Mass Effect players have been sharing plenty of fan art in recent weeks, and it seems like that will not be stopping anytime soon. One Mass Effect fan has gone above and beyond, however, sharing character portraits for every companion from the original trilogy.
Mass Effect’s companions are a major reason why the games have remained so relevant, as all of the characters are well-written. While some are undoubtedly more popular than others, as figures like Garrus and Liara have a far bigger following than someone like James Vega, Bioware did a terrific job bringing all of Commander Shepard’s allies to life. With the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition letting fans revisit the trilogy, and bringing some new fans into the fold, it makes sense that more companion-focused art is showing up.
While this resurgence in fan art has led to some awesome concepts like long-haired Jack and human versions of alien companions, most posts look at one character at a time. While some pieces do incorporate several, the prospect of creating art for every single companion would likely be daunting for most Mass Effect fans. However, Reddit user tanaleth has taken on this challenge, drawing twenty different character portraits for Shepard’s allies.
The first row begins with the beloved Garrus Vakarian and Mordin Solus. While these characters could not be more different, the loyal sniper and fast-talking scientist are both beloved by fans. Kasumi and Samara are up next, while the unique companion Thane rounds out the next row. All of these pieces look incredible, with expert shading seen on each. Plenty of detail can be seen on the characters, too, with Garrus’ scar and Mordin’s skin looking particularly impressive. With three other rows of portraits seen, there is plenty of art for Mass Effect fans to appreciate.
A particularly impressive part of the collection is the fact that tanaleth manages to make the human art pieces look as detailed and intricate as the alien ones. While drawing Krogans like Grunt and Wrex is surely a tough task, a portrait of Ashley or Jack would likely be even tougher to get right. However, tanaleth nails this, as both characters look just like they did in the games. The artist even includes a portrait of female Shepard, with the Commander positioned in the center of the third row. While the drawings do not include the companions from Mass Effect: Andromeda, they do a spectacular job of capturing the trilogy's cast.
While unique art ideas like Mass Effect tarot cards are worthy of appreciation, sometimes old school character portraits can be just as memorable. With so many different pieces included in the collage, the creation process likely took the artist a whole lot of time.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is out now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One and backward compatible on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.