Talk:Quarian

Do you think the Migrant Fleet will be in Mass Effect 2 or 3? If you do, tell me! I think that you might get to meet Tali's father.

Probably. Mass Effect: Ascension is set to flesh out the quarians and will help set the scene for ME2.--Hawki 09:23, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks man. You're a big help. And I'm not even a member of any gaming wiki. Can you relay this info to Tullis for me?

Does anyone have a definite source for the claim that "the quarian immune system treats the [levo-amino acid] proteins as germs"? It's possible, but unlikely unless someone has proof. -GenericMinion

It should be understood that the Quarians and their subsequent creation of the Geth is not as cut and dry as it seems, while the paragon and to a point the renegade Shephard in conversations with Tali will remark on how the "Geth defended themselves" and were therefore not at that fault, the Quarians themselves as well as Tali, most likely due to childhood teaching and subliminal messages, do not believe they made any mistakes in their treatment of the Geth, only in their creation, which is illogical as creating robotic servants is something all races are bound to do at some point (especially Humanity as we've already proven) and thus it was not the creation of the Geth that was the mistake, it was their subsequent treatment of them once they became sentient and also their desire to destroy them instead of simply let them live on their own as a new race or to communicate with them for peace.

As such the Quarians and the Geth should not be referred to as "The Geth rebelled and exiled them" as it wasn't rebellion as much as proper defense and thus they were not at fault.

Due to the actions of the initial Quarians it is understandable that the Geth would be suspicious and very aggressive towards any sentient due to the only known treatment they've received from sentients, which nearly resulted in their destruction, as well as a prior life of thralldom.

It should also be noted that the Geth have not completely forgotten about the Quarians as seen in the music and Quarian singing of their melancholy in the Armstrong Region with the independently working Geth missions. --Delsana 20:59, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Has Anybody played Galactic Civilizations II? Because, the Iconians built a Machine Race and it became Sentient. Then the Machines ALMOST wiped out most of the Iconians, and I think that Sounds a LOT like the quarians to me. Or am I just going insane?--Eustas P. Vanderbanger III 15:56, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

There is concept art for a male quarian from the August issue of GamePro. Image: http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/File:Male_Quarian.jpg Rodyn 14:39, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Enviro-suit helmet differences
I thought it was worth mentioning that female quarians tend to have flatter helmets, but those of male quarians are longer and more snout-like. I put it in trivia, since there didn't seem to be a suitable section.

Quarians are Geth?
Does anyone else think it possible that the quarians are geth? Maybe the quarian race was totally wiped out, but seeing the opportunity, they molded themselves to look like quarians and made up the tale about their immune system to avoid suspicion. This way, they could stay hidden and safe beyond the veil while still exploring the rest of the galaxy and seizing valuable technology from the other races. My evidence: Their suits share a mild resemblance to the geth. Why would they want to look like the things that had nearly wiped them out? The suits were made after the geth because there would have been no need for them previously. Also, the independent geth send a message to the veil using quarians singing sadly. Perhaps there is some significance to this. Finally, in Mass Effect: Ascension they seemed very interested about the Reapers. This may go beyond their stated goal of using it to control the geth. Just a theory. What do you think?


 * It's not conclusive, but Vigil still states "you are not Prothean, but you are not machine either" if you take Tali along. --Tullis 21:26, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Forgot that part. That kind of throws a wrench into the theory. Still, they might have evolved to the point where an ancient VI couldn't tell the difference.

Additionally, you can see Tali's face (including her eyes) through her visor on occasion. Rodyn 21:38, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Also based on the brutal torture which Pel dished out to a very organic quarian in Ascension I think it is safe to say that the quarians are not geth. --Jax Montag 08:37, December 11, 2009 (UTC)


 * You could also attribute the suit similarity to that simply being a feature of quarian design, which we've yet to actually see much of (aside from Tali's suit). --Tullis 22:49, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

I think the similarities between the geth and quarians astheticly is more to do with quarian physiology rather than their suits. When we create walking robots, their structure is similar to ours. It is logical that this would be the same for the quarian-created geth. Sir Jcd 21:50, April 12, 2010 (UTC)

I believe they're more of a cat-like species. Just look at Tali. She has slanted, cat-like eyes, digitigrade legs, and very paw looking feet. Plus we've yet to see a cat-like species, and one, the Cathar, was present in KOTOR. Makes sense to me anyway. -Proconix 02:43, 11 August 2009 (UTC)Proconix


 * Ok, well, given that the quarians created the geth, I think it's safe to assume that the quarians are not geth. Also, on a side note to the previous post, there were also Wookiees and a race of fish-people in KOTOR. Does that mean they appear in ME? No. Frankly, pointing out what was and wasn't in KOTOR as supporting evidence for what may be in ME2 is like me citing Jade Empire for a theory that a giant, magical dragon that supplies endless water will appear in ME2. SpartHawg948 03:12, September 4, 2009 (UTC)


 * Haha! Yeah, SpartHawg948 is right. For some reason, I just can't see them sitting in a conference meeting saying "Okay, so when are we gonna bring the Cat-People in?" That makes no sense to me. Besides, Bioware wouldn't want to redo something they've already done in a previous game. They might even face some legal issues by copying that. The Cathar were around before KotOR. I, personally, am going to take the Quarian's backstory at face value. Why in the world would the Geth pretend to be a distrusted, inferior, suspicious member of galactic society? That'd be redundant.--Effectofthemassvariety 03:45, December 3, 2009 (UTC)


 * You know, that is an excellent point I hadn't even thought of... the Cathar have, in fact been around for quite some time prior to Juhani's appearance in KOTOR. In fact, pretty much everything in KOTOR was created by Lucas' people, as opposed to Mass Effect, which is a BioWare original. Good call! SpartHawg948 11:32, December 3, 2009 (UTC)


 * IMHO, I think finding out the Quarians are a race of cat-people would be awesome. All this time, Tali was a catgirl...
 * It always seemed like the quarians were closely related to turians, who I believe are described as having avian-like features or biology? I know I read that somewhere.--Matt 2108 01:59, December 25, 2009 (UTC)


 * No evidence of any relation between the quarians and the turians has ever been presented. The only observed similarity, other than that they are both bipedal, is the fact that both are dextro-protein species, the only two known sentient dextro-protein species. This of course, does not make them any more related than it makes the humans and asari, or humans and salarians, as they are all levo-protein races. SpartHawg948 06:15, December 25, 2009 (UTC)
 * What the hell is a Dextro/Levo-Protein race?
 * ...sigh. Read the article. It's right there, as it has been for quite some time. SpartHawg948 20:57, December 26, 2009 (UTC)

Well...
I doubt it. The Quarians modeled the Geth after their own physiology. We do the same to our robots when we model them, why would we make them any different?

Quarian Accent
Does anyone know what the Quarian accent is based off of? It sounds familiar, but I can't quite place it, and it's bothering me unreasonably.
 * Liz Szroka is from Eastern Europe, if that helps. --Tullis 23:00, December 4, 2009 (UTC)

The Quarians have always reminded me of the Jewish people for some reason, but I cant pinpoint what it is that does so..


 * Which Jewish people? Do you mean Hebrews? People seem to forget that Jewish is not a nationality, it's a religion. There is no such thing as a Jewish accent, any more than there is a Catholic accent or a Sikh accent. SpartHawg948 04:44, December 25, 2009 (UTC)
 * Both wrong. Hebrew is merely a language. Jewish is of or relating to the largest of the three extant tribes. Israelite may refer to entire people; Israeli to modern state. Jewish accent would be synonymous with Yiddish accent: exists, but inappropriate here. Could say more on subject, but more to point: superficial similarities (i.e. nar and vas--born of, crew of vs. bar and bas--son of, daughter of; exiled from home on account of own mistakes; &c.) planted the suggestion of similarity. Suggestion confirmed at Tali's trial. Opening prayer, "Blessed are the Ancestors who kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season. Keelah se'lai." Compare to comparable Jewish blessing, "Blessed are You, Lord, God, King of the Universe, who gave us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season." QED


 * Accent? What about the accent? Sproino 20:27, April 19, 2010 (UTC)

Want to do everyone a favor and not inject a long partially incorrect statement into the middle of a conversation, as it happens hebrew is not just a language but a race, think really hard, there are languages named after the people who use it (english cometh from englend). ralok 20:37, April 19, 2010 (UTC)
 * (edit conflict)Incorrect sir. Hebrew is also an ethnic group. People who belong to this group are, of course, known as Hebrews, and they most certianly are a group of people (not 'merely a language') that many modern scholars believe to have been descended from the Habiru. And the Hebrews are generally considered to be either the ancestors of, or the same people as, the 'Israelites' you mentioned. Maybe it'd be a good idea to do some fact-checking before calling other people wrong? SpartHawg948 20:41, April 19, 2010 (UTC)


 * It's also worth pointing out that the claim that 'Jewish is of or relating to the largest of the three extant tribes' is also false. Jew, or Jewish, refers to one who practices Judaism, regardless of ethnic grouping. Converts to Judaism, regardless of ethnicity, are Jewish. And the original 'Jews'? Hebrews. Again, a very simple and cursory fact-check would have determined this. It's always nice when people can be bothered to do this research before calling other users (who have done this research) wrong. SpartHawg948 20:57, April 19, 2010 (UTC)

Quarians always reminded me of middle-eastern people.--Kamikaz 23:29, December 25, 2009 (UTC)
 * Middle-Eastern is a better way to describe them, yes something about the Quarians do remind me of them.


 * I guess their nomadic ways are somewhat like some of the North African and Middle Eastern tribes (the Bedouin, Tuareg and other such groups), although their accents sound much more Eastern European, and when you get right down to it, their accents and their culture remind the me the most of the Romani, also known as Gypsies. They definitely sound more Eastern European than Middle-Eastern. (Also, please remember that unless it's the first word in the sentance, quarian is not capitalized. so it sould be "something about the quarians", not "something about the Quarians") SpartHawg948 21:04, December 26, 2009 (UTC)
 * Correction; FUTURISTIC Gypsies.


 * No, that isn't a correction, as the Romani are not futuristic. I was likening the quarians to the Romani, but the only use of the word gypsies was to identify the Romani, since most people don't know the proper name for their people. The quarians could be likened to futuristic gypsies, but as the word gypsy was not used to refer to the quarians, "FUTURISTIC Gypsies" is in no way, shape or form a correction to what I said. SpartHawg948 08:07, December 27, 2009 (UTC)

Reproduction
Theres been a rumor going around that the Quarians reproduce sortof like sea horses or through oviposition. Its been a mix of popularity and irony for any fans who are even slightly attracted to the character Tali. The joke in the matter is that is you could find a way to get past the whole immune system problem, you probably wouldn't want to.

idk, what those big words mean, but I'd still hit that.DanteShepard 13:26, January 26, 2010 (UTC)

Skin tone?
I notice that the biology section has no mention of the skin tone of the quarians. I understand there may not be much (or any) information to go on regarding this, but I think we should address it if possible. Mass Effect 2 comes out today (in the US) so I'm hoping that while playing it Bioware gives us something in the codex.DanteShepard 13:25, January 26, 2010 (UTC) I swore somewhere in ME1 there was a quarian armour that showed Tali's skin.It was green.

I doubt that there was a quarian armor that showed Tali's skin since quarians' immune system are extremely weak and sensitive therefore any kind of contact with the outside world (this includes holes in their suit) can be lethal for them.

*spoiler warning*
In reply to that, I just finished pursuing the relationship with Tali and I'm quite dissapointed that you do not get to see her face...

Appearance
From what I've read and seen, they seem to be a mixture of Human and Turian traits. They have the Turian's dextro-protein and possess roughly similar hand and feet structure. But they also have the Human features mentioned in the second paragraph of the biology section. For me at least this seems to throw what I thought they looked like into question. Krono &#39;Zulamee 13:59, January 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * Adding onto this, and for future editors, I'll note that one apparent deviation from human facial features is in the ears. Mass Effect: Ascension, (the infamous) page 235: "The other cheek gaped wide, as if someone had slit it lengthwise from lip to what passed for the quarian version of an ear." - Delphinus 09:23, February 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * Just pointing out though that the phrase "what passed for" (and "what passes for", etc) don't necessarily mean that whatever it is isn't recognizable. What I mean by that is that it can also be used (often, but not always, derisively or condescendingly) to simply highlight some sort of difference, ie a difference in size, shape, color, or what have you, from the norm. So the phrase "what passed for the quarian version of an ear" doesn't necessarily mean "They do not possess ears as humans might recognize them"... that statement would be taking it a bit too far. You have to figure, even if they look somewhat different, the "quarian version of an ear" is still similar enough for humans to recognize that it is "the quarian version of an ear." SpartHawg948 09:31, February 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * That's a valid point. Feel free to reword it, of course, but I feel that it still warrants inclusion in some form. To me, the actual wording is evocative of a sort of earlike structure (turian membranes, asari head-holes) where the ear should be. But of course, everything related to the topic is necessarily vague. Scooting around the subject rather than simply saying "quarian ear," however, does suggest that it's only vaguely recognizable to a human as serving that function; positioning would be the giveaway, given the context. - Delphinus 09:37, February 17, 2010 (UTC)

Why Quarians are categorized as non-Citadel race?
Because in Mass Effect 2 there appears to be Quarians in Citadel. See:

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Citadel:_Crime_in_Progress

It's very much their style to be with themselves far away from others but they're not totally separated. What do you think?


 * I think you misunderstand what it means to be a Citadel race. Whether a race is a Citadel race or a non-Citadel race has nothing to do with whether or not members of that race can be found on the Citadel. It has to do with whether or not the race is a member of the Citadel Council (either as a Council race or an Associate race) and has an embassy on the Citadel. If a race has an embassy on the Citadel and is either an Associate Member or Council Member of the Citadel Council, they are considered a Citadel Race. If they do not have an embassy or representation in the Council (such as the batarians and the quarians) they are considered to be a Non-Citadel Race. As the history section of this article clearly states, the quarians used to be a Citadel race, but were expelled from the Citadel Council as punishment for creating the geth, which is why they are now a Non-Citadel Race. SpartHawg948 09:49, February 3, 2010 (UTC)

Grunt's Comment
Grunt, in your first conversation with him after awakening him from his pod, says something along the lines of "Humans, asari, salarians, you're all soft. Quarians...not so much." Should this be made note of in the trivia section? DanteShepard 22:04, February 4, 2010 (UTC)
 * This may just be in reference to the fact that they always wear suits and helmets, which, for Quarians, can be considered akin to their skin. I don't think it warrants any mentioning. I think there's enough information from Tali and other sources to assume that they're soft-skinned, like us. Vund223 22:27, February 4, 2010 (UTC)
 * I took it as referring to their mental state - hard, tough, and independent. I don't think it has anything to do with their physiology. Ech0six 04:32, February 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Nah, if I recall correctly, the comment is made while talking about how difficult things are to kill with a knife. He's talking about humans, asari, salarians all being fairly easy to stab (specifically in the spine, I believe it was) and is presumably referring to the fact that quarians are never without their enviro-suits and as such are rather more difficult to get a blade into. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. As to whether or not quarians have soft skin, I've not gathered anything from Tali'Zorah or Ascension that would lead me to believe they've anything but. Zaya&#39;Kol nar Sienna 08:18, February 10, 2010 (UTC)

Actually, it might have to do with there physiology. Scence we do not see Quarian skin and the convesation was about stabbing, the quarians might have a tougher skin than humans, asari, etc. but have weaker skin than kogans. 67.190.232.247 01:43, February 16, 2010 (UTC)

Difference between Dextro- and Levo-
On Medicine.Net, I found these definitions:

"Dextro-: Prefix derived from the Latin dexter meaning 'on the right side.' A molecule that shows dextrorotation is turning or twisting to the right. The opposition of dextro- is levo-."

"Levo-: Prefix derived from the Latin 'laevus' meaning on the left side. A molecule that shows levorotation is turning or twisting to the left. The opposite of levo- is dextro- which is derived from the Latin dexter meaning on the right side."

Wikipedia has an article on protein. Throwback 07:08, February 10, 2010 (UTC)

How long do quarians live?
I can't find any info on this. Humans live 150 years, salarians live 40 years, asari 1000. What about quarians?

Those are all ballpark ranges; any species can live less or longer. If I recall, quarians have livespans comparible to humans, so around 100-150, with venerability kicking in around 65ish. Ech0six 15:23, February 11, 2010 (UTC)

Picture
Can we get a new picture for the quarians? The current just looks....bleh. It looks like a cropped photo that doesn't do any justice to the quarian appearance imo. --Joshtopher27 07:01, February 15, 2010 (UTC)

Quarian homeworld
Is there a source for the name of the quarian homeworld being a planet named Rannoch? I don't think I've come across any mention of it. &mdash;Seburo 04:52, February 22, 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm curious about this as well. Matt 2108 04:53, February 22, 2010 (UTC)

It was stated by Legion during one of his conversations. Hawka 12:07, February 22, 2010 (UTC)

Alternate Keelah se'lai meaning
I never feel like the edit summary box gives enough room to adequately explain the reasoning behind edits of this nature, so I end up leaving messages on talk pages, like this one... So it struck me while playing through ME2 again, that while none of the proposed meanings for "keelah se'lai" was unreasonable, and all seem fairly plausible, what it reminded me of the most, especially in the myriad ways it is used (as a battle cry, as a somber intonation at the beginning of Tali's trial, and so on) was the old Crusader cry/saying deus vult, which is Latin for "God wills it". The phrase was first used by Pope Urban II at the Council of Cleremont in his speech urging the nations of Western Europe to launch what would come to be known as the First Crusade in an attempt to relieve the beleaguered Byzantine Empire, which was being overrun by the Seljuk Turks. The phrase was then repeated (as a cry of enthusiasm) by the crowd, and went on to serve a multitude of uses, including most notably serving as a battle cry, just like keelah se'lai is used by the quarians. And that's my reasoning. See? No way that would have fit in an edit summary! :P SpartHawg948 11:06, February 25, 2010 (UTC)
 * (Strictly speaking, Deus vult translates literally as "God wishes it." Idiomatically this makes no difference of course.) --DRY 16:54, February 25, 2010 (UTC)
 * "Vult" actually means wills or wishes. So Deus Vult can mean God wills it or God wishes it, and His Holiness was quite clear in which meaning he was using. :) SpartHawg948 21:40, February 25, 2010 (UTC)
 * Not going to lie though, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the first comment was concerning the proper translation of "vult" from Latin to English! If anything, I'd expected any comments to be angry remarks about my characterization of the First Crusade. Too many people (for reasons I'll not get into b/c it'll turn into a political rant! :P) these days operate under the mistaken assumption that the Crusades (including the First Crusade) were wars of aggression launched by the Europeans against the Middle East, not realizing that the First Crusade was actually a counter-attack, launched in response to a plea for aid from the Byzantines. I blame MTV and Rock-em Sock-em Robots for the historical ignorance on the part of the kids! Oh, and Pac-Man video games! :P SpartHawg948 04:20, February 26, 2010 (UTC)
 * Having double checked, I find that I was mistaken. I had thought the use post-Classical, but the OLD does list it &mdash; as, anyway more to the point, does Latham; I don't have du Cange to hand.  My apologies: my memory is no longer what it used to be.  (That being said, the sense of volo here is that of an authoritative wish.)  And one can argue endlessly over the causes of wars: there is seldom a single clear cut answer.  --DRY 03:58, February 27, 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I should have pointed out that deus vult is classical Latin. In the medieval Vulgar Latin in use by most people at the time, "God wills it" would be deus lo vult. However, as the Catholic Church used Classical Latin, this is the form the Pope used, which was subsequently echoed by the assembled people and later by the Crusaders. SpartHawg948 04:03, February 27, 2010 (UTC)