List of Mass Effect characters
The Mass Effect series, a military science fiction media franchise developed by Canadian video game developer BioWare and owned by American publisher Electronic Arts, features an extensive cast of characters. It is primarily based on a series of third-person role-playing shooter video games which currently consists of four mainline instalments and two spin-off mobile games. The first three Mass Effect games takes place in the Milky Way Galaxy during the 22nd century and revolves around a space navy soldier named Commander Shepard. The fourth Mass Effect game is a standalone sequel to the original trilogy but set in a different galaxy, Andromeda, and focuses on the Andromeda Initiative and the Ryder family. The spin-off games, Mass Effect Galaxy and Mass Effect Infiltrator, feature different protagonists.
This article describes characters, which includes a diverse cast of alien, human and synthetic beings, that appear in video games set in the Mass Effect universe. This list only includes player characters, squad members, major antagonists, and other notable characters that appear in the games. Certain characters have names chosen by the player; these characters are designated the name they are addressed by in-game. The appearance and story arcs of certain characters in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 are conditional upon decisions from prior Mass Effect titles being carried over via an imported save file.
Protagonists
Film protagonists
James Vega
Lieutenant James Vega is a human Systems Alliance Marine and Shepard's squad member in Mass Effect 3. James is tasked to escort Shepard to an Alliance defense committee hearing, however the hearing is interrupted when the Reapers attack Earth. James and Ashley or Kaidan, depending on who survived Virmire, retrieve the Normandy SR-2 and pick Shepard up from Earth. James is the main focus of the anime film, Mass Effect: Paragon Lost.James is voiced by Freddie Prinze, Jr. in all media.
Literary protagonists
Kahlee Sanders
Kahlee Sanders is a protagonist of Mass Effect: Revelation and its sequels, Ascension, Retribution, and Deception Sanders is secretly the daughter of the late Rear Admiral Jon Grissom, the first Alliance hero who led a space exploration task force to travel through the Charon mass relay. She is cited as one of the most important characters in the series, and the main heroine of Mass Effect spin-off fiction. She makes her first video game appearance in Mass Effect 3 as a staff member of the Grissom Academy.Video game protagonists
Commander Shepard
Commander Shepard is the central protagonist of the original Mass Effect trilogy of video games. On an assignment to investigate a besieged human colony, Shepard is affected by a Prothean artifact that grants them insight on the Reapers, making them the key entity to help protect the species of the Milky Way from being wiped out by the Reapers. Shepard is later named the first human Spectre by the Citadel Council, and given command of the SSV Normandy and its crew to complete their mission.The character's given name, gender, background, and appearance are determined by the player on starting a new game, with both Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 allowing the player to import saves from previous games to carry over that version of Shepard. Depending on the choice of gender, Shepard is voiced by either Mark Meer or Jennifer Hale. The default male version's face and body is based on the likeness of fashion model Mark Vanderloo.
Jeff "Joker" Moreau
Jeff Moreau, better known by his nickname "Joker", is the pilot of the Normandy. Joker is a skilled pilot who has osteogenesis imperfecta. His nickname alludes to his tendency to behave as a sarcastic foil to other individuals he interact with. In Mass Effect 2, Joker briefly becomes a playable character when the Collectors invade the Normandy to capture its crew in the absence of Shepard and the squad. He can develop a romantic relationship with EDI in Mass Effect 3 if encouraged.Joker is voiced by Seth Green.
Jacob Taylor
Jacob Taylor is the protagonist of Mass Effect Galaxy, a tie-in iOS game to Mass Effect 2. He is a former Systems Alliance soldier who is recruited by Miranda Lawson in Galaxy to investigate a conspiracy involving batarian terrorists. Jacob is encountered in Mass Effect 2 as an official member of Cerberus and Shepard's starting squad member, as well as a potential romantic option for a female Shepard. Unless the player imports a Mass Effect 2 saved game where Jacob does not survive the suicide mission, in Mass Effect 3 he returns as a supporting character who has defected from Cerberus, and attempts to protect other Cerberus defectors from reprisals by their former employer.The iconic look of all Cerberus clothing in the series is derived from the designs for Jacob's armor and clothing; some involved fully armored looks, while others had only cloth, or a mix of cloth and armor. For airless or toxic environments, Jacob wears a small breather device, which allows for more facial expressivity. According to a former BioWare employee, Jacob was originally meant to be a bisexual romance option, and that animation work for romance scenes with Commander Shepard of both genders, "matching shot-for-shot from Brokeback Mountain", was completed prior to intervention from management requesting that the same sex romantic content be removed, blaming backlash from news outlets like Fox News in response to the previous game.
Jacob Taylor is voiced by Adam Lazarre-White.
Chris Thursten from PC Gamer called Jacob "the worst companion" and the culmination of his romance arc "the worst moment in Mass Effect".
Randall Ezno
Randall Ezno is the protagonist of Mass Effect Infiltrator, a third-person shooter tie-in video game to Mass Effect 3 developed for mobile devices. He is a cybernetically modified Cerberus operative who discovers that his employer is up to something nefarious, goes rogue and embarks on a mission to save his friend from Cerberus.Randall is voiced by Jay Anthony Franke.
Pathfinder Ryder
Ryder is the main protagonist of Mass Effect: Andromeda, the fourth mainline installment of the Mass Effect series, and the child of Alec Ryder. Their twin sibling is Sara or Scott Ryder, depending on the player's chosen gender. The player can change their character's first name, but if the default names of Sara or Scott are kept, NPCs will occasionally refer to the character's first name in voiced dialogue.The Ryder siblings are cryogenically frozen and dispatched alongside their father and tens of thousands of other colonists on a 600-year journey to the Andromeda galaxy, departing before the events of Mass Effect 3. The ark carrying the humans, the Hyperion, arrives at the wrong drop point, far from the forward command centre of the Andromeda Initiative, the Nexus, and cut off from contact with both it and the other arks. The player-controlled Ryder later succeeds their father as the Hyperion's Pathfinder, and is tasked with leading their crew on the command ship The Tempest, successfully settling the Heleus Cluster, and improving life aboard the Nexus, a galactic hub for the colonizer races from the Milky Way.
Scott and Sara Ryder are voiced by Tom Taylorson and Fryda Wolff, respectively.
Andromeda was known for its technical issues, particularly for the awkward facial animations of some of its characters; notably, the default face for Sara Ryder received negative reception from fans prior to and after the game's launch, attracting comments such as "It's a perfect representation of the uncanny valley" and a "robot-like model that had dead eyes syndrome" prior to a patch fix released in early April 2017.
Other characters
Original trilogy squad members
[|Kaidan Alenko]
Kaidan Alenko is a human Alliance Navy officer with biotic powers, who serves aboard the SSV Normandy as Staff Lieutenant and head of the ship's Marine detail. In a late-game choice on the planet Virmire, the player must choose whether to save [|Ashley Williams] or Kaidan; this choice leads to the other character's death. If Kaidan survives, he returns in a cameo in Mass Effect 2 and as a full-time squad member in 3, where he has been promoted to the rank of Major and commands the 1st Special Operations Biotic Company, a covert operations unit. He is later bestowed Spectre status by the council. He is a potential romance option for a female Shepard throughout the entire trilogy, and for a male Shepard only in Mass Effect 3.Kaidan is voiced by Raphael Sbarge.
Ashley Williams
Ashley Madeline Williams is a human Alliance Marine, who becomes part of Shepard's squad during the first observed Reaper attack in the first Mass Effect. In a late-game choice on the planet Virmire, the player must choose whether to save Ashley or Kaidan Alenko; this choice leads to the other character's death. If Ashley is saved, she will return in a cameo appearance in Mass Effect 2 and as a full-time squad member in 3, where she has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and commands an unspecified covert operations unit. She is later bestowed Spectre status by the council. She is a potential romance option for a male Shepard throughout the entire trilogy.Ashley is voiced by Kimberly Brooks.
Garrus Vakarian
Garrus Vakarian is a male turian who serves as a squad mate in all three of the games. Garrus is initially a C-Sec officer who joins up with Shepard to escape from all the "red tape" in his job but becomes a vigilante under the alias Archangel on Omega in Mass Effect 2 before his squad is killed. Garrus is a potential romance option for a female Shepard in 2. In Mass Effect 3, he leads a "Reaper task force" for the Turians, with the option to continue their relationship from 2 if he was Shepard's paramour. The character is also the star of the third issue of Mass Effect: Homeworlds. Garrus's blue-and-black armour colour scheme was kept consistent throughout the series, as was his visor, although grey was added in the third game to reflect his new rank.Garrus is voiced by Brandon Keener.