Protoss history

Aiur was one of many worlds engineered by the xel'naga, a race of extragalactic geneticists, obsessed with creating the perfect race, that would be marked by a distinct purity of form. The xel'naga, after innumerable failures to create such a race, turned towards Aiur.

They watched over a particular species of hunters and warriors and discerned that they indeed had a purity of form, as they were incredibly adaptable and had unmatched strength and speed. However, the most intriguing ability of the species is a psionic link that is shared by the entire race. This link was a form of instinctive telepathy, enabling them to communicate with one another, so that even large groups could work together efficiently.

The xel'naga altered them to some extent with their khaydarin crystals, but were content to remain unseen for many generations. The xel'naga felt they had achieved their goal, and gave the new race the name of "protoss", or "the First Born". Aiur was eventually covered by civilized protoss, and so the xel'naga descended onto Aiur in order to more closely study the evolution of their charges. A Temple marks where they first set down upon Aiur.

The xel'naga were initially revered as gods, as the protoss looked towards their creators with respect and a lust for knowledge. However, as the understanding and personal awareness of the young protoss grew, they began to place greater pride in individual achievements rather than the benefit of the community. The various tribes sought to distance themselves from one another, seeking their role not only within their immediate society, but the universe as a whole.

At first, the xel'naga were intrigued by this development, and conducted an experiment to see what effects the diverging tribes might have on khaydarin crystals. They split twin crystals, giving one to the Akilae Tribe (named the Uraj) and one to the Sargas Tribe (named the Khalis). As the tribes diverged, so did the powers and even appearance of the crystals.

The tribes began to fear treachery from their masters, and in seeking to sever themselves from the rest of their race, attempted to lose the psychic link that they shared. This dissolved whatever remnants of brotherhood or unity that the protoss had shared. Feeling that the greatest attribute of the protoss was lost, the xel'naga began withdrawing from Aiur. However, the suspicious protoss responded with an attack on the xel'naga worldships, which fended off the hasty attack and left the system. In the eve of the "Day of Darkness", the protoss tribes then turned against each other, beginning the Aeon of Strife, the most devastating civil war in recorded galactic history.

The Aeon of Strife
During the Aeon of Strife, protoss advancement slowed, and the individual protoss tribes waged a massive war with each other, lasting hundreds of years. Little is known from this time, but it is known that the protoss lost their psionic link with each other. The most famous tribe from this time period is the Akilae Tribe, which are to this day renowned as the protoss' finest psionic warriors.

During this time, the protoss maintained colonies on other planets, often connected by warp gates, but these too quickly became gripped with the Strife.

The protoss tribes descended into something resembling madness as they attacked one another. One example was the Mendella Incident, where the mainly underground settlement of Mendella was deliberately flooded when another protoss faction destroyed a nearby reservoir.

He Who Brings Order
The mystic Khas ("He who brings order") eventually brought about the end of the Strife. He had studied the "forbidden" teachings of the xel'naga and unearthed the Khaydarin crystals. With these crystals he was able to amplify the psionic link, which had submerged itself in protoss egos, and recreate the link.

With this power, he traveled through Aiur, teaching the protoss he encountered to join the psionic link; this became a philosophy called the Khala. He demonstrated the powers of the khaydarin crystals at Gyras, where he ended the feuding by destroying the battleground. Eventually Khas reunited the majority of the protoss, forming three castes and a new tribe.

The very first group of warriors and students to surround him became the Ara Tribe, and joined the Judicator Caste. The other tribes who quickly joined also became members of this caste.

The next group of tribes became the Templar Caste (the warriors), and the majority of the protoss became the Khalai Caste (workers and artisans), ending the civil war. The theory known as the Khala brought on the Second Age for the protoss.

During this period in protoss history, the Templar Caste fought to protect the new protoss culture from those who disagreed with it. When these battles ended, the Templar defended their people from fearsome fauna and from hostile aliens while settling other worlds.

Exploration During the Second Age
The protoss began to proudly explore space, settling on worlds such as Khyrador. Some of this exploration took place under the guidance of Executor Adun.

Rogues
Some protoss secretly refused to join the Khala, hiding themselves among the Khalai and not acting on the violent emotions of the Strife.

The Conclave ordered Adun, the youthful Executor of the Templar Caste to arrest and execute these rogues. However, Adun could not bring himself to follow the orders. Instead, he faked their executions and taught them how to hide themselves from the Conclave. The rogues lost control of their powers, however, unleashing psionic storms without the discipline of the Khala. The storms spiraled over Aiur and other worlds, revealing the presence of the rogue tribes to the protoss. The mysterious storms prompted the protoss to abandon some of their colonies, such as Khyrador, where the protoss abandoned the Uraj crystal. The Conclave scattered the storms "at great cost".

The barely reunited tribes began to fight once more. Old vendettas and ancient prejudices were reborn as the protoss who refused the way of Khala were branded as traitors and hunted down.

The Conclave, now seeing through Adun's strategies, exiled the rogue tribes from Aiur in secret, using a Xel'Naga freighter. Raszagal, a very old Dark Templar leader, was old enough to remember the Exile clearly. Shortly after the exile, the protoss of Aiur realized the Khalis crystal had been stolen by the rogues.

The fate of the rogues was kept a secret from the other protoss. Eventually they became known, in legend, as the Dark Templar. These protoss, forced to draw on cosmic energies to power their psionic abilities, severed the nerve cords that linked them to the protoss telepathic community.

Expansion and Discovery
The protoss conquered hundreds of worlds within their corner of the galaxy, spreading civilization to many of the more advanced races that they encountered. The protoss inadvertently succeeded in reclaiming an eighth of the worlds once presided over by the xel’naga.

The protoss follow the Dae'uhl, aka Stewardship, of the planets once claimed by the xel'naga. They started supervising and protecting the lesser life forms, but rarely interfering, especially after the Kalathi Intercession.

When the terrans arrived in the Koprulu Sector, colonizing over a dozen worlds within protoss space, the protoss observed silently. They put the humans under their Stewardship and were shocked to see the terrans strip multiple worlds of resources. The protoss refused to interfere in the terran civil wars.

The protoss suffered disastrous contact with the zerg. Tassadar's Expeditionary Force discovered zerg probes on the edge of protoss space and discovered their true purpose; to conquer the protoss and absorb their psionic abilities into the gene pool. They realized that the zerg had secretly been infesting the terran planets, completely infesting the world of Chau Sara. Tassadar's forces purified Chau Sara without warning.

The Fall of Aiur
After the destruction of Chau Sara, Tassadar would wait until the terrans had left the planet to destroy them, but would scour the surfaces clean of all zerg.

However, he encountered a different situation at Tarsonis. The zerg had not yet encountered this world, but were lured there by psi emitter technology used by the Sons of Korhal. They intended to destroy the Terran Confederacy with the zerg.

Tassadar's forces intended an attack on the zerg, but the Sons of Korhal's leader, Arcturus Mengsk, feared the protoss attack would wipe out the zerg and enable Confederates on Tarsonis to escape. He dispatched Sarah Kerrigan, a ghost, to lead a force against the protoss. Kerrigan defeated Tassadar's forces, only to be swept away by a wave of zerg. The majority of the protoss forces were defeated in subsequent battles.

Tassadar was ordered to return to Aiur, but he refused, as he felt a powerful psionic call emanating from the ash world, Char. There he encountered the zerg... and the Dark Templar.

Tassadar enlisted their aid after he discovered that they could be used to defeat the zerg. Normally, a Cerebrate, a Brood commander, would be reincarnated if slain, but the Dark Templar had the power to cut off the reincarnation power. However, when the Dark Templar, led by Zeratul, destroyed the Cerebrate Zasz, the Overmind linked its mind with Zeratul. They exposed their secrets to each other, and as a consequence the Overmind discovered the location of Aiur. The zerg then unleashed a powerful assault, leaving Tassadar and his terran ally Jim Raynor trapped on a space platform above Char, while Zeratul was captured in an installation by zerg forces.

The zerg then invaded Aiur, with the Overmind personally landing to oversee the operations.

The protoss did not understand the zerg hierarchy and was put on a defensive position. Tassadar contacted Aldaris and told him about zerg Cerebrates, an important part of their hierarchy, but the (successful) attack on the Cerebrate didn't work, as it could come back to life. The poor protoss strategy also resulted in the loss of Praetor Fenix.

The protoss attempted to arrest Tassadar, but the plot went awry when he convinced the Executor to join him and rescue Zeratul and his Dark Templar from zerg captivity.

A civil war erupted when Tassadar brought the Dark Templar, the very warriors who could destroy the zerg, to Aiur. The Vanguard of Aiur, led by the Conclave, attacked Tassadar's forces, but the Heart of the Conclave was destroyed. Free from Conclave interference (especially after Tassadar was rescued from prison with help from Jim Raynor), Zeratul's forces slew several Cerebrates, in order to distract the Overmind. The Conclave, realizing that Tassadar, Zeratul, and Jim Raynor had done much more than the Conclave could have hoped to accomplish, repented their past blind adherence to tradition. Aldaris remarked that they were the representatives of Aiur in its darkest hour. Taking advantage of the confusion that followed, Tassadar, with the aid of Raynor's Raiders, defeated the zerg forces. Tassadar combined the forces of Dark and Light psionics and sacrificed himself to destroy the Overmind. Even then, in the aftermath, about 70% of the protoss population was slain, zerg were running loose on Aiur, and the Conclave had fallen.

Survival
With zerg running loose across Aiur, Zeratul suggested that they flee to Shakuras, the homeworld of the Dark Templar, through the warp gate. Despite protests from Aldaris they did so. However, it was soon discovered that the zerg had followed them there, and that they had manifested themselves around a xel'naga temple. The Matriarch of the Dark Templar, Raszagal, believed the Temple could scour the zerg from Shakuras but they would need two crystals, the Uraj and Khalis, containing the light and dark sides of protoss energies, to activate it. The protoss destroyed the zerg around the temple. They were then surprised by Infested Kerrigan, who appeared and claimed she had important information for them.

Kerrigan told them that there was a new Overmind growing on Char. She claimed that she was free from the Overmind's control and that she didn't want to come under its influence again. She offered to help them retrieve the crystals. Most of the protoss were more interested in survival than in attacking the new Overmind, but Raszagal struck an alliance with her, alienating Aldaris in the process.

While the two crystals were being brought to Shakuras, Aldaris and his followers waged a civil war against the Matriarch, whose forces operated under the command of Artanis and Zeratul. Aldaris' forces were defeated, but he still refused to surrender. He tried to tell them that Kerrigan had somehow brainwashed Raszagal when Kerrigan intervened by killing Aldaris. Zeratul banished Kerrigan for the murder.

Raszagal assured Zeratul that, with Kerrigan gone, her mind was clear once more. The protoss then proceeded to secure the xel'naga temple and combine the powers of the two crystals. This scoured the surface of Shakuras of the zerg.


 * Main article: StarCraft Episode V and Enslavers: Dark Vengeance

Praetor Fenix and Jim Raynor remained behind on Aiur in order to secure their side of the warp gate. United Earth Directorate forces invaded the Koprulu Sector and overthrew the Terran Dominion, but Raynor rescued Arcturus Mengsk from execution at the hands of the Dominion. The UED forces followed them to Aiur, fighting the seemingly uncontrolled zerg and defeating the protoss in battle. Mengsk and Raynor traveled through the warp gate before it self-destructed, while a wave of zerg demolished all participants.

Meanwhile, Zeratul led a special mission to Aiur, looking to recover wounded protoss heroes, who inhabited stasis cells surrounded by the zerg. The heroes were attacked by Dark Templar under the command of Ulrezaj. Only Eredas survived, emerging within the shell of a Dragoon.

Ulrezaj and his followers were put on trial on Shakuras, where they revealed their hatred of the Templar Caste, but the trial was interrupted by the Schezar's Scavengers, who attacked Shakuras. During the battle, Ulrezaj and his minions escaped, stealing a khaydarin crystal.

Following the crystal's emanations to Korhal, the protoss discovered it was being used to somehow control zerg. Ulrezaj's minions were not present, but the Scavengers were. The protoss recovered the crystals, only to discover something even more shocking; they were fakes created from a strange fusion of Dark Templar and zerg energy.

They tracked more false crystals to Char, where Ulrezaj's minions and his enslaved zerg were performing experiments. The crystals were shattered by the psionic fury of a Dark Archon.

Ulrezaj had another plan, however; along with the Scavengers, his forces operated a powerful EMP Generator on a space platform over Shakuras. The pulses disrupted the energies and shields of Shakuras's defenders but did not harm the Fist of Ulrezaj or the Scavengers. During the battle, the defenders of Shakuras destroyed the Generator and slew Alan Schezar.

Kerrigan's alliance with Raynor, Fenix and even Arcturus Mengsk prospered. The alliance defeated the United Earth Directorate forces in two important engagements only to be betrayed by Kerrigan. Fenix was killed by Kerrigan's forces.

Kerrigan's forces invaded Shakuras and captured Raszagal, transporting her to Char. The protoss followed. She offered to return her to Zeratul if his warriors would slay the second Overmind for her. The Overmind was slain, but Kerrigan broke the bargain, prompting Zeratul to abduct Raszagal.

Kerrigan's forces unleashed a heavy attack on the protoss in order to recover the Matriarch. They located her in a protoss encampment, and destroyed it. Zeratul feared that Raszagal was still under the control of Kerrigan and killed her. Kerrigan, surprisingly, let Zeratul go. Zeratul left Char, seeking to find survivors of the battle. While away, he discovered a dark secret, after which he vanished.

Kerrigan's attack on the protoss put her in a weak position; most of her forces were on the surface of Char, leaving the space platforms nearly bare. The remaining protoss under Artanis (as well as forces commanded by the United Earth Directorate and the Terran Dominion), attempted to stop Kerrigan. However, Kerrigan defeated all three forces, and the remaining protoss retreated to Shakuras to begin rebuilding their once grand civilization.

Protoss-controlled space has since been referred to as the Protoss Protectorate.

Protoss of Aiur

 * Main articles: Shel'na Kryhas and Tal'darim

Following the disabling of the warp gate, some protoss were stranded on Aiur. They coalesced into a group known as the Shel'na Kryhas ("Those Who Endure"), led by a Templar named Ladranix. Most of the group consisted of Khalai, however.

Some members of the group regressed to a state similar to the protoss of the Aeon of Strife. They formed a new splinter group, the Tal'darim ("the Forged"), and hid themselves in a massive cavern system beneath Aiur's surface.

The two groups came into conflict over a preserver, Zamara. Two terran fugitives, archaeologist Jake Ramsey and mercenary Rosemary Dahl traveled to Aiur at the behest of Zamara, who lived only as a spirit within Ramsey's brain.

Zamara deciphered the reasons behind the Tal'darim's strange behavior; they were under the control of a drug, Sundrop, given to them by their Benefactor, the Xava'tor. The revelation of the Xava'tor's true identity shattered the unity of the Tal'darim. The Shel'na Kryhas, however, quickly found itself under attack by Kerrigan's zerg, who were also interested in the Preserver. A battle ensued. Zamara repaired the warp gate as the Xava'tor itself arrived on the battlefield, seeking to capture the Preserver for its own purposes. The protoss held him off long enough for the two terrans and a small number of protoss to travel through the warp gate to Shakuras.

Protoss of Shakuras
In the four years since the Brood War, the Khalai have had a hard time accepting the Dark Templar, which were demonized by the Conclave for hundreds of years (the Dark Templar may, in turn, be having a hard time accepting the Khalai).

The protoss are trying to reconcile themselves to the fact that each group is a half of the same race. While some of the protoss understand this, others are having a harder time. Without the leadership of the Conclave, many protoss began looking to their ancient tribes for leadership and a sense of identity. The protoss civilization, socially and psychologically, are devolving back into their tribal states.

Hierarch Artanis has been trying to merge the two halves of protoss society together and prevent the slide into tribalism. He cannot count on Zeratul for assistance, as Zeratul has not been seen in years. The name of Raszagal has been invoked more than once in an effort to keep the peace.

The protoss have been studying the xel'naga technology on Shakuras, making many technological developments for continuing the war with the zerg. It has formed the Protoss Protectorate, a region of space that contains worlds held by the Protoss and has once again, resumed open warfare with Kerrigan's Zerg Swarm and Mengsk's Terran Dominion; namely to compete for a xel'naga temple on the planet Artika.

Other Colonies
A few protoss colonies remain, but they don't have contact with one another and most are populated by fanatics.

Ash'Arak seems to be an exception to this general rule; after the Brood War protoss warriors such as Muadun and Khastiana were able to travel to Shakuras in order to contribute to the war effort. Both took part in a battle at Artika.