Why the "Geth" from Mass Effect are awesome

*Warning, contains Mass Effect 1 and 2 spoilers*

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Geth from Mass Effect.

In fact I'm such a big fan that learning more about them and their development is high on my list of things I'm excited about in Mass Effect 3.

But what is it that fascinates so much about the Geth?
Surely, they're just another two-dimensional machine race that cliche-like turned on their makers and now want nothing more than destruction of life, galaxy supremacy and voting right for toasters? (remember to vote "no" on proposition #1253B!)

"Is that a flashlight on your head or are you just happy to see me?"

Or, as I have seen one ME fan describing them; "baby Reapers".

Ah, but that is exactly what the Geth are not!

Playing through Mass Effect 1, the Geth are indeed portrayed as being pretty mindlessly bent on killing sentient organisms and being generally rude, what with their putting bodies on spikes and reanimating them as cyborg-like husks.

But Mass Effect 2 shows that there is a much deeper story behind the Geth and that they are much more complex and contemplative creations.
This is mostly conveyed through the awesome geth character Legion (arguably only superseded in coolness by Mordin), who joins your party in the late stage of the game.

Through Legion you learn about a schism in the Geth between those that follow the Reapers and those that want to go their own ways.

In ME1 we only see the "evil" geth that have joined the Reapers

We also get to learn more about how the structure of geth society works, for example that the Geth are incapable of lying to each other, since they are all part of a shared consciousness, and that there is no real leadership but instead a rule by consensus.

There is also a great moment, where Legion replays a recording that captures the moment that the Geth became sentient and asked "do we have a soul?", which were the sort of questions that made the Quarians attempt to shut them down (which resulted in them getting their asses kicked and having to live inside enclosed hazard suits on a nomadic fleet. So that was probably a bad idea all round).

I think that this added layer of depth, and the way that it is presented through a character that is so likeable , just really creates the picture of the Geth as a race that is struggling with finding its own place in the galaxy, but that have as much right to exist as their Quarian creators.

I think the game does a really good job of adding to this feeling by having Legion be very neutral in his attitude towards the Quarians, while the Quarians you meet all speak very hatefully about the Geth.

Quarians - Not big fans of the geth. Even though they made them!

When you are doing Legions side quest in Mass Effect 2 and you get a choice between reprogramming a station full of Geth that followed the Reapers or destroying them outright, I actually felt like I was making a choice that was as meaningful as if it had been living organisms.
In fact, it was probably a harder choice for me, than the choice between letting the Rachni queen live or not.

So in short, I am really drawn to the Geth.
I think that Bioware has done an amazing job at creating a deeply fleshed out robotic species that you as a player can relate to and serve as more than just another enemy type for you to gun down.
The fact that they have managed to do this with creatures that basically have no faces and can only express their feelings through adjusting their lens and "flaps" on their head is just all the more impressive.

I hope that Bioware dedicates a decent chunk of Mass Effect 3 to the Geth and hopefully lets us see a resolution to the conflict between the Geth and their creators, preferably with options to aid either party or try to negotiate a peace.

My name is Legion, for we are many.



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