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I'm more than a little surprised that no one has made a thread like this, yet.

Anyway, I think all of us have a little soft spot for Tali. She's like the extremely intelligent, practical, introverted and somewhat nerdy exchange student in the back of the room. She's come a long way to be where she is now and she's seen too many horrible things in her original environment, so she makes the most of her time. When you talk to her, you can sense she's very serious and erudite in her rhetoric, but start to talk personal and a level of naive shyness and genuine "cuteness" peeks through the learned exterior. These qualities have garnered Tali a large and loyal fanbase.

This is ironic, considering the simple fact that nobody knows what she looks like beneath the mask.

We know that, generally, quarians are shorter and of slighter build than humans. They have an endoskeleton, a nose, lips, teeth, and two eyes with eyelids and tear ducts. Their eyes appear to glow, but this may be a trick of the light caused by the glass faceplates of their helmets. It cannot be confirmed. Quarians also have three thick fingers on both hands which include a thumb and an index finger, as well as three toes on each foot. In Mass Effect: Ascension, it is said that their ears or ear analogues differ in a noticeable fashion from those of humans. In other words, we know basic quarian anatomy.

This thread is devoted to serious discussion about Tali's appearance. I don't want to see any "crack" comments or pictures.

Here are some pictures I found that I think portray Tali well:



This pic is my personal favorite. It was created by an artist called Vespaz and originally posted in BioWare's official Mass Effect forums. Although it's probably highly unlikely that Tali looks like this, it's still a very cute, very interesting, very realistic portrayal. If you look closely enough, you can see that Tali's skin is so pale it is very nearly translucent, with fine traceries of veins and arteries just barely visible underneath. She also appears somewhat shriveled. Again, if you look closely enough, you can see that her complexion is similar to that of the unmasked Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi, a character who also spent the majority of his life in a suit. Unfortunately, this depiction of Tali is probably far too human for BioWare's tastes. Then again, the asari are perfectly human in appearance, save for their heads.



This pic is another good one, and probably far more accurate. Can't see much, though.



Another cute one. One of the bigger debates among the Mass Effect fanbase seems to be whether or not quarians have hair. I feel I should point out that living in a suit for the majority of your life does not necessarily mean you will lose your hair, even after several generations.



Another interesting pic. Her hair style looks a little too stylish, especially for someone who is usually wearing a helmet, but her complexion is probably accurate. The facial markings are a nice touch, but those glassy white eyes make her look blind. Or dead.



Some concept sketches by an amateur artist. These sketches draw heavily upon the idea of quarians as "space gypsies". The artist said that the texture of the skin was inspired by that of amphibians. This is unlikely, as Legion states in Mass Effect 2 that the quarian homeworld, Rannoch, is more arid than Earth. In that kind of climate, an amphibian's skin would dry out. Also, the nose doesn't quite match what we can see through the faceplate.



This pic is probably the most accurate. Suitably human, but suitably alien, as well. If BioWare decides to reveal Tali's face, it'll probably look something like this.

That being said, I'm not so sure we'll ever see Tali's face. After having our hopes raised and subsequently dashed in Mass Effect 2, it's beginning to seem as if any sort of revelation whatsoever will be somewhat of a letdown. Perhaps it would be better if BioWare decided to preserve her mystique, instead.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

They probably won't, but I can't say for certain. It seems to me to be a lose-lose situation. If you reveal her face, you'll alienate all the people who had their own preconceived notions of what she looked like beneath the mask. If you don't, you'll alienate all the people who wanted to see it. I'd like to think that most Mass Effect fans are mature enough to deal with it either way, but I know that's naive.




Really? Why do you think that?




It's not impossible, if the Normandy ever visits a volus world, but it's highly unlikely. The volus have never played a major part in the Mass Effect series, so I don't think there's a large demand to see them "unmasked".




It is funny, but I specifically said that I didn't want to see them. Not here, anyway. If you want to make a "crack" post, create your own thread for it.

The first one is really cute, but I doubt Quarians look like that.
@Nerevar Telvanni: Yes turians don't look like humans, but their bodies aren't quite shaped the same way, either Quarians body shapes are a lot like humans (except their hands and feet), so I think they would have a slightly human appearance.

"Far from the physical resemblance that the asari or drell have with humans"? How so? They have a nose, lips, teeth, and two eyes with eyelids. They have everything that we have, except maybe ears. You can see it through their masks.




It's possible that Grunt simply meant that quarian tissue is denser than human tissue. Projectiles can pierce a quarian's skin just as easily as they do a human's. Also, nowhere in the Mass Effect universe is it ever said that quarians have scales. Not even in the novels.




You bring up a good point with the smooth-looking face, but there isn't a reptile on the planet that has three toes.

Mmm perhaps, I didn't really think hard about it though, just a thought from reading this topic. The way their legs are shaped more than anything, I always think their legs look kinda like raptor legs. Originally I figured quarians were like a softer and squishier, and differently formed human underneath the suit, till the thought that they could actually have tough skin.

I would assume that they are digitigrade