Beatrix Shepard

Infiltrator

Biography

Beatrix Shepard was born on Earth in the Midwestern US to a widowed mother. After her mother died when Shepard was four, she was bounced around different homes until she ran away to live on her own at 13. Often resorting to petty crime to get by in the crowded city she called home, she joined the Tenth Street Reds gang (which was not as of yet the anti-alien group it would become) in her mid-teens and rose up in the ranks. She believed that if she was going to spend her life in an awful place, it was better to be on top. She jumped at the chance to join the Alliance military and saw it as an escape as well as an opportunity to put her talent and fondness for fighting to good use. It served as a sort of structured refuge for Shepard, who thus became very loyal to the military. Years later in a difficult situation on Torfan, Shepard decided against pulling her squad out at the expense of the mission and instead sacrificed them to complete it. This bold and ruthless choice put her on the map and under consideration for first human Spectre.

ME1:

Shepard sees casualties - civilian or otherwise - as necessary and does not go out of her way to prevent them if even slightly inconvenient. She is a firm believer in the greater good and jeopardizing mission in any way to save people angers her. She likes taking action and hates politics and red tape. Despite her distaste for corruption, she is not above covering things up if it suits her. Her dislike of the government, specifically the Galactic Council, is made worse by the fact that it is run by aliens. Although she distrusts humans and aliens alike, her distrust of the latter is rooted in definite xenophobia. Her ruthless and cold nature coupled with her bigotry raises the question of whether or not Shepard is at all a good person at heart even if technically on the side of good.

Although she disagrees with the ideology of anti-alien/pro-human organizations, like the Terra Firma party or Cerberus, and is willing to serve alongside aliens, the bar for Shepard's tolerance is set low. She dislikes what she sees as the Asari's superior attitude and believes the Salarians to be weak and overly cerebral. Like most humans, Shepard is not a fan of Turians either, although she does respect their militaristic culture. She largely looks down on the remaining species; she thinks the Krogan are untrustworthy and brutish and leans towards agreement with the genophage as a necessary evil. She judges the Quarians for their creation of the geth, being actively against the existence of AI. Shepard is not prone to self-reflection and automatically distrusts what she doesn't understand, likely one of the reasons for her prejudices against aliens. It also manifests in a wariness of biotics and distrust of more experimental science and anything she considers "playing God," such as the creation of AIs.

Hot-headed, aloof and always teetering on the edge of impatience, Shepard takes command of the Normandy with a single objective: stop the rogue Spectre Saren at all costs. Whenever she had been part of a crew, Shepard never made an effort to get to know them and as the Normandy's XO, she was under no impression that pattern would change. The only person she truly trusts and fully respects and therefore is consistently respectful to is Captain Anderson. Only after taking command and having to work more closely with her subordinates does she feel the need to learn about them personally -- but often only so as to know how they could help or hinder the mission rather than curiosity. She dislikes when this apparent interest is seen as friendly overtures.

Shepard undergoes a surprising if still ultimately subtle change while hunting Saren. No longer able to remain completely removed from other people, she (very) slowly begins to trust and, in some cases, even like her crew. With aliens making up most of it, Shepard is also forced to face her prejudice and ignorance surrounding them. By the defeat of Sovereign, Shepard is by no means free of intolerance but much of her more overt xenophobia has dissipated. For instance, her opinion of Salarians changes considerably after working beside them on Virmire. She also becomes less wary of biotics, although her opinions on science do not change. In fact, her encounters with Cerberus only reinforce them. Another change comes in her willingness to try slightly to minimize casualties and she tries to not obliterate the brainwashed colonists on Feros and spares the Rachni Queen, as helping in the extinction of an entire species goes too far even for her. Less upsetting to her is the decision to sacrifice the Council to focus on Sovereign, a strategic move to stop the Reaper rather than a ploy to give humans control of the Council.

At the same time, she comes to fully trust several members of the crew. Of note is her relationship with Liara a person she doesn’t trust at all initially but whose sincerity is affecting, enough that Shepard finds herself in the surprising position of having feelings for her. By the time of the attack on the Normandy, Liara is the only person in the world besides Anderson who Shepard absolutely trusts. Along with Liara, Shepard eventually gets along very well with Joker and Garrus in particular, the latter whose "do whatever must be done" attitude she likes and encourages. With actual friends for the first time, Shepard is more respectful, if still nowhere near warm or cuddly, to people she likes. She also loosens up and her humorless and reserved demeanor softens slightly to reveal a rarely seen sense of humor.

ME2:

If one event shows Shepard's newfound loyalty to her crew, it is her death while saving Joker. Even six months previously, she would never think to endanger herself to save a stubborn pilot.

When Shepard is resurrected by Cerberus, she is initially repulsed by the idea of working with them. She grew to despise them after their run-ins in her hunt for Saren, but she ultimately agrees. This aligns with her belief in sacrificing things -- in this case, her personal feelings and morals -- for the greater good. Stopping the Reapers, and thus stopping the Collectors, is her first priority now. Since the galactic government is failing to act she allies herself with the previous enemy, although never once does she expect they don't have ulterior motives or won't eventually betray her. She's glad she's not dead but it's not lost on her that she was brought back by scientists doing what she hates -- "playing God." Her hatred and distrust for The Illusive Man extend to the other members of Cerberus: Miranda, Jacob and the entire crew of the new Normandy, as well as EDI, who she especially distrusts due to it being an AI.

Shepard finds herself dealing with a large variety of intense feelings. Not only is she reeling and disturbed after finding out she was dead for two years, knowing Cerberus Shepard does not even 100% trust that she is herself. She feels trapped, resentful and ashamed working with Cerberus and the complications from doing so as well as her "return from the dead" only add to her distress. Shepard does not approve of the human first agenda of the human government now that it's taken over the Council, a consequence she didn't intend with the destruction of the Destiny Ascension, nor is she happy with their denial of the Reapers. However, Shepard is still loyal to the Alliance and no longer being a part of it is difficult for her.

Also difficult is the situation’s effect on her relationships. The first friendly faces she encounters when she comes back are Joker and Karin Chakwas, but rather than finding their presence comforting, the fact that they joined Cerberus at all initially lessens her trust in them. Both Tali and Kaidan's negative reactions and distrust of Shepard due to who she's working with are therefore both reassuring and hurtful -- she is glad her former allies maintain their hatred for Cerberus and are wary of her, but is nonetheless hurt by the latter. Liara's refusal to join Shepard, as well as the new distance between the two, greatly pains Shepard and, as someone very averse to vulnerability, Shepard compensates by pulling away from Liara significantly. In contrast, that Garrus and eventually Tali trust and join her despite their hatred for Cerberus cements her trust in them and draws her closer to them.

Shepard goes through a bigger change trying to stop the Collectors than during her hunt for Saren, in large part because she's working with an organization she hates, a larger squad, and how she must gain the loyalty of these new squadmates, forcing her even more than before to engage with others' lives. Once again, most of her squad are aliens and for the first time, Shepard trusts the aliens more than humans, as she can be relatively sure that her alien squadmates are not in league with the anti-alien Cerberus, unlike the likes of Miranda and Jacob. While she still does not trust any of them initially besides Garrus, Tali, Joker and Chakwas, the trust they put in her is impactful. In particular, when Grunt and Tali declare Shepard their battlemaster and captain respectively, it means something to her.

Even after the Suicide Mission, she doesn't fully trust everyone but still counts them among her allies and an integral part of her team. The squadmate who makes the biggest impact on Shepard is certainly Legion. Unlike her opinions on aliens, her dislike of AI has barely decreased as time has passed, even with the helpful EDI on board -- EDI's ties to Cerberus prevent Shepard from even allowing herself to like or feel comfortable with her after she's unshackled. The geth are especially bad in Shepard's eyes and she currently does not have the capacity or ability to see the geth's viewpoint in history. Legion's presence forces her to do just this and by the time of the Suicide Mission, Shepard's opinion on the geth has already softened. Unlike EDI, Legion is unaffiliated with Cerberus and thus Shepard grows to actually like it.

Meanwhile, the distance Shepard has actively put between her and Liara allow feelings for someone else to develop. After seeing the consequences of Zaeed's reckless search for vengeance against a former ally, Shepard has a somewhat rare moment of insight into another person, in this case, Garrus. While Beatrix is hot-headed, she is not vengeful or cruel in a calculated way and thus objects to Garrus' revenge plot. In stopping him from killing Sidonis, she takes a another look at herself and what she may have imparted into Garrus that would lead to his actions. This experience not only affects Shepard's personal values, but her experience with friendship in a general sense. She feels closer to Garrus and begins a budding romance. Much of the distance between Shepard and Liara closes after Shepard helps Liara fight the Shadow Broker and although Liara's feelings for Shepard are clearly still present, the damage is too much for Shepard. This, as well as her relationship with Garrus, marks the end for their romance, although the gentleness in Shepard Liara has always brought out remains and still shows itself almost exclusively in her interactions with Liara.

By the Suicide Mission, Shepard no longer actively dislikes anyone in her squad even if she continues to distrust Miranda and Jacob, the latter less due to his clear hesitations about Cerberus and past with the Alliance. Shepard finds herself hit surprisingly hard by Zaeed's death, another person she saw herself reflected in. After the Collector Base, Miranda's rebellion against The Illusive Man puts new trust into a person she now considers an actual ally. As soon as the Collectors are defeated, Shepard disavows Cerberus and returns to the Alliance without hesitation. She is even glad to be on the same side as the Council again, although she quickly and painfully remembers their lack of action against the Reapers.

ME3:

Stripped of her ship and taken out of combat, Shepard spends several months in near isolation. Eventually, her anger is replaced by bitter resignation; any faith she had in the government is now completely gone and she finds a sort of solace in the knowledge that she will soon be proven right. She indeed feels a strange sense of relief and almost satisfaction when the Reapers attack as it finally proves her right. Mostly, however, she feels incredible fear, pressure, and loss. She is relieved the government is finally taking action but her resentment limits sympathy for their struggles. She is furious she must deal with diplomacy and gathering allies and has no patience for politics or all the self-serving species. Shepard no longer mistrusts aliens -- any more than humans -- and is now self-aware enough to somewhat regret previous prejudices. Although now fully against Cerberus, Shepard's loyalty to the Alliance is not set in stone - when it comes down to it, she cares only about defeating the Reapers and is willing to change loyalties to stop them (but never to Cerberus).

Despite growing closer to her crew during the Collector mission, Shepard finds it much easier to avoid contact with them while grounded. She partially convinces herself she prefers it that way and puts distance between them as to avoid the vulnerability that comes with missing them. When reunited with some of the crew, the camaraderie returns and Shepard finds the casual friendliness a good cover for the distance she is maintaining from them, as well as for the extent of her fear and sadness around the war. Shepard refuses to allow those around her, especially people closest to her, to sense any these “weaknesses.” The pressure and horror of the war and being a symbol of hope for the galaxy drains and hardens her and her previous ruthlessness comes back nearly in full measure -- even if this time it comes with a twinge of regret for what must be done.

Shepard's older and newer morality battle each other during the war. Ultimately, she is willing to lie, manipulate and kill to get her goals accomplished. Although she does desire to act altruistically in theory, many of her decisions to do so come with an ulterior motive. She may not have tried to broker peace between the Geth and Quarian fleet if it was not for the prospect of having both fleets or gone out of her way to save Grissom Academy if not for the biotic students’ potential usefulness in the war. It’s also for this reason that Shepard doesn’t give Miranda access to Alliance resources, a decision made because Shepard was in the dark about what was happening and how the intel might benefit the war and didn’t consider helping her purely out of trust and friendship. Shepard is quite upset at Miranda’s death but stands by her choice to withhold resources, maintaining that Miranda should have told her everything. Shepard saves Ann Bryson but only to help her track down Leviathan and her single-minded hunt for it leads to Ann’s death, another fatality Shepard refuses to apologize for.

Indeed, unlike on Noveria, Shepard foregoes saving the Rachni again because she considers them too much of a liability, even if it means the end of the species. She also does not reveal the genophage sabotage until Mordin confronts her, willing to let the cure fail for short-term war support.Hhowever, face to face with Mordin, she finally realizes the true horror of the genophage and is unable to go through with the sabotage. Similarly, the only reason she hesitates and makes an effort to talk Kaidan down rather than just killing him during the Citadel coup is their history. Even so, had he not backed down she would have killed him. Even her own face does not convince her to spare an enemy, as demonstrated by her lack of hesitation in killing her clone, which she deems an abomination.

With EDI no longer working for Cerberus, as well as her history with Legion, Shepard's opinions on AI are no longer so negative and she contends that they are indeed people. Even with her great strides in trusting synthetic life, at the war's end when faced with how to handle the Reapers Shepard sees "synthesis" as too much of an unknown and doesn't trust the idea. She also would never trust anyone, even herself, with control over the Reapers and doesn't want anyone to do so anyway - she wants to see them burn. Therefore it seems like a sick joke that after finally learning to accept and value synthetic life, and indeed value life more in general, destroying the Reapers will destroy their AI brethren. Shepard ultimately remains faithful to her constant if subtly shifting philosophy - do what must be done no matter the cost - and destroys the Reapers.

Features in

Canon Worldstate

Overview

Morality:

Renegon (80/20)

Alignment:

True Neutral

MBTI / Enneagram:

ENTJ, 8w9

Temperament:

Choleric

Archetype:

The Pragmatic Hero

Sexuality:

Bisexual

Romance:

Liara (1), Garrus (2+3)

Face Claim:

Claudia Black

Created:

2015

Choices

ME1
- spared Rachni Queen
- spared half of Feros colonists
- found Wrex's armor
- Garrus pushed towards Spectres
- Wrex talked down on Virmire
- sacrificed Ashley
- sacrificed Council
- sacrificed hostages, Balak dead
ME2
- saved Sidonis
- destroyed Maelon's data
- destroyed heretics
- Tali loyal, not exiled
- killed Morinth
- squad 99% loyal
- saved all of crew
- Suicide Mission 99% survival (Zaeed dead)
- destroyed Collector Base
- saved David Archer
ME3 - cured the genophage, did not reveal sabotage - Kaidan talked down on Citadel - killed the Rachni - forced peace between Quarians and Geth - Jack, Jacob, Samara alive - Miranda, Cortez dead - let Aria kill Petrovsky - killed clone and Brooks - Destroy ending

Gwendolyn Shepard

Engineer

Biography

desc.

Features in

Worldstate 3

Overview

Morality:

Paragade (75/25)

Alignment:

Neutral Good

MBTI / Enneagram:

INFJ, 4w3

Temperament:

Melancholic

Archetype:

The Byronic Hero

Sexuality:

Bisexual

Romance:

Kaidan (1+3), Thane (2+3)

Face Claim:

N/A

Created:

2018

Choices

Choices:

ME1
- spared Rachni Queen
- spared all of Feros colonists
- found Wrex's armor
- Garrus pushed towards C-Sec
- Wrex talked down on Virmire
- sacrificed Ashley
- sacrificed Council
- saved hostages, Balak alive
ME2
- let Garrus kill Sidonis
- saved Maelon's data
- destroyed heretics
- Tali not loyal, not exiled
- killed Morinth
- squad 98% loyal
- saved all of crew
- Suicide Mission 98% survival (Jack, Legion dead)
- destroyed Collector Base
- saved David Archer
ME3
- cured the genophage, revealed sabotage - Kaidan talked down on Citadel - spared the Rachni - hit the bottle - chose Quarians over Geth - Jacob, Samara, Cortez alive - Aria spared Petrovsky - tried to save clone, killed Brooks - Destroy ending

Link

Back

Rhys Shepard

Adept

Biography

desc.

Features in

Worldstate

Overview

Morality:

Paragon (90/10)

Alignment:

Lawful Good

MBTI / Enneagram:

ESFJ, 1w2

Temperament:

Phlegmatic

Archetype:

The Idealist

Sexuality:

Bisexual

Romance:

Kaidan (1), Tali (2+3)

Face Claim:

N/A

Created:

2018

Choices

Choices:

ME1
- spared Rachni Queen
- spared all of Feros colonists
- found Wrex's armor
- Garrus pushed towards C-Sec
- Wrex talked down on Virmire
- sacrificed Kaidan
- saved Council
- saved hostages, Balak alive
ME2
- saved Sidonis
- saved Maelon's data
- rewrote heretics
- Tali loyal, not exiled
- killed Morinth
- squad 100% loyal
- saved all of crew
- Suicide Mission 100% survival
- destroyed Collector Base
- saved David Archer
ME3
- cured the genophage, revealed sabotage - Ashley talked down on Citadel - spared the Rachni - missed the bottle - brokered peace between Quarians and Geth - Jack, Jacob, Samara, Miranda, Cortez alive - Aria spared Petrovsky - tried to save clone, arrested Brooks - Synthesis ending