Mass Effect/Characters/Commander Shepard: Difference between revisions

* [[Badass]]: No matter which path you choose, Shepard will tread over the bodies of ''thousands'' of the galaxy's worst criminals and monsters before the end. The tooltips even describe Renegade!Shepard as the ultimate badass (Paragon!Shepard is the ultimate hero [[Good Is Not Soft|though no less badass]]). Capable of immense asskicking, attractive to practically everyone s/he meets, [[First Law of Resurrection|not even death can stop him/her]], [[Magnetic Hero|inspires loyalty among all in the general vicinity]], [[Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?|flips off Cthulhu]] before [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|delivering a KO-ing]] '''SHEPARD PAWNCH''' and flipping off his corpse... and could very easily change his/her name to Commander Awesome. Even the Reapers, ancient [[Nigh Invulnerability|nigh invulnerable]] machines that have committed systematic galactic genocide for millions of years (possibly longer) [[Worthy Opponent|have acknowledged him/her as a true threat.]] Each class also results in a new form of badass for Shepard;

** [[Ambadassador]]: By ''Mass Effect 3'' where s/he's tasked with making peace and creating alliances through species with centuries or millennia old conflicts. S/he never stops kicking ass along the way.

** [[Badass Boast]]: Whether s/he's Paragon or Renegade, s/he will make many of these and all of them justified.

{{quote| '''Paragon Shepard:''' We'll fight and win without it. I won't let fear compromise who I am.}}

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Paragon Shepard is entirely capable of gaining your undying loyalty and friendship by punching you in the face or putting a gun to your head.

** While technically a Renegade interrupt, the number of people who don't choose to [[Kick the Son of A Bitch|finish Kai Leng with it]] is ''remarkably low''.

** Even playing as a Paragon, an Infiltrator Shepard can routinely perform headshots on various mooks while using the Widow Sniper Rifle. Which, it should be mentioned, was originally designed to ''pierce tanks''.

*** In ''3'' its been reverse engineered into the Black Widow, which can cause enemies to violently ''explode''. By this point, its clear that anyone who tangles with a Paragon Infiltrator Shepard is literally [[Too Dumb to Live]].

* [[Character Development]]: If you play the first game as mostly X (Paragon or Renegade) nothing stops you from being the opposite in the sequel. In fact, you could conceivably go from all of one in 1, to 50/50 in 2, to the other in 3, or several variations thereof.

** Even without intentional action, Shepard quite clearly becomes a much more well defined character with a distinct personality over the course of the games. If Shepard is a 'blank slate' in the first game, he/she is certainly far less so by the time of three.

{{quote| '''EDI''': We've gotten several breeding requests for Grunt. ''And one for Shepard.''<br />

'''Grunt''': HAH! }}

** [[Tear Jerker|Cruely]] [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] if {{spoiler|the geth are allowed to wipe out the quarians at the end of the final Rannoch mission. Even if you take the paragon interrupt, Shepard will fail to catch Tali's hand.}}

* [[Don't Make Me Destroy You]]: ''Paragon'' Shepard frequently invokes this when dealing with adversaries, hoping to win them to their side or convince them to not fight, otherwise they will be forced to act.

* [[Doomed Hometown]]: Mindoir, if Shepard has the Colonist Background.

* [[Dramatic Space Drifting]]: The death scene at the beginning of the second game.

** [[Even the Guys Want Him]]: [[Celibate Hero|Mordin]] states that if he was actually interested in Romance, Shepard would be his first choice. This includes the Male Shepard. Also, after killing the Tresher Maw in Grunt's loyalty mission, Shepard gets breeding requests from Krogan of ''both'' genders. Played straight with Kaidan and Cortez in the third.

* [[Everybody's Dead, Dave]]: Both the Colonist and Sole Survivor backgrounds.

* [[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 ''3'' while shooting bottles with Garrus, who triumphantly declares themself the better shot and the bigger badass.

** At the end of the first Overlord mission, Shepard is surprised the satellite dish s\he's standing on is going to fall into a canyon, after blowing up the control panels. S\he gets better, just knowing messing with a geth ship is bad news, knows in advance an elevator on Atlas Station will be full of mooks, and before going down to David tells his\her squad not to be surprised even if a Reaper appears.

* [[Glowing Eyes]]: The third game depicts Shepard eyes turning a vivid green whenever in proximity to Prothean technology.

* [[Gone Horribly Right]]: For the Illusive Man. Bringing back Shepard to be exactly like s/he was before... Then he [[Villainous Breakdown|rages]] when Paragon Shepard doesn't help him get things like {{spoiler|Collector/Reaper technology}}.

** Even more so if Miranda is in the party at the final battle and is loyal, which causes her to tell the Illusive Man to shove it, resign and hang up on him when he begins to tirade. Keep in mind, before she met [[Magnetic Hero|Shepard]], Miranda was one of his most ''loyal agents''.

* [[Evil Counterpart|Good Counterpart]]: This to no less than three characters: Saren Arterius, {{spoiler|Tela Vasir}}, and Kai Leng.

** Also noticable with {{spoiler|Javik}} who is {{spoiler|the Prothean version of a Shepard who failed to stop the Reapers.}}

** For the three of you who don't know that female Shepard is this, [http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2011/08/Mass-Effect-3-the-real-female-shepard.jpg here's one version of the box art that will be available].

** 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].

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

* [[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]].

* [[Hurting Hero]]: Definitely there with a Colonist background and mixed with a War Hero or Sole Survivor background. Also depends on dialogue choices.

** Can also be shown at the end of the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC as shown in the [[Knight in Sour Armor]] entry below.

** At the end of the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC, Liara will ask Shepard how s/he's doing. If you choose the right dialogue option, Shepard will vent to Liara about how tired s/he is of dealing with Cerberus and the Council treating him/her like s/he's nuts. But in the end s/he keeps going because it's the right thing to do. It really drives home how [[Hurting Hero|much crap Shepard is going through]]. See [[Patrick Stewart Speech]] below for part of the exchange.

** BIG TIME in ''Mass Effect 3''. Throughout the entire game, Shepard feels that nothing s/he does is really going to make a difference. [[Determinator|S/he just keeps on going anyway.]]

* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: On this typical RPG mechanic.

** "Just once I'd like to ask someone for help and hear them say 'Sure. Let's go. Right now. No strings attached.'"

'''Shepard''': ...I don't follow, sir.<br />

'''Hackett''': When you went up against Sovereign, there was no good reason to believe you'd win. But your crew didn't seem to care -- they went along anyway. Your trip through the Omega 4 relay? That was a suicide mission if there ever was one. Yet there your crew was, standing beside you, proud to serve. With all you're facing out there, one thing impresses me most: you inspire confidence. I know everything hasn't gone as well as you'd hoped. Every war has its disagreements, so to speak. But... Your crew has done things no one else would even try -- simply because you asked them to. Why? Because they believed in you. Their leader. That's what I need now. }}

** Not to mention a Paragon Shepard fufills this role entirely, protecting both the innocent and their flock from encroaching wolves... or Reapers.

** {{spoiler|A post-credits scene has a kid ask for another story about "[[Spell My Name With a "The"|The Shepard]]."}}

** Inverted in ''3''. If Shepard cures the Genophage, Wrex declares their name will come to mean "Hero" in the Krogan language.

** Paragon Shepard also is one for Liara, the Paragon interrupts in ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' pointing out the sheer collateral damage of her actions and attempting to pull her back from her descent into [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] territory.

** Paragon Shepard also becomes one for Miranda and Jack (or at least as Jack starts getting better).

* [[Multiple Choice Past]]: You choose an origin and a highlight in Shepard's service record at the beginning of your game. The different decisions you can make as you play expand on this.

** [[Military Brat]]: The basis for the Spacer origin. Both parents were Alliance Navy, and is the only origin story where at least one parent is still alive.

* [[Recurring Dreams]]: Of the unpleasant variety in the third game. They're just about a little boy who s/he watched the Reapers kill at first, but then expand to include every one of Shepard's companions who died in the fight against the Reapers. {{spoiler|The last one has Shepard watching him/herself dying as well.}}

* [[Red Baron]]: "[[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|The Butcher of Torfan]]" if given the Ruthless background.

* [[Redheaded Hero|Red Headed Heroine]]: The default fem!Shep.

** [[Green Eyed Red Head]]: [http://na.llnet.bioware.cdn.ea.com/u/f/eagames/bioware/masseffect3/resources/assets/media/wallpapers/wallpaper-004-femshep-p.jpg As voted by fans.]

* [[Religious Bruiser]]: If the player chooses.

* [[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.

* [[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.

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: Many of Renegade Shepard's dialogue options and actions veer into this direction.

** Sometimes even [[Good Is Not Nice|Paragon actions]] can arguably be considered this.

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: While Shepard can be called out on his/her actions depending on them, s/he is given the opportunity to call out other people himself several times, including Udina, the Council, and {{spoiler|Zaeed in the Paragon ending of his loyalty mission}}.

** {{spoiler|The Virmire Survivor}} calls Shepard out in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' for working with Cerberus. At the beginning of ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', s/he's also being called out in a ''major'' way for {{spoiler|blowing up a star system and killing over 300,000 batarians}}.

* [[You Shall Not Pass]]: War Hero Shepard pulled this off, single-handedly fending off an entire platoon of Batarians who breached the garrison's defences during the Skyllian Blitz. Becomes even more awesome if Shepard has the Colonist background, because they effectively took on a larger number of troops than those that attacked Mindoir and ''actually won''.

* [[Youthful Freckles]]: FemShep [http://i.imgur.com/fvRDq.png has them], to go with the [[Green Eyed Red Head|red hair and green eyes]].

 

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