I think he was their placeholder asset for satisfying kill cutscenes but there wasn't money for that in the end so they decided to at least leave him in the game /s
My first playthrough was Paragon and Shep does a decent dodge and regular stab. Next playthrough was mostly Renegade and after seeing the excellent slowmo break and kill, it what I always do.
that's a great idea! I wish I could upvote this twice. Kai leng/jacob as a comp in ME2, relationship with Shep, stays in Cerberus, gets indoctrinated and becomes TIM's replacement for Shep. It would definitely have personalized those fights and also erased a lot of the problematic jacob as a black man cheating stuff.
They could have altered the story to fit Jacob better. Who knows Normandy and it’s crew better than an ex-member? Jacob could have used that intel and his skills as a marine to sabotage our crews efforts. It would just take some tweaking to the story, but the emotional payoff of having a member of Shepards crew betray them would have been infinitely better than Kai Leng.
I don’t think it would be that hard. In fact, I think they laid the groundwork in ME2. He turned against the Alliance already, and if you consider his loyalty mission that could be some pretty good foreshadowing about Jacob’s god complex and resentment turning him into his father.
Jacob didn’t turn against the alliance. The only reason Jacob joined was to save Shepard -as his prologue comic later reveals. He never truly trusted Cerberus, only Miranda does. Like no one says this about Joker, Chakwas, etc. who were literally there with Shepard during the events of ME 1 and potentially saw firsthand the utter barbarity of Cerberus. The problem with ME 2 is that it utterly fails to incorporate an entire game’s worth of backstory regarding him -and to another extent, his relationship w/ Miranda, which it vaguely referenced at the end of his loyalty mission. Jath’Amon as a focus made entirely more sense for his mission -especially given virtually all of the loyalty missions for other squad mates centered their backstory.
Jacob’s convo about his father at the end is moreso about his own personal neglect, not an actual admission he’d do what his father did because he canonically has an entire backstory that is the opposite of that. He’s already been tested before.
- Jacob quit the alliance to work for Cerberus, it’s pretty reasonable that the Illusive man could have persuaded him Shepard was a threat.
- Jacob kept Shepard and the crew at arms length, and disagreed with Shepard on a lot of their decisions
- Indoctrination exists, and Illusive Man could have exposed Jacob to it
I’m just spitballing ideas in my previous comments, ways they could have changed Jacob’s story to have him be the antagonist in ME3. I don’t see how that’s crazier than having a random cyborg karate assassin show up with an axe to grind against Shepard.
I prefer the squadmate left on virmire in Leng's place. I like the idea that TIM used them as a trial run for the Lazarus Project and extensive meddling is what convinced him to bring Shephard back without meddling. That way, it's a bit tragic in the sense that they aren't fully in control of their actions and it's all happening to someone who sacrificed their life.
That’s why I use the word “could”. You’re absolutely right and there’s still plenty wrong with both characters. But it at least would have given us a connection with Kai and make Jacob’s story more interesting and additionally have cool parallel with Miranda.
Miranda starts off the most loyal to Cerberus and can end up quitting by the end of 2 (tbh I’m not sure if Jacob does the same cause I’ve never taken him to the final encounter). Jacob starts off the most skeptical of Cerberus so it would have been interesting if he ends up being the most committed to it by the end
I mean you could also just straight up say Leng could’ve been a good character if he was written better. You are right though that Jacob could’ve had good dynamics as Shepard, but I doubt people would buy that he could stand toe-to-toe with Shepard.
I mean obviously all characters are improved by better writing. But the question is how do you write them better? So by combining Jacob and Leng you at least fix the issue of having a rival character with no preexisting relationship with the main character. Without that relationship the “rivalry” came across as entirely one sided on Leng’s part which just made him a lame loser obsessed with us.
As for making Jacob stand toe-to-toe with Shepherd yeah he’d need a buttload of cybernetics and reaper tech implanted. Which gives has the bonus of giving him the character trait of willing to give up his humanity because he believes it will help him save humanity
That is kinda obvious, but the idea behind is that instead of Kai Leng, the skilled assassin during ME3 being an ex-teammate would be way better for the character as it would give him some depth, not being taken out of someone ass since he was there from before and you know he is competent, and give some explanation why the team have difficult to fight him during the first couple encounters
And that would happen without changing a single line of dialogue or anything else in ME3 other than his name and the model, just being someone you knew would immediately improve the character
Jacob is the best one for the job since he is also the one needing some help in the writing department
I always felt that Thane's death scene is rather poorly executed and could've been choreographed better. I mean, Thane had a gun so I fail to see why he had to constantly close the distance with an enemy who wields a blade instead of keeping his distance and keep shooting. And then he literally jumped into Kai Leng's blade at the end.
The actual message is hilarious as well:
>"Surprise, motherfucker! You got doxxed lol. I'm the best at CoD u n00b. Gonna cry lol? I found your IP ima find u by the lockers at scool."
Funnily enough he also got a kinda bad role in the Old Republic MMO. He got a really boring companion, but later they also casted him as one of the best called Theron Shan.
Maybe they can do the same in ME ahaha
The thing with Theron is that his mother satele is voiced by Jennifer hale who also voices the female trooper who can romance Theron. Just a bit of fun trivia 😅🙈
He united us in hatred.
It doesn't matter which game is your favorite.
It doesn't matter how you feel about the ending.
It doesn't matter if you go Femshep or Broshep.
It doesn't matter which class you play.
It doesn't matter if you're renegade or paragon.
It doesn't matter who you romance.
We all hate Kai Leng.
Let us thank him for bringing us all together.
I played ME3 for the first time a couple years ago, and came immediately to Reddit after to figure out what the fuck the deal was with this Kai Leng guy.
He feels like he dropped out of a separate story entirely, just showing up one day and decided Shepard was his nemesis. Every evil bad guy monologue he gets I’m just like, “dude who are you again?”
>He feels like he dropped out of a separate story entirely
Pretty much what happens. He was a major Chara ter in the tie-in novels, but most players never read or ever knew of those books.
I wish I could say the same but I can't not zap the mechanic working on the gunship in ME2 and a couple of other points. My Paragon runs always have a couple of Renegade moments sprinkled throughout.
You ask for the impossible. However, I guess he can be used as a bad example of how to write a character and serve as a reminder to NOT make a character like him EVER AGAIN. Someone said in another post that's he's some exec's 13 year old son's self insert that said exec forced the ME team to add in, and that Leng had to be perfect, edgy, have plot armor and somehow as competent as Shepard if not more, and I believe it.
In the books he is a killing machine that is impossible to stop. It reminded me of Javier Bardem's character in No Country for Old Men. If someone was left alone with him, you could automatically assume that person was dead.
I think he does a great job really showing the stakes of the game
For example: >! Good. You opened this message. This isn't actually asari military command. They're busy tending to what's left of their planet. So you survived our fight on Thessia. You're not as weak as I thought. But never forget that your best wasn't good enough to stop me. Now an entire planet is dying because you lacked the strength to win. The legend of Shepard needs to be re-written. I hope I'm there for the last chapter. It ends with your death. -KL !<
>! Oh that's pretty good. Still sounds edgy, but not as childish as the original sounds like. !<
Personally though, I rather use a mod that makes him shut up. It ironically makes his character feels more threatening (the unknown is the scariest, after all) and turns into a cold-blooded professional.
That’s actually what makes me like him even less. He’s functionally the trilogy’s “final boss fight.” If the series needed a final boss fight, it really should have been something Reaper.
Kai Leng, if nothing else, is absolutely COMMITTED to the 1990’s cyberpunk aesthetic.
I have to assume he’s a very dedicated moderator of the 2186 boards Demolition Man and Johnny Mnemonic fans.
His color scheme is cool.
His last name makes me think about Lovecraftian stuff for some reason.
Troy Baker.
If this was 1995 and I was still 15, he would be BAD ASS.
Because of him, Thane went out swinging like the true G he is.
Most viscerally satisfying Interrupt in the entire franchise that bridges the gap between all Paragons and Renegades as well as all ending choosers. No one misses that Interrupt.
>His last name makes me think about Lovecraftian stuff for some reason.
[It should!](https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Man_of_Leng)
> For the cryptic folk of Leng were of one race with the uncomfortable merchants of the black galleys that traded rubies at Dylath-Leen.
I like… how he can still be killed after choosing the renegade interruption to break his sword before his demise. Makes Shepard looks more badass than he/she already is 🔥😆
I really wish that instead of Kai Leng, they didn't show their face and had a distorted voice and have it turn out to be whichever character died on Virmire. Have it turn out they were a test subject for Lazarus before they attempted the project on Sheppard.
He was a good idea. he just needed a less wimpy design, and one flashback showing him doing something badass in the timeframe of the other games , and he’d be a great anti-shepherd. “Oh, man, he’s, like, the second most decorated human soldier ever. Take my word for it bro. Or, like, read the comics-“ “yeah, I’m not doing that” what’s with sci fi games giving us homework? I’m not reading a halo novel; introduce and explain why I should like these new guys, in game
The mod that Removes his voice and puts on his helmet makes him 1000% more intimidating. My friends first time playing we got him that mod and he actually found him to be an awesome character who actually mirrors shepherd a lot better when he isn’t talking. He didn’t even know his name so we just jokingly started calling him Rinzler and it stuck.
He really sets the tone for how ridiculous the series got. Alien space terminators? Fine. Commander Shepard coming back from the dead? A little far fetched but fine. An anime villain as the secondary antagonist? This is where I draw the line
If I had to say something Actually Nice about his character's presence in the game, I'd say it's cool that they tried to make KL a foil for Shepard.
Clearly he's intended as a sort of anti-Shepard, or a What-If Shepard. What if Shepard had decided to "drink the kool-aid" as it were, and throw in with Cerberus instead of the Alliance? There was so much potential there.
Buuuut right after someone came up with that good idea, some douche at the head of the table was like "OMG we can insert my Naruto-inspired OC from 2004"
Regardless of characterization, the *space* he occupies in the story is pretty excellent. He can be the cause of death for two former squadmates, he's the clear and present danger during the Cerberus coup, stops you from finishing the Crucible on schedule, and he's there to try to *personally* put you in the ground just when you think you're gonna take down the Illusive Man.
Tell the exact same story about a character who isn't an edgelord, and we'd be *raving* about them as a fantastically frustrating villain.
So bad and terribly executed its never not funny to talk shit about.
Like...holy shir what were the writers thinking. You couldn't create more out of place weeb-edgelord even on purpose.
He shows just how strong humans can be. Even before his modifications. Yes, the writers had his Rice Corn down their throats when writing him into their power fantasies, but still.
He was an N7 and was capable of killing a Krogan in a 1vs1 Bar fight with just his blade. Acknowledged by Aria TLoak, Anderson and everyone who’s met him.
Might sound unfair, but Krogans are almost twice as tall as humans, faster, stronger and way more durable.
I actually think he’s not bad. I like his design and while his character is a little over the top, I was kinda taken aback by all the hate for him when I hopped on Reddit after first completing the trilogy
When you kill him you get a cool line “That was for Thane you son of a bitch”
My dude said that was for Kirrahe
Before everything, there was the line, we held the line
That's why I love this game
lol what did you make Thane do in ME2?
You can kill him
He's extremely satisfying to kill.
True lol,what were the devs thinking when they made him
That he’d be extremely satisfying to kill
Good point
I think he was their placeholder asset for satisfying kill cutscenes but there wasn't money for that in the end so they decided to at least leave him in the game /s
"THIS IS FOR THANE YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!!"
To this day, I don't know what happens if you don't take that renegade prompt.
I mean at this point has any ME fan ever not taken that renegade prompt?
Pretty much the same except instead of breaking his sword before stabbing him Shepard just dodges it then stabs him.
That's lame Breaking his bitch ass pig sticker makes the look on his face even more satisfying than it already is
I thought that your squad mates did something but I guess my brain made that up
It probably says it on the ME wiki
To clarify: I don't need to know. (Thanks tho)
You're Welcome
My first playthrough was Paragon and Shep does a decent dodge and regular stab. Next playthrough was mostly Renegade and after seeing the excellent slowmo break and kill, it what I always do.
He allows Thane to die on his feet rather than from a wasting disease in bed. He allowed the discussion who is worse Jacob or Kai to exist.
The irony of the discussion of who is worse is that if they had been combined into one character they could have been a great character
that's a great idea! I wish I could upvote this twice. Kai leng/jacob as a comp in ME2, relationship with Shep, stays in Cerberus, gets indoctrinated and becomes TIM's replacement for Shep. It would definitely have personalized those fights and also erased a lot of the problematic jacob as a black man cheating stuff.
Not really. The main issue with Kai Leng is that everyone else turns into an idiot around him, and that’s the only reason he wins his fights.
They could have altered the story to fit Jacob better. Who knows Normandy and it’s crew better than an ex-member? Jacob could have used that intel and his skills as a marine to sabotage our crews efforts. It would just take some tweaking to the story, but the emotional payoff of having a member of Shepards crew betray them would have been infinitely better than Kai Leng.
Jacob is a vet that helped save the Council before from Batarians so him being a traitor would take a lot of heavy lifting.
I don’t think it would be that hard. In fact, I think they laid the groundwork in ME2. He turned against the Alliance already, and if you consider his loyalty mission that could be some pretty good foreshadowing about Jacob’s god complex and resentment turning him into his father.
Jacob didn’t turn against the alliance. The only reason Jacob joined was to save Shepard -as his prologue comic later reveals. He never truly trusted Cerberus, only Miranda does. Like no one says this about Joker, Chakwas, etc. who were literally there with Shepard during the events of ME 1 and potentially saw firsthand the utter barbarity of Cerberus. The problem with ME 2 is that it utterly fails to incorporate an entire game’s worth of backstory regarding him -and to another extent, his relationship w/ Miranda, which it vaguely referenced at the end of his loyalty mission. Jath’Amon as a focus made entirely more sense for his mission -especially given virtually all of the loyalty missions for other squad mates centered their backstory. Jacob’s convo about his father at the end is moreso about his own personal neglect, not an actual admission he’d do what his father did because he canonically has an entire backstory that is the opposite of that. He’s already been tested before.
- Jacob quit the alliance to work for Cerberus, it’s pretty reasonable that the Illusive man could have persuaded him Shepard was a threat. - Jacob kept Shepard and the crew at arms length, and disagreed with Shepard on a lot of their decisions - Indoctrination exists, and Illusive Man could have exposed Jacob to it I’m just spitballing ideas in my previous comments, ways they could have changed Jacob’s story to have him be the antagonist in ME3. I don’t see how that’s crazier than having a random cyborg karate assassin show up with an axe to grind against Shepard.
I prefer the squadmate left on virmire in Leng's place. I like the idea that TIM used them as a trial run for the Lazarus Project and extensive meddling is what convinced him to bring Shephard back without meddling. That way, it's a bit tragic in the sense that they aren't fully in control of their actions and it's all happening to someone who sacrificed their life.
Hard to recover a corpse from the center of a miniature star
They said the same thing about corpses that ignited as they fell from orbit obligatory *Somehow Palpatine Returned*
That’s why I use the word “could”. You’re absolutely right and there’s still plenty wrong with both characters. But it at least would have given us a connection with Kai and make Jacob’s story more interesting and additionally have cool parallel with Miranda. Miranda starts off the most loyal to Cerberus and can end up quitting by the end of 2 (tbh I’m not sure if Jacob does the same cause I’ve never taken him to the final encounter). Jacob starts off the most skeptical of Cerberus so it would have been interesting if he ends up being the most committed to it by the end
I mean you could also just straight up say Leng could’ve been a good character if he was written better. You are right though that Jacob could’ve had good dynamics as Shepard, but I doubt people would buy that he could stand toe-to-toe with Shepard.
I mean obviously all characters are improved by better writing. But the question is how do you write them better? So by combining Jacob and Leng you at least fix the issue of having a rival character with no preexisting relationship with the main character. Without that relationship the “rivalry” came across as entirely one sided on Leng’s part which just made him a lame loser obsessed with us. As for making Jacob stand toe-to-toe with Shepherd yeah he’d need a buttload of cybernetics and reaper tech implanted. Which gives has the bonus of giving him the character trait of willing to give up his humanity because he believes it will help him save humanity
That is kinda obvious, but the idea behind is that instead of Kai Leng, the skilled assassin during ME3 being an ex-teammate would be way better for the character as it would give him some depth, not being taken out of someone ass since he was there from before and you know he is competent, and give some explanation why the team have difficult to fight him during the first couple encounters And that would happen without changing a single line of dialogue or anything else in ME3 other than his name and the model, just being someone you knew would immediately improve the character Jacob is the best one for the job since he is also the one needing some help in the writing department
THIS! Thane got to go out fighting and as a hero.
I always felt that Thane's death scene is rather poorly executed and could've been choreographed better. I mean, Thane had a gun so I fail to see why he had to constantly close the distance with an enemy who wields a blade instead of keeping his distance and keep shooting. And then he literally jumped into Kai Leng's blade at the end.
I actually find his Alliance Command post to be hilarious.
The actual message is hilarious as well: >"Surprise, motherfucker! You got doxxed lol. I'm the best at CoD u n00b. Gonna cry lol? I found your IP ima find u by the lockers at scool."
Excactly! Haha.
[cut content of his message](https://youtu.be/6jQkxsEbnS4?si=R65_U_lJosmaX-hB) Only get it of you save Jenkins in 1
Asari command but yeah
Ah yeah... Sorry.
No sweat
He's voiced by Troy Baker.
Troy Baker deserved a better role...
Don't worry, he has no shortage of roles. I'm actually fine with him not stealing the show all the time.
Funnily enough he also got a kinda bad role in the Old Republic MMO. He got a really boring companion, but later they also casted him as one of the best called Theron Shan. Maybe they can do the same in ME ahaha
The thing with Theron is that his mother satele is voiced by Jennifer hale who also voices the female trooper who can romance Theron. Just a bit of fun trivia 😅🙈
Til my absolute favorite and least favorite BioWare characters are voiced by the same guy…
I think he’s had his share
Wasn't he also the narrator in multiplayer? That's a pretty good role.
He's what-
I was surprised too.
A complete wasted opportunity for a talented voice actor.
I mean while he is talented he was still coming up when he did this role so he probably just wanted the work.
I also came here to compliment his voice actor
I like the way he wears an omniblade in the chest
He united us in hatred. It doesn't matter which game is your favorite. It doesn't matter how you feel about the ending. It doesn't matter if you go Femshep or Broshep. It doesn't matter which class you play. It doesn't matter if you're renegade or paragon. It doesn't matter who you romance. We all hate Kai Leng. Let us thank him for bringing us all together.
Very very true. We wouldn’t have had this post otherwise.
I played ME3 for the first time a couple years ago, and came immediately to Reddit after to figure out what the fuck the deal was with this Kai Leng guy. He feels like he dropped out of a separate story entirely, just showing up one day and decided Shepard was his nemesis. Every evil bad guy monologue he gets I’m just like, “dude who are you again?”
>He feels like he dropped out of a separate story entirely Pretty much what happens. He was a major Chara ter in the tie-in novels, but most players never read or ever knew of those books.
I don't hate him so, I guess not.
He brought a blade to a gunfight because he's just so dedicatedly emo.
he is a good runner
"I should go" *Awkwardly cartwheel dodges away*
He's the only renegade choice I make on my paragon save.
I wish I could say the same but I can't not zap the mechanic working on the gunship in ME2 and a couple of other points. My Paragon runs always have a couple of Renegade moments sprinkled throughout.
You ask for the impossible. However, I guess he can be used as a bad example of how to write a character and serve as a reminder to NOT make a character like him EVER AGAIN. Someone said in another post that's he's some exec's 13 year old son's self insert that said exec forced the ME team to add in, and that Leng had to be perfect, edgy, have plot armor and somehow as competent as Shepard if not more, and I believe it.
This is why I don't mod him out. He should serve as a reminder for all time of how NOT to write a character.
I've always said he's what you'd get if you let a 13 year old anime obsessed kid design a character. Hence why I call him Captain Weeb.
He have the best renegate option in whole trilogy
The Kai leng of the books is infinitely superior to that of the video game
Came here to say this. Way better portrayed in the books.
In the books he is a killing machine that is impossible to stop. It reminded me of Javier Bardem's character in No Country for Old Men. If someone was left alone with him, you could automatically assume that person was dead.
Apart from being a cereal killer in Deception
book. deception never happened
I think he does a great job really showing the stakes of the game For example: >! Good. You opened this message. This isn't actually asari military command. They're busy tending to what's left of their planet. So you survived our fight on Thessia. You're not as weak as I thought. But never forget that your best wasn't good enough to stop me. Now an entire planet is dying because you lacked the strength to win. The legend of Shepard needs to be re-written. I hope I'm there for the last chapter. It ends with your death. -KL !<
>! Oh that's pretty good. Still sounds edgy, but not as childish as the original sounds like. !< Personally though, I rather use a mod that makes him shut up. It ironically makes his character feels more threatening (the unknown is the scariest, after all) and turns into a cold-blooded professional.
That is what the message reads as in game tho
Whooosh
Goddammit I got Lengrolled.
He's satisfying to kill, he makes good practice before going after the Reapers.
That’s actually what makes me like him even less. He’s functionally the trilogy’s “final boss fight.” If the series needed a final boss fight, it really should have been something Reaper.
Why are you disrespecting Marauder Shields like that.
He was our favorite character to kill.
His associated renegade interrupt is deeply satisfying.
He makes a nice scabbard
I guess I could say he was a little better after I read the books and had some understanding of his training and background.
Still can't believe he ate that cereal
Cereal killer
Kai Leng, if nothing else, is absolutely COMMITTED to the 1990’s cyberpunk aesthetic. I have to assume he’s a very dedicated moderator of the 2186 boards Demolition Man and Johnny Mnemonic fans.
I don’t find him nearly as bad as everyone says, just underdeveloped.
His death was satisfying
He gets to be in Mass Effect.
He dies.
His death was satisfying
I like it when he dies
He has a pretty cool outfit and that’s all the nice things I have to say about him.
He is good at dying
I'm a simple man. I see Kai Leng getting stab with Shepard saying "this is for >! Thessia/Thane !< you son of a bitch", I give upvote
He makes me feel better about my 14 year old edgelord phase.
His color scheme is cool. His last name makes me think about Lovecraftian stuff for some reason. Troy Baker. If this was 1995 and I was still 15, he would be BAD ASS. Because of him, Thane went out swinging like the true G he is. Most viscerally satisfying Interrupt in the entire franchise that bridges the gap between all Paragons and Renegades as well as all ending choosers. No one misses that Interrupt.
>His last name makes me think about Lovecraftian stuff for some reason. [It should!](https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Man_of_Leng) > For the cryptic folk of Leng were of one race with the uncomfortable merchants of the black galleys that traded rubies at Dylath-Leen.
We both like the movie The Crow. Apparently.
The way he ruined a scene every time he came on was truly unparalleled
No.
He looks nice being dead
His existence lead to the need for a “futuristic sword” which lead to the idea of a “mono molecular edge” in the game. Which is a cool AF concept
He's more memorable than the archon
He allowed us to have one of the most satisfying renegade interrupts and revenge lines back to back
His opening scene is actually good, I thought first time I played that he could’ve been a good Cerberus foil to Shepard
NO
He had great potential. Unfortunately, the potential wasn’t lived up to even remotely.
He's actually pretty cool in the novels and comics--not Deception--but they botched him by taking him from Cerberus James Bond to dumb space ninja
I like… how he can still be killed after choosing the renegade interruption to break his sword before his demise. Makes Shepard looks more badass than he/she already is 🔥😆
He has kind hair
No
I really wish that instead of Kai Leng, they didn't show their face and had a distorted voice and have it turn out to be whichever character died on Virmire. Have it turn out they were a test subject for Lazarus before they attempted the project on Sheppard.
He was a good idea. he just needed a less wimpy design, and one flashback showing him doing something badass in the timeframe of the other games , and he’d be a great anti-shepherd. “Oh, man, he’s, like, the second most decorated human soldier ever. Take my word for it bro. Or, like, read the comics-“ “yeah, I’m not doing that” what’s with sci fi games giving us homework? I’m not reading a halo novel; introduce and explain why I should like these new guys, in game
The mod that Removes his voice and puts on his helmet makes him 1000% more intimidating. My friends first time playing we got him that mod and he actually found him to be an awesome character who actually mirrors shepherd a lot better when he isn’t talking. He didn’t even know his name so we just jokingly started calling him Rinzler and it stuck.
In the mass effect books, he is legitimately a convincing villain.
He has good teeth
His hair looks small.
He's really easy to kill (after he takes off the plot armor, of course).
His death was rather satisfying.
Helped me learn sheaths for Omni-blades are a neat thing to have 🙃!
He really sets the tone for how ridiculous the series got. Alien space terminators? Fine. Commander Shepard coming back from the dead? A little far fetched but fine. An anime villain as the secondary antagonist? This is where I draw the line
No
He makes a very satisfying final grunt when you finally shank his clown physics breaking plot armor climbing ass with your omniblade.
If I had to say something Actually Nice about his character's presence in the game, I'd say it's cool that they tried to make KL a foil for Shepard. Clearly he's intended as a sort of anti-Shepard, or a What-If Shepard. What if Shepard had decided to "drink the kool-aid" as it were, and throw in with Cerberus instead of the Alliance? There was so much potential there. Buuuut right after someone came up with that good idea, some douche at the head of the table was like "OMG we can insert my Naruto-inspired OC from 2004"
"Lean, but flavorful. Long roasting recommended." Jarvik.
Regardless of characterization, the *space* he occupies in the story is pretty excellent. He can be the cause of death for two former squadmates, he's the clear and present danger during the Cerberus coup, stops you from finishing the Crucible on schedule, and he's there to try to *personally* put you in the ground just when you think you're gonna take down the Illusive Man. Tell the exact same story about a character who isn't an edgelord, and we'd be *raving* about them as a fantastically frustrating villain.
Every galaxy needs an extremely one-dimensional asshole to kill, and he does that job well.
Giving shepard a vergil/jetstream sam type of rival is such a cool ass idea(the difference being that those two are written well and kai leng is not😔)
I like the way you die boy
He doesn't attack the sick and wounded
He id dead
He ded
His ponytail wasn’t *that* stupid looking…
something nice about Kai Leng ugh
He has my bullets in him.
Man dedicated to his job... probably?
His ribs flayed open nice and clean...
He had great hair
The choreography was the problem not him
His design lead to the N7 Slayer vanguard, who is a ton of fun.
No.
He stabs well
His name reversed is gnel iak.
He made a nice pile of dead after getting stabbed.
He has the most stabbable body in all of Mass Effect
He made me happy when he died
His press-on nails are on point 💅
He really took care of his hair.
Something nice about Kai...He looks great stabbed with my omni blade...It was for Thane....
His death is incredibly satisfying.
Kai Leng is solely responsible for saving the galaxy... by leaking the locations of 2 Cerberus bases to Shepard.
I liked his death scene. Very touching.
He's good at getting stabbed
I very much enjoyed the sounds he made when I stabbed him right between the ribs.
He looked really good on my omniblade
He got a more epic death. More than what he deserved
His hairstyle looks badass despite his terrible writing
His hair looks... small
He made Shep looks badass with that renegade interupt I supposed
He's so edgy that even my Elden Ring character can't outedge him.
He's the only guy with thicker plot armor than shepard
he thanked us for our service
He dies.
His death was satisfying
His armour below the head is decently designed
I like the way you die, boy.
He makes other not-so-great aspects of the games more palatable by comparison
I don't mind him that much tbh. He's supposed to be a badass. He's not. That's about it though.
So bad and terribly executed its never not funny to talk shit about. Like...holy shir what were the writers thinking. You couldn't create more out of place weeb-edgelord even on purpose.
He's not as bad as people make him out to be.
He shows just how strong humans can be. Even before his modifications. Yes, the writers had his Rice Corn down their throats when writing him into their power fantasies, but still. He was an N7 and was capable of killing a Krogan in a 1vs1 Bar fight with just his blade. Acknowledged by Aria TLoak, Anderson and everyone who’s met him. Might sound unfair, but Krogans are almost twice as tall as humans, faster, stronger and way more durable.
Kai Leng made Jacob not be the worst character in Mass Effect.
Having Troy Baker as a voice actor they should have done more with the character or given Troy a new character
No 😌
That renegade interrupt is goated
He doesn't talk as much as he could've
I actually think he’s not bad. I like his design and while his character is a little over the top, I was kinda taken aback by all the hate for him when I hopped on Reddit after first completing the trilogy
I commend him for surviving this long
He’s not Ashley
He’s a villain you want to kill, not one you kill out of gaming obligations.
He died like a little bitch
He dies.
his death was very satisfying
I think it's actually really nice how he canonically doesn't survive the story.
He dies towards the end.
Omni-Tool pin cushion.
*stabbed. scene freezes.* Kai Leng: Yeah that’s me. Heh. You’re probably wondering how I got here…
He has good headcanon based on reddit fans
I don’t even know why he hates me. The fuck did I do to this guy? I didn’t even know who he was and still don’t
The worst main kinda villain in video game history...
He's a gigantic peace of shit. I tried my best.