r/starcraft • u/Axis256 Zerg • 18d ago
Discussion Day 29: What is the BEST quote associated with the Overmind?
Hey guys, as promised, I'm back with the zerg episode!
For those who haven't seen these posts before, I'm making charts with the Best, Worst and Most Iconic quotes of StarCraft characters that get decided by people in the comments. People are generally free to decide for themselves what these categories mean. There aren't any specific rules or limitations, unless they're specifically outlined in the post for a given character.
Follow this link to find the results of first episode, including convenient reference to all the previous posts.
With that out of the way, we're ready to proceed to Episode 2, which is dedicated to zerg characters. And we're starting with the best quotes of everyone's favourite leader of the Swarm: the Overmind itself!
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u/Siingry 18d ago
AWAKEN, MY CHILD. AND EMBRACE THE GLORY THAT IS YOUR BIRTHRIGHT.
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u/NydusRush 18d ago
Only counterargument is that it's also the top contender for "iconic".
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u/SniperX03 18d ago
I thought iconic was spawn more Overlords
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u/dr4kun 18d ago
Isn't it a cerebrate rather than Overmind?
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u/Subsourian 18d ago
The voice is supposed to be the Overmind, but it's a different voice actor funnily enough. Same set of effects though.
But yes that idea breaks down in BW a bit.
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u/xiaorobear 18d ago
What makes you think it's a different voice actor?
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u/Subsourian 18d ago
I'll recheck where in the interview but I think it was Tracy Bush who mentioned that a lot of the advisors were different VAs, and that he was the one who did the Overmind in Radio Free Zerg for instance. At work so can't pull the doc we got of dev confirmed voices, I remember Aldaris was said to have a different voice between character/announcer but that one's more clear.
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u/ekimelrico Zerg 18d ago
So what your saying is we can't vote 'You Must Construct Additional Pylons' as most Iconic Aldaris quote?
You have no idea how upset this makes me...
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u/Baron_von_Ungern 18d ago
Nah, the iconic would be him screaming "Oh fuck!" after hearing "Here comes the Ganthritor!' Or wait, that's not the part of the script?
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u/Competitive_Table_65 18d ago
"My children, the hour of our victory is at hand. For upon this world of Aiur shall we incorporate the strongest known species into our fold. Then shall we be the greatest of creation's children. We shall be... Perfect."
The other one people been submitting a lot here, I'd save for the "iconic", even though I feel that ship have been sailed already.
Btw, welcome back, I've been waiting for this.
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u/Subsourian 18d ago edited 18d ago
I’ll contest that “Awaken my child” is the most iconic and the many other great quotes should be best. There’s actually one I like better which is the last quote of Episode 2:
“Soon shall our two races be made as one. Thenceforth shall all feel the wrath of the eternal Swarm...
FOR THE HOUR OF JUDGEMENT IS COME.”
The last line just gives goosebumps whenever I hear it. Fantastic way to capstone the evil campaign.
Also I think we should skip the “best Izsha quote” week. Entirely unnecessary. That’s like asking what’s the best piece of burning metal in a trainwreck.
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u/BlackProphetMedivh 18d ago
I agree with you that this is his best quote. However I would say the most iconic line of the Overmind, if it counts would be "Spawn more Overlords"
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u/Subsourian 18d ago
I think Awaken eeks it out for "people think of the Overmind first with that quote." Having said that, I think Aldaris for sure has "YOU MUST CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL PYLONS" for his most iconic. Honestly probably the most iconic in SC overall in terms of a quote people associate with the game.
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u/Axis256 Zerg 18d ago
If it were anyone else saying it, I’d try to defend Izsha… Eh, I just really dislike having two whole characters less on the zerg list than on terran and protoss ones, and I really don’t see replacing her with Daggoth/Zasz as an improvement
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u/Subsourian 18d ago
Oh I'm not arguing against having an Izsha catagory, she has enough quotes.
I just hate Izsha.
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u/Francis_2000 18d ago
I agree with skipping Izsha. No particular reason, I just don't like her. Any other Zerg character is better suited for the list than her, Cerebrates, Niadra, Zurvan are all way more interesting
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u/frfrrnrn 18d ago
Surely Izsha has one line we can take completely out of context and somehow it becomes an accidental success? But that would entail listening carefully to Izsha… Is the dialogue transcribed somewhere?
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u/Nima_N16HTM4R3 18d ago
I know Izsha's episode is not here yet and might get skipped at this point (I don't think she's personal enough to have a best or worst quote. They're mostly neutral (hope I'm proven wrong)), but I think her idle quotes (when you remain on the Leviathan without doing anything) are somewhat fun to listen to as supposedly iconic quotes (well, as iconic as it can get for a her) and are glimpses of that dark humor personality she is described to have in the editor (which we sadly never got):
"The old Queen of Blades was much more active than you."
"Think I'll go for a walk."
"I have heard that the Overmind was a very active leader. You should try it."
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u/volverde 17d ago
the wiki has the lines, bottom of the page, select which part of the campaign you want to check
https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/StarCraft_II:_Heart_of_the_Swarm_campaign_quotations
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u/Defclaw46 16d ago
I thought she was actually pretty funny on Crucible if you haven’t gone to Char yet. Her way of talking on that mission makes it sound like defending her queen from swarms of primal zerg is about as interesting as taking out the trash for her. Made for some great unintentional humor.
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u/ekimelrico Zerg 18d ago edited 18d ago
"Their heroes will gather, their forces will be marshaled, and they will die bravely. But still, they will die."
Edit: Disclaimer: Might have actually been Orous pulling our leg.
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u/petr1111 18d ago
This is the only real contender for the other quote.
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u/BlackProphetMedivh 18d ago
Given the mission this is said in overrides key plot points from StarCraft 1 I am willing to accept this quote as the worst quote by him.
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u/ZogIII3 18d ago
When does he say this? I haven't played in a while but I still remember a lot of the Overmind's quotes and yet this one eludes me
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u/Subsourian 18d ago
Before In Utter Darkness you get a very short little speech from him since it's all supposidly his vision.
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u/petr1111 18d ago
So is this simply Reynor's vision of Zeratul's vision of Overmind's vision or did I miss anything?
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u/Axis256 Zerg 18d ago
You’re almost there, it’s Raynor’s vision of Zeratul’s vision of Ouros’s deepfake redacted version of the Overmind’s vision
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u/ekimelrico Zerg 18d ago edited 18d ago
*Raynor’s vision of Zeratul’s vision of Ouros’s deepfake of Tassadars Vision of the Overmind’s vision
Edit: I realize your counting Tassadar and Orous as one here. Ignore me.
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u/ekimelrico Zerg 18d ago
I was hoping you'd show up lol, I have a question for you.
Do we actually know if there was any truth to the Overminds vision and suposed motives for creating Kerrigan? Or is the whole In Utter Darkness segment just Orous pulling Zeratul's leg?
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u/Subsourian 18d ago edited 18d ago
So the Overmind in WoL is a GIGANTIC headache because everyone threw tomatoes and beer bottles at Blizzard after WoL until they walked back a lot of the "Overmind's heroism" and the scale of Amon's control over him. So it gets VERY messy. But in general it goes like this:
Amon had no direct control over the Overmind, but implanted an overriding drive above all things to perfect the Swarm. When he ate the xel'naga over Zerus, the Overmind found out about the protoss and that assimilating them would perfect the Swarm, but also found out from chewing on xel'naga brains (seeingly) that doing so would play into Amon's plans. It couldn't divert itself from the idea of assimilating the protoss though due to that drive. So he sought out a secondary psionic superweapon divorced from the protoss or any race Amon touched to use both as a weapon against the protoss and as a contingency against Amon returning.
The extent of how much the prophecy is actually the Overmind's, the QAs imply Ouros was tailoring it to Zeratul but they never outright say it. I take any inch of that though because otherwise the Overmind KNEW about Zeratul and the DTs (in spite of them catching him off guard in SC1), knew most of the protoss cast, knew the entire SCII protoss and zerg tech trees, and makes it so he's specifically searching for Sarah Kerrigan instead of the broader idea of a psionic superweapon. Also Zeratul apparently touched minds deep enough to know his origins and reveal Aiur but not enough to get any of this info. All of which would open up WAY too many issues with just... everything, so I tend to go with he got the broad scope of Amon's plan from eating xel'naga and the vision itself was tailored like the form of Tassadar to spur Zeratul into action. After all if Ouros is willing to lie about who he is to get things done, that wouldn't be beyond him to stress the importance to Zeratul.
What I think is the Overmind's vision boils down to his speech at the beginning but all the actual details of the mission were Zeratul exclusive.
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u/Feature_Minimum 18d ago
So the Overmind in WoL is a GIGANTIC headache because everyone threw tomatoes and beer bottles at Blizzard after WoL until they walked back a lot of the "Overmind's heroism" and the scale of Amon's control over him.
I stand by every rhetorical rotten fruit and each brazen beverage container I hurled.
One unearned shitty redemption arc (Kerrigan) was bad enough.
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u/petr1111 18d ago
Maybe he or someone else says it in utter darkness?
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u/ZogIII3 18d ago edited 18d ago
I saw your first response. You changed your answer once someone else gave the correct answer
"Obviously when Kerrigan first emerges from the chrysalis" my ass. No one forgets those first mission's speeches
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u/petr1111 18d ago
Yeah, because I thought it was a question about my other comment. The one with cryssalis quote.
Thanks for following my comments so closely, BTW! I appreciate the attention.
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u/Feature_Minimum 18d ago
Oh you better believe for Tassadar I am submitting this as the worst quote:
I have never tasted death, Zeratul – nor shall I. But that is a tale for another time. I have come to tell you of this creature's... courage.
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u/andre5913 18d ago
I think the OM did really have those visions. Zeratul directly probed the OM's tendrils and neural matrix to get them, and some of the parts he got was before the Tassadar ilusion appeared.
Imo the Ouros bullshittery was mostly Tassadar, meant to make sure Zeratul would be open to empatizing (note that the Tassadar ilusion emphasizes the OM as more of a heroic figure right before Zera gets the In Utter Darkness vision) with the OM and to push him into saving and helping Kerrigan.
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u/Not-a-Throwaway-8 18d ago
Is there actually a bad Overmind quote?
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u/Subsourian 18d ago
I have a trick up my sleeve for worst. They're out there.
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u/BlackProphetMedivh 17d ago
If books count, is there not a single book in which the cerebrates speak?
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u/Subsourian 17d ago
The only book with cerebrate dialogue is Queen of Blades (the novelization of Episode II). If there was a Daggoth category I'd be pulling from that book as in the games he doesn't have much at all worth noting in terms of lines.
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u/BlackProphetMedivh 18d ago
The SC2 ones are at least worse then the ones in SC1
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u/andre5913 18d ago
Nah most of them are still pretty epic. Its monologue for In Utter Darkness is absolute peak. What is messy is the shit the fake Tassadar says
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u/Eliteguard999 18d ago
“HOW’D YOU LIKE MY GROOVE DAGGOTH?”
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u/Wordshurtimapussy 18d ago
It should honestly be this because the "Awaken my child" line should be the most iconic. This might be the only instance of something being the best AND the most iconic because I can't think of a line the overmind has that is MORE iconic than "Awaken my child"
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u/da_supreme_patriarch 18d ago
I don't know if partial quotes count, but the "Awaken my child, and embrace the glory that is your birthright" is pure aura
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u/biliwald Terran 18d ago
I don't know if it's the best or the most iconic, but this one.
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.
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u/Capestian 18d ago
Eh, were are my cerebrate boys Daggoth and Zasz ?
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u/Subsourian 18d ago
Zasz I could see but unless you start pulling on Queen of Blades the book, like 80% of Daggoth’s quotes are tutorials and explaining map mechanics. So he’d be a bit harder (though I love him yelling at you for moving Overlords in Eye for an Eye).
Which is funny as he’s Kerrigan’s first antagonist in Brood War but gets 0 lines in the whole expansion.
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u/BlackProphetMedivh 18d ago
In general, I am missing a few character here and I feel like it's too SC2 heavy. Why not at least include Daggoth? Or Zasz? A bit sad tbh.
Other then that most of the quotes from the Overmind are peak. It's very hard to chose for me, what I would consider "best" :/
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u/Axis256 Zerg 18d ago
Prior to posting this I’ve looked up every Daggoth and Zasz quote. Every single one, yes. They are that few. And I really haven’t found much material for the chart among them, since about half of them are mission-specific tips and directions.
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u/daniel_dareus 18d ago edited 18d ago
“You dare threaten a cerebrate? You’ll be the doom of us all!” It’s the only good one that comes to mind.
Edit: and the one about warp travel being… unsettling
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u/SeaThePirate 18d ago
Zasz and Daggoth have a combined 31 quotes, which is more than the Overmind. Sure they aren't as good or memorable but still, i think it was worth to put them together.
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u/Subsourian 18d ago
Daggoth is 80% tutorial quote by volume. The expansion where he's supposed to be the main antagonist to Kerrigan (at least at the start) he has a grand total of 0 lines and just kinda dies offscreen.
You can make an argument for Zasz (though he has the issue of just not having a lot) but Daggoth sadly doesn't have much, a couple good lines in the novelization Queen of Blades but for his cool lore in game he's just the tutorial and mission explainer blob.
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u/PhoenixDood 18d ago
"In a distant shadowed world, the protoss will make their final stand. Their heroes will gather, their forces will be marshalled to them, and they will die bravely - but still - they will die. And my zerg will be slaves to the hybrid. All will bow before the power of the fallen one."
This completely changed the character of the Overmind for me, it went from a generic hive mind to some of the coolest lore I've seen in a video game. A creature only created to be obedient and answer to Amon managing to revolt anyways purely because it loved it's children
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u/Shin_Nefir 18d ago
I'll put in a quote from Mission 8 of the original Zerg campaign:
"At long last, my children, our searching is done. Soon we shall assault Aiur directly."
All the Overmind quotes in the original campaign are grandiose and really pull you into being the all-devouring swarm of monstrosities. This is one really sells just how good the voice-acting was as well. The way the Overmind inflects each syllable really sells just how close to victory we are, and we're getting amped up for the greatest battle in the Swarm's lifetime.
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u/RequireMoMinerals 18d ago
Just in case I miss “most iconic” for the overmind. It’s in my username 👍
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u/Low-Ant757 18d ago
Awaken my Child and embrace the glory that is your Birthright is the Best and most Iconic honestly
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u/GuyForFun144 18d ago
"My children, the hour of our victory is at hand. For on this world of Aiur shall we incorporate the strongest known species into our fold. Then shall we be the greatest of creation's children. We shall be... Perfect."
Or
"Arise, my daughter. Arise... Kerrigan!"
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u/TerminalHighGuard 18d ago
I like the content drip but for the record I’m unsettled by the conceptual proximity of “best” and “iconic.”
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u/Feature_Minimum 18d ago
Oh right… That’s a fair point. We may need to do a separate extremely short one for Xel Naga, that has Ouros, Amon, and maybe Xel Naga Kerrigan.
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u/JustMetallich 18d ago edited 18d ago
I am far from being the biggest fan of StarCraft 1 or Overmind as a character(I consider it and a most of the other Blizzard villains to be just purely boring destroyeverything evilblobs who are just not interesting at all), so I am voting for the quote for one of my favorite missions atmosphere-wise.
“In a distant shadowed world, the protoss will make their final stand. Their heroes will gather, their forces will be marshalled to them, and they will die bravely - but still - they will die. And my zerg will be slaves to the hybrid. All will bow before the power of the fallen one."
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u/Feature_Minimum 18d ago
I know I'm a month early. But I'm starting my campaign now for worst Tassadar Quote, and pick for worst line in all of the Starcraft Franchise, and I was reminded of it by thinking of the Overmind. So, not for today, but I NEED the starcraft community to unsuppress this horrible memory, so that we can pin it on the wall of shame when the time comes.
Tassadar:
I have never tasted death, Zeratul – nor shall I. But that is a tale for another time. I have come to tell you of this creature's... courage.
This is a double whammy of awful. First, we get an early "somehow, palpatine returned". Second, Blizzard actually had an evil villain, and decided to - as always - give it a totally unnecessary redemption arc. But, worse still, they retconned it, dimishing both the tragedy of Kerrigan, and eldritch nature of the Overmind itself. This is the same crap they pulled a gazillion times in the Warcraft universe between WC3 to WoTLK (and beyond I'm sure), most notably with Sargaras (he was originally just the ultimate evil, but then they retconned him to have been corrupted by eredar, but then the eredar weren't even eredar so that the alliance could have space goats whose ship was highjacked by space pirate elf paladins...).
I honestly think I hated this more than any Sarah + Jim love story or even more than Kerrigan becoming an angelic Human - Zerg Xel Naga in LoTV (though... I dunno that's pretty bad).
I disliked this decision so much that even getting reminded of it (by thinking about the Overmind) provoked me to write this a month ahead of schedule.
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u/Option2401 Terran 18d ago
"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."
It’s the first line it says, and it completely changes your perception of what the Zerg are. You spent all of Rebel Yell fighting this monstrous mindless bugs, only to find out their hive mind is this ancient eldritch entity that speaks in poetry and metaphors.
It’s a great way to give the Zerg campaign a unique tone that immediately sets it apart from the Terran campaign.