Edmund Duke

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StarCraft character
General Edmund Duke
Species Terran
Affiliation(s) Terran Dominion's Alpha Squadron
Position(s) General

General Edmund Duke was the Terran Confederate officer in charge of Alpha Squadron, a military force in the fictional StarCraft universe. A 53-year-old man in 2499, Duke claimed to have been a Terran Confederate general for fifteen years. According to StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade, he was a member of the Confederate "Old Families".

Contents

[edit] Personal History

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Early history

A loyal citizen of the Terran Confederacy, Duke personally joined in the fighting at Chau Sara against the Zerg, but eventually left before the Zerg could conquer the entire planet.

General Duke oversaw Alpha Squadron's efforts to lock down the planet of Mar Sara in the wake of the Protoss attack on Chau Sara and the appearance of the Zerg on Mar Sara. He was criticized by Mar Sara's Colonial Magistrate for avoiding action with the Zerg, failing to rescue Confederate troops besieged by the aliens, and even arresting local militias. The leader of one of these groups was named Jim Raynor, who Duke accused of being a "fringe world yokel".

As the Zerg overran the planet, Alpha Squadron prepared to leave. Before they were able to do so, however, the rebel Sons of Korhal raided the Jacobs Installation, stealing forbidden Confederate technology in the form of a data disk. Soon after the Terran evacuation, the Protoss burned all life on the surface of Mar Sara.

Next, Duke joined the action over Antiga Prime, a Confederate colony. He was responsible for suppressing a rebellion of the colonists, which he did by surrounding the rebels with his troops and putting one of his officers in charge of the rebel Command Center. However, he was defeated by the Sons of Korhal, who were assisted by the rebels.

The planet of Antiga Prime was then besieged by the Zerg. During a battle in low orbit, Duke’s battlecruiser, the Norad II, was crippled by the Zerg and crashed onto the planet. After the crash Duke’s forces on the planet tried to rescue him, but the Zerg made this very difficult. They were forced to turn to the Sons of Korhal for help. Arcturus Mengsk took the opportunity to rescue Duke and get him to join his rebel movement. Duke’s defection signaled a huge victory for the Sons of Korhal in their war against the Confederates.

Shortly afterwards, Arcturus Mengsk was able to decrypt the data disks stolen from the Jacobs Installation. They contained plans for a powerful weapon, the psi-emitter.

[edit] Transfer of Loyalties

Duke assisted Mengsk in conquering Tarsonis, the capital world of the Terran Confederacy (a planet he in the past helped defend in over thirty major battles). He personally planned out and led an attack against a space platform defended by the Confederate Delta and Omega squadrons in order to cause enough of a "ruckus" (in Duke's own words) to divert the Confederates' attention and enable a small force to descend to the planet itself. The status of this force is in doubt. This sudden display of bravery and competence on the part of the general impressed Jim Raynor, a man who defected to the Sons of Korhal due to Duke's own actions (and had shown open animosity towards the general prior to this event). However, the two men would soon find themselves once again on different sides.

A number of psi-emitters were installed on Tarsonis and activated to attract Zerg to the planet. As a result, a huge Zerg force attacked Tarsonis, destroying most of the Confederate infrastructure and people on the planet, effectively ending the Terran Confederacy.

A short time after, General Duke also participated in the battle against Jim Raynor, who had abandoned the Sons of Korhal in disgust of their actions. In order to prevent Raynor from fleeing from Tarsonis, Duke reactivated the Ion Cannon, further confirming his detailed knowledge of the inner workings of the former Confederate military. Raynor was forced to destroy the cannon in order to escape.

[edit] The New Dominion

General Duke became Mengsk's right-hand man, and in the opinion of Infested Kerrigan, was the real tactician in the new Terran Dominion established on Korhal. Duke became the successor to the Sons of Korhal, despite Mengsk's impressive military resume.

When Kerrigan was infested, she called to Mengsk from the planet Char. Duke was sent to retrieve her, but failed and was nearly killed by the Zerg. Duke was ordered by Mengsk to remain near, as Mengsk and use it as a colony. Duke then entered into a battle with the Protoss Executor Tassadar, and was defeated.

[edit] The Iron Fist

Eventually the Terran Dominion gave up on Char and Duke left to pursue other duties, such as building up a powerful defense network over Korhal IV, Arcturus Mengsk's throne world. The defenses included a large number of battlecruisers in orbit and large numbers of nuclear missile silos. However, the United Earth Directorate sent an expeditionary force to the Koprulu Sector, intent on defeating the Zerg, Protoss, and Terran Dominion. Duke and Mengsk were forced to flee when the UED crushed the defenses of Korhal IV. Mengsk struck an alliance with his rescuers, Jim Raynor and Infested Kerrigan, in order to build up a force strong enough to take back Korhal.

General Duke took part in the battle to retake Korhal from the United Earth Directorate, which was won. After the battle, Infested Kerrigan suddenly betrayed her allies, and while Duke's forces were resting and recuperating, She attacked them in full force. This proved to be too much for Duke, and he was murdered along with everyone under his command.

[edit] Game Unit

General Duke appears in the game piloting the Norad II, a battlecruiser with advanced weapons. The Norad II also appeared as a crashed battlecruiser (in the form of a building). He also appears in the StarCraft Prequel and other missions operating a Siege Tank. In StarCraft: Brood War, Duke's new Battlecruiser, the Norad III, is commanded by Mengsk, and is seemingly similar to the Norad II, although this is most likely due to the fact that Blizzard Entertainment did not want to go through the trouble of programming a new unit just for a few missions. In his final moments, Duke pilots a massively powerful Norad III, with 1500 HP, an armor rating of 5, and laser batteries that inflict 50 damage per shot.

In the Starcraft demo, Duke is a playable unit in the fourth mission. He is a high-statistic siege tank.

[edit] Quotes

"Been a general for fifteen years, now I'm taking orders from a pup!"

"This Korhal outfit's a mess"

"Ya'll need some good old-fashioned discipline"

"Should work."

[edit] Trivia

  • General Duke's character seems to be paralleled with real life western and war movie star John Wayne, who was also nicknamed "the Duke". Both have similar mannerisms, speech and hard-boiled personalities, which Wayne tended to display in most of his movies. As well, Edmund's character design bears some resemblance to John Wayne.
  • Duke could also have been based off of American General George S. Patton. Both men were known for their professionalism and tough-as-nails approach to running their commands (Patton's 3rd Army and Duke's Alpha Squadron). As well, Patton was also known to be bigotted, racist and possessed no sense-of-humor, traits that Duke also possesses.

[edit] References

StarCraft by Blizzard Entertainment
StarCraft Universe Gameplay of StarCraft • StarCraft storyline • Psionic technology
Factions and Organizations Judicator Caste • Kel-Morian Combine • Khalai Caste • Protoss • Protoss Conclave • Pirate Militias • Raynor's Raiders • Sons of Korhal • Templar Caste • Terran • Terran Confederacy • Umojan Protectorate • United Earth Directorate • Xel'Naga • Zerg • Zerg Brood
Locations Aiur • Antiga Prime • Braxis • Char • Chau Sara • Korhal • Mar Sara • Moria • Shakuras • Talematros • Tarsonis • Umoja • Zerus
Characters Aldaris • Artanis • Gerard DuGalle • Edmund Duke • Samir Duran • Fenix • Sarah Kerrigan • Arcturus Mengsk • Nova • Raszagal • Jim Raynor • Alexei Stukov • Tassadar • Zeratul • Zerg Overmind • Minor Characters
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