Archon

"Power overwhelming!"

- Protoss archon

The archon is a protoss heavy assault warrior formed by merging two high templar.

Overview
The first archon(s) were created unexpectedly and their formation was soon legally sanctioned by Khala.

The creation of an archon is a serious affair for it requires the reluctant sacrifice of valuable high templar for a short-term gain. Archons radiate energy like stars and burn out when depleted. The merging results in the abandonment of the physical form and the loss of self, but those who do so are bequeathed great honor and a place in the templar archives.

The loss of most of the psionic powers of the two merging templar is more than compensated for by the archon's formidable psychic gestalt. Archons can independently erect a resilient shield and direct psionic shockwaves.

Emotionally, archons are manifestations of pure rage, though this may be "twisted" should the merging be in error.

After the Brood War and the reunification of the protoss, archons can now also be created by merging dark templar with their high templar brethren.

StarCraft
Archons can attack both ground and air units and its attack causes minor splash damage (50% within 15 pixels, 25% within 16-30 pixels). Attacking groups of enemy air units greatly increases the efficiency of archons. Their attack is actually short ranged, and not melee. Archon attacks and splash damage bypass the defiler's Dark Swarm.

An archon has most of its "health" invested in its shields. This is worrying only against terrans who have the science vessel's EMP Shockwave. With such a reliance on shields, shield batteries are a great boon for heavy archon use.

Archons are neither biological nor mechanical and are therefore immune to a number of abilities, such as Lockdown, Spawn Broodling, and Irradiate. They also count as hovering and do not trigger spider mines.

Production
Unsurprisingly archons are expensive, especially in gas. Each effectively costs 100 minerals, 300 gas, and 4 psi, the combined price of the two sacrificed high templar. The cost necessarily limits the number of archons that can be used, ensuring that lesser units like zealots remain a vital part of protoss strategy.

Quotations

 * See: StarCraft Archon Quotations

StarCraft II
Archons can now be formed by merging any combination of two high templar and/or dark templar.

Against mass air units such as the mutalisk, the archon remains one of the best counters alongside the high templar's psionic storm. Archons are strong against zealots and mutalisks, and weak against thors, immortals, and ultralisks.

Archons have no special abilities or energy meter.

Pre-Release
In early builds there was only the "twilight archon". Later on the unit was replaced by the standard "archon".

Known Archons

 * Aedus/Xerxes (took part in the Brontes IV campaign)
 * Mertick the Mauler (extraordinarily powerful mercenary)
 * Nannoth/Taeradun
 * Tassadar/Zeratul (non-canon)