Izsha
Physical
Race	Zerg
Gender	N/A (female personality)
Eyes	Gray
Political
Affiliation	Zerg Swarm
Occupation	Adviser
Real Life
Voice Actor	Karen Strassman

Izsha is a zerg advisor in service to Sarah Kerrigan. She is a unique type of zerg, one of a kind.^[1]

BiographyEdit

In earlier times, Kerrigan used her to store her thoughts and plans.^[2] On at least one occasion she entrusted Izsha with a plan to infest a planet using the hyper-evolutionary virus through its water supply.^[3]

Izsha reunited with Kerrigan following the latter's de-infestation and subsequent return to the Swarm. She served as an advisor, recalling memories from her time as the Queen of Blades and helping her to reclaim the Swarm^[4] while remaining attached to her queen's leviathan.^[5]

Game EffectEdit

Izsha, in Heart of the Swarm, plays a role similar to Matt Horner from Wings of Liberty, providing the player with the distribution of missions and tactical/intelligence support,^[4] along with plot points relevant to Kerrigan's past.^[6]

Izsha does not appear on the field of battle in missions as per her attachment to the leviathan.^[5]

Izsha's portrait is made available to players after obtaining the achievement "StarTours" in Heart of the Swarm.^[7][8]

Personality and TraitsEdit

Izsha exemplifies a midpoint for Kerrigan, standing between Kerrigan's cold rationality and the feral nature of the Swarm. She harkens back to the ideology of the Overmind, but is still a rational individual.^[9]

NotesEdit

While Abathur was designed to be "evil," the concept of Izsha was to strike a balance between human and monster. Unlike Abathur, Izsha was to have a face that the player could talk and relate to, one that Kerrigan could have more of an emotional connection with.^[10]

Izsha's original background had her as an adjutant, from an era where they were cybernetic rather than synthetic.^[3] Her organic components allowed her to be infested by the zerg.^[11] By BlizzCon 2011, her backstory had been altered, instead portraying her as a former Amanda Haley.^[1] However, her (supposed) former life as Haley is never mentioned in the campaign.

Promotional materials suggested that Izsha might have had ulterior motives for assisting Kerrigan.^[12] There was no sign of this in the final product.

By BlizzCon 2011, Izsha was stated to be formerly Amanda Haley, an infested terran created by Kerrigan.^[1][13][14] This did not appear in the campaign.

ReferencesEdit