Talk:Spectres

Should this article be Spectres rather than Spectre Agents? -- Tullis 14:07, 5 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Good point. The title of the article isn't properly defined. It should be moved to 'Special Tactics and Reconnaissance' and modified in such a way to discuss the organization and agents together. -- Marinko 22:35, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Special Tactics and Reconnaissance already redirects here. Truth be told, we're not told much about the branch other than how it pertains to Spectres, so there's not much else we can add. -- Tullis 09:06, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Training?
Anderson says Spectres don't have a training programme and they're hand-picked from the elite, but Garrus says he could have received 'special training' when he was picked as a possible Spectre candidate. Hmm. -- Tullis 16:55, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Seems to be that it was training offered by the turian military to prepare the best of them to become spectres. Perhaps it is simply the way that the turians finds the ones with the potential to be spectres. (Jakob Laursen 20:36, 6 June 2008 (UTC))
 * Exactly. Probably there is no special Council training (ok, that raises the question where the new skill comes from, perhaps there's a secret Spectre training manual), but the governments of the different species probably want to increase the chances of getting people good enough to become spectres by training enough candidats properly. --84.56.80.112 22:03, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Possibly it is the council who offers it to keep them sharp. So while they don't train spectres from the ground up, they could merely be improving agents. But this is all speculative (Jakob Laursen 08:48, 7 June 2008 (UTC))

Founding of the spectres
The article states that the spectres were founded shortly before the krogan rebellions. However, the ingame codex states that they where founded after salarians joined the council. They mention that their activites became publicized after the rebellions. (Jakob Laursen 18:46, 8 June 2008 (UTC))
 * According to the Codex, the salarians publicised their League of One activities soon after joining the Council, and a lot of the original Spectres were STG operators too. Could that be it? I'm sure Spectres are mentioned in the Codex under the Krogan Rebellions... --Tullis 13:52, 9 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Quotes from the codex:
 * 1.) The Spectres were founded after the salarians joined the Council. For many years, they operated in secrecy, as back-room "problem solvers." Only after the Krogan Rebellions did their activities become publicized. (Spectres)
 * 2) The finest STG operators and asari huntresses had been drafted into a covert "observation force", the Office of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. The Spectres opened the war with crippling strategic strikes. (Krogan Rebellions) Throwback 05:25, January 20, 2010 (UTC)

Pictures
Actually, I've seen a great screenshot of Nihlus taking cover at the spaceport on Eden Prime, looking pretty badass (shame he gets shot just afterwards) and now I can't find it again. Might be a good pic for this page if someone could oblige. --Tullis 18:24, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Where's Waldo (Spectre addition)
Where the heck are the other Spectres in the game? Not one will you ever pass by again in Mass Effect besides the two Turians we already know about, and not even a peep of the other Spectres existence are ever hinted at.


 * There's probably not too terribly many, and unless they're going to be working together, they are probably kept somewhat separate, like a cell organization. I'm sure that there's a Special Tactics and Reconnaisance office somewhere, but since Shepard had already gotten orders straight from the Council, there was no reason to go there.
 * Or, if you prefer (and I think I do): Spectres aren't the police; they aren't ubiquitous. They're only where they need to be, and none of them needed to be with Shepard. Remember that the Council didn't see a huge, enormous threat with the Geth incursion; it was concerning, but it wasn't worth a huge mobilization. Boter 00:51, December 19, 2009 (UTC)


 * "Not one will you ever pass by again in Mass Effect besides the two Turians we already know about" So, I take it you stopped and verified that none of the countless NPCs you pass by anywhere in the game (particularly in the Council Tower) are Spectres? You'll have to show me how to do that, as I have yet to figure out how to do the Spectre check! :P Also, you do have to take into account that Spectres are field agents. They tend to be out and about dealing with threats to the Citadel races, not just sitting around twiddling their thumbs/thumb-like appendages. From what we've seen, they are a very mission-oriented group, with little in the way of a central office or massive logistics/support staff, as they get what they need from other, more supported groups, like C-Sec. And finally, you have to remember that this is a covert group, and one of the greatest assets of a Spectre is the ability to remain anonymous. Their cover is vital to the mission. They aren't just going to run around going "Hi, I'm a Spectre." It just doesn't make sense. Spectres are like spies or special operators- just because you don't see them, it doesn't mean they aren't there. SpartHawg948 01:04, December 19, 2009 (UTC)

When I said that bit about not seeing another Spectre, I meant that in the context of which we know of. And godamit...In my playthroughs, I always threw in the fact that Im a Spectre in every turn...So much for covert...


 * Even in the context of what we know of, did you ask if any of the npcs you can talk to are Spectres? How do you know they weren't? Regardless, the known galaxy is a big place, and it is stated several times that part of a Spectre's job is to determine for themselves what could be a threat and chase said threats down, so it makes perfect sense that there wouldn't be all kinds of Spectres just sitting around cooling their heels on the Citadel. Of course, that doesn't mean that one or two of the people you spoke to weren't Spectres. ;) SpartHawg948 23:08, December 19, 2009 (UTC)
 * I imagine that atleast a few of the people in the tower are spectres, and they probably have multiple forms. Such as field agents, intellegence agents, council guards, retired spectres who train 'raw recruits'. I imagine the turian who sells the spectre gear is a spectre or a retired spectre, why else would they trust him to be capable of accessing any spectre's name and security level.Kre &#39;Nunumee 02:33, January 19, 2010 (UTC)

Exelent title choice by the way.Kre &#39;Nunumee 02:33, January 19, 2010 (UTC)
 * It is a excellent title, but as always, it'd be better with proper spelling! Spectre Addition? Are we adding up all the known Spectres? Or putting a Spectre Addition on the house? (the proper spelling in this context is of course Edition, as in "Where's Waldo:Spectre Edition"). :P SpartHawg948 02:36, January 19, 2010 (UTC)
 * When you really want to mess with it, you realize that it might be a Spectre Division. Boter 21:50, January 19, 2010 (UTC)
 * Do what now? What does that have to do with the rest of this thread? SpartHawg948 21:54, January 19, 2010 (UTC)

"Their cover is vital to the mission. They aren't just going to run around going "Hi, I'm a Spectre."" Actually, that's exactly what they do. Have you even played the first game? All you do on civilized planets is throw around your name and Spectre status to get treatment, and get the attention of people who need your help. It's even said in the game that Spectres are assigned when the Council needs something dealt with in a not-so-sneaky manner (they use the STG when they need discretion). The Spectres we know about are high-profile (Shepard, Saren, Nihlus are all famous to differing degrees) so it's possible that they are there to keep the people's attention off the ones doing more quiet work. I, for one, am disappointed that there is no hint of any Spectres in either game except for Shepard, Nihlus, and Saren. Nihlus dies right away, Saren is the bad guy, and Shepard is, well, you. At the start of the game it's like "Oh yeah, they're celebrities" and when you become one it's like "You're the only one!" Because clearly the other ones have more important things to do, like stop the evil batarians from making evil space mirrors. 75.34.93.110 10:04, March 20, 2010 (UTC)
 * '"Their cover is vital to the mission. They aren't just going to run around going "Hi, I'm a Spectre." Actually, that's exactly what they do.' No, that's exactly what one Spectre can choose to do. Hardly indicative of what "they", meaning most or all other Spectres, do. Remember that in most cases where you have a dialogue option to refer to yourself as a Spectre, there's also one to refer to yourself as an Alliance officer or as just some random person. And if you've read Revelation, you'll recall that Saren behaves quite differently, often remaining anonymous. He likely didn't become a public figure until later in his career, probably about the time he became the longest-serving turian Spectre. SpartHawg948 10:27, March 20, 2010 (UTC)

Blasto
I can't believe I'm having to put this here, but common sense does seem to be a less than common quality these days. Boo! Ok, here's the deal. Blasto, the hanar spectre, is a fictional character! This means that, even within the fictional Mass Effect universe, Blasto IS NOT REAL! No amount of suspension of belief can make it so! If Blasto is not real, and is not really a hanar Spectre, this of course means two things: 1) Blasto is not a "Known Spectre" (any more than elcor Hamlet is a "Known Prince of Denmark"); and 2) the hanar are not one of the only races known to have Spectres drawn from their ranks (any more than the elcor are one of the only races known to have Princes of Denmark drawn from theirs). I hope this clears this up, as I'm getting tired of undoing these silly edits. SpartHawg948 23:22, February 11, 2010 (UTC)


 * Actually, I always assumed that "Blasto" was a fictionalized account of an actual Spectre - like how the animated Balto movie is based on an actual dog (though the movie takes a LOT of creative liberties). Boter 01:51, February 12, 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, provide evidence to support this assumption and it can be taken into consideration. Given the fact that the title includes the term "jellyfish", which many hanar view as an ethnic slur, I'd be inclined to think it's not an account of a real Spectre at all. SpartHawg948 04:05, February 12, 2010 (UTC)
 * No, fair enough. For my earlier account, we know of the movie Balto, but wouldn't have known about the real one if it hadn't said, "Based on a true story." Since I haven't heard anything along those lines in-game, the presence of a real hanar Spectre is indeed speculation. Boter 05:59, February 12, 2010 (UTC)
 * I don't think we have strong evidence either way. Not sure what that means insofar as whether they're a real Spectre or not, but I'd be inclined to include a mention of Blasto as a "known" Spectre until BioWare says otherwise. I'm fine either way though. Niirfa-sa 01:22, May 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * But we do have strong evidence. Blasto is only mentioned in a movie trailer, and a movie trailer that clearly is not that favorable to hanar. Again, there's as much evidence that Blasto is a real Spectre as there is that an elcor was Prince Hamlet of Denmark. SpartHawg948 01:42, May 8, 2010 (UTC)