As one of the best sci-fi role-playing series’ of all time, the Mass Effect series is chock-full of flushed out characters and deep and meaningful relationships to be created and explored with them. After three entries in the original story and Andromeda beginning a new tale, we're going to take a look back at the 25 companions and see how they stack up with each other in terms of characterization, personality, character arcও, combat effectiveness and generally how well-liked they are within the fan base.

These characters are the backbone and support system for both Commander Shepard and Pathfinder Scott/Sara Ryder. They help keep them together when things get crazy. Some act🐭 as friends, others seem more of hired hands.

While it is highly improbable that this order will change that much, it needs to be said that some of these characters have had three games of development, while those of Mass Effect: Andromeda have only had one with the potential to grow more in the future. The only companions on this list are those who are permanent companions and are the ones Shepard is meant to recruit, which does include DLC companions if they remain on the crew for 𝓀the remainder of the game. So you wont find Morinth and Aria T’Lꦑoak on this list. This is where things stand for now within the supporting cast of the world of Mass Effect.

While I think it goes without saying, I will issue a spoiler warning for every character within this list, and for Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3, and Mass Effect: Andromeda.

25 Kaidan Alenkoꦓ

This oneܫ shouldn’t surprise anyon🐻e who has played the games. Kaiden rarely sees any action past the first installment, as he is often the chosen one to die on Virmire over Ashley. He is not only an incredibly generic and bland human companion, he is also rather annoying as a person.

He is a generic companion who set the bar for the series for crappy companions. While many of the human companions lack any real defining ch🍌aracteristics that help them🎃 leave an impression, the misadventures of traveling with Kaiden leave a nasty sting, one that was rectified by the many companions that succeeded him.

His irritating personality was made better by the prܫesence of the option to abandon him to his fate and not suffer anymore of him throughout the remainder of the series.

24 ༒ James Vega 💜

Partially fo𝓡llowing in the bland footsteps of one Kaiden Alenko, James Vega is essentially nothing more than a basic foot soldier for Systems Alliance. He is far too stereotypical and his impact on the story is very limited. James is a soldier through and through, he is hotheaded and temperamental and looking for any chance he can to get boots on the ground ꦕand kill some reapers.

While his intentions are admirable, and he is driven by his love for his home world and his yearning to defend it at all cost, he suffers in this area as it is really all he cares about. This combined with his late appearance in the series, only meeting Shepard and joining him in Mass Effect 3, means he is left with little time to develop into a truly unique character that would separate him from any♏ other soldier on the field𓃲.

23 ꩲ Ashley Williams ♛

The lesser of two evils when it comes to crappy starting companions, Ashley Williams isn’t much better than Kaidan when it comes down to it. They are very similar in terms ofꦦ combat capabilities, with neither one being anything ꦚamazing.

She is a very noticeable bigot towards other species and thinks herself above them. Upon meeting her again in Mass Effect 3, she now has a nagging distrust for Shepard after he worked with the shady Cerberus organization. No matter how many times you try and reassure that you are trustworthy, she always has some excuse why she can’t quite trust you. On top of that, she is nothing special in terms of either uniqueness or combat effectivene෴ss.

The only real reason she makes it to the next 🎶two games, most of the time, is becauᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚse she's still better than Kaidan.

22 Samara

Samara is one of the powerful biotic soldiers💦 to help Shepard on his suicide mission, but she is one of the more boring Asari that Shepard meets on his adventures. She speaks in a monotone voice and lacks any form of emotion, despite her often speaking of it.

Her loyalty mission is a big part of why she is so low🍎 on this list, as she is forced to make some difficult decisions there. Her indifference to this decision slightly dwarf the impact of the mission however, as she must kill her own daughter and barely bats an eye.

This can say a lot a🅺bout her resolve towards her mission, but I find it to subtract largely from her developmജent, as it denies her a true moment of vulnerability.

21 Pelessari✱a "Peebee" B'Sayle ๊

Now we get to the interesting stuff🍨, Peebee is an Asari scientist and explorer who just wants to do new things and learn about new cultures. Ryder runs into her for the first time while trying to setup the first outpost for the Initiative on Eos. She has a huge affinity for all things Remnant and will do anything to learn whatever she ca꧋n about them. She is also more than a little bit odd and it does give her a little bit more character.

Now if your wondering why she is so far down on this list, it’s 🍌because everythinღg I just used to describe her pretty much also describes the much more popular and more loved Liara. She loses a ton of points for having most of her character traits ripped from another companion from the same race.

20 🍨 Zaeed Massani

He’s difficult to place, but Zaeed fits where he is on this list. He is separate from the rest of the Mass Effect 2 crew, as he is the only one who is there pꦫurely because he is being paid to be there. He is a dangerous and well-known mercenary and his background is filled with questionable decisions.

He is a former member of the Blue♐ Suns and he is quite the contrast to the rest of the team. However, since he is such a far cry from the rest of the crew, he doesn’t really fit in with them and se🔯ems like a stranger compared to the rest of the crew. His dark and brooding demeanor conflicts with most of the other team. If that wasn’t enough, he also isn’t that likeable and is only available through DLC.

19 𝐆 Liam Kosta

While I will say that Liam is better than two of the starting male companions we've had in the four Mass Effect games, he’s not the best out of the four. The Initiative member warms up rather quickly to the new galaxy and finds a place among Ryder’s Pathfinder team. He 🃏is an ex-law enforcement officer who decided his skills were better suited for the vast unknown galaxy𓆉 of Andromeda.

He is knowledgeable of all things we🅺aponry, as well as biotics and his skills on the battlefield are some of what led Alec Ryder to choose Liam for the Pathfinder team. This London-born operative also served as a part of HUS-T1, which was a multi-species disaster response effort. While he is still better than many other human companions, he cant quite keep up with other companions who have more interesting back stories.

18 𝔉 K𒁏asumi Goto

Kasumi earned her reputation as the most mysterious thief in the galaxy. After p🥀urchasing the Stolen Memory DLC, you meet the enigma and bec🧸ome one of a handful of people to ever see her in person.

She is different, it’s hard to refute that. She is very knowledgeable of events and is one of only two people who will actually recognize Morinth in disguise as Samara. As fun as all that is, she isn’t that helpful in the field, which is obviously very important in a game like this and which keeps her dﷺown the list.

This kleptomania𝓀c also earns her place for being relatively unavailable unless you shell out extra cash and because she is relatively uninteresting aside from the occasional one-liner. Unfortunately, due to the paywall, most people never get to interact with her anyway.

17 J🉐acob Taylor

Here we have our favorite starting male companion in Mass Effect. Jacob gains a few more points over Kaiden and James for starting as a Cerberus operative before joining up with Shepard in Mass Effect 2 and later defecting from them after seeing what they📖 were truly about.

When Mass Effect 3 rolls around, we find him on Gellix defendin♚g civilians and other Cerberus defectors fꦯrom an endless Cerberus attack. He grew from Cerberus lackey into a leader of his own people and does whatever he can to protect them.

Jacob’s story arc shows something in his character that is very rare for video game characters: perspective. He is able to look at his life with Cerberus and 🎐rea♍lize that he needs to change sides. He is not without his faults, and most of them come in the combat area, as he's not as useful as other companions, but he is a pretty good companion in terms of personality.

16 Jaal Ama D♍arav ꦉ

As Ryder's sole companion who actually comes from the Andromeda galaxy, Jaal Ama Darav had a lot of hype behind him. This Angaran compan♏ion wears his emotions on his sleeve, allowing the player to get a real feel for him. He treasures his people, as well as their deep history and, like the rest of his people, he has a deep hatred of the Kett. He fights along with the rest of the Angaran resistance to help free them of Kett warfare and leave a safer world for their children.

He also serves as Ryder’s envoy for th♏e Angaran people and helps Ryder to adjust to the new galaxy and find his place in it. While he could've been slightly more varied than other characters we've seen, considering he's from a brand new race, he was still interesting to talk to and decent in combat, leaving him around the midpoint of this list.