Salarian

Mordin Solus, a salarian scientist

The Salarians are a major race in Mass Effect.

Attributes

Salarians are humanoids of amphibian ancestry, originating from the planet Surkesh. They have relatively high metabolisms, which results in them having short life expectancies (averaging around 40 years). Their high metabolism leads to an appearance of hyperactivity, and salarians mature and deal with most life issues much more quickly than humans. Salarians tend to be highly intelligent, which may be related to their high metabolism.

Like terrestrial amphibians, salarians lay eggs in water. Children born from unfertilized eggs develop into males, while the children from fertilized eggs develop into females. Most eggs go unfertilized, leading to a high male-to-female ratio among salarians. Negotiations to fertilize eggs are serious business in salarian society.

Physically, salarians tend to be tall and slender. The salarian skeleton has a high ratio of cartilage to bone, making them quite flexible. Their strength and endurance are unremarkable for humanoids.

Organization

Male salarians vastly outnumber females, elevating the importance of females in their society. The matriarch of a salarian clan carries the title Dalatrass, and she makes most important decisions for the clan. Because female salarians are typically decision-makers in families, most important government officials are also female.

Few details are known about the government of the Salarian Union beyond the name of the current head of government, Dalatrass Linron.

History

Salarians were the second extant race to discover the Citadel, arriving after the asari. They are co-founders of the Citadel Council.

During the Rachni Wars, the salarians gave advanced technology to the krogan to recruit them as military allies. While successful against the rachni, the krogan themselves became a problem, leading to a war known as the "Krogan Rebellions". The salarians developed a biological weapon to limit krogan fertility, known as the "genophage", but it was the turians who decided to deploy the genophage and end the war.

Salarians of Note

• Doctor Mordin Solus
• Major Kirrahe
• Dalatrass Linron

Threat Assessment

The salarians are an advanced race with their own military assets. These are effective for defense of salarian territory, but considerably smaller than those of the turians; in large conflicts, they typically rely on turian support.

Salarian warships are noted for using point defense lasers in a near-ultraviolet spectrum, giving them more firepower and six times the range of other Mass Effect factions' lasers but causing them to wear out more quickly. As of 2186 the salarians have developed dreadnoughts that use the same stealth system as the Normandy SR-2, masking their heat signatures through hull refrigeration and heat sinks and using a special heatless mass effect drive for propulsion.

Salarians have a well-developed intelligence service known as the Special Tasks Group. Salarians are typically aware of foreign military objectives, plans, assets, and movements far in advance of open hostilities. According to their military doctrine, if hostilities appear to be inevitable, it would be foolish not to launch a pre-emptive strike.