The Story of Starcraft Part 6: The Terran Characters

We’re well into this series by now, so maybe we should start talking about the plot to the Starcraft games.

But first, let’s talk a bit about the main characters - who they are, what they do and, crucially, how the game tells us this.

Magistrate Link Freeman

The Magistrate is you. Congratulations! The Magistrate is the ultimate silent protagonist - voiceless, faceless and nameless.

(No, you’re not actually called Link Freeman. I’m just making my own fun here.)

This is an interesting design choice - one they abandon in Starcraft 2. As the Magistrate, you sit in on mission briefings, contributing nothing, then do what you’re told.

There are advantages to this. You, as the player, are free to interpret the Magistrate as you want. You begin the campaign working for the Confederacy - the tyrannical government ruling over most of the humans in this part of the galaxy.

(Remember, these are far-flung colonists, the descendants of exiles from Earth.)

You quickly find yourself in a desperate rebellion, while fighting off two simultaneous alien invasions.

How do you react to this? Are you a reluctant paper-pusher, swept along by the currents of history as you slowly realize you can’t rely on your badge? Or did you always have a rebellious streak, yearning for adventuring and jumping in with both feet when it came?

The game won’t tell you. The only thing you know about the Magistrate is their title and they’re apparently good at leading battles*.

* They’re especially skilled at the military tactics of Saving and Loading. Sun Tzu talks that in the Art of War somewhere. “Know the enemy’s attack timings and you’ll never lose a battle” - something like that.

Being a void of personality and agency lets the other characters shine. They drive the plot and the drama, while you follow along closely and do most of the hard work*.

* Well, okay, the soldiers and workers do the hard work. You tell them to do it, though.

On the downside, you’re not actually the protagonist. You’re the player, but not of the characters driving events forward. You execute the grand schemes of others without a word.

You let your actions speak, I guess.

I’m trying to think if I like this approach or not. Honestly, I’m not sure. But I can say that it works - maybe not perfectly, but it puts you in the action while hogging none of the spotlight.

Introducing the Magistrate

You first meet… well, you, during the briefing for the first mission. In the span of a few lines of dialogue, you learn a lot.

• You have a cool robot assistant - an adjutant.

• Some bad lads called the Protoss recently destroyed a colony called Chau Sara.

• The Confederates are locking things down. Some general tells you to shut down the planet and start rounding up colonists.

• You’ll meet up with a local marshal who’ll help you with that.

All this implies, if not outright states, a lot. You hold a respectable rank within the Confederacy - but not so high that people can’t order you around - which has significant authority over its citizens. There’s a war on out there. If you notice the dinginess of the briefing room*, that tells you even a magistrate like you has to deal with dirt and grime.

* It’s hard to miss.

This is not a happy or pretty world, and you’re right in the middle of it.

All this and the game hasn’t even started yet.

Anyway, I mentioned a marshal up above. Let’s talk about the real protagonist of the Starcraft 1 Terran campaign:

Marshall Jim Raynor

The first mission gives you some marines* and SCVs**. One of the SCVs makes a snarky comment about the Confederates pushing people around.

* Shooty boys

** Buildy/gathery boys

Then you meet Jim Raynor, who - unlike you - has a cool hoverbike that shoots grenades.

There’s not a lot to say about him here. He introduces himself, you shoot some alien bugs together and train some soldiers*.

* Your mission was to round up colonists, but you never do that. You train some marines and that’s it. It’s probably for the best - knocking on doors sounds dull - but there’s an interesting misstep between the narrative and gameplay. Is one control group worth of marines (not enough to protect a base) enough to impose a lockdown on a planet? It’s not a big deal - this is the first mission, after all - but this comes up sometimes. We’ll talk more - stay tuned.

The part of your brain that’s always paying attention* has already learned a lot about Raynor. He has a unique (for now) unit and a unique colour scheme. He talks like a southern gentleman, while looking tough enough to handle the criminals of this poor desert world. If you listen to his unit barks**, you get a sense of a guy who likes action and is happy to serve.

* Read about the Cocktail Party Effect if you need convincing this is a thing.

** The quick quips units say when you give them an order. “Right away, sir!” - that sort of thing.

This is a ton of information.

From a mission where, if you play it straight and don’t explore, involves killing two weird bug/dog aliens who go down in a few shots.

It’s amazing what a well-designed first impression can do - and, honestly, this isn’t even that well designed. It’s a pointless mission that’s incapable of offering the slightest challenge, serving only as a tutorial for some RTS basics and to let you soak up the setting.

They could have done that while also giving us a fun mission, but, hey.

The campaign quickly confirms what you might suspect about Raynor. He cares about people, he dislikes the Confederates, he does what’s right (regardless of orders) and he’s not afraid to tell generals off to their faces.

When he and you come across a Confederate building that’s infested with a hostile alien presence, he says to destroy it. When you do, you both get in trouble for… destroying a Confederate building.

It’s a quick exchange that established Raynor as a man of action and your bosses as procedure-addicts who are ill-equipped to deal with an alien invasion.

There’s a lesson in here for all writers, especially for RTS games: learn how to say a lot with a little. People don’t like having their war paused* so they can listen to people squabble.

* Or, worse - the fighting keeps going with someone talking over it. Chances of anyone listening to you ponder the mysteries of life while bullets fly are approximately zero.

Arcturus Mengsk

It quickly becomes clear that the situation is going badly for the Confederacy… and that you’re not in their good books.

They’re failing to hold back the alien invasion and still mad at you for destroying their property.

It’s clear that they’re out of their depth. Worse - they’re obstructionist, getting in the way of the player’s fun.

Then they decide to bug out, so to speak. The Zerg are overwhelming the defences and the Protoss are on their way to see the effects of increasing the atmosphere by tens of thousands of degrees.

Neither the Magistrate nor Raynor earned a ticket off world.

That’s okay, because it turns out Arcturus Mengsk is in the neighbourhood.

If you haven’t read any of the lore in the Starcraft manual, this is the first you hear of him. He admits that Confederate propaganda paints him as a terrorist, but he’s a freedom fighter, standing up against tyranny.

If you have read the Terran history, you know that Mengsk has every reason to hate the Confederates. He was born into wealth and power on a planet with a bit of a rebellious streak. The official response was to nuke said planet into radioactive ruin. His band of revolutionaries are called the Sons of Korhal, named after his destroyed world.

Fair enough, really.

Also, he’s your only ride off the planet. He swoops in to save you, your soldiers and your colonists after the Confederates who bungled the defence abandoned you all.

It’s a great way to introduce a character. There were just enough kick the puppy moments to make you annoyed at your bosses without it being a farce. Mengsk is charismatic, intense and willing to help you.

More than that - he has a plan. The orders you’ve been receiving up to this point have been mostly busywork or foolish. A planet-wide lockdown during all this war and turmoil isn’t possible - even if it was, it wouldn’t stop the invaders.

Meanwhile, Mengsk has a clear vision and a plan to get there.

When the Confederacy brands you a traitor for accepting help from terrorists and avoiding a needless death, it makes sense that you’d go with him.

There’s more to say about Mengsk* but it’s interesting to contrast him with…

* So, so, SO much more.

Lieutenant Sarah Kerrigan

Kerrigan is a ghost - an elite psionic assassin, trained by the Confederates until she defected. The dialogue between her and Mengsk hints at a long history between them. She supports his mission to take down the tyrants, but doesn’t like his methods.

How do you know this?

Check out this tight bit of dialogue from a mission briefing:

Kerrigan: "I'm having doubts about this, Arcturus. I just don't think anyone deserves to have the Zerg unleashed on them."

Mengsk: "I know you have personal feelings about this, but you can't let your past cloud your judgment. Carry out your orders, lieutenant."

Kerrigan: (hesitates) "Yes, sir."

She has some trauma in her past that makes her not okay with Mengsk’s plan (to use a device that lures Zerg to it, against a Confederate base). A much as she despises her former bosses - and will kill them in battle without remorse - she doesn’t like this plan.

Mengsk doesn’t care. He doesn’t budge and she falls in line.

Again, we see Mengsk’s charisma and ruthlessness here. He has her loyalty - a loyalty stronger than her moral convictions.

It’s impressive. You don’t need a 15 minute cut scene to tell the audience about your story - and if you don’t need one, you absolutely shouldn’t use one.

We’ll talk about the Terran campaign’s story next week.