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 alongside Commander Shepard to satisfy his natural desire for violence.
Mass Effect 2
Weapon proficiencies
Powers
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“The chances of surviving are… slim.” — Spoilers for Mass Effect 2 follow. |
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Dossier
- Main article: Dossier: The Warlord
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", one of the last words in Okeer's final message, claiming, "It has no meaning. It'll do". 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
- Main article: Grunt: Rite of Passage
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.
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“There won't be an Earth left to save...” — Spoilers for Mass Effect 3 follow. |
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Mass Effect 3
Grunt returns to fight the Reapers, provided he was released from his tank aboard the Normandy and survived the attack on the Collector base. He has since earned the command of Aralakh Company. The Urdnot chief notes that as a result, Aralakh Company is his best unit. If Wrex is alive, he put Grunt in charge because he exemplifies the bright future of the krogan, something Wrex hopes for his people; Grunt, as such, is optimistic, and cares about his company more. If Wreav replaced Wrex, he put Grunt in charge for his strength; Grunt is also more blasé about his appointment, stating that it doesn't really matter to him as long as he gets to fight tough enemies.
To a lesser extent, he still experiences the stigma of being tank-born, rather than earning strength in the way other krogan feel is true. Nonetheless, his undeniable prowess in battle has earned him his place in the company.
He helps Shepard investigate the disappearance of other squads in the tunnels of Utukku, where they discover a new brood of rachni who have been twisted by Reaper technology.
If Shepard chooses to spare the Rachni Queen or artificial queen, Aralakh Company is left behind to cover her escape, much to Grunt's disgust; they are slaughtered holding off wave after wave of rachni but the queen survives, providing rachni support. If not, Grunt gives the order to retreat, telling Aralakh Company to "get [their] asses back to the shuttle"; this secures their escape, at the cost of the queen's life and any chance of rachni contribution to the war.
Either way, Grunt breaks through a wall in the cavern to reach Shepard's squad, then runs with them back to the waiting shuttle. Realising the Reaper modified-rachni are closing in on them, Grunt personally holds several Ravagers and Swarmers off to cover the Commander's escape.
If Shepard chose to spare either queen, Grunt dies if his loyalty wasn't secured prior to the suicide mission. If Shepard chose to abandon either queen, Grunt survives regardless of his prior loyalty, limping out of the rachni nest all bloody and asking for something to eat.
If Grunt died on Utukku, reactions from people who knew about him run the gamut from indifferent (Wreav) to forlorn (Garrus, Tali, Ashley, Wrex) to solemn wisecracking (Joker). If Grunt survived, he contributes to the war effort after recuperating from his "scratches". He passes along an additional message from Aralakh Company if Shepard chose to abandon the Utukku queen.
Shepard has a chance to speak to him on Earth prior to the final push at the final battle. Grunt then thanks the Commander for getting him out of the tank in the first place.
If Grunt survived, the Genophage was cured, and organics and synthetics weren't merged at the conclusion of the war, he and Urdnot Wrex (if Wrex survived Virmire) are shown to be welcomed back at Tuchanka, heroes among a horde of cheering krogan.
If Grunt did not survive the suicide mission, his role is filled by Urdnot Dagg.
Mass Effect 3: Citadel
Weapon proficiencies
Powers
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Dossier
When Shepard has been in and out of the apartment a few times, an e-mail from C-Sec appears asking for their presence in regards to a troublemaking krogan. Shepard meets with C-Sec at a noodle stand, where Grunt has been detained. Once Shepard politely muscles in to take the heat off Grunt's back, Grunt tells Shepard what happened.
After the battle on Utukku, Grunt had been recovering in Huerta Memorial Hospital until he got bored, so his men broke him out of the hospital by lowering him down on a rope. It didn't quite work, as Grunt ended up falling down a few stories. Later, he and his men got rowdy on the Presidium's Krogan Memorial statue. When C-Sec arrived, Grunt threw a bottle of Ryncol at a C-Sec shuttle and set it on fire. As its pilot jumped out, Grunt jumped into the shuttle for a short joyride until he crashed it into the noodle stand. C-Sec then caught up and arrested him while he was buying noodles (because he was hungry), and Grunt dropped Shepard's name as his way of trying not to get sent to the brig.
Grunt can assist Shepard in the Armax Arsenal Arena provided his ally license has been bought.
Grunt can be invited to Shepard's big party. At the party's first phase, he's by the fireplace with James and Cortez if Wrex isn't around, informing the guests about the circumstances of his creation. If Shepard checks in on them, Grunt replies to ask him again after ten more bottles in an energetic scenario, or indicates he wants more action if the mood is set to quiet.
If Wrex is around, they both hang out at the balcony overlooking the ground floor interacting with each other krogan-style: Grunt labeling Wrex a fossil and belittling his abilities due to his age. If the setting is energetic, Grunt and Wrex headbutt each other in an attempt to show the other up, prompting Shepard to tell them to knock it off since there's no time for shopping for replacements if anything gets broken. Otherwise, Shepard tells them off before things get physical.
At the second phase of the party, if the mood was set to quiet, Grunt lounges around the living room fireplace. If Wrex is also present Grunt dares the old krogan to a drinking contest, having none of Wrex's excuses for declining. He successfully goads Wrex into the game after taunting that "logic is for salarians" and that the "great Urdnot Wrex has backed down from [the] challenge." Conversing with Wrex, Grunt informs him that two of Aralakh Company's recruits were opposed to his appointment, but only one of them had to deal with it after the other was killed in a fight. Shepard can sit down with the krogan, prompting the trio (or duo, if Wrex is absent) to engage in a very casual conversation.
In an energetic party, Grunt instead serves as the party's bouncer by standing in front of the vid-phone by the apartment's door and keeping uninvited guests out of the party. Aside from cunningly discerning fake lip-hair from salarians and recognizing that Shepard doesn't have a half-brother named "Sheppy the Volus", Grunt momentarily gets tempted with a free copy of Galaxy of Fantasy but gets over it and keeps on rejecting party crashers. If Shepard checks in, Grunt mentions his enjoyment of the job, either warning the Commander about the quality of gate crashers if Shepard tries to be more accommodating or teaching Shepard how to turn them back personally if otherwise.
At the third phase of an energetic party, Grunt is in an upstairs bathroom, utterly wasted and slumped beneath the running shower, muttering in semi-awake stupor. His ramblings include but is not limited to the following: delusions of being a Space Cowboy, asking someone if they are a wizard, asking to be given more of Fishdog Food Shack, damning someone's lettuce, expressing his sadness that hanar are unable to wear sweaters, and mentioning he found a blue rock for Liara.
At the third phase of a quiet party, Grunt is hanging out either by the kitchen or by the bar, depending on whatever decision Shepard made during the second phase. He mentions being pleased at seeing the old gang again, even commenting on how good Liara looks. Grunt persistently makes his hunger known if he's hanging out by the kitchen, and when EDI likens preparing food to the suicide mission, Grunt mentions "holding the line" at the snack table. If Grunt is hanging out by the bar, he persistently makes his thirstiness known while EDI and Traynor discuss making drinks and are busy ignoring him. When Traynor mentions her abilities as a capable bartender, Grunt tests it by asking for the ingredients of a Tasty Tankard, which she proceeds to rattle off. Samantha later serves him a ryncol-free drink, which Grunt approves of and demands a bigger (flowerpot-sized) serving, though he's dejected when Traynor says it may take a while to get ingredients for that much.
At the end of the party, he appears with the rest of the guests to pose for the group photograph. In the morning, he's at the kitchen anticipating Vega's egg cooking, mentioning he cleaned up the bathroom if he spent the night there or claiming not to remember much after he ate a lamp.
Trivia
- "Grunt" may be a reference to a military slang that denotes "infantryman", low ranking ground soldiers in general, or a term of endearment to anyone who has served in the infantry.
- 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.[1]
- Unlike other krogan, who have red, orange, and green eyes, 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, and other characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic, both BioWare games.
- Like all Krogan Berserkers, Grunt can use a unique charge ability when enemies enter his close quarters.
- 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.[2]
- 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.[3]
- 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.
References
- ↑ Assembling the Art Pixologic interview with Mass Effect 2 art team.
- ↑ BioWare Social Network
- ↑ Audio files from the Mordin/Grunt confrontation
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Mass Effect 2 Squad |
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| Garrus Vakarian • Grunt • Jack • Jacob Taylor • Kasumi Goto • Legion • Miranda Lawson Mordin Solus • Morinth • Samara • Tali'Zorah vas Neema • Thane Krios • Zaeed Massani |