History WhatAnIdiot / MassEffect

** The Citadel DLC: A villainous impostor pretending to be Shepard has just seized control of the Normandy with a squad of mercenaries.\\

'''Instead''': The villain just fires Traynor and kicks her off the ship, allowing Traynor to aid the real Shepard in regaining access to the Normandy before it can leave.

** Kai Leng's special ability seems to be channeling {{Idiot Ball}}s, since everyone who goes near him starts acting in ways that often seem stupid:
** '''Overview''': Shepard and his squad are en route via aircar to intercept Cerberus as they move towards the Council members, when Kai Leng suddenly jumps on the roof of their car.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Shepard to start swerving the car to attempt to send Kai Leng flying, or make him smack into one of the many underpasses that the car is flying past, and at least heavily weaken his DeflectorShields as he uses them to hang onto the vehicle.\\
'''Instead''': Shepard opens the door and starts shooting with a [[EmergencyWeapon Predator pistol]], Kai Leng then sabotages their car and causes them to crash, allowing Cerberus to get a head start on the race to the Council.

** Warden Kuril, the head honcho of [[TheAlcatraz the Purgatory prison ship]], welcomes Shepard and two other armed companions ([[labelnote:who are any of the following]] a high ranking operative for one of the most powerful terrorist organizations in the galaxy; a seasoned lieutenant to same; a mercenary renowned for his ruthlessness and extremely high salary; a former C-Sec Officer and one time Spectre candidate who single-handedly held off three of the most ruthless mercenary groups in the galaxy in the heart of the Terminus Systems (INCLUDING the same mercenary group Warden Kuril is a part of), on a station renowned for being the galaxy's WretchedHive for ''three days'' with just a sniper rifle; a master thief so adept at her craft that no one recognises her hacking an advertisement terminal in a public space in broad daylight, or speaking to a woman/man who is both thought dead and renowned as a legendary figure for stopping Saren and the Geth; a scientist who killed people with ''farming equipment'' and participated in mass population control experiments; and a genetically engineered member of a race of BloodKnight[=s=] previously under the care of a big shot warlord[[/labelnote]]) on board with aims to kidnap them and sell them off to slavers.\\

** The Blue Suns manage to capture Sidonis, one of Archangel's trusted lieutenants. They threaten him with death, and he finally cracks.\\
'''You'd Think:''' The Blue Suns learn everything they can about Sidonis' squadmates from him and then pick them out one by one.\\
'''Or:''' Organize an ambush at Archangel's hideout and kill them all together.\\
'''Instead:''' They lure Archangel (and him alone) out of hideout and then attack it.\\
'''Then:''' Archangel assembled his entire team (sans Sidonis) in the hideout, presumable to prepare for a new operation. Sidonis calls Archangel and tells him about a Blood Pack gun running operation.\\
'''You'd Think:''' Archangel would take his entire team with him, now that everyone's together and ready.\\
'''Instead:''' Archangel goes alone. Upon finding nobody at the place he was directed to, he doesn't even try to contact ''either'' Sidonis ''or'' his team, he simply goes back to the hideout.\\
'''Meanwhile:''' The Blue Suns know exactly where Archangel is going to go.\\
'''You'd Think:''' They'd ambush and kill him at that place.\\
'''Instead:''' They attack Archangel's well-fortified base and lose an entire squad here, but manage to eliminate Archangel's group as well.\\
'''However:''' They could think that Archangel wasn't TooDumbToLive and ''would'' take his entire team with him, so that's why they decided to target his base of operations instead.\\
'''Then:''' Radio silence doesn't raise any suspicion in Archangel until he reaches the base and hears explosions and gunshots. He kills the remaining mercs and sees that eight of his comrades are already dead, and two more will die very soon.\\
'''You'd Think:''' He would quickly retreat the way he (secretly?) came in, empty all his bank accounts and hide away, presumably somewhere out of Omega.\\
'''Instead:''' Archangel collapses the underground entrances and prepares to defend his hideout from the mercs until he drops.\\
'''Finally:''' Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse know for sure that Archangel is cornered, and the only remaining exit is through the bridge.\\
'''You'd Think:''' They'd just set up a round-the-clock surveillance of the building and wait until Archangel falls asleep. Even the most badass turians need sleep sometimes.\\
'''Instead:''' They assault the hideout, losing a lot of manpower and mechs. They finally ''do'' come up with a plan that should've succeeded, but [[BigDamnHeroes Shepard]] arrives and thwarts it.

** Early on in the game Shepard has captured a disabled Cerberus infiltration unit and has it in storage.\\
'''You'd Think''': Knowing that Cerberus has been messing around with Reaper tech, is completely ruthless, and were the ones who built EDI in the first place, Shepard to order it dumped the moment they've gotten all useful info from it, or at least that it should be kept completely isolated from the ship and under guard and EDI would not do anything to mess with it.\\
'''Instead''': EDI decides to try to take control of the unit, resulting in the ship malfunctioning, EDI herself temporarily going offline, and Liara forced to leave Shepard's team to try to help. While they're in the middle of a warzone. It's really just good luck that nothing else happened and EDI was able to make use of the unit.

** An in-universe example pops up with the Geth Consensus when they are attacked by the quarian Migrant Fleet.\\

** The quarian Migrant Fleet, in turn, makes its own equally stupid but justified in-universe decision in attacking the geth.\\

*** This one is probably intentional; the villain's whole plan is noted by the heroes to be incredibly stupid and they are portrayed as completely insane.

'''Instead''': EDI decides to try to take control of the unit, resulting in the ship malfunctioning, EDI herself temporarily going offline, and Liara forced to leave Shepard's team to try to help. While they're in the middle of a warzone. It's really just good luck that nothing else happened and EDI was able to make use of the unit.

** Kaira Sterling is a security officer at Port Hanshan on Noveria. When a firefight breaks out in the Synthetic Insights headquarters, Kaira responds with a squad of about half a dozen. Unbeknownst to her, the CorruptCorporateExecutive in charge of Port Hanshan had shut the company down because the manager had evidence that he was corrupt, even by [[WretchedHive Port Hanshan's]] standards. She gets there to find the dozen or so bodies of the team of cops he'd sent to toss the place looking for it, and Commander Shepard's squad coming out of the manager's office. Even if Kaira still disbelieves Shepard's Spectre status (confirmed in her presence earlier when Shepard checked in), [[BullyingADragon Kaira and her squad are non-military security grunts, and Commander Shepard is one of the Alliance's most elite Special Forces Marines and commands some of the most dangerous individuals in Council space]].\\

** Kaira Sterling is a security officer at Port Hanshan on Noveria. When a firefight breaks out in the Synthetic Insights headquarters, Kaira responds with a squad of about half a dozen. Unbeknownst to her, the CorruptCorporateExecutive in charge of Port Hanshan had shut the company down because the manager had evidence that he was corrupt, even by [[WretchedHive Port Hanshan's]] standards. She gets there to find the dozen or so bodies of the team of cops he'd sent to toss the place looking for it, and Commander Shepard's squad coming out of the manager's office. Even if Kaira still disbelieves Shepard's Spectre status (confirmed in her presence earlier when Shepard checked in), [[BullyingADragon Commander Shepard is wearing the most elite rank in the Alliance's Special Forces and outclasses Kaira in every way that counts in combat]], and comes flanked by two people with their own reputations for being dangerous.\\
'''You'd Think:''' In the face of overwhelming evidence of what she's up against, Kaira would put aside the hostility she's had against Shepard since they landed, stand down, and walk away.\\

** Kaira Sterling is a security officer at Port Hanshan on Noveria. When a firefight breaks out in the Synthetic Insights headquarters, Kaira responds with a squad of about half a dozen. Unbeknownst to her, the CorruptCorporateExecutive in charge of Port Hanshan had shut the company down because the manager had evidence that he was corrupt, even by [[WretchedHive Port Hanshan's]] standards. She gets there to find the dozen or so bodies of the team of cops he'd sent to toss the place looking for it, and Commander Shepard's squad coming out of the manager's office. Even if Kaira still disbelieves Shepard's Spectre status (confirmed in her presence earlier when Shepard checked in), [[BullyingADragon Commander Shepard is wearing the most elite rank in the Alliance's Special Forces and outclasses Kaira in every way that counts in combat]], and the two people flanking Shepard aren't any less dangerous themselves.\\

** Kaira Sterling is a security officer at Port Hanshan on Noveria. When a firefight breaks out in the Synthetic Insights headquarters, Kaira responds with a squad of about half a dozen. Unbeknownst to her, the CorruptCorporateExecutive in charge of Port Hanshan had shut the company down because the manager had evidence that he was corrupt, even by [[WretchedHive Port Hanshan's]] standards. She gets there to find the dozen or so bodies of the team of cops he'd sent to toss the place looking for it, and Commander Shepard's squad coming out of the manager's office.\\
'''You'd Think:''' Kaira would take a moment to think back on her previous encounter with Shepard, wherein she learned s/he was a confirmed Spectre. Not only does this give Shepard full legal immunity, but it also means that [[BullyingADragon s/he is ranked among the galaxy's most elite tier of badasses and outclasses Kaira in every way that counts]], and that the two people flanking Shepard are equally dangerous in their own right. If that weren't enough, there is now a room full of dead bodies as testament to that fact, which Kaira had to walk through to get where she meets Shepard. With that in mind, she would put aside the hostility she's had against Shepard since they landed and just walk away.\\

* Franchise-wide
** The Quarians are widely bigoted against due to several factors, and since they [[EnclosedExtraterrestrials have to wear opaque environmental suits 24/7]] due to issues with their immune system, one of the bigoted ideas floating around is that they're cyborgs underneath.\\
''' You'd Expect''': them to either whip out medical literature or take photos in a sterile environment that document what they actually look like under their suits.\\
''' Instead''': They seemingly take no action against this easily-debunkable idea.

'''Instead:''' She refuses to listen to Shepard, attempts a PreAssKickingOneLiner, and powers up her biotics. By which point Shepard and squad have already swatted her down with ''their'' biotics, disabled her squad's weapons and defenses, and finished them all off with a hail of gunfire.

** Partway through the game, you're sent to a derelict Reaper to retrieve a vital part.\\
'''You'd Expect''': That Shepard would point out that a dead Reaper on hand means they can prove to everyone that Sovereign wasn't a Geth ship since it would have to predate the Geth, and demonstrate the advanced technology onboard that means they really are facing the threat of an army of advanced ships. Even if Shepard's worried about Indoctrination, they could still work remotely using robots.\\
'''Instead''': Shepard just goes there and is forced to destroy the ship's core after being trapped onboard.\\

** At the end of the game, Shepard is given the option between either destroying the Collector base or handing it over to Cerberus to use.\\
'''You'd Expect''': If Shepard is uncertain about Cerberus, to just contact Anderson and let him know what they have and that they should make as big a public spectacle of this as they possibly can. Even the Council would eventually have to investigate how the Normandy can go to a place no ship has ever returned from, and what's on the other side, which would mean investigating the Collector base and its advanced technology. If Shepard's worried about Indoctrination, they can explore and investigate remotely with robots.\\
'''Instead''': It's treated as though it's only a choice between destroying it or giving it to Cerberus.\\

** Partway through the game, you're sent to a derelict Reaper to retrieve a vital part.
'''You'd Expect''': That Shepard would point out that a dead Reaper on hand means they can prove to everyone that Sovereign wasn't a Geth ship since it would have to predate the Geth, and demonstrate the advanced technology onboard that means they really are facing the threat of an army of advanced ships. Even if Shepard's worried about Indoctrination, they could still work remotely using robots.
'''Instead''': Shepard just goes there and is forced to destroy the ship's core after being trapped onboard.

** At the end of the game, Shepard is given the option between either destroying the Collector base or handing it over to Cerberus to use.
'''You'd Expect''': If Shepard is uncertain about Cerberus, to just contact Anderson and let him know what they have and that they should make as big a public spectacle of this as they possibly can. Even the Council would eventually have to investigate how the Normandy can go to a place no ship has ever returned from, and what's on the other side, which would mean investigating the Collector base and its advanced technology. If Shepard's worried about Indoctrination, they can explore and investigate remotely with robots.
'''Instead''': It's treated as though it's only a choice between destroying it or giving it to Cerberus.

*** This one is probably intentional; the villain's whole plan is noted by the heroes to be incredibly stupid and they are portrayed as completely insane.

** The Blue Suns manage to capture Sidonis, one of Archangel's trusted lieutenants. They threaten him with death, and he finally cracks.
'''You'd Think:''' The Blue Suns learn everything they can about Sidonis' squadmates from him and then pick them out one by one.
'''Or:''' Organize an ambush at Archangel's hideout and kill them all together.
'''Instead:''' They lure Archangel (and him alone) out of hideout and then attack it.
'''Then:''' Archangel assembled his entire team (sans Sidonis) in the hideout, presumable to prepare for a new operation. Sidonis calls Archangel and tells him about a Blood Pack gun running operation.
'''You'd Think:''' Archangel would take his entire team with him, now that everyone's together and ready.
'''Instead:''' Archangel goes alone. Upon finding nobody at the place he was directed to, he doesn't even try to contact ''either'' Sidonis ''or'' his team, he simply goes back to the hideout.
'''Meanwhile:''' The Blue Suns know exactly where Archangel is going to go.
'''You'd Think:''' They'd ambush and kill him at that place.
'''Instead:''' They attack Archangel's well-fortified base and lose an entire squad here, but manage to eliminate Archangel's group as well.
'''However:''' They could think that Archangel wasn't TooDumbToLive and ''would'' take his entire team with him, so that's why they decided to target his base of operations instead.
'''Then:''' Radio silence doesn't raise any suspicion in Archangel until he reaches the base and hears explosions and gunshots. He kills the remaining mercs and sees that eight of his comrades are already dead, and two more will die very soon.
'''You'd Think:''' He would quickly retreat the way he (secretly?) came in, empty all his bank accounts and hide away, presumably somewhere out of Omega.
'''Instead:''' Archangel collapses the underground entrances and prepares to defend his hideout from the mercs until he drops.
'''Finally:''' Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse know for sure that Archangel is cornered, and the only remaining exit is through the bridge.
'''You'd Think:''' They'd just set up a round-the-clock surveillance of the building and wait until Archangel falls asleep. Even the most badass turians need sleep sometimes.

** The Reapers have invaded the Galaxy, utterly [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomping]] the Batarians and the Humans in days. They are clearly an apocalyptic threat.\\
'''You'd Expect''': The remaining military forces in the galaxy immediately put aside their differences and form a coalition for a united defense against the Reapers.\\
'''Instead''': The salarians refuse to join the coalition unless Shepard sabotages the cure for the Genophage, out of fear that it will make the krogan too strong in the post-war Galaxy. They don't realize that without their help, there might not be any post-war Galaxy to speak of.

'''Instead''': All the galactic empires want a favor before they join the coalition. The Salarians are particularly stupid: they refuse to join the coalition unless Shepard sabotages the cure for the Genophage, out of fear that it will make the Krogan too strong in the post-war Galaxy. They don't realize that without their help, there might not be any post-war Galaxy to speak of.
** The Attack on Earth: The allied forces need to get troops to the Conduit, the only entrance to the Citadel. The Conduit is located in London and is heavily guarded by AA cannons, Reaper ground troops, and a Reaper destroyer.\\
'''You'd Expect''': The allied forces detach a few ships from the battle in Earth's orbit to bombard the city, at least enough to take out the AA cannons and the Reaper Destroyer, which were previously shown to be vulnerable to this very same tactic on Rannoch. The way is cleared for the ground forces to move in.\\
'''Instead''': Allied ground forces attempt to [[ZergRush zerg rush]] the Conduit through an enemy-infested urban area with seemingly no orbital support whatsoever. Many of the troops are killed by AA fire before they even reach the ground. The resulting assault turns out about as well as you'd expect.
*** This is mitigated (and possibly entirely averted or not a case of the trope to begin with) by the fact that Reaper capital ships in the Final Battle are more powerful ''and'' more numerous. In order to guarantee that capital class ships could provide air support to their ground troops, the coalition would have had to commit far more than would be wise. What the poster above fails to realize is that if just one or two ships break off from the main battle and head for London, it's next to impossible that the Reapers would not ''immediately realize what they are up to'' and divert an equal or greater force of their own ships to stop them. Even if the breakoff didn't happen until right before the ground forces rushed the Conduit, the Reapers would still have enough time to intercede to thwart them. If the tactic was in any way viable from the outset, the fleets would have used it to ''ensure more of the Hammer ground forces reached the Forward Operating Base.''

'''Instead''': The villain just fires Traynor and kicks her off the ship, allowing Traynor to aid the real Shepard in regaining access to the Normandy before it can leave.

'''Instead''': The villain just fires Traynor and kicks her off the ship, allowing Traynor to aid the real Shepard in regaining access to the Normandy before it can leave.
** The Reapers' first two attempts to launch their normal invasion via the hidden Mass Relay in the Citadel have been thwarted, but the fleet has been roused from hibernation and came the long way.\\
'''You'd Expect''': The Reapers immediately seize the Citadel and use the the vast information stores, access to enemy leaders, and controls for the Mass Relay network to immediately isolate every cluster and efficiently pick them off one by one. According to Prothean records in the first game this is their standard procedure, and they could easily take it at any time.\\
'''Instead''': They attack everywhere at once ''except'' the Citadel, spreading their forces thin and allowing them to be pushed back on Tuchanka, Palavan, and Rhynoch. They don't sieze the Citadel until the enemy has resolved their internal problems and ammassed the fleets and superweapon to challenge them directly.

'''Instead''':They attack everywhere at once ''except'' the Citadel, spreading their forces thin and allowing them to be pushed back on Tuchanka, Palavan, and Rhynoch. They don't sieze the Citadel until the enemy has resolved their internal problems and ammassed the fleets and superweapon to challenge them directly.

'''Instead''':They attack everywhere at once ''except'' the Citadel, spreading their forces thin and allowing them to be pushed back on Tuchanka, Palavan, and Rhynoch. They don't sieze the Citadel until the enemy has resolved their internal problems and ammassed the fleets and superweapon to challenge them directly.\\

** The Reapers' first two attempts to launch their normal invasion via the hidden Mass Relay in the Citadel have been thwarted, but the fleet has been roused from hibernation and came the long way.//
'''You'd Expect''': The Reapers immediately seize the Citadel and use the the vast information stores, access to enemy leaders, and controls for the Mass Relay network to immediately isolate every cluster and efficiently pick them off one by one. According to Prothean records in the first game this is their standard procedure, and they could easily take it at any time.//
'''Instead''':They attack everywhere at once ''except'' the Citadel, spreading their forces thin and allowing them to be pushed back on Tuchanka, Palavan, and Rhynoch. They don't sieze the Citadel until the enemy has resolved their internal problems and ammassed the fleets and superweapon to challenge them directly.//

** The Reapers' first two attempts to launch their normal invasion via the hidden Mass Relay in the Citadel have been thwarted, but the fleet has been roused from hibernation and came the long way.
'''You'd Expect''': The Reapers immediately seize the Citadel and use the the vast information stores, access to enemy leaders, and controls for the Mass Relay network to immediately isolate every cluster and efficiently pick them off one by one. According to Prothean records in the first game this is their standard procedure, and they could easily take it at any time.
'''Instead''':They attack everywhere at once ''except'' the Citadel, spreading their forces thin and allowing them to be pushed back on Tuchanka, Palavan, and Rhynoch. They don't sieze the Citadel until the enemy has resolved their internal problems and ammassed the fleets and superweapon to challenge them directly.

'''Instead''': The villain just fires Traynor and kicks her off the ship, allowing Traynor to aid the real Shepard in regaining access to the Normandy before it can leave.

'''You'd Think:''' Kaira would take a moment to think back on her previous encounter with Shepard, wherein she learned s/he was a confirmed Spectre. Not only does this give Shepard full legal right to be there, but it also means that [[BullyingADragon s/he is ranked among the galaxy's most elite tier of badasses and outclasses Kaira in every way that counts]], which in turn means the two people flanking Shepard have to be a really close second to be calling a Spectre "boss." If that weren't enough, there is now a room full of dead bodies as testament to that fact, which Kaira had to walk through to get where she meets Shepard. With that in mind, she would put aside the hostility she's had against Shepard since they landed and just walk away.\\

'''You'd Think:''' Kaira would connect the three armed and armored badasses, the leader of which she learned is a confirmed Spectre in their previous encounter, to the room full of dead bodies she walked through to get to them. With that in mind, she would put aside the hostility she's had against Shepard since they landed and just walk away.\\