When the Zerg invaded the old Confederate world of Mar Sara they swarmed across the
planet nearly unopposed.
Without any other option, the Terran colonists abandoned their settlements for the outlying
wastelands, led by the ragtag forces of the Mar Sara Colonial Militia and a single Confederate
Marshal.
Against every odd, this Marshal saved the lives of thousands, and in the following years,
as the Terrans, Zerg, and Protoss fought for the future of the Koprulu Sector, his actions
would see him branded a rebel, outlaw, terrorist, freedom fighter, and hero.
By the time the greatest threats to the sector had been vanquished and the newly reformed
Terran Dominion had entered its golden age, this Marshall had faded away into obscurity.
But to those who truly understood all he had accomplished, there could be no denying the
profound influence of Marshal Jim Raynor.
Born on the fringe world of Shiloh, Jim spent much of his youth as a farm boy, excelling
in school work but also showing an aptitude for hunting and shooting.
At the height of the war between the Terran Confederacy and Kel-Morian Combine, Raynor
joined the Confederate Marine Corps where the squalid conditions and lackluster leadership
contributed to a slow decline in his faith in the Confederacy as a whole.
His career as a marine was defined by a series of heroic exploits alongside acts of insubordination,
usually the result of his inflexible moral code.
Raynor and fellow marine Tychus Findlay deserted the military towards the end of the war, becoming
wanted outlaws on the frontiers of Confederate Space.
The duo grew infamous for their daring heists that resulted in the theft of hundreds of
thousands of credits, while maintaining Raynor’s ethical standards; never harming bystanders
and coming to the aid of those in need.
Briefly returning to his home world of Shiloh, Raynor was overcome by shame when he realized
that his late father and terminally ill mother had been disgraced by their son’s criminal
activities and had never accepted the money he had sent home for them.
When a bank heist on Bacchus Moon turned sour, Tychus sacrificed his freedom so that Raynor
might escape, and he fled to Mar Sara.
Thanks to an old friend, Raynor was offered the position of Marshal in return for clemency,
and settled into a normal life, now working on the right side of the law.
In time, Jim was married and soon thereafter, fathered a son who was gifted with immense
psychic potential.
Against his better judgement, Jim allowed his son to be taken by the Tarsonis Institute
of Health and Research.
When Jim and his wife Liddy received word their son had been killed in a shuttle accident,
Liddy never recovered from the emotional wound and succumbed to the flu a short time later.
When the Zerg overran Mar Sara, Jim had become buried in his work, but his dedication, courage,
and disillusionment with the Confederacy made him a man of great interest to the rebel group
the Sons of Korhal and their leader, Arcturus Mengsk.
Joining this group of supposed freedom fighters, Raynor was assigned to lead a unit that quickly
became known as Raynor’s Rangers.
Over the course of their fight against the Confederacy, Raynor grew disturbed by Mengsk’s
hunger for power and the declining moral scruples within the Sons of Korhol.
As the fight against the Confederacy finally reached the streets of its Capital on Korhol,
Raynor’s suspicions were confirmed.
Mengsk had deliberately lured the Zerg to the planet and abandoned Sarah Kerrigan, a
special Ghost Operative to whom Raynor had been close, to the swarm.
After a futile rescue attempt, Raynor fled the Sons of Korhol aboard the stolen Battlecruiser
Hyperion and formed a rebel outfit of his own: Raynor’s Raiders.
His pursuit of Kerrigan, now a manifestation of the Zerg swarm brought him into contact
with Tassadar and Zeratul of the hyper-advanced Protoss.
Together they overcame the arrogant and obstructionist members of the Protoss Conclave before joining
forces for a final attack on the Zerg Overmind.
With the defeat of the Zerg and the arrival of the powerful United Earth Directorate,
Raynor was forced to rescue his old adversary Mengsk, now Emperor of the Terran Dominion,
and together, align themselves with Kerrigan.
Their uneasy alliance was enough to prevent the UED from dominating the Koprulu sector
but both Raynor and Mengsk were betrayed by Kerrigan soon after, and Raynor vowed to one
day kill the newly styled “Queen of Blades”.
Once again a hunted outlaw, Raynor continued his fight against the Terran Dominion which
had quickly come to embody the worst aspects of its predecessor.
Low on morale and resources, Raynor was approached by his old friend Tychus Findlay with a job
offer from the mysterious Moebius Foundation.
The duo worked to acquire powerful artifacts of the long extinct Xel’Naga race, held
by fanatical elements of the Protoss and also sought by Kerrigan, who launched an enormous
invasion of the Terran Dominion in an attempt to track them down.
Together with Valerian Mengsk, the man behind the Moebius Foundation and heir apparent of
the Dominion, Raynor and Findlay successfully activated the Xel’Naga artifacts on the
Zerg stronghold of Char, decimating the swarm and restoring Kerrigan to her human form.
However, Findlay was revealed to be an agent of Arcturus Mengsk, and Raynor, overcome with
emotion, was forced to kill him before his old friend could do what Raynor himself had
once vowed.
Raynor was captured by the Dominion shortly after and used as a tool to keep Kerrigan,
once more in control of the Zerg, away from Dominion territory.
The plan failed.
Raynor was freed and together with Kerrigan and her swarm arrived on the capital world
of Korhol.
Mengsk was killed in the ensuing battle and Raynor finally made his peace with Kerrigan
who departed to confront a far greater threat that loomed over the Koprulu sector.
When this threat became known to the wider galaxy and the forces of the Terrans, Protoss
and Zerg entered the strange reality known as the Void, Jim Raynor was among them, beckoned,
it is said by Kerrigan herself.
Raynor was, above all, an honorable man who strove to do the right thing, no matter the
difficulty or the cost.
He was fiercely loyal to his friends and to his cause, well liked and admired by those
he served with.
While overzealous and perhaps even naive at times, he was a skilled and reliable leader,
resourceful and persistent no matter how grave the circumstances.
That such a man might survive the confrontation in the Void is not impossible, and some say
that he spends his days once again in a dingy bar on Mar Sara.
For those that have gone looking however, all they’ve found is an old Confederate
Marshal’s badge, while the man himself has never been heard from again.
In Dossier, the Templin Institute investigates the legendary figures from alternate worlds.
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