StarCraft category

Zerg

56 entries tagged Zerg. Every entry is sourced from the StarCraft games, the novels, the manuals, or Blizzard’s published canon.

AbathurAbathur was the zerg evolution master, the Swarm's living DNA library, spun by the Overmind from many species. He designed the Queen of Blades, perfected countless strains for Sarah Kerrigan, and later betrayed Overqueen Zagara to reignite the wars he believed the zerg needed to evolve.
Alexei StukovAlexei Stukov was the vice admiral of the United Earth Directorate Expeditionary Fleet and tactical advisor to Admiral Gerard DuGalle. Murdered on the orders his own commander gave at Samir Duran's urging, he was resurrected through zerg infestation and spent the rest of his existence as an infested terran in the service of Sarah Kerrigan.
BanelingThe baneling was an explosive zerg strain evolved from the zergling through a brief chrysalis phase, its body remade to carry sacs of highly corrosive acid. A living suicide bomber, the baneling ruptured among enemy formations in a shower of searing acid that devastated both structures and ground forces.
Battle of KorhalThe Battle of Korhal was the final battle of the Second Great War, a joint assault by Sarah Kerrigan's Zerg Swarm and Jim Raynor's Raiders on the Dominion capital. It ended with the death of Emperor Arcturus Mengsk and the destruction of much of Augustgrad.
Battle of TarsonisThe Battle of Tarsonis, also called the Fall of Tarsonis, ended the Terran Confederacy. The Sons of Korhal lured the Zerg Swarm to the Confederate capital with psi-emitters, abandoned Sarah Kerrigan to the zerg, and cleared the way for Arcturus Mengsk to found the Terran Dominion.
Brood LordThe brood lord is a massive manta-like Zerg flyer morphed from the corruptor, used by the Swarm as an aerial siege creature that rains living broodlings down onto ground targets. It serves only in the largest of conflicts.
Brood WarThe Brood War was a zerg civil war between Sarah Kerrigan and the cerebrate Daggoth over the succession of the Overmind, fought against the backdrop of an invasion by the United Earth Directorate. It ended with Kerrigan supreme over the Koprulu Sector and the Directorate destroyed.
BroodmotherBroodmothers were powerful, intelligent queens created by the Queen of Blades to replace the cerebrates, tasked with guarding and leading the broods of the Zerg Swarm. Independent enough to survive their creator's fall, they fragmented the Swarm when Kerrigan was deinfested and warred among themselves for control.
CerebrateCerebrates were the intermediate commanders of the zerg, created by the Overmind to lead individual broods and oversee the Swarm's evolution. Bound to the Overmind for their reincarnation, they were hunted to extinction after the Brood War and replaced by Sarah Kerrigan's broodmothers.
CharChar was an inhospitable volcanic planet in the Koprulu sector that became the primary hive world of the zerg. It was the site of Sarah Kerrigan's rebirth as the Queen of Blades and, years later, of her restoration to human form.
CorruptorThe corruptor is a squid-like Zerg flyer bred to destroy enemy aircraft and capital ships, dousing its targets in matter-disrupting parasite spores and capable of morphing into the brood lord once the Swarm wins the skies.
CreepCreep was a living zerg superorganism, a viscous purple substance that nourished zerg structures and strains, bound entire colonies into a single organism, and could consume a whole planet within days if left unchecked.
DaggothDaggoth was one of the Overmind's greatest cerebrates and master of the Tiamat Brood, the largest and most powerful brood in the Swarm. After the Overmind fell, he took command of the surviving cerebrates and built a Second Overmind, perishing when Kerrigan destroyed them.
Dauntless PlateauThe Dauntless Plateau was a raised position on Char from which General Horace Warfield directed the Dominion purge of the zerg after Kerrigan was deinfested. The reforming Swarm overran it, killing Warfield and reclaiming the world for the Swarm.
DefilerThe defiler is a rare, silverfish-like Zerg breed that synthesizes virus-like biochemicals from the leftover genetic material of other strains, shrouding allies in living swarms and corroding enemies beneath toxic plague clouds.
DehakaDehaka was a primal zerg pack leader from Zerus and one of the last of his kind before the Swarm's return. He allied with Sarah Kerrigan to gather essence, fought across the Koprulu sector, and led the primal zerg against Amon during the End War.
DevourerThe devourer was the anti-air aspect of the zerg mutalisk, slower than its parent strain but more resilient. Its attack flung corrosive acid spores that clung to enemy aircraft, weakening their armor and slowing their fire.
DroneThe drone was the zerg worker strain, gathering resources and morphing its own body into the living structures of the Swarm. A single drone, descended from one surviving larva, could seed an entire reborn zerg colony.
End WarThe End War was the galaxy-wide crusade waged by the fallen xel'naga Amon after his resurrection. It saw the corruption of the Khala, the fall of Aiur and Shakuras, the unification of the protoss under Artanis, and the final destruction of Amon in the Void by Sarah Kerrigan.
EssenceEssence was the genetic information carried by all life and the key to zerg evolution. By consuming or assimilating their prey, the zerg took the essence of other creatures and folded their desired strengths into the Swarm, an ability that first drew the fallen xel'naga Amon to enslave them.
Fall of AiurThe Fall of Aiur was the zerg invasion of the protoss homeworld during the Great War, fought at the same time as the Protoss Civil War. Tassadar destroyed the Overmind, but the Swarm had already claimed too much of Aiur, killing seventy percent of the protoss and forcing the survivors to abandon their world.
Feral ZergFeral zerg were zerg that had fallen outside the control of any higher entity, reverting to predatory instinct and attacking everything around them. Drawn to psionic emanations and able to survive without creep, they recurred across the Koprulu Sector wherever a cerebrate, broodmother, or the will of Kerrigan was lost.
Great WarThe Great War was the first open conflict between the protoss and the zerg in the Koprulu Sector, with the terrans caught between two ancient enemies. It saw the fall of the Confederacy, the rise of the Terran Dominion, the infestation of Sarah Kerrigan, and the death of the Overmind over Aiur.
GuardianThe guardian was the anti-ground aspect of the zerg mutalisk, a long range artillery flier converted from an existing mutalisk. In numbers it could lay waste to a base and ground force, but it had no defense against enemy aircraft.
GysttGystt was a world purified by the protoss and long thought irreparable, until Overqueen Zagara restored it to life using the adostra. It became the site of the One-Day War and, afterward, Zagara's hive world.
HydraliskThe hydralisk was a versatile zerg combat strain evolved from the peaceful slothien, armored in carapace plates and able to launch volleys of armor-piercing spines from its upper body. Forming the backbone of the Swarm's onslaughts, the hydralisk symbolized zerg power to terrans more than any other strain.
Infested TerranInfested terrans were a breed of zerg created when the Swarm infected a human with a hyper-evolutionary virus, consuming the victim's mind and remaking the body. Most became disposable suicide bombers, but the zerg eventually perfected sentient infested terrans who served as consorts, generals, and living weapons.
InfestorThe infestor is a burrowing Zerg support strain evolved from the borbu matriarch, capable of moving while burrowed, seizing control of enemies with a neural parasite, and disgorging infested marines and larvae on the battlefield.
IzshaIzsha was a one-of-a-kind zerg advisor in service to Sarah Kerrigan, grafted to her leviathan, where she stored the Queen of Blades' memories and filtered the Swarm's endless sensory data. She stood as a midpoint between Kerrigan's cold reason and the feral nature of the zerg.
KaldirKaldir was a frozen moon of Midr IV, among the coldest places in the Koprulu sector, where Sarah Kerrigan infested the world to make the Swarm resistant to cold and clashed with a stranded protoss expedition.
Kerrigan's Swarm: the Zerg Swarm under the Queen of BladesKerrigan's Swarm was the faction of the Zerg Swarm led by Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades, formed when the death of the Overmind split the leaderless zerg and Kerrigan seized control of the broods she would command through the Brood War, the Second Great War, and the war against Amon.
LarvaThe larva was the base zerg unit from which all other strains and structures were born. Carrying the genetic code of the entire Swarm in its DNA, a single larva could pupate into any breed the hive required, and the first zerg the terrans ever encountered.
LeviathanThe leviathan was a massive airborne zerg breed that served as the Swarm's equivalent of a capital ship. Measured at around eleven kilometers long and capable of deep-space and warp travel, it became Sarah Kerrigan's mobile base of operations after her return to the zerg.
LurkerThe lurker is an arachnid Zerg strain evolved from the hydralisk that attacks only while burrowed, erupting waves of super-dense spines from beneath the ground to impale anything caught above it.
MutaliskThe mutalisk was the primary airborne strain of the zerg, evolved from the mantis screamer and able to travel through atmosphere and deep space alike. Communicating by scent and attacking with parasitic glaive wurms, mutalisks wheeled across the skies in vast numbers over zerg nests and forces.
Nydus WormThe nydus worm was a zerg transport strain that tunneled beneath a battlefield to deliver Swarm forces to distant locations. An evolution of the nydus canal, it stretched its own body to line the tunnels it dug and emerged to disgorge zerg warriors far behind enemy lines.
OverlordThe overlord is a Zerg flyer evolved from the assimilated Gargantis proximae, serving the Swarm as a coordinator of lesser strains, a long-range sensory scout, an unmatched psionic transmitter, and a deep-space transport.
OvermindThe Overmind was the sentient hive mind of the Zerg Swarm, created by Amon to assimilate the protoss. Though bound by an overriding directive, it secretly worked to free the zerg from its maker, engineering the Queen of Blades before falling to Tassadar above Aiur.
OverseerThe overseer was a zerg strain evolved from the overlord, covered in highly evolved optical receptors that let it detect hidden and burrowed enemies. Through incorporated terran DNA it could also spawn changelings to infiltrate enemy forces.
Primal ZergThe primal zerg were a zerg subspecies of the planet Zerus who never fell under the Overmind's control, retaining the physical and psychological traits of the original zerg. Reptilian rather than insectile, individual rather than hive-bound, they pursued an endless Darwinian struggle to ascend the evolutionary ladder.
QueenThe queen is a Zerg support strain derived from the Arachnis brood-keeper, bred to administrate hive clusters, oversee maturing broods, and serve as an infestation specialist. Two distinct forms exist across the history of the Swarm, the flying Great War queen and the ground-bound hive-master engineered after the Brood War.
Raid on CharThe Raid on Char was a protoss strike on the zerg homeworld during the Brood War, mounted to recover the Khalis crystal from beneath the infant Overmind. Artanis and Zeratul, aided by Sarah Kerrigan, took the crystal and escaped.
RoachThe roach was a heavily armored zerg ground strain evolved from the fast-healing zantar slug, able to spit corrosive acid and regenerate grievous wounds at high speed while burrowed. Tough and nearly impervious to small-arms fire, the roach anchored the Swarm's ground assaults alongside the zergling.
Sarah KerriganSarah Kerrigan was a psychic terran who began as a Confederate ghost, rose to be second-in-command of the Sons of Korhal, and after Arcturus Mengsk abandoned her on Tarsonis was captured and infested by the Zerg Swarm to become the Queen of Blades.
ScourgeThe scourge is a blind, suicidal aerial strain of the zerg that detonates itself against enemy starships in both atmosphere and the vacuum of space. A single scourge can destroy a fighter, and a handful can breach a starship hull.
Second Great WarThe Second Great War broke out in 2504 between the Zerg Swarm and the Terran Dominion, four years after the Brood War. It saw Sarah Kerrigan deinfested and then reborn in primal form, the death of Arcturus Mengsk, and the resurrection of the fallen xel'naga Amon.
Swarm HostThe swarm host was a zerg siege strain that burrowed into the ground and birthed an endless supply of short-lived locusts from an incubator on its back. Adapted by Abathur from the primal hosts of Zerus, it gave the Swarm a living artillery piece.
UltraliskThe ultralisk was the most powerful ground strain the zerg possessed, a massive living battering ram evolved from the docile brontolith and armed with near-indestructible kaiser blades. Heavily armored and able to charge through protoss force fields, the ultralisk served as the Swarm's siegebreaker.
ViperThe viper was a zerg support flier evolved from the defiler template and perfected by Abathur. It blinded and disabled enemies, snatched them from high ground with a regurgitated proboscis, and siphoned energy from zerg structures to return to the fight.
ZagaraZagara was the first of the broodmothers, created by Sarah Kerrigan on Char, and rose to become Overqueen of the Zerg Swarm. Once a merciless believer in the old ways, she inherited the Swarm after the End War and turned it toward the rebuilding of worlds.
ZaszZasz was a clever and loyal zerg cerebrate who led the Garm Brood during the Great War. His assassination by Zeratul opened a fatal psionic link that revealed the location of Aiur to the Overmind.
Zerg CrusadersThe Zerg Crusaders were a zerg force active during the Great War that fought across Aridas to recover the Argus Stone, channeling it into the Supreme Being on Char after defeating a combined terran and protoss effort to stop them.
Zerg technologyThe Zerg Swarm did not build machines but evolved them, channeling its mastery of genetics, regeneration, and creep into living weapons and structures that served in place of the manufactured technology of the terrans and protoss.
ZergThe zerg are a ravenous collective of biologically advanced aliens who evolve by assimilating the essence of other species in pursuit of genetic perfection. Created by Amon's xel'naga on Zerus and bound to the Overmind, they grew into one of the three dominant powers of the galaxy.
ZerglingThe zergling was the most numerous warrior strain of the zerg, a fast, sickle-clawed creature evolved from the Zz'gashi dune runner and spawned two at a time from a single larva. Zerglings served as the Swarm's frontline assault troops, overwhelming foes through sheer weight of numbers.
ZerusZerus was a jungle world in the central Milky Way and the birthworld of the zerg, where the first Swarm arose from the spawning pools and was bound to the hive mind by the xel'naga. Left a wasteland after the Swarm departed, it healed into a jungle ruled by the primal zerg.