Cerberus

'Cerberus' is the codename for a black ops organization that was formerly part of the Alliance military, but which has now gone rogue. They have also been described as a pro-humanity terrorist or paramilitary group, due to their activities.

Their core belief is that humans deserve a greater role in the galactic community, and that the Alliance is too hamstrung by law and public opinion to stand up effectively to the Citadel races. Any methods of advancing humanity's ascension are justified, including illegal or dangerous experimentation, terrorist activities, sabotage and assassination. Cerberus operatives accept that these methods are brutal, but believe history will vindicate them.

Cerberus plays a greater role in the novel Mass Effect: Ascension, and in the events of Mass Effect 2.

The PC version of Mass Effect adds equipment produced by the Cerberus Skunkworks.

Mass Effect
During the events of Mass Effect, Commander Shepard discovers that Cerberus has conducted horrific experiments intended to create super soldiers, including experiments on rachni and Thorian Creepers. They accidentally unleashed rachni on Listening Posts Alpha and Theta when their experimental subjects - shipped from Noveria - escaped from Depot Sigma-23. Cerberus also deliberately destroyed a settlement on Chasca by turning the colonial pioneer team there into Husks. A traumatised marine named Corporal Toombs also claimed that in one of their most devastating experiments, Cerberus lured thresher maws to the colony on Akuze, resulting in the notorious massacre, later capturing Toombs -- one of the only survivors -- to conduct brutal tests.

There is also some indication that Cerberus protects its bases from being found by hacking the Alliance database. Information on at least two of their known planets in the astronomical database is described as "surprisingly sparse", and may have been edited by Cerberus agents to discourage casual explorers.

Things came to a head when Commander Shepard, investigating the disappearance of a group of marines under Rear Admiral Kahoku, found that Cerberus had lured them to a thresher maw nest using a distress beacon (similar to the 'experiment' they allegedly conducted on Akuze). After being informed of their death, Kahoku bought information from the Shadow Broker and sent Shepard to track Cerberus down. Shepard's team went to Binthu to take out Cerberus' research bases, but not before Cerberus had Kahoku killed. Shepard then headed to Nepheron to launch an assault on Cerberus' main base.

Assignments involving Cerberus include:


 * UNC: Missing Marines
 * UNC: Dead Scientists
 * UNC: Cerberus
 * UNC: Hades' Dogs
 * Investigate Samples → UNC: Colony of Dead
 * UNC: Listening Post Theta → UNC: Depot Sigma-23

Cerberus Forces
Cerberus bases are usually guarded by the following forces:


 * Cerberus Commandos. Highly trained shock troops armed with assault rifles or pistols.
 * Cerberus Snipers. Often found indoors, these snipers find cover and hit you with Assassination.
 * Cerberus Anti-Tanks. These units are on patrol outside the base and are armed with rocket launchers, which - fitting with their name - they tend to use against the Mako.
 * Research Technicians. The technicians are normally biotics; though unarmored, they use powerful Throw attacks.

The bases also contain whatever dangerous experimental subjects Cerberus is currently working on, which includes rachni (soldiers and workers) and Thorian Creepers.

Mass Effect: Ascension
Cerberus plays a key role in the events of Mass Effect: Ascension. It is revealed that Cerberus is led by a mysterious figure known only as the Illusive Man, and that Cerberus' goal is for humanity to be ascendant over all other species. Unlike the Alliance, which is restricted by the laws of the Council, the Illusive Man is prepared to take any action, no matter how heinous, to achieve his goal, believing history will vindicate him. For now, Cerberus has to work behind the scenes. Its primary cover is the starship manufacturer Cord-Hislop Aerospace. Cerberus has operatives across the Alliance, often in high-ranking positions, giving the Illusive Man constant updates and feeding him information that would otherwise be classified.

It is also revealed that Cerberus is responsible for several acts of sabotage and at least one assassination. In 2170, Cerberus engineered the Eldfell-Ashland Energy accident over Yandoa with Paul Grayson as intermediary, and implicitly two other accidents starting four months before that in two other colonies. The death of Claude Menneau in 2173 was also at the order of the Illusive Man.

In Mass Effect: Ascension, Cerberus focuses its attention on two separate projects. The first is human biotics, and they have infiltrated the Ascension Project to take advantage of the Alliance's biotic research. The key test subject is Gillian Grayson, Paul Grayson's daughter, whom Cerberus are feeding specialized medication to turn her into 'humanity's saviour'... or a deadly weapon. The second area of interest is the quarian Migrant Fleet, which the Illusive Man sees as a threat, given that the Fleet is the largest single armada in the galaxy. Also, as creators of the geth, the quarians have suddenly become of much greater interest in light of the recent attack on the Citadel. To this end, the Illusive Man contacts a quarian exile, Golo, to gain the Flotilla's transmission codes.

However, Pel decided to betray Cerberus, planning on selling Gillian and her tutor Hendel Mitra to the Collectors. Grayson killed him but also decided to abandon Cerberus, realizing that they would use his daughter as a weapon.

Mass Effect 2
In Mass Effect 2, Shepard will have to work with Cerberus to stop a terrifying threat to the galaxy: the Collectors. One location in Mass Effect 2 is a major Cerberus station in the Horse Head Nebula. Cerberus, headed by the Illusive Man, is responsible for bringing Shepard back from the dead after a devestating attack destroys the original Normandy. Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor are both members of Cerberus, as are the crew of the Normandy SR-2.

The Cerberus insignia can be seen on Shepard's sleeves briefly in the Subject Zero Reveal Trailer.

Cerberus constructs the SSV Normandy SR-2 and allows Commander Shepard to command it. When asked how Cerberus could obtain the schematics and data necessary to reconstruct a highly advanced, classified Alliance ship, the AI EDI reports that information to be blocked (meaning she cannot reveal it to Shepard). However, after EDI's integration with the Normandy, the blocks are removed, revealing that Cereberus initially persuaded and backed the Alliance in co-developing the Normandy SR-1 with the turians. After its construction, Cerberus retained the schematics.

Organization
Cerberus has operatives all over Citadel space and the Terminus Systems, regularly reporting to the Illusive Man. Their operatives tend to act alone, based on Hendel Mitra's personal experience. During the investigation into Depot-Sigma-23, Shepard also found logs belonging to a Major Elena Flores, who was reporting to someone she addressed as "General"; it is currently unknown as to whom she was referring. If an operative is captured, depending on their usefulness, Cerberus might attempt a rescue or simply declare them to be expendable and abandon them to the Alliance.

Due to their widespread network, Cerberus effectively has access to almost every settled system, major trade stopoff and colony in the galaxy. However, Cerberus has no knowledge of what goes on in uncharted systems and the Migrant Fleet, thus rendering the Illusive Man blind in those areas.

Cerberus is very well-funded. They have many supplies who trust the Illusive Man to make the right decisions. There are also certain front corporations meant to fund Cerberus.

The agency is divided into numerous different and independent cells which had no knowledge of their counterparts. This ensured that should one cell be compromised, then the others would not be captured. Each cell was led by an operative who controlled the group as well as reported to the Illusive Man. One such cell was the Lazarus Cell that is controlled by Miranda Lawson. When questioned, Miranda states that the cells Shepard has had contact with in the past were almost exclusively military cells, and that Cerberus operates many other kinds of cells. According to EDI, there are around 150 Cerberus agents and at most a dozen cells at one time. Each Cell has a set task to achieve, and is overseen by the Illusive Man personally, which is the reason there are so few cells active at any one time. This leaves the organization vulnerable should the Illusive Man ever be compromised, though he seems smart enough to avoid detection so far.

Minuteman Station
Interiors for Cerberus locations epitomize the clean and geometric design style of the Mass Effect universe, while the concepts for Cerberus' Minuteman Station reaffirm its inspiring scope.

Notable Cerberus Operatives

 * The Illusive Man
 * Miranda Lawson
 * Paul Grayson (formerly)
 * Pel (formerly)
 * Dr. Jiro Toshiwa
 * Jacob Taylor
 * Wilson

Trivia

 * The name "Cerberus" comes from Greek mythology, where Cerberus is the three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hades. In universe, the organization's name comes from an anonymous manifesto made after the First Contact War detailing the need for humanity to have a "Cerberus" to guard it from the aliens beyond the Charon relay (Charon being also the name of the ferryman in Greek mythology in charge of ferrying souls to Hades).
 * The teaser site for Mass Effect 2 seems to be owned by Cerberus.
 * It is not clear why such a secretive organization, not to mention one that is considered terroristic and an enemy of both the Aliance and Citadel Council, would feel the need to mark everything they make, from spaceships to clothes, with their symbol. On a number of occasions the obvious identification has worked against Shepard's team. For example, Jack, who hates Cerberus, recognized the symbol and grew hostile and the quarian Migrant Fleet spotted the marking, rekindling memories of earlier confrontations.