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Talk:Commander Shepard Archives

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Lead quote is a biased representation of the character

It is a Renegade reply to Sovereign which, besides being optional, is rather the opposite of what most Mass Effect players actually choose in ME2/ME3 (as you can see from EA's ME3 infographic on the matter, where most players save geth or achieve peace) and hear about from Legion and EDI throughout the games. I understand it has been there for quite a long time, but mistakes are not any less wrong just for being ancient. Several alternatives can be found in Shepard's countless auto-dialogue (i.e. always heard by 100% of players) expressions across the trilogy. I dare propose no particular sentence as there are many that speak of friendship, Reapers, fighting, or generic Alliance background, and any of them can be better than "you are not even alive. You are just a machine [...]". LuizLSNeto (talk) 23:10, 8 May 2021 (UTC)

I would agree with this assessment. Do you have a specific alternate quote in mind to suggest? DaBarkspawn (talk) 23:26, 8 May 2021 (UTC)
I actually tend to agree with this, think a better one could be found. I have no ideas yet myself, but I would guess a quote from Shepard's speech right when the Normandy launches for the first time with Shepard in command (beginning the mission to stop Saren) would be good. Ale89515 (talk) 01:39, 9 May 2021 (UTC)

'Originally a woman' trivia?

So, news[1] has recently come to surface that the first animation tests for Shepard were that of a woman, thus in a way Shepard started off as a woman, even though the animator in question pointed out that Shepard was always planned to be male and female. Because of that statement, I'm unsure if the whole 'Shepard was a woman first' thing can be added as trivia. Thoughts? --Soren7550 (talk) 02:53, January 10, 2015 (UTC)

He said that the first test of Shepard as an entity was a woman, he didn't say that the Commander was planned to explicitly be only a woman. So I'd say we should write it out in some form of "Commander Shepard's first animation test used the female model" or something similar. - --173.58.251.107 03:45, January 10, 2015 (UTC)

Mass Effect 1 Bio

I noticed that the article doesn't include the events of the first game, but instead jumps from profile reconstruction to Mass Effect 2 events. Also, DLC information seems to be cut out. Is there any particular reason for this?

Darth Ravigious (talk) 15:28, March 12, 2015 (UTC)

A lot of plot-related content is better covered on dedicated storyline and mission pages (or other appropriate articles) mostly due to canon reasons. Note that this isn't really a proper biography, as the majority of Shepard's story is shaped by the player in each game. The ME2 section only covers the parts of the beginning common to all playthroughs, and information on how moral alignment influences Shepard's appearance. DLC is inherently optional content, much like many missions and other actions. Even universal events may have multiple outcomes or there are many possible versions of them, so they are left out for simplicity's sake.
If you're interested, several discussions on this topic can be found in this Talk page's archives. Elseweyr talkstalk March 12, 2015, 17:44:22 (UTC)

Ah, alright. Yeah, I got the introduction aspect for the other two games. But why not add general information, such as "Shepard becomes executive officer aboard the Normandy, and after Eden Prime, is made a spectre and the captain of the Normandy."? (of course not as poorly written as that). Just general information of stuff that everyone does. Or something about how one of their crew members sacrificed themselves on Virmire, or even the Collector base, since who dies in the suicide mission is not clarified in canon, but it is canon that Shepard survived, in spite of the ending where he/she dies.

I dunno. Just basic stuff. But yeah, I get your point.

173.14.124.145 17:51, March 12, 2015 (UTC)

You may have missed the section: Shepard was born on April 11, 2154, is a graduate of the Systems Alliance N7 special forces program (service no. 5923-AC-2826), and is initially assigned to the SSV Normandy as Executive Officer. Shepard later becomes the first human to join the Spectres, an elite special task force for the Citadel Council.
As for the missions you mention, admins have previously suggested that adding generic history isn't out of the question, although some kind of sandbox write-up would be required first since the events would have to be detailed elegantly enough. And please note that there literally is no canon at all; a Shepard who dies in ME2 is just as "valid" as one whose story continues in ME3. Elseweyr talkstalk March 12, 2015, 18:43:09 (UTC)
I will say a detailed overhaul of this page into both a Profile Reconstruction page and a Commander Shepard character page is one of many things I am working on for this site. Garhdo (talk) 19:48, March 12, 2015 (UTC)

It's probably out of the question, me being new to the wiki and all, but I could help come up with a generic write-up that is detailed on the retelling of events, but does not clarify on the choices (for instance, with the Rachni queen, the article would only mention that "while on Noveria, Shepard encountered the last surviving Rachni queen following their fight with Matriarch Benezia"). As for the suicide mission, if a generic bio were to be written, it seems that the possible death of Shepard would have to be overlooked as a potential exception, seeing as there is a third game, BioWare intending for the story to continue (plus, nobody would play Mass Effect 3 if their "head canon" says Shepard dies after the SM, not to mention the fact that it is unlikely that people actually choose that option on purpose, and, if they end up dying anyway, go back and restart the SM).

And for Mass Effect 3, it would simply clarify that Shepard's actions resulted in the ultimate defeat of the Reapers, which leaves it open ended to the different choices, even the refusal ending (since the next cycle ended up defeating the Reapers, due to Shepard's actions 50,000 years earlier).

173.14.124.145 20:25, March 12, 2015 (UTC)

The fact that Shepard can die during the Suicide Mission is what matters to the wiki from a documenting perspective. Favoring one outcome over another is still as good as establishing canon where there is none, so no stance should be taken where there are multiple possible outcomes. When describing an ME3 Shepard, the implication is that the Commander survived the SM; it's different from explicitly stating that Commander Shepard generally survives the SM and that the opposite is an exception. (Sidenote: if Shepard chooses not to use the Crucible, I don't think we know for sure it was the very next cycle that managed to stop the Reapers.)
And anon, perhaps you're indicating that there are policies and conventions newcomers aren't necessarily aware of, but generally all editors are equal -- a valid contribution is valid no matter the contributor. You can wait for Garhdo to open his project for collaboration; alternatively, I'd be happy to help you start a project of your own. I'm assuming you're Darth Ravigious, but if not: Signing up for an account (and using it) makes things a bit easier if you want to eg. participate in projects like these, or store article sketches in your personal user space so you can work on them at your own pace :) Elseweyr talkstalk March 12, 2015, 21:08:55 (UTC)


Yeah, that was me. I didn't realize that I was not logged in. And that's what I was referring to. Make an implication, but not explicitly state. I probably should have clarified. And all right! Maybe I'll come up with something when I have time. I would not just want to put my thing straight to Shep's page though, so is there someone I should show it to first?

Darth Ravigious (talk) 22:03, March 12, 2015 (UTC)

More info per games

Why are the sections for Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 so short, shouldn't there be more about Shepard's part in the story? JediMaster1987 (talk) 07:02, November 1, 2015 (UTC)

Mass Effect 1

Why is there no section on Mass Effect 1 in Shepard's page? Shouldn't someone add that? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Illuminati Agent 001 (talk · contr).

Someone else already asked that. Also, make sure you put in a sig. --Nord Ronnoc (talk) 00:32, June 19, 2016 (UTC)
There is, that's the entire section titled "Mass Effect" TheKingLerp (talk) 05:05, June 19, 2016 (UTC)

Shepard's height

I think I found some worthy trivia. According to figures formerly sold in the Bioware Store, BroShep stands slightly over 6'0 tall, while FemShep stands 5'3 tall. Links to products (they're not sold in the store anymore, but figures from the lines still are- like the Liara and Tali Bishoujo statues). They're both standing pretty straight in the statues/figures in question, so posture shouldn't be a problem in reference to their heights here.68.107.67.37 02:21, December 19, 2016 (UTC)

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