoiler: is injured during the run to the conduit]] and Shepard [[spoiler: orders her to evacuate]], retorts:
--> '''Ashley''': With all due respect, Commander...
* MilitaryBrat: Ashley is pretty quick to let you know that she's the fourth generation of Williams to be in the military.
* MoreDakka: Marksman (buffs accuracy and firing rate) is one of her unique powers in ''3''. This really comes into play if you give her an already fast-firing weapon like the Revenant or Typhoon.
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: With [[spoiler:Kaidan after Virmire. One of them ''will'' always die, so it's impossible to finish the game with both of them]].
* NobleBigotWithABadge: Obviously, her views are influenced by her family's DarkAndTroubledPast, but she believes that alien races are just as susceptible to FantasticRacism as humans are, and that humans should therefore be prepared to go it alone. In any event, she still has concrete standards (namely loathing for the direction the ''more'' racist Terra Firma party has gone, and an absolute refusal to work with Cerberus due to their terrorist activities). She is also a ConsummateProfessional in the field -- if you assign her to lead the salarian STG contingent on Virmire, they come away from it with nothing but respect for her.
* OneWomanArmy: [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome It happened offscreen]], but Ashley apparently [[spoiler:fought through Cerberus's soldiers completely on her own to reach the Council during the coup]].
* OptionalPartyMember: In the third game, after [[spoiler:being severely injured on Mars, she's absent until Udina's attempted coup, wherein she can actually be killed or, barring that, have her request to return to the ''Normandy'' refused, making her a War Asset]].
* OutOfFocus: Like Kaidan, Ashley has a central role in ''Mass Effect 1'''s plot, but plays a much more minor role in the sequels compared to the other original party members. The intended subplot about [[spoiler:the Illusive Man turning Shepard and Ashley against each other was significantly stripped down, most likely because of the number of [[IdiotBall Idiot Balls]] everyone involved had to grab to make the original plan work.]] Particularly jarring if you romanced her in the first game, though it can be [[DownplayedTrope mitigated significantly]] if the player goes to talk to her when she asks; [[spoiler:especially since she does work to explain her position - namely that, after having seen how the WellIntentionedExtremist beliefs affected Saren and Cerberus, she feels she had every right to chew Shepard out for being left in the dark when they looked to be on their same path]].
* OverrankedSoldier: Gunnery Chief (a senior NCO rank) is a somewhat implausible rank for a 25 year old woman to hold especially when she faces the kind of stigma that Ashley holds during a time of relative peace (i.e. before the geth attack on Eden Prime), and in the two years after ''Mass Effect'' is promoted to Operations Chief. And in ''Mass Effect 3'' this is taken even further as somehow, in the six months between ''Mass Effect 2'' and ''Mass Effect 3'', she is able to earn an officer's commission and be promoted to Lieutenant Commander. Note that this is three ranks above the starting officer's rank (it goes 2nd Lieutenant, 1st Lieutenant, Staff Lieutenant, THEN Lieutenant Commander) AND a rank that normally takes many years to earn even for people who began their careers as young Ensigns.
** It's possible that, since her technical scores are exemplary and she kept getting given crap assignments, the brass were trying hard to get her KickedUpstairs with a post on some backwater planet, where she wouldn't be much of a problem.
** Her promotion in ''3'' might be because being part of Shepard's crew opened a ''lot'' of doors for her, since it appears that the while the Alliance tried to hush up the crew about the Reapers, they only were actively trying to discredit ''Shepard''. It also seems that she was being prepared as a possible successor to Shepard as a Spectre. Or at least, Udina probably wanted a Spectre more amenable to his bidding.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Much like Garrus, she's an extreme badass and a fine leader [[spoiler:and, in the third game, gets inducted as a Spectre.]] But when Shepard is around, there's no doubt who's the boss, or [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership why.]] Exemplified if Shepard is the one to kill [[spoiler:Udina]], at which point they immediately take total charge of the situation.
** [[HiddenDepths She will also admit]] that she feels this way in regard to the rest of the crew in the first game. She fears she'll be ineffective against the geth since she can't use biotics or tech like the others.
* PairTheSpares: If unromanced, she can hook up with James in ''Citadel'' if encouraged (though there is no further mention of this, suggesting it was a one time thing).
* PetTheDog: If you talk to her after the Noveria mission, she'll tell Shepard to go comfort Liara [[spoiler:since her mother was killed there after succumbing to indoctrination]]. She also expresses a hope that having Tali on their team will improve people's views of quarians during one of the game's many long elevator rides. As well, she takes the Virmire assignment of leading an assault force of salarians without complaint. In fact, the salarians come out of it with nothing but respect for her.
* PinkMeansFeminine: Subverted; her armor may be pink, but she's tough and hardly traditionally feminine.
* PrimAndProperBun: In the first two games, although Ashley herself is [[BrutalHonesty hardly prim and proper.]]
* ProperlyParanoid:
** Ashley does not trust the Council because she feels if push comes to shove, they will put the good of their own races ahead of humans. Come the third game, [[StrawmanHasAPoint she's proven right.]]
** When she appears in ''2'', Ashley warns Shepard that the Illusive Man is using the Reaper threat and Shepard's gratitude to control them. If she is taken to Cronos Station in ''3'', Ashley is not surprised to find a recording of the Illusive Man detailing his plans to make Shepard sympathetic to Cerberus.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Averted. If Shepard asks about her family in the first game, she relays the time one of her sisters was almost raped by her boyfriend Mike when they were teenagers, but thankfully the Williams sisters all knew self-defense. After Sarah flattened him for trying to rape her on a "romantic walk" in the woods and then flattened him on the pavement ''again'' when he tried to verbally and physically assault her in broad daylight over it, Sarah forgave him. If Shepard expresses apprehension over this, Ashley casually dismisses it, saying he was just a kid.
* RealMenLoveJesus: Though obviously not a man, she's very tomboyish and brings up her faith directly (though it's not spelt out to be Christianity). Shepard can either agree with her (citing there's "[[PrayerIsALastResort no atheist in a foxhole]]," and Shepard's been in plenty of them) or disagree with varying levels of rudeness.
* RealWomenDontWearDresses: Subversion. She's an undeniable badass and certainly never seen wearing a dress in the main games, but when Shepard mentions that he can't see her in a dress, she hesitates, saying "Damn straight you can't." This implies that she thinks she's ''supposed'' to be this way. If you pursue a relationship with her, she's also revealed to be a romantic at heart, while still keeping up appearances of being a hardass.
** Should Shepard romance Miranda in the second game after romancing her in the first, she angrily notes that when she goes into battle it's in ''armor'', not ''[[TakeThat swimwear]]''. Which is hypocritically hilarious if you use the alternative outfit for Ashley in combat (which is her skin-tight leather suit).
** Furthermore subverted in the ''Citadel'' DLC. If you take Ashley with you on the infiltration mission, she'll wear a dress. And if you ''don't'' take her, she'll say that she actually looks good in a dress and wishes she had an opportunity to wear it.
* RedOniBlueOni: The red to Kaidan's blue.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Potentially discussed; after learning about her family's backstory, Shepard can express concern that she hopes for an opportunity to fall on her proverbial sword in order to redeem her family name. [[spoiler:If she's the one left behind on Virmire, it has this effect]]. Not to mention news reports from the second game: [[spoiler:she's been awarded high honors by the salarian and turian governments for her willingness to give her life protecting aliens]].
* RefugeInAudacity: If she's taken to infiltrate the casino in ''[[{{DLC}} Citadel]]''. Her antics include feigning extreme drunkenness, loudly crying about a breakup, and brazenly hitting on a guard.
* RelationshipUpgrade: You can start a new romance with her in the third game regardless of history (the same applies to Liara and Kaidan, though Ashley's romance remains restricted to Male Shepard). "I'm just saying, we've been through a lot. I have to know -- are we going somewhere?"
* RelationshipValues: Possesses this with Shepard in ''3''. [[spoiler: It culminates in a Mexican Standoff. A high-value Ashley will side with you over Udina, while a lower one requires a reputation check, and if the reputation is too low, she will refuse to move and must be killed]].
* ReligiousBruiser: "Hey, if they're trying to find God, I'd be happy to speed them on their way."
* SemperFi: She's in the human military, so natch.
* SentencedWithoutTrial: When Shepard asks her about her grandfather after the First Contact War, she explains that as punishment for surrendering to the turians, the Alliance stripped him of his rank without a trial.
* SheCleansUpNicely: She got a major visual overhaul between ''2'' and ''3''.
* ShipperOnDeck: If Shepard romances her but later romances Tali, Ashley actually approves of their relationship due to her sisterly relationship with Tali.
* ShootTheDog:
** [[spoiler: She kills Wrex on Virmire to protect Shepard if Shepard either orders her to or is unable to talk Wrex down.]]
** [[spoiler: And if Shepard is unable to talk ''her'' down during the Cerberus attack in the third game, Shepard can do the same to her.]]
* ShoutOut:
** Her name is a reference to ''Franchise/EvilDead'''s protagonist. During the Virmire stage, she can also make a comment about her "[[Film/ArmyOfDarkness boomstick]]."
** She also romances Shepard with by quoting Walt Whitman (a.k.a. ''Film/DeadPoetsSociety'').
* ShutUpKiss: Invoked in the third game if the romance was continued.
--> '''Ashley''': Just shut up and kiss me.
* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: She could use shotguns in the first game, affectionately referring to her shotgun as her "boomstick", but she prefers assault rifles. She loses the ability to use shotguns in the third game.
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: Takes the more realistic viewpoint to Paragon Shepard's continual WideEyedIdealist nature.
-->'''Shepard:''' That's a pretty pessimistic way of looking at things, Chief.\\
'''Ashley:''' A pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist.
* SinsOfOurFathers: She is a pariah among the Alliance military because her grandfather was the only human commander to ever surrender to alien forces.
* SoProudOfYou: Her father salutes her after she becomes a Gunnery Chief, a higher rank than he could ever achieve.
* SoleSurvivor: Of her unit on Eden Prime and later, of the Council guard during the coup.
* SpaceMarine: As with all human soldiers in ''Franchise/MassEffect'', literally.
* StarCrossedLovers: With male Shepard in the second game if romanced in the first. Avoided in the third game only if a specific ending is chosen.
* StrawCivilian: Holds this view of non-military folk, particularly politicians. Granted, most of the time [[ProperlyParanoid she seems to be right.]] One elevator conversation has her complaining about how people are going about their daily lives despite the threat of the geth and Saren; other party members' responses vary, but Garrus in particular points out that this is the difference between military and civilian worldviews.
-->'''Ashley''': It's strange. The geth are attacking, and everyone around here is still worried about ordinary business.\\
'''Garrus''': You're military, Chief Williams. They're civilians. Civilians never believe the enemy is coming until they're at the gates.
* SurvivorGuilt: [[spoiler:If she's saved on Virmire, she will express this. In the third game, a conversation between her and Tali showcases her CharacterDevelopment on this regard, as she tells Tali that she can accept Kaidan's sacrifice because she would have done the same thing in his situation, and says that one day, Tali will have her turn to sacrifice herself.]]
* TakeThat: She gives one to [[HollywoodAtheist those who have a problem with people having religious beliefs.]]
* TokenReligiousTeammate: Mainly in the first game. It's not brought up so much in the third. She was going to have a conversation about Shepard's NearDeathExperience, but it got cut.
* TookALevelInBadass: At the start of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', she's a competent but unremarkable marine, and requires aid to survive against a couple geth troopers. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', assuming she survives, she's made a Spectre, essentially meaning she's declared humanity's second most competent agent behind Shepard themself.
* TookALevelInKindness: If romanced by a paragon Shepard in ''Mass Effect 1'', Ashley can get challenged on her views of aliens and end up adopting a more idealistic and accepting view towards them, to the point where she will be character arguing in favor of rescuing the council even if it means sacrificing human lives. Even if not romanced, she develops this way by herself, calling out Terra Firma for racism and getting along well with all her alien squadmates in the elevators.
* UnequalPairing: With Shepard. She also writes an e-mail to her sister warning about the possible implications of this, including possibly having to decide whether your loved one lives or dies. [[spoiler:This becomes HarsherInHindsight after Virmire, when she can potentially be saved because she's romanced, or sacrificed for a romanced Kaidan]]. It's technically averted in the third game, where both she and Shepard have the same rank of Lt. Commander, and the same position of Spectre.
* TheUnfairSex: If romanced previously, male Shepard calls her out on this attitude in ''3'', noting that if he chose to romance someone else in the second game, it was only because Ashley made her feelings abundantly clear on Horizon that they were ''over''.
* UnwittingPawn: Because Ashley was unaware of the Lazarus Project, the Illusive Man was able to turn her against Shepard by strategically leaking information about their survival, [[spoiler:something Udina follows up on if Shepard makes no attempt to reestablish their friendship with Ashley]].
* UpThroughTheRanks:
** Assuming she survived the first game, she goes from a gunnery chief (a grade of noncom) to a lieutenant commander.
** Played straight as she has this attitude to the Alliance, who blacklisted her family ever since Shanxi when her grandfather, General Williams, surrendered in order to save civilian lives. Ashley's struggle to prove herself to the Alliance gets to the point where Shepard can berate her in the first game for wanting to jump on grenades, if it'd mean redeeming the Williams name.
* VasquezAlwaysDies: [[spoiler:Not ''always'', but she is the only female squad member who can suffer a PlotlineDeath as early as the first game, while her girlier colleagues, Tali and Liara, don't face that possibility until part two and three, respectively.]]
* VindicatedByHistory: [[spoiler: InUniverse. If you choose to let her die in the first game, then by the second game she had become a martyr and face of the human fight on Virmire. She gets memorials in her name and all of her family's shameful past is forgotten and has been redeemed.]]
** [[spoiler: Also happens if she is still alive in the third game where she is promoted to Lieutenant Commander and eventually becomes the second human Spectre. She even lampshades it in the game that the Williams family curse is finally broken.]]
** And, perhaps most alarmingly, her FantasticRacism -- the idea that the other species of the galaxy will let Earth burn down if they have their own problems to solve -- is proven 100% accurate in the third game. And by that we mean, "is the ''entire plot'' of the third game."
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: Comes into play if you romance her, especially if she [[spoiler:kills Wrex.]]
* VitriolicBestBuds: An un-romanced male Shepard or a female Shepard can allow this relationship, especially once Shepard finds Ashley suffering from a hangover in Mass Effect 3.
--> '''Shepard''': You know, is it time to test the fire alarm? I think it is!\\
'''Ashley''': I'll pay you a million credits not to do that, sir/ma'am.\\
'''Shepard''': Two million credits, and we have a deal.\\
'''Ashley''': You're a damn space pirate.\\
'''Shepard''': I could order Joker to sing to you over the comm.\\
'''Ashley''': I hate you.\\
'''Shepard''': "I hate you...?"\\
'''Ashley''': Sir/Ma'am.\\
'''Shepard''': As you were, Williams!
* WalkingArmory: In the first game. While everyone was required to carry all four possible weapon types, Ashley was the only squadmate with the potential to use all four effectively. This was removed in the third game when she was restricted to a ChoiceOfTwoWeapons like everyone else.
* WarriorPoet: Inherited her love of poetry, particularly Creator/WaltWhitman, from her father.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Basically has this with Shepard in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', which carries over to ''Mass Effect 3''.
-->'''James:''' You know the Commander?\\
'''Ashley:''' [[BrokenPedestal I used to]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: If she becomes a War Asset in 3, she doesn't appear again, and her fate after the battle for Earth is unknown. Particularly jarring in that, while the other teammates-turned-War Assets can be contacted before the final push, she cannot.]]
* WhatTheHellHero:
** If Shepard is played full Renegade towards her on Eden Prime, she'll call them out on it in the first conversation on the ''Normandy''. Whether Shepard apologizes is up to the player.
** She gets a brief one from Kaidan if she [[spoiler:kills Wrex]]. If she does so without being ordered, Shepard has the option of giving her one as well.
** [[spoiler: Like Kaidan, she doesn't take it well when she learns that Shepard had apparently faked their death to work for Cerberus in ''2''.]]
** If Shepard is forced to kill her in ''3'' when trying to arrest Udina, she says she had to take a stand like you did back in the day. If your relationship is negative, however, she instead gives Shepard these last words:
--->'''Shepard:''' Dammit Ash, he was with Cerberus.\\
'''Ash:''' So were ''you''. I hope the Reapers send you to ''HELL''. ''[dies]''
** Choosing the geth over Tali and the quarians will earn her outrage afterward aimed at Shepard.
* WithDueRespect: She provides the page quote for the Trope.
** Despite her opinion of this line (note her head quote above), she uses it at least twice. Once in the first game when discussing alien crewmembers, and again in the Extended Cut if she's the injured squadmate during the airlift scene.
--->'''Shepard:''' You've gotta get out of here!\\
'''Ashley:''' ''[[ICanStillFight With all due respect]]'', Commander...
** Though her line from above may be an intentional callback on her part to what she said in the first game about what people really mean when they say that. Which makes it a bittersweet funny moment.
* YouShallNotPass: [[spoiler:At the same time as Kaidan's. It's up to you whether she survives over him.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Liara T'Soni]]
!Dr. Liara T'Soni / The Shadow Broker
%%
%% Image kept on page per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16876359640.05516600
%% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/me_liara_charshot_0.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Give me ten minutes and I can start a war.]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/liara_war_room_5.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Her appearance post Shadow Broker]]
-->''"You were marked by the beacon on Eden Prime -- you were touched by working Prothean technology. That is why I find you so fascinating."''
-->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AliHillis (games), Creator/JamieMarchi (''Anime/MassEffectParagonLost'')
An [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe asari]] scientist, an expert on the Protheans, and a powerful biotic with powers that can only be matched by an Adept Shepard. Joins Shepard's team after being attacked by the geth. One of three characters who can join your party in all three games - permanently in ''1'' and ''3'', and temporarily in ''2'', via DLC. She is a [[BoldlyComing romance option for a Shepard]] of either gender in both ''Mass Effect'' and ''Mass Effect 3''. She is also the only trilogy character to be voiced in ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda''.
----
* ActionGirl: Prothean ruins are a popular target for pirates and mercenaries looking for quick cash. If you want to excavate them alone, you've got to know your way around a fight.
* AdventurerArchaeologist: Although she'd rather just be an archaeologist. She occasionally makes references to encounters with pirate gangs and hostile wildlife in unexplored systems. Which is actually shooting closer to the actual archaeologist's life in parts of the world.
-->'''Liara:''' Our travels now are somewhat different from my normal excavations. I would prefer lengthier studies... and fewer explosions.\\
'''Wrex:''' It's good for you. A nice explosion now and then keeps the mind sharp.\\
'''Ashley:''' I think you speak for scientists everywhere, Liara.
* AdrenalineMakeover: Compare Liara when you meet her in ''Mass Effect'' to Liara by the end of Lair of the Shadow Broker. Though of course whether the getting the guy/gal part gets played straight/averted/subverted/etc depends largely on the player's own choice.
* AffectionateNickname:
** In a manner of speaking. Whenever Shepard's being sarcastic, they will switch to calling her "Doctor" or "[[LastNameBasis T'Soni]]".
** Her mother calls her "Little Wing" [[spoiler:if she's with Shepard on Noveria when they're forced to kill her mother Benezia]]. Its origin is revealed in the third game by her "father" [[spoiler:Aethyta]].
---> '''[[spoiler:Aethyta]]:''' You're treating her like a baby bird, Nezzy, but she's gonna raise one hell of a storm with those little wings.
* AirVentEscape: How she's reintroduced in 3. While being chased by a pair of Cerberus operatives.
* AlienBlood: In the Extended Cut DLC when injured, she's shown with several blood-stains splattered across her body - which, due to the color of Asari blood, makes her look covered in grape jelly.
* AllForNothing: In ''1'', if you wait until the last possible moment to recruit her, she is enraged that she spent her entire life studying the Protheans only for the answers she was looking for to simply fall into Shepard's lap.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: It's implied throughout the trilogy that she falls in love with Commander Shepard regardless of whether or not you romance her. Obviously averted if you do romance her but played straight if you don't.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Due to being a "pureblood."
* AngerBornOfWorry: If romanced, she shows it, though in a subdued way, when Shepard dives into the ocean in ''Leviathan'', especially after they start coughing uncontrollably and going cold.
-->'''Liara:''' Don't EVER do that again.
* ApocalypticLog: [[spoiler: Made one for Alec Ryder during the events of the third game, just to be on the safe side.]]
-->'''Liara:''' [[spoiler: I don't know if you'll even receive this message, but we corresponded years ago. I remember you spoke about a plan to settle Andromeda. I don't know if your arks made it out of the Milky Way, but the worst has happened here. I'm with Commander Shepard and a brave crew. We're trying to build a weapon to turn the tide, but I fear that the civilization you remember, the people of the Milky Way as you knew them, could be gone forever. You may be all that's left. Please, don't forget us. Keep us alive in your hearts, and tell your children of the wonders that once were. [[ItHasBeenAnHonor On behalf of the crew of the Normandy SR-2, this is Dr. Liara T'Soni signing off]].]]
* ArbitrarySkepticism: [[spoiler: In the third game, Liara seems to be in complete denial when Javik reveals that the asari goddess Athame and her guide Lucen were actually Protheans. When Liara claims that it is impossible, he snarkily comments that it must be an amazing coincidence that the statues and artwork of their myths just happen to look exactly like ''him''. She even has the attitude if Javik isn't present, and the other squadmate points it out instead, saying they can't be ''sure'', even as the other squadmate gets increasingly tetchy with her.]]
* ArtEvolution: A subtle yet noticeable one. In Mass Effect 1 and 2, she had less striking features, such as lighter lips and eyes, pink around her face, and a rather standard casual uniform. Come ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', she has darker lips, intense blue eyes, more defined skin features, and wears a kickass yet sexy uniform.
* AsideGlance: Of gratitude when Shepard refuses to give her up to [[ThatOneBoss the krogan]] on Therum.
* AttemptedRape: Twice in ''Redemption''--a batarian and his cronies attempt to proposition/rape Liara. [[MuggingTheMonster Both times they end up dead]].
* BabiesEverAfter: Alluded to during her romance scene in ''Lair of the Shadow Broker''.
-->'''Liara:''' So, tell me what you want. If this all ends tomorrow, what happens to us?\\
'''Shepard:''' I don't know. Marriage, old age, and a lot of little blue children?\\
'''Liara:''' You just say these things!
* BadassAdorable: In the first game, she's easily flustered and generally socially awkward, especially when dealing with people outside her species. She's also a biotic death machine.
* BadassBookworm: For a girl who spends all of her time buried in her books, Liara is ''horribly'' deadly with her biotic powers. How badass is she, you say? She's the only other character besides Adept Shepard who can use [[GravityMaster Singularity]], and her other biotic powers rival or even surpass Samara's, who has daughters that are ''several centuries her senior''. She's powerful enough that she can send a powerful biotic [[spoiler: Spectre]] with armed backup running for her life. [[spoiler: Then again, her grandfather was a krogan]].
** Hell, from her comments about looking after herself when encountering pirates and looters at Prothean dig sites, she seems to be the Space Franchise/IndianaJones.
* BadassFamily: Liara's mother is said to be a powerful biotic even by asari standards [[spoiler:and proves to be a difficult opponent when the player fights her. Liara's father is also unusually powerful for an asari and once took down a krogan with a head-butt. Liara's paternal grandfather was a veteran of the Rachni Wars and both of Liara's paternal grandparents fought in the Krogan Rebellions, on opposite sides; they killed each other once he found out the truth.]]
* BaritoneOfStrength: Her voice becomes somewhat lower and huskier after the first game, to go along with her tougher and darker attitude.
* BattleAura: Uses her biotic glowing to dissuade some enemies a few times.
* BattleCouple: With Shepard if romanced.
* BestFriend: Throughout the trilogy, Liara, alongside Garrus and Tali, grows to be Shepard's most devoted associate and confidante, even if they aren't romantically involved, as evident in her unique ability to consistently get Shepard to drop TheStoic mask and to open up to her about [[TheChainsOfCommanding the constant stress and fears they're facing]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Yet again. Liara's a very demure young asari who is entirely capable of turning an entire horde of geth into tinfoil with her brain. Ask [[spoiler: the Shadow Broker]] how seriously crossing her tends to go. [[spoiler: [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt Oh wait, you'd just be asking her]]]].
** Doing a quest for her reveals that [[spoiler:one of her assistants is a mole. After informing her of this, the player can go to her office and find out that not only did Liara already kill her assistant, she disposed of her body as well. This is especially hilarious if Shepard calls her to identify the traitor from just outside her office as it can make it appear that she killed and disposed of her assistant in a matter of seconds]].
** Exemplified when you reunite with her in the third game. The Cerberus mooks that were chasing her in the air duct get swept up in a singularity and both take a shot in the chest as they flailed about. They fall to the ground, completely vulnerable to Liara. The demure little blue lady ''exudes'' cold blood in her facial expression as she casually [[DoubleTap double-taps]] the two mooks.
** Liara is capable of telekinetically lifting a Geth Colossus -- which is an armored war machine that single-handedly wipes out small armies, one-shots tanks, and is the size of a ''three-story building''.
** In the comics, she holds back [[http://www.narutoforums.com/xfa-blog-entry/mass-effect-feat-liara-tsonis-biotic-barrier.34048/ hundreds of tons of water]] with her biotics.
* BizarreAlienBiology: Asari reproduce by "melding", where they join their entire nervous system to their partner's and use the electrical impulses to randomize some of their own DNA for the offspring. Galactic science waffles on the subject, but it often turns out LamarckWasRight -- [[spoiler: Aethyta had a krogan father, and notes that she seems to have "a bit of his mouth."]]
** The asari are the setting's only innate telepaths, and they use it as part of the mating process. It's not only logical that asari daughters take after their parents psychologically, it's almost inevitable given the depth of the melding. That, or it has something to do with the fact that every asari that the players know take after an alien parent was also ''raised'' by said parent, making it NatureVersusNurture.
* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:By the time of ''Mass Effect 2'', she's much less innocent and kind as she's had a rough couple of years by then. Cranked up during the Fall of Thessia mission in the third game. She's a complete wreck even during the mission, to say nothing about after]].
* BreakThemByTalking: Liara manages to piss off the Yahg Shadow Broker by basically figuring out how it managed to get off of its home planet and become the new Shadow Broker, giving a [[SmugSmiler smug grin]] upon reminding him that he'd been used as a pet.
* BrokenBird: By ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' she has become one.
* BrokenPedestal: Javik is... not remotely what she expected from a Prothean. For a good while she tries to be neutral about it, but in the Ardat-Yakshi monastery she [[http://youtu.be/HuMWZZLkBnY hears him say]] that the Protheans would never let such monsters walk among them and rather acidly asks "They didn't care for the competition?"
** [[spoiler: After the fall of Thessia, she angrily calls out Javik for not even caring, that she's spent her entire life studying his people and feels like it was for nothing. He's a ''Prothean''... he was supposed to have all the ''answers'']].
** After ''that'', she [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Broker_Terminal#Prothean_Notes:_2186_-_Entry_4 grows up a little]], no longer feeling betrayed but also discarding the pedestal entirely.
** The Thessia mission is a shock even without Javik. [[spoiler: Learning that her government's been breaking its own laws about Prothean technology for centuries rocks her entire worldview]].
** Both are tied closely. Liara has this view of what a culture she idolizes is like, and it very much corresponds the image the Asari in general try to present to outsiders, a peaceful, fostering, advanced, spiritual and scholarly culture. She projects those ideals on the Protheans and on her own people, and she reacts poorly when both fail to meet her expectations, the Protheans by being militaristic and imperialistic, and the Asari by having hoarded knowledge in secret for their own benefits and their spirituality being nothing but a sham from the Protheans who uplifted them.
* CameBackWrong: One of Liara's fears regarding [[spoiler: Shepard, after having handed the Commander's corpse over to Cerberus for the Lazarus Project. However, if she's romanced she says she knew it was really Shepard since the first time she touched them again]].
* TheCameo:
** Is the only main party member from all 3 games to make one in ''Anime/MassEffectParagonLost''.
** In ''Andromeda'', you can come across some audio lectures on studying extinct civilizations, back from when Liara was just an obscure archaeologist. She also [[spoiler:sent Alec Ryder a message during the events of the third game.]]
* CaptainObvious: During parts of ''Lair of the Shadow Broker.'' Frequently lampshaded by Shepard.
* CharacterDevelopment: In the first game, Liara is a stuttering, bookish, nerdy girl (justified, since by asari standards, she's little more than a teenager). [[spoiler:In the second, she has become a ruthless information trader, but her tough attitude is revealed to be a defense mechanism if you romanced her in the first game.]] And by the third, she's double-tapping Cerberus mooks without batting an eyelash.
* CharacterFocus: Becomes more and more prominent over the course of the series to the point where she becomes the {{Deuteragonist}}.
* CharacterTic: Whenever something fascinates her, she adopts what could best be described as a standing up variation of the ThinkerPose.
* ChildProdigy: According to her, her intelligence was noticeable even in her youth. In fact, by asari standards she is still very young (human equivalent of around 19, even though her true age is over a hundred) when she meets Shepard.
-->'''Liara:''' Most scientists dismiss my work. But I'm young and asari, and they're getting older, so we'll see who has the final word.
* TheConfidant: Notably, Liara is the only person Shepard will open up to, as they drop their [[TheStoic stoic]] facade to confess their true feelings on the war against the Reapers.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: In the second installment, where she's somehow become an information broker despite no prior evidence that she had any skills in the field. (she does mention horizontal skill application, her talents in handling data and information for her archaeological digs, putting together information and clues from various worlds and discoveries, is very similar to what information brokers do but with more recent information with living creatures) [[spoiler: If the terminals around the Shadow Broker's ship is any indication, she also doesn't seem to stop some of his business practices]].
** Still presented sympathetically given that she had to do this to succeed as an information broker and [[spoiler:also only uses the resources of the Shadow Broker to help the war effort]].
* CutsceneIncompetence: Along with CutscenePowerToTheMax. A really weird hybrid occurs when you first rescue her in VideoGame/MassEffect1. You're confronted directly by a Krogan Battlemaster and a small squad of Geth Shock Troopers after exiting the room you found her in via an elevator. In the cutscene right before the fight begins, you see her start glowing with a blue aura and balling her fists, which usually means she's about to unleash a biotic attack. Then the gameplay actually starts and she just cowers on the floor while the battlemaster charges you.
** However, she had been in a stasis field for a ''while'' by this point, so it's possible she flared her biotics in an attempt to fight back but the strain of doing so was simply too exhausting. The Codex and ''3'' mention that biotics require a higher calorie intake to keep their abilities at full strength, it's safe to say she's not at her full strength during that scene.
*** MyGreatestFailure: During the Shadow Broker DLC, Liara tells Shepard she was ashamed that all she could do was cower in a corner while they fought the battlemaster.
* DatingCatwoman: Technically, this is her romance with Shepard in ''2''. They're a law-abiding Spectre while Liara's [[spoiler: the Shadow Broker]]. However, [[UndyingLoyalty it makes no problems between them]] because they care for each other too much.
* ADayInTheLimelight: ''Mass Effect: Redemption'' and ''Lair of the Shadow Broker.'' In the third game, she's also a mandatory squadmate in the missions on Thessia and Eden Prime.
* DeadpanSnarker: She becomes this in ''2'', and doesn't hold back from that point.
-->'''Shepard:''' That phone call was pretty damning stuff. How'd you get it?
-->'''Liara:''' It involved the weapon's biometric data, salarian intelligence, and a hanar prostitute with camera implants
-->'''Shepard:''' (*beat*) Seriously?
-->'''Liara:''' No, but the truth is boring.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Undertakes this position by ''3''. It can also be argued she's one for the trilogy as a whole despite only being a DLC squadmate in ''2'', thanks to her critical role in stopping the Reaper threat and her close relationship with Shepard even if you treat her like dirt as a Renegade; behavior that becomes less pronounced as the games go on in regards to how they treat their squadmates.
* DevelopersDesiredDate: Liara is perhaps the one romance option most favored in the series. Aside from being instinctively drawn towards Shepard due to their contact with the Prothean Beacon, she has PlotArmor that prevents her from dying until the very end of the series and gets a lot of interactions with Shepard.
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: In the first game, Liara's attempts to explain why she's so interested in you in purely scientific means leads to a series of flustered, ever-escalating [[DoubleEntendre double entendres]].
* DamselInDistress:
** You recruit her by rescuing her from a horde of bad guys, she doesn't fight once throughout the entire level, and she almost faints even after you've got her on the ship. Add this to her general naivete and she seems like the poster child for this trope. [[BewareTheNiceOnes Then you actually take her into battle,]] and quickly realize that [[BadassInDistress she can take care of herself.]] Lair of the Shadow Broker has her suggest that she's ashamed she had to rely on Shepard back then, like she is now. It should be noted that when you rescue her, she's unarmed and fatigued from being held immobile for goodness knows how long (if you save that mission for last, she thinks she's hallucinating Shepard's party).
--->'''Kaidan:''' When was the last time you ate? Or slept?
* DoubleTap: How she finishes off a pair of Cerberus operatives chasing her during her reintroduction in [=ME3=]. [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill After having already trapped them in a singularity and shot them center mass in mid-air.]]
* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:With Cerberus, to save Shepard's body from the Shadow Broker and the Collectors. The fact that she beats herself up over handing Shepard's corpse to the Illusive Man explains in part her behavior during the second game]].
* FailedASpotCheck: Notable if you bring Javik to Thessia.
--> '''Liara''': Incredible, the Beacon seems to think you are Prothean, Shepard. It must be from the Cipher you got back on Feros, all those years ago.\\
'''Javik''': [[DeadpanSnarker Or it could be the Prothean standing right next to you]].
** Possibly [[SubvertedTrope subverted]], as the Beacon works the same way even without Javik being present, so she is probably right in this regard. Still funny though.
* FamedInStory: By ''3'', her research on the Protheans has become the stuff of ''legend''. One datapad found on Mars has a scientist [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee practically squeeing]] about getting the chance to work with her. In ''Andromeda'', Sara Ryder recognizes her name due to her time spent body-guarding archaeologists (as opposed to Scott, who doesn't).
* FighterMageThief: In ''3'', she is the Mage to James' Fighter and EDI's Thief in the triad of party members you are guaranteed to have.
* FlingALightIntoTheFuture: Taking a cue out from the Protheans in ''3'' she plants several time capsules across many worlds to warn future species in the event that the Reapers aren't stopped. She even has a section devoted to the heroics of Shepard, and you can tell her how wish it told. [[spoiler:If you choose the Refusal ending in ''3'', it turns out that her capsules are successful, and the next cycle defeats the Reapers]].
* {{Foil}}:
** Liara and Tali have character traits that play off one another. In the original game, Liara was cast as the dorky [[TheCutie Cutie]] who loved Shepard and practically worshipped the ground they walked on. But, after she took a DarkerAndEdgier path in the second game, all of those traits fell to Tali. Further, they are both extremely smart and capable women, but extreme opposites in gameplay. Liara is a powerful SquishyWizard with exceptional biotic abilities. Tali is a GadgeteerGenius specced entirely toward Tech. Even their firearms contrast: Liara wields a pistol used at a safe distance, while Tali is outfitted with a ShortRangeShotgun, meaning that even having both in the squad at once means the team is prepared for every conceivable obstacle.
** During the course of ''Mass Effect 3'' Tali can play a large role in retaking her homeworld - in the best case anyway. Shortly therafter, Liara loses her world to the Reapers and rather unfairly blames herself for this. This even gets {{Lampshaded}} by Tali, by pointing out that she might not be the best person to comfort Liara given the irony of the situation.
* FriendlessBackground: Liara admits that she never had friends before because of her [[FantasticRacism heritage as a pureblood]] and was often made fun of because of her interest in science.
* GayOption: For female Shepard.
* GeniusBruiser: She is a briliant scientist, who also happens to have enough biotic power to, essentially, ''lift a freaking ocean''
* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Liara seems to be on the brink of this in the first game if you decide to rescue her after the rest of the main story missions. By the time you get there, she's completely convinced you're a realistic hallucination. So, yes, all that time you spent flying around, she's been locked in stasis.
* GoodAllAlong: Throughout the first game Liara's loyalty is often called into question because she's [[TheDragon Benezia's]] daughter. In the end, she proves she's a hero by doing all she can to fight the Reapers.
* GlassCannon: She isn't the best at avoiding ''or'' taking damage, but her biotic abilities pack quite a punch, and she arguably has the most powerful PsychicPowers of anyone to serve on the Normandy.
* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: She's got blue skin and is regarded as attractive by most other characters.
* GuestStarPartyMember: In the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC mission in the second game.
* {{Handgun}}: One of her weapon types in the third game, along with submachine guns. In the first game, she was just as terrible with handguns as she was with every other gun, though their innate accuracy still made them her go-to weapon.
* HeadbuttingHeroes: She doesn't get along very well with Javik after [[spoiler: the Fall of Thessia]].
* TheHeart:
** Though she doesn't shrink from the fighting, she's (usually) the one who advocates Paragon options, and is generally the "can't we talk this over" squad member.
** There's one exception in the first Mass Effect game: if, during a major Paragon/Renegade choice (like what to do with the [[spoiler:Council]], for example), your other squadmate is Kaidan, Kaidan will advocate the Paragon option and ''Liara'' will go for the Renegade option. If your other squadmate is anyone other than Kaidan, Liara will always go Paragon.
* HeroicBSOD: After the [[spoiler: Fall of Thessia. Her homeworld is burning, she and Shepard have failed their mission, and Kai Leng casually slapped her aside and took the vital Prothean data. On top of all that, the Illusive Man coldly held his successes over her while all she was able to do in response is threaten him over a hologram]].
* HeroWorshipper: Towards Shepard ''big time''.
** In ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', it's shown that her apartment is filled with souvenirs of her travels with Shepard from the first game, Prothean relics, a painting of Ilos, fragments of Shepard's N7 armour and a framed picture of the ''Normandy'' on her bedside cabinet. At the end of the mission, she returns Shepard's dog tags to them, saying she got it from Admiral Hackett. Why she would bother to retrieve that from him probably says a lot about how highly she regards Shepard.
** In the third game, she programs a series of time-capsules to be sent across the galaxy in case the mission fails, with one whole section of the archive devoted ''solely'' to tales of Shepard's exploits. If Shepard encourages her to be the one to decide how they will be remembered, she practically gushes over them.
* HiddenBuxom: If her later appearances in the series are any indication, her scientist uniform in the first game was very effective at concealing her figure, though it may also be that the armor on Liara's new outfit is making her look more endowed than she actually is.
* HiddenDepths: ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' features this in abundance.
* HiddenHeartOfGold: She adopts a facade in [=ME2=] to allow herself to operate in Illium's underworld. "You're threatening to flay people alive now?" Comes back to bite her on the ass when her father mentioned that bluff or no, it made the asari higher-ups nervous enough to consider assassinating her. Her father convinced them not to go through with it.
--> '''Liara:''' ''[flustered]'' I had to make them take me seriously. I wasn't going to actually do it.
* HomosexualReproduction: Both her mothers are asari. [[FantasticRacism Which is why she's shunned so much, as asari-asari relationships restrict genetic diversity]]... and have a higher chance of causing genetic defects like the [[OutWithABang Ardat-Yakshi]].
** Monogendered asari are "female" in the eyes of every other race, possessing the same sex organs and characteristics as would be expected for mammalian females, though one asari serves as the "father," and upon meeting her, she doesn't know who her mother Matriarch Benezia's partner was.
** Ultimately averted. Her "father" is [[spoiler:shown in the third game to be Matriarch Aethyta, the bartender from Illium and then the Presidium, assigned to keep an eye on Liara after Benezia went evil]]. Even though Liara's father is "female," she is very adamant that she is Liara's father, not her second mother, because she "didn't pop her out". When Shepard mentions that humans would call her Liara's "other mother," [[spoiler:Aethyta says "Well I'm not human, am I? [[SophisticatedAsHell Anthropocentric bag of dicks.]]"]]
* HotBlooded: Liara definitely comes across as this in the second and third game. [[spoiler: Matriarch Aethyta]], her father, believes that this is because she's a quarter-krogan. "Well, don't go all blood rage on me."
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: In the ''Redemption'' comic, when Feron tries to warn her that Cerberus is a pro-human hate group, she simply responds "I wouldn't call them a hate group, exactly". Potentially after witnessing their crimes firsthand in the first game, and after dozens of Cerberus agents tried to kill her.
* {{Hypocrite}}: At the end of ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', if the player chooses a certain dialogue option, Liara calls Ashley/Kaidan shortsighted for not trusting Shepard. It doesn't seem to occur to Liara that she could have prevented that whole conflict if it hadn't been for her own shortsightedness in obsessing over revenge to the point of forgetting to tell any of Shepard's other companions what was going on.
* HypocriticalHumor: One of her recordings in ''Andromeda'' has her describing how one can't let their own perceptions color opinions about the Protheans. Naturally, her following summation of them is her biased interpretation of them as ''obviously'' benevolent and enlightened.
* IconicOutfit: The primarily white suit she wears first during the Shadow Broker DLC and then all throughout the third game has far overshadowed her original clothing in the first game.
* IncompatibleOrientation: Can be invoked in the first game by Female Shepard when Liara reveals her feelings to the Commander.
* TheIngenue: Shy, sweet, and easily flustered? Yep.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: During an elevator conversation with Kaidan, she remarks that having a turian drill instructor at [[TrainingFromHell BAaT]] was probably better than an asari, apparently not knowing that said turian was a terrible instructor, massively racist, and wound up getting killed by Kaidan in self-defense because of said racism.
* InUniverseCatharsis: ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' provides closure for Liara's two years of mourning, grief and pain after Shepard's death.
* {{Irony}}: She's first encountered trapped in a Prothean force field. One of her main abilities is ''Stasis''.
* IShallTauntYou: When confronting the Shadow Broker, she [[spoiler: brings up his status as the previous Broker's "pet", triggering his BerserkButton.]] Judging by the files on him, [[spoiler: wherein the previous Broker warned him to watch his temper and that losing it costs him his better judgment, he would have been a far more dangerous opponent in the subsequent battle if Liara hadn't pissed him off]].
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy:
** If you have progressed far enough in the romance with Ashley or Kaidan by the time you get her romance dialogue, she admits she has a huge crush on Shepard but gracefully backs down, saying it is obvious Shepard already has strong feelings for Ashley/Kaidan and that she doesn't want to come between them.
** Also, in the second game, whether Shepard cheated on her or remained faithful to her, she will tell them that if they want to move on, she can accept that and be happy for them.
* ImpliedLoveInterest: Being the only character you can initiate a romantic relationship with across all three games when including DLC, her importance to the narrative by ''3'', and boasting a staggering amount of scripted dialogue with Shepard, romance or not, depicts her as the clear favorite of the dev team. Her final goodbye before the very last mission also has romantic undertones, should you choose to accept it, no matter what. She's also one of few characters who survives to the end no matter what, unless you have low EMS or pick the Refusal ending.
* ItGetsEasier: In the first game, she's one of the least experienced squadmates. In the third, she's introduced stoically and efficiently killing Cerberus troops. If she never talks with Aethyta, she and Wrex have this to say in ''Citadel'':
-->'''Liara:''' Killing people gets less troubling after the first few hundred.\\
'''Wrex:''' It does indeed.
* KarmaHoudini: Liara caused a ''lot'' of trouble when [[PoorCommunicationKills she didn't tell any of the SR1's alumni about the Lazarus Project]]. She is never called out or faces any consequences for it, and even Kaidan/Ashley, the squadmate who suffered the most from being left in the dark, remains on friendly terms with her and doesn't even give a WhatTheHellHero.
* KnightInSourArmor: Becomes this by ''3'' after going through a BreakTheCutie in between ''1'' and ''2'' and getting her InUniverseCatharsis in ''Lair of the Shadow Broker''.
* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee:
** When on Ilos, every other party member remarks on how creepy and ''wrong'' the planet feels. Not Liara. She wants to go over everything with a fine-toothed comb.
** Her reaction to meeting [[spoiler:Javik, a living Prothean, in ''3'']]. Lampshaded by ''everyone'', with Shepard joking that they'll hand over questions to Liara because she looks like she's about to explode.
--> '''Joker''': So has Liara stopped bouncing yet? I'm guessing there may have been some bouncing.
* KnightTemplar: During the interim between the first and second game, though Paragon Shepard can pull her back from this.
* KnowledgeBroker: Becomes one in the second game to get revenge on the Shadow Broker for [[spoiler: his part is stealing Shepard's body and what he did to her friend]]. Regardless of whether or not Shepard aids her against the Broker, [[spoiler: Liara defeats him and inherits his power base, information network, and contacts, turning her into one of the most powerful people in the galaxy]].
* LadyOfBlackMagic: The demure Liara qualifies by the third game. She's an Adept who focuses on devastating enemies with biotic powers, and, by then, wears a graceful white outfit and has become more stoic and composed.
* LadyOfWar: Her ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' outfit, which is also her default attire in ''Mass Effect 3'', gives her a graceful aura. Having biotic powers and being a member of the most graceful race in the galaxy give her bonus points too.
* LightIsGood: Her outfits are all white and bright colors, showing her heroic character.
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Throughout the duration of ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', there is frequent humorous banter and interaction between Shepard and Liara.
* LikeMotherLikeDaughter: Her mother, Benezia, was an influential asari theologian before her FaceHeelTurn. [[spoiler:Her father, Aethyta, is a skilled spy with high-level contacts and is unafraid and very willing to resort to violence as needed.]]
* LonersAreFreaks: Subverted of course since she's a necessary party member, but in her childhood she was thought of as a weirdo because of her admiration for science. Liara admits that she doesn't fit in with others, but Shepard [[VideoGameCaringPotential can coax her out of this]].
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Is very young for an asari at over a century old, and can have a romantic relationship with Shepard, who is only in their early thirties. Like most asari, she chooses not to dwell on the fact that she will probably outlive Shepard by a very, very long time.
* TheMedic: Her class skill in the first game adds to the amount of HP healed by medigel on top of the first aid ability.
* MeaningfulName: Her name may be derived from the Hebrew name "Liora", which means "I have a Light". Shepard, romanced or not, is her guide and primary motivation throughout the games.
** In ''1'', she is fascinated by Shepard because they have been touched by a Prothean beacon, and later get to possess the Cipher. It is also then she developed a crush on them.
** The whole plot of Redemption is about Liara [[HeroWorshipper refusing to let Shepard go]].
** In ''2'', when she has lost Shepard, she becomes [[TookALevelInJerkass noticeably darker]]. After the events of Lair of the Shadow Broker, she returns to a lighter mood. [[spoiler: The possible kiss scene is even bathed in light amidst the dark]]
** In ''3'', she openly admits that if it could save her homeworld, she could become like the Illusive Man. However she keeps to her vow to use her influence to help Shepard rather than [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope fix the problems as she sees fit]]. After [[spoiler: the Fall of Thessia]] only Shepard can push her into regaining composure and acting productively.
-->'''Liara:''' Shepard I... I'm yours...
* AMillionIsAStatistic: {{Downplayed}}. She's sympathetic to the losses inflicted by the Reaper invasion, but she isn't really shaken until she sees it first-hand on the asari home planet of Thessia. This despite having seen it first-hand on Earth (from Mars), Palaven (from Menae), Tuchanka and Rannoch -- and being a RequiredPartyMember on the first two.
* MindOverMatter: Usually holds the spot of most powerful biotic on your squad.
* MinoredInAsskicking: Most people find it more than a little odd that an archaeologist would be so good at combat. Then Liara points out that, since they have potential for containing incredible technology, Prothean ruins are popular targets for pirates and mercenary raids. And Liara has worked in Prothean ruins. Alone. For decades. It also helps that she is from a race of natural biotics, and she is the offspring of two powerful matriarchs.
* MsFanservice: Her romance scenes are by far the most revealing out of any character in the game, and she's notably the only character in ''3'' to get completely naked. Also, in the first game she has a unique fidget animation where she puts a hand behind her head and stretches in a way that shows off her body. Neither of the other female party members have any such animations.
* NerdsAreSexy: Considering that she's attractive and loves science, this trope was bound to follow.
* NeverMyFault: Liara has a tendency to blame others for things that she is responsible for: She yells at Javik frequently for not being what she wanted in a Prothean, but also criticizes Ashley/Kaidan for [[spoiler: their distrust of Shepard when Shep is working for Cerberus in the 2nd game, even though she'd given Shepard over to Cerberus two years ago, and never told Ashley/Kaidan about it.]]
* NoSocialSkills: In the first game. Thanks to a mix of a lonely childhood, long periods of working alone and just what's implied to be natural cluelessness, Liara has very little idea of how to interact with people. At all. Naturally, the time skip between ''1'' and ''2'' means she grows out of this.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Her romance shows that Liara's not really as high and mighty in terms of personality as she seems to other characters. She seems to enjoy ''both'' Paragon Shepard's and [[ActuallyPrettyFunny Renegade Shepard's]] sense of humor.
--> '''Liara:''' I don't want to put pressure on you.
--> '''[[DeadpanSnarker Shepard]]:''' I have fond memories of the last time you put pressure on me.
--> '''Liara:''' (Smirks) So do I.
* NotSoSimilar: In ''3'', if she's brought along to Cronos Station, she momentarily wonders if she would go as far as the Illusive Man has if it would save Thessia. Shepard is quick to tell her otherwise.
-->'''Shepard:''' You're not the same as him. You never could be.
* NotSoStoic: Still has moments of genuine emotion namely [[spoiler: when she and Shepard kill the Shadow Broker, when she hooks up with you later in the Shadow Broker DLC, hearing about a colony that [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled nuked itself rather than face the Reaper invasion]], when Thessia is attacked by the Reapers, and during certain romantic scenes in the third game]].
* NotThatKindOfDoctor: Her doctorate is in archaeology.
* NumberTwo: In ''Mass Effect 3'', she acts as an unofficial XO for the Normandy, with her office in Miranda's old quarters.
* OffhandBackhand: In ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', she uses her biotics to swat aside a Broker Agent without even looking as she runs past, while pursuing [[spoiler:Tela Vasir]].
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: If Shepard never goes through ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', then [[spoiler: Liara assembles a mercenary army and takes down the Broker herself.]]
* OlderThanTheyLook: During the first game, she's 106 years old, which would make her 109 in the third, "barely more than a child." Asari live for about a thousand.
--> '''Ashley:''' Damn, I hope I look that good when I hit your age!
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist:
** Averted. In Peak 15, she may say the following upon the end of the first engagement against the [[spoiler:rachni]]:
--->'''Liara:''' Xenobiology is not my field. Maybe someone in the labs knows.
** Appears again in the third game, where she explains on Eden Prime the difference between an archaeologist and a paleontologist upon being asked about fossils, only to realize midway through her explanation that the one who asked was just kidding.
** While she most likely understands written Prothean, she cannot understand the spoken language and relies on Shepard to explain that a VI recording found on Ilos was a distress signal.
* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Liara threatening to flay a human alive on a vidcall gets thrown back in her face by Aethyta, who tells her saying things like that made the Asari leadership nervous.
* OneWomanArmy: Tears through a couple dozen mercenaries during the events of the interquel comic, ''Redemption''.
* OpenSecret: By the third game, everyone and their mum seems to know that she's the new [[spoiler: Shadow Broker]].
* OutGambitted: [[spoiler: No matter what Shepard does, she ends up being outsmarted by the Illusive Man. The entirety of the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' was a gambit by the Illusive Man to get Liara to kill off his biggest rival and gain his assets, potentially while wasting a company of mercenaries in the process. She had to sacrifice her base and most of her resources to stop him from obtaining them. He still manages to track her down and dispatches troops to finish her off on Mars (albeit incidentally; their primary mission was the Mars Archive). When Shepard finds her, she's the only survivor in a base overrun by Cerberus operatives with no way out]].
* ParentalAbandonment: She never knew her second parent's identity, only her species (another asari -- a major societal no-no, because asari value genetic diversity [[spoiler:and also because that's where Ardat-Yakshi come from]]) and her relationship with her mother was apparently strained. [[spoiler:And that was ''before'' Benezia joined up with Saren and co.]] In the third game, Shepard can find out that her father is [[spoiler:Matriach Aethyta]], and encourage Liara to go talk to her, because at that point, as the Shadow Broker, she does know who her father is.
* PlatonicLifePartners: If not romanced, Liara will have this type of relationship with Shepard by default.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Liara apparently didn't think the rest of the old team needed to know about the events of ''Redemption'', so when Cerberus began leaking information to isolate Shepard from their old contacts, Ashley/Kaidan didn't have the information they needed to see through it. This likely comes from her desire for vengeance distracting her from anything else, as even when Shepard does come to see her, she is clearly distant and almost completely focused and hunting for the Broker. [[NeverMyFault She remains oblivious even after the Shadow Broker is dealt with]] [[{{Hypocrite}} and has the nerve to criticize Kaidan/Ashley for being shortsighted]]. She then wastes a six-month TimeSkip that could have been used to repair some of the damage she caused.
* PowerPerversionPotential: If romanced, Liara is revealed to use biotics during sex.
* PracticallyDifferentGenerations: With her unseen half-sister. Liara states that her age of 106 is a very young adult by asari standards, and Liara was born after her parents had already been together for over a century. This means Liara's sister would have been over a hundred when Liara was born; roughly the same age Liara is during the trilogy. Given [[spoiler: Aethyta's]] advanced age, the difference between Liara and her sister is likely even greater than the minimum.
* PragmaticHero: In the second and third game.
** Softens up at least a little in the third game, becoming a KnightInSourArmor. She has the dubiously legal [[spoiler:Shadow Broker]] resources at her disposal, but uses them to help the war effort, and shows empathy toward all victims of the Reaper invasion.
* RagnarokProofing: Designed her own version of the [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture Prothean Beacon]], in case they failed to stop the Reapers. [[spoiler: Judging from the Stargazer scene or the Refusal Ending, they performed their task admirably]].
* RedeemingReplacement: [[spoiler: To the Shadow Broker, though she wasn't interested in redeeming his name so much as she thought that the organization was too useful to let go to waste]].
* RedundantResearcher: If you save recruiting her for last in the first game, she'll lament how you've learned more about the Protheans in days than she has in her decades-long career.
* RelationshipUpgrade: Liara can be pursued as a romance in ''3'' even if you previously turned her down in the first game.
* ReligiousBruiser:
** In the first game, at least, it's implied that she is quite religious.
** [[spoiler: Javik believes she goes into denial when she rejects his assertion that Athame, the asari goddess [[NoSuchThingAsSpaceJesus was actually a Prothean]] and that his people [[AncientAstronauts influenced]] early asari civilisation]].
* RequiredPartyMember: During ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' in ''Mass Effect 2'' and twice in ''Mass Effect 3''. The first is on Eden Prime in the "From Ashes" {{DLC}}, where you need her knowledge of the Protheans. The second is the mission on [[spoiler:Thessia, Liara's homeworld]]. She also takes James's place in your squad once you encounter her on Mars.
* {{Revenge}}: Her primary goal, as of ''Mass Effect 2,'' is to track down and kill [[spoiler:the Shadow Broker]] for trying to [[spoiler:sell Shepard's body to the Collectors.]] The DLC ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' lets you achieve that goal in spectacular [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge roaring rampage]] style.
* RoaringRampageOfRescue: ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' is all about Liara rescuing Feron from the Broker after he was captured at the end of ''Redemption''. [[spoiler:Liara becoming the Shadow Broker is just an added perk]].
* SanitySlippage: The longer you delay recruiting her in ''1'', the more erratic she becomes. If you recruit her after Virmire, she spends the first half of your conversation with her convinced you're just a hallucination.
* SchrodingersGun: Regardless of whether the player downloaded the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC, Liara is still [[spoiler:the Shadow Broker]] as of the third game. It's just that how she got there is a bit different: [[spoiler:If Shepard didn't help Liara take down the Broker, Liara hired dozens of mercenaries -- all of them the best of the best -- and took on the Broker in a ZergRush. Since they're not [[OneManArmy Shepard]], apparently they all ''died'']].
* SelfMadeOrphan: Potentially, if you make her fight alongside you to take down her mother in the first game. This is actually ''suggested'' by a party member, though, since Liara would know more about her mother, who's causing problems for everyone, than anyone else, and you have to fight Liara's mother one way or another. Subverted in the third game when it turns out her "father" is still alive.
* SheWhoFightsMonsters: Played with. She becomes incredibly ruthless by the second game in her hunt for the Shadow Broker, even if [[MoralityChain Paragon Shep is continuously trying to pull her back.]] [[spoiler: Ultimately subverted, since while she does [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt kill and even take the place of the Shadow Broker]], she vows to only use the vast power to help Shepard fight the Reapers, which may be why Traynor is the one scoring all the victories against Cerberus; Liara's been focused on the Crucible since before Shepard encountered her on Mars.]]
* SheepInSheepsClothing: In the first game, ''everyone'' distrusts Liara because she's the daughter of TheDragon and they assume that she's really a spy trying to sabotage Shepard's mission. She acts like a shy, awkward girl who wants to befriend Shepard, but...she ''really is'' an innocent girl who wants to help. In the end, she proves to actually be Shepard's most loyal ally.
* ShoutOut: An archaeologist called '''[[Franchise/TombRaider L(i)ara]]'''...
* ShrinkingViolet: In the first game.
* ShuttingUpNow: Does this a few times when speaking to Shepard in the first game while alone with them.
* SignatureMove: Singularity. She can use it in all three games, and is one of a handful of biotics who can; she even uses it in her introductory cutscene in ''Mass Effect 3''. The only other biotics who can use it are Adept Shepard, Human & Phoenix Adepts in ''3'''s Multiplayer, and [[spoiler:her 'father', Matriarch Aethyta]].
* SilkHidingSteel: She's very demure and well-spoken, but she's also an immensely powerful biotic who can more than handle herself in a fight. The silk gets ripped away temporarily in ''2'', where she's pursuing a one-woman vendetta against the Shadow Broker. [[spoiler:She wins]].
* TheSixthRanger: If you wait until after Virmire before going to Therum.
* SkewedPriorities: After talking with Vigil, Liara wants to stay and chat with it a little longer. Despite, y'know, their being on Ilos to stop Saren and Sovereign summoning the Reapers to ''kill everyone everywhere'', something they are ''five minutes'' from doing. Shepard calls her out on it, and Liara immediately concedes she got distracted.
* SkilledButNaive: At least in the first game. [[CharacterDevelopment No longer naïve]] [[BreakTheCutie in the second game.]]
* SlasherSmile: In ''Shadow Broker'', she gets off a nasty one after dressing down the Shadow Broker, pressing ''all'' of its {{Berserk Button}}s.
* TheSmartGuy: Certainly isn't lacking in the brains department.
* SpockSpeak: Especially in the first game where she almost never uses contractions and speaks in a very measured, careful tone. She somewhat grows past this in the following games, but not completely.
* SquishyWizard: Liara can only wear light armor and has low health. She makes up for it with spectacular biotic capabilities. Something of a downplayed example, as while her health is very low, her barriers are actually somewhat above average thanks to said biotic capabilities. Still fragile in general though.
** Comes back even more strongly in the third game, where she might be the ''only'' biotic on your squad (if Shepard isn't one, Kaidan's dead and you haven't bought Javik). This can turn her low CON scores into a distinct Achilles heel.
** Interestingly while she's very powerful when supporting the player, Liara is the weakest squadmate in ''3'' when left on her own due to her general fragility, lack of flexibility, and [[ArtificialStupidity poor tactics.]] [[DownplayedTrope While still capable of killing several enemy soldiers in these scenarios]], [[https://vid.me/DRgY sending her alone against a squad of even basic trooper-type enemies]] will usually result in her getting downed quickly. For this reason it's usually best to keep her in the back as a support caster.
* TheStoic: Post time skip and post BreakTheCutie in the second and third games she tends to act like this, almost never raising her voice and becoming somewhat TheComicallySerious mixed with BrokenBird.
* StoryBranchFavoritism: In addition to ascending to the role of deuteragonist, in addition to being one of the very few love interests you can romance in all three games, in addition to being one of the only characters who can be a squad member in all three games -- as if she didn't need enough prominence -- she's also the character with the lowest density of PlotlineDeath options ([[spoiler:specifically, ''none''. She is one of only ''four'' party members who are guaranteed to be alive after the trilogy's final combat segment, and the only one of those four who was recruitable before the third game]]).
** In general, she occasionally has to be reminded of reality by more world-weary characters. For example, if taken on the Ardat-Yakshi Monastery mission alongside Ashley, they get into an argument over the capabilities of a seasoned asari veteran. Liara, having been told that asari commandos are the best soldiers in the galaxy, brags that the centuries of experience of the asari makes them immune to fear and disorganization. Ashley, using her greater knowledge of military matters, counter-argues that when a mission goes bad, there's no knowing how a soldier might react, and that the asari are no more immune to this than anyone else.
** [[spoiler: Her final message to Alec Ryder has her acknowledging they were putting all their eggs in one basket with the Crucible plan, and that there was a very good chance of them still losing despite their best efforts.]]
* SurvivorGuilt: In addition to the guilt she feels for [[spoiler:handing Shepard's body to Cerberus]], it's heavily implied (especially in a romance) that she felt great guilt for surviving while Shepard was killed.
* TemptingFate: In her recordings heard in Andromeda, she describes the Protheans as pretty much utopian society, although in the end she briefly notes that without any living specimen, this cannot be fully confirmed. [[spoiler: She finds one about four years later. Let's just say she was setting herself up for quite a disappointment]].
* ThatCameOutWrong: Her first conversation with Shepard, in which her fascination with their exposure to the beacon leads her to referring to them as an interesting test subject. See her quote above.
* TookALevelInBadass: She starts out as an awkward and bookish archaeologist. In [=ME2=], [[spoiler: she works as a ruthless information broker and is trying to take down the Shadow Broker. When Shepard meets her again, she is threatening to flay someone alive with her mind. She tells Shepard (and in the third game, her father) that she was just bluffing to scare the guy and wouldn't have really done it, but still, quite a change.]]
** [[spoiler:Mind you, that was before she chased Vasir by jumping out a window, and dropped plasma on the Shadow Broker]]. Not to mention how many of the Shadow Broker's mooks she tears through.
** What makes that scene even more powerful (and chilling) is that she's [[spoiler: practically channeling Benezia at that point. "Have you ever faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have." Her mother told Shepard the same thing in [=ME1=].]]
** Even before [[spoiler: working to kill the Shadow Broker]], she displays a lot of determination and ruthlessness in the ''Mass Effect: Redemption'' comic book. Apparently, working with Shepard was a very significant influence.
** ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' has her take two giant levels in badass. The first is when we encounter her in the trade center, where she's [[spoiler: chasing down a Spectre and hurling Shadow Broker agents around like toys]]. Let's repeat that for clarification: Liara is making a freaking [[spoiler: '''Spectre''']] flee from her. The second makes her potentially even more powerful than Shepard.
--->'''Liara:''' Give me ten minutes and I can start a war.
** You know how each character is introduced or provided a tag line? ''The Convict, The Scientist,'' ect? In the DLC Liara is introduced as ''The Elite.''
** Her introduction in the third game has her drop out of an [[AirVentEscape air-vent]], suspend the Cerberus troops chasing her with a [[GravityScrew Singularity]], draw her gun and casually shoot them... [[DoubleTap then once more]], just to make sure.
* TookALevelInJerkass: In Mass Effect 2, combined with TookALevelInBadass above, she also became a ''lot'' more ruthless during her quest to take down the Shadow Broker, ordering hits, coldly dismissing civilian casualties as a necessity, being extremely cold to Shepard (her potential love interest) and more. Mellows out a bit again after the end of the DLC.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Shepard, possibly moreso than anyone else in the series, including other party members. Can also fit with ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend below.
* UnevenHybrid: [[spoiler: A chat between her and her father reveals that she's [=1/4=] krogan. Liara insists that it doesn't work that way; her father's response is how Liara finds out that she has a half-sister]].
* UnreliableExpositor: If asked in the second game about why she gave Shepard's body to Cerberus, she claims she did it because she thought the Lazarus Project could bring Shepard back. The ''Redemption'' comic reveals this to be, at best, highly questionable. The Illusive Man simply tells her to retrieve the body for him without telling her why, and she does so, with her only given reasoning being that [[InsaneTrollLogic Cerberus and Shepard are both human... even if Shepard lost his entire team to a Cerberus operation and spent a significant portion of the first game trying to destroy them]]. Liara actually asks The Illusive Man point blank why Cerberus would want a corpse, and he simply says that, as an asari, she could never understand human traditions- basically indirectly saying that they only plan to bury Shepard, though she arguably might have still felt obliged to do it anyway out of loyalty to Shepard. She's only told about the Lazarus Project after she's already dropped off the body with Cerberus. At the end of the comic, she flat-out tells Miranda that she didn't bring Shepard back for them to revive, and thinks Shepard should just be left to rest. Granted, it's possible she just didn't want to set herself up for disappointment if it failed, but it seems more likely that she just didn't want to admit to Shepard that she never actually believed Cerberus could succeed in bringing them back to life. This is reinforced by her greeting Shepard in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', where she is shocked by seeing Shepard in the flesh despite supposedly being well-aware what the Lazarus Project would do, that they were active in the galaxy again and even paying for their docking fees well before their meeting. This may also explain why [[PoorCommunicationKills she never told anyone else on the SR1 about what she did]].
* UnresolvedSexualTension: Even if you don't romance her, Liara's friendship with Shepard still has a level of this to it. In the third game, [[spoiler: Aethyta]] will note this if the two of them talk, stating that she's surprised that Liara's underwear hasn't caught fire yet.
* UnskilledButStrong: Liara is unique amongst the first game's party members in having no military training. In addition to (and partly as a result of) this, she has only one ability that isn't dependent on her biotics,[[note]]Electronics in the first game, which is arguably also justified by the fact that she specializes in Prothean technology[[/note]] can only wear light armor, and can only use the weakest, most basic weapons (particularly in the first game, where she is the only squadmate without a weapon talent). She makes up for this by being an extremely powerful biotic, especially for her age. Considering [[TheDragon her mother]] [[BossBattle Benezia]], it seems that her power is InTheBlood.
** In the ''Redemption'' comic a group of five or so regular mercenaries manage to subdue her with relative ease, despite her having psychic powers potent enough to lift a ''tank'', and fighting with lethal intent while they weren't. How? Two mercs approached her from the front, she splattered them with a enormous biotic attack, and another merc simply flanked her, grabbed her, and put a gun to the back of her head while she was distracted and on a cooldown. If not for Cerberus's intervention, she certainly would've been killed.
** By the third game, this trope has basically vanished. On Mars, Liara not only has that EstablishingCharacterMoment where she handles two {{mooks}} via combined biotics and gunplay without breaking a sweat, she then replaces James on a fireteam consisting of two of the three humans ''ever'' considered for Spectre status, and fits in seamlessly, even employing standard breaching maneuvers with them. The {{Doylist}} explanation is that Creator/BioWare were cutting costs on the cutscene animations, but a {{Watsonian}} interpretation, just as valid, is that the campaign against ''Sovereign'' gave her a thorough grounding in infantry combat. (This is perhaps underlined by the fact that the three coordinate the maneuver silently, which can only be the product of [[TrueCompanions long experience]].)
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend:
** Following Shepard's temporary demise, she took up a one woman crusade to get their body back from the Shadow Broker and the Collectors. As of the end of the second game, she's still working to track the Broker down and make them pay for ''daring'' to touch Shepard. Or to rescue/avenge Feron, who she may or may not be interested in.
** She doesn't even need to be a girlfriend for this. Even if it's just a friend relationship, she will destroy you if ever try to harm Shepard.
** When you've got a millennium-long lifespan, spending a decade or two hunting down the jerk who messed with your buddy doesn't sound so unreasonable.
* VirginityMakesYouStupid: Though she's depicted as naive, she's not exactly an idiot. Still, she's less streetwise than Tali, who hasn't even spent any time off of a ship, since she spent most of her time alone in Prothean ruins with the only people she ever meets being pirates or looters, who tend to wind up dead.
* VisualDevelopment: Her preferred outfit in Mass Effect 2 and 3 reflects her new {{Stoic}}, LadyOfWar tendencies.
* VocalEvolution: In the first game, her voice is rather high-pitched, and her speech has much more of an awkward, stilted cadence compared to later games. Justified in that she's rather innocent and immature when you first meet her, having spent much of her life not interacting with others socially.
* WarriorTherapist: Shares this role with Garrus towards Shepard in ''Mass Effect 3'', trying to keep them from falling completely into despair.
* WellDoneDaughterGirl: '''[[RunningGag Yes]]'''. She has more than a little friction with her mother, Matriarch Benezia, trying to do something to overcome being the daughter of a highly esteemed individual and [[MalignedMixedMarriage a union between asari]] and she never knew her "father" either. [[spoiler:Unless you coax the two into talking in the third game.]]
-->'''Liara:''' Children shouldn't be burdened with the successes of their parents any more than their failings.
* WhatTheHellHero:
** During the Shadow Broker DLC, if Shepard tries to press her to talk about their relationship, she retorts that Shepard has either moved on (if they hooked up with someone else) or is acting like she can just undo two years of mourning and separation.
** Shepard can give a number to her for her more extreme actions in her quest to get revenge on the Shadow Broker.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: In ''3'', she realizes that she could live long enough to see the whole invasion through, and admits that while she used to feel sorry for shorter-lived species, she's no longer sure. [[spoiler: The Extended Cut's Refusal ending implies that she lives for quite a long time after the Crucible does not fire]].
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Paragon Shepard's interrupts in ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' reminding her of how she was when they met and urging her to not descend into WellIntentionedExtremist territory, not even to protect them.
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: [[spoiler:After she and Shepard kill the Shadow Broker, she takes his place. She's at least the third person to hold the title]].
* YouthfulFreckles: She ''is'' only 108 years old.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Urdnot Wrex]]
!Urdnot Wrex
[[quoteright:539:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bf6d5e3d7e037adb03d92b4a5b656726.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[MemeticMutation Shepard]].[[note]]Wrex.[[/note]]]]
-->''"Anyone who fights us is either stupid or on Saren's payroll. Killing the latter is business. Killing the former is a favor to the universe."''
-->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/StevenBarr
A krogan battlemaster who combines close-combat skills and enormous physical strength and durability with biotic powers. Joins Shepard's team out of both an interest in fighting a good battle and because the money is nice. He becomes a progressive-minded overlord of the krogan people in ''Mass Effect 2'' if he survived the events of the first game, eventually uniting them under his banner.
----
* AfraidOfNeedles: Mordin claims this about Wrex when he's eager to leave his lab and donate tissue samples later. Whether it's true or not, it's hilarious, and then when he finally gets around to it...
--> '''Wrex:''' [[GroinAttack Let's just say scalpels were never meant to cut where he cut.]]
* AffectionateNickname: Affectionately refers to Mordin as "Pyjak".
* AllMenArePerverts: "Eve" dryly tells Shepard that if there's a fertile female to be rescued, Wrex will be on the case instantly. If one goes by the theory "Eve" is Wrex's estranged wife, it's doubly funny. It becomes BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor if the genophage is cured, however.
* TheAllSolvingHammer: One of the first things Wrex usually suggests when confronted by a problem is to eat the individual responsible.
** Whenever a Krogan, be it another clan leader or his own brother, starts giving him shit he simply head butts them. While this is Krogan culture, Wrex is not adverse to head butting people of other species to shut them up.
** Ironically, a Thresher Maw ''Hammer'' is exactly the solution to defeat a Reaper on Tuchanka in ''3'', by [[SummonBiggerFish summoning Kalros]].
* AncestralWeapon: In this case ancestral armor, but also {{Subverted|Trope}}. In the first game, he asks Shepard to retrieve his family's armor from a turian smuggler. However, the constant arms race had rendered it useless, and it's only valuable for personal reasons.
--> '''Wrex:''' My ancestors actually ''wore'' this piece of junk?
* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership:
** He is a krogan, and thus tends to equate ass-kicking with respect (as shown when he head butts another Krogan who is getting too mouthy for Wrex's liking). He may even [[DiscussedTrope discuss this]] with various other crewmembers, by asking them if they could beat Shepard in a fight. Kaidan dismisses the question with how he'd realistically never have to fight his superior officer; Wrex decides that that's why Shepard is his superior officer, and why they would win. Tali (or Liara) asks if krogan size up ''everyone'' for a fight, to which he replies yes; his tone of voice suggests that [[DeliberateValuesDissonance he's genuinely surprised that the other races don't]].
** If he survived the first game, in ''Mass Effect 2'' he's in the process of reforming and uniting krogan society through sheer force of personality ([[UseYourHead and head butting]], when necessary).
--->'''Wrex:''' Speak when spoken to, [[{{Jerkass}} Uvenk]]. [[TeethClenchedTeamwork I'll drag your clan to glory whether you like it or not.]]
** The "who would win" bit sets up a BrickJoke in "Citadel" - [[spoiler:en route to fighting the Clone, Wrex gloats to Ash/Kaidan that they're about to get their answer after all]]. It's also turned around when Zaeed and Javik ask who'd win: him or Grunt? Both immediately respond with a headbutting contest before Shepard shuts it down because they know what comes next, and it would be hell to clean up the resulting destruction.
* BabiesEverAfter: In the third game, [[spoiler:with Eve, and you can even see the baby in some of the endings! Also to his horror, as his pivotal role in curing the genophage has made him very desirable as breeding stock to ''all'' krogan females. And Eve/Bakara encourages them. His poor quad are literally sore from overuse. Also, Bakara wants to name their child after Mordin, which despite suggesting it as a joke he doesn't really want to go through with.]]
* BadassBoast:
** Gives one in the third game. Note that the quote is fully capitalized ''in the game's subtitles'':
---> '''Wrex:''' I AM URDNOT WREX AND '''THIS IS MY PLANET!!!'''
** Wrex gives this winning line to Shepard in London:
---> '''Wrex:''' You're going to win -- because you brought the krogan!
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor:
** Eve says that Wrex has always been enthusiastic around fertile females. [[spoiler:With the genophage cured]], the Citadel DLC informs us that as the leader of the most powerful clan and symbol to the galaxy of the awesomeness of their people, they've been lining up around the corner for his seed. And what's funnier, Eve/[[spoiler:Bakara encourages it, probably to [[RadishCure break Wrex of the habit through forced overindulgence]]]].
-->'''Shepard:''' I can think of worse positions to be in.\\
'''Wrex:''' Trust me, I've been in '''''every''''' position in the past few days...
** As far back as the first game Wrex expressed a desire for the krogan to get their act together and rebuild their species and civilization rather than wasting time fighting each other. By ''3'' he's gotten exactly what he wanted despite being relegated to a supporting leadership role rather than being part of Shepard's crew. He admits that he misses the more carefree nature of adventuring around the galaxy with Shepard but also acknowledges that he did ask for this.
* BerserkButton: Any mention of destroying the krogan's chances of curing the genophage will provoke a violent reaction. It can get Wrex killed in the first game unless you can talk him down, and [[spoiler:you are forced to kill him in the third game if you sabotage the cure]]. The rachni are also a particularly sore topic for him, given the brutal war between them and the krogan.
* BigGood: Becomes this to the krogan on Tuchanka if he lives past Virmire. "Eve" in the third game privately admits to Shepard that Wrex is the greatest thing to happen to Tuchanka in over a ''thousand'' years.
* TheBigGuy: Type 1 (gruff and withdrawn). Also has shades of Types 3 and 5. How big? In the ''Citadel'' DLC, he states that he weighs 800 pounds. Add [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Alternate_Appearance_Packs 220 pounds]] of standard krogan medium armor, plus his [[{{BFG}} Claymore]], sidearm, grenades, ammo, and various other gear, and he probably walks around at half a metric ton.
* BigGuyFatalitySyndrome: Wrex is the biggest and toughest of the original squadmates, and he's the first one who can potentially die (if you can't talk him down on Virmire).
* BizarreAlienBiology: Krogan have secondary ''everything'', from cardiovascular to nervous systems. And four testicles, referred to in the fandom and then in the second game as a "quad". Wrex will say that Shepard has a quad. He'll even say this about ''female'' Shepard.
* BloodKnight: Though he's downright moderate compared to the rest of his species. During the geth hunt in the Armstrong Cluster, he'll note that he's actually been enjoying himself, and will be sad when Shepard's team runs out of geth.
-->'''Wrex:''' They'll sing battle songs about this someday! Reaper blood has finally soaked our soil!
** Though he's not insane. When Shepard notes Wrex didn't help with the Reaper, Wrex mildly says he helped by offering Shepard encouragement.
* BountyHunter: One of many jobs he's taken over the centuries. He first encounters Saren while on the job, unsettling him to the point of quitting -- which ends up saving his life.
* BruiserWithASoftCenter: Not so much in the first game, but played straight from the second game onward.
* CainAndAbel: Abel to Wreav's Cain. [[spoiler:So if he sees Wreav get killed by Kalros in ''3'', he barely cares, saying that he was a pain in the ass anyway.]]
* CatchPhrase: He tries out a few during "Citadel". They generally involve calling himself "Uncle Urdnot". Tali tells him to keep trying.
* CaptainObvious: "I raised the hammers; you have to activate both of them. My advice is: avoid the [[WaveMotionGun giant laser!]]"
* TheCasanova: According to Eve that "if there's a fertile female, he'll be there", and "[he's a good leader] when he isn't trying to sire half of Tuchanka". In the ''Citadel'' DLC, [[spoiler:if the genophage is cured, he'll complain about how he's been [[ReallyGetsAround so busy mating]] that he needs an icepack for his crotch. If Eve/Bakara is still alive, he says that she is encouraging it (probably to try and [[RadishCure break him of the behavior through forced overindulgence]])]].
* CharacterDevelopment: Wrex starts off the first game as the most cynical party member, and then some. He's completely fatalistic and hopeless about the krogan's chances and has spent centuries as nothing more than a mercenary and bounty hunter. If he survives the first game, he decides to make a second go at saving his race and ends up becoming a progressive leader for his people, eventually growing from a common mercenary to arguably the most powerful krogan in the galaxy. If Shepard supports him and his desire to cure the genophage, he ends up being arguably the single most idealistic and hopeful character in the third game's entire story. In fact, he's cracking wise and trying to come up with a new CatchPhrase. When talking to his soldiers in London, he calls them "princesses".
* ChickMagnet: Again, in ''3'' if the genophage is cured... before he discovers [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor how exhausting it is]].
* ChivalrousPervert: On the other hand, he respects women a lot more than the average krogan.
* CoolOldGuy: Wrex is up there, even for a race as long-lived as the Krogan. In the second game, this is given as the reason the krogan are uniting under his leadership. His immense ass-kicking skills don't hurt any, either.
* CoolUncle: The ''Citadel DLC'' particularly highlights that the rest of the squad have come to see Wrex as this [[HonouraryUncle type of figure]]. After Wrex asks if Tali's been taking his advice on shotguns, she replies:
-->'''Tali:''' You're like the crazy, head butting uncle I never had.
* CrazyIsCool:
** In-Universe, the Urdnot Mechanic acknowledges that Wrex is a "crazy old man", but at the same time, what he's saying makes sense and is actually ''working''. Because of this, in the third game, Eve calls him the first bright light the krogan have had in a millennium.
** His crazy awesomeness has combat applicability as well: in the Citadel DLC, he [[spoiler:saves Shepard and a squadmate from a false flag ambush by [=CAT6=] mercs in a C-Sec shuttle by diving out a window and body slamming the cockpit canopy, which causes it to crash. This is a shuttle model which is canonically described to be designed first and foremost for rugged durability and has been stated to be able to withstand 1000 earth atmospheres of pressure. And Wrex, true to his name, wrecks it]].
* CutsceneBoss: In ''Mass Effect 3'', [[spoiler:if Shepard sabotages the cure, Wrex jumps them in the Citadel and all dialogue options lead to him being killed in a non-player-controlled gunfight]].
* CutsceneIncompetence: Ashley downs him with one shot from a rifle in ''Mass Effect 1'' before [[DoubleTap finishing him off with a few more shots]], (Shepard can pistol-whip him and shoot him repeatedly on the ground) and Shepard can kill him with a pistol in ''Mass Effect 3''. He mysteriously forgets that he has barriers and biotic powers. The latter is notable enough that it might actually be SuicideByCop after he's lost all hope for the Krogan.
* DareToBeBadass:
** To motivate the krogan to fight a common enemy rather than fighting themselves and the rest of the galaxy.
--->'''Wrex:''' Now hold your heads high like true krogan. There's a Reaper that needs killing!
** If he's on Earth during the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, he's barking jingo at a squadron, calling them "princesses" and to suck it up.
* DeadpanSnarker: Provides half of the snark in the first game.
* DeathGlare: Displays a great one in ''3'' when the salarian dalatrass insults the krogan. The look on his face makes it clear that he wants nothing more than to pull out a shotgun and leave a large hole in the ''Normandy'''s bulkhead where she was standing. For bonus points, the scene is focused on him, so you get to see just how pissed off Wrex is, taking up the ''entire screen''. While the dalatrass is being incredibly undiplomatic, Wrex is being the cool-headed one -- and Primarch Victus points this out immediately.
* DespairEventHorizon:
** Implied to have gone through a minor one before you meet him. After his father betrayed him he lost hope of reforming his race into anything resembling a proper civilisation, and began roaming the stars and killing people for credits. If he survives the first game he gets renewed hope and has a more successful job at kicking the krogan together.
** [[spoiler:Betray him by sabotaging the genophage cure and he'll completely lose it. He'll withdraw krogan support, leave the galaxy to burn, and try to gun you down with a shotgun to boot. As far as he's concerned, if his species is going to go extinct, humanity can join them.]]
* DirtyOldMan: In ''Mass Effect 3'', according to Eve, he's a bit... enthusiastic about fertile krogan females. By the ''Citadel'' DLC, he's over this. Largely because he's been with so many that his genitals physically hurt. Which says something when you're a member of a species of armored reptilian walking tanks with regeneration capabilities, and you're considered one of the most badass specimens of that species.
* DrivenToSuicide: A possibility, if you make a certain series of decisions. In [=ME3=], if you [[spoiler:sabotage the genophage cure, Wrex will come after you, conveniently forgetting his biotics and shields... [[SuicideByCop Suicide by Shepard.]]]]
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Assuming you never recruit Wrex in the first game, he just sort of dies off-screen between there and ''2''.
* DynamicEntry: [[spoiler:In the ''Citadel'' DLC, when Shepard and a crewmate are pinned down by a shuttle full of mercs, Wrex [[SuperWindowJump crashes through a window]] a few stories above and body slams the shuttle]].
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:If he survives all 3 games, and the genophage is cured without being sabotaged, then his desire to see the Krogan be saved from extinction and become more than just mercenary thugs is finally brought to fruition. If Eve lives, he also has a baby with her.]]
* EnemyMine:
** With the turians in the third game. Despite the fact that neither Wrex nor Primarch Victus are quick to trust the other, Victus is completely in favour of curing the genophage if that's the terms for krogan reinforcements, and Wrex makes good on his promise to send those reinforcements to aid in the defense of Palaven.
** Victus and Wrex also seem to find common ground opposing the [[SmugSnake salarian dalatrass]]. She seems to clearly irritate them ''both''.
* EpicFail: [[spoiler:If you opt to sabotage the genophage cure in ''3'', he comes after you with a shotgun. In all outcomes, he'll miss Shepard with a shotgun ''at point-blank range'' and will be gunned down either by Shepard or C-Sec, despite the former being unarmored and unarmed when Wrex attacks]].
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He is encountered inside the C-Sec offices, where a C-Sec officer is reprimanding him for his attempt to kill Fist. Wrex responds with a series of {{Badass Boast}}s, then proudly declares that he's still going to kill Fist to the officer's face before leaving and telling Shepard to mind his own business. If you talk to him immediately after you conclude your business in C-Sec, he asks to go with you to take down Fist and [[AssholeVictim kills Fist after the crime lord tries to surrender.]] If you don't, and instead wait until after you have dealt with Fist to speak with him, he is impressed by the wreck you made of Chora's Den, and gives you the bounty he was supposed to collect as a show of respect.
* EtTuBrute: In ''Mass Effect 3'', [[spoiler:if you betray the krogan and sabotage the genophage cure, he completely loses it due to the betrayal of a close, trusted friend in Shepard]].
* EveryoneHasStandards: It's clear that he's not ''evil'', but he's decidedly darker than other party members, especially in the first:
** Take him on Virmire when you discover the captured salarians driven to mindlessness by indoctrination, and he's visibly unhappy about it, saying that you don't do that to prisoners -- kill them, sure, but not ''[[MindRape that]]''. This is why he objects to Paragon Shepard releasing them. As far as he's concerned, even though they'd all die in the blast anyway, it'd take a cold person to let them live on like that for any longer than necessary. A cut-and-dried MercyKill is what he would want if he ended up indoctrinated, and hence he agrees to Renegade Shepard opening the door and gunning the salarians down.
** Wrex wishes for the Krogan to be cured of the Genophage more than anything else but there are still lines he won't cross even for a cure. He can be convinced to stand down on the possibility of a cure from Saren when it's brought up that the cured Krogan would effectively be slaves to his will and he outright refused to work with Maelon when he learned just how brutal the experiments that the scientist wanted to perform would be.
* {{Expy}}:
** Wrex is one of many [=BioWare=] characters descended from [[Franchise/BaldursGate Korgan Bloodaxe]] -- a BloodKnight BoisterousBruiser [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenary]] and also an OldSoldier fond of sharing past war stories. He shares this with Zaeed Massani from ''Mass Effect 2'', so unsurprisingly they get along very well in ''Mass Effect 3''.
** He shares many traits with Canderous Ordo, another Korgan-expy from ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''. Both are the team [[TheBigGuy Big Guy]], come from a ProudWarriorRaceGuy culture, and are disillusioned with their cultures' slowly self-destructive behavior. [[spoiler:They also both regain their idealism and become the leader of their people in the second game]].
* FaceHeelTurn:
** Seriously considers one during Virmire. If you're unable to talk him out of it, Ashley kills him to protect you.
** [[spoiler:If Shepard sabotaged the genophage cure in ''Mass Effect 3'', he will return later on, having found out, and tries to kill Shepard no matter what. He also calls off all his support for the war.]] Of course, given the despicable actions Shepard has to do in order for this to happen, you can't really blame Wrex.
* FamilyHonor: While he was never on good terms with his father and was eventually forced to kill him in self-defense, Wrex appears to have been close with his grandfather, swearing an oath before he left Tuchanka that he ''would'' regain their family's battle-armour, stolen by a turian after the war. He can finally achieve this several hundred years later with help from Shepard.
* FamilyOfChoice: He was never on good terms with his father and makes it clear that he and Wreav share only blood. Beyond being a PapaWolf for his entire race he seems to count Shepard's team as family, lampshaded several times when Tali calls him her crazy headbutting uncle or when Wrex refers to Shepard themselves as a brother/sister.
* FantasticRacism: He openly admits to be racist against salarians, and his distrust of them causes him to act up and nearly screw up the negotiations in ''3''. He's not exactly a fan of the turians since representatives of both species played a part in creating the genophage. While he doesn't have any particular hatred for the asari he's quite happy to assume the negative stereotypes about their reproductive habits are true. That said it mostly manifests as ill-natured grumbling and he's perfectly fine with fighting alongside them as part of Shepard's team, and he does end up befriending most of the squad.
* FireForgedFriends:
** Provided that Shepard talks to him and returns his family armor, Wrex eventually sees Shepard as a friend. This becomes a heartwarming FriendshipMoment in the second game when you're reunited with him; Wrex immediately ends a meeting to greet Shepard outright calling them "My friend!" Another FriendshipMoment happens in the third game, if you stay trustworthy and warn the krogan about the shroud sabotage. Wrex tells Eve "I told you we could trust him/her".
** He also becomes this with virtually every other member of Shepard's crew, particularly Garrus. Despite being from two feuding species, fighting at each others' sides have made them comrades.
* FoeTossingCharge: As a guest party member in ''Citadel'', his most common tactic is to charge into the enemy mob and club them with his shotgun. Horrified players will soon realize that Wrex easily has twice as much HP as other party members, [[LeeroyJenkins and thus can survive running out in the open and being shot at by multiple assailants]]. Doubles as a CallBack, since Wrex's combat style in ''1'' was virtually identical.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: One of the elevator conversations in ''1'' has Garrus eagerly wanting to see how the ''Normandy'' handles in a fight. Wrex is one of the squadmates who point out that it would be stupid to get into a head-on fight in a frigate designed for stealth. The opening of the second game proves that viewpoint correct - although, admittedly, the enemy ship belonged to the Collectors.
* FriendlyEnemy: He mentions having one in an asari named Aleena [[spoiler:who is strongly hinted to be a past identity for Aria T'Loak in Mass Effect 2]].
* TheGadfly: Especially in the first game's infamous elevator sequences, where [[{{Troll}} he frequently says outrageous things to your squadmembers just to see how they react.]]
* GeniusBruiser: Wrex is an eight hundred pound lizard-alien with multiple redundant vital organs, and he has been fighting since humanity was still using wooden sailing ships back on Earth. He's also incredibly cunning, has a strong grasp of tactics, and is one of the only Krogan living who actually has a plan to save the species from extinction.
* GoodIsNotSoft: As krogan overlord, he institutes many reforms to save his race from the brink... and if he has to go against tradition or bust heads for it to work, so be it.
* TheGoodKing: If he survives the first game and is aided in the sequels, he goes on to become a major reformer, eventually working himself up to the leader of the entire krogan species, and is on the path to leading them into a new golden age and cultural renaissance.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: All over his shell. It conveniently helps players distinguish him from other krogan.
* GoodThingYouCanHeal: Another par for the krogan course. Initially believed Shepard survived being spaced due to having a redundant nervous system.
--> '''Shepard:''' Yeah, humans don't have that.\\
'''Wrex:''' Oh.... It must've been painful then.
* GrumpyOldMan: Over a thousand years old, and as curmudgeonly as they come. In classic form, he quickly warms up if Shepard makes an effort to get to know him.
* GuestStarPartyMember: In the ''Citadel'' DLC of ''3''.
* GutFeeling: His reliance on this has saved him twice. He correctly predicted a trap by his father Jarrod, even though they were meeting in a place where violence was supposedly forbidden. On a later mercenary job for the turian who he would later discover was Saren, he had such a bad feeling that he left without being paid. All the other mercs he was working with were found dead a week later.
* {{Handgun}}: In the first game, he had access to all weapons but could train with assault rifles and shotguns. In ''Citadel'', his weapons are shotgun and heavy pistol.
* HiddenDepths: An exile from a barbaric race. Utterly ruthless. A one man army. The most vicious bounty hunter in the galaxy. Also quite possibly the most sensitive and caring character towards Shepard other than Liara and Kaidan. And he tried to end his people's infighting, pretty much making him the Krogan equivalent of a hippie. Who says bloodthirsty, thousand-year-old reptilian warlords don't have hearts? Two of them, in point of fact.
* HonoraryTrueCompanion: To the ''Normandy'' crew from the second game onwards.
* HonoraryUncle: The ''Normandy'' crew consider him to be like this, especially Tali:
-->''You're like the crazy, headbutting uncle I never had.''
* HonorBeforeReason: He's loyal to the krogan race, even if that means dying senselessly in a fight with Shepard, if the latter can't talk him down in the first game or [[spoiler:sabotages the genophage cure in the third]].
* HopeBringer: Along with "Eve", he becomes this to the entire krogan species over the course of ''2'' and ''3''.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** For someone who protests to no end that the Genophage is a slow-burn genocide, Wrex is all too willing to advocate genocide against the rachni by wiping out the remaining Rachni Queen on Noveria. It's especially dark if you learn more of the lore and realise the rachni were effectively used as attack animals by past cultures in a way not unlike how the krogan were uplifted to turn the tide during the Rachni Wars.
** Wrex grows distrustful towards Shepard if Maelon's data was destroyed, experiments that Wrex himself had refused to work with due to their brutal nature.
** [[spoiler:If Shepard betrays him by sabotaging the Genophage cure, he withdraws Clan Urdnot's support for the war effort, but not the other clans, despite his work to value all krogan clans.]]
* HypocriticalHumor: Jokes during the Citadel DLC that he can't go crawling through pipes because of "too many varren legs" as a snack. When Tali and Liara tease him a moment later about his size, he's snarling.
* HypotheticalFightDebate: Wrex loves asking who would win in a fight between Shepard and the third squadmate. Funnily enough, it comes to a head when you fight [[spoiler:Shepard's clone]]. He can also be the subject of one versus Grunt in the ''Citadel'' DLC which, depending on the mood of the party you choose to throw, can potentially cease to be be quite so hypothetical.
* ImStandingRightHere: On Noveria, if Garrus objects to killing the rachni queen.
-->'''Garrus:''' We can't exterminate them. Not without the Council's approval. Genocide is one of the reasons we fought the krogan-- ah...\\
'''Wrex:''' You want to learn about genocide, Vakarian? I'll take you to a krogan obstetrician's office.
* {{Irony}}: Wrex is annoyed with how most krogan live up to negative stereotypes and believes that some customs need to be ignored to truly save the species. As a result many krogan despise Wrex for not respecting tradition. Then come ''Mass Effect 3'' and Eve describes what the glorious krogan of ancient times were like and they sound a lot more similar to Wrex than 99% of the other krogan we meet in the series. So it can be argued that the guy closest to being a traditional krogan... is Wrex.
* InformedEquipment: Cutscenes, trailers, promotional art, and the ''Citadel'' squad selection screen all show him wielding the [[{{BFG}} Claymore heavy shotgun.]] For good reason; it's a great weapon to give him in-game.
* IWasJustJoking: In ''3'' he sarcastically suggests naming one of the new krogan children after Mordin as thanks for curing [[spoiler:the Genophage]], probably a girl. Near the end of the game, Wrex tells Shepard that Eve is pregnant and wants to name her child after Mordin. He doesn't share her enthusiasm.
* IWorkAlone: Fortunately, he's a reasonable example of this trope; he prefers to work by himself, but he's perfectly willing to operate with small groups. Shepard also works in small groups, so he's got no problems with that. It's just being part of armies he has issues with.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Wrex is aggressive and short-tempered, but deep down, he cares about his friends and the krogan race. He is the only one besides Joker to comfort Shepard after they are forced to leave either Ashley or Kaidan behind on Virmire. He also gives Shepard a ''very'' warm greeting as the krogan overlord. From a grizzled old cynic like him, that really means something. He even invites Grunt to be part of the clan. As warlord, he does everything in his power to aid his people, [[GoodIsNotNice whether they like it or not]].
--->'''Wrex:''' Shepard! My friend!
** Despite disliking salarians in general, he grows to respect Mordin in [=ME3=], affectionately nicknaming him "Pyjak." [[spoiler:After Mordin sacrifices himself to cure the genophage, Wrex says that he'll honour him by naming one of the newborn children after him. Maybe one of the girls]].
* JustEatHim: He threatens the crooked security goons on Noveria with this. Considering that Wrex is an eight-foot-tall lizard alien, it tends to be effective.
* KilledOffForReal: Possible in the first game, which allows his more traditional but distrustful brood brother Wreav to become leader of Clan Urdnot. Also possible in the third game; [[spoiler:if you sabotage the genophage cure, he'll find out and you'll have to blow him away on the Citadel]].
* KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect: Averted. The Urdnot scientists are actually complaining because Wrex has turned them to ''agricultural'' sciences and focused their efforts on increasing crop yield, irrigation and better farming methods. Only on Tuchanka could the ''scientists'' be upset that the ''Warlord'' doesn't want them to blow things up! In ''Andromeda'', seems like Wrex was onto something, as the crop scientist is one of the most important figures in the krogan colony.
* KnightInSourArmor: Yes, he does help save the galaxy and eventually becomes chieftain of Clan Urdnot but he's also as cynical as they come. If Shepard continuously supports him, he, like Garrus, shows a much more idealistic side as things go on.
* LeeroyJenkins: In ''Citadel'', while most other party member AI have the sense to keep in cover during a firefight, Wrex's primary attack strategy is to charge opponents and melee them. [[MadeOfIron He can survive this and win...]] unless you're playing on Insanity, in which case he predictably gets quickly gunned down.
** Ironically he can even be this on Insanity with the right build which rapidly turns any adventure on the ''Citadel'' into a bit of StrategySchmategy - You can do whatever you and your teammate want, Wrex is gonna be knocking heads around.
* LightningBruiser: Wrex is one of the last living Krogan Battlemasters. Take an eight-foot-tall sapient lizard with multiple redundant vital organs, natural armor, and enough muscle mass to bench press a car. Add centuries of combat experience, and mix with biotic powers rivaling an Asari commando.
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: His interaction with "Eve" in the third game. There are plenty of hints that "Eve" ''really is his estranged wife''.
* LivingLegend: He's renown throughout the galaxy for his exploits, and as the last Krogan to kill a Thresher Maw during his rite of passage, at least until Grunt if he manages the same thing. [[note]]Though on Grunt's part, it is optional, and he also did it with the help of Shepard and another Squadmate, while Wrex did it on his own.[[/note]]
* MadeOfIron: The Krogan are notorious for this to begin with - so much so that they were the only species capable of going to the DeathWorld[=s=] the Rachni lived on. Wrex takes this up a notch; he's nigh unkillable on most difficulties. Up until [[NintendoHard Insanity mode]], Wrex can simply charge into a squad of enemies and murder them all with little effort - and he can still more than hold his own on said difficulty. He just can't walk into the middle of the enemy line with impunity anymore.
* MageMarksman: In addition to his substantial toughness and general combat skills, he's also a biotic.
* TheMcCoy: To Dalatrass Linron's TheSpock and Primarch Adrien Victus and Paragon Shepard's TheKirk, in ''3''.
* MeaningfulName:
** He's called Wrex because he wrecks stuff.
** Also, rex = Latin for king. Fits with him becoming the krogan overlord in the second game.
** According to the devs, they called him Wrex after a Tyrannosaurus Rex, which still comes from "king." This also leads to an amusing ContinuityNod in the second game, where data on Grunt's extranet searches reveal that he [[WikiWalk went from searching about Wrex to reading about dinosaurs]].
* MoralPragmatist: His goal is to ensure the survival of his doomed species. He has developed very pragmatic ideas to help the krogan recover from [[DepopulationBomb the Genophage]], but they're too [[ProudWarriorRace proud and violent]] to listen to him. In the first game, when [[BigBad Saren]] finds a way to breed new krogan, he seriously considers betraying you, and you can only change his mind by either threatening to kill him or making him realize how stupid it would be to join Saren. In the third game, if he survived, Wrex refuses to help in the war against [[AbusivePrecursors the Reapers]] unless you cure the Genophage first, and if you sabotage said cure, he immediately withdraws all krogan support just so that [[TakingYouWithMe humans will go extinct just like the krogan]].
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: His usual suggestion for dealing with problematic individuals is to [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim shoot them]]. He viscerally establishes this if you bring him along to raid Chora's Den - regardless of what Shepard says to Fist, Wrex blows his head off as soon as he's given Shepard the information they need.
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: Invoked in ''3'' if you bring Liara and Garrus along to Sur'kesh, he's deeply happy she's there... oh, and Garrus too. If you don't bring Liara he's just as appreciative of Garrus however, implying he did this just to mess with him.
* MyNameIsInigoMontoya: Uses one in [=ME3=].
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Wrex is somewhere in between playing this straight and averting it. He mostly embraces the overall krogan culture and attitudes, but he's far more willing than most of his race to acknowledge a lot of their actions are idiotically self-destructive (to the point of making some attempt to fix that in the second game).
* NoGuyWantsToBeChased: In the ''Citadel'' DownloadableContent for ''3'', the reason he's on the Citadel at all is because, following [[spoiler:the dealing with the genophage in Priority: Tuchanka]], every single female krogan wants a go with him so that their firstborn can be of his genes. He'd likely have less of a problem if they actually gave him a break.
-->'''Shepard:''' Considering [[WarIsHell everything we've been through]], I can think of worse positions to be in.\\
'''Wrex:''' Trust me, [[DoubleEntendre I've been in every position in the past few days]].
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Wrex very intentionally plays up the stereotypes people tend to have of the Krogan as a whole. In reality, Wrex is every bit as dangerous in combat and physically powerful as the stereotypes would suggest, but he's also been fighting since Earth was still using wooden sailing ships. He deliberately lets his opponents assume he's a bloodthirsty brute.
* OddFriendship: Quite a few:
** With Paragon Shepard in ''1''. Seeing such an [[TheCape idealistic hero]] become friends with such a surly, disillusioned mercenary is a sight to see. Paragon Shepard's influence eventually rubs off on Wrex as he becomes TheParagon for his entire species.
** Dialogue in ''3'' indicates that he's deeply fond of Liara, Tali...[[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Garrus]], in his own way.
---> '''Wrex:''' I have to make friends with the one turian in the galaxy who ''thinks he's funny''.
** Despite Wrex's open dislike of salarians, particularly their ''doctors'', he honestly grows to respect Mordin after he stands his ground against him. [[spoiler:If Mordin sacrifices himself to cure the genophage in [=ME3=], Wrex declares that he's going to name one of his children after him. Probably a girl.]] As mentioned in the first game, this is Wrex's way of sizing people up.
---> '''Wrex:''' Ha! You've got a quad, doctor! Keep her safe!
** He has a soft spot for Tali too, as shown in The Citadel DLC, in part because her preferred weapon, the shotgun, is his too, and he insists on giving her pointers on it.
---> '''Tali:''' I can look after myself, you know...\\
'''Wrex:''' I know, but I'm old and I worry, even though my favorite quarian is all grown up and killing Reapers.\\
'''Tali:''' You're like the crazy head butting uncle I never had...
** If Liara reveals she's one quarter Krogan, Wrex will laugh and tell her he ''knew'' there was something he liked about her.
* OldSoldier: Wrex hints that he was either born during or shortly after the Krogan Rebellions, making him ''at least'' 1,400 years old; definitely up there, even for a krogan. He's been busting skulls for the majority of that time. To put this in perspective, Wrex has been kicking ass for a living ''since Earth's viking age''.
* OptionalPartyMember: He doesn't have to be recruited to finish the first game. Of course, there are repurcussions if you don't...
* OutOfFocus: Of this six original squadmates, Wrex is the only one who never returns to the squad. He still has plot relevancy, but he's relegated to SupportingLeader. Thankfully, he's a GuestStarPartyMember in the third game's ''Citadel'' DLC.
** Whether relatedly or not, he's also the only one of the first six squadmates who isn't a potential LoveInterest.
* TheParagon: For his people, should he survive to the second game. Solidly cements this position should the [[spoiler:real cure for the genophage]] be administered under his reign. Fittingly, he had tried once before but lost faith in his people, and was inspired to try again by another paragon: Commander Shepard. As noted in the {{Irony}} section above, Eve's description of the halcyon days of the ancient Krogan, they sound like they were a lot like Wrex.
* ParentalSubstitute: While not overt, it appears that he's taken this role toward Grunt, being enthusiastic about letting him take the RiteOfPassage to become a member of Clan Urdnot in ''2'' as well as placing him in charge of [[BadassArmy Aralakh Company]] in ''3'', in recognition of Grunt's skill. One of his comments in the second game insinuates that he may be grooming Grunt to be his successor as Overlord of the krogan.
* PapaWolf: Becomes this for his entire species. He also develops a paternal instinct for a few of Shepard's youngest squadmates, particularly Tali.
* {{Patricide}}: He was forced to kill his father, Jerrod after Jerrod called a "peace meeting" at the Hollows (the one place on Tuchanka where fighting is strictly forbidden) only to betray him and kill those loyal to him when it became clear he wouldn't join Jerrod's warmongering cause.
* PenPushingPresident: Downplayed. He still spends chunks of ''2'' and ''3'' in the thick of the action but admits that he wishes he could join Shepard adventuring around the galaxy rather than spending as much time as he does keeping the krogan in line and butting heads with the Council in his de-facto chief of state role. In ''Citadel'' he's ecstatic to finally cut loose after a while.
* ProperlyParanoid: He was hired by Saren once, the turian gave Wrex such a bad feeling that he bailed on the job without even waiting around to get paid. Turns out all the other mercs he was working with were found dead a week later.
** In ''3'' he also knows that the dalatrass won't let the genophage be cured without trying something [[spoiler:which leads him to discovering Shepard's treachery should they take her up on her offer and sabotage the cure]].
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch Deconstructed]]; he knows full well that the krogan people are too attached to their short-sighted warrior traditions to save themselves from extinction. In the sequels, he subjects the trope to {{Reconstruction}} by seizing power of Clan Urdnot and working to return the krogan to a proud warrior race they should have been instead of a race of thugs for hire.
* RadishCure: [[spoiler: "Eve"/Bakara decides to ''encourage'' star-struck lady krogan who want the savior of their race to father their children as of the ''Citadel'' DLC, and Wrex has gone from [[ChivalrousPervert excited at the prospect of doing his part for his revitalized race]] to putting ice packs on his aching quad and sneaking off to have an adventure with Shepard just to get away.]]
* ReallyGetsAround: [[spoiler:If the Genophage is cured, every krogan female under the sun wants a piece of him. Unfortunately for Wrex, he's been having so much sex that he needs a bag of ice for his currently-aching quad.]]
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: We don't know how old exactly Wrex is, but given that he defeated a Thresher Maw ''over'' a thousand years ago and hints that he may have been around during the Krogan Rebellions (which happened in ''700 AD'')... yeah, Wrex is ''very old'', even for a krogan.
** For those not willing to do the math this would make Wrex nearly 1500 years old at the start of Mass Effect. Even Samara would be half a millennium his junior.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: About as reasonable of an authority figure as you can be for an entire species of {{Blood Knight}}s.
** While it's unspoken, it's worth noting that Wrex is perfectly content to allow Shepard, an ''alien'', to serve as a member of Grunt's krantt during their RiteOfPassage, likely because he knows that they [[LoopholeAbuse don't actually have a rule]] that says that the members of your krantt have to be ''krogan''.
*** Who is in the prospective krantt says a lot. Depending on who you take with you, it's either just Shepard, who has iron-clad and gold-plated badass credentials in Wrex's eyes, or Shepard and someone that Wrex fought alongside in the last game, who has also proven themselves as a badass.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: And red skin, red armor, and red guns...
* RedOniBlueOni: Is blue compared to his brother Wreav and the rest of the krogan as their leader, but is red compared to Eve.
* RefugeInAudacity: If he helps infiltrate the casino in ''[[DownloadableContent Citadel]]''. First he'll claim to [[BlatantLies be a food inspector]] (though as krogan leader, he could just [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem declare himself one anyway]]), then he'll just start distracting the guards ''by berating them for doing a bad job''.
* RevengeBeforeReason:
** At a species level, he's initially the only krogan you encounter in the entire game to defy this. Though he retains some of his racial prejudice against salarians and turians he's got no real problems working with Garrus (other than chewing Garrus out for making some InnocentlyInsensitive comments) and Captain Kirrahe (provided you talk him down in the standoff on Virmire). He also laments how the krogan are more concerned with maintaining their grudges than actually preventing their own extinction. By ''2'' he decides to do something about it by unifying the krogan under his rule to focus more on rebuilding krogan society than getting revenge against the turians and salarians. Going by how many of the krogan are following his lead, he does a damn good job of it.
** [[spoiler:In [=ME3=], if you betray his friendship and sabotage the genophage cure, he will come after you on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. To elaborate, he comes to the Citadel armed with a giant shotgun (visitors are forbidden from carrying weapons on the station), assaulting a C-Sec officer and shooting at Shepard in broad daylight. Even if Shepard doesn't kill him himself, it doesn't take long until C-Sec reinforcements arrive and swiftly kill him. He really should've thought of a better plan. Then again, he was probably so angry and hurt that he wasn't thinking straight or didn't care enough for his own safety anymore.]]
* RoyalBlood: To a degree; his father was an overlord of Clan Urdnot. If he survived Virmire, Wrex will take over as clan leader and de facto ruler of the krogan homeworld of Tuchanka in ''2'' and ''3'' (as his dealings have positioned Clan Urdnot to be the most powerful clan).
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Wrex used to have a tribe of his own, though he fled Tuchanka after a fight with his father. Later, he will become the ruler of most of the krogan clans.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: His stance when traditional-minded krogan impede his vision. A necessary evil, for the traditional mindset is what led to the decline of the krogan people in the first place.
* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: In his backstory, he met Saren while working on a job. Something about Saren rubbed him the wrong way, so he left without waiting long enough to be paid. His instincts were right: he was the only merc from that job to survive.
* SelfMadeOrphan: In self-defense, as revealed in the first game and expanded on in the third. He reveals that his father tried to kill him when he was young, so he was forced to have him crushed under the rocks.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Believe it or not he embodies both sides of this trope. The latter is obvious but he shows a surprisingly caring side of himself after Virmire. He's the only one to talk about Ashley/Kaidan's death other than Joker and the Virmire Survivor, and the only character to comfort Shepard over it, telling you he respects your decision. The relationship between him and Paragon Shepard also fits this trope.
* SlaveToPR: He executes a gang leader against your orders because he was hired by the Broker to personally kill him. He even gives you the bounty if you don't bring him along and beat him to the punch -- he won't take credit or payment for something he didn't do.
* SnarkToSnarkCombat: With the human C-Sec officer who tries to warn him away from Fist in the first game.
-->'''Officer:''' You ''want'' me to arrest you?
-->'''Wrex:''' I want you to ''try''.
* SociopathicHero: Mostly in the first game, less so in the sequels.
* SpecialSnowflakeSyndrome: The Codex notes that krogan biotics are exceptionally rare, even as biotics go. So, naturally, the krogan who joins the adventuring party just happens to be a biotic. This was for lack of anyone else to fill the Vanguard slot in the original team.
* TheStoic: It's a significant moment whenever he really does emote.
-->"Shepard."\\
"Wrex."
** When Wrex joyfully bounds out of his "throne" to greet Shepard with unabashed happiness in ''2'', it's fairly startling. Especially in contrast to the cold shoulder they get from the Virmire survivor on Horizon.
** He also appears openly enthusiastic about having Grunt join Clan Urdnot, with almost fatherly pride when he completes the rite. Especially if Grunt kills the Thresher Maw, something no one has done since Wrex himself 1000 years prior.
* StopBeingStereotypical: He dislikes the self-destructive violence of the other krogan, who justify their reckless and bloodthirsty actions with little more than a declaration of "I'm a ProudWarriorRaceGuy!" and leave it at that. Wrex even ended up leaving his clan in his backstory because he became so disgusted with how his fellow krogan kept DramaticallyMissingThePoint about why they were subjected to the genophage in the first place. Should Wrex survive the first game, he's working to change this mindset as clan leader through reforms that defy tradition and the BloodKnight mindset, albeit not without some butting of heads (both figuratively and literally) from the other krogan. [[spoiler:And should Shepard help him go through with it, Wrex will succeed in getting the genophage cured in ''3'', proving him right.]]
* SuicideByCop: Should [[spoiler:Shepard sabotage the genophage cure]], he'll come gunning for them on the Citadel... with no barriers and armed with only a shotgun, in full view of several fully-armed C-Sec officers. It's pretty obvious how he expected the encounter to end.
* SupportingLeader: If he survives the Virmire mission, he's this for all krogan as of the third game, who can provide the second highest amount of War Assets (only behind the Systems Alliance). [[spoiler:This all depends on how you handle curing the genophage, however]]. Even in the mission on Sur'Kesh, he keeps the enemy distracted to make Shepard's mission easier.
* SuperStrength: Like all krogan. Particularly shown in the ''Citadel'' DLC, where he one-arm tosses 150+ kg power-armored mercenaries like hacky sacks.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Provided he survives Virmire and you don't betray him, he mentions multiple times he feels this way trying to keep the krogan in line. It's played for laughs in ''Mass Effect 3'' when he has to explain non-war societal development to them when all they're used to doing is blowing enemies up.
* TakingYouWithMe: If you betray him in ''Mass Effect 3'', he specifically calls off krogan support for the final battle so that humanity will be as doomed as the krogan.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Wrex is uniformly in favor of the most aggressive, violent and destructive solutions to any problem that the squad encounters. He'll offhandedly comment at one point that it's only a complete mission if ''explosions'' are involved. Hilariously lampshaded in ''Citadel'':
--->'''Wrex:''' That's why I love hanging out with you guys. Why shoot something once, when you can shoot it forty-six more times?
* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: Wrex drops a hard one when Allestia Iallis reveals herself to be a sleeper agent for Benezia.
-->'''Wrex:''' We'll see about that, bitch.
* TokenEvilTeammate: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. Wrex admits he pretends to be this, simply because it's ''expected'' of krogan. While Wrex isn't ''evil'', he is the most ruthless of Shepard's original six squadmates. When the player is faced with a major Paragon/Renegade choice, one squadmate will always endorse the paragon choice, and one will always endorse the renegade choice. Wrex is the only party member to always endorse the renegade choice regardless of party combination. Even Ashley, the next most renegade squadmate, will endorse the paragon option if she is in the party with Wrex. The only exception is the "save the Council" decision, where Ashley understandably advocates holding the fleets back and not risking human lives.
* TooDumbToLive: What he thinks of anyone that goes up against Shepard.
-->'''Wrex:''' Anyone who fights us is either stupid or on Saren's payroll. Killing the latter is business. Killing the former is a favor to the universe.
* TookALevelInCynic: Long before the first game began. He tried to change the self-destructive nature of the krogan in the aftermath of the Krogan Rebellions. He was opposed by many warlords, including his own father, Jerrod. His father trying to kill him on sacred ground where violence is forbidden, about the only rule the krogan actually respected, and [[SelfMadeOrphan being forced to kill him in self defense]] caused Wrex to lose all hope in the krogan adapting to the genophage and abandon his plans to reform krogan society.
* TookALevelInIdealism: Starts out as cynical as they come. If continuously supported by Shepard, he becomes more and more idealistic with each game. If [[spoiler:the genophage gets cured]] in the third game, he is arguably the least cynical character in the story.
* ToughLove: Essentially his approach as leader of the krogan. Wrex is absolutely uncompromising and quite harsh in putting his reforms in place, because he knows that they are vital to survival of the krogan people. He may not win all of the popularity contests with the krogan, but everything he does is to their benefit.
* {{Troll}}: Wrex has become this in ''3''.
-->'''Wrex:''' Hell of a showdown back there on Sur'Kesh. Just like the old days, right down to me pulling your ass out of the fire.\\
'''Shepard:''' ''I'' was the one with bullets flying at me!\\
'''Wrex:''' And I gave you the moral support to dodge them! ''(chuckles)''
* TryNotToDie: The worst possible "goodbye" before you try and summon Kalros.
-->'''Wrex:''' I know you're doing this for your own reasons, Shepard, but try to make sure you don't get your ass killed. I wouldn't know what to say at your funeral.
* {{Tsundere}}: Wrex comes off as this as he first appears as a mercenary who just gets the job done for extra cash but he is revealed to have a personality that is unique from other krogan. He is a type 1 male non romantic version of this trope. He actually cares about other people, including his own species as he shows great concern towards the well being of the krogan. He tries to get them to stop being violent towards each other and focus on maintaining his own species, which led to him being betrayed by his own father. He even openly voices this concern towards Shepard several times.
* UncomfortableElevatorMoment: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOg-nLWe71w Wrex seems to really like the elevators.]]
* UndignifiedDeath:
** ''Mass Effect 1'' gives Wrex a rather miserable death, should they choose to deal one out to him. Namely, he can be knocked down with a punch or a shot, and then shot multiple times like a dog. You then have the option of telling Captain Kirrahe to dump his corpse in the swamps. On top of that, he immediately becomes a ForgottenFallenFriend to the rest of the group.
** In ''Mass Effect 3'', if Shepard [[spoiler:sabotages the genophage cure, he is unceremoniously shot dead by either Shepard or C-Sec. His corpse is then spaced like yesterday's garbage and the media portrays him as a random mercenary who turned violent over a gambling debt.]]
* UndyingLoyalty: By the second game, even if he can't go with Shepard, it's clear that he has nothing but undying respect for them and will help them anyway he can. However, Shepard can later lose Wrex's trust by deleting Maelon's research and making no attempt to apologise. If they support the Krogan the entire series, Wrex's loyalty to Shepard is unbreakable.
* UseYourHead: [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership In true krogan fashion]], he uses this to assert his dominance.
** Unfortunately, he doesn't see it when Shepard has the opportunity to follow his lead, headbutting ''the same krogan that Wrex did earlier'' to get him to shut up. The Shaman does see, and finds it hilarious.
** In the Citadel DLC, he and Grunt start headbutting as a prelude to some good old-fashioned asskicking to determine who's the stronger krogan. Shepard shuts it down before it goes too far.
* UnwantedHarem: The Citadel DLC reveals there are downsides to being the clan leader who cured the genophage -- namely, everyone wants their firstborn to have his genes. There's a line of women outside his dwelling that stretches "as far as you can see", he has to sneak out his own bathroom window to get away, and he still gets jumped leaving Tuchanka.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Garrus. They butt heads frequently during elevator conversations in ''1'' but grow to respect each other. By ''3'' their conversations are full of good natured bantering and barb-trading.
* VocalEvolution: Barr gave a much deeper, more gravelly tone of voice for Wrex in ''1'' and ''2'', one which bordered on monotonous at times. When ''3'' rolls around, Wrex has ''much'' more range to his voice than before, and generally expresses a lot more emotion. Justified since his earliest appearances in the series take place very recently after he hit [[DespairEventHorizon rock bottom]], and his experiences with Shepard (whether positive or negative) ended up giving him the push he needed to take charge of his life and his people.
* WastelandWarlord: Becomes the most powerful and influential clan leader on Tuchanka, such that by the third game, he is treated as the de facto leader of all Krogan across the galaxy.
* WhatTheHellHero:
** If he's taken to Noveria and Shepard spares the rachni queen, he's deadset against it. As he reminds you, millions of his ancestors died to defeat the rachni the first time. By the third game he seems to have softened his attitude, though; he merely says to Shepard that if the rachni prove a problem, it's their ass on the line for it.
** If you deleted Maelon's research, he has some choice words for you in ''3'' -- you can apologise, but while he doesn't like mistrusting you, he doesn't immediately accept it; it takes rescuing Eve, following him to the Shroud and trying to patch things up between missions for Shepard to win his friendship back.
** [[spoiler:If you betray his trust by sabotaging the genophage cure, he tries to kill you. On the same occasion, he also calls you out for your actions during the Citadel coup if you killed the Virmire Survivor -- ''and'' for the turian bomb on Tuchanka if you let it go off.]] It's a bit of a low point for Shepard, all in all.
--->'''Wrex:''' [[spoiler:What's the matter? Ashley not around to do your dirty work? Oh right, you killed her, too! And it's time you found out how that feels!]]
* WhatWouldXDo: After the events of the first game, he takes Shepard's example and advice to heart and decides to return to Tuchanka and make another attempt to save his people from themselves.
* WhereItAllBegan: At the end of Priority: Tuchanka, [[spoiler:if Eve is alive]], you will meet up with him at the place where his father ambushed and tried to kill him, and he will remark about how the genophage turned the krogan into "animals".
* WhyDontYaJustShootHim: Wrex is a firm believer in using violence to solve his problems. Sometimes he'll threaten to eat somebody instead, just to spice things up.
* WorldsBestWarrior: On Tuchanka, anyway, but he has some impressive feats throughout the rest of the galaxy, too. The only person probably superior to him is Shepard, and his only clear successor is Grunt. He's also the most capable War Asset among all of Shepard's companions.
* WorldsStrongestMan: [[WordOfGod Chris Priestley]] [[http://web.archive.org/web/20160816183410/https://forum.bioware.com/topic/246325-strongest-squad-member/#entry7231820 confirmed]] that he is the physically toughest of Shepard's followers.
* WorthyOpponent: He considered his FriendlyEnemy Aleena[[note]]who is heavily implied, but never explicitly stated, to be Aria[[/note]] to be this. Wrex also views Shepard as one when they first meet, seeing them as a warrior worthy of his respect. He drops hints in the first game that he believes in a fight Shepard could take him down - which, considering Wrex once single-handedly defeated a ''Thresher Maw'', says a hell of a lot. By the end of the second game, Shepard's probably done a lot of the same things he did, and without the MadeOfIron characteristics that the krogan have going for them. It's no wonder Wrex respects them.
[[/folder]]
!Guest Party Members
[[folder:Richard L. Jenkins]]
!Corporal Richard L. Jenkins
[[quoteright:355:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/richard_l_jenkins_28020482_normal.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:[[TemptingFate With a name like that, surely he'll be around forever. Right?]]]]
-->''"We've got a Spectre on board! That's why I'm so wound up - I can't wait for the real mission to start."''
-->'''Voiced by''': Josh Dean
An over-enthusiastic Alliance soldier from Eden Prime, he is assigned as part of your squad when everything goes to hell there. Continuing in the long Bioware tradition of early sacrificial party members, he dies in the opening few minutes.
----
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: He says he's itching for some action just before the Eden Prime mission. Too bad "action" in his case meant watching his homeworld get scorched and being gunned down by a pair of geth recon drones.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite his boundless enthusiasm and naïveté, various characters imply Jenkins was a very competent soldier.
* DecoyProtagonist: He's a placeholder for Ash, who joins about a minute or two after his death.
* DoomedHometown: Eden Prime is this for him. Pity he dies too soon for it to become a plot point. And it's not entirely doomed anyway; there's a DLC mission there in the third game.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: Averted. The ''Normandy'' crew is very upset about his death, and often recall him later in the franchise.
** In ''2'', Dr. Chakwas reminisces about him over drinks with Shepard.
** One interpretation of when Shepard later encounters a young over-enthusiastic mercenary (who is also voiced by Josh Dean) on Omega, the reason they stopped dead in their tracks, turned slowly around and, if taking the Paragon interrupt, broke the kid's gun and ordered them home, was because he reminded them too much of Jenkins.
** His name is on the memorial wall in the ''Normandy'' in ''Mass Effect 3'', and he will be mentioned if Kaidan, James, or EDI is brought to the Eden Prime mission.
** In private moments, Shepard is shown to [[TheChainsOfCommanding give themself grief over Jenkins' death since it was their orders that caused him to run into the ambush]].
* FunPersonified: According to Chakwas. One of her stories involves him pestering Kaidan for a biotic demonstration, only for Kaidan to accidentally throw him so hard across the room, she thought he was seriously injured. Jenkins then leapt up, gleefully exclaiming:
--> '''Jenkins''': That was ''awesome''!
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: If you're on a NewGamePlus, he'll be level 50+ and still die to a few bullets after having been ordered to take point.
* GuestStarPartyMember: Despite being with you for at most a minute or two and dying right before the first fight, he is a fully functional squad member that can be issued orders and even has some skill points for you to assign despite never having an opportunity to use any abilities.
* HeroWorshipper: To Shepard. This is rarely a good sign for a character's mortality rate this early in the story.
* InformedAbility: He's apparently a badass soldier of the Alliance, but he is shot dead in the first half hour of the game and never gets to display it. Then again, it was a surprise attack, and even his replacement barely survived one while losing her entire squad to them.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: If Shepard has a Survivor or Ruthless background, Jenkins can gush about what they've done is worth him being a Spectre candidate, to which Shepard can state that it's a past that brings them bad memories.
* LeeroyJenkins: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], actually, [[MeaningfulName despite the name.]] He's very eager to go out there and see action, but still follows Shepard's orders to the letter and takes point. In the end it still doesn't do him much good; some geth drones ambush the squad and Jenkins gets gunned down before the rest know what's happening.
* MeaningfulName: Downplayed. He's named after LeeroyJenkins, and while he doesn't take it to the level of insubordination, he is rather reckless and eager.
* NaiveNewcomer: Definitely had an incredibly idealistic outlook on the Spectres, and the heroism of Shepard themself.
* SacrificialLamb: He dies just before the player's first battle.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: He got one conversation and a couple of lines. For a [=BioWare=] squad member, that's waving hello in passing.
[[/folder]]
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[[center: [- [[Characters/MassEffect Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/MassEffectCommanderShepard Commander Shepard]] | '''Party 1 Members''' | [[Characters/MassEffectKaidanAlenko Kaidan Alenko]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAshleyWilliams Ashley Williams]] | [[Characters/MassEffectGarrusVakarian Garrus Vakarian]] | [[Characters/MassEffectLiaraTSoni Liara T'Soni]] | [[Characters/MassEffectTaliZorah Tali'Zorah]] | [[Characters/MassEffectUrdnotWrex Urdnot Wrex]] | [[Characters/MassEffect1Antagonists Mass Effect 1 Antagonists]] | [[Characters/MassEffect1Npcs Mass Effects 1 NPCs]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2EarlyPartyMembers Early Party 2 Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffectMirandaLawson Miranda Lawson]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2LatePartyMembers Late Party 2 Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2SecretPartyMembers Mass Effect 2 Secret Party Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2MainAntagonists Mass Effect 2 Main Antagonists]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2SecondaryAntagonists Mass Effect 2 Secondary Antagonists]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2NormandyCrew Normandy Crew]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2CouncilSpaceNPCs Mass Effect 2 Council Space NPCs]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2NonCouncilSpaceNPCs Mass Effect 2 Non-Council Space NPCs]] | [[Characters/MassEffect3PartyMembers Party 3 Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffect3AntagonistsAndNpcs Mass Effect 3 Antagonists and NPCs]] | [[Characters/MassEffect3MultiplayerCharacters Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Characters]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaPathfinderRyder Pathfinder Ryder]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaPartyMembers Party Andromeda Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaCrewOfTheTempest Crew of the Tempest]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaTheAndromedaInitiative The Andromeda Initiative]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaTheKett The Kett]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaTheAngara The Angara]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaOtherCharacters Andromeda Other Characters]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaMultiplayerCharacters Multiplayer Characters]]]]-]
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'''VideoGame/MassEffect1:''' [[Characters/MassEffectCommanderShepard Commander Shepard]] | '''Party
'''VideoGame/MassEffect2:''' [[Characters/MassEffect2EarlyPartyMembers Early Party
'''VideoGame/MassEffect3:''' [[Characters/MassEffect3PartyMembers Party
'''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda:''' [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaPathfinderRyder Pathfinder Ryder]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaPartyMembers Party
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Changed line(s) 3,4 (click to see context) from:
[[center: [- [[Characters/MassEffect Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/MassEffectCommanderShepard Commander Shepard]] | '''Party 1 Members''' | [[Characters/MassEffectKaidanAlenko Kaidan Alenko]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAshleyWilliams Ashley Williams]] | [[Characters/MassEffectGarrusVakarian Garrus Vakarian]] | [[Characters/MassEffectLiaraTSoni Liara T'Soni]] | [[Characters/MassEffectTaliZorah Tali'Zorah]] | [[Characters/MassEffectUrdnotWrex Urdnot Wrex]] | [[Characters/MassEffect1Antagonists Mass Effect 1 Antagonists]] | [[Characters/MassEffect1Npcs Mass Effects 1 NPCs]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2EarlyPartyMembers Early Party 2 Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2LatePartyMembers Late Party 2 Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2SecretPartyMembers Mass Effect 2 Secret Party Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2MainAntagonists Mass Effect 2 Main Antagonists]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2SecondaryAntagonists Mass Effect 2 Secondary Antagonists]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2NormandyCrew Normandy Crew]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2CouncilSpaceNPCs Mass Effect 2 Council Space NPCs]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2NonCouncilSpaceNPCs Mass Effect 2 Non-Council Space NPCs]] | [[Characters/MassEffect3PartyMembers Party 3 Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffect3AntagonistsAndNpcs Mass Effect 3 Antagonists and NPCs]] | [[Characters/MassEffect3MultiplayerCharacters Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Characters]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaPathfinderRyder Pathfinder Ryder]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaPartyMembers Party Andromeda Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaCrewOfTheTempest Crew of the Tempest]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaTheAndromedaInitiative The Andromeda Initiative]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaTheKett The Kett]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaTheAngara The Angara]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaOtherCharacters Andromeda Other Characters]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaMultiplayerCharacters Multiplayer Characters]]]]-]
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[[center: [- [[Characters/MassEffect Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/MassEffectCommanderShepard Commander Shepard]] | '''Party 1 Members''' | [[Characters/MassEffectKaidanAlenko Kaidan Alenko]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAshleyWilliams Ashley Williams]] | [[Characters/MassEffectGarrusVakarian Garrus Vakarian]] | [[Characters/MassEffectLiaraTSoni Liara T'Soni]] | [[Characters/MassEffectTaliZorah Tali'Zorah]] | [[Characters/MassEffectUrdnotWrex Urdnot Wrex]] | [[Characters/MassEffect1Antagonists Mass Effect 1 Antagonists]] | [[Characters/MassEffect1Npcs Mass Effects 1 NPCs]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2EarlyPartyMembers Early Party 2 Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffectMirandaLawson Miranda Lawson]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2LatePartyMembers Late Party 2 Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2SecretPartyMembers Mass Effect 2 Secret Party Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2MainAntagonists Mass Effect 2 Main Antagonists]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2SecondaryAntagonists Mass Effect 2 Secondary Antagonists]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2NormandyCrew Normandy Crew]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2CouncilSpaceNPCs Mass Effect 2 Council Space NPCs]] | [[Characters/MassEffect2NonCouncilSpaceNPCs Mass Effect 2 Non-Council Space NPCs]] | [[Characters/MassEffect3PartyMembers Party 3 Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffect3AntagonistsAndNpcs Mass Effect 3 Antagonists and NPCs]] | [[Characters/MassEffect3MultiplayerCharacters Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Characters]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaPathfinderRyder Pathfinder Ryder]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaPartyMembers Party Andromeda Members]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaCrewOfTheTempest Crew of the Tempest]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaTheAndromedaInitiative The Andromeda Initiative]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaTheKett The Kett]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaTheAngara The Angara]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaOtherCharacters Andromeda Other Characters]] | [[Characters/MassEffectAndromedaMultiplayerCharacters Multiplayer Characters]]]]-]
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Rebecca's Patented "They"™®© Update v1.0
Changed line(s) 40 (click to see context) from:
** In private moments, Shepard is shown to [[TheChainsOfCommanding give him/her-self grief over Jenkins' death since it was his/her orders that caused him to run into the ambush]].
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** In private moments, Shepard is shown to [[TheChainsOfCommanding give him/her-self themself grief over Jenkins' death since it was his/her their orders that caused him to run into the ambush]].
Changed line(s) 47 (click to see context) from:
* InnocentlyInsensitive: If Shepard has a Survivor or Ruthless background, Jenkins can gush about what he/she's done is worth him being a Spectre candidate, to which Shepard can state that it's a past that brings him/her bad memories.
to:
* InnocentlyInsensitive: If Shepard has a Survivor or Ruthless background, Jenkins can gush about what he/she's they've done is worth him being a Spectre candidate, to which Shepard can state that it's a past that brings him/her them bad memories.
Changed line(s) 50 (click to see context) from:
* NaiveNewcomer: Definitely had an incredibly idealistic outlook on the Spectres, and the heroism of Shepard him/herself.
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* NaiveNewcomer: Definitely had an incredibly idealistic outlook on the Spectres, and the heroism of Shepard him/herself.themself.
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!!CharacterSpecificPages
Changed line(s) 11,16 (click to see context) from:
* [[Characters/MassEffectKaidanAlenko Kaidan Alenko]]
* [[Characters/MassEffectAshleyWilliams Ashley Williams]]
* [[Characters/MassEffectGarrusVakarian Garrus Vakarian]]
* [[Characters/MassEffectLiaraTSoni Liara T'Soni]]
* [[Characters/MassEffectTaliZorah Tali'Zorah]]
* [[Characters/MassEffectUrdnotWrex Urdnot Wrex]]
* [[Characters/MassEffectAshleyWilliams Ashley Williams]]
* [[Characters/MassEffectGarrusVakarian Garrus Vakarian]]
* [[Characters/MassEffectLiaraTSoni Liara T'Soni]]
* [[Characters/MassEffectTaliZorah Tali'Zorah]]
* [[Characters/MassEffectUrdnotWrex Urdnot Wrex]]
to:
* [[Characters/MassEffectKaidanAlenko '''[[Characters/MassEffectKaidanAlenko Kaidan Alenko]]
Alenko]]'''
*[[Characters/MassEffectAshleyWilliams '''[[Characters/MassEffectAshleyWilliams Ashley Williams]]
Williams]]'''
*[[Characters/MassEffectGarrusVakarian '''[[Characters/MassEffectGarrusVakarian Garrus Vakarian]]
Vakarian]]'''
*[[Characters/MassEffectLiaraTSoni '''[[Characters/MassEffectLiaraTSoni Liara T'Soni]]
T'Soni]]'''
*[[Characters/MassEffectTaliZorah Tali'Zorah]]
'''[[Characters/MassEffectTaliZorah Tali'Zorah]]'''
*[[Characters/MassEffectUrdnotWrex '''[[Characters/MassEffectUrdnotWrex Urdnot Wrex]]Wrex]]'''
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Changed line(s) 33 (click to see context) from:
* DecoyProtagonist: He's a placeholder for your real Soldier squadmember who joins about a minute or two after his death.
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* DecoyProtagonist: He's a placeholder for your real Soldier squadmember Ash, who joins about a minute or two after his death.
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Changed line(s) 47 (click to see context) from:
* LeeroyJenkins: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], actually, [[MeaningfulName despite the name.]] He's very eager to go out there and see action, but still follows Shepard's orders to the letter and takes point. In the end it still doesn't do him much good; some Geth drones ambush the squad and Jenkins gets gunned down before the rest know what's happening.
to:
* LeeroyJenkins: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], actually, [[MeaningfulName despite the name.]] He's very eager to go out there and see action, but still follows Shepard's orders to the letter and takes point. In the end it still doesn't do him much good; some Geth geth drones ambush the squad and Jenkins gets gunned down before the rest know what's happening.
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Changed line(s) 45 (click to see context) from:
* InformedAbility: He's apparently a badass soldier of the Alliance, but he is shot dead in the first half hour of the game and never gets to display it.
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* InformedAbility: He's apparently a badass soldier of the Alliance, but he is shot dead in the first half hour of the game and never gets to display it. Then again, it was a surprise attack, and even his replacement barely survived one while losing her entire squad to them.
