John Shepard

**Commander John Shepard** (service no. 5923-AC-2826) was a legendary N7 soldier in the Systems Alliance military, the first human Spectre, and the former commanding officer of the SSV *Normandy* and later *Normandy-SR2*. He has been described by some as the most influential individual of the century. Born in 2154 on Earth, Shepard endured a difficult childhood in the streets of Vancouver, but was able to escape the life of petty crime and underworld gangs upon enlisting in the Alliance Navy at the age of 18. Shepard's actions, serve as the catalyst for the events of *Mass Effect: Beyond*.

## Biographical Information

### Alias

* Commander Shepard
* Commander
* Shepard
* Shep
* Loco
* Shepard-Commander
* Anderson's protégé
* First Human Spectre
* Human
* Shep

### Place of Birth

Vancouver, United North American States, Earth, Systems Alliance

### Date of Death

* 2183 (revived 2185)
* 2186 (second death)

### Place of Death

* SSV *Normandy-SR1*, Terminus Systems (first)
* Citadel, Earth (second)

### Marital Status

In Relationship with Tali'Zorah (formerly)

## General Information

### Affilations

* N7 Program (formerly)
* Systems Alliance (formerly)
* Special Tactics & Recon (formerly)
* Crew of the *Normandy* (formerly)
* Cerberus (formerly)

### Occupation

* Soldier
* Spectre

## Other Information

### AU Status

Deceased

Sometime into his service, Shepard would be stationed on the planet Akuze, where he and his squad would come under attack by a horde of thresher maws. Shepard managed to survive, but his squad wasn't so lucky. The events led to him being chosen to join the N7 program, and later come under the mentorship of Alliance Captain David Anderson, serving as his Executive Officer on board the *SSV Normandy-SR1*.

Shepard's life would be changed forever in 2183, when he was sent on a simple mission to the human colony of Eden Prime. Initially to be evaluated for potential enrollment in the Citadel Special Tactics & Recon, Shepard would discover Saren Arterius, a rogue turian Spectre who not only attacked the colony with an army of Geth, but witnessed a vison of the ancient Protheans. After convincing the Council of Saren's crimes, Shepard was awarded full Spectre status and given full command of the *Normandy*. His first task was to hunt down Saren and to uncover the location of the Conduit; a mysterious Prothean artifact that the latter was looking for. During this time, Shepard formed a crew of various individuals from all over the galaxy; including human Alliance soldiers Ashley Williams and Kaiden Alenko, disgruntled Turian C-Sec officer Garrus Vakarian, the vicious Krogan bounty hunter Urdnot Wrex, Asari archeologist Dr. Liara T'Soni, and young Quarian engineer Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. During their mission, Shepard befriended all of them, particularly Garrus and Tali.

Shepard's mission eventually led to the discovery of the Reapers; a race of sentient mcahines that, every 50,000 years, would enter the galaxy through the Mass Relays and harvest all advanced life. After a mission to the planet Virmire that resulted in Alenko's sacrifice, Shepard declaring mutiny to continue his pursuit of Saren, eventually ha and his crew caught up to the rogue Spectre as he tried to activate the Citadel with the help of the Reaper, Sovereign. Saren was killed and the Reaper was destroyed, halting the cycle. During the battle, Shepard ordered all human forces to protect the Council, which resulted in heavy human casualties. In the end, humanity was granted a seat on the Council, and Shepard was tasked with hunting down the remnant's pf Saren's forces, but not before appointing Anderson as humanity's representative.

A few months later, while exploring the Terminus Systems, the Normandy was attacked by the Collectors, an insectoid species that were in fact indoctrinated Protheans controlled by the Reapers. In the chaos, Shepard ordered the ship evacuated while he stayed behind to save Jeff "Joker" Moreau. Despite being successful in saving Joker, Shepard was blown from the remains of the ship, dying from a lack of oxygen.

But death wasn't enough to keep Shepard down, as his body was recovered by his former crewmate and friend Liara, who managed to steal it from the Shadow Broker, who planned on handing it over to the Collectors. However she was aided by Cerberus, a pro-human splinter group run by the mysterious Illusive Man. Since his death, human colonies had been discovered abandoned, with Cerberus believing it to be the actions of the Reapers. Knowing that the galaxy needed him back, Liara handed Shepard's body was over to them, and Shepard underwent the Lazarus Project. For the next two years, Shepard was brought back to life until he was successfully revived in 2185. Upon learning of the Collectors and human abductions, Shepard begrudgingly agreed to working with Cerberus to stop them, and was gifted a new ship: the *Normandy-SR2*. He was then tasked with forming a crew for a suicide mission through the Omega-4 Relay where the Collectors lived. Surprisingly he was joined by Garrus and Tali, but also several newcomers: Cerberus operative and *Normandy's* XO Miranda Lawson, former Alliance soldier and Cerberus operative Jacob Taylor, salarain doctor and former STG agent Dr. Mordin Solus, tank-bred krogan warrior Grunt, asari Justicar Samara, human bounty hunter Zaeed Massani, the powerful human biotic known as Jack, the terminally-ill drell assassin Thane Krios, the bubbly master thief Kasumi Goto, the *Normandy's* artificial intelligence EDI, and a Geth platform that referred to itself as Legion.

To prepare for the mission, Shepard assisted all his crewmates in dealing with personal issues in order for them to be level-headed, but he also did this out of kindness. He also assisted Liara in finding the location of the Shadow Broker, resulting in Liara becoming the new Broker. His ravel also brought into contact with former crewmates Wrex and Williams, the latter of which was cold for his deal with Cerberus. During this time, he and Tali grew quite close. Eventually, Shepard and the crew entered the Omega-4 Relay and destroyed not only the Collector base, but also a partially built human-like Reaper made from the remains of abducted colonists. With the base destroyed, Shepard along with his crew cut all ties with Cerberus after their growing disillusionment and prepared for the Reapers inevitable invasion.

After receiving word from Alliance Admiral Steven Hackett of a imminent Reaper invasion via the Alpha Mass Relay, Shepard travelled deep into Batarian space to rescue Dr. Amanda Kenson. From there, Shepard learned that she and several scientists planned to launch an asteroid into the Alpha Relay to halt the invasion. But Shepard quickly discovered that Kenson and all her personnel were indoctrinated and quickly sabotaged her plan on helping the Reapers. He managed to escape on the Normandy before the asteroid collided with the relay, causing it to supernova and destroyed the entire star system and a Batarian colony. Knowing the consequences of a destroying a Mass Relay, Shepard turned himself over the Alliance for its destruction and his time with Cerberus, along with the *Normandy*. In return, the entire crew would be pardoned. The Alliance agreed to the terms, and Shepard was placed under house arrest, often being visited by Alliance soldier James Vega.

Several months later, Shepard would be released when Earth came under attack by a full-scale Reaper invasion. Escaping on board the *Normandy* with Vega and Williams. Shepard was sent to Mars to meet with Liara, where he learned of a Prothean superweapon that was designed to stop the Reapers dubbed the "Crucibles". Knowing that the galaxy needed to unite to survive, Shepard travelled the galxy to forge alliances with other species. He was also joined by several old friends including Garrus, Tali, Liara, and Williams. Joining them were Vega, Samantha Traynor, Steve Cortez, and a Prothean survivor named Javik. Shepard assisted his friends Wrex and Solus in ending the Genophage, securing allies in the Krogan and Turians; and brought peace between the Geth and Quarians, earning their help as well. During this time, he and Tali renewed their relationship. His missions did have several falters however, as Shepard also had to deal with a now indoctrinated Illusive Man and his Cerberus loyalists.