Everything We Know About Alien Races in Mass Effect: Andromeda

So far BioWare have kept their cards firmly close to their chests in regard to a lot of the story and the characters in Mass Effect: Andromeda. This is of course a good thing, because as fans we yearn to be surprised in such a story heavy franchise.

Of course BioWare remaining tight lipped allows fans to speculate and wonder what’s next for the series, who the new alien species are, and if there will be any familiar races and threats that will return in from the previous entries of the series.

So far BioWare have announced two brand new species of alien to the Mass Effect series, and they are now known as the Angara and the Kett

The Angara

The Angara are a native species to the Andromeda galaxy, and not much is known about them yet but it is assumed they are mostly on friendly terms with the crew.

The character in the above image has been confirmed as Jaarl as advertised on the the Funko Pops Toys website.

BioWare have teased that at least one member of the Andromeda galaxy will eventually become a squad member, so maybe one could speculate that Jaarl will eventually join the Ryder twins crew.

The Kett

The Kett are looking likely to be the crews most common foes in the game, and are another species that are native to the Andromeda galaxy. The Archon is the character in the above image, and if the trailers are anything to go by he is positioned to be the main antagonist and the leader of the Kett species. It has been speculated that they are looking to take control of something known as Remnant technology.

Although you could be forgiven for thinking that they may not stay completely antagonistic for the entirety of the game — art Director Joel MacMillan said in an interview:

“We have a lot of stories we want to tell with the race, so despite how foreboding or scary they are, you still want opportunities to show them in an empathetic way.”

So it is quite possible that the Kett aren’t the real threat in Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Speculation and Rumors 

There has been a lot of speculation and expectation from fans ever since BioWare released the trailers for the game. Fans have been trying to analyze every second of the released to footage in order to try and decipher as much information as possible.

Who Are The Remnants?

There has been a lot of curiosity and speculation in regard to The Remnants, and who they may be and what kind of advanced species could create such powerful technology. Techn that The Kett are so determined to use for themselves. After watching the trailers I scoured the internet for as many theories as I possibly could as well as coming up with a few my own.

The Protheans

There is a chance that the long forgotten alien race known now as The Remnants could be The Protheans, who may have possibly migrated to the Andromeda galaxy during one of the Reaper invasion cycles.

Adding to the rumors, the trailer also unveiled some technology that looked quite similar to the Prothean monoliths in Mass Effect 3.

The Monolith In The Trailer

The Prothean Technology

They are not an exact match but the similarities were enough to get some fans excited. In all likelihood though it is probably coincidental and an art design choice.

Mass Effect’s artwork is heavily influenced by Syd Mead which was once confirmed in an interview with Darkhorse. Syd Mead’s art designs were also responsible for the art designs in films like Blade Runner, Alien and Tron.

Here is one example of Mead’s work that holds a lot comparison to the monoliths shown above:

So with Syd Meads art style and obvious influences in mind, I’m more inclined to lean toward the similarities being purely coincidental.

The Leviathan 

The aquatic based species, The Leviathan are one of the most ancient known species in the Mass Effect universe, they also consider themselves to be the galaxy’s apex race. One of the remaining few of the Leviathan encountered by Shepard suggested to him in Mass Effect 3 that they are still “hiding in the dark corners of the galaxy.” So it’s quite possible that their advanced technology, dominance and mind control reached as far as the Andromeda galaxy.

The species are also shown to be powerful enough to destroy The Reapers when they killed the Leviathan of Dis, so if enough of the species left for other galaxies it quite possible that they became the Apex race there too.

One of the creatures in the trailer in the image below does share some similarities to The Leviathan:

Although there are differences It’s quite possible the creature in the above image is some form of advanced or evolved form of The Leviathan, it also looks very aquatic in nature with its squid-like form.

A possible reference — but most likely a coincidence — that sprung to my mind was the link between the names of Andromeda and Leviathan. In Greek Mythology the hero Perseus needed to save Andromeda from a giant squid type of monster known as both The Kraken and The Leviathan — could this be an analogy for the new games story?

There are a lot of possibilities of where Mass Effect: Andromeda could go next, and while it’s capable of bringing in old threats from the original trilogy BioWare would need to be careful not to tread on too much old ground and rehash the original series. But as they have shown time and time again BioWare are synonymous for their great storytelling and I’m sure that the fans of the series have a lot to look forward to.