Sarah Kerrigan - Her Complete Origin
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VOICE OVER: Andrew Labelle
WRITTEN BY: Jarett Burke
Sarah Kerrigan is probably the most influential character in the entire series, and throughout multiple campaigns, she upset the balance of power in the entire sector, both as a human operative and as a Zerg Queen. Join MojoPlays for our retelling of Sarah Kerrigan's origin story.
Origins of Sarah Kerrigan
The “StarCraft” series is known for its compelling storylines and creative lore, and within its richly developed world, there’s no finer example of strong storytelling than the tragic tale of Sarah Kerrigan.
Though she may not necessarily be a force of evil, she’s widely considered to be one of the best villains in gaming. Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at the origins of Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades.
Her tale picks up when she’s just a child and she accidentally kills her mother and badly injures her father when her latent psionic powers finally begin to manifest News of her powers spreads quickly and she’s taken by agents of the Terran Confederacy and enrolled in its Ghost program: a unique system that creates covert operatives with immense psionic and cloaking powers. Her abilities are off the charts, but she refuses to explore her true powers out of fear after her mother’s death. Confederate Agents eventually break Sarah’s will, however, by threatening her father and torturing Sarah herself. Molded to their will, Sarah eventually becomes Ghost number #24601 (or just Ghost 24 for short) and becomes one of the finest assassins in the program.
Sometime after, an anti-Confederate leader from the planet of Korhal named Angus Mengsk declares his home planet free from Confederate rule. Not wanting to lose control of Korhal, however, the Feds send Sarah and other Ghosts to assassinate Angus and quell the uprising, which they do successfully. Years later, though, Angus’ son Arcturus forms the Sons of Korhal to fight against the Confederate Government, and he kidnaps Sarah for taking part in the murder of his father. Yet, oddly, once captured, she’s held as a guest and not a prisoner. In fact, soon after, the Sons of Korhal recruit Sarah into its rebel forces to aid them in researching a far-away, xenomorphic life form that poses a risk to the galaxy (later known as The Zerg). She not only joins the Rebels, but she also helps them destroy the Confederate’s Ghost Research Facility where Sarah takes revenge on all the agents who once tortured her; she also rescues a young Ghost-in-training and takes her back with her to the Rebel base. Once back with the Sons of Korhal, however, Arcturus kills the younger Ghost, telling Sarah that he was using her the whole time to track down any remaining Ghosts and execute them because they were the group responsible for his father’s death. Yet, again, Arcturus spares Sarah’s life though she was involved in the assassination; and, deeply grateful, Sarah pledges herself to the Rebels once more.
During the time of The Great War, Sarah fought alongside a rebel colony on Antiga Prime against the Confederates led by General Duke. On this mission, she meets Jim Raynor and the two become a fearsome team together, eventually working to help overthrow the General’s forces on Antiga Prime. As the battle for the planet rages on, the Confederates send another squad to quell the Sons of Korhal’s rebellion and it’s around this time that Arcturus Mengsk first places a psionic emitter in a Confederate base to attract the Zerg to its location, thereby eradicating any living thing in the area. Sarah has deep misgivings about such cruel tactics, believing no one deserves the fate of the Zerg’s cruelty. Raynor agrees with Sarah, and the two further bond and eventually fall in love. Jim feels that Arcturus is no better than the cruel Confederate Government he’s trying to overthrow, while Sarah (although upset with Arcturus) still believes he’s the man to lead the Rebels.
During a raid on the Terran colony on Tarsonis which as at the time, a central and political hub of the Confederacy and thus heavily defended. Arcturus one again uses the Psy Emitters to call in a Zerg swam and wipe out everyone on the planet. After setting up the emitters, however, Arcturus orders a retreat without extracting his forces, leaving Sarah on the planet. Her team is soon overrun and Sarah is presumably killed by the swarm.
Far from dead, however, Sarah is infested with Zerg DNA and becomes a half human, half xenomorph hybrid under the control of the Zerg’s Overmind.
When the Protoss eventually win the Great War, they overthrow the Zerg Overmind and Sarah is freed from its control. Now free to think for herself, she leads a group of independent Zerg to stop a new Overmind from gaining power and enslaving the Zerg. But, in the process, the United Earth Directorate capture the new Overmind (along with a host of other Zerg) in the hopes of gaining the upper hand over the galaxy
. Sarah enters an alliance with the Protoss and the Sons of Korhal to stop the United Earth Directorate and kill the new Overmind, but once the mission is complete, she turns against both allies as, with the new Overmind dead, she’s now the absolute ruler of the Zerg under the name The Queen of Blades. Her powers are so strong, along with her forces, that she’s able to fend off the United Earth Directorate, the Protoss and the Rebels on her way to assuming a dominant role in the galaxy.
With immense power and a huge army, Sarah doesn’t worry about further battles and instead seeks a rare Xel'Naga artifact that can return her to human form. She soon discovers that Jim Raynor is searching for the same artifact as part of the Moebius Foundation under the control of Arcturus Mengsk’s son Valerian. Raynor has learned that a corrupted Xel'naga named Amon seeks to end all life and restart life in his image beginning with a hybrid race of Zerg and Protoss warriors and that the only person that can stop them is Sarah Kerrigan. So, if Sarah dies, so too will life as they know it. He finds the rare Xel'Naga artifact before Sarah and uses it against her Zerg forces, wiping them out and also returning Sarah to her human form in the process.
Raynor takes Sarah to Valerian Mengsk’s research facility to see if she’s still able to control the Zerg now that she’s human, but the facility is attacked by Arcturus Mengsk and only Sarah and Valerian escape with their lives with Jim presumed dead in the attack. To take her revenge on Arcturus, Sarah travels to the original home planet of the Zerg on Zerus and, still able to control them, gathers an army to destroy The Rebel Leader. Further, on her travels she discovers the research lab being used by the Amon to form the Zerg/Protoss hybrid race and uses the facility to once again turn herself into a Human/Zerg hybrid and resume the title of the Queen of Blades. When confronting Arcturus, Sarah learns that Jim is not dead but will be if she doesn’t surrender. With the help of Valerian’s forces and Jim’s old crew, Sarah kills Arcturus and rescues Raynor before setting her sights on Amon. And, with the help of the Protoss, she’s able to defeat him using her incredibly powerful psionic abilities. Many years later, Sarah once again returns to human form and disappears with Jim Raynor somewhere in the galaxy, presumably to lead a peaceful life.
The tale of Sarah Kerrigan, no matter what acts she committed, has a current of tragedy underlying it all. Given a power she never asked for, kidnapped by Confederate forces at a young age, tortured for her powers, forced to kill, and then infested by Zerg DNA, Sarah could have easily used her anger to demolish the entire galaxy once she had the power. Yet, somewhere within her, the connection to Jim Raynor kept her human and kept her from completely succumbing to evil on route to eventually saving the universe from Amon’s true evil.
Hopefully, Blizard will return to the Starcraft universe, maybe with even with a third Starcraft game. Until then, that’s it for Kerrigan, Queen of Blades. Let us know what you think in the comments, and if there is anything else from the Starcraft lore you want to see us make a video about.
The “StarCraft” series is known for its compelling storylines and creative lore, and within its richly developed world, there’s no finer example of strong storytelling than the tragic tale of Sarah Kerrigan.
Though she may not necessarily be a force of evil, she’s widely considered to be one of the best villains in gaming. Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at the origins of Sarah Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades.
Her tale picks up when she’s just a child and she accidentally kills her mother and badly injures her father when her latent psionic powers finally begin to manifest News of her powers spreads quickly and she’s taken by agents of the Terran Confederacy and enrolled in its Ghost program: a unique system that creates covert operatives with immense psionic and cloaking powers. Her abilities are off the charts, but she refuses to explore her true powers out of fear after her mother’s death. Confederate Agents eventually break Sarah’s will, however, by threatening her father and torturing Sarah herself. Molded to their will, Sarah eventually becomes Ghost number #24601 (or just Ghost 24 for short) and becomes one of the finest assassins in the program.
Sometime after, an anti-Confederate leader from the planet of Korhal named Angus Mengsk declares his home planet free from Confederate rule. Not wanting to lose control of Korhal, however, the Feds send Sarah and other Ghosts to assassinate Angus and quell the uprising, which they do successfully. Years later, though, Angus’ son Arcturus forms the Sons of Korhal to fight against the Confederate Government, and he kidnaps Sarah for taking part in the murder of his father. Yet, oddly, once captured, she’s held as a guest and not a prisoner. In fact, soon after, the Sons of Korhal recruit Sarah into its rebel forces to aid them in researching a far-away, xenomorphic life form that poses a risk to the galaxy (later known as The Zerg). She not only joins the Rebels, but she also helps them destroy the Confederate’s Ghost Research Facility where Sarah takes revenge on all the agents who once tortured her; she also rescues a young Ghost-in-training and takes her back with her to the Rebel base. Once back with the Sons of Korhal, however, Arcturus kills the younger Ghost, telling Sarah that he was using her the whole time to track down any remaining Ghosts and execute them because they were the group responsible for his father’s death. Yet, again, Arcturus spares Sarah’s life though she was involved in the assassination; and, deeply grateful, Sarah pledges herself to the Rebels once more.
During the time of The Great War, Sarah fought alongside a rebel colony on Antiga Prime against the Confederates led by General Duke. On this mission, she meets Jim Raynor and the two become a fearsome team together, eventually working to help overthrow the General’s forces on Antiga Prime. As the battle for the planet rages on, the Confederates send another squad to quell the Sons of Korhal’s rebellion and it’s around this time that Arcturus Mengsk first places a psionic emitter in a Confederate base to attract the Zerg to its location, thereby eradicating any living thing in the area. Sarah has deep misgivings about such cruel tactics, believing no one deserves the fate of the Zerg’s cruelty. Raynor agrees with Sarah, and the two further bond and eventually fall in love. Jim feels that Arcturus is no better than the cruel Confederate Government he’s trying to overthrow, while Sarah (although upset with Arcturus) still believes he’s the man to lead the Rebels.
During a raid on the Terran colony on Tarsonis which as at the time, a central and political hub of the Confederacy and thus heavily defended. Arcturus one again uses the Psy Emitters to call in a Zerg swam and wipe out everyone on the planet. After setting up the emitters, however, Arcturus orders a retreat without extracting his forces, leaving Sarah on the planet. Her team is soon overrun and Sarah is presumably killed by the swarm.
Far from dead, however, Sarah is infested with Zerg DNA and becomes a half human, half xenomorph hybrid under the control of the Zerg’s Overmind.
When the Protoss eventually win the Great War, they overthrow the Zerg Overmind and Sarah is freed from its control. Now free to think for herself, she leads a group of independent Zerg to stop a new Overmind from gaining power and enslaving the Zerg. But, in the process, the United Earth Directorate capture the new Overmind (along with a host of other Zerg) in the hopes of gaining the upper hand over the galaxy
. Sarah enters an alliance with the Protoss and the Sons of Korhal to stop the United Earth Directorate and kill the new Overmind, but once the mission is complete, she turns against both allies as, with the new Overmind dead, she’s now the absolute ruler of the Zerg under the name The Queen of Blades. Her powers are so strong, along with her forces, that she’s able to fend off the United Earth Directorate, the Protoss and the Rebels on her way to assuming a dominant role in the galaxy.
With immense power and a huge army, Sarah doesn’t worry about further battles and instead seeks a rare Xel'Naga artifact that can return her to human form. She soon discovers that Jim Raynor is searching for the same artifact as part of the Moebius Foundation under the control of Arcturus Mengsk’s son Valerian. Raynor has learned that a corrupted Xel'naga named Amon seeks to end all life and restart life in his image beginning with a hybrid race of Zerg and Protoss warriors and that the only person that can stop them is Sarah Kerrigan. So, if Sarah dies, so too will life as they know it. He finds the rare Xel'Naga artifact before Sarah and uses it against her Zerg forces, wiping them out and also returning Sarah to her human form in the process.
Raynor takes Sarah to Valerian Mengsk’s research facility to see if she’s still able to control the Zerg now that she’s human, but the facility is attacked by Arcturus Mengsk and only Sarah and Valerian escape with their lives with Jim presumed dead in the attack. To take her revenge on Arcturus, Sarah travels to the original home planet of the Zerg on Zerus and, still able to control them, gathers an army to destroy The Rebel Leader. Further, on her travels she discovers the research lab being used by the Amon to form the Zerg/Protoss hybrid race and uses the facility to once again turn herself into a Human/Zerg hybrid and resume the title of the Queen of Blades. When confronting Arcturus, Sarah learns that Jim is not dead but will be if she doesn’t surrender. With the help of Valerian’s forces and Jim’s old crew, Sarah kills Arcturus and rescues Raynor before setting her sights on Amon. And, with the help of the Protoss, she’s able to defeat him using her incredibly powerful psionic abilities. Many years later, Sarah once again returns to human form and disappears with Jim Raynor somewhere in the galaxy, presumably to lead a peaceful life.
The tale of Sarah Kerrigan, no matter what acts she committed, has a current of tragedy underlying it all. Given a power she never asked for, kidnapped by Confederate forces at a young age, tortured for her powers, forced to kill, and then infested by Zerg DNA, Sarah could have easily used her anger to demolish the entire galaxy once she had the power. Yet, somewhere within her, the connection to Jim Raynor kept her human and kept her from completely succumbing to evil on route to eventually saving the universe from Amon’s true evil.
Hopefully, Blizard will return to the Starcraft universe, maybe with even with a third Starcraft game. Until then, that’s it for Kerrigan, Queen of Blades. Let us know what you think in the comments, and if there is anything else from the Starcraft lore you want to see us make a video about.
