Koprulu Sector: where three races met
The Terran Sector of the Galactic Fringe
A fringe region sixty thousand light years from Earth, settled by exiled humans. The Great War and the Brood War were both fought across its worlds.
The Koprulu sector, nicknamed the Terran Sector, was a region of space on the galactic fringe of the Milky Way, sixty thousand light years from Earth. It was colonized by terrans, lay in the shadow of protoss space, and later saw incursions by the zerg. It served as the central stage for the conflicts of the StarCraft era. (StarCraft)
Early history#
With the arrival of humanity, settlers noted that the sector had been inhabited or at least graced by alien species, given the prevalence of lifeforms that appeared to have been formed artificially, but by the time of terran settlement no sapient species inhabited it, though the sector featured an extensive range of flora and fauna. (StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade)
When the colony ships Nagglfar, Argo, Sarengo, and Reagan ventured into the sector, they crash-landed on Tarsonis, Moria, and Umoja. Sixty years later, second-generation subwarp engines developed on Tarsonis allowed the colonies to make contact with one another. Tarsonian fleets continued to explore the sector, founding prosperous colonies on Korhal, Tyrador VIII, Tyrador IX, Brontes, Dylar IV, Chau Sara, and Mar Sara, and these colonies founded the Terran Confederacy. (StarCraft)
The Morians, who held the largest resource mining operations in the sector, merged the Morian Mining Coalition and the Kelanis Shipping Guild into the Kel-Morian Combine, wanting to maximize their ability to drain resources and fearing Confederate regulation. Rising tensions led to the Guild Wars in 2485, fought on worlds including Char and Turaxis II. The conflict ended with the Confederacy negotiating peace with the Combine in 2489, assuring Confederate supremacy in the sector for the next decade. (StarCraft; StarCraft II: Heaven's Devils)
The Great War and Brood War#
In 2499 the zerg infested Chau Sara, Mar Sara, Brontes, and Dylar IV. On December 8 the Koprulu Expeditionary Force incinerated Chau Sara from orbit, and the protoss did likewise with Mar Sara and Antiga Prime. The fall of Tarsonis collapsed the Confederacy in 2500, and Arcturus Mengsk formed the Terran Dominion, uniting the sector under one sovereign rule for the first time. (StarCraft; StarCraft: Brood War)
During the Brood War, the United Earth Directorate took control of the sector by sending an expeditionary fleet that occupied Korhal and enslaved the new Overmind. Their domination was brief. Under the command of the Queen of Blades, the zerg expelled the UED from Korhal and used the Nerazim Zeratul to kill the new Overmind, and the UED fleet was destroyed en route to Earth. (StarCraft: Brood War)
Interbellum and the wars that followed#
For the next four years Sarah Kerrigan's Swarm was the dominant force in the sector, refraining from overt hostilities against the terrans and protoss. The Khalai struggled to recover from the loss of Aiur while attempting to reunify their society with the Dark Templar, and their power bloc became known as the Daelaam. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga: Shadow Hunters; StarCraft: Frontline Volume 1)
In 2504 Kerrigan launched an invasion of terran space to obtain the scattered pieces of the Keystone, which were eventually collected by Raynor's Raiders. The invasion ended in a Dominion attack on Char, where the artifact made Kerrigan human again and scattered her broods. After returning to the zerg and becoming the primal Queen of Blades, Kerrigan invaded Korhal, killed Mengsk, and ended the conflict before departing to confront the resurrected Xel'Naga Amon. Valerian Mengsk succeeded his father as monarch of the Terran Dominion. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm; StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void)
During the End War, the Koprulu sector became a battlefield as Amon unleashed the Golden Armada in a bid to eradicate all life, a war that ended with his defeat. By 2508 scientists reported a regrowth of life on previously barren worlds. (StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void)
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Koprulu sector?
- The Koprulu sector, nicknamed the Terran Sector, was a remote region of space on the galactic fringe of the Milky Way, sixty thousand light years from Earth. It was colonized by terrans, lay in the shadow of protoss space, saw later incursions by the zerg, and served as the central stage for the conflicts of the StarCraft era.
- How was the Koprulu sector first settled by humans?
- The colony ships Nagglfar, Argo, Sarengo, and Reagan ventured into the sector and crash-landed on Tarsonis, Moria, and Umoja. Sixty years later, second-generation subwarp engines developed on Tarsonis allowed the colonies to make contact with one another, and Tarsonian fleets went on to found prosperous colonies across the sector.
- What were the Guild Wars in the Koprulu sector?
- The Guild Wars were a conflict that began in 2485 after the Morians merged the Morian Mining Coalition and the Kelanis Shipping Guild into the Kel-Morian Combine, fearing Confederate regulation. Fought on worlds including Char and Turaxis II, the war ended when the Confederacy negotiated peace with the Combine in 2489.
- What happened to the Terran Confederacy in the Koprulu sector?
- In 2499 the zerg infested several worlds and the protoss began glassing infested planets. The fall of Tarsonis collapsed the Confederacy in 2500, after which Arcturus Mengsk formed the Terran Dominion and united the sector under one sovereign rule for the first time.
- Did the United Earth Directorate ever control the Koprulu sector?
- During the Brood War the United Earth Directorate took control of the sector by sending an expeditionary fleet that occupied Korhal and enslaved the new Overmind. Their domination was brief, as Sarah Kerrigan's zerg expelled them from Korhal and the UED fleet was destroyed en route to Earth.
Gallery

Images via StarCraft Wiki
Sources
- GameStarCraft, Blizzard Entertainment, 1998 (including the manual)
- GameStarCraft: Brood War, Blizzard Entertainment, 1998
- BookStarCraft: Liberty's Crusade, Jeff Grubb, 2001
- BookStarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga: Shadow Hunters, Christie Golden, 2007
- ComicStarCraft: Frontline Volume 1, Tokyopop, 2008
- BookStarCraft II: Heaven's Devils, William C. Dietz, 2010
- 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
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry

Aiur
Aiur was the homeworld of the protoss, a verdant world on the galactic fringe engineered by the Xel'Naga and seat of the Protoss Empire. It was overrun by the zerg in 2500 and reclaimed by the Daelaam after the defeat of Amon.

Antiga Prime
Antiga Prime was a terran fringe world in the Antiga system, the site of an open revolt against the Terran Confederacy that the Sons of Korhal turned into a zerg massacre, and a world later repopulated under the Terran Dominion.

Char
Char 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.

Chau Sara
Chau Sara was a Confederate colony in the Sara system, the smaller sister world of Mar Sara. It was one of the first terran worlds infested by the zerg and the first to be incinerated from orbit by the protoss, marking humanity's first contact with both alien species.

Dylar IV
Dylar IV was a planet in the Koprulu sector that served as a Core World of the Terran Confederacy and the home of the Dylarian Shipyards. Once the site of an ancient protoss mining colony, it passed in turn to the Confederacy, the zerg, and the Terran Dominion.

Korhal: the world Mengsk rebuilt from glass
The Confederacy answered Korhal's rebellion with a thousand nuclear missiles. Arcturus Mengsk rebuilt the black glass as his Dominion capital.
Mentioned in116 entries
2499: the year the Great War began
2499 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 atrocities
2502 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.
Adept
The adept is a protoss officer-class infantry warrior, a trained battlefield commander armed with glaive cannons and a psionic transfer ability that projects the warrior's mind across the field.
Adjutant
Adjutants were the non-sapient artificial intelligences that served terran commanders across the Koprulu sector as advisers, navigators, and keepers of data. Humanoid in form but bereft of social grace, they descended from the original ATLAS coding and offered commanders an ever-present strategic eye over the field of battle.
Agria
Agria was a terraformed colony world and botanical preserve of the Terran Confederacy and later the Terran Dominion. During the Second Great War its population was evacuated by Raynor's Raiders ahead of a zerg invasion.
Alexei Stukov: murdered, then infested
DuGalle'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.
Annihilators
The Annihilators, officially the 22nd Confederate and later Dominion Marine Division, were a small ground-based special forces unit famed for the highest zerg kill rate in the terran armed forces. They served first the Confederacy and then the Terran Dominion.
Antiga Prime
Antiga Prime was a terran fringe world in the Antiga system, the site of an open revolt against the Terran Confederacy that the Sons of Korhal turned into a zerg massacre, and a world later repopulated under the Terran Dominion.
ATLAS
The Artificial Tele-empathic Logistics Analysis System, or ATLAS, was a revolutionary supercomputer that selected which prisoners would survive the journey that founded the Koprulu sector colonies. Fragments of its code still survive in terran adjutants.
Augustgrad
Augustgrad was the capital city of Korhal and seat of the Terran Dominion, rebuilt from Confederate ruins and named for Augustus Mengsk. The most heavily fortified city in the Dominion, it was the site of Arcturus Mengsk's death at the hands of the zerg.
Baneling
The 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 Korhal
The 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.
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