Commander Shepard is the hero of the Mass Effect universe, an Alliance Navy soldier who was a rising star even before they were knighted as the first human Spectre. In 2183, Shepard began a galaxy-wide manhunt to find the rogue Spectre Saren and take him down, and two years later, Shepard confronted the wicked Collectors and won.
The legend of Commander Shepard grew with every battlefield exploit, and by 2186, the Commander was the galaxy's best hope against the seemingly invincible Reaper fleets. Many times, Shepard was the hero of the day, but from time to time, it was actually a squadmate or ally who made all the difference. Not even Shepard can get the job done alone, after all.
10 SHEPARD WAS THE HERO: When Shepard Defeated Saren At The Citadel
The final battle of the Citadel was a joint effort between between Shepard's team, the Alliance Navy's 5th fleet, and the Citadel's own fleet when fighting the monstrous Sovereign. But Commander Shepard alone takes credit for defeating their nemesis, Saren Arterius.
Whether paragon or renegade, Shepard can talk Saren out of activating the Citadel's mass relay system, and then engage the husk-Saren in a fierce duel that ends in a decisive victory for the Commander. Saren's defeat also lowered Sovereign's kinetic barriers, leaving it open to enemy fire.
9 A TEAMMATE WAS THE HERO: When Liara Destroyed The Shadow Broker
Liara had a major heroic moment in the backstory, when she and her Drell friend Feron recovered Shepard's body and swiped it away from the Collectors and the Shadow Broker. Then, in 2185, Liara teamed up with the revived Commander Shepard to rescue Feron.
But they did more than that. Shepard and Liara also confronted the Shadow Broker, a burly Yahg, and fought him to the death. Shepard kept the villainous Broker busy until Liara could deliver the final blow, and vaporize the Broker's body. She then replaced him as a more benevolent and helpful Broker.
8 SHEPARD WAS THE HERO: When Shepard Conquered The Collector Base
The wicked Collectors were abducting entire human colonies to fuel the construction of a human-shaped Reaper in their base, and they terrorized the stars with their advanced battlecruiser. In 2185, the Cerberus organization brought Shepard back for round two.
After assembling an elite team, Shepard led the counterassault on the Collector base, and through the Commander's exemplary leadership, the base was conquered. Paragon Shepard will even take the extra step of blowing it up, to keep that advanced tech from being abused by other parties (mainly Cerberus).
7 A TEAMMATE WAS THE HERO: When EDI Hacked The Collector Ship
Shepard dealt the final blow to the Collectors, but it was EDI who set the stage for that eventual victory. At one point, the Illusive Man sent Shepard's team to the seemingly disabled Collector battlecruiser, intent on obtaining vital navigation data from the vessel.
No way could Shepard get that intel alone, even with experts like Tali'Zorah around, so it fell to EDI to scour the ship's databanks to get that intel. Then, when the Collectors sprang their trap, EDI hacked the system and covered Shepard's retreat.
6 SHEPARD WAS THE HERO: When Shepard Saved Eden Prime & Launched The Saren Investigation
This was one of Shepard's most essential victories, and Shepard saved the day even before becoming a Spectre. Saren and his Geth army attacked Eden Prime, intent on finding the Prothean beacon buried there, and Saren's minions set some bombs to blow apart the colony's spaceport.
Extensive damage had already been done by the time Shepard arrived, but the damage would have been much worse if Shepard hadn't disabled those bombs and wiped out the Geth troops found at the spaceport. Shepard also took this chance to launch the investigation of Saren.
5 A TEAMMATE WAS THE HERO: When Aria T'Loak Rallied Omega's Citizens Against Cerberus
Aria T'Loak never permanently joined Shepard's crew aboard the Normandy, but she did team up with the Commander temporarily to take the fight to Cerberus. At one point, Aria had been lured away from her Omega home, and then Cerberus took over the station in force. Aria was ready to strike back.
But Aria wasn't used to fighting a war like this. She reached out to Shepard and, together with her Turian friend Nyreen, retook the station. Finally, Aria rallied Omega's crowds of criminals and thugs, uniting them against their common foe Cerberus. It was a remarkable moment, and Aria will be especially grateful to a renegade Shepard.
4 SHEPARD WAS THE HERO: Brokering A Truce Between The Quarians & Geth
In 2186, during the events of Mass Effect 3, the Quarians and their Geth creations went to war at last, and at some point, both sides were bitterly struggling for dominance of the Tikkun system. The Geth had Reaper AI codes on their side while the Quarians had a bigger fleet, and then Shepard stepped onto the scene.
With sufficient paragon or renegade, Shepard can force peace between the Geth and Quarian sides, and appeal to both Legion and Tali'Zorah to strengthen their case for peace. It works, and both sides will join the war effort as allies. It was an incredible triumph.
3 A TEAMMATE WAS THE HERO: When James Vega Prevented Dr. Eva Core's Escape On Mars
Shepard was alarmed when James Vega took matters into his own hands during the battle on Mars, but it can't be argued that James' actions saved the day, despite the serious risks involved. A Cerberus synthetic named Dr. Eva Core swiped the vital Crucible plans, and ran off for a waiting Cerberus shuttle. Shepard was too late to stop Dr. Core on foot.
Enter James Vega, who flew a Kodiak-class shuttle right into Dr. Core's own, grounding it and thus allowing Shepard to finish the job. This reckless move ensured that the Crucible's plans stayed in friendly hands, and the project was soon launched.
2 SHEPARD WAS THE HERO: Ending The Reaper War, One Way Or Another
Players didn't necessarily enjoy having all of Commander Shepard's myriad decisions converge into a simple "choose A, B, or C" scenario like this, but it can still be said that Shepard became the greatest hero the galaxy ever saw by ending the Reaper threat once and for all.
The Commander didn't just achieve victory for the current generation; this victory also avenged all of the fallen in previous cycles, and would prevent the Reaper threat from haunting future generation, too. Shepard can destroy the Reapers or use synthesis to end the threat as a true hero, and there's no stopping that.
1 A TEAMMATE WAS THE HERO: When Samara Finally Killed Morinth At Last
Morinth was no ordinary Asari outlaw. She was an Ardat-Yakshi, bearing a genetic mutation that made her deadly during the Asari mating ritual, and she has spent 400 years as a ravenous serial killer. However, her justicar mother Samara was on her tail, and in 2185, they had their final battle.
First, Shepard acted as bait to lure Morinth back to her apartment and lower her guard, and then Samara broke into the room and defeated Morinth in an intense biotics duel. Shepard couldn't have slain Morinth alone; it was Samara's destiny to finish the job. The galaxy now has one less monster stalking the night.