The Reapers are a technologically sophisticated species of synthetic-organic starships. The Reapers live in deep space, which is the enormous, usually starless region between galaxies. They hibernate there for 50,000 years at a time before returning to the galaxy to harvest species when they reach their specific intelligent point.
The heart of any Reaper is built in the image of the species that were harvested to make it, while the outside is built in the most efficient way for its purpose. While we are familiar with the Reaper subtypes, such as Sovereign, a Capital Ship subtype and well-known enemy in the first Mass Effect, to Harbinger, the first ever Reaper to be created.
However, even die-hard Mass Effect and BioWare fans might have missed out on the finer details of how these enemies were conceived, so here are 5 Things BioWare Never Told You About Reapers. And just maybe, by the end of this, you will become a die-hard fan (cough) I mean indoctrinated from the Reapers.
A False Name
Although the name "Reapers" has become synonymous with these terrifying harbingers of cyclical destruction and mass extinction, that's not their true name. Such a title has never been truly uncovered, perhaps due to how many cultures have been destroyed over the course of countless millennia. These giant machines are ancient; so their true name is largely unknown. "Reapers" was a name bestowed by the Protheans, the previous galactic power fifty thousand years before, and during Shepard's time, the Geth primarily refer to them as the Old Machines.
The Protheans coined the term "Reaper" to describe their most lethal opponent, and it served as a symbolic and entirely appropriate moniker for these gigantic killers. It would also be the known first and only time they were granted an official title, with mankind finally defeating the Reaper menace once and for all- despite player-specific choices within the ending of course.
But within that, according to the Leviathan DLC from Mass Effect 3, Before the Reapers came to be, the galaxy was under the thrall of a race known as Leviathans. They created an "Intelligence" to solve the problem of organics and synthetics killing each other. However, this Intelligence turned on them, slaughtering most of their kind and processing others into the very first true Reaper, Harbinger.
So regardless, Reapers spare little concern for whatever labels other races choose to call them, and merely claim that they have neither beginning nor end. The state they are the Alpha and Omega.
A Harvests' (True) Statistics
By harvesting technologically advanced species (both organic and synthetic) and storing these old species within immortal Reaper bodies, room is made for new life to flourish and grow, as was the case for primitive man. The continuity of life in the galaxy is assured through this cycle of extinction, as it ensures that organic life will never be fully exterminated before its time by synthetic life, as was demonstrated by the quarians and the geth.
But most of us who played Mass Effect, know it truly is a gruesome process. Reapers gather and "process" vast numbers of individuals from each of the galaxy's sentient spacefaring races. Victims who cooperate with or are captured by Reaper husks are rounded up into "camps", where the husks select individuals deemed fit for processing; it is believed that the husks use scent or chemical receptors to analyze the genetic composition of victims. Those who are deemed unsuitable are turned into more husks.
Individuals who are determined to be suitable for processing are loaded onto Reaper Processors, where they are ushered into single-person pods. Like a slaughterhouse, the interior of the Processor is designed to prevent any visual or auditory contact between individuals being processed. Once in the pods, Reaper nanides dissolve the victims into a raw genetic "paste" for ease of transport. This paste will then be used in the construction of a newborn Reaper, with the victims' minds being preserved to form the Reaper's gestalt consciousness.
Writer Chris Hepler estimated the Reapers' harvesting rate on comparative numbers from livestock slaughterhouses' annual kill rate. He came up with the figure that 1.86 million people would need to be processed by about 4,000 ships per day to arrive at around 2 billion (out of 11 billion) casualties at the end of the war, though a typo omission reduced the number of slaughter-ships to only 400.
In Mass Effect 3, 400 Processors were sent to oversee the harvesting of Earth. These Processors worked tirelessly to harvest nearly 2 million inhabitants per day, which means the entire process of cleansing Earth would take upwards of a decade. Not nearly enough time to repopulate, but perhaps long enough which is even more terrifying.
Hence, while it is interesting to examine some numbers related to real-world statistics such as cattle. It really drives home the fact that Reapers are good, (ahem) I mean, horrifying in nature. And this is just one of many examples of how the Reapers are a force to be reckoned with.
The Reaper Sound
The Reaper sound for Mass Effect is iconic, however, I think it's finally time for you to know exactly where it came from. It it's not what you're going to expect:
According to the book 25 years of Game Development from BioWare it states:
'BioWare's Audio Teams take regular field trips with microphones and recording equipment to capture strange sounds for use in games. Early in Mass Effect's development, three designers-- Michael Kent, Micha, and Michael Peter -- decided to drive out to Elk Island National Park, a protected forest area about half an hour east of Edmonton, in search of unique clips... Once the trio reached the park, they set off to record anything remotely interesting. Kent promptly fixated on a garbage can: a metal bear-proof receptacle with a heavy lid that creaked horribly when opened.
"It was, like, ominous, spooky, tonal, and almost musical," he says. "I decided to throw a mic into the garbage and just record it moving. I didn't know what it was going to be till later."
"Once we got the sound back, we started playing around with it, pitching it down, and all that stuff." Then Casey Hudson heard it and proclaimed: "That's the sound of the Reapers" A sound that, in some form or another, has been used in every Mass Effect game since.
— BioWare: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development
So now you know that the sound of a garbage bin is the famed noise made by reapers, so keep that in mind the next time you play Mass Effect. The Reapers are literal trash.
Andromeda & Deep Space
For those who haven't finished Andromeda, you might want to skip this part of the list, however, if you're one not to care about the extra content from that game, there is something that involves how the Reapers triggered the Andromeda Initiative.
Many Mass Effect: Andromeda players (or those who didn't bother giving it a shot) may not have progressed far enough to unlock all the secrets of the story. If you finish all of SAM's memory array from your father's past, the last and final memory triggers the reasoning behind their initiative.
In the sixth and final memory, Alec is shown speaking to Castis Vakarian about Shepard's theory on the Reapers. They theorize that should the Reapers purge the Milky Way of advanced life, the Andromeda Initiative may be the only way for their species to survive. Alec then contacts the Benefactor; the two agree the true reason for the Initiative must remain a secret. Next, Alec speaks with SAM, who confirms Ellen Ryder is safe in stasis and her disease has not progressed. The final part of the memory is Alec's death on Habitat 7, where he is shown giving his helmet to his child and saying, "There's still hope for your mother."
Fearing that the Milky Way galaxy would be completely overwhelmed and decimated by the Reaper threat, the Andromeda Initiative was designed to allow humanity a chance to escape and start a new life in another galaxy where the Reapers would not follow. It was an expedition based on fear, not 'adventure'.
The fourth and final encrypted log is unlocked. The log states:
The file "Milky Way Emergency" contains files with disturbing messages from the Milky Way (including a final goodbye from Liara) from the time when the early events in Mass Effect 3 took place. The Reapers have attacked, and the people of the Andromeda Initiative might be the only survivors of the advanced Milky Way civilizations.
I also estimated how rare it is for Reapers to find the Arks in Deep Space, where they hide, and you can see how in another video how I calculated that as well. Despite their ability to move to and from intergalactic space and their longevity, writer Mac Walters has confirmed that there are no Reapers in the Andromeda Galaxy, the setting of BioWare's 2017 game Mass Effect: Andromeda. Of course, given Mac Walters left BioWare last year, we may still expect the Reapers to have a role in the next Mass Effect, or perhaps even the Jardaan from Andromeda directly.
Cthulhu Mythos & Star Trek
The idea of a terrifying and incomprehensible alien intelligence waiting in the depths of space is a feature of Lovecraftian horror.
If any of you have read 'Call of Cthulhu,' you'll recognize the parallel. Several fans are struck by how heavily Mass Effect pulls from HP Lovecraft. The civilizational cycles. The universe is older than anyone can imagine. Malevolent ancient beings from the stars. And the Leviathans that reside beneath the sea.
This resemblance is also highlighted by one of the survey team's recordings aboard the derelict Reaper, which speaks of how "even dead gods can dream." The book cites "In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming," a clear reference to Cthulhu.
Another link between the Reapers and Lovecraft's work is his philosophy on Cosmicism. The Reapers are portrayed as incomprehensible with reasoning and long-term goals that are made out to be impossible for organics to ever understand. They also claim to be the pinnacle of existence and that organic beings could never obtain this level of meaning on their own.
Part of me wishes they had kept the Reapers mysterious, but most fans praised the Leviathan DLC for staying faithful to the Lovecraftian themes. But was it possible to keep the Reapers as mysterious and strange within the Leviathan canon? Is the awe instilled in their followers by the Reapers and Leviathans simply indoctrination, or is there anything more to it? Could their objectives be more complex than the Leviathans and The Catalyst reveal? The questions only arise as a result of the reintroduction of the Mass Effect series; possibly the Leviathans will return and resurface once again.
Another tie-in to Mass Effect was, of course, Star Trek:
Primarily drawing parallels to The Borg and the Geth, As a race of networked AI who utilize a “hivemind” system and have to deal with the occasional dissenter, there are clearly similarities between Mass Effect‘s Geth and Star Trek‘s Borg that can’t be ignored.
Having said that, some fans have pointed out that the designs and philosophies of the Geth could also be a nod to Battlestar Galactica‘s Cylons. The Borg use massive, nearly impervious starships to obliterate the military forces of their opponents, and they also utilize microscopic robots called "nanoprobes" as their primary way of assimilating other races.
So it does come to mind that it's obvious they drew some lines of inspiration to the game, and Star Trek plus the Lovecraftian themes are only just the beginning of it.
But with that, we are going to wrap up, 5 Things BioWare Never Told You About Reapers, what on this list did you never know? What if your favorite quote from the Reapers? I'm sorry- one momen-
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