Fenix - Character Analysis

[Gradius]

As a character, this guy probably gets the most flak in StarCraft. Commonly regarded as a static 2D character that basically boils down to the "honorable protoss guy" stereotype, his existence is largely considered unnecessary. I would like to go to bat for Fenix, and explain why he deserves more credit.

1) Plot

Fenix had a larger role in moving the plot forward than most people realize, and there are some subtle details that can be missed on a cursory playthrough. First off, he was the Praetor of the Protoss defense forces. Given that Artanis was revealed to be the Executor in SC1, and gets "promoted" to Praetor in the Brood War, it is very likely that Fenix possessed far more authority than immediately noticeable. In several instances, he is giving US commands:

"Executor, Tassadar may be right. If you can keep the Zerg occupied, my force may be able to penetrate their perimeter and slay the abomination."

"I will remain behind and observe the effects of our attack. Return to the Citadel. I shall notify you when the Brood becomes erratic."

As the "hero and steward of the templar" he possessed significant pull on Aiur. Upon resurrection he would have resumed his previous post and garnered far more support than before. I believe this to be a subtly hinted at in the original storyline, but Fenix was actually in command of the force that greeted Zeratul and Tassadar upon return to Aiur. The main piece of evidence I have to support this is the fact that Tassadar and Zeratul had virtually nothing after being defeated on Char, and the Executor himself only had a small fleet:

"Tassadar and the Dark Templar Zeratul survived Kerrigan's vicious attacks, but their Templar armies have been decimated."

"Now, with only a small fleet for protection, Aldaris and the Executor have traveled to the ash world of Char"

A small fleet would not have been able to withstand the might of the Conclave and the Ara tribe. It is almost certain to me that without Fenix's forces, the entire resistance might have been arrested and executed upon setting foot on Aiur. Not only did Fenix rescue Tassadar and Zeratul when they returned to Aiur, but he alone is responsible for singalehandedly keeping the stalwart protoss heroes fighting. After Tassadar had been arrested, he kept fighting on. He is the glue that bound them all together, allowing them to defeat the Overmind and thus fulfilling his primary purpose: to protect and serve Aiur.

In the Brood War he was partnered with Raynor, helping to take down the UED. They shared this responsibility, and Fenix, commanding the more powerful force, deserves far more credit than that of some idle bystander. Several months Raynor spent with Fenix, more time than he spent with Kerrigan. The type of bond they formed, that of one forged in war, cannot be dismissed so easily. Despite Blizzard's apathy towards the original game, even they were forced to acknowledge this in HoTS with their reference to Fenix due to fan outrage.

2) Setting/Worldbuilding

Part of what made SC great was its atmosphere and attention to worldbuilding. Fenix's contributions should not be discounted. First off, Fenix showed us how dragoons work. He helped personify not just the zealot, but this mysterious spider creature that astonished new players. And frankly, a crippled warrior that continues fighting in a metallic shell is just a badass concept.

StarCraft has a very sparse storyline. Like most characters, Fenix is given minimal dialog, but what dialog he does have hints at hidden depths, not just for him, but the StarCraft universe as well:

"You know, Executor, although we two have marched across hundreds of worlds together, I never imagined that we would be fighting on Aiur. The Zerg are indeed worthy foes."

"I prefer large scale battles over these covert missions. My heart longs for the epic struggles of my youth, to go into battle alongside my Protoss brethren again. Ah, but time will tell all things."

3) Theme

This should be obvious, given that Fenix's name is a homophone of the Phoenix: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThePhoenix

A well known symbol of death and rebirth, Fenix's incarnation as a Dragoon is an interesting implementation of the trope, and his death at the end of Brood War is an excellent subversion of it.


And finally, there's one thing that justifies his existence above all else: people love him. Doesn't matter if he had a minor role or his actions didn't make it into summaries or the "Story so Far". He didn't let something as petty as losing his body keep him from fighting. He gave his life for Aiur twice. The voice-acting, writing, and art all worked together to give us a noble, unique, and memorable character. Yes, he was a generic honorable protoss warrior, but he was the original. Most new protoss characters we see now-a-days are obligated to fit into the mold that he created.

[FanaticTemplar]

As a character, this guy probably gets the most flak in StarCraft.

And finally, there's one thing that justifies his existence above all else: people love him.

?

Anyway, Fenix's role in the story is to serve as a 'friend' to the player. Aldaris and Tassadar are clearly the 'important people' who make the decisions and Zeratul is distant and enigmatic. Fenix is the player's gateway to understanding the Protoss as a race. He is the stereotypical Protoss because he was intended to serve as a demonstration of what it was to be a Protoss. He's very much like Raynor in Rebel Yell, who is the player's gateway to understanding life on the Confederate Fringe Worlds. The use of such low-level characters is one of the smarter moves of the original StarCraft, because they don't have to be as knowledgeable as characters like Mengsk or Aldaris or Tassadar, they can learn about the setting and the world at the same pace you do, guiding you along the way. The lack of such characters is one of the weaknesses of Overmind and Wings of Liberty*. It's also one of the reasons I think Tychus would have made for a better viewpoint character in Wings. Also like Raynor, he gets 'taken away' from you to demonstrate the unreliable nature of those you are working for. Duke imprisons Raynor for destroying an Infested installation, and Aldaris forces you and your forces away from Antioch, leaving Fenix vulnerable.

He wasn't important to the narrative in any way, but for a time he provided a useful contribution. By the time he died in True Colors though, like Duke his usefulness had pretty much run its course. He still gave us one of the defining quotes of the Protoss though: "There is no shame in defeat so long as the spirit is unconquered, and I am still able to serve Aiur to a degree."

In several instances, he is giving US commands:

"Executor, Tassadar may be right. If you can keep the Zerg occupied, my force may be able to penetrate their perimeter and slay the abomination."

"I will remain behind and observe the effects of our attack. Return to the Citadel. I shall notify you when the Brood becomes erratic."

Well, that's a bit of a stretch. Executors (or 'High' Executors post-retcon) were chosen by the Judicator Caste to relay their commands to the Templar. I speculate that perhaps the Praetor were chosen internally by the Templar and so would get more respect from them, but the Judicator were the leaders of the Protoss, and the one who executes their will would have the highest authority. Given Fenix's attachment to the Antioch province, I've suspected that Praetors were chosen as regional stewards for the Templar, but that too is just speculation. I agree with you that the forces in Homeland were Fenix's.

[TSCR]

I'd like to add a few things regarding his character in BW:

1. Fenix opting to help Kerrigan to take down the UED was NOT plot induced stupidity. The UED was human authority and Fenix is a protoss. The only human authorities that the Protoss have encountered before are the Confederates and the Dominion, both corrupt and both human authorities. For all Fenix knew, it was possible that all human authorities were corrupt. That's why in the end he relied on Raynor to make the ultimate decison of whether they should assisst Kerrigan.

2. Fenix was an honourable protoss but that ended up being an advantage as much as a disadvantage. As an honourable warrior, he had respect for his ally Raynor and he put faith in his judgement. However this caused him to overlook Raynor's flaw: his bias against authority. Raynor opting to help Kerrigan wasn't plot induced stupidity as much as it was him being biased towards human authority given his history under it. Fenix let Raynor decide the futue of his men when he allowed Raynor to decide whether they should help Kerrigan as Raynor was a human and obviously knew more of human authority than he did. However Raynor let his bias cloud his judgement (the UED weren't as evil as Kerrigan made them out to be) and he had to learn the hard way that you can't just look at anything with a black and white perspective.

3. Fenix being betrayed and killed by Kerrigan was NOT plot induced stupidity either. Raynor, the man who knew Kerrigan better than he did, said that he believes kerrigan is serious about taking down the UED. Kerrigan never told anyone that Korhal was the UED's primary staging point as evident by what she says after she betrays Mengsk. Basically Duran was supplying information to Kerrigan about the UED and Kerrigan could filter it to Raynor, Fenix and Mengsk so she could manipulate them. Thus Fenix was led to believe that Kerrigan was going to betray them on Char and NOT Korhal as Korhal was a planet that didn't seem to hold any value so what reason did Kerrigan have to betray them there? That's why Fenix and the others were resting on Korhal. Since they're not robots and they expected a betrayal on Char they decided to rest on Korhal. This is what Fenix meant when he told Kerrigan that 'this is a betrayal most foul'.

So Fenix was an integral part of Raynor's character development arc in BW. Through him, Raynor had to learn that you shouldn't just be biased towards all human authority despite how much you've suffered under them in the past. At the end of BW I predicted Raynor's character development arc in SC2 to revolve around him accepting that not all human authority was bad.

To some extent that does happen in SC2 with Varian but.............it's because Varian is helping Raynor to save Fenix's murderer? This is practically one of the most insulting ways to develop Raynor as a character. First he's in love with Kerrigan for no reason. Raynor's character in BW had to learn that you shouldn't look at authority with a black and white perspective and this was taught to him the hard way by the death of his friend Fenix............and now Raynor learns that authroity isn't bad when it helps him rescue Fenix's murderer who he's now in love with? Honestly SC2 pretty much gave a slap across the face to anyone who ever liked Fenix in BW.

This is why I doubt Metzen wrote all of BW. Either that or he was a completely different person back in 1998.

Anyway do a character analysis on Stukov and DuGalle. They don't get enough credit and I think they're the best written characters in the series.

[Turalyon]

^ Who's Varian? A secret, hitherto unknown twin of Valerian?

As to Fenix being "stupid", I guess that depends on whether you interpret his loyalty and follower-type personality as being synonymous as being mindless in general.

Oh, and Metzen did write all of BW, hence the greater number of criticisms of certain story aspects between Sc1 and BW back then.

As for Stukov and DuGalle, they weren't perfect either. How much of the drama they went through could've been resolved had either Stukov and DuGalle dropped each other a line and had heart-to-heart chat? I mean, they were supposed to have been life-long friends, I'm sure they could've easily resolved that misunderstanding with the Psi Disruptor. This goes double for DuGalle trusting someone he labelled himself as a "turncoat" over a friend without bothering to ask for his side of the story. Unbelievable!!

****

I have no beef with Fenix as a character. Like FT said, he is an "in" to the Protoss (like Raynor is an "in" to the Terran dynamics and politicking in general) that is more grounded, relatable and unique compared to what one would expect from "high-minded and advanced alien beings". Unlike Raynor though, Fenix does get a bit short-shrifted in SC1 in that he doesn't really get to be much than the archetype he is initially presented as. I think the naysayers are probably just a bit overzealous because of Fenix's somewhat static character development - which isn't necessarily a bad thing in itself. Off all the characters in SC1, Fenix has the fairly unique trait of a mirthful stoic. He may express doubt at times but it never sways him from doing what needs to be done.

[LestersPetZergling]

In several instances, he is giving US commands:

It's strange why he does that. Is it a method of exposition? Is it because that in practise he is a better commander then Artanis, so that Artanis yields to him? Is it because he is personally receiving commands from the Conclave/Aldaris before you, e.g. he relays them to you?

1. Fenix opting to help Kerrigan to take down the UED was NOT plot induced stupidity. The UED was human authority and Fenix is a protoss. The only human authorities that the Protoss have encountered before are the Confederates and the Dominion, both corrupt and both human authorities. For all Fenix knew, it was possible that all human authorities were corrupt. That's why in the end he relied on Raynor to make the ultimate decison of whether they should assisst Kerrigan.

2. Fenix was an honourable protoss but that ended up being an advantage as much as a disadvantage. As an honourable warrior, he had respect for his ally Raynor and he put faith in his judgement. However this caused him to overlook Raynor's flaw: his bias against authority. Raynor opting to help Kerrigan wasn't plot induced stupidity as much as it was him being biased towards human authority given his history under it. Fenix let Raynor decide the futue of his men when he allowed Raynor to decide whether they should help Kerrigan as Raynor was a human and obviously knew more of human authority than he did. However Raynor let his bias cloud his judgement (the UED weren't as evil as Kerrigan made them out to be) and he had to learn the hard way that you can't just look at anything with a black and white perspective.

3. Fenix being betrayed and killed by Kerrigan was NOT plot induced stupidity either. Raynor, the man who knew Kerrigan better than he did, said that he believes kerrigan is serious about taking down the UED. Kerrigan never told anyone that Korhal was the UED's primary staging point as evident by what she says after she betrays Mengsk. Basically Duran was supplying information to Kerrigan about the UED and Kerrigan could filter it to Raynor, Fenix and Mengsk so she could manipulate them. Thus Fenix was led to believe that Kerrigan was going to betray them on Char and NOT Korhal as Korhal was a planet that didn't seem to hold any value so what reason did Kerrigan have to betray them there? That's why Fenix and the others were resting on Korhal. Since they're not robots and they expected a betrayal on Char they decided to rest on Korhal. This is what Fenix meant when he told Kerrigan that 'this is a betrayal most foul'.

Very correct, but I think the Protoss' experience with the Confederacy has been ambiguous. They've been monitoring them from afar, so they probably know of their wrongdoings; but the Protoss has performed near-genocide with the Kalathi, attacked the Xel'Naga themselves and so on, so they probably aren't completely critical on the Confederacy's morality. Their negativity probably would be more condescending; seeing the Protoss as superior to the Terrans, e.g. the Imperium and the Eldar in Warhammer.

And remember that Duke's fleet engaged the Protoss to save Mar Sara; and that Tassadar personally met Andre Madrid on the surface of Mar Sara. So there has been some instances that has garnered Protoss respect for the Confederacy. However, this is contradicted by Duke and Tassadar's conversation on Char, where Tassadar says he'll burn Duke's fleet to the ground, whilst Duke says that Tassadar has to surrender because he's endangered Terran lives.

Regarding Fenix not correctly anticipating Kerrigan's time of betrayal, you're spot on but remember; that she needs Nerazim to kill the Overmind. Fenix's warriors are all Khalai. So I think he actually overlooked that fact.

Anyway do a character analysis on Stukov and DuGalle. They don't get enough credit and I think they're the best written characters in the series.

DuGalle, Tychus and Aldaris are the best written and deepest characters in the series; one of the few that actually seem like humans. We haven't seen enough of Stukov though. What makes DuGalle, Tychus, Aldaris, Tosh, Stukov etc interesting is their anti-hero nature. DuGalle and Tychus are the only characters in the series that have been shown to have an inner conflict (Raynor to an extent) and to have many flaws, making them more sympathetic and relatable.

E.G. - DuGalle is torn up about how his pride has led to Stukov and his men dying.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FatalFlaw

E.G. - Tychus is torn up about how he has to betray Raynor, whether he should or not. This is lampshaded by Tosh, I think after Maw of the Void in the Hyperion.

Most of WoL's characters were destroyed by their lack of moral ambiguity and the fact that they're either 'evil' or 'righteous'. Tosh and Tychus were interesting and likable because they weren't. The original StarCraft as well. Raynor wasn't that interesting because he's a generic everyman good-guy. He was more sympathetic when he screwed up trusting Kerrigan in Brood War and when he goes emo in WoL.

As for Stukov and DuGalle, they weren't perfect either. How much of the drama they went through could've been resolved had either Stukov and DuGalle dropped each other a line and had heart-to-heart chat? I mean, they were supposed to have been life-long friends, I'm sure they could've easily resolved that misunderstanding with the Psi Disruptor. This goes double for DuGalle trusting someone he labelled himself as a "turncoat" over a friend without bothering to ask for his side of the story. Unbelievable!!

I'm somewhat certain that there's more plot-holes in the original StarCraft then Brood War. A little bit of thinking and most of Brood War's plot-holes disappear.

Here's some fridge brilliance: Remember at the end of In Utter Darkness when the Hybrids destroy all the Zerg? And they're on Shakuras. Exactly where the Xel'Naga temple is. So you could say that Duran probably created the Xel'Naga Temple (or Amon) to destroy the Zerg when they weren't needed anymore.

And of course DuGalle being an idiot is probably from Duran mind controlling him. Stukov's a psionic, so of course he'll be able to resist Duran/sense that something isn't right with him.

To be honest, Metzen isn't that bad. Compared to most other video games, even modern Blizzard games are Shakespearean by comparison. Even StarCraft II had some basic trope deconstructions and philosophical talk. There's BioShock... Spec Ops... and... Not many other games that attempts that. IIRC, Kindregan is the 'lead writer', whilst Metzen is in charge of story. So wouldn't that equate to Kindregan being in charge of the dialogue?

Anyway, here's a quote from Metzen:

Right… To be totally up-front with you guys, it’s my bad, straight up. The obvious lore contradiction with Sargeras and his encounter with the eredar was clearly documented in the Warcraft III manual. I wrote those bits about four years ago, and to be totally honest, I simply forgot. Genius, right? With my excitement to get the draenei up to speed and root them more firmly in the setting, I forgot to do my homework and go back over my earlier writing. I can assure you, no one’s more crushed about this mistake than I am. I’ve spent the last few days kicking my own ass over this one. Sucks to fail. It may not always be evident, but we take this story stuff really seriously at Blizzard. It’s been one of my personal missions at this company to maintain a high level of integrity throughout the Warcraft game setting (all of them, actually) and I think we’ve done a pretty decent job of upholding the continuity over the years.

I think it’s important to note that world building is far bigger than just “storytelling,” and it requires (in my humble opinion) a certain amount of flexibility. Sometimes you need to expand certain ideas or retcon whole sections of continuity to broaden the scope and accessibility of your setting. There are a good number of these types of situations already (like totally revising our timeline, suggesting trolls were the progenitors of all elven subspecies, etc. – there’s a hundred other examples). To make an omelet, ya need to break a few eggs, and WoW’s one big omelet.

I’m explaining all this not to excuse this particular mistake, but to give you some understanding of how the mistake was made. I’ve read a fair amount of posts over the past few days and I know there’s a lot of confusion and frustration surrounding the whole eredar/draenei train wreck. Believe me – I know exactly how you feel. At the end of the day, we’re all just a bunch of geeky fanboys and fangirls, and we all get pretty fired up when people start screwing with the worlds we love. If anything, all of the venting and creative suggestions I’ve seen over the past few days have reinforced for me the fact that you guys really do care about this world and its troubled denizens.

[FanaticTemplar]

Raynor opting to help Kerrigan wasn't plot induced stupidity as much as it was him being biased towards human authority given his history under it. Fenix let Raynor decide the futue of his men when he allowed Raynor to decide whether they should help Kerrigan as Raynor was a human and obviously knew more of human authority than he did. However Raynor let his bias cloud his judgement (the UED weren't as evil as Kerrigan made them out to be) and he had to learn the hard way that you can't just look at anything with a black and white perspective.

I've never seen that in Brood War. What's your basis for this? The only time I remember us getting Raynor's opinion on the UED, he expresses only hesitation, and this in response to Kerrigan trying to guide him to the desired conclusion of mistrusting the UED. Clearly, that's no demonstration of irrational bias against the UED.

As for Fenix's role in curing Raynor of this alleged irrational hatred, that also seems highly unlikely. Fenix is always characterised as a follower or a front line man, while he obviously does have authority over a number of Templar from his station, his narrative role is never that of an authority. Why would he prove to be an example for Raynor rather than, say, Raynor's original Protoss friend Tassadar, the 'idealistic rebel crusader' who became a savior and beacon of hope for his people? Or Aldaris, the authoritarian persecutor who proves to indeed have the best interests of his people at heart, and accepts responsibility for his wrongdoings, a speech which apparently quite impressed Raynor back in Eye of the Storm?

[Turalyon]

I'm somewhat certain that there's more plot-holes in the original StarCraft then Brood War. A little bit of thinking and most of Brood War's plot-holes disappear.

Careful with the generalisations there. I could swap those two around or say "WoL had the least number of plotholes if you really thought about it" and there'd be a number of people who'd nod in agreement there too.

Here's some fridge brilliance: Remember at the end of In Utter Darkness when the Hybrids destroy all the Zerg? And they're on Shakuras. Exactly where the Xel'Naga temple is. So you could say that Duran probably created the Xel'Naga Temple (or Amon) to destroy the Zerg when they weren't needed anymore.

There is nowhere in the game that says that this battle was on Shakuras. When you said a "little bit of thinking", did you mean fanconning as well?

And of course DuGalle being an idiot is probably from Duran mind controlling him. Stukov's a psionic, so of course he'll be able to resist Duran/sense that something isn't right with him.

Ugh, Dugalle being mind-controlled essentially ruins his character by making all of his actions suspect and unworthy of any of the audience's sympathy - much in the same way WoL destroys the character of the Overmind. Dugalle's actions are only tragic and full of pathos (and memorable as a result) if he made them himself.

Also, this doesn't explain why Stukov doesn't try reaching out to his old friend. I suppose Duran was able to block those transmissions as well? God, one has to fancon/think a lot to cover this up...

To be honest, Metzen isn't that bad.

I think the operative word is wasn't. He's the guy that vet's all this stuff afterall.

I've never seen that in Brood War. What's your basis for this? The only time I remember us getting Raynor's opinion on the UED, he expresses only hesitation, and this in response to Kerrigan trying to guide him to the desired conclusion of mistrusting the UED. Clearly, that's no demonstration of irrational bias against the UED.

I think I can explain his reasoning. Raynor's history with being shafted from on high by larger authorities like the Confederation and Mengsk/Dominion would perhaps fuel/inform a possible general mistrust with any other larger beauracratic authority. That the UED are presented as such (another large beuracratic authority), irrespective of the particulars/differences and whether Raynor is aware of them, is what he could be railing against.

[FanaticTemplar]

There is nowhere in the game that says that this battle was on Shakuras. When you said a "little bit of thinking", did you mean fanconning as well?

I also assumed it was on Shakuras, since aside from Aiur there seems to be nowhere else better suited for the Protoss' last stand, and if I recall correctly, that tileset was called 'Shakuras' in the Editor. To be fair, that's not proof of anything though.

I think I can explain his reasoning. Raynor's history with being shafted from on high by larger authorities like the Confederation and Mengsk/Dominion would perhaps fuel/inform a possible general mistrust with any other larger beauracratic authority. That the UED are presented as such (another large beuracratic authority), irrespective of the particulars/differences and whether Raynor is aware of them, is what he could be railing against.

Oh, I agree that Raynor has developed a strong anti-authoritarian nature, I just don't understand where the notion comes from that Raynor fell in with Kerrigan's plans because of his alleged hatred for the UED's authoritarianism (I'd think it far more likely to be due to his bias in favour of Kerrigan), and how Fenix was supposed to help him get over his anti-authoritarianism, and how this was apparently a major character development for Raynor in Brood War.

[Turalyon]

I just don't understand where the notion comes from that Raynor fell in with Kerrigan's plans because of his alleged hatred for the UED's authoritarianism (I'd think it far more likely to be due to his bias in favour of Kerrigan), and how Fenix was supposed to help him get over his anti-authoritarianism, and how this was apparently a major character development for Raynor in Brood War.

Ah, ok. I agree with the former part about Raynor backing Kerrigan more because "she's Kerrigan" rather than any real strong ideological bent against authoritarianism because the game itself is more "on the nose" in regards to Raynor's relationship with her. For the latter part about Fenix, I've no idea. I don't see it either.

[LestersPetZergling]

Careful with the generalisations there. I could swap those two around or say "WoL had the least number of plotholes if you really thought about it" and there'd be a number of people who'd nod in agreement there too.

WoL didn't have that many story-critical plot holes, except for the fact that Narud can't even bother getting the artefacts with all the power he's got, regardless of whether Nyon's Tal'darim were a separate Tal'darim that wasn't under Narud's sway, but given that Tal'darim simply means 'The Forged' in Khalai, maybe. And the discrepancies with the WoL Tal'darim and the Christie Golden Dark Templar. Plot-holes don't really determine the quality of a story.

There is nowhere in the game that says that this battle was on Shakuras. When you said a "little bit of thinking", did you mean fanconning as well?

The only planet in the campaign with the Shakuras tileset... one that looks identical, with identical Protoss architecture, to be honest, your base is actually quite possibly the one from The Insurgent (where Aldaris dies) in Brood War; as it's structured somewhat the same, and given that it's the Protoss capital, would be the heaviest defended Protoss territory. And I could go on and on...

Ugh, Dugalle being mind-controlled essentially ruins his character by making all of his actions suspect and unworthy of any of the audience's sympathy - much in the same way WoL destroys the character of the Overmind. Dugalle's actions are only tragic and full of pathos (and memorable as a result) if he made them himself.

Well he's not being consciously and directly controlled, like say, the Overmind or Jack in BioShock. Let's just say that with the right amount of awareness and willpower you can break off the 'mind-control', which is what DuGalle did when Stukov died. So he was being subliminally manipulated, but not directly.

Also, this doesn't explain why Stukov doesn't try reaching out to his old friend. I suppose Duran was able to block those transmissions as well? God, one has to fancon/think a lot to cover this up...

This is a plot-hole I don't have an answer for. Especially with the fact that Stukov radios the Captain (you). Well, I do have a possible answer. What if Narud and Duran are different people and Narud was the UED Captain, and that's why he leads the operation in the Psi-Disruptor and doesn't tell DuGalle about what Duran did... and... My head hurts.

Ah, ok. I agree with the former part about Raynor backing Kerrigan more because "she's Kerrigan" rather than any real strong ideological bent against authoritarianism because the game itself is more "on the nose" in regards to Raynor's relationship with her. For the latter part about Fenix, I've no idea. I don't see it either.

I'm quite sure the death toll from Project Purification was higher then the Fall of Tarsonis.