Legion

Legion is introduced too late and has too little to come into his own the way he deserved to. The series has needed a sympathetic Geth since the start of ME1, but Legion isn't introduced until the tail-end of ME2.

His loyalty mission involves another good moral gray area – whether to rewrite other Geth's code to bring them to his side or to destroy them and let them keep their free will. It can't mean much to Legion emotionally, but it's still a nice set up where either decision leaves some nagging questions.

Actually not presented as tragic. I think he's the only one.

One problem I had with Legion came in direct contrast to what I liked about him so much. Legion is very consistent with his lack of personal identity. The Geth are a collective intelligence, and Legion is just a series of systems that are a part of that. Conversations with him feel empty and disconnected, because Legion isn't Legion. He's a part of a larger construct, and attempts to connect to him in a human fashion should always be met with failure.

But then, one of his final personal interactions hints at him progressing beyond his collective intelligence. He wears a piece of N-7 armor (that would be Shepard's unit), and if you ask him why, he responds with confusion. “No data,” he says, but the implication is clear: He has some underlying connection to Shepard that the Geth collective doesn't understand.

As humans, we strive for individuality. The idea of lacking a personal self is uncomfortable and frightening for most of us, but Legion isn't human. He's part of something entirely different from the organic races of the Mass Effect universe. Pushing human ideals onto a mechanical, alien race under cuts this striking difference.

The Geth and Legion shouldn't have to seem human. They should be allowed to have their own sensibilities that are completely and totally alien to us, and these sensibilities should be just as right as our own.

Let's finish up with some closing thoughts...