Gender and Appearance
One of the first choices you'll make is your Shepard's gender, between Male and Female. Your gender is locked through all three games: it's impossible to have Shepard transition between Male and Female when starting Mass Effect 2 or 3. As well, the pronouns will be traditionally aligned: Male Shepard will be given he/him, and Female Shepard she/her.
Your choice of gender will primarily affect which characters will be sexually aligned with your Shepard, and thus are receptive to being Romanced by them. Each gender will have roughly the same amount of romance options in each game.
As well, your choice of gender will have minor alterations to the script, although nothing that truly influences the direction of the story.
Original Femshep Face Code
In the Legendary Edition, the default Female Shepard face has been replaced with the bespoke design created for Mass Effect 3. While the template that the original FemShep design lives on as the first Custom Preset, the more refined design is not available in the Legendary Edition.
To that end, we've done our best to take the first Preset template and modify it to match the original FemShep design more closely by adjusting the hair and eye colour, cheek bones, jaw width and lip size. Unfortunately it is not possible to make an exact match, due to the shape of the eyes and cheeks, as well as the hair being very different.
If you'd like to use it, enter the Facial Customization menu, scroll down to Code, and enter this Facial Code:
- Original FemShep Face Code: 7Q3.QFF.P17.F81.JNW.12U.1DH.711.E66.416.6G8.118.B
Pre-Service History
The Pre-Service History refers to Shepard's backstory before they joined the Alliance military, primarily affecting dialogue in Mass Effect 1. Each backstory also receives a unique Side Quest on the Citadel, as well as a starting Morality points bonus.
- Spacer:
- Both of your parents were in the Alliance military. Your childhood was spent on ships and stations as they transferred from posting to posting, never staying in one location for more than a few years. Following in your parents' footsteps, you enlisted at the age of eighteen.
- Unique Assignment: Citadel: Old, Unhappy, Far-Off Things
- Morality Bonus: +10 Paragon Points
- Colonist:
- You were born and raised on Mindoir, a small border colony in the Attican Traverse. When you were sixteen slavers raided Mindoir, slaughtering your family and friends. You were saved by a passing Alliance patrol, and you enlisted with the military a few years later.
- Unique Assignment: Citadel: I Remember Me
- Morality Bonus: +5 Paragon Points, +5 Renegade Points
- Earthborn:
- You were an orphan raised on the streets of the great megatropolises covering Earth. You escaped the life of petty crime and underworld gangs by enlisting with the Alliance military when you turned eighteen.
- Unique Assignment: Citadel: Old Friends
- Morality Bonus: +10 Renegade Points
The Spacer backstory is unique among the three as it's the only option where Shepard's parents are alive, allowing for interaction with their mother in Mass Effect 1 and 3.
Psychological Profile
The Psychological Profile is where you pick an important event in Shepard's military career that defined them as a soldier and established their reputation as an individual. These options give a starting Morality points bonus, as well as unique dialogue in one of three Side Quests available on an Uncharted World.
While these choices DO NOT affect Shepard's actual personality, they do affect how characters see you as a soldier in the Alliance military, albeit mainly in Mass Effect 1.
- Sole Survivor:
- During your service, a mission you were on went horribly wrong. Trapped in an extreme survival situation, you had to overcome physical torments and psychological stresses that would have broken most people. You survived while all those around you fell, and now you alone are left to tell the tale.
- Unique dialogue: UNC: Dead Scientists
- Morality Bonus: +5 Paragon points, +5 Renegade points
- War Hero:
- Early in your military career you found yourself facing an overwhelming enemy force. You risked your own life to save your fellow soldiers and defeat the enemy despite impossible odds. Your bravery and heroism have earned you medals and recognition from the Alliance fleet
- Unique dialogue: UNC: Espionage Probe
- Morality Bonus: + 10 Paragon Points
- Ruthless:
- Throughout your military career, you have held fast to one basic rule: get the job done. You've been called cold, calculating, and brutal. Your reputation for ruthless efficiency makes your fellow soldiers wary of you. But when failure is not an option, the military always goes to you first.
- Unique dialogue: UNC: Major Kyle
- Morality Bonus: + 10 Renegade points
Military Specialization
In terms of gameplay, Military Specialization has the most profound effects, with each one providing a focus on Biotics, Tech, Weapons, or a mixture of two. Each come with different perks and limitations, including weapons they can specialize in and what types of armor they can wear.
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