Captain David Anderson

---

Context

Captain Anderson is one of the key characters of the Mass Effect military science fiction video game saga.

He plays an important role in the games themselves, but also in the novels and comics that explore various side corners of the saga (Mass Effect gaiden, I suppose…).

Much of the material in the biography below comes from the novels. Including, yes, that book. 😿

More context

In most playthroughs of Mass Effect, Anderson is a mentor and father figure for the protagonist. Many of his actions clear the way and establish precedents that facilitate his protégé’s exploits.

If you’re not well familiar with Mass Effect, you’ll want to read our Mass Effect setting article first. I’d also throw in the first Commander Shepard profile for additional context.

At this point, this entry stops as the Mass Effect 2 game begins, because screenshots.

---

Advertisement

• This profile assumes a specific video game playthrough. See our video games writeups FAQ for more.
• This profile features tabletop RPG mechanics about the video game’s gameplay. See our video games writeups FAQ for more.
• This profile features non-canon hypotheses about in-game events and mechanics. See our video games writeups FAQ for more.

---

Background

---

Advertisement

---

Powers & Abilities

Anderson was the best and brightest of his class at the N7 military special operations training program. The N7 qualification is thought to be the best such program ever developed by Humanity.

He’s generally acknowledged as the top Human operative, officer and military leader of his generation.

Anderson has ample experience with :

• Other planets and species.
• Space combat.
• Commando ops.
• Military equipment within Citadel space and beyond.
• Galactic politics and military units.
• Hand-to-hand combat.
• Vehicles operation.
• Etc.

He also reads a lot of military intelligence reports.

Old soldier

He is primarily known for his penetrating tactical mentality and superior intelligence.

• His mind moves quickly.
• He considers all the right questions.
• He stays calm and analytical under all circumstances.
• He has ample experience from which to drawn.

In his prime he was a resourceful, near-cinematic special operations soldier. He had nerves of steel and a remarkable power of observation. Even now, he’s plenty dangerous.

Marines under Anderson’s command know that they have a particularly smart, loyal and determined officer giving orders. He’ll have them move like a disciplined, well-oiled machine leaving nothing to chance. His unit will implacably outmanoeuvre their opponents even when outnumbered.

Dr. Chakwas, who apparently worked with Anderson for years, considered that this was an excellent mix of strictness and liberality. She thought that the Captain was great at keeping his crews at once disciplined and resourceful.

The will…

Being specops, Anderson has intelligence training and experience. He’s familiar with various illegal tools, grey and black market service providers, forgery techniques, shadowing techniques, etc. and how to defeat them. He has ties with several high-end data brokers.

He also knows his way around lying and manipulation. Though again this is more about counter-measures than employing these himself.

Anderson’s medical skills are surprisingly good. They’re all about fixing wounds in the field, but he could be an excellent trauma nurse. He even knows basic physical therapy.

… and the way

A charismatic and famous leader, Anderson is usually counted among the four great heroes of Humanity’s Mass Effect age – Jon Grissom, David Anderson, Steven Hackett and Mandala Shepard.

However, though he was thrust into a diplomatic role, he never became a good diplomat and was keenly aware of it.

Albeit he cannot match peak human combat monsters such as Kai Leng or Mandala Shepard, Anderson has an impressive willpower. He keeps fighting and soldiering well past the point where anybody else would have given up in despair and exhaustion. He also never hesitates to sacrifice himself for the common good.

While fighting the Reapers-repurposed Paul Grayson, Anderson ended up with a collapsed lung, a mangled arm, a concussion, serious blood loss, etc.. But he was still plodding forward all zombie-like and slowly firing his shotgun one-handed by buttressing it against his abs.

---

Between the lines of age

As the first Mass Effect game begins, David Anderson is too senior an officer to be in the field. His job is to give orders. There’s also an implication that he’s too old.

Though Anderson looks well in his 50s, he’s just 46 when Mass Effect starts. This is but a third of the maximum Human life expectancy of his time.

Mass Effect: Retribution confirms that chronologically, Anderson is almost 20 years away from actually being old despite his appearance.

This discrepancy seems caused by the massive stress that marked his life ever since he enlisted, prematurely wrinkling his features and eroding his energy. Still, Anderson isn’t as old as he looks. Even though he had to drop his training regimen years ago, he’s still capable of such physical feats as delivering impeccable roundhouse kicks.

A question of time

Our No-Prize Hypothesis  is that David Anderson may be from a time where gene therapy couldn’t be used on everyone. If so, he had to make do with unmodified genetics.

Our game stats thus assume that he doesn’t benefit from military genetic enhancements, such as being a fast healer.

Still, this reflects the main problem with the Mass Effect timeline. Too little time has passed since the Mars discovery to have room for the biography of several characters. See our Miranda Lawson profile for the clearest example.

Gamemasters considering a Mass Effect campaign might ponder whether adding 15-ish years between the Mars discovery and Mass Effect suits them. That would make Anderson 61 as Mass Effect starts, which seems more in line with how he’s depicted.

---

History

David Anderson was born in London in 2137. His father, a middle-aged flight mechanic, was working on a base servicing military spacecrafts.

During his early teens, David saw on TV :

• The discovery of the Mars technology cache.
• The creation of the Systems Alliance to represent and defend mankind in this brand new world.
• The discovery of the dormant Charon mass relay.

Like most Humans, Anderson was fascinated when Jon Grissom  led a hand-picked Systems Alliance team through the mass relay, to discover what laid beyond known space. The 12-year old decided that he would join the Alliance military to be like the heroic Grissom.

He enlisted on the very day he turned 18.

N7

By this point, the Alliance had just set up what would become its most celebrated training program. It was the “N” military qualification path, preparing for high-intensity special operations.

A system of gradual selection and elimination allowed graduates to progress toward ever more elite training. That went from the N1 course to the rare few reaching the N7 qualification – Humanity’s best of the best.

Anderson was part of the first N7 class ever. He was considered the best of this cohort. He thus made Second Lieutenant before he even graduated. One imagines he may have occupied a role equivalent to that of a Cadet XO.

The Alliance wanted to use the first N7-qualified operators for publicity. As a result, they organised a big graduation ceremony at Arcturus Station. Rear Admiral Jon Grissom himself would attend and greet the young soldiers.

However, Grissom had received top secret information about the First Contact War, which had just begun at Shanxi.

Encounter at Shanxi

Wanting to see whether the next generation of Alliance soldiers could handle such dire situations, Grissom broke the news to Anderson. Anderson was then having a private conversation with his idol, as a reward for being the most promising N7 graduate. Anderson’s intelligence and aplomb soothed the fears of the world-weary and cynical Grissom.

Immediately after graduation, Anderson thus served during the First Contact War. Though it was chiefly ship-to-ship warfare he earned three different medals for merit during the conflict. David Anderson was part of at least one combat drop (presumably on Shanxi).

Thankfully, the Council stepped in within weeks to stop the misunderstanding between the Humans and Turians. Peace was soon brokered, and Humanity joined Citadel Space as a new minor species.

Anderson presumably married just after the War was over, with a civilian.

SSV Hastings

Anderson’s career is mostly undocumented. But it was obviously intensive, and it wrecked his marriage as he seldom could return to Earth. Cynthia Anderson divorced him around their eighth anniversary.

By 2165 or so, Staff Lieutenant Anderson was the XO  of the SSV Hastings under Captain Belliard. He was also the leader of its five-person Marine shore team. The frigate mostly patrolled the Skyllian Verge  to defend small Human colonies. At that point, Human forces were direly overextended.

Worse, the Council had purposefully allowed Humans to expand in sectors of interest to the coldly hostile Batarian Hegemony . This resulted in a constant risk of war.

Ground team, you are cleared for go

The Hastings responded when an isolated Alliance base on Sidon came under attack. During this perilous mission, Anderson determined that the assaulters had inside help. Then he heroically got his whole team out alive despite the odds.

Lt. Anderson was debriefed by Anita Goyle, the Human ambassador to the Citadel. Goyle told him that Sidon had been carrying out Artificial Intelligence research that was illegal by Council law.

She also told him that one of the researchers, one Lt. Kahlee Sanders, had defected mere hours before the attack. Ambassador Goyle sent Anderson after Sanders as the most likely traitor.

Spectres of death, part 1

Anderson soon determined that Sanders was the secret daughter of Jon Grissom. Though Grissom tried to mislead him, Lt. Anderson found Sanders and convinced her to collaborate.

During his investigation Anderson repeatedly ran into the dreaded Spectre Saren Arterius. Arterius was also investigating the Sidon events. Anderson and Arterius rapidly took a dislike of each other. As they kept running into each other, Anderson thought that Arterius was on the verge of murdering him on several occasions.

With Nihlus Kryik and Mandala Shepard.

The Turian Spectre’s report exposed the Human AI research at Sidon. However, Ambassador Goyle fiercely refused most of the sanctions and greatly limited the damage.

Furthermore, after Sanders provided Anderson with the full data about what had happened on Sidon, Goyle handed it over to the Council as a gesture of good faith. She then used her momentum and sheer chutzpah to suggest Anderson for Spectre membership.

Spectres of death, part 2

The Spectre are the top agents of the Council. They form a small roster of operatives with nearly unlimited latitude to defend Citadel Space from menaces within and without. Traditionally, only members of the three top Council species can have their elite operatives serve as Spectres.

However, Goyle had been strongly pushing to have Humanity climb the ladder. She wanted Humans to do that faster than any other species before. A Human Spectre was a part of that diplomatic onslaught.

Anderson became an important card in this game when the Council agreed to let him accompany Saren. Saren would then make a report to the Council about Anderson’s potential for Spectre membership. Their joint mission was to locate and terminate the Sidon traitor, who by then had been exposed as Sanders’ boss.

The eezo refinery job

Anderson coordinated with the hostile Saren. In doing so, he realised that the Spectre had let Kahlee Sanders be captured by allies of their target so he could track them down. The Human obtained that the Turian let him raid the compound ahead of him, so he could rescue Sanders. Anderson argued that Arterius could use this as a diversion.

However, Arterius had no intention of honouring this deal. To make sure that no target could escape he intended to blow up an entire refinery, workers and all. He also didn’t respect the agreed-upon timing, wanting Anderson to die in the blast.

Ironically, this saved Anderson. After the Lieutenant-Commander found Lt. Sanders, it was the explosions triggered by the Spectre that saved his life after he was overwhelmed by mercenaries.

Anderson and a wounded Sanders narrowly escaped. However, Saren lied. He claimed that the destruction of the refinery was Anderson’s fault and that he was unfit for Spectre duty.

Aftermath

Humanity’s gambit to get one of their own as a Spectre was pushed back by decades — as the Council had probably anticipated all along. That there had been an attempt to have a Human Spectre was of course kept a secret. But deformed rumours nevertheless spread.

However, Anderson’s actions had allowed the Alliance to recover the highly valuable Sanders. The Alliance also realised they’d been misled all along.

Thus, David Anderson’s career wasn’t destroyed by this failure. He went on to confirm his rank as a major operative and leader. He often served directly under the Ambassador’s orders to handle sensitive missions.

Though Anderson and Sanders had begun to fall in love, Sanders was immediately redeployed to another secret military research project. The two agreed that attempting to pursue a relationship in such circumstances was unrealistic. They regretfully said their goodbyes.

Unbeknownst to Anderson and Sanders, Saren had walked away with secret notes from the forbidden Sidon research. Investigating those he would eventually find the dormant Reaper, Sovereign. This would slowly warp his mind, just as with the Sidon project director before him.

Birth of the Normandy class, part 1

By early 2183, Anderson had been a Captain for years. He was commanding a cruiser, the SSV Tōkyō.

He also played a major role in the Normandy project. The goal was to create a new class of frigates as a joint project with engineers of the Turian Hierarchy.

It is likely that Anderson was a major sponsor of this specops frigate project, given :

• His ideology of Human/alien integration.
• His interest in healing the damage in Human/Turian relations after the First Contact War.
• His role as the elder statesman of Alliance Special Operations.

He would also be the commander of the SR1 Normandy, the first-in-class prototype, as soon as she left her berth.

This wasn’t originally supposed to be the case, but the scheduled commander (Captain Elli Zander) got into a brawl with the Turian engineers over cultural differences.

Birth of the Normandy class, part 2

The project was unpopular, though. Agreeing to such close military cooperation with aliens was controversial, and many Humans still hated Turians (and vice versa). Furthermore, a common opinion was that investing in proven ships of the line was better than sinking billions in fancy specops toys.

Furtherfurthermore, there was a strange incident near the end of the project. A Human pilot, Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, stole the prototype to complete a test run by himself then surrender.

Though this looked disastrous to Human eyes, Anderson understood that Turians would actually be impressed. He thus scored a major coup for the project by recruiting Moreau as his helmsman on the spot, in accord with Turian representative General Invectus.

During the same general time frame, Anderson met with and decorated a young Special Operations lieutenant, James Vega. Anderson kept an eye on the promising Vega.

Beyond Moreau, Captain Anderson staffed the Normandy with an all-star crew, including 

• Chief engineer Lt. Gregory Adams (who had been on the SSV Tōkyō).
• Veteran Navy physician Dr. Karin Chakwas.
• Navigator Charles Pressly.
• Biotic Special Operations Marine Lt. Kaidan Alenko…
• … and the top Special Operations Command operative, Staff Commander Mandala Shepard.

Protégée

The young Commander Shepard was considered the most relentlessly competent N7-qualified officer since Anderson.

Several spectacular operations — including her improbable foiling of the Skyllian Blitz on Elysium in 2176 — had also made her famous across the galaxy.

The Commander and the Captain had a lot in common. That included a general philosophy of integration with aliens and extremely high ethical standards. That Anderson would become Shepard’s mentor wasn’t terribly surprising.

However, Anderson kept some of his cards hidden. For instance he and Anita Goyle’s successor, Ambassador Udina, wanted to have another go at a Human Spectre when circumstances would be right.

Enters the dragon

Udina worked the Council. By 2183 Humanity had laboured its way back to where they were in 2165.

They obtained a non-binding agreement by the Council to have a Spectre observe a Human operative in action during a Spectre mission. The Spectre would then offer an opinion as to the Human’s suitability for a Spectre position.

Though she didn’t know it, Shepard was the second attempt at scoring a major coup in establishing Humanity as a key Council species. That was within mere decades of discovering mass relays.

Saren again

The operation went wrong. The Spectre, a Turian named Nihlus Kryik, was killed. The Humans maintained that Saren Arterius was responsible, but lacked proof. Worse, Anderson’s history with Saren made it look like a petty vendetta attempt, to smear Arterius.

Then, Shepard got lucky whilst investigating. She thus proved that Saren was a traitor and the Human assertions weren’t disingenuous.

Faced with the urgent necessity of stopping Saren, the Council agreed to make Shepard a Spectre on the spot.

But Captain Anderson had to take a background role. That was to prevent observers from continuing to frame these developments as his revenge against Saren. Ambassador Udina immediately put the Normandy under Shepard’s command so she could stop the rogue Spectre, and Anderson found himself more or less retired.

Saving the universe

Though she did a brilliant job as a Spectre, Commander Shepard strongly disapproved of the way her mentor had been sidelined for the sake of appearances. She remained in close contact with him.

After Shepard and her allies blew up Saren’s major base against impossible odds, the Council proclaimed victory. They refused to believe Shepard’s unsubstantiated warnings about a far greater menace, the Reapers.

Conferring with the Spectre Nihlus Kryik.

The Commander kept insisting that the very survival of the galaxy was under immediate threat. Soon, Udina had her and her crew grounded on the Citadel before she became too much of an embarrassment for Human diplomacy.

Determined to do something, Commander Shepard turned toward Captain Anderson for advice. Fully trusting the Commander, Anderson suggested that Shepard and his old crew mutiny, commandeer the Normandy and take out Saren and Sovereign.

Though Anderson was willing to sacrifice his career and his life to help, Shepard convinced him to tone down the risks he was about to take.

Mutiny !

Their plan worked. Captain Anderson punched out Ambassador Udina. He then used Udina’s workstation to authorise the departure of Shepard and the Normandy. Anderson surrendered in Udina’s office while the hijacked Normandy vanished in the cosmos.

The Anderson/Shepard mutiny worked. Shepard killed Saren in time despite ridiculous odds.

Then the response of Admiral Hackett’s fleet saved the Citadel from a geth invasion and destroyed Sovereign. Commander Shepard also had Hackett’s forces relieve the Asari super-dreadnought Destiny Ascension and save the Council as they were being evacuated.

Though it was a close call, the Battle of the Citadel was won primarily by Human forces. That Anderson, Shepard and their crew had mutinied was quietly forgotten.

After these events it made ample sense for Humans to become the fourth species on the Council. Leveraging her prestige as the saviour of Citadel Space and the Council, Commander Shepard suggested that Captain Anderson become the first Human Councillor, and the Council agreed.

Councillor Anderson

Humanity had thus rocketed to a major position despite being brand new on the galactic scene. Nevertheless, Councillor Anderson was clearly junior compared to the Asari, Turian and Salarian Councillors.

Still, he brought to the table his integrationist policies. He also brought a keen awareness of the realities in the field, which he was unwilling to sacrifice to play purely political games.

As Commander Shepard had hoped, having Anderson be Councillor made for a more sincere, practical and progressive Human policy.

Galactic politics

With Anderson’s new influence, Humanity’s star continued to rise. David was made an Admiral, though to his dismay he no longer had any military role.

Being a diplomat did not suit his character as a man of action.

Furthermore, a few months after the Battle of the Citadel, Commander Shepard was killed by unidentified ambushers.

Still, Councillor Anderson soldiered on. He continued doing everything he could to improve Humanity’s lot and better integrate his species with galactic society. However, it proved impossible to convince anybody important that the Reapers were real.

In 2185, Anderson again met with James Vega to decorate him. Vega had walked in the footsteps of his idol Commander Shepard. But this had led to the necessity of making a terrible decision that broke the young officer.

Seeing that being promoted to Lieutenant-Commander did little to soothe Vega’s spirit, the Admiral confided in him that he had just received certain news about the Commander.

---

Description

Like most Humans in the Mass Effect future, Anderson is of mixed heritage. His primary ancestries are from the Southern half of Africa, but a part of his family tree is Central European and another chunk of his heritage is Native American.

He has a slight London accent, though it’s easy to miss. He’s been off-Earth for decades and mostly has a Systems Alliance accent now.

As a youth he was tall and powerful. Even after leaving the field he remained a strong man in excellent shape.

He looks older than he chronologically should.

---

Personality

Anderson is a dedicated, smart, professional soldier. His entire life is about serving Humanity to help it navigate the most difficult decades of its history. He’s a serious, intense, experienced man with a high level of authority and discipline.

Though he’s foremost a soldier and believes in decisive action, Anderson is willing to handle a more political and diplomatic approach, particularly with the Council. However, he is aware that professional diplomats have skills, experience and a form of patience that he doesn’t possess.

Complicated, elusive, sensitive conversations annoy him. He’d rather take on a Krogan with but a baseball bat than having to negotiate with a Salarian dalatrass. Still, he does whatever is needed in order to serve.

Authority

David Anderson often comes across as a hard-nosed officer who demands a flawless performance from every single person under his command.

However, he considerably relaxes once he feels assured that his subordinates are courageous, competent professionals. This usually comes after they have braved grave risks together.

People who have faced death at Anderson’s side or on his direct order will find him acting much more like a friend than like a commander. He will freely make jokes and otherwise express soldierly camaraderie. David once broke the tension of a particularly stressful combat drop by trading “your momma” jokes with his commandos.

A reputation isn’t enough — he has to see the person in action before this sort of bond appears.

However, even when he’s barking orders, there’s a vibe to Anderson that paints him as a caring man who appreciates sincerity, courage and decisiveness.

Values, part 1

Anderson was among the first Humans to live on the Citadel. Though keeping an apartment in the wards just for his monthly off-duty week was expensive, he felt that he needed to live among the bustling alien species of the Citadel to understand Humanity’s new environment.

Like Shepard, Anderson is an integrationist. He strongly believes that there exists enough common ground between Humans and most aliens to forge equal and meaningful relationships of trust.

Though he’s tough-as-nails, Anderson isn’t like Arterius. He isn’t a Jack Bauer-like engine of torture and destruction hiding behind the facile excuse of high stakes. He’s a white hat. Though his life involves much deadly violence he’s a considerate and ethical person.

He would never, for instance, execute a prisoner – no matter how dangerous.

Values, part 2

David is extra-ethical is his relationship with women. He does his best not to be influenced by misogynistic attitudes still implicit in Human cultures. He works to be reliable and non-predatory in romantic matters, though as far as we know his life only had room for two romances. On the map, he’s well past “proper” and deep into “classy”.

With the exception of Arterius, Anderson likes Turians. Their military values and discipline are something that he appreciates, and they respect him as a great warrior.

This is even more noticeable since he’s a veteran of the First Contact War. Anderson is always willing to build bridges with Turian veterans who fought in this very war. This is often successful, manifesting as professional respect between skilled fighters and strategists and a willingness to let bygones be bygones.

Anderson was apparently a pioneer of cross-species military training exercises. He thus was part of Turian exercises on Palaven — where he learned a great deal from his former opponents.

Anderson is a humble man. He never boasts, seldom overestimates his capabilities, and has no problem admitting that he screwed up.

Feelings, wo ho ho (part 1)

Anderson is at first businesslike toward Shepard. This is presumably because he dislikes hiding from her that she’s a Spectre candidate. They soon become friends, though. Especially after Anderson sees Shepard’s instinctive rejection of sidelining him for political reasons.

After the successful Normandy mutiny, Anderson and Shepard’s bond increasingly becomes a father/daughter one even though neither of them intended it to.

Anderson always was Shepard’s role model. This is in part because she grew far away from her father – and because Shepard’s mum was fascinated by Lieutenant Anderson ever since the First Contact War.

As a teenager, Shepard wanted to be Anderson much like a teenaged Anderson wanted to be Grissom.

Feelings, wo ho ho (part 2)

As a man used to gauge the stuff others are made of, Anderson is in turn fascinated by Shepard. She is greater-than-life in a way he’s never seen before even among N7-qualified operators. She eagerly accomplishes some of the feats even Anderson couldn’t get done, such as giving Humanity its first Spectre.

Admiral Anderson understands Commander Shepard like no one else does, with the obvious exception of Dr. Liara T’Soni. Their faith in each other is unshakable. Knowing this furthers their resolve as they face daunting odds.

After his marriage disintegrated, Anderson kept feeling a degree of loneliness for years, if not decades. That circumstances prevented a relationship with Kahlee Sanders also clearly hurt him – more than it did Kahlee, since unlike her David isn’t a loner.

---

Quotes

(Suddenly realising something is off, Anderson raises a fist to have his team halt, then two fingers to have his tech expert come to him) “Any reason *those* doors should be closed ?” […] (gestures toward the front of the doors) “Check it out. Take it slow and careful.”

“Damnit, Sanders ! Don’t you dare quit on me now ! Your unit is moving out, so get up off your arse and get your feet moving ! That’s an order !” (by sheer military rote, the exhausted and wounded Sanders gets up and starts trotting out)

“The general’s right. It was unorthodox, and he’ll have to be punished for what he’s done… but right now, I wouldn’t trust the Normandy to anyone else.”

“I have a favour to ask. One soldier to another.”

(To himself, as he keeps going despite grave wounds) “Stay focused, soldier. No R&R until the mission is done.”

“Shepard, you’re the muscle on this operation. You’re going in heavy.”

“Sometimes, you just gotta howl to make things right.”

“No matter how good you think you are, there’s always somebody quicker, faster, and a helluva lot smarter than you just around the corner. That little lesson’s kept me alive more than once.”

“Shepard’ been forced to fight a lot of battles alone. God only knows how she got out of some of that. Makes your head spin.”

“The problem is that war isn’t orderly. And the enemy is never predictable. Even the most experienced veteran is going to find themselves in situations they haven’t trained for. In those instances, and there’s more than I’d like to admit, your instincts are the only thing keeping you alive. That, and the men and women you’re fighting beside.”

---

---

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: Mass Effect Universe. In the games, Anderson is voiced by Keith David (who also was Goliath’s voice in Gargoyles, among dozens of other roles).

Helper(s): Darci ; greatly enhanced textures by CDAMJC.

Writeup completed on the 27^th of March, 2014.