Mass Effect Lore: Krogan And The Genophage

On this week's deep dive into Mass Effect lore, Jordan discusses the warmongering Krogan, and the Genophage designed to keep them in check.
While many long-term fans are excited to dig back into Mass Effect with Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, there are also plenty of new players picking up the beloved trilogy for the first time. There's no shortage of lore in the series-it's incredibly dense with it-so if you're new to Mass Effect, here's a primer to get you started. Or, if you're a veteran fan, a way to refresh your memory before you play the remaster.
In the above video, Jordan Ramée discusses the fascinating history of the ferocious Krogan: a species bred for war. From the unusual anatomy that makes them almost impossible to kill to their warmongering nature, the Krogan are regarded as the brutes of the galaxy, always spoiling for a fight.
Their nature made them very useful to the Citadel Council when faced with the Rachni, a species threatening to conquer the galaxy. Unfortunately, the Krogan ran rampant, conquering numerous planets and breeding faster than they could be killed. The solution: a genetic mutation called the Genophage, which was designed to cut birth rates among Krogan dramatically in order to keep them in check.
The Genophage plays a huge role throughout the Mass Effect trilogy and informs some of the biggest decisions the player has to make throughout the games. For more lore videos, make sure to subscribe to gamespot.com/gamespot. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition launches on May 14 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

[@bruceleroy8283]

Man, listening to the lore all these years later after playing the trilogy reminds me of just how amazing the Mass effect universe is. This franchise needs to be saved at all cost. Here's hoping the next entry recaptures the magic.

[@haydenschmidt6904]

Exactly the same thing I was thinking. 20 seconds into the video and I can’t get the smile off my face.

[@bossross8270]

It won't. It'll most likely be a disappointment like Andromeda.

[@VonDutchNL]

It deserves a Netflix series of at least 3 seasons.

[@pymehry5584]

It deserves a show but I wouldn't want Netflix to be the one ruining it.

[@ThatBritishGuy138]

Can't see it happening. Andromeda was their chance to step up and they absolutely blew it for Anthem, which was also crap 😂

[@deadrabitseverywhere]

These lore videos are real gems.

[@TheCorrodedMan]

For those curious, the word “Genophage” means “Eater of infants” in old Latin.

[@brianwhite9339]

And rightfully so! It's

[@clubdrunkify]

I read on a wiki page that they could prevent their extinction but because of their fatalistic views and continual fighting they can't replace themselves fast enough. Always found that interesting

[@luvstagrind]

While I was against the genophage in my playthrough I understood why it was used against the krogan. They needed to learn that constant war would have just lead to their extinction anyway. If it wasn't going to be the salarians, turians, and asari, it was going to be someone much worse than them that they hadn't encountered yet. So if anything the genophage made them realize the dangers of always looking for a fight

[@marvinjackson2454]

This, plus Shepard's destruction of the Virmire facility made Wrex (if he survives) understanding of this logic.

[@sexuallobster134679]

That's the beauty of it I think. Obviously it's a terrible, horrible thing but... what do you do? Completely destroy them? This probably seemed less inhumane at the time of the decision because these guys really did threaten everyone. I'm still firmly always going to go against the genophage but if you look for it you can find the perspective to get it.

[@zachall101]

They were made that way by other species….. the other species literally gave them the tech and weapons to make them an unstoppable force…. Then complained about it after…. don’t complain about what u influenced…. It makes u look weak

[@jtm1979]

@@MH-bw9zt Islamists are krogan of the earth.

[@kappapride6332]

It was a weapon, of course it was necessary. Still doesn't make it right. Like the bomb on Tuchanka, sound strategy to end it all if the krogan start rebelling again. Ethically wrong, but war doesn't care about ethics. It is annoying though when others try to do mental gymnastics to justify it but that's human nature for you. Realistic writing. I love it.

[@soplet6121]

Wow.. the Mass Effect came out like 14 years ago. amazing.

[@BHRamsay]

As Mordin says the choice was between Genophage and Genocide.

[@jmlaw8888]

Im glad others get it. One of the only pieces of writing about the Krogan I liked was Mordins idea that without a viable future of peace for the Krogan (Wrex and Bakara) the Krogan would have simply pissed the turians and humans off enough that they would eventually tag team them into extinction. During the rebellions the salarians and asari were too weak to retaliate in kind when Krogan started dropping asteroids on colonies. Dont tell me for a second humans would not only retaliate but escalate if it was our colonies getting wiped out like that. 1 asteroid like that and humans would be enacting "the final solution to the Krogan problem" before you could bat an eye. Even Star Trek eventually had to admit humans are savages underneath the surface.

[@otakon17]

Always bugged me for how tough and exceedingly hard to kill the Krogan are in canon, a Phantom in the ME3 Multiplayer mode could kill one in a single stab to the chest. When even THANE has a written entry that it would take breaking all their limbs, snapping their neck AND THEN shoving a small explosive down their throat to kill the average Krogan in close quarters combat.

[@kappapride6332]

Not even mentioning how Saren once says that only a fool would try to 1v1 a krogan biotic due to how fast they regenerate. Biotics are also described to be super powerful with a drawback in a form of exhaustion which leads me to believe me1 portrayal of biotics to be the most lore accurate (me1 biotics kick ass yet have very long cooldowns). But I suppose that's just the sacrifices needed to be made in order to make the game playable.

[@fireboy1510]

Thanks for making these. They’re super informative and entertaining! Much appreciated

[@xavierbullett7219]

Keep the Mass Effect content coming!!!! 😬😬👍🏿

[@CouchCit]

Its amazing how good these ME games look after all these years.

[@dblundz]

Hope with ME4 they take the dragon age route and allow us to pick our race. Would 100% be a krogan vanguard. Loved playing them in me3 and MEA’s multiplayer

[@freighttrain6932]

I'd kill for this feature. Hell I'd kill for another good attempt at me3 mp cus andromedas weapons were just kinda meh.

[@shirox11]

I would love to finally have a chance to play as the other races maybe between a human/krogan/asari/salarian/turian or qaurian.

[@themagnus2919]

Would only work in multiplayer. They couldn't possibly do voicework for all those races.

[@themagnus2919]

Being a Krogan Sentinal would be more over-powered because they would get a boost to their already over-powered melee and armor.

[@dblundz]

have you ever played mass effect? Pretty much everything is OP, the game on insanity is easy. And yea they could, different ways of doing it. This is their last chance for most people and most likely with EA. It’s time to push the series forward, I loved Shepard but I don’t want to be a another generic human hero. They can go all the way with a different voice for each race or do male and female and add the voice modifiers to fit the race (most of the races sound/tone is computer modified anyways) it would be no more work than when they worked on DAI. Also there’s something called “balancing”. No idea why people want less in their games.

[@kensharpe1047]

Imagine how devastating it would have been if humans met the krogans instead of the turian first

[@gainz4dayz576]

OOOOOF 😅

[@ingydegmar2060]

I was thinking the same. I bet humanity would be doomed. Asari and salarians wouldn't have been able to stop the Krogan retaliation.

[@HeroOfJusticeYT]

considering the krogan dont have space ships it would have been very different

[@jmlaw8888]

On the contrary: the krogan would have been doomed. For all their physical power they are a dumb race. Human fleets would crush the krogan and unlike the weak, pathetic Salarians and Asari Humanity would retaliate in kind. Krogan drop an asteroid on 1 human colony? Humans would drop asteroids on 6 of theirs. Even the turians had to be restrained from 100% sterilizing them and wiping them out. Mordin admits that without a viable future for the Krogan if they were cured still warmongering theyd simply provoke the Turians and Humans into exterminating them.

[@Enzo-gw7zf]

God these games are still perfect

[@shirox11]

The world of mass effect was so good!!

[@Scantronacon]

And we get to go back and visit!!! Much needed bc Destiny 2, Anthem, and ME Andromeda are just not hitting that spot

[@Blazer-RPT]

@@Scantronacon ME Andromeda is not that bad

[@NearlyGoodGamer]

saddest party on the citadel needs to return in 4K

[@fapnawb]

I've played the ME trilogy and still didn't know some of the finer detail of this stuff.

[@ryanbentley8475]

I would love to play a flashback of the few Salarians & Turians who tried to stop the Genophage from beung released.

[@brianwhite9339]

The genophage is like "The Children of Men movie!

[@paulloughlin3732]

These videos are a great refreasher for the lore!

[@adamvifrye2690]

i remember being young and ending the genophage... thinking of it now, that was probably a mistake made because i liked the krogan allies i had on my team.... realistically they are just too violent to be saved, and have shown no real want to be less violent.

[@MR.LMR1996]

That might be the case of Wreav was in charge. Wrex and Eve however have a stronger desire to restore the Krogan as a social species then a conquering one. Those two know that kicking off more wars with the Council Races won't do them any favours in the long-term. And could end up forcing the Turians and Salarians into using far more deadly bio weapons on the Krogan.

[@adamvifrye2690]

@@MR.LMR1996 sure, but how are they gonna lead? maybe some high level people have smarter ideas about their place.... but most are just gonna wanna kill the weak leaders who put them in that place... its like a khanate with super powerful ever multiplying lizard people.

[@adamvifrye2690]

@sorathecrow yeah and perhaps curtailing the mongols was the wrong thing to do, because they should just be able to conquer and kill whoever they want right... i mean its not even racist to say that the krogans are inherently violent... and since they breed so quickly, they need more land and planets... they arent even scientific, so it would quite literally just be a ravenous horde taking planets to take more planets, so they could take more... theres no end to it, they just want to fight forever.

[@farringtonsamuel3413]

@sorathecrow No matter who is power it does not change anything, 1 female can lay 1000 eggs per year they will out grow any planet in a decade and in addition to the problem the krogan can live more than 1000 years. krogan expansion is inevitable unless they are ok with starving or controlling their population with something similar to genophage. If you cure the genophage the best outcome is if wreve and eve is in charge, there will be civil war between eve and wrex and it will also keep the population under control. It will give the other races time to rebuild. genophage is a necessary evil.

[@garrettsmith4760]

I. AM. KROGAAAAAAN!

[@nathan3961]

Love these lore videos because they help paint the while picture... I agree with the Turians and the Solarians when it comes releasing the Genophage.. The Krogans would've killed everybody in the milky way had they not been stopped.. Racni war all over again

[@voidengine5258]

I really appreciate these videos as they've helped me better understand aspects of the game. Thanks!

[@TheHotlikefire]

Man I’m loving these videos

[@Zeekay980]

One fact that is always missing from these kinds of videos is that until the invention of gunpowder, the number one cause of death for krogan was 'eaten by predator'. It was quickly replaced by 'death by gunshot'. That one little fact tells you all you need to know about Tuchanka and the krogan.

[@Aegon_Vas_Normandy]

They caused thier own nuclear apocalypse, that is more telling i think.

[@chistinelane]

​@@Aegon_Vas_Normandyaren't we about to do the same?

[@pagetvido1850]

It always annoyed me that the Krogan acted like they had similar family structures to the rest of the galaxy. You wouldn't know your kids names if you had a thousand of them a year. The only reason Wrex could have some kind of emotional bond with his father is because of the genophage, which only brought their birth rate in line with other species. Seeking to end the genophage just seemed greedy, when they were having the same number of kids as everyone else.

[@ChreamOhWheat]

Ahhhh yes first RE than this been waiting to play great single player games all year 👏🙌

[@MAILMAN9936]

It's a good video but I was surprised how little of it was actually new to me. The only thing I didn't know was that the krogan we're warned about the genophage prior to it's deployment.

[@davidk713]

Playing through MEA again waiting for the ME Legendary to release. I can’t wait to play the OG trilogy for the first time.

[@jmarx3943]

You're in for a treat. Have fun!

[@crushlemons]

Next Friday can't get here soon enough got Mass effect Legendary edition preorderd and ready to go.

[@dylanfoster7037]

The Krogan are pretty much actually badass Klingons, same exact lore even down to their biology. Only difference is the Genophage but the Klingons also had their genetic makeup altered to be less threatening to other species in the Star Trek Universe, it wasn't successful but still alot of parallels

[@shirox11]

Well it’s not surprising that mass effect would take inspiration from other great sci fi media.

[@dylanfoster7037]

@@shirox11 Yeah not a bad thing, unlike Klingons they actually kick some ass.

[@abmlr_productions9801]

So Krogans are like Space-Marines? By that I mean the extra organs.

[@gpd4110]

Krogans are more like tribal thugs. They do not produce artists, scientists, doctors , politicians and lack intellectual standards. Thats why they only do what they do best. War

[@tji7046]

What's the song from 2.10?

[@Ozymanzak]

I wish more people could see the parralels here.

[@vipulgupta4348]

Can't wait for MELE.

[@Scantronacon]

14 years later and this game will STILL grab and keep my attention, Im sorry but Star Wars(not the OG trilogy) aint got shit on Mass Effect. There needs to be a movie based on this masterpiece of a trilogy or netflix series, the was an animated movie made for ME3 and it wasnt half bad

[@croc560]

Camels don't store water in their humps btw. They store body fat.

[@maruanopl8756]

SHEPARD? SHEPARD! SHEPARD SHEPARD SHEPARD.... SHEPAAAAAARD

[@natedog2I0]

Just bought the game and I’m loving these lore videos!!

[@xenowriter82]

Thank you for doing this!!

[@itzdcx7991]

They're like this time out I'm tired of your shit No more babies for you, Frog people

[@slowjamsliver7006]

Dracks stated Krogan have 4 hearts.

[@curtishoward4470]

Ah. The benefits of a redundant nervous system!

[@alexpembury4307]

Yea. Humans don't have that.

[@nikokorhonen1026]

I know that we humans created the medi-gel but who created the omni tool?

[@robpotatoes6514]

What mass effect game is the background music from

[@Jdemonify]

2 i think

[@robpotatoes6514]

@@Jdemonify thanks

[@JMrealgamer]

It’s terrible to stop people from having offspring. I don’t care what the reason but that’s how I have it I’m Shepherds story.

[@jamiedude1050]

Always wondered what quad meant

[@melxb]

is this a spoiler vid? as in aspects the game will tell anyway or a prepare for the game lore vid?

[@stefan020290]

Prepare for the game. Tells about lore outside of the games.

[@melxb]

@@stefan020290 yeah i they usually say what type of video it is, but with this one i feel like the guy will tell use about his race and past in the game, oh well

[@greatestever1174]

I just wanna play as a krogan or turian in a mass effect campaign

[@mishagameekg1210]

Keep'em coming!

[@andreasrylander]

Why were there no krogan romances? ;)

[@RealMayhem1]

I don't think Shepard could survive

[@bushy_1272]

@@RealMayhem1 would of been funny tho

[@sergeontheloose]

But how? Do you think the FemShep wouldn't be torn apart by those beasts?

[@andreasrylander]

Might be worth it! :)

[@tinatpasselepoivre]

@@sergeontheloose ask the 2 asari we know have either done it or descend from it (random barwoman and peebee)

[@lordryan9845]

I have never supported the genohage but I believe that at the time of the rebellion is was need to end the war but i think it should have been cure centuries before the start of the mass effect games

[@JabamiLain]

No. Too many Krogans were still vengeful and wanted nothing but to wage war against the galaxy once more. That's why they can only be cured after Wrex becomes the leader. It's when they finally start learning their lesson.

[@EinlanzerHyuga]

The Krogans are my favorite species.

[@Wi11iamNZ]

Quarian / Geth lore next plz!!

[@maplejapan6048]

I swear. Listening to your lore videos makes me want to play Stellaris. Don't ask me why I don't know lol. Did 2 playthrough of LE already.

[@Kanchai7]

thank you for nice content.

[@alguem292]

7:42 no one is going to mention tali before horizon?

[@acrvariety]

Please do system alliance next

[@andreasamardzija1496]

I think the Turians went too far, and so did the Turians. I reverse the genophage every time.

[@itstimeforlee]

And don't forget the Turians too

[@FlowerKnight2]

@@itstimeforlee Yeah, fuck those guys, but let's not forget the Turians, they too should be held accountable.

[@WifeMadeThaStew]

With the Krogan the numbers don’t add up. If one in 1000 females is fertile, and she can have 1000 eggs per year, and she lives for 1000 years, then each female that is fertile could have nearly 1,000,000 offspring. Assuming they had a population starting at at least several billion, then it seems like there would be enough offspring that they would probably not go extinct for thousands upon thousands of years. i’m probably missing something though.

[@the_corvid97]

With the genophage only 1 in those 1000 eggs is viable. As a result the Krogan birthrate is reduced to be comparable to humans. That's why they're dying out, they're so violent they're killing each other faster than they can reproduce.

[@eoingaskin]

You aren't taking into account the hyper aggressive nature of the krogan, the differing clans finding said children and slaughtering them because it isn't their blood, nor the hyper aggressive wild life on tuchanka such as thresher maws, harvesters, varren and klixen, among many more that would happily prey on young defenceless children, and finally, just because a female is fertile, that doesn't mean she'll give birth to 1000 living children, they will always only have single to low double digits, that's what makes the genophage so scarring, even the fertile females deal with stillbirths. With all that, the population is exactly where it should be, teetering on the brink of decline and eventually extinction.

[@brianwhite9339]

@@eoingaskin You have not seen Tacunka's golden age The Krogan were once the best Blacksmiths in the galaxy!!

[@hermangarcia545]

*Earth's camels store fat in their humps not water.

[@subzerodark]

awesome

[@jonathanr9619]

I already know the lore, just fact checking GameSpot here

[@andreasamardzija1496]

Oh yeah, ME lore!

[@SoddenFaTaL1ty]

Sounds like space hitler with insect levels of reproduction 😂

[@mathrusL0L]

I miss the rap crazy dave

[@erinescobar8610]

Never realized how similar humans and Morgan’s are in terms of war like behavior

[@viscounttudon68]

Honestly Krogan are basically just slightly weaker Space Marines

[@samuelcrisp5605]

make a video about asari please ❤

[@gamingcasually9748]

Krogans remind me of rhinos

[@BrandonQ1995]

I killed Wrex, after he tried killing me, after I killed Mordin, after he tried releasing the cue. My Shepard was ruthless asf. Can't wait to experience the universe of Mass Effect again soon!

[@batz_benzer]

I will litarally wet my pants on may 14th.

[@MrAwrsomeness]

Krogan give me Germanic tribes caveman mongolian tribes vibe

[@dallasscandling6329]

Superrrrrr oldddddd

[@timobrien2738]

Help

[@mikkelnpetersen]

I wonder if there have EVER been a krogan (male), that have died of old age.

[@jonathanreyes143]

Yiff

[@Nathan-gj8ch]

Been nearly 10 years. Never spending money for a free texture mod, I'm still waiting for a good ME game.

[@mrrrbanks1102]

What the F a Genophage

[@MistahJay7]

Your mom

[@goodboytendies3192]

Heh, just like current real life. We're all Krogan now.

[@finisterien5537]

Like poser 👍👍

[@butchdeadlift10]

I pretend they are Omicronions from futurama

[@Sam-Fisher]

Second

[@creaturecore13]

What's a krogan? Because that's the question you should be asking after I ended the future of their race! Does that make me a terrible person?

[@indominusbaz]

If he can react to splatoon he can react to roblox arsenal and phantom forces cmon

[@thehumus8688]

Mass effect and GoT have many things in common Great lore, deep character, good pace, awesome story, and also the shitty Ending

[@plan_r4005]

The Krogan deserved it

[@schwalmy8227]

I don’t get the point of this video, like who is this for

[@PLAYER_42069]

People who haven't played the games before, or those who want a refresher on the Krogan backstory. It's not all about you...

[@HELLBENDER77]

true fans like me

[@Peer165]

I don't get comments like this, like who makes them?

[@OnlineMadSkillzz2]

For me who likes the game’s story

[@eodyn7]

building up hype for the remaster release.

[@Kat1kafka]

Andromeda most of these lore was ruined