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[Revelat0]

fresh101 wrote...

mereck7980 wrote...

Every since I started getting details about ME3 there has been one thing that has really bothered me.  Why wasn't Shepard ever promoted from the rank of Commander?  After the battle of the citidel you would think that the Alliance brass would have bumped Shep up to at least Major right?  

Ash and Kadian both got promoted and Kirahee is now a Major.  Why is the most accomplished solider in the galaxy still at the same rank  they held at the begining of the series? 

Also, if Kadian is alive in your playthrough wouldn't he out rank Shepard (Kadian is now a Major)?  Given the fact that the Normandy SR2 is now an Alliance vessel wouldn't he be in command by default?  

I am not trying to nitpick, but I am curious if anyone else has thought about this quandry besides me.  

just try and imagine in your mind if you call him/her captpain, or major or general shepard, it just doesn't have ring to it like commander doesB)

What about other languages? Korvettenkapitan(German) Shepard doesn't have a nice ring to it?

[Get Magna Carter]

1)...because Shepard's first name is chosen by the player and it is awkward to refer to the character as just Shepard. So keeping it Commander Shepard is easier for spoken dialogue and marketing.
2)..because in the first game Shepard becomes a Spectre which is outside of the Alliance's normal ranking so a post ME promotion have very little meaning. After Shepard's "death" Shepard has not been truly part of the alliance military instead either incapacitated or working with an illegal "covert" private military group (sometimes called terrorist, sometimes believed to be a rogue black-ops division)..[of course no true covert group would display their own insignia like Cerberus does]

[tobynator89]

Its also my impression that spec ops never make it past captain/colonel, they're field officers. Anderson did make it to rear admiral because he went political IMO.

[Nimrodell]

When Anderson addresses Ashely in demo he always says - LT. But when he's re-instating Shepard, he says - Commander. Now, it may be just a manner of speech but it also can mean that Shepard now is fully fledged commander without lieutenant in front - same as it shows on character creator screen.

[handheld]

Handheld himself would not enjoy playing "Private" shepard.

"Janitor" Shepard however would suit Handheld himselfs needs.

[Heather Cline]

Alenko then still out ranks Shepard by a rank if the Alliance Navy considers Major on the same page as Captain. Meaning Alenko could pull rank and say that he's in charge. Thus the whole why is Shepard still a Commander while Alenko out ranks her/him. Again back to the question of who is in charge and why isn't Shepard of similar rank or higher.

[BatmanPWNS]

Private Shepard. Lol, I can imagine that.

[Reever]

I do hope he´d get a promotion to Staff Commander - don´t think he´ll ever get rid of the "Commander" title. Only if the Quarians calling him "Captain Shepard" wasn´t foreshadowing or something Could get used to that...

I really guess that having been a Spectre rendered him being promoted obsolete. But even then, I can´t imagine the Alliance not promoting him...

Ah well, I´m all for (Staff) Commander as long as his authority is unquestionable on the ship

[thoththeblack]

Commander Shepard remains Commander Shepard for the same reason that Captain America is never promoted to General America.

Think about it.

[Nathan Redgrave]

Revelat0 wrote...

In just one year 2185 to 2186 Ashley jumps from an Operations chief to a Lt. Cmdr. while it's not impossible, she must have being doing some crazy assignments that year! Though I don't think anything as crazy as Shepard, unless it has to do with her Spectre status, maybe unofficially you need to be atleast a Lt. Cmdr to be a Spectre, in the eyes of the Systems Alliance brass.

Don't forget that in ME1 it's made clear that she'd been pretty much shafted in terms of her career because she's a Williams. She might have gotten some speedy promotions post-ME1 because of her service record before that on top of everything she's done since then.

[rft]

Did anyone think that maybe it's because "Commander Shepard" flows better the "Major Shepard"? It doesn't really make sense but I think that might be the case

[atheelogos]

rft wrote...

Did anyone think that maybe it's because "Commander Shepard" flows better the "Major Shepard"? It doesn't really make sense but I think that might be the case

It doesn't matter what sounds better, or it shouldn't anyway. Shep needs a promotion. Should have gotten one after saving the Citadel.

[Heather Cline]

Actually no it doesn't flow better. There is a character called John Shepard on Stargate Atlantis and he for the first season was Major John Shepard. In the second season he was promoted to Lt. Colonel John Shepard. They just called him Colonel instead of Lt. Colonel but Colonel John Shepard flows just as well as Commander. Captain Shepard flows just as well as Commander. So actually your theory of it flowing better doesn't make sense at all.

[Rudy Lis]

Easy. Because he is Lieutenant-Commander Shepard, not Williams.
If he was promoted to that rank right before being transferred to Normandy SR-1, that means he simply haven't served enough term to be promoted to next rank (as I see gap is 3 years, he was dead two of them). Not sure about "posthumous" promotion - from one point of view it is correct and "justified", from another, he partially lose his iconic status, because he was Lt-Cdr during ME1 events. And after he was swept under rag - nobody cared. Or he could just turn promotion away - family tradition, I guess.
Regarding Anderson's referral of Ashley as full "lieutenant-commander" could be just to divide Shepard and her. Another reason to kick developers for failed homework.

[Oblivious]

PR department noticed that the masses are too stupid to realize that Commander Shepard and Major Shepard are the same people so they left him as Commander. No matter. In my world Shepard became a Staff Commander after his death because there wasn't enough time after the Battle of the Citadel to do it officially. Thus he outranks Williams in ME3 and I'm happy.

But seriously, as somebody who serves in the military this is really annoying. Kinda reminds me why civilians shouldn't do a military epic. They should've at least done a wikipedia search for information.

[Matinek]

Shepard is just a badass, not the time of bad ass Miranda is... If you know what I mean 

[Shadowrun1177]

Rudy Lis wrote...

Easy. Because he is Lieutenant-Commander Shepard, not Williams.
If he was promoted to that rank right before being transferred to Normandy SR-1, that means he simply haven't served enough term to be promoted to next rank (as I see gap is 3 years, he was dead two of them). Not sure about "posthumous" promotion - from one point of view it is correct and "justified", from another, he partially lose his iconic status, because he was Lt-Cdr during ME1 events. And after he was swept under rag - nobody cared. Or he could just turn promotion away - family tradition, I guess.
Regarding Anderson's referral of Ashley as full "lieutenant-commander" could be just to divide Shepard and her. Another reason to kick developers for failed homework.

There's a flaw in theory though about Anderson refering too Ashely as as "Lieutenant-Commander" to divide Shepard amd her, cause he does the same thing with Kaidan only calling him Major.

[incinerator950]

From the ME 2 codex.  It's doubtful Shepard would receive a promotion, he was declared KIA/MIA after the Collector attack, and never reinstated or returned to the Alliance until after Arrival, which for working with Cerberus, and destroying a Batarian Relay.

OFFICERS

• 2nd Lieutenant
• 1st Lieutenant
• Staff Lieutenant
• Lieutenant Commander
• Staff Commander
• Captain/Major
• Rear Admiral/General
• Admiral
• Fleet Admiral

Modifié par incinerator950, 19 février 2012 - 08:54 .

[chengthao]

i don't remember who posted it but someone said "Commander Shepard is such an 'iconic name' that one can no longer alter his/her name, much like the Master Chief from Halo"

[incinerator950]

chengthao wrote...

i don't remember who posted it but someone said "Commander Shepard is such an 'iconic name' that one can no longer alter his/her name, much like the Master Chief from Halo"

There were quite a few people who said that.

[CptBomBom00]

camon guys everyone knowns that even if Shepard wasn't a commander he would still be badass as John Shepard.

[Valikdu]

I'm more concerned about how Ashley seemed to kinda... jump from being a noncom straight to Lt.Commander in a year (or less) between Horizon and ME3. Maybe it had to be done in order for her to be a Spectre?

[Rudy Lis]

Shadowrun1177 wrote...

There's a flaw in theory though about Anderson refering too Ashely as as "Lieutenant-Commander" to divide Shepard amd her, cause he does the same thing with Kaidan only calling him Major.

Major is major, there are no alternatives. Commander has some ambiguity.
My point of view - Anderson do that not to divide Shepard and Williams for them, but for gamers, especially new ones. Commander®™© is reserved for Shepard.
So I'm pretty sure "old staff" will be "reintroduced" again, for new gamers. And I want to see what Shepard say to Liara, since "something changed in your look, you cut your hair?" obviously won't work.

chengthao wrote...

i don't remember who posted it but someone said "Commander Shepard is such an 'iconic name' that one can no longer alter his/her name, much like the Master Chief from Halo"

IIRC, Halo universe ranks were copied from existing USN/USMC ranks. If it is correct, than Master Chief has no way to be promoted - two ranks above him more "honorary duties" than actual ranks, be that MCPO of the Fleet or MCPO of the Navy. He is MCPO, "warrant officer" of a sort - they rarely, if ever get "real" officer's commissions. Not sure for "caste" as approrpriate term - incinerator950 could explain more, but there is usually such "designation" in those militaries and LE agencies I know.

[Nerevar-as]

Sayyadina_ wrote...

It's all Battlestar Galactica's fault that 'Commander' has such a nice ring to it... ;-)

Ironically, Adama was promoted to Admiral after the "incident" with Admiral Cain.

Not that Shepard´s rank matters much, at least on the Normandy. Even if Kaidan tries to pull rank EDI would just ignore him.