Battle.net

Mengsk’s hunger for power and his growing lack of scruples soon began to trouble Raynor. Eventually Mengsk’s betrayal of his own lieutenant Sarah Kerrigan and his ruthless manipulation of the zerg to attack Confederacy-held worlds showed Raynor that Mengsk was no better than the oppressors he sought to overthrow. Raynor led a revolt within the ranks of the Sons of Korhal and seized Mengsk’s personal flagship, the Hyperion, and a small fleet of ships. While attempting to rescue Kerrigan from the zerg planet Char, Raynor encountered protoss there and gained the respect of the valiant Executor Tassadar. Raynor’s frank honesty enabled him to forge a bond between Tassadar and the dark templar Zeratul.

‘It may not be tomorrow, darlin’. It may not even happen with an army at my back. But rest assured: I’m the man who’s going to kill you some day. I’ll be seein’ you.’

Raynor and his troops went on to fight alongside the protoss in several campaigns and played a key role in battling the United Earth Directorate incursion that followed. A twist of fate found Raynor temporarily allied with Arcturus Mengsk and the Queen of Blades, the being reforged from Sarah Kerrigan by the zerg Overmind. Although these two tyrants fought against a common foe, it was only a matter of time until their tenuous alliance collapsed. In the end Kerrigan was the one who turned against her erstwhile allies and struck the first blow, and many of Jim Raynor’s comrades died to her treachery.

Raynor escaped the massacre and vowed vengeance. Even so, against the full strength of the zerg Swarm and the vast psionic powers of the Queen of Blades, his chances seemed slender at best. Eventually, exhausted and disillusioned, Raynor returned to terran space to lead a resistance movement against the spreading power of Arcturus Mengsk’s Terran Dominion. Over the years this fight hasn’t gone well. Arcturus Mengsk has used his greatest weapons – oratory, the media, and propaganda – to marginalize Raynor’s efforts.

Raynor’s Raiders remain public enemy number one to the powerful Terran Dominion. Mengsk sees Raynor’s continuing existence as a challenge to his authority. However, Mengsk is also wary of creating a martyr by having Raynor assassinated, and so he has taken steps to keep Raynor and his followers constantly hunted and harried, denying them any chance to gain a respite and build their strength.

Years of skirmishing with the inexhaustible resources of the Dominion has whittled down Raynor’s forces to a shadow of their former selves. Raynor has had to resort to occasional mercenary work just to garner enough funds to repair and rearm in the short term. Keeping his outfit running means that additional mercenary jobs will likely be needed in the future. Freedom isn’t free.

Today Raynor seems to be losing faith: he drinks heavily and blames himself for Kerrigan’s fate. His hatred for Arcturus Mengsk has become a festering wound. Raynor’s first officer, Matt Horner, still believes in him and in the revolution even though some of Raynor’s doubts are spreading to his crew. Horner has done a lot to keep things going over the years, always having faith that Raynor’s innate heroism will resurface and lead the rebels to victory.

Raynor is a good leader and an excellent tactician, although he lacks any formal training or background. He has learned his skills through experience, and so he is unfettered by preconceived notions of what ‘the book’ says is the right or wrong approach. Raynor will seldom plan things out in very much depth, but he has an excellent ability to improvise and turn the tables in a situation by using whatever he has at hand.

Raynor is also a man with a past. He is a known associate of notorious convict Tychus Findlay; the pair of them served together in the 321st Colonial Rangers Battalion ‘Heaven’s Devils’ toward the end of the Confederacy/Kel-Morian Guild Wars. Raynor and Findlay first met in Fort Howe on Turaxis II after Findlay had finished a three-month stint in a military correctional facility for assaulting a ranking officer.

‘Guess you wouldn’t be a Confederate if you weren’t a complete pain in the ass.’

In the last phase of the Guild Wars, Raynor and Findlay were accused of committing manslaughter during an ill-fated mission on Turaxis II. For their part, Raynor and Findlay knew that their superiors were to blame for the operation’s disastrous failure and resulting deaths. The two men fled from the military soon after, well aware that they would never receive a fair trial if it meant tarnishing the reputation of Confederate commanding officers. The pair remained outlaws together for years until Tychus was captured by Confederate law enforcement and sentenced to life in cryogenic incarceration. Exactly how Raynor managed to avoid Findlay’s fate and land a job as a marshal on Mar Sara is unknown.