Citadel Races: Allowed on the council

[You only have to read the ones that intrigue you, although i recommend you read them all]

Asari

he asari, native to the planet Thessia, are often considered the most powerful and respected sentient species in the known galaxy. This is partly due to the fact the asari were the first race after the Protheans to achieve interstellar flight, and to discover and inhabit the Citadel.

A mono-gender race—distinctly feminine in appearance—the asari are known for their elegance, diplomacy, and biotic talent. Their millennia-long lifespan and unique physiology—allowing them to reproduce with a partner of any gender or species—give them a conservative but convivial attitude toward other races. The asari were instrumental in proposing and founding the Citadel Council, and have been at the heart of galactic society ever since.

Salarians

The second species to join the Citadel, the salarians are warm-blooded amphibians with a hyperactive metabolism; salarians think fast, talk fast, and move fast. To salarians, other species seem sluggish and dull-witted, especially the elcor. Unfortunately, their metabolic speed leaves them with a relatively short lifespan; salarians over the age of 40 are a rarity.

Salarians are known for their observational capability and non-linear thinking. This manifests as an aptitude for research and espionage. They are constantly experimenting and inventing, and it is generally accepted that they always know more than they are letting on.

Turians

Known for their militaristic and disciplined culture, the turians are the most recent of the Citadel races invited to join the Council. They gained their Council seat after defeating the hostile krogan for the Council during the 'Krogan Rebellions'. The turians deployed a salarian-created biological weapon called the genophage, which virtually sterilised the krogan and sent them into a decline. The turians then filled the peacekeeping niche left by the once-cooperative krogan, and eventually gained a Council seat in recognition of their efforts.

Originally from the planet Palaven, turians are best known for their military role, particularly their contributions of soldiers and starships to the Citadel Fleet. They are respected for their 'public service' ethic—it was the turians who first proposed creating C-Sec—but are sometimes seen as imperialist or rigid by other races. There is some animosity between turians and humans, largely due to the turian role in the First Contact War. This bitterness is slowly beginning to heal—as shown by the cooperation of the two races on the construction of the SSV Normandy—but many turians still hate humans, and vice versa.

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Citadel Races: Not Allowed On The Council

Humans

Humans, from the planet Earth, are the newest sentient species of notable size to enter the galactic stage and are hands-down the most rapidly expanding and developing. They independently discovered a Prothean data cache on Mars in 2148, and the mass relay networks shortly thereafter.

Volus

:NOT PLAYABLE

The volus are an associate race on the Citadel with their own embassy, but are also a client race of the turians. They hail from Irune, which possesses a high-pressure greenhouse atmosphere able to support an ammonia-based biochemistry. As a result, the volus must wear pressure suits and breathers when dealing with other species.

Because they are not physically adept compared to most species, volus mostly make their influence felt through trade and commerce, and they have a long history on the Citadel. However, they have never been invited to join the Council, which is a sore point for many volus individuals.

Elcor

:NOT PLAYABLE

The elcor are a Citadel species native to the high-gravity world Dekuuna. They are massive creatures, standing on four muscular legs for increased stability. Elcor move slowly, an evolved response to an environment where a fall can be lethal. This has colored their psychology, making them deliberate and conservative.

Elcor speech is heard by most species as a flat, ponderous monotone. Among themselves, scent, extremely slight body movements, and subvocalized infrasound convey shades of meaning that make a human smile seem as subtle as a fireworks display. Since their subtlety can lead to misunderstandings with other species, the elcor prefix all their dialog with non-elcor with an emotive statement to clarify their tone.

The Keepers

: NOT PLAYABLE

The keepers are a bio-engineered, insectoid race found only on the Citadel. They are completely docile and harmless, and appear to exist for no other reason than to maintain the Citadel and its systems.

The keepers are believed to have been created by the Protheans to serve as caretakers of the station, and have become essential to the Citadel's operation. Very little is known about them, as they do not communicate with other species.

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NON-CITADEL Races

Krogan

The krogan are a species of large reptilian bipeds native to the planet Tuchanka, a world known for its harsh environments, scarce resources, and overabundance of vicious predators. The krogan managed to not only survive on their unforgiving homeworld, but actually thrived in the extreme conditions. Unfortunately, as krogan society became more technologically advanced so did their weaponry.

Four thousand years ago, at the dawn of the krogan nuclear age, battles to claim the small pockets of territory capable of sustaining life escalated into full scale global war. Weapons of mass destruction were unleashed, transforming Tuchanka into a radioactive wasteland. The krogan were reduced to primitive warring clans struggling to survive a nuclear winter of their own creation, a state that continued until they were discovered by the salarians two thousand years later.

With the help of the salarians, the krogan were 'uplifted' into galactic society, and lent their numbers and military prowess to bring an end to the Rachni Wars (see below). Ironically, after the rachni were eradicated, the rapidly-expanding krogan became a threat to the galaxy in turn, starting the Krogan Rebellions and forcing the turians to unleash the genophage. This genetic 'infection' dramatically reduced fertility in krogan females, causing a severe drop in births and, ultimately, population, eliminating the krogan numerical advantage

Quarians

The quarians are a nomadic species of humanoid aliens known for their skills with technology and synthetic intelligence. Since their homeworld Rannoch was conquered, the quarians live aboard the Migrant Fleet, a huge collection of starships that travel as a single fleet.

Approximately three hundred years ago the quarians created the geth, a species of rudimentary artificial intelligences, to serve as an efficient source of manual labor. However, when the geth gradually became sentient, the quarians became terrified of possible consequences and tried to destroy their creations. The latter won the resulting war and forced their creators into exile. Now the quarians wander the galaxy in a flotilla of salvaged ships, secondhand vessels, and recycled technology.

Geth

The geth are a race of networked artificial intelligences that reside beyond the Perseus Veil. The geth were created sometime around 1900 CE by the quarians, as laborers and tools of war. When the geth became sentient and began to question their masters, the quarians attempted to exterminate them. The geth won the resulting war, and reduced the quarians to a race of nomads.

The history of the geth's creation and evolution serves as a warning to the rest of the galaxy of the potential dangers of artificial intelligence and to the legally enforced, systematic repression of artificial intelligences throughout galactic society.

Best size estimates on a single geth fleet range from 5,000 to 10,000 ships with unknown armament.

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Extinct Races

Protheans

The Protheans are an extinct alien race which mysteriously vanished over 50,000 years ago. The only known space-faring species of their time, the Protheans arose from a single planet and developed an immense galaxy-wide empire. Not much is known about them, not even by the asari, but many of their artifacts, ruins and technology have apparently survived the ages.

It is believed the Protheans created the Citadel and the mass relays, feats of engineering that have never been equaled and whose core mass effect field technology forms the basis of contemporary civilization. Prothean artifacts, therefore, have immense scientific value and are seen to belong to the whole galactic community.

Rachni

The rachni are an extinct insect-like species that threatened to defeat and overthrow the Citadel Council roughly two thousand years ago. They are the only sapient arthropods known to exist in the galaxy (the keepers not being known to be sapient).

Intelligent but highly aggressive, the spacefaring rachni were driven to expand and defend their territory. They were eventually defeated and completely eradicated by the krogan, who had been groomed by the salarians to effectively do the Council's dirty work during the Rachni Wars. The accidental discovery of the rachni led to the Citadel races to curb their rapid expansion, in fear of being plunged into another galactic war.

Mass Effect