"Kneel before Javik." - The Non-Primitive Character Thread

I could never hate Javik for being the way he is. If Shep had gone into stasis and woken up alone to find pyjaks not only ruling the galaxy but also using Liara's time capsule as a coffee machine, I'd be like him too. All that effort to prepare others for the hell awaiting them and they're only just now beginning to get their act together.
"In my cycle, one of your ancestors stole a data disc of ours. I had to cavity search entire villages of your people until I found the culprit. I traded him a banana for it. Or shot him. Memory is a little fuzzy."

I was disappointed there wasn't an opportunity to troll him right back by pointing out all the similarities between the prothean empire and the Reapers.

They're both ruthlessly pragmatic superpowers that brutally conquer and enslave technologically inferior races. All that happened is that the bigger fish of the Protheans finally met the biggest fish of the Reapers. Karma's a bitch, ain't it?

Then again I also desperately wanted to troll Ashley when she asks questions about the afterlife. Pick an afterlife from ancient mythology and just go with it. See how long it takes her to realize the bearded guy isn't God, it's Zeus or Odin or whatever.

"Are you saying you enslaved the other races?!"
"Any could oppose us if they wished."

Sure doesn't sound like a denial to me.  Between this and references to "the subservient races"...  Yeah, they definitely enslaved the other races.

Does this mean that the Protheans were like the Qunari?

The Protheans did conquer out of some belief that it's inherently within a species' nature to utilize what they were made for, they are ruthlessly pragmatic, based on a collective mentality where the needs of individuals are subsumed for the sake of the other.
Oh good god, the Protheans ARE Qunari! No wonder Javik is considered to be space Sten!
Eh, I still like them both. I wouldn't dare try to appeal to sentimentality though if the situation did not favor the protagonist. Characters like Javik and Sten are only cuddly because they're outnumbered and under a PC's authority.

Sten's still not cuddly. He's a lunatic who butchered a family, including children, because he's a panicky idiot. I leave him in his cage to waste away as he deserves. It's a shame they decided to retcon it so he survives.

The Protheans were a brutal but legitimate culture. The Qunari are nothing but a disease to be cured. They are the antithesis of free will. The Protheans may have been bullying dicks but at least (as far as we know) they never brainwashed anyone, took away their right to even have relationships, and work their slaves literally to death. If I had the chance, I'd glass Par Vollen from orbit without hesitation and sleep like a baby that night.

"Find your resolve. This war can end if you do."

If Javik and his people did survive, it'd probably have gotten a lot bloodier. And it might have been disastrous had the Protheans succeeded in subjugating Shepard's cycle.

Nah.. I'm just kidding.
This is a great thread.

Javik is my favorite squadmate in ME3. Really, the only one I want around. Him and Shep are equally loners it seems. Misery loves company.

There is a fair amount of controversy over the inclusion of Javik, from all the day one DLC issues to the fact that the freaky Prothean designs for ME1 were retconned into the Collector shape while designing Javik and the other Protheans.

But he is a great character and probably has more development than anyone else in the game. Of course he is a world-class epic troll, but I always found him reassuring, because every time you encounter a new Reaper abomination Javik is like, nah whatever I've seen all this shit before and a thousand times worse.

Plus his overwhelming desire to brutally murder all the Reapers in the most painful way possible, despite the fact that he is a tiny little grumpy Prothean speck of dust compared to them. With the Leviathan DLC and the ending attempting to throw a little moral ambiguity the Reapers' way, it's nice to have a character to reassure us that the Reapers are nightmare creatures, the worst of all beings, purposed only to slaughter all life by an insane AI.... and THEY. MUST. DDIIIIIEEEE.

No one is more sure of his mission and he never wavers from his goal of dead reapers despite the laughably overwhelming odds. He's awesome.