Samir Duran

"I am a servant of a far greater power. A power that has slept for countless ages. And is reflected in the creature within that cell."

- Duran discusses Zeratul's discoveries on a dark moon.

Samir Duran &mdash;better known as Duran or Lieutenant Duran&mdash; was introduced as a Terran commando lieutenant who was later apparently infested by the Zerg, and subsequently transformed into a Zerg/Terran hybrid.

Background
Samir Duran claimed to be thirty-three years old during the Brood War. Duran served in the Alpha Squadron of the Terran Confederacy before Arcturus Mengsk brought it down. Duran then assumed command of a small commando squad called the Confederate Resistance Forces that was dedicated to striking at Mengsk and his new Terran Dominion.

Special Advisor to the UED
When the United Earth Directorate launched its first attack against the Terran Dominion on the planet Braxis, Duran offered his services to the UED Vice Admiral Alexi Stukov. Stukov accepted, because both men had the same enemy; but even though Duran had the potential to be a valuable asset, Stukov was nonetheless suspicious. This was not a deal that Admiral DuGalle approved at first glance, because in his eyes Duran was merely a "turncoat" to the Dominion.

Admiral DuGalle used the information gained from Braxis to gain valuable tactical insights into Dominion resources and defenses. His next target was the Dylarian Shipyards in orbit over Dylar IV. He planned on stealing a large number of battlecruisers in dry-dock; Duran warned him that the Dominion could reinforce its outlying bases (such as Dylar IV) within sixteen hours.

Dominion General Edmund Duke led the Terran Dominion counterattack against the UED forces, but was defeated.

Admiral DuGalle took the UED fleet to Tarsonis, where his research team uncovered a hidden weapons relay called the Psi Disrupter. Duran, after explaining that it can disrupt Zerg communications, suggested the Psi Disrupter was such a powerful and dangerous piece of technology that it should be destroyed before Arcturus Mengsk could get his hands on it, but Vice Admiral Stukov believed its anti-Zerg abilities would greatly assist the UED in defeating the Zerg. DuGalle agreed with Duran. Since Duran showed such concern for the device's inherent danger, DuGalle ordered him to personally descend to the surface of Tarsonis to reach and destroy the Psi Disrupter with a small task force while the main UED fleet traveled to Korhal. Duran believed that destroying the Hives would render the Zerg dormant; using this strategy, he was able to defeated the Zerg which had clustered around the Disrupter. He approached the Disrupter, intending to destroy it with explosives, but he ran into resistance from Stukov's Ghosts. They said they would facilitate the Disrupter's disassembly. Duran did not challenge them.

Upon arriving at Korhal, the Dominion throne world, Duran took part in the war council. He suggested destroying a large cluster of missile silos on the outskirts of Augustgrad, the capital city of Korhal, so that Mengsk would lose his core nuclear capabilities.

Treason
The UED fleet defeated Mengsk, but Jim Raynor (an old enemy of Mengsk's) suddenly appeared and rescued him. Raynor and Mengsk traveled to Aiur, where they were defended by a large Protoss base which included a Warp Gate. The UED fleet's pursuit of Raynor and Mengsk was further complicated by the large numbers of Zerg present; despite their proximity to both the Protoss and UED forces, the Zerg appeared to be dormant... but no one knew how long that behavior would last.

A Captain of the UED fleet was ordered by DuGalle to attack the Protoss encampment while Stukov and Duran provided cover for his forces and ensured that no external threats would interfere with his mission. Before the Captain attacked, the Warp Gate was activated, inciting the Zerg to attack. The Captain's forces forced Raynor and Mengsk to flee in a Dropship headed directly towards the Warp Gate.

Stukov detected a wave of Zerg coming in from the northeast, but Duran had moved his forces out of place, allowing a wave of Zerg free access to the battlefield. Duran claimed his sensors weren't detecting the Zerg, and suggested that perhaps there was a problem with Stukov's equipment. When Stukov ordered him to return to his position regardless, Duran claimed communication equipment failure, and cut off the transmission. The Zerg interference with the UED operation had allowed Mengsk and Raynor to escape. The Warp Gate self-destructed after they were through, preventing the UED from following. Stukov told the Captain that he had to leave to attend to personal business. He didn't explain his actions to the Captain, DuGalle, or Duran.

Tracking Stukov to Braxis, DuGalle and Duran became aware of a new development ... the Psi Disrupter had been reconstructed. Duran told DuGalle that Stukov had betrayed him, and that he had reconstructed the Disrupter in order to sabotage DuGalle's mission in the Koprulu Sector. DuGalle couldn't believe it at first, but the evidence appeared incontrovertible. He ordered Duran to enter the Disrupter and deal with the "traitor".

Duran led a number of Marines into the Disrupter, defeating Stukov's Elite Guard, before finally locating Vice Admiral Stukov himself. Duran shot Stukov and immediately vanished. The dying Stukov told DuGalle that the real traitor was Duran, and as he was seemingly intent on sabotaging the entire operation, he suspected Duran may even be infested as well. Duran had convinced DuGalle to destroy the Psi Disrupter, and allowed Mengsk and Raynor to escape.

After Stukov's death, Duran set the Psi Disrupter's power core to overload, and allowed Zerg to breach the outer installation walls. "This proves that Duran's working with the Zerg!" DuGalle said before ordering the Captain to reach the manual override terminal and shut the reactor core down, so as to prevent meltdown. The Captain's forces, allying again with Stukov's Elite Guard, successfully defeated the Zerg and saved the Psi Disrupter.

Infestation
The UED used the Psi Disrupter to severely weaken the Zerg, enabling them to claim the Overmind on the planet Char. Duran showed up and introduced DuGalle to Infested Kerrigan. He made no effort to hide his infested status.

Kerrigan and Duran traveled to the abandoned world of Tarsonis in order to hide from the UED. Duran's presence was known to Jim Raynor and Fenix, two of Kerrigan's unlikely allies. Duran interrupted their conversation to inform Kerrigan that the Psi Disrupter's signal has reached them on Tarsonis and shattered the unity of her Broods.

Infested Kerrigan planned a fuel raid on Moria in order to strengthen her Swarm. Duran and Kerrigan discussed whether Raynor and Fenix suspected them of anything. Kerrigan said they must suspect something, but preferred working with Kerrigan rather than the UED.

The Swarm traveled to Korhal, along with their newest (forced) ally Arcturus Mengsk, and assaulted the UED forces there along with Fenix's Protoss, Raynor's Raiders and Mengsk's Dominion forces. After the main UED base was destroyed, Kerrigan decided to eradicate her allies. Duran suggested the strategy of attacking while her allies were resting, allowing them to whittle down their defenses with relative ease. The ploy was successful. After the destruction of Duke's and Fenix's bases, they returned to Tarsonis to rest.

Two days later, the UED, intent on forcing Kerrigan's hand, tested out their control of their pet Overmind by sending hundreds of Zerg to Tarsonis. As they began attacking their outposts, Duran informed her of the situation and rallied her forces. Kerrigan's forces secured their perimeter when Duran noticed a small UED encampment which protected a number of scientists. Kerrigan said the "scientists" were helping the UED command these Renegade Zerg at such a great distance from the Overmind; they had to be eliminated. The Zerg took the fight to the UED Slave Brood Hive clusters and the scientists, destroying them.

Duran then accompanied Kerrigan to Shakuras to retrieve the Dark Templar Matriarch, Raszagal. Kerrigan did not reveal her interest in Raszagal to Duran, however. Duran informed her that the Pylon clusters were generating some sort of electromagnetic field that prevented their flyers from maneuvering. He suggested attacking the Protoss outpost of Talematros, which was fueled and supported by a number of adjacent pylon clusters, so as to cause a surge within the pylon clusters, causing Talematros' power grids to overload. The resulting explosion would be the perfect cover for retrieving Raszagal. Kerrigan agreed, calling Duran's scheme "Clean, simple, devious." The Cerebrate provided cover for Duran as he infiltrated the pylon clusters and ignited the charges.

Duran soon discovered that Raszagal was captured so as to provide the Dark Templar Prelate, Zeratul, and his brethren the incentive to kill the Overmind. After this was done, Duran informed Kerrigan that with the Overmind and its Cerebrates destroyed, all of the Zerg in the sector had reverted to her direct control. In addition, the remnants of the UED fleet had fled the planet (although he has no idea how many functional ships they still possess), and the Zerg had finished relocating Kerrigan's primary hive clusters to the orbital platform over Char. However, Zeratul and his brethren were able to bypass their defenses and steal Raszagal away from them. They had regrouped with a number of Protoss survivors on the surface of Char and would be capable of dimensional recall to Shakuras within thirty minutes. Kerrigan had all of her Broods mobilized and sent to the surface of Char. During this time, Duran disappears.

The Mystery Deepens

 * Main article: Dark Origin

At one of the final stages of Episode VI, Kerrigan inexplicably lost all of her psionic links with Duran. Later, Zeratul discovered a secret project on a dark moon, where scientists were creating Protoss/Zerg Hybrids. Duran himself uncloaked in front of a Stasis Cell holding a successful specimen and spoke to Zeratul. From the manner in which Duran replied to Zeratul, claiming to be many millenia old (and having had many names over these millenia) and serving "a far greater power", Duran's background became even more enigmatic.

Zeratul has gone through the stars in his spaceship, looking for clues to try to confirm the "cosmic event" that Duran told him about. He does find these clues and gets a vision of what's coming, suggesting Duran was telling the truth. Zeratul warned Jim Raynor that the Xel'Naga will return and that the artifacts Raynor has acquired hold the key to the end of the cycle and the end of all things.

Few beings know Duran's true nature; Infested Kerrigan didn't have a clue and few in the Confederate Resistance Forces would believe the truth about his mysterious nature.

Game Unit
Duran, represented by a Terran Ghost unit, generally wears a white muscle shirt, blue pants, and a Beret. He also carries his powerful C-10 Canister Rifle. As a hero, Duran's weapon is imbued with power 2.5 times that of a normal Ghost and he is not at all representative of the Ghost as a unit.

During the Zerg campaign, Duran becomes represented in-game by a new unit, called Infested Duran. He has more hit points and a carapace (although it's not very obvious). He still uses a canister rifle, however, and the method by which his Consume ability functions is obviously a technological device, as it makes a "high-tech sound" (the same sound as lockdown) when he consumes a Zerg, somehow feeding its biological energy into the device. His voice changes to that of an Infested Terran. He is also shown in the unit window as a color-coded wireframe identical to his previous form, making him the only Zerg unit represented as such. Curiously, Infested Duran is the only unit to be upgraded with weapon and armor upgrades from separate factions: Zerg Carapace upgrades will improve Duran's armor, but it is Terran Infantry Weapons upgrades that improve the power of his weaponry. This makes him one of the few unique units in the game. Duran also has a unique death sound that is in the game data, but not implemented. It's entirely possible that Duran was intended to be even more unique.

In his infested form, his voice is different from that of his human form. It is lower and more raspy, and has some echoing sound, giving a mechanical impression. Unlike his previous calm tone of his Terran form, his voice is rougher and sounds somewhat impatient. This voice is referred to as Duran's 'infested tone'.

His voice changes once again in the secret mission, now with more of his former human tone but still has some of the infested tones features along with a new tone that some fans say resembles something of a Protoss voice.

Quotes

 * (Zeratul discusses the Hybrid with Duran)
 * Duran: "Magnificent isn't it?"
 * Zeratul: "What? Who are you?"
 * Duran: "I've had many names throughout the millennia, young prodigal. You would know me best as Samir Duran."
 * Zeratul: "Kerrigan's consort! Is this part of her twisted schemes?"
 * Duran: "No. Young Kerrigan could not have engineered this grand experiment. Although her rebirth into the Zerg Swarm has sped up my progress, I can assure you that this endeavor is quite beyond her narrow understanding."
 * Zeratul: "If you are not her pawn, then what are you?"
 * Duran: "I am a servant of a far greater power. A power that has slept for countless ages. And is reflected in the creature within that cell."
 * Zeratul: "Have you any conception of what you've created here? Do you have any idea what this... this Hybrid is capable of?"
 * Duran: "Of course I do. This creature is the completion of a cycle. It's role in the cosmic order was preordained when the stars were young. Behold the culmination of your history."
 * Zeratul: "All I behold is an abomination."
 * Duran: "Your violence, young prodigal, is typical. As is your inability to comprehend the greater scheme of things. You can destroy all of the specimens here. It will do you no good. For I have seeded the Hybrid on many, many worlds. You will never find them all before they awaken... And when they do... your universe will be changed... forever."

"How can I be of service?"

"I already told you my name, it's Duran! Duran!"

Trivia

 * Duran's beret is the same color, and has the same insignia, as the ones worn by soldiers in the ARVN Airborne (South Vietnamese paratroopers) during the Vietnam War, according to IMDb.


 * Click Duran (either version) many times and he will mention the 80's band Duran Duran, and one of its hits: "Is There Something I Should Know?". This is one of Blizzard's many humorous additions to the game.


 * Duran seems to be the Zerg equivalent to General Edmund Duke. He was from Alpha Squadron (or so he claimed to be), which was commanded by General Duke. While Arcturus Mengsk (the former leader of the Sons of Korhal) ruled the Terran Dominion as an Emperor with Duke by his side, Sarah Kerrigan (the former 2nd in command of the Sons of Korhal) ruled the Zerg Swarm as a Queen with Duran by her side.