Newsflash:

Mass Effect Alien Races Revealed

Published October 11, 2007

As one of the first human beings to step onto the galactic stage, you face a grave threat that may destroy all of civilization. Travel across an expansive universe, exploring the uncharted corners of the galaxy, searching for pieces of the truth in order to discover how to defeat the coming destruction in Mass Effect™. Get an advance look at the races you'll encounter during your epic adventure.

The Turian Hierarchy
The Turians are the greatest threat to Alliance interests. While the Batarians are more openly hostile, they are a second-rate power. The Hierarchy is powerful, stable, and proactive in suppressing perceived threats. There is continued friction between jingoistic human and Turian organizations, who wish to "settle" the diplomatically-resolved First Contact War.

The Asari Republics
The Asari are a moderate threat to Alliance interests. Their economic power and diplomatic reputation allow them to wield persuasive influence. Fortunately, their military is barely more than a collection of local warrior bands. Soldiers are well-armed and exceptionally skilled, but do not possess sufficient organization for large-scale military campaigns.

The Salarian Union
The Salarians are considered a moderate threat to the Alliance, but share certain similarities in mindset. They are politically liberal, often at odds with the conservative Turians and centrist Asari.

It is universally acknowledged that the Salarians possess the finest intelligence services in the galaxy. Our own counterintelligence agencies are constantly uncovering Salarian agents and cyberwarfare incursions.

Salarian culture wholly embraces the concept of the preemptive strike. They find the idea of a declaration of war foolish, and the idea of waiting for a known enemy to attack preposterous. In every war they have ever fought, they have struck first and without warning.

The Illuminated Primacy (Hanar)
The Hanar are an inoffensive third-rate power, and considered a minor threat to the Alliance. They have little interest in interacting with other cultures, due to a cultural obsession with manners and politeness that verge on monomania.

The Vol Protectorate
On their own, the Volus are a minor threat to Alliance interests. However, several hundred years ago they became a Turian client race, exchanging their mercantile prowess for Turian military protection.

The Volus possess an economy out of proportion to their modest resource base. They are aggressive traders and industrialists with a keen grasp of exchange and finance. Many of the galaxy's largest banks, holding corporations, and manufacturing cartels, such as the Elkoss Combine, are owned or managed by Volus. They also regulate the Citadel's complex galactic economy.

The Courts of Dekuun (Elcor)

While the Elcor are territorial about any area they consider theirs, they have no interest in aggressive expansion. They have a small military and are no threat to Alliance interests.

The massive bodies of the Elcor cannot move quickly. Fortunately, they are extremely tough-skinned, and can carry incredibly heavy equipment. Elcor warriors don't dodge incoming fire—they shrug it off or endure it. They don't carry small arms, their broad shoulders serve as a stable platform for the same size of weapons typically mounted on Alliance fighting vehicles.

Quarian Migrant Fleet
The Quarian Migrant Fleet includes several hundred warships, but due to their precarious existence, cannot be considered a creditable threat. The Quarian military does not attack others—it defends the Fleet. Thus far, the Alliance has not been required to block Quarian access to human-claimed systems.

Appendix: Keepers
The "keepers" of the Citadel are not considered a threat by Alliance Intelligence. They appear to be genetic constructs, simple-minded biological androids created by the Protheans to maintain the structure of the Citadel station. When the Asari discovered the Citadel, the keepers were already doing their duties. They continue to do so to this day, following apparently instinctive routines and blithely ignoring the millions of aliens that have settled in their home.

There is no known way to communicate with the keepers. Attempts to take them into custody for study cause the creatures to undergo a sudden "self-destruct," with a form of acid being released internally. The affected keeper literally melts into a puddle of proteins and minerals in less than a minute.

No matter how many keepers die due to old age, violence, or accident, they maintain a constant number. No one has discovered the source of new keepers, but some believe they are grown deep within the inaccessible core of the Citadel.