#3. REAPERS
The ultimate bad guys. Who knows how long the Reapers have been around- the only thing that can be said for sure is that they’ve completed many cycles of wiping out all advanced sentient organic life across the galaxy once every 50,000 years. Created by the Leviathans to preserve life and ensure that they aren’t ever threatened by highly advanced artificial intelligence, the Reapers eventually came to the conclusion that organic life itself was the problem. A bit of a paradox, but that’s what makes them so interesting. They decided that they would awaken and come to the Milky Way once ever 50,000 years to wipe out all sentient organic life before they can get to the point where they create an artificial intelligence deadly enough to threaten their existence. The first race they completely wiped out was, of course, the Leviathans themselves. Mass Effect successfully built them up as terrifying antagonists over the course of three games, building an air of mystery around their purpose and origins, and then backing that up with satisfying answers. For all of these reasons and more, the Reapers are obviously one of our favourite Mass Effect alien races.
