Abathur

"Look at flesh, see only potential. Strands, sequences, twisting, separating, joining. See how it could be better. Eat flesh, splinter bone. Inside me, can touch it. Weave it. Spin it. Make it great."

- Abathur tells Sarah Kerrigan about his work.

Abathur is a unique zerg creature, created from numerous zerg species. He is the zerg evolution master, serving as the Swarm's DNA library, and resides in the evolution pit.

Biography
"Different. Examining genetic strands. Queen of Blades was efficient, ancient zerg qualities. Minor terran influence."

- Abathur 'examines' Kerrigan

Abathur was created by the Overmind as a "brood of one", spun from many species.

By the Overmind's instruction he designed the Queen of Blades, though not without injuring her in the process.

After the Overmind's death, Abathur became feral and purposeless. He wandered under Char, and was too strong for Zagara to take control of him. He said that until recovered by Kerrigan, he was a purposeless "beast".

After the Queen of Blades was de-infested, she found him again and he helped her by evolving her brood. While Kerrigan was out on missions, Abathur experimented on zerg and searched for worlds where he could derive strains from existing breeds. When readied, he showed these to Kerrigan through demonstrations, and evolved the appropriate strain chosen by her.

Game Effect
"I will show you the future of the Swarm."

- Abathur

In Heart of the Swarm, Abathur performs a role similar to what Rory Swann and Egon Stetmann did in Wings of Liberty, upgrading and evolving zerg strains for better use in game. However, it is different from the terran system, which required a certain amount of credits collected after completed missions; instead, Abathur demands essence, acquired from completing secondary objectives in-game, to perform upgrades and evolutions.

Personality and Traits
Abathur is well mannered and is constantly connecting DNA, experimenting on strains and studying the Swarm's enemies. He does this by eating (parts of) creatures and gaining access to their genetic code.

Abathur accepts that true perfection is impossible for the zerg to achieve. However, it makes sense on the tactical level for him for the zerg to continue chasing perfection regardless. He also believes it is "purpose" which makes the zerg what they are. He states that without an overriding will, they are no more than beasts, much like he was after the death of the Overmind. To this end, he is grateful that the Swarm has a purpose, even if it is to fulfill Kerrigan's vendetta.

Abathur is unimpressed with terran essence and DNA. Similarly, he holds the primal zerg in low regard, noting that though some displayed favorable traits, they were sloppy and inefficient. He thought even less of them when he discovered they quickly replicated some strains from the Swarm, prompting him to implore Kerrigan to wipe them all out. An amused Kerrigan noted that Abathur sounded upset, indicating he may hold some level of pride or possessiveness towards his "work."

Abathur seems to be obsessed with efficiency. His goal is not to make a zerg perfect, since perfection is impossible, instead, he tries to make them as efficient as possible.

Outside of that, he points out to Kerrigan that killing a creature before consuming its biomass, while it would be less painful for the creature, is inefficient, since the creature's death is imminent.

Abathur has an odd speech pattern, often leaving out words. It is possible that this is another showcase of his obsession with efficiency, as he only says what needs to be said, any more words would be a waste of energy.

Reference Notes
Abathur