Playing as renegade Shepard in the Mass Effect franchise comes with many emotions for invested players. Some renegade actions are hilarious and many are exciting, making renegade seem like the better morality option. However, there is a set of renegade options that are difficult to justify.
The actions in question are purely evil and may result in even more emotional distress down the line, when dealing with the consequences of playing as a renegade. On the other hand, there are a few renegade choices that make perfect sense from a logical standpoint, and will prove to be the optimal choice further along Mass Effect's storyline.
10 Justified: Killing The Rachni Queen May Prevent War
In the first Mass Effect game, players must journey to the icy planet of Noveria, in search of Saren's top lieutenant Matriarch Benezia who is also the mother of Shepard's Asari squadmate, Liara. Upon defeating Benezia in her Peak 15 research lab, Shepard needs to choose whether or not to kill the Rachni Queen.
A little over two thousand years before the events of Mass Effect, the Rachni waged a devastating war on the galaxy, and it was only when the Krogan were brought in that the tide changed. Sadly, the war ended with the apparent extinction of the Rachni as a species. So when Shepard discovers the last surviving Queen, the safe thing to do is to kill her and thus ensuring the Rachni will never be a threat to galactic peace again.
9 Unjustified: Wiping Out Zhu's Hope Is Just Cruel
After Saren attacks Eden Prime, Shepard travels to the corporate-sponsored human colony of Zhu's Hope on the planet Feros to investigate a Geth attack. After some digging around, Shepard discovers that an enormous plant-like creature called the Thorian has taken control of the colonists and forces them to unwillingly fight Shepard and crew.
The first human Spectre has two options: they can use special gas grenades to sedate the colonists (paragon), leaving them relatively unharmed at the end of the day, or Shepard can choose to simply exterminate the whole colony (renegade). Most of the colonists were pretty nice to the Commander and were only trying to make a new go at life, so gunning them down is a pretty poor way of repaying their hospitality.
8 Justified: Shooting Udina Saves The Council
Donnel Udina is not someone to be trusted in any of the Mass Effect games. In Mass Effect 3, humanity's councilor takes his lust for power to a whole other level when he joins forces with Cerberus to stage a coup and try and take total control of the Citadel Council. Although Udina seemingly did what he did to help his besieged homeworld, his actions are still inexcusable.
When Shepard confronts Udina on the Citadel, Udina draws a gun on the rest of the Council. A renegade interrupt prompt is then displayed to the player and if it is triggered, Shepard will shoot and kill the former human ambassador. Taking out Udina both saves the Council and has the sweet taste of justice to boot.
7 Unjustified: Keeping The Collector Base Strengthens Cerberus
The final decision Shepard must make in Mass Effect 2 is whether to hand the collector base over to Cerberus or destroy it. The Illusive Man claims that keeping the base intact will provide humanity with access to technology that could help defeat the Reapers. However, Cerberus is not to be trusted and will likely use the technology for their own goals.
Most squadmates will agree that destroying the base is the correct choice to make. After all, tens of thousands of humans were killed there in an attempt to create a human Reaper. Keeping this advanced technology may prove useful in helping humanity (so Cerberus claims), but at the cost of the very humanity Cerberus aims to protect.
6 Justified: Killing Sergeant Cathka Makes A Boss Fight Easier
When recruiting Archangel in Mass Effect 2, Shepard and team must first check in with the Blue Suns' Sergeant Cathka prior to taking part in the assault on Archangel's base. By speaking with Cathka, Shepard learns that the Sergeant is making repairs to a gunship that was damaged in a previous engagement with Archangel.
Upon the conclusion of the conversation, Shepard can perform a renegade action by stabbing Cathka with a nearby tool, causing the Sergeant to be electrocuted to death. While cruel, this action has the benefit of preventing Cathka from finishing his repairs, making the level's boss fight against the gunship much easier, as the gunship will have significantly less health if the Sergeant dies.
5 Unjustified: Pushing The Merc Out Window Gets Shepard Nothing
While searching for the famed assassin Thane Krios in Mass Effect 2 on the planet Illium, Shepard comes across an Eclipse mercenary and sneaks up on him. The Commander then questions the unsuspecting mercenary and when the merc refuses to cooperate, a renegade prompt appears that will have Shepard shove the merc out a skyscraper's window if it is triggered. This action is very exciting but unnecessarily cruel because the alternative is to convince the merc to divulge the information Shepard wants and let him go on his way.
By not pushing the merc, it is a win-win. Shepard gets the information they want, and the merc does not die and no longer has to work for Nassana Dantius, Thane's target who will die regardless of Shepard's actions.
4 Justified: Kicking The Clone Off The Normandy Feels So Good
In the Mass Effect 3: Citadel DLC, it is revealed that Cerberus made a clone of Shepard during Project Lazarus, in case the real Commander needed some replacement body parts. Now, this clone wants to take over the real Shepard's life and nearly succeeds in doing so. Luckily, just before the clone and their goons steal the Normandy, the real Shepard sneaks on board. After fighting and defeating the clone in the Normandy's cargo bay, Shepard is left with a choice; either try and save the clone or give them a boot to their face and send them falling to their death.
While both options lead to the same result, kicking the clone feels like some juicy revenge and shows the galaxy that no one messes with Commander Shepard.
3 Unjustified: Maintaining Ann Bryson's Connection To Leviathan Kills Her
Mass Effect 3: Leviathan is a DLC expansion that has Shepard go in search of a mysterious creature that once killed a Reaper. This creature does not want to be found though, and uses many insidious tactics in order to hide itself. One such tactic is to essentially use mind control to get people to do their bidding. With the help of EDI and Ann Bryson who volunteers to let Leviathan take control of her, Shepard uses the connection to trace Leviathan's location. The longer Ann is under Leviathan's control, the more precise of a location Shepard will get.
Unfortunately, if Ann is subjected to Leviathan's control for too long, she will be left in a vegetative state. Justifying this renegade action is difficult since if Shepard lets James cut the connection and only gets the minimal amount of data required to find the creature, it only takes a little bit more searching than if Ann had been rendered a vegetable.
2 Justified: Tricking The Krogan Makes Everyone Happy
One of the most impactful choices gamers must make in Mass Effect 3 is to either cure the Genophage (a virus infecting all Krogan rendering only one in a thousand births viable), or trick the Krogan into thinking it was cured and get the support of the Salarian Union in the fight against the Reapers. If Wreav is the leader of Clan Urdnot, then tricking the Krogan is pretty easy to do. But if Wrex is in charge, then tricking the Krogan will not work.
Additionally, leading the Krogan to believe the virus is cured will ensure the Krogan Rebellions will not be repeated, guaranteeing some galactic stability in the future while simultaneously obtaining Salarian support. The only catch is that players will need to kill Shepard's friend Mordin (assuming he survives Mass Effect 2), which is the most heart-wrenching scene in the entire franchise, and live with the knowledge that Shepard doomed an entire race to extinction.
1 Unjustified: Handing David Archer Over To Cerberus Ensures His Death
Upon witnessing the shocking conclusion to Mass Effect 2's Overlord DLC, the player must decide if they want to take David Archer to Grissom Academy, basically a school for geniuses, or hand the poor kid over to Cerberus and let them continue to experiment on him. David had been forced by his own brother to be the subject of an experiment where his mind was interfaced with the Geth in an attempt to take control of the AI race.
Having been through such a traumatic experience, David certainly deserves to live a peaceful and fulfilling life at the academy where he can help the Alliance. By handing David over to Cerberus, Shepard is sending David to his doom, as he will be dead from the experiments by the time Mass Effect 3 rolls around.