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The various races of the Mass Effect franchise form a key part of the franchise's concept and background. Humans are newcomers to the galaxy. The asari, turians, salarians, and—after the first game—humanity hold seats on the Citadel Council, an executive committee who hold great sway in the galaxy and are recognised as an authority by most of explored space.[1][2] Races who live in Citadel space and accept the Council's authority include the drell, the elcor, the hanar, and the volus. Outside of it lie the quarians, the krogan, the vorcha, the Collectors, the robotic geth, and the batarians (who were formerly members). Protheans, who disappeared roughly 50,000 years before the events of the trilogy, are believed to have created most technology of the galaxy, though in fact most were deliberately left by the Reapers—a robotic race who harvest all spaceflight-era organic civilizations as part of a long cycle.

Concept and creation

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"What is the visual language for their clothing? What's the shape of their face? What's iconic? Is this going to work with our conversation system? Are these characters going to be able to show emotion? Are people going to get attached to them? And these are all things you think of as you go through the phases."

— Derek Watts, Mass Effect art director[3]

In designing the races, the writing team would first supply a short paragraph describing the race.[3] This would then generally be passed to concept artists, who would over several phases create pieces then prune and refine them—phase one offering the most creative freedom for the artists.[3] After the concept was done, creation of the character model began; often a lot of "back and forth" took place, and some ideas that worked on paper end up not working well on a 3-D model.[3]

Most aliens had to fit into a humanoid skeleton for animation purposes.[4] There were originally plans to include a non-humanoid party member, but they were scrapped as including them would take a huge cost in developing the game.[4] For many of the races, BioWare had difficulty in making the characters more distinct; though they could add a bit of a variation, the faces would be alien enough that it wouldn't be as noticeable.[5] To help with this, Derek Watts came up with the idea of different face paints and tattoos, which were added to many of the races.[5] BioWare realized they would be unable to make both male and female versions of all the races due to budget restraints, which in part led to the creation of the asari.[6]

Citadel races

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Asari

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The asari, variously described as all-female and mono-gendered,[7] are a race of "beautiful, blue aliens" designed to add a familiar science-fiction element to the series.[8] The asari appear in all three of the trilogy games, as well as in most other Mass Effect media. Several asari are major characters, such as Matriarch Benezia and Liara T'Soni—the latter of which being a party member in both Mass Effect and Mass Effect 3, as well as temporarily in the Mass Effect 2 downloadable content Lair of the Shadow Broker. In addition, several asari classes are available for play in 3's multiplayer mode. Within the series, they were the first species to discover the Citadel and proposed the creation of a Council.[7] As part of the Council, they serve as its "mediators and centrists".[7] The asari may reproduce with any species, which in-universe has led to claims of asari promiscuity.[7] Asari can live for over a thousand years, and go through three stages of life: the Maiden stage, where they explore the world; the Matron stage, where they begin to mate and raise children; and finally the Matriarch stage, where they settle down as leaders.[7] Their long lifespan makes them more comfortable with observation.[9] They also have the largest economy of all the races.[9] The asari are naturally inclined towards biotics,[9] the ability to "manipulate dark energy and create mass effect fields", allowing for telekinesis and other abilities.[10]

Due to budget concerns, BioWare realized they would be unable to make both male and female versions for each of the races, which led to the creation of an all-female one.[6] More alien-looking designs for the asari were made, but the designers found if the face looked too different it would cease being attractive.[5] The hair fins arose from the designers mainly experimenting with different shapes,[5] and the scalp tentacles on the asari are meant to bring to mind the image of a woman "emerging from the water with her hair swept back".[8] Different silhouettes were made, trying to find looks that a woman would wear, which would appear both futuristic but not "too far".[5] After the addition of the hair fins, the asari looked more aquatic, and thus their design was altered to fit with that; this also led to the writers altering the asari home climate to be more wet.[5] Their clothing is meant to be both "alluring and sexy" while keeping a sense of "class and style", akin to a "Hollywood red carpet feel",[8] while also in-keeping with the kind of clothes that would be worn in more aquatic environments.[5] Inspiration was drawn mainly from sports-gear, such as climbing and scuba gear, particularly its "pliable, flexible" qualities.[11] Their human faces helped in making the characters distinct, and some models were used to tweak the faces.[5] Like many other races, asari too use facepaints, which helps with diversifying the characters.[5]

The asari have received both praise and criticism. Mike Suszek, of Joystiq, cited them as his favourite fictional race in video games, commenting "The race as a whole intrigued me, from their intellectual ways and place in the universe to their biotic prowess."[12] 1UP.com's Ryan Winterhalte listed the asari as one of three areas where Mass Effect 2 was sexist, citing how they were always eye candy and questioning the appearance of Samara and Matriarch Benzia, and feeling that BioWare's work in diversifying the race seemed "wasted".[13] Bob Mackey, also from 1UP, commented that Joan Rivers would be his choice to voice an asari.[14]

Drell

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Elcor

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The elcor are a slow, massive four-legged race from a high-gravity world named Dekunna.[15] The elcor communicate among themselves mainly through scent, slight movements, and others, and thus have a monotone voice;[15] as such, they often prefix their sentences with emotions.[15] Their psychology is described as "deliberate and conservative". More "outrageous" designs for them were made, though modelling and animation constraints would go on to effect their final design.[8] The elcor have appeared in all three games.

The race have been popular as a source of humour, primarily due to their speech. Eric Zipper of GameZone commented that there should be "International Talk Like an Elcor Day", listing talking like them as a way to pass the time until Mass Effect 3's release,[16] and IGN's Erik Brudvig called the most hilarious of Mass Effect's races.[15] Joystiq's Richard Mitchell posted an April Fools' article announcing an elcor romance option.[17] GamesRadar's Andy Hartup listed them as video game characters who needed a hug, noting how they always sounded weary of everything.[18] UGO writer Sal Basile put the elcor at number 11 on their most wanted race to be made a squadmate.[19] Hollander Cooper, again from GamesRadar, also wanted one to be a squadmate, and said they were underutilised in the trilogy.[20] The elcor were declared to be the best new species of 2007 by Official Xbox Magazine.[21] 1UP's Bob Mackey put Emo Philips as their voice star of choice to voice the elcor, noting that: "Emo might have a bit too much modulation in his high-pitched monotone to pull of the Elcor voice we know and love, but he could easily play a member of the near-comatose race coming to terms with burgeoning new emotional states, like 'reluctant interest' or 'mild gas pain.'"[14]

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Hanar

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The hanar... UGO's Sal Basile listed them as tenth on his most wanted species for a squadmate.[19] After "#teamboneless" began trending on Twitter—concerning whether bone-in wings or boneless wings were better—Hollander Cooper of GamesRadar listed them as one of the best boneless characters in video games.[22]

Humanity

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Humans are newcomers to the galactic community. The Mass Effect trilogy focuses on the human Commander Shepard, an elite marine and "Spectre" (special Council agents given leeway to do anything for the sake of galactic peace) on a mission to stop the Reapers from wiping out organic life. In the series, Shepard becomes the first human Spectre during the first game, and at the end of the first humanity is granted a seat on the Council for destroying Sovereign, a Reaper, and stopping it and the geth from invading the Citadel.

Humanity's iteration in Mass Effect is meant to be only fairly far in the future enough to be "new but not unrecognisable".[11] Through standardizing the different concept art for their clothes, a "common visual language" was found for them.[8] In earlier plans for Mass Effect, before the final plot was decided on, humanity were going to turn out to have an inherent ability to access and use the technology of Mass Effect's now-extinct precursors (then known as the Nazari), in spite of lack of technological knowledge—thus suddenly making them an important race, drawing much attention from the others.[6] It would then turn out that humanity were in fact originally a slave race to these Nazari, explaining their natural ability.[6] This was later dropped, and the focus of the game turned to the conflict between synthetics and organics.[6]

Salarians

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The salarians make appearances in all of the trilogy games, and also appear in most other Mass Effect media. Many salarians are major characters, and one salarian, Mordin Solus, serves as a recurring character and party member in Mass Effect 2.


Being Mass Effect's answer to the "gray aliens" archetype, early on the designers played around with that general image, having big eyes and grey skin.[5] However, unlike regular gray aliens, salarians ended up with a concave torso and "doglike" legs.[8] Different concepts of salarians were drawn, though many were rejected for being too human-looking.[8] Unlike some of the other races, the salarians are more of "warrior poets" and have a higher sense of culture. The heavy eyelids and long face add more sophistication.[5] Their big black eyes express "tranquility" and "alertness".[5] After the head had been officially accepted, another artist then looked at it and finished the body.[5] The concave chest is a more alien, unusual structure, and differed from some of the other races.[5] This structure also led to stylistic choices with their clothing, under the idea that they'd stuff fabric there after meeting other races, which art director Matt Rhodes compared to "a bald man wearing a toupée".[5]

The salarian Special Tasks Group was listed by Game Informer's Brian Albert as the fourth top video game "secret organization".[23]

Turians

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Volus

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The volus are a client race of the turians, having traded their "mercantile progress for turian military protection".[24] Their homeworld having higher air pressure, they must wear full-body environmental-suits when visiting other planets. Though short and round, and thus having a "docile look", some earlier concept designs featured them being "relatively large".[8] Their home culture is tribal, based on bartering both lands and people to gain status, and so are inclined to "economic pursuits" in dealing with other races.[24]

"...the Volus were an interesting opportunity to build a very non-traditional character with a power suite built around staying out of front line combat and an emphasis about boosting team score over personal score."

— Chris Schanche on including the volus in multiplayer[25]

Appearing in all three games, they were first made playable in Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode, after the release of its free Retaliation DLC on October 9, 2012.[26][27] The decision to include them was made out of a desire to introduce a pure support class, which had been requested numerous times by players, and to go beyond the current races and create something less conventional in order to reflect "the continuing state of the war".[25]

UGO's Sal Basile listed the volus at number 7 for their most wanted species for a squadmate, and said he viewed them similar to "[t]he Ewoks of the Mass Effect universe".[19]

Non-Citadel races

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Batarians

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The batarians are a race of four-eyed humanoids, who first appeared in the Bring Down the Sky downloadable content for the first game. In the DLC, a group of batarian terrorists, led by fellow batarian Balak, try to crash an asteroid into a colony. After stopping the asteroid, the player is given the choice between saving three hostages and letting Balak walk free, or letting them die but tackling Balak. In addition, batarians make several appearances in Mass Effect 2 and 3, as well as various other Mass Effect media. Mass Effect 2: Arrival ends with Shepard having to destroy a mass relay, which in turn destroys a batarian-controlled system and kills its 300,000 inhabitants.

The batarians were originally based off a previous design intended for something else, and had "flaps" on the side of their heads; however, in order to wear equipment they had to be changed to a human shape.[5] Earlier versions of the first game's plot involved the batarians being a group of "warmongering" "small bat-like creatures", led by Saren and wanting to steal the technology of the "Nazari", which was at that point the name of the race that preceeded the current races and created most of the technology.[6] They were swapped with the geth to strengthen the human versus machine conflict, the tension between synthetic and organic life becoming the core theme of the game.[6]

Sal Basile, writing for UGO, listed a batarian as the ninth species they most wanted for a squadmate, commenting "if I could calm down a [k]rogan, I bet I can calm down a [b]atarian".[19]

Collectors

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Geth

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Geth were first envisioned as organic beings with synthetic fluid flowing through their veins, comparable to Bishop from Aliens.[6] The geth head was first finished for the geth armature, one specific geth enemy, but then became the basis for all other geth heads.[8] The introduction of "dragon's teeth" (Reaper-made spikes that the geth would impale dead bodies on in the first game to convert the bodies to husks) was intended to make the geth more scary, which the geth were originally failing at.[6] After the first Mass Effect, the geth were originally planning on being "pushed the side", and Legion was not originally supposed to be made a squadmember.[28][6] However, fan response to them was positive, so their role was expanded; this had the side-effect of lessening focus on other more minor plot lines, including that of the rachni.[28]

IGN listed the geth as number 48 in their list of the top 100 video game villains.[29]

Krogan

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Quarians

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The quarians are nomadic race, having been expelled from their homeworld, Rannoch, by the geth, a robotic race they created which then became sentient. Due to having an extremely weak immunity system, they must wear full-body suits. Several quarian characters appear throughout the trilogy—including Tali'Zorah, who serves as a party member in all three of them and was the only quarian in the first game.[8] In Mass Effect 3, their conflict with the geth reaches its head and the quarians launch an attack on them. Depending on choices, the player may end up wiping out one of the races, or convincing the quarians to stand down and both sides to work together.

Vorcha

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Mark Meer, voice actor of the male Commander Shepard, voiced all of the vorcha seen in the trilogy.

Others

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  • Raloi: The raloi were introduced on February 9, 2010 in Cerberus Daily News. In it, they are an avian race that recently discovered the galactic community, and are being welcomed into it. They were then mentioned in a Mass Effect 3 news story, where they are told to be destroying their satellites and other equipment and isolating themselves on their homeplanet, in the hopes that the Reapers will declare them a pre-spaceflight civilization and thus leave them unharvested.
  • Virtual aliens: The virtual aliens...
  • Yahg: The yahg...

"Extinct" races

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Protheans

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Rachni

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Reapers

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Reception

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Being able to play as other races was something Game Informer's Mike Mahardy wanted to see in future Mass Effect games.[30]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ BioWare. Mass Effect. Codex - Citadel Council: The Council is an executive committee composed of representatives from the Asari Republics, the Turian Hierarchy, and the Salarian Union. Though they have no official power over the independent governments of other species, the Council's decisions carry great weight throughout the galaxy. No single Council race is strong enough to defy the other two, and all have a vested interest in compromise and cooperation. [...] Any species granted an embassy on the Citadel is considered an associate member, bound by the accords of the Citadel Conventions. Associate members may bring issues to the attention of the Council, though they have no input on the decision. The human Systems Alliance became an associate member of the Citadel in 2165.
  2. ^ BioWare. Mass Effect. Codex - Citadel Space: Citadel space is an unofficial term referring to any region of space controlled by a species that acknowledge the authority of the Citadel Council. At first glance, it appears this territory encompasses most of the galaxy. In reality, however, less than 1% of the stars have been explored.
  3. ^ a b c d "Interview with Derek Watts, Art Director on Mass Effect". DarkHorse.com. February 2, 2012. Archived from the original on September 4, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Andrew Yoon (May 9, 2013). "The 'huge cost' of non-humanoid aliens in Mass Effect". Shacknews. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Ben Hanson (April 25, 2011). "Mass Effect: The Origin of Species". Game Informer. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3.
  7. ^ a b c d e BioWare. Mass Effect. Codex - Asari: The asari were the first species to discover the Citadel. When the salarians arrived, it was the asari who proposed the establishment of the Citadel Council to maintain peace throughout the galaxy. Since then, the asari have served as the mediators and centrists of the Council. / An all-female race, the asari reproduce through a form of parthenogenesis. They can attune their nervous system to that of another individual of any gender, and of any species, to reproduce. This capability has led to unseemly and inaccurate rumors about asari promiscuity. / Asari can live for over 1,000 years, passing through three stages of life. In the Maiden stage, they wander restlessly, seeking new knowledge and experience. When the Matron stage begins, they "meld" with interesting partners to produce their offspring. This ends when they reach the Matriarch stage, where they assume the roles of leaders and councilors.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hudson, Casey; Watts, Derek (February 2, 2012). The Art of the Mass Effect Universe. Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 978-1-59582-768-5.
  9. ^ a b c "The alien races of Mass Effect". VideoGamer.com. October 11, 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  10. ^ BioWare. Mass Effect. Codex - Biotics: Biotics is the ability of rare individuals to manipulate dark energy and create mass effect fields through the use of electrical impulses from the brain. Intense training and surgically-implanted amplifiers are necessary for a biotic to produce mass effect fields powerful enough for practical use. The relative strength of biotic abilities varies greatly among species and with each individual. / There are three branches of biotics. TELEKINESIS uses mass-lowering fields to levitate or impel objects. Mass-raising KINETIC FIELDS are used to block or pin objects. DISTORTION uses rapidly shifting mass fields to shred objects.
  11. ^ a b Bonus DVD.
  12. ^ a b "Joystiq's favorite races in games". Joystiq. December 28, 2014. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  13. ^ Ryan Winterhalter (February 29, 2012). "The Sexism of Mass Effect 2". 1UP.com. Retrieved September 5, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ a b Bob Mackey (February 28, 2012). "Our Mass Effect Voice Casting Wish List". 1UP.com. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  15. ^ a b c d Erik Brudvig (November 14, 2007). "Meet Mass Effect's Elcor". IGN. Archived from the original on September 5, 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  16. ^ Eric Zipper (November 18, 2011). "Eight Ways to Kill Time While We wait for Mass Effect 3". GameZone. Archived from the original on September 5, 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  17. ^ Richard Mitchell (April 1, 2010). "April Fools: Romancing an elcor in Mass Effect 2". Joystiq. Archived from the original on September 4, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  18. ^ Andy Hartup (July 11, 2013). "10 video game characters who desperately need a hug". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on September 5, 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  19. ^ a b c d Sal Basile (February 9, 2012). "Mass Effect 3 Squad Members Wishlist". UGO. Archived from the original on September 4, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  20. ^ Hollander Cooper (March 7, 2012). "Mass Effect 4 – Where we want to see the franchise go next". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on September 5, 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  21. ^ "OXM's 2007 Game of the Year Awards: The Extras". Official Xbox Magazine. March 17, 2008. Archived from the original on September 5, 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  22. ^ Hollander Cooper (April 5, 2013). "Gaming's best #teamboneless characters". GamesRadar. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  23. ^ Brian Albert (July 19, 2013). "The Top 10 Secret Organizations In Games". Game Informer. Archived from the original on September 15, 2013. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
  24. ^ a b BioWare. Mass Effect. Codex - Volus: The volus are a member species of the Citadel with their own embassy, but they are also a client race of the turians. Centuries ago, they were voluntarily absorbed into the Hierarchy, effectively trading their mercantile prowess for turian military protection. [...] Volus culture is tribal, bartering lands and even people to gain status. This culture of exchange inclines them to economic pursuits. It was the volus who authored the Unified Banking Act, and they continue to monitor and balance the Citadel economy.
  25. ^ a b Andrew Clouther (October 10, 2012). "The Volus join Mass Effect 3's multiplayer". GameZone. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  26. ^ Tom Senior (October 5, 2012). "Mass Effect 3 update will add Collectors, weapons and new classes to multiplayer". PC Gamer. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  27. ^ Omri Petitte (October 10, 2012). "Mass Effect 3 multiplayer's Volus Adept finally assumes biotic godhood". PC Gamer. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  28. ^ a b Brenna Hillier (April 10, 2013). "Mass Effect's continued Geth storyline the "trade off" for missing Rachni plot". VG24/7. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  29. ^ "The Top 100 Videogame Villains". IGN. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  30. ^ Mike Mahardy (November 13, 2012). "Mass Effect Wish List". Game Informer. Retrieved May 16, 2013.

Sources

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Multiplayer
Bonus DVD rough comments
  • "The idea behind the humans was that isn't wasn't that far in the future, far enough that it was new but not unrecognisable."
  • "Salarians were some of the easiest to design" "Japanese poet war hero",
  • "Krogan designed to be intimidating"
  • "Turians the 'scariest and most together', like mix of salarian and krogan"
  • "Geth took one of the longest times to design, started out non-machine, one design of skinless geth clinging to wall spider-pose, design process , first geth designed like white-muscles human, added uncomfortable/unsettling alien parts such as replacing head with hood, musculature was kept, 'geth in particular were great and fun to design, but after the end of it, none of us wanted to see them again"
  • The sound of Sovereign was created by lifting the lid of a bear-proof garbage can with rusty hinges, which was then manipulated and pitched down an octave.
  • The animators would look at concept artists' work, comment if anything would be impossible [note: may need to relook at and perhaps reword]
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