Grunt (Mass Effect)

Grunt is a male extraterrestrial video game character that features in Mass Effect.

Biography

Grunt was a male member of the Krogan race who came into existence by the year 2185 CE. He was actually a genetically engineered member of his species that was developed by a warlord named Okeer. The radical scientist sought a means for his race to survive the infection of the Genophage that had been inflicted on them by the Salarians. However, rather than find a cure for it, he sought to develop a Krogan that was immune to it as an expression of him being genetically superior and fit. To do this, he focused his experiments in breeding a genetically pure and superior Krogan supersoldier where he even sought help from the mysterious Collectors. In addition, he allied himself with the Blue Suns mercenary group whereby they would fund Okeer's experiments whilst the imperfect specimens could be used by the mercenary leader Jedore as expendable soldiers or live ammo subjects. This led to Okeer being established on the planet Korlus with the products of his work being led loose on the surface. The prize of Okeer's work though was a single specimen that was being bred in a tank and fed information directly into his mind with this becoming Grunt. At the time, Commander Shepard had arrived on Korlus where he intended to recruit Okeer into his party to help stop the Collectors. The human and his crew then became involved in the skirmish between Okeer's experiments and the Blue Suns. Ultimately, the Blue Sun leader Jedore unleashed a gas to kill everyone in Okeer's laboratory though the Krogan managed to save the tank-bred Grunt where he left the specimen with Commander Shepard. Shepard came to take the tank to the SR-2 Normandy where ultimately he released the Krogan and convinced him to join their party where he took the name Grunt.

In the mission to gain Grunt's loyalty, Shepard must travel to the post-apocalyptic krogan homeworld, Tuchanka. Shepard and the team arrive in the Urdnot clan's bunker; here it is revealed that Grunt is coming of age and must perform a ceremonial rite to gain admission to a clan. As a member of Shepard's crew, Grunt selects Shepard as his krantt—a krogan's loyal brother-at-arms. During the ritual, Shepard's squad must survive attacks by varren and ultimately survive a Thresher Maw on foot. Defeating it will earn the "Big Game Hunter" medal and earn renown for the team: they are the first to defeat the Maw since Urdnot Wrex. After surviving or defeating the thresher maw, Grunt is inducted into Clan Urdnot, and attains the name Urdnot Grunt. Instead of staying on Tuchanka, Grunt continues to serve under Commander Shepard, whom he names as his battlemaster.[1]

Urdnot Grunt makes an appearance in Mass Effect 3 if he survives the events of the suicide mission in Mass Effect 2. He appears leading "Aralakh Company", an elite squad of Krogan spec-ops troops culled from the very best of all of the clans. He accompanies (not playable) Shepard's squad on a short series of missions that result in the finding of either the Rachni Queen from Noveria, provided she survived the events of Mass Effect, or an artificial Rachni Queen. If the Rachni Queen was saved, Grunt personally holds off several Ravagers to cover Shepard's escape. If he wasn't loyal in Mass Effect 2, and had not attained "Urdnot" as a clan-name, he will be killed; if he was, he survives and contributes to the war effort. Grunt doesn't join the Normandy crew, but will be encountered again shortly before the penultimate battle in Reaper-ravaged London on Earth.

Grunt is listed on the Normandy SR-2's memorial wall on the Crew Deck, if he did not survive the events of Mass Effect 2 & 3; his name will be engraved in the memorial wall on the Normandy as "Urdnot Grunt", if he was loyal but did not survive the suicide mission.

Notes

• Grunt was voiced by actor Steve Blum.

Appearances

• Mass Effect 2:

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