Favorite Villains #6--Sarah Kerrigan/The Queen of Blades

Villain #6--Sarah Kerrigan/The Queen of Blades

Kerrigan in Heart of the Swarm.

Blizzard really has a thing for taking characters who are the good guys and turning them into the bad guys.  That's fine with me as I find that the revenge element adds great plot elements into many games.  Who doesn't love the satisfaction of watching someone get back at those that did them wrong?

In Starcraft, Kerrigan starts off as one of the good guys.  As a ghost she has valuable stealth and psionic powers.  She plays a big role in helping Jim Raynor in his quest to overthrow the confederacy.  Unfortunately for Kerrigan, Arcturus Mengsk--the leader of the rebel movement, is just using her to achieve his own goals.  At the Battle for New Gettysburg, Mengsk abandons her on the surface of the planet and watches from afar as it is overrun by the zerg.

Kerrigan is then captured by the Zerg who decide that her psionic abilities are too powerful to simply ignore.  The Zerg overmind places her in a chrysalis where her abilities metamorphosize into something much more powerful.  When she emerges it is as the Queen of Blades, a Zerg-human hybrid with vast potential.

Starcraft II pits players against the Queen of Blades as she cuts a swathe of destruction across the galaxy.  It becomes very apparent that with the Zerg behind her she is a force to be reckoned with.  In the Heart of the Swarm expansion players get the opportunity to play as Kerrigan and aid her in her quest for vengeance.  It's very satisfying.

Kerrigan/The Queen of Blades is a great villain because of her unwavering desire to seek out vengeance.  She is willing to sacrifice her relationship with Raynor as well as her humanity to avenge her betrayal by Mengsk.  It's easy to admire her but also to fear her.