Turian

Overview

The Turians are a race of bipedal, humanoid almost reptilian aliens who are a longstanding member of the Citadel Council, renowned for their military prowess and vital part in the Citadel Fleet. An autocratic species, they value tradition and honor, as well as personal responsibility. The Turians were the fourth race to discover The Citadel after the Asari, Salarians and Volus but their overwhelming military strength soon earned them the respect of the other races, and a spot on the Citadel Council . The arrival of the Turians completed the triad of the Council, with the Asari being the thinkers and the diplomats, the Salarians providing intelligence, and the Turians the military backing, the Citadel Council was now equipped to govern not only their space station, but the entire galaxy's regions which the council decided was citadel space.

Appearance & Physiology

Due to the large amount of cosmic radiation on their homeworld of Palaven, Turians have developed a thick metallic "exoskeleton" in addition to their interior skeleton. Their distinctive faces are generally marked with elaborate tattoos or war paint which correspond to their home colony and are worn as a tradition after the occurrence of a Turian civil conflict known as the Unification War. These facial markings of war paint are generally white, though the team mate in both Mass Effect games known as Garrus Vakarian, wears markings of war paint that are a dark blue. War paint on a Turian's face has a lot of significance in Turian culture. Turians without facial markings are viewed with suspicion and the term "barefaced" refers to one who cannot be trusted and is also used as a slang term for politicians. It is worthy of note that Saren Arterius has no facial markings.

A Turian's body is made up of protein like most other sentient life in the galaxy but is almost unique in that it is made of dextro-amino acids as opposed to other amino acid based life which is the make-up of Humans and Asari for example, though they are also carbon based. As a result, Turians cannot eat everything that a human can eat, so food must be prepared for them specifically for their race and Quarians who are also the only other race which share this protein make-up. If a Turian was to consume food not made for them or is something that they naturally are able to eat because it may be from Palaven or created to be eaten by them, it is potentially fatal, at best it would pass through their system with no nutrition gained and at worst, it would give a fatal allergic reaction.

Their eyes are small and round which hints that they are adept soldiers who have eyes which in theory, are like that of birds on Earth and possibly other birds of prey. Reflecting the appearance of the feathered dinosaur of earth before extinction to some extent, it is thought that Turians are somewhat something of a sentient race evolved from something similar to a certain type of dinosaur of Earth.

Society, Military and Government

In Turian society it is normal and traditional, that at the age of 15 a Turian on their birthday will be sent to serve in some form of service to their nation or race through military means or constructive means. Through this they will gain a career and be allocated into a tier of society. Turians have a strong sense of selflessness and put the needs of peers and their people before their own if need be.

Turians do not function well as business entrepreneurs and so have hired the Volus to do their work for them in this area of work in return for military protection of their worlds.

As a society, they are very advanced and unified, also very disciplined in comparison to other races. This is also reflected in their military prowess. Often Turian military aim to destroy the opposing military, as opposed to the destruction of the people. Through this they gain the option of diplomatically accepting the defenseless opponent as a colony of their own under their control.

Turian Military is like many military forces when compared to existing groups within, much like our own, they have technical specialists, medical specialists etc. Their army work as a police force, specialists in other trades will form the service that aids the building, repairing and the health of society and its environment.

Turian people are taught to think before they act, take responsibility and have a strong sense of honour which to other races is seen as almost a phenomena.

The Turians believe that people are free to perform their daily needs, activities and recreational hobbies and activities so long as that it does not interrupt their duty to society and the duty of others.

The 27 Tiers often mean that the higher the tier, the more likely somebody is to have less control from above and the more likely they are in command or have a higher authority than those below them.

There is a curb to promoting people to higher than they are capable of, with the questioning being who promoted them, not who demoted them and why they can't do their job effectively.

Religious Views

Turians believe locations and objects and sometimes concepts, have spirits that are transcendent but they are present all around. A city may have a spirit that reflects industrial accomplishment and that which it has accomplished. Turian military ships and units of soldiers, will embody the spirit of honour and courage.

People may pray to these spirits when the time calls for it. They cannot affect the living world, they take sides with nobody and they are called upon by the living to inspire, such as that of a unit when a Turian is feeling pessimistic about the mission, he may pray to the spirit for guidance on the mission and to gain a sense of higher morale to aid him.

They are open about the practise of religion of other races and their own people's choice in religion as long as it does not interfere with duties to society.

Zen Buddhism appears to be a human religion that the Turians have embraced possibly due to the methods of teaching imposed on those following the religion, it may be preferred by the Turians.

First Contact War (Relay 314 Incident)

In 2157 the Systems Alliance, eager towards humanity's expansion, was in the process of seeking out and activating dormant Mass Relays, an action deemed careless and potentially dangerous by the Citadel Council. In this process, a small human expedition fleet came into contact for the first time with an alien race, a Turian patrol outside of Citadel Space . The Turians attacked the human fleet, and followed one surviving ship back to the human colony of Shanxi, which was soon conquered.

Much to the surprise of the Turians humanity retaliated with a strong counter-offensive liberating Shanxi and forcing the threat to retreat. The Turians reacted by preparing for full-scale war. Luckily, this gained the Council's attention and they intervened in the conflict before it could escalate further, forcing a truce with the two sides. Some animosity still remains between Humans and Turians over the First Contact War.