Ghost

"You called down the thunder, now reap the whirlwind."

- Terran ghost

Ghosts are feared terran covert operatives. They are known for their assassination skills, psionic powers and ability to cloak.

Overview
"The Ghost on the other hand, will often leave an enemy never knowing what hit ‘em. Able to cloak into the shadows in ways even I don’t understand, the Ghost packs a powerful arsenal of offensive capabilities including Snipe, EMP, and even a fearsome nuclear missile deployment."

- Raynor's Raiders blurb

Ghosts were chosen from psychically-gifted individuals who were quarantined by the Terran Confederacy (and later Terran Dominion) and trained from infancy to channel their psionic energies to augment their natural physical strength and endurance. Conscripts who successfully completed the Ghost Program's rigorous training and augmentations then served as commandos and assassins. Ghosts are unrivaled in their ability to infiltrate and assassinate.

The official statement from the Terran Dominion government was that ghosts and the Ghost Program did not exist. However, their existence and operations were common knowledge among both civilians and the military, even being reported on venues such as UNN.

Ghosts are trained in target shooting, close-quarters combat (martial arts and possibly other techniques) and vehicular expertise. Ghosts are also trained to move quickly and are desensitized to combat; an example would be Sarah Kerrigan's training, who had a gun placed to her head by a guard and was ordered to kill the guard before he killed her. Kerrigan was subjected to this training at age twelve.

Ghosts are frequently tasked with locating targets and providing targeting for tactical nuclear strikes. Their reconnaissance role is aided by cybernetic enhancements to their eyes.

Ghosts have short life expectancies; few survive service long enough to be considered veterans.

By 2505, Dominion Intelligence Section had conducted a psyops assessment, concluding that no single unit induces more anxiety disorders in military personnel than ghosts.

During the reign of Emperor Valerian Mengsk, vast changes were brought to the Ghost Program, resulting in better, more committed recruits who serve of their own free will.

Controls
"Don't matter if it's the Confederacy or the Dominion: they're all the same. They squeeze and punch and kick you into a shape they can mold and then wipe it all and start again. You're just a machine to them. They use you, baby, use you up until there's nothing left."

- Gabriel Tosh


 * Main article: Ghost controls

Ghosts are usually silent and are generally loners, in part due to other terrans being wary of their psionic abilities, in part due to their lack of memory of past events. This serves their masters well&mdash;the harder it is for ghosts to form relationships, the fewer distractions they have to deal with. Ghosts are expected to remain impassive and forbidden to use their mind-reading powers, but they sometimes accidentally pick up surface thoughts. Most of the ghosts who pass through the Ghost Academy emerge with a grim outlook on life.

Designation
For the most part, ghosts are simply numbers or names. Under the Confederacy, all ghosts, regardless of whether they "graduated" or not, were assigned a standard number and/or agent number (an alpha-numeric code). The Dominion has retained this system. Few ghosts under the program have any memories of their former lives especially after memory wipes became standard operating procedure. Under the Confederacy, ghosts were unaware of their true names and while most ghosts retain knowledge of their names under the Dominion, their training emphasises that they should address each other by their alpha-numerics&mdash;a trait followed by Dominion soldiers as well.

All ghosts possess a personal file, though the contents are restricted.

Psionic Powers
"A ghost’s first and best weapon is her mind. Everything else is supplemental."

- Nova



Ghosts have the ability to read minds but generally do not have the ability to block thoughts; ghosts find each other very easy to read. Ghosts and weaker psychics can detect other sources of psionic power.

Some ghosts have demonstrated a wider variety of powers. For instance, Sarah Kerrigan and Nova have demonstrated the ability to damage opponents' brains to the point of death. Nova can even kill multiple opponents while leaving someone in the midst of the attack unharmed.

Devon Starke has demonstrated the ability to project his thoughts, as well as remote viewing and psychometry. He and some other ghosts have also demonstrated the ability to plant suicidal and homicidal urges into an opponent's mind.

Events
Following the Fall of Tarsonis, the Terran Dominion also instituted changes. The was moved to Ursa. Ghosts were portrayed as "superheroes" who served the Dominion. The Academy was "opened up" to make it seem more appealing. Students could even communicate with their parents before their impending memory wipe.

Arcturus Mengsk presided over a purge of former Confederate ghosts, ultimately eliminating half of them.

Ghosts began disappearing in approximately 2503. They again began to disappear some years after the End War, prompting a Kate Lockwell Universal News Network special on the topic. Michael Liberty began doing an investigation into the disappearances. It was later revealed they were assigned to the Defenders by Dominion personnel.

Capabilities
In addition to their previous abilities, ghosts were trained to combine psionics and technology to do things such as see through objects with heat vision. Ghosts can use her hostile environment suit and psionic powers to greatly increase her speed and reflexes, and channel their psionics through the suit itself.

Ghosts also began using protoss-derived technology such as the psyblade. Some ghosts were outfitted with cybernetic augmentations such as ocular implants during the era of the Terran Confederacy, but as these were prone to destruction due to psionic feedback, this was replaced with a state of the art ghost mask.

Gestalts
Project Gestalt, lasting from 2502 to 2503, utilized cross-species tissue transplants, specifically implanting protoss tissue into a ghost, converting him into a gestalt. However, the project was terminated by the protoss.

Spectres

 * Main articles: Project Shadow Blade, Spectres

After the some ghosts were exposed to terrazine gas and jorium, substances known to drive genetic mutation in psychics. This was part of Project: Shadowblade. The results were "enhanced" ghosts known as spectres.

Equipment
"I think the female ghosts have nicer equipment..."

- A disgruntled male ghost

Ghost gear features some of the most advanced technology ever conceived by humanity. Ghosts channeled their psionic energies through their hostile environment suit, a specialized skinsuit laced with psi-sensitive artificial muscle fiber, to augment their physical capabilities. A cloaking device and requisite power supply were frequently issued as well; the device requires psionic energy as a component. Ghosts are equipped with ghost visors that keep them appraised of the battlefield around them and of changing mission objectives.

Arsenal
In addition to the hostile environment suit, ghosts have been known to wield the following weapons:


 * AGR-14 rifle
 * BOSUN FN92 rifle
 * C-10 rifle
 * C-20A rifle
 * Combat knife
 * E-11 lockdown device
 * Hellfire shotgun
 * Monomolecular blade
 * Psyblade
 * Tactical nuke launcher
 * Torrent SR-8 shotgun

StarCraft

 * For StarCraft gameplay information see: Ghost (StarCraft).
 * For StarCraft in-game quotations see: StarCraft Ghost Quotations.

StarCraft: Ghost

 * For StarCraft: Ghost information see: Ghost (StarCraft: Ghost).

The player-character in the game was a ghost named Nova. Ghosts were also a playable 'class' in multiplayer.

StarCraft II

 * For StarCraft II gameplay information see: Ghost (StarCraft II).
 * For StarCraft II in-game quotations see: StarCraft II Ghost Quotations.

Heroes of the Storm
Ghosts appear in Heroes of the Storm as the 'caster minion' equivalent, specifically in the Braxis Holdout and Warhead Junction maps.

Known Ghost Characters
"It's fitting that they call us ghosts, you know. After we join, we leave our old lives behind. Families, friends, they all just...disappear."

- Nova Terra


 * Main article: List of terran ghosts

The following is a list of important ghosts and trainees grouped by latest affiliation.

Kimeran Pirates

 * Manic
 * Twitch

Terran Confederacy

 * Agent X81505M
 * Ghost No. 24506
 * Ghost No. 24718
 * MacGregor Golding
 * Theodore Pierce (Agent 25732)
 * Piett
 * Devon Starke
 * John Raynor

Terran Dominion

 * Sarco Angelini
 * Caleb (became a rogue spectre)
 * Tanya Caulfield
 * Cyborg
 * Aal Cistler
 * Andie Dessai
 * Delta Emblock (Agent X10128B)
 * Glistrup
 * MacGregor Golding (Alpha Squadron, ex-Confederate)
 * Guns
 * Jara (later became a rogue spectre)
 * Karl (later became a rogue spectre)
 * Dori Koogler
 * Leon
 * Lethal
 * Winlaleah Martine (became a xenobiologist, protoss researcher)
 * Mai
 * Obi Minaya
 * Dylanna Okyl (later became a rogue spectre)
 * Colin Phash (became a shadowguard)
 * Theodore Pierce (Agent X20991N, ex-Confederate)
 * Rip
 * Rook
 * Sloan (later became a rogue spectre)
 * Stone (Agent X74996R)
 * Devon Starke (ex-Confederate ghost #24876)
 * Nova Terra (Agent X41822N, later became a rogue agent)
 * Gabriel Tosh (became a rogue spectre)
 * The Veteran
 * Kath Toom (Agent X52735N, later became a rogue spectre)
 * Lagdamen
 * Lio Travski (later became a rogue AI)s

Other or Unknown Affiliation

 * Atticus Carpenter (Fist of Redemption, ex-Confederate)
 * Samir Duran (xel'naga shapeshifter, posed as a terran ghost)
 * Echo
 * Gestalt Zero (protoss/terran hybrid, ex-Dominion)
 * Ghost Brother (Church of Besainted Pelagius, ex-Confederaete)
 * Sarah Kerrigan (Sons of Korhal, ex-Confederate ghost #24601)
 * "Unholy" Tara ("Unholy" Tara's Stalkers, mercenary)
 * Kare Vaessen (Alliance)
 * Vega (Heaven's Devils, alternate timeline)
 * Jenn the Vivacious (mercenary)
 * Welke (Hale's Commandos)

Known Ghost Specialists

 * The Shroud
 * Spec ops ghost

Covert agents in other factions

 * Umojan Protectorate - Uses psionic covert operatives, called shadowguards. They have more personal freedom than those of the Terran Dominion.
 * Mira's Marauders - Some psionic covert specialists joined the mercenary group, but Mira had trouble keeping them on as part of her crew.
 * United Earth Directorate - Deployed its own psionic covert agents in their invasion of the sector.