A veteran soldier of the Systems Alliance Navy, an N7-graduate of the Interplanetary Combatives Training (ICT) military program, and the first human Citadel Council Spectre, Shepard works to stop the Reapers, a sentient machine race dedicated to wiping out all advanced organic life. Shepard is neither a hero, nor a villain; depending upon players' choices and actions, Shepard is the abstaining factor that acts as both on occasion, and will take whatever action is deemed necessary when presented with impossible scenarios.