Hyperion
Flagship of Jim Raynor
The Hyperion was a Behemoth-class battlecruiser that became the flagship of Jim Raynor and his Raiders, a souped-up warship capable of warp jumps from within a planetary atmosphere.
The Hyperion was a Behemoth-class battlecruiser that served as the flagship of Jim Raynor and his rebel movement, Raynor's Raiders. Once the flagship of Arcturus Mengsk, the souped-up warship was seized by the Raiders from the forces of the newly forming Terran Dominion, and the Hyperion became one of the most storied vessels of the terran sector, carrying Raynor's forces through the Great War, the Brood War and the Second Great War under the field command of Captain Matt Horner. (StarCraft; StarCraft: Brood War; StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft: Queen of Blades)
Ship and capabilities#
The Hyperion was a Behemoth-class battlecruiser, a common terran capital ship of the Great War era. As a class the Behemoth could travel through warp space and operate within atmospheres, armed with burst laser batteries and protected by heavy neosteel armour. The Hyperion, however, was no ordinary Behemoth. It was a souped-up example of the class, distinguished above all by its ability to make warp jumps from within a planetary atmosphere, a feat beyond a standard battlecruiser and one that gave the ship a decisive edge in escaping otherwise hopeless situations. Like other Behemoths of its era it could mount the Yamato cannon, the battlecruiser's prow-mounted plasma gun. (StarCraft; StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm)
The Hyperion functioned as a self-contained vessel with its own crew facilities, including a cantina that served as a gathering place for Raynor's Raiders during their long campaigns. The ship doubled as a mobile command center and base of operations for Raynor's movement, carrying its leadership, its forces and its equipment from one theater of the war to the next. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)
Service with Raynor's Raiders#
The Hyperion came into Raynor's hands shortly after the fall of Tarsonis, when the newly formed Raynor's Raiders raided the Dylarian Shipyards in search of ships. Mengsk sent General Edmund Duke in the Hyperion to stop them, but in the cramped yards the battlecruiser was boarded and hijacked along with several other vessels, and the Raiders left Duke tied up on the dock. Raynor made Matt Horner the ship's pilot, and the capture gave his rebels a capital ship to anchor their fleet. (StarCraft: Queen of Blades)
The ship's emergency jump capability proved its worth over Char. While Raynor led troops down to the surface, the newly reborn Queen of Blades launched a covert assault on the terran ships in orbit, and arriving protoss forces began destroying vessels the zerg had taken over. Left in charge of the Hyperion, Horner made a blind jump into warp space to save the ship, and the errors caused by the hasty jump meant he returned to Char late. (StarCraft: Queen of Blades)
The Hyperion then made its way to Aiur, where Raynor used it to help rescue Tassadar from the Conclave and in the final assault on the Overmind. During the Brood War it carried Raynor alongside a protoss fleet to rescue Mengsk from the United Earth Directorate. The Hyperion remained Raynor's flagship through the Second Great War, with members of the Raiders such as the mercenary Ajendarro Ybarra counted among its crew, and the ship endured as the symbol of his long fight against the Dominion. (StarCraft; StarCraft: Brood War; StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm)
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Hyperion?
- The Hyperion was a Behemoth-class battlecruiser that served as the flagship of Jim Raynor and his rebel movement, Raynor's Raiders. A souped-up warship acquired from the Terran Dominion, it carried Raynor's forces through the Great War, the Brood War, and the Second Great War under the field command of Captain Matt Horner.
- What made the Hyperion different from a standard battlecruiser?
- Unlike an ordinary Behemoth, the Hyperion could make warp jumps from within a planetary atmosphere, a feat beyond a standard battlecruiser. This ability gave the ship a decisive edge in escaping otherwise hopeless situations.
- How did Raynor's Raiders get the Hyperion?
- The Hyperion came into Raynor's hands when his Raiders raided the Dylarian Shipyards, hijacking the Hyperion, then Mengsk's flagship under General Edmund Duke, along with several other vessels.
- How did the Hyperion escape at Char?
- While Raynor was on the surface of Char, the zerg launched a covert assault on the terran ships in orbit and protoss forces began destroying the infested vessels. Matt Horner saved the Hyperion with a blind jump into warp space, returning to Char late because of errors caused by the hasty jump.
- What role did the Hyperion serve beyond combat?
- The Hyperion functioned as a self-contained vessel with its own crew facilities, including a cantina that served as a gathering place for the Raiders. It doubled as a mobile command center and base of operations, carrying Raynor's leadership, forces, and equipment from one theater of war to the next.
Gallery
Images via StarCraft Wiki
Sources
- GameStarCraft, Blizzard Entertainment, 1998
- GameStarCraft: Brood War, Blizzard Entertainment and Saffire, 1998
- GameStarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Blizzard Entertainment, 2010
- GameStarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, Blizzard Entertainment, 2013
- BookStarCraft: Queen of Blades, Aaron Rosenberg, Pocket Star, 2006
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Yamato Cannon: the Battlecruiser Superweapon of StarCraft
The Yamato cannon is the terran battlecruiser's prow-mounted plasma gun, a weapon that focuses a controlled nuclear blast into a single beam. Here is how it works in the lore, which ships carry it, the fights it shaped and what the lore does and doesn't say about the name.
Behemoth-class battlecruiser
The Behemoth-class was the most common terran battlecruiser of the Great War, an improvement over the Leviathan-class that could travel through warp space, operate in atmosphere, and land on planets. It was the class of the famed Hyperion and remained in service well into the Second Great War.
Arcturus Mengsk
Arcturus Mengsk led the Sons of Korhal to bring down the Terran Confederacy and crowned himself Emperor of the Terran Dominion, ruling through cunning, propaganda, and brute force until his death during the Second Great War.
Brood War: Kerrigan's war for the Swarm
The Brood War was a zerg civil war between Kerrigan and the cerebrate Daggoth over who would succeed the Overmind. The UED invaded from Earth at the same time.
Dylarian Shipyards
The Dylarian Shipyards were a vast orbital complex above Dylar IV, used by the Terran Confederacy to build and maintain warships. They were the site of Raynor's Raiders hijacking the Hyperion and of a later United Earth Directorate raid that destroyed the yards.
Edmund Duke
Edmund Duke was a Terran Confederacy general in command of Alpha Squadron and a member of one of the Old Families of Tarsonis. After his rescue by the Sons of Korhal he defected to Arcturus Mengsk, becoming the chief military tactician of the Terran Dominion until his death at Sarah Kerrigan's hands.
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The armory was a terran research structure where scientists and test groups developed improved materials for the weapons and armor of vehicles and starships. Built around a core of cooling turbines and raised among the first buildings of any Dominion field base, it kept terran armor and airpower ahead of the enemies arrayed against them.
Battle of Korhal
The Battle of Korhal was the final battle of the Second Great War, a joint assault by Sarah Kerrigan's Zerg Swarm and Jim Raynor's Raiders on the Dominion capital. It ended with the death of Emperor Arcturus Mengsk and the destruction of much of Augustgrad.
Battlecruiser
The battlecruiser was the terran sector's capital ship, a heavily armed and armored warship dating back to the early Confederacy that served as both a general-purpose combatant and a fleet command vessel.
Behemoth-class battlecruiser
The Behemoth-class was the most common terran battlecruiser of the Great War, an improvement over the Leviathan-class that could travel through warp space, operate in atmosphere, and land on planets. It was the class of the famed Hyperion and remained in service well into the Second Great War.
Broodmother
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Bucephalus
The Bucephalus was a Gorgon-class battlecruiser and Terran Dominion flagship, built at the Ursa Shipyards to replace the stolen Hyperion. It carried Crown Prince Valerian Mengsk through the campaign on Char and the rogue flight that followed Kerrigan's rescue, and later served as Valerian's command ship during the Defenders of Man Insurgency.
Defenders of Man Insurgency
The Defenders of Man Insurgency was a conflict fought after the End War between the Terran Dominion and the separatist Defenders of Man, who lured feral zerg onto Dominion worlds to discredit Emperor Valerian Mengsk. It was exposed and crushed through the efforts of the ghost Nova Terra.
Dominion Armada: naval arm of the Terran Dominion
The Dominion Armada, also called the Dominion Fleet or Dominion Navy, was the space naval arm of the Terran Dominion military. Built partly from former Confederate units, it fought at Char, through the Brood War and the Second Great War, and in the End War against Amon.
Dominion Armed Forces
The Dominion Armed Forces were the military of the Terran Dominion, built from the Sons of Korhal and the conscripted remnants of the Confederacy. Across the Brood War, the Second Great War, and the war against Amon they grew into the most powerful terran military in the Koprulu sector.
Dylarian Shipyards
The Dylarian Shipyards were a vast orbital complex above Dylar IV, used by the Terran Confederacy to build and maintain warships. They were the site of Raynor's Raiders hijacking the Hyperion and of a later United Earth Directorate raid that destroyed the yards.
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