A group of rogue protoss is exiled from the protoss homeworld of Aiur for refusing to join the Khala, a telepathic link shared by the entire race. These rogues, called the dark templar, ultimately settle on the planet of Shakuras. This split between the two protoss factions becomes known as the Discord.
(StarCraft: Shadow Hunters, book two of The Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
(StarCraft: Twilight, book three of The Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
The dark templar Zeratul is born. He will later be instrumental in reconciling the severed halves of protoss society.
(StarCraft: Twilight, book three of The Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
(StarCraft: Queen of Blades by Aaron Rosenberg)
Tassadar is born. He will later be an executor of the Aiur protoss.
(StarCraft: Twilight, book three of The Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
(StarCraft: Queen of Blades by Aaron Rosenberg)
Four supercarriers—the Argo, the Sarengo, the Reagan, and the Nagglfar—transporting convicts from Earth venture far beyond their intended destination and crash-land on planets in the Koprulu sector. The survivors settle on the planets Moria, Umoja, and Tarsonis and build new societies that grow to encompass other planets.
Having established colonies on other planets, Tarsonis becomes the capital of the Terran Confederacy, a powerful but increasingly oppressive government.
Arcturus Mengsk is born. He is a member of one of the Confederacy’s elite Old Families.
(StarCraft: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill)
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
(StarCraft: Uprising by Micky Neilson)
Tychus Findlay is born. He will later become good friends with Jim Raynor during the Guild Wars.
(StarCraft: Heaven’s Devils by William C. Dietz)
Jim Raynor is born. His parents are Trace and Karol Raynor, farmers on the fringe world of Shiloh.
(StarCraft: Heaven’s Devils by William C. Dietz)
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
(StarCraft: Queen of Blades by Aaron Rosenberg)
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 4, “Homecoming” by Chris Metzen and Hector Sevilla)
(StarCraft monthly comic #5–7 by Simon Furman and Federico Dallocchio)
Sarah Kerrigan is born. She is a terran gifted with powerful psionic abilities.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
(StarCraft: Uprising by Micky Neilson)
(StarCraft: Queen of Blades by Aaron Rosenberg)
(StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
Arcturus Mengsk graduates from the Styrling Academy and joins the Confederate Marine Corps against the wishes of his parents.
(StarCraft: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill)
Tensions rise between the Confederacy and the Kel-Morian Combine, a shady corporate partnership created by the Morian Mining Coalition and the Kelanis Shipping Guild to protect their mining interests from Confederate aggression. After the Kel-Morians ambush Confederate forces that are encroaching on the Noranda Glacier vespene mine, open warfare breaks out. This conflict comes to be known as the Guild Wars.
(StarCraft: Heaven’s Devils by William C. Dietz)
(StarCraft: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill)
Jim Raynor joins the Confederate Marine Corps and meets Tychus Findlay. In the later battles between the Confederacy and the Kel-Morian Combine, the 321st Colonial Rangers Battalion (whose membership includes Raynor and Findlay) comes to prominence for its expertise and bravado, earning it the nickname “Heaven’s Devils.”
(StarCraft: Heaven’s Devils by William C. Dietz)
Jim Raynor meets fellow Confederate soldier Cole Hickson in a Kel-Morian prison camp. During this encounter, Hickson teaches Raynor how to resist and survive the Kel-Morians’ brutal torture methods.
(StarCraft: Heaven’s Devils by William C. Dietz)
(StarCraft monthly comic #6 by Simon Furman and Federico Dallocchio)
Toward the end of the Guild Wars, Jim Raynor and Tychus Findlay go AWOL from the Confederate military.
Arcturus Mengsk resigns from the Confederate military after achieving the rank of colonel. He then becomes a successful prospector in the galactic rim.
(StarCraft: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill)
After nearly four years of war, the Confederacy “negotiates” peace with the Kel-Morian Combine, annexing almost all of the Kel-Morians’ supporting mining guilds. Despite this massive setback, the Kel-Morian Combine is allowed to continue its existence and retain its autonomy.
Arcturus Mengsk’s father, Confederate senator Angus Mengsk, declares the independence of Korhal IV, a core world of the Confederacy that has long been at odds with the government. In response, three Confederate ghosts—covert terran operatives with superhuman psionic powers enhanced by cutting-edge technology—assassinate Angus, his wife, and their young daughter. Furious at the murder of his family, Arcturus takes command of the rebellion in Korhal and wages a guerilla war against the Confederacy.
(StarCraft: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill)
As a warning to other would-be separatists, the Confederacy unleashes a nuclear holocaust on Korhal IV, killing millions. In retaliation, Arcturus Mengsk names his rebel group the Sons of Korhal and intensifies his struggle against the Confederacy. During this time Arcturus liberates a Confederate ghost named Sarah Kerrigan, who later becomes his second-in-command.
(StarCraft: Uprising by Micky Neilson)
After living an indulgent, self-destructive lifestyle as outlaws, Jim Raynor and Tychus Findlay are cornered by authorities, and Raynor’s criminal years come to an end. Although Tychus is apprehended, Raynor manages to escape. Raynor retires on the planet Mar Sara and marries Liddy. Their son, Johnny, is born shortly after.
(StarCraft: Devils’ Due by Christie Golden)
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 4, “Homecoming” by Chris Metzen and Hector Sevilla)
Jim Raynor becomes a marshal on Mar Sara.
Despite Jim’s reservations, Johnny Raynor is sent to the Ghost Academy on Tarsonis to develop his latent psionic potential. In the same year, Jim and Liddy receive a letter informing them of Johnny’s death. Unable to cope with her grief, Liddy wastes away and dies soon afterward.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 4, “Homecoming” by Chris Metzen and Hector Sevilla)
Two alien threats appear in the Koprulu sector: the ruthless, highly adaptable zerg and the enigmatic protoss. In a seemingly unprovoked attack, the protoss incinerate the terran planet Chau Sara, drawing the ire of the Confederacy. Unbeknownst to most terrans, Chau Sara had become infested by the zerg, and the protoss had carried out their attack in order to destroy the infestation. Other worlds, including the nearby planet Mar Sara, are also found to be infested by the zerg.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
(StarCraft: Twilight, book three of The Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
On Mar Sara, the Confederacy imprisons Jim Raynor for destroying Backwater Station, a zerginfested terran outpost. He is liberated soon after by Mengsk’s rebel group, the Sons of Korhal.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
A Confederate marine named Ardo Melnikov finds himself embroiled in the conflict on Mar Sara. He suffers from painful memories of his former life on the planet Bountiful, but he soon discovers that there is a darker truth to his past.
(StarCraft: Speed of Darkness by Tracy Hickman)
Mar Sara suffers the same fate as Chau Sara and is incinerated by the protoss. Jim Raynor, Arcturus Mengsk, the Sons of Korhal, and some of the planet’s residents manage to escape the destruction.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
Feeling betrayed by the Confederacy, Jim Raynor joins the Sons of Korhal and meets Sarah Kerrigan. A Universal News Network (UNN) reporter, Michael Liberty, accompanies the rebel group to report on the chaos and counteract Confederate propaganda.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
A Confederate politician named Tamsen Cauley tasks the War Pigs—a covert military unit created to take on the Confederacy’s dirtiest jobs—with assassinating Arcturus Mengsk. The attempt on Mengsk’s life fails.
(StarCraft monthly comic #1 by Simon Furman and Federico Dallocchio)
November “Nova” Terra, a daughter of one of the Confederacy’s powerful Old Families on Tarsonis, unleashes her latent psionic abilities after she telepathically feels the murder of her parents and her brother. Once her terrifying power becomes known, the Confederacy hunts her down, intending to take advantage of her talents.
(StarCraft: Ghost: Nova by Keith R. A. DeCandido)
Arcturus Mengsk deploys a devastating weapon—the psi emitter—on the Confederate capital of Tarsonis. The device sends out amplified psionic signals and draws large numbers of zerg to the planet. Tarsonis falls soon after, and the loss of the capital proves to be a deathblow to the Confederacy.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
Arcturus Mengsk betrays Sarah Kerrigan and abandons her on Tarsonis as it is being overrun by zerg. Jim Raynor, who had developed a deep bond with Kerrigan, defects from the Sons of Korhal in fury and forms a rebel group that will come to be known as Raynor’s Raiders. He soon discovers Kerrigan’s true fate: instead of being killed by the zerg, she has been transformed into a powerful being known as the Queen of Blades.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
(StarCraft: Queen of Blades by Aaron Rosenberg)
Michael Liberty leaves the Sons of Korhal along with Raynor after witnessing Mengsk’s ruthlessness. Unwilling to become a propaganda tool, the reporter begins transmitting rogue news broadcasts that expose Mengsk’s oppressive tactics.
(StarCraft: Liberty’s Crusade by Jeff Grubb)
(StarCraft: Queen of Blades by Aaron Rosenberg)
Arcturus Mengsk declares himself emperor of the Terran Dominion, a new government that takes power over many of the terran planets in the Koprulu sector.
(StarCraft: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill)
Dominion senator Corbin Phash discovers that his young son, Colin, can attract hordes of deadly zerg with his psionic abilities—a talent that the Dominion sees as a useful weapon.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 1, “Weapon of War” by Paul Benjamin, David Shramek, and Hector Sevilla)
The supreme ruler of the zerg, the Overmind, discovers the location of the protoss homeworld of Aiur and launches an invasion of the planet.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 3, “Twilight Archon” by Ren Zatopek and Noel Rodriguez)
(StarCraft: Queen of Blades by Aaron Rosenberg)
(StarCraft: Twilight, book three of The Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
Juras, the brilliant inventor of the protoss mothership, awakens from a centuries-long sleep to discover that Aiur is under threat from the zerg. Not knowing the zerg’s true intentions or the reasons for their assault, the scientist struggles to decide whether or not to attack the strange aliens.
(“Mothership” by Brian Kindregan at us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/lore/)
The heroic high templar Tassadar sacrifices himself to destroy the Overmind. However, much of Aiur is left in ruins. The remaining Aiur protoss flee through a warp gate created by the xel’naga—an ancient alien race that is thought to have influenced the evolution of the zerg and the protoss—and are transported to the dark templar planet Shakuras. For the first time since the dark templar were banished from Aiur, the two protoss societies are reunited.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 3, “Twilight Archon” by Ren Zatopek and Noel Rodriguez)
(StarCraft: Queen of Blades by Aaron Rosenberg)
(StarCraft: Twilight, book three of The Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
The zerg pursue the refugees from the planet Aiur through the warp gate to Shakuras. Jim Raynor and his forces, who had become allies with Tassadar and the dark templar Zeratul, stay behind on Aiur in order to shut down the warp gate. Meanwhile, Zeratul and the protoss executor Artanis utilize the powers of an ancient xel’naga temple on Shakuras to purge the zerg that have already invaded the planet.
On the fringe world of Bhekar Ro, two terran siblings named Octavia and Lars stumble upon a recently unearthed xel’naga artifact. Their investigation goes awry when the device absorbs Lars and fires a mysterious beam of light into space, attracting the attention of the protoss and the zerg. Before long, Bhekar Ro is engulfed in a brutal conflict among terran, protoss, and zerg forces as each fights to claim the strange artifact.
(StarCraft: Shadow of the Xel’Naga by Gabriel Mesta)
The United Earth Directorate (UED), having observed the conflict among the terrans, the zerg, and the protoss, arrives in the Koprulu sector from Earth in order to take control. To accomplish its goal, the UED captures a fledgling Overmind on the zerg-occupied planet of Char. The Queen of Blades, Mengsk, Raynor, and the protoss put aside their differences and work together in order to defeat the UED and the new Overmind. These unlikely allies manage to succeed, and after the death of the second Overmind, the Queen of Blades attains control over all zerg in the Koprulu sector.
On an uncharted moon near Char, Zeratul encounters the terran Samir Duran, once an ally of the Queen of Blades. Zeratul discovers that Duran has successfully spliced together zerg and protoss DNA to forge a hybrid, a creation that Duran ominously prophesizes will change the universe forever.
Arcturus Mengsk exterminates half of his ghost operatives to ensure loyalty among the former Confederate agents who have been integrated into the Dominion ghost program. Additionally, he establishes a new Ghost Academy on Ursa, a moon orbiting Korhal IV.
(StarCraft: Shadow Hunters, book two of The Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
Corbin Phash sends his son, Colin, into hiding from the Dominion, whose agents are hunting down the young boy to exploit his psionic abilities. Corbin flees to the Umojan Protectorate, a terran government independent of the Dominion.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 3, “War-Torn” by Paul Benjamin, David Shramek, and Hector Sevilla)
The young Colin Phash is captured by the Dominion and sent to the Ghost Academy. Meanwhile, his father, Corbin, acts as a dissenting voice against the Dominion from the Umojan Protectorate. For his outspoken opposition, Corbin becomes the target of an assassination attempt.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 4, “Orientation” by Paul Benjamin, David Shramek, and Mel Joy San Juan)
Nova Terra, having escaped the destruction of her homeworld, Tarsonis, trains alongside other gifted terrans and hones her psionic talents at the Ghost Academy.
(StarCraft: Ghost: Nova by Keith R. A. DeCandido)
(StarCraft: Ghost Academy volume 1 by Keith R. A. DeCandido and Fernando Heinz Furukawa)
Nova encounters Colin Phash, whom the academy is studying in an effort to harness his unique abilities. Meanwhile, four comrades from Nova’s past desperately seek rescue from a zerg onslaught after they become stranded on the mining planet of Shi.
(StarCraft: Ghost Academy volume 2 by David Gerrold and Fernando Heinz Furukawa)
During a training exercise in the Baker’s Dozen system, Nova and her peers at the Ghost Academy discover that the planet of Shi has been overrun with zerg. Of even greater concern is the fact that several terrans—friends from Nova’s youth on Tarsonis—are trapped on the planet.
(StarCraft: Ghost Academy volume 3 by David Gerrold and Fernando Heinz Furukawa)
Arcturus Mengsk reaches out to his son, Valerian, who had grown up in the relative absence of his father. Intending for Valerian to continue the Mengsk dynasty, Arcturus recalls his own progression from an apathetic teenager to an emperor.
(StarCraft: I, Mengsk by Graham McNeill)
Reporter Kate Lockwell is embedded with Dominion troops to deliver patriotic, pro-Dominion broadcasts to the Universal News Network. During her time with the soldiers, she encounters former UNN reporter Michael Liberty and discovers some of the darker truths beneath the Dominion’s surface.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 2, “Newsworthy” by Grace Randolph and Nam Kim)
Tamsen Cauley plans to kill off the War Pigs—who are now disbanded—in order to cover up his previous attempt to assassinate Arcturus Mengsk. Before enacting his plan, Cauley gathers the War Pigs for a mission to kill Jim Raynor, an action that Cauley believes will win Mengsk’s favor. One of the War Pigs sent on this mission, Cole Hickson, is the former Confederate soldier who helped Raynor survive the brutal Kel-Morian prison camp.
(StarCraft monthly comic #1 by Simon Furman and Federico Dallocchio)
Fighters from all three of the Koprulu sector’s factions—terran, protoss, and zerg—vie for control over an ancient xel’naga temple on the planet Artika. Amid the violence, the combatants come to realize the individual motivations that have brought them to this chaotic battlefield.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 1, “Why We Fight” by Josh Elder and Ramanda Kamarga)
The Kel-Morian crew of The Generous Profit arrives on a desolate planet in hopes of finding something worth salvaging. As they sort through the ruins, the crew members discover the terrifying secret behind the planet’s missing populace.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 2, “A Ghost Story” by Kieron Gillen and Hector Sevilla)
A team of protoss scientists experiments on a sample of zerg creep, bio-matter that provides nourishment to zerg structures. However, the substance begins to affect the scientists strangely, eventually sending their minds spiraling downward into madness.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 2, “Creep” by Simon Furman and Tomás Aira)
A psychotic viking pilot, Captain Jon Dyre, attacks the innocent colonists of Ursa during a weapon demonstration. His former pupil, Wes Carter, confronts Dyre in order to end his crazed killing spree.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 1, “Heavy Armor, Part 1” by Simon Furman and Jesse Elliott)
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 2, “Heavy Armor, Part 2” by Simon Furman and Jesse Elliott)
Sandin Forst, a skilled Thor pilot with two loyal partners, braves the ruins of a terran installation on Mar Sara in order to infiltrate a hidden vault. After getting access to the facility, Forst realizes that the treasures he expected to find were never meant to be discovered.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 1, “Thundergod” by Richard Knaak and Naohiro Washio)
When Private Maren Ayers, a Dominion medic, and her platoon are attacked by zerg on the barren mining world of Sorona, they take refuge in a naturally fortified settlement called Cask. Although the area proves to be impenetrable to attackers, Ayers and her comrades soon witness the zerg’s frightening adaptability when the aliens unleash an explosive new mutation to overcome Cask’s defenses.
(“Broken Wide” by Cameron Dayton at us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/lore/)
Dominion scientists capture the praetor Muadun and conduct experiments on him to better understand the protoss’ psionic gestalt—the Khala. Led by the twisted Dr. Stanley Burgess, these researchers violate every ethical code in their search for power.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 3, “Do No Harm” by Josh Elder and Ramanda Kamarga)
Archaeologist Jake Ramsey investigates a xel’naga temple, but things quickly spiral out of control when a protoss mystic known as a preserver merges with his mind. Afterward Jake is flooded with memories spanning protoss history.
(StarCraft: Firstborn, book one of The Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
Jake Ramsey’s adventure continues on the planet Aiur. Under the instructions of the protoss preserver within his head, Jake explores the shadowy labyrinths beneath the planet’s surface to locate a sacred crystal that might be instrumental in saving the universe.
(StarCraft: Shadow Hunters, book two of The Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
Mysteriously, some of the Dominion’s highly trained ghosts begin to disappear. Nova Terra, now a graduate of the Ghost Academy, investigates the fate of the missing operatives and discovers a terrible secret.
(StarCraft: Ghost: Spectres by Nate Kenyon)
Jake Ramsey is separated from his bodyguard, Rosemary Dahl, after they flee Aiur through a xel’naga warp gate. Rosemary ends up alongside other refugee protoss on Shakuras, but Jake is nowhere to be found. Alone and running out of time, Jake searches for a way to extricate the protoss preserver from his mind before they both die.
(StarCraft: Twilight, book three of The Dark Templar Saga by Christie Golden)
A mixed team of dark templar and Aiur protoss journeys to a remote asteroid in order to activate a dormant colossus—a towering robotic war machine created long ago by the protoss. En route to the asteroid, however, their ship comes under assault by the zerg, imperiling the entire mission.
(“Colossus” by Valerie Watrous at us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/lore/)
In the closely guarded Simonson munitions facility on Korhal IV, the Dominion performs testing on its newest terror weapon: the Odin. Unbeknownst to the Dominion, one of the Umojan Protectorate’s elite psionic spies—a shadowguard—has resolved to uncover the military’s secret project at any cost.
(“Collateral Damage” by Matt Burns at us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/lore/)
A team from the Moebius Foundation—a mysterious terran organization interested in alien artifacts—investigates a xel’naga structure in the far reaches of the Koprulu sector. During their research the scientists uncover a dark force lurking in the ancient ruins.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 4, “Voice in the Darkness” by Josh Elder and Ramanda Kamarga)
Kern tries to start his life anew after a career as a Dominion reaper, a highly mobile shock trooper who had been chemically altered to be more aggressive. But his troubled past proves harder to escape than he thought when a former comrade unexpectedly arrives at Kern’s home.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 4, “Fear the Reaper” by David Gerrold and Ruben de Vela)
A nightclub singer named Starry Lace finds herself at the center of diplomatic intrigue among Dominion and Kel-Morian officials.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 3, “Last Call” by Grace Randolph and Seung-hui Kye)
When a ragtag group of Dominion marines known as Zeta Squad patrols a mining outpost for signs of Kel-Morian terrorist activity, it comes under attack by an insidious zerg mutation that can take on the guise of terrans, blurring the line between friend and foe.
(“Changeling” by James Waugh at us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/lore/)
A world-weary Jim Raynor returns to Mar Sara and grapples with his own disillusionment.
(StarCraft: Frontline volume 4, “Homecoming” by Chris Metzen and Hector Sevilla)
Isaac White, one of the Dominion’s heavily armored marauders, is ordered to save a group of Kel-Morian miners under attack from pirates. Yet White’s task proves to be more than just a rescue mission: it becomes an opportunity for him to put to rest a terrible memory that has haunted him since his bomb technician years during the Guild Wars.
(“Stealing Thunder” by Micky Neilson at us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/lore/)
After four years of relative silence, the Queen of Blades and her zerg Swarm unleash attacks throughout the Koprulu sector. Amid the onslaught, Jim Raynor continues his struggle against the oppressive Terran Dominion … and the restless ghosts of his past.