| “ | When the rachni laid waste to the galaxy two-thousand years ago, when all seemed lost and the end was near, one word delivered the killer blow. One word drove the monsters back into the abyss, and one word delivered death to an enemy none dared fight. And that word was, "KROGAN"! And today, the Krogan rise again. Today, we forge a new path and join the galaxy as allies in victory. Today, we win our future! | „ |
| ~ Wrex's speech before the final assault on the Reapers |
Urdnot Wrex is a major protagonist in the original video game trilogy Mass Effect.
In the first game, he first appears as a bounty hunter fighting with Commander Shepard, soon becoming the leader and savior of the krogan race by the time of Mass Effect 2 and 3. He is also one of the last Krogan Battle Masters: rare individuals who can combine powerful biotic abilities with devastating firepower of the advanced weaponry.
He is voiced by Steven Barr.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Urdnot Wrex was born a few years after the end of the Krogan Rebellions. He became the youngest krogan to become a leader, and also became the only krogan to successfully kill a thresher maw in the Rite of Passage. He became a battle master and urged the tribes to forget all about war and focus on increasing their population. His father Jarrod then feigned he would talk to his son, but then ambushed him. Wrex survived but was forced to kill his own father. Disgusted by how low the krogan had fallen from their roots of courage, honor, nobility, and heroism, Wrex gave up all hope and left to become a mercenary.
Wrex at first was much like a contract killer. Like all Krogan, he thought life's end should be an honorable death in battle, but Wrex isn't stuck in the old ways of the Krogan; things he says from time to time doesn't like. Over three centuries, Wrex worked as a bodyguard, mercenary, soldier of fortune, and bounty hunter. Wrex once had an encounter with an asari named Aleena and was even hired by the turian Spectre Saren Arterius to raid a volus cargo ship, although Wrex quickly left the job without being paid, having suspicions of Saren. Later on, his instincts were validated; every other mercenary who had been involved was found dead within a week.
Mass Effect[]
Wrex is hired by the Shadow Broker to kill a man named Fist on the Citadel and joins Shepard if encountered. If present while dealing with Fist, Wrex immediately executes him after acquiring the information needed to save a quarian engineer named Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. Wrex fully joins Shepard to hunt Saren and can be found idling at the Cargo Bay aboard the SSV Normandy. During conversations, he shares about the genophage, his father's betrayal and his work as a mercenary.
During the Virmire mission, Wrex learns there is a cure to the krogan genophage that Saren is creating, which is also being used to breed a krogan army for Saren. Shepard and the salarian team agree to destroy Saren's base and the cure, but Wrex disagrees on this, claiming that his people need this cure. When Shepard tries to reason with Wrex, he is adamant about preserving the base, and both draw their gun on each other. In the confrontation, Shepard can convince Wrex to calm down, claiming that his people will be enslaved and used as tools if the cure is preserved. Wrex will grudgingly accept Shepard's point and stands down. Otherwise, Shepard will be forced to gun Wrex down, or Ashley will be one to kill Wrex if Shepard takes too long in the conversation.
Shepard can also earn the loyalty, gruff respect and gratitude from Wrex, provided that the Commander helps him retrieve his family armor from a turian profiteer named Tonn Actus. This will be an easy factor in convincing Wrex to stand down on Virmire.
Mass Effect 2[]
Wrex appears in Mass Effect 2, if he survived the events of Virmie. Wrex is now the leader of Clan Urdnot on the krogan homeworld of Tuchanka, having left the SSV Normandy prior to its destruction, and looks to be changing his species for the better future. He uses the events on Virmire as evidence to convince the clan to unify under Urdnot. This brought him fierce criticism from traditionalists, but the fact that Wrex had declared his clan a safe haven for krogan females meant that even sworn enemies of Urdnot would protect him. He also forbade his soldiers from attacking women and children.
Initially unaware of Shepard's death in 2183, Wrex welcomes Shepard with joy when they meet later in 2185, and helps them in locating Mordin Solus' student Maelon Heplorn, as well as helping Grunt to take part in his Rite of Passage. If Shepard asks Wrex to rejoin the team, he reluctantly declines, stating that he has to keep the krogan clans united and in line.
Mass Effect 3[]
Wrex is called to the Normandy SR-2 for negotiations with Primarch Victus and Dalatrass Linron to discuss an alliance. Wrex refuses the alliance and demands that if they want krogan help in the war, the genophage must be cured first, which leads to a heated argument. Primarch Victus diffuses the argument, proclaiming that it will take a long time to formulate a cure. Wrex then reveals that "an inside source" leaked the existence of fertile krogan females, survivors of Maelon's experiments, being kept captive on Sur'Kesh. He demands that his people be returned. Despite the dalatrass' objections, Shepard agrees that the genophage must be cured.
On the way to the salarian homeworld of Sur'Kesh, Wrex will either be jovial to Shepard and his squad or will be angry at Shepard if they destroyed Maelon's data in Mass Effect 2, of which Shepard can apologize about it, with Wrex accepting the apology, or maintain their decision as the right thing they did, reducing Wrex's trust with Shepard. After successfully evacuating the only fertile female krogan survivor, Eve, from a Cerberus attack, Wrex remains at the Normandy in the War Room, while the salarian doctor works on the genophage cure and also treating Eve. When Shepard asks on what Wrex will do after curing the genophage, he answers that he intends to focus on rebuilding, and will prevent any krogan from extracting revenge upon the salarians and turians, since he believes war will only bring suffering and misery towards the krogan race.
Wrex later asks Shepard into finding his missing krogan scouts at the Attican Traverse, who were investigating on suspicious rachni activity. If Shepard is successful, Wrex will admit on missing the fights, restless that he's stuck talking and keeping the peace. Wrex approves of the rachni queen dying and disapproves of cutting a deal with it. If Shepard takes part in Primarch Victus' mission in disabling a bomb on Tuchanka that was planted by the turians many years ago, Wrex angrily confronts Victus, unmindful of the sacrifice the latter's son took to disable the bomb. Shepard manages to deescalate the situation.
When the time to cure the genophage comes, Shepard accompanies Wrex, along with Eve (later known as Urdnot Bakara as her birth name) and the salarian doctor to Tuchanka. After battling through Reaper forces and before setting off to summon Kalros to the Reaper destroyer, Wrex proclaims Shepard to be a champion to the krogan, a friend to Clan Urdnot and a brother/sister to him. He promises that to all newborn krogan, the name Shepard will mean hero. The genophage is then successfully cured, with Wrex agreeing on krogan support for the war. During the final battle on Earth on London, Wrex will be seen delivering an arousing speech to a krogan squad, where Shepard can have a final word with him. If Eve is alive, he mentions that she is pregnant and insists on naming her child, "Mordin" (If he was the one who died to cure the genophage). Wrex mentions that Shepard did the impossible: uniting the whole galaxy. At the end of the game, if Shepard uses the Crucible to destroy or control the Reapers, Wrex will return to Tuchanka with Grunt (if alive), or with an unidentified krogan if Shepard synthesized the Reapers, celebrating along a large crowd of krogans. With Wrex's leadership, scenes of krogan reconstruction are shown.
If Shepard sabotaged the cure, Wrex would later discover the deception and confronts Shepard at the docking bay, with a recording of Shepard's conversation with the Dalatrass. Angry and feeling betrayed, Wrex attempts to kill Shepard, announcing that he'll call off krogan support for the war. As Shepard hides, Wrex furiously regrets trusting Shepard the first time on Virmire. If the bomb mission on Tuchanka was not done in time, the bomb would have set off, killing a majority of krogans, of which Wrex will condemn Shepard for ignoring the situation. At this point, Shepard can either kill Wrex personally or Commander Bailey and a C-Sec officer will do it, blasting him out of a window. Either way, Wrex dies, and Shepard loses a chunk of krogan war assets. At the end of the game, if Shepard uses the Crucible to destroy or control the Reapers, as a result of Wrex's death and the genophage not cured, the final cutscenes will show a lone female krogan sitting on a desolate Tuchanka and dead krogan lying amongst the rubble, the krogan race presumably heading to exctintion.
Personality[]
Wrex is much different from the average krogan. He is determined to prevent the krogan race from going extinct, no matter the cost, and usually won't care on the methods. This can be to his detriment, as he initially desired to use Saren's genophage cure for his people, uncaring to the source or possible consequences, which results in his death if Shepard fails to convince him. Nevertheless, he does follow certain krogan philosophies e.g., he believes the enemy of his enemy is his friend, which convinces him to team up with Shepard to take down Fist, and later, Saren.
Besides his dedication to helping his people, Wrex is also highly caring and respectful to others, despite his usual gruff nature, as shown when he respects Shepard for his battle prowess. He has a friendly rivalry with Garrus, despite the latter's insensitive remarks and krogan's general hatred of turians. He also is far less sexist and chauvinistic than other males, frequently including and respecting females when making decisions and also finds that fighting with females makes it different, indicating he is more inclusive.
However, Wrex also possesses a fierce temper and plenty of arrogance, though unlike most krogan, he is capable of keeping it in check. He also knew that the Reapers would return and became determined to rally the krogan to fight them with the rest of the galaxy. He believed that the current mood of gaining revenge on the galaxy for nearly sending his species into extinction wouldn't work, as he knew that they would create another way to keep his species in check, which caused him to clash with, ultimately kill, his father Jarrod. Overall, Wrex is the exact opposite of the normal krogan, embodying their normal traditions: nobility, honor, courage, and heroism.
Quotes[]
| “ | Anyone who fights us is either stupid or on Saren's payroll. Killing the latter is business. Killing the former is a favor to the universe. | „ |
| ~ Mass Effect |
| “ | Anything that isn't constantly challenged grows weak. | „ |
| ~ Mass Effect |
| “ | You look well for dead, Shepard. Should have known the void couldn't hold you. | „ |
| ~ Mass Effect 2 |
| “ | Now we can get back to doing what krogan do best: saving everyone else from giant monsters. | „ |
| ~ Mass Effect 3 |
| “ | I AM URDNOT WREX, AND THIS IS MY PLANET! | „ |
| ~ Mass Effect 3 |
External Links[]
- Urdnot Wrex on the Mass Effect Wiki