History YMMV / StarCraftII

* MissedMomentOfAwesome: General Warfield is never deployed in the field [[spoiler: after hisarm gets replaced with an ArmCannon.]] Even before that, he only fights in cutscenes.

*** "[[HuskyStarcraft Banelings]], [[EarWorm banelings]], banelings woaaahhh..."

** The infested terran portraits are far more detailed and thus far more disturbing than the original game.

** The entirety of the Ariel Hanson missions. At first you have to defend the colonists and evacuate them from the zerg. Then you spend a mission where every night (several minutes in-game) you have to retreat to your base as hundreds of infested terrans bear down on you. And if you don't make the right choice in the final mission, you get to see [[spoiler:Hanson infested and crawling around the ceiling taunting Raynor to kill her.]] Also the Infested terrans in general.

* TheUntwist: [[spoiler:Tychus betrays Raynor]]. The hints are so obvious you'd have to be blind to not see them. [[spoiler:Nope, Tychus really was TheMole all along]].

--> '''Jim Raynor''': Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now.
--> '''Valerian Mengsk''': Because I can offer you... what you've always wanted.\\

--> '''Jim Raynor''': ''We are who choose to be, Matt.''\\

--> '''Zeratul''': ''There is always hope.''

* FetishFuel: Nova.

** In-universe example: The normally stoic, deadpan and fearless Tosh is clearly wigged out from the Hybrid's psychic "scream" after the raid on the Dominion laboratory.
*** The mission itself is terrifying. It starts off rather leisurely, with even the stronger zerg units fairly easy to kill, often due to being chained up. Then you cut the power, and the rest of the mission consists of a mad dash for the exit as you try to escape from the invincible Hybrid.
* HoYay: "I've been cleaning up after you a lot lately." "Leave it alone, Matt." Said while ''Freebird'' plays on the jukebox, no less.
* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: In the ending cutscene, [[spoiler:Tychus is ordered by Mengsk to kill the newly-deinfested Kerrigan]]. We all know it isn't going to work (particularly since [[spoiler:he'd have to go through Raynor to do it]]), but besides that it would also make about half the campaign missions [[ShaggyDogStory a complete waste of time]]. And, not to put too fine a point on it, [[ForegoneConclusion give away the ending of the game as a whole...]] Its also been mentioned in interviews and such that [[spoiler:Kerrigan will be the main character for the zerg campaign]]. With that being said, while [[spoiler:Kerrigan]] dying seemed pretty much out of the question, many fans ''were'' surprised when [[spoiler:the cure worked or at the very least ''appeared'' to have (we won't know for sure until ''Heart of the Swarm'']], since it was largely assumed [[spoiler:Kerrigan would still be infested in the expansion]]. That hair ain't dreadlocks, though.

---> "Mmm... better send some body bags!"
---> "M-mah '''goose''' is gettin' '''cooked!'''"
---> "Can't hold 'em alone..."

* NightmareFuel: The entirety of the Ariel Hanson missions. At first you have to defend the colonists and evacuate them from the zerg. Then you spend a mission where every night (several minutes in-game) you have to retreat to your base as hundreds of infested terrans bear down on you. And if you don't make the right choice in the final mission, you get to see [[spoiler:Hanson infested and crawling around the ceiling taunting Raynor to kill her.]] Also the Infested terrans in general.

* TearJerker: "[[spoiler:I had a brother on Tarsonis, I had a brother....]]" All the more compelling because up to that point Donny had been carrying water of Mengsk like it was going out of style.

* ThatOneAchievement: Aces High. All In the final mission is made much more bearable by the fact that every so often you can just use a superweapon to take out all the zerg either attacking your base, or on the way to attack your base. Except that to get this award you need to beat it while only using that item once....
* ThatOneLevel: All In and In Utter Darkness. The latter is an amusing example, as it's technically impossible to lose because it's impossible to win in terms of story--your only objective is to hold out as long as you can, even if you get overwhelmed in the first five minutes you win. The bonus research objectives however require you to defend a key building for 15 minutes, and kill a certain number of enemy units. Especially on the highest difficulties, where the number of kills increases in addition to the enemies being stronger, it is very difficult.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: It's hinted at (and blatantly obvious early on) that [[spoiler:Tychus is being threatened by Mengsk into eventually betraying Raynor. When he finally does, it occurs during the last cut scene of the game and the only thing it changes is that Tychus is now dead.]]
* TheUntwist: [[spoiler:Tychus betrays Raynor. The hints are so obvious you'd have to be blind to not see them--Matt catches him hacking the ship's computers for info on Kerrigan and tells Raynor someone is using his suit to control him, Tosh says point blank not to trust Tychus and that he senses 'someone' on the ship is working for Mengsk, and near the end of the game warns Tychus is wrestling with an internal conflict about something he doesn't want to do. Then of course there's Mengsk's voice speaking directly to Tychus in the introductory cinematic, and other characters including Raynor himself remarking on the coincidence of Tychus being hired by Moebius to recruit Raynor retrieve artifact pieces that can de-infest Kerrigan.]] The hints are so unsubtle that [[spoiler:Tychus can't be trusted and is hiding something]] that it's easy to brush them off as red herrings. [[spoiler:Nope, Tychus really was TheMole all along.]]

* TearJerker: "I had a brother on Tarsonis, I had a brother...." All the more compelling because up to that point Donny had been carrying water of Mengsk like it was going out of style.

* TheUntwist: [[spoiler:Tychus betrays Raynor. The hints are so obvious you'd have to be blind to not see them--Matt catches him hacking the ship's computers for info on Kerrigan, tells Raynor someone is using his suit to control him, Tosh saying point blank not to trust Tychus, he senses 'someone' on the ship is working for Mengsk, and senses Tychus wrestling with an internal conflict about something he doesn't want to do. Then of course there's Mengsk's voice speaking directly to Tychus in the introductory cinematic.]] The hints are so painfully obvious that [[spoiler:Tychus can't be trusted and is hiding something]] that it's easy to brush them off as red herrings. [[spoiler:Nope, Tychus really was TheMole all along.]]

* TheUntwist: [[spoiler:Yes, he betrays Raynor. Ok, he was gunning for Kerrigan. The entire campaign is spent dropping obvious hints that Tychus is hiding something from you, (Mengsk's voice briefing him in the ''opening cinematic'', Tosh tells you he's conflicted over betraying you, and "Mr. Findlay... Your freedom awaits.") and you're told so outright. Did you ''really'' not see it coming?]]

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
** Does Matt Horner represent IncorruptiblePurePureness in the crew and the best hope for a better future in the sector ; or is he a WideEyedIdealist who only manages to survive in a CrapsackWorld by pure luck?
** In-universe example. Tosh keeps referring to Ariel as a "Honeypot" and implies that there's more to her than meets the eye. In the aftermath of the non-canon mission "Haven's Fall" mission [[spoiler: he's proven right. He outright says that all of the infested colonists were a time bomb waiting to happen and says Hanson was a honey trap from the start.]]

** It was so obvious This troper thought the twist at the end would be him NOT betraying you.

** Tychus and the [[strike:Odin]] Big Dawg.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: The baneling has quite a following as the "cute" zerg unit, for some reason.
* EpilepticTrees[=/=]{{Fanon}}: Because of Matt Horner's close relationship with Raynor and the fact that they were both part of the [[LaResistance Sons of Korhal]] only to leave following the [[MoralEventHorizon fall of Tarsonis]] many have erroneously drawn the conclusion that Horner is the [[PlayerCharacter Magistrate]] from "[[StarCraft Rebel Yell]]." [[http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/hero/matt-horner His official backstory]], however, contradicts this, though the Magistrate did exist according to ''[[ExpandedUniverse The Queen of Blades]]'', where it's stated that he joined the [[LaResistance Sons of Korhal]] prior to the infestation of Mar Sara.

* CompleteMonster: From what little we do see have him, the Dark Voice certainly qualifies. He orchestrates the extinction of the Xel Naga, and in the BadFuture seen in "In Utter Darkness", orchestrates the extinction of THREE other species, all to mold creation in his own twisted image.

* LargeHam: Units come in two flavors: hammy and [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]]. Maar IS PRETTY bad about ''THISSSS'', as well as the heroes in the last Protoss mission (sans Mohandar, who isn't even that snarky to make up for it) There, in the face of total annihilation, [[ChewingTheScenery they consume massive amounts of scenery]], [[HeroicSacrifice especially when they die]]:
--> [[spoiler:"Why did we kill Kerrigan? If only we had known!"]]

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: The infested terran portraits are far more detailed and thus far more disturbing than the original game.