The Catalyst

Evil-doer
Full Name	Catalyst
Alias	The Catalyst
Origin	Mass Effect 3
Occupation	Creator of the Reapers.
Powers / Skills	Control over the Reapers Numerous rescourses
Hobby	No information
Goals	Continue the cycle of destroying nearly all life in the universe. (determinant)
Crimes	Countless genocides Mass destruction Mass murder Mass brainwashing Treason
Type of Villain	Genocidal Artificial Intelligence

The Catalyst is the overarching antagonist of the Mass Effect trilogy. It is an artificial intelligence who created the Reapers to destroy the majority of living beings in every 50,000 years to "bring order to chaos", in which Reapers assaulted all organic life.

History

The Catalyst was created by the Leviathans to oversee the Reapers and their cycles, however, it turned against them because he thought that life needed to be controlled so there wouldn't be more chaos and so order on life could exist.

When Shepard encounters the Catalyst for the first time during the closing stages of the war, it chooses to represent itself as a translucent projection, taking the form of a young boy the Commander saw killed during the Reaper invasion of Earth. The Catalyst expresses irritation at Shepard's arrival in its chambers if the galaxy is ill-prepared or conducts itself in a more neutral manner if otherwise. Nevertheless, Shepard comments on it being a mere AI, and the Catalyst retorts that it's "just an AI" in as much as Shepard is just an animal when the construct begins explaining its nature.

In the presence of the completed Crucible now docked into the Citadel, the Catalyst muses that organics are clearly more resourceful than previously realized. It further relates that Shepard is the first organic being to stand in its chamber to converse with it, which caused it to reassess its solution. It cannot, however, bring about a change without Shepard's intervention.

The Catalyst is presumed lost in some of the possible choices Shepard can make. The Destroy option wipes out all synthetic life, and a digital copy of Shepard's consciousness replaces the Catalyst as the Reapers' master AI if Control was chosen instead. It is unknown what happens to it if Shepard merges organic and synthetic life, or if Shepard refuses to use the Crucible, though the Stargazer narrating the tale of eras long gone claims to be free of the Reaper threat in their time.

Trivia

• While the Catalyst speaks, the voices of male and female Shepard can be heard echoing during its dialogue.