''Please do not add any character tropes to this page. The Characters page for the entire series can be found [[Characters/MassEffect here]].''

This list is continued at:

* MassEffect2/{{Tropes G-M}}
* MassEffect2/{{Tropes N-S}}
* MassEffect2/{{Tropes T-Z}}

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* AbandonedMine: The setting for one assignment where Shepard's team investigates the remnants of miners who DugTooDeep. [[{{ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin}} This also the actual name of the assignment]].
* AbnormalAmmo:
** Depending on your class, Shepard can access up to three different ammo types: [[FireIceLightning Incendiary, Cryo, and Disruptor]].
** Three of Shepard's squad members can also acquire unique ammo (the entire squad can then use as well if they're leveled up to 4):
*** The most abnormal is the Warp Ammo that Jack gets. It basically combines biotic energy with your bullets and does more damage to barriers, armor, and health. That's right. ''[[TrickBullet Biotic ammunition]]''.
*** Garrus's loyalty power is [[ArmorPiercingAttack Armor-Piercing]] Ammo, which gives greater damage bonuses against armor and health compared to Warp Ammo.
*** Thane's loyalty power is Shredder Ammo (damage bonus on health on organic targets).
** That shiny new cannon you get for your ship? Check your [[EncyclopediaExposita Codex]]. It fires ''liquid metal''. ''At relativistic velocities''. This weapon is OlderThanTheyThink, dating back at least to Nikola Tesla.
* AbortedArc: Despite mentioning in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' that [[spoiler:Shadow Broker wouldn't forget the next time the player would need a favor from him (regardless if the player did or didn't give him the Cerberus data), it isn't brought up when the player confronts him.]]
* ActionBomb: Abomination husks. Unless you can take them out before they get to within melee range of you, they will explode and cause significant damage to you and your squad.
* ActionCommands: Introduced in ''conversational'' settings, called "interrupts". Some of them provide decent examples of GoodIsNotNice, ShutUpHannibal, MagnificentBastard and HeartwarmingMoments.
* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: Several. A good example is Mordin's loyalty mission. Two-thirds of the way through, the running and gunning is replaced with Mordin and Shepard discussing [[spoiler:his role in re-engineering the genophage]].
* ActionizedSequel: The BioWare fandom's old guard complained that ''Mass Effect 2'' is a shooter and not an RPG. [=BioWare=] responded to this by expanding both the customizability of weapons and of casted powers.
* ActorAllusion: The krogan are very similar to [[Franchise/StarTrek Klingons.]] It's no surprise then that Wrex's adviser Gatatog Uvenk is voiced by an actor [[MichaelDorn famous for playing a Klingon.]]
** Kal'Reegar, the quarian you meet before facing the Geth Colossus, concerns himself less with politicking and more with shooting, just like [[Series/{{Firefly}} another character]] played by Creator/AdamBaldwin.
** Miranda, the Cerberus FemmeFatale, is voiced by (and modeled after) Adam Baldwin's co-star from ''{{Series/Chuck}}'', Yvonne Strahovski.
** SteveBlum plays a strong, deadly, artificially created, technically newborn lizard warrior with a childlike ([[ValuesDissonance for his species]]) demeanor, a love for battle and an undying loyalty to his human master. [[Anime/DigimonTamers Curious]].
** Mordin's actor really did [[TheCastShowoff perform]] GilbertAndSullivan.
* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Averted: since the ''Normandy'' SR-2 has its own research labs and fabrication bay, whenever Shepard acquires data on newer and better weapons, s/he can upload that data to ''Normandy'''s labs. You still need to [[YouRequireMoreVespeneGas strip-mine entire star systems]] to use those designs, though. Cerberus is also rather generous with credits; the funding is usually equal to or even greater than [[KleptomaniacHero all the stuff you can possibly grab during the mission.]]
** Mordin about working for the salarian Special Tasks Group:
--> '''Mordin:''' Better funded [than the Spectres], though. Didn't have to ''[[LampshadeHanging buy our own weapons]]''.
* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: If you complete the Mess Sergeant's assignment, he lets you know that "the provisions you provided were perfect".
* AIIsACrapshoot: Awareness of the fact that this trope is ''still'' in full effect leads to EDI being installed with various safeguards and behavioral blocks. [[spoiler:Turns out they weren't necessary; EDI is just as loyal without them]].
** Also subverted by [[spoiler:the rest of the geth. It turns out that the geth that followed Sovereign in the first game were considered a heretical sect by the "true" geth (of which party member Legion is one) and only represented about five percent of the total population. The true geth are probably the nicest race in the galaxy, purposely hiding from organics to avoid harm to ''both'' groups, and acting as caretakers for the quarian homeworld]].
** Even [=VIs=] aren't exactly a sure bet. A secondary plot arc deals with a line of security mechs that have become paranoid (for lack of a better term), causing them to go CrushKillDestroy and/or just plain randomly activate and self-destruct.
** In the course of Thane's loyalty mission, you can find out that people have been selling [=VIs=] of... you! Your VI has a snarky comment on errors. Garrus/Tali also gets in a joke at Shepard's expense when you first learn about it if you brought them with you.
--> '''Bailey:''' "I delete data like you on the way to real errors."\\
'''Garrus[=/=]Tali:''' That's pretty extreme, Commander[=/=]Shepard.\\
'''Shepard:''' Laugh it up, Garrus[=/=]Tali.
* AGodAmI: Claimed by a drugged volus you will meet near the end of Samara's recruitment mission. Niftu Cal, unfortunate Eclipse test subject IS A GREAT WIND that will sweep over all before him like a..... a great wind, A GREAT BIOTIC WIND!
** Fear him!
* TheAlcatraz InSPACE!: The ''Purgatory'' prison ship, where you will find Subject Zero.
* AlienNonInterferenceClause: There really isn't one in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' universe, but that doesn't stop Mordin from saying that there should be, citing the fiasco with the krogan as the reason why.
* AliensSpeakingEnglish: There are signs written in English everywhere, even on alien space stations and in alien cities. And in the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC, you can see Liara's degree certificate that she got on Thessia, the asari homeworld -- also written in English.
** Averted during Tali's loyalty mission; there is ''quarian'' writing in multiple places.
** Another minor aversion: while it's never explicitly stated, the symbol on the back of Aria's jacket is assumed to be an asari symbol meaning "heart of darkness", which is the literal translation of the asari name for Omega.
* AllThereInTheManual: Or, in this case, the Shadow Broker's lair, which you can find on the DLC titled, well, ''Lair of the Shadow Broker''. After Liara [[spoiler: becomes the new Shadow Broker]], the lair gives the player a lot of interesting tidbits on some of the characters. It also gives the player a sizable [[ArchiveBinge archive to binge on.]] Included in its archive of video clips and dossiers are:
** Miranda subscribes to an iPartners dating site, and gets hit on. ''A lot.'' In response, she's more interested in a potential partner's medical profile than anything else. She's also had at least one attempted online correspondence with Oriana. Also, [[spoiler:despite her claims about being genetically perfect, a correspondence from a medical center on Illium reveals that she has a "benign neoplasm", making her sterile]].
** Khalisah Al-Jilani has vid clips of her getting punched in the face by a krogan, getting kicked by a ''volus'', and [[StrawHypocrite kissing an asari]].
** Grunt searches for great human and krogan generals, looks up sharks and dinosaurs, and plays with action figures (with real smash-your-enemies action). He also appears to be a fan of Creator/ErnestHemingway, in particular ''Literature/ForWhomTheBellTolls'', and ''Literature/TheOldManAndTheSea''. He seems to dislike ''Literature/AFarewellToArms'', as it is the only one he deleted. The funny part is how [[WikiWalk his curiosity is initially piqued from searching the name Urdnot Wrex -- which leads him to "tyrannosaurus wrex" and a lot of other related search strings]].
** Legion is a prolific gamer, with legendary high scores in ''[[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft Galaxy of Fantasy]]'', ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDuty N7 Code of Honor]]: [[MedalOfHonor Medal of Duty]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto Grim Terminus Alliance]]''. It was flagged as cheating several times in Galaxy of Fantasy (such as controlling 27 pets at once) but successfully challenged and overturned these claims, save one for taunting, for which it accepts a 3-day account suspension. it also [[VisualNovel is abysmal at the cross-species relationship game, Fleet and Flotilla.]] It's also bought a copy of a game that donates part of its profits to the victims of Sovereign's attack on Eden Prime (and its donation level is Ultra Platinum), but has never played it.
** Garrus's visor is custom-made, and includes music playback, with embarrassing music choices. The visor notes eleven names scratched into his armor, with one, Sidonis, burned out. On a more serious note, his sister Solana thinks he's a slacker and has no idea about his heroics, and his mother is suffering from a currently-incurable disease; he anonymously donates rare Collector tissue samples to a medical company currently researching a cure and gets Mordin to phone some friends and get the fee for the exorbitantly-priced experiment treatment waived for all turians.
*** His dossier also includes a short list of victims and his methods of execution for each. He's apparently fond of delivering {{Karmic Death}}s.
** Jack regularly gets banned from chatrooms and forums for excessive profanity and picking fights. She also subscribes to ''Poetry Monthly'', and has submitted poetry under the name Jacqueline Nought.
** Captain Anderson watches and reads a lot of material that obviously upsets him (a prime example being a documentary titled ''Saren: A Hero Betrayed''). He is also a heavy drinker, with several orders for expensive wine. Given the former, [[INeedAFreakingDrink it may not be surprising]].
** There's surveillance footage of Thane pulling a StealthHiBye on a Blue Suns merc, showing up behind him, snapping his neck, and then shooting the camera.
*** He also has written down various executions methods. He acknowledges that a krogan needs either [[RasputinianDeath ridiculous punishment]] or [[StuffBlowingUp a really big bomb]] to go down.
*** There's an additional item in his dossier if he was romanced by a female Shepard: a heartbreaking letter addressed to her, to be sent after his death.
** The Shadow Broker also has a hilariously detailed list of the day-to-day activities of his [[WorthyOpponent rival]] in the information trade, the Illusive Man. Said list includes his choice of clothes (including ''pocket'' locations) and favored company, including big time supermodels ([[StrawHypocrite asaris]], no less).
** Kasumi writes a gushy haiku about how perfect Jacob is and, incidentally, she also owns the Mona Lisa.
** The names of Samara's other two daughters are Rila and Falere. Morinth's real name is [[spoiler:Mirala]]. Another file on her shows her bequests when she entered [[KnightTemplar Justicar]] training. Enough information to tell you that Samara was a psychologically healthy and socially active, upper-middle-class widow who was devoted to her daughters and still had a lot of mementos of her deceased bondmate.
** Jacob works ridiculously hard for those abs of his and he's a fan of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Blasto the Hanar Spectre]]'' and ''OldYeller''.
** In what may be the first M/M romantic acknowledgment in the series, a short video clip implies that the turian Gavorn, one of Aria's subordinates, is gay and has a human fetish.
** Tali's CovertPervert tendencies have been confirmed by a transcript of a [[ElectricInstantGratification program]] being installed in her suit ''several'' times, and her downloads of education vids about human body language and courtship/mating, implying that she has a thing for humans (or at least one special human). She apparently also feels massive survivor's guilt over the death of most of her squad on Haestrom.
** Mordin was cast as Polonius in at least one production of ''Hamlet'' and has acted as a consultant on several science and religious documentaries, including children's shows. We also learn about the [[NoodleIncident farm implement]], and why he's missing his right cranial horn.
** Zaeed contemplates retirement after the suicide mission. He hates the whole concept (and lack of good options) so much that he's more keen on attempting a suicide attack on Omega.
** A more traditional example: nowhere in the game, let alone on the power screen, is it mentioned that Singularity will stun-lock ''protected'' enemies, if for a shorter time than it lifts unprotected ones. Because they don't know about this, many players dismiss Singularity as "Pull with a longer cooldown time"; in fact, it's one of the few biotic powers that work against armor, and is the ''only'' biotic power that provides crowd control against protected enemies.
* AllWomenAreLustful: A very mild example, but in the game's romance paths, it's always the women who initiate the relationship. For the male romances, if you keep talking to your female squadmates, you'll eventually have to accept or reject their advances. For the female romances, as long as you avoid certain dialog choices, you can interact with them almost entirely the same as you would playing a male.
* AlmostKiss: While playing as a female Shepard you can romance Garrus. Right before the final mission, you have a scene, where, after some awkward talking and comforting, she presses her forehead to his, probably because kissing for real could cause allergic reactions for them both. Plus, [[BizarreAlienBiology he doesn't have lips, and has razor-sharp fangs]]. This is also as close as you can get to romancing Samara.
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The vorcha seem to suffer this kind of FantasticRacism, and reactions vary, but they kind of look like goblins and/or trolls. Aria herself refers to them as "little goblins" once.
** Somewhat deconstructed when you see a group of them huddling in squalor in a corridor on Omega. They seem terribly afraid of Preitor Gavorn, a turian tasked to keep them in line.
* AlwaysClose: In one assignment, you must prevent a human colony from being destroyed by its own defensive missiles. The final countdown is exactly five minutes and only starts after you arrive at the base. Same thing on a ship that's literally ''minutes'' away from falling out of orbit. For the several months that you choose to ignore it.
* AncientGrome: One of the clusters in the game is named the Minos Wasteland, probably after the legendary king of Crete (Greek mythology). The two solar systems (and the various planets they contain) in the cluster (Caestus, Fortis, Vir, Aequitas ...) have Latin names.
* AndIMustScream: What happens to victims of a seeker swarm, as you'll see on Horizon. They're fully aware of their surroundings -- they can even move their eyes -- but are unable to move their bodies or speak. The first victim that the player gets to see is [[spoiler: the squadmate you chose to save on Virmire]] back in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1''.
** Also, in the ''Overlord'' [=DLC=], [[spoiler: the fate of David, until you rescue him]]. Of course, the thing is, he ''is'' screaming...
*** [[spoiler:And what's more, if you listen right, you can hear that he's screaming "Help me, please!" and "Make it stop!"]]
** This is revealed to be the fate of the [[spoiler: entire Prothean race, having been turned into the Collectors to act as subservient slaves to the Reapers. Although, by the time of ''Mass Effect 2'', it's unclear just how aware of this they are]].
** A difficult-to-get [[http://youtu.be/CqtAHNQT3-w conversation with Legion]] strongly suggests that [[spoiler: the minds of the millions of people melted down to create each Reaper body all still exist, uploaded and [[MindHive conjoined]]]].
* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Gaining the loyalty of your crew unlocks a change of outfits along with unique powers. The first one or two you get just look like bog-standard palette swaps, but once you get several of them you realize that they're all variants on the gold, silver and black Cerberus colors. Thus, as you gain the unswerving loyalty of your squadmates, they visually transform from a RagtagBunchOfMisfits to a diverse but unified team of badass commandos. Strangely, the DLC characters' extra outfits are colored red instead of following the Cerberus motif.
** And completing Kasumi's loyalty mission allows Shepard to wear the formal wear from the party (as casual wear aboard the ''Normandy'', ''not'' in place of your armor.) Male Shepard is just a re-texture of the existing Cerberus dress uniform (albeit a lot slicker), but female Shepard's? [[SheCleansUpNicely Oh]] [[LittleBlackDress yeah.]]
* AntiGrinding: Big time. There aren't many places where enemies continually respawn (not that you would want them to, especially on Insanity). The places that do have limited ammo supplies making farming unfeasible, and there are ''no'' rewards for individual kills. Only the missions themselves provide experience, which you attain only ''after'' completing them.
* AnyoneCanDie: All twelve squadmates, all of the supporting crew (except for Joker and EDI), and [[spoiler:Shepard him/herself]] can be killed during the suicide mission.
* ApocalypseHow: In the ''Arrival'' DLC, [[spoiler:Shepard causes a Class X-2 by destroying a mass relay, which causes a supernova-level explosion that completely obliterates its star system.]]
* ApocalypticLog: Used extensively; almost every time you visit the site of an enemy attack, abandoned space station or expedition GoneHorriblyWrong, you can bet you'll find some data logs or video recordings of the victims describing events that lead up to their fatal end. Most notably, this is used during both Tali and Jacob's loyalty missions as well as on board [[spoiler:the derelict Reaper]].
** In Tali's loyalty mission, one of these is a major TearJerker. A log plays a female quarian frantically saying "Jona, if you ever see this, be strong for Daddy. Mommy loves you very much--" ''as she's being killed.''
*** In ''MassEffect3'', [[spoiler: the TearJerker steps up a few notches as you encounter a dying quarian on Rannoch -- who asks you to tell Jona his father died on the homeworld. Poor kid...]]
* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: You can have up to ten (twelve including DLC) squadmates, but you can only ever have two with you. The SuicideMission at least tries to work around the limitation: [[spoiler:first by you leading a small, surgical strike while the rest of the team makes for a heavily armed diversion, then they hold the line against the {{Mook}}s as you go on to fight the BigBad]].
** In the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC, when Liara joins you for the chase with and fight against [[spoiler:Tela Vasir]], one of your two squadmates will have to stay behind when she joins.
* ArcWords: In the advertising campaign, "Fight for the Lost" -- a phrase that you will ''never'' encounter within the game.
** There's also the main villain, [[MeaningfulName Harbinger]], who repeatedly says something to the effect of "We are the harbinger of your genetic destiny". The words "genetic destiny" show up in other places, too, such as the confrontation with the ardat-yakshi, a dangerous asari mutant.
** Multiple people say something along the lines of "you may not agree with my methods, but [[IDidWhatIHadToDo you have to admit I'm doing this for a good reason/I get results]]".
* ArmorIsUseless: Played with; Shepard's armor can give him shields, health, ammo and powers making getting better armor almost a necessity on higher-difficulty playthroughs. Played more straight on your allies though. Heavily armored Grunt has the highest health in the game followed by Zaeed; who are then followed by Jacob who wears something of a cross of jumpsuit and light armor. Garrus's heavy turian armor gives him the same health as Thane and none of the armor in the DLC appearance packs helps any.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: On Illium, a Paragon Shepard can give [[FantasticRacism Erinya]] one of these to convince her to help the Zhu's Hope colonists on Feros. Shepard first asks about Erinya's bondmate and daughters, then asks "Do you think they'd want you to do this?" It hits Erinya hard, and she agrees to help.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Subverted in the second ship conversation with Jack. She lists some of the offenses she's committed, saying that the regular stuff (murder, assault, theft, etc.) is boring.
-->'''Jack:''' Piracy, theft of military craft, destruction of a space station, and vandalism. That was a good one.\\
'''Shepard:''' I'm surprised you'd even mention vandalism in that bunch.\\
'''Jack:''' That's what the hanar call it when you [[ColonyDrop drop that space station I mentioned]] onto one of their moons and make a new crater. Heh. They really liked that moon.
* ArtifactOfDoom: [[spoiler:Object Rho]] from the ''Arrival'' DLC.
* ArtificialStupidity: Part of what makes LOKI mechs such weak and easy-to-kill enemies is the fact that, much of the time, they don't use any kind of combat tactics and don't have the wit to try to hide behind something. They just slowly advance towards you in a manner that makes it simple to just mow them down. The in-game Codex acknowledges this behaviour and justifies it due to the use of primitive VI.
** However, on Hardcore and Insanity, they suddenly learn how to aim properly, gain armor over their normal health bar and do more damage. Since they do not utilize cover and just walk towards you while firing, they become more dangerous than more powerful, but cover-using enemies. They are still breakable with a few melee hits, though, in spite of the armor.
* AscendedExtra: The quarians are given a lot more focus in this game, as compared to the first, where Tali was the only one you would encounter.
* AscendedMeme:
** Blasto the first hanar Spectre. Started as a joke made by one of the devs in response to questions regarding new companions. Ended up having a movie made about him, ''Blaxploitation/Dirty Harry'' style, complete with the Hanar Anti-Defamation League getting all riled up about it. "This one has forgotten whether its heat sink is over-capacity. It wonders whether the criminal scum considers itself fortunate. This one doesn't have time for your solid waste excretions."
** "Quad" as a term for [[BizarreAlienBiology krogan testicles]], which started as a joke on the PennyArcade forums. By the second game, everyone is using it.
** In the ''Arrival'' [=DLC=], the descriptive text specifically says Shepard will "assume control" of a LOKI to break out of the med bay.
** A vending machine on the Citadel pokes fun at the fan term "Paragade," which refers to playing a mostly Paragon Shepard with some of the lighter Renegade actions thrown in.
-->'''Vending Machine:''' Only losers drink '''Paragade'''! You want Tupari! Winners drink Tupari!
** If Shepard romanced Liara in the first game and then Garrus in the second, a conversation can be had with Liara in the DLC mission ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' referencing Garrus' infamous [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjCO0thvlNY "calibrations"]] line:
-->'''Shepard:''' I came ''back''.\\
'''Liara:''' Yes, you came back! And now Garrus is doing a lot more than just calibrating the ''Normandy's'' guns!
* AssholeVictim: More than a few people. For example, the individuals upon whom Thane accepted contracts count, including the one that was supposed to be his final assignment, Nassana Dantius. This trope usually applies to people on the business end of a Renegade interrupt as well. Some loyalty missions (those of Miranda, Jack, Garrus and Mordin) even end with you deciding whether to allow your squadmate to eliminate one such victim or to save them from their worst self, usually with a Paragon interrupt.
* AssimilationPlot: Conversations with [[spoiler:Legion]] indicate that this is the ultimate goal for both [[spoiler:the Reapers and the geth. The geth are a machine race that become stronger and smarter in proximity and are, thus, afraid of individuality. The Reapers are ancient machines that possess thousands of programs in their cores and, as shown by the game's climax, are composed of millions if not billions of organic beings. The Reapers are thus seen as the pinnacle of evolution by the geth, but the geth disagree about whether to follow a path already trodden or discover their own]].
* AsteroidThicket: The Collectors' base of operations [[spoiler:is set in the accretion disc of the black hole at the center of the galaxy, surrounded by the wreckage of ''every ship that has failed to make it through the relay since its construction'']].
* AttackDrone: TheEngineer player class, Tali and [[spoiler:Legion]] can summon one of their own. Enemy Engineers and Geth Primes can also summon them.
* AttackItsWeakPoint: [[spoiler: The Human Reaper]]. Bonus points since its weak points are actually called... "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Weak Point]]".
** Subversion: Tali has [[BaldursGate "Go for the optics!"]] as one of her battle cries, referring to her pet combat drone. The combat drone doesn't seem to target specific body parts.
* AvengersAssemble: A large part of the game is an extended Avengers Assemble sequence. Besides the Cerberus operatives and the [=DLC=] ones who just arrange a meeting, most of your squadmates are busy on jobs of their own when you first meet, allowing them to show off before you can even take them into action. The loyalty missions are also usually tailored to the subject's strengths.
* AwesomeButImpractical:
** The M-920 Cain, to some. It can kill almost anything in one hit, particularly on lower difficulties, but it takes forever to charge, can almost never be fired more than once before you need to find more ammo, and it will almost assuredly kill you unless you fire it at a ''very'' long range (and you don't have many opportunities to do that). But it packs a punch: on normal difficulty, only three enemies, including the FinalBoss, can withstand a shot from the Cain. On [[HarderThanHard Insanity]], gunships, Praetorians, the Thresher Maw and the Colossus can (barely) survive. But given how it devours your (decidedly finite) heavy weapon ammo, it may still be TooAwesomeToUse. Oh, and it has a fire rate of about... one round per every two missions.
*** Have the right armor piece equipped, and you'll get 'two' shots every other mission. It's still not exactly practical unless you're on your second playthrough, when you'll have a good idea of exactly where you'll need to have it on you to be effective.
** The [[{{BFG}} Revenant machine gun]] has an enormous damage spread until you find the accuracy upgrade for assault rifles, at which point the gun becomes far more of a GameBreaker than the M-920 Cain could aspire to be.
** The DLC Incisor Sniper Rifle, to an extent. It's very effective against shields/barriers and moderately effective against everything else, but a really low ammo capacity and the fast rate at which it eats up ammo means you have to rely on other weapons often. In addition, the fact that it's a ''burst-fire'' sniper rifle -- firing three shots at a time -- means that if you or your target is in motion, it becomes a lot less effective if not all three shots hit your target.
** The Claymore shotgun. Very powerful but absolutely ''crippled'' by its low ammo capacity. Any enemy that isn't killed in one hit (of which there are several in the game, especially on higher difficulties) will kill you dead in the time it takes to reload after each shot.
** The Charge power. Turning yourself into [[FoeTossingCharge an uber-charged human cannonball and slamming an enemy into next Tuesday]] is damn cool, but if you miscalculate, you've just charged ''way'' ahead of all your squadmates and are now surrounded by a gang of {{Mooks}} shooting at you from all directions. [[MomentOfAwesome But if you can pull it off...]]
** Any kind of Freezing effects on higher difficulty levels due to all the protection enemies have. Sure, turning a krogan into a popsicle and smashing him into pieces is fun, but those skill points would be better spent in roasting the guy instead. Against enemies with low armor, however, like Husks, it's still useful enough that it can give you some breathing room, or an opportunity to beat them to death, once you freeze your target.
** The Avalanche. It's [[IncrediblyLamePun kinda cool]] how it can shatter enemies in one hit, but most of the time it just freezes them, leaving the shattering up to you. Cryo rounds might still be impractical on some difficulties, but at least they don't burn heavy weapon ammo.
* AwesomePersonnelCarrier: The Hammerhead.
* AwesomeYetPractical:
** The [=DLC=] weapon Mattock Assault Rifle, which is semi-automatic with a 16 round clip--and a high fire-rate cap. Meaning, you can put a LOT of damage on target (especially with Incendiary, Warp, or Disruptor ammo) very quickly and accurately. Couple that with the huge damage bonus of Adrenaline Rush, how the ability makes aiming much easier, and a near game-breaking bug in which said skill does ''not'' slow down the Mattock's rate of fire, and you'll be bulldozing through enemies faster than you could even with unlimited Cain ammo. Hilariously, the e-mail notification from the Illusive Man lampshades this. The ship's AI EDI was helping review combat data and, to quote. "She suggested we may be overlooking older, proven technologies in an effort to provide you with the state of art. Normally I wouldn't give much credence to the idea, but when an AI criticizes you for loving high-tech, it gives one pause to consider." It's also accurate to the point where it can replace a Sniper Rifle in a lot of circumstances. Its only drawback is the low amount of ammunition you can carry.
** The [=DLC=] weapon Geth Plasma Shotgun. Not only it looks amazing and sounds amazing when it opens but it has two firing modes (normal and charged, Charged mode requires a couple of seconds of charging time and it causes even more damage per shot than the Claymore), it has ridiculous long range and accuracy for a shotgun, slight homing capability and relatively high ammo count. On top of all that it can be charged right before a Biotic Charge, Adrenaline Rush, Tech Armor or Tactical Cloak (hotkey activation required not to automatically release the shot) and released afterward to be coupled with those abilities' bonuses and multipliers for truly devastating effects. Even on Insanity, a single charged shot (with the right damage bonuses) is enough to remove almost any mook's shielding, if not kill them outright.
** The bonus powers, which you unlock for completing ally loyalty missions. Almost all of them are useful and they can enable interesting strategies; for example, you could give your fragile [[SquishyWizard Adept]] [[DeflectorShields Barrier, Fortification or Geth Shield Boost]] to let him/her soak up plenty of damage, or give your [[SpaceMarine Soldier]] [[MindOverMatter Slam]], enabling you to finish off enemies with ease. You can even give your [[TheEngineer Engineer]] [[MindControl Dominate]], letting you control both organic ''and'' synthetic enemies!
** The Revenant machine gun, once you get the accuracy upgrade for it. Put that Cain heavy weapon away, soldier, you won't be needing it. While you're at it, slap on some [[AbnormalAmmo Warp ammo]] so you don't have to fiddle with switching back and forth between special ammunition types. Remember those annoying enemies with biotic barriers?
** Almost every class-specific power. Adrenaline Rush shifts you into bullet time and gives a huge damage bonus. Tactical Cloak makes you ''invisible'' and gives you a damage bonus. Singularity is great for crowd control and it's ''a black hole you can summon out of thin air''. And Charge, [[DifficultButAwesome if you know how to use it wisely]], sets up enemies for perfect killshots, gives you a nice damage bonus, and it looks ''mother-feckin' awesome''.
*** For maximum VideoGameCrueltyPotential, try using Tactical Cloak in front of an enemy and beating it to death with melee attacks. This is made all the more satisfying by the angry grunts Shepard makes with each hit. Of course, once the cloak is gone, you'll be left defenseless against enemy fire unless you can get your allies to disable your enemy further.
*** Charge is even more awesome and practical in the sequel if you choose the right perks while leveling as it lets you recover your health bar when you use it.
** The Collector Particle Beam, at least when compared to the other heavy weapons. It's probably the only one that can be regularly used without wasting ammo.
** The M-98 Widow Anti-Materiel sniper rifle. When collapsed, it appears to be a two-and-a-half-foot-long tube. When brought out to use, it extends in a huge sniper rifle. The weapon's info entry says it weighs 39 kilograms and was made to take out vehicles and krogan. A headshot with it and a few applicable bonuses will instant-kill even elite mooks on all but the higher difficulties. The Widow is AwesomeButImpractical in-universe, as it's stated that average humans wouldn't be able to fire it without shattering their arms. Fortunately such things don't apply to Shepard.
** The DLC heavy weapon Arc Projector is a big help on Insanity difficulty, where all enemies have additional defenses, the most common being shields. One shot of this weapon is enough to burn out all the shields of every mook in a room if they're close enough to each other.
* {{Badass}}: Shepard is recognized as such in-universe.
--> '''Garrus:''' The Collectors killed you once, and all they did was piss you off. I almost feel sorry for the Reapers.
* BadassBoast: Renegade Shepard can make a few, including this gem, from the conflict between Tali and [[spoiler:Legion]].
-->'''Shepard:''' You can either stand with me or be crushed beneath my heel, but you will '''not get in my way'''!
** Paragon Shepard makes quite a few of these as well.
** Some of your BadassCrew (see below) get their own special boasts as well.
--->'''Grunt:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis I! Am! KROGAN!]]
* BadassCreed: Paragon Shepard sums up their entire character with this single line on the Collector base.
--> '''Shepard:''' We will fight and win without it. '''I will not let fear compromise who I am.'''
* BadassCrew: Most of the plot revolves around assembling one of these. Even the Cerberus servicemen aboard the new ''Normandy'' count; near the climax they try to hold off [[spoiler:Collectors with small arms to give Joker enough time to reach EDI]]. Hawthorne even [[spoiler:charges a car-sized Scion enemy with a pistol]].
* BadGuyBar: Afterlife. Presumably, every single bar in [[WretchedHive Omega]] qualifies, but Afterlife gets special mention because it's where Aria T'Loak, self-appointed ruler of Omega, makes her base of operations. Also overlaps with BikiniBar.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: The Illusive Man is a human supremacist that deals in galactic-grade weapons and sees everyone as an expendable asset to be gambled with in his plans [[spoiler:including ''you'', as you will learn on the Collector ship]]. Fortunately, this is exactly what is needed to protect the human race from the Collectors.
** Invoked by [[TheDon Donovan]] [[SouthAfricansWithSurfaceToAirMissiles Hock]] during Kasumi's loyalty mission: "People like you and me do the terrible things that keep the galaxy spinning."
* BagOfSpilling: Spending two years on an operating table can kinda do that to your combat skills. Also, technology has advanced so much in those two years that all your weapon, armour, and upgrade stockpiles from the first game are effectively useless.
** If you import a "rich" ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' character (determined by way of an achievement), you do get to keep a small but still sizable amount of that money. Importing high-level ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' characters also grants small but helpful experience bonuses. Characters who were level 60 in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' start ''Mass Effect 2'' at level 5 (of 30), with enough skill points to max out one of their skills and begin developing a few others.
* BandOfBrothers: The game revolves around turning your party into this. Hell, the Illusive Man even ''calls'' them an "unlikely band of brothers" in the Blur cinematic trailer.
* TheBartender: A few of them. One is a turian in the Dark Star on the Citadel, not really that memorable except for the fact that he subverts the whole "collector of gossip" trope, and that he provides Shepard with a GargleBlaster. Another is a batarian in Afterlife on Omega who tries to kill you. But the best is [[CoolOldLady Matriach Aethyta]], found in Eternity on Illium, who provides a memorable [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech The Reason We Suck Speech]] against her ''entire species''. [[DirtyOldWoman And she's remembered for other things as well.]]
* BeamOWar: Samara versus Morinth, short-ranged variant. If your Paragon or Renegade points are high enough to resist the MindControl beforehand, [[spoiler:you choose the victor]]. Otherwise, it's a ForegoneConclusion.
* BeastlyBloodsports: Shepard can bet on varren (a cross between a feral dog and a wild boar) fights.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Literally for Shepard, almost in a [[Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray Dorian Gray]] way, except that it's your character's ''real'' face that gets uglier if you do bad things. Simply put, Shepard gets scars on his/her face after being, well... resurrected. They will heal with every Paragon choice made, and get worse with every Renegade choice. Dr. Chakwas explains this in more detail in an e-mail she sends you, where she gives you the option of healing your scars by upgrading the medical bay.
* BecauseYouCanCope:
** If you are unable to resolve the [[spoiler:Miranda vs. Jack]] argument and end up choosing [[spoiler:Jack]], both your options involve telling [[spoiler:Miranda]] that you did not take her side because you knew she was more reasonable than her opponent.
*** You can also invoke this trope after siding with [[spoiler: Miranda]]. "Charming" [[spoiler: Jack]] doesn't invoke this trope, but "Intimidating" [[spoiler: Jack]] has Shepard tell her that he sided with [[spoiler: Miranda]] because [[spoiler: Jack]] is tough when she's angry and he didn't want her to lose her edge, and besides how would she have reacted if Shepard had kissed her ass?
** A DummiedOut Grunt vs. Mordin argument has this for all the options except the Renegade one to restore Mordin's loyalty, in which you remind him how much he owes you.
** This also happens in the [[spoiler:Tali vs. Legion]] argument, in which you can tell [[spoiler:Legion]] that you supported [[spoiler:Tali]] because she is too emotionally invested in the conflict [[spoiler:after the death of her father]] to accept anything else.
*** Or, if you sided with [[spoiler: Legion]], the "Intimidate" option invokes this trope by explaining to [[spoiler: Tali]] that [[spoiler: if Shepard makes Legion instead of Tali happy, then the geth fleet will ''soak up fire'' like pets as the quarian fleet battles the Reapers.]]
* BehindTheBlack: If you choose to awaken Grunt, he will immediately charge at Shepard and back him/her against a wall. Shepard will eventually talk Grunt down and make him let him/her go, after which the camera reveals that the whole time, a pistol was aimed at his gut:
--> '''Shepard:''' I'm glad you saw reason.\\
(''Grunt releases Shepard, and sees the pistol aimed at him'')\\
'''Grunt:''' Ha! Offer one hand, but arm the other. Wise, Shepard.
* BelievingTheirOwnLies: Possibly Warden Kuril from the ''Purgatory'' prison ship, who constantly insists his actions are for the good of the galaxy despite abundant evidence that he's just an extortionist and virtually a slave-trader that houses and deals with supremely unpleasant criminals while he tries to imprison Shepard because someone would pay for him/her.
* BenevolentArchitecture: There are an inordinate number of conveniently placed chest-high walls no matter what planet you're on. You can use them to predict when a fight is about to occur. Time to save/reload/collect ammo!
** It's used to mess with the player in [[spoiler:the 'derelict' Collector ship. Up until the ambush, you'll be passing a LOT of chest-high walls that would make for good cover in a firefight, but see no Collectors until after you trigger the trap]].
** On Korlus (where Grunt's recruitment mission is) they at least make sense, seeing that the mercenaries were conducting live-fire training. Arguably also [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in a few other places, where you co-opt your enemy's defensive barricades as you advance.
* BestialityIsDepraved:
--> '''Mordin:''' Trying to determine how scale-itch got onto ''Normandy''. Sexually transmitted disease only carried by varren. Implications... unpleasant.
* BettingMiniGame: Averted. You can't actually ''play'' (or even watch, as the screen fades to black) the game of Skyllian-Five poker you're invited to after completing a minor side quest, and the outcome of the game is determined by your dialogue choices. Also, unlike the first game, there are no quasar casinos.
** There ''are'', however, pit fights (well, varren fights) on the planet of Tuchanka.
* {{BFG}}:
** The DLC Blackstorm Projector and the [=M-920 Cain=], which are, respectively, essentially a ''portable black hole gun'' and a ''very-powerful rail-gun marketed as a mini-nuke launcher'' (the description actually says that it isn't, in spite of the radiation symbol emblazoned on its side).
** Honourable mention goes to the Claymore shotgun. It looks like [[OurWeaponsWillBeBoxyInTheFuture a brick with a barrel]], can only manage one shot before the cooling slug has to be ejected and replaced, but anything on the wrong end of it dies instantly. The recoil can break a man's arm, so only your squad's krogan can wield one... but, midway through the game, if your class can wield shotguns, you can pick one up. Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]] since the only two classes capable of that are the gene-boosted Soldier and the biotic Vanguard, both of whom have the requisite level of SuperStrength. Also see the Widow Anti-Materi'''e'''l (i.e., ''anti-military equipment'', not anti-personnel) Rifle (super-heavy sniper rifle whose in-game description states it can break bones of the individual firing it) or the Revenant Light Machine Gun.
** The DLC Arc Projector is a special case of this. Against organic enemies, it's pretty powerful, and aided by the fact that the electrical blast will be transmitted to all nearby enemies. Against ''machine'' enemies however, it goes from being "pretty powerful" to "utterly devastating" -- anything short of a Geth Prime or YMIR mech is guaranteed to at least have its shields and/or armor destroyed and be reduced to a small fraction of its health, if not destroyed outright, and unleashing it against the geth in Tali's recruitment and loyalty missions (both involving close-quarter fights with them) can result in entire units of geth being wiped out with just a single blast.
** There's also the Great Rift on Klendagon, first seen in ''[[VideoGame/MassEffect1 Mass Effect]]'', which was made by a glancing blow by an immensely powerful mass accelerator fired ''thirty-seven million years ago''. [[spoiler: It's what killed the Reaper in the IFF mission]].
** At the naval level, there's the Thanix Cannon as well as the large mass accelerators carried by dreadnoughts.
* BigBadEnsemble: Between Harbinger and the Shadow Broker.
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:''The party'' to the crew of the ''Normandy'', but only if you go to save them immediately after they've been abducted. If you wait too long, you lose crew members and Doctor Chakwas gives you a WhatTheHellPlayer]]
** Zaeed mentions this when you first meet him on Omega and agree to do his loyalty mission:
-->'''Zaeed:''' Good. Let's get that out of the way so we can concentrate on being [[BigDamnHeroes big goddamn heroes]].
** The quarian ship crash [[SideQuest assignment]].
* TheBigDamnKiss:
** A truly excellent one can be done near the end of the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC between Shepard and Liara if there was a romance between the two in the first game. It's also a great ShutUpKiss.
** Also one following a bout of BelligerentSexualTension between Miranda and Renegade Shepard. Note that this is before the actual romance scene.
* BilingualBonus: A planet in the krogan system is called Durak. From the ''Mass Effect 2'' wiki:
-->In the closing years of the Rebellions the five clans working the planetoid fell to fighting over a particularly rich deposit of iridium. All five clan warlords agreed to a Crush (a meeting at a neutral location) to negotiate a truce. Unfortunately, all five arrived [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder planning to betray their fellows]]. While the leaders and their seconds met, all their bases were destroyed by simultaneous hypervelocity cannon strikes. Left with only the food, water, and air in their hardsuits and with no way to call for rescue the warlords apparently fought each other to the death. The survivors of the five "Durak clans" on Tuchanka still argue about which clan's warlord was the last one standing.
** Now for the bonus, "дурак" (said the same way) in Russian means [[WhatAnIdiot "stupid" or "idiot"]], fitting for a planet where all the clans managed to do was kill each other.
* BillBillJunkBill:More actual messages than junk and bills, but you get an advert for genital enhancement procedures, a chain letter, and a [[FourOneNineScam Nigerian Prince-type scam letter]]. Apparently, EDI has no spam filter.
* BiteTheWaxTadpole: The Tupari sports drink vending machine on the Citadel has one advertisement based on the RealLife mistranslation of a Pepsi ad in China:
--> '''Vending machine:''' Tupari: Brings your ancestors back from the grave!
* BittersweetEnding: How much so depends on the player...[[EarnYourHappyEnding unless you break your back to ensure that nobody gets left behind]].
* BlatantItemPlacement: One mission takes place on a geth base, abandoned by organics centuries ago. There's working medkits lying around.
** The crew of the ''Hugo Gernsback'' was apparently ''way'' ahead of the curve, as all of them use the two-year-old thermal clip technology on weapons that are at ''least'' ten years old.
* BlandNameProduct: The game salesman in the Citadel makes several [[TakeThat comments about gaming]], including one referring to "'''G'''rim '''T'''erminus '''A'''lliance" and how the MoralGuardians complain about it too much.
* BleakLevel: The (DLC) Normandy crash site.
* BlindJump: Done by the ''Normandy'' on two occasions.
--> '''Joker:''' EDI, get us out of here!\\
'''EDI:''' Please specify a destination.\\
'''Joker:''' ''Anywhere that's not here!''
* BlindIdiotTranslation: Russian localization, big time. Mistranslations, mistransliterations, inconsistencies, cutting off entire sentences, thus simplifying the dialogues - EA Russia gives it all in one ugly package. Plus, localization cannot decide whether it uses the glossary from the previous game's localization (made by a local firm), or it doesn't. Oh, and the font is ugly as hell, with letters jumping like jackrabbits on drugs.
** The German translation tries really hard to cope. Inconsistencies in terminology with the first game are just the start. The Virtual Intelligence (VI) is called "six" in the game. Except when it isn't. And every sentence seems to be translated independently, so while everything is correct just on its own, sometimes the context gets absolutely lost between one thing said and the next. The worst probably is the use of "Du" and "Sie" (informal and formal "you" respectively), which is very inconsistent, especially between Shepard and a love interest. Since there is probably only one line in the original, this may be somewhat unavoidable, but turning up from one sentence to the next is annoying.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: A line of dialogue [[spoiler:Legion]] might say on its loyalty mission highlights this. Every other conversation with it emphasizes this further, but this line best captures its perspective:
--> "No two species are identical. All must be judged on their own merits. Treating every species like one's own is racist. Even benign anthropomorphism."
** Depending on your morality, Mordin may come off as this. Initially, he seems amoral and a typical "get the job done" type of character, remaking the krogan genophage and stating that killing bad guys is his preferred method of conflict resolution. However, if you press him on the issue, you find out that he genuinely does think the genophage was the only way both krogan and the rest of the galaxy could have lived, and was determined not to hurt the krogan any more than he had to. Also, despite being a cold operator, if you have him on certain missions he'll be shocked at any brutality you come across. Perhaps not totally incomprehensible, but it can be difficult to relate to.
** On a similar level, Thane's beliefs regarding the separation between his mind and his body, and the distinction that leads him to make regarding actions his ''body'' took versus things he holds himself personally accountable for, come across as quite alien and can be difficult for both Shepard and the player to wrap their minds around. A pretty telling example is when Thane opens up about him hunting [[spoiler: his wife's killers]]. One Shepard response has him/her saying that by Thane's own beliefs, he merely acted on instinct, to which Thane responds that those kills are the only ones he committed on his own prerogative; the only deaths on his conscience.
* BodyHorror: Husks are humans reduced to empty shells with circuitry. Praetorians are ''thirty Husks fused together'', while Scions are ''three Husks fused together around a large gun''. And even ''ask'' what the Reapers have in store for humanity...
** The end of the ''Overlord'' DLC. Almost the entire cutscene is focused on that one image. "It all seemed harmless..."
* BolivianArmyCliffhanger: The game ends with a shot of innumerable Reapers headed towards the galaxy.
* BondOneLiner: Many Renegade interrupts have these. One of the best examples is found during Thane's recruitment mission:
--> '''Mercenary:''' I've got nothing more to say to you.\\
''Shepard shoves the mercenary through a window, letting him fall to his death.''\\
'''Shepard:''' How about "goodbye"?
* BookEnds: The game begins with Shepard's death, and can end with it, depending on your playing style.
** Also, the interactive comic book at the start of the PS3 version. The comic starts with Shepard mentioning how the events of the first game began with a routine mission. After spending about fifteen minutes telling the story of how that mission led into a quest to save the entire galaxy, s/he explains how afterwards the Council sent him/her on a clean up mission to route any remnants of Saren's army. The line s/he uses as the comic finishes?
--> '''Shepard:''' Just another routine mission.
* BoomHeadshot: The improved sniping means headshots now result in massive damage, compliments from your squad mates, and a visual confirmation of your prowess with a gush of [[ChunkySalsaRule Chunky Salsa]].
** Also the easiest and most satisfying way to take down mechs. FENRIS and LOKI mechs explode and harm enemies around them, whereas [[HumongousMecha YMIRs]] explode like a shot from the [[EverythingMakesAMushroom M-920 Cain]], and can kill enemies just the same.
* BoringButPractical
** The most common criticism of the Soldier class is that it lacks the "flash" of the other classes. [[BulletTime Adrenaline Rush]] is crazy useful though. And having up to three different ammo types, as well as training with all weapons except the sub-machine gun, means the Soldier can adapt to almost any situation.
** The Sentinel as well. Your powers handle every enemy protection in the game while Tech Armor makes you near indestructible. On top of that, when Tech Armor breaks, it damages the enemies, you still have your regular shields on top, and when you reactivate it your squadmates' cooldowns reset.
** The pistol. Doesn't have the range or aiming ease of the sniper rifle (the DLC Phalanx comes close, though), the fire rate of the assault rifle/submachine gun, or the stopping power of the shotgun, but doesn't have any of the major drawbacks of those weapons either. There's a reason every playable class has one.
** Biotic powers are awesome, but the only one that damages [[ContractualBossImmunity shields and barriers]] is the basic direct damage Warp ability, which does do impressive damage but has a very long cooldown meaning low DPS while also leaving you helpless against other enemies. After you finally remove the protections using a combination of Warp, your little pistol, the engineer squad members you brought along just for this and a lot of cursing, tearing the target's unprotected flesh to pieces with your mind is [[VideogameCrueltyPotential cathartic]].
** The Collector Particle Beam. You acquire it fairly early in the game (on Horizon), and it fires a thin yellow line. However, being a "laser" weapon, it hits targets immediately, it strips most enemies of any shields and armor in seconds, has no recoil, and it actually holds enough ammo to use from time to time.
** The Viper Sniper Rifle. It's substantially weaker than most sniper rifles; however, it's semi-automatic (and accordingly has significantly less recoil), holds twelve shots per clip, and can take down most EliteMooks in several good shots.
** Fortification, Barrier, and Geth Shield Boost, the loyalty powers of Grunt, Jacob and [[spoiler:Legion]] respectively. They're not terribly flashy, and all they really do is create a defensive barrier around Shepard to ward off incoming fire briefly. However, considering how quickly Shepard can get killed, they serve as an extremely useful emergency button if you're getting pounded and need to run away, dive for cover, or simply survive for a couple more seconds to put down an enemy. In addition, Geth Shield Boost also gives a bonus to your weapon damage aside from shielding.
* BossRemix: A remix of the song that played during [[spoiler:the ''Normandy'' SR-1's destruction]].
* BottomlessMagazines: Averted, to a degree. The magazines themselves are still bottomless, but all weapons have now been modified with a heat sink system, so when a weapon overheats the user simply ejects the heat sink while a detachable magazine of heat sinks (known as a thermal clip) automatically loads a fresh one. This equates to the same thing as ammunition, though, giving you a certain number of shots per sink and forcing you to scrounge battlefields for clips. These disposable heat sinks don't cool off on their own because the way the sinks work is the same way heat is stored in the ''Normandy''. The clips contain a small amount of lithium that absorbs the heat. There's no way to radiate it, so the lithium slowly heats up to the point where the clip ''must'' be ejected or it'll damage the weapon. The lithium is lost when the clip is discarded.
** [[WhatCouldHaveBeen They wanted to create a system where the guns could cool off like in Mass Effect 1, but you could also eject the heat sink to cool it off immediately, should you need to. Unfortunately, certain aspects of it were clunky, and they eventually decided to switch over to completely limited ammo. The system is actually in Mass Effect 2, but disabled; naturally, several weapons are unbalanced with it on.]]
* BraggingRightsReward: Have you completed ''Mass Effect Galaxy'' and attached it to your EA profile? You might be wondering just what it unlocks in this game. It basically just gives Jacob and Miranda a few more in-battle quotes than they normally have.
* {{Brainwashed}}: Common theme, including [[spoiler: the Reapers']] indoctrination of [[spoiler: the entire Prothean race, as well as the heretic geth in a... heroic example?]]. Also, [[spoiler:[[DeathBySex ardat-yakshi]]]], ''literally'', in their case.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: In a strange twist, you can get this ability. If you side with Morinth [[spoiler:and kill Samara instead]], you can learn her loyalty ability, Dominate. It stuns enemies, gives them a biotic barrier, and makes them attack their allies for a few seconds before they come to their senses. Essentially, it's AI hacking, but for organic opponents.
** Played straight with [[spoiler: Dr. Amanda Kenson]] from the ''Arrival'' DLC.
* BreakingTheFellowship: After Shepard's disappearance, the old squad is scattered. Only a few rejoin you; most either refuse to work with Cerberus or have their own agendas they need to pursue.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: The Equalizer, Aegis, and Firepower {{DLC}} packs, which all include new weapons and/or armor, some of which was previously only available as a pre-order bonus.
** The "Power Gamer" achievement for reaching Level 30 typically required starting a NewGamePlus to reach. If a player buys ''all'' the [=DLC=] missions and does everything in the galaxy, it is easily doable however.
* BrickJoke: Didn't punch [[{{Paparazzi}} Al-Jilani]] in the first game? If you do in the second (a Renegade interrupt), Shepard will comment on how s/he should have done that the first time they met.
** In the first game, if you talk to Wrex near the lake on the Presidium, he will wonder aloud if there are fish in the lakes. In this game, upon returning to the Citadel, you can talk to two krogan, one of them also wondering if there are fish in the Presidium lakes. (One of them even mentions a rumor of an Urdnot having gone up there once.) This time, you get to answer that burning question for them.
** A subtle one. In the first game, Ashley says that whenever someone says "WithAllDueRespect..." they are really saying "Kiss my ass." During Tali's loyalty mission, a possible response to the Admiralty Board's thanks for representing a member of the Migrant Fleet (Tali) is "With all due respect, Admiral, I didn't represent one of your people. I represented one of mine."
* BroadStrokes: Regardless how the player approached some of the missions/assignments in ''Mass Effect'', characters will only mentioned how one thing happened when it is brought up. A good example is before doing the [[spoiler:Dossier: The Assassin mission. Shepard will mention that Nassana had him/her kill her sister (even though the player could do this without ever talking to Nassana)]].
* BrokenBridge: The objective? Go through the Omega-4 Relay. Where do you start the game? Right next to the Omega-4 Relay. Justifiable, since without the intel from the Collector ship, as well as the Reaper IFF, the ''Normandy'' would be flying blind and may end up [[spoiler:in the ''black hole'' on the galactic core]] if it just immediately jumped through the relay.
** There's a brief but much less justifiable one on Haestrom ("Recruit Tali"). A geth ship bombards the area, causing a column to fall and block your access to the door you need to get through. Shepard & Co. must fight off many, many geth to recover two demolition charges to remove the obstacle. Apparently, they either don't see the four feet of open space between the top of the obstruction and the bottom of the arch, or they don't think they can [[InsurmountableWaistHeightFence climb over the chest-high debris]] despite the presence of many crates, etc. that could be used as stepping stones.
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: In the worst ending, you will succeed in stopping the Collectors at [[AnyoneCanDie the cost of Shepard and the entire squad]]. Fair trade-off? Probably not.
* BulletTime: The three combat classes potentially have this ability: the Soldier has the Adrenaline Rush ability; the Infiltrator gets this when using a sniper rifle; and the Vanguard gets this after using Heavy Charge.
** It's notable, that the Soldier can slow down time in two separate ways: The aforementioned Adrenaline Rush, and whenever they sprint. Evolving Adrenaline Rush into Heightened Adrenaline Rush and using it while sprinting, will make any missiles or all of Harbinger's attacks, literally freeze in place.
* BuryYourGays: Figuratively. Like its predecessor, there is a great deal of same-sex content written and voice acted for both men and women, and [[DummiedOut still remaining on the game disks]], but it can only be dug out with editor programs. Also literally for Nef in Samara's loyalty quest, and potentially for [[spoiler:Kelly Chambers and even female Shepard if she chooses to [[DeathBySex romance Morinth]] (though the same happens to a male Shepard).]]
* ButThouMust: Shepard ends up working as a Cerberus agent even when nobody (least of all him/her) trusts or likes them, and many of his/her party members have very personal reasons to hate them. You also cannot refuse any mission the Illusive Man offers when he calls you on the ''Normandy''. If Yeoman Chambers informs you that the Illusive Man wants to speak with you, you can't access the Galaxy Map until you finish the mission he gives you.
** Also, if you've become close to more than one romantic partner, then at least one will repeat the same lines over and over, waiting for you to break it off with the other(s). This occurs no matter which options you pick, and makes them impossible to converse with.
** More esoterically: when you first obtain Legion, your options are "Hand it over to Cerberus ForScience" or "Let me talk to it first." The ExactWords of the latter imply that you've merely deferred the decision and can still package it up ''after'' activating it (which is far more [[JerkAss Renegade]] if you [[FridgeLogic think about it]]), but no: if you take that option, Legion joins your party. Period. It is, however, pointed out by Miranda that it will likely be difficult to deactivate Legion once it's active, but you're never given the opportunity to try, or to take Jacob's suggestion of destroying and [[ThrownOutTheAirlock spacing]] it. What makes this more bizarre is how closely this resembles your acquisition of Grunt, whom you can choose to keep in his tank or activate.
* BystanderSyndrome: What's that, Shepard? Saved the Council? Destroyed a Reaper in the middle of the Citadel? They promised you support in your hunt for the rest of the Reapers and their eternal gratitude? [[spoiler: Sucker.]]
* CallAHitPointASmeerp: Thermal clips. It's an ammo system, working exactly like magazines from any number of other games. It's just the name that's different. Justified as the first game already established that infantry weapons effectively never need to reload actual projectiles.
* CallBack: In ''Mass Effect'', Wrex will wonder if there's any fish in the Citadel lake to eat. In the next game, two krogan debate whether there's any fish in the lakes, and one of them says that he heard an Urdnot went there once.
* CannedOrdersOverLoudspeaker: When you first arrive on Korlus, you hear a Blue Suns commander giving these out to the mercenaries under her command. Various squadmates lampshade this, with Jacob (or Zaeed) providing the TropeNamer.
* CanonImmigrant: Feron, a drell mercenary that first appeared in the ''Mass Effect: Redemption'' comic series, first appears in the series proper in the ''[[spoiler:Lair of the Shadow Broker]]'' DLC.
* CaptainObvious: Jacob tells Shepard, early on, that he's in a Cerberus base. While his clothing has a Cerberus logo over the heart, and he's standing next to Wilson, who has a uniform with a Cerberus logo on the shoulder, which just happens to look a lot like the one Shepard was wearing when they woke up. Oh, and when Shepard saw Miranda earlier, she had a Cerberus logo over the heart as well.
** Of course, they didn't have their distinctive color scheme, logo, and aesthetic in the first game; the Cerberus operations Shepard stumbled on then were apparently all "rogue cells", and the organization as a whole was much more secretive. Apparently, they re-branded.
** Nine out of ten times when someone says something on the lines of 'we're under attack!' you will have gathered this already as you'll be knee-deep in a firefight.
* CargoShip: In-universe. If Shepard isn't in a romantic relationship, Mordin notes that there are rumors about Joker and EDI. Kasumi also says they are LikeAnOldMarriedCouple, and Shepard can also point it out in the cockpit... to which EDI will reply its more like [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial platonic bonding than hormonally-induced courtship behavior]].
* CasualDangerDialog: Shepard and Liara during the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC in ''spades''.
-->'''Shepard:''' What kind of weapons does this thing have?\\
'''Liara:''' It is a taxi. It has a fare meter.\\
'''Shepard:''' [[SarcasmMode Wonderful.]]
* CasualInterstellarTravel: Due to loading times, you can travel across the galaxy faster than travelling between decks of the ''Normandy''.
* {{Catfight}}: [[spoiler: Jack and Miranda]] after completing both their loyalty missions.
-->'''Joker:''' Take pictures!
* CelebrityEndorsement: The Paragon option for getting discounts on the Citadel stores. [[MemeticMutation "I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite store on the Citadel."]]
* ChaseScene: The ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' [=DLC=] includes a car chase through the rush hour traffic of Illium.
* ChekhovsGun:
** A massive one from ''[=ME1=]'': if you scan the planet Klendagon, you find out that there's a massive rift across the surface caused by a "glancing blow" from an insanely powerful mass accelerator. The ridiculously huge mass accelerator's target turns out to have been [[spoiler:a Reaper whose corpse you have to board]].
** It's a good idea to fully upgrade the ''Normandy''. Though some of them don't give any immediate benefit, they prove to be ''immensely'' useful later on. [[spoiler: The fates of three of your squadmates after crossing the Omega-4 relay depend on those upgrades, particularly those suggested by Jacob (ship armor), Garrus (improved weaponry) and Tali (shielding)]].
** The ladders in the Tech Lab and AI Core.
** All the squadmates give subtle indicators as to what special tasks they're good at (or not good at) in the SuicideMission over the course of the game.
*** [[spoiler:Tali, naturally, is a good choice for the tunnel techie, but her inability to get Prazza to stand down on Freedom's Progress indicates she's not good leadership material. The other recommended choices for the vents, Legion and Kasumi, have also proven themselves beforehand; Legion held its own against Husks inside the derelict Reaper, exposed the Reaper core before getting knocked out, and rewrote a Reaper-written virus to turn it against the heretics instead; Kasumi has not only pulled off a daring heist involving lots of electronic locks, but was also capable of disabling a gunship's shields]].
*** [[spoiler:Garrus managed to lead a squad of vigilantes and royally pissed off almost all the powers that be in Omega, so that indicates good leadership and thus is a good secondary team leader (although there was also that one time where everyone on his squad got killed because one of them wasn't loyal; thankfully, this doesn't affect his viability as a leader)]].
*** [[spoiler:Mordin's comments on Kirrahe's "HoldTheLine" speech indicate he's probably best to send back with the Normandy survivors]].
*** [[spoiler:Zaeed's stories imply that a) he's a good choice to be left to hold the line and b) he's completely unsuited to be the second fireteam leader]].
*** And a very subtle one - [[spoiler:Miranda repeatedly claims she's a powerful biotic, yet we never see her do anything spectacular with her powers (at least not without provocation). She's proven too weak during the barrier sequence, while the best choices, Samara and Jack, are shown doing amazing stuff with biotics. However, Miranda is one of the correct choices to be the second Fire Team leader, as hinted by one of her top bonus ability branches being "Cerberus Leader"]].
*** Another subtle example: [[spoiler:Jacob is also a good choice for a fireteam leader, in spite of Miranda's objections that Jacob doesn't have prior experience leading a military squad. One of the first things you learn about him, however, indicates otherwise: he was once an Alliance Corsair, and Corsairs are ship ''captains'', proving that Jacob indeed has prior leadership experience]].
* ChewbaccaDefense: Shepard can [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this at Tali's trial to get her acquitted without having to submit damning evidence about her father to the Admiralty Board or condemning her to exile.
** Outside of the trial, Renegade Shepard uses them frequently along with InsaneTrollLogic in order to intimidate people who try to logically defend their positions.
--> '''Shepard:''' Hey everyone! This store discriminates against the poor!
* ClarkesThirdLaw: Tech abilities. They are referred to as such: throwing a firebomb is announced as 'deploying incineration tech'. Also, tech users tend to have [[TronLines glowing]] yellow [[InstantRunes holographic diagrams]] surrounding them.
* [[ClusterFBomb Cluster S Bomb]]: [[spoiler: Joker when the Collectors have boarded the Normandy.]]
--> "Shit. Shit-shit-shit. What the ''shit?''"
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Shepard's firepower is limited to the amount of ammo clips left. Enemies don't have this problem. Fortunately, neither do your squadmates.
** Inverted in the case of biotics; Shepard can arc special attacks around corners and over obstacles, but computer opponents and allies must have direct line-of-sight.
* ColonyDrop: In the ''Arrival'' DLC, [[spoiler: performing one is your ''main objective''. It succeeds spectacularly. And the repercussions of this are severe]].
** Conversations reveal this was performed off-screen by Jack (naturally), dropping a space-station onto a hanar moon.
---> '''Jack:''' They ''really'' liked that moon.
* TheComicallySerious:
--> '''EDI:''' I enjoy the sight of humans on their knees. (''long pause'') That is a joke.
** Legion would like to remind you that geth do not ''intentionally'' infiltrate.
** The Shadow Broker's dossier on Mordin's STG mission to deliver the modified genophage duly notes Mordin and Kirrahe suggesting that their cloaca is blocked, that their cranium is, in fact, in their cloaca, and how tough their cloacas are.
* CombinationAttack: Using Pull (or Slam, if you're quick enough) will enable two of these: First, it increases the damage they receive from being shot by any weapon. And second: any lifted enemy will actually explode with great force if you use Warp on them. The latter is ''the'' best way to deal with groups of enemies (and there's an achievement for doing this enough times), but many players miss out, because they like to just let the AI handle ally powers.
* CommandRoster: Much like the first game, some roles depend on how you play it out.
** TheCaptain: Commander Shepard.
** NumberTwo: Miranda officially, although Garrus and Joker can serve in a similar capacity.
** WrenchWench: Tali.
** The Scientist: Mordin, who is also technically [[TheMedic a medic]] but doesn't serve in that position on the ship.
** TheMedic: Dr. Chakwas, like the first game.
** Security Officer: Jacob and Garrus are in charge of armaments and usually the ones you consult on mission efficiency.
** The Marine: Comes in several varieties.
*** ColdSniper: Zaeed, Thane and Legion.
*** ReligiousBruiser: Samara and Thane, who both live by strict codes and speak often of deities.
*** TheBerserker: Grunt and Jack. Grunt because he's a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Krogan]], Jack just because she's angry at the universe.
*** PhantomThief: Kasumi.
*** SixthRanger: Legion, [[spoiler: Morinth if you take up her offer to betray Samara]].
** AcePilot: Joker.
** MissionControl: EDI and Joker.
** TheShrink[=/=]Communications Officer: Kelly, who manages all crew communications.
** TheNeidermeyer: The Illusive Man, whom no one really trusts.
* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Played straight several times by a number of minor but GenreBlind villains.
* ConspicuousConsumption: As seen during Kasumi's loyalty mission, Donovan Hock, and pretty much the rest of the Bekenstein upperclass.
* ContinueYourMissionDammit: From Grunt's Rite of Passage: "Ready for another round? Hit the Keystone, Shepard." Yes, Grunt, we get it.
* ContinuityNod: Basically the point of [[OldSaveBonus keeping your saved games]] from ''Mass Effect'' to import into the latest one. For the more straightforward kind, you can make a drinking game out of how many nods there are on the Citadel, up to and including commercials for the all-elcor performance of ''Hamlet''. Complete with video clips.
--> "And be sure to see the production live: an unforgettable fourteen-hour experience!"
** During the "Stolen Memory" [=DLC=], you can see one of the cutscenes (featuring Nax the krogan) from ''Mass Effect Galaxy'' playing on a vid-screen.
** Honestly, it goes full-on into ContinuityPorn territory - most of the minor decisions you make during the first game as well as many of the side quests and their outcome will be referenced by meeting characters from said quests or hearing news reports.
* ConversationCasualty: It is possible to heavily influence one assignment (Recruit Archangel) by talking to a mechanic repairing a plot-important weapon, asking him about what is going on and then ending the chat by stabbing one of his electric tools into his back (a Renegade interrupt).
* ConvictionByContradiction: One side mission Liara gives you has you trying to identify an agent of the Shadow Broker named The Observer, choosing among five given suspects based on clues you pick up on certain locations around Illium. Should you make the correct choice at the end, Liara will deal with The Observer personally -- not by turning them in, but through cold-blooded murder.
** Unless you decide to tell Liara about the Shadow Broker before doing her missions. In that case, The Observer quietly slips out and disappears while Liara and Shepard aren't looking.
* CoolestClubEver: Afterlife on Omega, Dark Star in Zakera Ward on the Citadel, Eternity on Illium. Take your pick.
* CoolOldLady: [[DirtyOldWoman Matriarch Aethyta]] of Illium.
* CoolShades: Among the "armor" types you can equip are visors, [[GogglesDoSomethingUnusual goggles]], and shades.
* CopyProtection: There is no client-side DRM at all; instead, the player needs to register their key to their EA[=/=]BioWare account to access DownloadableContent and Cerberus Network news. ''Mass Effect'' also had downloadable content that required registration with EA, but not zero-day [=DLC=] that was created solely to encourage copy registration.
** The game makes a tongue-in-cheek reference to this by having two weapon descriptions mention being protected by "sophisticated Fabrication Rights Management technology to prevent duplication."
** Similarly, the game store clerk on the Citadel will buy used games for two credits. For ''ten'' credits, he'll sell you an extended warranty so that if the copy protection bugs out, you can download a new copy.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: While we don't meet many, the nothing-is-off-limits economy of Illium in the sequel implies there are plenty. The fact that they have a perfectly legal form of [[strike:slavery]] ''[[InsistentTerminology indentured servitude]]'' implemented doesn't help either. The [[BadBoss worst one]] ''by far'' is Nassana, who is [[spoiler:killed by Thane]].
* CradlingYourKill: Thane does a version of this [[spoiler: with Nassana]] in his introductory scene.
* CountingBullets: Blasto the hanar Spectre parodies the famous Dirty Harry line;
--> This one has forgotten whether its heat sink is over capacity. It wonders whether the criminal scum considers itself fortunate.
* CovertDistressCode: The quarians returning to the Migrant Fleet have a code phrase that indicates they're in danger. They also have a second phrase that indicates their mission was successful and the ship they're aboard is no danger to the Fleet; Tali'Zorah's is "After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and shoals of dust, I will return to where I began".
** A side mission you can take up while trying to attract Morinth in the Afterlife VIP section has this as well. You can alert a reporter to the potential danger of interviewing a gang leader by mentioning the words "terminal" and "eternity" in sequence.
* [[CrapsackWorld Crapsack Galaxy]]: Depending on the choices you made in the first game, the state of affairs in the second game can be rather [[{{Dystopia}} dystopian]]. Some of the possibilities: [[FantasticRacism other species having anti-human race riots]] on the Citadel, the Alliance and the other militaries having serious problems keeping the fleets up to snuff, humanity's relationship with all other Citadel species being increasingly strained and antagonistic... hell, the list goes on and on. Just listen to the Galactic News on the Citadel, or talk to Avina. And that's not even considering the AnyoneCanDie nature of the final mission, where even Shepard can be KilledOffForReal, plus [[spoiler: the massive fleet of Reapers shown advancing on the galaxy in the ending]].
* CrateExpectations: With a different set of expectations, namely that you can expect them to save your sorry ass unless they're "Fragile" or "Explosive".
* CreativeSterility: Mordin's reasoning for classifying the [[spoiler:Collectors]] as mere slaves as opposed to a species in their own right.
* CriticalAnnoyance: The screen grows redder and your heartbeat becomes loud and erratic when you lose your shields and are low on health. Compared to the first game, though, Shepard is no longer limited to having the one line "I've lost shields!" S/He now has a few variations on the same line, or at least different intonations.
** The blaring klaxon when the Hammerhead is low on health definitely qualifies as well. If you fail to heed THAT warning, the entire vehicle will [[DamageIsFire burst into flame]] (regardless of the nature of the damage taken) as a final bid to grab your attention.
* CurbStompBattle: The ''Normandy'' SR-1, despite being the most technologically-advanced ship in the Alliance Navy, is eaten alive at the start of the game. This only makes upgrading to the [[{{BFG}} Thanix Cannon]] that much more satisfying, as it allows Joker and the SR-2 to return the favor.
** The SuicideMission if everyone gets out alive is a clear example of this trope.
** The final boss, if you bring along the [[NukeEm Cain]].
** There are smaller examples throughout the game as well, typically [[CutscenePowerToTheMax during cutscenes.]]
** In the ''Arrival'' [=DLC=], after waking up from being sedated for two days (because the sedative just [[ImmuneToDrugs stopped]] [[AcquiredPoisonImmunity working]]), Shepard proceeds to tear apart an entire facility filled with elite assault troopers and heavy mechs...[[OneManArmy all by]] [[{{Badass}} him/herself.]]
*** Even before that, when Shepard is [[spoiler: trapped in the room with the artifact while wave after wave of Project troops tries to kill him/her]]. While you can lose the battle at any point and still continue, it is ''much'' more satisfying to go the full 5 waves, on your own, with no real cover, against vastly superior numbers, and only be taken out by the Reaper equivalent of a DeusExMachina. At that point, it sure feels like ''nothing else'' can stop you. There is, of course, an achievement for doing this.
** A humorous example during Samara's recruitment mission, when you choose to let Niftu Cal, the self-proclaimed biotic god, go up against Captain Wasea, an asari commando who are generally considered to be the deadliest fighters in the galaxy. He throws one biotic "attack" against her which just bounces off her nose. She follows up by killing him with a single biotic throw.
* CutSceneIncompetence: Krogan guards. There's often a possibility to kill them with just a few shots in a cutscene. In actual combat, they tend to be a bit more resilient.
* CutScenePowerToTheMax: Rampant. Jack taking out four [[{{Miniboss}} YMIR Mechs]] in seconds. Samara and Morinth's biotic showdown. Thane's sudden [[StealthHiBye disappearance]].
** Samara apparently using her biotics to ''fly'' (or at least hover).
*** Something that we see from both Liara and Tela Vasir in the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC. In a cutscene, of course.
** In the SuicideMission, the Collectors are easily dispatched with one or two shots, while they can take almost a whole clip from an assault rifle in gameplay. Ditto enemy krogan.
** Shepard's Murder Pistol, a distant cousin of Dragon Age's Murder Knife.
** The DLC squadmates also have this as well:
*** Zaeed's loyalty mission, if you choose to continue chasing after his target, ends with him ejecting a thermal clip on a puddle of gasoline, setting his mark on fire. Outside of that one scene, spent thermal clips are essentially useless.
*** The last boss on Kasumi's loyalty mission is on a gunship whose shields regenerate after taking them down once. The second time, a cutscene occurs in which Kasumi makes her way on top of the gunship and disables its shields.
* CuttingOffTheBranches: The whole reason for [[OldSaveBonus importing your old save files]]. Rather than have to deal with a Q&A in the beginning of the game about what you did, the developers just made it so the game would read the data from your save file and make the necessary changes. If you didn't import an old save file, you are essentially punished, with the game going with the worst outcomes for most of the scenarios.
** Also, the game's worst ending (where Shepard dies) officially never happened. It's more of a ''very long'' NonStandardGameOver.
** The exception to this is your encounter with Conrad Verner. Due to a glitch, ''[=ME1=]'' corrupts the part of the save file that records what you did to Conrad in that game, so the developers made ''[=ME2=]'' always assume that you threatened to kill him in the first game, since that led to the more interesting scenario in the second (the original idea was that if you didn't threaten Conrad in ''[=ME1=]'', you wouldn't encounter him in ''[=ME2=]''). It is possible to, with a save game editor, access a scenario in which [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pQd3pHKO4k Conrad acts as though he was charmed in the first game]].
* CyanidePill: Cerberus employees get one in their molar as a standard feature. Mordin is dismissive, noting that "ocular nerve flashbangs" are harder to disarm.
** [[spoiler: This comes back in a truly horrible brick-joke in ''3'', where indoctrinated Cerberus agents are revealed to now be implanted with them. Guess Mordin didn't get all of the bugs out of his lab after all, although he ''did'' return the expensive one to Miranda]].
* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Invoked by Mordin when discussing whether the Collectors could be saved: "No glands, replaced by tech. No digestive system, replaced by tech. ''No soul, replaced by tech''."
** Averted by Shepard, especially if s/he is Paragon. As a general rule, cybernetic implants are fairly standard treatment for severe enough injuries, and are not treated as morally or spiritually problematic.
* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Going from ''Mass Effect'' to ''2'' (PC version, at least) is more than a little jarring, not least of all because of Left-Shift bringing up the Command Menu and the Spacebar sprinting in battle (exact opposite of in 1), and the Spacebar also being remapped to accompany the Talk/Use function, and being used to go in and out of cover (it no longer happens automatically).
** The "E" key changed from "use/interact" to "send henchman #2 here", causing a lot of unnecessary running around and taking cover.
** On the Xbox 360, ''1'' and ''2'' also switch around the "leave orbit" and "leave Galaxy Map" buttons (B and X).
** Going back from ''2'' to ''1'' on the Xbox 360 also can result in a lot of grenades being thrown pointlessly after a fight. Grenades use the back button, which in ''[=ME2=]'' (which has no grenades) is used to put your weapons away.
** Similarly on the PC version, R is used for Grenades in ''1'' but for reloading your weapon in ''2'' (which many players automatically do after each volley they fired).
** A problem across all three games is that the "skip dialogue" button can also be used to select a dialogue option when the wheel pops up. This can be an issue when you're on your umpteenth replay and you skip through text you've memorized by heard, but accidentally select an option without meaning to because the option wheel popped up at the same time you hit the button.
*** Also prevalent in all games but not quite as annoying: dialogue wheel responses on the left (which continue the conversation) occasionally switch places after triggering one of them. For example, if you select a response on the upper-left side of the wheel, and preemptively move the cursor to the middle or the lower-left side to trigger what you presume to be a different line of dialogue, you may end up replaying the dialogue you've just finished listening to.
* DamageIsFire: The Hammerhead.
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: The Collectors. [[spoiler:As they are serving the Reapers,]] they fully realized that Shepard was an extreme threat to their plans [[spoiler:since s/he killed a Reaper]]. They attack the ''Normandy'' with overwhelming force at the first opportunity, and then hire the Shadow Broker to retrieve Shepard's body, just to make sure s/he's dead.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Seems to be the main theme in regards to the squad. Many of them (aside from your returning teammates) are criminals (Jack, Kasumi), assassins (Thane), working for Cerberus (Jacob and Miranda), or otherwise untrustworthy (Grunt, Zaeed, Legion). However, the problem is that, aside from [[PsychoForHire Jack]] and [[BountyHunter Zaeed]] (before CharacterDevelopment sets in, at least), none of your teammates are ''evil'' per se (Mordin and Samara, for example).
* DarkReprise: [[spoiler: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCk4RiKH9H0 "The End Run"]], the song that plays as you and the team escape from the Collector Base, sounds slightly different in the event [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al-VeZaTKSk Shepard dies]].]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: Though without any loss of quality or maturity. Fornax is just one example. The atmosphere is considerably darker, with Shepard spending most of his/her time [[WretchedHiveOfScumAndVillainy in Terminus space]] with even your time on the Citadel spent on the darker levels around criminals and barely any at the brighter Presidium. Your allies are mostly morally ambiguous mercenaries, violence-obsessed criminals, [[CowboyCop reckless vigilantes]], [[KnightTemplar cops who casually kill helpless enemies if they don't talk]], assassins and members of a terrorist organization. Even the ''gameplay'' gets in on this, being considerably more likely to rip you to pieces but also making you capable of doing the same to enemies.
* TheDayOfReckoning: The SuicideMission is this, in spades.
* DeadguyJunior: If you hang around the Sirta Foundation store in the Citadel, you learn that the baby from the [[VideoGame/MassEffect1 previous game's]] side quest "Family Matter" was named Jacob, after his father. [[PlanetOfSteves Not to be confused with the Jacob who is the first member of your party.]]
* DeadlyGas: The Minagen X3 encountered during Samara's recruitment mission. You encounter containers of it that explode and release the drug into the air, hanging around in big clouds. If you're exposed to it for too long, it'll drain first your shields, then your health. On the plus side, it enhances biotic powers, both of friend and foe, which can be handy. Unless you don't have any biotics in your squad. Then it's just frustrating.
* DeadManWriting: At the end of Kasumi's loyalty mission, [[spoiler:she goes through Keiji's [[NeuroVault graybox]] and discovers a message he recorded for her to find after his death requesting that she delete all of the graybox's contents, including not only dangerous stolen information, but records of all the time they spent together]].
* DeathIsDramatic: Averted. During the final mission, anyone who dies will do so quickly, suddenly, and with no time for mourning. [[spoiler:At the very least, an ill-chosen second fireteam leader will get to say a few last words before they die]].
* DeathOrGloryAttack: Vanguard Charge. Either it's a spectacular close-range bulldozer, or plants you right in the middle of an enemy horde.
* DeadpanSnarker: Every team member ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Joker]]). For example, Shepard talking to Detective Anaya during Samara's recruitment mission will have him/her tell Anaya to not have to go through with restraining Samara (which would get her killed, due to justicar law). Your team mates will dryly comment that they didn't know they were allowed to do that, considering that Shepard pits them against impossible odds about twice a day (Legion narrows this down to 2.73 times a day, rounded down).
** Throughout that mission, Anaya herself is the queen of snark.
---> '''[[ByTheBookCop Anaya]]:''' I have no interest in dying.
* DeathGlare: After Tali's recruitment mission, there's a cutscene where Jacob welcomes Tali aboard and suggests she should introduce herself the the ship's AI, EDI. Tali pauses at the hatch, turns, and gives Jacob a look that, even without seeing her face, clearly should have blown out the rear bulkhead and reduced him to atoms, and then silently leaves.
** Also if brought along to the Citadel when you deal with the volus accusing a quarian of theft. Considering you can't even see her face through that visor of hers, her death glares are indeed chilling to the bone.
** The first shot of Miranda after Shepard fights his/her way out of the Cerberus facility has her grimacing at Wilson before killing him in cold blood.
** Shepard gives one to an asari on Illium who's having commitment issues with her krogan ex-boyfriend. Asari and krogan both being long-living species, she's having second thoughts about staying with somebody she can't just simply outlive. When she brings up how much more convenient it would be to simply romance a human, which doesn't really entail a significant level of commitment according to her, Shepard does not take the comment well.
* DeathWorld: You find out from Mordin that the genophage was designed to reduce the successful birthrate of the krogan to their pre-uplift levels. Considering that only one in a thousand krogan have successful births, and how tough krogan are, Tuchanka is pretty damn terrifying. It should be noted, though, that the decrepitude of their homeworld had nothing to do with the salarians introducing the genophage; it was a by-product of the krogans endlessly fighting each other over thousands of years.
* DecapitationPresentation: The ''Arrival'' DLC mission is a race against time to blow up a mass relay that the Reapers will use to invade. Run out of time and you are treated to a nice little video that ''starts'' with Shepard's head on a pike [[NightmareFuel and gets worse from there.]]
* DefiantToTheEnd: An Eclipse lieutenant in Samara's recruitment mission refuses to give the justicar her target's whereabouts. Also, you could consider this to be true for Shepard him/herself, if he/she's KilledOffForReal.
* DegradedBoss: The first boss in the game is a YMIR Mech. You fight more of them in later missions, including [[DualBoss two at once]] in Garrus's loyalty mission.
* DemonicPossession: Harbinger.
* DemotedToExtra: The entire hanar ''race''. There are zero conversations with them and only background references.
** Also, all your former teammates except for Garrus and Tali have been reduced to {{Quest Giver}}s (Wrex and Liara) or {{One Scene Wonder}} ([[spoiler:the Virmire survivor]]).
* DerelictGraveyard: The massive field of destroyed ships that surrounds [[spoiler:the Collector Base]]. Doubles as an AsteroidThicket.
* DespairEventHorizon: The ending if everyone dies. [[spoiler:Not only is Joker deeply depressed and Shepard dead, but the army of mecha-Cthulhu are on their way. Good luck, humanity]].
* DestinationDefenestration: In Thane's recruitment mission, a Renegade interrupt allows Shepard to do this to an Eclipse mercenary. The sequence was used to demonstrate the interrupt system in pre-release demos. Also happens when you meet Samara.
--> '''Merc:''' I've got nothing more to say to you.\\
(''Shepard pushes him out the window'')\\
'''Shepard:''' How about "''goodbye''"?
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: Try [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-CDNLYZ0zA launching a probe on Uranus]].
--> '''EDI:''' ''Really'', Commander?\\
'''EDI:''' (''if you launch a second probe'') Probing Uranus.
** To a lesser extent, there's one Paragon interrupt many players will easily miss triggered by a specific scenario: [[spoiler:bring Legion along to Tali's recruitment mission, and she'll freak out and try to shoot it unless Shepard interrupts her]].
** In the same vein, [[spoiler: bringing Legion to the Flotilla for Tali's loyalty mission. Suffice to say, the quarians are ''not'' happy about an active geth on their ship]].
** Skipped recruiting Garrus in ''Mass Effect'' via SequenceBreaking? He has slightly different lines when you recruit him in ''[=ME2=]'', and Joker, if asked about him, will not act as though he knew him in the first game.
** Doubly subverted on the Citadel. If you take [[spoiler: Legion]] with you, no one panics, but there's an explanation for this (talk to Anderson).
** Certain parts of dialogue in some of the [=DLC=]s change depending on what point of the game you're up to.
*** If you're playing ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', [[spoiler: Liara's dialogue when she visits Shepard's cabin]] will change depending on whether or not you've completed the suicide mission, as well as depending on who you were able to save.
*** The Shadow Broker himself changes his stated goal when you confront him. If you haven't taken out the Collectors' base by that point, he'll say he will sell Shepard's body to the Collectors. If the base is captured, he will say he is after ''Normandy's'' Reaper IFF in order to salvage the base, or its debris if it was destroyed.
*** In the ''Arrival'' DLC, [[spoiler: the timer counting down to the Reaper's Arrival will be higher]] if you haven't finished the suicide mission. Likewise, [[spoiler: the hologram during the final conversation with Harbinger]] will be different depending on if you've finished the suicide mission. If you haven't, [[spoiler: the hologram will be of the Collector General.]] If you have, [[spoiler: it will be of Harbinger's true Reaper form, similar to the conversation you've had with Sovereign on Virmire in the first game.]]
** When Shepard first wakes up in the Lazarus Research Station and is following Miranda's directions, s/he runs across a staff member trapped in a burning room with a YMIR Mech bearing down on him. The man sees Shepard and calls out for help. However, if an Infiltrator Shepard activates Tactical Cloak before entering the man's line of sight, he won't call for help; he'll just yell as the mech kills him.
** The easiest way to get into Hock's room during Kasumi's loyalty mission is to tell the guard you have clearance from one of his superiors. However, if you can't find his captain's name, there's a route for you to climb down the terrace and break in through some windows. That's not this trope. The development team thinks of everything regarding an alarm clock you can set off in Hock's room. If you set it off when you lie to the guard, nothing extra will happen. However, if you broke in, the guard and another merc will come in, saying you're not supposed to be in there, prompting a brief firefight.
** The M-15 Vindicator is a burst-fire assault rifle. In cutscenes, it can go full auto, despite logically, it shouldn't. [[http://images.wikia.com/masseffect/images/4/4f/M15Vindicator.png Notice the Auto switch on the side of the gun?]] Nice touch, Dev Team.
** [[spoiler:Ronald Taylor]]'s camp bed during Jacob's loyalty mission. [[RapeAsDrama It's a double]].
** When you speak to Spectre Tela Vasir in the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC mission, part of her dialogue depends on your status. If you didn't save the Council and recommended Udina as a Councillor (the only way to not be given the opportunity to be reinstated as a Spectre) she calls it a pity.
** An out-of-game example goes out to the game itself, specifically the [=PS3=] release. At the time [=ME2=] was released, there was no [[MassEffect1 ME1]] release for the [=PS3=]. Even with the Cerberus pack, with the comic that lets you pre-select many of the major decisions from the first game, there are many many other decisions and quest outcomes that don't get ported over. Nonetheless, the developers made sure to include them, and with the online release of the original game, [=PS3=] players can see those added extras for the first time. So a shoutout to the dev team for creating a perfect port with extras and options that wouldn't see the light of day for nearly three years.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: In the end, you fight a [[spoiler: fledgling Reaper, on foot, with only two of your sidekicks]].
* DifficultButAwesome: Playing as an Infiltrator or a Vanguard can be difficult, and both have a sharp learning curve, but once you level up a bit and get the hang of them (as well as the Widow sniper rifle, as an Infiltrator), [[OneManArmy nothing can touch you]], even on Insanity. And they are both ''VERY'' fun.
** The Adept on anything higher than Veteran is usually reviled as useless. In reality, it's one of the best classes - if you can play it right, enemies die ''very'' fast.
* DifficultySpike: Any level involving the Collectors. The geth as well, but to a lesser extent. Their rifles will strip your shields just as fast as the Collectors', but do less damage against health and the geth themselves are weaker. It probably helps to know which squadmates to bring along when you can anticipate what you're about to face; for example, the Collectors' defenses are usually armors or barriers (both, in the case of Harbinger and the Praetorian), so biotics would be very useful against them.
** The Collectors also usually bring with them the [[BossInMookClothing nuisance]] that is Harbinger.
* DiscOneNuke:
** Archangel's Armor-Piercing Ammo ability can nearly double your firepower with their 70 percent bonus. If you level it up to four, your entire squad can make use of this ammo type.
** If you're a Soldier with Adrenaline Rush, there's an unlisted 100 percent damage bonus. ''[[ForMassiveDamage Massive]]'' [[ForMassiveDamage damage]]? Oh yeah.
** The Eviscerator shotgun and Locust sub-machine gun [=DLC=] weapons also count. Both can be acquired almost immediately and provide only slightly less damage than the Claymore and Tempest, respectively.
* DiscOneFinalDungeon: A straight case with the colony, and an odd case coming from the way the two disk nature of the game works. You begin with the first disk, swap to the second disk mid-way through, and pop the first disk back in for the end. In other words, the Final Dungeon is ''literally'' on the first disk.
* DiscountCard: Shepard can get a discount from stores by convincing the shop keepers via Renegade or Paragon checks. In The Citadel's case, he/she can get discounts there by giving the store an endorsement, saying it's his/her favorite store on The Citadel. Funnily enough, he can do it with ALL the stores on the Citadel.
** [[MemeticMutation "I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite (insert noun here) on the Citadel."]]
* DistressCall: Jacob's loyalty mission is triggered by one. Very frequently used to set up side quests.
* DoggedNiceGuy: [[FanNickname Friend Zone Turian]], found in Eternity on Illium, tries very hard to convince his quarian lady friend that she needs a guy who'll "treat her right". Unfortunately for him, she doesn't seem to be getting the hint.
* DoingItForTheArt: [=BioWare=] had an entire animation team ''just for eyes''.
* DoorOfDoom: The Omega-4 Relay is essentially this.
* DoubleUnlock: Used to an extent. Found an upgrade? Wonderful! Now head on back to the ship and spend hours strip-mining every nearby planet so that you can use it.
* DoWithHimAsYouWill: The 'neutral' ending of Jacob's loyalty mission.
* DownerBeginning: About a minute into the game, the ''Normandy'' is crippled and has to be abandoned. [[MauveShirt XO Pressly]] is killed in an explosion. ''And then you die.''
* DownerEnding: [[MultipleEndings The worst ending.]] [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll Shepard and all of his/her crew except for Joker and EDI are dead.]] [[PyrrhicVictory The Collectors have been wiped out,]] [[ShootTheShaggyDog but the only person who can stop the Reapers is gone.]]]]
* DownloadableContent: Quite a bit. The Cerberus Network is an ElectronicArts ''Mass Effect'' themed proxy (free for new users, $15 USD otherwise) which features new equipment, clothes, a crew member (Zaeed, and an associated loyalty mission), and the ''Normandy'' Crash Site [=DLC=]. Later, the "Firewalker Pack", featuring a new hovertank called the Hammerhead and five associated missions, came out. ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' owners also received special armor.
** The first "premium" (non-free) [=DLC=] is "Kasumi - Stolen Memory", featuring a notorious space thief who is mentioned by a news announcement on Illium for being suspected of stealing some prototype thing.
** The second non-free [=DLC=] is "Overlord", where Shepard is tasked with shutting down a rogue Cerberus VI. Overlord was well received.
** ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', is the first "bridging" [=DLC=], as it will affect ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''. It is the first [=DLC=] internally marked as an "expansion pack". It was well received as well.
** There were also three weapons packs, including goodies such as a geth shotgun that shoots energy spheres that form plasma on impact, a laser-sighted pistol, a burst-fire sniper rifle, a semiautomatic assault rifle, and pieces of armor.
** With the exception of the plain weapon/armour packs and the appearance packs as well as the ''Arrival'' mission, the PS3 version contains all the [=DLCs=], either pre-bundled, or with a code included in the box (though only new copies of the game will most likely be able to be used otherwise the Cerberus content will have to be purchased in the store as well).
** ''Arrival'' is the second and last bridging [=DLC=] between ''Mass Effect 2'' and ''Mass Effect 3'', as well as the last mission-based [=DLC=] that will be available for this game. Like Lair of the Shadow Broker, the events of this [=DLC=] has a ''massive'' impact in the third game.
* DramaticIrony: Joker has a comment regarding Samara's loyalty mission after you complete it. If, on said mission, you decided to [[spoiler:kill Samara and recruit Morinth]], it becomes this trope:
--> '''Joker:''' I'm glad things worked out, Commander. I was worried you'd [[spoiler:dump Samara for some crazy soul-sucker with a death fetish, all lithe and sexy and...]] never mind.
** On Tuchanka, if you take Mordin with you when you talk to the krogan researcher Fortack, another case of this trope occurs. Note that part of Mordin's history before joining your squad was [[spoiler:modifying the genophage]]:
--> '''Mordin:''' Salarians created genophage... I've heard. Still trust them with medicine and agriculture?\\
'''Fortack:''' Why not? It's not like they can make us any more sterile... Wait, forget I said anything.
* DramaticSpaceDrifting: Shepard undergoes this in the first scene of the game.
* DrillSergeantNasty: In the Citadel docking bay is a Gunnery Chief giving a ''physics lecture'' to his subordinates.
--> '''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCoHT_cHPzY Gunnery Sergeant]]:''' And that is why Sir Isaac Newton is the '''''DEADLIEST-SON-OF-A-BITCH-IN-SPACE!!'''''
** Pay attention to the two names given to the servicemen, Chung and Burnside. It's a tip of the hat to Winchel Chung and Ken Burnside, author of Project Rho (the definitive website for realistic space mechanics) and main brains behind Ad Astra Games (the only miniature game that does 3D without killing your brain), respectively.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Ronald Taylor]], if you choose the Renegade path of Jacob's loyalty mission.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: All party or ''Normandy'' crew members that die during the SuicideMission are killed off like this. Since the mission's mortality rate can be ludicrously high, this was most likely for pacing reasons. Do you really want to watch two-minute death scenes every other minute during the final battle?
* DrunkWithPower: What led to [[spoiler:Ronald Taylor]]'s MoralEventHorizon.
* DummiedOut: A bunch. Fairly comprehensive compilations of all the dummied out stuff can be found [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect_2_Cut_Content here]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4B56CA6794991D92 here]]. Some particularly notable examples:
** The post-Horizon squadmates--Samara, Tali, Thane, and [[spoiler:Legion]]--have unique pieces of dialogue that were rendered inaccessible by the decision to split the party recruitment into two separate phases, in order to fit the game onto two discs. It's possible to modify your save game to get them in your party earlier, where they'll have normal lines almost everywhere. (The one exception is Horizon itself; [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Vut1y1W6s only Tali has lines there.]])
** Like in ''MassEffect'', same-sex romance options were apparently planned and even partially voiced and scripted, but dummied out in the final version. See also BuryYourGays and HideYourLesbians.
** The newly introduced [[CallAHitPointASmeerp heat sink]] system was initially implemented as a more logical hybrid system in which the heat sinks cool down and "fill up" again, if not ejected. Reportedly playtesters didn't like it, so the cooldown was dummied out. Editing some values in the game's internal .ini file allows re-enabling the hybrid system at the risk of [[GameBreaker unbalancing some guns]] that were balanced for the new system.
** The PS3 version of the game has a few things dummied out, namely that it will always be Liara who is seen evacuating people from the ''Normandy'' at the start of the game, as "Mass Effect: Genesis" (the interactive recap of the first game) takes place following the title card, so the game has no way of knowing if Kaidan or Ashley will be alive in the game. (In the PC and 360 versions, Liara will only be seen in the opening cutscene if she was romanced in the first game.)
** There was originally supposed to be a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMHCuaVrW1I loyalty conflict between Mordin and Grunt]], similar to the ones between Jack and Miranda and Tali and [[spoiler:Legion]].
** Mordin was originally a biotic, and he [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_28OE71kmA8 would have been a "good" choice]] as the biotic specialist during the suicide mission.
** There are ''even more'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o95ZG83shg death scenes]] during the trip through the Omega-4 relay, also dummied out thanks to the aforementioned decision to split the game.
** The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGHD160dy80 Paragon version of Conrad's sidequest]] was accidentally dummied out thanks to a save import error. This one is [[LampshadeHanging referenced]] in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''; Conrad apologizes for claiming that you put a gun to his head when you didn't.
** The DLC Firewalker side missions had [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TSBIdOktfE a lot of interesting logs cut out]]; most notably, the Dr. Cayce from Firewalker was supposed to be revealed to be Dr. Manuel, the rambling scientist on Eden Prime in the first game.
* DwindlingParty: What happens if you don't handle the suicide mission correctly. Can occur within a few scenes of you coming out the other side of the Omega-4 relay [[spoiler:if you didn't upgrade the ''Normandy'']].
* DynamicDifficulty: Inverted with the morality checks. The better you play the morality game (specifically, the more consistent you are with making Paragon or Renegade choices), the easier it gets.
* DysonSphere: The 'true geth' have been working on a "mega-structure" comparable to one for close to three centuries. When it's complete, every geth program will be able to run in unison, boosting their intelligence to incalculable levels.
* EarnYourBadEnding: Getting the worst ending (where ''[[KillEmAll everyone]]'', including Shepard, dies) is surprisingly difficult. Even a new player who has no idea what they're doing is bound to have at least a few squadmates survive the suicide mission. It's nigh impossible to kill everyone accidentally, and doing it ''[[VideoGameCrueltyPotential deliberately]]'' requires knowledge of how the survival mechanic in the final mission works.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: It ''is'' possible to get everybody out of the SuicideMission alive, but you'll have to work for it.
* EarthShatteringKaboom: In the ''Arrival'' DLC, [[spoiler: literally. Shepard destroys a mass relay, which causes a supernova-sized explosion that wipes out the entire star system it's in]].
* ElectricInstantGratification: The subject of... [[ADateWithRosiePalms nerve stimulation systems]]... comes up a couple of times. Mentioned by Tali offhandedly during her romance path; also mentioned by the [[FanNickname Valley Girl Quarian]], who was apparently quite willing to demonstrate its use ''in public'', until she and her turian friend suddenly notice you eavesdropping.
--> '''Quarian:''' Here, let me fire it up... Uh, excuse me, human? Private conversation? Ugh.
* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Played mostly straight. Enemies have several types of defenses: health, armor, kinetic shields and biotic barriers. There are various weapons, ammo types and abilities that are more (or less) effective against various types of defenses. Enemies may also be organic or synthetic, certain abilities having additional effects if used against the "correct" type of enemy.
* EmptyRoomUntilTheTrap: [[spoiler:The Collector ship mission]]. The first half of the mission is exploring the ship and its [[BenevolentArchitecture conveniently-placed]] [[ForebodingArchitecture chest-high walls]] with [[EmptyRoomPsych no enemies to speak of]]. [[spoiler:Then you're ambushed by Collectors as you try to leave.]] To their credit, your squadmates ''will'' point out how weird it is.
* EnemyCivilWar: [[spoiler:The original geth vs the AlwaysChaoticEvil heretic geth.]]
* EqualOpportunityEvil:
** Split across three different merc bands, every major race in the galaxy is represented. Eclipse, which favors finesse, speed and technology uses asari, salarians and a few humans, with a few mechs thrown in. The Blood Pack uses tough-as-nails but rock-stupid regenerating species like vorcha and krogan. The Blue Suns like to play the middle ground with humans, turians and batarians.
** People from Cerberus, a human supremacist organization, are surprisingly okay with having almost half your squad members be aliens. At least, they're less xenophobic than the crew of the original ''Normandy''.
* EscapePod: Used when the Collectors destroy the SR-1 ''Normandy''.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: In the ''Arrival'' DLC, [[spoiler:the Project members genuinely care for each other despite being indoctrinated and can occasionally be heard vowing revenge against Shepard when s/he kills their friends]].
-->"No! Williams! We're too late!"
* EveryBulletIsATracer: A necessary addition as the BottomlessMagazines of the first game have been removed and shields have been de-powered.
* [[EveryoneIsBi Everyone Is A Xenophile]]: A good chunk of the romance options are aliens (Tali, Garrus and Thane, as opposed to the human love interests Miranda, Jack and Jacob). Apparently aliens really ''do'' want Shepard to [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove teach them about this Earth thing called "love."]] This may be a CallBack to a comment Shepard can make in the first game to Alenko and Williams when they talk about the Council's reticence towards humans.
--> '''Kaidan Alenko:''' They probably just want to keep everything running. It has to be hard keeping all these cultures working together.\\
'''Ashley Williams:''' Or maybe they just don't like humans.\\
'''Commander Shepard:''' Why not? We've got oceans, [[MarsNeedsWomen beautiful women]], this [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove emotion called love]]. According to the old vids, we have everything they want.
* EverythingMakesAMushroom: The Cain is explicitly said not to be nuclear, but its explosion is sufficient for making a mushroom cloud anyway. Thus, it's nicknamed the "nuke gun" even by those who know better in-setting. The YMIR mech also makes a mushroom if taken out via headshot.
* ExactlyWhatIAimedAt: Renegade Shepard gets one of those on the speaker of clan Weyrloc, interrupting his speech with a shot in a gas line. When he taunts Shepard with "having missed him", Shepard detonates the gas with the next shot, setting the annoyingly talkative krogan on fire.
** Zaeed does the same to Vido during his loyalty mission, igniting the entire industrial complex in a massive fire.
* ExplosiveDecompression: Averted. In fact, the development team seemed just a little ''too'' eager to avert it.
* ExplosiveStupidity: Enemies with rocket launchers are prone to this; if you use the AttackDrone ability on them, they will repeatedly injure themselves with their own munitions trying to kill it.
* ExposedToTheElements: [[{{Stripperiffic}} Certain]] [[MsFanservice outfits]] for your characters, ''especially'' Jack, during the derelict Reaper mission. Apparently, the only character unable to survive hard vacuum with just a facemask and kinetic barrier is Shepard. Then again, it's already killed him/her once.
* {{Expositron 9000}}: EDI.
* {{Expy}}: [[spoiler:The Human Reaper looks like a giant {{Terminator}}, or perhaps a Snatcher, due to its method of construction as well as where it keeps its [[{{BFG}} big beam weapon]].]]
* ExtraStrengthMasquerade: "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Oc-pstqpc Ah, yes, 'Reapers'...]]" If you talk to Avina and try explaining that Sovereign attacked the Citadel, not the geth, this is lampshaded by your squadmates, hilariously so by Kasumi:
--> '''Kasumi:''' They're really selling the "geth did it" message. I bet you can't even say "Reapers" without inciting a panic. Reapers!
* EverybodyLives: On the flip side of everyone dying during the suicide mission, there's an achievement getting the entire team out in one piece. You're going to have to invest a lot of time and effort to do so, however.
* EyeBeams: The main weapon of the Praetorians is a massive set of particle beams they blast out of their eyes.
* FacelessGoons: The ever-present Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack mercenaries.
* FailedASpotCheck: On talking to the C-Sec Customs officer with [[spoiler:Legion]] in your party: "...Geth do not ''intentionally'' infiltrate."
** In the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC, during a high-speed car chase on Illium, Shepard asks Liara what kind of weaponry they have, leading Liara to remind them that they are in a ''[[WrongGenreSavvy taxi]]'', and it has a ''fare meter''. Of course, given [[CosmicPlaything the nature of Shepard's life]], expecting a taxi to be heavily armed is something that honestly isn't too far-fetched at this point.
* FailOSuckyname: Quarian Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib-Qwib. While introducing him, Tali pleads for you not to ask about the name, and of course you can choose to ignore her and ask anyway. While he states he's entertained the idea of finding a ship with a less stupid-sounding name ([[StealthPun like Defranz or Iktomi]]), he's still proud of it.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: During the ''Arrival'' [=DLC=] quest. It's hard to fight off the waves of mercenaries as Object Rho is powering up and if you lose, it takes you to the next sequence where you break out of a holding cell but even if you fend off all the mercs, you'll be taken out by Object Rho with the same outcome. At least you unlock an achievement if you survive all the mercs.
* FakeSkill: There are a few places in the game where it's possible to skip entire waves of enemies. All of these fall under Alternative Skill; they're easier than just straight up fighting, but they're not ''effortless'', either.
** In several places, your objective is to simply get to a specified place; it doesn't matter whether you kill all or even ''any'' of the enemies going after you, so you can just sprint over to the checkpoint and trigger the next cutscene. This tends to be easiest as an [[InvisibilityCloak Infiltrator]] and, to a lesser extent, [[BulletTime Soldier]] and [[FoeTossingCharge Vanguard]], though it's not impossible with the other classes.
** Just before the Horizon spaceport battle (where you have to activate the defense turrets), there's a spot where, if you stand in ''just the right place'', you can see and kill the two Scions hiding behind the control panel without actually triggering combat, and the Husks that are supposed to harass you will never appear. This can actually be less practical depending on your class and loadout; if you have guns with high rate-of-fire but low accuracy, and if your powers don't include Warp or Incinerate[[hottip:*: the spot is too far away to lock onto the Scions, but they can be hit with Warp/Incinerate since powers without lock travel in a straight line to where the crosshair is pointed]] it will probably be faster to go through the fight normally, even if you die several times.
** During the second-to-last battle in Tali's loyalty mission, deploying a combat drone at just the right time in just the right place will immediately end the battle and trigger the cutscene where [[spoiler:Shepard and Tali find Rael's body]].[[hottip:*:The reason this works is because the game treats your combat drones as squadmates, and any squadmate can trigger a cutscene.]] However, doing this will also glitch the cutscene so all of your squad has their equipped guns glued to their hands. Hugging Tali (the Paragon interrupt) suddenly becomes a lot less heartwarming when Shepard has a freaking ''[[{{BFG}} nuke gun]]'' strapped to their hand.
*** In line with the InstantWinCondition of this particular battle, simply charging straight towards the open doorway will immediately trigger the cutscene -- without the aforementioned bug.
* {{Fanservice}}: A surprisingly large number of your squad members fall into this, unlike in the first game where everyone wears full suits of armor. A few examples: Miranda's form-fitting Cerberus uniform (or Jacob's, for the ladies - his six-pack abs are visible even when he's wearing a black jumpsuit); Jack wearing nothing above the waist but a few well-placed belts; among many, many others. Ironically, the romance scenes were toned down; the most overtly sexual image from the romance scenes is probably the shot of [[spoiler:Miranda]]'s chest, which is still covered by a bra.
--> '''Enyala:''' (''talking to Miranda'') I was just waiting for you to finish getting dressed. Or does Cerberus really let you whore around in that outfit?
* FandomNod: All over the place in the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC.
* FanNickname: "The JusticeLeague" for Shepard and the squadmates.
** We can't forget [[spoiler:Pants the Human Reaper]].
** Friend Zone Turian for the poor bastard and his cringe-worthy attempts at wooing Valley Girl Quarian complaining about her human boyfriend.
** Timmy for The Illusive Man, Suzie for Jack, AKA Subject Zero
** Archangel[=/=]Garrus is Space[=/=]Turian {{Batman}}/[[ThePunisher Punisher]].
* FantasticRacism: In ''spades''. All the sentient species in the galaxy seem to hold some degree of resentment for each other. The krogan are generally hostile to other species, and also aren't very well liked by everyone else, since their brute nature and the whole deal with the Krogan Rebellions has earned them a poor reputation. The quarians used to be respected, but their reputation in the galactic community suffered very badly because of the whole deal with the geth, which led to them losing their embassy on the Citadel and other species looking down on them and labeling them all as scum. Nobody likes the vorcha because of their aggression, reputation as troublemakers and vermin, and lesser intelligence. Humans are not too popular with a lot of people of other species, either, and in turn, a lot of humans seem prejudiced towards all aliens.
** Walk around Illium for a few minutes and listen to the various asari [=NPCs=]. Most seem to ''hate'' purebloods, but conversely, they also seem to constantly bring up another person's alien parentage at the drop of a hat, often in a derogatory manner.
** Thane's loyalty mission has you tracking a turian politician who's campaigning on an anti-human platform [[spoiler:and is being targeted by Thane's son Kolyat]]. You can even kill him at the end of the mission.
** All species except the asari[[hottip:*:since all native fauna on Thessia is naturally biotic]] seem to have some level of fear and prejudice of the biotic members of their population. The militaries of species' official states are usually more accepting of biotics, however.
* FireIceLightning:
** Fire: Incinerate, Incendiary Ammo, and the DLC Firestorm heavy weapon.
** Ice: Cryo Blast, Cryo Ammo, and the Avalanche heavy weapon.
** Lightning: Overload, Disruptor Ammo, and the DLC Arc Projector heavy weapon.
* FiringOneHanded: Shepard and company frequently wield pistols or submachine guns one-handed in cutscenes.
** In the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC, [[spoiler:the Shadow Broker himself, a massive creature called a yahg, fights you while holding a ''Revenant'' one-handed.]]
* TokenEvilTeammate: Morinth (if you choose her over Samara). If not chosen, Jack fills this role as well. And if his loyalty mission is any indication, Zaeed also fits this trope.
* FixedForwardFacingWeapon: All warships pack one as their main weapon, as the direction of travel is typically the longest dimension of the vessel, and mass accelerator cannons only get more powerful the longer they are. Dreadnoughts have the most powerful such guns, and can exert [[HiroshimaAsAUnitOfMeasure multiple times the energy released in the Hiroshima blast]] into a shot. Every few seconds. "That means Sir Isaac Newton is the deadliest son-of-a-bitch in space!"
* ForebodingArchitecture: Oh look, there's a big, open room. With lots and lots of cover. ''Why aren't you behind some yet?!''
** You can tell with [[spoiler:almost]] 100% certainty when there is going to be a fight: there are waist-high walls scattered around the place.
** Subverted in [[spoiler:the Collector cruiser]]. Lots of space, lots of cover...no bad guys. [[NothingIsScarier It gets very creepy very quickly.]] Don't worry, [[spoiler: it changes]].
* FlippingTheTable: A non-comedic example in the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC, when [[spoiler:the huge alien that is the Shadow Broker]] and towering over the biggest krogans throws his entire metal desk at Shepard at the beginning of the fight.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Mordin's loyalty mission is basically a warm-up for the final Big Important Paragon-Or-Renegade choice -- whether or not it's worth using technology built with the blood of innocents.
** Ironically, the Paragon/Renegade choice is reversed in both examples. A Paragon thinks the genophage should be cured at all costs, even at the risk of a new Krogan Rebellion, so he keeps the data, while a Renegade thinks it must not be cured to avoid that risk, so it needs to be destroyed. As for the final mission, [[spoiler:a Paragon believes that the technology developed at the cost of millions of lives is an abomination, while a Renegade thinks the advantage gained from it is worth the risk]]. So there are other factors that affect the decision as well.
** A minor one that's very easy one to miss, especially since it's optional dialogue, but it hints at how Archangel ended up cornered with his entire team dead. If Shepard presses Eclipse's leader for details about Archangel's past and identity, Jaroth says that even Archangel's team didn't know that. [[spoiler: How would Jaroth have any idea what Garrus's team did or didn't know? Simple: Sidonis told him]].
*** On the same mission, something that hints at Archangel's true identity: [[spoiler: Although he will shoot you if you hang around in the open too long, instantly taking down your shields, he will ''never'' take another shot at you until your shields regenerate]]. He even lampshades this later, if you mention it.
** A little and more subtle is the fact that the Normandy SR-2 crew doesn't wear combat gear. [[spoiler: This means that the ship is under a lot more danger if it's boarded and the party isn't there. [[FinaglesLaw This happens.]]]] Head count in both games shows both SR-1 and SR-2 had exactly the same number of crew members: 28 not counting Shepard and squad members. The SR-1 operated a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_racking hot bunking system]], similar to a submarine. SR-2 was considered luxury because everyone had their own bed.
** During the ''Arrival'' DLC mission, a log made by Dr. Kenson after she'd [[spoiler: already been heavily indoctrinated has her coming to the ludicrous conclusion that they simply don't know what the Reapers want, and it's foolish to assume they mean doom for everyone since life goes on even though they've been here before. Come VideoGame/MassEffect3, she was closer to being right than anyone realized]].
** Also during ''Arrival'', there are some blink-and-you'll miss it clues that [[spoiler: Kenson and her team are already indoctrinated]]. like a batarian security log that reports the prisoners were raving incoherently, and one that's very easy to miss is a prison cell with a blood stain on the floor and body next to it. And up on the wall is a bloody human handprint [[CouldntFindAPen and a drawing of a Reaper in blood]].
* ForgottenFallenFriend: Averted hard. [[spoiler:The squadmate who died on Virmire]] will be referenced to a lot and can be a touchy subject for Shepard. Even ''Jenkins'', the RedShirt who died 15 minutes into the first game, gets a mention. Furthermore, a SideQuest with Dr. Chakwas gives you the opportunity to toast to the memory of all your fallen crew members up to that point.
** Played straight if you have the Sole Survivor background and did the mission that revealed Cerberus's involvement in the Akuze disaster in the first game.
*** In fact, it's played so aggravatingly straight in this case that even when Toombs emails you with a WhatTheHellHero after finding out you're with Cerberus, it has no effect on the game whatsoever.
* FourElementEnsemble: Four defense types, health, armor, shields and barriers. Weapons deal bonus damage to specific defenses in a mostly random fashion; most tech and biotic abilities are severely restricted, forcing you to bring along team members that make up for your weaknesses. Eventually you inevitably end up with a weapons guy, an engineer and a biotic in your squad and ignore everyone else.
* FourOneNineScam: Shepard gets at least two different versions in his/her email during the game, along with [[spoiler: an adaptation of the popular Christian inspirational piece "Footprints in the Sand", featuring a drell and the hanar Enkindlers.]]
* FreezeRay: The very appropriately named Avalanche [[{{BFG}} heavy weapon]] and the Cryo Blast tech power.
* FrickinLaserBeams:
** The Collector Particle Beam is a powerful hitscan heavy weapon that quickly eats through barriers, shields and health. Armor, less so, but not so much that it's less useful. Strictly speaking, as a "particle" beam, the weapon is probably not a laser, but rather a stream of plasma or other ions.
*** The codex explains that the Collector Particle Beam weapon uses a coherent stream of radiation (though not what type) to achieve its devastating effects.
** GARDIAN lasers are a more literal example of this trope. They're one of the most powerful and accurate weapons in the verse (the accuracy comes because they avert the 'lasers move slower than light' part of FrickinLaserBeams), but have relatively short range because of collimation[[hottip:**:Not refraction or diffraction; those only matter in atmosphere. In space, it's collimation, the degree to which the laser is focused.]]. Their use beyond point defense is restricted to fighter combat and close-in "knife fights" between smaller capital ships.
** The Collectors seem to love this trope; [[spoiler:a giant particle beam is the only weapon their cruiser uses]], and the [[spoiler: Oculus drones guarding the Omega-4 Relay nearly tear the ''Normandy'' apart with their lasers]].
** If you're not a tightwad and upgrade your ship, the turian-made Thanix Cannon -- reverse-engineered from the Collectors -- more or less fires a beam of molten metal.
* FreudianThreat: During an interrogation scene in Thane's loyalty mission, Shepard can choose to rough up the suspect and wrap things up like so:
-->'''Kelham:''' Are we done here? Because I got people to see.\\
''(Shepard slams his/her forearm against the guy's throat)''\\
'''Shepard:''' I'm done being patient. Give me a name, or I cut your balls off and sell them to a krogan.
* FreudianTrio: The game rather blatantly sets up Shepard, Miranda, and Jacob to be this, with Shepard serving as TheKirk, Miranda as TheSpock, and Jacob as TheMcCoy.
* FromBadToWorse: The ending shows [[spoiler:the Reapers mobilizing to attack. What's more, every single one of those giant mech ships has a personal vendetta against you. Specifically]].
* FutureMusic: Heard in the nightclubs and bars. ''Mass Effect 2'' also uses [[VideoGame/SimCity VideoGame/SimCity 4]] music in several shops on the Citadel.
** One track was actually picked up from ''[[VideoGame/{{SSX}} SSX 3]]'', but you can't really tell.
** Another example is the Afterlife Club on Omega. The main floor music was taken from ''[[{{NeedForSpeed}} Need for Speed 4]]''.
* FuturisticSuperhighway: Illium features a three-dimensional web of air routes for its (many, many) {{Flying Car}}s. One part of the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC has you hurtling through these as part of a car chase.

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Continued at:

* MassEffect2/{{Tropes G-M}}
* MassEffect2/{{Tropes N-S}}
* MassEffect2/{{Tropes T-Z}}