Mass Effect/Characters/Commander Shepard: Difference between revisions

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[[File:femshep sheploo 4170.png|frame|''"You can fight like a [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|krogan]], run like a [[Lightning Bruiser|leopard]], but you'll never be [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G8f4m2y9_k better than Commander Shepard]!"'']]

 

{{quote|''"We have to give everything.... even if that means our lives. We will stop at nothing. We will fight for the lost!"''}}

 

 

The [[Player Character]], a human Systems Alliance Marine and graduate of the N7 special forces program whose gender, appearance, and outlook are determined by the player. In the first game, Shepard is selected to be the first human Spectre, an elite agent of the [[The Federation|Council]]. After stumbling upon a Prothean Beacon and Saren's plans, Shepard sets out on a quest to stop Saren and save the galaxy from his attempts to bring back the Reapers.

In the final game, the Reapers began their final assault on the galaxy, and it's up to Shepard to rally the disparate peoples of the galaxy together in their darkest hour to repel the threat of extinction.

 

The following tropes appear in-game (note: the majority of these tropes apply no matter which version of Shepard is played, though there are a few that are exclusive to the female version):

 

* [[100% Heroism Rating]]: Or [[Jerkass|Hundred Percent Jerkass Recognition]]. You know, either way.

* [[Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder]]: No love interest from the original game sticks around very long in the sequel... and 2/3 of them chew you out for working with Cerberus. In the meantime, there are lots of fresh catches on the boat, especially two previously unavailable fan favorites from the previous game.

** And, with the announcement that {{spoiler|whoever survived Virmire is included in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]''}}, Shepard's romance of a squad-mate in ''Mass Effect 2'' ''[[Your Cheating Heart|will]]'' be addressed.

** This is also Jacob's justification for leaving femShep for another woman (without telling her first). And romancing someone else after {{spoiler|the death of Thane}} perhaps also counts, considering how the romance isn't referenced again.

* [[Acquired Poison Immunity]]: A side-effect of the cybernetic implants installed during their resurrection in ''Mass Effect 2'', rendered Shepard immune to most drugs and toxins that would easily kill a normal human, while possessing a high tolerance for others.

** This first is noticed in the introduction when Shepard briefly awakens prematurely, requiring Miranda and Wilson to adminster over twice the dosage of sedative in order to knock Shepard out again. On Omega, a Batarian bartender likewise gives Shepard a poisoned drink that is ''lethal'' to the average human that only effect is to knock them out for a few minutes.

* [[Action Girl]]/[[Dark Action Girl]]: Paragon/Renegade Female Shepard.

* [[Action Survivor]]: The [[Sole Survivor]] background.

*** Their choice of the word "hostile" also implies that they consider Shepard to an active danger to themselves and their plans.

** And this exchange on Rannoch;

'''Shepard''': You know who I am?

** On Mars, when you first encounter the Cerberus Troopers, they freak out. Keep in mind that Cerberus troopers are implanted with Reaper tech and indoctrinated to the point of being incapable of thinking for themselves.

{{quote|'''Assault Trooper:''' [[Oh Crap|HOLY SHIT!]] IT'S ''SHEPARD!''}}

* [[Exactly What I Aimed At]]: Can be used in the second game to shut up an ''incredibly'' annoying krogan.

** Shepard can [[Pet the Dog|intentionally miss]] the shot in ''Mass Effect 3'' while shooting bottles with Garrus, who triumphantly declares themself the better shot and the bigger badass.

* [[Face Framed in Shadow]]: Shepard gets a few opportunities to do this in the second game. Can be really creepy if you have heavy Renegade scarring.

* [[Failed a Spot Check]]: In ''Mass Effect 3'', in a conversation with Liara, Shepard briefly wonders if the Asari have schools for biotics like Grissom Academy. Liara then points out that the Asari are ''all'' biotics, so ''every'' school has to have biotic education.

{{quote|'''Tali:''' It's fun watching you shout.}}

* [[Hot Amazon]]: Female Shepard's love interests each appreciate her badassitude.

** Another great example [http://na.llnet.bioware.cdn.ea.com/u/f/eagames/bioware/masseffect3/resources/assets/media/wallpapers/wallpaper-005-femshep-1280x1024.jpg here].

* [[Hot for Student]]: One interpretation of the relationship between Garrus and Shepard is that of student (Garrus) and teacher (Shepard). This makes a female Shepard and Garrus getting into a relationship [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|this trope]].

** [[Jerkass Has a Point]]: [[In-Universe]] example, as well as out-of-universe. This is pretty much the entire point of at least half of the 'intimidate'/lower-left red dialogue options.

* [[Judge, Jury, and Executioner]]: Has this authority as a Spectre.

** Averted due to the events of the ''Arrival'' DLC. {{spoiler|Shepard (Paragon and Renegade) ''will'' be going to trial for wiping out an entire solar system and killing 300,000+ people in the process}}.

*** Also averted in ''Mass Effect 3'', as numerous Renegade decisions you've made over the games, including {{spoiler|killing Wrex, killing the rachni queen, refusing to save the colonists at Zhu's Hope, killing Shiala, destroying the initial genophage cure data on Mordin's loyalty quest, refusing to save the Council, etc}}, can come back to bite you in the ass.

** Accentuated during the ''[[Mass Effect 2]]: Arrival'' DLC, where Shepard can face down several dozen {{spoiler|indoctrinated Alliance}} soldiers, including combat techs, assault infantry, and a YMIR mech, totally alone, and slaughters them all. [[Memetic Mutation|DIRECT INTERVENTION IS NECESSARY]] from the {{spoiler|Reaper artifact}} to take him/her out of commission. [[Curb Stomp Battle|And when Shepard regains his/her feet, s/he rips through the entire base of elite assault troops in a total Curb Stomp Battle. Totally alone]].

*** [[Enemy Chatter]]: "Shepard won't go down!" and "Shepard is tearing us apart!"

* [[One of the Boys]]: Fem!Shep, usually.

* [[Only Mostly Dead]]: S/he even uses [[Exact Words]].

{{quote|'''Shepard:''' I was only mostly dead. Try finding that option on government paperwork.}}

* [[Only Sane Man]]: Paragon Shepard in ''Mass Effect 2'' and ''Mass Effect 3'' often has to keep their various allies from trying to kill each other.

* [[The Paragon]]: [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Paragon]] Shepard.

* [[Parental Abandonment]]: Both played straight and averted. Selecting Earthborn or Colonist backgrounds results in your character being an orphan. However, Spacers not only have still-living parents, but even get to call their mom during a sidequest.

* [[Reluctant Warrior]]: Paragon Shepard, who ''always'' tries to talk enemies down first, but nonetheless is prepared to knock seven bells out of them if they have to.

* [[Remember When You Blew Up a Sun?]]: The second game has everybody fully aware of just how many ridiculously impossible missions Shepard has completed and will mention them if they feel like it.

* [[Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated]]: Shepard drops this line a few times in the second game, [[Back from the Dead|even though they really weren't]].

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Colonist Shepard with the Ruthless personality became known to the Batarians as "[[Names to Run Away From Very Fast|The Butcher of Torfan]]" in gaining retribution for the loss of their family and friends to a slaver raid on Mindoir.

* [[Turn in Your Badge]]: By the beginning of ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', Shepard has apparently been unceremoniously stripped of his/her Spectre status, and with the Alliance has been relieved of duty and stripped of his/her rank.

** Although the Spectre status actually appears to be complicated. If you chose to become reinstated in the second game, it appears that due to working with Cerberus, being restricted to the Teminus systems was a form of probation. In the third game, you are returned to ''full'' Spectre status.

* [[The Unchosen One]]: Through a combination of ability and circumstance, s/he went from random (if notably badass) soldier to the protector of the galaxy in the span of a week at most.

* [[Undying Loyalty]]: Shepard's survival in the sequel depends on the Commander inspiring this in as many squad members as possible. It's up to the player whether or not the Commander returns this devotion to their troops.

* [[Walking Disaster Area]]: Shepard tends to cause massive destruction wherever s/he goes, regardless of intentions.

** In fact, it's so widespread at this point that [[Invoked Trope|The galaxy at large has started to notice]].

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'''Mordin:''' Excellent. Glad to see affinity for destruction still intact, Shepard.}}

{{quote|'''Admiral Hackett:''' All I know is I sent you out there to break Amanda Kenson out of prison, and now {{spoiler|an entire system is destroyed}}. I hope you can fill in the leap of logic between those two events.}}

** On the Citadel, Captain Bailey says that one of the reasons he's helping you is so that he'll know where you're headed so he can clear the civilians out first.

* [[Zero-Approval Gambit]]: After s/he {{spoiler|causes a supernova that kills over 300,000 batarians}}, Admiral Hackett tells him/her that s/he'll have to fulfill this trope in order to avert a war between the humans and batarians.