Elcor

The elcor are a Citadel species native to the high-gravity world Dekuuna. They are massive creatures, standing on four muscular legs for increased stability. Elcor move slowly, an evolved response to an environment where a fall can be lethal. This has colored their psychology, making them deliberate and conservative.

Elcor speech is heard by most species as a flat, ponderous monotone. Among themselves, scent, extremely slight body movements, and subvocalized infrasound convey shades of meaning that make a human smile seem as subtle as a fireworks display. Since their subtlety can lead to misunderstandings with other species, the elcor prefix all their dialog with non-elcor with an emotive statement to clarify their tone.

Biology
Elcor evolved on a high-gravity world, making them slow, but incredibly strong. Their large, heavy bodies are incapable of moving quickly, but they possess a rather imposing stature and immense strength, as well as thick, tough skin. They move using all four limbs to support and balance their massive bodies. Given their method of communication, they likely have highly-attuned olfactory senses.

Only once has an elcor been seen actually walking in full view of the camera, in a long shot in Mass Effect 2. In Mass Effect, Xeltan leaves the office off-camera, but his walk is thunderously loud.

History and Culture
Like Earth's dinosaurs, prehistoric elcor travelled across Dekuuna in large tribal groups. These groups were likely led by the oldest and most experienced elcor. This may have later developed into the elcor culture of Elders, whose wisdom could keep the tribe safe provided they followed the correct guidance (see below).

According to their ambassador, the elcor were just making their first forays into space travel when the asari made contact with them. With their help, the elcor discovered the closest mass relay and, within a single lifetime, had established a regular trade route to the Citadel. The elcor quickly became one of the more prominent species in Citadel space, though they still have to share an embassy with the volus.

Elcor usually prefer to stay on their colonies rather than travel in space, which may be why few elcor are seen on the Citadel or on other worlds. Possibly because of their size or evolution in the open air, the elcor find the necessary confines of space travel uncomfortable. Evolving in a high-gravity environment where a fall could be lethal has made elcor psychology deeply cautious and conservative. Their culture is built on small, tight-knit groups, and their conservative nature means the elcor government is extremely stable.

Politics and Economics
The elcor follow the recommendations of their Elders, who spend years poring over ancient records of jurisprudence to determine the precedent that should be followed in any given situation. The Elders record closely argued and minutely detailed instructions on what course to follow in any theoretical crisis. These are filed away in huge libraries of data discs and consulted at need. This makes elcor policies very predictable, provided one has done a great deal of research.

The elcor economy is small, only slightly larger than the Alliance's, but extremely well developed. They see no point to rushing things, and are fond of making thorough, century-long development plans. They don't need to trade for any resource—they have all they require to supply their own needs, and trade only in finished goods. Any attempt to embargo their space would be fruitless.

In Mass Effect 2 there are many more sightings of elcor on central worlds. The planet Ekuna, given to the elcor by the Council, has a population of over 200 million.

Military
Because their slow, conservative psyche is not suitable for making the spur-of-the-moment decisions necessary in combat situations, the elcor rely on sophisticated VI combat systems. These war machines can choose between thousands of gambits developed and polished over centuries by elcor strategists.

The slow speed and immense size of the elcor makes them easy targets. Fortunately, their durable hide allows them to shrug off most incoming fire. Elcor warriors don't carry small arms; their broad shoulders serve as a stable platform for the same size of weapons typically mounted on Alliance fighting vehicles.

Notable Elcor

 * Calyn
 * Petozi
 * Xeltan
 * Harrot

Trivia

 * Shepard can overhear a news story on the Citadel about a human director named Francis Kitt. He is planning to direct a production of Hamlet using elcor cast members who will utilize their native body language and pheromones. Kitt claims he wants to give human audiences the chance to judge Hamlet "by his deeds and not his emotions". In Mass Effect 2, the production became an award-winning hit and it can be seen in the commercials on the Citadel. According to the commercials, the production is 14 hours long.
 * The elcor won the "Best New Species of the Year" award from the official Xbox magazine.
 * The political structure of the elcor was loosely inspired by the Talmudic scholarship of Judaism.
 * The elcor were originally going to have mouths similar to those of humans and asari, but this was changed due to the extra work needed to lip sync their speech. Instead, elcor mouths were changed to their current state where a short animation could be used repetitively without it being noticeable.
 * The elcor speech pattern is a subtle reference to HK-47 from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, in which statements are predicated by an emotion or verbal style.
 * During a conversation with Garrus on the Normandy, Shepard can learn about an elcor serial killer that was active on the Citadel during Garrus's early days with C-Sec.
 * So far only one female elcor has been depicted in-game. She can be seen in the advertisement for elcor Hamlet on the Citadel quoting one of Ophelia's lines, and speaking in a feminine voice unlike the voice used by other elcor. However, since traditional Shakespearean productions had males playing females, the elcor could be male.