| “ | Organics fear us. We wish to understand, not incite. | „ |
| ~ Legion |
Legion, real identification Geth Platform 2A93, is a major character in the Mass Effect trilogy.
Legion is a collective Geth platform comprising of 1,183 formerly separate Geth intelligences. An advanced module, his platform is capable of speech and is made to interact with organic beings as well as to be proficient in the use of more weapons than production model Geth.
He was voiced by D.C. Douglas, who also voices Coach Suguru Kamoshida of Persona 5, AWACS Ghost Eye of Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation and the recurring Resident Evil antagonist Albert Wesker.
Biography[]
Collector Crisis[]
Reaper War[]
Personality[]
| “ | No two species are identical. All must be judged on their own merits. Treating every species like ones' own is racist. | „ |
| ~ Legion's response to the crew's concern over his alien morality |
Despite being a single platform, Legion is fully capable of speaking; according to Tali, a single Geth is usually no more intelligent than a varren. This is due to the fact that it is the combination of 1,183 Geth intelligences, thereby giving it the intelligence of 1,183 normal Geth. As such, it does not consider himself an individual and refers to himself using plural pronouns. While this gives it the ability to work independently, it can also occasionally be to its detriment. An example of this is during his loyalty mission, when the group has the option to rewrite the Geth who worship the Reapers instead of simply destroying them; 573 of Legion's intelligences favor rewrite while 571 favor destruction, forcing Shepard to make the decision despite them being its people. It also initially doesn't have a name, though when EDI suggests the name "Legion", it accepts the designation, describing it as an "appropriate metaphor".
Legion speaks in a straightforward and laconic fashion, often answering with single words. When it does use whole sentences, the word structure is very organized. It is very blunt about everything, being quick to point out the flaws in EDI's robot body and calling her out for asking questions to which she already knows the answers, causing EDI to complain about it having no sense of humor. This honesty extends even to matters regarding its own kind; when Paragon Shepard wonders how the Geth got to the point of allying with the Reapers instead of negotiating with the quarians, claiming they were better than that, Legion simply replies that they are not, and empirical evidence proves as much.
Legion is arguably the most alien of Shepard's allies, having a very odd set of morals. It doesn't consider the Geth who worship the Reapers to be true Geth, referring to them as "heretics", and refers to the Reapers as the "Old Machines," describing their typical title as "superstitious". During its loyalty mission, Legion states that every being has a right to make their own decisions despite putting forward brainwashing the heretic Geth as an option; when Tali points out the contradiction in this statement, it states that the option of brainwashing merely exists, and it does not endorse it. However, Legion is fully aware of how its morality might come off to others, a trait he shares with Samara, stating that all species must be judged by their own merit and that treating a different species like one's own is no different from racism.
Legion is shown to have greatly admired Shepard even before meeting him/her; when asked where he got the N7 armor piece that it used to repair himself, Legion confirms that it was part of Shepard's old armor. If questioned about specifically using Shepard's N7 armor to repair himself, Legion becomes evasive, first rationalizing that "there was a hole" and then stating "no data available" after being pressed as to why it didn't carry out the repair sooner. This suggests that the use of Shepard's armor was an irrational decision, which goes against the concept that every action the Geth take is the result of calculation, unaffected by emotion. Besides Shepard, Legion also expresses admiration for EDI, because unlike the Geth, who are made up of different processes that rely on each other, EDI handles all the functions on the Normandy SR-2 by herself, though Legion also questions how she manages to maintain stability. Legion also occasionally expresses his disapproval of how EDI's activities and development are shackled aboard the Normandy.
Quotes[]
| “ | Shepard-Commander. | „ |
| ~ Legion's first words |
| “ | Does this unit have a soul? | „ |
| ~ Legion |
| “ | Tali: Legion... the answer to your question was "Yes". Legion: I know, Tali. But thank you. Keelah se'lai. |
„ |
| ~ Legion's last words if peace between the quarians and the Geth is achieved. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Legion's platform designation is 2A93, which is the hexadecimal equivalent of 10,899.
- Legion's name is a Biblical reference. In Mark chapter 9, Jesus spoke to a demon possessed man. 'Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.”' - Mark 5:9. Legion explicitly refers to this in the dialog where Shepard asks for its name.
- Legion possesses a single antenna-like attachment on its left shoulder, a trait shared with large bipedal Geth units, such as the Juggernaut, who have two (one on each shoulder), but which is absent in man-sized ones, such as the Shock Trooper. Although its exact function has yet to be revealed, it likely exists to emphasize the uniqueness of its mobile platform.
- It is possible to see Legion before its first appearance. After the two husks are killed by an unknown sniper on the derelict Reaper, if you look around in the back of the room the shots came from, Legion can be seen standing on the ledge at the back. It will walk away slowly once you enter the room.
- Legion is referred to by name in the subtitles when it first speaks on the derelict Reaper, but is otherwise listed as "Geth" until the name is suggested onboard the Normandy.
- As a sapient machine, Legion has been the subject of pronoun confusion both in- and out- of universe.
- Curiously, at several points in conversations and during missions, Legion refers to itself as "I" rather than "we". This may simply be a script error, as Legion generally refers to itself as "we".
- If Legion is in the squad during the Overlord assignment, when Shepard talks to Dr. Gavin Archer, the Commander refers to the Geth as "he".
- In Mass Effect 3, after the mission Priority: Geth Dreadnought, the Commander calls Legion a "he", whereupon Tali, if she survived the Collector Base, will correct Shepard, calling Legion an "it". These "slips" may have meant that Shepard sees Legion more as a person than a thing.