Tales about mankind freeing ourselves from the confinement of Earth and exploring the
limitless possibilities of space have been a part of our collective imagination for thousands
of years. Mass Effect continues this tradition, and though it may take a few concepts from
more modern stories like Star Trek and Firefly, you may be surprised to learn that it draws
on much older sources as well. The team at Bioware infused Mass Effect with
a healthy dose of Greek mythology; there are references to it found throughout the trilogy.
The most obvious of which is Cerberus, a reference to the legendary three-headed dog.
In mythology, Cerberus was the guardian dog of Hades, defending it from any outside
visitors. Those visitors would be brought there by Charon, the ferryman for dead souls
to the underworld. In the Mass Effect universe, Cerberus derives its name from Jack Harper’s
manifesto, where the Illusive Man outlines his belief that humanity needs a “Cerberus”
to guard against the alien threats that could come through the “Charon” Relay; the Charon
Relay being the mass relay connecting Earth to the rest of the galaxy.
Shout-outs to Greek history don’t stop there, some branches of Cerberus, like Atlas, are
named after Greek gods. The planet Illos is actually named after the mythical founder
of Ilium. And don’t forget the paradise planet of Elysium, which shares its name with
the mythical heavenly fields of Greek mythology. These ancient Greek figures even influenced
the design of characters, Matt Rhodes, a concept artist behind Mass Effect, said that the Greek
god Ares served as his inspiration when creating the Shadow Broker. Ares is the Greek god of
war, who often represents the violent and untamed aspects of humanity; this description
could easily apply to The Shadow Broker of Mass Effect 2, who is a Yahg- an alien race
known for their violent and aggressive nature. Ares is often depicted wielding a shield on
his left arm, similar to the shield the Broker uses in the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC.
The name "Prothean" may derive from the Greek words 'proto', meaning “first” and 'theos',
meaning "God". This is fitting, seeing as the hanar worship the Protheans as gods, calling
them the “Enkindlers”. The Protheans also bear a strong resemblance to the mythological
Titan, Prometheus, who gave humans the gift of fire, enabling them to learn the arts of
civilization. Similarly, in the Mass Effect universe the Protheans helped advance primitive
species, such as humans, by leaving behind their ancient technology.
What’s in a name? In the Mass Effect series, usually quite a bit. Commander Shepard is
named after Alan Bartlett Shepard Junior, the first American in space and commander
of the Apollo 14 mission. In canon lore, Commander Shepard also shares a birthday with the infamous
launch of Apollo 13, April 11th. Shepard’s default name is “John” if male, or “Jane”
if female. In the United States and Canada, the names “John” Doe and “Jane” Doe
are used when referring to unidentified persons. The Reaper Sovereign from the first Mass Effect
also goes by the name of Nazara; that name comes from old Turkish, where it means “"the
one who sees or observes". This speaks to the ship’s role as the monitor of organic
civilization. Sovereign’s job was to watch and wait for organics to evolve, before calling
on the Reapers to return and harvest them. There are also a few references to classic
Sci-Fi films to be found in the series. When EDI wants Joker to give her complete control
of the Normandy to escape the Collectors, Joker tells her- "If you start singing 'Daisy Bell' I'm done!”
This is a reference to Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
In the film, a rouge artificial intelligence decides to kill its astronaut crewmates. Before
being shut down the AI sings “Daisy Bell”. What you probably didn’t know is
that “Daisy Bell” was the first song sung by a computer in real life. In 1961 three
programmers at Bell Labs were able to recreate the song on the IBM 704, complete with a computerized
vocal performance.
Creepy… Speaking of EDI, her body in Mass Effect 3
was inspired by the iconic design of Maria, the robot in Fritz Lang’s silent masterpiece,
Metropolis. There’s also an interesting Easter egg, not related to science-fiction
at all, but actual science. In the first Mass Effect, when landing on the Earth’s moon
you can find the wreckage of a probe called "CCCP Luna 23". The Luna 23 was a Russian
probe sent to the moon in 1974 in an attempt to bring back mineral samples back to Earth. It
was damaged during its landing and was never recovered from the moon’s surface.
Many aspects of Mass Effect’s design are drawn from real life, according to The Art
of Mass Effect; the architecture of the ancient Krogan’s was initially based on the work
of Franklin Llyod Wright, an influential American architect in the early 20th century, but befitting
Krogan culture, they gave the designs a more violent and brutal edge. Asari architecture
is inspired by a completely different architect, Santiago Calatrava. A modern artist still
working today, Calatrava is known for his Spanish neofuturistic buildings.
It's easy to see where the asari buildings got their space-age look.
Lastly, we turn our gaze to The Collectors
who obviously pulled their inspiration from insect physiology. These bipedal bugs were
created with electron microscope photographs of insect heads in mind. Glad I could leave
you with those lovely images. You thought you knew Mass Effect, but hopefully
you’ve learned just a thing or two more. Do you know of any other historical references
we didn’t cover here? Share them in the comment section below and we might include
them in a future episode. If you liked this show and its format, don’t forget to ‘Like’
and ‘Share’ so we know to make more. This has been Commander Shepard.
Thanks for watching. I should go.