Hunter Killers are a special hydralisk strain. They are the most elite and (in)famous of all zerg specialist strains.^[1]

Hunter Killers are also sold at Crazy Bob's Bazaar. They are slightly less resilient than their Swarm counterparts, but are otherwise just as deadly.^[2]

HistoryEdit

Originally created and used exclusively by Daggoth of the Tiamat Brood, Hunter Killers protected Kerrigan's chrysalis.^[3] Daggoth sent a pair of Hunter Killers to escort Kerrigan when she invaded the Amerigo.^[4]

The Brood WarEdit

During the Brood War, The dark archon Ulrezaj intended to use Hunter Killers in his attack on Shakuras. Using a technique to combine Dark Templar and zerg energy to create false, warped khaydarin crystals, he would control and summon hydralisks and zerglings from his base on Char and, using genetic stations on a space platform over Shakuras transform them into enhanced zerg with the false crystals. The technique rendered the Hunter Killers immune to the effects of the xel'naga temple.^[5]

The plot was foiled by heroes dispatched by Zeratul's forces.^[6][7]

Although Daggoth was a rival to Kerrigan during the conflict, Hunter Killers fell under her control on at least a few occasions. They were used to retake control of hives under attack by renegade zerg^[8] and through a psi emitter, Kerrigan gained control of a few on Braxis.^[9]

Second Great WarEdit

During the Second Great War, Hunter Killers escorted Kerrigan during the zerg invasion of Tyrador VIII^[10], and the terran invasion of Char.^[11]

Game UnitEdit

StarCraftEdit

Hunter Killer
Unit
Race	Zerg
Affiliation	Tiamat Brood, Zerg Swarm, Renegade Zerg, Ulrezaj's Slave Brood, Crazy Bob's Bazaar and its customers.
Base unit	Hydralisk
Properties
Size	Medium
Sight range	6
Production
Minerals	150[2]
Gas	75[2]
Protection
Hit points	160 (200 hp in StarCraft Fortress)[12]
Armor	2 (1 Crazy Bob's Bazaar version)[2]
Combat
Ground attack	20 (25 in StarCraft Fortress)[12]
Air attack	20 (25 in StarCraft Fortress)[12]
Cooldown	15
Attack range	5

Hunter Killers are essentially double-powered hydralisks, doing double damage and enjoying double the hit points, as well as having all hydralisk upgrades by default. They are usually tinted red in campaign missions. Unlike the Devouring One and other specialized units, the Hunter Killer received a custom portrait. They cannot be produced.

Hunter Killers also appear in a few scenario maps, specifically in StarCraft Fortress,^[12] as reinforcements in Bunker Command II^[13] and appear in Twilight Struggle. The yellow brood defends each cerebrate with four of them.^[14]

StarCraft IIEdit

Hunter Killer
Unit
Race	Zerg
Base unit	Hydralisk
Role	Elite ranged creature
Armament	Needle spines
Properties
Sight range	8
Movement
Speed	3.13
Protection
Hit points	160
Hit point regen/second	0.2734
Armor	2
Type	Biological
Needle spines
Damage	20
Targets	Ground Air
Cooldown	0.8608
Range	5

Hunter Killers appear during the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty campaign.^[10][11] They are slightly larger than hydralisks and have improved statistics. Other than that, the two are indistinguishable.

Unlike in the original game, Hunter Killers do not receive a custom portrait.

Known Hunter KillersEdit

• Vaevictis

ReferencesEdit