Starcraft Brood War Marine

[Azucena Jewels]

Major and recurring characters from the military science fiction series StarCraft are listed below, organised by respective species and most commonly affiliated faction within the fictional universe. The story of the StarCraft series revolves around interstellar affairs in a distant sector of the galaxy, where three species are vying for supremacy: the Terrans, a highly factionalised future version of humanity; the Protoss, a theocratic race of vast psionic ability; and the Zerg, an insectoid species commanded by a hive mind persona. The latter two of these species were genetically engineered by the Xel'Naga, a fourth species believed extinct. The series was begun with Blizzard Entertainment's 1998 video game StarCraft, and has been expanded with sequels Insurrection, Retribution, Brood War, Ghost, Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm, and Legacy of the Void. The franchise has been further extended with a series of novels, graphic novels, and other works.

The characters and story of the StarCraft series were created by Chris Metzen[1] and James Phinney.[1] However, as Phinney was not involved in StarCraft: Brood War, Chris Metzen alone is credited for the development of the plot in the expansion.[2] Despite the series success globally, particularly in South Korea, Blizzard Entertainment has not made any major comments regarding the development of the characters and the storyline of the StarCraft series.

However, interviews with the two of the voice actors have given a glimpse into small parts of the development process. An interview with Robert Clotworthy, the voice of Jim Raynor in all released StarCraft games to date, has revealed that for the most part the voicing for the characters was done over only a few days in sessions of up to four hours,[3] a fact mirrored in a similar interview with Sarah Kerrigan's actress, Glynnis Talken Campbell.[4] Clotworthy also stated how the concept art for the game usually used for the visual development of characters and locales in games was used by him in order to develop the personality of his character.[3]

Jim Raynor is the primary Terran protagonist and player character in the StarCraft franchise. Raynor is the ubiquitous character of the series, having participated in all critical plot points and military conflicts in the sector, except one. He is also the only character to have established inter-species alliance.

A former colonial marshal on the backwater planet of Mar Sara, Raynor joins Arcturus Mengsk's revolutionaries in their fight against the tyrannical and corrupt Terran Confederacy, where he develops a relationship with Sarah Kerrigan, Mengsk's second in command. However, he quickly comes to realise that Mengsk is far from the force for good when he abandons Kerrigan and the entire population of a planet to die by the hand of the Zerg to satisfy his own thirst for power. Disillusioned and embittered, Raynor deserts Mengsk and becomes a persona non grata in the new Terran Dominion. The situation gets no better when Kerrigan, who was captured by the Zerg, is assimilated into the swarm and becomes one of their most powerful assets. After desertion, Raynor and his forces take part in major combat operations across the sector: He fights alongside the Protoss templar Tassadar in the battle that leads to the fall of the Zerg ruler, the Overmind, and splinters the Zerg into several factions. When the expeditionary forces of United Earth Directorate (UED) arrive in the sector to subjugate it, Raynor, Mengsk, and Kerrigan combine their Terran, Zerg, and Protoss allies to repel the invasion. No sooner than they fall, the alliance shatters.

StarCraft creator Chris Metzen designed Raynor as a rough-living and dangerous man; Clotworthy describes Raynor as a man who other characters "wouldn't mess with".[15] Nevertheless, his depiction is meant to be that of an ordinary man.[16] Critics connected sympathetically with Raynor's plights,[17][18] and GameSpot named him one of the best heroes in video gaming.[19]

Sarah Kerrigan is the primary Zerg protagonist and player character in the StarCraft franchise. Kerrigan serves as the primary antagonist of all but the first and last two games. As "The Primal Queen of Blades", Kerrigan is the de facto leader of the Zerg Swarm and mentor to broodmother Zagara.

Originally a Terran ghost agent for Arcturus Mengsk, she is betrayed and abandoned to the Zerg, who transform her into a Terran/Zerg hybrid with vast psionic powers under the control of the then unknown Amon. Following the death of the Overmind, Kerrigan asserts her independence, striking out at those who betrayed her and who seek to contain her, eventually taking control of the entire Zerg Swarm. Four years later, Kerrigan invades the Dominion in search of a number of Xel'Naga artifacts; these artifacts are instead retrieved by Raynor at the behest of the Moebius Foundation, who assembles them into a device that reverts Kerrigan to a human and releases Amon's grip on her. After her deinfestation, Kerrigan is mercilessly pursued by Arcturus Mengsk, however she successfully escapes Arcturus's Dominion forces. After willingly allowing herself to be reinfested on Zerus,[20] Kerrigan is reborn as the Primal Queen of Blades, after which she successfully reunites the Zerg Swarm and storms the Dominion capital of Augustgrad on the planet Korhal[12] with help from Raynor's Raiders.[13] After a showdown with Arcturus Mengsk inside his Palace, Kerrigan manages to gain the upper hand with help from James Raynor, and kills Acturus by overloading his body with psychic energy, causing him to explode spectacularly. In the aftermath of her victory, Kerrigan gathers the Swarm and departs in search of Amon.[14]

According to Zeratul, Kerrigan factors prominently into a Xel'Nagan prophecy[21] concerning the Zerg, the Protoss, and the Hybrids.[22] Heart of the Swarm reveals that Kerrigan is the only being powerful enough to stop the fallen Xel'naga Amon, though exactly how is not revealed.[23][24][25] Though originally intended as a throwaway character, Kerrigan grew on the developers, who gave her a greater role in the series.[26] Talken Campbell described Kerrigan's transformation as "going from good girl to bad girl";[27] many of the aspects of Kerrigan's infested character design are inspired by the Greek gorgon Medusa.[28] IGN rated Kerrigan as the fifth most memorable video game villain,[29] while readers of GameSpot put Kerrigan as the most evil video game villain.[30]

During the events of Legacy of the Void, Kerrigan enters into an alliance with Artanis while investigating the Xel'Naga homeworld Ulnar. Some time after Artanis's reclamation of the Protoss homeworld of Aiur, Kerrigan sends a psionic call to Raynor and Artanis for assistance in permanently killing Amon in the Void. During the joint Terran Dominion/Zerg/Protoss assault of the Void, the full context of Zeratul's prophecy about Kerrigan is made clear: Only a fellow Xel'Naga is capable of killing Amon, and only Kerrigan is capable of ascension. With the remainder of the joint armada, Kerrigan is successful in killing Amon during her psychic backlash in the void. During the aftermath, Kerrigan returns to Raynor in human form and disappears.

Artanis is the primary Protoss protagonist and player character in the StarCraft franchise. Artanis is a high templar[31] and a military commander introduced in Brood War. Later retcons, particularly with the character's appearances in the novels Queen of Blades and Twilight, have established Artanis as the identity of the nameless 'Executor' for the Protoss campaign in the original StarCraft.

An ambitious leader, Artanis is the youngest templar to achieve the rank of praetor and executor.[31] Artanis holds Tassadar in high esteem and despite being a strong believer in Khalai system, he also holds to the idea of reunification with the Nerazim and Tal'Darim.[31] Artanis is responsible for the initial defense of Aiur alongside Fenix before being dispatched to arrest Tassadar by Aldaris; Artanis, however, sides with Tassadar and helps him defeat the Overmind. Artanis later organizes the evacuation of his now devastated home world of Aiur, and with Zeratul undertakes measures to cleanse the Zerg presence on Shakuras through the use of a Xel'Naga temple.[32] When Sarah Kerrigan's actions result in the deaths of Aldaris, Fenix, and Raszagal, Artanis commands a fleet to bring Kerrigan to justice on Char, and despite allying with both the Dominion and the UED remnants, his forces are defeated by her Zerg.[33] Artanis returns to Shakuras to rebuild the Protoss civilization; with Zeratul having disappeared, Artanis becomes the hierarch of the unified Protoss Protectorate, the Daelaam, but struggles with reintegrating the two estranged branches of his people, with many of the Aiur survivors desiring to retake their home world. He makes a brief appearance in Wings of Liberty in the vision of the Protoss's last stand against the hybrids and their Zerg swarm.

Artanis is the central character of Legacy of the Void, the third and final part of StarCraft II. He leads the Protoss to invade Aiur but as the invasion went on, many Protoss fell under Amon's control. Amon has seized the Khala and is controlling the Protoss via their nerve cords. Artanis initially fell under their control but Zeratul severed his nerve cord, dying in the process. Shortly afterwards, Artanis leaves Aiur behind in the ship Spear of Adun and begins his quest to destroy Amon. Upon repelling Amon from Aiur, Artanis joins Raynor and Kerrigan in destroying Amon and his forces in the void. During the aftermath, Artanis maintains a peaceful alliance with Valerian Mengsk's dominion.

Zeratul is a Nerazim prelate and one of the main Protoss protagonists. A renowned psionic warrior and assassin, Zeratul is somewhat secretive and calculating, but is nevertheless honorable and loyal to his species. He teaches Tassadar how to use dark templar energies and facilitates the final attack on the Overmind by slaying several cerebrates. Following the death of the Overmind, Zeratul tries to put in motion the reunification of the Khalai survivors with the wayward dark templar and unmask the secrets of Samir Duran's experiments. After Duran revealed he had been breeding Protoss-Zerg hybrids for a greater master, Zeratul set out to find Duran's master and his plan, which encompasses all of his activities in the three installments of StarCraft II. In Wings of Liberty, he gives Jim Raynor a crystal with his memories to emphasize the importance of the latter's mission to de-infest Kerrigan. In Heart of the Swarm, he guides Kerrigan to Zerus, the original home of the Zerg, and encourages her to re-infest herself so she can stop Amon, a fallen Xel'naga who is revealed to be the master of Duran and seeks to destroy all life in the Korpulu Sector and remold it in his image. Zeratul also features in the events of Legacy of the Void (originally believed to be the central character, the actual protagonist of the story is Artanis). He appears early on but is killed as he severs Artanis's nerve cords to cut him off from Amon's control. He is described by GameSpot as a "dark warrior who champions the light" and a "willing scapegoat" for his people and ranked in their top ten heroes chart.[34]

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