Timeline

The following article is a timeline of the StarCraft universe.

Overview
It is important to note that relatively few absolute dates have been given throughout the StarCraft series, events often being portrayed as being relative to other dates as opposed to having a definite point of occurence. However, of the few dates that have been given however, it is possible to construct a timeline of the universe, using these dates as focal points and applying the rest through simple math. The order of the release of products is also used as a guide, assuming they progress in chronological order. In addition, large timeframes of a thousand years or more had been rounded up/down to approximate dates.

At this point in time, it appears that Blizzard Entertainment is unwilling or unable to share any official timeline that may be avaliable. However, Blizzard appears to be firming up the timeline.

Age of Creation

 * According to ancient protoss texts, the xel'naga, an extra-galactic race obsessed with the seeding of life, arrived in the Milky Way galaxy tens of millions of years ago, establishing their domain and seeding life on various worlds.


 * The xel'naga discover/create the Argus Stone, holding it in high regard for its immense power. Their scholars meanwhile indirectly predict the events of the Great War.


 * Frustrated with their failure to create a species with distinct purity of form, the xel'naga turn their attention to Aiur. Pleased with the progress of its dominant species, the xel'naga name them the protoss ("Firstborn") and commence observation which lasts hundreds of protoss generations.


 * Eventually, frustrated at the slow rate of protoss evolution, the xel'naga subtly guide their development for a millenium, leading them to the state of total sentience and awareness. Delighted, the xel'naga make themselves known to their creations


 * Protoss civilization spreads across Aiur within a few thousand years. However, as more emphasis is placed on individual achievement than communal advancement, the protoss begin to revert to tribalism. Distrust of the xel'naga begins to brew, and the protoss cut off their psychic link.


 * The xel'naga depart from Aiur, seeing the protoss as a failed creation. Disheartened at their departure, the protoss tribes turn on each other, each blaming their counterparts for their mentors’ departure. Thus begins the Aeon of Strife.


 * The protoss having failed them, the xel'naga head for the planet Zerus. Seeking to create an individual with a distinct purity of essence, they begin developing the race of miniature insectoids known as the zerg. Attempting to waylay the potential hazards of competing egos, they create the Overmind -- a collected zerg sentience.

Aeon of Strife

 * The various protoss protoss tribes fight a massive civil war with low levels of technology. Only the Shelak Tribe maintains some sanity. Two former members, Khas and Temlaa, discovered the khaydarin crystals and, through them, the missing psionic link. Khas later learns much about the protoss and xel'naga from an artifact found underground. Khas uses the findings to bring an end to the Aeon of Strife.

The Second Age
The protoss culture unifies, with the Templar Caste initially fighting to protect the new culture from those who disagree with it.

The protoss began to proudly explore space, settling on worlds such as Khyrador. Some of this exploration took place under the guidance of Executor Adun. This expansion sometimes brought the protoss into conflict with alienss.

The Rogues
In c. 1500, the Conclave, led by Kortanul, orders Adun to capture and execute a group of heretics known as the Dark Templar. Adun secretly teaches the rogues to hide from the Conclave instead, but this backfires as storms erupt over Aiur. The Conclave banishes the rogues from Aiur, and in his final attempt to protect them, Adun loses his life.

Golden Age of Expansion
The protoss begin the Golden Age of Expansion, eventually claiming one eighth of the worlds previous claimed by the xel'naga. They put these worlds under the Dae'Uhl.

The protoss fought in the Kalath Intercession, nearly annihilating the kalathi. The protoss apply the Dae'Uhl more strictly.

Arrival of the Terrans

 * In approximately 2269, Doran Routhe conducts an experiment involving 40,000 prisoners, whom he loads onto four supercarriers bound for the outlying world of Gantris VI. The lead supercarrier, the Nagglfar, carries the AI ATLAS. The journey was botched however. One year later, the ships passed by Gantris VI without stopping. The ships arrived in the Koprulu Sector approximately 2300, stranding the passengers on three colonies, Tarsonis, Umoja and Moria. The commanders of the Nagglfar become the Old Families of Tarsonis. The protoss observe their arrival. Shocked by the terran's strip mining of natural resources, they nonetheless refuse to interfere.


 * In approximately 2360 the Tarsonian colonists devise second-generation subwarp engines and discover the other two terran colonies.


 * The Tarsonian colonists colonize numerous planets, forming the Terran Confederacy.


 * In approximately 2440, the zerg become aware of the terrans.

Prelude to the Great War

 * Economic and military friction between the colonists of Moria and the Terran Confederacy prompt the former to create a military organization, the Kel-Morian Combine, to oppose the Confederacy's attempted economic domination. The two organizations clash frequently as the Confederacy repeatedly steals Kel-Morian mining claims.


 * In 2478, Angus Mengsk, a senator of the Confederate colony of Korhal, sparked a secret revolution against the Confederacy with the assistance of Umoja. His son Arcturus disagrees with him.


 * In approximately 2480, Sarah Kerrigan accidentally unleashed her psionic powers, killing her mother and severely injuring her father. The Confederacy inducts her into the nascent Ghost Program.


 * In 2485, a Confederate attempt to steal a Kel-Morian mining operation at Onuru Sigma leads to the Battle of Noranda Glacier. This becomes the first battle of the Guild Wars.


 * Approximately 2486, the Confederacy discovers a zerg infestation in several Fringe Worlds. The Confederacy responds by exterminating the populace of those worlds with an engineered plague.


 * In 2489, the Guild Wars come to an end with a Confederate victory.


 * Angus Mengsk declares the independence of Korhal; the Confederacy responds by declaring a state of emergency. Arcturus Mengsk travels to Umoja due to a "family emergency"; he becomes aware of the existence of his own son, Valerian. The Confederacy dispatches ghosts to assassinate Angus Mengsk.


 * As a response to the Guild Wars and the assassination of Angus Mengsk, the Umojans form their own military body, the Umojan Protectorate. Arcturus Mengsk takes command of the Rebellion of Korhal, seeking revenge for the murder of his family. He also sends Valerian to a haven to keep him safe from Confederate reprisal.


 * In 2490, the Umojan Protectorate and Rebellion of Korhal take custody of a crashed Confederate battlecruiser, the Hyperion.


 * In 2491, the Confederacy destroys Korhal through a massive nuclear bombardment. Arcturus Mengsk renames the remnants of the Rebellion the Sons of Korhal. The new organization conducts a series of missions against the Confederacy, rescuing Sarah Kerrigan from secret experiments with the zerg and destroying the Ghost Academy on Tarsonis.


 * The zerg secretly infest a number of terran worlds, while the protoss executor, Tassadar, discovers their scouts.


 * The Confederate colony of Chau Sara is attacked by the zerg in November 2499. The Confederates defeat the zerg, then lock the planet down. The planet is later overrun by the zerg.


 * On December 12th Tassadar's fleet arrives and burns the planet of all life.


 * Tassadar's fleet continues towards Mar Sara, but withdraws when confronted by a Confederate fleet. The terrans, protoss and zerg enter the Great War.

The Great War

 * The Great War is fought from 2499 to 2500. The first phase of the war, the civil war between the Terran Confederacy and the Sons of Korhal, takes over six months.

Consolidation of the Terran Dominion

 * Raynor's Raiders, in desperate need of transport, travel to the Dylarian Shipyards to steal transport vessels there. The as-yet undeclared Terran Dominion was ready for this attempt, sending General Edmund Duke in the Hyperion to protect the shipping. The Raiders achieved victory, stealing the Hyperion and leaving Duke alive but tied up behind them.

The Terran Dominion is officially declared. The Dominion converts former Confederate worlds to their cause by threatening to deny military aid to any world which doesn't join them. Eventually the Dominion unites the terrans underneath it.

The Brood War

 * Main article: The Brood War


 * 2500: The United Earth Directorate and Confederate Resistance Forces attack the Terran Dominion at Braxis, Umoja and the Dylarian Shipyards, six months after the formation of the Dominion.


 * 2501: The war ends. Zeratul discovers Samir Duran's hybrid project.

Interbellum

 * The New Trinidad Pirates were able to attack terran ships and outposts with impunity due to the recent terran civil wars weakening military forces. They killed Jacqueline Angel, heir to Angel Shipping, when she visited their planet. In revenge, the company funded the Terran Dominion's response, which consisted of mercenaries hired to destroy the Pirates. The mercenaries were successful.


 * Alexei Stukov was reanimated and infested by zerg cerebrate Kaloth as an experiment in terms of infesting humans as leaders.


 * The Kimeran Pirates discovered Stukov working with Confederate remnants in a science facility conducting cutting-edge research. The facility was destroyed.


 * Stukov hired mercenaries to destroy his enemies, including the Kimeran Pirates.


 * The protoss learned of Stukov's reanimation and tracked him to Braxis. Artanis dispatched terran Jim Raynor and protoss Praetor Taldarin, along with a small team, to the planet in order to capture Stukov and inject him with anti-zerg nanites. The operation was a success, but at heavy cost. The world was purified, melting it. Braxis later refroze.


 * 2502/2503: Ghost trainee November Terra graduates from the Dominion Ghost Academy after assassinating the anti-Dominion terrorist Cliff Nadaner.


 * 2504: Arcturus Mengsk orders half of the ghosts in the Ghost Program terminated.


 * 2505:


 * Nova begins a series of missions that lead to her uncovering information about the nature of Project Shadow Blade...and the revelations it presents.


 * Jake Ramsey explores a xel'naga temple while funded by Dominion heir Valerian Mengsk. He discovers a protoss preserver, Zamara, who embeds herself in his mind. From her, he learns much about protoss history. However, this knowledge makes him a target for Valerian Mengsk. He and his companion Rosemary Dahl took shelter with crime lord Ethan Stewart, only to be betrayed by him. Unleashing a psionic distraction to escape from Stewart and the Dominion, Ramsey draws the attention of Infested Kerrigan and the powerful dark archon, Ulrezaj. The former infests Stewart. Ramsey travels to Aiur to collect technology, becoming embroiled in a civil war between Ulrezaj's minions and Khalai loyalists stranded on the planet, all the while dodging the zerg. He manages to escape through a warp gate, intending to travel to Shakuras.


 * The next war starts.