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Of all the
alien species you’ll come across when exploring the huge universe of the Mass Effect series,
there’s probably none more absolutely bone-chilling than the Reapers. Bent on harvesting the lives
of all intelligent beings in the galaxy, the Reapers proved to be one of the most memorable
aspects of the franchise for a reason: they are pretty damn creepy. When Bioware set out
to create these ultimate killing machines they took inspiration from a few interesting
places, the sci-fi and horror genres, sure, but some more...unexpected sources as well.
Take the iconic sound effects that the Reapers make.
According to Bioware sound designer
Mike Kent, the story behind that sound is a pretty strange one. It all started with
a camping trip. Kent and a few of the other sound guys at the company had decided to go
into the woods for an overnight trip to try to record some interesting nature sounds for
the first Mass Effect game. They didn’t find much until Kent threw something away
into a garbage can that happened to be bear trapped protected. Immediately Kent recognized
the sound of the lid as being very odd and distinct, so he recorded the sounds of it
both opening and closing. After the guys brought it back to the studio and showed it to Mass
Effect’s project director Casey Hudson, he immediately said “That’s the sound
of the Reapers”. Hudson liked the sound so much, in fact, that the sound even plays
over the logo of the game itself. And that’s how Bioware, one of the biggest and most successful
video game companies in the world, wound up with the sound of a trash can in the woods
as the voice of their best villains. But when they aren’t out recording trash
cans, Bioware is apparently catching up on their reading. When creating the Reapers they
took inspiration from-- and anyone who has watched enough Hidden History episodes can
probably guess what I’m about to say next-- none other than famed horror author H.P. Lovecraft.
Seriously is there any video games that DIDN’T take inspiration from this guy? Okay, probably
quite a few, but I think it’s undeniable at this point that Lovecraft has helped shape
the lore of some of gaming’s best franchises. When it comes to the Reapers, the connection
is very much there. Like the gods of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos, the Reapers remained dormant
in hibernation for thousands of years, so long that they were almost forgotten by history
entirely. Even the name the Geth call them by, the “Old Machines”, is a nod to the
name Lovecraft gave to his creatures, the “Old Ones”. And like the Old Ones, the
Reapers existed far before man even began to evolve.
But the connection between the author and Mass Effect may go even deeper than that.
Kyle Munkittrick, in a fantastic article for io9, says that he believes Mass Effect to
be one of the first big sci-fi franchise’s to take Lovecraft’s philosophy of Cosmicism
into outer space. Munkittrick summed up this philosophy well, writing: “Cosmicism is
not merely the idea that there is no meaning in the universe. It's far worse. Instead,
the argument is that there is meaning, but it is so far above and beyond human understanding
that we can never attain meaningful existence”. That may seem a little dark for a franchise
with as many lovable characters as Mass Effect, but the series supports this theory pretty
well. Take the Sovereign, who go out of their way to tell you: “ Organic life is nothing
but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You
wither and die. We are eternal. We are the pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before
us, you are nothing . . . You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand
it.” Speeches like this make you contemplate humanity’s incredibly small place within
the game’s universe. And it is asking these types of hard, existential questions that
connect the Reapers, and Mass Effect as a whole, to the work of H.P. Lovecraft far more
than just a few monster references could. If you know anything about the Mass Effect
franchise you’re probably aware that the ending of the 3rd game was um...controversial,
to say the least. But what you might not know is that Drew Karpyshyn, the head writer of
Mass Effect 2 who sadly left shortly before development of the 3rd game, has said in an
interview with VGS what his original idea for the trilogy was...and it involves the
Reapers in a big way. After talking about how they wanted to explore the idea of Dark
Energy, a concept that was brought up in Mass Effect 2, he launched into this idea, saying:
“Maybe the Reapers kept wiping out organic life because organics keep evolving to the
state where they would use biotics and dark energy and that caused an entropic effect
that would hasten the end of the universe. Being immortal beings, that's something they
wouldn't want to see. Then we thought, let's take it to the next level. Maybe the Reapers
are looking at a way to stop this. Maybe there's an inevitable descent into the opposite of
the Big Bang (the Big Crunch) and the Reapers realize that the only way they can stop it
is by using biotics, but since they can't use biotics they have to keep rebuilding society
- as they try and find the perfect group to use biotics for this purpose. The Asari were
close but they weren't quite right, the Protheans were close as well.” While he admits that
this concept needed to be more fleshed out, it gives gamers an interesting glimpse into
what could have been in store for the Reapers and the rest of the series’ cast in a very
different ending for the trilogy.
Now let’s move on to our comment showcase.
This week we have a comment from Charlie Rigby who believes that the game’s Prothean Beacons
are actually inspired by the iconic monolith in Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi film 2001: A Space
Odyssey. Like the Monolith, the beacons are ancient, thought to be over a millennium old
and their power is both alluring and mysterious. It’s hard to tell if there is actually any
connection, but we like the theory! Next up is our Shoddy Showcase, this week
we actually have not one but TWO comments, Cynicism At Its Best chimed to tell us “Mark
Meer boooooo” before apparently have a big change of heart and replying to his own comment
saying, “Shut up”. Make of that what you will!
As usual, it’s time to end this with some trivia. The answer to last week’s Elder
Scrolls question, as many of you guessed was C) William Tell. This week we have a lore-based
Mass Effect question: What was the very first Reaper ever created?