BioWare’s Mass Effect is known and loved for its in depth character writing and story-telling. Many players get really attached to the endearing characters of the series and the character development of characters like Mordin Solus is often praised as masterful writing. While I too believe Mass Effect largely succeeds in implementing meaningful characters with nuance to their morality, I do feel that the series has wasted potential of one of the minor antagonists of the game: The Cerberus Assassin, Kai Leng.

Kai Leng was a seemingly random addition to most players of the game. Though he’s supposed to be an important and dangerous agent of Cerberus along with the Illusive Man, the few times you have to fight him are like dealing with an annoying fly distracting you from getting to the actually intriguing portions of the story. This guy just feels so irrelevant and is a pain to fight for most players, including myself. So, especially for fans of Mass Effect 2 that enjoyed the character Thane, some nobody lackey of the Illusive Man came in and murdered him, when it could have been an emotional climax of betrayal had the writers done things a little differently.

What I’m referring to is the level of acquaintance we could have had with Kai Leng before the events of Mass Effect 3. The main issue with Kai Leng’s introduction to the main game timeline is that one would only know anything about him if they had read the comics he debuted in: Mass Effect: Retribution and Mass Effect: Deception, as well as perhaps reading Mass Effect: Foundation which released after Mass Effect 3. Not every fan has read the comics, so for many he was unfamiliar in Mass Effect 3.

If the overall Mass Effect plot was planned out more in advance, I think Kai Leng’s story-line really could have been intriguing and added to the beauty of the series. Here’s my re-imagining of Kai Leng’s story-line:

As we learn in the comics of Kai Leng’s history, he was once enlisted in the Alliance Military, so he’d be in the same vicinity as Shepard. He was 16 when he first joined and used fake credentials. He gains the attention of the Illusive Man due to his human-supremacist beliefs and his superior ability in combat. Now this is where I think this could be effectively utilized in the events of Mass Effect 2.

In the beginning of Mass Effect 2, Shepard is revived by Cerberus and in turn has to work for them. The Illusive Man summons Shepard to call him via holograph and gives her/him the roster of teammates he wants her to recruit. Now, what if Kai Leng was included in this roster?

The young 18 year-old is now loyal and coinciding with Cerberus, so it would make perfect sense for the Illusive Man to include an agent he knows will stay loyal to him to join Shepard’s crew. Kai Leng in this case would be a crew mate on the Normandy just like the other companions and Shepard could have the opportunity to form a real connection with him. This would allow the player to form an emotional attachment to him and maybe even be able to reform the xenophobic thinking he has towards aliens a little bit while he’s still on the crew. When Shepard does her/his regular rounds conversing with the crew of the Normandy, Kai Leng could slowly reveal his mysterious past and his reasons for being desperate enough to fake credentials to enlist into the Alliance Military. The relationships he has with the other Cerberus crew members, Miranda and Jacob, as well as Jack, who despises Cerberus, would have be interesting to see.

Like the other crew mates he would have a loyalty mission, but to allude to his betrayal, there would be no option to complete it successfully, or maybe there’s a crushing reality that even succeeding at his loyalty mission cannot stop his betrayal. I’m thinking that because Kai Leng is only 18 years-old here and is impulsive as well as fueled by anger, he is taken advantage of by the Illusive Man and brought back to his side. Perhaps at the end of the game where Shepard defies the Illusive Man, Kai Leng thwarts the crew and rejoins the Illusive Man, leading to a battle against him in a portion of the endgame content.

This set-up would make his return in Mass Effect 3 either distressing, if you ended up liking his character, or infuriating as you face his now exposed traitorous collusion with the Illusive Man. The difference with this hatred is that there is context to it, he isn’t a random really good assassin who kills Shepard’s friend, but a traitor who murders a former teammate.

This is just a basic idea of what could have happened, and I understand there may have been no chance the writers could have ever incorporated this if they thought of it. But it’s sad to think about how wasted this character was, especially because he was voiced by Troy Baker, whom is such an incredible and renowned voice actor. There’s also the fact that besides Kai Leng, Kasumi is the only other East Asian representation in the series, and she’s only included in the DLC. As someone with Taiwanese heritage (although Kai Leng is Chinese), an important crew mate and character integral to the plot done well I’m sure would have made me and others happy to be represented. Not to mention that Kai Leng has an attractive model, I’m almost certain would be a fan favorite for many fans online if he had his eye mask off and had more depth to him.

What are your thoughts on Kai Leng’s canonical appearances? Do you agree with me and/or want to add onto my ideas? Let us know your opinions below or on the Boss Rush Facebook, you can also join the conversation on the Boss Rush Discord!

Featured Image: Electronic Arts

Source: BioWare

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