Sorry if this had already been discussed, I couldn't find it anywhere on the internet: is there a list of Mass Effect characters (all games) by nationality?
Me and my friend Lara were specifically interested in how many of them are/sound British, out of dumb curiosity.
Thanks for your help.
I don't think there is a list anywhere.
Of the main crew Traynor, Chakwas, Ken, Zaeed, and Anderson were all *probably* from Britain. I don't think Chakwas or Zaeed ever say where they were from originally, but they do have British accents. Anderson is a bit odd in that he doesn't have a British accent, despite being from London (lol). I wonder whether he was originally written to be British, an American actor was cast, and then for whatever reason they just didn't change his background to accommodate the casting.
There were also some random NPCs with British accents you meet throughout the series, but I probably can't remember them all. A few that I do remember were Major Coates, who was both featured in a ME3 trailer and appeared during Priority: Earth, Zev Cohen, and David Archer.
Maya Brooks from the Citadel DLC perhaps counts as well. Her backstory has her growing up as a spacer, but given her accent, I'd think one or both of her parents was probably British, and it is possible she could have been born in Britain as well.
Captain Anderson is British.
Captain Bailey is probably Canadian.
Earthborn Shepard is probably Canadian.
Hackett is Argentinian.
Kahlee Sanders is American.
Kaidan is Canadian.
Traynor was born British, but left Earth soon after.
Vega is American.
The rest of the human characters are either from colonies or there is no mention of their birthplace
Anderson is a bit odd in that he doesn't have a British accent, despite being from London (lol). I wonder whether he was originally written to be British, an American actor was cast, and then for whatever reason they just didn't change his background to accommodate the casting.
Why is that odd? He says he's was born in London. Doesn't mean he lived there.
Why is that odd? He says he's was born in London. Doesn't mean he lived there.
I think its because it's strange to hear the voice from the US Navy adds saying that he's from England. Keith David might not be the most "American" sounding voice ever but he's pretty close. It's a comedic idea to have such an iconic American accent speaking fondly of growing up in London.
Why is that odd? He says he's was born in London. Doesn't mean he lived there.
ImaginaryMatter covered it well. It is possible I could be remembering it wrong, but I think the first ME book states that Anderson is from London and not just born there.
That said, Anderson isn't the only oddity as far as having an accent that doesn't match his hometown. Admiral Hackett is Argentinian but speaks English with an American accent, has an Anglo-Irish surname, and his first name is Steven instead of Esteban. I head canon that Hackett was born to an expat family from North America, but is a bit odd that the writers gave him an Argentinian origin with no other traits (like a Spanish first name, at the very least) that would link him to a Spanish-speaking nation or culture.
ImaginaryMatter covered it well. It is possible I could be remembering it wrong, but I think the first ME book states that Anderson is from London and not just born there.
I know nothing about the books, comics or any of the other stuff. Regards to the game, there is nothing odd about him being born in London and not having an accent if he never lived there for any length of time.
Let me see... almost everyone you see are mostly Spacers and Colonists so their accents tend to be mixed and unreliable to show they actually came from Earth.
Shepard have a slight Canadian accent especially in ME3, thanks to their VAs but I'm not convinced Earthborn is a Canadian. The background came with "an orphan raised on the streets of the great megatropolises covering Earth." which I imagined overcrowded 'third-world' megacities with slums than the rich utopia-like large and open megacities in Alliance-based countries like Vancouver and London. Also shouldn't accent be affected by a person's socioeconomic status? But I like Shepard's ambiguity so.. I'll let this rest.
Kaidan was born in Singapore and raised in Vancouver. Someone mentioned he's probably Eastern European by decent especially with his last name.
Ashley was a Colonist but as with Spacer Shepard who have military background, she didn't stick around too much. I thought her accent was generic American English.
As for Anderson... frankly, I'm not that surprised with British people speaking in non-British accent. I've seen John Barrowman with American accent and yet he is a proud Scotsman. He got teased/bullied as a kid about his accent and he worked hard to sound 'normal', he still lapse sometimes. Anderson probably have a heavy South London accent which people tease about so he might have changed them to be respectable. (another example, James Boyega in Attack The Block and then watch him again in Force Awakens)
According to the novels, Kahlee was from Texas.
Chakwas came from a long line of doctors but I think she's the only one who went military. I think she's a spacer considering she prefer being in spaceships and travelling than she does staying in one place. I thought her accent was quite RP-ish (but not as bad as Jennifer Hale in KOTOR).
Ken mentioned repetitively that he's a Scot but I know actual Scots players would argue that his Scottish accent is weird. I thought Fitz in Agents of SHIELD is an improved version of Ken although Iain play him with a tone down Glasgwegian accent while Ken's VA play it him in some kind of exaggeration?
I think there's a good discussion about Zaeed's mixed accent.
Vega was based on Freddie Prinze Jr, so he's a Californian of Puerto Rican decent. Whether his Spanish was correct is debatable but I thought it add to his charms.
Kasumi is a Spacer of Japanese descent.
Samesh Bhatia in ME1 is of Indian descent although Brian George himself is a British-Israeli of Iraqi-descent who is famous for portraying South Asians and he voiced Oleg Petrovsky who is Eastern European.
Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jailani is Arab or at least Middle Eastern. Her name follows standard Arabic patronymics, I'm certain al-Jailani is her grandfather or clan name. I think she's from Earth.
Yvonne is from Sydney and she uses her natural accent for Miranda. But Miranda is a spacer and she probably pick up the accent from her father.
TIM is Martin Sheen. American.
Bailey is Micheal Hogan. Canadian.
Jacob is probably a spacer. In the games and comics, he seemed to be more comfortable drifting around rather than sticking to one place.
Dr Cole is British although I know Jo Wyatt is from London but I've played her as Hawke and Imperial Agent but... she sounded so posh! Very upper RP.
Traynor's parents are from London and she was probably born there but raised at Horizon.
According to LOTSB, Jack is from Eden Prime.
Simon Templeman is actually quite versatile with his accent. His uses his Loghain accent for Han'Gerrel and a posh London one for Dr Gavin Archer (which I think is his natural accent).
Kai Leng is a curious one. Troy Baker did a lot of voice over work for anime, so rather than choosing to sound Asianese, he merely uses similar seiyuu-style intonation and projection like the way Kai Leng scream and yell. Honestly, this is what redeem Kai Leng for me... a bit.
Overall, its just what I take from observing the game... and as a non-native speaker or ESL. The accents alone made the franchise itself a lot diverse to me especially the alien characters. But all aliens speaks in their own language (probably except for Mordin) so whatever you hear was filtered by your translator.
Kaidan was born in Singapore and raised in Vancouver. Someone mentioned he's probably Eastern European by decent especially with his last name.
Alenko sounds ukranian. If I'm correct, Kaidan is also a word with meaning in ukranian (it means shackles). Kaidan's ancestors could've been from there, as a lot of pepole immigrated to America from Eastern Europe in the XX. century.
Thank you everybody for your answers, most of the things you explained I didn't know until now, so highly appreciated!
I also found weird that Anderson repeated to be born in London but he didn't sound British at all. Perhaps his family moved to the US when he was very young, or he adapted his accent to his new country, some people manage to lose their accents almost completely, in time.
Alenko sounds ukranian. If I'm correct, Kaidan is also a word with meaning in ukranian (it means shackles). Kaidan's ancestors could've been from there, as a lot of pepole immigrated to America from Eastern Europe in the XX. century.
Given his links to both Canada and Singapore, I think Kaidan is supposed to be of mixed European and Asian ancestry. His first name then, is probably derived from the Japanese word kaidan rather than the Ukranian word.
Kaidan (怪談) (sometimes transliterated kwaidan) is a Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (kai) meaning “strange, mysterious, rare or bewitching apparition" and 談 (dan) meaning “talk” or “recited narrative.”
On whether Earthborn Shepard is Canadian or American...
Technically those distinctions no longer matter in the Mass Effect universe. Canada, the United States, and Mexico have merged into a superstate called the United North American States. In the ME Universe Kaidan (Vancouver) and Vega (NY & California) are from the same country. President Huerta (namesake of Huerta Memorial) and former president of the UNAS is probably supposed to be from Mexico, since his surname is probably a reference to Victoriano Huerta.
I'm not that convinced Kaidan is a Japanese name since the pronunciation is wrong (like Irish's Aiden with a K) and naming a boy with "Kaidan" sounds more like we're cursing him (...its Asian thing.). Besides, Japanese expats aren't that common in Singapore.
I thought it was established that Kaidan was a Canadian of Ukrainian descent.
I like to think of Zaeed as South African, as he reminds me of a white African mercenary.
I'm not that convinced Kaidan is a Japanese name since the pronunciation is wrong (like Irish's Aiden with a K) and naming a boy with "Kaidan" sounds more like we're cursing him (...its Asian thing.). Besides, Japanese expats aren't that common in Singapore.
While all of that is true, he was also written by a Canadian of European descent.
Though after doing a quick search on names, it seems Kaidan is also Arabic and means "companion." That probably is more likely origin for the character's name than the Japanese or Ukrainian words.
I can't say I know any but I can't hear much in the way of South African or Australian. Sounds like he's from London to me, which is where his VA was from.Zaeed is clearly a south African born Australian. I know too many of them. He's them.
which is where his VA was from.
Robin Sachs' (RIP) parents were from South Africa, so it is not too far fetched to think he has firsthand experience in south african accent and can speak it if needed
Robin Sachs' (RIP) parents were from South Africa, so it is not too far fetched to think he has firsthand experience in south african accent and can speak it if needed
You can hear it in his speech.
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