Moron of the Year Award - Arcturus Mengsk

[Quirel]

My theory on Mengsk's "You wouldn't dare!" line:

For the past (However long Terrans have been in the Korprulu sector), power struggles among the Old Families were handled subtly, far from the public eye. If a ruling family was removed from power in a coup, the old leaders would be kept under house arrest and/or quietly assassinated. It's less trouble politically, and the New Guys In Charge don't have to explain the executions to the proles.

The UED stormed into the Korprulu sector, armed itself with Dominion weapons and drew up conscripts from Dominion worlds. Mengsk was fully expecting the UED to go with the "Put you on trial, keep you in a jail cell until your supporters forget about you, and then let you die from a nine-millimeter brain hemorrhage" play. That's plenty of time for him to engineer his own escape and return to power.

And then he learns that the UED is playing this one according to the "Evil Overlord List".
"You wouldn't dare!" is the politician in him desperately searching for something else to say besides "Oh, sh*t!"

[Turalyon]

Mengsk being tied to tradition? Didn't stop him from exterminating all the Old Families along with the Confederacy on Tarsonis. Besides, Mengsk has been wanted man for great deal of his life and knows the "score" in terms of how things really work in Terran politics - one should expect that he'd know that anyone who had enough of a beef to go after him in full would really want him dead in short order.

Mengsk had nothing to gain by surrendering to the UED and had no leverage to work with if he did. In short, he's an idiot for not trying to flee and/or go into hiding.

[TSCR]

I think it's just because he was cornered and couldn't flee. That's when his megalomania kicked in and caused him to believe that the UED would at least keep him alive because they needed his knowledge on how to rule the sector. I mean the UED are just a bunch of random humans who turned up in the sector while Mengsk was someone who had been living there his entire life. However the UED was also omniscient and Mengsk didn't account for that.

[Turalyon]

I think it's just because he was cornered and couldn't flee.

I thought he willingly flew up to Dugalle and surrendered. Didn't seem like he was cornered to me.

That's when his megalomania kicked in and caused him to believe that the UED would at least keep him alive because they needed his knowledge on how to rule the sector. I mean the UED are just a bunch of random humans who turned up in the sector while Mengsk was someone who had been living there his entire life. However the UED was also omniscient and Mengsk didn't account for that.

Mengsk was always a megalomaniac but it never stopped him from him seeing through his plan to topple the Confederacy and manipulating Raynor, Kerrigan and Duke into doing what he wanted to achieve that. In short, Mengsk is an idiot.

[TSCR]

I thought he willingly flew up to Dugalle and surrendered. Didn't seem like he was cornered to me.

He said he wanted to parley with DuGalle and I don't see why he would want to do that if he wasn't cornered.

[Turalyon]

He said he wanted to parley with DuGalle and I don't see why he would want to do that if he wasn't cornered.

He could've also done that via vid-screen whilst being safely hidden away...

[LestersPetZergling]

He was cornered. Remember Han Solo?

'Travellin' through hyperspace ain't like dustin' crops boy. Without precise calculations we'd fly right through a star or bounce right into a supernova and...'

I guess the UED-fleet completely surrounded the Norad, blocking it from going into hyperspace.

[Turalyon]

I guess the UED-fleet completely surrounded the Norad, blocking it from going into hyperspace.

Kinda like how the Hyperion was surrounded by Zerg in WOL but still went into hyperspace with no troubles (in atmo no less). Hm, convenient.

[LestersPetZergling]

Yeah, I can't help but laugh... How in god's name did the UED fleet get destroyed? How did they travel 60,000 light years in a few weeks without FTL?

[TSCR]

He could've also done that via vid-screen whilst being safely hidden away...

What?



He flew the Norad III right up to the Aleksander. There way no way he was hiding. That's why when Raynor and Fenix arrived the fired a little at DuGalle's fleet. They had Mengsk surrounded. Even Blizzard had Wraiths surround his ship. I don't see how any of this shows he wasn't cornered.