Shadow Broker

The Shadow Broker is an individual at the head of an expansive organization which trades in information, always selling to the highest bidder. The Shadow Broker appears to be highly competent at its trade: all secrets that are bought and sold never allow one customer of the Broker to gain a significant advantage, forcing the customers to continue trading information to avoid becoming disadvantaged, allowing the Broker to remain in business.

Mass Effect
In 2183, the Shadow Broker's identity was unknown; the Broker always operates through an agent. Barla Von refers to the Broker as "he" for convenience's sake, but tells Commander Shepard that he believes the Shadow Broker is a group of individuals: it does not seem possible for a single individual to monitor all of the available information and have such a wide sphere of influence.

The Shadow Broker was part of the reason Tali came to the Citadel: the data file she had proving Saren Arterius had gone rogue put her in danger, but was too valuable to waste. She wanted to trade the information for a safe place to hide, so Dr. Chloe Michel put her in touch with the club owner Fist, who worked for the Broker. However, unknown to her, Fist had changed his allegiances to Saren. The Broker was furious at this treachery, hiring Wrex to assassinate Fist.

Cerberus Data
After raiding the Cerberus base on Nepheron as part of UNC: Hades' Dogs, an agent for the Shadow Broker contacts Shepard aboard the Normandy, wanting to buy the Cerberus files the team managed to recover. According to the agent, Admiral Kahoku bought the Broker's services to find Cerberus' location, in return for passing on any files he discovered. However, all the Shadow Broker could find out was that there was Cerberus activity in the Voyager Cluster.

Shepard can agree or refuse to sell the information. If Shepard refuses, the Shadow Broker's agent claims the information will be dug out of the Alliance databases eventually. Either way, the agent assures Shepard that this encounter will not be forgotten by his employer the next time Shepard needs the Broker's assistance.

Mass Effect: Redemption
In Mass Effect: Redemption the Shadow Broker was hired by the Collectors to retrieve Shepard's body and deliver it to them. As Harbinger is talking about the deal to the Shadow Broker, only one voice is responding to the possessed Collector General further hinting that the Shadow Broker is indeed a singular individual. He sent Tazzik, his personal enforcer, to retrieve Shepard's remains from the Blue Suns on Omega, a task at which he succeeded despite interference from Liara T'Soni and Feron. When the two followed Tazzik to the Broker's base on Alingon, they come face-to-face with the Broker, so to speak, as an obscure shadowy figure. Liara talked to him while Feron downloaded all the information on the Broker's dealings with the Collectors. When asked to why he would sell Shepard to the Collectors, who may be working for the Reapers, the Broker answered that it was simple business. He doesn't believe that the Collectors could gain anything from a corpse. When Liara got close enough to get a good look at the Broker, she finds that it is just a machine he's communicating through. But before the Broker could alert his men to their presence, Feron had finished downloading and Liara unleashed a powerful display of biotics, disabling the communications in the room. When they attempt to fool Tazzik and the Collector intermediary into thinking the Broker wanted full payment, the Collector General, who was possessing the drone, accused the Broker of treachery. The Broker assured the Collector that Feron doesn't speak for him. Despite the General's warning, Liara is able to escape with Shepard's body, but is forced to leave Feron behind.

Mass Effect 2
In 2185, the Shadow Broker is being pursued by Liara T'Soni, due to the events of Redemption. In response, the Broker placed a double agent named Nyxeris to monitor her progress and when possible, to kill her. It is also heavily implied by Liara, in-game, that the Shadow Broker is an individual.

Thane Krios also mentions that some years ago, batarian mercenaries employed the Shadow Broker to learn Thane's identity, and later used this information to murder his wife, Irikah.

Lair of the Shadow Broker
In Lair of the Shadow Broker, a DLC pack for Mass Effect 2, Commander Shepard and Liara T'Soni team up to confront the Shadow Broker.

The Shadow Broker is voiced by Steve Blum.

Identity
After tracking down and infiltrating the Shadow Broker's ship, Shepard and Liara break into the Broker's intel center and confront him in person. The Shadow Broker is revealed to be a member of a pre-spaceflight race called the yahg. Liara surmises that because the yahg were not discovered until 2125 CE and the Broker's ship is considerably older than that, this yahg usurped the original Shadow Broker years ago and has been running the organization ever since.

In the Dossiers terminal found in the intel center, a personal file about the Shadow Broker can be read. The file's messages reveal that after the yahg's homeworld Parnack was discovered and then declared off-limits in 2125 CE, the original Shadow Broker had his operatives abduct a yahg for him to study. The captured yahg proved highly intelligent and adaptable. With the Shadow Broker's support, the yahg killed the operative that was monitoring him and assumed the operative's identity, attaining a high rank within the organization as "Operative Kechlu". Sometime later, the Shadow Broker became aware that "Operative Kechlu" was a threat and attempted to eliminate him, but was beaten to the chase by "Kechlu". The yahg seamlessly took on the role of Shadow Broker and maintained the organization for the next six decades.

Future Plans
At some point during his reign, the Shadow Broker became aware of the Reapers and the true nature of the Collectors. Liara T'Soni suggests his dealings with the Collectors were a selfish and ill-conceived attempt to ensure his own survival from the Reapers' coming genocide. Ultimately, the Shadow Broker was never given the chance to further his plans.

Capabilities
Offensive:
 * He will continuously fire his Revenant while trying to close the distance on you.
 * Once he is close enough, or after a while, he will charge at you. This charge attack can break the pylons you can use to take cover, and damage you through it.
 * He can melee you with his shield if you stay close for too long.

Defensive:
 * In stage one, he will have shields, armor and health. He will replenish shields and armor once these defenses have been stripped.
 * In stage two and three, he will have the same, but also carry an impenetrable shield.
 * During the time his shielding and armor are stripped, he will be invincible to anything but a melee attack.

Tactics
General Tactics:
 * During stage one, use rapid-fire weapons with Disruptor Ammo and Overload on his shield, followed by slow-firing weapons with Incendiary Ammo and Incinerate or Warp on his armor.
 * During the second and third stages, use the same attack method. However, techs and biotics now need to be aimed carefully, since they will have to bypass the shield he is carrying. When you aim at him, aim at his left side leg or arm. If you shoot him enough, he will stagger, which is a good time to unleash powers on him. You could also try to run behind him using the Infiltrator's cloak or the Soldier's Adrenaline Rush ability. This, combined with a charged shot from a Geth Plasma Shotgun will take him down quickly.
 * Once his shields and armor are taken down, run up to him quickly, and melee him. Repeat the stripping/melee process three times to finish him off.
 * It is useful to note that using either Liara's Singularity or Stasis will stun the Shadow Broker for a brief time, giving you the chance to inflict more damage. The effectiveness is increased if you trained Liara's mastery to "Asari Controller" since it reduces power recharge time.
 * The Arc Projector is very effective against the Shadow Broker. It penetrates his shield, deals damage and causes him to temporarily lower his defenses. This allows for better positioning and follow up shots with other weapons. Repeating this pattern can make short work of him even on Insanity difficulty.
 * You can continuously climb the two staircases in the back of the room, climbing up one, moving towards the other, climbing down then moving back to the first to keep cover between you and him, allowing you to use powers to wither his defense. The upside of doing this is as you both circle the obstacle, he will more or less ignore Liara. Any attempt to charge at her will generally result in him charging into obstacles and getting caught there, making this battle ridiculously easy.
 * The M-98 Widow sniper rifle is also a good choice, provided you are accurate enough to hit him behind his shield. Adrenaline Rush can help with this if you are not that accurate. If done correctly, using this tactic means you won't have to move at all throughout the fight except for the melee sequences.

Class-Specific Tactics:
 * It is also worth noting that, despite his considerable size, the Shadow Broker is not very dangerous at point-blank range, so a Vanguard can charge at him and melee or shotgun him with relative impunity, especially considering he does not have any minor enemies to assist him (still, as always when charging, be ready to find cover when you run low on shields; having a biotic barrier also helps). He is prone to staggering from the impact of a Charge attack, so use this time to get into his flanks and wear his shields and armor down.
 * This encounter is very easy for a high level Engineer even without the assistance of Liara. Simply keep spawning Combat Drone next to him, and the yahg will be forced to turn around again and again to deal with the drones thereby exposing his unprotected back. This renders his impenetrable shield all but useless.
 * A Soldier can use Adrenaline Rush to get behind him, or at least increase the angle at which you can actually hit him by shooting next to his shield, by using Adrenaline Rush and circling around him. The Concussive Shot also stuns him allowing you to make a few good shots and possibly even make him recoil.
 * An Infiltrator has an easy time to get behind him, by hiding behind a pillar, cloaking and waiting for him to go after Liara. This will expose his back immensely, allowing you free potshots to make him stumble.
 * An Adept can frequently use Singularity to cause the Broker to stumble, opening him up to a Warp. Between Shepard and Liara's singularity, this should be enough to keep him stunned most of the time.
 * A Sentinel can use Tech Armor (particularly Assault Armor) to get behind him or stun him when the armor is destroyed. This strategy works especially well with the Geth Plasma Shotgun. Simply circle around him and hit him with a charged shot—which also staggers him—whenever he's open and restore Tech Armor when necessary. Between the constant stuns, staggers, and the Guardian passive ability, the Shadow Broker will be of little threat.

Aftermath
After the Shadow Broker is dead, Liara T'Soni steps into the role of Shadow Broker herself. As Shepard and Liara had killed the few operatives aware of the Broker's true identity, Liara could take over without anyone else in the organization suspecting a transition. Liara is well aware of the power at her disposal, telling Shepard she can use the information network to start a war in ten minutes if she wanted to, but vows to not abuse her position and to help Shepard find a way to combat the Reapers.

Troop Varieties

 * Shadow Broker Agent
 * Shadow Broker Engineer
 * Shadow Broker Heavy
 * Shadow Broker Vanguard

Known Associates

 * Agents
 * Barla Von
 * Nyxeris
 * Tazzik
 * Tela Vasir (Deceased)
 * Unidentified agent
 * Wilson (Deceased)
 * Former Agents
 * Feron
 * Fist
 * Hirelings
 * Blue Suns
 * Urdnot Wrex

Trivia

 * The Shadow Broker has classified personal files about himself which can be accessed aboard his ship.
 * The Shadow Broker will make a short comment dependent on Shepard's progress through the game as well as decisions, such as stating that his deal with the Collectors is still there or stating that he will take the Normandy's Reaper IFF, either to take the Collector base or to salvage its remains.
 * The Shadow Broker makes a short comment about getting use out of whoever Shepard brought as a third teammate. This comment varies based on who is brought along, but he has a unique comment for all squad members.