History Characters / MassEffectRaceTropesCitadelCouncil

* FatalFlaw: If the turians' is rigidity, the asari's arrogance, and the salarians' shortsightedness, then humanity's fatal flaw is hubris. They frequently parade themselves around like they are entitled to positions of high authority and influence in the galactic community, and get angry when the Council doesn't treat them with the respect and rights they believe they're owed, even if they've done nothing to earn any of them. They also have a tendency act like they're some form of superpower, on par with the Council races, in spite of both their military and economy being ''vastly'' inferior. This is most exemplified with Cerberus, who are so convinced that humans are, or at least should be superior, that they commit progressively greater atrocities not just against aliens, but other humans, all for the sake of "human supremacy".

* FatalFlaw: If the turians' is rigidity, the asari's arrogance, and the salarians' shortsightedness, then humanity's fatal flaw is hubris. They frequently parade themselves around like they are entitled to positions of high authority and influence in the galactic community, and get angry when the Council doesn't treat them with the respect and rights they believe they're owed, even if they've done nothing to earn any of them. They also have a tendency act like they're some form of superpower, on par with the Council races, in spite of both their military and economy being ''vastly'' inferior.

* TheFederation: Back on Earth, there's the United North American States and [[UnitedEurope the European Union.]] There's also the Chinese People's Federation, but it's not clear if they really are a federation or just a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny. These three super-nations comprise the three major Earth-based powers in the Systems Alliance.

** Humanity's biggest flaw, especially at the start of the series, is hubris. They throw their weight around, make brazen demands, and believe they're entitled to respect and authority, despite being weaker than the ''[[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Elcor#Economy elcor]]'' in practical economic terms. Lead codex writer [[https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/91957/mass-effect-cosmos-the-terminal-boondocks/p34 Chris L'Etoile]][[note]]His username is "Stormwaltz"[[/note]] sums it up:

* MayflyDecemberRomance: How asari relationships with any other species that isn't asari or krogan tend to turn out. This is a major factor in the asari worldview; asari know that they will outlive several mates, but rather than getting depressed about it, they accept it and enjoy the time they have with them.

* SneakySpySpecies: Although partly renowned as a ProudScholarRace, the ''other'' half of their reputation is based around espionage and black ops. Because Salarians aren't a very imposing species, they rely on stealth rather than traditional armies, and even their soldiers prefer to make use of sneaky guerilla tactics rather than straight-up fighting. Throughout the galaxy, the Salarian Union is known for fleets based entirely around surveillance and its legendary Special Tactics Group - which has a reputation for ending wars before they even begin. Party member [[ScienceHero Mordin Solus]] embodies both hats, being a brilliant scientist who served in the STG [[spoiler: and took part in a covert biological attack on the krogan DMZ, reinforcing [[SterilityPlague the genophage]] with an upgrade of his own design and secretly disseminating it in person.]]

** In-universe, Citadel Space holds the opinion that simple [=VIs=] can provide everything an AI can without the risk of rebellion. As a result, the creation of advanced [=AIs=] is heavily regulated, and the Citadel governments shut down all their "true" [=AIs=] 300 years ago, soon after the Geth War. AI research is still allowed, but scrutinized and monitored very heavily.

** The Eden Prime War and especially the Reaper War does the same thing to the existing Council species and the newcomer of humanity, as well as previously exiled member species such as the quarians and krogan. Special mention goes to the turian-human relationship. Ultimately, the relationship between Vakarian and Shepard is mirrored in the relationship between their species - despite having initially gone to war with one another, the fact that both their homeworlds are hard-hit by the Reaper invasion causes them to bond together, to the point where their ground troops trade good-natured barbs about each other.

* MegaCorp: Due to Citadel Space's extreme wealth, even its mid sized corporations are capable of taking over entire ''planets'' in the Terminus systems.

* WeHaveBecomeComplacent: Justified. The last major galactic wars (the Krogan Rebellions) were nearly 1,500 years ago. As a result Citadel Space is effectively demilitarized at the time of the games, to the point that humanity (which explicitly has mere tens of billions of people compared to ''trillions'' in the rest of Citadel Space at a generally higher level of development, i.e. humanity has less than 1% of the total population and industry) is able to get within striking distance of the established great powers' military strength in less than thirty years by building thousands of warships, and a fringe terrorist group with probably significantly less than a single percent of humanity's economic power built [[https://i.imgur.com/KYHjxO7.jpg over sixty]] [[https://i.imgur.com/FflHk84.jpg heavy cruisers]] and [[https://i.imgur.com/26Bva06.jpg a dreadnought]] in just a few years with the funds skimmed off the top of shell companies, funds minor enough that no one noticed they were missing.[[note]]Which, considering a moderately popular soft drink company has yearly revenue of more than 4.38 quadrillion credits (Tupari's ads say that they sell 12 trillion bottles per day), and minor interstellar traffic jams can knock over a trillion credits off the galactic economy in a single day with no one noticing (per CDN), is completely believable.[[/note]] Citadel Space maintain fleets and armies just large enough to put down infrequent pirate raids, insurgencies, and the occasional rogue state, much like, say, the United States post Cold War. This leaves them woefully unprepared when the Reapers arrive, and due to the speed of the Reapers' advance, they never get a chance to go into total war production to compensate.

Turians are available for multiplayer, and can use the [[TheRedMage Sentinel]] and [[WalkingArmory Soldier]] classes. The Retaliation DLC also adds [[StealthExpert Ghost Infiltrators]], [[JetPack Havoc Soldiers]], and Saboteur Engineers. The Reckoning DLC adds [[SheFu Cabal]] [[PoisonousPerson Vanguards]].

** "Reaper troop transports have dumped hordes of husk to capture Palaven's inhabitants, but met with little success. Reaper capital ships are destroying city after city. But much of the turian fleet is still operable, and the citizenry is heavily armed. [[DoNotGoGentle The turians refuse to be intimidated]]." To put this perspective, the turians are holding their own (even if it's just barely) against the largest part of the Reaper fleet assigned to any individual planet, which they sent in knowing the power of the turian fleet. They even managed to destroy a few Sovereign-class capital ships in the opening attack (contrast the humans and asari who got completely curbstomped in a few hours once the Reapers committed their forces.) They are the only race who actually manage to fight the Reapers on even terms (even if it was still a HopelessWar); the Reaper attacks on Earth and Thessia [[CurbStompBattle quickly turn into routs.]] This could be attributed to Palaven leadership actually preparing for the Reapers, as Garrus and his father convinced the Primarch to consider the fact that the Reapers were real.

** They also have dextro-protein chirality (which is basically the biochemical equivalent of being a book read right-to-left in a library of books read left-to-right), and are the only race aside from quarians with this chirality. As such, they can eat any food a quarian can eat. Foods that levo-protein races like humans and asari can eat, on the other hand, will pass out the other end without providing any sustenance at best, or outright kill them at worst.

* {{Conscription}}: At 15, turians begin a compulsory term of military service for an unknown length of time (possibly to age 30,) at the end of which they decide whether to remain with the military or become a civil servant. Those who choose to leave are still reservists, and can be called back into action should the need arise. The turian military also handles civil service duties such as maintaining infrastructure, police, and bureaucracy, meaning these reservists aren't necessarily going to be handling combat roles except in extreme times of need.

* HonorBeforeReason: Turians are noted to have very heavy social stigma against avoiding personal responsibility. A turian may choose not to advertise that they committed a crime, but would likely admit to it if directly questioned.

* MirrorChemistry: The majority of the galaxy is based on levo-amino acids, whatever other differences they have. The turians and quarians are the only ones with dextro-amino-based biology. This caused them a lot of trouble during the First Contact War. Since the food on the human colonies they conquered were levo-amino-based, they had to ship in their supplies from the Hierarchy, eventually making their position untenable.
* MirroringFactions: Fought a war with humanity when the two species first met and were the most anti-human of the three council races, but compare the stories of how the two races got their council seats. Despite the difference in [[MirrorChemistry biochemistry]], humans and turians have more similar lifespans, gender dynamics, and social structures with each other than with the other two Council races, the salarians and asari.

One of the two founding races of Citadel Space alongside the salarians and the most powerful and widespread race in the known galaxy, the asari often take the role of diplomats. They are a long lived (lifespans generally covering a millennium) mono-gendered race, but are seen as female by other species. Asari reproduce by linking their nervous system to another sentient being of any race and gender. The linking helps to randomize the asari's DNA while encouraging positive traits from the "father" species to manifest in the offspring (supposedly), which is always another asari. Partnerships of two asari are looked down upon by most of the species now as they believe it restricts genetic diversity (not to mention that asari born from such a relationship have a much higher chance of being Ardat-Yakshi, a very dangerous mutation). Their government is a loose federation of nation-states collectively known as the Asari Republics. All asari have biotic ability, but require training to use it effectively.

Asari are available for multiplayer in 3, and can use the [[SquishyWizard Adept]] and [[MagicKnight Vanguard]] classes. The Resurgence pack adds the [[BarrierWarrior Justicar Adept]] class, and the Retaliation DLC adds [[StealthExpert Huntress Infiltrators]] and Valkyrie Sentinels.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: The Ardat-Yakshi. They're asari with a genetic mutation that impairs their ability to MindMeld. In the most extreme cases of the syndrome, this "burns out" their partner's neuro-nervous system, which also allows the Ardat-Yakshi to consume the victim's memories. This is a narcotic experience, and boosts the Ardat-Yakshi's PsychicPowers, so they invariably become addicted to the process. This is why any Ardat-Yakshi is either carefully secluded and monitored, or executed for refusing to submit to the former.

* ProudWarriorRace: It's never given much emphasis, but there are many hints that asari society is unusually martial for a people who haven't had a major war in 1,500 years. They have several monastic military orders (most famously the Justicars), and exalt their soldiers as "Huntresses", with a great deal of romanticism tied to them. There's also the stereotypes of what asari maidens do -- the two stereotypically "maiden" things to do is become a stripper, or a ''mercenary.''In ''Initiation'', an asari matron leaves the huntress band she was part of, and buys a refitted warship to start a new band of mercenaries / huntresses with. This is portrayed in the novel as the sort of done thing, and she's portrayed in the same way a person today might be when they're buying their first house. Also, while the turians have a larger fleet than them by number of hulls, the average asari ship being so much larger means they definitely have the biggest fleet in the galaxy by raw tonnage -- and potentially combat power, given that their ships are noted to be above-average in tech. And again -- they maintain this fleet despite no peer adversary existing and not having had a major war in 1,500 years.

Salarians are available for multiplayer, and can use the [[TheEngineer Engineer]] and [[StealthExpert Infiltrator]] classes.

** Salarians prefer to win a war before it starts through stealth, precision strikes at an enemies vital weak point and consider the notion of notifying the enemy that they will be attacked to be insane. Of particular note is the Salarian [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous Special Task Group]], a special forces organization so badass that they are what inspired the Spectres, as well as provide a good chunk of the original Spectre agents. Their doctrine is actually very similar to humanity's, albeit larger and more advanced: a relatively small volunteer force that relies on crippling the enemy before the war begins instead of slugging it out; humans cripple the enemy ''during'' the war; salarians would rather ensure the war doesn't happen.

* HistoryRepeats: Mordin notes to Shepard that the biggest mistake the salarians made was rashly uplifting the krogan to fight the rachni without considering the long-term consequences. When visiting Sur'Kesh, the Salarian homeworld, you'll find that they have several yahg in captivity to study to determine if ''they'' should be uplifted.

* BadassArmy: The Alliance military is very small, both on the ground and in space, compared to the other Council races, but an emphasis on maneuver warfare, flexibility, and innovative tactics and technology enable them to match larger and more established militaries, like the Batarian Hegemony. Codex data from across the franchise implies that the N7 Special Operations Program was hardcore enough that virtually every other Citadel race respected the graduates as bonafide badasses.

** [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Admiral Hackett and David Anderson]] are positive examples. Hackett's actions in the third game do a lot to solidify this trope in the eyes of other Council races. Where other militaries only fight a local war against the Reapers in their planets and their systems alone, Hackett comes up with a truly galactic strategy and coordinates anti-Reaper operations in all theatres. He is the first and only one to figure out that conventional victory is impossible, and adapts an effective sea denial strategy until the Crucible is ready. The only other strategic decision of value - drawing in the krogan - was made in support of the humans' overall strategy. Anderson is not nearly as much of a strategist as Hackett, but he is still a forceful and capable leader of men. Both of them are skilled and tactful military officers who get several opportunities to improve their individual mettle.

* WildCard: Humanity's penchant for advancing rapidly and being incredibly assertive - if not boorishly demanding - have given it a galactic reputation as being wild cards. Given the relative newness of humanity on the galactic stage, most races aren't really sure how to predict human behavior. Some humans, like Ambassador Udina and Renegade Shepard, are pompous, self-important, racist assholes; others, like Admiral Hackett, Captain Anderson, and Paragon Shepard are incredibly charismatic MagneticHero[=s=] who make tremendous contributions to galactic peace through their military careers. Samara states that humans are more individualist than any species she's met.

* {{Utopia}}: While the asari are a liberal democratic utopia and the salarians are libertarians, the turians are a right-wing military meritocracy like something out of ''[[Literature/StarshipTroopers Starship Troopers]]''. Every citizen is in service to the state (their national anthem is called “Die for the Cause”), military service is mandatory at the age of 15, and their entire culture revolves around duty, discipline, and obeying superiors. The Hierarchy is governed by the Primarchs — skilled military leaders who exclusively have the right to vote, freeing up their citizenry to maintain their societal structure like a well-oiled machine. Every turian knows their place, and excessive ambition is not encouraged. They are allowed almost total personal freedoms (including racial and religious tolerance) as long as it doesn’t impede their duties to the government. They also enjoy a stable economy thanks to their client race, the mercantile volus, who vigorously manage it, and are ''not'' a command economy (even the military's main suppliers are privately-owned, like Armax Arsenal and ERCS), but an (authoritarian) capitalist market economy with commonplace entrepreneurship (there are no shortage of turian billionaires in the tech and entertainment industries according to the background text, especially Cerberus Daily News).

* DidNotThinkThisThrough: The salarians are very short-lived, and therefore never think of long-term ramifications. They need the problem solved '''''now''''', and as the race quote notes, they end up just creating larger problems.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Humanity's biggest flaw, especially at the start of the series, is hubris. They throw their weight around, make brazen demands, and believe they're entitled to respect and authority, despite being weaker than the ''[[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Elcor#Economy elcor]]'' in practical economic terms. Lead codex writer [[https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/91957/mass-effect-cosmos-the-terminal-boondocks/p34 Chris L'Etoile]][[note]]His username is "Stormwaltz"[[/note]] sums it up:
-->'''Chris:''' The power vacuum at the end of ''Mass Effect 1'' is purely at the Citadel. The Council defense fleet there gets pasted, but the overall turian, salarian, and asari fleets outnumber the humans 10:1. Despite rah-rah-Earth-First rhetoric from Udina, it's utterly impossible for the Alliance to militarily best the Council on anything more than a local and temporary scale. All they have to do is gather their fleets and steamroll us. Also, we have a dozen colonies, none with a population larger than a modern city (Terra Nova, the largest at 4.4 million, is about equal to Riyadh). The Council races each have hundreds of colonies, many old enough to have populations in the billions. We can't out-produce or out-populate them, either.

* SuperiorSuccessor: End up this to the Protheans, to everybody's surprise. Especially considering the Protheans had elected the asari to lead the next cycle against the Reapers. Instead, [[spoiler:asari leadership squander the gift of the Prothean beacon they were given and horde secrets, leaving the galaxy woefully unprepared for the Reaper invasion and requiring humans to pick up the slack. Given your war assets are high enough, the Citadel will be moored permanently over Earth to emphasize their new role as the galaxy's leaders in all endings save Refusal.]]

* WeakButSkilled: Humanity's hat. As newcomers to the galactic stage, the Systems Alliance has neither the sheer numbers and power of the turians, nor the elite troops and intelligence capabilities of the asari and salarians. The reason they're still taken seriously, in spite of these factors, is that humanity's penchanat for getting incredible results from minimal investment has caught the notice of every race in Citadel space, for better or for worse. Militarily, the Systems Alliance represents a formidable naval power despite humanity's status as newcomers, and inferior size and power versus the other races. Economically, human-run corporations have been responsible for some incredible advances in their short time on the galactic stage. The reason the Citadel tolerates humanity's excesses is not because they're afraid of what they are now - it's because they're both afraid and respectful of what humanity could be to the galactic community given time to grow. ''Literature/MassEffectRevelation'' drives this home - the only reason the Citadel doesn't relegate the Alliance to Batarian Hegemony status is Ambassador Goyle convincing them that it's in the best interests of ''everyone'' involved to give humanity time to grow and compensate for their mistakes.

* OnlySaneMan: During the Reaper invasion, they're the only species who aren't unhelpful and refusing to fully commit to the war effort [[spoiler: (asari and salarians)]], fighting one another in civil war ([[spoiler:quarians and geth, krogan with themselves, humans with Cerberus]]), or penetrated by elements actively hindering the war effort ([[spoiler:hanar, the salarian government, Cerberus again]]). It's also a reason why they are the ones holding out best against the Reapers; they're the only race aside from humanity that ''tried to prepare for their arrival''.

* FatalFlaw: ''[[{{Main/Pride}} Arrogance]]''. The asari have a well-deserved reputation of being the galaxy's [[ProudScholarRace premier scholar race]]; they know it and take a lot of pride in it. This is further compounded by their [[{{Really700YearsOld}} Millennium-long Lifespans]]. However, this attitude causes several problems in their society:

* StealthInSpace: All salarian ships are equipped with the same stealth technology as the Normandy, even their dreadnoughts.

** The asari arrogance is best exemplified in the third game, [[spoiler: when the Reapers attack their homeworld. It is revealed that they have secretly been hoarding an incredibly valuable Prothean beacon from the rest of Citadel space, an action that is [[{{Hypocrite}} highly illegal in the citadel laws THEY largely created]], all just to maintain an advantage over the rest of the galaxy. They could have used and shared this technology to destroy the Reapers, but instead they squandered it to keep an edge, which very nearly destroys the only chance to save their species and the galaxy from the Reapers]].

* SmallNameBigEgo: How humanity is viewed by the rest of the galaxy; they throw their weight around and think themselves one of the big guys, despite being weaker than the ''[[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Elcor#Economy elcor]]'' in practical economic terms. Lead codex writer [[https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/91957/mass-effect-cosmos-the-terminal-boondocks/p34 Chris L'Etoile]][[note]]His username is "Stormwaltz"[[/note]] sums it up:
-->'''Chris:''' The power vacuum at the end of Mass Effect 1 is purely at the Citadel. The Council defense fleet there gets pasted, but the overall turian, salarian, and asari fleets outnumber the humans 10:1. Despite rah-rah-Earth-First rhetoric from Udina, it's utterly impossible for the Alliance to militarily best the Council on anything more than a local and temporary scale. All they have to do is gather their fleets and steamroll us. Also, we have a dozen colonies, none with a population larger than a modern city (Terra Nova, the largest at 4.4 million, is about equal to Riyadh). The Council races each have hundreds of colonies, many old enough to have populations in the billions. We can't out-produce or out-populate them, either.
** Notably, in ''Mass Effect: Revelation'', it's stated that mere sanctions from the Citadel could ''cripple'' humanity, and the Council was willing to pass such sanctions on a whim for the relatively minor offense of the Alliance conducting AI research on Sidon. When Ambassador Goyle tries to get them to back down by implicitly threatening war, the Council simply scoffs and says humanity would badly lose such a conflict, which Goyle concedes. She has to change tracks and argue that a prosperous, integrated humanity is better for Citadel Space's economy than a poor, isolated humanity, which convinces them to tone down the sanctions and fines to something more reasonable (though not to drop them altogether).

** They are ''extremely'' [[{{WeHaveBecomeComplacent}} stagnant]] on a technological-cultural level, and have no real desire to innovate, meaning their technology has largely been the same for nearly three millennia. Matriarch Aethyta mentions how her proposal to build Mass Relays got her laughed off of Thessia.

** Salarians prefer to win a war before it starts through stealth, precision strikes at an enemies vital weak point and consider the notion of notifying the enemy that they will be attacked to be insane. Of particular note is the Salarian Special Task Group, a special forces organization so badass that they are what inspired the Spectres. Their doctrine is actually very similar to humanity's, albeit larger and more advanced: a relatively small volunteer force that relies on crippling the enemy before the war begins instead of slugging it out; humans cripple the enemy ''during'' the war; salarians would rather ensure the war doesn't happen.

** ''Ascension'' notes that there were a dozen species in Citadel Space's society before the humans arrived. Ignoring the humans, raloi, and Virtual Aliens, all of whom made first contact after this point, that leaves four species unaccounted for. The games only show eight: asari, turians, salarians, elcor, volus, batarians, hanar, and drell (the batarians having left Citadel Space by the time of the games).

* TheUnchosenOne: To the Protheans. They evaluated all of the "primitive" species in their cycle and determined that the [[spoiler: asari]] were the next cycle's best hope to stop the Reapers. Cue Javik's surprise when awakens to find that the Reapers are most interested in humanity -- in that a human, Shepard, is the galaxy's best chance of stopping them. Even then, it's implied that humanity wasn't the reapers' original choice for ascension.

* HumanityIsSuperior: Averted early in the series, discussed in the middle, then thoroughly subverted at the end. Starting out, humanity is a minor power who is weaker than most other established species. After the first game, humanity becomes a lot more involved in interstellar politics. However, after Earth is attacked, humanity desperately has to seek allies from the other species, with most of the final war assets coming from those species. Even then, though, human organizations contribute more war assets than any other cumulatively: the Alliance can max out somewhere in the 1500 range, with Ex-Cerberus defectors contributing close to another 250, while the asari, krogan, turians, quarians, and geth all hover around 600-800, accounting for roughly 23% of the 7800 war assets needed to get the best ending in the ''Legendary Edition.''

Humans are one of the races available for multiplayer, and are the only one with access to all the classes and a customizable gender. The Rebellion Pack DLC adds the [[WhipItGood Ex-Cerberus Vanguard and Adept]], and the Earth Pack adds N7 special forces characters for all of the classes, each with unique movesets and abilities. Additionally, the Reckoning Pack adds the [[TheStraightAndArrowPath Talon]] [[HiredGuns Mercenary]] [[TrickArrow Engineer]].

* CombatDiplomacyStealth: The three Council races each specialize in one of these approaches, and each recognizes the benefits of having the other two. Turians have the strongest military in the galaxy, asari are considered the galaxy's best diplomats, and salarians are masters of intelligence gathering.

* FighterMageThief: The original three Council races fit this paradigm. The turians are the Fighters, being a disciplined ProudWarriorRace who serve as the primary military arm of the Council. The asari are the Mages, being particularly attuned to biotic abilities and diplomacy while also possessing natural telepathic abilities. The salarians are the Thieves, focusing on intelligence-gathering and science. When humans joined the Council, the filled the role of the JackOfAllStats that can supplement any of the three as needed.

** Speaking of sleazy politicians, "barefaced" is frequently invoked by turians to [[AcceptablePoliticalTargets mock politicans in general]] -- The reason is that successful politicians can't align themselves with the interests of any single clan or colony.

* WeakButSkilled: Humanity's hat. As newcomers to the galactic stage, the Systems Alliance has neither the sheer numbers and power of the turians, nor the elite troops and intelligence capabilities of the asari and salarians. The reason they're still taken seriously, in spite of these factors, is that humanity's penchanat for getting incredible results from minimal investment has caught the notice of every race in Citadel space, for better or for worse. Militarily, the Systems Alliance represents a formidable naval power despite humanity's status as newcomers, and inferior size and power versus the other races. Economically, human-run corporations have been responsible for some incredible advances in their short time on the galactic stage. The reason the Citadel tolerates humanity's excesses is not because they're afraid of what they are now - it's because they're both afraid and respectful of what humanity could be to the galactic community given time to grow. ''Literature/MassEffectRevelations'' drives this home - the only reason the Citadel doesn't relegate the Alliance to Batarian Hegemony status is Ambassador Goyle convincing them that it's in the best interests of ''everyone'' involved to give humanity time to grow and compensate for their mistakes.

** Major wars break out regularly, but their emphasis on philosophy & diplomacy do little-to-nothing to stop/prevent them. It's typically another race that actually solves the problem.
*** Related to above, they choose ''not'' to have a particularly large army, instead preferring to train elite commandoes in guerilla-warfare tactics as well as relying on the turians, and later the humans, for larger military operations & defense. This comes back to bite them when [[spoiler: the Reapers attack Thessia. The turians & humans alike are stuck fighting on their respective homeworlds, and able to (barely) hold out for months. The asari, on the other hand, are completely overrun & lose their homeworld in a matter of days.]]

** The asari arrogance is best exemplified in the third game, [[spoiler: when the Reapers attack their homeworld. It is revealed that they have secretly been hoarding an incredibly valuable Prothean beacon from the rest of Citadel space, an action that is [[{{Hypocrite}} highly illegal in the citadel laws THEY largely created]], all just to maintain an advantage over the rest of the galaxy. They could have used & shared this technology to destroy the Reapers, but instead they squandered it to keep an edge, which very nearly destroys the only chance to save their species and the galaxy from the Reapers]].