King Raven
From Gears of War
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The King Raven is the backbone of the COG air corps.
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[edit] Background/Structure
Unusually, this helicopter has no tail rotor. Instead it has two counter-rotating six bladed centrally mounted rotors, similar to the Russian Ka-29. The Raven's armour plating is somewhat dense, being able to take a beating from small-arms fire. The armour, however, cannot take an explosive attack and the Raven will be easily destroyed by oncoming Nemacyst, as seen in several cutscenes. The Raven has no side-doors. Augustus Cole commented that he pukes every time he sets foot in one. The King Raven seems to have small cockpit windows but the pilots probably use video cameras to relay the external view into the cockpit, displayed on computer screens.
[edit] Function
Ravens are used to insert and extract up to 12 Gears during combat. Besides being a transport, they are also used as close air support for soldiers on the ground.
[edit] Armaments
The standard Raven has both front and side armaments. They are all machine-gun-style weapons. More specifically, the Raven has two crew-operated side-mounted Chain Guns for point-defence and the pilot-operated forward guns for oncoming attacks. The front gun is seen used in Act 4 of Gears of War when the Raven carrying Delta Team fired on a barrage of attacking Nemacyst. The side guns are seen used in Pale Horse to provide covering fire against the Reavers whilst Marcus and Dom confront General RAAM. A UV turret mounted on the undercarriage is also used briefly against the Kryll surrounding General RAAM during Pale Horse in the cutscene.
[edit] Variants
The King Raven Gunship is a Raven variant designed especially for close air support. It differs from the standard King Raven in several ways: it scraps its passenger-carrying capacity and door-mounted chainguns, devoting the weight thereby gained towards additional ammunition capacity and two wing stubs that accommodate extra weapon hardpoints. The King Raven Gunship also has, in addition to the standard nose-mounted chainguns and a UV-Filter-equipped searchlight, a pair of rocket pods and a battery of laser-guided anti-tank missiles now used against Brumaks and slower-flying aircraft, such as Reavers, as well as two more Chainguns mounted in gunpods. The King Raven Gunship also sports thicker armour and a larger fuel tank. Many King Raven Gunships were employed in the assault on Landown; many of which were lost because of Locust resistance. The Sea Raven was the COG's naval version of the King Raven. It could hold one Marlin attack boat and was used in The Battle of Aspho Fields. It served all the same functions as it land based counterpart.[3]
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Gears of War
The King Raven will appear in the game several times in Act 1, at the beginning of Act 4, and at the end of Act 5. There are several in the chapter 14 Years After E-Day, one in Trial By Fire, and one destroyed in the ending cinematic of Wrath. There is also a Raven inserting Delta Squad into one of the courtyards of East Barricade Academy at the beginning of Act 4. The other Raven in Act 4 is seen later when the chapter Campus Grinder is completed. The final Raven is ridden by Baird, Cole, and Hoffman in the Act 5 chapter, Pale Horse during the RAAM boss fight. They provide covering fire against the numerous Reavers flying near the head of the Tyro Pillar whilst Dom and Marcus confront RAAM, and then pick up the twoGears before the train is destroyed.
[edit] Gears of War 2
They are seen in great numbers in Gears of War 2. They can be seen throughout the first chapter, defending the hospital. A massive fleet of Ravens is seen during Chairman Prescott's speech, transporting Gears to an assembly area. They are seen again immediately afterwards, escorting the Derrick, attempting to defend it from Nemacyst artillery and Brumak ambushes. They are able to kill the Seeders responsible for the artillery fire. Ravens later provide close air support for Gear squads whilst they are securing Landown. Ravens are sparsely seen in Acts 2, 3, and 4, appearing only three times. One Raven, KR-54, is downed in the Ilima sinkhole, and is used as bait by the Locust to ambush Delta Squad. Another Raven is called into the sinkhole to pick up Delta, but is thrown out of control, then devoured by the Riftworm. Ravens appear very heavily in Act 5, where they are the primary means of evacuating Jacinto. A Raven is seen carrying a Lightmass Bomb slung under its belly at the end of Act 5. The specialized King Raven Gunships can be seen defending Jacinto in Acts 1 and 5.
[edit] Trivia
- King Raven helicopters are seen on heli-pads in the multiplayer maps, Rooftops, Jacinto, and Fuel Depot.
- At the start of a match on Jacinto, a trio of King Ravens fly from the Hammer of Dawn/Boomshot spawn, over the grounded KRs, and out of view.
- Many King Raven pilots are female.[citation needed]
- A curiosity: in the Prescott's speech scene( when the KRs are overflying Jacinto City), all the King Ravens seem don't have the frontal machine gun.
[edit] Notable Ravens
- KR Three-Six makes several appearances during Gears of War 2, mostly helping out Delta such as in Act 1 during the hospital, and during the "Roadblocks" chapter, as well as during Act 5. It is unknown if KR-36 was shot down or not, but most likely it was not. The pilot is female, but is not specifically identified in the game.
- KR Two-Five shot down over East Barricade Academy during the Lightmass Offensive.
- KR One-Eight
- KR Eight-Zero
- KR-471
- KR A-108
- KR Four-One
- KR One-Nine
- KR Five-Four shot down over the Ilima sinkhole.
- KR Six-One
- KR Five-Nine
- KR Four-Nine
- KR Three-Two
- KR Seven-Five
- KR Five-One flew CAP over Barrington Square during the Operation Hollow Storm[4]
- KR Six-Four transports Delta Squad several times during the Lightmass Offensive, including evacuating Marcus and Dom from Jacinto Maximum Security Prison and later transporting them to East Barricade Academy.
[edit] References
- ↑ Gears of War 2 act 3
- ↑ Gears of War: Destroyed Beauty
- ↑ Gears of War: Aspho Fields
- ↑ Gears of War 2 Act 1: Roadblocks
