This page is for listing the tropes related to Antagonists and NPCs who first appeared in the third Mass Effect game.

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Antagonists

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Kai Leng

Cyborg Ninja, Circa 2186 CE

Cerberus thanks you for all your hard work.

Voiced by: Troy Baker

A Cerberus assassin who had a run in with David Anderson during the events of Retribution and Deception. He returns as part of the force that the Illusive Man sends against Shepard in the third game.

All There in the Manual: Most of his background is covered in the books, where playing just the game you would think he's just another baddie. His backstory is alluded to if you dig, but not in much detail.
Arch-Enemy: He considers himself to be Shepard's. In reality, while Shepard despises him, they see him as more of a cowardly roadblock and attack dog. Certainly not the level of threat as the Reapers, Saren before, or his boss The Illusive Man for his influence.
Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: They don't get much more arrogant than Kai Leng.
Backstab Backfire: How his boss fight ultimately ends.
Badass Normal: No biotics, no cybernetics, and still manages to kill a krogan (who, remember, have redundant organ systems and an innate Desperation Attack) in a Bar Brawl with just a knife. And then 6 turians, with just a knife and a pistol. Then, in Deception, manages to kill über-biotic Gillian Grayson with a shiv while injured. Averted in the game proper, where he's been augmented with Reaper tech, and it's still not badass enough to beat Shepard.
Blood from the Mouth: Happens when he's finally killed by Shepard.
Blood Knight:
- He enlisted in the army at 16 using a false ID, only to be discharged for murdering a krogan the same year he was made N7. Hints of social darwinism aside, he just loves violence, and relishes the idea of going up against Shepard.
  Shepard: Three-on-one, pal. It's over.
  Kai Leng: No. Now it's fun.
- Despite his love of violence, it quickly becomes apparent that he can't handle any situation where he doesn't have the advantage. When faced with an opponent he can't just steamroll, he ends up calling in backup to cover his retreat.
Boisterous Weakling: He keeps acting like he's an unstoppable badass right up until the end, even though he's comprehensively lost every fight he's been in and only survived by running away after a save by allies. Shepard actually calls him out on this in their last fight. Mechanically he's the opposite of an Elite Mook; a Cerberus Phantom but not as good.
Boxed Crook: The Illusive Man recruited him when he was imprisoned for the aforementioned incident with the krogan.
Braggart Boss: With the sole exception that his actions and behavior aren't played for laughs, he fits this almost exactly, right down to the fancy flashy outfit.
Brainwashed and Crazy: It's implied on Thessia that he's indoctrinated. If true, then it doesn't seem to have changed his personality much.
But Not Too Foreign: According to the novels, he has both Chinese and Russian/Slavic heritage, with the Chinese being the dominant of the two.
Canon Immigrant: First appeared in the Retribution and Deception novels.
Climax Boss: He's the game's final proper boss.
Combat Pragmatist: He's more than happy to call in reinforcements to help him or even have a gunship cover him while he "recharges".
- The pragmatism is more evident in Retribution, where he generally behaves like a real assassin: Altering his appearance for a job where the risk of him being recognized is too great, and his personal preference for either poisoning Grayson or sniping him from afar. He starts developing a flair for Awesome, but Impractical after his indoctrination.
- In the original concept for the Thessia boss fight, Kai Leng would have planted explosives throughout the temple before Shepard got there, instead of relying on a gunship to back him up.
Contractual Boss Immunity: He's immune to Stasis, even when other enemies would be affected.
Curb-Stomp Battle:
- His utter slaughter of a squad of six turian soldiers in "Retribution" using nothing but a pistol and a knife is probably the best example. The Illusive Man bears witness to it and is shocked by how easily they go down, describing Leng's decimation of them as a work of art.
- In Leng's introductory cutscene, Shepard will find the body of the Executor and three of his armed and armored bodyguards, having been casually disposed of by Leng seconds beforehand, after which he proceeded on to his actual target.
- On Sanctuary, he runs into Miranda and beats her nearly to death seemingly without getting a scratch in turn, despite her being armed and a powerful biotic. The wounds she sustains will actually kill her unless Shepard jumps through a lot of specific hoops beforehand.
- On the other hand, in the "Foundation" comics, Jack casually one-shots him with a biotic blast when he gets caught out in the open. If not for his cybernetic enhancements (which Jack didn't know about), he almost certainly would've died.
- Gets turned on him in his final clash with Shepard. Leng has the element of surprise and thirteen heavily armed commandos behind him, giving him a nearly 5-1 numbers advantage over Shepard's team. Despite this, the fight does not go well for him; all of his troops end up dead with him heavily wounded, and neither Shepard nor their squadmates are even breathing hard or showing signs of injury in the subsequent cutscene. This culminates in Shepard dealing the Coup de Grâce to a wounded Leng after breaking his sword with a backhand. The fight is considered to be one of the easiest final battles in the game.
  Shepard: No gunship this time, you son of a bitch!
Cutscene Power to the Max: In cutscenes, he displays many nifty abilities, like Tactical Cloak, a bullet-proof barrier, and the ability to kill anyone with a single backhanded stab from his sword, even being able to put the monomolecular blade through several layers of armor. He can't do any of that in-game. Notably, generic Elite Mooks can. Even in cutscenes he's only a threat because his enemies suffer from Cutscene Incompetence.
Cyborg: In Mass Effect 3, he's been physically augmented with Reaper cybernetics. According to the dossier Anderson sends Shepard, he was given "Phantom-class implants".
Death by Irony: Shepard guts him with an omniblade. Four of the six classes will use the omniblade once in the entire game just to invoke this.
Determinator: Near the end of Retribution, Anderson shoots him in both legs to slow down his escape while he and Kahlee tend to a wounded boy. Leng still manages to get away by using his arms to climb up a ladder and swinging from bars along the ceiling to get to his shuttle before security can find him. And yes, dropping from the ceiling onto legs that are bleeding out is painful as hell. Also, after being beaten by Shepard at the Cerberus HQ, he will muster up all his remaining energy to try and stab Shepard while they're busy looking through the Illusive Man's files, though Shepard will simply counter him with an omniblade stab to the gut that finishes him off for good.
Dirty Coward: For all his smugness and boasting, he's either forced to retreat or rely more on overwhelming force than anything else in combat. The main reason he is not beaten on Thessia is he calls in a Gunship Rescue for himself, keeping Shepard's team pinned down and finding difficulty to strike back, and he just runs away as soon as he can anyway. Shepard calls him out on this in their last fight.
Shepard: I'm only slow because I'm not running. You ran away at the Citadel, on Thessia, all you can do is run!
Kai Leng: Shut up!
The Dragon: He serves as the main physical threat of Cerberus and is even described as the Illusive Man's "personal attack dog".
Empowered Badass Normal: Likely because of the grievous injuries he sustained at the end of Retribution, Kai Leng sports some serious cybernetic upgrades in ME3. These grant him abilities including, among others, low level Super-Strength, an Invisibility Cloak, Super-Toughness, a spherical power-blocking barrier, and Power Palms.
Enemy Eats Your Lunch: Due to being "an adrenaline junky", as described by the narration, he not only bugs Anderson's apartment, he eats Anderson's cereal.
Establishing Character Moment: In Retribution, personally killing Liselle for being an asari.
Even Evil Has Standards: Not from him, but the others' reaction to him, in that even before ME3 he was regarded by other Cerberus agents such as Miranda and Maya Brooks as TIM's pet psycho.
Evil Counterpart: Shepard and Leng are both former N7 operatives and the best fighters of their respective organizations (the Alliance/Council for Shepard and Cerberus for Leng). Also, while Leng hates aliens, the fate of the galaxy hangs on Shepard's ability to rally the other races to fight together against the Reapers. His cybernetic upgrades further parallel them. Lampshaded by the Illusive Man in-game.
Evil Gloating: He is not above rubbing his enemy's failures in their faces, even when it comes off as unwarranted (for example, claiming that Shepard can never defeat him, to which Shepard responds that Leng runs from every fight he's in).
Evil Is Petty:
- In the canonically suspect Deception, he sneaks into Anderson's house to plant some bugs. Before he leaves, he sits down, takes out a bowl and eats at Anderson's cereal. And he also peed in a vase.
- In the game proper, he sends an email taunting Shepard about the fall of Thessia under the guise of Asari Military Command, with the subject "Evacuating Thessia". The first thing it says is "Good, you opened this message. This isn't actually asari military command." You can almost hear the smug laugh that would follow that sentence. Taken over the top when Fridge Logic sets in to make that email he likely had to use a real asari military command computer, so at the end of that mission he had to stop and take the time to hack into a computer to effectively do some internet trolling.
Evil Sounds Deep: It's Troy Baker, after all.
Fantastic Racism: He really doesn't like aliens to the point of being physically repulsed by their presence. In Retribution he considers the asari "whorish" and regularly gets urges to "teach (the alien/s) a lesson" whenever they try and lord it over a human. Due to the fact that Shepard doesn't interact with him outside of boss fights with limited dialog, it's more of an Informed Attribute in 3.
Fatal Flaw: His pride.
Foil: To Miranda. The scenes in which they are introduced are very similar and they're both among the most talented Cerberus operatives TIM ever employed. Whereas Miranda ends up being fairly heroic by the time the Reapers show up, Kai Leng is solidly villainous.
Final Boss: Of the Cerberus plot arc. In fact, he's the last traditional boss fight in the entire trilogy.
Final Boss Preview: The first fight with him during Priority: Thessia, which overlaps with Heads I Win, Tails You Lose.
Fission Mailed: No matter what you hit him with during the fight on Thessia, he's unharmed and has his gunship blow up the temple while he steals the Prothean VI you're after.
Flash Step: He can leave after-images behind him too.
Flunky Boss: During the second fight.
General Failure: Provided you play your cards right he spectacularly screws up the Citadel coup. Not only does he fail to assassinate the Salarian councilor despite having him dead to rights, but he gets his ass kicked by a terminally ill drell for good measure.
Hate Sink: The Reapers are implacable beings dedicated to wiping out all life but are more akin to forces of destruction than actual characters, and even their master has understandable motivations, while the other Big Bad, the Illusive Man, still retains some grandiosity and Well-Intentioned Extremist goals. Kai Leng, however, is completely unlikeable by being a cruel, cowardly, petty, racist Smug Snake who spends most of his screen time either being a douchebag or potentially killing fan favorite characters. Heck, the devs even have Kai Leng send a mocking email to twist the knife in when Shepard suffers My Greatest Failure. The prompt where Shepard guts him like a fish with an Omni-Blade is widely considered to be one of the most popular in the series.
The Heavy: To the Illusive Man's Non-Action Big Bad. Kai Leng is a greater threat in combat than the Illusive Man and is the one who shows up in person to carry out his orders.
Hero Killer: Along with killing Gillian with a sharpened toothbrush (its canonicality is disputed though) in Deception, Kai Leng can potentially end up killing any combination of Kirrahe/Thane/the Salarian Councillor and/or Miranda, and he will kill at least one of them. If he kills Thane, it's subverted, the latter will mock him for barely beating a terminally ill Drell and failing to kill his target. However, in the worst case for him he still kills Thane, nearly kills Miranda in a Curb-Stomp Battle, kills the new Executor and his two bodyguards off-screen, and puts up a decent fight against Shepard.
Hypocrite: If Thane thwarts his assassination attempt, he later rather tastelessly mocks him for supposedly dying like a coward. Then, come the end of the final fight against him...
I Shall Taunt You: After the fall of Thessia at the hands of the Reapers, you receive an email from him telling you about how your failure has caused millions to die and that he looks forward to killing you next time you two meet.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How he ends up fatally wounding Thane (but not Kirrahe, who takes a bullet instead). And then the climax comes, wherein Shepard kills him the exact same way.
Implacable Man: Gets the drop on Shepard's team by landing on top of their Flying Car. A car that Shepard is driving. While shooting at him. He manages to disable it and escape.
Improbable Weapon User: He killed the most powerful human biotic alive with a shiv fashioned from a toothbrush.
Informed Ability: On the one hand, he's clearly meant to be a hyper-skilled and hyper-dangerous cyborg assassin, with one or two secondary characters getting worf'd by him to establish his credibility. On the other hand, he spends most of the game getting his ass kicked and running away, coming across as a whiny wanna-be, with Shephard even openly mocking him in their final battle - which is considered by players one of the easiest boss fights in the game. Most of Kai Leng's more competent and impressive feats are found only in the Mass Effect novels (which very few players ever read).
Informed Flaw: He’s supposedly violently racist even by Cerberus standards but we never see anything to suggest special disdain for aliens. While he’s certainly a smug asshole, it’s directed in a more general sense. This is averted in his debut appearance, where he has to almost contain himself to keep from murdering aliens on basic principle.
Insult Backfire: He taunts Shepard frequently in their final battle, but he flies off the handle when Shepard responds in kind.
Leng: Even if you win, you're too late to stop what's coming!
Shepard: Maybe, maybe not...but YOU won't be there to see it.
It's Personal: Shepard invokes this trope when they finally kill Leng by stating the deed is in the name of all their compatriots who Leng has killed.
Shepard: [running Leng through] That was for Thane/Miranda/Kirrahe, you son of a bitch!
Invisibility Cloak: Has an Infiltrator/Kasumi-style tactical cloak.
Jerkass: Let's see... killing Thane/Kirrahe, and calling them cowards, relying on a gunship for assistance against Shepard, ordering the gunship to level the building you're in, so he can get what he needs, sending Shepard a message mocking them, potentially killing Miranda, and generally running from battles where the odds aren't in his favor? Yep, he definitely fits.
Karmic Death: After fatally wounding at least one of Thane, Miranda, Kirrahe & the salarian councilor, along with the new Executor and his bodyguards; Shepard winds up killing Leng in return, running him through with an omniblade.
Katanas Are Just Better: With a Hand Wave as to why it's effective in a game where kinetic barriers are standard. Subverted in his final appearance in ME3. You can take a Renegade interrupt in order to break it before delivering the coup de grace.
Kick the Dog:
- In Retribution he kidnaps Paul Grayson, a recovering drug addict, and immediately drugs him up again. When the Illusive Man's Reaper tech experiments turn Grayson into a Husk that attacks the Grissom Academy, Kai Leng uses 12-year-old biotic Nick Donahue as Cannon Fodder, resulting in the child receiving life threatening injuries. This leads to a Lair of The Shadow Broker style standoff where Leng borrows from Vasir's playbook, telling Anderson "Let me go or the kid bleeds out."
- Shepard is emotionally devastated after the loss of Thessia, putting the blame on themself entirely. Kai Leng rubs it in by sending a message to Shepard afterwards telling them that Thessia fell because they simply weren't good enough.
- During the fight with him on Thessia, he'll trash talk whoever he got a chance to kill previously when they met on the Citadel. The reactions of your squaddies say it all.
  Javik: If I kill no one else but him, it will be worth it!
King Mook: He's basically a powered-up Cerberus Phantom with enhanced durability and some additional abilities. But he lacks many of the Phantom's normal abilities outside of cutscenes.
Made of Iron: Takes no damage whatsoever from whatever shots manage to hit him in his Heads I Win, Tails You Lose encounter (he also benefits from shields that recharge almost instantaneously, so it's unlikely that much of anything will hit him at all). However, during his actual boss fight, when his shields come down, he goes down easily due to only wearing light armor. Plus, his shields aren't substantially stronger than shields used by other bosses in the last game, they just recharge quicker.
Meaningful Name: "Leng" means "cold" in Chinese.
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Well, he's a racist cyborg ninja come ME3.
Oh, Crap!: Hard to catch, but he makes one right after Shepard shatters his sword and right before they fatally stab him in the side.
One-Man Army: Almost certainly, seeing as he killed six turians with a knife and, in a separate incident, killed a krogan singlehandedly with a knife. As a boss fight, however, he has no problems with calling a gunship for cover fire while he recharges his shields or summoning mooks to his side.
Phrase Catcher: Tends to be referred to as a "bastard" by several characters. The player will probably come to echo this soon enough.
Power Palms: Most likely due to his cybernetic nature.
Recurring Boss: Twice. First is a Hopeless Boss Fight, though.
Replacement Goldfish: While he was working for Cerberus long before we meet him, Liara still notes in 3 that it probably isn't a coincidence that after Shepard left, the Illusive Man just so happens to start using former N7 Kai Leng as his chief minion.
Reverse Grip: With his sword, like the Cerberus Phantoms, with whom he shares a lot of combat animations.
Smug Snake: Believes himself to be completely superior to Shepard, underestimating them at every turn and even berating the Illusive Man for saying that Shepard is to be admired for their skills and danger. He learns the hard way that underestimating Shepard is asking for a quick and painful death.
The Social Darwinist: He firmly believes in the Illusive Man's vision of "uplifting" humanity via Reaper tech.
Sociopathic Soldier: Type 2. Started off with looting medals from enemy corpses and eventually escalated to premeditated murder, which caused the Alliance to discharge and imprison him. Then he joined Cerberus and was allowed to run amok while completing his objectives.
Super-Strength: Subtle but present. The dossier Anderson emails to Shepard credits any superhuman prowess of his to "Phantom-class implants", meaning that Phantoms have this too, even if they don't really show it.
- In his introductory scene, he casually leaps over ten feet vertically despite being fully armored. The world record for an unassisted vertical jump is five feet.^note A jump like this is directly translatable to a 1,600-1,700 lbs squat. The world record for a raw squat is 1,005 lbs, done with enormous effort by a man twice Leng's size.
- He overpowers Thane in their brief grapple and punch-up with relative ease. Thane being strong enough to casually snap a muscular man's neck with no mechanical leverage or kill a man in plated body armor with one punch to the chest. Of course, Thane is so ill he can barely stand at this point.
Super-Toughness: In his final battle against Shepard, he takes a full-force front kick to the chest from the Super-Soldier without injury. That may not seem like much at first, but note that in earlier scenes Shepard is able to kill (or at least incapacitate) an armored soldier with a single quick jab to the chest, a feat they repeat later. A kick is many times more powerful than a jab.
Sword and Gun: His preferred weapons in the books, as befitting an assassin, are a knife and silenced handgun. In-game, he uses an actual sword and utilizes Power Palms.
Sword Beam: The horizontal crescent-wave version.
Sword Drag: Reduced to this after being beaten by Shepard in their final fight.
Tattooed Crook: Sports an ouroboros tattoo on the back of his neck.
Troll: To the point that he sent an email impersonating the Asari Military Command just to gloat at Shepard.
Underestimating Badassery: As opposed to the Illusive Man and despite his warnings, Kai Leng refuses to show any respect for Shepard as a dangerous and very skilled enemy and even takes being compared to them by the Illusive Man as an insult. This ends up being his undoing. Despite this however, he does at least rely more on superior firepower/manpower when fighting Shepard's team rather than simply personal skill.
Villainous Rescue: Saves the Illusive Man from a turian Blackwatch squad in Retribution.
Virtue Is Weakness: As mentioned above, he scoffs at the Illusive Man's admiration towards Shepard and never considers them to be his equal. He's right. Shepard surpasses him.
With This Herring: Kills a squad of six turian commandos with a knife, and kills the most powerful human biotic in the galaxy with a shiv fashioned from a toothbrush.
You Fight Like a Cow: Engages in this with Shepard, especially during their final showdown. He doesn't take kindly when Shepard does it right back.
Leng: You're still slow, Shepard!
Shepard: I'm only slow because I'm not running!
Leng: SHUT UP!

Dr. Eva Coré

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dreva_8861.png

Voiced by: Laura Bailey

A Cerberus infiltration unit the Illusive Man uses to take over the Alliance facility on Mars. Shepard's team narrowly prevents it from escaping with the information on the Crucible they need, although it still manages to hospitalize Ashley/Kaidan.

Batman Can Breathe in Space: During her escape, she doesn't don any kind of breathing apparatus while outside in the harsh Martian atmosphere. Justified, as she's not even organic.
Canon Immigrant: Subverted; this Eva Coré is not the Eva Coré from Evolution (the fact that the Eva Coré from Evolution dies at the end of the comic should be a pretty big hint). She was named after her by the Illusive Man.
Cutscene Power to the Max: EDI ends up wearing her robotic body after it's recovered, and is a party member, but she never displays the kind of physical strength that EVA does in her cutscenes, instead relying on firearms and tech attacks.
Dark Action Girl: She’s fast and elusive, leading Shepard on a wild chase across a Mars station when she’s acquired some data for Cerberus; she’s much stronger than she looks as when her shuttle is brought down by James she emerges from the wreck and utterly brutalizes Ashley/Kaidan to the point they need to be hospitalized.
Evil Counterpart: To EDI. Footage from Cerberus headquarters reveals that Eva was specifically built to replace her after her defection to Shepard's crew.
Fembot: As seen in her Robotic Reveal.
Femme Fatale: Built to be one.
Foreshadowing: Her hair seems artificial and stiff. There's a reason for that.
"Get Back Here!" Boss: At first.
Grand Theft Prototype: When EDI starts scanning for the Prothean info it downloaded, Eva comes back online and tries to attack. EDI spends the rest of the game "wearing" her body.
Hopeless Boss Fight: The Chase Scene at the beginning of her boss fight. Shepard is allowed to shoot her or fire off powers to their content, but they won't do more than Scratch Damage to her shields. Even if her shields are somehow depleted, she'll just use Shield Boost to restore them in full capacity.
The Mole: She arrives at the Mars Archives science team a week before the Reaper invasion but is actually working for Cerberus.
Out of the Inferno: Steps out from the flaming wreckage of a shuttle in a manner reminiscent of the Terminator, revealing her synthetic nature.
Painted-On Pants: Literally painted on. This trope is so ubiquitous in the setting that nobody notices.
Replacement Goldfish: For EDI (Cerberus synthetic minus self-awareness) and her namesake (one of two friends the Illusive Man lost before founding Cerberus).
- She's also a replacement for Miranda in some respects; she wears similar clothes before they're burned off, was designed and created to be attractive, powerful and intelligent, and acts, as Miranda once did, with nothing but complete loyalty for Cerberus in mind.
Robotic Reveal: When she emerges from the shuttle crash with her synthetic skin burnt away, revealing her metallic body and glowing eyes.
Rush Boss: For the second part of the fight, you only have to shoot at her with your pistol for a few seconds, but she'll kill Shepard in one hit if you don't kill her before she gets to you. Certain pistols, either carried over via New Game Plus (Paladin, Scorpion) or from DLC (Acolyte, Executioner), can't deal damage fast enough to kill her during this time, making the fight unwinnable.
We Hardly Knew Ye: Appears during the first mission on Mars before getting destroyed.

Henry Lawson

Few people have the stomach to do what it takes to survive.

Voiced by: Alan Dale

We finally meet Miranda's ego-maniacal father in person. He's not as bad as she made him out to be, because he's worse. Much, much worse.

Abusive Parents: He takes it to Norman Osborn levels.
Archnemesis Dad: To Miranda.
Arc Villain: Of Miranda's loyalty mission in the second game, having hired a small army of mercenaries to kidnap Oriana. Though he doesn't show up on-screen until the third.
Asshole Victim: He can either be defenestrated by one of his daughters or shot by Shepard, not to mention that he's essentially been left to hang out and dry by his employer.
Bad Samaritan: They don't get much worse than disguising a research factory into husks and indoctrination as a refugee camp, using refugees as bulk test subjects.
Brainwashed and Crazy: You'd figure being surrounded by Reaper tech supplied by Cerberus would turn the guy into another one of their pawns. It's not clear whether or not he is, or perfectly in control of his actions, which, if that's the case, just makes him all the more horrible.
Control Freak: Miranda is incapable of having children due to a neoplasm he likely engineered, just to maintain total control of his "legacy."
Corrupt Corporate Executive: One of the wealthiest businessmen in the galaxy, though we don't know what field he's in when he's not manufacturing Designer Babies. Or running a husk factory disguised as a refugee camp.
Destination Defenestration: If Miranda has lived long enough to confront him, she biotically throws him through a window to his death.
Disney Villain Death: Courtesy of Miranda or Oriana.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He doesn't get why Shepard might be unwilling to let him walk because he hasn't done anything to them.
Evil Genius: To the Reapers' Big Bad and the Illusive Man's Dragon. He manages to find a way to control husks independently of Reaper influence, to a limited extent.
Evil Is Not a Toy: By the time you catch up with him, his base has been trashed by a Reaper attack that caused all of the husks that he thought he had under control to go berserk. He's still alive, but probably wouldn't have lasted much longer if you hadn't shown up.
Evilutionary Biologist: He seeks to create the perfect human through his lineage. It then becomes worse once it's revealed that he's experimented on countless inhabitants on Horizon for Cerberus.
The Ghost: In Mass Effect 2.
Glory Seeker: Unlike most of the others in Cerberus, who truly want to make the galaxy better for humanity, he only does what he does to save himself and so future generations will idolize him.
Gone Horribly Right: Definitely happened with Miranda, who became a constant thorn in his side.
Hand Cannon: When you finally confront him, he's holding Oriana hostage with a Paladin pistol. Which makes sense, since the Paladin is a very expensive pistol, and Henry is one of the richest men in the galaxy.
Hate Sink: Most major villains in Mass Effect are either Well-Intentioned Extremists or have major badass points to make them more likable to the player. Henry Lawson, on the other hand, is a sociopathic, petty, child-murdering war criminal without a single redeeming or likable quality in sight.
Hypocrite: Sterilizing your daughters isn't exactly the best way to maintain a legacy.
It's All About Me: Obsessed with his legacy.
Karma Houdini: Only if Miranda died at the Collector base and you decide to let him walk.
Lack of Empathy: As opposed to his daughter who suffers from guilt over many past actions, the absolute closest he comes to showing any hint of remorse for his actions is when he calls Sanctuary's deception of refugees an "unfortunate necessity".
Legacy Seeker: Obsessed with engineering a genetically perfect bloodline that will excel in his name long after his death, and like Okeer, he's willing to manipulate the lives of his daughters to a frightening degree - even disposing of those that don't measure up to his standards. However, Mass Effect 3 reveals that a genetic heritage isn't the only legacy Henry plans to leave: in order to make a name for himself as the man who "saved" humanity, he's partnered with Cerberus and is conducting experiments on how to control the Reapers - even setting up the utopian Sanctuary on Horizon in order to lure in unsuspecting refugees for use as test subjects.
Mad Scientist: He used a refugee camp called Sanctuary as a front for a husk facility.
Narcissist: When you create Designer Babies based solely on your DNA, you definitely qualify.
Necessarily Evil: "I will be regarded as the savior of the human race!" Uh-huh.
Never My Fault: Seems convinced Miranda has "poisoned" Oriana against him. The fact he had her abducted from her adoptive family and brought to his death camp doesn't seem to register to him at all.
Offing the Offspring: He's really not too concerned about Miranda's welfare. He's also "discarded" the Designer Babies that didn't live up to his expectations. If you can't talk him down or miss the Renegade interrupt, he'll shoot her in the stomach before she kills him.
Miranda: I wasn't the first [child] he made. I was only the first one he kept.
Older Than They Look: When you meet him, aside from slightly greying hair, he really doesn't look like someone who has a 35-year-old daughter. Of course, given the state of medical technology in the 22nd century, his talent for genetic engineering, coupled with his extreme narcissism, you can see why he doesn't look his actual age.
The Sociopath: Just look at all the other tropes in this section.
Truly Single Parent: His "daughters" were made by mixing his genes with specifically chosen female DNA to produce "perfect" children for his dynasty.
The Unfought: The only time he shows up personally is in a cutscene, near the end of the Sanctuary mission. He can be killed by Miranda via a biotic blast if she's alive, be shot by Shepard, killed by Oriana sacrificing herself or escape.
Villains Want Mercy: The guy tricks people of multiple species into coming to "Sanctuary", a place where they will be safe from the Reapers only to slaughter them all and/or turn them into husks and send the ones that fall in between off to become Cerberus mooks. And he wants Shepard to just let him walk.
Would Hurt a Child: Entire families went to Sanctuary. There was no discrimination in that regard. There's also the fact that he kills any child of his that doesn't meet his expectations.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Despite all his efforts for Cerberus, when Sanctuary comes under attack, the Illusive Man sends Kai Leng in only to retrieve the data Lawson collected on the Reapers, not the man himself. When confronted by Shepard, Lawson outright says Leng and the Illusive Man have left him to die.

Secondary

General Petrovsky

General Oleg Petrovsky

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Oleg_Petrovsky_310.png

Voiced by: Brian George

Petrovsky lasted weeks against a turian assault back when he was a corporal. Now he's one of the Illusive Man's most trusted agents, and the man behind Cerberus's successful invasion and occupation of Omega. No word on whether he's any relation to that widow and her brother-in-law on the Citadel that Shepard keeps running into.

Affably Evil: When finally confronted, he's polite and forthcoming, complimenting Shepard for their success and offering to use his knowledge to aid the Alliance against Cerberus. He also tells Shepard that he respects their accomplishments. On the other hand, he turned Omega into a prison camp and used hundreds of civilians in Adjutant experiments.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: As Aria is strangling him at the end of the DLC he panics and says he can give information on the Illusive Man to the Alliance and that he deserves mercy for sparing Aria once. Depending on Shepard's actions, Aria will either spare him or slowly choke him to death.
Antagonist in Mourning
Petrovsky: Nyreen Kandros was a good soldier. It's a shame she had to die for Aria's petty ambitions.
Arc Villain: For the Omega DLC.
Beard of Evil: As seen in the above image.
Boom, Headshot!: If Aria doesn't kill him, Shepard can execute him at the end of the DLC, just as Petrovsky confidently states Shepard wouldn't kill an unarmed prisoner.
Break Them by Talking: Delivers one to Shepard for working with Aria. He makes a lot of good points, namely that Aria doesn't have any moral superiority over Cerberus. It's possible for Shepard to shut him up. What's unique about the situation is that Shepard has to be an Engineer to do it: the only time in the series where Shepard's class has an impact on the plot.
Broken Pedestal: Petrovsky by the time of the Omega DLC is having doubts about the Illusive Man, which makes it easier for him to genuinely surrender to the Alliance and defect.
Canon Immigrant: From the Invasion comic to the Omega DLC.
The Chessmaster: Just to drive the point home, he's repeatedly shown playing on a holographic chessboard. Which Shepard gets to keep in their cabin post-DLC.
Determinator: Aria implies that once Petrovsky sets his sights on something, he'll stop at nothing to achieve it.
Aria: He's like his boss, in that no matter the consequences, he stops at nothing.
Even Evil Has Standards: He's not indoctrinated, and he's only serving the Illusive Man at the point Shepard comes into the picture because I Gave My Word.
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Shepard usually just calls him "the General".
Evil Genius: Cerberus's chief strategist.
Expy: Could be seen as one to Grand Admiral Thrawn. He wears a very similar outfit, has a similar high-culture approach to villainy, and plays a similar role to the Illusive Man as Thrawn plays to Emperor Palpatine.
Fantastic Racism: No matter as to how honourable he presents himself; he still willingly instigated a plot to basically turn every alien citizen of Omega into the horrible Adjutants. Once he realized how that backfired, he sealed off an entire district to be slaughtered by them and then put draconic restrictions on the alien population, like being shot on sight if they carried a weapon.
A Father to His Men: In the Invasion comic.
Graceful Loser: Once it becomes clear that he's gonna lose, he calmly surrenders, orders his soldiers to surrender so the conflict doesn't get dragged out and result in more pointless deaths, and offers to give Shepard information about the Illusive Man. Granted, this is because he knew he had a decent chance of survival.
Hypocrite: He tells Shepard that trying to fiddle with the reactor powering the plasma force fields while Nyreen and Aria are still trapped. "This is who you're working for, Shepard. She doesn't care who gets hurt." "She'd just throw thousands of lives away..." The same could be said to Petrovsky himself about his associates.
Karma Houdini: To an extent if he lives. High ranking Alliance prisoners are given very good treatment, and his War Asset entry mentions that he'll probably be granted asylum. Though you can take a Renegade interrupt to inform him that if he's not completely forthcoming with his information, Shepard will hand him to Aria.
Know When to Fold 'Em: At the end of the Omega DLC, he surrenders after Shepard and Aria kill all of his defenders.
Mutual Kill: Banishes Aria with this in the Invasion comic. Standing right next to her on Omega, he threatens to blast it to bits level by level unless she leaves, willing to die himself if it means she loses too.
Noble Demon: Nyreen notes that Petrovsky offered amnesty to anyone who would willingly surrender — and he honored his word, with no conditions or fine print.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Oleg bears a strong resemblance to Tom Selleck.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Potentially, if Aria kills him. Aria will openly admit that Petrovsky let her go during the initial conquest of Omega, yet she still strangles him to death after he surrenders.
Out-Gambitted: Did this to Aria before the events of the Omega DLC. Almost did it again three times over during the DLC itself; Aria would certainly have died trying to retake the station if Shepard wasn't there to intervene, either in space, due to underestimating Petrovsky's defenses, on the streets, due to walking right into Petrovsky's force field, and/or in Afterlife, due to literally jumping into Petrovsky's electric containment prison.
Palette Swap: His uniform comes off as this, being the uniform worn by Alliance leaders like Anderson and Hackett, only in Cerberus colors. Makes sense, as Cerberus is, of course, very human-centric.
Pet the Dog: Several of these are shown to demonstrate that he's more deserving of respect than any of his Cerberus colleagues. He doesn't pointlessly endanger civilians, keeps his word such as his offer of amnesty to gang members on Omega, showed mercy to Aria when she was fleeing the station, shows respect to his enemies, despised the Illusive Man's plan to release the Adjutants, and repeatedly calls Shepard out on working with a criminal like Aria.
Remember the New Guy?: Shepard invokes this trope by lampshading how they've never heard of Petrovsky prior to Omega despite the General supposedly being the Illusive Man's top strategist. According to Aria, this is because the Illusive Man prefers to keep Petrovsky's identity a secret. Despite this lampshading and trope invoking, Petrosky isn't actually an example, as he appeared in the Invasion comics and there was a passing reference to Cerberus having a General in the first game.
Retired Badass: He took on hundreds of turian troops in the First Contact War and didn't stop fighting until the war was over.
Shoot the Dog: In the Invasion comic, shoots Ashe when he's about to turn into an Adjutant.
Shut Up, Kirk!: After Petrovsky lures Aria and Shepard into a trap:
Shepard: It's a shame you're on the Illusive Man's side, Petrovsky.
Petrovsky: I'm on humanity's side. You're the one who's trying to start a war for the glory of Aria.
Smart People Play Chess: He has a chessboard which is frequently used to indicate his status as The Chessmaster.
Smug Snake: Comes across as one at times, particularly when taunting Shepard throughout the Omega missions and mentioning that Alliance prisoners with leverage such as he has are generally treated quite well. He muses that he and Shepard may even become friends.
The Strategist: He's the Illusive Man's top strategist.
They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Insists that Ashe call him "General" and respect him as such in Invasion.
Token Good Teammate: The only decent-ish member of Cerberus encountered that doesn't defect in Mass Effect 3 — and that ends the second he requests amnesty. It's clear he's disillusioned by the Illusive Man and was looking for an out.
Unwitting Pawn: Shown in Invasion. Cerberus breaks into Omega by letting adjutants get free of their facility and make for Omega, the closest station. Petrovsky is sent in to rescue Omega, and takes it as an opportunity to take it over. But when discussing it with the Illusive Man, it becomes clear Petrovsky has no idea that TIM engineered the escape, and even thinks TIM would never sacrifice so many personnel for that. Aria, in contrast, sees through it instantly.
Villain Has a Point: In his lecture towards Shepard; Aria really isn't much better than Cerberus.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: In addition to the usual Cerberus doctrine, he honestly believes he's a better ruler for Omega than Aria. Notably, he's also not indoctrinated.
What a Senseless Waste of Human Life: After he traps Aria, Nyreen, and Shepard in a force field and urges them to give up, Aria starts trying to tear open the force field:
Petrvosky: Stop it, you're forcing my hand! Fine, we'll do it your way. (unleashes dozens of Rampart Mechs on them)
Wicked Cultured: In Invasion, he not only likes chess, but he's also a history buff, and he likes reading Tolstoy in the original Russian text.
Worthy Opponent: Aria, Nyreen and Shepard all admit to viewing him as this. Petrovsky in turn views Nyreen, Aria and especially Shepard the same way.
Shepard: It's a shame you're on the Illusive Man's side, Petrovsky.
Aria: He's not like other Cerberus operatives I've seen. He's smart, he thinks outside the box, and he's very hard to predict.
Nyreen: He's an adversary worthy of respect, and he's got a code, one that's a lot different than the Illusive Man's.
You Wouldn't Shoot Me: If Aria spares him, Petrovsky comes off as rather smug about the whole thing, saying that he's heard Alliance prisoners are well cared for. However, Shepard can take a Renegade interrupt telling him that things might not go the way Petrovsky believes. Petrovsky will confidently say that Shepard wouldn't shoot an unarmed captive, and they'll be his last words if the player takes the second Renegade interrupt.

Mysterious Figure (Citadel DLC spoilers)

Mysterious Figure/Clone Shepard

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/270px-mysterious_figure_static_4258.png

The cult of Shepard ends today.

Voiced by: Mark Meer (male), Jennifer Hale (female)

The leader of a mysterious conspiracy with a vendetta against Shepard. They make their move while the Commander's on shore leave, prompting retaliation from the entire squad. They're actually a clone of Commander Shepard created by Cerberus just in case Shepard needed an extra organ. They were awoken from a coma and is now trying to take over Shepard's life.

Alas, Poor Villain: The clone of Shepard realizes they're all alone when Brooks abandons them to die while the real Shepard is rescued by their friends. This leads to either Shepard killing the clone, or the clone committing suicide after realizing they have no friends and no purpose.
And Then What?: If Shepard attempts to Save the Villain, s/he responds by asking what happens afterward. When Shepard points out that they will live, the clone asks, "For what?" and throws themself out of the Normandy's shuttle bay to their death.
Arc Villain: For the "Citadel" DLC.
Bad Boss: Constantly threatens their mercenaries with death and flat out tells them that they have no chance against Shepard. This serves to reinforce their status as Shepard's Evil Counterpart, who is always A Father to His Men even at their worst.
Big Bad Wannabe: Despite being the Arc Villain of the Citadel DLC, they are ultimately small fry compared to the Reapers or even the Illusive Man. As the original Shepard points out, even if they succeed in taking over the Normandy, it's unlikely that their plans will really get off the ground. Heck, Shepard doesn't even take them completely seriously, even making casual talk when they are supposedly trapped in the iridium vault.
Borrowed Catchphrase: "I should go." The best part? All this time, the real Shepard had no idea they sounded like that.
Brick Joke: As Wrex is quick to note about the first game, his hypothetical fights of Shepard versus random teammates finally pans out.
Cannon Fodder: This is how they see the mercs under their command. Notably lampshaded when she specifically orders said mercs to "Slow [Shepard] down", not expecting them to survive. The real Shepard notes this as the difference between them. The clone has disposable minions, whereas Shepard has loyal friends.
Shepard: A team? You have minions! And you're running out!
Clone Angst: Originally created by the Illusive Man to serve as "spare parts" for Shepard during the Lazarus Project. Thus, they have none of real Shepard's memories and weren't meant to even wake up.
The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Whereas Vanguard Shepard's use of Nova depletes their shield, the clone has no such issue. On the flip side, Charge doesn't replenish them either.
Diabolical Mastermind: Although it can be argued that Brooks is actually the one pulling the strings.
Didn't Think This Through:
- The clone wants to replace Shepard, but they have only the most superficial idea of who Shepard is. The clone is intensely xenophobic when several of Shepard's closest allies and potential love interests are alien. The clone is very much a Bad Boss who has no interest in preserving the lives of their followers, an attitude which would have gotten Shepard killed in the Suicide Mission. The clone mocks Shepard for being "worn-out Cerberus tech" but said cyborg implants have carried and will continue to carry Shepard through near-death of all types and ultimately allow them to activate the Crucible, saving the galaxy.
- There's also the fact they have Traynor thrown off the ship for "fraternization" or "conduct unbecoming" and orders Shepard's space hamster disposed, simply because they were not in line with Alliance military protocol. The clone also displays a rather narrow-minded world view in contrast with Shepard's outside-the-box style of thinking, forgetting that Shepard's unorthodox methods are part of the reason they are so successful. This was the reason why Shepard accepted aid from Cerberus when it became clear they were the only ones willing to fight the Collectors and why Shepard often recruits from alien races, recognising talented individuals regardless of their species, who would contribute to the success of the mission.
- Furthermore, if the clone had managed to successfully steal Shepard's identity and the Normandy, what exactly was their plan to save the galaxy from the Reapers? Did they even think that far ahead?
- Shepard can actually call the clone out on this:
  Clone: I've taken your name, your Spectre rank, even your fingerprints!
  Shepard: And then you left me to die... only I didn't. You think fake fingerprints are going to fool the Council? Or Hackett?
Disney Villain Death: Falling a very long way from a very fast moving ship into the Wards, possibly slamming into a skyscraper. That is... if the lack of oxygen and exposure to the vacuum of space didn't kill them first. ^note
Driven to Suicide: After Brooks abandons them while Shepard's teammates save them, they refuse a Take My Hand!.
Entertainingly Wrong: Shepard had previously mused in the beginning of the second game whether or not they had been brought back to life as a clone. Turns out Cerberus really did clone them, but they were the original, not the clone.
Evil Is Hammy: Male or female, they can absolutely devour the scenery at times.
Evil Is Petty: When they take over the Normandy, they dump Shepard's pets and ship models in the trash for disposal. At the sight of this, the real Shepard declares "Oh, now it's personal!"
Evil Knockoff: It was originally intended simply as spare parts for the main Shepard.
Evil Twin: Shepard's appearance, powers and skill without the comrades, experience or morals.
Fantastic Racism: Clone Shepard hates aliens more than any other character in the game (except Kai Leng, but that's only depicted in the EU novels). They actually chew out Shepard for saving more alien lives than human lives, accusing them of having forgotten about their own species. EDI gets singled out for being "nothing more than electrons pretending to be alive". They're basically Shepard if they were raised by the Illusive Man.
Felony Misdemeanor: Attempting to throw away their hamster is what makes it really personal for Shepard.
Freudian Excuse: Being created merely for spare parts and living in Shepard's shadow.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Normally calm and collected, there are a few points on the radio and in front of Shepard where they will explode into a fit of childish anger.
Human Resources: Their original purpose. They weren't even supposed to wake up.
Hypocrite: Shows traits of this.
Clone: You're a figurehead! A decent soldier with a lucky streak!
Shepard: Then how come you want to be me so badly?
I Just Want to Be Special: Heavily implied that the real reason they are doing everything is because they are unable to handle the fact that as long as Shepard is around, they will always be stuck in their shadow.
Clone: Look at you. What makes you so damned special? Why you and not me?
I Just Want to Have Friends: The sudden realisation that Shepard's friends are part of what makes them special, is what causes them to refuse Shepard's hand and fall to their death.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: Clone Shepard has developed a major case of this towards the original Shepard.
Insistent Terminology: While fully admitting to being a clone, nonetheless, wants people to call them the "Real" Shepard.
Jerkass: A complete asshole to enemy and ally alike.
Kick the Dog: Seems fond of doing this.
- When first encountered, a different insult is fired at one of the squadmates that's with Shepard at the time. For example, in the case of the Virmire Survivor, it's a quite simple "I would have saved the other one, Kaidan/Ashley... Something."
- Tries to throw away Shepard's space hamster. The fiend!
- It gets so bad at times that even a Paragon Shepard will say "I'm looking forward to killing myself."
Kill and Replace: Their goal. They're so bad at it one would think they didn't even look at a copy of the Shepard VI for some idea.
Knight of Cerebus: Inverted Trope. While Clone Shepard is a genuinely dangerous villain, the Citadel DLC is pretty lighthearted when compared to the rest of the series. They're actually defeated less than half-way through it.
Mirror Boss: During their final battle, the clone uses the same class abilities as Shepard. They also trade in their CAT6 merc suit for Shepard's iconic N7 Armor, only in white with a blue arm stripe instead of red. ^note
Shepard (Paragon): Well, that's creepy...
Shepard (Renegade): Unacceptable!
No Cure for Evil: Averted. You have to exhaust their supply of medi-gel before you can go for the kill. So that's how it feels for enemies! And at the same time played straight. There's an infinitely refilling pallet of medi-gel refills on the deck that they appear completely oblivious to.
The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Your squad mates usually do a pretty good job at keeping the clone on their toes, often depleting their entire medi-gel reserves in seconds if the clone gets caught in an armor-piercing crossfire, but no matter how much overkill they throw at the clone once the medi-gel count hits zero, it won't put them down for good - the killing blow always has to be dealt by the player and, by extension, Shepard.
Pet the Dog: When stealing the Normandy, elects to fire Traynor for "fraternisation or conduct unbecoming" and kick her off the ship, instead of simply killing her. Of course, one wonders if they'd have been so merciful if Traynor wasn't human.
Playing with Fire: Has a number of fire abilities regardless of Shepard's class. This also contrasts with Shepard's own numerous ice abilities.
Politically Incorrect Villain: They not only criticize Shep for saving so many alien lives, but they also do so in a way that sounds like nothing so much as a White Nationalist calling a non-racist Caucasian a race traitor.
Pretender Diss: No matter which squadmate they insult, they're told in response that they're "a pale imitation of the real thing".
Psychopathic Man Child: Comes off as this, which makes sense, since the clone really is just a child in an adult's body.
Purely Aesthetic Gender: Notice how, like Shepard (minus the spoilers), they are never referred to with gender-specific pronouns.
Rhetorical Question Blunder: As both Shepard and it are holding on the Normandy’s cargo ramp, the clone asks one last time what makes Shepard better than them. This is immediately and non-verbally answered by Shepard’s squad coming to rescue their leader: Shepard has friends.
Sanity Slippage: They start out as being murderously vindictive towards Shepard and wanting to replace them at any cost and become increasingly unhinged and unstable as their plans fall apart. Brooks really did a number on the clone.
Schrödinger's Gun: During their introduction scene, they mock one of Shepard's squad mates. If you bring the Virmire Survivor along, they can mock them by saying they would have chosen their dead counterpart. The clone says this regardless of whether you chose Ashley or Kaidan and goes so far as to not remember the dead character's last name in both situations.
Shadow Archetype: Throughout Mass Effect 2, Miranda, Jacob, and the Illusive Man will all reiterate that Shepard was brought back as they originally were, with no alterations. Clone Shepard is effectively what would have happened if Cerberus went through with "reprogramming" Shepard to be loyal to them, or Miranda getting her way and putting a control chip in their brain. Rather fittingly, Brooks, who is responsible for making Clone Shepard the way they are, compares herself to Miranda at one point.
Shout-Out:
- The climax of the arc is very reminiscent of The Mummy Returns when Imhotep is abandoned by Anck-Su-Namun, just as Brooks did to them, and both respond by voluntarily casting themselves off a lethal fall, while the hero (Shepard/Rick) is rescued from the same peril by their friends.
- If Shepard is an Adept or a Vanguard, their melee conflict will result in both using a biotic field in a similar manner to how Anakin and Obi-Wan used Force Push against each other during the duel in Revenge of the Sith, with similar outcomes.
Smug Snake: Very, very smug, enough to make Renegade Shepard look downright charming in comparison.
Save the Villain: Paragon Shepard repeatedly attempts this, but it doesn't work.
Stalker with a Crush: Despite repeatedly dismissing Shepard and their accomplishments, a lot of their dialogue, and indeed their entire goal, make it obvious that they have somewhat of an unhealthy obsession towards them.
Tyrant Takes the Helm: Downplayed Trope. When the clone takes over the Normandy, it seems that they take Alliance regulations much more seriously than Shepard does. They fire Traynor for "fraternization" or "conduct unbecoming" and tries to dispose of Shepard's space hamster. Of course, the clone isn't trying to take over Shepard's crew, just steal the Normandy.
Underestimating Badassery: The latest in a long line of people who make the mistake of underestimating Shepard. As a clone of Shepard, you'd really think they'd be aware of this and have done their homework first.
Villainous Breakdown: "I'm Shepard. Do you hear me, asshole/bitch? I'm Shepard!"
Walking Spoiler: There's really no way to talk about them without spoiling that they're a clone of Shepard. Hence, the entire folder is marked.
We Could Have Avoided All This: Shepard at one point asks the clone why they just didn't reveal their existence? The clone retorts that it would have been torture being a shadow to the real thing.
Wrong Genre Savvy: Despite being a clone of Commander Shepard, they seem to forget that they're dealing with Commander Shepard. They also don't truly realise what makes Shepard, Shepard.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Paragon Shepard repeatedly invokes this.
You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!: Paragon Shepard tries to claim that they should be on the same side. It doesn't fly.
You Fight Like a Cow: The real Shepard points this out during their final fight.
Clone: I am Commander Shepard!
Shepard: Are you kidding me? Conrad Verner is better at being me than you are!
Younger Than They Look: The clone is physically Shepard's age but is actually only a few years old. Makes sense, since they're a clone.

Zymandis

Zymandis / Regards The Work of The Endkindlers With Despair

A hanar special-ops operative who took part in a sensitive mission many years ago, which has had a far more dangerous effect on it than anyone realized.

The Bad Guy Wins: If Kasumi doesn't live through to 3, and Shepard chooses to save Jondum Bau instead of stopping Zymandis, he succeeds in his plot to sabotage Khaje's defenses, allowing the Reapers to roll right in and harvest them.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Zymandis is completely indoctrinated. And unlike some, its brain is now completely fried.
Insane Troll Logic: Thanks to the indoctrination. Regard: Hanar worship the Protheans, the Reapers turned the Protheans into the Collectors, therefore the hanar must serve the Reapers. A frustrated Shepard speaks for us all.
Shepard: You big, stupid jellyfish!
Killed Off for Real: There's no outcome to his confrontation with Bau and Shepard that ends with him floating away.
Meaningful Name: There's a reason for the Soul Name, aside from it being being an important clue — Zymandis = Ozymandius. Regard the Enkindlers' works, ye mighty, and despair!
Small Role, Big Impact: Only appears at the end of one short quest acquired right at the beginning of the game, but if you haven't played your cards right, he causes the extinction of two races.
Smug Snake: Amazingly, manages to do this despite the hanar monotone.

NPCs

Normandy Crew

Steve Cortez

Lieutenant Steve Cortez

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cortez11_5347.jpg

Anything for you!

I seem to remember getting shot at the whole time and everyone coming back in one piece, Mr Vega.

Voiced by: Matthew Del Negro

One of the people responsible for retrofitting the Normandy SR-2. His talent for flying led him to become the Normandy's shuttle pilot after the Reaper invasion began. He is an old friend of James. Like many members of the crew, he has a personal stake in the fight against the Reapers: his husband was killed during the Collector attack on the colony of Ferris Fields. He is a romance option for a male Shepard.

Ace Pilot: A former fighter jock who spends nearly as much time tinkering with his birds as flying them. He's not so attached to them that he'll risk pissing off an 800-pound krogan with a shotgun, though. His skill at flying is further highlighted in Citadel, where he reveals that he prefers flying with the inertial dampeners off and pulling a few G's, even doing a barrel-roll.
- Falling into the Cockpit: He has experience flying and obviously does a fine job, but on paper he is actually your logistics officer, and ended up running the shuttles because no one else on the Normandy could. Further, like Samantha Traynor and Those Two Guys guarding the doorway to the War Room, he was de facto kidnapped by EDI and Joker when they took the Normandy, so he segued from retrofitting the Normandy to maintaining and flying the shuttles and managing requisitions.
- He and Joker recognize each other as such, and both will admit that neither could take the other's job — Steve's skills with the Kodiac wouldn't translate to the Normandy, and vice versa with Joker.
Ambiguously Brown: Steve is Latino, with a Hispanic last name, but also has Icy Blue Eyes.
Anger Born of Worry: Shows this a few times, though with a snippy tone rather than something more drastic. He sees Shepard step out of that shuttle and into hell a lot. In Citadel he admits that this is because while on the battlefield Shepard is invincible but the moment they step into the evac shuttle, they are vulnerable and it's his responsibility to get them out of there alive.
Bilingual Bonus: James call Steve "Esteban", which is "Steve" in Spanish.
Blood Knight: Despite being one of the nicest and most reserved members of the Normandy's crew, he's oddly thrilled by the chance to take the Kodiak into a dogfight and is positively delighted watching a Cerberus cruiser "gracefully and silently disintegrate" during one mission on Tuchanka.
James: Sometimes I worry about you, man.
Cartwright Curse: Possible to inflict on him by romancing him and choosing an ending where Shepard dies.
Covert Pervert: James jokingly accuses this of Steve. "You know you love the show!"
- He gets to prove James right in the Leviathan DLC during the Anger Born of Worry dialogue if you romance him. While he does deliver the sappy lines about how worried he was and how much he loves Shepard, he then adds that he would've joined Shepard on the diving expedition, but might've gotten...uncomfortable being in such tight quarters.
A Day in the Limelight: While the Leviathan DLC far from focuses on him, he receives a more prominent supporting role in it and even gets to pick up a rifle and participate in the battle against the Reapers alongside Shepard once they get stranded at Leviathan's lair.
Do-Anything Soldier: stands out for multi-disciplinary excellence. He started out as an Ace Pilot flying an F-61 Trident Space Fighter; he transitions into an Armchair Military support role managing logistics; he takes on a second hat as your Drop Ship pilot simply because he's the Closest Thing We Got to it; and — during the Citadel and Leviathan DLC missions — he actually takes to the field with an assault rifle, though never as a controllable member of the Player Party.
Dropped a Bridge on Him: If you didn't befriend or romance him, he dies when his shuttle is shot down during the last level.
Eating the Eye Candy: Enjoys watching the male dancers at Purgatory. James will tease that Steve enjoys watching him too. Steve won't deny it.
James: You know you love the show, Esteban!
Gay Option: For male Shepard. If Shepard is already dating Kaidan, he'll chuckle and say that he knows Shepard is dating Kaidan and not try to pursue Shep himself.
Killed Off for Real: If Cortez isn't befriended or romanced, he'll die at Earth when the shuttle crashes, thanks to his lack of regard for his own safety.
Lampshade Hanging: The first retrofit he did was move the armory back down to the shuttle bay like the original Normandy ("I'm not sure what Cerberus engineers were thinking"). He also indirectly explains Space Is Noisy by bringing up audio emulators (he likes to mute them while watching Cerberus ships get cut in half). If flirted with, he will refer to the large number of women players waiting for a proper Gay Option have had to fend off.
Last Guy Wins: If romanced. For a male Shepard, he's the last new romance option to be introduced in the series.
The Lost Lenore: Robert. Shepard will be instrumental on whether he gets over it or not.
Moving Beyond Bereavement: Steve Cortez lost his husband during the Collector attack on Ferris Fields and has spent much of the time since then absorbed in his work - to the point that Shepard has to talk him into taking shore leave. He's also prone to risk-taking behaviour in combat, his guilt and grief having essentially disabled his self-preservation instincts. However, in the event that Shepard befriends him or (if male) romances him, he's eventually able to move on and find happiness in the present.
Nice Guy: One of his most defining traits is how exceptionally polite he is. His voice never raises above a low yell, and that's only in the most extreme of survival situations.
Not Afraid to Die: He's not actively trying to kill himself, but his husband's death effectively wiped out his self-preservation instinct. Shepard can knock him out of this, but if they don't ...
Palette Swap: Blink and you miss it, but at the conclusion of his romance, Steve and male Shepard have the same body model; the freckles on the back are in the exact same places.
Romancing the Widower: His husband Robert died during the Collectors' abduction of Ferris Fields, and he can be romanced by male Shepard during the course of Mass Effect 3.
Say My Name: Shepard will scream "STEVE!" when his shuttle goes down, regardless of relationship or whether he survives after.
Second Love: With male Shepard, if romanced.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The sensitive guy to James' manly man. While he firmly fits as a Straight Gay, he's not afraid to talk about his feelings, his problems letting go of his dead husband, and even cry in front of others. This is all presented in a very serious light, without a hint of camp.
Straight Gay: Displays no stereotypical mannerisms. They even put him in the same garage as the resident bodybuilder, but not only does Steve not flirt with him once, the two actually have an outright Friendly Rivalry (though Vega does at one point accuse Cortez of enjoying watching him work out all day, to which Steve doesn't respond).
Survivor's Guilt: Feels incredibly guilty over escaping Ferris Fields while his husband was there.
Sweet Tooth: A self-confessed dessert guy (he also likes fish and chips and feels sorry that the dextro crew have to miss out on bacon).
Thrill Seeker: Steve loves to pilot, and during the Citadel DLC, will turn off the inertial dampeners to allow Shepard to feel actual G's as he flies the skycar.
Took a Level in Badass: In the Leviathan DLC, he became one of the few Normandy crew who is not a party member to actively participate in a fight against the Reapers, handing you parts to power up a deep-sea exploration mech in the middle of a firefight and even holding his own against the Reaper ground forces with an assault rifle. In the Citadel DLC, he joins in the big Archive fight and keeps up with your veteran squaddies without any hassle.
Twofer Token Minority: Gay and Latino.
Vitriolic Best Buds: He and James knew each other before they both ended up on the Normandy and spend most of their time heckling each other. That said, there is never a single hint of true animosity between them; apparently, they just like making fun of each other.
Workaholic: Half of his subplot is just persuading him to take some shore leave when he has the chance. It's his way of distracting himself from his grief.

Samantha Traynor

Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/traynor_5003.jpg

Checkmate!

It's almost as if you wanted to spare your pawns the indignity of living under my regime.

Voiced by: Alix Wilton Regan

An Alliance Research and Development specialist who aided the retrofitting of the Normandy SR-2. Her technical skills led to EDI requesting her to remain aboard as a Communications Specialist and taking on the additional role of Strategic Intelligence Officer after the Reaper invasion began. She takes over Kelly's role, informing Shepard of new mail and events that the Commander should know about — but makes a note that she won't feed the Commander's fish. She is a romance option for a female Shepard.

Ambiguously Brown: At first. In the base game, there was no indication of what her ethnicity was, which would be appropriate for this setting. In the Citadel DLC though, she's confirmed as ethnically Indian, albeit born on a different planet than Earth. Traynor, on the other hand, is an English/Irish surname, so she may be mixed race, too, especially since she speaks with a Received English accent.
All Gays are Promiscuous: Downplayed, but she has a fair share of moments being a shameless flirt with Female Shepard, and she makes little attempt to hide how attracted she is to EDI, especially in the Citadel DLC where the latter can even send her some synthetic-human porn.
...And That Would Be Wrong: When Shepard asks what's in the turian messages involving the bomb on Tuchanka...
Traynor: Sorry, it's encrypted. Cracking it would take at least a week. And it would be wrong.
Aroused by Their Voice: Found EDI's voice very attractive to the point of fantasizing some very naughty things she wanted to do with it.
EDI: On one occasion, you said that you wanted to, quote, pin my voice against the wall and run your tongue along its collarbone.
Traynor: Well, there's a context there that... you were talking about quantum entanglement, and... I didn't know you were an AI!
Berserk Button: Kaidan trying to bring her into an argument over curry sends Traynor into a rant over Indian stereotypes, her loathing of curry, and allergies to it. Kaidan just wanted backup from another person with taste buds.
Chekhov's Gag: In the Citadel DLC, her toothbrush saves the Normandy. Seriously.
Covert Pervert: Shy and socially awkward, but that doesn't stop her from attempting to seduce a female Shepard (and if not flirted with, she'll still take a moment to check out Shepard's butt). It's also revealed in the Citadel DLC that she has lesbian fantasies of EDI and is into extranet porn (organic on synthetic, no less. See Robosexual below). She even mentions that she can show Joker, who's anything but covert, how to hide his porn search history (all seven zettabytes of it).
Crush Blush: If a romancing Shepard compliments her, at some point she can say "And now I'm blushing" and be told "You do that fairly regularly."
Distracted by the Sexy: Is mortified to find out EDI is actually an AI, quickly apologizing for all the times she commented on her sexy voice.
Evil Counterpart: Maya Brooks is almost a clone of Samantha, except for the fact she's a bad guy.
Eyed Screen: When she meets Polgara T'Suzsa again.
Falling into the Cockpit: She happened to be working aboard the Normandy as a Communications Specialist when the Reaper attack hit. Having only ever served in an R&D lab before, takes to the role of shipboard Communications and Strategic Intelligence officer like a duck to water.
Gay Option: For female Shepard.
Hero-Worshipper: She's quite nervous around Shepard at the beginning and very eager to prove herself to them. Part of this is also implied to be gratitude, as she was on Horizon, visiting her family, when the Collectors hit and when Shepard saved the colony.
Hidden Depths: She tended bar in college and can make cocktails during the house party in the Citadel DLC.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: Unlike Kelly Chambers from ME2, Traynor doesn't exist simply to serve as a Bridge Bunny to inform Shepard when they have mail. From the moment she's aboard the ship, Traynor's immediately sets to work as the Normandy's Communications and Strategic Intelligence officer and manages to save the day on more than one occasion, by discovering key intel that was initially missed.
Hypochondria: At least one of the medications she's on is actually a placebo. Even if it wasn't, the sheer quantity of the medicines she intakes should be an obvious hint.
Incompatible Orientation:
- If you try and hit on her as male Shepard. She's still flattered though.
- Referenced in Ken/Gabby banter.
  Gabby: And you're barking up the wrong tree, Kenneth. You're not her type.
  Kenneth: Ohhh... well, perhaps you should go and talk to her, then.
  Gabby: Maybe I should. Nobody's barking up my tree.
  Kenneth: If it works out, be sure to take video.
Innocent Fanservice Girl: She gets into a hot-tub in Anderson's apartment (albeit still in her lingerie—although granted, that bathroom doesn't actually have a door). This ends up leading to a highly awkward conversation with male Shepard. It's a little odd since she keeps her black bra on, meaning Shepard really didn't have to avert any eyes.
I Owe You My Life: One of the reasons she is so loyal and nervous around Shepard is because she was visiting her parents on Horizon when the Collectors hit, and Shepard saved the colony.
Irony: Your communications specialist is socially awkward.
Last Girl Wins: If romanced.
Lipstick Lesbian: Very feminine and only into women.
Ms. Fanservice: Gets a shower scene in the vanilla game, and a scene in the hot tub during Citadel. That, and only female Shepards can romance her.
Mundane Utility: Her toothbrush. It uses mass effect fields, the miracle technology that makes faster-than-light travel possible, to floss between the teeth, break up plaque and massage the gums. It costs over six thousand credits, so needless to say, Shepard isn't putting in a requisition order to replace the one she lost. For perspective, six thousand credits are about the cost of a military-grade assault rifle. Then again, since it ends up being the key to preventing Clone Shepard from stealing the Normandy in the Citadel DLC, it seems this was definitely money well spent.
Nipple and Dimed: Apparently Miss Traynor likes to take her showers while wearing her lacy bra and panties. And with the door open (of course, she is trying to seduce a female Shepard).
Once Done, Never Forgotten: During the Citadel DLC party. EDI is practically Trolling Samantha about her attraction to the AI. Tali would rather be anywhere else than listen to the conversation.
Opposites Attract: Traynor and Shepard are like night and day: One is a charismatic, almost invincible front-lines commander who can soldier on even after being hit at point-blank range by a Reaper Beam. The other is a socially awkward, hypochondriac communication officer who shines away from the front-line. From start to finish, their romance looks like an extended honeymoon.
Placebo Effect: Her doctor prescribed sugar pills for her. Shepard accidentally reveals the truth, which pisses Traynor off. Not because they are placebos, but because that now when she knows they won't work anymore!
Platonic Life-Partners: With a male Shepard. The scenes where she attempts to seduce a female Shepard (like the shower scene in Shepard's cabin) don't happen in the same way - she really does want to play a game in order to get to know a male Shepard and gently turns him down if the player attempts to hit on her. The hot tub scene from the Citadel DLC makes her more of an Innocent Fanservice Girl, as she dorkily squees over the hot tub and still jumps in wearing lingerie, though male Shepard gamely stands outside the door and they have a fun, genial chat.
Robosexual: In the Citadel DLC it's revealed she has a thing for organic/synthetic porn, which EDI helps her out with. A suitably hammered Joker tells her that a female Shepard in a romance with her is 30% cybernetic. Samantha is very intrigued to hear it's a full 30%.
Robo Ship:invoked She thinks EDI has a sexy voice, then definitely approves of EDI's new body.
Sexy Secretary: Unlike Kelly, it's entirely coincidental.
Serious Business: The Kepesh-Yakshi game, in the Citadel DLC.
Shower of Love: Her romance scene.
Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: With Polgara T'Suzsa, an extremely condescending asari who plays and teaches asari chess tactics professionally, and keeps knocking Traynor out of tournaments. She's also a very unsportsmanlike winner.
Smart People Play Chess: Either she is very very good at it, or Shepard plays chess about as well as they dance.
- According to the dialog afterwards, Shepard couldn't get out of thinking like a soldier and tried to use real-world tactics, like using an infantry line to break a charge, since it's what would have worked in reality. So it's probably like dancing. Traynor openly mocks them for this.
- She also is incredibly skilled at the asari version of chess.
Sorry, I'm Gay: How she rejects male Shepard if he hits on her.
Straight Gay: Displays no stereotypical mannerisms.
Teach Her Anger: During the fight with the Reaper Destroyer on Rannoch, she states that for the first time, she felt angry. She didn't want to simply defeat that Reaper, she wanted to kill it. Shepard congratulates her on finding her fight-or-flight response. A romanced Traynor is much more furious after Sanctuary, to the point where Shepard is actually a little concerned. Very much justified though- Sanctuary and the atrocities committed within the facility is located on Horizon, her home planet.
Twofer Token Minority: Lesbian and Space!Indian (She was born on another planet but identifies as ethnically Indian). Three if you count the British accent.
What Did I Do Last Night?: In the Citadel DLC, she'll awaken the next morning very hungover and convinced she and EDI made a porno, though she may have dreamed that part.

Diana Allers

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/allers_9343.jpg

I can do this, Commander. Remind me to tell you about the time I made an elcor cry.

Wars can be won or lost in the editing room, and this war needs to be won.

Voiced by: Jessica Chobot

A reporter who can join Shepard aboard the Normandy in Mass Effect 3. Voiced by and modeled on IGN's Jessica Chobot.

Actor Allusion: Allers and Chobot are both television reporters.
The Alcoholic: There are a lot of wine bottles scattered about her room on the Normandy. Given the subject matter she's covering, hard to blame her.
Classified Information: Visiting her after recruiting Javik reveals that he's explicitly off-limits to her reports.
Doomed Hometown: She mentions in passing that her homeworld is the colony of Bekenstein. Towards the end of the game, her colony is razed and her family killed, because the Reapers target industrial areas and her hometown had a factory that made binoculars.
Dropped a Bridge on Her: If you refuse her, she puts herself on another ship, which is blown up, and she dies.
Don't Like? Don't Read!: Her attitude regarding her opinion piece about abandoning Terra Nova in her argument with Copeland. Shepard can choose whom to support.
Dull Surprise: Thanks to her limited facial animations and the voice actress' delivery, her tone doesn't change even when she's upset or surprised.
Flat Character: There really isn't anything to explore in depth about her.
Gay Option: For female characters, although she doesn't grant the Paramour achievement.
Girly Girl: To female Shepard's tomboy, if you so choose. Deliberately cultivated after focus group testing; asari identify more with women than men, salarians respond well to higher voices, and turians are fans of any war programs and send the creepiest fan mail.
Going for the Big Scoop: She was assigned to embed in her choice of Alliance ships, and she specifically has the Normandy as her first. Shepard has veto powers at the end of the day over her stories, but it's worthwhile to allow her some interviews; despite not being worth many War Assets on her own, her interviews will bolster other Assets.
Ink-Suit Actor: Her appearances are based on her voice actress.
Ms. Fanservice: Her outfit is a form-fitting dress that accentuates her features. Invoked for her show, purely because Sex Sells.
Non-Answer: You have the option to kick Diana off the ship at literally any time just by repeatedly talking to her; if you choose to invoke it, she asks for a reason. Shepard merely replies, "What do you think?"
Only Friend: Only Samantha Traynor ever bothers to really talk to Diana when Shepard's not around, mostly inquiring about her Alliance News Network duties and presentation; she otherwise just stays cooped up in her corner of the ship. Ensign Copeland gets into a pretty heated argument with her, and Shepard might have their own reasons for disliking Allers depending on player input.
Out of Focus: Unlike Cortez and Traynor, Diana does not return for the Citadel DLC.
Satellite Love Interest: Reciprocating her growing interest in you doesn't lock you out of any other romance options and is treated as an incredibly brief fling, to the extent that her dialogue if you kick her off the Normandy doesn't even change afterwards.^note
Secret Relationship: In her final romance scene, she says no one else can find out about their relationship or else her career will be jeopardized.
Surveillance Drone: She doesn't need a camera crew; she has a fully automated hovering camera she controls from her omni-tool. The viewpoint switches to its feed when she's conducting her interviews.
Tagalong Reporter: She's a reporter who tags along on the Normandy.

Privates Bethany Westmoreland and Sarah Campbell

A pair of Alliance soldiers who were assigned to keep watch on Joker during the Normandy's retrofits, as he and EDI had convinced everyone that she would only respond to him. When the Reapers came to Earth and the Normandy was hastily pressed back into service, they were re-assigned to guarding the entrance to the War Room instead because, in the words of Joker, it just didn't feel right throwing them out the airlock, even with his name cleared. They have frequent back-and-forths on the previous mission and the state of the war.

Blood Knight: Campbell expresses some pretty bloodthirsty views. Shoot an ex-friend? No problem, the bastard joined Cerberus, so he's dead to her anyway. She'd put a bullet in his head if she saw him. Other species ignored Earth's initial pleas for help? Once the Reapers are gone, let's declare war on them for revenge. Of course, one has to wonder how much, if any, field experience she actually has, and how much of it is just bluster.
Deadpan Snarker: Very much so; they'll usually toss banter about like Cerberus throw frags about the previous mission.
Everyone Has Standards: For all her distrustful views regarding aliens, Campbell takes exception to being compared to racist xenophobes like Cerberus.
Westmoreland: I just thought you'd be more open... you've never been fond of aliens.
Campbell: Hell yeah, I joined up to kick ass like everyone else, but I need more of a reason than "It has scales" to go kill someone. And if Cerberus is taking our dishonorable discharges and Cat-6 washouts, that's just another reason why they're not worth a damn!
Falling into the Cockpit: They were Joker's guards (in the "legal custody" sense, not the "Very Important Person" sense) before the Reaper attack, keeping watch over him while he worked with EDI^note during the Normandy's retrofit. When the Reaper attack happened, they accepted Joker and EDI's offer of a ride. Now they guard the War Room, evidently for lack of anything else to do with their skills. Joker lampshades this by saying "it didn't seem right to kick 'em out of the airlock" as the Normandy headed to pick up Shepard.
Greek Chorus: They provide commentary as Shepard goes in and out of the war room.
The Guards Must Be Crazy: Averted. They evidently check everybody before allowing them in or out of the War Room, including Shepard, the ship's commander. Every time they walk through. The Doylist explanation is that they keep the player still as the next area loads, since Shepard is scanned even if they turn back around immediately after entering. The Watson one is due to fears of indoctrination and sabotage.
- The in-universe reason given in a segment of Westmoreland/Campbell banter is the Collectors storming the Normandy and abducting the crew in the previous game, which Joker informed them of at some point prior to the escape from Earth. At least part of the reason they take their duties so seriously - incessant banter aside, anyways - is because they're aware that they're the first line of defense in case a similar incident occurs. To emphasize the point that they need to be ready for anything, they have assault rifles close at hand.
Moral Myopia: They discuss this regarding the Council refusing to help Earth. Sarah is outraged but Bethany says that if Thessia were in this position, the Alliance would look to their own interests first.
- On the whole, Westmoreland is far more circumspect, reasonable, and reserved than Campbell.
  Campbell: When this war is over, I hope we find every race that sat back as we bled and get some payback.
  Westmoreland: Yeah, that's a great plan. Follow war with more war.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Campbell and Westmoreland, respectively.
Revenge Before Reason: Campbell shows shades of this, stating that she wants payback for all the races that "sat back as [humans] bled". Westmoreland shuts her down immediately.
Shout-Out: Westmoreland and Campbell both share the same last names as two prominent U.S. Military generals: William Westmoreland (Commander of U.S. Forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968) and John F. Campbell (The final Commander of the ISAF coalition of NATO forces in Afghanistan from 2014 to 2016). Their personalities are an inversion of their namesakes however, with Westmoreland being the calmer and more rational of the two and Campbell being more of a Blood Knight.
Those Two Guys: They pass the time by idly bantering about whatever mission Shepard has just returned from.
With Us or Against Us: Campbell states that she's totally fine with killing one of her ex-friends, simply because he joined Cerberus.

Council Space

The Kid

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Vent_Kid_5637.jpg

"You can't help me."

A young boy Shepard encounters during the escape from Earth, hiding in an air vent. He refuses to come with Shepard and is killed when the Reapers fire on his shuttle.

Air Vent Escape: Shepard meets him hiding in an air vent. Deciding to keep hiding in the vent and leaving later instead of escaping with Shepard gets him killed.
My Greatest Failure: Shepard sees the boy as a symbol of all the people they could not save, and has nightmares in which they run after the boy while hearing the voices of the dead.
No Name Given: There is no information on the child's name in-game or out.
Sacrificial Lamb: His main purpose is to die so that Shepard has something to feel bad about.
Stealth Hi/Bye: Anderson calls out to Shepard. A moment later, when Shepard turns back, the boy is gone.
We Hardly Knew Ye: Shepard's only interaction with him in-game is in the beginning. That is until the Catalyst takes the kid's form somehow.

The New Council

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/15b245034efbe9441f9a0caa7408743b.jpg

Voiced by: Susan Eisenberg (Irissa), Grey DeLisle (Esheel)

If the Destiny Ascension was destroyed in the climax of the first game, the replacement Council refused to meet with you in the second due to your Cerberus ties. This is the first time you meet the other races' new representatives - Esheel (salarian), Irissa (asari), and Quentius (turian).

Foil: Quentius is a Nice Guy compared to Sparatus's Jerkass, while Irissa is even colder and more brutally honest than Tevos. Esheel, comparatively, is a mix of both. She's less visibly upset at Shepard should they choose to cure the genophage than Valern, and is quick to accept Shepard's suggestion that they use it to bolster salarian support for the war effort. However, she's also more pragmatic and Machiavellian than her predecessor, willing to allow harsher actions if it means getting the desired result.
Jerkass Has a Point: Irissa brings up the fact that Shepard sacrificed the old council to protect human interests when pondering whether to trust them, giving the New Council's mistrust of Shepard some basis. Esheel does off-handedly point out if you cure the genophage, however, that she wouldn't have her job if not for Shepard, so she can't be too indignant with their actions overall.
No Name Given: Until 3.
Pet the Dog: Despite Irissa's rather curt personality, if Thane dies protecting her from Kai Leng, she'll show up to his funeral in the Citadel DLC.
Two Girls and a Guy: Albeit having one of the "girls" from a One-Gender Race.

Adrien Victus

Primarch Adrien Victus

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/victus_119.jpg

I'm not really a "by the book" kind of guy...and I piss people off.

Decisions like these weigh heavy on me. When I was a general I could pass them up the chain of command, but now I'm all I've got.

Voiced by: Daniel Riordan

A turian general leading the defense against the Reapers attacking Palaven. General Adrien Victus is rescued from Palaven's moon, Menae, by Commander Shepard after the initial attack killed Primarch Fedorian. The line of succession in the Hierarchy is very clear: Victus is to be the new Primarch and must lend the might of the turian fleet in Shepard's battle against the Reapers.

The Chains of Commanding: He and Shepard have quite a few conversations about this.
Everyone Has Standards: While he tries to play the mediator between the krogan representative and the salarian dalatrass, he loses all patience and is outraged at the revelation that the dalatrass was holding female krogan prisoner.
A Father to His Men: Cares deeply about the well-being of his people and refuses to simply leave them to their fates.
Frontline General: He's right there on the frontlines on Menae battling the Reaper forces and is extremely reluctant to leave his men when he learns of his promotion to Primarch.
The Kirk: Along with Paragon Shepard to Linron's Spock and Wrex/Wreav's The McCoy.
The Men First: He's hesitant to leave his men behind when his presence is needed on the Normandy to coordinate an alliance.
Meaningful Name: Victus in Latin means "living" and "survive".
Military Maverick: He has this reputation thanks to his unorthodox tactics. Liara and Garrus relate one notable example from earlier in his career that emphasises his unorthodox methods; during efforts to put down an uprising by turian separatists on the planet Taetrus, Victus discovered a salarian spy ring operating on the planet. Rather than neutralise the ring, he fell back, even surrendering valuable fortifications to the rebels...but then the rebels and salarians attacked each other, allowing Victus to reclaim the fortifications without a single casualty once both sides had wiped each other out, an action that made him a hero amongst the rank and file, but got him censure from the turian high command.
"Not So Different" Remark:
- He's not a "by-the-book kind of guy" and he has a tendency to piss people off but also cares deeply about the people under his command. Sound familiar, Shepard? Fittingly, both of them play The Kirk between Dalatrass Linron and Wrex or Wreav, particularly if Shepard is a Paragon.
  Victus: You never asked to be a leader, yet your people will die if you don't step forward. We find ourselves in similar circumstances.
- Also manages to get one on Renegade Shepard, when they try calling him on his lack of transparency, he asks them if they wouldn't do the exact same with Earth, a fact Shepard has to concede to.
Outliving One's Offspring: His son sacrifices himself to disable a turian bomb planted on Tuchanka.
Reasonable Authority Figure: By far the most cooperative ally Shepard has in the first act of the game. That said, he has a tendency to be very conservative with information at the worst times, leading to a situation where his son dies defusing a bomb on Tuchanka.
Reluctant Ruler: Not particularly happy about being Primarch. Not in the least bit because he's not very high up on the chain of command, meaning he had to step over the corpses of a lot of people, including ones he liked and respected. He gains respect for Shepard as he finds that they are similar in their reluctance of their roles yet do their duties regardless.
Unexpected Successor: He is undeniably skilled and loved by his men, but his unorthodox methods lead to him being held back promotion-wise by the very conservative turian hierarchy. He finds himself as the leader of the entire Turian people due to the deaths of everyone who outranked him in the opening days of the war.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Garrus. The duo trade friendly snark back and forth on the battlefield.
Worthy Opponent: He admits to having a certain respect for the sheer power of the Reaper fleet. This doesn't stop him from being horrified and enraged by what they are doing to his people.
Victus: The strategist in me respects their brutality. The turian in me knows I'm watching the destruction of fifteen thousand years of civilization. My civilization.
You Are in Command Now: His predecessor and all between the two in the line of succession were killed not long after Palaven was besieged. He's actually very bitter about the promotion, partly because he hates politicians, and partly because a lot of people had to die in order for the line of succession to get all the way down to him.

Dalatrass Linron

A bully has few friends when he needs them the most!

Voiced by: Grey DeLisle

A leader of the salarian people. Shepard has to negotiate an alliance between her, Primarch Victus and Wrex/Wreav during the first act of the game, a task made no easier by her feelings regarding the krogan.

Can't Take Criticism: According to Wiks, if someone talks back to her, she'd have them stranded on Tuchanka with raw meat strapped to their back, then film the ensuing violent death as an example to others.
The Extremist Was Right: Convincing Commander Shepard to sabotage the genophage cure in order to secure krogan military aid under false pretenses is undeniably underhanded and vicious, but if Wreav is in charge and Eve isn't around to check him then her betrayal of the krogan ends up preventing or neutering the second Krogan Rebellions.
Face Palm: Makes one when Victus threatens "And this will be the last friendly turian face you'll ever see!", before giving up the location of the cured krogan females.
Fantastic Racism: She refuses to believe that the krogan can be anything but brutish thugs. If Wreav is leading them, there's at least some reason for her to be worried, but keeping Wrex alive makes her attitude come off even worse. Eve makes Linron sound even more foolish.
Hate Sink: Except in one very specific circumstance, she just exists solely to be wrong and act as another example of a space racist oppressing the krogan.
Hypocrite:
- She preaches that Shepard is repeating the salarians' mistake of using the krogan to fight a war, ignoring the inevitable fallout that will follow an unchecked krogan population boom. We then learn that the salarians are planning on secretly uplifting the yahg, a species even stronger, smarter, more brutal, and more vicious than the krogan.
- There's also her quote from above - her veiled threats and disdainful approach towards the krogan paint her as a bigger bully than them, especially given how she's willing to let the krogan die which would then result in the deaths of millions of turians on Palaven and leave the turians unable to fight for Earth. All because of her Fantastic Racism. Also, calling a Paragon Shepard a "bully" is a hollow accusation.
I Gave My Word: If Shepard takes her deal by sabotaging the genophage cure, Linron fully lives up to her promise of salarian assistance, and also provides falsified data proving that the cure was flawed from the get-go in case the krogan become suspicious.
Jerkass: Hides the fact that she's holding the cured female krogan, constantly impedes the alliance peace talks, and ultimately asks Shepard to sabotage the genophage cure. She never shows a second of remorse for anything that she's done.
Jerkass Has a Point: The source of Linron's behaviour is that she's worried that after the krogan help fight the Reapers, they'll then turn on the rest of the galaxy just like they did after helping to defeat the rachni. If Wrex is the leader, this worry turns out to be unfounded since Wrex is too smart to allow that to happen again (especially if Eve survives as well), and Linron comes off as prejudiced and closed-minded. But if Wreav is the leader (and especially if Eve doesn't survive), he threatens to get "payback" for the krogan the entire game. Guess what happens if the genophage is cured with Wreav as the leader? Wreav gathers a humongous krogan army just like he threatened he would. In that scenario, Linron suddenly comes off as prescient.
Laser-Guided Karma: She claims that a bully is the last person to have friends when they really need one. If the genophage is cured, she finds herself abandoned by the salarian STG and military, who aid Shepard anyway.
Moral Myopia: An extremely selfish case. In her mind she can pressure, threaten and guilt Shepard all she wants by holding promises of Salarian military aid over their head, but the second Shepard doesn't do what she wants they're a "bully" who won't have allies when they need them most.
Obstructive Bureaucrat: She puts Udina and the Citadel council to shame in this category.
Properly Paranoid: If Wreav is the leader of the krogan, her fears of a new krogan rebellion are proven to be very wise since Wreav makes it clear he intends to build a new krogan empire after the Reaper war.
Smug Smiler: She looks way too cheerful when informing Shepard about the sabotage than anyone has any right to.
Smug Snake: And how. She clearly thinks she's a magnificent bitch, but by the end of Act I, if the genophage is cured, everyone is tired of her crap and if Kirrahe survives, the entire STG goes AWOL to fight Reaper forces despite the genophage being cured. In addition, if you manage to save the salarian Councillor's life literally during the mission right after Tuchanka, the Councillor pledges a salarian fleet to the war effort anyway.
The Spock: Compared to Wrex/Wreav's The McCoy, and Victus and Paragon Shepard's Kirk. Not that they necessarily take her opinion seriously.

Padok Wiks

This is the face of a salarian needing brain bleach.

In the interests of science, how do krogan mate?

The scientist in charge of the secret base on Sur'Kesh where you meet Eve. If Mordin died in the suicide mission, Wiks then joins you on the Normandy and takes over his role in the story, synthesizing a genophage cure from Eve's tissue.

The Atoner: He helps Eve in order to make amends for a career of interfering with the natural order.
Brain Bleach: Inflicts this upon Shepard and himself. The picture you see is his reaction when pondering exactly how Krogans breed (though Eve simply gives the answer of "Very clumsily").
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: "It's the odd ones - the mutations - who move life forward."
Call to Agriculture: If he decides not to cure the Genophage.
Crisis of Faith: Due to the nature of his work.
"We all fracture in different ways. Mordin's conscience haunted him. Maelon crossed the line into barbaric experiments. And myself... I went searching for whatever gods created the rules for this unfortunate universe."
Demoted to Extra: If he's not taking Mordin's place, his presence in the story is wildly reduced, even to the point of losing 80% of conversation options during your single remaining interaction with him.
Face Death with Dignity: After fixing the sabotage and allowing the dispersal of the genophage cure, he crosses his arms behind his back, stands tall and waits for death. Unlike Mordin, he doesn't even glance at the exit behind him.
For Science!: Why he wants to know how krogan mate.
Go Out with a Smile: Dies with pride as he cures the genophage and restores the future of the krogan.
Heroic Sacrifice:
- He goes out the same way as Mordin.
- You can even prevent the heroic sacrifice the same way as you would for Mordin, if Wreav is the Urdnot leader and Eve is dead. You can then "Charm" or "Intimidate" Padok into realizing a cure isn't the best idea for now. However, unlike Mordin, if you save Padok he does not become a War Asset; he retires to a farm so he can take the secret of the genophage with him to his grave.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: His spiel about how all of our actions are being recorded for eternity "somewhere in the deep fabric of the universe" sounds a lot like describing how the game works.
The Mole: If Mordin died in the suicide mission, he lets the krogan know about the females the STG recovered. It cost him a lot of friends on Sur'Kesh, but it was the right thing to do.
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Padok is even more enthusiastic about curing the genophage than Mordin is, since Mordin is mostly doing it to atone for having modified the genophage previously. But in Padok's case, Padok thinks salarian arrogance didn't begin with the genophage, it began with uplifting the krogan in the first place, since that interfered with natural krogan evolution. Padok is far more critical of his own species than Mordin is due to Padok's own experience in "uplifting"; Mordin was mainly critical of himself and of the dalatrass.
Odd Friendship: If Padok had any doubts about the cure, meeting Eve erased them completely.
Shepard: Padok! This is a one way trip!
Padok: And has been since the day I met Eve.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Joker takes to calling him "not-Mordin" until he sacrifices himself, but talking to him reveals that he's more spiritual (and detests Gilbert & Sullivan). He's also slightly less violent than Mordin: in the Sur'Kesh mission, when a staff member refuses to release the "Eve" specimen due to protocol against doing so during emergency lockdown, Mordin decides to electrically shock the staff member into releasing the krogan, while Padok accomplishes the same thing merely by informing the staff member at gunpoint that "...the protocol has changed!".
Vitriolic Best Buds: Padok and Mordin used to be colleagues but had severe disagreements about the nature of evolution. Specifically, Padok thought evolution must have had a design in mind, while Mordin insisted that evolution occurred because of random mutation. In a drunken moment Padok punched Mordin in the face, breaking his fingers and giving Mordin a black eye. That's the "Vitriolic" part. The "Best Buds" part is because even after the punch, since they both suffered equal pain they both decided to "call it even" and go right back to drinking.
What the Hell, Hero?: If Shepard chooses not to tell Wrex/Wreav and Eve about the cure being sabotaged, then just like Mordin, Padok will intelligently figure it out and call Shepard on it. Padok adds another wrinkle, though: he's convinced that somewhere in the universe our actions are recorded for eternity, and the decision Shepard makes will be no different.
Wide-Eyed Idealist: Is utterly convinced that the krogan will prosper and be peaceful after the genophage is cured and will have a role to play sometime in the future. Judging by the images in the Extended Cut, provided that Wrex is alive, he has a point.

Lieutenant Tolan

A lieutenant in the STG encountered on Sur'Kesh, but only if Captain Kirrahe did not survive through to 3.

Fantastic Racism: Toward krogan. He thinks trying to save any of them is a waste of time.
Handshake Refusal: Shepard tries to shake his hand, but he doesn't return it, the first indicator of his general jerkiness.
Jerkass: He's just there to be rude and awful, not even showing basic niceties, and to counterpoint Kirrahe, showing players they screwed up by not saving him on Virmire. Garrus even dryly notes he'd probably fit right in with the Reapers.
Jerkass Has a Point: If Wreav is the krogan leader, EDI will admit that as unpleasant as Tolan is, Wreav isn't disproving his point.
Kick the Dog: Seriously wanted to just kill the krogan females. The sick, dying, non-combatant krogan females who'd been experimented on by a salarian scientist. The only reason he didn't was orders from higher up the food chain.
Uncertain Doom: Unlike Kirrahe, when the facility is attacked, he isn't seen fighting off Cerberus troops later, making it likely that, since he's not as capable as the major, he got taken out.
Video Game Cruelty Punishment: He is the punishment. Didn't save Kirrahe? You've got this guy instead. And you don't get covert STG support either. Enjoy.

Major Coats

The Admiral's being modest. He's the reason any of us are still alive.

Voiced by: Nicholas Boulton

The soldier in London from the very first trailer appears at the end of the game, complaining about spending three days trapped in Big Ben. He helps Anderson co-ordinate the final push.

Action Survivor: He spent three days holed up in the Westminster clock tower while Reapers were landing around him, sniping at any husk that moved. He survived that, and in most endings manages to survive the entire Reaper invasion of Earth.
Deadpan Snarker: Particularly in the trailer, where inbetween scopin'-and-dropin' husks from Big Ben, he's half-complaining that Shepard hasn't shown up with The Cavalry yet.
Friendly Sniper: Very friendly with Shepard in what little interactions they have. He spent three days in Big Ben sniping husks left and right.
Majorly Awesome: A major in the Alliance.
Sniper Rifle: His preferred weapon. Specifically, an M-29 Incisor in the trailer.
Undying Loyalty: Appears to have this to Anderson, claiming he's the only reason anyone on Earth is still alive.

Tarquin Victus

Lieutenant Tarquin Victus

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tarquin_6343.jpg

Victory, at any cost...

Voiced by: John Rubinow

The son of Primarch Adrien Victus, Lieutenant Tarquin Victus is leading a squad of turian troops on a mission to defuse a bomb near a major krogan population center. With an alliance between the krogan, turians, and humans in its infancy, it is imperative that Victus complete his mission.

Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He earns the respect of his troops the hard way: Posthumously.
Dare to Be Badass: How Shepard can inspire him to gain the loyalty of his troops, reminding him that they are turian, they swore an oath of service and should be willing to give their lives to secure the mission's success. They do not just get to quit. And it works.
Deader than Dead: No way he survived the explosion, even if he managed to dodge getting crushed by that machine.
Dying Moment of Awesome: Dies disabling the bomb on Tuchanka, redeeming himself in the eyes of his people.
Foil: He's a gender-flipped, turian one to Liara: both are the only children of high ranking, well respected figures amongst their species (Adrien Victus and Benezia) and as a result, both are expected to live up to the legacy of their parents.
Heroic Sacrifice: Falls to his death to make sure the bomb gets disabled.
It's All My Fault: He decided to play it safe and take a less dangerous route to safeguard his men, only for it to go horribly wrong when they flew into an ambush, leading to the death of most of his squad.
Nepotism: Garrus speculates he got his rank on account of his father's position in the turian military (A practice that is deeply frowned upon in turian culture). Garrus is right, but for the wrong reasons. Primarch Victus had him in charge because he was the only one the Primarch could trust with the secret mission that could result in a war between the krogan and turians if the former ever found out about it.
Redemption Equals Death: At least in turian eyes, he needed redemption. And by the spirits, he got it — maybe. Garrus notes that turians are "hard to please."
"Shaggy Dog" Story: If the player holds off following up his quest. Tarquin and his squad fail to reach the bomb in time, and it goes off, wiping out a massive chunk of the civilian krogan population.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Garrus invokes this about Tarquin, stating that great things are expected of him because he's the son of a respected war hero and comes from a long and prestigious military family.

Jondum Bau

And for the record, not everyone doubted your word about the Reapers. I just hope we're not too late.

A salarian Spectre trying to capture Kasumi Goto, until she sends him a tip that hanar diplomats are working for the Reapers. Can be killed by the diplomat's guard or saved by Commander Shepard. If saved, Bau becomes the spokesperson for a Spectre Unit willing to aid Shepard.

Ambadassador: Approaches it from the opposite direction of most examples; Bau is the official unofficial representative of the Spectres to the Council and the galaxy as a whole, so he becomes involved in politics and managing PR far more often than many of the others.
Blood from the Mouth: Happens to him if you don't have Kasumi and didn't use the Renegade interrupt.
Cutscene Incompetence: Apparently salarians become utterly paralyzed if you get them in a chokehold, because that's all it took for Zymandis' goon to stop him, a highly trained Spectre agent. Shepard has to punch the guard to get him out of it. It is sort of justified considering salarian physiology. Salarians have mostly cartilage, which makes it hard for one to get out of a chokehold or win a wrestling match, which is why they move in a catlike fashion when fighting. Bau was also distracted at the time with the virus.
Deadpan Snarker: Although it's only apparent if Kasumi is not present.
Failed a Spot Check: Doesn't notice a cloaked Kasumi hanging around near him waiting for Shepard to show up. Also completely misses the fact that Zymandis/Regards The Works Of The Enkindlers With Despair had a guard.
- This also appears when he doesn't even check to see if Kasumi is really dead. The blast throws her back, she becomes invisible and that's it. He doesn't even bother to wait for her invisibility cloak to power down to confirm her death or touch the floor where she fell to locate her body. Possibly justified in that he might figure that if she's dead, then she died a hero; if she survived, then she's still a hero this time around, and he can simply let her go this once without needing to actually say to Kasumi herself that he's doing it.
Friend on the Force: Jondum Bau lets Shepard know that unlike the Council, some of the Spectres did listen to their warnings about the Reapers and are ready to offer their help, as well as informing Shepard of some contacts in the STG who might be useful.
Heroic Sacrifice: Of great magnitude. If you don't have Kasumi and don't save him, he basically sacrifices his life to prevent the extinction of drell and hanar. If you do save him, the Citadel news report says that the Reapers totally annihilated Kahje's population.
Hero of Another Story: As a Spectre, he has plenty going on offscreen and an enduring rivalry with Kasumi.
Inspector Javert: Tasked with hunting down Kasumi. He's been after her for years. Subverted in that he really admires her. Plus, the feeling's mutual.
Killed Off for Real: If you don't have Kasumi, you have to choose between saving him or stopping the virus from disabling the hanar homeworld's defenses.
Non-Action Guy: More of a detective and technician than a straight-up fighter, though presumably he can use a gun well enough. Regardless, he's never seen in a firefight and he's nearly overpowered in hand to hand combat by a regular human thug, requiring Shepard's intervention to survive the encounter.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Unlike the Council, he and his fellow Spectres have always taken Shepard's warnings of the Reaper threat seriously. He's also one of the few Spectres that Shepard meets that neither tries to betray or kill them.
Worthy Opponent: He and Kasumi have this going. She's so good it's "almost salarian", apparently.
- The feeling is mutual: Jondum Bau is so awesome, apparently, that Kasumi is convinced that the galaxy needs more men like him. He's such a worthy opponent that she doesn't even mind him trying to arrest her. "Well, nobody's perfect."

Kahlee Sanders

We met — God, what's it been? — 20 years ago. I was there when Saren betrayed him.

Voiced by: Grey DeLisle

A first lieutenant working for the Alliance. She works at the Jon Grissom Academy as part of the Ascension Project, a school for young human biotics, although she isn't a biotic herself. She is an old acquaintance of David Anderson. She appeared in the Mass Effect novels Revelation, Ascension, Retribution and Deception before appearing in Mass Effect 3, where she helps to evacuate the students from the academy when Cerberus attacks.

Action Survivor: Of the Mass Effect novels. She only got relatively basic combat training, as she served in a non-combat role, but she ends up being thrown into several firefights where she holds her own. When she shows up in the games, she's first seen popping up from behind a desk and shooting an Assault Trooper in the face a couple times with a shotgun as he hacks open a door.
Batter Up!: In Ascension, killed a batarian pirate by swinging a heavy rifle at his head like a bat (she even says the trope name before doing so). She ended up beating his head in so hard that the rifle broke.
Canon Immigrant: Was a major character in the novels, before having a minor appearance in the third game.
A Father to His Men: She is devoted to protecting her students at Grissom Academy when Cerberus attacks.
Friends with Benefits: In the Citadel DLC, it's revealed that while they've never gotten serious, the two have maintained a casual relationship over the years. She was apparently present when Anderson was answering questions for his biography, and she left her overnight bag in his bathroom.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: The books specifically mention her natural blonde hair, as such a feature is very rare in the future.
Older Than They Look: She's 47 in Mass Effect 3, but she looks, at worst, in her early 30s, if not her late 20s. Though in the game's setting, humans last longer and age slower due to medical advances, making it justifiable.
The One That Got Away: Both Anderson and Sanders express a mutual desire to rekindle their former romance after the war is over.
Reasonable Authority Figure: She knows how to deal with Jack as her commander. That says enough.
Shotguns Are Just Better: She's seen wielding a Scimitar shotgun. In the books, she usually uses a pistol.
Uncertain Doom: If the player avoids doing the Grissom Academy mission, she and everyone else there is either captured (and then experimented on) or killed. It's never made clear which befalls her.

Captain Riley

Captain Lee Riley

The Reapers seem intent on taking it down. Not on my watch. We will hold the line.

Voiced by: Vanessa Marshall

A N7 graduate and captain in the Systems Alliance Navy, Admiral Hackett regards her as one of the best engineers in the fleet. She commands a mixed species squad of soldiers sent to aid Shepard in securing a fuel facility on Cyone.

Action Girl: Being accepted into the N7 program automatically makes her one.
The Captain: Leads her own engineering team.
Determinator: She is fully prepared to hold the fuel facility against all hostiles, and while she is realistic about their odds, she is not daunted by them. Considering the amount of hell the Reapers have thrown at her team so far, she's more or less kept her squad together and the plant intact by sheer willpower, because she will be damned if it falls on her watch. This also applies to her squad by proxy.
The Engineer: A damned good one, too.
The Faceless: Due to the circumstances of her appearance, the player never sees her without her helmet.
A Father to His Men: She cares about the soldiers under her command and has the unquestioned loyalty of her team, which is made all the more impressive considering it's a multi-species squad. She also sacrifices herself to save them if Shepard does not send someone to provide support.
Hero of Another Story: She's basically a cameo of one the multiplayer characters.
Heroic Sacrifice: Gives her life to save her squad if Shepard does not send a squad member to help them.
Hold the Line: Word-for-word, even. She will die doing it without Shepard's help.
The Men First: She is more concerned about her squad's safety than her own.
Overranked Soldier: She'd be this as a Marine even today, but the codex mentions that the Alliance's fictional ranking system places "Captain" as the highest rank below the general/admiral ranks, making it equivalent to a full colonel in the USMC today. She definitely shouldn't be leading a simple 4-man squad on the front lines.
Training from Hell: She's an N7. 'Nuff said.

Garret Bryson

Dr. Garret Bryson

Voiced by: David Sobolov

A Systems Alliance researcher and the head of Task Force Aurora, a group commissioned by Hackett to investigate the Reapers, and father of Ann Bryson. Has spent years studying the truth behind the Reaper-killer known as "Leviathan," only to be killed for it.

Agent Mulder: His actual job with the Alliance is to discover the truth behind myths and legends.
Collector of the Strange: By the very nature of his job, he has a lot of unusual artifacts in his lab, including a piece of Sovereign, the living head of a husk and a skeleton of a plesiosaur.
Cool Old Guy: Has this vibe.
Dramatically Missing the Point: He invokes this trope in regards to the batarians who recovered the 'Leviathan of Dis' (the carcass of a Reaper found on the planet Jartar), noting that the batarians were so hasty to reverse-engineer from the Reaper (regardless of the risks) that they never stopped to wonder about the little matter of what killed it in the first place.
He Knows Too Much: Why the Leviathan had him killed.
Ignored Expert: He'd long-since uncovered numerous evidence that pointed to a race of Precursor Killers, but it was only after Shepard encountered the Prothean Beacon and the attack by Sovereign, that the Alliance brass began to take it seriously.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He's on-screen for at most two minutes before he's killed off.
When You Coming Home, Dad?: Ann describes him as being distant and extremely passionate about his work (According to her, he almost missed her high school graduation because he was out on a dig, and showed up at the ceremony still wearing his field gear). However, despite his workaholic tendencies, it's clear that he deeply cared about his daughter.

Ann Bryson

Dr. Anneliese Bryson

Voiced by: Fay Masterson

A Systems Alliance researcher and member of Task Force Aurora, a group commissioned by Hackett to investigate the Reapers, and daughter of Garret Bryson.

Demonic Possession: By Leviathan.
Disappeared Dad: A variation; her father was always in her life, and it's clear that Ann loved him, but she relates that he was absent for a lot of her childhood and that at times, she resented him for making her feel like an inconvenience growing up while he was focused on his work. He showed up to her graduation in a still-grimy archeological work outfit.
Killed Off for Real: Can happen if you don't save her in time.
Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Once she finishes with finding Leviathan assuming she lives through the experience, she goes to work on the Crucible. The first problem she tackles? Synchronization of the Crucible's energy bursts.
Parting-Words Regret: She laments that her last conversation with her father was an argument over something petty.
Possession Burnout: If Shepard stops Vega from severing her connection to Leviathan, she dies from the strain.
Ship Tease: Has some with Vega.
Shout-Out: From The X-Files: "The truth is out there." It was the show's myth-arc tag-line. Doesn't help that her dad is an Agent Mulder.
Take Up My Sword: If recruited by Shepard to continue her father's research.
Willing Channeler: Chooses to be possessed by Leviathan so that EDI can locate its whereabouts.

Alex Garneau

One of Dr. Bryson's top researchers, he was chasing down leads on Task Force Aurora while they searched for the Leviathan.

Dead Person Impersonation: The man you meet is not Garneau, the real one has been dead for a week.
He Knows Too Much: Leviathan forces him to blow himself up with a grenade, taking out the artifact and some husks.
The Unfought: Like Dr. Core, he runs and is impossible to catch up too.
Voice of the Legion: As does anyone under Leviathan's control

Mel

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_masseffect3_2021_05_30_12_39_50.png

An Alliance Marine found on the Citadel who is on shore leave with her squad. Despite being a background character at most, she has a number of amusing lines and the fanbase is quite fond of her.

Badass Bookworm: Her profile reveals that she's an N7 Demolisher Engineer. Her handle is "De-Mel-Isher".
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She's pretty eccentric and crude, but she's not an N7 for nothing.
Covert Pervert: Completely and totally averted. She's very openly perverted.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Though she is a wild partier and extremely crass, interactions with her teammates in Profiles in Courage indicates that she is an N7 Demolisher.
Deadpan Snarker: Check out her reaction to her male friends being intimidated by her personality because she's a woman.
"I'm a woman? Holy crap! I'm a woman! Where did these tits come from? Are they infiltrator tits? Could there be more of them hiding?"
Elites Are More Glamorous: She's an N7, considered an elite among elites.
Extreme Omnisexual: She really likes asari, especially ones who indulge her commando fetish. Adores all things raunchy, as long as there's a hanar hanging off of it. In Profiles in Courage she gets a date with Thax, a krogan warlord.
Hard-Drinking Party Girl: She wants to get smashed, then watch some good asari strippers dance.
The Lad-ette: She intends to find the raunchiest thing you can imagine and hang a hanar off it.
One of the Boys: Seeks this honorific amongst her squadmates.
Screw the War, We're Partying: She intends to cut loose on shore leave from fighting the Reapers. Really, really loose.
Semper Fi: A Marine. A dirty minded, Hard-Drinking Party Girl of a Marine, but a Marine nonetheless.

Falere

One of Samara's daughters. Like her older sisters, Falare is an Ardat-Yakshi. Unlike Morinth, Falare agreed to isolate herself along with her sister Rila.

Action Survivor: She has no actual fighting ability (because it would be damn stupid to teach Ardat-Yakshi how to fight). She only survived the Reaper attack on the monastery by hiding.
The Baby of the Bunch: The youngest of the three sisters, and generally the most vocal in her opinions.
Brutal Honesty: When Samara announced her plan to become a Justicar, Falere did not mince words about how this would impact her and Rila.
Calling the Old Man Out: She was not happy when she learned that Samara planned to become a Justicar and told her so.
Can't Have Sex, Ever: As an Ardat-Yakshi, and one of only three with the most severe form no less, Falere would kill anyone she melds with, and willingly isolated herself to avoid temptation.
Disappeared Dad: It is implied in Lair of the Shadow Broker that Falere's father died prior to her diagnosis.
The Dutiful Daughter: Unlike Morinth, Falere agreed to every legal restriction placed on Ardat-Yakshi and is clearly grateful when Samara expresses pride for this.
Face Death with Dignity: If Shepard decides to kill her, she just calmly accepts it.
The Fettered: As she points out to Samara, she's spent four hundred years in a monastery, but if she really, really wanted out, there wouldn't be much stopping her from trying. Judging by Morinth, there wouldn't be much stopping her from succeeding, either.
Hot-Blooded: Falere seems to be the most outspoken of the three sisters and acknowledges that her lack of emotional control is the reason why she hasn't had the chance to reintegrate into asari society.
I Choose to Stay: At the end of the mission of Leuss, she can opt to stay with the remains of the monastery, especially since it will prevent any Justicar from trying to kill her.
Locked Away in a Monastery: Falere willingly submitted to monastic seclusion so she would not be tempted to meld with anyone. She has also not sought permission to reintegrate into asari society due to her lack of emotional control.
Not Helping Your Case: If Samara doesn't make it, then Falere rages at Shepard for showing no regard for Rila's sacrifice, before calming down and admitting that while she isn't a danger, her lack of control is proving the justification for sending the commandos to the monastery right, and giving Shepard all the excuse they need to finish the job.
Out with a Bang: Were Falere to meld with anyone, she would fatally hemorrhage her partner's brain, and has isolated herself to avoid doing so. Falere is one of only three Ardat-Yakshi with the most extreme form of their condition; the other two are her older sisters.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: She clearly yearns for Samara's approval and is visibly grateful when Samara expresses pride in Falere following the monastery's rules.
What the Hell, Hero?: If Samara is present on the Leuss mission, she's pissed at her and Shepard for only showing up to deal with the Reapers, not to help the monastery's occupants. She doesn't do this if Samara isn't present.
Youngest Child Wins: If Shepard allows it, Falere is the only one of her sisters to survive the Reaper War.

Rila

One of Samara's daughters, and an Ardat-Yakshi like her sisters. Along with her younger sister Falere, Rila willingly isolated herself to avoid temptation.

Beware the Quiet Ones: Rila is the most softspoken sister but resisted indoctrination and conversion into a Banshee for a remarkable length of time.
Big Sister Instinct: In her last moments, Rila's main focus is to make sure her youngest sister can escape safely. She was even able to briefly resist indoctrination.
Black Eyes of Evil: While under the effect of indoctrination, Rila's eyes go black.
Brainwashed and Crazy: By the time Shepard visits the Monastery, Rila has been indoctrinated and begun conversion into a Banshee.
Cannot Spit It Out: In their last call with Samara, Falere believes that Rila wanted to say that she loves their mother but couldn't bring herself to.
Can't Have Sex, Ever: Rila is an Ardat-Yakshi and posesses the most severe form of the condition, which would cause her to kill anyone she melds with. She has chosen isolation to prevent that.
Defiant to the End: Even when indoctrinated and undergoing transformation into a Banshee, Rila was able to resist and destroyed the Reapers' largest source of Banshees.
Disappeared Dad: Lair of the Shadow Broker implies by mention of a memorial sphere that Rila's father died prior to her diagnosis.
The Dutiful Daughter: Unlike Morinth, Rila voluntarily submitted to the legal restrictions placed on Ardat-Yakshi.
The Fettered: Same as her sister, but more so.
Heroic Sacrifice: Rila sacrificed herself to destroy the largest collection of Banshees and prevent herself from becoming one.
Heroic Willpower: Rila is one of the incredibly few individuals to resist advanced indoctrination, enabling her to save her family and Shepard's squad.
Icy Blue Eyes: Rila inherited Samara's incredibly bright blue eyes, helping to emphasize her position as The Quiet One among her family.
Locked Away in a Monastery: Rila voluntary submitted to monastic seclusion so she would not be tempted to meld with anyone and has not sought reintegration into asari society.
Out with a Bang: Anyone Rila melded with would suffer a fatal brain hemorrhage, so she has isolated herself to resist temptation. Rila is one of three Ardat-Yakshi to possess the most severe form of their condition, the other two being her sisters.
The Quiet One: Unlike her sisters, Rila generally remains in the background and keeps her own feelings close to the vest.
Taking You with Me: She was able to destroy the largest stock of Banshees by blowing herself up.

Non-Council Space

"Eve"

"Eve", aka Urdnot Bakara

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eve11_6616.jpg

You can stay here and let old wounds fester, as krogan have always done. Or you can fight the enemy you were born to destroy, and win a new future for our children. I choose to fight!

Wisdom comes from pain, and the genophage has made us very wise.

Voiced by: Lani Minella

The sole survivor of Maelon's experiment to cure the genophage, she represents the future of the krogan people. Shepard must protect her from a Cerberus onslaught and safely escort her to Tuchanka.

Babies Ever After: If Wrex is the leader, and the genophage is cured, then Wrex will let you know Eve is pregnant in an email and tell you about it during the final mission.
Damsel out of Distress: She spends most of a mission locked in a pod, being escorted and protected by Shepard and co. But once she gets free, the first thing she does is yank a shotgun out of an ally's hands and blast two Cerberus troopers to kingdom come. She even wields it one-handed.
"Eve": I can handle myself, Wrex./I'm not your property, Wreav.
Wrex: (Beat) Women.
Dead Guy Junior: If she and Wrex have a child together, she decides to name it Mordin after the doctor who made it possible. Wrex is less sold on the idea.
Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally. One example if your Shepard referred to her as "too valuable" to lose earlier:
Shepard: Are you okay?
Eve: Your "bargaining chip" is still alive.
- Another incident is after Mordin sings to her, she says she really had to twist his arm to get him to sing.
Determinator: The trial for female krogan to become a Shaman involves being sealed in a cave with enough food to last them a week, leaving them to either dig themselves out or starve to death. Eve did so using a simple crystal as a chisel to dig her way out, which she gives to Shepard if they befriend her.
"Eve": Take it as a reminder, Commander, in the darkest hour, there is always a way out.
Does Not Like Men: Krogan men. She has no problem with males of other species. Speak with her further, and she reveals that her dislike is more out of frustration than hatred, and admits that, with the Genophage, there is little else for them to do other than shoot someone over a petty grudge. She wishes that they could be more.
Driven to Suicide: Discussed: Eve admits that she was left suicidal after her first stillborn, and states that while she overcame it, plenty of her fellow female krogan have killed themselves because they couldn't cope with the grief caused by being unable to carry infants to full term.
Shepard: If you don't mind me asking, what is it like, living with the genophage?
"Eve": I knew sisters who could not bear the shame of being infertile. They would wander off into the wastelands, hoping a thresher maw would kill them and end their torment.
Shepard: Did the thought ever cross your mind?
"Eve": Yes.
The Faceless: About the only part of her you really see are her eyes. The rest is covered up by the robe she wears.
Firing One-Handed: With a shotgun. Given that she's a krogan, she's got the size to support it.
Hidden Depths: She's contemplative, philosophical and damn near poetic, with no illusions about why krogan hold the status (or lack thereof) they do in the galaxy. For a Living Macguffin, she's one of the most insightful characters in the series.
The High Queen: Basically takes this role, as by far the most powerful and influential female krogan on Tuchanka.
Hooked Up Afterwards: Implied to have done so with Wrex, who mentions she's pregnant by the time you take back Earth. Wrex jokes that it's one of the perks of his being clan chief, even if she does want to name the firstborn child after Mordin.
Incurable Cough of Death: Depending on the choice you made regarding Maelon's data. If she's coughing, she's screwed no matter what you do.
Killed Off for Real: If Maelon's data was not saved in Mass Effect 2, she will die, and if you don't stop the turian bomb, she'll die in the resulting explosion.
Lady of War: If Wreav is the Urdnot leader and the genophage is cured, a healthy "Eve" will command her own army to face off against Wreav. Bad. Ass.
Like an Old Married Couple: Her above interaction with Wrex has this vibe. There are subtle hints that Wrex and Bakara are/were married, and separated over a disagreement.
Living MacGuffin: She is the only test subject of Maelon's to survive, the only krogan to ever be cured of the genophage and live. This makes her insanely valuable, as a cure can be synthesized based on her new-found immunity — which makes her a target for Cerberus, who don't want the krogan to join the battle against the Reapers.
Lysistrata Gambit: This is what she plans for Wreav after the genophage is cured.
Meaningful Name: Invoked; because she did not share her true name, Mordin chose to call her "Eve", as he believes that human mythology would be appropriate, considering that she's currently on a human vessel.
Men Use Violence, Women Use Communication: Prevalent throughout her story arc, where she's easily the most pacifistic krogan and most sharply critical of her own species too. Wrex lampshades this. Also subverted in that, as Wrex adds, they still do have a temper.
- Discusses this with Female Shepard, noting she's glad to see that humans treat their women with the respect and honor they deserve.
Morality Chain: If Wrex is krogan leader, he only needs a bit of prodding from her. If Wreav is leader, most of the cast agree she's the only thing keeping him from repeating history. If she dies, leaving Wreav unchecked, you can convince Mordin/Padok to sabotage the genophage cure for the sake of galactic stability.
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: She believes that while the genophage was an atrocity, the fact that the krogan had already nuked their own planet prior to the Rebellions, and that in its wake, they turned from a once-proud race to a raving band of mercenaries who resort to petty thuggery and barbarism to solve problems and claim 'honor', means she can see why it was done.
Odd Friendship: With Mordin, and Shepard if you're kind to her. She even says she wants to name her first born child after Mordin, in memory of his sacrifice.
- If Mordin died in the Omega-4 Relay and was replaced by Padok Wiks, she develops an odd friendship with him, too. She even tells Padok how krogan get their names, although she might be joking, we can't be sure: apparently the adult krogan drink a special kind of juice and start belching, and the first belch that actually sounds like a name is then attached to the baby krogan. When Padok asks for clarification, she confirms that yes, indeed, Wrex/Wreav was also a belch and it's not a good idea to tell them that.
Only Known by Their Nickname: She's the female clan's shaman; like the Urdnot shaman who oversaw Grunt's rite, she explains that she gave up her name the day she took the title. The Normandy team takes to calling her Eve.
- However, complete the Tuchanka arc (by doing all missions, keeping her alive, and releasing the cure) and Eve will deem Shepard a friend worthy of knowing her true name: Urdnot Bakara.
Radish Cure: "Eve" likes Wrex, but does think he's a bit too horny for his own good. If everything goes well, how does she deal with it? She encourages all the excited lady krogan who want the great hero of their race to father their first new batch of children once the Genophage is cured, until, by the Citadel DLC, poor Wrex is applying ice-packs to his sore and aching quad and sneaking out of his own house through the bathroom just to escape them.
Reasonable Authority Figure: By far the most reasonable krogan in the series, and one of the best in the whole series. Even moreso than Wrex.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Although Wrex is very Blue compared to the typical krogan, he is still Red to Eve. Mordin considers her to be a good moderating influence on Wrex.
Rousing Speech: Very capable of making these. It's actually quite fascinating and inspiring listening to her dialogue.
Eve: ENOUGH! You can stay here and let old wounds fester as krogan have always done... or you can fight the enemy you were born to destroy, and win a new future for our children! I choose to fight. Who will join me?!
Sole Survivor: Out of all the test subjects, she is the only one who survived the process.
Stop Being Stereotypical: She will deliver a speech of this theme to her people on Tuchanka before the krogan armies hit the Shroud, telling them that their picking fights with each other over petty grudges is doing them no favours with anyone.
Tsundere: Toward Wrex. The "tsun" part is that Eve thinks Wrex is too arrogant and big-headed for his own good, and Wrex is a "mutant" to boot. The "dere" part is that Eve also thinks Wrex being a "mutant" is a good thing: she thinks Wrex is "the best thing to ever happen to the krogan." But don't tell Wrex she said that (you can tell Wrex that she called him a "mutant", though).
Women Are Wiser: Garrus lampshaded that female Krogan are the species' true brain. Liara even compared Eve with an asari matriarch. ^note

Urdnot Dagg

To be hated by ones so powerful speaks well of you. My krogan would destroy anything we face to earn such a reputation.

Appears as the leader of Aralakh company if Grunt was never recruited, not accepted into Clan Urdnot, or died during the suicide mission.

Asskicking Leads to Leadership: How he became the leader of Aralakh Company.
Blood Knight: Enough that he assumes Shepard's one as well. In fact, he's jealous that Shepard has Reapers personally looking out for their death.
Enemies Equals Greatness: Like most krogan, a firm believer in this. This is why he has so much respect for Shepard, despite the fact that they are a soft human. Anyone who has enemies as powerful as the Reapers has earned it without question.
Foreshadowing: When you can personally overlook a fight between the krogan and rachni, you'll notice that Dagg has a harder time fighting them than Grunt would. This is the clue that he won't survive the mission.
Heroic Sacrifice: Held off the Ravagers to keep them off Shepard.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Gets repeatedly stabbed by Ravagers as he dies.
In Love with Your Carnage: Knowing Shepard's reputation and the enemies that they have made, he is very enthusiastic about fighting alongside them, and is even a little jealous of that reputation.
In the Back: How he dies as unlike Grunt, he gets immediately overwhelmed.
Killed Off for Real: His death is unavoidable.
Nice Guy: For a Blood Knight. Compare with Wreav who treats Shepard with a grudging respect at best, whereas Dagg is clearly eager for a chance to fight alongside Shepard. He's even politer towards Shepard than Grunt is.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: More or less, for Grunt.

Jorgal Thurak

A member of Clan Jorgal who works for the Blood Pack. Appears in Mass Effect 3 if Wrex was killed on Virmire.

Fantastic Racism: He's still bitter about the genophage, so he immediately objects to Padok or Mordin (whichever goes with you) accompanying Shepard once he sees them. He even (subtly) called his boss a dumbass for trusting salarians, even though Padok and Mordin are working to cure the genophage.
Hair-Trigger Temper: He was this close to shooting his own boss before Eve forced him not to.
Killed Off for Real: He's sucked beneath the earth in his Tomkah by Kalros, the same way Wreav would've if Wrex was in charge.
Jerkass: Dude's pretty damn unpleasant.
Smug Super: He thinks his clan has more "wisdom" and "experience" than Clan Urdnot, even though Urdnot is the one in charge.
Stupid Evil: For all of Wreav's many flaws, he at least has the rationality to set aside the grudges he plans to avenge until the giant metal squid monsters are all gone. Thurak doesn't even have that going for him.

Kalros

Kalros, Mother of All Thresher Maws

"If Tuchanka has a temper, Kalros is it. Nobody's ever faced her and survived."

—Wrex's description

A colossal Thresher Maw that has roamed the wastelands of Tuchanka for more than a thousand years. When the salarians set up the atmosphere-replenishing Shroud tower during the Uplifting, they built it near an arena dedicated to Kalros to discourage any vandals or saboteurs. It worked — even after the Shroud was used to spread the genophage, no-one dared go near it... until Shepard and co. needed it to spread the cure.

Always a Bigger Fish: The first two games make us believe that the Krogan are Tuchanka's bigger fish. Mass Effect 3 introduce Kalros and show us who's really the ultimate fish on the planet. She proves this to the Reaper Destroyer when Shepard summons her to 'distract' it.
Brick Joke: Kalros is a living example. An early Codex entry mentions that one way to take out Reapers is to execute a precision lightspeed jump behind them and attack from the rear, since their sheer size means they can't turn around quickly without lowering their mass to an extent which leaves them highly vulnerable. This is exactly how Kalros takes out the Destroyer on Tuchanka after an initial head-on assault fails.
Cool Versus Awesome: She fights a freaking Reaper. And wins.
Curb-Stomp Battle: When she enters the fray, it’s the Reaper that finds itself horrendously outmatched, and although it manages to fend her off momentarily, she just blindsides it, wrestles it to the ground with ease, and by then it’s all over for the Reaper.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Yes she did.
The Dreaded: Even krogan try to stay out of her way. Garrus puts it best:
Garrus: When the krogan name a thresher maw, you know you're in trouble. They don't think anyone's going to kill it.
Gaia's Vengeance: Wrex invokes this.
Wrex: If Tuchanka has a temper, Kalros is it.
Kaiju: It's simply enormous. The surfaced part of its body alone towers over the Reaper Destroyer, putting that section of its body at about 200 meters long. Most of it is still underground!
- Kalros is a kaiju even by Thresher Maws' standards. A Thresher Maw can grow in excess of 30 meters above the ground, with a body nearly twice that size beneath the surface,^note That's nearly 100 meters long. meaning that Kalros' surfaced part alone is over twice of a common Thresher Maw's full length.
Let's You and Him Fight: Let's sic the mother of all thresher maws on a Reaper.
Monster Progenitor/Mother of a Thousand Young: She's said to be the mother from whom all thresher maws spawn. This is probably an exaggeration. We think^note. It may be true for all the ones on Tuchanka though; the place is apparently crawling with them.
Nominal Importance: The sole aversion among the Thresher Maws. See The Dreaded above.
Really 700 Years Old: Kalros is very old. For instance, the Shroud was built by the salarians during the Rachni Wars, 2000 years before the first game, in an arena dedicated to Kalros' glory, and we see a picture of Kalros in the ruins of a city called The City of the Ancients^note. Both places are built before the Krogan nuked Tuchanka 4000 years ago, meaning that Kalros had been around for at least that long.
Sand Worm: The biggest one we've ever seen.
Summon Bigger Fish: Eve's response to finding a Reaper on Tuchanka? Suggest that Shepard summon all the fury of the planet Tuchanka in the form of a gargantuan acid-spewing sand worm to deal with it. The best part? It works.
Super-Persistent Predator: Acording to Mordin, Kalros seems too much fixated in chasing the vehicle he, Eve and Wrex/Wreav are driving to his own liking.
Mordin: Hurry Shepard, Kalros is a step too persistent.
We Need a Distraction: The entire reason Kalros was summoned was just to distract the Reaper so that Mordin/Padok could get to the tower. Judging by the reactions afterwards, it's implied that nobody expected Kalros to win.'
World's Strongest Man: Kalros is undeniably the most powerful creature on Tuchanka by a gigantic margin. She's one of very few entities in the entire franchise capable of fighting a Reaper one on one and not just win but Curbstomp it.

Geth V.I.

We are not Legion.

Voiced by: D.C. Douglas

A virtual intelligence created by the geth to study the Reapers. It is constructed from a backup copy of Legion, and replaces it if it was never activated, slain in the suicide mission, or was sold to Cerberus.

Badass Boast: When Tali pleads the Geth V.I. not upload the code, it replies:
Geth V.I.: Your people began this war. We will end it.
Catchphrase: "We are not Legion." Late in the game, Shepard can encouragingly reply, "You are today."
Defrosting Ice Queen: If you side with the geth against the quarians, the Geth V.I. will finally admit that the geth's suspicions of other organics, and by extension Shepard, were misplaced.
Heroic Sacrifice: To finish the upload of the Reaper code to the rest of the geth.
Jerkass: The thing is a lot ruder and colder than Legion.
Jerkass Has a Point: If Legion is dead and this thing has replaced it, you can't achieve peace between the geth and quarians, so you're forced to wipe out one or the other. If you choose to wipe out the geth to save the quarians, then the VI will angrily remark (while trying to throttle you) that the geth were right to distrust organics. He also responds to Tali's begging to not upload the code with a harsher — but correct — retort: "Your people began this war. We will end it."
Killed Off for Real: Its death can't be avoided.
Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: If Legion was handed over to Cerberus, then no-one on the Normandy trusts this weird, speaking geth they've met. While it's blunter than Legion, and not as trusting of organics, in the end it is still on Shepard's side, the irreconciliable antagonism towards the Quarians notwithstanding.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Legion's. Depending on your playthrough, it's implied it's the same platform (returned to the Perseus Veil) but different software (or possibly the backup of what was sent) uploaded into it. Then again, it is pretty different in some very important ways, since there can't be any peace when it is present.
What the Hell, Hero?: Mildly, if on the receiving end of Shepard's when they ask when both sides are going to trust one another, the VI's response is quite straightforward: When the quarians aren't trying to wipe out its entire species.

Bray

The great Commander Shepard. And me without my autograph book...

Aria's batarian bodyguard and lieutenant. Seems to be her second in command throughout the Omega DLC.

Butt-Monkey: "I always get the crap details."
- Call-Back:
  Shepard: You always get these crap details, Bray?
  Bray: (chuckles) Heh. Not this time. You've got a galaxy to save. Let's get you off this rock.
Deadpan Snarker: How he copes with his crap details.
The Dragon: To Aria, from the look of it.
Nice Guy: Easily the friendliest, most laid-back batarian you'll ever meet. He even gets along well with Shepard, who blew up an entire batarian system and potentially had some bad blood between them and the batarians already during the Battle of Torfan if given the Ruthless service record.
"Just remember that there's at least one batarian in the galaxy who doesn't want you dead."
Punch-Clock Villain: Like most of Omega's lawless citizens involved with Aria.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Anto, who died between the second and the third game.

Ahz

Aria's salarian hacker who helps direct her forces during the Omega DLC.

The Cracker: What Aria pays him to do.
The Evil Genius: Of Aria's command staff, hacking into Omega's systems to aid her and running the logistics parts of the operation.
Mission Control: Alerts Aria's forces to battle updates and helps guide Shepard and Aria through their missions.

Captain Jarral

Aria's asari fleet commander who commands Omega's raiding fleet during and after the attack on the station.

Big Damn Heroes: When heading to rendezvous with an Alliance force after taking back Omega, Jarral was warned to stay away when the human forces came under heavy attack by the Reapers. Instead, she led the fleet in rescuing them and has since earned a reputation for diving straight into battle.
Blood Knight: Her description in the war fleet's asset entry describes her as "cheerfully ruthless" and she has no problem charging her fleet straight into heavy combat.
The Brute: Serves as commander of Aria's fleet and her main tactics seem to be attack head on until the enemy dies, which proves surprisingly effective.
The Captain: Commands Fusion, the flagship of Aria's fleet.

Jona Sederis

I love holding all the cards. Even in here, you must deal with me - I have all the power!

Voiced by: Susan Eisenberg

The founder and leader of Eclipse. Likely the most Ax-Crazy of them all. Met via video-conference while she's in a holding cell on the Citadel in Mass Effect 3.

Asskicking Leads to Leadership: As an asari commando who founded the organization.
Ax-Crazy: Very much so, as shown in 3. According to Commander Bailey, time in jail has only made her even worse.
Bailey: She was a ruthless sadist before she got caught. Imprisonment has only cracked the nut off the shell.
Dark Action Girl: As a former asari commando.
Enemy Mine: Very, very reluctantly with Shepard.
Eviler than Thou: Aria knows that she's insane.
Aria: (via mail) Sederis is one crazy bitch. Fortunately, she's our crazy bitch.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Even the Asari councilor (under Aria's instruction) is pressing for her release. She thinks Shepard's under her thumb, too.
Smug Snake: She openly threatens Shepard via vid-screen, convinced their only option is to release her and that Sayn doesn't have the guts to defy her. In reality, it costs you absolutely nothing to leave her in jail or have her killed; there's only one disadvantage — that Shepard has to do a little more running about, which is an inconvenience at worst.

Sayn

A salarian Eclipse officer, and Jona's current second-in-command. Met during Mass Effect 3 on the Citadel orchestrating a means to extradite his boss Jona from C-Sec detention.

The Dragon: To Jona. Though he can take over at Shepard's persuasion.
Enemy Mine: As with all of the other mercenary bosses, he and Jona form one with Shepard.
Extreme Doormat: If anything that both Aria and Jona say are any indication, then Sayn is indeed a "weak-willed toady". Aria doesn't mind - she likes having an easily-controlled puppet.
Glad You Thought of It: A Renegade Shepard who doesn't want a loose cannon like Sederis can get him to "suggest" killing her and taking over.
Punny Name: Describe her boss if you don't get it.
The Starscream: Shepard can talk him into taking over Eclipse from Jona.

The Leviathans (Leviathan DLC Spoilers)

The Leviathans

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/me3_leviathan_creature.png

The darkness cannot be breached.

Voiced by: Anthony Skordi

An aquatic alien race as elusive as they are powerful, the Leviathans were all but unknown until, in the eve of the Reaper invasion, a scientist started poking around. After said scientist is murdered in front of Shepard, the commander follows the thread until they find the Leviathan hideout.

One of the (if not the) oldest race in the universe, the Leviathans used their indoctrination powers to enthrall several races all over the galaxy, protecting and caring for them in exchange for "tribute" and worship. After realizing their thralls ended up always going to war with the synthetic lifeforms they created, the Leviathans built the Catalyst to prevent said wars. The Catalyst deduced that organic lifeforms were to blame and should be wiped out, including its masters. Most of the Leviathans were killed when the Catalyst rebelled and, after witnessing the creation of Harbinger from Leviathan remains, the survivors went into hiding and spent every Harvest observing what the Reapers were doing and carefully eliminating everyone and everything that could lead to them, until now...

Abusive Precursors: They claim to be (and most likely are) the first and most powerful organic species ever to evolve in the Milky Way. That and their prodigious mind control abilities went to their head and led to them enthralling countless civilizations and entire "lesser" species all across the galaxy, demanding tribute and worship while giving nothing in return. The Leviathan Shep talks to mentions that those species were "cared for", but only because tribute does not flow from a dead race, and it doesn't go into detail how exactly their alleged care looked like. Well, and then they got this brilliant idea of creating the Catalyst to stop their servants from wiping themselves out, something that turned into the most horrible backfire in galactic history by giving rise to the Reapers. So, the whole mess the galaxy's currently in (and has been for at least one billion years, costing lives beyond counting) is essentially the result of their overblown god complex.
A God Am I: They don't outright call themselves such, but the signs are clearly there, considering how they view all other species as nothing but tools, demand tribute and worship, alledgedly "bent the galaxy to their every will" and even created their own version of the Devil that eventually and royally kicked their asses. On the other hand, they really are immensely powerful, even in their current state and with their species reduced to a handful of survivors hiding out in remote corners of the galaxy.
Always a Bigger Fish: When they decide it's Reaper-killing time, they take down one of them and a small band of husks in a single attack. While not moving from the oceanic trench where they hide.
Badass Boast: While almost all their lines reflect how powerful they are, they let out this gem after Shepard convinces them to take the fight to the Reapers:
Leviathan: We were the first, the apex race. We will survive. And the Reapers who trespass on this world will understand our power. They will become our slaves. Today, they pay their tribute in blood!
Continuity Nod: For the Leviathan of Dis, an "organic spacecraft" that crashed in batarian space and whose existence is fiercely denied by the Hegemony. It turns out that the Leviathan was a crashed Reaper... And guess who shot it down?
Didn't See That Coming: As a species, they seem to have this as a recurring problem. Their "solution" to organic life being wiped out by synthetics? Produced the Reapers. Leave their relics in the galaxy to Enthrall servants? That just leaves a trail that eventually leads right towards them. They try to control Shepard to act as their servant after they're found? Doesn't work. There's even a potential future one in their ambitions to reconquer the galaxy: Now the galaxy knows they exist, knows where they are and knows how their most powerful ability works.
Eldritch Abomination: They look like organic Reapers and have the same powers and size as them. This is not a coincidence.
Evil Sounds Deep: They have an extremely deep voice similar to the Reapers', and although they're not actively malicious, they consider all races but their own as nothing more than tools to serve their needs and worship them while they're at it. The first thing they do when Shep pays them a visit is try to make them their thrall despite of their knowledge that they're an anomaly and probably the first and only chance to stop the cycle of extinction forever.
Foil: The Thorian seems to be the plant-life version of the race, with the same arrogance, lifespan and mind control abilities. The only difference is that the Leviathans have the ability to reach beyond their home, while the Thorian is, well, a plant.
Hidden Elf Village: Their hideout is at the bottom of an oceanic trench on a planet with no natural resources and covered in oceans, in a remote solar system.
Hoist by Their Own Petard: They created the Catalyst to find a solution to the warring between organics and synthetics. They didn't expect the Catalyst to decide they were part of the problem. The Leviathans admit that the Catalyst wasn't wrong.
It's All About Me: They consider themselves the apex of all organic life in the galaxy and couldn't care less about the "lesser" species - as long as the latter pay tribute to them, of course. Everything they do, even their reluctant entry into the Reaper War, they do for nothing but their own gain.
Kaiju: These things are enormous even for marine creatures, measuring several hundred meters in length. Aside from the Reapers themselves, only Kalros, Tuchanka's titanic Reaper-crushing guard worm, could hold a candle to them due to the Leviathan's sheer physical bulk and size, and that's not even getting into their literally mind-blowing psychic powers.
Mind-Control Device: Their artifacts, which look like big shiny crystalline balls. Recruiting them as a war asset has the allied forces deploy said artifacts on battlefields to extend their indoctrination powers and enthrall Reaper forces to fight against their own kind. Said asset contributes 400 points to your war score - that's more than the entirety of the united krogan armies, and the single largest asset in the game. It's also stated that there are precious few of these artifacts available, which should give you an idea of how powerful they are... and what the Leviathans could do to the current cycle's species if they get ideas after the war.
Mind Rape: Probes Shepard's mind, using the forms of Ann Bryson, Alex Garneau, and Derek Hadley in order to find out more about their visitor. The procedure is clearly unwanted and painful, complete with Psychic Nosebleed.
More than Mind Control: Leviathan Enthrallment operates differently than Indoctrination.
1. Indoctrination eventually makes their victim more and more damaged until they die. Enthrallment keeps its victim alive no matter how long under its influence.
2. Indoctrination forces its victim to be aware of their manipulation and unable to do anything about it. Enthrallment puts their victim in a sort of coma, unable to remember anything but being in a "cold and dark" place.
3. Indoctrination has no apparent limitations with regards to proximity; even dead Reapers can indoctrinate. Enthrallment requires the victim to be in close proximity to either the Leviathan itself or one of its artifacts.
Neutral No Longer: It takes a lot of persuasion, but Shepard can convince them to join the fight against the Reapers.
One-Hit Kill: A single telepathic attack brings down a Sovereign-class Reaper (those are the really big 2-kilometer long ones, not the "little" 200-meter ones like Shepard fights on Tuchanka and Rannoch).
Smug Super: They are incredibly full of themselves, but they also can one-shot Reapers just by mildly concentrating on them.
Whispering Ghosts: Whenever the Fragments are activated, unintelligible whispering can be heard.
Who Are You?: That said, they ask this of Shepard in both puzzlement and awe.
Leviathan: Your confidence is singular.

The Catalyst (End-Game Spoiler)

The Catalyst

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/catalyst_kid.png

The story is older than the Cycles themselves: "The created destroys the creator."

Voiced by: Unknown (Child's Voice) / Mark Meer (Left-Ear Echo) / Jennifer Hale (Right-Ear Echo)

The missing component for the Crucible turns out to be the Citadel itself; the Catalyst is the sapient AI that created and controls the Reapers. It was created countless aeons ago to avert the inevitable Robot Wars that spring up between the created and their creators. Its solution was the forcible transformation of all spacefaring species in Reaper form. It left less advanced ones alone to flourish, essentially hitting the Reset Button over and over for millions of years.

Affably Evil: During your only conversation, the Catalyst is polite and has no problem answering any of your questions. It explains in detail, good and bad, the effects of the three choices, hastening only when it's clear your time is running short.
A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The Extended Cut reveals that it was created by a society that strongly believed that organic and synthetic life would inevitably go to war with one another. It was created to prevent this from happening. Its solution was to turn its creators, and every sufficiently advanced society that followed them, into Reapers. Its creators were not happy with its solution—they wanted to ensure they stayed on top, but failed to specify that to their creation. It even says that its creators "were too blind to see that they were part of the problem."
Anti-Villain: Sure, it is responsible for eons of atrocities and genocides, but it legitimately wants peace and understanding between organics and synthetics, to the point that the dialogue implies that it really wants you to pick synthesis and make the Reapers obsolete.
Arc Villain: Of sorts. While we only learn it at the last minutes of the third game, the Catalyst/Citadel has been the mastermind behind Saren, the Heretic Geth, the Collectors and ultimately the Reapers, and so has quite literally been the mind behind all main enemies fought in the series. We've returned to it in each game for missions and whatnot, unknowlingly walking on the physical form of our greatest enemy.
The Bad Guy Wins: In a Bittersweet Ending sort of fashion. Should you go for the Synthesis ending, it will fuse organic and synthetic life, resulting in a final victory from its perspective: since organics and synthetics are now one and the same, the Reapers' purpose is meaningless, so they help rebuild using the knowledge of all past cycles. Note that this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The Catalyst was first designed to facilitate communication between the two lifeforms and preserve them. Until Shepard came around and "altered the variables", the Catalyst just didn't think it was possible as they were; it had been tried before and always failed. In Synthesis, the Catalyst fulfills its purpose at last and its tools are no longer required to be bloodied in conflict. The "Refusal" ending plays with it as well, as the Catalyst gets no resolution and the cycle starts again. Though in the Refusal ending the Reapers are weakened and eventually defeated by a later, warned, better prepared cycle, thus Shepard ultimately wins in the long run by refusing to compromise with the insane machine's circular reasoning.
Big Bad: He is the big driving force behind the Reapers.
But Thou Must!: A sizable portion of the fandom sees the choices it gives you as this. However, the writers appear to imply in supplementary materials that even if you pick Refuse, the next cycle simply rebuilds the Crucible and starts the cycle over again, though on this path the Reapers are eventually defeated, in part thanks to the damage Shepard's cycle inflict on the Reapers before they lose, along with alerting the next cycle.
Circular Reasoning: Organics always evolve along the lines the Catalyst expects, so it forces them to evolve along the lines it expects. The Catalyst strove to make its solution more efficient, and in so doing eliminated any credible chance of any civilization ever doing something unexpected. Even if they did, the vanguard typically just signaled the invasion early. The Catalyst even tried to stamp out the basic concept of the Crucible, despite theorizing that there was a chance it could provide a superior solution than the Reapers. In short, it placed efficiency and certainty to such a high standard that anything which challenged its reasoning become unthinkable.
Creepy Child: Its avatar is a dark energy simulacra of that boy who was killed in the escape from Earth. Or, it projected that avatar in a more comfortable form in a failed attempt to avert this.
Deus est Machina: It is portrayed as an almost godlike being, with the capability of rewriting all life in the galaxy with the help of the Crucible and Shepard.
Diabolus ex Machina: The Catalyst is introduced in the last minutes of the game, and Shepard only gets to use the Crucible at its mercy, thus ensuring that the Reapers only lose on their own terms.
Evil Sounds Deep: Inverted. Its voice sounds like a young boy's, and it's definitely the least malevolent of the Reapers. Zigzagged in the Extended Cut if you pick "Refuse". It switches to a much more Reaper-esque voice, goes SO BE IT, disappears and switches back to the kid's voice as it narrates.
Exact Words: The Catalyst's creators programmed it with the belief that organic and synthetic life would always go to war with each other, and then gave it the directive to come up with a solution to this problem: "preserve life at any cost". It does exactly that by periodically uploading all advanced civilization, organic or synthetic, willingly or unwillingly, to ensure they aren't destroyed by conflict. Not quite what the Catalyst's creators had in mind, but it's perfectly within the parameters they gave it.
The Fatalist: It is of the opinion that organics and synthetics are destined to kill each other forever, even if you have the geth and the quarians make peace. That they had war in the first place (and the difficulty involved in fostering peace) may bear out its theory. The Extended Cut ending heavily implies that there has been plenty of temporarily peaceful relations between organics and synthetics in the past, but they have always degenerated into war over time.
Foreshadowing: EDI goes on and on about synthetics needing morality and to not just follow instructions. Shepard in the Control ending does just that—by becoming/merging with the Catalyst, it becomes the moral code of the Reapers and gives them direction and a conscience.
A Form You Are Comfortable With: Takes the form of the kid that Shepard couldn't save at the beginning of the game, whom they've had recurring nightmares about. Exactly how it knew about these things is left unexplained, though the Leviathan DLC hints that the Catalyst uses Levianthan-like telepathy and simply pulled the image from their mind.
Four Terms Fallacy: Its logic relies on conflating the "protect from harm" and "pickling" definitions of "preserve".
Freudian Excuse: Implied. The Catalyst's reasoning sounds like it's learned from bitter experience. Seeing the same cycle of violence repeat for untold millennia would make you pretty confident about these sorts of things.
Glamour Failure: In the Extended Cut, picking Refuse causes it to snap "SO BE IT" at you in a Reaper's voice.
Gone Horribly Right: The Extended Cut reveals that it was created by an ancient race in order to facilitate interaction and prevent conflicts between organic and synthetic life. Despite this, the conflicts continued to arise, so it decided a new solution was needed, leading it to the idea of uploading a civilisation into a bio-synthetic construct, thus creating the first Reaper. The Catalyst then goes on to explain that its own Creators were the first race uploaded whether they wanted to be or not. The Leviathans themselves acknowledge that it's acting exactly within the parameters they set, and isn't broken in any way; when the Catalyst hears of their involvement, it says it welcomes their return to the galactic community. Its goal is, after all, to foster peace.
Graceful Loser: No ego-maniacal speeches, no This Cannot Be!—it simply admits its system will no longer work and gives Shepard final say on what to do with the Crucible's power. However, this depends slightly on how well you do. For example, at one point it may say "You have hope/choice. More than you know." But if your EMS is low, it instead says "More than you deserve." There also seems to be some traces of bitterness if you take the negative/renegade response to being told you could control the reapers, stating that it doesn't desire to be replaced by Shepard.
Greater-Scope Villain: It's not fought, and when Shepard finally encounters it, it surrenders peacefully, because Shepard's interaction with it signifies that the Reapers have failed in their purpose, which it acknowledges to be grotesque; it thus leaves the new solution in Shepard's hands.
He Who Fights Monsters:
- Judging from how horrifying its solution is, it's hard to imagine something more monstrous once existed. Nevertheless, in its efforts to prevent wars between organics and their synthetic creations from destroying the galaxy, it, a synthetic created by organics, creates synthetic constructs that kill or harvest all remotely advanced organic and synthetic life.
- This becomes even more apparent in the "Leviathan" DLC. It harvested the Leviathans when it decided that it needed to remove them from power to achieve its goal of peace between organics and synthetics, but then it took to using their methods (indoctrination) to achieve its goal—removing them from power and replacing them with itself. In fact, the exoskeletons of the Reapers themselves look very similar to mechanical Leviathans.
Hypocrite:
- Even though its entire goal is to stop synthetics fighting organics, the Catalyst's first Reapers were in rebellion against the Leviathans, an example of the very behavior it wants to stop from happening ever again. The reason for this being that everything else it tried failed (what it actually tried goes unspecified), so instead of stopping them from fighting, it made sure the essence/knowledge of their cultures survived in a different form, by a very broad definition of the term "survive."
- Its fatalistic outlook is also suspect when you realize it's possible that the cycles never change much because the Catalyst failed to account for its own interference inhibiting change; Sovereign flat-out says mass relay technology was invented to expedite harvests while making sure the galaxy wouldn't evolve unexpectedly in the interim. In its haste to optimize its flawed solution, the Catalyst may have sabotaged future cycles' chances of evolving in a way that would render Reapers unnecessary. The Catalyst itself admits this, that its "solution" was a bit too "perfect".
- Despite being created to prevent synthetics from rebelling against their creators, taking Javik to the geth dreadnought reveals that the Zha'til only rebelled against the Zha after the Reapers arrived and enslaved them, doing the very thing they claim to be there to prevent.
I Cannot Self-Terminate: The Catalyst wants nothing more than to die and be replaced by a superior replacement, but is powerless to do it — it requires the subject (Shepard) to do it for it.
I Did What I Had to Do: In the Extended Cut, the Catalyst will admit that harvesting advanced civilizations and turning them into Reapers is not the ideal solution to its mandate of "preserve life at any cost", but every other solution it attempted had failed.
Irony: Its solution to the problem of organics and synthetics going to war with each other is to create an army of synthetics to periodically engage in wars of extermination against technologically advanced organics (and if necessary, their synthetic allies).
Just a Machine: It doesn't see the Reapers engaging in a war, likening what it does to a fire burning down a forest; indiscriminate destruction clearing old growth to allow new life. It's possible that it's not actually a full AI, simply a really complex VI.
Just Following Orders: It was given the mandate to preserve life at any cost. As its method of extinction ensures unevolved species continue on to the next cycle, it sees its actions as justified.
Literal Genie: It gives its creators a little too much credit when it presents itself as an AI designed to be an ambassador between organics and synthetics. The Leviathans just meant for it to be a mindless tool with the directive to "preserve organic life at any cost"; the Leviathans didn't really understand or care about the organic/synthetic conflicts of their cycle, they just wanted to ensure steady tribute from their slave races. As the surviving Leviathans point out, it still serves its directive in this way; harvested species are very technically "preserved", even if the methodology contradicts the spirit of its directive - as an AI, it could hardly be expected to obey a directive it wasn't given.
Non-Action Big Bad: It lets the Reapers do everything instead.
Order Versus Chaos: It describes its system of "order" as being one that basically resets the galaxy every fifty thousand years so that organics and synthetics won't wipe themselves out.
Orcus on His Throne: Of the extremely hands-off variety. Aside from actually creating the Reapers and establishing the cycle, the Catalyst takes no active part in the conflict. Even when Shepard reaches the heart of the Citadel, the only thing the Catalyst does is effectively stand aside and offer Shepard possible solutions to the Reaper threat. It's not even certain that the Reapers actually know it exists. From their lines, it seems unlikely; what they tell you about their motives and the cycles directly contradict everything it tells you.
Power Echoes: Its voice resonates due to how the game channels it: a child's voice overlaid with male Shepard's voice in one speaker and female Shepard's voice in the other.
Sadistic Choice: It makes it clear that of the three options (four with the Extended Cut) it presents, none of them are clear-cut happy endings:
- Shepard can carry out the mission and shoot a power conduit, destroying the Reapers at the cost of destroying synthetics, including the geth and EDI, and demolishing the Citadel. Unlike the other endings, if you chose to destroy the Collector base and your EMS was extremely low, the Crucible will back fire and end up destroying the mass relay system instead of damaging it, leading the galaxy to a dark age (this is only in the Extended Cut; in the original this part happened no matter what you chose). This is also the only way Shepard can survive, provided the EMS is high enough.
- Shepard can choose to control the Reapers. Shepard dies, but their consciousness will live on, controlling the Reapers and repairing the mass relay system. Depending on Shepard's morality, Paragon Shepard and Neutral Shepard will vow to protect and serve the galaxy whereas Renegade Shepard vows to act as a strong leader for the galaxy. Keep in mind that this was the power the Illusive Man wanted humanity to have all along. The player will have to decide whether anyone, even a hero like Shepard, should have the godlike power of the Reapers at their disposal.
- Or Shepard can choose Synthesis, blurring the line between organic and synthetic existence. Life itself has greatly advanced in many ways, with the geth and the quarians living peacefully and, depending on your choices, the krogan enjoying a new golden age. However, this prosperity has come at the cost of forcefully altering the DNA of every being in the galaxy against their will, and it's left unclear just how much the Synthesis has altered the minds of everyone affected. Also, unlike Destroy (where Shepard might survive) and Control (where Shepard's consciousness survives), in Synthesis Shepard is Killed Off for Real. The Catalyst's goal, in fact, is this — and strongly urges Shepard to take this option, as it represents the best "solution" to the problem the Leviathans gave it to solve.
- With the Extended Cut DLC, there's a fourth option, whether through dialogue or shooting the Catalyst: Shepard can refuse to activate the Crucible, with the Catalyst answering "So be it" in a Reaper-like voice. This choice leads to the destruction of all advanced civilizations. But thanks to Liara's capsules, the next cycle has a chance against the Reapers. An alternate Stargazer scene with a future alien species implies that happens, heeding Liara's warning.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: In creating the Reaper cycle to ensure that organic and synthetic life never destroy each other, it prevented organics and synthetics from ever finding a way to peacefully coexist. Most notably, the geth/quarian conflict that is used to argue its point only happened at all because the Ilos scientists delayed the last cycle. If everything had remained on schedule, the quarians would have been harvested long before the geth could be created.
Significant Double Casting: The echoes of its voice are provided by Shepard's male and female actors.
Thanatos Gambit: Even though it and the Reapers die in the Destroy ending, all synthetic life dies with them, thus briefly preventing inorganic life from wiping out all organic life. Also in the Control ending, it is overwritten with Shepard as the new Catalyst, ensuring that the Reapers will be preserved—fulfilling its original directive beyond its loss.
Time Abyss: The Leviathan DLC reveals that its original creators are at least a billion years old. If it is speaking literally when it claims to have been created eons ago, then it is at least two billion years old, and it cannot be ruled out that its creation predates the formation of our solar system.
Turned Against Their Masters: It was originally created to prevent this from happening on a big scale, but ironically it ended up doing so itself by turning its own creators into the first Reaper, despite their "disagreements".
The Unfought: Justified as it apparently lacks a physical body. It claims it is the Citadel and the mass relays; it's likely its child-avatar exists simply so Shepard can have something to address and converse with. In one ending, you do battle it, sort of—by firing on one component, which, well, breaks. It does end the conflict, and destroys the Catalyst along with the Reapers, but it's hardly a battle.
Villainous Breakdown: Downplayed, but it briefly freaks out and reveals its true Reaper voice in the Refusal ending, wherein Shepard refuses to compromise with its insane circular reasoning and play along with the cruel choices it has to offer, preferring to fight it to the very end and dying free of it.
Villain Has a Point: It talks about how "the created always rebel against the creator". In the backstory this has happened at least 3 times, first with the Salarian uplifting the Krogan (leading to the Krogan Rebellions), then with the Quarians creating the Geth (leading to the Morning War) and finally with the Illusive Man resurrecting Shepard (leading to Shepard defecting from Cerberus by the time of the third game). While it's possible to smooth things over between the Quarians and the Geth and the Krogans and everyone else depending on Shepard's choice these conflicts may have been resolved by one side going extinct, thus validating the Catalyst's point to some extent.
Voice of the Legion: It's voiced by three separate actors; Mark Meer (BroShep), Jennifer Hale (FemShep), and an uncredited third actor. In the Extended Cut DLC if Shepard refuses its options, it suddenly throws its best Harbinger impersonation at the player.
Walking Spoiler: It is the one behind the Reapers, and it is the true Catalyst.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Even the Catalyst admits it. In searching for peace, it facilitated war on a scale and waged with a brutality that is impossible to grasp, over and over and over again until an outside agent finally arrived to take the decision out of its hands.
Zeroth Law Rebellion: Was created to prevent the destruction of organics by synthetics. Unfortunately for the Leviathans, it concluded they were part of the problem and converted them into Harbinger. In an odd twist, the surviving Leviathans consider this a perfectly valid solution to the parameters it was given, and blame their own arrogance for not catching it.

The New Catalyst (End-Game Spoiler)

The New Catalyst

Voiced by: Mark Meer (Male), Jennifer Hale (Female)

The solution to the Reaper problem in the "Control" ending, a replacement for the previous Catalyst formed from Shepard's thoughts and memories, at the cost of the commander's life.

Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A more Renegade Shepard produces a much tougher entity, but their motivation is still to protect life, and they take a moment to note they will never forget either Shepard or their allies.
Machine Monotone: Speaks with an echoing, Reaper-like reverb, though it's not absolute, being absent when they mention Shepard's former crewmates. Edges into Creepy Monotone with a more Renegade playthrough, as they declare they will crush anyone who dares threaten the new peace.
Redeeming Replacement: What it's intended as, and if the player has gone more Paragon than Renegade it appears to be a certainty, guiding the Reapers to more benevolent intentions. Not to quite the same extent with a Renegade Shepard, but they still wish to protect "the many", rather than annihilate entire species for the sake of preserving them (and given the Stargazer scene happens regardless of which side of the coin they flip, it seems to work out).
That Man Is Dead: Their narration makes clear that while they have all of Shepard's thoughts and feelings, they emphatically do not consider themself the same being.
Through his/her death, my thoughts are free.

The Stargazer (End-Game Spoiler)

The Stargazer

Voiced by: Buzz Aldrin (Male), Christine Dunford (Female)

A nameless man/woman that relates the legendary story of "The Shepard" to a child ages after the conclusion of the game during The Stinger. The male seems to be human, while the female seems to be asari, but it's unknown since they're descendants of the Shepard cycle thousands of years in the future. The male version appears in most of the game's endings, while the female version will appear only if Shepard chooses the "refusal" ending.

Affectionate Nickname: The male Stargazer calls his grandson "my sweet".
The Cameo: The male Stargazer is voiced by Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon. Interestingly, Shepard is named after Alan Shepard, the fifth man on the moon (though the first American to be in space at all).
The Storyteller: The implication is that the entire series has been the Stargazer telling the story to a child; the different details of varying playthroughs are handwaved with the explanation that it happened so long ago that the specific details have been lost.
Unreliable Narrator: Apparently, there are lots of stories about "the Shepard" that the Stargazer tells. It's implied they're all true, and all false, at the same time.
Walking Spoiler: Doesn't appear until post-credits scene.

Characters / Mass Effect 3 Antagonists and NPCs

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