David Anderson

Captain David Edward Anderson is a human war hero and the original captain of the SSV Normandy. He was born in 2137, in London, but has no discernible English accent. Anderson is one of the Alliance's most decorated special forces operatives, and the first to graduate from the N7 marine program at Arcturus Station, serving with honor in the First Contact War. Anderson plays a major role in the novels Mass Effect: Revelation and Mass Effect: Retribution.

David Anderson is voiced by Keith David.

Mass Effect: Revelation
In 2157, David Anderson was one of the N7 program's most promising soldiers. He was personally congratulated on his achievements by Jon Grissom at graduation, only to be informed that an alien force had been sighted near a mass relay. Grissom was impressed by the young Anderson's tactical mind and cautioned him to prepare for combat. Anderson later served with distinction in the First Contact War alongside Jill Dah.

In 2165, then-Lieutenant David Anderson was the Executive Officer (XO) of the SSV Hastings. When the Hastings responded to a distress signal at a remote research station on Sidon, Anderson led the ground team and discovered the Sidon facility had been harbouring a traitor. Returning to the Citadel to recuperate after the mission, Anderson received the final decree of his divorce from his wife Cynthia, a separation caused by the long absences of his military career. He then followed the human tradition after getting divorced: he went to Chora's Den, near his apartment on the Citadel, to drown his sorrows.

After summoning Anderson to her offices, Ambassador Anita Goyle revealed that Sidon had been illegally researching artificial intelligence, and asked him to investigate the matter discreetly, as exposure would embarrass the Alliance. Anderson, with the aid of a salarian information broker, managed to look into the files of the only member of the Sidon staff who was absent during the attack, Kahlee Sanders, and discovered she was Jon Grissom's daughter. He went to Elysium under the cover of shore leave, and confronted Grissom. The retired general claimed he had sent Kahlee to the safety and obscurity of the Terminus Systems but Anderson kept the house under surveillance.

His gut instinct proved correct when a krogan named Skarr came looking for Kahlee, who was being hidden by her father. Anderson and Grissom would likely have been killed, but Saren Arterius, a turian Spectre, had been tracking the krogan and fought him off. Saren interrogated Kahlee about Sidon; though he seemed to accept her lie that it had been a station for biotic research, Anderson and Kahlee decided to leave Elysium and investigate the Dah'tan Manufacturing Company on Camala, where Dr. Shu Qian had obtained his components. One of Grissom's underworld contacts changed Kahlee's appearance and gave her a false ID to help sneak her off-world.

Arriving on Camala, Anderson discovered that Dah'tan Manufacturing had been destroyed and was in flames. He ran into Saren again, who had discovered the truth about Sidon and was furious that Anderson lied to him. Saren warned Anderson not to trust Kahlee, a statement that played out when Kahlee confessed she knew the true identity of the traitor at Sidon, Dr. Qian himself. She gave Anderson an OSD with proof, which he passed on to Anita Goyle. However, as Kahlee was being sneaked off Camala by the Alliance, Skarr managed to capture her. Goyle quickly appealed to the Council to let Anderson go with Saren on the rescue mission, to assess Anderson's Spectre candidacy, but Anderson and Saren already disliked each other, and the mission soon went sour. Saren broke from the plan and began destroying the element zero refinery where Kahlee was being held.

Anderson did not suspect that Saren had an ulterior motive during the rescue &mdash; claiming Dr. Qian's files on a mysterious artifact &mdash; as he was focused on rescuing Kahlee, with whom he had developed a budding romance. With her help, Anderson killed Skarr and the two of them escaped the refinery in time. Though Kahlee was saved, many innocent people died due to Saren's actions. However, Saren shifted the blame onto Anderson, claiming the lieutenant alerted the guards and forced his hand. True or not, this was enough to keep Anderson out of the Spectres.

After the mission, Anderson and Kahlee had to say their good-byes, as she was being transferred to a classified position, and Anderson was devoted to his military career. A confused story of what happened at the refinery eventually filtered back to the Citadel, as a rumour that Anderson had been the first human Spectre and blown his first mission so badly they kicked him out - a rumour Harkin never got tired of repeating.

Mass Effect
Anderson remained in the Alliance military, gaining an excellent reputation, and was eventually promoted to captain. Both Navigator Pressly and Doctor Chakwas speak highly of Anderson's bravery and leadership skills. Due to this, and because of the secret and sensitive nature of the Normandy's shakedown run, the Alliance gave him command of their prototype frigate and allowed him to hand-pick his crew. He chose Commander Shepard as his XO and effectively became Shepard's mentor.

The Normandy's first mission was the covert retrieval of a Prothean Beacon from Eden Prime. A turian Spectre, Nihlus Kryik, was assigned to supervise the mission and assess Shepard as a possible candidate for the Spectres. Nihlus intended to accompany Shepard on several other missions to assess the commander and give the Council a recommendation. However, the situation became more complicated when the colony came under attack by the geth and a massive warship, and Nihlus was killed.

After Shepard was knocked unconscious during the encounter with the beacon, Anderson learned from Ashley and Kaidan, the Eden Prime ground team, that the attack had been led by none other than Saren, who had murdered Nihlus in cold blood. Anderson believed that his old enemy was working with the geth to exterminate the entire human race, and was determined to stop him. But there was little he could do to stop Saren; their checkered past complicated the hearing with the Council. Ambassador Udina told Anderson to step aside and let Shepard handle the investigation, so the Council would not claim the Alliance's accusations of treason were based on old grudges. Anderson was able to offer Shepard an explanation of Saren's history, and to find some leads to help build the case against him. Finally, once Shepard had been made a Spectre, Anderson stepped down as the captain of the Normandy, handing the command to Shepard. He admitted this was not how he imagined his career ending, but he was content to pass the torch on to his protégé.

Anderson remained on the Citadel, able to give Shepard advice and guidance when necessary. He had a tendency to be more supportive than Ambassador Udina during any debriefs. If asked about Armistan Banes, Anderson was surprised to hear Shepard say the name, and pointed the commander to Admiral Kahoku in an attempt to find answers. Throughout the mission, Anderson remained one of the few on the station who actually believed Shepard's vision from the Prothean Beacon was true, and understood the magnitude of the threat the Reapers posed. Anderson guessed that the Conduit was some kind of Prothean

weapon, one Saren was planning to unleash against the galaxy. When Shepard finally gathered enough evidence of Saren's role in the impending Reaper invasion and returned, Anderson realised the Council and Udina might use Shepard's talk of the Reapers as an excuse to ground the Normandy, but could not get a message to Shepard in time.

Concocting a plan, Anderson invited the Commander to a meeting at Flux and offered his help to unlock the Normandy's systems. Shepard warned him that he could be arrested for treason, but Anderson only cared about getting the Normandy to Ilos in time to stop Saren. He offered to either risk facing armed C-Sec patrols to unlock the ship's systems directly (getting shot in the process), or to break into Udina's office to countermand the lockdown order, punching out Udina in the process. Anderson's plan worked, and the Normandy got off the Citadel safely. Somehow Anderson managed to survive the initial assault on the Citadel when Saren put his plan into action. After Sovereign was destroyed, Anderson led the rescue teams into the Council Chambers, searching for Shepard's squad.

Depending on the outcome of the story, Anderson is one of the two candidates Shepard can endorse as either the human Council representative, or the chairman of a human-controlled or human-exclusive Council if the Destiny Ascension is destroyed. If chosen, Anderson was honored to accept the role. He vowed to either help strengthen and unite the Citadel races against the Reapers, or use his military experience to the full, and drive the Reapers back into dark space.

Mass Effect: Ascension
In Mass Effect: Ascension, it is revealed that after their mission together, Anderson filed a classified document detailing Kahlee's relation to Jon Grissom. This file eventually fell into the hands of the extremist group Cerberus. One of their agents, Dr. Jiro Toshiwa &mdash; who was then in a relationship with Kahlee &mdash; read its contents and later discussed Kahlee's parentage with her, though Kahlee later realised she had never told Jiro about her father. This later lead to Jiro's exposure and capture.

Anderson is also mentioned by Kahlee later, when she, Hendel Mitra, Paul Grayson and his daughter Gillian are on the run from Cerberus. She suggested that he could protect them, but Hendel dismissed the idea, fearing that Cerberus would intercept any message to Anderson before it reached him.

Mass Effect 2
The endgame save of Mass Effect does not record whether Shepard recommended Anderson or Udina for the Council. This happens because Mass Effect records the endgame save after Sovereign's destruction but before the scene where Shepard makes that decision. If the player imports a saved game, during the shuttle ride from Lazarus Research Station, Miranda will ask Shepard who was recommended for the Council, letting the player select either Anderson or Udina, regardless of the choice made in Mass Effect. If the player does not import a saved game, the Destiny Ascension was destroyed and the Council died along with it; Udina rises to Councilor.

Depending on Shepard's choice, Anderson either rose to join the Council or else was promoted to Admiral and became advisor to Councilor Udina - much to their mutual annoyance. After he heard rumours that Shepard had been rebuilt and had taken control of the Normandy SR-2, Anderson sent a message asking Shepard to come and meet him at the Citadel. As Councilor, if the Council lived, Anderson arranged for a meeting with the Council and persuaded them to give Shepard the chance to regain Spectre status. If the Council died, the new Council refused to see Shepard, but Anderson was able to restore Shepard's Spectre status if desired. If Udina became Councilor in either case then this option was not available. No matter the situation, Udina arrived and was upset that Anderson has arranged things behind his back. Anderson remained supportive of Shepard as always, against the odds, though he reflected that his current position was not how he expected to spend his twilight years. He was mistrustful of Cerberus, and harbored some slight resentment at Shepard joining their ranks.

If Anderson was visited before the mission on Horizon and was asked by Shepard of what became of either Kaiden Alenko or Ashley Williams (depending on who died on Virmire during Mass Effect), Anderson mentioned that they were on a "classified" mission and that he could not disclose any details. If visited after the Horizon mission, if Shepard mentioned seeing Williams or Alenko on Horizon and accused Anderson of betrayal, Anderson rebuffed this, saying that he had no choice but to investigate, given the disturbing rumors he had received of Shepard's involvement with Cerberus. Anderson believed the Illusive Man, still the master manipulator he is, was lying to Shepard. Anderson authorized the building of the GARDIAN turrets on Horizon and Williams/Alenko's stationing there for the "outreach" program. Anderson also reveals that even though he still does not Cerberus, Williams/Alenko's report on Horizon confirmed Shepard's story about the Collectors being the real source being the missing human colonies, and Williams/Alenko did not find any evidence to convince the Council the reapers exist.

Mass Effect: Retribution
Just less than a year after the events of Mass Effect 2, Anderson continued his role on the Citadel by leading the Alliance trade negotiations alongside the elcor, volus and turians. However, his feelings of resentment at his work continued, becoming increasingly frustrated at the slow pace and difficulty of getting things done in politics, and yearning for the more happier and decisive time he served as a solider.

After receiving a message asking for help from his old friend Kahlee Sanders, Anderson abandoned the trade negotiations to Udina, and convinced the turian Ambassador Orinia to assist him and Kahlee in finding Paul Grayson, who had been kidnapped by Cerberus. Using information Grayson had sent Kahlee, Ambassador Orinia was able to put together an all-turian task force to strike at various remote Cerberus facilities, capturing them and arresting a number of Cerberus operatives on the Citadel itself. Provoking a political storm, Anderson authorised a joint military exercise with the turians to allow them to strike facilities in Alliance territory, while encouraging them to strike two facilities in the volatile Terminus Systems in violation of the Citadel Conventions. Sick of his role and aware that his actions may have cost him his job anyway, Anderson resigned his post and accompanied Kahlee to the facility Grayson had been kept captive to help her decode the Cerberus research files there.

Unfortunately, The Illusive Man had employed Aria T'Loak, the Pirate Queen of Omega, to recapture the facility and Kahlee in particular, so as to lure back the now escaped Reaper-enslaved and upgraded Grayson so that he could be terminated. Her mercenaries killed the turian soldiers and scientists working there, but captured Anderson and Kahlee, with Aria persuading Kahlee to send Grayson a message so that she could capture him alive. Convincing Aria's lieutenant Sanak that he had to be taken along for Kahlee to co-operate, Anderson overpowered Sanak and shot him as the cybernetically enhanced Grayson butchered the rest of Aria's forces. As Anderson and Kahlee escaped with the help of Cerberus operative Kai Leng, Anderson managed to stun Leng before taking him along and stealing his ship.

With Kahlee believing that Grayson had now made his way to the Jon Grissom Academy, Anderson managed to speed to the Academy and, donning an Envirosuit, succesfully extended the docking ramp to permit Kahlee to warn the Academy staff of the Grayson incursion. While Sanders roused the staff, Anderson hunted Grayson, managing to seriously wound him with his shotgun before himself being thrown by a blast of biotic energy, dislocating his shoulder, snapping the tendons of his left ankle, breaking ribs and his collarbone, suffering a collapsed lung and being knocked unconcious.

Upon rising, Anderson managed to find Grayson along with the captured Kahlee and, despite his injuries, defeated Grayson and saved the Academy. With Kai Leng having got free, and the injured Nick Donahue, a student of the Academy, bleeding out after being shot by Grayson, Kai Leng presented Anderson with a choice - allow Kai Leng to leave, or else watch as the boy died as Kahlee went to look for a medkit. Anderson chose to save the boy, using his uninjured hand to apply pressure to Nick's injury to prevent Nick losing too much blood while he was stabilised- but not before shooting Kai Ling in the back of both legs to slow his escape.

With the Academy and the boy safe, Anderson recovered on the station. He convinced Kahlee to leave the Academy with him in order to perform autopsies on the dead Grayson so as to understand and perhaps find a way to fight the Reapers. At last alone, she and Anderson finally shared a kiss.

Trivia

 * The Shadow Broker has files on David Anderson which can be accessed aboard his ship.
 * Additionally, the Shadow Broker's Video Archive contains several videos of Anderson.