History Characters / XComEnemyUnknown

-->''Behold the greatest failure... of the Ethereal Ones... We who failed to ascend as they thought we would. We who were cast out. We who were doomed to feed upon the Gift of lesser beings... as we sought to uplift them... to prepare them... for what lies ahead.

** If you're on Easy or Normal, one will pop up in "Friends In Low Places" the first ''Slingshot'' mission. If you don't have any lasers, it'll take the entire squad to put it down.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Despite ''[[VideoGame/Xcom2 XCOM 2]]'' being an alternate continuity in which the Ethereals conquered Earth, no mention is made of the Uber Ethereal, instead being replaced by the Angelis Ethereal.

* LeanAndMean: The robes hide it, but they're extremely thin, as you can see when they reveal their gangly arms. [[spoiler:''VideoGame/XCOM2'' reveals that this is actually a ''[[DyingRace major]]'' problem for them.]]

* LeanAndMean: The robes hide it, but they're extremely thin, as you can see when they reveal their gangly arms. [[spoilder:''VideoGame/XCOM2'' reveals that this is actually a ''[[DyingRace major]]'' problem for them.]]

* LeanAndMean: The robes hide it, but they're extremely thin, as you can see when they reveal their gangly arms.

* {{Hammerspace}}: Where exactly does it keeps that grenade?

* OrangeBlueContrast: the blue to Shen's Orange.

* OrangeBlueContrast: the orange to Vahlen's blue.

* FinishingMove: The Captain "Executioner" passive ability aids the Sniper in this, gaining +10 Aim against enemies at 50% or lower health.

* KillStreak: The Colonel's "In The Zone" passive ability sets up a flanking Sniper to score a litany of kills. A shot that kills an enemy that either is flanked by the Sniper, or simply cannot take cover, does not take up an action, potentially letting the Sniper fire and kill over and over again[[note]]or as with the Heavy's "Bullet Swarm" passive, fire and move, or fire and reload, or fire and Hunker Down[[/note]]. Rather conveniently, such tends to be the case with melee enemies, making them your potential best Chryssalid killers in the late game.

** Their light machine guns deal damage comparable to sniper rifles, but can still be fired after moving, and if the Heavy has "Bullet Swarm", be fired before moving or doing anything else). However, the Heavy's Aim stat is the lowest out of all the classes[[note]]it's even more lackluster with Hidden Potential enabled[[/note]] and their shots will only become reliable at much later levels and with a S.C.O.P.E. on-hand. It's slightly alleviated at Colonel rank, which unlocks "Mayhem", a passive ability that makes Suppression an AlwaysAccurateAttack.

->''"At long last... YOU have succeeded... where WE have failed..."''

* DecapitatedArmy: Thankfully only the Uber Ethereal has to be killed, killing him causes all the other aliens in his room to die.

* FinalBoss: The greatest and final threat in the game, fought with his minions in tow.

* KingMook: Who else? He has somewhat higher stats than a basic Ethereal, as well as ContractualBossImmunity.

* MindControl: They possess the stock Mind Control ability, so beware of them controlling your soldiers with low Psi.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Despite ''VideoGame/Xcom2'' being an alternate continuity in which the Ethereals conquered Earth, no mention is made of the Uber Ethereal, instead being replaced by the Angelis Ethereal.

-->''Behold, the greatest failure. The Ethereal Ones. We, who failed to ascend as they thought we would. We, who were cast out. We, who were doomed to feed upon the Gift of lesser beings, as we sought to uplift them, to prepare them, for what lies ahead.

* CatchPhrase: The Council spokesman spokesman has a few -

* OrganicTechnology: Vahlen's description of them is that they are "organic, but highly magnetized".
* PowerCrystal: What they really are. Upon being alerted they generate [[AnimatedArmor a body to fight with]].

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: They disappear from the game altogether and are never mentioned again (even on the [[spoiler: Temple Ship]], which has you fight through every other enemy type in the game) after the attack on the Alien Base. On the other hand, this does make sense, [[spoiler:since they're more hardware than crew and are no longer needed after the aliens' psionic units take command personally after you assault the alien base]].

* HeavyEquipmentClass: The Heavy class has exclusive access to [[BigFuckingGun Light Machine Guns]] (With Laser and Plasma upgrades) that while inaccurate can be used to destroy cover or to lay down supressive fire, and rocket launchers that hits a large area and [[EverythingBreaks destroys cover and buildings]].

* OneGenderRace: While part of the same race as other Mutons, [[VideoGame/{{XCOM 2}} the second game]] confirms that all berserkers are AlwaysFemale. May be a case of BizarreSexualDimorphism, in which all female Mutons are Berserkers.

* SuperToughness: Like other Mutons, and further augmented by their armor. On Easy and Normal they have 14 health, on Classic they have 18, and Impossible bumps them to the same 20 of a Berserker. Considering they come in groups of three or more, it's ''a lot'' of health to chew through, and on the harder difficulties, they can't be one-shot by any of XCOM's weapons[[note]]save for an upgraded Kinetic Strike Module punch in Classic, and only if the "Absolutely Critical" Second Wave option is enabled on Impossible[[/note]] without perks such as the Assault's "Bring'em On" and "Killer Instinct" abilities that increase critical hit damage.

* BeamSpam: S.H.I.V.s equipped with Laser Cannons, especially if they use their "Suppression" ability.

* CosmeticallyDifferentSides: They wield the same Heavy Plasma weapons as your own Heavies, and both versions of the gun are exactly the same stat-wise. Despite this, the Muton's version fires 3 large plasma blasts like the regular Muton's Plasma Rifle, while the human adaptation fires a long eight-shot burst. This does not stop them from using it in suppression either.

* NoSell: "Will to Survive" is the only damage-reducing ability in the game that can reduce attacks to 0. This means a Major-rank Heavy can ''completely'' shrug off a Sectoid's plasma pistol shot, a Drone's beam shot, or an EXALT Operative's or Medic's assault rifle burst as long as they roll for at most 2 damage[[note]]and "completely" is in a literal sense: if the shot deals no damage, the Heavy won't even get an I'm hit" animation[[/note]]. It's even funnier if [[RandomizedDamageAttack Damage Roulette]] is on, as sometimes the Heavy can facetank a low-rolling Sectopod's Cannon Fire or an Ethereal's Psi Lance without so much as a flinch.

** They wield light machine guns, which put out even more rounds if the Sergeant "Suppression" active ability is used. It puts out so much dakka that it has the lowest number of shots per reload out of all the main weapons, at only 3 (6 with Ammo Conservation).
** With the Corporal "Bullet Swarm" passive ability, they can fire twice per turn.
** The Lieutenant "Rapid Reaction" passive ability lets the Heavy fire a second reaction shot if their first shot on Overwatch hits.

* EliteMook: You can tell by their pimped armor that they're not your everyday Muton, even before knowing they have "Elite" in their name.

* MyBloodRunsHot: Less than other Mutons. They can't Blood Call to buff their allies and don't have the panic-inducing Intimidate, but they ''can'' receive the Blood Call bonus from a regular Muton[[note]]pairing up one single regular Muton with a squad of Elites is not a bad strategy in multiplayer[[/note]]. To note, the description of their corpses doesn't remark about their temperature after death.

* ArmCannon: They have arm-mounted Plasma Pistols.

* BadassInANiceSuit: They dress in these as part of their would-be role as infiltrators. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't provide any damage mitigation.

* FiringOneHanded: They fire their light plasma rifles like they're oversized pistols. [[ImprobableAimingSkills Don't expect that to hinder their accuracy]].
* FragileSpeedster: Their ability to [[InASingleBound leap multiple levels]], enter the battlefield by dropping from a great height, and general quick movement gives them their speedster designation, but the fragility comes from having among the lowest tier of hitpoints in the game -- as little as a Sectoid on Normal.

* HellishPupils: Thin Men have reptilian eyes, so they all wear sunglasses to appear more human.
* HughMann: As the 2012 equivalent of Snakemen, they do the bare minimum to disguise their alien nature. It works well from a distance.
* HumanoidAliens: Justified, as they were designed to resemble humans.
* InASingleBound: Can easily leap to rooftops to get a 20% better shot, something they do often. In ''Enemy Within'', autopsying them gives you "Muscle Fiber Density", a gene mod that lets your soldiers do the exact same.
* KungFuProofMook: Immune to their own poison, as well as that of XCOM Gas Grenades in ''Enemy Within''.

* TheMenInBlack: Designed to channel this trope, but {{subverted}}, as they are '''not''' on any government's side.

* AlienBlood: They bleed green.

* PsychicPowers: Some of their abilities include [[DeflectorShields Telekinetic Field]], [[{{Emotion Bomb}}s Psi Panic, [[EmotionControlPsi Inspiration]], MindControl and [[MindRape Mindfray]].

* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Enemy Within'' they lose all their psionic powers if they become MEC troopers, and a MEC trooper cannot become a psion. [[SelfImposedChallenge A Second Wave option exists that prevents Psionics and Gene Mods from coexisting in the same soldier as well]].
* PsychicPowers: Some of their abilities include DeflectorShields, {{Emotion Bomb}}s, MindControl and MindRape. EmotionControl.
* PurpleIsPowerful: The main color of their Psi abilities, as soldiers with "The Gift" will get a purple theme to go alongside their Psi powers.

* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: Gene-modded soldiers cannot be made MEC troopers. A Psionic soldier can, but they lose all their psionic abilities.

* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with their Disabling Shot ability. They take a shot at the enemy's weapon for minimal damage, forcing them to reload their next turn.