Jim Raynor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| StarCraft character | |
|---|---|
| Jim Raynor | |
 |
|
| Species | Terran |
| Gender | Male |
| Affiliation(s) | Raynor's Raiders |
| Position(s) | Leader of Raynor's Raiders |
| Voiced by | Robert Clotworthy |
James "Jim" Raynor is a fictional character in the StarCraft universe. He is a Terran, originally from the colony of Mar Sara.
In StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War, Raynor is voiced by Robert Clotworthy.
In Starcraft Map Editor, he appears as the hero version of the Terran Marine.
He is sometimes referred to as Marshal Raynor and held the rank of Marshal at Mar Sara during his time with the Confederacy. While he is referred to as Jim Raynor, during the first mission of StarCraft Episode I, Adjutant referred to him as James Raynor. This is his legal name as Jim is a nickname for James.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Relatively little is known about Raynor's past before his appearance in the game, only that he is the marshal of the colony on Mar Sara and has apparently been so for a long time, and seen much. The only other hints of his backstory include the book series', and a line said to Tassadar in the briefing for the last Protoss Mission (and last mission) of the first Starcraft, in which he states that his family (otherwise unknown) was killed by the Zerg.
[edit] Appearances in StarCraft storyline
- Further information: StarCraft storyline
[edit] StarCraft
When the player first encounters Raynor in-game, he is a 29-year-old marshal on Mar Sara and part of its colonial militia.[1] Under the orders of the Terran Confederacy, he escorts colonists of Mar Sara to the wastelands, in preparation for their eventual abandonment of the planet, which is under attack by the Zerg.
While safeguarding these colonists, he receives a distress signal from a Confederate outpost named Backwater Station. Alpha Squadron General Edmund Duke tells the colonial magistrate not to interfere, as he will send help, but Raynor believes Duke will take too long. He takes the local militia to fight against the Zerg, defeating them and destroying their Infested Command Center. The Confederacy arrests him, ostensibly for destroying Confederate property. Arcturus Mengsk and the Sons of Korhal free him from the Confederate prison ship, however, and Raynor decides to work with them. He persuades the colonial magistrate to ally with them as well. Raynor takes part in many battles with the Sons of Korhal against the Zerg and the Terran Confederacy. He sparks a friendship with Mengsk's second-in-command, Lieutenant Sarah Kerrigan, who he is very attracted to. The Terran Confederacy is defeated at their homeworld of Tarsonis by the Sons of Korhal.
Towards the end of Episode I, however, Mengsk leaves Kerrigan to her death at the hands of the Zerg on a space platform over Tarsonis, and Raynor severs his ties with Mengsk for this act of betrayal. He and the player leave in Mengsk's former command ship, the Hyperion. Mengsk and Edmund Duke try to prevent them from fleeing from Tarsonis using an orbital Ion Cannon. Raynor's Raiders destroy the cannon and escape. Having lost his homeworld and now alienated by the leader of the prominent Terran faction, he strikes out on his own.
In Episode II, Jim Raynor is drawn to the planet Char by the psionic emanations of Sarah Kerrigan, but his base is overrun by the Zerg under the command of Infested Kerrigan. Raynor is shocked to see her alive and in this condition. Kerrigan defeats his forces, but allows Jim and any survivors to leave. Later it is discovered that Raynor was rescued from Char by Tassadar, a Protoss Executor who was also drawn to Char by Kerrigan's psionic eminations.
His next appearance is in Episode III, when it is revealed that he has joined forces with Tassadar on a space platform over Char. Raynor indicates that Tassadar saved his life down on the planet.
Tassadar is also in a weak position, and needs the help of the Protoss reinforcements from Aiur to rescue Zeratul and the other Dark Templars. The reinforcements were instead sent by the Protoss Conclave to arrest him. The Dark Templars are trapped in an abandoned Terran facility by Infested Kerrigan, because Dark Templars are the only known being to have the ability to slay Zerg Cerebrates permanently preventing them from being reincarnated by the Zerg Overmind.
Raynor and Tassadar debate an attack on the facility. While Raynor still has feelings for Kerrigan, Tassadar says he will kill her if he finds her there. Raynor does not personally take part in the mission, and Tassadar does not encounter Kerrigan. After rescuing the Dark Templars, Aldaris, the Executor, Tassadar, Raynor, Zeratul and the Dark Templars all return to Aiur, where they meet Fenix, who he will become good companions with. The Protoss Conclave wants nothing to do with the Dark Templars, and tells Tassadar that teaching Templar warriors to use their powers in tandem with Dark Templar is treason and heresy. Tassadar is forced to rebel against the Conclave, but later surrenders, though the Executor, Raynor and Fenix escape. Zeratul and the Dark Templars disappear. Raynor, commanding the Hyperion, helps Fenix and the Executor to get Tassadar out of the Conclave's custody.
At the end of Episode III, Raynor is present at the final attack on the Zerg Overmind. His forces are instrumental in the defeat and death of the Overmind, for which Tassadar sacrifices himself.
[edit] Brood War
The temporarily leaderless Zerg rampage over Aiur, killing 70% of its inhabitants. The Protoss make the decision to evacuate Aiur through a Warp Gate to Shakuras, homeworld of the Dark Templars. Raynor and Fenix stay behind on Aiur to guard the Aiur side of the Warp Gate so that the surviving Protoss can escape. This is the beginning of Raynor's friendship with Fenix. This unlikely bond between a Terran and a Protoss is one of the strongest and most enduring in the entire storyline of StarCraft.
During Episode V, Raynor makes only a brief appearance when he rescues Arcturus Mengsk from being captured by the United Earth Directorate and later escapes with him through the Warp Gate.
At the beginning of Episode VI, Kerrigan asks him and Fenix to bring Arcturus Mengsk to her. Kerrigan deceives all three into thinking they are allied against a common enemy - the UED. Kerrigan uses them to help her destroy the UED's Psi Disruptor, as well as retaking Korhal for Mengsk. Then, when Kerrigan has no more use for them, she has Fenix killed. Raynor finally realizes Kerrigan's treacherous nature, and in one of the strongest moments of the game, swears to kill her, after which he strikes out on his own again. For the rest of Brood War we see no more of Raynor, and after the final mission we are told that "James Raynor and Zeratul went their separate ways, and have not been heard from since their departure."
[edit] Other StarCraft campaigns
Raynor made an appearance in the StarCraft 64 map, Resurrection IV, which takes place after Brood War. Resurrection IV occurs on the world Braxis. Here, he works with Artanis and other Protoss to help capture Alexei Stukov, who is now an infested Terran, and return him to human using nanotechnology.[2]
[edit] Appearances in non-Blizzard products
In Liberty's Crusade, he had a psionically-gifted son, who was killed in 'an incident' during the Confederacy's intense Terran Ghost training.[3]
The Queen of Blades, presents a slightly different account as to the whereabouts of Raynor during StarCraft Episode II. Rather than building a base that gets attacked, Raynor leads an expedition down into the caverns beneath the surface of Char, where he comes face to face with Kerrigan as she emerges from the chrysalis. The Zerg then massacre his troops, with Kerrigan sparing him alone as she does in the game. She then steals his shuttles and uses them for the boarding attack on the Amerigo, as well on the ships of both Raynor and Duke's fleets. Raynor is only able to save the Hyperion and a handful of troops on the ground as Tassadar's fleet arrives and wipes the infested ships out.
Through the course of the story, Raynor finds that Kerrigan has linked her mind to his, this allows him to understand the Zerg's communications and other psionic speech, allowing him to personally witness many important events of Episode II, such as the death of the Cerebrate Zasz, as he tracks the Zerg, Protoss, and Dark Templar across Char. In addition, he also ends up sharing dreams with Kerrigan of the two of them living a normal life together.
The novel also goes into detail of his time with the Protoss and Dark Templar, showing how he earned the respect of both Tassadar and Zeratul.
He also makes appearances in StarCraft Adventures, an Alternity-based tabletop RPG .
[edit] Alignment
Raynor is one of the very few major Terran characters in StarCraft to be fundamentally good throughout the game (others including Tassadar and Fenix, who were both killed in their efforts). Even when he assisted Kerrigan, it was to overthrow the UED, which he suspected would enslave or kill all three races in the sector (in essence, he chose what appeared to be the lesser of two evils). Raynor is also the only Terran closely associated with, and trusted by, the Protoss.
[edit] Game Unit
Jim Raynor appears in StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War in three separate units. We first see him piloting a Vulture hover cycle. He raids the Jacobs Installation as a Marine, and he commands the Hyperion, a battlecruiser, during Episode III as he fights alongside the Protoss. His vulture hovercycle has 300 hit points, and does 30 points of limited damage. The Hyperion has 850 HP and does 30 points of normal damage. He appears in all three forms in StarCraft: Brood War as well. Although he appears throughout Brood Wars, he is not a playable hero during those episodes. The only exception is a brief moments during the first mission of Episode 4, when he helps Zeratul and the Khali escape from Aiur. This is also notably the only time players can command an invincible hero.
[edit] Quotes
"I'll tell you her capabilities... she's Hell unleashed." - Jimmy Raynor about Sarah Kerrigan to Tassadar on Char.
[edit] Trivia
- As of November 25, 2006, the Battle.net Web Site contains a hidden image of Infested Kerrigan saying "Help me Jim Raynor...you're my only hope!". The animated GIF image and the text can be found at the bottom of the main page. In order to reveal them the user has to click the round object above the Blizzard image. This is a reference to Star Wars specifically, Princess Leia's message inside R2-D2.
- In the 2.0.3 Patch for the Blizard MMORPG World of Warcraft, a level 70 NPC named Lord Marshal Raynor was added at the Dark Portal opening event. This is almost certainly a Blizzard self-referential cameo.
[edit] References
- ^ Blizzard Entertainment (1998-04-01). "Roster of Heroes", StarCraft Manual (in English). Blizzard Entertainment, p91.
- ^ Resurrection IV. Wikia (2006-08-24). Retrieved on 2006-09-06.
- ^ Grubb, Jeff (2001-02-27). StarCraft: Liberty's Crusade. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-04148-7.
- ^ Rosenberg, Aaron (2006-05-23). StarCraft: Queen of Blades. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-7133-4.
| StarCraft by Blizzard Entertainment | |
|---|---|
| StarCraft Universe | Gameplay of StarCraft • StarCraft storyline • Psionic technology |
| Species | Terran • Protoss • Zerg • Xel'Naga • Hybrid |
| Factions and Organizations | Judicator Caste • Kel-Morian Combine • Khalai Caste • Protoss Conclave • Pirate Militias • Raynor's Raiders • Sons of Korhal • Templar Caste • Terran Confederacy • Umojan Protectorate • United Earth Directorate • Zerg Brood |
| Locations | Aiur • Antiga Prime • Braxis • Char • Chau Sara • Korhal • Mar Sara • Moria • Shakuras • Talematros • Tarsonis • Umoja • Zerus |
| Characters | Aldaris • Artanis • Gerard DuGalle • Edmund Duke • Samir Duran • Fenix • Sarah Kerrigan • Arcturus Mengsk • Nova • Raszagal • Jim Raynor • Alexei Stukov • Tassadar • Zeratul • Zerg Overmind • Minor Characters |
