Unused HoTS Story Elements

[Gradius]

Been going through the editor, and there's several "obsolete" conversations still left in here. Don't have time to copy all of them into word, so I'll summarize what I find

- Kerrigan was originally going to sneak onto the Moros in a shuttle. Valerian says "Kerrigan, don't be reckless! If the Dominon harms Jim--". She replies "They won't. He's the only bargaining chip they have.".

- The primal zerg feared that Kerrigan would awaken the ancient one and gain its knowledge.

- The cinematic where Kerrigan was reinfested, she was going to say "Can you feel it Mengsk? I'm coming for you!"

- Kerrigan tells Zeratul "they'll kill you". He says "I serve a higher purpose now. I will tell them."

- Stukov says "Maybe with enough psionic energy, he can bring back Amon?"

- Stukov says "What does he want?" Presumably Amon. Kerrigan says "Redemption. And to get it, he will destroy all of us. I don't know why."

- The intro cinematic, when Kerrigan says "For I am the Queen of Blades". There's an unused line that says "Or am I?"

- Zeratul talking about Zerus: "It lies far beyond the koprulu sector, outside known space. It is to zerus you must go."

- There was a Xel'Naga tar relic arc in Zerus 3 mission: "That Xel'Naga relic is sinking into the tar. We'd better hurry if we're going to retrieve it." Kraith says "Kraith will crush you! Tear the heart from your chest!". Kerrigan replies "What heart?"

- Zerus mission 2 was originally going to consist only of killing Primal zerg. When you got to 50% of what you needed Kerrigan says "Kill them all... I must have more!". There was also going to be an artifical dam you could destroy that would heal your minions because of Kerrigan's healing influence. "These waters... can heal the wounded."

- Mengsk taunts in Korhal 3:
Raynor and Kerrigan. A criminal and a mass murderer. How perfect.
You murdered General Warfield. You've murdered thousands of people, Kerrigan!
Remember our history, Kerrigan? How I saved you from the Confederacy? How I freed your mind?
And I've regretted it ever since. I should have let you rot away as a Confederate assassin.

There was also going to be giant gun towers you had to destroy, plus a mechanic where the Hyperion had to repair. Plus this:
Valerian: Kerrigan, the evacuation of Korhal is nearly complete --
Mengsk: Don't be a fool, boy. She will turn on you.
Kerrigan: I did have a good teacher, Arcturus.
Valerian: We've done it. The evacuation is successful! Kerrigan, you can't imagine how many lives you've saved.
Kerrigan: Thank me later, Valerian. There is business to attend to.

- In Korhal mission 2 Mengsk says "Enough of this. Echo-17, you have nuclear clearance." Possibly a reference to the unused Ghost Echo unit: http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2..._SC2_Head2.jpg

- The hybrid lab was built on top of a xel'naga temple, if you didn't know. It was also called the "origin of the hybrid breeding program".

- There were terran lava pumps in the Char 3 mission that you'd have to destroy or else you'd get flooded by lava.

- In the hybrid lab mission 2, there were going to be other mechanics like Dominion attacking you and a hybrid, focus crystals that amplified Kerrigan's powers, hybrids merging, etc.

- Char mission 2 was going to have psi disruptors.

- In the ending cinematic Kerrigan says "I don't know what happens from here, but I'm free now." Raynor says "I know."

- If the player chose not to rescue Raynor and go to Skygeirr, Stukov says "I am surprised you did not rush off to rescue Jim Raynor." She says "Mengsk needs Jim alive and well to keep me away from Korhal. And we have to take down this lab." He says "Perhaps. Or perhaps you know how Raynor will react when you face him?".

- With the Destroyer of Worlds mechanic, Broodmother Ryloth, a master tactician would come back to the swarm and you'd pick a world her to destroy: Braxis, which trains the dominion's armies, or the Dylarian shipyards. Another broodmother could take Haven, Bhekar Ro, or Bountiful (novel references, woot!)

- The psi destroyer was called the psi disintegrator. Dehaka said "The true zerg are immune to this psi-disintegrator! We will destroy!"


- This is awesome. This is an Abathur plotline that never made it into the game:

Kerrigan: Abathur, I have a special project for you.
Abathur: Improving the entire Swarm. Will make time.
Kerrigan: I want you to spin a special creature for me. But I'm going to have you design its sequences in pieces.
Abathur: Show me entirety of vision. Can improve your design. My function.
Kerrigan: It is my will that we do it this way.
Abathur: Cannot improve design if unclear about the totality of--
Kerrigan: I said it is my will. You will not know the entire design of this creature. I will show you the sequence.
- Kerrigan's eyes glow.
Abathur: I see it. Elegant. Can be improved, but good. Something familiar about it.
Kerrigan: Just spin the sequence I asked for. I'll have more later.

Kerrigan: Abathur, my special project continues. I have another sequence I wish you to spin.
Abathur: Two sequences, good. Enough for me to deduce creature's purpose. Improve it.
Kerrigan: I don't think so. You see, before I share the second one with you, I'm going to wipe your memory of the first.
- Kerrigan's eyes glow
Abathur: Does not make sense. I can... I can...
Kerrigan: Abathur, I wish you to spin a creature for me. Here is the first sequence.
Abathur: I see it. Elegant. Can be improved, but good. Something familiar about it.
Kerrigan: Just spin it.

Kerrigan: Do you have the final sequence of the creature I've asked you to spin?
Abathur: Final? Only the first.
Kerrigan: You've spun hundreds of sequences, but I've been erasing your memory of each one.
Abathur: Hundreds? Implies great complexity. Rarely good.
Kerrigan: Oh this one is complex, but it will be your finest work. Aside from the time you destroyed my body.
Abathur: When I transfigured you. Made you more than you were.
Kerrigan: The pain was incredible. With everything I've lost, I've never forgotten that.
Abathur: Pain irrelevant. Break bones, twist muscles -- all to make greatness.
Kerrigan: Just give me the last sequence.
Abathur: Ah... yes. I will create this creature soon.
Abathur: Can do it for you. Enjoy the moment creature comes alive. Understands sensation. Usually pain, but no matter.
Kerrigan: Not this time, Abathur.

Kerrigan: Abathur, I've created the creature you helped me design.
Abathur: Unclear. Have created many creatures.
Kerrigan: I wiped your memory again didn't I? Well, I'm going to give you one memory to hold on to.
Abathur: Yes. Moment of your creation. Broke you over and over. Made you perfect.
Kerrigan: You left no part of me untouched. I want you to have that memory in your mind when you meet...
--- Another creature slithers up -- he looks like Abathur, but slightly different.
Kerrigan: Your replacement.
Abathur: Unclear. Am the finest creature in the Swarm. Keep it strong. No need to make new version.
Kerrigan: Your replacement is every bit as talented as you. There is only one difference between the two of you.
Abathur: What difference?
Kerrigan: He never broke me over and over.
Replacement Abathur ATTACKS Abathur. Kerrigan watches calmly.

- Raynor addressed his vow to kill the Queen of Blades. Still a crock of bullshit, but at least it might have been in the game:

Raynor: You sure made a mess down there, Sarah. And I ain't real comfortable with you controlling them zerg.
Kerrigan: I don't like it either, but Valerian needed to be taught a lesson.
Raynor: Forget him. We've been here too long with the Dominion looking for us. We got to get out and start over.
Kerrigan: I wish it was that simple. Look, I don't remember everything I've done, but I do know I can't outrun my past.
Raynor: What are you getting at, darlin'?
Kerrigan: Your friend, Tychus. They told me you had to shoot him.
Raynor: I made my choice.
Kerrigan: I'm so sorry Jim. For all of it.
Raynor: Wasn't you, Sarah. I swore I'd kill the Queen of Blades, and maybe in a way, I did.
Kerrigan: It's not that simple. The Queen of Blades... was me, even when she wasn't. I can't explain.
Raynor: You don't have to -- we're leaving now. I'll suit up and meet you back here in an hour.
Kerrigan: Yeah. Maybe we can really get that new start.

- Alternate death for Lessara, narrated by Kerrigan:

No. There is one more who must die... Lasarra.
- Fade in on Lasarra stumbling forward slowly from one of the vents in the back of the ship.
- The ship is infested.
I can feel her. She is alone and injured, surrounded by enemies.
- The zerg are coming.
She knows she can give in and earn a swift death.
- She is alone in the hallway facing the coming onslaught.
And she knows that if she fights, her death will be slow and painful.
Yet she refuses to submit.
- She stands. She activates a weapon.
She strikes with her whole heart. She fights with her mind.
When that is shattered, she fights with her hands. When those are broken, she claws her enemies as her body is ripped apart.
- The zerg kill her.
Alone, she chooses to fight to the very end.
- Kerrigan stands alone inside the leviathan
And alone, she pays the price of that choice.
- She walks away as it fades to black

Alternate Mengsk taunt in Korhal 3:

Korhal03/OBSOLETE/OLD
Kerrigan: Do you feel it Arcturus? The Swarm floods your precious world.
Arcturus: I have rebuilt this world from the ashes of the Confederacy.
Arcturus: Korhal has survived nuclear warfare and it has survived you.
Arcturus: You will die here, Kerrigan. I promise you that.
Kerrigan: How quickly you seem to forget, Emperor.
Kerrigan: I let you have this planet. And I can take it away.


- When Sarah rescues Raynor in the prison cell, I can't decipher what this unused dialog could have been for:
Raynor C'mon Matt. You can do it -- just remember to watch those corners. Work the numbers...
Raynor C'mon Matt. Watch those corners.
Raynor Remember your blind spot.
Raynor Look for the second ghost.
Raynor There's always a backup team.
Raynor Intervals. Keep the intervals.
Raynor Clear corners, move, clear corners.
Raynor Clear corners, move, watch your blind spot...

- Some banter with Zagara:

Kerrigan: They're born that way. I don't think they care.
Kerrigan: I can't imagine how they built this structure in the upper atmosphere of Ketill.
Zagara: Let us return there and plot the destruction of the terrans.
Kerrigan: I can't explain it to you. Perhaps you will understand in time.

- Kerrigan used to treat Zagara a lot worse apparently:

Main/OBSOLETE/Violent version
Kerrigan: This is not something I can explain. You must learn the hard way.
[Alternate]
Zagara: Ahh!
(Wait 1.000 seconds)
Kerrigan: Izsha, have Abathur revive Zagara. And have him improve her as well.
Kerrigan: I want her ready in time for the next battle.

Main/OBSOLETE/Violent Version
Zagara: I am puzzled. Why would you make me stronger after punishing me?
Kerrigan: I am trying to teach you something. Tell me, what is most important in a leader?
Zagara: Viciousness! The will to do anything for victory.
Kerrigan: Wrong.
Zagara: Ahh!
(Wait 1.000 seconds)
Kerrigan: What is most important?
Zagara: Cunning!
Kerrigan: Close. But still wrong.
Zagara: Ahh!
(Wait 1.000 seconds)
Kerrigan: Izsha, have Abathur revive Zagara again. And see if he can increase her mental flexibility.
Kerrigan: I need her for the next battle.
Kerrigan: Perhaps she will never learn.

Alternate Korhal 1 storyline:

Korhal01/OBSOLETE
Kerrigan: I'm back.
Izsha: My queen, your Leviathans are in position.
Kerrigan: It's time. Begin dropping our spore cannons onto Korhal.
Izsha: Our spore cannons will be destroyed in orbit
Kerrigan: We're dropping millions on them, Izsha. A handful will get through.
Kerrigan: Once the spore cannons are implanted on the surface we attack from both fronts.
Kerrigan: I'm going to shift the balance in our favor.
Dominion Commander: Something has broken through the defenses, Corporal. Investigate, now!
Dominion Marine: Yes, sir. Move your ass marines!
Izsha: My queen, the Swarm is taking heavy losses but the orbital defenses are contained.
Kerrigan: I need my brood, Izsha. Get me a drone, now!
Dominion Marine: The Queen of Blades!
Arcturus: This pathetic invasion has failed, girl. My men slaughter your zerg in orbit, and you are all alone.
Kerrigan: You underestimate me, Arcturus. I would think you knew better.
Kerrigan: You've already lost.
Arcturus: We shall see about that.
Izsha: My queen, our spore cannons are being destroyed by Korhal's defense grid.
Kerrigan: That's why we brought so many, Izsha.
Kerrigan: Alert me the moment one breaks through. We're punching a hole in those defenses.


Alternate Hybrid Lab 2 Storyline:Exported On: 8/20/2014 11:05 PM

Hybrid02/OBSOLETE/NEWEST
Stukov: This lab safeguards the culmination of Narud's research. The hybrid.
Stukov: The ultimate weapon of the final war. The Dominion must not be allowed to wield it.
Kerrigan: Someone is waking them up.
Stukov: The indoctrination process is incomplete! It's out of control!
Kerrigan: What is it-- <pained exertion>
Kerrigan: It's attacking psionically!
Kerrigan: First we build up our forces, then we destroy every last thing in this lab.

Hybrid02/OBSOLETE/Briefing
Kerrigan: We're inside.
Stukov: Duran created experimental hybrids in this lab. Twisted beings, unlike any hybrid you have encountered before.
Kerrigan: They are out of control. That should buy us some time to set up a force of our own. We will need it against hybrid.
Stukov: Those two are combining! Creating a vortex of dark energy! If a third hybrid merges with them, the entire planet will implode.
Stukov: You must keep a third hybrid from merging with the other two at any cost.

Hybrid02/OBSOLETE/Old Briefing
Dominion Marine: Commander, the zerg have busted into the lab!
Stukov: Kerrigan, Duran will not take this invasion lightly.
Kerrigan: Stukov? I am surprised you would help me.
Stukov: I will do whatever I can to help you kill Duran.
Stukov: He has committed many atrocities here. First among these is the hybrid.
Stukov: They were created years ago, but he has continued to experiment, changing them.
Stukov: They are twisted. Able to merge, and create a force far greater than themselves.
Izsha: My queen, the combining of those two hybrid created a psionic vortex.
Izsha: If a third merges with them, this planetary system could be pulled into its event horizon.
Stukov: You must keep the hybrid from merging at any cost.

[Telenil]

Some good, some bad.

- Three hybrid destroying a planet is total BS.
- Kerrigan torturing Zagara is nice characterization, but I'm not sure of what answer Kerrigan expects. Mental flexibility? It would fit surprisingly well, the Zerg have many shapes but they don't have a tradition of independant thinking, to say the least.
- Abathur can clone Zagara, but how would he restore her memories? If brood mothers could reincarnate, they wouldn't need Abathur for that.
- Kerrigan re-creating an Abathur feels like a tremendous amount of work for something that won't have the experience of the first. It is an unexpected twist, but the implications for Kerrigan's mental health wouldn't be good.
- Why the hell would Artanis and Selendis kill Zeratul? Worst case, they think he is insane and try to stop him from leaving Shakuras. They wouldn't have been stupid enough to think he had swtiched sides.
- Arcturus not killing Raynor is still complete BS. Arcturus doesn't need Raynor "alive and well", he needs him alive and in his custody. Why would the Dominion not react if Kerrigan destroys their superweapon?
- Spore cannons make slightly more sense that way. The way I understand it, Kerrigan gets so many losses because the spores are completely defenseless. She waits until a couple reach the planet, then sends drop-pods and mutalisks. Still sounds like a giant waste to save a few Zerg that could destroy the orbital defenses themselves.
- Good taunts in Korhal3. Both Arcturus and Kerrigan make sense, for once.

[Turalyon]

I can understand why they took out the bits where Kerrigan was being a very "bad boss" toward Zagara and Abathur. Kinda sends mixed messages when a person who is supposedly the "heart of the Swarm" systematically abuses her own team/only allies/adopted family (the Overmind was never that cruel!) at every opportunity. Then again, it would've helped show how Kerrigan was "not that different afterall" even after her de-infestation. Course, had they included this it would've made it even harder for Blizz to sell that "Kerrigan is good now" angle (paper-thin as that concept was even with the final HotS that we got).

[Gradius]

Somebody needs to do this for Wings of Liberty. There's unused dialog in there too that nobody has bothered mining.

- Stukov says "What does he want?" Presumably Amon. Kerrigan says "Redemption. And to get it, he will destroy all of us. I don't know why."

I'm thinking that Amon's arc will be similar to that of Satan's. He will look down on god's latest creation (protoss & zerg) and refuse to worship them. The Xel'Naga who are on the verge of dying, can be saved if Amon forcibly does a gene splice on the protoss/zerg and creates new bodies for the xel'naga, as opposed to dying and perpetuating the next cycle by handing over the reins to the next species as is natural. Amon's plan is deemed morally inferior by the gods, and for his hubris, Amon will be damned to the 13th layer of hell. As a result, he will try to get revenge by proving that his methods are superior and that he was right all along.

- Three hybrid destroying a planet is total BS.

Sort of disagree. For one, they're not destroying it the hard way like the protoss by bombarding it with pure energy, they're merely creating a black hole. For two, they're hybrids.

I just don't understand why they'd do it and lose the entire hybrid breeding facility.

- Why the hell would Artanis and Selendis kill Zeratul? Worst case, they think he is insane and try to stop him from leaving Shakuras. They wouldn't have been stupid enough to think he had swtiched sides.

Well, Zeratul already said in HoTS that "I act for the greater good, though it earns me the hatred of my own people."

- Good taunts in Korhal3. Both Arcturus and Kerrigan make sense, for once.

I know. This would have been so much better to have in the game:

Kerrigan: How quickly you seem to forget, Emperor.
Kerrigan: I let you have this planet. And I can take it away.

I can understand why they took out the bits where Kerrigan was being a very "bad boss" toward Zagara and Abathur. Kinda sends mixed messages when a person who is supposedly the "heart of the Swarm" systematically abuses her own team/only allies/adopted family (the Overmind was never that cruel!) at every opportunity. Then again, it would've helped show how Kerrigan was "not that different afterall" even after her de-infestation. Course, had they included this it would've made it even harder for Blizz to sell that "Kerrigan is good now" angle (paper-thin as that concept was even with the final HotS that we got).

It's kind of pointless to get revenge on Abathur anyway. Not like he has any clue clue what's going on. Poor bastard. :P

[Visions of Khas]

I'm thinking that Amon's arc will be similar to that of Satan's. He will look down on god's latest creation (protoss & zerg) and refuse to worship them. The Xel'Naga who are on the verge of dying, can be saved if Amon forcibly does a gene splice on the protoss/zerg and creates new bodies for the xel'naga, as opposed to dying and perpetuating the next cycle by handing over the reins to the next species as is natural. Amon's plan is deemed morally inferior by the gods, and for his hubris, Amon will be damned to the 13th layer of hell. As a result, he will try to get revenge by proving that his methods are superior and that he was right all along.

Still a better story than Twilight Archon-Craft.

I just don't understand why they'd do it and lose the entire hybrid breeding facility.

The accompanying dialog mentioned that Narud's indoctrination of the Hybrids had yet to be completed, so they're probably acting on pure Amon-infused hate-instinct.

[Telenil]

Sort of disagree. For one, they're not destroying it the hard way like the protoss by bombarding it with pure energy, they're merely creating a black hole. For two, they're hybrids.

I just don't understand why they'd do it and lose the entire hybrid breeding facility.

Hybrid or not, nothing in Protoss or Zerg DNA comes even remotely close to planet-shattering black holes. I'm willing to believe a mothership could be upgraded to do that at full power, but it really doesn't feel like something an enhanced archon could manage.
Besides, Amon doesn't need the Zerg if three hybrid can kill everyone on Shakuras. A few hundred clones would destroy the Sector, quite literally.

Well, Zeratul already said in HoTS that "I act for the greater good, though it earns me the hatred of my own people."

Sure, you would have trouble explaining a Protoss refugee why you are working with Kerrigan. But even if Zeratul is misguided and wrong, I don't see Artanis actually murdering him.

[Kimera757]

I hope StarCraft Legacy makes an article out of this.

I'd heard about the plotline with Abathur before, but not these details. That was pretty funny, and unlike torturing Zagara doesn't bother me in the slightest.

- - - Updated - - -

I hope StarCraft Legacy makes an article out of this.

I'd heard about the plotline with Abathur before, but not these details. That was pretty funny, and unlike torturing Zagara doesn't bother me in the slightest.

[Visions of Khas]

I on the other hand wouldn't flinch at Kerrigan's poor treatment of Zagara or Abathur. She must have mixed feelings regarding the Swarm after all. They simultaneously stole from her and gave her so much. In her human form, her memories as the Queen of Blades purged, she may feel some lasting connection to them that leaves her disgusted. And so, with each Zerg death, she's able to inflict her hate on something so tangibly. But as the story progresses, not only would she gain empathy for the Zerg, she'd want to rejoin its embrace.

Of course, this is too much psychology and charaterization to fit into any one Blizzard game. :|

- - - Updated - - -

I on the other hand wouldn't flinch at Kerrigan's poor treatment of Zagara or Abathur. She must have mixed feelings regarding the Swarm after all. They simultaneously stole from her and gave her so much. In her human form, her memories as the Queen of Blades purged, she may feel some lasting connection to them that leaves her disgusted. And so, with each Zerg death, she's able to inflict her hate on something so tangibly. But as the story progresses, not only would she gain empathy for the Zerg, she'd want to rejoin its embrace.

Of course, this is too much psychology and charaterization to fit into any one Blizzard game. :|

[Turalyon]

I on the other hand wouldn't flinch at Kerrigan's poor treatment of Zagara or Abathur. She must have mixed feelings regarding the Swarm after all. They simultaneously stole from her and gave her so much.

It's understandable for her to go through this as a form of projection (Mengsk) after all she's been through but given that the only other alternative to infestation was instant death at New Gettysburg and that she was made to feel happy when the Overmind was still around ("I like what I am") she got a pretty good deal then. She then later claims her time with the Zerg was "hell" in BW but can you really blame hell for being a bad place (which she can only admit after the Overmind was killed, mind you) when it was someone who shoved you through it's gates in the first place?

In her human form, her memories as the Queen of Blades purged, she may feel some lasting connection to them that leaves her disgusted. And so, with each Zerg death, she's able to inflict her hate on something so tangibly. But as the story progresses, not only would she gain empathy for the Zerg, she'd want to rejoin its embrace.

You know, this hate and inhumanity she displays as a deinfested human would've been a nice motivation for her to go back to the Zerg. Reflecting that she's pretty much rotten even as a human, she may as well get back her powers/infest herself because it would be all the better to help go apeshit on others some more.

Of course, this is too much intelligence and sophistication to fit into any Blizzard game.

Fixed.

[ragnarok]

Now these are the good ones. If only Blizzard had actually thought hard enough to put them into the game itself.