CHARACTER INFORMATION

[squadgoals]

CHARACTER INFORMATION:
Name: Liutenant Commander Jane Shepard
Canon: Mass Effect series
Canon Point: Post-destroy choice end! So, let's say, "falling helplessly to earth in a blazing crucible fireball of pain and agony" canon point!
Age: 32 years old, birthday April 11th, 2154



HISTORY:
Here's a link to Shep herself!
And here's a summary of the ENTIRE Mass Effect story!
What follows is a list of "major choices" made by this Shep through the series, which hopefully will help elucidate her current character further:
She is a SPACER/WAR HERO/VANGUARD, meaning she grew up in space with her military mom and dad, saved the day as a war hero on Elysium, and is a mixed combat/biotics (mass effect psychic powers woooo) user!

In Mass Effect, she:
-Saved the Rachni Queen
-Romanced Liara
-Did not shoot Wrex
-Saved Ashley, sacrificing Kaidan, saving Kirrahe
-Saved the Council
-Appointed Anderson as the human council member
-Thought everything was awesome, even if people were sucky sometimes

In Mass Effect 2, she:
-Broke up with Liara — gently. A lot can change in two years.
-Saved Maelon's genophage research
-Cleared Tali's name
-Chose Samara
-Destroyed the Geth heretics
-Romanced Garrus
-Saved the ENTIRE crew
-Kept the collector base
-Had her entire world ripped apart from dying, and pushed a guy out a window in frustration

In Mass Effect 3, she:
-Romanced Garrus, AGAIN
-Saved the Rachni Queen, AGAIN
-Set Javik to defrost
-Cured the genophage alongside Wrex and Mordin
-Saved Omega with Aria
-Recruited Leviathan (what the fuuuuuu)
-Brokered peace between the Quarian and the Geth
-Had a HELLA PARTY after offering mercy to her dumb clone
-Chose DESTROY
-Had her Cassandra Complex finally come to fruition! Felt like she might punch someone out a window this time. Felt terrible a lot, and happy sometimes.

IN SUMMARY: WHAT A BIG PARAGON BABY



PERSONALITY:
Commander Shepard grew up in space, with her loving (but extremely busy) military parents. At 18, she joined up, as almost a reflex action, and became a war hero, completed N7 level training, and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. PTSD-free, thoroughly grounded, and well-supported by family and co-workers alike, she is shown to be a relatively well-put-together and accountable human at the start of Mass Effect 1 by Udina and Anderson. Becoming the next human Spectre, while not a chosen path, certainly seemed like a natural action. Strong of mind and body, great leadership abilities, incredible persuasiveness, and that legendary "x-factor" that draws people to her like moths to a flame.

Shepard's election as Spectre, assignment as the commanding officer of the SSV Normandy SR-1, and subsequent tracking of Saren, was relatively all straight-forward: a criminal, a threat, and a team working together to take it down. Shepard shone as a beacon of paragon strength, concerned first and foremost with bringing the criminal to justice. However, despite huge discoveries (the Reapers, via Sovereign) and crippling losses (Kaidan's sacrifice on Virmire), Shepard's goal never faltered: take down Saren, and deal with the Reapers after, whether people (the council, and others) believed her or not.

The plot of Mass Effect 1 gave us an excellent insight into Shepard as an Alliance soldier, adhering (mostly) to code, but able to be flexible and adaptable in vital situations. However, she's still mission to mission - after defeating Saren, saving the council, and putting Anderson forward as humanity's councilor representative, Shepard moves on mentally to what she feels, in her own mind, is her next "target": the Reapers. At this point, she is struggling with the burgeoning Cassandra complex, but convinced she can make things work in her favor. After all, she has to, if what Sovereign and Saren said was true.

Everything changes after the destruction of the Normandy above Alchera. Shepard's death, and subsequent revival two years later at the hands of Cerberus, throws everything she thought she knew into question. The Alliance is good, but they won't help fight the Reapers - or they wouldn't have sent her off to pick off random Geth units. Cerberus is bad, but she literally wouldn't be alive without them, and they will give her anything as long as she does the one thing she wanted, needed to do anyway: fight the Reapers. Her values are put into question by every crewmate she speaks to, especially ones she knew prior to the Normandy's destruction. She clashes with The Illusive Man about everything, but she clashes with Ashley on Horizon, too. Who is in the right? Shepard struggles with her own answer, but perseveres on, falling back on her own paragon code of conduct.

In the end, Shepard decides it's less about who is right, and more about doing the right thing. Shepard's "right thing" happens to be trying to save as many lives as possible, just as she strove for as an Alliance officer. But it's not about being Alliance, or Cerberus, or any affiliation any more. It's about working to save lives, all lives, regardless of whether they love or hate you. Sometimes, it works - the crew is safe after being kidnapped by the collectors, and they neutralize the base, saving the data (just as she did with Maelon's) for possible solutions to problems later. Sometimes, it doesn't - Hackett's plea to Shepard to pull deep-cover operative Dr. Kenson out of Batarian space ends with more than 300,000 lives lost, even if it did delay the Reaper invasion. Full of mixed feelings, guilt, and a keen awareness of her predictions coming to fruition at a break-neck speed, Shepard finally and ultimately defies The Illusive Man, and points the Normandy SR-2 homeward to Earth, to turn herself in. It is, after all, the right thing to do.

When the Reapers finally do attack, Shepard is ready, even if the rest of the galaxy isn't. Death, the suicide run, and countless more put things into a much sharper perspective. She's been challenged about her beliefs, and changed her way of thinking based on the crew and squad she's built and interacted with. Paragon she may be, but nothing is black and white any more, and she's starting to truly learn what to do about grey. When Shepard defied Saren and Sovereign, she did so because it was right to do so as a representative, a weapon for humanity. Now she stands against the Reapers as a symbol, a standard to lead the charge, for everyone. This isn't about humanity, this is about everyone, every living thing, and their will to persist, to persevere, to overcome, to survive.

Although Shepard started her story with the support of family and fellow Alliance soldiers, her journey was shaped very much by the numerous people who were woven into it, and the opinions and choices they held and had. Enemies like Saren, The Shadow Broker, Cerberus and The Illusive Man, as well as the Reapers themselves and all the quandaries they brought, served to hone and sharpen Shepard, but not break her. Strong supporters like Anderson, Hackett, and her whole squad helped Shepard see a much bigger picture, and consider all sides of every argument with equal care and gravity. Lovers, like Liara and Garrus, shared a softer side, and reminded her of what she fights for on on a smaller scale.

In the final push in London, she stays ever-strong and determined, single-mindedly focused, but still doing her best to maintain an approachable, congenial air, which is just as true. Fired and tempered in kilns across the galaxy, she is larger than life. Although not without her own doubts and struggles, by the last attack, she is at peace, or at least, at acceptance. She may be a hero, but in the end, still human.

And to that end, her humanity was what chose the Reaper's destruction, over their control, or synergy. Their cessation, her goal and target, from her first meeting with Sovereign, carried through, ultimately, to the very end.

Commander Shepard is a balancing act, skewing to the positive, but ever walking the knife's edge. "For the greater good" can go a lot of ways, but Shepard chose hers to be for the good of all, without sacrificing compassion. If she has a weakness, at the end, it is that same savior complex - the urge to protect and save everyone, even while knowing absolutely that she cannot. But her strength, her incredible ability to bring together people of all walks of life, races, creeds, and belief, is what carries her through, and continues to do so.