Garrus Vakarian

Garrus Vakarian is a turian, formerly with C-Sec's Investigation Division. Like most turians, Garrus had military training at fifteen, but later followed in his father's footsteps to become a C-Sec officer. He was responsible for the investigation of Saren Arterius, the Council's top Spectre, after the Alliance claimed Saren had gone rogue. Though Garrus was told the investigation was over, he decided to defy the Executor's order and pursue another lead on his own. Eventually, Garrus joined Shepard's team, to help the Commander defeat Saren and the geth.

Garrus Vakarian is voiced by Brandon Keener.

Dossier
Garrus was put in charge of investigating Saren after Ambassador Udina complained to the Council, claiming that Saren had gone rogue and attacked a human colony. However, Garrus found himself hampered at every turn; as a Spectre, most of Saren's activities were classified, and it was nearly impossible to get any solid evidence. He appealed to Executor Pallin for more time, but Pallin, seeing only that Garrus had not found any evidence of Saren's guilt, ordered the investigation closed and reported that there was nothing to support a charge of treason. However, Garrus had one lead and only needed more time to look into it. He decided to pursue it on his own, regardless of Pallin's orders.

During the investigation to prove Saren has gone rogue, Commander Shepard learns from Harkin that Garrus has gone to the Med Clinic in the Wards. If Shepard follows this lead, the Commander arrives to find Dr. Chloe Michel being threatened by a group of thugs, not realizing that Garrus is lying low nearby. Shepard's arrival distracts the thugs, allowing Garrus to take one of them out with a single well-placed shot to the head. After the firefight, Garrus tells Shepard he is leaving C-Sec: he knows Saren is guilty, but regulations and his position mean that his hands are tied. Now, however, he is determined to take Saren down. Shepard agrees to let him come along and become part of the Normandy's crew.

If Shepard recruits Wrex first, Garrus will come to you later requesting to join your team, but the Med Clinic encounter will still be available. Shepard can refuse Garrus' request, and complete the game without ever recruiting him.

Garrus is very courteous to Shepard, calm and reassuring to victims like Dr. Michel, but ruthless when fighting. He is also very impressed by the Normandy, saying she is proof of what races can accomplish when they work together; he is eager to see what she can do in a fight, because the stealth system offers an entirely new angle on space combat. Though Ashley is suspicious of Garrus, despite the fact he's a C-Sec officer, Garrus tends to get along well with the rest of the crew, enjoying the chance to get off the Citadel and see how things are done outside C-Sec. He is surprised by Wrex, stating that he thought all krogan were savage thugs, prompting Wrex to retort: "What, using the genophage was more bearable when all krogan were savage thugs? You'd better head back to the ship, kid – any longer out here in the real world and you just might have to learn something."

Little is known of Garrus' past, other than the fact he grew up on Palaven—he says Virmire reminds him of home, and if talked to on Therum's surface, he will say that he "thought Palaven was hot"—and that he had a very "by-the-book" father, a well-known C-Sec investigator whose mantra was "Do things right or don't do them at all." Shepard is surprised to hear that Garrus was targeted as a potential Spectre candidate, but Garrus claims he was only one of close to a thousand potentials picked from the turian military. He could have received special training to prepare, but his father blocked his candidacy, despising Spectres for their extralegal freedoms. Garrus doesn't appear to have any regrets over losing his chance, but he is very interested to see how Spectres do their job, and wants to learn from Shepard. He has no qualms about hunting Saren, a fellow turian—in fact, that is one of the reasons behind Garrus' hatred of Saren. According to Garrus, Saren is not only a threat, but a disgrace to their species.

Harkin describes Garrus as a hothead who "still thinks he can change the world", saying he is always arguing with the Executor. Pallin himself respects Garrus as an investigator, but claims that as a C-Sec officer he should have more consideration for the law: he may see Garrus as doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. Garrus' main objection to C-Sec is the abundance of restrictions and regulations. He believes it doesn't matter how you do it; just get it done. Garrus and Shepard can debate this while aboard the Normandy. He is particularly frustrated when regulations mean a suspect goes free. He does mention to Shepard that he is concerned about their apprehension of Saren—if they arrest the ex-Spectre and bring him back to the Citadel, there's too much of a risk of him escaping, or being exonerated and protected by the Council to prevent a scandal. Garrus suggests that it might be better in the long run if they just kill Saren, rather than strictly going by-the-book. Shepard can offer an opinion on this.

Eventually, Garrus thanks Shepard for bringing him aboard the Normandy and letting him be part of the team. He says that he's learned a lot and that he doesn't want to let those lessons go to waste. Depending on what Shepard has said to him, and the commander's behavior throughout the mission, Garrus states that he is going to reapply for Spectre candidacy, with or without reapplying for C-Sec in the process.

Personal assignment
Garrus has a personal mission, Find Dr. Saleon, to track down a criminal who got away from him. When asked about his views on C-Sec and some of his old cases, Garrus mentions a particularly gruesome case involving a salarian doctor, Dr. Saleon, who escaped the Citadel with hostages because the authorities wouldn't fire on his vessel, despite Garrus telling them that the doctor would only use the hostages as test subjects. This caused him to start losing faith in C-Sec policy.

Shepard can offer to track Saleon down as an assignment—the experience gives Garrus some food for thought. If Shepard doesn't take Garrus as a party member for that assignment, Garrus later regrets missing the opportunity to take down Dr. Saleon.

Weapon proficiencies

 * Assault Rifles
 * Sniper Rifles

Dossier
Shepard is advised to recruit a tactical genius and infiltrator known as Archangel, who is currently operating out of Omega. Apparently, over the past few months, Archangel has developed a reputation of being nothing short of a menace to Omega's crime empires; arriving with his team of twelve operatives, Archangel caused an impressive amount of trouble for three of the Terminus Systems' most powerful and successful mercenary groups (Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse). The impact on the mercenary groups' operations was so devastating that it drove all three into forming a temporary alliance with one another, intending to use all their available manpower and resources to eliminate Archangel. Seeing Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack work together was unprecedented; as Aria T'Loak explained, unless a war broke out, the three were almost never seen together.

After Shepard's team gets through to Archangel, he removes his helmet, revealing himself to be none other than Garrus Vakarian. After the events of Mass Effect, and Shepard's death, Garrus reveals that he followed Shepard's example and created his own squad to enforce their own version of justice on Omega, leading to his current predicament. After Garrus explains the situation to Shepard, Shepard's team assists in taking out the mercenaries, who have kept Garrus stuck on one side of a bridge. During the battle, Garrus is attacked by a Blue Suns gunship and suffers multiple wounds to his face and upper torso. Following the battle, he is rushed back to the Normandy to receive medical treatment.

After being treated by Dr. Chakwas, Garrus greets Shepard in the comm room, showing the damage he sustained in the gunship attack. A quarter of his face on the right side has been badly damaged, replaced by a bandage/artificial graft; Jacob Taylor mentions that some cybernetics were also needed to keep Garrus alive. There are various degrees of damage to Garrus' armor, and a chunk of the armor's collar has been blasted off.

It soon becomes clear that, in the previous two years, Garrus had lost his way in life. Sometime after the Battle of the Citadel and Sovereign's defeat, Garrus returned to the Citadel either to begin Spectre training or to rejoin C-Sec, depending on his conversations with Shepard in Mass Effect. However, Garrus grew increasingly disgusted with the bureaucracy of the Citadel, a situation likely exacerbated by the Citadel Council downplaying and dismissing the Reaper threat as nothing more than a rumor. To know of the Reapers and be unable to do anything about it was frustrating enough. After hearing of Shepard's death and the Normandy's destruction, Garrus could no longer tolerate the Council's unwillingness to act. He abandoned either his Spectre training or C-Sec and headed to Omega, determined to make a difference there. After beginning to strike back at Omega's mercenary and criminal elements on his own, he eventually gathered a team of eleven specialists to aid him in his vigilante activities. As Joker describes Garrus' change, the turian had "worked that stick out of his butt", only to start "trying to beat guys to death with it". After one member of his team betrayed the others to their deaths, Garrus became overwhelmed by anger and guilt, making him increasingly violent.

Garrus half-jokes that he doesn't think he's a very good turian since he lacks the discipline expected of him. He feels that, in the face of the Reapers and the galactic extinction they bring, it is simply not worth blindly following bad orders.

Loyalty
Throughout the course of the game, Shepard has an opportunity to ask Garrus about past events when catching up. Garrus eventually tells of a past deployment in the Terminus Systems in which his squad was sold out to the mercenaries by Sidonis, a former team-mate of his. Garrus eventually finds out that Sidonis is on the Citadel, and Harkin (under the alias "Fade"), was the one that facilitated Sidonis' disappearance. After interrogating Harkin, Shepard can choose to aid Garrus' assassination attempt on Sidonis or attempt to warn him, though either choice secures Garrus' loyalty and unlocks his Armor Piercing Ammo ability and alternate outfit. During this mission, Shepard has the choice to either let Garrus shoot Harkin in the kneecap or stop him for Paragon points. If stopped from shooting Harkin, Garrus will headbutt him instead. If Shepard stops Garrus from killing Sidonis, a news report made later on by Emily Wong will inform Shepard that Sidonis has turned himself in for the murder of 10 people, but C-Sec can't really take action against him since there is no government on Omega to extradite Sidonis to.

Romance
In Mass Effect 2, Garrus becomes a potential romance for a female Shepard. The option becomes available after completing Garrus' loyalty mission. Throughout the romance, Garrus' demeanor is somewhat awkward; nevertheless, if Shepard asks Garrus whether his behavior suggests that he is uncomfortable with the idea, Garrus says he is just nervous, and that Shepard never has to worry about making him uncomfortable. In these more vulnerable moments, Garrus admits he feels very alone in the galaxy, considering Shepard is the only friend he has left. During the final scene, Garrus confesses he wants "something to go right" (he mentions Sidonis and his work with C-Sec as times where he failed, implying his departure from C-Sec may not have been entirely his choice) after which Shepard—who slowly approaches him while he talks—touches his face, stroking the scar he gained during his recruitment mission. The scene ends with the two of them touching foreheads affectionately, followed by Garrus reaching up as though to touch Shepard's shoulder before the scene fades to black.

When Mordin notices Shepard's attraction to Garrus, Shepard can ask him for advice regarding the turian, to which Mordin will warn Shepard about chafing. He advises her not to consume turian tissue, as it is based on dextro-amino acids, and can cause an allergic reaction in Shepard's body. He then suggests that she return later for a painkiller and forwards information packets regarding turian physiology and positions comfortable for both species to Shepard's room.

Lair of the Shadow Broker
After completing Lair of the Shadow Broker, Shepard may invite Liara aboard the Normandy to catch up. If the right dialogue options are chosen, she will ask Shepard what she's fighting for, and if it's a chance to give Garrus peace. The Commander will respond that Garrus has been hurt and betrayed and that she would like to offer him something better. Shepard will also note that she never expected to find happiness in the arms of a turian. Liara remarks that it is by no means uncommon for a human to be attracted to an alien, given the widespread obsession with asari, and wishes them both happiness.

Mass Effect 3
Garrus will return as a squadmate in Mass Effect 3, provided he survived the events of the Suicide Mission in Mass Effect 2.

Trivia

 * Along with Ashley, Garrus is one of the "poster" characters for Mass Effect and appears on most of the promotional art and demo footage.
 * During the Xbox 360 demo, a conversation with Garrus was used to demonstrate the dialogue system, where Shepard interrupted Garrus' complaint about endangering the mission to rescue civilians, and ordered the turian to fall in line.
 * There is currently a bug on the PC version of Mass Effect where even on Ultra-High detail, Garrus' face is remarkably low textured. This is known by the developers of the game, who have said that a patch is not currently in the works and most likely never will be, since due to the way the game is made, it would require a multi-gigabyte patch to fix.
 * Garrus' trademark visor is explained to be a custom targeting visor based on the turian version of the Kuwashii Visor. It holds great personal significance to him, as he is never seen without it, even during his romance subplot. He also has the names of his former Omega team members carved into the frame, removing Sidonis' after his betrayal.
 * Early promotional screenshots for the first Mass Effect show Garrus would originally be able to wear heavy turian armor; however, this was scrapped later during development. As of Mass Effect 2, heavy turian armor is his default outfit.
 * Shepard and Garrus' relationship is one of mentor and protegé, respectively, as Garrus usually seeks out Shepard's advice and opinions regarding missions and always follows Shepard's example.
 * As observed in the E3 2006 and X06 demos, Garrus underwent many revisions, including changes to his visor, turian insignia markings, and armor.


 * As with all squad members, Garrus 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.
 * The Shadow Broker has files on Garrus which can be accessed aboard his ship.
 * Garrus has never had a canonical appearance without his visor, although there are some concept art images depicting that.