The recent release of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition has players reliving BioWare's classic trilogy of games, making new discoveries that they may have missed the first time around. For one Mass Effect 3 player, this includes an image in the Leviathan DLC that appears to be concept art for an unused alien design. Please note that this article will have some SPOILERS for the Mass Effect games, so proceed with caution.
When players visit Dr. Bryson's lab in Mass Effect 3's Leviathan DLC, they can see various images hanging on the wall. One of these images is a design for an alien species that never actually appears in the Mass Effect games. It appears to be a bulky, humanoid creature with a small jaw, wide head, and snake-like nose slits. While it's possible this design will be repurposed for a new Mass Effect alien species at some point down the line, it seems unlikely.
As it turns out, this image is an early design for the Yahg species, as revealed in The Art of the Mass Effect Trilogy book. A Yahg alien is revealed to be the mysterious Shadow Broker in Mass Effect 2, and they look quite a bit different than this creature. It seems BioWare decided to go in a much different direction with the Yahg, designing something that looks more like an eight-eyed cross between a fish monster and an insect.
Here is the early Mass Effect Yahg concept art that fans can find in Mass Effect 3's Leviathan DLC:
Saw this Strange Looking Guy on Bryson's wall in the Leviathan DLC. Anyone know what it is?
by u/mugggs0 in masseffect
And here is what the final design for the Yahg wound up being, as discovered in Mass Effect 2:
Again, it's possible that BioWare will bring back the original design it had for the Yahg in the new Mass Effect game, though that seems unlikely. The developers passed on the design for a reason, and they may want to go with completely original designs if they introduce any new species in the next Mass Effect game. It's also possible that the new Mass Effect won't introduce any new alien species at all. After all, there weren't many new alien species in Mass Effect: Andromeda, and the new game will presumably take place in the Milky Way Galaxy again.
As it stands, very little is known about the new Mass Effect game in an official capacity beyond the fact that Liara T'Soni is returning. And unfortunately for fans hoping for new information, Mass Effect 4 will not be at EA Play Live, so it may be some time before any new information on the game comes to light. In the meantime, Mass Effect enthusiasts can keep exploring Mass Effect: Legendary Edition in search of things they missed on their earlier playthroughs.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.