History VideoGame / StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm

'''Kerrigan:''' [[ShutUpKirk I justify nothing.]] I may have more blood than you on my hands, but we are all killers in the end.

** Some features intended to reduce frustration may cross into StopHelpingMe, depending on the player. Fortunately, for some of these (such as interface options) the player can go into the settings and set them back to the old style, if they are more comfortable that way.

* ShootTheShaggyDog: Intentionally invoked. After all the time, effort, and [[NintendoHard nearly impossible missions]] spent [[spoiler: de-infesting Kerrigan]], one of the first things she does is [[spoiler: re-infest herself, and massacre the forces you controlled in the previous campaign]]. All the stirring heroic speeches, good men lost, and heartwarming moments of brotherhood are all utterly wasted. The effect this trope has on [[HeartBrokenBadass Raynor]] even becomes a crucial plot point. [[spoiler: This trope is triumphantly averted at the end of the game, when Kerrigan clearly demonstrates that she had taken the opportunity to redeem herself and become a hero. Also, it was revealed mid-game that something did change- she was freed off Amon's control on her when the artifact activated]].

* DramaticIrony: [[spoiler: Mensgk is helping Mobius create the Hybrid under the belief he will be able to use them to be protected from the Zerg and Protoss. But the player knows from Zeratul's mission that the Terrans were the first race the Hybrids wiped out.]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: While she is obsessed with revenge against Mensgk, and willing to slaughter entire armies of Terran to reach him, Kerrigan's attitude while doing so is a stark contrast to what she did in ''Brood War''. She tries to avoid unnecessary casualties as much as she can, even [[spoiler:agreeing to give Valerian time to evacuate Korhal's civilian population before her attack, even though this makes it more difficult for her]], stops backstabbing her allies and orders Abathur to stop experiments on human subjects, amongst other things. Whenever she does something that could be considered immoral, [[ShootTheDog she is usually forced by the circumstances and doesn't particularly enjoy it]]. Of course, given that she is [[HordeOfAlienLocusts leading the Zerg]], immoral circumstances [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer tend to be a frequent occurrence]].

After the events of ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty'', Sarah Kerrigan, formerly the Queen of Blades, has been mostly de-infested, leaving her with her original personnality back, but only fragments of her memory as the leader of the Swarm and remains of zerg abilities. The Zerg Swarm, now leaderless, has fragmented into splintered, unorganized factions. While Kerrigan is now hungry for revenge against Mengsk, Raynor tries to convince her to move on. Unfortunately, Mengsk comes after ''them'' first. Using what remains of her abilities, Kerrigan goes on a quest to reclaim the Swarm and use it to crush Mengsk once and for all.

** Kerrigan invoked this about her confict with the Protoss on Kaldir when Lassara calls her out for attacking her group of researchers and colonialists, pointing out the Protoss killed billions of Zerg. While the Protoss are (understandably, considering [[TheDreaded her]] [[EvilOverlord reputation]]) worried about her and trying to have her killed, they ''did'' decide to attack her unprovoked when she was just here to mind her own business. She however aknowledges she doesn't have moral high ground either, as she is essentially just trying to kill them out of self-preservation.

* YouDidntAsk: When Kerrigan asks Dehaka if he knew that [[spoiler:Zurvan]] was going to turn on her, his response is somewhere between this and "I didn't see the point in telling you." [[spoiler:More specificly, he figured Zurvan would probably try ''something'', but that putting self-interest first and consuming others to fuel your own evolution through their essence is just what the Zerg ''do'', making Zurvan's treachery the obvious course of action, and that if Kerrigan was really a Zerg like she claimed, she would understand that too.]]

* CombatStilettos: Part of Kerrigan's [[spoiler: Primal form.]]

-->--'''Sarah Kerrigan'''

* SequelHook: Kerrigan creates a broodmother to infest a Protoss ship, and then abandons her. Then the broodmother states her only purpose is to destroy Protoss. [[PutOnABus They did not reappear in]] ''[[PutOnABus Legacy]]''. Fans are hoping that they'd be featured in one of the three post-main-story mini-campaign DLCs Blizzard has announced for the future of the game.

* SequelHook: Kerrigan creates a broodmother to infest a Protoss ship, and then abandons her. Then the broodmother states her only purpose is to destroy Protoss. [[PutOnABus They did not reappear in]] ''[[PutOnABus Legacy]]''. Fans are hoping that they'd be featured in one of the three post-main-story DLCs Blizzard has announced for the future of the game.

* SequelHook: Kerrigan creates a broodmother to infest a Protoss ship, and then abandons her. Then the broodmother states her only purpose is to destroy Protoss. So, chances are we'll be hearing from this creature in the Protoss campaign.

* BigBad: Mengsk, Emperor of [[TheEmpire the Dominion]] and the man who left you to die years earlier.

It was initially released as an expansion pack for ''Wings of Liberty'', but with the release of ''Legacy of the Void'', the entire game engine was overhauled and made modular, and as a result the game is now episodic- one can now buy and play ''Heart of the Swarm'' without owning ''Wings of Liberty''. However, the recommended play sequence is by release date due to the story progression, and to be able to fully comprehend and enjoy the story.

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: During the [[BreatherEpisode Terran mission where you fly the Hyperion against Mira's mercenaries]], Swann is able to use minerals harvested from the asteroid belt to upgrade the ship's systems and cababilities, significantly increasing its overall hitpoints and damage. [[BagOfSpilling These changes are never seen or mentioned for the rest of the campaign, and don't show up in ''Legacy of the Void''.]]

* BadBoss: Arcturus Mengsk is disdainful of his soldiers and citizens in a manner that would make even Darth Vader uneasy. [[spoiler:Over the course of the game, he detonates a prison ship with numerous Dominion soldiers and prisoners still aboard it in an attempt to kill Raynor and Kerrigan, kept the xel'naga artifact in his office for his own personal defense instead of deploying it to help his men defeat Kerrigan, and launches nukes in his own city streets to try and stop a few Ultralisks. Finally and perhaps most damning of all, opens his fleet to open fire on the ''Hyperion'' while Valerian, his son and heir, is on-board, because he wants to kill Kerrigan who is also on-board]]. Valerian says in that cutscene that Arcturus will do ''anything'' to kill Kerrigan, and by the end of the game it's clear he wasn't exaggerating.

* BadBoss
** Arcturus Mengsk is disdainful of his soldiers and citizens in a manner that would make Darth Vader uneasy. [[spoiler: Vader at least cared about his son; Arcturus ordered his men to ''kill Valerian'' just because he was on the same ship as Kerrigan.]]
*** [[spoiler: as a qualifier, Vader primarily executed incompetent OFFICERS in his screen time instead of butchering his soldiers in droves,literally making Mengak A worse boss then Darth frikking Vader!]]
** In one mission where Kerrigan attacks a Dominion ship ([[spoiler:Raynor is a prisoner onboard]]), Arcturus detonates the whole ship, with thousands of his own people still aboard. [[EnemyChatter The panicked and horrified reactions of his men]] are pretty jarring, even while you’re in the process of fighting them.
--->'''Arcturus:''' Everyone aboard this ship is willing to give their lives to stop you, Kerrigan.\\
'''Bridge Crew:''' [[OhCrap Wait, what did he say]]??\\
'''Bridge:''' ''[self-destructs]''
** Arcturus goes ''even further'' during the [[spoiler: invasion of Korhal]], where he calls down nukes inside a major metropolitan area with no concern for collateral damage. When he said ''"I'll rule this sector or see it '''burnt to ashes around me!'''"'' it was not hyperbole in the slightest.
--->'''Valerian:''' My father is willing to sacrifice any piece on the chessboard, so long as he takes the queen.
** [[spoiler: It is implied that General Warfield could have defeated Kerrigan on Char, if the Xel'Naga artifact hadn't mysteriously gone missing (given its power in the final mission of Wings of Liberty, this is very likely). It's revealed at the end that Mengsk had it in his palace the entire time, meaning he deprived Warfield of his only chance to survive just to protect his sorry hide]].

** TheSixthRanger[=/=]MoralityPet: [[spoiler:Alexei Stukov, who arrives late to the party and helps Kerrigan with solving the riddles around Amon's revival.]]

** TheSixthRanger: [[spoiler:Alexei Stukov, who arrives late to the party.]]

* YouMonster: Lassara the Protoss scientist to Kerrigan, and later [[spoiler:General Warfield as well, also to Kerrigan.]]

* ExpansionPack: The first of its kind released into the mainstream market for a very long while. ''Heart of the Swarm'' features a ton of new content, and a new campaign just as long and involved as the first (i.e. way more than your average modern DLC package) for less than the cost of ''Wings of Liberty''. On the other hand, it could't be played without the base game until 2015, when it was made standalone.

* OhCrap: [[spoiler:When Kerrigan realizes where her power was drained to at the end of the first episode.]]

* OhCrap: [[spoiler:When Kerrigan realizes where her power was drained to at the end of the first game: the Xel'naga temples that was amplifying Narud/Duran's power.]]

* ShootTheShaggyDog: Intentionally invoked. After all the time, effort, and [[NintendoHard nearly impossible missions]] spent [[spoiler: de-infesting Kerrigan]], one of the first things she does is [[spoiler: re-infest herself, and massacre the forces you controlled in the previous campaign]]. All the stirring heroic speeches, good men lost, and heartwarming moments of brotherhood are all utterly wasted. The effect this trope has on [[HeartBrokenBadass Raynor]] even becomes a crucial plot point. [[spoiler: This trope is triumphantly averted at the end of the game, when Kerrigan clearly demonstrates that she had taken the opportunity to redeem herself and become a hero]].