History MassEffect3 / TropesLToR

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Mordin sacrifices himself to cure the genophage. Legion also does this if you are able to stop the geth/quarian war, as uploading the Reaper code to the geth requires his personality to be uploaded as well, essentially killing him in the process. In his case, the redemption of the entire geth race equals his death]].

* LegionOfLostSouls: In a manner with the squads in multiplayer. They are ostensibly Systems Alliance units and operate under Alliance command, with most of their members being human soldiers and other military specialists, but they also include volunteers and mercenaries from a variety of other races, such as turians, asari, krogan, drell, and quarians. Now with the Resurgence[=/=]Rebellion[=/=]Retaliation[=/=]Reckoning DLC Packs, geth, batarians, vorcha, Cerberus defectors, [[UnexpectedCharacter volus]] and [[spoiler: Leviathan-liberated Collectors]] join the party.
* LesYay: Shepard, of all people, can [[InvokedTrope bring this up]] in the ''Citadel'' [[DownloadableContent DLC]] when [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Jack and Miranda]] are [[VolleyingInsults sniping insults at each other]] over their drinks. Shepard asks if they would feel better if they just kiss already, insisting that [[FoeYayShipping their attitudes]] must clearly be BelligerentSexualTension. [[INeedAFreakingDrink Both have incredulous reactions to the idea and go for more drinks]]. Kasumi offers to record, [[GirlOnGirlIsHot saying that there must be a market for it]].

* MasterOfAll: The Collectors, both in multiplayer and in the ''Citadel'' [=DLC's=] Armax Arsenal Arena. The other three enemy factions all have their own strengths and weaknesses. The Collectors only have strengths. They're better cover-busters than the geth without being slow, can rush players like Cerberus without going down as easy because their units have way more hitpoints, have their troops buffed with more useful bonuses than Reapers, their sync-kill units are harder to deal with than the others, they spam a support unit that locks down power use, and that's not even all of their advantages. Most of the worst DemonicSpiders in the game are Collector units, which in itself should already tell you anything you need to know about them. Playing against Collectors is like turning the difficulty up another level. Gets [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by one of the many [=NPCs=] on the Silversun Strip who can be overheard talking about nothing but the game's [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall multiplayer]] [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration mechanics]]. He remarks on how they used to complain about the Reapers having the toughest ground troops - until the Collectors came along.

*** The Turian Soldier cranks this UpToEleven: between their affinity for assault rifles, intrinsic recoil stability bonus, and Marksman ability (which [[MoreDakka increases rate of fire]], [[ImprobableAimingSkills accuracy]], [[BoomHeadshot headshot damage,]] and [[LagCancel instantly reloads your gun]]), it's possible to continuously fire the Revenant nonstop, from the hip, ''[[AdvancingWallOfDoom while moving]]'', with solid accuracy.

* MultiplayerDifficultySpike: The multiplayer {{cap}}s the player level to 20 (compared to 60 in the SP), drastically reduces available skills, and consistently pits the players against DemonicSpiders rarely encountered even on higher difficulties in SP (or not encountered at all, such as the {{DLC}}-only [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 Collector]] faction).

** The Cerberus Phantom or as the [[SarcasmMode fans lovingly]] [[FanNickname call it]], "Ninja Bitch".

** If you had [[MoneyGrinding stockpiled a lot of materials]] from [[ScrappyMechanic planetary scanning]] in the second game, that wealth will translate into a hundred point war asset when importing an old save.

** An instance of this trope appears near the end of the Mars mission. In order to stop an infiltration unit created by Cerberus from leaving with the plans for the Crucible, James Vega rams the Cerberus shuttle with the Kodiak they used to to reach Mars. This causes a huge crash that destroys the enemy shuttle while leaving the Kodiak mostly intact. The weird part is that, even though James never rams (or, indeed, ''flies'') a shuttle again, he [[NeverLiveItDown leaves with a reputation of crashing and destroying them all the time]].

** Against the Collectors, the Scion and the Praetorian have these as well. The Scion [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown repeatedly crushes the player with its]] ArmCannon, and the Praetorian [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice uses all 4 of its very sharp legs, culminating in lodging its beak in the player's head]]. [[{{Squick}} And your poor guy is trying to dislodge himself the whole time]].

* PlanetVille: Some planets [[http://www.computerandvideogames.com/306475/previews/mass-effect-3-why-biowares-finale-will-make-you-sad/ were supposed to have]] multiple accessible locations, which would have [[AvertedTrope averted]] this for the first time in the series. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Unfortunately, it wasn't to be.]]

* TheRuinsICaused: If you can't create peace on Rannoch and the quarians get wiped out. You either get to see Tali or (if the former is already dead) Admiral Raan commit suicide, and then the rest of the scene is spent on a cliff watching the debris from the destroyed quarian flotilla fall down through the clouds, and knowing it's your fault. It's [[TearJerker one of the most depressing scenes in the entire trilogy]].

* OffScreenMomentOfAwesome: If you did not play the ''Arrival'' DLC, the events of the plot happen anyway, with an Alliance squad taking Shepard's place. However, they do not survive the mission, so Ghorek's sidequest that ties into the DLC's plot is reduced to a petty act of revenge.

** In order to dispense the genophage cure, the Turians and Krogan come up with a brilliant plan to launch a combined air-ground assault to distract the Reaper destroyer away from the shroud, allowing a small team to sneak in. Except nobody considered that Krogan aren't used to conducting these kind of coordinated assaults since swarming positions with shock troops is the only way they have fought for millennia, and they haven't run any military exercises with humans or Turians to learn the nitty gritty of these operations. So of course they fail to plan a proper route for their trucks to the shroud, and cannot convince the Turians to delay the airstrike until the ground team gets to the op area.
** EDI points out that despite their military might the Krogan lack the ships needed to actually transport their troops on a large scale. As well as other materials they'd need for a prolonged campaign, as they've only ever had to fight rival clans on their homeworld.

** With a twist: The health bar is split into five segments. Each segment will regenerate, but any depleted segments can only be replenished with Medi-Gel. The new health system encourages players to be more careful in combat, as well as extra ExperiencePoints being given for picking up Medi-Gel past your carrying capacity.
** Subverted with Vorcha Multiplayer characters, whose special ability is regenerating health with their Bloodlust. The more kills they get in a short window, they move faster, kill quicker, and regenerate health more. It's balanced out by their rather pathetic shield strength, however.
** Same with the Krogan Warlord, except it's a passive ability, his barriers aren't weak at all... but he can't take cover.

** Tali is required for the first and last Rannoch missions if she survived ''[=ME2=]''. (If she did not, you get to take whoever you want, and Adm. Daro'Xen ''vas'' Moreh will provide MissionControl over the radio.)

* RidiculouslyFastConstruction: In one sidequest it takes the Salarians less time to clone the Krogan's Kakliosaur mounts from fossils in massive numbers, train them, and deploy them to the front lines than it does to say it.

** Which characters show up, as plenty of them can suffer {{Plotline Death}}s (IE the Virmire Survivor, [[spoiler:the original Citadel Council which Saren and Sovereign put to threat]], just about any of your squadmates from ''Mass Effect 2'', etc).

** In addition to the question of their survival, the loyalty of some ''[=ME2=]'' squadmates is tracked. Only some, however; Jacob and Jack, for instance, will survive ''[=ME3=]'' no matter what. Other characters are less lucky.

** The game tracks whether or not you completed the previous game's downloadable content. If you completed ''Bring Down The Sky'' from ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', [[spoiler:and saved the hostages, Balak]] can show up again; [[spoiler:he also shows up if you didn't save the hostages and then [[NeverFoundTheBody left him for dead]].]] If you completed ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', you can get bonus intel. Completing ''Arrival'' nets extra dialogue during a couple of conversations and prevents a reduction to a war asset (who had to do ''Arrival'' since you did not).

** The upgrades you bought for the Normandy (Thanix Cannon, Heavy Ship Armor, Multicore Shielding) transfer as additive modifiers to the SSV ''Normandy'' war asset.

** An instance of this trope appears near the end of the Mars mission. In order to stop an infiltration unit created by Cerberus from leaving with the plans for the Crucible, James Vega rams the Cerberus shuttle with the Kodiak they used to to reach Mars. This causes a huge crash that destroys the enemy shuttle while leaving the Kodiak mostly intact but leaves James with a reputation of crashing and destroying shuttles all the time despite him no longer piloting the Kodiak.

* OneManArmy: Any previous party member who neither dies nor rejoins the Normandy crew will become a War Asset worth 25 points. For purposes of comparison, asari cruisers of particularly high quality are worth 30 points.

* RegeneratingShieldStaticHealth:

** The game keeps track of which characters you use the most during missions which, in addition to affecting dialogue, determines [[spoiler:which squadmate(s) convince Joker to evacuate after the crucible fires, who steps out of the Normandy after it crash-lands and who puts up Shepard's plaque in the ending (assuming there is no Love Interest.)]]

* RevolversAreJustBetter: The M-358 Talon is a revolver handgun favored by Cerberus Guardians. It is basically a hand-held shotgun although the cylinder holds only 4 shots rather than 6. Unfortunately it is missable and will not be able for purchase if not found during the Priority: The Citadel II mission.
* RequiredPartyMember:
** Liara is required for Thessia and Eden Prime (assuming you downloaded ''From Ashes''), Tali is required for the first and last Rannoch missions, and EDI is required for the [[spoiler: assault on Cerberus HQ]]. In addition, party members are chosen for you for the missions on Mars (James and the Virmire Survivor, with Liara replacing James a short time into the mission) and Palaven (James and Liara, with Garrus replacing the latter if he survived [=ME2=]).

* NeckLift: Legion will do this to [[spoiler: Shepard if you let the quarians wipe out the geth.]]

* NeutralNoLonger: The entire point of the game: sending Shepard out to the various species of the galaxy in order to convince them that focusing solely on their own territories isn't going to work anymore, that they need to unite in order to survive.

* NotSoDifferent: Shepard can compare Grissom Academy to the Cerberus facility on Pragia. [[spoiler:Jack does ''not'' like the comparison.]]

* OpposeWhatYouSuffered: Pretty much all the civilisations[[spoiler: already wiped out by the Reapers in previous cycles]] who have been working on the Crucible[[spoiler:, a device that is supposed to [[ExactWords end the Reaper threat once and for all]],]] count, because they clearly want to make sure the same thing does not happen to other civilisations[[spoiler: even if it is too late for themselves]]. Also counts as [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture Flinging a Light into the Future]]

** [[spoiler: Ashley and James]] can hook up in ''Citadel'' if the former was not romanced.
** If neither are romanced, Shepard can suggest this to [[spoiler: Jack and Miranda]] in Citadel. No word on whether they actually do anything about it, though [[FacePalm their]] [[INeedAFreakingDrink reactions]] suggest they didn't.

''Shepard uses the targeting laser to call in a [[DeathFromAbove final strike from the fleet]]. Cue the Reaper exploding.''\\

** The game keeps track of which characters you use the most during missions which, in addition to affecting dialogue, determines [[spoiler:which squadmate(s) convince Joker to evacuate after the crucible fires, who steps out of the Normandy after it crash-lands and who puts up Shepard's plaque in the ending (assuming there is no Love Interest.]]

* PaintedOnPants: Perhaps the most notorious example in the series, as not only are the ''pants'' painted on, but any time a human female character is seen in casual clothing (one early example is [[spoiler:Ashley when she's in the hospital]], their shirts conform to their body in a way no shirt in human history ever has.

** In addition to the question of their survival, the loyalty of some ''[=ME2=]'' squadmates is tracked. Only some, however; Jacob and Jack, for instance, will survive ''ME3'' no matter what. Other characters are less lucky.

* PreOrderBonus: Depending on where you pre-ordered the game. All of the gear mentioned below plus a lot of other promotional items have since been made available for indirect purchase with the ''Leviathan'' and ''Omega'' [=DLCs=] - except for the Defender Armor, which can only be unlocked by editing the save file. Fortunately, neither of the guns is particularly useful, and the armor - while cool-looking - is made redundant by the various Cerberus armor suits, so even if you don't have them in your armory, you're not missing out on anything.
** Gamestop pre-orders include "Defender Armor" and an N7 Valkyrie Assault Rifle (the only weapon not covered by the Collector's Edition weapon pack).
** EA's Origin network offers the [=AT12=] Raider Shotgun.
** Others get the Argus assault rifle, which is also a midrange weapon.

* RageBreakingPoint: Shepard hits this on Rannoch if you choose the Renegade option to [[spoiler:end the geth/quarian conflict. Shepard lays it bares how sick s/he is of the quarians continually forcing the geth into a position where they have to fight their creators simply to survive. Male Shepard, in particular, sounds practically seething with frustration at their race's refusal to just stop fighting for five seconds.]]

* {{Reveal}}:

-->'''Geth Prime:''' We regret the deaths of the creators.
-->'''Shepard:''' ''(sighing)'' They made their choice.

* TheRuinsICaused: If you can't create peace on Rannoch and the quarians get wiped out. You either get to see Tali or (if the former is already dead) Admiral Raan commit suicide, and then the rest of the scene is spent on a cliff watching the debris from the destroyed quarian flotilla fall down through the clouds, and knowing it's your fault. It's [[Main/TearJerker one of the most depressing scenes in the entire trilogy]].

* PoliceBrutality : Justicar brutality to be precise. Hinted at in a datapad found in the Ardat Yakshi monastery where the Superintendent complains that their newest inmate was brought there by a Justicar named Phora, and seems to be traumatized over how strongly she was persuaded by Phora to come. And apparently this is only the latest one that Phora has strongly persuaded this way. She then wants the resident Matriarch to find out how much persuasion is permitted by the Justicar code and if Phora exceeded it.

* PowerEqualsRarity: played straight by the collectible weapons in multiplayer. The weapons you start out with are decent, but even relatively BoringYetPractical options like the M-96 Mattock (which serves as the game's Designated Marksman Rifle) are Uncommon. Even worse, there are way ''more'' weapons at higher rarities: 5 Common weapons, 13 Uncommons, ''25'' Rares and 21 Ultra-Rares.

-->'''Shepard:''' [[spoiler:If you keep attacking, I will stand and watch as the geth lay you to waste! It's your call. [[SarcasmMode Keelah Si'yah]].]]

** Kelly Chambers is not a badass soldier like Jacob, or a biotic genetically engineered goddess like Miranda. She is a Yeoman with a degree in psychology. [[spoiler:When Cerberus come for her, if Shepard had not convinced her to change her identity, she will die. There is no fight. There is no battle. Shepard is not there to help. She is asked if she is Kelly Chambers, and when she says yes, she is shot between the eyes at point blank range.]]

** In order to dispense the genophage cure, the Turians and Krogan come up with a brilliant plan to launch a combined air ground assault to distract the Reaper destroyer away from the shroud, allowing a small team to sneak in. Except nobody considered that Krogan aren't used to conducting these kind of coordinated assaults since swarming positions with shock troops is the only way they have fought for millenia, and they haven't run any military exercises with humans or Turians to learn the nitty gritty of these operations. So of course they fail to plan a proper route for their trucks to the shroud, and cannot convince the Turians to delay the air strike until the ground team gets to the op area.

** Major plot threads like who leads the krogan, whether [[spoiler: the Citadel is led by the original council or the replacements]], who you chose to pursue a relationship with, Whether the geth and the quarians can find peace or not with each other, etc...
** How many of your ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' squadmates survived, and whether they were loyal. It can make certain character-centric missions in ''3'' much easier.

* OffModel: When you start conversation that doesn't enter cutscene mode, the NPC's head turns to look at you. Apparently, the limits of movement aren't coded effectively, since character's heads often go past 90 degrees and into [[Film/TheExorcist the Exorcist]] territory.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: [[DeadlyDoctor Mordin]] [[SelfDemonstratingArticle Solus.]] TerseTalker. [[MotorMouth Talks extremely fast.]] Rarely uses personal pronouns. Goes against these traits multiple times. All in serious situations. Notable one [[spoiler: if cure for genophage is sabotaged:]]

* ReplacedWithReplica: If you ask Kasumi about the decorations in her quarters aboard the Normandy, she'll explain that she and her lover stole them from museums. Kasumi has the priceless originals and left the museums none the wiser with cheap replicas.

* LighterAndSofter: The ''Citadel'' [[DownloadableContent DLC]] can feel a tad jarring at points due to how dark the main game is, especially since, in order to maximize the number of available characters it's meant to be played just before the endgame missions begin. It's intentionally goofy, fun, filled with character comedy and ends on a party for all of the squad members in the series. TropesAreTools though as it's meant to be the final sendoff to the trilogy and the cast of characters and thus is technically intended to be played by those who have already played through the game a few times (and, even more specifically, have played through the complete trilogy).

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: [[DeadlyDoctor Mordin]] [[SelfDemonstratingArticle Solus.]] TerseTalker. [[MotorMouth Talks extremely fast.]] Rarely uses personal pronouns. Goes against these traits multiple times. All in serious situations.
** Notable one [[spoiler: if cure for genophage is sabotaged:]]

*** Doubly unusual. Personal pronoun is used. Usually never uses personal pronouns. [[MajorGeneralSong Except when singing.]] Also admits mistake. Usual course of action: [[IDidWhatIHadToDo justification.]] Extreme guilt noted. Sign of CharacterDevelopment. [[spoiler: Dies soon after. Major TearJerker.]]

* PaletteSwap: The [=CAT6=] mercenaries from "Citadel" are Cerberus soldiers with different models and more abilities:

* ProfaneLastWords: If you don't do a certain side mission, the DarkActionGirl Jack, one of your squadmates from part two, is captured by Cerberus, tortured, and has her personality effectively erased to convert her into a Phantom. You later discover a video log of her final hours (as herself), [[DefiantToTheEnd showing her dropping F-bombs all the way]].
** You will also be on the receiving end of this if you made no effort to [[spoiler: reconcile with Ashley, and are forced to shoot her during the Citadel coup]].

* RegeneratingShieldStaticHealth: With a twist: The health bar is split into five segments. Each segment will regenerate, but any depleted segments can only be replenished with Medi-Gel. The new health system encourages players to be more careful in combat, as well as extra ExperiencePoints being given for picking up Medi-Gel past your carrying capacity.

* RelationshipValues: Hidden, but present, most noticeably for Ashley and Kaidan: [[spoiler:at the MexicanStandoff at the Citadel, a perfect relationship with them results in them automatically trusting Shepard, while worse relationships require higher and higher persuade checks until finally the player has no choice but to kill them]].
** The relationship values, in addition to affecting dialogue, determines [[spoiler:which squadmate(s) step out of the Normandy after it crash-lands in the ending]].

* MakesSenseInContext: Lampshaded by Wrex in the Citadel DLC.
--->[[spoiler:'''Wrex:''' Shepard's got a clone. Makes sense when you think about it.]]

* MegaCity: The story starts in a city that is described as Vancouver, British Columbia; Seattle, Washington; and Portland, Oregon merged. Later references make it clear that you were in the "Vancouver" part.
** More precisely, Vancouver, British Columbia. [[UsefulNotes/TheOtherRainforest There's a Vancouver, Washington across the Columbia river from Portland.]]

-->'''Cerberus Centurion''': HOLY SHIT! THAT'S SHEPARD!

** The game tracks whether or not you completed the previous game's downloadable content. If you completed "Bring Down The Sky" from ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', [[spoiler:and saved the hostages, Balak]] can show up again; [[spoiler:he also shows up if you didn't save the hostages and then [[NeverFoundTheBody left him for dead]].]] If you completed "Lair of the Shadow Broker", you can get bonus intel. Completing "Arrival" nets extra dialogue during a couple of conversations and prevents a reduction to a war asset (who had to do Arrival since you did not).

* OneHitKO: Phantoms (if they haven't [[BlastingItOutofTheirHands been disarmed]]), Atlases, Brutes and Banshees can all do this to players who get too close. Fortunately, all except Banshees will only insta-kill after they've already connected with a melee attack, and [[SaveScumming the game auto-saves before each Banshee fight]]. Banshees will only Grab you if they're glowing (which they are most of the time).

* PressXToNotDie: If you cannot [[spoiler:talk the Illusive Man down in the finale]], failure to hit the correct prompt results in this [[spoiler:after he kills Anderson]]. And yes, [[spoiler:he kills you too if you do not take the second prompt. Hope you like going through the dialogue again!]]

* RequiredPartyMember: Liara is required for Thessia and Eden Prime (assuming you downloaded "From Ashes"), Tali is required for the first and last Rannoch missions, and EDI is required for the [[spoiler: assault on Cerberus HQ]]. In addition, party members are chosen for you for the missions on Mars (James and the Virmire Survivor, with Liara replacing James a short time into the mission) and Palaven (James and Liara, with Garrus replacing the latter if he survived [=ME2=]).
** Aria doesn't trust anyone on the Normandy but Shepard, so the Omega [=DLC=] forces you to use only Aria and Nyreen.

** Just as in ''VideoGame/{{Mass Effect|1}}'' and ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', it is possible to punch out [[TheSnarkKnight the snarky and duplicitous]] tabloid reporter Khalisah Al-Jilani, provided you make the interrupt.
*** If you punched her in one of the previous games, she'll hilariously try to [[SubvertedTrope subvert]] this trope by dodging your first punch and attempting to counter-attack with one of her own, thereby prompting you with a ''second'' renegade interrupt!

** Everyone makes a reference to Garrus Vakarian's constant tweaking of the weapons systems on the Normandy, including suggesting that he get back to the guns when he first joins your crew in the third game so that he can do more calibrations. He then, of course, does so, for the third game in a row, though at least this time his "go away" dialogue isn't that he's running calibrations... even though he is. There is a conversation between Legion and Garrus wherein Legion, an AI, claims the guns cannot be made more than 0.32% more efficient, and Garrus then promptly improves them by 0.43%. He's just that good.
*** Garrus then tells Legion his cunning master strategy which basically amounts to a Montgomery Scott tactic. "You just have to hold back a bit more than expected."

* RammingAlwaysWorks: Subverted in the Omega DLC. Cerberus manages to shoot down Aria's ship when she tries to ram it to breach Omega's defenses.