Mordin Solus character sheet cleanup
Cleanup of Mordin Solus to rewrite all Self-Demonstrating-esque writing to regular prose. He does fit the three criteria for a Self-Demonstrating page, so perhaps the current character sheet as-is could be transplanted to that namespace and use the rewrite as replacement.
Lots of ways to help people. Sometimes heal patients; sometimes execute dangerous people. Either way helps.
"No surprise, Mordin acts superior to everyone. Like he's got tenure at FU."
— Joker's description
Voiced by: Michael Beattie (2), William Salyers (3)
A Salarian doctor and former member of salarian Special Tasks Group. Recruited by Shepard to combat Collector technology.
- Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: Personal mission involves a scene in which Mordin considers actions. Reasons for becoming The Atoner Atoner are also stated.
- Affectionate Nickname: Referred to by Urdnot Wrex as "Pyjak". He doesn't know whether to be insulted or honoured.
- Amazing Freaking Grace: There is a recording of him singing this on his Citadel DLC datapad.
- Angst? What Angst?: [[Invoked]]. Heavily affected by the events of his loyalty mission, but is fine by return to Normandy. Salarians possess short lifespans, thus they learn to deal with emotional burdens efficiently. He came to terms during shuttle ride, though he appreciates the concern. Mass Effect 3 suggests he is not as "over it" as previously claimed, when the chance to finish a genophage cure is presented.
- The Atoner: His role in upgrading the genophage. Mordin argues that it was the correct choice; he does not truly believe it. Perfect reason to atone for. Ultimately zigzagged - he considers the act inexcusable, after deliberation, though also inevitable and necessary. In Mass Effect 3, he fights to save the female krogan and cure the genophage and ultimately gives his life in doing so.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: He is quickly able to deduce Shepard arrived in clinic to find him and is working for Cerberus. On being recruited, he notes that the disembodied voice on the Normandy clearly belongs to an AI.
- Badass Bookworm: One of the smartest Salarian doctors in the setting, and also a highly skilled killer. He bears a broken cranial horn and facial scars due to an attack by a Krogan, though he stabbed the Krogan with pitchfork through the eye, and continued with his mission despite injuries.
- Badass Labcoat: Wears a labcoat over commando gear.
- Badass Normal: Weaker than normal humans, and on a team composed of mostly of superhumans and psychics. Still managed to kill a krogan with farming equipment.
- Beige Prose: Naturally. Tried...to...slow...down...no no no can't do it. Too much to do.
- Berserk Button:
- Playing with Syringes. Hates reckless science. Especially pointless wastes of life.
- Also metaphors.
- Also can't stand the thought of Creative Sterility. Species cannot evolve without art in culture. No art, no life. Collectors have no art, can barely be considered truly alive.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Ran clinic on Omega. Mercs tried to extort a protection racket. They all ended up dead. Was gone five minutes. Hung their bodies on display. *Sharp inhale*. Never bothered again.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Salarians need little sleep. Have almost perfect recall of any learned information. Egg-laying, have little understanding of romantic interaction.
- Black Eyes of Evil: Averted. Salarian eyes black, but not evil. Merely ruthless.
- Blood from the Mouth: Third game, if murdered by Shepard. Cough up blood from gunshot wound during final crawl towards console.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: When brought on Legion's loyalty mission, others see no moral difference between destruction and rewriting of heretics.
Personally believe if geth are alive, rewriting kinder. Change, not death, like Genophage. Although willing to consider notion that rewriting into obedience immoral. - Bond One-Liner: Non-lethal example, since victim was merely obstinate STG agent, not actually an enemy.Mordin: Objection noted.
- Break the Comedian: Easily most deliberately funny member of team. Loyalty mission and encounter with the consequences of attempted Genophage cure destroys sense of humour, leaves very sombre and depressive... but appears to have recovered by return to normal, claiming faster lifespan allows to process emotions quicker. Third game suggests was lying.
- Catchphrase:
- "X is/likely to be...problematic."
- "Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong."
- Celibate Hero: Inherent to salarian biology. Quite knowledgeable regardless.
- Combat Medic: Technically. Performs medical research on ship, on ground Shepard provides in-game medic abilities.
- Cool Old Guy: 30 years old. Salarian life expectancy forty. Roughly same age as Shepard. Find this amusing.
- Crazy-Prepared: Ready to give The Talk for any kind of interspecies romance. Ran clinic on Omega — advice likely necessary there. Many species, many tastes.
- Crisis of Faith: Studied many religions as means to atone. Looked for answers. Found questions. Declares Reincarnation popular with salarians. Deeply spiritual still. Shepard expresses surprise.Shepard: I didn't expect spirituality from you, Mordin.
Mordin: Genophage modification project altered millions of lives. Then saw results. Ego, humility, juxtaposition. Frailty of life. Size of universe. Explored religions after work was completed. Different races. No answers. Many questions.
Shepard: Sounds like you were trying to deal with a guilty conscience. The doctor who killed millions. - Cruel to Be Kind: Helped modify krogan genophage after species adapted to original. Did so for the good of entire galaxy - including krogan. Models suggested krogan resurgence would result in deaths of thousands, and krogan extinction. Modifying genophage only answer. Painfully aware of the contradictions in this argument. Resolving said contradictions a major part of character arc.
- Cultured Badass: Believes culture needs art. Otherwise not culture. Actively fears Creative Sterility. Uses as evidence for Collectors not being... alive. No art, no expression. No expression, no soul. *sharp inhale* Also did Gilbert and Sullivan.
- Dating Catwoman: Hinted at. Has history with crime boss Aria T'loak. Circumstances unclear, but open fondness of Mordin on her part remains. Wrote Self-Insert Fic about breaking Omega's only rule - in more ways than one.
- Dead Guy Junior: If Wrex is krogan leader and Genophage cured, will suggest honoring Mordin's sacrifice by naming one of his children (maybe a girl) after him. Tone suggests lack of seriousness about endeavor.
- Deadly Doctor:
- Thought he was harmless, did you?Mordin: Advantage of being salarian. Turians, krogan, vorcha - all obvious threats. [sharp inhale] Never see me coming.
- Subversion, actually. Has killed many times, but never with medicine (says so himself during loyalty mission). Shepard can challenge whether upgraded genophage killing with medicine or not. Likely asked himself same question in past. Paralysing nerve gas followed by lethal projectile to cranium is acceptable, however.
- Thought he was harmless, did you?
- Deadpan Snarker: Found several surveillance bugs. Destroyed some. Returned expensive one to Miranda.
- Death Faked for You: If Wrex and Eve dead, can be convinced to fake genophage cure and help with Crucible project. Wreav too dangerous as leader without Eve to stabilize him. Pretend to have died in explosion.
- Dead Man Writing: From Citadel. In event of death, STG colleagues to deliver datapad to Shepard. Contains greatest hits. Hope Shepard finds them informative, amusing, educational...
- Defiant to the End: If murdered by Shepard at end of third game, spends last moments crawling towards console to cure genophage.
- Determinator: If Shepard forced to shoot him. Manages to crawl toward console despite lethal wound. Almost reaches console before collapsing. Makes it further than replacement if dead in second game.
- Dirty Business: Guilt for actions major part of character.
- Dying Moment of Awesome:
- If deploying genophage cure, quietly hums Scientist Salarian while going about work. Facility collapsing around. *sharp inhale* ...Exhilarating.
- Inverted if Shepard shoots in back. Crawl to workstation. Die before temperature change ruins cure. Senseless death. Even Shepard disgusted with self.
- Establishing Character Moment: Recruited on Omega. Deduces Shepard's allegiance and intentions within seconds, if not told. Simple logic; process of elimination. Offers cure for plague - and new gun. Also dismisses entire mercenary squad as "minor" attack on clinic. Solid reasons for this.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Third game, if Shepard sabotages genophage cure. Disappointed. Betrayed. Possibly subverted if Shepard changes mind at last minute. Also subverted if Wrex and Eve dead; can be convinced Wreav too dangerous to allow access to cure. Downplayed if Shepard honest about reasons for sabotage; decision understandable, if not acceptable.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Hates unnecessary waste of life. Only kills problematic people. Always careful with medicine. Never carries out research on species capable of calculus unless subject volunteers. Protege... *sharp inhale* not so principled.
- If taken on Jack loyalty mission, repeatedly disgusted by surroundings. Experimenting on children not acceptable.
- Evilutionary Biologist: Downplayed. Involved in modification of genophage. Generally well-intentioned, regardless - even towards Krogan. Strong ethical guidelines. Ruthless when guidelines are breached.Mordin: No testing on species capable of calculus. Simple rule. Never broke it.
- Expert Consultant: Found at Salarian Tasks Group facility on Sur'kesh despite having retired from STG. There as consultant on genophage, working for an actual cure since no one else has expertise, experience or motivation for it. Has to be him, someone else might get it wrong.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Third game if Shepard sabotages genophage cure. Try to figure out why Shepard is delaying transmission of cure. Realize sabotage likely. Only plausible culprit... Shepard.
- Face Death with Dignity: Stands tall and proud while Shroud exploding around him.
- Faking the Dead: Third game. If Eve dead and Urdnot Wreav sole krogan leader, can be convinced krogan not yet ready for cure. Will disappear to work on Crucible. Shepard lets krogan believe everything went as planned.
- Fire, Ice, Lightning:
- Incinerate, check. Cryo Blast, check. Neural Shock? Close enough!
- In the third game, proves capable of inflicting electric shocks with omni-tool. Only in cutscene, though.
- The Fettered: Believes strongly in scientific ethics, refuses to experiment on sapient life.
- Film Noir: Authored novel in this style. Protagonist, lone STG operative on a mission. Broke number one rule on Omega... in more ways than one. Semi-autobiographical? Leave up to audience to decide.
- Frontier Doctor: Reminiscent. Omega resembles frontier setting. Limited resources, hostile factions, difficult for physician of lesser capability to practice. *sharp inhale* Missed working for operations with a budget.
- Gibbering Genius: Dictates thought processes in real time. Avoids infinitives. Irrelevant if heard saying inconvenient thought out loud.
- Glass Cannon: Three skills, purely offensive. Also low defence rating. Death during suicide mission likely. Preferable choice for escorting Chakwas and other crew members back to Normandy.
- Good Is Not Soft: No hesitation in purging dangerous elements for greater good. Sees no contradiction in killing some to safeguard others. Genophage tests this mentality to the extreme.
- Go Out with a Smile: Restored future of krogan species. Good reason to smile in face of death.
- Headbutting Heroes: Previously part of squad under Captain Kirrahe to deliver genophage modifications. Numerous disagreements on mission parameters. Repeatedly called each other 'cloacas'. Earned respect by end of mission.
- Heroic BSoD: Upon discovering pupil performed tests. Dangerous and reckless, even if misguided.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Third game, salarian sabotage to Shroud revealed. Stay behind to fix it. Die in the process. *sharp inhale* Conscience clear. Still... would like to have run tests on the seashells.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Subverted. Insists this repeatedly during loyalty mission. Obviously trying to convince self, not companions.
- Still resolute it was right action. Even against Shepard's best arguments. Invokes Grey-and-Gray Morality. Actions not unjustified.
- Worth remembering alternative was genocide. "Save galaxy from krogan. Save krogan from galaxy."
- Also made peace with self after mission. Mind clear. Hands washed. No guilt. Free to focus on task at hand.
- Until sequel. True guilt revealed... and again overcome.
- I'll Kill You!: If Maelon spared after loyalty mission, made plain former student not forgiven. Will kill if ever encountered again.
- Insistent Terminology: Genophage sterility plague. Not murder.
- Insufferable Genius: Some hints of this. For example, when joining Crucible in 3: "Exciting atmosphere, galaxy's most brilliant minds working together towards common goal. Read their solutions to engineering problems on the way over. Looking forward to correcting them in person."
- Ironic Echo: If survived ME2, can die while curing genophage in ME3. Uses same lines about how others would have gotten it wrong.
- Irony: For all claims of "It had to be me, someone else might have gotten it wrong" regarding Genophage, Padok Wix was able synthesize cure in case of death.
- If It's You, It's Okay: No interest in Shepard romantically. If ever explored, Shepard optimal. Either sex. Ahem.
- It's Personal: Deliberately invoked in order to anthropomorphize fight against Collectors and Reapers.Mordin: Hard to imagine galaxy. Too many people. Faceless. Statistics. Easy to depersonalize. Good when doing unpleasant work. For this fight, want personal connection. Can't anthropomorphize galaxy. But can think of favorite nephew. Fighting for him.
- Keet: Described as being like hamster on caffeine. Salarian metabolism much faster than most other species', but fast even for salarians.
- Kick the Dog: Questions Paragon Shepard's willingness to spare batarians who threatened assistant, sketchy asari neurospecialist as well. Second chances noble, not pragmatic, open possibilities for future betrayals. Correct about Rana Thanoptis. Should have killed her.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: "I am the very model of a--" BOOM
- Kill It with Ice: Uses omnitool to freeze enemies solid. Thaw quickly, but bodies fragile!
- Kill It with Fire: Uses omnitool to incinerate enemies. Incredibly deadly. "Flammable! Or inflammable? Forget which. Doesn't matter!" (Same thing. Really doesn't matter.)
- Lampshade Hanging:
- Meeting Shepard for first time. Attempt to work out why Spectre is here. Renegade interrupt offered. If not taken Paragon interrupt suggested. On board Normandy third interrupt option available. [sharp inhale]. Allows Shepard to interrupt when heard enough.
- Alternatively, can ignore interrupts. Made up for with hilarious scene:Shepard: Do you ever pause for breath?
Mordin: Sorry. I'll... try... to... slow... down. No-no-no. Can't do it. No time.
- Light Is Good: Wears white in keeping with doctoral nature. Also good. Help people. Cure genophage.
- The Load: Second game. Primary contribution to Suicide Mission intellectual. At Collector Base, poor choice for vent shafts and fire team, even if loyal. Also poor defense value for rearguard. Best assigned to escort surviving Normandy crew to safety.
- Mad Scientist: Not mad. Usually irritable. Sometimes affable.
- Mad Scientist Laboratory: Granted personal lab on Normandy. Cerberus spared no expense. Removed by Alliance during Normandy retrofit. Pity. Medical Bay will have to suffice. Proves convenient by that time, however. After all, working on genophage cure.
- Major General Song: "I am the very model of a scientist salarian."
- Voice actor had previous role. TV movie production of The Pirates of Penzance. Makes it funnier.
- In third game sings another version. Asari-vorcha crosses have allergy to dairy.
- The Matchmaker: Tries to hook Eve up with Garrus. Scars, intelligence, aggression. Would've made good match for Eve. Eve declined repeatedly.
- Measuring the Marigolds: Planned to walk on beach, collect seashells on retirement. Shepard asserted would go crazy within hour. Amended plans to run tests on seashells.
- Mercy Kill: View effort to defeat Collectors as this. Protheans gone, Collectors just final insult.
- A Million Is a Statistic: Trope discussed. Galaxy too broad, too many people, too many variables. Impersonal. Can't fight for whole galaxy. Can picture favorite nephew; can fight for him.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Good but conflicted. Did what had to do. Necessary, but still regrets.
- Motor Mouth: Speaks too fast when met in Omega. Can be halted with renegade interrupt. Can attempt to slow down, but incapable.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: Mission important. Talking takes too long. At least one way to help people.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Horrified by personal work on genophage. Still feel it had to be done.
- My Greatest Failure: Treats work on genophage as this, though not failure, strictly speaking. Justifies it incessantly. Had to be done. No other option. Only correct and logical course of action...Mordin: I made a MISTAKE! Focused on big picture. Big picture made of little pictures. Too many variables!
- My Sensors Indicate You Want to Tap That: Cross-species body language awkward; makes for easy misunderstandings. Movements of Shepard's lower eyelids suggestive by salarian standards. Good to clear air. Also identifies incumbent romantic relations between Shepard and love interests,; offers pertinent medical advice. Scandalized if Shepard views advice as being in jest.
- Never Trust a Trailer: Some fans confused initially. Felt Fight For The Lost trailers implied Mordin Clint Eastwood style lone ranger. In game, quickly proven wrong.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Narrowly averted. Had cure ready for Joker's Vrolik Syndrome. Luckily double checked in middle of night. Discovered that humans do not have two livers! *Sharp inhale* Would have caused liver failure. Problematic.
- Paragon Shepard repeatedly insists this is the case with genophage modification project. Vehemently disagree! Had to be done!
- Nightmare Fetishist:
- Foremost expert in medicine and bioengineering in the galaxy. Knowledgeable of diseases, sexually transmitted or otherwise, of all major sapient races. Often muses about such diseases out loud. Also does experiments.
- Intrigue at squad's potential survival on Horizon present even if part of squad.
- Noodle Incident: Lethal proficiency with farming equipment. Never explained until discovery of Shadow Broker database; Skinny salarian doctor killed charging krogan by driving pitchfork through head. Disappoints fans, who imagined combine harvester.
- Odd Friendship:
- With genophage-immune krogan female. Call her Eve. Part of reason wish to cure genophage.
- Also eventually establishes one with Wrex. Is mourned by Wrex after dying for genophage cure.Wrex: (approvingly) You've got a quad on you, Doctor! Keep her safe.
- Old Soldier: Elderly by salarian standards. Chronologically same age as Shepard. Find this amusing. Based partly on older Clint Eastwood, in fact.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Primary focus biomedical. Constantly forays into other sciences. Mechanical expertise surprising. He is the very model of a scientist salarian. One exception: limited experience with security systems. Assignment as Tech Specialist unwise.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Pausing while speaking. Long, complete statements. Use of first-person pronouns. All likely indicators of serious topics.
- If genophage is to be cured, dialogue with Shepard before they part ways for good:Shepard: I'm sorry, Mordin.
Mordin: I'm not. Had to be me... Someone else might have gotten it wrong. - If genophage cure was to be sabotaged instead:Mordin: I MADE A MISTAKE! note
- If genophage is to be cured, dialogue with Shepard before they part ways for good:
- Pet the Dog: Loyalty mission. Packed with these moments. Notably absolutely horrified at dead female krogan test subject. States that species doesn't matter. Acknowledges work as a cause.Shepard: I didn't expect you to be disturbed by the sight of a dead krogan.
Mordin: [surprised] What? Why? Because of genophage work? Irrelevant. No, causative. - The Professor: Nature of mission irrelevant. Know something about strange thing.
- Redemption Equals Death: Dying while curing genophage only redemption for modifying it previously.
- Retired Badass: Formerly served in special forces. Now doctor. Return to combat not a problem.
- Retirony:
- "Would have liked to run tests on the seashells."
- In Extended Cut, if alive, spends final years finding the time to cure the genophage.
- Sacrificial Lion: In third game. End of first story act, first major character to die. Clear sign no-one else safe. *inhale* No-one. If killed by Shepard, good sign of how far they have fallen.
- Science Hero: Uses vast scientific knowledge to help Shepard against both Collectors and Reapers.
- Seen It All: Has encountered much in the galaxy. Little surprise. Reaction to Javik: "Ah, a Prothean. Excellent."
- Self-Demonstrating Article: Terse talker. Speaks in sentence fragments. Emulated in this character trope list.
- Self-Insert Fic: Enjoys writing them.Mordin: Broke Omega's one rule, in more ways than one.note
- Sherlock Scan: Good at analysis. Displayed when first met Shepard. Deduces Cerberus affiliation even if not explicitly stated. Recognizes EDI as AI just as quickly.
- Shipper on Deck: Ready to offer medical advice for Shepard and their romantic partner. Available to offer gels and instruction manuals for possible cross-species intercourse.
- Admits worries about implications of Joker/EDI, however.
- Knew that krogan females find scars attractive. Tried to set "Eve" up with Garrus Vakarian. Apparently she wasn't interested. Will do this even if Shepard in relationship with Garrus. Awkward.
- Shoot the Dog:
- Has no problem killing one person. To save ten others, of course. Even created new strain of genophage. Krogan adapted to previous one. Does feel regretful about the latter. Started clinic to atone. All life precious.Mordin: Lots of ways to help people. Sometimes heal patients; sometimes execute dangerous people. Either way helps.
- Also at end of loyalty mission. Discover former STG agent curing genophage. Must be killed. Can be stopped with Paragon interrupt.Mordin: No! Not a murderer. Thank you, Shepard.
- Possibly on receiving end in third game. If not convinced to go along with sabotage, Renegade Shepard forced to shoot him to stop genophage cure.
- Has no problem killing one person. To save ten others, of course. Even created new strain of genophage. Krogan adapted to previous one. Does feel regretful about the latter. Started clinic to atone. All life precious.
- Silver Fox: In final decade of life. Considered attractive by salarian standards. Especially by other species. Receive come-ons constantly.
- The Smart Guy: Runs tech lab. Cannot purchase upgrades without him aboard.
- Sophisticated as Hell: Noted in Shadow Broker Dossier. Example adequate:"Specialist Solus suggests Commander Kirrahe has a foreign object in his cloacanote [...] suggests that cloacal obstruction is in fact Kirrahe's cranium.note "
- The Spock: Usually goes with more logical path. Belief in killing those who present themselves as threat. Deconstructed during Loyalty mission. Genophage involvement becomes source of conflict.
- Squishy Wizard:
- Skills quite useful in combat, but shields and health quite weak. Survival requires support.
- Despite special forces training and career, implied to possess weakest combat capabilities of any of the ground team. Lowest combat score and survival priority of any loyal teammate in holding the line against the Collectors. Lower than even Jack and Tali, who both are specialized at fighting enemies other than Collectors. Escorted duty recommended. Alternately, take to final confrontation. Tech abilities effective against armored targets. Collector forces feature many armored opponents. If loyal, will definitely survive if taken with Shepard.
- Strange-Syntax Speaker: Obviously. Speaks mainly in sentence fragments, never uses first-person pronouns. Possible defence mechanism to avoid taking responsibility for genophage enhancements - only breaks established pattern when admitting own mistakes.
- Stupid Good: Third game, if Wrex and Eve dead. Blinded by need to atone for genophage enhancements. Unable to see threat Wreav would pose without genophage or Eve to keep in check unless Shepard provide wake-up call.
- Suddenly Shouting: Third game. Rare loss of emotional control in regards to genophage enhancements."I MADE A MISTAKE!!!"
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Urdnot Wreav. Mutual dislike obvious. Cooperation necessity for curing Genophage. Payback acquired during tissue sample collection.Wreav: He failed to mention how he was gonna take his tissue sample. This ship doesn't have enough painkillers for where he cut me!
- The Talk:
- Shown here, on Interspecies Romance. Try not to "ingest". Offers for all romances. Promises to "probe" Jacob/Miranda. Cerberus could have bugs anywhere...
- Third game takes this step further. Offers Joker advice on proposed robosexual liaison with EDI. All part of profession.
- Shown here
- Technobabble: Constantly. Combines with Terse Talker, Motor Mouth. Some complain of difficulty understanding. Get doctorate! Have real conversation!
- Terse Talker: Talks fast and short. First part natural to salarians. Second part peculiar to himself. Likes Techno Babble dialogue. Always Thinking Out Loud. Reading Self-Demonstrating Article right now. *sharp inhale* May help you understand.
- Thinking Out Loud: Constantly. Annoying to krogan female in 3.Mordin: Who's that? Pilot? No. Synthesized voice. Simulated emotional inflections. Could it be... no. Maybe. Have to ask. Is that an AI?
- Too Much Information: Gives scientific advice on interspecies sex before even asked. Provides helpful booklet of diagrams, exercises, inventive activities. Also advises against oral contact with Drell skin (may cause mild hallucinations) or ingestion of Turian tissue (may cause anaphylactic shock).
- Underestimating Badassery: "Advantage of being salarian. Turians, krogan, vorcha, all obvious threats. Never see me coming."
- Unfinished, Untested, Used Anyway: Make no mistake. Brilliant scientist. Not perfect, though. Seeker swarm countermeasure developed hastily. Tested only on Horizon.Shepard: We're groundside. Mordin, you sure those armor upgrades will protect us from the seeker swarms?
Mordin: Certainty impossible. But in limited numbers, should confuse detection, make us invisible to swarms. In theory.
Squadmate: In theory?
Mordin: Experimental technology. Only test is contact with seeker swarms. Look forward to seeing if you/we survive! - Unwanted Harem:
- Found attractive by many species. Bemused at this. Saved many lives. May be desire for Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex with savior.
- "If wanted to try human, would try [Shepard]." Shepard's sex irrelevant.
- Utility Party Member: No non-combat gameplay skills in series, but still fits role aboard Normandy. Mediocre squadmate, barely useful in Suicide Mission. However, technical expertise useful for combat and ship upgrades, and for seeker swarm countermeasure vital to surviving on Horizon.
- Verbal Tic: Talks in sentence fragments, thinks aloud, Techno Babble, answers own questions, One-Liner, No time to breathe, Salarians Are As Mayflies, entire race Workaholics, *sharp inhale*... work even harder.
- Must note. No other salarians share tic. Unique to Mordin.
- Refers to self with first-person pronouns very rarely unless singing, mostly when statements would be nonsensical without an "I". Usually can, does avoid it. Happens if Shepard questions decision to cure genophage after working on it for so long.Mordin: I made a MISTAKE!
- Vitriolic Best Buds:
- Mutual respect, mutually derogatory banter with Kirrahe evident in STG mission report, spent whole time referring to the other as a cloaca. Mocks Kirrahe's constant "Hold the line" speeches, nevertheless has deep respect for former captain.
- Friendship with Shepard has aspects of this. Mutually respect each other. However, recognise Shepard often becomes exasperated with salarian thought process. Permit them to interrupt when they've heard enough.
- We Are as Mayflies: Inverted. Salarian lifespans much shorter than human ones. He himself already 30. Human equivalent 116.note Will die soon, even if survive suicide mission and Tuchanka arc in 3.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Believes past actions necessary. Feels guilty regardless.
- What Could Have Been: Invoked. Would have liked to run tests on the seashells planned on collecting.
- What the Hell, Hero?: In the third game, realizes that genophage cure was sabotaged. Also that Shepard knew, said nothing.
- The Wonka: Thinks out loud. Mental processes seemingly random. Techno Babbles constantly. Described as "Hamster on coffee".
- Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide": Absolutely refuses to admit that Genophage was a slow genocide in second game. Eventually realizes being wrong in third game.
- "X" Marks the Hero: Apparently received scar from krogan killed with pitchfork. Ruined right cranial horn.
- You No Take Candle: Obviously highly intelligent — infinitives waste time!
Mordin Solus (original state for Self-Demonstrating purposes)
Backup copy of original character sheet.
Lots of ways to help people. Sometimes heal patients; sometimes execute dangerous people. Either way helps.
"No surprise, Mordin acts superior to everyone. Like he's got tenure at FU."
— Joker's description
Voiced by: Michael Beattie (2), William Salyers (3)
Salarian doctor. Former member of salarian Special Tasks Group. Recruited by Shepard to combat Collector technology.
- Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: Personal mission involves one. In which Mordin considers actions. Reasons for becoming Atoner also stated. Done fairly well.
- Affectionate Nickname: Referred to by Urdnot Wrex as "Pyjak". Don't know whether to be insulted or honoured...
- Amazing Freaking Grace: Recording of him singing this on his Citadel DLC datapad. "Still prefer patter songs."
- Angst? What Angst?: Heavily affected by loyalty mission, fine by return to Normandy. Salarians possess short lifespans, learn to deal with emotional burdens efficiently. Came to terms during shuttle ride. Concern appreciated, however. Third game suggests not as "over it" as previously claimed, when chance to finish genophage cure is presented.
- The Atoner: Upgraded genophage. Argues that it was correct choice; does not truly believe it. Perfect reason to atone for. Ultimately zigzagged. Considers act inexcusable, after deliberation. Also considers act inevitable and necessary. In Mass Effect 3, fights to save female krogan and cure the genophage. Does what needs to be done. *Sharp inhale* Proud posthumously.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Quickly able to deduce Shepard arrived in clinic to find him. Obviously working for Cerberus. Disembodied voice on Normandy clearly belongs to an AI.
- Badass Bookworm: Salarian doctor. Among smartest ever. Also highly skilled killer. Broken cranial horn and facial scars due to attack by Krogan. Stabbed Krogan with pitchfork through eye. Continued with mission despite injuries.
- Badass Labcoat: Wears labcoat over commando gear. *sharp inhale* Awesome.
- Badass Normal: Weaker than normal humans, and on team composed of mostly of superhumans and psychics. Still managed to kill a krogan with farming equipment.
- Because You Can Cope: Paragon solution if loyalty lost in Dummied Out material.
- Beige Prose: Naturally. Tried...to...slow...down...no no no can't do it. Too much to do.
- Berserk Button:
- Playing with Syringes. Hates reckless science. Especially pointless wastes of life.
- Also metaphors.
- Also can't stand the thought of Creative Sterility. Species cannot evolve without art in culture. No art, no life. Collectors have no art, can barely be considered truly alive.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Ran clinic on Omega. Mercs tried to extort a protection racket. They all ended up dead. Was gone five minutes. Hung their bodies on display. *Sharp inhale*. Never bothered again.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Salarians need little sleep. Have almost perfect recall of any learned information. Egg-laying, have little understanding of romantic interaction.
- Black Eyes of Evil: Averted. Salarian eyes black, but not evil. Merely ruthless.
- Blood from the Mouth: Third game, if murdered by Shepard. Cough up blood from gunshot wound during final crawl towards console.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: When brought on Legion's loyalty mission, others see no moral difference between destruction and rewriting of heretics. Personally believe if geth are alive, rewriting kinder. Change, not death, like Genophage. Although willing to consider notion that rewriting into obedience immoral.
- Bond One-Liner: Non-lethal example, since victim was merely obstinate STG agent, not actually an enemy.Mordin: Objection noted.
- Break the Comedian: Easily most deliberately funny member of team. Loyalty mission and encounter with the consequences of attempted Genophage cure destroys sense of humour, leaves very sombre and depressive... but appears to have recovered by return to normal, claiming faster lifespan allows to process emotions quicker. Third game suggests was lying.
- Catchphrase:
- "X is/likely to be...problematic."
- "Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong."
- Celibate Hero: Inherent to salarian biology. Quite knowledgeable regardless.
- Combat Medic: Technically. Performs medical research on ship, on ground Shepard provides in-game medic abilities.
- Cool Old Guy: 30 years old. Salarian life expectancy forty. Roughly same age as Shepard. Find this amusing.
- Crazy-Prepared: Ready to give The Talk for any kind of interspecies romance. Ran clinic on Omega — advice likely necessary there. Many species, many tastes.
- Crisis of Faith: Studied many religions as means to atone. Looked for answers. Found questions. Declares Reincarnation popular with salarians. Deeply spiritual still. Shepard expresses surprise.Shepard: I didn't expect spirituality from you, Mordin.
Mordin: Genophage modification project altered millions of lives. Then saw results. Ego, humility, juxtaposition. Frailty of life. Size of universe. Explored religions after work was completed. Different races. No answers. Many questions.
Shepard: Sounds like you were trying to deal with a guilty conscience. The doctor who killed millions. - Cruel to Be Kind: Helped modify krogan genophage after species adapted to original. Did so for the good of entire galaxy - including krogan. Models suggested krogan resurgence would result in deaths of thousands, and krogan extinction. Modifying genophage only answer. Painfully aware of the contradictions in this argument. Resolving said contradictions a major part of character arc.
- Cultured Badass: Believes culture needs art. Otherwise not culture. Actively fears Creative Sterility. Uses as evidence for Collectors not being... alive. No art, no expression. No expression, no soul. *sharp inhale* Also did Gilbert and Sullivan.
- Dating Catwoman: Hinted at. Has history with crime boss Aria T'loak. Circumstances unclear, but open fondness of Mordin on her part remains. Wrote Self-Insert Fic about breaking Omega's only rule - in more ways than one.
- Dead Guy Junior: If Wrex is krogan leader and Genophage cured, will suggest honoring Mordin's sacrifice by naming one of his children (maybe a girl) after him. Tone suggests lack of seriousness about endeavor.
- Deadly Doctor:
- Thought he was harmless, did you?Mordin: Advantage of being salarian. Turians, krogan, vorcha - all obvious threats. [sharp inhale] Never see me coming.
- Subversion, actually. Has killed many times, but never with medicine (says so himself during loyalty mission). Shepard can challenge whether upgraded genophage killing with medicine or not. Likely asked himself same question in past. Paralysing nerve gas followed by lethal projectile to cranium is acceptable, however.
- Thought he was harmless, did you?
- Deadpan Snarker: Found several surveillance bugs. Destroyed some. Returned expensive one to Miranda.
- Death Faked for You: If Wrex and Eve dead, can be convinced to fake genophage cure and help with Crucible project. Wreav too dangerous as leader without Eve to stabilize him. Pretend to have died in explosion.
- Dead Man Writing: From Citadel. In event of death, STG colleagues to deliver datapad to Shepard. Contains greatest hits. Hope Shepard finds them informative, amusing, educational...
- Defiant to the End: If murdered by Shepard at end of third game, spends last moments crawling towards console to cure genophage.
- Determinator: If Shepard forced to shoot him. Manages to crawl toward console despite lethal wound. Almost reaches console before collapsing. Makes it further than replacement if dead in second game.
- Dirty Business: Guilt for actions major part of character.
- Dying Moment of Awesome:
- If deploying genophage cure, quietly hums Scientist Salarian while going about work. Facility collapsing around. *sharp inhale* ...Exhilarating.
- Inverted if Shepard shoots in back. Crawl to workstation. Die before temperature change ruins cure. Senseless death. Even Shepard disgusted with self.
- Establishing Character Moment: Recruited on Omega. Deduces Shepard's allegiance and intentions within seconds, if not told. Simple logic; process of elimination. Offers cure for plague - and new gun. Also dismisses entire mercenary squad as "minor" attack on clinic. Solid reasons for this.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Third game, if Shepard sabotages genophage cure. Disappointed. Betrayed. Possibly subverted if Shepard changes mind at last minute. Also subverted if Wrex and Eve dead; can be convinced Wreav too dangerous to allow access to cure. Downplayed if Shepard honest about reasons for sabotage; decision understandable, if not acceptable.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Hates unnecessary waste of life. Only kills problematic people. Always careful with medicine. Never carries out research on species capable of calculus unless subject volunteers. Protege... *sharp inhale* not so principled.
- If taken on Jack loyalty mission, repeatedly disgusted by surroundings. Experimenting on children not acceptable.
- Evilutionary Biologist: Downplayed. Involved in modification of genophage. Generally well-intentioned, regardless - even towards Krogan. Strong ethical guidelines. Ruthless when guidelines are breached.Mordin: No testing on species capable of calculus. Simple rule. Never broke it.
- Expert Consultant: Found at Salarian Tasks Group facility on Sur'kesh despite having retired from STG. There as consultant on genophage, working for an actual cure since no one else has expertise, experience or motivation for it. Has to be him, someone else might get it wrong.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Third game if Shepard sabotages genophage cure. Try to figure out why Shepard is delaying transmission of cure. Realize sabotage likely. Only plausible culprit... Shepard.
- Face Death with Dignity: Stands tall and proud while Shroud exploding around him.
- Faking the Dead: Third game. If Eve dead and Urdnot Wreav sole krogan leader, can be convinced krogan not yet ready for cure. Will disappear to work on Crucible. Shepard lets krogan believe everything went as planned.
- Fire, Ice, Lightning:
- Incinerate, check. Cryo Blast, check. Neural Shock? Close enough!
- In the third game, proves capable of inflicting electric shocks with omni-tool. Only in cutscene, though.
- The Fettered: Believes strongly in scientific ethics, refuses to experiment on sapient life.
- Film Noir: Authored novel in this style. Protagonist, lone STG operative on a mission. Broke number one rule on Omega... in more ways than one. Semi-autobiographical? Leave up to audience to decide.
- Frontier Doctor: Reminiscent. Omega resembles frontier setting. Limited resources, hostile factions, difficult for physician of lesser capability to practice. *sharp inhale* Missed working for operations with a budget.
- Gibbering Genius: Dictates thought processes in real time. Avoids infinitives. Irrelevant if heard saying inconvenient thought out loud.
- Glass Cannon: Three skills, purely offensive. Also low defence rating. Death during suicide mission likely. Preferable choice for escorting Chakwas and other crew members back to Normandy.
- Good Is Not Soft: No hesitation in purging dangerous elements for greater good. Sees no contradiction in killing some to safeguard others. Genophage tests this mentality to the extreme.
- Go Out with a Smile: Restored future of krogan species. Good reason to smile in face of death.
- Headbutting Heroes: Previously part of squad under Captain Kirrahe to deliver genophage modifications. Numerous disagreements on mission parameters. Repeatedly called each other 'cloacas'. Earned respect by end of mission.
- Heroic BSoD: Upon discovering pupil performed tests. Dangerous and reckless, even if misguided.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Third game, salarian sabotage to Shroud revealed. Stay behind to fix it. Die in the process. *sharp inhale* Conscience clear. Still... would like to have run tests on the seashells.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Subverted. Insists this repeatedly during loyalty mission. Obviously trying to convince self, not companions.
- Still resolute it was right action. Even against Shepard's best arguments. Invokes Grey-and-Gray Morality. Actions not unjustified.
- Worth remembering alternative was genocide. "Save galaxy from krogan. Save krogan from galaxy."
- Also made peace with self after mission. Mind clear. Hands washed. No guilt. Free to focus on task at hand.
- Until sequel. True guilt revealed... and again overcome.
- I'll Kill You!: If Maelon spared after loyalty mission, made plain former student not forgiven. Will kill if ever encountered again.
- Insistent Terminology: Genophage sterility plague. Not murder.
- Insufferable Genius: Some hints of this. For example, when joining Crucible in 3: "Exciting atmosphere, galaxy's most brilliant minds working together towards common goal. Read their solutions to engineering problems on the way over. Looking forward to correcting them in person."
- Ironic Echo: If survived ME2, can die while curing genophage in ME3. Uses same lines about how others would have gotten it wrong.
- Irony: For all claims of "It had to be me, someone else might have gotten it wrong" regarding Genophage, Padok Wix was able synthesize cure in case of death.
- If It's You, It's Okay: No interest in Shepard romantically. If ever explored, Shepard optimal. Either sex. Ahem.
- It's Personal: Deliberately invoked in order to anthropomorphize fight against Collectors and Reapers.Mordin: Hard to imagine galaxy. Too many people. Faceless. Statistics. Easy to depersonalize. Good when doing unpleasant work. For this fight, want personal connection. Can't anthropomorphize galaxy. But can think of favorite nephew. Fighting for him.
- Keet: Described as being like hamster on caffeine. Salarian metabolism much faster than most other species', but fast even for salarians.
- Kick the Dog: Questions Paragon Shepard's willingness to spare batarians who threatened assistant, sketchy asari neurospecialist as well. Second chances noble, not pragmatic, open possibilities for future betrayals. Correct about Rana Thanoptis. Should have killed her.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: "I am the very model of a--" BOOM
- Kill It with Ice: Uses omnitool to freeze enemies solid. Thaw quickly, but bodies fragile!
- Kill It with Fire: Uses omnitool to incinerate enemies. Incredibly deadly. "Flammable! Or inflammable? Forget which. Doesn't matter!" (Same thing. Really doesn't matter.)
- Lampshade Hanging:
- Meeting Shepard for first time. Attempt to work out why Spectre is here. Renegade interrupt offered. If not taken Paragon interrupt suggested. On board Normandy third interrupt option available. [sharp inhale]. Allows Shepard to interrupt when heard enough.
- Alternatively, can ignore interrupts. Made up for with hilarious scene:Shepard: Do you ever pause for breath?
Mordin: Sorry. I'll... try... to... slow... down. No-no-no. Can't do it. No time.
- Light Is Good: Wears white in keeping with doctoral nature. Also good. Help people. Cure genophage.
- The Load: Second game. Primary contribution to Suicide Mission intellectual. At Collector Base, poor choice for vent shafts and fire team, even if loyal. Also poor defense value for rearguard. Best assigned to escort surviving Normandy crew to safety.
- Mad Scientist: Not mad. Usually irritable. Sometimes affable.
- Mad Scientist Laboratory: Granted personal lab on Normandy. Cerberus spared no expense. Removed by Alliance during Normandy retrofit. Pity. Medical Bay will have to suffice. Proves convenient by that time, however. After all, working on genophage cure.
- Major General Song: "I am the very model of a scientist salarian."
- Voice actor had previous role. TV movie production of The Pirates of Penzance. Makes it funnier.
- In third game sings another version. Asari-vorcha crosses have allergy to dairy.
- The Matchmaker: Tries to hook Eve up with Garrus. Scars, intelligence, aggression. Would've made good match for Eve. Eve declined repeatedly.
- Measuring the Marigolds: Planned to walk on beach, collect seashells on retirement. Shepard asserted would go crazy within hour. Amended plans to run tests on seashells.
- Mercy Kill: View effort to defeat Collectors as this. Protheans gone, Collectors just final insult.
- A Million Is a Statistic: Trope discussed. Galaxy too broad, too many people, too many variables. Impersonal. Can't fight for whole galaxy. Can picture favorite nephew; can fight for him.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Good but conflicted. Did what had to do. Necessary, but still regrets.
- Motor Mouth: Speaks too fast when met in Omega. Can be halted with renegade interrupt. Can attempt to slow down, but incapable.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: Mission important. Talking takes too long. At least one way to help people.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Horrified by personal work on genophage. Still feel it had to be done.
- My Greatest Failure: Treats work on genophage as this, though not failure, strictly speaking. Justifies it incessantly. Had to be done. No other option. Only correct and logical course of action...Mordin: I made a MISTAKE! Focused on big picture. Big picture made of little pictures. Too many variables!
- My Sensors Indicate You Want to Tap That: Cross-species body language awkward; makes for easy misunderstandings. Movements of Shepard's lower eyelids suggestive by salarian standards. Good to clear air. Also identifies incumbent romantic relations between Shepard and love interests,; offers pertinent medical advice. Scandalized if Shepard views advice as being in jest.
- Never Trust a Trailer: Some fans confused initially. Felt Fight For The Lost trailers implied Mordin Clint Eastwood style lone ranger. In game, quickly proven wrong.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Narrowly averted. Had cure ready for Joker's Vrolik Syndrome. Luckily double checked in middle of night. Discovered that humans do not have two livers! *Sharp inhale* Would have caused liver failure. Problematic.
- Paragon Shepard repeatedly insists this is the case with genophage modification project. Vehemently disagree! Had to be done!
- Nightmare Fetishist:
- Foremost expert in medicine and bioengineering in the galaxy. Knowledgeable of diseases, sexually transmitted or otherwise, of all major sapient races. Often muses about such diseases out loud. Also does experiments.
- Intrigue at squad's potential survival on Horizon present even if part of squad.
- Noodle Incident: Lethal proficiency with farming equipment. Never explained until discovery of Shadow Broker database; Skinny salarian doctor killed charging krogan by driving pitchfork through head. Disappoints fans, who imagined combine harvester.
- Odd Friendship:
- With genophage-immune krogan female. Call her Eve. Part of reason wish to cure genophage.
- Also eventually establishes one with Wrex. Is mourned by Wrex after dying for genophage cure.Wrex: (approvingly) You've got a quad on you, Doctor! Keep her safe.
- Old Soldier: Elderly by salarian standards. Chronologically same age as Shepard. Find this amusing. Based partly on older Clint Eastwood, in fact.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Primary focus biomedical. Constantly forays into other sciences. Mechanical expertise surprising. He is the very model of a scientist salarian. One exception: limited experience with security systems. Assignment as Tech Specialist unwise.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Pausing while speaking. Long, complete statements. Use of first-person pronouns. All likely indicators of serious topics.
- If genophage is to be cured, dialogue with Shepard before they part ways for good:Shepard: I'm sorry, Mordin.
Mordin: I'm not. Had to be me... Someone else might have gotten it wrong. - If genophage cure was to be sabotaged instead:Mordin: I MADE A MISTAKE! note
- If genophage is to be cured, dialogue with Shepard before they part ways for good:
- Pet the Dog: Loyalty mission. Packed with these moments. Notably absolutely horrified at dead female krogan test subject. States that species doesn't matter. Acknowledges work as a cause.Shepard: I didn't expect you to be disturbed by the sight of a dead krogan.
Mordin: [surprised] What? Why? Because of genophage work? Irrelevant. No, causative. - The Professor: Nature of mission irrelevant. Know something about strange thing.
- Redemption Equals Death: Dying while curing genophage only redemption for modifying it previously.
- Retired Badass: Formerly served in special forces. Now doctor. Return to combat not a problem.
- Retirony:
- "Would have liked to run tests on the seashells."
- In Extended Cut, if alive, spends final years finding the time to cure the genophage.
- Sacrificial Lion: In third game. End of first story act, first major character to die. Clear sign no-one else safe. *inhale* No-one. If killed by Shepard, good sign of how far they have fallen.
- Science Hero: Uses vast scientific knowledge to help Shepard against both Collectors and Reapers.
- Seen It All: Has encountered much in the galaxy. Little surprise. Reaction to Javik: "Ah, a Prothean. Excellent."
- Self-Demonstrating Article: Terse talker. Speaks in sentence fragments. Emulated in this character trope list.
- Self-Insert Fic: Enjoys writing them.Mordin: Broke Omega's one rule, in more ways than one.note
- Sherlock Scan: Good at analysis. Displayed when first met Shepard. Deduces Cerberus affiliation even if not explicitly stated. Recognizes EDI as AI just as quickly.
- Shipper on Deck: Ready to offer medical advice for Shepard and their romantic partner. Available to offer gels and instruction manuals for possible cross-species intercourse.
- Admits worries about implications of Joker/EDI, however.
- Knew that krogan females find scars attractive. Tried to set "Eve" up with Garrus Vakarian. Apparently she wasn't interested. Will do this even if Shepard in relationship with Garrus. Awkward.
- Shoot the Dog:
- Has no problem killing one person. To save ten others, of course. Even created new strain of genophage. Krogan adapted to previous one. Does feel regretful about the latter. Started clinic to atone. All life precious.Mordin: Lots of ways to help people. Sometimes heal patients; sometimes execute dangerous people. Either way helps.
- Also at end of loyalty mission. Discover former STG agent curing genophage. Must be killed. Can be stopped with Paragon interrupt.Mordin: No! Not a murderer. Thank you, Shepard.
- Possibly on receiving end in third game. If not convinced to go along with sabotage, Renegade Shepard forced to shoot him to stop genophage cure.
- Has no problem killing one person. To save ten others, of course. Even created new strain of genophage. Krogan adapted to previous one. Does feel regretful about the latter. Started clinic to atone. All life precious.
- Silver Fox: In final decade of life. Considered attractive by salarian standards. Especially by other species. Receive come-ons constantly.
- The Smart Guy: Runs tech lab. Cannot purchase upgrades without him aboard.
- Sophisticated as Hell: Noted in Shadow Broker Dossier. Example adequate:"Specialist Solus suggests Commander Kirrahe has a foreign object in his cloacanote [...] suggests that cloacal obstruction is in fact Kirrahe's cranium.note "
- The Spock: Usually goes with more logical path. Belief in killing those who present themselves as threat. Deconstructed during Loyalty mission. Genophage involvement becomes source of conflict.
- Squishy Wizard:
- Skills quite useful in combat, but shields and health quite weak. Survival requires support.
- Despite special forces training and career, implied to possess weakest combat capabilities of any of the ground team. Lowest combat score and survival priority of any loyal teammate in holding the line against the Collectors. Lower than even Jack and Tali, who both are specialized at fighting enemies other than Collectors. Escorted duty recommended. Alternately, take to final confrontation. Tech abilities effective against armored targets. Collector forces feature many armored opponents. If loyal, will definitely survive if taken with Shepard.
- Strange-Syntax Speaker: Obviously. Speaks mainly in sentence fragments, never uses first-person pronouns. Possible defence mechanism to avoid taking responsibility for genophage enhancements - only breaks established pattern when admitting own mistakes.
- Stupid Good: Third game, if Wrex and Eve dead. Blinded by need to atone for genophage enhancements. Unable to see threat Wreav would pose without genophage or Eve to keep in check unless Shepard provide wake-up call.
- Suddenly Shouting: Third game. Rare loss of emotional control in regards to genophage enhancements."I MADE A MISTAKE!!!"
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Urdnot Wreav. Mutual dislike obvious. Cooperation necessity for curing Genophage. Payback acquired during tissue sample collection.Wreav: He failed to mention how he was gonna take his tissue sample. This ship doesn't have enough painkillers for where he cut me!
- The Talk:
- Shown here, on Interspecies Romance. Try not to "ingest". Offers for all romances. Promises to "probe" Jacob/Miranda. Cerberus could have bugs anywhere...
- Third game takes this step further. Offers Joker advice on proposed robosexual liaison with EDI. All part of profession.
- Shown here
- Technobabble: Constantly. Combines with Terse Talker, Motor Mouth. Some complain of difficulty understanding. Get doctorate! Have real conversation!
- Terse Talker: Talks fast and short. First part natural to salarians. Second part peculiar to himself. Likes Techno Babble dialogue. Always Thinking Out Loud. Reading Self-Demonstrating Article right now. *sharp inhale* May help you understand.
- Thinking Out Loud: Constantly. Annoying to krogan female in 3.Mordin: Who's that? Pilot? No. Synthesized voice. Simulated emotional inflections. Could it be... no. Maybe. Have to ask. Is that an AI?
- Too Much Information: Gives scientific advice on interspecies sex before even asked. Provides helpful booklet of diagrams, exercises, inventive activities. Also advises against oral contact with Drell skin (may cause mild hallucinations) or ingestion of Turian tissue (may cause anaphylactic shock).
- Underestimating Badassery: "Advantage of being salarian. Turians, krogan, vorcha, all obvious threats. Never see me coming."
- Unfinished, Untested, Used Anyway: Make no mistake. Brilliant scientist. Not perfect, though. Seeker swarm countermeasure developed hastily. Tested only on Horizon.Shepard: We're groundside. Mordin, you sure those armor upgrades will protect us from the seeker swarms?
Mordin: Certainty impossible. But in limited numbers, should confuse detection, make us invisible to swarms. In theory.
Squadmate: In theory?
Mordin: Experimental technology. Only test is contact with seeker swarms. Look forward to seeing if you/we survive! - Unwanted Harem:
- Found attractive by many species. Bemused at this. Saved many lives. May be desire for Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex with savior.
- "If wanted to try human, would try [Shepard]." Shepard's sex irrelevant.
- Utility Party Member: No non-combat gameplay skills in series, but still fits role aboard Normandy. Mediocre squadmate, barely useful in Suicide Mission. However, technical expertise useful for combat and ship upgrades, and for seeker swarm countermeasure vital to surviving on Horizon.
- Verbal Tic: Talks in sentence fragments, thinks aloud, Techno Babble, answers own questions, One-Liner, No time to breathe, Salarians Are As Mayflies, entire race Workaholics, *sharp inhale*... work even harder.
- Must note. No other salarians share tic. Unique to Mordin.
- Refers to self with first-person pronouns very rarely unless singing, mostly when statements would be nonsensical without an "I". Usually can, does avoid it. Happens if Shepard questions decision to cure genophage after working on it for so long.Mordin: I made a MISTAKE!
- Vitriolic Best Buds:
- Mutual respect, mutually derogatory banter with Kirrahe evident in STG mission report, spent whole time referring to the other as a cloaca. Mocks Kirrahe's constant "Hold the line" speeches, nevertheless has deep respect for former captain.
- Friendship with Shepard has aspects of this. Mutually respect each other. However, recognise Shepard often becomes exasperated with salarian thought process. Permit them to interrupt when they've heard enough.
- We Are as Mayflies: Inverted. Salarian lifespans much shorter than human ones. He himself already 30. Human equivalent 116.note Will die soon, even if survive suicide mission and Tuchanka arc in 3.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Believes past actions necessary. Feels guilty regardless.
- What Could Have Been: Invoked. Would have liked to run tests on the seashells planned on collecting.
- What the Hell, Hero?: In the third game, realizes that genophage cure was sabotaged. Also that Shepard knew, said nothing.
- The Wonka: Thinks out loud. Mental processes seemingly random. Techno Babbles constantly. Described as "Hamster on coffee".
- Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide": Absolutely refuses to admit that Genophage was a slow genocide in second game. Eventually realizes being wrong in third game.
- "X" Marks the Hero: Apparently received scar from krogan killed with pitchfork. Ruined right cranial horn.
- You No Take Candle: Obviously highly intelligent — infinitives waste time!
Twenty Five Twenty One
In 1998, during the midst of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, high school fencer Na Hee-do struggles through difficulties to become a member of the South Korean National Fencing Team. Meanwhile, Baek Yi-jin lands from Riches to Rags when his father's business goes bankrupt, leading him to work several odd jobs and eventually become a respected reporter.
This series contains examples of:
- Did Not Get the Girl: Hee-do and Yi-jin are not together in the present day, due to their breakup. Hee-do marries someone else, while nothing is said of Yi-jin's love life.
- Foreign Correspondent: Yi-jin takes on a reporting position in the United States right before 9/11 happens. The ensuing fallout means he stays for longer than anticipated, placing pressure on his mental state and his relationship with Hee-do.
- Framing Device: The narrative taking place in the present day centers around Kim Min-chae, Hee-do's daughter, discovering her mother's diary. The bulk of the overall story takes place during Hee-do and Yi-jin's youth, with the occasional cut to Min-chae's reaction and struggles with her not feeling like she is fit for ballet.
- Friendly Rival: Hee-do and Ko Yu-rim go from being bitter enemies after the gold medal media fracas to being very close friends after Hee-do defends Yu-rim from bullying and the reveal that they are Injeolmi and Ryder37. Since they are fellow fencers jockeying for fame and glory, they have to compete against each other and still refer to the other person as a rival.
- Naturalized Name: Yu-rim becomes known as Julia Ko after changing her nationality to Russian.
- Pair the Spares: Seung-wan, the only main character without a love interest, goes on a date with Yi-jin's brother, Yi-hyun, in the final episode.
- Persona Non Grata: Yu-rim becoming a Russian citizen is not taken well by the Korean public, with her public reception taking a 180 degree turn from beloved fencer to a traitorous snake. Exemplified when a restaurant server takes Hee-do's order but refuses to acknowledge Yu-rim. However, in the years that pass, the harsh opinions eventually wear down to the point where Yu-rim returning to Korea to start a fencing school is no problem.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Moon Ji-woong and Ji Seung-wan are very close friends and protective of each other, but there are no Ship Tease moments between them, as Ji-woong only has eyes for Yu-rim and Seung-wan gets paired with Yi-hyun in the ending.
- The Rival: Yu-rim and Hee-do are each other's greatest rival. Hee-do starts off as a fan of Yu-rim, but eventually has to compete with her and surpasses her in a practice bout. For Yu-rim, it started much earlier when Hee-do bested her in a tournament when they were children (Hee-do had no memory of this).
- Unseen Pen Pal: Hee-do, under the internet handle Ryder37, chats with her online friend Injeolmi about her trials and tribulations, usually complaining about her mom or Yu-rim without naming names. Injeolmi is revealed to be Yu-rim, and The Reveal over their identities is what causes the two of them to reconcile.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Hee-do resents her mother for what she perceives as prioritizing her job as a reporter over family time, which went as far as Hee-do being all alone at her father's funeral while her mother reported on breaking news.
