Virmire

Ashley Williams

Ashley Williams was a human Systems Alliance soldier and the sole survivor of her unit on Eden Prime, who went on to serve aboard the Normandy under Commander Shepard and later rose to become one of the first human Spectres.

Blasto: The First Hanar Spectre

Blasto was a fictional action hero who starred in a long run of popular films across the galaxy, billed as the Milky Way's first hanar Spectre. A gun-toting jellyfish with a lover in every port, he became a cultural fixture whose movies ran from the 2180s into the era of the Andromeda settlements.

Citadel Fleet: the Council's defence force and what one battle cost it

The Citadel Fleet was the Council's main space defence force, mostly turian ships led by the asari dreadnought Destiny Ascension. Sovereign's attack in 2183 caught it scattered across the relays, and Shepard decides who survives.

Commander Shepard

Commander Shepard was a Systems Alliance N7 marine who became the first human Spectre, exposed the rogue agent Saren Arterius, and led the galaxy's resistance against the Reapers. Shepard's gender, history, and many of the choices that shaped the war were never fixed, and the final fate of the cycle turned on the Commander's own decisions.

Donnel Udina

Donnel Udina was humanity's ambassador to the Citadel Council and, in some accounts, its first Councilor. A cautious political operator obsessed with human advancement, he ended his career as a traitor in a Cerberus coup.

Every Mass Effect Romance Option, Game by Game

Every romance in Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3 and Andromeda: who each character is, whether a male or female Shepard or Ryder can romance them, how the relationship plays out and what happens to it in the next game. Fates that depend on choices are given as choices.

Every Mass Effect Squadmate and Companion, Game by Game

Every squadmate in Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3 and Andromeda, with their species, how they join, what their story is about and how they can die. Fates that depend on player choices are given as choices, because the series never picks one canon.

Genophage

The genophage was a genetic weapon deployed against the krogan during the Krogan Rebellions, drastically lowering the chance of viable births and consigning the species to a slow decline. Developed by the salarians and unleashed by the turians, it haunted galactic politics for over a thousand years.

Geth

The geth were a race of networked artificial intelligences built by the quarians as laborers. When they gained sentience and questioned their makers, the quarians tried to exterminate them; the geth won the resulting Morning War and withdrew behind the Perseus Veil to build their own future.

Geth Prime

Geth Primes were the largest and most powerful geth infantry platforms, heavy units that served as command and control nodes on the battlefield. Sheathed in armor and heavy shielding, a Prime carried a punishing pulse weapon and a combat intelligence that sharpened the fire of every geth around it.

How Did Shepard Not Get Indoctrinated?

The games never say Shepard is immune to indoctrination. Shepard just never spends long enough near Reaper technology for it to take hold. Here's what the trilogy shows, what the Indoctrination Theory claims, and what the Extended Cut did to that theory.

Ilos

Ilos was a ruined Prothean colony hidden behind the secret Mu Relay, home to the Conduit and the buried truth of the Reaper cycle, reached by Commander Shepard in the race to stop Saren Arterius.