History Literature / MassEffectRevelation

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Ambassador Goyle suggests that there could already be an advanced AI out there somewhere in the galaxy (besides the geth).
** Kahlee claims that humans are researching ways to induce biotic ability in themselves.

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique / ColdBloodedTorture: Depending on whether you view Saren as an AntiHero or VillainProtagonist.
* KickTheDog: Saren interrogates a badly injured female Batarian on life support (who was also kept in a medically induced coma because her injuries caused her terrible pain. Her doctor also gave Saren medicine to put her back under and save her life if necessary) by shutting off said life support and taking advantage of her pain to coerce her into telling him what he wants to know, refusing to put her back under until he got the information he needed. Then Saren waited for her to die before putting the medication in her IV and lied to the doctor, saying that the medicine didn't save her.

* RammingAlwaysWorks: The APC driver who is transporting Kahlee for extraction does this to pursuing vehicles to buy them some time. RealityEnsues when the impact not only destroys the other vehicle, but cripples the APC and kills the driver.

--> "...If I kill you the Alliance will be crying out for my head, and the Council might just give it to them. At the very least they'd revoke my Spectre status."
* TheCavalry: The frigate Iwo Jima for the squad sent to extract Kahlee. [[spoiler: Proves to not be successful when Skarr downs it with a {{BFG}}.]]

* DamselInDistress: Kahlee at the climax. Probably deliberately set up this way by [[spoiler: Saren]] to induce TheDulcineaEffect in Anderson to throw him off his game operationally.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Groto Ib-ba, a batarian, walks into a high-class joint and asks for a human consort, [[spoiler: intending to torture the girl for his own amusement. As Saren explains before [[PayEvilUntoEvil torturing him]], this immediately tipped off the staff that he was up to no good, and if it hadn't been Saren, then the minute he tried anything, a bunch of krogan bouncers would've burst through the door]].
* TheDreaded: Saren has a reputation for his ruthless in the Attican Traverse. Even Skarr, a ''[[MindOverMatter biotic]]'' ''[[MadeOfIron Krogan]]'' ''[[Really700YearsOld Warlord]]'', is driven off by a bullet in the chest (a minor wound to a Krogan) when he sees that Saren was the shooter and expresses fear towards him.
--> ''"I make a point never to get involved in Spectre business... especially this one! Turian bastard."''

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Though Saren's torture of [[spoiler: Groto]] was for information, Saren also stopped him from [[spoiler: torturing a human prostitute and was disgusted by Groto's intentions. This trope is in play because Saren despises humans]].

* EyeScream: [[spoiler:Groto Ib-ba, a mercenary member of the batarians, a species whose members each have four eyes]], ''gets one of them burst'' -- not removed, ''burst'' -- by his torturer during interrogation. This particular instance is also one of PayEvilUntoEvil, as the victim in question was also hateful of humans and had planned to "break" a human prostitute as a means of "stress relief". [[spoiler: The novel says Groto even went out of his way in an attempt to pick the weakest prostitute to ensure he broke her]].
* TheFettered: Anderson believes in operating this way, refusing to risk innocent lives. Serves as a counterpoint to Saren who is more of TheUnfettered CombatPragmatist

* HeadInTheSandManagement: Goyle accuses the council of adapting this approach with potentially hostile synthetic life, when they attempt to sanction the Alliance for carrying out "study them in order to neutralize them" research on AIs. The council retorts by claiming that humans are acting like [[GeneralRipper Generals Ripper]] perceiving everything around them as a threat to be conquered. The asari and salarians then give Goyle a lecture about how mutual cooperation should be a default stance all species should take.

* HumansAdvanceSwiftly: Ambassador Goyle suspects that the Council races are imposing crippling sanctions on The Alliance because they are scared of the implications of this and want to slow down that advance as much as possible. [[spoiler: She isn't aware that it is actually an elaborate negotiation ploy by the Council to ensure that the Alliance accepts the less severe sanctions they wanted to impose all along.]]

* KnowledgeBroker: Anderson uses one to figure out that [[spoiler:Kahlee is Jon Grissom's estranged daughter]]
* MarriedToTheJob : This was what caused Anderson's marriage and [[spoiler:Grissom's relationship with Kahlee's mother to end.]] Kahlee even rebuffs Anderson because she can see an actual relationship in jeopardy for this reason.

* OnceIsNotEnough: Anderson puts a small clip worth of gunfire into Skarr. [[spoiler:Since he doesn't have enough experience with krogan to know ''always'' to make sure they're dead before rummaging through their pockets, something Skarr informs him of when he gets up.]]

* RevealingCoverUp: How Anderson gets a lead on Sanders' parentage. Her files have any and all hints as to her father's identity erased, something entirely beyond Sanders or her mother's ability, but which could be done by someone high up in the alliance.

* TheScapegoat: Saren makes Anderson this, deliberately misleading him about how much time they had to complete the mission then making sure to blame him for having to resort to "desperate measures to ensure success."

* TokenRomance: Anderson and Kahlee Sanders, though it does not actually go anywhere. [[spoiler: Later subverted by Mass Effect 3's Citadel DLC, or at least implied as such, as Kahlee leaves bags of her stuff at Anderson's Apartment.]]

* VillainsWantMercy: One of the Blue Suns mercs [[spoiler: shot by Anderson begs for mercy, insisting he was just [[JustFollowingOrders following Skarr's orders to kill the Alliance soldiers]] and didn't enjoy it. Anderson [[TranquilFury coldly]] retorts that the merc still obeyed those orders before putting a bullet in the guy's head]].

* VillainWantsMercy: One of the Blue Suns mercs [[spoiler: shot by Anderson begs for mercy, insisting he was just [[JustFollowingOrders following Skarr's orders to kill the Alliance soldiers]] and didn't enjoy it. Anderson [[TranquilFury coldly]] retorts that the merc still obeyed those orders before putting a bullet in the guy's head]].

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Groto Ib-ba, a batarian, walks into a high-class joint and asks for a human consort. [[spoiler:As Saren explains before torturing him, this immediately tipped off the staff that he was up to no good, and if it hadn't been Saren, then the minute he tried doing anything a bunch of krogan bouncers would've burst through the door anyway.]]

* KickTheDog: Saren interrogates a badly injured female Batarian on life support (Who was also kept her under because her injuries caused her terrible pain. Her doctor also gave Saren medicine to put her back under and save her life if necessary) by shutting off said life support and taking advantage of her pain to coerce her into telling him what he wants to know, refusing to put her back under until he got the information he needed. Then Saren waited for her to die before putting the medication in her IV and lied to the doctor, saying that the medicine didn't save her.

* SpottingTheThread: Having been confronted by an Alliance officer, Kahlee allows him to handcuff her, until she notices his sidearm doesn't match Alliance regulation. She promptly beats him into a blood mess while handcuffed and then escapes.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: When confronted by Saren, [[spoiler:Had'dah says this of Dr. Qian, stating that Qian's obsession with the artefact he's studying (in truth, Qian had been indoctrinated by Sovereign) had made him a liability, Saren promptly puts a bullet in his brain]].

* TheCavalry: The frigate Iwo Jima for the squad sent to extract Kahlee. [[spoiler: Proves to not be successful when Skarr downs it with a {{BFG}}]]

* MagnificentBastard: Saren [[spoiler:deliberately leaks information about Kahlee's extraction in order to ensure that Skarr captures her. He does this so that Skarr would lead him right to the masterminds of the attack on Sidon.]] He later destroys the refinery where the bad guys are holed up to deliberately discredit Anderson's Spectre candidacy, and by extension, the Alliance and humanity.

* CallForward: The retired Admiral Grissom (not fond of visitors) goes to answer his door and wonders who it might be. "If it was a reporter, he'd punch him -- or her -- right in the mouth."
* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: Edan Had'dah tries to convince Saren of this, [[spoiler: arguing that without his wealth and resources, it will take Saren up to ten years to exploit the potential of Sovereign. Saren merely retorts that [[NoSell he doesn't mind being patient]], then promptly kill Edan]].

** Arguably Skarr killing [[spoiler: the Alliance soldiers rescuing Kahlee after they had surrendered and been disarmed]].
* KnowledgeBroker: Anderson uses one to figure out that [[spoiler: Kahlee is Jon Grissom's estranged daughter]]
* MagnificentBastard: Saren [[spoiler: deliberately leaks information about Kahlee's extraction in order to ensure that Skarr captures her. He does this so that Skarr would lead him right to the masterminds of the attack on Sidon.]] He later destroys the refinery where the bad guys are holed up to deliberately discredit Anderson's Spectre candidacy, and by extension, the Alliance and humanity.
* MarriedToTheJob : This was what caused Anderson's marriage and [[spoiler: Grissom's relationship with Kahlee's mother to end.]] Kahlee even rebuffs Anderson because she can see an actual relationship in jeopardy for this reason.

* RammingAlwaysWorks: The APC driver who is transporting Kahlee for extraction does this to pursuing vehicles to buy them some time.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: When confronted by Saren, [[spoiler: Had'dah says this of Dr. Qian, stating that Qian's obsession with the artefact he's studying (in truth, Qian had been indoctrinated by Sovereign) had made him a liability, Saren promptly puts a bullet in his brain]].

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: The book pulls a minor case of this. The book states that the discovery of aliens caused widespread dissent and confusion among the religions of humanity, which some coping better than others but still 'trying to pick up the pieces ten years later'. However, many real-life theologians and religious leaders have pondered the idea of extraterrestrials since antiquity ([[http://www.xenology.info/Xeno/2.1.htm as can be seen here in the book "Xenology" by Robert A. Freitas Jr]]). Most interviewed in modern times ([[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-says-he-would-baptise-aliens-9360632.html including Pope Francis]]) have stated that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exotheology the existence of extraterrestrials would not contradict or threaten their faiths and that aliens would be welcome]].

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: The book pulls a minor case of this. The book states that the discovery of aliens caused widespread dissent and confusion among the religions of humanity, which some coping better than others but still 'trying to pick up the pieces ten years later'. However, many real-life theologians and religious leaders have pondered the idea of extraterrestrials since antiquity (, [[http://www.xenology.info/Xeno/2.1.htm as can be seen here in the book "Xenology" by Robert A. Freitas Jr]]). Most interviewed in modern times ([[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-says-he-would-baptise-aliens-9360632.html including Pope Francis]]) have stated that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exotheology the existence of extraterrestrials would not contradict or threaten their faiths and that aliens would be welcome]].

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: The book pulls a minor case of this. The book states that the discovery of aliens caused widespread dissent and confusion among the religions of humanity, which some coping better than others. However, many real-life theologians and religious leaders have pondered this since antiquity (as can be seen in the book Xenology by Robert A. Freitas Jr, [[http://www.xenology.info/Xeno/2.1.htm the book can be found here]]). Most interviewed in modern times ([[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-says-he-would-baptise-aliens-9360632.html including Pope Francis]]) have stated that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exotheology the existence of extraterrestrials would not contradict or threaten their faiths and that aliens would be welcome]].
* BadassNormal: In a universe with dinosaur-like aliens with extremely fast regenerative capabilities and people who can manipulate gravity with their minds, Anderson manages to [[spoiler:nearly kill Skarr, a member of said aliens AND able to manipulate gravity with his mind, with little more than a pistol. By himself, twice. Although he does need some help to finish him off.]]

'''''Mass Effect: Revelation''''' is a novel within the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' universe, written by then-lead writer Creator/DrewKarpyshyn.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: The book pulls a minor case of this. The book states that the discovery of aliens caused widespread dissent and confusion among the religions of humanity, which some coping better than others. However, many real-life theologians and religious leaders have pondered this question since before the 20th century. Most interviewed in modern times ([[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-says-he-would-baptise-aliens-9360632.html including Pope Francis]]) have stated that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exotheology the existence of extraterrestrials would not contradict or threaten their faiths and that aliens would be welcome]].

* EyeScream: [[spoiler:Groto Ib-ba, a mercenary member of the batarians, a species whose members each have four eyes]], ''gets one of them burst'' -- not removed, ''burst'' -- by his torturer during interrogation. This particular instance is also one of PayEvilUntoEvil, as the victim in question was also hateful of humans and had planned to "break" a human prostitute as a means of "stress relief". [[spoiler: The novel says Groto even went out of his way to try and pick the weakest prostitute to make it more likely he'd break her]].

* FreudianExcuse: Apparently Saren's hatred of humanity was caused by his brother's death during the First Contact War. Of course, that does nothing to defend Saren's brutal treatment of every other species that gets in his way.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: The book pulls a minor case of this. The book states that the discovery of aliens caused widespread dissent and confusion among the religions of humanity, which some coping better than others. However, many real-life theologians and religious leaders have pondered this question since before the 20th century. Most interviewed in modern times have stated that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exotheology the existence of extraterrestrials would not contradict or threaten their faiths and that aliens would be welcome]].

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: The book pulls a minor case of this. The book states that the discovery of aliens caused widespread dissent and confusion among the religions of humanity, which some coping better than others. However, many theists and religious leaders have pondered this question since before the 20th century. Most interviewed in modern times have stated that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exotheology the existence of extraterrestrials would not contradict or threaten their faiths and that aliens would be welcome]].

'''''Mass Effect: Revelation''''' is a novel within the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' universe.

* TokenRomance: Anderson and Kahlee Sanders, though it does not actually go anywhere.

It serves as a {{prequel}} to the first game, telling the story of how Capt. Anderson tried and failed to become a Spectre, and [[spoiler:how Saren found ''Sovereign'']].

* TheCavalry: The frigate Iwo Jima for the squad sent to extract Kahlee. [[spoiler: Proves to not be successful when Skarr downs it with a {{BFG}}]]
* TheFettered: Anderson believes in operating this way, refusing to risk innocent lives. Serves as a counterpoint to Saren who is more of TheUnfettered CombatPragmatist

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Between Anderson and Saren at first during the refinery mission. Subverted hard as the mission progresses when Saren blows the refinery up.

* HeadInTheSandManagement: Goyle accuses the council of adapting this approach with potentially hostile synthetic life, when they attempt to sanction the Alliance for carrying out "study them in order to neutralize them" research on AIs. The council retorts by claiming that humans are acting like GeneralRippers perceiving everything around them as a threat to be conquered. The asari and salarians then give Goyle a lecture about how mutual cooperation should be a default stance all species should take.

* HeadInTheSandManagement: Even in here, the Council seems to favor this approach with synthetic life. When Goyle mentions that advanced synthetic life might already be out there, and that studying them to develop countermeasures against them is the prudent course of action, we get these responses
--> "We understand there are risks inherent in the creation of synthetic life. But we do not automatically assume that we will have no choice but to come into [[RobotWar conflict with them.]] That is a [[WarHawk conceit of humanity]]"
--> "Other species embrace the underlying philosophy of mutual coexistence. We see strength in unity and cooperation. Humanity however still seems to believe [[ItsAllAboutMe competition is the key to prosperity.]] [[HumansAreBastards Your species is aggressive and antagonistic."]]