User:The Clawed One/Edmund Duke

General Edmund Duke is a character in the fictional StarCraft universe. An old and season veteran of war, Duke is consistently portrayed as a stern and humorless leader, if fiercely loyal and stalwart to his government. Duke is voices by Chris Metzen.

In the StarCraft Campaign Editor, Duke is the "Hero" version of both the battlecruiser and seige tank, although the latter never appears in the game.

Appearances in StarCraft
According to the book StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade, the Dukes are an "Old Family" in the Terran Confederacy and are highly renown and respected. Duke himself briefly takes part in skirmishes with the Zerg in the Sara system before it is destroyed. Later, he and Alpha Squadron are dispatched to Antiga Prime, but are shot down by the Zerg. The Sons of Korhal come to Duke's rescue, and although reluctant to join the rebel cause, Duke submits and becomes one of Arcturus Mengsk officers.

Duke later spearheads the assault on the Confederate capitol Tarsonis, destroying the orbital defenses and planting psi emitters to lure Zerg to the planet, destroying the Confederacy. After Jim Raynor rebels, Duke activates the ion cannon to shoot down his fleet, but Raynor successfully disables the cannon. Duke has only two appearances afterward, one each in the Zerg and Protoss campaigns, commanding a small force of Alpha Squadron on Char.

Although not seen in-game, the StarCraft manual states that between StarCraft and its expansion pack Brood War, Duke and Alpha Squadron are dispatched to Bhekar Ro. In a vicious war, most of Alpha Squadron is destroyed, and Duke thus takes command of the Dominion fleet as a whole.

Appearances in Brood War
Duke makes brief appearances in the game. When the United Earth Directorate attacks a Dominion repair station, Duke sends a fleet to engage them, but it is destroyed. Later, he accompanies Mengsk when he evades UED capture, and is presumed to have stayed with him for most of the Terran and Zerg campaigns. In his final appearance, Sarah Kerrigan sends the Zerg Swarm to kill him. Despite superior firepower and training, Duke is killed and his ship is destroyed.

Other Appearances
Duke appears in the StarCraft prequel missions, assisting in the defense of Chau Sara. In the first of two missions that were cut from the original game, Duke assists Raynor in evacuating Terrans an infested planet. In the second mission, Duke helps Raynor and Kerrigan in a full-scale assault on Tarsonis' surface by sending reinforcements. Because they are not included in the final game, neither mission is considered canon. Duke is also referenced in several StarCraft novels, although the information in some novels contradicts the game storyline.

Game Unit
Duke normally appears as the Norad II, a battlecruiser. Outfitted with powerful lasers that inflict 50 damage per shot, an armor of 4 and 700 HP, Duke is capable of easily destroying any opponent as long as he is not heavily outnumbered, something Kerrigan exploits. The Norad II is later refitted into the Norad III, the ship Duke commands during his final moments. The Norad III does 50 damage per shot, has an armor of 5, and has 1500 HP. Duke also appears in the prequel campaign and a "lost mission" as a siege tank with an attack power of 70 (150 in siege mode), an armor of 3, and 400 HP. Finally, in a single mission detailing his rescue, Duke's crashed Norad II is seen as a special building represented by Duke's portrait.