My Favourite Characters - Urdnot Wrex

Okay, starting to run low on Mass Effect characters that i'll feature in this series, but we're not quite done yet. Next up is Urdnot Wrex, the ageing Krogan bounty hunter who joins your team and though is not easy to get along with, eventually will become one of your most trusted and liked members, so let's take a look at that character arc now shall we?

In Mass Effect, Wrex has all but given up on his species, they're an endangered race but are so idiotic, selfish and constantly angry that no one is doing a damn thing about it. Wrex wants to help but has no power in doing so, he's not smart enough, doesn't have a large following and all he knows how to do is fire a gun, yes he's really good at firing that gun but it doesn't help him in the long run. Because of this Wrex has given up, he no longer cares about his species or his cause, or at the very least he's in denial about it, so he now sells his one good skill as a bounty hunter to get by, that is until he's recruited by Commander Shepard to join his team and his cause. Now even though Wrex his a little wiser than your average Krogan, he's still a Krogan, he's aggressive, impatient, selfish, arrogant and prefers to solve his problems with violence rather than with democracy. Shepard of course is the one to start planting the seeds of change, showing Wrex compassion, friendship and understanding, but also standing up to him and not showing fear, the perfect blend between dominant leader and compassionate ally.

This all comes to a head on the Virmire mission, the villain of the game Saren is cloning Krogans, saving the species, doing exactly what Wrex wanted, which of course leads to conflict between him and Shepard. If you play your cards right then you can convince Wrex that this is not actually his dream and the Krogan clones would just be slaves and the last thing Wrex wants is for his species to be manipulated again, that's what got them into this mess in the first place. But if you don't convince him them he dies right here, story over, but if that does happen then you're missing out on one hell of a story. But really this is where Wrex's arc ends for this game, halfway through, you've earned his trust and respect and he's now fully committed to your cause so let's skip ahead to Mass Effect 2.

In the second game, whenever encountering your old crew members (Keep in mind you've been dead for 2 years) they often react with shock, distrust, anger or curiosity, most of them wondering where you've been, why you're working with a group that is labelled as a terrorist organisation or even if you're still you. Wrex gives you a hug. In this instalment Wrex has finally achieved a position of power on the Krogan homeworld of Tuchanka, a strange development seeing as Krogan have no hierarchy of power, it's usually every man for himself unless you're part of a clan, Wrex it seems has been able to unite dozens of clans under his rule for the greater good, achieving something no Krogan had before and starting the stepping stones to saving his race. So when you first show up, Wrex puts aside all of his business and duties all for the sake of seeing his old friend. Granted not much is done with Wrex in this game seeing as he's not a major character, he's mostly there to give you exposition on the Krogan culture and to give you information for your next mission, but this is all the building blocks for the next game.

Mass Effect 3, Wrex is now the unified leader of the entire Krogan species, and now with his new partner Eve (A Female Krogan) they convince Shepard and the council that the only way to get their help in the war against the Reapers is to end the genophage, cure his species of their sterilisation so they can thrive like they once did. So Wrex not only united the most aggressive and selfish species in the universe, but he was able to cure them of the thing that has brought them into such universal poverty. But more than that, again, is the friendship between Shepard and Wrex "You've been a champion to the Krogan people, a friend of Clan Urdnot, and a brother to me". A duo that at first didn't like or respect each other and at one point even had guns pointing at each others faces have made it to this point, becoming one of the best friendships in the galaxy, a bromance if you will. Wrex trusts you more than he trusts his own family, he likes you more than his own species and will gladly die by your side as long as he goes down fighting.

Wrex is a badass through and through, but it's his friendship with Shepard and the amount of care he puts into saving his species, a species that he had all but given up on that makes him so interesting to watch and see him grow over the games, going from an ageing and ambivalent bounty hunter to the worthy leader of the most dangerous species in the galaxy.

-Danny