Commander Shepard is Female

[Riven Armor]

Let me guess, it goes beyond the equipment? What a terrible dodge.

Not exactly.

Heres a little exercise as to what I'm talking about

Define a female character that isn't you or what you want to fuck (and, if you miss the freud factor, isn't your mother). I don't just mean describe, either.

I don't know where you're going with this. Any character Judi Dench plays is one of those. That isn't Freudian subtext. She is not especially motherly. Princess Azula from Avatar. Capable, unsexualized, pursued by internal devils.

A female character that would seem to fulfill your prerequisites would be developed meaningfully through the course of the plot while avoiding the trap of sexualization. If you expect me to elaborate more, I'm going to have to ask you to do the same.

 

[Riven Armor]

I don't know where you're going with this. Any character Judi Dench plays is one of those. That isn't Freudian subtext. She is not especially motherly. Princess Azula from Avatar. Capable, unsexualized, pursued by internal devils.

A female character that would seem to fulfill your prerequisites would be developed meaningfully through the course of the plot while avoiding the trap of sexualization. If you expect me to elaborate more, I'm going to have to ask you to do the same.

Exactly.

To elaborate, Judi Dench is pretty amazing, but she also falls into wo-man territory, which falls under "you" in my little exercise (as it doesn't presume gender). Meaning my 'exercise' is a trick question. If the closest you can get to a decent female character is to have that character ignore gender, then as I said, female characterization is a trap. Reducing gender in characterization to a completely meaningless toggle, unless you're going for sex appeal.

Conversely, that applies to male characters. The wo-man argument is meaningless.

 

[Another]

Yeah I played a semi paragon female shepard. I wanted a strong assertive but kind female lead. That and i was really really tired of playing a male space marine.

And now I can't go back, because that Shepard is MY Shepard. I'm very attached to the character I've created. Which in my view is a huge thumbs up to Hale's voice work, that I enjoy it enough to become attached. Whenever someone mentions mass effect and Shepard even in offical media i think of my shepard.

Its gonna make the possible movie very weird and dissonant to watch.

 

[Riven Armor]

Conversely, that applies to male characters. The wo-man argument is meaningless.

Heh, exactly again.

Ok. Glad to see we're on the same page >_>

 

[Divine Miss Bee]

Most gamers in the shooter/rpg genre are males. Therefore, the default is male. Simple as that.

right, but i think his point is that perhaps THAT'S where innovation in gaming lies (instead of stupid gimmicks like kinect).

it makes sense-in shooters with little hand-to-hand combat (in which there is a lot of gender inequality), there's no realism lost over which gender is pulling a trigger. a female shepard doesn't affect anything, except to open up a bit more story. so, why not?

Even if they kept in the choice of gender, they might lose a few sales if Shepard wasn't fitted to the (most likely) majority. Profit comes over making the story slightly better.

Also, I just want to say, why would any female choose a romantic plot with Jacob when Thane and Garrus exist?

you and your turians. though i must say, i kind of agree with that.

 

[Dr. Danger]

What exactly is wrong with male Shepard's voice actor?

I thought it was fantastic and the only reason I trudge through the gameplay is to watch the cutscenes. An oddity to me because I will traditionally skip them in other games. The way he delivered his lines really had me. They were powerful and since I play renegade, it's depth was only doubled.

Commander Shepard will forever be male to me.

I don't like female leads. They're hardly ever realistic and most of the time when they play "badarse" it just feels forced and disjointed.

 

[Riven Armor]

What exactly is wrong with male Shepard's voice actor?

I thought it was fantastic and the only reason I trudge through the gameplay is to watch the cutscenes. An oddity to me because I will traditionally skip them in other games. The way he delivered his lines really had me. They were powerful and since I play renegade, it's depth was only doubled.

Commander Shepard will forever be male to me.

I don't like female leads. They're hardly ever realistic and most of the time when they play "badarse" it just feels forced and disjointed.

That last bit I will agree with, although not necessarily with Mass Effect. A lot of "tough girls," especially in TV, feel forced and inauthentic.

 

[Legion]

I have never played as a female Shepard but I do think Jennifer Hale is superb.

Personally I don't like the idea of character based RPG's having a "canon" setting. Shepard should be male or female depending on what the player wishes just as it is right now. Unless there is a strong enough reason to have them a certain gender I always think the choice should be there.

I don't like female leads. They're hardly ever realistic and most of the time when they play "badarse" it just feels forced and disjointed.

I agree, normally. It's more of a case that most directors (who whoever is responsible) simply cannot make a believable female lead character. This is probably because they try and make them a badass male character but with boobs and a preference for males as opposed to actually making them a badass woman instead.

 

[AllLagNoFrag]

Yes specifically for Mass Effect, a female shepard would be better imo. It just suited the role better. However, with the way most of these games are, the lead is usually male. In ME2, 3 out of my 4 completed games are with Fem Sheps.