The asari are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the Mass Effect multimedia franchise developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. Introduced in the 2007 novel Mass Effect: Revelation, the asari are a sapient homeotherm species who are naturally inclined towards biotics, the ability to manipulate dark energy and alter the mass of objects through the use of electrical impulses from the brain, which produce various psychic abilities such as telekinesis.
The asari are depicted as beings with a feminine appearance by non-asari standards, a pansexual-panromantic orientation, and the capability of reproducing with any species. Asari can live for over a thousand years and go through three stages of life, which is analogous to the Triple Goddess archetype in Neopagan religious and spiritual traditions. Asari culture is depicted as being egalitarian, xenophilic, pro-diversification, pro-multiculturalism and anti-eugenics. The asari appear in most Mass Effect games and media: several are major characters, such as Liara T'Soni, Matriarch Benezia, Samara, Aria T'Loak, Lexi T'Perro and Pelessaria "Peebee" B'Sayle. In addition, the asari are playable characters in the multiplayer modes for Mass Effect 3 and Mass Effect: Andromeda.
The asari have been recognized as an important aspect of the universe of Mass Effect and are popular among fans as subjects for expressions of fan labor, though they have received a wide range of positive and negative critical responses from their various appearances.
Concept and design
As the initial step in the design process for alien races, the writing team would first supply a short paragraph describing the species. According to associate art director Matt Rhodes, the writers wanted a race of "beautiful, blue aliens" designed to add a familiar science fiction element to the series. Their blue skin references the Orion species from Star Trek. The Bioware team was also influenced by the 1992 space game Star Control II, with writer Patrick Weekes acknowledging the influence of the Syreen on the conception of the asari, with their feminine presentation, innate psychic abilities, and cultural emphasis on utopian ideals of cooperation and enlightenment.
Unlike the design process of most other alien races where their concepts would be focused outside of a human being's frame of understanding, Rhodes noted that for the asari, the process went in the opposite direction as they were "idealized". More alien-looking or unconventional designs for the asari were made, but were discarded for their lack of attractiveness from a human perspective. Due to budget concerns, BioWare realized they would be unable to make both male and female versions for each of the races, which led to the creation of an all-female one. Rhodes recalled that a drawing for a male asari individual was concepted by a team member, but it has since been lost.
Rhodes noted that the silhouette of the asari's fringe was originally concepted as a hair style, and the final design of the species' hair fins mainly arose from the designers' experimentation with different shapes. He indicated that the spiny fins hinted at the species' capability as a potential threat, as the asari would have developed over millennia of conflict and interactions with their environments. The asari's fins, also described as scalp tentacles, evoke the image of a woman "emerging from the water with her hair swept back". Inspiration was drawn mainly from sports-gear, such as climbing and scuba gear, particularly its "pliable, flexible" qualities. After the addition of the hair fins, the asari looked more aquatic, and thus their design was altered to fit with that; this also led to the writers altering the asari home climate to be more wet. Their clothing is meant to be both "alluring and sexy" while keeping a sense of "class and style", akin to a "Hollywood red carpet feel". Different silhouettes of clothing were made by the design team trying to find looks that a woman would wear, which would appear both futuristic but not "too far", while also keeping with the kind of clothes that would be worn in more aquatic environments.
To help create visual variation for many of the alien faces, art director Derek Watts came up with the idea of different face paints and tattoos, which were added to many of the races. Like many other races, asari too use facepaints, which helped with diversifying the characters. The asari's anthropomorphic faces, derived from face scans of professional models as well as manual tweaks performed by team members, helped made asari characters distinct from each other.