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...and several tie-in novels and books. There's also a board game, which was released October 2007.
 
Set in the "[[wikipedia:Koprulu Sector|Koprulu]] Sector" of space, tens of thousands of light years distant from Earth, the story unfolds between three playable races. The Terrans, human beings descended from outcasts, criminals and [[wikipedia:Confederate States of America|political dissidents]] who were exiled from the Sol system centuries earlier, boast a [[Used Future]] society with a military based around cybernetics, heavy artillery, and "Ghosts" - covert operatives with latent [[Psychic Powers|psychic abilities]]. Their principal adversaries are the zergZerg, an [[Big Creepy-Crawlies|insectoid race]] with the ability to "[[The Virus|infest]]" creatures of other species and assimilate their genetic properties for their own benefit. The majority of the zergZerg are drones lacking free will, controlled by [[Hive Mind|Hive Minds]] called Cerebrates which [[The Man Behind the Man|in turn]] are controlled by an entity called [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|the Overmind]], which sees its sole ''raison d'etre'' as [[You Will Be Assimilated|the assumption of all life]] into the [[Horde of Alien Locusts|zergZerg swarm]]. In between the two are the protossProtoss, a race of [[Warrior Poet|warrior philosophers]] whose advanced [[Psychic Powers|psionic capabilities]] are as important on the battlefield as their advanced weaponry or [[Mecha-Mooks|robots]].
 
''StarCraft'' was one of the first games to become popularly used in professional gaming competitions, [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff|particularly in South Korea]], where ''StarCraft'' matches are played out ''in sports arenas (occasionally jumbo jet hangers), with [[Serious Business|giant televisions displaying the action and simulcast on nationwide networks!]]''
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{{tropelist|page=the Starcraft series}}
* [[Aliens Speaking English]]:
** The protossProtoss are telepaths, presumably the listener hears in whatever language they know.
*** Note, however, that they ''do'' have a language of sorts, that can be both written and vocalized. The latter is puzzling, since Protoss have no vocal cords.
** The zergZerg, being a hive-mind, has no need for language.
*** Only the rare sentient Infested Terrans have been known to occasionally communicate with other species.
* [[American Accents]]
* [[Anyone Can Die]]: Several major characters bite the dust over the series.
* [[Apocalypse How]]:
** Protoss do Class 6 type to get rid of the zergZerg. The planet is covered with plasma and magma when they're done. Nothing gonna be living in that mess.
** Terrans also demonstrated a capacity to do this, by launching numerous nukes from orbit and reducing the surface of the planet to a black glassy substance. This led to the outlawing the manufacturing of full-size nukes to prevent such an event occurring again, leading to the multiplayermulti-player usage of "mini-nukes" that inflict underwhelming damage at relatively cheap cost.
* [[Ascended to A Higher Plane of Existence]]: The Protoss often believe that they ascend into the Khala when they die.
** {{spoiler|Executor Tassadar may have actually done this after destroying the zergZerg overmind in a void-channeled/infused kamikaze attack, quoted stating that "I have not tasted death, nor shall I"}}.
* [[The Bad Guy Wins]]: It happens quite often in the Starcraft universe, mainly because [[Crapsack World|they represent the vast majority of characters]] and because "the bad guy" is usually ''playable'' in that race's campaign, so the bad guy wins [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|because the player wins]].
* [[Base on Wheels]]: One of the major Terran advantages. Their command base and primary production facilities are all capable of being lifted up off the ground and moved to other locations, either if there's an imminent enemy attack or if they just need to move to an area with better resources. Technically they don't roll on the ground as per standard for this trope, but they're not able to be used as bases until they touch down, and their movement speed is pretty slow.
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* [[Cutscene]]: of the Blizzard cinematic variety. They've only gotten [[Visual Effects of Awesome|better and better]] over the years.
** ''Starcraft II'' also uses the game engine for some pretty high-end cutscenes, that are only inches below the actual cinematics.
* [[Damage Is Fire]]: Terran and Protoss buildings burn. Zerg buildings bleed. Terran buildings on fire take further damage from it until it's destroyed or sufficentlysufficiently repaired. The heaviest the damage, the more widespread the fire/blood.
* [[Data Crystal]]: The Protoss use these.
* [[Deflector Shields]]: Personal type. Every protossProtoss unit has them. In some of the games, some Terran units can create a Defensive Matrix for friendly units or create their own.
* [[Doomed by Canon]]: One of the [[Expanded Universe|novels]] "I, Mengsk," goes into the details of Arcturus Mengsk's past, including his homeworld of Korhal and his family. People who are familarfamiliar with the story of the games know what happens to Korhal and the Mengsk clan.
* [[During the War]]
* [[Earthshattering Kaboom]]: The Protoss doctrine for dealing with a Zerg-infested world goes something like "[[Kill It with Fire|burn it from orbit until everything on the surface is dead]]." This is how the Terrans first found out that aliens existed: a Protoss fleet appeared near the planet Chau Sara and blasted it without warning or explanation.
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** Also, Ulrezaj in his archon form and their [[Big Bad|boss]], {{spoiler|The Dark Voice}}.
* [[Energy Ball]]: Numerous units can fire these out.
* [[Evil Counterpart]]: The Zerg were deliberately engineered by the Xel'Naga to be an opposite of the Protoss as part of their experiments. The Protoss have "purity of form" while the Zerg have "purity of essence." The Protoss use a telepathic link that connects all of them, the Zerg are a [[Hive Mind]]. The Protoss are graceful and intelligent, the Zerg are bestial and driven by instinct. Even in battle they use opposite techniques, the Protoss army consisting of [[One-Man Army|singular elite soldiers]] who have spent years [[Training From Hell|training for]] [[The Spartan Way|war]], against the Zerg army consisting of [[Zerg Rush|lots and lots of expendibleexpendable units]] evolved to be killing machines.<br /><br />Of course, this is only a superficial interpretation. The ''Dark Templar'' novels reveal that {{spoiler|the "[[Turned Against Their Masters]]" gig is a Protoss fabrication. The Zerg and Protoss were created in order to unite with each other and create a new iteration of the Xel'Naga ([[Blue and Orange Morality|it's just how those guys worked]]) as part of their life-cycle. The Zerg got corrupted by an [[Eldritch Abomination]] before that could happen, however, and were made to attack their makers and the Protoss}}.
* [[Evil Is Visceral]]: Aspects of the Zerg that do not fit neatly into other tropes: the way that buildings pulsate when they are being constructed, their sound effects (especially if liquids are involved), the Overmind's influence is represented by a big eye. Then there's the growing tissue sample in ''[[Starcraft II]]''...
* [[Expanded Universe]]: In the form of paperback novels and graphic novels.
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** The Protoss and Terrans have FTL Warp drives, while the Zerg Overmind can use its ''massive'' [[Psychic Powers]] to tear [[Our Wormholes Are Different|warp rifts]] in spacetime.
** Protoss have near-instantaneous precision warps, to the point that their buildings, infantry and ships are not "built" but are warped in from their homeworld or automated factories. Protoss soldiers even have armor that teleports them out when they are gravely wounded in battle.
** The arrival of the Terrans in Koprulu was actually a navigational accident. The flight computers on their sleeper FTL ships malfunctioned, and overshot their destination, travellingtraveling at FTL speeds for about 30 years (adding up to some 60,000 light-years from Earth)
*** Over time, the Earth Directorate has managed to advance [[FTL]] technology to allow them to get to the Koprulu Sector from Earth in a matter of months.
* [[Fog of War]]
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* [[Gunship Rescue]]: Subverted in the opening cinematic to ''Brood War'', wherein the UED flagship is seen hovering overhead... and then leaves without firing a shot, [[Kick the Dog|abandoning the marines below to the fury of the Zerg Swarm.]]
* [[Hammerspace]]: Terrans have building components appear and snap themselves together out of thin air.
* [[Hive Mind]]: The zergZerg Swarm, obviously. The Khala of the protossProtoss is also somewhat like this, only the protossProtoss in the Khala retain their individuality and free will, and can choose not to share all of their thoughts and feelings with others.
* [[Hollywood Acid]]: Often used as a weapon by the Zerg.
* [[Homing Boulders]]
* [[Horde of Alien Locusts]]: Zerg
* [[Humans Are Special]]: Deconstructed. The Terrans of the Koprulu Sector are only a few generations away from becoming a psionic species. Instead of indicating that humanity is on the verge of becoming something greater, this just means they drew the attention of the [[You Will Be Assimilated|Zerg]], who view their psionic potential as the key to fighting their ''real'' target, the Protoss, on equal grounds.
* [[Humans by Any Other Name]]: For all intents and purposes the term "Terran" is used as a substitute, both by humans and by non-humans, for the word human. This is particularly odd since Earth (except for in the expansion) is practically a non-factor and the word Protoss has nothing at all to do with the name of the protossProtoss homeworld (Aiur). As for the Zerg, it's unclear if they're named after Zerus (given the unusual spelling) or whether Zerus is named after ''them''.
* [[Hufflepuff House]]: Both the Kel-Morian Combine and the Umojan Protectorate get no screentime in the original game, beyond a blurb in the manual. The Combine was later elaborated on in Brood War, but Umoja still has yet to make an appearance.
* [[Instant Win Condition]]: In the multiplayermulti-player; you win the game if you destroy every building the enemy player controls, even if your own base is in shambles and you're on your last unit. There is a reason for this: During the beta for the first game, a very common dirty trick was for a losing player to hide a very difficult to spot unit such as a burrowed zerglingZergling in an obscure part of the map in hopes that the opponent would give up and cede the game in frustration.
* [[Instrumentality]]: The Khala can be seen as a form of this.
* [[ISO Standard Human Spaceship]]: The whole Terran Navy.
* [[It Got Worse]]: Repeatedly in the original. It never gets better in ''Brood War.''
* [[Kill It with Fire]]: The protossProtoss burn zergZerg from orbit.
* [[Lego Genetics]]: The [[Hand Wave]] for how the Zerg can have unit upgrades.
* [[Magitek]]: Protoss vehicles and structures, as well as Ghost cloaking devices, are powered by psychic energy.
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{{quote|''"Answer that and stay fashionable!"''}}
* [[Planet Terra]]: Humans are called Terrans, but strangely, the planet is still called Earth every single time it's mentioned.
* [[Power Echoes]]: The protossProtoss units have this in varying degrees.
* [[Power Glows]]: Anything, unit or building, built by the protossProtoss.
* [[Precursor Killers]]: The Zerg
* [[Precursors]]: The Xel'naga.
* [[Psychic Powers]]: The protossProtoss have them, and the potential for them is why the Zerg are interested in humanity.
* [[Puppeteer Parasite]]: The Zerg.
* [[Putting on the Reich]]:
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* [[Stay Frosty]]
* [[Stop Poking Me]]
* [[Stuff Blowing Up]]: Everything explodes. This is most obvious with the zergZerg, in that killing their living buildings results in the building splattering spectactularlyspectacularly in a shower of blood.
* [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]]: The Xel'Naga in the [[Backstory]]. Also, the Protoss ''appear'' to be this at first.
* [[Surprisingly-Sudden Death]]: The zergZerg. 5 out of 13 unit types can invoke this at will.
* [[Suspiciously Small Army]]: Rampant, in quite a few missions your enemies have very small armies, or at least small armies that you see. The later missions have larger bases with more troops, but you're still not going to be seeing enemy forces number in the thousands like you would expect from an actual army.
* [[Sweet Home Alabama]]: The Terrans. To the point where a cover of said song appears in ''[[Starcraft II]]''.
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* [[Themed Cursor]]: A sonar-like thing whose color changes depending on the alignment of whatever you're hovering it over. Green, yellow and red are friendly, neutral and enemies.
* [[They Look Like Us Now]]
* [[Touched by Vorlons|Touched By Xel'naga]]: The protossProtoss and zergZerg have been this.
* [[Turned Against Their Masters]]: Both the protossProtoss and the zergZerg, against the Xel'Naga; the protossProtoss merely shooed them away from their world, while the zergZerg killed most of them. The Protoss rebellion was just as violent as the Zerg's was. The only difference is the Zerg were all working towards assimilation of the Xel'Naga, and the Protoss were just killing anything that moved, including themselves. A good number of Xel'Naga were killed during the Protoss uprising.
* [[Unobtainium]]: Neosteel, Khaydarin crystals and both Vespene Gas and "minerals".
* [[Used Future]]
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