James "Jim" Raynor is one of the central characters and primary protagonists in Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft series. The character was created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, with his physical appearance having been designed by Chris Metzen. In both StarCraft and its expansion Brood War, Raynor was voiced by Robert Clotworthy but has since been replaced in the upcoming sequel StarCraft II.

Raynor initially appeared in the original game as a twenty-nine year old Terran, a marshal on a backwater colony world. He later joins a growing revolution against the oppressive Confederacy of Man before becoming disillusioned with its cause and forming his own paramilitary group. His character is further developed through the novels Liberty's Crusade and Queen of Blades.

Raynor normally appears in-game piloting a vulture scavenger bike, although he has also appeared in-game as a marine unit and as the commander of the Behemoth-class battlecruiser Hyperion. As one of the main characters of StarCraft, Raynor has been critically praised for character depth and the quality of Clotworthy's voice acting; one survey by GameSpot put Raynor as one of the top ten heroes in video gaming. The character of Raynor was originally devised by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, with his depiction as a rough-living and dangerous man developed through various pieces of concept art by Metzen.

In an interview, Raynor's voice actor Robert Clotworthy—for whom Raynor was the first video game character he had the opportunity to voice—cited one piece of this concept art in how he decided to voice the character. The art, showing Raynor on a hoverbike and outfitted with futuristic weaponry, gave Clotworthy the impression that as Raynor was someone people "wouldn't mess with", he would not have to raise his voice as "other characters [would] shut up and listen" or face the consequences. Clotworthy also stated that in the event that a StarCraft film was produced, he believed Clive Owen would be the perfect choice to play Raynor due to him "being dangerous".

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