@@primeradiancytrue,although he wasn't really major to much in the greater picture... that should've been a huge narrative twist for Jacob's character development too
I firmly believe that Udina should have been redeemed in Mass Effect 3. Instead of betraying the Council, he should have sacrificed himself to stop the Coup attempt. I was so happy that he showed some emotion and sorrow at the start of ME3, and I was so mad that they wrote him to betray the Council.
This so much! He is so one note as it is. We hear that he's an excellent politician who would do anything for humanity, but it makes no sense that in the aftermath of Earth he'd side with Cerberus. Even if he had Cerberus ties up until that point, seeing the destruction they caused, and knowing what they'd been turning their soilders into he most likely would have noped out before the coup
I agree, until his betrayal he was a clever politician and a complex character who were taking the ungrateful role for the common good. I was so disappointed of what BioWare did to Udina.
Yeah, that would have been really nice. But this is Mass Effect, where every politician is an irredeemable person who's only there to get in Shepherd's way.
Thanks all of you who mentioned Dr. Gavin Archer. He was a sorry excuse for a human being. I don’t particularly enjoy Overlord, but I do it every time TO SAVE DAVID
Shoutout to Bray for being one of the only Batarians to not hate us 🫶. A part of the email that he sends you after the omega dlc has him state the following: “Be careful out there. Know there’s at least one Batarian here that doesn’t want you dead.”
The Batarians as a whole were a waste. We genuinely needed more interactions with batarians who weren't total assholes. As they are most people can't give a toss about them.
@@tomleary508 that is because the ones who weren't total arseholes were mostly on the home world and were under near total surveillance by the hegemony. You do meet some in the refugee dock in ME3.
It's more fun to not punch Khalisah. Instead, crush her verbally multiple times and then turn her to your side, beat her at her own game. Kai Leng, though? No matter how Paragon you play, you always hit that Renegade prompt. And Bray is cool in my book. He does his job competently, works hard, and is relatively polite considering the circumstances.
I totally agree for the renegade interrupt with Kai Leng. As soon as I found out what happens, and the voiceline for it. May every other action be totally paragon, Kai Leng gets the Interupt. For Thane. Sooo satisfying.
The only kinda sympathetic batarian I can think of is the one in the background in the docks of the citadel talking to a human refugee. He starts like an ass, like pretty much every other batarian, while the human is telling his experience fleeing Earth, but eventually he opens up by telling him how he was fixing a satellite over Khar'shan when the Reapers hit, and they ended up becoming buddies
I'll give you that one and add 3 more. Aria's second in command, the blue sun's gunship repair guy (even though he ends up"napping on the job", poor guy was just working way too hard and dropped),and maybe the dying Baterian in the plague zone. That one also starts off a complete ass, but if you help him out he changes his tune (at least for the Commander).
@@Practicallypreposterous Not to mention, even EDI herself says that the Batarians are a bit more, i forget the word, tolerable or whatever when they don't have the Hegemony watching them. So it's probably state enforced stuff all around more than, well, proper culture and whatnot.
What ticked me off about Jacob was not that he's a bland character, or that he hooks up with someone else by the time of ME3 .. but the go he had at Thane for being an assassin = "just a precise mercenary with no loyalty" (or smth along those lines). Meanwhile .. Jacob, a soldier, broke his loyalty to the alliance because they didn't do things his way, only to become a mercenary for Cerberus / TIM, whom according to his own words, he doesn't trust - so there's no new loyalty here either. I was like, dude, you're such a hypocrite. I hate hypocrites. And from that moment I just couldn't stand being around Jacob.
On one hand, Jacob does have a point. A merc is someone who takes money to fight someone else's fight. An assassin is someone who takes money for stealthily someone elses enemy, so there is at least some overlap. On the other hand, as a member of Cerberus and a fighter, Jacob is little more than a merc himself.
It's very obvious to me that Jacob and Thane were to have a conflict like Miranda and Jack and Tali and Legion. But then Bioware scrapped that as they knew it wouldn't make sense. Yet that dialogue still made its way in.
I find it way more satisfying to humiliate and then win over al-Jilani than to punch her. Her war asset score is small, but the roleplaying element of breaking through her defenses and discovering that the person underneath is just scared and unsure fits my otherwise Paragade Shepard's personality.
Hot take but Khalisa isn't even that bad. All she's doing is her job, and she asks the kind of questions you'd want a reporter to ask highly influencial people
@@primeradiancy that's exactly what I thought when I played the legendary edition. When I was younger i just punched her because it was funny but now I see her point
Same here, at least with my *MaleShep.* He's like 85% Paragon, so I usually take the high road with him. My *FemaleShep* however, she's a lot edgier so she's much more likely to hit her with a haymaker 🤣
Piling in m the Kai Leng hate. Every interaction I had with him felt scripted. The games tried so hard to make him seem formidable. Yet when you finally face him in the asari temple my fight was maybe 40 seconds of me beating his ass. After the first encounter he just wins and all I could think was “oh the game wanted him to escape”.
I always love reading the moment in one particular fanfic, where Shepard ends him early by pulling the skycar up, crushing him between it and one of the presidium bridges.
Agreed. That trick worked in Final Fantasy IV, back in 1991 when the RPG genre as we know it was first being invented. Over 20 years later, when we had a firm understanding of what works and what doesn't... not so much.
The difference between Kai Leng and Udina is that i genuinly dislike Udina, Kai Leng feels more like an annoying clown you cant do anything about cause "plot armor". The fight at the asari temple is the single one moment i despise in the entire trilogy. Speaking of Asari, the Asari counciler can eff it too XD she sat on the solution all this time and let shepard run around like a fool, the entire invasion might have had a much easier ending (if happening at all) if what the Asari knew was revealed.
Yeah the game propping him up with plot armor, instead of actually making him a stain on the wall… Just irritated me to no end as well as having him around to kill Thane and possibly others.
I feel the same way about Traynor. She has a ridiculous personality, a blob of cutesy nerdy ideas. She's like a sitcom; her idea of romance is a cyborg's voice makes her hot and she wants it, and it makes her jealous of Joker. Worse, she replaces Kelly Chambers, a deeply interesting tragic character. There was huge potential to develop Kelly further, but they bumped her for a cringy, fantasy dork who feels like the devs wanted something more shallow and diverse, as if people get tired and bored of RPGs and need a rest.
The redemption of Ms. al-Jilani during Mass Effect 3 (if you paragon check her) redeems her in my eyes. I suspect Gavin Archer will get a video all to himself.
I didn't understand what was happening during that interrupt when I was younger... but Shep basically slams a plasma torch into his spine. That's a bit more than a "taze."
Especially the renegade response asking if Admiral Mikhailovich has read history considering he is basically saying what people thought about the first planes, tanks and submarines.
@@aaron75fy I believe I mostly did it because it does award XP. So long as you have enough speech skill it works out in your favour, even from a narrative point of view. Shepard simply outsmarts or out-dawgs him.
I can think of a few characters I dislike more than several on the list: Harkin (he's an absolute jerk if you speak to him in ME1, especially towards FemShep), "Lord" Darius (the pirate Hackett sends you to "negotiate" with in a sidequest), Anoleis (the administrator on Noveria), the leaders of the Blue Suns and Eclipse in ME3 in Aria's sidequest and maybe Gatatok Uvenk (the krogan that opposes Grunt doing the rite of passage, the one you can headbutt with a Renegade interrupt).
Honestly having Wrex headbutt him makes Uvenk very likeable. He also represents a conservative krogan, which highlights Wrex's uphill struggle to turn them around. Also the idea of a krogan punching bag is fun. Gets headbutted by Wrex and possibly Shepard, then loses to Grunt. Lovely.
Yeah, I'm not saying Uvenk a bad character or anything, I also find him likeable in a "love to hate him" kind of way. I love the moments when he gets his comeuppance.
Yeah he was just spittin' venom because 1) Batarians tend to resent humanity as a rule and 2) he was DYING from a virus he believed was human-made. But if Shep helps him, he comes around.
Also the 2nd in command whos name escapes me in bring down the sky if you convince him to leave. Though does lose some points for being there in the first place.
yes to both. and the batarian you save in the omega plague district has a cool conversation with you after, if you don't go straight back to the normandy, about how he appreciates what you did and respects you (or something along those lines). you sort of change his outlook on humanity as a whole. edit: oh and there are the batarians holding daniel hostage in that same mission. "human nobility. i didn't know such a thing existed." it's such an interesting line; how many humans do the batarians in the district interact with? how many humans are they willing to interact with, with all the tension on both sides and the paranoia of living on omega? it always makes me think...
If only that Batarian that was in Garrus's squad on Omega survived he sounded like he was ok for a Batarian he could have taken Jacob's place on the Normandy😁.
I remember watching an interview with one of the lead designers of the game and he actually went over some of the original ideas they had for squad mates with their initial designs. Some were pretty obvious who they later became like Miranda but he did say that one idea was for a Batarian who was a pacifist and worked as a mechanic. This was scrapped obviously but it would have been really cool seeing another side to the Batarians, ones who didn’t buy into the propaganda and wanted to live their own life.
@tylers1996 honestly not having a Batarian on the team was a big miss. Why give us EDI or James in ME3 instead of a new race with a new perspective? Or just add more team members, but if it's gotta be 7 then idk why they wasted slots on two bland characters
I think jessica chobots character deserves an honorable mention because while shes not necessarily hated, I know most of the community avoids adding her to the crew or adds her just to kick her off for fun
@@shifterzxand killed her off in a tweet. Next thing we know they will kill off all me1 squadmates in a hidden text log. Assuming they won't be in me4
@@heftyhadrosaur8740and a lot of people weren't fans of the person she was based on, or having what wa basically a 4th wall breaking cameo in their space opera.
I've always wondered if they planned for Jacob to fill Kai Leng's role but scrapped the idea when nobody had any sort of emotional reaction to his character. He's worse than being a bad character... he's a boring character.
If and I mean IF they were going to have a former party member take Kai Leng's place in the story Miranda would've made the most sense though I've heard the theory Bioware toyed with whomever you left to die on Virmire taking that role.
@@zaphael7238 do what my sister and I do: don't do his quest and take him on your squad during the seeker swarm portion of the suicide mission with choosing anyone but Jack or Samara/Morinth as the specialist. He gets taken away by seeker swarms.
@@clarencewalters338 there are others that replace him with the virmire sacrifice, a Dragoon (keidan) or a phantom(ash even tho she is a markswoman, she should have been a Nemesis instead but works tho) and is my head cannon but ONLY, if their sacrifice was fighting the geth not warding the bomb, otherwise Cerberus wouldnt have been able to recover them from nuclear ashes
@@MM-id2fpIt would be so cool. The reporter hassling you in the first two games now an ally that helps you put krogan and geth in a good light. Instead of...Barbie. Allers annoys me more than Al-Jilani does
I didn't know that! I have no problem making Loghain a Grey Warden and sacrificing him in the Fade later. Good characted arc for him there. But Gerrel just really deserves every punch in the gut that my Paragon FemShep gives him.
@@1957DLT Hot take, but I kind of hated ME3's treatment of Gerrel. In general, I think the Rannoch arc have some great moments... but also a lot of problems, writing-wise.
I feel like Admiral Gerrel gets done really dirty in the third game. In Mass Effect 2, while not a standout character, is still likeable with a cool uncle vibe towards Tali and a genuine care for his people. But suddenly he becomes the almost tyrannical gun toting idiot that can or will become responsible for the extinction of his people just for a chance to destroy the Geth.
I liked that ME2 managed some nuance with Gerrel and Koris. One is likeable and approachable, but it's clear his beliefs probably aren't the best for the Quarians, while the other comes across as slimy and underhanded, but you can tell he's probably right in the grand scheme of things. And then ME3 decided that nuance was for losers.
With respect, there was no 'suddenly' about it. It was seriously hinted at in ME2, given that Gerrel was most definitely one of the people willing to sacrifice his supposed friend's daughter on the alter of his own ambitions.
Honestly, I disliked Xen more than Gerrel because of 1. The fact that she will gloat if you don't reveal Raan's crimes. 2. A bit of cut content where she tries to reenslave the geth AFTER peace was made.
@@Talyrion This is exactly the main problem with ME3 -- nuance is gone. They turned interesting characters into one-note caricatures. Really upset at how they portrayed many characters in the 3rd game.
I don't hate Leng. I hate the hack writer who in an attempt to glorify their GMPC Gary Stu pet villain gave him unlimited plot armor and gave Shepard and co. a chronic case of cutscene incompetence whenever he's on screen. Because of this, when I finally did kill him, it didn't feel like an accomplishment. It felt like the writer was allowing me to kill him by taking away his plot armor. Kai Leng was not put in this game to serve the needs of the story, he was put in this game to gratify the writer. If it weren't for Hologram Kid, Leng would be the worst part of ME3.
Jacob gives you bad advise during the entire ME2... give Veetor to Cerberus, sell Legion to Cerberus, distrusting Thane, gives you wrong advise during the sucide mission (hell, Miranda too), im petty sure im missing something. Not sure if he has a special dialog if he is on the team and you choose to destroy the base, like Miranda has. The only usefull thing Jacob does in the entire ME2 is the armor upgrade tech for the Normandy, i would have paid to have it changed for the probe or fuel one for the LE version.
Yeah, there's not a single point in the entire game where Jacob actually recommends something useful. And if he ever has any special dialog on missions where he's not required, it's guaranteed that nobody ever saw it.
Just to be correct. He not suggested to sell Legion that was Miranda. He just wanted to space Legion out the airlock. So its even worse. Also he fully knows that Quarian have a Bad history with AIs and tells Tali as a welcome she should say hello to EDI.
@@pascalheinrich3990 Its funny how the two Cerberus squadmates are the ones that constanly give you bad advise, except maybe for going to Mordin first. At the very least Miranda redeems herself by saying that picking Jacob is the bad choice and strongely stands up against the IM when he wants Shepard to keep the base, calling it a betrayal.
@@shivanSpS well Mirandas advice out of Kontext are less stupid then Jacobs. Except the Biotic bubble. And that you consider that she is a Cerberus Agent formost till the end of the game
The Thane thing I'm pretty sure is remnants of a cut rivalry similar to Miranda and Jack or Tali and Legion that Shepard would've had to solve via Paragon or Renegade dialogue. I've heard Mordin and Grunt having one was also cut.
I honestly liked the reporter. Yes, she tries to twist events into something that would sell, but if you go paragon that does not work, and her story develops over the three Mass Effects quiet well. Her reactions in ME3 are great regardless of whether you punched her or talked her down.
Other Main issue with Kai Lang is that you are expected to read the novels to fully understand the character, if you go in without reading the books you have no idea who he is and why he should be seen as a threat. If he was introduced in ME1 or 2 maybe it wouldn't be as bad but him just being dropped in the last game doesn't work.
@@floend4810 Tell that to the Star Wars Prequels getting their redemption with side material like the Clone Wars 2003 microseries, the Republic Commando video game, the Republic comics, and the Darth Plagueis novel. If it can work for them, why not Mass Effect?
I mean, it would be cool in he was introduced in or replaced by a character from previous games, but he'd work even just as a new character for ME3 if he actually made sense. On the one hand, he's ex-N7 and pretty clearly being framed as a supersoldier on par with Shepard, but on the other, he's a space ninja who brings a sword to a gunfight and dresses like discount Nightwing. Either of those concepts could work for a villian, but not together. If he's meant to be an evil Shepard, then drop the sword and ninja aesthetic, and make him a tactical fighter whose boss fights play out like, well, the evil Shepard clone from the Citadel. They should be super hard, the kind that the player is meant to lose the first time around, but not completely unwinnable. If you do win, there should be a special cutscene of him still accomplishing his objective, but making a much narrower escape. This would make him feel like a proper threat that can actually go toe to toe with Shepard to the players that legitimately lose to him, while still giving a sense of satisfaction to the few who do manage to beat him. If you wanna go the space ninja route, on the other hand, that's fine (If a bit edgy), but he should never fight Shepard directly until he's forced to at Cerberus HQ. For instance, on the Citadel, as you try to get to the Salarian Councilor, he should always be one step ahead of you, leaving dead C-Sec officers and STG commandos in his wake for you to find, and you arrive just in time to see him kill Thane, Kirrahe, or Valern. On Thessia, he should just show up, deliver the Illusive Man's message, and once the conversation is over, have it be revealed that the Kai Leng standing there was just a decoy like EDI's, and he's actually been cloaked, stealing the Prothean data the whole time. By the time he reveals himself, he's already halfway to the exit, and orders the gunship to bring down the temple on top of you, no boss fight involved. He doesn't need to be a super deep character or have a personal connection to Shepard to be an effective villain, he just needs to be properly intimidating, feel like a proper part of the universe rather than an edgy self-insert, and most importantly, when he beats Shepard, make the player feel like they lost to him rather than to the cutscene.
I liked Balak’s role in Mass Effect 3. The hatred between him and Shepard after the asteroid incident was really strong, but having them put that aside for the war is a really interesting turn, and goes to show how many old hatreds were put aside to defeat the Reapers.
I keep Balak alive not to save the hostages, but because I want him to live long enough to see his damn civilisation/planet go up in a cloud of ash. Absolutely not putting aside that hatred, its pure using him for my benefits.
To add to the Batarians, I think I remember hearing Garrus talk about his former crewmates from his time as Archangel. He informed us about his batarian engineer/hacker and that he was pretty capable or something like that. He was not praising him but i think its actually the nicest thing anybody said about any batarian hahaha
I always play paragon (I always end up feeling awful playing as a renegade lol), but even I hit that renegade interrupt on Cronos Station to kill Kai Leng.
My thoughts, as I'm playing through ME3 right now: -Udina would have been better if they didn't heel-turn him into being a traitor. I feel like a paragon Shepard was starting to build a respectful relationship with him by early ME3. -Gavin Archer isn't on the list, but they really made Shepard hate him in ME3 without much input from the player. What he did was awful but in the Paragon Overlord aftermath David is safe and Gavin was busting his ass to redeem himself. He even kills himself if you don't take care of David or lie and say you don't when you did.
the fact that Dr. Archer starts redeeming himself on his own initiative is why I don't agree with some of the other commenters saying he should on the list
@@NinjaFlibble I don't remember the exact dialogue, but during the DLC Gavin has a few lines that really showcase what he thought of David: lesser, barely human, a pawn for his own ambitions. They were pretty damning.
Very very surprised the Wrev didn't make the cut, he's everything wrong with the Krogan, aggressive, spiteful and doesn't even give Shepard the respect they deserve.
You know, I had a weird experience with Wreav. My first entry in Mass Effect was actually the second game, and since that was well before the release of the DLC allowing you to set up your choices, it means my first playthrough was in that "Shepard did everything wrong" universe - including Wrex being dead. As such, I got to meet Wreav here. I was also playing in French at the time, and I felt his voice here was great. Almost soft-spoken, but you can feel the undercurrent of menace. He came across as legitimately scary at times. And then I played in English, and realized that oh, he was just a dumb brute. That was quite the mood whiplash.
@@Talyrion To be fair, a lot of the more 'traditional' krogan are brutish by nature. Males headbutt each other to assert, for crying out loud! Wrex headbutts his brother, and the guy immediately responds with a snarl and draws a frigging shotgun
We should have had a Batarian squadmate. Zaeed would have been pretty easy to do, as very little dialog would need to change. It's a missed opportunity, IMO.
Oml, a batarian zheed would of made that dlc verry more intresting i love to see how many players would of seen this batarian killing humans and human slaves and how many would just end up ditching them under the burning wreck.
I really wanted to like Uldina . He was the one pushing for a human specter and for humans to be accepted in the counsel. I did not even mind the betrayal but it needed more story writing
Really hope he gets a side material novel, if not comics, that show HIS side of the Mass Effect trilogy story, not unlike how Darth Plagueis got his and Palpatine's from the Star Wars Legends novel based on the former.
Same, wish they had kept him throughout ME3 as he was at the beginning, woulda made him more likable, a ruthless ahole but a ruthless ahole looking out for earth the best he could
Tbh I think the betrayal does make a lot of sense even with the amount of writing it got. Udina has always been humanity first, trying to get them to the highest possible point (human spectre, on the council, etc etc). What Cerberus’ plan offered would basically shunt humanity into being the head honchos of the galaxy, which aligns with Udina’s motivations perfectly.
On Omega, in this area being ravaged by the plague, there's a Batarian you can save. And if you do, he kind of asks you why you would do such a thing. And you can say something like 'maybe now you'll understand that not all humans are that bad.' So that one also seemed sort of nice and redeemable to me.
Kai Leng didn’t even KILL THANE! And he was TERMINALLY ILL! He dies later at the hospital from blood loss! It really makes him look pathetic, even before you get to absolutely destroy him in his boss fight.
Admiral Mikhailovich is one of the goats of the trilogy, I always wanted more of him in the sequels but all we got is his picture for war assets in ME3, and that only when you let the council die in ME1. Bioware also did a very bad 180 with Gerrel, he was the best quarian admiral in ME2 when you go to them during Tali's loyalty mission. But then in ME3 they just make him act like an unlikable dumb zealot. And his last scene if you side with the geths is great imo, you see all the quarians trying to flee but he stands on his chair facing the inevitable, that was a glimpse of what he was in ME2.
@@ZrodyApo Koris did not want war. Tali helped her father in work that would lead to war. So Koris wanted Tali exiled and her father's work forgotten. Admirals in ME2 and ME3 are the same. Shepard is different.
I actually love Brooks. That "half-baked" plot felt like a fun Saturday morning cartoon and she fit right in as a villain. Gerrel is a weird case because I like him in ME2 and I don't in ME3, which is the exact opposite of how I feel about Koris. Xen on the other hand... I just don't like her at all.
Definitely Dr. Archer. Allers is on my list too. Shepard does get a message from Bray in ME3 telling him that there is at least one Batarian that doesn’t hate him.
The best part about the reporter is that in ME2 at the brokers station where you can view videos you can see many, many other people kicking her ass too 😂
Ethan Jeong being a piece of work is real, the first time I played ME I didn't want to kill the guy as a paragon, but I did, but in my "kill everyone" playthrough as a NG+ I saved his life by getting the intimidation check, he lived when so many died in ME2
I swear to god my first full trilogy playthrough was pure paragon. I didn't even make one single renegade interrupt because I didn't know whether it would have a paragon option directly after. But with Kai Leng I instantly activated the renegade interrupt because fuck him to outer space and back.
Holy shit why isn't he on this list? It singlehandedly ruined one of the most beloved trilogies in 10 fucking minutes by making everything before it meaningless in favor of garbage deviantart fanfic.
I love how in ME2, Gerrel is presented as the 'cool' guy and Koris is presented as the pain in the ass, but they were the exact opposite. Koris was the real hero. Daro Xen can kick rocks with Gerrel.
Veetor would’ve done better after you gave him to Cerberus! He had all of time’s military incompetence wrapped into one particularly tunnel visioned quarian.
Epic troll job showing Diana Allers while asking if you missed anyone, my dude. I’d argue she’s significantly more hated en masse by the fandom than Jacob or the Batarians. Most are just apathetic to those. Allers is almost universally LOATHED.
You know, I think it's interesting that Tali decides to jump off the cliff instead of trying to kill Shepard, I mean, he did at that time basically destroy her entire species. Or perhaps she doesn't think she could kill Shepard even if she tried so she doesn't even go for it. Or perhaps her brain still considers Shepard a friend some how so she refuses to hurt him, and just decides to jump because she doesn't want to work for the monster he is now.
He didn’t destroy anything. He warned the fleet to stand down, and everyone had a chance to survive. It is the quarian fleet leaders were who decided to charge into the enemy, dooming their while race.
@@noahjahnsen7841 That would eradicate Geth, which would be explicitly HIS fault. The difference between perfect ending (both races survive), and Quarians dying, depends entirely on the Quarians decision to stand down or not.
@@juzoli but whether or not they persisted in attacking wouldn't matter if Legion is killed before upload is complete. Killing legion saves the quarians guaranteed. So indeed, both Sheppard and Tali are at fault if the quarians die, being that they were the only ones in the area that could have stopped legion soon enough. Which I guess explains why she jumps pretty well. Though this is not to take blame off of the stubborn quarians who just want to kill the Geth, they are also at fault for being so relentless.
@@noahjahnsen7841 What you say is a genocide of a whole race. Sure Quarians survive, but the cost is astronomical. That’s pretty much the worse resolution of the conflict.
I think Bioware should have given Udina a redeeming moment, like sacrificing himself or helping Shepard during the Cerberus/citadel coup, and making him not to be the one who aids Cerberus. Especially if you appoint him to be the human councilor in the first game, the betrayal has no sense anyways imo.
I've always found it fascinating that Admiral Koris is an asshole to you and Tali in ME2, while Gerrel seems quite reasonable and nice. But we are shown Koris wants peace with the Geth and Gerrel wants war. Then ME3 comes along, and Gerrel's anti Geth stance becomes a liability, even fanatical, while Koris' anti war stance shows him to be more reasonable and far more empathetic than Gerrel. I really like how the script is flipped in this regard.
One of the things to note about Koris you have to do a paragon check to save his life after his ship goes down. He BEGS Shepherd to save his people over himself.
I actually came to like Khalisa, especially after she let herself be seen in ME3, and not just be another sensationalist segment for personal gain in the face of total annihilation. She genuinely cares about Earth, its people, and is holding out hope that Shepard can do something about it. I always reassure her when I can, and never punch her.
The only "redemption" for Kai Leng is that if you did things correctly he has a full edgelord breakdown in the final fight, with Shepard mocking him for constantly running away. The VA does a great job where Kai sounds like he's angry and in tears as he screams at you to shut up.
I still argue that there should have been more of Leng, if he dogged you in every priority mission starting with Palevan, he could have been developed into a convincing villain
I also take the renegade interrupt in the Archangel mission to electrocute the gunship tech. oh, and the one to kill Rana Thanoptis on Virmire, so she doesn't go all Indotrinatey in ME 3 and kill all those innocent people.
I was expecting Diana Allers to make the list. She replaced Emily Wong, a minor, but interesting character in the prior two games, who had some appearances in the outer media too, showing she had a presence, and was setup to be one of the better reporter types, a counter to the one mentioned in the list. However, in order to make the game more appealing to critics EA decided, in their infinite stupid, that this game, like a few others had done, would need to have a character voiced by a game reviewer, to make the reviewers less likely to trash it, lest they inadvertently anger their friend who was part of the project. BTW, that is NOT speculation, EA's memos leaked a while back, and they admitted in their that each game needed it, as they had good luck with it. Whether that had an effect on Mass Effect 3's...interesting reception Critic Vs. Player is anyone's guess, but hey, it probably didn't hurt the first side of that one. Anyway, we got Diana, and Emily was killed via a twitter thread. It wasn't a terrible one, BTW. If you never read it(I think it's gone now, and I couldn't find the archive), basically it gives a first person viewpoint on the Reapers taking a world, and then, at the end, Emily, knowing she's going to die, climbs into the news vehicle and gives one last report. 'Okay you monsters, you wanna know about humans!? Well here's how we die! At RAMMING SPEED!!!' It's pretty badass..it does not make up for how dirty she was done.
The Batarian hated the most: The bartender who tries to kill Shep. Honorable mention should be whatever her name is who is a reporter who travels with you in ME3. They NEVER should have created the character and used Emily Wong instead. Or hell, even the hated reporter.
There is a mod to replace the reporter in ME with Emily Wong. Sadly they weren't able to change the voice, just the appearance. but still. I'm going to use it in my next playthru.
@@davidsharpe1611 I know that mod exists, but it doesn't change the fact that either of the original reporters tagging along (the one we love, or the one we love to hate) would have made for a MUCH more interesting story. I'm still waiting for an update of the mod (by someone else, original creator said bo), that puts the squadmate you sacrificed on Virmire into Kai Lang's role. A MUCH better concept than this rando if you ask me.
I like to mention that I like the Batarian that you paragon interrupt to heal on omega I like. Little moments to be a good shep to all aliens and win people over. Kinda like standing up for the quarian on the citadel that being accused of stealing a credit chit. Even better if Tali is there.
Allers didn't irritate me as much as the way she was implemented irritated me. It was such a regressive, misogynistic take, and Jessica Chobot didn't deserve to be characterized that way. It was absurdly tone deaf to relegate her to a 'hot reporter chick' role.
@@Siansonea You know, that's 100% accurate. I get mad at bad writing before I do characters. But then again, I guess I missed the shot on this one, and you picked it up for me. Well done.
Great video! Excellent pick to NOT include Dr. Archer. Although an "evil" character he was very well written and certainly not disliked in a "oh they aren't well written" way.
I guess i played more paragon sheps ‘cause I’d put Archer, Starchild, ME3 illusive man, the salarian dalatrass, Wreav and Kai Lang a second time over the reporter and Gerrel (him because he seemed a lot better of a character in ME2).
If you ask me it’s not so much Jacob’s fault for cheating considering it happens whether you romance him or not its more BioWare being lazy rather than Jacob being an awful character
It's kinda funny that Han'Gerrel was a lot nicer to Shepard than Zaal'Koris in ME2, only for it to be the other way around in ME3 I always make Anderson councilor, except a couple of times I just wanted to see what happens otherwise, a bit sad Anderson stepped down with Udina named as his successor I wasn't the biggest fan of Diana Allers, especially since they killed off Commander Bastila Shepard's established favorite reporter Emily Wong offscreen. Got a mod called Emily Returns, replaces Allers with Wong, although the voice is still Jessica Chobot (just pretend it's like Batman Arkham Knight where Mass Effect's Kimberly Brooks was replaced as Oracle with somebody named Ashley Greene 😥). I'd even take Khalisah Bint al-Jilani on the Normandy, imagine the romance there 👊 lol 😝
It's unfortunate Bioware made that decision not matter. Would've been interesting if the decision actually changed parts of the story like Anderson staying on the Citadel if a councilor and thus no one is able to lead the resistance on Earth as a consequence.
The reporter gets redeemed in ME3 if you always choose the paragon option. She joins the war effort and becomes an asset by reporting on the war and boosting morale. So at least there's that.
@gamingloser5909 I didn't used to hate him. Then I found out that he calls Garrus a racist slur if you break things off with him in favor of Garrus. I changed my mind after that.
I might be one of the few or perhaps the only one... But i kinda don't mind the council lol. They wanted to make you a Spectre. They basically gave you freedom to do whatever you thought was necessary. They won't help much when they're together but each of them will try to support you when they're not around the others. It was Udina that always tried to slow you down but the Alien council did support you. They just wanted proof of the reapers and there was no way to prove there was so many of them. There were times they wanted to support you but couldn't because they were afraid of starting a war in the Terminus systems. It was the Council that told the humans not to build in the Terminus Systems and when they did anyway it led to the war with the Collectors. In ME3 it was Earth Alliance that grounded Shepard and in ME:2 it was Udina that pushed Shepard away. But deep down i believe the Alien Council did always support Shepard to some degree
I would put the Illusive Man on my hated character's list. He's not a character. In Mass Effect 2 he is the plot exposition guy who takes away bkth Shepard and the player's agency. The point of becoming a specter narrativly was so Shepard could do as they pleased when they pleased. Mass Effect 2 through the Illusive Man took all of the way. He decides everything. You join him because the game says so you do exactly what he says when he says so. The only exception is with getting the Reaper IFF. The only reason we get repree there us because it triggers another timer before the crew gets captured and is where you find Legion for some reason. There is no good reason why we can't choose which main mission we want to do at anytime like what Mass Effect 1 let us do but the Illusive Man said no. Mass Effect 3 Cerberus is filler. Realky think about it. The only reason they are there is to pad the run time especially the late game. We could have just took our fleets to Earth but Cerberus had to pad the game for several more tedious hours. All because the Illusive Man inexplicably wants to control the Reapers without a reason to think it is even possible yet because of that he will attack the entire galaxy. Saren was a far better antagonist. He had actually good reason yo do what he did and sometimes he mwkes you think maybe he's right. The Illusive Man never has any logic behind his goals it is only there to distract from the Reapers. Hence why Cerberus is must filler. We could have gotten the battle for Palavan and a Baterian chapter. But no Cerberus has to be the center of everything. Kai Lang is just one character who fails to make an impression. It's why I think the Illusive Man and Cerberus as a whole is the real problem. Kai Lang is just piled on top of it.
I'm playing the trilogy for the first time (mostly) blind so I don't know what's DLC or not, and I'm noticing that about Cerberus too - their narrative arc in ME3 is just "Reapers Lite", especially after learning that their soldiers are under the influence of some variation of Indoctrination. At least in ME2, the Illusive Man's motivations made sense - he was obviously a power hungry dictator, but in the face of the imminent Reaper threat, he was willing to mobilize his wealth and assets to help humanity prepare by flexing his influence in areas of the Galaxy that the Alliance couldn't go. But in ME3, he and Cerberus just come off as cartoonishly villainous by fighting against the Alliance at every turn. There have been so many times I've asked, "What does this actually accomplish for the IM and Cerberus?" The mission I'm on right now is to stop Cerberus from using the bomb on Tchunka and I can't stop thinking, "Why blow up one of humanity's best bets at slowing the Reapers? Why not just _take_ the bomb and figure out how to use it to capture a Reaper instead?"
So, anyone notice that Jacob Taylor has the same names of Jacob Black from Twilight and his actor Taylor Lautner? AND they both take their shirts off? Now before you shit on me, I ain't a Twilight fan! 😶
My top 10: 1. Dr Archer 2. Kai Leng (as mentioned) 3. Jacob's father 4. Anoleus on Noveria 5. Corpo beancounter bullet sponge on Feros (as mentioned) 6. The Hanar Ambassador in ME3 7. Brooks (as mentioned) 8. Udina 9. The council 10. Admiral Gerel
I always felt a little uncomfortable with the punching of the journalist. It seemed a bit too much like stab at journalism in general, something I guess they too realised since they made her a less superficial character in ME3 and introduced Diana Allers as well. I'd also add that I didn't mind Jacob and don't really understand the hate that he gets. Sure, he was never my favourite character and I generally only used him when I had to, but he seemed like a good buddy who'd back you up in a barfight.
I would've loved to have a Batarian on my team. Even Garrus mentioned having one on his team in ME2. Also, assuming he was kept alive after ME1, I really would've wanted Kirrahe as a squad mate on ME3. He could've talked with Garrus about either holding the line or calibrations or holding the line with calibrations.
Journalist Al Jilani doesn't have to be a gotcha journalist in any of the ME series. If you are paragon enough for every interaction every interview either ends with her responding positively or acknowledging that Shepard out played her. Anyone who resorts to punching a journalist has just admitted they badly screwed up the interview.
Jacob Taylor, what a POS. He's arrogant, the hardest to enter into a conversation with, but quite disciplined. When he informs Shep, at the hospital (ME3), that he is going to attempt to convince his Bryne to not name the baby after Shep was the last time I spoke to him ever. It occurred to me that as the lead black guy, he was a stereotypical lout. Due to the Paragon aspect that I hold to, I keep him alive but then I know anyone on the Citadel is going to bite it and that is gratifying.
I'm shocked nobody thought of Joker. He ON PURPOSE flew Shepherd into the Collector ship, getting him killed in ME2, was responsible for getting the entire crew taken by the Collectors, and wanted to bang EDI throughout ME3. He almost single-handedly destroyed Kevduit's psychopath, Ten Piece Nugg-Shepherd.
There are lots of satisfying renegade interrupts that no matter how paragon my shepard is, she always takes, but none are as satisfying as killing Kai Leng. Batarians are such jerks as a whole, but Bray is pretty cool comparatively. At least he's the only one that I don't want to put a bullet in his brain. Gerrel is a jerk, but he's a funny jerk. I like him better than some of the other admirals. Funny that you showed Diana Allers when you asked if anybody else should be on the list. 🤣 Udina is meant to be unlikeable and they are very successful at that. That said, I get his betrayal of the council. The council never listens to anything that has to do with Earth and humanity. They just don't care. It's got to be incredibly frustrating to try to work with these jerks, knowing it will do no good for your own species. Take the sheer terror of the Reaper attacks, hearing the terrible reports from a devastated Earth, knowing that your coworkers do not have your back and would rather cover their own butts (which they freely admit, at least to Shepard), not to mention the fact that they are rapidly losing this war, Udina is in a vulnerable place which is perfect for TIM to manipulate him into thinking Cerberus is the only way for humanity to survive this mess. That said, I still can't stand him and cheer when Anderson punches him every time I play. 🤣
You are cursed with his face
mfw
I so wanted to know who the 4th was, after Jacob. I was disappointed.
It’s particularly sad that Jacob’s dad is more interesting, even with his despicableness
My face is tired
yeah but who can forget that iconic jacob line when he says
Super surprised Dr. Archer didn't make this list. The guy basically tortured his autistic younger brother, can't get much worse than that.
Yeah. That's a really good point. He's one of the most abhorrent people in the series.
Yeah he’s easily making the list. Couldn’t help but tear up seeing the state David was in. First time Mass Effect had truly hit me emotionally.
He was dlc so not everyone even heard of him
Jacob's dad Ronald Taylor should've been on the list too.
@@primeradiancytrue,although he wasn't really major to much in the greater picture... that should've been a huge narrative twist for Jacob's character development too
I firmly believe that Udina should have been redeemed in Mass Effect 3. Instead of betraying the Council, he should have sacrificed himself to stop the Coup attempt. I was so happy that he showed some emotion and sorrow at the start of ME3, and I was so mad that they wrote him to betray the Council.
The coup made zero sense story wise imo.
This so much! He is so one note as it is. We hear that he's an excellent politician who would do anything for humanity, but it makes no sense that in the aftermath of Earth he'd side with Cerberus. Even if he had Cerberus ties up until that point, seeing the destruction they caused, and knowing what they'd been turning their soilders into he most likely would have noped out before the coup
I agree, until his betrayal he was a clever politician and a complex character who were taking the ungrateful role for the common good. I was so disappointed of what BioWare did to Udina.
Yeah, that would have been really nice. But this is Mass Effect, where every politician is an irredeemable person who's only there to get in Shepherd's way.
He had so much potential but it was wasted
Thanks all of you who mentioned Dr. Gavin Archer. He was a sorry excuse for a human being. I don’t particularly enjoy Overlord, but I do it every time TO SAVE DAVID
Same. That moment you meet up with David at the academy in ME3, makes it worthwhile for me.
I do it just for the Paragon interrupt(!) of giving that latter-day Mengele a Shepard pawnch.
When your actions are so abhorrent and vile that even PARAGON Shep pistol whips you.
Man basically exists to show how hyppocritical and evil renegade Shepard is.
Square root of 912.04
Shoutout to Bray for being one of the only Batarians to not hate us 🫶. A part of the email that he sends you after the omega dlc has him state the following: “Be careful out there. Know there’s at least one Batarian here that doesn’t want you dead.”
I wish Bray had more screentime. Omega DLC was awesome.
In a non-interacting role, I loved the conversations between the human and the batarian in the refugee docking bay in Mass Effect 3.
Can also agree that he would have made a fine squadmate compared to, hehe, Jacob and Morinth.
The Batarians as a whole were a waste. We genuinely needed more interactions with batarians who weren't total assholes. As they are most people can't give a toss about them.
@@tomleary508 that is because the ones who weren't total arseholes were mostly on the home world and were under near total surveillance by the hegemony. You do meet some in the refugee dock in ME3.
It's more fun to not punch Khalisah. Instead, crush her verbally multiple times and then turn her to your side, beat her at her own game. Kai Leng, though? No matter how Paragon you play, you always hit that Renegade prompt. And Bray is cool in my book. He does his job competently, works hard, and is relatively polite considering the circumstances.
I totally agree for the renegade interrupt with Kai Leng. As soon as I found out what happens, and the voiceline for it. May every other action be totally paragon, Kai Leng gets the Interupt. For Thane. Sooo satisfying.
If u don’t hit the renegade u will die I already tried that out didn’t end well I forgot to save lmao
Renegade interrupt or be killed, no real choice here.
@@sarenarterius6217You don't get killed, you just don't get the satisfaction of finishing the bastard yourself.
That's kinda what I did in my playthrough. I went along with the interview and outsmarted her during her questioning.
I did punch her in 3, though.
The only kinda sympathetic batarian I can think of is the one in the background in the docks of the citadel talking to a human refugee. He starts like an ass, like pretty much every other batarian, while the human is telling his experience fleeing Earth, but eventually he opens up by telling him how he was fixing a satellite over Khar'shan when the Reapers hit, and they ended up becoming buddies
You gotta remember Batarians never stopped having slavery. It was completely normal to them so they were basically irredeemable.
I'll give you that one and add 3 more. Aria's second in command, the blue sun's gunship repair guy (even though he ends up"napping on the job", poor guy was just working way too hard and dropped),and maybe the dying Baterian in the plague zone. That one also starts off a complete ass, but if you help him out he changes his tune (at least for the Commander).
@@nathantower5565 you gotta remember 17th century Europe had slavery. That basically made all of its people completely irredeemable
@@Practicallypreposterous Not to mention, even EDI herself says that the Batarians are a bit more, i forget the word, tolerable or whatever when they don't have the Hegemony watching them. So it's probably state enforced stuff all around more than, well, proper culture and whatnot.
The Batarians are my favorite ME race, I hope there are still some in the next Mass Effect.
What ticked me off about Jacob was not that he's a bland character, or that he hooks up with someone else by the time of ME3 .. but the go he had at Thane for being an assassin = "just a precise mercenary with no loyalty" (or smth along those lines).
Meanwhile .. Jacob, a soldier, broke his loyalty to the alliance because they didn't do things his way, only to become a mercenary for Cerberus / TIM, whom according to his own words, he doesn't trust - so there's no new loyalty here either.
I was like, dude, you're such a hypocrite. I hate hypocrites. And from that moment I just couldn't stand being around Jacob.
On one hand, Jacob does have a point. A merc is someone who takes money to fight someone else's fight. An assassin is someone who takes money for stealthily someone elses enemy, so there is at least some overlap. On the other hand, as a member of Cerberus and a fighter, Jacob is little more than a merc himself.
It's very obvious to me that Jacob and Thane were to have a conflict like Miranda and Jack and Tali and Legion. But then Bioware scrapped that as they knew it wouldn't make sense. Yet that dialogue still made its way in.
@@Johnny-Thunder yea, now that you mention it, that seems like a plausible explanation for that weird Jacob interaction
Well said!
But realistically, who'd ever side against Thane?
I find it way more satisfying to humiliate and then win over al-Jilani than to punch her. Her war asset score is small, but the roleplaying element of breaking through her defenses and discovering that the person underneath is just scared and unsure fits my otherwise Paragade Shepard's personality.
That was such a beautiful moment, comforting her was a really nice touch you just never know what people are really going through
Hot take but Khalisa isn't even that bad. All she's doing is her job, and she asks the kind of questions you'd want a reporter to ask highly influencial people
@@primeradiancy that's exactly what I thought when I played the legendary edition. When I was younger i just punched her because it was funny but now I see her point
She’s also an actually legitimately interesting character, unlike another reporter in Mass Effect 3
Same here, at least with my *MaleShep.* He's like 85% Paragon, so I usually take the high road with him. My *FemaleShep* however, she's a lot edgier so she's much more likely to hit her with a haymaker 🤣
Garrus mentions a badass Batarian on his squad, a hacking specialist.
And add that he was not very likable
@@hapdf Most Batarians aren't very likable. They're a race of stereotypical thugs.
Piling in m the Kai Leng hate. Every interaction I had with him felt scripted. The games tried so hard to make him seem formidable. Yet when you finally face him in the asari temple my fight was maybe 40 seconds of me beating his ass. After the first encounter he just wins and all I could think was “oh the game wanted him to escape”.
I always love reading the moment in one particular fanfic, where Shepard ends him early by pulling the skycar up, crushing him between it and one of the presidium bridges.
Agreed. That trick worked in Final Fantasy IV, back in 1991 when the RPG genre as we know it was first being invented. Over 20 years later, when we had a firm understanding of what works and what doesn't... not so much.
The difference between Kai Leng and Udina is that i genuinly dislike Udina, Kai Leng feels more like an annoying clown you cant do anything about cause "plot armor".
The fight at the asari temple is the single one moment i despise in the entire trilogy. Speaking of Asari, the Asari counciler can eff it too XD she sat on the solution all this time and let shepard run around like a fool, the entire invasion might have had a much easier ending (if happening at all) if what the Asari knew was revealed.
Yeah the game propping him up with plot armor, instead of actually making him a stain on the wall… Just irritated me to no end as well as having him around to kill Thane and possibly others.
I feel the same way about Traynor. She has a ridiculous personality, a blob of cutesy nerdy ideas. She's like a sitcom; her idea of romance is a cyborg's voice makes her hot and she wants it, and it makes her jealous of Joker. Worse, she replaces Kelly Chambers, a deeply interesting tragic character. There was huge potential to develop Kelly further, but they bumped her for a cringy, fantasy dork who feels like the devs wanted something more shallow and diverse, as if people get tired and bored of RPGs and need a rest.
The redemption of Ms. al-Jilani during Mass Effect 3 (if you paragon check her) redeems her in my eyes. I suspect Gavin Archer will get a video all to himself.
wait, there's a paragon check in 3? TIL lmao
Yeah you gotta give her credit she does actually try to help if you never punched her, and sent out broadcasts to help C sec during the citadel coup
I think that the batarian that was fixing the gunship in ME2 had some potential, but then he accidently got "tased" over working too hard.
SO many Space OSHA violation...
He didn't get tased, he "collapsed from exhaustion" with a little help
I think the one who transports you to the base had more potential
😂😂😂😂😂
I didn't understand what was happening during that interrupt when I was younger... but Shep basically slams a plasma torch into his spine. That's a bit more than a "taze."
I like to let Admiral Mikhailovich inspect the Normandy since the renegade answers to this are not only hilarious but completely destroy his arguments
AM: “Commander, I’m not happy”
CS: “That sounds like a common situation”
😂
@@cobbler9113 Oh yeah. When Renegade Shepard was a savage smartass rather than just an a-hole. 🤣
Especially the renegade response asking if Admiral Mikhailovich has read history considering he is basically saying what people thought about the first planes, tanks and submarines.
I did it once, personally thought it wasn't worth him thinking he could push me around
@@aaron75fy I believe I mostly did it because it does award XP. So long as you have enough speech skill it works out in your favour, even from a narrative point of view. Shepard simply outsmarts or out-dawgs him.
I can think of a few characters I dislike more than several on the list: Harkin (he's an absolute jerk if you speak to him in ME1, especially towards FemShep), "Lord" Darius (the pirate Hackett sends you to "negotiate" with in a sidequest), Anoleis (the administrator on Noveria), the leaders of the Blue Suns and Eclipse in ME3 in Aria's sidequest and maybe Gatatok Uvenk (the krogan that opposes Grunt doing the rite of passage, the one you can headbutt with a Renegade interrupt).
Honestly having Wrex headbutt him makes Uvenk very likeable. He also represents a conservative krogan, which highlights Wrex's uphill struggle to turn them around. Also the idea of a krogan punching bag is fun. Gets headbutted by Wrex and possibly Shepard, then loses to Grunt. Lovely.
Yeah, I'm not saying Uvenk a bad character or anything, I also find him likeable in a "love to hate him" kind of way. I love the moments when he gets his comeuppance.
Going after Harkin in ME2 was personal for my femShep
I definitely agree about Harkin there is nothing redeemable about his character the guy is truly unlikeable.
I was expecting Gavin Archer to make the list, and that one sick batarian in the Mordin recruitment mission was pretty chill
Yeah he was just spittin' venom because 1) Batarians tend to resent humanity as a rule and 2) he was DYING from a virus he believed was human-made.
But if Shep helps him, he comes around.
Also the 2nd in command whos name escapes me in bring down the sky if you convince him to leave. Though does lose some points for being there in the first place.
yes to both. and the batarian you save in the omega plague district has a cool conversation with you after, if you don't go straight back to the normandy, about how he appreciates what you did and respects you (or something along those lines). you sort of change his outlook on humanity as a whole.
edit: oh and there are the batarians holding daniel hostage in that same mission. "human nobility. i didn't know such a thing existed." it's such an interesting line; how many humans do the batarians in the district interact with? how many humans are they willing to interact with, with all the tension on both sides and the paranoia of living on omega? it always makes me think...
If only that Batarian that was in Garrus's squad on Omega survived he sounded like he was ok for a Batarian he could have taken Jacob's place on the Normandy😁.
I remember watching an interview with one of the lead designers of the game and he actually went over some of the original ideas they had for squad mates with their initial designs. Some were pretty obvious who they later became like Miranda but he did say that one idea was for a Batarian who was a pacifist and worked as a mechanic. This was scrapped obviously but it would have been really cool seeing another side to the Batarians, ones who didn’t buy into the propaganda and wanted to live their own life.
@tylers1996 honestly not having a Batarian on the team was a big miss. Why give us EDI or James in ME3 instead of a new race with a new perspective? Or just add more team members, but if it's gotta be 7 then idk why they wasted slots on two bland characters
@@Captain_Insano_nomercyjames is good, idk abt EDI
I love how he is showing Chobot as he asks if there are any he missed.
I think jessica chobots character deserves an honorable mention because while shes not necessarily hated, I know most of the community avoids adding her to the crew or adds her just to kick her off for fun
@@shifterzxand killed her off in a tweet.
Next thing we know they will kill off all me1 squadmates in a hidden text log. Assuming they won't be in me4
Her model is based on a person that absolutely doesn't look like that. The models got the mumps.
@@heftyhadrosaur8740and a lot of people weren't fans of the person she was based on, or having what wa basically a 4th wall breaking cameo in their space opera.
@@shifterzx who the hell is Emily Wong?
@@eden20111 A journalist you do a side quest for on ME 1.
I've always wondered if they planned for Jacob to fill Kai Leng's role but scrapped the idea when nobody had any sort of emotional reaction to his character. He's worse than being a bad character... he's a boring character.
Ahhh, you watched that video.
If and I mean IF they were going to have a former party member take Kai Leng's place in the story Miranda would've made the most sense though I've heard the theory Bioware toyed with whomever you left to die on Virmire taking that role.
Jacob wouldve been a lot better than kai leng for sure
I hate Jacob so very much, even when I did his side quest it didn’t make his character any more interesting just more boring and petulant.
@@zaphael7238
do what my sister and I do: don't do his quest and take him on your squad during the seeker swarm portion of the suicide mission with choosing anyone but Jack or Samara/Morinth as the specialist. He gets taken away by seeker swarms.
I knew immediately that Kai Leng would be number one
You know it's bad when the mods that remove most of his gameplay and audio content make his character significantly better
Same!
@@clarencewalters338 there are others that replace him with the virmire sacrifice, a Dragoon (keidan) or a phantom(ash even tho she is a markswoman, she should have been a Nemesis instead but works tho) and is my head cannon but ONLY, if their sacrifice was fighting the geth not warding the bomb, otherwise Cerberus wouldnt have been able to recover them from nuclear ashes
everyone did; it's no question
His last boss fight on insanity had me raging
I really enjoyed Khalisah al-Jilani, and recruiting her in ME3 is really touching
I agree. I wish she could have been the reporter aboard the Normandy. It would have meant more than... what we got. 😐
@@MM-id2fpIt would be so cool. The reporter hassling you in the first two games now an ally that helps you put krogan and geth in a good light. Instead of...Barbie. Allers annoys me more than Al-Jilani does
@@MM-id2fpIkr Allers was so random, should've been Khalisah or Emily Wong
@@sultanossi8845 agreed, after i talk to her the first time i tend to forget Allers even exists.
I never got to recruit her over my half a dozen ME Legendary runs. Every encounter ends in fisticuffs lol.
It helps that Gerrel is voiced by Simon Templeman, who also voices Loghain.
Who also voices Gavin Archer
Poor guy LOL.
I didn't know that! I have no problem making Loghain a Grey Warden and sacrificing him in the Fade later. Good characted arc for him there. But Gerrel just really deserves every punch in the gut that my Paragon FemShep gives him.
@@1957DLT Hot take, but I kind of hated ME3's treatment of Gerrel. In general, I think the Rannoch arc have some great moments... but also a lot of problems, writing-wise.
@@Talyrion💯
I feel like Admiral Gerrel gets done really dirty in the third game. In Mass Effect 2, while not a standout character, is still likeable with a cool uncle vibe towards Tali and a genuine care for his people. But suddenly he becomes the almost tyrannical gun toting idiot that can or will become responsible for the extinction of his people just for a chance to destroy the Geth.
I liked that ME2 managed some nuance with Gerrel and Koris. One is likeable and approachable, but it's clear his beliefs probably aren't the best for the Quarians, while the other comes across as slimy and underhanded, but you can tell he's probably right in the grand scheme of things.
And then ME3 decided that nuance was for losers.
With respect, there was no 'suddenly' about it. It was seriously hinted at in ME2, given that Gerrel was most definitely one of the people willing to sacrifice his supposed friend's daughter on the alter of his own ambitions.
@@johng6350You must have him mixed up with somebody else.
Honestly, I disliked Xen more than Gerrel because of
1. The fact that she will gloat if you don't reveal Raan's crimes.
2. A bit of cut content where she tries to reenslave the geth AFTER peace was made.
@@Talyrion This is exactly the main problem with ME3 -- nuance is gone. They turned interesting characters into one-note caricatures. Really upset at how they portrayed many characters in the 3rd game.
I don't hate Leng. I hate the hack writer who in an attempt to glorify their GMPC Gary Stu pet villain gave him unlimited plot armor and gave Shepard and co. a chronic case of cutscene incompetence whenever he's on screen. Because of this, when I finally did kill him, it didn't feel like an accomplishment. It felt like the writer was allowing me to kill him by taking away his plot armor. Kai Leng was not put in this game to serve the needs of the story, he was put in this game to gratify the writer. If it weren't for Hologram Kid, Leng would be the worst part of ME3.
Star bitch is also a fanfic villain
@@thesamejackalsniperthatkil117 Star bitch?
That's Mac Walters for you. 🙄
I hate that as a FemShep, every conversation with Jacob had to be a flirt slugfest because “the game demands it”. I hated that!
Jacob gives you bad advise during the entire ME2... give Veetor to Cerberus, sell Legion to Cerberus, distrusting Thane, gives you wrong advise during the sucide mission (hell, Miranda too), im petty sure im missing something. Not sure if he has a special dialog if he is on the team and you choose to destroy the base, like Miranda has.
The only usefull thing Jacob does in the entire ME2 is the armor upgrade tech for the Normandy, i would have paid to have it changed for the probe or fuel one for the LE version.
Yeah, there's not a single point in the entire game where Jacob actually recommends something useful. And if he ever has any special dialog on missions where he's not required, it's guaranteed that nobody ever saw it.
Just to be correct. He not suggested to sell Legion that was Miranda. He just wanted to space Legion out the airlock. So its even worse.
Also he fully knows that Quarian have a Bad history with AIs and tells Tali as a welcome she should say hello to EDI.
@@pascalheinrich3990 Its funny how the two Cerberus squadmates are the ones that constanly give you bad advise, except maybe for going to Mordin first. At the very least Miranda redeems herself by saying that picking Jacob is the bad choice and strongely stands up against the IM when he wants Shepard to keep the base, calling it a betrayal.
@@shivanSpS well Mirandas advice out of Kontext are less stupid then Jacobs. Except the Biotic bubble. And that you consider that she is a Cerberus Agent formost till the end of the game
The Thane thing I'm pretty sure is remnants of a cut rivalry similar to Miranda and Jack or Tali and Legion that Shepard would've had to solve via Paragon or Renegade dialogue. I've heard Mordin and Grunt having one was also cut.
I honestly liked the reporter. Yes, she tries to twist events into something that would sell, but if you go paragon that does not work, and her story develops over the three Mass Effects quiet well. Her reactions in ME3 are great regardless of whether you punched her or talked her down.
Other Main issue with Kai Lang is that you are expected to read the novels to fully understand the character, if you go in without reading the books you have no idea who he is and why he should be seen as a threat. If he was introduced in ME1 or 2 maybe it wouldn't be as bad but him just being dropped in the last game doesn't work.
And even then, the Deception novel is... cringe, to say the least.
The character feels like one of those Self Insert characters a "that guy" comes up with for a D&D campaign.
No book however good it is will redeem the horrible scripting and writing of Kai Leng IN the game!
@@floend4810 Tell that to the Star Wars Prequels getting their redemption with side material like the Clone Wars 2003 microseries, the Republic Commando video game, the Republic comics, and the Darth Plagueis novel. If it can work for them, why not Mass Effect?
I mean, it would be cool in he was introduced in or replaced by a character from previous games, but he'd work even just as a new character for ME3 if he actually made sense. On the one hand, he's ex-N7 and pretty clearly being framed as a supersoldier on par with Shepard, but on the other, he's a space ninja who brings a sword to a gunfight and dresses like discount Nightwing. Either of those concepts could work for a villian, but not together.
If he's meant to be an evil Shepard, then drop the sword and ninja aesthetic, and make him a tactical fighter whose boss fights play out like, well, the evil Shepard clone from the Citadel. They should be super hard, the kind that the player is meant to lose the first time around, but not completely unwinnable. If you do win, there should be a special cutscene of him still accomplishing his objective, but making a much narrower escape. This would make him feel like a proper threat that can actually go toe to toe with Shepard to the players that legitimately lose to him, while still giving a sense of satisfaction to the few who do manage to beat him.
If you wanna go the space ninja route, on the other hand, that's fine (If a bit edgy), but he should never fight Shepard directly until he's forced to at Cerberus HQ. For instance, on the Citadel, as you try to get to the Salarian Councilor, he should always be one step ahead of you, leaving dead C-Sec officers and STG commandos in his wake for you to find, and you arrive just in time to see him kill Thane, Kirrahe, or Valern. On Thessia, he should just show up, deliver the Illusive Man's message, and once the conversation is over, have it be revealed that the Kai Leng standing there was just a decoy like EDI's, and he's actually been cloaked, stealing the Prothean data the whole time. By the time he reveals himself, he's already halfway to the exit, and orders the gunship to bring down the temple on top of you, no boss fight involved.
He doesn't need to be a super deep character or have a personal connection to Shepard to be an effective villain, he just needs to be properly intimidating, feel like a proper part of the universe rather than an edgy self-insert, and most importantly, when he beats Shepard, make the player feel like they lost to him rather than to the cutscene.
I liked Balak’s role in Mass Effect 3. The hatred between him and Shepard after the asteroid incident was really strong, but having them put that aside for the war is a really interesting turn, and goes to show how many old hatreds were put aside to defeat the Reapers.
I keep Balak alive not to save the hostages, but because I want him to live long enough to see his damn civilisation/planet go up in a cloud of ash. Absolutely not putting aside that hatred, its pure using him for my benefits.
To add to the Batarians, I think I remember hearing Garrus talk about his former crewmates from his time as Archangel. He informed us about his batarian engineer/hacker and that he was pretty capable or something like that. He was not praising him but i think its actually the nicest thing anybody said about any batarian hahaha
Bray from the Omega DLC was a good Batarian character. I do hope we get a Batarian squad member in the next ME
I always play paragon (I always end up feeling awful playing as a renegade lol), but even I hit that renegade interrupt on Cronos Station to kill Kai Leng.
Same.
Yeah, there's a handful of renegade interrupts/choices that basically feel necessary.
Shooting udina and elnora are important interrupts.
@@ghostyuki-kfpinquisitor1038 Headbutting Uvenk is an excellent Renegade Interrupt.
@@julietsmith5925 aye and the endlessly monologuing krogan on mordin's loyalty mission
My thoughts, as I'm playing through ME3 right now:
-Udina would have been better if they didn't heel-turn him into being a traitor. I feel like a paragon Shepard was starting to build a respectful relationship with him by early ME3.
-Gavin Archer isn't on the list, but they really made Shepard hate him in ME3 without much input from the player. What he did was awful but in the Paragon Overlord aftermath David is safe and Gavin was busting his ass to redeem himself. He even kills himself if you don't take care of David or lie and say you don't when you did.
Yeah, I wanted an option to forgive Gavin...
the fact that Dr. Archer starts redeeming himself on his own initiative is why I don't agree with some of the other commenters saying he should on the list
@@NinjaFlibble I don't remember the exact dialogue, but during the DLC Gavin has a few lines that really showcase what he thought of David: lesser, barely human, a pawn for his own ambitions. They were pretty damning.
@@saetharion
In ME2, yeah he's that much of an ass...but he at least *seems* to have changed in ME3 😅
Both Udina and Illusive man were utterly ruined by rushed/bad writing in ME3. Made them both basic villians for, reasons.
Very very surprised the Wrev didn't make the cut, he's everything wrong with the Krogan, aggressive, spiteful and doesn't even give Shepard the respect they deserve.
You know, I had a weird experience with Wreav. My first entry in Mass Effect was actually the second game, and since that was well before the release of the DLC allowing you to set up your choices, it means my first playthrough was in that "Shepard did everything wrong" universe - including Wrex being dead. As such, I got to meet Wreav here.
I was also playing in French at the time, and I felt his voice here was great. Almost soft-spoken, but you can feel the undercurrent of menace. He came across as legitimately scary at times.
And then I played in English, and realized that oh, he was just a dumb brute. That was quite the mood whiplash.
He was cool and interesting in me2.
Then they turned him into a walking krogan stereotype.
@@Talyrion To be fair, a lot of the more 'traditional' krogan are brutish by nature. Males headbutt each other to assert, for crying out loud! Wrex headbutts his brother, and the guy immediately responds with a snarl and draws a frigging shotgun
We should have had a Batarian squadmate. Zaeed would have been pretty easy to do, as very little dialog would need to change. It's a missed opportunity, IMO.
YES
Oml, a batarian zheed would of made that dlc verry more intresting i love to see how many players would of seen this batarian killing humans and human slaves and how many would just end up ditching them under the burning wreck.
I really wanted to like Uldina . He was the one pushing for a human specter and for humans to be accepted in the counsel. I did not even mind the betrayal but it needed more story writing
Really hope he gets a side material novel, if not comics, that show HIS side of the Mass Effect trilogy story, not unlike how Darth Plagueis got his and Palpatine's from the Star Wars Legends novel based on the former.
Same, wish they had kept him throughout ME3 as he was at the beginning, woulda made him more likable, a ruthless ahole but a ruthless ahole looking out for earth the best he could
Tbh I think the betrayal does make a lot of sense even with the amount of writing it got. Udina has always been humanity first, trying to get them to the highest possible point (human spectre, on the council, etc etc). What Cerberus’ plan offered would basically shunt humanity into being the head honchos of the galaxy, which aligns with Udina’s motivations perfectly.
On Omega, in this area being ravaged by the plague, there's a Batarian you can save. And if you do, he kind of asks you why you would do such a thing. And you can say something like 'maybe now you'll understand that not all humans are that bad.' So that one also seemed sort of nice and redeemable to me.
This is probably one of my favorite lines in the series (starting 09:13)
You'll miss me
Not at this range I won't
Especially when femShep does it. It's so satisfying.
I'd like to add Urdnot Wreav to the list. Especially if Wrex did not survive the events on Virmire and Wreav becomes leader of Clan Urdnot.
Wreav is definetly the very reason why the krogan shouldnt get a second chance. Really makes Wrex the only inspiring reason to even cure the Krogan.
Kai Leng didn’t even KILL THANE! And he was TERMINALLY ILL! He dies later at the hospital from blood loss!
It really makes him look pathetic, even before you get to absolutely destroy him in his boss fight.
Kai Leng also confuses me. The game insists on him being really 'cool' and dangerous, and then it goes out of its way to undermine him.
bloody hell i hate bad timed plot armors, plot armor only works on Batman, he is the only one that has the right of having one lmao
@juliandevdying Master Chief has plot armor sometimes, but we love him too.
@@bigbeefy111 And Optimus Prime. See how many times he dies and comes back?
Admiral Mikhailovich is one of the goats of the trilogy, I always wanted more of him in the sequels but all we got is his picture for war assets in ME3, and that only when you let the council die in ME1.
Bioware also did a very bad 180 with Gerrel, he was the best quarian admiral in ME2 when you go to them during Tali's loyalty mission. But then in ME3 they just make him act like an unlikable dumb zealot.
And his last scene if you side with the geths is great imo, you see all the quarians trying to flee but he stands on his chair facing the inevitable, that was a glimpse of what he was in ME2.
And koris all of a sudden being a likable guy.
@@thesamejackalsniperthatkil117 ah yes forgot about him, funny that he was the one that wanted Tali exiled the most 🤣
@@ZrodyApo Koris did not want war. Tali helped her father in work that would lead to war. So Koris wanted Tali exiled and her father's work forgotten. Admirals in ME2 and ME3 are the same. Shepard is different.
I still have never seen Kai Leng's Death without that interrupt it is law that you have to do it on any run.
If your paragon the game automatically offs Kia leng for you. 😂😂
Even on my mostly paragon Shep I click that renegade button fast
@@omegawolf2589 same but i did one playthrough to see what would happen and shepherd deletes kia lang himself without doing the renegade option.
@@joshuajefferson3504 So? I play Paragade. Some Renegade interrupts are just too funny and/or cool to leave them out.
@@Muschelschubs3r true 🤣🤣
#11 is a military reporter for a show called "Battle Tits"
Balak: We were a beautiful race!
Everyone: doubt
Shepard: spider-eyed freaks
I actually love Brooks. That "half-baked" plot felt like a fun Saturday morning cartoon and she fit right in as a villain.
Gerrel is a weird case because I like him in ME2 and I don't in ME3, which is the exact opposite of how I feel about Koris. Xen on the other hand... I just don't like her at all.
Me2 was just politics and honestly Talis stance wasn't great in 2.
The entire citidel dlc had that same over the top, absurdist style and brooks fit right in.
There are a couple of mods that kind of remove or replace Kai Leng, one of them being called "Shut up, Leng". Doing the lord's work.
That is a great mod. I use it on my current playthru.
Definitely Dr. Archer. Allers is on my list too.
Shepard does get a message from Bray in ME3 telling him that there is at least one Batarian that doesn’t hate him.
The best part about the reporter is that in ME2 at the brokers station where you can view videos you can see many, many other people kicking her ass too 😂
she survived the punch of a krogan, my respect to the Human Punchbag of the Milky Way
just started me3, looks like she took some self defense courses
Ethan Jeong being a piece of work is real, the first time I played ME I didn't want to kill the guy as a paragon, but I did, but in my "kill everyone" playthrough as a NG+ I saved his life by getting the intimidation check, he lived when so many died in ME2
I swear to god my first full trilogy playthrough was pure paragon. I didn't even make one single renegade interrupt because I didn't know whether it would have a paragon option directly after.
But with Kai Leng I instantly activated the renegade interrupt because fuck him to outer space and back.
My favorite dig on Jacob is: the only person in Jacob's fan club is Kasumi.
The catalyst, celestical bastard, star brat, whatever u want to call him, definitely the most hated by me
This! Though I've only seen him once since I use a mod that removes him from the game.
Holy shit why isn't he on this list?
It singlehandedly ruined one of the most beloved trilogies in 10 fucking minutes by making everything before it meaningless in favor of garbage deviantart fanfic.
Gerrel refusing to retreat when you pick the Geth is crazy
I love how in ME2, Gerrel is presented as the 'cool' guy and Koris is presented as the pain in the ass, but they were the exact opposite. Koris was the real hero. Daro Xen can kick rocks with Gerrel.
@@Siansonea It's all because he was on Tali's side when Koris was against her. In the end, Koris' opinion on the Geth wound up being the better one.
Veetor would’ve done better after you gave him to Cerberus! He had all of time’s military incompetence wrapped into one particularly tunnel visioned quarian.
@@primeradiancy Please always refer to him with his full name Zaal'Koris vas Qwib-Qwib.
@@enjoythestruggle You right, 💯 Gotta put full respect on the goat
Epic troll job showing Diana Allers while asking if you missed anyone, my dude. I’d argue she’s significantly more hated en masse by the fandom than Jacob or the Batarians. Most are just apathetic to those. Allers is almost universally LOATHED.
Whats peoples propblem with allers?
You know, I think it's interesting that Tali decides to jump off the cliff instead of trying to kill Shepard, I mean, he did at that time basically destroy her entire species.
Or perhaps she doesn't think she could kill Shepard even if she tried so she doesn't even go for it.
Or perhaps her brain still considers Shepard a friend some how so she refuses to hurt him, and just decides to jump because she doesn't want to work for the monster he is now.
He didn’t destroy anything. He warned the fleet to stand down, and everyone had a chance to survive. It is the quarian fleet leaders were who decided to charge into the enemy, dooming their while race.
@@juzoli yeah, but he also could have shot legion and saved the quarians.
@@noahjahnsen7841 That would eradicate Geth, which would be explicitly HIS fault.
The difference between perfect ending (both races survive), and Quarians dying, depends entirely on the Quarians decision to stand down or not.
@@juzoli but whether or not they persisted in attacking wouldn't matter if Legion is killed before upload is complete.
Killing legion saves the quarians guaranteed.
So indeed, both Sheppard and Tali are at fault if the quarians die, being that they were the only ones in the area that could have stopped legion soon enough.
Which I guess explains why she jumps pretty well.
Though this is not to take blame off of the stubborn quarians who just want to kill the Geth, they are also at fault for being so relentless.
@@noahjahnsen7841 What you say is a genocide of a whole race. Sure Quarians survive, but the cost is astronomical. That’s pretty much the worse resolution of the conflict.
I think Bioware should have given Udina a redeeming moment, like sacrificing himself or helping Shepard during the Cerberus/citadel coup, and making him not to be the one who aids Cerberus. Especially if you appoint him to be the human councilor in the first game, the betrayal has no sense anyways imo.
I've always found it fascinating that Admiral Koris is an asshole to you and Tali in ME2, while Gerrel seems quite reasonable and nice. But we are shown Koris wants peace with the Geth and Gerrel wants war. Then ME3 comes along, and Gerrel's anti Geth stance becomes a liability, even fanatical, while Koris' anti war stance shows him to be more reasonable and far more empathetic than Gerrel. I really like how the script is flipped in this regard.
One quarian in embedded in the geth hate Quarians have, one is not. Either way, I like them both. They both only ever really cared about their people
One of the things to note about Koris you have to do a paragon check to save his life after his ship goes down. He BEGS Shepherd to save his people over himself.
I actually came to like Khalisa, especially after she let herself be seen in ME3, and not just be another sensationalist segment for personal gain in the face of total annihilation. She genuinely cares about Earth, its people, and is holding out hope that Shepard can do something about it.
I always reassure her when I can, and never punch her.
Administrator Anoleis would be on my top 10 somewhere. Smug prick. Wish we could take him up to Peak 15 and use him as bait to distract the rachni.
uuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhgggg i forgot about that raggedy bastard
Did we ever get a good reason as to why, as a SPECTRE we can't just shoot him?
@@tomleary508Pay attention and you'd remember you're not in Citadel space anymore!
Talking to udina after meeting with the council in ME3 he seems incredibly reasonable amd helpful
I actually really liked Udina. In ME1 he was a prick, but he was on your side for better or worse. It’s a shame he got villain jerked in ME3
The only "redemption" for Kai Leng is that if you did things correctly he has a full edgelord breakdown in the final fight, with Shepard mocking him for constantly running away. The VA does a great job where Kai sounds like he's angry and in tears as he screams at you to shut up.
You forgot dr. Archer and Jacob's dad
Nassana Dantius I think is her name, deserves a spot. She was bad in ME then got worse in ME2.
I still argue that there should have been more of Leng, if he dogged you in every priority mission starting with Palevan, he could have been developed into a convincing villain
I see that Big Dan Gaming has posted and I say to myself, "Well, how can I resist?"
i really liked gerrel in me2 it’s a shame how they did him in 3
The very unique renegade of my (almost) full paragon Shepard was killing Kai Leng. Pretty satisfying.
I also take the renegade interrupt in the Archangel mission to electrocute the gunship tech. oh, and the one to kill Rana Thanoptis on Virmire, so she doesn't go all Indotrinatey in ME 3 and kill all those innocent people.
I was expecting Diana Allers to make the list. She replaced Emily Wong, a minor, but interesting character in the prior two games, who had some appearances in the outer media too, showing she had a presence, and was setup to be one of the better reporter types, a counter to the one mentioned in the list.
However, in order to make the game more appealing to critics EA decided, in their infinite stupid, that this game, like a few others had done, would need to have a character voiced by a game reviewer, to make the reviewers less likely to trash it, lest they inadvertently anger their friend who was part of the project.
BTW, that is NOT speculation, EA's memos leaked a while back, and they admitted in their that each game needed it, as they had good luck with it. Whether that had an effect on Mass Effect 3's...interesting reception Critic Vs. Player is anyone's guess, but hey, it probably didn't hurt the first side of that one.
Anyway, we got Diana, and Emily was killed via a twitter thread. It wasn't a terrible one, BTW. If you never read it(I think it's gone now, and I couldn't find the archive), basically it gives a first person viewpoint on the Reapers taking a world, and then, at the end, Emily, knowing she's going to die, climbs into the news vehicle and gives one last report.
'Okay you monsters, you wanna know about humans!? Well here's how we die! At RAMMING SPEED!!!'
It's pretty badass..it does not make up for how dirty she was done.
The drone that killed Jenkins
The Batarian hated the most: The bartender who tries to kill Shep.
Honorable mention should be whatever her name is who is a reporter who travels with you in ME3. They NEVER should have created the character and used Emily Wong instead. Or hell, even the hated reporter.
There is a mod to replace the reporter in ME with Emily Wong. Sadly they weren't able to change the voice, just the appearance. but still. I'm going to use it in my next playthru.
@@davidsharpe1611 I know that mod exists, but it doesn't change the fact that either of the original reporters tagging along (the one we love, or the one we love to hate) would have made for a MUCH more interesting story.
I'm still waiting for an update of the mod (by someone else, original creator said bo), that puts the squadmate you sacrificed on Virmire into Kai Lang's role. A MUCH better concept than this rando if you ask me.
Only thing Jacob is good for is the Normandy armor upgrade.
And second fire team leader.
I like to mention that I like the Batarian that you paragon interrupt to heal on omega I like. Little moments to be a good shep to all aliens and win people over. Kinda like standing up for the quarian on the citadel that being accused of stealing a credit chit. Even better if Tali is there.
Lieutenant Bastard Kai Leng will always be the most hated for me. Even Star Child has more personality and likability than that dofus.
You're kidding.
Videos like these make me love the mass effect series all over again. I really need an update on the next mass effect game.
Allers. She was irritating af to me.
Allers didn't irritate me as much as the way she was implemented irritated me. It was such a regressive, misogynistic take, and Jessica Chobot didn't deserve to be characterized that way. It was absurdly tone deaf to relegate her to a 'hot reporter chick' role.
@@Siansonea You know, that's 100% accurate. I get mad at bad writing before I do characters. But then again, I guess I missed the shot on this one, and you picked it up for me. Well done.
I don't hate her, I hate the fact that she exists and she's on the ship instead of Emily Wong
Great video! Excellent pick to NOT include Dr. Archer. Although an "evil" character he was very well written and certainly not disliked in a "oh they aren't well written" way.
One of my favorite parts of ME3 is letting a squad mate kill Brooks and their banter afterwards.
I like the Batarian who transports you to Archangels base and the Batarian who is sick in Mordins recruitment mission
I guess i played more paragon sheps ‘cause I’d put Archer, Starchild, ME3 illusive man, the salarian dalatrass, Wreav and Kai Lang a second time over the reporter and Gerrel (him because he seemed a lot better of a character in ME2).
If you ask me it’s not so much Jacob’s fault for cheating considering it happens whether you romance him or not its more BioWare being lazy rather than Jacob being an awful character
Gavin Archer deserves a spot, i had chills running down my whole body after finding out what he did to his brother.
David Archer is the one who was tortured.
In my head canon, kai leng tripped, stabbing himself with his own sword.
It's kinda funny that Han'Gerrel was a lot nicer to Shepard than Zaal'Koris in ME2, only for it to be the other way around in ME3
I always make Anderson councilor, except a couple of times I just wanted to see what happens otherwise, a bit sad Anderson stepped down with Udina named as his successor
I wasn't the biggest fan of Diana Allers, especially since they killed off Commander Bastila Shepard's established favorite reporter Emily Wong offscreen. Got a mod called Emily Returns, replaces Allers with Wong, although the voice is still Jessica Chobot (just pretend it's like Batman Arkham Knight where Mass Effect's Kimberly Brooks was replaced as Oracle with somebody named Ashley Greene 😥). I'd even take Khalisah Bint al-Jilani on the Normandy, imagine the romance there 👊 lol 😝
It's unfortunate Bioware made that decision not matter. Would've been interesting if the decision actually changed parts of the story like Anderson staying on the Citadel if a councilor and thus no one is able to lead the resistance on Earth as a consequence.
I'm playing the legendary edition and can confirm I hate Jacob. Fem-Shep's interactions with him are the absolute worst.
I don't treat 1:27 as a renegade interrupt, it's a mandatory quick time event to me.
The reporter gets redeemed in ME3 if you always choose the paragon option. She joins the war effort and becomes an asset by reporting on the war and boosting morale. So at least there's that.
I honestly don't hate Jacob but I don't like him either. He's just there
Same
Exactly, he just feels like dull and forced addition to the game, no hate tho
@gamingloser5909 I didn't used to hate him. Then I found out that he calls Garrus a racist slur if you break things off with him in favor of Garrus. I changed my mind after that.
I might be one of the few or perhaps the only one... But i kinda don't mind the council lol.
They wanted to make you a Spectre. They basically gave you freedom to do whatever you thought was necessary. They won't help much when they're together but each of them will try to support you when they're not around the others. It was Udina that always tried to slow you down but the Alien council did support you. They just wanted proof of the reapers and there was no way to prove there was so many of them. There were times they wanted to support you but couldn't because they were afraid of starting a war in the Terminus systems. It was the Council that told the humans not to build in the Terminus Systems and when they did anyway it led to the war with the Collectors. In ME3 it was Earth Alliance that grounded Shepard and in ME:2 it was Udina that pushed Shepard away. But deep down i believe the Alien Council did always support Shepard to some degree
I would put the Illusive Man on my hated character's list. He's not a character. In Mass Effect 2 he is the plot exposition guy who takes away bkth Shepard and the player's agency. The point of becoming a specter narrativly was so Shepard could do as they pleased when they pleased. Mass Effect 2 through the Illusive Man took all of the way. He decides everything. You join him because the game says so you do exactly what he says when he says so. The only exception is with getting the Reaper IFF. The only reason we get repree there us because it triggers another timer before the crew gets captured and is where you find Legion for some reason. There is no good reason why we can't choose which main mission we want to do at anytime like what Mass Effect 1 let us do but the Illusive Man said no. Mass Effect 3 Cerberus is filler. Realky think about it. The only reason they are there is to pad the run time especially the late game. We could have just took our fleets to Earth but Cerberus had to pad the game for several more tedious hours. All because the Illusive Man inexplicably wants to control the Reapers without a reason to think it is even possible yet because of that he will attack the entire galaxy. Saren was a far better antagonist. He had actually good reason yo do what he did and sometimes he mwkes you think maybe he's right. The Illusive Man never has any logic behind his goals it is only there to distract from the Reapers. Hence why Cerberus is must filler. We could have gotten the battle for Palavan and a Baterian chapter. But no Cerberus has to be the center of everything. Kai Lang is just one character who fails to make an impression. It's why I think the Illusive Man and Cerberus as a whole is the real problem. Kai Lang is just piled on top of it.
I'm playing the trilogy for the first time (mostly) blind so I don't know what's DLC or not, and I'm noticing that about Cerberus too - their narrative arc in ME3 is just "Reapers Lite", especially after learning that their soldiers are under the influence of some variation of Indoctrination.
At least in ME2, the Illusive Man's motivations made sense - he was obviously a power hungry dictator, but in the face of the imminent Reaper threat, he was willing to mobilize his wealth and assets to help humanity prepare by flexing his influence in areas of the Galaxy that the Alliance couldn't go. But in ME3, he and Cerberus just come off as cartoonishly villainous by fighting against the Alliance at every turn. There have been so many times I've asked, "What does this actually accomplish for the IM and Cerberus?" The mission I'm on right now is to stop Cerberus from using the bomb on Tchunka and I can't stop thinking, "Why blow up one of humanity's best bets at slowing the Reapers? Why not just _take_ the bomb and figure out how to use it to capture a Reaper instead?"
So, anyone notice that Jacob Taylor has the same names of Jacob Black from Twilight and his actor Taylor Lautner? AND they both take their shirts off?
Now before you shit on me, I ain't a Twilight fan! 😶
Hold on, I don't see Ashley on the list.
Play through some parts of Mass Effect 3. And you see Ashley's redeeming qualities and getting over her stigma on aliens.
@@paytonturner1421 How can I do that when I let her die in ME1 for being such a bish?
My top 10:
1. Dr Archer
2. Kai Leng (as mentioned)
3. Jacob's father
4. Anoleus on Noveria
5. Corpo beancounter bullet sponge on Feros (as mentioned)
6. The Hanar Ambassador in ME3
7. Brooks (as mentioned)
8. Udina
9. The council
10. Admiral Gerel
I always felt a little uncomfortable with the punching of the journalist. It seemed a bit too much like stab at journalism in general, something I guess they too realised since they made her a less superficial character in ME3 and introduced Diana Allers as well.
I'd also add that I didn't mind Jacob and don't really understand the hate that he gets. Sure, he was never my favourite character and I generally only used him when I had to, but he seemed like a good buddy who'd back you up in a barfight.
I would've loved to have a Batarian on my team. Even Garrus mentioned having one on his team in ME2. Also, assuming he was kept alive after ME1, I really would've wanted Kirrahe as a squad mate on ME3. He could've talked with Garrus about either holding the line or calibrations or holding the line with calibrations.
Journalist Al Jilani doesn't have to be a gotcha journalist in any of the ME series. If you are paragon enough for every interaction every interview either ends with her responding positively or acknowledging that Shepard out played her. Anyone who resorts to punching a journalist has just admitted they badly screwed up the interview.
Jacob Taylor, what a POS. He's arrogant, the hardest to enter into a conversation with, but quite disciplined.
When he informs Shep, at the hospital (ME3), that he is going to attempt to convince his Bryne to not name the baby after Shep was the last time I spoke to him ever.
It occurred to me that as the lead black guy, he was a stereotypical lout. Due to the Paragon aspect that I hold to, I keep him alive but then I know anyone on the Citadel is going to bite it and that is gratifying.
9:41 lumping the entire Batarian race together was 💯
I'm shocked nobody thought of Joker. He ON PURPOSE flew Shepherd into the Collector ship, getting him killed in ME2, was responsible for getting the entire crew taken by the Collectors, and wanted to bang EDI throughout ME3. He almost single-handedly destroyed Kevduit's psychopath, Ten Piece Nugg-Shepherd.
What a great series
There are lots of satisfying renegade interrupts that no matter how paragon my shepard is, she always takes, but none are as satisfying as killing Kai Leng. Batarians are such jerks as a whole, but Bray is pretty cool comparatively. At least he's the only one that I don't want to put a bullet in his brain. Gerrel is a jerk, but he's a funny jerk. I like him better than some of the other admirals. Funny that you showed Diana Allers when you asked if anybody else should be on the list. 🤣 Udina is meant to be unlikeable and they are very successful at that. That said, I get his betrayal of the council. The council never listens to anything that has to do with Earth and humanity. They just don't care. It's got to be incredibly frustrating to try to work with these jerks, knowing it will do no good for your own species. Take the sheer terror of the Reaper attacks, hearing the terrible reports from a devastated Earth, knowing that your coworkers do not have your back and would rather cover their own butts (which they freely admit, at least to Shepard), not to mention the fact that they are rapidly losing this war, Udina is in a vulnerable place which is perfect for TIM to manipulate him into thinking Cerberus is the only way for humanity to survive this mess. That said, I still can't stand him and cheer when Anderson punches him every time I play. 🤣