Artanis Brood — War

Unlike Kerrigan, Duke, or Duran, Artanis is never a battlefield unit. You never feel his presence. In missions like “The Reckoning,” he is merely a voice in the briefing. For an RTS, this is a cardinal sin: a hero you can’t command is a hero you don’t remember. Even the nameless “Protoss Executor” from Original StarCraft had more agency because you were that executor. Artanis feels like a middle manager.

Artanis in Brood War is like watching Luke Skywalker farm moisture on Tatooine for the entire original trilogy—you know he’ll be important later , but right now, he’s just a guy in a robe listening to his elders argue.

Blizzard smartly uses Artanis as the player’s surrogate. You feel his confusion when the UED arrives, his grief during the fall of Aiur, and his frustration when forced to ally with Kerrigan. He is the “straight man” in a campaign of betrayals, and his growing weariness is palpable.