Ryder

Ryder is the family name of the human protagonist. Players can play as a male or female and customize the character's look, however the character can only be human. Unlike Shepard, Ryder is not an established hero and must undertake a hero's journey.

The Ryder family
The female (Sara Ryder) and male (Scott Ryder) player characters are twins. They are approximately 22 years of age, with Sara being the older twin. The brother and sister both exist in the game world at the same time. Alec Ryder is their father and Ellen Ryder is their mother.

Trivia

 * The dogtags found in the N7 Day 2015 video belong to Alec Ryder.
 * All members of the Ryder family (except Ellen Ryder) are customizable, though Alec Ryder may only be chosen between his default appearance or one that inherits physical traits from both twins.
 * If the player keeps the default first name of their playable character (either Scott or Sara), other characters will sometimes refer to them as such. The name of the non-playable twin can not be changed.
 * As of Patch 1.08, the appearance of both twins, playable or not, may be changed at any time in the Tempest's Med Bay at the Facial Reconstruction Suite. Changing their appearances does not effect the story in any way.