| Sarah Louise Kerrigan[1] Queen of Blades | |
|---|---|
| StarCraft character | |
_in_Zerg_form.png) Kerrigan's infested appearance in StarCraft: Queen of Blades | |
| First game | StarCraft (1998) |
| Created by | Chris Metzen James Phinney[2] |
| Designed by | Chris Metzen Samwise Didier Glen Ran |
| Voiced by | Glynnis Talken Campbell Tricia Helfer (SC2) Vanessa Marshall (HotS) |
| In-universe information | |
| Nickname | Queen of Blades |
Sarah Louise Kerrigan, the self-styled Queen of Blades, is a character in Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft franchise. She was created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, and her original appearance was designed by Metzen. Sarah Kerrigan is voiced by Glynnis Talken Campbell in StarCraft and Brood War, Tricia Helfer in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void, and Vanessa Marshall in Heroes of the Storm.
Kerrigan first appears in StarCraft as a twenty-six-year-old Ghost, a psychic trained both physically and mentally as an expert espionage agent and assassin. Initially the second-in-command of Sons of Korhal, a revolutionary movement against the oppressive Confederacy of Man, she is captured by the insectoid Zerg and genetically mutated into a human/Zerg hybrid completely under the control of the Zerg Overmind. Initially one of the Zerg's most powerful agents, she gains control of the Zerg after the destruction of the Overmind, and seeks dominance over the galaxy. Kerrigan's life before her infestation is further explored in the StarCraft novels Uprising and Liberty's Crusade, while Queen of Blades elaborates on her infested character.
As one of the major characters of the series, Kerrigan has been critically praised by video game journalists for her believability and character depth, and is frequently featured in lists of the top video game women, villains and characters in general. Her reception in regards to gender representation in video games has been more mixed. She has been considered to challenge some hetero-normative gender roles while adhering to others, and to also have an overly sexualized design.
- ^ Neilson 2000, p. 676.
- ^ Underwood 1998, p. 94.