The Mass Effect series is inventive and unique, celebrated for its deep lore and intricate world-building. The creation and evolution of Mass Effect‘s Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies is an impressive achievement. Plenty of the world is fleshed out through dialogue and scenery, but the games also provide a codex that delves deeper into the minutiae of the interstellar civilizations. As creative as the Mass Effect universe is, it’s still science fiction, and uses a lot of common genre tropes. Violent machines rebel against their creators, organic species fear the uprising of artificial intelligences, first contact with unknown Mass Effect species is often violent, and space piracy is rampant.

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Although Star Wars didn’t create the honorable, powerful dispenser of justice with the Jedi, the Force wielders of George Lucas’ creation became the trope’s archetype. Based on the Samurai warriors of feudal Japan, the Jedi follow a strict code of honor, forsaking family and suppressing their emotions to travel the galaxy acting as peacekeepers. Mass Effect has a very similar occupation, one reserved for the most powerful of the Milky Way’s most advanced race, the Asari.

The Asari Justicars are an ancient order or law bringers who travel throughout Asari space administering punishment based on the Code of the Justicars, a sacred creed. Like the Jedi, Justicars forgo their opportunity to have children. When becoming a Justicar, Mass Effect’s Asari must give up all their material possessions except for weapons and armor. They are trained to have exceptional biotic abilities, becoming immensely powerful so that force can be used when necessary.

Mass Effect: The Justicar Order in Asari Society

The Justicar Order is more or less the Asari-exclusive equivalent of the Citadel Council’s Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch. The Justicars’ numbers are extremely few, owing to the fact that their training program has a high mortality rate. The exact size of the Justicar Order in Mass Effect is unknown, but it seems to be of comparable size to the Spectres. Justicars are similarly extra-judicial, though they appear answerable to no governing body, only the Code.

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Justicars are sworn to protect the innocent, hunt the guilty, and ensure the continuance of Asari society. Though the Justicars are pledged against coups or acts of rebellion, the Asari elite still fear the tremendous power of the Justicar Order. Their extra-judicial status grants them amnesty to live above the law they uphold, meaning the honor-binding Code of the Justicars is the only thing standing between the Justicars and rule over the Asari power structure.

Even though their numbers are few, Commander Shepard comes into contact with, and recruits, the Asari Justicar Samara in Mass Effect 2. Samara has been engaged in a centuries-long hunt for her daughter Morinth, a murderous Ardat-Yakshi, proving Asari are allowed to have children before taking the Justicar Order’s Oaths of Subsumation. Though a wholly original creation from the minds at BioWare, Mass Effect still contains popular sci-fi tropes, including the lone, oath-bound warrior epitomized by the Jedi.

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About The Author


Kyle Gratton
(883 Articles Published)

A passion for video games was instilled at a young age when Kyle Gratton and his older brother were gifted a Nintendo 64 with Ocarina of Time and Mario Kart. Graduating from the University of Kansas as an English and History major, with a minor in Film, Kyle enjoys discussing literature, movies, television, and especially video games. He currently writes features and reviews for Screen Rant’s games section, and dabbles in short fiction occasionally. He can be found on Twitter @KyleGratton.

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