Mass Effect: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Shepard

Didn't you know Shep's one of the Galaxy's most prominent serial killers?

Shepard Real Life
Bioware/DKNY

Commander Shepard is an iconic character for a reason.

We spent three whole massive games with this character, with our customised Shepard saving the galaxy from the Reaper threat. Whether they looked ridiculous or were super-serious, chose the path of the Paragon or the Renegade, slept with aliens or humans or differed through countless other choices was entirely up to you, and every Shepard is different for every person out there.

That said, there's several hard facts about Commander Shepard that just can't be disputed. Did you know, for example, where the inspiration for Shepard's name comes from, or how Cerberus gets its hands on Shepard's body after the events of Mass Effect 2? Did you know there's a slim chance that you'll meet someone who looks just like Commander Shepard in real life? Seriously. It's weird.

If you delve far enough into the game's development, and Mass Effect's lore, there's loads of interesting facts about Shepard you probably didn't know about.

Join us once again aboard the Normandy, alongside your crew of rag-tag friends and chums, as we delve into those facts you've always wanted to know about your personalised protagonist.

10. The Standard MaleShep Face Exists In Real Life

Shepard Real Life
Bioware

Somewhere in the world, someone will have walked past someone else and thought to themselves, "Boy, that dude doesn't half look like Commander Shepard from Mass Effect."

Well, there's a reason for that.

Commander Shepard really does exist in real life. Well, the standard version of Commander Shepard's male model does, anyway.

In the real world, Commander Shepard keeps busy not saving the galaxy, but instead is a male Dutch model named Mark Vanderloo. Bioware used Vanderloo as the basis for Commander Shep's standard model.

Despite looking exactly like a well-known gaming character, Mark has shown no enthusiasm for reprising his role outside of the Mass Effect universe. He's been contacted for conventions many times over the years and has respectively declined, and has never commented on his role as Commander Shepard.

It's widely believe that Bioware simply paid Vanderloo a flat rate to use his face in the game, and as someone not interested in games (the heathen!), Mark simply moved on and continued with his career, not knowing that Commander Shepard would become one of the most popular gaming characters of all time.

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Dan Curtis is approximately one-half videogame knowledge, and the other half inexplicable Geordie accent. He's also one quarter of the Factory Sealed Retro Gaming podcast.