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View Full Version : Fictional Dharma: the Salarians of Mass Effect



Webimpulse
17 January 2013, 07:01 PM
Namaste all,

You're probably wondering what the heck I'm talking about with the subject line of this thread. Well, the Salarians are a sentient, star-faring alien species in the video game series known as Mass Effect (http://www.bioware.com/masseffect). I wanted to have a little fun with this thread in exploring fictitious belief systems and how they possibly get their inspiration from Hinduism. I'm only talking the tasteful interpretations of course...I know there are plenty of not-so-tasteful interpretations of Hinduism in fiction, but I don't think the usage of Hinduism in the Mass Effect games is distasteful.

If you're wondering how it's used in Mass Effect and what it has to do with the Salarians I mentioned, well, in one scene in Mass Effect 2, one of the major characters, Mordin Solus, who happens to be a Salarian, mentions that the Salarians follow a belief system that Mordin refers to as the "wheel of life." He mentions that this is similar to the Earth religion Hinduism in the sense that it's about reincarnation and rebirth.

That's probably the only time Hinduism is mentioned directly in Mass Effect, but it's certainly ripe for fictional extrapolation! Although in the Mass Effect series they never get into religions of aliens in-depth, it's certainly possible for them to have beliefs similar to us Earthlings.

More on the Salarians can be found in the Mass Effect Wiki page on them (http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Salarian). But let's try to have fun with this! :) Based on the info on the page I just linked to, how else could Salarian thought mimic the Sanatana Dharma?

One last thing...I certainly hope no one finds this thread offensive, as that's not the intent. If this thread is offensive for some reason, please let me know. I'm learning as I go. :)

Webimpulse
18 January 2013, 07:27 PM
No replies?

I hope it's not because people find this post offensive...I don't want to offend anyone and I am really, truly sorry if I did. :( I will delete the original contents if that's the case...

McKitty
21 January 2013, 02:19 PM
Vanakkam,

Hey, take a deep breath, nobody apparently took offense here ;) On the contrary, it's a very surprising and good finding ! I didn't know there were so much gamers around :D

Unfortunately I don't know enough of the mass effect universe to actually talk about it correctly, but I'll sure look into it (man, I love Thane so much I forgot about the others races x'D)

I've made a topic about videogames and Sanatana Dharma somewhere in the canteen, feel free to add some of your discoveries :D

Thank you !

Aum Namah Shivaya