Is Mass Effect’s Shepard Canonically Paragon, Renegade, Or Neither

Within all the moving parts of its complicated interstellar society, Mass Effect is ultimately the story of one person: Commander Shepard. As one of Mass Effect‘s Spectres, Commander Shepard has a tremendous amount of responsibility and autonomy throughout the Milky Way galaxy, but as the person seemingly destined to combat the threat of the Reaper invasion, Shepard has multiple life-altering choices throughout the original Mass Effect trilogy. Those choices, which the player has to make, can lead to many different versions of Commander Shepard, but none of them are officially canon.

Mass Effect employs a morality system – a not entirely unique game mechanic that essentially separates a good player character from an evil one along a Paragon and Renegade scale. One would think that as the savior of life in the Milky Way, Shepard wouldn’t tread near actual evil territory, but that’s not the case. Players who take Shepard down the Renegade path don’t just act as a cutthroat operative that will accomplish the mission by any means necessary. Instead, Renegade Shepard will end up committing genocide (on potentially multiple occasions throughout the series) and frequently spout xenophobic and sexist drivel. The Renegade system is in need of an overhaul because it makes the Paragon path much more believable in comparison.

Paragon Shepard is altruistic and eager to help, always taking the moral high ground. The Paragon route is everything the hero of galactic life should be. Unfortunately, the system turns the player character into a one-trick pony if players are determined to choose one or the other, but simply looking at the characteristics of each doesn’t determine which is canon. The short answer is neither Paragon nor Renegade Commander Shepard is canon.

Neither Shepard Was Designed To Be Canon In Mass Effect

Mass Effect is incredibly character-driven. Players get to fight aliens and use borderline magic powers as they traipse through the galaxy, but a large part of the series involves conversation. The Mass Effect games are designed to give players a unique experience and show the consequences of actions. If one of the morality routes were canon, there wouldn’t be a way to catch up on the major decisions of the first game with Mass Effect 2‘s Genesis comic; the developers would have simply chosen a “canon” route for Shepard through ME1.

The entire series is designed so that player choice affects the galaxy. Naming one of the morality paths as canon is antithetical to the game’s underlying purpose: to have players embody Commander Shepard. The whole conversation on the topic is itself a good argument for having Paragon and Renegade choices hidden for the series going forward. Players should be paying attention to the dialogue and thinking about which actions their particular Shepard would take instead of selecting the red or blue colored text. There is no such thing as a canonically moral Shepard because Mass Effect was designed to operate without one, and players should only take into account the actions of their own Commander.

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