Infested terran

"Prepare to die."

- Infested Terran

An Infested Terran is a breed of Zerg created when the Zerg infest a Terran.

Purpose of Infestation
The Zerg believed they needed the use of psionic powers to defeat the Protoss. The Terrans were the only species they discovered with psionics powerful enough to help them achieve victory. However, most Terrans aren't psychic, and even those that are, are not necessarily genetically compatible (meaning they would lose their intelligence and any psionic powers).

Most Infested Terrans are simply used as suicide soldiers.

Effects of Infestation
An Infested Terran is created when a Terran is infected with the Zerg hyper-evolutionary virus. The victim usually loses most of their intelligence and sanity, as their mind becomes consumed by the Zerg. Most become faster, tougher, and develop the ability to burrow, as well as other typical Zerg traits (the ability to quickly heal wounds, psionic sensitivity, and so forth). In addition, most Infested Terrans can explode, sacrificing themselves in a splash of toxic fluid. The explosion, with a full radius of ten meters, is incredibly powerful, capable of destroying small paristeel structures on its own.

In appearance, the Infested Terran still possesses a slightly humanoid frame; however, since most of its body is encased in a Powered Combat Suit, this might be inaccurate. Four "tentacles" protrude from the Infested Terran's back, each tipped with a bony scythe-like blade. What remains visible of the Infested Terran's face appears elephantine, with the Suit's helmet concealing the rest.

Experiments
Infested Terrans have been the subject of many experiments by both Terrans and Zerg.

Zerg Experiments
The Zerg were successful in acquiring Sarah Kerrigan, a Terran Ghost who had been a member of the Sons of Korhal. The Zerg Overmind left her with the majority of her spirit, and she retained her intelligence and even some of her humanity.

Kerrigan's Experiments
Infested Kerrigan developed an interest in recreating the experiment which created her sometime after the end of the Brood War. While she did not believe she could perfectly duplicate the results of her own change, still she sought another psychic Infested Terran such as herself.

Her experiments were usually a failure, however, resulting in defects in intelligence and even mobility. She and a Cerebrate believed the problem was a genetic compatibility issue, and the rare Terrans who are compatible could result in another creature such as herself, albeit less powerful.

Kerrigan's experiments finally succeeded with a non-psionic Terran, Ethan Stewart. She intends to make him her consort. He quickly became one of her troop leaders.

Reanimation
Kaloth, a Zerg Cerebrate who survived Kerrigan's purge of the Cerebrates, conducted its own experiment of infesting humans as leaders. It acquired the corpse of former United Earth Directorate Vice Admiral Alexei Stukov and reanimated it, creating Infested Stukov. Stukov was able to interact with remnants of the old Terran Confederacy, who were engaging in high-tech research, including experimentation on Infested Terrans such as Morik.

Stukov was put in charge of a weak Brood on Braxis, a world he was already familiar with. Stukov was captured by a Protoss and Terran task force, led by Jim Raynor and Taldarin, who subjected him to an experiment of their own; they used Protoss-devised nanites to reverse the infestation process, resulting in a living (and presumably fully human) Alexei Stukov.

Terran Experiments
"Mutate" is a term used for an Infested Terran whose intelligence has been preserved through the use of Terran-devised nanites. Such mutates have been observed in Deception and StarCraft: Alternity.

Remnant members of the Terran Confederacy worked at a secret facility on a means of "restoring faculties in Infested Terrans" and created Morik, a Terran they performed horrible experiments on. They also studied a method of reanimating the dead using Zerg infestation techniques. Significantly, one such reanimated Terran, Infested Stukov, appeared in their facility. Along with studying the possibility of offspring from infested humans, a few files on such experiments were found;


 * "Zerg/Human Genome Manipulation."
 * "Saving Human Mental Faculties In Zerg/Human Hybridization Experiments."
 * "Reanimation Using Zerg Infestation Techniques."

The data was sold to the black market by the Kimeran Pirates. Most of the above experiments, including the possibility of offspring, had little to no chance of success. (Offspring of such unions, if they could even be created, would be dangerous captives and "irredeemably unbiddable.") A Terran force beat a small Zerg Brood and captured it during the Brood War. Mixing Zerg and Terran genes, bioengineers forged a small number of mutates to use against the Zerg. The resulting mutates were subjected to a nanite treatment which restored or preserved their intelligence. However, their appearance and sanity left something to be desired - the nanites were all that kept them from reverting to their Zerg instincts. They ended up in the service of Raynor's Raiders. Raynor's mutates had a spine-hurling organ in the chest.

Protoss Experiments
The Protoss are more interested in destroying Infested Terrans or reversing the process which created them than using them. To this end, the Protoss developed a "radical nanotech serum" which could be used on Infested Terrans such as Infested Stukov. The serum was successfully administered to Stukov, who was freed from his infestation.

Advanced Infested Terrans
All of these Infested Terrans have kept their sentience, although not necessarily their sanity.


 * Infested Duran (exact species and even whether or not he was actually infested are in dispute)
 * Eschueta the Wicked (mercenary leader)
 * Infested Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades, now the sole ruler of the Zerg
 * Morik (infestation held in check by nanites)
 * Sistask (infestation held in check by nanites)
 * Ethan Stewart (infested by Kerrigan to be her consort)
 * Alexei Stukov (infested and reincarnated by Kaloth, later uninfested in Resurrection IV by nanites)

Other Infested Terrans
A few other Infested Terrans have been named in the series, although, for the most part, are mindless drones.


 * Amanda Haley
 * Henderson

StarCraft I
Infested Terrans have more hit points than Terran Marines and much greater speed. They don't normally have a regular attack, but can explode to do 500 points of explosive damage. This will destroy many structures and nearly any ground unit.

Infested Terrans are produced from the Infested Command Center. To acquire one, the Zerg player must infest a damaged Terran Command Center with a Queen. In some games (those without a Terran opponent) the structure is not available, so Infested Terrans cannot be created.

Infested Terrans are created with a queue rather than through larvae; they are the only Zerg units created this way in StarCraft I.

Upgrades

 * Burrow
 * Carapace

Strategies
Despite their hit point increase, Infested Terrans aren't particularly effective, as they are easily killed before they can get to their target. Covering them with Dark Swarm is a way around this weakness.

One strategy that can be effective is combining the abilities of Overlords with those of Infested Terrans. Fully-loaded Overlords can literally go on bombing runs over an enemy base, dropping the Infested Terrans as they fly. It is a risky strategy as the Overlord can be caught and destroyed, but the eight Infested Terrans that an Overlord can carry have the capacity to cause severe damage and chaos.

Infested Marines
In StarCraft: Ghost, Infested Terrans are called Infested Marines instead. They still regenerate health and can still explode, but their main weapons are claws and an "infested" Gauss rifle which fires poisonous rounds of ammunition.