The Salarians () are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the Mass Effect multimedia franchise developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. Originally introduced in the 2007 tie-in novel Mass Effect: Revelation, where they are presented as a lizard-like species that speaks quickly, Salarians are an amphibian species with a relatively high metabolism that makes them think, talk, and act faster than most species in the Mass Effect universe. Salarians were designed to be Mass Effect version of gray aliens, a common archetypal image of an intelligent extraterrestrial non-human creature and a common trope in science fiction.
Within the game's setting, their accelerated metabolism limits their lifespan to roughly 40 years, a lifespan considered short relative to other species in the Mass Effect universe. Salarians are depicted to be a haplodiploid egg-laying society, in which unfertilized eggs produce males and fertilized eggs produce females. Societal norms lead the Salarians to be over 90 percent male, with females usually depicted as being secluded on their home planet, holding positions of power. In the game's backstory, about 2000 years before the events of the first Mass Effect, the Salarians uplifted the Krogan to combat the Rachni, an insectoid species that shares a collective consciousness. Following the defeat of the Rachni, the Krogan rebelled against the rest of the galaxy, prompting the Salarians to develop the genophage, a bioweapon that rendered the Krogan nearly sterile.
Critical reception of the Salarians has generally been positive, with praise for their intelligence, technical prowess, and narrative importance within the franchise, although the absence of Salarian females throughout the games has received some criticism. Their creation of the genophage and their relationship with the Krogan have received substantial analysis, drawing comparisons to colonialism, bioethics, and real-world genetic engineering.
Concept and design
According to Mass Effect art director Derek Watts, the development of each alien species began with the creation of a brief paragraph that outlined the basic characteristics they wanted to give to them. For the Salarians, the design process began with the gray alien science fiction archetype, which was then adapted to fit the narrative and style of the Mass Effect universe.
To create the physical appearance of the Salarians, the art team was inspired by the appearance of salamanders to make them look "alien and delicate". Associate art director Matt Rhodes cited Japanese cultural influences as a source of inspiration for the Salarians. Salarians were pictured as "warrior poets", a concept that was emphasized by some big dark gray alien eyes to transmit a sense of calmness and tranquility. This approach led to a softer, less threatening appearance when compared to other species such as the Krogan or the Turians. The final facial design included many key aspects associated with gray aliens, including a triangular facial structure, an elongated mouth, and the aforementioned large eyes. To differentiate them from the classic version of the gray alien trope, the team decided to add some horn-like protrusions on top of their heads. Due to animation restrictions, the bodies of most alien races were designed to remain humanoid. For the Salarians, artist Sum Kim introduced a concave chest, and the art team introduced a set of dog-like legs as a defining characteristic. These anatomical features were later incorporated into Salarian clothing design, which was often made to include tubing or structural elements intended to make their chests appear less concave and more similar to the rest of the species in the Mass Effect universe. In an interview with Game Informer, Rhodes drew a parallel between this practice and "a bald man wearing a toupée". Additional elements, such as hoods and circular chest pieces, were incorporated into Salarian ceremonial clothing design. The art team also made several concepts of facial expressions to figure out how Salarian faces would look in their digital acting system.
In designing the Salarian home world of Sur'Kesh for its appearance in Mass Effect 3, the art team wanted to make a planet composed of a lush and humid tropical jungle meant to be the home of an amphibious species. To design the architecture of the planet, the art team found inspiration in a shopping center in Istanbul, with the intention of making the interiors blur the line between the landscape and the structure.
According to former lead character artist Herbert Lowis, during the development of Mass Effect: Andromeda, the team originally played with the idea of adding secondary sexual characteristics to female Salarians, but ultimately rejected it in order to remain consistent with the already established Mass Effect lore.
Fictional attributes Biology Within the Mass Effect universe, Salarians are depicted as a reptilian-looking amphibious species native to the planet of Sur'Kesh. They are characterized by a relatively fast metabolism that allows them to function on as little as one hour of sleep per day and to speak, think, and make decisions at an accelerated rate. This metabolism is also associated with a comparatively short lifespan, depicted as being of 30 to 40 years, when compared to other species in the setting. The species is further described as employing a haplodiploid reproductive system in which unfertilized eggs become male and fertilized eggs become female. Due to strict societal rules surrounding reproduction, Salarian society is portrayed as over 90 percent male. Salarians are additionally depicted as possessing photographic memory, a characteristic used within the franchise to explain their prominence in intelligence gathering and espionage. The species is represented as largely androgynous.
Culture and society In the context of the series' fictional universe, Salarians are characterized by their pragmatism and unsentimentalism. This mindset is depicted as one of the main reasons why Salarians are more willing to undertake complex decisions or sacrifices when deemed necessary for the greater good. The species is also portrayed as the galaxy's main source of scientific advancement, exhibiting a considerable reputation as technological pioneers. Salarians are also shown to experience very little sex drive. Reproduction and egg fertilization are arranged through formal agreements and negotiations rather than emotional relationships solely for reproduction.
The Salarian centralized government, the Salarian Union, is depicted as functioning similarly to how noble families distributed land in medieval Europe. Although males constitute the majority of the population, political power is held by an elite of planet-cloistered Dalatrasses, which are portrayed as a group of female political clan leaders. This is the main narrative reason why high-level political authority is female-dominated, while other sectors are depicted as being predominantly male-dominated. The Salarian military is represented as a relatively small yet highly advanced and equipped with modern weaponry, sensors, and cloaking devices. However, instead of focusing on their military, Salarian society is shown to specialize in intelligence and covert operations rather than conventional warfare. Their primary military intelligence service, the Special Tasks Group (STG), is depicted as consisting of highly trained agents operating in small, independent units tasked with missions in fields such as counterterrorism, reconnaissance, infiltration, and assassination.
History In the game's backstory, the Salarians are portrayed as the second species to discover the Citadel, a massive space station that serves as the political and administrative center of Citadel Space, a section of the Milky Way galaxy. Together with the Asari, they founded the Citadel Council, which functions as the primary governing body of the section.
Within their background history, the species is primarily associated with their conflict against the Rachni, a hive-minded species of highly intelligent spacefaring insectoids, as well as the uplifting of the Krogan. More than 2000 years before the events of the first Mass Effect, a group of explorers encountered the Rachni after activating a previously dormant mass relay, one of a network of massive space installations that simplify space travel. After their discovery, the Rachni initiated a galaxy-wide conflict with other races known as the Rachni Wars. After nearly a century of losses, the Salarians play an important role in the uplifting of the Krogan, a race of warmongering reptiles that had destroyed their home planet of Tuchanka in a thermonuclear world war. Their initiative was successful, and the Rachni were driven to extinction by the Krogan. In the aftermath of the war against the Rachni, the Krogan’s rapid growth rate led to exponential population growth, which is described as a primary driver of their subsequent aggressive territorial expansion. This expansionism ultimately led the Krogan to found their own colony on the already colonized Asari world of Lusia, starting a conflict between them and the Citadel Council known as the Krogan Rebellions. As the war between the Krogan and the Turians lingered, the latter sought help from the Salarians to put a definitive end to the conflict. The Salarians manufactured the genophage, a massive biochemical weapon that would render the Krogan nearly sterile. The genophage is described as being ultimately deployed unilaterally by the Turians, resulting in a severe population decline and forcing the Krogan to surrender.
The Salarians also play an important role in the setting's broader backstory, particularly in the creation of the Spectre program, an elite group of agents with few limitations to their methods. A few years before the Krogan Rebellions, a Salarian named Beelo Gurji was accused of using civilians as bait; however, instead of being punished, he was promoted by the Citadel Council. 400 years before humanity's entrance into galactic society, the aggressive-expansionist Batarians bombed the Salarian world of Mannovai.
Subspecies The Lystheni, as an offshoot of the Salarians, are mentioned in the novel Mass Effect: Ascension. They are depicted to be unwelcome in Citadel Space and usually live among the Batarians and mercenaries in Omega, a crime-ridden space station built in the crust of a metallic asteroid that appears in Mass Effect 2 and the Mass Effect 3: Omega downloadable content. Lystheni Salarians do not make an appearance in any Mass Effect video game, but modders have discovered and attempted to recover parts of a cut side-quest involving a conflict between the Lystheni and the jellyfish-like Hanar.
Appearances Salarians were first introduced in the tie-in novel Mass Effect: Revelation as a lizard-like species similar to gray aliens that speak fast; and as one of the races that form the Citadel Council. A representative of the Salarian race holds a permanent seat on the Council. The Salarian councilor plays an important role during proceedings against humanity concerning the illegal development of artificial intelligence, which is prohibited in Citadel Space.
Mass Effect