Who is gonna die next? (Speculation)

[Genopath]

Who is gonna die next?

[n00bonicPlague]

Aww, I was gonna create a poll like this, but with only James, Sarah, Arcturus, Valerian, and Nova. I was gonna make it a multiple choice vote and give each character a *lives* and *dies* option, since the game allows 10 options.

Anyway, I'm trying to get a sense of the direction that SC2 lore is going. I wish the build-up was a bit slower, but it seems to be going forward at ludicrous speed. I wouldn't be surprised if half of those people died in the next installment. I'm gonna throw my money in with Arcturus dying, because Valerian seems to be getting set up to take over the empire pretty soon.

EDIT: I'm surprised you didn't put Valerian as an option.

[Genopath]

Look again, your thoughts betray you! :P

[n00bonicPlague]

Look again, your thoughts betray you! :P

lol nice ninja edit I know that used to be Urun

[Turalyon]

Everyone is gonna die. The Hybrids will kill us all!

[Kimera757]

I have to disagree with the choices in the poll.

Some of those characters (Nova, Gabriel Tosh, Ariel Hanson) are not particularly important, could potentially have died already, and will never be seen again. Others (Matt Horner, for instance) will probably not be seen again. Neither Kerrigan, Mengsk nor the hybrid have any particular reason to target him.

Of valid death targets, Zeratul is the main character of Legacy of the Void, so he can't die in HotS. In fact, I don't think any major protoss character can die, as they're needed to lead factions in LotV. Of course, a protoss character could be introduced (and then killed off) just for HotS.

That only leaves Jim Raynor and the Mengsk family. Either could plausibly die, I think. Also Duran/Narud/whatever name he'll be using this time, but I doubt that can happen until LotV too.

Other characters who may (but probably will not) make an appearance in Heart of the Swarm are Stukov and Ulrezaj. The former Blizzard hasn't said much about, and the latter is locked up in a crystal, but does bear plot-relevant information and, if freed, could become a more plot-relevant villain than he was in Brood War.

And of course, the Tal'darim. With the artifact stolen, one wonders how Kerrigan could get into conflict with them.

[DarthYam]

I think Mengsk and duran will die. Mengsk will die at kerrigan's hand after realizing that he's lost (that's why I liked his death in the leaked vid; it shows mengsk as he truly is; a power hungry madman who looses it when things don't go his way. In his final moments, when he faces justice from those he wronged after his armys have fallen, his true vulnerabilities are laid bare and his true weakness is revealed). I also think that Kerrigan will fight Duran at the climax of her arc, where Duran tries to make her relive the betrayal of korhal (sort of like how Ares tried to break Kratos in God of War by making him relive the murder of his family) in order to break her. After an intense mental struggle Kerrigan finally forgives herself for good and proceeds to use her powers to rip duran a new asshole. Duran tries to tell her she will always be alone even if she does by some miracle defeat his master, but Kerrigan simply walks away and says that she can live with it, leaving duran to die. Afterwards she helps the raiders depose mengsk in order to weaken the DV's hybrid production.

The DV's origins are also revealed after he brutally tortures Jimmy and uses him as bait to try and lure Kerrigan into a trap. Raynor shows his badassery by calling the Eldritch abomination a lunatic.

[Genopath]

Some of those characters (Nova, Gabriel Tosh, Ariel Hanson) are not particularly important, could potentially have died already, and will never be seen again.

Blizzard has confirmed that in the current storyline Raynor helped the refugees and sided with Tosh instead of Nova. So they aren't dead.

[Kimera757]

True, but Blizzard won't be showing them again, so as to not disrupt an individual player's storyline.

[Turalyon]

True, but Blizzard won't be showing them again, so as to not disrupt an individual player's storyline.

Makes you wonder why they bothered including them at all if you're inclined to think those characters are extremely shallow, filler material or ultimately and purposefully meaningless.