Die-hard fans of the Mass Effect franchise can tell other gamers all about the lore. From the Krogan genocide to the Rachni Wars and even the Leviathans, many know about the big historical happenings of the universe.
But even some fans don’t know the inspiration behind why Quarians wear suits. Or why the Asari are blue. Similarly, the Turians hide plenty of secrets of their own when it comes to lore, their culture, and more.
By all scientific metrics, the Turian home planet Palaven should be sterile. But, ever stubborn, the Turians evolved anyway to gain intergalactic military supremacy. While reading, keep this phrase in mind: “If you want to win a battle call the Krogans, if you want to win a war call the Turians.”
15 Their Home Planet Wants To Kill Them
Palaven atmosphere is similar to Earth’s with 1.1 vs. 1 atmosphere of pressure and 1.1 g vs. 1 g of gravity. The planet’s mass is 2.248x Earth’s mass despite not having a heavily metallic core. This magnetosphere protects Earth from harmful solar winds and radiation, but Palaven doesn’t have that and thus has a weaker magnetic field. That’s why the development of intelligent life is interesting.
In order to combat more effects from radiation, biological entities developed ways of coping. For instance, plants repair themselves at night after taking sun damage during the day. For the Turians, they developed that harder and metallic outer shell. Their metallic carapace reflects damaging effects and contains trace amounts of a mineral known as Thulium.
Palaven has a climate similar to Earth’s with many of the biomes being almost tropical and humid. But humans are advised not to go outside without their suits while on Palaven. The human body cannot handle the radiation levels on Palaven as the Turians have evolved to.
14 But That’s Okay - They Have Dozens Of Worlds
Since their development is farther along than humanity’s, Turians have settled more planets similar to the Asari and Salarians. Their homeworld is Palaven with the moon Menae, but their entire number of planets or colonies under Turian control is almost 30.
Since the Turians differ from humans in their physiology, these worlds favor dextro-amino-acid-based lifeforms like them. But a number of these worlds were not easy to colonize or even worth doing so. Gellix, for instance, wasn’t even habitable for Turians from a chemical base, but they just had to take it from the Krogans.
13 Turian Physiology Relates To Dinosaurs And Birds
Turians, on average, are over six feet tall with two very long tarsal bones that act as balancing toes for their feet. This might look familiar to some bipedal (and often carnivorous) dinosaurs found in Earth’s history such as the raptor. But their legs bear more resemblance to something like an Ostrich which may still be related to dinosaurs.
Their large chests house bigger lungs to better extract oxygen. Turians also possess talon-like claw-fingers instead of hands with five fingers like humans. Their heads show off the carapace most with mandibles and tons of insanely sharp teeth.
A couple of features are like predators including regrowing damaged teeth and having front-facing eyes. But then they have ear holes like birds instead of dedicated ears like humans or horses. Males feature crests and spikes while females don’t have this — another connection to birds. They are also hairless.
Turian eyes need to be smaller than a human’s to prevent damage. The solar radiation could cause severe issues like glaucoma within minutes for many humans. To combat this, Turians developed smaller eyes with darker colors and the carapace acts as visors of sorts.
12 They Use Different Amino Acids Than Humans
Turians cannot consume the same types of proteins that humans can. Since we developed differently from a genetic level, Turians utilize different amino acids than humans.
Instead of using Levo-amino acids like Humans and Asari, both Quarians and Turians use dextro-amino acids. That means that some meat we eat might poison Turians.
Their blue blood uses copper as a base instead of iron (hence the color difference). But this basic difference explains why their chests are so large. Turians need bigger lungs to be more efficient at using oxygen as copper does not bond as well to oxygen as iron does.
11 How Do Turians Reproduce?
Like humans, Turians are viviparous in that they don’t lay eggs. Instead, they gestate their young and then give birth to live young after the gestation period. But Turians fetuses don’t use umbilical cords. They use yokes much like birds do with their eggs. Nutrients from that yoke or sac will feed the fetus. Gestation takes 11 months vs. 9 months for humans.
Though born with all of their teeth, parents usually chew a baby’s first meals for them. This allows mothers to transfer antibodies to the young without milk like mammals. The life expectancy for Turians is similar to that of humans.
10 Turians Eat Rocks
In-game lore suggests that Turians possess gizzards like birds do on Earth. Fans know this because of cultural proverbs about “polishing gizzards.” They also likely have features similar to “gizzards” or the thick-walled muscle-y part of a bird’s stomach.
Like birds, Turians eat rocks in order to better digest certain foods. That still doesn’t mean that they should east Human or Asari food. It could cause an allergic reaction or even death. Besides these couple of facts, not much else is known about the Turian diet.
9 Turian Culture
Turian culture is honor-bound to the extreme almost, but not without structure. Unlike the Krogan who find honor in aggression, the Turians find honor in duty. There is such a focus on structural hierarchy, order, and military service that some Turians (like Garrus) can feel cloistered by it. Their commitment to duty contributed to why the First Contact War accelerated as exponentially as it did.
27 levels of citizenship with the government known as the “Hierarchy.” A Turian can only be deemed a full citizen after completing boot camp from age 15 to 16. Primarchs lead colonial clusters and individuals can receive promotions and demotions from each cultural tier.
8 Turian Economy
With such a focus on military, duty, and service, the Turians lack a bit when it comes to trading, mercantilism, and enterprises. In fact, many Turians don’t pursue entrepreneurial careers because it simply isn’t a viable option. As such, the Turian economy languishes outside military-focused sectors.
The society has come to depend greatly on other species such as the Volus in these matters. Known for intergalactic trading both legitimate and suspicious, the Volus continue to work with Turians. This may also explain why C-Sec is so prone to corruption.
7 The Unification War
Turian facial markings came out of a Civil War in 2500 BCE during the Unification War in Turian society. Separate societies grew resentful of each other after leaving the Hierarchy. Different facials marking correlated to different sects and colonies. The Hierarchy did not intervene until several years later when the colonies warred with each other.
Despite unifying, many Turians still bear the markings of their home colonies. As with those who carry animosity from the First Contact War, some Turians carry animosity from this war, too.
6 Motivation For Participation In The Krogan Genophage
The genophage caused untold devastation to generations of Krogans. Like the Salarians, the Turians played a key role in the dispersal of the virus that caused sterility in the species. But even before genophage development, the Turians acted as the main strike force against Krogan rebellions.
In fact, the Council only encountered Turians at all thanks to their declaration of war with the Krogans. Unfortunately, the Krogans acted ruthlessly, dropping space stations and celestial bodies onto Turian planets. In kind, the Turians didn’t think twice about a sterility virus when they had the option.
5 There Have Been Several Turian Spectres That We Know Of
While Shepard makes history as the first human Spectre, Turians have been part of their ranks for a long time. To date, fans know about four Turian Spectres: Lonar Maerun, Saren Arterius, Nihlus Kryik, and Avitus Rix.
Given the society’s strong focus on military service, discipline, and duty, they make natural fits for this position. Of course, operating without “red tape” may or may not suit the individual Turian’s sensibilities.
4 Turian Navy
The Turians have a long and storied military history, but their crown jewel is their space navy. Appointed as the Citadel’s main force after the Krogan uprising and genophage genocide, the Turian Navy is truly fearsome. They have at least 32 fleets with more dreadnoughts than any other military group.
Biotics are not popular among the military, but groups of 10 - 15 elite soldiers work together under “Cabalim” commanders. Not all of the Turian military groups operate within morally defensible guidelines. The execution squads known as “hastatim” get dispatched where this is too much civil unrest during a conflict.
3 Turian Religion
So long as it does not conflict with military or societal duties, Turians can practice any religion. While some flock to Buddhism or Confucianism, others practice the Asari religion instead. But overall, there is a set of spiritual beliefs that can be found throughout Turian society.
One is that there is a group of “collective spirits” contained within forests, military units, or even cities. These transcend any one person and can be called to with prayer or ritual for guidance. But another older religion also exists — one that believed in ancient Titans on Palaven. A great temple dedicated to these Titans still exists on Palaven as led by the Veluvian Priests.
Garrus Comes From A Storied Family
2 The Kandros Family Has Several Members Appear Throughout The Series
Nyreen was not only the first featured female Turian in the series, but she was also rumored to be Aria’s former flame. Moreover, she bears some relation to the Turian Tiran Kandros, as well as Admiral Ravis Kandros from the graphic novels.
In Mass Effect: Andromeda, Tiran gives out missions on the Nexus as the security team leader. Kandros, but like Vakarian, is a famous name in Turian history – one that carries strong military history with it. Perhaps Tiran wanted to escape that pressure as Nyreen did, so he joined the Initiative.
1 Saren Arterius’ Brother Was A Turian General
As revealed in Mass Effect: Evolution, Saren had a brother who wasn’t just any Turian. Desolas had an incredible military record as a famous Turian military commander.
He appears as the chief antagonist to a pre-Illusive Man Jack Harper around the era of the First Contact War fallout. Like Saren, Desolas could be very charismatic when he needed to be in order to motivate troops. But he never went so far as being indoctrinated (as far as fans know).
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