Arcturus Mengsk
Arcturus Mengsk is a male video game character that features in StarCraft.
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Biography
Arcturus Mengsk was a male Terran who was born in the Koprulu Sector on the planet Korhal during the reign of the Confederacy. A scion of a powerful founding family where he came to be a colonel in the Confederate Marine Corps and a veteran of the Guild Wars. After the conflict was over, he became a successful prospector after war's end where he tried to distance himself from the actions of his father who had been a prominent Korhal senator and vocal dissident against the Confederacy. However, Confederate assassins came to murder his father, mother, and younger sister thus spurring Arcturus to becoming a revolutionary. By adulthood, he began to oppose the Confederacy which responded by dropping nuclear weaponry on his world. As a result, he formed the Sons of Korhaland waged a conflict against the Terran Confederacy as he sought its destruction. Years of open conflict successfully weakened Confederate control over the fringe worlds allowing him to recruit a number of followers. At some point, he encountered and recruited a Terran Ghost by the name of Sarah Kerrigan.
Before leaving Mar Sara, Mengsk and Liberty rescued Marshal Jim Raynor from a Confederate prison ship and used him to lead a strike force against the Jacobs Installation. He believed secret Confederate military technology was concealed inside. Within Raynor discovered zerg being imprisoned, but Mengsk was not surprised, expressing the belief that the zerg might be bred by Confederate scientiests. Raynor retrieved a data disk. The Mar Sara Colonial Militia became part of the Sons of Korhal under the command of Captain Raynor and the former Colonial Magistrate, who was referred to as the Commander. Mengsk's next destination was Antiga Prime, where the colonists were ready to begin open revolt against the Confederacy. However, the Confederates, aware of this as well, stationed a large detachment of Alpha Squadron troops there to suppress the nascent revolt. To free the Antiga Prime colony, Mengsk sent a task force with Raynor and Kerrigan the latter of which snuck in and assassinating the Confederate officer in charge. The Antigan rebels and Sons of Korhal then defeated the Alpha Squadron detachment. Alpha Squadron's General Edmund Duke was unable to respond to this event because his flagship, the Norad II, was attacked by the zerg in high orbit over Antiga Prime; it crash-landed in a position surrounded by the zerg. Mengsk was determined to rescue Duke, over the objections of Raynor and Kerrigan. He sent Raynor and his troops to save Duke, whom he convinced to join him by offering him a position in his cabinet. Even more important than the acquisition of Duke's tactical skill, and his Alpha Squadron, was the decoding of the Jacobs Installation data discs, which contained designs for a Transplanar Psionic Waveform Emitter, or psi emitter.
The Confederates discovered Mengsk's position and send a large Delta Squadron strike force, which established a base camp within his defensive perimeter, along with a massive Army and Colonial Fleet blockade. Mengsk decided to test the new emitter technology and break the Confederate blockade. Sarah Kerrigan infiltrated the Delta Squadron base camp and activated the device; however, she expressed doubts about unleashing the zerg against anybody, even the Confederates. Soon, the zerg homed in on the signal, breaking the blockade and allowing the Sons of Korhal and allies to escape. Sometime afterward the protoss arrived, wiping out all life on the surface of the planet. The Confederate force was forced to retreat and redeploy to Halcyon.
In order to win the conflict against the Confederacy, Mengsk had to strike against Tarsonis. While Tarsonis had been invaded in the past, it had never fallen. Fortunately for Mengsk, Duke had defended Tarsonis in over thirty major battles and so knew its defenses inside and out. Duke's plan was to assault the central of the three primary orbital platforms, causing enough of a ruckus to allow a small force to break through the planetary defenses. He would use the psi emitters to summon the zerg. Mengsk did not inform Kerrigan or Raynor of this part of the plan. While successful, causing the destruction of the Confederacy, it alienated both Kerrigan and Raynor. Soon after a protoss fleet, under the command of Executor Tassadar arrived to Tarsonis to battle the zerg. Mengsk was shocked by this turn of events though he had expected the protoss to arrive, just not so soon. Fearing that the Confederates would have a chance to escape, Mengsk sent Kerrigan to protect the primary zerg hive from the protoss. Knowing that the protoss were there to exterminate all life on Tarsonis, not just the zerg, Kerrigan agreed to follow the orders. She and her strike force defeated the protoss but, as a wave of zerg advanced on her position, were abandoned as Mengsk ordered the immediate disengagement of the Korhal fleet from the Tarsonian system, despite Raynor's protest. Before leaving with Mengsk, Duke successfully activated the Ion cannon, a powerful piece of technology, and Tarsonis' primary defensive weapon, which would shoot down Raynor's forces if they attempted to leave. Raynor was forced to destroy the Ion cannon in order to escape.
Thus, the Zerg came to Tarsonis leading to its destruction and infestation by the extraterrestrial species leading to the destruction of the Terran Confederacy. In the aftermath, Mengsk consolidated his power where he formed the Terran Dominion with him crowning himself as Emperor. Most Confederate survivors joined the Sons of Korhal, including the remaining Confederate squadrons, which were forcefully conscripted, giving the Dominion military supremacy. The former rebels saved many terran lives, but refused to assist worlds that did not welcome their intervention, as Mengsk remarked that the planet's local government had ultimate authority on that planet. All of the terran colonies within the Koprulu Sector were united under one sovereign rule for the first time. With Duke by his side, he was unopposed by any of the major terran militias within the Sector. Later on, Mengsk was plagued by dreams which were the result of a psionic call seemingly coming from Kerrigan asking for his help on the planet Char. This saw Mengsk dispatching Duke there to flush out the zerg, but Alpha Squadron was defeated by the zerg. Having reinforced the armies of the Dominion by forcefully conscripting the remaining warriors of the defunct Terran Confederacy, Mengsk set out to fortify the various worlds under his care. He built Augustgrad, the capital city of Korhal which became the most heavily fortified city in all of Dominion space, employing multiple battlecruisers for his planetary defense and establishing a large cluster of missile silos on the outskirts of Augustgrad. As the final battle concluded on Aiur and the zerg reeled in disarray throughout the sector, Mengsk was left to wonder what ever became of Kerrigan. Mengsk still did not trust General Duke, despite his oaths, so he sent him and his Alpha Squadron on a seemingly unimportant mission to the world of Bhekar Ro, whose colonists sought his help. The mission ended in disaster for Duke.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Arcturus Mengsk was a bulky human man of imposing stature, large of shoulder and thick of waist. He had a powerful charisma about him, something that many said was more imposing in person than through holos. Earlier in his adulthood, Arcturus had a full dark hair, but as he aged both his hair and beard became streaked with silver, which Valerian stated enhanced his natural gravitas.
According to him, he had sacrificed too much to abandon his quest for power. Mengsk had decided that he would rule the entirety of the Koprulu Sector and if denied it then he would see it reduced to ashes. As such, he was not above sacrificing others even close associates in order to achieve his goals.
Arcturus had been described as being a rebel hero, a mass murderer, and nearly everything in between. One word that has never been used to describe him though which was 'ordinary'.
Mengsk's desire to rule the Koprulu Sector or see it burn to ashes around him has proven to be his ultimate downfall. When Kerrigan rebuilt the Zerg Swarm and crushed his Dominion to the last, she cursed that he wouldn't suffer enough for the people whose lives he destroyed. Despite retorting that he made Kerrigan into a monster, she countered that he made monsters out of everyone before killing him.
He later came to have a son who he named Valerian Mengsk.
Powers and abilities
Mengsk was born a human who was shown to be extremely intelligent and capable as both a strategist and tactician. He was highly skilled at oratory and propaganda and possessed a remarkable ability for manipulating other people. Mengsk demonstrated the ability to befriend and manipulate people to his benefit.
Initially, he came to lead a rebel cell against the Confederacy with these being known as the Sons of Korhal. After destroying the Terran Confederacy, Mengsk unified the remnants of mankind and created the Terran Dominion. He placed himself in the position of Emperor of this interstellar state that dominated the Koprulu Sector.
Notes
- Arcturus Mengsk was created by Blizzard Entertainment and voiced by actor James Harper where he featured in the setting of the StarCraft universe.
Appearances
- StarCraft:
- StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty:
- StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm:
External Links
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