Psionic powers

Psionic powers, also known as psychic powers, were the ability to use the mind to induce paranormal phenomena. They were present to various degrees across the species of the Koprulu sector, most prominently the protoss, but also among the terran and the zerg. Whether a species possessed psionic powers was dictated by its structural makeup, and even the subtlest change to an organism's genetic code could destroy its psionic potential. Psionic emanations could be lethal to organisms, were not fully understood by terran science, and tended to grow more effective at closer ranges.

Protoss psionics#

The protoss were masters of psionic powers and natural mind-readers. They used their abilities to shield themselves, to charge their tools and weapons, and to materialize, manipulate or meld matter, and they learned to integrate psionics directly into their technology, both to amplify the power and to grant their machines paranormal effects such as teleportation. A very small number of protoss, the preservers, could hold the memories of countless other protoss across centuries. The high templar's powers were great enough to conjure storms of psychic energy that destroyed the minds of living creatures, and when two high templar merged they formed a creature of pure psionic energy known as an archon.

The Khala and the Void#

The Khala was a structured approach to protoss psionics, developed near the end of the Aeon of Strife to restore the sanity of the protoss. It granted great control and discipline, and its fortitude protected protoss from assimilation by the zerg, but being subsumed in the Khala meant a certain loss of self alongside the gain of the communal "other," with a risk that the loss could be severe. Most of the Judicator and Templar castes joined the Khala at least once each day.

The Nerazim, the Dark Templar, cut themselves off from the Khala to preserve their mental independence and instead drew on the Void. The Conclave feared this could provoke another Aeon of Strife, and lacking the Khala's discipline some Nerazim powers, such as psionic storm, ran out of control. The Void nonetheless gave the Nerazim enormously strong individual wills and allowed them to learn cloaking very quickly. The Nerazim kept no preservers, relying instead on modified khaydarin crystals. The Tal'darim also wielded the energies of the Void, their powers enhanced by exposure to terrazine, which weakened the barrier between material reality and the Void.

Terran psionics#

The terrans exhibited a powerful psionic potential and stood only a few steps from developing into a formidable psionic power, but very few individuals could actually use the abilities. Most of those who could became ghosts; weaker psychics could become wranglers, used to hunt other psychics. Terran children were tested at a young age for psychic potential, and both the Confederacy and the Terran Dominion went to great lengths to ensure such children joined the Ghost Program, though many slipped through the cracks, especially in the fringe colonies. Despite their presence in the population, many terrans did not believe psionics existed among their own kind and dismissed ghost agents as government propaganda.

Terran psychics were rated on the Psionic Index. A psychic with a PI of 2 to 5 could sense psionic powers but generally could not use other abilities, and some were employed as wranglers; those at PI 5 to 6 were telepathic and recruited as ghosts; and those at PI 8 or higher possessed telekinesis, with a few demonstrating pyrokinesis. Some technology could interfere with terran psionics: the psi-screen disrupted telepathy, neuroleptic drugs could temporarily suppress abilities, and psionic feedback could in turn disrupt electronics. Powerful terran psychic occupations included the ghost, the spectre, and the shadowguard. Notable terran psychics ranged from Nova Terra and Gabriel Tosh to Sarah Kerrigan before her infestation.

Zerg psionics#

The zerg possessed a limited degree of psionic power, a legacy of the psionic link the Overmind once established with the xel'naga. The core zerg strains were incapable of major projective psionic abilities, though advanced specialist strains demonstrated them. All zerg strains possessed a degree of telepathy, but it differed from the communication used by protoss or terrans, making it normally impossible to speak with most strains. The zerg were sensitive to psionics and could detect psi emitters from great distances, even across worlds, and zerglings could sense the emanations of a powerful psychic at considerable range. Overlords relied on a weak telekinetic ability, combined with helium-filled gas sacs, for lift and motion.

Hybrid psionics#

The protoss/zerg hybrid emitted only minimal psionic power while in stasis, no more than that radiated by captured high templar, but once awakened they demonstrated startling strength. The hybrid displayed a wide range of abilities and could even consume DNA. Creatures bound to Amon appeared to wield similar powers, and psychics who came near them felt deeply disturbed, though they could block the sensation out.