Miranda Lawson is a human Cerberus officer that's introduced as a companion to the player in Mass Effect 2. She is beloved by many fans, and her excellent personality and backstory may be related to the development process on Mass Effect 2, which Bioware cited as having the least "crunch" of the trilogy.
On top of being an excellent character, Miranda has garnered extra attention as players await the Mass Effect remakes because Bioware has promised to correct scenes with inappropriate camera angles involving the character. As gamers wait to experience the universe once more, it's the perfect time to reflect on why this character, despite some tactless camera angles, was the best companion of the trilogy.
10 Despite Cerberus Ties, She Loves Aliens Too
Miranda was raised by her ego-maniacal father, Henry Lawson, until she was old enough to escape and join Cerberus in exchange for her protection. Cerberus is a humanity-first organization that is xenophobic against alien species.
However, Miranda sought them out simply because she knew their name from stealing glances at her father's paperwork. She actually has no qualms with alien races, and even hates the fact that so many humans are motivated to join Cerberus simply by their xenophobia.
9 She Was Born On Earth
Miranda is a diamond-in-the-rough of Mass Effect companions because she was actually born on the planet Earth. For the player, she is a connection to a familiar planet in a game full of unfamiliarity. She's also a testament to the way that Earth has changed since they came in contact with alien life.
Miranda notes that many people on Earth support her bosses at Cerberus, a privately-owned, xenophobic-against-aliens corporation. It makes Mass Effect 3's final mission, which takes the player to Earth, all the more powerful.
8 Huge Network Of Contacts
Miranda's time as a Cerberus operative has placed her in contact with hundreds of people who are the very best in their field, be it combat, science, or politics. Notable characters that Miranda developed relationships with include Liara T'Soni and Jacob Taylor.
Miranda's charisma and beauty make her easy to talk to, and her inherent integrity makes her trustworthy to everyone she meets. Few people are unwilling to meet with Miranda on her own merit, even if they distrust the organization she works for.
7 Romance
In every Mass Effect game, the player, Commander Shepard, gets to choose from a plethora of romance options. Miranda was a favorite when she first appeared in Mass Effect 2, with good reason; its story balances an appreciation for her good looks with a desire to understand her mind and accomplishments, too.
While it has been confirmed that Jack was originally meant to be pansexual, there is also some speculation that Miranda's romance was initially considered to be bisexual. Mass Effect 2 removed any of these options following criticisms from outlets like Fox News about the first game's romances.
6 Yvonne Strahovski's Incredible Acting
Miranda is a unique character in Mass Effect because she was entirely based on the real-life actress who voiced her, Yvonne Strahovski. Strahovski is known for many roles, including the TV show Chuck and the 2014 film I, Frankenstein. Her face was scanned and animated for Mass Effect 2 so that Miranda could look exactly like her.
Details about Miranda's personality and backstory were even changed to relate to Strahovski, and the character was originally planned to have the actress's blonde hair.
5 She's Genetically Perfect
Miranda was born as the genetic experiment of an eccentric millionaire. She never had a mother and was grown in a tube using a modified copy of her father's genome. Miranda wasn't even the first daughter he ever created, but she was the first that he deemed good enough to keep.
Miranda's reflexes, strength, beauty, intelligence, biotic abilities, lifespan, and more were designed before birth to be superior. Miranda grew up cultivating these skills, receiving no praise from her father. It made for a very sad little girl, but a vicious soldier.
4 Her Nuanced Personality And Story
Miranda is a fan-favorite character. That is mainly due to the nuanced take which Mass Effect presents, through her personal quests, about what it would be like to be a genetically engineered person.
Miranda reflects often on how her gifts were a burden to her and even went so far as to save her father's next daughter, Oriana, from his clutches, dropping her off at an orphanage. Miranda's father eventually finds Oriana, so one quest has Shepard and Miranda trying to save a clueless Oriana from their father's goons.
3 She Was Crucial In The Effort To Revive Shepard
Miranda was in charge of the Lazarus Project – the Cerberus codename for the endeavor to bring Shepard back to life – and coordinated with Liara to recover the body. Miranda has to manage all the fine details, which is no small feat.
Simply acquiring the body meant wrestling it away from the Shadow Broker, who was interested too. The Illusive Man also wasn't satisfied with a clone of Shepard derived from the corpse, even though that was much easier to accomplish: he wanted the real thing, meaning Miranda had to make it happen.
2 She's Well Travelled
Between growing up the daughter of a wealthy, influential businessman and subsequently running away to take on a major role in an interplanetary organization, Miranda's been around the universe once or twice.
There are few places that she knows nothing about, making her an invaluable asset to Shepard's crew in Mass Effect 2 and 3, as the scope of the games increased significantly. No matter what trouble they're facing on whichever planet they're on, Miranda's resourcefulness allows her to find a solution.
1 She's An Excellent Leader
Even though lots of Miranda's traits – like her constitution, strength, and intelligence – were engineered by her father, she is an excellent and resourceful leader in her own right. When she was young, Miranda escaped her father just long enough to join Cerberus.
Miranda notes in the game that she liked working for Cerberus because she was given an objective, the resources she needed, and then allowed to work in her own way. It was in this way that Miranda became an excellent soldier, leading Cerberus troops and developing a knack for creative problem-solving.