Characters / Mass Foundations

Protagonists

Ethan Sunderland (aka the Courier)

Appearances: Redemption in the Stars | Little Star | All the World's a Stage^note via flashback | Molten Lead

He started out as a courier, making a living by delivering packages until one day, Benny stole his package, a Platinum Chip, and left him for dead. He survived the double tap and recovered. After taking care of Benny, he assisted the NCR against Caesar's Legion, ensuring their victory and control of Hoover Dam. Years later, after having a near-death experience, he tried to improve his Transportalponder. Instead, it transported him to the Mass Effect universe. If you want to see more tropes of his canonical counterpart, go here.

• Ambiguously Brown: He was described having an olive skin tone. Artwork depicting him varies on the artstyle involved.
• Anti-Hero: Mostly a Pragmatic Hero. To start, he killed a batarian thug, stopping him from mugging him and looted the corpse for anything of value to use. He agreed to work with Cerberus on a project to repair his Transportalponder, abandoned Liara and Feron at the mercy of Tazzik when things turned for the worse in their pursuit of Shepard (though he was willing to rescue them at any cost), and took a Blue Suns centurion hostage to extract information on Liara's and Feron's coordinates from her comrades. On the other hand, he assisted the NCR during his travels in the Mojave. He was also squeamish working with Cerberus but didn't see much of a choice but to go along.
• Cassandra Truth: He told Liara and Feron he came from another universe. While Liara was open-minded to the possibility, Feron was very skeptical of his claim. It took a melding from Liara to convince Feron.
• Changed My Mind, Kid: An example for the protagonist. He left Liara and Feron at the mercy of Tazzik when things didn't go as planed in their pursuit of Shepard. Later on in the fic, he made it up by distracting the Harbinger-possessed Collector so Liara could bring Shepard's body somewhere safe.
• Deadpan Snarker: Most of his dialogue consists of him making snarky comments on just about everything.
• Defector from Decadence: According to this design sheet (post-Redemption), the Courier has defected from Cerberus after finding out they had compromised his work on the Transportalponder as well as Christina becoming a test subject (implied to be unwitting, knowing Cerberus).
• Empowered Badass Normal: It's shown and stated that he has several cybernetic implants, including the Monocyte Breeder, allowing him to heal more quickly than a normal human. It helps him in most fights, but not against the Harbinger-possessed Collector's biotic powers. Nevertheless, he does manage to hold on his own.
• Gadgeteer Genius / Mr. Fixit: With him modifying his Transportalponder and field stripping one of the weapons from Mass Effect, he comes off as this. He also thought about jury-rigging a skycar while fleeing from Tazzik. However, his Transportalponder going haywire on him can have him come across as a Bungling Inventor.
• Guile Hero: Whenever he finds himself outmatched, he resorts to guerrilla tactics and dirty tricks suitable for a Combat Pragmatist, like sliding a grenade underneath the Harbinger-possessed Collector's feet in a surprise attack. He is shown to be pretty persuasive, like convincing Aria to give him and his friends the location of Shepard's body.
• Never Found the Body: Judging by Jocelyn's Tragic Keepsake turning out to be his Holorifle and her remarks about him, it's implied she and possibly other people believed that he died some time ago, though she wasn't so sure about it.
• Not in This for Your Revolution: His primary motivation was to fix his Transportalponder and find a way home. But when he and Lynch's team infiltrated the base on Alingon, he was willing to rescue Liara from captivity and chose to distract the Harbinger-possessed Collector while she took Shepard's stasis pod to Lynch's ship.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Fitting, as he also has dark brown hair and eyes. For the snarky part, see Deadpan Snarker.
• Weirdness Magnet: Thanks to his Wild Wasteland trait, though only in earlier drafts.
• Wild Card: Aria described him as an anomaly that could disrupt the balance of power at Omega during their meeting with her.

Eric Grimes

Appearances: A New Day

Born and raised in Boston to an Irish immigrant father and a Puerto Rican mother, Eric Grimes had just graduated from high school and was on his way to attending at MIT not long before turning 19. However, while he was on a vacation at Angkor Wat with his family, a strange orb transported him to the Mass Effect universe, a year prior to the events of the first game. Feeling powerless to change anything and unable to find a way back, he'll have to adapt to his new universe.

• Afraid of Needles: Downplayed. He was hesitant in receiving gene therapy on his first day at an Alliance facility, remarking his arm would be sore, but he went through with it.
• Anti-Hero: Seems to be setting up to be of the Classical Anti-Hero variety, considering the number of flaws he has and the circumstances surrounding him. Midway through A New Day, he has gone through Character Development after his second visit at Angkor Wat, becoming more proactive and assertive.
• Cannot Spit It Out: He was tempted to say the Mass Effect universe existed as a fictional universe to anyone willing to listen. He found out he can't, as he couldn't bring himself to and no would really believe him.
• Culturally Religious: He and his family used to attend a Catholic church, but the narration states they had a falling out once his peers found out he's gay. He is still somewhat religious, though.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: Somewhat averted. While Eric had a decent grasp of the Mass Effect universe, he was still surprised by a fair number of things there. It was told that he hasn't played any of the games for several months prior to his arrival, meaning he doesn't have complete knowledge of the setting.
• Freak Out: Suffers from this when he couldn't find the Mass Effect counterpart of his family.
• Genre Savvy: Eric displayed this trope a few times so far. In one instance when he woke up at the hospital in the second chapter, he quickly figured out that he was in the Mass Effect universe by noticing a few things that felt off to him. Subverted in the first chapter when he found himself in an inescapable room with the orb. He was tempted to touch it but thought better of it. But that didn't help him much in the end.
• Gratuitous Spanish: Occasionally splices up his sentences with a Spanish word. Somewhat justified his mother was Hispanic. In the Whole Episode Flashback, he says to his brother that he wanted to impress his family with his grasp of the language.
• Nice Guy: At least to a degree. He was pretty reserved save for doing a few rude things here and there.
• Ordinary High-School Student: He had just graduated from high school and well on his way to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (no easy feat) before winding up in the Mass Effect universe.
• Parental Neglect: Implied by the narration to be a victim of this by his father, though it wasn't always like this according to a flashback.
• Shrinking Violet: Male example. He's shy, awkward, and stutters a lot. His behavior has gotten a lot worse in the Mass Effect, justified that being separated from his family was a traumatic experience. It really showed during his blind date with Garrett.
• Tiny Schoolboy: He's small for his age, as well as being rather skinny.
• Twofer Token Minority: Not only is he half-white and half-Hispanic, he is also gay.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Of crowds, it turns out. At worst, it was so far shown him being reluctant.

Commander Madison Shepard

Appearances: Redemption in the Stars^note Non-directly as a corpse | Little Star

Born to military parents, Madison spent her life being transferred from posting to posting. Following in her parents' footsteps, she enlisted to the Alliance navy at age 18, becoming an N7 years later. During an expedition to Akuze, her patrol was attacked by thresher maws, leaving her as the sole survivor. By the time of ME1, she was assigned to the SSV Normandy and sent on a mission to Eden Prime for a Prothean beacon. After finding that Saren, a turian Spectre, was responsible for the attack on the planet, the Citadel Council made her a Spectre and sent her on a mission to hunt him down. She eventually did, stopping him and the Reaper Sovereign from bringing back the Reapers and saving the Council. A month later, the Collectors attacked the Normandy and she perished in the attack. If you want to see her canonical counterpart, go here.

• Anti-Hero: Type II. See Good Is Not Nice below for more. In short, she can be described as a Paragade, meaning she took Paragon actions while taking Renegade dialogue options and/or the occasional Renegade option.
• Action Girl: Natch.
• Deadpan Snarker: Not to the extent as the Courier, but she has her moments, especially when she has learned of Dr. Harland's intentions.
• Drives Like Crazy: Implied, though more of an Informed Attribute. Still, doesn't stop her squadmates from dreading the worst when they were in the Mako on Acabar.
• The Ghost: We don't see her until Little Star, but plenty of characters talk about her in Redemption in the Stars. It's justified because her body was beyond recognition since the Courier had trouble identifying her, being burnt to hell like that.
• Good Is Not Nice: Shepard is willing to help out anyone in need. At the same time, she is also willing to tear anyone Too Dumb to Live a new one. Dr. Harland was no exception. She even stated that if not for the fact she and her team were in danger, she would've walked in and kicked her ass.
• Fiery Redhead: Downplayed. Shepard kept her cool most of the time, though she lost it when she heard Harland's intentions to profit from the orb that had killed most of her team.
• Hero of Another Story: She was this in Redemption in the Stars. Finally gets her own appearance in Little Star.
• Magic Knight: Being a vanguard does that.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Implied to be this, since Lynch told Ethan that leaving Liara behind would trigger survivor's guilt.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: She's often seen using a shotgun to great effect.
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead
• Transhuman: Alongside being a Super-Soldier (by our standards) from gene therapy, she also has biotics, befitting for a vanguard.

Jocelyn Song (aka the Lone Wanderer)

Appearances: Redemption in the Stars ^note Mentioned by title | All the World's a Stage

Raised in Vault 101 by her father James after her mother died, she was forced to leave when he left the vault to restart Project Purity. She eventually found him but the reunion was short; the Enclave arrived in the Capital Wasteland, intending to control the project for themselves. Her father sacrificed himself, allowing Jocelyn to flee. She joined up with the Brotherhood of Steel and took back the Jefferson Memorial. Some years later, she seemed to be still be wandering the wastes but her personality became jaded from everything she had encountered. If you want to see more tropes of her canonical counterpart, go here.

• Action Girl: She's female and she kicks ass. What else is there? It's surprising that she and the Doctor get along so well.
• Broken Hero: Despite being kicked out of Vault 101 and with her father dead and either most of her friends killed or missing, it was a miracle she managed to hold it together. See Heartbroken Badass below for more.
• Genius Bruiser: Intelligent and able to grasp some of the things the Doctor says to her, Jocelyn logs around a Super Sledge and able to hold off hordes of enemies.
• Heartbroken Badass: As if losing her dad during the events of Fallout 3 wasn't enough, both Sarah and Owen Lyons died not long afterward. She also believed the Courier, who turned out to be a friend of hers, to be dead. It's no wonder she's so burnt out.
• The Musketeer: Not with a sword, mind you, but with a super sledge.
• Power Armor: She wears a set of T-60 power armor before it got destroyed by the Ania.
• Took a Level in Cynic: The events of Fallout 3 and the seemingly death of the Courier took a toll on her. What turned her from someone who expressed concerned toward Amata hardened and somewhat bitter, given her initial interactions with the Doctor and Missy.
• Tragic Keepsake: The Lone Wanderer had the Courier's Holorifle. Judging by her comments, she thought he died some time ago.
• Twofer Token Minority: The Lone Wanderer is this, being female and Afro-Asian (half-Asian and half-black if you're wondering what that means).
• Walking Armory: She's described carrying a number of weapons and pouches in and out of her power armor. To be specific, a super sledge, a Holorifle, the MPLX Novasurge plasma pistol from the Mothership Zeta DLC, and a Laser RCW.

Characters from the Mass Effect universe

David Stark (aka Lynch)

Appearances: Redemption in the Stars

• Combat Medic: He personally treated Alan's injuries after he got hit by the shrapnel from the guard’s grenade. Ethan was surprised at the previously emotionless operative revealed to be a medic.
• The Lancer: To the Courier around midway in the plot.
• Privateer: He was a former member of the Corsairs, a black ops unit that the Alliance could disavow knowledge of if they were caught.
• The Stoic: Not a lot of things had fazed him, though he cracked up when Christina was badly injured.

Christina Rosaline

Appearances: Redemption in the Stars

• The Engineer
• Last Breath Bullet: She gets shot as the frigate's door is about to close by the Shadow Broker's guards who hid out on a catwalk. She doesn’t die, but ends up badly injured.
• Privateer: Like Lynch, she was a former member of the Corsairs before joining up with Cerberus.
• Mauve Shirt: Subverted. Like Alan, she served a minor role. While it appeared she had died as the frigate took off, it heavily implied that Christina will survive her injuries.
• Unwitting Test Subject: Becomes one in various experiments conducted by Cerberus, which is one of the reasons why the Courier defected.
• The Smart Gal: She's an engineer, so that's to be expected.

Alan Cain

Appearances: Redemption in the Stars

• The Big Guy: Lampshaded. He has been described as a walking tank and his armament has supported the assumption.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: He died off-screen when the Courier and Christina rescued Liara from captivity.
• Mauve Shirt: He serves a minor role at the end of the fourth chapter and part of the next before biting the dust off-screen.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Aside from him serving in an Alliance squad called Team Bravo and had a racist and ruthless streak, we don't know much about him before he died.

Dr. Layla Harland

Appearances: Little Star

Arthur Newton

Appearances: Little Star

Natalie Clay

Appearances: A New Day

A C-Sec officer who saved Eric from drowning when he arrived in the Mass Effect universe.

• Bollywood Nerd: Not only was she a Rare Female Example but a downplayed one as well. She was described as having Indian features, but the only sign of her being a nerd was her playing a video game.
• Deadpan Snarker: She had her moments, all of them friendly japes.
• Happily Married: With Luke.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: She was surprisingly opened-minded and helpful towards Eric, even willing to allow him to live at her place.

Luke Clay

Appearances: A New Day

Married to Natalie, he first met her in San Francisco when he was on shore leave.

• Happily Married: With Natalie.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed. While he was his dismissiveness towards Eric's initial attempts at finding a way back home alongside his casual attitude, he does look out for Eric and is concerned for his well-being.
• Real Men Cook: It was stated he opened up a restaurant after serving in the Alliance Navy.
• Supreme Chef: See Real Men Cook above. However, he states he's been having some financial problems.

Garrett Pitt

Appearances: A New Day

A young man whom Eric was introduced to on a blind date. He was the son of an Alliance Marine, hoping to follow in her footsteps someday. While he came off as irreverent and somewhat impulsive, he nevertheless was a caring and passionate man.

• Deadpan Snarker: He has a tendency to make quips, sometimes as jokes, other times at the expense of others. The quote below is him commenting on Eric's... attempt at flirting.
  Eric: “Um, by the way, that’s an excellent grip you got there. Strong, firm. Oh, and your eyes are gorgeous. Blue like the sea. Or the sky, I suppose…”
  Garrett: “You said that before.”
  Eric: “I did?”
  Garrett: “Yeah. Several times. And your rhyming’s atrocious, by the way. Really terrible, in fact.”
• Declaration of Protection: Makes that promise to Eric. Suffice to say, he made good on that promise when Arthur was harassing Eric at the Alliance academy.
  Garrett: “No matter what happens, I’ll be with you, yeah?”
• The Big Guy: He's described as being half a foot taller than Eric, standing at around 6 feet tall.
• The Gadfly: He's very quick to make a joke during his first date with Eric. Later on, he dares Eric to poke a keeper despite the danger, though he quickly claims he isn't serious about it.
• My Parents Are Dead: At least his dad, who died in an eezo mining facility when he was three.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Manly to Eric's Sensitive.

Roy Brandon

Appearances: A New Day

Talia Bert

Appearances: A New Day

Zoey Lugo

Appearances: A New Day

Zachary Turner

Appearances: Molten Lead

A Cerberus operative from Shanxi, he was assigned to report and assess potential candidates for Shepard's suicide mission sometime after the Courier betrayed Cerberus and took Rasa out of the picture. He wasn't exactly thrilled about his new job, to say the least.

• Hearing Voices: He seems to have a voice in his head that acts as the rational part of his mind... and his enabler, if we're going by his Attempted Suicide and other reprehensible acts that he committed.
• Fantastic Racism: He really despise anything that's not human, especially turians, due to the loss of his family on Shanxi and other undisclosed reasons.
• Freudian Excuse: His family, consisting of his brother and parents, died during the turian invasion on Shanxi, which gave him a large resentment against turians and other nonhuman species.
• Street Urchin: Before enlisting in the Alliance, he had been with the Ten Street Reds, giving him some skills in sabotage.
• Villain Protagonist: Of Molten Lead. He's a human supremacist/speciesist, willing to sacrifice innocents to get what he wants, which was backed by a self-centered attitude, and revels in violence. Yeah, he isn't exactly a saint.

Katherine Blanchett

Appearances: Molten Lead

A close friend of Zachary since childhood.

• Street Urchin: She and Zachary had been with the Ten Street Reds before she joined up with Cerberus.

Characters from other universes

Eric's family

Appearances: A New Day

Icarus Station crew

Appearances: All the World's a Stage

• Continuity Nod: The crew is a part of UGIT (short for United Galactic Intelligence Taskforce), which is one of UNIT's successor organisations referenced in the Big Finish Doctor Who episode The Council of War.
• Fun with Acronyms: OMI, the resident robot, is short for Omni Mutual Intelligence
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Dr. Alexander Rand, the administrator of the station, is one. While he was insistent on the experimentations of the shards of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, he was extremely helpful to the Lone Wanderer and the Doctor, doing whatever he can to protect the people on the station.

The Ania

Appearances: All the World's a Stage

• Expy: The Ania, being glass creatures, bears a strong resemblance to the Broken Glass Creature from a Touch of Glass, a Creepypasta.
• Hive Mind: The Ania functions that way, and in the Doctor's universe, the queen seemed to be affected negatively by shards of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, which the Doctor and some of the station's crew opted to investigate.
• Hive Queen: The Ania queen, natch.
• Non-Malicious Monster: What the Ania queen turned out to be, despite taking out the shuttle the Doctor and the others were in, and the Ania explicitly being dangerous predators. Two shards of unknown property had been stuck somewhere on the Ania queen's body, disrupting the hive mind with the Ania and causing immense pain in the giant creature. It even telepathically called out to the Doctor, saying it never intended to hurt anybody.
• Silicon-Based Life: Well, since they're described as made of glass. Alexander Rand says they're microorganisms taking form upon contact with any solids, both crystalline and amorphous. He also describes then as dangerous predators, able to rip apart anyone in mere seconds.

Nightmare (Graf Dumas)

Appearances: All the World's a Stage

Azwel

Appearances: All the World's a Stage

The Intruder

Appearances: Molten Lead

Not much is known about this being, other than arriving from another universe bearing Mass Effect elements and taking out another entity in a classified location.

• Adaptive Ability: The narration stated he was able to adapt and evolve to anything. Him mimicking voices would back that claim.
• Become a Real Boy: True to the character he's based on, the presence has a fixation with Pinocchio. First, he asked what happened to his body. Later on, he made an account on a chatting application using Pinocchio's face as an avatar. Needless to say, it creeps Zachary out.
• Expy: From singing about having no strings on him to his demeanor, the being the story refers to as an invader so far has a lot in common with the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Ultron.
• Insistent Terminology: Calls himself "adaptable, able to evolve to meet any challenge." In computer terms, that's what a virus is, to put it one way.
• Meaningful Name: The moniker he took up on, Deus Machina, which means "God Machine" in Latin. Lampshaded by both him and Zachary in an extranet chat, pointing out that Deus ex Machina might be a bit too on the nose.
• Voice Changeling: Able to change his voice at a whim, especially the other AI he assimilated to blend in at the classified location.