Stukov

Alexei Stukov, the Infested Admiral, is a melee Healer Hero from the StarCraft universe. Alexei Stukov had a hard life, and an even harder death. He has been betrayed, shot into space, resurrected and infested, almost cured, and then experimented upon as the infestation returned. Now, his infestation spreads within the Nexus...

Background
In the 25th century of Earth's history, the was dispatched to the Koprulu Sector, with the aim to subjugate the terran colonies, enslave the new Zerg, and use their controlled Zerg broods to pacify the protoss. Of the formidable commanders tasked with this imperative endeavor, Vice Admiral was second-in-command, with his old friend Admiral  leading the fleet.

The UED smashed into the sector, quickly disarming and seizing the. However, unbeknownst to the UED at the time, their ranks had been infiltrated by a powerful shape-shifting that took the name Samir Duran, that sought to sow confusion among the ranks of the Directorate. When Stukov violated DuGalle's orders to destroy a device named the that could cut Zerg off from their hive mind, Duran convinced DuGalle that Stukov was a traitor, and the admiral ordered Stukov to be executed. Duran put a bullet through Stukov and vanished. Stukov's dying transmission convinced DuGalle friend that the disrupter was the key to defeating the erg and that Duran was the traitor, before he bled out and died on the floor. Stukov's body was launched into space and given a hero's burial, with news reports saying that he died in the final assault on to claim the Overmind. After the UED's defeat in the sector, grief stricken over what he had done to his old friend, DuGalle committed suicide.

However, Stukov's coffin was discovered by the Zerg, and his body infested and resurrected by the, who desired a new leader for their renegade Swarms. After participating in some covert operations to advance the New Swarm's agenda, the resurgent Stukov caught the eye of Artanis, who enlisted the aid of Jim Raynor and the ancient protoss hero to deliver an experimental nanite cure to the infested human. The joint terran-protoss force fought through Zerg and terran mercenaries, eventually delivering the cure to Stukov, and he was returned to his human state. Stukov was then turned over to a terran science group named the to study to the cure.

Unbeknownst to all, the same alien who had killed Stukov, Samir Duran, secretly ran the Moebius Foundation, and Stukov was experimented on and tortured. The protoss cure slowly failed, returning him to his infested state, and Duran's modifications made Stukov more and more powerful as he used him as a test subject to advance his breeding program. Years later, Stukov was able to escape Duran's lab and contact the leader of the Zerg, Sarah Kerrigan, and aided her in destroying Duran's hybrid breeding operation, raising his lab and banishing him to the xel'naga's home dimension of the. Stukov then was given command of Kerrigan's infested terran legions, and assisted Kerrigan in bringing down the and killing Emperor Arcturus Mengsk. He would later aid her in her war to bring down Duran's master, the Xel'Naga.

During the final assault on Amon in the Void, Stukov once again confronted Duran, and personally delivered the final killing blow to the xel'naga, avenging his death and years of torture. The expedition was successful in killing Amon, and ending Duran's grand schemes.

Gameplay
Stukov is a Healer who brings high amounts of disruption from long range.

Strength

 * Burst Healing
 * Sustained Damage and Healing
 * Crowd Control

Weaknesses

 * Mobility
 * Escape

Abilities

 * See Data page for a table of scaled values at key levels.

Development
Nate LaMusga's early vision was that Stukov would be very focused on his infestation fantasy, both healing and damaging through infectious pathogens, and having a choice of heroics that could revive a fallen ally as a powerful infested zerg unit for a short duration. Originally only his "E" skill used his arm.

The developers tested these "infested resurrect" heroics pretty extensively, but they just weren't creating enjoyable gameplay. It was extremely confusing to be revived as a strange new unit with unfamiliar controls and having only precious seconds to try and figure out how to play it effectively - it never really felt good to be the one resurrected. Around the same time, the Live Design team expressed a desire to see more Support heroes with displacement abilities, and they saw an opportunity with Stukov to try and make that happen.

The developers all got in a room and talked through the ideas that came out of that, and two favorites quickly rose to the top: Flailing Arm and Massive Shove (though at the time it was called "Big Arm Mega Shove"). With Massive Shove in particular, it only took them a single playtest to know they had a winner.

There was definitely an awareness that by making this change they would move some of the focus from an established aspect of his fantasy (infestation), to a much less-established aspect of his fantasy (crazy zerg arm). This is something they discussed at length within the team, and ultimately decided that they were comfortable with. The Art team was excited to explore the arm aspect of Stukov's character, and the Design team was thrilled with the fun gameplay they got out of the heroics. They still had the infestation theme covered in three of his abilities (Q/W/D) and to them it felt like a very cool kit with a good balance of flavor that represented the character well.

According to Lana Bachynski, Stukov was hard to animate. From a technical standpoint, making sure that his various FX were correctly connecting to his base model. Massive shove, in particular was exceedingly challenging to get working 'just so' and it took an incredible effort from all disciplines to get it where you see today. "Artistically -- Stukov is a stoic military bro who is ashamed of the monster he's become. I went to school to animate monsters -- all I wanted to see was Stukov go full Rage Mode with that Zerg limb, but he's supposed to be restrained. Calm. (Compelling character -- but what an obnoxious justaposition!) Keeping a half-man half-alien looking upright and put together on the battlefield.. but also threatening and tough. Not exactly the simplest task. Emotionally -- Now, this is getting real deep into animation nerddom, but I really struggled with getting his acting choices just right! In the end, I'm pretty satisfied with the balance I found. It's probably best seen in his Quick Match hero select screen: When Stukov is out of combat, he stands with his arm tucked behind him - as he wants to present his best most human self to you. Upon hitting ready, Stukov looks at his arm, resigned, and says 'Victory or Death' - because winning battles is more important to him than his cosmetic flaws, and he will use every advantage he has in order to do so. When he's readied up, he has forgotten any insecurities and is ready to fight. And when Stukov unreadies, it's almost as if he's coming to his senses. As if, perhaps the animalistic, zerg mentality has affected more than just his arm, and he's back to his militant, disciplined self."

Stukov was subject to a lot of this after his kit was revealed. Many fans did not expect Blizzard would place Stukov in the support role. Instead, the popular theory was that he would be a specialist and summons infested Terrans, similar to his role in Starcraft 2.

Trivia

 * Stukov made his debut in StarCraft: Brood War (November 1998)
 * Despite being a Healer, Stukov has the highest basic attack damage in the game, but also the lowest attack speed in the game, tied with Hanzo.
 * Stukov's Home Screen music is from the StarCraft: Brood War cinematic "UED Victory Report."
 * Stukov is voiced by Victor Brandt in StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void, and Heroes of the Storm.
 * Blizzard hinted at a new StarCraft hero related to a failed research project at the . Stukov was confirmed the following day.
 * UED Stukov is based off of the UED tint from StarCraft: Brood War, where normally they would be represented by white colored terrans.
 * Dictator Stukov is based on M. Bison from the Street Fighter series (August 1987), who is sometimes referred to as "Dictator" due to having different names in different versions of the game. Stukov's "it was Tuesday" joke also makes a reference to the dialogue spoken by M. Bison in the Street Fighter film (December 1994).
 * Ghost Krakenov is based upon the undead pirate LeChuck from the Monkey Island series of games, with his colours matching his appearance in Monkey Island II: LeChuck's Revenge.