Dr. T’soni is an historian, and an archaeologist specialising in Prothean civilisation. Despite her youth she is one of the best academics to consult with when it comes to the mystery of the Prothean extinction, and her main theory about galactic archaeological cycles was proven essentially correct. Her science is a difficult one, though - for a galaxy-spanning civilisation, the Protheans left an impossibly small body of archaeological remains behind them.

Though she’s not an aggressive person, Liara was trained in biotics by a powerful Matriarch, and exercises seriously and dutifully. Thus, while she looks harmless and would rather avoid fights, Liara can throw people around like rag dolls with her mind, trigger gravity implosions, sheathe herself in protective force and the like. She even has combat experience, her lonely expeditions to remote archaeological digs having led to clashes with wild animals, marauders, criminals, etc. which she had to handle with her biotics.

Dr. T’soni has received intensive military training aboard the Normandy so she could accompany special operations commandos in the field. She can operate military equipment such as heavy pistols and hard suits, knows how to behave on a battlefield, and has extensively drilled to use her biotics to disrupt the enemy and open opportunities for her comrades to move in for the kill. Asari also are, on average, quicker and more agile than humans, which presumably helped Liara to learn basic combat skills.

Liara seems to have some sort of eidetic memory - it appears that she could replay and analyse Shepard’s visions just as if it was a digital video, and she immediately recognised the structures in Ilos among thousands of Prothean ruins. If this total recall ability exists, it might be a side effect of the asari super-evolved nervous system, perhaps to cope with their immense lifespan - asari can easily live for a thousand years.

Doctor T’soni is also a very competent emergency medical technician, and is trained in electronics. Apparently, those are mandatory qualifications for asari academics (or a category thereof), perhaps for historical or philosophical reasons.

One gets the impression that Dr. T’soni’s intelligence, information-processing capabilities and biotic puissance are significantly above normal for her age - and impression that will get stronger by the second game.

About the Asari - Liara’s species

(This section centers on information from the first game. The next writeup, covering Liara during Mass Effect 2, will discuss information learned during that game - including some bits that do not quite align with the Mass Effect information below.)

Overview

The Asari are one of the major species in Citadel space - the most important and influential along with the Salarians. They are a very long-lived species whose elderq routinely exceed age 1,000. As they age they go through three distinct life stages called Maiden, Matron and Matriarch. Asari Matrons have a strong presence in the corporate world and in politics, and Matriarchs tend to be leading advisors, writers, philosophers and thinkers.

Maidens are generally less focused and more adventurous and tend to go for tumultuous occupations such as mercenary or exotic dancer - Liara is definitely not a typical example of Maidenhood. She does have the common Maiden drive to explore and discover, but unlike most Asari in her life stage (which spans the first 200 to 300 years of an Asari’s life) she’s not really interested in the hoydenish stuff such as mingling, fighting, having sexual adventures, partying and showing off. She’d rather be studying.

The Asari homeworld is the planet Thessia, which is unusually rich in Element Zero. This means both that Thessia is an economic powerhouse, and that local lifeform had adapted to Element Zero exposure - meaning biotics. Asari are also known among xenobiologists for their highly sophisticated nervous system.

I got my mind set on you

Asari are generally the most powerful biotics around - unlike other races they don’t need implants to perform biotic feats, though they can and do use bio-amps. Many Asari - probably most - do not chose to develop their biotic skills, presumably for the same reasons that most humans do not become body-builders.

Liara is thus more powerful than Staff Lieutenant Alenko, who has delivered some of the most powerful energy spikes seen in a human biotic. For instance she can do the Singularity technique.

The extraordinary nervous system of the Asari doesn’t just make them fast and agile, or able to route energy through Element Zero nodules in their body without an implant. It is also the key to their mode of reproduction - Asari have sex using a form of telepathy, projecting their consciousness into the mind of their lover.

Psychic fusion with any sapient being allows them to self-impregnate after a full communion of consciousnesses between the two persons. The Asari will get out of the communion both a psychic imprint (so her baby will inherit part of her partner’s psyche) and a sort of DNA reading that her womb can use to make the baby’s DNA different from the mother’s.

Psychic fusion is a total, rapturous experience - but particularly disciplined Asari can use it in a small, limited way to establish mind-to-mind contact and just exchange specific information. From the known examples, it seems that biotic training is an important asset in performing this feat. Thus, Liara could read incomprehensible alien visions that were telepathically inscribed into Shepard’s mind. Another asari biotic, Shiala, could even “upload” a body of knowledge into Shepard’s mind, though the human’s mind couldn’t “read” the “file” as it was too alien and required Dr. T’soni to interpret it.

This sort of mind contact is uncomfortable for Asari, both because of the discipline required and because of the strong sexual overtones. Shiala seemed to consider that depositing knowledge in Shepard’s mind was about as appropriate as grabbing her to kiss her, and Liara couldn’t help but accidentally perceive intimate things about Shepard. Dr. T’soni was also left exhausted and woozy after such mind contacts - probably because she had no sexual experience and had to fight that much harder to stay focused on the data she was probing for. The more worldly Shiala seemed much less tired after focused mind-to-mind contact. Both were successful, though - Shepard didn’t feel anything special during these contacts and thought it was “just” telepathy.

Some Asari also seem to have intuitions about events that have yet to happen, but Liara doesn’t appear to have this talent. Very powerful Matriarchs, such as Liara’s mother, are said to have superhuman levels of intelligence, willpower and charisma.

Blue shift

Asari are the major race that looks the most like humans - in fact they are nearly identical to human women. The main differences between a woman and an Asari are :

• The Asari do not have any hair on their body or scalp. However the top and back of their skull sport superstructures often called crests, which sweep backward.
• Asari skin colours are generally blue-ish, from powder blue to almost violet depending on ethnicities. They often have dermal marks on their faces, forming a variety of patterns.
• Asari eyes can reflect light in a different way than humans, and under strong illumination an Asari’s eyes may appear to glow white.
• Asari presumably do not have dark red blood, since human blood colour is implied to be unusual.

Liara mentioned significant physiological differences between asari and humans, but since her body appears almost identical to a human woman’s even when naked, one suspects that these are chiefly biochemical and neural. Furthermore they can use human body armour in female configuration, implying that bodily waste elimination is identical to a woman’s. Their physiology is levo-rotatory amino acid-based, like humans’.

Asari are seen as attractive by most humanoid species. This curious phenomenon has resulted in wild rumours about psychic seduction and other tall tales, but the reality is presumably much more prosaic. One hypothesis is that asari have perfect bilateral physical symmetry, which might make them look like attractive mates with superior genetics to all sorts of humanoids using sexual reproduction. All known Asari have by common human standards fit, beautifully proportioned bodies and regular, attractive features, with no or little signs of ageing until they are well into their Matriarch stage. Their cranial superstructures also have very similar shapes to turian females’ - making them look attractive to turian males as well since cranial projections are the main physical between male and female turians and asari crests apparently look great.

Let’s talk about sex

Asari are a mono-gendered species, though humans and other species find it difficult not to mentally process them as female. They understand the notion of “male”, “female” and other genders on an intellectual level, but it’s not relevant to their lives except when interacting with gendered aliens. To Liara, that Shepard is a woman is about as important as her hair colour.

Asari prefer to have children with alien partners - since the core of their sexuality is psychic, physiological differences are no obstacle. At this stage this is presented as a philosophical and eugenic choice. Asari babies are always Asari - they do not look like hybrids at all - but given the Asari’s unique mode of reproduction. They carry with them in a subtle manner the personal and racial qualities of their alien parent, enriching the asari diversity and noosphere. The DNA “scrambling” - “inspired” by psychically perceiving the nature of an alien partner - also ensures genetic diversity.

Being “pureblood” - the child of two Asari - is thus considered bad compared to bringing alien diversity to one’s daughter. Liara is a pureblood Asari ; the exact implications are not explored at this point.

Compared to humans, asari cultures have very little taboos about sexuality. For instance, jobs like exotic dancing are considered a respectable profession and form of artistic expression among Asari, and are a common occupation for younger Asari looking for cash. The asari equivalents of geisha are regarded as wise and helpful professionals. Thus, a reputed asari “consort” will be seen by Asari much like a high-powered lawyer or psychiatrist (with elements of a priest, councillor and oracle thrown in), whereas many aliens mistakenly assume that she’s a high-priced prostitute. Sex is part of a consort’s toolset, but is nothing special compared to other approaches.

History

Liara T’soni is the only child of Matriarch Benezia, a powerful spiritual and philosophical leader of the asari people. Both of Liara’s parents are asari - an uncommon and very embarrassing status in asari society, not unlike being the child of two persons related by blood. Liara never knew who her other parent was, and assumed that it was due to the shame of having a “pureblood” child.

As Benezia’s only child, Liara felt strong pressure to also become a great and wise asari thinker and leader — which she didn’t feel she could cope with. Whereas Matriarch Benezia advocated for her vision of an asari future, Liara became fascinated by the distant past of aliens, and became a xenoarchaeologist. She specialised in the biggest mystery of galactic history - the Protheans, a mysterious forerunner species thought to have left behind mass relays, the Citadel space station and other technological resources at the heart of galactic organisation.

Liara studied on Thessia, the Asari homeworld - it is possible that she was born there. A friend of her mother, Doctor Passante, would often let her in the archives so she could study after hours. Doctor Passante was also apparently a Protheans specialist, and may have been Liara’s academic mentor. Based on descriptions of typical Maiden interests it seems likely that while Liara was studying after hours at the library, other Maidens her age were in bars getting drunk, dancing and getting into fights.

Specialising in Prothean archaeology also meant spending a lot of time alone in the wilds of strange planets to investigate ruins that were at least 50,000 years old. Liara (by then Doctor T’soni) appreciated this isolation — it insulated her from the social pressure of being the pureblood daughter of a famous Matriarch. Dr. T’soni also has a gift for putting her foot in her mouth, so working alone meant no chances of saying embarrassing things.

Doctor T’soni’s research led her to theorise that the extinction of the Protheans was tied to the solution of the Fermi Paradox, and that there existed periodic waves of mass extinction on a galactic scale. She also suspected that Prothean settlements had all been deliberately razed and evidence suppressed at some unclear point in the past - with the sheer scale of Prothean civilisation, having so few artifacts left behind was hugely improbable. Her theories were not treated very seriously by other academics, though - being barely 106, Doctor T’soni was still considered a bright-eyed and excitable post-doc.

Mother stands for comfort

Absorbed by her field work in far-flung Prothean ruins, Dr. T’soni wasn’t aware that her mother embarked on an adventure to save the galaxy through her words and wisdom. Benezia had learned that Saren, a special agent of the Citadel Council, had some sort of grandiose plan to destroy everything. She tried to steer him back toward reason. However, the same immense force that had corrupted Saren could, over several weeks, erode the defences of even an asari Matriarch - and Liara’s mother ended up psychically indoctrinated and joining Saren.

Another Council agent - Staff Commander Shepard, formerly of the Systems Alliance of Earth - discovered critical information about Saren and Benezia. Shepard decided to locate Dr. T’soni both to determine whether she was an agent of her mother, and to understand why Prothean artifacts seemed crucial to Saren’s plan. Council intelligence services rapidly located Dr. T’soni on Therum, in the Artemis Tau cluster.

However, Saren’s allies were also after Dr. T’soni for her expertise with all things Prothean. They surrounded Liara in her current dig site, and were far too numerous for her to fight. Dr. T’soni used the Prothean security systems she had been studying to erect a force wall between her and Saren’s forces, but in so doing accidentally trapped herself in some sort of suspension field.

Thankfully, a commando led by Commander Shepard took down Saren’s forces, extricated Liara from the suspension field and took her spaceside. Dr. T’soni didn’t have useful intelligence to provide right away - she hadn’t seen her mother in years and Saren’s agents hadn’t explained why they were trying to capture her. However she volunteered to help, if only to know what had happened to her mother and avoid further kidnapping attempts. Assuming that having a Protheans expert on hand would be useful, Shepard agreed to have her stay on the Normandy. One of her commandos, Urdnot Wrex, pointed out that Liara’s biotics would be a powerful asset in a fight - and Shepard had Dr. T’soni undergo training qualifying her to accompany special operations troops in the field. Some room was freed up in the back of the sick bay and a cot broken out of storage.

Army dreamers

Though Doctor T’soni was part of several field operations - her powerful telekinesis making her very dangerous in a fight - her main role during the Saren Plot was to decypher the Prothean data that Shepard’s team accumulated. As the hunt for Saren kept involving lost Prothean resources, Liara found herself gaining access to an incredible wealth of information. This included several potentially readable data discs, and the discovery of a mysterious, intact floating silvery sphere with some sort of telepathic function. Very excited by this unprecedented wealth of information, Liara worked day and night to analyse these resources - and try to deduct what Saren was after.

From Therum onward, Dr. T’soni felt a connection with Staff Commander Shepard and developed a crush on her. The situation was complicated, though - Liara didn’t know much about humans, their genders and their views of love, and found the powerfully charismatic Shepard intimidating. Furthermore the socially clumsy Dr. T’soni felt like a complete dork whenever she opened her mouth in Shepard’s presence, and being virginal saw the deep psychic fusion that is central to asari sexuality as a big deal and a major commitment.

During the mission, Prothean data was inscribed into Commander Shepard’s mind and Liara volunteered to mind-read her to analyse this information. Though Shepard did not realise it at first, this was a very intimate experience for Liara despite her efforts to stay focused on reading the data. After the second such mind-meld, Liara decided to breach the issue with Shepard in the frank asari manner, as she couldn’t help but sense during psychic contacts that Shepard was interested in her. This discussion went way better than Liara feared and a relationship developed, though it remained in an in-between cuddling stage as Dr. T’soni was hesitant to commit to full physical and psychic intercourse.

Shepard’s intuition about recruiting Dr. T’soni would prove, as usual, right - and Liara’s mind-reading abilities and unique insight into Prothean civilisation were instrumental in saving the galaxy. It also provided Dr. T’soni with many of the missing pieces to test her Fermi Paradox theory, and extended knowledge about Protheans by about an order of magnitude. However, this did not lead to the academic success that the young doctor had hoped for, as tragedy would soon strike.

Description

Liara is an asari with a youthful air and beautiful, regular features. She’s dressed in the usual style for academic, researchers, doctors, etc. in Citadel Space, and her shoulder patch reads X-05. ”X-05” is seen on many other pieces of clothing worn by scientists and seems to be a code for a researcher with a doctoral degree. Presumably her shoulder patches were later changed to “SR1” when she was officially attached to the Normandy SR1.

In public, Liara speaks in a deliberate, precise fashion as if lecturing for beginners or presenting a report. It is probably because she’s thinking ahead about what she’ll say to avoid putting her foot in her mouth. In private, Liara speaks with a more normal and spontaneous flow, to her occasional regret - but she always comes across as an intellectual.

Many asari have skin markings on various areas of their face and the top of their head - Liara’s look a bit like glitter. She also has the equivalent of freckles, and brow ridge markings that coincidentally look much like drawn human eyebrows.

Here is a four minute video from the first game, splicing dialogue from a young Liara (mostly doing her reflexive lecturing thing).

Personality

Dr. T’soni is a xenoarchaeology nerd - she’s fascinated by and very knowledgeable about the ancient past, but being the adorkable type she’s not very grounded in most other things. She’d rather be alone on a dig in the middle of nowhere, since she’s not very comfortable around people. She’s very good at accidentally saying embarrassing and dorky things, which usually leaves her too flustered to realise that most people find her cute when she does that.

Though Dr. T’soni can easily come across as shy, this is not quite the case. Asari cultures generally produce confident people with little hangups, who behave in a frank and open manner, and these descriptors apply to Liara. Simply, she doesn’t spend much time talking to people and knows that she’s socially clumsy despite meaning well. Whenever she can, Dr. T’soni will enter lecture mode - this is a form of social interaction with which she’s comfortable, she really likes talking about her science, and she seems to assume that everyone is interested in archaeological lectures.

The more Liara is familiar with people, the more her distant, precise, didactic air is allowed to recede so she can be more free-flowing and comfortable. As she relaxes she comes across as a strange mix between a starry-eyed romantic dreaming of soulful love, a pragmatic and self-actualised youth who knows of and accepts both her strengths and her limitations, and a somewhat absent-minded professor.

Liara has a tendency to miss jokes - asari cultures are generally short on joking around, and long on eager sincerity. Asari clearly understand sarcasm, but Liara lacks the aggression and social experience to employ it. Likewise she would be an absolutely terrible liar, provided that she even tried, as her education values speaking one’s mind, honesty and straightforwardness - it’s entirely possible that she never lied in 106 years.

Liara’s fascination with Protheans can easily override her common sense - she’s in love with this lost civilisation. She’ll get visibly enthusiastic and agitated if there’s a chance to learn about them, and spent most of her time on the Normandy poring through exciting new data found by Commander Shepard. On the other hand, she didn’t like humans before meeting Shepard. Like many people, she saw humans as over-motivated, ambitious, hectic bullies causing all sorts of trouble. Which isn’t an unreasonable view, as most Council species are quieter and more passive than humans.

Young romance

Asari cultures greatly value age and experience, and Liara is only 106 - barely a young adult by the customs of her people. By human standards this is curious, as she’s a practiced academic with decades of experience who keeps expecting to be treated like a 16-year old. Part of the attraction of working with the Normandy crew for Liara is that nobody treats her like a child, since she’s the only Asari aboard. Human soldiers tend to see her more like a doctoral student in her mid-20s.

Humans generally read Liara’s personality as female - though with Asari looking so much like human females, it takes a particularly butch behaviour for an Asari not to be read as a woman by humans. She tends to be gentle, romantic and open about her emotions, so in the context of stereotypical human gender roles she’ll inevitably be treated as a female.

Liara is in love with Staff Commander Shepard, but wants to be sure of her feelings before committing to a full relationship. Part of her hesitation is caused by the common image of Asari being hot and promiscuous. Liara knows that many human males cherish all sorts of salacious rumours about asari inter-species sexuality - in part due to wishful thinking and dreams of being Captain Kirk, and in part because most Maidens are not like Liara and enjoy a vigorous and adventurous love life. Since she’s on a human vessel, she’s concerned that she may feed the myths and/or make herself and Shepard look bad. In particular Shepard’s XO, Navigator Pressly, seemed to think that all Asari are psychic Mata Haris and that Liara was seducing his CO as part of some alien agenda. Thankfully, Pressly eventually learned to relax around the aliens whom Shepard brought onboard, and to consider them as persons and valued allies. Beside, Liara obviously couldn’t vamp her way out of a paper bag.

Writeup completed on the 9th of March, 2012.