5 Mass Effect Characters Too OP to be Squad Members

Mass Effect features plenty of amazing squadmates that aid Shepard in taking down the Reapers. Throughout each game in the series, you’ll meet so many different types of useful allies, including a Krogan tank, a Salarian genius, and a deadshot Turian.

Yet, no matter how powerful Shepard’s squad may end up being, we couldn’t help but think that there were some characters in the game that were so OP, so incredibly powerful, that Bioware decided not to add them to the squad in order to make things more challenging. Below, we’ve compiled a list of those characters, which range from a gifted young Corporal to even a Biotic God.

These are the five characters that are too OP to have been made squad members in Mass Effect Legendary Edition.

Richard Jenkins

When you start the Mass Effect series, Commander Shepard’s first mission takes them to Eden Prime, tasking them with investigating a Prothean ruin. They’re accompanied on this mission by Kaiden Alenko and the legend that is Corporal Richard L. Jenkins. 

Unfortunately, before he is ever able to fire a shot, Jenkins is taken down by a pair of assassins (Geth Drones). While dying to what seems like arguably the weakest enemies in the game may have made this character look puny, that statement couldn’t be further from the truth. 

The likely reality is that the Reapers knew that there was no limit to his aspiration if they’d have let Jenkins live. From the moment you speak with him on the Normandy, you can tell he is eager and itching for a fight. He was a high-priority target and the ruthlessly efficient Geth took him out quickly.

This gumption and willpower would no doubt have allowed him to rise through the ranks quickly, surpassing Shepard’s abilities and power in no time. What proof do you have of this, I hear you ask? 

How about the fact that Jenkins can wear any armor in the game, including human, Krogan, Quarian, and Turian, something not even Shepard can accomplish. So versatile! 

As such, it only makes sense that the Geth focused on Jenkins from the start of the mission. In doing so, they managed to take him down before he could ever rise to prominence and single handily eliminate the threat the Reapers posed. 

Conrad Verner

When you first meet Conrad Verner in Mass Effect, he simply comes off as a creepy fanboy, asking for Shepard’s autograph and begging to become a Spector. 

When you run back into him in Mass Effect 2, though, you realize he is the only thing that has been keeping the universe together in Shepard’s absence. Just look at how this brave soul donned fake N7 armor and protected the Citadel from a dangerous Red Sand drug ring – that may or may not have turned out to be fake – if you need proof of his valor. 

On top of this might and bravery, we also learn in Mass Effect 3 that Verner is actually kind of a genius. No, I’m not kidding. If you follow a couple of side quests from the previous games, it is revealed that Verner did his doctoral dissertation on Xenotechnology and dark energy integration. 

The combination of all of these skills proves that adding Verner to the party would have overshadowed Shepard, as the fan would have eventually become the master through sheer, annoying persistence. 

Blasto & Bubin

From the outside looking in, the Hanar don’t seem all too threatening. Sure, you wouldn’t want to get stung accidentally by one of their floating jellyfish tentacles, and one of their sermons about the Enkindlers might bore you to death, but they are an otherwise docile race. 

That is until you meet the Man o’ War known as Blasto. Whether it is in Blasto the Jellyfish Stings, Blasto Saves Christmas, or Blasto 6: Partners in Crime, this Hanar actor is known for putting on quite the intimidating performance. 

Every time they are on the screen, the Hanar is either roasting bad guys with impressive action moves or cool one-liners like “enkindle this.”

All of this doesn’t even factor in Blasto’s right-hand Man, Bubin, a gruff veteran Elcor C-Sec cop with just three solar days left until retirement. The pair’s good cop and bad cop routine is so good that they’d likely be able to talk the Reapers down with one interrogation scene, easy peasy. 

Niftu Cal

This wouldn’t be a proper list of powerful Mass Effect characters if we didn’t mention the Biotic God himself, Niftu Cal. 

Commander Shepard meets Niftu Cal while raiding the Eclipse’s base during Samara’s recruitment mission in Mass Effect 2, as they run into him getting some snacks from a vending machine. 

After the Volus bumps into Shepard, nearly killing them by way of his overwhelming presence alone, Cal explains that he has become immortal, referring to himself as a Biotic God. With some digging, you’re able to find out that he’s a member of Pitne For’s trade group and that he has been pumped with biotic-enhanced drugs.

Before Cal is able to get his revenge on the mercenaries, he is either rudely – and ever so gently – bopped on the head with a cheap shot by Shepard or is taken by surprise and killed by the evil Captain Wasea.

Similar to Corporal Richard L. Jenkins, one can only imagine the immense power that Niftu Cal would have been able to wield had they been given the time to cultivate their unique biotic gifts. Instead, they are either pushed aside by Shepard or killed abruptly by a rude Asari commando.