Templar Caste

The Templar Caste is a collection of Protoss tribes in the fictional StarCraft universe. Descended from great warrior tribes from the Aeon of Strife, these were selected by Khas and his students to act as warriors. With few exceptions, only Protoss members of the Templar Caste do any fighting. (The exceptions are the Ara Tribe, Shelak Tribe, Furinax Tribe and Dark Templar.) Members of the Templar Caste who are particularly skilled psychics are known as High Templar. Both High Templar and any member of the Templar Caste are sometimes simply referred to as "Templar".

Known Templar Tribes

As in every Protoss caste, templar tribes are named after constellations.

Akilae Tribe

The Akilae Tribe represent the strongest fighting force in Protoss society. They dominated the other Tribes for hundreds of years during the Aeon of Strife but submitted completely to the Khala. Although loyal to the Judicators, the Akilae Tribe argued that the Terrans should be saved from the Zerg instead of meaningless obstacles to be destroyed because of the Zerg threat, and they protest the destruction of the infested Terran colonies. Tassadar and Fenix may have hailed from this tribe.

Akilae Tribe

Caste	Templar
Station	High Templar command
Tribal color	green

Auriga Tribe

Dozens of thousands of years ago, the Auriga were the first to construct sailing ships. Now they service and operate the massive Carriers of the Protoss fleets. During the brief civil war on Aiur, the Auriga took the side of the Protoss Conclave against Tassadar, but were defeated.

Auriga Tribe

Caste	Templar
Station	protectors of the Great Fleet
Tribal color	orange

Sargas Tribe

Easily the most notorious of the Tribes, their loyalty to the Protoss Conclave was questionable, only giving their services when it suited them. The Sargas are adept at killing, and were employed by the Conclave as assassins and enforcers. As the Sargas Tribe are obsessed with holding onto their "free will" and tribal identity, it is notable that more Dark Templar stemmed from this tribe than from any other Tribe, and as such form a large part of Dark Templar society and military force in the Fleet of the Matriarch.

Sargas Tribe

Caste	Templar
Station	enforcers and assassins
Tribal color	blue

Venatir Tribe

Little is known of this tribe. Many of its members, like those of the Sargas Tribe, attempted to reject the Khala. After the death of the Overmind, the Venatir tribe is one of the few not wiped out by the Zerg, and it is with this tribe that the Protoss heroes Aldaris, Zeratul and Artanis flee to Shakuras with the help of the Executor. The Tribe was later tasked with the establishment of the first Khalai settlements on Shakuras. Aldaris would later take control of the Tribe in a rebellion, and both Aldaris and the majority of the Venatir Tribe would be killed. Presumably, some survived, as they are seen defending the city of Talematros, but the Tribes present there were killed by the Zerg when the city's power grid overloaded and exploded. The motto of the Venatir Scout pilots is "Praemonitus, promunitus," which translates to "Forewarned, forearmed."

Venatir Tribe

Caste	Templar
Station	vanguard of Aiur
Tribal color	brown

Velari Tribe

Members of the Velari Tribe appears to form the bulk of the Fleet of the Executor, one of the primary armies of the Khalai Protoss. They are often depicted as the Conclave's main agents, as the ruined buildings of the Conclave in Episode IV are of the Velari Tribe. When Aldaris is seen, he takes the color of the Velari Tribe.

Velari Tribe

Caste	Templar
Station	Fleet of the Executor
Tribal color	yellow

See also

• Judicator Caste
• Khalai Caste

References

• StarCraft homepage at Blizzard Entertainment
• Battle.net StarCraft Compendium
• Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998.