The scope for the Mass Effect franchise has always been epic. It features an entire universe of multiple sentient and advanced life forms capable of space travel, numerous homeworlds and planets, invasions and machinations formed around the heroics of a single human and their ragtag crew of misfits. As the player character, Commander Shepard shaped their own story through their deeds and actions across the trilogy. Later, in Andromeda, the player became Pathfinder Ryder and the lore around them continued to expand.

Such an epic undertaking needed to reach fans beyond the games to draw gamers in and keep them invested, not just in the lore but the characters they met along their journeys. Fans needed to understand how a straight-laced Turian like Saren Arterius could become so volatilely corrupt and the full extent of the tortured lives biotics often led. They wanted to learn more about the companions Shepard and Ryder relied on throughout their journeys and the intricacies of the enemies they faced. BioWare produced a lot of content to coincide with the games over the years. Novels, comics and even an animated movie about James Vega's trials before he joined forces with Shepard have been released over the years to ensure fans stay invested in the franchise before game releases, between games and after.

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The Novels

The lead writer for the Mass Effect franchise, Drew Karpyshyn, wrote three books designed to expand and support the lore established in the original game trilogy. The first novel, Revelation, explored the Citadel Council and politics and established Milky Way races while giving fans an inside look at Saren's motivations and Alliance Lieutenant David Anderson's connection to the Turian. The other books explored the Ascension Program, which was designed to develop biotics in humans further, specifically children who'd been exposed to Element Zero and the Illusive Man's activities after ME2.

When Andromeda was released, it was followed shortly thereafter by a novel detailing the events of the Uprising on the Nexus, which were present but often glossed over in-game. After it became clear that Andromeda would not be getting the full treatment of DLCs from BioWare, they announced that two more novels would follow, one exploring squadmate Cora Harper's initiation into the Andromeda Initiative and another that would fill in the gaps left by the missing Quarian Ark. Each novel written over the years added something to the lore of the franchise, exploring characters in more depth, revealing motivations and strengthening the galactic lore in ways the game didn't always have time to do.

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The Comics

Over the years, BioWare and Dark Horse teamed up to release six comic book story arcs and five single-issue comics designed to strengthen the galaxy, lore, races and specific characters. There are almost forty Mass Effect comics out there, detailing everything from Liara T'soni's search for Shepard's remains to various short stories about Shepard's squadmates across the original trilogy. Andromeda even received its own four-issue story, which was sorely needed considering that the game didn't offer further connection to the characters through DLC releases. There's also Mass Effect: Discovery, which followed the adventures of Turian Tiran Kandros, who later became the security officer on the Nexus before the Initiative's journey to a new galaxy.

The comics allowed fans to more deeply explore character backstories and motivations, which enhanced their presence in-game, making them, in some cases, even more beloved by the player than simply adventuring on-screen together had. It poured even more life already incredibly realistic characters and made the galaxy itself feel even more like a place that needed to be saved. On top of this, there were also two interactive digital comics, Genesis and Genesis 2, which were released with ME2 and ME3 and served to bridge the gap between games for new players.

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The Anime

In 2012, BioWare teamed up with FUNimation, T.O. Entertainment and Production I.G. to produce an animated feature film titled Mass Effect: Paragon Lost. The film saw a limited theatre release in November 2012 before releasing to Playstation Network and Xbox Live for streaming. The film detailed one of the events that haunted Systems Alliance Lieutenant James Vega before his meeting and working with Commander Shepard to save the galaxy from the Reapers. Vega arrived on Fehl Prime in 2183, where he and Delta squad managed to fight back Blood Pack Mercenaries who'd been wreaking havoc on the planet. In 2185, Vega and Delta Squad discovered Prothean ruins that put them in contact with Liara T'soni, who confirmed the device within to be Reaper Tech just before a Collector ship arrived.

Dangerous Reaper tech, Collectors, secret Cerberus agents and extra time with James Vega made this 84-minute film a valuable part of the ongoing story that led players into the final game in the original trilogy. There were also talks of an Andromeda animation that never came to pass, but with a fifth Mass Effect game looming on the horizon, it's always possible fans will see more animated features, comic arcs and novels to help expand the ever-growing lore.

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