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Amon, otherwise known as the Dark Voice, Fallen One,[3] the Dark One, the Dark God,[4] and Truth-bringer,[5] was a malevolent xel'naga connected to the Void. He sought to break the "corrupt" cycle of the xel'naga and bring all life to an end,[6] before remaking it in his image.[3]
He has been described as "the universe's most ancient evil."[7]
Biography
Early Life
Amon was once a member of a species who possessed either purity of essence or form.[8] In this form, Amon sought to become a great being,[9] and he was given his chance. Per the Infinite Cycle of the xel'naga, he was imparted with the essence of the xel'naga elders[10] and became one of them. Now xel'naga himself, Amon resented being torn from his previous life; he would later claim that the transformation had been forced on him.[8] At the least, he felt lied to, and came to realize that greatness was not something he had truly desired. That he had become part of the Infinite Cycle himself.[9]
At some point millions of years prior to the Great War, Amon became disillusioned with the Infinite Cycle of the xel'naga, viewing it as corrupt. In what would be the last universe that bore witness to the Cycle, while the majority of the xel'naga entered slumber in Ulnar after seeding the universe with life, Amon and a group of followers set out to secretly forge a single master race that would bring an end to the cycle.[11]
Antiquity
The Protoss
While the xel'naga created life, their modus operandi was to let it develop on its own. Amon and his followers broke this rule by coming to the world of Aiur, which had given rise to a species called the protoss. Amon chose the protoss to be the race blessed with the Purity of Form. He and his followers subsequently uplifted the protoss, who initially revered them as gods. Eventually, Amon and his followers lost control of the protoss, who rebelled and drove them from Aiur.[11] Nevertheless, Amon retained a number of protoss followers in the form of the Tal'darim, who separated themselves from their kindred.[12]
The Zerg
- Emil Narud(src)
The Voice in the Void
Having been driven from Aiur, Amon and his followers traveled to Zerus and began uplifting the zerg in order to create a race blessed with purity of essence. Amon saw the zerg as a valuable tool, appreciating their ability to consume essence from other organisms.[13] He thus bound them to the will of a hive mind, with only the primal zerg escaping his control.[14][15] Although the Overmind was given thought and reason, it did not have free will. It was given an overriding directive to destroy and assimilate the protoss, as part of Amon's plans to forge the Hybrid. [16][3] He intended to enslave the zerg and use them and the hybrids to wipe out all life in the galaxy. Once the hybrids were dominant, he would dispose of the zerg and reshape all life in his own image.[3]
Before Amon could complete his work on Zerus, the other xel'naga at Ulnar awoke and learned of his plans. They waged a war against Amon and his followers that ultimately culminated in Amon unleashing the Zerg Swarm upon the xel'naga, destroying almost all of them. Amon then fled to Ulnar, where he was defeated by the last few surviving xel'naga. Although his body was destroyed, his consciousness escaped into the Void, where he began plotting his return.[17][11] Amon still retained cognition[6] and his influence on the Overmind and the Zerg Swarm still remained.[16] A servant of Amon's who would wear the name of Samir Duran began secretly working to artificially merge protoss and zerg DNA to form the desired hybrid race. [18] He also made plans to forge a new body for Amon.[11]
The Countervailing Pawns
- Zeratul's warning to Jim Raynor(src)
Amon victorious
The Overmind was not blind to its plight. It foresaw the apocalyptic outcome if Amon, whom it called "the Fallen One", was victorious. The Overmind, thus, created a means to prevent Amon from enslaving and destroying the Swarm. Although seemingly a means to defeat the protoss, the Queen of Blades was in fact largely the Overmind's attempt to free the zerg and prevent that future [16]. The Overmind kept these true motivations hidden from everyone, including Kerrigan herself. In the future the Overmind glimpsed at, Amon had eventually recognized the threat that Kerrigan posed.[3]
Kerrigan was reborn as the Queen of Blades after Amon's defeat at Ulnar. Because of this, while she still felt his lingering influence over her, and had her personality twisted, she was effectively an individual, as opposed to the Overmind.[19][15] After the Brood War, Amon's will crept into her thoughts through the mutagen within her. She quietly prepared the zerg for four years as per his will.[20] However, while Kerrigan felt his influence, Amon never directly controlled her.[21]
Although the Overmind had failed to assimilate the protoss, Samir Duran, aided by terran mercenaries, successfully engineered Amon's protoss-zerg hybrids which he hid on numerous worlds.
In the meantime, Amon continued to observe the Tal'darim. He watched a Rak'Shir in which 800 Tal'darim were killed through Alarak's manipulation. Swathes of Tal'darim were killed, their fleet sent into disarray, and even Amon's own plans were hindered. Nonetheless, he was amused at the bloodshed.[6]
Four years after the Overmind's death, the apparent spirit of Tassadar passed on the creature's vision to Zeratul,[16] who made sure to warn Jim Raynor of Kerrigan's importance and to ensure her survival.[22] Zeratul wondered if Amon (who he only knew as the Fallen One at the time) was a xel'naga.[3]
Resurrection
- Narud's last words.(src)
Emil Narud and Valerian Mengsk convinced Jim Raynor to collect a xel'naga device, at first for profit.[23] This brought him into conflict with the Tal'darim who guarded most of the pieces,[24] as well as Sarah Kerrigan, who feared it.[25] Eventually Raynor took it to Char and used it to de-infest Sarah Kerrigan, freeing her of Amon's taint.[26][27]
Shortly after the Battle of Char, Emil Narud stole the xel'naga device from Jim Raynor[28] and traveled to Atrias, a Tal'darim-guarded world, where he restored Amon's power.[29]
Kerrigan first became aware of Amon on Zerus, informed of his existence by the primal zerg called Zurvan.[13] Guided by the Ancient One, she was reborn in primal form.[15][19]
After returning to the Koprulu Sector, Kerrigan was contacted by a resurrected Alexei Stukov, now an infested terran. He pointed her to Skygeirr Platform, which was producing hybrids under the direction of Doctor Emil Narud.[30] Kerrigan and her forces fought her way through Narud's forces, which included Dominion troops, hybrids, and Tal'darim protoss. Eventually she found her way to the xel'naga temple beneath it. There, she battled Narud, who revealed himself as a servant of Amon. Kerrigan defeated him, but in his last moments he revealed that Amon was alive and would be returning soon.[31] After defeating Mengsk on Korhal, Kerrigan departed to do battle with Amon.[32]
Amon's return?
Alexei Stukov would later speculate that the xel'naga device used to de-infest Kerrigan may have actually had a hand in somehow reviving Amon. He noted that the original Queen of Blades had tremendous power, and that the device couldn't just simply erase it, surmising that it had to "go somewhere." Kerrigan wondered if hybrids had been on Char during the battle there to collect the energy on hand.[33][34]
Collusion with Ma'lash
According to Nuroka, once the First Ascendant of the Tal'darim, Amon's true plans involve destroying all creations of the xel'naga, including the Tal'darim. Amon saw death as the highest ideal, not failure. His saying, "Defeat your masters, or fall beneath them" was really "Defeat your masters, or rise beyond them". He believed that Highlord Ma'lash knew this as well, but Ma'lash continued to support Amon and kept this secret from the Tal'darim. Nuroka said that Amon was pleased when the Tal'darim killed each other, which could happen by the hundreds in Rak'Shir duels.
To this end, Nuroka enlisted the support of Fourth Ascendant Alarak, intending to kill Ma'lash and reveal the secret to the Tal'darim. In the end, Ma'lash killed Nuroka and Alarak took Nuroka's place. However, Alarak knew the secret and intended to plot against Amon secretly.[6]
Legacy of the Void
Whispers of Oblivion
Zeratul tracked Amon's place of rebirth to Atrias, where he believed he could learn the final piece of the xel'naga prophecy. During his infiltration of the Temple of Erris, the Tal'darim highlord Ma'lash used a Void catalyst to contact Amon. Amon ordered the highlord to prepare the Tal'darim for war. Zeratul oversaw this and led his forces into damaging the conduit. At this point, Tassadar appeared in the conduit and told Zeratul that "the Keystone shall usher you unto hope". Afterward Amon reappeared in the conduit, killed many of Zeratul's troops with his powers and began summoning shadows of the Void, as well as a few hybrids to prevent Zeratul's escape. Amon set the temple to collapse. Zeratul was able to escape, however, intending to warn Artanis.[5]
Corruption of the Khala
Amon made his presence known to the Daelaam during their attempt to reclaim Aiur from the zerg. Hybrid reavers on the surface took control of the feral zerg on the planet's surface, coordinating them into a more dangerous fighting force. However, the reavers were defeated, and the invasion continued.[35] It was here that Amon made his move, as he began corrupting the Khala, taking numerous Khalai under his thrall.[36] This included Hierarch Artanis himself. Zeratul attempted to remove Artanis's nerve appendages (which would cut off his link to the Khala), but Amon would not let his puppet go so easily. Speaking and acting through Artanis, Amon fought Zeratul, gaining the upperhand. In a last ditch effort, Zeratul struck, severing Artanis's nerve appendages, albeit at the cost of his own life. Yet it had worked, in that Artanis was now free from Amon's control.[37]
Artanis and those had saved attemptd to flee Aiur in the Spear of Adun, though it didn't take long for Amon to find a new thrall in the form of Executor Selendis. Through his puppet, Amon mocked the Daelaam, and sent his protoss and zerg against them. However, Artanis and his followers were able to escape.[38]
Let the Galaxy Burn
Amon's new body
Amon also began building himself a host body on Aiur, using pieces of the Overmind's corpse, as well as many of the enslaved protoss.[39] In the meantime, his servants carried forth his will. The terran Moebius Corps, accompanied by hybrids,[40] carved a path of destruction through the Dominion.[41] Through the zerg of Aiur, he had an army.[42] And the Tal'darim remained his servants.[43] The plan he had set into motion millions of years ago was now in motion.[44]
Shakuras
Amon sent his brood through the xel'naga that linked Shakuras with Aiur. The zerg quickly gained ground, to the point where Talematros was the last bastion.[45] Talematros was successfully evacuated,[46] and Amon observed the protoss take up positions at the planet's xel'naga temple. He sent his forces to test them before unleashing his full might. The protoss were able to overload the temple's phase prism and send it into the planet's core.[42] Shakuras was destroyed,[47] and took over a billion of Amon's zerg with it.[42]
Ulnar
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Defeat and Death
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Game Unit
In StarCraft II, a portrait called "Dark Voice" is available as an achievement reward.[48] A separate Amon portrait can be unlocked in Legacy of the Void.[49]
Raw data exists for Amon in the map editor.[50]
Personality and Traits
To Amon, death was the highest ideal. For all the adulation the Tal'darim give him, he possessed no love for his subjects, mocking those who took in Rak'Shir. He demonstrated overconfidence and egotism on ocassion,[6] mocking his foes when certain of victory.[3][5] Even when his own plans were set back, he found amusement in watching the Tal'darim slaughter one another.[6] According to Rohana, the only creatures Amon truly cares about are his hybrid.[11]
Amon did not view himself or his actions as evil. He believed that the Infinite Cycle brought unnecessary suffering and was corrupt. He often claimed to his followers and foes alike that by destroying the creations of the xel'naga, he was bringing an end to their suffering. According to Rohana, however, Amon actually desired to destroy life out of an intense hatred for the xel'naga.[11] There is evidence that Amon's resentment to the xel'naga and the Infinite Cycle is in part due to his transformation into a xel'naga himself, a process which Amon claimed was forced on him.[51]
Abilities
Amon was supposedly immortal. Even after his apparent death prior to the Great War, he retained enough cognition to observe events outside the Void. Within the Void, he was said to have matter-manipulation abilities, and that without his blessing, no protoss could survive long there.[6] At the least, he demonstrated great power, able to communicate with his foes even without a Void conduit, and create and/or dispatch shadows of the Void en masse.[5]
Amon had the ability to transfer his conciousness into any protoss connected to the Khala. Protoss under his thrall in this manner would show visual signs (e.g. red eyes and psi-blades),[37] and speak in a combination of Amon's voice and their own.[38]
Notes
- Daxxarri(src)
The Dark Voice as revealed through shading techniques
- Blizzard has clarified that the Voice in the Darkness is a different entity and not the same thing as Amon (otherwise known as the "Dark Voice").[52]
- One of Amon's quotes is "I love it when a plan comes together", the signature line of Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith of the A-Team.
- "Amon" is a name that exists in real-world myths, specifically Egyptian, Judaic, and in daemonology. He has been likened to the Biblical figure of Lucifer|Lucifer.[9]
- According to Kerrigan's StarCraft II hero page, it was Amon who ordered her to retrieve the xel'naga device. This is in contrast to comments made at BlizzCon 2011, where it was established that Kerrigan sought the device from her own volition,[53] and Heart of the Swarm itself, where Kerrigan claims that Amon never directly controlled her.[21][19] Paradoxically, such an order would have been in opposition to the actions of Emil Narud (his servant).
Character Development
Among was first hinted at in the bonus "Dark Origin" mission of StarCraft: Brood War. As a character, Amon was concieved before work began on StarCraft II. In early readings, Amon came off as being one-note, as the writing team were faced with the reality that while they knew Amon's motivations, they were not so apparent in-game.[9]
Amon appeared as the primary antagonist in Legacy of the Void.[54] In the context of the story, James Waugh has commented that Amon is the thematic inverse of Artanis, that while Artanis seeks to work with and improve upon a flawed world, Amon's reaction is to simply to "shatter it all." A goal of the game was to reveal Amon's humanity within the story.[9]
References
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