Characters / Starcraft Zerg Swarm

Main Index The Races The Terrans | The Zerg | The Protoss | Other races Terrans Characters and Factions Raynor's Raiders | Terran Dominion | Ghost Corps | Other Factions | Independent Terrans Zerg Characters and Factions Sarah Kerrigan | Zerg Swarm | Other Zerg Protoss Characters and Factions The Daelaam | Protoss Empire | The Nerazim | The Tal'darim Co-Op Commanders

"You can't out-think the swarm, you can't out-maneuver the swarm, and you certainly can't break the morale of the swarm."

—Ronald Jackson

The bulk of the Zerg, the Swarm is led by the Overmind in command of a Hive Mind. The Overmind commanded the Zerg through Cerebrates, implied to be aspects of the Overmind's consciousness given form and sentience. Each Cerebrate in turn commanded a Brood with a specific role in the Swarm. The mission of the Swarm is evolution itself — find new worlds and new species, conquer those worlds and assimilate those species to grow stronger, and continue on. The ultimate prize of this goal is the Protoss, the Overmind believing that the assimilation of their race to be the destiny of the Swarm.

When the Overmind located the Protoss homeworld Aiur it launched an invasion and manifested on the planet. Through the efforts of Raynor's Raiders and Tassadar's Warband the Overmind was killed, and the Swarm split into two between Kerrigan and the Cerebrates commanded by Daggoth. The two sides warred for total control of the Zerg, a conflict that became known as the Brood War. Eventually Kerrigan destroyed the Cerebrates and took full control of the Swarm, naming herself Queen of the Zerg. Kerrigan subsequently replaced the Cerebrates with Broodmothers, who similarly lead the Broods of the Swarm in her name.

The Swarm

• Alien Invasion: In their earliest days, they infiltrated the Terran fringe worlds with spores that birth Zerg on the surface to overwhelm the planet. They soon turned to simply unleashing millions and millions of Zerg on them from orbit instead.
• A House Divided: There are tons of feral zerg hives not connected to the main Swarms. Not to mention the primals.
• Big Bad: In the first game. They also shared the spot with the UED in Brood War and the Dominion in Wings of Liberty.
• Blood Knight: The Baelrog Brood, commanded by Gorn, is bred to be particularly ravenous and bloodthirsty, to the point of being cannibalistic both to themselves and other Broods.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: With the exception of Brood War-Infested Kerrigan, the Zerg are not malicious or evil in their invasion and infestation of countless worlds, they just don't have any concept of morality beyond "everything that is not Zerg is a threat, and thus must be be assimilated or killed". They also genuinely believe assimilating species is doing them a favor. For example, Zagara in Heart of the Swarm muses that Terrans must live lonely, isolated lives with no hive mind to unite them and no higher purpose to guide them. She not only suggests assimilating the race into the Swarm will alleviate these problems for them, but does so in a completely innocuous manner.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: It turns out that Amon and his servants created the Overmind without free will, in order to use the entire Swarm as a tool to wipe out the other Xel-Naga.
• The Brute: The Jormungand Brood, led by Araq, used brute force and overwhelming numbers to crush enemies.
• Color-Coded Armies:
  • Under the Overmind, Tiamat Brood was red, Garm Brood was orange, Jormungand Brood was purple, Baelrog Brood was white, Grendel Brood was brown, Leviathan Brood was yellow, Fenris Brood was teal, and Surtur Brood was blue. The color purple is most universally associated with the Swarm however, as it's the color of the playable Zerg in the original campaign.
  • In Wings of Liberty, most of Kerrigan's Swarm Zerg are violet, with special or elite units being colored orange. Heart of the Swarm changes this up a bit, with Kerrigan's units being orange, then purple following her re-infestation. Zagara's rogue brood is red, and feral zerg broods are pale yellow.
  • In Legacy of the Void, the Swarm remains purple, while Amon's brood is red. In Covert Ops, the invading Zerg are orange, an early indicator that the Swarm isn't behind the latest Zerg attacks.
• Combat Pragmatist: The Garm Brood as commanded by Zasz specialized in Hit-and-Run Tactics, sneak attacks, and generally used any advantage they could get to subvert enemy defenses and weaken their position.
• The Corruption: The Primal Zerg see their Hive Mind as this, seeing how it was imposed to them by Amon and made them lose their individuality, something they consider unacceptable following their philosophy.
• The Dreaded: Everyone is terrified of and hates the Swarm. While the Protoss see them as abominations to be exterminated, the Terrans see them as monsters to flee from and do so. Even Primal Zerg, the originals, hate the Swarm and regard them as "broken" or "corrupted".
• Elite Army: Daggoth's Tiamat Brood were the most highly evolved and potent of the Broods.
• Evil Is Burning Hot: Zerg in themselves aren't particularly fire-themed, but the Swarm's primary hive planet, Char, is a hostile volcanic world, with acid swamps for water features. It has been suggested in both games and promotional materials they have a preference for such planets, since their adaptability allows them to survive and get tougher in an environment otherwise hostile to Terrans and Protoss, giving them an Home Field Advantage.
• Godzilla Threshold: When the other Broods fail to break an enemy, the Overmind sends in the Surtur Brood, the most powerful of the Broods and so violent that even stray Zerg left behind are often killed in their onslaught.
• Heel–Race Turn: Played with in Heart of the Swarm. They still are not in the best relationship with other species, but thanks to Kerrigan's Heel–Face Turn, they have become at least somewhat more heroic than they used to be. They fought alongside Raynor's Raiders against Emperor Mengsk, and now recognize that there is a much bigger evil on the horizon. After Amon's death and Kerrigan's ascension as a Xel'Naga, Zagara seems satisfied with controlling Char and the systems around it while leaving the Terran and Protoss alone, though it's unknown how long that will last.
• Hive Drone: Most members of the Swarm, with the exception of Kerrigan, the Overmind, and the cerebrates, fit this trope's description. There is even an actual unit type called a drone whose only purposes are to harvest resources and morph into structures that let you make other types of Zerg.
• Hive Mind: First controlled by the Overmind, then by Kerrigan. The Zerg are further divided into Broods that can be controlled by intermediaries. The Overmind used Cerebrates, Kerrigan uses Broodmothers.
• Keystone Army: In the absence of their ruling intelligence, the Swarm splits into feuding feral hives and break-off broods, who spend as much time fighting each other as other races and who lack basic unit cohesion. While the Dominion were slowly losing in a Hopeless War against the Swarm in Wings of Liberty, things instantly shift in Heart of the Swarm after Kerrigan is taken out of the picture, to the point that Warfield with a relatively small forces was eviscerating zerg forces thousands of times his army's size on Char itself.^note In the Char missions in Heart, Kerrigan notes after she gets back that the Swarm could lose thousands of troops for every one terran and still win. Yet, before she arrived, Zagara still said that she had given up hope of driving them off Char. Kerrigan notes the danger in this several times in Heart, saying more than once that her death means the death of the Swarm and lecturing Zagara that her risky frontal attacks are jeopradizing the entire zerg species because the entire Swarm could die if she does.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: They're on both ends of it with the Primal Zerg, the Swarm sniffing their focused evolutions and Hive Mind make them superior to the chaotic and directionless Primals.
• Not Me This Time: In Nova Covert Ops. Technically, the zerg are causing trouble for the Dominion again, but it's not Zagara's doing - the Defenders of Man are using psi-emitters to lure feral zerg attacks on civilian worlds. And said attacks are relatively easily contained by organized military forces to the point where the crew of one ship can make relevant contributions to the defense of Tyrador IX; the real threat is the panic caused by the attacks making the Dominion ripe for a military coup by the true Big Bad, General Davis.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: In Heart of the Swarm onward. They technically no longer are villains and actively help saving the universe from Amon, but their methods still involve unleashing hordes of monstrous bugs on their opponents and assimilating other creatures.
• You Will Be Assimilated: Any species they find that could be of use to them are consumed by the Swarm. Some are recreated directly to be used as new Zerg breeds, others have choice genetic traits analyzed and integrated into existing breeds.

Sarah Kerrigan

See her page here.

The Overmind

"Awaken my child, and embrace the glory that is your birthright. Know that I am the Overmind; the eternal will of the Swarm, and that you have been created to serve me."

Voiced by: Jack Ritschel (Starcraft) Paul Eiding (Starcraft II) (English)

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

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

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Provides examples of:

• A God Am I: He never claims to be a god, but his manner of speech is very Old Testament, as shown in the above quote, and this is helped by his booming, echoing voice. He definitely considers himself this for the Zerg, constantly referring to them as "my creations/creatures" and "a testament to my glory."
• And I Must Scream: Starcraft II reveals that it was sentient but did not have free will, and was unable to rebel against its corrupted biological programming. Tassadar (or rather the Xel'Naga Ouros) described it as screaming in the prison of its own mind.
• The Bad Guy Wins: In the first Zerg campaign. The Swarm successfully invades Aiur and he successfully moves to the planet.
• Benevolent Boss: While considered by other species to be the Big Bad of the game, the Overmind treats the Zerg as beloved children; he is respectful toward his Cerebrates, revives them when they get killed, and his entire motives are focused on doing what is best for the Swarm as a whole.
• Big Bad: In the first game. Not by choice apparently.
• Big Good:
  • To the Zerg, as their benefactor and master, as his actions were taken in the name of giving the Swarm a fighting chance to stop Amon.
  • Ouros considers him as well as his plan to put Kerrigan in charge of the Swarm would give the universe the chance to defeat Amon, even though the Overmind himself only cared about the Zerg — the other forms of life surviving was just a bonus, and a bonus the Zerg could eventually take advantage of, at that.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: The Overmind is subjected to this by Amon, who forced it to assimilate the Protoss as part of a higher directive. The second Overmind is enslaved by the UED with a combination of powerful drugs and psychics to form their own slave Broods to fight for them.
• The Chess Master: He orchestrated several of the events in the series with a long, long set up plan, and they are still running long after his death. It finally pays off at the epilogue of Legacy when Kerrigan kills Amon for good, completing the Overmind's goal of freeing the Zerg
• Dragon with an Agenda: Amon calls him "The Great Betrayer" and as it turned out the Overmind ultimately had no intention of following his creator's goals.
• Eldritch Abomination: It's an utterly massive mess of tentacles, chitin plating and pulsing flesh. In Starcraft it's building-sized, but in Starcraft II its corpse takes up a space on the map so big you could build your entire base in it and have room left over.
  • While it has (or builds) a body of its own, it is actually the total sum and nexus of the zerg Hive Mind.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He treats the Cerebrates like his children, congratulating them when they succeed, expressing satisfaction to see them grow up stronger and even giving Kerrigan some amount of liberty in her decisions. He also seems infuriated when Zeratul killed Zasz. According to Word of God, his plan to defeat the Hybrids was solely because they would destroy all of his Zerg.
• Evil Sounds Deep/Evil Is Hammy: From his very first spoken line, you know he is your god and you will kneel before him.
• Famed In-Story: He's still cited as the greatest zerg leader by the time Zagara has become the head of the Swarm, and she calls upon his name with respect. Its worth noting that the Overmind was already dead by the time Zagara was made, so even the Zerg keep their own internal mythology and history in order.
• Final Boss: For a given value of such. Destroying the Overmind is the final mission objective of the original campaign, but it's just a unique building and has no ability to defend itself beyond the massive amounts of Zerg nesting around it.
• Giant Eye of Doom: Its menu portrait. The novels and concept art reveal this to be a separate creature that it sees through, but in StarCraft II, the brain in the center of its body was made into a giant eye.
• Good All Along: The entire first game is it committing Suicide by Cop in order to allow Kerrigan a shot at defeating Amon, because if it stayed Hive King, it would have been compelled to eat everything in the universe and then be forcibly hybridized with the Protoss.
• Go Out with a Smile: When Zeratul examines the Overmind's final thoughts, he notices that one of his final emotions was a feeling of peace and satisfaction.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Surprisingly, the Overmind planned its own death on Aiur solely so Kerrigan could take over the Swarm and defy Amon's plan for them, saving the Zerg (and likely unintentionally, the Protoss and Terrans,) from their eventual annihilation by the Hybrid.
• Hive Queen: The original force to control the Zerg Hive Mind.
• Living MacGuffin: The Second Overmind. It does not make an appearance as a sentient entity in Brood War, unlike the first one, and is just treated as something that has to be controlled or destroyed.
• Made of Iron:
  • He has the most HP of anything in the original Starcraft. Even at the end of Legacy of the Void, the Overmind's body is still largely intact despite the passage of time, being used as raw material for Amon's host form, and getting hit by the guns of the entire Protoss armada.
  • The Second Overmind, after taking enough damage when it's in its infant stage in Char, regresses into an invulnerable cocoon.
• Mind Hive: In a flip of being in control of the Hive Mind of the Zerg, it's implied that the Cerebrates are different aspects of the Overmind's personality given independence. This is why Kerrigan is such a distinctly separate entity among their ranks, because she has her own personality and is fully independent, but not enough to betray the Overmind. Turns out this is precisely the idea, since the Overmind created her so she could free the Swarm from Amon's influence that had corrupted the Overmind.
• Moral Myopia: The Overmind meant well in seeking to prepare the universe for the coming of Amon. The catch being that it's also done in the interests of the Zerg, with all that implies.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: Starcraft II reveals it let itself die so that control of the Swarm would pass to Kerrigan, who would be able to withstand the corruption of Amon on the Swarm and fight back against him, which the Overmind could not.
• Non-Action Big Bad: For all his talk, he doesn't appear to have any actual means of fighting (when his death was approaching, the most he could do was attempt a Villain: Exit, Stage Left). In gameplay terms, he's basically just a really durable detector building.
• Physical God: Quite literally the living will of the Zerg, and had powers to match, like complete immortality through regular means. However the physical part still left him vulnerable to attack, even if such a thing was incredibly difficult.
• Posthumous Character: He's the Big Bad of the original game and dies at the end, but his role in the greater mythology of the series is only fully revealed much later and despite being long dead he still plays a sizeable role well into Legacy of the Void.
• Papa Wolf: He seems honestly outraged when Zeratul kills Zasz, and this is partially what motivates him into invading Aiur. According to Word of God, his reasons for defying Amon is because he foresaw that the zerg would be enslaved and consumed by the hybrids and he couldn't bear to let them suffer that fate. In Wings of Liberty, he refers to them as "my zerg" in the tone of a mourning father.
• Power Echoes: His voice has a deep reverberation to it.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Surprisingly enough; even though he technically is the Big Bad in the first game, one of the main reasons he is such a fearsome foe is because his decisions, when seen from the Zerg's point of view, actually are logical and good for the sake of the Swarm as a whole. A stark contrast with the corrupt Confederacy, Arcturus Mengsk or the Protoss Conclave.
• Take Over the World: The Protoss homeworld of Aiur. And any other world it pleases, really.
  • Thanatos Gambit: It is strongly implied in the Protoss mini-campaign in Wings of Liberty that the Overmind's reason for invading Aiur was it wanted the protoss to kill it, so Kerrigan could take command of the Swarm free of Amon's influence.
• Time Abyss: His age is never given, he's implied to be thousands of years old at the very least.
• Turned Against Their Masters: It was forced to by Amon.
• Villainous Valor: Despite being an Eldritch Abomination trying to take over the Universe, he was genuinely Benevolent Boss toward his Zerg, and eventually had enough courage to defy Amon. Even Zeratul comes to regard its courage.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Genuinely believes he's doing the other "misguided" races (and the universe in general) a favor by assimilating them.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Was forcibly enslaved by the Dark Voice into trying to commit genocide against the Protoss with the full knowledge that he and his Zerg would be wiped out once they did their job. Kerrigan was meant to be the one hope they had of breaking the Dark Voice's hold.

Izsha

"Your Majesty used to store all her ideas, thoughts and plans within me."

Voiced by: Karen Strassman (English)

Kerrigan's primary advisor in the Zerg Campaign, Kerrigan once stored her thoughts, memories and plans in her while the Queen of Blades.

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Provides examples of:

• All There in the Manual: Her past as Amanda Haley. ^note This is never mentioned in the game itself, but was mentioned in the previews for Heart of the Swarm. Whether or not this is actually canon is up in the air.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Tends to ask these, but since she always has the same tone of voice, it's hard to tell if she's trying to rile Kerrigan or genuinely curious. Kerrigan's response is either "Shut up, Izsha" or silence.
• The Consigliere: Speaks her mind more freely than even Broodmothers, and isn't afraid to question Kerrigan. She even offers strategic advice between missions, though since Kerrigan is working toward goals outside the Swarm's Blue-and-Orange Morality, she tends to ignore it.
• Evil Feels Good: Strongly admires Kerrigan from her time as the Queen of Blades, though she seems to admire her more for how powerful she made the Swarm than for her atrocious acts.
• Mission Control: She serves much the same role as the Terran AI adjutants.
  • In the Coop Missions of Legacy of the Void, she even replaces the classic Zerg adviser when playing as one of the Zerg commanders. This was done to prevent confusion between the voices of the Zerg Queen advisor featured in the campaign or multiplayer and Zagara.
• Mr. Exposition: Female version. She's Kerrigan's equivalent of an adjutant, and explains mission objectives and the like.
• Non-Action Guy: Female version. Her role is one of an adviser rather than a fighter, and as a result she never takes part in a fight personally. She does, however, lead Kerrigan's protection during her transformation into the Primal Queen of Blades if you didn't get Zagara at this point.
• The Noseless: One of the many visible modifications to her once-human body.
• Prehensile Hair: Sort of. Her "hair" is now a set of several tentacles protruding from the top of her head. She uses them for manipulation. Her "hands," meanwhile, have fused into her body in a folded posture.
• Reforged into a Minion: Her backstory.
• Robo Speak: Speaks in a stilted, monotone manner.
• Social Darwinist: A notably less evil version; she does seem to accept this as a reasoning, but rather than deduce that the weak should be crushed, this makes her concerned with making the Swarm as strong as possible so they won't be crushed.
• Token Good Teammate: Word of God describes her as more sympathetic than Abathur, her concept "was to strike a balance between human and monster." She indeed comes out as the least sinister of Kerrigan's lieutenants (despite taking pleasure in killing and conquest), excluding perhaps Stukov.
• Voice with an Internet Connection: Her body is fused into the flesh of the Leviathan, and she can't personally fight.
• Was Once a Man: Formerly Amanda Haley, a psychic Terran medic who ended up infested by Kerrigan.

Abathur

"Abathur. Evolve Swarm, spin strands and sequences. Served Overmind, then served Queen of Blades. Now serve you."

Voiced by: Steve Blum (English), Mikhail Georgiou (Russian)

The Genetic Library of the Swarm, he is in charge of all evolutions in the name of strengthening the Zerg. Abathur was a unique Zerg specimen created by the Overmind specifically for this purpose, who has been working for the Swarm ever since, both for the Overmind and Kerrigan under her two personae. His work consists of looking for potential creatures with useful genetic potential that can be added to the Swarm, or else alteration that could be used to improve the Swarm. He is extremely amoral in the approach of his work, uncaring about the pain of his test subjects. While he does his best to improve the Swarm, he doesn't intend to make them perfect: by his own words, perfection is impossible to attain, but to always chase it through mutation and adaptation is the only way that the Zerg can live.

Dialogue with him reveals he was the one who put Kerrigan into the chrysalis and turned her into the original Queen of Blades.

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Provides examples of:

• Affably Evil: As amoral and greedy for essence as he is, he is always well-mannered and honest when talking with Kerrigan.
• Batman Gambit: Plays a mean one in Evolution. He secretly creates a special strain of zerg, the Psyolisks, and attempts to use them to provoke a war between the three species again by means of a False Flag Operation, making it look like Zagara and the whole Swarm are behind the attacks of the Psyolisks.
• Beige Prose: Short sentences. To point. No articles. Efficient. Need sample?
  Abathur: Spin strand backward? No. Inside out zergling. Not efficient.
• Berserk Button:
  • One of the few times he shows emotion is when he encounters beings with proficiency in genetic manipulation comparable to or greater than his own — someone with abilities surpassing his could create creatures that surpass the Swarm, and that is unacceptable. He suggests Kerrigan exterminate the primal Zerg out of indignation and anger that the primals have assimilates some of the Swarm's exclusive strands and modified them. Later when they encounter Alexi Stukov, Abathur admits the degree of infestation achieved with them is beyond what he could do, and suggests that they ally with whomever did it since they are clearly more powerful than the Swarm.
  • As mentioned, he hates the primal Zerg, not only because they assimilate the Swarm's strains. They are not part of the Swarm's Hive Mind and thus not "true" Zerg in Abathur's eyes, and their evolutions over thousands of years of assimilating each other for survival are much less refined than the focused evolutions Abathur has engineered. Most of the flavor text for the Swarm Host's evolutions in the evolution pit is Abathur grumbling about how their genes resist augmentation and it's difficult to achieve even simple changes, or that their strands are sloppy and wasteful as a result of their uncontrolled evolution.
  • As revealed in the novel Evolution, he hates the idea of other beings not part of the Swarm benefiting from the Swarm's genetic manipulations – in his mind, all beings manipulated by the Swarm are meant to be a part of it, and if they are not then they are abominations.
• Big Bad: Of the Evolution novel. He's the one working to undermine Zagara's calls for peace with the other races by inciting another war to continue evolving the Swarm.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: When Kerrigan tells Abathur that he will no longer be experimenting with terrans, he reacts positively, not because he has any kind of empathy towards humans, but because they are such a mess to work with that Abathur felt he was wasting his time with them (save for very few individuals with high psionic potential, such as Kerrigan herself).
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You:
  • Kerrigan doesn't like him and is actually infuriated when she remembers that he was the one who turned her into the original Queen of Blades (mentioning that what she felt was essentially him taking her apart and rebuilding her). She still allows him to live because he's far too useful to her. Though if you talk to him just before the last mission, she says she seems to be growing to like him a bit. In an earlier version of Heart of the Swarm, she has him killed and replaced with a duplicate.
  • Same with Zagara at the end of Evolution. She punishes Abathur for his treachery, but spares his life because the Swarm needs its Evolution Master.
• Comedic Sociopathy: Half his humor comes from the fact he is completely unable to realize how horrible what he does to his test subjects is...
• The Comically Serious: And the other half comes from how deadpan he is even when considering the craziest ideas and concepts.
  "Must solve Zergling lemon-juice allergy."
  "Spin strands backwards...? No. Inside-out zergling. Not efficient."
• Creepy Monotone: He never really changes that robotic tone of his. Listen for yourself.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Why he gladly serves Kerrigan, as he becomes lost and purposeless when he has no one to serve. To him it's a Fate Worse than Death and one that he suffered from when the Overmind was killed until Kerrigan found him.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: A toned down version, but he actually seems a bit confused when Kerrigan acts nicer toward him at the end of the campaign.
  Kerrigan: You know, sometimes you're not so bad, Abathur.
  Abathur: Unclear...
• Evil Sounds Deep: Not surprisingly, given that he's voiced by Steve Blum using his Grunt voice.
• Evilutionary Biologist: Granted, he is on the side of Kerrigan, but other than that he fits the trope in every aspect. He takes it further in Evolution, where he's the Big Bad.
• Finger-Tenting: Does a fingertips-touching variant, though since he only has two per hand, it looks a bit odd.
• For Science!: He is perfectly aware that it's pointless to dissect Lassara, since he cannot integrate Protoss DNA to Zerg. He still wants to do it because he likes trying, as its part of his role of assimilating other species into the swarm and one of the goals of the Swarm has always been to assimilate the Protoss.
• Giant Spider: Part of his aesthetic; Blizzard envisioned him as a huge spider who visualized DNA as webbing.
• Hidden Depths: He can be surprisingly philosophical about some things, such as his short discourse on the concept of perfection or his views on having a driving purpose and what it means to the Swarm as a whole.
• Humans Are Flawed:
  • He seems to believe this, as he's unimpressed with Terran DNA. He makes exception for certain humans with psionic potential, being willing to go through the effort to assimilate them and break down most of their flawed humanity while trying to keep the psionics intact, but otherwise finds humans not worth his time. He's outright relieved when Kerrigan tells him she won't be assimilating humans anymore.
  • Not just humans, but he has this view of the Zerg as well. He seeks to perfect the species, but admits outright that it's utterly unattainable. However, it's still worth trying.
• Lack of Empathy: A central part of his amoral characterization. When he has a failed experiment, he simply has it tossed back into a reclamation pool without bothering to Mercy Kill it first, seeing that as a waste of time, despite it still possessing an obvious pain response. He even considers making a creature with a heightened sense of pain, as it's an important sensory feedback mechanism.
• Mad Scientist: He seems just as much in it to see what interesting things he can do with essence as to improve the zerg.
• Mission Control: For the Evolution missions.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: Kerrigan notes that she's never seen a being like him and asks what genetic strands he was made from. Abathur replies the Overmind made him personally for his specific purpose by combining many strands.
• Moral Myopia: He is infuriated after seing that the Primal Zerg stole some of the Swarm's sequences, but in the following mission, Abathur creates the Swarm Host from stolen primal sequences. Not to mention that most of the evolution missions are mostly stealing sequences from various species across the sector.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Sniffs that the focused evolutions of the Swarm are much more impressive than the natural, "sloppy" evolutions of the Zerus Zerg, and advises Kerrigan to take what evolutionary strands are worth interest and wipe them out after. Though since he's the one who handles said evolutions, he's hardly un-biased.
• Non-Action Guy: Just like Izsha, he wasn't created for fight and serves only as a geneticist. However, his dialogs mention him wandering the tunnels of Char after the death of the Overmind and in an earlier version he talks about killing and eating every creature he came across during that time. So it seems that he is pretty capable of fighting and defending himself, he's just far too useful and valuable to simply be sent on to the battlefield.
  • Heroes of the Storm supports this theory, since Abathur is a controllable hero who can fight on the front line, but is much more effective as a support unit working inside his team's base. Co-op Missions in turn had Abathur chosen as a Zerg commander precisely because, unlike Kerrigan and Zagara, he isn't one to take the front lines as a hero unit, thus he'll play differently from them.
  • In the novel Evolution, he tries to attack Zagara and is rather brutally beaten to a bloody pulp for his minor effort.
• Not So Stoic: Implied; when Kerrigan starts remembering he was the one who turned her into the Queen of Blades, he shows subtle signs of fear by trying to dissuade her from investigating further into it. He also becomes noticeably angry when he discovers the Primal Zerg have "stolen" the Swarm's designs.
  Abathur: UNACCEPTABLE!
• Obliviously Evil: The only thing that matters for him is his goal, which is to make the Swarm stronger, and he doesn't seem to realize when he's doing amoral or horrible things while chasing this goal. For example, he dissolves failed experiments into biomass alive and conscious, not because he enjoys their pain, but because he doesn't see the point in giving them a Mercy Kill—they'll become biomass either way, what's the difference?
• Perfection Is Impossible: When Kerrigan asks him why he is striving for greatness in his work and not perfection, he replies that "perfection" depends on the situation. There's value in improvement, but to think perfection possible is to delude oneself.
  Abathur: Perfection goal that changes, never stops moving. Can chase, cannot catch.
• Pragmatic Villainy: He actually expresses satisfaction when Kerrigan orders him to stop experimenting on human subjects, because he feels like they are uninteresting and too weak to bring anything useful, with the exception of psychics. He also doesn't seem to like being feral (i.e. without direction) as he's "less" for it.
• Remember the New Guy?: He's apparently a longtime servant of the Swarm, but he's never been seen on screen till Heart of the Swarm.
• Sdrawkcab Name: Just like Artanis in reverse would be Sinatra, a reverse of his name would be 'ruhtaba'. Ever heard of the Ruhtaba(ga)?
• Single Specimen Species: He's the only one of his kind among the swarm and was created to learn how to best assimilate other species by the Overmind. In his own words: "Brood of one."
• The Smart Guy: Similarly to Egon and Swann in Wings of Liberty. He's the one in charge of Zerg evolution and DNA analysis.
• The Spock: Has a tendency to suggest the most pragmatic or efficient course of action for Kerrigan and the Zerg to take.
• The Starscream: In Evolution, he plots behind Zagara's back to start another war, as in his mind she has betrayed the Swarm by turning them away from war and assimilation.
• Strange-Syntax Speaker: Speaks short sentences. Skips articles. Similar to Mordin Solus. Also geneticist. Likely coincidence.
• Third-Person Person: "Person" may be a stretch of the word but, since he doesn't use pronouns, he refers himself as "subject Abathur".
• Token Evil Teammate: Word of God describes him having an evil and diabolical nature and Kerrigan actively hates him, both for what he does and his demeanor while doing it. Really lives up to this status in the novel Evolution, where he disagrees with Zagara's decision to lead the Swarm to a path to peace with the Terrans and Protoss, and engineers a plan to instigate another war.
• Undying Loyalty: Towards Kerrigan by the end of Heart of the Swarm. He outright calls her the Swarm's greatest leader. In his eyes, Kerrigan has led the Swarm even better than the Overmind or her old self. He does not regard Zagara in the same way.
• Walking Spoiler: For the Evolution novel. Mainly that he's the Big Bad of it.

Dehaka

Voiced by: Steve Blum (English), Sergey Chikhachev (Russian)

A Primal Zerg leader from Zerus who willingly joins Kerrigan, hoping she will help him to get more ESSENCE to collect.

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Provies examples of:

• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Although he's not as obsessed with power as the other packleaders, he's still strong enough to lead his own pack. As the other packs joined the Swarm after their respective leaders' death, it's possible that Dehaka serves as the leader of the whole primal zerg within the zerg Swarm.
• The Big Guy: He has no hive mind connection and thus cannot take advantage of the Zerg's unique upgrades, nor does he have psionic skills. What he does have is finely-evolved traits like powerful legs to leap and massive claws to rip apart enemies.
• Bold Inflation: His. Entire. Dialogue. Especially. The word. ESSENCE.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • During the first mission on Zerus, Dehaka can be seen lurking on the periphery of the battlefield and hides when pursued, and in the second mission, he's on the cliff observing Kerrigan's forces, before he makes himself known to her in the final mission.
  • After joining Kerrigan he just hangs around on the Leviathan as someone to talk to after joining, neither he or his pack take an active role in any story or gameplay elements. That is until Kerrigan assaults Korhal and they activate the Psi Destroyer, which attacks the Zerg through their psionic hive mind. Hm, now where are we going to find some Zerg without a connection to the hive mind... heeey!
• Dumb Dinos: Subverted; superficially, he has a resemblance to a bipedal dinosaur, he seems driven only by instinct to feed upon essence and doesn't have the most complex conversations. He is however very pragmatic about choosing allies and isn't interested in getting drunk on power.
• Enlightened Self-Interest: He doesn't seek to become the supreme zerg on Zerus, reasoning that it would only make him a target, and so he chooses fighting for the strongest side as his modus operandi. He recognizes Kerrigan as stronger than any of the Broods on Zerus, so he joins her. This trope also explains why he doesn't betray Kerrigan at any point in the story despite a "side" appearing stronger than Kerrigan – each time, switching sides would end up badly for him and his brood in the long run, and he knows it. He also makes an exception for Amon, as he knows Amon will just kill him later along with everything else (which he also needs to absorb essence from).
• Everyone Has Standards: He could never serve Amon because he will devour all essence, including him, and he'll gladly fight to prevent that from happening.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Sort of. As you can easily see while he's hanging around the Leviathan, his large right arm has been severed (and you can actually find it as an Easter Egg in one mission) but he still has a much smaller arm on that side. However, he's supposed to have always had four arms, one large pair and one small pair — however, he's lost his large right arm and his left small arm. If you click on him enough, he expresses bafflement as to why his biology hasn't evolved him a new arm yet. Also, one tusk is half-broken and the other one is whole.
• Foil: To Abathur. Both take pride in the Zerg's capability for evolution, but while Abathur focuses on precise, targeted mutations geared towards an ideal, Dehaka is more "go with the flow" - constant change without seeking perfection, to avoid stagnation.
  • He's also one to Fenix/ Talandar. Both are the not-too-bright muscle of their factions, and have different natures compared to their leaders (Primal zerg for Dehaka, robotic Purifier for F/ T). Both also seek change, though for F/ T, it is to forge his own identity to set himself apart from the original Fenix.
• Genetic Adaptation: Champions this as the strength of the Zerg, the ability to evolve and adapt to combat any enemy and survive any weapon or environment. When Kerrigan questions his distaste for a Terran base's design, Dehaka boasts he does not need technology to make walls and weapons to defend himself, he can evolve armor and claws.
• Genius Bruiser: Despite his speech patterns and obsession with ESSENCE, Dehaka tends to wax philosophical and can be eloquent when he wants to.
  Kerrigan: Do you think the remaining Packleaders will join me now?
  Dehaka: They are a rock, a tree, a hill. They will stand against the wind. They seek power.
  Kerrigan: And you?
  Dehaka: I am a river. I will flow. I seek ESSENCE.
• Glass Cannon: He has less health than Kerrigan, and his melee attacks put him at point blank range. However, his damage output is higher than hers, and he triples it by creating a pair of Cannon Fodder spawn.
• Handicapped Badass: He's missing his right arm^note which can be found in a mission and is noted to be still bleeding profusely, but he's still the leader of his pack and a hero unit with appropriate levels of power.
• I Fight for the Strongest Side!: He makes this clear to Kerrigan when he joins her, he's only with her because she is strong and will defeat many enemies, so he sides with her to take part and absorb more ESSENCE. Kerrigan lampshades that she's had shakier allies, and asks a couple times if he's considering leaving to join an apparently superior foe.
• Me's a Crowd: One of his abilities in Heart of the Swarm consist of him spawning smaller versions of himself.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Has this opinion of himself, according to one Stop Poking Me! quote.
  Dehaka: All these teeth! I will evolve a toothbrush.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Unlike the other Primal Zerg Packleaders, he choses to join Kerrigan right ahead rather than fight them when it appears she's gaining in power. It is implied that he did so at great risk as his arm can be found and it's still bleeding.
• No-Sell: Due to lacking a connection to the Swarm Zerg's Hive Mind, he is completely immune to any attack targeting it. That makes him a key element to destroy Mengsk's Psi Destroyer.
• Only in It for the Money: Or rather, only in it for the essence, Dehaka's idea of being "paid well". Effectively, he's like a Primal Zerg mercenary who will join the faction who brings him the most essence in the long run.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: Comes with being a Primal Zerg.
• The Social Darwinist: As with the other pack leaders.
• What Could Have Been: According to map editor files for Dehaka, he was originally intended to have a quite different personality, leaning more towards the Dumb Muscle type, rather than the Genius Bruiser that he is in the final game.
  StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Map Editor on Dehaka: Eager and not too bright. Loud, speaks in a yell.
• Worthy Opponent: Primal Zerg seek this as part of their nature, but Dehaka talks about it a lot. When Kerrigan talks about terrans, Dehaka mentions he'll consume their ESSENCE and discover for himself if they are worthy.
• You Are Who You Eat: Like all Primal Zerg, Dehaka can consume the ESSENCE of enemies to grow stronger. As a Co-op Commander, he can devour individual enemies – up to and including Hybrids, Colossi, battlecruisers, and even leviathans – and can even temporarily gain abilities based on the traits of the unit he devours, from extra armor and faster attack speed to bonus damage and reduced cooldowns.
• Your Size May Vary: He's a lot bigger in when used in Death From Above than when he appears in the Leviathan. He can get bigger still as a Co-Op commander, to the point that he's invariably Kaiju-level big by the time of the endgame. A cheesy musical cue like something from a monster movie even plays when he reaches his maximum level.

Alexei Stukov

Vice Admiral Alexei Stukov

"My eyes are burning!"

Click the note to see how he looked as a Terran.^note 

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

Voiced by: Unknown in Starcraft and Victor Brandt in Starcraft II (English), Kirill Radzig (Russian)

Alexei Stukov (occasionally spelled "Alexi", though the former is the correct Russian spelling) is the second-in-command of the UED fleet. Throughout the campaign he advises DuGalle, and unlike his commander is not taken in by Duran's slick talking and ignores an order to destroy a valuable piece of Confederate equipment Duran tricked DuGalle into having destroyed. He was murdered when Duran tricked DuGalle into thinking Stukov had betrayed him, and his dying words were to beg his friend to finish the job.

Sometime after his death, Stukov's body was recovered by unknown forces^note It may have been Confederate remnants experimenting with infestation, or the Zerg and he was infested and reanimated, taking control of a Zerg Brood. Raynor and a Protoss named Taldarin rescue him with experimental nanobots, and the human and revived Stukov fled with Raynor's forces. Stukov was given to the Moebius Foundation to study the infestation cure, but over time the cure failed and his infestation took hold again. Alone and embittered as he became a lab rat for Moebius, Stukov eventually contacted Kerrigan to request her aid in destroying the lab where he had been kept, and afterwards joined the Zerg Swarm, leading an army of infested Terrans.

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Provides examples of:

• And Then John Was a Zombie: He and DuGalle fight the Zerg, only for him to be killed, captured, and infested to become one of the Zerg's most powerful agents.
• Armor-Piercing Attack: His special ability in Heart of the Swarm saps the armor rating of targets and does damage.
• Back from the Dead: Via infestation.
• Best Served Cold: It takes six years until the time of Legacy of the Void, but he eventually gets his revenge on Duran.
  "Hello, Duran. Do you remember what you did to me?"
• Body Horror: Heart of the Swarm allows his infested form to be shown in full 3D detail. It's as unpleasant as you might expect from infestation.
• Burial in Space: His funeral has his coffin ejected into space.
• Characterization Marches On: In Starcraft II he's a far more cynical, bitter, and shady character than the honorable and proud vice-admiral of the UED he was in Brood War. Completely justified by the horrific Trauma Conga Line he experienced between games, which includes but is not limited to being killed and resurrected via Zerg infestation' no one could go through what Stukov did and come out of it unchanged.
• Commanding Coolness: He ran a group of mercenaries while hiding his infested nature. He also attempted to control a zerg swarm, but his lack of understanding of the zerg limited his effectiveness.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: He kills Duran/Narud in his true Xel'naga form with a psychic blast.
• The Dog Bites Back: Gets revenge by killing Duran in his true Xel'naga form five years after Duran killed him in his human form. Stukov got the last laugh.
• Do Not Go Gentle: He thinks fighting Amon to the bitter end sounds like a fantastic idea.
• Dragon-in-Chief: To DuGalle. Unfortunately, he's the reason why the UED fleet started out successful.
• Easily Forgiven: To both DuGalle and Kerrigan. He doesn't blame his old friend for betraying and having him assassinated since he knows they've both been manipulated by Duran, nor does he blame Kerrigan for slaughtering the fleeing UED fleet including DuGalle himself^note Technically, DuGalle took his own life before the Swarm caught up to the fleet but it makes little difference, likely because he came to understand that the UED had been naively and arrogantly Bullying a Dragon.
• Enemy Mine: With Kerrigan in Heart of the Swarm, he acknowledges they were once enemies but now they have a mutual enemy in Narud and the Dominion. He fully expects to be killed after he's done helping her, but Kerrigan allows him to remain and Stukov accepts, since he has nowhere else to go. He doesn't seem to hold her slaughtering the UED fleet against her, either.
• Exact Words: He sent Ghosts to "facilitate the Disrupter's disassembly" and later told Admiral Dugalle that the Disrupter was "accounted for." Which was true, as far as it went...
• Final Speech: After being shot by Duran:
  ...Gerard... old friend... You do indeed have a traitor in your midst. But it's not me. Duran. He has been playing us both from the start. He convinced you to destroy the Psi Disruptor, even though it was our best chance at defeating the Zerg. And then on Aiur, he allowed the Zerg to overrun us even as we had the fugitives in our grasp. I came here... to activate the one hope we have of defeating them... and you killed me for it (wheezing laugh). Duran is your enemy, Gerard. I suspect (gasp for breath) that he may even be infested, as well. Use the Disruptor, Gerard. (struggling to talk) Finish our operation. Let my death have at least some meaning!
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: In Heart of the Swarm, with a dash of Fireball Eyeballs. His pupils now extend throughout his whole eye, and are spiral-shaped.
• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: This is actually addressed in the instructions manual, that Stukov is the smarter of the two. And it shows. The UED mission would likely have succeeded if Stukov had been in charge.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Heart of the Swarm includes this line as a Stop Poking Me! quote.
  "Some days I miss Vodka... Like today, for example."
• Ironic Echo: When Duran kills Stukov, he says "Say goodnight, Stukov". Infested Stukov throws it back into Duran/Narud's face when he gets revenge.
  Stukov: I've come to say goodnight you son of a bitch.
• The Lancer: Plays as this in one mission in Heart of the Swarm, helping to de-power Narud for Kerrigan while she's busy fighting Narud in a Beam-O-War.
• Leave No Witnesses: Lampshaded and invoked, but subverted. Once his mission chain is finished in Heart of the Swarm, Stukov assumes Kerrigan will kill him shortly to tie up the last loose end. Kerrigan allows him to leave anytime he wants, then invites him to remain with the Swarm since he says he has nowhere to go.
• Mook Maker: He can create Infested Terrans in Heart of the Swarm.
• More than Mind Control: After being freed from the Zerg, he makes he clear that he wanted no such thing, but joins Raynor & co. anyway.
• Poor Communication Kills: He could have done a better job explaining the Psi Disruptor situation to Admiral DuGalle. Heck, the whole UED-Dominion conflict could have been avoided if they would only talk to each other, as evident from their ill-fated alliance against Kerrigan at the very end of the game.
• Psychic Powers: He is extremely subtly implied to have these, unwittingly. It might even have been why he was infested. Heart of the Swarm shows he definitely has these, though how much is due to infestation is unknown.
• Red Right Hand: Left Infested Claw in Heart of the Swarm. In another one of his Stop Poking Me! quotes he notes that "These spiky things are great for scratching your back."
• Russian Guy Suffers Most: And not just all that happens in the base game and Resurrection IV, Heart of the Swarm shows he's since been re-infested and used as a lab rat by Narud for a few years.
  Stukov: Let's recap. I was betrayed and killed, shot into space, captured by the zerg, resurrected and infested, cured, given to Moebius to research the protoss cure, and was instead experimented on as the cure slowly failed. Everyone up to speed? Good.
• Senseless Sacrifice: He really didn't need to die to tell DuGalle what Duran was doing, or even go off on his own to make it look like a betrayal. There's a few hints DuGalle is being mentally manipulated by Duran, but still, there had to be a better way for Stukov to bring him to his senses.
• Still Wearing the Old Colors: Heart of the Swarm shows that he's still wearing what's left of his UED officer's uniform, complete with Commissar Cap.
• Tranquil Fury: In contrast to Kerrigan's Hot-Blooded nature, Stukov is significantly more subdued about his vengeance. Although he wants it just as badly.
• Trauma Conga Line: His death in Brood War was just the start of one. See Russian Guy Suffers Most for a quick rundown.
• Viral Transformation: Like all infested Terrans, it radically altered his personality, although his original identity like Kerrigan remains intact. In Heart of the Swarm, Abathur notes the degree of Stukov's transformation is so great, it's second only to Kerrigan, and the combination of Zerg and Terran DNA is something even he can't replicate.
• Vodka Drunkenski: Implied by Du Galle in the intro. "Your vodka can wait Alexei." One of his portrait animations in the original game has him taking a whiff of a glass of wine while one of his Stop Poking Me! quotes in the sequel is "Some days, I miss vodka. Like today, for example".
• We Will Meet Again: Invokes it on behalf of the UED, telling Kerrigan in Heart of the Swarm they will return to the sector someday. He doesn't seem to look forward to it, though, given what happened when he and his fleet had their turn.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: A rare example where it actually plays in his favour. In Heart of the Swarm, he is well-aware of the Queen of Blade's treacherous nature, and fully expects Kerrigan to execute him once he's no longer needed, something which he accepts for the sake of revenge. Fortunately for him, Kerrigan has already gone through Character Development and become a Noble Demon at this point; as a result, she feels empathy for him, spares him and offers him a place in the Swarm when he admits he has nowhere to go.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Acknowledged — even if he could somehow get back to Earth and see his wife and children again, there's no place there for an infested terran. Kerrigan says she won't stop him from leaving, but would recommend against him doing so, rather than risk drawing their attention.

Broken Horn

Even the Queen Bitch of the Universe needs a therapy dog.

A zergling easily identifiable by the damage done to its right horn.

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Provides examples of:

• A Day in the Limelight: He's the main focal point of "Operation Blind Devil," particularly his relationship with Kerrigan.
  • A Death in the Limelight: The end of the short story implies that either a kill switch in his implants was activated, or he dies due to his injuries.
• Buffy Speak: He gives himself crude names for some parts of the Operation Blind Devil laboratory. The operating theater is the "cutting-place," while cloth is "shiny wingstuff" (and he's quite confused why the terrans don't even use it for flight).
• Distinguishing Mark: His right horn is broken off at its lowest point. Abathur chooses him as the test subject for Zagara's augmentations for this reason.
  Abathur: Yes. Good choice. Identifiable.
• Escaped from the Lab: He ultimately pushes through the mind control implants, slaughtering everyone in the Dominion laboratory.
• Gone Horribly Right: Kerrigan's initial impression was that Abathur gave the zergling too much independence. While unsettled by how he could explicitly disobey her at first, part of this was due to concerns over what Zagara might try to pull with that kind of cognition.
• Immune to Mind Control: His augmentations were supposed to let him understand vision, but in practice allowed him to make decisions on his own and disobey psionic commands. This comes to be beneficial when he's made a Dominion lab rat; even though it causes him physical pain he can resist the commands given through his implants, preventing the Blind Devil team from determining if they've been successful in mind-controlling the zerg.
• I Surrender, Suckers: He eventually stops resisting the mind control device's commands, leading the Blind Devil scientists to think they'd been successful in mind-controlling even a sentient zerg. This is all an act, since he's willingly giving in to the commands so they'd bring him outside of his pen, giving him an opening to escape and wreak havoc on them.
• It Can Think: Dr. Broadhurst specifically classifies him as sentient. While this proves useful in preventing Operation Blind Devil from yielding any results, it's also deconstructed: he hesitated when Kerrigan ordered him to escape from the government building on Angdra, and got captured as a result.
• Morality Pet: Kerrigan grew quite attached to him, and mourned his loss even though she knows he was just one zergling.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Once he escapes from the lab, he goes right for Dr. Broadhurst and quite literally tears her to shreds once he finds her.
• Undying Loyalty: Even after his augmentations were completed, Broken Horn showed no signs of actively going against Kerrigan. If anything, his bond to the Queen of Blades was strengthened: He's shown to display acts of affection and mostly acts out of a desire to please her. Part of why he hated Dr. Broadhurst is because her attempts to control him felt similar to Kerrigan's psionic presence, so he considered her an imposter.

Cerebrates

Daggoth

"My brood shall aid you, Cerebrate, should you require assistance."

Voiced by: Unknown (English), Alexander Bobrovsky (Russian)

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

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Provides examples of:

• Demoted to Extra: Ironically, while Brood War sees him as a Dragon Ascendant, he ends up being this trope. The story with regards to the Zerg focuses on Kerrigan and the formation of the second Overmind, not the cerebrates this time. Despite being in a position to be treated as a primary antagonist, Daggoth never appears even once, and is only mentioned in one mission to establish he's the leader of the Renegade Zerg now. After that he's swiftly forgotten, not even being mentioned when his renegade faction falls under control of the UED.
• The Dragon: The Overmind's right-hand Cerebrate.
• Dragon Ascendant: When the Overmind died, he took command of half of the Swarm in Brood War.
• Dragon Their Feet: He's one of the few Cerebrates to survive the death of the two Overminds. His brood was trying to protect the first one, but no one thought of killing him directly. Word of God is Kerrigan tracked him down and killed him after Brood War.
• Elite Mooks: The Hunter Killers. The only time you even get them is when he gives them to you, but they are far and away some of the best units in the campaign. Hydralisks are strong enough already, the Hunter Killers are Hydralisks with all of the Hydralisk's upgrades, as well as increased HP, armor and damage.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Brood War never explained what happened to him (although it implied that he was destroyed along with the rest of the Cerebrates shortly after the second Overmind's death), so Blizzard had to clarify he was killed by Kerrigan after the Brood War.

Zasz

"You dare threaten a Cerebrate? You will be the doom of us all!"

Voiced by: Bill Roper (English), Mikhail Belyakovich (Russian)

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

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Provides examples of:

• Cassandra Truth: Zasz says that Kerrigan will be "the doom of us all" (that is, the Zerg) when she tells him not to question her. Zasz himself dies by the end of the mission thanks to Kerrigan's pride getting the best of her, while in Brood War Kerrigan kills the second Overmind and the surviving Cerebrates.
• The Complainer Is Always Wrong: He wasn't — he was worried Kerrigan was too independent and powerful to be controlled, and when the Overmind died she took control of the Swarm and killed the Cerebrates. Though he was unaware that Kerrigan being uncontrollable was the Overmind's idea all along.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Killed off-screen by the hand of Zeratul.
• Killed Off for Real: The first Cerebrate to die permanently when previously they could have their personalities reincarnated in new bodies.
• Mook Lieutenant: A sniveling and loyal toady who yells at Kerrigan for disobeying orders, contrasting Daggoth's more reserved and reasonable approach.
• The Smart Guy: Provides recon data and advice to the player on missions.
• Smug Snake: He is absolutely secure in the superiority of the Swarm and that Kerrigan's independence will be punished as disobedience.
• Undying Loyalty: Granted, Cerebrates can't betray the Overmind anyway, but he in particular was especially loyal and fervent in serving him. This quickly leads him to distrust Kerrigan for her independance compared to the other agents of the Swarm.

The Cerebrate (Episode II)

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

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Provides examples of:

• All There in the Manual: The novels reveal that it stayed on Char with Kerrigan and was killed by Tassadar.
• The Brute: While Daggoth relays orders to you and Zasz gives you intelligence data, your Cerebrate is stuck doing the muscle work, wiping out the enemy forces on your lonesome.
• Cerebus Retcon: In the game, the player accompanies the Overmind to Aiur to spearhead the invasion. Novels retcon that the Cerebrate stayed on Char when the Overmind invaded Aiur and was killed by Tassadar.
• Killed Off for Real: Is slain by Tassadar.
• No Name Given: Even in the Queen of Blades novel, it is simply "Cerebate." The same novel implies this is because it hasn't existed long enough and/or proven itself enough to warrant one.
• Player Character: Though one given a bit more backstory and role than the other Non Entity Generals; this Cerebrate is young at the start of the campaign, and created specifically to watch over Kerrigan and empower her.
• Villain Protagonist: While all of the Player Characters in the original game are undoubtedly heroes, this one fights on the side determined to consume all known life.

The Cerebrate (Episode VI)

A member of the Swarm serving Daggoth after the death of the Overmind, it was seized by Kerrigan to aid in controlling her forces. It serves as the Player Character of Episode VI.

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Provides examples of:

• Brainwashed and Crazy: Technically speaking; Kerrigan took control of its mind by force because she needed or wanted aid in keeping her Zerg in line.
• Co-Dragons: To Kerrigan with Duran.
• Player Character: Though a very marginalized one, it's made clear that it serves Kerrigan and if it defies her (if it even can) she will put it down.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Word of God is that when Kerrigan wiped out the Cerebrates because she didn't need them anymore after seizing full control of the Zerg, this one was not spared.

Broodmothers

Zagara

Voiced by: Nika Futterman (English), Inna Koroleva (Russian)

Another of Kerrigan's broodmothers, in control of the Zerg on Char. Subduing her is Kerrigan's first task to take back the planet for the Swarm. When she rejoins, Kerrigan begins to groom her as a replacement leader for the Swarm if she should be incapacitate or killed somehow.

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Provides examples of:

• Bastard Understudy: An unusual example. While she intends to take over the Swarm if the occasion presents itself, her loyalty toward Kerrigan is genuine. She knows Kerrigan is a more fitting leader in the current situation, and wants to learn more from her as a pupil. Until then, she will keep serving loyally.
• Blood Knight: She's always eager to unleash the Swarm's wrath on their enemies.
• Character Development: Invoked in-universe, after her defeat Kerrigan asks if Zagara understands how Kerrigan defeated her, and Zagara's only answers are that she was faster or stronger. Kerrigan has Abathur evolve her and takes Zagara under her wing to instruct her, teaching her the finer aspects of being a shrewd and cunning leader now that she is capable of understanding such concepts.
• Curious as a Monkey: Zagara shows a lot of curiosity in the differences between other people. She pities the terrans for not having a hive mind, expresses desire to learn about Stukov's origins. It's hinted that her time with Abathur makes her better able to grasp more complex thoughts.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Goes from one of the first Broodmothers to oppose Kerrigan and a blatant Smug Snake in her introduction to a devoted, borderline Sycophantic Servant after Kerrigan defeated her.
• The Dragon: After rejoining the Swarm, she serves as Kerrigan's right-hand Zerg, commanding the Brood when she can't and being a close advisor. Kerrigan at one point tells her that if she dies, the Swarm will fall to Zagara's control.
• Every Proper Lady Should Curtsy: Performs the gesture when talking to Kerrigan.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Zagara gets very confused when Kerrigan goes out of her way to save Raynor. She doesn't make an issue of it though, assuming that it's part of some clever plan to crush the Terrans in the long term, and busies herself with trying to work it out. Kerrigan wryly comments she's probably not going to crack this one.
  • She seems to have made some connection by the end of Legacy Of The Void; if her forces fall in the second epilogue mission, she pointedly orders Raynor to defend Kerrigan to his dying breath.
  • Becomes fully averted by the Evolution novel, in which she genuinely seeks to use the Zerg to help restore life to ravaged worlds.
• Foil: She's one to Vorazun. Both are Number Two to their respective leaders, complete with a history of disagreements (in Zagara's case, violently). While Vorazun remained in her Number Two position, Zagara eventually took over the Swarm after Kerrigan's departure.
• Heel–Face Turn: By the Evolution novel, she has more or less abandoned the Zerg's previous objective of continual assimilation of all sentient life, instead wanting to restore life to worlds ravaged by war. She also seeks a genuine peace with the Terrans and Protoss. It is this change of principles that leads to Abathur plotting behind her back to instigate another war between the three races.
• Humans Are Flawed: She pities the Terrans since they are not a Hive Mind like most zerg and are alone inside. She wishes to help them by killing and assimilating them into the swarm.
• If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: A comedic, non-romantic case in Legacy of the Void. If her base is overrun by Amon's forces during the second mission of the epilogue, and Raynor is the only one left to defend Kerrigan, she warns him that should he fail to protect her and survive, she will send the Swarm after him.
• Portmanteau: Once she is given command of the swarm she takes the title of "Overqueen", a combination of Overmind and Queen of Blades.
• Oh, Crap!: After the battle of Auriga. While Valerian, Matt Horner, Vorazun, and Artanis are concerned about how the events complicated Daelaam-Dominion relations, Zagara is worried about Niadra's reemergence, and what that means for the future of the swarm.
• Recurring Boss: Like Maar before her, she respawns if killed.
• Rule of Two: She is quite plain about her desire to lead the Swarm herself, and even tells Kerrigan that as long as there is more for her to learn, she will be content to follow. It's heavily implied that if she ever felt herself to be Kerrigan's equal, she would challenge her for the right to rule.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Averted. In Legacy of The Void, one would think she wouldn't take kindly to fighting alongside Raynor, given her attitude towards humans, but they seem to get along just fine to the point that they have a conversation.
• The Starscream: Zigzagged during the game and ultimately subverted. She's rebelling at first in-line with Kerrigan's rules, is loyal again when she's defeated, but as Kerrigan has Abathur evolve her she feels stronger and wishes to take the Swarm for her own. However, she recognizes she isn't as good a leader as Kerrigan yet, and so resolves to learn from her in preparation for when she comes to power. That said she's entirely loyal, commanding the brood in Kerrigan's place if she's incapacitated and acting as her second-in-command. When Kerrigan is injured she even asks why Zagara is helping heal her instead of seizing control, and Zagara says she still has much to learn from her before she's ready for that. This is a factor of her Character Development, as her expanded ability to think abstractly and make long-term plans helps her realize that she will have better ultimate success by waiting and learning from Kerrigan than taking the first opportunity she sees to usurp control. When she does eventually become the new leader of the Swarm, it's from Kerrigan willingly handing the title down to her rather than through betrayal. Zagara was somewhat saddened at her queen leaving.
• The Swarm: Not only is she the leader of one, but her play style in co-op empathizes it heavily. She has lowered unit cap (100 to the normal 200) and none of her units are super powerful, but they all build very fast, cost half the value they normally would, and several spawn in groups allowing her to quickly and cheaply reinforce her losses. This makes her shockingly effective at getting a solid resource income then simply overwhelming her foes with wave after wave of zerg.
• Undying Loyalty: Ironically; as long as Kerrigan is still a better leader than her in her eyes, she'll remain obedient and indisputably loyal to her. In Legacy of the Void, when Kerrigan is about to become a Xel'naga, Zagara admitted that she was honored to have served her, with a regretful tone. She assured Kerrigan that she would remember her lessons.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: When Kerrigan teams up with Raynor's Raiders to save Raynor, Zagara believes her Queen is just tricking the Terrans to better defeat them on a long term. This would be completely in-character for Kerrigan's original Queen of Blade personna. Not so much for her current self.
• You Are in Command Now: At the end of Legacy of the Void, she takes control of the Swarm once Kerrigan becomes a Xel'naga.

Nafash

One of Kerrigan's former lieutenants who decided that Kerrigan was no longer worthy of leading the Swarm following her defeat on Char. Kerrigan tracks her down as one of her first missions in the game, only to find out she was already killed by Protoss.

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Provides examples of:

• Bait-and-Switch: The Kaldir questline starts with Kerrigan reaching the planet to track her down, suggesting she is going to be your first opponent the same way Zagara is on Char. Instead, it turns out she was already killed, and the Protoss take her place as the questline's antagonists.
• Posthumous Character: By the time Kerrigan finds her colony, she has already been killed by the Protoss.
• The Starscream: Sort of subverted, since she's following Kerrigan's own policy of "the strong rule".
• The Unfought: Gets killed by the Protoss before Kerrigan can even meet her. The closest you can get to meet her in-game is finding her corpse not far from her colony.

Naktul

The first Broodmother Kerrigan encounters in the Heart of the Swarm campaign. The leader of a zerg colony living around the Dominion's base in "Rendezvous", she is found by Kerrigan, who is then looking for an army to help her prevent the Dominion force from destroying the Hyperion. Naktul gladly provides Kerrigan with her forces, allowing her to destroy the base. Kerrigan then leaves, with Naktul promising to wait until she comes back. She later rejoins the swarm in a between mission cutscene, near the end of the campaign.

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Provides examples of:

• Blood Knight: Openly relishes death and mayhem.
• Large Ham: She is very excitable, and most of her dialogue is delivered in shrill, shrieking cries.
• Mission Control: For the duration of "Rendezvous," she serves as this.
• Sequence Breaking: She appears at the end of the mission in person to help out with the battle (although you cannot control her). However, the place she spawns will likely still be heavily fortified by siege tanks and other terran units, and she can be killed like any other unit. If she is killed, she still carries on the conversation as if nothing happened. She can actually die fast enough without a first-time player realizing she had shown up.
• Supporting Leader: For the most part, Naktul offers her units to Kerrigan with only minimal questioning as to what happened to her.
• Sycophantic Servant: Oddly enough, she is one of the few Broodmothers to outright not try to follow Kerrigan's policy of "only the strong rule" in a literal sense. Naktul does not betray Kerrigan at all, in fact spending nearly the entire mission giving her her brood almost without question.
• Undying Loyalty: Asks if Kerrigan plans to return to Phaeton or not, but otherwise is eager to fulfill her instructions. In fact, she seemed delighted to see Kerrigan had come back.

Niadra

"I am Niadra!"

Voiced by: Courtenay Taylor (English)

A newborn broodmother created by Kerrigan to infiltrate, destroy and infest a Protoss vessel.

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Provides examples of:

• The Corruption: Can infest other units and take control of them.
• Expy: Ever wanted to play a video game based on the first Alien movie as the Alien? Niadra's your gal.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: From larvae to broodmother that infests a Protoss craft.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Due to being abandoned by Kerrigan after destroying the Protoss expedition and her brood being isolated on Adena as a result, Niadra believes that Kerrigan wants her to continue eradicating all Protoss, and doesn't even know that Zagara now leads the Swarm.
• Obsessed with Food: She is very enthusiastic about consuming biomass. Justified as she's newly grown and needs the energy to feed her rapidly maturing body.
• Parental Abandonment: With the Protoss eradicated she calls to Kerrigan and receives no answer, realizing she and her brood have been left behind with their purpose fulfilled.
• Renegade Splinter Faction: In the sequel comic Shadow Wars, she continues to build her brood and attacks the Protoss, despite the Overqueen Zagara being on amicable terms with the Daelaam. As far as Niadra is concerned, Zagara is a usurper and the last command she was given by the Queen of Blades was to destroy the protoss.
• Took a Level in Badass: The entire point of her mission is to grow from a single larvae into a broodmother that can crush the Protoss. And she does just that.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: She's never mentioned again after her mission ends, not even in Legacy of the Void. Subverted in that she appears later in the spin-off comic Shadow Wars set after the events of Legacy of the Void, as an antagonist.
• Weaponized Offspring: Can create fast-hatching Zerglings, Hydralisks and Roaches. In mere seconds she can have an army at her heel.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After she infests the ship and destroys the Protoss, Kerrigan abandons her with no other orders. Niadra takes it in stride though, and vows to fulfill her given mission — kill Protoss — and expand her brood until one day Kerrigan has use of her again.