Characters: Main

Sarah Louise Kerrigan, the self-styled Queen of Blades, is a Fictional Character in Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft series of video games and novels. The character was created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, and her appearance was originally designed by Metzen. Sarah Kerrigan was voiced by Glynnis Talken Campbell in the real-time strategy video games StarCraft and Brood War, and Tricia Helfer in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm.

Kerrigan first appears in StarCraft as a twenty-six-year-old female Terran Ghost, a Psychic trained both physically and mentally as an expert espionage agent and assassin. Initially the second-in-command of Sons of Korhal, a revolutionary movement against the oppressive Confederacy of Man, she is captured by the insectoid Zerg and infested, turning her into a human/Zerg Hybrid completely under the control of the Zerg Overmind. She becomes one of the Zerg's most powerful agents, but during the Brood Wars, she replaces the Overmind following its destruction at the end of the great war, and gains control of the Zerg to seek dominance over the galaxy. Kerrigan's life before her infestation is further explored in the Starcraft novels Uprising and Liberty's Crusade, while Queen of Blades elaborates on her infested character.

As one of the Major Characters of the series, Kerrigan has been critically praised for her believability and character depth. Kerrigan is frequently featured in lists of both the top Computer Gaming enemies and Top Female Characters; a survey by GameSpot in 2010 declared her to be the Greatest Gaming Villain, and Complex ranked her as the most Evil Woman In Gaming in 2012.

James Eugene "Jim" Raynor is a Fictional Character and a major Protagonist in Blizzard Entertainment's science fiction StarCraft series. Raynor is a predominant character in the Science Fiction Real-Time Strategy Video Games StarCraft and Brood War, and is the Player Character in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Outside video games, Raynor appears in the novels Liberty's Crusade and Queen of Blades, while his backstory is explored in the novels Heaven's Devils and Devil's Due. Robert Clotworthy voices the character in all video game appearances.

Created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, Raynor is loosely based on a character of the same name in the 1991 film Rush. Metzen conceived Raynor to represent the ordinary man in a series populated with politically motivated characters. Raynor's physical appearance was designed by Metzen himself. A Terran in his thirties, Raynor is a former soldier and outlaw who eventually becomes a Marshal on a backwater colony world. Raynor joins Arcturus Mengsk's revolution against the oppressive Terran Confederacy but becomes disillusioned with Mengsk's genocidal tactics, forming his own paramilitary group to challenge Mengsk's tyranny.

The character has received a positive critical response; Raynor's depiction in StarCraft and Brood War was praised for its character depth and the quality of Clotworthy's voice acting. One survey by GameSpot put Raynor as one of the Top Ten Heroes In Video Gaming.

Artanis is a High Templar and a military commander introduced in Brood War, where he is voiced by Paul Ainsley; the character is voiced by Patrick Seitz in StarCraft II. The character also appears in the novels Queen of Blades and Twilight. Later Retcons have made Artanis the identity of the Player Character for the Protoss campaign in StarCraft. An ambitious leader, Artanis is the youngest templar to achieve 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 Dark Templar. 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 the evacuation of his now devastated home world to the Dark Templar planet of Shakuras, 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, despite allying with both the Dominion and the remainder of the UED, his forces are defeated by her Zerg. Artanis returns to Shakuras to rebuild the Protoss civilization; with Zeratul having disappeared, Artanis becomes the Hierarch of the Unified Protoss Protectorate, 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 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 the ship Spear of Adun and begins his quest to destroy Amon.