Dark Templar
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A Dark Templar is a member of a group of Protoss in the StarCraft universe. They cut off their psionic appendages to demonstrate their contempt for the Khala.
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HistoryTemplate:Ref
The Dark Templar were originally a group of Rogue Tribes which lived in hiding on Aiur. They were considered rogues for refusing to submit to the Khala. The Protoss Conclave knew of their existence, but had kept them a secret until about 1000 years prior to the beginning of the StarCraft storyline. Fearing that the knowledge of their rogue nature would undermine their efforts of spreading the Khala, they determined that the Rogue Tribes were a threat, and ordered Adun to destroy them.
Adun was considered a very valiant and powerful young warrior. He was also an extreme idealist, so many Conclave members thought it was a mistake of the Judicators to send him.
Instead of destroying the Rogue Tribes, Adun tried to teach them psionics. One of the first abilities they learned was how to bend light around themselves, which rendered them virtually invisible. He did this so the Rogue Tribes could hide from the Conclave.
He tried to teach them more powers, such as psionic storms, but this backfired. Without the discipline of the Khala they could not control these storms, which spiralled over Aiur.
Perhaps these storms were actually created by the first Dark Archons, as these psionic entities had not been created for 1000 years (about the time these storms took place) due to being too dangerous.
In any event, now the Protoss Conclave could not hide the existence of the Rogue Tribes, so now the Conclave had a choice to either destroy them, banish them or admit that they'd let them live. It is unknown what censure Adun received, but he probably continued to live for a time.
The barely reunited Protoss Tribes began to fight once more, in addition to the hunts called for on the Rogue TribesTemplate:Ref. Eventually the Rogue Tribes were forced to surrender. Instead of destroying them, the Conclave had them loaded onto an old but functional Xel'Naga freighter and secretly exiled them. They became a taboo subject and the Judicators tried to hide the evidence. Over the years the stories emerged as rumors about Dark Templar and Fallen OnesTemplate:Ref.
The Rogue Templar journeyed through the stars for hundreds of years. During this time the creation of the Dark Archon was bannedTemplate:Ref, and the habit of cutting off their psionic appendages became common. In order to use psionic powers, they were forced to draw energy from the voidTemplate:Ref. They also developed their fleet of Corsairs, space vessels designed to defend the Dark Templar as they travelled through the starsTemplate:Ref.
Zeratul, a Prelate of the Dark Templar, had said: "I have journeyed through the darkness between the most distant stars. I have beheld the births of negative-suns and borne witness to the entropy of entire realities..." Perhaps he was speaking of these journeys.
During these journeys the Rogue Tribes had encountered Char, probably early in their journey. While the Zerg had not yet reached Char, the Rogue Tribes somehow lost the Khalis crystal on the planet.
The Rogue Tribes eventually discovered the dark planet, Shakuras, during their journeys and remained, due to the presence of a Xel'Naga Temple.
On the planet, they either found or created a Warp Gate which they could use to travel to Aiur. However, they did not use that Gate to connect to Aiur for a long time.
Struggling to adapt to their harsh and nearly lightless environment, the Rogue Tribes altered their skills and even their biology to copeTemplate:Ref.
Eventually Matriarch Raszagal, age 1046 at the time of StarCraft: Brood WarTemplate:Ref, and the only Dark Templar who was old enough to clearly remember Aiur, became the leader of the Dark Templar.
Dark Templar warriors are armed with Warp Blades, based on modified Psi-Blade technology, and they strive to protect their race and the ancient secrets of their tribes. By channeling their dark energies through these blades, they can permanently kill Zerg Cerebrates.
After the devastation of Aiur, many Dark Templars forgave those Protoss who once banned them, and allowed their fellow brothers to escape to Shakuras. However some, such as those who follow Ulrejaz, cannot bring themselves to forgive the Protoss of Aiur. Among Executor Artanis's tasks are quelling this dissent.
Shortly before the final Protoss chapter in Brood War, the Dark Templar re-allowed the creation of the Dark Archon; new Dark Archons created since then appear to be different and marginally more stable than their predeccessors' original forms.
Game Unit
Several Dark Templar (including Zeratul) are assigned to the player during some of the Protoss missions in Episode III of StarCraft. In Brood War, the player gains the ability to train them at the Gateway after building a Templar Archives. The Dark Templar used in the original and those you can produce in Brood War are actually separate units with slightly different stats. Two Brood War Dark Templar can merge together to become a Dark Archon, a powerful Protoss spellcaster unit.
Dark Templar are melee units and do a large amount of damage compared to other infantry, and can quickly dispatch other units, especially in numbers. Furthermore, they are permanently cloaked from the moment they enter the game, but as with all other cloaked units, can be detected. As such, they are excellent for harassing buildings and ground unit formations (m&m in particular) without proper detection capabilities. Summoning Dark Templar requires a Gateway and the Templar Archives. Each costs 125 minerals, 100 vespene and 2 Psi. Dark Templar have 80 hit points, 40 shield points, 1 armor point and deal a massive 40 points of damage (49 with full weapon upgrades). This makes them one of the strongest melee units in the game- Terran Marines and Ghosts fall to a fully-powered Warp Blade slash. Zerglings fall to a slash as well. Vultures, Hydralisks, SCVs, Firebats and Medics fall to 2. There is no non-hero ground unit that can survive 4 strikes, save for the Ultralisk. For that reason, Dark Templar are often deployed in pairs or quartets. They can be upgraded for better armor, shields and weapons at the Forge.
Dark Templar Rush
Similar but much harder to pull off than a Zealot Rush. One technique for multiplayer Protoss players is to invest all their resources to creating a few gateways, the Citadel of Adun and the Templar Archives, then launching small groups of Dark Templar at enemies. This is substantially more successful and less risky if the player has other allies who can defend his base and if the opponents are predominantly Terran, as many terran players, even with wall-ins and large masses of Siege Tanks, will often leave no missile turrets near the front lines. This allows the Templar to decimate front lines before detectors are created, or running into enemy bases in a suicide run and destroying the enemy's command center. The latter permanently hinders the player's war effort, unless they managed to expand earlier. When using this tactic, the Templar Archives should be hidden (sometimes they are warped into a remote corner of the map). This way, chances are the enemy will not have any detectors by the time the first Dark Templar reach their target.
Corsair-Templar Attacks
When facing a Zerg opponent, a sometimes useful tactic is to combine an army of Dark Templar with a fleet of Corsair: the Corsair quickly take out any Overlords in the vicinity, one of the most common zerg detector (The other zerg detector is a Zerg Spore Colony) and the Dark Templar move in for the kill. Heavy anti-air defences can be neutralized by the Corsairs' Disruption Web ability, making this move difficult for the Zerg to counter.
See also
References
- Template:Note Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998.
- Template:Note Underwood, Peter, Chris Metzen and Bill Roper. StarCraft: Brood War (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998.
- Template:Note Warboards storyline update
- Template:Note Maps of the Month - second rebellion
- Template:Note Dark Archon history
- Template:Note Corsair history
External links
- StarCraft homepage at Blizzard Entertainment
- Stealth Assassin Battle.net StarCraft Compendium's official strategy page about Dark Templar.