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The best Mass Effect NPC!


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Poll: The best Mass Effect NPC (34 member(s) have cast votes)

Who is the best NPC in Mass Effect?

  1. Ashley Williams (3 votes [8.82%])

    Percentage of vote: 8.82%

  2. Liara T'Soni (2 votes [5.88%])

    Percentage of vote: 5.88%

  3. Kaiden Alenko (9 votes [26.47%])

    Percentage of vote: 26.47%

  4. Garrus Vakarian (5 votes [14.71%])

    Percentage of vote: 14.71%

  5. Urdnot Wrex (9 votes [26.47%])

    Percentage of vote: 26.47%

  6. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya (6 votes [17.65%])

    Percentage of vote: 17.65%

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#21 Caelellowynn

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Posted 01 October 2008 - 06:40 PM

I voted for Tali because I want her to be my favorite character. I don't find her to be the best developed as she stands but that's probably because she had no romance line. I'm sure my vote has nothing to do with her accent or voicing.

It's very sad how everyone seems to think romance culminates in sex. :(



I get it and I wish I could disagree. Probably my age talking but I find a big difference between sex and the consumation of a romance. I guess I'm more interested in the music rather than the instrument. Of course a good innuendo or two never hurt.
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#22 Kellen

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Posted 06 October 2008 - 08:16 PM

I recently bought this game and have been trying out some of the classes. Haven't yet made it off of Citadel more than once, though out of 5-6 games 3-4 made it to Spectre statis. So far I find I rather like Tali and Garrus(both instant hits with me). Wrex is fun, but a bit too mercenary for me. Kaiden... well he hasn't had much to say yet. Just kinda boring I guess. Ashley... looking forward to getting more into her character.

Liara I haven't met yet, but I'm not liking him from all I've read (and her species does have something to do with it. Genderless females(Notice that though they're claimed to be gender neutral they certainly appear female.), mating with anything with legs? Also consider that had they been genderless males, there would have been revolts. Why is that? Are females less genderish? Are they more allowed to mate anyone and everyone?)

[/rant] Yeah. Liara will have to work hard for me to like her.
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#23 Anaximander

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Posted 10 October 2008 - 07:50 PM

Liara will have to work hard for me to like her.


I don't care much for Liara either, my complaints about her have nothing to do with yours. I see what you're saying, and I agree, but what I disliked was that male characters (haven't played a female yet) are basically forced into a romantic relationship with Liara just for being nice to her. Even if you're more or less neutral, you can find yourself inadvertantly romancing Liara. There is one particular dialogue where you can tell her you just want to be friends, but if you miss it you may end up attached to her even if you're trying to romance Ashley.

Also, she just seemed a little too young for romance material. She seemed to be the most naive of all the PC's you meet. Of all the aliens on board the ship, she is the only one routinely surprised by human behavior, indicating a relative lack of experience with our kind. She also has a very young looking face, a high pitched voice, and virtually no breasts (although that isn't necessarily an indication of age). My point is that the one time I did romance Liara, I felt like a pedophile. At least with Ahsley, I know she's a woman, and not a girl.

I could complain about Ahsley too, but this thread is supposed to be about our favorite NPC's so I'll just stop there.
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#24 SConrad

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Posted 10 October 2008 - 09:03 PM

My point is that the one time I did romance Liara, I felt like a pedophile.

She's 109 years old, you know.

You're right in that it's possible to romance her "inadvertedly," though, but I don't find that character flaw or design mistake. When one is as naive or inexperienced with human behavior (and probably males in general) as Liara is, I can see how she easily can pick up shows of friendship as signs of romantic affection. She just can't read humans (or males) well enough to realize she's being politely rejected. I think it fits her character very well.

Overall, I'd say that no matter what you think of her as a character, there's no doubt that her personality is well-developed and consistent--something I can't say for all the other NPCs.

Besides, strong dislike for an NPC is just as much a mark of a good character as liking them. ;)

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#25 Kellen

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Posted 11 October 2008 - 06:21 AM

She also has a very young looking face, a high pitched voice, and virtually no breasts (although that isn't necessarily an indication of age). My point is that the one time I did romance Liara, I felt like a pedophile.

Probably has to do with Asari life stages. I'm guessing they only physically mature into womanhood after they move to their second cycle, during which they are supposed to find a mate, er, or several.
"She could resist temptation. Really she could. Sometimes. At least when it wasn't tempting." - Calli Slythistle
"She was a fire, and I had no doubt that she had already done her share of burning." - Lord Firael Algathrin
"Most assume that all the followers of Lathander are great morning people. They're very wrong." - Tanek of Cloakwood

we are all adults playing a fantasy together, - cmorgan

#26 Cal Jones

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Posted 01 May 2009 - 03:26 PM

Bit late on the scene with this (I had to wait to get a good PC first!). I have finished the game once with my male renegade soldier Shepard and am now partway through with my female paragon vanguard.
In short, I like all the characters, though Liara perhaps a bit less than the others (I think it's the eyebrows).
I liked Ashley a lot, and I don't like many female characters on the whole, plus she's very useful and her romance is fun.
I found Kaiden useful as well (particularly with my male soldier - it killed me to (spoiler) choose between him and Ashley at the cloning facility as I didn't want to give up either - Ash as I was romancing her and him because he complemented my soldier very well (/spoiler). He is a bit taciturn; however I'm romancing him now with my female Shepard and he has a lot more to say. True, he sounds exactly like Carth, but never mind.
I like all the aliens but I'd say Garrus is actually my favourite of all. He's just cool, really. So he gets my vote in this.
It's close though, and I wish you weren't restricted to only two characters at a time. I also think Tali could have had a bit more to her. I can't help thinking she must have had some content cut due to time restraints, as she has less to say than the others.

#27 Philiposophy

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Posted 07 May 2009 - 02:16 PM

My favourite was probably Wrex. Funny guy, interesting perspectives and a very good soldier.

#28 Cal Jones

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Posted 10 May 2009 - 02:05 PM

Wrex is handy. I'm currently going through the game now playing different classes and trying to get the achievements. I took the krogan ally last game so got to know him a bit better and he's fun. I find, oddly enough, though, that the character I take most, whether I'm playing a male or female Shepard, is Kaiden.

I've gone for the Liara romance/asari ally achievement in my current game in the hope that I would get to like her a bit more, but honestly, I don't. She's handy at higher levels but I just don't find her at all appealing. It killed me to turn down Ash to date Liara instead, but hey, I just wanted to see the romance.

#29 Qwinn

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Posted 07 June 2009 - 04:56 AM

Ashley for me, with Wrex a close second. Given the choice (meaning, I can handle the engineering side of things with my character), they're the two I prefer to bring along.

I'm really surprised Ashley has done so poorly in this poll.

I share the great distaste for Liara that a lot of others had. There's just something downright creepy about her. Unfortunately, if you're not a biotic yourself, she's pretty much the only choice for the endgame. (I could never sacrifice Ashley to keep Kaidan. Just can't do it. He's alright enough, but I lubs me some Ashley.)

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#30 Aeryn

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Posted 07 June 2009 - 07:13 AM

Wrex by a mile. ^_^ His one-liners are priceless, and he's definitely handy in a fight.

Garrus would be second. Probably first if BioWare had let me romance that damn turian. <_<

Least favorite would be Liara, and that's strictly based on personality. I just...don't like her. She grates on me for whatever reason. I even tried to force myself to do the romance, just to see it, and I could not handle it - when they ambushed me and demanded a choice, I had to pick Kaidan. :P

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#31 Cal Jones

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Posted 08 June 2009 - 02:19 PM

I'm liking Wrex more and more. He'd damned funny on Noveria. I still like Garrus a lot (over at the Bioware forums it seems there's quite a lot of ladies who'd like to try and romance him...I'm not sure how that would work though. I don't really know if the anatomies are compatible. It would be pretty uncomfortable cuddling a guy with a metallic exoskeleton, however appealing his personality...)
But the one I seem to take with me most, is Kaiden. I've now played through this game a good half dozen times and the only time Kaiden wasn't used as much was when I was playing a sentinel (for obvious reasons). But even then I took him some of the time. And frankly, I just like the guy.
Oh and I still don't care for the blue chick. Ash and Kaiden require a little work, but Liara is practically humping your leg as soon as she meets you. I guess the asari rep for sluttishness isn't exagerrated.

#32 Qwinn

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Posted 08 June 2009 - 06:46 PM

Oh and I still don't care for the blue chick. Ash and Kaiden require a little work, but Liara is practically humping your leg as soon as she meets you. I guess the asari rep for sluttishness isn't exagerrated.


Heh, you're right, I think that's it. I've been trying to figure out just what it is about her that I find so creepy, and I think you nailed it there.

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#33 Philiposophy

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Posted 10 June 2009 - 04:28 AM

I've been playing ME recently but using different characters a bit more than I have previously. As my previous post in this thread says, my favourite is Wrex and that remains the case, but here are some more in-depth thoughts.

I don't have any particular love for Liara or Tali, it might be just me but I find them both a bit irritating. Maybe they'll grow on me if I use them more but I'm still not a particular fan of either.

I quite like Garrus. I think he's certainly interesting and I enjoy talking to him between missions. Good guy.

I like both Kaidan and Ashley. Since Ashley is always Shepard's love interest (Ash > Liara) I always bail her out on Virmire instead of Kaidan. I do really like Kaidan though, he's really level headed and has possibly the most sensible perspective on everything out of all the characters in the entire game.

But Wrex inevitably wins because he's just great :lol: