Corruptor
anti-air flyer of the Zerg Swarm
The 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.
The corruptor was a squid-like flying strain of the Zerg Swarm, a giant brain-like creature with snapping beaks and dangling tentacles, designed solely for use against aerial targets. Corruptors were deployed chiefly against capital ships. Once the Swarm gained superiority in the air, the corruptor could morph into the brood lord to bring its weight to bear on the ground war. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm; StarCraft Field Manual)
Physiology#
A genetic marvel, the corruptor is a giant brain-like creature with snapping beaks and dangling tentacles, and the core genus of the strain is unknown. The original genus was absorbed both by the Swarm and by the primal Zerg. Corruptors of the Leviathan Brood adapted themselves to survive in high-gravity environments, while primal corruptors evolved thicker claws and a denser carapace. (StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void)
Parasite spores#
The corruptor's weapon was its parasite spores, a corrosive acid it sprayed over its targets, causing them to take additional damage from subsequent attacks. The acid could cut through even the most durable of materials. Because the strain was designed solely for use against aerial targets, this weapon was turned chiefly against capital ships. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void)
Morphing into the brood lord#
Corruptors possess the ability to morph into brood lords. Once the Swarm gains air or space superiority, its corruptor fleet can morph en masse to help turn the tide of the ground war. (StarCraft Field Manual; StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)
History#
The corruptor's genetic template was lost during the Second Great War when the Swarm fragmented, and the brood lord was nearly lost along with it. When the brood lord's template was recovered, it had to be re-based on the mutalisk. Despite the apparent loss of the corruptor's essence from the Swarm, Kerrigan used corruptors in her attack on a Moebius Corps facility, and many corruptors survived among the feral Zerg. During the End War, Amon enslaved a number of corruptors to reinforce his Zerg forces. Years later, corruptors were found on the planet Jarban Minor, and the Defenders of Man used Nova Terra to plant psi-emitters on Antiga Prime, luring a number of feral corruptors there. (StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm; StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void; StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops)
Frequently asked questions
- What is a corruptor in StarCraft?
- The corruptor is a squid-like flying strain of the Zerg Swarm, a giant brain-like creature with snapping beaks and dangling tentacles, designed solely for use against aerial targets. Corruptors were deployed chiefly against capital ships.
- What weapon does the corruptor use?
- The corruptor's weapon is its parasite spores, a corrosive acid that leaves its targets taking additional damage from later attacks and can cut through even the most durable of materials.
- What can a corruptor morph into?
- Corruptors possess the ability to morph into brood lords. Once the Swarm gains air or space superiority, its corruptor fleet can morph en masse to help turn the tide of the ground war.
- What happened to the corruptor's genetic template?
- The corruptor's genetic template was lost during the Second Great War when the Swarm fragmented, and the brood lord was nearly lost along with it. When the brood lord's template was recovered, it had to be re-based on the mutalisk.
Gallery
Images via StarCraft Wiki
Sources
- GameStarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Blizzard Entertainment, 2010
- GameStarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, Blizzard Entertainment, 2013
- GameStarCraft II: Legacy of the Void, Blizzard Entertainment, 2015 (including Collections skin descriptions)
- GameStarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops, Blizzard Entertainment, 2016
- BookStarCraft Field Manual, Rick Barba, Insight Editions, 2015
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Brood Lord
The 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.
Mutalisk
The 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.
Zerg
The 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.
End War: Amon's crusade on the galaxy
The 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.
Leviathan
The 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.
Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades
Sarah 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.
Mentioned in3 entries
Brood Lord
The 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.
Essence
Essence 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 Unit in StarCraft and StarCraft II, Explained
Every 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.
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