History Characters / StarcraftI

%%
%%
%% Some rules for this page. Read this before entrypimping:
%%
%% * Selendis belongs in the Starcraft II character sheet. Not here.
%%
%% * ShoutOuts, ContinuityNods, MythologyGags, CaptainErsatz, "NoCelebritiesWereHarmed" and Expy references go in the ShoutOut/Starcraft page. Not here.
%%
%% * Don't add YMMV or Trivia entries. They go in the YMMV and Trivia tabs respectively. No exceptions.
%%
%% * Don't add natter, as in Justifying edits, complaining about erroneous entries, replying to above entries, etc. That's not allowed in TVTropes. And neither is "Complaining about things you don't like".
%%
%% Zero Context Example entries are NOT allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them. %%
%%
%%
%%


The main characters of ''Starcraft'' and ''Brood War''. Click [[Characters/{{StarCraft}} here]] to return to the main index.

'''WARNING''' - only spoilers for ''Starcraft II'' are marked. Spoilers for the original game and ''Brood War'' are not.

[[foldercontrol]]

!Introduced in Starcraft
!!Terrans
[[folder:James Raynor]]
!Captain (formerly Marshall) James Eugene Raynor
[[quoteright:200:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px-JimRaynor_SC2_Head2_2834.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:[[TheHero Portrait of a hero]].]]

-->''"I knew I should have stayed in bed this morning."''

->'''Voiced by:''' RobertClotworthy

The closest thing Starcraft has to a central protagonist, Jim Raynor is the first named character in the series. He was a marshal on a backwater planet where he was forced to destroy the Confederate outpost (called, appropriately enough, Backwater Station) after it got Zerg-infested, earning the ire of Edmund Duke and a stay in prison. After being rescued by Arcturus Mengsk, he joined the Sons of Korhal, helping his new leader to destroy the Confederacy while it was occupied with the Zerg and Protoss, seduce Edmund Duke to their side, and be on the side of justice. Raynor realizes the mistake he's made too late: Mengsk is a power-hungry madman who cares only for his own gain; even revenge for his slain parents doesn't particularly matter to him. Mengsk sacrifices Kerrigan to the Zerg and Raynor finally leaves. He encounters Infested Kerrigan, and despite his pleas, she won't come back to the good side. He instead joins Tassadar, and ultimately has a direct hand in the destruction of the Overmind.

Of course, his role didn't end there: the UED invades, and while Raynor is initially unimportant, the now-freed Kerrigan enlists his and Zeratul's help in defeating the forces of Earth and a new, burgeoning Overmind that will enslave her again. He helps, knowing it's a bad idea, and indeed it was: Kerrigan becomes the undisputed queen of the Zerg, Raynor swears to be the one to kill her, and now the only major forces that don't have Raynor on the hit list are factions of Protoss belonging to Zeratul and Selendis.

He returns in VideoGame/StarcraftII, leading Raynor's Raiders, a resistance group fighting the Dominion. He has become [[KnightInSourArmor cynical and bitter]] in the intervening four years since the Brood War, partly as a result of Mengsk and the Dominion [[HeroWithBadPublicity painting Raynor as a terrorist]].

----
!!Provides examples of:

* TheAlcoholic: When Raynor isn't fighting, he's usually drinking whiskey. Tychus even refers to him as "that drunk Raynor" at one point, [[HypocriticalHumor although Tychus himself wasn't exactly sober when he said it.]] [[spoiler: By the end of ''Heart of the Swarm'', he looks to have ditched the bottle for good because Kerrigan regained her humanity despite being infested.]]
* AlliterativeName: Well not him, but his rebel unit is called Raynor's Raiders.
** WordOfGod (the ''Liberty's Crusade'' novel) states that when he was with the Sons of Korhal, his men were called Raynor's Rangers.
* AllThereInTheManual: More or less Raynor's entire backstory. Originally charged with manslaughter, he was given clemency by the magistrate of Mar Sara in exchange for becoming its marshal. In the novels, it is revealed that he once had a wife and a son, but both died in tragic circumstances.
* AlmostDeadGuy: Karol Raynor, Jim's mother, died of an unknown form of cancer brought on by industrial chemicals contaminating wartime rations provided by the Confederacy during the Guild Wars. She held on '''just''' long enough to watch her son see his father's recording to him which he made the day before '''he''' died.
* AMillionIsAStatistic: Inverted; Raynor mourned all eight billion of Kerrigan's victims, not just Fenix.
* AndThisIsFor: Says this to Vanderspool in ''Devil's Due.''
-->'''Raynor:''' This isn't about revenge. This is about justice. About restoring the balance. About taking something dark and ugly out of the galaxy once and for all, so that something—something decent and good—can grow instead. This is for the Heaven's Devils. For everyone who was their friend. And for everyone whose life you have ruined along your way to this moment.
* AtonementDetective: He became a marshal on Mar Sara as part of a deal to have his criminal record erased and be able to live a normal life. Then, the Zerg came...
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler: The ''Legacy of the Void'' epilogue implies this was his fate after reuniting with Kerrigan two years after the events of the campaign, this is further supported by the epilogue slide stating that he was "never heard from again" after that.]]
* BadassBandolier: Wear a belt of ammo over his shoulder in ''Starcraft II''.
* BadassBeard: While he grew his hair out from his BaldOfAwesome between the two games, Jim has always had a beard.
* BadassBiker: Fits the trope when riding h is trademark Vulture cycle.
* BadassNormal: For a setting where troops in PowerArmor are considered basic infantry and can be trained and outfitted for combat in a matter of minutes, Raynor's lack of psionic abilities or any other apparent enhancements makes him seem [[RidiculouslyAverageGuy ridiculously average]], especially since he is not [[BookDumb particularly intelligent or well-educated]]. However, he more than makes up for this by the fact that he is a genuinely nice person, [[MagneticHero which not only attracts friends and followers]], but also makes him one of the few humans to be respected by the Protoss as both a friend and an ally. When put together with his several years of combat experience, Raynor is one of the most competent war commanders in the sector of any race, and a powerful and dangerous enemy in one-on-one combat.
* BaldOfAwesome: In the first game.
* BerserkButton: [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Do not. Use. His jukebox. As a weapon. In a bar fight.]] Tychus learned that the hard way.
* BetterTheDevilYouKnow:
** His reason for helping Kerrigan against the UED is a combination of this and the LesserOfTwoEvils.
** Comes into play in ''Wings of Liberty'' when he finds out about [[spoiler: Amon]], and Kerrigan has to stay alive or there will be no one able to stop him.
* {{BFG}}: His sniper rifle, with its "Mark 12 Penetrator round", which he uses to great effect on Char.
* BookDumb: He's not exactly stupid, but he does defer to the expertise of others on many occasions.
* BookEnds: ''Wings of Liberty'' ends and begins with similar cinematics; he reaches for his revolver as a Marine looms up behind him. The bar is also featured in the last cinematic of ''Legacy of the Void''.
* ButtMonkey: Even before the Zerg invasion, Raynor had already lost countless friends and loved ones, often to circumstances beyond his control. Nearly all of his former military comrades ended up either being killed in combat or in the manhunt that followed after their unit was disbanded. Both his parents die in poverty, refusing to accept the ill-gotten earnings that he sent to them. His son was taken away by the Confederacy for having psionic powers and later said to have been "killed in a shuttle accident"; hearing the news caused his wife's health to decline until she eventually succumbed to illness. Now he lives with the guilt of having inadvertently helped Arcturus Mengsk to power by killing millions of innocent people, as well as failing to save Kerrigan from being turned into the Queen of Blades.
** He gets somewhat better by the end of ''Heart of the Swarm''. [[spoiler: Arcturus is killed and Kerrigan regained her human heart.]]
* TheCaptain: His rank and standing during his run as part of the Sons of Korhal. Carries the same during Act III of the first game, while in command of the Hyperion.
** RebelLeader: Becomes this at the end of [=SC1=]'s Act I until the events of ''Wings of Liberty''. [[Pantheon/{{Leadership}} Deified.]]
** During ''Legacy of the Void,'' he commands a Dominion force in charge of [[spoiler: rebuilding and defending Korhal.]]
* ChivalrousPervert: Of course, it's hard to be chivalrous around a telepath. It can be argued that he's actually normal since AllMenArePerverts, especially in the novels. Oddly enough, the novels completely change the meaning of the exchange between him and Kerrigan that imply this, turning it instead into a reflection of his dead son.
** On the other hand, Jim has always admired Sarah's legs...
* ClearMyName: Subverted. He's branded a terrorist and outlaw by [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Mengsk]], he realizes that there's no real way to clear his name, so he focuses on bringing Mengsk down to his own level instead. [[spoiler:With Mengsk dead, this is no longer necessary.]]
* CommandingCoolness: Has no formal rank within Raynor's Raiders, but he's occasionally referred to as 'Commander,' and his in-game hero unit's rank is listed as 'Rebel Commander.'
* CoolShip: He hijacked the battlecruiser Hyperion when he parted ways with Arcturus Mengsk, and it's now his flagship.
* CosmicPlaything: It's like the Universe is trying his best to make his life suck.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Prior to becoming a marshal, he was a crook and train robber along with Tychus. When they pushed their luck too far, Tychus was caught and he took the fall for their crimes without ratting out Raynor. It's one of the major reasons Raynor trusts Tychus throughout the ''Wings'' campaign. Oh yeah, and he's lost both his wife and son; the latter to the Confederacy's Ghost program, the former to grief over their son's death.
* DeadpanSnarker
-->'''Valerian''': Everyone wonders if I will be as good an emperor as my father, but I want something more - to prove I will be a better emperor, and a better man.\\
'''Raynor''': That shouldn't be hard.
* TheDeterminator: As one review put it: "It would be difficult not to admire Raynor, if for no other reason than his persistence in the face of abandonment, isolation and betrayal."
* DidNotGetTheGirl: For all his Herculean efforts, ultimately he doesn't end up with Kerrigan. [[spoiler:However, this is averted as of ''VideoGame/StarcraftIILegacyOfTheVoid''.]]
* DontCreateAMartyr: The reason Mengsk keeps him alive is because Raynor would have more power as a martyr than he does now, which is why he instead marginalizes Raynor's efforts through the media to ruin his reputation.
* DrowningMySorrows: [[TheAlcoholic Often]].
* EmbarrassingMiddleName: James ''Eugene'' Raynor. When Matt {{lampshade|hanging}}s it, Jim bashes him.
* EnemyMine:
** In ''Brood War'', he teams up with Kerrigan and Mengsk to defeat the UED.
** In ''Wings Of Liberty'' he teams up with [[spoiler:Valerian Mengsk, and part of the Dominion, again]] to defeat [[spoiler:Kerrigan]].
** In ''Heart Of The Swarm'' he does this with [[spoiler:Kerrigan and the Zerg]] against [[spoiler:Mengsk]].
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: While he never truly was a "bad man", James has an extensive rap sheet that he isn't proud of from the time after the Heaven's Devils were falsely accused of going AWOL. This period lasted until Finley was captured and Raynor decided to follow an old family friend, Myles Hammond, to Mar Sara where he became a local sheriff. During this time, he still loved his parents and risked life and limb to visit his mother when she was dying. He is driven to tears when he sees his mother Karol.
* FingerlessGloves: In VideoGame/StarcraftII.
* FireForgedFriends: With the Protoss, Tassadar, Zeratul, Artanis, and Fenix in particular. ''Especially'' Fenix. Also, Tosh in one plot deviation, Valerian, General Warfield... It happens a lot to him.
* ForgotAboutTheMindReader: Kerrigan's greeting to him when they first meet is interrupted by her exclamation of "you pig!" Raynor protests he hadn't said anything yet, but Kerrigan snickers he was ''thinking'' it. If you leaving idle enough in one mission in Heart of the Swarm, it happens again.
* FriendlySniper: His WeaponOfChoice in the ''Belly of the Beast'' mission is an [[{{BFG}} enormous]] rifle that comes with the amazing "Penetrator Round" ability, with a range even further than the ghosts' "Snipe."
* GenreSavvy: When [[spoiler:Hanson]] locks [[spoiler:herself]] in the lab, he goes in alone to investigate. Before he goes in however, he suits up in SpaceMarine armor and orders Horner to seal all the access points.
* GoKartingWithBowser: One of the multiplayer maps in ''Starcraft 64'' has Raynor and Duke competing in a friendly game of "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Zergling Round-Up]]"
* GoodOlBoy: Tychus calls him this in a trailer.
* HannibalLecture: Viciously tears into Kerrigan with one of these after she kills Fenix.
-->'''Jim Raynor:''' Fenix! No!\\
'''Kerrigan:''' What are you worried about, Jim? He died the way all Protoss hope to: in combat.\\
'''Jim Raynor:''' He died because you betrayed him. '''How many more noble souls do you need to consume before you're satisfied? How many more innocent people have to die before you realize what you've become?'''\\
'''Kerrigan:''' ''(rattled)'' You don't even know what you're talking about, Jim!\\
'''Jim Raynor:''' Don't I? ''I'll see you dead for this, Kerrigan!'' For Fenix, and all the others who got caught between you and your mad quest for power!\\
'''Kerrigan:''' Tough talk, Jimmy, but I don't think you have what it takes to be a killer.\\
'''Jim Raynor:''' It may not be tommorow, darlin', it may not even happen with an army at my back. But rest assured; I'm the man who's gonna kill you one day. I'll be seeing you.
** Note that he says, "I'll be seeing you." In the most friendly and unironic way possible which just makes the line even '''more''' chilling.
* TheHero: Played with; he actually is the real hero in the Terran campaigns only, and plays more of a supporting (albeit still important) role in the rest of the game. However, due to being one of the most iconic characters and the main human protagonist, he usually is who people think as the main hero.
** HeroWithBadPublicity: Mengsk uses his control of the media to make Raynor into a vicious terrorist madman. Despite that, people still put their hopes on Raynor when it comes to saving their lives. [[spoiler:With Mengsk dead, this is no longer a problem]].
* HeroesWantRedheads: He wants Kerrigan.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter:
** Many of Raynor's friends have backstabbed him, and most of those who don't died due to the actions of the backstabbers.
** In ''Wings of Liberty'', the player gets to choose which missions Raynor and the Raiders will take. This affects his relationships with other characters and their loyalties. For the most part, his allies make it out alive: [[spoiler:Tychus]] betrays Raynor, but canonically he trusts [[spoiler:Tosh]], who joins his crew and remains loyal, while [[spoiler:Hanson and her colonists]] were sent off to a safe life on [[spoiler:Haven]]. For all the danger that they put themselves in and however fragile the ties that bring them together, [[spoiler:Valerian and Warfield]] have managed to survive the events on [[spoiler:Char]]. [[spoiler: Though Warfield ends up dead during ''Heart of the Swarm''.]]
* HumansAreBastards: He seems to be the [[OnlySaneMan only decent human being]] in the ''{{StarCraft}}'' universe willing and able to take a stand against the more powerful corrupt factions. Realizing this wasn't good for his views about the humanity in general. He's probably the only human the Protoss trust.
* IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight: He tried this with [[spoiler:Kerrigan]]. It didn't work until after the events of ''Wings of Liberty''.
** He gets his own miniature version with Matt throughout the ''Wings'' campaign as he is slowly losing faith in his revolution, especially with Kerrigan back on the scene.
* JackOfAllTrades: Jim started as a farmer under his parents, Trace and Karol. He later became a soldier and when his unit was disgraced, he became a criminal. After Tychus was captured, he moved to Mar Sara with a family friend and one time mayor of James' home town, Myles Hammond, who wanted to become a magistrate there since their home planet, Shiloh, became too corrupted under the Confederacy. There Myles made him a Marshall. Soon after '''that''' the zerg attacked and he became a rebel leader and stayed as such after Mengsk betrayed him. In terms of military rank, he started off as a private of a elite unit, the Heaven's Devils, became a Captain to Mengsk, and finally received the slightly unofficial title of Commander after that. His humble background is what makes him such a down-to-earth kind of guy.
* KnightInShiningArmor -> KnightInSourArmor: Kerrigan even joked about the former trope in one mission.
* LaResistance: Twice, even.
* LivingLegend: To the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Protoss]], of all people. He does have a reputation as a famous RebelLeader and [[HeroWithBadPublicity criminal]] amongst his own people, but to the Protoss, he was [[MessianicArchetype Tass]][[BigGood adar]]'s [[TokenHuman human companion]] and part of the heroes who helped [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu kill the Overmind]]. As a result, he is the only known human who can attempt negotiations with them and actually get listened to.
* TheLostLenore: ''Twice,'' first his wife, then Kerrigan.
* MagneticHero:
** Mike Liberty describes him as one:
--->'''Mike Liberty:''' James Raynor was the most decent man I ever encountered during the fall of the Confederacy. Everyone else, I can safely say, was either a victim or a villain or quite often both. At first glance, Raynor seems like a backwoods cowboy, one of those good old boys swapping lies about the days gone by. There's a cocksureness, an overconfidence about him that makes you bridle initially. Yet over time you come to see him as a valuable ally and -- dare I say it? -- a friend. It all comes from belief. Jim Raynor believed in himself and believed in those around him. And from that strength came the strength that allowed him and those who followed him to survive everything else the universe threw at him. Jim Raynor was a most decent and honorable man. I suppose that's why his is the greatest tragedy in this godforsaken war.
** When he first leads the rebellion on Mengsk, this is bordering on HundredPercentAdorationRating, which he's ''really'' uncomfortable with. This has lessened somewhat in ''Wings of Liberty'', due to him becoming cynical and bitter and a lack of success or funds, a few of the crew very briefly consider mutiny. This is put to an end though, and his crew are soon completely behind him again.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In the ending of ''Legacy of the Void'''s Epilogue: [[spoiler: Did he AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence or did Sarah merely assume human guise[[note]]Duran/Narud did it, so she is definitely able to as well[[/note]] for them to live their [[EarnYourHappyEnding Earned Happy Ending]] on one of her re-seeded planets in the normal way?]] From the look of his face in the final scene, it matters little.
* MeaningfulName: His surname is derived from the ancient personal name "Ragnar", meaning "Warrior" or "Strong counselor" or "Mighty Army", which he fits in all three.
* MoralityChain: In one of the novels, Kerrigan implies that thinking about Raynor is the one thing that can awaken the humanity she lost.
** This becomes more clear in ''Heart of the Swarm''. [[spoiler:She starts descending into darkness again after she learns of Raynor's death, then starts reversing course after she learns that he's still alive.]]
* TheNicknamer: Inverted, he's on the receiving end. Gabriel Tosh calls him "Brother" and Rory Swann calls him "Hotshot" and "Cowboy".
* NonEntityGeneral: This time around in the ''Wings'' campaign, [[PlayerAndProtagonistIntegration the player is supposed to be his Controller]]. But then, who's him talking to whenever you click on him in a mission? "Sell me."
** Presumably, his VoiceWithAnInternetConnection, which is either the Adjutant or Matt Horner.
* OneManArmy: In the Hyperion.
* OnlySaneMan: Not as much "sane" as "good", Raynor is pretty much the only truly noble and selfless human in the sector with the will to try and change things for the better.
* PigeonholedVoiceActor: Robert Clotworthy voices him in the two games. Initially, Blizzard wanted [[TheOtherDarrin someone else]] voicing him. Backlashes ran rampant, and Blizzard announced the voices weren't final in response. Some time later, Clotworthy returned.
* PlayerCharacter: Is the Terran PC during ''Starcraft II''. So he's TalkingToHimself all along. It's lampshaded when you click on him [[StopPokingMe a few times between missions]]:
--> ''"Standing around talking to my damn self..."''
* PsychicDreamsForEveryone: Raynor had dreams about Kerrigan where he visualized what was happening to her mentally as she was infested. In the novelizations of the game, Kerrigan torments Raynor with dreams of them together happily as humans, both to MindScrew him and to work out her own lingering frustrations left over from her infestation.
* RevolversAreJustBetter:
** He carries one around despite having an assault rifle as a default weapon. He even ''lowers his assault rifle'' and pulls out the revolver when he approaches Valerian. It's ultimately a symbolic move as the revolver only has one bullet and it's meant for [[spoiler:Arcturus, whom Raynor mistakes Valerian for initially]]. It ends up being destined for [[spoiler:Tychus]].
** Come ''Heart of the Swarm'', he pulls out another revolver [[spoiler: in the final showdown with Arcturus. Ultimately, he holds his fire to let Kerrigan finish the job instead--after all, his desire for revenge against Mengsk was mostly because of her.]]
* RebelliousRebel: Joined Arcturus Mengsk and the Sons of Korhal to fight the corrupt and oppressive Terran Confederacy, but rebelled and formed his own resistance when he realized that Mengsk was even worse than them.
* RightManInTheWrongPlace: He was just a humble marshal trying to keep the peace on a backwater colony. Then the Zerg came, and he was roped into fighting wars that span the galaxy.
* RousingSpeech: Delivers an epic one before the last mission of ''Wings of Liberty''
--> ''"That thing may be the key to stopping the Queen of Blades, but it's our sweat and blood that'll make it happen. After everything we've been through, past all the fire and fury, the one thing I know, is that we can count on each other, to get the job done. Or die trying. If that's what it takes. Because some things are just worth fighting for."''
* SilverFox: Has started to get some grey hairs.
* SmokingIsCool: Be it giant cigar of manliness or cigarettes, this man will make you want to take up smoking.
* {{Squick}}: In-universe. In the novels when he sees her infested, Raynor thinks that on some level Kerrigan is even ''more'' alluring and attractive, and is appropriately disturbed with himself for thinking such.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Raynor was, as of the end of Brood War, the ''only'' good human character. Realizing this has not been good for his views on humanity in general.
* TokenHuman: He's this during the protoss campaigns.
* UnwittingPawn: While he knew that there would have been a betrayal once he and Fenix helped Kerrigan defeat the UED, what really makes him a sucker is that he didn't expect the betrayal so soon. As it turns out, the plot was bolder and more daring: the moment they had achieved victory, she went after the Dominion and the protoss at the same time.
--> ''"I'd like to believe she's on the level, but there's a part of me that just ''knows better''. I do believe she's serious about eliminating the UED; my only concern is what happens to us when she does."''
* WhatMeasureIsAMook: He was very pissed off that Arcturus left behind Kerrigan. The many ''other'' people that died at Arcturus' hands are grouped under him being a bloodthirsty tyrant.
* WhyDontYaJustShootHim: Justified in his case. During a conversation, he explains that the reason why Mengsk just doesn't send Nova or another Ghost to just assassinate him is because Mengsk doesn't want him to become a martyr. [[VillainWithGoodPublicity In order to maintain his PR]], Mengsk has to convince the populace that Raynor poses no threat to him.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: See the picture above? He's ''thirty-four''. It may be because of stress, something he's very familiar with. Certainly, he looks much older than his appearance in Brood War.
** As mentioned above, he's also been [[TheAlcoholic hitting the bottle a lot]] since the events of Brood War.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Arcturus I Mengsk]]
!Emperor Arcturus I Mengsk
[[quoteright:241:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mengsk_5301.png]]
[[caption-width-right:241:[[EvilOverlord Portrait of a villain]].]]
-->''"You don't seem to understand my position here. I will '''''not''''' be stopped! Not by [[TheHero you]], or the [[TheEmpire Confederates]], or the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Protoss]], or '''''anyone'''''! I will '''''rule''''' this sector, or see it burned to '''''ashes''''' around me!"''

->'''Voiced by:''' JamesHarper.

Mengsk's father was murdered by the Confederacy, and his entire planet destroyed, for being a problem. Mengsk's response was to start a resistence faction called the Sons of Korhal, and enlist the aid of Jim Raynor, Sarah Kerrigan, and later Edmund Duke. Though he initially comes off as a benevolent freedom fighter, as the Terran campaign goes, he commits steadily more unforgivable crimes for the legitimately good purpose of overthrowing the Confederacy, until he finally succeeds, sacrifices Kerrigan, alienates Raynor, and crowns himself Emperor. His true colors revealed, he becomes everything the Confederacy was and worse. When the UED invades, he's the first person on their hitlist, and much to Raynor's chagrin he has to save Mengsk's life to help Kerrigan take out the UED, which goes sour for both of them when she backstabs them both. Mengsk ultimately launches a joint Dominion-UED-Protoss attack on Kerrigan's forces that she routs, leaving him with nothing.

By the time of ''Starcraft II'', Mengsk's empire is back on its feet, with only Raynor opposing it to any significant degree. Mengsk can't simply have Raynor assassinated because he's desperately afraid of Raynor becoming a martyr, so he uses the media to marginalize Raynor's efforts and paint him as a fanatic terrorist - [[SarcasmMode which is totally different from how the Confederacy treated him]].

----
!!Provides examples of:

* AerithAndBob: One of these does not belong: James, Sarah, Arcturus, Edmund. Though for some people, his might be a case of AwesomeMcCoolname.
* UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents: Mengsk has a thick Georgia accent.
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: [[spoiler:Not right away, but two years after the fall of Amon, the anniversary of his death is celebrated in the Dominion]].
* AnimalMotifs: The sequel ties him with the wolf -- cunning, savage and powerful, while also tying into his image as a charismatic media darling to mask his true nature. Statues of wolves and Arcturus flanked by wolves are all around Korhal, and images of wolf heads can be found from the Dominion crest outside his palace to an emblem set into the floor of his office.
* ArchEnemy: To Raynor and Kerrigan.
* ArchnemesisDad: To his son, Crown Prince Valerian, after the Flashpoint conflict.
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning[=/=]DoNotAdjustYourSet: While announcing the formation of the Terran Dominion and crowning himself as the Emperor Arcturus I.
* BeardOfEvil: Compared to Raynor's short-cropped beard around the mouth, Arcturus has a large and bushy beard going up the bottom of his face.
* BigBrotherIsWatching: As with the Confederacy, the Dominion has spies and informants everywhere, and many on their payroll are closely observed -- the closer to secrets they are, the tighter the surveillance.
* BigBad: In Episode V in ''Brood War'' -- while he's a villain before and after that, he's not the main one save for the very end of Episode I. ''Wings of Liberty'' puts him in BigBadEnsemble territory with Kerrigan, and come ''Heart of the Swarm'' he's the primary antagonist.
** BigBadWannabe: On the grander scale of things; He is still a major threat, but despite his statement he would either rule or burn the sector to ashes, he is constantly [[OvershadowedByAwesome overshadowed by much bigger and more dangerous villains]] like [[HiveMind the Overmind]], [[TheWarOfEarthlyAggression the UED]], [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Kerrigan]] or [[spoiler:[[GodOfEvil Amon]]]]; even in ''Heart of the Swarm'', where he technically is the BigBad, Kerrigan is the one who drives the plot and he merely comes out as an obstacle to deal with before [[spoiler:facing Amon]].
* BoldInflation: You can hear it in every other word he says.
* BrokenPedestal: To Raynor after seeing how far Mengsk would go to overthrow the confederacy. Even Valerian felt the same way towards his father afterwards.
* TheCharmer: Arcturus is extremely charismatic and a very gifted orator. He can even persuade people who are aware of his atrocities into aligning themselves with him.
* TheChessmaster: He manipulates Raynor, Kerrigan, Duke, and the Zerg in order to bring down the Confederacy and establish himself as the Dominion Emperor, and does so by playing to their emotional weaknesses so they work for him until they realize what he really is. The novels complete this by having him play chess against Michael Liberty, and ''Heart of the Swarm'' offers this line when [[spoiler:Mengsk is shooting at the ''Hyperion'' and Matt tries to tell his ships that the Crown Prince is with them.]]
-->'''Valerian''': My father will sacrifice any piece on the chess board to take the Queen.
* CosmicPlaything / LaserGuidedKarma: Any involvement he has after the original game's campaign is this. He overthrows the Confederacy just for the UED to knock him off his throne; he allies with the two people that hate him the most to take back his homeworld just for Kerrigan to backstab him, and fails an attempt at revenge. ''Wing of Liberty'' has him [[spoiler: take a gamble with letting Raynor live to deal with Kerrigan, and Raynor proves to be an even bigger thorn in his side than before. Also, there is letting Kerrigan live, allowing her to get back to the Swarm and everything he tries to stop her fails. She then marches right onto his doorstep before finally killing him. To add insult to injury, if Arcturus had allowed Warfield access to the xel'naga artifact on Char, Warfield might have been able to stop Kerrigan before she became an even greater threat to him.]]
** In the epilogue of ''Legacy of the Void'', [[spoiler: his death anniversary was celebrated as a holiday]].
* ConsummateLiar: He can even fool Kerrigan, a ''telepath''.
* CruelMercy: After his defeat at the end of ''Brood Wars'', it was this from Kerrigan which ensured that he continued to live (and rule as Emperor). The moment Kerrigan decided to go on the warpath against him, [[spoiler: he didn't last very long]].
* DeathByIrony: Kerrigan unleashed the Zerg on Korhal to get to him, just like how Mengsk defeated the Confederacy and abandoned Kerrigan. [[spoiler:Not to mention that Mengsk is killed by the same person who killed his father]].
* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: See the above quote. When Zerg attacked Korhal, he even resorts to using nuclear weapons inside his own city.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: In ''Heart of the Swarm'', to blackmail Kerrigan, he [[spoiler:uses Raynor as a hostage, threatening to kill him if Kerrigan attacks Korhal]]. It doesn't seem to have occurred to him that Kerrigan could just [[spoiler:rescue Raynor and ''then'' invade Korhal, which is exactly what she does.]]
* TheEmperor: Emperor Arcturus I Mengsk of the Terran Dominion, absolute monarch and oppressor of virtually all humans in the Koprulu Sector, with the exception of the Kel-Morian Combine (who might be worse) and the Umojans.
* EnemyMine: Worked with Raynor, who made it clear he still wanted to kill him, and Kerrigan during the Brood War against the UED, and later worked with the UED and Protoss against Kerrigan. Neither end well.
* ErmineCapeEffect: Averted. Mengsk does wear some fairly ornate outfits, but they are far more reminiscent of military uniforms (with a lot of BadassLongcoat/[[BadassLongcoat Cape]] thrown in). Notably, his outfits are quite a bit ''less'' ostentatious than his son's, who is objectively a much better person (if ''Wings of Liberty'' is any indication).
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Per WordOfGod, one of the reasons he was so obsessed with killing the Queen of Blades was because he could not comprehend the idea of someone not wanting revenge after everything he had done to her. Maybe a bit less EvilCannotComprehendGood and more [[BlueAndOrangeMorality Mortals Cannot Comprehend Physical Gods]], but the implication that he felt the same way about Raynor makes it count.
* EvilOverlord: As the Emperor of the Dominion, he cultivates the image of himself as a benevolent dictator who rules humanity because he is best to protect the people from threats, but in reality he's just as cruel, oppressive and sinister as the Confederacy he overthrew, and outside the core worlds people see him as the tyrant he really is.
* EvilPlan: The original one was to become the above trope. His dealings with [[spoiler: Tychus Finlay and Moebius Foundation without Valerian's knowledge]]
* EvilVersusEvil: With Kerrigan in ''Wings of Liberty''
* FaceHeelTurn: He was the leader of the rebels and your benevolent commander in the original Terran campaign. But then he went too far and Raynor turned on him when it was clear Arcturus was just overthrowing the Confederacy so he could put himself in the middle of the power vacuum.
** FallenHero: He was implied to be a genuinely good man before his lust for power and revenge consumed what little decency he had. It [[DependingOnTheWriter still depends on the writer]]. In ''I, Mengsk'', he is shown to have psychotic tendencies while he was in high school. However, he may never have sought power and rebellion if not for his family's assassination, instead preferring to be a humble prospector.
* FauxAffablyEvil:
** He's charismatic, friendly, cultured, and well-spoken. But it is just an act to hide the power-hungry murderous tyrant that lurks beneath him. When he talks to Raynor and the Magistrate at the end of Episode I, he starts by happily congratulating them on their victory; when it becomes clear they're not having any of it, he drops the pleasantries and becomes more hostile and sneering. It's also at this time he delivers the line "I will ''rule'' this sector, or see it ''burnt to ashes'' around me," shattering any lingering illusions that his "rebellion" wasn't just an excuse to take power for himself.
** A direct quote from Michael Liberty: "Arcturus Mengsk. There's a name that is synonymous with terror, betrayal and violence. A living example of the ends justifying the means. The assassin of the Confederacy of Man. The hero of the blasted world of Korhal IV. King of the universe. A savage barbarian who never let anything or anyone get in his way. And yet, he is charming, erudite and intelligent. When you're in his presence you feel that he's really listening to you, that your opinions matter, that you're someone important if you agree with him. It's amazing. I have often wondered if men like Mengsk don't carry around their own reality-warping bubbles, and all who fall in are suddenly transported to another dimension where the hellish things he says and does suddenly make sense. At least, that's the effect he always had on me."
* GeneralFailure: Ends up looking like one in the games. All of Mengsk's victories are due to Raynor, Kerrigan, and/or the PlayerCharacter. On his own Mengsk repeatedly proves an ineffective field commander that gets his ass handed to him by Raynor, the Zerg, the Protoss, and the UED. The novels, especially ''I, Mengsk'', go a bit more in-depth and reveal he actually does have good tactics and strategy. It just comes off as an InformedAttribute in the games.
** Fully degenerates into this in ''Heart''. [[spoiler: His purging of Valerian's half of the Dominion military weakened his own side for the confrontation against the Swarm, and his hoarding of the xel'naga artifact meant that Warfield didn't have a chance to use it on Char, which might have stopped Kerrigan early and for good.]]
* HeroWithBadPublicity: During his days as a rebel he ''was'' pretty heroic, saving colonies left for dead by the Confederacy, but they painted him as an insane terrorist to try and keep people from realizing this. After the first Terran campaign, [[HeWhoFightsMonsters however]]...
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In ''Starcraft'', his abandonment of Kerrigan gave rise to his greatest nemesis ever. In ''Heart'', [[spoiler: his purging of Valerian's half of the Dominion military weakened his own side for the confrontation against the Swarm, and his hoarding of the xel'naga artifact meant that Warfield didn't have a chance to use it on Char, which might have stopped Kerrigan early and for good.]]
* HumansAreBastards: Mengsk is an ordinary human, yet he is the only character in the original game that could be considered completely evil (Kerrigan became the fearsome "Queen of Blades" due to her infestation; therefore, her moral agency was compromised). He lures hordes of Zerg into attacking the Confederate capital world of Tarsonis, the most populous planet in the Koprulu sector, to overthrow at most a few hundred people. In doing so, Mengsk knowingly allowed '''''[[http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/planet/tarsonis two billion]]''''' innocent civilians to die -- a statistic that doesn't seem to faze him in the slightest. Shortly thereafter, it becomes clear that his motives were ''not'' to liberate the Terran worlds from the Confederacy, but to rule them himself. After establishing the Terran Dominion and proclaiming himself Emperor, Mengsk presides over a reign of terror where arbitrary killings and slave labor are the norm. An absolute monster in every sense of the term.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler:By Kerrigan at the end of ''Heart of the Swarm'']], though not fatally.
* ItsAllAboutMe: This quote of his is just one example of his titanic ego.
-->''I will rule this sector or see it burnt to ashes around me.''
* JustTheFirstCitizen: Subverted. He's always referred to as 'Emperor' after the foundation of the Dominion, but he never wears a crown or an [[ErmineCapeEffect ermine cape]] (see above), and, of course, 'Empire' is not in the Dominion's name. He also doesn't seem to stand much on ceremony in the interviews he gives to the media, nor does he seem to demand much supplication (the reporters address him more or less as equals). All of which is almost certainly carefully orchestrated to mask Mengsk's ludicrously dictatorial rule, and revealing a preference for a cult of personality over forcing people to constantly submit to his power (especially if doing so would endanger his rule and/or popularity).
* ManipulativeBastard: In the novel ''I, Mengsk'', Arcturus gives the opinion that normal people are naturally confused, disoriented and disorganized without authority to show them the way. He makes himself that authority and points them the way he wants.
* MeetTheNewBoss: A classic example.
* MotiveDecay: His original motive for overthrowing the Terran Confederacy was because they killed his father. However, as the above quote demonstrates, his hatred consumed him and later on, all he wanted was power, and he became just as bad, if not worse than the government he overthrew. He moves to do things such as unleashing the zerg on Tarsonis and abandoning Kerrigan, and later, [[spoiler:ordering an attack which had the greatest chance of killing his own son.]]
* NeverMyFault: Kerrigan and Raynor both call him out and point that he's indirectly responsible for all of Kerrigan's atrocities, but for the most part, all he does is simply blame Kerrigan for them.
* NonActionBigBad: He is not a fighter, being an older man with no combat skills. However, he did at one time serve as a soldier, so he's not inept.
* OneLastSmoke: When Kerrigan comes for him in ''Heart of the Swarm'', he takes an ornate lighter and cigar out of an equally ornate box. [[spoiler:Subverted however, as the lighter is secretly the trigger for a weapon.]]
* OhCrap: [[spoiler: Take a look at his reaction before his head lights up and explodes thanks to Kerrigan. That is pure, undiluted ''fear''.]]
* ThePurge: At the beginning of ''Heart'', [[spoiler: he orders his half of the military to crush Valerian's half, which Valerian had brought to Char. However, Warfield and his men on Char was allowed to return to the fold.]]
* ReignOfTerror: Once he replaced the Confederacy with the Dominion, he made short work of any possible dissenters that might be loyal to the old flag. Kerrigan becoming the Queen of Blades also got him on edge about Ghosts, and a novelization has his son Valerian recount that almost half of ''all'' Ghosts in service were rounded up and executed.
* {{Revenge}}: His main motivation to overthrow the Confederacy.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeVilified: Totally subverted, as his rule became as bad as, if not worse than the regime he replaced.
* SaveTheVillain: Because of the EnemyMine situation, Jim Raynor grudgingly saved him from execution by the UED forces after they had conquered his capital Augustgrad.
* SmugSnake: Has become this by the end of ''Heart''. [[spoiler: By having the xel'naga artifact with him, he thought that he could survive the zerg invasion. He evidently forgot that many terrans, including one James Raynor, also have scores to settle with him.]]
* TheSociopath: Reviewing his key personality traits is like reading through a sociopath diagnostic checklist: superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self, pathological lying, a penchant for manipulating others to achieve his own ends, an absolutely '''''astonishing''''' lack of empathy or remorse for any of his actions, and an insatiable lust for power and dominance that drives his every move. He has no qualms whatsoever about sacrificing those closest to him if it suits his purposes.
* TheStrategist: He's known in-universe as a shrewd and skilled tactician. He knows his assets, he knows his enemies, and he knows how to best use the former against the latter.
* StuffBlowingUp: How [[spoiler:Kerrigan kills him. ''After'' [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill she already had him pinned with two of her barbed tendrils]].]]
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler:Kerrigan kills him by stabbing him through his shoulders with her RazorWings, pinning him to a wall in the process, and then turns him into a psychic bomb]] that completely destroys his throne room.
* TyrantTakesTheHelm: The end of the Terran campaign is his charismatic speech to the people of the newly formed Dominion and to the old Confederate colonists, encouraging unity and strength before the Zerg and Protoss that will otherwise consume the Terran race. Tellingly, a good part of his speech emphasizes the people take orders from and be loyal to a single throne, upon which he will sit to watch over and protect them, in a manner that's almost indoctrination.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Abandoning Kerrigan to the Zerg inadvertently created one of the most dangerous creatures the galaxy has ever known, and she nearly eradicated the sector and killed everyone who opposed her, including Mengsk himself.
* TheUsualAdversaries: According to Raynor, the Dominion under his rule.
-->'''Jim:''' Mengsk! It's always Mengsk! [[spoiler:The end of the universe is coming and I should have known he'd be behind it!]]
* VillainousBreakdown:
** He experiences a mild one when [[spoiler:confronted by the press after Raynor broadcasted his recordings to the Dominion]], snapping at the reporters for questioning him and storming out of the press interview.
** He has a more gradual one over the course of ''Heart of the Swarm'', resorting to increasingly drastic measures to try and kill Kerrigan, and eventually starts blowing up his bases with his men still inside to try and stop her. His self-control is pretty much gone by the time [[spoiler:the Zerg are putting down hatcheries on his palace doorstep]].
* VillainsNeverLie: [[spoiler:Mengsk tells Kerrigan, after she transformed into the Primal Queen of Blades, that Raynor sacrificed everything to restore humanity, yet she threw it away. He later adds that Raynor would be disgusted by her for it. Unfortunately, Mengsk was right in a way that he reemphasized what Raynor said in the beginning about not wanting to see Kerrigan throw away his sacrifices just for revenge. In a manner of speaking, Mengsk was also right about Raynor's reaction to her becoming a monster again.]]
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: He's the ruler of the Terran Dominion, got most of the Dominion eating out of his hand, and branded genuine good guy Jim Raynor a terrorist and a real and present threat to terran society, with even managing to maintain his hold over the Dominion by pretending to save them from the Zerg onslaught which destroyed Tarsonis, as well as violently suppressing or slandering anybody who would challenge his rule. Most people like him, however, and are loyal to the Dominion, and he's widely considered a media darling and doesn't shy away from interviews with the press. And then [[spoiler:Raynor goes and blows Mengsk's real motivation of self-aggrandizement and ever more power, resulting in a mild [[VillainousBreakdown villainous breakdown]]]].
* WeHaveReserves: Mengsk considers anything and everything expendable as long as it furthers his goals. This includes his ''own son'', the Crown Prince, if destroying the ship he's on will take out Kerrigan in the process (though fortunately he does not succeed).
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Especially in the novels. At the very least, Mengsk started off this way, if the novels and [[AllThereInTheManual the backstory in the manual]] are to be believed. Mengsk himself portrays himself as this after he crosses over into outright villainy and it's largely left up to the player's interpretation whether he's purely in it for his own personal gain or if he really believes he's doing the right thing. More and more, it seems he's slipping further into selfishness as time passes.
* WickedCultured: The man loves [[AGlassOfChianti his liquor]], his classical music, his cigars, and plays a mean game of chess, even during his days as a terrorist rebel. His former command ship, a massive Battlecruiser named Hyperion, differs ''greatly'' from normal design standards to accommodate his tastes. To name one such variation, it has wider-than-normal hallways lined with carpets and paintings and lit by wall sconces. Raynor thinks it seems more like a fancy mansion than a warship. This is even truer of his new battleship, the Bucephalus (Alexander the Great's horse; legend had it that he who rode Bucephalus would conquer the world, so it's a logical choice), which is (somewhat hilariously) stolen or hijacked or commandeered by Valerian Mengsk. Bucephalus' bridge looks more like baroque palace's [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb57524/starcraft/images/5/56/Bucephalus_SC2_DevRend1.jpg great hall or ballroom]] than the command center of a warship.
* WhyAmITicking: How Kerrigan [[spoiler:finally kills him at the end of ''Heart of the Swarm''.]]
* XanatosGambit: WordOfGod is that he had no set plan in place when he [[spoiler:planted Tychus as TheMole in Raynor's crew]]. He just figured he'd stash a card up his sleeve and pull it out at a later date whenever it proved beneficial. This is also why he didn't [[spoiler:have Tychus act to stop the mission in "Media Blitz"; by that time he was saving Tychus up for Kerrigan and didn't want to blow his one usage of his infiltrator on Raynor when Kerrigan is the bigger threat.]]
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: He does this to Kerrigan by leaving her on Tarsonis. It didn't work out like he thought. It may also revenge for both her questioning his actions and over the fact that [[spoiler: she is the Ghost who killed his father.]]
* YouKilledMyFather: His original motive for rebelling against the Confederacy before his desire for power consumed him. It's also one of the reasons he abandoned Kerrigan to the Zerg on Tarsonis. [[spoiler: She was the Ghost that killed and decapitated his father, his mother, and his little sister]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Edmund Duke]]
!General Edmund Duke
-->''"Y'all need some good ol' fashioned discipline."''

->'''Voiced by:''' JackRitschel

Edmund Duke was the Confederacy's greatest general, and the leader of Alpha Squadron, their greatest force. He starts off as a fairly generic villain, opposing Raynor and insulting backwater worlds, until Mengsk and Raynor save his life from the Zerg and demand his loyalty in return. His knowledge of the inner workings of the Confederacy prove key to Mengsk's victory, but surprisingly, Duke proves completely loyal to him, enough so that when Raynor rebels when Mengsk's evil intentions become clear, Duke stays with Mengsk.

Ultimately, Kerrigan convinced Mengsk (and Duke, though not seen) and Fenix to assist her, and while they honored their part of the bargain, Kerrigan did not, and murdered Duke to cripple Mengsk's military.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* AntiVillain: He's a {{Jerkass}} all the way, but Duke never acts in a way that could be considered flat ''evil'', and is usually a loyal soldier to his superiors and has some shades of AFatherToHisMen. In a sense, he's a PunchClockVillain that always happens to be punched in whenever the player meets up with him.
* BadassGrandpa: He is old and crusty, but he's still willing to enter the front lines to fight.
* ContinuitySnarl: Blizzard has trouble keeping the history of Duke's ships in line. The game depicts the Norad II being repaired and used to attack Tarsonis, but the novel ''Liberty's Crusade'' says the Sons of Korhal set the ship to self-destruct to destroy the Zerg in the area. Then another novel ''Shadow of the Xel'Naga'' retconned it back to surviving, and further said that the Norad II was retrofitted into the Norad III. Then the same novel has the Norad III be destroyed along with the rest of Duke's fleet, and since the novel takes place before ''Brood War'', this messes up the ship's appearance in the expansion. The novel ''Firstborn'' gave a HandWave that only ''most'' of Duke's fleet was destroyed, the Norad III was either spared or recovered and repaired, but ''Liberty's Crusade'' is a straight retcon.
* CoolStarship: His flagship, the Norad II, is a pumped-up Battlecruiser and one of the best hero units in the original game. In ''Brood War'' he commands the new, upgraded Norad III.
* DeepSouth: He has the most pronounced accent of any character in the game save Stukov.
* DemotedToExtra: After being a major character in the first game, ''Brood War'' only sees him appear in two missions, and they're brief appearances too.
* DirtyCoward: It's implied he doesn't like to dirty his hands himself, leading from the back and retreating when unable to win. When Duke volunteers to lead an attack on Tarsonis' orbital platforms, Raynor is surprised to see him offering to lead a frontal assault. Duke's subsequent comments are that he knows the other Confederate squadrons stationed on the platform suck compared to his own Alpha Squadron men, and Raynor deflates when he realizes Duke is only taking the field because he knows it'll be an easy fight for him.
* DoubleTake: The normally unflappable Duke has one in Episode V when meeting Stukov, who tells Duke they're the United ''Earth'' Directorate. Duke's reaction is to sputter and respond to the effect of "wait, ''what''?"
* TheDragon: To Mengsk after Episode I.
* EliteArmy: Duke's Alpha Squadron is known as the best of the Confederacy's armed forces, and deploying them is their knee-jerk response to any serious threat. Up until they sent them to Antiga to deal with Mengsk, it worked too.
* FacingTheBulletsOneLiner: He's did this to ''[[OmnicidalManiac Kerrigan]]''.
-->'''Duke:''' Do your worst then, little girl! You ain't takin' Edmund Duke without a fight!
* FourStarBadass: He got to his position because of his admirable war record.
* GeneralFailure: Has the misfortune of almost always being on the opposite side from the player character, to the point where the only battle he wins onscreen is Tarsonis, a planet whose defenses he knows inside and out.
* GoKartingWithBowser: One of the multiplayer maps in ''Starcraft 64'' has Raynor and Duke competing in a friendly game of "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Zergling Round-Up]]"
* GrumpyOldMan
* HeelFaceTurn: And then, a FaceHeelTurn without doing any turning. Few characters can claim that feat.
* InformedAttribute: He's supposed to be one of the finest generals of the Confederacy. Between the games and in the novels though, you can count on one hand how many battles he wins, one of which in the novels is a PyrrhicVictory that costs him most of Alpha Squadron. Most of the time, be it Mengsk, Raynor, the UED, protoss or zerg, Duke is left defeated and humiliated.
* {{Jerkass}}: Though its quite obvious the second you hear him talk for the first time, the novelizations turns it up worse - after Raynor defects, his men are being overrun by Zerg and he can't save them. Raynor begs Duke to help them, offering to turn himself in if he does. Duke laughs in his face.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: In the early missions of Episode I. When Jim Raynor helps saving the Backwater Station from a Zerg attack, Duke has him arrested for ''property damage''. Perhaps subverted in this case. The Terran Confederacy was preforming tests on the zerg at the time. Destroying the infested command center may have ticked them off for losing the potential scientific knowledge they had hoped to garner from it.
* OneManArmy: In the ''Norad II'', he deals 50 damage a shot (a OneHitKO to Marines) and has a whopping 850 HP with 4 armor. In the mission where you take control of Duke, you can win the entire mission by having him solo the enemy bases, as long as you're keen to keep him repaired and target the strong anti-air units first.
* ReliableTraitor: He joined the Sons of Korhal rebellion grudgingly, basically at gunpoint, and made his contempt of Mengsk, Raynor and the rebels very clear at every opportunity he got. Mengsk however counted on that pandering to Duke's ambition, greed and lust for power would turn him into a useful ally. He was right.
* SaveTheVillain: Despite hating his guts, Jim Raynor saved his life twice. First for the Zerg on Antiga Prime and later from the UED during their assault on Korhal.
%%* SouthernFriedPrivate
* TankGoodness: He commands his personal Siege Tank in the ''Precursor'' campaign and the unused mission "Biting the Bullet"
* WeHaveReserves: The "Damn fringe world yokel" colonial militias are fully expendable in his eyes.
[[/folder]]

%%[[folder:Adjutant Advisor]]
%%-->''"Adjutant online. Good evening, Magistrate."''
%%
%%-->'''Voiced by:''' [insert actress here] (''VideoGame/{{StarCraft|I}}''), Julianne Buescher (''VideoGame/StarCraftII'')
%%
%% A gynoid AI construct directly connected to intelligence networks. She serves as a [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnections source of intelligence in the various games]], and will notify you if [[YouRequireMoreVespeneGas you need to acquire more resources]]. One specific adjutant serves as a plot point in ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty''.
%%
%% * DemotedToExtra: The role of Raynor's adjutant in ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty'' is significantly reduced after the three Mar Sara missions. Her role is mostly taken over by Matt Horner at that point.
%% * RoboSpeak: Being an AI construct, this is to be expected.
%% * VoiceWithAnInternetConnection: She's directly linked to the major computer networks, and provides intelligence based off information gleaned off those networks. She also notifies you if you attempt an action that is impossible due to [[YouRequireMoreVespeneGas lack of raw materials]] or [[ConstructAdditionalPylons other supplies]].
%% * [[YouRequireMoreVespeneGas Insufficient Vespene Gas]]: She'll let you know if you're short on resources.
%%[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lester & Sarge]]
!Lester & Sarge
-->''"I love you, Sarge."''

->'''Voiced by:''' Harley D. Huggins II (Lester) and Duane Stinnett (Sarge)

Two dumb Confederate soldiers stationed on Mar Sara right during the Zerg invasion. Appear in a cutscene and get eaten by hydralisks in their only appearance.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* CutsceneIncompetence: Disembarking from your vehicle, unarmed, in the middle of nowhere right during an alien invasion must be a very good idea...
* DeepSouth: As part of the very stereotypical nature of Terrans as hicks in the early days of the series.
* DyingDeclarationOfLove: Lester declares his love for Sarge right as they are about to be eaten by a group of Zerg, much to the latter's disgust.
* ExplainExplainOhCrap:
-->'''Sarge:''' ''It's a zerglin' Lester, smaller type o' zerg. They oughtn't be out this far unless...'' *hears gurgling noises behind him* ''Oh shit!''
* LowerDeckEpisode: The cutscene they appear in.
* MonsterMunch: They get devoured by Zerg.
* {{Redshirt}}: They're introduced only to be killed off.
* TooDumbToLive: They're out in the middle of nowhere when they disembark their vehicle, unarmed, to investigate Zerg.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Magistrate Collins]]
!Magistrate Collins
-->''"There are to be no arrests, Lieutenant. I hope you understand what I mean. I want this problem solved once and for all. Good hunting."''

->'''Voiced by:''' Unknown

Magistrate of the Chau Sara colony and the player's mission giver in the ''Precursor'' demo/prequel campaign. Calls in Alpha Squadron to help deal with the Sons of Korhal rebellion on his planet. It went FromBadToWorse quickly.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* ButtMonkey: He is constantly talked down to and having his authority undermined by the Cerberus Commander. Whenever he tries to speak up or offer advice to the player, he is bluntly interrupted by the commander.
* DeepSouth: Has a mild but noticable southern accent.
* DoomedByCanon: In Episode I, we learn that Chau Sara was one of the first planets to be "purified" by the protoss. Doesn't bode well for poor Collins. [[NeverFoundTheBody Or so it seems]]...
* JurisdictionFriction: With the Cerberus Commander. He can do little to stop him though.
* LastNameBasis: His first name is never given.
* LeaveNoSurvivors: As seen in his quote above, this is how he'll prefer that the rebels are dealt with.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Cerberus Commander]]
!Cerberus Commander
-->''"Lieutenant. By edict of Confederate High Command, all matters regarding these xenomorphs are under Class 7 Seal. Do not speak of the existence of the xenomorphs or in any way relay the events surrounding their appearance on Chau Sara. Failure to comply with these orders will result in immediate termination. This conversation never took place. [[IWasNeverHere We were never here]]."''

->'''Voiced by:''' Unknown

Mysterious commander of the black-ops Cerberus Squad sent to deal with the Zerg infestation on Chau Sara in the ''Precursor'' demo/prequel campaign. Quickly supersedes Collins as the primary mission giver.

----
!!Provides examples of:

%%* CreepyMonotone
* IWasNeverHere: As his profile quote demonstrates.
* JurisdictionFriction: With Collins. It's pretty one-sided though as the Commander goes on with his operation regardless of what Collins thinks.
* TheMenInBlack: He and Cerberus arrive to cull the Zerg threat and make sure no one talks about it.
* MyRuleFuIsStrongerThanYours: When Magistrate Collins starts getting too much in his way, he invokes an obscure law and relives him of command.
* NeverFoundTheBody / HesJustHiding: [[http://sclegacy.com/interviews/10-blizzard/281-scl-metzen-interview-lore-exclusive According]] to WordOfGod, not all members of Cerberus Squad were accounted for after the fall of the Confederacy. He may still be out there...
%%* SpockSpeak
%%* StateSec
* UnPerson: Heavily implied to happen to anyone who might get a little too talkative about their operations.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Magistrate of Mar Sara/Commander]]
!Commander
The Terran NonEntityGeneral of the first game. He helps Raynor and the other Mar Sara colonists escape from the zerg, and joins Mengsk against the Confederacy.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* DefectorFromDecadence: Twice, first the Confederacy then Mengsk.
* MissionControl: For the field units and heroes, who will communicate with them about what objectives should be taken on next.
* NonEntityGeneral: The player's character and leader of the army, who is never seen in any fashion and has no character development.
* PlayerCharacter: In a sense. While the player is given the role of the Magistrate, the Magistrate doesn't actually ''do'' anything as a person in the campaign, the player controls field units directly. For all intents and purposes, if the Magistrate ''character'' didn't exist, the game and the player's influence would be unchanged.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Maybe. In a novel he left the Raiders shortly after helping them take the ''Hyperion''. Whether this was out of guilt at helping Mengsk, irritation at now being a fugitive, or just being tired of fighting is unknown.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Alan Schezar]]
!Alan Schezar
A Terran smuggler operating in the early days of the Dominion. There's not a whisper of him in the main campaign, but he's central to the ''Enslavers'' mini-campaign and its sequel campaign ''Dark Vengeance''.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* BigBad: Of the ''Enslavers'' campaign.
* CuttingOffTheBranches: WordOfGod has clarified that the canon path of the two campaigns is Alpha Squadron working with the Protoss, and Schezar staying allies with Ulrezaj and being killed by Zeratul's forces.
* DemotedToDragon: In ''Dark Vengenace'', to the new BigBad Ulrezaj.
* EnemyMine: In one mission path in ''Dark Vengeance'', he turns on Ulrzaj in order to save his own skin, since he's realized the Dark Archon has gone off the deep end and he's no longer safe working for him.
* TheGhost: He's unseen in ''Enslavers'', but takes the field in ''Dark Vengeance''.
* KilledOffForReal: Whether he sides with you or not depending on the missions played, he doesn't survive the climax of ''Dark Vengeance''.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Yes, he is referred to as a smuggler and is the villain of an inconsequential side-campaign. But most smugglers don't imprison Protoss commanders, find a way to command Zerg Cerebrates to have their own Brood, or ally with renegade Protoss to plan planetary invasions.
* {{Pirate}}: Well, smuggler.
* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: In the mentioned path where he betrays Ulrezaj, he's promptly killed by a strike force of Dark Templar.
[[/folder]]

!!Protoss
[[folder:Tassadar]]
!Former Executor Tassadar
[[quoteright:274:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2011Tassadar_2160.png]]
[[caption-width-right:274:The Greatest Protoss hero.]]
-->''"My friends, this is our final hour. Not all of us may survive the coming conflict. Yet, death may be a blessing should we fail here. We seek now to destroy a foe that has ravaged its way across the universe consuming all in its path. And now it has reached the end of its long journey. The Overmind has come to destroy all that we hold dear and assimilate us into itself. And I say to thee, this shall not come to pass! Aiur shall not fall! Executor, I stand ready!"''

->'''Voiced by:''' {{Michael Gough}} (''VideoGame/{{Starcraft|I}}'') and Creator/MichaelDorn (''VideoGame/StarcraftII'')

The initial Executor (Protoss military commander) of Starcraft I before being replaced by Artanis, Tassadar was ordered to raze a bunch of Terran planets infested with Zerg. He tried to kill the Zerg while sparing the Terrans, but while his actions were largely successful (though he left alive one person he'd later regret) he fell in with the dark templar, who contrary to their names [[DarkIsNotEvil were not at all evil]]. Tassadar realized this, and being about the only person in existence to realize the true threat the Zerg posed, enlisted the dark templar's help to defeat the Zerg, with the help of Jim Raynor. In the climax of the original ''Starcraft'', he crashes his command ship, the ''Gantrithor'', into the Overmind, manifesting dark templar energies into the hull of the ship to destroy it in a HeroicSacrifice.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* BewareTheNiceOnes: He gladly lays down his life for his own kind and spared Terrans on the infested worlds, but don't go testing his patience. Just listen to this exchange with Duke:
-->'''Duke''': Protoss Commander, this is General Edmund Duke of the Terran Dominion Armada. You are in violation of our air-space and have endangered human lives in your reckless attack against the Zerg. I order you to withdraw your ships immediately. If you fail to comply, I will not hesitate to open fire upon your vessels.
--> '''Tassadar''': General Duke, I am Tassadar, and you are well known to me. Whatever leniency I extended to you and your comrades before, may have been in error. If you persist in halting our course, we will burn your pathetic fleet down to the last man.
* BigDamnHeroes: In the hidden mission "Biting the Bullet," he saved a lot of Terrans, including Raynor and Duke, from a Zerg onslaught.
* BigGood: In the first game. Zeratul is later inspired by his example to take his place.
* CoolStarship: the ''Ganthritor'' carrier, which the player is able to control in the final mission (though sadly unlike the battlecruiser hero units, it's just a carrier with more HP and shields).
* CulturalRebel: Started out as one; before the Khalai TookALevelInKindness, he was the first Protoss introduced to not be a KnightTemplar, actively trying to avoid pointless casualties among Terrans during his time as an Executor and advocating the rehabilitation of Dark Templars.
* CrucifiedHeroShot: He explodes from the massive energy he is channeling with his arms held out to the side.
* DeadAllAlong: He appears to Zeratul in a vision in ''Wings of Liberty'', [[spoiler: telling him of the impending threat that Amon poses while stating he 'has never tasted death, nor shall he', implying he has [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence]]]]. Come ''Legacy of the Void'' and it's revealed that, [[spoiler: no, Tassadar is, indeed, long dead. [[BenevolentPrecursors Ouros]] contacted Zeratul assuming the guise of Tassadar because he believed he would rather listen to his old friend than a Xel'naga.]]
* DefectorFromDecadence: Played with -- while he never betrayed the Conclave, he defies their commands because he didn't agree with them, but was always loyal to Aiur and the Protoss. When the Conclave attacks him when he returns to Aiur and he realizes their zealotry is driving them to civil war when they should be working together against the Zerg, he and his allies fully turn against them.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: He manages to kill ''the Overmind'' by charging his carrier with light and dark templar energies and ramming the thing.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: He successfully kills the friggin' ''[[EldritchAbomination Overmind]]''.
* FrontlineGeneral: Executors are the protoss equivalent, and any general with an in-game unit would qualify.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Tassadar is said to have both High and Dark Templar abilities. However, unless you count his Psi Blast ability (a default attack which no other High Templar has in the final product, though it did exist in beta), he only displays High Templar abilities in-game.
* GoodIsNotDumb: Fools Kerrigan into chasing him around while Zeratul kills Zasz. Kerrigan even admits she learned her lesson after he had fooled her so easily.
* HeroicSacrifice: Gives his own life to end the Overmind's.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Averted. He's actually a really good judge of character, but the Conclave thinks otherwise for allying with the Dark Templar. Aldaris even acknowledges both his and the Dark Templar's efforts:
--> '''Aldaris''': Executor. Tassadar. This comes too late to you. But the Conclave has witnessed your defeat of the Cerebrates. They know now that they cannot deny the necessity or the valiancy of your actions. We sought to punish you, while it was we who were in error. Now you represent what is greatest in us all, and all our hopes go with you. EN TARO ADUN, brave Sons of Aiur!
* MessianicArchetype: After he dies, even his former enemies elevate him to messianic levels, using the battle cry "En Taro Tassadar!" in place of "En Taro Adun", who is worshipped as a demigod more or less. Considering that the Protoss campaign bears an uncanny resemblance to the Gospels, with Tassadar as Jesus (CrucifiedHeroShot and all), the Conclave as the Pharisees, etc, it makes sense.
** He even fulfills the Dark Templar prophecy of the Twilight Deliverer, a title held by Adun up to that point.
* OneManArmy: His Gantrithor carrier.
* PsychicPowers: Other than the Overmind and Kerrigan, he's probably the strongest psychic in the game.
** ShockAndAwe: Psionic Storm.
** MasterOfIllusion: Pretty much how he deceived Kerrigan while Zeratul killed Zasz.
* RammingAlwaysWorks: He kills the Overmind by ramming it with his carrier imbued with Dark Templar energy.
* RogueAgent: Tassadar was declared a traitor for working with Terrans and Dark Templar.
* RousingSpeech: His quote above.
* SpiritAdvisor: In ''Wings of Liberty'', Zeratul is surprised to find [[spoiler:his spirit still intact on Aiur, and gets some advice. Subverted when it turns out it was a Xel'naga using Tassadar's form.]]
* YinYangBomb:
** He ''is'' one: as a High Templar (the most powerful psionic warriors of the "Light" Khalai Protoss), he received training from one of the most powerful Dark Templar, his mentor and friend, Zeratul. Combining the different philosophies of the two factions has allowed him to unlock ''all'' of the Protoss psionic potential, making him ''insanely'' powerful.
** At the end of ''Starcraft'' he becomes the "Twilight Deliverer", something which, given the nature of how Protoss psionics work, Zeratul claims has only been achieved by one other person in history, that person being Adun himself. It's how he destroys the Overmind in the end.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Zeratul]]
!Prelate Zeratul
[[quoteright:200:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Screenshot2010-09-22_19_36_08_7794.png]]
[[caption-width-right:200:Tell me that's not a badass...]]
-->''"Though we strike at you from the shadows, do not think that we lack the courage to stand in the light."''

->'''Voiced by:''' JackRitschel (''VideoGame/{{Starcraft|I}}'' and ''Starcraft: Broodwar'') and FredTatasciore (''VideoGame/StarcraftII'')

Zeratul is introduced with a bang: the shadowy Dark Templar achieved the seemingly impossible and murdered a top Cerebrate of the Zerg Overmind. With the knowledge that Dark Templar could permanently harm the Zerg, Tassadar makes a highly-controversial alliance with Zeratul, and the two of them, along with Jim Raynor and Artanis, return to Aiur, where Tassadar uses what he's learned from Zeratul to kill the Overmind. Zeratul then leads the Khalai survivors to the Dark Templar homeworld Shakuras, and eventually forms an uneasy alliance with Kerrigan to fight the rogue Zerg. When she betrays them he banishes her, but she returns later to kidnap Raszagal and blackmail Zeratul into killing the Overmind for her. Zeratul kills Raszagal rather than let Kerrigan control her, and as he leaves he finds Duran's experiments on Hybrids on the dark moon. Canonically, he hasn't been seen since, but resurfaces in ''Starcraft II'', having learned something horrible and omninous.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* TheAtoner: In ''Starcraft II''. Just to drive the point home, one of his "command response" quotes references Raszagal.
* BadassBoast: In response to Aldaris being an arrogant {{Jerkass}}:
--> ''"You speak of knowledge, Judicator? You speak of experience? I have journeyed through the darkness between the most distant stars. I have beheld the births of negative-suns, and borne witness to the entropy of entire realities... Unto my experience, Aldaris, all that you've built here on Aiur is but a fleeting dream. A dream from which your precious Conclave shall awaken, finding themselves drowned in a greater nightmare."''
** Another one delivered [[spoiler:post-humously?]] in ''Legacy of the Void'': "Alone, it is said that those of our kind suffer. Separated from the glory of the Khala. (Pause.) But none of us are ever truly alone. For our warrior hearts are bound by honor, tradition. Battle is waged in the name of the many. The brave who generation after generation choose the mantle of, Dark Templar!"
* CaptainObvious: Justified since newer players won't know these things, but a lot of his dialogue in his mini-campaign in ''Wings Of Liberty'' is this:
--> ''"I can use Blink to cross that chasm."''\\
''"We should build pylons to power our base."''\\
''"That detector unit can alert its allies to my presence."''
* CharacterDevelopment: Between Brood War and the second installment of the series, Zeratul's attitude has completely mellowed out to the extent that the irritability and aloofness that had previously distinguished him is no longer present.
* TheChessmaster: He's manipulated events behind the scenes in order to [[spoiler:stop the coming apocalypse, including showing Jim Raynor why Kerrigan had to live, and then sending Kerrigan to Zerus--both to become stronger, and also to cleanse the last remaining bit of Amon's dark influence. Already the results of his efforts are apparent, and the BadFuture envisioned by the Overmind is looking increasingly unlikely (the vision shows the zerg fighting alongside the hybrid; Kerrigan won't allow that while she lives).]]
* DarkIsNotEvil: He constantly hides in the Dark, his powers are based on Darkness and Void, and he is the leader of the ''Dark'' Templar (or was supposed to be), but he is pretty much as heroic as Tassardar or Fenix. Blizzard even stated he was designed with "[[DarthVaderClone Darth Vader]] on the side of the Rebellion" in mind.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: He's never been the central protagonist in any of the games, but he has his own subplot that runs ''through'' the storylines of ''Brood War,'' and ''Starcraft II'' concerning the return of Amon.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: How he's introduced--he ''permanently'' kills a Cerebrate, something thought impossible by the Protoss. It's what interests Tassadar and eventually leads to the Dark Templar being accepted by the other Protoss.
** BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: As noted below, doing so connects his mind with the Overmind. This lets the Overmind learn the location of Aiur, which leads to its fall.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: He has none in the cutscenes he is in, nor does his in-game sprite.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:He fights an Amon-controlled Artanis in a brutal battle and manages to sever Artanis' nerve cords and free him from Amon's control. He is fatally wounded, but he gave the Protoss a fighting chance in Artanis.]]
--> Zeratul: [[spoiler: [[FamousLastWords My life... for Aiur!]]]]
* FigureItOutYourself: Though he shows little sign of it in the game, he is viciously this in the novels.
-->"The wise mind seeks its own answers rather than relying upon the information of others."
* FlashStep: Other Dark Templar don't have such ability. [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking It must be a Prelate thing]].
* FromACertainPointOfView: Zeratul claims to have served Raszagal for many millennia, an impressive feat, considering he's "only" 635 years old, and Raszagal is barely over 1,000. Depending on the revolutionary period of Shakuras compared to Aiur, he could possibly have served Raszagal for many Shakuras-millennia while still being only 635 Aiur-years old. Or vice-versa.
* FrontlineGeneral: Prelate is something like the dark templar equivalent, and his in-game unit is a OneManArmy.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Zeratul is seen in a cutscene one-hit killing hydralisks. He can one hit kill hydralisk in both games as well.
* HeroicBSOD: As shown in the Dark Templar Saga, he's still shouldering a lot of guilt for killing Raszagal and handing the Zerg to Kerrigan on a platter four years after the fact. In said novel, he's been in seclusion for most of the four-year gap, traveling the stars to try and make sense of things and come to terms with himself.
* HeroicSacrifice:
** In the Overmind's vision, "In Utter Darkness," he dies along with the rest of the Protoss.
** [[spoiler: He pulls a real one to save Artanis from Amon's control, giving up his life to sever Artanis' nerve cords.]]
* HeroWithBadPublicity: In the second game; many Protoss, including Vorazun and Selendis, are mentioned to see Zeratul as an heretic and a traitor who murdered the Nerazim matriarch, and brought ruin to Aiur. When he comes back in ''Legacy of the Void'', Artanis has to stop his forces from arresting him. Selendis more or less forgives him later on, even to the point of trusting him to keep Artanis safe. [[spoiler:Vozarun has completly forgiven him at the end of the Legacy of the Void campaign by saying, she will never stop honoring him.]]
** Averted with Karass, the Zhakul Preservers and Talis who still respect him and aid him in his quest. The two Praetors (Karass and Talis) also treat him like a hero and/or a brother (much like Artanis) and fight with him without any grudge or hesitation, going as far to sacrifices themselves to permit Zeratul to espace for the sake of their entire race (in both cases, Zeratul didn't want to leave them to their demise).
* IDidWhatIHadToDo:
** "Damn you, Kerrigan, for what I must do." Occurs as he kills Raszagal rather than let her live as Kerrigan's mental slave.
** [[spoiler: Occurs again in ''Heart of the Swarm'' when he directs Kerrigan to Zerus, wanting her stronger for the fight against Amon, even though he's fully aware the rest of the Protoss will ''NOT'' [[UnderStatement be pleased]] upon hearing that he helped their most hated enemy. That is also not going into the special hatred he must have for her brainwashing his beloved matriarch and forcing him to kill her to free her from it.]]
* IneffectualLoner: He prefers to travel alone, rarely bringing along small groups of other dark templar units for support. The one time he brings a fleet with him is when Kerrigan kidnaps Raszagal, since of course he needs the reinforcements if he's to confront her. Despite this, and his own badass credentials, he often needs help and wouldn't be able to complete his missions alone. Zeratul was initially going to be the playable character of ''Legacy of the Void'', but Blizzard shifted the focus to Artanis when they realized it just wouldn't be in-character for Zeratul to lead a grand Protoss army.
* {{Invisibility}}: Standard for Dark Templar, he's permanently cloaked.
* KnightInSourArmor: Living as long as he did and his people being persecuted by the Conclave for so long, Zeratul is cynical and jaded. He still tries to do the right thing though.
* LaserBlade: the Warp Blade, infused with the energy of the Void, the only weapon that can destroy a cerebrate or the Overmind permanently.
* MundaneUtility: he uses his warp blade as a lantern in a cutscene.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Twice. First he killed Zasz and accidentally told the Overmind the location of Aiur, then he killed the second Overmind giving Kerrigan complete control of the Zerg. [[spoiler:He later learned that the second of these wasn't as bad a thing as it first appeared. And even the first of these had some long-term benefits.]]
* {{Ninja}}: He is a ninja in everything but name (though with his shields in both games he take a ton of damage), and is it surprising that he's one of the most popular characters in the series?
* OneManArmy: However, he does the most normal damage of any unit you can control in the game. There's even an achievement in ''Wings of Liberty'' invoking the trope's name, where he has to kill 50 enemies.
* TakeUpMySword: Though he doesn't voice the request, [[spoiler:when he dies in ''Legacy of the Void'', Artanis takes his gauntlet from him and uses it for the rest of the game, projecting his warp blade from it.]]
* YouAreInCommandNow: After he slays Raszagal to free her, she charges him to take command of the dark templar. Really, he'd been the ''de facto'' commander all along. So far he hasn't returned to Shakuras to actually take the role, however.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Artanis]]
!Hierarch (formerly Executor and Praetor) Artanis
[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/artanis.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:That has to be the coolest uniform ever.]]
-->''"For even in these dark days, there is still the hope of morning. That is why we fight."''

->'''Voiced by: '''Paul Ainsley (''VideoGame/{{Starcraft|I}}'') and Creator/PatrickSeitz (''VideoGame/StarcraftII'')

Artanis is a young Protoss Praetor (by their standards; he's 262). Artanis idolizes Tassadar in Brood War and strives to be as good and honest as possible. He ultimately takes part in an unsuccessful joint UED-Dominion-Protoss attack on Kerrigan's holdings, and is forced to retreat. As of the events of ''Starcraft II'', he has become the de-facto leader of the Protoss, but given the tribal disputes and his own youth & inexperience, things aren't going so well for him.

Revised continuity for the first game accompanying the development of ''Starcraft II'' establishes Artanis as the unnamed PlayerCharacter Executor of Episode III, the player's character being retconned out of existence. This marks him as the only player character who's the commander in two campaigns.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* BackToBackBadass: With [[spoiler:Kerrigan]] during his quest on Ulnar.
* BadassBaritone: In ''Legacy of the Void.''
* BadassInCharge: He is the leader of the Protoss race, though [[spoiler: any previous Tal'darim who joined him used to be Alarak's servants.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Like Tassadar before him, he is honorable, idealistic, brave, and easily the nicest Protoss around. Testing his patience or outright pissing him off, however, is a '''''very bad idea'''''. [[spoiler: Amon made this mistake, and the ensuing TranquilFury causes the fallen Xel'naga to suffer several of his most humiliating defeats.]]
* BigGood: Artanis is the unifying force of the heroic Protoss, and [[spoiler: leads the Terran-Protoss-Zerg coalition that went into the Void to kill Amon]].
* BlingOfWar: In ''Starcraft II'', he greatly contrasts his humble ''Brood War'' loincloth with elaborate suits of armor. The vision of him in ''Wings of Liberty'' wears gold, and in ''Legacy of the Void'' it's white edged with gold.
* TheChainsOfCommanding: The supplementary material being released in preparation for ''Legacy of the Void'' has been showing us this in spades. In "Reclamation," he's forced to grapple with the thoughts that retaking Aiur from the Zerg might not be worth the impending mass loss of life it will inevitably cost. In "Children of the Void," it's revealed that he's been having to pick and choose what actions he will take (and by extension, what he's ''not'' doing) in a delicate balancing act to hold the united Daelaam together. And in "Sacrifice," we learn that Artanis didn't ''want'' the position of Hierarch ''in the first place'' -- he accepted it because he was the only Protoss respected enough by both the Khalai and the Nerazim to preside over the council.
* CoolStarship: He is a Scout pilot in the events of the first game. In ''Wings'', he pilots a Mothership in the Protoss mini-campaign, the Shield of Aiur. In ''Legacy of the Void'', he takes command of a Protoss ''[[TheBattlestar Arkship]]'', the "Spear of Adun".
* TheDeterminator: In ''Legacy of the Void''. No matter what [[spoiler:Amon]] throws at him, from ruining his effort to take Aiur back to corrupting the Khala, to [[spoiler:making him kill Zeratul and revealing his entire culture and beliefs were based on a lie]], he ''still'' refuses to give up, and goes further in his effort to save the Universe and his people.
--> "My will is not so easily broken [[spoiler:Amon]]! ''The Firstborn shall fear you '''no longer!'''''" *ignites psi/warp blades.*
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: On multiple occations, even. To Artanis, it matters little if you're way above his weight-class - he will make it abundantly clear just where you can shove your threats.
* DualWielding: He wields two psi blades. One on each wrist.
* EnemyMine: Joins forces with the the UED and the Dominion, both cruel and totalitarian regimes, in an effort to contain Kerrigan's resurgent Swarm. [[AllForNothing They fail.]]
** He allies with [[spoiler: everyone, the Dominion, Kerrigan, and the Tal'darim]] in ''Legacy''. This one went better, [[spoiler:because the former two aren't so much enemies by that time. The Protoss and Raynor were already allies, and Artanis needed to be convinced that Kerrigan isn't trying to destroy him]]. In the final levels, he leads an allied force of all three races. [[spoiler:After this, he and the Dominion remain allies, while the Zerg will try not to attack the Protoss. The Tal'darim decline an alliance with Artanis, but as promised, will leave his people alone]].
* FanBoy: Of Tassadar's. He hopes to be as great a leader as he was someday.
* FireForgedFriends: With Raynor, like most protoss heroes from the first game. More impressively, ''Legacy of the Void'' has him become this with [[spoiler:Kerrigan]], of all people.
* {{Foil}}:
** He and Tassadar to an extent. They're both reasonable and merciful leaders who try to heal divisions in Protoss society, help the Terrans when they can, and fight to save the galaxy from the Zerg and Amon. They also both learned to wield Dark Templar energy, making them living [[YinYangBomb unions of Khalai (light) and Nerazim (dark) energy.]] Fitting, since Tassadar was Artanis' former teacher, as well as his [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee personal hero and role model]]. However, Tassadar was more confident in the choices he made, where Artanis initially second-guessed himself. [[spoiler: He got better.]]
* TheGoodKing: He's a ReasonableAuthorityFigure and a BadassInCharge. What really cements him as this is the campaign in ''Legacy of the Void'': [[spoiler: He saves the Nerazim from being exterminated, allies with the Dominion and helps to save Korhal, allies with the ''Tal'Darim,'' and gets them to withdraw from the End War without much loss of life, and then re-integrates the Purifiers as equal members of Protoss society, then marches back to Aiur, saves the corrupted Templar from Amon, and reclaims the planet.]] He also [[spoiler: eliminates the caste system in Protoss society, making it freer and more egalitarian than it has ever been.]] All in all, he'll probably go down as being the greatest ruler the Protoss ever had.
* HealingHands: Has Astral Winds that heals 300 HP and 200 SP. It's also an ''area heal.'' In the Aiur mission where you take him through a set of caverns, his heals can sustain a small group of zealots through the entire map.
* TheHero: Basically the Protoss version of Jim Raynor, in the first game at least. [[OvershadowedByAwesome Zeratul takes up the mantle afterwards.]] He takes the spot as the main character of ''Legacy''.
* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler:Upon being forced by Amon to kill Zeratul, ''especially'' since Zeratul had just ''freed'' Artanis from Amon-he wasn't fast enough to stop the death blow. It doesn't last long, replaced by TranquilFury UnstoppableRage at Zeratul's actual murderer.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: In the Overmind's vision, "In Utter Darkness".
* HumbleHero: In ''Brood War'', when Zeratul compliments him by comparing him to Tassadar, he protests he barely is worthy of naming him. In the second game, he is regularly shown to have doubts about his ability to be a good leader, despite practically everyone regularly telling him he is.
* InSeriesNickname: "Skippy", courtesy of Rory Swann.
* IdiotBall: Aldaris tells everyone that Kerrigan is going to betray them. Artanis was the second most suspicious of the Protoss leaders. Right before Kerrigan kills Aldaris, Artanis is sincerely asserting that she has changed.
* KnightInShiningArmor: Brave, honorable, and just, and he wears a suit of shining silver and gold armor.
* LightningBruiser: His hero unit has strong melee attacks, heals that can recover more than half his shields with a single cast, and an area attack that can kill multiple enemies at once. He's able to keep up with ''Kerrigan.''
* LivingLegend: His reputation among contemporary Protoss is unparalleled, and throughout ''Legacy of the Void,'' several Protoss cry, "En Taro Artanis!" That's something usually done for legendary, dead Protoss such as Adun, Tassadar, and [[spoiler: Zeratul.]]
* MessianicArchetype: He has led the Protoss since the first war, and has reunited almost all of the Protoss factions in reclaiming Aiur, and took part in finally ending [[spoiler: Amon's threat to the universe.]]
* NiceGuy: Even-tempered; extremely reasonable, honorable and humble; and possibly the most compassionate and merciful Protoss around. [[GoodIsNotSoft Does not make him any less badass.]]
* NiceHat: Sure, sure, Artanis only gets one very brief scene in ''Wings'', and sure, it's not even a cinematic, just him talking to Zeratul for about three seconds. But we can all agree his new hat nails the part. His hat in ''Legacy'' isn't too shabby, either.
* NonEntityGeneral: Sort of; Artanis is revealed to have been the nameless player character from Starcraft in ''Brood War''.
* OneManArmy: He singlehandedly managed to hold on his own against several Zerg in the Xel'Naga temple.
* PowerFloats
* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: According to the novels, he was the player character in Episode III.
* ProperlyParanoid: Isn't ''quite'' as enthusiastic about Kerrigan's apparent defection during the Brood War as the Matriarch. This turns out to be ''very'', '''''very''''' well-founded. Ironically, he's the one who ends up trusting Kerrigan the most right before she backstabs the Protoss.
* RankUp: Becomes Hierarch of the Protoss in SCII. The BlingOfWar is a visual cue.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Throughout the first game's Protoss campaign, he works to save the entire sector from the Zerg swarm in the face of his bosses' unreasonable fanaticism. As the new leader of the Protoss, he works to reintegrate the Khalai and the Dark Templar into one people and rebuild their civilization in the face of an onslaught of renewed tribalism and separatism. In some [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary works]], he's seen as a moderate counterbalance to the more-conservative and disdainful members of the Hierarchy.
* RememberTheNewGuy: When he first appears in Brood War no explanation is given to his presence, and the other characters act like they know him well. This was later explained as him being the first game's PlayerCharacter.
* RousingSpeech: A master of the art. Even his incidental lines in ''Wings of Liberty'' sound like they could be from one.
* ShockAndAwe: He is fully capable of unleashing lightning-based psi attacks.
* ShutUpHannibal: Prone to deliver a few awesome ones to [[spoiler:Amon himself]].
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Artanis is the only surviving character on the idealism side by the start of ''Starcraft II''. It's shown to be working.
* TheStrategist: Played this role in the first game as the PlayerCharacter.
* TookALevelInBadass: ''Legacy of the Void'' is all about his character arc to grow from a young idealist to a noble and stalwart leader of the united Protoss. At the start of the game, he's still self-doubting and projects confidence to the other Protoss to inspire strength. Come the end of the game, the confidence is real.
* TragicKeepsake: After [[spoiler:killing Zeratul while possessed by Amon]], Artanis keeps his warp blade gauntlet, replacing one of his psi blades with it and using it in tandem with the other.
* TranquilFury: This is his state throughout ''Legacy of the Void''. Amon has dealt the Protoss one of their most humiliating defeats, corrupted and perverted their most sacred tradition, [[spoiler:brainwashed most of their race to serve him]], and against Artanis personally, [[spoiler:possessed him and used his body to kill Zeratul]]. Artanis spends the game absolutely furious at him for it all, but tempers his anger with reason and determination.
** When Alarak questions if Artanis is as angry at Amon as he is, Artanis replies "my rage burns brighter than a thousand suns, and soon all will see my wrath unleashed!" Alarak quickly clams up.
** "Templar, unleash your fury!" Said rather calmly as he orders [[spoiler:a massive orbital bombardment of Amon's host body that obliterates it immediately.]]
* [[UnflinchingWalk Unflinching Warp]]: Artanis manages to put everyone who has ever walked away from explosions to shame by, after having slaughtered a hundred-or-so zerg on his own [[spoiler: inside the Shakuras Xel'naga temple that is set to blow EarthShatteringKaboom-style]], starting to walk away, then warping out just as the [[spoiler: planet-cracking explosion overtakes him]]
* WasItReallyWorthIt: Inverted. He wonders if the reclamation of Aiur is worth it in the ''Reclamation'' video, citing past Protoss conflicts as an example as to see if so.
* YinYangBomb: In ''Legacy of the Void'', he learns to manifest dark templar warp blades, and wields a psi blade on his left wrist and a warp blade on his right wrist. [[spoiler: (Not just any warp blade: it was Zeratul's.)]]
* YoungAndInCharge: By Protoss standards, he's only a young man and already the nominal leader of their people.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Aldaris]]
!Judicator Aldaris
-->''"I have been sent by the Conclave to serve and counsel you."''

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/PaulEiding

Aldaris was Artanis' original commander during Starcraft until he allied with Tassadar. Aldaris, too set in his ways to accept that the dark templar could be anything except the most absolute of corrupting evils, refused to help them and indeed kidnapped Tassadar to stand trial for treason. In the end of Starcraft I, as Tassadar, Raynor, Zeratul, and Fenix prepared for their attack on the Overmind, Aldaris wished them luck. In Brood War, Aldaris is the only surviving member of the Protoss Conclave, the rest having been om-nom-nommed by the Zerg. He opposes everything having to do with allying with Kerrigan, and then stages an unsuccessful coup in the Protoss ranks when he realizes he was actually ''right'' instead of just whiny. He was the only Protoss to realize Kerrigan was mind-controlling Raszagal until she revealed it herself. She struck him down before he could tell Zeratul ("helped" by the fact that Aldaris babbled like a deranged zealot instead of coming out with the truth right away).
----
!!Provides examples of:

* AntiVillain: In the second half of the Base game's Protoss campaign.
* CassandraTruth: He tells everyone that Kerrigan is a liar and is using them. No one believes him.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Yes, though he really should have put his final words to better use.
-->'''Zeratul:''' It is finished, Judicator. Surrender your remaining forces, and join us in eradicating the Zerg. \\
'''Aldaris:''' I would sooner ''die'', dark one, than tarnish the memory of Aiur by joining with you!
* HateSink: Aldaris, along with the entire Conclave is this in the base game is this, and according to Tassadar, the Judicator have just been using the templar for their own ends. For much of the game, Aldaris is a smug, HolierThanThou {{Jerkass}} KnightTemplar who does nothing but speak disparagingly about Tassadar, and even his tone towards the player is demeaning. Because of his adherence to the Khala, he harbors deep hatred against the Dark Templar, and sees them as nothing more than unrepentant heretics. Worst of all, Aldaris puts Aiur in danger by declaring war on the player and ordering the Dark Templar's and Tassadar's executions, and such actions stop them from saving their entire race.
* HeelFaceTurn: In ''Brood War'', he's seen the error of his ways and joins Artanis and Zeratul in fleeing Aiur. The destruction of the Conclave and the assurance that the planet was pretty much lost to the Zerg likely influenced his decision.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: Kerrigan made sure he would shut up before revealing she was manipulating the Protoss.
* HolierThanThou: He is very self-righteous that he will not welcome the Dark Templar on his home world because of their heretical ways. He will not tolerate those who harbor or even involve the Dark Templar, and all of this makes him fail to see the bigger picture.
* IdiotBall: Just like Stukov, he went about telling the others what he knew in the stupidest way possible. Unfortunately, both of them ended up ended up dead either directly or indirectly as a result of Kerrigan's actions. To be fair to him, Kerrigan came out of no where and no one stopped her from getting close to him. In Zeratul's words, it was a protoss matter and no one saw the assassination coming.
* {{Irony}}: In the first game, he was the Obstructive Bureaucrat who dismissed the OnlySaneMan Tassadar and his friends when they had the only way to stop the villains. In the expansion, HE'S the OnlySaneMan trying to warn everyone about Kerrigan and Raszagal while the heroes are ignoring him. Karma's funny sometimes.
* {{Jerkass}}: Big time in the base game. Not only is he a classic KnightTemplar, he considered Tassadar a failure for trying to avoid killing the humans while destroying the Zerg.
** TookALevelInKindness: He's much less of one in Brood War, being quite respectful to Raszagal when they first meet and acquiescing to her and Zeratul's leadership. He reverts back to {{Jerkass}} when Kerrigan shows up, and is the only Protoss not to trust her. [[JerkassHasAPoint Turns out he was right]].
* KilledMidSentence: "While you were securing the crystals, I discovered that your Matriarch has been harboring a dark secret! She has been manipulated by de-"
* KnightTemplar: Classic example, his strict adherence to the Conclave and their laws blinds him to the idea that Zeratul and the ways of the Dark Templar may have merit. However, it's more justified than most examples, since historically he was taught that the Dark Templar are heretics that nearly destroyed Aiur and caused a civil war.
* MasterOfIllusion: In "The Insurgent", he makes three illusionary versions of himself.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Zealously follows the Conclave's doctrine.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: In the first part of the Protoss campaign in the base game.
* OnlySaneMan: In ''Brood War'', he's the only character to see through Kerrigan's lies and refuse from the start to work with her.
* PoorCommunicationKills[=/=]YouHaveToBelieveMe: There were better ways to handle the secret he discovered than stirring up a rebellion and babbling like a zealot until Kerrigan was right in his face.
* RousingSpeech: At the start of the final mission, he sends a transmission to Tassadar's forces, admitting that he and the Conclave were in error, their efforts against the Zerg have indeed proven more effective than the Conclave's, and all of Aiur wishes them luck in their final stand.
* ThanatosGambit: Though unintentional, Kerrigan killing him disgusts Zeratul and earns her banishment from Shakuras, potentially avoiding a much more disastrous reveal of her true nature if she had stayed.
* TooDumbToLive: He takes this when he considers the arrestation a single (supposely) rogue protoss templar of greater priority than, say, ''dealing with a race of man-eating aliens'':
--> '''Tassadar''': ''I cannot believe they would go so far. In the face of total annihilation, they're still claiming for their failing traditions.''
* WellIntentionedExtremist: As stated above, he clings to the old traditions to the point of foolishness, but really does it to prevent the Protoss from falling apart, something he has been raised to believe would happen should the Dark Templar return.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fenix]]
!Praetor Fenix
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fenixdragoon_sc1_cncpt1.jpg]]
-->''"[[BadassCreed I fear no enemy, for the Khala is my strength!]]"''

->'''Voiced by:''' Bill Roper

Artanis' NumberTwo during his time as an Executor on Aiur, Fenix was a BloodKnight warrior who loved the honor and rush of battle, and advocated an alliance with the now-rogue Tassadar, having been his best friend. However, once the initial attack on the Cerebrates failed due to a lack of information, the Protoss high council turned against Tassadar. Not that it mattered for Fenix, because he was shortly thereafter killed by pack of Hydralisks... ''or was he''? [[MeaningfulName He came]] [[BackFromTheDead back]], his mortally wounded body encased in a Dragoon exo-skeleton walker, helping in the assault against the Zerg when Tassadar returned to Aiur.

In Brood War he was left on Aiur with Raynor, and the two became close comrades in spite of being of different races. The two allied with Kerrigan against the UED, but once she shattered their main forces on Braxis and Korhal, Kerrigan betrayed them and killed Fenix.

WordOfGod via Blizzcon 2014 is that Fenix may appear in ''Legacy of the Void'', but in what capacity was left ambiguous. The expansion itself reveals that "Fenix" was actually Talandar, a Purifier, while he had Fenix's memories (see his entry in the [[Characters/StarCraftII StarCraft II character page]] for more details about ''this'' Fenix).

----
!!Provides examples of:

* BackFromTheDead: He is rescued and brought back as a dragoon.
--> '''Tassadar''': Fenix? It can't be! The Executor told me how you fell before the Zerg! How is that you live and breathe?
* BadassGrandpa: His response to Raynor (30 years old) saying that Fenix is starting to sound like an old man:
-->'''Fenix:''' Do not let the fact that I am 368 years older than you dull your impression of me, young Raynor. I can still - how do you Terrans say it? - 'Throw down with the best of them.'
-->'''Raynor:''' I stand corrected.
** Although, it should be taken into account that he is a little over a century older than Artanis, who, at 267 years old [[note]]As of Fenix's death and the events of Legacy of the Void[[/note]], is considered ''a young man'' compared to the other Protoss. He may be old by human standards, but [[SubvertedTrope certainly not by the Protoss']].
* BloodKnight: He was more than happy to be brought back as a Dragoon, as this allowed him to keep fighting for Aiur.
* BreakoutCharacter: Not on the level of Kerrigan, but Fenix was a fairly minor character in the original Protoss campaign, where he essentially was just a starter hero and SacrificialLion who happens to be brought back. His popularity was such that even though he was technically KilledOffForReal in ''Brood War'', the writers ''still'' found a way to sort of bring him back in ''Legacy of the Void''.
* DroolHello: In a cutscene, he walks along a hallway when slime drips onto him. He looks up... to see two hydralisks coming after him.
* FacingTheBulletsOneLiner: "The Khala awaits me, Kerrigan. And although I am prepared to face my destiny, you'll not find me easy prey!''
* FireForgedFriends: Fighting alondside Raynor breaches the species barrier, and they become true comrades.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: See the FacingTheBulletsOneLiner above, and the player can still make Fenix an easy prey by letting a Queen use a Spawn Broodling on him, killing him in one hit.
* ManInTheMachine: After being turned into a Dragoon.
* MeaningfulName: Quite possibly the most obvious one in fiction after [[Literature/SnowCrash Hiro Protagonist]].
* MemeticBadass: InUniverse and PlayedWith. In ''Legacy of the Void'', the Purfier that has Fenix's memories uploaded into it goes through records of his predecessor's deeds, and is convinced they must be exaggerated because no warrior could believably be ''this'' badass. Said deeds are movie references, claiming Fenix played the part of several action heroes in adventures based on famous action films, including ''Predator'', ''Under Siege'', and ''The Rock''.
* NumberTwo: To Artanis, thanks to the PlayerCharacter in the original Protoss campaign being retroactively made him. It's mentioned multiple times Fenix was his friend and most trusted companion.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: All the Protoss are this to an extent, but he especially stands out as one.
* SacrificialLion: Poor guy gets to be this ''twice''.
* UnwittingPawn: He was fooled by Kerrigan; and ended up dead.
* WeCanRebuildHim: It only worked [[KilledOffForReal once]].
* WorfHadTheFlu: First death. He could have wiped out those Hydralisks had his psi-blades NOT malfunctioned in that time.
* WorthyOpponent: Kerrigan decides to kill Duke because it will effectively cripple Mengsk. Fenix on the other hand she recognizes as a genuine threat.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mojo]]
!Praetor Mojo
->'''Voiced by:''' None. (by Glenn Stafford as a unit)

A Protoss Praetor in charge of an expeditionary fleet captured by Alan Schezar, he contacted Alpha Squadron's forces during their pursuit of Schezar to request their aid. [[CuttingOffTheBranches Canonically]] they aided him and Mojo's fleet helped them defeat Schezar's forces.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* DemotedToExtra: He was prominent in ''Enslavers'' but was only in one mission of ''Dark Vengeance''.
* EnemyMine: With his fleet imprisoned and no other options available, he allies with the Dominion to defeat Schezar.
* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: A pointed aversion -- in contrast to the other hero units of the original game and ''Brood War'', the ''Enslavers'' missions do not require any hero to survive to win, including Mojo.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Blizzard has made it known which branches of ''Enslavers'' and ''Dark Vengeance'' are canon, but not if Mojo survived.

[[/folder]]

!!Zerg
[[folder:Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades]]
!Former Lieutenant Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades
[[quoteright:349:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Screenshot2010-09-22_19_16_032_2407.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:Not all makeovers are good...]]
[[caption-width-right:349:Click the note to see (spoiler alert) her Primal form. [[note]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sarah_kerrigan___hots_16_by_erenor-d5y0158_3605.jpg[[/note]]]]
-->''"Every living thing in the universe will bow before the Queen of Blades, or else they will die. Obedience or oblivion. That is why we fight."''

->'''Voiced by:''' {{Glynnis Talken-Campbell}} (''VideoGame/{{Starcraft|I}}'') and TriciaHelfer (''VideoGame/StarcraftII'')

Kerrigan was once a Terran Ghost - a skilled covert ops soldier with (inhibited) psychic abilities. Kerrigan in particular has a [[AllThereInTheManual rather elaborate backstory]], in which its explained that her psionics [[{{Foreshadowing}} are far more powerful than any other human's]]. In the events of ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft|I}}'', she begins by fighting alongside Acturus Mengsk and Raynor, until she is betrayed by the former ([[DefectorFromDecadence prompting the latter to leave the newly-founded Dominion]]) and left to her supposed demise at the hands of the Zerg. Following this, it is revealed that she has been captured by the Zerg and infested, making her an incredibly powerful agent of the Zerg Swarm.

In the events of ''Starcraft: Brood War'', following the Overmind's death, Kerrigan takes it upon herself to dispose of the remaining 'leaders' of the Zerg Swarm - the Cerebrates - in order to gain control of it while [[{{MagnificentBastard}} manipulating and deceiving]] all the other factions in the process. In the end, she claims control of the entire Zerg species for herself while crippling most other factions, setting herself up as the self-proclaimed "Queen of Blades".

In ''Starcraft II'', it has been prophesied that Kerrigan will take part in a grand final battle against the Dark Voice, if she is killed before that time then the galaxy will fall.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* AbsurdlySharpBlade: Her organic claws and RazorWings can somehow cut through steel. [[spoiler:In her Primal form, a closer examination reveals they are reinforced with small psionic blades at their tips.]]
* ActionGirl: A DarkActionGirl as an Infested Terran.
* AndIMustScream: What her the process of her infestation was described as. ''Heart of the Swarm'' mentions that she was conscious during the entire time, saying she felt her body right down to her bones being taken apart and rebuilt. No wonder she hates Mengsk for leaving her to that.
* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: Goes from a Terran fighting the Zerg to a powerful Zerg herself.
* AntiHero[=/=]AntiVillain: ''Heart of the Swarm'' follows her journey to become one or the other after she's freed from her infestation, with Kerrigan herself unsure where she falls on the "hero/villain" scale. She variably both Kicks and Pets the Dog throughout the campaign, and both does good things for evil motivations or does evil things to good ends. [[spoiler:By the end of the campaign she's settled on being an AntiHero; now that Mengsk is dead and her vengeance fulfilled, she looks to be taking the fight to Amon to help save the galaxy.]]
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler: At the climax of ''Legacy of the Void'', she becomes a Xel'naga after absorbing the esscence of Ouros, another Xel'naga who was imprisoned by Amon deep within the Void.]]
* TheAtoner: In ''Heart of the Swarm'', she mentions a few times she will answer for what she's done, ''after'' she's finished with Mengsk. She also shows regret for many of her actions, both before the game and the ones she commits during it. [[spoiler:When asked to become a Xel'Naga so she can defeat Amon, she agrees with no hesitation, stating she considers it a way to make up for the blood she has on her hands.]]
** Come the ending of ''Legacy of the Void'', [[spoiler: ''nothing'' can challenge her, as she becomes a xel'naga, while both Narud and Amon are pushing up daisies]].
* BadassBoast:
** In ''Brood War'':
--->'''Kerrigan:''' I am the Queen of Blades, and my stare alone would reduce you to ash! \\
'''Kerrigan:''' I don't think so, Admiral. You see, at this point... I'm pretty much the Queen Bitch of the Universe. And not even all of [[YourLittleDismissiveDiminutive your little soldiers]] or spaceships will stand in my way again.
** In the ''Heart of the Swarm'' trailer.
--->'''Kerrigan:''' I am the swarm. '''Vengeance''' shall be mine!
** Another one in the ending [[spoiler: when talking about the threat of Amon.]]
---> '''But I will not face this enemy alone. [[spoiler: I am the Swarm.''']]
* TheBadGuyWins: By the end of ''Brood War'', she successfully becomes the new leader of the entire Zerg Swarm and is effectively one of the strongest beings in the Sector, with all other factions crippled, exterminated or with their leaders dead.
* BattleCouple: With Raynor whenever they're on the same side. When they suit up together in ''Heart of the Swarm'', there's some banter about it being "just like old times".
* TheBeastmaster: Now that the Zerg is no longer the tool of Amon [[spoiler:and she has become a Primal Zerg herself]], this side of her has become more emphasized.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: For most of her life, Kerrigan was a CosmicPlaything who was manipulated all her life and after her infestation became the BigBad responsible for billions of death. By the end of ''Legacy of the Void'', [[spoiler:she has become a PhysicalGod who makes the choice of saving the Universe by defeating Amon, and is implied to now be spreading new life on planets.]]
* BeingEvilSucks: When she betrays Mengsk on Korhal and calls him out for having abandoned her to the Zerg, she calls her infestation "hell." And shortly afterward, after killing Fenix and his Protoss forces as well, she says she is "weary of the slaughter."
* BerserkButton: In ''Heart of the Swarm'', if you're from the Dominion, don't even think of bringing up the topic of Jim Raynor, EVER.
** BerserkerTears: When she thinks Mengsk executed Raynor.
* BigBad: Played with in ''Brood War'', where she is a mix of this and VillainProtagonist [[EvilVsEvil fighting the UED]]. Played straight in ''Wings of Liberty''.
* BookEnds: She is infested and later deinfested on the planet Char.
** Out of universe, the cutscenes in ''Brood War'' and ''Heart of the Swarm'' where Kerrigan's story arc conclude are called "Ascension"; In the first case, she was an arrogant monster who had forsaken humanity, in the second, she is a NobleDemon who values life and is no longer alone.
** By the end of both ''Brood War'' and ''Legacy of the Void'', [[spoiler: her power cannot be challenged within the sector.]]
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: During her time as the Overmind's agent; during ''Brood War'' and ''Wings of Liberty'', she was more a case of MoreThanMindControl [[spoiler:influenced by Amon]].
* BreakoutCharacter: Was initially intended to be a minor character, only to end up being one of the most iconic figures in the franchise. See WhatCouldHaveBeen.
* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler:At the end of ''Heart of the Swarm'', she takes off to her Swarm in order to prepare the fight against Amon, leaving Raynor. At the very least, they go separate ways on amicable terms.]]
* CardCarryingVillain: She happily admits she's a monster and the "Queen Bitch of the Universe" after her FaceHeelTurn.
* TheChessmaster: She plays all her enemies against each other in ''Brood War'' to the end result of all of them being weakened and demoralized while she controls the Swarm and rules the galaxy.
* TheChosenOne: Enough of one that if she's killed, the galaxy is doomed; [[spoiler:the Overmind specifically designed her to succeed him so she could be the one freeing Zerg from Amon's influence and prevent the BadFuture.]]
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Eventually turns on everyone she allies with in ''Brood War'', from the Protoss, to fellow Zerg commanders, to her own former Terran friends.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: As the BigBad, Kerrigan had yellow VolcanicVeins and GlowingEyesOfDoom. After her HeelFaceTurn in ''Heart of the Swarm'', she gets VolcanicVeins and GlowingEyesOfDoom colored purple.
* CombatStilettos: In her Zerg-infested form, Kerrigan has chitinous spikes portruding from her feet's heels that act like organic stiletto heels. They do not seem to hinder her in any during combat, and she's '''quite''' physical as a fighter.
* ContractualBossImmunity: All Heroic units are usually less affected by certain powers. But Kerrigan is completely immune to the Hive Mind Emulator that can take possession of any zerg. Averted with the psi-disrupter, both the small one Raynor can build in Wings of Liberty that reduces the speed of all zerg, and the large one the UED [[spoiler: and later Mengsk]] uses.
* CosmicPlaything: She's been used and manipulated by other people for their own ends her entire life, and it usually ends up going badly for her. [[spoiler:Even her actions in ''Brood War'' were influenced by Amon.]] ''Heart of the Swarm'' is the first time Kerrigan has fully been in control of her own life and has no superior to answer to or live in fear of.
-->'''[[spoiler:Amon]]''': You are but a product of a flawed cycle. Manipulated for the entirety of your existence.
** Inverted come the ending of ''Legacy of the Void''. [[spoiler: As xel'naga, Sarah has great, cosmic-level power.]]
* CreepyGood: Becomes this in ''Heart of the Swarm''. [[spoiler: The general rule of thumb is that the artifact removed most of Amon's influence, and her primal transformation removed what little was still left, and as such, she is much more human in character after the reinfestation than she was when she appeared human]].
* CruelMercy: Let Zeratul and Mengsk live on different occasions she had them at her mercy so they could suffer more. In Zeratul's case, it was because he had been forced to kill his matriarch. For Mengsk, she wanted him to be able to reclaim his power so that his eventual downfall at her hands would be that much worse for him.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Her monstrous infested form emphasizes her breasts and curves, and her face continues to look like that of an attractive, human woman. In fact, many characters comment she's good-looking in spite or because of her infestation.
* DarkActionGirl: The [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Queen of Blades]], who achieved vengeance against all her enemies and made herself ruler of the Zerg swarm and Kroprulu sector, which fears her return.
* DarkMessiah: [[spoiler:The Overmind created her to save the Zerg from GreaterScopeVillain Amon, a role Kerrigan embraces in ''Heart of the Swarm''.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Generally has a very dry, caustic wit.
-->'''Kerrigan:''' At this point... I'm pretty much the Queen Bitch of the Universe.
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Amon]] invoked a MoreThanMindControl version on her during her initial term as the Queen of Blades. [[spoiler:She was aware of him, but the relics of the Overmind's programming nudged her into believing opposing Amon was pointless, and the only reasonable solution was to enjoy life while she could and go out in a blaze of glory. Subverted after her purification and becoming the Primal Queen-she still thinks it's unlikely he can be destroyed, but that's no reason to [[DeterminedDefeatist not]] [[DoNotGoGentle try]].]]
* {{Determinator}}: When Kerrigan wants something done, it gets done, and anything that tries to stop her is in for an unpleasant experience.
* DidNotGetTheGuy: Despite all the sacrifices she does to save Raynor, ultimately Kerrigan doesn't end up with him. The universe is cruel to this woman. [[spoiler:However, this is averted as of ''VideoGame/StarcraftIILegacyOfTheVoid''.]]
* DidntSeeThatComing: She didn't know that [[spoiler:Mengsk had the Xel'Naga artifact]] at the end of ''Heart Of The Swarm''.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: She's the final opponent in the first ''Starcraft II'' episode, ''Wings of Liberty''.
* DiscardAndDraw: Loses her Ghost abilities after becoming infested only to gain new Zerg abilities. Then loses most of her Zerg abilities but gains new ones after being exposed to the Xel'naga artifact at the end of ''Wings of Liberty''. Finally, after [[spoiler:she becomes re-infested during ''Heart of the Swarm'']], she picks up some entirely new Zerg abilities (which, for one mission, are required, but she can switch back to her previous abilities afterward, subverting the "discard" part of the trope).
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Hard to notice, but in her Queen of Blades form she is barefoot. She only has two long spikes coming out of her heels to give the look that she is wearing toe-revealing high heel boots.
* TheDragon: Serves as the Overmind's new second in command in ''Starcraft''.
** CoDragons: ...Along the Overmind's right-hand Cerebrate, Daggoth.
** DragonAscendant: Rises to ruler of all Zerg over the course of ''Brood War''.
** DragonWithAnAgenda: Even before her ascension, she made it quite clear she had her own plans aside from being a servant of the Overmind, leading her to frequently be in conflict with Zasz. In a twist, however, the Overmind didn't mind. [[spoiler:Becomes FridgeBrilliance in ''Starcraft II'', where we find out her having more liberty than the other leaders of the Swarm was a major part in his ThanatosGambit to save the Zerg.]]
* TheDreaded: Almost everyone in the setting is absolutely ''terrified'' by the Queen of Blades, and with good reasons, considering she is essentially the biggest mass-murderer in Koprulu's history and is personally one of the most powerful beings in the sector even without her command of its largest army. Until [[spoiler:Amon]] entered the picture, she was considered the most powerful antagonist force in the setting.
* DoNotGoGentle: Her reasons for fighting [[spoiler:Amon]] despite him having "power beyond imagining"?
-->'''Kerrigan:''' Because the only other option is to lay down and die.
* DummiedOut: Kerrigan isn't a controllable player character in the campaign mode of ''Wings of Liberty'', but the map editor still has voice quotes for a playable Kerrigan unit.
-->'''Kerrigan:''' Guess what? I'm still the Queen Bitch of the Universe.
* EvilFeelsGood: When confronting Raynor right after her infestation, she informs him she genuinely feels better as a Zerg. It appeared to have been a side effect of her being brainwashed however; in ''Brood War'', she makes it quite clear she didn't enjoy being the Swarm's slave at all.
* EvilOverlord: Ascend to this by the end of ''Brood War'' when she becomes the Swarm's single ruler.
* ExposedExtraterrestrials: As her Queen of Blades form is a [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Zerg]]/human hybrid, this makes her part-alien in that form. In said form, she does not bother wearing any clothes, though her design subverts the trope by having bone-like exoskeletal growths over her naughty bits, and purple chitinous "skin" over almost everything else.
* FaceMonsterTurn: Turns into a monstorous terran zerg hybrid after going [[FaceHeelTurn evil]] in ''Starcraft''.
* FallenHero: One of the heroes of the Sons of Korhal who aided in the saving of many Terrans from the Zerg and Confederacy, turned into the leader of the Zerg and a mass murderer with a body count in the ''billions'' by association.
* FireForgedFriend: Becomes this with [[spoiler:Artanis]] during the Ulnar mission.
* FlashbackWithTheOtherDarrin: In ''II'', a flashback to the New Gettysburg battle from ''Starcraft'' is voiced by Kerrigan's ''II'' VA, Tricia Heifer, instead of the original VA Glynnis Talken-Campbell.
* FromNobodyToNightmare:
** Goes from a Terran foot soldier to the EvilOverlord of all Zerg.
** Becomes this meta-style too, she was originally just another character that was suppose to die after the Terran Campaign, with the focus shifted to the Overmind thereafter. The dev team liked her enough to keep her in past the campaign, and she ended up becoming one of the most iconic villains [[spoiler: and Hero]] in fiction.
* GeneralFailure: At first. She was very overconfident in her abilities, and Tassadar could easily trick her into making foolish mistakes. This lead to the death of [[spoiler: the episode II cerebrate.]]
* GenreSavvy:
--> '''Kerrigan''': You're your own worst enemy.\\
'''Fenix''': How ironic. I remember Tassadar teaching you a similar lesson back on Char.\\
'''Kerrigan''': I took that lesson to heart.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: As a powerful psychic, her eyes glow every time she's about to unleash a wave of destruction with her mental superpowers.
** In ''Wings'', she has the glow on ''by default''.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: She's the EvilOverlord "Queen of Blades" who rules over all Zerg in ''Brood War'' and ''Wings of Liberty''. Downplayed and eventually subverted in ''Heart of the Swarm'', where she [[TookALevelInKindness gradually gets better over the course of the campaign]].
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: She started out an operative of the Confederacy, was freed and sided with Mengsk until the Zerg took her, was revived as Queen of the Zerg, was freed from the Overmind's control and helped the Protoss, was revealed to be using them and took control of the Zerg to dominate the sector, then was freed of her infestation to be mostly human again and aided Valerian and Raynor. ''Heart of the Swarm'' shows her still swaying between AntiHero and AntiVillain, finally settling on an AntiHero NobleDemon but until then edging on VillainProtagonist in her darker moments. By ''Legacy'', she's settled on Face [[spoiler:becoming a Xel'naga and choosing freedom for all]].
* HeelRealization: It's when Raynor expresses disgust at what she's become that she finally realizes how selfish and myopic her quest for revenge is, and what ultimately motivates her to spare the citizens of Korhal despite it being impractical.
* HealingFactor: Common place amongst the Zerg, she can lose one of her "wings" and it will grow back. Being stabbed in her vital areas is more of an issue [[spoiler:though given that she took multiple blows from a psionic LaserBlade and her own RazorWings, there might have been some other factors that caused that.]]
* HumanoidAbomination: As the Queen of Blade, she is essentially a Zerg-Terran hybrid with insanely powerful psychic powers who gets more and more like a human-shaped [[EldritchAbomination Overmind]] as the story goes on. By ''Heart of the Swarm'', she has essentially become a [[PhysicalGod Physical Goddess]] who [[spoiler:[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu hunts down and devours Eldritch Abominations to power up]]]]. In [[spoiler: ''[[Videogame/StarcraftIILegacyOfTheVoid Legacy of the Void]]'', she even becomes a Xel'Naga to boot in the penultimate mission.]]
* IAmAMonster: Struggles with this.
* IAmTheNoun: Fond of "I am the Swarm", particularly in ''Heart of the Swarm''.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Gives this as her reason for [[spoiler:re-infesting herself]] in ''Heart of the Swarm''.
-->'''Raynor:''' What have you done?\\
'''Kerrigan:''' What I had to...
* IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight: The climax of ''Wings of Liberty'' has Raynor trying to free Kerrigan of Amon's influence using a Xel'Naga artifact.
-->'''Human Kerrigan:''' Don't give up.
* ILied: To Mengsk in ''Brood War'' when she tells she didn't hold a grudge against him, she in fact hates him more than anything else in the universe because him abandoning her led to her infestation, which she describes as agonizing.
* InformedAttribute: Kerrigan is regarded as a very powerful telepath, yet she was used as a tool by Arcturus Mengsk and Samir Duran. That being said, it could be related with Mengsk being a MagnificentBastard, [[spoiler: and Duran being a Xel'Naga]].
* {{Jerkass}}: When she reveals her true colors in ''Brood War'', oh ''GOD'' is she ever, pretty much making an effort to {{Troll}} nearly everyone she meets.
** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In ''Heart of the Swarm'' after being turned back to her original personality; she is bitter to get revenge on Mensgk, tends to act aggressive on both Terrans and her own Zerg minions, and still occasionally trolls people (Valerian being a noteworthy example in the first mission). However, unlike her in ''Brood War'', she displays a softer side, tries to avoid useless casualties when she can and is more well-intentioned in the end. Specifically, she coordinates with Valerian during the invasion to minimize civilian casualties and ensure a relatively clean succession of rule over the Dominion to Valerian.
* KickTheDog: Turning on the Protoss in ''Brood War'' and also killing the retreating UED that were just injured soldiers.
* TheKingslayer: [[spoiler:Personally delivers the killing blow on Emperor Arcturus Mengsk, ending his tyranny over the sector]].
* KnifeNut: She's damn good with knives. After her transformation, they even become part of her ''body''. She's not called the "Queen of Blades" for nothing.
* LargeHam: As the Queen of Blades.
* LockedIntoStrangeness: Even after being deinfested, her hair still stays zerg-like.
* MeaningfulName: "Sarah" means princess or noblewoman, and "Kerrigan" means dusky or dark. Purely coincidental, as [[WordOfGod the creators]] named her after ice skater Nancy Kerrigan on a whim.
* MoralEventHorizon: Invoked in ''Heart of the Swarm''. After regaining her humanity and then turning back to the Swarm and using them to destroy the Dominion fortress on Char and [[spoiler:killing Warfield]], Kerrigan explains to her allies that there's no going back after this: if being restored to human form eased anyone's fears, now they have new reasons to fear her, and they won't give her a second chance now that she's spit on the first one.
* MoreThanMindControl: [[spoiler:Amon]] spent years stubly influencing Kerrigan and the rest of the Swarm into destroying the other races. Kerrigan is eventually freed of this influence after being deinfested at the end of ''Wings of Liberty''.
* MsFanservice: As a human she's usually seen in a SpyCatsuit, and in her infested form she's a CuteMonsterGirl. Both forms are quite shapely, and though infested her face is still that of a beautiful human, just colored differently.
* MySensorsIndicateYouWantToTapThat:
** If you click on her Ghost unit enough times she sighs:
--->'''Kerrigan:''' Doesn't take a telepath to know what you're thinking.
** Her first meeting with Raynor and seeing into his mind. Novels would later reveal he was checking out [[ShesGotLegs her legs.]]
--->'''Kerrigan:''' You pig!
** And in ''Heart of the Swarm'':
--->'''Kerrigan:''' ''Really'', Jim? Six years later and you're [[CallBack still a pig]].\\
'''Raynor:''' What can I say? Old habits die hard.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: You probably don't wanna mess with someone named the "Queen of Blades".
* NippleAndDimed: Though technically nude as the Queen of Blades, her nipples are not visible even in close-up shots; persumably they're hidden under the purple skin-like chitin that covers her breasts.
* NobleDemon: In ''Heart of the Swarm''. For all of Kerrigan's talk of giving up her humanity, she ultimately shows herself to be an honorable person [[spoiler:after being freed of GreaterScopeVillain Amon's influence.]]
* NotQuiteBackToNormal: Even after being deinfested at the end of ''Wings of Liberty'', she retains her hair tendrils and some of her Zerg controlling abilities.
* OneManArmy: In the original game and ''Wings of Liberty'', her infested form moves quickly, does massive damage, and has a variety of spells to handle enemies with. Her spells in ''Heart of the Swarm'', used correctly, allow her to solo some parts of the level, and she will rack up dozens upon dozens of kills. One of her unit's move/attack quotes [[spoiler:(human form only)]] references this trope verbatim.
** There's even an achievement during one mission for having Kerrigan rack up ''500'' kills.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: She pretty much keeps quiet after ''Brood War'', as evidenced in some of the novels. Although part of what she does is look for ways to make the Swarm stronger.
** Averted for the most part in the sequel; she personally leads the Swarm in the search of the Xel'Naga artifacts in ''Wings of Liberty'', and the only missions in ''Heart of the Swarm'' to not involve her on the field are ones where her presence would go against the objectives or where she is unavailable.
* PetTheDog: In ''Heart of the Swarm'' she gets some such as allowing the wounded Dominion soldiers that don't pose a threat to her to escape and holding back on assaulting Mengsk' palace to allow the civilians to escape.
* PhysicalGod: First as [[spoiler: the Primal Queen of Blades]], then taken much further as [[spoiler: Xel'naga]].
* PowerEchoes: After becoming the powerful Queen of Blades, she [[FridgeBrilliance speaks and uses telepathy at the same time]], making it appear her voice is echoing.
* PowerGivesYouWings: Aside from the SymbolicWings she uses in her Zerg forms, once she [[spoiler: becomes a Xel'Naga in ''Legacy of the Void'', she becomes an energy being with actual wings]].
* ThePowerOfHate: Heavilly implied to be the only thing keeping her from [[spoiler: being consumed during her evolution into the Primal Queen of Blades.]] Abathur, the guy who spins DNA for a job is going through all the reasons why Kerrigan isn't strong enough to survive. Her reply is that her hate is strong enough.
* PragmaticHero: After her HeelFaceTurn. Both her actions and her advice to Artanis in ''Legacy'' show she isn't afraid of doing morally questionable things if she feels it's necessary:
-->"Gather allies, subjugate enemies, do whatever you can to ensure victory. Survival is never pretty"
* PragmaticVillainy: In ''Brood War'', [[spoiler:she keeps her word to Arcturus and ''does'' help him free Korhal from the UED... because this allows her to weaken the UED's graps on the sector. As soon as the planet is freed, she promptly turns on him.]]
* PsychicPowers: Rates a [[TheReadingsAreOffTheScale 12 out of 10]] on the PI scale, giving her a wide range of mental superpowers. [[spoiler:After becoming Primal Queen of the Zerg, her power level becomes "unclassifiable".]]
** {{Telepathy}}: Like all Ghosts, she can read and project her own thoughts into others' minds. As the Queen of Blade, this ability is what allows her to control her Zerg and see through their eyes.
** {{Invisibility}}: After being infested, she uses her psychic powers instead of a SpyCatsuit cloaking device to disappear. This power no longer is available in ''Starcraft II'', [[GameBreaker not that she still needs it at this point]].
** MindOverMatter: Can levitate objects and people. In-game, this power manifest through various abilities, including telekinetically crushing things, or paralyze enemy squads while making them levitate in the air.
** MindRape: It's implied she was subjected to this while in the chrysalis. As the Queen of Blades, she was able to use this ability to submit and manipulate Raszagal, a ''Protoss'' matriarch.
** PowerFloats: She displays the ability to fly in a cutscene of ''Heart of the Swarm''.
** PsychicDreamsForEveryone: Used them to contact Raynor and Mengsk for help while in the chrysalis. Mostly unintentional.
** ShockAndAwe: She has Psionic Storm in the base game, and attacks with psionic bolts in ''Heart of the Swarm''.
** FantasticNuke: Her Apocalypse power in ''Heart of the Swarm'', which allows her to deliver a blast as powerful as a tactical nuke game-wise, with the added bonus of being FriendlyFireproof. And then, [[spoiler:her transformation into a Xel'Naga upgrades it to a form that cleans up ''the entire damn map'']].
** YourHeadASplode: What her unrestricted psionic power did to her mother when she was a child. [[spoiler: She later does this, willingly, to Mengsk at the climax of Heart of the Swarm. It managed to blow out ''the entire office'']].
* PurpleEyes: [[spoiler:As the Primal Queen of Blades.]]
* PurpleIsPowerful: [[spoiler:Her upgraded form in ''Heart of the Swarm'' glows purple, to show she's even stronger than before when she glowed orange-yellow.]]
-->[[spoiler:(after being completely re-infested) ''I always did look better in purple.'']]
* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: ''Three times'', in fact. When Kerrigan as appointed as a ghost by the Confederacy, they had to change the 1-10 psionic power scale so that she could be rated as a 10. After being infested, the scale does not change, but she's rated as [[UpToEleven 12]] (Though 12 is used just to describe her psionic power is over 10). [[spoiler: When she becomes Primal in ''Heart of the Swarm'', Terran Adjuntants simply don't try rating her anymore]].
* RedemptionPromotion: Her being freed of [[MoreThanMindControl Amon's programming of the zerg]] and reawakening of her more empathetic qualities also marked her becoming an even more powerful version of the Queen of Blades--whereas before she just controlled the Swarm, now she ''is'' the Swarm--a true successor to the Overmind.
* RedemptionEqualsLife: In the last cinematic of ''Heart Of The Swarm'', it's because she truly changed for good that [[spoiler:Raynor decides to help her, and eventually saves her from being killed by Mengsk]].
* ReformedButNotTamed: In the latter half of ''Heart of the Swarm'' onward. While Kerrigan technically is heroic by that point, she is shown to still not be above taunting her opponents, and [[PragmaticHero very willing to get her hands dirty if needed]].
* ReformedButRejected: [[spoiler:She re-infests herself in order to save Jim Raynor. The newly re-infested Queen of Blades is a significantly more moral person than the old version, but Raynor leaves her anyway after she saves him.]] TearJerker, that. [[spoiler:And then DoubleSubverted in a bittersweet way: while Raynor eventually decides to help her in annihilating Arcturus Mengsk, he then lets her go, for she is the Heart of the Swarm.]]
* RestrainingBolt: Her Ghost conditioning limited her psychic abilities before it was removed.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Her goal in ''Heart of the Swarm'' is to kill Arcturus Mengsk, the man who betrayed her in the original ''Starcraft'', even if she has to go through his entire interstellar empire.
-->'''Kerrigan:''' Armies will shatter, worlds will burn. Now, at last, on this world, vengeance shall be mine.
* ShesGotLegs: At least that's what Raynor was thinking when the two first met.
* ShootTheDog: In ''Heart of the Swarm'', she [[spoiler:infests Lessara with a ChestBurster parasite and uses her to decimate a whole ship of Protoss]]. She had no choice, however, seeing how [[spoiler:said protoss would have warned their planet of her presence, which would have doomed her]]. Moreover, she clearly doesn't take any pleasure in doing that.
* SplitPersonalityMerge: At the end of Heart of the Swarm it's pretty obvious that [[spoiler: Sarah has embraced the 'Kerrigan' part of her personality and is able to swap between the warlike HordeOfAlienLocusts HiveQueen and diplomatic semi-relateable figurehead with said HordeOfAlienLocusts as backup at will.]] Raynor even tells her to [[spoiler: "put her ''warface'' on" during the assault on Mengsk's palace.]]
* SpyCatsuit: Her Ghost uniforms in ''Starcraft'' and ''Heart of the Swarm'' are [[SensualSpandex skintight]] FutureSpandex made for stealth missions.
* TheStarscream: Never seemed entirely loyal during her enslavement to the Overmind, which concerned the other cerebrate, yet in ''Brood War'', Kerrigan claimed she was under his control.
* SuperStrength: In the final ''Heart Of The Swarm'' cinematic, she uses her claws to push a metal door open.
* SymbolicWings: Her Queen of Blades form has large claws on her back that have the approximate shape of a bat wing's bone structure.
* ThongOfShielding: Her Queen of Blades form, she's technically naked, and yet she has a thong-shaped chitinous growth running along where her gluteal cleavage would be.
* TookALevelInBadass: To the extreme and still gaining more levels over the course of the story.[[spoiler: Currently she is a PhysicalGod who controls the Swarm with the power of her personality alone and can blow up a base by looking at it funny.]] And to think Sarah was a ShrinkingViolet as a kid.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Goes from a friend to the [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder backstabbing]] "Queen Bitch of the Universe" in ''Starcraft''.
* TookALevelInKindness: Goes from a ManipulativeBastard to a NobleDemon over the course of ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'', going from massacring a civilian Protoss research colony to the last in the beginning of the campaign to actively working alongside Valerian to minimize civilian casualties during the invasion of Korhal as much as possible and ensuring a smooth transition of power to Valerian to avoid unnecessary chaos. This is [[spoiler: what persuades Raynor that despite being reinfested, Kerrigan is more human inside than she had ever been even as a Ghost all the way back in the original Starcraft.]]
* TronLines: Her futuristic SpyCatsuit in ''Heart of the Swarm'' features glowing yellow lines running up and down it.
* TranquilFury: [[spoiler: Her rampage through the evacuated Augustgrad and into the citadel to kill Mengsk is rife with this.]]
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: ''Twice''. First, by Mengsk, against the Confederation; then, by the Overmind, against Mengsk and humanity in general.
* TheVamp: She convinces Jim Raynor to rescue Mengsk from standing trial with the UED, and then has both Jim and Fenix help her and Mengsk defeat the UED as well.
* VillainousBreakdown: During the final mission of ''Wings of Liberty'', "All In", she goes from [[IShallTauntYou smug taunts]] to screaming she'll annihilate everyone as the PowerNullifier you've acquired gets closer to crushing her.
* VillainProtagonist: In the Zerg campaign of ''Brood War''. Still a bit at the beginning of ''Heart of the Swarm'', but she [[TookALevelInKindness gets better as the campaign goes on]].
* ViralTransformation: Textbook example with her infestation creating one of the most powerful entities in the series.
* VoiceOfTheLegion: After her transformation into a Zerg, her voice echoes when she speaks.
* VolcanicVeins: Her Queen of Blades form has glowing veins running along her skin in ''Starcraft II''.
* WaifFu: Ever since she [[spoiler: got her primal form]], Kerrigan's fighting style has become incredibly over the top. Including leaps of several stories high that usually end with an entire army exploding.
* WhamEpisode:
** Her coming BackFromTheDead as a Zerg in ''Starcraft'', complete with the Overmind giving a WhamLine with the announcement of her name as she emerged from the chrysalis.
** From her perspective, the scene on the prison ship. When she gives Raynor the opportunity to kill her, Raynor [[HopeSpot instead spares her]], but it turns out it was only due to the Prophecy he learned from Zeratul (that and he can't really bring himself to kill her). The wham comes when she realizes Raynor sees her as a BrokenPedestal.
* WingedHumanoid: Her Infested form sports {{Absurdly Sharp|Blade}} RazorWings.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity:
** She is one of the most powerful forces in the galaxy after her infestation... doesn't do much for her sense of morality though. WordOfGod mentions that while the Queen of Blades and Sarah Kerrigan are most definitely the same person, while she was infested Kerrigan was heavily influenced by massive amounts of psionic energy and zerg mutagen affecting her at the cellular level.
** [[spoiler: Even when returned to human form, she still remains dangerously unstable, requiring Raynor to act as her MoralityChain.]]
** Subverted by the end of ''Heart''. [[spoiler: Her powers reached new heights compared to her Queen Bitch days, but thanks to her transformation into a Primal Zerg removing Amon's influence, she is generally quite sane.]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: As a villain. This woman has been through more hell than any other character in the franchise, most of the people she cared about and trusted either betrayed her or are now dead, and a significant portion of the galaxy hates her and wants her dead. In the novel ''Flashpoint'', Kerrigan despairs that either as a Ghost or as an Infested Terran, "everything I touch dies", showing how utterly broken she is inside when she's not being an antagonistic force. She is ''firmly'' this in ''Heart of the Swarm'', [[spoiler:her belief that Raynor, the one person she had left and who loved her and had never betrayed her, has been killed by Mengsk]], pretty much shatters her humanity and drives her back to full-time villainy until [[spoiler:she learns he's still alive.]]
* XanatosSpeedChess: Plays a mean game of it over the course of ''Brood War'', manipulating her enemies against each other and securing more power for herself in the process, until she commands the Zerg without dissent and all her enemies are dead or limping away in defeat.
* YouDontLookLikeYou: Her original [[https://i.redd.it/ksc6v0epsy7x.png Design]], gave her wild dreadlocks basically going all over the place, a paler brown face, and a overall brown coloration. [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/starcraft/images/1/18/InfestedSarahKerrigan_SC1_Art3.png/revision/latest?cb=20090504015755 Her brood war design]] keeps the dreadlocks, and is otherwise a GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe in a revealing black gettup. Her latest incarnation is the purple one you see above.
* YouFool: She says that a few times.
* YouHaveOutLivedYourUsefulness:
** The ''moment'' she has defeated the UED on Korhal with the Dominion's help, she turns on Mengsk, Raynor and Fenix.
** [[spoiler:''Heart of the Swarm'' has her playing this trope straight when she abandons Niadra, but otherwise defying it; Stukov expects her to kill him once their alliance has reached its goal, but she instead spares him and [[PetTheDog allows him to stay in the Swarm]], and she angrily declines when Zagara suggests turning on Raynor's Raiders.]]
* YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo:
** Zeratul says this to Kerrigan, who responds that the Matriarch is free to do as she pleases (after having mind-controlled her).
** [[spoiler: Averted in ''Heart of the Swarm'', where she grants mercy several times, first allowing the Dominion's soldiers on Char to escape after Warfield's pleading. However, it is only played straight when she just kills Warfield. She later makes the Swarm land outside the capital city of Korhal to give the civilian populace a chance at evacuation. She keeps her word both times, [[ExactWords technically]]]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Overmind]]
!The Overmind
[[quoteright:254:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Overmind_SC2_Head1_-_Copy_658.jpg]]
-->''"Awaken my child, and embrace the glory that is your birthright. Know that I am the Overmind; the eternal will of the Swarm, and that you have been created to serve me."''

->'''Voiced by:''' JackRitschel (''VideoGame/{{Starcraft|I}}'') Creator/PaulEiding (''VideoGame/StarcraftII'')

The Overmind was the HiveMind of the Zerg, directing their actions. It created Cerebrates who acted as its generals, and they in turn created overlords, who control the Zerg directly. Designed by the Xel'Naga to be the perfect creation of the Zerg, the Overmind rebelled against them and nearly succeeded in wiping out their race. It then turned to space, ravaging worlds and stealing the DNA of the native inhabitants and collecting them into the swarm. The Overmind eventually discovered the Protoss, and desperately wanted them in its fold because they, too, were creations of the Xel'Naga, and it believed that taking to Protoss into the swarm would make the Zerg "perfect". Between Tassadar, Zeratul, Fenix, and Raynor, the Overmind was destroyed, leaving the zerg in disarray.

A second Overmind was formed in Brood War, but it was ''an'' Overmind, not ''the'' Overmind, and was an entirely different entity who was treated more like a {{MacGuffin}} than an actual character. Formed by the merging of several Cerebrates, it had the power to control the Swarm, but it didn't fully mature and so could not control them as efficiently as the original. The UED was able to take control of the Overmind using a combination of medical treatments and psychics, and used their control to enslave the Zerg to fight for them. With the reluctant aid of Zeratul, Kerrigan destroyed the second Overmind and seized full control of the Swarm.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* AGodAmI: He never claims to be a god, but his manner of speech is very Old Testament, as shown in his above quote, and this is helped by his booming, echoing voice. He definitely considers himself this for the Zerg, constantly referring to them as "my creations/creatures" and "a testament to my glory."
* AndIMustScream: VideoGame/StarcraftII reveals that it was sentient [[spoiler:but did not have free will, and was unable to rebel against its corrupted biological programming]]. Tassadar ([[spoiler:or rather the Xel'Naga Ouros]]) described it as [[spoiler:screaming in the prison of its own mind]].
* TheBadGuyWins: In the first Zerg campaign. The Swarm successfully invades Aiur and he successfully moves to the planet.
* BenevolentBoss: For all his ego, he's very respectful to his subordinates and states he will revive any of the Cerebrates if they're killed.
* BigBad: In the first game. [[spoiler:Not by choice apparently]].
* BigGood: To the Zerg, as their benefactor and master. [[spoiler:And to an extent, all the other races, since his actions were taken in the name of giving them a fighting chance to stop Amon]].
* DragonWithAnAgenda: Amon calls him "The Great Betrayer" and as it turned out the Overmind ultimately had no intention of following his creator's goals.
* EldritchAbomination: It's an utterly massive mess of tentacles, chitin plating and pulsing flesh. In ''Starcraft'' it's build-sized, but in ''Starcraft II'' its corpse takes up a space of the map so big you could build your entire base in it and have room left over.
** While it has (or builds) a body of its own, it is actually the total sum and nexus of the zerg HiveMind.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He treats the Cerebrates like his children, congratulating them when they succeed, expressing satisfaction to see them grow up stronger and even giving Kerrigan some amount of liberty in her decisions. He also seems infuriated when Zeratul killed Zasz. [[spoiler: According to WordOfGod, his plan to defeat the Hybrids was solely because they would destroy all of his Zerg]].
* EvilSoundsDeep[=/=]EvilIsHammy: From his very first spoken line, you know he is your god and you will kneel before him.
* FinalBoss: For a given value of such. Destroying the Overmind is the final mission objective of the original campaign, but it's just a unique building and has no ability to defend itself beyond the massive amounts of Zerg nesting around it.
* GiantEyeOfDoom: Its menu portrait. The novels and concept art reveals this to be a [[http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Eye_%28Zerg%29 separate creature]] that it sees through, but in StarCraft II, the brain in the center of its body was made into a giant eye.
* GoOutWithASmile: When Zeratul examines the Overmind's final thoughts, he notices that one of his final emotions was a feeling of peace and satisfaction.
* HiveQueen: The original force to control the Zerg HiveMind.
* MadeOfIron: He has the most HP of anything in the original Starcraft. Even at the end of ''Legacy of the Void'', the Overmind's body is still largely intact despite the passage of time, [[spoiler: being used as raw material for Amon's host form, and getting hit by the guns of the entire Protoss armada.]]
* MindHive: In a flip of being in control of the HiveMind of the Zerg, it's implied that the Cerebrates are different aspects of the Overmind's personality given independence. This is why Kerrigan is such a distinctly separate entity among their ranks, because she has her own personality and is fully independent, but not enough to betray the Overmind. [[spoiler:Turns out this is precisely the idea, since the Overmind created her so she could free the Swarm from Amon's influence that had corrupted the Overmind.]]
* MoralMyopia: [[spoiler:The Overmind meant well in seeking to prepare the universe for the coming of Amon. The catch being that it's also done in the interests of the Zerg, with all that implies.]]
* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: ''Starcraft II'' reveals [[spoiler:it let itself die so that control of the Swarm would pass to Kerrigan, who would be able to withstand the corruption of Amon on the Swarm and fight back against him, which the Overmind could not.]]
* NonActionBigBad: For all his talk, he doesn't appear to have any actual means of fighting (when his death was approaching, the most he could do was attempt a VillainExitStageLeft). In gameplay terms, he's basically just a really durable detector building.
* PapaWolf: He seems honestly outraged when Zeratul kills Zasz, and this is partially what motivates him into invading Aiur. According to WordOfGod, his reasons for defying [[spoiler:Amon]] is because [[spoiler:he foresaw that the zerg would be enslaved and consumed by the hybrids and he couldn't bear to let them suffer that fate. In ''Wings of Liberty'', he refers to them as "my zerg" in the tone of a mourning father.]]
* PowerEchoes: His voice has a deep reverberation to it.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Surprisingly enough; even though he technically is the BigBad in the first game, one of the main reasons he is such a fearsome foe is because his decisions, when seen from the Zerg's point of view, actually are logical and [[BenevolentBoss good for the sake of the Swarm as a whole]]. A stark contrast with the corrupt Confederacy, [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized Arturus Mengsk]] or [[NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering the Protoss Conclave]].
* TakeOverTheWorld: The Protoss homeworld of Aiur. And any other world it pleases, really.
** ThanatosGambit: It is strongly implied in the Protoss mini-campaign in ''Wings of Liberty'' that the Overmind's reason for invading Aiur was [[spoiler:it ''wanted'' the protoss to kill it, so Kerrigan could take command of the Swarm free of Amon's influence.]]
* TimeAbyss: His age is never given, he's implied to be thousands of years old at the very least.
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: [[spoiler:It was forced to by Amon]].
* VillainousValor: Despite being an EldritchAbomination trying to take over the Universe, he was genuinely BenevolentBoss toward his Zerg, and [[spoiler:eventually had enough courage to defy the Dark Voice.]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Genuinely believes he's doing the other "misguided" races (and the universe in general) a favor by assimilating them.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Was forcibly enslaved by the Dark Voice into trying to commit genocide against the Protoss with the full knowledge that he and his Zerg would be wiped out once they did their job. [[ThanatosGambit Kerrigan was meant to be the one hope they had of breaking the Dark Voice's hold]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Daggoth]]
!Cerebrate Daggoth
-->''"My brood shall aid you, Cerebrate, should you require assistance."''

->'''Voiced by:''' Mickey Neilson

The right hand of the Overmind and one of its greatest Cerebrates, having control of the Tiamat Brood. Daggoth was a formidable opponent, as he commanded his swarm with valor and ferocity, and was powerful enough to give orders to the other Cerebrates. After the death of the First Overmind, Daggoth gained control over approximately half of the Zerg Swarm. He rallied several other Cerebrates to form a new Overmind, and helped gain control over many Broods to oppose the rogue Kerrigan, but they quickly fell under the control of the United Earth Directorate.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* DemotedToExtra: Ironically, while ''Brood War'' sees him as a DragonAscendant, he ends up being this trope. The story with regards to the Zerg focuses on Kerrigan and the formation of the second Overmind, not the cerebrates this time. Despite being in a position to be treated as a primary antagonist, Daggoth never appears even once, and is only mentioned in one mission to establish he's the leader of the Zerg now. After that he's swiftly forgotten.
* TheDragon: The Overmind's right-hand Cerebrate.
* DragonAscendant: When the Overmind died, he took command of the Swarm in ''Brood War''.
* DragonTheirFeet: He's one of the few cerebrates to survive the death of the two Overminds. His brood was trying to protect the first one, but no one thought of killing him directly. WordOfGod is Kerrigan tracked him down and killed him after ''Brood War''.
* EliteMooks: The Hunter Killers. The only time you even get them is when he gives them to you, but they are far and away some of the best units in the campaign. Hydralisks are strong enough already, the Hunter Killers are Hydralisks with all of the Hydralisk's upgrades, as well as increased HP, armor and damage.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Brood War never explained what happened to him (although it implied that he had merged with the other cerebrates to form the second Overmind), so [[WordOfGod Blizzard]] had to clarify he was killed by Kerrigan after the Brood War.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Zasz]]
!Cerebrate Zasz
-->''You dare threaten a Cerebrate? [[VideoGame/StarcraftII You will be the doom of us all!]]''

->'''Voiced by:''' Bill Roper

Cerebrate of the Garm Brood and one of the Overmind's trusted lieutenants. Sniveling and distrustful, he had an intense dislike for Kerrigan and urged the Overmind not to let her influence them too much. He was killed by Zeratul, being the first cerebrate to ever be truly killed.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: [[SubvertedTrope He wasn't]] -- he was worried Kerrigan was too independent and powerful to be controlled, and when the Overmind died she took control of the Swarm and killed the Cerebrates.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Died off-screen by the hand of Zeratul.
* KilledOffForReal: The first Cerebrate to die permanently when previously they could have their personalities reincarnated in new bodies.
* MookLieutenant: A sniveling and loyal toady who yells at Kerrigan for disobeying orders, contrasting Daggoth's more reserved and reasonable approach.
* TheSmartGuy: Provides recon data and advice to the player on missions.
* SmugSnake: He is absolutely secure in the superiority of the Swarm and that Kerrigan's independence will be punished as disobedience.
* UndyingLoyalty: Granted, Cerebrates can't betray the Overmind anyway, but he in particular was especially loyal and fervent in serving him. This quickly leads him to distrust Kerrigan for her independance compared to the other agents of the Swarm.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Unnamed Cerebrate]]
!Unnamed Cerebrate
Cerebrate in control of an unidentified Brood, it serves as the player character in Episode II and watches over Kerrigan's rebirth as the Queen of Blades.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* AllThereInTheManual: The novels reveal that it stayed on Char with Kerrigan and was killed by Zeratul.
* TheBrute: While Daggoth relays orders to you and Zasz gives you intelligence data, your Cerebrate is stuck doing the muscle work, wiping out the enemy forces on your lonesome.
* CerebusRetcon: In the game, the player accompanies the Overmind to Aiur to spearhead the invasion. Novels retcon that the Cerebrate stayed on Char when the Overmind invaded Aiur and was killed by Tassadar.
* KilledOffForReal: Is slain by Tassadar.
* NoNameGiven: Even it novels, it is simply "cerebate." ''Queen of Blades'' implies this is because it hasn't existed long enough or proven itself enough to warrant one.
* PlayerCharacter: Though one given a bit more backstory and role than the other {{Non Entity General}}s; this Cerebrate is young at the start of the campaign, and created specifically to watch over Kerrigan and empower her.
* VillainProtagonist: While all of the [[PlayerCharacter Player Characters]] in the original game are undoubtedly heroes, this on the other hand is a creature filled with evil.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Torrasque]]
!Torrasque
-->''Sir, we've just had a whole cargo-ship full of whoop-ass dumped on us! We ran into a new strain of Ultralisk and it took a lot o' pepper to bring it down.''

The elite strains of the Ultralisk, featured in only a handful of missions. And in all of them it steals the show as one of the most powerful forces in the campaigns. In ''Heart of the Swarm'' the Torrasque returns as a variant strain of the Ultralisk only available to the player in the campaign.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* AscendedExtra: In the base game it was just another of one of many generic hero units that took part in the ''Enslavers'' mini-campaign. ''Brood War'' saw it worked into normal missions, and then ''Heart of the Swarm'' made it an Ultralisk upgrade.
* AwesomeButImpractical: The reason why it was PutOnABus in ''Wings Of Liberty'' was due to the enormous amount of energy it required to resurrect, something that the Overmind used to provide, but after the Brood Wars, Kerrigan seemingly could not provide the same energy as easily, so the strain was abandoned.
* BadassNormal: Short of the DummiedOut Tassadar/Zeratul Archon and boss units with modified stats, it's the most powerful unit in the entire base game. Depending on some variables, it can take on Kerrigan and probably Zeratul in a one-on-one fight. This is despite having no psionic powers or special abilities. It's just got really high stats.
* BroughtDownToBadass: The strain recreated in ''Heart of the Swarm'' is just a normal Ultralisk with the ability to reincarnate, they don't get the original Torrasque's increased stats. But, they're still plenty strong anyway.
* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: The strain's trademark trait is that the Torrasque reincarnates upon death. In the two missions where you face one, they're reincarnated by their Cerebrate when killed and a few minutes later will be back for more, and in ''Heart of the Swarm'' they spontaneously generate a cocoon around their corpses on death and rapidly regenerate tissue to revive.
--> '''Marine:''' [[OhCrap It's gettin' back up again! Oh, that ain't right!]]
* ILoveNuclearPower: In ''Heart of the Swarm'', Abathur manages to recreate its strand by having Ultralisks drain radiation from one of Arcturus' experimental nuclear weapons and use it to mutate.
* TheJuggernaut: It already had one of the best armor ratings in the game at 4 in the base game, but with ''Brood War'' it got the Ultralisk's armor upgrade for an extra 2. That's a total of 6 ''base'' armor, 9 when fully upgraded. At that level of power most units won't even faze it, and the few that can get to enjoy whittling down its monstrous 800 HP which, as with all Zerg, regenerates.
* KingMook: To the Ultralisk.
* LightningBruiser: 800 HP, a 50 damage attack, and base 6 armor. It moves fast, hits hard, and takes a lot of firepower to bring it.
* OneManArmy: It can single-handedly rips your base to shreds.
* RecurringBoss: See DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist.
* ShoutOut: To the tarrasque from DungeonsAndDragons, traditionally considered the single most powerful creature in the game. Ultralisks look very similar in design to the tarrasque, and like torrasque, its inspiration has ridiculously powerful regeneration abilities, to the point where it can ''regenerate from death'' without any assistance.
* WeaksauceWeakness: In the end, for all its power, it is still unable to attack air units and is a melee unit. The simplest way to defend against it in the missions where you fight it is to wall your base off and stick ranged units behind it where it can't get to them and the ArtificialStupidity stops it from simply breaking down the obstructing buildings.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hunter Killer]]
!Hunter Killer
-->''Cerebrate, take these, the deadliest of my minions.''

The elite strains of the Hydralisk, they are the finest creations of Daggoth and are only used a handful of times. They return in a couple missions in ''Starcraft II'', though harder to notice without their unique coloring as in the original game.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* BallisticBone: Its attack, as with the original Hydralisk.
* EliteMook: For the Hydralisk, the Hunter Killers are never deployed in numbers as great as normal Zerg but are far more dangerous without the numerical advantage.
* KingMook: To the Hydralisk.
* LightningBruiser: As listed under Badass -- the same basic Hydralisk with more armor and double the HP and attack power.
* PraetorianGuard: They're Kerrigan's guardians in both the original game and sequel, accompanying her in almost all their depictions and defending her base from enemies.

[[/folder]]

!Introduced in Starcraft: Brood War
!!Terrans
[[folder:Gerard DuGalle]]
!Admiral Gerard [=DuGalle=]
[[quoteright:200:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px-GerardDuGalle_SC1_CineBWIntro1_6835.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:How the hell did this guy become Admiral in the first place?]]

-->''"Serve the Directorate. Serve Humanity. All other priorities are secondary to victory!"''

->'''Voiced by:''' Jack Ritschel

Gerard [=DuGalle=] was the leader of the UED expeditionary force and the best friend of Alexei Stukov. Throughout the campaign, he proved to be staggeringly incompetent by listening to Duran's intelligence over Stukov's, the most prominent example being agreeing to destroy the Psi Disruptor, which later turns out to be the only reason they succeeded as well as they did. When Stukov went behind [=DuGalle=]'s back to keep the Disruptor intact, [=DuGalle=] had him killed at Duran's suggestion, and quickly regretted it when he realized that Duran was a mole. Alone, he went on to successfully enslave the Zerg by controlling the Overmind, but his forces were stretched too thin trying to occupy too many worlds, and the UED fleet got mopped up systematically by an alliance of Kerrigan, Raynor, and Mengsk. After a last-ditch UED-Dominion-Protoss team-up on Kerrigan failed, the fleet fled to return to Earth, and [=DuGalle=], overcome with guilt for how horribly he'd botched the mission and had his best friend killed, commited suicide shortly before the fleet was destroyed by the Zerg.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* AFatherToHisMen: Has some shades of this--when defeated, he swallows his pride and tries to surrender for their sake.
--> ''"Kerrigan, I am prepared to offer terms of surrender. It is my wish that you allow my men to live."''
* BerserkButton: "I will never abide a traitor."
* BigBadEnsemble: Along with Kerrigan, [=DuGalle=] and the UED are the antagonists of ''Brood War''.
* CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys: Averted, though his Frenchness is in name only.
* DeathFromAbove: In general, [=DuGalle=] champions air superiority, highlighted by hijacking Battlecruisers and the manufacturing of the Valkyries. In the climactic "To Chain The Beast", by far the easiest way to win is by using Battlecruisers to take out the enemy cerebrates. Then in Episode VI, the AI-controlled UED generally use air units mostly, and in "To Slay The Beast", they're capable of sweeping your base with a nearly unstoppable combination of Wraiths, Mutalisks, Valkyries, Devourers, and Guardians.
* DrivenToSuicide: As the fleet flees the sector in the ending of ''Brood War'', he writes a letter to his wife after his final defeat and then shoots himself in the head.
* EvilIsNotAToy: For all of his faults, he is the only one who wised up against using the zerg as tools when the UED ordered him to use them in their agenda, arguing that he would prefer a more conventional way of conquest; his dialogue with Stukov in the intro of Brood War shows this.
--> '''[=DuGalle=]:''' ''[to Stukov]'' Come, stand here. You need to see this.\\
'''Stukov:''' I know all about the zerg Gerard; we've all seen the tapes a hundred...\\
'''[=DuGalle=]:''' ''[grabbing Stukov]'' You have seen nothing! Dissecting a dead zerg in a lab is one thing, unleashing them on men is another! You must go into this with both eyes open; once started there is no going back.
* FinalSpeech: To his wife, via e-mail:
--> Dearest Helena: By now, the news of our defeat has reached the Earth. The creatures we were sent here to tame are untameable, and the colonies we were sent to reclaim have proven to be stronger than we anticipated. Whatever you may hear about what has happened out here, know this; Alexei did not die gloriously in battle. I killed him. My pride killed him. And now my pride has consumed me as well. You will never see me again, Helena. Tell our children that I love them, and that their father died in defense of their future. Au revoir.
* GeneralFailure Pretty much every successful mission in the UED campaign is due to Stukov, Duran or [[PlayerCharacter the Captain]]; [=DuGalle=] on his own does very little right. This shows in Episode VI; once Stukov and Duran are no longer aiding him, and his forces are spread too thin to properly defend any of their bases, Kerrigan and her allies sweep the UED up planet by planet until they're forced to flee the sector.
* GenghisGambit: Unfortunately, his arrival and open hostility to all other factions in the sector created one of these. Once the UED was in control of the Zerg, Kerrigan rallied Fenix, Raynor, and Mengsk against the UED, and together they turned the tide.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Thankfully, the cinematic cuts to black as he shoots himself in the head, and we don't see the aftermath.
* GrumpyOldMan: He's not as crusty or surly as Duke, but is still gruff and stern with his men.
* HeroAntagonist: It's unclear if his superiors were good or not, but he appeared to be a rather good man himself, and outside of the Protoss, the fleet's goals were something players could get in line with. However, as the leader of the UED, he's one of the primary villains of ''Brood War''.
* {{Irony}}: Dugalle states to Duran that he and Stukov have been "friends before he was even born". FastForward to "Dark Origin", when we find out that Duran is [[Really700YearsOld at least a millennia]] along with [[spoiler:being a Xel-Naga, an ancient race]].
* KnightTemplar: He and the other UED officers are in the sector to take control of the Zerg, press the Dominion and other Terran colonies into their fold, and "pacify" the Protoss in some manner. Sounds great, but aside from Duran, [=DuGalle=] never attempts at diplomacy with anyone, resulting in him making enemies of beings that otherwise might support him if he were more moderate.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Almost his word-for-word reaction when Duran kills Stukov.
* OutsideContextProblem: ''No one'' in the sector ever expected to hear from Earth, much less for them to send a fleet to take control of the sector. Only a handful of Protoss know Earth even exists thanks to Raynor's friendship with them, while the Zerg likely had no idea and the Dominion and other Terrans had written off their homeworld. They're presumed to just be another rebel group by the Dominion, until Duke meets Stukov and does a DoubleTake at the revelation they're actually from Earth.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: During his RousingSpeech in the first UED mission, he reminds his troops that if they should fail in their mission, none of them are going back to Earth. They failed, and everyone in the expeditionary force was either killed or stranded in the Koprulu sector forever.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Alexei Stukov]]
!Vice Admiral Alexei Stukov
[[quoteright:185:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AlexeiStukov_SC1_CineUEDVicReport1_2996.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:215:He was just the vice admiral. Why? Maybe because he's Russian.]]
[[caption-width-right:215:Click the note to see (spoiler alert) how he looks in Starcraft II. [[note]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Starcraft_-_InfestedStukov_1441.png[[/note]]]]

-->''"You should know that we represent not one of your ragtag peasant militias, but the combined might of the United Earth Directorate."''

->'''Voiced by:''' Castulo Guerra in ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft|I}}'' and Victor Brandt in ''Starcraft II''

Alexei Stukov (occasionally spelled "Alexi", though the former is the correct Russian spelling) is the second-in-command of the UED fleet. Throughout the campaign he advises [=DuGalle=], and unlike his commander is not taken in by Duran's slick talking and ignores an order to destroy a valuable piece of Confederate equipment Duran tricked [=DuGalle=] into having destroyed. He was murdered when Duran tricked [=DuGalle=] into thinking Stukov had betrayed him, and his dying words were to beg his friend to finish the job. In a bonus map that was confirmed as canon, he's infested by the Zerg, but Raynor and a Protoss named Taldarin rescue him with experimental nanobots, and the human and revived Stukov was last seen fleeing with Raynor's forces.

Stukov returns in ''Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm'' where he aids Kerrigan in a mission chain. His whereabouts between games are PlayedForLaughs as a StopPokingMe quote.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: He and [=DuGalle=] fight the Zerg, only for him to be killed, captured, and infested to become one of their most powerful agents.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: His special ability in ''Heart of the Swarm'' saps the armor rating of targets and does damage.
* BackFromTheDead: Via infestation.
* BadassBeard: Wears a beard very similar to Raynor's, closely trimmed around the mouth.
* BestServedCold: It takes four years, but in ''Heart of the Swarm'' he [[spoiler:finally gets his vengeance on Duran when he helps Kerrigan destroy his lab and kill him.]]
** [[spoiler:''Legacy of the Void'' reveals that Narud, as a Xel'naga, was banished to the Void rather than get a proper death. When it was time to kill him for good, Stukov does the job personally -- and reveals that he knows that Narud was Duran. [[Awesome/StarcraftIILegacyOfTheVoid It's immensely satisfying]].]]
* BodyHorror: ''Heart of the Swarm'' allows his infested form to be shown in full 3D detail. It's as unpleasant as you might expect from infestation.
* BurialInSpace: His funeral has his coffin ejected into space.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: His ''Heart of the Swarm'' appearance has little in common personality-wise with the Episode V Stukov. Completely justified by the unspeakable TraumaCongaLine he went through; no one could go through what Stukov did and come out the same person for it.
* CommandingCoolness: He ran a group of mercenaries while hiding his infested nature. He also attempted to control a zerg swarm, but his lack of understanding of the zerg limited his effectiveness.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: He [[spoiler:kills Duran/Narud in his true Xel'naga form with a psychic blast.]]
* TheDogBitesBack: Gets revenge [[spoiler:by killing Duran in his true Xel'naga form five years after Duran killed him in his human form. Stukov got the last laugh]].
* DoNotGoGentle: He thinks fighting [[spoiler:Amon]] to the bitter end sounds like a fantastic idea.
* DragonInChief: To [=DuGalle=]. Unfortunately, he's the reason why the UED fleet started out successful.
* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:With Kerrigan in ''Heart of the Swarm'', he acknowledges they were once enemies but now they have a mutual enemy in Narud and the Dominion. He fully expects to be killed after he's done helping her, but Kerrigan allows him to remain and Stukov accepts, since he has nowhere else to go.]]
* ExactWords: He sent Ghosts to "facilitate the Disrupter's disassembly" and later told Admiral Dugalle that the Disrupter was "accounted for." Which was true, as far as it went...
* FinalSpeech: After being shot by Duran:
--> ...Gerard... old friend... You do indeed have a traitor in your midst. But it's not me. Duran. He has been playing us both from the start. He convinced you to destroy the Psi Disruptor, even though it was our best chance at defeating the Zerg. And then on Aiur, he allowed the Zerg to overrun us even as we had the fugitives in our grasp. I came here... to activate the one hope we have of defeating them... and you killed me for it (wheezing laugh). Duran is your enemy, Gerard. I suspect (gasp for breath) that he may even be infested, as well. Use the Disruptor, Gerard. (struggling to talk) Finish our operation. Let my death have at least some meaning!
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: In ''Heart of the Swarm'', with a dash of FireballEyeballs.
* HyperCompetentSidekick: This is actually addressed in the instructions manual, that Stukov is the smarter of the two. And it shows. The UED mission would likely have succeeded if Stukov had been in charge.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: ''Heart of the Swarm'' includes this line as a StopPokingMe quote.
--> "Some days I miss Vodka... Like today, for example."
* TheLancer: Plays as this in one mission in ''Heart of the Swarm'', helping to [[spoiler:de-power Narud]] for Kerrigan while she's busy [[spoiler:fighting Narud in a BeamOWar.]]
* LeaveNoWitnesses: Lampshaded and invoked, but subverted. Once his mission chain is finished in ''Heart of the Swarm'', Stukov assumes Kerrigan will be killing him shortly to tie up the last loose end. Kerrigan allows him to leave anytime he wants, then invites him to remain with the Swarm since he says he has nowhere to go.
* MookMaker: He can create Infested Terrans in ''Heart of the Swarm''.
* MoreThanMindControl: After being freed from the Zerg, he makes he clear that he wanted no such thing, but joins Raynor & co. anyway.
* NotSoDifferent: This is how Kerrigan feels toward him in ''Heart of the Swarm''; as a result, she sympathizes with him and offers him a place in the Swarm when he has nowhere else to go.
* NiceHat: He absolutely puts everyone else in the galaxy to shame hat-wise.
* PoorCommunicationKills: He could have done a better job explaining the Psi Disruptor situation to Admiral [=DuGalle=]. Heck, the whole UED-Dominion conflict could have been avoided if they would only talk to each other, as evident from their ill-fated alliance against Kerrigan at the very end of the game.
* PsychicPowers: He is extremely subtly implied to have these, unwittingly. It might even have been why he was infested. ''Heart of the Swarm'' shows he definitely has these, though how much is due to [[spoiler:infestation]] is unknown.
* RedRightHand: [[spoiler:Left Infested Claw in ''Heart of the Swarm''. In another one of his StopPokingMe quotes he notes that "[[MundaneUtility These spiky things are great for scratching your back]]."]]
* RussianGuySuffersMost: And not just all that happens in the base game and Resurrection IV, [[spoiler:''Heart of the Swarm'' shows he's since been re-infested and used as a lab rat by Narud for a few years]].
-->'''Stukov:''' [[StopPokingMe Let's recap.]] I was betrayed and killed, shot into space, captured by the zerg, resurrected and infested, cured, [[spoiler: given to Moebius to research the protoss cure, and was instead experimented on as the cure slowly failed]]. Everyone up to speed? Good.
* SenselessSacrifice: He really didn't need to die to tell [=DuGalle=] what Duran was doing, or even go off on his own to make it look like a betrayal. There's a few hints [=DuGalle=] is being mentally manipulated by Duran, but still, there had to be a better way for Stukov to bring him to his senses.
* StillWearingTheOldColors: [[spoiler:''Heart of the Swarm'' shows that he's still wearing what's left of his UED officer's uniform, complete with CommissarCap.]]
* TranquilFury: In contrast to Kerrigan's HotBlooded nature, Stukov is significantly more subdued about his vengeance. Although he wants it just as badly.
* TraumaCongaLine: His death in ''Brood War'' was just the ''start'' of one. See RussianGuySuffersMost for a quick rundown.
* ViralTransformation: Like all infested Terrans, it radically altered his personality though his original identity like Kerrigan remains intact. [[spoiler:In ''Heart of the Swarm'', Abathur notes the degree of Stukov's transformation is so great, it's second only to Kerrigan, and the combination of Zerg and Terran DNA is something even he can't replicate.]]
* VodkaDrunkenski: Implied by Du Galle in the intro. "Your vodka can wait Alexei." One of his StopPokingMe quotes in the sequel is "Some days, I miss vodka. [[INeedAFreakingDrink Like today, for example]]".
* WeWillMeetAgain: Invokes it on behalf of the [=UED=], telling Kerrigan in ''Heart of the Swarm'' they will return to the sector someday.
* WrongGenreSavvy: A rare example where it actually plays in ''his'' favour. In ''Heart of the Swarm'', he is well-aware of the Queen of Blade's treacherous nature, and fully expects Kerrigan to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness execute him once he's no longer needed]], something which he accepts for the sake of revenge. Fortunately for him, Kerrigan has already gone through CharacterDevelopment and become a NobleDemon at this point; as a result, she feels empathy for him, spares him and offers him a place in the Swarm when he admits he has nowhere to go.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Acknowledged -- even if he could somehow get back to Earth and see his wife and children again, there's no place there for [[spoiler:an infested terran]]. Kerrigan says she won't stop him from leaving, but would recommend against him doing so, rather than risk drawing their attention.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Captain]]
!The Captain
The commander of the UED forces, who controls them in missions. The PlayerCharacter of Episode V.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* TheBrute: While Duran provides tactical data and Stukov is [=DuGalle's=] right hand, the player commands the army.
* PlayerCharacter: And notably the only ranking UED officer who is left with [=DuGalle=] at the end of the episode.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: While the Captain was very likely killed with the bulk of the UED at the end of ''Brood War'', it hasn't been stated outright, so he may still be out there among the other UED remnants.
[[/folder]]

!!Protoss
[[folder:Raszagal]]
!Matriarch Raszagal
--> ''"I am Raszagal, and I welcome you and your companions to our world."''

--> '''Voiced by:''' DebraDeLiso

The Matriarch of the Dark Templar, one of the oldest Protoss to have lived, and a powerful psychic who led her people for nearly 500 years, long enough to have clearly remembered Aiur from before the exile of the Dark Templar. It is not known when exactly Kerrigan controlled her, but Razsagal was a slave to Kerrigan for most of the events of Brood War. In a last act of mercy, Zeratul killed his matriarch, refusing to let the Queen of Blades control her any longer. Although she is passed now, the Dark Templar still believe their matriarch is watching over them and some have invoked her name to keep peace between the feuding tribes.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* DyingAsYourself: In her last words, she is freed from Kerrigan's control and thanks Zeratul for killing her, leaving him in charge to save Protoss.
* IDieFree: She regains her own mind before she dies.
* MindControl: Kerrigan had taken over her far before she even arrived on Shakuras.
* MindRape: On the receiving end from Kerrigan.
* OutOfCharacterAlert: Zeratul starts suspecting something is not right with her when the usually peaceful and reasonable Razsalgal coldly orders them to eliminate Aldaris. This is the first sign indicating she is under Kerrigan's influence.
* PsychicPowers: She was one of the most powerful protoss minds during her prime, but as time passed and she grew old, her powers waned and she fell victim to Kerrigan's mind control.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: True in general for the protoss, but Raszagal was 1,045 years old at the time of her death, and since her death was of unnatural causes she likely could've lived longer. She was old enough to remember Aiur before the exile of the Dark Templar, and personally knew Adun himself.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Despite the Conclave banishing her people and treating them like heretics for centuries, she welcomes the Khalai survivors to Shakuras with open arms, saying she doesn't consider them responsible for the Conclave's sins. Zeratul, who has been serving her for a very long time, states she has always been "a wise and benevolent soul", hence why [[OutOfCharacterAlert her aggressive behaviour makes him suspect something is wrong with her.]]
* SacrificialLion: Her death sends Zeratul fleeing into exile in shame, leaving the Protoss down two of their most valuable leaders and establishing Kerrigan's power over them.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: In ''Starcraft I''[=/=]''Brood War'', she is the only female Protoss seen.
* UnwittingPawn: To Kerrigan, from the beginning.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ulrezaj]]
!Ulrezaj
[[quoteright:200:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ulrezaj_1419.png]]
[[caption-width-right:200:''[[PowerGlows Shiny!]]'']]
--> ''"As far as we are concerned, killing high-born Templar is an act of righteous justice! Let the rulers of Aiur feel what it's like to be hunted and driven from their homes! Let them suffer as we Dark Templar have suffered at their hands!"''

--> '''Voiced by:''' None (His appearance in ''Starcraft'' had no voice, and he's yet to appear in any other game.)

A Dark Templar assassin who, unlike a majority of their kind, hates the Khalai Protoss. Acts as a minor antagonist in the side campaign ''Enslavers: Dark Vengeance'', where he allies with the Terran smuggler Alan Schezar to attack Shakuras with mutated Zerg. During the campaign, Ulrezaj merges with some of his followers to become a Dark Archon. Zeratul foiled his plans and killed Schezar, but Ulrezaj escaped.

Got a big promotion to primary antagonist of the ''Dark Templar Saga'' novels, where he acts as a secondary antagonist and lead a tribe of brainwashed Protoss in the ruins of Aiur. He is concerned with hunting down the Preservers as they "know too much", and serves a mysterious, unknown entity.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* AscendedExtra: From a side-campaign meaningless to the overarcing plot to a major antagonist in a trilogy of novels.
* BigBad: Of ''Dark Vengeance''.
* BigBadEnsemble: With Kerrigan in the ''Dark Templar Saga''. While Kerrigan is the larger overall threat, Ulrezaj is much more pertinent and confronts the antagonists directly.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: His motivations and characterization in ''Dark Vengeance'' are a far cry from his actions in the ''Dark Templar Saga''. As described under TookALevelInBadass, this is not a bad thing.
* DarkIsEvil: He's a Dark Templar/Dark Archon. He's evil. Yup.
* DarkMessiah: How he's seen by his followers in the novels, at least.
* TheDragon: He's stated to have a boss who's much more powerful than him. Likely it's referring to Amon.
* EldritchAbomination: Described as an enormous cloud of crackling, [[AlienGeometries ''radiant darkness'']]. It took a whole Terran Exploratory Fleet, uncountable Zerg and several Protoss sacrifices to even ''slow him down''. Not even Kerrigan wanted to mess with him.
* FusionDance: Most Archons are fused from two Templar. Ulrezaj on the other hand is a fusion of ''seven'' Dark Templar with himself as the dominant personality. Exactly how he managed that is unknown, even in-universe. Also, most Archons burn out and expire after some time. His method for continued survival is also unknown, but it likely involves the souls of the living, and drinking them.
* HunterOfHisOwnKind: In the ''Dark Templar Saga'', it's revealed that since the Dark Templar cannot access the khala, they do not have preservers, thus they store memories in crystals that must be maintained over centuries. Ulrezaj is one of these Dark Templar, making him this trope to natural preservers.
* TheJuggernaut: Stopping him in the second book requires dozens of Protoss to unite their powers to create a massive storm of psionic energy; everything up that point doesn't even slow him down. In the third book they don't actually ''stop'' him so much as they trap him in a crystal.
* LeftHanging: It never is explained precisely who he was working for or what he was doing on Aiur. The most likely explanation is that he was serving Amon and doing something that involved the Hybrids and/or the Khala, but that's still just a guess.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: With other names like Zeratul, Tassadar and Artanis, does "Ulrezaj" sound like a hero's name?
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He was once not even a warrior, the novels reveal he was a scholar and librarian who preserved memories via khaydarin crystals. These days he's a massively powerful Dark Archon and [[spoiler:is probably working for an EldritchAbomination to destroy the galaxy.]]
* OneManArmy: The climax of book two in the Dark Templar Saga describes three armies working together to fight him...''and losing''! The passages describe him killing dozens of Mutalisks with one blast, and Zerglings "toppling like dominoes" at his feet. It isn't until the Protoss unite their powers (see above) that he actually takes any significant damage, and even then it doesn't kill him and he's back on his feet by the climax of the third book.
* RoyalWe: As seen in his quote. Justified, considering that he's actually seven people.
* SealedEvilInACan: He gets sealed inside a psionic crystal along with the Preserver Zamara at the end of the novels.
* TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: He left his companions as a storer of memories when he began infiltrating the Wall of Knowledge, a storehouse of memory-storing crystals containing knowledge that even the leaders of the tribe do not access because they consider those memories this trope. Whatever Ulrezaj learned from those crystals is not revealed, but it's likely how he has managed to become so powerful now.
* TheUnfought: In ''Dark Vengeance'', he is never fought, though he does appear in the field, and ultimately escapes.
* TheVoiceless: In a few scenes in the Dark Templar Saga we see his mental processes as he talks to his other personalities, but otherwise is entirely silent when the heroes confront him. Also works on a meta-level, the ''Enslavers'' missions were not given voice acting so Ulrezaj had no voice actor.
* TookALevelInBadass: In ''Dark Vengeance'', Ulrezaj was a normal Dark Templar who wanted the Khalai Protoss to suffer for [[SinsOfOurFathers their ancestors banishing the Dark Templar]] from Aiur, and while his scheme to do so was pretty impressive, he didn't get a lot of character besides the basic idea of revenge and was a minor character in an optional campaign. In the ''Dark Templar Saga'', he's a DarkMessiah leading his own cult in the ruins of Aiur by brainwashing the survivors stranded on the planet, is a OneManArmy able to destroy dozens of forces from all three races, and is [[spoiler:very likely a servant of the BigBad of the sequel trilogy]]. Ulrezaj took ''several'' levels in badass.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Implied by the ''Dark Templar Saga'' -- at the least, he's got six other Protoss in his mind as a result of their FusionDance.
* XtremeKoolLetterz: Again -- Ulrezaj.
[[/folder]]

!!Zerg
[[folder:Unnamed Cerebrate]]
!Unnamed Cerebrate
A member of the Swarm serving Daggoth after the death of the Overmind, it was seized by Kerrigan to aid in controlling her forces. It serves as the PlayerCharacter of Episode VI.

----
!!Provides examples of:

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Technically speaking; Kerrigan took control of its mind by force because she needed or wanted aid in keeping her Zerg in line.
* CoDragons: To Kerrigan with Duran.
* PlayerCharacter: Though a very marginalized one, it's made clear that it serves Kerrigan and if it defies her (if it even can) she will put it down.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: WordOfGod is that when Kerrigan wiped out the Cerebrates because she didn't need them anymore after seizing full control of the Zerg, this one was not spared.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Devouring Ones]]
!Devouring Ones
Similar to Hunter Killers (Hydralisks) and Torrasque (Ultralisk) they are the Hero types of Zerglings.

----
!!Provides examples of:
* KingMook: To the Zerglings.
* LightningBruiser: 120 HP / 3 armor Zerglings that deal 10 damage can melt through almost anything.
* OneShotCharacter: They make a total of just one appearance. In the second Zerg mission of ''Brood War,'' Kerrigan comes across a group of three Devouring Ones that she obtains using the Psi Emitter.
[[/folder]]

!!Others
[[folder:Samir Duran]]
!Lieutenant Samir Duran
[[quoteright:214:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Starcraft_-_Duran_8393.png]]
[[caption-width-right:214:[[IHaveManyNames Evil wears many faces]].]]
-->''"I am a servant of a far greater power. A power that has slept for countless ages."''

->'''Voiced by:''' Paul Ainsley

During Brood War, Duran appears as the leader of a rebel force opposed to Mengsk's Dominion and allies with the UED. After betraying them and revealing himself to be infested, Duran turns to Kerrigan and helps her take out the UED, then mysteriously vanishes. ''Everything'' you thought you knew about him is turned on its head in the secret mission "Dark Origin", where we learn Duran is working for a mysterious "great power", has engineered a Protoss/Zerg hybrid, and more likely than not isn't even human, much less infested.

Duran returns in ''Starcraft II'' and is a massive WalkingSpoiler for it. For information on his appearance in that game, [[spoiler:see "Emil Narud" on the ''Starcraft II'' character sheet.]]

----
!!Provides examples of:

* AscendedExtra: Duran might have just been forgotten as Kerrigan's second-in-command if not for that secret mission...
* BeardOfEvil: Short-trimmed around the mouth similar to Raynor and Stukov.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: He acts polite and friendly to [=DuGalle=] and Stukov, but is actually very dangerous and working to undermine their efforts.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [=DuGalle=] first says he's a traitor to the Dominion, then he betrayed the UED to the Zerg, then abandoned Kerrigan to the three-pronged attack by the Dominion, the UED, and the Protoss.
* TheDragon: To Kerrigan.
** DragonWithAnAgenda: However, he's only using her to further his own plans.
* EnigmaticMinion: His backstory and the full extent of his schemes have yet to be revealed.
** In ''Legacy of the Void'', it's revealed that [[spoiler: he is a Xel'Naga]].
* EqualOpportunityEvil: His forces consist of mercenaries-for-hire, former Confederates, and probably some turncoat UED troops.
* EvilChancellor: To the UED and then Kerrigan.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Subtle one, but Duran seems to have an extensive knowledge of the Protoss race (he suggested Kerrigan with overloading the pylons), considering the fact he developed Protoss and Zerg hybrids by studying both races. [[spoiler:He's also a Xel-Naga]].
* HeelFaceMole: First to the UED, then to the Zerg, and then to the mysterious "greater power" that is mentioned in the quote above.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** He[[spoiler: is personally killed off by Stukov, previously a lab rat of his]].
* HumansAreWhite: Averted. Turns out he is not human at all.
* IHaveManyNames:
--> ''"I have had many names throughout the millennia, young prodigal. You would know me best as Samir Duran."''
* TheManBehindTheMonsters: The mastermind of the hybrid.
* ManipulativeBastard: Manipulates [=DuGalle=].
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: It might not have been the best of ideas to brag to Zeratul about the hybrid, and hint at his plans for the future. As a result of this discovery, [[spoiler:Zeratul's been looking for a way to stop the future Duran alluded to--and he found it]]. Had he kept his mouth shut, no one would have suspected a thing.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: He mentions having had "many names throughout the millennia".
* TheRemnant: He leads a faction of Confederate loyalists fighting the Dominion when you first meet him on Braxis.
* TheReveal: [[spoiler:It is heavily implied that Emil Narud in ''Starcraft II'' is Duran; ''Whispers of Oblivion'' confirms it.]]
** In ''Legacy of the Void'', he's revealed to be [[spoiler: a Xel'Naga]].
* SdrawkcabAlias: [[spoiler:Narud = Duran.]]
* TheStinger: His appearance in Dark Origin is a stinger for the [[spoiler:Amon and the Hybrids]] in the second game.
* TheUnreveal: ''Heart of the Swarm'' heavily hinted that [[spoiler:he is actually Emil Narud]], but didn't confirm it. ''Whispers of Oblivion'' did, though.
* VoiceOfTheLegion: When he reveals himself (supposedly) as an infested Terran, his voice echoes ominously. Then he takes it UpToEleven in Dark Origins, such that Zeratul didn't immediately recognize him by voice.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: A particularly notorious user of it in the ''Starcraft'' universe, [[spoiler: especially when all of his Xel'Naga brethen could do that as well,]] up to the point he practically describes himself as such. In-game, he posed himself as Confederate rebel Samir Duran, later as a seemingly-infested Duran (Fooling even Kerrigan), [[spoiler: Emil Narud in ''Wings of Liberty'' and ''Heart of the Swarm'', as well as Jim Raynor and human Kerrigan in one of the latter's cutscenes]].
* WalkingSpoiler: His role in ''Starcraft II''.
* WhamEpisode: Dark Origin.
* WhamLine:
** At the end of Episode V, "Excuse me Admiral, but I'd like to introduce someone to you." Said as he arrives alongside Kerrigan and his voice suddenly takes on an "infested" distortion. Stukov had already hinted that this might be the case, but that line confirms it.
** And then in Dark Origin, his appearance at the end of the mission is pretty much a Wham Speech, from the first line where he is revealed to be behind the strange experiments Zeratul has found.
[[/folder]]
----

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Hard to notice but her as her Queen of Blades form she is barefoot. She only has a long spike coming out of her heels to give the look that she is wearing high heel boots.

* {{Badass}}: He survived multiple wars even before aliens appeared on his colony.
** BadassBandolier: Wear a belt of ammo over his shoulder in ''Starcraft II''.
** BadassBeard: While he grew his hair out from his BaldOfAwesome between the two games, Jim has always had a beard.
** BadassBiker: His trademark Vulture.
** BadassNormal: For a setting where troops in PowerArmor are considered basic infantry and can be trained and outfitted for combat in a matter of minutes, Raynor's lack of psionic abilities or any other apparent enhancements makes him seem [[RidiculouslyAverageGuy ridiculously average]], especially since he is not [[BookDumb particularly intelligent or well-educated]]. However, he more than makes up for this by the fact that he is a genuinely nice person, [[MagneticHero which not only attracts friends and followers]], but also makes him one of the few humans to be respected by the Protoss as both a friend and an ally. When put together with his several years of combat experience, Raynor is as much a formidable leader of men as a combatant in his own right, the latter of which is most ably demonstrated by him managing to single-handedly beat another battle-hardened veteran in seven-foot-tall PowerArmor with no more than the clothes on his back and ''his bare hands''.

* {{Badass}}: He's one of the Confederacy's most decorated generals who has seen more than his share of combat, and his in-game units pack a big punch.

* {{Badass}}: He's got a beefed-up Goliath with the HP and armor of a battlecruiser and even more firepower. And his forces are potent enough to capture Protoss, ''and'' he enslaves a Cerebrate to use its Brood as his own. Said Brood includes a reincarnating ''[[OneManArmy Torrasque]]''.

** DemotedToDragon: In ''Dark Vengenace'', to Ulrezaj.

* {{Badass}}: One of the most famous and powerful Protoss in recent recorded history, to the point that "En Taro Adun" has become "En Taro Tassadar" in some circles.

* {{Badass}}: In one ''Starcraft II'' cutscene, he is seen single handedly ripping apart a bunch of hydralisks (one of them using its own claw) and even managed to slice one of Kerrigan's 'wings' (it grows back of course). According to the lore, those were most likely '''Hunter Killers''' as well.
** BadassBoast: In response to Aldaris being an arrogant {{Jerkass}}:

* {{Badass}}: He takes on a large squadron of Zerg at one point in ''Legacy'' and kills them all with a psionic storm, before [[spoiler: calmly striding away from an explosion meant to ''shatter a planet'' as he teleports out.]]

* {{Badass}}: He's one of the most respected and experienced warriors in the protoss army, and in-game is a very powerful hero unit that can slice up zerglings with one hit.

* {{Badass}}: Piloted a buffed-up Scout and his fleet includes the hero units ''Danimoth'' and ''Warbringer'', a powered-up Arbiter and Reaver, respectively.

* {{Badass}}: As a human, she already was a skilled Ghost assassin and soldier. Post-infestation, she is easily one of the Starcraft Universe's most powerful characters, rivaled or preceded only by the likes of [[HumanoidAbomination Narud]] or [[GodOfEvil Amon]].

* '''{{Badass}}''': Short of the DummiedOut Tassadar/Zeratul Archon and boss units with modified stats, it's the most powerful unit in the entire base game. Depending on some variables, it can take on Kerrigan and probably Zeratul in a one-on-one fight.

* {{Badass}}: The base Hydralisk is already plenty effective, these guys simply add more HP, power and armor to it.

* {{Badass}}: Compared to their normal Zergling counterparts, Devouring Ones have triple the health, do double the damage, and start with ''three'' armor.

* {{Badass}}: At the very least, he's a ghost operative (or at least can impersonate one) and has all the associated tricks.

* HeKnowsTooMuch: Lampshaded and invoked, but subverted. Once his mission chain is finished in ''Heart of the Swarm'', Stukov assumes Kerrigan will be killing him shortly to tie up the last loose end. Kerrigan allows him to leave anytime he wants, then invites him to remain with the Swarm since he says he has nowhere to go.

* TranquilFury: This is his implied state throughout ''Legacy of the Void''. When Alarak questions if Artanis knows what anger is, Artanis replies that [[spoiler:so far, Amon has corrupted his brethren to turn them against each other, corrupted the Khala, their most sacred belief, and forced them to flee their homeworld in the midst of their campaign to resettle it, leaving out the fact that Amon ''also'' forced him to kill his best friend.]]. In short, Artanis is ''furious'': he just keeps it under control.
** The 'Fury' part becomes particularly notable when it's the appropriate response. [[spoiler:Case in point, his responses to Amon's taunts at Ulnar and when the attack at Aiur is about to begin is basically a more eloquent version of "COME AT ME BRO!" on behalf of the protoss as a whole.]]

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Goes from a Terran foot soldier to the EvilOverlord of all Zerg.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Her goal in ''Heart of the Swarm'' is to kill Arcturus Mengsk, the man who betrayed her ''Starcraft'', even if she has to go through his entire interstellar empire.

** Out of universe, the cutscenes in ''Heart of the Swarm'' and ''Brood War'' where Kerrigan's story arc conclude are called "Ascension"; In the first case, she was an arrogant monster who had forsaken humanity, in the second, she is a NobleDemon who values life and is no longer alone.

* NiceGuy: Even-tempered, extremely reasonable and humble; and possibly the most compassionate and merciful Protoss around. [[BewareTheNiceOnes Does not make him any less badass.]]

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: She ''always'' learns from her mistakes. And she always kills any competent general first before sending her troops to battle.
** Both ''Brood War'' and ''Heart of the Swarm'' make it a point to show this trope is the very reason the Swarm is so dangerous when she is leading it. The Overmind, his Cerebrates and the Broodmothers, while intelligent of their own and capable of good strategy, [[BlueAndOrangeMorality mostly lack a good understanding of how Terrans and Protoss think]], while Kerrigan is really good at [[ManipulativeBastard getting into their head]], anticipate what they will do and adapt her tactics to them.

* HeelFaceTurn

* OutsideContextVillain: ''No one'' in the sector ever expected to hear from Earth, much less for them to send a fleet to take control of the sector. Only a handful of Protoss know Earth even exists thanks to Raynor's friendship with them, while the Zerg likely had no idea and the Dominion and other Terrans had written off their homeworld. They're presumed to just be another rebel group by the Dominion, until Duke meets Stukov and does a DoubleTake at the revelation they're actually from Earth.

** PsychicDreamsForEveryone: Used them to contact Raynor and Mengsk for help while in the chrysalis.

* HeroWithBadPublicity: In the second game; many Protoss, including Vorazun ([[spoiler:she reconsiders it later]]) and Selendis, are mentioned to see Zeratul as an heretic and a traitor who murdered the Nerazim matriarch, and brought ruin to Aiur. When he comes back in ''Legacy of the Void'', Artanis has to stop his forces from arresting him. Selendis more or less forgives him later on, even to the point of trusting him to keep Artanis safe.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Maybe. In a novel he left the Raiders shortly after helping them take the Hyperion. Whether this was out of guilt at helping Mengsk, irritation at now being a fugitive, or just being tired of fighting is unknown. If it was Myles, then advanced age was probably a factor. He was graying before they moved to Mar Sara and Jimmy had time to have a two-year-old-ish son indoctrinated into the ghost program.

The Terran NonEntityGeneral of the first game. He helps Raynor and the other Mar Sara colonists escape from the zerg, and joins Mengsk against the Confederacy. May be Myles Hammond from the novel '''Devil's Due.'''

* CerebusRetcon: In the game, the player accompanies the Overmind to Aiur to spearhead the invasion. Novels retcon that the Cerebrate stayed on Char when the Overmind invaded Aiur and was killed by Zeratul.
* KilledOffForReal: Is slain by Zeratul.
* NoNameGiven: ''Queen of Blades'' implies it has no name -- it hasn't existed long enough or proven itself enough to warrant one. That or the Overmind hasn't cared to give it one yet.