Kenneth Donnelly

Kenneth Donnelly is an operative of Lazarus Cell and an engineer aboard the Normandy SR-2, along with his best friend, Gabriella Daniels in 2185.

Both graduated in the same class at the tech academy, and served aboard the cruiser SSV Perugia at the Battle of the Citadel. After the battle, as the Alliance discredited Shepard's account of events, Kenneth expressed his views publicly to the point of near insubordination. This public display of support attracted the attention of the Illusive Man who offered Kenneth and later his friend a position in the organization.

Unlike most of Cerberus operatives on-board the Normandy, both Kenneth and his friend Gabriella seem vastly ignorant of the "terrorist" operations that the organization engages in. If Shepard asks about why Kenneth joined Cerberus, he replies that he joined to "kick the Collectors right in the daddy-bags". This is starkly different from a Cerberus crew member such as Miranda, who believes strongly in Cerberus’ goals and methods.

If asked, Kenneth and Gabriella tell Shepard about their maintenance problems with the FBA arrays. Kenneth begins on a detailed technical description of the problem, till Gabriella cuts him short and explains to the Commander that they need FBA couplings. If Shepard purchases the couplings from Nashan Stellar Dynamics, Kenneth invites them to a game of Skyllian-five poker. The Commander can choose to join in, simply decline the invite or downright forbid gambling.

Mass Effect 3
Providing he survived the events of the Collector attacks, Kenneth is in custody at the beginning of the game, but Shepard can give him clearance to return to work in the Normandy's engine room using their Spectre status.

At some point during Normandy's "downtime" in 2186, Gabriella and Kenneth were both approached by Cerberus, but heeding Gabriella's intuition they both refused the offer.

If recruited, and providing both survived, he and Gabriella Daniels can enter a romantic relationship at Shepard's prompting. If prompted to do so, they can be later "caught" in the subdeck by Shepard.

If Gabriella died during the Collector attacks but Kenneth survived, he can still be recruited. However, he is still devastated by Gabriella's death. He'll be more reserved and quiet, according to Engineer Adams.

Trivia

 * As Shepard improves the ship with upgrades, Donnelly will converse with Gabby about adjusting the controls to them, most of them humorous.
 * Donnelly will also voice his opinion on any new or current teammates, including some rather humorous interaction with Tali'Zorah vas Normandy regarding the snugness of her suit "in all the right places," about Jack residing under the sub-deck while being teased by Gabby at the same time, and about Miranda's uniform.
 * In Mass Effect 3, both him and Gabby were originally meant to be recruited at the Purgatory bar, where they are happy to see Shepard made it off Earth alive and admit to be serving with Cerberus only because of the Commander. They quickly agree to follow. However, if Gabby is dead, Ken is instead found drowning his sorrows, blaming himself for her death and regretting having never told her how he felt. Shepard is only able to recruit him saying drinking himself to death would be a dishonor to Gabby's sacrifice.
 * According to developer posts on the Bioware Forums, Donnelly was originally meant to be a 'light' romance.
 * If Gabriella dies while in custody of the Collectors, Kenneth will no longer talk to you.
 * In Mass Effect 2, it is possible to play a game of poker with Donnelly and Gabby (and Tali, if she is recruited). The player can make a nice little profit by pretending to be a rookie player or by using intimidate and pulling rank. This is not a mini-game, however. The results of the poker game are simply mentioned in the dialogue.
 * Being a Scottish engineer, Donnelly is commonly thought to be a reference to Montgomery "Scotty" Scott from the sci-fi franchise Star Trek. However, according to lead level designer Dusty Everman, the "homage" was purely accidental, and their resemblance only came to light after voiceover recording had begun.
 * According to Dusty Everman from Bioware, a programming error in Mass Effect 3 causes the banter and argument between Ken and Gabby only to occur if Shepard is "good friends with Ashley," meaning that the player must frequently converse with Ashley and take her out on several missions to hear the two banter back and forth. If Ashley is dead, the banter cannot be activated. This error is fixed by installing Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut.