History Characters / MassEffectCommanderShepard

* ArmorPiercingSlap: A Shepard who romanced Jacob can deliver him one of these in the ''Citadel'' DLC.

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs:
** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', one of the sidequests involves Shepard retrieving an alien dinosaur fossil for salarian scientists to clone, for the sole purpose of letting the krogan ''[[RuleOfCool ride them into battle]]''.
** Reacts to the Plesiosaur skeleton in Dr. Bryson's lab as "[[StockNessMonster Loch Ness Monster?]]"

* AnythingThatMoves: Shepard can be played this way, since nothing is stopping you from cheating on your love interests between games; there are also OptionalSexualEncounter[=s=] available. Parodied in [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=309 this]] ''Webcomic/VGCats'' comic. This can even extend to [[spoiler:Javik]] in the ''Citadel'' DLC, if Fem!Shep's drunk enough.

* DoYouWantToCopulate: This is how Garrus's romance starts in ''2''. Garrus relates a story about him and a scout going six rounds in the sparring ring, ending in a tie; the two of them then held a "tiebreaker" in her quarters. Female!Shepard can bluntly ask Garrus if he wants to "just skip right to the tiebreaker." Garrus is blind-sided by her brazenness.

* InLoveWithYourCarnage: Judging from the various comments encountered throughout the series, Shepard's talent for destruction has garnered them quite a few fans amongst [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy the krogan]]. If Shepard [[spoiler:kills the Thresher Maw]] during Grunt's loyalty mission in ''2'', they ''receive a breeding request''. This is also a big part of why Garrus is attracted to Fem!Shep - he finds her immense ass-kicking skills both impressive and arousing.

* MistakenForGay: Regardless of how the player chooses, Jack will assume Fem!Shep is flirting with her at the end of her conversation chain, and as a result refuse to speak to her further.

* BullyingADragon:
** Even in the first game, Shepard sometimes has the option to intimidate (as a Paragon!) potential foes by essentially saying, "Do you ''really'' want to mess with me? Seriously", such as the maintenance workers at Chora's Den.
** For the [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]] and those who work with them, this is acceptable. But then you have [[TooDumbToLive random mercenaries and slavers who feel that they can take on the person who routinely smashes entire armies and takes on what are essentially mecha-gods]].
** A Renegade Shepard can be on the giving end, especially in ''2'', with some of their actions toward Grunt, Jack and Samara. Yeah, insult that krogan. Call the severely traumatised, violent biotic a wuss. Commit crimes in front of the KnightTemplar who can and ''will'' murder any criminal she sees. Grunt at least has UndyingLoyalty. Samara admits that if she hadn't sworn the oath of submission, she would be trying to murder Shepard.

* {{Foil}}: Paragon Shepard is one to Garrus, being effectively the [[{{Superman}} Super]][[TheCape man]] to his [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bat]][[TheCowl man]]. Paragon Shepard also curbs Garrus's need for absolute justice by pointing out when Garrus is in danger of becoming [[HeWhoFightsMonsters one of the very monsters he hunts]].

* GeniusBruiser: It's heavily implied that Shepard is extremely intelligent due to their political tact (as much as they hate it), and ability to come up with [[TakeAThirdOption creative solutions to many seemingly unsolvable problems,]] both through good strategic thinking and [[IndyPloy on the fly.]]

* BigGood: Paragon Shepard. In the first game, you mostly fulfill the role among your crew. In the second, you take this UpToEleven while dealing with problems of [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits your squad]] and are the only one who is willing to deal with the Collector threat. Then again in the third game where you literally can ''unite the entire galaxy'' to stop the Reapers. Said third game is an interesting variation; Shepard views Anderson and Hackett as the BigGood of Earth and the Alliance respectively, while the rest of the galaxy generally views Shepard as the BigGood overall, with even the two admirals acknowledging Shepard as the key to victory.

* BoldlyComing: Across the course of the series, Shepards of either gender can become romantically involved with asari; Male Shepard can romance a quarian, and Female Shepard can romance a drell or a turian. Taken UpToEleven in ''Citadel'', where Female Shepard can [[spoiler: have a drunken one-night stand with ''Javik'', the last Prothean]]. ''[=ME2=]'' discusses the trope, with there being some concern over interspecies relations. Mordin will offer Shepard medical advice on their LoveInterest; this is especially important for [[spoiler:Tali and Garrus]], who have incompatible chirality. Mordin advises against oral contact and, ahem, "ingesting".

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: While Shepard ''can'' get an early start shooting Wrex dead in the first game, the second and third game offers the Commander the chance to embrace this wholeheartedly by backstabbing squadmates and betraying ''[[UpToEleven entire species]]''.

** All classes move much faster in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''. Expect Soldiers and Vanguards to take it UpToEleven.

** Shepard can reciprocate. Paragon Shepard ''will'' reciprocate. Taken UpToEleven when they find out the asari Matriarchs have considered ordering a hit on Liara:

* EvenEvilHasStandards: A Renegade Shepard in ''2'' is noticeably devoid of xenophobic tendencies compared to the first game, and clearly unenthusiastic about the role Cerberus has taken in their post-resurrection life. They also have multiple cases throughout the series where a Renegade choice is arguably more moralistic or demonstrating of emotional standards compared to the "everyone should be saved" idealism of Paragon. This is most noticeable on Tuchanka, where the Renegade options are looked at more favorably by the ProudWarriorRaceGuy Krogan.

** Inverted at the start of ''Mass Effect 2''. With the exception of Shepard themselves and twenty other crew members, everyone else survives the wreck of the ''Normandy''.

** Reacts to the Plesiosaur skeleton in Dr Bryson's lab as "[[StockNessMonster Loch Ness Monster?]]"
* EvilMakesYouUgly: Played with from ''Mass Effect 2'' onwards the more Renegade options preformed will cause Shepard's face to get consistently more [[RedRightHand scarred and her]] [[RedEyesTakeWarning eyes will glow red]] yet no body In-Universe [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight ever seems to notice]].

* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: they's a member of the N7 special forces ''and'' is a Spectre, probably the two most dangerous fighting forces in the galaxy alongside the salarian STG, turian blackwatch and asari commandos.

Boris Rehlinger (male), Pascale Chemin (female), (French)

** In ''3'', despite still holding the rank of Lieutenant Commander (thus technically lower ranked than some of their own crew), they're essentially seen as the leader of the multi-species alliance against the Reapers. Granted, Shepard is acting on Admiral Hackett's orders, so the argument could be made that Shepard is a heroic MouthOfSauron. However, all of this is sort of unofficial, as Shepard is a Spectre and therefore outside of Alliance authority.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Shepard is obviously TheLeader and strength of personality and will makes Shepard come across as older than they really are. But like much of the crew, Shepard is relatively young, only 28 or 29 at the beginning of the first game. [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline Based on the Mass Effect timeline]], born in 2154, Shepard is actually about bang in the middle of the crew age range, being younger than Samara and Wrex (who both mention being nearly a thousand years old), Liara (2077), Hackett (2134), Anderson (2137), Thane (2146), Miranda/Mordin (2150), and Kaidan (2151). In this regard, they are closer to Joker (2155), Jacob (2157), Ashley (2158), Kasumi (2160), and Jack/Tali (2161). It's worth noting that the default Male Shepard's face model, Mark Vanderloo, was pushing forty when the first game came out.

** One of Paragon Shepard's tactics. Notably on Illium, where a grieving asari mother who lost her mate and both her children to war was taking it out on people of different races who had nothing to do with it. The Paragon line allows Shepard to ask her what her family did. Turns out, they all loved cultures and people, not just their own -- to which Shepard asks the woman if they would approve of her actions.

** In ''[=ME2=]'', spoiler:Shepard was reborn on a Cerberus space-station. Shepard can potentially die in ''[=ME3=]'' on another space-station, the Citadel.

** [[spoiler:Tela Vasir says that Shepard is one when they judge her for working with the Shadow Broker when they're essentially working with the terrorist organization, Cerberus. Although the player can't call Vasir out of it, if Shepard is Paragon and consistently acts anti-Cerberus and thus gives the picture that they are forced to team up with The Illusive Man in order to fight their shared enemy and would not think twice to betray him in the end, her retort falls flat because she willingly worked herself to the Shadow Broker who doesn't care about the safety of the galaxy when he attempted to sell Shepard's body to the Collectors.]]

** [[spoiler:Tela Vasir says that Shepard is one when they judge her for working with the Shadow Broker when they're essentially working with the terrorist organization, Cerberus.]]
** Paragon Shepard often berates criminals, smugglers, looters, mercenaries or vigilantes for breaking the law, seemingly forgetting that most of their squad are comprised of these individuals and Shepard ''herself/himself'' frequently falls into one or more of these categories. Although, in this particular case, Specters are explicitly above the law.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: At the end of game three, Shepard has personally killed [[spoiler:''three'']] Reapers directly. [[spoiler:Two on foot]]. And orchestrated the killing of [[spoiler:three more while fighting it. Granted, one was half-dead already and the other was pretty much an embryo, but still impressive.]] S/he's also killed [[spoiler:the Thorian and several Thresher Maws, who are "merely" extremely powerful {{Kaiju}}-like wildlife, but nonetheless were worshiped as gods by primitive civilizations.]]

** The Citadel DLC reveals that Shepard considers their scars badges of honour that (s)he earned from the struggles (s)he went through to get to this point. [[spoiler:Clone Shepard just doesn't get it.]]

** If Shepard states that it is unjust for a commander to [[SuicideMission order their crew into certain death]], ''every'' member of the team will point that he/she orders them to do exactly that twice a day.

* LivingLegend: From the beginning of the first game, Shepard is famous amongst humanity as an N7 marine with a distinguished service record, which is what gets Shepard the attention of the Council as a Spectre candidate. By the end of the first game, Shepard becomes this for the galaxy overall and it lasts into the 2nd game. At the beginning of the third game, when the Reapers return and Shepard's warnings and actions become vindicated, s/he becomes a living icon and a symbol of hope to humanity and the other species of the galaxy in their resistance against annihilation. By the end of the third game, Shepard becomes truly legendary, being remembered for generations to follow. [[spoiler: Though the "living" part of the trope may no longer qualify depending on the ending chosen...]]

* TookALevelInKindness: It's possible to play Shepard this way. Depending on the player's choices, Shepard can start the trilogy as an unrepentant jackass who hurts and lies to people with no provocation and end the trilogy as an absolute saint of a human being who will do his/her best to right every wrong he/she comes across.

** After defeating The Illusive Man, s/he engages in one with a dying Anderson.

* ArchEnemy: In the Reapers' billion-year existence of repeated extinction cycles, not one lifeform has ever confounded them like Commander Shepard has. Where others run screaming trying to hide, die futilely against their might, or become their mindless thralls, Shepard constantly defies the odds and keeps coming back for more. Not even ''[[BackFromTheDead death]]'' [[{Determinator} is able to stop them.]] This is further backed up by Harbinger singling them out as the single greatest threat of the entire cycle, and likely across all of their cycles. While emotions are a concept foreign to the Reapers, they are strongly implied to feel the closest things to fear and awe of Shepard as is possible for them.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler:In the Extended Cut of the Control ending, Shepard becomes a SentientCosmicForce controlling the Reapers. Yeah, you read that right. They ''became'' the Catalyst -- at least, this time without the imperative to make new Reapers. They even narrate the ending, saying that they now understand what words like "eternal", "infinite", and "immortal" actually mean, and declare the entire galaxy under their protection]].

* KarmaHoudini: Shepard will always [[spoiler:be hailed as the hero who rallied the galaxy against the Reapers and can retain the loyalty and respect of their squad, even if they are a full-blown jerk and/or genocide entire species. Particulary true for a Renegade Shepard who ultimately chooses to control the Reapers, who is rewarded with immortality and godhood.]]

* KarmaHoudini: A Renegade Shepard who [[spoiler:takes control of the Reapers. Their reward for being a jerk and possibly genociding entire species is immortality and godhood. Even outside of this, Shepard will always be hailed as the hero who rallied the galaxy against the Reapers, and can retain the loyalty and respect of their squad as well]].

* HappinessInSlavery: Admits to Javik that they sometimes feel like this. Shepard's been an Alliance soldier now for so long, they have honestly forgotten what it is like to be anything else. Despite being a ShellShockedVeteran, Shepard knows that their life is ruled by warfare and accepts that unless they finish the fight, they can ''never'' can earn their freedom from it. It also worth mentioning that Shepard never had a normal childhood. They either spent their lives on the street until joining the military (Earthborn), had all their loved ones killed in a batarian attack (Colonist) or was born and bred ''straight into'' the military (Spacer).

* BaldOfAwesome:
** The default male options, depending on how you play. Okay, well maybe not ''completely'' bald, but it sounds better than closely shaved stubble of awesome/closely shaved stubble of evil.
** Also applies to a closely shaved Female Shep.

** Also inverted as the Reapers have enormous respect for Shepard, who has become the only thing they have ever truly [[TheDreaded feared.]] [[spoiler: The Leviathan, their precursors are similarly [[WhatTheHellAreYou awed]] at Shepard's ability to terrify their errant progeny, something they have never witnessed in ''billions'' of years.]] In fact, they want to ''keep'' Shepard just to figure out what makes him different.
--->'''[[spoiler:Leviathan]]:''' You are an anomaly.

** When you find in the Overlord DLC that a MadScientist used [[spoiler:his own autistic, genius brother]] as a lab rat, the Paragon interrupt is to ''pistol-whip him''.
*** Even the Paragon dialogue choice when you meet him again in the third game has Shepard being brutally honest with him.

** When letting Balak go in ''3'', Shepard have this to say to the investigator who asks if she should arrest Balak:
--->'''Shepard:''' I ''want'' you to put a bullet in his head. ''(darkly)'' But we're ''all'' making sacrifices today.

** RebuiltPedestal: Once the Reapers show up and Shepard's actions are given more context, most of the galaxy becomes willing to rally behind them, and if played correctly, Kaidan[=/=]Ashley and Shepard become friends[=/=]lovers again once they are finally given the full picture.

* {{Catchphrase}}: Renegade Shepard really hates being "jerked around" and generally "[doesn't] have time for this", and Shepard in general often opens dialogue with "What can you tell me about [[MadLibsCatchphrase [insert thing here]]]", then finishing with "I should go." In the Citadel DLC Shepard finds out about the "I should go" thing and is annoyed that no-one ever told them how awkward it sounds (if Shepard has the Spacer background, a call with mom shows she does this too).

* TheChampion: [[WideEyedIdealist Paragon Shepard]] in particular can become this to both the geth and the rachni.
** Do ''not'' threaten [[RobotBuddy Legion]] or [[SpaceshipGirl EDI]] or insinuate your belief that they are JustAMachine. Paragon Shepard does ''not'' take that well.
** [[spoiler: During the ''Overlord'' DownloadableContent, after seeing what Gavin Archer did to his autistic bother, Paragon Shepard actually pistol-whips him and threatens to put a bullet between Gavin's eyes if he ''ever'' dares to come near David again]].

** Another thing that seems to undergo canonical change is Shepard's attitude towards aliens. It's particularly visible if they're a Renegade; While in the first game they don't miss an opportunity to insult a turian or boast about how great humans are, in the sequel they have no problem with having non-humans aboard, and in the third game they are clearly dedicated to saving whoever they can.

* CharacterModelKarmaMeter: In Mass Effect 2, Shepard's scars heal if they perform Paragon actions, but grow deeper and glow red with Renegade actions.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: The vast majority of Shepard's personality and actions were decided upon by the player, in the first and second entries in the trilogy. Come the third game, they have a much more clearly defined personality, and much more dialogue independent from player input. Also in the third game, Renegade options also distance themselves from the typical LaughablyEvil HeroicComedicSociopath outcomes in previous entries, to actions that would make Shepard look like an outright VillainProtagonist.
** Renegade Shepard had multiple changes between the first game and the second game as well. Namely, a large aspect of Renegade Shepard's characterization in the first installment is that they could be ''very'' xenophobic, particularly towards Turians. And at the end of the first installment, Shepard can let the Council die not out of pragmatism to stop Sovereign, but because they want to promote Humanity's interests. Yet in the sequel, those xenophobic traits go completely away. Despite working with the human supremist group Cerberus, Shepard makes it clear that they ''do not'' share Cerberus's xenophobic leanings.They could also be a complete asshole towards their crew in the first game, causing said crew to start to avoid talking to Shepard whenever possible, and while it is possible to alienate certain crew members in ''2'' by bungling their loyalty missions or disputes, they won't avoid Shepard just because of mean dialogue options.

** On Tuchanka, [[spoiler:they can betray the krogan by sabotaging the genophage cure. Unless Wrex and Eve are both dead, this also requires them to betray and murder Mordin/Padok.]]

** At the end of the trilogy, [[spoiler:they can betray all sentient life in the galaxy by refusing to fire the Crucible]].

* ColdSniper[=/=]FriendlySniper: Renegade and Paragon Shepard who chooses to use a sniper rifle, respectively.

%%* CommandingCoolness

* CoolBigSis: A Paragon female Shepard towards Tali. She can also become one to Grunt. After earning his loyalty, he doesn't see her as a squishy female, only as his ''Battlemaster''.

* CourtMartialed: At the start of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' Shepard is on house arrest awaiting trial, either for working with Cerberus or for the destruction of a batarian colony in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'''s "Arrival" DownloadableContent. The charges are dropped when the Reapers turn up and Shepard is needed to help fight them.(Also, since the batarians have just been effectively wiped out, pleasing them isn't much of an issue now.)

-->"You wanted to grab Edi by the hair and nibble down her back? Let's remember that one for later."

-->'''Shepard:''' ''(to some goons)'' You're criminals. I can ''kill'' criminals.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Depending on the origin that you choose, [[StreetUrchin Shepard could have grown up on Earth without any parents and been a member of a gang in order to survive]]. [[DoomedHometown They also might have seen their colony raided by batarian slavers and watched their family get murdered]].

* DivingSave: ActionCommands allow Shepard to pull a few of these in the second game, as well as during the regular cutscenes. One of the more notable occurrences is [[spoiler:during the final assault on the Collector base, where you have to jump to save one of your party from sliding into an abyss. Depending on your party composition, it's possible for Grunt - a krogan easily two or three times Shepard's size - to be the one rescued in this fashion.]]

** The ''Reapers'' seemingly consider Shepard this, with their [[http://twitter.com/#!/TheReaperLegion twitter feed]] referring to them as [[WorthyOpponent "Hostile target Shepard"]]. Keep in mind that the rest of that feed has them repeatedly appear unconcerned with [[ResistanceIsFutile any resistance whatsoever]] but the fact they ''don't'' know the location of Shepard has them nervous.
*** It's notable that the Reapers will ignore nearly everything else around them when Shepard is around, targeting them with their [[WaveMotionGun main weapons]], normally designed to hit starships. The Reaper on Rannoch is a notable example, in that it ignores the Quarian fleet hitting it from orbit with everything in their arsenal to specifically focus down Shepard, moving closer and closer until it prepares to fire at point blank range. The Reaper in [[spoiler: London]] similarly abandons its well defended position to go after Shepard, and Harbinger itself abandons the space battle above once ''that'' reaper is destroyed and employs BeamSpam (again, with weapons rated for starship combat) in an attempt to eliminate Shepard once and for all.
*** And all of these ''[[MadeOfIron fail]]''.
** Leviathan notes that Shepard is the only being that the Reapers have ''ever'' feared.[[note]]The Reapers have been around for over a ''billion'' years.[[/note]]
** It's also worth noting that after the Rannoch mission, Shepard is told that "Harbinger has spoken of you." For a Reaper to take notice of a singular individual and, in effect, WARN his brethren about them....speaks volumes about the effect Shepard has.

* DualWielding[=/=]GunsAkimbo: Depending on how you interpret omnitools. If you look closely, it turns out that Shepard is actually using ''two'' omnitools. You can see both in action when using a heavy melee attack as a Sentinel.

* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Default female Shepard looked quite different in Mass Effect 1 and 2, due to a contest asking for fan input on a new design. This coincided with {{Creator/BioWare}} making female Shepard a part of the marketing for the game.

* EnemyMine: Especially for a Paragon Shepard, working with the Illusive Man and Cerberus is definitely an example and they make it clear that [[NecessarilyEvil they're only working with them because no one else is willing to help them.]]

-->'''Shepard:''' What I ''want'' is to put a bullet between his eyes... ''(storms off pissed)'' But we're ''all'' making sacrifices today.

* EvenTheGirlsWantHer[=/=]EvenTheGuysWantHim: Both genders get attention from both men and women. [=FemShep=] has no shortage of asari, and no less than three human women, expressing interest in her in addition to all the men she attracts. [=MaleShep=] earns the romantic affections of four out of six of the first game's gender equal squad (not to mention the immense amounts of HoYay that shippers have created for [=MaleShep=] and Garrus).

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure[=/=]BenevolentBoss: Paragon Shepard to their crew.

* BoldlyComing: Across the course of the series, Shepards of either gender can become romantically involved with Asari; Male Shepard can romance a Quarian, and Female Shepard can romance a Drell or a Turian. Taken UpToEleven in ''Citadel'', where Female Shepard can [[spoiler: have a drunken one-night stand with ''Javik'', the last Prothean]]. ''[=ME2=]'' discusses the trope, with there being some concern over interspecies relations. Mordin will offer Shepard medical advice on their LoveInterest; this is especially important for [[spoiler:Tali and Garrus]], who have incompatible chirality. Mordin advises against oral contact and, ahem, "ingesting".

* CourtMartialed: At the start of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' Shepard is on house arrest awaiting trial for the destruction of a batarian colony in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'''s "Arrival" DownloadableContent. The charges are dropped when the Reapers turn up and Shepard is needed to help fight them.(Also, since the Batarians have just been effectively wiped out, pleasing them isn't much of an issue now.)

* BackhandedCompliment: After seeing how disturbed Mordin is by the sight of a dead Krogan female, Shepard can express immense surprise that Mordin would suffer any kind of concern or identity crisis over the sight.

* InLoveWithYourCarnage: Judging from the various comments encountered throughout the series, Shepard's talent for destruction has garnered them quite a few fans amongst [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy the krogan]]. If Shepard [[spoiler:kills the Thresher Maw]] during Grunt's loyalty mission in ''2'', they ''receive a breeding request'' from a Krogan female. This is also a big part of why Garrus is attracted to Fem!Shep - he finds her immense ass-kicking skills both impressive and arousing.