SD) Garrus Vakarian (Mass Effect)

Art by Metal Art

"It's so much easier to see the world in black and white.

Gray? I don't know what to do with gray."

Introduced in 2007's Mass Effect, Garrus first appears as a member of Citadel Security (C-Sec), frustrated by the limitations of his position and, indeed, the law in general. This comes to a head when Garrus is all but told to drop his investigation into fellow Turian, Saren. Saren's position as a Spectre effectively puts him above the law, which greatly frustrates Garrus's rigid sense of morality. When approached by Commander Shephard, Garrus jumps on the chance to circumvent the rules and regulations of his job in order to bring Saren in. Garrus then joins the crew of the Normandy, serving as a sniper in combat and frequently calibrating the ship's equipment during his down time.

Over the course of the first game, Garrus forms a tight bond with Shephard, displaying a great deal of respect and camaraderie, eventually opening up about his past, the expectations put upon him, as well as his personal issues with the way the universe seems to actually work. After the events of the first game and Mass Effect 2's opening sequence, Garrus, along with the rest of the Normandy crew, has been scattered. As a revived Commander Shephard begins building a team of specialists to combat a new threat, they learn of a figure known as Archangel, a lone vigilante causing all kinds of hell for the gangs on Omega. So much hell, in fact, that the three rival mercenary groups form a shaky alliance to try and bring them down. In need of a skilled sniper, it's our job to find and extract Archangel, a task easier said than done.

After one of the more fun an interesting missions in the game, Shepard finally finds and confronts the mysterious Archangel, discovering it to be none other than Garrus, who seems pretty happy to see them alive. We learn that after Shephard's "death", Garrus goes on to start his own group to dispense justice, eventually being betrayed from within. Garrus, suffering from a healthy dose of survivor's guilt, vows to kill the one who betrayed them, which becomes the crux of his personal missions, and giving Shephard the chance to aid in bringing him closure.

In the Mass Effect trilogy, Garrus is one of two characters to serve as a companion in all three games, effectively becoming Shephard's ride or die partner. Beginning in Mass Effect 2, Garrus becomes a romance option for female Shephards, where his usual confidence and bravado fall away, exposing him for the soft romantic he is. Interestingly, if neither are romanced, he and Tali, the other companion to join us across all three games, begin a romantic relationship of their own, which is pretty cute in and of itself.

Pictured: Wholesome

Garrus is, above all things, loyal to those who earn his respect. While initially distant and evasive, he begins to open up once he learns the kind of person he's serving. While he has a strong sense of justice and claims to see the world in black and white, it's clear that he doesn't actually feel this way, at least in most instances, with his willingness to bend the law and go against orders. Depending on the choices we make, we get to see him become frustrated when things don't go the way he wants, even if he himself doesn't know what it is he truly wants. Regardless of whether or not the player chooses to romance him, Garrus can be seen as a brother in arms, his mask of humor eventually falling to show a man whose entire ideology has been brought into question on more than one occasion.

For Shattered Destinies, Garrus will serve as a long range specialist and potential scout. While more than capable of working on his own, Garrus does best in a team setting where he can easily fill in the gaps as needed. Outside of combat, his experience with technology can prove invaluable, allowing him to operate machinery as well as perform fine tuning for the groups equipment. His strong sense of justice, while ostensibly a good thing, will most likely lead him to butting heads with some of the stronger personalities in the group. Still, he generally maintains a level head and is more than capable of focusing on an objective in the moment, saving his thoughts and disagreements for after the job is done.

In particular, I see Garrus as the first character I've covered thus far that could be at risk of being corrupted by the multiverse shattering Odio. At some point in the story, after finding himself at odds with other members of the group, he may break off and attempt to go it alone if only to prove his point. It's here that I think it would be fun to have him interact with another Mass Effect character in the form of the Krogan, Wrex. Having been allies, they could find themselves working together until a certain bit of information from the Mass Effect games becomes known to Wrex. At this point, Wrex would become corrupted by Odio, gaining power and serving as a boss fight where the player is given a handful of options. Seeing this dark reflection of the path he's in danger of going down, Garrus would regain trust in his allies, steeling himself for the journey ahead.