Queen

The queen is a zerg support unit.

StarCraft
A aueen has no normal attack and uses its speed to escape danger. The aueen can be an effective nuisance raider using Spawn Broodling and can quickly pay for itself if able to hit high-value units like siege tanks and ultralisks and escape.

Overview
The queen was derived from the Arachnis Brood-Keeper. The queen did not produce Larvae as its name might suggest, but rather had the ability to spawn other parasitic creatures. Due to its lightly armored body and lack of natural defenses, queens usually stayed near the central hive to watch over maturing zerg.

On the battlefield, one of the queen's primary functions was to implant parasites in its enemies. Able to be launched from a distance, a tiny, remora-like parasite attached itself to the target, 'bonding' with it should the target be organic. The parasite allowed higher zerg strains to see whatever the target sees and at the time of its use in the Koprulu Sector, could not be removed without killing its host. With the arrival of the United Earth Directorate in the Koprulu Sector however and the introduction of nano-conveyed anesthetic and attenuated laser technology they brought with them, the parasites could be safely removed. The queen could also infest other creatures, causing them to expire and broodlings to emerge from them.

It took time for the queen to produce these creatures, though the rate of reproduction was able to be increased through the use of gamete meiosis. In the meantime, the queen was able to spray its victims with a thick mucus, slowing them down drastically before dissolving. Most feared of the queen's abilities however, was its ability to produce parasitic bio-toxins. Once released onto a structure (usually a terran command center), these toxins quickly infested the facility, bringing the structure and those inside it under the control of the zerg. The only safeguard against this ability was that the structure had to be in a state of disrepair before the toxins can be deployed.

Post-Brood War
Following the Brood War, a small number of older queens continued to exist.

Abilities

 * Infest Command Center
 * Starting Ability
 * Range: 0
 * Converts a badly damaged Terran Command Center into an Infested Command Center that produces Infested Terrans. The Queen moves over the building and disappears for a short time while it infests the building.
 * Parasite
 * Starting Ability
 * Energy Cost: 75
 * Range: 12
 * A unit or critter afflicted by parasite will reveal everything it sees to the infecting player, essentially acting as unwilling scouts. Afflicted detectors will also reveal cloaked and burrowed units. Afflicted cloaked or burrowed units will always be visible to the infecting player.
 * Ensnare
 * Research Cost: 100 100
 * Researched at: Queen's Nest
 * Energy Cost: 75
 * Range: 9
 * All units in the targeted area when Ensnare is used will have their movement speed reduced by half. Cloaked units caught in that area will also be revealed.
 * Spawn Broodling
 * Research Cost: 100 100
 * Researched at: Queen's Nest
 * Energy Cost: 150
 * Range: 9
 * Creates two broodlings from the targeted ground mechanical or organic unit. The target is instantly destroyed in the process. Archons, dark archons, probes, and reavers may not be targeted. Broodlings last a maximum of 180 seconds.

Upgrades

 * Flyer Carapace
 * Gamete Meiosis
 * Research Cost: 150 150
 * Upgraded at: Queen's Nest
 * Increases Queens' maximum energy by 50.

StarCraft II
The queen appears in StarCraft II, though is a vastly different unit from its predecessor, first notably now walking on the ground. It functions as a hive warden.

Overview
The queens of the post-Brood War era are quite different from their predecessors. The full details are currently unknown, but it is known that queens now have the advanced ability to manipulate their "offspring"; for instance, they engineered the zergling morph to the baneling, a breed that can contain its explosive energies until just the right moment.

Game Unit
The queen is now a ground unit with a powerful attack, consisting of spines launched by the "wings" on its back.

Production and Evolution
Only one queen can be produced at a time, emerging directly from the hatchery (meaning it is not morphed from a larva but walks out of the hatchery) and requiring a Spawning Pool. It is not a super unit or hero unit, however, and requires other units to help defend it against attacks.

The queen evolves over the course of the game, growing in size as it does so. The lair version is called the Large Queen, while the hive version is called the Huge Queen. If the queen dies, it can be produced again at the hatchery/lair/hive with any existing upgrades.

Creep Move
Queens move slowly when not on creep, making "Queen-rushing" difficult. Queens are much more powerful in overall combat ability on the Creep.

Development
The original queen did not play the role of leader and creator of the Swarm, which is something Blizzard Entertainment changed for StarCraft II.

Blizzard worked on the queen for two years. Previous versions of the queen actually produced units, but since there can only be one queen, this left the zerg unit production system too vulnerable (as the queen could be hunted and killed).

Lost Spawning Structures Abilities
The queen used to spawn numerous types of structures upon the creep. Creep does not belong to any one player, which gave the queen the ability to spawn structures upon "enemy" creep in enemy bases. This ability has since been lost.

When the queen created a structure, she was not required on-site like an SCV; rather, she built in much the same way that a probe creates protoss structures.

The queen had base defense duties, including laying eggs that hatch into suicide attackers.

Before the Second War

 * Carpenter's Hand Maiden
 * Empress Queen
 * Eschutriarch
 * Matriarch
 * Siren

The Second War

 * Large Queen
 * Huge Queen