Brood master symbol
A brood is a Swarm Zerg formation.
Core Swarm Zerg Broods[]
First Great War and Brood War Broods[]
The first broods were formed by the Overmind, with the direction of each brood being delegated to a cerebrate. A brood was engineered for a specific function, which impacted its numerical strength and the diversity of its strains. The terrans gave the Great War broods reporting names based on beasts found in Earth mythology.[1]
- Command Wing
The Command Wing broods were responsible for defending the Overmind and searching for new species for assimilation. These broods did not engage in front-line combat unless necessary.
The Command Wing included the Tiamat Brood, Baelrog Brood, and Fenris Brood.[1]
- Attack Wing
The Attack Wing broods were the Swarm's front-line forces, meant to conquer and occupy worlds. The wing's primary broods were amongst the largest in the Swarm.
The Attack Wing included the Garm Brood, Jormungand Brood, and Surtur Brood.[1]
Second Great War and End War Broods[]
The Swarm was reunited under Kerrigan at the end of the Brood War.[2] The cerebrates were eliminated from the Swarm[3] but broods such as the Char Brood remained.[4]
Between the end of the Brood War and Kerrigan's defeat on Char, Kerrigan created numerous broodmothers, powerful queens, each of which would lead a brood.
The queens were ordered to evolve and only submit to the will of the strongest leader, which became a problem upon Kerrigan's defeat. The brood mothers scattered their broods. Kerrigan was forced to follow and attempt to subdue them.[5]
- Zagara Brood
The Zagara Brood followed Kerrigan during her transformation into a primal zerg, and her conquest of the Terran Dominion. During the Battle of Korhal, Zagara offered their aid during the initial landing in flooding the city should the Augustgrad gates be destroyed.[6]
Enslaved and Rogue Zerg Broods[]
A brood depended on a nexus creature to direct it. In the pre-Brood War Swarm, this position was filled by cerebrates. However, supplanting the cerebrate with another entity could allow broods, or other large groups of zerg, to be controlled by non-Swarm agents.
"Independent" broods appeared after the turmoil resulting from the Overmind's death. Some were employed as mercenaries.[7][8]
Terran Broods[]
During the Brood War, the United Earth Directorate Expeditionary Fleet took control of the zerg unaligned with Sarah Kerrigan by controlling the second Overmind. The enslaved broods played a critical role in ensuring the UED's temporary dominance of the sector.[9]
Alan Schezar used a khaydarin crystal to control a cerebrate and its brood.[10]
The Cerberus Program controlled the zerg instead by surgically modifying the nervous systems of various breeds to allow them to control a brood by terran operators.[11]
Protoss Broods[]
Ulrezaj used khaydarin crystals to control a cerebrate and its brood.[12]
Xel'naga Broods[]
Amon's Brood was a zerg brood that served the fallen xel'naga Amon. They were subjugated from former feral zerg groups outside the control of the main Zerg Swarm (such as those left on Aiur after the Overmind's destruction).
Primal Zerg Packs[]
Rather than broods, primal zerg are divided between packs, voluntarily gathering together in order to follow those who will allow them to obtain more essence.[13]
References[]
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