If Zerg were to infest Earth...

[Kknewkles]

Earth's natural predators would rape the Zerg (JK).

Wha, really? Name at least one.
Earth would fall in a matter of no more than 30 hours. If Char was taken over in 2 or 3 days...

[Pandonetho]

Earth would fall in a matter of no more than 30 hours. If Char was taken over in 2 or 3 days...

In Starcraft Terms, Earth (the UED) would rape the Zerg if they tried to invade.

[Ghost_828]

In Starcraft Terms, Earth (the UED) would rape the Zerg if they tried to invade.

I'm with Pandetho on this one. Remember that this is the Terran homeworld we're talking about.

[MattII]

Getting off-topic Pandonetho, just post a list of creatures.

[DemolitionSquid]

Infested Velociraptors anyone?

Oh, you mean Zerglings?

[Rezildur]

Actually I just had a question about this...how come the Zerg haven't had the chance to incorporate Terrans into their genome, and they just do that on-the-spot infestation of command centers etc... what is the lore behind that?

I searched but was unable to find anything.

[Kimera757]

I think the zerg just aren't interested.

What they wanted from terrans, they wanted specific gene sequences. Now that they've solved that problem, they wanted experience. Ethan Stewart, for example, wasn't some random terran, he was a mercenary commander and crime lord.

Simply spitting up terrans from a DNA soup would result in people with no life experience; basically children. What good does that do Kerrigan?

[mr. peasant]

If I recall correctly, the Zerg wanted the Terrans specifically for their psychic potential to help bridge the gap against the Protoss. They got that from Kerrigan. Other rank and file Terrans are of little value (hence why they wind up as suicide bombers) since the other Zerg strains are better physically adapted at everything.

[MattII]

Interesting though that the Zerg haven't tried to utilise Terran Tech. Maybe there are two sorts of infestation, the general, shallow sort that yields suicide bombers and other simplistic units, and a special, deep (but long and expensive) sort that yields thinking individuals, like Kerrigan.

[Visions of Khas]

Saxitoxin couldn't actually be infested

Are we sure about that? It is a bacterium. Bacteria have DNA. I see little reason they wouldn't be able to somehow make use of them; perhaps culture them or reproduce the effects in strains like Defilers. Bacteria are an extremely important part of life. Your body harbors trillions of bacterial cells, without which it wouldn't function properly. I wonder whether these are retained in assimilated breeds, or whether they are supplanted by Zerg-borne bacteria. But where did THOSE bacteria come from, eh?

How would dinosaurs be able to bolster the Zerg Swarm? Certainly some of the world's most deadly apex predators were dinosaurs, but what could they really contribute? They don't have molecular-edged claws, like the brontilith. No urticating spines, like slothiens. The only thing I can think of would be slightly more efficient movement speed or strength in the form of superior musculature, rather than relying on flooding the minion's system with adrenaline (Zergling adrenal upgrade).

Those Turritopsis Nutricula are unlikely candidates for assimilation,

What if the Zerg could hyper-evolve something like the Cordyceps Fungus and target Protoss with it? The Fungus derives energy from the sun, like the Protoss. And the Turritopsis Nutricula? Why not? They're immortality derives from the ability to change from a mature adult to a younger version of themselves, a sort of polyp. Say a Zerg base were eradicated save for a few stray Zerglings. These could backpedal their development, become a larva, and from there mature into a Drone to re-establish a base. Or skip all that and establish a Hive directly from the Zergling itself?

I think the Swarm would be pretty interested in our bacteria and viruses, honestly. We have some extremely virulent, deadly and adaptable shit. Nature can be a bitch! And it doesn't take much to adjust some of these things. Anthrax -- Bacillus anthracis -- for example, is related to Bacillus cereus, which is literally a garden-variety, benign bacterium. Scratch that -- as far as I know, it IS B. cereus! The only difference is the inclusion of plasmids, free-floating strands of DNA, that produce the toxins. Bacteria are so versatile and change with so little an addition -- they kick ASS! If the Zerg could target bacteria native to humans or Protoss, and turn them against their bodies with plasmids/bacteriophages/retro-viruses/whatever, we'd be screwed. Or what about developing a bacteria that somehow rusts metal at a fast rate? Sure, big things are scary and, well, big, but don't underestimate the small stuff.


( BTW, James Rollins' The Judas Strain kicks ass. =] )