The Mass Effect series is far from forgettable, especially with its remaster, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, coming out in Spring 2021. Though there has been some contention among fans of the series regarding different plotlines, the alien races introduced in the games have, for the most part, been interesting and great additions to the franchise. Many fans remember races like the Asari or Krogan, which are great in their own right, but other, lesser remembered races tend to slip through the cracks.
One of these alien races is the Keepers. Introduced in the first Mass Effect game, the keeper race looks like less intimidating praying mantises. Players may remember the tedious task of scanning all the keepers found throughout the Citadel after talking with the salarian Chorban. There are 21 keepers to scan in total, but the time-consuming nature of the task is worth it when it’s revealed that keepers offer much more than meets the eye.
There’s not much known about keeper biology, especially compared to other alien races found throughout the Mass Effect games. This isn’t for lack of trying, however, as many people who visit the Citadel have tried to take keepers away from their posts to study them. This never ends well because keepers are biologically programmed to “self-destruct” if captured or taken away. Their body’s release acid internally, melting them from the inside out and leaving nothing more than a puddle on the floor.
Needless to say, what players, and even those inside the Mass Effect universe, know of keepers is only what can be seen and observed. The keepers run and maintain the Citadel, so it’s a crime to interfere with them because of their “self-destruct” mechanism. Interestingly enough, keepers always maintain a constant number on the Citadel, no matter how many of them die—whether it be from old age, accidents, or violence. No one truly knows where the keepers come from.
Keepers do not speak to anyone on the Citadel, although some scientists hypothesize the keepers can communicate amongst themselves with telepathic visions. This hasn’t been proven, though. It’s also believed that the backpack-like item and antenna on their backs help the keepers maintain contact with the Citadel itself.
The keepers had resided on the Citadel long before the asari discovered it. In fact, when the keepers met the asari, they scrambled around to make sure the Citadel was in peak condition for them. It’s later revealed in Mass Effect that the keepers were probably either conquered, created, or indoctrinated by the Reapers. The primary purpose of the keepers is to maintain the Citadel so sentient organic life utilizes the Citadel.
However, once the life that’s settled there becomes “sufficiently” technologically advanced, the Reaper left behind to keep an eye on things sends a signal to the Citadel. This signal alerts the keepers to activate the Citadel relay to send the whole station into dark space, jumpstarting the Reaper genocide. Though the Protheans did not survive the Reaper attack, they did manage to change the Citadel’s signal so the keepers no longer moved the relay. Now the keepers only respond to the Citadel, no longer under the control of the Reapers and posing no serious threat.
Given that the keepers may have been “biological androids” crafted deep in the core of the Citadel, it makes sense they may not have a full-fledged culture and society like other Mass Effect alien races. They do have some unique tendencies that baffle the other citizens around them, though. Keepers will often rearrange offices or even change the architecture of different parts of the Citadel. These creatures go about their maintenance work on the Citadel, and they don’t notice the others on the station any more than they notice the Keepers.
Though the keepers are unassuming, they play a major part in figuring out the origins of the Reaper genocide and how to prevent it. Players will probably never know more about the keepers than what meets the eye, but they’re still crucial to the Mass Effect universe.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition will be available Spring 2021.
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