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

[Amnestic]

I've read Mass Effect: Revelations.

Best summed up as "Renegade Incarnate" I think. The dude is batshit crazy though. His willingness to torture people for hours on end is more than a little disturbing. His hatred for humanity can be somewhat explained by the fact that his brother died during the First Contact War, but jeebus, it doesn't explain everything.

He is one skilled guy though. Turian Military joined at 16, became a Spectre four years later.

 

[Yarpie]

I'd say Saren became more respectable after coming into contact with Sovereign, because that was when he actually begun caring about the galaxy as a whole. Anyone who has read Revelation knows how incredibly cruel he was while working as a specter. The "interrogation" scene with the batarian actually made me cringe and his ruthlessness during the mission he and Anderson undertook is just unacceptable, as well as the "hospital incident". Although you gotta love his two rules:

Rule Nr. 1: Never kill anyone without a reason.
Rule Nr. 2: There is always a reason to kill someone.

I will probably remember him as a coldhearted and ruthless operative with a fair amount of self denial (Again, I think when he thinks to himself "After all, he wasn't a monster." in Revelation speaks for itself). However, his ability to see the bigger picture has to be commended. He was cruel, but not stupid.

(Oh, and I'd suggest anyone with a passing interest in Mass Effect to get a hold of Revelation, it's a might fine book!)

 

[Broken Orange]

A good villain, in my opinion, is one who believes that they are doing the right thing.

Example: Magneto of X-men fame. He wants mutants to rise above prosecution and become what they deserve to be.

Spoiler: Mass Effect 2 Spoilers

As the Collector base is getting blown up/microwaved (depending on your choices), we see the collector general in a pitiful form as Harbinger releases control. The Collectors were a victim, despite being the antagonist of the game. Same as the Geth, the non-heritics don't want violence with the Quarians, they just want to be left alone.

Saren's initial goal might have been to put humans in their place, as seen in the novel "Revelation", he eventually wanted to try to save the galaxy, in his "ends justify the means" way.

 

[L3m0n_L1m3]

I'll remember him as being one of the coolest looking characters in the game, and that I really wish there was a way to get him to join my team since that would be badass.

 

[DSK-]

I'll remember him having the loudest EVER sounding pistol shot in the history of videogames. I mean how far away were you when he shot that *person*?

 

[voetballeeuw]

Someone that I killed

 

[Danzaivar]

On the surface he was a calm and collected villain oozing charisma and with a lively enough personality to come across and sympathetic at points.

Deep down he was a snivelling coward.

 

[SeriousSquirrel]

He fits into this weird group of villains who, while somewhat important to a series's lore, is forgotten quickly. Has anyone else noticed these guys? The gang leaders from the original Saints Row fall into this category too.

Anyways:

I'll remember him as a pretentious figure, who fancied himself a deity. Certainly a good and charasmatic leader, and a great warrior, but a somewhat insignifigant figure in the grand scheme of things. Kind of like frost from the original Blade

 

[Dr. Paine]

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?

If you read the book, you find out that he is, in fact, a GIANT douche, even before being indoctrinated. And a racist.

Hell yes.

I was actually amazed at just how much of a freaking jackass he was in the book, I only regret they don't give you some form of a 'to the pain' option in ME1 now. Guy deserves torture.

He was never a tragic hero.
He was never a 'well intentioned extremest'.
He was, in fact, not trying to save the galaxy at all- it was all for personal gain, and damn anyone who stood in the way.

Saren was a complete monster and deserved a painful death, I just make him shoot himself for ease of finishing the game.

Now, the Collector General, I actually felt sorry for it, that has a whole different host of issues.

(Also: I'm Dr. Paine, and the Mass Effect novels are some of my favorite books around. I you have not read them, fix that as soon as humanly possible.)

 

[DustyDrB]

He's a racist asshole with little regard for any non-turian life, was so before indoctrination. That's made clear in Mass Effect: Revelation.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

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.

your no lack of faith is not disturbing...

basically what he said ^ good intentions, bad way to do it, overall not a bad guy just horribly mislead due to indoctrination and whatnot, but he thanks you in the end if you are able to reason with him, so overall i really respect him as a character.

 

[SpireOfFire]

a poor dog that got rabies. it wasnt his fault he got indoctrinated.

 

[smithy_2045]

Brilliantly talented, but with a warped morality that led him to be indoctrinated in the first place.

 

[MassiveGeek]

As one of the coolest, most badass "antagonists" in gaming history.

He's about as cool as Arthas/The Lich King in my eyes.