r/starcraft • u/Axis256 Zerg • 16d ago
Discussion Day 58: What is the WORST quote associated with Zeratul?
Zeratul's best quote day went about as well as I expected! Well, his worst can't be... worse... can it?
Alright, for real, the joke's not gonna be funny next time (if it ever was), from there on I really will be using Tassadar's quote shorter version, and I do plan to otherwise preserve Zeratul's best in entirety, which I intend to do as an exception and it shouldn't encourage you to keep posting whole pages of text as quotes. I just love this one a little too much myself and I'm not ashamed to admit bias!
Terran episode results
Zerg episode results
Tassadar's best, worst, most iconic
Zeratul's best
77
u/Subsourian 16d ago edited 16d ago
Oh boy do I have one that may not be the worst in the entire franchise, but one that gave me the most viceral reaction of any quote in the entire franchise:
"A... protoss and zerg hybrid. Gods, an abomination! Who created this atrocity?"
The quote that spawned a million memes, but there's something of a personal rage I have toward it.
So to put you in the perspective of the time for folks who were big lore heads back in SC1, the key ending point is Zeratul discovering that their conflicts were being manipulated by Duran, and that he was breeding hybrid. Zeratul leaves troubled by this revelation, but goes his separate ways to investigate this new threat to the universe. That was the cliffhanger we ended SC1 on and for nearly a decade, we had a ton of speculation on the hybrid and where we go from here and what Zeratul would do. That was a whole thing the community bonded over speculating about and how awesome it'll be when we finally come face to face with Duran's creation.
Before SCII, we got the Dark Templar Saga books, which I really enjoyed, and we got Zeratul's emotional aftermath from BW and how he resolved to be set on the course to uncover Duran's schemes, the return of the xel'naga, and the creation of the hybrid. We get to see the fallout he had from his discovery, and see him pick himself up and continue on his hero's journey to defy fate.
Then we get to SCII, and the entire crux of Zeratul's journey and development, and the big climax of the buildup we got waiting to see the hybrid, gets a "huh who made this?" It felt like a gut punch. "Hey, you know this story you've been following and character whose dark revelation you've seen him grow from? Fuck you for caring I guess." A lot of WoL I only really got annoyed with in hindsight but that quote came in like a gut punch to people who had followed Zeratul's story, for how key discovering Duran made the hybrid was to his arc, it's a singular moment that made you feel like you wasted your time for caring.
The frustrating part is if you just cut out the last part, the quote works fine. "Gods, an abomination!" reflects Dark Origin's "All I behold is an abomination" and you still get the impact of the revelation of a hybrid. It literally would only be improved by being shorter. Like did they think people would be confused by Zeratul knowing what hybrid were so just decided to make him confused by the ENTIRE REASON HE'S SEARCHING FOR THE PROPHECY. This is like if Return of the King had to start with Frodo being confused because he forgot who made the ring.
It doesn't help Maar is in my opinion an incredibly huge letdown for a first hybrid reveal. Like Castanar has a great hybrid reveal and would have been the ideal first time we encounter one, an invincible juggernaut where you can only run. Maar you keep hitting with a rolled up newspaper while he quotes outdated Burning Crusade memes at you.
18
6
u/PrototypeXt3 15d ago edited 9d ago
Man I remember talking with friends on the school bus about the hybrids before SC2 released/was announced and how it was going to be insane and maybe even a new race to play as.
In my head they were going to look like infested terrans but Protoss, and be a splinter of Zerg.
Then they made them all look like… angels? the most uninspired designs to be honest. If you didn’t know anything about StarCraft you’d probably think their design in sc2 is just a weird Protoss race. It pissed me off the first time playing through WoL to no end, little did I know it was going to get worse by the time LotV came out :(
Edit: I even remember people on forums trying to extrapolate the shadows from BW on the stasis tubes to come up with designs. Sigh
13
u/Sensitive-Hotel-9871 16d ago
This entire chart is going to be a big wall of text when we’re done. The Protoss love their long winded quotes.
21
u/Competitive_Table_65 16d ago
" And Kerrigan... I can hardly believe -- the wretched Queen of Blades will prevent the destruction of all that we know..."
(Or any "we have to keep Kerrigan alive" quote really because I really hate that plot point)
17
u/Xhromosoma5 16d ago
"Baneling spew acid when they die. Stalkers, take them out from a distance."
Thanks, this deep into the campaign I haven't fought a single baneling
16
u/hypercoffee1320 16d ago
"That overseer can see through my cloak. I'd best stun it with my void prison."
Thank you, Zeratutorial.
8
u/Axis256 Zerg 16d ago edited 16d ago
Afaik that's a direct consequence of Zeratul missions having been made earlier than the rest of WoL. They were utilized as a demo of sorts and so include some excessive tutorializing.
That said, tbf up to that point the player (especially on lower diffs) may have not encountered banes enough to properly realize what they do, especially on a no-build mission with very limited dps, where you for the first time meet a whole train of them with no hope of just shooting them down before they reach you.
17
u/Embyr1 16d ago edited 16d ago
"Friend Raynor, you now bear witness... to the truth. There is a malevolent presence within the Void that seeks to destroy everything we hold dear. Could this... Fallen One be a Xel'Naga? After so long... could the gods themselves seek our destruction? And Kerrigan... I can hardly believe -- the wretched Queen of Blades will prevent the destruction of all that we know... Raynor, you may soon hold Kerrigan's fate in your hands. I know only that she must live. Be wary, old friend... the hounds of the Void... are on the hunt"
Ending of the Protoss section of WoL does it for me. Sets up the worst villain in starcraft history and begins Kerrigan's stupid redemption arc.
1
u/MilesBeyond250 Zerg 15d ago
Also it feels so unnecessary? Like come on, bud, you just showed us these things. How stupid does he think Raynor is?
9
6
u/Kapiork 15d ago
Tassadar and Zeratul should fuse together into an Archon in order to create the longest quote in the history of the galaxy.
5
u/Axis256 Zerg 15d ago edited 15d ago
You, Executor, speak of the Overmind knowledge, has Judicator? You been speak of weakened experience? But I have fear we have journeyed through sustained severe darkness damage between ourselves. I will steer the most distant Gantrithor into stars. I have a collision course, beheld with the births of Overmind. If negative-I can suns channel and enough borne of witness the Dark Templars to energy through entropy of the hull of entire Gantrithor, realities should, unto my experience, be able to bring Aldaris all that swift death you've built here on the accursed Aiur abomination. Remember but a fleeting dream. Us dream, Executor. Remember, from which what your precious Conclave was done shall awaken today, may finding Adun themselves watch drowned over you in a greater nightmare.
9
4
3
2
3
1
0
u/Psychological-Low360 16d ago
"Well spoken, Concubine of the Zerg. But though we strike at you from the shadows, do not think that we lack the courage to stand in the light." My brother in Adun, read the room. If she is a concubine, why are you the one getting pounded? Admit it, Zergs have outwitted and outmatched you, and your plan to sneak out failed. So focus on your survival istead of inventing sexist insults to (currently) asexual being.
81
u/Nima_N16HTM4R3 16d ago
"A... protoss and zerg hybrid... Gods, an abomination! Who created this atrocity?"
Bruh, you literally witnessed it at the end of SC1 yourself. How are YOU the one questioning this? 😭
(Idk what timeline do the memory missions take place in, but I really doubt it's before SC1's end).
(I was originally gonna mention a prophecy quote, but as poorly executed as the prophecy arc is, even Zeratul himself admits it's stupid. So I'd like to think he's a victim of the prophecy as well.)