Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...
Shepard, better known as Commander Shepard, is the
player character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...
in the ''
Mass Effect
''Mass Effect'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Casey Hudson, Drew Karpyshyn and Preston Watamaniuk. The franchise depicts a distant future where humanity and several alien civilizations have colonized the known unive ...
'' video game series by
BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated Doctor of Medicine, medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zes ...
(''
Mass Effect
''Mass Effect'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Casey Hudson, Drew Karpyshyn and Preston Watamaniuk. The franchise depicts a distant future where humanity and several alien civilizations have colonized the known unive ...
'', ''
Mass Effect 2
''Mass Effect 2'' is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in 2010 and PlayStation 3 in 2011. It is the second installment in the ''Mass Effect'' series and a ...
'', and ''
Mass Effect 3
''Mass Effect 3'' is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. The third major entry in the ''Mass Effect'' series and the final installment of the original trilogy, it was released in March 2012 ...
'').
A veteran soldier of the Systems Alliance Navy, an N7 graduate of the Interplanetary Combatives Training (ICT) military program, and the first human Citadel Council Spectre, Shepard works to stop the
Reapers, a sentient machine race dedicated to wiping out all advanced organic life. Shepard is neither a
hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...
, nor a
villain
A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...
;
[Paragon or Renegade morality system game mechanics] depending upon players' choices and actions, Shepard is the abstaining factor that acts as both on occasion, and will take whatever action is deemed necessary when presented with impossible scenarios.
Shepard's gender,
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
, first name and facial appearance are chosen and customised by the player.
Mark Meer
Mark Meer is a Canadian actor, writer and improvisor, based in Edmonton, Alberta. He is known for his role in the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy, in which he stars as the voice of the player character, Commander Shepard. His voice is featured in a numb ...
provides the voice for the male Shepard, while the default male Shepard's face and body were based on
Mark Vanderloo
Mark Vanderloo (born 24 April 1968 in Waddinxveen) is a Dutch model and actor. As a model, he is known for his work with Hugo Boss. As an actor, he is the face of Commander Shepard in the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy. Vanderloo is regarded as a super ...
.
Jennifer Hale
Jennifer Hale is a Canadian-American voice actress. She is best known for her work in video game franchises such as ''Baldur's Gate'', '' Mass Effect'', '' Metal Gear Solid'', '' BioShock Infinite'', '' Metroid Prime'', ''Overwatch'', and '' Sta ...
voices the female Shepard. Since the player can choose the gender of Shepard, much of the dialogue revolving around the character is gender-neutral with only a few exceptions. However, in some other ''Mass Effect'' media, Shepard is called "he" regardless of player choice for the gender.
The character is inspired by and named after American astronaut
Alan Shepard
Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and businessman. In 1961, he became the second person and the first American to travel into space and, in 1971, he beca ...
. Shepard's armor developed over the series, and was originally intended to be red-and-white. Most promotional material for the series focused on the male Shepard, due to the studio's desire for a single identifiable hero, though both versions of the character were given equal priority during development. Various merchandise has been made, including several figurines. Shepard has made cameo appearances in other
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
games and is referenced in ''
Mass Effect: Andromeda''.
Concept and creation
BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated Doctor of Medicine, medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zes ...
wanted players to feel special and empowered from the start of the game. Unlike other
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
protagonists, they felt Shepard should not be an entirely blank character for the player to create, in order to create a more "intense" experience; with ''Mass Effect'' being more cinematic than other BioWare video games, they felt they needed an "extra bit" with a sense of a specific flavor that can be caused by a memorable character, such as ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
''s
Captain Kirk
James Tiberius Kirk is a fictional character in the '' Star Trek'' media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in '' Star Trek'' serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as captain. Kirk lea ...
or ''
24''s
Jack Bauer
Jack Bauer is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Fox television series '' 24''. His character has worked in various capacities on the show, often as a federal agent of the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) based in Los Angeles, and w ...
.
![Alan-shepard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Alan-shepard.jpg)
Developers wanted to at least give Shepard a last name so that other characters could address them. The developers wanted a name that was both "all-American" and common, which led them to start looking at the original seven astronauts.
Alan Shepard
Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and businessman. In 1961, he became the second person and the first American to travel into space and, in 1971, he beca ...
was chosen due to fitting with the idea of "their" Shepard, being tough and respected, and fitting in with the character being the first human Spectre – Alan Shepard being the first American in space.
During the development of the first game, the female Shepard was given equal importance as the male counterpart; unique lines were written for her as well as a unique romance option. In fact, the early model for animation tests featured a female Shepard.
When describing her,
Casey Hudson
Casey Hudson is a Canadian video game developer, known for his work on several of BioWare's video games, and mainly the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy as game director.
Biography
After obtaining a degree in mechanical engineering, Hudson began his car ...
said "
e's not a caricature of the idea of role-playing as a female, but instead she's very impressive as a strong female character that's sensitive yet extremely confident and assertive".
Appearance and design
Shepard's default armor was originally red-and-white, but this was changed to charcoal grey, with a red-and-white stripe and the N7 logo, as Shepard looked too much like a medic.
The red stripe in the N7 logo is said to symbolise the blood the character must sacrifice to save the galaxy.
The armor became piece-based in ''
Mass Effect 2
''Mass Effect 2'' is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in 2010 and PlayStation 3 in 2011. It is the second installment in the ''Mass Effect'' series and a ...
'' to stress the character's
silhouette
A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...
, as well as making them look "stronger and able to take more punishment".
Despite this, the colours, as well as other elements of the armor and the commander's appearance, are customisable in ''Mass Effect 2''.
For the character customisation at the start of the game, they focused on "quality and realism". In order to test out the customisation system, the team made various
celebrity look-alike
A look-alike, double, or doppelgänger is a person who bears a strong physical resemblance to another person, excluding cases like twins and other instances of family resemblance.
Some look-alikes have been notable individuals in their own right, ...
s to ensure it offered a wide enough variety.
The default male face, as well as the male body, were based on Dutch
model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure.
Models c ...
Mark Vanderloo
Mark Vanderloo (born 24 April 1968 in Waddinxveen) is a Dutch model and actor. As a model, he is known for his work with Hugo Boss. As an actor, he is the face of Commander Shepard in the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy. Vanderloo is regarded as a super ...
. The default female face changed slightly between the first and second game,
but underwent a big redesign for ''Mass Effect 3''. Six different designs for the default female Shepard were hosted online, and
fans
Fan commonly refers to:
* Fan (machine), a machine for producing airflow, often used for cooling
** Hand fan, an implement held and waved by hand to move air for cooling
* Fan (person), short for fanatic; an enthusiast or supporter, especially wit ...
were told to vote for whichever design they preferred via
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
;
many different designs were made before the vote, but were whittled down to six by BioWare staff.
The blonde Shepard with freckles won,
though BioWare later decided that the hairstyle may have interfered with the vote, and so made another competition to decide that.
The red-haired Shepard won the subsequent competition.
Voice
![Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale at EXP Con 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Mark_Meer_and_Jennifer_Hale_at_EXP_Con_2011.jpg)
The male and female versions of Shepard were voiced by
Mark Meer
Mark Meer is a Canadian actor, writer and improvisor, based in Edmonton, Alberta. He is known for his role in the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy, in which he stars as the voice of the player character, Commander Shepard. His voice is featured in a numb ...
and
Jennifer Hale
Jennifer Hale is a Canadian-American voice actress. She is best known for her work in video game franchises such as ''Baldur's Gate'', '' Mass Effect'', '' Metal Gear Solid'', '' BioShock Infinite'', '' Metroid Prime'', ''Overwatch'', and '' Sta ...
respectively. Both of them had worked with BioWare many times previously.
Meer had first worked with BioWare during the creation of ''
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn'', and went on to voice other
bit part
In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British television, ...
s in their games. When he was first called in to work on ''Mass Effect'', he expected to voice more bit parts, and was "pleasantly surprised" to get the role of Shepard.
Caroline Livingstone gave voice direction during recording, and lead writer Mac Walters would occasionally sit in during recording sessions, allowing lines to be changed quickly.
Hale has said she is very invested in helping to "create" the stories of video games, though she herself is not a
gamer.
Although Hale does object to certain lines if they seem out-of-character in other works, she prefers not to mess with the words for Shepard and BioWare.
That BioWare did not change the words based on gender considerations was one of Hale's favorite aspects of the series.
Appearances
Lieutenant Commander Shepard serves as the
player character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...
of the main ''
Mass Effect
''Mass Effect'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Casey Hudson, Drew Karpyshyn and Preston Watamaniuk. The franchise depicts a distant future where humanity and several alien civilizations have colonized the known unive ...
'' game trilogy. The commander is a graduate of the Systems Alliance's – the "galactic face of humanity"
– military N7 program, the highest grade of their "Interplanetary Combatives Training" that commands a great deal of respect.
Their service before joining the military and the military event that allowed them to rise to fame are both chosen by the player before the game starts, out of three options each. Also customizable is Shepard's gender,
character class
In tabletop games and video games, a character class is a job or profession commonly used to differentiate the abilities of different game characters.
In role-playing games (RPGs), character classes aggregate several abilities and aptitudes, ...
and physical appearance.
The player is given paraphrased
dialogue options via a radial command menu called the "dialogue wheel", which Shepard will expand on when clicked. Different choices on the dialogue wheel can grant either Paragon or Renegade points, which will overtime affect their physical appearance in ''Mass Effect 2'' and ''Mass Effect 3'': a higher Renegade score will cause Shepard's scars to worsen and their eyes to start glowing red, while a higher Paragon score will cause Shepard's scars to gradually heal and fade away.
Outside of the main trilogy, Shepard has been briefly mentioned in the novels ''
Mass Effect: Ascension'', ''
Retribution'', and ''
Deception
Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight o ...
'', and has also made a brief appearance in the third issue of the comic ''Homeworlds'', with only the N7 logo on their armour being shown in-shot. ''
Redemption'', taking place two years before the second game's main events, concerns how Shepard's body was retrieved by
Liara T'Soni
Dr. Liara T'Soni is a fictional character in BioWare's ''Mass Effect'' franchise, who serves as a party member (or "squadmate") in the original ''Mass Effect'' trilogy. She is an asari, a female-appearing species from the planet Thessia who ...
and then given to Cerberus after the character's death in ''Mass Effect 2''s
prologue
A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...
. The character, however, will not be making any further appearances in any ''Mass Effect'' games now that the main trilogy is over,
and BioWare have said that they do not wish the next ''Mass Effect'' protagonist to just be another soldier or "Shepard 2".
''Mass Effect''
In the first game, the commander is serving under
Captain David Anderson during the
shakedown run of the highly advanced
turian/human ship ''
SSV Normandy'', heading toward humanity's first ever colony, Eden Prime. However, it turns out the ship is actually being sent to collect a Prothean beacon (the Protheans being an advanced and now-extinct race whose technology could contain great discoveries) and give it to the Citadel Council, an executive committee who hold great sway in the galaxy,
and who are recognised as an authority by most of explored space.
A Spectre, an elite agent of the Council with the authority to deal with situations "in whatever way they deem necessary",
named Nihlus Kryik accompanies the mission to observe Shepard's candidacy to join the Spectres; if successful, this would make Shepard the first ever human Spectre and an exemplar of humanity's progress in galactic politics. However, Nihlus is killed during the mission when the
geth, a race of sentient AIs, and
Saren Arterius
The ''Mass Effect'' series, a military science fiction media franchise developed by Canadian video game developer BioWare and owned by American publisher Electronic Arts, features an extensive cast of characters. It is primarily based on a ser ...
, a rogue Spectre, attack the colony to steal the beacon. Shepard manages to stop the colony from being destroyed, but is hit by a blast from the damaged beacon before it blows up; as a result, Shepard begins to have visions of war and death.
After Saren's treachery is exposed to the Council through the use of an audio recording that mentions "the Reapers", which are believed to be a race of synthetic-organic starships that eradicate all organic civilization every 50,000 years, the Council revoke Saren's Spectre status and make Shepard the first ever human Spectre, though they believe the Reapers are merely a myth Saren is using to manipulate the geth. Shepard is instructed to take down Saren, and is placed in charge of the ''Normandy'' and given free rein of the galaxy. Over the course of the game, it becomes clear that the visions are images of the Protheans being destroyed by the Reapers; the commander speaks to one of these Reapers, referred to as Sovereign, on the planet of Virmire, though the Council still believes them to be a myth.
Eventually, Saren, Sovereign and the geth launch an attack on the Citadel, the "political, cultural, and financial capital of the galactic community" and home of the Council,
intending to activate a mass relay inside it that will allow all the Reapers to arrive at once from dark space, destroy the Citadel, and begin their "harvest" of organic life. Shepard manages to stop them, destroy Sovereign, and save the Citadel. Depending on the player's choices, Shepard may either also save the Council, or leave them to die to ensure Sovereign is destroyed or to build a new human-centric Council.
''Mass Effect 2''
At the beginning of the game, Shepard is killed when the Collectors attack and destroy the ''Normandy''. The commander is revived by Cerberus, a human-supremacist organization considered to be terrorists by the Citadel Council and the Systems Alliance,
with instructions by Cerberus leader the
Illusive Man
The Illusive Man is a fictional character in BioWare's ''Mass Effect'' video game franchise. He is the leader of the pro-human group Cerberus. The Illusive Man wears an open suit that connotes both futuristic style and the "casual swagger of a ...
to be brought back unaltered and exactly as they were before their death. The Illusive Man provides Shepard with both a new ship (the ''Normandy SR-2'') and a crew, and sends them on various missions against the Collectors, who are revealed to be puppets of the Reapers.
Over the course of the game, Shepard must assemble a team to prepare for a final assault on the Collector base accessible only through the Omega-4 Relay, a relay that destroys all non-Collector ships that try to go through it. Depending on the player's choices during the final mission, it is possible that Shepard may fail to escape the Collector base and die, though the save cannot be imported to ''Mass Effect 3'' if this is the case.
At the end of this mission, the player is given the choice to either destroy the base or hand it over to Cerberus – if the player chooses the former, Shepard effectively cuts all ties with Cerberus, and the crew and squadmates join the commander.
Depending on the player's decision concerning the Council in the first game, Shepard can either be reinstated as a Spectre now that they have been revived, be rejected by Udina and the rest of the Council, or refuse Spectre status when offered it.
''Mass Effect 3''
Shepard has been grounded and stripped of rank by the Alliance before the game starts, due to either working with Cerberus or blowing up a Mass Relay in the ''Mass Effect 2'' DLC pack ''
Arrival''. After Earth is invaded by the Reapers, the Alliance reinstates them and sends them to ask the Council for help, retaking command of the Alliance-refitted ''Normandy SR-2''. Though the Council refuses, they either reinstate or uphold the commander's Spectre status.
Shepard must then work to forge alliances between the various alien races to ensure the survival of Earth and to stop the Reapers from eradicating all organic life from the galaxy. Among the major decisions made by the player as part of the branching narrative of ''Mass Effect 3'' include the resolution of the
Krogan Genophage storyline, the outcome of the war between the geth and the
quarian
The quarians are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the ''Mass Effect'' multimedia franchise developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. The quarians and their backstory are introduced in the first ''Mass Effect'' thro ...
s, and ultimately the fate of the Reapers and the rest of the galactic community.
Following the conclusion of one of the three original endings of ''Mass Effect 3'', where Shepard activates a superweapon known as the Crucible on the Citadel to deal with the Reapers, the ''Normandy'' crashes on a distant planet after being caught in a wave of energy emitted by the Crucible. In some of the possible ending scenarios, the crew eulogizes Shepard by putting his or her name on the ship's memorial and flying away. If Shepard chose to destroy the Reapers, however, the crew will hesitate placing Shepard's name on the memorial wall. In one possible ending, the chestpiece of a body with the N7 emblem is shown to be moving, suggesting Shepard might have survived.
''Mass Effect: Andromeda''
Shepard does not make a direct appearance, though players can select Shepard's gender at the start of the game. Shepard is referenced both in conversations between characters, and in audio logs sent by Liara T'Soni to Alec Ryder, the player character's father.
Promotion and merchandise
The default male Shepard was used heavily in marketing, being featured on the covers for all three games and most trailers. The female Shepard was confirmed to be making an appearance in one of the trailers for the third game, and on one side of '' Mass Effect 3''s Collector's Edition, in June 2011.
The female Shepard had not been advertised heavily previously as marketing wanted to only showcase one character, so that consumers could easily understand who the hero was. For ''Mass Effect 3'', BioWare wished to "acknowledge" the demand for material with the female Shepard.
Outside of the ''Mass Effect'' series, Shepard has also made cameo appearances in other
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
games. ''SkyHeroes'' features various different characters from EA games, acting as playable pilots during the game's multiplayer mode.
Through
downloadable content
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...
released on March 27, Shepard becomes available as an alternate skin for Serah and Noel within ''Final Fantasy XIII-2''.
An N7 armor and omni-blades become available in ''
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning'' if the demo for ''
Mass Effect 3
''Mass Effect 3'' is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. The third major entry in the ''Mass Effect'' series and the final installment of the original trilogy, it was released in March 2012 ...
'' has been completed;
similarly, an N7 armor becomes available in ''
Dead Space 3
''Dead Space 3'' is a 2013 survival horror action video game developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the third and final main entry in the ''Dead Space'' series. The ...
'' if the player owns a copy of ''Mass Effect 3''.
Reception
The character has received a generally positive reception. Shepard was voted number 2 by readers in ''
Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
''s poll of the top 30 video game characters, behind ''
Halo
Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to:
* Halo (optical phenomenon)
* Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head
HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Video games
* ''Halo'' (franch ...
'' protagonist
Master Chief,
and ''Game Informer'' similarly listed them as 99 on their countdown of 100 favourite video game heroes – though squadmate
Garrus Vakarian
Garrus Vakarian is a fictional character in BioWare's ''Mass Effect'' franchise, who acts as a party member (or "squadmate") in each of the three games in the original trilogy. Garrus is a turian, one of the various alien species in ''Mass Ef ...
was placed significantly ahead, at number 15.
Eric Zipper of ''GameZone'' has listed the character as one of "the 8 coolest video game heroes who wouldn't be any fun to actually hang out with", citing how, as they're controlled by the player, their actions could be "wildly erratic".
Joe Juba, also writing for ''Game Informer'', chose Shepard as their favourite protagonist in their "2012 RPG of the Year Awards", saying that while the player changed the tone and context of many parts of ''Mass Effect'', "Shepard never comes out of it looking any less awesome".
The commander was voted the primary Xbox 360 candidate in
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
's mock video game presidential election,
with
Marcus Fenix
Marcus Michael Fenix is a fictional character and the primary protagonist from the first three games in the ''Gears of War'' video game series. He first appeared in the first game of the series, released in 2006.
Appearances Video games
Fenix d ...
being chosen as vice-president;
in the end, readers voted them second-place behind PlayStation 3 representatives
Nathan Drake and
Solid Snake.
GameDaily
GameDaily (GD) was a video game journalism website based in the United States.
It was launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads. The site changed its business model from a flat fee ...
's Chris Buffa listed the default male Shepard as one of the top 25 gaming hunks, citing how he is "a mysterious and battle hardened soldier that won't take guff from aliens."
A reader's poll for their top ultimate RPG party choices, drawing from characters of several disparate RPG video game franchises, published by IGN in December 2014 placed Shepard at No. 2.
Another reader's poll published by ''PC Gamer'' in 2015 reveal that Shepard was overall the fifth most popular ''Mass Effect'' character.
''
Maxim
Maxim or Maksim may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine
** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition
** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition
*Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...
'', however, criticised Shepard's armor when looking at "badass" powersuits, saying "there are eleven thousand different versions, so we've seen this look before."
Andrew Goldfarb, for
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
, criticised the decision to revisit Shepard during the
downloadable content
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...
of ''
Mass Effect 3
''Mass Effect 3'' is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. The third major entry in the ''Mass Effect'' series and the final installment of the original trilogy, it was released in March 2012 ...
'', believing that ''3''s ending was "final", and saying that he would have preferred to have a look at a new squad separate from Shepard.
Although Bioware reports showed that most players preferred male Shepard, sometimes referred to as "BroShep", at 82% of the time and only 18% of players chose to play as a female Shepard in ''Mass Effect 2'',
vocal support for her was high. The female Shepard was nicknamed "FemShep". ''
PC Gamer
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...
''s Tom Francis listed an appearance of FemShep on the box as one of 15 things he wished to see from ''3''.
Hale was nominated for "Best Performance By A Human Female" at the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards,
though lost to fellow ''Mass Effect'' voice actor
Tricia Helfer
Tricia Janine Helfer (born April 11, 1974) is a Canadian-American actress and former model. She played the enigmatic Cylon model Number Six in the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' series (2004–2009). She also voiced Sarah Kerrigan in ''S ...
(playing
Sarah Kerrigan
Sarah Louise Kerrigan, the self-styled Queen of Blades, is a fictional character in Blizzard Entertainment's ''StarCraft'' franchise. The character was created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, and her original appearance was designed by Metz ...
in ''
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'').
See also
*
Hawke (Dragon Age)
Hawke is a character from BioWare's ''Dragon Age'' media franchise, first appearing as the player character of the 2011 video game ''Dragon Age II''. Hawke is the eldest child of the human Hawke family and hails from the nation of Ferelden in th ...
, another BioWare player character who is customizable to a certain degree
Explanatory notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepard
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