An external stimulus may trigger an involuntary memory recall, which are so vivid and detailed that some drell may mistake it for reality. Thane occasionally loses himself reliving the perfect recall of some of his memories and can describe them in flawless detail. Thane was first trained by his hanar masters as an assassin since he was six, making his first assassination by the time he reached twelve. He met his wife during an assassination mission when she stepped in front of Thane's target in order to stop him. He decided to settle down with her and left the service of his hanar masters through a voluntary severance of their Compact relationship. Thane's wife was later murdered by mercenaries who were pursuing her husband. This event caused him to abandon their young son Kolyat, a decision that still haunts him. Instead of adopting the hanar worship of the Protheans like some of his brethren, Thane is a devotee of the old polytheistic religion of his species, and spends much of his time in prayer and meditation, even within his work. Thane prays before each mission and asks for forgiveness from his gods after each kill. On the other hand, Thane is unwavering in his determination to separate his moral conscience from the killing he has committed, and that they aren’t anything he bears guilt for; according to drell religious teachings, the body and soul are separate, thus the person who hires him bears the guilt as his body is merely their tool. The player can discuss with him in great detail about his beliefs, and may even be invited by Thane to pray with him. Thane is a possible romantic interest for a female player character, Commander Shepard in "Mass Effect 2". While the relationship itself does not carry forward into "Mass Effect 3" due to the conclusion of his story arc, the player has the choice to spend private time with him at the Citadel hospital as his health deteriorates. In a forum post by Thane's writer Patrick Weekes, which is inaccessible after EA permanently shut down Bioware's forums on August 26, 2016, he noted that, “in many ways, the description for Kepral’s Syndrome is similar to the real-life disease cystic fibrosis.” According to art director Derek Watts, Thane was the toughest "Mass Effect 2" character to design. BioWare started with a written description of Thane, and wanted to emphasise him as a "career assassin" while keeping him attractive as a possible romantic interest for female players.