Grunt

Grunt is a genetically engineered krogan super soldier. Bred and educated in a tank, he was intended to exemplify the best traits of the krogan, and help reinvigorate his species. In the meantime, he fights along Commander Shepard to satisfy his natural desire for violence.

Grunt is voiced by Steve Blum.

Weapon proficiencies

 * Shotguns
 * Assault Rifles

Dossier
Grunt was created on Korlus by the krogan warlord Okeer, who was originally investigating the genophage. However, Okeer gradually became obsessed with his work and realised that surviving the genophage had become the only benchmark for a good krogan, which was weakening the species as a whole. He decided to produce a genetically pure, superior krogan—a super soldier—and poured all his efforts into his experiments, even seeking help from the Collectors. After rejecting thousands of specimens as unworthy, Okeer finally produced his perfect prototype before he died from toxins released by Jedore, a Blue Suns mercenary. Commander Shepard, who had come to Korlus hoping to recruit Okeer, instead, recovered the super soldier's tank and took it aboard the Normandy SR-2. When Shepard chooses to release the super soldier from his tank, the newly awakened krogan pins Shepard to a wall and declares his intention to kill the Commander, though he desires a name before doing so. He chooses "Grunt", the last word in Okeer's final message; he considers it to be short and simple, descriptive of both his training and purpose. Shepard either persuades Grunt to join the mission against the Collectors as it will be a good fight for Grunt, or shoots multiple times to subdue him. If Grunt accepts Shepard's offer, he then realizes that Shepard was pointing a gun at him all along, to which Grunt approves.

Lacking a krogan upbringing or a sense of honour, Grunt is both violent and highly unpredictable. He often becomes impatient and charges recklessly into the midst of his foes, (unlike more disciplined krogan fighters like Urdnot Wrex) without Shepard's orders. Despite his unpredictable and violent attitude, he is nonetheless considered a great asset to the mission thanks to his unsurpassed physical strength and fighting prowess. Grunt also harbors personal doubt due to his genetic upbringing, considering himself weak for being given strength compared to the thousands of failures that "at least tried" to become strong on their own.

Outside of battle, Grunt often appears naive and particularly enthusiastic about violence and combat in conversations with Shepard. He often seeks guidance from Shepard due to a combination of his youth, lack of krogan guidance and his inexperience about the galaxy, having been educated solely by imprints from Okeer's tank. It takes a while for him to understand the images Okeer used to educate him with, but Grunt soon sees the funny side of killing turians and salarians, and is pleased with himself when he compiles his first list of enemies. Despite his violent nature, he respects Shepard's leadership, partly because Shepard faces great battles and has powerful enemies. If Grunt becomes loyal, he calls Shepard his battlemaster, as the Commander "has no match".

Loyalty


After Grunt has been freed from his tank for some time, EDI or Kelly Chambers alerts Shepard that Grunt has become anxious and is behaving irrationally. Upon talking to him, Grunt will reveal his emotions are in turmoil, describing it as similar to krogan blood frenzy and feeling confused about how to handle it. EDI suggests visiting Tuchanka to consult a krogan clan leader. The clan leader explains that Grunt is undergoing the krogan equivalent of puberty. Grunt must take part in a rite of passage with Shepard at his side to prove himself a worthy krogan and join a clan, or die in the attempt.

Trivia

 * "Grunt" may be a reference to a military slang that denotes "infantryman" or low ranking ground soldiers in general. Used widely during and after the Vietnam War.
 * Many ground soldier units in video games use the "Grunt" designation, such as the Grunt of Warcraft or Quake video games.
 * According to lead character artist Jaemus Wurzbach, Grunt was designed to look "young, like a baby." Grunt has finer skin than other krogan, resembling a lizard's scales rather than the tortoise-like skin of other krogan. The segmented crest on his head has not yet formed into a solid plate, reminiscent of the separated bones of a newborn human baby's skull. Grunt's armor is also quite clean.
 * Unlike other krogan, Grunt has blue eyes.
 * Grunt is unaffected by direct sunlight when on Haestrom as he does not have a shield or a barrier, using armor instead.
 * However, if Grunt dies leading the second fire team in the final mission, he remarks having lost his shields (this could be a simple error since every character who dies in this position says something similar).
 * Steven Blum, who voices Grunt, the Shadow Broker, and Wilson, also voiced the characters Oghren, First Enchanter Irving, and Gorim in Dragon Age: Origins, another BioWare game.
 * There is a bug where Grunt may be unable to use his Fortification power after his loyalty mission is completed, and be listed as not loyal despite having the red loyalty ring around him in the squad selection screen. This will not have an effect on the suicide mission. This bug was fixed with a title update on May 17, 2010.
 * Content deleted from Mass Effect 2 suggests that Grunt was originally intended to have a confrontation with Mordin, resembling the confrontations between Miranda and Jack, and Tali and Legion.
 * In the Shadow Broker's Video Archive, Grunt is mentioned as "Okeer Test Subject Number 317".


 * As with all squad members, Grunt 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 Grunt which can be accessed aboard his ship.