StarCraft category
Zerg
69 entries tagged Zerg, 69 of them long reads. The rest of the wiki points here most often at Zerg and Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades.
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2- Abathur: the Swarm's living DNA librarySpun from many species by the Overmind, Abathur designed the Queen of Blades. He later betrayed Zagara to restart the wars he thought zerg needed.
- Alexei Stukov: murdered, then infestedDuGalle's oldest friend and second in command was killed on his own admiral's orders, after Samir Duran worked on the fleet. The zerg brought him back.
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6- 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 War: Kerrigan's war for the SwarmThe Brood War was a zerg civil war between Kerrigan and the cerebrate Daggoth over who would succeed the Overmind. The UED invaded from Earth at the same time.
- 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.
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4- 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 vanished from the Swarm after the Brood War, 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 corrosive 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.
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6- 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.
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5- End War: Amon's crusade on the galaxyThe resurrected xel'naga Amon corrupted the Khala and cost the protoss both Aiur and Shakuras. Kerrigan, remade as a xel'naga, killed him in the Void.
- 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.
- Every Zerg Brood, From the Garm Brood to Kerrigan's SwarmEvery named zerg brood in StarCraft, from the Overmind's six great broods of the Great War to the broodmothers who served the Queen of Blades. Each entry covers who led it, what it was good at, where it fought and how it ended.
- Every Zerg Unit in StarCraft and StarCraft II, ExplainedEvery zerg strain from StarCraft, Brood War and the three StarCraft II campaigns, from the zergling to the leviathan. Each entry covers the species it came from, what it does for the Swarm and where it turns up in the story.
- Evolution Chamber: crucible of zerg genetic advancementThe evolution chamber was a living zerg structure grown to test and refine the genetic code of the Swarm. Conceived under the Overmind's mandate against complacency, it hardened the strains of the zerg and passed each improvement outward through the hive cluster.
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2- 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.
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3- Great War: protoss against zerg over AiurThe Great War was the first open fight between protoss and zerg, with the terrans caught between them. It ended over Aiur with the Overmind destroyed.
- 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.
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4- Hatchery: foundational structure of every zerg colonyThe hatchery was the living heart of every zerg colony, spreading creep, birthing larvae, and digesting minerals and vespene gas into nutrients for the Swarm. Grown from a single metamorphosed drone, it could mature into a lair and finally a hive, and the zerg defended it with fanatical zeal.
- Hive: apex structure of the Zerg SwarmThe hive was the primary structure of the zerg and the final evolution of the hatchery, unlocking the last stages of the Swarm's development. Shielded by a dense exoskeleton and joined to the Overmind's full pool of knowledge, it gave the being that commanded it the power to loose the full fury of the zerg.
- How Did Kerrigan Become Human Again in StarCraft 2?Kerrigan became human again at the end of Wings of Liberty, when Raynor's forces fired an ancient xel'naga artifact on Char and its energy wave stripped away most of her zerg infestation. Here's how it worked, what it left behind and why it didn't last.
- 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.
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4- 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.
- Is Kerrigan Dead?No. At the end of StarCraft II, Kerrigan doesn't die: she becomes a xel'naga, destroys Amon and comes back two years later for Raynor in human form. Here is why some players think she died, and what the game actually shows.
- 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.
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2- 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.
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3- 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.
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3- 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.
- Overmind: the zerg mind that betrayed AmonAmon built the Overmind on Zerus to drive the zerg at the protoss. It worked in secret against him instead, and died above Aiur to Tassadar's sacrifice.
- 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.
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2- 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.
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4- Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of BladesSarah 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 War: Swarm vs Dominion, 2504The Second Great War broke out in 2504 and ended on Korhal with Arcturus Mengsk dead at Kerrigan's hand. Deinfesting her mid-war let the xel'naga Amon return.
- 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.
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4- What Happened to Kerrigan After Legacy of the Void?Kerrigan became a xel'naga, killed Amon, handed the Swarm to Zagara and later came back for Raynor in human form. Here's what Legacy of the Void's ending shows, what it leaves open and where she is in the stories that followed.
- Why Did Kerrigan Become a Xel'naga?Kerrigan became a xel'naga because it was the only way to kill Amon. In the Void, the dying xel'naga Ouros told her only one of their kind could defeat him there, and she accepted his essence partly to make up for her past. Here is the reasoning Legacy of the Void gives, and why it had to be her.
- Why Did Kerrigan Become Zerg in StarCraft?Kerrigan became zerg because Arcturus Mengsk abandoned her to the Swarm on Tarsonis and the Overmind chose to infest her rather than kill her. Years later, in Heart of the Swarm, she chose to become zerg again. Here's what happened both times and why.
- Why Did Kerrigan Kill Warfield?Kerrigan killed General Warfield on Char because he stood between her and the Swarm she needed for her revenge on Mengsk, and because he threw Raynor's name in her face. Then she let his wounded go. Here is what Heart of the Swarm shows in the cinematic Conscience, and what it means.
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7- Zagara: the broodmother who rebuilt worldsKerrigan made her on Char as the first broodmother. Zagara inherited the whole Swarm after the End War and set it to rebuilding worlds instead.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 far from the Koprulu sector 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.
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2- 2499: the year the Great War began2499 was the final year of peace in the Koprulu Sector and the first year of the Great War. It opened with quiet training rosters and covert cover ups, and it closed with two Confederate colonies burned from orbit, the zerg revealed to terran eyes, and rebellion spreading from Mar Sara to Antiga Prime.
- 2502: the year of quiet atrocities2502 fell in the uneasy years between the Brood War and the Second Great War. The Terran Dominion hid a colonial massacre behind parade broadcasts, Emperor Mengsk buried the mother of his heir, a squad of outlaw commandos was sent to kill Jim Raynor, and secret programs built on stolen ghosts and captive protoss advanced in the dark.