 The character of Zeratul was created by Blizzard Entertainment's Chris Metzen, with concept art produced by other Blizzard artists such as Samwise Didier.Chris Metzen mentioned that Ritschel died some time during the development of the game, and thus Fred Tatasciore has taken over as the new voice actor.Tatasciore described Zeratul as an incredible character, a "Darth Vader" who invests so much in the survival of things, and one of the best characters he has ever played.