StarCraft storyline

The StarCraft storyline is the history of the StarCraft universe.

As with many such games, StarCraft came with a series of pre-set combat missions for gamers to play against the computer. These series typically start with introductory missions and become ever more challenging battles. These campaigns are set in a time and place in a fictional universe, and events in one battle lead to the next in the campaign. Unlike some previous Blizzard Entertainment games, StarCraft campaigns aren't alternative histories that vary with which side the player chooses, but are sequential parts of a single larger timeline. Also, the background for StarCraft is far more detailed and complex than many other video games', including the personal stories of tragic and heroic main characters, and was created with the help of professional science fiction authors and artists to give it a full cinematic depth. The campaigns in StarCraft I were called "episodes" and are numbered, similar to the Star Wars movies.

Besides the events in the game missions themselves, video clips and text stories and descriptions supplied with the game flesh out the background of the universe. Blizzard has authorized some independent novels, covering events beyond the StarCraft games.

StarCraft fans have supplied additional battles and historical commentary, but these aren't considered canon, and aren't covered here.

StarCraft features three races: the renegade human terrans, the noble psionic protoss, and the horrific insectoid zerg. The storyline covers the fortunes of these three races and their leaders, fighting for dominance in a remote region of the galaxy. Typically, the player's race makes gains during an episode, but never completely conquers the other races.

Background
By 2499, terrans had spread far beyond Earth. The terrans of the Koprulu Sector, a volume on the edge of the galaxy, were descendants of the dregs of Earth society. They had no contact with Earth since there exile two centuries previously. The exiles formed scattered colonies throughout the Sector. The most powerful polity was the Terran Confederacy, a hegemony that ruled from Tarsonis.

The Great War
As 2499 drew to a close, a hivemind of bioengineered creatures, the Zerg Swarm, descended on the Sector. The zerg sought to assimilate humanity to prepare the Swarm for their long-awaited struggle against the protoss. The protoss had long observed the terrans since their arrival in the Sector but had kept their presence hidden; the arrival of the zerg forced the protoss to reveal themselves.

The zerg, then called "xenomorphs" by the terrans, arrived on Chau Sara and began infesting the planet. The Confederacy sent Alpha Squadron troops and the "Cerberus" attack squad to contain and suppress knowledge of the alien invasion. The Confederacy were using zerg for weapons development and wished to keep any knowledge of them secret; they did not yet know the full danger the Swarm posed.

The protoss were not so complacent. The protoss were the scions of the xel'naga, and in the zerg they recognized another offspring of their ancient mentors. The protoss were wary of the zerg's potential and their fears were confirmed when they witnessed the infestation and destruction wrought on Chau Sara. They took decisive action and cleansed the planet of all life. However, it was too late to stop the zerg spreading to other terran worlds.

In a short period of time the terrans came into contact with two seemingly hostile species. The Great War had started.

Episode I

 * This is the terran campaign of the original StarCraft game.

Even as Chau Sara was being put to the protoss torch, the zerg had already arrived on neighbouring Mar Sara and begun infesting that planet as well. The Magistrate of Mar Sara was charged with protecting the local colonists, but as on Chau Sara the Confederacy was more interested in suppressing knowledge of the zerg than helping the colonists secure their homes. The Magistrate and Marshal Jim Raynor were arrested by the Confederacy after taking a proactive stance against the zerg. They were freed by the Sons of Korhal, an anti-Confederate group led by Arcturus Mengsk; the colonials needed little persuading to join the rebels after their treatment by the Confederacy. With Mar Sara falling to the zerg and the Confederacy evacuating the rebels managed to acquire data showing that the Confederacy was purposely attracting zerg to disloyal colonies with psi-emitters.

Mar Sara was lost to the zerg and then to the protoss cleansing. The rebels moved on to Antiga Prime where they hoped to foment open rebellion against the Confederacy and gain additional support. Here Sarah Kerrigan, a telepath and former covert agent, became friends with Raynor. The colony was liberated before the arrival of the Confederate counter-attack. The Sons of Korhal used psi-emitters to unleash the zerg on the Confederate blockade and the rebels escaped.The protoss followed on the heels of the zerg and cleaned Antiga Prime as well.

The road to Tarsonis was clear. The Sons of Korhal attacked the capital as the Confederacy scrambled to meet the threat posed by the aliens. Nonetheless Mengsk was not confident he had the strength to fatally cripple the enemy alone. Therefore he again, above the protests of subordinates, ordered the use of psi-emitters. The converging zerg crushed the defenses and began devastating the cities. Mengsk sent Kerrigan to defend the zerg from the pursuing protoss so the zerg could complete their work. Kerrigan succeeded but was subsequently overrun by the zerg; despite pleas for evacuation Mengsk abandoned her. This betrayal led Jim Raynor and his troops, Raynor's Rangers, to forsake the Sons of Korhal and form Raynor's Raiders.

With Tarsonis in ruins the power of the Confederacy was broken. The Sons of Korhal transformed into the Terran Dominion, a new hegemony based on Korhal, with Mengsk as its Emperor. Raynor bitterly realized that the ideals he had been fighting for had been betrayed.

Episode II

 * This is the zerg campaign of the original StarCraft game.

The zerg were the second "perfect creation" of the ancient xel'naga, and gifted with the "purity of essence". The zerg continuously assimilated new species into the hive mind. Control and the collective sentience of the Swarm was invested in the Overmind. The zerg trek from their corewards homeworld to the Koprulu Sector was driven by knowledge forcibly assimilated from the xel'naga; the protoss were the xel'naga's first creation and the Overmind wished to assimilate the protoss such that the zerg might become "perfect". Unfortunately the exact location of the protoss homeworld, Aiur, remained unknown; in addition the zerg sought a counter to the protoss' immense psionic powers. A solution for the latter seemed within reach when the Swarm stumbled upon the Koprulu Sector terrans, a species with immense, but as yet mostly dormant, psionic potential.

The zerg captured Sarah Kerrigan on Tarsonis and began transforming her into a zerg/terran hybrid. The Overmind created a new cerebrate, a Brood-level control creature, to oversee and safeguard Kerrigan's gestation. The hybrid Kerrigan was instrumental in unlocking the secrets of how to assimilate the protoss. The zerg withdrew from Tarsonis to Char. They fending off attacks from terrans and protoss inadvertently lured by a gestating Kerrigan's psionic calls. Forces led by protoss Executor Tassadar, protoss Dark Templar Prelate Zeratul, and terran Jim Raynor were stranded on Char and formed a three-way alliance to survive. Ironically it was one of the alliance's major victories that revealed the location of Aiur to the Overmind.

Cerebrates were nominally reincarnated by the Overmind upon death. It was a shock to the Swarm when the Zeratul managed to permanently kill the Cerebrate Zasz; only the Dark Templar wielded the energies needed to perform such a feat. However, when Zeratul killed Zasz the protoss' mind briefly touched that of the Overmind, allowing both to read the other's mind. The Overmind extracted the location of Aiur from Zeratul.

Aiur was invaded in short order and the zerg established themselves on the surface. The Overmind relocated from Char to Aiur.

Episode III

 * This is the protoss campaign of the original StarCraft game.

Tassadar refused the Conclave's summons to return to Aiur after the fall of Tarsonis; he journeyed to Char without the knowledge of his superiors and was stranded there. While there he became allies with the Dark Templar Zeratul and Raynor's Raiders; from Zeratul he learned the ways of the Dark Templar, something forbidden to the Khalai, the protoss of Aiur, by the Conclave. Tassadar was still out of contact when the zerg invaded Aiur and the Conclave opted to promote Artanis to executor in Tassadar's place.

Tassadar finally managed to contact Aiur and explain his recent activities. The former executor's admission of cooperating with the Dark Templar sparked outrage in the conservative Conclave. Ultimately the Conclave ordered Artanis and the Fleet of the Executor to arrest Tassadar at Char. It was a diversion of force the defenders could ill afford; contrary to the Conclave's beliefs the zerg were winning the war. Tassadar was dismayed that an entire fleet was sent from the beleaguered homeworld just to arrest him because of an ideological issue.

Tassadar was willing to return to Aiur and face judgement but not without first finding the Dark Templar, whom he believed were invaluable in the fight against the zerg. Artanis was sympathetic. The Fleet of the Executor returned to Aiur with Tassadar and his allies, the recovered Dark Templar and Raynor's Raiders. The war with the zerg was faring as badly no better under the Conclave's inept leadership. Tassadar caused a civil war by attempting to remove the Conclave from power; this failed when Tassadar surrendered rather than continue to witness protoss fight protoss. He was saved from execution by the Dark Templar. Once free Tassadar turned his allies against the Overmind. The assault broke through the defenses but began faltering after severely damaging the Overmind. To make matters worse the creature began opening a warp portal in a bid to escape. Tassadar brought the battle to a decisive end by channeling the combined energies of the Dark Templar and high templar through his ship, Gantrithor, and rammed the carrier into the target. The Overmind and Tassadar were annihilated.

StarCraft Enslavers
Five missions follow the terran storyline in StarCraft, dealing with smuggler lord Alan Schezar and his strange alliance with zerg.

Brood War

 * Main article: The Brood War

The Brood War was a massive zerg civil war, against a backdrop of the protoss struggling to survive and a new enemy from Earth attacking the Terran Dominion and the zerg.

Episode IV
This is the protoss campaign of the StarCraft: Brood War game.

Full details are in StarCraft Episode IV.

Following Tassadar's sacrifice, the zerg on the protoss homeworld were overwhelmingly numerous but in disarray. Protoss refugees retreated to the homeworld of the Dark Templar, Shakuras, despite protests from Aldaris. The zerg followed them to Shakuras. The protoss and Dark Templar reluctantly joined forces with Infested Kerrigan's zerg forces, after she explained she was free from the Overmind's control, and she needed help with a new Overmind that was growing on Char. Kerrigan asked for their help to kill it before it reached maturity and took control of Kerrigan's mind again. She promised them a favor in return: two ancient crystals, fused with the powers of the dark and light templar, had to be recovered and put in the xel'naga temple to defeat the zerg on Shakuras, and Kerrigan would assist in this quest. Aldaris strongly opposed this alliance, but was overruled by the Dark Templar Matriarch, Raszagal.

During the quest, a massive terran fleet from the distant United Earth Directorate intervened. However, the protoss recovered both crystals.

Aldaris, troubled by their relations with the "traitorous" Dark Templar, split off and declared resistance on Artanis and the Dark Templar. This was a result of Kerrigan's manipulations, influencing Raszagal's mind. After Aldaris had been defeated, Zeratul and Artanis activated the xel'naga temple by placing two crystals inside. These energies spread across the planet, wiping the zerg from the face of Shakuras.

Episode V
This is the terran campaign of the StarCraft Brood War game.

Full details are in StarCraft Episode V.

A captain joined the United Earth Directorate Expeditionary Fleet, assigned to subdue the terran worlds in this sector, but their high-handed actions quickly made enemies of all the various zerg and protoss factions as well. Mengsk's Dominion was the first to fall. Infested Kerrigan convinced Jim Raynor to rescue Mengsk. Though divided by a zerg-infested human-seeming spy, the UED succeeded in capturing and enslaving the new Overmind and control of zerg swarms.

Episode VI
This is the zerg campaign of the StarCraft Brood War game.

Full details are in StarCraft Episode VI.

Infested Kerrigan was severely threatened by the growing control the massive UED fleet had over the zerg swarms. By painting herself as a victim and arguing that the combined UED and zerg forces were the greater enemy, Kerrigan gained the reluctant assistance of the scattered terran, protoss and Dark Templar forces. As the UED was beaten back, however, she turned on each of her "allies." The new Overmind was killed, and Kerrigan gained control of all the zerg.

Dark Origin
Zeratul discovered revealed a hidden plot behind the scenes of the story, a secret project of combining zerg and protoss genes. When Zeratul approached the last stasis cell containing the zerg/protoss hybrid creature, the voice of Samir Duran was heard.

He explained he was not Kerrigan's servant and that he has served a greater power. He told Zeratul that destroying the cell will not hinder the project, as there are other cells in locations across the universe and Zeratul would not be able to find them all before it's too late.

StarCraft Enslavers: Dark Vengeance
Five missions follow the protoss storyline in Brood War, dealing with a new threat involving enslaved zerg and the Dark Templar renegade, Ulrezaj.

Stukov Storyline
Three bonus missions follow, which dealt with the saga of Alexei Stukov, who had been mysteriously brought back from the dead. Two of the missions (Deception and Mercenaries II) are available for download as Blizzard Maps of the Month, while Resurrection IV is available as a StarCraft 64 map. However there are unofficial ports of this map to the personal computer allowing the greater StarCraft community to experience it.

Tamsen Cauley's Agenda

 * Main article: StarCraft comic

Terran Dominion official Tamsen Cauley used to be a Confederate bureaucrat with resources including the team of outlaws, the War Pigs. Fearing Arcturus Mengsk would defeat the Confederacy, he ordered them to kill him, but they failed. He moved on to a new set of warriors, the Cerberus Program, and joined Mengsk's side. However, the War Pigs escaped Cerberus, and bore knowledge of how Cauley had previously tried to have Mengsk killed.

In 2502 Cauley again tried to have them killed. He first recruited them for a task&mdash;the assassination of Jim Raynor, which he believed would increase his power. Then his Cerberus Program force would terminate the War Pigs.

StarCraft: Ghost
Full details are in StarCraft: Ghost.

The story takes place four years after the Brood War campaign. Emperor Arcturus Mengsk has rebuilt much of the Terran Dominion and built up a new military, despite having to face the zerg.

Mengsk and his new advisor, General Horace Warfield, had begun a secret project codenamed Shadow Blade. The program used terrazine gas to alter the genetic makeup of ghosts. These ghosts were transformed into spectres - shadowy superhuman beings bent on executing the will of their true master.

This title has been postponed indefinitely by Blizzard. Much of the storyline will be revealed in the novel StarCraft: Ghost: Spectres.

The Dark Templar Saga
As the next war approached, more xel'naga artifacts appeared throughout the Koprulu Sector. This drew the interest of Valerian Mengsk, an archaeologist. He hired another archaeologist, Jake Ramsey, to investigate a temple found on the dead world of Nemaka, along with a "protector", R. M. Dahl. Within the Temple, Ramsey made shocking contact with the protoss; a dying preserver named Zamara implanted her mind within his. She told him she had a dread secret that she had to bring back to her people, and even the death of her body would not stop her from carrying out her mission.

Ramsey and Dahl were both imprisoned by Dominion forces, and it was only through strange circumstances that they were freed. Mistrusting Valerian Mengsk, the two fled to the only man Dahl trusted, crime lord and ex-mercenary Ethan Stewart. Unfortunately, Stewart also betrayed them, resulting in Dahl shooting him and the fugitive duo fleeing again. Ramsey, drawing upon his new knowledge of protoss psionics, distracted his opponents with a psychic connection.

However, this "attack" drew the attention of both Infested Kerrigan, and the dark archon Ulrezaj. The former sent minions to Stewart's former base of operations, and found him undergoing surgery. He was abducted and converted to Kerrigan's cause. In addition to serving her as a warrior and consort, he could also tell her about the preserver in Ramsey's mind.

The fugitives fled to Aiur, looking for mysterious technology under Zamara's guidance. They were all surprised at what they found there; a world flooded with zerg, and protoss survivors, calling themselves the Shel'na Kryhas and the Tal'darim. The fugitives took shelter with the Shel'na Kryhas, but the Tal'darim, unknowing servitors of Ulrezaj, opposed them.

Discovering several dark secrets in the Tal'darim's lair, such as mysterious psionic creatures in vats, the Shel'na Kryhas and fugitives found themselves in a midst of battle between Ethan Stewart, Valerian Mengsk and Ulrezaj himself, all interested in the preserver in Ramsey's head. The fugitives managed to escape from Aiur to Shakuras, using a warp gate, and leaving behind dead friends and angry enemies.

The gate guards at Shakuras were surprised and disturbed by the opening of the gate and redirected it. While several Tal'darim and Rosemary Dahl emerged at Shakuras, Jake Ramsey and Zamara ended up on an unidentified world. They located Zeratul, intending to ask him for help, only to find him soul-sick. Ramsey and Zamara convinced him to throw off his lethargy, after which they traded information. Zamara revealed the life cycle of the xel'naga, while Zeratul told what he knew of Samir Duran and the hybrids. Zamara said that Duran's experiments were a "perversion" of the xel'naga's natural cycle, and the resulting hybrids would not be xel'naga.

Zeratul brought them to Ehlna, a Nerazim sanctuary moon, which held a shrine where Zamara could be separated from Ramsey. While there, they encountered a Dahl and a small force led by Executor Selendis, who had come there looking for them. Zeratul did not remain, instead seeking out a fresh xel'naga temple at Pegasus and following the emerging energy creature, which converged with numerous others and created a wormhole with a mysterious planet at the other end. Zeratul traveled there.

The forces seeking Ramsey&mdash;Ethan Stewart's zerg, Ulrezaj and Valerian Mengsk's Terran Dominion forces, also arrived. A massive battle erupted, with Ulrezaj on the winning side, until Zamara, now in a khaydarin crystal, used the moon's unique energies to seal Ulrezaj in the crystal with her. The Dominion won the battle, and Stewart was killed. The Dominion took control of the site, taking Ramsey and Dahl captive, along with some of the treasures. However, Emperor Arcturus Mengsk had donated the force to Valerian and, cheated of the preserver, insisted on using his minions to drain Ramsey's brain of information, which would cripple him. Valerian and his ghost servant, Devon Starke, came up with a plan to keep Ramsey safe, but it involved sacrificing Starke to the emperor.

StarCraft II
StarCraft II takes place four years after StarCraft: Brood War, approximately the same time as the storyline of StarCraft: Ghost.

Arcturus Mengsk is rebuilding his empire with the aid of his son while fending off challenges from the Kel-Morian Combine and Umojan Protectorate, all the while hunting down Jim Raynor.

Meanwhile the zerg, under the command of Infested Kerrigan, have pulled back to Char and been quiet for four years. No one knows what Kerrigan is planning.

Each campaign will be sold as a separate product.

Wings of Liberty

 * Main article: Wings of Liberty

Raynor's Raiders are poor and demoralized. They strike at the Dominion while collecting strange artifacts for the in hopes of some quick cash. Zeratul appears before Raynor, saying "I bring tidings of doom. The xel'naga return, the cycle nears its end, the artifacts are the key... to the end of all things."

Heart of the Swarm

 * Main article: Heart of the Swarm

The zerg campaign will be focused on Infested Kerrigan.

Legacy of the Void

 * Main article: Legacy of the Void

The protoss campaign will be entitled Legacy of the Void.

Behind the Scenes
The initial storyline of StarCraft was in a sense, a science fiction spin-off of its counterpart franchise, Warcraft. More of an action shooter, it featured clans of 'space vampires' in a sci-fi setting. As design on StarCraft shifted towards an RTS game, it was decided to simplify things into recognizable traits; spidery aliens and psychic brain aliens would be easily recognizable to an audience.

Initially, the storyline was broad, the key events such as the fall of the Terran Confederacy and the invasion of Aiur not being implemented until work began on the single player campaign.

Interviews

 * StarCraft: Queen of Blades pocketbook - Interview with Aaron Rosenberg
 * StarCraft Ghost Nova pocketbook - Interview with Keith R.A. Decandido