Observing a repeating cycle in which their contemporary civilizations would collapse after creating synthetic lifeforms that turn on their creators, the Leviathans seek to break this cycle by, ironically, creating a synthetic intelligence called the Catalyst. Mass Effect 3's Leviathan DLC reveal that the Reapers' origins began more than one billion years before the events of the Mass Effect series, when the Milky Way galaxy were controlled by a species called the Leviathans. In dialogue with Commander Shepard, Sovereign states that they do not refer to themselves by the term 'Reapers', but rather it is a name given to them by the Protheans, who lived in the cycle immediately preceding the current one. The Reapers then isolate each star system by controlling the galaxy wide mass relay network and engaging a war of attrition with the remnants of galactic civilization, hunting down any survivors via records kept at the Citadel. Upon invading through the Citadel at the conclusion of every extinction cycle, the Reapers quickly deliver a decapitation strike to the major population centers and leaders of organic civilizations, crippling their ability to react.

The Reapers allow organic life to develop, with the Citadel serving its purpose as a hub for the intergalactic species of the Milky Way galaxy, until they are ready to harvest it. As part of their perpetual plan for the galaxy's organic species, the Reapers set up the Citadel and created the docile Keepers as its caretakers it is in fact a giant mass relay, the mass transit devices used by starships to traverse the galaxy in the Mass Effect universe. The Reapers are colossal entities which reside in dark space, the vast, mostly starless space between galaxies, where they hibernate and remain dormant for recurring cycles of fifty thousand years. The Reapers were generally well received by critics, and regularly feature on lists of the greatest video game antagonists. Sovereign and Harbinger are voiced by Peter Jessop and Keith Szarabajka, respectively. Notable Reapers include Sovereign, first mentioned in the 2007 novel Mass Effect: Revelation, and Harbinger, a major antagonist of Mass Effect 2, and leader of the Reaper invasion on Earth in Mass Effect 3.

The Reapers employ servants who are often altered into synthetic-organic life forms. The Reapers and their technology are capable of brainwashing organic life through a mind control process called indoctrination. Within the series, the Reapers cause galactic-level mass extinctions every fifty thousand years. Lovecraft's Elder Gods and Great Old Ones. The design of the Reapers was inspired by H. The Reapers are a fictional fleet of sentient starships that serve as the main antagonists of the Mass Effect trilogy. 3D model of a Reaper Destroyer, as presented in The Art of the Mass Effect Universe (2012).

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