Valerian Mengsk

"My face may be unfamiliar to you but my name will not be. I am Valerian Mengsk, son of our glorious Emperor Arcturus."

- Valerian introducing himself to Jake Ramsey.

Valerian Mengsk is the son and Heir Apparent to Terran Dominion Emperor Arcturus Mengsk. However his status is still considered secret.

Personality
Young Mengsk is twenty-two years old and highly intelligent. He has grey eyes and blond hair. He is considered handsome and arrogant. His great passion is archaeology, especially the study of Xel'Naga Temples.

Valerian Mengsk doesn't get along with his father particularly well. Their personalities don't match, he wants to step out of his father's shadow, and his pursuit of archaeology has little interest to Arcturus. His father thought he was soft, so Valerian trained in the martial arts and Japanese swordfighting since childhood in order to toughen himself up. Arcturus and Valerian both appreciate the swords; Valerian because they're ancient and Arcturus because they can kill people. Valerian also trains in the use of full combat gear and the Gauss Rifle.

Biography
The Terran Confederacy tried repeatedly to kill Valerian Mengsk as a child and his mother while it was fighting the Sons of Korhal, led by Valerian's father, Arcturus. Valerian spent time in a hidden, fortified base deep within the Umojan Protectorate and he still had to flee when the Confederates eventually discovered and attacked the base.

As he grew up on a secluded world, Valerian only met his father twice, and most of what he knew about his father came from propaganda about the Sons of Korhal. Some time after the Brood War he was brought to Korhal to be raised as Arcturus' (secret) heir.

Valerian Mengsk is being trained by his father in the vital leadership skills he will eventually need. Valerian is still young and so these skills are still developing. He has the authority to give orders to high-ranking military officers who know his true position and has access to much wealth, mercenaries and low-quality military equipment.

Shortly before Valerian's twenty-first birthday, Arcturus ordered the deaths of half of his government's Ghosts in a controlled environment as part of an "overhaul" of the program. Valerian asked to have one, which Arcturus granted as a "birthday present". Valerian was given a list of 282 Ghosts; he chose Agent Devon Starke, Ghost #25876, from the list in part because of his psychometric and remote viewing abilities. Starke's neural inhibitor was removed, granting him his memory back. He was loyal to Valerian as he had been rescued by him from certain death. Valerian intended to retain Starke's loyalty, knowing that a loyal Ghost was a valuable asset but to lose control of a Ghost was a grest mistake; remembering the example of Sarah Kerrigan.

The Discovery of Wonders
Valerian Mengsk was delighted when he heard reports of the strange artifacts similar to the one one that was discovered on Bhekar Ro appearing on several other worlds. However Arcturus Mengsk didn't share his passion; he wanted to send in soldiers as he did to Bhekar Rho, and wouldn't allow Valerian near any artifacts for the safety of the Mengsk dynasty. The Bhekar Rho Temple had absorbed human beings - they had been spat out later unharmed, however.

Valerian persuaded Arcturus to send scientists and archaeologists to research a dead Temple on Nemaka. The information retrieved from the dead Temple would enable Valerian to safely visit a live one. Arcturus Mengsk refused to let his son and heir anywhere near even a dead Temple - an argument erupted, but Arcturus would not relent. Valerian would have to send archaeologists to do the work for him.

Valerian Mengsk sent three teams of archaeologists to Nemaka, one after the other, and they all failed. Finally in desperation he tried "maverick" archaeologist Jacob Ramsey, hoping his unconventional methods would succeed where the other researchers failed. He invited Ramsey to see him personally and confided that he was the son of Arcturus Mengsk. He also confided in his theories about the Temple - he believed it was created by a third alien race, not Protoss or Zerg, but perhaps by a progenitor species.

Valerian Mengsk employed several mercenary Marines, including mercenary R. M. Dahl, who could guard and possibly the scientists. They archaeologists, support staff and mercenaries were transported by am old battlecruiser called the Gray Tiger, which had a complement of neurally resocialized Marines.

Valerian Mengsk may have planned on kidnapping the researchers when they were done researching the Temple, employing telepaths to scan their minds and tell him everything there was to know, then kill them. Dahl certainly believed this.

Ramsey was a good choice. He discovered some of the secrets of the Temple, but the secrets changed him. He was accosted by a dying Protoss mystic, Zamara, who planted a tremendous amount of memory into his mind. Ramsey was unable to deal with this at first and fell unconscious, requiring medical help, so he couldn't pass the information on to Valerian Mengsk. Dahl kept Valerian up-to-date on Ramsey's progress. When Ramsey awoke, he discovered he had become a telepath, and read about Valerian's plans from Dahl's mind. Dahl and her team took the civilians into custody.

The First Betrayal
Meanwhile Valerian Mengsk directed Charles Whittier to send the Gray Tiger to pick up the archaeology expedition, in part to save Ramsey's life. The resocialized Marine crew would have little difficulty following their orders. However, Whittier believed that the crew would follow another set of orders, which he kept secret from Valerian Mengsk.

The Gray Tiger arrived to pick up the visitors to Nemaka. Dahl was shocked when she and her team were arrested by the Gray Tiger's Marines. However the plan didn't work, as Ramsey's abilities had expanded further; he "removed" the neural resocialization of a Marine in Valerian's employ, Marcus Wright. Wright began killing the other Marines, providing enough confusion for Ramsey and Dahl to escape Valerian's grasp. No one else on the Gray Tiger survived due to the actions of Wright. Valerian was temporarily heart-broken until he learned (from Dominion forces who had boarded the Gray Tiger) that Jake Ramsey had escaped the carnage.

Another Betrayal?
Valerian Mengsk believed that the expedition should not have been arrested, which only happened due to the foolish resocialized crew and (oddly enough) that Rosemary Dahl "may well have thought that Valerian had turned on her when she was shoved into the cells", which implies that Valerian Mengsk did not order a gruesome fate for Rosemary Dahl, or perhaps even any members of the expedition, and that Whittier gave a different set of orders to the Gray Tiger.

Dead Man's Betrayal
Dahl travelled to the world of Dead Man's Rock; a Terran settlement that the Dominion did not control. She planned to meet up with her former lover, ex-mercenary Ethan Stewart.

Valerian Mengsk knew of Dahl's relationship with Ethan Stewart, who wasn't too far from the site of the Gray Tiger incident, and made a call to Stewart. Unfortunately for Dahl and Ramsey, Valerian Mengsk already had a business relationship with Stewart, whom he paid off but would punish severely if he failed to obey orders. Dahl trusted Stewart, which would make it easier for Valerian Mengsk's forces to pick her up.

Ramsey, Zamara (present in his mind as a spirit guide) and Dahl discovered Stewart's betrayal, and in a battle they killed him and attempted to escape. They were nearly stopped by Valerian Mengsk's small military fleet, and had to make a blind warp-jump to escape. Their current fate is unknown.

Valerian Mengsk in StarCraft II
Valerian Mengsk will play a role in StarCraft II, providing assistance to his father. He was brought in because Arcturus Mengsk's story has already been told. The campaign will raise questions such as whether Valerian will turn out the same way as his father, will he become more benevolent, and will he learn from his father's mistakes.

Arcturus Mengsk pushes his son to make his own way and be his own man. Valerian Mengsk strives for his own power and tries to create his own space, but doesn't directly challenge his father. In a way, there is a power struggle between them.

Valerian Mengsk's Name
Valerian is the name of two Emperors of Rome: Valerian I and his far less famous grandson Valerian II. The first Valerian was descended from an old noble family at a time when most Roman Emperors came from much lower birth. He met his end facing the Persian Parthian Empire; they captured him at a "friendly" meeting and allegedly killed him by pouring molten gold down his throat. (The same story applied to the extremely wealthy Crassus, who lived and died hundreds of years before Valerian I.)

During an earlier draft of StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga: Firstborn, Valerian Mengsk was instead named Augustus. Augustus is the name of the first Emperor of Rome, who became the heir to the his great-uncle, the politically powerful Julius Caesar, at an early age. The name was later used as one of the Emperors' titles as well.

Charles Whittier
Charles Whittier is a twenty-something red-haired man who acts as Valerian Mengsk's assistant. He always looks nervous.

There were many things that Valerian was comfortably unaware of, and it was Whittier's duty to maintain that state of innocence. Arcturus Mengsk believes that Valerian is a bit naïve and idealistic, despite his background, and wants Valerian to maintain that state for now.

Whittier may have passed orders to the Gray Tiger which were very different than Valerian Mengsk intended, and later hid the truth about the kidnapping of the archaeologists, for instance covering for Ramsey being placed in a cell despite his illness.