Races of StarCraft

Blizzard Entertainment's military science fiction media franchise StarCraft revolves around interstellar affairs in the Koprulu Sector, a distant sector of the galaxy, with multiple species and multiple factions all vying for supremacy. The real-time strategy video game series is centered on three playable races: the Terrans, humans descended principally from exiles from Earth; the Zerg, a collective of assimilated alien species organized into a biological swarm; and the Protoss, a technologically advanced humanoid species with powerful psionic abilities. Each has distinct units, structures, technologies and methods of production, as well as its own societies and narrative campaigns. Other species important to the setting include the ancient Xel'Naga, whose actions are connected to the development of both the Protoss and Zerg, and Protoss–Zerg hybrids artificially created as part of the plans of the rogue Xel'Naga Amon.

The three playable races of StarCraft were first introduced in the 1998 title StarCraft and continued in its expansion StarCraft: Brood War and the StarCraft II trilogy. Their broad gameplay identities have remained consistent across the series: Terran forces emphasize flexibility and conventional military technology, Zerg forces rely on biological production and numbers, and Protoss armies consist primarily of technologically advanced and comparatively costly units. The races differ substantially in how they construct bases, produce armies and develop technology, while being designed to remain competitively balanced against one another.

Concept and design

Development of StarCraft began after Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. Early versions retained much of the visual appearance and technology of Warcraft II, and a version shown publicly at E3 1996 was criticized for appearing too similar to Blizzard's fantasy series. The project subsequently underwent extensive technical and visual changes.