One of the most violent and most powerful alien races of the Mass Effect universe is the krogan. They tend to be ruthless and self-centered, but it’s not without valid reason. Plus, the krogan are some of the best fighters players can ever encounter—it’s safe to say that it’s better to have the original trilogy’s Urdnot Wrex and Mass Effect: Andromeda’s Nakmor Drack on the team rather than against it.
The krogan have gotten the crappy end of the stick throughout most of Mass Effect’s history. While some of their misfortune has been self-inflicted, other things, like the genophage, were forced upon them by outside sources like the salarians. Throughout the course of the trilogy, though, players can try to correct some of the atrocities committed against the krogan.
Krogan Biology
From the moment players first encounter the krogan, they know this alien race is not to be messed with. Krogan aren’t indestructible, but pretty much look like they are. They don’t have many physical weaknesses, but if a krogan got a knife stuck in a certain part near their frontal plate, the plate could be ripped off, according to Mass Effect 2’s Zaeed Massani. The krogan have a reputation for not fearing anything, but their frontal plate being dislodged is the one thing that scares them.
Krogan are tall, usually standing over 7 feet tall. Their physiology is unique as well, because krogan tend to have multiple major organs. When their initial system fails, the secondary set of organs takes over and makes up for the damage. For example, krogan have two hearts, four lungs, and even four testicles—this last bit is interesting because if players pay attention to krogan vernacular, they’ll realize that these aliens say “quad” where humans would say “pair.”
Before the genophage was enacted, the krogan were able to reproduce in rapid numbers. Now, though krogan biology is adapting to the virus, the odds of a krogan successfully reproducing are slim to none. The lack of being able to reproduce made many krogan worried about the survival of their species, as no reproduction eventually leads to extinction. However, given the krogan’s lifespan, it would take a long time for the krogan to become extinct completely.
Krogan History
Before krogan society achieved industrialization, there was a balance between their harsh homeworld atmosphere and their population size/ birth rate. However, their technological advancement soon backfired on them, increasing their birth rate to unsustainable numbers that led to infighting between different krogan clans for resources. The fights became so volatile that the weapons they used upon one another eventually turned their homeworld, Tuchanka, into a radioactive wasteland.
The salarians found the krogan living in the mess of their own creation and decided to “help” them. The salarians were able to use the brute strength of the krogan to win the Rachni Wars, but soon the krogan became as powerful as they were during their industrialization. Their population boomed again, and they colonized other planets to fit their growing numbers. The disagreement and subsequent war between the krogan and the Citadel Council is known as the Krogan Rebellions, which was won by the turians administering the genophage to the krogan to halt their population growth.
Finding a cure for the genophage is talked about throughout all the Mass Effect games, and is possible if players make a few key choices. Though he was running unethical experiments in Mass Effect 2, keeping Maelon’s data will help ensure that Eve, the fertile female krogan, survives Mordin’s procedure to cure the genophage. Depending on what players decide in Mass Effect 3, the genophage can be cured, uncured, or even have a cure faked.
Krogan Society
Krogan are tough in both mind and body. They have a very self-centered and self-serving view of the world, but this is understandable given the harsh landscape of Tuchanka and the past betrayals they’ve endured. Their attitudes are best summarized by the saying “seek the enemy of your enemy, and you will find a friend.” Krogan do not trust easily, if at all, but live in different Clans found throughout the Milky Way and in New Tuchanka on Elaaden in Mass Effect: Andromeda.
While krogan are not religious, they do have a variety of rituals and rites in their society. For example, the Rite of Passage occurs when a young krogan comes of age and the Rite of Honor must be taken if a male krogan wants to be considered for breeding. Each clan’s rites are defined differently, so proving oneself to Clan Urdnot wouldn’t be the same as the Rite of Passage for a krogan wishing to join Clan Weyrloc. The further up the political chain a krogan wants to rise, the more rites they must endure. In krogan Clans, the shaman is the most respected member of a clan because of the amount of rites they have to go through.
Due to their solitary mindset, the krogan don’t have one overarching, centralized governing body, and instead have many nation-states throughout Tuchanka. They also, unsurprisingly, don’t have a place on the Citadel Council. Krogan have a fierce fighting style, though, especially thanks to their “blood rage” that can kick in during battle. This rage makes krogan unresponsive to pain, so even if they become seriously injured they’ll fight through it to the death. No one wants to be on the receiving end of that.
Krogan names are fairly simple compared to the complexity of other alien races’ names: their clan name and their given name. When krogan are born, they are only referred to by their given name, which makes sense because they don’t get to join a clan officially until later in their life. However, Eve talks about how male krogan name their offspring poorly—getting drunk and belching until something that sounds like a word comes out, which is then their child’s name. Maybe it’s best to leave the naming up to the female krogan.
Though the krogan have consistently been mistreated leading up to the events of the Mass Effect trilogy, players have the opportunity to make things right. Despite whatever players decide, the krogan will always have a special place in the heart of Mass Effect history.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition will be available Spring 2021.