Artanis

"Executor, I am Artanis. Though I have only recently been appointed Praetor, you can trust that I will uphold the honor and traditions of the Templar."

- Artanis introduces himself

Artanis is a young protoss and member of the Templar Caste. He was appointed executor to replace Tassadar. At only 262 years old, he was young to achieve such a high rank. He later achieved the rank of hierarch following the Brood War, with Executor Selendis being his chief assistant.

Artanis harbors a deep respect and admiration for Tassadar. He hopes to become as great a leader as Tassadar; a path which could cause him to forsake his better judgement.

Early Service
As a member of the Templar Caste, Artanis served extensively alongside his comrade Fenix. The two traveled across hundreds of worlds.

One such world was Dannuth VII, inhabited by a race called the tagal. Fenix and Artanis led their forces against them and although the protoss were outnumbered 30:1, they still emerged victorious.

Enter the Zerg
"En Taro Adun, Executor. I am Judicator Aldaris, and I have been sent by the Conclave to serve and counsel you. The former Executor, Tassadar, was commanded to halt the Zerg progress in the Terran sector by burning the infested human worlds. Unfortunately, he disregarded his orders and attempted to destroy the Zerg while sparing the Terrans from the flame. Clearly, Tassadar has failed us. You must not."

- Aldaris



Artanis was appointed to the position of executor during the zerg invasion of Aiur, following the apparent defection of the previous executor, Tassadar, to the Dark Templar. To this end, he began by fortifying the base at Antioch, once again serving alongside Fenix. Antioch was held against the zerg and a successful counter attack was made.

Artanis' actions pleased his superior, Judicator Aldaris, restoring his faith in the Templar Caste. An interruption by Tassadar however, sending his thoughts from the planet Char, was not so pleasing. Regardless, Tassadar spoke of what he had learned from the Dark Templar, how striking down the cerebrates was the key to winning the war against the zerg. Aldaris decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, though Tassadar maintained that he would remain on Char for the time being, returning when the time was right.

Putting Tassadar's suggestion into action, Artanis and his forces held the line against the zerg while Fenix moved his own forces into position for an assault on the Baelrog Brood's cerebrate. In this, he was successful, penetrating the hive cluster and striking down the cerebrate. However, after staying behind to observe the brood's actions, Fenix reported that the cerebrate had reincarnated, having seen it with his own eyes, driving its forces forward for the next offensive.

Seething at Tassadar's apparent treachery, Aldaris ordered Artanis to reclaim the province of Scion from the zerg, while Fenix remained behind at Antioch to guard against counterattack. While Artanis was successful in taking back the province, Antioch came under heavy attack in the meantime, Fenix falling in the assault.

Heresy
"The tenor of your thoughts is different, but I sense no evil about you. And your devotion to our world and our people is as strong as ever. I shall trust in your wisdom, noble Tassadar. I shall be as you wish."

- Artanis sides with Tassadar.

In the wake of the recent victories against the zerg, Artanis was tasked with finding Tassadar and bringing him back to Aiur to face justice and grieved for the loss of Fenix. Upon encountering Tassadar (and his new human companions) after barely rescuing them from a zerg attack led by Infested Kerrigan, it was clear that he was not the heretic that the Conclave made him out to be. Defying Aldaris, Artanis decided to give Tassadar the benefit of the doubt, agreeing to help him rescue Zeratul and his band of Dark Templar. Battling against the zerg and even Terran Dominion forces, the Dark Templar were successfully rescued. They agreed to return to Aiur.

Upon returning to Aiur, Artanis and company received welcome from Fenix, whose body had been recovered from Antioch and implanted inside a dragoon exoskeleton. The response of the Conclave however, was hostile, surrounding the landing zone with the Vanguard of Aiur and ordering them to stand down and surrender the Dark Templar for execution. Initially, Tassadar was willing to battle against the Vanguard of Aiur, Artanis following suit. However, unable to stomach his people slaughtering themselves in battle, Tassadar surrendered himself to the Conclave, granting his followers some respite.

Artanis and Fenix were left without Tassadar to guide them, and Zeratul and his Dark Templar had disappeared. However, with the aid of the terran Jim Raynor in the Hyperion, they were able to rescue Tassadar before he could be executed. In addition, Zeratul returned to the fold, sharing his knowledge of the zerg, of how they too were created by the xel'naga, how they would run rampant throughout the stars if not stopped here and now. It was a task that Artanis was ready to take on.

The Battle for Aiur
"My friends, this is our final hour. Not all of us may survive the coming conflict. Yet, death may be a blessing should we fail here. We seek now to destroy a foe that has ravaged its way across the universe consuming all in its path. And now it has reached the end of its long journey. The Overmind has come to destroy all that we hold dear and assimilate us into itself. And I say to thee, this shall not come to pass! Aiur shall not fall! Executor, I stand ready!"

- Tassadar

To clear a path to the Overmind, its defenses had to be thinned. Fenix proved apt in this, weakening the defenses of the hive cluster, allowing Zeratul to assassinate the cerebrates.

A last, final assault on the Overmind was thus made ready, the Templar Caste and Dark Templar, alongside Raynor's Raiders, pooling together their forces. With the Conclave's blessings, Artanis, Raynor and Tassadar led their forces against the Overmind and its minions. In the end, though the Overmind was weakened, so too were those who assaulted it. Giving Artanis his blessings, Tassadar guided his carrier, the Gantrithor, on a collision course at the creature, destroying both it and himself in a burst of Dark Templar energy.

As the chaotic, swirling energies subsided, a heavy silence settled over the battlefields of Aiur. Due to Tassadar's sacrifice, the Overmind was now dead and the Zerg Swarms were scattered and broken. However, like those around him, Artanis knew that victory had cost them all but their lives.

Escape from Aiur
""Farewell then, brave warriors. We will send through all the troops we can spare.""

- Artanis to Fenix and Jim Raynor

Artanis oversaw the evacuation of refugees through the warp gate to Shakuras and their defense from accompanying zerg until Dark Templar reinforcements arrived. The evacuation was a success but Jim Raynor and Fenix were forced to remain on Aiur to close the gate and ensure no further zerg followed. Artanis promised to send as many troops as could be spared back to Aiur before the gate closed.

Upon meeting the Dark Templar Matriarch, Raszagal, and learning of the xel'naga temple, Artanis was very enthusiastic about retrieving the Uraj and Khalis crystals in order to activate it. However, Raszagal wanted the zerg scoured from the temple grounds first.

Afterward, Infested Kerrigan appeared and made her introduction to the protoss leaders. While Raszagal welcomed her, Artanis said he could not forget her crimes against his race.

Quest for the Crystals
Artanis, Zeratul, and Kerrigan departed for the planet Braxis, where the Uraj Crystal was located. Overcoming damage to their warp matrix, which prevented Artanis' forces from summoning stargates, the protoss defeated the Terran Dominion forces there and recovered the crystal.

When the protoss tried to leave Braxis, however, they meet a surprise: the United Earth Directorate. Vice Admiral Alexei Stukov had constructed a series of missile turrets on a space platform over Braxis, which would prevent the protoss from escaping. Stukov demanded the surrender of the protoss.

Artanis was incensed at Stukov's attitude and unimpressed by the arrayed UED forces. Zeratul cautioned against underestimating the enemy. Artanis led the protoss breakout from the front in his scout. However, the assault bogged down as the UED defended the fusion reactors which powered the turrets, with Zeratul dispatching reinforcements when necessary. With this aid, Artanis destroyed the fusion reactors, shutting down the turrets, allowing the escape of the protoss.

Artanis' next destination was Char, home of the new Overmind and the location of the Khalis Crystal. Unfortunately, the new Overmind had nestled very close to the Khalis, requiring the protoss to fight their way past a large number of zerg in order to recover the crystal.

Kerrigan and Artanis both proposed ways of recovering the crystal. Kerrigan suggested striking hard and fast so as to fight their way through the defenses and escape with the crystal, while Artanis suggested doing enough superficial damage to the Overmind to temporarily pacify the nearby zerg -- the new Overmind was still in its infant stage, and it's control over the zerg was still weak. Kerrigan commented that either plan would work. Artanis was humbled when Zeratul compared him to Tassadar for the plan's boldness.

The protoss struck out, assisted by the few zerg Kerrigan was able to wrest control of. The Khalis was secured and Artanis urged a return to Shakuras lest the zerg overwhelm that world in their absence.

Return to Shakuras
When Artanis, Kerrigan, and Zeratul arrived on Shakuras, they found it in a state of war. Aldaris, angered at the abandonment of Aiur, the alliance with the Dark Templar and the acceptance of Kerrigan, had taken control of the Judicator and Templar warriors and was preparing to lead them in an attack against the Matriarch. Aldaris even had archons which he could send against them, which worried Artanis, but Zeratul told him not to worry -- the Dark Templar had archons of their own.

After defeating Aldaris, Artanis and Zeratul confronted him. Artanis tried to persuade Aldaris that Kerrigan had changed, but Aldaris replied that the Matriarch had been manipulated. Kerrigan interrupted the conversation by killing Aldaris. Zeratul banished a gloating Kerrigan from Shakuras as a result of her actions.

Fury of the Xel'Naga
When the protoss returned to the xel'naga temple, Artanis personally carried the Uraj crystal; with it, he activated the temple and used its power to eradicate all zerg life on Shakuras.

The Siege of Char
Kerrigan returned to Shakuras, capturing Matriarch Raszagal and transporting her to Char. The protoss followed. After a brief alliance (resulting in the death of the second Overmind) the zerg and protoss began to fight each other. The battle resulted in the death of Raszagal and the destruction of the protoss fleets. Zeratul set out in search of Artanis so they could return to Shakuras and plan their next moves.

Kerrigan's rash attack on the protoss put her in a perilous position; most of her forces had descended to the surface of Char leaving her space platforms relatively unguarded. Artanis led a fleet to the space platforms, intent on revenge for Kerrigan's actions.

Artanis commanded the assault on Kerrigan's platforms; his forces, along with Arcturus Mengsk and Admiral Gerard DuGalle of the UED launched a combined assault. However, the alliance crumbled before the might of the Zerg Swarm. "Savor this victory, Kerrigan!" said Artanis as the protoss were defeated, "For the Protoss will never forget your treachery. We shall be watching you." Artanis and the protoss survivors returned to Shakuras to begin rebuilding their once glorious civilization.

Future Imperfect
Artanis participated in a secret mission on Braxis. He called a conference with his old terran comrade Jim Raynor, alerting him to the truth of rumors that Raynor had heard; former United Earth Directorate Vice Admiral Alexei Stukov, who was murdered by former UED agent Samir Duran, had been resurrected and infested by the zerg, specifically by a cerebrate named Kaloth.

Raynor believed Stukov would never "sell out to the zerg" but Artanis warned him that it was very possible. He didn't want to kill Stukov, however; instead, he would employ a new nanotech serum which could reverse the infestation process. He sent Raynor and Praetor Taldarin to the surface of Braxis in order to accomplish the mission. Afterwards, his forces "purified" Braxis, melting its surface which destroyed all life, including both the zerg and the soldiers who defected to Raynor and Taldarin.

Twilight Falls
"For even in these dark days, there is still the hope of morning. That is why we fight."

- Artanis

After the Brood War, Artanis has been named "hierarch", the supreme leader of the reunited Protoss Protectorate, and has been focusing on merging the two sects of protoss society together. Some protoss cannot understand that the Khalai and the Dark Templar are two halves of the same species and are psychologically regressing to a tribal state; Artanis has his hands full trying to prevent this slide into tribalism. His chief assistant is Selendis. He could not count on Zeratul for help as he had not been seen for years. In 2502, Artanis oversaw military operations, such as the battle of Artika, where his forces captured a xel'naga temple, at great loss.

In 2503, a group of protoss survivors from Aiur and terran Rosemary Dahl arrived on Shakuras through the warp gate. The gate had been redirected as the last of the travelers entered from the Aiur side; Jake Ramsey, a terran archaeologist, "host" to Zamara, a preserver's spirit he was carrying, ended up elsewhere. Zamara was carrying information which was extremely important for the protoss people, and her presence was slowly killing Ramsey. Dahl demanded the protoss help her retrieve them, but they were initially unwilling to trust a terran or risk lives to help her. Executor Selendis championed Dahl's cause. She hoped to arrange a private audience with Artanis, but instead the entire Hierarchy arranged to be there. Artanis, while taking the views of the other tribal leaders into account, agreed with Dahl and ordered the launch of a rescue expedition. He allowed Vartanil, a survivor from Aiur and craftsman, to accompany the mission, a wise decision since his skills resulted in the rescue of much knowledge.

The Second Great War
By the Second Great War, a common acclamation among zealots was "For Artanis!"

In Utter Darkness
"This is Hierarch Artanis, commanding the Shield of Aiur! Our matrix fields are within range! Engaging mass recall! My brethren, hear me, for there is little time left. All that remains of our race, our civilization, are those that stand beside you now. Trust in each other. Strike as one will. Let our last stand burn a memory so bright we will be remembered forever. En taro Tassadar!"

- Artanis at the last battle

In the early stages of the war Zeratul sought information on the Dark Voice and the hybrids. He experienced the Overmind's vision of the future and the last stand of the protoss. Artanis would be present at that final battle, commanding the mothership, Shield of Aiur and leading a fleet of protoss ships. As he died he wondered how the protoss could have known that Kerrigan was the key to preventing the Dark Voice and expressed remorse.

StarCraft
Artanis is of the Templar Caste, and appears in StarCraft: Brood War missions as a Scout pilot. The statistics are weaker than those for Mojo's Scout.

Quotations

 * See: Artanis Quotations

StarCraft II
Artanis appears in command of the hero mothership, Shield of Aiur, in the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty mission, "In Utter Darkness".

Quotations

 * See: Artanis Quotations (StarCraft II)