Aria T'Loak

Origin

Aria is an Asari who traveled to Omega Station where she preformed as an exotic dancer at a nightclub called Afterlife, but this was all a ploy to hide her initial rise to power. She kills the owner of the club where she preformed and took over management. She then further extended her power by taking down a Krogan Warlord who was the current self-proclaimed ruler of of Omega Station. As the go to person on Omega Station nothing happens on Omega without her knowing.

Character Creation

Aria T'Loak was created by Mac Walters the lead writer of Mass Effect 2. Though she made her original appearance in the hit Video Game Mass Effect 2 her popularity managed to transition her into comic format where she appears in several Mass Effect titles. She also appears in the Mass Effect novels.

Character Evolution

Little is known about how Aria was prior to her first appearance on Omega other than she started out as a dancer in the Omega nightclub: Afterlife. She is cold and calculating in nature and will do whatever it takes to remain in control of her station. She does not allow herself to show any weakness and goes after her enemies with ruthless abandon. As a show of her own power she even kept around the former Krogan Warlord who she replaced as a trophy and example of what would happen to those who dare oppose her.

Major Story Arcs

Mass Effect: Incursion

Incursion is a mini-comic that tells of Aria's confrontation with the Collectors and the Blue Suns a week prior to the begining of Mass Effect 2. Aria and two of her men attack a trade off of human slaves between a group of Blue Suns Mercs and an Alien race called the Collectors. Aria kills the Blue Suns Mercs, Collectors, and humans. She has one of her henchmen find out what happened about the deal between the Collectors and the Blue Suns, and a data pad is discovered that contains the populations of human colonies. She comments that the Humans have made a dangerous enemy.

Mass Effect: Redemption

Aria makes a short appearance when she is approached by Feron and Liara T'Soni who are searching for the location of Commander Shepard's body on Omega station. Knowing that Feron is an agent of the Shadow Broker Aria inquires as to why the Shadow Broker is interested in the remains of the recently deceased commander in exchange for the location of Shepard's body on Omega. When Liara speaks up and reveals that the Shadow Broker intends to sell Shepard's body to the Collectors. Aria is unaware that the Collectors are involved, and Liara mocks her for not knowing after she had claimed that nothing happens on Omega without her knowing. Enraged at Liara's insult Aria demands that they leave her club, but Liara keeps her to her word and she discloses the location of Shepard's body.

Mass Effect: Invasion

When monsters known as the Adjutants attack Omega, Aria organizes her forces to fight back against these monsters whose sole goal is to infect the inhabitants of Omega and turn them into Adjutants. Aria leads her forces against the monsters when suddenly the Cerberus Warship Elebrus captained by General Oleg Petrovsky and other Cerberus warships arrive to provide relief. Aria meets with the General, but is forced to imprison his second in command, Colonel Raymond Ashe, when he speaks out against her. Aria then leaves Omega with General Oleg to stop the Adjutants at their source: the Cerberus facility Avernus.

Aria fights with General Oleg’s forces and succeeds in taking back Avernus, and stopping the Adjutant threat, but is knocked unconscious during the battle. Unbeknownst to Aria at the time while she was helping Oleg on Avernus, Colonel Ashe back on Omega Station broke free from his captivity, and took advantage of a power vacuum caused by Aria’s absence to disable the stations defenses allowing Cerberus to take Omega for themselves under the Illusive Man’s orders. Aria is imprisoned by General Oleg on his ship under orders from the Illusive Man as well. Aria manages to break free, and commandeer the warship Elebrus, and forces Oleg to take her back to Omega where she reunites with the remains of her forces.

Aria creates a stalemate against the Cerberus forces on Omega, and holds out against them. General Oleg creates a ruse where he surrenders Omega to Aria by seemingly order the Cerberus ships to leave Omega and return beyond the Omega 4 relay. Aria calls the general on his ruse, and her forces retake the Afterlife bar which is Aria’s stronghold on Omega. Colonel Ashe who has turned against his General and acting on his on releases an Adjutant in the Afterlife bar in order to finish off Aria and her forces. He underestimates Aria who easily defeats the Adjutant, but due to the ambush loses her second in command, Anto.

When it seems like victory is finally within her grasp General Oleg pulls one last contingency plans. He calls in enough Cerberus warships that have enough firepower to demolish Omega level by level. Aria not wanting to see Omega destroyed is forced to leave Omega in the hands of Cerberus and General Oleg. She promises that she will one day return, and retake Omega.

Powers and Abilities

Biotic

Since Aria is an Asari she is a natural Biotic which means she can control the dark energy. This dark energy is known as Mass Effect fields which allows Aria to use telekenesis to to pull objects to her or throw them long distances. It also allows her to create energy fields around her person to protect her from projectiles.

Other Media

Mass Effect 2

In Mass Effect 2 Aria acts as an informant and mission source for the player character while they are on Omega Station. The player can interact with her and get valuable intel that allows them to complete missions and can even learn about Aria's past if they so choose, despite her being very defensive about it. Her main role in Mass Effect's story is revealing the location of two main NPC's: Mordin Solus and Archangel (Garrus Vakarian).

She also plays a role in revealing the location of Samara's daughter Morinth. The player can also choose to assist Aria in various side missions including one that involves protecting Patriarch, an old Krogan Warlord that serves as Aria's adviser and trophy.

Mass Effect: Retribution

Aria has a daughter named Liselle who is also the lover of one of the novel's central characters: Paul Grayson. When Liselle is killed by Kai Leng, a Cerberus hitman. Aria is convinced by the Illusive Man that Grayson is responsible for her daughters death, and begins working with Cerberus in order to have her revenge on Grayson.

Mass Effect: Deception

Aria makes attempts to discover the truth behind her daughter's death by working with the novel's protagonists David Anderson and Kahlee Sanders. When she discovers the truth she attempts to deceive the Illusive Man by presenting a rescue attempt of Kai Leng who has been captured. Kai Leng escapes and Aria is denied her vengeance (Note: Due to several errors in Mass Effect Lore Deception is scheduled for a revision. Several of these errors effect Aria T'Loak).

Mass Effect 3

Aria T’Loak appears in Mass Effect 3 as a minor character that gives out small side missions aimed at improving the player’s war assets. She is bitter at having lost Omega, and aims to take it back. She enlists Commander Shepard’s help in getting three factions to work for her under her banner so she can retake Omega after the war with the Reapers is over. Until that time she allows her assets to work for Commander Shepard in his war effort against the Reapers for his help in bringing the Blood Pack, Blue Suns, and Eclipse gangs to her side.