My Favourite Characters - Tali

Yes I know I just did a Mass Effect post a few days ago but I really wanted to talk about it some more. I've already talked about some other characters in Mass Effect in this series (Thane, Legion, Grunt) but I haven't ever touched upon any of the big three, so here we go. Tali Zorah Vas Normandy is a young Quarian who is a skilled engineer, after helping Shepard in the fight against Saren she raises through the ranks of her people and goes from the shy young daughter of an admiral, to a respectable and fair admiral in her own right. Tali is often considered to be one of the best characters in Mass Effect, and at first, i didn't see why, I mean i loved her just as much as everyone else, but even then i didn't understand what it was about her that made her so appealing. But the more i thought about it, I soon realised that out of all of the Mass Effect crew, she is the one with the most development.

In the first Mass Effect game, she is a young adult on her pilgrimage, where young Quarians travel the galaxy to find their place in the world, after accidentally uncovering some dangerous information, her fellow Quarians are killed and she is mortally wounded, but that doesn't stop her from continuing to try and help prevent a disaster, even though the rest of the galaxy see Quarians as a lower life form. As I talked about in a prior post, the Quarians are not a very respected species, they created one of the most dangerous cybernetic species in the galaxy and are seen as scavengers, thieves, rats. So here we have a young girl, injured, alone in a strange place where no one will help her, criminals trying to find and kill her and yet she never stops moving, she is determined to find someone who will help, and low and behold, she meets Commander Shepard, who saves her life and then takes her under their wing. From then on, Tali has a place, she has a home and she has teammates who trust her and care about her, they protect her and she protects them.

Then we get to Mass Effect 2, several years later, Tali has now grown as a fighter and has been put in her own role of leadership, she has the respect she deserves, except from her own people. Her father breaks the law and as a result, multiple Quarian are killed and his family name is dragged through the mud, bringing Tali along with it. Tali and Shepard investigate and discover her father's recklessness is at fault, and even though the choice lies with Shepard, Tali's instant reaction is to take the fall for him, let him die a legacy and have Tali be the one to blame. Her instant reaction is protect those close to her, she doesn't care for her own name.

Then we get to Mass Effect 3, Tali is now an admiral in the Quarian fleet, an experienced warrior and an intelligent leader. While she may have been under Shepard's wing for the first two games and admired them from afar, she's reached that point where she can take charge on her own and be the ambassador for her people. So in the course of three games we see this shy, young, timid girl who was willing to go the extra mile become an admiral and ambassador for her people. She may not be the most experienced fighter, but she's a genius, she may not be respected amongst her peers but she is still caring, she starts off not knowing what her purpose is in the universe, and by the end it's clear. Tali has one of the best and most clear arcs in the franchise.

But there's more to her than that, in recent years, there has been a certain trend of characters growing amongst fiction that is usually defined as "adorkable" where characters (usually female) are cute and kind, but also have that element of goofiness and nerdiness that makes them appealing to all demographics. To put it simply, them being uncool makes them cool. And unlike most adorkable characters, there's nothing obnoxious about Tali being adorkable, she makes mistakes but they're never emphasised, she's really smart, but is never made fun of for it. Amongst the Normandy crew, she's just seen as a fellow crewmember, she's good at her job, has a moral compass guiding her, that's all she needs and that's what's given the focus on, not how "adorkable" she is. Though I will admit, it's always hilarious seeing Tali get drunk.

But then there is the love interest element of Tali. Personally, I never romanced Tali, I always saw her as Shepard's little sister rather than a love interest, but a lot of people like her as their romance when playing the game, and there is a very personal element to it. Tali is always wearing a mask, always wearing a body suit, and though she does have an appealing body and a cute tush, for all we know she could have huge blemishes and scars under it all...but i doubt most people view her that way. But even then, because this physical element is removed, there is more emphasis on her personality rather than physical attraction, the physical attraction isn't removed entirely, but has far less emphasis than some other characters in the series. And for some people that is an appealing relationship, the idea of you being the mentor, the guardian, Tali even says it herself that Shepard shows up like a knight on a white horse to save her. While some might see that as cliched, others see it as endearing and let's face it, it's not inaccurate. But what makes it work is that there is clear development in it, whether you romance her or not, Shepard is still a mentor to her and she does clearly have feeling for him, but like a mentor role should be, he does help her grow and learn, so by the third game, the relationship is on much more even grounds and she's clearly come into her own.

So considering all of this, it's not hard to see why Tali is a fan favourite, she has a great arc, a loveable personality and the relationship between her and Shepard, romantic or not, is a very endearing and believable relationship. She's a great character from a great series. Keelah Si'lai.

-Danny