Commander Shepard

Commander Shepard, a human, is the main chracter whose gender, appearance, and skills are all customizable and will have an impact on your experience. He is assigned to the crew of the Normandy. Commander Shepard is the first human given the ooportunity to join the Spectres, an elite security force for the Citadel Council.

Profile Reconstruction
Profile Reconstruction is the character creation system of Mass Effect. The process is began by selecting a preset character or creating a custom one.

When creating a custom character, you can choose to be male or female. The default names are John Shepard for male and Jane Shepard for female characters but first names may be customized.

Pre-Service History
Selecting pre-service history by choosting either Spacer, Colonist, or Earthborn is the next step. This choice impacts how others speak about the main character.
 * Spacer: Both of your parents were in the Alliance military. Your childhood was spent on ships and stations as they transferred from posting to posting, never staying in one location for more then a few years. Following in your parent's footsteps, you enlisted at the age of eighteen
 * Colonist: You were born and raised on Mindoir, a small border colony in the Attican Traverse. When you were sixteen slavers raided Mindoir, slaughtering your family and friends. You were saved by a passing Alliance patrol, and you enlisted with the military a few years later.
 * Earthborn: As an Earthborn, you had a rough childhood in the slums of Earth, and have a gritty edge to your personality.

Psychological Profile
Psychological profile also has three choices: Sole Survivor, War Hero, or Ruthless.
 * Sole Survivor: During your service, a mission you were on went horribly wrong. Trapped in an extreme survival situation, you had to overcome physical torments and psychological stresses that would have broken most people. You survived while all those around you fell, and now you alone are left to tell the tale.
 * War Hero: Early in your military career you found yourself facing an overwhelming enemy force. You risked your own life to save your fellow soldiers and defeat the enemy despite the impossible odds. Your bravery and heroism have earned you medals and recognition from the Alliance fleet.
 * Ruthless: Throughout your military career, your have held fast to one basic rule: get the job done. You've been called cold, calculating, and brutal. Your reputation for ruthless efficiency makes your fellow soldiers wary of you. But when failure is not an option, the military always goes to you first.

Class
Selecting the character's military specialization follows, which determines a set of talents.

Appearance
You may then continue with the default appearance or customize the character's looks. Facial structure, head, eyes, jaw, mouth, nose, hair, and make-up (female only) each have their own options and may be altered for the custom character.

Finalize
Before the game begins a character summary is shown for review and a chance to start over is available.