General Edmund Duke is the military leader of the Terran Dominion and a major antagonist in the StarCraft franchise.
He was originally a well renowned general of the Terran Confederacy Armed Forces until he defected to the Sons of Korhal resistance group led by Arcturus Mengsk and became one of his top generals. After Mengsk overthrew the Confederacy and founded the Terran Dominion, Duke became the commander-in-chief of the Dominion Armed Forces. He was also the commander of Alpha Squadron.
History
Past
A member of the Duke Family, one of the Old Families that ran the Terran Confederacy, Duke joined the Confederate military and eventually rose through the ranks to become general. He soon became renowned as the greatest general of the Confederacy.
Great War
When the Sons of Korhal began their uprising against the Terran Confederacy, Duke and his forces were sent to suppress the revolt. However, during the battle at Antiga Prime, Duke's flagship the Norad II was shot down by the Zerg and crash landed on the planet. After sending out a distress signal, Duke and Alpha Squadron were contacted by Arcturus Mengsk, who offered to help them repel the Zerg in exchange for their loyalty. Duke agreed and after the Zerg were fought off, Duke and Alpha Squadron joined the Sons of Korhal. Duke himself was given a high-ranking position in Mengsk's cabinet.
Duke later took part in the Sons of Korhal's invasion of Tarsonis, whose defenses he knew inside and out. Duke assisted in planting Psi-Emitters to attract the Zerg to the planet. This drew the Protoss to intervene and attack the Zerg, so a force led by Sarah Kerrigan was sent in to hold off the Protoss and allow the Zerg to ravage the planet. When Jim Raynor disobeyed Mengsk and attempted to save Kerrigan, Duke and his forces were sent to block the rescue attempt, abandoning Kerrigan to the Swarm. Later, when Raynor and his defectors attempted to flee the planet, Duke activated the Ion Cannon to prevent them from escaping, but Raynor and his forces were able to destroy the cannon and flee.
After Mengsk established the Terran Dominion as the new ruling Terran regime, Duke continued to serve as a general within it and became the commander-in-chief of the High Command of the Dominion Armed Forces. From there, Duke faced several engagements with both Raynor's Raiders and the Zerg. At one point he was contacted by Jim Raynor, who pleaded with him to provide aid against the Zerg, but smugly refused and left them to die.
Near the end of the Great War, Duke returned to Char with a squadron of dominion ships as Protoss and Zerg forces were actively engaged with each other. Duke confronted the Protoss and lost the fight, forcing him to pull out.
Brood War
The Iron Fist
Some time after the end of the Great War, the Korulu Sector faced a new threat in the form of the UED Expeditionary Fleet led by Admiral Gerard DuGalle sent to assert United Earth Directorate dominance in the Sector. When the UED raided the Dylarian Shipyards and hijacked a large number of battlecruisers, Duke arrived with a fleet of his own battlecruisers and was momentarily shocked that terrans would come to the Koprulu sector al lthe way from Earth. After Vice-Admiral Stukov explained their intention, Duke ordered his fleet to engage the stolen battlecruisers, only to be met with failure, forcing him to pull out once more. The attacks from the UED and their seizing control of the second Zerg Overmind, granting them command over a portion of the Zerg Swarm, prompted an alliance between the Terran Dominion, Raynor's Raiders, the Protoss and the Zerg led by Kerrigan to drive out the new threat.
True Colors
However, as soon as the UED fleet was forced off of Korhal, Kerrigan turned against her allies and went back to waging war against them. When Kerrigan's Swarm ambushed Duke's forces aboard the Norad III, Duke waged a valiant final stand and ultimately went down with his ship.
 Villains
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Terran Confederacy Terran Dominion United Earth Directorate Zerg Tal'darim Forces of Amon | ||