10 Jaw-Dropping Video Game Fan Theories That Make Everything Better

8. Mass Effect: Shepard Was Always Being Controlled From The Start

Most of the time when you start typing the words 'Mass' and 'Effect' into any number of search engines, you'll come across the Indoctrination Theory. However the most popular implementation of this is for the third game, as we were all grasping at straws looking for any information to explain that terrible ending.

Instead though, one very educated user has pieced together a theory predicated on the idea that Shepard never recovered his/her full sanity following the run-in with the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. Now it seems like something of a reach being that very action is the thing that kickstarts some major events in the trilogy, but hear us out:

First up many will remember the conversations with the other aliens that have been indoctrinated in original game and how they describe the noises in their head as a 'scraping' sound, along with a lot of whispering buried underneath. Well if you listen carefully, that's exactly the same as what can be heard during Shepard's first trip, leading to the idea that the fact he ended up believing what he was seeing was purely down to the fact that he was being indoctrinated by the Protheans.

When you think about it, the very idea that Shepard - a militaristic individual regardless of your choice of origin - would just believe the crazy blur of imagery right in front of him is a bit suspect, and the idea of your actions being controlled by the Protheans as a planted motivation to take down the Reapers turns everything on its head.

It's all very Bioshock, but in a slight script-tweak this actually makes the universally-hated Starchild more of a potential overseer for the entire trilogy's events, rather than a last minute inclusion.

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Gaming Editor
Gaming Editor

WhatCulture's Head of Gaming.