Difference between revisions of "Reaper"

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Those aren't stars in the background.

Warning: this page contains major spoilers for the Mass Effect video game series.

"Reaper: a label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. What they chose to call us is irrelevant."

--Sovereign

The Reapers are a race of sapient starships from Mass Effect. They are responsible for the construction of the Citadel space station and the mass relays integral to transit in the Mass Effect galaxy. Reapers are generally two kilometers long, and their consciousnesses are each composed of thousands of AI programs.

History

"We have no beginning. We have no end. We are infinite."

--Sovereign

The Reapers normally hibernate outside of the galaxy in dark space for tens of thousands of years at a time. Every time a spacefaring race reaches a high enough technology level, the Reapers return to the galaxy through the giant mass relay that is the Citadel to wipe out all advanced civilizations in the galaxy. This cycle has gone on for at least 37 million years. The mass relays are set up to more easily facilitate this process; growing civilizations inevitably become dependent on the relays, and since the Citadel sits at the center of the relay network, it usually becomes the center of the galactic government. When the Reapers return through the Citadel, they quickly take out that government and shut off access to the relay network, throwing the galaxy into disarray. From that point, each civilization is easy to defeat, though total eradication can still take decades. The purpose of these eradications is two-fold:

The Reapers harvest genetic material from a genetically diverse species in order to produce a new Reaper. The "core" of the new Reaper takes the form of the race that supplied the genetic material, and an insectoid shell is put over it. The harvest of advanced races preserves their knowledge, culture, and biological characteristics for the future, making way for less advanced species to grow into interstellar civilizations.
The harvest prevents galactic war between organic races and synthetic races. The Reapers always target races that have begun to develop artificial intelligence technology. The Reapers believe that, left unchecked, such organic-synthetic warfare would inevitably result in the destruction of all organic life.

After each genocide, a single Reaper remains behind as a vanguard to monitor the development of new civilizations and signal the Citadel mass relay to be activated, bringing the whole Reaper fleet. The actual activation is done by the Keepers, a non-sentient race of arthropods that automatically operate and maintain the Citadel. The last race to be wiped out by the Reapers, the Protheans, managed to interrupt the cycle. After the Reapers returned to dark space, a handful of Prothean survivors returned to the Citadel and altered the Keepers' programming. No longer would the Keepers open the Citadel at the signal of a Reaper vanguard; the vanguard would have to physically link up to the Citadel in order to open it. Thus, the next civilization would have a chance of survival that the Protheans and all their predecessors never had. The last Reaper vanguard, Nazara (known as Sovereign to its followers), attempted and failed to open the Citadel, being destroyed in the process thanks to the efforts of the Systems Alliance operative Commander Shepard.

With Nazara's failure, a Reaper called Harbinger implemented a contingency plan. It used the Collectors, a husk strain that the Reapers created from the Protheans, to harvest humans and make a new Reaper, which would be able to summon the other Reapers from Dark Space. Once again, Shepard foiled this plan, destroying the Reaper-human "larva". After this second failure, the whole Reaper fleet mobilized and headed towards the Milky Way galaxy on regular FTL.

The Reapers had a back-up plan for overwhelming the galaxy -- if the vanguard failed to bring the Reaper fleet through the Citadel, the Reapers would head towards the galaxy using normal FTL methods. They would arrive at a relay on the edge of the galaxy, known as the "Alpha Relay", which lay in batarian space. From the Alpha Relay, the Reapers could quickly deploy themselves all over the galaxy, including to the Citadel. Yet again Shepard caught wind of this plan and aided in an effort to slam a giant asteroid into the Alpha Relay, destroying it before the Reapers could use it. The explosion from the relay's destruction wiped out the Aratoht star system as a result. Without a relay to quickly leave the star cluster, the Reapers were forced to continue deploying via regular FTL, delaying their invasion of the galaxy by months. Nonetheless, the Reapers soon arrived in force and began harvesting the more advanced races of the galaxy.

Attributes

"There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own, you cannot even imagine it."

--Sovereign

Each Reaper is a sapient life form controlled by a gestalt artificial intelligence. They are created by melting down millions of selected specimens from an organic species and using their DNA material to embody the species in the Reaper.

A Reaper is actually a gigantic cyborg. A synthetic shell modeled after the first Reaper is constructed around the organic core. The completed Reaper has the following features:

The shell is armored and protected by powerful kinetic barriers.
The Reaper is armed with one or more main guns that fire streams of molten iron-uranium-tungsten alloy accelerated to a significant fraction of c, with a range measured at tens of thousands of kilometers.
They also mount laser defenses for shooting down enemy fighters and missiles.
They also have advanced FTL drives that can sustain speeds of 30 light-years per day (over 10,000c) for an indefinite period of time.
Their power source is unknown, but they have never shown any interest in capturing fuel supplies from targeted systems.

An especially dangerous capability of the Reapers is indoctrination. Reapers produce an energy field that slowly alters the limbic systems of the brains of sapient species. Prolonged exposure to the field will cause those exposed to be controlled by the Reapers unquestioningly. However, the more control a Reaper exerts over its victims, the less competent the victim becomes. Some devices created by Reapers also generate this field, and the body of a dead Reaper can still indoctrinate beings in its vicinity.

There are two major Reaper variants.

Reaper Capital Ship

A Reaper capital ship

A Reaper capital ship (or "Sovereign-class" Reaper) is a two-kilometer-long warship and by far the heavier class of Reaper. A Reaper capital ship's main gun has an estimated firepower between 132 to 454 kilotons (presumed to be peak output per shot). A Reaper capital ship's kinetic barriers can withstand the sustained firepower of two Citadel-race dreadnoughts (about 76 kilotons every 2 seconds) indefinitely, while the sustained fire from three dreadnoughts causes it to show strain, and four dreadnoughts are enough to inflict damage. This suggests that the Reapers have a high recharge rate of their kinetic barriers relative to their full strength. Some Reaper capital ships carry squadrons of Oculus drones, which are used as fighters.

Reaper Destroyer

A Reaper destroyer is a much smaller warship, but it still measures hundreds of meters in length. They are made from the "lesser" races harvested during a cycle, and they have more design similarities than the highly individualized Reaper dreadnoughts.

Other ship types

The Reapers use several non-sapient ship types, which are remotely controlled by sapient Reapers. These include troop transports, which vary between 200 meters and 1 kilometer in length, and processor ships, which are used to harvest DNA material from captured populations.

Reapers of Note

"We are the harbinger of their perfection. Prepare these humans for ascension."

-- Harbinger

Sovereign (Nazara): The vanguard left behind after the last Reaper invasion to initiate the next one at an appropriate time.
Harbinger: The oldest and possibly the most powerful of the Reapers.

Threat Assessment

"You exist because we allow it. You will end because we demand it."

--Sovereign

Reapers are highly advanced technologically compared to other races in Mass Effect. Their kinetic barriers are more powerful than those of other Mass Effect races, and they also seem to have a high recharge rate. Their weapons are also an order of magnitude more powerful than those of the other races. It takes at least four turian dreadnoughts to have a chance of significantly damaging a Reaper, and there are hundreds, possibly thousands, of Reapers. Creating a new Reaper is, however, a prolonged process -- essentially, a whole organic species must be harvested and embodied in a Reaper.

Reaper technology allows them to manipulate the biology of other species, creating armies of mutated and cybernetically augmented slaves collectively known as husks. The abilities of husks vary depending on the species used to create them. Husks can be rapidly produced in large numbers wherever Reapers have established a presence.

Reapers do not seem to require supply lines. They typically destroy fuel and ammunition depots in systems where they gain control, and they only use transports for moving husks from one theatre of operations to another.

The Reapers could be considered a significant threat to the United Federation of Planets, but not nearly as much of one as to the Mass Effect races. The Federation doesn't rely on mass effect technology, meaning that Reaper weapons and strategies are not optimized for fighting them.

They probably would not be very threatening to the Galactic Empire.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Image:Reaper_fleet.png|thumb|right|400px|Those aren't stars in the background.]]
-The [[Reaper]]s, known by the geth as the '''Old Machines''', are a highly advanced machine [[race]]. Although rumoured to have existed fifty thousand years ago, and perhaps much longer than that, no archaeological evidence supports such claims. The first mention of them was found in an audio file, recovered from a [[geth]]'s memory core by [[Tali'Zorah nar Rayya]].
+'''Warning: this page contains major spoilers for the Mass Effect video game series.'''
-The Reapers were worshipped as gods by the geth heretics, a faction of geth who believed that [[Saren Arterius]] was the prophet for the Reapers' return and that the mysterious [[Conduit]] was somehow the key to bring them back. [[Commander Shepard]], driven by the vision from the [[Prothean Beacon |Eden Prime Beacon]], believed the Reapers were a viable threat to the galaxy, but the [[Citadel Council]] dismissed Shepard's claims as unfounded and the Reapers as a simple myth created by Saren to enslave the geth to do his bidding.
+:''"Reaper: a label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. What they chose to call us is irrelevant."''
+:--Sovereign
-{{spoiler}}
+The '''Reapers''' are a race of [[sapient]] [[starship]]s from ''[[Mass Effect]]''.  They are responsible for the construction of the [[Citadel]] space station and the [[mass relay]]s integral to transit in the ''Mass Effect'' galaxy. Reapers are generally two kilometers long, and their consciousnesses are each composed of thousands of [[AI]] programs.
-In fact, the Reapers are an extremely advanced race of synthetic/organic warships. They reside in the unexplored region referred to as [[dark space]], the empty, starless space between galaxies. They hibernate there, dormant for thousands of years, before they are given the signal to return. Their origins are completely unknown. The first Reaper known to have communicated with organic life, referred to by Saren as [[Sovereign]], claimed that the Reapers have neither beginning nor end. Even their true name is a mystery; 'Reapers' was a name bestowed by the [[Prothean |Protheans]], and Sovereign claimed that whatever the Protheans chose to call them is irrelevant: "we simply... are."
+==History==
+:''"We have no beginning. We have no end. We are infinite."''
+:--Sovereign
-Sovereign claims that the Reapers were the original creators of the [[Citadel]] and the [[mass relay]]s and they created these massive stations so that any intelligent life in the galaxy would eventually discover and use them – all part of a scheme to harvest the galaxy’s sentient life in a repeating cycle that has been looping for countless millennia.
+The Reapers normally hibernate outside of the galaxy in dark space for tens of thousands of years at a time.  Every time a spacefaring race reaches a high enough technology level, the Reapers return to the galaxy through the giant mass relay that is the [[Citadel]] to wipe out all advanced civilizations in the galaxy.  This cycle has gone on for at least 37 million years. The mass relays are set up to more easily facilitate this process; growing civilizations inevitably become dependent on the relays, and since the Citadel sits at the center of the relay network, it usually becomes the center of the galactic government.  When the Reapers return through the Citadel, they quickly take out that government and shut off access to the relay network, throwing the galaxy into disarray.  From that point, each civilization is easy to defeat, though total eradication can still take decades.  The purpose of these eradications is two-fold:
-While the other Reapers hibernate, a single Reaper remains behind, hidden in the depths of space. This vanguard can lie in a dormant state for thousands of years. The time between the last cycle and the events of Mass Effect took approximately 50,000 years, with this the approximate average time, but the exact time period can probably vary depending on chance and the development speed of individual races. The vanguard scans the galaxy periodically for signs that intelligent organic life has advanced sufficiently. At what point that advance is sufficient is unclear, but once the vanguard decides the time is right, the subsequent Reaper attack is devastating.
+*The Reapers harvest genetic material from a genetically diverse species in order to produce a new Reaper.  The "core" of the new Reaper takes the form of the race that supplied the genetic material, and an insectoid shell is put over it. The harvest of advanced races preserves their knowledge, culture, and biological characteristics for the future, making way for less advanced species to grow into interstellar civilizations.
+*The harvest prevents galactic war between organic races and synthetic races. The Reapers always target races that have begun to develop [[artificial intelligence]] technology. The Reapers believe that, left unchecked, such organic-synthetic warfare would inevitably result in the destruction of all organic life.
-==The Cycle of Extinction==
+After each genocide, a single Reaper remains behind as a vanguard to monitor the development of new civilizations and signal the Citadel mass relay to be activated, bringing the whole Reaper fleet.  The actual activation is done by the [[Keeper]]s, a non-sentient race of arthropods that automatically operate and maintain the Citadel.  The last race to be wiped out by the Reapers, the [[Prothean]]s, managed to interrupt the cycle.  After the Reapers returned to dark space, a handful of Prothean survivors returned to the Citadel and altered the Keepers' programming.  No longer would the Keepers open the Citadel at the signal of a Reaper vanguard; the vanguard would have to physically link up to the Citadel in order to open it.  Thus, the next civilization would have a chance of survival that the Protheans and all their predecessors never had.  The last Reaper vanguard, Nazara (known as Sovereign to its followers), attempted and failed to open the Citadel, being destroyed in the process thanks to the efforts of the [[Systems Alliance]] operative [[Commander Shepard]].
-{{MassEffect2Spoilers}}
+With Nazara's failure, a Reaper called Harbinger implemented a contingency plan.  It used the [[Collector]]s, a [[husk]] strain that the Reapers created from the Protheans, to harvest humans and make a new Reaper, which would be able to summon the other Reapers from Dark Space.  Once again, Shepard foiled this plan, destroying the Reaper-human "larva".  After this second failure, the whole Reaper fleet mobilized and headed towards the Milky Way galaxy on regular FTL.
-{{Headquote|We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it.}}
-For reasons currently unknown, the Reapers cull the intelligent races of the [[Milky Way]] galaxy, returning to dark space with the organics' technology and resources. The Reapers leave no evidence of their conquest, nor of their existence – only desolate, barren ruins of those who came before. However, based on the events of [[Mass Effect 2]], it is possible that the Reapers use enslaved organic beings in order to create more of their own kind, as seen with the [[Human-Reaper]].
-The trap created by the Reapers was simple. A sentient species would develop [[FTL]] drive, but would still be limited in its speed. By leaving a network of relays capable of instant transport across the galaxy that led to the impressive Citadel, the Reapers ensured that it would become the center of galactic civilization. Further, Sovereign implies that the presence of the mass relays would lead the sentient species down a predetermined route with regards to weapons and armor technology (both of which are based upon [[element zero]] technology for the Citadel [[races]]). It is probable that this reduces the possibility of organic life discovering alternative, more advanced technology and progressing down a different 'path'; or, as Sovereign explains, "By using it [mass relay technology] your society develops along the paths we desire."
+The Reapers had a back-up plan for overwhelming the galaxy -- if the vanguard failed to bring the Reaper fleet through the Citadel, the Reapers would head towards the galaxy using normal FTL methods.  They would arrive at a relay on the edge of the galaxy, known as the "Alpha Relay", which lay in [[batarian]] space.  From the Alpha Relay, the Reapers could quickly deploy themselves all over the galaxy, including to the Citadel.  Yet again Shepard caught wind of this plan and aided in an effort to slam a giant asteroid into the Alpha Relay, destroying it before the Reapers could use it.  The explosion from the relay's destruction wiped out the Aratoht star system as a result.  Without a relay to quickly leave the star cluster, the Reapers were forced to continue deploying via regular FTL, delaying their invasion of the galaxy by months. Nonetheless, the Reapers soon arrived in force and began harvesting the more advanced races of the galaxy.
-Another possibility is that since the Reapers harvest the resources and technology of the organic races, introduction of the Mass Effect technologies (which the Reapers themselves utilize) ensures the organic races will develop technology that will in turn be useful to the Reapers following each harvest.
+==Attributes==
+:''"There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own, you cannot even imagine it."''
+:--Sovereign
-Once the sentient races have established themselves on the Citadel with the aid of the [[keepers]], an organic race either created or enslaved by the Reapers in order to maintain the Citadel’s basic functions without revealing its secrets, the vanguard sends a signal to the Citadel, instructing the keepers to activate the station’s hidden mass relay. This opens a path between the Citadel and dark space. The Reapers then flood through, killing the leaders of the assembled species before branching out and obliterating all spacefaring life around them.
+Each Reaper is a sapient life form controlled by a gestalt artificial intelligence.  They are created by melting down millions of selected specimens from an organic species and using their DNA material to embody the species in the Reaper.
-Because the Reapers first enter the galaxy at the point that they have ensured will be the center of galactic politics, information and finance, they are able to cripple any resistance almost before the Citadel civilizations have any idea that they are under attack. The Citadel also gives them control of the relay network, cutting off star systems from each other and destroying communications.
+A Reaper is actually a gigantic [[cyborg]]. A synthetic shell modeled after the first Reaper is constructed around the organic core. The completed Reaper has the following features:
+*The shell is armored and protected by powerful [[kinetic barrier]]s.
+*The Reaper is armed with one or more main guns that fire streams of molten iron-uranium-tungsten alloy accelerated to a significant fraction of c, with a range measured at tens of thousands of kilometers.
+*They also mount [[point defense|laser defenses]] for shooting down enemy fighters and missiles.
+*They also have advanced FTL drives that can sustain speeds of 30 light-years per day (over 10,000c) for an indefinite period of time.
+*Their power source is unknown, but they have never shown any interest in capturing fuel supplies from targeted systems.
-The Reapers then use their control of the Citadel and its data to begin the most sinister phase of their attack. Records allow them to track down every settled planet and attack them, either stripping the worlds of resources or enslaving the populations with [[indoctrination]] and turning them into sleeper agents. The extinction events may be part of the Reaper's reproductive cycle, in which all the sentient life in the galaxy is harvested and essentially melted down into techno-organic Reaper shells based on the individual species' physical form.
+An especially dangerous capability of the Reapers is indoctrination.  Reapers produce an energy field that slowly alters the limbic systems of the brains of sapient species.  Prolonged exposure to the field will cause those exposed to be controlled by the Reapers unquestioningly.  However, the more control a Reaper exerts over its victims, the less competent the victim becomes. Some devices created by Reapers also generate this field, and the body of a dead Reaper can still indoctrinate beings in its vicinity.
-Once they have harvested the galaxy, the Reapers wipe every trace of their existence from record and retreat back into dark space.
+There are two major Reaper variants.
-==The Vanguard==
+===Reaper Capital Ship===
+[[File:Reapercapitalship.jpg|200px|thumb|right|A Reaper capital ship]]
+A '''Reaper capital ship''' (or "Sovereign-class" Reaper) is a two-kilometer-long warship and by far the heavier class of Reaper.
+A Reaper capital ship's main gun has an estimated firepower between 132 to 454 kilotons (presumed to be peak output per shot).  A Reaper capital ship's kinetic barriers can withstand the sustained firepower of two Citadel-race [[dreadnought]]s (about 76 kilotons every 2 seconds) indefinitely, while the sustained fire from three dreadnoughts causes it to show strain, and four dreadnoughts are enough to inflict damage.  This suggests that the Reapers have a high recharge rate of their kinetic barriers relative to their full strength.  Some Reaper capital ships carry squadrons of Oculus drones, which are used as fighters.
-{{main|Sovereign}}
+===Reaper Destroyer===
-[[Image:Reaper.jpg|left|250px|Sovereign fighting against the Fifth Fleet]]
+A '''Reaper destroyer''' is a much smaller warship, but it still measures hundreds of meters in length. They are made from the "lesser" races harvested during a cycle, and they have more design similarities than the highly individualized Reaper dreadnoughts.
-The only living Reaper to be witnessed by any living intelligent being after the Protheans became extinct was designated [[Sovereign]] by the organic races (although the geth knew it by the name "Nazara"). It was a colossal dreadnought, several times the size of any known vessel – even dwarfing the massive [[asari]] flagship, [[Destiny Ascension]]. At first, it was presumed to be the flagship of the rogue Spectre agent, [[Saren Arterius]], by those who encountered it.
-Sovereign did act as transport for Saren and his [[geth]] minions – however, it was later discovered by [[Commander Shepard]] that Sovereign and its brethren were actually the masterminds behind the genocide. Saren began his search for Sovereign at the end of [[Mass Effect: Revelation]] using research stolen from [[Dr. Shu Qian]], eventually finding the Reaper near or within the [[Perseus Veil]].
+===Other ship types===
+The Reapers use several non-sapient ship types, which are remotely controlled by sapient Reapers.  These include troop transports, which vary between 200 meters and 1 kilometer in length, and processor ships, which are used to harvest DNA material from captured populations.
-{{clr}}
+==Reapers of Note==
+:''"We are the harbinger of their perfection. Prepare these humans for ascension."''
+:-- Harbinger
+*Sovereign (Nazara): The vanguard left behind after the last Reaper invasion to initiate the next one at an appropriate time.
+*Harbinger: The oldest and possibly the most powerful of the Reapers.
-== Characteristics ==
+==Threat Assessment==
-=== Design ===
+:''"You exist because we allow it. You will end because we demand it."''
-with a bulky semi-cylindrical body, a tapering plate over the rear and a mass of metallic ‘tentacles’ extending from its front end, in addition to six jointed legs extending from its body. When the Reaper fleet is revealed in dark space they are all shown with this basic design (however, one Reaper in the foreground shown when [[Harbinger]] awakens the fleet seems to resemble a scarab beetle) but with great diversity in tentacle number, shape and oriention, some with extended heads and others (particularly Harbinger) having multiple glowing eyes. This diversity is presumably due to the Reapers' reproduction method, in which vast numbers of a single species are harvested, melted down into a raw genetic paste, and then used to construct a 'larva' that takes on the characteristics of the species from which it was created. However, as of the end of Mass Effect 2, it is unclear whether every new Reaper derived from organics will eventually take on the cuttlefish-like shape of Sovereign, Harbinger, and others like them, or if the majority of the Reaper fleet is derived from a long-extinct species of organics whose physical forms they now imitate.
+:--Sovereign
-Sovereign's design appears to have influenced the 'heretic' geth (most notably in the design of their dropships). This is not surprising, as these geth worship the Reapers as 'gods', considering them to be the epitome of independent AI. Wherever the geth become entrenched they build monuments to the Reapers resembling Sovereign's 'tentacles' around a glowing orb, and genuflect. Sovereign was apparently insulted by the adoration of such simple, base synthetics, but it did see their value as pawns and possible replacements for the flawed and organic keepers.
+Reapers are highly advanced technologically compared to other races in ''Mass Effect''.  Their kinetic barriers are more powerful than those of other ''Mass Effect'' races, and they also seem to have a high recharge rate. Their weapons are also an order of magnitude more powerful than those of the other races. It takes at least four [[turian]] [[dreadnought]]s to have a chance of significantly damaging a Reaper, and there are hundreds, possibly thousands, of Reapers. Creating a new Reaper is, however, a prolonged process -- essentially, a whole organic species must be harvested and embodied in a Reaper.
-=== Indoctrination ===
+Reaper technology allows them to manipulate the biology of other species, creating armies of mutated and cybernetically augmented slaves collectively known as [[husk]]s. The abilities of husks vary depending on the species used to create them. Husks can be rapidly produced in large numbers wherever Reapers have established a presence.
-Reapers and their technology have a strange effect on organic beings. Both [[Dr. Shu Qian]] and [[Edan Had'dah]] begin acting oddly after coming into contact with the 'artifact' they found (see [[Storyline#Mass_Effect:_Revelation|Mass Effect: Revelation]]). This mental manipulation is known as [[indoctrination]]. Put simply, any organic being who is in close proximity to a Reaper for too long comes to believe the Reapers are correct in their goals and will do anything to serve them. Gradually the mind is eroded until the individual becomes a mindless slave no longer capable of independent thought. Sovereign could partly control the rate of this process as seen with Saren; in order for him to serve the Reaper efficiently, Saren needed a measure of free will. This eventually convinced him that the only way to preserve organic life was to submit to the Reapers provided they could prove themselves useful. Only beings of immense mental strength, such as [[asari]] matriarchs, can resist indoctrination, and even then, their resistance only lasts a short time and only forestalls the inevitable. [[Matriarch Benezia]] chose to die rather than risk falling under indoctrination again, and if Saren finally rebels against Sovereign he kills himself to prevent doing any further damage to the galaxy. This indoctrination is permanent (with the single possible exception of [[Shiala]]) and is one of the most insidious weapons of the Reapers. Even more horrifying is that the indoctrination field remains active even if the Reaper is largely disabled and incapable of action. A Cerberus science team was indoctrinated by being inside a [[Derelict Reaper|Reaper]] that had otherwise been floating derelict for 37 million years, its only obvious activity being mass effect field generation.
-=== Advanced Technology ===
+Reapers do not seem to require supply lines. They typically destroy fuel and ammunition depots in systems where they gain control, and they only use transports for moving husks from one theatre of operations to another.
-[[Image:Reaper_fleet.png|280px|left|The Reaper fleet beyond the Milky Way]]Even without their indoctrinating influence, Reapers are immensely powerful warships and their technology is devastating. Sovereign’s destructive power was unrivaled in the known galaxy. Each of the 'tentacles' extending from its bow was equipped with a powerful 'magnetohydrodynamic' weapon which ejects a stream of molten metal at a fraction of the speed of light which could tear through a cruiser in a single sustained burst. Its gigantic spinal-mounted gun was able to rip through the hulls of even the largest of capital ships with ease, effortlessly penetrating their kinetic [[shields]]. Sovereign's defences included powerful shields that could block the projectiles of an entire fleet, along with an incredibly strong hull. Though they are sentient machines, the Reapers have habitable interiors that can transport a crew, either to help spread their indoctrinated slaves or to allow these slaves to tend to them, probably both. Speculation in the [[Codex]] suggests that each individual Reaper has a massive [[element zero]] core, which coupled with the likely enormous quantities of energies at its disposal allows it to generate the staggering mass effect field needed to land on a planet.
-However, the Reapers are not invincible. When the Reapers go into states of hibernation between cycles, they are vulnerable. By taking refuge in dark space, the Reapers ensure they will not be discovered by accident and destroyed while they wait for their vanguard to open the Citadel mass relay. A concentrated effort by the fleets of organic races could also destroy a Reaper even if it is at full power, and a single fleet managed to destroy Sovereign when its shields and weapons were disabled.
+The Reapers could be considered a significant threat to the [[United Federation of Planets]], but not nearly as much of one as to the ''Mass Effect'' races. The Federation doesn't rely on [[mass effect technology]], meaning that Reaper weapons and strategies are not optimized for fighting them.
-==The Prothean Counterattack==
+They probably would not be very threatening to the [[Galactic Empire]].
-After the last cycle, which obliterated the Prothean empire, a cadre of elite Prothean scientists hidden on [[Ilos]] survived the genocide. It took them decades to realize the connection between the Reapers, the Citadel, and the keepers, but this discovery gave them the key to breaking the cycle forever. At the time, the Protheans were the only spacefaring race advanced enough to attract the attention of the Reapers, and had set about attempting to preserve the sentient races they saw evolving on other planets, to include the [[hanar]] and [[humans]].
-The Protheans developed a plan to forestall the impending Reaper attack for future genera of sapient, spacefaring species. This plan hinged on the fact that the keepers have evolved, and now only respond to signals from the Citadel itself. As stated above, the Reaper vanguard signals the Citadel which in turn signals the keepers to open the mass relay, ushering in the next Reaper invasion. However, the Prothean scientists used a reverse-engineered prototype mass relay—the [[Conduit]]—travelled to the Citadel, and altered the Citadel signal. When Sovereign decided it was time to begin the cycle again, the keepers ignored the order.
-This greatly complicated matters for Sovereign. In order to unleash its brethren from dark space, it would have to find a way to manually activate the relay from inside the Citadel. While Reapers are undoubtedly beings of terrible power and ferocity, a single Reaper would not be able to survive the combined might of the assembled Citadel races in a direct assault. It needed to find an agent that would lead it to the Conduit. This agent was Saren, who became capable of comprehending the vision from the Prothean Beacon. With a fleet of geth ships, the Reaper launched an all-out assault on the Citadel, nearly devastating the entire fleet.
-Fortunately, Saren was stopped by Commander Shepard and company, and Sovereign was destroyed. How long this will stall the eventual return of the Reapers remains to be seen. Shepard knew the Reaper fleet, though dormant and hibernating, was still out in dark space and vowed to find some way to stop them.
-==The Reapers and the Collectors==
-After Commander Shepard defeated Saren and Sovereign, the [[Collectors]] began attacking human colonies and abducting their populations. [[Cerberus]] determined that the Reapers were behind this and planned to have Shepard thwart this latest Reaper threat to humanity. Over time, Shepard uncovered disturbing facts regarding the nature of the Reaper connection to the Collectors. Apparently, because humanity is a race of great genetic diversity and was the race who defeated Sovereign, it was enough to gather the Reapers' attention. It is revealed that the Collectors were originally Protheans who were captured by the Reapers and genetically repurposed to suit their needs.
-The Collectors were working under the direct supervision of the Reaper [[Harbinger]], who ordered the Collectors to abducts humans in the [[Terminus Systems]].  The captured humans were taken to the [[Collector Base]] and processed into organic matter to construct a new [[Human-Reaper|Reaper]] modeled on the human form.  [[EDI]] speculated that this was the Reaper equivalent of reproduction.
-[[File:Humanreaper.jpg|left|300px|The incomplete Human-Reaper made partially of liquefied colonists]]
-When discovered by Shepard, the incomplete Human-Reaper was composed of facsimiles of the skull, arms and ribcage of a human with its lower spine and torso still under construction. EDI concluded that tens of thousands of humans had already been processed.  Shepard was able to stop the process and destroy the Human-Reaper.
-With the Human-Reaper destroyed and the Collectors defeated, the Reapers lost any chance of using the Citadel mass relay to quickly return to the Milky Way Galaxy.  Harbinger and the rest of the Reapers awoke from hibernation, and began the long journey towards the Milky Way, setting the stage for [[Mass Effect 3]].
-{{clr}}
-==Known Reapers==
-*[[Sovereign]]
-*[[Derelict Reaper]]
-*[[Harbinger]]
-*[[Human-Reaper]] <small>(Incomplete)</small>
-==Trivia==
-*The idea of a terrifying and incomprehensible alien intelligence waiting in the depths of space is a feature of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovecraftian_horror Lovecraftian horror]. This similarity is emphasized by one of the recordings by the survey team aboard the derelict Reaper which spoke of how "even dead gods can dream." This is a clear homage to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu Cthulhu], as "In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming."
-*The concept of a sentient space ship is much used in science fiction. In fact, it's a trope. See [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LivingShip here].
-*From the cinematic showing the Reaper fleet at the end of Mass Effect 2, there are roughly 295 Reapers visible (as seen in [[:File:Reaper fleet.png|this screenshot]]).
-{{Races footer}}
 [[Category: Mass Effect]]
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+[[Category: Mechanical Civilizations]]
+[[Category: Monsters]]

Difference between revisions of "Reaper"

Latest revision as of 22:54, 27 September 2023

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