Donald "Donny" Vermillion[2] is a former member of Universal News Network. He has a cat named Augustus.[3]
Biography[]
Vermillion's brother was killed in the Fall of Tarsonis.[4]
By 2504, Vermillion hosted Vermillion Live on UNN.[5] Kate Lockwell served as his co-anchor. He would later claim that if not for him, Lockwell would "still be covering bowling tournaments on Bukari V.[6]
Wings of Liberty[]
- Vermillion in one of his broadcasts(src)
At the outbreak of the Second Great War, Vermillion reported the massive zerg invasion of the Sector.[7] His war reporting dispensed Dominion propaganda and portrayed Raynor's Raiders very negatively, often deliberately twisting facts to cover up the heroic nature of many of their missions and cutting off field reporter Kate Lockwell before she could say anything praising Raynor and his men.[8] On at least one live newscast during the war, Donny was forced to witness a colleague reporter run down by the zerg, something that visibly filled him with horror.[9]
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This article or section contains information from the optional Rebellion Missions in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.
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Vermillion after learning of Mengk's role in the Fall of Tarsonis
When Raynor and his men broadcast the news that Arcturus Mengsk had used psi emitters to lure the zerg to Tarsonis,[10] Vermillion was shocked by the news, muttering to himself on the air that his brother had lived on Tarsonis.[4]
He shortly began to miss his work, prompting Kate Lockwell to hope he would get well soon.[11]
End of an Era[]
- Lockwell reports on Vermillion(src)
After he reported the zerg retreating back to Char, Vermillion took a sick leave for unknown reasons and eventually committed himself to the Dominion Mental Health Center, clad only in his socks and rumored to have been in possession of Emperor Mengsk's manifesto and a pound of peanut butter. He was replaced as chief anchor by Lockwell.[12]
The Vermillion Problem[]
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This article or section contains information derived from Co-op Missions, and should not be considered part of the official StarCraft storyline.
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- Vermillion begins his broadcast(src)
Vermillion was later released from rehabilitation, and during the End War reported on the operations of allied commanders on Veridia Prime as the planet underwent destruction at the hands of the forces of Amon. The allied commanders attempted to gather 20 xenon crystals and bring them to an environmental stabilizer, which would halt the planet's destruction. Vermillion and his seismologist Terry reported on how long it was until the planet's destruction and the status of the surges of lava that occurred at regular intervals, and focused on aspects of the conflict that would gain them the most viewers. Vermillion and Terry were at odds through the assignment, as Vermillion thought Terry was both boring the audience with hard science and attempting to steal the spotlight.
At the end of the conflict, the allied commanders were successful in preventing the planet's destruction, much to the disappointment of Vermillion.[13]
Return[]
Some years after the End War, Donny Vermilion returned to UNN after what was described as an astounding recovery. He hosted a segment on the Dominion relief effort to Antiga Prime, featuring General Carolina Davis and Magistrate Grayson. After the Dominion declared no zerg threat after their appearance on Antiga, Vermillion questioned what the Dominion was not telling their population. He also conducted an investigation on the Defenders of Man militia group.[2]
Nature of the Beast[]
- Donny Vermillion(src)
A disgraced Donny Vermillion and his cat Augustus
By some time after the Battle of Adena, Donny Vermillion had left UNN and started his own show, "The Donny Vermillion Show," which reported the news in a manner pro-Arcturus Mengsk, and was critical of the regime of Valerian Mengsk. However, he was often dismissed as a shill of the old government, something that he intended to prove people wrong on.[3]
Tartarus[]
- Vermillion makes his report from Tartarus(src)
The day before the anniversary of Arcturus Mengsk's death, Vermillion received a tip from a xenophobic freighter pilot who was a fan of his works, telling him he found a story. The pilot took him to the plant Tartarus on the fringes of Dominion Space, a place that Donny had never been allowed to report on while at UNN that may have housed secrets from Arcturus's regime. The pilot told him that Vermillion's broadcast had convinced him to kill his superior officer after they had derided him for too much violence against aliens, which made Vermillion uncomfortable.
The ship came upon Tartarus, which was defended by a satellite network. The pilot noted a zerg presence on the planet he had not noticed before, and ran his ship into the defense network. Vermillion urged him to turn back, but the pilot insisted they find the story. He told Vermillion to use a turret below, but the hatch led to an escape pod, and the pilot ejected the reporter to the planet below as his ship was torn apart by the defense grid.[3]
Vermillion held at gunpoint by Evelyn Yoo
Vermillion came out of the escape pod, and wandered the infested surface of Tartarus. He tried to transmit his findings via holocam, but found it blocked, instead recording it for use when he left the planet. Soon he ran across two survivors, a doctor named Evelyn Yoo and her son Jun-Ho Yoo. Evelyn pointed a gun at Vermillion, telling him she'd been stranded here for a month, and that she needed his ship to leave. Having arrived in a crashed escape pod, Vermillion told her he had no ship, but she did not believe him. The confrontation was interrupted when a hydralisk attacked, and Vermillion shoved Evelyn out of the way to escape. However, as he ran down an alley, he found himself cornered by the hydralisk.
Yoo punches Vermillion
Vermillion was saved by renegade ghost agent Nova Terra, who had been tracking him since he landed on the planet. She killed the hydralisk with a blast from her hellfire shotgun. Her second-in-command Reigel rescued Evelyn and Jun-Ho, and Vermillion feigned happiness they had survived. Evelyn responded by punching him in the face.
Vermillion finds the keycard
As Vermillion nursed his wounds, Nova questioned Evelyn on the situation, and found she knew of the jorium refinery she had worked at. Nova told the group that at dawn, they would move on the refinery.[14] The next day Vermillion went with the group into the refinery, entering a hole left by the zerg when they broke out. They entered what appeared to be a training facility under the refinery, and Evelyn and Nova began arguing. While they were distracted, Vermillion picked up a discarded scientist's key card and opened one of the doors, revealing a zerg queen. The group retreated behind another door, but inside discovered a room filled with pods containing spectres.[15]
Donny extols the virtues of Arcturus Mengsk
The group debated on whether to kill or release the spectres, as the zerg queen started to break through their door. Vermillion attempted to rally everyone to bring the last legacy of Emperor Mengsk to bear against the zerg, but he was shouted down by the group. As he apologized, a zerg claw broke through the door and grabbed him. Nova tore a tube of cryo-fluid and froze the zerg claw, allowing Vermillion to break free.
Vermillion asked if they could send a distress signal, and Evelyn informed them the place had been jammed. Reigel however was able to hack their firewall, allowing them to call down the Griffin to evacuate them. As the group debated what to do with the spectres, Vermillion patched himself into the facility’s computer, and was able to broadcast his footage out to the world. Jun-Ho entered as he was broadcasting, chuckling.
Vermillion and Jun-Ho discuss the latter's infection
Vermillion eavesdropped on Nova and Reigel arguing on whether to kill or spare the spectres, when Jun-Ho noticed that the queen was rallying zerg. Vermillion meanwhile used his holo-cam to spy on Nova and Reigel’s argument, when Nova shot it, destroying it. Agrieved, Vermillion took up the wrecked camera and began to make his way back to the Griffin. As he did, he noticed Jun-Ho’s infection spreading, and as they discussed their mortality, Vermillion revealed his trick to calm himself of counting down from five, but never saying "one." Jun-Ho commented that that was dumb, but Vermillion responded "that's show biz."
Vermillion is accousted by the spectres
Vermillion made his way to the surface ahead of the group, but Reigel had released the spectres against Nova’s orders. The spectres met him up top, and while Vermillion greeted them as "heroes of the Dominion," realized that the others weren't with them. The spectres stated that the others did not serve Mengsk, and as such, were no longer required. Nor was his, for that matter. As they began to throw him off the refinery roof, Vermillion argued he could help update them on the state of the Dominion since they were put in cryosleep. The spectres agree to keep him alive...until his usefulness expired. The spectres dragged him aboard the Griffin and stole the ship.[6]
Heroes of the Dominion[]
- Vermillion's report(src)
Over the next nine days, still aboard the Griffin, Vermillion repaired his camera drones, subsisting off the poor quality MREs provided by the spectres, which he named "One" to "Six," given the lack of any real names for them.
He was given access to a Kate Lockwell broadcast reporting on the spectres, and fumed about Lockwell’s success and style of reporting. He'd found the spectres, after all. This was his story. Meanwhile, he eavesdropped on the spectres, hearing their doubts about serving the agenda of the deceased Arcturus Mengsk, but their leader, which Vermillion labeled One, put them in line. As Vermillion backed off, he was confronted by One, and Vermillion asked for feedback on his story. One refused, and Two pointed out that they only needed him for intel. They didn't care about any story he was working on. In a rare moment of defiance, Vermillion pointed out that he didn't report to them, which caused Two to put a knife to his throat. Smiling, the spectre told Vermillion that they could always gather their own intel.
Vermillion is psionically influenced by Nova Terra and Vorazun
Vermillion stewed in the bunk of his quarters on his treatment and the success of Kate Lockwell, while unseen, Nova and the Nerazim Matriarch Vorazun psionically suggested to him the desire to broadcast. Vermillion did so with passion, broadcasting to his viewers from his camera drone, unknowingly revealing their location to Nova and Vorazun.
Vermillion was taken with the spectres down to a small mining outpost, where they attempted to force the local mayor into giving them vespene gas from their refinery. As they prepared to attack the mayor, Three warned them that protoss forces were incoming. Instantly the spectres knew that Vermillion had been the one to lead them there, and he let slip that he'd sent a newscast out. Six prepared to kill him, when he was attacked by a fully infested Jun-Ho. Jun-Ho saved Vermillion, but Six was able to jam his knife into the infested terran’s chest, killing him. In Jun-Ho’s last moments, Vermillion comforted him with his countdown, and the child died with a smile. As he grieved, Reigel walked over to comfort him. Nova managed to convince the spectres to stand down, and Vermillion, still in shock that Jun-Ho sacrificed himself for his life, left with Nova.
Vermillion briefly returned to Tartarus to bury Jun-Ho and Evelyn, and then was returned to Korhal on the Griffin, where he continued to broadcast his pro-Arcturus show. Reporting on the events of the last few weeks, he initially intended to decry the "hypocrites" of the Dominion, drawing parallels with the spectres and how people regarded Arcturus Mengsk, but found his anger cooling even as he spoke. On the spur of the moment, decided to make a new segment for his show, Heroes of the Dominion, where he would broadcast the feats of heroism of those who work for a brighter future for the Dominion. Over the next few days, he received an assortment of clips that ranged from angry people brandishing weapons to pet rescues, and he began to doubt his decision. But as he sorted through the submissions, he found one of Reigel rescuing innocent civilians, and smiled to himself.[6]
Personality and Traits[]
"Donny's definitely not that."
Vermillion in one of his many broadcasts
Vermillion is loyal to Arcturus Mengsk. Even after the emperor's death, and the revelations of his role in the zerg invasion of Tarsonis, Vermillion still remained loyal to the emperor's memory,[6] though was still shaken by the revelations at the time.[4] Humbled by his experiences with the spectres, Vermillion's pro-Mengsk line softened. While loyal to Arcturus's memory, he acknowledged that one had to learn from the mistakes of the past and grow better from it.[6]
Vermillion has a high opinion of himself that those around him often don't share.[4] In Reigel's mind, Vermillion is definitely not strong-willed, and as such, he has no ability to resist mind control.[6]
When he gets scared, Vermillion counts down from five, to two, but never one, because "you just don't." This mechanism goes back to his days in the media.[6]
Notes[]
- The Galaxy Map Editor has a character model called SMDonnyVermillionDeath. The model shows the top half Donny's body lying on the floor. Some of the skin on his face is gone, revealing smoking machinery underneath leaking oil and spitting sparks.
- Blizzard initially planned on having Vermillion shot during the Korhal riots, and he would have been revealed to be a robot.[16]
- Vermillion has a golden ring with some type of a green gem in it. The ring is on his left hand's ring finger.[8]
- In name, appearance, and behaviour, Vermillion is reminiscent of the character Ron Burgundy from the 2004 movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
- Vermillion closely resembles Tom from Newsworthy in both appearance and role at UNN.[17]
- Donny Vermillion's role as a UNN reporter in "The Vermillion Problem," which occurs during the End War, contradicts the Kate Lockwell Twitter page, which states that Vermillion's rehabilitation and return to the UNN occurred after the End War and shortly before the Defenders of Man Insurgency.[18]
Images[]
References[]
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| Universal News Network Anchorman | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded By | Duration | Succeeded By |
|
unknown |
?—2504 |
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