Zeratul

"I bring tidings of doom. The Xel'Naga return, the cycle nears its end, the artifacts are the key."

- Zeratul delivers a warning to Jim Raynor

Zeratul, a dark and tragic character, is best known for assassinating powerful Zerg opponents. Zeratul's voice actor, Jack Ritschel, is deceased.

Biography
Zeratul is a 634-year old Protoss Dark Templar. Like all Dark Templar, his ancestors have been long-banished from the Protoss homeworld of Aiur for refusing to follow the Khala. Although he hates the Protoss Conclave for exiling him, and is somewhat of a secretive and calculating sort, he is nevertheless honorable and loyal to his species.

Adventures on Char
Zeratul had spent "many decades" away from Shakuras on missions. He reacted to Sarah Kerrigan's psionic call from Char by taking his small force there.

While there he met the former Protoss Executor Tassadar, a member of the Templar Caste, and Jim Raynor. Tassadar reacted badly upon his meeting with this leader of a forbidden caste and attacked Zeratul. However, Zeratul refused to take offense, even attempting to teach Tassadar the art of combat (while avoiding being struck). Eventually the three leaders came to an understanding, joining forces and hiding from the Zerg.

After the rebirth of Kerrigan, Tassadar distracted her long enough for Zeratul to slay Zasz, Cerebrate and leader of the Garm Brood. This created a connection between Zeratul and the Zerg Overmind, which enabled Zeratul to discern the Overmind's motives and the Overmind to discern the secret location of Aiur. Other information may have been transmitted as well.

As their friendship grew, Zeratul also began teaching Tassadar how to use the Dark Templar's Void-based psionic energies, a task that was considered blasphemous by Judicator Aldaris. During the teachings, Tassadar underwent a Shadow Walk.

Kerrigan led a devastating attack against the Protoss on Char. Kerrigan and Zeratul exchanged words and insults during the battle. Zeratul told her of a prophecy: "Your coming has been foretold... You are part of the culmination. But not the end of it. You shall show the way, the path that must be taken, the realigning of old truths no longer valid. Yours is not the hand, but your very existence provides necessary instruction."

Tassadar escaped to an orbital platform over Char while Zeratul and a small number of other Dark Templar were captured and herded into a Terran installation.

Meanwhile the victorious Zerg traveled to Aiur, where they won many victories against the Protoss defenders.

Rescue and Rebellion
Tassadar, reinforced by Protoss troops sent from Aiur (in order to arrest him and execute Tassadar), launched an attack on the Zerg guarding the infested installation.

Once inside, he allied with stranded Terran troops, fought his way past the Zerg inside, and found Zeratul and his Dark Templar. Tassadar convinced him to return with him to Aiur.

Together they fled to Aiur, where they gained the support of Praetor Fenix. The Conclave had branded Tassadar a traitor and sought to arrest him and execute Zeratul. Tassadar was shocked that they would "cling to their failing traditions" even as the Zerg threatened them with annihilation. Tassadar decided he would fight the Conclave, as they threatened the very warriors that could defeat the Zerg.

Together, Tassadar, Zeratul, and Fenix assaulted the Heart of the Conclave, but Tassadar was distraught by the infighting and surrendered himself to Aldaris.

Zeratul and his Dark Templar vanished, leaving the new Executor and Fenix to continue their rebellion with little support. Fenix's forces, with the help of Raynor, attacked the Stasis Cell in which Tassadar was incarcerated and was awaiting trial and execution. Fenix and Raynor defeated the Conclave loyalist forces and destroyed the cell, freeing Tassadar. Aldaris then reappeared, leading a last-ditch attack to recapture Tassadar, but he was in turn ambushed by Zeratul and his Dark Templar. Zeratul held an aggressive conversation with Aldaris.

The Fall of the Overmind
Zeratul and his allies survived Aldaris' attack, and plotted their attack on the Zerg. Zeratul told the allies the real reason the Overmind was so dangerous; it had attacked the Xel'Naga, and if it defeated the Protoss it would consume all sentient life "throughout the stars".

Fenix

next act changed the face of Aiur. He assassinated two more Zerg Cerebrates, causing two Broods to fly out of control. This weakened the Zerg Overmind's defenses enough for Tassadar's forces to kill it.

While the Protoss defeated the Zerg, the Overmind attempted to escape. Tassadar sacrificed himself to destroy the Overmind, using Dark Templar techniques taught to him by Zeratul.

Dark Refuge
The Zerg ran rampant over all of Aiur, killing about 70% of its Protoss inhabitants. Zeratul concluded that the Protoss must retreat to Shakuras through the last remaining Warp Gate, abandoning Aiur. Aldaris reluctantly agreed. Zeratul personally led the refugees to the Warp Gate, where Fenix and the Terran Commander who had helped the Protoss defeat the Overmind, Jim Raynor, was awaiting. They later stayed behind to save the refugees.

Unlikely Ally
On Shakuras, Zeratul met with the Matriarch Raszagal and was directed to accept Kerrigan as an ally and find the Uraj and Khalis crystals, which would enable the Protoss to activate the Xel'Naga Temple and defeat the Zerg who had followed them through the Warp Gate. Due to the Zerg invasion, the Warp Gate was shut down, a decision which would have disastrous results.

Zeratul counselled young Praetor Artanis on the nature of humanity but otherwise did not personally participate in the missions. Upon his return, he found Shakuras in a state of uproar. Aldaris had discovered that Infested Kerrigan was somehow manipulating Matriarch Raszagal's mind, and tried to overthrow her. While Zeratul and Raszagal directed their forces to defeat Aldaris, Zeratul felt that perhaps Aldaris was right because of the Matriarch's harsh orders. He was proven right when Kerrigan appeared and assassinated Aldaris right in front of him. Raszagal assured him that, now that Kerrigan had left, she was back to herself.

Fury of the Xel'Naga
Zeratul personally brought the Khalis to the Xel'Naga Temple and was one of two Protoss to help activate it, the other being Artanis.

Zeratul is rumored to have performed a secret mission on Aiur (see StarCraft: Enslavers II) but was unable to contact James Raynor and Fenix to alert them to Kerrigan's treachery.

Kerrigan's Betrayal
Zeratul next appears when Infested Kerrigan kidnapped Matriarch Raszagal from Shakuras, in a brazen attack on the planet, which was protected by the Xel'Naga Temple. Raszagal was taken to Char, where she was used to force Zeratul to kill the second Zerg Overmind. Zeratul slew the Overmind, then overcame Kerrigan's treachery, rescuing the Matriach.

Zeratul placed her in a Protoss Stasis Cell as he awaited dimensional recall, which took some time. Alas, that was enough time for Kerrigan to defeat his forces, but forced her to place the majority of her forces on the surface of Char, and away from the space platforms (her first line of defense). In anguish, Zeratul broke the Stasis Cell and killed the Matriach. With her dying thoughts, Matriach Raszagal made Zeratul the leader of her people. Nonetheless, Zeratul felt incredibly guilty, and Kerrigan derived sadistic pleasure by allowing him to live with this guilt - the experience somehow "messed him up".

Dark Origin

 * Main article: Dark Origin

Zeratul fled with his small warband, since Kerrigan's attacks scattered most of his troops. He tried to find Artanis or other Protoss warriors but failed. Instead, he located a dark moon, perhaps similar to Braxis, with Protoss energy signatures.

On the moon he fought Terran mercenaries and rescued several Protoss prisoners, including an Archon. He also discovered experiments performed on Zerg for the creation of a Zerg/Protoss Hybrid. He was even more surprised when Samir Duran revealed himself as the mastermind of this Grand Experiment, despite his former status as a member of the Zerg Swarm.

Duran told Zeratul that Kerrigan was not in charge of his experiment, "although her rebirth into the Zerg Swarm has sped up my progress." Duran also told him that he was "a servant of a far greater power". Zeratul felt the Hybrid was a great threat, and Duran agreed, saying "this creature is the completion of a cycle. It's role in the cosmic order was preordained when the stars were young. Behold the culmination of your history." Its coming would "change the universe ... forever."

Zeratul attacked the Hybrid, a natural reaction, considering its status in his eyes as an abomination.

Zeratul left the dark moon, troubled and unable to tell the other Protoss what he had experienced. Zeratul vanished for four years.

Shadow Hunters
Zeratul is set to appear in the Dark Templar Saga, namely Shadow Hunters and/or Twilight.

Zeratul in StarCraft II
Zeratul has made a few appearances in official artwork and trailers for StarCraft II. In one of the most dramatic trailer scenes, Zeratul is shown fighting a mysterious creature, believed by many to be Infested Kerrigan or a Hybrid, in hand-to-hand combat. Neither of the combatants appear to be using weapons. The battle takes place against a background which resembles Char. The creature's foot resembles Kerrigan's foot in Blizzard concept art. Four years after killing Raszagal, which seems to have "messed him up", Zeratul has gone through the stars in his spaceship, looking for clues to try to confirm the "cosmic event" that Samir Duran told him about. He does find these clues and gets a vision of what's coming.

Zeratul appears on the Hyperion, command ship of Raynor's Raiders, where he tells Jim Raynor that the Xel'Naga will return and that the artifacts Raynor has acquired hold the key to the end of the cycle.

Quotes

 * "Well spoken, Concubine of the Zerg. But though we strike at you from the shadows, do not think that we lack the courage to stand in the light. You would do well to abandon this attack." (Zeratul to Infested Kerrigan in Eye for an Eye.)
 * "You speak of knowledge, Judicator? You speak of experience? I have journeyed through the darkness between the most distant stars. I have beheld the births of negative-suns and borne witness to the entropy of entire realities... Unto my experience, Aldaris, all that you've built here on Aiur is but a fleeting dream. A dream from which your precious Conclave shall awaken, finding themselves drowned in a greater nightmare." (Zeratul verbally spars with Aldaris at The Trial of Tassadar.)