In the Mass Effect games, Commander Shepard meets and recruits many powerful biotics, soldiers and assassins for the Normandy's crew, and that includes ex-Alliance soldiers like Jacob Taylor.

Jacob Taylor appears early in Mass Effect 2, not long after Miranda makes her debut. Shepard meets him while fighting rogue combat mechs in a Cerberus station, and he and Miranda soon become the Commander's first two squadmates for the galaxy's most important mission of all. But Jacob isn't just a hired gun; he's a man with sympathetic values and a rough past.

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Early Beginnings

Jacob Taylor in the Briefing Room Mass Effect 2

Jacob Taylor met Miranda Lawson long before he ever pledged himself to Cerberus. Years before he met Commander Shepard, he was asked to help foil a Batarian plot on the Citadel with Miranda's help. At first, it seemed the Batarians were creating a cure for a plague, but what they had made was a bioweapon, which the Batarians' Citadel ambassador, Jath'Amon, plans to spread all over the Citadel. Jacob and Miranda are on the scene, and after a few gunfights, capture Jath'Amon and avert disaster. It was one of Jacob's finest moments, but he later noted that such actions are largely thankless in the eyes of the galaxy. He never earned great prestige like Commander Shepard did.

Not long after Saren's attack on the Citadel, Jacob laments the Council's whitewashing of the Geth attack and the Normandy's disappearance, feeling that nothing substantial has been accomplished. Shepard fought so hard, and for what? An ungrateful galaxy, it would seem. Miranda returns, and she urges Jacob to switch career paths and join her in Cerberus. There, he could be hands-on about fixing the galaxy and thus relieve his feelings of helplessness.

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Jacob balks at first, knowing Cerberus' shady reputation and seeing its Earth sponsors as little more than xenophobes. However, Miranda urges her friend to at least give Cerberus a try and see its methods for himself before making a final decision. Miranda's arguments win out in the end, and Jacob quits the Alliance (and his privateer role there) to become a fully-fledge Cerberus operative. He even joined the Lazarus cell, dedicated to bringing back the fallen Commander Shepard.

By Shepard's Side

Jacob Taylor warmly welcomes Shepard to the Normandy SR-2 and acts as an ambassador to Cerberus, along with Miranda. Unlike the fanatical Miranda, however, Jacob has a more balanced and cautious view on Cerberus. He freely admits that Cerberus has a "checkered past" and that a lot of its reputation is merited, though he does admire the organization's hands-on approach to most problems. Cerberus gets the job done quickly and efficiently, he notes, without the sluggish bureaucracy of the Alliance. Between the lines, Jacob more or less suggests that Shepard carefully observe evaluate Cerberus personally and reach a well-informed verdict.

On the mission against the Collectors, Jacob serves as a front-line soldier, similar to Grunt, Zaeed and Legion. He does have one outstanding issue, though: his long-missing father Ronald Taylor. Ronald had been aboard an exploration ship named the Hugo Gernsback, which went missing nearly a decade ago. Recently, it gave off a distress signal, and this odd timing prompts Jacob to look into it with Shepard's help.

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What he finds shocks him: his father had built a sort of harem or kingdom among the ship's survivors. Jacob scorns his father for acting in such a selfish and arrogant manner. This is not the sort of leadership and personal responsibility Ronald taught his son. Shepard may then either leave Ronald to his rebelling subjects, urge him to end his own life or take him into Alliance custody. In all three routes, Jacob becomes free of his past at last.

His New Family

By the events of Mass Effect 3, Jacob has officially cut ties with the increasingly radical Cerberus and is working covertly with other ex-Cerberus operatives on the ice world of Gellix. There, he worked with his fellow operative Dr. Brynn Cole, also becoming her lover. Jacob fights alongside Shepard's crew to evacuate Gellix once Cerberus muscles in. Once safe, Jacob meets Shepard on the Citadel and thanks the Commander for the help, deciding to assist with the Crucible Project.

He also has good news: he and Dr. Cole are expecting their first child. Jacob is eager to build a proper family, one that stands for everything he does: loyalty, trust and responsibility. He no longer has that with his own father, but he can become that kind of role model for his future child.

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