Characters of the StarCraft series
Major and recurring characters from the military science fiction series StarCraft are listed below, organised by respective species and most commonly affiliated faction within the fictional universe. The story of the StarCraft series revolves around interstellar affairs in a distant sector of the galaxy, where three species are vying for supremacy: the Terrans, a highly factionalised future version of humanity; the Protoss, a theocratic race of vast psionic ability; and the Zerg, an insectoid species commanded by a hive mind persona. The latter two of these species were genetically engineered by the Xel'Naga, a fourth species believed extinct. The series was begun with Blizzard Entertainment's 1998 video game StarCraft, and has been expanded with sequels Insurrection, Retribution, Brood War, Ghost, Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm, and Legacy of the Void. The franchise has been further extended with a series of novels, graphic novels, and other works.
Seventeen characters from StarCraft universe appear as playable heroes within crossover multiplayer online battle arena game, Heroes of the Storm. All the three races—Terrans, Protoss, and Zerg—have been represented in the game.
Casting and design
The characters and story of the StarCraft series were created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney. However, as Phinney was not involved in StarCraft: Brood War, Chris Metzen alone is credited for the development of the plot in the expansion. Despite the series success globally, particularly in South Korea, Blizzard Entertainment has not made any major comments regarding the development of the characters and the storyline of the StarCraft series.However, interviews with two of the voice actors have given a glimpse into small parts of the development process. An interview with Robert Clotworthy, the voice of Jim Raynor in all released StarCraft games to date, has revealed that for the most part the voicing for the characters was done over only a few days in sessions of up to four hours, a fact mirrored in a similar interview with Sarah Kerrigan's actress, Glynnis Talken Campbell. Clotworthy also stated how the concept art for the game usually used for the visual development of characters and locales in games was used by him in order to develop the personality of his character.
Visually, most of the characters and units in the games were developed from artwork by Metzen and Samwise Didier, although at least two other artists—Glenn Rane and Peter Lee—have developed concept art for StarCraft II. It is also implied by some of the authors of the novels that the development of the characters in their books was influenced by Metzen as well as Andy Chambers and Evelyn Fredericksen. This is particularly notable for characters later appearing in the games, such as Valerian Mengsk.
Main characters
Jim Raynor
- Voiced by Robert Clotworthy
A former colonial marshal on the backwater planet of Mar Sara, Raynor joins [|Arcturus Mengsk's] revolutionaries in their fight against the tyrannical and corrupt Terran Confederacy, where he develops a relationship with Sarah Kerrigan, Mengsk's second in command. However, he quickly comes to realise that Mengsk is far from the force for good when he abandons Kerrigan and the entire population of a planet to die by the hand of the Zerg to satisfy his own thirst for power. Disillusioned and embittered, Raynor deserts Mengsk and becomes a persona non grata in the new Terran Dominion. The situation gets no better when Kerrigan, who was captured by the Zerg, is assimilated into the swarm and becomes one of their most powerful assets. After desertion, Raynor and his forces take part in major combat operations across the sector: He fights alongside the Protoss templar Tassadar in the battle that leads to the fall of the Zerg ruler, the Overmind, and splinters the Zerg into several factions. When the expeditionary forces of United Earth Directorate arrive in the sector to subjugate it, Raynor, Mengsk, and Kerrigan combine their Terran, Zerg, and Protoss allies to repel the invasion. No sooner than they fall, the alliance shatters.
Four years later, Raynor's rebel movement is contracted by a group called the Moebius Foundation to recover pieces of a Xel'Naga artifact which is ultimately used on Char by a combined force of Raynor's Raiders and Terran Dominion expeditionary fleet to deinfest the Queen of Blades, restoring Sarah Kerrigan's humanity. After her deinfestation, Kerrigan is relentlessly pursued by Arcturus Mengsk; during one such raid Arcturus's Dominion forces capture and allegedly summarily execute the rebel commander. It is later revealed that Raynor was not in fact executed, but held prisoner as a hostage to keep Kerrigan in line. After being freed from his prison Raynor assists Kerrigan as she storms the Dominion capital of Augustgrad on the planet Korhal After a showdown with Arcturus Mengsk inside his Palace, Kerrigan manages to gain the upper hand with help from James Raynor, and kills Arcturus by overloading his body with psychic energy, causing him to explode. In Legacy of the Void, Raynor and his Raiders are now part of the Dominion military under the new Emperor Valerian, and with the aid of Artanis and his protoss forces, defend Korhal from an attack by Amon. Joining with Artanis and Kerrigan later on, Raynor watches as Kerrigan ascends to become a Xel'naga and destroys Amon once and for all; two years later, Kerrigan – in human form – visits Raynor at the bar on Mar Sara where he began in Wings of Liberty, and he leaves with her. He is not seen or heard from again.
StarCraft creator Chris Metzen designed Raynor as a rough-living and dangerous man; Clotworthy describes Raynor as a man who other characters "wouldn't mess with". Nevertheless, his depiction is meant to be that of an ordinary man. Critics connected sympathetically with Raynor's plights, and GameSpot named him one of the best heroes in video gaming.
Raynor also appears as a playable character in Heroes of the Storm.
Sarah Kerrigan
- Voiced by Glynnis Talken Campbell in StarCraft; by Tricia Helfer in StarCraft II; by Vanessa Marshall in Heroes of the Storm.
Originally a Terran ghost agent for Arcturus Mengsk, she is betrayed and abandoned to the Zerg, who transform her into a Terran/Zerg hybrid with vast psionic powers under the control of the then unknown Amon. Following the death of the Overmind, Kerrigan asserts her independence, striking out at those who betrayed her and who seek to contain her, eventually taking control of the entire Zerg Swarm. Four years later, Kerrigan invades the Dominion in search of a number of Xel'Naga artifacts; these artifacts are instead retrieved by Raynor at the behest of the Moebius Foundation, who assembles them into a device that reverts Kerrigan to a human and releases Amon's grip on her. After her deinfestation, Kerrigan is mercilessly pursued by Arcturus Mengsk, however she successfully escapes Arcturus's Dominion forces. After willingly allowing herself to be reinfested on Zerus, Kerrigan is reborn as the Primal Queen of Blades, after which she successfully reunites the Zerg Swarm and storms the Dominion capital of Augustgrad on the planet Korhal with help from Raynor's Raiders. After a showdown with Arcturus Mengsk inside his Palace, Kerrigan manages to gain the upper hand with help from James Raynor, and kills Arcturus by overloading his body with psychic energy, causing him to explode spectacularly. In the aftermath of her victory, Kerrigan gathers the Swarm and departs in search of Amon.
According to Zeratul, Kerrigan factors prominently into a Xel'Nagan prophecy concerning the Zerg, the Protoss, and the Hybrids. Heart of the Swarm reveals that Kerrigan is the only being powerful enough to stop the fallen Xel'naga Amon, though exactly how is not revealed. Though originally intended as a throwaway character, Kerrigan grew on the developers, who gave her a greater role in the series. Talken Campbell described Kerrigan's transformation as "going from good girl to bad girl"; many of the aspects of Kerrigan's infested character design are inspired by the Greek gorgon Medusa. IGN rated Kerrigan as the fifth most memorable video game villain, while readers of GameSpot put Kerrigan as the most evil video game villain.
During the events of Legacy of the Void, Kerrigan enters into an alliance with Artanis while investigating the Xel'Naga homeworld Ulnar. Some time after Artanis's reclamation of the Protoss homeworld of Aiur, Kerrigan sends a psionic call to Raynor and Artanis for assistance in permanently killing Amon in the Void. During the joint Terran Dominion/Zerg/Protoss assault of the Void, the full context of Zeratul's prophecy about Kerrigan is made clear: Only a fellow Xel'Naga is capable of killing Amon, and only Kerrigan is capable of ascension. With the remainder of the joint armada, Kerrigan is successful in killing Amon during her psychic backlash in the void. During the aftermath, Kerrigan returns to Raynor in human form and disappears.
Kerrigan also appears as a playable character in Heroes of the Storm.