"He only needs one."
- Sarah Kerrigan and Zagara(src)
The Gorgon is a class of advanced terran battlecruiser.[1] During the reign of Emperor Valerian Mengsk, the Gorgons were considered to be key to the Dominion Fleet, so much so that it was thought Valerian could not effectively rule without them.[2]
Overview[]
The Gorgon was in production by 2503, and at least one, the Bucephalus, was designed to be a large and impressive flagship.[3] It came equipped with J23 missile launchers, crew-served batteries, point defense systems across the hull and a crew complement of 6,000 to 8,000.[4] At least some Gorgons were outfitted with defensive matrix technology.[5]
Gorgons are maintained at the top secret Cerros Shipyards. Once there, they are drydocked, and their J23 missiles are disarmed. Repair drones do a routine check on the ships, and then the ships are refueled before leaving the shipyards.[2]
History[]
During the Second Great War, General Horace Warfield defended the Dauntless Plateau by deploying Gorgons in the Bone Trench. He could only deploy one at a time, but it was enough to defeat the local zerg forces led by Broodmother Zagara.
When Sarah Kerrigan returned to Char, she took control of scourge nests and used the scourges within to destroy each of Warfield's seven Gorgons in turn. Her other forces found the Gorgons to be virtually invincible.[1]
During the Defenders of Man Insurgency, Gorgons were deployed against the Tal'darim Death Fleet during their assault on Vardona. Gorgons strafed the attack lanes of the Tal'darim, wiping them out as they rushed the Dominion lines. In the end the Tal'darim were forced to fall back after taking high casualties.[6]
In a last ditch effort during the insurgency, General Carolina Davis took the Medusa to the Cerros Shipyards and activated the experimental Xanthos war machine, using it to attempt to destroy the Gorgons in drydock on the platform. This was repelled by the Covert Ops Crew of Nova Terra with support from Dominion forces under Admiral Matt Horner. The Xanthos was destroyed and Davis killed, ending her schemes to destroy the ships.[2]
Statistics for the Bucephalus[]
Power | Class 10 Fusion |
---|---|
Armament |
|
Air Wing | Variable |
Ground Ordnance | Variable |
Shield | Active for Warp and Orbital Insertion |
Range | Variable; Standard Equip: Koprulu Sector |
In-System Speed | 1 AU per Cycle[3] |
Game Unit[]
Gorgons appear in "Fire in the Sky." They cannot be targeted directly by the player. Instead, the player must use scourge nests to destroy them as a trigger. Gorgons steadily make their way across the map one at a time, firing on any player-controlled units they encounter.[1] Upon reaching the player's base, they'll pick a building and park on top of it, prioritizing Extractors, then other buildings, then your Hatchery. They'll ignore Drones unless you actively command them to attack. Once everything in the players' starting base is dead, they'll beeline to wherever the next Hatchery is set up, repeating the process until the player loses or finally awakens a Scourge Nest.
Gorgons again appear in "Dark Skies," where they can be called down to strafe one of three lanes of attack. These Gorgons are not invincible, and can be destroyed if they take enough damage, but will normally be enough to destroy an entire lane worth of Tal'darim units, void rays being a notable exception.[6]
Gorgons make a final appearance in "End Game," but cannot attack. The mission objective is to prevent the Xanthos from destroying five of the ships, which are lightly defended.[2]
Development[]
The following section contains information from a previous version of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm which is no longer valid.
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During development, the Gorgon was known as the "Gehenna cruiser."[7][8]
Known Gorgons[]
Notes[]
- While Gorgons do not necessarily appear in Co-op missions, Matt Horner can temporarily summon them as part of the Dominion Armada using Call in the Fleet, with the advanced weaponry upgrade.
- The Bucephalus was originally described and shown as an older model of battlecruiser.[9] It was later clarified as being a Gorgon.[5][3]
- The only confirmed measurements given of a Gorgon has been the Bucephalus, stated to be 560 meters long and 82.4 meters wide,[3] though this has led to size issues.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, Fire in the Sky (in English). 2013-03-12.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Nova Covert Ops, End Game (in English). 2016-11-22.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Blizzard Entertainment. 2013-01-22. StarCraft II Creative Development Q&A - Part 13. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2013-01-22.
- ↑ Barba, Rick. StarCraft Field Manual (hardcover). Insight Editions, November 17, 2015.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Golden, Christie (November 6, 2012). StarCraft II: Flashpoint. Simon & Schuster (Gallery Books). ISBN 978-1451-65962-7.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Nova Covert Ops, Dark Skies (in English). 2016-11-22.
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. Heart of the Swarm beta Map Editor. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). September 4, 2012
- ↑ 2013-03-24, Battlecruiser - Gorgon Battlecruiser. StarCraft Hungary, accessed on 2014-06-29.
- ↑ Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Cinematic: Heir Apparent. (in English). 2010.