Name: Kaidan Alenko Door: Door PassCanon: Mass Effect Canon Point: Post Citadel DLC (Endgame) Age: 35 Appearance: Here. Muscular. Tall, but not freakishly so. Brown eyes and black hair, greying at the temples. Faux hawk that might shock you if touched. Cleft chin. Stubble. Faint lip scar. History: HereAs Shepard is a malleable protagonist of sorts, I'm canonizing the following player decisions for Kaidan:
X. Male!Shepard (John), Vanguard class.
X. Mostly Paragon with some Renegade options for flavor (like the final showdown with Kai Leng).
X. Survived Virmire, went with the bomb.
X. Shot and killed (then) Ambassador Udina.
X. Rejoined the Normandy.
X. Unromanced.CR AU (Optional): N/A Personality: - Positive Trait: Stalwart. Kaidan is, at his core, a principled man who wishes to do good in the galaxy. He isn't fond of injustice and has no problems calling it out. Not one for subterfuge or lying, you'd think him an odd choice for a group of special agents with extrajudicial authority over the entire galaxy. That's precisely why Kaidan makes an excellent Spectre—his moral compass is solid, needing no external impetus to do the right thing, incorruptible. Kaidan refuses to compromise his morals even if it makes his life much, much harder. He dislikes political maneuvering though he does understand it, participates if it's beneficial for the common good. When it isn't, Kaidan has no qualms in disobeying orders regardless if he goes against friends and/or superiors (hey, Shepard). Kaidan doesn't serve governments, doesn't even serve people. Kaidan serves ideals, allying with those willing to uphold them.
- Negative Trait: Self-Righteous. It's impossible to divorce Kaidan's moral compass from the air of self-righteousness it projects. Kaidan acts as a sort of moral and ethical check for Commander Shepard, the Paragon to Ashley Williams' Renegade. His need to do the right thing leaves Kaidan prone to overthinking, philosophizing and rambling. In a scene mirroring the player's frustration, Shepard asks, "Okay, off the record, permission to speak plainly, cross my heart and hope to die—what are you talking about?!" There are multiple times throughout the game where Kaidan needs to be talked out of his self-righteousness, culminating in the armed stand-off at the Citadel. If Shepard didn't amass enough points through specific dialogue choices, Kaidan will not back down and needs to be killed.
- Negative Trait: Conservative. Paradoxically, Kaidan is more likely to work within the confines of a system than to active tear it down. Kaidan's time at BAaT taught him the risks of cutting corners, who suffers when authority doesn't follow regulations—innocents like his childhood self. Because he wants to spare others this fate, Kaidan seeks change from within—he joined the Systems Alliance precisely because he understood his unique position as someone capable of changing the public perception of biotics. Kaidan is an idealist who believes in the power of solidarity, a goal difficult to attain if one focuses on destroying organizations instead of building and improving upon what already exists. Acts, not words. He's firm in his belief that humanity will get its due from the Citadel when humanity proves itself, not demand it like Councilor Udina insists on doing. He could easily be called a bootlicker, a sycophant even—and it wouldn't be wrong, necessarily.
- Negative Trait: Obstinate. If the hill is worth dying for Kaidan Alenko will be the first to climb it. He's legendarily stubborn, his most famous bout his refusal to join Cerberus when Shepard asks him to on Horizon. Kaidan will never compromise his morals, preventing him from seeing that Shepard was working with Cerberus not out of a sense of obligation for reviving him, but because they were providing him with the people and tools Shepard needed at the time. Trying to convince Kaidan of something else when he's made up his mind is an ordeal. After Shepard's reinstatement into the Alliance Kaidan requires several missions—and, notably, a brush with death—to believe the Commander is no longer a Cerberus agent. His tendency to overthink everything and consider every angle before acting reinforces this stubborn streak. It's the moral and ethical version of the sunk cost fallacy.
Powers and Abilities: Mundane abilities are your canon typical futuristic military officer stuff—at peak physical condition, skilled with guns and tech, training in emergency medicine so he can stabilize an injured soldier, etc.
Supernatural ability is biotics. To cut a long story short, biotics is space telekinesis and elemental manipulation of electricity. Kaidan in particular is fond of creating shields, lifting and pulling enemies and—because biotics are an organic process—Reaving, which attacks an enemy's nervous/synthetic system and prevents healing. When used against organics, it gives back a bit of health to Kaidan.
Biotics are taxing to use. Kaidan requires twice as many Calories as the average human. He also suffers from chronic migraines due to the L2 biotic implant he uses, now discontinued due to it making you a biotic god at the cost of your sanity and health. The L2 implant also causes a build-up of electrostatic, which can be painful when not managed properly. Electrostatic discharge against himself and others is a permanent hazard.
Biotics require a biotic amplifier to wield effectively. It slots into the L2 implant's port at the base of his skull. Without this amplifier Kaidan's ability to control his biotics is reduced to practically nothing. Unlike the L2 implant it is an external piece of equipment that can be lost, stolen, damaged and destroyed. Inventory: - M-96 Mattock — Main arm. Assault rifle. Mass Effect's Kalashnikov—cheap, wieldy, reliable. 64 rounds. Specifics here.
- M-11 Suppressor — Side arm. Heavy pistol. Banned for civilian use (but when did that stop people?). 36 rounds. Specifics here.
- Systems Alliance Hoodie — Self-explanatory.
Samples: X. Thinking.
XX. Speaking. |
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