Tali'Zorah nar Rayya

Tali debuts in Mass Effect where, after a dealing with the Shadow Broker goes wrong, she is recruited by Commander Shepard and joins them to help take down rogue turian Spectre Saren Arterius while attempting to complete her pilgrimage, a quarian rite of passage into adulthood. During a mission to halt Geth incursions, she requests for Shepard to give her a copy of the Geth data to complete her pilgrimage, to which the Commander accepts her request and she will thank Shepard, saying that she will continue to follow Shepard to stop Saren.

In Mass Effect 2, Tali reunites with Shepard while the latter is investigating the Collector attacks on human colonies, with her later rejoining the Normandy crew after Shepard rescues her from a Geth attack on Haestrom. In her loyalty mission, she's accused of betraying the Quarian Migrant Fleet. As Tali's captain, Shepard must clear her name in order to prevent her from being banished from the fleet.

In Mass Effect 3 (if she survived the Suicide Mission), Tali plays a major role in the war between the Geth and the quarians, and which side Shepard supports in the end, will determine if she lives and makes it to the final battle on Earth.

Even by Quarian standards, Tali is an absolute genius when it comes to mechanics, a trait she has since her introduction. Alliance Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Gregory Adams, is extremely impressed by her knowledge, wishing his engineering team were half as smart as Tali. They often work together to disassemble any abandoned technology, such as old orbital probes that the Normandy's survey missions discover. However, Tali is initially quite naive, as evident by the fact that she turned to the Shadow Broker for help after being shot, which resulted in her getting double-crossed by Fist.

Shepard can chat with Tali about her fascination with starship technology and the SSV Normandy's unique design, especially the enormous drive core. Having lived on the Migrant Fleet for her whole life until her Pilgrimage, Tali initially has trouble adapting to the Normandy. At first, Tali is very excited about being on board the most advanced warship of the Alliance Navy, but she soon begins having problems. She can't sleep because she's not used to a ship that runs so quietly (to a quarian, a quiet ship means a dead engine or worse, a malfunctioning air filter). She also says that compared to the crowded conditions of the Migrant Fleet, the Normandy feels disturbingly empty, saying "it's like half the crew is missing". Despite this uneasy start, she manages to adjust over time and becomes much more cheerful. Tali enjoys visiting the crowded, noisy Wards on the Citadel because they feel like home, and she particularly likes the music in Flux, hoping to take a copy back to the Flotilla. When she's brought back on board the Normandy in Mass Effect 2, she has no trouble getting used to the quiet again, even admitting that she likes it.

Despite the discrimination she suffers as a quarian, Tali is easily one of, if not the, most kind-hearted members of Shepard's crew, always showing compassion to those who need it. She never hesitates to help out or stand up for one of her kind, which is especially shown when she stands up for fellow quarian Lia'Vael nar Ulnay, who was being racially harassed by both a volus (who falsely accused her of theft) and a human C-Sec officer (who threatened to arrest her for vagrancy) whilst on her Pilgrimage. However, she's also deeply insecure, often assuming that she and her race aren't useful. She is also understandably envious of other species, since they can do many things, she can't be due to her extremely weak immune system. She also grows to resent the Pilgrimage, believing that without it, she never would have known what she was missing. Because of her insecurities, she hides the fact that she loves Shepard for a long time with fear of being rejected, never imagining he would see past her mask. Even after revealing her feelings by accident and Shepard telling her that he feels the same way about her, she still thinks that the two of them can't be together, as she believes he deserves to be happy with someone and doubts she can do that for him. However, when Shepard tells her that he only wants to be with her, she is overjoyed and becomes determined to do whatever it takes to work between them. By the third game, she's become much more confident about their relationship and no longer questions whether or not she's good enough for him.

Tali seems to suffer from severe arachnophobia; she freaks out whenever she sees spiders and considers the Rachni to be the creepiest thing the Normandy crew have fought, due to the fact that they look like spiders and scuttle towards her, even though, as Garrus points out, she usually likes it when things get close and personal, which is why she carries a shotgun. She also displays a bit of an acerbic wit at times; for example, she says "I missed you too, Garrus" when Garrus comments on how useless her combat drone would be against an enemy dreadnought.

A defining trait of Tali's is her tendency to place enormous blame upon herself whenever something in her life goes wrong, justified or not. This extends to claiming responsibility for incidents she couldn't possibly be held accountable for, like the deaths of most of her squad on Haestrom (which was a poorly conceived and extremely risky mission to begin with) or her failure to prevent the re-ignition of the Geth/Quarian war (the Geth were refusing to negotiate, and the Quarian Admiralty Board was stacked with pro-war admirals). As a result of this, she has something of a martyr complex, being all too prepared to sacrifice her own well-being for the good of her people. This is best shown during her loyalty mission, when she would rather be exiled from the only home, she's ever known than have the crimes of her father become public knowledge, despite knowing full well her father wouldn't have wanted that for her. This is also why she is initially so reluctant to pursue a relationship with Shepard, believing herself to be unprofessional and selfish for even considering it. After the two reunite during the Reaper invasion, Tali tells Shepard straightaway that she probably won't come back on the Normandy after the Geth/Quarian war is over, despite how much she wants to, for the simple fact that her people need her.

Tali is also a very forgiving person, which is especially shown when she tells Shepard about how a Turian clerk had once called her a "suit rat" and refused to give her shelter right before she met him/her, and that now she's helping him in spite of that. She reasons that the war is too big for old grudges and that she doesn't have time to waste on a Turian who made her angry three years ago, as well as the fact that it worked out in the end since she met Shepard as a result. Additionally, while initially annoyed by her ship name being changed from 'vas Neema' to 'vas Normandy', she quickly embraces it; before the final battle on Earth, she remarks how the admirals once put the name on her like a "badge of shame", but then the Normandy retook the Quarian homeworld, and that it's time for her to return the favor.

Nonetheless, Tali was initially very belligerent towards the Geth, strongly believing that the quarians were justified in trying to eliminate them after they acquired true AI status with the only mistake having been their creation. For the majority of the games, she'd been a strong proponent for war against them, and had been unwilling to recognize the geth as 'alive' or 'having a soul'. Only after meeting Legion did her mind begin to change; while she was initially distrusting of the Geth platform, she eventually began to develop a grudging respect towards it. Through Legion, Tali gained a greater understanding of the Geth and believed that peace between them and the quarians was possible, being the only member of the Admiralty Board (if she was not exiled) other than Zaal'Koris (who she initially had antagonistic relationship with due to his Geth sympathies) to vote against retaking Rannoch. In the event of the quarians retaking Rannoch or establishing peace with the Geth, Tali expresses sadness over Legion's death, telling it that it does indeed have a soul in its final moments, and mourning it as a friend.

a potential romance option for a male Shepard. When Tali first joins the crew, Yeoman Kelly Chambers informs Shepard that Tali may want to be more than "just be good friends" and describes the noticable signs in her body language. Kasumi Goto also notices the signs, telling Shepard that he's "all she talks about" and that he'd better be good to her. After completing her loyalty mission, Tali takes on a small fever and tells Shepard what life inside her suit is like. She says that Quarians are in their suits their whole lives and that the most intimate thing they can do with another Quarian is link suit environments. It can be dangerous and considered the most sacred form of trust. Tali accidentally lets slip that she trusts only Shepard that much. She initially acts nervous, stumbling over her words, and can even be accused of blushing, though she blames it on her fever. Eventually she confirms the Yeoman's thoughts revealing that ever since the start of their adventures together, she had developed feelings for Shepard. Until this point, however, Tali had been afraid to act on her feelings because she doubted he can could truly see who she was under her mask. She is happily surprised when Shepard proves her wrong by telling her how he feels the same way about her. Tali later apologizes for putting him on the spot, saying she was "unprofessional and selfish". She tells Shepard that he "deserves to happy with someone" and doubts she can do that for him. But Shepard says that he doesn't want to be with anyone else, and that he wants to be with Tali, and he'll do everything he can to make it work.

Overjoyed to hear this, Tali tells Shepard that she wants this relationship to be real, that she must feel "(her) skin against (his)." Unfortunetly, Quarians weak immune system and dextro-amino acid chirality makes physical acts of affection dangerous, if not deadly. She thus asks that Shepard give her some time until she can adequately make herself ready. Shepard can also get intimate advice from Mordin Solus, who will suggest Shepard "self-sterilize", citing oral contact as dangerous, and forwards information packets regarding Quarian physiology and positions comfortable for both species to Shepard's room.

Shortly before the Normandy's entry into the Omega 4 Relay, Tali nervously goes to Shepard's room saying that she has taken several antibiotics and "herbal supplements" to bolster her immune system. Speaking nonstop ("a defensive mechanism"), she becomes visibly nervous about removing her bio-suit and having her first intimate experience. Shepard eases her worries and proceeds to remove her mask, viewing her face unobstructed for the first time (but out of view of the camera). Her fears gone, Tali pounces on Shepard and passionately kisses him as the scene fades to black. Furthermore, if Tali survived the Suicide Mission, she informs Shepard that although she is "running a fever," has a "nasty cough" and her sinuses "are filled with something she can't even describe," "it was totally worth it."

Tali is still a brilliant young engineer, an excellent tactical operator and a capable adventurer. However, with Shepard gone she has been promoted above her competence level.

She’s not a good leader (that she’s a follower has always been obvious) nor a good strategist. Despite her best efforts things repeatedly went bad under her leadership.

Her engineering genius is not at the forefront anymore. One gets the impression that all that Tali can do in a Quarian context is jury-rigging and technical improvisation. She doesn’t have the tools and supplies for proper engineering.

Once she rejoins the Normandy, she quietly resumes doing cutting-edge naval engineering. This includes upgrading the ship’s shields using multicore cyclonic shielding generators and working with Garrus on the new super-artillery’s power needs.

Since Shepard makes Tali the new Chief Engineer one assumes that she is even more competent than Engineer Daniels and Engineer Donnelly, whom the Systems Alliance considered brilliant specialists. This is coherent with Engineer Adams’ remarks in the first game, when he wished his engineering team were half as technically gifted as Tali is.

The quarians are a nomadic species of humanoid aliens known for their skills with technology and synthetic intelligence. Since their homeworld Rannoch was conquered, the quarians live aboard the Migrant Fleet, a huge collection of starships that travels as a single fleet.

Approximately three hundred years before the events of 2183, the quarians created the geth, a species of rudimentary artificial intelligences, to serve as an efficient source of manual labor. However, when the geth gradually became sentient, the quarians became terrified of possible consequences and tried to destroy their creations. The geth won the resulting war and forced their creators into exile. Now the quarians wander the galaxy in a flotilla of salvaged ships, secondhand vessels, and recycled technology.

Quarians are generally shorter and of slighter build than humans. Quarians have an endoskeleton, lips, teeth, and two eyes with eyelids and tear ducts. Their ears or ear analogues differ in a noticeable fashion from those of humans, with references made to "what [passes] for the quarian version of an ear". Their eyes can see into the ultraviolet end of the spectrum; their suit HUDs can show information in those wavelengths. Quarian facial structure and hair makes them the most similar to humans out of all known sapient species.

They also have three thick fingers on both hands which include a thumb, an index finger, and a long finger, similar to the middle fingers for humans, as well as three toes on each foot. Their lower legs are bowed backwards significantly, compared to asari or humans. Aside from hands and legs, their general body shape and sexual dimorphism is similar to humans. Male quarians, however, appear to lack a third toe. Like humans, quarian blood is red.

The most distinguishing feature of quarian biology is their weak immune system, compounded by centuries of living in sterile environments. As a result, all quarians by necessity dress in highly sophisticated enviro-suits, to protect them from disease or infection if they are injured. Their suits can be compartmentalized in the event of a tear or similar breach to prevent the spread of contaminants (similar to a ship sealing off bulkheads in the event of a hull breach). Along with their suits, quarians also have extensive cybernetic augmentations integrated into their bodies. A quarian's lifespan is roughly equal to a human's, but is prone to be less if infection breaks into the suit.

Quarian immune systems have always been relatively weak, as pathogenic microbes were comparatively rare in their homeworld's biosphere. Furthermore, what few viruses and other microbes were native to their homeworld were often at least partly beneficial to them, giving them a symbiotic relationship with their environment. After living aboard the Migrant Fleet for generations, the quarians' immune systems have atrophied further still due to the years in the sterile environment of the Migrant Fleet. As such, quarians are given various vaccinations and immunizations to help ward off disease. However, they prefer the safety of their suits even in clean environments and are reluctant to remove them without a good reason.

A quarian who wishes to remove their suit must take antibiotics, immuno-boosters, herbal supplements, or the like in order to do so safely, and even then there are inherent risks. As a result, physical acts of affection are difficult for quarians, even for the purposes of reproduction. Ships in the Migrant Fleet often contain "clean rooms" where quarians can give birth or undergo medical procedures in relative safety, though there are always risks. The most intimate thing quarians can do is link their suit environments. However, doing so guarantees a quarian will get sick, although they will usually adapt over time.

Like turians, the quarians are a dextro-protein species of reverse chirality from humans and asari. The food of levo-protein races such as humans or asari is at best inedible and at worst poisonous, most likely triggering a dangerous allergic reaction. Quarians who want to taste something (other than the refined edible paste issued to all who leave on their Pilgrimage) can eat specially purified turian cuisine, though the typical quarian diet is vegan, as livestock were found to possess an inefficient resource-to-calorie ratio when stored on the Migrant Fleet.

Other than the oft-mentioned maladjusted immune systems, the quarians have surprisingly robust physiology. Grunt's tank imprints specifically deem several species soft and easy to kill, but not quarians. One extensively tortured quarian survives for a while without an enviro-suit before dying from his injuries. Another endures traveling through multiple racial environments without a suit, dealing with things like elcor high gravity and drell aridity before dying in the high-pressure volus zone after a considerable amount of time there.

The quarians' top priority is the survival and sustainability of the Migrant Fleet. Most of their laws and customs revolve around this goal. It is illegal for couples to have more than one child, so that the fleet can maintain zero population growth and avoid straining their limited resources. If the population begins to shrink, this rule is temporarily lifted, and incentives may be provided to encourage multiple births. Families are thus very small and close-knit. Homosexual relationships are not unheard of, however, as evidenced by Shio'Leth vas Novarra and his husband Viegle.

Because every quarian depends on his or her crewmates to survive, they are much more community-minded than individualistic species like the krogan. Loyalty, trust, and cooperation are highly prized qualities. Even in their ancient past they were a very emotional people, which the Protheans believed was a side-effect of their eco-symbiotic society.

Quarians enjoy storytelling as a means of escape from their often trying lives aboard the fleet, and are known to hold dancers in high esteem.

Young quarians are required to undertake a Pilgrimage outside the fleet in order to pass into full adulthood. The Pilgrimage is an opportunity for quarians to experience the world outside the Migrant Fleet, interact with other cultures, and learn to appreciate life among their own people. Their departure is a major event; the whole crew assembles to see them off, and they are given many gifts to aid them on their journey, along with immunity-boosting injections and advice on surviving in the outside. The young quarian cannot return to the flotilla until they have found something of value to bring back - whether information, money, or supplies. When they return, they do not go back to their birth ship, but instead select a new ship to join; this helps maintain genetic diversity by preventing intermarriage between close relatives. The quarian presents their gift to the captain of the new ship to prove they will not be a burden on the crew. Although the gift may be rejected if it is subpar, this is very rare, as most captains are eager to welcome a new shipmate on board. Having a large crew is a prestigious thing, as it means the captain has the financial and material means to provide for many people.

Conditions aboard most quarian ships are extremely cramped. It is not uncommon for all family members to share the same small living space, which in turn is in close proximity to many other families' quarters. These spaces are often uncomfortable and ill-designed for living in, having been reappropriated from other functions such as storage. Families decorate their individual dwellings with colorful quilts, which serve to muffle sound and also to make the environment more cozy. Quarians place low value on personal possessions, instead evaluating objects by their usefulness and bartering them for other items once they are no longer needed. Every ship has a designated trading deck where those looking to barter can gather to do business.

Quarians wear their environmental suits at all times, partly in case of a hull breach and partly in response to the lack of personal space aboard the flotilla. Because their suits make it hard to identify individuals on sight, quarians have developed the habit of exchanging names whenever they meet.

Over time, the environmental suits themselves have gained symbolic and cultural significance, and being fitted with their first suit is considered a rite of passage. After returning to the fleet after their pilgrimage, they may alter their suit to reflect their new status as adults. Linking suit environments is seen as the ultimate gesture of trust and affection. One of their lullabies, My Suit and Me, is dedicated to the protection provided by the suits.

Due to their history with the geth, quarians are reluctant to place complete trust in virtual or artificial intelligences, but they also show surprising compassion towards them and are far more likely than other species to treat them as living beings.

Quarians refer to commanding officers of any ships, quarian or non-quarian, as captain, regardless of rank. Their reasoning is that the CO's decisions always carry great weight on his/her own ship.

Prior to their exile, the quarians appear to have used a calendar that incorporated their lunar cycles. The geth reckoned the dates in terms of "creator years": creator year 2463 is roughly 327 years from 2185 CE, computing to about 1858 CE. Known months include Lun'shal and Fal'tash.