History WMG / StarCraft

* [[WhereItAllBegan Like his father,]] Valerian convinced Raynor to help him by promising to help Raynor rebel against a tyrannical dictatorship. [[LikeFatherLikeSon Like his father]], Valerian has intense personal charisma that makes people believe him and wins them to his side by exploiting their personal needs and flaws. [[InTheBlood Like his father]], he also has a well-hidden but full-blown case of ChronicBackstabbingDisorder. [[TurnOutLikeHisFather Like his father]], he will use and manipulate Raynor and Kerrigan into giving him power over the Dominion, then turn on them. And finally, [[HereWeGoAgain like his father]], Raynor and Kerrigan will have to take ''him'' down in Starcraft III.

[[folder: Starcraft takes place in the future of the ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' universe, presumably the Tiberium series.]]
The stories about Earth being ruled by "tyranny" stem from the state of emergency due to Tiberium infestation menacing the population, while the criminals being sent off world were people such as Nod terrorists. The United Earth Directorate was an offshoot or division of the GDI but how ruthless they really are was skewed by Nod loyalists for their own political ends. Nod is almost like ancient history which is why nobody seems to remember them.\\
\\
While Terran tech isn't quite the same as back on Earth, the Barracks, Factory, Starport philosophy of bases was based upon a similar format back on earth, except that the Naval Yard & Airfields are merged and focus on space-faring aircraft and ships. Cloaking was derived from Nod's adaptive camouflage while lasers were based upon Nod Obelisk & Spitfire LASER tech. The Terrans had to adapt the technology in the absence of Tiberium so it's not as advanced at first and the Construction Yard method of base building wasn't able to be copied, so the SCV as made combining the Harvester with a builder. The infantry combat suits were derived from reverse-engineered GDI Zone Trooper suits. The Banshee was a result of reinventing the GDI ORCA. The list goes on.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Dehaka collecting Terran essence didn't just upgrade their combat ability.]]
They also absorbed new skills from the Terrans' genetic history like diplomacy skills (could be handy if they decide to do mercenary jobs for Terran contractors, and request payment in genetic materials), advanced tool making, speech skills, psionic potential, and so on. This may lead to more ways to gain essence besides combat, such as trading with Protoss and Terrans.
[[/folder]]

** The creators confirmed they were the same person months ago during a QnA panel.

[[folder: The head of Spartan Company is the Terran NonEntityGeneral of Brood War.]]
Let's face it, it's doubtful someone as successful as you would die so easily.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Protoss medical technology is actually equal to or more primitive than Terran medical technology.]]

The Protoss are some of the strongest bastards around, being able to run fast, fight for days, live for centuries, and subsist on "sunshine and dew drops." To top it off, they have psychic powers and access to Khaydarin crystals, which power Protoss tech. Due to Protoss physical and technological superiority they, unlike the inferior Terrans, have no field medics or medivac dropships. Zealots can receive cybernetic leg upgrades- like some Terrans get- and can be teleported out of the warzone, but there's no way for Protoss to immediately heal their units. Dragoons and immortals are powerful cyborgs, but that's due to Protoss engineering and weapons technology.

Terrans, meanwhile, have access to field medics, who can heal soldiers in the middle of a fight, and whose technology even works on Protoss and Zerg physiology. Many of the units have cybernetic implants, which, though crude looking, work fine and are easy to install. Most incredible of all, the Terrans have ''healing lasers'' which deliver a payload of functional nanobots, which can heal a soldier up to full health in moments. Being without the advantages of the Protoss, Terran troops have had to throw a lot of effort into their medical technology to compensate. This has lead to the Terrans actually outstripping the Protoss in this field.
* That one might be due to the [[HonourBeforeReason Protoss' honour shtick.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:There will be a Zerg/Protoss/Terran war against the Xel'Naga in the future.]]
Something will happen that the three sides will have to work back-to-back in order to defeat "their creators". That, of course, in case Blizzard decides to do a campaign after ''Legacy Of The Void''.
* I think it will be called "[=StarCraft=] III".
* That's too awesome to pass up. There will also be a metric fuckton of hero units involved - Horner in the Hyperion, Valerian in the Bucephalus, Raynor, Tosh, Nova, Kerrigan (as a heavily souped-up Ghost with Psionic Storm)]], Stettman, Rory, the Odin, Zeratul, Artanis, Selendis, the other heroes from the BadFuture]], a bunch of hero zerg, and all of the mercenaries even if you didn't buy them. The ending will change based on which heroes are alive; only Raynor, Kerrigan]] and Zeratul will need to survive for victory.
** Given that half the ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' final missions ''and'' the Wings of Liberty finale are survive for a time limit missions, I think we can guarantee it. I suspect you'll only get the three big heroes, though; otherwise the number of possible ending cutscenes would get [[CombinatorialExplosion a little ridiculous]].
* Something like this does happen in Legacy of the void.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ariel Hanson]] is infested in BOTH scenarios, we only see it in one.]]
Tosh refers to Hanson as a "honey pot" repeatedly and says that she was basically a time bomb waiting to go off once she and the infested colonists reached the core worlds. She only sprouted claws and tentacles once she was blown; that would assume that some infested Terrans are able to hide their condition, though. ''Alternate'' explanation: she wasn't infested in the "Haven's Fall" scenario, but due to desperation to prove her cure worked, she infected herself and it kind of went out of control. Matt did say that "she's desperate to save her people."]]
* Alternatively; She was infested the whole time, but was, through her medical skill, able to suppress the infestation to the point were it wasn't visually obvious or had any effect on her personality. This is why she was so certain she could find a cure for the infestation. If Raynor sides with the Protoss against the colonists, she loses hope for a cure and allows the infestation to flare up again, consuming her completely. Conversely, if Raynor decides to protect the colonists, she is motivated to continue her research and either completes a permanent cure, or is able to suppress the infestation indefinitely.]]

[[folder: It is the Terrans, not the Protoss who posess the Purity of Form that will bring about the new Xel'Naga]]
Purity of Form was defined as "adaptability to harsh conditions and climates", and psionic abilities or potential. Both of these elements are an integral part of the Terrans and their plotlines. While the Xel'naga initially believed that the Protoss were the race that they needed, they eventually considered them a failure before being driven from Aiur. The Terrans are a young race that has yet to realize it's potential, and the Xel'Naga's foretold second coming is at an opportune time to take advantage of this.
* Also, Kerrigan is referred to as an "agent of the prophecy" of the Xel'Naga's return. With Kerrigan being one of, if not the most powerful psychic in the galaxy as an Infested Terran, a true hybrid would likely be powerful enough to be the "perfect being" that the Xel'Naga were searching for.
** Somewhat confirmed, as both Protoss and Overmind's Swarm were tampered by Amon, while Kerrigan being a powerful psionic (pruity of form, one who posses great psionic power -- however it dosen't have to be Terran, it just happens that Kerrigan is one.) and merged with the essence of unaltered Primal Zerg genes (pruity of essence, one who could endure great change).]] The Terran part is actually rather incidental.

[[folder: ''Heart of the Swarm'' will take place concurrently with (at the same time, chronologically, as) ''Wings of Liberty'']]
This is basically the only way it can really be done, since Wings of Liberty ended with Kerrigan being de-Zerged, and all Zerg on the Zerg capital world Char - and thus, most of the entire Zerg race - being obliterated by the Xel'Naga artifact. Because Heart of the Swarm wouldn't be fun playing as a faction that's been reduced to a leaderless, tiny remnant force that would be no better than nonsentient animals without a guiding Hive King or Queen]].
** Possibly {{Jossed}} by the blurb on the single player screen once you've finished the game, which invites the player to Discover the fate of Kerrigan and the swarm]] in the upcoming expansion.
*** Alternate theory: the campaign does indeed take place immediately after the end of Wings of Liberty, but most of the actual missions are Kerrigan in sickbay, narrating flashbacks to Raynor. Possibly the final act is Kerrigan regaining control of the Zerg and using them for good (well, good for everyone who isn't Arcturus Mengsk, the poor doomed bastard).]]
** This seems pretty well {{Jossed}} after the 2010 Blizzcon. ("It takes place at least 1 hour after Wings of Liberty, but not more than 100 years"). Kind of a joke answer, but still fixes Heart of the Swarm as coming later.
* Jossed by the fact that Heart of the Swarm will take place three weeks after Wings of Liberty.

[[folder: Kerrigan is not completely rid of her Zerg side.]]]]
Here's an interesting theory, based on the ending of ''VideoGame/StarCraftII''. The Xel'Naga artifact cured Kerrigan of her infestation, but at the same time it made her into a Zerg-Human hybrid. You can tell she still has some Zerginess by her hair in the ending cutscene. She's still the Queen of Blades, and thus in control of the Zerg, but the artifact's power allowed her to regain her humanity, so she - and by extension, the Zerg - are good guys now. This is the wrench to be thrown in the Dark Voice's plan - having the otherwise mindless Zerg used against him - and it's also the setup for the Heart of the Swarm campaign, wherein Kerrigan figures out how to control the Swarm while fighting off the imposing threat of the Dark Voice.]]
** Perhaps Heart of the Swarm means the Swarm gets a heart. A human heart.]]
** It's all a huge XanatosGambit by Kerrigan. She uses Raynor's Raiders to get rid of the Terran Dominion, builds up a new Swarm and then defeats Raynor while he's vulnerable and unsuspecting. It wouldn't be the first time Kerrigan pitted her enemies against each other and then swiftly defeated the victors.]]
** it is cormfrimed if the screen shorts of Hart of Swarm are anything to go by.]]
** Confirmed. Kerrigan actually went back being Zerg/The Queen of Blades after merging with the essence of Primal Zerg. This time though, she's far more human than her previous incarnation.]]

[[folder: Kerrigan is, in fact, completely rid of her Zerg side.]]]]
The hair is just hair. It's dead, like regular hair, and unlike the wings, the glowing eyes, the high-heels, and the chitin; once it dries up and falls off she'll be completely back to normal.]] Naaah, there's no way the laws of storytelling would let that be true.
Probably jossed as the released content of Heart of Swarm shows that she is trying to regain her powers]]
* Jossed by the Heart of Swarm campaign.

[[folder: Kerrigan is, in fact, not "cured" at all, at least mentally.]]]]
Nothing in the ending cutscene actually suggests her being "cured." Yes, she no longer has her chitinous armor and wings; that is the obvious effect of the Xel'Naga artifact "working." However, she is still the same person (assuming she didn't get a nice mindwipe as another gift from the artifact). She is still a massively powerful psionic, who can most likely still control the remaining Zerg (we do have an expansion about that coming up, after all). She is, admittedly, very weak in the cutscene, but this could easily be due to the psionic backlash of just having most of an entire race (of which she could see into every single "mind" if she wished) wiped out in a mere few seconds. She's still got some people, quite possibly including Raynor, who she wants to kill. As for her line "... Jim?"; she's called him that before when in full Queen of Blades mode, so her calling him that now is no evidence of a HeelFaceTurn. Finally , her resting in Raynor's arms is because she is literally exhausted.]]
* Sarah herself breaks through for a few seconds during the final battle, so a part of her was there. There definately some humanity left.
* If Kerrigan isn't cured, then everyone is doomed, including herself and the swarm. Part of the Overmind's plan entails that she be returned to normal in order to break the control of the zerg by The Voice and/or Xel'Naga.]]
** Nobody ever said Kerrigan had to be "cured" by a certain time, just before the Dark Voice (whoever the heck he actually is) shows up; she could very well be cured later. Also, if she did have to be cured by a certain time, how do we know that time isn't long past?]] [[DownerEnding Nobody ever said this whole story has to have a happy ending.]]
*** Most of the time, Blizzard settles for {{Bittersweet Ending}}s.

[[folder: The Kerrigan found by Raynor at the end is not the real Kerrigan.]]]]
She is, in fact, a clone made by the real Kerrigan, still the Queen of Blades, who managed to get away from the artifact's nova and hopes that, having "defeated and rescued" her, Raynor and all the others will let her work in peace to the plan to defeat the Xel'naga, like she has done in the last four years. She was interested in the artifacts probably because she discovered the plan behind that search (to "cure" her) and tried to stop it before having to resort to this trick.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Duran is The Voice in the Darkness]]]]
Or at the very least possessed by or an avatar of it.
** He calls himself "''a servant of'' a far greater power", so he's likely 'just' a high-ranking underling of the [=VitD=].]]
*** Or of the Dark Voice]], who is not the same entity by canon.
*** Jossed. He is however a loyal servant of The Voice in the Darkness a.k.a Amon.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Overmind is an UnreliableNarrator]]]]
Think about it, the Overmind wanted to ensure Kerrigan's survival (having forsaw her death and the Dark Voice's victory) and forsaw Zeratul coming to Aiur so spun a story of a 'vision' of the future should Kerrigan die (which might have elements of truth) which the Protoss would want to prevent coming to pass and used Tassadar's image as someone Zeratul and Raynor would trust. This would also explain the [[LargeHam hammy]] dialogue in the mission 'In Utter Darkness'. After all, the Overmind's word is hardly reliable and is most likely to do whatever it takes to ensure its plans come to fruition.]]

[[folder: The Dark Voice is {{Satan}}]]
The Xel'Naga are constantly stated to be divine. However, they built temples. If they were gods themselves, what were their temples for?

My answer: The Xel'Naga were angels, and the temples they built were dedicated to God. So what does that make the one bad Xel'Naga--the one who refers to himself as "Fallen One?"

[[folder: The Dark Voice is VideoGame/{{Diablo}}]]
And the Xel'Naga are ''angels''.
* Maybe jossed by the fact that you could find Diablo in The Devil's Playground... And I think he was dancing?

[[folder: Raynor thinks that his revolution, in one way or the other, will have to "eat its own children".]]
That's the implication of his statement that there will be the new world Horner hopes for, but there won't be a place in it for guys like himself and Tosh.

[[folder: At least in the time of ''Wings of Liberty'', Horner is the secret true leader of Raynor's Raiders.]]
Raynor is just the guy who motivates the soldiers and provides military and political strategy. Horner is the guy with the ''vision''. Of course, since Horner doesn't appear in ''Starcraft'' and ''Broodwar'', this either wasn't yet the case in that time or it just didn't really become visible until ''Wings of Liberty''.

[[folder: The Dark Voice will turn out to be a much more sympathetic entity than the [[ForTheEvulz cartoonishly]] evil portrayal we've seen of him in Wings of Liberty.]]
* Maybe it's the [[LastOfHisKind last survivor]] of the Xel'naga, and is very pissed about the protoss turning away from them and the zerg [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters turning against them]]. I sure hope so, since improving the new BigBad's is one of the [[ClicheStorm many]] things that needs to be done to salvage the story of Starcraft II.
* Legacy of the Void confirms something similar.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Dark Voice will "steal Raynor's kill" by killing Arcturus Mengsk]]
ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin
* Nope, Raynor was all too happy to stand still and watch Kerrigan kill him.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The mission "In Utter Darkness" will reappear in the Protoss campaign...with a twist.]]
The mission plays out the Protoss' last stand against the Hybrids and Dark Voice, in a timeline where Kerrigan has been killed. Since she's not dead in the current timeline, the Zerg will now fight alongside the Protoss when they confront the Hybrids, who will possibly now have an entire tech tree of Hybrids to make up for the fact that they won't have the Zerg with them. Alternately, the Hybrids will have mind-controlled Terrans serving them.]]
** Seems reasonable... but I'm guessing Raynor's Raiders will be fighting with the good guys too.]] I could even see the Zerg getting their own version of In Utter Darkness where they ''and'' the Protoss go down, thereby proving they have to rescue Raynor and/or Valerian and/or (just to twist the knife) Arcturus.]]
*** Its probably going to be like the final mission of the original Starcraft, only instead of having two races to build the tech trees with, you have all ''three''. (This is actually pretty common for the 'grand finales' of Starcraft games, Brood War did the same thing, only with the team-up against ''you''.). And on the other side will be the mind-controlled Zerg, hybrids, and corrupted factions of Terrans and Protoss. *crosses fingers*
*** With the corrupted Terran being the Dominion.
*** Jossed. The Protoss campaign in the Legacy of the Void is anything but bleak. Although it's actually reversed in the final three missions -- where all three races led their forces right into Amon's doorstep, dead set to end him once and for all, while Amon put up a desperate but ultimately futile resistance.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: One of the 'favours' Mengsk called in to raise a fleet to attack Kerrigan at the end of Brood War was Emil Narud, who became the Emperor's TheManBehindTheMan ]]
Duran/]]Narud is a servant of the Dark Voice, and once Kerrigan had [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness served her purpose]] he decided to place his assets and connections under Arcturus' control to ensure the anti-Kerrigan forces would see to her destruction. In exchange for Dominion funding and support of the Moebius Foundation's hybrid project]]. Since that obviously didn't work out, he began to manipulate Valerian to cement the Foundation's imperial ties and use him as a pawn who could work together with Raynor's Raiders]], because Arcturus wouldn't be able to, and gather up the Xel'Naga artifacts. Knowing Raynor would be a sucker for a shot at restoring Kerrigan, he pulled some strings to have Tychus bailed out to join the hunt for the artifacts. Meanwhile Narud is counting on Mengsk to try and eliminate Kerrigan through his mole Tychus because he knows she's gunning for him. Even though Tychus seemingly fails at the conclusion to Wings of Liberty, Kerrigan's deinfestation could make it much harder for her to counteract the Dark Voice's corruption of the Zerg]]. [[GambitPileUp It's a win-win situation for everyone]]. Except for every living thing in the universe should Kerrigan fail to regain control of the Swarm.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Duran is manipulating Arcturus Mengsk from behind the scenes]]

* From the bonus mission we learn Mengsk is creating hybrids, the same hybrids that will eventually be used by the Dark Voice to destroy everything]] he learned how and got the tech to do so from Duran who is just using Mengsk to build up a hybrid army for the Dark Voice who he is an agent of.
** It was never outright confirmed that Arcturus was behind the events of the bonus mission; Raynor only assumed that. Rather, Valerian may be the one who is being manipulated by/working for Duran: Emil Narud, the head of the Moebius Foundation, is confirmed to have a connection to Duran. The Moebius Foundation is privately owned by Valerian Mengsk, and this puts a direct line between him and the Dark Voice's minions. Plus, Valerian just seems a little too good to be true.
** Narud was manipulating Valerian, along with everyone else; Valerian really was as good as his word. On the subject of Arcturus, however, it is quite possible that he wasn't entirely on-board with Narud's hybrid project; he ordered the "termination" of everyone who had ever worked in the Castanar lab (which would serve better to completely shut down the hybrid project there than to cover it up), and it's possible that he didn't know exactly what Narud was doing in the Skygeirr lab, only that it was a weapons research lab.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Samir Duran is an emissary of the Dark Voice]]

It's never really elaborated just who or even what Duran is supposed to be but it's possible that he's affiliated with the Dark Voice since they're both associated with hybrids.
** Similarly, Ulrezaj is ''also'' working for the Dark Voice, whether directly or through Duran. The Dark Templar Saga confirmed that Ulrezaj was involved with creating Hybrids and was working for someone or something else; it seems highly unlikely they're not connected. Ulrezaj will get free of his [[SealedEvilInACan can]] during the Protoss campaign, and at least one mission strand will deal with putting him down permanently.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Duran from Brood War is the same person as [[AllThereInTheManual the Doran who sent the Terran colonists out in the first place]]]]
I have no evidence except for the name and Duran's nature.

The Duran we know in Brood War may be an agent of the Dark Voice]] may have based his disguise on him.

[[folder: Everyone is Samir Duran.]]

Including Kerrigan, Raynor, Mengsk, Findlay, Valerian, Tassadar, Zeratul, and the Overmind.

Barring Samir Duran. He's someone else entirely.

* Jossed. Samir Duran is actually a Xel'Naga named Narud and a follower of Amon.]]

[[folder: The cure didn't completely work.]]]]

In the final cutscene of [=WoL=], even though almost all of Kerrigan is back to normal, her hair is still the spindly nature that it was when she was totally zerged. And since the next campaign is going to be a Zerg one, it makes sense that Kerrigan is only 90ish% human, and has some element of control over the Zerg (but isn't crazy evil and all).]]
* [[{{Nivenus}} This Troper]] would almost consider that confirmed, since it is already confirmed Kerrigan's the player character of ''Heart of the Swarm'' and as, indicated, Kerrigan's still got the zergified hair (plus, there's the Overmind's whole [[XanatosGambit Xanatos]]/ThanatosGambit thing).]]
** Also, it is said in the Protoss mini campaign that Kerrigan is the only one who could question the Voice's control over the Zerg. Since completely removing her infestation would surely take that ability away from her, the effect would be the same as if she had been killed.]]
*** With the notable exception that ''she's not dead''. In the original timeline, somebody (probably Jim) actually put an actual bullet through her actual head. In this timeline she's still alive. Infested or not, there's a big difference there.]]

[[folder: Samir Duran is an emissary of the Dark Voice]]

It's never really elaborated just who or even what Duran is supposed to be but it's possible that he's affiliated with the Dark Voice since they're both associated with hybrids.
** Similarly, Ulrezaj is ''also'' working for the Dark Voice, whether directly or through Duran. The Dark Templar Saga confirmed that Ulrezaj was involved with creating Hybrids and was working for someone or something else; it seems highly unlikely they're not connected. Ulrezaj will get free of his [[SealedEvilInACan can]] during the Protoss campaign, and at least one mission strand will deal with putting him down permanently.

[[folder: Duran is manipulating Arcturus Mengsk from behind the scenes]]

* From the bonus mission we learn Mengsk is creating hybrids, the same hybrids that will eventually be used by the Dark Voice to destroy everything]] he learned how and got the tech to do so from Duran who is just using Mengsk to build up a hybrid army for the Dark Voice who he is an agent of.
** It was never outright confirmed that Arcturus was behind the events of the bonus mission; Raynor only assumed that. Rather, Valerian may be the one who is being manipulated by/working for Duran: Emil Narud, the head of the Moebius Foundation, is confirmed to have a connection to Duran. The Moebius Foundation is privately owned by Valerian Mengsk, and this puts a direct line between him and the Dark Voice's minions. Plus, Valerian just seems a little too good to be true.
** Narud was manipulating Valerian, along with everyone else; Valerian really was as good as his word. On the subject of Arcturus, however, it is quite possible that he wasn't entirely on-board with Narud's hybrid project; he ordered the "termination" of everyone who had ever worked in the Castanar lab (which would serve better to completely shut down the hybrid project there than to cover it up), and it's possible that he didn't know exactly what Narud was doing in the Skygeirr lab, only that it was a weapons research lab.

[[folder: Samir Duran is Emil Narud]]]]
Narud is Duran spelled backwards. Curing Kerrigan is part of his ElaborateScheme.]]
* It's even heavily suggested by Kerrigan who sees through his "charade".]]
* Blizzard themselves gave this theory a bit of credence, stating that There ''is'' a connection between Duran and Narud.]]
* Given the revelation in HOTS that Narud is a shapeshifter working for Amon, this is looking significantly more plausible.]]
** So, the universe is doomed?
** Pretty much confirmed. He is also a Xel'Naga.]]
*** Pretty much nothing, Zeratul outright confirms it in the prologue.

[[folder: One of the 'favours' Mengsk called in to raise a fleet to attack Kerrigan at the end of Brood War was Emil Narud, who became the Emperor's TheManBehindTheMan ]]
Duran/]]Narud is a servant of the Dark Voice, and once Kerrigan had [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness served her purpose]] he decided to place his assets and connections under Arcturus' control to ensure the anti-Kerrigan forces would see to her destruction. In exchange for Dominion funding and support of the Moebius Foundation's hybrid project]]. Since that obviously didn't work out, he began to manipulate Valerian to cement the Foundation's imperial ties and use him as a pawn who could work together with Raynor's Raiders]], because Arcturus wouldn't be able to, and gather up the Xel'Naga artifacts. Knowing Raynor would be a sucker for a shot at restoring Kerrigan, he pulled some strings to have Tychus bailed out to join the hunt for the artifacts. Meanwhile Narud is counting on Mengsk to try and eliminate Kerrigan through his mole Tychus because he knows she's gunning for him. Even though Tychus seemingly fails at the conclusion to Wings of Liberty, Kerrigan's deinfestation could make it much harder for her to counteract the Dark Voice's corruption of the Zerg]]. [[GambitPileUp It's a win-win situation for everyone]]. Except for every living thing in the universe should Kerrigan fail to regain control of the Swarm.]]

[[folder: The mission "In Utter Darkness" will reappear in the Protoss campaign...with a twist.]]
The mission plays out the Protoss' last stand against the Hybrids and Dark Voice, in a timeline where Kerrigan has been killed. Since she's not dead in the current timeline, the Zerg will now fight alongside the Protoss when they confront the Hybrids, who will possibly now have an entire tech tree of Hybrids to make up for the fact that they won't have the Zerg with them. Alternately, the Hybrids will have mind-controlled Terrans serving them.]]
** Seems reasonable... but I'm guessing Raynor's Raiders will be fighting with the good guys too.]] I could even see the Zerg getting their own version of In Utter Darkness where they ''and'' the Protoss go down, thereby proving they have to rescue Raynor and/or Valerian and/or (just to twist the knife) Arcturus.]]
*** Its probably going to be like the final mission of the original Starcraft, only instead of having two races to build the tech trees with, you have all ''three''. (This is actually pretty common for the 'grand finales' of Starcraft games, Brood War did the same thing, only with the team-up against ''you''.). And on the other side will be the mind-controlled Zerg, hybrids, and corrupted factions of Terrans and Protoss. *crosses fingers*
*** With the corrupted Terran being the Dominion.
*** Jossed. The Protoss campaign in the Legacy of the Void is anything but bleak. Although it's actually reversed in the final three missions -- where all three races led their forces right into Amon's doorstep, dead set to end him once and for all, while Amon put up a desperate but ultimately futile resistance.]]

[[folder: Ariel Hanson]] is infested in BOTH scenarios, we only see it in one.]]
Tosh refers to Hanson as a "honey pot" repeatedly and says that she was basically a time bomb waiting to go off once she and the infested colonists reached the core worlds. She only sprouted claws and tentacles once she was blown; that would assume that some infested Terrans are able to hide their condition, though. ''Alternate'' explanation: she wasn't infested in the "Haven's Fall" scenario, but due to desperation to prove her cure worked, she infected herself and it kind of went out of control. Matt did say that "she's desperate to save her people."]]
* Alternatively; She was infested the whole time, but was, through her medical skill, able to suppress the infestation to the point were it wasn't visually obvious or had any effect on her personality. This is why she was so certain she could find a cure for the infestation. If Raynor sides with the Protoss against the colonists, she loses hope for a cure and allows the infestation to flare up again, consuming her completely. Conversely, if Raynor decides to protect the colonists, she is motivated to continue her research and either completes a permanent cure, or is able to suppress the infestation indefinitely.]]

[[folder: It is the Terrans, not the Protoss who posess the Purity of Form that will bring about the new Xel'Naga]]
Purity of Form was defined as "adaptability to harsh conditions and climates", and psionic abilities or potential. Both of these elements are an integral part of the Terrans and their plotlines. While the Xel'naga initially believed that the Protoss were the race that they needed, they eventually considered them a failure before being driven from Aiur. The Terrans are a young race that has yet to realize it's potential, and the Xel'Naga's foretold second coming is at an opportune time to take advantage of this.
* Also, Kerrigan is referred to as an "agent of the prophecy" of the Xel'Naga's return. With Kerrigan being one of, if not the most powerful psychic in the galaxy as an Infested Terran, a true hybrid would likely be powerful enough to be the "perfect being" that the Xel'Naga were searching for.
** Somewhat confirmed, as both Protoss and Overmind's Swarm were tampered by Amon, while Kerrigan being a powerful psionic (pruity of form, one who posses great psionic power -- however it dosen't have to be Terran, it just happens that Kerrigan is one.) and merged with the essence of unaltered Primal Zerg genes (pruity of essence, one who could endure great change).]] The Terran part is actually rather incidental.

[[folder: ''Heart of the Swarm'' will take place concurrently with (at the same time, chronologically, as) ''Wings of Liberty'']]
This is basically the only way it can really be done, since Wings of Liberty ended with Kerrigan being de-Zerged, and all Zerg on the Zerg capital world Char - and thus, most of the entire Zerg race - being obliterated by the Xel'Naga artifact. Because Heart of the Swarm wouldn't be fun playing as a faction that's been reduced to a leaderless, tiny remnant force that would be no better than nonsentient animals without a guiding Hive King or Queen]].
** Possibly {{Jossed}} by the blurb on the single player screen once you've finished the game, which invites the player to Discover the fate of Kerrigan and the swarm]] in the upcoming expansion.
*** Alternate theory: the campaign does indeed take place immediately after the end of Wings of Liberty, but most of the actual missions are Kerrigan in sickbay, narrating flashbacks to Raynor. Possibly the final act is Kerrigan regaining control of the Zerg and using them for good (well, good for everyone who isn't Arcturus Mengsk, the poor doomed bastard).]]
** This seems pretty well {{Jossed}} after the 2010 Blizzcon. ("It takes place at least 1 hour after Wings of Liberty, but not more than 100 years"). Kind of a joke answer, but still fixes Heart of the Swarm as coming later.
* Jossed by the fact that Heart of the Swarm will take place three weeks after Wings of Liberty.

[[folder: Kerrigan is not completely rid of her Zerg side.]]]]
Here's an interesting theory, based on the ending of ''VideoGame/StarCraftII''. The Xel'Naga artifact cured Kerrigan of her infestation, but at the same time it made her into a Zerg-Human hybrid. You can tell she still has some Zerginess by her hair in the ending cutscene. She's still the Queen of Blades, and thus in control of the Zerg, but the artifact's power allowed her to regain her humanity, so she - and by extension, the Zerg - are good guys now. This is the wrench to be thrown in the Dark Voice's plan - having the otherwise mindless Zerg used against him - and it's also the setup for the Heart of the Swarm campaign, wherein Kerrigan figures out how to control the Swarm while fighting off the imposing threat of the Dark Voice.]]
** Perhaps Heart of the Swarm means the Swarm gets a heart. A human heart.]]
** It's all a huge XanatosGambit by Kerrigan. She uses Raynor's Raiders to get rid of the Terran Dominion, builds up a new Swarm and then defeats Raynor while he's vulnerable and unsuspecting. It wouldn't be the first time Kerrigan pitted her enemies against each other and then swiftly defeated the victors.]]
** it is cormfrimed if the screen shorts of Hart of Swarm are anything to go by.]]
** Confirmed. Kerrigan actually went back being Zerg/The Queen of Blades after merging with the essence of Primal Zerg. This time though, she's far more human than her previous incarnation.]]

[[folder: Kerrigan is, in fact, completely rid of her Zerg side.]]]]
The hair is just hair. It's dead, like regular hair, and unlike the wings, the glowing eyes, the high-heels, and the chitin; once it dries up and falls off she'll be completely back to normal.]] Naaah, there's no way the laws of storytelling would let that be true.
Probably jossed as the released content of Heart of Swarm shows that she is trying to regain her powers]]
* Jossed by the Heart of Swarm campaign.

[[folder: Kerrigan is, in fact, not "cured" at all, at least mentally.]]]]
Nothing in the ending cutscene actually suggests her being "cured." Yes, she no longer has her chitinous armor and wings; that is the obvious effect of the Xel'Naga artifact "working." However, she is still the same person (assuming she didn't get a nice mindwipe as another gift from the artifact). She is still a massively powerful psionic, who can most likely still control the remaining Zerg (we do have an expansion about that coming up, after all). She is, admittedly, very weak in the cutscene, but this could easily be due to the psionic backlash of just having most of an entire race (of which she could see into every single "mind" if she wished) wiped out in a mere few seconds. She's still got some people, quite possibly including Raynor, who she wants to kill. As for her line "... Jim?"; she's called him that before when in full Queen of Blades mode, so her calling him that now is no evidence of a HeelFaceTurn. Finally , her resting in Raynor's arms is because she is literally exhausted.]]
* Sarah herself breaks through for a few seconds during the final battle, so a part of her was there. There definately some humanity left.
* If Kerrigan isn't cured, then everyone is doomed, including herself and the swarm. Part of the Overmind's plan entails that she be returned to normal in order to break the control of the zerg by The Voice and/or Xel'Naga.]]
** Nobody ever said Kerrigan had to be "cured" by a certain time, just before the Dark Voice (whoever the heck he actually is) shows up; she could very well be cured later. Also, if she did have to be cured by a certain time, how do we know that time isn't long past?]] [[DownerEnding Nobody ever said this whole story has to have a happy ending.]]
*** Most of the time, Blizzard settles for {{Bittersweet Ending}}s.

[[folder: The Kerrigan found by Raynor at the end is not the real Kerrigan.]]]]
She is, in fact, a clone made by the real Kerrigan, still the Queen of Blades, who managed to get away from the artifact's nova and hopes that, having "defeated and rescued" her, Raynor and all the others will let her work in peace to the plan to defeat the Xel'naga, like she has done in the last four years. She was interested in the artifacts probably because she discovered the plan behind that search (to "cure" her) and tried to stop it before having to resort to this trick.]]

[[folder: Duran is The Voice in the Darkness]]]]
Or at the very least possessed by or an avatar of it.
** He calls himself "''a servant of'' a far greater power", so he's likely 'just' a high-ranking underling of the [=VitD=].]]
*** Or of the Dark Voice]], who is not the same entity by canon.
*** Jossed. He is however a loyal servant of The Voice in the Darkness a.k.a Amon.]]

[[folder: The Fallen One is an evil, super-powerful Protoss]]]]
Just a hunch...
** That would have to be quite a Protoss]] to do what the Dark Voice]] seems to be capable of; and besides, going by the Dark Templar Saga, another character, Ulrezaj, already has the evil super-Protoss]] niche covered. Seems more likely that the Dark Voice]] is either a corrupted Xel'Naga, a member of a second race of precursors ''opposing'' the Xel'naga, or a straight-up EldritchAbomination]].
** It's just that looking at the Dark Voice portrait you can win via Achievements in SCII, the shadowy semi-silhouette [[http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/File:DarkVoice_SC2_Head1.JPEG kinda looks like a Protoss]].]]
*** I'd say it looks more like an [[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} Eredar]].
** Isn't it more plausible that he's a power-crazy rogue Xel'naga, or, in fact, [[http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Voice_in_the_Darkness_(entity) the Void entity?]]]] It doesn't make sense for him to be a protoss]] consider that he was supposedly have a hand in hardwiring the zerg to attack and kill the protoss, which, when you consider the timeline, means that around that period the whole protoss should still be in the middle of Aeon of Strife (since it happens right after Xel'naga leave the protoss, and it'll take some time for the Xel'naga to search for the zerg)...but then, one of them might be able to snuck on Xel'naga ship...]]
** But... but that picture looks so Protoss-y! ...Unless the Xel'Naga looked so startlingly like the Protoss...
*** Which wouldn't be that surprising considering the Xel'Naga created the Protoss and that the Protoss and the Zerg were created to merge into a reincarnated Xel'Naga race.]]
** Xel'Naga created the Protoss to be the Purity of Form, i.e. the most pure form imaginable. Really, think about all the "Pure Forms" humans have depicted over the years. Michaelango's David to less savory "superior races". The Protoss are the marble like statues of perfected physical form. The Zerg were meant to be the perfected mind, but the perfected mind either absolutely rebelled against the entirety of Xel'Naga, or controled by [=Dark Voice=] to do so, and assimilated the Xel'Naga over their home world. Zerg would assimilate some Xel'naga biology into itself explaining the Zergish Protos look of the [=DV=]. Essentially the Protoss are the hairless, well built, flawless skinned with perfect teeth idea of Xellies. The Zerg assimilated the mullet wearing, overweight, flabby with racial equivalent of acne scars Xellies.
** The portrait looks like a Protoss with Zerg mouthparts. It might be A) a hybrid created long ago, before the Brood War; B) a hybrid created recently, after the Brood War; or C) a form the Fallen One chose for his physical manifestation, like how the Overmind chose his own physical form.
*** Jossed. From HOTS - He is a Xel'naga and his name is Amon]]. However, his host body was derived from the corpse of the Overmind and flesh of Protoss victims.

How about this then...

[[folder: The Voice In The Darkness is a [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Chaos God]] ]]
Perhaps "created" and empowered by the short Protoss[=/=]Xel'Naga War, the following Protoss Aeon of Strife, and the Zerg[=/=]Xel'Naga "War".
* To be more specific, he's Tzeentch. That's why he's coming up with inscrutably complex plans that can take eons to pull off.
** The plans of the Voice in the Darkness are way too simple and straight forward to be Tzeentch. Now, if Tzeentch was actually manipulating EVERY group from behind the scenes (remember, Tzeentch loves to make plans that counteract his other plans) it would approach his level of insanity.
** Alternately, the Xel'naga are the Titans, and the Voice (who is also called the Fallen One, you'll recall) is Sargeras.

[[folder: To add up to the Tzeentch theory above: TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} is set in the same universe as Starcraft, but in another galaxy, and a few decades (or centuries) later.]]
The Starcraft galaxy is the origin galaxy of the Tyranids, and they're running away from the Hybrids. Yes, that means that the Tyranids are the Zerg.
Alternatively, the Tyranids ''are'' the Hybrids, and they're running away either from the combined forces of Protoss, Terrans and Zerg or from something entirely different (the Xel'naga?).

Why there are two planets called Earth and two nearly identical species who both call themselves humans/terrans, in two completely different galaxies is up to debate though. Maybe one or more of the various {{Eldritch Abomination}}s present in both Verses are responsible for it.
* Now THAT would be something Tzeentch would totally do. Complicated, inexplicable, and absolutely insane from every angle.

[[folder: Predictions for the Heart of the Swarm campaign:]]
* Kerrigan will rebuild her power and regain control over the entire Swarm (This was already mentioned in interviews).
* As part of the above, Kerrigan will have to fight rogue Broods, maybe even ones that are still under the control of UED holdouts in the sector.
* Because she has been weakened by the Xel'Naga artifact,]] Kerrigan will have to fend off attacks from the Daelaam Protoss (i.e. the main Protoss faction), who will be trying to kill her in her moment of vulnerability because Zeratul hasn't had a chance to warn them of the prophecy/they don't believe Zeratul's warning.]]
* Kerrigan will have to find and save Zeratul, who mentioned that he is being chased by Dark Voice's agents.]] This will be very awkward.
* Ariel Hanson will return even if you did the "Haven's Fall" mission and Raynor killed her; she's a Zerg, and Kerrigan can reincarnate her. Because it's been implied that Ariel was infested all along, we'll find out what Kerrigan's plans for her were.]]
** Possible. Blizzard has claimed that for the branching quests, one is non-canon. In Ariel Hanson's quest, Safe Haven is the canon quest. So, she may return, but proved to be infected (if not, they could have her infected within a cutscene anyway).
* Valerian Mengsk will, perhaps unintentionally, start a civil war in the Dominion; the soldiers that joined him on the attack on Char will insist that he become Emperor now and that Raynor be pardoned, while the other half of the Dominion military will side with Arcturus.]] Kerrigan will get involved in the conflict and gain a chance to take her revenge on Arcturus.
* Duran will return leading the Dark Voice's forces and make several attempts to assassinate Kerrigan.]]

[[folder: Arcturus Mengsk will still be Emperor of the Terran Dominion at the end of Legacy of the Void]]
Blizzard hates a happy ending. But if the Voice wins or the Swarm eats everything, there's no room for any kind of continuation. So what possible ways are left for Blizzard to make the good guys' (eg, Jim Raynor's) lives miserable? That's right.
* Alternatively, players will have a choice to destroy the Dominion and unleash all the internal conflicts and strife (of which there's quite a bit) [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor that Mengsk has been sitting on]] or to keep the terrans united at the cost of maintaining TheEmpire, either through keeping Arcturus in power or his son, Valerian.
Super, super jossed]]

[[folder: Duran is just trying to make himself look important]]
Oh, sure he serves Dark Powers That Man Was Not Meant To Wot Of etc etc. But he ''personally'' is a 33-year-old ex-Confederate infested-with-free-will special ops trooper doing grunt work for the ''actual'' scary bad guys. Everything he tells Zeratul is just him dicking around with the Prelate while he's rattled.
* Would be one hell of a RedHerring given it set up the whole plot of the ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft II}}'' trilogy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Kerrigan was after the artifact because...]]
She wanted to become human again. She was under the control of Dark Voice]] the whole time, so she needed a very roundabout way to get it. She would have destroyed it, then put it back together using some rationalization to keep Dark Voice]] from stopping her. Once it was complete, she would have "accidentally" set it off...
* Interesting. So Raynor's war against Kerrigan in ''Wings of Liberty'' was completely pointless?
** Not necessarily. For one, while that might have been Kerrigan's plans, there are no guarantees she would have pulled it off - the Dark Voice might have seen through her rationalisation for putting the artifact back together, for example.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Protoss medical technology is actually equal to or more primitive than Terran medical technology.]]

The Protoss are some of the strongest bastards around, being able to run fast, fight for days, live for centuries, and subsist on "sunshine and dew drops." To top it off, they have psychic powers and access to Khaydarin crystals, which power Protoss tech. Due to Protoss physical and technological superiority they, unlike the inferior Terrans, have no field medics or medivac dropships. Zealots can receive cybernetic leg upgrades- like some Terrans get- and can be teleported out of the warzone, but there's no way for Protoss to immediately heal their units. Dragoons and immortals are powerful cyborgs, but that's due to Protoss engineering and weapons technology.

Terrans, meanwhile, have access to field medics, who can heal soldiers in the middle of a fight, and whose technology even works on Protoss and Zerg physiology. Many of the units have cybernetic implants, which, though crude looking, work fine and are easy to install. Most incredible of all, the Terrans have ''healing lasers'' which deliver a payload of functional nanobots, which can heal a soldier up to full health in moments. Being without the advantages of the Protoss, Terran troops have had to throw a lot of effort into their medical technology to compensate. This has lead to the Terrans actually outstripping the Protoss in this field.
* That one might be due to the [[HonourBeforeReason Protoss' honour shtick.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:There will be a Zerg/Protoss/Terran war against the Xel'Naga in the future.]]
Something will happen that the three sides will have to work back-to-back in order to defeat "their creators". That, of course, in case Blizzard decides to do a campaign after ''Legacy Of The Void''.
* I think it will be called "[=StarCraft=] III".
* That's too awesome to pass up. There will also be a metric fuckton of hero units involved - Horner in the Hyperion, Valerian in the Bucephalus, Raynor, Tosh, Nova, Kerrigan (as a heavily souped-up Ghost with Psionic Storm)]], Stettman, Rory, the Odin, Zeratul, Artanis, Selendis, the other heroes from the BadFuture]], a bunch of hero zerg, and all of the mercenaries even if you didn't buy them. The ending will change based on which heroes are alive; only Raynor, Kerrigan]] and Zeratul will need to survive for victory.
** Given that half the ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' final missions ''and'' the Wings of Liberty finale are survive for a time limit missions, I think we can guarantee it. I suspect you'll only get the three big heroes, though; otherwise the number of possible ending cutscenes would get [[CombinatorialExplosion a little ridiculous]].
* Something like this does happen in Legacy of the void.
[[/folder]]

* [[WMG/StarCraftConfirmed Confirmed Theories]]

! Partially Jossed/Confirmed Theories

[[folder:Humans are a creation of the Xel'Naga and they combine purity of form and essence.]]
The two major races Protoss and Zergs, are creations of the Xel'Naga. Other alien species have existed in the Starcraft-verse, such as the Tagal, but they mostly exist as obscure things in the fluff. I think it make sense that the three major (and playable) races share a common origin. All three are psionics. Two of them, Terran and Protoss, share a similar body shape. Two of the them, Terran and Zerg, are strong in numbers. Terrans, as JackOfAllStats combine purity of form and purity of essence. Like the Zergs, they are constantly evolving. However its not their bodies but their tactics and technology that is always evolving, while the Protoss are rather stagnant.
* Then they should be stronger than the hybrids, and zergs shouldn't be able to infest them.
* Jossed. The literature directly states (I think somewhere in the ''Dark Templar Trilogy'') that the Xel'Naga didn't have a thing to do with humanity.
* Partially, if one consider that the Xel'Naga seeded all sentient species-bearing planets in the universe. They indirectly had a hand (read:tentacle) in humanity's creation.]]
[[/folder]]

! Confirmed Theories
[[folder:We have never seen any Xel'Naga because they have no body.]]
They AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence. The hybrids will become their body in the physical world.
* I always thought the Energy Beings from the books were the Xel'naga...
** Definitely not!
*** Zeratul thinks they are, but it doesn't track with anything in the games like the Xel'Naga ship that was clearly designed for things with a physical body.
** Jossed by Starcraft 2. Xel'Naga Destroyers have a body.
*** Those are actually called Hybrid destroyers, at least according to the portrait information.
** They are the same ones Duran made in Brood War.
** Hybrids are not Xel-Naga. They are created by Duran (and others) on behalf of a '''single''' Xel-Naga, referred to as the Fallen One (Amon)]], who perverted the original plan for the merging of the "purity of form/purity of essence" lifeforms.
*** Assuming, of course, that Duran is working for the Fallen One. he actually is, and he himself is a Xel'naga.]]
* Somewhat jossed. Xel'naga is a race of inter-dimensional beings, and has a hand in the creation of all life in all universes, and they reside in the Void which serves the nexus point of all universes. Eache time they enter a new universe, they will take on a new form. As observed with Duran/Nurad,Amon and Ouros, Xel'Naga indeep posses form inside the void, but in case of Amon it seems that they can appear as pure conciousness/energy being as well.]]

[[folder: Elements of Starcraft 2 plot]]
* Based off the Ghosts of the Past trailer, I have come up with some speculation. That part where all those Dominion warships are warping in? That's Prince Valerian's battlegroup. All seems lost, but then the Zerg attack the Dominion battlegroup and Raynor uses that opportunity when they're distracted by the Zerg to board the flagship, allowing him to do the scene where he asks "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now." Valerian then offers to help Raynor get to Char and lend him troops to help him kill Kerrigan (which undoubtedly fails since the next Zerg expansion deals with Kerrigan and the swarm. Does that mean Raynor dies...?). He'll also reveal that he's the mysterious employer that Raynor has been working for, the one obsessed with acquiring all those mysterious artifacts. Expect a scene along these lines: "I'll never work for you!" "Ah, but you already are/have." Also, Tychus might have been released from New Folsom prison by agreeing to spy on Raynor on Mengsk's behalf. Not sure how that fits into the plot though.
** Close. Very close. (Note that the Spoiler Tags are there for a reason. A BIG reason. Read at your own risk.) Jim does forcibly board the ship, but only succeeds because Valerian never had hostile intentions towards him; rather, he wanted to enlist Jim's help with the final artifact (which he does, to the crew of the Hyperion's chagrin). After all the artifacts are obtained, Valerian snatches half the Dominion fleet and teams up with Raynor to assault Char. And their assault is successful - the Zerg on Char are destroyed, and Kerrigan is cured and rescued in one giant SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}. Jim even takes a bullet for her, and kills Tychus.]]

! Unsorted Theories

[[folder: Duran from Brood War is the same person as [[AllThereInTheManual the Doran who sent the Terran colonists out in the first place]]]]
I have no evidence except for the name and Duran's nature.

The Duran we know in Brood War may be an agent of the Dark Voice]] may have based his disguise on him.

[[folder: Everyone is Samir Duran.]]

Including Kerrigan, Raynor, Mengsk, Findlay, Valerian, Tassadar, Zeratul, and the Overmind.

Barring Samir Duran. He's someone else entirely.

* Jossed. Samir Duran is actually a Xel'Naga named Narud and a follower of Amon.]]

[[folder: The cure didn't completely work.]]]]

In the final cutscene of [=WoL=], even though almost all of Kerrigan is back to normal, her hair is still the spindly nature that it was when she was totally zerged. And since the next campaign is going to be a Zerg one, it makes sense that Kerrigan is only 90ish% human, and has some element of control over the Zerg (but isn't crazy evil and all).]]
* [[{{Nivenus}} This Troper]] would almost consider that confirmed, since it is already confirmed Kerrigan's the player character of ''Heart of the Swarm'' and as, indicated, Kerrigan's still got the zergified hair (plus, there's the Overmind's whole [[XanatosGambit Xanatos]]/ThanatosGambit thing).]]
** Also, it is said in the Protoss mini campaign that Kerrigan is the only one who could question the Voice's control over the Zerg. Since completely removing her infestation would surely take that ability away from her, the effect would be the same as if she had been killed.]]
*** With the notable exception that ''she's not dead''. In the original timeline, somebody (probably Jim) actually put an actual bullet through her actual head. In this timeline she's still alive. Infested or not, there's a big difference there.]]

[[folder: Samir Duran is an emissary of the Dark Voice]]

It's never really elaborated just who or even what Duran is supposed to be but it's possible that he's affiliated with the Dark Voice since they're both associated with hybrids.
** Similarly, Ulrezaj is ''also'' working for the Dark Voice, whether directly or through Duran. The Dark Templar Saga confirmed that Ulrezaj was involved with creating Hybrids and was working for someone or something else; it seems highly unlikely they're not connected. Ulrezaj will get free of his [[SealedEvilInACan can]] during the Protoss campaign, and at least one mission strand will deal with putting him down permanently.

[[folder: Duran is manipulating Arcturus Mengsk from behind the scenes]]

* From the bonus mission we learn Mengsk is creating hybrids, the same hybrids that will eventually be used by the Dark Voice to destroy everything]] he learned how and got the tech to do so from Duran who is just using Mengsk to build up a hybrid army for the Dark Voice who he is an agent of.
** It was never outright confirmed that Arcturus was behind the events of the bonus mission; Raynor only assumed that. Rather, Valerian may be the one who is being manipulated by/working for Duran: Emil Narud, the head of the Moebius Foundation, is confirmed to have a connection to Duran. The Moebius Foundation is privately owned by Valerian Mengsk, and this puts a direct line between him and the Dark Voice's minions. Plus, Valerian just seems a little too good to be true.
** Narud was manipulating Valerian, along with everyone else; Valerian really was as good as his word. On the subject of Arcturus, however, it is quite possible that he wasn't entirely on-board with Narud's hybrid project; he ordered the "termination" of everyone who had ever worked in the Castanar lab (which would serve better to completely shut down the hybrid project there than to cover it up), and it's possible that he didn't know exactly what Narud was doing in the Skygeirr lab, only that it was a weapons research lab.

[[folder: Samir Duran is Emil Narud]]]]
Narud is Duran spelled backwards. Curing Kerrigan is part of his ElaborateScheme.]]
* It's even heavily suggested by Kerrigan who sees through his "charade".]]
* Blizzard themselves gave this theory a bit of credence, stating that There ''is'' a connection between Duran and Narud.]]
* Given the revelation in HOTS that Narud is a shapeshifter working for Amon, this is looking significantly more plausible.]]
** So, the universe is doomed?
** Pretty much confirmed. He is also a Xel'Naga.]]
*** Pretty much nothing, Zeratul outright confirms it in the prologue.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: One of the 'favours' Mengsk called in to raise a fleet to attack Kerrigan at the end of Brood War was Emil Narud, who became the Emperor's TheManBehindTheMan ]]
Duran/]]Narud is a servant of the Dark Voice, and once Kerrigan had [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness served her purpose]] he decided to place his assets and connections under Arcturus' control to ensure the anti-Kerrigan forces would see to her destruction. In exchange for Dominion funding and support of the Moebius Foundation's hybrid project]]. Since that obviously didn't work out, he began to manipulate Valerian to cement the Foundation's imperial ties and use him as a pawn who could work together with Raynor's Raiders]], because Arcturus wouldn't be able to, and gather up the Xel'Naga artifacts. Knowing Raynor would be a sucker for a shot at restoring Kerrigan, he pulled some strings to have Tychus bailed out to join the hunt for the artifacts. Meanwhile Narud is counting on Mengsk to try and eliminate Kerrigan through his mole Tychus because he knows she's gunning for him. Even though Tychus seemingly fails at the conclusion to Wings of Liberty, Kerrigan's deinfestation could make it much harder for her to counteract the Dark Voice's corruption of the Zerg]]. [[GambitPileUp It's a win-win situation for everyone]]. Except for every living thing in the universe should Kerrigan fail to regain control of the Swarm.]]
[[/folder]]

[[WMG: The new Zerg Queens are either infested Protoss or the Hybrids.]]
Yes, I know WordOfGod says that there are no infested Protoss, but that was more in response to an infestor ability that has now been cut out anyway. Besides, the Protoss immunity is based on their link to the Khala, and not all Protoss (like the Dark Templar) are connected to the Khala.
Visually, the new Queen is very similar to the Protoss. No mouth, the head fringe and even "dreads" on the back of their heads that are suspiciously similar to the Protoss. Then there is [[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/starcraft/images/2/25/Queen_SC2_Art2.jpg this piece of art showing a queen contemplating a severed Protoss head]]. Looks like the devs are trying to tell us something.
* We actually do see the hybrids in action in Zeratul's memory crystal. They look more Protoss-like than Zerg-like. And WordOfGod made it abundantly clear that there are no infested protoss. That's the entire reason why the Zerg have been trying to assimilate the Terrans.
** Not quite. The terrans were a target because they were primitive enough to be an easy target ([[HumansAreWarriors or so it was thought]]) but psionically gifted enough to give the zerg a much a needed boost against the protoss. The no infested protoss retcon likely means that terran psionics would have been used to bypass the Khala's protection had Kerrigan not been a unique case (which she was, for reasons revealed in ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft II}}'').
* The queen actually has fundamental similarities (the long abdomen, large tusks, four leggy things, etc.) to the old queen in vanilla ''[=StarCraft=]''. It's just that the leg-like membranes have become actual legs, it no longer flies, and it looks considerably more insect-like and less squishy than it used to.
* That being said, WordOfGod [[http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/unit/queen pretty much confirmed that the new queen uses protoss or terran DNA (possibly even from Kerrigan herself) in its genome]]. So the theory is sort of confirmed.

! Partially Jossed/Confirmed Theories

[[folder:Humans are a creation of the Xel'Naga and they combine purity of form and essence.]]
The two major races Protoss and Zergs, are creations of the Xel'Naga. Other alien species have existed in the Starcraft-verse, such as the Tagal, but they mostly exist as obscure things in the fluff. I think it make sense that the three major (and playable) races share a common origin. All three are psionics. Two of them, Terran and Protoss, share a similar body shape. Two of the them, Terran and Zerg, are strong in numbers. Terrans, as JackOfAllStats combine purity of form and purity of essence. Like the Zergs, they are constantly evolving. However its not their bodies but their tactics and technology that is always evolving, while the Protoss are rather stagnant.
* Then they should be stronger than the hybrids, and zergs shouldn't be able to infest them.
* Jossed. The literature directly states (I think somewhere in the ''Dark Templar Trilogy'') that the Xel'Naga didn't have a thing to do with humanity.
* Partially, if one consider that the Xel'Naga seeded all sentient species-bearing planets in the universe. They indirectly had a hand (read:tentacle) in humanity's creation.]]
[[/folder]]

! Confirmed Theories

[[folder: The new Zerg Queens are either infested Protoss or the Hybrids.]]

[[/folder]]

* [[WMG/WMG/StarCraftJossed Jossed Theories]]

* [[WMG/StarCraftOpenOne Open Theories Part One]]

! Jossed Theories

[[folder: The (original) Overmind isn't dead, and will come back as the surprise BigBad of Starcraft 2]]
After killing off the Xel'Naga, the overmind managed to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence trancend physical reality]] to a degree while on its way towards the Protoss. When Tassadar "killed" it, he only destroyed its body, breaking its link to the rest of the Zerg.

Alternatively, it was always non-corporeal from the get go. The [[AllThereInTheManual manual]] never states that the Overmind was of the Zerg, just that the Xel'Naga created it to manage them. Maybe it grew resentful of the Xel'Naga and decided to continue their experiments on its own terms.

After "dying", the Overmind lost control of the Zerg and had to find some other way to continue its agenda through its avatar, Samir Duran.

* It's possible that the Overmind merged with Tasadar and was then sucked into an alternate dimension/plane of existence.

* If the Overmind remains alive, so must Tassadar. No exceptions, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks lest it suck]].

* Yes and no

Jossed. The Overmind is revealed to have actually been trying to stop the ''real'' BigBad all along.]]
** Unless [[ChessMaster The Overmind was lying]].]]
*** Tassadar merged with the Overmind, and as such was shown to have explored the Overmind's mind. When the guy's literally in your mind you can't really hide jack.]]
*** Tassadar is actually dead all along, but the apparition that bears the likeliness of him is actually some sort of psionic thought-signal originated from Ouros, the last Xel'Naga (if you don't count the 'fallen' ones like Amon and Narud), and was picked up and interpreted by Zeratu as Tassadar speaking to him from the beyond. At least that's what the Legacy of the Void implied....]]

[[folder:The Terrans are the descendant of the Xel'Naga]]
The Xel'Nega's motive for experimenting with races was to create a race with the purity of form and one with the purity of essence and have them join together in a distant future, thus re-creating and saving the Xel'Naga race. Eventually some grew discouraged and when they found Earth, they decided to save their race by mating the with prehistoric hominids and creating offsprings. The offsprings of these matings had psionic abilities or [[TheTimeOfMyths magic]] as we would call it. They would eventually used Xel'Naga technology to create lost cities and ancient civilizations like Atlantis, Lemuria, Mu and etc. This created a golden age of technology AndManGrewProud. They eventually caused the destruction of those civilizations. The survivors of these civilizations would in time would lose their psionic abilites and forget their knowledge of Xel'Naga technology eventually becoming what the Terrans are right now. Yet sometimes lost psionic abilities will sometimes manifest within certain individuals because of their ancient [[InTheBlood ancestors]].
** Or rather its the Protoss who are more descendant from them. Otherwise the Zerg would have gone to Earth instead.
*** No, the Protoss and Zerg are their creations. There wasn't any interbreeding.

[[folder: Matt from the Hyperion is the former Magistrate of Mar Sara.]]
Seems like more of a general than most of the main characters in the raiders, and also seems to know what happened in the first game.
* [[http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/hero/matt-horner He isn't]]

[[folder: The Magistrate has been retconned out of existence]]
* Liberty's Crusade states that Jim Raynor WAS the Magistrate.
** Nope. If you look at Jim Raynor's Marshal badge in Starcraft II, Tychus says "Oh, man. Didn't the Magistrate here know he was hiring an arch-criminal as his Marshal?" Unless you're suggesting that Jim Raynor hired himself, this proves both that the Magistrate existed and that he wasn't Jim.
*** Yes, Jim Raynor wasn't the Magistrate. However, it wasn't the Magistrate in Episode 1 that hired Raynor. Raynor was already Marshall back in 2496; the Episode 1 Magistrate was sent to Mar Sara a few days after the Protoss attacked Chau Sara in 2499.

[[folder: The Magistrate from Starcraft and the Captain from Brood War are the same person.]]

We already know that the UED used locals rebels like Samir Duran to augment their forces. The Magistrate signed on with the invaders because he needed their military to force Mengsk out of power. He would then use the confusion to drive the UED out of the Koprulu sector.
* No. The briefing in the first Brood War Terran mission mentions about the Captain recovering from cold sleep, indicating the Captain has come from Earth. But I like the idea of the Magistrate joining the UED to fight Mengsk, after he left Raynor's Raiders because of Raynor taking his own sweet time getting back at Mengsk and hanging out with the Protoss.

! Partially Jossed/Confirmed Theories

[[folder:Humans are a creation of the Xel'Naga and they combine purity of form and essence.]]
The two major races Protoss and Zergs, are creations of the Xel'Naga. Other alien species have existed in the Starcraft-verse, such as the Tagal, but they mostly exist as obscure things in the fluff. I think it make sense that the three major (and playable) races share a common origin. All three are psionics. Two of them, Terran and Protoss, share a similar body shape. Two of the them, Terran and Zerg, are strong in numbers. Terrans, as JackOfAllStats combine purity of form and purity of essence. Like the Zergs, they are constantly evolving. However its not their bodies but their tactics and technology that is always evolving, while the Protoss are rather stagnant.
* Then they should be stronger than the hybrids, and zergs shouldn't be able to infest them.
* Jossed. The literature directly states (I think somewhere in the ''Dark Templar Trilogy'') that the Xel'Naga didn't have a thing to do with humanity.
* Partially, if one consider that the Xel'Naga seeded all sentient species-bearing planets in the universe. They indirectly had a hand (read:tentacle) in humanity's creation.]]

! Confirmed Theories
[[folder:We have never seen any Xel'Naga because they have no body.]]
They AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence. The hybrids will become their body in the physical world.
* I always thought the Energy Beings from the books were the Xel'naga...
** Definitely not!
*** Zeratul thinks they are, but it doesn't track with anything in the games like the Xel'Naga ship that was clearly designed for things with a physical body.
** Jossed by Starcraft 2. Xel'Naga Destroyers have a body.
*** Those are actually called Hybrid destroyers, at least according to the portrait information.
** They are the same ones Duran made in Brood War.
** Hybrids are not Xel-Naga. They are created by Duran (and others) on behalf of a '''single''' Xel-Naga, referred to as the Fallen One (Amon)]], who perverted the original plan for the merging of the "purity of form/purity of essence" lifeforms.
*** Assuming, of course, that Duran is working for the Fallen One. he actually is, and he himself is a Xel'naga.]]
* Somewhat jossed. Xel'naga is a race of inter-dimensional beings, and has a hand in the creation of all life in all universes, and they reside in the Void which serves the nexus point of all universes. Eache time they enter a new universe, they will take on a new form. As observed with Duran/Nurad,Amon and Ouros, Xel'Naga indeep posses form inside the void, but in case of Amon it seems that they can appear as pure conciousness/energy being as well.]]

[[folder: Elements of Starcraft 2 plot]]
* Based off the Ghosts of the Past trailer, I have come up with some speculation. That part where all those Dominion warships are warping in? That's Prince Valerian's battlegroup. All seems lost, but then the Zerg attack the Dominion battlegroup and Raynor uses that opportunity when they're distracted by the Zerg to board the flagship, allowing him to do the scene where he asks "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now." Valerian then offers to help Raynor get to Char and lend him troops to help him kill Kerrigan (which undoubtedly fails since the next Zerg expansion deals with Kerrigan and the swarm. Does that mean Raynor dies...?). He'll also reveal that he's the mysterious employer that Raynor has been working for, the one obsessed with acquiring all those mysterious artifacts. Expect a scene along these lines: "I'll never work for you!" "Ah, but you already are/have." Also, Tychus might have been released from New Folsom prison by agreeing to spy on Raynor on Mengsk's behalf. Not sure how that fits into the plot though.
** Close. Very close. (Note that the Spoiler Tags are there for a reason. A BIG reason. Read at your own risk.) Jim does forcibly board the ship, but only succeeds because Valerian never had hostile intentions towards him; rather, he wanted to enlist Jim's help with the final artifact (which he does, to the crew of the Hyperion's chagrin). After all the artifacts are obtained, Valerian snatches half the Dominion fleet and teams up with Raynor to assault Char. And their assault is successful - the Zerg on Char are destroyed, and Kerrigan is cured and rescued in one giant SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}. Jim even takes a bullet for her, and kills Tychus.]]

! Unsorted Theories

[[folder: Duran from Brood War is the same person as [[AllThereInTheManual the Doran who sent the Terran colonists out in the first place]]]]
I have no evidence except for the name and Duran's nature.

The Duran we know in Brood War may be an agent of the Dark Voice]] may have based his disguise on him.

[[folder: Everyone is Samir Duran.]]

Including Kerrigan, Raynor, Mengsk, Findlay, Valerian, Tassadar, Zeratul, and the Overmind.

Barring Samir Duran. He's someone else entirely.

* Jossed. Samir Duran is actually a Xel'Naga named Narud and a follower of Amon.]]

[[folder: The cure didn't completely work.]]]]

In the final cutscene of [=WoL=], even though almost all of Kerrigan is back to normal, her hair is still the spindly nature that it was when she was totally zerged. And since the next campaign is going to be a Zerg one, it makes sense that Kerrigan is only 90ish% human, and has some element of control over the Zerg (but isn't crazy evil and all).]]
* [[{{Nivenus}} This Troper]] would almost consider that confirmed, since it is already confirmed Kerrigan's the player character of ''Heart of the Swarm'' and as, indicated, Kerrigan's still got the zergified hair (plus, there's the Overmind's whole [[XanatosGambit Xanatos]]/ThanatosGambit thing).]]
** Also, it is said in the Protoss mini campaign that Kerrigan is the only one who could question the Voice's control over the Zerg. Since completely removing her infestation would surely take that ability away from her, the effect would be the same as if she had been killed.]]
*** With the notable exception that ''she's not dead''. In the original timeline, somebody (probably Jim) actually put an actual bullet through her actual head. In this timeline she's still alive. Infested or not, there's a big difference there.]]

[[folder: Samir Duran is an emissary of the Dark Voice]]

It's never really elaborated just who or even what Duran is supposed to be but it's possible that he's affiliated with the Dark Voice since they're both associated with hybrids.
** Similarly, Ulrezaj is ''also'' working for the Dark Voice, whether directly or through Duran. The Dark Templar Saga confirmed that Ulrezaj was involved with creating Hybrids and was working for someone or something else; it seems highly unlikely they're not connected. Ulrezaj will get free of his [[SealedEvilInACan can]] during the Protoss campaign, and at least one mission strand will deal with putting him down permanently.

[[folder: Duran is manipulating Arcturus Mengsk from behind the scenes]]

* From the bonus mission we learn Mengsk is creating hybrids, the same hybrids that will eventually be used by the Dark Voice to destroy everything]] he learned how and got the tech to do so from Duran who is just using Mengsk to build up a hybrid army for the Dark Voice who he is an agent of.
** It was never outright confirmed that Arcturus was behind the events of the bonus mission; Raynor only assumed that. Rather, Valerian may be the one who is being manipulated by/working for Duran: Emil Narud, the head of the Moebius Foundation, is confirmed to have a connection to Duran. The Moebius Foundation is privately owned by Valerian Mengsk, and this puts a direct line between him and the Dark Voice's minions. Plus, Valerian just seems a little too good to be true.
** Narud was manipulating Valerian, along with everyone else; Valerian really was as good as his word. On the subject of Arcturus, however, it is quite possible that he wasn't entirely on-board with Narud's hybrid project; he ordered the "termination" of everyone who had ever worked in the Castanar lab (which would serve better to completely shut down the hybrid project there than to cover it up), and it's possible that he didn't know exactly what Narud was doing in the Skygeirr lab, only that it was a weapons research lab.

[[folder: Samir Duran is Emil Narud]]]]
Narud is Duran spelled backwards. Curing Kerrigan is part of his ElaborateScheme.]]
* It's even heavily suggested by Kerrigan who sees through his "charade".]]
* Blizzard themselves gave this theory a bit of credence, stating that There ''is'' a connection between Duran and Narud.]]
* Given the revelation in HOTS that Narud is a shapeshifter working for Amon, this is looking significantly more plausible.]]
** So, the universe is doomed?
** Pretty much confirmed. He is also a Xel'Naga.]]
*** Pretty much nothing, Zeratul outright confirms it in the prologue.

[[folder: One of the 'favours' Mengsk called in to raise a fleet to attack Kerrigan at the end of Brood War was Emil Narud, who became the Emperor's TheManBehindTheMan ]]
Duran/]]Narud is a servant of the Dark Voice, and once Kerrigan had [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness served her purpose]] he decided to place his assets and connections under Arcturus' control to ensure the anti-Kerrigan forces would see to her destruction. In exchange for Dominion funding and support of the Moebius Foundation's hybrid project]]. Since that obviously didn't work out, he began to manipulate Valerian to cement the Foundation's imperial ties and use him as a pawn who could work together with Raynor's Raiders]], because Arcturus wouldn't be able to, and gather up the Xel'Naga artifacts. Knowing Raynor would be a sucker for a shot at restoring Kerrigan, he pulled some strings to have Tychus bailed out to join the hunt for the artifacts. Meanwhile Narud is counting on Mengsk to try and eliminate Kerrigan through his mole Tychus because he knows she's gunning for him. Even though Tychus seemingly fails at the conclusion to Wings of Liberty, Kerrigan's deinfestation could make it much harder for her to counteract the Dark Voice's corruption of the Zerg]]. [[GambitPileUp It's a win-win situation for everyone]]. Except for every living thing in the universe should Kerrigan fail to regain control of the Swarm.]]

[[folder: The mission "In Utter Darkness" will reappear in the Protoss campaign...with a twist.]]
The mission plays out the Protoss' last stand against the Hybrids and Dark Voice, in a timeline where Kerrigan has been killed. Since she's not dead in the current timeline, the Zerg will now fight alongside the Protoss when they confront the Hybrids, who will possibly now have an entire tech tree of Hybrids to make up for the fact that they won't have the Zerg with them. Alternately, the Hybrids will have mind-controlled Terrans serving them.]]
** Seems reasonable... but I'm guessing Raynor's Raiders will be fighting with the good guys too.]] I could even see the Zerg getting their own version of In Utter Darkness where they ''and'' the Protoss go down, thereby proving they have to rescue Raynor and/or Valerian and/or (just to twist the knife) Arcturus.]]
*** Its probably going to be like the final mission of the original Starcraft, only instead of having two races to build the tech trees with, you have all ''three''. (This is actually pretty common for the 'grand finales' of Starcraft games, Brood War did the same thing, only with the team-up against ''you''.). And on the other side will be the mind-controlled Zerg, hybrids, and corrupted factions of Terrans and Protoss. *crosses fingers*
*** With the corrupted Terran being the Dominion.
*** Jossed. The Protoss campaign in the Legacy of the Void is anything but bleak. Although it's actually reversed in the final three missions -- where all three races led their forces right into Amon's doorstep, dead set to end him once and for all, while Amon put up a desperate but ultimately futile resistance.]]

[[folder: Ariel Hanson]] is infested in BOTH scenarios, we only see it in one.]]
Tosh refers to Hanson as a "honey pot" repeatedly and says that she was basically a time bomb waiting to go off once she and the infested colonists reached the core worlds. She only sprouted claws and tentacles once she was blown; that would assume that some infested Terrans are able to hide their condition, though. ''Alternate'' explanation: she wasn't infested in the "Haven's Fall" scenario, but due to desperation to prove her cure worked, she infected herself and it kind of went out of control. Matt did say that "she's desperate to save her people."]]
* Alternatively; She was infested the whole time, but was, through her medical skill, able to suppress the infestation to the point were it wasn't visually obvious or had any effect on her personality. This is why she was so certain she could find a cure for the infestation. If Raynor sides with the Protoss against the colonists, she loses hope for a cure and allows the infestation to flare up again, consuming her completely. Conversely, if Raynor decides to protect the colonists, she is motivated to continue her research and either completes a permanent cure, or is able to suppress the infestation indefinitely.]]

[[folder: It is the Terrans, not the Protoss who posess the Purity of Form that will bring about the new Xel'Naga]]
Purity of Form was defined as "adaptability to harsh conditions and climates", and psionic abilities or potential. Both of these elements are an integral part of the Terrans and their plotlines. While the Xel'naga initially believed that the Protoss were the race that they needed, they eventually considered them a failure before being driven from Aiur. The Terrans are a young race that has yet to realize it's potential, and the Xel'Naga's foretold second coming is at an opportune time to take advantage of this.
* Also, Kerrigan is referred to as an "agent of the prophecy" of the Xel'Naga's return. With Kerrigan being one of, if not the most powerful psychic in the galaxy as an Infested Terran, a true hybrid would likely be powerful enough to be the "perfect being" that the Xel'Naga were searching for.
** Somewhat confirmed, as both Protoss and Overmind's Swarm were tampered by Amon, while Kerrigan being a powerful psionic (pruity of form, one who posses great psionic power -- however it dosen't have to be Terran, it just happens that Kerrigan is one.) and merged with the essence of unaltered Primal Zerg genes (pruity of essence, one who could endure great change).]] The Terran part is actually rather incidental.

[[folder: ''Heart of the Swarm'' will take place concurrently with (at the same time, chronologically, as) ''Wings of Liberty'']]
This is basically the only way it can really be done, since Wings of Liberty ended with Kerrigan being de-Zerged, and all Zerg on the Zerg capital world Char - and thus, most of the entire Zerg race - being obliterated by the Xel'Naga artifact. Because Heart of the Swarm wouldn't be fun playing as a faction that's been reduced to a leaderless, tiny remnant force that would be no better than nonsentient animals without a guiding Hive King or Queen]].
** Possibly {{Jossed}} by the blurb on the single player screen once you've finished the game, which invites the player to Discover the fate of Kerrigan and the swarm]] in the upcoming expansion.
*** Alternate theory: the campaign does indeed take place immediately after the end of Wings of Liberty, but most of the actual missions are Kerrigan in sickbay, narrating flashbacks to Raynor. Possibly the final act is Kerrigan regaining control of the Zerg and using them for good (well, good for everyone who isn't Arcturus Mengsk, the poor doomed bastard).]]
** This seems pretty well {{Jossed}} after the 2010 Blizzcon. ("It takes place at least 1 hour after Wings of Liberty, but not more than 100 years"). Kind of a joke answer, but still fixes Heart of the Swarm as coming later.
* Jossed by the fact that Heart of the Swarm will take place three weeks after Wings of Liberty.

[[folder: Kerrigan is not completely rid of her Zerg side.]]]]
Here's an interesting theory, based on the ending of ''VideoGame/StarCraftII''. The Xel'Naga artifact cured Kerrigan of her infestation, but at the same time it made her into a Zerg-Human hybrid. You can tell she still has some Zerginess by her hair in the ending cutscene. She's still the Queen of Blades, and thus in control of the Zerg, but the artifact's power allowed her to regain her humanity, so she - and by extension, the Zerg - are good guys now. This is the wrench to be thrown in the Dark Voice's plan - having the otherwise mindless Zerg used against him - and it's also the setup for the Heart of the Swarm campaign, wherein Kerrigan figures out how to control the Swarm while fighting off the imposing threat of the Dark Voice.]]
** Perhaps Heart of the Swarm means the Swarm gets a heart. A human heart.]]
** It's all a huge XanatosGambit by Kerrigan. She uses Raynor's Raiders to get rid of the Terran Dominion, builds up a new Swarm and then defeats Raynor while he's vulnerable and unsuspecting. It wouldn't be the first time Kerrigan pitted her enemies against each other and then swiftly defeated the victors.]]
** it is cormfrimed if the screen shorts of Hart of Swarm are anything to go by.]]
** Confirmed. Kerrigan actually went back being Zerg/The Queen of Blades after merging with the essence of Primal Zerg. This time though, she's far more human than her previous incarnation.]]

[[folder: Kerrigan is, in fact, completely rid of her Zerg side.]]]]
The hair is just hair. It's dead, like regular hair, and unlike the wings, the glowing eyes, the high-heels, and the chitin; once it dries up and falls off she'll be completely back to normal.]] Naaah, there's no way the laws of storytelling would let that be true.
Probably jossed as the released content of Heart of Swarm shows that she is trying to regain her powers]]
* Jossed by the Heart of Swarm campaign.

[[folder: Kerrigan is, in fact, not "cured" at all, at least mentally.]]]]
Nothing in the ending cutscene actually suggests her being "cured." Yes, she no longer has her chitinous armor and wings; that is the obvious effect of the Xel'Naga artifact "working." However, she is still the same person (assuming she didn't get a nice mindwipe as another gift from the artifact). She is still a massively powerful psionic, who can most likely still control the remaining Zerg (we do have an expansion about that coming up, after all). She is, admittedly, very weak in the cutscene, but this could easily be due to the psionic backlash of just having most of an entire race (of which she could see into every single "mind" if she wished) wiped out in a mere few seconds. She's still got some people, quite possibly including Raynor, who she wants to kill. As for her line "... Jim?"; she's called him that before when in full Queen of Blades mode, so her calling him that now is no evidence of a HeelFaceTurn. Finally , her resting in Raynor's arms is because she is literally exhausted.]]
* Sarah herself breaks through for a few seconds during the final battle, so a part of her was there. There definately some humanity left.
* If Kerrigan isn't cured, then everyone is doomed, including herself and the swarm. Part of the Overmind's plan entails that she be returned to normal in order to break the control of the zerg by The Voice and/or Xel'Naga.]]
** Nobody ever said Kerrigan had to be "cured" by a certain time, just before the Dark Voice (whoever the heck he actually is) shows up; she could very well be cured later. Also, if she did have to be cured by a certain time, how do we know that time isn't long past?]] [[DownerEnding Nobody ever said this whole story has to have a happy ending.]]
*** Most of the time, Blizzard settles for {{Bittersweet Ending}}s.

[[folder: The Kerrigan found by Raynor at the end is not the real Kerrigan.]]]]
She is, in fact, a clone made by the real Kerrigan, still the Queen of Blades, who managed to get away from the artifact's nova and hopes that, having "defeated and rescued" her, Raynor and all the others will let her work in peace to the plan to defeat the Xel'naga, like she has done in the last four years. She was interested in the artifacts probably because she discovered the plan behind that search (to "cure" her) and tried to stop it before having to resort to this trick.]]

[[folder: Duran is The Voice in the Darkness]]]]
Or at the very least possessed by or an avatar of it.
** He calls himself "''a servant of'' a far greater power", so he's likely 'just' a high-ranking underling of the [=VitD=].]]
*** Or of the Dark Voice]], who is not the same entity by canon.
*** Jossed. He is however a loyal servant of The Voice in the Darkness a.k.a Amon.]]

[[folder: The Fallen One is an evil, super-powerful Protoss]]]]
Just a hunch...
** That would have to be quite a Protoss]] to do what the Dark Voice]] seems to be capable of; and besides, going by the Dark Templar Saga, another character, Ulrezaj, already has the evil super-Protoss]] niche covered. Seems more likely that the Dark Voice]] is either a corrupted Xel'Naga, a member of a second race of precursors ''opposing'' the Xel'naga, or a straight-up EldritchAbomination]].
** It's just that looking at the Dark Voice portrait you can win via Achievements in SCII, the shadowy semi-silhouette [[http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/File:DarkVoice_SC2_Head1.JPEG kinda looks like a Protoss]].]]
*** I'd say it looks more like an [[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} Eredar]].
** Isn't it more plausible that he's a power-crazy rogue Xel'naga, or, in fact, [[http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Voice_in_the_Darkness_(entity) the Void entity?]]]] It doesn't make sense for him to be a protoss]] consider that he was supposedly have a hand in hardwiring the zerg to attack and kill the protoss, which, when you consider the timeline, means that around that period the whole protoss should still be in the middle of Aeon of Strife (since it happens right after Xel'naga leave the protoss, and it'll take some time for the Xel'naga to search for the zerg)...but then, one of them might be able to snuck on Xel'naga ship...]]
** But... but that picture looks so Protoss-y! ...Unless the Xel'Naga looked so startlingly like the Protoss...
*** Which wouldn't be that surprising considering the Xel'Naga created the Protoss and that the Protoss and the Zerg were created to merge into a reincarnated Xel'Naga race.]]
** Xel'Naga created the Protoss to be the Purity of Form, i.e. the most pure form imaginable. Really, think about all the "Pure Forms" humans have depicted over the years. Michaelango's David to less savory "superior races". The Protoss are the marble like statues of perfected physical form. The Zerg were meant to be the perfected mind, but the perfected mind either absolutely rebelled against the entirety of Xel'Naga, or controled by [=Dark Voice=] to do so, and assimilated the Xel'Naga over their home world. Zerg would assimilate some Xel'naga biology into itself explaining the Zergish Protos look of the [=DV=]. Essentially the Protoss are the hairless, well built, flawless skinned with perfect teeth idea of Xellies. The Zerg assimilated the mullet wearing, overweight, flabby with racial equivalent of acne scars Xellies.
** The portrait looks like a Protoss with Zerg mouthparts. It might be A) a hybrid created long ago, before the Brood War; B) a hybrid created recently, after the Brood War; or C) a form the Fallen One chose for his physical manifestation, like how the Overmind chose his own physical form.
*** Jossed. From HOTS - He is a Xel'naga and his name is Amon]]. However, his host body was derived from the corpse of the Overmind and flesh of Protoss victims.

How about this then...

[[folder: The Voice In The Darkness is a [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Chaos God]] ]]
Perhaps "created" and empowered by the short Protoss[=/=]Xel'Naga War, the following Protoss Aeon of Strife, and the Zerg[=/=]Xel'Naga "War".
* To be more specific, he's Tzeentch. That's why he's coming up with inscrutably complex plans that can take eons to pull off.
** The plans of the Voice in the Darkness are way too simple and straight forward to be Tzeentch. Now, if Tzeentch was actually manipulating EVERY group from behind the scenes (remember, Tzeentch loves to make plans that counteract his other plans) it would approach his level of insanity.
** Alternately, the Xel'naga are the Titans, and the Voice (who is also called the Fallen One, you'll recall) is Sargeras.

[[folder: To add up to the Tzeentch theory above: TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} is set in the same universe as Starcraft, but in another galaxy, and a few decades (or centuries) later.]]
The Starcraft galaxy is the origin galaxy of the Tyranids, and they're running away from the Hybrids. Yes, that means that the Tyranids are the Zerg.
Alternatively, the Tyranids ''are'' the Hybrids, and they're running away either from the combined forces of Protoss, Terrans and Zerg or from something entirely different (the Xel'naga?).

Why there are two planets called Earth and two nearly identical species who both call themselves humans/terrans, in two completely different galaxies is up to debate though. Maybe one or more of the various {{Eldritch Abomination}}s present in both Verses are responsible for it.
* Now THAT would be something Tzeentch would totally do. Complicated, inexplicable, and absolutely insane from every angle.

[[folder: Predictions for the Heart of the Swarm campaign:]]
* Kerrigan will rebuild her power and regain control over the entire Swarm (This was already mentioned in interviews).
* As part of the above, Kerrigan will have to fight rogue Broods, maybe even ones that are still under the control of UED holdouts in the sector.
* Because she has been weakened by the Xel'Naga artifact,]] Kerrigan will have to fend off attacks from the Daelaam Protoss (i.e. the main Protoss faction), who will be trying to kill her in her moment of vulnerability because Zeratul hasn't had a chance to warn them of the prophecy/they don't believe Zeratul's warning.]]
* Kerrigan will have to find and save Zeratul, who mentioned that he is being chased by Dark Voice's agents.]] This will be very awkward.
* Ariel Hanson will return even if you did the "Haven's Fall" mission and Raynor killed her; she's a Zerg, and Kerrigan can reincarnate her. Because it's been implied that Ariel was infested all along, we'll find out what Kerrigan's plans for her were.]]
** Possible. Blizzard has claimed that for the branching quests, one is non-canon. In Ariel Hanson's quest, Safe Haven is the canon quest. So, she may return, but proved to be infected (if not, they could have her infected within a cutscene anyway).
* Valerian Mengsk will, perhaps unintentionally, start a civil war in the Dominion; the soldiers that joined him on the attack on Char will insist that he become Emperor now and that Raynor be pardoned, while the other half of the Dominion military will side with Arcturus.]] Kerrigan will get involved in the conflict and gain a chance to take her revenge on Arcturus.
* Duran will return leading the Dark Voice's forces and make several attempts to assassinate Kerrigan.]]

[[folder: Arcturus Mengsk will still be Emperor of the Terran Dominion at the end of Legacy of the Void]]
Blizzard hates a happy ending. But if the Voice wins or the Swarm eats everything, there's no room for any kind of continuation. So what possible ways are left for Blizzard to make the good guys' (eg, Jim Raynor's) lives miserable? That's right.
* Alternatively, players will have a choice to destroy the Dominion and unleash all the internal conflicts and strife (of which there's quite a bit) [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor that Mengsk has been sitting on]] or to keep the terrans united at the cost of maintaining TheEmpire, either through keeping Arcturus in power or his son, Valerian.
Super, super jossed]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Duran is just trying to make himself look important]]
Oh, sure he serves Dark Powers That Man Was Not Meant To Wot Of etc etc. But he ''personally'' is a 33-year-old ex-Confederate infested-with-free-will special ops trooper doing grunt work for the ''actual'' scary bad guys. Everything he tells Zeratul is just him dicking around with the Prelate while he's rattled.
* Would be one hell of a RedHerring given it set up the whole plot of the ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft II}}'' trilogy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Kerrigan was after the artifact because...]]
She wanted to become human again. She was under the control of Dark Voice]] the whole time, so she needed a very roundabout way to get it. She would have destroyed it, then put it back together using some rationalization to keep Dark Voice]] from stopping her. Once it was complete, she would have "accidentally" set it off...
* Interesting. So Raynor's war against Kerrigan in ''Wings of Liberty'' was completely pointless?
** Not necessarily. For one, while that might have been Kerrigan's plans, there are no guarantees she would have pulled it off - the Dark Voice might have seen through her rationalisation for putting the artifact back together, for example.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Protoss medical technology is actually equal to or more primitive than Terran medical technology.]]

The Protoss are some of the strongest bastards around, being able to run fast, fight for days, live for centuries, and subsist on "sunshine and dew drops." To top it off, they have psychic powers and access to Khaydarin crystals, which power Protoss tech. Due to Protoss physical and technological superiority they, unlike the inferior Terrans, have no field medics or medivac dropships. Zealots can receive cybernetic leg upgrades- like some Terrans get- and can be teleported out of the warzone, but there's no way for Protoss to immediately heal their units. Dragoons and immortals are powerful cyborgs, but that's due to Protoss engineering and weapons technology.

Terrans, meanwhile, have access to field medics, who can heal soldiers in the middle of a fight, and whose technology even works on Protoss and Zerg physiology. Many of the units have cybernetic implants, which, though crude looking, work fine and are easy to install. Most incredible of all, the Terrans have ''healing lasers'' which deliver a payload of functional nanobots, which can heal a soldier up to full health in moments. Being without the advantages of the Protoss, Terran troops have had to throw a lot of effort into their medical technology to compensate. This has lead to the Terrans actually outstripping the Protoss in this field.
* That one might be due to the [[HonourBeforeReason Protoss' honour shtick.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:There will be a Zerg/Protoss/Terran war against the Xel'Naga in the future.]]
Something will happen that the three sides will have to work back-to-back in order to defeat "their creators". That, of course, in case Blizzard decides to do a campaign after ''Legacy Of The Void''.
* I think it will be called "[=StarCraft=] III".
* That's too awesome to pass up. There will also be a metric fuckton of hero units involved - Horner in the Hyperion, Valerian in the Bucephalus, Raynor, Tosh, Nova, Kerrigan (as a heavily souped-up Ghost with Psionic Storm)]], Stettman, Rory, the Odin, Zeratul, Artanis, Selendis, the other heroes from the BadFuture]], a bunch of hero zerg, and all of the mercenaries even if you didn't buy them. The ending will change based on which heroes are alive; only Raynor, Kerrigan]] and Zeratul will need to survive for victory.
** Given that half the ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' final missions ''and'' the Wings of Liberty finale are survive for a time limit missions, I think we can guarantee it. I suspect you'll only get the three big heroes, though; otherwise the number of possible ending cutscenes would get [[CombinatorialExplosion a little ridiculous]].
* Something like this does happen in Legacy of the void.
[[/folder]]

----
! Open Theories

[[folder: Amon's resurrection drove Tosh completely insane.]]
* Given how frightened Tosh was of the lone Hybrid that Raynor found on Castanar, it makes sense that he would be even less mentally stable in the presence of Amon himself. And Tosh is nowhere to be seen either in ''Legacy of the Void'' or in ''Nova: Covert Ops'' even though his Spectres still fight for Raynor's Raiders in the former campaign. Most likely, Amon broke Tosh's will, and Tosh was one of the Spectres that Artanis killed in the course of ''Legacy of the Void''.

[[folder: There will be another Starcraft game set either before or after the current setting.]]
* The universe is a pretty big place, the Xel'Naga and the three main races can't be the only races of note. Alternatively the past of the 3 races could be interesting. The Terran campaign is the war that led to the expulsion of the Terrans, the Protoss campaign is the Aeon of Strife and the Zerg campaign is their uprising against the Xel'Naga. Matti23

[[folder: Sanctuary (Diablo universe) is a former, or alternate instance of The Infinite Cycle.]]
The Angels are Purity of Form (Protoss), and the Demons are Purity of Essence (Zerg).]] This would mean interesting things regarding the Nephalem. They could be a naturally occurring instance of a power equal to the Xel'Naga, or of suitible hosts.]]
* Furthermore, in The Sin War trilogy, Uldyssian manages to drive back both the Angels and Demons, an impressive feat, before being consumed by his own power. He notes that he gained it too quickly, and as the player character of Diablo 3 is called and noted to be Nephalem, meaning that humanity gets to a place where they can handle the power while maintaining a physical form.]]
* This also provides a possible explanation for why Kerrigan was able to absorb Ourous's power. Although an alternate instance, Kerrigan was originally human, and the increasing amount of psychics prove that these humans also have some degree of hidden potential.]]
* This also explains Trag'Oul finally: Trag'Oul is a Xel'Naga who is interfering in, or watching Sanctuary's growth. It is why he was able to keep his presence from the Angels and Demons, and let Mendeln keep his memories.]]

[[folder:Zerus is prehistorical Azeroth. (Warcraft)]]
The Primal Zerg native to Zerus eventually evolved into the Mantid, Nerubians, and Qiraji, and maybe the strongest Primals evolved into the Old Gods themselves. Perhaps "Zerus" in the Xel'Naga language translates to "A-Zeroth" in the Titan language.

[[folder: Alternatively, humans aren't created by the Xel'naga, but lured into the Koprulu Sector to give raw material on how to merge Purity of Form and Purity of Essence.]]
The Protoss and Zerg can't merge with each other directly because of the WordOfGod that "there are no infested protoss". Perhaps there needs to be an existing "keystone species" that evolved on their own to represent a rather primitive form of merging, and that's where humans enter. Also, Narud does not use Protoss technology in creating Hybrids, but instead Terran technology, which seemed primitive at first, but is actually more advanced in biotechnology (exemplified by their medics).

[[folder: The Humans are a Monkey Wrench in the Xel'naga's Plans]]
* The Xel'naga, specifically Amon, perfectly predicted the Zerg and Protoss, and how the Zerg would win the war. However, they did not account for the Terrans.
** If it wasn't for Jim Raynor, it is entirely possible that Tassadar would have died before his heroic sacrifice, preventing the Overmind's destruction.
** Half of the elite zerg commanders are infested Terrans, and the broodmothers were created by one. Without Kerrigan or an equivalent powerful psionic that wasn't originally zerg (and thus could be freed from Amon's influence), there would not have been any way to free the Zerg from Amon.
** In the grand finale, which we already know will involve all three armies fighting on a single battlefield (because how else could they end it), only the combined might of all three races can defeat Amon. Without the Terrans, two of the armies just won't be present, with "In Utter Darkness" being the inevitable BadFuture.

[[folder:Let's discuss plausible dimensions of Terran units in [=StarCraft=]: Broodwar]]
So it's pretty obvious that [[UnitsNotToScale units are not to scale]] in-game. How are they scaled, then? I'd like to present plausible scales for Terran units.

- In the Zerg mission "Amerigo", in which a science vessel is infiltrated, it has a crew consisting of 110 men (according to the stats after finishing said mission). For further argumentation, I will assume that each unit of science vessel literally consists of a single science vessel. Since each science vessel takes up 2 supply units, we can assume that each supply unit provides roughly 50 men.

- Marines, Firebats, and Medics are trained in platoons consisting of 50 men (1 supply).

- Goliaths take up 2 supply, which means each Goliath unit consists of 100 men. Now I think 100 Goliaths might be too many for one unit, but it's possible that it takes one pilot and one co-pilot to handle a single Goliath, hence 1 unit equals 50 Goliaths.

- Siege tanks take up 2 supply, so 1 unit of them would consist of 100 men. If each tank had to be crewed by 4 men, each unit would consist of 25 tanks.

- Dropships and Wraiths take up 2 supply each. With one pilot and one co-pilot for each ship, one unit would consist of 50 spacecraft.

- Assuming Valkyries are crewed by 3 men each, they are built in packs of 50.

- Battlecruisers take up 6 supply, hence each unit consists of 300 men, and this is good enough for me to assume that each unit represents literally one single battlecruiser. 300 may not sound like much as actual battlecruisers had crews of 1000+ , but advanced space-age computers might help to reduce the required crews.

This would also explain why battlecruisers could be hijacked by a single unit, as it doesn't seem too ridiculous that each one could be hijacked by a crew of 50.

What do you think?

* Supply doesn't just cover manpower. It also covers rations, fuel, ammo, spare parts etc. needed to keep that unit running. Basically a single supply depot covers the needs of eight marines or four goliaths. The way I see it, a goliath costing 2 supply against a marine's 1 supply simply means that it costs twice as much in whatever currency is used in the Koprulu sector to maintain a Goliath in the field as it does a marine. As for the science vessel only requiring 2 marine's worth of upkeep, keep in mind that it has no ammo, it's power core is probably self sustaining or requires very infrequent refueling and rations for the crew is probably dirt cheap, as opposed to the marine, who requires a constant source for ammo as well as maintenance for his suit.
** Good point about how supply isn't only about covering manpower. Still, running a science vessel would cost much more than supplying two marines, since the science vessel (the Amerigo) itself has 48 marines, 10 Ghosts, 10 Firebats, 6 Goliaths, and a Vulture as mere [[{{Mooks}} security guards]]. If units were to scale on the field, they alone would require 82 supply units. There is also a crew consisting of 32 civilians and 3 [=SCVs=]. Hence, I think it's safe to assume that units are much, much more than they appear to be in-game. But I see your point that supply isn't just food, water and air for the men.
*** So, to reconsider the original post in terms of "total supplies":

-Marines, firebats, etc. may still come in groups of 50.

-Goliaths also come in groups of 50 or so, maybe less. They are likely piloted by 1 person, possibly 2, but take up more supply per person due to the greater maintenance, fuel, etc. required to power a large walking vehicle with several types of weapons rather than a suit of powered armor.

-Siege tanks may still be crewed as described, or may have smaller crews, or be represented by smaller numbers. They do not need maintenance for powered armor for crews, but do need supplies for the tank itself. Being somewhat complicated with the transforming process, the tank could well consume more supply per person.

-Dropships are somewhat similar to siege tanks. They may be based on well tested designs for non-combat transports, which will provide extra testing an easier maintenance (Though I may just be pulling this out of my ass.)

-Battlecruisers probably represent a single unit, as described.

* Though I would like to know about the size of the Odin. Seeing as even the Hercules can't carry it (and it can carry three Thors)...
** I believe it was stated to be the size of a large building (and judging by its HitPoints and Armour...)

-What I like about this unit scale is that it makes the larger units much more powerful than the gameplay would otherwise suggest. The Odin takes out squads of enemies with each shot, a Battlecruiser can hold its own against hundreds of Marines (as opposed to losing against 8-10 Marines), a single Ultralisk can carve through entire armies, etc.

-The scale doesn't really work with the campaign (Even with PlotArmor and [[ImprobableAimingSkills Aiming Skills]], I doubt Raynor can outdamage 100 Marines) but it does make Multiplayer battles a lot cooler.
* That could be Raynor and his personal squad of handpicked marines.

-So how big does this make the Terror-Tron exactly?

* Scaling based on gameplay mechanics is the dumbest thing one could possibly do.

-So 'one' larva is how many Zerglings?

[[folder:The entire series after the part of the first game where you play as the Zerg is a Bodyguard gambit by the Zerg Cerebrate "He" was created with the express purpose of serving and protecting Kerrigan, and has done so very well. In fact, he has never had a major tactical defeat. He is manipulating the various events that happen in order to make Kerrigan powerful, just like the Overmind told him to.]]

On a more personal note, Nameless Zerg Cerebrate was my favorite character in Starcraft. I'd always imagine him to be [[Main/ExtremeDoormat ridiculously servile and weak willed]] (because again, the Overmind designed "him" to serve and protect Kerrigan) and Kerrigan as a DeadpanSnarker.

* Didn't he get killed once (presume it's during the Protoss campaign in first game)? Kerrigan said she resurrected him in Brood War.
** No, that was another Cerebrate in Episode VI.

* Maybe the Nameless Zerg Cerebrate in some way controls Duran - or maybe even has reincarnated itself in Duran. Not only does Duran protect Kerrigan by means of tactical aid, but he also tries to combine Protoss and Zerg DNA]], which was the old Overmind's ultimate goal. And remember that Kerrigan, and subsequently also the Nameless Cerebrate, were explicitly only created to achieve this goal. Also, Duran states that he does not serve Kerrigan but a far greater power]], which according to the already revealed parts of the Starcraft II story will be the Xel'naga]], but judging from the statement alone could as well have been referring to the Overmind.
* In a kind of unrelated note: Starcraft 2 information has revealed to us that Kerrigan never had a cerebrate serving her during the Brood Wars. That was in game just to give an excuse for the player to be someone at all.
** Or something even awesomer: You weren't a cerebrate, you were Xel'Naga pretending to be a cerebrate. Or something.
** ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft II}}'' never outright says that and the ExpandedUniverse heavily imply that both cerebrates existed (the first one, used in the vanilla zerg campaign, was killed by the dark templar and the second one, in Brood War, may have simply expended its usefulness by the time of ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft II}}''). That being said, Kerrigan appears to be, once fully matured, more than an equal for any cerebrate since the Overmind intended for her to rule the swarm on her own)]].
** Weird, I always thought that the cerebrate was killed on the dark templar assault before killing the overmind, after all the overmind brings the cerebrate to Aiur during the campaing and that the second one was disposed after the broodwar for outliving their usefulness to kerrigan, you know with the broodmothers and all that.

[[folder:Alternately, the NonEntityGeneral you play as during all the Terran, Protoss, and Zerg campaigns are the same person, a Xel'Naga survivor manipulating events.]]

It would certainly HandWave why the side you play as almost always wins, and how Blizzard has to keep retconning out the NonEntityGeneral into an actual character. I mean, so far they've changed the guy who helps Raynor during Starcraft Vanilla into Raynor himself, the Protoss Executor into Artanis, and IIRC, the Protoss Executor during Starcraft Brood War into that Selendis Protoss chick.
* It was only implied, not confirmed that Selendis was the Executor in Episode IV of Starcraft.
* Some of the Terran [[NonEntityGeneral NEG's]] roles were taken over by Michael Liberty, if you read ''Liberty's Crusade''.
* Also, ''Queen of Blades'' indicates the Magistrate from "Rebel Yell" did exist, but mysteriously disappeared afterwards. Some fans like to assume that Horner is the Magistrate, though there's no clear-cut evidence for this at all and Blizzard likely didn't intend this to be the case.
* Didn't the terran commander leave to umoja after Raynor said that they were going to char over a dream? I remember reading it mentioned on a book some years ago.

[[folder: Starcraft takes place in the Warcraft universe.]]
At some point in the past, the Xel'Naga discovered Earth, which was overrun by mystical creatures & people who had the ability to use similar supernatural powers to the Xel'Naga's own Protoss. The 'Nagas didn't want their own creations to be surpassed by a bunch of uppity aliens & they believed that life on Earth was too far along in its evolution for them to bend it to their whims, so they wiped out most of the magic-using species on the planet & did something to the remaining humans to prevent them from using magic, though a few magic-users remained & whose descendants become the Ghosts.
* Notably, there is a [[http://images.wikia.com/starcraft/images/a/a7/Azeroth_SC2_Cncpt1.jpg map]] stating that Azeroth is within the Koprulu Sector.
** Notably, that map managed to misspell "Aiur".
*** The map is most definitely a fake. It does not even show Shakuras! Or Braxis...
*** Hell, it doesn't even have Umoja.
*** It's also on the official website. Though on [[http://www.starcraft2.com/features/terran/taurenmarine.xml an April Fools page]].
*** It may be an April Fools Joke, but there is a Tauren Marine that appears in the campaign level, Zero Hour, and let's not forget the dancing Night Elf holograms. It still is a possibility that they exist in the same universe.
* The Titans are the Xel'Naga and the Voice in the Darkness is an Old God.
** That Voice claims, that he "will destroy the Protoss, just like he created them". Assuming this is true, it's more likely that said Voice is Sargeras. Did nobody notice the similarities between Zerglings and Felhunters?
* There are [=WMGs=] all around the web that Warcraft and Starcraft were taken from Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 respectively. Would that make Starcraft "Warcraft 40K"?
** WMG nothing. ''[[VideoGame/WarcraftOrcsAndHumans Warcraft 1]]'' was to be a Warhammer RTS, but WAR's owners decided against it. Blizzard changed it just enough to be a different game, [=WARcraft=], and games after that took their own route. Starcraft, however, is a bit trickier. Space Marines are most well known in Warhammer 40k, but they have been around for ages. Look at preceding art of Franchise/StarshipTroopers. Space Marines vs Bugs. Early demos have the Zerg as more of an Alien/Aliens Expy than Tyranids who arguably became more Zerglike post Star Craft. The Protoss have some similiarity to the Eldar, but the Eldar are simply Dark and Light Elves InSpace. It is telling that WAR 40k created Protoss expies in the Tau on how much the 'Toss came from W40k.
** Hmm, a race of short lived, ranged-combat favoring ''blue-skinned'' noseless, decidedly secular Taoist-Communist alien who suck at close-quarters combat and have no Warp-Signature whatsoever that is actually one of their most notable traits are similar to a race of close-combat loving textbook ProudWarriorRaceGuys who have an extensive honour system and who also have psychic abilities? That said, it is obvious the Protoss are shameless Eldar rip offs.
*** Not really. The Eldar were incredibly decadent, and a fallen empire. The similarities between the Protoss and the Tau come from the caste system, which the Protoss had first. As for the similarities between the Protoss and the Eldar, both are just different variations of the SpaceElves trope.

[[folder: The Dark Templar are responsible for the advent of sentience on Earth.]]
The original campaign establishes that only the Dark Templar can permanently kill a Cerebrate. But in the Brood War campaign, the UED destroys Cerebrates using conventional Terran weaponry. The only explanation is that, on some level, the Terrans are Dark Templar! More precisely, some Dark Templar, hoping to create a force to oppose the Khalar, seeded primates on Earth with their genetic material, granting them full sentience and latent psionic abilities. Right now, humanity is discovering its latent psionic powers. Also, anything they make and work with is imbued with their latent energies - so an ordinary Protoss could kill a Cerebrate with a human weapon, especially if he had just been handed the weapon by a human. Eventually, every human will become a Ghost.
* And then they will kick the Xel'Naga's ass.
* Do we really know that the UED managed to kill Cerebrates ''permanently''? At no other time in the series do they manage it. Presumably, the plan was to disable the Cerebrates, then move in and drug the Overmind before it had a chance to reincarnate them.
** Given that the overmind was a new one, and probably wasn't quite as good as the original, I could see that the UED could just kick in a few mega larva and then drug the overmind while it was trying get everything working again.
*** It's pretty much stated in the first one that the Overmind is resurrecting them, which is why they wanted a new one. And as he wasn't even sentient yet when the UED attacked he might not be able to resurrect them.
* The Dark Templar were able to destroy the cerebrates because their psionic energies (that were similar to the Zerg energies) contacted and neutralized the Overmind for a second, eliminating its bond with the cerebrate while it was being killed, so, no resurrection. What the UED force did was to use the Psi Disrupter to DISRUPT the control of the overmind and the cerebrates (and Kerrigan) over the swarms. This also eliminated the bond between the Overmind and the cerebrates.
* How? The Dark Templar schism only happened 1000 years ago in-game. That would only translate into 1500 AD. Humans have been around for a lot longer.

[[folder: Dark Templar energies are connected to The Heart of the Tardis. (Doctor Who)]]
No evidence, but wouldn't it be [[RuleOfCool awesome]]?
* No it wouldn't. And leave the Time Lord [=WMGs=] on {{WMG.Time Lord}}.

[[folder:The Xel'Naga are returning because of the advent of humanity]]
Here's my theory on how this is all going to end up, and why. The Xel'Naga created the Protoss, and then the Zerg, in an attempt to make the perfect life form (like themselves/better). Neither one was perfect, but it was believed that if combined, they could be.

Fast forward to post Broodwar. The Zerg have all but wiped out the Protoss, the Overmind has been defeated by Infested Kerrigan, and SOMEHOW, despite the fact that their only bystanders in a war set up millenia ago by godlike beings, the Terrans are powerful enough to be a threat to both (if they would only get their act together). I think its going to turn out that HumansAreSpecial and the Xel'Naga are going to recognize this, and possibly be extremely pissed that they were wrong.
* The biggest problem here is the assumption that humans are a threat to the other races. They're not. Their technology and psionic abilities pale in comparison to the Protoss, who have never bothered using anything more than a token force when attacking Terrans since they're so outclassed. To the zerg the humans are genetic garbage, not even worth the effort to properly infest unless they find the rare human with strong psionic abilities. The humans could unite as one and both races would still find their combined forces irrelevant. It's gameplay that gives the illusion of balance, if you watch the actual story you see all Terrans do is either run away or hold the line long enough to run away or for some stronger force to bail them out.

[[folder:The Xel'Naga are responsible for the advent of sentience on Earth]]
Well, nothing's ever denied this, and we know that they're quite prolific interstellar geneticists that had other experiments before the Protoss and the Zerg. I see no reason why humanity couldn't have been a "failed" experiment of the Xel'Naga that they gave up on before encountering the Protoss and determining them as the perfect form. And then, ironically, their failed experiment that they've left to die becomes stronger on its own, for the reasons given in the previous WMG.
* I once had the theory that the Terrans were indeed created by the Xel'naga, but ''after'' the Protoss and Zerg, since the Terrans are most assuredly the youngest of the three races. After the Overmind revolted against his creators, the Xel'naga gave up the goal of directly creating the perfect species, probably because they realized that they had already created Pure Form as well as Pure Essence and now just had to combine them. However, if they had just let the Zerg search the galaxy for the Protoss, there would have been two possible outcomes. Either the Zerg do find and assimilate the Protoss, thereby creating the union of Pure Form and Pure Essence, but under the control of the Overmind, and the Xel'naga don't want that. Or the Zerg cannot find or cannot defeat the Protoss and nothing is accomplished. So, the Xel'naga had to put a ''third'' factor in the equation: One that would be able to lure the Zerg to the sector where they could find the Protoss, would also possess a telepathic ability that would make it attractive to be assimilated into the swarm, possess the will and potential to find ways to tame or defeat the Overmind, and could be used as a buffer between Zerg and Protoss so that no direct one-on-one confrontation between the two species occurs until the time would be right. So, the Xel'naga created the Terrans, and they served their needs perfectly until now.
** This Troper was always under the impression that was, specifically, what the game itself implied by the series of events described in the original Star Craft's manual. It seems to pretty clearly say "if it's crazy, and psychic, the Xel'Naga made it". Also the nature of the Terran/Xel'Naga agent (his name escapes This Troper) in Brood War, and the hybrids he was working on, seem to imply that the Xel'Naga were directly involved in the events of Brood War and, likely, the first war too. Or at least it seemed rather implicit to me...
*** What the manual implies is 'if it's crazy and psychic the Xel'naga will play with them until they're ten times moreso'. Humans were not affected by the Xel'naga at all, but they likely would have been if the zerg hadn't eaten them.
*** Somewhat confirmed. The Xel'Naga were the beings who seeded life on all planets in the universe that eventually evolved sentient lifeforms. So they are responsible for creating the environment where sentient life could grow, thus indirectly resulted in the emergence of human beings.]]

[[folder:StarCraft: Ghost was just a front to keep StarCraft 2 from being leaked]]
Think about it: By releasing a couple of screenshots every year, maybe a video or a rudimentary demo every now and then, Blizzard could focus attention away from its real surprise product: [=StarCraft=] 2. Plus, if I'm not mistaken, [=StarCraft=]: Ghost was canceled just a bit before the announcement of [=StarCraft=] 2. The problem is, SC:G was never officially canceled...just wait till Christmas!
* Events from Ghost seem to be canon as well, judging by the content of Nova's cameo.

[[folder: The former Magistrate of Mar Sara left Raynor's Raiders for personal reasons]]
Kerrigan’s suicide mission left such a bitter aftertaste the Commander couldn’t bring him/herself command again.
* Commander was romantically inclined toward Kerrigan and could not muster the will to fight her.
* Commander secretly loves Raynor but never brought it up as not to interfere with his developing relationship with Kerrigan. It was too painful for the former Magistrate to stay and watch Jim collapse after losing Kerrigan to the Zerg.
** Commander intentionally sent Kerrigan to New Gettysburg to die, jealous of Sarah’s relationship with Jim. By the formation Raynor’s Raiders guilt caught up and the Commander who could not stay with the unit in good conscience.

[[folder: The former Magistrate of Mar Sara is working with Raynor's Raiders from behind the scenes.]]
Commander is staying out of the spotlight allowing Jim Raynor to command the organization.
* Commander is commanding Raynor's Raiders from the shadows.
* Jim Raynor is puppet and the former Magistrate of Mar Sara is pulling the strings.

[[folder: The former Magistrate of Mar Sara left Raynor's Raiders because Jim Raynor is a glory hog.]]
Commander outright abandoned Raynor's Raiders because Raynor kept intentionally taking credit for victories that weren’t really Raynor's.
* And formed a splinter faction christened Commander’s Cossacks.

[[folder: The former Magistrate of Mar Sara was named Samir Duran]]
* And is also a Time Lord.

! Confirmed Theories
[[folder: The new Zerg Queens are either infested Protoss or the Hybrids.]]
Yes, I know WordOfGod says that there are no infested Protoss, but that was more in response to an infestor ability that has now been cut out anyway. Besides, the Protoss immunity is based on their link to the Khala, and not all Protoss (like the Dark Templar) are connected to the Khala.
Visually, the new Queen is very similar to the Protoss. No mouth, the head fringe and even "dreads" on the back of their heads that are suspiciously similar to the Protoss. Then there is [[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/starcraft/images/2/25/Queen_SC2_Art2.jpg this piece of art showing a queen contemplating a severed Protoss head]]. Looks like the devs are trying to tell us something.
* We actually do see the hybrids in action in Zeratul's memory crystal. They look more Protoss-like than Zerg-like. And WordOfGod made it abundantly clear that there are no infested protoss. That's the entire reason why the Zerg have been trying to assimilate the Terrans.
** Not quite. The terrans were a target because they were primitive enough to be an easy target ([[HumansAreWarriors or so it was thought]]) but psionically gifted enough to give the zerg a much a needed boost against the protoss. The no infested protoss retcon likely means that terran psionics would have been used to bypass the Khala's protection had Kerrigan not been a unique case (which she was, for reasons revealed in ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft II}}'').
* The queen actually has fundamental similarities (the long abdomen, large tusks, four leggy things, etc.) to the old queen in vanilla ''[=StarCraft=]''. It's just that the leg-like membranes have become actual legs, it no longer flies, and it looks considerably more insect-like and less squishy than it used to.
* That being said, WordOfGod [[http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/unit/queen pretty much confirmed that the new queen uses protoss or terran DNA (possibly even from Kerrigan herself) in its genome]]. So the theory is sort of confirmed.

! Jossed Theories

[[folder: The (original) Overmind isn't dead, and will come back as the surprise BigBad of Starcraft 2]]
After killing off the Xel'Naga, the overmind managed to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence trancend physical reality]] to a degree while on its way towards the Protoss. When Tassadar "killed" it, he only destroyed its body, breaking its link to the rest of the Zerg.

Alternatively, it was always non-corporeal from the get go. The [[AllThereInTheManual manual]] never states that the Overmind was of the Zerg, just that the Xel'Naga created it to manage them. Maybe it grew resentful of the Xel'Naga and decided to continue their experiments on its own terms.

After "dying", the Overmind lost control of the Zerg and had to find some other way to continue its agenda through its avatar, Samir Duran.

* It's possible that the Overmind merged with Tasadar and was then sucked into an alternate dimension/plane of existence.

* If the Overmind remains alive, so must Tassadar. No exceptions, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks lest it suck]].

* Yes and no

Jossed. The Overmind is revealed to have actually been trying to stop the ''real'' BigBad all along.]]
** Unless [[ChessMaster The Overmind was lying]].]]
*** Tassadar merged with the Overmind, and as such was shown to have explored the Overmind's mind. When the guy's literally in your mind you can't really hide jack.]]
*** Tassadar is actually dead all along, but the apparition that bears the likeliness of him is actually some sort of psionic thought-signal originated from Ouros, the last Xel'Naga (if you don't count the 'fallen' ones like Amon and Narud), and was picked up and interpreted by Zeratu as Tassadar speaking to him from the beyond. At least that's what the Legacy of the Void implied....]]

[[folder:The Terrans are the descendant of the Xel'Naga]]
The Xel'Nega's motive for experimenting with races was to create a race with the purity of form and one with the purity of essence and have them join together in a distant future, thus re-creating and saving the Xel'Naga race. Eventually some grew discouraged and when they found Earth, they decided to save their race by mating the with prehistoric hominids and creating offsprings. The offsprings of these matings had psionic abilities or [[TheTimeOfMyths magic]] as we would call it. They would eventually used Xel'Naga technology to create lost cities and ancient civilizations like Atlantis, Lemuria, Mu and etc. This created a golden age of technology AndManGrewProud. They eventually caused the destruction of those civilizations. The survivors of these civilizations would in time would lose their psionic abilites and forget their knowledge of Xel'Naga technology eventually becoming what the Terrans are right now. Yet sometimes lost psionic abilities will sometimes manifest within certain individuals because of their ancient [[InTheBlood ancestors]].
** Or rather its the Protoss who are more descendant from them. Otherwise the Zerg would have gone to Earth instead.
*** No, the Protoss and Zerg are their creations. There wasn't any interbreeding.

[[folder: Matt from the Hyperion is the former Magistrate of Mar Sara.]]
Seems like more of a general than most of the main characters in the raiders, and also seems to know what happened in the first game.
* [[http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/hero/matt-horner He isn't]]

[[folder: The Magistrate has been retconned out of existence]]
* Liberty's Crusade states that Jim Raynor WAS the Magistrate.
** Nope. If you look at Jim Raynor's Marshal badge in Starcraft II, Tychus says "Oh, man. Didn't the Magistrate here know he was hiring an arch-criminal as his Marshal?" Unless you're suggesting that Jim Raynor hired himself, this proves both that the Magistrate existed and that he wasn't Jim.
*** Yes, Jim Raynor wasn't the Magistrate. However, it wasn't the Magistrate in Episode 1 that hired Raynor. Raynor was already Marshall back in 2496; the Episode 1 Magistrate was sent to Mar Sara a few days after the Protoss attacked Chau Sara in 2499.

[[folder: The Magistrate from Starcraft and the Captain from Brood War are the same person.]]

We already know that the UED used locals rebels like Samir Duran to augment their forces. The Magistrate signed on with the invaders because he needed their military to force Mengsk out of power. He would then use the confusion to drive the UED out of the Koprulu sector.
* No. The briefing in the first Brood War Terran mission mentions about the Captain recovering from cold sleep, indicating the Captain has come from Earth. But I like the idea of the Magistrate joining the UED to fight Mengsk, after he left Raynor's Raiders because of Raynor taking his own sweet time getting back at Mengsk and hanging out with the Protoss.

! Partially Jossed/Confirmed Theories

[[folder:Humans are a creation of the Xel'Naga and they combine purity of form and essence.]]
The two major races Protoss and Zergs, are creations of the Xel'Naga. Other alien species have existed in the Starcraft-verse, such as the Tagal, but they mostly exist as obscure things in the fluff. I think it make sense that the three major (and playable) races share a common origin. All three are psionics. Two of them, Terran and Protoss, share a similar body shape. Two of the them, Terran and Zerg, are strong in numbers. Terrans, as JackOfAllStats combine purity of form and purity of essence. Like the Zergs, they are constantly evolving. However its not their bodies but their tactics and technology that is always evolving, while the Protoss are rather stagnant.
* Then they should be stronger than the hybrids, and zergs shouldn't be able to infest them.
* Jossed. The literature directly states (I think somewhere in the ''Dark Templar Trilogy'') that the Xel'Naga didn't have a thing to do with humanity.
* Partially, if one consider that the Xel'Naga seeded all sentient species-bearing planets in the universe. They indirectly had a hand (read:tentacle) in humanity's creation.]]

! Confirmed Theories
[[folder:We have never seen any Xel'Naga because they have no body.]]
They AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence. The hybrids will become their body in the physical world.
* I always thought the Energy Beings from the books were the Xel'naga...
** Definitely not!
*** Zeratul thinks they are, but it doesn't track with anything in the games like the Xel'Naga ship that was clearly designed for things with a physical body.
** Jossed by Starcraft 2. Xel'Naga Destroyers have a body.
*** Those are actually called Hybrid destroyers, at least according to the portrait information.
** They are the same ones Duran made in Brood War.
** Hybrids are not Xel-Naga. They are created by Duran (and others) on behalf of a '''single''' Xel-Naga, referred to as the Fallen One (Amon)]], who perverted the original plan for the merging of the "purity of form/purity of essence" lifeforms.
*** Assuming, of course, that Duran is working for the Fallen One. he actually is, and he himself is a Xel'naga.]]
* Somewhat jossed. Xel'naga is a race of inter-dimensional beings, and has a hand in the creation of all life in all universes, and they reside in the Void which serves the nexus point of all universes. Eache time they enter a new universe, they will take on a new form. As observed with Duran/Nurad,Amon and Ouros, Xel'Naga indeep posses form inside the void, but in case of Amon it seems that they can appear as pure conciousness/energy being as well.]]

[[folder: Elements of Starcraft 2 plot]]
* Based off the Ghosts of the Past trailer, I have come up with some speculation. That part where all those Dominion warships are warping in? That's Prince Valerian's battlegroup. All seems lost, but then the Zerg attack the Dominion battlegroup and Raynor uses that opportunity when they're distracted by the Zerg to board the flagship, allowing him to do the scene where he asks "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now." Valerian then offers to help Raynor get to Char and lend him troops to help him kill Kerrigan (which undoubtedly fails since the next Zerg expansion deals with Kerrigan and the swarm. Does that mean Raynor dies...?). He'll also reveal that he's the mysterious employer that Raynor has been working for, the one obsessed with acquiring all those mysterious artifacts. Expect a scene along these lines: "I'll never work for you!" "Ah, but you already are/have." Also, Tychus might have been released from New Folsom prison by agreeing to spy on Raynor on Mengsk's behalf. Not sure how that fits into the plot though.
** Close. Very close. (Note that the Spoiler Tags are there for a reason. A BIG reason. Read at your own risk.) Jim does forcibly board the ship, but only succeeds because Valerian never had hostile intentions towards him; rather, he wanted to enlist Jim's help with the final artifact (which he does, to the crew of the Hyperion's chagrin). After all the artifacts are obtained, Valerian snatches half the Dominion fleet and teams up with Raynor to assault Char. And their assault is successful - the Zerg on Char are destroyed, and Kerrigan is cured and rescued in one giant SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}. Jim even takes a bullet for her, and kills Tychus.]]

! Unsorted Theories

[[folder: Duran from Brood War is the same person as [[AllThereInTheManual the Doran who sent the Terran colonists out in the first place]]]]
I have no evidence except for the name and Duran's nature.

The Duran we know in Brood War may be an agent of the Dark Voice]] may have based his disguise on him.

[[folder: Everyone is Samir Duran.]]

Including Kerrigan, Raynor, Mengsk, Findlay, Valerian, Tassadar, Zeratul, and the Overmind.

Barring Samir Duran. He's someone else entirely.

* Jossed. Samir Duran is actually a Xel'Naga named Narud and a follower of Amon.]]

[[folder: The cure didn't completely work.]]]]

In the final cutscene of [=WoL=], even though almost all of Kerrigan is back to normal, her hair is still the spindly nature that it was when she was totally zerged. And since the next campaign is going to be a Zerg one, it makes sense that Kerrigan is only 90ish% human, and has some element of control over the Zerg (but isn't crazy evil and all).]]
* [[{{Nivenus}} This Troper]] would almost consider that confirmed, since it is already confirmed Kerrigan's the player character of ''Heart of the Swarm'' and as, indicated, Kerrigan's still got the zergified hair (plus, there's the Overmind's whole [[XanatosGambit Xanatos]]/ThanatosGambit thing).]]
** Also, it is said in the Protoss mini campaign that Kerrigan is the only one who could question the Voice's control over the Zerg. Since completely removing her infestation would surely take that ability away from her, the effect would be the same as if she had been killed.]]
*** With the notable exception that ''she's not dead''. In the original timeline, somebody (probably Jim) actually put an actual bullet through her actual head. In this timeline she's still alive. Infested or not, there's a big difference there.]]

[[folder: Samir Duran is an emissary of the Dark Voice]]

It's never really elaborated just who or even what Duran is supposed to be but it's possible that he's affiliated with the Dark Voice since they're both associated with hybrids.
** Similarly, Ulrezaj is ''also'' working for the Dark Voice, whether directly or through Duran. The Dark Templar Saga confirmed that Ulrezaj was involved with creating Hybrids and was working for someone or something else; it seems highly unlikely they're not connected. Ulrezaj will get free of his [[SealedEvilInACan can]] during the Protoss campaign, and at least one mission strand will deal with putting him down permanently.

[[folder: Duran is manipulating Arcturus Mengsk from behind the scenes]]

* From the bonus mission we learn Mengsk is creating hybrids, the same hybrids that will eventually be used by the Dark Voice to destroy everything]] he learned how and got the tech to do so from Duran who is just using Mengsk to build up a hybrid army for the Dark Voice who he is an agent of.
** It was never outright confirmed that Arcturus was behind the events of the bonus mission; Raynor only assumed that. Rather, Valerian may be the one who is being manipulated by/working for Duran: Emil Narud, the head of the Moebius Foundation, is confirmed to have a connection to Duran. The Moebius Foundation is privately owned by Valerian Mengsk, and this puts a direct line between him and the Dark Voice's minions. Plus, Valerian just seems a little too good to be true.
** Narud was manipulating Valerian, along with everyone else; Valerian really was as good as his word. On the subject of Arcturus, however, it is quite possible that he wasn't entirely on-board with Narud's hybrid project; he ordered the "termination" of everyone who had ever worked in the Castanar lab (which would serve better to completely shut down the hybrid project there than to cover it up), and it's possible that he didn't know exactly what Narud was doing in the Skygeirr lab, only that it was a weapons research lab.

[[folder: Samir Duran is Emil Narud]]]]
Narud is Duran spelled backwards. Curing Kerrigan is part of his ElaborateScheme.]]
* It's even heavily suggested by Kerrigan who sees through his "charade".]]
* Blizzard themselves gave this theory a bit of credence, stating that There ''is'' a connection between Duran and Narud.]]
* Given the revelation in HOTS that Narud is a shapeshifter working for Amon, this is looking significantly more plausible.]]
** So, the universe is doomed?
** Pretty much confirmed. He is also a Xel'Naga.]]
*** Pretty much nothing, Zeratul outright confirms it in the prologue.

[[folder: One of the 'favours' Mengsk called in to raise a fleet to attack Kerrigan at the end of Brood War was Emil Narud, who became the Emperor's TheManBehindTheMan ]]
Duran/]]Narud is a servant of the Dark Voice, and once Kerrigan had [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness served her purpose]] he decided to place his assets and connections under Arcturus' control to ensure the anti-Kerrigan forces would see to her destruction. In exchange for Dominion funding and support of the Moebius Foundation's hybrid project]]. Since that obviously didn't work out, he began to manipulate Valerian to cement the Foundation's imperial ties and use him as a pawn who could work together with Raynor's Raiders]], because Arcturus wouldn't be able to, and gather up the Xel'Naga artifacts. Knowing Raynor would be a sucker for a shot at restoring Kerrigan, he pulled some strings to have Tychus bailed out to join the hunt for the artifacts. Meanwhile Narud is counting on Mengsk to try and eliminate Kerrigan through his mole Tychus because he knows she's gunning for him. Even though Tychus seemingly fails at the conclusion to Wings of Liberty, Kerrigan's deinfestation could make it much harder for her to counteract the Dark Voice's corruption of the Zerg]]. [[GambitPileUp It's a win-win situation for everyone]]. Except for every living thing in the universe should Kerrigan fail to regain control of the Swarm.]]

[[folder: The mission "In Utter Darkness" will reappear in the Protoss campaign...with a twist.]]
The mission plays out the Protoss' last stand against the Hybrids and Dark Voice, in a timeline where Kerrigan has been killed. Since she's not dead in the current timeline, the Zerg will now fight alongside the Protoss when they confront the Hybrids, who will possibly now have an entire tech tree of Hybrids to make up for the fact that they won't have the Zerg with them. Alternately, the Hybrids will have mind-controlled Terrans serving them.]]
** Seems reasonable... but I'm guessing Raynor's Raiders will be fighting with the good guys too.]] I could even see the Zerg getting their own version of In Utter Darkness where they ''and'' the Protoss go down, thereby proving they have to rescue Raynor and/or Valerian and/or (just to twist the knife) Arcturus.]]
*** Its probably going to be like the final mission of the original Starcraft, only instead of having two races to build the tech trees with, you have all ''three''. (This is actually pretty common for the 'grand finales' of Starcraft games, Brood War did the same thing, only with the team-up against ''you''.). And on the other side will be the mind-controlled Zerg, hybrids, and corrupted factions of Terrans and Protoss. *crosses fingers*
*** With the corrupted Terran being the Dominion.
*** Jossed. The Protoss campaign in the Legacy of the Void is anything but bleak. Although it's actually reversed in the final three missions -- where all three races led their forces right into Amon's doorstep, dead set to end him once and for all, while Amon put up a desperate but ultimately futile resistance.]]

[[folder: Ariel Hanson]] is infested in BOTH scenarios, we only see it in one.]]
Tosh refers to Hanson as a "honey pot" repeatedly and says that she was basically a time bomb waiting to go off once she and the infested colonists reached the core worlds. She only sprouted claws and tentacles once she was blown; that would assume that some infested Terrans are able to hide their condition, though. ''Alternate'' explanation: she wasn't infested in the "Haven's Fall" scenario, but due to desperation to prove her cure worked, she infected herself and it kind of went out of control. Matt did say that "she's desperate to save her people."]]
* Alternatively; She was infested the whole time, but was, through her medical skill, able to suppress the infestation to the point were it wasn't visually obvious or had any effect on her personality. This is why she was so certain she could find a cure for the infestation. If Raynor sides with the Protoss against the colonists, she loses hope for a cure and allows the infestation to flare up again, consuming her completely. Conversely, if Raynor decides to protect the colonists, she is motivated to continue her research and either completes a permanent cure, or is able to suppress the infestation indefinitely.]]

[[folder: It is the Terrans, not the Protoss who posess the Purity of Form that will bring about the new Xel'Naga]]
Purity of Form was defined as "adaptability to harsh conditions and climates", and psionic abilities or potential. Both of these elements are an integral part of the Terrans and their plotlines. While the Xel'naga initially believed that the Protoss were the race that they needed, they eventually considered them a failure before being driven from Aiur. The Terrans are a young race that has yet to realize it's potential, and the Xel'Naga's foretold second coming is at an opportune time to take advantage of this.
* Also, Kerrigan is referred to as an "agent of the prophecy" of the Xel'Naga's return. With Kerrigan being one of, if not the most powerful psychic in the galaxy as an Infested Terran, a true hybrid would likely be powerful enough to be the "perfect being" that the Xel'Naga were searching for.
** Somewhat confirmed, as both Protoss and Overmind's Swarm were tampered by Amon, while Kerrigan being a powerful psionic (pruity of form, one who posses great psionic power -- however it dosen't have to be Terran, it just happens that Kerrigan is one.) and merged with the essence of unaltered Primal Zerg genes (pruity of essence, one who could endure great change).]] The Terran part is actually rather incidental.

[[folder: ''Heart of the Swarm'' will take place concurrently with (at the same time, chronologically, as) ''Wings of Liberty'']]
This is basically the only way it can really be done, since Wings of Liberty ended with Kerrigan being de-Zerged, and all Zerg on the Zerg capital world Char - and thus, most of the entire Zerg race - being obliterated by the Xel'Naga artifact. Because Heart of the Swarm wouldn't be fun playing as a faction that's been reduced to a leaderless, tiny remnant force that would be no better than nonsentient animals without a guiding Hive King or Queen]].
** Possibly {{Jossed}} by the blurb on the single player screen once you've finished the game, which invites the player to Discover the fate of Kerrigan and the swarm]] in the upcoming expansion.
*** Alternate theory: the campaign does indeed take place immediately after the end of Wings of Liberty, but most of the actual missions are Kerrigan in sickbay, narrating flashbacks to Raynor. Possibly the final act is Kerrigan regaining control of the Zerg and using them for good (well, good for everyone who isn't Arcturus Mengsk, the poor doomed bastard).]]
** This seems pretty well {{Jossed}} after the 2010 Blizzcon. ("It takes place at least 1 hour after Wings of Liberty, but not more than 100 years"). Kind of a joke answer, but still fixes Heart of the Swarm as coming later.
* Jossed by the fact that Heart of the Swarm will take place three weeks after Wings of Liberty.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Kerrigan is not completely rid of her Zerg side.]]]]
Here's an interesting theory, based on the ending of ''VideoGame/StarCraftII''. The Xel'Naga artifact cured Kerrigan of her infestation, but at the same time it made her into a Zerg-Human hybrid. You can tell she still has some Zerginess by her hair in the ending cutscene. She's still the Queen of Blades, and thus in control of the Zerg, but the artifact's power allowed her to regain her humanity, so she - and by extension, the Zerg - are good guys now. This is the wrench to be thrown in the Dark Voice's plan - having the otherwise mindless Zerg used against him - and it's also the setup for the Heart of the Swarm campaign, wherein Kerrigan figures out how to control the Swarm while fighting off the imposing threat of the Dark Voice.]]
** Perhaps Heart of the Swarm means the Swarm gets a heart. A human heart.]]
** It's all a huge XanatosGambit by Kerrigan. She uses Raynor's Raiders to get rid of the Terran Dominion, builds up a new Swarm and then defeats Raynor while he's vulnerable and unsuspecting. It wouldn't be the first time Kerrigan pitted her enemies against each other and then swiftly defeated the victors.]]
** it is cormfrimed if the screen shorts of Hart of Swarm are anything to go by.]]
** Confirmed. Kerrigan actually went back being Zerg/The Queen of Blades after merging with the essence of Primal Zerg. This time though, she's far more human than her previous incarnation.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Kerrigan is, in fact, completely rid of her Zerg side.]]]]
The hair is just hair. It's dead, like regular hair, and unlike the wings, the glowing eyes, the high-heels, and the chitin; once it dries up and falls off she'll be completely back to normal.]] Naaah, there's no way the laws of storytelling would let that be true.
Probably jossed as the released content of Heart of Swarm shows that she is trying to regain her powers]]
* Jossed by the Heart of Swarm campaign.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Kerrigan is, in fact, not "cured" at all, at least mentally.]]]]
Nothing in the ending cutscene actually suggests her being "cured." Yes, she no longer has her chitinous armor and wings; that is the obvious effect of the Xel'Naga artifact "working." However, she is still the same person (assuming she didn't get a nice mindwipe as another gift from the artifact). She is still a massively powerful psionic, who can most likely still control the remaining Zerg (we do have an expansion about that coming up, after all). She is, admittedly, very weak in the cutscene, but this could easily be due to the psionic backlash of just having most of an entire race (of which she could see into every single "mind" if she wished) wiped out in a mere few seconds. She's still got some people, quite possibly including Raynor, who she wants to kill. As for her line "... Jim?"; she's called him that before when in full Queen of Blades mode, so her calling him that now is no evidence of a HeelFaceTurn. Finally , her resting in Raynor's arms is because she is literally exhausted.]]
* Sarah herself breaks through for a few seconds during the final battle, so a part of her was there. There definately some humanity left.
* If Kerrigan isn't cured, then everyone is doomed, including herself and the swarm. Part of the Overmind's plan entails that she be returned to normal in order to break the control of the zerg by The Voice and/or Xel'Naga.]]
** Nobody ever said Kerrigan had to be "cured" by a certain time, just before the Dark Voice (whoever the heck he actually is) shows up; she could very well be cured later. Also, if she did have to be cured by a certain time, how do we know that time isn't long past?]] [[DownerEnding Nobody ever said this whole story has to have a happy ending.]]
*** Most of the time, Blizzard settles for {{Bittersweet Ending}}s.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Kerrigan found by Raynor at the end is not the real Kerrigan.]]]]
She is, in fact, a clone made by the real Kerrigan, still the Queen of Blades, who managed to get away from the artifact's nova and hopes that, having "defeated and rescued" her, Raynor and all the others will let her work in peace to the plan to defeat the Xel'naga, like she has done in the last four years. She was interested in the artifacts probably because she discovered the plan behind that search (to "cure" her) and tried to stop it before having to resort to this trick.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Duran is The Voice in the Darkness]]]]
Or at the very least possessed by or an avatar of it.
** He calls himself "''a servant of'' a far greater power", so he's likely 'just' a high-ranking underling of the [=VitD=].]]
*** Or of the Dark Voice]], who is not the same entity by canon.
*** Jossed. He is however a loyal servant of The Voice in the Darkness a.k.a Amon.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Fallen One is an evil, super-powerful Protoss]]]]
Just a hunch...
** That would have to be quite a Protoss]] to do what the Dark Voice]] seems to be capable of; and besides, going by the Dark Templar Saga, another character, Ulrezaj, already has the evil super-Protoss]] niche covered. Seems more likely that the Dark Voice]] is either a corrupted Xel'Naga, a member of a second race of precursors ''opposing'' the Xel'naga, or a straight-up EldritchAbomination]].
** It's just that looking at the Dark Voice portrait you can win via Achievements in SCII, the shadowy semi-silhouette [[http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/File:DarkVoice_SC2_Head1.JPEG kinda looks like a Protoss]].]]
*** I'd say it looks more like an [[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} Eredar]].
** Isn't it more plausible that he's a power-crazy rogue Xel'naga, or, in fact, [[http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Voice_in_the_Darkness_(entity) the Void entity?]]]] It doesn't make sense for him to be a protoss]] consider that he was supposedly have a hand in hardwiring the zerg to attack and kill the protoss, which, when you consider the timeline, means that around that period the whole protoss should still be in the middle of Aeon of Strife (since it happens right after Xel'naga leave the protoss, and it'll take some time for the Xel'naga to search for the zerg)...but then, one of them might be able to snuck on Xel'naga ship...]]
** But... but that picture looks so Protoss-y! ...Unless the Xel'Naga looked so startlingly like the Protoss...
*** Which wouldn't be that surprising considering the Xel'Naga created the Protoss and that the Protoss and the Zerg were created to merge into a reincarnated Xel'Naga race.]]
** Xel'Naga created the Protoss to be the Purity of Form, i.e. the most pure form imaginable. Really, think about all the "Pure Forms" humans have depicted over the years. Michaelango's David to less savory "superior races". The Protoss are the marble like statues of perfected physical form. The Zerg were meant to be the perfected mind, but the perfected mind either absolutely rebelled against the entirety of Xel'Naga, or controled by [=Dark Voice=] to do so, and assimilated the Xel'Naga over their home world. Zerg would assimilate some Xel'naga biology into itself explaining the Zergish Protos look of the [=DV=]. Essentially the Protoss are the hairless, well built, flawless skinned with perfect teeth idea of Xellies. The Zerg assimilated the mullet wearing, overweight, flabby with racial equivalent of acne scars Xellies.
** The portrait looks like a Protoss with Zerg mouthparts. It might be A) a hybrid created long ago, before the Brood War; B) a hybrid created recently, after the Brood War; or C) a form the Fallen One chose for his physical manifestation, like how the Overmind chose his own physical form.
*** Jossed. From HOTS - He is a Xel'naga and his name is Amon]]. However, his host body was derived from the corpse of the Overmind and flesh of Protoss victims.

How about this then...
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Voice In The Darkness is a [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Chaos God]] ]]
Perhaps "created" and empowered by the short Protoss[=/=]Xel'Naga War, the following Protoss Aeon of Strife, and the Zerg[=/=]Xel'Naga "War".
* To be more specific, he's Tzeentch. That's why he's coming up with inscrutably complex plans that can take eons to pull off.
** The plans of the Voice in the Darkness are way too simple and straight forward to be Tzeentch. Now, if Tzeentch was actually manipulating EVERY group from behind the scenes (remember, Tzeentch loves to make plans that counteract his other plans) it would approach his level of insanity.
** Alternately, the Xel'naga are the Titans, and the Voice (who is also called the Fallen One, you'll recall) is Sargeras.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: To add up to the Tzeentch theory above: TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} is set in the same universe as Starcraft, but in another galaxy, and a few decades (or centuries) later.]]
The Starcraft galaxy is the origin galaxy of the Tyranids, and they're running away from the Hybrids. Yes, that means that the Tyranids are the Zerg.
Alternatively, the Tyranids ''are'' the Hybrids, and they're running away either from the combined forces of Protoss, Terrans and Zerg or from something entirely different (the Xel'naga?).

Why there are two planets called Earth and two nearly identical species who both call themselves humans/terrans, in two completely different galaxies is up to debate though. Maybe one or more of the various {{Eldritch Abomination}}s present in both Verses are responsible for it.
* Now THAT would be something Tzeentch would totally do. Complicated, inexplicable, and absolutely insane from every angle.

[[folder: Predictions for the Heart of the Swarm campaign:]]
* Kerrigan will rebuild her power and regain control over the entire Swarm (This was already mentioned in interviews).
* As part of the above, Kerrigan will have to fight rogue Broods, maybe even ones that are still under the control of UED holdouts in the sector.
* Because she has been weakened by the Xel'Naga artifact,]] Kerrigan will have to fend off attacks from the Daelaam Protoss (i.e. the main Protoss faction), who will be trying to kill her in her moment of vulnerability because Zeratul hasn't had a chance to warn them of the prophecy/they don't believe Zeratul's warning.]]
* Kerrigan will have to find and save Zeratul, who mentioned that he is being chased by Dark Voice's agents.]] This will be very awkward.
* Ariel Hanson will return even if you did the "Haven's Fall" mission and Raynor killed her; she's a Zerg, and Kerrigan can reincarnate her. Because it's been implied that Ariel was infested all along, we'll find out what Kerrigan's plans for her were.]]
** Possible. Blizzard has claimed that for the branching quests, one is non-canon. In Ariel Hanson's quest, Safe Haven is the canon quest. So, she may return, but proved to be infected (if not, they could have her infected within a cutscene anyway).
* Valerian Mengsk will, perhaps unintentionally, start a civil war in the Dominion; the soldiers that joined him on the attack on Char will insist that he become Emperor now and that Raynor be pardoned, while the other half of the Dominion military will side with Arcturus.]] Kerrigan will get involved in the conflict and gain a chance to take her revenge on Arcturus.
* Duran will return leading the Dark Voice's forces and make several attempts to assassinate Kerrigan.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Arcturus Mengsk will still be Emperor of the Terran Dominion at the end of Legacy of the Void]]
Blizzard hates a happy ending. But if the Voice wins or the Swarm eats everything, there's no room for any kind of continuation. So what possible ways are left for Blizzard to make the good guys' (eg, Jim Raynor's) lives miserable? That's right.
* Alternatively, players will have a choice to destroy the Dominion and unleash all the internal conflicts and strife (of which there's quite a bit) [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor that Mengsk has been sitting on]] or to keep the terrans united at the cost of maintaining TheEmpire, either through keeping Arcturus in power or his son, Valerian.
Super, super jossed]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Duran is just trying to make himself look important]]
Oh, sure he serves Dark Powers That Man Was Not Meant To Wot Of etc etc. But he ''personally'' is a 33-year-old ex-Confederate infested-with-free-will special ops trooper doing grunt work for the ''actual'' scary bad guys. Everything he tells Zeratul is just him dicking around with the Prelate while he's rattled.
* Would be one hell of a RedHerring given it set up the whole plot of the ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft II}}'' trilogy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Kerrigan was after the artifact because...]]
She wanted to become human again. She was under the control of Dark Voice]] the whole time, so she needed a very roundabout way to get it. She would have destroyed it, then put it back together using some rationalization to keep Dark Voice]] from stopping her. Once it was complete, she would have "accidentally" set it off...
* Interesting. So Raynor's war against Kerrigan in ''Wings of Liberty'' was completely pointless?
** Not necessarily. For one, while that might have been Kerrigan's plans, there are no guarantees she would have pulled it off - the Dark Voice might have seen through her rationalisation for putting the artifact back together, for example.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Protoss medical technology is actually equal to or more primitive than Terran medical technology.]]

The Protoss are some of the strongest bastards around, being able to run fast, fight for days, live for centuries, and subsist on "sunshine and dew drops." To top it off, they have psychic powers and access to Khaydarin crystals, which power Protoss tech. Due to Protoss physical and technological superiority they, unlike the inferior Terrans, have no field medics or medivac dropships. Zealots can receive cybernetic leg upgrades- like some Terrans get- and can be teleported out of the warzone, but there's no way for Protoss to immediately heal their units. Dragoons and immortals are powerful cyborgs, but that's due to Protoss engineering and weapons technology.

Terrans, meanwhile, have access to field medics, who can heal soldiers in the middle of a fight, and whose technology even works on Protoss and Zerg physiology. Many of the units have cybernetic implants, which, though crude looking, work fine and are easy to install. Most incredible of all, the Terrans have ''healing lasers'' which deliver a payload of functional nanobots, which can heal a soldier up to full health in moments. Being without the advantages of the Protoss, Terran troops have had to throw a lot of effort into their medical technology to compensate. This has lead to the Terrans actually outstripping the Protoss in this field.
* That one might be due to the [[HonourBeforeReason Protoss' honour shtick.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:There will be a Zerg/Protoss/Terran war against the Xel'Naga in the future.]]
Something will happen that the three sides will have to work back-to-back in order to defeat "their creators". That, of course, in case Blizzard decides to do a campaign after ''Legacy Of The Void''.
* I think it will be called "[=StarCraft=] III".
* That's too awesome to pass up. There will also be a metric fuckton of hero units involved - Horner in the Hyperion, Valerian in the Bucephalus, Raynor, Tosh, Nova, Kerrigan (as a heavily souped-up Ghost with Psionic Storm)]], Stettman, Rory, the Odin, Zeratul, Artanis, Selendis, the other heroes from the BadFuture]], a bunch of hero zerg, and all of the mercenaries even if you didn't buy them. The ending will change based on which heroes are alive; only Raynor, Kerrigan]] and Zeratul will need to survive for victory.
** Given that half the ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' final missions ''and'' the Wings of Liberty finale are survive for a time limit missions, I think we can guarantee it. I suspect you'll only get the three big heroes, though; otherwise the number of possible ending cutscenes would get [[CombinatorialExplosion a little ridiculous]].
* Something like this does happen in Legacy of the void.
[[/folder]]

!Wild Mass Guessing for ''Franchise/StarCraft''. Please place new [=WMGs=] on the appropriate page.

* Partially, if one consider that the Xel'Naga seeded all sentient species-bearing planets in the universe. They indirectly had a hand (read:tentacle) in humanity's creation.]]! Confirmed Theories

[[folder: Starcraft takes place in the VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} universe.]]

! Jossed Theories

[[folder: The (original) Overmind isn't dead, and will come back as the surprise BigBad of Starcraft 2]]
After killing off the Xel'Naga, the overmind managed to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence trancend physical reality]] to a degree while on its way towards the Protoss. When Tassadar "killed" it, he only destroyed its body, breaking its link to the rest of the Zerg.

Alternatively, it was always non-corporeal from the get go. The [[AllThereInTheManual manual]] never states that the Overmind was of the Zerg, just that the Xel'Naga created it to manage them. Maybe it grew resentful of the Xel'Naga and decided to continue their experiments on its own terms.

After "dying", the Overmind lost control of the Zerg and had to find some other way to continue its agenda through its avatar, Samir Duran.

* It's possible that the Overmind merged with Tasadar and was then sucked into an alternate dimension/plane of existence.

* If the Overmind remains alive, so must Tassadar. No exceptions, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks lest it suck]].

* Yes and no

Jossed. The Overmind is revealed to have actually been trying to stop the ''real'' BigBad all along.]]
** Unless [[ChessMaster The Overmind was lying]].]]
*** Tassadar merged with the Overmind, and as such was shown to have explored the Overmind's mind. When the guy's literally in your mind you can't really hide jack.]]
*** Tassadar is actually dead all along, but the apparition that bears the likeliness of him is actually some sort of psionic thought-signal originated from Ouros, the last Xel'Naga (if you don't count the 'fallen' ones like Amon and Narud), and was picked up and interpreted by Zeratu as Tassadar speaking to him from the beyond. At least that's what the Legacy of the Void implied....]]

! Partially Jossed Theories

[[folder:Humans are a creation of the Xel'Naga and they combine purity of form and essence.]]
The two major races Protoss and Zergs, are creations of the Xel'Naga. Other alien species have existed in the Starcraft-verse, such as the Tagal, but they mostly exist as obscure things in the fluff. I think it make sense that the three major (and playable) races share a common origin. All three are psionics. Two of them, Terran and Protoss, share a similar body shape. Two of the them, Terran and Zerg, are strong in numbers. Terrans, as JackOfAllStats combine purity of form and purity of essence. Like the Zergs, they are constantly evolving. However its not their bodies but their tactics and technology that is always evolving, while the Protoss are rather stagnant.
* Then they should be stronger than the hybrids, and zergs shouldn't be able to infest them.
* Jossed. The literature directly states (I think somewhere in the ''Dark Templar Trilogy'') that the Xel'Naga didn't have a thing to do with humanity.
* Partially, if one consider that the Xel'Naga seeded all sentient species-bearing planets in the universe. They indirectly had a hand (read:tentacle) in humanity's creation.]]! Confirmed Theories

[[folder:We have never seen any Xel'Naga because they have no body.]]
They AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence. The hybrids will become their body in the physical world.
* I always thought the Energy Beings from the books were the Xel'naga...
** Definitely not!
*** Zeratul thinks they are, but it doesn't track with anything in the games like the Xel'Naga ship that was clearly designed for things with a physical body.
** Jossed by Starcraft 2. Xel'Naga Destroyers have a body.
*** Those are actually called Hybrid destroyers, at least according to the portrait information.
** They are the same ones Duran made in Brood War.
** Hybrids are not Xel-Naga. They are created by Duran (and others) on behalf of a '''single''' Xel-Naga, referred to as the Fallen One (Amon)]], who perverted the original plan for the merging of the "purity of form/purity of essence" lifeforms.
*** Assuming, of course, that Duran is working for the Fallen One. he actually is, and he himself is a Xel'naga.]]
* Somewhat jossed. Xel'naga is a race of inter-dimensional beings, and has a hand in the creation of all life in all universes, and they reside in the Void which serves the nexus point of all universes. Eache time they enter a new universe, they will take on a new form. As observed with Duran/Nurad,Amon and Ouros, Xel'Naga indeep posses form inside the void, but in case of Amon it seems that they can appear as pure conciousness/energy being as well.]]

! Unsorted Theories


[[folder:The Terrans are the descendant of the Xel'Naga]]
The Xel'Nega's motive for experimenting with races was to create a race with the purity of form and one with the purity of essence and have them join together in a distant future, thus re-creating and saving the Xel'Naga race. Eventually some grew discouraged and when they found Earth, they decided to save their race by mating the with prehistoric hominids and creating offsprings. The offsprings of these matings had psionic abilities or [[TheTimeOfMyths magic]] as we would call it. They would eventually used Xel'Naga technology to create lost cities and ancient civilizations like Atlantis, Lemuria, Mu and etc. This created a golden age of technology AndManGrewProud. They eventually caused the destruction of those civilizations. The survivors of these civilizations would in time would lose their psionic abilites and forget their knowledge of Xel'Naga technology eventually becoming what the Terrans are right now. Yet sometimes lost psionic abilities will sometimes manifest within certain individuals because of their ancient [[InTheBlood ancestors]].
** Or rather its the Protoss who are more descendant from them. Otherwise the Zerg would have gone to Earth instead.
*** No, the Protoss and Zerg are their creations. There wasn't any interbreeding.

[[folder: The former Magistrate of Mar Sara is working with Raynor's Raiders from behind the scenes.]]
Commander is staying out of the spotlight allowing Jim Raynor to command the organization.
* Commander is commanding Raynor's Raiders from the shadows.
* Jim Raynor is puppet and the former Magistrate of Mar Sara is pulling the strings.

[[folder: Matt from the Hyperion is the former Magistrate of Mar Sara.]]
Seems like more of a general than most of the main characters in the raiders, and also seems to know what happened in the first game.
* [[http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/hero/matt-horner He isn't]]

[[folder: The former Magistrate of Mar Sara left Raynor's Raiders because Jim Raynor is a glory hog.]]
Commander outright abandoned Raynor's Raiders because Raynor kept intentionally taking credit for victories that weren’t really Raynor's.
* And formed a splinter faction christened Commander’s Cossacks.

[[folder: The former Magistrate of Mar Sara left Raynor's Raiders for personal reasons]]
Kerrigan’s suicide mission left such a bitter aftertaste the Commander couldn’t bring him/herself command again.
* Commander was romantically inclined toward Kerrigan and could not muster the will to fight her.
* Commander secretly loves Raynor but never brought it up as not to interfere with his developing relationship with Kerrigan. It was too painful for the former Magistrate to stay and watch Jim collapse after losing Kerrigan to the Zerg.
** Commander intentionally sent Kerrigan to New Gettysburg to die, jealous of Sarah’s relationship with Jim. By the formation Raynor’s Raiders guilt caught up and the Commander who could not stay with the unit in good conscience.

[[folder: The former Magistrate of Mar Sara was named Samir Duran]]
* And is also a Time Lord.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Dark Templar energies are connected to The Heart of the Tardis. (Doctor Who)]]
No evidence, but wouldn't it be [[RuleOfCool awesome]]?
* No it wouldn't. And leave the Time Lord [=WMGs=] on {{WMG.Time Lord}}.

[[folder: The (original) Overmind isn't dead, and will come back as the surprise BigBad of Starcraft 2]]
After killing off the Xel'Naga, the overmind managed to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence trancend physical reality]] to a degree while on its way towards the Protoss. When Tassadar "killed" it, he only destroyed its body, breaking its link to the rest of the Zerg.

Alternatively, it was always non-corporeal from the get go. The [[AllThereInTheManual manual]] never states that the Overmind was of the Zerg, just that the Xel'Naga created it to manage them. Maybe it grew resentful of the Xel'Naga and decided to continue their experiments on its own terms.

After "dying", the Overmind lost control of the Zerg and had to find some other way to continue its agenda through its avatar, Samir Duran.

* It's possible that the Overmind merged with Tasadar and was then sucked into an alternate dimension/plane of existence.

* If the Overmind remains alive, so must Tassadar. No exceptions, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks lest it suck]].

* Yes and no

Jossed. The Overmind is revealed to have actually been trying to stop the ''real'' BigBad all along.]]
** Unless [[ChessMaster The Overmind was lying]].]]
*** Tassadar merged with the Overmind, and as such was shown to have explored the Overmind's mind. When the guy's literally in your mind you can't really hide jack.]]
*** Tassadar is actually dead all along, but the apparition that bears the likeliness of him is actually some sort of psionic thought-signal originated from Ouros, the last Xel'Naga (if you don't count the 'fallen' ones like Amon and Narud), and was picked up and interpreted by Zeratu as Tassadar speaking to him from the beyond. At least that's what the Legacy of the Void implied....]]

[[folder:The Xel'Naga are returning because of the advent of humanity]]
Here's my theory on how this is all going to end up, and why. The Xel'Naga created the Protoss, and then the Zerg, in an attempt to make the perfect life form (like themselves/better). Neither one was perfect, but it was believed that if combined, they could be.

Fast forward to post Broodwar. The Zerg have all but wiped out the Protoss, the Overmind has been defeated by Infested Kerrigan, and SOMEHOW, despite the fact that their only bystanders in a war set up millenia ago by godlike beings, the Terrans are powerful enough to be a threat to both (if they would only get their act together). I think its going to turn out that HumansAreSpecial and the Xel'Naga are going to recognize this, and possibly be extremely pissed that they were wrong.
* The biggest problem here is the assumption that humans are a threat to the other races. They're not. Their technology and psionic abilities pale in comparison to the Protoss, who have never bothered using anything more than a token force when attacking Terrans since they're so outclassed. To the zerg the humans are genetic garbage, not even worth the effort to properly infest unless they find the rare human with strong psionic abilities. The humans could unite as one and both races would still find their combined forces irrelevant. It's gameplay that gives the illusion of balance, if you watch the actual story you see all Terrans do is either run away or hold the line long enough to run away or for some stronger force to bail them out.

[[folder:The Xel'Naga are responsible for the advent of sentience on Earth]]
Well, nothing's ever denied this, and we know that they're quite prolific interstellar geneticists that had other experiments before the Protoss and the Zerg. I see no reason why humanity couldn't have been a "failed" experiment of the Xel'Naga that they gave up on before encountering the Protoss and determining them as the perfect form. And then, ironically, their failed experiment that they've left to die becomes stronger on its own, for the reasons given in the previous WMG.
* I once had the theory that the Terrans were indeed created by the Xel'naga, but ''after'' the Protoss and Zerg, since the Terrans are most assuredly the youngest of the three races. After the Overmind revolted against his creators, the Xel'naga gave up the goal of directly creating the perfect species, probably because they realized that they had already created Pure Form as well as Pure Essence and now just had to combine them. However, if they had just let the Zerg search the galaxy for the Protoss, there would have been two possible outcomes. Either the Zerg do find and assimilate the Protoss, thereby creating the union of Pure Form and Pure Essence, but under the control of the Overmind, and the Xel'naga don't want that. Or the Zerg cannot find or cannot defeat the Protoss and nothing is accomplished. So, the Xel'naga had to put a ''third'' factor in the equation: One that would be able to lure the Zerg to the sector where they could find the Protoss, would also possess a telepathic ability that would make it attractive to be assimilated into the swarm, possess the will and potential to find ways to tame or defeat the Overmind, and could be used as a buffer between Zerg and Protoss so that no direct one-on-one confrontation between the two species occurs until the time would be right. So, the Xel'naga created the Terrans, and they served their needs perfectly until now.
** This Troper was always under the impression that was, specifically, what the game itself implied by the series of events described in the original Star Craft's manual. It seems to pretty clearly say "if it's crazy, and psychic, the Xel'Naga made it". Also the nature of the Terran/Xel'Naga agent (his name escapes This Troper) in Brood War, and the hybrids he was working on, seem to imply that the Xel'Naga were directly involved in the events of Brood War and, likely, the first war too. Or at least it seemed rather implicit to me...
*** What the manual implies is 'if it's crazy and psychic the Xel'naga will play with them until they're ten times moreso'. Humans were not affected by the Xel'naga at all, but they likely would have been if the zerg hadn't eaten them.
*** Somewhat confirmed. The Xel'Naga were the beings who seeded life on all planets in the universe that eventually evolved sentient lifeforms. So they are responsible for creating the environment where sentient life could grow, thus indirectly resulted in the emergence of human beings.]]

[[folder:[=StarCraft=]: Ghost was just a front to keep [=StarCraft=] 2 from being leaked]]
Think about it: By releasing a couple of screenshots every year, maybe a video or a rudimentary demo every now and then, Blizzard could focus attention away from its real surprise product: [=StarCraft=] 2. Plus, if I'm not mistaken, [=StarCraft=]: Ghost was canceled just a bit before the announcement of [=StarCraft=] 2. The problem is, SC:G was never officially canceled...just wait till Christmas!
* Events from Ghost seem to be canon as well, judging by the content of Nova's cameo.

[[folder:The Terrans are the descendant of the Xel'Naga]]
The Xel'Nega's motive for experimenting with races was to create a race with the purity of form and one with the purity of essence and have them join together in a distant future, thus re-creating and saving the Xel'Naga race. Eventually some grew discouraged and when they found Earth, they decided to save their race by mating the with prehistoric hominids and creating offsprings. The offsprings of these matings had psionic abilities or [[TheTimeOfMyths magic]] as we would call it. They would eventually used Xel'Naga technology to create lost cities and ancient civilizations like Atlantis, Lemuria, Mu and etc. This created a golden age of technology AndManGrewProud. They eventually caused the destruction of those civilizations. The survivors of these civilizations would in time would lose their psionic abilites and forget their knowledge of Xel'Naga technology eventually becoming what the Terrans are right now. Yet sometimes lost psionic abilities will sometimes manifest within certain individuals because of their ancient [[InTheBlood ancestors]].
** Or rather its the Protoss who are more descendant from them. Otherwise the Zerg would have gone to Earth instead.
*** No, the Protoss and Zerg are their creations. There wasn't any interbreeding.

[[folder: The new Zerg Queens are either infested Protoss or the Hybrids.]]
Yes, I know WordOfGod says that there are no infested Protoss, but that was more in response to an infestor ability that has now been cut out anyway. Besides, the Protoss immunity is based on their link to the Khala, and not all Protoss (like the Dark Templar) are connected to the Khala.
Visually, the new Queen is very similar to the Protoss. No mouth, the head fringe and even "dreads" on the back of their heads that are suspiciously similar to the Protoss. Then there is [[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/starcraft/images/2/25/Queen_SC2_Art2.jpg this piece of art showing a queen contemplating a severed Protoss head]]. Looks like the devs are trying to tell us something.
* We actually do see the hybrids in action in Zeratul's memory crystal. They look more Protoss-like than Zerg-like. And WordOfGod made it abundantly clear that there are no infested protoss. That's the entire reason why the Zerg have been trying to assimilate the Terrans.
** Not quite. The terrans were a target because they were primitive enough to be an easy target ([[HumansAreWarriors or so it was thought]]) but psionically gifted enough to give the zerg a much a needed boost against the protoss. The no infested protoss retcon likely means that terran psionics would have been used to bypass the Khala's protection had Kerrigan not been a unique case (which she was, for reasons revealed in ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft II}}'').
* The queen actually has fundamental similarities (the long abdomen, large tusks, four leggy things, etc.) to the old queen in vanilla ''[=StarCraft=]''. It's just that the leg-like membranes have become actual legs, it no longer flies, and it looks considerably more insect-like and less squishy than it used to.
* That being said, WordOfGod [[http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/unit/queen pretty much confirmed that the new queen uses protoss or terran DNA (possibly even from Kerrigan herself) in its genome]]. So the theory is sort of confirmed.
[[folder: The former Magistrate of Mar Sara is working with Raynor's Raiders from behind the scenes.]]
Commander is staying out of the spotlight allowing Jim Raynor to command the organization.
* Commander is commanding Raynor's Raiders from the shadows.
* Jim Raynor is puppet and the former Magistrate of Mar Sara is pulling the strings.

[[folder: Matt from the Hyperion is the former Magistrate of Mar Sara.]]
Seems like more of a general than most of the main characters in the raiders, and also seems to know what happened in the first game.
* [[http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/hero/matt-horner He isn't]]

[[folder: The former Magistrate of Mar Sara left Raynor's Raiders because Jim Raynor is a glory hog.]]
Commander outright abandoned Raynor's Raiders because Raynor kept intentionally taking credit for victories that weren’t really Raynor's.
* And formed a splinter faction christened Commander’s Cossacks.

[[folder: The former Magistrate of Mar Sara left Raynor's Raiders for personal reasons]]
Kerrigan’s suicide mission left such a bitter aftertaste the Commander couldn’t bring him/herself command again.
* Commander was romantically inclined toward Kerrigan and could not muster the will to fight her.
* Commander secretly loves Raynor but never brought it up as not to interfere with his developing relationship with Kerrigan. It was too painful for the former Magistrate to stay and watch Jim collapse after losing Kerrigan to the Zerg.
** Commander intentionally sent Kerrigan to New Gettysburg to die, jealous of Sarah’s relationship with Jim. By the formation Raynor’s Raiders guilt caught up and the Commander who could not stay with the unit in good conscience.

[[folder: The former Magistrate of Mar Sara was named Samir Duran]]
* And is also a Time Lord.

[[folder: The Magistrate has been retconned out of existence]]
* Liberty's Crusade states that Jim Raynor WAS the Magistrate.
** Nope. If you look at Jim Raynor's Marshal badge in Starcraft II, Tychus says "Oh, man. Didn't the Magistrate here know he was hiring an arch-criminal as his Marshal?" Unless you're suggesting that Jim Raynor hired himself, this proves both that the Magistrate existed and that he wasn't Jim.
*** Yes, Jim Raynor wasn't the Magistrate. However, it wasn't the Magistrate in Episode 1 that hired Raynor. Raynor was already Marshall back in 2496; the Episode 1 Magistrate was sent to Mar Sara a few days after the Protoss attacked Chau Sara in 2499.

[[folder: The Magistrate from Starcraft and the Captain from Brood War are the same person.]]

We already know that the UED used locals rebels like Samir Duran to augment their forces. The Magistrate signed on with the invaders because he needed their military to force Mengsk out of power. He would then use the confusion to drive the UED out of the Koprulu sector.
* No. The briefing in the first Brood War Terran mission mentions about the Captain recovering from cold sleep, indicating the Captain has come from Earth. But I like the idea of the Magistrate joining the UED to fight Mengsk, after he left Raynor's Raiders because of Raynor taking his own sweet time getting back at Mengsk and hanging out with the Protoss.

[[folder: Elements of Starcraft 2 plot]]
* Based off the Ghosts of the Past trailer, I have come up with some speculation. That part where all those Dominion warships are warping in? That's Prince Valerian's battlegroup. All seems lost, but then the Zerg attack the Dominion battlegroup and Raynor uses that opportunity when they're distracted by the Zerg to board the flagship, allowing him to do the scene where he asks "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now." Valerian then offers to help Raynor get to Char and lend him troops to help him kill Kerrigan (which undoubtedly fails since the next Zerg expansion deals with Kerrigan and the swarm. Does that mean Raynor dies...?). He'll also reveal that he's the mysterious employer that Raynor has been working for, the one obsessed with acquiring all those mysterious artifacts. Expect a scene along these lines: "I'll never work for you!" "Ah, but you already are/have." Also, Tychus might have been released from New Folsom prison by agreeing to spy on Raynor on Mengsk's behalf. Not sure how that fits into the plot though.
** Close. Very close. (Note that the Spoiler Tags are there for a reason. A BIG reason. Read at your own risk.) Jim does forcibly board the ship, but only succeeds because Valerian never had hostile intentions towards him; rather, he wanted to enlist Jim's help with the final artifact (which he does, to the crew of the Hyperion's chagrin). After all the artifacts are obtained, Valerian snatches half the Dominion fleet and teams up with Raynor to assault Char. And their assault is successful - the Zerg on Char are destroyed, and Kerrigan is cured and rescued in one giant SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}. Jim even takes a bullet for her, and kills Tychus.]]

[[folder: Duran from Brood War is the same person as [[AllThereInTheManual the Doran who sent the Terran colonists out in the first place]]]]
I have no evidence except for the name and Duran's nature.

The Duran we know in Brood War may be an agent of the Dark Voice]] may have based his disguise on him.

[[folder: Everyone is Samir Duran.]]

Including Kerrigan, Raynor, Mengsk, Findlay, Valerian, Tassadar, Zeratul, and the Overmind.

Barring Samir Duran. He's someone else entirely.

* Jossed. Samir Duran is actually a Xel'Naga named Narud and a follower of Amon.]]

[[folder: The cure didn't completely work.]]]]

In the final cutscene of [=WoL=], even though almost all of Kerrigan is back to normal, her hair is still the spindly nature that it was when she was totally zerged. And since the next campaign is going to be a Zerg one, it makes sense that Kerrigan is only 90ish% human, and has some element of control over the Zerg (but isn't crazy evil and all).]]
* [[{{Nivenus}} This Troper]] would almost consider that confirmed, since it is already confirmed Kerrigan's the player character of ''Heart of the Swarm'' and as, indicated, Kerrigan's still got the zergified hair (plus, there's the Overmind's whole [[XanatosGambit Xanatos]]/ThanatosGambit thing).]]
** Also, it is said in the Protoss mini campaign that Kerrigan is the only one who could question the Voice's control over the Zerg. Since completely removing her infestation would surely take that ability away from her, the effect would be the same as if she had been killed.]]
*** With the notable exception that ''she's not dead''. In the original timeline, somebody (probably Jim) actually put an actual bullet through her actual head. In this timeline she's still alive. Infested or not, there's a big difference there.]]

[[folder: Samir Duran is an emissary of the Dark Voice]]

It's never really elaborated just who or even what Duran is supposed to be but it's possible that he's affiliated with the Dark Voice since they're both associated with hybrids.
** Similarly, Ulrezaj is ''also'' working for the Dark Voice, whether directly or through Duran. The Dark Templar Saga confirmed that Ulrezaj was involved with creating Hybrids and was working for someone or something else; it seems highly unlikely they're not connected. Ulrezaj will get free of his [[SealedEvilInACan can]] during the Protoss campaign, and at least one mission strand will deal with putting him down permanently.