Urdnot Wrex

A famed krogan mercenary and bounty hunter, Urdnot Wrex is also one of the last Krogan Battlemasters: rare individuals who combine powerful biotic abilities with the devastating firepower of advanced weaponry. A long-lived krogan who has had many adventures, Wrex has heard of Commander Shepard on his travels, and respects the Commander as a fellow warrior.

Despite his chosen path of violence and killing for credits, Wrex is deeply concerned with the fate of his people after the genophage, and is one of the few planning for a new krogan future.

Dossier
Born into Clan Urdnot, Wrex quickly gained fame for his prowess in battle. He became a leader of one of the smaller Urdnot tribes while still a youth – the youngest krogan to be granted the honor in a thousand years. After the Krogan Rebellions ended, most remaining krogan tribes wanted to continue fighting despite the genophage and its devastating effect on their ability to reproduce. The most influential voice calling for a return to arms was one of the few warlords to survive the war, Wrex's father Jarrod.

Wrex had different ideas. He believed that the krogan didn't have the numbers to go to war, and even if they did, the genophage ensured they couldn't replenish their numbers quickly enough. Instead of battle, he led his tribe to focus on breeding, for at least one generation, and called for other tribes to follow. Gradually other krogan tribes began to come around to Wrex's ideas. This angered the Warlord Jarrod, who decided to arrange a Crush (a meeting on neutral ground) with all of the tribes. Wrex, sensing it was a trap, reluctantly agreed. He explains this to Shepard by saying "when your father invites you to a Crush, well, there are some laws even we hold sacred."

Wrex and his best warriors met with Jarrod's group in the krogan ancestral burial grounds called the Hollows, a holy place among the krogan where violence is forbidden. When it became clear to Jarrod that Wrex wouldn't agree with him, he signaled his men. They leapt from their hiding places and ambushed Wrex's warriors, cutting them down. Wrex managed to escape the ambush, but not before sinking his knife deep into Jarrod's chest. With his father's betrayal Wrex's eyes were opened to the truth about the krogan: most would rather die in battle than try to rebuild their society. Realizing the proud warrior culture that once valued courage, strength, and honor – values embodied by the Krogan Monument – had now been reduced to glorifying pointless violence, Wrex turned his back on the rest of the krogan and left.

Over the past three centuries, he has served no master but himself; working as a bodyguard, mercenary, soldier of fortune, and bounty hunter. Wrex has had some interesting adventures &mdash; including an encounter with a fellow merc named Aleena – and he was even hired briefly by Saren Arterius to raid a volus cargo ship, though Wrex didn't realise who the turian was until he met Shepard. Tales of his exploits have even made it as far as the quarian Flotilla. Even after many travels, there is little in the galaxy that can still surprise him. Despite his brutish appearance, Wrex rarely loses his temper. The mere threat of his anger is usually enough to get what he wants. When his fury is unleashed, however, it is a truly terrifying sight. He doesn't speak often, but when he does his words are direct and often shockingly blunt &mdash; that tends to get people to listen.

Mass Effect
There are a few possibilities to recruit Wrex into the squad. If Commander Shepard looks for Harkin in Chora's Den, the squad sees Wrex giving a final warning to Fist's bouncer before pushing past them to leave. Otherwise Shepard meets him in the C-Sec offices on the Citadel, baiting one of the officers. Wrex initially joins Shepard because he has been hired to kill Fist by the Shadow Broker. After Fist is taken care of, Wrex remains with Shepard either out of gratitude, or because he wants to be in the thick of the action as Shepard seeks out Saren Arterius. As Wrex puts it, "a storm's coming, and you and Saren are right in the middle of it." If Shepard takes out Fist before joining with Wrex, he can be found in C-Sec next to the Dock 422 elevator and will offer to join the party regardless &mdash; after he pays Shepard for handling Fist, one professional to another.

Wrex appears to have an interest in biotics and respects the talents of the other biotics in the squad; he describes Liara as an asset in combat and thinks the Alliance was foolish to stop using the L2 implant after seeing what Kaidan can do. Given the culture of the krogan &mdash; where females stay at home to focus on breeding &mdash; he tells Ashley that fighting alongside women is a new and intriguing experience, claiming it gives the battles "a different flavor".

However, like many krogan after the Rebellions, Wrex has nothing but disdain for turians and thinks Garrus is naive. He also hates the salarians, dismissing them as scientists who "love to play with bugs", and confronting Captain Kirrahe on Virmire when the captain describes uplifting the krogan as a "mistake". Should Wrex be on Noveria at the Rachni Queen's release, he warns Shepard that his people will clean up the mess, "just like we did for the salarians."

Personal assignment
After chatting to Wrex on the Normandy after several mission worlds, Shepard eventually learns that Wrex is looking for his family armor, taken by the turians after the Rebellions and now owned by a profiteer called Tonn Actus. Shepard can help him get it back, earning Wrex's gruff respect and gratitude.

On Virmire, Shepard and team discover that Saren may have found a cure for the genophage and is now breeding a krogan army at his base of operations. The STG, tasked with investigating Saren's activities on the planet, plans to destroy the breeding facility. Provided Wrex is recruited by this time and therefore present on Virmire, he becomes infuriated by this plan, since he believes the cure could save his species. Shepard attempts to reason with Wrex but he is adamant not to let the base be destroyed. Depending on Shepard's conversation with Wrex, it will determine whether he lives or dies in the confrontation.

Mass Effect 2
Wrex is the Clan Urdnot leader in 2185 if he was recruited and wasn't killed on Virmire. Otherwise, the Commander will be met with an icy reception from his broodbrother, Urdnot Wreav, on Tuchanka, though he thanks Shepard for destroying Saren's base and allowing him to assume control of the clans.

If Wrex survives, Wrex greets Shepard warmly and happily chats about their past endeavors. Shepard finds he has instituted a number of modernizing reforms, uniting a large portion of krogan under Clan Urdnot to combat the genophage and strengthen the krogan, using the victory on Virmire as a rallying point. By providing a neutral ground where discussions and exchanges can take place, Wrex has made sure that, in return for their loyalty, he will protect those clans' fertile females, making it unwise for anyone to attack him. He faces opposition from Gatatog Uvenk for disregarding many traditions.

When Grunt completes his rite of passage, Wrex welcomes him into Clan Urdnot. If Shepard managed to kill the Thresher Maw during the rite, which hasn't been done since Wrex himself, Wrex will be impressed by the achievement. During Mordin's loyalty mission, Maelon states that Wrex refused his offer to research a cure for the genophage, due to the need for krogan subjects for study. This indicates that he knew Maelon was interested in curing the genophage, though it is unclear whether or not Wrex was aware that Maelon began working with Clan Weyrloc.

When asked to rejoin the team, Wrex reluctantly declines, stating that he needs to stay to keep the krogan clans united and in line.

Mass Effect 3
During the Reaper invasion in 2186, Wrex is called to the Normandy SR-2 for negotiations with Primarch Victus and Dalatrass Linron to discuss an alliance. Wrex is unable to enter into an alliance due to Reaper scouts assaulting Tuchanka and demands that the genophage be cured, to which the dalatrass objects, leading to a heated argument.

Wrex reminds everyone that it was krogan intervention in the Rachni Wars that turned the tide against the rachni but the dalatrass counters that they exhausted their usefulness, the genophage being the only thing keeping the krogans' "urges" and lust for war in check, enraging Wrex. Victus tries to defuse the argument, pointing out that it would take years just to formulate a cure.

Wrex then reveals that "an inside source" (later revealed to be Mordin Solus, if he survived the Suicide Mission, or Padok Wiks if Mordin died) leaked the existence of fertile krogan females, survivors of Maelon's experiments, being kept captive on Sur'Kesh. He demands that his people be returned. Despite the dalatrass' objections, Shepard agrees that the genophage must be cured.

If Shepard preserved Maelon's genophage cure data back in 2185, Wrex is relatively trusting and friendly before the Sur'Kesh mission; however, if Shepard destroyed Maelon's genophage cure data, Wrex reveals he found that out and will be hostile and suspicious, implying outright that he no longer thinks Shepard is trustworthy and that he's going along with this only so his people can be cured.

Joining with Shepard, Wrex remains suspicious of the salarians. When STG refuses to allow their shuttle to land, Wrex impulsively decides to show the salarians what a "krogan airdrop" looks like, causing a brigade of STG operatives to surround him. Wrex stands down when Shepard promises to handle the exchange. Prohibited from entering the facility, he whiles away the time making fun of nearby salarians and entertaining Shepard's queries about the krogan situation.

Unfortunately, Cerberus begins assaulting the STG base, and worse, Wrex learns that there is only one surviving female. He demands that Shepard get the female to safety to ensure their alliance. Wrex then "requests" control of Steve Cortez's shuttle to draw off Cerberus' fire.

Soon enough, Shepard carves a path through heavy Cerberus resistance while assisting in the female's transport. Wrex meets up with Shepard at the STG facility's top floor, pushes off his "inside source" who was helping the female at the time, and tries to assist the female from her containment tank. The female is less than impressed, grabbing his Claymore and blowing two Troopers away before returning it, saying she can take care of herself and leaving the Urdnot leader bewildered.

Though the female, nicknamed "Eve" by her salarian doctor, was moved to safety aboard the Normandy, Wrex refuses to honor his end of the bargain until the genophage cure is spread to all krogan. While the salarian gets to work using both Eve and Wrex's DNA to properly form a cure for the genophage, Wrex remains in the War Room with Victus.

When asked about what Wrex intends to do if the genophage is cured, he answers that he intends to focus on rebuilding. Though many krogan clans will desire revenge against the turians and salarians, Wrex won't let them, seeing that war has brought them nothing but suffering. If Shepard asks Wrex why he doesn't want to seek revenge for the genophage, Wrex reveals that he fears the Council will try something worse than the genophage if the krogan step out of line again.

Wrex later winces after Shepard bids him goodbye in one of their conversations, revealing that the salarian doctor used scalpels to cut in places never meant to be cut to obtain "samples", his contribution to the cure. Ever jocular if he was pals with Shepard way back, he still manages to remark that he likes what Shepard has done to the Normandy, and depending on Shepard's relationship with Liara, attributes his "lack of windows" to his ability (or lack thereof) to kiss.

Aboard the Normandy, Wrex hears of news from his contacts regarding krogan problems better discussed "somewhere else" while Primarch Victus also wants to discuss some turian problems "in private". Shepard hears both out, and Wrex reveals that some of his scouts have gone missing while investigating suspicious activity on the rachni territories.

If Shepard follows through with investigating the scouts before dealing with the genophage, Wrex feels miffed on missing a hell of a fight, restless that he's stuck talking and keeping the peace while there's a war going on. Wrex approves of the rachni queen dying and disapproves of cutting a deal with it, telling Shepard that if the rachni get out of line again the consequences are on the Commander's head. In a similar vein, he approves of Grunt surviving his last stand, and regrets losing Urdnot Dagg (or Grunt if he wasn't loyal to Shepard).

If Shepard puts off investigating the scouts' disappearance though, Wrex simply mails Shepard what he thinks since he's no longer in the Normandy at the time.

Victus' turian problems are of import to Wrex since the knowledge may kill any possible hope of an alliance. If Shepard takes care of the situation before dealing with the genophage, Wrex learns there and then that the ancient turians actually planted a bomb on krogan soil, nearly exploding when Cerberus tampered with it.

Wrex personally gives Victus an earful on the Normandy, unmindful of the sacrifice the latter's son took to disable the bomb. Wrex's attitude towards Shepard after this is still shaped by the cumulative events, raising or lowering depending on the Commander's actions and attitudes in the past. If Shepard chooses to deal with this particular problem after the genophage Wrex never gets the opportunity to glower at the Primarch.

Eventually the salarian doc proclaims Eve ready for travel to Tuchanka, to complete the last leg of the genophage cure on-site. Shepard and company also learn that a Reaper Destroyer guards the site where the cure is supposed to be dispersed, the Shroud. Wrex is undeterred by the odds, his anticipation of curing the genophage fueling his drive and driving off any lingering discomfort from his "procedure". Shepard is then secretly contacted by the salarian dalatrass, who offers a deal: sabotage the cure and receive full salarian support, with the method of dealing with Wrex and the salarian doctor being the Commander's problem.

Wrex orders the clans to assemble at the Hollows, riding with Shepard down to the planet. His brood brother Wreav radios in to say that Reapers have begun attacking the Hollows. Wrex orders Shepard to keep the Reapers away from Eve while he sorts out what's happening with the other clans, reemerging later bloodied but positively beaming.

Wreav questions the presence of a salarian on krogan ground, and Wrex responds that the doctor is with him. Traditionalist Wreav doesn't buy Wrex's authority leading to a brief standoff, but Eve intervenes in the nick of time. She agitates the krogan present into fighting for their future, and Wrex is the first one to support her sentiments. The gathered clans set off in their tomkahs and make their way toward the Destroyer, intending to attack the Reaper on foot to divert its attention from the Shroud while Victus' turians provide air support.

Inside a tomkah, Wrex rambles on his plans for the future, saying that for starters he'll demand the Council to return some of the old krogan territory as the krogan will need room to expand and recapture the glory of the ancients. Additionally he wants a new homeworld (or ten) on the basis that he'll not have his children suffocate in Tuchanka's harsh environs, wanting them to witness a resurgent krogan empire. He has enough decency to ask the Council for permission first, and while Eve and the salarian doctor temper his opinions with their own, Shepard lapses back to dalatrass Linron's deal.

Shepard can inform Wrex and the others of the dalatrass' insidious offer. In the first attempt during the shuttle ride down the confession is cut off, but if Shepard persists the truth becomes known. Wrex's trust in Shepard is reinforced if the Commander previously saved Maelon's cure, accepting Shepard's prior apology if the Commander regrets destroying the cure, and has trouble understanding Shepard's actions if Shepard was previously unrepentant. At that last bit, he opts to channel his anger instead to something he can find for target practice, like salarians.

A series of unfortunate disasters later reduces Wrex's convoy into just his vehicle and Wreav's, so they try to come up with an alternate plan of attack. Shepard's squad, separated from the survivors, make their way through an underground city trying to rendezvous with Wrex on the other side. Just when they're nearing the meet-up point a thresher maw of colossal proportions beelines for the vehicles, causing Wrex and Wreav to scram and try outrunning the creature before Shepard's squad can be picked up. Eve comes up with the idea of summoning the giant thresher maw, thought to be Kalros, to the Reaper, and Wrex radios her idea to Shepard while looking for another rendezvous point.

Eventually the separated forces do come together, with Wreav's vehicle eaten by Kalros at the last moment. Wrex spares little thought for his brother, remarking that Wreav was always a pain in the ass.

Before setting off to summon Kalros to the Reaper, Wrex proclaims Shepard to be a champion to the krogan, a friend to Clan Urdnot and a brother/sister to him. He promises that to all newborn krogan, the name Shepard will mean hero. A bunch of rachni Ravagers show up nearby and Wrex heads off to crush them, shotgun in hand and screaming "I AM URDNOT WREX, AND THIS IS MY PLANET!"

Wrex mops up the Ravagers fairly quickly while Shepard's squad is still busy tending to their own enemies, so he volunteers to do the first part of summoning Kalros: raising the giant maw hammers so they come crashing down when activated. Wrex manages to do his job, and later Shepard activates the hammers. In short order, Kalros demolishes the Reaper, leaving Shepard and the salarian doctor open to do their parts.

After the cure has been dispersed, albeit with Mordin's/Padok's sacrifice, Wrex returns to the Hollows, reflecting on how he killed his father centuries ago and how the genophage reduced the krogan to little more than animals. He expresses regret in failing to tell Padok Wiks how wrong he was about salarians (or at the very least, the doc) or opts to remember how the salarian atoned for all the centuries of misery on Tuchanka. If Shepard regrets Mordin's passing Wrex sarcastically states that perhaps they may name one of the kids after Mordin, "maybe a girl", but if Shepard merely states that Mordin insisted because "someone else might have gotten it wrong" Wrex just remarks that a thousand years from now the krogan will probably sing songs about him.

If Eve dies during the course of perfecting the cure, Wrex mourns her passing along with the other krogan. He doesn't hold a grudge against Shepard since the Commander has already proven they're still friend of the krogan.

With hope returned to the krogan people, Wrex agrees to help the turians push the Reapers off Palaven. Along with the hordes of Tuchanka, Wrex's exploits draw krogan mercenaries from far and wide into the cause, urged by their clans to join Shepard's forces against the Reapers.

If Shepard didn't take action against the turian bomb after curing the genophage and Eve is previously alive, Wrex later mails a despondent message to the Commander stating that Eve died in the Kelphic Valley when a bomb exploded in it. Never learning of the culprit, Wrex states that they'll be sorting things out for a while. This has had the adverse effect of severely depleting Wrex's forces as most of the krogan clans were gathered at the Valley that day.

Wrex later joins the fight to take back Earth, and is seen during the final battle in London rallying his troops where Shepard can have a final word with him. Here Wrex reveals that Eve (if she survived) is pregnant, saying that "being clan leader has its benefits" and that she insists on naming the first child "Mordin" (if he was the one to die). Wrex also says that no matter what happens, Shepard did what no one else could: unite an entire galaxy, which is "a victory right there."

If Shepard chooses to activate the Crucible, Wrex's fate varies depending on the major actions undertaken. Wrex returns to Tuchanka with Grunt if Shepard destroys or controls the Reapers and with an unidentified krogan if Shepard merges organic and synthetic life; in all cases Wrex beholds the adulation of the krogan masses along with his companion.

Weapon proficiencies

 * Heavy Pistols
 * Shotguns

Dossier
If he is alive at this time, Wrex will play an active role in hunting down the people behind the plot against Shepard: he makes his dramatic entry by literally crashing—or body slamming to be more accurate—onto an ambushing shuttle that has Shepard pinned. He then temporarily serves as squadmate while the Normandy crew unravels the conspiracy.

After Shepard defeats the Mysterious Figure and retakes the Normandy, Wrex can be invited to the party thrown at Shepard's new apartment.

Before the party, Shepard can meet up a very exhausted Wrex at the casino's bar, who calls for a drink and a bag of ice. It turns out that with the krogan fertile again, Wrex was hounded by just about every female krogan on Tuchanka. With Bakara's encouragement, Wrex had to stay up for a few days straight, resulting in his quad getting overworked to the point that he had to leave Tuchanka. Even on the shuttle to the Citadel, Wrex was allowed no respite, as he got "attacked" by two more females. While Wrex shoves the requested bag of ice into his armor to relieve his overworked quad, a somewhat embarrassed Shepard looks the other way.

Optional Betrayal
If the genophage wasn't cured because Shepard allowed the salarian sabotage to go unfixed, and if Wrex is the Urdnot leader, Wrex will eventually discover that the "cure" is a fake. He makes it clear to Shepard by sending an ominous message.

When Shepard returns to the Citadel after the Battle of Rannoch and then attempts to return to the Normandy, Wrex suddenly emerges from the elevator, clearly enraged. He knocks out a C-Sec officer, then reveals that he has obtained a copy of the "sabotage the cure" conversation between Shepard and the salarian Dalatrass; he explains that Mordin/Wiks wasn't his only source in STG.

Shepard can admit their act of betrayal, which causes Wrex to get even more angry and attack. Even if Shepard tries to intimidate Wrex, citing the help with Wrex's family armor (if it was recovered in 2183), all this does will make Wrex say he will honor his friendship with the Commander by shooting them in the head.

Wrex fires at Shepard with a smuggled shotgun. The Commander dodges at the last second and takes cover. Wrex then furiously voices his regret of trusting Shepard the first time on Virmire and taunts the Commander to come out and fight.

If Shepard doesn't shoot Wrex the first time the opportunity presents itself, Shepard signals Commander Bailey and a fellow turian C-Sec Officer to riddle Wrex with bullets. If Shepard shoots Wrex the second time when the chance presents itself, the shot will blast Wrex out the window and the krogan falls to his demise. Otherwise, Commander Bailey will be the one to blast Wrex out the window, but not before letting Wrex have his last words: "I know... what you... did... Shepard."

One of Wrex's last acts as the fury at the betrayal of his people sinks in is to withdraw krogan support. The clans hunker down on Tuchanka, content on letting the galaxy burn if they're to resume the slow death of their species.

The incident with Wrex appears to have been whitewashed by the Alliance in the media. One news article depicts Wrex as a mere krogan mercenary overreacting to a bad gambling debt, rather than a leader of the krogan race. Eventually though, news snippets on the Citadel will state how the krogan forces have fragmented due to Wrex's demise.

Trivia

 * Conversing with Wrex on Tuchanka implies that he was not on board the SSV Normandy when the Collectors destroyed it, as he asks Shepard about how the ship is doing.
 * Wrex also won the "Best Sidekick of the Year" award from Official Xbox Magazine.


 * As with all squad members, Wrex has unique dialogue that can be heard at various locations, during missions or assignments, or if a specific squad member is in the selected team.