Zasz

Zasz was a zerg cerebrate and the leader of the Garm Brood during the Great War. Counted among the cleverest of his kind, he coordinated the actions of multiple cerebrates and could spy on enemies across great distances, yet he never ceased to question his fellows in an irritating, sniveling manner. Though somewhat unstable, he was extremely loyal to the Overmind.

Servant of the Overmind#

Like all cerebrates, Zasz was created to aid the Overmind in controlling the broods. He was reckoned one of the most clever of the cerebrates, able to coordinate the actions of several of his fellows at once and to spy on distant enemies. His cleverness came paired with an abrasive habit of questioning the others in a sniveling, irritating manner, and though his temperament was somewhat unstable, his devotion to the Overmind never wavered.

During the Great War, Zasz offered counsel to a newly created cerebrate tasked with keeping safe the chrysalis containing Sarah Kerrigan. On Tarsonis he directed the young cerebrate to remove an immediate threat by sweeping the area clear of nearby remnants of Omega Squadron. Once the junior cerebrate was strong enough to travel, the chrysalis was moved to a space platform and carried safely past protoss forces, with Zasz warning that the first jump through warp space could be unsettling.

The chrysalis on Char#

On Char the chrysalis's psionic emanations drew both terrans and protoss, and the Swarm was forced to defend its prize. Zasz alerted the Overmind to the unwelcome arrivals. The Terran Dominion's Alpha Squadron, led by General Edmund Duke, attacked first and was driven off, and Zasz instructed the junior cerebrate to use the lull to relocate the chrysalis to a more secure position. When that location was discovered and beset by Raynor's Raiders, Zasz urged the young cerebrate to let nothing interfere with the chrysalis's imminent hatching.

Once Kerrigan emerged, she resolved to raid the Amerigo to obtain the means of breaking the ghost conditioning that hampered her psionic abilities. Zasz opposed the venture, regarding it as personal aggrandizement unbecoming a servant of the Overmind, but relented when the Overmind assured him that her wishes accorded with its own. He assisted, yet he and Kerrigan would share only an adversarial relationship thereafter.

Death and consequences#

Freed of her ghost conditioning, Kerrigan sensed protoss on Char and was challenged to single combat by Tassadar. Zasz detected something strange about the encounter and counseled caution, but the headstrong Kerrigan refused and threatened him, leaving the offended cerebrate fearing she would be the end of the Swarm. His suspicion proved correct, for the duel was a distraction. While Kerrigan fought an illusion of Tassadar, the dark prelate Zeratul approached and claimed to know Kerrigan's weakness. Lulled into a false sense of security, the cerebrate ordered its brood away, allowing Zeratul to draw closer still. The prelate revealed that the zerg were vulnerable to the energies of the dark templar and slew him.

Zasz's death came as a shock to the Swarm. Kerrigan initially gloated, but even she could not ignore the implications of an attack that nullified cerebrate reincarnation. The Overmind fell silent for a time, and only after the destruction of the Garm Brood did it reveal that more than the death of an immortal had occurred. When Zeratul's blade struck Zasz, the Overmind and the prelate had read one another's thoughts: Zeratul glimpsed the Overmind's origin, and the Overmind learned the secret location of Aiur, setting the course of the war that followed.