“You exist because we allow it. You will end because we demand it.” With 13 words, Sovereign, the most spectacularly badass member of one of gaming’s most unapologetically badass enemy factions, secured its place in gamers’ hearts for over 18 years and counting. The menacing delivery, the spooky reverb sound effect, and the sheer awe-inspiring magnitude of self-assurance sends shivers down my spine to this day.
Most Mass Effect fans tend to regard the Reapers as somewhat unassailably threatening. What could possibly stand toe-to-toe in the annals of video game villains with a race of massive machine-like beings driven by the single-minded in an ambition to wipe out all sentient life? What’s more, they’ve proven capable of that feat countless times, and when they finally arrive for our own turn at the cosmic wheel, they slice through our defenses like butter. The question of whom, or what, matches the Reapers for dread-inducing panic has been asked every so often, and the internet’s current discourse is some of the liveliest yet.
Doth Thou Desire The Power?
The challenge for rivals to the Reaper throne comes from ResetEra, where user Lightjolly – who is admittedly not even too hot on Mass Effect! – threw some more well-deserved fearful love Sovereign’s way when asking fellow community members to suggest suitably nerve-wracking adversaries.
MourningBreakfast chooses Sin from Final Fantasy 10 as their candidate, and that most poignant of civilization-ravaging curses is surely a prime pick. Along similarly sinful lines, several people including smurfx elected Sinistar, the 1980s arcade shooter’s titular intergalactic monster. I’ve never played Sinistar, but smurfx’s YouTube link did a lot of heavy lifting for me here:
The E.M.M.I. from Metroid Dread are an excellent shout, mentioned a few times throughout the thread but first cited by the one and only Don Fluffles. Another big contender? The Flood, Halo’s devastating parasitic alien life forms. chijiokay can’t wait to see how the remake handles them, and neither can I.
“The rats, in A Plague Tale,” Clippy chimes in. “Or human nature,” also in A Plague Tale. Sounds about right.
If you’re wondering whether that was me saying Grahf from Xenogears in the thread’s third post, well, yes. It is. But I was quickly set in my place, and rightly so, by fellow Xeno diehards who countered that Id is an even better pick. Nevertheless, I stand with the inexorable LordHuffnPuff in bowing before Grahf’s indomitable vibe:
Dukie85 opines that the moon in Majora’s Mask is a force as horrifying as the Reapers. I’d say the same. Especially if you dislike time limits of any sort in video games, which I definitely do. Yeah, it’s not as bad as it sounds. Yes, you get a song that makes it far easier to handle besides. No, that doesn’t stop me from fearing full moons to this day.
Estonda22, however, has written a miniature essay on why the answer is, in fact, “absolutely none.” Starting with their scope, and moving on through mind-boggling scale, a lack of perceptible “evil” to their actions, and an assertion that “meaning” itself doesn’t exist, Estonda is seriously committed to proclaiming the Reapers to be “the ultimate villain in fiction.” (On the other hand, we’ve got Aprikurt, who I’m pretty sure detests the prime pedestal that’s been placed for the Reapers. The Mordin Solus avatar explains a lot, maybe?)
Mass Effect fandom has survived on crumbs for what feels like a full Reaper-harvesting cycle at this point, but at least this past N7 Day showered us with, er, a hidden bit of artwork. While the active fanbase has likely diminished given how long it’s been since the middling fourth game, there are still plenty of sleuths out there taking bets on what this “krogan civil war” hint truly means for the franchise’s long-gestating next chapter.