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124-603: 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. 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

248-441: A nihilistic personality and believes that he must always look out for himself in order to survive. As such, he acts as a foil for the idealistic and honorable character of Matt Horner. Tosh represents an amoral influence on Raynor, and the temptation to cut corners and act like a pirate, although he is not inherently evil. The player can choose to help him break his former friends out of New Folsom Prison, or ally with Nova to end

372-644: A MOBA with a third-person perspective. Heroes of the Storm was released in 2015, featuring hero characters from Warcraft III and other Blizzard's franchises. Blizzard adopted their own personal dictation for their game's genre with "hero brawler", citing its focus on action. With the expansion of the smartphone market, numerous MOBA titles have been released for portable devices , such as Vainglory (2014), and Honor of Kings (2015). An international adaptation of Honor of Kings developed by TiMi Studios and published by Tencent Games for markets outside mainland China, rebranded as Arena of Valor (2016),

496-462: A cyborg program using New Folsom Prison inmates as experimental lab rats. He tried to protest the experiments, but his former colleagues silenced him. He uses a virus to escape the facility, then goes into hiding at Deadman's Port. Raynor rescued him from attackers, and he became the Hyperion ' s engineer/scientist and researcher. After the events of Wings of Liberty , Stetmann was left to set up

620-523: A fallen Xel'naga who is revealed to be the master of Duran and seeks to destroy all life in the Korpulu Sector and remold it in his image. Zeratul also features in the events of Legacy of the Void (originally believed to be the central character, the actual protagonist of the story is Artanis ). He appears early on but is killed as he severs Artanis's nerve cords to cut him off from Amon's control. He

744-547: A greater master, Zeratul set out to find Duran's master and his plan, which encompasses all of his activities in the three installments of StarCraft II . In Wings of Liberty, he gives Jim Raynor a crystal with his memories to emphasize the importance of the latter's mission to de-infest Kerrigan. In Heart of the Swarm, he guides Kerrigan to Zerus, the original home of the Zerg, and encourages her to re-infest herself so she can stop Amon,

868-476: A hero runs out of health points and consequently dies, they are removed from active play until a respawn timer counts down to zero, at which point the hero respawns in their base. The amount of time required to respawn generally increases as the game progresses and/or the players level up. Heroes typically fall into one of several roles, such as tank, damage dealer, and support, each of which having unique designs, strengths, and weaknesses. MOBAs typically offer

992-401: A large number of viable playable heroes for the player to choose from – League of Legends , for instance, began with 40, and has continued to add characters over the game's lifespan, reaching 100 in 2012 and 150 in 2020. This adds to the overall complexity of the game as players must be aware of an ever-increasing list of available characters. Choosing the correct character to play is itself

1116-469: A male character, Hanson was changed in development to female to act as a love interest for Raynor, albeit limited by Raynor's status as a mercenary and fugitive, and moreover the fact that Raynor is still trying to sort himself out in relation to Sarah Kerrigan . In the course of the campaign the player discovers that the Zerg infestation had spread to Agria, and the Protoss had dispatched a fleet to purify

1240-465: A map creator named Meian created a DotA variant closely modeled on Eul's map, but combining heroes from the many other versions of DotA that existed at the time. Called DotA: Allstars , it was inherited after a few months by a modder called Steve "Guinsoo" Feak, and under his guidance it became the dominant map of the genre. After more than a year of maintaining the DotA: Allstars map, with

1364-677: A miner's revolt, claiming independence from the Kel-Morian Combine. However, Combine forces arrived and mercilessly crushed the revolt. Swann himself lost an arm, along with many friends, and was only saved because Raynor's Raiders responded to their distress signal. Swann had nothing left, so he joined the Raiders. Egon Stetmann is a former scientist from the Terran Dominion's science project in Tyrador III that involved

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1488-495: 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

1612-486: A playable character in Heroes of the Storm . Gabriel Tosh is a mysterious arms dealer and a "spectre"—an elite ghost agent enhanced through the use of terrazine, a potent psionic reagent . Though originally created for Ghost , Tosh is introduced in the novel Spectres and Wings of Liberty . Metzen describes Tosh as a " Boba Fett -type character" while Andy Chambers feels Tosh is "quasi- Rastafarian ". Tosh possesses

1736-527: A playable character in Heroes of the Storm . Sarah Kerrigan is the primary Zerg protagonist and player character in the StarCraft franchise. Kerrigan serves as the primary antagonist of all but the first and last two games. As "The Primal Queen of Blades", Kerrigan is the de facto leader of the Zerg Swarm and mentor to broodmother Zagara. Originally a Terran ghost agent for Arcturus Mengsk, she

1860-539: A playable character in the crossover video game Heroes of the Storm . In the game, she is a ranged assassin who can ambush enemies from stealth. Her strongest point is her exceptional long-ranged single-target burst damage. In addition, she is able to use " holographic decoys" to confuse and distract the enemy, as one of her three primary abilities. Her baseline ability "ghost protocol" can be activated to instantly grant stealth to Nova. "Triple Tap" and "Precision Strike" with global range, are her two heroic abilities. Nova

1984-513: A precursor to, or an early example of, the MOBA genre. It uses a similar formula, where each player controls a single command unit in one of two opposing sides on a battlefield. Herzog Zwei ' s influence is apparent in several later MOBA games such as Guilty Gear 2: Overture (2007) and AirMech (2012). Herzog Zwei was also cited as an inspiration to the developers of Warcraft and Starcraft . 1998's Future Cop: LAPD has

2108-493: A research outpost on the planet Bel'Shir, where he went insane due to exposure to terrazine, believing that the planet itself spoke to him. Tychus J. Findlay is a marine and past associate of Raynor's who becomes affiliated with the Raiders. He appears in the novel Heaven's Devil and in Wings of Liberty as one of the main characters. Findlay is known for his charisma and toughness, and by his friendship with James Raynor. Findlay

2232-405: A resounding manner, with the first victory occurring before the five-minute mark and Dendi conceding before ninety seconds had passed in the second match. Open AI returned to The International 2018 , this time fielding an entire team of five AI players in two games against professional players, but ultimately losing both games. Despite this loss, OpenAI continued to work to improve OpenAI Five, and

2356-434: A skill in the MOBA genre, as players must weigh the available options to decide which character best suits their skill set, teammates, and opponents. Players usually find at least one hero they excel at playing, often referred to as a "main", and familiarize themselves with the remaining roster. Additionally, each hero is deliberately limited in the roles they can fulfill. No single hero is supposed to be powerful enough to win

2480-436: A strategic "Precinct Assault" mode similar to Herzog Zwei in which players can actively fight alongside generated non-player units. This could be regarded as the first example of MOBA gameplay, depending on the definition of the genre. The Windows version of Future Cop: LAPD allows online competitive play. In the same year, Blizzard Entertainment released its best-selling real-time strategy game StarCraft (1998) with

2604-610: A suite of game editing tools called StarEdit . These tools allowed players to design and create custom maps with non-standard rules and gameplay. A modder known as Aeon64 made a custom map named Aeon of Strife ( AoS ) that became popular. Some of the key features introduced in AoS became the foundation of the newborn genre. In the Aeon of Strife map, players controlled a single powerful hero unit fighting along three lanes which were protected by defensive towers. The terrain outside these lanes

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2728-762: A surgical strike against the Dominion's military capabilities, Kerrigan has Duke's flagship destroyed, killing the general. Valerian Mengsk is the son of Arcturus Mengsk and his successor as Emperor of the Terran Dominion. Valerian is first introduced in The Dark Templar Saga series of novels, while his backstory is further developed in I, Mengsk . Valerian was created as Metzen felt that Arcturus' story had been effectively told in StarCraft and Brood War . While Blizzard stipulated Valerian's physical description, The Dark Templar Saga author Christie Golden

2852-464: A team gets, the more capable they are at destroying the enemy team and their base, as well as protecting their own. In most MOBAs, playable characters have assigned classes such as "tank" , "bruiser", "marksman", "mage", "fighter", "assassin", "support" and "healer" , with each classification denoting various different skill sets and proficiencies. During the match, characters can be played in roles such as "carry", "support" and "ganker" ; however,

2976-417: Is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that improve over the course of a game and which contribute to the team's overall strategy. The typical objective is for each team to destroy their opponents' main structure, located at the opposite corner of

3100-413: Is an ongoing topic of research. Similar to real-time strategy games, MOBAs provide a highly complex environment for AI because of their large amount of possible variables, states, and decisions. One of the first known research-based MOBA AI agents was published around 2015 for League of Legends. The agent used influence maps to navigate the map and compute positioning risk. A similar agent to assist players

3224-460: 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

3348-488: 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 ,

3472-441: Is described by GameSpot as a "dark warrior who champions the light" and a "willing scapegoat" for his people and ranked in their top ten heroes chart. The character of Zeratul was created by Blizzard Entertainment's Chris Metzen, with concept art produced by other Blizzard artists such as Samwise Didier . Chris Metzen mentioned that Ritschel died some time during the development of the game, and thus Fred Tatasciore has taken over as

3596-514: 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

3720-505: Is home to neutral monsters that are hostile to both teams and appear in marked locations on the map known as "camps". Defeating neutral monsters brings various benefits to the players and their team, such as growth in power, buffs, or assistance in pushing the lane. The games are usually played on a battlefield shown from an isometric perspective , but certain MOBAs are played from a third-person or side-view perspective. The battlefield

3844-416: Is introduced in the cinematic trailer for StarCraft II , in which he is shown being encased into powered combat armour . Once he is fully suited up, Mengsk addresses him by name, saying that he is ready for action. "Hell, it’s about time," Findlay responds. Findlay is surrounded by rumours regarding his reputation; on the one hand, he is held as a loyal soldier who risks his life to save his comrades, while on

Characters of the StarCraft series - Misplaced Pages Continue

3968-407: Is keen to strike at the morally bankrupt Terran Dominion. Horner is only an average combatant in personal combat, but is otherwise an excellent pilot and tactician. First introduced in the novel Queen of Blades , Horner commands the Hyperion as it comes under attack from Zerg in orbit of the planet Char and is forced to withdraw from the system, leaving Raynor and a small group of Raiders stranded on

4092-454: 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 . Artanis is the primary Protoss protagonist and player character in

4216-541: Is murdered by an anti-Confederate resistance movement, Nova flees to the undercity of Tarsonis, where she is forced to work as an organized crime enforcer. Nova is rescued during the Zerg invasion of Tarsonis, and ends up in the possession of the newly formed Terran Dominion, who train her as a ghost. At her request, her memories are erased. She mostly appears in StarCraft series, as a minor antagonist. She initially appeared in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, as

4340-415: 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

4464-711: Is one of the six Blizzard characters who appear in the Heroes of the Storm cinematic trailer. In the team-based shooter Overwatch , there is a Nova skin for the playable character Widowmaker . The Terrans of the Koprulu sector are descended from the survivors of a disastrous 23rd century colonization mission from Earth. Compared to the Protoss and Zerg, the Terrans are technologically inferior, lacking in genetic-diversity, and highly factionalized, but possesses psionic potential. The seven dominant terran government factions are

4588-484: 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 Acturus by overloading his body with psychic energy, causing him to explode spectacularly. In

4712-488: Is represented in the interface by the mini-map . A player controls a single powerful in-game unit, called a "hero" or "champion", with each utilizing a unique set of abilities and style of play. When a hero stands near a killed enemy unit or kills an enemy unit, they gain experience points and gold which allow the hero to level up and buy items at a store. When a hero levels up, they grow in power and may strengthen one of their abilities which they typically have four of. If

4836-472: Is seen as a fusion of real-time strategy , role-playing and action games . The first widely accepted game in the genre was Aeon of Strife ( AoS ), a fan-made custom map released in 2002 for StarCraft , in which four players each control a single powerful unit and, aided by weak computer-controlled units, compete against a stronger computer. Defense of the Ancients ( DotA ) was created in 2003 by

4960-542: Is somewhat secretive and calculating, but is nevertheless honorable and loyal to his species. He teaches Tassadar how to use dark templar energies and facilitates the final attack on the Overmind by slaying several cerebrates. Following the death of the Overmind, Zeratul tries to put in motion the reunification of the Khalai survivors with the wayward dark templar and unmask the secrets of Samir Duran's experiments. After Duran revealed he had been breeding Protoss-Zerg hybrids for

5084-483: Is the central character of Legacy of the Void , the third and final part of StarCraft II . He leads the Protoss to invade Aiur but as the invasion went on, many Protoss fell under Amon's control. Amon has seized the Khala and is controlling the Protoss via their nerve cords. Artanis initially fell under their control but Zeratul severed his nerve cord, dying in the process. Shortly afterwards, Artanis leaves Aiur behind in

Characters of the StarCraft series - Misplaced Pages Continue

5208-431: Is the owner of the Moebius Foundation, the think tank that Raynor had been collecting the pieces of a Xel'Naga artifact for, and claimed that his mission was the same as Raynor's – to rescue Kerrigan. Taking more than half the Dominion fleet, Valerian joins forces with Raynor's Raiders and lays siege to the Zerg stronghold of Char, as part of an effort to prove to the Dominion (and to his father) that he will be worthy to take

5332-494: Is used by heroes to buy a variety of different items that range in price and impact. For the most part, this involves improving the combat viability of the hero, although there may be other items that support the hero or team as a whole in different ways. As the heroes of each team get stronger, they can use multiple strategies to gain an advantage. These strategies can include securing objectives, killing enemy heroes and gaining levels by killing computer-controlled units. The stronger

5456-625: Is vital to Mengsk's assault on Tarsonis. Mengsk, still skeptical of Duke's loyalty, later dispatches Duke on expeditions to investigate the Zerg on Char and a Xel'Naga artifact on Bhekar Ro in Shadow of the Xel'Naga , engagements that decimate Alpha Squadron. In Brood War , Duke organizes the Dominion's fleet defenses against the United Earth Directorate, and later follows Mengsk into alliance with Kerrigan and her Zerg. However, as part of

5580-459: The StarCraft franchise. Artanis is a high templar and a military commander introduced in Brood War . Later retcons , particularly with the character's appearances in the novels Queen of Blades and Twilight , have established Artanis as the identity of the nameless 'Executor' for the Protoss campaign in the original StarCraft . An ambitious leader, Artanis is the youngest templar to achieve

5704-508: The Warcraft III modding community for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion, The Frozen Throne , with a map based on AoS. DotA was one of the first major titles of its genre and the first MOBA for which sponsored tournaments were held. It was followed by two spiritual successors , League of Legends (2009) and Heroes of Newerth (2010), as well by a standalone sequel, Dota 2 (2013), and numerous other games in

5828-433: The Warcraft III engine, calling the map Defense of the Ancients ( DotA ). Eul substantially improved the complexity of play from the original Aeon of Strife mod. Shortly after creating the custom DotA map, Eul left the modding scene. With no clear successor, Warcraft III modders created a variety of maps based on DotA and featuring different heroes. In 2003, after the release of WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne ,

5952-402: The mod highly popular, as its dynamic and unpredictable fights, complex map, and hero-centric gameplay create a more competitive environment and opportunities for outplaying the enemy team. By the early 2010s, multiplayer online battle arena has become a prominent genre in esports tournaments. The genre has seen further growth in popularity since the year 2015 – among the top five esports with

6076-630: The Confederacy to launch a nuclear attack against Korhal, wiping out its population; Mengsk swore vengeance, and formed a revolutionary group he called the Sons of Korhal. Years of open conflict successfully weakened Confederate control over the fringe worlds, during which he recruited followers such as Sarah Kerrigan, Jim Raynor, and Edmund Duke. Raynor and Kerrigan grew uneasy with Mengsk's increasingly extreme methods, namely luring Zerg to attack Confederate targets, leading to Mengsk abandoning Kerrigan to

6200-437: The Confederacy. In Wings of Liberty , Mengsk and his son Valerian find the Dominion opposed by several rebel and paramilitary groups, including Raynor's Raiders. Mengsk suffers compound setbacks during the game, initially due to the mass invasion of Dominion space by Zerg forces, which catches the Dominion military and Mengsk unprepared, and later from Raynor's Raiders who capture and broadcast proof of Mengsk's war crimes during

6324-567: The Defenders of Man headquartered. After the capture of Carolina Davis, the leader of the Defenders, Alarak attacks them with the Death Fleet. The Dominion and the Defenders joined to repel the invasion. Carolina escapes and tried to destroy the shipyard that houses the Dominion fleet. Nova and her team defeated her, and she killed the Defenders general. Instead of capturing her and the team, Emperor Valerian lets them go. Nova also appears as

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6448-412: The Dominion fleet that he was on board, and so he aided Kerrigan and the Raiders in searching for him. During the final assault against Korhal, Valerian recognized that Arcturus was beyond redemption, and asked only that Kerrigan minimize civilian casualties; Kerrigan thus elected to attend his request, recognizing him as a different man from his father. Kerrigan killed Arcturus shortly thereafter. Following

6572-599: The Dominion. His actor, Brian Bloom , also voiced a supervillain by the ship's name in the animated series, Avengers Assemble . Rory Swann is the chief engineer of the Hyperion . Swann came from a family of tech-savvy miners who opened a successful private mining operation on Meinhoff: however, their operation was crushed by ever-rising taxes. Swann lodged a complaint to the Kel-Morian Combine officials and discovered that Tavish Kerr, whose mining operations weren't burdened with taxes, bribed officials to put rival claims out of business through excessive taxation. Swann started

6696-528: The Koprulu Sector during his father's campaign against the Confederacy. While Valerian shares Arcturus' passion for liquors and ancient weapons, his relationship with his father is adversarial due to Arcturus' disdain for both him and his mother in his childhood. Valerian made his game debut in Wings of Liberty . He is confronted by Jim Raynor, mistaking him for his father Arcturus, aboard the Dominion battlecruiser Bucephalus . Valerian reveals that he

6820-636: The MOBA genre focuses on the multiplayer battle in the arena-like environment, whereas RPGs typically revolve around a single-player story and exploration of different locations. Some key features of MOBAs, such as control over one specific character in a party, growth in power over time, learning new thematic abilities, leveling and accumulation of experience points, usage of the mana resource, equipment and inventory management, completing quests, and fighting with powerful boss monsters, are also typical of role-playing games. The 1989 Mega Drive/Genesis game Herzog Zwei has variously been cited either as

6944-458: The MOBA genre has moved away from constructing structures, army building, and controlling additional units in favor of hero-centric gameplay. However, some MOBA games have certain heroes which control a few specialized units, but not on a massive scale commonly found in RTS games. As is the case in real-time strategy games, structures and base defense are important, and destroying the main structure at

7068-839: The Moebius Foundation, the Kel-Morian Combine, the Tarsonis Republic, the Mar Sara Republic, the Terran Dominion (formerly the Terran Confederacy), the Umojan Protectorate, and the United Earth Directorate. Terrans are in a constant state of conflict: whenever they are not caught in the two-front pitched battle crossfire with their alien neighbors' interstellar conflicts, they endure frequent political assassinations, civil wars, and revolutions amongst themselves. Nevertheless, Terran ingenuity and unyielding stubbornness have helped elevate them as

7192-533: The Protoss civilization; with Zeratul having disappeared, Artanis becomes the hierarch of the unified Protoss Protectorate, the Daelaam, but struggles with reintegrating the two estranged branches of his people, with many of the Aiur survivors desiring to retake their home world. He makes a brief appearance in Wings of Liberty in the vision of the Protoss's last stand against the hybrids and their Zerg swarm. Artanis

7316-552: The Storm , and "Monkey King" in DotA 2. Due to the large volume of matches played on a daily basis around the world and the relatively complicated nature of the genre, MOBAs have become a popular target for the application of big data tools to predict match outcomes based on in-game factors such as hero kill/death/assist ratios, gold earned, time of a match, synergy with other players, team composition, and other, more advanced parameters. The use of artificial intelligence in MOBAs

7440-529: The Swarm , as well as a series of novels, including StarCraft Ghost: Nova and StarCraft Ghost: Spectres . Nova is the subject of her own RTS campaign, Nova Covert Ops , which was released on March 29, 2016. Nova is the daughter of one of the highly influential Confederate Old Families; despite having unusually high psionic potential her father prevents her from being taken into the Confederate Ghost Program. However, after her family

7564-521: The Umojan Protectorate, where Kerrigan undergoes extensive testing in a research lab. The lab is discovered and attacked by a Dominion task force, and Valerian and Kerrigan escape on board the Hyperion , the Raiders' flagship. Valerian is nearly psionically strangled by Kerrigan for leaving Raynor behind on the base. Valerian knew that his father would be willing to sacrifice him to destroy Kerrigan, even in spite of Hyperion captain Matt Horner warning

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7688-475: 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

7812-481: The Zerg and the Protoss fleet commanded by Tassadar, for which he is promoted to general . Duke is later charged with quelling rebellion on the Confederate world of Antiga Prime, but is defeated by Mengsk's forces. When Duke's flagship Norad II is shot down by the Zerg during the battle, Duke is rescued by Raynor on Mengsk's orders in return for the defection of the general and his squadron, and Duke's knowledge

7936-512: The Zerg on the Confederate capital of Tarsonis (another reason for the latter was Kerrigan had been the assassin who murdered his father). With the destruction of Tarsonis by the Zerg, Mengsk crowned himself emperor and styled himself as a benevolent dictator . In Brood War , the Dominion is invaded by the United Earth Directorate , and Mengsk narrowly escapes capture with the reluctant help of Raynor. Faced with execution and

8060-519: The action genre are represented in MOBA games. Players with better mechanical skills and quick reaction times typically excel relative to their peers. MOBAs often have a strong focus on micromanagement , involving mechanical abilities such as positioning, dodging, use of combo attacks, kiting , prediction and target selection. Direction-targeted abilities, or "skillshots", require precise aim and good timing in order to hit an enemy. The MOBA genre resembles role-playing games (RPGs) in gameplay, though

8184-487: 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

8308-564: 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

8432-471: The battlefield. In some MOBA games, the objective can be defeating every player on the enemy team. Players are assisted by computer-controlled units that periodically spawn in groups and march forward along set paths toward their enemy's base, which is heavily guarded by defensive structures. This type of multiplayer online video games originated as a subgenre of real-time strategy , though MOBA players usually do not construct buildings or units. The genre

8556-557: The character most aligned with their skills and preferences. Playable characters blend a variety of fantasy tropes and often feature numerous references to popular culture and mythology . One such figure commonly represented in MOBAs is Sun Wukong , a legendary mythical figure from 16th-century China. Examples of representation of Sun Wukong in MOBAs in the form of playable characters include "Wukong" in League of Legends , Samuro's "Monkey King" skin (custom outfit/costume) in Heroes of

8680-549: The death of his father and the departure of the Zerg, Valerian assumed the throne and became the new Emperor of the Dominion. He immediately went to work rebuilding the Dominion, and enacted new laws to eliminate the corruption and abuse of power that had occurred during his father's reign. These reforms included abolishing forced military conscription and slave labor. He also reorganized a number of his father's secret projects, such as Project Blackstone. Multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena ( MOBA )

8804-471: The destruction of the Dominion as alternatives, Mengsk allies with Kerrigan and Raynor to defeat the UED, but Kerrigan eventually betrays their alliance and delivers a crippling blow to Mengsk's forces. Nevertheless, Mengsk rebuilds, and the Dominion remains the dominant Terran power. In Frontline , many of the stories in the anthology paint Mengsk and the Dominion overall as tyrannical and corrupt, no different from

8928-458: 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

9052-501: The emperor's crown after Arcturus. Ultimately, the mission succeeds in de-infesting Kerrigan, but in the aftermath of the battle a disagreement between Arcturus and Valerian over Kerrigan's fate sparks an armed civil war between the Emperor and Prince, leading Valerian and a faction of the Dominion's armed forces loyal to him to seek shelter with Raynor's Raiders. In Heart of the Swarm , Valerian helps Raynor and his Raiders escape into

9176-460: The evacuation of his now devastated home world of Aiur, and with Zeratul undertakes measures to cleanse the Zerg presence on Shakuras through the use of a Xel'Naga temple. When Sarah Kerrigan's actions result in the deaths of Aldaris, Fenix, and Raszagal, Artanis commands a fleet to bring Kerrigan to justice on Char, and despite allying with both the Dominion and the UED remnants, his forces are defeated by her Zerg. Artanis returns to Shakuras to rebuild

9300-432: 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

9424-429: The events of StarCraft . Despite these setbacks, Arcturus manages to overcome these hardships, maintaining his position as Emperor of the Dominion for the remainder of the game. During the events of Heart of the Swarm , Mengsk tries to have Kerrigan killed on several occasions, including issuing an obituary about Raynor. Kerrigan however, successfully reunites the Zerg Swarm and storms the Dominion capital of Augustgrad on

9548-507: The franchise's intellectual property rights after being contested by Riot Games for the DotA trademark. In 2012, Activision Blizzard settled a trademark dispute with Valve over the usage of the DOTA name and announced their own standalone game which was eventually named Heroes of the Storm . Dota 2 was released in 2013, and was referred to by Valve as an "action real-time strategy" game. In 2014, Hi-Rez Studios released Smite ,

9672-417: The game until Raynor's return to the Hyperion after the raid aboard the prison ship Moros . During the events of Legacy of the Void , Horner is now an admiral commanding the Dominion fleet, joining the joint Dominion/protoss defense against Amon and his Moebius Corps forces. After Amon falls, Horner is the Dominion's chief military leader, as he and Emperor Valerian pledge to maintain peace and prosperity for

9796-538: The game without support from their team. This creates a strong emphasis on teamwork and cooperation. The genre rewards players that are capable of cooperating with their teammates to execute an effective strategy, enabling full potential of their individual abilities and mechanical skills. Each player typically receives a small amount of gold per second during the course of the game. Moderate amounts of gold are rewarded for killing hostile computer-controlled units and larger amounts are rewarded for killing enemy heroes. Gold

9920-406: The game's genre as a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA). Also in 2009, IceFrog, who had continued to develop DotA: Allstars , was hired by Valve , in order to design a sequel to the original map. In 2010, S2 Games released Heroes of Newerth , with a large portion of its gameplay and aesthetics based on DotA: Allstars . The same year, Valve announced Dota 2 and subsequently secured

10044-429: The genre to become a global cultural phenomenon. Each match starts with two opposing teams typically composed of five players. Players work together as a team to achieve the ultimate victory condition, which is to destroy their enemy's base whilst protecting their own. Usually, both teams have main structures, located at the opposite corners of the battlefield. The first team to destroy the opponents' main structure wins

10168-419: The genre's overall popularity. Players are able to download and play AAA -quality games at no cost. These games are generating revenue by selling cosmetic elements, including skins, voice lines, customized mounts and announcers, but none of these give the functional gameplay advantages to the buyer. As of 2012, free-to-play MOBAs, such as League of Legends , Dota 2 , Heroes of the Storm , and Smite were among

10292-457: The genre, such as Heroes of the Storm (2015). By the early 2010s, the genre had become a big part of the esports category. In 2018, prize pools reached over US$ 60 million, 40% of the year's total esports prize pools. Major esports professional tournaments are held in venues that can hold tens of thousands of spectators and are streamed online. A strong fanbase has opened up the opportunity for sponsorship and advertising, eventually leading

10416-402: The heart of the enemy base typically serves as the ultimate victory condition of a given match. Players can find various friendly and enemy units on the map at any given time assisting each team, however, these units are computer-controlled and players usually do not have direct control over their movement and creation ; instead, they move forward along the map's lanes. Many defining elements of

10540-444: The impending release of an update that significantly changed the map layout, Guinsoo left the development to his adjutant Neichus in the year 2005. After some weeks of development and some versions released, the latter turned over responsibility to a modder named IceFrog , who initiated large changes to the mechanics that deepened its complexity and capacity for innovative gameplay. The changes conducted by IceFrog were well-received and

10664-577: The influential Old Families of Confederacy with a long career in the military, Duke is a methodical and experienced tactician, but also as an egotistical and xenophobic man. As a colonel , Duke commands the Alpha Squadron of the Confederate Security Forces, and he is the face of the Confederacy for the player in the early parts of StarCraft . Duke initially leads the defense of Confederate colonies Chau Sara and Mar Sara from

10788-463: The largest prize pools, three have been MOBA titles for three years in row. Distributed prize money in MOBA tournaments reached over US$ 54 million in 2017. A year later, prize pools continued to grow reaching over US$ 60 million, 40% of the year's total esports prize pools. 2018 League of Legends World Championship had the biggest prize pool out of all League of Legends esports championship finals, awarding almost $ 6.5 million. MOBAs are some of

10912-440: The majority of the Terrans in the Koprulu Sector. The main antagonist of the series, he is voiced by James Harper and is the primary subject of the novel I, Mengsk . Mengsk is extremely intelligent and is capable as both a strategist and tactician. While Mengsk does not empathize with people well, he is highly skilled at oratory and propaganda and possesses a remarkable ability for manipulating other people. Born on Korhal IV,

11036-507: The match, though some games have the option of different victory conditions. Destroying other structures within the opposing team's base may confer other benefits. Defensive structures, which are usually automatic "towers", are in place to prevent this. Each team is assisted by relatively weak computer-controlled units, called "minions", that periodically spawn in groups at both bases, marching down predefined paths (called "lanes") toward their enemy base. While their charges are counterbalanced by

11160-597: The metaphorical devil on Raynor's shoulder. After the events of the Campaign, it is revealed that Tychus was only released from his prison by Arcturus Mengsk under the condition that he had to assassinate Sarah Kerrigan. If she dies, Tychus would go free; otherwise, his combat armor would kill him. After Kerrigan is de-infested by the Xel'naga artifact's energy pulse and freed from Amon's control, when Tychus revealed this to Raynor, Raynor blocked Tychus' shot intended for Kerrigan and shot his friend dead. Tychus also appears as

11284-540: The most noble of heroes, although he is shrouded in a cloak of mystery and aloofness". Zeratul also appears as a playable character in Heroes of the Storm . November Annabella Terra, call sign "Nova", a.k.a. "Agent X41822N", is a ghost agent and the protagonist of the StarCraft: Ghost sub-series. Despite the indefinite postponement of the Ghost video game, she appears in Wings of Liberty and Heart of

11408-511: The most popular PC games. The success in the genre has helped convince many video game publishers to copy the free-to-play MOBA model. SuperData Research reported that the genre generated over $ 2.5 billion of revenue in 2017. Similar to fighting games , MOBAs offer a large number of viable player characters for the player to choose from, each of which having distinctive abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. With such wide varieties available, players have numerous choices from which to find

11532-436: The most watched games in the world. Major esports professional tournaments are held in venues that can hold tens of thousands of spectators and are streamed online to millions more. A strong fanbase has opened up the opportunity for sponsorship and advertising, eventually leading the genre to become a global cultural phenomenon . A free-to-play business model, which is used by the largest MOBA titles, have contributed to

11656-435: The new boss, same as the old boss". Mengsk was responsible for the release from prison of Tychus Findlay, with the specific purpose of tailing Jim Raynor and killing Kerrigan; Raynor foils this plan by killing Tychus. Edmund Duke is ranking officer in first the Confederacy and later the Dominion. Duke also appears in several novels, including Liberty's Crusade , Shadow of the Xel'Naga , and Queen of Blades . A scion of one of

11780-411: The new voice actor. Tatasciore described Zeratul as an incredible character, a " Darth Vader " who invests so much in the survival of things, and one of the best characters he has ever played. GameSpot described all the characters in StarCraft as "three-dimensional, full of personality and complexity", and then continued to comment: "Yet even among this star-studded cast, it is Zeratul who stands out as

11904-441: The number and type of roles can differ depending on the game. The carry role is expected to scale and itemize themselves to do the most damage against enemy characters and objectives, but may also require protection and assistance from their team members. Supports assist their team with abilities that aid allies and disable enemies, rather than dealing damage directly. Some supports have healing abilities which can be vital factor in

12028-555: The number of users on the Dota: Allstars forum is thought to have peaked at over one million. DotA is widely attributed as the most significant inspiration for the MOBA genre in the years to come. By 2008, the popularity of DotA had attracted commercial attention. Since the format was tied to the Warcraft property, developers began to work on their own " DOTA -style" video games. A Flash web game, named Minions ,

12152-416: The opposite team's minions, players can aid them which turns the minions into a useful army for striking the opponents' defenses. There are typically three "lanes" on the battlefield that are the main ways of getting from one base to another. The lanes are known as top, middle and bottom lane, or, in gamer shorthand – "top", "mid" and "bot". Between the lanes is an uncharted area called "jungle". The "jungle"

12276-415: The original Defense of the Ancients ( DotA ), each player controls one powerful unit rather than a large army. While it still kept the large scale, core mechanics, and goals of the real-time strategy games, DotA attempted to avoid "clickfest" gameplay in which high actions per minute scores are mandatory for efficient playing, changing focus to the actual teamwork, coordination, and tactics. This made

12400-407: The other, he is regarded as an amoral scoundrel. Findlay and Raynor fought together for the Confederacy several years prior to the events of StarCraft before becoming outlaws; Findlay was eventually captured and incarcerated. By Wings of Liberty, Findlay escapes from prison, tracks down Raynor, and recruits him to work for the secretive Moebius Foundation, where, according to Metzen, Findlay acts as

12524-410: The particular lane they are focusing on, such as "top laner", "mid laner", and "bottom laner", or by their role in a teamfight, such as "frontliner", "damage dealer", "healer", "flex", and the "offlaner". As a fusion of real-time strategy (RTS), role-playing , and action games , MOBAs have many elements of preexisting genres while still offering unique gameplay. In general, the design philosophy of

12648-423: The planet Korhal with help from Raynor's Raiders. After the final showdown inside Mengsk's palace, Kerrigan manages to gain the upper hand with help from James Raynor, and kills Mengsk by overloading his body with psychic energy, causing him to explode spectacularly. In the wake of his death, Valerian ascends to the throne. GameSpy cites Mengsk as a classic example of The Who's " Won't Get Fooled Again " lyrics "meet

12772-423: The planet as a result. The player can help her colony by eliminating the Protoss mothership, which ends in her staying behind and continuing research for a cure to Zerg infestation. Alternatively, if the player chooses to purify the colony themselves, she will end up infested while desperately researching a cure, forcing Raynor to kill her. Arcturus Mengsk was the emperor of the Terran Dominion, which presided over

12896-452: The project. Dr. Ariel Hanson is a scientist who becomes associated with Raynor's Raiders after her home colony on the planet Agria is invaded by Zerg in Wings of Liberty . A selfless and altruistic individual, she mainly wishes for life to return to normal. She is considered to be the moral opposite of Tychus Findlay, acting as a metaphorical angel on Raynor's shoulder, and represents a positive moral influence on Raynor. Originally designed as

13020-478: The rank of praetor and executor. Artanis holds Tassadar in high esteem and despite being a strong believer in Khalai system, he also holds to the idea of reunification with the Nerazim and Tal'Darim. Artanis is responsible for the initial defense of Aiur alongside Fenix before being dispatched to arrest Tassadar by Aldaris; Artanis, however, sides with Tassadar and helps him defeat the Overmind. Artanis later organizes

13144-494: 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

13268-699: The scion of a powerful founding family of the Terran Confederacy, Mengsk was a colonel in the Confederate Marine Corps and a veteran of the Guild Wars, who became a successful prospector after war's end. Though trying to distance himself from the actions of his father, a prominent Korhal senator and vocal dissident against the Confederacy, Mengsk became a revolutionary himself when his father, mother, and younger sister were murdered by Confederate assassins. His activities soon spurred

13392-418: The sector, except one. He is also the only character to have established inter-species alliance. 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

13516-403: 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 (UED) 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,

13640-464: The ship Spear of Adun and begins his quest to destroy Amon. Upon repelling Amon from Aiur, Artanis joins Raynor and Kerrigan in destroying Amon and his forces in the void. During the aftermath, Artanis maintains a peaceful alliance with Valerian Mengsk's dominion. Artanis also appears as a playable character in Heroes of the Storm . Zeratul is a Nerazim prelate and one of the main Protoss protagonists. A renowned psionic warrior and assassin, Zeratul

13764-496: The source of the mysterious encrypted message that warns Jim Raynor of what Gabriel Tosh is planning: a revival of Project Shadowblade, a program in which Ghosts are given doses of jorium and terrazine to produce Spectres, giving them power but ended the subjects insane. She offers Ghosts for the Raiders to train, in turn she will eliminate the Project Shadowblade and Tosh. If declined, she just warned Raynor and cut off

13888-458: The surface; Horner is only able to return several months later to evacuate the survivors. Horner continues in a similar role in Wings of Liberty , acting as Raynor's conscience and trying to keep his commander focused. After the capture of James Raynor by Arcturus's Dominion forces in Heart of the Swarm , Matt Horner assumes temporary command of Raynor's Raiders, leading the rebel movement for much of

14012-450: The team composition's success, giving health and sustenance to their allies while limiting the enemy's options in terms of play patterns. Ganker roles are flexible, as they have both carry and support skills that are used to disrupt and eliminate enemies, thus giving their teammates an advantage over their opponents. Gankers can "act as a strategist, decision-maker or supporter depending on the team's needs." Player roles can be classified by

14136-460: The three dominant species of the galaxy. Matt Horner is the captain of the Raiders' flagship Hyperion and Raynor's second-in-command . Described as "young and idealistic" and guided by strong moral principles, Horner is originally a supporter of Mengsk, but becomes disgusted by Mengsk's deliberate attacks on civilian Confederate targets. Having come to admire Raynor's bravery and loyalty, Horner follows Raynor when he abandons Mengsk's cause, and

14260-509: The transmission. In Heart of the Swarm, she led the assault team to capture Kerrigan, Raynor and Prince Valerian. She captured Raynor. In the Nova Covert Ops , set in postwar Koprulu, she was captured by the mysterious organisation Defenders of Man, a secret group that wants to overthrow Emperor Valerian. She and her Ghost team was captured, used to attack Antiga Prime via psi emitters, and wipes their memories. The team escaped and Nova

14384-428: 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

14508-483: Was captured by Admiral Matt Horner. While holding a feral zerg siege, she was tasked by Horner to assit the defenders. They later met the Emperor, and gave her the Covert Ops team, consisting of Rigel and a handful of volunteers. With this, the team tries to foil the Defenders of Man's actions, hesitantly allied with Highlord Alarak to take down Defenders of Man and regain her memories via terrazine, and point him where

14632-423: Was created by The Casual Collective in 2008. Gas Powered Games released the first stand-alone commercial title in the genre, Demigod (2009). In late 2009, Riot Games ' debut title League of Legends was released. It was initially designed by Steve Feak, one of the original creators of DotA: Allstars, who went on to apply many of the mechanics and lessons he learned from the mod. Riot began to refer to

14756-403: Was given the freedom to develop the character as she wished. A disciple of Japanese martial arts and a keen archaeologist , he is described as "brilliant... and probably a bit arrogant for knowing it". Valerian is particularly interested in Xel'Naga artifacts, which he employs mercenaries and leading archaeologists to retrieve and study. Valerian was raised in secrecy on a number of worlds across

14880-430: 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 article: Jim Raynor Jim Raynor is the primary Terran protagonist and player character in the StarCraft franchise. Raynor is the ubiquitous character of the series, having participated in all critical plot points and military conflicts in

15004-527: Was nearly vacant. In early versions of the game, hero units did not have any particular special abilities. Instead, players spent gold on weapon and armor upgrades. In 2002, Blizzard released Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (WC3), with the accompanying Warcraft III World Editor . Both the multiplayer online battle arena and tower defense subgenres took substantive shape within the WC3 modding community. A modder named Eul began converting Aeon of Strife into

15128-535: Was published in the same year. Two years later, artificial intelligence research laboratory OpenAI developed the AI project OpenAI Five , which was first showcased at the Dota 2 World Championship, The International 2017 , during a 1v1 demonstration. In this demonstration, OpenAI Five faced off against Dendi , one of the most prolific and popular DotA players of all time. In this 1v1, OpenAI Five defeated Dendi twice in

15252-1028: Was released in the western market in 2017. In 2021, the Pokémon series released its first MOBA game in Pokémon Unite . During the last half of the 2010s, video game developers and publishers , following the success of League of Legends and Dota 2 , tried to be part of the next-generation MOBA wave by putting their own twist in the genre, releasing games such as Battlerite (2017), and AirMech (2018). After years of development, many games which were supported by large publishers have not been fully released or their servers were shut down shortly after release. The most notable examples are Dawngate (2015) by Electronic Arts , DC Comics-based Infinite Crisis (2015) by Warner Bros. , Arena of Fate (2016) by Crytek , Gigantic (2017) by Perfect World Entertainment , Master X Master (2018) by NCSoft , and Paragon (2018) by Epic Games . In

15376-407: 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

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