Overmind (Starcraft)

"Awaken my child, and embrace the glory that is your birthright. Know that I am the Overmind; the eternal will of the Swarm, and that you have been created to serve me."

- The Overmind to one of its Cerebrates

The Overmind is the most ancient, most evolved and most psychically powerful Zerg unit of the Starcraft franchise.

It's a huge super-evolved brained form of life that controls all the Zerg in the universe and contains within itself all the collective intelligence of the species. It is the original leader of the Zerg Swarm and the primary antagonist of the original video game StarCraft, and thus trigger the conflict of the franchise. Its voice in the game was played by Paul Eiding.

Birth of the Swarm.
The Overmind was created as part of the experiments of the race of extraterrestrial scientists Xel'naga on the planet Zerus, several millennia before the start of Starcraft.

The Xel'naga sought to create the perfect life form, of which his first major experiment was the creation of the Protoss species on the planet Aiur. But the Protoss embarked on an endless civil war, which were taken by the Xel'naga as a failure, so they abandoned Aiur and recommenced their experiments with creating the Zerg in Zerus.

To avoid repeating the failure of the Protoss, which were created with the Purity of Form, the Zerg, created by Purity of Essence, must have a unique awareness and willingness to guide and control them, so that was created the Overmind. Endowed with telepathic powers as the Protoss, the Overmind exercised direct control over all Zerg larvae on Zerus, controlling the evolutionary process of assimilation of the Zerus' endemic species, being the only type of Zerg with consciousness, personality and intelligence, driving the Zerg offspring to develop the expansion of hives to convert the Zerg in the dominant life form on the planet.

Rebellion and Expansion.
After assimilating all Zerus' dwelling species, the Zerg eradicated the entire biosphere of the planet. After replacing the parasitic assimilation by the mutation by metamorphosis to store within their hive mind of the genetic well information of races assimilated with utility for the swarm, the Overmind was prepared to continue its expansion beyond Zerus. Secretly, the renegade Xel'naga Amon corrupted programming to The Overmind, aggravating the voracity of the Swarm. After assimilating a nomadic alien species with the ability to survive in the vacuum of space, which temporarily settled on Zerus, the Overmind executed a mass exodus of the Swarm into space, where it became aware of the existence of its creators Xel 'naga, which until then studied the behavior of Zerg at a distance. Zerg devastated and destroyed the Xel'naga scientific fleets, leading them to near extinction.

To consume and assimilate Xel'naga's intelligence, the Overmind took over much of their knowledge of both itself and the existence and nature of the Protoss. Instigated by the machinations of Amon, the Overmind was driven by an urgent need to assimilate the Protoss, hoping that the enormous power of the species evolved Zerg to the level of perfection, which fulfill the doctrine for which it was created. After being free of the Xel'naga, the Overmind's Swarm began an endless process of expansion and colonization of new planetary territories, consuming and assimilating species were discovered on invading planets, using dimensional portals created for its psychic powers to teleport its forces to distant star systems from each other.

When the Swarm's broods became too numerous to be directly controlled by the Overmind, it created a new type of Zerg unit with intelligence and conscience, The Cerebrates, intelligent agents directly linked to its conscience and totally devoted to its will, which through the intermediation with the Overlords for kept under obedience  the broods of the Swarm.

By the time when the Zerg reached the Koprulu sector they had consumed countless species in the universe, and their forces numbered an army of apocalyptic proportions.

Invasion of Terran Sector.
After the endless process of expansion of the Swarm, the Overmind was able to discover the first race with intelligence with the potential to develop psionic powers, which were to the Overmind essential to confront and destroy the Protoss. The Overmind studied the Terran, human space colonists descendants of exiles from Earth, almost 60 years before they were aware of the existence of the Zerg. Planetary systems dominated by Terran were in the Koprulu sector, without themselves knowing it was originally dominated by the Protoss, which imitating their creators Xel'naga studying human without intervening in their civilization. When the Terran made their first contacts with the Zerg, Terran sector was ruled by a brutal military dictatorship, the Terran Confederation, and were on the verge of a civil war.

While the Confederates studying Zerg, believing them only non-thinking creatures, and keeping their existence secret from the public, the Overmind began the process of conquest of the bordering planets of the Terran sector to doing experiments for assimilate Terran with the Zerg  physiology. But not all Terran possessed psychic powers, and none of them had a genetic idiosyncrasies consistent with the Zerg, so it could only create explorers mentally possessed by Zerg parasitic forms attached to their bodies.

Ignoring the existence of the Overmind and the magnitude of the Swarm, the Confederation created issuers of telepathic signals irresistibly attracted invasion Zerg to the planets suspects of plotting rebellion against his government, which began the Zerg invasion to Sara system. Recognizing the threat of the Zerg, Protoss Empire's Governing Board, the Conclave, ordered the Executor (High Commander of the Protoss Army) Tassadar start massive atomic attacks on planets infested by Zerg, destroying all life forms within those planets, no matter that in the process the Terran inhabitants of those planets were eradicated because they were considered unnecessary and disposable.

Tassadar fulfilled his orders reluctantly, then went against the doctrine of protecting the species studied, and sterilized several of the Terran planets invaded by the Swarm, before starting to question its genocidal implications. However, without the Protoss knew, The Overmind deliberately allowed the destruction of it's broods in the Protoss bombardment to study the nature and power of its enemies, preparing to eventually destroy them. In contemplating the power of the Protoss, the Overmind launched an invasion in total mass of the Koprulu sector.

During the civil war against the Confederacy, the insurgent leader Arcturus Menksg discovered psi issuers created by the Confederates and its tactical power to use the Zerg against Confederate forces. Attesting to the gravity of the Zerg invasion, the Confederates created a Psionic Disrruptor able to block telepathic communications Zerg as a defense mechanism against the Swarm, but failed to complete on time the experiments with the mechanism, and never even used.

Before it was possible, Menksg implemented a massive amount of Psi Emitters on the Confederate capital, the planet Tarsonis, causing a massive invasion on the planet. Without humans knowing it at that time, the call was so strong that the entire large Swarm moved to Tarsonis, including the Overmind itself and most of its main Cerebrates, ready to turn Tarsonis in its new primary colony. Disobeying the orders of the Conclave, Tassadar led his fleet to militarily confront the Zerg and in the process save the Terran of Tarsonis, though by then the Tassadar attacks had made that theTerran seen to Protoss  as enemies. But as the Menksg's plan was to sacrifice all inhabitants of the planet, including innocent civilians to destroy the Confederation, he sent his second in command Lieutenant Sarah Kerrigan confronted alone for the Protoss to defend the Zerg hives.

After forcing Tassadar to withdraw from Tarsonis, Kerrigan asked to be evacuated from the planet before the wave of Zerg who approached her, but Menksg (from the beginning planned to get rid of Kerrigan) abandoned her hoping that the zerg devoured her. The collapse of the Confederation allowed Menksg replace it by the Terran Dominion, crowning himself as emperor. But opposite of what he expected, the Overmind recognized the enormous potential of Kerrigan's psychic powers and her compatibility with the Zerg genome, being the first Terran that could be turned into a human-Zerg hybrid.

Establishment on Char.
Hoping to use Kerrigan as its master weapon to assimilate the Protoss, the Overmind began the process of transforming her into an Agent of the Swarm metamorphosing her within a cocoon of transmutation. Then Supermind used a teleportation portal to move the most of swarm to the hostile volcanic planet Char, making the new Zerg primary hive. So far the reason for the translation is unknown, but it seems that it hoped to keep safe the cocoon of Kerrigan. Meanwhile, the subconscious Kerrigan's mind sent telepathic distress signals to Menksg and her former lover Jim Raynor, who was now the leader of the resistance against the Dominion, so the two Terran factions began to invade Char, attacking the hive of the cocoon without knowing its true purpose. However, after completing her metamorphosis, Kerrigan recognized the Overmind as his father and master, and led the counterattack against the Terran invaders, forcing Dominion forces to escape and leaving Raynor and his raiders get caught on the planet.

Because Kerrigan was seen by The Overmind as its master creation her mind was linked to its like a Cerebrate, leading Kerrigan several times to rebel against them. However the mental powers of Kerrigan attracted new enemies to Char, specifically the Executor Tassadar's fleet and an explorer group of Dark Templar, exiled Protoss considered "heretics" by the conclave, led by the Prelate Zeratul. Although they were considered old enemies, Tassadar and Zeratul recognized the common threat of the Zerg and accepted fight together to destroy the Overmind and Cerebrates. As part of their strategy, Tassadar provoked to Kerrigan instigate her to go into a duel against him to distract her, while Zeratul through his stealth skills secretly took the opportunity to kill the cerebrate Zazs. At death the Cerebrates are reincarnated by the Overmind, but as the psychic powers of the Zerg are very similar to the power of vacuum of the Dark Templar, the powers of the latter destroys the conscience of Cerebrates, killing them permanently and causing his broods uncontrollably act of attacking each other. However, by killing Zazs Zeratul's mind was temporarily connected with the Overmind's mind, so he could discover the history of the origin of the Zerg while the Overmind seized the knowledge of the coordinates of the planet Aiur. Even after switching the Overmind was a brief lethargic, after recovering it proclaimed that Zerg will invade Auir.

As a first pre-invasion guideline, the Overmind ordered the annihilation of the Dark Templar staying on Char so they could not threaten it again. Using Kerrigan as vanguard the Zerg used their psychic powers to attract and detect Dark Templar to ambush and destroy them. Kerrigan's advance forced Tassadar and Zeratul to flee and hide within Char, caught in the Zerg siege. Amid the withdrawal of Protoss they mett the Raynor's Raiders, also pursued by the Zerg broods, and once again the old enemies were forced by circumstances to fight together to survive.

Conquest of Aiur.
Leaving Kerrigan on Char to complete the hunt for the Dark Templar, The Overmind opened a wormhole to guide the bulk of its forces to besiege Aiur. Determined to personally command the invasion, the Overmind ordered its Cerebrates steal the Protoss's Khaydarin crystals (mineral used by them to channel their psionic powers) and place them in the location of a Protoss sacred temple, disposed on the landing site of the Xel'naga on Aiur, the Zerg destroyed it before implementing the stolen crystals. With its installation site ready, The Overmind down like a meteor on the planet and implanted on its surface, considering its direct presence in Aiur as a guarantee of victory.

With the Zerg advanced on the planet, the Conclave appointed Juricador Aldaris, Executor Artanis and Praetor Fenix to defend Aiur. Since Artanis and Fenix had a series of fast victories over the Zerg hives in some Protoss outlying provinces, the Conclave mistakenly believe that the war was already in a position favorable enough to dispense with a small force led by Artanis and Aldaris, they sent them to arrest Tassadar in Char, punishment him for siding with the Dark Templar, sworn enemies of the Conclave. Artanis mobilization allowed the Zerg to reconquer the provinces that he had just liberated. On Char, Tassadar convinced Artanis that Dark Templar were the key to defeating the Zerg, so Artanis forces escorted Tassadar, Zeratul and Raynor back to Aiur, where Fenix received them as an ally. Disobedience of Artanis and the entrance to the Dark Templar and Terran soldiers to Aiur unleashed a civil war between the forces of Tassadar and the Conclave, during which the Protoss rebels stormed the  Conclave central palace, reducing their number and power. The Civil War Protoss weakened so much the strength of the Protoss empire that Zerg could easily destroy the Great Fleet of Aiur, and bring the infestation of the planet to the point that eventually prove to be irreversible.

After appease the Conclave's forces, Tassadar forces turned their strategy to destroy the Overmind, so sending a distraction force against the outer ring of the central Zerg hive used the power of the Dark Templar to destroy Cerebrates whose broods was protecting the premises of the Overmind. The success of their strategy allowed Tassadar, Zeratul and Raynor attack the central hive The Overmind, protected by its fiercest broods. After a bloody battle in which Protoss and Terran lost much of their fighters, allies' weapons combined succeeded in destroying the protective shell of the Overmind, and seeing itself threatened of death, The Overmind opened a portal to escape from Aiur. Fearing the failure of his mission, Tassadar led his flagship the Gantrithor on collision course with the Overmind, charging into the bow of the ship the maximum amount of combined energy of High Templar and Dark Templar, knowing that he would die in the process, the Excutor achieved his goal of destroying the Overmind before it could escape.

Trivia

 * Alongside the infested Sarah Kerrigan, the Overmind was voted by PC World as #8 of the top 47 "most diabolical videogame villains of all time."
 * The Overmind is very similar to Insect with Brain, starship troopers.
 * It seems very likely that Omega, leader of the mimics in Edge of Tomorrow, is inspired by the Overmind.