Tychus Findlay

"Hell, it's about time!"

- Tychus Findlay

Tychus J. Findlay is a terran marine. He appeared in the original StarCraft II trailer.

He is an old friend of Jim Raynor. Findlay might have gone to prison to bail Raynor out of a hard spot.

Findlay owes large debts and has a self-serving streak. However, his true personality is a matter of debate-some describe Findlay as a scoundrel who would sell his own mother to the Kimeran Pirates for the right sum while others see him as a loyal soldier who risked his life for fellow marines in the Guild Wars. Not even Jim Raynor can say for sure.

Early Life
Tychus Findlay was born on Mar Sara in a very small, boring town.

Operation Early Retirement
By 2488, midway through the Guild Wars, Tychus Findlay, based on Raydin III, had reached the rank of staff sergeant. He had little love for the military however, seeing the Terran Confederacy government it served as corrupt and the people as weak for allowing the government to fool them.

Findlay was the second-in-command of Captain Jack Larimer's Tactical Response Squad, a position which enabled him to monitor Larimer's communications and gave him access to valuable information, such as the movements of materials captured from the Kel-Morian Combine at Prosser's Well. The treasure had yet to be inventoried, so he hatched a deal with Master Sergeant Calvin (commander of a military transportation company) and Gunnery Sergeant Sims (the supply sergeant in charge of the treasure). Findlay would be paid in silium crystals.

However, Findlay was dragged into one of Captain Larimer's schemes. The Tactical Response Squad flew a Kel-Morian-marked dropship to a civilian dissident's house and attacked, making it seem as if the Combine was opposed the the dissidents as well (or at least covering up Confederate involvement). Larimer's tactics put the squad in severe danger, prompting Findlay to punch him. Loyal Corporal "Troll" Wasser and other marines captured Findlay.

Down and Up
After a tribunal, Findlay was demoted to private and ordered to serve three months hard labor at Military Correctional Facility-R-156. He was singled out for punishment by Sergeant Bellamy, who liked to use a swagger stick to punish larger inmates. Findlay was ordered to pull a mine cart by himself. Bellamy also drew the ire of Sam Lassiter, whom he had imprisoned in a box for several days. Lassiter used a fork to stab Bellamy, causing him to temporarily retreat. Findlay used the opportunity to steal Bellamy's swagger stick and place it on the cart's rail path. When Bellamy returned, he began looking for his stick. When he found it, Findlay shouted out a "warning" and disabled the cart's brake (ensuring another prisoner would draw the blame). Bellamy was killed. The other prisoner was boxed as punishment and died as a result.

Findlay was eventually released and sent to Fort Howe, Turaxis II. Once there, he tried to resupply himself, but was ordered to come back later by a young lance corporal, Jim Raynor. Findlay's attempts to intimidate Raynor failed, in part because Raynor's friend, Hank Harnack, pointed a weapon at Findlay's head.

Findlay was later ordered to report to Lieutenant Colonel Javier Vanderspool, the commanding officer at Howe. Vanderspool threatened Findlay with being made a prisoner in his own body but decided to give him another chance, promoting him to sergeant (one rank below his original position).

Now-Sergeant Findlay found himself in charge of Raynor and his friends&mdash;Hank Harnack, Ryk Kydd, Connor Ward and Max Zander&mdash;and immediately set out to make their lives miserable. They were interrupted by an announcement from Vanderspool, reporting a Kel-Morian attack. Raynor suggested heading for the armory, and Findlay, while taking charge, agreed. During the battle, Findlay used his rifle to beat Kel-Morian ripper foreman Oleg Benson to death. At they armory they discovered Confederate marines loading civilian-driven trucks with valuable equipment. Findlay and Raynor captured the trucks and were surprised to be let free. Findlay reported that the enemy had looted the armory and his troops were in pursuit of the trucks. "Hotel-One" ordered him to stop but Findlay claimed technical difficulties. The two trucks were driven to Whitford where the treasure was hidden in a chapel.

Raynor realized that Findlay had simply stolen another criminal's scheme but couldn't find a way out of his dilemma. He suggested returning one truck to allay suspicion, while the 8 million credits worth of stolen jammers would be sold off.

Newly promoted Colonel Vanderspool began a new initiative, creating a Special Tactics and Mission Platoon within the 321st Colonial Rangers Battalion that he led. Lieutenant Marcus Quigby ended up in charge. However, Vanderspool didn't trust Findlay or his new friends, so he sent a spy, crab-addicted Petty Officer 3rd Class Lisa Cassidy, a fleet medic, to watch over them.

The platoon was introduced to the CMC-230 XE armor by Technician Hiram Feek. The armor was capable of "jumping" great distances and slowing down falls from dropships. Findlay easily adapted to the new equipment. He also struck up a romantic relationship with Cassidy.

Findlay arranged to sell the jammers in Whitford. While the trade was successful, hijackers attempted to rob them afterward. However, Findlay and friends fought them off.

Betrayals
Max Zander sold his take of the proceeds of crime for food, which he would give to the refugees. He took Connor Ward and Hiram Feek with him for assistance. They were captured at the town of Finner's Crossing by Silas Trask's bandits, although Feek escaped.

Jim Raynor proposed going to a pub, Hurley's, to collect information about their missing comrades. Feek armed the squad with experimental weapons. The off-duty troops raided the house, killing bandits and rescuing their friends. Days later, Findlay returned to Hurley's and nearly beat the proprietor, Hurley, to death for ratting them out to the bandits. Meanwhile Cassidy reported the squad's "earnings" to Vanderspool, who plotted revenge. However, the squad was too valuable to immediately throw away (due to their specialized armor training).

A Legend is Born
Now-Colonel Javier Vanderspool presented the Special Tactics and Mission Platoon to Captain Claire Hobarth, a dropship pilot who had been captured by the Kel-Morians and taken to Kel-Morian Internment Camp-36. She had escaped and brought intelligence on the facility.

The platoon was given special training at "Camp Crash" to prepare for assaulting it. During training, Findlay clashed with Max Speer, a recently-arrived embedded UNN reporter. Meanwhile, Jim Raynor planned on infiltrating the facility. Findlay brought the plan to Vanderspool, who agreed with it. At the command center, Findlay encountered Private Sam Lassiter, who was acting "too" politely and couldn't even remember his previous imprisonment.

The special platoon dropped out of the sky and assaulted the internment camp. Findlay and his friends in the First Squad rescued Raynor and Cole Hickson, another prison, from their public torture. However, they were unable to bring in other dropships to rescue the hundreds of prisoners due to Kel-Morian Hellhound counterattacks. Instead, Raynor suggested stealing the Kel-Morian vehicles and traveling into the disputed zone. During the journey, they were attacked by the Snakehead Kommando as well as Hellhounds, but held out long enough for Confederate Avenger support and troops dropped off by dropships to rescue them. The Snakeheads were wiped out and the prisoners rescued. The media began publicizing the "Heaven's Devils" as a result.

Sacrifices
Colonel Javier Vanderspool planned the third assault on Polk's Pride, a city split by the Paddick River. The Kel-Morian Combine controlled the north, while the Confederacy controlled the south. The STM platoon, now led by Lieutenant Samantha Sanchez, would fight near the front, crossing the river and aiming for a strategic resources depository which fueled the Kel-Morian war effort.

The platoon fought its way past numerous Kel-Morian barriers. Findlay, sometimes toting a gauss cannon, displayed his own heroics, in one case throwing a grenade into a dropship's air intakes, causing it to explode. After a sniper killed Sanchez, putting Findlay back in command of the platoon, they reached the repository itself. It was defended by Guild Guards, who were renowned for their martial arts training. Findlay managed to defeat their taskmaster by shoving a grenade into his helmet, sealing it and watching the resulting explosion. Eventually the Confederates captured the repository but at great cost in neurally resocialized troops. In celebration of victory, Findlay's squad had their picture taken.

Devils' End
Max Zander and Ryk Kydd had overheard a conversation between Colonel Vanderspool, Old Family member Errol Bennet (the father of Kydd) and Kel-Morian overseer Aaron Pax. They intended to hijack a Kel-Morian ardeon crystal train shipment at the town of Korsy and split the proceeds. Vanderspool planned to murder the Heaven's Devils platoon after the fighting.

Findlay and Raynor plotted revenge; they would steal the crystals for themselves. Findlay coopted Second Squad leader Sergeant Pinkham and even found a buyer at Free Port. Pretending not to know anything was amiss, they cooperated with Vanderspool as they took control of Korsy's small starport. Vanderspool ordered the Heaven's Devils to sweep the western part of town while his team, including Lieutenant Fitz and numerous neurally resocialized marines, would take control of the train station. While he was gone, Findlay disabled his platoon's dropship and put it under the control of Private Haster.

The Heaven's Devils sweep went easily for the most part, as their opposition consisted of unarmored guards who were being used to control the civilian populace. In one engagement however, Pinkham was killed.

Reaching the train station, the Heaven's Devils were put in front of the resocialized marines. When the train arrived, Overseer Pax executed a double cross, forcing Vanderspool's troops and the Heaven's Devils to fight side-by-side against the Kel-Morians. The train escaped, taking with it the treasure.

Enraged, he turned on the Devils. He knew much of their plotting, as Petty Officer Lisa Cassidy had betrayed them in return for access to crab. Findlay tried to attack, but Fitz stopped him by taking Cassidy prisoner and threatening to kill her. The First Squad escaped, with an enraged Findlay providing covering fire.

The retreat to the starport was a disaster, with several members of the squad being killed; only Findlay, Raynor and Kydd made it alive. There they found Vanderspool and Cassidy, who had been captured by Overseer Pax and a small number of rippers. During the firefight Pax, the rippers and Cassidy were all killed.

Raynor and Findlay went AWOL. The Confederate military charged the duo in absentia with manslaughter.

Following the Guild Wars, Findlay and Raynor became outlaws, pulling off thefts across the Koprulu Sector. Findlay developed a habit of exaggerating his exploits. The authorities caught Findlay after a heist, but Raynor escaped. Findlay may have gone to jail to spare Raynor.

New Folsom Prison
Findlay was sentenced to cryonic imprisonment.

His rap sheet included convictions for narcotics violations, theft, jailbreak, piracy, grand larceny and murder, and he was a suspect in other murders. He was sentenced to death, but the sentence was later commuted to solitary cryogenic incarceration for life. However, he was turned into an "indentured" marine, where he was set to serve for the rest of his life. Findlay claims to have escaped from New Folsom Prison while being transferred.

Wings of Liberty


Tychus Findlay met Jim Raynor again in a bar on Mar Sara. Raynor was surprised to see him, since Findlay had been "put on ice".

He offered Raynor a business proposal; "liberating" alien artifacts from the Terran Dominion. The Dominion had recently prohibited transportation of such artifacts, and began digging them up on planets such as Mar Sara. The artifacts would be sold to his contact, the formerly legitimate.

When pressed on how he escaped from prison, Findlay claimed he broke out while being transported to New Folsom Prison, killing several guards with his bare hands. Raynor didn't appear to believe him. Regardless, the pair successfully "liberated" an alien artifact, only to find themselves under attack by the zerg. Fending them off, they held out long enough to be rescued by the Hyperion. Findlay then lined up a mission retrieving another artifact from the protoss shrine-world of Monlyth.

Findlay believed that Raynor likes tangling with the Terran Dominion a little more than he should. He pushed Raynor towards cutting corners and acting like a pirate.

Appearance
"My appearance is an incredible asset."

- Findlay replies to a comment from Gunnery Sergeant Sims

Physical
Findlay masses 165 kilograms (363 pounds). On the knuckles of his left hand there is a tattoo of the word "PAIN", as well as a snake around a cross above his index finger. Additionally, he has a scar across his stomach, as well as a tattoo on his back and shoulders which is believed to say "HEAVEN'S DEVILS". His shoulders are nearly 40 inches across.

Armor
Findlay appears to have been "sealed" into his armor (he wears only prison pants underneath). His armor number is displayed as 435 and appears to have a picture of a pin-up model painted onto the left shoulder pad. There is a tally mark of 13 on his left wrist and his armor has many other decorations, including a skull and bones insignia (very similar to the insignia of Omega Squadron).

Game Unit
Tychus Findlay is set to appear in StarCraft II as a hero.

Findlay appears to use StimPacks.

Other Appearances
Tamsen Cauley consulted Tychus Findlay's profile, along with that of Jim Raynor, when planning to assassinate the latter in the StarCraft comic.

Merchandise
Blizzard Entertainment announced the Tychus J. Findlay Limited Edition Statue. The polystone collector's item is 18 inches tall and portrays Findlay standing atop a freshly killed hydralisk. The statue was available for pre-order but has since sold out.

A Tychus Findlay toy is also available.

Related videos
thumb|left|300px|Findlay suiting up.