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Wild Mass Guessing for StarCraft. Please place new WMGs on the appropriate page.

Spoilers Off apply to all moment pages, so proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned. Many of these guesses are dependent on comprehensive knowledge of the game's universe.

Unsorted Theories

     Amon's betrayal was actually part of the greater Xel'Naga's plan 
We never hear of the Xel'Naga coexisting for a prolonged period with their own creators. Perhaps the beginning of a new cycle always involves the species from the old cycle getting wiped out, perhaps by a traitor in their own ranks. Amon thought he was being clever by backstabbing the rest of the Xel'Naga but the greater plan was a Thanatos Gambit. Matti 23

     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.

     Kerrigan is not completely rid of her Zerg side. 
]]Here's an interesting theory, based on the ending of StarCraft II. 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 Xanatos Gambit 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.]]

     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.

     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 Heel–Face Turn. 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.]]

     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.]]

     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.]]

     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 Eldritch Abomination]].
  • It's just that looking at the Dark Voice portrait you can win via Achievements in SCII, the shadowy semi-silhouette kinda looks like a Protoss.]]
    • I'd say it looks more like an Eredar.
  • Isn't it more plausible that he's a power-crazy rogue Xel'naga, or, in fact, 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...

     The Voice In The Darkness is a [[Tabletop Game/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.

     To add up to the Tzeentch theory above: Tabletop Game/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 Abominations 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.]]

     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) that Mengsk has been sitting on or to keep the terrans united at the cost of maintaining The Empire, either through keeping Arcturus in power or his son, Valerian.
Super, super jossed]]

     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.

     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.

    Kerrigan will become a Death Seeker 
]]Due to her]] being responsible of almost every bad thing which happened since the Zerg campaign in the original Starcraft, she]] will become The Atoner, and will be in the frontline as much as possible, in order to put an end to her]] suffering. This, obviously, won't be allowed by either Raynor (who worked so hard to bring her]] back in the past, and finally did it]] at the end of WoL) or the Protoss. (Because of the Overmind's vision.]])

[[folder:In the end, if the above turns out to be true, Kerrigan will do an Heroic Sacrifice at the very end of the series]]]]Unfortunately, the Overmind's vision]] doesn't say anything about her]] possible fate after the destruction of the Xel'Naga. She]] is the key, sure, but the vision]] doesn't say many details about what will happen.

  • Somewhat confirmed, if you consider leaving behind all your mortality with what it entails and becoming a Xel'Naga an heroic sacrifice.]]

[[folder:The Xel'Naga (and by extension, the Zerg and the Protoss) were created by the humans, way long before the events of the games]]To put it simply, Humans Are Bastards and Mad Scientists. The Xel'Naga may have been the result of nasty experiments, and now, they are seeking revenge towards their creators. Oh, and the first Escort Mission]] from the first Starcraft? Raynor finds Zergs in a Confederate installation]].

  • And now supported by the secret mission of II, where it's shown that the Dominion was experimenting with Zerg-Protoss hybrids, just like those which appeared in Zeratul's vision]].
    • And what exactly is the timeframe for this? Unless humans used to be a lot more technologically advanced and then forgot it, it doesn't work out- the protoss were learning from the Xel'naga before human civilization had advanced to the point that genetic engineering was even imaginable, much less possible]].
    • Remember that the Earth was dumping the "undesireable" humans from it, (namely: criminals, mutants, outlaws, that kind of people) to the outer space. The Terrans were the descendants of those surviving "undesireable" humans in the Koprulu sector. So, yes, the humanity on Earth is still more advanced than the Terrans, despite what they found in Brood War.
    • But the problem is that the protoss civilization is thousands of years old- the Terrans were only exiled a few centuries ago. So unless the Romans created the Xel'naga]], I'm still not seeing it. Seems more likely it's the other way around- the Xel'naga might have observed/done some basic experimenting with primitive humans, but left to work with what they saw as more promising races.

[[folder:The Voice in Darkness is Nyarlathotep.]]

  • well to be honest, the Xel'Nagas do have a strong Eldritch Abomination vibe, albeit much more benevolent. Visually they (from the dead ones in Ulnar and Ouros) even resemble Cthluhu.]]

[[folder:The Tassadar who spoke to Zeratul was the Dark Voice himself]]]]It was all a Xanatos Gambit, Kerrigan being alive will actually enable the bad future]].

  • Since Tassadar was described as having "ascended more then the others" there is plenty of reason to believe that he did ascend.
  • Are you an Arcturus or Tychus fan?
  • Either way, the Dark Voice]] will be in SC at some point.

[[folder:There will be "flashback" missions in the Zerg and Protoss campaigns.]]Heart of the Swarm: The flashbacks will be Terran, possibly showing exactly what happened on Tarsonis.Legacy of the Void: The flashbacks will be zerg. Probably showing memories of the Zerg.

  • Alternatively, if there is a Terran mini campaign in "Heart of the Swarm", it will show what Raynor does after having rescued Kerrigan.
    • And it will be "Enslavers"-like, instead of being found in the SP campaign only.
      • Wishful thinking.
      • Jossed as of the trailer of Heart of the Swarm.
      • Also jossed by the game itself. Though there are a few non-zerg levels

[[folder: Valerian will kill his father.]]Think about it: His father is evil, running The Empire, apparently denying him the opportunity to prove himself worthy (and we all now how that turns out with emperor's sons...), and, most important of all; HE'S FRIGGIN' ARTHAS (IN SPACE)!!!! And since Terenas was good, killed by his evil son, Valerian will be even worse than his evil father.

  • Alternatively, the Dark Voice will manipulate Valerian into killing Arcturus if Arcturus ever outlives his usefulness.
    • Valerian will kill his father in an epic sword duel. On the top of the Hyperion, during orbital reentry. Because it would be epic.
  • Another alternative: The situation is a complete reversal of Arthas and Terenas, with the good Valerian killing the evil Arcturus. When your father is that evil, committing patricide doesn't necessarily make you evil yourself. Then again, let's hope that Valerian hit the history books, because He Who Fights Monsters...
    • At least, he won Jim Raynor's confidence, or so we hope. And Jim wants to kill Arcturus for everything he did.
    • Kerrigan gets there first]]

[[folder: Tychus is still alive.]]They don't show his actual corpse, and his behavior just before death is highly suspicious (asking Mengsk out loud for confirmation, using a blatantly obvious Laser Sight on Kerrigan and keeping it there for several seconds...), as if trying to give Raynor time to react without tipping Mengsk off (the suit probably broadcasts everything he says and hears). So what they did was trick the armor into signalling that Tychus was dead (they got a scientist and a mechanic on board, shouldn't be a problem), and what they meant by Tychus Findlay is dead means that a muscular, crew-cut and very much alive man wearing bright orange pants hasn't decided on a new name yet.

Why? Tychus is too damn awesome to die, duh!

  • An alternative to the above could be the same situation as with Alexei Stukov, I mean Infested Tychus]]. And for the record, there was an Infested]] Stukov, although I'm not sure if it's on the Expanded Universe.
    • Plausible. On one hand, the completion commentary that appears once you completed campaign mode did say Tychus is dead. But then, the Zerg do have technology to reanimate the dead. Or it could all be a gambit to throw Mengsk off his tracks and it would be revealed that they've somehow freed Tychus off Mengsk's control off-screen and did the entire scene just to punk Mengsk.

[[folder:The surviving Cerebrates have all mutated into different forms.]]It is stated that Cerebrates are giant versions of the original Zerg creature, which is closest to Zerg Larvae. Probably some of the cerebrates have used their never-used morphing abilities in an successful attempt to exist without the Overmind. And they will be to scale with the original cerebrate shape as normal zerg are to larvae.

[[folder:The Zerg specimen in the Hyperion's lab is/will grow up to be a new Overmind.]]Stetmann noted in one of his logs that the Zerg specimen had grown an "ocular organ," i.e. an eye. And the creature does have the genetic data of every Zerg in the universe...

[[folder:Mengsk's dictatorship is more liberal on the core worlds than at the outer rim.]]On the one hand, we have mass executions on Mar Sara. On the other hand, there seem to be larger freedoms for people from the core worlds, and for scientists. For example, we learn from the UNN news that authors are even permitted to publish books on the theory that Mengsk was responsible for the Zerg attack on Tarsonis (as long as they don't have evidence), and these books are even discussed on UNN. Also, UNN itself is a relatively free medium if you take into consideration that it's the official television network of Mengsk himself. For example, they still employ Kate Lockwell as a news correspondent, even though it's very apparent that she is critical about Mengsk. This leads to the conclusion that the Dominion's politics on the core worlds is relatively liberal, while it's much more oppressive on rim worlds like Mar Sara.

  • Almost certainly true, especially since it's implied the outer colonies are practically in open revolt half the time. Beyond that, the Dominion on the outer rim is mostly military compared to more developed worlds that have nonmilitary presence.

[[folder: Warcraft exists as a computer game series in the StarCraft universe.]]Sort of implied by the fact that Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain exists as a band in the Starcraft universe. (They have a commercial on UNN.)

  • Not to mention, the dancing hologram in the Hyperion cantina sure looks familiar...

[[folder: Lemon juice really does help against Zerglings.]]

  • That would be so awesome.
    • Where in Adun's name did you get that idea?
      • There's a Dominion news broadcast about it, used to cut off one of Kate's reports: "Zerglings weak against Lemon Juice: An old wives' tale or a new superweapon against the Swarm?" It's most likely just part of the Running Gag, but it would be so awesome if it really worked.
    • Lime juice helps against the Zerglings, and Emil Narud has a large supply of limes. Narud may be Duran backwards, but Emil is Lime backwards.]]
  • It really does! In Heart of the Swarm, Abethur makes an off-hand comment about how he still needs to work out a solution to the zergling allergy to lemon juice.

[[folder: In Heart of the Swarm, Kerrigan will leave Raynor before/after the first mission of Heart of the Swarm.]]What's worse, she'll only leave a note and leave in the night. That way she gets her campaign without having him overshadow her.]]

  • Jossed: they get forcibly separated during a Dominion attack in the second mission.]]

[[folder: The Dark Voice has had its plan stolen by multiple groups]]

  • There are too many factions interesting in the Artifact and likely making Hybrids. For all its talk about becoming the Only God and remaking the Universe in it's own image, it'll turn out that whoever controls the Hybrids can pull that off. This is why Duran (Narud) and Ulrezaj (He's in control of the Taldarim) are both competing for the Artifacts, and why Mengsk is making his own Hybrids. They all want to be God.

[[folder: Zeratul being manipulated.]]Prophecy Mission Spoilers follow — Okay, so, we've seen Zeratul's quest in the prophecy missions. First, he hunts down a prophecy on a distant world. That's fine. Then he takes that prophecy to a planet full of Brainwashed and Crazy protoss being lead by a hybrid who's psionically draining/eating/using the very sages he wants to consult. He kills all the protoss, since they've been irredemably corrupted, and asks the 'totally fine' preservers about the prophecy. Problem. If everything else has been corrupted, the preserves could have been too. Anything they tell him is probably a lie. Not only that, they tell him to go talk to the Overmind, another being which has apparently been under the control of the very same being that corrupted the Protoss and made the hybrid.]]

Given that the Voice is supposed to be the most powerful Psionic Entity to ever exist, it's completely possible that he's manipulating Zeratul, and that the only way the Voice can win is by making sure Kerrigan isn't in control of the Swarm. After all, if she was, chances are the Voice wouldn't be able to take over the way it did in the Bad Future. This is also why the Bad Future was so intentionally vague. Every line about Kerrigan never says if she lived or died. Only things like "How could we have known?"]]

  • Before the mission "In Utter Darkness" (and after) it was stated that Kerrigan in that timeline have died.]]

[[folder: The Dark Voice is the Fallen from Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen.]]This is the Dark Voice, and this is the Fallen from Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen. Also, the Dark Voice calls itself the Fallen at the end of the "In Utter Darkness" mission.

[[folder: There won't be any change of sides at the start of Heart of the Swarm.]]Ok, Kerrigan was cured. But the Zerg weren't always evil, and every remaining faction is against the Dominion. (Now including Warfield and Valerian) So, they have to form an alliance. Kerrigan will be at the good guys' side, but since she was cured, she has lost many of her powers. So, she must form a Zerg empire in order to gain new powers and control more types of Zerg. The Terran and the Protoss will assist her in this, as well, but won't take any significant part. And, along with the Dominion as the Terran faction justifying the Zerg vs. Terran battles, there're still the Tal'Darim, whose rivalries are with both the Raiders, Zeratul's faction of Protoss and Kerrigan's Zerg faction. That would justify the Zerg vs. Protoss missions. And to came full-circle, there will be rebel swarms which will continue the obsession with assimilating Protoss and Terran races and will be against Kerrigan, competing with her in order to control the Zerg race as a whole, thus justifying the Zerg vs. Zerg missions.

  • The Protoss of Shakuras are still Anti-Zerg, to the degree of burning Terran colonies just because of signs of infestation. Maybe Zeratul was able to convince some of them that Kerrigan isn't the enemy, but surely not all of them, especially because he is apparently not very popular among them since the time he killed Raszagal. (Also, the Protoss part will be dealt with in "Legacy of the Void".) So we could see a battle between Kerrigan's swarm and Selendis' expedition force. Also, I'm not sure if Valerian is really Anti-Dominion now. Also, we should not forget Gabriel Tosh and his Spectres, or the Umojan Protectorate. Also, there will probably be a competition between Kerrigan and the Dark Voice about who can control the majority of the Zerg broods. Speaking of it, we will probably see more Hybrids in action. Maybe even some new types.
    • Tosh was confirmed not to be in Heart of the Swarm, but Blizzard canonized the Breakout]] branch, so they didn't put him completely on a bus.

[[folder: The Dark Voice is...]]... Arcturus Mengsk. If we take at face value the idea that it was the Dominion who created the Zerg/Protoss hybrids, then it would explain why he refers to them as his creation. Somewhere along the way he had himself injected with hybrid DNA (recall Stenmann's notes saying Zerg never die of old age) to aquire both immortality and psionic powers. Since no date was mentioned for when they had started breeding the things, we can also assume that Mengsk, already benefitting from psychic powers, used Duran as his pawn when Zeratul discovered the original hybrid. Finally, it explains the fact that the entire galaxy burns at the end: "I will rule this sector, or see it burnt to ashes around me". With no Terrans or even Protoss left alive for him to rule over, he destroys it all.

  • But if Mengsk is the Voice, then who was messing with the Overmind's "programming"? Seems a lot more likely that Mengsk is just a pawn.
  • Time Travel! Yes, if they were experimenting with time-slowing technology, surely they could develop time travel, allowing Mengsk to power up, go back in time, mess with the Overmind, and become Chaos.]]
  • Also, if Duran was Mengsk's pawn, why did he help the UED to bring him down in Broodwar?
    • Same reason Mengsk allowed Tychus to run rampant on the streets of Korhal despite possessing a literal kill switch. Material losses matter little to the Hybrid, and any means that help them in their immediate primary objective (killing Kerrigan) are reasonable to them.

[[folder: Kerrigan really is completely de-infested, mind, body and soul, and as a result, the galaxy is screwed.]]]]The process to de-infest Kerrigan]] really did work; she's okay, back to her normal self, and after therapy, she and Raynor will be living happily together. But doesn't Blizzard hate happy endings? Even so. Why did the Overmind make Kerrigan Queen of Blades in the first place? So she could fight against the Dark Voice. Well, she's gone now. Nothing is, at present, controlling the zerg, which means the Voice is free to step in and take control of the swarm. This will be the plot of the zerg campaign.]] It would be just like Blizzard to take the happiest event to have happened in the entire series and make it into a foil that causes the doom of everything.

[[folder: If the above is true, Heart of the Swarm will be about one of three things:]]1. Sarah willingly re-infesting herself and taking back the swarms. With Jim's help. If she keeps her mind, they might still manage to be happy together.]]

2. The Dark Voice's takeover of the Swarm.]]

3. One more plot, some hidden Cerebrate or some other kind of creature it created, that the Overmind put into motion in order to make the zerg (or at least some of them) sentient individuals instead of slaves to a few intelligent beings.]]

     The Dark Voice is actually Mengsk and the player will kill him in the end. 
In the last few missions of LotV, you will fight with Zerg, Terrans and Protoss against the Dominion, which has evolved into Hybrids made from Zerg-DNA, Terran DNA and Protoss DNA. The targets of these missions will be gathering something from the Xel'Naga to weaken the Hybrids' defenses and find a way into the Base of Mengsk.

Then you will follow Mengsk through his huge Palace to his hangar, where he meets with some of his Battlecruisers, which start destroying the hangar. Matt is now going to get another Big Damn Heroes-moment, this time together with Tassadar, who somehow managed to recreate his Ship and merged it with the Hyperion, creating an Uber-Battlecruiser and destroying the normal ones. After that, you get beamed on the Ship, following Mengsk and finally find him on Tarsonis, where he tries to take over the Zerg there with the Psi-emitters. The last mission will be fighting with Mengsk to gain control of 4 Psi-emitters, allowing you to control the Zerg on Tarsonis and Overrun Mengsk. He will again try to flee on his Battlecruiser, but the Uber-Hyperion will destroy it before Mengsk gets there.

Cue to the Cinematic, where the three Heroes will fight Mengsk for 3 Minutes epically, but are only at about the same strength, thus unable to kill him. Mengsk will then his ultimative hybrid powers and while he is floating in the air with rocks floating around him, he will suddenly have a blue light between his eyes.

The Camera now switches to Tychus, who has his cigar in his mouth and a Chainsaw-Gun in his hands pointing at Mengsk head.

Tychus will now say "Hell. It's about time." and shoot him. THE END

I'm done.

  • Now that's indeed a Wild Mass Guessing. Why don't you use that idea for a longer fan fiction story?

     Stetman is a descendant of [[Series/Scrubs John Dorian 
.]]Except for the hair color, they look somewhat similar.

     The Dark Voice is... 
Tychus Findlay. Because what's the DV's main characteristic? Its voice. What is Tychus Findlay's main characteristic? His ever-so-awesome voice.

    The StarCraft universe is the past of the Franchise/Metroid universe 
  • The founders of the Galactic Federation are the Terrans and the Protoss: Following the defeat of the Zerg at the conclusion of the Koprulu Wars, the remaining Terrans and unified Protoss form a formal alliance known as the “Koprulu Accords”. Eventually their combined technological prowess and resourcefulness allows them to extend their influence to the rest of the Milky Way galaxy, encompassing the Sol System, the former Chozo worlds, and annexes many other advanced worlds in the galaxy. The final product of this union and subsequent expansion is the Galactic Federation: a civil union of space-faring civilizations to prevent the horrors of the Koprulu Wars from ever happening again. As the centuries go by, the Koprulu Wars and the Zerg are forgotten, and the Xel’Naga is eclipsed by the mysteries of the Chozo. Phazon was also an attempt at discovering an alternative to the rapidly depleting vespene gas, but was determined too volatile for profitable use. The Space Pirates disagree. Eventually, one of the more prominent Chozo worlds, “Zebes”, is colonized by a science/mining team to uncover more Chozo artifacts. The Space Pirates are just as interested in the artifacts, and less interested in sharing. As a side note: Federation Marine power-suits look like bulkier, advanced Ghost and Spectre suits (possibly modified with Protoss technology) and Armstrong Houston’s (Houston Barrimonde in some media) power suit is remarkably similar to a modified Terran Marine armor.
  • The Metroid are the last remnant of the Zerg: The Zerg was systematically destroyed following the death of their Queen and the irreversible destruction of their Cerebrates; they began to devour one another, until only one species strong enough to survive remained. In an act of self-preservation, they sought out a world to gestate and evolve without the threat of destruction. The last overlords and overseers carrying the DNA of this infant species found a distant planet with a rich eco-system and a small enclave of Chozo. The Chozo recognized this species as the creations of the Xel’Naga, and quickly abandoned the planet to the alien invaders. The species of Zerg found the planet to be a perfect breeding ground for their further development and used the ensuing centuries to grow and prosper. They developed a method of energy absorption that was at least ten times more efficient than standard metabolic processes and allowed them to become the dominant life form on the planet. The planet: SR-388. Their ability to alter their genetic code as they mature (alpha, gamma, omega, etc.) and their susceptibility to Phazon and other forms of radiation is a genetic artifact of the hyper-evolutionary virus that originally spawned their forerunners.
  • The Chozo and The Xel’Naga are philosophical off-shoots of the same civilization, if not the same species: The Chozo and the Xel’Naga are both highly advanced species, technologically and biologically speaking. It is not unfounded to speculate that they may have developed as civilizations simultaneously. Furthermore, they may have developed on the same home world, as two sapient races sharing the same planet. They may even be the same species, the Xel’Naga having become obsessed with a sort of “transchozoism”, seeking to modify their basic biological structure through technology, psionic manipulation, and genetic experimentation. The Chozo proper may have seen such technological modification to be reckless, and sought to develop them-selves naturally, combining their technology with the organic processes of their environments and developing their psionic abilities slowly and deliberately. Eventually, the Xel’Naga left their planet after some unforgivable schism rent their relations with their planetary cousins, forcing them to wander the universe in their world-ships, continuing their experiments they started on the Chozo home world (foreshadowing the conflict between the Dark Templar and Aiur Protoss). History would show that they would end up destroying themselves with their own creations, the Protoss and the Zerg, becoming a dark shadow of their former selves. The Chozo on the other hand, would continue to colonize world after world, careful to avoid contact with either the Protoss or the Zerg (possibly through the same ways they repelled any Xel’Naga influence), until they too disappeared under mysterious circumstances. (Possible Ing persecution, Metroid (read Zerg) taint, or Phazon corruption? Or a shadow war with some remnant of the Voice in Darkness?)On a similar note, Samus' Morph Ball technique works by temporarily shifting her physical body into a psionic warp-space pocket, similar to what the Protoss use. It makes sense that an equally advanced species such as the Chozo would have similar technology. Her suit then compresses itself into a ball, which Samus controls psychically from the warp-pocket, and explains how she can see where she is going.
  • Ridley’s resurrections are similar in origin to the Cerebrates’ psionic resurrection: The Space Pirates are obsessed with Zerg bio-physiology (see below). They constantly strive to make themselves greater and greater, equally obsessed with the concept of “Purity of Essence and Form.” They continuously modify themselves with ancient technologies and strange xeno-biological processes. Ridley is the culmination of psycho-biological experimentation and meta-cybernetic development. He is essentially a being of pure psionic energy, able to restructure himself as he was from a kind of proto-genetic soup the Pirates manufacture just for him, or implant his psyche into cybernetic duplications of himself. He is essentially a Cerebrate without the need of an Overmind (But see below). (Kraid is a similar subject, but is more of a straight cloning procedure rather than the kind of psychically transcendent being that is Ridley.)
  • The X-Parasite is a semi-sentient, self-sufficient descendant of the original Zerg hyper-evolutionary virus: On SR-388, the last Zerg remnant, called “Metroid” by the Chozo enclave stationed there, continued to develop itself using an evolved form of energy absorption and the hyper-evolutionary virus that spawned them. With time, it became the dominant life-form on the planet and as a side-effect, spread its genetic influence throughout the planet’s eco-system. The Zerg hyper-evolutionary virus therefore integrated itself within the biospheres of the planet, eventually manifesting itself as an autonomous life form. The Metroid kept the life form, eventually referred to as the “X-Parasite” by Federation scientists, in check, but when Samus Aran destroyed the Metroids on the planet, the virus was able to further develop itself, becoming the lethal threat encountered in “Fusion”.
  • The Space Pirates are a group of descendant Protoss fanatics dedicated to combining Zerg biology and Protoss technology, hence their obsession with Metroids (all that’s left of the Zerg) and their predilection for Chozo (read Xel’Naga and therefore Protoss forerunner - see above) technology; this cements their desire to become “perfect” and the most dominant species in the galaxy: “Purity of Essence and Form”. As such…
  • Mother Brain is an attempt at recreating the Overmind: As noted, the Space Pirates are a group of Protoss descendants shameful of their species' integration into the Galactic Federation. They have researched extensively the records of both ancient Xel’Naga and Chozo technology and development, and have come to the conclusion that the Xel’Naga were extremely close to achieving their goal of the “Perfect Life Form”. They then begun to aggressively acquire Xel’Naga and Chozo artifacts to solidify their research, and begin development where the Xel’Naga left off. Such developments are: The Metroids as a weapon; Ridley’s resurrection abilities; their marked differences in appearances amongst each-other and from the original Protoss; and finally, Mother Brain. In their attempt to emulate “Purity of Essence” they sought to unite themselves in the same glorious hive-mind the nearly unstoppable Zerg once had almost a millennia earlier. Through countless experiments and development, they created the first Overmind prototype: Codenamed – Mother Brain. Their experiments finally giving fruit at their research installation on Zebes, they initially used Mother Brain as a massive DNA computing processor to accelerate their research. Unfortunately for them, they did not count on the bounty hunter Samus Aran to destroy the Mother Brain and the Zebes installation. They would later re-inhabit the facility in an attempt at modifying the hyper-evolutionary virus found within the last-surviving Metroid to resurrect the Mother Brain, as well as give it a greater defensive capability. To no avail, however.

     The Dark Voice is [[Franchise/Mass Effect Sovereign 
]]
  • In this world, Humanity never found the cache of prothean tech on Mars, and instead of discovering Mass Effect technology, they developed along a different path. The Protoss and Zerg similarly developed in other ways. The Reapers]] need all three of these races destroyed, and are creating the Hybrids to study their tech. The Zerg were originally being controlled through Reaper Indoctrination.]]

     The Dark Voice is a Stealth Mentor. 
The Xel'naga abandoned the Protoss because the Protoss quibbled and fought against each other over trivial differences. They abandoned the Zerg because the Zerg became evil and Turned Against Their Masters.

Blizzard has said that the "Legacy of the Void" campaign will be about Zeratul acting as a diplomat to bring all the divided Protoss tribes together into a single unified race. The ending to "Wings of Liberty" implies "Heart of the Swarm" will be about the now human Kerrigan]] teaching the Zerg the difference between right and wrong to make them into good guys. In other words, because they now have a common enemy, both races are starting to lose the flaws that made the Xel'naga reject them in the first place.

Perhaps that was the plan of the Xel'naga all along. Have one of their own pretend to be a Card-Carrying Villain who wants to destroy the universe (for no discernible purpose) in order to manipulate both the Protoss and the Zerg into improving themselves. The artifact fragments? Left behind on purpose so the Terrans could find them and cure Kerrigan]], indirectly giving the Zerg a moral leader. That's why Dr. Hanson says they aren't as old as they should be. The prophesy on Ulaan? Written by the Xel'naga themselves, to convince Zeratul that his people won't survive unless they all join together. Everything that's happened so far has happened to make the Protoss and the Zerg into what the Xel'naga originally wanted them to be.

     Terran buildings are built so quickly because they are not, in fact, built 
Look at those SCV's in StarCraft 2 creating a structure. They are not actually building it from the ground. It looks more like they are "unpacking" some sort of prebuilt package, probably dropped by the Hyperion. This explains how the Terrans can set up bases just as quickly as the protoss (who warp in their buildings) and the zerg (who grow into them in a matter of seconds due to The Rule of Disgusting Alien Evolution).

     Kerrigan's Badass Decay was actually a Xanatos Gambit within a larger Elaborate Scheme 
Alright, we know that the Overmind created the Queen of Blades in order to free the Zerg from the Dark Voice's control. However, she was still evil due to the lingering parts of the Overmind's brainwashing. But just like the Overmind before, a lingering part of her original self remained (Sarah, if you will). During the timeskip between Brood War and Wings of Liberty, this remnant formed and began to influence the Queen of Blades. Eventually, 'Sarah' was able to 'convince' the Queen of Blades to go on a rampage against the Terrans and Protoss (possibly before they were ready). 'Sarah' probably knows why she was created, and knows that the Dark Voice wants her dead, and would use this opporturnity to put her down. She also knows that the only one with a chance of taking her down is Jim, and knows that the Voice knows this too. Because of this, she knows that the Voice and Duran will engineer a Xanatos Gambit using Arcturus and the Mobeius Foundation to gather the artifacts that will give Jim the edge he needs and insert a mole (Tychus) in order to ensure the job gets done. But that's only half the plan, since she can't know for sure that Jim will let her live. So, she influences the Queen of Blades to go after the Xel'Naga prophecy, knowing that it will end with an encounter with Zeratul ("I knew you'd find this place eventually" anyone?). Doing this cues Zeratul into finding out the truth and she knows that once he knows what's really going on, he'll go tell Jim about it, ensuring that he (Jim) will let her live (and protect her from whatever mole the Voice has inserted to take her out). All this comes together on Char, and by this point, 'Sarah' has probably taken control of Kerrigan's 'Magnificent Bitch' side, furthering the QoB's Badass Decay, culminating in Jim activating the Xel'Naga artifact, purging the Queen of Blades persona, and protecting her from Tychus.]]
  • I approve greatly of this theory; it actually makes sense, especially considering Jim "hearing" Sarah during the last mission of WoL]]. Regardless of HOTS, this will always be canon in my cold, unbeating heart.

    The Koprulu Sector will fall. 
The Terrans and Protoss have been badly weakened by war, and Kerrigan is not going to regain control of most of the Swarm. This fact will become apparent in Heart Of The Swarm, and part of Zeratul's problems in Legacy Of The Void will be convincing the Protoss NOT to stand and fight. Their only hope will be to flee to Earth, and use the resources of the UED to make a stand.

The final battle of Legacy Of The Void will be a "stand your ground until everyone is evacuated" mission. The final cinematic will show the combined Terran/Zerg/Protoss fleet arriving at Earth.

  • Very interesting theory.

     The KL-2 Entity is Web Original/Zalgo 

     Heart of the Swarm campaign guesses 
  • Lurkers and Defilers will return for the campaign (If lurkers aren't already included as an expansion unit). Devourers and Scourge might return as well. Due to the new Queen unit, the starcraft 1 queen won't return, but a similar sort of flying spellcaster might also return. I don't remember any other zerg units that were canceled in Starcraft 2 development, but if I forgot any, or if some units were developed but not released in public, they will be good possibilities as well for extra campaign units. The zerg drop sac mechanic will be included in some form (Whether as an upgrade, building ability, or unit.) Smaller versions of the Brutalisk and Leviathan are also good possibilities.

  • However the upgrade system works, Roaches will get an ability to regenerate really fast above ground as well as burrowed. Lurkers will get the range upgrade, possibly a splash upgrade as well, or a stun/slowing attack. I could also vaguely see Lurkers getting a "move while burrowed" upgrade, but this might create balance issues and not fit with the siege mode like mechanic of burrowing to attack. Corrupters will gain the stationary air turret ability that was canceled.

  • One of the campaign missions will involve sneaking around while burrowed (with roaches and/or infestors, plus perhaps other units using campaign specific upgrades.). Another will involve having to rapidly spread creep and capture territory and bases, using Overlords and Queens. Another will involve an enemy with lots of anti-air, or some other limit on air units, which requires Ultralisks or some other ground unit to defeat the enemy. If Defilers are included, this might be a Dark Swarm-based mission instead, or as well. I could see island transport missions and base defense missions as possibilities, but these may be too similar to Terran missions to be repeated.

[[folder: Why Selendis was not angry at Raynor in the Safe Haven mission]]Selendis was originally sent to destroy the colony to prevent a zerg invasion. When Raynor shows up, however, she realizes that she may not have ot do the work herself, since she knows of Raynor being a skilled fighter who can probably handle an infestation himself. However, for bureaucratic reasons, Selendis can't simply report back without having attempted to destroy the colony, so she sends a token force to the surface to threaten the colony, and ensure that Raynor does in fact have strong enough forces to deal with the zerg, than leaves when this proves to be the case. If the infestation flares up, Raynor is in contact with the colonists, and as a terran himself will better know how to surgically destroy infested areas without damaging the rest of the planet as much.

     The Adjutant didn't speak to Raynor because he called her (it?) a piece of junk a bit before 
The "status: criminal" was simply the adjutant being annoying/a wiseass (you get the idea).

     The Dark Voice is Video Game/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?

     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.

     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.

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

     The Dark Voice will "steal Raynor's kill" by killing Arcturus Mengsk 
Exactly What It Says on the Tin
  • Nope, Raynor was all too happy to stand still and watch Kerrigan kill him.]]

     The Player character is in fact an "Anti-Duran" who takes on various roles throughout the story to stop the Dark Voice 
The Non Entity Generals in the starcraft universe did in fact exist; they were just different forms of the entity that the player character represents. This entity was constantly changing sides in a complicated plan to ensure that the Dark Voice does not succeed in its plan. Here's how the story plays out with this assumption:

  • Terran campaign, StarCraft original: The player character has established itself on the colony or Mar Sara as a magistrate. Similar to Duran on Braxis, this places this entity in a position to observe events, and become involved if necessary, but also lay low if needed. The character already knows about the upcoming zerg attack, and has some understanding of the protoss. The character joins the sons of Korhal willingly, both to help them overthrow the Confederacy and bring in a more organized government, better able to handle upcoming challenges, and to determine what the zerg want with terrans. Unfortunately, Mengsk's personality turned out to be a bit different than expected, and thus the character decided to help Raynor survive, as a leader likely to assist any future plans, and perhaps overthrow Mengsk and possibly create a better Terran government. However, the character can't help much beyond this, because it's now time to join the zerg…

  • Zerg campaign, StarCraft original: When the terrans just assumed Kerrigan was killed, the character has now figured out, both from psi emitters, and from the zerg targeting Kerrigan, what they really want. After helping Raynor escape from Mengsk, the character probably fakes a heart attack, than joins the zerg Swarm as a cerebrate protecting Kerrigan. Here, the character has a chance to observe the overmind up close, and see the Dark Voice's interference with the Overmind, its urges to assimilate, and its worries about the future of the zerg. This is when the player character comes up with the plan to use Kerrigan to free the swarm from the Voice's influence, reunify the High and Dark Templar, and use these forces to defeat the Dark Voice. To carry out this plan, the character subtly influences the overmind over time into coming up with the same plan, while protecting Kerrigan, and preparing for the invasion of Aiur. Once the overmind is established however, it has to die, and the protoss survive, so time to join the protoss…

  • Protoss campaign, StarCraft original: At this point, the protoss don't have a lot of solders, and are thus a bit desparate for new commanders. The character worms its way into the protoss military hierarchy, and after proving itself quite skilled at commanding, gets itself the job of going back to Char and recovering Tassadar. This gives the character the opportunity to recruit the Dark Templar, and set the stage for the reunification of the protoss. After returning to Aiur, the character protects the Dark Templar and Tassadar, as well as Raynor, who it was quite happy to discover was willing to help the protoss and could fight against the overmind. This part of the plan eventually succeeds, and the Overmind is killed. However, the zerg had been running wild, and threatened the survival of the protoss, so the character stayed for some time afterwards to clear up the mess…

  • Protoss campaign, Brood War: The character ensures the survival and unification of the different protoss factions by helping the move to Shakuras, recovering the crystals, and cleansing the zerg from Shakuras. Curing this time, however, the character discovers the UED and learns of the new Overmind, which still contains influences of the Dark Voice (through the regular cerebrates), and, if it takes over the Swarm, would prevent Kerrigan from taking control as planned. After protoss survival is secured, the character joins the UED, to learn of their plans…

  • Terran Campaign, Brood War: The character joins the UED, both because the UED offers a chance to organize the terrans more effectively than the Dominion can, and to learn more about their purpose in the sector. While in the UED, the character leanrs of plans to enslave the Overmind and decides that this enslavement will be a good way to ensure that the Overmind does not become too powerful too quickly. During the campaign, however, the captain comes into contact with Duran, detects something unusual about him, and becomes suspicious. However, the character lays low for the time being, observing Duran but not drawing any suspicion in return from him. The UED succeeds in taking over the terrans in the sector, and controlling the Overmind, but comes into conflict with Kerrigan in the process. Because Kerrigan's survival is a higher priority than anything with the terrans, the character switches allegiance to Kerrigan's zerg…

(I have to say that this version of the story seems to work a lot better without the UED, some extra contortions are needed to stick them into it.)

  • Zerg Campaign, Brood War: The character takes on the role of a cerebrate, ensuring Kerrigan's survival by defeating the UED and the new Overmind. At the same time, the character watches Duran. Though largely obeying orders and otherwise avoiding drawing extra attention, moreso that Duran, the character does push subtly on Kerrigan, to ensure that she allows the Protoss, and groups like Raynor's raiders and the Dominion, to survive. When Duran disappears, the character is able to follow somewhat, and gets Zeratul to follow as well (somehow, possibly through psychic suggestion, possibly by having zerg chase him in a certain direction), revealing Duran's actual hybrid creation plan.

  • After Brood War: Kerrigan "kills" the cerebrate, though she only thinks she has actually killed anything. Instead, the character takes on various guises, mostly terran, occasionally Protoss, to watch and prepare for Duran and the Dark Voice's return. One of these roles is as an occasional mercenary for Raynor's Raiders, which is where the character happens to be when some artifacts are revealed, and Kerrigan begins her attacks again…

(At this point I assume that the character sticks with Raynor's Raiders for some time, in order to either prevent Kerrigan being killed and/or use the artifact to change her personality to something more suitable for universe saving. Without knowing what will happen in Heart of the Swarm, it will be difficult to tell what the terrain role for this character would be. The protoss and zerg roles would, most likely, once again be for unifying the protoss and ensuring Kerrigan's survival, though the actual details are of course sketchy until the games come out.

Alternatively, the character may switch to other random terran and protoss roles, and the campaign is exactly as shown, with the player taking the role of Raynor, Kerrigan, and Zeratul.)

  • Wasn't it canon that the Executor from Episode III is Artanis? Or perhaps the Anti-Duran influenced Artanis, then shifted to another Executor in Episode IV, then to the Captain in the UED at Episode V?

     Arcturus Mengsk will still be in power by Legacy of the Void
So as to justify Protoss vs. Terran missions.
  • Keep in mind there are other Terran powers besides the Dominion.
  • This is possibly jossed with a leaked (though unfinished and as of yet unofficial) animation that may or may not be the ending of Heart Of The Swarm, wherein Mengsk is killed by Raynor and Kerrigan.
    • He ain't gonna be back for Legacy.]]
    • Maybe Amon]] will mind control some Terrans instead.
    • The Terran Shadow Corps seems to be filling in this role.

     Legacy of the Void will see Valerian take the throne by the end of things 
Probably granting on official pardon to Raynor's Raiders when he does, and working to unite humanity against the Dark Voice.
  • Practically guaranteed to happen after Heart, considering all the talk about how he will rise to the throne, and especially now that Arcturus is dead.]]

     [[Video Game/Star Craft Dark Voice 
is The Raven.]]Let's see...
Black... thing with red eyes?
Captures a good guy lady and Mind Rape and invokes a Painful Transformation to turn the lady into an evil evil evil puppet?
Uses mindless drones. This one differs a little since the soul-raped victims are pretty much used exclusively by The Raven (crows) while the Dark Voice's Zerg can make some (Infected ____) but don't have to.
Drones tend to Zerg Rush.

     Mengsk made a deal that got out of hand. 
  • Wings of Liberty seems to indicate that Mengsk is in a situation somewhat like Nute Gunray and the Trade Federation, in that he's made a deal with an unknown being who turned out to be a lot more powerful than he expected and now he had no choice but to go along with them.

     Warhammer 40 K is Starcraft after In Utter Darkness. 
Zeratul was incorrect when he said that the terrans had been consumed by the Dark Voice. The Emperor instead took it upon himself to shield humanity - that is, Earth - by hiding them from the Dark Voice, which also resulted in their being hidden from the protoss, who thus assumed that they were consumed. The protoss thus made their last stand, successfully hiding the Archive. The Overmind, in addition to Kerrigan, also sent out a fairly small zerg brood that disappeared...or did it?

Thus the universe plunges into darkness, exactly as the Dark Voice intended. However, it didn't count on the Warp, and hence was faced with the three Chaos Gods of the time. The clash resulted in the seeds of a fourth Chaos God being sown in the Warp, so to speak, and the Dark Voice falling silent.

Time passes. The hybrids fade, and a young species finds the planet where the protoss died. They find the Archive and all of its knowledge, and make use of it. The integration is so complete that they actually think they are far older than they are. The stories of dead warriors striding the land and of weapons that hurled the power of the sun at their enemies enter the species' mythology, and they take their new name: Eldar.

On another planet, a hybrid dies among a lot of vegetation, most of it fungus. However, something strange occurs, and a vaguely humanoid shape stomps away from the place after some time. Its skin is green.

It so happens that the zerg brood that left never disappeared. Instead, they managed to get to a nearby galaxy. The native species were no match for the zerg and were consumed. The evolution of the zerg continues.

On Earth, humanity manages to recover. Among the many measures the Emperor took was to force humanity's regression to a lower base of technology and slow its advance; he willingly made the sacrifice so as to prolong their survival. As the millennia pass, they reach out into the galaxy again.

Humanity's hubris, however, strikes, and the Warp heaves, causing storms all across the galaxy. Humanity writhes in pain, and the Emperor knows that it is time to return. He does so, and begins crafting his greatest soldiers, his Angels of Death. He visualizes their appearance based on some images that managed to survive the long millennia, and designs their armor and weapons to be similar. So do the Adeptus Astartes - the Space Marines - come into existence, and the Emperor decrees that, like those Marines who stood before the tide in times long past, they shall know no fear.

The Eldar fall, and the manner of their fall influences the Warp, and the vague familiarity awakens the Dark Voice, so that his nature, rendered mutable by the Warp, changes and he takes his new name: Slaanesh.

Millennia later, the zerg return to the galaxy they came from. But their evolution has continued such that they no longer resemble their progenitors - but their nature is still the same, and the Tyranids come to consume all.

  • And the Necrons?
    • My theory is that the Old Ones are actually the Hybrids, who were trying to recruit the Necrontyr in order to bolster their forces against the Chaos. The arrival of the C'Tan to turn the Necrontyr into Necrons all happened in between the "Time passes" part of the above WMG. The Old Ones didn't really create the Eldar, but after reading the Protoss Archive, the Eldar came to the conclusion in an Epileptic Trees sort of way that the "Hybrids" they mentioned clearly created them. Hey, if the Archive has so much information it can make the Eldar think they are way older than they really are, I'm saying it can make them think the Hybrids created them too. After all, if the Eldar showed up after the Hybrids died out, there would be little evidence to prove them wrong.
[[folder: Tosh is a Spectre working for the Citadel Council.]]He isn't just there randomly. He's fighting to save the galaxy from the threat of the Hybrids. Unfortunately for him...
Protoss Councilor: Ah yes, the "Hybrids" (airquotes). We have dismissed that claim.

     Matt Horner is the Player Character from the original StarCraft campaign. 
He was a captain who supported Mengsk's rebellion against the corrupt Confederacy, but was disgusted with Mengsk's attacks on civilian targets and joined up with Raynor when he defected. Makes sense, no?
  • Jossed. Matt was with the Sons of Korhal before the Magistrate joined them.

     The different factions of the game are allegories for the Useful Notes/Korean War 
  • Terrans: Americans, and NATO. Use a lot of artillery, machinery in general, can hold positions well. Culture is generally more laid-back with an emphasis on "Wings of Liberty" (referring to the American theme of freedom and eagles).

  • Zerg: Communists, such as Soviet Union and China. Most populous nation, that rely on massive and cheap numbers of soldiers (Stalin's philosophy of "quantity has a quality on its own"), good at subversive tactics and stealth (Chinese moving at night with relatively few supplies, zerg using burrow and dark swarm), go for surrounds, etc. The Hive Mind's totalitarian control of its forces is obviously a metaphor for totalitarianism. Obviously, things like ultralisks and guardians don't really have equivalents, but are added later for balance reasons.

  • Protoss: Wish fulfilment for various First-world East Asian groups, such as South Korea and Japan. Instead of being stuck in a proxy war between the two superpowers, they get the strongest, smartest, most advanced, and otherwise most powerful of everything. (Notice how protoss seem to have close equivalents to a lot of the less specialized units of other races). The Protoss also have Robotics Facilities, just like the extensive cyberpunkish levels of technological proliferation in both South Korea (where Everything Is Online) and Japan (automated Robotics Facilities for most manual industrial labour). Of course, to balance everything, costs are increased and the Protoss have the samurai-esque "bring swords to a gunfight" honour culture. The expensiveness can also mirror how in both South Korea and Japan, almost everything is expensive, hence why in those countries Children Are a Waste and scientific education is seen as of utmost importance.

     Because of the terrazine, Spectres are part-Protoss, including Tosh himself. 
  • The Protoss call Terrazine "the breath of creation". The resource is said to have psychiatric effects on those who use it, which means Spectres undergo mental transformation as a result. They become eccentric and carry totems. It doesn't take a while for a campaign enthusiast to understand the purpose of Pylons as a "totem" for psionic prowess among the Protoss, thus why the Protoss instructor tells you "You must construct additional Pylons" so much.
  • Tosh exhibits more traits of a Protoss than those of a Terran. Outside of combat, especially against Mengsk, no irrational or unruly behavior is observed. In fact, Tosh displays more aid to Raynor than Hanson, Tychus, or even Matt Horner when it comes to the map! Furthermore, grandiose plans such as busting a prison no one has been able to get out of for 50 years]] are hard to properly execute. Tosh seems to be more intelligent than a majority of other Terrans as such.
    • Tosh is generally calmer than everyone else on the Hyperion. When the UNN even goes far as to hint Tosh's Spectres being involved in terrorist acts]], all he does is stare at the screen blankly. When Raynor looks at him, he smiles serenely, probably to assure Raynor that he isn't harmful...most of the time. He wasn't scared of Hanson being a sleeper agent "honey trap" for the Zerg, or Tychus' affiliation with Mengsk being a practical secret to everyone else on the Hyperion. Hell, he teased Raynor about his knowledge of Zeratul's presence because he "smelled a Protoss" onboard.]]
    • Tosh spooks Tychus and Swann with his playing of dolls and presentment of the schematics for Spectres, respectively. In fact, Tosh's dolls are his totem. He intimidates Matt Horner to the point of being annoying in Horner's eyes.
    • If Tosh's psychic powers actually bring forth accurate statements outside of the Hanson branch]], who knows if his part-Protoss nature will catch wind with Selendis and Zeratul, among others?

    There are now two Kerrigans. 
  • Remember when Zeratul cut off Kerrigan's wing in the first Protoss cut-scene? It turns out Zerg healing abilities work both ways: Kerrigan not only grew another wing, the wing grew another Kerrigan. This theory allows the Queen of Blades to be the main character of Heart of the Swarm without negating the Terran campaign's ending.
    • As absurd as it sounds, a recent trailer (Vengeance at 1:35) hints at this, showing for a brief moment one Kerrigan Stabbing another via psi-blade.
      • Jossed since the second Kerrigan was actually Samir Duran/Emil Narud using his shapeshifting powers.]]
    • That's not how it works. The wing is non-sentient.

    Raynor's revolution will result in the [[Literature/Starship Troopers Terran Federation 
]]According to Plato tyranny is followed by Timocracy, a form of government that emphasizes personal honor, such as that gained by serving in the military.
  • Not to mention that if he continues to refuse the use of neural resocialization and Conscription he'll need some way to recruit enough volunteers.
    • And Marauders are one of the new infantry units.

     StarCraft takes place in the same universe as Video Game/Star Fox 
No proof really. This Troper has just always thought that they do.

     In Heart of the Swarm, the Zerg will go by the path of the Horde as the latter did in Video Game/Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
After all, the Overmind's plan was to free the Zerg from control of the Dark Void (and hoping Kerrigan would do just that). And perhaps with Egon Stetmann's research (eg the Hive Mind emulator) that could happen, and the Zerg will develop conscience, some of whom would ascent to true hero/protagonist status (eg a Hydralisk/Hunter-killer becoming an Expy of Thrall).
  • Might be Jossed according to this Heart of the Swarm preview by IGN, which hints that Kerrigan will be the sole hero unit in the single-player campaign and will be in full contol of the Zerg.]]
  • Semi Confirmed, during the campaign, Kerrigan encourages other intelligent Zerg to develop their individuality and vision]]

     All starcraft protoss players are investigated and fired offscreen after multiplayer games 
A couple reasons for this, mostly related to the cannon foddery nature of units in RTS games:
  • In the manual/backstory, turning into an Archon is considered a huge sacrifice for high Templar. Players, on the other hand, "waste" their High Templar for 1-2 storms or so, than change them to Archons rather than regenerate energy.
  • Immortals (in Starcraft II) are supposed to be the last remaining Dragoons, and mostly irreplaceable, yet any player that uses Immortals will probably go through a bunch in a game.

Terran and Protoss multiplayer commanders, in this WMG, are much more respected than their Protoss counterparts, thanks to the relative expendability of terran infantry (unless multiplayer games are theoretically fought from a mercenary or rebel point of view), and Zerg units are similarly expendable.

     Humans are the Xel'naga 
  • The terran colony ships travelled 30 years... via onboard time. They were travelling at .999c and actually took several thousand years to get to the Koprulu sector.
  • After the colony ships were lost, the humans tried one more time.
  • Meanwhile, humans on Earth developed, within another hundred years or so, actual FTL technology.
  • They explore space, but never actually find the terran ships (which are still in transit in the middle of deep space).
  • The excessive space-travel has made the human race very aware of how limited their bodies are, and they decide to create the Protoss, Zerg, etc, and fail miserably.
  • Thousands of years later: the one extra colony ship sent afterwards lands and establishes a colony outside the Koprulu sector. They have a much more organized society and uphold Earth's UED government and culture, even though that's thousands of years in the past.
  • a hundred years or so after that: the original colony ships crash land, the Terran race is established. Starcraft begins.

     Tychus was trying to warn Jim about his plan without actually saying it 
  • Think about it; all the hints that Tychus drops. He changes his tune about the artefacts like a flute tries to do the opposite, all to get Jim's attention. He knew that he couldn't tell Jim directly because Mengsk would then hit the kill button if it was compromised, so he goes for indirect. Notably is after "the Brawl", he comments that he felt just what freedom is. And in "The Showdown", he hesitates. He may have been under Mengsk by the suit, but he was loyal to Jim a lot more than he was to Mengsk.
    And hey, a little luck he survives the bullet assuming Jim didn't aim for the head, allowing one of the Raider's medics (maybe one Tychus had his eye on...) patch him up well enough. We can even say Jim slotted the transmitter. Wishful thinking, probably, but it could make a lot of sense.
    • Seconded wishful thinking. He's too awesome to die. Assuming the commentary presented upon completion of campaign mode is a red herring to throw players off course.
      • The HotS campaign demonstrates that they're willing to include red herrings in the commentary between missions. After rescuing Raynor the commentary states "he is lost to her", but the final mission puts the lie to this.]]

     The Magistrate is dead. 
He was in the Command Center during the fourth Zerg mission - you know, the one you had to infest or destroy.
  • IIRC, from the Starcraft books I've read, The Magistrate left some time after Raynor's Raiders was formed.

     The Nameless Zerg Cerebrate from Brood War will return as a major NPC. 
After Kerrigan becomes human, the Swarm splits into multiple Broods under different Cerebrates. The NZC, however, is personally loyal to Kerrigan, and seeks her out. He ends up playing a role similar to Matt Horner.

     That sun going supernova in "Supernova" was not a coincidence 
The timing is just too perfect, and stars don't die every day. Something, probably the Dark Voice, was trying to keep the artifact from being completed, and blowing up the whole star system would be a pretty good way to thwart its recovery.
  • My personal guess is that the Tal'darim did it (Wrote this as a possibility in the headscratchers page as well.) It seems in character for the highly fanatical, "die to keep Raynor from the artifacts" mentality they have.

     Zerg unit upgrades in Heart of the Swarm from July 2011 
We've seen a version for roaches, zerglings, and banelings at the moment. Assumimg the general system remains at release, here are some guesses for other units:
  • Hydralisks: Upgrades to Hunter Killer or Viper. Hunter Killers gain splash damage and armor, Vipers gain a passive Acid Spore like effect (attacks cause the target to take increased damage for some time)
  • Lurkers: A Dustin Browder interview mentioned they would almost certainly be added, and the unit was in the game for awhile in beta, and is liked, so will almost certainly be in single player. Upgrades to either Tremors or Moles. Tremors gain the long range attack that lurkers had at one point in beta, Moles can move slowly while burrowed. ("Moles" isn't the best name, though the name will be something related to a digging creature, but a more threatening sounding one.)
  • Mutalisks: Will become Wasps or buzzards. Wasps can fire on the move, buzzards produce broodlings when they kill units.
  • Corruptors: Become infectors or Kraken. Infectors produce the stationary air units seen at one point in the beta. Kraken have greatly increased armor and range.
  • Scourge: They are also in the game, so I can see them pretty easily being in Heart of the Swarm. Can be upgraded to mosquitoes or digesters. Mosquitoes either slow enemy units (if this is not just a regular upgrade) or do small area splash damage, digesters turn killed targets into resources, similar to gorgelings.
  • Ultralisks: Upgrade to behemoths or Ceratalisk. Behemoths gain defensive bonuses and have an immortality protocal like ability, Ceratalisks deal damage to surrounding enemy units. (artwork for the ceratalisk would show claws all over its body, that are presumably attacking the nearby enemies.)
  • Brood Lords: Upgrade to Bane Lords and Pteradons. Bane Lords attack using banelings (most likely the second or third level splitterling spawns), effectively gaining splash damage at the cost of distraction. Pteradons have a chance to create eggs when they attack, and a greater chance when they kill a unit. the eggs spawn broodlings when they hatch ofter a bit of time.

    • The only ones you got anywhere near correct was the ultralisk- the Torrasque strain revives itself and he Noxious does Aoe to surrounding foes every so often.

     The Tal'Darim will continue to be Annoying Macguffin obstacles right through Legacy of the Void, and into the next game in the series 
They will not join Zeratul or be eliminated, instead remaining as a separate protoss group all the way through.
  • Yep.

     The last shot of the game will be Raynor giving the Bar owner a new TV 
Or paying the bar owner back with money. There may be a discussion about Raynor running up some bills as well.

     Why Kerrigan behaves the way she does in the Starcraft 2 Terran Campaign 
This is a WMG based on some Headscratchers for starcraft 2.

  • Searching for the artifact: Kerrigan at the end of Brood War felt that some mysterious threat was coming, so pulled back during the 4 years afterwards. During this time, in addition to improving the zerg abilities, she searched for information and tools that could help defeat the threat. Shortly before or during the terran campaign, Kerrigan found some information about the prophecy, and/or found out some other way that these artifacts might exist. The actual effect of the artifacts would not be known to Kerrigan, but she would know that they were powerful, and that alone would be good enough reason for kerrigan to try and capture them.

  • The storyline is useless because Kerrigan would simply use the artifacts to turn herself back: for me, this doesn't matter much, since Raynor doesn't know this, and his actions make sense even if Kerrigan were to do that. More likely, though, Kerrigan would not use the artifact, but instead try to draw power from it, figure out how to use it as a weapon, or simply wing it and try to use it as a weapon during the future attack. In these cases, it is highly likely that Kerrigan would either turn herself human at a bad moment for the universe, getting killed by hybrids/dark voice, rebel zerg, etc. She also might use it as a weapon while not nearby, being uneffected.

  • Kerrigan "embracing oblivion": Kerrigan was already somewhat nuts in Brood war (Though focused enough to pull a few betrayals and shifting alliances, did seem to randomly kill/piss off people without any solid purpose), and her lines to Zeratul seem more like taunts than like honest feelings. Kerrigan may also by somewhat high off her own power, and not actually absorbing the words of the prophecy, in her subconscious expecting to power her way out as she has before.
    • All Jossed: It turns out that Amon/the Dark Voice did something to make the zerg more vicious and inhuman, and Kerrigan was being affected by it. It doesn't take a genius to realize that it was primarily Amon's reprogramming speaking throughout Wings of Liberty, particularly given how after she's been completely freed of the program, Kerrigan acts completely differently from her Queen of Blades persona even after she becomes a primal zerg variant on her Queen form]].

     Kerrigan was not after the Artifacts because she feared them, but because she wanted to prevent her Villain Decay 
I got this idea from watching the heart of the swarm trailers.

In her infested form, Kerrigan, while powerful is losing the proper thought processes to come up with the complex plans she did while in Brood Wars. To combat this, she feels that the best corse of action is to bring herself down to a given level of normal to regain those abilities. Her Villainous Breakdown can in the final mission can though this lens can be given a huge reinterpretaion: Raynor is doing exactly what Kerrigan wants but ultamately he is a threat and should be treated as such.

     Starcraft shares the same universe with Star Wars. 
Does it look familiar to you?

     The Dark Voice is Literature/IT. 

     There will be a Downer Ending in Heart of the Swarm
Let's face it, Blizzard Entertainment is known for making games with sad endings. I just heard this game would be Darker and Edgier than the others. Here are the points for this ending:
  • Kerrigan will die in the end]].
  • Kerrigan, spending her time of being The Atoner, will not be able to deal with her demons as the Queen of Blades and ends up being a total wreck]].

     The Tal'Darim are pawns of the Dark Voice. 
It would explain why they're always at odd with their own kind, not that its anything new to the Protoss. Or the DV simply has agents in the sect, and manipulates them into attacking everyone. Whether its part of his Evil Plan, or he simply get them to kill more Protoss, and Terrans.
  • Confirmed in Heart of the Swarm.

     The swarm host in single player will have a mutation that has it spawn baneling like creatures 
  • It definitely sounds like a somewhat cool idea, and would fit the role of a zerg artillery unit. Brood Lords are another possibility for this type of upgrade, although since the broodlings seem more distraction oriented than damage oriented, this seems less likely.

     Warhounds are a creation of Swann's, further optimizing the Thor 
  • Swann wasn't completely happy with the Thor, noticing that Thors were quite bulky and not effective compared to the campaign siege tanks and Goliaths with science vessels and vanadium plating, so decided to further scale down the Thor as an engineering project after the battles on Char.
    • Jossed - The Warhound was removed during the HOTS Beta, with no replacement unit.

     Kerrigan is fully aware of the Overmind's vision 
Remember, it was the protoss prophecy she was unaware of, not the vision itself which the prophecy led Zaratul to learning. If the Overmind truely intended Kerrigan to lead this would be the best motivation for her. It would explain why she's so driven to lead the Swarm, she knows what will happen if she doesn't. It would also expplain why she was seeking the artifacts, she wanted to use it as a weapon against the hybrids.

     Duran underestimated Kerrigan 
And not just her ability to survive the final mission after he abandons her. He never believed she'd be able to kill the Overmind as she lacked Dark Templar abilities.It would explain why he's helping her so much and then abandons her when he does, he wanted her to destroy the UED and free the young Overmind from their control so the Dark Voice could retain it's control over the Swarm. She blindsided him with using the Matriarch to force the Dark Templar into killing the Overmind and uses Zeratul's attempt to free the Matriarch as a distraction to take off. With the Psi Disrupter destroyed, the Overmind dead and the UED's destruction soon to follow Kerrigan's attention would soon be undivided and might notice her control over him wasn't as total as she belived.
  • One problem though: In the Broodwar Zerg campaign, Duran is still with Kerrigan in the mission where you capture Raszhagal. He even actively helps you in this mission. He only departs after that mission.
    • He didn't seem fully aware of why Kerrigan wanted the Matriarch until the next mission (In the briefing before the mission, Kerrigan has to show him when her plan was with Razagal). In the spirit of this WMG, it may mean that Duran did not expect Kerrigan to take this route, so had no reason to interfere with the Matriarch's capture. (It would have further angered the protoss, feeding the "kill Kerrigan afterwards" plan he had, so he would have a reason to see it be successful.)
      • she does kill him in HOTS, though he had already completed his main goal]]

     Video Game/Star Craft takes place in the Franchise/Star Wars universe. 

Just place the koprulu sector in the unknown regions. They haven't exactly been explored, so this possibly could work.

  • Jossed: The Koprulu Sector is explicitly stated to be in the Milky Way.

[[folder: The fly Tychus crushes in the first cutscene he appears in is actually a zerg scout]]Kerrigan, as part of the development of the swarm, adapted flies brought by the UED or original colonists into an extremely hardy creature that can handle deep space, enter an atmosphere on its own, survive a great deal of time without air, can squeeze into small spaces, and is extremely cheap to hatch, all while looking like a regular pest that terrans would not notice. Unfortunately, all these changes can at the cost of the fly's reflexes, allowing Tychus to crush it without it being able to fly away. Kerrigan was obviously scouting the nearby artifact with it.

     There will be two choices at the end of Heart of the Swarm: Kill Mengsk, or Spare him 
  • If you kill him, you end up going evil, if you spare him, the hero stays good. Valerian may also be a potential death.
    • Nope, as Heart of the Swarm does away with choices. Except for choosing which evolutionary strain you want to evolve for your units.

     Whoever the main bad guy ends up being (Dark voice most likely, perhaps something else gets added), will only be defeated in Starcraft 3 
  • Simply be comparison with other blizzard games. Diablo 3 finished off the prime evils, Warcraft 3 finished off the big burning legion invasion. Starcraft 2 will have a fight against the dark voice to end the protoss campaign, but the voice will survive to create trouble in a third game.]]

     Valerian will lead the Dominion after Heart of the Swarm... [[Face Heel Turn as an enemy 
.]]
  • Like his father, Valerian convinced Raynor to help him by promising to help Raynor rebel against a tyrannical dictatorship. 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. Like his father, he also has a well-hidden but full-blown case of Chronic Backstabbing Disorder. Like his father, he will use and manipulate Raynor and Kerrigan into giving him power over the Dominion, then turn on them. And finally, like his father, Raynor and Kerrigan will have to take him down in Starcraft III.
    • While I wouldn't really be surprised if Valarian was actually a villain I can't see him being stupid enough to be that much like his father. He's already watched Krrigan and Raynor take out two evil governments and he has nothing up his sleeve to give him better odds, especially given Kerrigan's current status. If anything I see Valarian playing the role of good and noble leader the whole time, instead fo grasping for temperary power he'll grasp for being loved and well remembered.

     Kerrigan will fight Duran on Korhal in Heart of the Swarm 
  • As Kerrigan is launching an assault on Korhal, Duran and his hybrid forces have set up shop on the same spot where Kerrigan brutally murdered Fenix and Duke. Duran and Kerrigan both go One-Winged Angel and have a massive psionic battle, at which point Duran tries to break Kerrigan by forcing her to relive her crimes and Raynor's promise to execute her. She temporarily goes into a Heroic BSoD, but just as she gives in, she is reminded of the cost of her death, and is reminded of all the good she has done (Lessara, Zeratul, the fact that Raynor saved her on Char), and realizes that while she can never undo the past she can build a better future. She fights it off, and overpowers Duran in an intense battle. As Duran succumbs to his injuries, he tells her that she will never find peace, and that she will always be alone. Kerrigan sees Jim approaching, and replies "No. I will not" before walking away and leaving Duran to gurgle in his own blood.
    • The above is almost entirely accurate, except that Kerrigan and Duran/Narud fight on a random asteroid he's set up shop in, not on Korhal. And Raynor's not present except for Duran shapeshifting into his form.]]

     Kerrigan will end the world at some point. Game series afterwards are all prequels. 
Driven mad by her traumatic past, Kerrigan lashes out her immense psychic powers, tearing the galaxy in half.

     Mengsk will kill his subjects for more power. 
Power-hungry, Mengsk wants to rule as a Hive Queen of robots by killing his subjects and replacing them with robots personally controlled by him. His intelligence will expand with cyborg techs.

     A certain Cerebrate will make an appearance in the Zerg secret mission, Backfrom The Dead 
The reason being is because Cerebrates can be resurected by replanting their entire genetic make-up into a new body, which is what happened with this Cerebrate. This Cerebrate came back either from the Dark ones or Duran either indirectly or directly. The Cerebrate will of course be the Player Cerebrate as psycological warfare since it's the only one that was probably legitamitely close to Kerrigan and because Cerebrates are directly tied to the Overmind and not Kerrigan allowing the either the recreation of a new Overmind or just straight up wrestling Kerrigans monopoly on the Zerg.

However, the Cerebrate is NOT the Brood War Player Cerebrate but the one from the first Zerg campaign whom was specifically willed by the Overmind to be subserviant to Kerrigan. Which results in this campaign scenario where the mysterious plan involving the cerebrate backfires because resurecting it had Gone Horribly Right, it's back and ready to serve... Kerrigan. Even if it is under control it will still be fully self aware and will basically be as unhelpful to it's "new masters" as possible, which is it "reinterpreting" their orders. And the whole thing is a call back to the original overmind promising to resurection in exchange for loyalty, making it one overtly elaborate call back.

     Guesses For Heart Of The Swarm 
  • The first three missions will take place with Kerrigan still among Raynor's Raiders. The Nova attack seen in the trailers will be one of the first missions and convince Kerrigan to leave and seek out the Zerg. Much like the Wings Of Liberty campaign these will be the practice levels to get things started.
    • Confirmed.
  • Kerrigan will be given choices to either Pet the Dog or Kick the Dog, Kicking results in better units or more rescources but Petting allows her to mend the bridges with the other factions.
    • There are no choices in the storyline.
  • Safe Haven will fall. Kerrigan will either infest it herself or find it already infested. This may be the Infestor specific level. Seriously, those people have been infested at least three times so far, where else is that story going to go?
    • Safe Haven is not mentioned at all.
  • The final missions will have her resuming her Queen of Blades form and powers, she may retain her mind though.
    • Confirmed, though she regains her Queen of Blades form quite a bit sooner than the final missions: more like halfway through the campaign.]]
  • Tychus has been infested.
    • Aside from a brief mention of him in the opening cutscene, he may as well not exist.
  • Selendis will receive a bigger role and will become a Worthy Opponent to Kerrigan.
    • She's nowhere to be seen or heard.
  • Nova will die, likely after getting a Curb-Stomp Battle from Kerrigan.

     Kerrigan will try to destroy the entire galaxy 
Driven to insanity by her horrific childhood, infestation, and trauma, Kerrigan wants to end the f*cking world for good.
  • Jossed; she is on her way to save it by the end.]]

     The Xel'naga that are returning are not the same as the ones who made the Zerg and Protoss 
The Xel'naga are extragalactic in origin. It's possible that another faction are coming. And they're probably pissed at the Protoss and Zerg for wiping out their cousins.

     Starcraft 2's story is actually the 2011/12/ 13 Middle East protests/revolts [[Just For Fun/Recycled In Space IN SPACE 
]]The first campaign was, in fact, released and developed before anyone had an inkling that these protests would occur, but that just shows Blizzard's predictive abilities.

  • Mengsk is like Qaddafi/Baathists/Egyptian rulers, who took power promising to undo the corruption and ineffectiveness of the old rulers, but instead ended up leading a Full-Circle Revolution
  • Raynor represents the original protesters and rebels, without a lot of military power but still organized enough to push against some governments.
  • Kerrigan's zerg represent outside forces (outside Islamists/NATO, depending on viewpoint), somewhat scary foreigners who intervene to overthrow some of the more power hungry governments.
  • At least as of Heart of the Swarm, the new leader is untested, and the future is relatively uncertain.
  • Dark Voice/Amon is obviously not part of the protests, but this just explains why blizzard focused more on the Mengsk/Kerrigan/Raynor stuff than on the end of the universe.

To find out what further happens with these protests and revolts, we'll have to see what happens with the Terrans in Legacy of the Void.

     Kerrigan absorbed Warfield's essence 
The glow after his death was her assimilating the essence of one of the most incredible Terrans in the series thus far. She didn't need to glow just to send orders to the Zerg units attacking the escape shuttles, I think.
  • Essence is basically the Zerg way of describing genetic factors. Kerrigan would have no use for Warfield's as she was also a Terran, and a vastly superior one at that. Kerrigan always glows when she uses her psionic powers.

     The Xel'naga artifact will be used again at the climax of Legacy of the Void 
It took a lot of power to resurrect Amon]], specifically, all of the class-12 Queen of Blade and a huge number of collateral damage Zerg]]. On the other hand, the artifact has never been explicitly stated to be aligned to Amon]] or made by them, meaning it could be re-purposed by, say the Protoss assembling a weapon to kill Amon by using the artifact to harness the much more potent energy of Primal Kerrigan, plus any other volunteers - the Protoss have plenty of powerful psionics to their name, after all - and using that to kill Amon with several times more energy that went into his resurrection.]]

This has a few added benefits, too: it would de-infest Primal Kerrigan all over again, giving her a chance at a normal life with Raynor. Since she's the sole inheritor of much of Zerus' power, and sacrificing she probably couldn't evolve there again if she wanted to, giving the Protoss a plausible reason to let her live despite all she's done - she's no longer a threat in any way. As for the Zerg, the broodmothers who inherit the swarm were smartened up by Kerrigan, and could realize that attacking the Protoss and Terran - inevitably brothers in arms after taking down a threat like Amon together - would never end well for them, prompting them to peaceably expand, consume, and adapt in the other intersteallar direction. A peaceful end to the trilogy... at least until next game.]]

  • The Artifact didn't collect the energy, the Hybrid did. The Protoss can't use the artifact, having even a couple pieces in close proximity would kill them the same as it did the Zerg. Odds are what you're suggesting would just make Amon and/or the Hybrids stronger. Kerrigan didn't drain the power of Zerus, she was modified by it, a more primal form of her previous infested form, that's all it was: a mutation. In theory she could do it again and again if her will was strong enough. Kerrigan has also slaughtered millions, the Protoss won't care how strong or weak she is, or if she's no longer a threat, they'll kill her on sight. The Zerg will also never stop trying to consume all, that is their purpose, the more dangerous the situation the more enthusiastic they'll be about entering it, that's how they evolve into stronger forms.
    • Rebuttal accepted. I hadn't thought of a some of those things.
  • WMG confirmed. The artifact, now properly called the "Keystone," is a significant plot device throughout the whole story, but its biggest moment is when Artanis uses it near the end of the game on Aiur to temporarily force Amon's spirit out of the Khala and break his control of the Golden Armada, giving them a chance to cut off their nerve cords to prevent Amon from controlling them again.]]

     The protoss have been corrupted by Amon in a similar way to the Zerg 
"Just as I was your beginning, So shall I be your end"
  • Well, Amon is already worshipped by a group of Protoss so it's pretty much already confirmed.
  • Confirmed, Amon and the xel'naga who formed his faction, like Duran/Narud, were the ones who uplifted the protoss aeons ago, which was in violation of the xel'naga non-interference policy.]]

     The final mission of Legacy of the Void will play like the final mission of original Video Game/Warcraft III ... 
...With all three races having bases on a long way, having to defend the final base from regular attacks from Amon, who will eventually come and wipe out a base.The difference will be that the player will control not one base, but 3, one for each race (which is easily doable in StarCraft, unlike in Warcraft). The player will also have 6 heroes, 2 for each race (Zeratul and Artanis with his Mothership for Protoss, Kerrigan and Stukov for the Zerg, Raynor - who will be given salvaged Odin - and "Hyperion" for the Terran). There will also be not 2, but 3 allied bases, each under command of a different character (Prince Valerian for Terran base will be given a proper hero unit, Zagara will command the Zerg and the Protoss one will be given to Selendis).You will need them, too, because, unlike in the Warcraft, there will be two ways to your base, and both will be attacked, with an ally bases protecting only one path. Also, Amon will have not one, but 4 starting bases: the campaign-only Hybrid one, the Zerg one, the Tal'darim Protoss one and the brainwashed Terran one, since Kerrigan is no longer dead and he actually can be stopped, so he decided not to throw away additional resourses. He will have 3 (not including himself) heroes: Niadra (no longer under Kerrigan's control, which will be revealed to be his doing, and brainwashed), Urun or Mohandar (brainwashed) and Nova (came with Valerian, but was, again, brainwashed).There will also be short interludes, during which Amon will go to the orbit to fight the allied fleets that are annoying him and you will be given control over an additional hero that will be given task of de-brainwashing the hero of their respective faction (Dehaka will infiltrate Niadra's base, Mohandar will go to Urun's base or vice versa and... ehm... Swann will de-brainwash Nova. After returning to normal, heroes will be warped away, found a new allied base (on a different route) and Amon will return and destroy a heroless base and build a Hybrid base in its place (thus the diddiculty will remain roughly the same but still will be slowly rising, as the Hybrids are more powerful than the playable race).The reason why Kerrigan had to live for the galaxy not to be destroyed by Amon will be revealed - she can manipulate essense, the only being aside from Abathur who wouldn't help with Kerrigan dead. Instead of summoning wisps the goal will be to unite the Purity of Essense and the Purity of Form into a pure Xel'Naga who will be necessary to defeat Amon. Once it's done, Amon will be enraged, destroy all the bases (the heroes and a handful of units will be warped to the main base and saved by the protective bubble of the Xel'Naga) and the final boss battle will begin. You will need all the heroes, as the new Xel'Naga won't be strong enough to deal with more experienced Amon alone.
  • For just a little bit less of a "Just pulling random characters to fulfill a role" feeling, replace Urun/Mohandar with Ulresaj (have his companion on the allies side be either Mohandar - since he is a high ranking dark templar - or whatever new character gets introduced in LoTV), and have Tosh go and knock some sense into Nova.

     Zeratul will start out Legacy of the Void as a fugitive 
Possibly some other shape shifter working for Amon will go through some disguises and cause the rest of the Protoss to find out that Zeratul directed Kerrigan to Zerus, and he'll end up branded a traitor and have to earn their trust back.
  • I thought Heart of the Swarm said he was turning himself over to his people for judgement. So HE was going to be telling them what he'd done and accept their judgement. I figure Artanis or Selendis will be the focus character and the story will build to them realising how right Zeratul is.
    • Perhaps it will start off with Zeratul on trial, perhaps with a scene paralleling Tyrael's trial and fall.
  • WMG confirmed. In the first mission, Zeratul shows up to warn Artanis against retaking Aiur]]. Selendis immediately calls Zeratul a traitor and orders his arrest. Artanis is willing to hear him out but ignores his warning and goes ahead with the invasion anyway, to disastrous results]].

     Jim Raynor will be the person who kills Sarah Kerrigan 
Notwithstanding their patching up their differences after Raynor promised to kill her, the laws of Blizzard "no one is allowed a happy ending" narrative causality will force Jim Raynor to kill the one he loves, for whatever reason, in LotV or another game.
  • Given all the set up in Heart of the Swarm I figured Kerrigan would die in the battle against Amon. She'd probably pull a Tassadar and suicide blast him.
    • Jim Raynor: "It may not be tomorrow, darlin', it may not even happen with an army at my back. But rest assured: I'm the man who's gonna kill you one day!"
It wouldn't take much of a storyteller to make that statement a hideously ironic and terrible prophecy. Like Kerrigan having to absorb Amon and then be shot through the eyes with a special revolver. That sort of thing. And then the Gods of Blizzard storytelling will laugh upon their crimson spires, dripping with the souls of a thousand weeping lovers.

     The UED will be back 
Their return wouldn't be brought up if wasn't going to be built on. Possibly in Legacy of the Void, we'll find that they send out another invasion, and we might have Amon manipulate them to make sure that they kill Kerrigan.
  • This was confirmed months ago in a Q&A panel. The UED will be dealt with eventually, but they're not going to be showing up during the current story.

     Revised Zerg Origin Story 
So the funny thing about the reveal in the Zerus missions is that the manual of the original actually had a pretty solid backstory for the zerg that doesn't quite gel with it. Specifically, there are two canon conflicts aside from Amon apparently working alone:1. The Zerg in the original backstory started out as small but hardy creatures that the Xel'Naga manipulated to become capable of attaching to other creatures, later creating the Overmind when the Xel'Naga became concerned about their more dangerous mutations. In the Zerus missions, the Primals appear to have arisen naturally and had the Overmind created to control them.2. The Overmind overwhelmed and destroyed the Xel'Naga in orbit around Zerus, but the Primals don't provide an explanation of why they would be there. We have independent confirmation from the Protoss that multiple Xel'Naga existed, so if the Zerg didn't destroy them in orbit they're unaccounted for.However, this can be resolved by simply assuming a two-stage creation process. The main Xel'Naga created the Primals and monitored their development, then Amon secretly created the Overmind and set him on the others. Presumably the Xel'Naga managed to kill Amon in the fighting but not before he dealt enough damage to stop them from generating a Null Field or deploying other copies of the artifact, allowing the Swarm to overrun them.
  • Your first point is mistaken. The Zerg were always capable of ataching to other species and influencing their evolution over time to suit their needs. That was part of their appeal. The Xel'Naga just made them larger, stronger, tougher and then created the Overmind to prevent thr problems that arose with the Protoss rebelling. As Amon is a fallen Xel'Naga the text doesn't contradict this. And it's said by Tassadar in Wings of Liberty that the Overmind was corrupted by Amon, so the Overmind turning on the Xel'Naga and consuming them still fits in fine, Amon either commanded it to do that or it had been programmed to do so during it's corruption.

     Amon's forces are going to initially dominate everyone else's by working in tandem while others fight among themselves 
Amon controls hybrids, and through them zerg, and the tal'darim protoss. If he's fighting a multi-planet battle against Kerrigan's swarm at the start of LotV, he's going to match her strength for strength on the ground, and absolutely own the air and space theaters with the superior protoss starship fleets. This is going to lead to a war of attrition where swarm forces can hold planets on even footing, but can't launch leviathans to new worlds or reinforce without getting roflstomped. But it will also provide strong evidence for Zeratul to use when he tries to convince his fellow protoss that cooperating with the swarm is the only way to win. They won't come around too readily, but Zeratul will try to engineer it so that the Shakuras protoss will solve Kerrigan's problem without knowing that they're doing so.

     Kerrigan will fake her own death 
Kerrigan's war against Amon will start strong, but eventually he will concentrate on wiping her out personally. Kerrigan has prepared the swarm to function in her absence, and so will face the end with courage and sacrifice herself so that others might carry on, perhaps even in full view of Jim Raynor and Zeratul. However, she's going to have a backup plan: she inserts the genetic essence that Narud used to shapeshift into her own genetic code, and in the aftermath of her death scene conceals herself as a protoss on Zeratul's ship. She'll appear in the form of a background character, possibly wearing the appearance of Lasarra (trolling players who think they've spotted a cheap model reuse). She will reveal herself again at an opportune moment, possibly just in time to take command of the feral zerg operating on Aiur.

     Emil Narud is not actually Samir Duran 
Think about it.At no point did Kerrigan or Infested Stukov mention Narud's involvement in the Brood War as Duran. And they probably would have, especially Stukov (hey, Duran killed him). That leads to the conclusion that there was no such involvement. Duran and Narud are two different servants of the Dark Voice, and Duran is still unaccounted for. He's probably making more Hybrids even now...
  • The creators confirmed they were the same person months ago during a QnA panel.

     The Dark Voice and the Voice in the Darkness are archenemies and will fight one another in Legacy of the Void 
]]The creators insisted they were not the same entity, and the latter only appeared in one comic book to date. It also hates the Xel'Nagas, and the Dark Voice is one]]. Maybe they will be a case of Evil Versus Oblivion and the Voice in the Darkness]] will save the day.
  • If the above is accurate, Legacy of the Void strongly indicates this was a case of Lying Creator. The "Voice in the Darkness" is never brought up at all, and we learn more details about the Dark Voice a.k.a. Amon, including the fact that he has a really good reason to hate the xel'naga. Namely, that he was forced to become one of them in an era long gone.]]

     When the UED returns, they will have implanted neural interfaces into everyone as a form of population control/communication 
  • With the appearance of the primal zerg, both of the protoss and zerg have some sort of conflict between a more "communal" form (Khalai linked society for the protoss, overmind's swarm for zerg), and a more "independent" group (dark templar, primal zerg). The UED will further this trend by using neural interfaces plus communication devices to turn Earth system terrans into something resembling a hive mind, but in a more "terran" internet-like style way, while the Koprulu terrans will be the more independent group. At some point, they will form into one faction again, as the protoss and zerg have in their own ways.
  • I thought the Confederacy and Dominion already represented the communal ones. Both use brainwashing and neural implants to control their Ghosts and soldiers. Alternatively, Ghosts are the Communal ones (neural implants), while Spectres are the independent ones.
  • Funnily enough, there is talk about making terrans a more communal race in canon. However, most of the talk relates to the khala and how humanity could become a better people if they took hold of it. (Look up Devan Starke on the starcraft wiki)

     Abinmorth is somehow related to the Overmind. 
Both have a low-pitched evil voice, and manage the Zerg's evolutions.
  • Who is Abinmorth? I thought the Swarm was evolved by Abathur?

     The terrans will be the ones to finish off Amon 
Notice how, in game, it is the terrans developing psi emitters, disrupters, the psi destroyer Arcturus uses. Also, think on the terrans contually being the Spanner in the Works species in the game. Here's how I imagine the original overmind vision going, vs. how the final game will go.

Overmind: The Terrans killed Kerrigan, resulting in a long war vs. several feral zerg groups, and also picking fights with the protoss. These fights result in the defeat of the terrans, before Amon takes over the zerg and uses them to kill the protoss.

Timeline that will occur in game: Kerrigan was changed rather than killed, and takes over the swarm. Her actions stop the fighting between the terran and zerg as well, allowing the terrans to retain, and possibly continue working on, various psy weapons and the artifact. When Amon attacks, he faces the full forces of the zerg, main protoss, and terrans instead of getting to simply overwhelm the protoss with the zerg. Since Amon is extremely powerful, he will still be able to overrun the protoss in various missions, including one similar to In Utter Darkness. However, in a mission similar to the Archimonde mission in Warcraft 3, all the battles are simply delaying actions while the Terrans prepare with a new psi weapon, or just charge up the artifact again, killing Amon again, for good.

Jossed, It's Kerrigan as a xel'naga who finishes him off.]]

     Narud/Duran is responsible for the Terran arrival in the Koprulu sector 
While the terrans were not created/uplifted by the xel'naga, I am pretty sure that Narud (an ancient shapeshifter with many names) saw the perfect chance to sow the hybrid with the human race. He may have even been partly responsible for the "fall of Western civilization" and the rise of the United Powers League to push this goal. There is also the fact that the Colony ships had enough fuel for a 28 year voyage, despite only going on a 1 year journey.

     Adun, Doran Routhe, Samir Duran, Narud were past persona's used by the Shapeshifter 
He took on the protoss identity of Adun and exiled the dark templar knowing that they would become a threat (a bite temporarily) to the zerg in the future. Later he became Doran Routhe in earth in order to get humans to the Korpulu Sector knowing that the Terran technology was much better suited to create hybrids then the Protoss's or probably any other species he observed over the years could (While Protoss have advanced engineering, Terrans have better biotech represented by their medics and medivacs that use "healing lasers" to mend near-fatal injuries in seconds while in the middle of the battefield. See also:"Protoss medical technology is actually equal to or more primitive than Terran medical technology"). He also foreseen Sarah Kerrigan being infested and then un-infested which allowed him to free his master Amon, which is probably why he included psychics among the terrans aboard the sleeper ships. Then he became Duran to use terran technology to create the hybrids only to get bogged down by the UED and the rest of the factions. Afterwards he created the Moebius foundation to find the Xel'naga artifacts so that Amon could be resurrected by uninfesting Kerrigan which in turn resurrected Amon, which is also why when you fight him in Heart of the Swarm he is in control of the Tal'darim and Hybrids.
  • Adun was the one who taught the Dark Templar how to control themselves and hide from the others. If he'd done nothing they'd have been wiped out, the Overmind would have been immortal and Amon's control over the Swarm would have been uncontested.

    Raynor having a change of heart was due to Zeratul showing up offscreen (as he'd done previously) and explaining what happened. 
He certainly seemed determined to have nothing to do with her after her rescue, and it'd take a lot more than just seeing her agree to limit civilian casualties to think her redeemable. Zeratul must have showed up to explain why she went to Zerus, why she went back to being the Queen of Blades, and why it's important, if he values the continued survival of the galaxy, that she stay alive to command the swarm, which is why he went back.

    The Protoss campaign will end with the retaking of Aiur. 
  • Confirmed. Then the Epilogue mini-campaign goes into the Void to finish off Amon.]]

    The Dominion will pull a Big Damn Heroes during Legacy of the Void
Specifically, Zeratul will be rescued by a Dominion force led by the Dominion's top military commander... General James Raynor.
  • The reverse-engineering of Protoss tech that Raynor did will come into play, as Swann (who now has the entire Dominion military R&D budget to play with) will have some shiny toy for the Protoss that incorporates their tech.
  • Jossed, the Dominion is Out of Focus for near the entire game.

    In Legacy of the Void, Tassadar will return as a playable unit. 
Tassadar will arrive late in the campaign. Summoning him back out of the aether will likely involve the Xel Naga artifact being brought to the temple on Shakuras, or a mission on Aiur. Tassadar will fully return to the land of the living, and the Twilight Deliverer shall once again be playable in all his messianic glory. Either immortal or scripted to respawn, possessing a dual-purpose ground-and-air attack, and powerful spells from both the High Templar and the Dark Archon. Given his Disc-One Nuke potential, you probably will not be able to get him until very late in the game, unless you skip side plot missions, and his mission might even be a Point of No Return. But for that handful of missions before the grand finale, he will make your fights a Crowning Moment of Curb Stomp.
  • Jossed, and just to rub salt in the wound, the Tassadar we saw in Wings of Liberty was just a spiritual illusion and Zeratul never found out it wasn't even him.]]

     Legacy of the Void's final mission will be the ultimate Back To Back Badasses moment. 
When everyone converges on Amon's stronghold, you will, for the first time without using Infestor/Dark Archon mind control shenanigans, be given control of all three races for the final assault on the Hybrid. Siege Tanks giving covering fire to Immortals. Infested Terrans fighting alongside their former brothers with Stukov]] at the helm. A Mothership providing stealth for Ultralisks, Colossi, and even the Odin. And leading the charge is our Power Trio of Zeratul, Raynor, and Kerrigan, possibly even bolstered with a revived Tassadar. Amon won't know what hit him. And in the end, the three factions will become Fire-Forged Friends and settle into a mostly neutral equilibrium, with Kerrigan withdrawing the Feral Zerg from Aiur so the Protoss can go home, and maybe even fulfilling the Xel Naga's original wish of their two species becoming one.
  • I am not convinced they will actually give us that, but if they do, I think I'll be the happiest Starcraft fan in the world.

     The Xel'naga did influence Ancient Earth. 
There is simply no other way how Ancient Greek and the Protoss language could have developed the same word πρωτος (protos) with the exact same meaning.

     Zeratul will sacrifice himself to make victory against Amon possible... by merging with a powerful Templar. 
Zeratul Archon will be the single most powerful unit in the entire game, significantly outclassing even Kerrigan and the Odin AND more than capable of sweeping the floor with the hybrids. The catch is that he will only be available in the final mission, and it will have a time limit as Zeratul Archon will eventually burn out. Thankfully, his raw power alone will be enough to help the player finish the mission as soon as possible.
  • Jossed, although technically he did sacrifice himself to ensure a victory over Amon... by making sure Artanis stayed alive.]]

     Amon inflicted a Zombie Apocalypse to Zerus to create the Swarm 
Seriously, if you think about it, that's basically the case: Heart of the Swarm clearly etablished the Primal Zerg actually were the original Zerg. The Zerg from the Swarm technically are a mindless, swarming, mutated version of the traditional zerg that eat everything in its path except its own. In other words: zombies, only inflicted to the Zerg race instead of humans (This also explains why Infested Terrans have this Zombie-like feelings to them). Fortunately, Amon had other projects for the Swarm, so he took it with them, allowing the Primal Zerg refugies to get out and rebuild their society. This is why they didn't exactly welcome the Swarm when they came back: humans would react the same way if they went through a Zombie invasion, and ended up surviving thanks to them leaving, but then had to fight them again.

     Zeratul will kill Kerrigan 
He really hates her but is setting that aside for now due to having the threat of Amon lurking in the near future. However once Amon is dealt with Zeratul will have no further need of Kerrigan, especially since she's evolved Zagara to take her place. He may even have his force strike as soon as Amon is beaten, as an echo of her betrayal of Fenix. This will conveniently place all three factions into a hostile position against each other for further games (no way Raynor will take her murder laying down, even if he understands the motivation).
  • Nope, he dies after two missions in LOTV without ever meeting her.]]

     Kerrigan was not the Spanner In The Works that derailed Amon's plan. 
Stukov]] was. An outside element to the sector completely unknown to Amon or Narud until the day he arrived. Fiercely intelligent, highly determined, dedicated to a cause. Very difficult to manipulate and the only character to ever see through one of Narud's schemes before it happened. Further, it's ultimately Stukov who finally allows Kerrigan to turn the fight around and kill Narud,]] the first sign Amon's plan is beginning to unravel. The only reason the dark future prophesied in the event Kerrigan died was because she hadn't rescued him yet.]] It would not surprise me if he goes on to play a major role in defeating Amon.
  • Confirmed in the Epilogue missions, where Stukov leads Zerg forces against Narud alongside the other heroes and delivers the killing blow to Amon's lackey.
  • Except, Stukov's Stop Poking Me! quote recapping everything that's happened to him since SCI states that he's been under Moebius captivity. Narud would've known about him, and it was Kerrigan's forces that ultimately screwed over Skygeirr Station.]]

     Raynor kicked Nova's ass in HOTS 
So since she's had the living and dead shit beaten out of her, she had to call in dozens of marines to overwhelm Jimmy after that unseen moment of awesome and spent the rest of the game in rehab, thus why she does not appear again in the game despite ample opportunities for her to return (like opposing Kerrigan when its time to rescue Raynor as a Book Ends or defending her Emperor from the zerg swarm at the head of reinforcements trying to get in)
  • Alternatively: They fought to a draw, and then Raynor slipped out something that messed up with Nova's mind and Ghost programming, causing her to have a Heel Realization, then just lets him go. She then decided to stay 'cloaked' from the sight of anyone Dominion, including Mengsk.
    • Alternate reason for that: The fight was staged, Nova was just 'testing' him, under the order of Valerian who had suspicion about what his father is doing. So, once it's all over, she retreated and was told by Valerian to maintain low profile.
  • Regardless, Blizzard has stated that Nova will actually have a role in Legacy of the Void, so the truth about this may come sooner.
    • About the main story, no. But there's a DLC coming featuring her, which takes place after.

     The reason that the Spectre program was discontinued was because they're immune to resocialization. 
The fluff of Starcraft states that Ghosts are heavily brainwashed so that they are loyal. This is why the project was discontinued, the Spectres regained their free will and that was how Tosh was able to leave.

     Eschueta the Wicked is Duran/Narud 
.]]Her health is twice as much as normal Queen of Blades Kerrigan's health is so obviously she is something much more powerful than the normal Queen of Blades.

     At the end of Legacy of the Void 
Zeratul and a reborn Tassadar will go Twilight Archon as a symbol of absolute unity of the Protoss race (under of the idea that most of the game will be spent reuniting the various Dark Templar tribes with the rest of the Khalai). And, of course, to fight Amon.
  • Jossed big time, Zeratul dies early in the game, and the ending reveals there was never any chance of Tassadar reviving because that spirit of his in Wings of Liberty was a fake.]]

     The marines will finally get out of their chickensh*t outfit. 

     Tassadar didn't die in the original game 
Before colliding with the Overmind, Tassadar combined the Khala and Dark Templar powers he had mastered and became an Archon. He used this Archon power to destroy the Overmind, then drifted out into space to contemplate the universe, i.e. Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence. He'll return in LotV as a kind of Physical God and counterpart to the Dark Voice.
  • We've seen what remains of Tassadar. He's the one that showed Zeratul the Overmind's vision of the future during Wings Of Liberty. He's not dead but he's not an archon, he would have needed another protoss to merge with for that, not just his own powers.
    • Jossed hard in Legacy of the Void. Tassadar is dead and gone, his appearance in Wings of Liberty was an illusion created by Ouros to push Zeratul in the right direction to stop Amon.]]

     Abathur is the Overmind in disguise. 
His backstory and behaviour is just to fool Kerrigan (notice that he was never shown in the original game, despite claiming to be there). At the end of Legacy of the Void he will consume Kerrigan, Stukov, Izsha, Dehaka, Zagara and all the brood mothers, becoming the Eternal Will of the Swarm once more. With all this power he won't need cerebrates any more, and his new, mobile form allows him to dodge crashing carriers. He might also have consumed Duran/Narud while Izsha and Zagara were busy nurturing Kerrigan back to full health, allowing him to change shape at will.

     Du Galle's ineptitude is due to Duran's influence. 
It is repeatedly remarked that the Admiral is a complete idiot: ordering a superweapon against the Zerg destroyed, trusting some colonial turncoat instead of his friend and Number Two, etc. However, it makes sense if you think that it only started after Duran met him and started applying whatever measure of mind control was necessary to make the Swarm's ultimate victory possible without blatantly surrendering.

     At the end of Legacy, if/when the Zerg and the Protoss are ready to make peace... 
Niadra will burst in, acting on the last directive she ever received from Kerrigan: "Kill the Protoss". I'll leave what comes after to you guys.
  • Niadra isn't even mentioned in Legacy.

     The Artifact has an unmentioned effect on the Zerg 
It makes them stupid. Kerrigan's forces couldn't take out the Terrans in the middle of Char, Sarah herself went in with no backup and allowed Arcturus to pull the trigger...

    Nova Covert Ops will be Nova's Heel-Face Turn. 
She's been a Punch-Clock Villain during her in-game appearances. Now she is missing after the events of Legacy of the Void.
"Legacy of the Void lead producer Tim Morten, during an interview with Polygon, broadly described the story as a political one in which a covert xenophobic movement called Defenders of Man seeks to eradicate all Zerg and Protoss. Nova and several other Ghosts, meanwhile, have gone missing."source.
She could then become a sort of Anti-Hero, earning some redemption or credit for working against the space racists, especially since her boss (Mengsk) is dead courtesy Sarah Kerrigan. Of course, even if she is redeemed, this is Blizzard Entertainment we're talking about—possible Downer Ending incoming.
  • Her boss has always been whoever is in charge of Dominion, not exactly Arcturus, most likely Nova's loyalty with him died with his death. With Valerian in charge post-HoTS (and can possibly abolish the inhuman parts of the 'Ghost Mind Wipe' stuffs as he promised about his new Dominion), he's the one Nova answers to and we all know he's mostly a much more upstanding fellow than his dad, so probably 'redemption' here would be easier. Also this was supposed to take place after the Legacy of the Void, so... the last part would sound like a Cerebus Retcon, considering how normally bittersweet the original ending is.

    Jim's son will be the protagonist in future content 
Guided by an Obi-Wan like presence of his dad.

     Humans were the Xel'Naga's true intended successors 
Legacy of the Void reveals that the Protoss and Zerg were uplifted by Amon's rogue faction of Xel'Naga who were dedicated to ending the cycles]]. The epilogue campaign also ends with the last good Xel'Naga sacrificing his essence to Kerrigan to uplift her into a Xel'Naga herself]]. It's possible that the Xel'Naga's original plan was to do the same thing to all humanity after they became the "formidable psionic power" the manual from the first game claimed they would eventually become, but Amon and his cronies ruined it.
  • Given the books, like Shadow of the Xel'Naga, Terran are not included in creation of Energy Beings, unlike Zerg and Protoss. Also, it was mentioned couple of times that Protoss are immune to Zerg infestation thanks to the Khala. Going through this, the Dark Templar Saga gives another suggestion with Legacy of the Void in mind: Amon's faction intentionally left Khydarin Crystals and hints on how to create the Khala not only because it allowed Amon to take control over the Protoss later]], but also because it gave them ability to prevent natural combination of Purity of Essence and Form, which would make sense if hybrids worked for Amon's plans under condition of being created artificially.

     Legacy of the Void and the DLC will be the last of Starcraft 
''Looking at Blizzard's franchises as a set of children, Warcraft and WoW is the one that gets everything it wants, the best things, and always gets them first. Diablo is the second child and has some good stuff, but preferential treatment goes to the favorite child of Warcraft. Starcaft meanwhile... Is like Harry Potter in the Dursley household. hand-me-downs only, barley being put up with, sent away for 90% of the year, and generally is better to be seen and not heard from. Looking at the long length of time it took between Brood War and Wings, it seems like they only just got around to it after running out of stuff to do with their other franchises.

As for regards to a sequel, it seems to me like the developers slammed the door on a sequel pretty hard. The ongoing story is done, the big bad is killed off for good, and the galaxy is at peace with pretty much everyone happy. Not to mention they killed off two gods and had one commit suicide. It will be pretty hard to top that and come up with something to raise the stakes again.

  • If interest of Starcraft the gameplay remains high, Blizzard won't shut it down, it's a national sport in Korea for a reason. Ongoing story may be done, but gameplay, that remains to be seen. While it's true that the original story is finished, they can start anew with a new cast though with similar setting. So I don't think Starcraft should be called 'down for count' yet.

     To preserve the unified front, the Daelaam will form a ruling council of Protoss faction leaders. 
The Nerazim and Khalai would have true no issues with each other I believe, if I recall my canon, Shakuras was where the Khalai fled after their homeworld fell. However the purifiers and (more so) the Tal'Darim wouldn't be so easily accepting of the new ways. So to preserve the piece, each major faction on Aiur will elect leaders to represent them in a ruling council.

In addition, (inspired by previous WMG) to preserve peace between the peoples a celebration is held on the anniversary of Amon's defeat. Where in a tournament is als held between the faction members. It becomes a symbol of stability and unity between as old tensions are worked out through battle. In time, it evolves from angry grudge matches into healthy competition, entertainment and training.

[[folder: Mineral fields and vespene geysers replenish over time]]It doesn't make sense for there to be unharvested mineral fields and geysers in the middle of a major city. By any right, they should have been harvested long ago. However, if they replenish, then those patches are merely locations that are being left fallow so they can be harvested later.

    The Defenders of Man are the remains of the Terran Confederacy 
They have a base on tarsonis and want to discredit the Dominion's leadership and have extensive knowldege on Ghosts and Psi Emitters

    The DL Cs after Nova Covert Ops will follow the same pattern as the first 3. 
The one after NCO will be A Day in the Limelight for Dehaka and the primal zerg and will either have Zagara place him in control of a zerg brood or create all new units and structures for the primals. The one after that would focus on Talandar and the purifiers.

     The Overmind never truly died 
The Overmind originally existed as a formless hivemind embodying the collective will of the swarm, as such as long as the swarm exists it exists, all its "death" did was weaken it, allowing another will(Kerrigan, later Zagara) to take over the roll as leadership, but that will never disappeared it simply now submits to another will,it is literally The Eternal Will of the Swarm

     Kerrigan kept her promise to the Brood wars Cerebrate 
The queen of blades isent exactly nice or trustworthy, but we see with her allowing raynor to leave that she can show mercy, but of course she couldent let the cerebrates live as they pose the risk of reforming the overmind, so the only way these two facts can coexist: she made the BW cerabrate something else, perhaps wipeing its memory just to be sure, she reworked the cerabrate into the first broodmother, Zagara

[[folder: The Zerg creep will serve a special function in one of the future games.]]The Zerg creep, if left unattended, will eventually cover the whole planet, and then seep down into the core, at which point the planet itself becomes a sentient Zerg organism, capable of moving through space like Mogo or Ego or Zonama Sekot, and containing its own hive consciousness, like a form of super cerebrate, second only to the Queen.

     The "Queen" in Belly of the Beast was Zagara. 
The Terrans you control in "Belly of the Beast" wouldn't have known enough about the Zerg Swarm to identify that strange Zerg creature that kept hatching eggs to send at them, and her MO in that scenario is similar to Zagara's when Kerrigan confronts her in Heart of the Swarm. And she looks exactly like Zagara.
  • I agree that the "Queen" was a Brood Mother, but not Zagara. The model is similar to all Brood Mothers, not just Zagara. And Egon Stetmann takes the time to personally confirm that she's dead. Kerrigan may be able to resurrect Brood Mothers, but she probably didn't have time to do so before her defeat at the end of Wings of Liberty.
    • Brood Mothers don't need Kerrigan to resurrect them, as Zagara demonstrated in "Domination" when she fought and was killed by Kerrigan multiple times.

     Kerrigan had Zagara upgraded with Terran ingenuity during her sessions with Abathur. 
What better way to prepare for the war against Mengsk and Amon than to implement Terran advantages into her, maybe even the lessons that made Mengsk into the emperor that he was. While Abathur advises against this because she might create The Starscream, it made sense in the long run in case Kerrigan was absent because of how dangerous Amon was. Plus, with Kerrigan ascending to become a Xel'naga, she has the ability to contest Zagara if she becomes rogue, but hopefully, she managed to implement positive Terran traits such as meekness into her so she becomes a wise empress.

     The archive that is shown in the mission In Utter Darkness will be paradoxically found. 
Assuming that the mission takes place in or around Ulnar and that "As far as laws of physics are concerned, Ulnar should not exist." there is the opportunity for the writers at Blizzard to reveal the contents of the archive from In Utter Darkness and fulfill the curiousity of fans who wondered what could be contained in the archive vault.

     During In Utter Darkness, Amon could have ended the Protoss' last stand in mere moments, but felt letting them fight would be good sport. 
Amon wanted to troll the Protoss before ending their stand decisively, and his monologuing throughout the mission could be interpreted as his style of trolling/humor.

     UED are actually the good guys 
Let's face it; with the exception of "kick the dog" moments, like testing Zergs on colonists, they hardly do any villainous things during their whole screen time. And I should point out that using Zergs as weapons and unleashing them on civilians was something which even Good Guys sometimes used. So... what if UED are actually good guys?Let's consider this. We knew, that UED formed from Earth UPL, which was a brutal and cruel regime, and we automatically assume that UED must be too. Hovewer, more than 200 years passed since the time of UPL terror on Earth. In two hundred years, even rather bad regime could easily turn into something much more benevolent (in fact, considering that UPL stood for those 200 years, we could assume that it did not step on too many Earth citizen toes...). So, the modern day UED may have much different standards.
  • To support this theory, the UED personnel shown doesn't seems to have any problems cooperating with Koprulu Sector terrans. Despite the fact, that those terrans not only are the decendants of "undesirables" that UPL presecuted, but also contain a quite high proportion of cyborgs, hackers, mutants and psionics. So apparently, while 200 years ago Earth citizens may have been prejusticed against them, by now they aren't.
  • Finally, the UPL itself, as described, looks more like ultra-egalitarian regime bend on unifying Earth humanity at all cost, rather than typical fascist dictatorship. Their brutality against augmented humans may be explained by fear of the formation of superhuman elite, that would establish itself as ruling class over the rest of humanity. And considering the history of Koprulu sector - in which the dominant force was always a dictatorship (more or less enlightened), which used psionic agents to maintain control - the UPL fears may not exactly be unfounded.


Alternative Title(s): Star Craft II, Star Craft II Wings Of Liberty, Star Craft II Heart Of The Swarm

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