Tassadar

Tassadar was a protoss high templar and executor who commanded the expeditionary force that made first contact with the zerg, and through it the first contact between the protoss and the terrans of the Koprulu Sector. A warrior and philosopher who walked Aiur for centuries, he broke with the ruling Conclave rather than exterminate humanity, learned the Void energies of the Dark Templar under Zeratul, and gave his life to destroy the Overmind. His sacrifice earned him the title Savior of the Templar.

Warrior and philosopher#

Tassadar was born into a generation that looked set for a promising future, yet his own life reflected a growing rift in protoss society. Frustrated by the stoic, dogmatic reverence his elders held for the past, he believed that the unbending nature of protoss society and its inability to reexamine ancient traditions would lead to disaster. The Dark Templar, the exiled kindred who had refused the Khala, held a special interest for him even though they stood against everything he had been raised to believe.

He rose through the ranks of the Templar Caste alongside his friend Fenix, walking Aiur for centuries as both warrior and philosopher before achieving the rank of executor. He was noted for his compassion toward what other protoss called lesser races. He served as mentor to the young Artanis, teaching him leadership and the ways of a warrior, with the templar Selendis serving as a liaison between them.

First contact and the break with the Conclave#

Not long before the Great War, the Koprulu Expeditionary Fleet under Tassadar's aegis encountered zerg deep space scouting creatures. Returned to Aiur and probed with khaydarin crystals, the creatures proved to have a natural affinity for the crystals' energies, meaning they had been shaped by xel'naga manipulation just as the protoss had been. More disturbing still was the thought stream that ran through them: find humanity, learn, evolve.

Tassadar argued that under the dictates of the Dae'Uhl the protoss were responsible for protecting the terrans. The Conclave held that the worthless race should be eradicated if already infested, and sent Tassadar with his fleet to gauge the danger. By the time the fleet reached the terran colony world of Chau Sara on 8 December 2499, the zerg were already present. Reasonably certain that any survivors were beyond hope, Tassadar carried out the order to sterilize Chau Sara with great reluctance. At the sister world of Mar Sara he hesitated. After meeting token resistance from a Terran Confederacy fleet under Edmund Duke, he announced himself and withdrew, unable to follow his genocidal orders. He sought a way to defeat the zerg without wiping out humanity, wondering whether humans might hold greater potential than to be unwitting casualties of zerg or protoss.

He grew more proactive, personally leading a landing party to Fire Base Chimera on Mar Sara and euthanizing an infested terran marine at the man's own request. As the infestation spread to Antiga Prime and then to Tarsonis, Tassadar gave the terrans time to escape and even offered an alliance, sterilizing worlds only when no hope remained. At Tarsonis he came into direct conflict for the first time with his future nemesis, Sarah Kerrigan. For sparing humanity he lost his position as executor, and the Conclave ordered him to return to Aiur for punishment.

Char and the Dark Templar#

Tassadar refused to return. A psionic cry drew him to Char, the zerg base of operations. He sent most of his fleet home and kept only the Gantrithor and its crew. On Char he met Jim Raynor, leader of Raynor's Raiders and a survivor of Mar Sara, and won a tentative alliance. He then encountered the Dark Templar prelate Zeratul, who had demonstrated the ability to permanently slay zerg cerebrates by killing Zasz, a feat the Khalai could not match because they did not wield Void-based energies. Despite his initial distrust, Tassadar was convinced by Zeratul to cooperate, and the two protoss groups and the Raiders forged an alliance of mutual respect.

When the Overmind read Zeratul's mind through the connection forged by Zasz's death, it learned the location of Aiur and turned the bulk of the Zerg Swarm against the protoss homeworld. From Char, Tassadar and Zeratul contacted the new executor Artanis and revealed the key truth that the zerg could be defeated by killing the cerebrates. In time Zeratul taught Tassadar to wield the Void energies, blasphemy in the eyes of the Khala, and Tassadar underwent the Shadow Walk, achieving a completeness beyond the scope of the Khala. Using these new powers he slew the cerebrate that anchored Kerrigan's forces on Char, breaking her control of the Swarm.

Heresy, civil war, and sacrifice#

Branded a liar, traitor, and heretic by the Conclave, Tassadar was hunted across the sector. He recovered Zeratul and the Dark Templar from an infested terran installation, then returned to Aiur, where Fenix, now housed in a dragoon, joined him. Faced with a Conclave that still clung to its failing traditions in the face of total annihilation, Tassadar reluctantly ordered his followers to attack, but, appalled by the bloodshed between protoss, he could not press the assault home and surrendered himself. His allies Artanis, Fenix, and Raynor freed him, and the timely intervention of the Dark Templar allowed them all to escape. The Protoss Civil War ended with the Conclave broken.

Reunited, Tassadar impressed upon his allies the dire need to destroy the Overmind before it could fully assimilate the protoss. The Dark Templar slew two cerebrates to weaken the creature's defenses and distract it, drawing a belated apology from Aldaris. Tassadar took the field aboard the Gantrithor for the final assault, and the protoss and Raiders managed to destroy the Overmind's outer shell. With casualties mounting and the killing blow seemingly out of reach, Tassadar ordered the Gantrithor to collide with the Overmind while he channeled the power of the Khala and the Void through the ship. As he plummeted toward the creature he contacted his former pupil Artanis, telling him he had to take the path laid before him. The resulting energies destroyed his body, the Gantrithor, and the Overmind itself.

Martyr and tool of prophecy#

Though the Overmind was destroyed and creation spared, the victory was pyrrhic, and Aiur lay in ruins as the leaderless zerg rampaged across its surface. Tassadar's allies elevated him to martyr and hero. His name was invoked in salutations and dedications by Khalai and Nerazim alike, and carriers in the style of the Gantrithor continued to be built for years in honor of his sacrifice. Zeratul had once believed Tassadar to be a reincarnation of the Anakh Su'n, the Twilight Deliverer, and the term Twilight Messiah was also used to describe him.

His image returned to history after his death. On the eve of the Second Great War, when Zeratul extracted memories from the Overmind's cortex, the xel'naga Ouros chose the form of Tassadar as one Zeratul would instinctively trust, using that guise to impart a vision of a future in which the protoss are annihilated should Sarah Kerrigan be killed. Ouros wore the disguise twice more, revealing to Zeratul on Atrias that the Keystone would usher him unto hope, and later appearing in the Void to inspire Artanis before revealing his true form.