Mass Effect Andromeda: Nexus Uprising is a novel set within the Mass Effect universe, written by Jason M. Hough and K.C. Alexander. A prequel to Mass Effect: Andromeda, the story focus on the troubles the Nexus faces on arrival in the Heleus Cluster, and the eventual rioting that follows.
Mass Effect Andromeda: Nexus Uprising provides the examples of the following tropes:
- Arc Words: "The other side".
- Boom, Headshot!: Calix's fate, thanks to one of Sloane's own security people.
- Call-Back: While investigating an act of sabotage, Sloane wonders if a krogan was responsible. She's informed there's only one known krogan biotic, and they didn't come along. Wrex gets mentioned later on, by name, as having known Nakmor Morda, and been impressed by her.
- Call-Forward:
- Early on, Kesh thinks about Sloane's turian friend Kaetus, who's on the Natanus, from which he'll be ejected when it reaches Andromeda, before meeting up with Sloane on Kadara.
- All but one of the Pathfinder vessels are smashed. That would be Ryder's own Tempest.
- Drack briefly appears toward the end.
- The Cameo: Doctor Aridana of the Nexus Science Team briefly appears sitting next to Sloane at a disastrous "mourning" party for Jien Garson.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Toward the end, Sloane says she should never have let Tann take charge, or even let him wake up in the first place.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Jien Garson wasn't just killed. Her body is found burnt nearly beyond identification. Even Sloane, a veteran of the Skyllian Blitz, has to suppress the urge to vomit.
- Cruel Mercy: Tann's plan for the rioters is to offer them exile, knowing full well that with limit resources and no worlds to settle, they'd die, reasoning they'd rather go with his option of putting them in stasis.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Tann seriously wishes he could kick Kesh off the Nexus (effectively a death sentence at that point), just for making a joke.
- Downer Beginning: The Nexus' first day in Andromeda begins with all the senior Initiative leadership dying, and the Nexus itself getting smashed all to hell. Things do not get any better from there.
- Dramatic Irony: At the very beginning, Sloane dismisses those who say the Initiative was just done to escape the Milky Way. Unaware that this is exactly the point of the Initiative.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Kesh, on realizing that despite having helped build the Nexus, she isn't even considered part of the Initiative leadership.
- Fantastic Racism: Tann, toward krogan, and he doesn't bother hiding it. The thought of krogan actually being around nearly makes him physically ill. He also thinks humans, turians, and asari, and indeed anyone that isn't salarian, are stupid and inferior, and barely tries hiding that.
- Foregone Conclusion: Thanks to Spender and Tann, everything will go to shit. Riots start, Sloane sides with the mutineers when Clan Nakmor is unleashed on the rioters, and then when Tann refuses to treat the krogan well, they leave en masse. Sloane survives and leads the mutineers to Kadara. Kandros won't return until the Uprising's long over.
- Hate Sink: Acting Director Tann is smug, speciest, petty, arrogant, controlling and utterly unsuited for the job he's in, lacking even the small amount of good qualities he has in Andromeda. Pretty much all the Nexus' problems in the story that aren't related to the Scourge are his fault. It says something that William Spender, a man frequently compared to a weasel or a rat, is somehow actually more tolerable than Tann is in this story.
- The Ghost: The kett. The Initiative doesn't learn of them in the course of the book, and indeed they don't even appear, but they are the ones responsible for Kandros and his team not returning in time.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Everyone who trusts William Spender at his word. Which in this case is everyone. In fairness, he's not as much of a blatant weasel as he is in Andromeda proper (and displays none of the stupidity or poor decision-making he has there).
- It's All About Me: Tann. After a few days in charge he starts seeing the Nexus as his, refuses to listen to anyone else's viewpoint, and tries to be in absolute control of everything.
- Lack of Empathy: Tann displays a complete inability to show any kind of empathy for anyone at any point. Even on the occasions when he tries it comes across as smug and condescending. At the end, Addison actually calls him out on showing no regret for the fact people just died.
- Manipulative Bastard:
- Tann, who tries everything he can think of to make sure he's in charge, unopposed.
- Spender, who weasels and ingratiates himself to everyone, even sparking off the Uprising, in order to get ahead.
- Never My Fault: Tann never even once thinks of the possibility that maybe, maybe, the whole situation the Nexus is in might be because of his god-awful leadership. Until the very end when he wonders if he made the wrong choice somewhere.
- Odd Friendship: Nakmor Morda, known hardass and probably the most violently aggressive krogan there is, actually states she saw Jien Garson as a friend.
- Series Continuity Error:
- A pretty damn big one. Despite Andromeda stating it was the failed attempts at colonizing Eos that kick-started the whole Uprising (with one or two e-mails hinting there'd been plans among many on the Nexus to start it for some time before), the book has the Initiative never even try to settle Eos, with the Uprising just being angers flaring up after one incident too many.
- On a lesser note, Andromeda states there were other Nexus leaders in charge of Tann who got killed in the Uprising. The book has everyone above Tann dying in the initial Scourge disaster, and none of the Nexus leadership die in the riots.
- The idea of Urdnot Wrex being the only known krogan biotic is contradicted by the first game's Encyclopedia Exposita. It claims that krogan biotic ability only develops in advanced age. This would explain their rarity, but the mere presence of the observation also implies that additional documented krogan biotics must exist, and Shepard encounters several as enemies at various points in the first two games.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Sloane and Addison, at least at first.
- Took a Level in Cynic: By the end of the book, the Uprising and Tann's leadership (or lack thereof) has burnt any and all idealism about Andromeda out of Sloane, and she starts to become the ruthless gang leader Ryder will find on Kadara.
- Undying Loyalty: Calix's team are utterly dedicated to him.
