Commander Shepard in Mass Effect is the main protagonist and playable character of the game. The preset character model for the quickstart is a male Alliance Military Soldier named John, with the Earthborn/Sole Survivor profile. Shepard is classified N7 by the Human Alliance Military, being the hardest and best training for a Human soldier.
Shepard can be a male or female, default named John or Jane depending on the chosen gender although the character doesn’t have an official first name.That only affects who will be the romance subplot of the game. The player can customize the first name, which is never spoken aloud in the game, to their pleasure, while the last name cannot be altered for purposes of dialogue.
Commander Shepard Information
Shepard was born on April 11th 2154 and is a graduate of the N7 System Alliance Special Forces Program. After graduation, Shepard was assigned to the SSV Normandy as an Executive Officer.
As Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance Military, aboard the spacecraft Normandy, you represent humanity’s first and last line of defense against the strange wonders of a vast and often dangerous galaxy.
Commander Shepard Background
Pre-service History represents the first of many choices that affect how characters will react to you during gameplay. Also, gives you a Morality System bonus, depending on your selection. This is not just text you'll never see again; your choices here affect the storyline by accessing exclusive assignments (side quests) and Shepard's dialogues with various NPCs during the career.
You can customize your character’s early history choosing between:
Psychological Profile opens up different dialogue options during gameplay and affects the character's morality. The Psychological profile makes up the second part of your agent's background. Each background choice comes with certain bonuses that directly affect your desired style of play. Your choice affects dialogue during the story and assignments made available at certain points of your career.
You can customize your character’s early Psychological Profile in Character Creation choosing between:
Depending on your Background your character will have starting Paragon and Renegade Points:
Background |
Starting Point |
| Spacer - War Hero | 20 Paragon points |
| Colonist - War Hero | 15 Paragon points |
| Earthborn - War Hero | 10 Paragon points |
| Spacer - Sole Survivor | 15 Paragon and 5 Renegade points |
| Colonist - Sole Survivor | 10 Paragon and 10 Renegade points |
| Earthborn - Sole Survivor | 5 Paragon and 15 Renegade points |
| Spacer - Ruthless | 10 Renegade points |
| Colonist - Ruthless | 15 Renegade points |
| Earthborn - Ruthless | 20 Renegade points |
Commander Shepard Classes and Specializations
There are six base classes, with variable strength in up to three areas for the player and two squad members. Some classes concentrate all their strength in one skill area; others divide it between two areas to balance tactics. Combat skills deal maximum damage to enemies. Tech skills allow decrypting security systems and weakening enemy weapons. Biotic skills enable brain impulses to manipulate the physical world.
Certain talents are inherent to each character class. After completing an optional Systems Alliance Military assignment (UNC: Rogue VI), choose a specialization for your character, increasing the maximum Talent points you can spend on class-specific talents.
The choice of specialization for your character is the single most important factor that will impact gameplay.
Commander Shepard Notes & Tips
- The character was named after Alan Shepard, the second person and first American to travel to space.
- Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale provided the voices for the male and female Shepard.
- His male default face is modelled after model Mark Vanderloo.
- There is no canon version of Shepard which was confirmed by Bioware
