The initial Mass Effect trilogy — an action-adventure RPG series from Bioware — took place in the Milky Way. Gamers couldn’t leave the galaxy, but there was plenty to keep them busy at home, anyway. Galactic politics are no cake-walk, and the long, sordid in-game history of the Milky Way is worrisome at best.
The sentient races who have achieved space travel are divided into those who have aligned with the Citadel Council, the center of galactic government run by the Asari, Turians, and Salarians, and those who have not. Most races with any diplomatic sense and of significant population size have joined the Council. This is your refresher course on the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Humans
Humanity had only known of the Council’s existence for just under 30 years by the time of the first Mass Effect game in 2183 CE. They had been rapidly developing their technology and exploring mass relays for some time since the late 21st century.
In the games, it’s detailed that Earth has a population of 11.4 billion, with another 250,000 people on space stations controlled by humanity. Fans estimate that there may be another billion spread out among various colonies, ships, and other stations, but most agree that humans cannot number more than 15 billion people.
Asari
Asari are one of the oldest races in the galaxy and, as a result, are thought by many to be the most elegant, influential, well-respected, and diplomatic species. They are mono-gendered, so the entire race presents as female (though they may have their own unique pronoun preferences).
Asari live extraordinarily long lives, but that doesn’t mean their population is huge — most Asari (who live to mate) only have two or three children. Their home planet is estimated to house 5.5 billion people. The Asari were one of the earliest space-faring species, so there may be more Asari off-world, but fans estimate there are no more than 10 billion Asari in the galaxy.
Drell
The Drell are a seldom-seen reptile species in Mass Effect. Their homeworld, Rakhana, was disastrously overpopulated and they were doomed to die out — until the Hanar found their planet in the 1980s CE and took pity on them.
There aren’t many Drell in the world. The Hanar could only bring 375,000 Drell to the Hanar homeworld. Though the Drell population has surely recovered since then, a lack of their own homeworld would make this difficult. There are probably less than a billion Drell in the Galaxy.
Elcor
Elcor are a slow-moving species because their homeworld has such high gravity that even a small fall can be fatal. They do have facial expressions, but most other races cannot understand them because they are so slight and small (not to mention their unfamiliar face shape and layout).
The Elcor homeworld, Dekuuna, is said to have a population of 2.35 billion on it. It’s assumed that there aren’t many more Elcor than this out and about in the Galaxy; Shepard doesn’t spy many Elcor in their travels, and they’re known to highly value close-knit family relationships.
Hanar
The Hanar are a race of jellyfish-like, genderless invertebrates which live underwater. They can only exist in normal gravity environments with the help of mass effect fields that support and levitate them.
Kahje, the Hanar homeworld, is 90% water, making it difficult for other races to visit much. Thus, their total population is a mystery. It’s suggested that they probably number between 5 and 10 billion, but it’s difficult to be sure.
Keepers
The keepers are a bug-like race that live on the Citadel. They were discovered when the Asari first found the Citadel, and seemed to be workers made for the purpose of maintaining the station. It’s later revealed that they are actually under Reaper control, and are meant to keep the Station attractive for sentient life to settle on. All of them are indoctrinated by the Reapers.
It’s unclear to the player how many Keepers are on the Citadel, but to maintain a station of that size, fans assume there must be thousands, at least! In the first Mass Effect game, there are 21 Keepers that Shepard can find across the Citadel while gathering research for a scientist.
Turians
The Turian culture is militaristic and disciplined. Turians do mandatory military and public service; they and their ships make up a huge portion of the Citadel Fleet. They have a poor relationship with humans due to the First Contact War when the two races fought one another.
The Turian homeworld, Palaven, is said to have a population of 6.1 billion, with another 350,000 people on stations that orbit the planet. However, with such a heavy military spread out across the galaxy, it’s safe to assume there are a lot more Turians out there. Many fans find it hard to believe there are fewer Turians than Humans, and that the two races must at least be at the same population level.
Volus
The Volus are a short, stout race of merchants and traders. They’ve carved out a niche of trading and economic expertise since they cannot compete with other races. Many Volus are bitter that there is not a Volus representative on the Citadel Council, considering how important their race is to the economy.
The Volus homeworld is Irune, a planet where the ecology is ammonia-based and other races cannot breathe. The population there is 8.8 billion, and many other Volus are spread out on trading routes throughout the galaxy. Fans estimate that they number around 10 billion.
Batarians
The Batarians are a four-eyed species that hasn’t officially signed on to the Citadel Council’s rules. They’re not viewed highly by most other races because they often form pirate gangs and slavery is still legal on their homeworld, Khar’shan.
Since Khar’shan is not a Citadel planet, the population numbers come directly from the Batarian government propaganda. They’d suggest that the world has a 15 billion population and an economy as good as, or better than, the Asari. However many people do live on Khar’shan, the Batarian population is probably much larger, given how many of them choose to be mercenaries, pirates, or slavers off-world.
Collectors
The Collectors appear in Mass Effect as servants of the Reapers, but have been around long before the trilogy began. They were thought by some to be a myth, but they did appear every once in a while to trade their advanced technology. In return for their tech, they are known to ask for living beings.
Due to these seldom and ominous appearances, it’s not clear how many Collectors actually exist. However, there’s definitely enough to start attacking Shepard in Mass Effect 2.
Salarians
Salarians are an amphibious race that are known to be “fast” talkers, thinkers, and movers by the standards of other species; this is justified in-game by their hyperactive metabolism. It’s even noted that they find other races to be very slow and dull.
Sur’Kesh is the Salarian homeworld, and it’s crawling with gorgeous jungles. The population, between surface settlements and orbiting space stations, is 11.4 billion. Salarians, like the Asari, were one of the first races to discover space travel, so they’re bound to be spread across the galaxy. Many fans think there might be as many as 20 billion Salarians out there.
Geth
The Geth are a synthetic race of machines. They were created by Quarians as helper bots, but began to gain sentience and rose up against their masters. The Geth aren’t attached to their bodies — they abandon them and switch between them as they need to; one body holds a few hundred at a time, to help make decisions.
It’s not clear how many Geth existed when they almost wiped out the Quarians, and how quickly they might have created new Geth since then. However, fans estimate that the Geth fleet holds between 5 and 10 thousand ships, so the number of Geth is probably at least in the millions.
Krogan
The Krogan are a race of hard-headed (literally) reptilian humanoids. Their tribal culture and harsh nature led to their expansion onto other races’ colonies, and war eventually broke out between the Citadel and the Krogan. It ended when the Turian released the Genophage, a biological weapon that limited their ability to repopulate the species.
The population of the Krogan homeworld, Tuchanka, was severely hurt by the Genophage. During the Mass Effect trilogy, years later, it sits at only 2.1 billion Krogans, with another 2,400 in battle stations orbiting the planet. Krogan men often work as mercenaries off-world, but women don’t usually leave Tuchanka since they focus so heavily on reproduction. Thus, there aren’t many Krogan families beyond Tuchanka — 2 to 3 billion is a reasonable estimate for their galaxy-wide population.
Quarians
Quarians are a humanoid race who wear environmental suits to protect themselves from diseases, injuries, and other viruses or contagions. They took a huge blow when the Geth War broke out, and the entire Quarian population now resides on the Migrant Fleet, a group of Quarian ships that nomadically travel through space.
They used to control between 6 and 8 planets, but after their war with the Geth, they were almost entirely wiped out. Fans who have done the math say that the Geth killed 99% of the population of Quarians; they say that there were around 10 billion Quarians before the war with the Geth. Tali says that the Fleet has 17 million Quarians living there. Not many of their species leave the Fleet for long periods of time, so 17 million is probably a good estimate of their entire population.
Yahg
The Yahg are a humanoid race known, like the Krogans, to be aggressive and violent. However, unlike the Krogans, Yahg were banned from entering Citadel Space after the Citadel first came in contact with them (and the Yahg subsequently slaughtered the Citadel’s delegates).
As a result of their brutal history, the Yahg’s population numbers are unknown. Races that engage with the Council seldom (if ever) visit the Yahg homeworld of Parnack, and the Yahg seem happy to be left alone. The only Yahg to be seen in the trilogy is the Shadow Broker.
Reapers
The Reapers are a race of starships, made partially organically and partially mechanically. Between their active periods, they just float around in “dark space” (the empty areas between galaxies). Over countless years, the Reapers have allowed sentient life to evolve into space travel and then have harvested them and destroyed their civilizations, only to allow life to evolve all over again.
Mass Effect fans often debate online how many Reapers there actually are — the games provide few clues, only detailing that three are four new reapers are made each cycle. The best guesses place their numbers at least at 20,000, and realistically closer to a million by the time of Mass Effect 3.
Vorcha
Vorcha are unique in Mass Effect for several reasons. First, they’re a primitive race that tends to cluster in seedy parts of the galaxy. Second, they have a unique biology that allows them to adapt easily to different environments. The other races tend to see them as a nuisance.
Their homeworld is called Heshtok, where no centralized government exists. As a result, Vorcha populations are hard to measure. However, Citadel research has been able to estimate that somewhere between 6 and 9.3 billion Vorcha live there. Since so many Vorcha go off-world, their real population could be anywhere between 6 and 15 billion.
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