Moron of the Year Award - Arcturus Mengsk

[Turalyon]

Pretty much the only time Mengsk acts stupid in SC1 is when Korhal is in danger (honeslty nobody could have predicted what would have happened to Kerrigan).

Huh? What are you referring to? Are you referring to Mengsk joining up with Kerrigan with the promise of her giving him Korhal back? It doesn't seem to be on Gradius' list of Mengsk's idiot ball pick-up for BW because it was somewhat reasonable for him to take that bait for the reason you mentioned (because he may secretly be in love with Korhal or that he's simply deluded) - the idiocy comes when he genuinely acts shocked that Kerrigan would betray him at all.

One missed oppurunity in SC1 is that Blizzard never had Mengsk interact with Artanis. I think it would have been interesting to see how they would converse because they had something which they can relate to each other with: a beloved planet that they lost.

While this would be an interesting take, it takes away from Mengsk's portrayal of him being an unsentimental "user" of things/ a utilitarian.

[TSCR]

Huh? What are you referring to? Are you referring to Mengsk joining up with Kerrigan with the promise of her giving him Korhal back? It doesn't seem to be on Gradius' list of Mengsk's idiot ball pick-up for BW because it was somewhat reasonable for him to take that bait for the reason you mentioned (because he may secretly be in love with Korhal or that he's simply deluded) - the idiocy comes when he genuinely acts shocked that Kerrigan would betray him at all.

Nah I was referring to Mengsk abandoning Kerrigan to the Zerg. Gradius wrote that off as stupidity but I see it as a mistake anyone could make.

While this would be an interesting take, it takes away from Mengsk's portrayal of him being an unsentimental "user" of things/ a utilitarian.

True but that makes him less one dimensional and could add to the moral ambiguity of the game. How much should yo let your empathy influene your decisions? Perhaps Artanis was primarily playing Kerrigan's game because he didn't want to see someone else lose their beloved planet.

[Turalyon]

Nah I was referring to Mengsk abandoning Kerrigan to the Zerg. Gradius wrote that off as stupidity but I see it as a mistake anyone could make.

Yeah, I agree. I said that it's only stupid in hindsight.

True but that makes him less one dimensional and could add to the moral ambiguity of the game.

Not necessarily. I've gone off on many a tangent elsewhere about how Mengsk being an honest utilitarian does not have to make him one dimensional or less morally ambiguous. Granted it's harder to pull off which is probably why Blizz took the easy way out and just made Mengsk = a bad man through and through.

[FanaticTemplar]

So did the Magistrate. So did a lot of people leave the SoK.

But they followed Raynor. Would they have left if Raynor hadn't taken the first step?

[LestersPetZergling]

The Magistrate was practically Mengsk's 2nd in command. Raynor was a footsoldier, you're exaggerating him.

[Kimera757]

It was weird the number of times Mengsk ordered his troops to kill RAYNOR in the last mission.

I wouldn't count abandoning Kerrigan as idiocy though. He didn't have a crystal ball.

[Gradius]

Abandoning Kerrigan is stupid in hindsight, which is why I put it on there. I didn't say it was his fault.

The Magistrate was practically Mengsk's 2nd in command. Raynor was a footsoldier, you're exaggerating him.

The point is that Mengsk didn't expect people to actually rebel against him since he's a megalomaniac (which I thought was awesome at the time). But with the UED it makes him look dumb since he has zero leverage.

[TSCR]

The point is that Mengsk didn't expect people to actually rebel against him since he's a megalomaniac (which I thought was awesome at the time). But with the UED it makes him look dumb since he has zero leverage.

I thought it was because of the same reason he stated in his auguration speech. With the Confederacy gone and with the zerg invasion spreading, the only Terran superpower which can challenge them is the Dominion so no matter how many rotten things he does, the Terrans have to follow him if they want to survive.

[LestersPetZergling]

He actually turned into Arthas... Remember when Arthas claimed that being a Bond Villain was intentional, that he was doing it so that you could become stronger so that you could be his most powerful minions? And when Kerrigan bursts through the door, and he just laughs and his 'master plan' unfolds?

[solidsamurai]

Arcturus: I shall now unveal my master plan! Aha! Ahahahaha! *strips naked and masturbates furiously*