The Story of Starcraft 9: Zerg Characters

Assuming you have only played the campaign - that is, you haven’t read any of the lore in books or manuals or whatever - then the idea of Zerg characters doesn’t make much sense.

All through the Terran campaign, the Zerg you faced were a collective intelligence - and not a very intelligent intelligence.

They were vicious animals - monsters, really.

So how could you play as the Zerg? And how could there be Zerg characters, since any character needs, by definition, both intelligence and agency?

In a brilliant piece of writing, the Zerg campaign opens with one of the tightest lines of dialogue in the entire series. At the pre-mission briefing for the first Zerg mission, a floating eyeball says this:

Awaken my child, and embrace the glory that is your birthright. Know that I am the Overmind; the eternal will of the Swarm, and that you have been created to serve me.

Goosebumps.

I was much, much younger when I heard that line. Back then, I thought it was cool. I still do.

So let’s talk about the character at the head of the Zerg hierarchy.

The Overmind

Mengsk was a villain in the Terran campaign. The story established that when he gave a speech saying he’d rule that sector of space or see it burned to ashes around him.

The Overmind’s first speech - the first bit of Zerg dialogue the player has heard at all - is more subtle with its villainy.

In those 2.5 sentences, you learn:

• The Overmind has just created you.

• The Overmind created you to serve him.

• The Overmind is - and I quote - the eternal will of the Swarm.

The malicious intelligence directing the Zerg - the cunning mind driving them to attack without mercy, exploit weaknesses and overrun their foes - was the Overmind.

It’s the villain of the Starcraft game - the overarching foe for the Terran and Protoss campaigns.

And it’s a damn cool villain - sinister, mysterious and obsessed.

A villain who just created you.

Why?

Well, let’s talk about the type of character you play in the Zerg campaign.

The Cerebrates

Like the Magistrate you play as in the Terran campaign, your character has no name. Others refer to you by your title: Cerebrate.

The Magistrate probably has an actual name, whether the lore acknowledges it or not.

This newborn Cerebrate, though? You’ve still too young to have a name.

But… okay, what is a Cerebrate?

Imagine a giant slug, too heavy and bloated to move. Now give it psionic powers.

The Zerg Swarm is made up of several “broods”. Each brood is like a military division - and each brood is controlled by a Cerebrate. Each Cerebrate has a unique personality, meaning each brood behaves differently. For example, one favours raw aggression while another prefers subterfuge.

However, each Cerebrate is bound to the Overmind’s will. They have personalities but no free will of their own.

They can act differently but not independently - and certainly not against the Overmind. The psionic connection the Zerg Swarm shares binds them all to the Overmind’s intelligence.

In-universe, this is smart. The Overmind doesn’t need to tell each meagre zergling where to go. It can focus more on strategy, leaving the tactics to the Cerebrates.

Also, it adds variety to the Zerg’s tactics, keeps the Swarm unpredictable and helps different broods to specialise.

Narratively, it adds characters - which means adding drama and conflict. Sure, it’s impossible for the Cerebrates to betray each other, but they can still argue and disagree.

The other Cerebrates in the campaign are Daggoth, Gorn and Zasz. They all share the Overmind’s ruthlessness and obsessiveness.

Do they have different personalities? Sure, I guess. Zasz, for example, fights with speed and ferocity, using its brood to strike weak points. It’s cunning, clever, arrogant and a little insane.

Does this show up in the dialogue? Not so much. On the first play through - at least - you can easily lose track of which Cerebrate is which. Which doesn’t matter so much, since they’re largely interchangeable.

For now…

The Too-Young-to-be-Named, Point-of-View Cerebrate

Like in the Terran campaign, you play as a silent protagonist: a newly created Cerebrate.

This is handy, because the player is probably new to controlling the Zerg too. The Overmind and other Cerebrates explain things to you because you were born a few days ago. This is stuff the player needs to know too.

What’s cool about your character is there’s a mystery around why you even exist at all. The other Cerebrates were created to lead large broods into battle. You’re put in charge of defending a “chrysalis” - no further information than that.

It’s the equivalent of relieving a five-star general of all their responsibilities except carrying a briefcase around. Whatever’s in that briefcase must be important.

I’m not going to pretend it’s a deep mystery, but still, a mystery within a hivemind is already an interesting wrinkle.

The Queen of Blades

Uh… you know what? I’m not going to talk about the Queen of Blades here. She will come up a lot in the rest of this series and a few paragraphs here won’t do her justice.

Stay tuned.