Characters / Mass Effect - Miranda Lawson

Mass Effect Main Character Index
Mass Effect: Commander Shepard | Party Members (Kaidan Alenko | Ashley Williams | Garrus Vakarian | Liara T'Soni | Tali'Zorah | Urdnot Wrex) | Antagonists | NPCs
Mass Effect 2: Early Party Members (Miranda Lawson | Jack) | Late Party Members | Secret Party Members | Main Antagonists | Secondary Antagonists | Normandy Crew | Council Space NPCs | Non-Council Space NPCs
Mass Effect 3: Party Members | Antagonists and NPCs | Multiplayer Characters
Mass Effect: Andromeda: Pathfinder Ryder | Party Members | Crew of the Tempest | The Andromeda Initiative | The Kett | The Angara | Other Characters | Multiplayer Characters

Miranda Lawson

I have every respect for your abilities, Shepard. It's your motivations that concern me.

"I would never say anything against Miranda. And expect to survive the reprisal."

—Joker's description

Voiced by: Yvonne Strahovski

A human biotic and tech specialist, "born" on Earth. She eventually ran from her demanding father, who genetically engineered her for perfection, and joined Cerberus, who won her loyalty by offering her protection. She became the director of the "Lazarus Project", tasked with resurrecting Shepard after the Commander's death. She is a romance option for a male Shepard in Mass Effect 2.

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A - F

• Abusive Parents: Let's just say Daddy is worse than what she says. And what she says ain't positive about Mr. Lawson.
• The Ace: A noteworthy example, what with being genetically engineered to the summit of human perfection. She doesn't seem to have a problem with mentioning it from time to time. It's also Deconstructed through conversations. She suffers from an inferiority complex caused by having all her physical and intellectual abilities hand-tailored from birth, which causes her to feel that she can't take credit for any of her accomplishments on her own merit. Even more so, because she can't help but compare herself to the aforementioned Commander Shepard, who she sees as having accomplished everything they've done without being genetically engineered.
• Ace Pilot: She adds "squadron commander" to her already voluminous resumé in 3, though we never see it. According to the Shadow Broker terminal, she and her fellow ex-Cerberus defectors procure private fighters and begin using them to strike Cerberus targets.
• Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: In her loyalty mission where she debates whether or not to talk to her sister.
• Action Girl: Designed to be, indeed. Those biotics probably didn't come cheap. Especially since, officially, humanity had no idea what biotics were at the time.
• Always Someone Better: If you choose to earn her friendship, she reveals she feels somewhat inferior to Shepard. She was designed to be perfect and easily accomplish impossible tasks she is set. Shepard is just a regular person but somehow manages to succeed in doing impossible tasks anyway and often completes them with results beyond what she could have done. It's also implied that she feels a bit jealous of how much faith the Illusive Man places in Shepard.
• Anti-Hero: For most of 2 she's veering into (and occasionally entering) He Who Fights Monsters territory and is generally both a Knight Templar and Good Is Not Nice. From the end of 2 onward though she becomes more of a Classical Anti-Hero. She has no further Kick the Dog moments, her entire quest arc in 3 is about her trying to protect her sister from her father, and along the way, she tries to save refugees of all races from a husk facility masquerading as a refuge.
• Arch-Enemy: Jack sees her this way, complete with an The Only One Allowed to Defeat You mentality. This reaches its peak during a catfight that Shepard has to head off, possibly also losing the loyalty of one or the other. Fortunately, as of the Citadel DLC, they've smoothed things over a bit.
  Jack: She'll survive. I hate to see her die before I get the chance to filet her myself!
• Archnemesis Dad: The reason she joined Cerberus in the first place was to gain protection from her father. Her dad actually had close Cerberus ties before this, but the Illusive Man valued her abilities over his resources. Until the third game, that is. Besides, she's left Cerberus by that point (dead or alive).
• The Atoner: In 3, for her work with Cerberus and other things. To the point that she apologizes to Shepard for wanting to implant them with a control chip, even though the Illusive Man stopped her from going through with it.
• Awesome Aussie: By extension of being voiced by and face-modeled after one.
• Badass Boast: Early in 2.
  Miranda: Worried about my qualifications? I can crush a mech with my biotics or blow its head off from a hundred yards. Take your pick.
• Badass Bookworm: A very capable combatant and extremely intelligent as well, having led the Lazarus Project to bring someone back from the dead.
• The Baroness: Sexpot variety, albeit a much less evil example than most.
• Barrier Warrior: Citadel replaces Slam with the redesigned Reave.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Played with. She's incredibly beautiful and while, initially, not the most morally inclined member of Shepard's crew, she's far from evil and is also one of the better members of Cerberus.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: In Mass Effect 3, after she gets the crap beaten out of her by Kai Leng, she doesn't appear to have any visible wounds on her body aside from a few scratches on her face. This is especially weird if she actually dies from her wounds. Then again, she easily could've had severe internal injuries from blunt force trauma.
• Because You Can Cope: If you lose her loyalty by siding with Jack, you can regain it by saying that you did it because she's more understanding than Jack is.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Paragon Shepard can cause her to resign from Cerberus, likely due to Shepard being the first person with authority over her to actually ask what she wants, not attempt to control her, and seeks her friendship with no ulterior motive for doing so. Even if that doesn't come to pass, Miranda will remain loyal to Shepard after resigning from Cerberus offscreen.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With a male Renegade Shepard, their First Kiss pretty much comes about after he mercilessly teases and taunts her about her insecurities and is generally rude and challenging, which seems to be pushing all her buttons... with Miranda being flabbergasted and asking "Okay, what the hell was that?!" afterwards.
• Beneath the Mask: Under the cocky, arrogant, and ruthless demeanor lies an extremely insecure woman with a hell of an inferiority complex, major daddy issues, and a surprisingly good heart that needs to be pushed in the right direction.
• Big Sister Instinct: She will go the ends of the galaxy and risk everything to protect Oriana.
• Birds of a Feather: Shepard can use this to argue for or against a relationship with her.
  Shepard: This won't work, Miranda. We're Too Much Alike.
• Bond One-Liner:
  • Once Shepard escapes the Lazarus facility, their first encounter with Miranda has her killing Wilson in cold blood.
    Wilson: Miranda? But you're—
    [Miranda kills him]
    Miranda: Dead?
  • Then there's her loyalty mission:
    Miranda: Goodbye Niket, I'm going to miss you...
    [bang]
    Miranda:...figuratively speaking.
  • In the third game, at the end of the Sanctuary mission if she's still alive:
    Henry Lawson: [after releasing Oriana] Alright, take her. But I want out alive, deal?
    [Miranda uses her biotics to throw him out the window]
    Miranda: No deal.
• Brainy Brunette: She was the head scientist of the Lazarus Project.
• Broken Ace: Beautiful, intelligent, competent, and consumed with self-doubt and self-loathing due to being genetically engineered by her father to be absolutely perfect and capable of accomplishing anything. This causes her to view anything she accomplishes to be a result of her father's money and planning, and believes that only her mistakes are truly hers.
• Broken Bird: See Freudian Excuse.
• Broken Pedestal: To the Illusive Man and Cerberus at the end of 2 although they in turn seem to have become this to her, if her dialogue when Shepard destroys the Collector Base is any indication.
• Buxom Beauty Standard:
  • As the engineers put it...
    Daniels: I've got green across the board. The forward tanks are buoyant and elevated.
    Donnelly: Are ya talking about the Normandy or Miranda?
    Daniels: I'm talking about the one that's covered and protected, not bouncing in the breeze.
  • Even Jack concurs in the Citadel DLC. The first genuine compliment she gives? "I still really hate you, but you have fantastic tits." Miranda laughs and accepts the compliment.
• Canon Immigrant: From the Mass Effect Galaxy iPhone game and the Mass Effect Redemption comic. Notably, in the latter, she did not yet look like Yvonne Strahovski.
• The Chains of Commanding: Miranda states that her enhancements only mean her bad decisions will be more harmful. It becomes Foreshadowing if you follow her advice on certain things, like who to use for the biotic shell.
• Character Development:
  • Compare the first conversation you have with her after first meeting with the Illusive Man in 2 to the last one you have with her on the Citadel in 3. By the time you meet her in Sanctuary, she's not much of an Ice Queen any longer...
  • Her breakdown in 3 over the guilt of wanting to install a control chip in Shepard's brain, speaks volumes over how far she's come, as she realises that her attempt to control Shepard almost turned her into her father. Best summed up in this line:
    Miranda: Nobody's perfect.
• Character Tic: Scratching at her collarbone when idle (and due to the way she's animated, only ever when she's standing up).
• Clone Angst: See Ultimate Life Form below, and add the fact that A: She is a female clone of her father and B: Her father is a massive jerk. She can get over it provided with enough time, and even trolls Shepard during Citadel by asking them if he really is the original Shepard.
  Miranda: I wasn't even the first one he made. I was only the first one he kept.
• Combat Stilettos: Wears them for no explicable reason. Her DLC outfit removes them.
• Come with Me If You Want to Live: When she and Shepard have their first real meeting, she has the only way off the Lazarus research station.
• Conflicting Loyalty: Begins to show a little after her Loyalty Mission, particularly with a Paragon Shepard. While she has been extremely loyal to Cerberus for her entire adult life and a Paragon Shepard opposes Cerberus ideals in almost every way, Shepard also risked a great deal to help her keep her sister away from their father, without any strings attached. In the end, when she is forced to choose between Cerberus and Shepard, she chooses Shepard without hesitation.
• Continuity Snarl: A minor but notable one. She states that she was genetically engineered to be the peak of human biotic ability, but according to the Mass Effect official timeline she was born a year before the Singapore incident that (several years later) led to humanity discovering biotics. It's possible that her biotics were added via secondary exposure later in life (as Commander Shepard's canonically are), but that still doesn't fit with her statements of having been genetically engineered for it.
• Control Freak: One of her main character flaws. She initially wanted to implant Shepard with a Control Chip, but was vetoed by the Illusive Man, since it could impair Shepard's abilities and the idea was to bring them back exactly as they were. She later regrets this, since she realizes that her attempt to control Shepard almost made her be just like her father.
  • Oriana's grateful email to Shepard after they rescued her during Miranda's loyalty mission has a secondary postscript addressed to Miranda, where it turns out that Oriana is both perfectly aware of, and subsequently orders, Miranda to stop reading Shepard's private mail!
• Cool Big Sis: To her (genetically identical) little sister Oriana Lawson, occasional Control Freak moments notwithstanding. Especially if she allows herself to be known to Oriana.
• Covert Pervert: If a male Shepard flirts with her after her loyalty mission, Miranda seemingly goes to hug him, only to instead awkwardly touch his chest. Turns out she was trying to cop a feel off of the commander's muscles.
• Crazy-Prepared: She plants a tracer on Kai Leng, giving Shepard the exact location of the Illusive Man's base on Cronus Station, just because she had a feeling it'd be useful. Shepard is both relieved and grateful — before that, they were grasping at straws.
• Cultured Badass: Enjoys classical music, particularly the Danish composer Carl Nielsen.
• Deadpan Snarker: Not as much as many of the other characters, but she has her moments, particularly when flirting with Shepard if romanced. She actually first shows this trait barely half an hour into the game after killing Wilson if you pick the Renegade (bottom left) dialogue option.
  Miranda: I've put too much time and effort bringing you back to life to let you get killed now.
  Jacob: You really think Wilson's capable of that?
  Miranda: Not anymore.
• Death of the Hypotenuse: If you romanced her in 2 but break up with her in 3, she will die regardless of the help you give her.
• Defector from Decadence: Paragon Shepard can cause her to resign from Cerberus. Also part of Niket's argument against letting Miranda take Oriana with her on her loyalty mission — when she accuses him of being bought by her father, he calls her out on the luxuries she enjoyed before she left.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Becomes notably less unpleasant as the story progresses — at least to Shepard. She's also generally nicer to Jacob as well, due to their past relationship. By 3, she's completely defrosted and is one of the nicest people in the entire game.
• Determinator: Miranda's determination is what quietly wins her the respect of several crew members despite her pro-Cerberus beliefs. She resolves to protect her sister Oriana from their father, and will survive being shot if she serves as the 2nd fire team leader even if she is not loyal.
• Designer Babies: She was specifically designed by her father as part of his "dynasty" and really, really wishes she hadn't been.
• Did Not See That Coming: Said almost verbatim after Niket betrays her during her loyalty mission.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: One of her possible death scenes in Mass Effect 3 has her dying in Shepard's arms, reconciling with Oriana, and making Shepard promise to keep fighting, no matter what the cost. This earns her a name drop when Shepard kills Kai Leng.
• The Dragon: To The Illusive Man, at least until the end of the second game. She's been replaced by both Eva Coré^note who doubles as one for the real Eva Coré, too and Kai Leng as of Mass Effect 3.
  • This role of hers is also referenced by Shepard's clone in the Citadel DLC, with regards to Maya Brooks.
  Mysterious Figure: You had Miranda, I have her. Mine has more bite.
• Dying Declaration of Love: Gives one to a romanced Shepard if she's fatally shot by Henry in 3 before dying mid-kiss with him.
• Easily Forgiven: Provided the player fulfills the very specific set of circumstances that let her live to the end. Despite loyally serving Cerberus for years as TIM's right-hand woman while participating in or at least being complicit in various atrocities (such as the raid on the quarian fleet, which resulted in several civilian deaths in a failed attempt to kidnap Gillian Grayson), she gets off completely scot-free in the third game. No one bothers to arrest her, and she even gets to work on the Crucible without anyone batting an eyelid. This is particularly odd when ex-Cerberus personnel with a much more strenuous connection to the group get thrown in prison in the same game for just being members (such as Kenneth and Daniels). Then again, she does spend most of the game evading the Alliance, and by the time she's recruited, no one has the luxury to be settling scores.
  • A specific example: when Miranda apologizes for attempting to insert a control chip into Shepard's brain and effectively make them a slave for Cerberus, the dialogue options available are "I forgive you" and a slightly more brusque version of "I forgive you". While most versions of Shepard would be completely justified to throw that apology back in her face and more, this example is particularly noticeable as these are the only responses available even if Shepard up to this point has been a short-tempered renegade who has shot much less deserving people just for annoying them. The closest Shepard can come to rebuking her for this is refusing to grant her access to Alliance resources when she asks for them later (with the stated reasoning having nothing to do with this or her earlier deeds), which indirectly leads to her death.
• Establishing Character Moment: The first time she's actually spoken to, she guns down Wilson for betraying her and follows it up with a sarcastic quip. She then calmly counters any arguments Shepard makes, and prioritizes getting Shepard off the station rather than risk waiting for (very unlikely) survivors.
• Everyone Has Standards: Despite being a Cerberus supporter who is quick to disavow their atrocities, she regards Kai Leng as a Psycho for Hire in the comics. She's also disturbed by the Illusive Man's proposal to keep the base intact after witnessing the colonists being liquefied to create the Human-Reaper, which finally causes her to have a full blown Heel–Face Turn if Shepard opts to destroy the base, telling the Illusive Man to piss off for good measure when ordered to stop Shepard.
• Face Palm: Her reaction when Shepard suggests that she sleep with Jack and get over their sexual tension.
• Fantastic Racism: Averted, despite her status as a Cerberus agent. She specifically states, and the game backs up, that she's more pro-human than anti-alien and also laments how so many people join Cerberus for no other reason than xenophobia. She also has a certain respect for the asari.
• Fatal Flaw: Pride. She's very confident in her abilities and thinks of herself as a master at reading people. Her inability to comprehend that people will react other than the way she believes they will often screws her. She also seems to have the mindset of handing out as little information as possible, with complete disregard for how others will react to her doing so.
  • Can become a literal example of a Fatal Flaw in the third game. She chooses to go after her father alone, despite Shepard pointing out that whatever leads she has could be much better followed-up if she at least told the Normandy team about them. She also asks Shepard to give her access to classified Alliance resources, without actually giving Shepard information or accepting further help. As a result, she proceeds to Sanctuary alone where she most likely dies (without a very specific set of criteria determining her survival). Even in the best case scenario, she ends up heavily injured at the hands of Kai Leng, only survives because Shepard shows up just in time by sheer coincidence, and still can potentially be shot to death in her injured state by her father if Shepard doesn't choose the right dialogue options.
• Faustian Rebellion: Paragon Shepard can push her into performing one against the Illusive Man. Also part of her backstory before joining Cerberus.
• Femme Fatale: Beautiful, seductive, and utterly ruthless at first.
• First Girl Wins: In a manner of speaking: she's the first onscreen of the second game's potential romance options for a MaleShep (the others being Jack and Tali).
• Foil: To Ashley. One is extremely loyal to the Alliance, the other Cerberus. One is fiery but can be made to show a softer side, the other starts out as an Ice Queen who defrosts. One is very close with her sisters, the other prefers to observe her from afar. Not to mention that in 3, Ashley now resembles Miranda a little more with let-down hair and a more form fitting outfit.
  • Miranda is also one to Jack. Miranda is calculating and measured, believes in following orders, keeps an ice queen demeanour and is fiercely loyal to Cerberus. Jack is brash and reckless, has very little respect for authority and hates Cerberus' guts. Mass Effect 3 showcases their respective character growths and once again they're opposites. Miranda has become a kind woman, but if you romanced her and decide to break up with her, she absolutely shatters, as while she used to have Cerberus around as a form of family, she is now pretty much alone (her sister aside, who is in danger). Meanwhile Jack has become a lot kinder too, but if you break up with her she's completely fine with it, as she has a new family in her students.
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Although this seems to be the go with almost all types of wardrobe in the 'verse, including many of the armors and regardless of sex. Played straight that since her outfit is done to make it look leather-like, not to mention quite shiny, it gives the illusion of more skin-tight (her buttcleft is more obviously modelled than any other clothed character) and, say, alluring. That said, it's never explained just why she dresses like this, especially, since it looks like it'd have a hard time protecting against gunfire, she doesn't really have a reason not to just dress like the countless other Cerberus scientists you meet throughout the game.
• Freudian Excuse: Much of her behavior makes more sense in light of her loyalty mission and the Shadow Broker dossier. Before meeting Shepard, only three people have never betrayed her to her knowledge: a childhood friend, the Illusive Man, and Jacob. By the end of the game, it's entirely likely that only Jacob and the Illusive Man remain from that list. With the Shadow Broker dossier, it's clear that part of her affection for her sister comes from being unable to have children of her own, and despite being in a dating service, she ruthlessly cuts off one candidate who makes the mistake of trying to be interested in more than just sex. Since she cannot bear children, she's less interested in romance. Though these are played more subtly than most Freudian Excuse examples, once they're revealed, most of Miranda's personality is clearly defined by these.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: "Nobody" is an overstatement, but her hardline pro-Cerberus stance does alienate her from the others somewhat. This is why someone always argues against making her the fire team leader. Even Garrus, who is otherwise friendly and accepting of most people, distrusts her and shakes his head in agreement with Jack's assertion that "nobody wants to take orders from you" (or does it himself in Jack's absence). Jacob has known her the longest, Samara respects her determination (Tali also admits in 3 that she respected Miranda), and Kasumi seems to like her (though she likes everybody). After she takes a level in kindness in 3, this changes, noticeably in "Citadel".

G - M

• Good Is Not Nice: As cold, bitter, bitingly critical of others, and occasionally ruthless as Miranda can be sometimes, she is still a good person deep down. She genuinely believes that Cerberus is pro-human and only wants to help further humanity's agenda.
• Good Is Not Soft: After Character Development the "not nice" part disappears and the "good" part becomes more prominent. She becomes genuinely friendly and caring, expresses regret over what she wanted to do to Shepard, attempts to avoid bothering Shepard for help, and upon discovering Cerberus has set up essentially a Nazi death camp makes efforts to warn people away. Then she kills her father, who was responsible for said death camp. Even in the second game her Establishing Character Moment is her watching over Shepard with a genuinely warm smile, trying to first help them make a full recovery then get to safety, then upon seeing Wilson flashes a snarl at him and executes him.
• Guide Dang It!: Keeping her alive in 3 game requires meeting a very specific set of criteria. Shepard needs to: have gained her loyalty in 2, have warned her about Kai Leng by reading his dossier, give her access to Alliance resources, and/or Charm her father during the standoff. Additionally, Shepard must not break up with her if he romanced her in 2, as this will cause her to die no matter what. ^note  This must happen, if necessary, before the Suicide Mission, due to the exportable save file being created at the end of the main storyline; breaking up with her in post-game play doesn't count.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: Possibility in the third game. She finally sees the error of her ways, condemns Cerberus, then tries to repent by warning people about them and helping to take down one of the facilities where they kidnap people to make husks... then she gets stabbed by Kai Leng.
  • Also possible in the second game. If she's in the final stretch of the suicide mission and the base is destroyed, she will agree with Shepard and resign from Cerberus on the spot. But if she is not loyal, she will die in the subsequent escape.
• Heel–Face Turn: She's one of the Illusive Man's most loyal agents, yet Paragon Shepard can end up causing her to resign from Cerberus and hang up on the Illusive Man, basically delivering the verbal equivalent of flipping him off to his face. The third game reveals that he did not take this well. In 3, she takes this even further. She uncovers, on her own, the Cerberus husk facility on Horizon, and after it's shut down, she finally reintegrates into the Systems Alliance, providing intelligence which allows them to start striking at clandestine facilities all over the Galaxy. She even leaves the boardroom, forms her own fighter squadron, and starts attacking Cerberus targets herself, according to the Shadow Broker's intel.
• Hero of Another Story: While Shepard is building alliances in 3, they can meet with Miranda a few times, where she discusses a mission she's currently on involving her sister and father, and later Cerberus. Their stories eventually coincide, however.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: It appears that she's a cold professional to everyone she meets until she spends time around them and decides that she can trust them. At the start of the game, she'll shut down any attempt at personal conversation, but in her office aboard the Normandy she's more open with Shepard. This is most obvious regarding Jack. If Shepard asks her about what Cerberus did, she'll say without hesitation that it was a mistake and was rightfully shut down as soon as the Illusive Man found out. But when Jack calls her out on it directly, she'll refuse to apologize.
• Horrible Judge of Character: She claims to be an "excellent judge of character" but it's clear with her views on Cerberus and in particular the Illusive Man that this isn't always the case. She gets her eyes opened at the end of 2.
• Hypocrisy Nod: She apologizes in 3 for intending to put a control chip into Shepard during the Lazarus project, noting that it was a hypocritical plan for someone who has had her life defined by her struggle with her control freak father.
• Ice Queen: Explicitly called that by a soon-to-be-former Cerberus employee. Though, oddly enough, also a Perpetual Smiler.
• I'm Not Here to Make Friends: Says this to Shepard in one of their first conversations. She ends up quite surprised when this is what actually happens, enough that it overrides her initial loyalty to Cerberus.
• Informed Flaw: She's considered an optimal choice for a Fireteam Leader in the Suicide Mission despite Jack and Garrus stating that no one would follow her orders. Granted, they don't really speak for everyone, and Jack in particular is far from objective in her assessment, given her hatred of Cerberus.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Albeit with dyed hair.
  • In the concept art she was blonde.
• Insistent Terminology: If Shepard brings up Cerberus' messing around with the thorian, rachni and husks back in 1, Miranda states that wasn't an attempt at making an army, just breeding shock-troops.
• Insufferable Genius: At first, although dialog shows her pride is largely a security mechanism she uses to deal with her insecurity about being a Designer Baby.
• Jack of All Stats:
  • As a Sentinel-style "Cerberus Officer", she's probably the closest Shepard's team has to this, being somewhat capable in combat, a decent biotic, and good at using tech to disable enemies. Her passive skill also provides bonuses to the entire squad's health and weapon damage, making her a good tactical choice for any player class or squad makeup.
  • With a bit of Glass Cannon as well. She has low health (lower than Garrus's) and all three of her skills are geared towards offence.
• Jerkass Has a Point: At the beginning of 2, she refuses to wait around for any survivors of the lab, which she justifies on the ground that A: they're expendable, and B: if there were any survivors left, they'd be there already (since they are at the shuttlebay). Jacob even admits that as cold as she's being, she's right.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In 2. She mellows out the more time she spends with Shepard, and will do what she can to keep those she cares about safe at any cost.
• Kick the Dog: She has a few moments.
  • In her very first appearance, if you try to get her to go back and save survivors in the overrun Cerberus lab, she'll scold you for being shortsighted and refer to all of the workers as "expendable".
  • On Freedom's Progress, she'll recommend taking Veetor for "interrogation" (possibly including Cold-Blooded Torture) rather than letting Tali take him back for medical care. She'll back down if Shepard refuses, but if Shepard agrees, Veetor will show up later in Tali's loyalty mission obviously traumatized from the interrogation (which didn't include explicit mutilation but did feature Cerberus kidnapping him and forcibly pumping him full of drugs to keep him "stable", which turned him into even more of a mental wreck). Such is his state that he can now no longer function without a doctor beside him at all times, and he screams and shrinks back in fear at the mere sight of a human. Rather than apologize or admit any wrongdoing on her part, Miranda proceeds to immediately dodge responsibility before attempting to justify and defend Cerberus's interrogation methods.
  • She's less than sympathetic about the bad blood between the quarians and Cerberus, listing Cerberus' grievances against the quarians (including mass murder) as "nothing personal". Her expressing knowledge and complicity about said raid also heavily implies she knew that the whole purpose of the raid was to kidnap and torture Gillian Grayson (as explained in the tie-in novel Mass Effect: Ascension), a child who was hiding with the quarians because Cerberus had previously attempted to use her as a biotic weapon and pumped her full of enough drugs that she had to be hospitalized multiple times. Granted, she also claims Prazza's account is "not how she would have explained it" suggesting she may have been fed false information, but either way it's callous, since all the dead quarians and even the tortured and traumatized human child were apparently seen by her as acceptable losses.
  • Her fight with Jack. Confrontations between Party Members tend to be small Kick the Dog moments for all parties involved, even though they do have pretty justifiable reasons for being mad. What makes her fight with Jack in particular stand out though is the line "Clearly, you were a mistake". Ouch. And while it's true that Jack was looking for a fight there, Miranda's response is still cold. She will admit to Shepard in private that she believes what was done to Jack was wrong, but she never admits it to Jack herself.
    • Even the fact that her loyalty to Shepard is at stake in said conflict seems to be this, considering her mission had nothing to do with her allegiance to Cerberus, and instead was a deeply personal favor.
  • Right after the Normandy gets attacked by the Collectors, and Joker, the sole survivor of the attack watches all his friends be dragged away by various cosmic horrors, the first thing she does upon returning to the ship is chew Joker out for losing the crew and unshackling EDI (which saved the ship). Keep in mind that it was her idea for all of Shepard's squad members to leave the ship beforehand, leaving the rest of the crew defenseless.
• Killed Off for Real: Miranda can be killed in the Suicide Mission in 2, or by Kai Leng in 3. In addition, her death is the only way Oriana can die as well; she and her father will both fall to their deaths when Shepard doesn't take the Renegade interrupt to shoot Oriana in the knee.
• Knight Templar: When with Cerberus, though still quite light compared to others in the organization.
• Knight Templar Big Brother: She keeps extremely detailed records on all her sister's potential boyfriends. Even her sister finds that a little creepy.
• The Lad-ette: Not as much as female Shepard, but she also can't think of a single traditionally feminine interest to talk about when they try to act more normal.
• Lady of Black Magic: The sci-fi equivalent of one as a Lady of War and biotic.
• Lady of War: She's elegant, has a calm and cold demeanor, and prefers to use her more graceful biotics over firearms.
• Lady in Red: In the Citadel DLC, she wears a red dress when she and Shepard head to the Silver Coast Casino for some fun.
• The Lancer: She's Shepard's executive officer, although she shares the overarching Lancer role with Jacob and Garrus. Which is why Miranda is a good choice for Fire Team Leader during the suicide mission, just like both aforementioned squadmates.
• Law of Inverse Fertility: According to Liara's files on her, she desperately wants a biological child of her own - sadly, though, she has a benign neoplasm that makes her completely incapable of becoming pregnant. It's subtly implied this was either yet another way Henry Lawson meant to control his daughter, or the "imperfection" that led to the creation of Oriana.
• Like Father, Like Son: Subverted; they turn out to be very different people in the end. Both are highly talented scientists who use their intelligence to do the extraordinary. Miranda brings Shepard back to life, and Henry manages to control husks independently of the Reapers. However, while Miranda's only ethical quandary was her complicity in some of Cerberus's questionable schemes, and her desire to implant Shepard with a control chip (which she later regrets even considering) and she becomes a genuinely heroic person, Henry sacrifices thousands, if not millions of innocent people to indoctrination in order to make his breakthrough, which is by far the most heinous act Cerberus commits, and never regrets a thing. While Henry is obsessed with securing a lasting legacy of his own, Miranda can't even get beyond taking credit for anything she achieved all by herself.
• Love Makes You Dumb: She acts pretty flustered if Shepard begins to romance her.
• Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: Henry Lawson created her to be perfect in every way, using his own DNA as a template, for reasons that had as much to do with satisfying his own ego as securing an heir for his dynasty. Naturally, Miranda had other plans.
• Male Gaze: The in-game camera spends a lot of time focused on Miranda's rear, including at rather inappropriate times (one example occurs while she's asking for help regarding her sister — the dialogue wheel appears just as her rear end comes into focus). This got some ire from some fans which led to the scene in question to be modified in the Legendary Edition.
• Mind over Matter: She has biotic powers. Not, however, on the same level as Jack and Samara; picking her for the biotic bubble will result in the death of one squadmate. Curiously, she's a year older than the biotics who were exposed in the original Singapore incident.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: If the Collector Base was spared in 2, she remains with Cerberus, but is still on the run come 3, the Illusive Man having turned on her for no readily apparent reason.
• Morality Chain:
  • A Paragon Shepard can become this to her.
  • Jacob also shares this role, being one of the few people that Miranda actually will listen to for advice.
• Morality Pet: Her (much younger) twin sister, Oriana.
• Ms. Fanservice:
  • Noted and lampshaded by the crew:
    Donnelly: I don't know. Operative Lawson's uniform is very official: it always makes me stand at attention.
  • This is lampshaded during her loyalty mission (even if she's wearing the appearance pack armour).
    Captain Enyala: I was just waiting for you to finish getting dressed. Or does Cerberus really let you whore around in that outfit?
  • And again by Ashley in Mass Effect 3, if you romanced her in the first game and Miranda in the second:
    Ashley: I wear armor into battle, not swimwear!
  • Miranda is a rare example of justified fanservice: she was designed to look and be perfect, and naturally that means boasting supermodel-level T&A (but especially the A, which the cutscenes love to show off).
• Mutual Kill: One way for the standoff with her father to end is with Miranda killing him in order to save Oriana, but with him fatally shooting her in the process.
• My God, What Have I Done?: She feels terrible guilt for even considering installing a control chip into Shepard and basically turning them into a mindless slave. Even more so as it is exactly what she tries to keep her father from doing to her and her sister, almost becoming just like him.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: While Miranda doesn't agree with everything Cerberus does and acknowledges that they cross the line, she stays on with them anyway until the end of 2.

N - Y

• Narcissist: Inverted. She initially appears to be this, but upon getting to know her better, it turns out that she is in fact self-loathing and feeling that she does not deserve credit for her accomplishments. Part of her Character Development is learning to get over this.
• Never a Self-Made Woman: Conversed by Miranda. She feels all her accomplishments were made possible by her father's genetic influence, and the only things she can take credit for are her mistakes. Of course, Shepard can tell her that she was the one who decided what to do with her gifts.
• Nice Girl: In 3. She expresses regret over her attitude in 2 and is friendly towards Shepard (and the other party members in Citadel).
• No True Scotsman: Those guys that tortured Jack? They're not really Cerberus, according to her. Neither were the guys who orchestrated the deaths of entire Alliance platoons. She stops using this trope by the third game though, as she has realized how wrong she was, and has dedicated herself to taking the organization down.
• Noble Top Enforcer: When with Cerberus, though the "noble" part isn't immediately obvious.
• Not So Stoic: Miranda's Ice Queen demeanor frequently crumbles throughout the course of the games, not the least of which would be during her loyalty mission, interactions with her sister, and her romance with Shepard.
• Not What I Signed Up For: If she is present and Shepard elects to destroy the Collector Base, Miranda will defy the Illusive Man for this reason and support Shepard, resigning from Cerberus on the spot.
  • She will also show signs of drifting away from the organization if Shepard does preserve the Collector base, telling them that she had never questioned her loyalty to Cerberus until the Suicide Mission happened, and she even sounds a bit concerned about what Cerberus will do with the base.
• Older Than They Look: Thanks to her genetic enhancements, she'll easily live to half again the age most humans will reach. By now, this is 150 — she's 35 right now.
• Opposite-Sex Clone: Subverted. Her father intended her to be this, but she ended up becoming a very different person from him.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: If befriended, she admits to feeling somewhat insecure around Shepard. She explains that because she was designed to be "perfect", all of her victories are simply products of genetic engineering that allows her to excel at everything. Shepard on the other hand, is simply a normal human being, who somehow manages to achieve the impossible due to sheer willpower, because that is who they are!
• Parody Sue: Miranda was designed by her father to be perfect in every single way (looks, brains, social skills, biotics, etc.), using exclusively his own DNA as a form of wish fulfillment via Author Avatar (much like traditional Mary Sues). Miranda repeatedly asserts her authority and likes to take very active roles, even in instances where there's better options such as the biotic bubble. However, it's emphasized just how vain, narcissistic, and self-absorbed her father is to create Miranda with his own genes for this purpose. Miranda's "perfection" leaves her with a serious Inferiority Superiority Complex (in her own words, "The only thing I can take credit for are my failures"), and, while Miranda may have been designed to be perfect, the reality is that she's still going to fall short because all humans do. And often times, when she fails a task, the consequences tend to be extremely dire because of how much authority and responsibility is placed on Miranda for being perfect.
• Patricide: She kills her father in Mass Effect 3.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Many consider her shooting Wilson in cold blood to be pretty ruthless, but it should be remembered that he betrayed her and tried to kill her, Shepard, Jacob, and everyone else on the facility. He succeeded on the latter, too.
• Perpetual Smiler: Though likely a case of Special Effects Failure, it's worth nothing that her default expression is noticeably happy. Even when gunning down a traitor early in the game, or laying into Joker after the Collectors invaded the Normandy, or when Shepard steps in when she fights Kai Leng. Even her battle quotes sound more like she's playing a game rather than fighting for her life. The Legendary Edition reduces her smile somewhat to look more natural.
• Pet the Dog: To her credit, Miranda pets as many dogs as she kicks, especially when 3 comes around.
  • She happily answers any concerns Shepard has for her on the Normandy. After her loyalty mission, she apologizes to Shepard for her earlier Jerkass attitude towards them. If Shepard also stopped her from shooting Niket, she accepts that her trusting him wasn't so much of a bad thing, even if it backfired on her.
  • Her interactions (and general relationship with) her twin sister Oriana.
  • When asked by Shepard what she thought of Jack's torture at Cerberus' hands, she does not hesitate to say that it was without question a mistake. Of course, she also refuses to admit this to Jack herself and maintains that it wasn't really Cerberus.
  • If present when Tali makes clear her intentions to sabotage the suit of a volus who's being a racist Jerkass, Miranda, though viewing it as "juvenile" also says that it's "certainly deserved".
  • If Shepard does not romance anyone in 2, Miranda will tell Shepard before they go through the Omega-4 relay that it has been an honor to serve with them. She even salutes!
  • She'll mostly question Shepard choosing anyone but her to lead the second fire team, but does happily back down if Shepard picks Garrus, Jacob, Samara, or Zaeed.
  • She concludes on her own that keeping the Collector Base intact is a betrayal of the victims, and wholeheartedly supports a Paragon Shepard's decision to blow it to hell.
  • She apologizes to Shepard for wanting to put a control chip in their head and also says that she's always regretted it, realizing how close she came to becoming her father.
  • She warns people about her father's husk facility on Horizon and tries to save as many people as she can.
  • By Citadel, she seems to have mended her rift with Jack and is even capable of laughing, acknowledging that some of Jack's ribbing toward her is Actually Pretty Funny, and sharing a drink with her.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Jacob and a male Shepard who befriends her but doesn't romance her.
• Playing with Fire: Citadel adds Incinerate to her power set.
• Plot Armor: Miranda can only die during the suicide mission if she's disloyal and you bring her to the final boss fight, or if you get unlucky and she dies holding the line (she is the most likely to die besides the four squad members who have "low"-ranked defensive skills). If she is chosen as the second squad's commander, she will shrug off being shot, even if she's not loyal. This is mostly because she is depicted speaking in cutscenes at several points in the mission, as Shepard's second.
• Poor Communication Kills: Her refusal to tell Shepard the details of her going after her father can lead to them refusing to give her access to Alliance resources. This will then lead to her own death.
• Post-Victory Collapse: In 3, if she was fatally wounded fighting Kai Leng, then after she kills her father she collapses to the floor immediately after.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She's much paler than most of the other inhabitants of The 'Verse, has jet-black hair, and is regarded as extraordinarily attractive. It helps that her default outfit is black and white.
• Rule of Symbolism: A subtle case in conversations with her. As Shepard keeps talking with her, the setting of the conversation goes from sitting in front of her desk, sitting beside her desk, on a sofa further inside her room, to her sitting on her bed. The location correlates with how close Shepard is to her.
• Self-Made Orphan: If she survives to the end of 3, she finally kills Henry Lawson along the way. Whether she lives past that depends on whether you warned her about Kai Leng, whether or not you charmed Henry, whether or not you gave her Alliance resources, and whether or not you romanced her and then broke up with her. Very much a Guide Dang It! situation.
• Shoot the Dog: She and Jacob serve as the foils/voice-of-reason towards Shepard. Miranda is the renegade-voice point, supporting actions that are logical but ruthless.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Literally. She's done her share of high-profile internet dating. Hidden logs reveal her turning down many high-profile suitors for some surprising and... not so surprising reasons. Has this relationship with a Paragon Male Shepard, if pursued.
• Space Clothes: Except in her alternate appearance pack armor.
• Spy Catsuit: Particularly her loyalty outfit. It is worth noting that the second appearance pack DLC takes pains to avert this; instead of form-fitting fabric and high heels, Miranda now wears armor very similar to the Medium armor from the first game, complete with combat boots and notably less emphasis on her curves. However, consider the fact that the Mass Effect 1 armors to which it emulates were still quite form-fitting.
• Starcrossed Lovers/Dating Catwoman: Her romance with Paragon Shepard until she resigns from Cerberus. She and Shepard are the first one again in 3 due to not seeing each other much but still loving and remaining faithful to one another. The extended cut even has an image of Miranda looking out at the stars if she was romanced.
• Stop Being Stereotypical: The only complaint she has about Cerberus at least in Mass Effect 2 is that too many people join it out of racism and xenophobia. She wants Cerberus to simply advance the human race: Nothing more and nothing less.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Miranda starts off as very cold and standoffish, and is called an Ice Queen by Wilson, but she warms up to Shepard considerably during the course of the game, especially if romanced. And of course there's the relationship she has with her sister, Oriana and also her good working relationship with Jacob, all of which suggest she is “sugar” to people who have gotten her trust, respect, and (possibly) love.
• Supermodel Strut: As a Proud Beauty and Smug Super, Miranda has a tendency to walk with an assertive strut that has her swiveling her hips and legs. Even her idle pose looks like she just stopped in front of a catwalk.
• Take This Job and Shove It: If Miranda is with Shepard when he destroys the Collector Base, the Illusive Man will tell her to stop him. She'll coolly retort that he should consider this her resignation.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Jack in 2 and also Paragon Shepard initially.
• Tempting Fate:
  • She introduces herself by saying she's "an excellent judge of character" and that she's "never wrong". Between her loyalty mission and the suicide mission, the universe seems to be keen on proving she's, in fact, far from perfect.
  • Although her opinions in the suicide mission zig-zag between being this trope and subverting it. She's wrong about being a good candidate to hold up the biotic barrier, but she turns out to be right about being a good candidate to lead the fire team both times, despite Jack's, Garrus', or Jacob's objection.
• Thanks for the Mammary: In a very rare Gender Flip example, Miranda touches Male Shepard's muscular chest in a sudden rush of emotion. She actually seems to enjoy it.
• This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: If Shepard stops Miranda from killing Niket, he'll have a Heel–Face Turn, only to be killed in cold blood by Enyala. This earns an angry "You'll pay for that, BITCH!" exclamation from Miranda, giving her a blast of biotic energy.
• Token Good Teammate: Of Cerberus, albeit not as much as Jacob and Kelly.
• Too Clever by Half: As Miranda and her sister were Designer Babies engineered by their megalomaniacal Truly Single Parent to be Born Winners, Instant Expert TV Genius barely begins to describe her capabilities. Lawson drops in on Shepard's resurrection without any knowledge of the process and becomes the project's leader through sheer ability in less than a week. Of course, being unfamiliar with failure, she never sees her mistakes coming: her statement that "any biotic could be a Barrier Warrior" is technically true but without using either Jack or Samara will get an ally killed because only they aren't exhausted by the end and able to blast away Swarm and Collectors following them. She's actually cursed with being aware of this trope, resulting in an inferiority complex — she attributes all her successes to her father's design, and only takes credit for her failures.
  Shepard: Sounds like you were designed to be perfect.
  Miranda: Maybe, but I'm not. I'm still human. I do make mistakes. And when I do, the consequences are severe.
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • A bit by the end of 2, more so if romanced. A lot by the end of 3, where she tries to warn as many people on Horizon as she can about a Husk facility masquerading as a refugee camp, and goes to extraordinary lengths to save her sister.
  • Can even bury the hatchet with Jack in the Citadel DLC for 3... and not in her back!
• Truly Single Parent: She doesn't have a mother. She was designed from her father's chromosomes mixed with a mishmash of female DNA.
• Transhuman: Without the biotics, she may just qualify for "peak human". But glowing misty blue and smashing people to and fro against bulkheads with a flick of the wrist puts her in this trope.
• Ultimate Lifeform: BioWare uses Miranda to explore the entire concept of the perfect human. She's unbelievably gorgeous, brilliant and skilled. She is those things because her father, an egotistical prick, designed her that way in a lab. Miranda is tortured by all of those gifts, seeing in them constant evidence of her father's influence. Other companions belittle her for being too perfect, and she laments that her engineered skills means she owns nothing about herself.
  Miranda: The only thing I can take credit for are my mistakes.
• Undying Loyalty: Possibly subverted in 2, where she resigns from Cerberus if Shepard destroys the Collector base. Regardless of how 2 ends however, it's eventually played straight with Shepard, despite the initial tension between the two.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Jack in the Citadel DLC, for given value of "best buds". Neither of them would ever admit to liking each other, but neither seems too eager to seek out other company, either. Miranda even (albeit somewhat sarcastically) refers to her and Jack as being "the best of friends".
• We Have Reserves: Her first Kick the Dog moment in a nutshell. Averted later during the Suicide Mission if anyone dies though. She sounds choked up when she tells Shepard that they have to keep moving and even Jack's death seems to sadden her.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: A bit of one when with Cerberus.
• We Will Have Perfect Health in the Future: Miranda's projected lifespan is 50% longer than the already-enhanced human norm. She could conceivably hit her 200s.
• What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Her romance with Shepard seems to suggest this, as if kissed she will say afterwards "what the hell was that?", and later, when struggling with her feelings for Shepard, confesses that she doesn't know why she feels the way she does for him, and attempts to rationalize it before Shepard convinces her that it's more.
  Miranda: What idiotic bunch of hormones thought that now would be a great time for love?
• What You Are in the Dark: She never had any intention of making herself known to Oriana, in spite of the extraordinary lengths she's gone to protect her from their father. It takes some encouragement from Shepard to convince her otherwise.
  Shepard: She doesn't need any details, but would it really be so bad for her to know she has a sister who loves her?
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Concerning Cerberus she's almost as bad as Kelly. Her views of the group are extremely idealistic compared to the reality, and she even claims that the Illusive Man is humanity's best advocate, almost making one wonder just how aware she is of the atrocities Cerberus is guilty of. Fortunately she gets her eyes opened at the end of the second game.
  • Particularly notable is her claim that the Husks at the Cerberus facility you can shut down in 1 were "already dead"...except they were that way because Cerberus killed them all. Since Shepard knows this, it's unlikely Miranda was lying to them, suggesting she may have been lied to herself.
  • Possibly regarding the experiments on Pragia. It's very vague what the Teltin facility was hiding; it could have been the nature of the experiments, or it could have been something completely different. Miranda is quick to conclude that they were shut down on ethical standards when the IM learned the truth, but Jack isn't convinced. Given the IM's tendency to be extremely involved in every ongoing project, her scepticism that he wasn't aware they were experimenting on children is probably justified.
• Working with the Ex: She headhunted Jacob for Cerberus, and it's suggested they had something at one point, but there's not much tension.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: What Shepard can ultimately convince her of. Both in terms of her ability and morality.
  Shepard: Your spirit and personality are what make you great. It's what makes anyone great.
  Miranda: That's kind of you. I'm not sure I believe you, but thanks for saying it.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Her word for word reaction to Shepard putting Jack in charge of the secondary team during the Suicide Mission.

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