History VideoGame / StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm

* BrickJoke:
** In ''Wings of Liberty'', Donny Vermillion reports about lemon juice possibly being useful against zerglings. In Heart of the Swarm, Abathur makes an off-hand comment about solving the zerglings' allergy to lemon juice.
** Ever wonder why you couldn't use the Odin after the Korhal missions? Turns out the Raiders left it behind and Mengsk re-acquired it for palace defense. [[spoiler:He also has the Xel'Naga artifact.]]
** It's a good thing that Raynor kept Colonel Orlan alive after defeating him in Wings of Liberty, since otherwise [[spoiler: Orlan wouldn't have been able to hack the Dominion network to tell the Raiders (and Kerrigan) where Raynor was being held]].
** One of the longest (in real-life) [[BrickJoke Brick Jokes]] ever, [[spoiler:Alexei Stukov]] returns all the way from ''Brood War''. It can be a shock to people who have played ''Brood War'' but don't know some of the other flavor lore, since otherwise they would have assumed [[spoiler:he was long-dead]]

* ContinuityNod: This campaign is more thrilling when knowing what happened in the secret mission from ''Brood War'', "Dark Origin".

* BattleCouple: Deconstructed between Raynor and Kerrigan. At first it's shaping up to be this, but Raynor eventually felt Kerrigan was just reverting back to the old Queen of Blades. [[spoiler:Eventually after Raynor overhears the extreme lengths Kerrigan is going to avoid civilian casualties in the invasion of Korhal, he eventually decides to join her at the last minute and ends up saving her when Mengsk tries to reactivate the Xel'Naga artifact. While both of them know they cannot be together anymore due to what lies ahead regarding the prophecy of the Dark Voice, they still do love each other.]]

** Ever wonder why you couldn't use the Odin after the Korhal missions? Turns out the Raiders left it behind and Mengsk re-acquired it for palace defense.

* BrickJoke: In ''Wings of Liberty'', Donny Vermillion reports about lemon juice possibly being useful against zerglings. In Heart of the Swarm, Abathur makes an off-hand comment about solving the zerglings' allergy to lemon juice.

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: You're playing as the Zerg, so this is a given. The Char missions are particularly notable in this regard, as they're the same forces you commanded last game, and you can slaughter them mercilessly.

** TheBigGuy: Dahak, a [[spoiler: Primal Zerg]]. Big, tough, fast, but also very simple-minded though not stupid by any stretch. Also lacks a [[spoiler: psionic connection]], making him pure muscle.

* UnexpectedGameplayChange: A number of segments of ''Heart of the Swarm'' have you fighting 'boss creatures' with predictable attack patterns (the first example being the Archangel), more akin to RPGs and platformers than an RTS.

* RightHandAttackDog: A strange example. In a few cutscenes, Kerrigan is accompanied by a particular zergling with a broken tusk.

** TheHero: Kerrigan herself.

** TheChick: Issha, but she also doubles as a second Smart Guy by being the one in charge of most of the exposition.

* ItCanThink: ''Heart of the Swarm'' promises to introduce several other intelligent types of zerg capable of speech, including Kerrigan's [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection Voice with a Hive Mind Connection]].

* MustMakeAmends: [[spoiler:After she kills Warfield at the end of the Char missions, Kerrigan respects his final wishes and spares his men. This is an especially blatant evolution compared to her attitude toward Dugalle at the end of ''Brood War''. This scene stands out even more if you went to Kaldir first, since it's a marked change from her treatment of the Protoss colonists in that mission sequence.]]
** [[spoiler: While going after Mengsk on Korhal, Kerrigan also respects the wishes of Valerian and Raynor first by having the Zerg touch down on the planet outside of the city so civilians can escape. Before the final battle, she also honors Valerian's request to refrain from attacking through the regions of the city not yet evacuated even after pointing out that the fight's going to be challenging enough as it is and doing that's going to make it even worse. Kerrigan even commends Valerian on this, feeling he's the kind of man she can trust to rule the Dominion.]]
* NeckLift: Kerrigan is seen performing a telekinetic version of this on Valerian Mengsk in a trailer.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler: How Kerrigan finishes off Mengsk.]]

* BlueAndOrangeMorality or ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Zerg don't act out of malice; they just consider any non-zerg a threat and live by a code of survival of the fittest.

* MustMakeAmends: [[spoiler:After she kills Warfield at the end of the Char missions, Kerrigan respects his final wishes and spares his men. This is an especially blatant evolution compared to her attitude toward Dugalle at the end of ''Brood War''. This scene stands out even more if you went to Kaldir first, since it's a marked change from her treatment of the Protoss colonists in that mission sequence.
** While going after Mengsk on Korhal, Kerrigan also respects the wishes of Valerian and Raynor first by having the Zerg touch down on the planet outside of the city so civilians can escape. Before the final battle, she also honors Valerian's request to refrain from attacking through the regions of the city not yet evacuated even after pointing out that the fight's going to be challenging enough as it is and doing that's going to make it even worse. Kerrigan even commends Valerian on this, feeling he's the kind of man she can trust to rule the Dominion.]]

* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:While she kills Warfield at the end of the Char missions, Kerrigan agrees to let his men go alive. This is an especially blatant evolution compared to her attitude toward Dugalle at the end of ''Brood War''.]]

* ShoutOut: A game achievment called "Bio[[MassEffect mass Effect]]", for starters.

* EvilIsNotAToy: Invoked and played with; In the first mission of the game, Valerian, under the pretense of a "test", has Kerrigan taking to control over Zergs to see how much zerg mutagene remains in her, apparently trying to see if there is a way to weaponize Zergs. Obviously not liking it, Kerrigan push the test too far, grow an army of zergling, wreck the lab... and brings back the zergs she has created to their cages. She wasn't rebelling, she just wanted to show Valerian that trying to control zergs was a bad idea.

** The Zerg swarm has gone from nearly conquering known space to dozens of fragmented broods hiding on backwater worlds now that Terrans have invaded their home planet of Char.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Zerg don't act out of malice; they just consider any non-zerg a threat and live by a code of survival of the fittest.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Kerrigan's willing to destroy entire planets to get to Mengsk, the man who left her to die in the first ''VideoGame/StarCraftI''. [[spoiler: Jim's apparent death after mission as well as Mengsk's subsequent announcement of this doesn't help dissuade her.]]

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Kerrigan's willing to destroy entire planets to get to Mengsk, the man who left her to die in the first ''VideoGame/StarCraftI''.

* ReliableTraitor: Several zerg either betray you, or fully admit that they are planning to betray you if you ever weaken. When asked about it, their reaction is basically "Uh...because we're Zerg? You didn't see this coming?"

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Zergs don't act out of malice; they just consider any non-zerg a threat and live by a code of survival of the fittest.

* TransformingMecha: ''Heart of the Swarm'' introduces the Hellbat, which can transform into a CoolCar or a MiniMecha.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Zergs aren't portrayed as acting out of malice; they just want to survive, and consider any non-zerg as a treath, following a logic of survival of the fittest.
* BrickJoke: [[spoiler:In Wings of Liberty, Donny Vermillion reports about lemon juice possibly being useful against zerglings. In Heart of the Swarm, Abathur makes an off-hand comment about solving the zerglings' allergy to lemon juice.]]