Former Mass Effect writer didn't expect everyone to want to sleep with Garrus

Mass Effect 2 - Garrus — (Image credit: BioWare)

A former Mass Effect writer has revealed he didn't expect everyone to want to romance Garrus.

BioWare's epic sci-fi series has no shortage of unique and interesting characters, and everyone who's played the game will have fond memories of time spent with their favourite companions. One of Mass Effect's most popular characters is, of course, Turian sniper Garrus. But many fans wanted more than just a friendship with the character, which came as quite a surprise to BioWare.

As reported by PC Gamer, during an AMA on Reddit, Drew Karpyshyn, lead writer on Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, was asked if the team always planned to make Garrus and Tali romance options in Mass Effect 2 or if it came about because of how popular they were in the first game. Karpyshyn revealed that while he was a tad surprised fans felt that way about Tali, their requests for some Garrus action "blindsided" him.

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"We always knew they'd come back as companions," Karpyshyn explained. "I was a bit surprised fans wanted the romance options. Tali I could sort of see... you never saw her face, so it was easy to imagine something vaguely human. (But she had those weird feet!) Garrus blindsided me - but once we saw what fans wanted, we decided to deliver!"

Rather than romancing Garrus, another fan was more interested in a potential Turian and Quarian pairing, asking Karpyshyn if he thought the two species could make a child together. "I don't know what the 'official' position on this is, but my belief is that it wouldn't be possible," wrote Karpyshyn. "The various species in Mass Effect are too biologically different to breed with each other. Except Asari, of course... it's part of what made them unique."

Karpyshyn added, "but that's just my personal take; I don't work on the series anymore so if BioWare wants to have Turi-quar babies, that's their choice." The writer has now left BioWare twice, once in 2012 and again in 2018, after rejoining to work on Anthem.

Check out our Mass Effect 5 guide for all the details on BioWare's upcoming space adventure.

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Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.