History TheScrappy / MassEffect

** Kai Leng is a pretty generic antagonist with a design that doesn't fit with the series, but what really earns him Scrappy status is that until the last time the player fights him, every encounter with him is a HeadsIWinTailsYouLose situation in which no matter how handily the player beats him, Shepard is struck with CutsceneIncompetence and loses to him anyway. The fact that Leng then sends Shepard taunting emails adds insult to injury, coming across more like the act of an Internet {{troll}} than a serious villain. The character was obviously intended to be a HateSink since the game does want you to hate him as the characters cannot shut up about how much they hate Kai Leng, but players ended up hating him not because he's a skilled villainous asshole, but because he's an obnoxious character whose role in the story feels forced. [[https://youtu.be/ZSDfL2_OE80 "Shut Up Leng"]] demonstrates how poor his appearance and characterization was as it removing it, making him faceless and voiceless, made him better come off as the intimidating LoveToHate badass intended. His role in the novels doesn't help either, where the writers tried to make him seem cool but ended up making him more unlikable. ''Webcomic/DMOfTheRings'' creator Shamus Young has [[https://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=31743 a longer essay about the problems with him]].

** Kai Leng is a pretty generic antagonist with a design that doesn't fit with the series, but what really earns him Scrappy status is that until the last time the player fights him, every encounter with him is a HeadsIWinTailsYouLose situation in which no matter how handily the player beats him, Shepard is struck with CutsceneIncompetence and loses to him anyway. The fact that Leng then sends Shepard taunting emails adds insult to injury, coming across more like the act of an Internet {{troll}} than a serious villain. The character was obviously intended to be a HateSink since the game does want you to hate him as the characters cannot shut up about how much they hate Kai Leng, more so than really any villain in the series aside from the Reapers. It just so happened that many players hate Kai Leng for the wrong reasons, not because he's a skilled villainous asshole but because he's an obnoxious character whose role in the story feels forced. [[https://youtu.be/ZSDfL2_OE80 "Shut Up Leng"]] demonstrates how poor his appearance and characterization was as it removing it, making him faceless and voiceless, made him better come off as the intimidating LoveToHate badass intended. His role in the novels doesn't help either, where the writers tried to make him seem cool but ended up making him more unlikable.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': Morinth isn't too well liked due to being a very vicious villain with little plot relevance whose only real purpose is for Samara's loyalty mission, and the odd bit of interesting game lore. Her FreudianExcuse for being a merciless killer was seen as rather weak as her sisters are also Ardat-Yakshi yet none of them chose to become mass-murderers. Even moreso, her rationale of "being the genetic destiny of the asari" is complete hogwash, as an Ardat-Yakshi is sterile. It didn't help that Morinth never experienced any positive character arcs that would've made her more likable (unlike other {{Token Evil Teammate}}s Zaeed, Jack, and Javik). Not to mention, in order to have her on the team, you have to help her kill and impersonate her mother Samara, who is ''far'' more popular and is disproportionately picked by players to stay on the squad. Her status as a Scrappy is one of the few things fans on /v/ agrees on. Those who take her usually only do it to unlock [[CharmPerson Dominate]] as a class power and reload the mission to keep Samara on the squad. While some players like her, it usually is in context as a good ArcVillain for Samara's Loyalty Mission, simply because of how creepy she is. Outside of that, most don't like her.

** [[BigBad The Archon]] is widely disliked for being a [[FlatCharacter one-dimensional villain]]. He desires to murder [[spoiler:and/or assimilate]] any and all species he comes across, but has no real motives to do so other than to increase his own power and because [[FantasticRacism he views all non-kett Species as barely sapient]]. His design is seen as very bland, with a [[OminousOperaCape villanous cape]] and [[TheNapoleon short stature]] that ''really'' does not make him look intimidating. [[TheUnfought The players also don't even get the satisfaction of fighting him in a final battle]]. In the end, the Archon lacks any depth, intrigue, or menace; which hurts even more since [[ToughActToFollow the previous games were notable for making some of the most memorable villains in the industry]] with deep characterization, strong motives, or just straight-up [[NightmareFuel/MassEffect nightmare-inducing]] intimidation.
*** The Archon's status as a Scrappy also bleeds over into the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens kett]] as a whole. Since he still gets the most characterization and fleshing out of all the kett, it drags them all down to the least popular race and faction in the series.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': Morinth isn't too well liked due to being a very vicious villain with little plot relevance whose only real purpose is for Samara's loyalty mission, and the odd bit of interesting game lore. Her FreudianExcuse for being a merciless killer was seen as rather weak as her sisters are also Ardat-Yakshi yet none of them chose to become mass-murderers. Even moreso, her rationale of "being the genetic destiny of the asari" is complete hogwash, as an Ardat-Yakshi is sterile. It didn't help that Morinth never experienced any positive character arcs that would've made her more likable (unlike other {{Token Evil Teammate}}s Zaeed, Jack, and Javik). Not to mention, in order to have her on the team, you have to help her kill and impersonate her mother Samara, who is ''far'' more popular and is disproportionately picked by players to stay on the squad. Her status as a Scrappy is one of the few things fans on /v/ agrees on. Those who take her usually only do it to unlock [[CharmPerson Dominate]] as a class power and reload the mission to keep Samara on the squad.
** Interestingly, some fans do view Morinth as a pretty good ArcVillain for Samara's Loyalty Mission, simply because of how creepy she is. However, she is seen as case where just because a character serves a good function for a side-quest ''does not'' mean s/he would be a good addition to the squad as a companion.

** The Catalyst [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic is supposed to be sympathetic]] for [[spoiler:wanting to stop organic life from being taken over by synthetics]], but its chosen method ([[spoiler:periodically wiping out organic life so they won't develop evil synthetics]]) is [[InsaneTrollLogic utterly nonsensical]] at worst, [[TheFatalist extremely fatalistic]] at best, and [[FridgeLogic makes little sense within the context of the series]], not to mention making [[BigBad the much-vaunted Reapers]] look like idiots. On top of that, it's also responsible for the series's GainaxEnding, [[spoiler:presenting Shepard with three arbitrary choices, none of which seem to actually solve anything and all of which end in the apparent destruction of civilization in the original version (originally, the mass relays all EXPLODE which aside from permanently ending interstellar travel would logically destroy any solar system they explode in as seen in the ''Arrival'' DLC in ''Mass Effect 2''. The extended ending patch made it less apocalyptic by simply having the mass relays deactivate and fall apart, with the epilogues showing them being rebuilt)]], when most players just wanted to kill the thing and be done with it. [[spoiler:''Leviathan'' somewhat acknowledges this and the criticisms of the Catalyst's InsaneTrollLogic. Its existence is foreshadowed by the Leviathan, a member of the species whom the Reapers were modelled after, who explains that the Reapers are being controlled by a fundamentally ''[[AIIsACrapshoot broken]]'' AI, trying its best to work on faulty programming]]. Which makes it even more infuriating then that, despite knowing all of this, [[ButThouMust the player is still forced to go along with its plans]], as Shepard never voices any actual protest or questioning against the premise the Catalyst presents them with and the "logic" behind it (not even in the option where Shepard rejects the Catalyst's choices -- Shepard merely says that they cannot be fairly expected to be able make a choice on that scale, since the consequences of said choice will simply too big for just one person to comprehend). The game ultimately still portrays the Catalyst as a WellIntentionedExtremist AntiVillain and the three options it gives as the only sensible choices, even and outwardly chastises the player for rejecting them in the Extended Cut. And the game even rubs it in your face that the Catalyst's choices are the only option, because if you reject the choice, [[spoiler:the Reapers wipe out humanity and everyone else, with only a recording from Liara surviving to the next generation of intelligent life who apparently DO accept one of the Catalyst's options to finally stop the Reapers, making Shepard's refusal look extremely petty]].

** The Catalyst [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic is supposed to be sympathetic]] for [[spoiler:wanting to stop organic life from being taken over by synthetics]], but its chosen method ([[spoiler:periodically wiping out organic life so they won't develop evil synthetics]]) is [[InsaneTrollLogic utterly nonsensical]] at worst, [[TheFatalist extremely fatalistic]] at best, and [[FridgeLogic makes little sense within the context of the series]], not to mention making [[BigBad the much-vaunted Reapers]] look like idiots. On top of that, it's also responsible for the series's GainaxEnding, [[spoiler:presenting Shepard with three arbitrary choices, none of which seem to actually solve anything and all of which end in the apparent destruction of civilization in the original version (originally, the mass relays all EXPLODE which aside from permanently ending interstellar travel would logically destroy any solar system they explode in as seen in the ''Arrival'' DLC in ''Mass Effect 2''. The extended ending patch made it less apocalyptic by simply having the mass relays deactivate and fall apart, with the epilogues showing them being rebuilt)]], when most players just wanted to kill the thing and be done with it. [[spoiler:''Leviathan'' somewhat acknowledges this and the criticisms of the Catalyst's InsaneTrollLogic. Its existence is foreshadowed by the Leviathan, a member of the species whom the Reapers were modelled after, who explains that the Reapers are being controlled by a fundamentally ''[[AIIsACrapshoot broken]]'' AI, trying its best to work on faulty programming]]. Which makes it even more infuriating then that, despite knowing all of this, [[ButThouMust player is still forced to go along with its plans]], as Shepard never voices any actual protest or questioning against the premise the Catalyst presents them with and the "logic" behind it. The game ultimately still portrays the Catalyst as a WellIntentionedExtremist AntiVillain and the three options it gives as the only sensible choices, even and outwardly chastises the player for rejecting them in the Extended Cut. And the game even rubs it in your face that the Catalyst's choices are the only option, because if you reject the choice, [[spoiler:the Reapers wipe out humanity and everyone else, with only a recording from Liara surviving to the next generation of intelligent life who apparently DO accept one of the Catalyst's options to finally stop the Reapers, making Shepard's refusal look extremely petty]].

** [[BigBad The Archon]] is widely disliked for being a [[FlatCharacter one-dimensional villain]]. He desires to murder [[spoiler:and/or assimilate]] any and all species he comes across, but has no real motives to do so other than to increase his own power and because [[FantasticRacism he views all non-kett Species as barely sapient]]. His design is seen as very bland, with a [[OminousOperaCape villanous cape]] and [[TheNapoleon short stature]] that makes him non-intimidating. [[TheUnfought The players also don't even get the satisfaction of fighting him in a final battle]]. In the end, the Archon lacks any depth, intrigue, or menace; which hurts even more since [[ToughActToFollow the previous games were notable for making some of the most memorable villains in the industry]] with deep characterization, strong motives, or just straight-up [[NightmareFuel/MassEffect nightmare-inducing]] intimidation.

** [[BigBad The Archon]] is widely disliked for being a [[FlatCharacter one-dimensional villain]]. He desires to murder [[spoiler:and assimilate]] any and all species he comes across, but has no real motives to do so other than to increase his own power and because [[FantasticRacism he views all non-kett Species as barely sapient]]. That he still gets the most characterization and fleshing out of all the kett further drags them all down to the least popular race and faction in the series. [[TheUnfought You don't even get the satisfaction of fighting him.]] He lacks any depth, intrigue, or menace [[ToughActToFollow while previous games were notable for making some of the most memorable villains in the industry]] with deep characterization, strong motives, or just straight-up [[NightmareFuel/MassEffect nightmare-inducing]] intimidation.