With the Mass Effect Legendary Edition set to release in 2021, it's time to look at many of the aspects of the franchise that make the trilogy an all-time great. Outside of humans, the games feature dozens of original alien races that were designed with distinct characteristics that make them quite memorable.

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With that many alien races, there are a bit over a handful that make quite an impression in one way or another. Whether it's the proud military might of the Turians, the intelligence of Salarians, or the brute strength of the Krogans, there are reasons to love all of them.

10 Hanar

hanar

On the Citadel players get their first glimpse at the many strange alien races the world of Mass Effect has to offer. The Hanar are these tall jellyfish-like creatures that walk on long legs and are vibrant in color. It's a race of extremely religious creatures who also happen to be quite polite in conversation. When standing on Earth they're slightly taller than the average human but prefer to be in water as they cannot stand with contra-gravitic levitation packs they use when going about their business on the Citadel.

9 Rachni

rachni

The Rachni have an interesting story as these insect-like terrors almost took over if not for the Krogans. These creatures were super-intelligent and very aggressive when it came to protecting themselves. The Citadel sent them to extinction for fear of succumbing to the Rachni's overwhelming hostility. Players run into what is believed to be one of the last remaining populations of Rachni on a science lab station and must ultimately choose whether to let the queen live, or kill her for fear of what she could create.

8 Protheans

Mass Effect protheans

Protheans are arguably the most important alien race in human history as they are credited for creating the Citadel as well as the mass relays. Despite being technologically advanced and hyper-intelligent they disappeared without a trace over 50,000 years ago from the events of Mass Effect.

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Without their artifacts and technology, the collection of alien races working together to fight a common threat would have never come to be. Many consider the Protheans to be an invaluable part of the Milky Way galaxy.

7 Reapers

Mass Effect reapers

The Reapers are the main threat of the Mass Effect trilogy and the point of evil in which Commander Shepard and the galaxy have to overcome. Though the Protheans are widely considered to be the creators of the Citadel and the mass relays, it's the Reapers who are the true creators. This machine race arrives every 50,000 years after laying dormant to harvest sentient life in a repeating and never-ending cycle of purges. They use the technology to keep track of sentient life sources worthy of consumption.

6 Collectors

Mass Effect collectors

Collectors are some of the weirdest looking alien races and vaguely resemble the Protheans. There's a reason for that and it is because when the Reapers wiped out the Protheans 50,000 years ago they injected some Protheans with cybernetic materials and thus spawned the Collectors. A race of off-putting aliens that trade new technologies in favor of odd requests such as 7 blind Krogans and 5 Salarians that are allergic to water. They're considered a legend of the galaxy and are rarely seen. The Collectors also happen to play an antagonistic role in the galaxy's fight against the Reapers.

5 Asari

Mass Effect asari

The Asari are one of the main alien races featured on the Citadel and have two characters that serve as companions to Commander Shepard. One of them is named Liara T'Soni, who happens to be a fan favorite among the companions Shepard can take with him along his journey. They're a mono-gender race with their distinct physical traits being their tentacle-like hair and blue-to-purple skin. In the galaxy itself, they're known for their tremendous level of influence thanks in large part to their diplomacy, elegance, and aptitude when it comes to biotic powers.

4 Leviathans

Mass Effect leviathan

The Leviathans for all intents and purposes were the big bad of the galaxy up until the point in which the Reapers existed. They are a proud race of hyper-intelligent cuttlefish-like aliens that are massive in size and believe themselves to be the only apex race.

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Once the Reapers rose to power the Leviathans decided that survival was of primary importance and went into hiding. Leviathans also can mentally manipulate and control lesser races in a fashion that's eerily similar to indoctrination.

3 Krogan

Mass Effect krogan

Though the Krogan come off as nothing more than walking battle tanks, these large reptilian beings played a major role in protecting the galaxy. They were the main reason the Rachni were defeated and sent into the shadows, and this was thanks in part to their rapid breeding and reproduction. For fear of the Krogans doing what the Rachni were believed to be in the process of, a genophage was enacted by the Salarians and Turians in which the fertility rates of Krogan females were dropped dramatically, causing an almost standstill to their expanding populations.

2 Keepers

Mass Effect keepers

Among all of the alien races, the Keepers happen to be the most mysterious of the bunch. These things simply overlook the Citadel and are always focus on maintaining the quality of the station itself. It isn't until the third game that it is revealed that they are working under the control of the Reapers and their core function is to activate the Citadel relay to dark space to help the Reapers begin their purging of sentient life in the galaxy. They may look harmless, but the Keepers were one of the biggest enemies to humans all along.

1 Turians

Mass Effect 2 Screenshot Of Garrus As Archangel

Though Asari are the closest to humans in terms of biological structure, the Turians happen to be the alien race closest connected to humans. The First Contact War sparked a bit of anger and animosity between humans and Turians as they were the first alien race humans interacted with following the humans discovering the mass relay. Not only is Garrus Vakarian, the most beloved companion, a Turian, but the main villain of the first game is also a Turian. They're naturally great military minds who focus on discipline and pride.

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