Thor

The Thor is a Terran mechanical unit.

Thor Project
The Thor project was the most significant Terran Dominion military development since the Brood War. It was developed at the Simonson munitions factory on Korhal under a complete security lockdown; the workers were effectively all under arrest to prevent any leak of information. As the project came closer to fruition Umojan Protectorate spies observed an increasing flow of high-ranking Dominion officers coming and going from the plant. Their hacking of cargo manifests showed deliveries of battlecruiser-weight neosteel armor and their sensors showed regular seismic shocks. Nonetheless, their information was extremely limited. Umojan agent Ulli Trey sneaked into the facility and, using an array of stealthy drones, finally acquired the information the Protectorate had sought; the secrets of the Thor Project were bared. The Thor, armed as heavily as a battlecruiser, could be constructed quickly by SCVs in the field. The Protectorate feared that no counter to this weapon would be discovered.

A Thor is armed with a pair of "Thor's Hammer" Particle Accelerators (fired from the arms) and Flak Cannons (for use against aerial opponents) mounted on the shoulders.

Game Unit
A Thor has a relatively large size when compared to other units. It has a long firing range and splash damage.

As of June 2008 the Thor's primary roles are to attack air units and to "push", leading charges against heavily fortified enemy positions. It now turns fairly quickly, and turn speed is not a balance factor. Its anti-air attacks have an area of effect which is devastating against small air units such as Zerg flyers but is inefficient unless the air units are tightly grouped. The attack deals poorly with heavily armored air units such as Battlecruisers.

The Thor has been shrunk and can move faster in order to better suit its anti-air role. However, it's anti-ground attack was weakened. The March 2008 version of the Thor had 300 hit points and could move at about the speed of an unsieged Siege Tank.

The Thor is countered by range, mobility, and certain anti-armor units.

Blizzard is currently looking at the possibility of Dropships being used to transport the Thor, as they would be limited in use if built on an island. However, the fact that the Thor is several times larger than a Dropship begs consideration.

Self-Repair
The Thor can self-repair. Once a Thor "dies" in combat, its wreckage remains on the battlefield. The Terran player can spend resources to relatively quickly rebuild it. The enemy player must decide to either destroy the vulnerable wreckage or target other units.

This gives them an advantage in combat against Battlecruisers, making up for their attack which isn't designed to take on heavy-armored air units.

Thor vs Siege Tanks
Compared to a Siege Tank, the Thor is an assault unit rather than a siege unit. It is exposed to enemy fire while attacking; its primary attack has much less range than a Siege Tank's 120 mm cannon.

Building an army of both Siege Tanks and Thors is possible, but expensive. The combination is difficult to stop.

Development
Blizzard Entertainment has had trouble finding a role for the Thor.

In early builds, the Thor could be constructed by SCVs in the field, though is now built from the Factory.

The Thor was scaled down in size as it was vulnerable to micro-ing from smaller units that could be built in only a fraction of the time and resources required to build a Thor.

250mm Cannons
Artillery Strike was a powerful long-ranged area-of-effect attack. To use the Artillery Strike, the Thor had to expend energy, then it "stabilized" itself as the cannons on its back were lowered. The four 250mm bombardment cannons alternated raining damage upon the area. The ability has been removed from the latest build.

StarCraft: Thundergod
The Thor will appear in the upcoming StarCraft: Frontline short story, StarCraft: Frontline: Thundergod.

Trivia
"The Mighty Thor" is a comic book written and drawn by Walter Simonson. It appears the Simonson munitions Factory was named after him. Simonson is also the author of the World of Warcraft comic series.

Thor is the Norse god of thunder.