Dark templar (StarCraft)

"You could no more evade my wrath than you could your own shadow."

- Protoss dark templar

Dark templar are protoss stealth infantry. They were present as special units in the original StarCraft and could be built in the expansion.

Game Unit
Dark templar are represented as permanently cloaked infantry with extremely powerful attacks. They are generally not as tough as zealots, however.

Dark templar are permanently cloaked, like observers, and their effectiveness is heavily dependent on it. If the enemy has adequate detection capabilities it is more efficient to attack with predominantly zealots. Although zealots deal significantly less damage, they are more likely to survive the charge and last long enough to make a difference (as well as being much less expensive).

Dark Templar used powerful warp blades, based on modified psi blade technology.

The single-blade design was originally intended for Zeratul's character only, but due to time constraints, the same unit design was used for all dark templar.

StarCraft

 * Main article: Dark Templar (Hero)

Dark templar could not be created in the original StarCraft. They were given to players as special units at the start of two protoss campaign missions. They had slightly different stats from the Brood War version, and could not create dark archons.

Brood War
In Brood War, dark templar were buildable units (statistics apply to Brood War units). They were frequently used in rushes, in which the attacking player tried to destroy their opponent before they could develop adequate detection.