As a way to commemorate International Women's Day, Mass Effect's Twitter account has been sharing fanart of the game's female characters. So far, the account has shared two illustrations with different takes on the female version of Commander Shepard, the main character in Mass Effect, and a third illustration of Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, a skilled Quarian Machinist.
Mass Effect has been encouraging fans to share their artwork using the hashtag #MyShepard and some of it is been retweeted on the official Twitter account. The community has been contributing to the hashtag constantly and there is even a picture of a couple wearing Mass Effect-inspired gowns for their wedding ceremony. Today, the Mass Effect Twitter account has been sharing some of that fanart under the hashtag #InternationalWomensDay and, most notably, the artists have all been female as well.
Fans who have shared their illustrations depicting their favorite female characters got the chance to have their artwork featured in Mass Effect's account today for International Women's Day. The first illustration of FemShep that Mass Effect shared was created by Twitter user @KirsenArteriu and it has amassed three thousand likes and over three hundred retweets, while the second illustration made by @Tipspanot is shy of the three thousand likes mark. So far, user @dianapocalypse's art depicting Tali'Zorah is reaching 1500 likes.
Mass Effect has tried to include diverse characters in its different titles and it has not been scared to show strong female characters throughout the game. A good example of this is Jack, a character who was recently confirmed as pansexual who was originally thought to be a romantic interest for both the female and male versions of Commander Shepard. This was not the only time Mass Effect tried to incorporate non-heterosexual romanceable characters. For Mass Effect Andromeda, Jaal Ama Darav was allowed to engage in a gay romance with the main character, Ryder after a game update.
Hopefully, Mass Effect will continue to show artwork depicting some of the other female characters in the game. In particular, it will be interesting to see fanart of other strong female characters such as Miranda Lawson and Liara T'Soni. The two of them have become beloved characters in the franchise as they are both strong females with interesting and complex stories. Moreover, the two of them are known to be prominent in their area as Liara is a crucial character in the story, as well as an accomplished scientist and researcher, while Lawson is the Director of Alliance Intelligence.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition releases May 14 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.