Mass Effect: How will you remember Saren Arterius? *Mass Effect 1, spoilers*

[Awake-]

Idea taken off BioWare forum.

Me, I will remember him as an extremely wickedly cool renegade Shepard. Now, he definitely wasn't a saint. Destroying hundreds of innocent lives just for a diversion. I do not, however, think that he was ever truly evil. He merely took the entire "the ends justify the means" thing a little too far. A little like Jack Bauer, but he's willing to go a whole lot further. Bauer wouldn't directly harm an innocent unless he had no better choice, I think.

He was indoctrinated. Okay, he looks like a total ass if you don't charm or intimidate him at the end of the game. But if you do, he thanks you and shoots himself in the head, which is still to me the second best scene in the Mass Effect series. The first being when he attacked you on Virmire.

So, what will you remember him as?

 

[Meggiepants]

I think he's mostly a good guy, who got taken in by the wrong crowd. There seem to be a fair number of people who look up to him. And I suspect, if he was truly a bad dude who was constantly doing questionable things, it would have been easier to convince the council he was up to no good. (If you discount their blatant stupidity in ME2 that is)

I like to think he's like Vader, and if you are strong enough, you can redeem him in the end.

 

[Valkyrie101]

Brutal and ruthless, and anti-human, but still on the right side, no matter what it took, until he was enslaved by the Reapers.

 

[Woodsey]

Good intentions, poor execution.

At least he redeemed himself with a little of Shepard's persuasion.

 

[Rarhnor]

I always sided a bit with Saren, myself. Sad to see him being presented as an ALLtime badguy (especially in the Kasumi DLC). So I pretty much agree with 'meganmeave'.

 

[DustyDrB]

He was a tool in more ways than one.

 

[Awake-]

I should've included a poll. Oh well, I wouldn't know what options to put anyway.

 

[Loonerinoes]

Well...given the fact that I was able to convince him towards suicide in the end...I won't remember him as a necessarily evil character. Just...misguided. He genuinely believed that the Reapers would spare sentients in their current form if they could adapt towards a more machine-like ruthless mindset.

But the truth turned out to be that they wouldn't. Because the Reapers are not only machines in the end anyway. They'd just accept their fate of being turned into Reaper bio-mechanical constructs that much easier.

What is it that they say about cynics? People who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

It's my understanding that reading the prequel novel does a good job of removing any and all sympathy people tend to feel for him. I've yet to get past the first chapter, though.

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... human.

....sorry.

OT: Honestly, he was awesome. Whether or not you view him as a hero or villain or anything in between, there's no denying he was awesome.

 

[Awake-]

At least he redeemed himself with a little of Shepard's persuasion.

Redeeming yourself is fixing your mistakes, not blowing your fucking brains off. Though for Saren, fixing what he made wasn't much of an option?

Saren? Generic evil bad guy who turns out to be the generic evil minion. Maybe with a bit of a personality.

But yeah, don't tell me you looked at him while throwing a hissy fit and RAARGH-ing like a stupid lunatic in the first part of the game and actually saw any semblance of DEPTH to that character.

Not unless he can reverse time.

Anyway, I like having a primary villian in games, and was a little sad that ME2 didn't have one. Collectors, Cerberus and TIM doesn't count of course. And no, neither does Harbinger. Who is full of one-li.. "Assuming direct control.".

It's my understanding that reading the prequel novel does a good job of removing any and all sympathy people tend to feel for him. I've yet to get past the first chapter, though.

Hmm, all I know is that he tortured some guy and killed him after he got the information. But apparently the unlucky guy was an ass.

 

[MakeLoveNotWar]

Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... human.

....sorry.

OT: Honestly, he was awesome. Whether or not you view him as a hero or villain or anything in between, there's no denying he was awesome.

Actually I agree with you, he had the most 'human' emotion, as such, and I felt I could relate to him. I actually did cry when he killed himself..

 

[L4hlborg]

Good intentions, poor execution.

At least he redeemed himself with a little of Shepard's persuasion.

Didn't redeem himself well enough since his upgrades come back to life, fire rockets and annoying tech and he regens his ridiculously huge shields because of a cut scene.

Failing to actually kill himself properly took away all the possible respect I could have had for him.

 

[kurupt87]

It's my understanding that reading the prequel novel does a good job of removing any and all sympathy people tend to feel for him. I've yet to get past the first chapter, though.

This is very true. In the games he comes across as a, well like you have said, renegade Sheperd who turns out to be a victim. The book lets you know he's a dickhead, this opinion given because I am human.

Also will state that my favourite ME scene was having "that chat" with Sovereign, since the OP brought that up.

 

[Jenova65]

As PP's have said Saren, though anti-human wasn't a 'bad guy', he was brainwashed, I feel bad that even though you can help him find redemption you can't 'save him', iyswim?

 

[Thunderhorse31]

I will remember his two rules.

Rule #1: Never kill someone for no reason.
Rule #2: You can always find a reason to kill someone.

 

[Axolotl]

All I remember about him was a generic evil villan. He didn't seem to have mush of a personality beyond that.

 

[phenity]

I will remember him as the guy who got stuck on a pillar, immobilizing himself so that I could snipe him to death with no challenge.

Stupid Mass Effect 1 glitches...

Personality wise, he was cold, cruel, ruthless, and highly skilled, and the perfect villain.