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Maraudin' Muradin – Character, Abilities and Quotes Lore
Hey all,
So to spread out some of the content I have (and because I want to keep playing StarCraft Remastered) this week's a bit of a short one, going into one of the skins with StarCraft lore. There's three I'll be doing episodes on (Queen of Ghosts Kerrigan and Infested Tychus being the other two), and maybe I'll do one grouped one on other SC relevant skins. But with all the special quotes and abilities, a few of the legendary ones deserve their own episodes.
The History of the Marauders
Heroes fans who don't know too much StarCraft will also recognize marauders as the melee minions on the “Braxis Holdout” and “Warhead Junction” maps. Durable and clad in black armor, marauders are a recent addition to the terran arsenal and powerful frontline infantry based off of classic firebat technology.
After the Brood War (StarCraft 1), the Terran Dominion began to reassess its combat doctrine. Many of its weapons were designed to fight against human armies, and the appearance of the Zerg Swarm necessitated some changes in how they operated. One glaring gap in their infantry was the ability to break through the tough hides of zerg creatures like the massive ultralisk (that other Kerrigan ult) and the new and durable roach (Zagara's E ability). They turned to the armor of the firebat flame trooper for the inspiration for a new design.
Spun off the firebat's CMC-600 armor, a new 5-4 Combat Suit was developed, with dual grenade launchers capable of firing K12 Punisher Grenades. These shells were constructed via a mobile miniature factory in the suit, ensuring that the marauder would always be combat ready. These grenades could be modified into concussive shells, creating a small gravity distortion that slows targets. This allows them to support marines by preventing melee units from getting too close.
Marauder armor is also famed for its durability, with a kinetic foam undercoating that allows for greater durability (though it absorbs the operator's sweat and smells). Marauder armor has also been modified to allow them to be dropped from dropships from higher altitudes, making them ideal for insertion operations. Like marines, marauders could also use stimpacks to aid them in battle and keep them active and in the fight.
Though a Terran Dominion invention, the marauder fell into the hands of many groups. Raynor's Raiders came into use of them during the Second Great War, and modified them to outdo the Dominion's designs. The Umojan Protectorate and various mercenary and criminal groups also used them for durable frontline infantry. But the one we'll be focusing on today is the most famous example of the marauder, the Kel-Morian Combine and their Hammer Securities.
The (Three?) Hammer Securities
The Kel-Morian Combine one of the three terran nations, run not by a government but by a powerful business conglomerate of the Moria Mining Coalition and the Kelanis Shipping Guild . Though they do have a standing army, they rely heavily on pirate, bandit and mercenary groups that operate out of their nation, and contract themselves out across the sector. One such group is the Hammer Securities, or H-Sec, one of the most famed marauder groups in the sector.
The Hammer Securities were known for doing corporate security jobs primarily, and were notorious for often coming into conflict with the Terran Dominion and their emperor Arcturus Mengsk. Rather than the standard K12 grenade launchers, Hammer Securities used modified cannons known as “The Mediators,” to deal with opponents. During the Second Great War, mercenary liaison Graven Hill hired them to work with Jim Raynor of Raynor's Raiders. The Hammer Securities followed Jim all through the war, helping him both during the assault on Char and the final attack on Mengsk's palace that overthrew Arcturus Mengsk. Years later, when Jim Raynor aided in a joint Zerg Swarm/protoss/Terran Dominion into the dimension known as the Void, killing the fallen xel'naga (creator of the protoss and zerg) Amon.
The Three Hammer Securities is a blend of the Council of Three Hammers from Warcraft (the ruling council of the dwarven race) and the Hammer Securities I mentioned above. In spite of the name change, all of Maraudin' Muradin's interactions appear to be that of the regular Hammer Securities.
Maraudin' Muradin himself is a holdover from when Heroes of the Storm was Blizzard DotA and a mod for StarCraft II arcade, and his model was one of the first characters in the game
Abilities
Q: Storm Bolt – Modified to look like a marauder's shot from the hammer. Much like a marauder's concussive shells, this ability can stun a target (though concussive shells only slow).
R2: Haymaker – One of the more interesting small details, when Maraudin' Muradin winds up his Haymaker, his hammer arm turns into one of claw arms the Hammer Securities have in the campaign.
Z: Rocket Jump Jets – Maruadin' Muradin's special mount has flavor text referencing the fact his jump jet are that of the terran infantry reaper. He even makes a similar joke about it later. In SC2, these are notoriously dangerous jetpacks that allow reapers to jump up cliffs, and in some cases even just straight up fly.
Poke quotes
Marauder quotes from StarCraft II
”I asked to have this mechano-beard be custom built into my suit, but for the life of me I can't remember what it's supposed to do.” – A running joke through his poke quotes. Since he's wearing armor, the beard is a bit of a silly design from a practical standpoint.
”Interest you in a pint? Of oil? (drinks) (belches) Now that's viscosity!” – Interest you in a pint is a generic NPC quote from dwarves in World of Warcraft. Since Maraudn' Muradin is not a dwarf, he switches it to oil (even if beer still works for StarCraft universe mercenaries).
”They wanted to put a rocket on the back of me hammer. I told them they were crazy, you'd have to be some sort of giant to wield a weapon like that. Better to SHOOT the rocket than to hold on to it!” – May be a reference to Reinhardt from Overwatch, who had a rocket on the back of his hammer. Maraudin' Muradin meanwhile shoots a rocket from the top of his hammer.
”Even I don't know what smithereens are, but there sure are a lot of them after I get into a fight.” – A reference to the SC2 marauder quote “what the hell are smithereens anyway?”
”For the last time, I ain't this “Rory Swann” you keep asking for. That's me cousin!” – Rory Swann is a character from StarCraft II who is often suggested as a marauder hero in Heroes of the Storm. He's Raynor's chief engineer who builds up his army through the campaigns, and later becomes one of the main engineers for the Terran Dominion after Arcturus Mengsk is overthrown. Swann is also a short mechanic and a former miner, so he's often compared to the Warcraft dwarves.
”Hey, it's not taking a swig lad, it's refueling! (gulps liquid) Fueled up and good to go!” – A common joke is that dwarves in Warcraft love beer. “Fueled up and good to go” is what the StarCraft II siege tank says when it's built.
”Mischief managed! Oh, whoops, sorry! Wrong kind of marauder.” – A reference to the Marauder's Map from the Harry Potter universe, a map that would track people and would erase itself when the words “mischief managed” were said to it.
”Yeah, this jetpack is a great addition to this suit. I just wish it could jump up cliffs.” – In StarCraft II, jetpacks are used by a terran infantry unit called the reaper, which is a fast attack unit with a jetpack. Reapers can use these to jump up and down cliffs. The description for his jetpack mount also references this.
”Ah, now I remember what the mechanobeard is for! Built in cooler!” – Koprulu Sector terrans in StarCraft are famous for drinking a lot. In the StarCraft 1 cinematic Battle on the Amerigo, a group of terrans use a cold fusion bomb as a cooler to store their beers.
”On my platoon's last mission, we were sent to a red dwarf. Turns out I knew the guy! Poor bastard never did wear sunblock” – Red dwarf is a type of star. In this case it was just a sunburned dwarf.
”A gunsword? Oh come on are you kidding me that's ridiculous. Now if you'll excuse me I need to reload my grenade hammer.” – Gunswords are a famously impractical weapon from Final Fantasy, also a poke at how Maraudin' Muradin's weapon is just as silly. Interestingly enough, in the campaign Nova Covert Ops, Nova can find and equip a Blazefire Gunsword as a hidden weapon, making them canon in the StarCraft universe.
Interaction Quotes
Almost all of Muradin's generic non-specific interaction quotes are quotes from the Marauder in StarCraft II.
Arthas: ”Gotta tell ya, I don't like the look of that sword.” – Arthas's sword Frostmourne was what killed (or knocked out) Muradin in Warcraft III. Though Maraudin' Muradin is not Muradin, the fact his base had a history with it makes it uneasy.
Murky: ”Never seen a zerg like you, laddy.” – Since murlocs don't exist in the StarCraft universe, Maraudin' Muradin just assumes Murky is a zerg.
Lost Vikings: ”You lads look like you've been on a long tour of duty.” – Maraudin' Muradin only knows the military life, and the Lost Vikings are, well, lost.
Arthas: ”Ah, we terrans have lost plenty of worlds. What's another going to do?” – Through the Great War and Second Great War, many terran worlds were either infested by the zerg, purified by the protoss or invaded by various other factions.
Falstad: ”Are you callin me short laddy?” – In spite of being based off a dwarf, Maraudin' Muradin is technically a human.
Murky: ”Something tells me you're even worse than the zerg.” – A true fact.
Lost Vikings: ”I'm a Marauder not a – Bah nevermind.” – Olaf asks him if he's a viking. In StarCraft, vikings are a transforming terran aircraft that can become a ground walker. Maraudin' Muradin thinks Olaf is getting him confused with a different StarCraft unit.
Kill Quotes
Arthas: ”For some reason, that felt REAL good.” – Arthas betrayed Muradin and left him for dead in Northrend after he claimed Frostmourne. Though he's not Muradin, Maraudin' Muradin still feels good about getting revenge for that.
Valla: ”Should have used more explosives, lass!” – Though Valla uses various grenades, traps and explosives, it's not as much as a marauder, whose whole thing is launching explosive grenades or disarming explosives.
Falstad: ”Huh. I think I knew that guy.” – Falstad is the ruler of the Wildhammer Dwarves and one of the Council of Three Hammers (which Muradin is also on), so his base character Muradin knew Falstad.
Raynor: ”Sorry boss, a merc's gotta earn his pay.” – Raynor hired the Hammer Securities during the Wings of Liberty campaign, and they stayed with him all the way into his attack on the Void.
Tassadar: ”Ha! Protoss ain't so pro after all!” – A pun on the “pro” in protoss. The Hammer Securities have had some experience taking out the protoss, and the marauder counters a lot of protoss units in StarCraft II.
Thrall: ”Boomhammer beats Doomhammer!” – Doomhammer is Thrall's weapon, where as a grenade launcher hammer is Maraudin' Muradins.
Gazlowe: ”In the rear with the gear!” – This is a quote from the StarCraft II terran worker unit the SCV. Maraudin Muradin is comparing the giant mechanical pack of Gazlowe to an SCV.
Tychus: ”Ha! Saved Jimmy a bullet.” – At the end of Wings of Liberty, Tychus reveals that he had been working for the Dominion for his freedom, and Raynor kills him after he tries to kill a deinfested Kerrigan. Raynor used the one bullet he had saved for Mengsk to kill Tychus. This is a joke poking at that.
Other Quotes
”For Kel-Moria!” – The Kel-Morian Combine is Maraudin' Muradin's home nation. Interestingly enough this isn't really a correct battlecry, it should be “For Moria” or “For the Combine/KMC!” Moria itself is the planet the Kel-Morian Combine is situated on, not Kel-Moria.
”Kaboom laddy!” – In StarCraft II, the construction quote for the marauder is “kaboom baby!” This mixes that with Muradin's propensity to say “laddy.”
Again, most of his quotes are just variants of the StarCraft II marauder quotes.
Skins
An interesting note on his base design: On Maraudin Muradin's “Boomhammer,” there's the symbol of the Terran Dominion. This is a bit off for the character, since he was born in the Kel-Morian Combine and joined the Hammer Securities, whose main job constantly put them at odds with the Dominion.
Raider – In StarCraft, Raynor's Raiders generally use the blue color scheme for terrans in-game. Raynor's Raiders were a rebel group that broke away from Mengsk when he rose to power, and later helped take him down and install his son as Emperor. Maraudin' Muradin was hired by Raynor's Raiders to aid them.
Dominion – In StarCraft, the color scheme of the Terran Dominion is generally red. The Dominion is the most powerful terran government, and ruled by the dictator Arcturus Mengsk. Raynor fights against them while Mengsk holds on to power, suppressing all opposition while protecting his empire from the zerg and all outside threats.
Umojan – The Umojan Protectorate is the third and smallest Koprulu terran nation, focusing on science and culture over military technology, and subverting their rival nations through vast spy networks. Generally, their units are colored white. In Heart of the Swarm, Hammer Securities were seen fighting for the Umojans when the base they used to house a recently deinfested Kerrigan was attacked by the Dominion, though it's unknown if they were actually Hammer Securities or just Umojan Marauders (mercenary skinned marines in that level were labeled “Umojan Marines”).
That's all for this week, not sure who I'll do next week, I may try to tackle one of the larger ones (like Nova, Kerrigan or Raynor) though I may split them between a full lore section and the quotes/interactions since both will be REALLY long. Let me know what you think on that, otherwise I'll see you all next week!
KinaBREW
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