Thoughts on Javik

[Winter]

I'm going to be honest here I've always found Javik from Mass Effect 3 to be an Overrated character. I know a lot of fans like or even love him but I just couldn't get into his character.

I will admit that he has a LOT going for him. He has an AMAZING design, Ike Amadi's performance is fantastic and he greatly alters how we view the Protheans WITHOUT changing what we already knew. I honestly did like the idea that the Protheans weren't this benevolent race but were actually cruel dictators who weren't looking up on us to make sure we were okay but seeing if they could enslave us along with other species.

All this is great... the problem I have is that he doesn't really have much of a character.

Contrast Javik with Shale from Dragon Age: Origins. In terms of design and what she adds to world building Shale really isn't all that interesting as I think the other Golems are much more interesting (especially Caridin) and if you didn't recruit her then you don't miss out on anything as everything you need to know about Dwarves and Golems are all explained in the main game.

BUT!!! Shale is an amazing character and a useful companion. She's fun to talk to and has an engaging character arc and I honestly had to be reminded to NOT bring her along with me everywhere I went because I just LOVED interacting with her or seeing her interact with the other companions (Sten + Shale FTW). I also can't help but smile when she thanks me for helping her and hearing her working to return to her mortal form always fills me with warmth.

But Javik, Javik doesn't grow. He has a hatred for Synthetics which is brought up a couple of times and then never resolved, he has an overall low opinion of the Younger Races which also never really resolved (he makes a pacing mention to working with Liara to write a book if you grained his friendship and that's it) and he sees himself as the spirit of revenge which thanks to ME3's endings is, you guessed it, never resolved. We are given teases as to what Javik can be yet the game just keeps not doing anything with these ideas. Even the major point of his arc with the memory shard is treated as a minor moment by the game and can be easily missed thanks to the games poor mission structures.

I mentioned in a recent post that I felt that Finn from Star Wars' Disney Sequel Trilogy was wasted as a character and TBH I think Javik is just as wasted which is perhaps best shown in the Citadel DLC. With our other companions we get a number of scenes that allow us to get to know them while we're on down time. We see Tali's favorite movie, hear Joker making up a story about he helped save the Citadel during Cerberus' attack, go on a shuttle trip with Cortez and try to hook Garrus up with a date. We get a ton of moments that help us get to know our squad that help to flesh them out.

But Javik, is included in a Blasto Movie bit where "Blasto" and Shepard steal the show and Javik is just kinda there taking how he views the Hanara in a negative light... like he's been doing for the past 20 HOURS!!!

I get why fans love Javik but I always saw him as a interesting style over substance. Cool design, well acted and adds to the lore but as a character he's just doesn't hold a candle to other BioWare DLC characters. He's better then Sebastian but that doesn't take much.

[CharlesPhipps]

My opinion of Javik is best summarized by bullet points:

* It's funny that the only survivor of the Protheans is a guy who can't contribute anything but another gun to fighting the Reapers.
* Javik is an enormous asshole and apparently so were the Protheans. It's like if you got a sole survivor of Earth and it was a member of the Confederacy.
* I think if Shepard doesn't hook up with Liara, it'd be him and Liara just like Tali and Garrus.
* Making him DLC is bullshit given so much of Mass Effect 3's story is based on him. However, Javik and the whole Leviathan DLC is pretty much where the majority of ME3's original plot is.
* I don't give a shit about the Protheans and never have.