Capabilitites of the Changeling.

[XSOLDIER]

Story spoilers for the short story "Changeling"

http://www.starcraft2.com/features/changeling.xml

"Well, this is a rare sight if I do say so myself," Brody said gruffly. "I ain't never seen you not be the last out, dragging that lazy ass of yours."

Hendrix just looked at him.

Wynne cackled from behind Brody. "Hell, he ain't never been on time a day in his life."

Finally Hendrix smiled and said, "Jokes," cryptically before pushing down his visor and covering his face.

By this point, the Changeling had managed to kill Hendrix - the only person alone in the cave. It's assumed that Hendrix is killed, and a bit of an oversight on the Marines' part that they don't notice that Hendrix doesn't connect through his Comm Unit (at least as far as we're told). It does show that the Changeling is capable of vocalizing & mimicking it's target to the point that people he'd worked with for along time (Zeta Squadron) didn't suspect anything. The only thing that sets them off slightly before it starts attacking people is the fact that he's being a little more quiet than normal.

"Hendrix ain't Hendrix. We just finished poker when we caught him down there in the operations room, scanning for security codes. When I asked him what the fekk he was doing, he just turned and smiled and walked away. I grabbed his arm, and he punched me... harder than I ever been hit"

This section shows the Changeling does something that shows a significant level of technical prowess, and cunning, as well as knowledge of Terran machines. It also shows a ruthless devotion to it's objective. Since these Changelings are later stated to have been held in stasis, it's unlikely that they had any specific objectives being actively given to them from Kerrigan, though there might be following whatever their mission was before they were obtained by the Dominion. Lots of speculation though.

The screeching from below was almost unbearable. "SKREEEEE, SKREEEEE, SKREEEEE!" It was the sound of a wounded animal desperately looking for some way, any way, out.

...

It was humanoid in shape, still bearing many of Hendrix's features, but even through the steam it was clear to see that its body was morphing, changing, part human, part zerg: it looked like a person who had been pushed through a meat grinder and come out partially insectoid.

...

The zerg's face peered back at him. But it wasn't Hendrix's torn face anymore… it was Wynne's. Wynne's face glared right at him, eyes burning into Walden's soul, staring in accusation. Walden couldn't pull the trigger and kill Wynne twice. No way.

Here are a few other things. The Changeling panics after being attacked, and doesn't keep the same level of calm after it's been discovered, screaming and running / killing anything in it's way. It also is unable to retain it's ability to transform fully remaining unstable after being injured. It's able to swap transformations at incredible speeds, changing from Hendrix to Wynne's quite quickly, even while injured.

Despite the panic, there's one thing that has me wondering: it changed from Hendrix to Wynne, but the only reason that I can think of for it to do that would be if either it's unable to control it's ability to absorb who it's interacting with (like the T-1000 in the special edition of Terminator 2), or if it was doing it because it knew that Walden would have a harder time shooting his friend twice.

"Well, we couldn't use the resocs, could we? We needed to see just how adaptable the changelings are."

Whether or not this is from prior testing hasn't been covered, but it's enough to show that it's fully capable of fooling normal, intelligent Terrans, not just your run of the mill brain-panned Marines. It means the application, and places we might see Changelings is a lot wider than one might suspect.

The changeling looked just like Hendrix. Like it was one of us.

Again - a final note on how compelling the Changelings are, even at close range to people who knew them.



------------------------------------

It's unknown how well it could imitate a Protoss beyond the physical appearance, such as if it possesses the mental capacity to speak telepathically. There's a chance that the Zerg's telepathic bond may allow them to mimic this form of communication, especially being spawned from Overseers. It likely wouldn't be able to disguise well as a Khalai Protoss, because it would lack that bond that they share in the Khala, though it's been mentioned that it may be able to hide that, similarly to how the Dark Templar originally went unnoticed on Aiur. It could likely pass itself off as a Dark Templar with greater success.

Do you think that this capability is limited by their connection to the Zerg Hive Mind (as this one had been put in stasis), or is this the extent of their abilities, as they'd function best at a distance from the rest of the Swarm? Also, given more time to adapt, do you think that they could gain a greater level of intelligence? For example, could a Changeling be sophisticated enough to mimic Ariel Hansen at some point?

Either way, I really like the idea behind these units, as well as the art. It's something refreshingly new.


X

[The_Blade]

In fact the story shows the little guy being inteligent. He was looking for "information" in the coms. I fear this abilities come directly from Kerrigan and her nasty queens. Her knowledge of human kind has perfected the changling into our worst fear. Sort of her own experience during infestation.

Though the changling may change into a protoss zealot during gameplay, I must call it useless lorewise due to the point you just ofered.

[Gradius]

I bet it could still get away as a Khalai Protoss. In Shadow Hunters a Protoss (I think it was Kortanul) said "though the Khala is constant, one's involvement in it does not have to be". That's how the dark templar remained hidden from Protoss society despite the fact that they lived among other Protoss. The Protoss were surprised that the dark templar existed in such large numbers.

[The_Blade]

I bet it could still get away as a Khalai Protoss. In Shadow Hunters a Protoss (I think it was Kortanul) said "though the Khala is constant, one's involvement in it does not have to be". That's how the dark templar remained hidden from Protoss society despite the fact that they lived among other Protoss. The Protoss were surprised that the dark templar existed in such large numbers.

Now that I look even closer to it, the changling could take the shape of a Dark Templar and cause a civil war by killing a protoss leader.

[XSOLDIER]

Now that I look even closer to it, the changling could take the shape of a Dark Templar and cause a civil war by killing a protoss leader.

That is something that I think Uleraj would be VERY interested in being involved in.

Honestly, the Changelings are amazingly frightening. I sincerely hope they get put to their potential in the game. Not to mention - it makes me question how much the Zerg have really been "gone" for the last 4 years. I think they've been keeping an eye on the happenings of the Protoss & Terrans a lot more than everyone thinks...


X

[Visions of Khas]

Kerrigan has spent time with the protoss and has injected her own genetics and experiences as a human. The story itself shows she's experimenting extensively to perfect the breed. I wouldn't be surprised if changelings could disguise themselves as Khalai.

The fact that the changeling never responded verbally makes me wonder, though. It shouldn't be limitation of mental capacity, as it was clearly hacking into and reading computer information. Perhaps Kerrigan just hadn't yet tinkered with the verbal communication centers in the brain? If this is an innate limitation, however, I think Khalai, of all factions, pick up on changelings the fastest.

EDIT These things have me thinking of the Humanoid Cylons from Battlestar Galactica. Oh noes, it's not Valerian at all, but a zerg duplicate!

[Kimera757]

I bet it could still get away as a Khalai Protoss. In Shadow Hunters a Protoss (I think it was Kortanul) said "though the Khala is constant, one's involvement in it does not have to be". That's how the dark templar remained hidden from Protoss society despite the fact that they lived among other Protoss. The Protoss were surprised that the dark templar existed in such large numbers.

I disagree a bit with this.

Regular protoss don't find cloaking useful because apparently there's always enough of a psychic connection to make hiding their presence difficult if not impossible. (There would still be the benefit of being invisible, though.) Ramsey and Zamara discussed this when explaining how the protoss were able to ambush each other during the Aeon of Strife.

I could just picture the horror if Kerrigan could copy a high-ranking Dominion official (like, say, Arcturus Mengsk himself), voice included, and have them give "bad" orders to make it easier for the zerg to defeat them.

[AegisKHAOS]

EDIT These things have me thinking of the Humanoid Cylons from Battlestar Galactica. Oh noes, it's not Valerian at all, but a zerg duplicate!

And when you consider who's voicing Kerrigan now... >>;

[Kacaier]

EDIT These things have me thinking of the Humanoid Cylons from Battlestar Galactica. Oh noes, it's not Valerian at all, but a zerg duplicate!

I think the Thing is a lot more fitting here, especially towards the end when the Changling became an amalgamation of its disguise and as its amorphous Zerg body. Cylons were just too much drama, and not enough suspenseful action. The Thing, on the other hand, seems a lot more fitting for the SC universe.

[newcomplex]

That is something that I think Uleraj would be VERY interested in being involved in.

Honestly, the Changelings are amazingly frightening. I sincerely hope they get put to their potential in the game. Not to mention - it makes me question how much the Zerg have really been "gone" for the last 4 years. I think they've been keeping an eye on the happenings of the Protoss & Terrans a lot more than everyone thinks...


X

Couldn't ulerej just send a normal DT minion to kill a protoss leader then?