History TheScrappy / MassEffect

** Kai Leng is a pretty FlatCharacter with a design that would look more at home in ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' or ''Franchise/MetalGear'' than ''Franchise/MassEffect'', 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. 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, but for reasons different than the the player hates him.

** Kai Leng is a pretty FlatCharacter with a design that would look more at home in ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' or ''Franchise/MetalGear'' than ''Franchise/MassEffect'', 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. One could consider him a non-wrestling example of XPacHeat since the game does want you to hate him. 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, but for reasons different than the the player hates him.

** 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-murders. Even moreso, her rationale of "being the genetic destiny of the asari" is complete hogwash, as an Ardat-Yakshii is sterile. It didn't help that Morinth never experienced any positive character arcs that would've made her more likable (unlike the other {{Token Evil Teammate}}s Zaeed, Jack, and Javik). 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.

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* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''

* ''Videogame/MassEffect3''

* ''Videogame/MassEffectAndromeda''

** The default appearance for Sara Ryder is generally seen as the worst default appearance in the series. Not only does it not really look like the actress it was supposedly modeled on, but it [[SpecialEffectsFailure suffers from a ton of animation glitches]] and always seems to have [[{{Narm}} a weird, creepy smile during the worst moments possible]].

** [[spoiler: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]] 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 galaxy 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 it's plans]]. The game ultimately still portrays [[spoiler: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.

** [[spoiler: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]] 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 galaxy 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, the player is still forced to go along with it's plans. With the game treating the three options it gives as the only sensible choices and outwardly chastising the player for rejecting them in the Extended Cut.

** [[spoiler: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]] 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 galaxy 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.]]

** Ashley Williams was a BaseBreakingCharacter in the first game, but often [[MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers chosen over Kaiden]] for being a deeper character and better for gameplay reasons. ''3'' had Kaiden RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap, seemingly at Ashley's expense. Reasons for this ranged from her UnnecessaryMakeover (her loose hair was deemed as both impractical for a woman soldier, and a bad attempt to copy Miranda); unsympathetic characterization (her FantasticRacism underwent {{Flanderization}}, while her HiddenDepths with a love of poetry was ignored, and her theological discussion about the Lazarus Project was cut from the game). In addition, she had almost no interaction with any other non-Shepard squadmates. Many felt Kaidan did a better job of articulating why he was having a hard time trusting Shepard. [[spoiler:In the climax of the Citadel coup, Ashley ''again'' calls Shepard a Cerberus lapdog, while Kaidan instead is questioning why [[NotWhatItLooksLike Shepard is pointing a gun at a councilor]].]] Dialogue from the hospital scenes also made Kaidan feel a lot more contrite about what happened on Horizon, whereas Ashley seemed to brush it off (only for her rant about Cerberus [[spoiler:during the coup]]). Finding Ashley drunk in the lounge, while funny, doesn't build her character, whereas Kaidan had a much deeper conversation about ex-Cerberus scientists, and wondering if [[spoiler:the Illusive Man was ever a decent person before the indoctrination]]. Gameplay balance was also hammered out after the first game (and a bug making Ashley's unique ability not work properly) made many decide Kaidan was a better party member to pick. Even the Citadel DLC scenes with Ashley was criticized for being a ripoff of [[Film/StarWarsANewHope the Mos Eisley cantina scene]] rather than adding to her character.

** [[BigBad The Archon]]. Apart from the fact that he is a HateSink, he 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]]. [[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.

** [[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]]. [[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.

* Diana Allers of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' gets quite a bit of hate for a variety of reasons. Her inclusion being considered blatant pandering to IGN (she's modeled after and voiced by one of their writers, Jessica Chobot), her RomanceSidequest (considered by many to be the most shallow in the series, and which does not even award the achievement), her [[DullSurprise bland voice acting]], and what many fans perceived to be an exorbitant amount of effort put into her minor role. In addition, Mass Effect already had a beloved reporter character, Emily Wong, who was [[DroppedABridgeOnHer killed in the PR campaign leading up to Mass Effect 3's release]].
* Kai Leng is a pretty FlatCharacter with a design that would look more at home in ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' or ''Franchise/MetalGear'' than ''Franchise/MassEffect'', 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. One could consider him a non-wrestling example of XPacHeat since the game does want you to hate him. 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, but for reasons different than the the player hates him.
* The kid seen at the beginning of ''Mass Effect 3''. Partially because of his poor voice acting, partially because he is seen as a cheap Expy of [[Film/{{Aliens}} Newt]] and his death is a blatant attempt to arouse sympathy, and partially because [[spoiler:his model is purposefully used for the Catalyst.]]
* [[spoiler: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]] 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 galaxy 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.]]

** [[BigBad The Archon]] is widely disliked for being an [[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]]. [[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.

* Jacob Taylor was mostly ignored by players in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', being considered a bland MasterOfNone with a shallow and cheesy romance route who refers to Shepard as "[[MemeticMutation the prize]]". The NarmCharm of his romance route is actually the entire foundation of his fandom. A common complaint is that the player isn't allowed to really know him: all efforts to understand his HiddenDepths are met with brush-offs or even outright hostility. Come ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', he's the only romanceable character in the series who [[spoiler:actually cheats on Shepard. Knocking up another woman and not even trying to get in contact with Shepard in the six months she was incarcerated]]. This ''did not'' impress the fans, to say the least.
** He took much of TheEveryman characterization that Kaidan had from the first game, combined with some TierInducedScrappy. But Kaidan was still warm in personality, had a charming romance with Female Shepard, and even some HoYay with Male Shepard, while Jacob was cold and standoffish, even moreso than the supposed IceQueen Miranda. Moreover, when Kaidan returned, he was RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap with better gameplay balance and a relationship based on the deceptions of the second game, Jacob's story was less about him than it was about the supporting characters he was with. The story was barely any different if he didn't survive the suicide mission. And of course, [[spoiler:he cheats on Shepard.]]
* Diana Allers of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' seems to be getting quite a bit of hate for a variety of reasons. Her inclusion being considered blatant pandering to IGN (she's modeled after and voiced by one of their writers, Jessica Chobot), her RomanceSidequest (considered by many to be the most shallow in the series, and which does not even award the achievement), her [[DullSurprise bland voice acting]], and what many fans perceived to be an exorbitant amount of effort put into her minor role. In addition, Mass Effect already had a beloved reporter character, Emily Wong, who was [[DroppedABridgeOnHer killed in the PR campaign leading up to Mass Effect 3's release]].
* Morinth isn't too well liked as well, 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-murders. Even moreso, her rationale of "being the genetic destiny of the asari" is complete hogwash, as an Ardat-Yakshii is sterile. It didn't help that Morinth never experienced any positive character arcs that would've made her more heroic (unlike the other {{Token Evil Teammate}}s Zaeed, Jack, and Javik). 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.
** It's clear that Bioware felt that Samara was the "proper" choice while Morinth was the "wrong" one. Samara gets a sidequest involving her Ardat-Yakshii daughters. If you sided with Morinth however, she doesn't get to interact with her sisters, a generic justicar will appear in Samara's place. In fact, the only appearance Morinth makes in the entire game is as an otherwise generic Banshee that appears on Earth. You could easily kill her without even realizing its her since her only defining feature is the banshee has Morinth's name.
* Judging from Bioware forum, it seems that the third game has got Ashley Williams out of her BaseBreakingCharacter status but ''not'' in a good way.
** Before the third game, it seems that [[ItWasHisSled the Virmire choice]] that [[spoiler:forced the player to choose between her and Kaidan]] seems to be in her favor as most players declare her to be both a deeper character and better for gameplay reasons. However, her appearance in ''Mass Effect 3'' has caused a quite number of players, some of them her fans or people who disliked both characters, to either choose Kaidan in their save files, kill her off in the [[spoiler:stand off with Udina]], ship her off to get war assets or ignore her all together.
** Reasons for this ranged from her UnnecessaryMakeover (her loose hair was deemed as both impractical for a woman soldier, and a bad attempt to copy Miranda); unsympathetic characterization (her FantasticRacism underwent {{Flanderization}}, while her HiddenDepths with a love of poetry was ignored, and her theological discussion about the Lazarus Project was cut from the game). In addition, she had almost no interaction with any other non-Shepard squadmates.
** Making things even worse for Ashley is that her status as MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers made it inevitable that she will be compared to Kaidan, who was RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap for many fans. One sticking point is that many fans felt Kaidan did a better job of articulating why he was having a hard time trusting Shepard. One particular moment that many call attention to [[spoiler:is the climax of the Citadel coup. Where Ashley ''again'' calls Shepard a Cerberus lapdog, while Kaidan instead is questioning why [[NotWhatItLooksLike Shepard is pointing a gun at a councilor]].]] Likewise, finding Ashley drunk in the lounge, while funny, doesn't build her character, whereas Kaidan had a much deeper conversation about ex-Cerberus scientists, and wondering if [[spoiler:the Illusive Man was ever a decent person before the indoctrination.]] Dialogue from the hospital scenes also made Kaidan feel a lot more contrite about what happened on Horizon, whereas Ashley seemed to brush it off (only for her rant about Cerberus [[spoiler:during the coup]]. Gameplay balance was also hammered out after the first game (and a bug making Ashley's unique abilities not work properly) made many decide Kaidan was a better party member to pick. Even the Citadel DLC scenes with Ashley was criticized for being a ripoff of [[Film/StarWarsANewHope the Mos Eisley cantina scene]] rather than adding to her character.
* Kai Leng is a pretty FlatCharacter with a design that would look more at home in ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' or ''Franchise/MetalGear'' than ''Franchise/MassEffect'', 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.
** One could consider him a non-wrestling example of XPacHeat since the game does want you to hate him. 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 in general. But the reasons they hate him will probably be different than the reasons the player hates him.

* Which brings us to [[spoiler:The Catalyst]]. It's [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic 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]] 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 galaxy 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.]]
* The Archon, the main antagonist in ''Videogame/MassEffectAndromeda'', is widely disliked for being an [[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]]. [[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.
* Foster Addison, the head of Colonial Affairs. She's a [[{{Jerkass}} generally unpleasant person to talk to]] and makes embarrassingly terrible decisions, like not investigating the numerous (and substantiated) claims against her assistant Spender, or [[spoiler:hiring exile mercenaries to protect Initiative ships and covering it up when they attacked the ships instead]]. She [[KarmaHoudini never gets any comeuppance for her bad decisions]] and the player can do nothing about her but clean up after her numerous stupid mistakes.
* The default appearance for Sara Ryder is generally seen as the worst default appearance in the series. Not only does it not really look like the actress it was supposedly modeled on, but it [[SpecialEffectsFailure suffers from a ton of animation glitches]] and always seems to have [[{{Narm}} a weird, creepy smile during the worst moments possible]].

* The Archon, the main antagonist in ''Videogame/MassEffectAndromeda'', is widely disliked for being an [[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]]. [[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.

* Jacob Taylor was mostly ignored by players in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', being considered a bland MasterOfNone with a shallow and cheesy romance route who refers to Shepard as "[[MemeticMutation the prize]]". The NarmCharm of his romance route is actually the entire foundation of his fandom. A common complaint is that the player isn't allowed to really know him: all efforts to understand his HiddenDepths are met with brush-offs or even outright hostility. Come ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', he's the only romanceable character in the series who [[spoiler: actually cheats on Shepard. Knocking up another woman and not even trying to get in contact with Shepard in the six months she was incarcerated]]. This ''did not'' impress the fans, to say the least.
** He took much of TheEveryman characterization that Kaidan had from the first game, combined with some TierInducedScrappy. But Kaidan was still warm in personality, had a charming romance with Female Shepard, and even some HoYay with Male Shepard, while Jacob was cold and standoffish, even moreso than the suppose IceQueen Miranda. Moreover, when Kaidan returned, he was RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap with better gameplay balance and a relationship based on the deceptions of the second game, Jacob's story was less about him than it was about the supporting characters he was with. The story was barely any different if he didn't survive the suicide mission. And of course, [[spoiler:he cheats on Shepard.]]

** Before the third game, it seems that [[ItWasHisSled the Virmire choice]] that [[spoiler: forced the player to choose between her and Kaidan]] seems to be in her favor as most players declare her to be both a deeper character and better for gameplay reasons. However, her appearance in ''Mass Effect 3'' has caused a quite number of players, some of them her fans or people who disliked both characters, to either choose Kaidan in their save files, kill her off in the [[spoiler: stand off with Udina]], ship her off to get war assets or ignore her all together.

* Which brings us to [[spoiler:The Catalyst]]. It's [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic 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]] 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 galaxy 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.]]

* The Archon, the main antagonist in ''Videogame/MassEffectAndromeda'', is a widely disliked character for being an irredeemable one-dimensional villain in the game that feels less like a proper ''Videogame/MassEffect'' villain and more like one of the weaker villains from the [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Marvel Movies]]. 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]]. And when [[PlayerCharacter Ryder]] constantly defeats him, he decides to resort to [[OmnicidalManiac Committing Galactic Genocide]] in the entire Helius Cluster out of [[DisproportionateRetribution Pure Spite]]. Overall, he comes across as a GenericDoomsdayVillain that lacks any depth or intrigue. Not helping matters is the fact that the previous [[VideoGame/MassEffect Mass]] [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 Effect]] [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 games]] were notable for making some of the most memorable villains in the Video Game Industry with deep characterization, strong motives, or just straight-up [[NightmareFuel/MassEffect nightmare-inducing]] Intimidation.

* The Archon, the main antagonist in ''Videogame/MassEffectAndromeda'', is a widely disliked character for being [[CompleteMonster an irredeemable one-dimensional villain]] in the game that feels less like a proper ''Videogame/MassEffect'' villain and more like one of the weaker villains from the [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Marvel Movies]]. 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]]. And when [[PlayerCharacter Ryder]] constantly defeats him, he decides to resort to [[OmnicidalManiac Committing Galactic Genocide]] in the entire Helius Cluster out of [[DisproportionateRetribution Pure Spite]]. Overall, he comes across as a GenericDoomsdayVillain that lacks any depth or intrigue. Not helping matters is the fact that the previous [[VideoGame/MassEffect Mass]] [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 Effect]] [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 games]] were notable for making some of the most memorable villains in the Video Game Industry with deep characterization, strong motives, or just straight-up [[NightmareFuel/MassEffect nightmare-inducing]] Intimidation.

* The Archon, the main antagonist in ''Videogame/MassEffectAndromeda'', is a widely disliked character for being [[CompleteMonster an irredeemable one-dimensional villain]] in the game that feels less like a proper ''Videogame/MassEffect'' villain and more like one of the weaker villains from the [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Marvel Movies]]. 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 [[Fantastic Racism he views all Non-Kett Species as barely sapient]]. And when [[PlayerCharacter Ryder]] constantly defeats him, he decides to resort to [[OmnicidalManiac Committing Galactic Genocide]] in the entire Helius Cluster out of [[DisproportionateRetribution Pure Spite]]. Overall, he comes across as a GenericDoomsdayVillain that lacks any depth or intrigue. Not helping matters is the fact that the previous [[VideoGame/MassEffect Mass]] [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 Effect]] [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 games]] were notable for making some of the most memorable villains in the Video Game Industry with deep characterization, strong motives, or just straight-up [[NightmareFuel/MassEffect nightmare-inducing]] Intimidation.

* Which brings us to [[spoiler:The Catalyst]]. It's [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic 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]] 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 galaxy 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.]]

** Reasons for this ranged from her UnnecessaryMakeover (her loose hair was deemed as both impractical for a woman soldier, and a bad attempt to copy Miranda); unsympathetic characterization (her FantasticRacism underwent {{Flanderization}}, while her HiddenDepths with a love of poetry was ignored, and her theological discussion about the Lazarus Project was cut from the game). In addition, she had almost no interaction with any other non-Shepard squadmates. On a controversial note, some fans preferred the bisexual Kaidan to the heterosexual Ashley and would choose her to die rather than him for that reason, but that is loaded with UnfortunateImplications and [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement says something about those fans rather than the character of Ashley]].

** Reasons for this ranged from her UnnecessaryMakeover (her loose hair was deemed as both impractical for a woman soldier, and a bad attempt to copy Miranda); unsympathetic characterization (her FantasticRacism underwent {{Flanderization}}, while her HiddenDepths with a love of poetry was ignored, and her theological discussion about the Lazarus Project was cut from the game). In addition, she had almost no interaction with any other non-Shepard squadmates. On a controversial note, some fans preferred the bisexual Kaidan to the heterosexual Ashley and would choose him over her for that reason, but that is loaded with UnfortunateImplications and [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement says something about those fans rather than the character of Ashley]].

** Reasons for this ranged from her UnnecessaryMakeover (her loose hair was deemed as both impractical for a woman soldier, and a bad attempt to copy Miranda); unsympathetic characterization (her FantasticRacism underwent {{Flanderization}}, while her HiddenDepths with a love of poetry was ignored, and her theological discussion about the Lazarus Project was cut from the game). In addition, she had almost no interaction with any other non-Shepard squadmates.

** It did not help when the game was updated to have Kaidan as a love intrest for both male and female Shepard, while Ash remained only one for male Shepards, causing more players to want to pick him over her and furthering her status as the scrappy.

* Which brings us to [[spoiler:The Catalyst]]. It's [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic 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]] 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]], 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.]]

* Dalatrass Linton serves as a character whose purpose is to argue the cons of curing the genophage towards the Krogan and is the person the player has to rely on to get full Salarian support against the reapers. However, she is widely hated because her arguments against curing the genophage are very abrasive, [[FantasticRacism racist]], condescending, and arrogant, exposing her as a jerk and as an UnintentionallyUnsympathetic character Her behavior even ticks off many players who are against curing the genophage and in most playthroughs, she calls Shepard a bully even when he/she tries to be nice to her. To make matters worse, she forces the player to make one of the hardest choices in the series through threatening to cut off Salarian support as war assets if the genophage gets cured. Some players see curing the genophage as a TakeThatScrappy towards Linron and go ahead with it just to spite her and even through curing the genophage, the player will technically still get salarian support through their STG team (if Captain Kirrahe is saved during the Virmire mission in the first game)

* Dalatrass Linton serves as a character whose purpose is to argue the cons of curing the genophage towards the Krogan and is the person the player has to rely on to get full Salarian support against the reapers. However, she is widely hated because her arguments against curing the genophage are very abrasive, [[FantasticRacism racist]], condescending, and arrogant, exposing her as a [[JerkAss]] and as an UnintentionallyUnsympathetic character Her behavior even ticks off many players who are against curing the genophage and in most playthroughs, she calls Shepard a bully even when he/she tries to be nice to her. To make matters worse, she forces the player to make one of the hardest choices in the series through threatening to cut off Salarian support as war assets if the genophage gets cured. Some players see curing the genophage as a TakeThatScrappy towards Linron and go ahead with it just to spite her and even through curing the genophage, the player will technically still get salarian support through their STG team (if Captain Kirrahe is saved during the Virmire mission in the first game)

* Ambassador Donnel Udina has an obnoxiously aristocratic voice, gets overly angry when talking to the Council, sidelines you when you're inconvenient, sells you out just to maintain public relations, and acts as an appeaser for the Citadel Council if he's selected to be the human representative. Bioware did seem to be somewhat aware of just how truly obnoxious he was, and included the option of having Anderson punch him in the face, which, needless to say, was picked far more often than the other choice. ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' manages to do some degree of rescuing, as he's your staunchest ally in the beginning of the game, believing Shepard and working around the clock for the plan. Later in the game, [[spoiler:he attempts a coup by working with Cerberus, but even then, his actions come off not as being an ass, but by being overly desperate to end the war]].

* [[MemeticMutation "Ah yes, '"hatred"'.]] Emotion felt by sapient lifeforms towards [[ObstructiveBureaucrat annoying turian]] councilor, Sparatus, allegedly causing fan rage. [[TooDumbToLive We have dismissed that claim]]. [[spoiler:However, he's the [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap first of the council]] to come around in [=ME3=].]]