History YMMV / MassEffect2

* RonTheDeathEater: A lot of Morinth sympathizers blame Samara for Morinth's addictions.

* {{Wangst}}: The main reason she's reviled by certain fans is the accusation that she fits this. It's not that she doesn't have a reason to be upset, it's because as far as many are concerned she drones on and on about how much it hurts her to be perfect and how her father was emotionally distant, whereas every other character besides Jack has bigger or equal problems that they don't complain about. The fact that she says that she was always given what she wanted and grew up in wealth has not helped matters, though she also makes a point of mentioning that there was always a catch to getting what she wanted. Still, if you play the "Lair of the Shadow Broker" DLC and read the file on her it turns out that Miranda's pain goes deeper than she lets on. [[spoiler: She wants to be a mother but cannot conceive, and even worse, it's implied that this is just one of many ways her father has tried to control her.]] It's also relevant to Miranda's character that using expensive gifts and privileges "with a catch" to control and emotionally abuse others while treating them like whiny, privileged assholes for complaining is an extremely common and ''devastatingly effective'' tactic even in real life.

* LowTierLEtdown: The companions with the shotgun/pistol combination as a part of their loadout aren't as popular combat wise because, without the Geth Plasma Shotgun in the [[BribingYourWayToVictory Firepower Pack]], their damage output is simply pathetic compared to squadmates with assault rifles and sniper rifles (as part of all non-GPS shotguns in general being [[ScrappyWeapon Scrappy Weapons]]). The GPS somewhat fixes this and makes them ''actually'' capable of doing more than picking off the occasional {{mook}} with their pistols, but even with this upgrade they still lag behind the AR users.

* TakeThatScrappy: Slapping him for cheating on you in the Citadel DLC. Given Jacob's not well liked even outside of his infidelity, someone made a mod where you can slap him during that scene regardless of your relationship.

* CrackPairing: Jack x Miranda presumably interprets their dislike of each other (and possible LoveTriangle with male Shepard) as BelligerentSexualTension.
** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the ''Citadel'' DLC for ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', where Shepard can propose that they hook up. Both immediately ask for another drink.

'''Legion'''

* CrackPairing: It and Admiral Xen get shipped a lot, likely because she calls it a "marvelous machine"

* CrackPairing: Admiral Xen and [[spoiler: Legion]] get shipped a lot, likely because of Xen calling [[spoiler: Legion a "marvelous machine"]].

* CompleteMonster: [[ItsAllAboutMe Ronald Taylor]] is Jacob Taylor's father and cares only about himself. Serving as Acting Captain when his ship crashed on a remote planet, Ronald discovered the food on the planet caused neural decay in whoever ate it. Restricting the ship's rations to him and his officers before killing them, Ronald exiled all the men so that he could keep all the women as his [[SexSlave own personal harem]] for years. Ronald eventually activated the distress beacon only to [[DirtyCoward save himself]] after the men became dangerous, and when confronted on what he's done, Ronald only [[NeverMyFault comes up with excuses on why he wasn't to blame]].

** The Lazarus )roject required Cerberus to take the original Shepard, keep what worked, and then rebuild & fix what didn't work without straying too far from the original - a challenge ''Bioware'' would also face about a decade after this game's release with the remastering process of ''[[UpdatedRerelease Mass Effect Legendary Edition]]''. The developers themselves actually referenced the Lazarus Project [[https://www.ea.com/games/mass-effect/mass-effect-legendary-edition/news/visual-improvements on the blog post]] about the remaster's visual changes and additions.

* SugarWiki/GeniusProgramming: ''Mass Effect 2'' runs much more smoothly on the same PC configuration compared to the previous game, despite having better graphics.

** An unnamed Krogan who you talk to Illium has been dubbed "the most polite Krogan in the universe", for how unfailingly, well, ''polite'' he is. Which, if you know anything about how [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership Krogan society operates]], speaks ''volumes'' about how frighteningly badass this dude must be to be so calm.

** One of [[spoiler:Legion's]] random comments when hacking geth rocket turrets during their loyalty mission is "Executing sudo command." "Sudo," short for "superuser do," is UsefulNotes/{{Linux}} syntax that allows an admin to give other users temporary admin privileges. [[StealthPun "Geth do not use windows"]] indeed...

* EvilIsSexy: As per the vampirism parallel. Also, asari. And the skin-tight black outfit, that too.

* EvilIsSexy: Okay, Aria may not be straight-up evil, but she is a crime lord, and she's sexy even for an asari.

---> '''Shepard:''' "You wouldn't believe how often I hear 'Why is the ship turning around? [[SpaceFriction We're only halfway there]]!'"

* TheWoobie: [[spoiler: Born autstic, exploited by his own brother, turned into a machine against his will, and insane from the strain of being in charge of a computer network. This guy's life is just one heartbreak after another. Unfortunately, he's incredibly unstable and dangerous, and become so withdrawn and broken he doesn't realize the harm of his actions. Thankfully, if you save him, he is shown to be doing a lot better during the Grissom Station mission in the third game. He even apologises to Shepard and his squad for his actions.]]

* TheWoobie: [[spoiler: Born with autism, exploited by his own brother, turned into a machine against his will, and insane from the strain of being in charge of a computer network. This guy's life is just one heartbreak after another. Unfortunately, he's incredibly unstable and dangerous, and become so withdrawn and broken he doesn't realize the harm of his actions. Thankfully, if you save him, he is shown to be doing a lot better during the Grissom Station mission in the third game. He even apologises to Shepard and his squad for his actions.]]

* StrawmanHasAPoint: When you learn the full history of the Geth-Quarian conflict, the narrative always tries to establish the Geth as the aggrieved party, with Tali's snide comment about Legion being one of the friendly Geth that drove her people from their homeworld being presented as irrational and petty. However, the Geth turned the Quarians from an interstellar civilization with billions of people to wandering nomads with less than ten million at the time, something that would require systematic efforts at extermination to achieve long after the Quarians would have been broken as a military power, and something neither Legion nor the Geth acknowledge, only ever claiming self-defence.

** The Hammerhead replaces the Mako, and to its credit, it's faster, handles better, and doesn't have problems going up gentle hills... it also has the durability of wet ''toilet paper''. You will learn to hate and fear the alarm noise it makes when it takes too much damage, because it'll only take a few hits before that happens. Add to that its weapon has a shoddy aiming system, unlike the Mako's guns. Missiles might actually hit what you aimed at. Or they might not. To add further insult to injury, the Legendary Edition replaced the few short beeps after finishing a scan with an [[HellIsThatNoise ear-piercingly annoying buzzing sound]].

* NeverLiveItDown: Councilor Sparatus becomes a crucial ally to Shepard and the Alliance early in ''3'', and winds up being the only councilor who doesn't make Shepard's job harder in a very substantiatal way. Doesn't change the fact that he'll never get away from the infamy of the above clip.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: "[[HeadInTheSandManagement Typical Alliance attitude.]] So focused on hating Cerberus you're completely blind to the real threat." She makes other fair arguments to, namely how the Council SHOULD have listened to Shepard a long time ago and also being qualified to lead the fire-team during the Suicide Mission both times despite Jack (or Garrus)'s objections. Plus Miranda is unaware that the Illusive Man is strategically leaking information to encourage the exact attitude she's criticizing.

* StrawmanHasAPoint:
** "[[HeadInTheSandManagement Typical Alliance attitude.]] So focused on hating Cerberus you're completely blind to the real threat." She makes other fair arguments to, namely how the Council SHOULD have listened to Shepard a long time ago and also being qualified to lead the fire-team during the Suicide Mission both times despite Jack (or Garrus)'s objections. Plus Miranda is unaware that the Illusive Man is strategically leaking information to encourage the exact attitude she's criticizing.
** Legion brings up how the Quarians have attacked the Geth 100% of the time when they thought victory was assured, so why should the Geth trust the Quarians? However, Legion is literally the first non-hostile Geth anyone has encountered. The Geth exterminated the Quarians long after they would have been broken as a military power and left only a few million survivors out of an interstellar civilization, attacked anyone that entered into the Perseus Veil with intent to destroy, the only people they didn't blow up being the ones that managed to escape before the Geth arrived in force or that one ship that the Heretics turned into Husks, the Geth not doing any sort of diplomatic overtures themselves, the Geth manipulating other species for gathering experimental data, and their Heretic branch going out and attacking everyone. Why wouldn't the Quarians try to damage a force that near as anyone could tell was a threat whenever they had the chance with minimal risk to themselves?