The characters in Mass Effect: Andromeda take as many people from the Milky Way as they can convince to join them on their quest to find a new home, and when the game was released, many fans hoped to meet a collective of new species. Many were shocked to discover only one sapient race native to the galaxy, and the Angara people had been decades deep in all-out resistance against the invading Kett.
In Andromeda, Angaran resistance fighter Jaal Ama Darav volunteers to join Pathfinder Ryder's team as an observer, but not because he intends to make friends with these new aliens from beyond the Heleus cluster. Jaal and his people meet the Andromeda Initiative with extreme caution, their inability to trust already sullied by their traumatic and violent experiences with the Kett.
When Jaal joins the Tempest crew, his superior, Evfra de Tershaav, warns him to be prepared for anything -- including his own death at the hands of these strange new people. He is directed to guide Ryder and their crew toward one of two planets: Voeld or Havari, where they can prove their intentions by aiding the Resistance in their efforts.
Interacting with Jaal proves difficult, as it's obvious the Angara has a lot of trust issues, and given his experience with the Kett during their hostile attempt to take over the galaxy, his reaction is to be expected. Taking time to get to know him is hard at first, but if the player listens to his advice and welcomes him tag along while the squad explores Havari, it softens him just a little.
On the Tempest, Jaal can often be heard over the comms system, talking to fellow squadmate Liam Kosta about the similarities and differences between their cultures. As a brotherly bond begins to form between them, they even begin to share technology and ideas for unified creations that could benefit both of their people in the fight ahead. Liam's fondness for Jaal transfers to the Angaran people as a whole, and he soon begins doing everything in his power to help them.
Jaal becomes a permanent member of the Pathfinder's squad in Mass Effect: Andromeda after the player proves their intentions and their worth to Evfra. They are given a mission to infiltrate the Kett facility on Voeld, where the Angara's Moshae has been held prisoner since she was taken. During the infiltration, the squad encounters numerous Angara who seem to have no desire to resist their oppressors, and further exploration reveals that their resignation is part of the Kett exaltation ritual, which turns other races of beings into Kett.
Jaal is horrified to discover, and rightly so, that in all the time the Angara were fighting off the Kett, they were often battling their own people, transformed into Kett by the exaltation. More than ever, he wants to stop the invading force that causes so much destruction to his people and their galaxy, but first they need to save the Moshae before the revered elder scientist meets the same fate so many of their people had before her.
After infiltrating the facility, Jaal is a little cold toward Ryder if the player ignores his advice and destroys the Kett base without saving as many Angara as possible, but saving the Moshae eventually softens him enough that he begins to open up about his family during conversation. The Pathfinder will create a stronger, faster bond with him if they take his advice, but it's still possible to win him over without doing so.
Gaining Jaal's full loyalty is made possible by completing his four part personal mission, "Jaal Ama Darav, Friend or Foe?" The mission involves dealing with the Roekaar, a band of Angara with a volatile hatred for all aliens because of the things the Kett did to their people. Three of Jaal's siblings run off to join the Roekaar, and his family tasks him with bringing them back. Jaal once knew their leader, Aksuul, who spent a year in a Kett labor camp before escaping to rally his own resistance against any and all who dared to enter their galaxy -- including the Andromeda Initiative.
While working through the many parts of the mission, the player and their squad eventually come face to face with Aksuul, who shoots at Jaal. Depending on Ryder's reaction, Jaal is either grateful that the player spares him (as Aksuul turns out to be a lousy shot at close range), or angry they made him a martyr by proving his point about aliens from the Milky Way.
Earning Jaal's loyalty opens up an opportunity for either Scott or Sara Ryder to enter into a romance with him. He takes Ryder to meet his incredibly large family, shares details about his childhood and eventually leads them to a special place on Aya to consummate their relationship near a waterfall.
Though Jaal is incredibly distrusting after first contact with the Andromeda Initiative, taking the time to listen to and follow his advice paves the way to friendship or even romance. He is a valuable squadmate in Mass Effect: Andromeda, and for being a member of the only new alien race Ryder can bring onto their team, he is well worth the time it takes to get to know him.