The Overmind And The Voice: Are They The Same?

Although I have yet to actually get my hands on a copy of the various Starcraft comics, I've recently started paying attention to some of the new characters they've introduced that have been referenced in SC2. One that caught my attention is the unnamed 'Voice in the Darkness' encountered in the story of the same name. I could not help but notice some similarities between it and the Overmind. Could they be of similar origins? Here's some food for thought:


Firstly, one needs to recall that the Zerg were initially a non-sentient race. However, the Xel'Naga subsequently created the Overmind that became the collective consciousness of the Zerg. How they did this and from where the individual identity came from was not specified. It is almost certain that the act of creating the Overmind was not suffcient by itself to create the personality as the second Overmind did not seem to possess the original's personality or any for that matter; seeming more of a collected and unified will that lacked any individuality.

Another thing that struck my attention was the source of the Overmind's power. Originally, the Overmind stated that its power was similar to the Dark Templar's. We now know this as the Void. Incidentally, this is also the same source as the Voice's power. Assuming that the knowledge of tapping into this source is rare, it would suggest a close origin between the two.

Indeed, it's perhaps worth mentioning that the both of them utilize the Void in a similar fashion; extending their wills upon those around them and turning them into obedient followers. For the Overmind, it controlled the entire Swarm whilst the Voice controlled the Terran scientists. On top of that, both seemed able to infuse its followers with power greater than it would normally have (for the Overmind, this could be seen in its Cerebrates which were larger, more powerful versions of the original Zerg). Also, it seemed only those wielding Void powers (namely the Dark Templar) were able to harm them.

Lastly, both seem somewhat non-corporeal in nature. And when taking corporeal forms, both seemed to have similar forms. For instance, when a Cerebrate was killed, its true form was revealed; that of a light extruding tentacles.


Am I onto something? Or am I just looking for similarities where none exist? Having a link between the Voice and the Overmind would certainly create interesting opportunities. For instance, after first encountering the Voice, the player could then need to travel to Aiur to revisit the carcass of the Overmind after noticing their similarities. The reason of this could be either to check if the Overmind was indeed dead or to learn more about the Voice.

Impossible because:
1) The voice was imprisoned during SC.
2) The voice evolved naturally, claiming that it was the way the galaxy made it. It was then imprisoned by the Xel'Naga for being so evil. The Overmind was created by the Xel'Naga.

Also, both the Overmind and the Voice are corporeal. The Voice is an actual creature with tentacles that can travel b/w dimensions. The Overmind was rumored to be hiding in the recesses of the Tiamat brood before it landed on Aiur.

We know that the Xel'Naga don't purely engineer any given species. What if the Voice was one of the base-creatures they used and experimented on to create the Zerg as it is now?

I'm wondering how else a creature like the original Zerg comes to gain a hive conciousness that is able to tap the same void energy as the Dark Templar and the Voice. Is the Void some kind of energy that anyone can tap into given the skill/training/time?

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Originally Posted by Gradius

1) The voice was imprisoned during SC.

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If the Wiki is to be believed, the Voice was imprisoned thousands of years before SC1; which just means that its species is old enough to have been around in its current form when the Overmind first gained full sentience.

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Originally Posted by Gradius

12) The voice evolved naturally, claiming that it was the way the galaxy made it. It was then imprisoned by the Xel'Naga for being so evil. The Overmind was created by the Xel'Naga.

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The Voice might have evolved naturally. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that the Xel'Naga didn't use one (or that the Zerg didn't encounter one) to give the Overmind its individuality and Void powers. The individuality is of particular importance since the second Overmind lacked this despite having been fused from several Cerebrates.

I got the impression the Voice was unique, not a species, or if there were more than one they were extremely, extremely rare. Assuming there were multiple in the galaxy just locking up one seems very illogical for the Xel'naga, like grabbing some random guy out of a mob and throwing him in jail. I'd also assume that if there were multiple then they'd be much more prevalent, like sitting on Aiur with it's incorporeal maw open just sucking up all the psi it can get.

It does bear similarities to the Overmind, but they're not striking enough to make me think they're very related. The Overmind is just a collective consciousness, the Voice is a malevolent, extra-dimensional, entity with absolute control of the Void which feeds on psychics. Just because they're both void based, and are both only vulnerable to Void powers doesn't mean much. Maybe the Xel'naga took what they learned from it and used it to create the Overmind. I could make just about as strong an argument that Ulrezaj is somehow a baby Voice, pretty much anything powerful and Void based can be related to the Voice.

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Originally Posted by mr. peasant

If the Wiki is to be believed, the Void was imprisoned thousands of years before SC1; which just means that its species is old enough to have been around in its current form when the Overmind first gained full sentience.

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I think what Gradius meant was that The Voice was imprisoned during the events of SC :p.

Darn. Thought you were talking about the voice in Last Call. :)

Nah. The Overmind wanted to fulfill the Xel'naga's experiments and assimilate the protoss to become a perfect race. The Voice hated the Xel'naga and thought their experiments disrupted the natural order.

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Originally Posted by Triceron

We know that the Xel'Naga don't purely engineer any given species. What if the Voice was one of the base-creatures they used and experimented on to create the Zerg as it is now?

I'm wondering how else a creature like the original Zerg comes to gain a hive conciousness that is able to tap the same void energy as the Dark Templar and the Voice. Is the Void some kind of energy that anyone can tap into given the skill/training/time?

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The Zerg were just some shitty insects that developed the ability to burrow inside other creatures, and later control their hosts. When they got powerful enough, the Xel'Naga merged all of the Zerg minds into the Overmind, to avoid problems as they had with the Protoss.

Ok....DemolitionSquid is taking so long, so Ill speak his word...

the voice is a Cthulhu cameo...case closed

I looked at the Zerg Origins.

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The original zerg species was discovered on the ash world Zerus, in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, by the xel'naga, a mysterious and ancient race of extragalactic geneticists, after they had abandoned their first experiment, the protoss, on Aiur. The zerg organism was a small, larval organism

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Here: http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Zerg_history

I doubt it was the voice in the darkness that they used.