There are plenty of beloved—and downright hated—characters in the Mass Effect universe that don’t make it out of the story alive, but fans of the franchise agree one character’s death was truly bothersome and didn’t make any sense whatsoever.
The most brutal death in Mass Effect, at least, according to one fan in a Nov. 24 Reddit thread, belongs to everyone’s favorite Krogan mercenary Wrex. In this nostalgic trip down memory lane, fans have shared disappointment at how the scene itself makes no sense at all.
Released back on Nov. 20, 2007, Mass Effect was heralded as a game where your choices mattered in spite of its rather linear story progression. Events on the planet of Virmire became infamous when players learned that at least one of their companions would be sent to an early grave. Wrex is one of these possible casualties and the way he goes out does not sit right with many fans.
We find the Krogan race in a dire situation upon learning more about Mass Effect’s Milky Way. They are almost impossibly infertile thanks to the genetic contamination of their homeworld. On Virmire, Commander Shepard and company discover that the main villain Saren has been working on a cure of sorts. Wrex, understandably, is not so happy when the compound is set to be destroyed.
With enough points in either the Paragon or Renegade conversation trees, Shepard can talk their volatile companion down after having a weapon pointed in their direction. Should Shepard hesitate and fail to relieve the tension, human soldier Ashley Williams takes the situation into her own hands, shooting Wrex in the back before finishing him off.
Unfortunately, the impact that this scene should have is somewhat lessened by the type of weapon Williams brandishes. Simply put, a measly pistol is not fit for the task. “The most unrealistic part of this to me is that a pistol round dropped the living tank,” one fan said in response. They are spot on with that analysis since we see many Krogan survive a lot worse than a simple shot to the back. Hell, we see Wrex survive more than this in future games!
The discourse led to Powerjugs coining the phrase “plot bullets”, mimicking the more commonly known “plot armor”—when a character survives something they probably should not have for the sake of the story. It’s actually genius and is strangely applicable to lots of deaths across the Mass Effect franchise.
I’d imagine the most high-profile of variable death scenarios would come at the end of Mass Effect 2 in the Suicide Mission finale. Anybody and everybody can die from a stray bullet through the door or somehow just walk it off. At least we know what Chekov’s Gun is loaded with now.
