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 (a.k.a. Prince Valerian) is the son and Heir Apparent to Terran Dominion Emperor Arcturus Mengsk. Highly intelligent, he has gray eyes, blond hair past regulation length and is considered handsome and arrogant. His great passion is archaeology, especially the study of xel'naga temples.

Early Life
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 years 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. Such meetings were strained-Arcturus believed that Valerian's mother was raising him to be an "effeminate weakling." As such, as per his father's will, Valerian began training in martial arts, Japanese swordfighting, combat gear and the use of a gauss rifle. However, Valerian's greatest interest lay in archaeology, which led him to appreciate the swordsplay he was taught-while his father respected swords as weapons, Valerian respected them for their antiquity.

Regardless of his father's opinions on him, Valerian knew little of his father in turn. Most of what he knew about Arcturus came from propaganda about the Sons of Korhal. It was not until after the Brood War that the two were reunited, Valerian brought to Korhal to be raised as Arcturus' (secret) heir.

Heir Apparant
His existence kept secret from the Dominion as a whole, Valerian began training for the day in which he would become Emperor, acquiring the vital leadership skills that he would eventually need. In addition, he was given the authority to give orders to high-ranking military officers who knew his true position and had 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 great mistake; remembering the example of Sarah Kerrigan.

Despite his status, Valerian's relationship with his father was still strained. He respected the man, but their personalities didn't match and his pursuit of archeology was of little interest to Arcturus, who pushed his son to make his own way and be his own man. Valerian in turn strived for his own power and to create his own space, but didn't directly challenge his father. From the outset, there was a power struggle of sorts between them.

The Discovery of Wonders
Valerian was delighted with reports of the discovery of strange artifacts on several worlds similar to the one discovered on Bhekar Ro. Arcturus did not share Valerian's passion and viewed these artifacts as objectives to be secured by military forces. The emperor also wanted to keep his heir out of danger and, with the events of the Battle of Bhekar Ro still fresh, refused to allow Valerian to investigate personally.

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.

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. However, Whittier sent the mostly resocialized crew another set of secret orders at the behest of Arcturus 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.

As a result of this betrayal, neither Ramsey nor Dahl bore any trust in Valerian Mengsk.

Valerian Mengsk would eventually realize he had been betrayed, but not by whom.

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 nearly 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, distracting the fleet with Ramsey's Terran pseudo-Khala ability to do so.

A Frustrating Hunt
Devon Starke explained to Valerian that Ramsey had used the ability as a delaying tactic, rather than an attack. Valerian was unable to talk with Stewart, however, who was seriously wounded and undergoing surgery. Making matters worse, the Zerg attacked Dead Man's Rock, abducting Stewart.

Arcturus Mengsk contacted his son, demanding to know why the Zerg would attack "his space" after four years of virtual silence. Valerian distracted him from Ramsey's abilities by wondering aloud who else had Ethan Stewart been serving, such as Arcturus or even Kerrigan. Valerian feared Arcturus would abduct Ramsey for his own purposes.

Dahl and Ramsey's ship surfaced at the salvage yards in the Brontes system, where they misdirected the low-rated Dominion forces there long enough to make a planned jump to their next destination... Aiur. Devon Starke and Valerian figured their destination based on their jump direction.

Valerian created a small fleet to rescue Ramsey, a task made more difficult because the Dominion had so many problems it needed the fleet's resources. He relied on the help of Charles Whittier to collect the ships and to keep the fleet a secret from Arcturus Mengsk. The fleet consisted of a Battlecruiser, several smaller vessels, and ground forces, all led by Devon Starke.

The fleet rescued Ramsey, Dahl and their allies from an ambush led by an infested Ethan Stewart, but Dahl hijacked the Dropship and fled towards Aiur's Warp Gate. Forced to choose between letting Ramsey escape through the Warp Gate or leaving him to be destroyed by Ulrezaj or Zerg attackers, he ordered Starke to protect Ramsey. He lost contact with Starke soon afterwards.

Taking Command
By the time Kerrigan launched the zerg into a war with the Dominion, Valerian had become known to the general populace in some degree, having recently opened a veteran's hospital. Providing assistance to his father in the conflict Valerian was still "not quite sold" to the Dominion. Unlike his father, Valerian was willing to work with Jim Raynor and his mercenary unit, at least in the short term.

Character Creation
Valerian Mengsk was created by Blizzard Entertainment. They told Christie Golden that they wanted him to be young, blond and have gray eyes, but left much of the rest to Golden. Golden gave him longer than regulation hair, and in his Blizzard-created image he appears the same way.

He was brought in because Arcturus Mengsk's story has already been told. The storyline of StarCraft II 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.

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.)

Valerian Mengsk was previously 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.