How you suppose the breeds of the extended Zerg swarms are composed?

[Visions of Khas]

Or, we could completely ignore the Behemoths lore in Shadow of the Xel'Naga entirely because, y'know, it's from Shadows of the Xel'Naga.

[Turalyon]

Heh heh. I'm not ignoring intentionally. I know that the Gargantis and Behemoths are two separate things, just highlighting how potentially mixed up you can be/how confusing the manual makes it out to be when its your only source.

[Visions of Khas]

I'm partly serious, though. I truly wonder if Leviathens are supposed to be the "spiritual successors" to the Behemoths, which in turn were meant to describe those big-ass spiked creatures in "The Warp" zerg cinematic. Have Behemoths been mentioned anywhere outside SotXN?

[Mislagnissa]

Funny thing is that humans weren't magically incompatable, Abberations from larva show that the zerg did assimilate humans, and based what amounts to a cavalry unit off them. While it was initially an infested experiment it would work its way to a actual combat strain.

This is a retcon. Before Episode II retconned the plot into incoherence, the Zerg were only interested in humans for their combat psychic powers and considered them physically inferior. The aberration is the result of random mutation on infested colonies, which are completely redundant to the literal legions of other warrior beasts within the swarm.

zerg asimilate humans, have hard time in manipulate psionic organs, burn their mind and got only any like zerling.

This is a retcon, brought about to justify Kerry being a special snowflake. As you see in Insurrection, written pre-retcon, human psychics are fully compatible.

I like to think that Abathur was a creation of the Overmind after it had taken over and consumed the Xel'Naga's knowledge of proto-genetics.

You aren't alone. Gradius' Origins campaign presumes Abathur was created to apply that knowledge. His response to Nargil is really funny.

Thing is, the manual actually confuses the matter due to the plothole you mentioned. If the Gargantis Proximae were already assimilated before the (other?) "race of gargantuan space-faring life forms passed through the Zerus system" but that the original Gargantis Proximae were originally space-faring (as described in the Overlord entry), were known to transport Zerg units into battle from the get-go and assimilated largely unchanged from their core genus, why would it even specify "the Overmind was looking for something - anything - which would transport them from this world (Zerus)" when it already has this "something - anything"? Surely, the Gargantis Proximae would've had the "super-dense hides and ability to exist in a vacuum" (the requirement to be considered a space-faring organism and apparently the thing they were missing in order to get off the planet) the Overmind was looking for from the start, right? Surely, there would've been an explanation given for why the Gargantis Proximae did not provide this ability when they were first assimilated in the near beginnings of the Swarm, right? One has to then consider that either the Overmind was just dumb not to assimilate the space-faring ability of the Gargantis Proximae (which is later revealed in the short story that it was due the Overmind wanting to preserve them as much as they could and therefore didn't disseminate their traits to the rest of the Zerg), or that the Overlords first mentioned in the backstory manual may not have actually originated from Gargantis Proximae, or that their description of "space-faring" doesn't also mean being able to get off a planet, or..... I think my brain just dribbled out my nose.

Yes. I'm guessing the Overlords simply were no good at practical space travel and were probably native to the Zerus system, rather than some silly retcon that doesn't understand how genes work. Xel'naga might have helped them or something.

I'm partly serious, though. I truly wonder if Leviathens are supposed to be the "spiritual successors" to the Behemoths, which in turn were meant to describe those big-ass spiked creatures in "The Warp" zerg cinematic. Have Behemoths been mentioned anywhere outside SotXN?

Both exist as of SC2. They have separate models. Behemoths look like manta rays.

[ragnarok]

Or, we could completely ignore the Behemoths lore in Shadow of the Xel'Naga entirely because, y'know, it's from Shadows of the Xel'Naga.

Why'd you hate the lore in that book?

[Visions of Khas]

Wait, Behemoths are in the game?

[Turalyon]

You aren't alone. Gradius' Origins campaign presumes Abathur was created to apply that knowledge. His response to Nargil is really funny.

The irony of this is that I, along with some others (like VoK and FanaticTemplar), helped Grad gel some of Origins story together.

I'm guessing no good at practical space travel and were probably native to the Zerus system, rather than some silly retcon that doesn't understand how genes work.

Thing is, "the Overlords simply were no good at practical space travel" is still not a good enough of a handwave when we have the Overmind's assessment that it was "looking for something - anything - that would transport them from this world" (the implication here is that the Overmind had no space-faring capability whatsoever) and that Gargantis Proximae, the supposed core genus of the Overlords and were apparently assimilated earlier than the aforementioned assessment by the Overmind, are inherently space-faring (ie: it already had space-faring capability). The conclusion of this must be then that the Overmind was stupid or forgetful for making that assessment of having no space-faring capability to leave Zerus. You can see how that wouldn't sit very well....

A possible resolution (which is still mind-numbing but with less direct contradiction) is that the initial Zerusian Overlords, which were used to coordinate and transport troops (it didn't say it had heightened senses which was ostensibly what the Gargantis were assimilated for), did not actually originate from Gargantis Proximae. That the core genus on the manual entry of the Overlord is specified as Gargantis Proximae suggests then that it's referring to the core genus of the current/Sc1 time period Overlord, and not the original Zerusian Overlord. Mental gymnastics complete.

[Mislagnissa]

Wait, Behemoths are in the game?

http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Behemoth

Thing is, "the Overlords simply were no good at practical space travel" is still not a good enough of a handwave when we have the Overmind's assessment that it was "looking for something - anything - that would transport them from this world" (the implication here is that what the Overmind had no space-faring capability whatsoever) and that Gargantis Proximae, the supposed core genus of the Overlords and were apparently assimilated earlier than the aforementioned assessment by the Overmind, are inherently space-faring (ie: it already had space-faring capability). The conclusion of this must be then that the Overmind was stupid or forgetful for making that assessment of having no space-faring capability to leave Zerus. You can see how that wouldn't sit very well....

A possible resolution (which is still mind-numbing but with less direct contradiction) is that the initial Zerusian Overlords, which were used to coordinate and transport troops (it didn't say it had heightened senses which was ostensibly what the Gargantis were assimilated for), did not actually originate from Gargantis Proximae. That the core genus on the manual entry of the Overlord is specified as Gargantis Proximae suggests then that it's referring to the core genus of the current/Sc1 time period Overlord, and not the original Zerusian Overlord. Mental gymnastics complete.

Maybe the manual was simply confused about the gargantis proximae being space faring? It has a number of continuity errors due to changes over development and insufficient proofreading. It's not in the PDF version, but apparently one printing has the mutalisks spray acid (they did in beta, but changed to glave wurm).

[Turalyon]

Maybe the manual was simply confused about the gargantis proximae being space faring? It has a number of continuity errors due to changes over development and insufficient proofreading. It's not in the PDF version, but apparently one printing has the mutalisks spray acid (they did in beta, but changed to glave wurm).

If you're willing to just cherry-pick that as being the thing that is "confused"/wrong, then that just sets the precedent that I can cherry-pick something in the manual to be "confused"/wrong as well. Better to avoid that slippery slope methinks.

As to the Mutalisk thing, that seems like a gameplay/story segregation issue more than anything else (file that along with Marines being able to gun down Battlecruisers and so forth). The ending cinematic of Tassadar crashing the Gantrithor into the Overmind still has the Mutalisk spraying acid - as the manual said they would.

[Mislagnissa]

If you're willing to just cherry-pick that as being the thing that is "confused"/wrong, then that just sets the precedent that I can cherry-pick something in the manual to be "confused"/wrong as well. Better to avoid that slippery slope methinks.

Maybe there were multiple populations of the Gargantis genus, some of whom had space flight and some that did not? Maybe those that settled on Zerus before the rise of the Zerg lost their space flight adaptation due to mutation?