History MassEffect / TropesEToH

** Creepiness gets turned UpToEleven in the second game when you get to [[spoiler: the derelict Reaper. Making your way through the hulk of an EldritchAbomination, surrounded by [[ApocalypticLog recordings]] of the science team that came before you as they slowly [[BrainwashedAndCrazy lose their minds]] while [[OurZombiesAreDifferent husks]] literally come out of the walls at you]].

*** Taken UpToEleven in the last expansion, when you get to play [[spoiler:a Collector that was freed from Harbinger's DIRECT CONTROL by a Leviathan enthrallment sphere]].

** In ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' [[spoiler:Tela Vasir calls Shepard a hypocrite for judging her dealing with the Shadow Broker when they're working with the terrorist organization, Cerberus right before she dies. She has a point if you're playing a full Renegade Shepard, who will endorse Cerberus' actions. Paragon Shepard not so much; they see working with Cerberus as a NecessaryEvil at best and will betray it in the end.]]

* HollywoodScience: Almost entirely averted, making it one of the [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness hardest sci fi universes]] to come out in some time. Most of their work is well-researched and doesn't end up at unnoticed, absurd conclusions. You could make a long list of nothing but their aversions. That said, they do make some mistakes.

* FisherKingdom: [[spoiler:Feros, though this is revealed to be the fault of the [[TheHypnotoad Thorian]]. If you tweak your definition of 'place', the Reapers could count as well; almost everyone who stumbles across them mistakes them for ships]].

** The Hanar have two names they use, a "face name" which is the name they give to people when interacting with strangers or people they aren't close with, said name is usually a NameThatUnfoldsLikeALotusBlossom, and a "soul name" a name they only use with their loved ones, they also refrain from using the terms "I" or "me" instad using "this one" as they consider personal pronouns to be egotistical.

** Quarians have names organized as given name, apostrophe, clan name, vas/nar (for adult and underage, respectively), ship of residence/birth (ditto). Thus, Tali receives several {{Meaningful Rename}}s over the course of the series: she begins the series as Tali'Zorah nar Rayya ("Tali of clan Zorah, born on the ship Rayya"), then completes her [[RiteOfPassage Pilgrimage]] and becomes Tali'Zorah vas Neema ("Tali of clan Zorah, crew member of the Neema"), then Tali'Zorah vas Normandy (when she needs to leave the fleet for [[TheScapegoat political reasons]]), although it's just as common to refer to her as Tali'Zorah. The much-maligned Mass Effect novel ''Deception'' infamously only gave quarians a first name and ship name, and furthermore wrote as if their ship names were their last names.

* FinalDeath: [[spoiler:Every single squadmate who dies dies because of ''you''. [[SadisticChoice Including your choice between Ash and Kaidan]], as well as anyone who doesn't survive the second game's SuicideMission. Likewise, every character who dies in the third game, and there can be quite a few]].

** It's stated in the Codex that Earth is still suffering environmental damage from ClimateChange in the 21st century, with sea levels having risen and violent weather being common, though with [[{{Terraform}} terraformation]] technology things are improving significantly.

* HumanoidAliens: Pretty much all of the sapient ones, really, except for the hanar and the elcor. Some in the game idly wonder whether this is more than just coincidence.

* EvilSoundsDeep: Reapers in general have ''really'' deep voices.

* GaiasLament: It's stated in the Codex that Earth is still suffering environmental damage from ClimateChange in the 21st century, with sea levels having risen and violent weather being common, though with [[{{Terraform}} terraformation]] technology things are improving significantly.
** Carcosa in the [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 third game]] is a spectacular case of this. It was at first considered to be a naturally-occuring [[DeathWorld hothouse]] planet until palatial ruins dated 2.7 millions years old were discovered. It's theorized in-universe that the inhabitants of the planet polluted their world so much it triggered a runaway greenhouse effect scenario.
** Rakhana, the homeworld of the Drell was industrialized too early, too quickly. Resources were depleted, the topsoil was corrupted and oceans became acidic. Luckily, the [[StarfishAliens hanar]] managed to mount a HomeworldEvacuation and saved around 375 000 Drells, leaving the rest to their doom.

* GenderRarityValue: The krogan, having few females capable of carrying children to term due to the genophage, fit this, as do the salarians who have a nine to one gender ratio of males to females. This results in breeding becoming a very complicated process of negotiating contracts.

** Subverted in regards to Cerberus. The first game presents Cerberus as unambiguously evil, but in the second game Shepard is introduced to more sympathetic members of the organization, and is both saved and backed by their leader, the Illusive Man. However, Shepard leaves them by the third game and the Illusive Man makes no attempts to buddy up with Shepard again. In the penultimate mission, it's also revealed that the events of the second game were ''specifically'' engineered to make Shepard (and the player by extension) as sympathetic to Cerberus as possible. Giving Shepard the illusion of freedom and command, and surrounding him with friendly and moderate members of the group were psychologically conditioning them into forming a personal attachment. In short, the first impression of Cerberus was the correct one.

* FiveRaces:
** Stout: krogan. Bruly ProudWarriorRaceGuys with SpareBodyParts galore who communicate through headbutts.
** Fairy: asari. Elegant, attractive, "squishy", adept with [[PsychicPowers bionics]] and masters of diplomacy. The hanar would also qualify.
** Mundane: humans, natch. [[HumansAreSpecial But then again...]] Drell straddle the line between this and High Men.
** High Men: turians. Honourable, steadfast and militaristic, entrusted with keeping the peace throughout the galaxy. The highly advanced, orderly and largely peaceful non-heretic geth would also count. Last but not least, the [[{{Precursors}} Protheans]] were this back in their heyday.
** Cute: quarians. An entire species of IllGirl. Also [[{{Keet}} salarians]], [[FunSize volus]] and [[GentleGiant elcor]].

** Angara are litter birthers, and tend to have [[MassiveNumberedSiblings large families]] as a result and the concept of [[OnlyChildSyndrome an only child]] does not exist in their society. This leads to some culture shock when they deal with humans, asari, and turians, who typically give birth one at a time.

** Finally averted in ''Andromeda'', when female turians and krogan are common. There are still only a few explicitly female Salarians, but they look exactly like the males so it's hard to tell how many are around in general.

** Fairy: asari. Elegant, attractive, "squishy", adept with [[PsychicPowers bionics]] and masters of diplomacy. The Hanar would also qualify.

** Rakhana, the homeworld of the Drell was industrialized too early, too quickly. Resources were depleted, the topsoil was corrupted and oceans became acidic. Luckily, the [[StarfishAliens Hanar]] managed to mount a HomeworldEvacuation and saved around 375 000 Drells, leaving the rest to their doom.

* FrogMen: The Krogan.

** Stout: Krogan. Bruly ProudWarriorRaceGuys with SpareBodyParts galore who communicate through headbutts.
** Fairy: Asari. Elegant, attractive, "squishy", adept with [[PsychicPowers bionics]] and masters of diplomacy. The Hanar would also qualify.
** Mundane: Humans, natch. [[HumansAreSpecial But then again...]] Drell straddle the line between this and High Men.
** High Men: Turians. Honourable, steadfast and militaristic, entrusted with keeping the peace throughout the galaxy. The highly advanced, orderly and largely peaceful non-heretic Geth would also count. Last but not least, the [[{{Precursors}} Protheans]] were this back in their heyday.
** Cute: Quarians. An entire species of IllGirl. Also [[{{Keet}} Salarians]], [[FunSize Volus]] and [[GentleGiant Elcor]].

** The quarians can't let go of their grudge against the Geth, a race of robots they created as servants, after the latter banished them from their homeworld. When it turns out that a large portion of Geth were working to rebuild the quarian homeworld for the eventual return of the quarians, [[spoiler:Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema]] wants to destroy them. If Shepard, Tali, and [[spoiler:Legion]] don't convince him, the Geth will destroy the Migrant Fleet and wipe most if not all quarians aboard the ships.

** The quarians, having no homeworld of their own beyond an aging spacefleet, are often considered unwanted vagrants or thieves wherever they turn up, assuming they aren't being blamed for unleashing the geth on the galaxy. They are called unflattering names by Citadel races, regarded with suspicion by law enforcement, and are often used as scapegoats if something goes wrong: Tali mentions that quarians aren't considered welcome in some parts of the Citadel, and C-Sec grilled her for hours before letting her onto the station. In Mass Effect 2, this prejudice is aptly demonstrated when a Volus misplaces his credit chit and accuses a nearby quarian of stealing it - and when Shepard finds said chit exactly where its owner had forgotten it, the volus attempts to save face by remarking that she could have stolen it.