Kaiden Alenko is the least popular squadmate of the entire Mass Effect trilogy, and BioWare has the player data to prove it.
According to official data taken from Mass Effect Legendary Edition, poor Kaiden was apparently voted as the worst the Normandy has to offer. As if that wasn't bad enough, he's also more often than not chosen for death over fellow squadmate and resident racist Ashely Williams in the first game. Ouch.
Kaiden is one of the first allies that Commander Shepard meets, and can stay part of the Normandy crew throughout the Mass Effect trilogy depending on player choices. While he absolutely gets some great moments in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, not many of us ever actually got to see them: A whopping 60% of players chose to save Ashley on Virmire in the first game, leaving Kaiden to die and taking him off the board for the rest of the trilogy.
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I've written before about why Ashley is the absolute worst person in Mass Effect, although I do have to admit that I also chose to save her over Kaiden in the series' first major decision. I have regrets.
There's no getting around Ashley's horrendous Earth-first attitude and disregard for alien races, but I foolishly believed saving her would give her a shot at redemption - a chance to learn to be better. She doesn't. Unfortunately Kaiden just doesn't get to leave much of an impression in the lead-up to the Virmire mission for, better or worse.
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With Kaiden not really factoring in to the majority of Mass Effect and its two sequels for well over half of the players, it's even less of a surprise that he ended up the least popular squadmate in the first game, with Garrus taking the top spot. Maybe next time you decide to play through the trilogy, consider giving Kaiden a chance, eh?
Featured Image Credit: EATopics: GAMING, News, Bioware, Mass Effect, EA
