Note: There are two links to a couple charts/graphs further below, I would have directly posted them but I'm going out of town for a week and I need to get this up before I go. I'll make it pretty when I get back.Credit to Stebo for graphics.

This article has three main purposes, to inform the reader of Kerrigan's past and personal life, to project what role she will play in Starcraft two, and whether or not she will stay as evil, backstabbing, and scheming as ever, or will she redeem herself in classic Blizzard style.

Sarah Kerrigan
Kerrigan was not always the ruthless killer she is most often viewed as. She was born into a poor family under the jurisdiction of the brutal militaristic terran dominion commander. Her physic potential was noticed when she accidentally killed her mother and totally vegetated her father in a freak accident. Lieutenant Rumm is given charge of her to train her as a ghost. He couldn't force her to use her massive potential as she was terrified of repeating the devastation of her parents. The only solution Lieutenant Rumm can find is to subdue her with mental implants. This all happened before she reached the age of six. Kerrigan was extensively trained and became one of the Dominion's top assassins. She was suggested to have been the subject of several experiments until Arcturas Mengsk freed her and enlisted her as his right hand in the Sons of Korhal. She served with him for an unknown time until she was ordered to help Jim Raynor in a series of tasks. It was when Mengsk ordered her on a near impossible mission to protect a massive Zerg force hell bent on destroying everything in their path (including Kerrigan) that the Overmind sensed her unfathomable potential as a weapon in his crusade against the Protoss. Kerrigan, from that point on was no longer human.

Infested Kerrigan

I don't need to tell you everything that happened that happened between her infestation and the Brood Wars but she was no higher then a cerebrate and totally under The Overmind. Aiur would probably never been conquered if not for her. The abilities she possessed were incorporated into the Zerg gene pool thus giving them a way to effectively fight against the Protoss. What really matters is that she was the first physic to be infested by the Zerg, this may or may not have been what Duran was referring to in that she "sped up his progress. " Essentially, after giving her the liberty to pursue her own interests of fully reaching her potential, the Overmind had her cripple the Protoss and move into Aiur for the kill, but not before an ever-so-dramatic conversation with Tassadar in which he warned her that she was her own worst enemy. This may be significant, or it may just be for drama.

Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades

The moment the all-powerful Overmind fell to Tassadar Kerrigan supposedly regained control over herself and appeared to side with Zeratul and Raynor in a fight against The UED and their new Overmind. She said an exceedingly dramatic scene "I am Kerrigan. The Zerg you've killed here and the Overmind, which you've come to collect..., are mine. As is our mutual friend Lieutenant Duran. You see, Admiral... there are a number of groups in this sector who feel that your involvement here causes certain complications. My associates and I intend to make sure that your reign is short lived." other than dramatic affect the most significant part of this quote is that she says that Duran is her's. I don't want to go into too much detail on that now, but it will be later in the article. She later dismisses the fact that Duran seems to have disappeared meaning that he had the ability to think for himself totally independent from her. This is surprising because Kerrigan was careful to kill every known cerebrate-the only sentient Zerg-she could for fear they might rebel. Anyway, after destroying the Overmind and fighting off the UED she turned on her former allies, killed Fenix and general Duke and only left Arcturas because he was no threat to her. She rose to become the undisputed Queen of Blades only to all but disappear for a whole four years.


Kerrigan in relation to Duran:


"I am Kerrigan. The Zerg you've killed here and the Overmind, which you've come to collect..., are mine. As is our mutual friend Lieutenant Duran. You see, Admiral... there are a number of groups in this sector who feel that your involvement here causes certain complications. My associates and I intend to make sure that your reign is short lived."
This a virtual paradox, infested Duran is, like Kerrigan, a ghost who retained all of his abilities after infestation, he shouldn't exist, Kerrigan is too careful to infest anyone who could potentially replace her, that’s why she killed all known cerebrates. He theoretically could have been infested by the Overmind, but that leaves the problem of why he didn't leave a bigger footprint in the original campaign before the Overmind died. One theory is that he was a mere infested Terran when the Overmind died but managed to regain full sentience when he had nothing directly controlling him. The only flaw in this theory is that every other infested Terran should have come into control of itself once again, but Duran was different, he was is a former ghost and so had psychic abilities enough to struggle his way to consciousness. Later, Kerrigan found him and took control. She must have believed her control was complete over him or she would not have let him live, as he was a potential threat. At the same time though, she must have known he was separate from her because when he vanished from everyone's knowledge she just dismissed it as not even worth noting. I can only draw two conclusions from this, either Kerrigan was not in right mind (something was controlling her) or she released her command over Duran. I doubt she would have done this as just killing him would be safer. I've got one more idea, he was an associate, not a minion. This is barely feasible, but not impossible, if he had been infested by the Overmind, regained control and then Kerrigan comes along, she could have seen value in keeping him thinking for himself so his brilliant brain can flex it's muscles. The only other possibility I can conceive of is that he faked the whole thing and was never actually infested, but to do this he would have had to fool Kerrigan, the only way to prove to the queen of the Zerg your one of her minions is to change how she's thinking, meaning he virtually mind controlled by Duran. The amount of power needed to do this is so massively inconceivable. Here's a tree chart to clarify.



Her Emotions and Feelings:

This is an extremely hard question; in fact it took me a solid week to draft this section of your article, so appreciate it. There are two obvious possibilities, she has none and is just a power hungry killer or she is as emotionally distraught as an emo kid who was forced to laugh. There a sleuth of support on either side of the argument, accept my humble "T" chart. I worked out a little ranking system to judge the validity of the various pieces of evidence.

non-canon=1 point unconditional
canon= +2 points automatically
direct demonstration in canon= +2 more points
Obscure trend that can be seen= +2 points
Dramatic quotes= =3 points



So there is more evidence to the humane side of things but by my ranking system, the regretful Kerrigan has eleven points going for it whereas the ruthless Kerrigan has a solid fourteen. Despite being outweighed, I personally believe Kerrigan will become a leader in a desperate struggle to survive the hybrid war and will die tragically. Only Blizzard could pull off making people want her to live, but I believe thy can, there's no way our hero's are going to fight off Kerrigan, Mengsk, and the hybrids. Besides, she's too dynamic of a character to just get rid of early game. She'll either die right off and be tossed aside as a SC1 character, or she will help them, she's not going to be Raynor's enemy, she probably will be for one or two campaigns, but then she'll turn and fight the hybrids side-by-side with Zeratul. It may be out of necessity, or it may be out of the goodness of her heart, she may even become uninfected, but she'll help them, Don't ask me how.

Summery:

So I've already told you what I believe will happen with Kerrigan, but it's been so spread out that you doubtless have missed a few things, so here it is straight and simple.

Kerrigan, all through Brood wars may not have been under her own mind, and still may be deeply influenced by some entity, or she may have simply been acting in a rush for power. In any case she seems to have been released from the control (at least partially) as she was said to have been "Weary of the slaughter" and has been "Evolving for four years. " What's really essential for me to know is whether she was evolving to face the threat, which she mentioned in Brood wars or was she evolving just to wipe out all her old enemies. I find the former far more probable as she could at any time has just come down and massacred Mengsk and the shattered, bloody Protoss empire. Blizzard's isn't going to be dumb about it though, they'll build it up to when you are just remembering how much you hate Kerrigan, then once you in the same mindset as all the people she's been destroying and battling such as Zeratul and Raynor, it'll get turned around, the hybrids will descend upon everyone like a metaphorical swarm of flesh eating locusts. You won't trust her, just like the hero's your playing, but she'll slowly gain your trust, and in time you'll be eased into the Zerg campaign when you'll playing as Kerrigan fighting tooth and nail against the seemingly inevitable conclusion of the cycle. I doubt she'll make it out of straight up Starcraft II though, she'll certainly die a heroic death by the end of the expansion (if there is one.) She's one of those characters that has such a past that she just has to die, but mark my words, you'll mourn for her when she does, it will be like Grom Hellscream's death, you hated him all through the ork campaign, but you must have mourned when he dies. Blizzard can do anything they want and pull it off.

Speeding up the cycle:

Duran mentioned at one point that Kerrigan had no idea what he was doing, she did not initiate his experiments, she only sped the cycle up, but how? There are two options, her actions in so totally devastating all other species in the sector, or has here mere existence as the first fully developed hybrid. She isn't just another infested human, she is a hybrid, she kept all her human traits as well as gaining Zerg traits. A common flaw in the logic of the majority of others who have also examined this issue is that they don't realize that the two options are not at all in conflict. Totally demolishing half the factions in the sector probably helped Duran out in that he has room and time to work on his experiments. Zeratul is the only one who has been trying to slow him down, and no doubt he has been a tremendous thorn in Duran's side, but one Protoss (even Zeratul) can't keep a galaxy full of hybrids under control. Kerrigan's mere existence doubtless catapulted his progress though in that she was an example, the Overmind did his work for him, it developed a virtual formula for creating a hybrids, all Duran's doing is applying it to Protoss and perfecting him.

The Prophecy:

"Your coming has been foretold... You are part of the culmination. But not the end of it. You shall show the way, the path that must be taken, the realigning of old truths no longer valid. Yours is not the hand, but your very existence provides necessary instruction."

This is probably the most important quote in Starcraft. The sheer implications uproot everything. I'll take it apart piece by piece for you.

"Your coming has been foretold... You are part of the culmination, but not the end of it."

So, the Protoss (or at least the Dark Templar) knew someone like Kerrigan was coming, but they apparently did not recognize her as the subject of their prophecy until when Zeratul said this. It also means that she is not the final end of the cycle, but she is quite important to it, just like Duran said.

You shall show the way, the path that must be taken, the realigning of old truths no longer valid. Yours is not the hand, but your very existence provides necessary instruction."


The first part raises the questions of does she consciously and purposely lead the way, or is it her existence that leads the way? quite obviously that question is answered in the third part, her existence will lead to the culmination of the cycle and the destruction of all things. I feel it necessary to point out at this time that everything we know about The Cycle lines up exactly with the Norse myth of Ragnarok. We know that Blizzard often uses mythology as a reference (Ex: The Thor, the valkrie, the Viking.) Ragnarok depicts the final battle between the forces of good and evil, the Gods and the Valkries vs. The Giants and the children of Loki (the god of mischief who bears several similarities to Duran.) Odin, the god of wisdom, had spent all of eternity trying to prevent Ragnarok, but once it happened, every god, giant, and monster was killed, and the whole cycle of mythology began again. Blizzard doesn't have the luxury of destroying every race and hero in their game. There's just no way they can even dare to kill all of everyone, Zeratul, Raynor, Artanis, Kerrigan just can't all die. They just can't do it. A blunder like that could ruin them as a company. The only other alternative is that Kerrigan pulls a quick one on prophecy.

"the realigning of old truths no longer valid."

That is the best evidence I have of why the cycle won't come to fruitarian, Blizzard can't afford it, and "the realigning of old truth no longer valid" probably refers to the cycle when it mentions "old truths." So the former belief of the Xel'naga (or whoever made the prophecy) that the cycle is inevitable is no longer valid, after having occurred billions of time, the cycle will end.

"Yours is not the hand, but your very existence provides necessary instruction."

This part of it kind of throws off everything. So there are two options, either it is a false prophecy made by someone who may think the cycle is inevitable, or it's just how it seems, Kerrigan herself will not stop the cycle but she may influence others enough to stop the cycle. One last thing is that she will provide necessary instructions. Necessary instruction to do what? Conclude the cycle? Who wants to do that? The prophecy is speaking not of the conclusion of the cycle, but of the desperate struggle to prevent it's culminations.

Wow, excellent analysis Roland. I saw a few minor typos (ex: physic->psychic) but really great otherwise. It makes me wonder more about Duran, since he appeared to be another "infested" Terran psychic in the form of a Ghost. Like you said, how he pulled off either faking his infestation or breaking free of Kerrigan's control is a mystery. In the Dark Origins bonus mission, for some reason I got the sense he was much older, or at least his mind was. Since he said "I've had many names throughout the millennia, young prodigal. You would know me best as Samir Duran," when he was speaking with Zeratul, it leads me to believe "Duran" was just a shell for that mind.

In regards to "un-infesting" Kerrigan, I thought of Stukov's story. Someone told me a while back about him being infested after his "death" in StarCraft 1, and then the mission in StarCraft 64 where he's freed from his infestation, but was bitter and remorseful that he was no longer infested. I'd assume Kerrigan might feel the same way or even more so, especially considering how "wonderful" she claimed to have felt, early on after being reborn.

I will pity the day when I find out Kerrigan will die... I though felt the same pain from Grom's death; Although Grom was a hatred enemy, he sacrificed himself to destroy the very chaos he had unleashed.

Well said Roland. I'm looking forward to when Kerrigan realizes she must help Zeratul and Raynor in the epic struggle for survival. ^^ io

5/5 article, no doubt.

So, the existence of Kerrigan is the key to breaking the cycle of total annihilation of all the three races? But I can't see the reference to the repetition of the cycle (a la 'The Matrix').

Interesting article, Roland. Always glad when people take interest in Starcraft lore.

Duran`s identity is currently a mystery, even though we can now be certain that his masters are the Xel`Naga. The cunningness he has shown in relations with DuGaulle and Kerrigan and his ability to "resist" the infestation are indicators that Duran might be a far more powerful being then his (infested) human facade would reveal. The fact that he is at least several millenia old only goes to confirm such theory. For all we know, he might actually be one of the Xel`Naga.

As for the prophecy, I think you might have misinterpreted the later parts of it. Who wants to complete the cycle? The Xel`Naga, of course. As such, it is possible that Kerrigans successful infestation serves Duran (and with that, the Xel`Naga) as a source of inspiration of how to create what they always dreamed to create. A being combining the purity of essence with the purity of form. An possible indicator of this is the prophecy itself ("You are part of the culmination, but not the end of it.") and Durans presentation of the Hybrid ("This creature is the completion of a cycle. Its role in the cosmic order was preordained when the stars were young. Behold the culmination of your history." ).

Very very impressive article Roland but I have 2 points:

1.I dont think duran was ever infested nor was he under kerrigan's control. Duran said he was an agent of a power that has been sleeping for so long (xel'naga) who definitely have sufficient knowledge to fool kerrigan into thinking someone is infested/under her control easily.

2."Yours is not the hand, but your very existence provides necessary instruction."
She wont complete the cycle and create the perfect breed of evolution by "her hand" but her very existence provides "necessary instruction" on how to create the perfect breed and that's why her very existence sped up duran's work and hence provides instructions for xel'naga agents on how to complete the cycle not for the heroes on how to break it. But:
"the realigning of old truths no longer valid." that's the one part i see contradicting with what i've said. OFC, the "old truths" are the repitition of the cycle but "no longer valid"...i dont know...may be because a new factor has interferred with cycle, namely the terrans, hence spoiling the exact scheme of the xel'naga that didnt incorporate them and that's why the old truth as is, is no longer valid...but i'm not sure.

BTW. summary not summery.

Hey nice writeup Roland!

Very detailed and organized.

I think Kerrigan will morph into what we know now as the land-based Zerg Queen.

If you look closely at the Zerg Trailer's ending, the camera focuses on the Queen's face and dollies out, revealing her hair. I think she is Kerrigan!

I think Kerrigan will morph into what we know now as the land-based Zerg Queen.

If you look closely at the Zerg Trailer's ending, the camera focuses on the Queen's face and dollies out, revealing her hair. I think she is Kerrigan!

Nuuu way, that wouldn't make sense. Why would they have bothered creating all that concept art with Kerrigan in her relatively-humanoid infested form? They even had that short clip of her duking it out with Zeratul in one of the cinematic debute, although briefly. It seems like a waste to toss aside the effort put into that work already.

I think Kerrigan will morph into what we know now as the land-based Zerg Queen.

If you look closely at the Zerg Trailer's ending, the camera focuses on the Queen's face and dollies out, revealing her hair. I think she is Kerrigan!

Nuuu way, that wouldn't make sense. Why would they have bothered creating all that concept art with Kerrigan in her relatively-humanoid infested form? They even had that short clip of her duking it out with Zeratul in one of the cinematic debute, although briefly. It seems like a waste to toss aside the effort put into that work already.

Because it could be the "Final Metamorphosis" she is talking about.

http://www.sc2armory.com/media/artwork/kerrigan/127/

In the first part of the campaign, Kerrigan is the Evil Winged B*tch we all love.
But as the story progresses, she will evolve.
Look at her wings. They will become the Queen's pincers and limbs.

Good article Roland. Although I don't agree with all your conclusions, I enjoyed the read. Thanks.

A few points of interest :

--- Kerrigan grew up in the Confederacy, and was trained as a Confederate Ghost, not a Dominion one. By the time the Dominion arose, Kerrigan had spiky hair, and not because she was a Japanese RPG character.
It's pretty clear by reading the context in that paragraph that you meant the Confederacy, but I'm still surprised nobody noticed this error thus far.

--- Kerrigan didn't kill every KNOWN cerebrate. She left her pet cerebrate (the player character) alive because it was obedient and useful to her, even though she didn't have direct control over it. I believe that Kerrigan considered Duran to be similarly obedient to her, even though she had no direct control over him and didn't know his thoughts or motives. Kerrigan isn't omniscient, you know.

...he faked the whole thing and was never actually infested, but to do this he would have had to fool Kerrigan. The only way to prove to the queen of the Zerg your one of her minions is to change how she's thinking, meaning she was virtually mind controlled by Duran.

I agree with the first part of your sentence (fooling Kerrigan) but not with the following conclusion. Considering my above opinion that Duran was a self-sentient underling, him controlling her wasn't required for him to fool her.

--- I think a few people here take too many liberties with what we know about the nature of "the cycle".
I don't believe "the cycle" is something that has occurred "billions of times". Nor do I believe that the emergence of the hybrids and the completion of the cycle mean the complete annihilation of everything in the galaxy.
Tom Phoenix and Illidan provide some insightful comments/corrections about the subject.

The information Roland provides us about Ragnarök is incorrect too, by the way. Ragnarök indeed means the end of the gods and the world, but things don’t start all over again. There is a new beginning after the utter destruction, but that is a different beginning with other gods and places, not a repetition of what came before. This is not the Matrix.

--- @ thenonhacker : Kerrigan and the Zerg Queen will be different units. Gameplay-wise, Kerrigan will be a single player hero while the Queen will be a normal multiplayer unit. Art-wise, Kerrigan still looks like she used to. Lore-wise, it doesn’t make any sense.