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20) Morinth
Morinth might be a character that not every player got, as the only way to have her join the squad is by completing Samara's loyalty mission and choosing to instead help Morinth. She is in fact Samara's daughter, and bears an exact likeness to her, also sharing her abilities. If you choose Morinth, she deceives everyone on the Normandy besides Shepard into thinking she's Samara. Even worse, if Shepard chooses to romance her it ends in death, literally. Talk about a buzzkill.
19) Ashley Williams
Ashley was one of the original squad members in the first Mass Effect, but definitely the least useful. She's a soldier class character with average abilities, but the biotic powers of characters like Kaiden of Liara ended up being much more useful. Ashley is also a bit of a racist as she hugely distrusts aliens, even the ones on your squad. C'mon Ashley.
18) Kasumi Goto
Kasumi is technically an optional squad member as getting her requires the Stolen Memory DLC pack. She's the most infamous and enigmatic thief in the universe, although not much is known about her. Even after she's joined the squad in Mass Effect 2, there's still very little you learn about her through the course of the game. Her thief based abilities can be useful in some combat situations, but underwhelming compared to others abilities.
17) Zaeed Massani
Like Kasumi, Zaeed is only available through a DLC pack.The man is a gruff, stubborn mercenary type. Zaeed is a pretty prickly character at first, and he never fully trusts you until you complete his loyalty mission. He's basically a soldier class, and his area hitting Inferno Grenade can swiftly take out a group of enemies.
16) Jacob Taylor
Jacob, along with Miranda, are the first companions to join Commander Shepard after they come back from the dead. The pair becomes two of Shepard's most trusted allies, and you quickly find out that Jacob and Miranda have a bit of a past. He's a bit of a close range fighter, pulling enemies close with biotics before blasting them away.
15) Kaiden Alenko
Kaiden is actually the first of all squad members to step into battle with Commander Shepard. He's been wired with biotic L2 implants, granting him powerful abilities. Getting these implants has cause significant neurological damage to Kaiden. He has some decent biotic powers, and a hard, dark past.
14) James Vega
James Vega is a total military type, and he loves a good fight. There's a pretty deep character to unearth though, once Shepard gets talking and even sparring with him. Vega is always willing to do what it takes for the mission to succeed, and his abilities including Carnage and Incendiary Ammo can help devastate enemies. For as tough as he might act, James actually cares quite deeply for those close to him.
13) EDI
One of the biggest surprises of Mass Effect 3 was seeing the Normandy's resident AI take a physical form. In the early hours of the game, EDI is able to take over a cybernetic body the group has found, and she promptly begins an investigation of human life in her new form. She's in an interesting position, learning about the ways of the universe and asking Shepard about romantic relationships. Her abilities also make her the perfect companion when taking on robotic foes like the Geth.
12) Tali'Zorah vas Normandy
Tali is one of the few squad members that remains a part of the squad in all three games, and also the only Quarian. She's a bit socially awkward overall, but develops quite a relationship with Shepard over three games whether romantically or not. Her abilities include a Combat Drone and AI Hacking, and she can easily devastate any robotic enemy.
11) Samara
By the time Samara joins, Shepard is not stranger to the power of Asari biotics. Even so, Samara is on another level. She's a nearly thousand-year-old Asari Justicar, an ancient monastic order. Samara has loads of history, stories and knowledge to share with Shepard. Even with everything she's seen, Samara finds something interesting about Shepard. She also has the biotic abilities to back up everything else.
10) Javik
Javik is yet another DLC character, this time available through the From Ashes pack. He's a fascinating character though, being the only surviving member of the ancient Prothean race. There's very little information on the Protheans in the universe, and Javik is a channel for Shepard to learn things no one else knows. There are tons of tidbits for fans when they talk to Javik, and he struggles to adapt to the modern universe and the idea that he's the only Prothean remaining.
9) Grunt
Krogan are dangerous enough as its is, but a genetically engineered super soldier Krogan? Yep, that's exactly what Grunt is. He's effectively a child with little knowledge on the universe after being raised in a tank his whole life. Grunt has a strong drive to learn though, almost as strong as his drive for violence. This is reflected in his combat abilities, as Grunt rushes headlong into conflict without care for his safety.
8) Miranda Lawson
Miranda was a key figure at Cerberus in bringing Shepard back to life at the beginning of Mass Effect 2, and she has a vast network of contacts throughout the universe. She may seem a bit cold and uncaring at first, but she actually has a fairly tragic backstory that makes her a complex character. She's been genetically engineered to be the perfect specimen of a human by her father, but this fact has also been a burden for much of her life. Miranda is a well rounded character in combat, with a mix of biotic and other abilities.
7) Jack
Jack might just be the strongest biotic in the Mass Effect universe, and boy does she know it. She's a no nonsense character who tells it like it is, and doesn't hesitate to use force or resort to violence. Underneath her feisty exterior, there is a softer side that Shepard can draw out by becoming romantically involved. Her biotic abilities can't be topped though, and she can easily tear apart the enemy lines in battle.
6) Urdnot Wrex
Wrex is a bit of a disagreeable fellow, but he comes to really respect Shepard for his strength and courage. Wrex's primary concern is trying to find a cure for the genophage that's slowly wiping out his race, and this causes him to come to blows with the squad sometimes. He still becomes one of Shepard's most trusted and valuable allies in the fight against the Reapers. In traditional Krogan fashion Wrex is a tank in battle, soaking up enemy damage and dealing his own.
5) Liara T'Soni
Liara has an interesting arc over the three Mass Effect games. She's a brilliant scientist that joins the squad in the first game, and by the end of the second game she's taken over the mantle of the mysterious crime boss The Shadow Broker, who she had recently held disdain for. She's able to use the resources of the Broker to help Shepard, and continue as a member of the squad. She's also a powerful biotic with abilities like Warp and Singularity.
4) Legion
You spent the entire first Mass Effect game fighting the Geth, only to have one join you in the second. Legion is actually a mobile Geth platform designed to interact with organics, and housing 1183 Geth programs. Legion speaks very roboticly often with single sentences, but its interest in philisophical questions and knowledge start to build an interesting picture. Shepard also learns some interesting secrets about the nature of the Geth and their creation from Legion in Mass Effect 2 and 3, and the unit gains an interesting personality.
3) Thane Krios
Thane is the deadliest assassin in the universe, and has interesting duality to his character. Despite his profession Thane is a heavily spiritual man who prays for success on his missions, and asks for forgiveness after each kill. In combat he uses a deadly combination of stealth, firearms and biotics to overwhelm enemies. Thane has an interesting view on the universe and a wealth of experiences to share with Shepard. Thane is a bit of a tragic character as he has a disease that's slowly killing him, but with Shepard's help he does get a chance to reconnect with his son Kolyat.
2) Mordin Solus
Mordin was a former member of the Salarian Special Tasks Group, and one of the key figures in developing the Genophage that nearly wiped out the Krogan. He's a quirky, complex character that feels distinct from the rest of the cast. Although he generally has an ends justify the means attitude, he struggles to deal with the implications of his past. He has access to elemental based abilities like Incinerate and Cryo Blast, that he can use to affect enemies in different ways. The fast-talking, singing Salarian is a memorable character that stands out in an already packed cast of great characters.
1) Garrus Vakarian
Garrus is the kind of friend you always want as your right hand man. He's deadly in battle with tech abilities and a sniper rifle. He keeps the calibrations up on the Normandy all the time, and he's generally just too cool. Garrus is a fierce warrior that pulls through with Commander Shepard over all three entries. If there's one thing you can count on in a Reaper invasion, it's Garrus' unwavering loyalty and determination.
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Updated: May 25, 2016 03:07 pm