Mordin Solus

Mordin Solus is a fictional character in BioWare's Mass Effect franchise, who serves as a party member (or "squadmate") in Mass Effect 2. A salarian (one of Mass Effect's alien races) scientist, Mordin strengthened the genophage when it began weakening—the genophage being a virus that dramatically lowered the fertility of the krogan—due to them being a possible threat if left unchecked. Fast-talking and affable, Mordin is guided by scientific principles and logic rather than morals.

He returns in Mass Effect 3, where he has developed a cure for the genophage and intends to distribute it in the atmosphere of Tuchanka, the krogan homeworld. The character is also featured in the ninth issue of Mass Effect: Foundation, which explores his creation and the distribution of the strengthened genophage.

Mordin is voiced by Michael Beattie in 2 and William Salyers in 3. His race was designed as a variant of the gray alien archetype, while the character is designed with clothes that hint towards a labcoat. Inspiration for his face was taken from Clint Eastwood. David Kates composed his musical theme, a highly electronic piece in comparison to some of 2's more orchestral pieces.

The character has been positively received, being nominated for three "Best New Character" awards and earning numerous placements in "top character" lists. In addition, 1UP.com ran an article focusing on how Mordin was "awesome". As with other Mass Effect squadmates, merchandise for Mordin has been made, such as a bust.

Creation and development
The salarians are intended to be a take on the gray alien archetype, and so early on the designers played around with that general image, having big eyes and grey skin. However, unlike regular gray aliens, salarians ended up with a concave torso and "doglike" legs. Different concepts of salarians were drawn, though many were rejected for being too human-looking. Unlike some of the other races, the salarians are more of "warrior poets" and have a higher sense of culture. The heavy eyelids and long face add more sophistication. Their big black eyes express "tranquility" and "alertness". The concave chest is a more alien, unusual structure, and differed from some of the other races. This structure also led to stylistic choices with their clothing, under the idea that they'd stuff fabric there after meeting other races, which art director Matt Rhodes compared to "a bald man wearing a toupée".

Mordin's design specifically tried to balance his scientific side and his ability as a combat-ready tech specialist due to time in the salarian special forces. His final appearance resembles a labcoat, and is similar to other medical characters in the series. The metal collar serves to break up his silhouette, though serves no purpose in dialogue or lore. Early sketches explored him as a field medic or very experienced scientist.

Other early concepts tried altering his head horns and eyeshape to make him unique. The design brief for Mordin essentially asked "What would the Clint Eastwood salarian look like?", and to that end one piece of concept art directly took features from a picture of Eastwood and incorporated them on a salarian, leading to Mordin's aged look. Mordin allowed the developers to explore the later lifestages of its aliens.

The character was voiced by Michael Beattie in Mass Effect 2, though was replaced with William Salyers for 3. Ginny McSwain served as the voice director.

Each squadmate in Mass Effect 2 had music composed for them, intended to convey their character; BioWare gave the composers detailed character studies for each to help. Mordin's theme was composed by David Kates, who also worked on themes for other characters like Garrus. Kates had previously worked on the soundtrack for the first game. He considered his level one of the most fascinating to do, and is one of the more electronic pieces. The composition contained many counterpoint elements, as well as "early retro synthesizer qualities".

Mass Effect 2
Mordin Solus debuts in 2010's Mass Effect 2. Commander Shepard, the player character and protagonist of the game, goes to Omega to recruit him as a tech specialist for an assault on the Collector base. Shepard finds him running a clinic and distributing the cure for a currently rampant plague in a sealed-off district of the planet. Mordin asks Shepard to reactivate the district's environmental systems, and distribute the cure through them. After this is done, Mordin joins the party and can be talked to aboard the Normandy, Shepard's spaceship, and brought along for future missions.

Each squadmate in Mass Effect 2 has an optional "loyalty mission". Mordin informs Shepard that his old assistant, Maelon, has been captured by krogan on Tuchanka. During the mission, which takes place in a hospital, Mordin discovers horrific tests by krogan trying to cure the genophage, and the player may have Shepard confront him about his work on it. Eventually, Mordin finds Maelon, who is revealed to have voluntarily joined the krogan due to guilt over helping develop the genophage. Horrified by the brutality of the tests, Mordin may kill Maelon depending on the player's actions. Mordin then discovers Maelon has found valuable data that could prove useful to cruing the genophage, and the player can choose whether to destroy it or save it.

Like every other squadmate, it is possible for Mordin to die during the final mission of the game—the "Suicide Mission"—depending on the player's choices. His chances of dying increase if the player does not complete his loyalty mission.

Mass Effect 3
Mordin was first confirmed to be appearing in Mass Effect 3 during Microsoft's E3 2011 conference, in June. Unless the player imports a save where Mordin died in Mass Effect 2, Mordin will appear on Sur'Kesh, where Shepard arrives seeking the cure for the genophage to secure an alliance with the krogan. Mordin reveals he is the krogan's informant about the cure, which may be extracted from a cured female (whom Mordin names Eve, after the biblical figure). Mordin comes aboard the Normandy and works on the cure, and can be talked to though is not available as a squadmate.

On Tuchanka, Mordin finishes the cure and gets ready to plant it in the Shroud, a salarian construct used to alter the atmosphere of the planet. If the player has not already chosen to notify him of it, Mordin will notice salarian sabotage in the Shroud, designed to stop any cure being distributed through it. Depending on the player's choices thusfar, they can choose between: letting Mordin go up to fix the sabotage and cure the genophage, at the cost of his life; shooting Mordin to prevent the genophage being cured (while giving the illusion that it was), ensuring salarian support; or convincing Mordin that now is not the right time to cure the genophage, causing him to back down and go into hiding (to fake his death and thus fake the dispersing of the cure).

If Mordin survives the game, he will available to talk via holocommunication before the final mission. If a save is imported where Mordin died during the Suicide Mission, his role in the game will be replaced by another salarian named Padok Wiks.

Reception
Mordin has been positively received. 1UP.com's Jose Otero wrote an article dedicated why Mordin was "awesome", saying he "epitomize[d] the coolest nerd in the ME universe: a mysterious, strong-willed, and scarred little scientist who delivers dialogue in quick, direct doses". GamesRadar, in a piece comparing different voice actors playing the same characters, commented that they could not tell the difference between the two performers. After hearing of a possible future Mass Effect film, Game Informer's Dan Ryckert looked at the different characters and felt David Hyde Pierce would be their ideal casting choice. Tom Phillips of Eurogamer called him one of the most complex characters, and noted how he represented one of the series' "greyest" plotlines.

He was nominated for various awards: by IGN as the best Xbox 360 character of 2010 (losing to fellow ME2 squadmate Thane Krios though winning the "Reader's Choice" version), best new character of 2010 by GameSpot, and by Giant Bomb in their "Game of the Year 2010" best new character award (which he tied with Bayonetta). His potential death scene in Mass Effect 3 also won "Best Moment" in Game Informer's 2012 RPG of the Year Awards.

Since his appearance in Mass Effect 2, the character has been featured in different "top" lists. Game Informer's Kimberley Wallace considered him to be one of the best BioWare characters, calling him lovable and citing "his friendly demeanor and tendency to break into song". IGN listed him as the tenth best Mass Effect squadmate, calling him polarizing and fascinating. Maximum PC called him one of the 25 best sidekicks in gaming, highlighting the moment where he can give Shepard pointers on safe-sex and interspecies romance. GamesRadar placed him at number 16 in a list of the 100 best game characters of the generation, describing him as "one of the most distinct, personable crew members to ever set foot on the Normandy". Kotaku's Mike Fahey listed his singing of Gilbert and Sullivan as one of their favourite gaming moments of 2010. The moment was similarly highlighted by Martin Gaston of VideoGamer.com, who listed "Mordin singing" as one of the things they'd like to see in the then-upcoming third game.