First test animation for original Mass Effect used FemShep

The original build for Mass Effect's Commander Shepard was originally developed as a woman. The intention was always for Commander Shepard to be both female and male, but the very first test animation for Mass Effect used a female model. For all intensive purposes, the first steps that the Commander ever took in Mass Effect were made by FemShep.

Why the gender of the model matters, I don't know. Naughty Dog Developer Jonathon Cooper revealed this information via Twitter:

Cooper went on to include another clip of an original test animation and verified the intention of having Shep available as both sexes:

So, there's that. It's interesting to see the first animation test.

[Twitter]