Dark Archon

The dark archon was a heavy protoss psionic being formed when two dark templar sacrificed themselves in a psionic melding, much as their high templar kin gave rise to the ordinary archon. A burning crimson figure of living psionic energy, the dark archon wielded powers of the Void that extended well beyond those of a normal archon, more than compensating for its lack of any physical attack.

Nature and existence#

The dark archon was a creature of pure, living psionic energy, its crimson form said to spread fear across any battlefield. Where two high templar merge into an archon, two dark templar merged into a dark archon, embodying the eternal wrath of their kind and drawing on the powers of the Void. It possessed no physical means of attack, relying entirely on its psionic abilities, which were considerably more potent than those of an ordinary archon.

The energies that sustained a dark archon were chaotic and unstable. Under ordinary circumstances these energies caused the being to burn itself out and dissipate after only a short period. Dark archons were said to describe their own existence as one of suffering. The sole exception recorded was Ulrezaj, who alone found a means to avoid this fate and prolong his unnatural existence, and whose abilities were markedly different from those of other dark archons.

A forbidden creation#

The dark archon arose out of the long exile of the dark templar. Through centuries of struggle, adapting their skills and reshaping their biology to survive a harsh environment, the Nerazim developed the means to produce these beings. So great was their power that the dark templar outlawed their creation for a thousand years out of fear of what they had made.

The prohibition was first lifted only when the Khalai came to Shakuras, the dark templar homeworld. Matriarch Raszagal and Zeratul authorized the creation of dark archons to counter Aldaris's rebellion, in which archons fought on the side of the insurgents. It was the first time the Khalai had seen or even heard of a dark archon, and they regarded the beings as abominations. Years later, the preserver Zamara identified Ulrezaj as the only dark archon then in existence. The ban was set aside once more in 2506, during the End War, when the threat of Amon moved the protoss to authorize their creation again.