Every Terran Unit in StarCraft and StarCraft II, Explained

The terran arsenal changed a lot between StarCraft (1998) and StarCraft II (2010 to 2015). The Terran Confederacy fought the first war with vultures, wraiths and goliaths, and the Terran Dominion spent the years after the Brood War replacing most of them. This page covers every terran unit from both games, including the ones only seen in the campaigns, with a short note on where each came from and where it shows up.

Infantry#

Terran infantry wear powered armour and are usually trained in a barracks. Under the Confederacy and the early Dominion, a lot of them were convicts put through neural resocialization.

Marine#

The marine is the backbone of every terran army, a soldier in a CMC powered combat suit carrying a C-14 Impaler gauss rifle. The Confederacy filled its ranks with resocialized criminals and conscripts. Jim Raynor and Tychus Findlay both started out as Confederate marines in the Guild Wars. Marines appear in StarCraft, Brood War and every StarCraft II campaign and multiplayer mode. (StarCraft (manual); StarCraft II: Heaven's Devils; StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

Firebat#

The firebat is a heavily armoured trooper with twin arm-mounted flamethrowers, attached to marine squads to burn out enemies at close range. Many were resocialized criminals and pyromaniacs, and the Confederacy was already fielding them in the Guild Wars. The Dominion later built the marauder's armour from the firebat's suit. Firebats are a core unit in StarCraft and Brood War, but in StarCraft II they appear only in the Wings of Liberty campaign. (StarCraft Field Manual; StarCraft II: Heaven's Devils; StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

Medic#

The medic is a combat physician who heals wounded infantry in the field with trauma gear and medical nanobots. Medics joined the terran lineup in Brood War, and Confederate medics were known for their white armour marked with a red cross. In StarCraft II multiplayer the medivac took over the job, so medics show up only in the Wings of Liberty campaign. (StarCraft: Brood War; StarCraft: Ghost: Nova; StarCraft Field Manual; StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

Marauder#

The marauder is the Dominion's heavy infantry, built after the Brood War when studies showed marines struggled against armoured zerg. Engineers based its suit on the firebat's chassis and gave it two arm-mounted Punisher grenade launchers, and it was in service by 2503. Raynor's Raiders, Mira's Marauders and the Umojan Protectorate all fielded them. It appears in Wings of Liberty onward, in both campaign and multiplayer. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft: Ghost: Spectres; StarCraft Field Manual)

Reaper#

The reaper is a jet-pack trooper built for raids and close-quarters fighting. Most reapers were criminals whose minds resisted resocialization, and the Dominion Reaper Corps trained them at a brutal facility known as the Icehouse, where recruits were fed dangerous stimulants. Raynor's Raiders recruited reapers on Redstone III during the Second Great War. Reapers appear in every StarCraft II campaign and in multiplayer. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; Icehouse)

Ghost#

The ghost is a psionic covert operative, taken as a child by the Ghost Program and trained as an assassin who can cloak, snipe and paint targets for a nuclear strike. Sarah Kerrigan was a Confederate ghost before Arcturus Mengsk abandoned her on Tarsonis, and Nova Terra came out of the Dominion's Ghost Academy. Ghosts are one of the few units in every terran lineup, from StarCraft to Nova Covert Ops. (StarCraft; StarCraft: Ghost: Nova; StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops)

Vehicles#

Terran ground vehicles come out of the factory, apart from the SCV and the MULE. The roster moved from the Confederacy's hover bikes and walkers to the Dominion's flame buggies, transforming tanks and heavy mechs.

SCV#

The T-280 SCV (space construction vehicle) is a piloted engineering walker used across the Koprulu sector to build bases, mine minerals, collect vespene gas and repair machines. It was first used to rebuild the orbital platforms of Tarsonis and became a staple of colonial construction. Every terran base in every game starts with a command center and a handful of SCVs. (StarCraft (manual); StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

MULE#

The MULE is a robotic mining vehicle dropped from orbit by a command center that has been upgraded to an orbital command. It works for a short time and then shuts down, which lets a base speed up its harvesting or patch up damaged machines. The MULE appears in Wings of Liberty onward. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

Vulture#

The vulture is a cheap, fast hover bike that served as Confederate and Dominion cavalry, armed with a grenade launcher and able to scatter spider mines. Pirates and raiders loved it, and Jim Raynor rode one as a marshal on Mar Sara. The Dominion replaced it with the hellion. Vultures are a core unit in StarCraft and Brood War, and in StarCraft II they appear only in the Wings of Liberty campaign. (StarCraft; StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

Hellion#

The hellion is a light four-wheeled raider with a heavy flamethrower, stripped down from an earlier armoured vehicle that proved too cumbersome for scouting. The Dominion adopted it as its main scout in place of the vulture, and when Raynor's Raiders designed a tougher tyre for it, the Dominion stole the blueprints through its spy network. It appears in Wings of Liberty onward, in campaign and multiplayer. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft II official website; StarCraft Field Manual)

Hellbat#

The hellbat, first called the battle hellion, is a Dominion upgrade that lets a hellion fold up into an armoured walker spraying napalm. The Dominion later issued retrofit kits so older hellions could be converted. Junker gangs and Mira's Marauders also got their hands on them. Hellbats arrived in Heart of the Swarm multiplayer. (StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm; StarCraft II official website; StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void)

Widow mine#

The widow mine is a small four-legged robot that burrows into the ground and fires a missile at anything that comes close. Dominion engineers built it on the spider mine of the vulture era, taking ideas from zerg burrowers. It was added in Heart of the Swarm multiplayer. (StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm; StarCraft II official website)

Siege tank#

The siege tank is a treaded armoured vehicle that can lock itself down into a long-range artillery platform. The Confederacy designed the original Arclite model, and the Dominion and the Umojans built their own versions after the Brood War. Siege tanks are in the StarCraft, Brood War and StarCraft II multiplayer rosters, and in every terran campaign. (StarCraft (manual); StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

Goliath#

The goliath is a two-legged combat walker armed with autocannons for ground targets and missiles for aircraft. LarsCorp Technologies first built it for the Kel-Morian Combine, until corporate saboteurs stole the plans and sold them to the Confederacy, and goliaths proved their worth in the Kel-Morian mining revolts. Goliaths are a core unit in StarCraft and Brood War. In StarCraft II they appear in the Wings of Liberty campaign but not in multiplayer. (StarCraft (manual); StarCraft; StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

Cyclone#

The cyclone is a fast tracked assault vehicle with twin missile pods and a lock-on system that lets it keep firing while it moves. The Dominion first designed it as a robot drone to keep soldiers out of danger, then put a pilot back in because humans proved more creative than its AI. It was added in Legacy of the Void multiplayer. (StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void; StarCraft Field Manual)

Thor#

The thor is a huge siege walker, a cheaper and smaller version of the Odin from the Dominion's Thor Project. Rory Swann reverse-engineered its schematics from the Odin for Raynor's Raiders, who fielded their first thors during the attack on the UNN studios on Korhal. Thors appear in Wings of Liberty onward, in campaign and multiplayer. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

Starships#

Terran aircraft and warships launch from the starport. The Brood War showed that the old wraith and valkyrie squadrons couldn't handle zerg fliers, and the Dominion rebuilt most of its air arm as a result.

Wraith#

The CF/A-17 wraith is a one-man cloaking space superiority fighter, designed by Tarsonian technicians to hit large ships while dodging their batteries. The Confederacy's Alpha Squadron flew wraiths in the first war, and the UED expeditionary fleet brought its own. After the Brood War the viking took over its anti-air job and the banshee its ground-attack job, though the Dominion kept wraiths in service. Wraiths are a core unit in StarCraft and Brood War, and in StarCraft II they appear only in the Wings of Liberty campaign. (StarCraft (manual); StarCraft; StarCraft: Brood War; StarCraft II official website; StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

Dropship#

The dropship is a heavily armoured transport rated for both atmospheric and deep space flight, carrying marine infantry and armour into battle. Its daredevil pilots put up with a ship known to be faulty and unreliable, and early plans to arm it were dropped in favour of more cargo space. After the Brood War the Dominion redesigned it as the medivac. The dropship appears in StarCraft and Brood War. (StarCraft (manual); StarCraft: Brood War; StarCraft II official website)

Medivac#

The medivac is a dropship rebuilt as a flying triage station that heals troops as it carries them. The idea began as a field modification by the Dominion's 19th Marine Division, and Arcturus Mengsk ordered it into production after a post-Brood War study found that 37 percent of deployed troops became casualties. On Tyrador VIII, Emil Narud handed Raynor control of the Moebius Foundation's medivacs to get his troops through a zerg attack. It appears in Wings of Liberty onward, in campaign and multiplayer. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft II official website)

Viking#

The A2 viking is a transforming craft that flies as an air superiority fighter and lands as a two-legged walker. Terran engineers came up with it after the Brood War, when wraiths and valkyries struggled against zerg fliers and goliaths couldn't keep up. Vikings appear in Wings of Liberty onward, in campaign and multiplayer. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft II official website)

Banshee#

The AH/G-24 banshee is a cloaking ground-attack aircraft built by Procyon Industries for Dominion counter-insurgency work. It was in service by 2502 and soon earned a reputation as a terror weapon in urban fighting. Raynor's Raiders, the Kel-Morian Combine and the Umojans all got hold of banshees. It appears in Wings of Liberty onward, in campaign and multiplayer. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft II official website)

Liberator#

The liberator is a Dominion gunship that fights aircraft with twin missile launchers and can transform into a hovering platform with a heavy plasma cannon pointed at the ground. Its design draws on the valkyrie. Nova's covert ops crew flew liberators too. It was added in Legacy of the Void multiplayer and appears in Nova Covert Ops. (StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void; StarCraft II official website; StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops)

Science vessel#

The science vessel is a research and exploration ship that doubles as a battlefield support craft, able to detect cloaked enemies, shield allies and irradiate zerg. In the Great War, Kerrigan's zerg boarded the science vessel Amerigo at Char to steal Ghost Program files. Science vessels are a core unit in StarCraft and Brood War, and Raynor's Raiders flew an updated type in the Wings of Liberty campaign. (StarCraft (manual); StarCraft; StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

Raven#

The raven is a support craft built around a powerful onboard AI and a small manufacturing plant that can deploy auto-turrets and other devices. Raynor's Raiders fielded ravens during the Second Great War. Ravens appear in Wings of Liberty onward, in campaign and multiplayer. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft II official website)

Valkyrie#

The valkyrie is a missile frigate built by the United Earth Directorate to shred fighter formations with salvos of rockets. It reached the Koprulu sector with the UED pacification fleet at the start of the Brood War and later passed to local terran factions. The valkyrie appears only in Brood War, though its design lived on in the liberator. (StarCraft: Brood War; StarCraft Field Manual)

Battlecruiser#

The battlecruiser is the terran capital ship, a heavily armed warship dating back to the early Confederacy that works as both a front-line combatant and a fleet command post. Its signature weapon is the Yamato cannon. The most famous is Raynor's Hyperion, and admirals like Gerard DuGalle and generals like Edmund Duke flew their flags from battlecruisers. They appear in every game. (StarCraft (manual); StarCraft; StarCraft: Brood War; StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

Retired and campaign-only units#

These units never made it into StarCraft II multiplayer. Most were hired, built or stolen by Raynor's Raiders in the Wings of Liberty campaign, alongside mercenary versions of regular units such as the War Pigs marines.

Spectre#

The spectre is a ghost whose powers have been boosted with terrazine, at the cost of addiction and unstable minds. Arcturus Mengsk created them in secret under Project Shadowblade, and Gabriel Tosh later tried to free imprisoned spectres to build his own army. In Wings of Liberty, Raynor has to choose between helping Tosh or Nova Terra, and siding with Tosh unlocks spectres. They're campaign-only. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft: Ghost: Spectres)

Diamondback#

The diamondback is a hover tank that can fire while moving at full speed. The Confederacy built prototypes but never finished the design, and Raynor's Raiders found abandoned ones in the hills of Tarsonis, where Swann got them working again to hit Dominion trains. It's only playable in the Wings of Liberty campaign. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

Predator#

The predator is a large robot shaped like a big cat, used to fight infantry. The Dominion used predators to train reapers at the Icehouse, and Egon Stetmann's research on zerg samples let Raynor's Raiders fit them with an electrical discharge field. It appears in the Wings of Liberty campaign. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; Icehouse)

Hercules#

The Hercules is a heavy transport that carries far more troops than a medivac and is armoured to land them in the middle of a fight. Raynor's Raiders could add it to their fleet in the Wings of Liberty campaign. It doesn't heal its passengers. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

Odin#

The Odin is the Dominion's giant prototype walker, the most important military project since the Brood War and the design the thor was based on. Raynor's Raiders stole it before its public unveiling on Korhal, and Tychus piloted it in the attack that broadcast Mengsk's war crimes across the sector. It later defended the palace in Augustgrad and was destroyed when Kerrigan's swarm took the city. It appears in the Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm campaigns. (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm)

Warhound#

The warhound is a walker built on an SCV chassis, first put together on fringe colonies to fight off bandits. The Dominion adopted it, mostly for use against rebel terrans. It was planned for Heart of the Swarm multiplayer and cut before release, but warhounds still appear as enemies in the Heart of the Swarm campaign. (Command Performance; StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm)

HERC#

The HERC is a heavy trooper armed with a welding gun and a grapple line, and many were former asteroid miners pressed into service. HERCs and War Pigs held out on Jarban Minor after the zerg overran an Umojan expedition, and they helped Nova recover terrazine there. They appear in Nova Covert Ops. (StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops; StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void)