Archon

A high-ranking, menacing leader of the kett contingent in the Heleus cluster and the main antagonist of Mass Effect: Andromeda. Though rarely sighted, the Archon's arrival at kett installations is reportedly greeted with fearful shows of deference, the execution of dissident kett, and the presentation of valuable Remnant technology. He maintained control of the cluster for almost 75 years, reportedly through a combination of long, patient strategies and brutal subjugation. According to angaran sources, the Archon arrived in Heleus with a pantomime of diplomatic overtures that confused the angaran leadership and provoked them against one another before he ordered the conquest of their worlds.

In recent years, the Archon has taken an increasing interest in Remnant technology, ordering new dig sites and touring kett-defended Remnant structures. He is said to take many Remnant specimens aboard his flagship for study at leisure. Those who interfere are executed on the spot or hunted down by the Archon's Sword, his mysterious and feared enforcer. According to the Moshae, the Archon is focused on Meridian, the control center for the Remnant vault network. In his hands, Meridian could be used to devastate the planets of the Heleus Cluster, rendering them uninhabitable and giving him a hold over all sentient life. Though he reportedly knows its location, the Archon has been unable to develop an interfacing method, meaning the greater secrets of Remnant technology are closed to him.

Like all kett, the Archon is highly militaristic, looking down on other species as lesser beings. He is also quite remorseless in his actions as he killed defenseless adversaries without hesitation, enslaved many angara and brutally experiment on captured prisoners.

Like all kett, the Archon has a natural bone armor over what appears to be a heavy skeletal bipedal structure. Around the back side of his neck is a large armored-covered bone collar. His eyes are pale white and receded.

Exaltation unified the kett homeworld of Sarhesen, and in time the other worlds that the kett empire conquered. Cold, calculating, and pragmatic. There are no visible distinctions between "male" and "female" kett of the same type. Kett have very low-pitched voices, and those who have marginally higher voices are generally considered female. Kett possess no reproductive organs, and they reproduce only through an artificial process called exaltation. It is speculated that exaltation arose long ago in kett history when their genetics reached a point of stagnation, leaving the species unable to breed through natural means. The kett began adding beneficial genes from other species into their own genome in order to continually improve themselves, which they refer to as harmonization. Kett mastery over genetic manipulation enabled them to develop a serum to rapidly convert other species into obedient kett, which became the basis for exaltation. To build an army or replenish their numbers, kett simply capture members of other species and transform them through exaltation. Heleus Cluster species that have been subjected to exaltation include the challyrion, who become wraiths, and the angara, who become Chosen and Anointed. However, nothing from the original species' body is left: a kett exalted from an angara, for example, only has traces of angaran genome remaining. Internal scans show kett organs, not angaran ones. They are physically kett, for all intents and purposes, and exaltation appears to be permanent and irreversible thus far. Kett lifespan is currently undetermined, though it is known that the Archon of the Heleus contingent has been active in cluster affairs for over seven decades. The kett are not native to the Heleus Cluster, which they call Sector 1-19-NYKZ, and began invading it in 2744. When the angara encountered them, the kett lured them into a false sense of security with gifts and offers of friendship, before kidnapping their leadership and providing information which provoked arguments between angaran worlds. The uncoordinated and separated angara were swiftly defeated, though the kett would continue to have to deal with various resistance movements and later the unified Angaran Resistance led by Evfra de Tershaav. The Archon assigned to the Heleus Cluster eventually began deviating from kett protocols. He blocked all research on angaran genetics from being sent to his superiors, using it to empower only the troops in his command, and took an obsessive interest in Remnant technology. The kett have been shown to be highly militaristic, and look down on other species, considering them lesser beings. This can be seen from the fact that they experiment on prisoners with genetic traits considered useful and kill prisoners with traits deemed useless and have enslaved angara who are subject to the same treatment. They do not refer to individuals of other races with gendered pronouns (i.e, defaulting to "it"), further devaluing them. Kett are mostly known through titles related to their position in society. Their personal names as translated appear to consist of barely pronounceable strings of consonants with no vowels, like "Zgtt" or "Pqtk". While exaltation imbues all assimilated individuals with hardwired loyalty to the kett cause, they still retain individual personalities that may conflict with one another. Factions exist even among the kett: the Archon, for example, seeks personal advancement and domination over his peers with the Remnant, in contrast to the more orthodox view of merely expediting the conquest of Heleus. "Dissidents" to whoever holds more influence in any given region are routinely executed. The kett language is called Tonaizhet. Known Tonaizhet words are listed below.

dhan - "peacebringer" hesh - "order" Khi Tasira - "the place of ascension" lanat - "watcher" naladen - "taker" rozerad - "infinite fire" silhesh - "disorder" soned - "resistance" thokin - "sudden death" tonaizhet - "speaking correctly" vakarsh - "punitive immolation" zalkin - "three stars" aiz - "1" shu - "2" zal - "3"

The following phrases have uncertain exact translations though circumstantial usage may provide some context.

Niad shurid? - First heard during first contact on Habitat 7, when Ryder and Liam find out that the kett have captured Fisher Gosad! - Kett squad's reply when Ryder requires to give Fisher to the Initiative crew if the "Expect the worst" decision was chosen Tolerad! - Said by kett on Habitat 7 when they open fire on Ryder Zev gosad! Surnahd zot. - In an audio log on a kett base on Habitat 7 Keng zhef. Rol no tod surhanad. Jhan lurok. - In an audio log on a kett base on Habitat 7 Hakad nerho? Hmph. Nislekad. - In an audio log on a kett outpost on Eos Lothen nykheron. 'Salarian.' - In Invictor's audio log in a cave with a salarian ark escape pod on Eos Lutod nyro: thogad. - In Invictor's audio log in a cave with a salarian ark escape pod on Eos

The kett revere exaltation as a sacred ritual, believing that the species selected to undergo exaltation are ascending to greatness while helping the kett do the same. These subjugated species are initially called "Chosen", and may later advance to higher tiers with the kett hierarchy, such as "Anointed". The kett exaltation facility on Voeld is called a temple, and is considered holy ground. The kett government is referred to as an empire with the main ruling body being referred to as the Senate, situated on the kett homeworld of Sarhesen. There are apparently twenty-one ancestral lineages from 'pure' ancient kett that act as the heads of ancestral lineages who lead their society. Contingents of kett stationed in a star cluster are led by an Archon, also called a "campaign leader". These Archons have a high degree of autonomy but still ultimately answer to the Senate and are required to report on their progress every 15 cycles. The kett send forces across the galaxy to exalt new species and expand the empire.