Reaper

The reaper was a terran jet-pack equipped infantry unit. Operating in squads and classified as a foundational unit for terran forces, reapers specialized in hit-and-run, close-quarters combat and were more mobile than marines, their jet packs allowing them to surmount obstacles independently. In the Terran Dominion they were drawn largely from individuals resistant to neural resocialization and organized into the Dominion Reaper Corps, a brutal program that was later reformed under Emperor Valerian Mengsk. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; Reaper (StarCraft II official site); StarCraft: Evolution)

Role and equipment#

Operating in squads, reapers specialized in hit-and-run, close-quarters combat and were classified as foundational units for terran forces, more mobile than marines because their jet packs allowed them to surmount obstacles independently. The early jet packs, also called jump packs, were capable of full flight, but crashes and fatalities were common among new recruits as the unwieldy boosters proved difficult to control, and the hardware was known to explode at random due to poor distribution of fuel lines and air intakes. A complete overhaul followed, producing a flightless twin-turbine jump pack that gave reapers enough mobility to carry out their missions and return to base in one piece. In later years Dominion reapers were once again given fully flight-capable jetpacks, as more advanced suit designs and better training routines had eliminated many of the earlier crashes. (Reaper (StarCraft II official site); StarCraft: Evolution)

Reapers were clad in self-contained body suits and wore polarized plasteel flight goggles. They were armed with dual P-38, P-45, or P-55 pistols, and many also carried Deuterium-eight demolition charges despite the Terran Dominion Armed Forces' efforts to curtail their use. Combat drugs could be administered to reapers in the field. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; Reaper (StarCraft II official site))

The Dominion Reaper Corps#

Dominion reapers consisted of individuals resistant to neural resocialization: pirates, petty crooks, murderers, the occasional political dissident, and marine recruits who remained unmanageable even after being subjected to resocialization. These resistant recruits tended to be among the most hardened of criminals, and rather than being discharged they were sent to the "Icehouse" in the Torus system to be inducted into the Dominion Reaper Corps. There they were chemically altered to make them even more aggressive before undergoing brutal training in close-quarters combat and the use of their jet packs. Reapers were obligated to serve two years before discharge, and in the first five years of the Corps' existence not a single recruit completed more than six months of service, though some were allowed to leave for reasons such as injury. (Reaper (StarCraft II official site); Icehouse; StarCraft: Frontline Volume 4)

Upon coming to the throne, Emperor Valerian Mengsk reorganized the Reaper Corps, giving its members better and more humane training. He did away with the requirement to use dangerous stimulants and focused recruitment on finding candidates who were naturally unpredictable. Reapers could also be found among private militias within the Dominion, such as the Knights of Tyrador. (StarCraft: Evolution; StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void)

Other operators#

Beyond the Terran Dominion, other terran factions fielded reapers, including Raynor's Raiders, Tosh's Goons under Gabriel Tosh, Moebius Corps, the Defenders of Man, Mira's Marauders, the Umojan Protectorate, and various renegade units. The Umojan Protectorate maintained its own Reaper Corps. Mira's Marauders made use of a particularly large number of reapers, who modified their armor with scrap metals and became famous for their distinctive metal mohawks. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void; StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops; StarCraft II co-op missions)