Thread by @nimbus_nought

Okay. Largely to indulge myself, but also because I've had frankly irresponsible encouragement and hypomania is a hell of a motivator, I present a slightly morbid thread of all the ways characters in Mass Effect (1-3) can die, plus random trivia. *Highly* mutable.

So this will not include characters that *have* to die, unless there are also earlier opportunities for them to die before their unavoidable demise.
Massive spoilers ahead, naturally.
Ready? Okay.

Starting off fairly simple. Kaidan Alenko and Ashley Williams.
Obviously one of them has to die on Virmire when Shepard blows up Saren's cloning facility.

If Kaidan dies on Virmire a memorial scholarship in his name is set up to send gifted biotic kids to the Ascension Project.
If Ashley dies she becomes the first Alliance soldier to be awarded the Turian Nova Cluster and the Salarian Silver Dagger.

They can also die in ME3 during the Cerberus Citadel coup if Shepard is unable to talk them down.
The factors that improve Shep's chances of talking them down are:

-being romanced in ME1
-Shepard not 'cheating on' them in ME2
-Shep being civil on Mars
-Shep visiting them in Huerta (when they're awake)
-Shep visiting them a second time
- Shep admitting to any 'infidelity'
-Thane/Kirrahe being alive
-Shep lowering their gun.

Kaidan and Ashely can also die during the final run to the Conduit in ME3.
If the assembled Effective Military Strength is too low, the suppressing fire from allied ships will be insufficient to provide cover for the Normandy to extract squadmates.

Every ME3 squadmate can die this way- with the exception of EDI who will still exist within the Normandy (for now).
Vega and Liara can only die at the end of ME3.

Heading back to Virmire.
Wrex can also die here during a standoff with Shepard about whether to blow up Saren's facility or not. Persuading Wrex depends on either having enough morality points, or having previously helped him retrieve his family armour.

If Wrex isn't talked down, he will be shot by either Shepard or Ashley. Ashley will shoot Wrex if Shepard signals her to, or if Shepard makes no progress and refuses to shoot Wrex themself.

(Interestingly you can avoid all of this if you don't recruit Garrus and Liara)

Whilst we're here, Rana Thanoptis can also be killed by Shepard on Virmire. If she lives, you'll meet her again in Dr Okeer's lab on Korlus in ME2. During ME3 she becomes indoctrinated and murders some Asari military leaders before killing herself.

And speaking of Asari that can die in ME1, Shepard can also shoot Shiala on Feros. If not she'll pop up on Illium in ME2 and via email on ME3. Interestingly, Shiala is one of few characters to become indoctrinated without later killing themselves.

Back to Wrex.
Wrex can die in ME3 if Shepard chooses not to cure the Genophage. After Rannoch, Wrex will confront Shep on the Citadel when he discovers the betrayal- and it's INTENSE. Wrex will attack and be killed by either Shepard or Commander Bailey.

If Wrex died on Virmire, his brother Wreav (who shares a VA with Winnie the Pooh btw) will lead the Krogan. Wreav will not notice if the Genophage isn't cured.
If Wrex is alive, Wreav will be killed by dear old Kalros as she goes about her Reaper killing business on Tuchanka.

Bakara/Eve can also die during Priority: Tuchanka, if Shepard did not save Maelon's data during Mordin's loyalty mission in ME2. If she survives that, but Shepard did not disarm the Cerberus bomb on Tuchanka with Adrien Victus, Eve will later be killed by it.

Jumping back to Virmire, Captain Kirrahe can also die here if Shep does not assist his team. If he survives, and Thane has died, OR was never recruited, OR Shep doesn’t talk to him before the Coup in ME3, Kirrahe will take Thane's Coup role and save the councillor.

If Thane and Kirrahe are both dead (or Thane wasn't recruited) Kai Leng will kill the councillor. If Wrex is killed on the Citadel during ME3, Thane died saving the councillor AND Kirrahe survived Virmire, the latter will take Wrex's place on Earth before the final assault.

So, Thane. If Thane makes it to ME3 he will always die saving the Salarian Councillor. But he can die in ME2. Fail to upgrade the Thannix Cannon and Thane will die. Lack of Multicore Shielding can also kill Thane if Kasumi, Legion and Tali aren't in the way to die instead.

He can of course die in the suicide mission- which is a thread all of its own. Here's a graphic courtesy of Game Informer for all our sakes.
Whilst we're talking about the Collector Base, let's get Kelly Chambers out the way...

If Shep fails to go immediately to the Collector Base after the crew is abducted, Kelly gets turned to goo. If she survives but the crew are sent back to the Normandy without an escort, the crew, including Kelly dies.

If Kelly survives ME2 she will be on the Citadel in ME3. If Shepard is angry when she confesses to sending Cerberus secret reports, Kelly will later kill herself. Alternatively, if Shep is chill about it, they can potentially get their ME2 fish back.

But even then Kelly will still die in the Cerberus coup if Shepard doesn't encourage her to change her identity. Incidentally, one of the ways Shep can find out about that is via engineers Ken and Gabby- IF they survive the collector base and are accepted back onto the Normandy.

Dr Chakwas is the one crew abductee invulnerable to Collector liquidising... but she can still die if she is sent back to the Normandy without an escort.
This is a travesty and should never ever happen.

Going back to ME1 squadmates: Tali.
Again, refer to that earlier graphic for all the ways Tali can die in the suicide mission. She will also die if the Normandy's Multicore Shielding isn't upgraded. and Legion and Kasumi are in your squad to fight the Oculus.

As Tali has a relatively low defence score, she is vulnerable during the final Collector base fight if she isn’t brought with Shepard to deal with the Human Reaper. If the group defence score is too low, non-loyal squadmates will be most likely to die, then Mordin, then Tali.

If Tali makes it through ME2, but Shepard chooses the Geth over the Quarians in ME3, the Migrant Fleet is destroyed and Tali kills herself. It's pretty awful.
Interestingly, both Tali and Legion *must* be alive for Shepard to resolve the Geth/Quarian conflict peacefully.

BTW, Kal Reegar from Tali's Haestrom mission can die if Shepard doesn't make him sit out the fight with the Geth colossus. If he survives that, he dies in ME3. Unless you just refuse to accept that happens like I do.

If Tali died in ME2, her role on Rannoch is assumed by Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay (voiced by the incomparable Shohreh Aghdashloo). If Shepard sides with the Geth, Raan will kill herself- but less dramatically than Tali.

So we mentioned Legion. If Shepard sends Legion to Cerberus, they won't appear in ME3, so let's class that as a death for the sake of argument.Without Multicore Shielding, Legion will die if Kasumi isn't recruited or is fighting the Oculus. Plus all the chances to die in the base

If Legion makes it to ME3, they will always die on Rannoch- but there are two ways that can happen. 1) Legion scacrifices themselves to finalise the Geth code upgrade. 2) Shepard sides with the Quarians. Legion attacks Shepard. Tali stabs Legion/ Raan shoots Legion.

Jumping back to someone we meet in ME1: Conrad Verner. If Shep tells him to piss off when they first meet, Conrad gets himself killed. If not, he can turn up on Illium in ME2. Again, if Shep tells him to bugger off, Conrad will die This time in an accident involving a turbine...

Assuming he's still alive, and Shep interacted with him enough, Conrad pops up on the Citadel in ME3, misguidedly allowing Cerberus to sabotage medigel dispensers. Conrad will be killed taking a bullet for Shepard UNLESS Shep assisted Jenna in ME1. Jenna will sabotage the gun.

Okay. Garrus next? Without a Thannix Cannon upgrade, Garrus will die if Thane has not been recruited, even if you bring him to fight the Oculus. It's also possible for him to die if Multicore Shielding isn't purchased, *but* he is 5th in the death hierarchy.

Garrus can of course die in the suicide mission, and during the final run to the Conduit in ME3 if the EMS is too low.

On to more ME2 squadmates.

Mordin is safe from Normandy upgrade failure related deaths. But he can still die in the Collector Base. (See graphic) Additionally, if the group defence score is too low and all the characters left to fight the Collectors at the end are loyal, Mordin will be first to die.

If he survives ME2, Mordin will die on Tuchanka in all but one scenario: if Wreav is leading the Krogan AND Eve has died earlier in the mission, Shepard can persuade him that curing the Genophage is a bad idea. Mordin will survive, fake his death and work on the Crucible.

In all other situations, Mordin has to die. If the Genophage is cured, he will sacrifice himself to make it happen. If Shep chooses not to cure the Genophage, (and Wrex and/or Eve is/are alive) they will have to shoot Mordin to stop him.

If Mordin died in ME2, Padok Wiks, and STG Operative will take his place in ME3. There are loads of cute Padok vs Mordin differences but I'll restrain myself. Padok has the same die/survive scenarios on Tuchanka as Mordin.

Moving on to Kasumi, who is the most vulnerable to a Multicore Shielding related death. She can of course die in various ways in the Collector Base. She is third most vulnerable, behind Mordin and Tali in the final fight if the group defence score is too low.

In ME3, Kasumi will *appear* to die in an explosion in the Hanar embassy. If she was loyal in ME2, Kasumi will reveal herself afterwards and assist with the Crucible. If not, she won't reappear and as far as Shep knows she'll be dead.

Zaeed is potentially at risk without Thannix Cannon and Shielding upgrades and can die in the Collector Base. Leaving Zaeed (Or Grunt or Garrus) behind in the final fight actually improves the chances of characters with lower defence scores surviving.

If Zaeed's loyalty mission is done *after* the Collector Base, *and* (Paragon) Shep has two or more other surviving squadmates, Zaeed can be left to die on Zorya. If Zaeed makes it to ME3 but wasn't loyal in ME2, he will die saving the Volus Ambassador. Loyal Zaeed lives.

Jack will die if you don't upgrade the Normandy's heavy ship armour. Always. Bringing her to fight the oculus makes no difference. She's also vulnerable if you don't upgrade the Thannix Cannon- again, the oculus fight can't save her.

Like everyone else, Jack can die multiple ways in the Collector Base- she also has a low-ish defence score for the final fight. If she makes it to ME3, Jack will be at Grissom Academy when it is attacked by Cerberus.

If Shepard doesn't help evacuate Grissom, Jack will be captured and turn up as a Cerberus Phantom during the Cronos Station mission and she will have to be killed by the team.

Now Grunt. As far as I'm aware, it's unclear what happens to Grunt if you give him to Cerberus in ME2. Probably safe to assume it isn't good. If you wake him up, he can of course die in the Collector Base. He's can also be killed by a lack of Cannon and Shields upgrades.

If Grunt makes it to ME3 but wasn't loyal in ME2, he will die if Shepard saves the Rachni Queen /Artificial Rachni Queen on Utukku. If Shepard leaves the Queen, Grunt will always survive. If Grunt died in ME2, Urdnot Dagg replaces him on Utukku and always dies

Like Zaeed, Samara can die during her loyalty mission. If Shepard resists Morinth's attempts at control, they can choose to side with Morinth, who kills Samara and takes her place on the Normandy.

Samara and Morinth are vulnerable in the same ways during the Suicide Mission, and can also die if the Thannix Cannon Upgrade isn't purchased. In ME3, Samara pops up on Lesuss and will prepare to shoot herself after the mission. Shepard can intervene, or let her go ahead.

If Shepard lets Samara die, they can then kill Falere, her last daughter, or leave her on Lesuss. If Shepard sided with Morinth over Samara, she does not take her mother's role in ME3. Morinth will appear as a banshee in the battle in London at the end of ME3.

Morinth also provides an opportunity for Shepard to die prematurely, if Shepard chooses to meld with her after the suicide mission. (Morinth suggests that Shepard is too strong willed for it to be fatal). Interestingly, Kasumi (who knows what's up) will warn Shepard against this.

Now Jacob. Jacob is hard to kill compared to many other characters. He's safe from upgrade related deaths, but can die in the Collector Base- though not as easily as some. He can't die on screen in ME3, but presumably, if Shep doesn't assist him on Gellix, he dies.

The other Cerberus squadmate, Miranda, is also safe from upgrade deaths, but can still die in the Collector Base. In ME3 she can potentially be killed by Kai Leng on Horizon.

To keep Miranda alive, Shep must warn her about Kai Leng earlier in ME3, and allow her access to Alliance resources. Miranda also has to have been loyal in ME2. This is worth bearing in mind for the fight between Jack and Miranda in ME2.

If you lose Miranda's loyalty by siding with Jack, and fail to regain it, Miranda will have to die before the end of the trilogy. Comparatively, an un-loyal Jack can be kept alive. So if you haven't got enough morality points...

Who do we have left? Well Feron will die if Shepard doesn't assist Liara in 'Lair of the Shadow Broker'. . Speaking of DLC, Balak can die in 'Bring Down The Sky', but will otherwise turn up in ME3, where Shep has another chance to kill him.

If Shepard chooses not to send David Archer to Grissom Academy at the end of Overlord, it is revealed (upon meeting Gavin Archer on Gellix) that Dr Archer 'euthanised' David when he became unresponsive.

David also dies if Shepard does not tackle Project Overlord, because Cerberus nukes Atlas Station. If David is sent to Grissom, but Shepard does not aid with the evacuation of the academy, David dies in the attack.

As for Gavin Archer, he can't die in ME2, but can in a couple of ways in ME3. If David dies at Grissom OR Shep lies and says he didn't see David, Gavin will shoot himself.

If David is dead AND the Geth/Quarian conflict has been resolved prior to Shep visiting Gellix, Gavin will realise David's suffering was for nothing as the Geth are no longer a threat, and kill himself.

Steve Cortez gets shot down by a Harvester in London, but will survive if Shepard has interacted with him in ME3 and persuaded him to visit the memorial wall.

Javik can be killed on the final run to the Conduit if the EMS score is too low. If Javik survives the war, but Shepard persuaded him to use the Prothean memory shard and relive his painful memories, he will kill himself.

Though it is agonising to write this, EDI will die if Shepard chooses to Destroy the Reapers. Personally, I tell myself EDI is too clever not to have prepared for the eventuality that the Crucible might be a threat to her. But that's just me.

Rounding up a few other characters. The Patriarch will die in ME2 if Shepard encourages him to face the assassins instead of hide, as Aria wanted. General Oraka can be killed to gain Blue Suns support in ME3.

Maya Brooks can be killed in the CItadel DLC, either by Shepard or a squadmate. If Shep takes a less angry approach, she can survive to be taken into custody.

And finally, everyone on the Normandy at the end of the game can die.

If the EMS score is low enough, no one will exit the Normandy after it crashes. Presumably we have to take that to mean everyone aboard dies. Your squad. Chakwas. Traynor. Ken and Gabby. Joker. Adams. Everyone.

And I'll leave it there- because this is clearly ridiculous.
Obviously there are other characters that could be on this list, eg: The Council.
But there has to be a limit.

I hope that this in some way illustrates the scope of these games, and the extent to which your choices matter in terms of the fates of characters. And I'm going to reevaluate my life now.

Important further Kal information courtesy of @vault_n7

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