Games - Protoss

	Games - Protoss

The Protoss are a race in Blizzard Entertainment's real-time strategy computer game, StarCraft. They are technologically advanced and rely on psionic abilities and cybernetics in battle. They are the primary opponents of the Zerg. The Protoss are highly religious and follow a strict code known as the Khala. The Protoss have mastered their psionic powers, and are currently engaged in a devastating war with the Zerg. They have also had to deal with a civil war within their ranks.

Protos in Greek means 'first'. This name is supposedly given because the Protoss were the first semi-successful Xel'Naga creation. They (the Protoss) were later deemed a failure by the greater species, leading to the engineering of the Zerg.

In StarCraft online culture, the Protoss are often referred to simply as Toss (or Pro by some Korean players or as "P'to" for written abbreviation); amongst experienced players, it's often abbreviated to simply P.

History

Aiur is one of many worlds engineered by the Xel'Naga, a race of extragalactic geneticists, obssessed with creating the perfect race, that would be marked by a distinct purity of form. The Xel'Naga, after innumerable failures to create such a race, turned towards Aiur.

They watched over a particular species of hunters and warriors and discerned that they indeed had a purity of form, as they were incredibly adaptable and had unmatched strength and speed. However, the most intriguing ability of the species is a psionic link that is shared by the entire race. This link was a form of instinctive telepathy, enabling them to communicate with one another, so that even large groups could work together efficiently.

The Xel'Naga altered them to some extent with their Khaydarin Crystals, but were content to remain unseen for many generations. The Xel'Naga felt they had achieved their goal, and gave the new race the name of Protoss, or 'the First Born'. Aiur was eventually covered by civilized Protoss, and so the Xel'Naga descended onto Aiur in order to more closely study the evolution of their charges. A Temple marks where they first set down upon Aiur.

The Xel'Naga were initially revered as gods, as the Protoss looked towards their creators with respect and a lust for knowledge. However, as the understanding and personal awareness of the young Protoss grew, they began to place greater pride in individual achievements rather than the benefit of the community. The various Tribes sought to distance themselves from one another, seeking their role not only within their immediate society, but the universe as a whole.

The tribes began to fear treachery from their masters, and in seeking to sever themselves from the rest of their race, attempted to lose the psychic link that they shared. This dissolved whatever remnants of brotherhood or unity that the Protoss had shared. Feeling that the greatest attribute of the Protoss was lost, the Xel'Naga began withdrawing from Aiur. However, the suspicious Protoss responded with an attack that destroyed a number of Xel'Naga Worldships. The Xel'Naga Worldships fended off the hasty attack and left the system. The Protoss Tribes then turned against each other, beginning the Aeon of Strife, the most devastating civil war in recorded galactic history.

The Aeon of Strife

During the Aeon of Strife, Protoss advancement slowed, and the tribes waged a massive war with each other, lasting hundreds of years. Little is known from this time, but it is known that the Protoss lost their psionic link with each other. The Aeon of Strife was the longest, most devastating civil war to ever strike any currently known species. The most famous Tribe from this time period is the Akilae Tribe, which are to this day renowned as the Protoss' finest psionic warriors.

During this time, the Protoss maintained colonies on other planets, but these too quickly became gripped with the Strife.

He Who Brings Order

The mystic Khas (a word meaning "He who brings order") eventually brought about the end of the Strife. He had studied the "forbidden" teachings of the Xel'Naga and unearthed the Khaydarin Crystals. With these crystals he was able to amplify the psionic link, which had submerged itself in Protoss egos, and recreate the link.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Protoss ]

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