Commander Shepard Codexery

Samara

Asari Justicar bound by an iron-willed code.

Samara is a fictional asari Justicar from the Mass Effect video game series, voiced by actress Maggie Baird.[1][2] Her facial features are based on model Rana McAnear.[1] She is a member of an ascetic vigilante organization sanctioned to operate in asari space.[3]

Quick Facts

Series
Mass Effect
First game
Mass Effect 2 (2010)
Voice
Maggie Baird
Race
Asari

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

Kindregan based the Ardat-Yakshi on the asari mating process of "melding," exploring its "awful, invasive" side.[4] He considered her children's diagnosis as Ardat-Yakshi and daughter Morinth's defiance to be Samara's "defining moment"[5] The mission was later moved to the Afterlife nightclub on Omega and became one of two loyalty missions without combat sequences.[6][4] The end state, where players side with either Samara or Morinth, was revised because Morinth was originally intended to have her own unique character model.[7][4]

Kindregan considered Samara emotionally incompatible with Shepard due to her trauma and self-aware mental state.[8][9] Samara was noted as one of the most difficult characters to finalize design-wise, with variations considered for her head accessory.[10] Brian Kindregan, the writer for Samara in Mass Effect 2, created the Justicar Code and Ardat-Yakshi concepts as part of her backstory.[5] During development of Samara's loyalty mission, Kindregan collaborated with lead level designer Dusty Everman; an early version required the player to infiltrate Morinth's cult compound.[6][4]

Kindregan personally agreed with BioWare's decision not to include a romance storyline for Samara.[8][9]

What the cited sources add

Kindregan stated that Morinth was never intended to be sympathetic as a serial killer, but emphasized that Samara and Shepard have committed numerous extrajudicial killings themselves.[4] Alyssa Favreau from The Mary Sue criticized BioWare's decision not to offer Samara as a full-fledged romance option.[11] Ryan Winterhalter from 1UP.com criticized Samara's attire as inappropriate.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Samara (Mass Effect)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hamilton, "The Official Model For Mass Effect's Samara, Dressed Up As Samara", Kotaku, April 7, 2012; Plunkett, "Man Builds A Real Mass Effect Weapon, It's Used By The Real Samara", Kotaku Australia, July 24, 2012; Bailey, "Billie Eilish's mom was in Mass Effect", PCGamesN, February 4, 2020 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Bailey, "Billie Eilish's mom was in Mass Effect", PCGamesN, February 4, 2020. facts only, no text reused. pcgamesn.com
  3. Wikipedia, "Samara (Mass Effect)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Brudvig, "Mass Effect 2: Sultry Samara", IGN, December 2, 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Maher, "How Mass Effect 2's Most Unique Loyalty Mission Was Designed", TheGamer.com, May 24, 2021. facts only, no text reused. thegamer.com
  5. Wikipedia, "Samara (Mass Effect)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Maher, "How Mass Effect 2's Most Unique Loyalty Mission Was Designed", TheGamer.com, May 24, 2021; Maher, "How Mass Effect 2's Most Unique Loyalty Mission Was Designed", TheGamer.com, May 24, 2021; Maher, "Samara's Code Doesn't Forbid Her From Romance, She's Just Not That Into You", TheGamer.com, February 4, 2021; Maher, "Samara's Code Doesn't Forbid Her From Romance, She's Just Not That Into You", TheGamer.com, February 4, 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Samara (Mass Effect)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Maher, "How Mass Effect 2's Most Unique Loyalty Mission Was Designed", TheGamer.com, May 24, 2021; Maher, "How Mass Effect 2's Most Unique Loyalty Mission Was Designed", TheGamer.com, May 24, 2021; Maher, "How Mass Effect 2's Most Unique Loyalty Mission Was Designed", TheGamer.com, May 24, 2021; Maher, "How Mass Effect 2's Most Unique Loyalty Mission Was Designed", TheGamer.com, May 24, 2021; Maher, "How Mass Effect 2's Most Unique Loyalty Mission Was Designed", TheGamer.com, May 24, 2021; Maher, "How Mass Effect 2's Most Unique Lo en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Samara (Mass Effect)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bosman, "The Sacred & the Digital: Critical Depictions of Religions in Video Games", MDPI, April 2019, p. 145 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Samara (Mass Effect)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Maher, "Samara's Code Doesn't Forbid Her From Romance, She's Just Not That Into You", TheGamer.com, February 4, 2021; Maher, "Samara's Code Doesn't Forbid Her From Romance, She's Just Not That Into You", TheGamer.com, February 4, 2021; Maher, "Samara's Code Doesn't Forbid Her From Romance, She's Just Not That Into You", TheGamer.com, February 4, 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Maher, "Samara's Code Doesn't Forbid Her From Romance, She's Just Not That Into You", TheGamer.com, February 4, 2021. facts only, no text reused. thegamer.com
  10. Wikipedia, "Samara (Mass Effect)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hudson, "The Art of the Mass Effect Universe", Dark Horse Comics, 2012, p. 80–81; Hudson, "The Art of the Mass Effect Universe", Dark Horse Comics, 2012, p. 80–81; Hudson, "The Art of the Mass Effect Universe", Dark Horse Comics, 2012, p. 80–81; Hudson, "The Art of the Mass Effect Universe", Dark Horse Comics, 2012, p. 80–81 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Samara (Mass Effect)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Alyssa Favreau, "Samara, Mass Effect 2, and Science Fiction's Dismissal of Queer Female Desire", Mary Sue, June 4, 2016; Lavigne, "'She's a soldier, not a model': Feminism, FemShep and the Mass Effect 3 vote", Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, September 1, 2015; Ryan Winterhalter, "The Sexism of Mass Effect 2", 1UP.com, February 29, 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Samara (Mass Effect) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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