Protoss

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Protoss (神族)
Alias(es)	“God race” 333
Species/Race	Ancient psionic alien race created by the Xel'Naga; described as beings of pure spirit and energy 325
Affiliation	Protoss civilization; the sacred Khala; Protoss military
Occupation/Role	One of the three dominant powers of the Koprulu Sector; interstellar military civilization 325
Status	Defeated; the Earth Expeditionary Force's pursuit is stated to result in their extinction, though a later account includes a high-ranking Protoss captive taken from defeated Void troops 368 370
First Appearance	Chapter 325

Background / History

The Protoss share the Xel'Naga as their creator with the Zerg. Their original homeworld is Aiur, although it was devastated by wars and Zerg occupation; after returning from the Void Realm, the Protoss began restoring it but used other worlds as temporary homes because Aiur remained uninhabitable 325 360.

Unlike the Zerg's swarm structure, the Protoss are telepathic and strongly individualistic, traits that have repeatedly produced religious divisions and internal conflicts. Their low reproductive rate prevents them from matching the Zerg's numbers, so they compensate through elite warriors, robotic technology, psionics, and ancient war machines 325 333.

The Protoss once aided technologically weaker civilizations without seeking payment, but repeated betrayals made them distrustful of other species. They monitored early Terran colonies for centuries, eventually judging humanity's resource exploitation and expansion to be a threat; Terran battlecruisers answered their intervention with Yamato Cannon fire 333.

After severe earlier wars, the Protoss vanished from the Koprulu Sector for nearly a century. Rather than being destroyed, they secretly trained in the Void Realm, developed new abilities from Void relics, and prepared to reclaim their former supremacy 335 342 345.

Society and beliefs

The Khala is the Protoss' psychic link, primary communication network, and spiritual philosophy. It enables distance-independent communication and makes it difficult for Protoss to conceal thoughts from one another 342.

• The Khala binds Protoss minds into a collective psychic field and can strengthen devotion, courage, speed, and fearlessness during mass prayer 342 361.
• Protoss believe the Khala protects them from mental corruption and preserves their consciousness, but physical Zerg alteration can bypass this defense 344 357.
• They reject cloning as spiritually defiling because cloned bodies are believed to lack souls and would contaminate the sacred Khala 359.
• Their religious devotion and confidence in their own superiority contributed to stagnation and an initial refusal to innovate 333.

Abilities & Technology

Psionic power

Protoss possess telepathy and a wide range of innate psionic abilities. Their individual combat strength is considered exceptional, particularly when psionics are integrated with advanced armor and weapons 325 333.

• Zealots wield arm-mounted energy blades capable of tearing through tank-mech alloy and wear suits that generate protective force fields 342.
• High Templars can unleash Psionic Storms and can be used as enhanced psionic energy sources to counter bioelectromagnetic interference 343 348.
• Dark Templars possess permanent stealth and rapid teleportation; multiple Dark Templars can merge into a Dark Archon 343 344.
• Dark Archons can use Time Stasis and Mind Control, though Blacklight bodies can escape control by separating a controlled head from the independently functioning body 345.

Khala

The Khala allows Protoss forces to coordinate instantly across distance and shares the thoughts of connected members 342.

• It purifies or expels invading mental influences by uploading the host consciousness to the Khala “cloud” 344.
• Its openness is a strategic weakness: Xia Tianming gained access after devouring Zealots and used the link to learn Protoss orders and disrupt their operations 343 345.
• A Blacklight-perfect imitation of Protoss genes and the Khala connection allowed Xia Tianming and Yager to pass as genuine Protoss civilians on Trura 360.

Warp and Void technology

Protoss forces use portals, Stargates, Warp Prisms, and Void Gates for interplanetary transport, deployment, and retreat 332 343 367.

• Pylon matrix — Crystal-based infrastructure that supplies energy, supports structures, and permits buildings to be warped into its range. Destroying Pylons paralyzes connected facilities, including Photon Cannons 360.
• Void shields/barriers — Defensive energy fields used by Protoss troops and warships. They are vulnerable once bypassed or broken, leaving vessels physically fragile 345 367.
• Void Device — A Protoss system used for warp-related control and security; Xia Tianming later used one to disable the Protoss fleet's warp capability 349 365.
• Golden Mothership — An ultimate warship excavated from relics of the Protoss golden age. It can generate a Time Stasis Field and fire a Purification Beam that disintegrates matter into atoms 363 364.
• Dual-Vector Foil — A superweapon that reduces matter to two dimensions. The Protoss deployed one against the Centaur Sector, consuming millions of Zerg and Blacklight forces 359.

Military forces

• Zealots — Core Protoss melee infantry and the backbone of their ground forces 342.
• Dragoons — Severely injured Protoss warriors preserved in spider-like mechanical bodies so they can continue fighting 343.
• High Templars — Powerful psionic specialists capable of battlefield-scale psychic attacks 343.
• Dark Templars — Permanently cloaked infiltrators capable of teleportation 343.
• Phoenix fighters — Agile aircraft that can fire while moving and alter gravity to lift and immobilize ground targets 343.
• Void Rays — Warships capable of short-range warp jumps and powerful prism-beam attacks 343.
• Tempests — Heavy warships used for antimatter bombardments capable of destroying planets 361 362.
• Golden Motherships — Ancient relic flagships and the Protoss military's ultimate units 363.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Re-emergence and the Space City assault

Protoss Zealots emerge from energy portals during Xia Tianming's conflict with Space City rebels. Xia defeats and devours them, gaining access to the Khala and learning that the supposedly vanished Protoss had been rebuilding in the Void 342 343.

The Protoss then attack Space City with Zealots, Dragoons, High Templars, Dark Templars, and warships in an attempt to seize its energy depot and stop its warp jump. Blacklight infection, assimilated residents, and Xia Tianming's intervention destroy the infiltration force 343 344.

When the Protoss command orders an Annihilation Bomb used to destroy the city rather than allow it to fall into enemy hands, Xia Tianming hijacks a Phoenix fighter, infiltrates the firing ship, and jams the cannon with expanding biomass. The failure drives the Protoss to return openly to the Koprulu Sector 345.

Return to the Koprulu Sector

Over the following year, the Protoss reclaim more than half the sector from Terran and Zerg forces, using their enhanced Void-era forces and recovered ancient weapons. Their return pushes the Terrans toward the edge of the sector and forces the Zerg into reduced territory 345.

They surround fleeing Terran ships, including the Stone Village, and attempt to use captives as bargaining tools. Xia Tianming rescues the human crew, captures a Protoss negotiator, disables Protoss weapons, and assimilates several Protoss warships into attacking their own fleet 347 348.

Centaur Sector and Trura

The Protoss launch a decapitation operation against a Zerg Cerebrate on Death Swamp, sending a suicide squad into the toxic world. They later fight alongside Xia Tianming's hidden intervention against the Zerg hive, but Xia ultimately captures the revived Cerebrate for Blacklight use 355 358.

After the Protoss deploy the Dual-Vector Foil in the Centaur Sector, Xia Tianming and Yager infiltrate the Protoss world of Trura in retaliation. They exploit a Protoss-developed Zerg-control plague, causing a catastrophic outbreak during a Khala ceremony 359 360 361.

Unable to contain the infestation, Protoss command evacuates key assets and orders their own newly established homeworld destroyed. Millions of civilians and the remaining Zerg are annihilated in the planet-destroying bombardment, leading the Protoss into an all-out war against the swarm 361.

Final war and defeat

The Protoss commit every available unit, including mining Probes, to a sector-wide war of mutual destruction against the Zerg. Their Tempest fleets erase Zerg worlds with antimatter bombardment, while the Blacklight Legion harvests both sides' casualties and wreckage to strengthen itself 362.

Golden Motherships briefly immobilize Xia Tianming with a Time Stasis Field and disintegrate his body using a Purification Beam. His consciousness transfers to a nearby Blacklight host, allowing him to infiltrate the mothership, assimilate its crew, dismantle it internally, and turn Protoss technology against the fleet 363 364 365.

After losing to the Blacklight Legion, surviving Protoss retreat through Void Gates into the Void Realm and attempt guerrilla warfare against the Earth Expeditionary Force. Earth's superior steel warships and gene-enhanced Space Marines overwhelm them in ship collisions and boarding combat; the pursuit is stated to end in Protoss extinction 367 368.

Relationships

• Xel'Naga — Shared creators of the Protoss and Zerg 325.
• Zerg — Ancient enemies whose conflict was connected to their shared creator, Amon; the two races repeatedly wage extermination campaigns against one another 333 362.
• Terrans — Initially observed and later treated as a dangerous expanding species; their conflict escalated after Terran battlecruisers fired on Protoss intervention forces 333.
• Blacklight Legion — Primary hostile faction led by Xia Tianming; it infiltrates, infects, assimilates, and ultimately defeats Protoss forces 345 365.
• Xia Tianming — Enemy who gains access to the Khala by devouring Zealots, repeatedly infiltrates Protoss systems, and weaponizes assimilated Protoss personnel against their own military 343 345 364.
• Earth Expeditionary Force — Final major enemy; its Space Marines and heavy fleet defeat the remaining Protoss in the Void Realm 367 368.