Mass Effect/Characters

This article describes the characters of Mass Effect, an Xbox 360 action role-playing game developed by BioWare. The game was released on November 20, 2007.

''Note: The nature of character creation in Mass Effect permits a main character of either male or female gender. This article assumes the default selection of Male for Commander Shepard.''

Commander Shepard
Commander Shepard is a veteran soldier, having seen action in multiple engagements across the galaxy. As a newly recruited Spectre agent, Shepard is assigned the most important missions in the galaxy and authorized to do whatever it takes to get those missions done. Something may have to be sacrificed to further the mission, and as all of Shepard's decisions are important ones, people's lives, and the fate of the galaxy, hang on the details of each choice. It is up to the game player to make those choices -- and to live with the consequences that result.

Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams
A human female Alliance Marine that enlisted straight out of high school and is a competent non-commissioned officer. She joins the party during the first mission (after the death of her squad) replacing Corporal L. Jenkins (who was killed in action). Ashley is a pure soldier, skilled with weapons, but not skilled with biotics or technology. She is a possible romance interest for Shepard (male). Williams is voiced by Kimberly Brooks.

Late in the game, on the planet Virmire, Ashley is one of two characters who can opt to assist a Salarian commando unit in their assault on Saren's lab complex. During the assault, the player is confronted with a choice that may result in Ashley being left behind when a nuclear warhead is detonated.

Liara T'Soni
An asari companion that has a passion for studying and working with Prothean technology. Her field of work specialises in the Prothean's demise. She is infact found in a Prothean ruin, trapped in a kinetic bubble prison. Liara is a possible romance interest for Shepard. In the game world created by Bioware for Mass Effect, the asari have only one gender, and have the ability to reproduce with any gender or species. Liara is an Adept. Liara is voiced by Ali Hillis.

Kaidan Alenko
A human male party member that accompanies Shepard from the very beginning of the game. Kaidan is highly skilled in both engineering and biotics. He is a possible romance interest for Shepard (female). He is also one of the characters the player must make a choice over living or dying (the other being Ashley). Voiced by Raphael Sbarge.

Late in the game, on the planet Virmire, Kaidan is one of two characters who can opt to assist a Salarian commando unit in their assault on Saren's lab complex. During the assault, the player is confronted with a choice that may result in Kaidan being left behind when a nuclear warhead is detonated.

Garrus Vakarian
A male turian party member. Garrus is a member of the Citadel Security force, a detective who has never liked or trusted Saren. He chafes under the rules and regulations of Citadel Security, and when given the opportunity to pursue Saren alongside Shepard - who is not bound by laws or rules - he is happy to accept. He is skilled at both weapons and engineering. Voiced by Brandon Keener.



Urdnot Wrex
Wrex is among the last of the krogan Battle Masters. They are rare individuals who can combine biotic abilities with advanced weaponry. Wrex quickly gained fame for his battle prowess and became a leader of one of the smaller Urdnot tribes at a very young age. To date, Wrex is the youngest krogan to be granted the honor in 1000 years.

Following the krogan genophage, Wrex realized that his people had degenerated from the honor-bound people they once were and had become senselessly violent, preferring death in battle rather than saving their culture through peaceful means. Wrex subsequently turned his back on his people. During the past three centuries, Wrex has worked as a bodyguard, mercenary, soldier and a bounty hunter.

Despite his menacing appearance, Wrex rarely loses his temper. Likewise, Wrex doesn't voice his thoughts very often. But when he does, people are more than willing to listen. The mere threat of his anger is enough to ensure that.

Late in the game, at the planet Virmire, Wrex learns that Saren is developing a cure for the Krogan genophage to create an army of Krogan soldiers. Uncertain as to who he should listen to now, Wrex has an angry confrontation with Shepard over whether or not the facility should be destroyed. Depending on the player's choices, Wrex may survive, or he can be killed by either Shepard or Ashley.

Wrex has abilities very similar to the Vanguard character class (a mix of combat and biotic skills). Voiced by Steve Barr.

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya
A female quarian party member. Tali'Zorah is introduced as a person who possesses information that can implicate Saren in the destruction of the human colony of Eden Prime. Saren himself sends assassins after her, and once Shepard rescues her, she joins the player's party. She is on a "Pilgrimage," which is a Quarian coming-of-age rite in which a young Quarian leaves the home fleet and finds something valuable, which is brought back to the fleet to prove their willingness to contribute to the community. She has some trouble adjusting to the quiet atmosphere of the Normandy because the ships she lived on at her home were all rather loud and clunky, and silence usually meant an air filter or other important component had broken.

"Tali," as she likes to be called, is a pure engineer, a technical specialist with minimal gun handling skills but great technical abilities. Voiced by Liz Sroka.

Captain David Anderson
Captain of the Normandy at the start of the game. In the prequel novel Mass Effect: Revelation he is the main character and partner/rival of Saren. In the game, Captain Anderson is a highly respected officer and serves as Shepard's mentor but he soon steps out of the plot when Shepard is given command of the Normandy. Voiced by Keith David

Jeff "Joker" Moreau
The pilot of the Normandy. He suffers from a hereditary disease that caused the bones in his leg to become brittle to the point where his legs were breaking in the womb. As a result of this, he became a pilot (as it wouldn't require any standing) and is now the best in the Alliance fleet. Voiced by Seth Green.

Navigator Pressly
Navigator Pressly is the second-in-command of the ship, just under Commander Shepard. He takes over the ship when Shepard is out. He, as well as several other human members of Shepard's team, has some problems getting along with the alien party members.

Corporal Richard L. Jenkins
A member of Shepard's team during the first mission on Eden Prime. Confirmed to be a Leeroy Jenkins reference. Jenkins is killed in a manner similar to his namesake as well. Without waiting for orders, Jenkins dashes from cover where he is immediately cut down by the Geth.

Nihlus Kryik
A decorated turian Spectre agent, Nihlus is first encountered aboard the Normandy at the beginning of the game. He is killed mid-way through the first mission by Saren in a pre-scripted event that the player has no control over. Nihlus refuses to accompany the group, and instead scouts ahead alone. Saren takes advantage of this to shoot him in the back.

Nihlus has a back story found in the Mass Effect novel. He was born in a small colony outside of Hierarchy space. After the death of his father, his mother forced him to join the turian military. Despite his exceptional marks in class, he was never truly accepted by his peers due to his outsider status. While Nihlus was undeniably an excellent soldier, his reckless behavior in battle earned him nothing but criticism from his superiors.

It was during his third reassignment that he met Saren Arterius, a fellow turian and renowned Spectre. Impressed with the young soldier's abilities, Saren befriended Nihlus, and offered to mentor him. Within a year of meeting Saren, Nihlus was asked to join the Spectres.

Nihlus soon stepped out of Saren's shadow and quickly established himself as one of the Council's most able bodied agents. He maintains a cool composure when under dire circumstances and has an uncanny ability to root out an enemy's weaknesses and exploit them. While his methods are not as brutal as Saren's, he will take any steps necessary to get the job done--and eradicate anyone or anything that stands in his way. He is killed by Saren on Eden Prime.

Shialia
Shialia is known as the Consort and you first find her (if you look) in the giant space habitat called the Citadel (which you go to after the first mission). There are several quests associated with Shialia and she has a number of acolytes who follow in her footsteps. Shialia is first presented very much as a Oracle, though her acolytes claim she is just an unusual Asari.

Saren Arterius
A Spectre turian agent gone rogue, Saren Arterius was best known for 'getting results' through brutal but efficient means. He harbors a seething hatred for humans, which is speculated by other characters in the novel to stem from the loss of his brother in the First Contact War. After the events described in Mass Effect: Revelation, Saren takes command of an army of Geth. He serves as the primary antagonist of the video game. It is assumed that he was enslaved by Sovereign while trying to find a way to stop the Reapers from returning.

Benezia
An asari matriarch who is in league with Saren. She is also the mother of Liara, the "Father" is unknown, as Benezia was ashamed of mating with another Asari. She is enslaved by Sovereign into finding the location of the Mu Mass Relay. She is killed by the player after realizing this fact after making peace with her daughter. She is a master of Biotics. She is voiced by Marina Sirtis.

Sovereign
A single ship/entity of the Reapers. He uses an ability to make allies by using subtle subliminal messages. It is unclear whether Sovereign is the ship itself or simply a computer that exerts control over the ship. He is left alone in the Galaxy as a vanguard to activate the Citadel Mass Relay every 50,000 years. It is the last enemy of the game, possessing Saren's corpse through his implants. The ship itself is destroyed at the end of the game by the Alliance Fleet.