Hero unit

Hero units are a gameplay feature in StarCraft and StarCraft II. Hero units are unique units that usually represent plot-important characters taking part in battle on the field.

StarCraft
With the exceptions of Sarah Kerrigan and Infested Kerrigan, hero units are visually identical to normal units, differentiated from them by being different colors. Terran and protoss hero units are set to teal (Player 3), while zerg hero units are set to red (Player 1), and these forces are set to rescuable, joining the player when their units approach the hero unit. The one exception is again Infested Kerrigan, who is set to purple (Player 4) in Episode II, the same force as the player's, and continues to use this coloration until the final missions of StarCraft Episode VI.

Hero units are powered-up forms of base units. They usually come with all upgrades and abilities researched, have more HP, shields and armor, and higher attack power. In most missions, it is required for all of the player's hero units to survive the mission&mdash;if a hero unit dies, the player receives a notification of this and the mission fails. In StarCraft: Brood War, enemy structures and units with particular importance are designated yellow as a sort of enemy hero, such as Jim Raynor's command center in the Episode V mission Emperor's Flight, and the subsequent dropship that spawns from the command center at the end of the mission. In the Episode VI mission True Colors, Edmund Duke and Fenix use teal as their hero coloration instead.

Only a handful of hero units have unique abilities. Tassadar is a high templar hero unit but possesses a normal attack that high templar do not. Samir Duran as a zerg hero unit has the abilities of a terran ghost, as well as regenerating HP and the consume ability, and uses terran infantry weapons upgrades to determine his weapon power but zerg ground carapace upgrades to determine his armor. Infested Kerrigan is treated as the hero unit of the infested terran in StarEdit, but is an entirely unique unit with a different appearance and different abilities. Strictly speaking, civilians are treated as hero units by StarEdit, and have no normal unit counterpart.

In addition to important characters receiving hero units, every unit in the base game has a hero unit counterpart, with the exceptions of the worker units of each race, the broodling, the scourge, the dropship, the shuttle, and the observer. However, aside from the plot-critical hero units, hero units do not possess unique portraits or dialogue, using the same portrait and quotes as normal units. In Brood War, none of the new units of each race receive a hero unit counterpart, though the dark templar, a hero unit in the base game, became a normal unit in Brood War while Zeratul and the hero unit version of the dark templar remained in the game.

StarCraft II
In StarCraft II, hero units are much more diverse in their appearances and abilities. Hero units are often given a unique coloration and have unique unit models. They often have unique abilities and statistics from their base unit counterpart, and several hero units have no base unit counterpart at all.

In each mission, any available hero units have a portrait representing them displayed in the lower-right over the command menu. Clicking on this portrait or pressing a designated hotkey will instantly select the hero unit. The portrait displays bars for the hero unit's HP, shields and energy, if the latter two are applicable. As in StarCraft, hero units in Wings of Liberty are required to survive a mission or else the player instantly loses, with the exception of the missions "Media Blitz" "In Utter Darkness". In "Media Blitz", if the Odin is destroyed the mission continues normally without the Odin, while in "In Utter Darkness", the player receives notification of a hero's death and the mission continues normally. In Heart of the Swarm, all heroes the player controls respawn at their main hatchery when killed, with the exception of Niadra in the mission "Enemy Within"; Niadra's death results in a loss in this case.

StarCraft

 * Note: In various maps such as Mercenaries and Enslavers, hero units are renamed and given different stats to serve as different characters. The following is the listing of heroes as they appear in StarEdit.

Terran Heroes

 * Jim Raynor (Marine)
 * Gui Montag (Firebat)
 * Sarah Kerrigan (Ghost)
 * Jim Raynor (Vulture)
 * Alan Schezar (Goliath)
 * Edmund Duke (Siege tank)
 * Tom Kazansky (Wraith)
 * Magellan (Science vessel)
 * Norad II (Battlecruiser)
 * Hyperion (Battlecruiser)
 * Samir Duran (Ghost)
 * Alexei Stukov (Ghost)

Zerg Heroes

 * Devouring One (Zergling)
 * Hunter Killer (Hydralisk)
 * Unclean One (Defiler)
 * Infested Kerrigan (Infested terran)
 * Infested Duran (Ghost)
 * Torrasque (Ultralisk)
 * Yggdrasill (Overlord)
 * Matriarch (Queen)
 * Kukulza (Mutalisk)
 * Kukulza (Guardian)

Protoss Heroes

 * Fenix (Zealot)
 * Fenix (Dragoon)
 * Tassadar (High templar)
 * Zeratul (Dark templar)
 * Dark templar
 * Tassadar/Zeratul (Archon)
 * Warbringer (Reaver)
 * Mojo (Scout)
 * Artanis (Scout)
 * Gantrithor (Carrier)
 * Danimoth (Arbiter)

Terran Heroes

 * Jim Raynor (Marine)
 * Jim Raynor (Sniper)
 * Jim Raynor (Commando)
 * Tychus Findlay (Chaingun)
 * Tychus Findlay (Commando)
 * General Warfield (Marine)
 * Rory Swann (Marauder)
 * Egon Stetmann (Medic)
 * Tosh (Spectre)
 * Nova (Ghost)
 * Odin (Thor)
 * Archangel (Viking)
 * Hyperion (Battlecruiser)
 * Loki (Battlecruiser)
 * Valerian Mengsk
 * A.R.E.S.
 * Gorgon Battlecruiser

Zerg Heroes

 * Note: Sarah Kerrigan's hero unit and abilities change throughout the campaign


 * Alexei Stukov
 * Brakk
 * Dehaka
 * Kraith
 * Leviathan
 * Narud (labeled as such in the map editor)
 * Niadra
 * Overmind
 * Sarah Kerrigan
 * Slivan
 * Yagdra
 * Zagara
 * Zurvan

Protoss Heroes

 * Jim Raynor (Marine, Lab) (labeled as such in the map editor)
 * Zeratul (Dark templar)
 * Karass (High templar)
 * Urun (Phoenix)
 * Mohandar (Void ray)
 * Selendis (Carrier)
 * Purifier (Mothership)
 * Tal'darim Mothership (Mothership)
 * Artanis (Mothership)
 * Lasarra
 * Tassadar
 * Void Seeker