9. Liara T'Soni (Mass Effect 1/3)
If you asked me to rank Liara after Mass Effect 2, she'd be at the bottom of the list alongside the other two Mass Effect 1 love interests (and many of the Mass Effect 2 love interests as well). She doesn't have the strongest start in the series, because for one thing, she's the one squad member you don't meet on the Citadel. With EVERYONE else, they prove themselves in combat before you allow them to join you (or they're Wrex, who's a Krogan and thus naturally better suited for that stuff). Seriously, even Tali, who is the only other real contender (IMHO) for the weakest squad member, proves herself in combat when you first meet her. But you find Liara trapped in a barrier, and it's like...really? Liara's the token damsel in distress of the series? And then she's really not all that important besides being knowledgeable about Protheans and showing little emotion when her mother dies. She's better than Ashley/Kaidan in Mass Effect 1, but not by much.
Then Mass Effect 2 comes along and suddenly Liara's this badass, taking on the Shadow Broker for reasons that are still unclear to me, even after the Lair of the Shadow Broker. It's such a dramatic change in personality that even though it's a vast improvement over a kinda pathetic do-nothing...it's still pretty bad.
Mass Effect 3 though is when everything comes together. Liara's still the Shadow Broker, so she's still badass, but at this point, everything has kinda sunk in. Plus, she's back on the ship, so that mellows her out. Mass Effect 3 Liara is what Mass Effect 2 Liara SHOULD have acted like in order to be more realistic: a happy medium between dorky Liara and badass Liara. Her actually coming to terms with her mother dying is good for her character, and it's weird that it took her over two years to do it, but in doing so, it allowed for her character to grow. And Liara is pretty hilarious in Mass Effect 3. Her dorkiness in response to meeting a Prothean in real life is amusing to me, it really is. And overall, I just feel like she was a quality squadmate this time around.
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Captain Tracy Mombaro and Agent Mirasuke Inhara: Two of the toughest, hottest furrs you'll ever meet.