Tali'Zorah

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Tali'Zorah
Mass Effect series
Tali, as presented in The Art of the Mass Effect Universe
First game	Mass Effect (2007)
Voiced by (English)	Liz Sroka

Tali'Zorah is a fictional character of the quarian alien race in BioWare's Mass Effect franchise who serves as a party member, or "squadmate", in all three trilogy video games. Within the series, she is the daughter of Rael'Zorah, a member of the quarian judicial review Admiralty Board. Outside of the trilogy, Tali appears in Mass Effect: Homeworlds, a comic series with individual issues on each of several Mass Effect 3 squadmates.

Tali was initially the only quarian in the series. In the sequels, more extreme variations of her design were discarded in favor of revisions on her previous look. The Mass Effect 3 development team considered her removal from the squad, but ultimately chose to include her due to staff interest. The team also debated whether to reveal her masked face.

Tali has been received positively, with placements on several "top character" lists. Her unveiled face was a popular online discussion topic, and was criticized after its reveal for its stock photo origins.

Characterization

Tali, as a quarian, must wear a full-body environmental suit due to her race's weaker immune systems. She is a skilled technician and engineer, and renowned in the quarian Migrant Fleet, the spaceship collective home to the race. She has additional pressure to excel as the daughter of Admiral Rael'Zorah, though the Admiralty position is not technically hereditary. Her father was also strict, and tried to set an example for the rest of the fleet. Tali is very loyal to the fleet. Sroka uses an accent described as "unidentifiable pseudo-Eastern European, quarian Gypsy" to voice the character.

Concept and creation

Tali's name was originally "Talsi Orah", with Orah as the familiar name, but this was changed for its connotations of softness and awkward pronunciation. She is voiced by Ash ("Liz") Sroka throughout the Mass Effect trilogy, her first role in a video game. Like Garrus Vakarian, Tali was not an option for player romantic pursuit in the first game as the developers were unsure whether the alien characters would be emotionally compelling. Tali's romance tree was added in Mass Effect 2 due to fan demand and her ability to express human emotion. This romance, if pursued in the second game, can be continued in Mass Effect 3.

Tali initially served as the only example of a quarian, a nomadic alien race driven from their homeworld by the robotic race they created, the geth. All quarians in the series, including Tali, wear full body suits to protect their weak immune systems. Initial concept drawings for Tali and the quarians were finished before the geth's, but the final geth design then influenced the quarian look. More extreme designs for her Mass Effect 2 appearance were discarded for a "more polished" version of her original "iconic" look instead. Her final new appearance was chosen as it distinguished the character from other quarians introduced in the second game. Tali's Mass Effect 3 redesign proved difficult due to the team's passionate views about her character, though ME3's art director, Derek Watts, felt that most fans had been supportive of the changes to characters' designs.

Each squad member in the game trilogy had music composed for them, intended to convey their character; BioWare gave the composers detailed character studies for each to help. Tali's theme was created by Jimmy Hinson, who had generally made game remixes beforehand. Hinson worked from his home in Tennesee and made his pieces using FL Studio 9. Although they were given full access to the game's content, Hinson chose to avoid looking beyond what he absolutely needed to look at to write the tracks, due to wanting to experience the game fresh upon its release. In addition to Tali, Hinson also wrote tracks for Samara and Grunt, as well as various other tracks in the game.

"A lot of people want to have her face revealed and obviously people are going to be pissed off either way. Like, 'I thought she was going to look beautiful!' or, 'I thought she was going to be the most hideous thing ever!' So we've had a lot of debate over Tali's face, but that's the one we kind of dread a lot. We're always, 'Well, let's talk about something else for a while!' That's something we're going to have to decide."

— Derek Watts, Mass Effect 3 art director, Xbox World 360 interview, June 29, 2011

The developers debated whether to reveal her face in Mass Effect 3. They were aware that either decision would likely annoy some people, and that no reveal could universally fit all views of Tali. BioWare wished to unveil her face in a "tasteful way" outside of the game engine, and decided that a gift from Tali would be the best way. A stock photo was used to ensure the face's closeness to a real photograph. An in-game photo of Tali's face is available as a gift to the player-character Commander Shepard upon pursuing her Mass Effect 3 romance tree.

BioWare considered not making Tali a squadmate in Mass Effect 3. Some writers, such as Patrick Weekes, felt passionately about her inclusion, which led the team to believe that the players could share his passion.

Appearances

Mass Effect

Tali, as she appears in the first Mass Effect. Her appearance differs from future games, where the design would be refined.

Main article: Mass Effect (video game)

The first game of the trilogy, Mass Effect, marks Tali's first appearance. While on her Pilgrimage (a quarian rite where young adults leave to obtain a gift for a captain so as to be allowed to join their crew), Tali discovers that a rogue Spectre (elite agent of the galaxy's central government), Saren, is working with the geth and has attacked Eden Prime, humanity's first space colony. She arranges for a meeting to trade with the Shadow Broker, but is betrayed by its organizer, the thug Fist, who pretends to organize a meeting but instead sends her into an ambush. Commander Shepard, the player-character, rescues her. Tali gives the evidence to the Commander, and Saren loses his Spectre status. Shepard is then sent to hunt down Saren, and Tali joins the player-character's squad.

Tali can join the player-character on missions and is available for personal conversation aboard Shepard's spaceship, the Normandy.

Mass Effect 2

Main article: Mass Effect 2

Tali returns in the 2010 sequel, first seen on the human space colony Freedom's Progress in the game's second mission. She is leading a group of quarians to search for Veetor, a fellow quarian on his Pilgrimage. The colony has been abducted by the "Collectors", and Tali agrees to work with Shepard in order to help search for Veetor, though the rest of her team objects. After the team runs off only to be killed by mechs reprogrammed to shoot on sight by the scared Veetor, Shepard finds him. Shepard can either send Veetor to the Migrant Fleet with Tali, or hand him over to Cerberus; Shepard's superiors, to be questioned about the Collectors. Tali appears again on the planet Haestrom, a former quarian colony, where Shepard arrives to recruit her. Her and a team of quarians were sent to investigate a sun aging faster than usual when the geth arrived and attacked them. After Shepard eliminates the geth, he recruits her into their squad with permission from the Admiralty Board.

Her "loyalty mission", an optional mission related to the squadmember's past intended to increase loyalty, involves Tali on trial facing possible exile for bringing active geth parts to the Flotilla, which she denies. This also reveals that her father was on the ship where the geth became active and is presumed dead. After Shepard and Tali retake the Alerei, the spaceship, they discover that her father was performing experiments on the geth, and is to blame for the attack. Tali asks Shepard not to reveal this, as it would disgrace his name. At the trial, the player chooses whether Shepard withholds the new evidence (Tali is exiled), submits it (Tali is innocent), or works the crowd as to her previous service record (Tali is innocent without disgracing her father).

Tali can die during during the final mission of the game—the "Suicide Mission"—depending on the player's choices. Her chances of dying increase if the player submits the evidence against her will, or does not complete her loyalty mission.

Mass Effect 3

Main article: Mass Effect 3

Unless the player imports a Mass Effect 2 save where Tali cannot appear in Mass Effect 3, Tali shows when the Commander moves to recruit the quarian fleet in the fight against the Reapers, powerful sapient robots with intentions to destroy all organic life. Tali joins the squad, and her conversation options tell of the quarians' new attack on the now Reaper-allied geth, in a bid by the quarians to try and reclaim their homeworld. Depending on the player's choices in the second game, Tali may either be an Admiral or merely an advisor on how to defeat the geth.

Eventually, the player must choose between saving the geth or the quarians, or, if certain conditions are fulfilled, negotiating a stand-down and saving both parties. If the player sides with the geth and lets the quarians die, Tali kills herself; otherwise, she fully joins the squad and can be found interacting with other Normandy crew members.

Mass Effect: Homeworlds

The second issue of Homeworlds was revealed to focus around Tali's past. The comic tells of the beginning of her Pilgrimage, and the events leading up to her appearance in the first game.

Reception

Tali has received a positive critical response. Steven Hopper, writing for IGN, listed her as his second favorite Mass Effect teammate after Garrus, praising her "endearing geekiness" and the story that follows her. Similarly, UGO's Sal Basile listed her as the fourth best squadmate in Mass Effect 3. Also writing for UGO, Evan Saathoff listed Tali as his fourth best video game companion, comparing her as the "innocent, girl next door experience" to the sexiness of Halo's Cortana. GamesRadar's Carolyn Gudmundson listed Tali as one of several video game characters she'd "go gay for", noting her "kind personality and air of mystery", as well as her technical genius and accent.

Tali's face

Tali's face, as depicted in a photo in Mass Effect 3. The image was criticized for its stock photo origins.

Tali's unmasked face and its potential appearance has been subject to discussion. Jordan Boughman, writing for GamesRadar, highlighted a piece of fan art that he enjoyed and which a BioWare developer had retweeted. Before the face was revealed, IGN's Scott Nichols ran an article about the possibility of revealing the face, concluding that fans did not just want to see her face but also "the expressions it can make, adding yet another level of emotional depth and complexity to a fan favorite character". GamesRadar's Mikel Reparaz listed it as one of the 12 gaming mysteries he wanted solved in 2011, and hoped that it would be something unusual-looking; this sentiment was echoed by fellow GamesRadar writer Tyler Nagata, who felt that the face should be ugly. PC Gamer's Tom Francis also included the face in their list of 15 things he wanted to see in Mass Effect 3.

Once the face was revealed, it was met with wide criticism from fans, particularly for being a stock photo (of Miss England model Hammasa Kohistani). GameZone's Matt Liebl felt that the issue was not as big as fans had made it out to be. Some fans proceeded to make their own faces, such as a piece by deviantArt artist "K4ll0" that Kotaku's Luke Plunkett compared favorably to the actual face.

External links

• Tali'Zorah nar Rayya on Mass Effect Wiki, an external wiki