| Steve Cortez | |
|---|---|
| Mass Effect character | |
 Steve Cortez as he appears in Mass Effect 3 | |
| First appearance | Mass Effect 3 (2012) |
| Voiced by | Matthew Del Negro |
Steve Cortez is a character from BioWare's Mass Effect franchise. He appears in the 2012 video game Mass Effect 3 as a crew member of the SSV Normandy SR-2 and pilot of the starship's auxiliary shuttlecraft vehicle, the UT-47A Kodiak. Cortez was designed as a potential love interest for the male version of the game's player character, Commander Shepard.
The staff writer responsible for Cortez, Dusty Everman, wanted to approach the subject matter of same-sex romantic relationships with an eye for respect and authenticity, as Mass Effect 3 marked the first instance BioWare staff have written full romances that are exclusively for same-sex characters. Everman was mindful of concerns raised by players where a relationship between Shepard and a non-player character in previous games may inexplicably shift from a friendship into a romance to their surprise. The approach he took in response was to frame the majority of the relationship to be about the progression of a friendship, and that romantic feelings only surface by the end of the arc once the character's backstory is shared with Shepard in greater detail.
Cortez's story arc in Mass Effect 3 drew a varied response from critics and players, and become part of a wider discussion about the media portrayal of LGBT characters, particularly with its themes of heartbreak and loss. Some commentators drew attention to his identity as a military serviceman who is an openly gay man and person of color, and the implications such characteristics would have from a real world perspective.