History Characters / AgeOfEmpiresII

** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIDefinitiveEdition Definitive Edition]]'' (''The Last Khans/Lords of the West/Dawn of the Dukes/Dynasties of India'')[[note]]Tamerlane (Tamerlane, Toktamysh), Ivaylo (Ivaylo, Tsar Konstantin, Maria Kantakouzena, Ivan Asen III, Nogai Khan, George Terter, Kasim Beg), Kotyan Khan (Kotyan Khan, Béla IV, Frederick II) Pachacuti (Viracocha Inca, Cusi Yupanqui/Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui), Edward Longshanks (Edward II, Gilbert de Clare Simon de Montfort, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, Baibars, Dafydd ap Gruffydd, John Balliol, Aymer de Valence, Robert the Bruce), The Grand Dukes of the West (Philip the Good, John the Fearless, Jacqueline de Hainaut, Humphrey of Lancaster), The Hautevilles (Frederick Roger, Robert Guiscard, Roger Bosso, Bohemond, Roger II of Sicily, Sikelgaita, Alexios Komnenos, Crusaders of the First Crusade (Tancred de Hauteville, Baldwin of Hainaut, Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert of Flanders, Robert Curthose), Kerbogha, Emperor Lothair III, Robert of Selby, a-Idrisi), Algirdas and Kestusis (Algirdas and Kestusis, Jaunitus, Narimantas, Dmitry of Moscow, Jogaila/Wladyslaw II Jagiello), Jadwiga (Jadwiga, Vytautas the Great, Ulrich von Jungingen), Jan Zizka (Jan Zizka, Emperor Sigismund, Zawisza), Babur (Zahir ud-Din), Rajendra (Rajendra)[[/note]]
* ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIUnits Units]]''

** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIDefinitiveEditionCivilizations Definitive Edition]]'' (''The Last Khans/Lords of the West/Dawn of the Dukes/Dynasties of India/Return to Rome'')[[note]]Bulgarians, Cumans, Lithuanians, Tatars, Burgundians, Sicilians, Bohemians, Poles, Bengalis, Dravidians, Gurjaras, Romans[[/note]]

** [[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIOriginal Original AoE2]] (''The Age of Kings/The Conquerors'')[[note]]William Wallace (William Wallace, Edward Longshanks) Joan of Arc (Joan of Arc, Guy de Josselyne Sieur Bertrand and Sieur de Metz, Dauphin Charles VII, Duke Jean d' Alençon, La Hire, Sir John Falstolf, Jean de Lorrain, Lord de Graville, Constable Richemont, Jean Bureau) Saladin (Saladin, Reynald de Chatillon, Richard the Lionhearted), Genghis Khan (Genghis Khan, Ornlu the Wolf, Kushluk, Subotai), Barbarossa (Frederick Barbarossa, Henry the Lion), Attila (Attila the Hun, Bleda the Hun, Flavius Aetius, Father Armand) El Cid (Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar "El Cid", Jimena Díaz, King Sancho, King Alfonso, Yusuf, Mutamid, Count Berenguer), Montezuma (Montezuma, Cuauhtemoc, Hernán Cortés), Battles of the Conquerors (Henry V, William the Conqueror, Harold the Saxon, HArald Hardraade, Erik the Red, Charles Martel, Yi Sun Sin, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi)[[/note]]

** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIDefinitiveEditionCivilizations Definitive Edition]]'' (''The Last Khans/Lords of the West/Dawn of the Dukes/Dynasties of India'')[[note]]Bulgarians, Cumans, Lithuanians, Tatars, Burgundians, Sicilians, Bohemians, Poles, Bengalis, Dravidians, Gurjaras[[/note]]

* Civilizations:

** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIDefinitiveEditionCivilizations Definitive Edition]]'' (''The Last Khans/Lords of the West/Dawn of the Dukes/Dynasties of India''/new Romans)[[note]]Bulgarians, Cumans, Lithuanians, Tatars, Burgundians, Sicilians, Bohemians, Poles, Bengalis, Dravidians, Gurjaras, Romans[[/note]]
** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresI Return to Rome]]'' minus ''[=AoE=] II'' Romans (a.k.a. ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresI'' civilizations)[[note]]Assyrians, Babylonians, Choson, Egyptians, Greek, Hittites, Minoans, Persians, Phoenicians, Shang, Sumerians, Yamato, Carthaginians, Macedonians, Palmyrians, Romans, Lac Viet[[/note]]

** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIDefinitiveEditionCivilizations Definitive Edition]]'' (''The Last Khans/Lords of the West/Dawn of the Dukes/Dynasties of India'')[[note]]Bulgarians, Cumans, Lithuanians, Tatars, Burgundians, Sicilians, Bohemians, Poles, Bengalis, Dravidians, Gurjaras[[/note]]
** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresI Return to Rome]]'' (a.k.a. ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresI'' civilizations)[[note]]Assyrians, Babylonians, Choson, Egyptians, Greek, Hittites, Minoans, Persians, Phoenicians, Shang, Sumerians, Yamato, Carthaginians, Macedonians, Palmyrians, Romans, Lac Viet[[/note]]

* Units
** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIUnits Original AoE2]]'' (''The Age of Kings/The Conquerors'')

** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIOriginalCivilizations Original AoE2]]'' (''The Age of Kings/The Conquerors'')[[note]][[/note]]
** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIHDEditionCivilizations HD Edition]]'' (''The Forgotten/The African Kingdoms/Rise of the Rajas'')[[note]][[/note]]
** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIDefinitiveEditionCivilizations Definitive Edition]]'' (''The Last Khans/Lords of the West/Dawn of the Dukes/Dynasties of India'')[[note]][[/note]]

* [[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIICivilizations Civilizations]]

** [[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIOriginal Original AoE2]] (The Age of Kings/The Conquerors)[[note]]William Wallace (William Wallace, Edward Longshanks) Joan of Arc (Joan of Arc, Guy de Josselyne Sieur Bertrand and Sieur de Metz, Dauphin Charles VII, Duke Jean d' Alençon, La Hire, Sir John Falstolf, Jean de Lorrain, Lord de Graville, Constable Richemont, Jean Bureau) Saladin (Saladin, Reynald de Chatillon, Richard the Lionhearted), Genghis Khan (Genghis Khan, Ornlu the Wolf, Kushluk, Subotai), Barbarossa (Frederick Barbarossa, Henry the Lion), Attila (Attila the Hun, Bleda the Hun, Flavius Aetius, Father Armand) El Cid (Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar "El Cid", Jimena Díaz, King Sancho, King Alfonso, Yusuf, Mutamid, Count Berenguer), Montezuma (Montezuma, Cuauhtemoc, Hernán Cortés), Battles of the Conquerors (Henry V, William the Conqueror, Harold the Saxon, HArald Hardraade, Erik the Red, Charles Martel, Yi Sun Sin, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi)[[/note]]
** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIHDEdition HD Edition]]'' (The Forgotten/The African Kingdoms/Rise of the Rajas)[[note]]Dracula (Vlad Dracula, Voivode Princes [Danislav, Jakub and Istvan], Vladislav II, Murad II, Mehmet II, Radu) Sforza (Francesco Sforza, Muzio Sforza, Carmagnola, Filippo Maria Visconti, Sigismondo Malatesta, Simone and Geremio, Niccolo Macchiavelli, Micheletto (Attendolo), Piccinino), Alaric (Alaric, Athaulf, Honorius, Saurus, Galla Placidia), Battle of Bari (The Nautikus (Panos, Michael and Andreas), Louis II, Admiral Melus, Stephanos Pateranos, Basilius Boioannes), El Dorado (Francisco de Orellana, Gonzalo Pizarro, Delicola, Juan Cortejo) Prithviraj (Prithviraj, Sanyogita, Chand Bardai), Battles of the Forgotten (Khosrau II, Aelia of Northumbria, Álmos, Árpád, Minamoto no Yoshinaka, Taira no Kiyomori, Osman Bey), Tariq ibn Ziyad (Tariq ibn Ziyad, Musa ibn Nuzayr, Abd ar-Rahman al-Ghafiqi), Sundjata (Sundjata, Sumanguru), Francisco de Almeida (Francisco de Almeida), Yodit (Princess Yodit, Dagnajan, Gidajan), Gajah Mada (Gajah Mada), Suryavarman I (Suryavarman I), Bayinnaung (Bayinnaung, Tabinshwehti), Lê Lợi (Lê Lợi, Lê Lai, Lê Lợi's Lieutenants (Đinh Lễ, Lê Triện, Lưu Nhân Chú, Bùi Bị), Wang Tong)[[/note]]
** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIDefinitiveEdition Definitive Edition]]'' (The Last Khans/Lords of the West/Dawn of the Dukes/Dynasties of India)[[note]]Tamerlane (Tamerlane, Toktamysh), Ivaylo (Ivaylo, Tsar Konstantin, Maria Kantakouzena, Ivan Asen III, Nogai Khan, George Terter, Kasim Beg), Kotyan Khan (Kotyan Khan, Béla IV, Frederick II) Pachacuti (Viracocha Inca, Cusi Yupanqui/Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui), Edward Longshanks (Edward II, Gilbert de Clare Simon de Montfort, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, Baibars, Dafydd ap Gruffydd, John Balliol, Aymer de Valence, Robert the Bruce), The Grand Dukes of the West (Philip the Good, John the Fearless, Jacqueline de Hainaut, Humphrey of Lancaster), The Hautevilles (Frederick Roger, Robert Guiscard, Roger Bosso, Bohemond, Roger II of Sicily, Sikelgaita, Alexios Komnenos, Crusaders of the First Crusade (Tancred de Hauteville, Baldwin of Hainaut, Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert of Flanders, Robert Curthose), Kerbogha, Emperor Lothair III, Robert of Selby, a-Idrisi), Algirdas and Kestusis (Algirdas and Kestusis, Jaunitus, Narimantas, Dmitry of Moscow, Jogaila/Wladyslaw II Jagiello), Jadwiga (Jadwiga, Vytautas the Great, Ulrich von Jungingen), Jan Zizka (Jan Zizka, Emperor Sigismund, Zawisza), Babur (Zahir ud-Din), Rajendra (Rajendra)[[/note]]

** [[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIOriginal Original [=AoE2=]]] (The Age of Kings/The Conquerors)[[note]]William Wallace (William Wallace, Edward Longshanks) Joan of Arc (Joan of Arc, Guy de Josselyne Sieur Bertrand and Sieur de Metz, Dauphin Charles VII, Duke Jean d' Alençon, La Hire, Sir John Falstolf, Jean de Lorrain, Lord de Graville, Constable Richemont, Jean Bureau) Saladin (Saladin, Reynald de Chatillon, Richard the Lionhearted), Genghis Khan (Genghis Khan, Ornlu the Wolf, Kushluk, Subotai), Barbarossa (Frederick Barbarossa, Henry the Lion), Attila (Attila the Hun, Bleda the Hun, Flavius Aetius, Father Armand) El Cid (Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar "El Cid", Jimena Díaz, King Sancho, King Alfonso, Yusuf, Mutamid, Count Berenguer), Montezuma (Montezuma, Cuauhtemoc, Hernán Cortés), Battles of the Conquerors (Henry V, William the Conqueror, Harold the Saxon, HArald Hardraade, Erik the Red, Charles Martel, Yi Sun Sin, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi)[[/note]]

** [[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIOriginal Original [=AoE2=]]] (The Age of Kings/The Conquerors)
** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIHDEdition HD Edition]]'' (The Forgotten/The African Kingdoms/Rise of the Rajas)
** ''[[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIIDefinitiveEdition Definitive Edition]]'' (The Last Khans/Lords of the West/Dawn of the Dukes/Dynasties of India)

* [[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIICampaigns Campaign characters]]

[[foldercontrol]]

!Civilizations

[[folder:Civilizations in Age of Kings]]
!!Britons
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/britonsde.png]]

-->Foot archer civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Western European.\\
Town Centers cost -50% wood starting in Castle Age.\\
Foot archers (except skirmishers) have +1 range Castle Age, +1 range Imperial Age (for +2 total).\\
Shepherds work 25% faster.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Archery Ranges work 20% faster.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Longbowman (long ranged foot archer).\\
'''Imperial Age (Conquerors)/Castle Age (HD/DE) Unique Tech''': Yeomen (Foot archer range +1, Tower attack +2).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Warwolf (Trebuchets do blast damage, 100% accuracy against units).\\
'''Wonder''': A placeholder cathedral.[[note]]The graphic appears to be based on the Aachen Cathedral, which is found in the editor.[[/note]] (pre-DE); Chichester Cathedral (DE)\\

* ACommanderIsYou: Ranger. Their Longbowmen and normal archer units have the longest range in game, but they have a limited tech tree and is the only old world civilization without any gunpowder units up until ''The Forgotten''.
* ArcherArchetype: Longbowman and Arbalest boosted by extra range from their civilization bonus and Yeomen unique tech.
* TheArtifact:
** Their wonder is a leftover from the beta version of the game, when all civilizations sharing a building style also shared a generic wonder (Cathedral for Europeans, Mosque for Muslims, Temple of Heaven for Asians).
** The use of "Britons" as a name instead of "English." At the time the game was first outlined, the idea was that you would lead a civilization from the literal ruins of Rome to the Renaissance. This concept was less enforced as the game and expansions developed.
* BalanceBuff: To make up for the Britons' unimpressive siege and navy, ''The Forgotten'' adds Cannon Galleons to their tech tree and gives them a unique tech that makes their Trebuchets more accurate and deal splash damage.
* CripplingOverspecialization: They get great foot archers and decent infantry, but are lacking in everywhere else.
* DoesNotLikeGuns: Like mentioned above, they are the only old world civilization with no gunpowder units of any kind prior to ''The Forgotten''.
* FactionCalculus: Cannon. The Britons have incredibly strong archers and have one of the best foot archers in the game as well as having great siege capacity. At the same time, their frontline options are very weak since their cavalry is lackluster, needing to rely on their full upgraded infantry line to protect their archers and trebuchets.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: The Britons were one of the civilizations who best developed horse-breeding, yet they do not get Bloodlines, one of the most important techs for cavalry units. In addition, the Britons later in history utilize gunpowder to expand an empire, yet they do not get Hand Cannoneers and Bombard Cannons. This is mostly justified for gameplay reasons, as their archers are incredibly strong and having one of the strongest Trebuchets in the game. And the Britons lacking good cavalry gives a counterplay against the Briton's archers.
* GlassCannon: One of ''the'' best civilizations for long range sieging, thanks to their Trebuchet's splash damage and Longbowmen. The frontline is very weak, however, they lack good cavalry units and techs such as the Paladin and Bloodlines, making Champions and Halberdiers their only reliable frontline.
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Their foot archers may have the longest range in the game, but the Britons are the only archer civilization which cannot get Thumb Ring, making their arrows less likely to hit their targets as accuracy is inversely proportional to range.
* NoCampaignForTheWicked: Despite appearing several times as villains, they're never playable, in a campaign, except for the Agincourt Scenario in ''The Conquerors''.
* NonIndicativeName: Their historical basis is the medieval Kingdom of England, ''not'' the Celtic Britons that would eventually become the Welsh.
* SacredLanguage: While their other units speak English, their Monks speak Latin.
* SkillGateCharacter: The Britons have a straightforward tech tree and is considered one of the easiest civilizations for newer players to play as. However, when it comes to foot archers, they are easily outclassed by other civilizations such as the Chinese with their Chu-Ko-Nu, and the Mayans with their Plumed Archers.[[note]]Despite Longbowmen having the longest range of all archers that even outranges most siege units, this is easily countered by creating massive amounts of cavalry units and onagers into their faces.[[/note]]
** A common newcomer tactic (especially in Black Forest) for newer players is to create a large army of Longbowmen and wither down any enemies that come near you. More experienced players would counter this by building Siege Rams garrisoned with infantry units and slowly move towards the player's base, ignoring the Longbowmen, and destroying any buildings and walls the player has built. This apparently leads the player to actually diversify their army composition and not just create Longbowmen.

!!Byzantines
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/byzantinesde.png]]

-->Defensive civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Middle Eastern (pre-DE), Mediterranean (DE).\\
Buildings +105 HP Dark, +20% Feudal, +30% Castle, +40% HP Imperial Age.\\
Camel, Skirmishers, Pikemen cost -25%.\\
Fire ships attack 20% faster.\\
Advance to Imperial Age costs -33%.\\
Town Watch free.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Monks +50% heal speed.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Cataphract (anti-infantry cavalry).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Greek Fire (Fire Ships range +1).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Logistica (Cataphracts cause trample damage, +6 attack vs infantry).\\
'''Wonder''': Hagia Sophia.

* AntiInfantry: Cataphracts have a damage bonus against infantry and can deal trample damage once Logistica is researched, making them excellent against hordes of infantry and less vulnerable to Halberdiers compared to other cavalry.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory:
** For some reason, the Byzantines use the Middle Eastern architecture, so despite being the bastion of Greek Orthodoxy the Byzantine monastery is clearly a mosque with Islamic engravings and minarets. According to screenshots, this is rectified in the ''Definitive Edition'', with Byzantines taking the same architecture as Italians and Portuguese.
** Byzantines were historically known to use {{Horse Archer}}s and heavy armored cavalry in battle, yet they are missing two important upgrades for them (Bloodlines and Parthian Tactics, although the Byzantines do have access to the Paladin upgrade). Them lacking Bloodlines is considered a justified trope, as the NoSell nature of Cataphracts (where they negate ''all'' anti-cavalry damage, including damage from camels) makes them relatively difficult to counter properly.
* ACommanderIsYou: They have traits of the Balanced faction (no notable strengths and weaknesses in their tech tree), the Spammer faction (their generic counter units are cheaper), and even the Research faction (they have the lowest cost to reach the Imperial Age, which means that they can quickly field very powerful units while their opponents are still in the Castle Age.)
* ConfusionFu: They have access to most standard technologies. They are lacking in Siege and miss a crucial tech for Cavalry (extra HP from Bloodlines) and a tech for Cavalry AND Infantry (extra attack from Blast Furnace). This makes them capable of a wide range of playstyles, and unpredictable to face in multiplayer.
* FactionCalculus: Balanced. They have a diverse and versatile tech tree, and have strong civilization bonuses that allow them to fit into any role in any map.
* JackOfAllStats: The Cataphract is not only good against infantry and resists its supposed-to be counters, but also excels at doing things the generic cavalry usually do; raiding and decimating archers and siege (although the Cataphracts have lower than normal pierce armor when compared to a Paladin due to their anti-cavalry resistance to offset their anti-infantry strength). In general, the Byzantine civilization has all of the available units and upgrade, and has good buildings and economic upgrades.
* KnightInShiningArmor: The Cataphract is one of the best cavalry units in the game. After researching Logistics, they also give trample damage to other units around them, like the Persian WarElephants.
* LivingRelic: By the end of its lifespan, the Byzantine Empire could be regarded as such. It had essentially become a city-state, the inhabitants mostly spoke Greek, and their army was in shambles. A common Western European insult to the Byzantines was to call them the "Greek Empire" rather than their preferred name for themselves, the "Roman Empire."
* NoCampaignForTheWicked: A very common enemy in campaigns (and the ArchEnemy in the Attila the Hun one) but only playable in standard game and the Bari Campaign in AoF. Fan-made Byzantine campaigns are very common however, and most of them center on Belisarius' invasions of Africa and Italy, since a Belisarius unit is available in the editor.
* OrchestralBombing: Their RegionalRiff.
* ScissorsCutsRock: Cataphracts have a large innate resistance to Spearmen and Camels' AntiCavalry bonus and are effective against those two units. On the other hand, they are the weakest non-ranged, non-camel cavalry unit when it comes to pierce armour, and are very vulnerable to massed archers as a result.
* SkillGateCharacter: The Byzantines having no clear strengths and weakness, gets a significant discount for the Imperial Age upgrade as well as having a diverse tech tree, making the Byzantines an easy to learn civilization for newer players.
* StoneWall: Have some of the toughest buildings in the game, and they're summed up as a "Defensive Civilization" in the in-game tech tree. The "counter units" of the Skirmisher, Spearmen, and Camel line are 25% cheaper; these units are specifically strong against one unit type (skirmishers beat archers, spearmen beat cavalry, camels beat cavalry) but weak against others making them good for defense. Their Cataphract unique unit is also one of only three units in the game with a specific attack bonus against infantry. Unlike the cheaper "counter units," Cataphracts are very expensive but are also useful in many other situations.

!!Celts
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/celtsde.png]]

--> Infantry civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Western European.\\
Infantry move 15% faster.\\
Lumberjacks work 15% faster.\\
Siege weapons fire 20% faster.\\
Sheep not converted if in 1 Celt unit's line of sight.[[note]]this means that even with enemy units present, Celts can claim sheep within their line of sight[[/note]]\\
'''Team Bonus''': Siege workshops work 20% faster.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Woad Raider (fast infantry).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Stronghold (Castles and Towers fire 25% faster).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Furor Celtica (Siege Workshop units HP +50% (Conquerors)/+40% (HD/DE)).\\
'''Wonder''': Rock of Cashel.

* AnAxeToGrind: Woad Raiders.
* ACommanderIsYou: Balanced. They have a Ranger faction's high speed, a Guerrilla faction's use of element of surprise and a Brute faction's incredible siege weapons. They can brute force easily with their faster moving infantry and siege weapons, but their defensive capacity is one of the weakest, missing a couple of defensive upgrades for their buildings. That being said, the Celts do have access to Paladins without Bloodlines, so their frontline isn't as bad when compared to the Britons.
* FragileSpeedster: Probably the closest the game has to one. Their infantry are 15% faster, their unique unit takes this UpToEleven, and their siege weapons fire faster. They're very much focused on offense over defense though.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: While it is true that the Celts were known for their woodwork (as well as their architecture), the Celts weren't known for their siege weaponry as they prefer open combat in open fields or HitAndRunTactics in forests. In fact, many of the Celtic attempts on sieging cities have actually failed before. The Celts were also known for their heavy use of ranged weapons in battle while in this game, they have the worst archers in their tech tree. In addition, they unusually have access to the Paladin (the final upgrade in the Knight line) whereas the Britons do not. Historically the Celtic nations were not able to deploy cavalry that matched those of the English due to their geographic locations, and were forced to rely on infantry forces and guerrilla warfare.
* MightyGlacier: There are two halves to the Celts: their speedy Infantry, and their slow but meaty Siege weapons. Their Siege weaponry is overall the strongest in the game, and will overshadow their Infantry as the game goes on.
* MightyLumberjack: They're not necessarily more manly, tough, and impressive than other civilization's Lumberjacks, but they do work 20% faster.
* SkillGateCharacter: Much like Britons, the Celts are a straightforward and easy to play civilization. They are even the playable civilization of the tutorial campaign.
* {{Scotireland}}: The Celts are meant to stand in for all the Celtic peoples in the British isles (plus the Duchy of Brittany in modern France). Woad Raiders are based on the Picts of ancient Scotland and the Celtic wonder is the Rock of Cashel castle in Ireland.

!!Chinese
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chinesede.png]]

-->Archer civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': East Asian.\\
Start with +3 villagers, -50 wood, -200 food.\\
Technologies cost -10% Feudal, -15% Castle, -20% Imperial Age.\\
Town Centers support 10 population and +5 LOS.[[note]]Line of sight bonus added in the HD expansions[[/note]]\\
Demolition ships +50% hit points.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Farms +45 food.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Chu Ko Nu (repeat-firing archer).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Great Wall (Walls and Towers HP +30%).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Rocketry (Chu Ko Nu attack +2, Scorpion attack +4).\\
'''Wonder''': Temple of Heaven.

* AutomaticCrossbows: The Chu Ko Nu.
* ACommanderIsYou: They fit the ''Balanced Faction'' type along with the ''Research Faction''. One of their advantages is cheaper research of technology which leads to the Chinese having more advanced troops before everybody else.
* ConfusionFu: The Chinese has a very versatile tech tree and can easily adopt to any situations. Knight and Cavalry Archer rushes are even viable tactics despite lacking important late game techs for their respective units (Parthian Tactics and Paladins). This makes the Chinese a reasonable competitive civilization pick in professional plays because their diverse tech tree and the cheaper tech costs make the Chinese incredibly unpredictable for many players despite being labeled as an archer civilization.
* DifficultButAwesome: While the Byzantines are a JackOfAllStats civilization meant to be straightforward for newer players, the Chinese have a similar functionality, but the direct opposite difficulty. The Chinese do not have their typical start up, since they start with 3 extra villagers, but no food and slightly less wood. This means during the early game, it requires good amount of micromanagement and economic decisions to make use of the extra three villagers. They are also a civilization that focuses on booming, which makes them incredibly vulnerable to early game rushes (especially Dark Age and Feudal Age rush strategies). However, under skillful hands, the player can make the best use of the extra three villagers and take advantage of their wide tech tree.
** Discussed in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvT7LSZE95k this video]] where Youtube streamer Spirit of the Law discussed the winrates of all civilizations. While several civilizations have consistent winrates through various ELO levels, the Chinese stands out the most with their winrates. With ELO rankings below 2000, the Chinese generally sit around mid to bottom tier (usually around 19-26th of winrates), yet they end up having the 2nd highest winrate with ELO rankings above 2000. According to various pro players, it is mainly because the Chinese have a well-round and diverse tech tree, and their unusual early game start rewards players with having strong micromanagement, which is something that is highly valued in higher ELO games.
* FactionCalculus: Balanced, much like the Byzantines, they have well-rounded tech tree and have strong offensive and defensive capacity.
* JackOfAllStats: The Chinese don't excel much either economically or militarily. They don't have clear strengths and weaknesses like other civilizations has. However, they strongly excel at long range sieging (thanks to Chu Ko Nus, various archer and siege weapon technologies, the trebuchet, and scorpions) as well as strong defenses.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation:
** The Chinese historically are well-known for their invention of gunpowder and the heavy use of it in warfare (and even the first hand cannon and the cannon were invented in China), yet the Chinese do not have access to the Hand Cannoneer and Bombard Cannon unit outside of campaigns [[note]]They still have access to Cannon Galleons and Bombard Towers though[[/note]]. This is justified because their gameplay already excels in archery and long range sieging thanks to their unique technologies, their bonuses, and their unique unit; giving them access to gunpowder units would be [[GameBreaker overkill]].
** They also cannot research Block Printing and Siege Engineers, even though woodblock printing was invented in China (and the official Age of Empires II guide admits that), and the fact that China was historically well-known for their siege weaponry.[[note]]The Chinese were the first people to invent the cannon and trebuchet[[/note]]
* TheGreatWall: Referenced (and portrayed) in the Chinese scenario of the Genghis Khan's campaign. It is invoked once again in ''The Forgotten'', where the new Chinese UT "Great Wall" increases their walls' HP.
* MoreDakka: Chu Ko Nus fire 5 arrows at a time, though each arrow is less accurate than the last and makes their ability less pronounced on faster enemies. When you have an army of Chu Ko Nus, the number of arrows flying on the screen can actually cause the game to lag. One of the main upsides of the Chu Ko Nus is that while each arrow may do 1 damage to high pierce armor targets like Rams or Trebuchets, those units are so slow that they will probably be hit by 4 or 5 arrows. The Chu Ko Nus make a great defensive unit.
* NoCampaignForTheWicked: Appear as antagonists in the third scenario of Genghis Khan's campaign (possibly the most popular of the campaign if not the whole game) and the entirety of the Lê Lợi campaign, but didn't get to have their own. Chinese campaigns are rare in the fandom for some reason. The fan site ''Age of Kings Heaven'' even tried to correct this by making a contest of historically themed Chinese campaigns. Eventually they get their own scenario in ''Battles of The Forgotten'', ''Langshan Jiang'' (changed to ''Lake Poyang'' in DE).
* RainOfArrows: The Chu Ko Nu, especially when in groups.

!!Franks
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/franksde.png]]

--> Cavalry civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Western European.\\
Castles cost -25%\\
Knights (AOK/AOC)/Cavalry (HD/DE) +20% hit points.\\
Farm upgrades free (requires Mill).\\
Foragers work 25% faster (HD/DE)\\
'''Team Bonus''': Knights +2 line of sight.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Throwing Axeman (ranged infantry).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Chivalry (Stables work 40% faster).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Bearded Axe (Throwing Axemen +1 range).\\
'''Wonder''': Chartres Cathedral.

* AnAxeToGrind: Frankish Throwing Axemen use these, combined with ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks. In-game, the axes are [[RuleOfCool pretty huge]] but real life throwing axes are much smaller and well-balanced.
* ACommanderIsYou: Economist/Brute, with their free farm upgrades, cheap castles and bonuses towards cavalry, especially Paladins, but they also have Throwing Axemen as their unique units.
* FactionCalculus: Powerhouse. Their Paladins are arguably the best in the game, having a total of 192 HP with their civilization bonus. They also have strong eco bonuses that encourage the player to go for the Knight rush strategy.
* GratuitousFrench: Though, like Britons, their monks speak Latin instead.
* KnightInShiningArmor: [[ThePaladin Their Paladins]] are the strongest in the game, but that doesn't prevent their counter units such as Halberdiers or Teutonic Knights from beating them.
* SkillGateCharacter: The Franks possess a rather simple tech tree as well as strong heavy cavalry which a typical unit every player, new or veteran, learns to use well. They also one of the earliest civilizations new players usually play with (campaign-wise).
* StoneWall: More accurately, Stone ''Castle'' Wall. The Franks have cheaper Castles than any other civilizations, so expect to see lots of them in a French ''town''.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: Throwing Axemen are really only useful at killing pikemen, whose one job is killing heavy cavalry and will be sent out when the Franks use their buffed Paladins. But if a Frankish player tries any other strategy, or the other player uses other counters (i.e. Camels) there is really no use in producing Throwing Axemen. They are also good against siege units as their damage is reduced by normal armor instead of pierce armor which many siege units boast.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: [[AvertedTrope ...or not.]] [[RealityEnsues Throwing Axemen are pretty bad at hitting moving targets and don't benefit from Ballistics.]]

!!Goths
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gothsde.png]]

--> Infantry civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Central European.\\
Infantry cost -35% starting in Feudal Age.\\
Infantry +1 attack vs. buildings.\\
Villagers +5 attack vs. wild boar; hunters carry +15 meat.\\
+10 population in Imperial Age.\\
'''Team bonus''': Barracks work 20% faster.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Huskarl (anti-archer infantry).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Anarchy (Huskarls can be trained at Barracks).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Perfusion (Barracks work 100% faster).\\
'''Wonder''': Mausoleum of Theodoric.

* AnnoyingArrows: Huskarls have high pierce armor for organic units, which means that arrows from an archer or a tower only do 1 damage to them. With full upgrades, it takes as many arrows as each hit point a Huskarl has to kill them.
* ArtisticLicenseLinguistics: In the game, the Goths speak Old High German, not their own Gothic language.
* BarbarianTribe: For most scenario creators, the "go to" civilization when you want to feature European 'barbarians' that aren't Vikings or Huns.
* ACommanderIsYou: The Goths are THE Spammer faction of the game. They're also a Brute faction with preference towards infantry, even more so than the other infantry civs.
* DifficultButAwesome: The Goths is considered to a civilization that is "easy to play, yet easy to screw up at the same time". The Goth's tech tree, civilization bonuses, unique units, and unique techs have some reasonable synergy with each other which much like the Britons and Celts, the Goths can easily be picked up for newer players. Unlike the Britons and the Celts, the Goths do not have any significant early game economic bonuses. Not only that, they are the only civilization that does not have any Stone Walls or any upgrades for their towers, making their early game incredibly weak. This makes the Goths incredibly punishing for newer players for early game mistakes. However, under skillful hands, the Goths have the tools to survive early game and then steamroll the enemy lategame.
* FactionCalculus: Horde. The Goth's gameplan is to spam a ton of cheap infantry and overwhelm their opponent with them, but lack any defensive capacity whatsoever with their infantry lacking the last armor upgrade to reflect on this.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation:
** Historians have described the Goths as more of a cavalry civilization with strong {{Horse Archer}}s and were the ''only'' barbarian tribe to have laid waste and besieged Rome, yet they are portrayed as an infantry civilization with a strong frontline but a weak archery and siege line. And the Huskarls were more related to the Vikings rather than the Goths.
** The Goths have access to Hand Cannoneers and Bombard Cannons despite both Visigoths and Ostrogoths being long extinct by the time these weapons were invented. Some players joke about how a barbarian tribe is more technologically superior than the Chinese, who do not have access to such units despite inventing them in real life.
* GlassCannon: The playstyle for the Goths involve a ZergRush into your opponent with swarms of infantry units (and especially Huskarl). In terms of defensive gameplay, however, they end up being vulnerable to early aggression since they lack stone walls or strong defensive buildings. Heck, the Huskarl unit itself is a glass cannon unit. While Huskarls are strong against archers since they can shrug off arrows, they will definitely loose out in a 1v1 fight against most melee units due to their low melee armor, especially against units that deal bonus damage against other infantry units (Jaguar Warriors), unique units (Samurai), or high melee armor (Teutonic Knights)
* GratuitousGerman: Makes sense for the actual German civ, the Teutons, but the Goths use the same exact voice clips as them. Gothic was more similar to Old Norse than Old German so using the Viking voice clips may have been more accurate.
* MagikarpPower: Do ''not'' let a Goth player take a heavy lead. Because if the Goth player does, the player will spam a shitton of ''cheap'' infantry units and swarm into your base (especially Huskarls where they can even shrug off arrows from castles and towers).
* NoCampaignForTheWicked: The Goths are a frequent enemy in the Genghis Khan campaign, the Barbarossa campaign, the Attila the Hun campaign, and a scenario in The Battles of the Conquerors (Hastings), but receive no campaign of their own until Alaric in ''The Forgotten''. May be justified due to the Goths having a significantly different gameplay than all the other civs, lacking stone walls, towers, and a strong economic bonus. The campaigns usually feature some form of defend and build up even if the civ used is not quite suited for it, like the Huns or Aztecs, but at least those guys have walls.
* TheNonDescript: The Goths are often used in campaigns for any European culture that is not big on chivalry and fortifications (excluding the Vikings and the Huns). They fill in for the Saxons in the Hastings scenario and for eastern European states like Poland and Russia in the Barbarossa and Genghis Khan campaigns.
* ScissorsCutsRock: Normally, melee infantry are vulnerable to hand cannoneers or archers. The Huskarls completely reverses this with their higher than normal movement speed, high pierce armor, and bonus damage against archers.
* ZergRush: Lacking the powerful [[ThePaladin Paladin]] and the ranged {{Ar|cherArchetype}}balest, their Infantry don't even get the final armor upgrade. Instead, their Infantry are 35% (the technology tree says 25%, though) cheaper than everybody else's and their [[ConstructAdditionalPylons Barracks]] churn out those Infantry 20% faster. Later on in the game, they are the only civilization who can create their unique unit from the cheap Barracks as opposed to the costly Castle and they can churn out infantry 100% (again, the tech tree claims it to be 50%) faster!

!!Japanese
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/japanesede.png]]

-->Infantry Civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': East Asian.\\
Fishing ships 2X hitpoints; +2 pierce armor; work rate +5% Dark, +10% Feudal, +15% Castle, +20% Imperial Age.\\
Mill, Lumber/Mining Camps cost -50%\\
Infantry attack 25% faster starting in Feudal Age.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Galleys +50% line of sight.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Samurai (infantry with bonus attack against other [=UUs=]).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Yasama (Towers fire 2 extra arrows).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Kataparuto (Trebuchets pack/unpack 4x faster, fire rate +33%).\\
'''Wonder''': Todai-ji.

* ArcherArchetype: The Japanese and Saracens are the only civs to receive all technologies in the Archery Range. Historically, the Samurai were expert archers for most of the Middle Ages and the developers originally intended for the Samurai to have two attack modes: melee with swords and range with archery. This was deemed too user unfriendly because a player could order his Samurai to attack a high pierce armor building destroyer like a Ram, switch to a different screen to micro another army, then switch back only to see his buildings gone thanks to the Samurai feebly firing arrows at the Ram.
* BalanceBuff: The Forgotten expansion gives the Japanese Bloodlines, giving them more versatility in their tech tree and strategies, and making HorseArcher rushes viable.
* ACommanderIsYou: It's difficult to pinpoint the Japanese, but they are closest to the ''Brute Force Faction.'' They tend to have a strong economy and use cheaper foot units such as their Archers or their faster attacking Infantry. Like the Britons, they lack variety in siege weapons and have weak cavalry so their unit roster is limited, though their ship fleet is significantly better. Ironically, ''The Conquerors'' makes their Trebuchets very, very powerful giving them a single strong, expensive Siege weapon as an exception to the rest of their playstyle. With the addition of Bloodlines and Yasama in ''The Forgotten'', they now fit more into the ''Balanced'' faction instead.
* EverythingsBetterWithSamurai: Almost literally, Samurai get attack bonuses against all other unique units.
* FactionCalculus: Prior to the HD expansion, they fit into the Cannon faction due to their lackluster frontline, relying on their foot soldiers as their main army composition. With Bloodlines added into their tech tree and the introduction of the Yasama tech, they now fit into the Balanced faction.
* GratuitousEnglish: Their unique technology, which makes Trebuchets fire faster, is called Kataparuto, which is simply 'catapult' spelt out in Katakana.
* HeroKiller: Samurai are almost average infantry units (one samurai can beat one champion, but barely) but their bonus against [=UUs=] means that they can kill any of them in a one-on-one fight, excluding [[BlackKnight Teutonic Knights]], WarElephants and Cataphracts. The former two are too strong for the Samurai even with the bonus, and the latter's bonus damage against infantry counters the Samurai's.
* HorseArcher: The Japanese are lacking in cavalry units but a unique combination of technologies makes their Cavalry Archers able to compete with Hunnic and Persian horse archers man to man. The Samurai spent a period of time as horse archers who engaged in ritual duels. Prior to ''The Forgotten'' expansion, the Japanese were known to be the only civilization that have access to Parthian Tactics (making their Cavalry Archers more durable and more effective against pikemen), but lacked Bloodlines (a tech that gives cavalry units +20 HP, including Cavalry Archers). This apparently lead to a buff in ''The Forgotten'' expansion where they were given the Bloodlines tech, as the samurai were known to have one of the most powerful cavalry that rivals even the Mongols.
* GlassCannon: Prior to ''The Forgotten'' expansion thanks to the lack of Bloodlines, they have to rely on their frail infantry, archers and Trebuchets.
* JackOfAllStats: After the buff with the Japanese getting access to Bloodlines in ''The Forgotten'' expansion, they fit more into this.
* JidaiGeki
* KatanasAreJustBetter: And Naginata, too. Although the Samurai is the only unit that actually wields a Katana, all Japanese infantry attack 25% faster. This means their Infantry defeat the Infantry of all other civs one to one in every age (including Aztecs with the feared +4 Attack), and their Halberdiers slaughter enemy cavalry more effectively if they get close.
* OutOfFocus: They only appear in single scenarios in Conquerors and The Forgotten. Justified, since Japan was pretty isolationist.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman:
** How much use the Samurai get depends entirely on the enemy's unique unit, with a more useful one meaning the Samurai will get used to counter it. Otherwise, Champions are more cost effective.
** This also applies to them literally. While they are a decent land civ, their faster fishing bonus relies on water maps to be effective.
* YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord: Their unique technology, "Kataparuto", which makes trebuchets assemble and disassemble faster, is just the Japanese word for "Catapult".

!!Mongols
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mongolsde.png]]

-->Cavalry Archer civilization\\
'''Architecture''': East Asian.\\
Cavalry archers fire 20% faster.\\
Light Cavalry, Hussar +30% hit points.\\
Hunters work 50% faster.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Scout Cavalry, Light Cavalry, Hussar +2 line of sight.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Mangudai (anti-siege weapons cavalry archer).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Nomads (Houses do not lose population when destroyed).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Drill (Siege Workshop units movement speed +50%).\\
'''Wonder''': Great Tent of the Golden Horde.

* BalanceBuff: ''The Conquerors'' are very kind to them by giving Bloodlines, Parthian Tactics and Thumb Ring to their cavalry archers as well as the Unique Tech Drills to speed up the naturally slow siege units.
* BornInTheSaddle: Mongolian culture practically revolves around the horse in real life and it led to their military success in history. A cutscene proudly proclaims that a Mongol at war would even sleep in the saddle. In-game, their light cavalry have 33% more HitPoints and their Mangudai Unique Unit is a Cavalry Archer on steroids. Unlike the Huns or the Turks, they still have a lot of strong foot units (they have the Arbalest upgrade that the Huns and Turks don't) but their foot archers in particular miss a key armor technology making them a tad bit weaker than, say, a Saracen or Mayan foot archer.
* ACommanderIsYou: Ranger/Technical. Their cavalry archers and siege weapons are defensively weak and require hit and run tactics to be effective.
* DifficultButAwesome: The Mongols playstyle involves HitAndRunTactics using Mangudai and Siege Onagers. This involves a ''lot'' of micromanagement with the said units, especially in multiplayer games where lag is a huge issue.
* FactionCalculus: Subversive. Their cavalry units aren't the best defensive wise, as their cavalry units lack the Paladin upgrade and the last Blacksmith armor upgrade. They make up for this with their strong hit-and-run tactics with their cavalry archers and their siege weapons, which requires a lot of micromanagement skill from the player.
* FragileSpeedster: Mangudai are pretty fast, but their Unique Tech Drills will drastically speed up every siege engine made in the Siege Workshop. Resulting in Mangonels, Rams and Scorpions moving faster than infantry. On the other hand, the Mongols lack the important Imperial Age armor upgrade for their melee cavalry and archer units, but they make up for it with more HP for their Hussars, faster firing cavalry archers and them having Parthian Tactics.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: The Mongols were known to use gunpowder in their expansion campaigns (mostly as a result of conquering China and forcefully conscripting Chinese siege engineers), but they do not have access to such units. The civilization is probably meant to stand for the Mongols before the conquest of China, with the Turks and Chinese taking over later "Mongol" dynasties like the Timurids and the Yuan. Though the Mongols were historically known for their siege capabilities, their unique tech Drill refers to the superior drill of their cavalry, which was also historically accurate. Essentially, the technology has a mismatch between the historical background and the in game bonus.
* HitAndRunTactics: The Mongols' gameplay is built around this, as the player needs to micromanage their cavalry archers and Mangudai to wither down their opponents. They can even do this kind of tactics with ''Siege Onagers'', a unit that is traditionally really slow.
* HorseArcher: Their Cavalry Archers fire 20% faster and the Mangudai is among the strongest, faster moving and attacking than most units.
* ScissorsCutsRock: Mangudai arrows are deadly against siege weapons, their only cost-effective counter.

!!Persians
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/persiansde.png]]

-->Cavalry civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Middle Eastern.\\
Start with +50 wood, food.\\
Town Center, Dock 2X hit points; work rate +5% Dark (DE), +10% Feudal, +15 Castle, +20% Imperial Age.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Knights +2 attack vs. Archers.\\
'''Unique Unit''': War Elephant (powerful but slow cavalry).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (DE)''': Kamandaran (Archer-line gold cost is replaced by additional wood cost) [[note]]HD's is Boiling Oil (Castles +9 bonus damage against rams)[[/note]].\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Mahouts (War Elephant speed +30%).\\
'''Wonder''': Khosrau's Palace.

* AchillesHeel: The Persians lack Heresy, this combined with the War Elephant's vulnerability to conversion AND the Persian dependence on expensive units such as Paladins and War Elephants makes them perfectly countered by civilizations with good monks (i.e. Aztecs and Spanish).
* ACommanderIsYou: ''Elitist Faction'' for sure. They do not have access to many strong, cheap units like the Arbalest, the Champion, or even the Two-Handed Swordsmen. They rely almost entirely on their expensive cavalry. They do have a good ship fleet, though.
* BornInTheSaddle: The Persians are this trope made civilization. They have access to all cavalry units and techs that are not unique to other civilization, and their own UU is the only siege cavalry in the original game (the expansions add the Korean War Wagon, the Hunnic Tarkan and the Khmer Ballista Elephant).
* DiscardAndDraw: The Persian Castle Age unique tech was changed from Boiling Oil to Kamandaran, which means that instead of castles inflicting a situational bonus damage on rams, Persians can transform their crossbows into effective trash units costing 70 wood instead of 25 wood, 45 gold.
* FactionCalculus: Powerhouse. The civilization is the only civilization that has all the upgrades to their cavalry units, and the civilization itself relies on a lot of gold efficient units such as gunpowder units, Paladins, and War Elephants.
* HerdHittingAttack: The War Elephants does trample damage, making them very effective against infantry and archers.
* MightyGlacier: War Elephants are the biggest example in the game with even the Teutonic Knight being a wimp compared to it in terms of health, resisting high damage and damaging units adjacent to whatever they're attacking. Outside of units they're specially weak to, there's no cost effective way of beating them.
* NoCampaignForTheWicked: They appear as antagonists in many campaigns, but there is only a single mission in the Battles of the Forgotten where they are playable in a campaign.
* NotTheIntendedUse: The Persians have a bonus on their Town Centers where they have double the extra HP and work faster. While the extra HP for their Town Center was meant to discourage any early game rushing, some crafty competitive players used the Town Center work rate and the extra HP of their Town Centers to preform a "Persian douche" strategy. This involves ''deleting your own Town Center'' in the Dark Age, getting a bunch of Villagers, and rebuilding your own Town Center ''next to your opponent's Town Center''. Under the right conditions, this can be ''very'' devastating to your opponent.
* WarElephants: Their unique unit.
* WeaksauceWeakness: War Elephants are very easily converted by Monks. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard And then used against the Persian player!]]

!!Saracens
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/saracensde.png]]

--> Camel and naval civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Middle Eastern.\\
Market trade cost only 5%.\\
Markets cost -100 wood (DE[[note]]-75 in HD[[/note]]).\\
Transport Ships 2X hit points, 2X carry capacity.\\
Galleys attack 20% faster.\\
Archers (except Skirmishers) +3 attack vs. buildings[[note]]just Cavalry Archers prior to DE[[/note]].\\
'''Team Bonus''': Foot archers +1 attack vs. buildings.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Mameluke (ranged camel dealing melee damage).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Madrasah (Monks return 33 gold when killed).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Zealotry (Camels, Mamelukes +30 HP).\\
'''Wonder''': Great Mosque of Samarra.

* ArcherArchetype: The Saracens and Japanese are the only civs to get every technology from the Archery Range. Their archers (both foot and mounted) even deal more damage to buildings.
* ACommanderIsYou: The Saracens seem to fall under the ''Elitist Faction'', the ''Ranger Faction'' and the ''Technical Faction'' as their strongest and most important units tend to be gold-intensive, appear late-game and ranged. Arbalests, Cavalry Archers, Hand Cannoneers, Mamelukes, Siege Onagers, Bombard Cannons, Monks, Trebuchets, and even Galleons. In the 6th and final Barbarossa scenario, Saladin makes good use of this fact with an army of exclusively ranged units with only a couple of Heavy Camels to start the scenario. This is quite excruciating because the player uses the Teutons who are the [[MightyGlacier slow and methodical civilization]].
* ClownCar: Their Transport Ships can carry 2X more units.
* ConfusionFu: Despite being labelled as the Camel civilization they have a wide tech tree thus capable of a wide range of playstyles, like the Byzantines. Unlike the Byzantines however they also have full blacksmith techs, giving them even more options on the offensive side.
* FacelessGoons: Mamelukes wear black turbans that cover their face completely.
* FactionCalculus: Balanced[=/=]Powerhouse. The civilization have a wide tech tree and have some gold efficient lategame units like the Mameluke, gunpowder, and their tankier camels.
* HorseArcher: The Saracen Horse Archers specifically do more damage to buildings, and the are the only civilization to get every technology to upgrade them along with the Turks. Their Mameluke Unique Unit is sort of like this, playing like a short-ranged Horse Archer except he's a guy on a camel that throws swords and does [[DamageTyping melee damage instead of ranged damage]].
* MagikarpPower: Due to lacking long-term economic bonuses they are very difficult to start with, but once they reach Imperial Age the Saracens can kill anything at sight with their strong camels and various advanced ranged units. This is obvious in the second Saladin scenario, [[ThatOneLevel where the player starts in Feudal Age with little resources, restricted to the Castle Age and many soon-to-be Imperial Age foes trying to kill the player.]]
* OurElvesAreBetter: Interestingly they have a lot of the usual traits of elves in strategy games. Besides their Ranger Faction tendencies, the Saladin campaign depicts the Saracens as originally peaceful and civilized who become warlike due to events around them. They are men who used to "enter battle as gentlemen" who "discuss mathematics and astronomy" and "seek to dignify their civilization" but the Crusades made them warlike. Their cities such as Cairo and Baghdad are described by the Norman narrator with awe. Their Wonder is even impressive enough to make do as a MageTower. In real life, the Arabs had advanced technology compared to the Europeans but they were as warlike as everybody else in the Middle Ages (although perhaps it is true that they weren't ''quite'' as divided as the Western Europeans, given that their warring states tended to be rather larger and more coherent, while in Western Europe local lords would gladly fight each other over an orchard if they had an excuse). Later narrations in the campaign mention that they became [[HeWhoFightsMonsters far more bloodthirsty and violent from all their battles]].
* SinisterScimitar: Their unique unit's WeaponOfChoice.
* SlaveMooks: Muslim leaders had to get around the soft ban on Muslims fighting each other; slave mooks known as Mamelukes were the answer. Slaves usually came from Turkic sources, which meant the Mamelukes were probably a precursor to the Jannisaries. Eventually the Mamelukes took control from their owners and founded their own empires in India, Egypt, and Central Asia. In fact the first nation to call itself "Turkey" was the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Mamelukes throw their scimitars at enemies, they usually hit, and pretty hard at that. Of course, the Mameluke has an endless supply of scimitars to throw at people.

!!Teutons
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/teutonsde.png]]

-->Infantry civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Central European.\\
Monks healing range 2X.\\
Towers garrison 2X units.\\
Murder Holes, Herbal Medicine (DE) free.\\
Farms cost -33%.\\
Town Center garrison +10.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Units more resistant to conversion.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Teutonic Knight (powerful but slow infantry).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)'''): Ironclad (Siege weapon melee armor +4).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Crenellations (Castle range +3, garrisoned infantry fires arrows).\\
'''Wonder''': Maria Laach Abbey.

* BlackKnight: The appropriately ominous looking Teutonic Knight is the closest equivalent to the first ''Age of Empires'' Phalanx: 50% more [=HPs=] than a Champion, three times the melee armor, almost twice the cost, [[MightyGlacier half its speed]]. They easily kill other melee units, even the dreaded Paladin, and unlike the Persian elephants they are resistant to conversion. However their decent pierce armor and HP doesn't make up for their speed and they are beaten by most ranged units. Combine them with rams and most opponents will still shit their pants as they walk to their base... [[TheSlowWalk though veeeery slowly.]]
* ClosestThingWeGot: After researching the unique technology "Crenellations", Teutonic infantry garrisoned in castles and towers will [[RainOfArrows also fire arrows]], rather than just archers.
* ACommanderIsYou: '''THE''' Brute faction. Despite being slow as molasses, their Teutonic Knights do tons of damage. They also have excellent defense bonuses, cheaper farms of an Economist, units that are resistant to conversion, and their monks have doubled healing range. Due to their reliance on expensive late-game units they also count as the Elitist faction.
* FactionCalculus: Powerhouse. Their defensive capacity and farms are one of the best in the game, and their tech tree puts emphasis on their gold efficient units. In fact, the Teutons are the only civilization in the game that cannot upgrade their scout cavalry line.
* GermanicEfficiency: Definitely invoked when one looks at their castles or compares the Teutonic Knight to other infantry. Not fast nor cheap, but definitely worth to invest in.
* MightyGlacier: A good way to characterize the Teutons' offense. Slow Teutonic Knights and siege weapons, along with encroaching fortifications. They are also one of the few civs to lack the movement speed upgrade for their mounted units.
* MoreDakka: If filled with Hand Cannoneers or Janissaries, their Bombard Towers can fire two and three cannonballs respectively instead of the usual one.
* QualityOverQuantity: The main playstyle of the Teutons, their tech tree does not have access to cheap, cost efficient units such as the Arbalest, and their trash unit line is considered below average (they are the only non-American civilization to not have access to the Light Cavalry upgrade and their Elite Skirmishers are missing Thumb Ring and the last Imperial Age attack upgrade, with fully upgradable Halberdiers as their only trash unit). However, the make up for it by utilizing gold efficient and expensive units such as their siege weapons, Hand Cannoneers, Paladins, and Teutonic Knights. Their strong and durable Teutonic Knights, combined with gold efficient units, makes them a formidable against civilizations that utilize ZergRush strategy (such as the Goths).
* RainOfArrows: "Crenellations" also increases the range of their castles.

!!Turks
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/turksde.png]]

-->Gunpowder civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Middle Eastern.\\
Gunpowder units +25% hit points; researching gunpowder technologies costs -50%; Chemistry free.\\
Gold miners work 20% faster.\\
Light Cavalry and Hussar upgrades free.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Gunpowder units created 20% faster.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Janissary (strong hand cannoneer).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Sipahi (Cavalry Archer +20 HP).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Artillery (Bombard Tower, Bombard Cannon and Cannon Galleon range +2).\\
'''Wonder''': Suleiman's Mosque.

* AchillesHeel: The Turks are considered to be the most gold dependent civilizations due to their army mostly consisting of gunpowder units and the fact that they don't have good upgrades to their spearmen and skirmisher line (they do have access to Hussars for free though). This is compensated by their faster gold mining bonus.
* BornInTheSaddle: Historically, the Turks used to be this type of civilization. When they moved to the Middle East, they quickly took on many Persian and Arab characteristics but still retained strong horsemanship into Ottoman times. In gameplay this is reflected by their free upgrades to the Scout Cavalry line as well as being the only civ besides the Saracens to get every upgrade for their Cavalry Archers (and even an upgrade that boosts the durability of their cavalry archers in ''the Forgotten'' expansion). The Ottomans made good use of infantry so the Turks have limited access to foot units but what they have is strong.
* CrutchCharacter: Conversely with the MagikarpPower status in team games, the Turks are also this in 1v1 situations. While the Turks get their powerspike in late Castle Age and early Imperial Age, once late Imperial Age comes when running out of gold is an issue, the Turks will fall off drastically due to them having an incredibly weak trash-line unless if the Turks secure several relics during the Castle Age.
* DifficultButAwesome: The Turks do not have any upgrades for their spearmen and skirmisher line, this makes them extremely gold dependent. They are also known for their notoriously weak early game AND a notoriously weak lategame in 1v1 matches due to the lack of significant early game economic bonuses and lack of a strong trash unit line (with Hussar as their only trash unit option). Skillful players must make the best use of their gold to play effectively and secure the relics in the map, otherwise, the Turks will not have any trash unit options lategame. On the other hand, the Turks are considered to be a viable civilization in team games since the player can establish a trade line, hence not worrying about running out of gold.
* ACommanderIsYou: Definitely an ''Elitist Faction''. They lack the full upgrades for the cheap Spearmen and Skirmishers and must rely on gold intensive units like Janissaries. The only strong, non-gold unit they have are the Hussars which they have a bonus for.
* FactionCalculus: Powerhouse. The Turks have the worst trash units in the game (lacking upgrades for their Skirmisher and spearman units), but their civilization puts more emphasis on their gold efficient lategame units such as their unique units and beefier cavalry archers.
* MagikarpPower: The Turks are this in many teamgame situations. They have strong late game bonuses such as increased gold mining does little use early in the game, since the civilizations have no pikeman or elite skirmisher upgrades, lousy and their mangonels have no upgrades. Along with them missing a few important technologies in the earlier ages. However, if Turk players manage to age up to late Castle Age and Imperial is where they get their power. For example, their unique unit, the Janissary is the one of the three Castle Age gunpowder units available (The other being the Spanish Conquistador and the Portuguese Organ Gun). Their gunpowder units are cheaper, have higher hp, and can be created faster. The Janissary is basically a stronger hand cannoneer with higher damage, better accuracy, and increased range. They also get free light cavalry upgrades, with expert Turk players advancing with hordes of Hussars, Bombard Cannons, and Janissaries. Finally their unique technology "Artillery" increases the range of their Bombard Cannons, Cannon Galleons, and Bombard Towers. The Turks considered to be one of the most reliable late-game civilizations in teamgames (along with Portuguese, Italians, and Vietnamese) due to the fact that securing gold isn't an issue with an established trade line, and the Turks are one of the most gold efficient civilizations in team games since many of their civilization bonuses have good synergy with each other.
* MoreDakka: They create gunpowder units faster, get Chemistry the instant they reach Imperial Age, get all gunpowder-related technologies for half cost, and their Cannon Galleons, Bombard Tower, and Bombard Cannon all outrange their counterparts in other civs. All of their gunpowder units also have 25% extra HitPoints. It's pretty obvious which units the game wants you to use when you play as the Turks.
* SlaveMooks: The Janissary corps were slaves brought in from the Slavs in the Balkans and then from the Greeks. Young boys were captured and then given an exclusively military education, which for the Turks included warfare, wrestling, swordsmanship, Islam, chess, music, cooking, and engineering.

!!Vikings
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vikingsde.png]]

-->Infantry and naval civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Central European.\\
Warships cost -15% Feudal/Castle Age, -20% Imperial Age.[[note]]Was 20% in all ages before HD[[/note]]\\
Infantry +10% Feudal, +15% Castle, +20% Imperial Age.\\
Wheelbarrow, Hand Cart free.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Docks cost -15%[[note]]-25% prior to HD[[/note]]\\
'''Unique Units''': Berserker (self-healing infantry), Longboat (ship that fires multiple arrows at once).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Chieftains (Infantry +5 attack vs cavalry, +4 vs camels).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Berserkergang (Berserks regenerate faster).\\
'''Wonder''': Borgund Stave Church.

* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: Longboats (like all ships in the game) have no oars, whose animation would probably cause lag on the computers of the time when the game was released.
* TheBerserker: Their unique unit.
* ACommanderIsYou: Economist/Specialist (Naval). Due to their limited tech tree, the Vikings are hard to pin down but they have a very strong economy in the middle section of a round such that they can get away with using units that they are weak with such as Knights. A common misconception is that they are poor on land but actually they are strong for most of the game. They are only weak late game due to lacking many of the strongest Imperial Age units such as Siege Onager and Paladins. However, they dominate water maps. When competitive players on teams get to choose their civs but have no idea what map they will be on, each team will almost always have a Viking player on the off chance they get a map with significant water on it as well as the fact that the Vikings are still a good land civ.
* CoolShip: Their sleek Longboats with masts shaped like dragonheads, counterparts of the real life Drakkar.
* CrutchCharacter: Played straight on land where they are strong middle game but lack many powerful Imperial Age units, averted on water where their performances are consistently good.
* FactionCalculus: In water maps, they are the Powerhouse faction due to their strong naval bonuses they are one of the most consistent naval civlizations. In land maps, the fit into Subversive faction since they lack any good lategame land units, but make up for it for their strong economic bonuses that allows them to play aggressively and apply early game pressure with their limited tech tree, even allowing them to close out games as early game Feudal Age.
* HealingFactor: The aforementioned Berserkers can heal themselves. The unique tech Berserkergang makes them regenerate even faster.
* HornyVikings: Obviously. Though it's downplayed a bit, only the above mentioned unique unit actually has a horned helmet.
* LightningBruiser: Longboats are very fast and shoot volleys of arrows at once, making them perfect for sea-raids.
* NotTheIntendedUse: The Vikings are mostly meant to be played in Water Maps, but they are considered to be a viable competitive civilization in land maps due to their strong early economic bonuses with free Wheelbarrow and Hand Cart. They can also do a viable, although suboptimal, Knight rush thanks to their said free Wheelbarrow and Hand Cart upgrades, hence allowing the Vikings to pump out Knights sooner than other civilizations despite having one of the worst cavalry in the game.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: The Vikings can ironically pull off a reasonable Knight rush, but Huns, Mongols, and Berbers can do this strategy better (not to mention, the said civilizations have access to key important techs that the Vikings don't have access to, Bloodlines and Husbandry in particular).
* RainOfArrows: The Longboat's attack, which gives it an edge over the galleys and makes it dangerous to land units.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: A literal example. Though they are actually stronger on land than most players would make you think, Vikings are usually mostly picked on water maps.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Civilizations in The Conquerors]]
!!Aztecs
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aztecsde.png]]

-->Infantry and Monk civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Mesoamerican.\\
Villagers carry +5.\\
Military units created 15% faster.\\
+5 Monk hit points for each Monastery technology.\\
Start with +50 gold.[[note]]was free Loom prior to HD[[/note]].\\
'''Team Bonus''': Relics generate +33% gold.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Jaguar Warrior (most powerful infantry in game).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Atatl (Skirmishers attack +1, range +1).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Garland Wars (Infantry attack +4).\\
'''Wonder''': Great Temple of Tenochtitlan.

* BadassArmy: The Aztecs have access to all swordsman upgrades and their unique technology "Garland Wars" gives them 4 additional attack points. Then consider that Jaguar Warriors also benefit from these technologies, and that they themselves have a bonus attack against other infantry units.
* BadassPreacher: Their monks [[StoneWall gain HP for each Monastery technology researched.]]
* TheBrute: The Jaguar Warrior can beat any other infantry unit in one-on-one combat, even the Teutonic Knight if the Jaguar strikes first. [[CarryABigStick And it is armed with a club]].
* CarryABigStick sprinkled with Obsidian shards: Jaguar Warriors.
* CityOfGold: Reflected by their team bonus, which generates gold from relics faster. In real life, Tenochtitlan houses many artifacts made from gold.
* ACommanderIsYou: Brute/Technical. Their buildings are the weakest in the game and they lack cavalry, but they can create all of their military units faster on a powerful economy to boot, and they have a technology that gives their frail Infantry +4 attack. The are not completely glass cannons because for every Monastery technology they research, their Monks gain +5 HP. This combination of fast Eagles, strong Jaguars and Champions and micro-intensive Monks need to constantly be on offense.
* CripplingOverspecialization: They are pretty bad at everything other than Eagle Warriors and monks.
* EnemyExchangeProgram: In addition to their beefy Monks, potentially converting units before they have a chance to kill the monks, they can get the unique Xolotl Warrior from converting an enemy stable.
* FactionCalculus: Subversive: Their defensive capacities are weak, but can easily produce their cheap military units without any problems thanks to their strong early game economic bonuses.
* {{Foil}}: To the Mayans. The Aztecs are the most well-known pre-Columbian civilization, fit "The Conquerors" theme, and were probably developed early on. Gameplay-wise, the Aztecs are very focused on offense, while the Mayans were probably developed later and are clearly much more defensive and have many techs the Aztecs lack.
* GlassCannon: Their infantry units have relatively low HP despite their high attack. The Aztecs are also one of the few civilizations to have access to the Siege Onager, a very expensive glass cannon unit.
* LightningBruiser: Garland Wars would ensure that their fully-upgraded Elite Eagle Warriors will become this.
* NemeanSkinning: They're not called Jaguar Warriors for nothing...
* ZergRush: All military units are created 15% faster. Aztec players will then use this to spam infantry and monks, which is mostly the [[CripplingOverSpecialization only things]] the Aztecs are good at.

!!Huns
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hunsde.png]]

-->Cavalry civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Central European.\\
Do not need houses, but start with -100 wood.\\
Cavalry archers cost -10% Castle, -20% Imperial Age[[note]]was 25/30% prior to HD[[/note]].\\
Trebuchets +30% accuracy.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Stables work 20% faster.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Tarkan (anti-building cavalry).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Marauders (Tarkans can be trained at the Stable).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Atheism (Wonder and Relic victories take +100 years, -50% Spies/Treason cost).\\
'''Wonder''': Destroyed Arch of Constantine surrounded by plundered gold.

* AchillesHeel: The Huns' military is mostly consist of cavalry and cavalry archers. This can easily be countered with halberdiers, onagers, scorpions, and skirmishers.
* AttackAttackAttack: The Huns need to constantly be on the offensive in order to play them effectively.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Mentioned during Attila's campaign that Attila was their king specifically because he was the strongest.
* BornInTheSaddle: Cutscenes in the Attila the Hun campaign state that the Huns even had deformed legs due to being on horseback most of their lives. This was a true trope in real life, the Huns originally being a Central Asian people. Reflected in gameplay, too, since their foot troops are limited in variety and weak.
* BarbarianTribe: Out of all the civs, the Huns are viewed as the most barbaric. The contemporary Goths adopted many Roman customs, and the Mongols take a pragmatic approach to conquest sparing anybody who backs down and making examples of those who resist. Romans during the campaign exclaim that the Huns care about nothing but gold and conquest. Hunnic notions of firing and retreating in battle was incomprehensible to the Romans, as was their refusal to eventually settle down in one place like the Germanic tribes. This is depicted in gameplay as the Huns don't need Houses, they lack access to more advanced upgrades to machinery such as Onagers, Bombard Cannons, or Arbalests, and lack many defensive upgrades.
* ACommanderIsYou: They are a Ranger faction with a preference towards cavalry, poor defenses but excellent offenses. Their team bonus towards faster cavalry creation also qualifies them as Spammer.
* CrutchCharacter: Good for early raids, falls off late game due to their predictable army composition (which is mostly consisting of cavalry) and below-average siege weapons.
* DifficultButAwesome: The Huns are considered to be one of the strongest early game civilizations since they do not need to build any houses, meaning more wood saved for unit production for cavalry archers. However, in order to play the Huns effectively, the player needs to play them aggressively with rushes, or [[CrutchCharacter they'll fall off lategame]]. They are also considered to be one of the best civilizations for professional players due to their strong economic bonuses and strong rushing strategies, especially in open maps like Arabia.
* FactionCalculus: Subversive. Their defensive capacity is lackluster, and their lategame potential is very limited (their only powerful unit in their tech tree are their cheaper Heavy Cavalry Archers and their Paladins), but have one of the best early game offensive capacities in the game to the point that they can constantly keep up with their aggression throughout the game.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Huns build monasteries that look like Christian churches despite not being Christian (they also have Catholic-looking monks, but so do all non-American civs). More bizarrely, they have access to several religious techs (Fervor, Sanctity, Atonement, Heresy, Illumination and Faith), but their unique technology is Atheism. One explanation for this is that their campaign is set in Europe and they use the buildings of those they conquered, as reflected by their Wonder.
* GlassCannon: Not as extreme as the Goths (at least they have access to stone walls), but the lack of good defensive upgrades really makes them poor for defensive gameplay.
* HorseArcher: The Huns get cheaper Cavalry Archers to the point that they are barely more costly than regular Archers but still have twice the durability, more attack, and more speed. In real life of course, the majority of the Hun army was on horseback.
* LightningBruiser: The Huns have access to Heavy Cavalry Archers, Paladins, ''and'' Bloodlines, something of an incredibly deadly combo. The other civilizations that have access to such combination is the Magyars, Spanish, and the Persians.
* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: Their UT "Atheism" makes other players need more time to win after building a Wonder or collecting all relics from a map.
* RapePillageAndBurn: This is generally their MO in their campaign. Their Tarkan unique unit is a horse mounted raider armed with a flaming brand, particularly effective against buildings.

!!Koreans
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/koreansde.png]]

-->Tower and naval civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': East Asian.\\
Villagers +3 line of sight.\\
Stone miners work 20% faster.\\
Tower upgrades free (Bombard Tower requires Chemistry).\\
Tower range (except Bombard Tower) +1 Castle, +2 Imperial Age.\\
Fortifications are built 33% faster (HD only).\\
Military units (except siege weapons) cost -15% wood (DE)\\
'''Team Bonus''': Mangonel line minimum range reduced.[[note]]was +1 range prior to HD[[/note]]\\
'''Unique Units''': War Wagon (armored cavalry archer), Turtle Ship (armored cannon ship).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Panokseon (Turtle Ships speed +15%).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Shinkichon (Mangonel line range +1).\\
'''Wonder''': Hwangnyong Pagoda.

* AchillesHeel: The Koreans gameplay is built around playing defensively and turtling up with their free tower upgrades and stone mining bonus that makes them powerful in Black Forest or Arena. In more open maps like Arabia they are vulnerable in getting raided and attacks at all sides as it's difficult to wall up and play defensively.
* ACommanderIsYou: Elitist/Brute/Ranger. Their best units, Siege Onagers and War Wagons, are expensive but very powerful. Their melee units are weak, but it's easy to rely on their powerful ranged units.
* CoolShip: Turtle Ships are undeniably cool: big, spiky turtle shells with dragon heads that spit cannonballs.
* FactionCalculus: Powerhouse. The Koreans put emphasis on their strong defensive capacities alongside with their slow, powerful, and gold efficient units.
* FarEast: The War Wagon's design is based on wagon models from Qin Shi Huang's tomb in China.
* MagikarpPower: The Koreans do not have any significant early game economic bonus, and their stone gathering bonus isn't that significant in the early stages of the game until the Castle Age. However, once they start building Bombard Towers, Keeps, and Castles and mass up War Wagons, they are incredibly hard to deal with lategame.
* MightyGlacier: Turtle Ships are colossal, have lots of health points and are terribly slow. However, once a building or ship gets inside their (rather short) range, it's doomed. War Wagons could also be considered slower but stronger Cavalry Archers.
* SpikesOfDoom: Just in case you though those spikes were for show, the Noryang scenario has a drawing of a Japanese boarder ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice in one of them. The Turtle Ships' main strength in RealLife came from the fact that they could not be boarded and captured.

!!Mayans
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mayansde.png]]

-->Archer civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Mesoamerican.\\
Start with +1 villager, but -50 food.\\
Resources last 15% longer.[[note]]20% prior to HD[[/note]]\\
Archers cost -10% Feudal, -20% Castle, -30% Imperial Age.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Walls cost -50%\\
'''Unique Unit''': Plummed Archer (strong, fast foot archer, equivalent to a cavalry archer).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Obsidian Arrows (Archer line has +6 attack vs buildings/stone defense).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': El Dorado (Eagle Warrior line HP +40).\\
'''Wonder''': Temple of the Great Jaguar.\\

* AchillesHeel: The Mayans have an incredibly strong archery, yet their infantry line is not as durable since they lack the Champion upgrade and their only reliable infantry units are Halberdiers (which they get), and beefy Elite Eagle Warriors. Combined with the lack of cavalry and Hand Cannoneers (like all Mesoamerican civilizations), the matchup against the Goths is often seen as a lopsided and unfair matchup for the Mayans in the lategame, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrTT-iGM6wY as explained in this video]][[labelnote:Explanation]]The Mayan Elite Eagle Warriors not only isn't a cost-efficient unit to fight Huskarls and Champions in term of gold efficiency, but both the Huskarls and Champions have an attack bonus vs. Eagle Warriors. Not to mention, the Mayans are an archer heavy civilization and the Huskarls have an incredibly high-pierce armor and attack bonus against archers.[[/labelnote]].
* AnnoyingArrows: Eagle Warriors have high pierce armor, and Mayan ones have very high HitPoints.
* ArcherArchetype: Rely mostly on archers and ships.
* ACommanderIsYou: Spammer/Ranger. They extract 20% more resources from the same source than the other civilizations, and their archers are dirt cheap. Combine the two, and they definitely [[WeHaveReserves have reserves]].
* FactionCalculus: Cannon. Their foot archers are incredibly strong and their unique unit is very mobile and can mass up archers easily. However, their frontline capacity is very weak since they lack the Champion upgrade, meaing they need to rely on their beefy Eagle Warriors and Halberdiers to protect their archers.
* {{Foil}}: To the Aztecs. Their ships, archers, and fortifications are better, while their infantry, siege, and monks are considerably worse. The exception is the Eagle Warrior which is stronger than its Aztec equivalent and together with the also fast Plumed Archers, can effectively be considered a form of light cavalry - something that the Aztecs definitely lack.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: In RealLife, the Mayans weren't actually that big in archery, unlike what is suggested by their [=AoK=] UU. In [=AoE=] III, for example, the mercenary Mayan unit is a shield-bearing spearman.
* {{Mayincatec}}: Seriously ES? You couldn't think of a better name for a Mayan UT than ''El Dorado''? The mythical CityOfGold was supposed to be in South America and had nothing to do with the Maya!

!!Spanish
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spanishde.png]]

--> Gunpowder and Monk civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Western European (pre-DE), Mediterranean (DE).\\
Builders work 30% faster.\\
Blacksmith upgrades don't cost gold.\\
Cannon Galleons benefit from Ballistics (fire faster, more accurately).\\
Gunpowder units fire 15% faster.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Trade units generate +25% gold[[note]]+33% prior to HD[[/note]].\\
'''Unique Units''': Conquistador (hand cannoneer cavalry), Missionary (cavalry monk).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech (HD/DE)''': Inquisition (Monks convert faster).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Supremacy (Villagers HP +40, attack +6, armor +2/2).\\
'''Wonder''': Torre del Oro.

* AchillesHeel: The Spanish are very gold dependent due to Conquistadors being fairly expensive for a unique unit. This is compensated with their blacksmith upgrades not costing any gold.
* AnachronismStew: The game's Torre del Oro includes the third stage with a dome, which in the real building wasn't added until the 18th century (out of the game's timeframe). See also TorosYFlamenco below.
* BadassBystander: Their unique technology, Supremacy, [[TookALevelInBadass elevates villagers' combat stats]] up to the level of most frontline units.
* ACommanderIsYou: Elitist/Industrial. They specialise on units with a high gold cost, especially Knights, Conquistadors, Monks, Bombard Cannons, and Bombard Towers. Their villagers create buildings faster, their blacksmith upgrades cost no gold and one can infer that creating gunpowder weapons requires mechanical know-how.
* ConfusionFu: The Spanish have a diverse tech tree, making them open for different strategies except for archer rush (since the Spanish are known to be only the civilization not to have any upgrades in the foot archer lane). They are also the only civilization in the game to have a fully upgradable trash unit line as well.
* FactionCalculus: Powerhouse. While they have a reasonable tech tree, their biggest appeal is their gold efficient units. Even their own villagers are much stronger when compared to the other civilizations' villagers and they are the only civilization that have all the upgrades to their trash units.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: The Spanish were known historically for using the crossbow. In game, they cannot upgrade past the base Archer unit.
* GratuitousSpanish: They speak in the Old Castilian dialect.
* HorseArcher: The Spanish Unique Unit, the Conquistador, although he's a dude with a matchlock rifle instead of a bow.
* LightningBruiser: See ReligiousBruiser below.
* MadeOfIron: Villagers with the Supremacy unique tech. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6c5vd9QrFg To give you an example]], 10 of them can kill a Paladin with only 1 casualty.
* MoreDakka: All of their gunpowder units fire 15% faster. This means that their Hand Cannoneers and Bombard Cannons even beat Turkish ones in direct combat. Their Cannon Galleons also benefit from the Ballistics technology. Normal Cannon Galleons are only good for anti-building bombardment thanks to their slow moving cannonballs and require an escort from combat ships, Spanish ones can fight ship to ship and win handily.
* ReligiousBruiser: They have access to Heavy Cavalry Archers, Conquistadors, and Paladins. Not only that, they have access to ''all'' Monk technologies (and even have the Inquisition unique tech that improves their conversion rate (which highlights the Spanish's missionary work of converting the native population in the New World) as well as the only mounted Monk unit in the game, the Missionary, to reinforce the previous point.
* SkillGateCharacter: The Spanish have a relatively strong lategame and diverse tech tree (barring their foot archer line), and have solid lategame unit options (Hand Cannoneers, Paladin, Conquistadors, Bombard Cannons), and even their Villagers creating buildings faster and Blacksmith techs not costing any gold have some usefulness for newer players.
* TheThemeParkVersion: The Conquistador unit is a summation of what advantages the conquistadors had over the American natives (i.e. gunpowder, horses and steel armor; which incidentally are the strengths of the Spanish tech tree), rather than what an actual conquistador would have used in battle all at once. The rifles of the time were too big and slow to charge and fire to use them from horseback, though heavily armored cavalry made use of short-ranged pistols around that time.
* TorosYFlamenco: The Spanish RegionalRiff is a flamenco-ish chant, despite flamenco appearing in the 18th century and thus out of the game's timeframe.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Civilizations in The Forgotten (HD)]]
!!Incas
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/incasde.png]]

-->Infantry civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Mesoamerican.\\
Start with a free llama.\\
Villagers affected by Blacksmith upgrades.\\
Houses support 10 population.\\
Buildings cost -15% stone.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Farms built +50% faster.\\
'''Unique Units''': Kamayuk (Spearman with longer range, best used in massed formations), Slinger (ranged infantry with bonus attack against other infantry).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Andean Sling (Skirmishers, Slingers minimum range removed).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Couriers (Kamayuks, Slingers, and Eagle Scouts +1/+2 armor).[[note]]Initially gave these units +10% speed before ''African Kingdoms''[[/note]]\\
'''Wonder''': Machu Picchu's Temple of the Sun.

* AntiInfantry: Slingers have an attack bonus of +10 against infantry, allowing them to defeat most infantry that come close enough.
* ArbitraryMinimumRange: Slingers cannot fire on units that stand next to them before Andean Sling is researched.
* BadassBystander: Villagers benefit from blacksmith technologies.
* BalanceBuff: The Courier's unique tech was reworked where their unique units and Eagle Warriors gain extra armor and are given several technologies (such as Keeps, Guilds, Block Printing, and Thumb Ring) to help drastically improve their Castle Age and Imperial Age power.
* BladeOnAStick: The Kamayuk's WeaponOfChoice.
* {{BFS}}: Where the S stands for 'spear'. The Kamayuk's spear is the longest handheld weapon in the game, twice and a half the height of its handler. That means that they can effectively strike their enemies from afar, including through walls and gates.
* ACommanderIsYou: Economist/Specialist. They can create farms 50% quicker and need less stone and houses than other civs. Army-wise, they seemed a bit focused on counter-units, making them the Mesoamerican answer to the Byzantine faction.
* DiscardAndDraw: In ''The African Kingdoms'' the Unique Tech Couriers gives their Eagle Warriors and unique units more armor instead of higher speed.
* EnemyExchangeProgram: They can get the unique Xolotl Warrior from converting an enemy stable.
* EverythingsBetterWithLlamas: In the HD version, Inca players begin a new game with a free llama (used to be a turkey in the non-HD version).
* FragileSpeedster: In contrast to the [[GlassCannon Aztec]] and [[LightningBruiser Mayan Eagle Warriors]], theirs have higher speed.
* MagikarpPower: On paper, the Kamayuk has mediocre stats, with low armor, average attack and health, and will lose to a lot of units 1vs1. But in larger numbers the Kamayuk will fare a lot better and will come out on the winning side more often.
* {{Mayincatec}}: Downplayed. The Inca use the Mesoamerican architecture set, but speak Quechua and have units wearing traditional Quechua clothing. Their Wonder is also undeniably Inca, based on the Temple of the Sun at Macchu Picchu.
* MisplacedWildlife: The Incas get a free turkey (a North American species) instead of a llama prior to the HD version.
* SufferTheSlings: Only civilization in the game to get them. The stats and bonus against other infantry makes the slinger the Inca equivalent of the Hand Cannoneer, a soldier armed ''with a firearm''. The "Andean Sling" technology eliminates the need of a minimum range to fire.
* TheUnfavorite: If there is a civilization that got the cold shoulder from ES it's this, left out of both ''The Conquerors'' and later ''Age of Empires III: The War Chiefs'' despite the declared aim being to bring in playable Native American civilizations in both occasions, and the Incas being the obvious choice being the biggest native empire in the Americas, having pack animals, the most Old World-like army organization and fortifications, and keeping resistance against Europeans for 40 years without counting later rebellions. In comparison, the Mayans weren't politically unified, and the Aztecs went down in 3 years. The first HD version was released without an Inca campaign, even though an empty South America map is still there. When it finally came out, this "Inca" campaign actually turned out to be about a Spanish army GoingNative... in the Amazon, outside of the (former) Inca Empire's territory. ''DE'' rectified this by replacing the ''El Dorado'' campaign with a campaign depicting Pachacuti's rise to power.

!!Indians
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/indiansde.png]]

-->Camel and Gunpowder Civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Middle Eastern (pre-''Rise of the Rajas''), Indian (''Rise of the Rajas'' onward).\\
Villagers cost -10% Dark, -15% Feudal, -20% Castle, -25% Imperial Age.\\
Fishermen work 15% faster and carry +15.\\
Camels +1 pierce armor.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Camels +5 attack vs. buildings.\\
'''Unique Units''': Elephant Archer (tough but slow cavalry archer, comparable to a movable tower), Imperial Camel (actually a unique upgrade to the Heavy Camel).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Sultans (all gold gathering 10% faster).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Shatagni (Hand Cannoneers range +1).\\
'''Wonder''': Taj Mahal (non-HD version), Gol Gumbaz (HD version-''The African Kingdoms''), Brihadeeswarar Temple (''Rise of the Rajas'').

* AnachronismStew: Prior to ''The African Kingdoms'', the Indians used the voice clips of the Indians of ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'', which depicts the Indians around the time of British colonization. ''Forgotten Empires'' thus gives us Indians who speak Urdu long before it existed and also say "Hello."
* ArtEvolution: The Indians used to share the Middle Eastern architecture with the Byzantines, Turks, Persians, Saracens and Berbers before the release of ''Rise of the Rajas'', which changed their architecture to the newly-introduced Indian one.
* ACommanderIsYou: Elitist/Economist due to their bonuses with gunpowder units, their cheaper villagers and Unique Technology that gives them gold bonus.
* BalanceBuff: The Indians at the time of the release were considered to be one of the most under-preforming civilizations due to their large amount of weaknesses they have and their economic bonus of cheaper villagers wasn't that significant in the early game. This led to several buffs where the Indians's civilization bonus of cheaper villagers became stronger as well as giving them Guilds and Ring Archer Armor to help improve their lategame. Apparently, this was a buff that went too well that the civilization was nerfed later on by removing the Indian's ability to obtain Arbalests (see NotTheIntendedUse).
* HorseOfADifferentColor: Horses are only present as light cavalry. Camels, Heavy Camels and Imperial Camels serve as a cheap but worthy replacement to Knights, Cavaliers and Paladins.
* GlassCannon: Prior to ''The African Kingdoms'', their Camels deal more damage to buildings, but cannot withstand building fire.
* NotTheIntendedUse: The Indians are meant to be designed as a MagikarpPower economic/boom civilization where they don't have access to the Knight line and have to rely on powerful expensive lategame units such as Imperial Camels, Hand Cannoneers with extra range, Elephant Archers, and Bombard Cannons for their late game power. However, due to a BalanceBuff with the Indian's civilization bonus of cheaper villagers, several crafty competitive players have used the Indians for archer rushes (which is a viable strategy during the Feudal and Castle Age) since the cheaper villagers means the player can easily advance to the next age when only gold and wood are spent on archers (and any archers leftover can be upgraded into Arbalests in the Imperial Age). The BalanceBuff was so powerful that the developers decided to remove Arablests from their tech tree, discouraging this kind of strategy while encouraging the player to play to the Indian's lategame strengths.
* SimSimSalabim: The architecture is southern Indian, the camels and gunpowder bonuses are northern Indian.
* StoneWall: The Elephant Archer's attack is [[AnnoyingArrows not as devastating]] as the War Elephant used by the Persians. They can soak up tons of arrows that are fired back at them, though.
* WeHaveReserves: Villagers get cheaper with each age, making an Indian player far less likely to protect theirs than others.

!!Italians
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/italiansde.png]]

-->Archer and Naval civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Mediterranean.\\
Advancing to the next Age costs -15%.\\
Dock techs cost -50%.\\
Fishing Ships cost -15%.\\
Gunpowder units cost -25%.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Condottiero available in Barracks.\\
'''Unique Units''': Genoese Crossbowman (anti-cavalry foot archer), Condottiero (anti-gunpowder infantry that can also be trained by other civilizations allied to an Italian player).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Pavise (Foot archers armor +1/1).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Silk Road (Trade units cost halved).\\
'''Wonder''': Basilica of San Lorenzo.

* AntiCavalry: The Genoese Crossbowman is one, the only foot archer in game to have this property.
* ACommanderIsYou: Ranger. They receive a ranged unit for every situation: Genoese Crossbowmen who shoot cavalry to pieces, cheaper Hand Cannoneers who can decimate infantry, Skirmishers who kill other archers, and cheaper Bombard Cannons that destroy buildings and are effective vs other siege weapons. Most civs tend to have a specialization that keeps them from being pigeonholed in one role, and the Italians receive the melee Condottieri who kill gunpowder units.
* EarlyBirdCameo: They were prominent in Kings and Conquerors campaigns long before they got a civ. You fight them in the form of the Western Romans in Attila (Byzantines), the Genoese in the 6th Saladin (Byzantines), and the Italian city-states in both Attila and Barbarossa (represented by Byzantines, Britons, Franks, Teutons and Celts). ''Definitive Edition'' changes most of the scenarios accordingly, though in some (Barbarossa's fourth and Attila's sixth scenarios) keeps the original different civilizations to add variety to enemy troops.
* GratuitousLatin: The Italians speak Latin, not one of the medieval Italian dialects. Given the time period of their campaign, having them speak Italian would have worked better.
* JackOfAllStats: The can attack and defend equally well.
* MerchantPrince: Referenced by their unique Imperial Age tech, as well as the fact that their Wonder, UU and most bonuses are closely related to Genoa, which was a powerful maritime republic in her prime.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: The Condottieri's availability to other civilizations is explained by the fact that they are mercenaries. In real life the Condottieri were renown for their fickleness, sometimes changing allegiances mid battle. Historically, Genoa often lend the famous Crossbowmen as mercenaries to other countries, which explains their appearence during the 100 Years War under French command.

!!Magyars
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magyarsde.png]]

-->Cavalry civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Eastern European[[note]]Central European in the original mod[[/note]].\\
Villagers kill wolves with 1 strike.\\
Forging, Iron Casting, Blast Furnace free.\\
Scout Cavalry, Light Cavalry, Hussar cost -15%.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Foot archers +2 LOS.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Magyar Huszar (stronger light cavalry with bonus against siege weapons).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Mercenaries (eliminates gold cost for Magyar Huszars).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Recurve Bow (Cavalry Archers attack +1, range +1).\\
'''Wonder''': Hunyad Castle.

* BalanceBuff: The Magyars were considered to be one of the weakest civilizations due to the MagikarpPower nature of their civilization. As a result, many of their civilization bonuses and unique techs were given significant buffs (such as their unique tech that boost their HorseArcher now give them an additional attack and their Light Cavalry is even cheaper) as well as giving them Siege Engineers to help boost their lategame power.
* BeastOfBattle: In the first part of their Honfoglalás scenario, the Magyars make use of Hunting Wolves.
* BladeOnAStick: Outside of some knight heroes available only in campaigns and the editor, the Magyar Huszar is the only available cavalry lancer in the game.
* BornInTheSaddle: A strong Magyar army is fully mounted, with Magyar Huszars, Paladins, Hussars, and Cavalry Archers. In real life, the Magyars spent their early history within a confederation of mostly Turkic peoples on the steppes and adopted a horseback lifestyle. They were feared throughout Europe as the most deadly cavalry soldiers.
* ACommanderIsYou: Ranger/Spammer. Their Cavalry Archers have longer range and their foot archers extra line of sight. They also have cheaper Light Cavalry and the Mercenaries UT which turns their Magyar Huszars into trash units.
* EarlyBirdCameo: They appear in the final Genghis Khan mission, which depicts the Battle of Mohi. They are represented by the Teutons here.
* HorseArcher: Their Horse Archers have the longest range of any other.
* MagikarpPower: The Magyars are considered to be one of ''the'' best lategame civilizations. The Magyars not only have access to cheaper Hussar units, but their unique unit costs no gold at all. In addition, they have a very versatile tech tree with mostly full archer upgrades (minus the Hand Cannoneer), full infantry upgrades, and full cavalry upgrades. Their only weakness is their mediocre siege weaponry and somewhat weak defense, and they don't have any significant early game economic bonuses across from the free Blacksmith upgrades for melee units. This is also highlighted in Honfoglalás scenario. The player starts out with a few villages where the Pechenegs come and attack the said villages. The Magyars then settled near the Khazars as a refuge from the Pechenegs, but the Pechenegs still continue to swarm the Magyars which forces them to retreat again. The Magyars then settled forward west with a few Pecheneg attacks, but the attacks were stalled when the Byzantine empire request help from the Magyars to defeat the Bulgars. The Magyars defeated the Bulgarians which earns them a WorthyOpponent label from the Bulgars. Then the Magyars are forced to retreat ''again'' from the Pechenegs. The scenario ends with the Magyars conquering Moravia, abandoned their nomadic ways, settled in, and adopted a lot of European customs (including Christianity).
* OneHitKill: Magyar villagers kill wild animals with a single hit.
* YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord: Magyar Huszár means "Hungarian Hussar". The average Hussar unit is still available to the Magyars a.k.a. Hungarians, however, and cheaper than other civs to boot. The Magyars need the regular Hussar because they are one of the few civs to lack Faith, a late-game technology that makes units very hard to convert by Monks. Regular Hussars slaughter Monks.

!!Slavs
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/slavsde.png]]

-->Infantry and Siege civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Eastern European.\\
Farmers work +10% faster.[[note]]15% prior to DE[[/note]]\\
Supplies free.[[note]]was Tracking prior to DE, where Supplies (-15 food cost to militia line units) replaces Tracking as the effects of the tech automatically applies to all civilizations in Feudal Age[[/note]]\\
Siege Workshop units 15% cheaper.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Military buildings provide +5 population.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Boyar (tough cavalry).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Orthrodoxy (Monks armor +3/3).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Druzhina (infantry deal trample damage).\\
'''Wonder''': Khizi Church.

* ACommanderIsYou: Brute: their unique technology gives their infantry trample damage and their Boyar unique unit is a well armored cavalry unit (essentially a mounted Teutonic Knight). Along with some Spammer elements as their bonus gives their military buildings five population and their siege units are cheaper.
* AnAxeToGrind: The Boyar in the final HD version is armed with a longaxe.
* HerdHittingAttack: The unique technology "Druzhina" gives trample damage to the Slavic infantry. The only other units that have this are the Persian WarElephants and the Byzantine [[KnightInShiningArmor Cataphract]] (after researching "Logistica").
* KnightInShiningArmor: The Boyar is comparable to the Byzantine Cataphract. The Cataphract destroys infantry, even Halberdiers, as well as Camels but loses to Paladins and ranged units. The Boyar loses to Halberdiers and Camels but beats Paladins and is a little less weak to archery. Slavs lack Paladins, though, which is good because then they could help account for the Slavs' ranged weakness.
* LightningBruiser: Boyars. Imagine a Teutonic Knight, but on a horse. You may pray for mercy now.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Civilizations in The African Kingdoms (HD)]]
!!Berbers
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/berbersde.png]]

-->Cavalry and naval civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Middle Eastern.\\
Villagers move +10% faster.\\
Stable units cost -15% in Castle, -20% in Imperial Age.\\
Ships move +10% faster.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Genitour available in Archery Range.\\
'''Unique Units''': Camel Archer (anti-cavalry archer cavalry archer), Genitour (anti-archer cavalry archer available to other civilizations allied to a Berber player).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Kasbah (Team Castles work +25% faster).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Maghrabi Camels (Camels, Camel Archers slowly regenerate).\\
'''Wonder''': Hassan Tower.

* BornInTheSaddle: Medieval Berber armies were well known for their use of lightly armored but lightning-quick cavalry forces. This is also reflected by their unique units and their 20% discount towards the expensive Stable units.
* ACommanderIsYou: Ranger/Guerrilla thanks to the Genitour and Camel Archer units. Also mostly TruthInTelevision, as the Berbers in land were known for their small skirmishes and HitAndRunTactics in battlefield in addition to their naval pirates.
* HealingFactor: Berber camels can regenerate damage after researching the Maghrabi Camels UT.
* HitAndRunTactics: Their unique units is built around this.
* HorseArcher: Both unique units qualify, although the Camel Archer rides a camel rather than a horse, and the Genitour throws javelins rather than shooting arrows. Ironically, the Berbers do not have access to Parthian Tactics (which boosts the defensive and offensive capacity of horse archers).
* RefittedForSequel: The Genitour was planned for the original 1999 game already, but was scrapped and left unfinished in the editor. It is [[RiddleForTheAges unknown]] if it was originally going to be a general or unique unit.

!!Ethiopians
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ethiopiansde.png]]

-->Archer civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': African.\\
Archers fire +15% faster.\\
Receive +100 gold, +100 food when advancing to the next Age.\\
Pikeman upgrade free.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Towers and Outposts +3 LOS.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Shotel Warrior (fast infantry).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Royal Heirs (Shotel Warriors are created nearly instantly).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Torsion Engines (Siege Workshop units blast radius increased).\\
'''Wonder''': Bete Medhane Alem.

* ArcherArchetype: Their foot archers fire +15% faster, and that's before they get Thumb Ring, which makes the already fast-firing archers the quickest.
* ACommanderIsYou: Ranger/Economist/Brute/Spammer, with faster-firing foot archers, additional food and gold for each age advancement from Castle onwards, free Spearman line upgrades, excellent siege and deadly, spammable Shotel Warriors thanks to the Royal Heirs UT.
* CoolSword: The WeaponOfChoice of the Shotel Warriors is the titular, sickle-like sword, whose attacks are actually difficult to parry properly, which may explain their high attack.
* DualWielding: Shotel Warriors are armed with two Shotel at once.
* {{Foil}}: To the Malians where the Ethiopians have a weaker cavalry and infantry frontline (barring free Spearmen upgrades) in exchange for a strong foot archer and siege weaponry while the Malians have a stronger cavalry/infantry line with access to hand cannoneers in exchange for a weaker archery and average siege line (although the Malian tech tree is very balanced). The Ethiopian have offensive capacity while the Malians have better economic bonuses.
* GlassCannon: The civilization has every siege upgrade, their archery options are well-stocked, only missing Hand Cannoneers and Parthian Tactics, and they make for a good all-around offensive civ. However, they lack champions, their navy is lacking, with Galleons being their only elite ship, and their cavalry are the weakest of the expansion's civilizations, lacking Plate Barding and Bloodlines, making for a weak front. Worth mentioning are Shotel Warriors, that run fast and pack a punch (up to 20 damage, or 22 if Elite), but are naturally unarmored and can go down just as easily as a Man-At-Arms.
* MagikarpPower: Zigzagged. Their early game is very weak given that they lack economic bonuses aside from the resources given at each age advancement. In feudal, they're not helpless given their faster firing foot archers that keep among the best as time goes by, but their strengths really take off around the Castle Age when they get the Spearman upgrade for free to keep Knight rushes at bay, and by Imperial they have all the siege upgrades as well as a greater blast radius from Torsion Engines, making this civilization potentially deadly towards the end. The free resources are also rather useful for Castle Rush minded players. As a crutch however, their frontline is rather weak in the lategame given their lack of Champions or good cavalry.
* ZergRush: Since Shotel Warriors can be massed quickly, even moreso with the Royal Heirs unique technology, one effective strategy is to mass a large number of them then send them to defenseless buildings, especially town centers, and make very short work of them.

!!Malians
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maliansde.png]]

-->Infantry civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': African.\\
Buildings cost -15% wood.\\
Barracks units +1 pierce armor per Age (starting from Feudal Age).\\
Gold Mining free.\\
'''Team Bonus''': University researches +80% faster.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Gbeto (ranged melee infantry).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Tigui (Town Centers fire +5 arrows at all times, even when ungarrisoned).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Farimba (Stable units +5 attack).\\
'''Wonder''': Great Mosque of Djenné.

* AnnoyingArrows: One civilization bonus gives their infantry an additional pierce armor per age.
* ACommanderIsYou: Generalist/Economist/Research. Their tech tree is well-balanced with no particular strengths or weaknesses, they have cheaper buildings and free gold mining upgrades, and their University works faster.
* ConfusionFu: The Malians have a versatile technology tree and are open to different strategies such as Knight rush (due to the extra attack from a unique Imperial Age tech), infantry spam (Malian infantry have increased pierce armor), hit-and-run tactics (Gbetos's fast movement speed and ranged attack), anti-infantry capacity (they have Arbalests and Hand Cannoneers despite the lack of Bracer), sieging (they have Siege Onagers and Bombard Cannons despite the lack of Siege Engineers), and naval warfare (they have a reasonable navy and the wood discount on buildings means more wood saved for ships).
* {{Foil}}: To the Ethiopians. The Malians have access to a stronger cavalry/infantry line with stronger economic bonuses in exchange for a weaker archery and average siege line (they have access to Hand Cannoneers to compensate this) while the Ethiopians have a weaker cavalry/infantry frontline in exchange for a better archery/siege line with strong offensive capacity.
* GlassCannon: Gbeto pack quite a punch and can slaughter most enemies before they can reach them, but are lacking when it comes to health.
* JackOfAllStats: Of the African civilizations, their tech tree is more balanced.
* KnifeNut: The Gbeto throw some kind of African throwing knife.
* ProudScholarRaceGuy: The scientific achievements of Malian universities, notably including Timbuktu, is reflected in the team bonus where research in universities are drastically cut.
* RuleOfCool: The Gbeto is based on the possible ancestor of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahomey Dahomey]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahomey_Amazons Amazons]], even though neither was around in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali_Empire Mali empire]] or its general area (for that matter, neither are [[http://www.ezakwantu.com/Gallery%20African%20Weapons%20-%20West%20North%20and%20East%20African%20Weapons.htm African throwing knives]]).
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The Gbeto is the only female (non heroic) combatant unit in the game. This is more or less truth in television, as many west African societies held women in high regards in society and some women even participated in military combat.

!!Portuguese
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/portuguesede.png]]

-->Naval and Gunpowder civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Mediterranean.\\
All units cost -15% gold.\\
Ships +10% HP.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Free Cartography from the Dark Age.\\
'''Unique Units''': Organ Gun (anti-personnel siege unit), Caravel (anti-Galleon ship with Scorpion-like bolts).\\
'''Unique Building''': Feitoria (Imperial Age economic building generating a slow trickle of resources)\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Carrack (Ship armor +1/+1).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Arquebus (Gunpowder units fire more accurately at moving targets; slightly increases projectile speed of Bombard Cannons and Bombard Towers).\\
'''Wonder''': Belém Tower.

* ACommanderIsYou: Economist/Ranger. Their unique building Feitoria gradually generates ''all'' resources at the cost of 20 population, which is more cost efficient than owning 20 villagers. Their units are cheaper in terms of gold and they have access to all archer upgrades and the Organ Gun, not to mention that their gunpowder units are affected by a Ballistics-esque Arquebus.
* {{Foil}}: To their Iberian neighbor, the Spanish, where both civilizations are navy and gunpowder based civilizations with economic bonuses in gold. Whereas the Spanish have a more mobile army with a stronger cavalry and monk line, the Portuguese are more focused with better accuracy with their gunpowder units in exchange for a weaker monk and cavalry line.
* GlassCannon: Unlike their Iberian neighbor, the Spanish, the Portuguese have a weaker frontline and weaker cavalry. Their Organ Gun, however, is very devastating if guarded correctly.
* MagikarpPower: The Portuguese are incredibly weak early game since their gold discount bonus doesn't play into the later stages of the game and don't have any significant early game economic bonuses until they get the Feitoria building.
* MoreDakka: Their Organ Gun is an anti-personnel artillery, having several muzzles. The second unique technology is Arquebus, which makes their gunpowder units save for Cannon Galleons affected by Ballistics and therefore being an accurate force to be reckoned with.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Civilizations in Rise of the Rajas (HD)]]
!!Common tropes with ''Rise of the Rajas'' civilizations
* AchillesHeel: Much like the Indians and Persians, Battle Elephants are incredibly vulnerable to conversion since all of the Southeast Asian civilizations except Malay lack Heresy. However, unlike the former two civilizations, no Southeast Asian civilization is exactly dependent on incredibly expensive units (especially the Burmese and Khmers, where they are known for [[JackOfAllStats their versatile tech tree]]).
* DoesntLikeGuns: Downplayed. All of the new civilizations (except for the Khmers) do not have access to Hand Cannoneers, but they do have access to Bombard Cannons and Cannon Galleons.
* WarElephants: Each of these civilizations has access to the Battle Elephant. The Khmers have a unique unit cavalry/siege unit called the Ballista Elephant.

!!Burmese
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/burmesede.png]]

-->Monk and elephant civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Southeast Asian\\
Free Lumber Camp upgrades.\\
Infantry +1 attack per Age.\\
Monastery techs 50% cheaper.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Relics visible on map.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Arambai (ranged cavalry with low accuracy but high pierce attack).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Howdah (Battle Elephants +1/+1 armor).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Manipur Cavalry (Cavalry and Arambai +6 attack vs buildings[[note]]3 of which ignores Masonry/Architecture[[/note]].\\
'''Wonder''': Shwedagon Pagoda.

* ACommanderIsYou: Generalist faction like the Khmers since their tech tree is pretty well-rounded and balanced.
* BornInTheSaddle: The Burmese were historically known for their fierce horseback and cavalry during their time period since many horsemen from Manipur served as mercenaries for many Burmese kingdoms. This is exemplified with their unique unit, the Arambai, which is a ranged cavalry that throws darts. Horseback dart throwing is a tradition within the region.
* GlassCannon: Their archery range units are like this, as they not only don't get the Arbalest upgrade, but they also don't get the Castle Age and Imperial Age armor techs for their cavalry archers. The Arambai is a cavalry dart-throwing unit that has incredibly high attack (and low accuracy), but should they get hit by even archer fire, they get shredded into pieces.
* HumbleHero: Buddhism played an important role for the Burmese and Buddhism teaches the importance of not valuing any wealth and luxuries. This is reflected with their cheaper Monastery upgrades as well as their team bonus where Relics are visible in the map.
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: To offset their raw damage, the Arambai's accuracy is abysmal, the worst in the game.
* JackOfAllStats: Of the Southeast Asian civilizations, their tech is known to be well-balanced, having a well-rounded cavalry, infantry, siege weapons, a reasonable navy during the Castle Age, and a strong monk rush. The only weakness they have is that their foot archers are weak, lacking Thumb Ring and even lacking the Castle Age armor upgrade. However, their cavalry archers are reasonable, having Parthian Tactics with them.
* PowerfulButInaccurate: The Arambai's sheer attack damage (which outclasses many gunpowder units) is compensated by an abysmal accuracy of 20% (30% when upgraded to elite).

!!Khmer
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/khmerde.png]]

-->Siege and elephant civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Southeast Asian\\
No buildings required to advance to the next Age or unlock other buildings.\\
Battle Elephants +15% faster.\\
Villagers can garrison in Houses.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Scorpions +1 range.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Ballista Elephant (heavy cavalry equipped with a Scorpion. Can fell trees.).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Tusk Swords (Battle Elephants +3 attack).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Double Crossbow (Ballista Elephants and Scorpions fire two projectiles).\\
'''Wonder''': Angkor Wat

* ACommanderIsYou: Generalist/Technical. Their tech tree is well balanced, having decent accesses to everything, though they need careful micromanagement thanks to their building bonus.
* BalanceBuff: The Khmers were later given the Arbalest upgrade to help with their early Imperial Age transition to their lategame units. Their Arbalests are still weaker than normal since the Khmers don't have Thumb Ring, but it allows them to do a "slow push" strategy with Siege Rams, Trebuchets, and Halberdiers.
* ConfusionFu: The encouraged playstyle as the Khmer. As not needing to build any pre-requisite building means they are incredibly open to different gameplay and strategies.
* DifficultButAwesome: The Khmers are considered to be much harder to play when compared to the Chinese since one of their civilization bonuses doesn't require them to build two pre-requisite buildings to advance to the next age or build a specific building to unlock another building. This means that the Khmers can build a Stable and an Archery Range directly in the Feudal Age without the need of Barracks. While this is an incredibly strong economic bonus, it can also be very punishing at the same time. Attempting to go for a massive naked Fast Castle Age rush can be very damaging to the Khmer economy and can easily be punished by early game rushes. Players need to be careful one their build order as the Khmer, since it can be very punishing if played incorrectly.
* GarrisonableStructures: The Khmer have a very distinctive bonus that enables the player to use the House as a supportive building when defending from a raid, as they can garrison up to five Villagers inside. This helps the Khmer to minimize losses, so in their particular case, is advisable to build Houses next to busy working places.
* JackOfAllStats: Much like the Burmese, the Khmer fit into this. Unlike the Burmese, they have access to key important Blacksmith techs for their archers and cavalry archers. In fact, one of the civilization bonuses does not require pre-requisite buildings to build important key military and economic buildings, making them open to different strategies.
* LightningBruiser: The Khmer Battle Elephants fit into this. Not only the Khmer have access to all the standard cavalry upgrades, but their Battle Elephants move ''incredibly fast'' and deal a lot of damage with Tusk Swords. The only big drawback is that they are easily converted by enemy Monks since the Khmers lack Heresy ''and'' Faith (Monastery tech that makes your units more resistant to conversion). That being said, [[JackOfAllStats the Khmers don't necessarily have to go with Battle Elephants]], since they are open to different strategies depending on the situation.
* MechanicallyUnusualFighter: The Khmers can advance to the next Age or build any building without any pre-requisite.

!!Malay
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/malayde.png]]

-->Naval civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Southeast Asian\\
Advancing to Ages +66% faster.\\
Fish Traps cost -33%.\\
Fish Traps provide unlimited food.\\
Battle Elephants 30% cheaper.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Docks +100% LOS.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Karambit Warrior (infantry with very cheap production cost).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Thalassocracy (upgrades Docks into Harbors, which fire arrows at enemy units).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Forced Levy (Militia-line gold cost is replaced by additional food cost[[note]]just eliminates the gold cost in HD[[/note]]).\\
'''Wonder''': Sewu Temple

* ACommanderIsYou: Economist/Spammer/Specialist towards naval units, the Malays are a naval civilization that has an incredibly strong early game in land maps and are strong for most of the game. On water, they have strong economic bonuses and are able to spam towers in the form of Harbors that do not require stone unlike land-based ones. Their unique unit, the Karambit Warrior is cheap, quickly trained, and only takes half a population stat. Their unique tech Forced Levy which makes their Milita-line infantry no longer cost gold, making them into powerful trash units, and they also have the cheapest Battle Elephants of all.
* CrutchCharacter: The Malays in land maps are like this in a similar vein like the Vikings, having a strong early game that fall off late game in land maps and being a sold strong civilization in water maps. The Malays puts emphasis on early game dominance thanks to their ability to age up faster and ensuring dominance over the opponent in the Castle Age. However, once other players enter the Castle Age and advance to the Imperial Age, the Malays suffer greatly lategame, having very limited land unit options in the table (even when Forced Levy unique tech is put into consideration, the Two-Handed Swordsman unit upgrade itself is not a cost efficient infantry unit since the Malays lack the Champion upgrade). Unlike the Vikings, the Malays have access to Halberdiers and Bombard Cannons, giving them at least some anti-cavalry and long range siege options respectfully.
* FragileSpeedster: The Malays land army composition is like this. The Malay army mostly consist of cheap and fast deployed infantry units to overwhelm the opponent. However, the Malays lack the Champion upgrade, and their cavalry is infamously noted to be the worst, as they not only lack Bloodlines, but also lack the Castle Age Blacksmith armor tech for their cavalry units. This is compensated with the civilization bonus of cheaper Battle Elephants which puts emphasis on numerical superiority over quality. It is also worth mentioning that the Karambit Warrior is comparable to Zerglings in the Starcraft games where they are cheap and fast deployed in a similar vein like the Ethiopian's GlassCannon Shotel Warriors. Unlike the Shotel Warriors, the Karambit Warriors are not meant as raiding units but more used as [[WeNeedADistraction cannon fodder]]. Also exemplified with one of their civilization bonuses where they age up faster as well.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Much like the Viking Knight rush, the Malay have viable Battle Elephant rush thanks to their strong early game bonuses and cheaper Battle Elephants. The Khmer outclass the Malay in this kind of strategy because the Malay's cavalry is considered to be the worst.
* WeNeedADistraction: The role of the Karambit Warrior is to serve as cheap cannon fodder to protect the more stronger units such as Arbalests and Bombard Cannons.
* WeHaveReserves: The Malay unique tech, Forced Levy gives them one of the best non-gold units in the game as the two-handed swordsman no longer costs gold. In a longer drawn out game where both players have mined all available gold on the map, or games where the Malay player has an economy advantage, an unrelenting stream of two-handed swordsman can be used to simply wear an opponent down until they have no resources while the Malay player can save their gold and spend it on units like the Bombard Cannons and Arbalests mentioned above.
* ZergRush: The Malay unique unit, Karambit Warriors, are designed for this role. Though barely more powerful than villagers, they are cheap, quickly trained, easily massed, very disposable and only take half a population slot each. One of their unique techs, Forced Levy, also encourage this playstyle with their Militia-line infantry not costing any gold. The Malay Battle Elephants are also cheaper despite having the worst cavalry in the game, putting emphasis on numerical superiority over raw strength.

!!Vietnamese
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vietnamesede.png]]

-->Archer civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Southeast Asian (HD), East Asian (DE)\\
Reveal enemy positions at game start.\\
Archery Range units +20% HP.\\
Free Conscription.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Have access to Imperial Skirmisher upgrade.\\
'''Unique Units''': Rattan Archer (heavily-armored archer), Imperial Skirmisher (upgrade for Elite Skirmishers available to other civilizations allied to a Vietnamese player).\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Chatras (Battle Elephants +50 HP).\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Paper Money (The player and all allies receive 500 gold).\\
'''Wonder''': Bút Tháp Temple

* AnachronismStew: In the game, the Vietnamese speak the Vietnamese of the 19th-20th centuries, not the Middle Vietnamese attested during the 15th century.
* AnnoyingArrows: The Rattan Archer has great pierce armor, which is comparable to the Huskarl's. They can reliably stave off enemy ranged units, despite lacking attack bonuses against them; even Skirmishers and Genitours may struggle killing them. They can also resist Scorpion bolts and base defense arrows.
* ArcherArchetype:
** The Vietnamese is a strong archer civilization, having access to every unit and important unit upgrade at the Archery Range, except for the Hand Cannoneer and Parthian Tactics. The most noticeable quirk of the Vietnamese is that they are an archer civilization with strong anti-archer capacity. The Imperial Skirmisher upgrade is a unique unit upgrade for the Elite Skirmisher, and their unique unit, the Rattan Archer, is an archer with high pierce armor and reasonably high attack.
** Their Archery Range units also get more HP, allowing Vietnamese archers to survive more shots from Onagers.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory:
** The Vietnamese, historically the only Sinicised and Confucian society in Southeast Asia, are depicted as an Indianised cilivisation by the game, sharing the India-influenced Southeast Asian architecture with the Indianised Khmer, Malays and Burmese, and having one of their unique techs called Chatras (a Sanskrit word). According to WordOfGod, the Vietnamese civilisation is supposed to be an amalgamation of both the medieval Vietnamese kingdom of Đại Việt and the Indianised Champa kingdom located in modern Central Vietnam; all while their units speak Vietnamese, not Cham; their campaign protagonist is the Đại Việt king Lê Lợi; while the Chams are closer to the Khmer or Malays in culture and were only absorbed by Vietnam in 1832, long after the game's timeframe. This was rectified in the ''Definitive Edition'' where their architecture style is corrected to East Asian to reflect on the Sinicization of the region.
** Much like China, they lack access to Hand Cannoneers (although they have access to Bombard Towers and Bombard Cannons). Historically, Đại Việt realized the importance of firearms early on and tried to adopt them even though they didn't have the economy to support it. On at least one occasion, they risked reigniting a war they just won with the Ming dynasty because they kept all the guns they found from a defeated Ming army.
* ACommanderIsYou: Ranger/Guerrilla/Gimmick. They receive bonuses towards archers and reveal the enemy's location. They are also a team dependent civilisation, as most of their bonuses are team-oriented. This means that the Vietnamese are weak in 1v1 situations.
* BalanceBuff: The HP bonus their Archery Range units is now a flat +20% bonus [[note]]previously, the HP bonus scaled on age to reflect their MagikarpPower status[[/note]] and their Rattan Archers are given more HP. This is meant to address the weaknesses of the Vietnamese in 1v1 matches rather than their team game potential (since the Vietnamese are one of the few civilizations that are bad in 1v1 matches but great in teamgames).
* CompositeCharacter: Is actually the amalgamation of Vietnam and Champa. This is rather jarring because Vietnam and Champa were very different culturally. Vietnam was sinofied and greatly resembled South China, to the point that even the modern Vietnamese language has a lot of loan words from Cantonese. Champa, meanwhile, resembled neighboring SEA countries. The Cham people had to be violently integrated into Vietnamese culture after their defeat.
* CripplingOverspecialization: Unless if you are looking for a civilization that excel in teamgames, the Vietnamese are considered to be one of the best team-oriented civilizations in the game. However, due to their MagikarpPower nature of the civilization, they will struggle in 1v1 matches since any civilization can effectively bully the Vietnamese to prevent them from reaching their lategame strengths.
* HitAndRunTactics: Historically, the Vietnamese were known to fend off enemy invaders and occupiers with the utilization of such tactics thanks to the Vietnamese terrain of hills, mountains, and forests. This is reflected on their team bonus, the Imperial Skirmisher, and one of their civilization bonuses of revealing the location of the enemy Town Center. The Vietnamese are also one of the few civilizations in the game that can also do a reasonable cavalry archer rush since their cavalry archers are beefier and have access to nearly all the important techs for cavalry archers except Parthian Tactics and Husbandry.
* MagikarpPower: The Vietnamese are very comparable to the Portuguese in retrospects. Both are team dependent civilizations that don't have any strong economic bonuses early game and many of their civilization bonuses only have a bigger impact in later stages of the game. This means the Vietnamese in 1v1 situations will get destroyed by early game civilizations such as the Malay, Vikings, and the Huns (not to mention, the Paper Money tech, where each Vietnamese ally get 500 gold, is not only incredibly useless in 1v1 games, but also works once). That being said, should the Vietnamese snowball the game, they are a very feared lategame powerhouse with not only tanky archers and Battle Elephants, but also having one of the best trash units with Imperial Skirmishers, meaning they can easily hold off in trash wars.
* StoneWall: Their Battle Elephants are more durable thanks to the Chatras unique tech and their access to Bloodlines. However, their Battle Elephants don't have Blast Furnace and Husbandry, meaning their Battle Elephants cannot catch up to even foot archers and serve more as a meat shield to protect your archers. Ironically, the Vietnamese lack any building upgrades (Masonry and Architecture) that would make their defensive buildings more durable, meaning the Vietnamese need to rely on their tanky Battle Elephants and archers for defensive gameplay.
* SupportPartyMember: The Vietnamese is the closest civilization of being a true "support" civilization for teamgames since many of their civilization bonuses are more beneficial in teamgames. Other civilizations like Italians and Berbers allow them to function as a "support" civilization, but they have other bonuses that allow them to function outside of teamgames.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Civilizations in The Last Khans (Definitive Edition)]]
!!Common tropes with ''The Last Khans'' civilizations
* BornInTheSaddle: The four civilizations are focused on Cavalry, given their origins in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. They all have mounted unique units and receive Parthian Tactics, while only the Tatars miss Paladins. The Cumans and Tatars also receive a Steppe Lancer, which like a Kamayuk has 1 range, only on horseback.

!! Bulgarians
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bulgariansde.png]]

-->Infantry and Cavalry civilization.\\
'''Architecture''': Eastern European\\
Militia line upgrades free (Champion not available).\\
Town Centers cost -50% stone.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Blacksmiths work 50% faster\\
'''Unique Unit''': Konnik (heavy cavalry that turn into infantry when killed)\\
'''Unique Building''': Krepost (smaller Castle that can train Konniks but not research technologies)\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Stirrups (Light Cavalry and Konniks attack 25% faster)\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Bagains (Militia-line gains +3 armor)\\
'''Wonder''': Round Church of Preslav

* EarlyBirdCameo: You fight the Bulgarians in the Honfoglalás scenario as the Magyar in ''The Forgotten'', though in this case they're represented by Huns.
* EpicFlail: The Konnik is a rider armed with a chain flail.
* MultipleLifeBars: If a Konnik's HP is depleted, it does not die yet but dismounts, becoming an infantry unit. The dismounted Konnik is weaker but still strong enough to take out any anti-cavalry counters such as the Spearman-line units and Camels that would kill any Konnik.
* NecessaryDrawback: To balance out the militia line being free, Champions are not accessible. Their Two Handed Swordsmen can take Champions head on with Bagains however.
* YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord: Their unique unit and building, "Konnik" and "Krepost" simply mean "Horseman" and "Fortress" respectively in Bulgarian.

!! Cumans
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cumansde.png]]

-->Cavalry civilization\\
'''Architecture''': Central Asian\\
Additional Town Center can be built in the Feudal Age.\\
Siege Workshop and Battering Ram available in the Feudal Age.\\
Cavalry 10% faster starting in Feudal Age.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Palisade Walls +50% HP\\
'''Unique Unit''': Kipchak (multi-shot cavalry archer)\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Steppe Husbandry (Light Cavalry and Cavalry Archers trained 80% faster)\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Cuman Mercenaries (team members can create 10 free Elite Kipchaks in the Castle)\\
'''Wonder''': Sarkel

* BadassMoustache: The Kipchak is completely shaved except for a long moustache and ponytail.
* DoesNotLikeGuns: They have no gunpowder units at at all according to their tech tree.
* FragileSpeedster: Their cavalry puts more emphasis on mobility, yet their defenses are lacking. More emphasis with their cavalry archers where they do not have the Bracer upgrade, meaning their cavalry archers needs to attack in a closer range to deal collateral damage.
* GlassCannon: They are the 2nd civilization that does not have access to Stone Wall and don't have access to any Tower upgrades (the first being Goths). Instead, they are more focused on being offensive and more reliant on Palisade Walls. Unlike the Goths, however, they have various Feudal Age bonuses that encourage offensive play as well as an early game economic bonus of building an extra Town Center.
* MechanicallyUnusualFighter: The Cumans can build one additional Town Center and a Siege Workshop in the Feudal Age with the ability to build Battering Rams. This encourages strong rushing and aggressive strategies for the Cumans.
* MortonsFork: The [[NotTheIntendedUse Cumans Town Center "douche" strategy]] puts their opponent into this situation, as it's often followed with a forward Siege Workshop to threaten the opponent's Town Center with a forward second Town Center, putting the opponent this situation: risk having their own Town Center destroyed by the Cuman's Town Center backed with Battering Rams, or ungarrison the villagers to deal with the Battering Rams, only to die by the Cuman's Town Center arrow fire. Regardless of the situation, the opponent will lose their Town Center anyways.
* NecessaryDrawback: To offset the high mobility of the Cuman's cavalry, they do not have access to the Bracer upgrade for their cavalry archers.
* RainOfArrows: The Kipchak has no frame delay in its arrow fire, leading to this when massed.
* ZergRush: The Cumans are basically a cavalry version of the Goths since their Steppe Husbandry allows their cavalry archers and light cavalry trained significantly faster.

!! Lithuanians
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lithuaniansde.png]]

-->Cavalry and Monk civilization\\
'''Architecture''': Eastern European\\
Start with +150 food.\\
Spearman-line and Skirmishers move 10% faster.\\
Each garrisoned relic gives +1 attack to cavalry units (max +5)\\
'''Team Bonus''': Monasteries work 20% faster.\\
'''Unique Unit''': Leitis (cavalry with an attack that ignores armor)\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Hill Forts (Town Centers +3 range)\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Tower Shields (Spearman-line and Skirmishers +1P armor)\\
'''Wonder''': Trakai Island Castle

* ArmorPiercingAttack: Leičiai's attacks ignore armor, making them a good counter to heavily armored units such as Boyars and Teutonic Knights.
* BladeOnAStick: Leičiai are armed with large spears, which is probably meant to explain their armor-piercing attack, as there's little that a charging lancer on a horse cannot run through.
* JackOfAllTrades: The main appeal to the Lithuanian is their diverse and versatile tech tree, having nearly all important upgrades in all areas except for their foot archer (missing the Arbalest upgrade), and their below average siege line despite having access to the Bombard Cannon.
* ReligiousBruiser: The civilization have access to all Monk upgrades as well as having access to fully upgradable Paladins and Cavalry Archers. Not only that, their cavalry units also get stronger based on how many relics captured.

!! Tatars
[[quoteright:104:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tatarsde.png]]

-->Cavalry Archer civilization\\
'''Architecture''': Central Asian\\
Sheep contain +50% food.\\
Units deal +25% hill damage (on top of regular hill bonus).\\
Free Parthian Tactics.\\
'''Team Bonus''': Cavalry archers +2 line of sight\\
'''Unique Unit''': Keshik (cavalry that generates gold while attacking)\\
'''Castle Age Unique Tech''': Silk Armor (Scout Cavalry line and Cavalry archers receive +1 pierce armor)\\
'''Imperial Age Unique Tech''': Timurid Siegecraft (Trebuchets +1 range)\\
'''Wonder''': Ulugh Beg Observatory

* BladeOnAStick: Keshik are equipped with spears, just like the Steppe Lancers, though not as large.
* {{Foil}}: To the Cumans, who share the same architecture and overall style: while the Cumans have an atrocious defense compensated by features which ease early rush and battering rams as soon as the Feudal Age, Tatars train more resistant units and their UT benefits Trebuchets, meant for late-game sieges.
* RapePillageAndBurn: Invoked by the Keshik, who can generate gold as they attack enemies and buildings. And the Tamerlane campaign makes clear that their reputation was earned.
[[/folder]]

!Campaign Characters

[[folder:Age of Kings Campaigns]]
!William Wallace (Celts)

!!William Wallace

The main protagonist of the Celtic learning campaign that bears his name. Appears in the final map as a champion unit.

* AdvertisedExtra: Only controlled in the last scenario, when he arrives with his army to boost the player's forces after the battle has already been going for a while.
* BadassBeard: His character portrait sports one along with barbaric long hair.
* BarbarianLonghair: Sports a magnigicent mane in both the cutscenes and his unit icon. However, his sprites are those of a normal champion (we are probably expected to think that [[RealityEnsues the man is hidden]] under the [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic helmet]]).
* {{BFS}}: Equipped with a five foot long claymore, his model in game wields one too.
* TheHero: Of the First Campaign, though you only get to use him later in the last scenario.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Just like ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'', this media depicts Wallace as an ideal and romantic hero who fights against a tyrannical oppressor, while in real life things were... a tad different.
* OneManArmy: One of the strongest heroic units.
* SilentProtagonist: After much fanfare, he arrives in the last scenario to lead the last charge against the English, but he doesn't have spoken lines (other than the standard Celtic replies to the player's commands).

!!Edward I "Longshanks"

The king of England in the William Wallace campaign, does not appear in person.

* AndThatsTerrible: He stole the Coronation Stone and crowned himself King of Scotland!!
* BigBad: Of the first campaign.
* EvilBrit: He is the King of England and a very naughty boy.
* TheGhost: Though frequently mentioned in the introductions and epilogues, he never appears personally.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: His villainy is far more accentuated in game. Probably to be blamed on an UnreliableNarrator.
* StarterVillain: rather competent by all accounts, even defeating Wallace at Falkirk. In game the least dangerous main opponent, justified of course since it's a tutorial campaign.

!Joan of Arc (Franks)

!!Joan of Arc

The protagonist of the Frankish campaign. Appears as two different units: Joan the Maid, which walks on foot, has little attack and has no armor, and her more powerful knight version, who has high attack, but is not as strong as other mounted heroes.

* {{Breastplate}}: Averted, even in cutscenes she wears a perfectly functional full plate armor.
* AChildShallLeadThem: She becomes the head of the French army before 18.
* CoolSword: Owned by Charlemagne, or so is said.
* EscortMission: Many knights are tasked with protecting her through the campaign (Sieur Bertrand, Sieur de Metz, the Duke of Alençon, etc). They can be killed in battle but as long as Joan survives it's okay.
* TheHero: Of the second campaign. The game credits her with turning the tide of UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar and turning the French feudal leves into an unified national army.
* TheHeroDies: After the fifth scenario, though this is much a ForegoneConclusion.
* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: Both playable versions of Joan are capable of combat, even though their historical counterpart was reputed to have never killed a person.
* PluckyGirl: The game shows Joan as a seventeen years old girl determined to chase the English out of her country at any cost.
* SilentProtagonist: Her unit doesn't have dialogue, other than the standard French female villager responses.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Only female warrior featured in the game.
* TookALevelInBadass: Goes from being a powered up villager to powered up cavalry unit after the first mission.
* UndyingLoyalty: To the Dauphin Charles.
* WorkingClassHero: A common peasant girl that rises morale for her faith in victory.

!!Guy de Josseline

The fictional narrator of the Joan of Arc campaign. Has an unique model as cavalry in the final level. Voiced by Spencer Prokop.

* AuthorAvatar: Sort of. One of the developers of the game, [[http://aok.heavengames.com/gameinfo/ask-sandyman/latest-ask-sandy/ Sandy Peterson, has a French ancestor named Josselyne.]]
* BeenThereShapedHistory: Though fictional, he ends leading the French in the Battle of Castillon, that ended UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar and expelled the English from the continent.[[note]]Except for Calais.[[/note]]
* TheLancer: To Joan.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Determined to avenge Joan in the sixth and last scenario of the Frankish campaign.

!!La Hire

A French BloodKnight, represented by an extremly powerful champion. He serves as TheLancer to Joan first, and then Guy.

* {{BFS}}: The unit representing him, the strongest infantry swordsman, wields one.
* TheBigGuy: To Joan in the third scenario and to Guy in the sixth.
* BloodKnight: Sounds almost psychotic.
-->'''La Hire:''' The blood on La Hire's sword is almost dry.
* LargeHam: "Ah, La Hire wishes to kill something".
* MadeOfIron: La Hire is the ONLY unit in all of Age of Empires 2 who is simply "grievously wounded" if he gets killed in the 3rd Joan of Arc scenario, in spite of you being able to see his corpse rot. Gameplay limitations aside, he reappears for the 6th scenario but if he falls in battle there, it will be confirmed that he has perished.
* NeckSnap: His plan for a few English soldiers at Patay, according to Josseline.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname[=/=]RedBaron: La Hire means "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Wrath]]". For the curious, [[AllThereInTheManual the historical La Hire's name was]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Hire Etienne de Vignolles.]]
* ThirdPersonPerson: La Hire never says the word "I". Just "La Hire."

!!Sir John Fastolf

An extremely arrogant English knight, and the antagonist of the third level in Joan of Arc. Represented by the KnightlyLance hero unit.

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Continuously dismisses Joan's forces as a bunch of worthless rams and cattle. It counts as HypocriticalHumor, given that most of the time he's just sending [[WeHaveReserves wave upon wave]] of knights and rams to attack your base.
* BonusBoss: In the third scenario he will personally storm your base with some elite troops if you destroy one of the English Castles, but neither killing him nor defeating his ''bloody tough'' armies is vital to win the scenario.
* EvilBrit
* FaceDeathWithDignity: If killed, he says "I die for England." He actually survived the battle of Patay in real life, and was labelled as a DirtyCoward for ''the next 13 years'' for it.
* KnightlyLance: As is typical of commanders in the Joan of Arc campaign.
* OhCrap: "Fastolf's Army advanced to the Imperial Age." He is the first enemy AI that hits the Imperial Age, all while the player can only advance to the Castle Age. A battle with him becomes Cavaliers and Capped Rams vs the player's Knights and Battering Rams. Thankfully, he seems somewhat handicapped and only has a few Imperial Age technologies available to him.
* WeHaveReserves: He never runs out of knights.

!Saladin (Saracens)

!!Saladin

The leader of the Saracens, and the protagonist of his campaign, as well as a FinalBoss of the Barbarossa campaign. Does not appear in-game, but in the expansions he's introduced as an heroic Mameluke unit.

* BerserkButton: Becomes very outraged when Reynald and his henchmen starts pillaging the caravans for no reason.
* CulturedBadass: The narrator highlights how refined and educated he, and the rest of the Saracen civilization, is.
* TheGhost: He never appears in the campaigns.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: As the narrator noted, he became more and more ruthless as the crusaders continued the war.
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: The narrator, a captured crusader, routinely notes how different Saladin and [[HeroWithBadPublicity his portrayal by Europeans]] is.
* TheWorfEffect: In ''Battles of the Forgotten'', it is mentioned that Saladin was often defeated by Richard the Lionheart during the Third Crusade, after the siege of Acre (which he lost, by the way).

!!Reynald de Chatillon

A French knight working for the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the first enemy of the Saladin campaign. Is represented by the KnightlyLance hero unit.

* ArchEnemy: Ends up becoming one for Saladin.
* BlackKnight: He is a knight and a complete psychopath.
* TheDragon: For Jerusalem, in the battle of Hattin.
* FieryRedhead: Has red hair and moustache.
* FrenchJerk: He's referred to as a "wicked French knight" by the narration.
* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: Considering how brutal the real Reynald was, what the game lists his actions are is arguable tame by comparison.
* KnightlyLance: Like most French campaign commanders.
* OffWithHisHead: Captured and beheaded by Saladin himself.

!!Richard the Lionhearted

The FinalBoss of the Saladin campaign, a minor ally in the final level of Barbarossa and the protagonist of the Cyprus scenario in the Battles of the Forgotten. Represented by a powerful paladin unit.

* AscendedExtra: Becomes the main protagonist of Cyprus.
* BerserkButton: In Cyprus, mistreating his beloved sister Joan is his. He conquered the whole island of Cyprus and captured his king Isaac Comneus just for it.
* GeniusBruiser: A resourceful tactician and an expert warrior. Subverted in Cyprus, where his answer to hostilities from the local Sicilians and Cypriots is to steamroll their defenses and crush them until they surrender, with no finesse whatsoever.
* GratuitousFrench: Mentioned that he spoke French, rather than English.
* {{Jerkass}}: Even the narration of Cyprus admit that, despite his military prowess he has many social faults and his behaviour outside of combat leaves much to be desired. This may explain why Philip August of France and King Tancred of Sicily aren't too fond of him.
* OutOfCharacterMoment: In the Barbarossa Campaign, he appears with a small force outside the Saracen's walls surrounding Jerusalem, but sounds more fatalistic and stoic. He is also very likely to die and only serves as a brief distraction for your enemies.
** In ''Battles of the Forgotten'', he appears instead as a rather rude, straightforward monarch who adopts brute force to solve any situation he's in (like forcefully invade and conquer Messina and Cyprus), and his later tactical exploits against Saladin depicts him as a military genius so great you'd think they're describing your standard MaryTzu. (While he indeed won against Saladin multiple times, he was unable to actually conquer Jerusalem, as stated in the narration).
* WorthyOpponent: Ends up being one for Saladin after Acre.

!Genghis Khan (Mongols)

!!Genghis Khan

The protagonist of the Mongol campaign. Appears only in the first level, as a powerful mangudai unit.

* AchillesInHisTent: Slipping into TheGhost, the second scenario of his campaign commands you to defend Genghis's tent from his enemies, but he does not appear as an unit. It is at best unclear if he's ''inside'' the tent; if the tent is destroyed, the narrator will [[DeadpanSnarker merely quip]] that the Khan will not like it.
* AdvertisedExtra: He only appears at the beginning of the first scenario and is never playable.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Even his heroic unit is quite powerful, you just never get to use him.
* BadassBeard: A nice, pointy white beard as seen in his icon.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Infamous for inflicting horrible tortures and executions on prisoners and defeated.
* ForTheEvulz: After destroying Khorezm, the Mongols enjoy themselves making mountains out of the decapitated heads of men, women, children, horses, dogs and cats, and sow the Khorezmian fields with salt.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: In the campaign, you have to defend Genghis Khan's tent during he second scenario, which is represented by a lavish Mongol wonder. In reality, Genghis Khan was famous for keeping the same modest lifestyle he was born in, sleeping in a common yurt even at the height of his conquests. The cutscenes are true to the latter.
* GreaterScopeVillain: His conquest of Cumania ultimately leads to the events of the Kotyan Khan campaign, but Genghis himself is only mentioned once, and most of the actual fighting is overseen by his lieutenant Subotai.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade:
** The cutscene after "Crucible" says that Genghis ordered the chiefs who refused to follow him to be boiled alive. According to "The Secret History of the Mongols", it was Genghis's rival Jamukha (who is not referenced in the campaign) who had Genghis's generals boiled alive after capturing them.
** In "TheHorde Rides West", Genghis sends two assassins disguised as merchants to kill the Shah of Khorezm without being at war with him yet. In the event that inspired this scenario, a caravan of actual Mongol merchants were rounded up by a Khorezmian governor [[KickTheDog and executed]] [[VillainBall for no apparent reason]] (and [[LeeroyJenkins without informing the Shah to boot]]), resulting in Genghis' RoaringRampageOfRevenge and the [[DisproportionateRetribution complete destruction of Khorezm as a state]] (Genghis also tried to assassinate the Shah later, but he escaped to an island in the Caspian Sea; the game's mission is therefore a combination of multiple events). Even historians sympathetic to Genghis agree that [[StrawmanHasAPoint he used merchants as spies anyway]], however.
* TheHorde: Leads one.
* HorseArcher
* LargeHam: In the one speaking role he has.
* ModestRoyalty: Despite owning half of Asia, he dies in a yurt as humble as the one he was born in. The narrator hints that his descendants won't be as humble.
* RagsToRiches: His mother hunted rodents to not die of starvation. His children eat from Persian gold plates.
* RapePillageAndBurn: "Four Mongol tribes follow the standard of Genghis Khan. The rest of the world will soon learn ''fear''". Oh, indeed.
* VillainProtagonist: Arguably he can be considered one.
* YouAreInCommandNow: According to the narrator, in his deathbed he "refuses to die" until one of his sons agrees to take control of his horde and invade Europe, upon which he names him his heir.

!!Ornlu The Wolf

A wolf carrying a minor role in the Genghis Khan campaign. The task to convince the Uighurs to join Genghis, is to kill Ornlu and his pack. A renamed version of him, called Son of Ornlu, inexplicably appears in Montezuma. He is a very powerful wolf.

* BreakoutVillain: Despite his minor role, he is the best remembered of the fictional characters invented for the game. The fan made expansion ''Forgotten Empires'' gives Ornlu his very own Hero icon. Yep, the fans decided that spending their time making a Hero icon for only scenario-available Ornlu the Wolf was worth the time and effort.
* MythologyGag: There are references to him in both Age of Mythology and Age of Empires III. And he turns up in the Montezuma campaign and Vindlandsaga missions in the Conquerors as well.
* SavageWolves: Ornlu is such a problem for a particular tribe that they will pledge loyalty to Genghis if he resolves it for them.
* UnexpectedCharacter: In a hilarious defiance of common logic, turns up in the fourth mission of the Montezuma campaign, as an EasterEgg. In the second level, a renamed version of him called Son of Ornlu can also be found.

!!Kushluk

The antagonist of the second level of Genghis Khan. Represented by a cavalier unit.

* DirtyCoward: He flees as soon as he sees Genghis' men coming.
* TheHorde: Leads one.
* GetBackHereBoss: Flees immediately after the defeat of the Khara Khitai.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: He sports a brutal one over his left eye, who is missing.
* WarmupBoss

!!Subotai

TheLancer to Genghis, and later, Ogatai. Represented by a cavalry archer. Also appears in the Kotyan Khan campaign as the antagonist.

* BadassBeard: Like Genghis, only black.
* BigBad: In the Kotyan Khan campaign.
* BigDamnHeroes: In the last scenario after forty minutes of Hungarian siege, he arrives followed by a generous amount of saboteurs to save the day.
* CanineCompanion: His two hunting wolves. Possibly a reference to his title of "Dog of War."
* CoolPet: The Wolves gain a speed boost when they're directed at enemies, attack very quickly, and have the healing factor bestowed upon all Hero units.
* TheHeavy: Set in motion Kotyan's evacuation from Cumania, after suppressing the Kipchaks then laying [[CurbStompBattle a brutal beat down on the combined Cuman-Kievan forces]] in the Battle of Kalka River. He continued to pursue Kotyan with an elite army and Chinese siege weapons.
* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: Subotai was actually extremely obese and had to be pulled around in a cart. He was such an asset to the Mongol army as a strategist that nobody minded hauling him around. Age of Kings presents Subotai as a rather lean man and the fastest military unit in the game.
* TheHorde: Leads the ones that conquer Russia and Hungary.
* HorseArcher
* TheLancer: To Genghis and later his son.
* TheQuietOne: He has lines, but they are short.
-->'''Subotai:''' Subotai's here!
* RightHandAttackDog: His wolves.
* ThirdPersonPerson: His BadassBoast when he arrives in the last scenario.

!Barbarossa (Teutons)

!!Frederick Barbarossa

The protagonist of the teuton campaign. Appears in the final level, after his death, as the Emperor in A Barrel unit, which is a trade cart with more health. The expanions added him as a unique Teutonic Knight unit.

* AntiClimax: His death during the long march towards the Holy Land; he drowns in the cutscene after the penultimate mission.
* BadassBeard: Hence his nickname: Barba for "Beard" and Rossa for "Red."
* EscortMission: Technically the last one, where the player has to make sure that a cart containing Barbarossa's ''body'' reaches Jerusalem.
* FieryRedhead: Barbarossa means "Red Beard" in Italian. While the cutscenes are not colorized, his expansion-available unit hows him with red hair and beard.
* TheGhost: Never actually seen in game.
* TheHero: Though some people may consider him a VillainProtagonist.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: The real Barbarossa had to put down rebellions in Germany, but not one [[PragmaticAdaptation seemingly comprised of all electoral princes going up in arms at once right after his election]]. He wasn't the leading man in Germany's expansion to the east, but something that Henry the Lion did mostly on his own (Henry ruled Saxony, which was by the frontier then, so any expansion of the frontier resulted in the Lion's own land and wealth being increased). And his conflict with the Lion himself wasn't as black and white as presented in the game (see below).
* PragmaticAdaptation: Barbarossa launched ''five'' wars in Italy, and the conflict with the Pope (who was sometimes on the side of the Emperor against the Italian rebels and often had different goals than them) was far more tortuous and complicated than just a dispute over who had authority over the other. It also involved several popes, including ''three'' of them at once (rather than two as in the game), and Barbarossa switched allegiance between two popes more than once.
* PuppetKing: The UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire is an ElectiveMonarchy and the electoral princes, the Church and the Italian merchant cities have grown accostumed to consider the imperial title meaningless. Barbarossa's long time objective is to put an end to this.

!!Henry the Lion

TheStarscream to Barbarossa, later implied to be the narrator of his campaign, commanding forces in the second and fourth levels though he does not appear as an unit. Voiced by Spencer Prokop.

* BadassMustache: Sports a large one with no beard, in the Germanic fashion.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: In the game, he betrays Barbarossa and tries to usurp the Imperial throne, is defeated but forgiven, then betrays him again at the absolute worst time. [[PutOnABus The second time is the last.]]
* TheDragon: He was meant to be Barbarossa's Dragon in-game. He ends up turning on Barbarossa twice and becomes The Dragon for the Lombard League the second time.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: He has his own interests and betrays Barbarossa twice when they conflict with his.
* FaceHeelTurn: Twice.
* TheGhost: Never seen in game.
* HistoricalInJoke: His final narration ("I'm an old man now. What harm could I possibly do?") [[note]]Henry was ''notorious'' for destroying the city of Bardowick in 1189, when he was in his late 50s/early 60s. ''Only the churches of the city were left standing after he was done''.[[/note]]
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade:
** In reality, Henry the Lion never tried to usurp the Imperial throne and title from Barbarossa, nor took up arms against him while Barbarossa was fighting Poland. Henry the Lion was the one that made war in the east (against the last remaining Pagan tribes in the Pomerania region, rather than the actual Kingdom of Poland) [[StrawmanHasAPoint though it was to serve his own interest and his troops were renowned for their cruelty]].
** His part in the campaign(s) against Milan, where he served Barbarossa faithfully, is not mentioned.
** The Lion didn't rebel and ally with the Lombard League against Barbarossa either. All he did was not providing troops for Barbarossa's fifth Italian campaign (having supported and fought himself for him in other previous ones) because he was waging another war in the east at the time. When Barbarossa was defeated he blamed it on Henry, declared him an outlaw and stripped him of all his lands. The fact that Henry (who was actually Barbarossa's cousin) had collected ''a lot'' of land and power during Barbarossa's reign made him the perfect scapegoat, because many other nobles resented him already for that. The Lion did, however, return to Germany with a vengeance when Barbarossa left on Crusade, but was defeated and submitted to Barbarossa's son's authority years later.
* NarratorAllAlong: Implied in the last cutscene. Henry the Lion and the narrator share the same voice actor, but this is also true of [[ActingForTwo many unrelated characters]] in the game, so they disregarded it before TheReveal.
* PragmaticAdaptation:
** His HistoricalVillainUpgrade.
** In the cutscenes, he goes into exile in England and when his identity is revealed, he claims to be too old to take up arms again. In real life, he took exile in Normandy (part of France, but ruled by the King of England [[note]]Henry II, who was also his father-in-law; this also makes Henry Richard the Lionheart's brother-in-law [[/note]], destroyed a city (Bardowick) in revenge for siding with Barbarossa against him, was defeated by Barbarossa's son, accepted to submit in exchange for a minimal part of his former lands, and ''then'' decided he was too old to fight and became a quiet patron of the arts.
* {{Put on a B|us}}oat: He marches to exile in England after betraying Barbarossa a second time.
* TheStarscream: He appears twice, and he betrays Barbarossa twice.
* YouAllMeetInAnInn: He tells the story to the player in a tavern.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Conquerors Campaigns]]
!Attila (Huns)

!!Attila the Hun

The protagonist of the Hunnic campaign. Is an extra powerful cataphract unit.

* AntiClimax: As with Barbarossa. Death by nosebleed in his wedding night seems pretty anticlimatic for such a ruthless, powerful leader. [[note]]His funeral was still pretty badass. His men considered tears unmanly and so cut their bodies to shed blood.[[/note]]
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: He is both a powerful unit in the campaign and noted for his fighting in the cutscenes.
* BadBoss: The cutscene leading to the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields has Attila throwing the first spear and then turning back to his army to say that whoever remains still while Attila fights is a dead man.
* BeardOfEvil
* CainAndAbel: With Bleda, though it is [[EvilVersusEvil impossible to say who's who]].
* CoolSword: Wields a rusty blade, which he claims to be Mars' sword.
* EvilVersusEvil: There is no love lost in his fight for power with Bleda.
* ForTheEvulz: After massacring his way through Gaul, he puts the heads of his victims in a line of stakes. There are enough to cover all the way from Gaul to Pannonia (modern Hungary).
* HiddenDepths: The stories of the Franks and Romans portray him more as a monster than a man and he leads his Huns in plenty of RapePillageAndBurn campaigns. However, he personally negotiates an alliance with the Scythians, he eats from a wooden plate and cup instead of using the huge quantities of gold he obtains for his Huns, he spares one of the narrators, Father Armand, after the Battle of Châlons and he decides to turn his army around when at the gates of Rome.
* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: The first scenario begins with Bleda's death (at least in most plays) and Attila leading the Huns alone against Persians and Romans. In real life, Bleda and Attila ruled together during the invasion of Persia and the first invasion of the Roman-held Balkans... and the surviving sources imply that Bleda dominated over Attila.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade:
** A very minor one, if the player so chooses. In real life Attila killed Bleda in a calculated power grab. If the player chooses to save Bleda from the Iron Boar then in the mission Attila still has to kill Bleda in self-defense.
** Later on, Attila has the chance to rescue some Hunnic Villagers and a Scythian prince that are prisoners of the Romans. The prince allows you to ally with the Scythians against the Romans and Persians. In real life, the Huns demanded the Romans to hand over several tribes who had willingly defected to them over their opposition to Bleda and Attila, and had their leaders crucified for converting to Christianity. It was the Huns who took Roman prisoners and negotiated their release for gold. And the Huns didn't as much ally with the Scythians as simply invade their lands and force them to serve in their army.
* HopelessWar: The [[AllPropheciesAreTrue Hunnic shamans predict]] that Attila will lose at the Catalaunian Fields, but that the enemy's leader will be killed. Attila considers it a just trade and fights anyway.
* TheHorde: Leads a brutal one into Europe.
* ModestRoyalty: Attila continues to eat from a simple, wooden bowl while plundering the Romans.
* OutWithABang: Maybe it's not as glorious as dying in battle, but having a fatal nosebleed while getting to know his brand-new wife has quite the appeal.
* RapePillageAndBurn: The whole Attila Campaign can be summed as this.
* RedBaron: "The Scourge of God."
* SilentProtagonist: Despite being a playable unit in the first and last scenarios, he never speaks.
* StarCrossedLovers: The Roman emperor's sister offered him her hand, and he was very aboard the idea ([[AltarDiplomacy mainly because it gave him a claim on the Empire]]). Unfortunately, the Emperor really wasn't hot about it, and Attila ultimately never even met the gal face to face.
* VillainProtagonist: Despite the upgrades, the narrator clearly thinks of him and the rest of the Huns as wicked.

!!Bleda the Hun

The brother of Attila, and a WarmupBoss in his campaign. Represented by a Mangudai with melee damage, inexplicably.

* BeardOfEvil
* CainAndAbel: With Attila.
* DirtyCoward: Bleda challenges Attila to hunt the "Iron Boar" at the beginning of the first Attila the Hun campaign scenario. He has Archers hidden in the place where the Iron Boar lairs. If Attila decides to betray Bleda and return to camp, the Archers will testify against him to the rest of the Hun army causing half of the army to attack Attila. If Attila saves Bleda from the Boar, Bleda will order his archers to attack Attila.
* EvilVersusEvil: His conflict with Attila.
* HealingFactor: Subverted in that Bleda is actually a named, regular unit and lacks the healing factor of the Hero units of the game. Even in the map editor, he appears under the regular units tab and not under the Hero units tab. This was fixed in ''The African Kingdoms''.
* HorseArcher: Technically.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Bleda uses the same model as the Mongol unique unit, the Mangudai... which makes no sense because the Mangudai is a horse archer and Bleda is a melee unit. This results in Bleda running up to units and firing an arrow from his bow at point blank range upward away from his enemies...
* MoralEventHorizon: In the first mission, if the player chooses to save Bleda from the Iron Boar, Bleda orders his hidden archers to kill Attila. If the player kills Bleda and the archers, then returns Attila to camp, one of the Huns condemns Bleda's treachery and claims it made him deserving of his death.
* UngratefulBastard: If Attila kills the Iron Boar before it can kill Bleda, then Bleda will order hidden archers to kill Attila. He actually acknowledges that Attila saved his life before giving this order.

!!Flavius Aetius

The West Roman general fighting Attila in the latter part of the campaign, although he never appears.

* ClimaxBoss: Though you never see him directly in game, the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields count as this.
* HeroAntagonist: Technically for Attila's Campaign.
* TheGhost
* MightyWhitey: He was raised among the Huns, making him [[ToKnowHimIMustBecomeHim Rome's best choice to deal with them]].
* RetiredBadass: Retires after the battle of the Catalaunian Fields, allowing Attila to invade Rome.
* ToKnowHimIMustBecomeHim: Lived among the Huns before joining Rome's army and fighting them.
* WorthyOpponent: To Attila.

!!Father Armand

The narrator for Attila's campaign and his atrocities, a peaceful monk who's troubled by what he had to witness... or maybe not.

* DistressedDude: Attila decided to abduct him after the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, and made him complicit in his following raids and brutalities.
* EvilFeelsGood: After relating to his young acolyte all of Attila's crimes, Armand actually confesses ''he misses when he participated to the bloodbath.''
* RetiredMonster: His tale first presents him as a victim of a tribal chief's cruelty, right until Armand admits he ''enjoyed'' serving Attila.
* ShellShockedVeteran: The Catalaunian Fields left a ''deep'' impression on him.
* OriginalCharacter
* WhamLine: His last words about being forced into Attila's campaign as a soldier. "Sometimes... [[EvilFeelsGood I miss it]]."
* YouWillBeSpared: Attila was reluctant to kill a holy man, so he integrated him to his retinue instead.

!El Cid (Spanish and Saracens)

!!Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, a.k.a. "El Cid"

The protagonist of the Spanish campaign, represented by a Champion at first, but after acquiring [[CoolHorse Bavieca]], a KnightlyLance.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking
* BadassBeard: And a massive one at that.
* {{BFS}}: His sword Tizona. However, while on horseback he wields a jousting lance instead.
* BigDamnHeroes: In the fourth scenario, where he has to save King Alfonso's troops from the Black Guards.
* CoolHorse: Bavieca.
* DashingHispanic: Probably the most iconic hispanic badass.
* ElCidPloy: [[TropeNamers Obviously.]] The player can't let the enemy damage [[OfCorpseHeIsAlive his tied-up corpse]] in the last scenario or the ruse will be discovered.
* TheHero: Undisputed, even by his enemies.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: A lot is made of his honorability and religious tolerance. In real life, the first things he did after taking Valencia were burning alive the governor and turning the main mosques into churches (even though his forces also included Muslims and he was ''de jure'' under the command of a Muslim lord, Mutamid).
* KnightInShiningArmor
* KnightlyLance: El Cid Campeador is represented by a Knight unit.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Which made him famous for his loyalty.
* OneManArmy: Probably the strongest hero unit the player is ever given control of.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: He becomes King after taking Valencia.
* SilentProtagonist: Doesn't speak in his campaign.
* WorkingClassHero: While an aristocrat, he's a minor noble and the crux of his conflcit is with the far more powerful King Alfonso.

!!Jimena Díaz

The wife of El Cid, and the narrator of his campaign. Voiced by Melinda Renna.

* DelayedNarratorIntroduction: She only clarifies her true part in El Cid's story when the second mission starts.
* HappilyMarried: To El Cid.
* TheHighQueen: Is the wife of El Cid, and becomes sole-reigning queen of Valencia after the defeat of Yusuf.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The only female narrator, until Maria in the Ivaylo campaign.
* WidowWoman: In the last mission, since El Cid was killed right before it starts.

!!King Sancho

The king of Castille, and an useful ally to El Cid in the first map, until he dies. Represented by the non-combatant king unit.

* CainAndAbel: The Abel to Alfonso.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: In the cutscenes, Sancho is bearded and Alfonso is not. In the scenarios, it's the opposite.
* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: In the game, he is portrayed as the victim of Alfonso's ambition. In reality, Sancho was the greedy ruler who wanted to add his brother's crown to his own list of titles. [[note]] Their father Ferdinand divided his kingdom among his three sons in his will: the eldest, Sancho, received Castile; the second, Alfonso, León; and from the latter, the region of Galicia was carved off to create a separate state for García. Ferdinand's two daughters each received cities: Elvira that of Toro and Urraca that of Zamora. In giving them these territories, he expressed his desire that they respect his wishes and abide by the split. However, soon after Fernando's death, Sancho and Alfonso turned on García and defeated him. They then fought each other, the victorious Sancho reuniting their father's possessions under his control in 1072. However, Sancho was killed that same year and the territories passed to Alfonso, as depicted in-game.[[/note]]
* TheGoodKing: As part of his HistoricalVillainDowngrade.
* SacrificialLion: Is assassinated between maps by Alfonso.

!!King Alfonso

The villainous king of León, and after Sancho's death, of Castile. He is constantly fighting and allying with El Cid through several maps. Represented by the non-combatant king unit.

* AristocratsAreEvil
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: While Alfonso did historically betray a brother, that brother was García, not Sancho. In fact, Alfonso and Sancho double-teamed on García before turning on each other.
* BeardOfEvil: He sports one in the animated cutscenes, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation although he is clean-shaven in the scenarios.]]
* CainAndAbel: The Cain to Sancho.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: He keeps backstabbing El Cid even after being rescued by him.
* DirtyCoward[=/=]TheEvilPrince
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: In the cutscenes, Sancho is bearded and Alfonso is not. In the scenarios, it's the opposite.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: In the game, he seems to lack any positive trait.
* KarmaHoudini
* PetTheDog: His one redeeming moment was when he insisted on attending El Cid's funeral in the final cutscene.
* {{Slimeball}}
* UngratefulBastard: Is one towards El Cid.

!!Yusuf

The leader of the Black Guard Berbers that invade Spain to stop the Christian advance in the Reconquista. Never appears in game.

* BigBad: Of the later half of El Cid's campaign.
* EnemyCivilWar: Is gone after his defeat in the fourth mission, because he has to take care of a Berber civil war in Africa.
* TheFaceless: Jimena notes that his face is always covered.
* TheFundamentalist: In contrast to the local Muslim rulers like Mutamid.
* TheGhost: Never appears in person.
* GoneHorriblyWrong: The Iberian Muslims call him to help them against the Christians, but then he proceeds to submit ones and others alike.
* OutsideContextProblem: Christians and Muslims have been fighting each other in Spain for centuries. The Almoravids then arrive with the intention to swallow everything for themselves.

!!Mutamid

The friendly Muslim King of Zaragoza. He puts El Cid at his service after he is exiled by King Alfonso. Never appears in game.

* BlackBestFriend: To El Cid.
* CompositeCharacter: A combination of three historical kings: al-Mutamid of Seville, al-Qadir of Toledo, and al-Mutaman of Zaragoza.
* TheGoodKing
* IdleRich: No wonder the moment El Cid is not by his side, his kingdom goes down and he is deposed by Yusuf.
* NiceGuy

!!Count Berenguer

The Count of Barcelona, trying to expand his territories by attacking the Moorish cities of Zaragoza and Valencia that El Cid is tasked to protect. Does not appear in person.

* AristocratsAreEvil
* AdaptedOut: His [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramon_Berenguer_II,_Count_of_Barcelona twin brother]], who was his co-ruler for a while, before the brothers fell out and divided their possessions between them.
* ArrangedMarriage: His [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramon_Berenguer_III,_Count_of_Barcelona nephew]] is married to El Cid's daughter to unite them after the wars. [[note]]Said nephew was also his co-ruler, due to the circumstances of his brother's death.[[/note]]
* BigBad: He has nothing to do with Yusuf, but whenever he isn't around, Berenguer can be trusted as an opponent.
* TheGhost: Never appears in person.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Zig-zagged due to the reverse treatment given to El Cid, and the fact that Berenguer himself was suspected of fratricide[[note]]His brother, Ramon B., died in a HuntingAccident, which is widely blamed on him. It was because of this accusation that his rule was troubled, and he eventually had to appoint his nephew as co-ruler (the one who married El Cid's (second) daughter)[[/note]].
* KarmaHoudini: Although he is briefly imprisoned, he escapes real punishment.[[note]]Historically, he resigned in 1097, leaving his nephew as sole ruler of Barcelona. After the resignation, records on his life became more obscure. Still living under the accusations of his brother's assassination, the guilt of which may have been determined by trial by combat, which he lost, he went to Jerusalem, either on pilgrimage, as a penance, or as part of the First Crusade, and perished there between 1097 and 1099.[[/note]]

!Montezuma (Aztecs)

!!Montezuma

The focal character of the Montezuma campaign, though arguably not the protagonist; that would probably be his nephew, Cuauhtemoc. Never appears in person.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The game describes Montezuma as slow to make decisions and seemingly afraid of going into combat. In real life the office of the Emperor is tied into military promotion. The warriors who come from noble families have a head start on commoners when it comes to rank so they always end up as the rulers but they have to prove themselves in battle time and time again until they become Emperor.
* DecoyProtagonist: [[NonIndicativeTitle Despite giving his name to the campaign]], the real protagonist is Cuahutemoc.
* DistressedDude: For part of the campaign.
* TheGhost
* IdleRich: Never seen doing anything towards the maintainence of his empire.
* NonActionGuy: A major problem during the invasion of the Spanish.

!!Cuauhtemoc

The protagonist and narrator of the Montezuma campaign, becoming emperor after his uncle's death. A Jaguar Warrior in La Noche Triste is heavily implied to be him, and was later made into an actual hero unit in the shape of an Eagle Warrior.

* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Cuauhtemoc is the narrator for the Montezuma campaign. The story is some sort of journal or a chronicle written down by him. The first scenario starting cutscene is prefaced with "Passed down to you by Cuauhtemoc, Eagle Warrior of Tenochtitlan." The second starts with him as Cuauhtemoc, Jaguar Warrior of Tenochtitlan. The fifth mission dramatically and slowly starts with Cuauhtemoc, Emperor of Tenochtitlan. He then relates his crowning by the priests, which is not so awesome because Tenochtitlan had just been wracked by warfare and the only reason he succeeded was due to Montezuma's death. [[note]]Historically, Cuauhtemoc also ascended the throne after his predecessor's death. However, said predecessor is Cuitláhuac (Montezuma's brother), not Montezuma himself. Cuitláhuac died after a reign of 80 days, likely due to smallpox.[[/note]]
* CarryABigStick
* NemeanSkinning: Expected when he is Jaguar Warrior, to wear a Jaguar skin.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: The Jaguar Warrior armed with a very high attack during the fourth scenario of the campaign is implied to be Cuauhtemoc; at the time of the scenario, Cuauhtemoc is a Jaguar Warrior and the particular Jaguar has the same voice actor. He is the sole unit you begin the scenario with and recruits other soldiers to eventually retake the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. However, he is not a Hero unit and if he dies it is not mentioned and the scenario continues.
* WarriorPrince: Cuauhtemoc mentions a few times that he's Montezuma's nephew, and seems to be the unseen commander of your troops during the campaign.
* YouAreInCommandNow: After Montezuma dies in La Noche Triste. [[note]]Historically, the details of Montezuma's death are unknown, with different versions of his demise given by different sources.[[/note]]

!!Hernán Cortés

The antagonist of the Montezuma campaign. He never appears in person.

* BigBad: Of the Aztecs' campaign.
* TheGhost
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: A common trait among the conquistadors although they do fight for glory as well (their own or Spain's).
* OutsideContextProblem: To the Aztecs. The Tlaxcalans have a few skirmishes with him, but soon become allies.

!Battles of the Conquerors (Several)

!!Henry V

The protagonist and leader of the Britons in the Agincourt scenario. Represented by a powerful Paladin unit.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking
* TheHero
* EscortMission: Becomes one by the end of the map, when your only objective becomes taking him back to England.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething
* StiffUpperLip

!!William The Conqueror

The protagonist and leader of the Franks in the Hastings scenario, represented by a paladin unit.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Is a quite strong paladin unit.
* TheHero
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Much like in RealLife.

!!Harold The Saxon

The antagonist of the Hastings scenario, the leader of the Saxons. Does not appear in person.

* EvilGloating: Although YMMV on the evilness, he gloats a whole lot during the mission. As soon as William's forces get in a transport ship and set for England, he says, with all due smugness:
--> '''Harold''': ''Go home, young William. This island will remain Saxon!''
* TheGhost: He's never seen.
* SmugSnake: Constantly gloats and brags to William, even when his defeat is imminent.

!!Harald Hardraade

A Berserker and leader of the Vikings appearing in Hastings, whom can be allied with William, if the player chooses, and can be used as an army. Represented by a ranged berserker unit.

* AnAxeToGrind: An inversion of Bleda and his melee bow, Harald takes the model of a melee unit, the Berserker, and uses it to throw axes at enemies, like the Frankish Throwing Axeman. He also throws these axes very rapidly and would be a one man army if it weren't for his low HP. He doesn't look as silly as Bleda because his animation is specifically cut off to make it look like he's doing an overhand throw.
* BadassBeard: It is a Berserker (who have red beards in the game), and [[PropRecycling uses El Cid's Icon]].
* TheBerserker: He is a Berserker. That throws axes.
* FieryRedhead
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: He can live up to the very end of the scenario and even participate in the final objective of destroying Harold the Saxon's Castle even though he is your rival to the throne, as opposed to RealLife where there wasn't any significant contact between them and Harald launched his own invasion that was separate from William's. The endgame cutscene mentions him dying at the Battle of Stamford Bridge before Harold fights William.
* HornyVikings
* TheLancer: To William, if they choose to ally.

!!Erik The Red

The protagonist of the Vinlandsaga scenario, represented by a Berserker unit.

* AnAxeToGrind: Is the Berserker unit, although he does not throw axes like Harald Hardraade.
* BadassBeard: It is a Berserker (who have red beards in the game), and [[PropRecycling uses El Cid's Icon]].
* TheBerserker: As any good viking hero should be.
* BoldExplorer: Notable because, unlike most other heroes, he is not a warlord or aristocrat in any way. He is actually a fairly common viking man, and not doing conquest, actually just exploring instead. If anything, he's trying to save his fellow vikings from famine by searching for a better land.
* CompositeCharacter: Erik the Red was forced out of Norway, went to Iceland, was forced out of Iceland, founded the first Viking settlement in Greenland. Erik stayed in Greenland while his son, Leif Erikson, founded the first settlement in Vinland. In the game, Erik is forced out of Norway, but Iceland is not in the map. Instead, he goes directly to Greenland, which is already settled by (hostile) Norse, and then founds a settlement in Vinland.
* FieryRedhead
* HornyVikings
* WorkingClassHero

!!Charles Martel

The protagonist and leader of the Franks in the Tours scenario, represented by a Throwing Axeman unit.

* AnAxeToGrind: He's a souped up heroic Throwing Axeman.
* TheHeroDies: He can, and it's one of the few times where the Hero CAN die without any consequence. One of his soldiers claim the Franks hearts will not be in the fighting, but there are zero repercussions. He survived the battle in real life and the ending cutscene treats him as if he survived regardless of gameplay events.
* RedBaron: "The Hammer"

!!Yi Sun-Sin

The protagonist and leader of the Koreans in the Noryang Point scenario, represented by a Turtle Ship.

%%* BadassBeard
* CoolBoat: He rides around in a souped up Turtle Ship, the only Hero ship unit. He also invented them.
* CulturedBadass[=/=]ScienceHero
* FatherNeptune
* TheHeroDies: An inversion of Charles Martel. He can die in the game and the scenario will continue on. HOWEVER, after winning the mission the narrator states that he died in the fighting as he did in real life but the Koreans still won the battle and eventually the war.
* OneManArmy: His personal ship is fully capable of finishing the mission on its own once the player gets it.

!!UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga

A samurai in the Kyoto map, who is executed in the beginning, leading to the revenge wished by his second Hideyoshi. Is represented by the samurai unit.

* EverythingsBetterWithSamurai: Is represented by Japan's unique unit, the Samurai. Although subverted, since he inevitably dies.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: His "rescue" attempt.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: The scenario begin with Mitsuhide's betrayal, but none of Nobunaga's ruthless deeds, many of which are speculated to be the cause of said betrayal, is mentioned.
* SacrificialLamb: Dies just to allow Hideyoshi to swear revenge.

!!Toyotomi Hideyoshi

The protagonist of the Kyoto map, and the antagonist of the Noryang Point map, leading Japanese in both occasions. Does not appear in person.

* BigBad: Of Noryang Point.
* TheHero: Of Kyoto.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: After his master's death, he destroys three cities to get revenge.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Forgotten Campaigns]]
!Dracula (Turks, Slavs and Magyars)

!!Vlad Dracula
The protagonist of the campaign, and the head of the Kingdom of Wallachia. Represented by the Boyar unit.

* AnAxToGrind: Being a Boyar hero, he uses an ax, though the narrator find his CoolSword in the intro.
* ArchEnemy: Vladislav and the Ottomans.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking
* BadassMustache
* BadassInCharge: Does manage to kill Vladislav in hand-to-hand combat.
* TheCaligula: Veers into this by the fourth mission, where he murders a monk for flattering him unrighteously.
* DisproportionateRetribution: He kills a monk for flattering him.
* DressingAsTheEnemy: In the third map he disguises himself as a Turkish merchant (inexplicably represented with the king unit) to take over an Ottoman garrison.
* HowWeGotHere: The narration before the game is done by a bystander looking at Vlad's impaled head in Istanbul.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: This being Vlad ''[[MeaningfulName the Impaler]]'', it could only be expected. Happens to countless mooks through his campaign and eventually to Vlad himself (only his head, though).
* KickTheDog: In the later levels, he stakes innocents and murders monks for flattering him.
* NightmareFetishist: The first mission sees him praising a fellow Wallachian nobleman's sense of decoration... which is impaling people right in front of his castle.
* VillainProtagonist: Arguably, the main character portrayed least sympathetic. He at one point murders a monk for flattering him, and stakes several hundred Ottoman soldiers, all of which happened in real life. The fourth mission of his campaign also requires the player to burn down undefended ''Wallachian'' villages.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: To the Ottomans.
* YouKilledMyFather: Vladislav killed his brother and father.

!!Danislav, Jakub and Istvan
The three voivode princes who become the closest allies to Dracula. Represented by a cataphract, a paladin and a cavalier, respectively.

* BadassInCharge
* BadassCrew
* AFatherToHisMen: Seems primarily motivated by the well being of their peoples, rather than Dracula, who is motivated by spite and revenge.
* HorsebackHeroism: Through three different units, all of them are heavy cavalry sans Danislav in the first scenario, who's an Ax Thrower.
* TheLancer: To Dracula.
* LaResistance: Agaisnt Vladislav in their first appearance.
* NotQuiteDead: The narrator of the Dracula campaign is Istvan, having survived the night raid on the Turks.
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: After serving as somewhat important characters for the campaign, they all unceremoniously die in the final battle of the fourth level, where only Dracula survives, with nobody even mentioning their deaths.

!!Vladislav II
The leader of the Dăneşti clan, and the usurper of the throne of Wallachia, as well as the murderer of Draculas father and older brother. A secondary antagonist of the campaign. Represented by a cavalier unit, and later a king unit.

* BadassInCharge: In his first appearance.
* HopelessBossFight: In his first appearance, his unit is ridiculously strong, and meant to be fled from.
* ItsPersonal: With Dracula.
* StarterVillain: Presented as a major threat, but is quickly defeated and killed off in the second mission.
* TheUsurper

!!Murad II
The sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who sends Dracula to Wallachia after Vladislav takes over. Represented by the king unit.

* AdiposeRex
* BigGood: Serves as this in his only appearance in the first level.
* TheGoodKing: Was sultan while he and Dracula were still allies. After his death, his ambitious and more ruthless son Mehmet took over, and things went awry.

!!Mehmet II
The son of Murad, becoming the enemy of Dracula unlike his father.

* ArchEnemy: To Dracula, after Vladislav and Murad's deaths.
* BigBad: Since he leads the Turks, the main enemies, from mission 3 and onward.
* TheEmpire: The Ottoman Empire.
* TheGhost

!!Radu
The younger brother of Dracula, and the leader of the Ottoman troops against him in the fourth mission.

* CainAndAbel: With Dracula.
* TheDragon: To Mehmet.
* TheGhost

!Sforza (Italians)

!!Francesco Sforza
An Italian mercenary, captain of his platoon after his father's death, and the main protagonist of the campaign. Represented by a condottiero unit in the HD edition, later given his own unit in the Definitive Edition.

* AntiHero
* ArchEnemy: To Carmagnola.
* BaitTheDog: He sieges Milan, and deliberately starves the innocent citizens of the city, but when they surrender, he makes sure to provide plenty of food for them.
* BatmanGambit: Defeats Carmagnola this way.
* TheDragon: To Filippo, at first.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: Eventually turns on him to become Duke of Milan.
* AFatherToHisMen: Unlike his father.
* GenerationXerox
* TheHero
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Well, he's a mercenary. He doesn't care for politics; he just needs his employers to be able to pay him. On the other hand, his famous granddaughter Caterina was notorious for her political intrigues.
* OurFounder: He secured for his family the duchy of Milan.

!!Muzio Sforza
The father of Francesco. After his death, Francesco takes over his soldiers. Represented by a condottiero unit.

* AdaptedOut: The Definitive Edition has Sforza's campaign start after Francesco takes over his soldiers, meaning that his death is not shown (in fact, he only receives a mention in one of the post-episode slides).
* AntiHero: More so than his son.
* BadBoss: Dialogue with Francesco has him berating his son for letting his soldiers eat and rest at all. This said, he's not a tyrant, just a hardass.
* GenerationXerox
* OnlyInItForTheMoney
* PartingWordsRegret: He calls his son Francesco a coward for not wanting to follow him across a river with a strong current. Muzio ends up drowning in said river.
* PetTheDog: Dialogue implies that he gave Francesco a proper childhood, despite his ruthlessness.
* SuicidalOverconfidence: Wanders straight into a powerful current, and unsurprisngly dies for it.

!!Carmagnola
A Venetian mercenary general, and the closest the campaign has to a main antagonist. Represented by a cataphract unit.

* ArchEnemy: To both of the Sforzas.
* BatmanGambit: Used by him against Malatesta, and later by Sforza against him.
* BigBad: Until the third mission, at least.
* TheChessmaster
* ISurrenderSuckers: Pulls this off to trick and defeat Malatesta.
* OutGambitted: Goes both ways: In the second mission, he completely out-gambits Malatesta through XanatosSpeedChess, in the third however, he is OutGambitted by Sforza.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After his forces are defeated in the third mission, he disappears from the campaign. In real life, Venice pulled off a YouHaveFailedMe, they called him back under the pretence of discussing the future, and he was promptly tortured and executed, and this is offhandely mentioned in the cutscene.
* XanatosSpeedChess: Pulls this off to defeat Malatesta, after the destruction of his siege tower.

!!Filippo Maria Visconti
The Duke of Milan, and Sforza's distrustful employer. Represented in-game by a king unit.

* DaChief
* SmugSnake: Distrustful and paranoid, one moment he has Sforza blamed and incarcerated for Carmagnola's escape, the other he's offering him the hand of his daughter if he defeats the Venetians.
* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: Filippo Maria himself is described as ugly and unsightly, but his daughter Bianca Maria is briefly seen as a MsFanservice.
* UngratefulBastard: Blames Malatesta's death on Francesco and has him thrown into jail.

!!Malatesta
A mercenary employed by Filippo, fighting against Carmagnola. Represented by a paladin unit.

* OutGambitted: By Carmagnola, int he second mission.
* SacrificialLion
* WeHardlyKnewYe: In the Scout section it's mentioned that he's defending Pizzighettone in the north. He only appears in the end, having succesfully defended Pizzighettone, only to die chasing after Carmagnola.

!!Simone and Geremio
Two spies sent by Sforza to infiltrate Carmagnola's camp. Represented by a man at arms unit.

* BadassNormal: While they have the health and armor of normal man at arms, they have a ludicrously high attack, enabling them to OneHitKill pikemen, necessary to retain stealth during the attack. However, they retain that high damage after the gurms turn build and destroy, making them lethal units.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Geremio, whom upon seeing a rat in the sewer, goes on rambling about how rats caused the plague. While they are on their way to a lethal stealth mission. Simone quickly shuts him up.
* ThoseTwoGuys: They act together for the first part of the scenario.

!Alaric (Goths)

!!Alaric
The protagonist of the campaign, and king of the Goths. Represented by a huskarl, and later a cavalier unit.

* ActionDuo: With Athaulf.
* BadassInCharge: He's in charge of the Goths, and showed his badass credentials by leading the sack of Rome.
* DarkAndtroubledPast: He lost three of his brothers to wars against the Huns and witnessed their brutality first-hand.
* TheDogBitesBack: The first three scenarios have him trying to obtain a land for his people from the Romans. In the final scenario he has enough and decides to show the Romans how much he and the Goths are fed up with their plotting.
* TheHighKing: Of the Goths, along with Athaulf.
* PetTheDog: During the sack of Rome he orders his men to leave churches intact, for some reason.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Like, you know, looking for a proper land for his people and ''sacking Rome''.

!!Athaulf
The second-in-command of Alaric. Represented by a woad raider, and then a knight unit.

* ActionDuo: With Alaric.
%%* BadassInCharge
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: Acts this way to Galla Placidia when he captures her. He ends up marrying her later in life.
* TheLancer: As Alaric's second-in-command.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Given when he's a woad raider.

!!Honorius
The emperor of the Western Roman Empire, and thereby the main antagonist of the campaign.

* BigBad: Though whether he is a HeroAntagonist is debatable, he is certainly the main antagonistic force in the campaign.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: The reason he ultimately fails. He is close to an alliance twice with Alaric, but both times breaks it for no apparent reson. Eventually Alaric gets fed up with this. Though the second time, Saurus did it without the permission or order of Honorius.
* DirtyCoward: During the sack of Rome, he is nowhere to be seen, but the people and even his sister have been left behind.
* TheEmperor: The Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
* TheGhost: He is never actually seen in the game.
%%* SmugSnake

!!Saurus
A Gothic chieftain, responsible for attacking Alaric for no reason, destroying the option of peace. Represented by a knight lancer hero unit.

* DirtyCoward: As remarked by Alaric, when his fortress is defeated, he is nowhere to be seen.
* TheDragon: To Honorius.
* KnightlyLance
* VillainBall: Grabs it when he attacks Alaric and Athaulf, bringing a whole lot of unnecessary trouble onto himself.

!!Galla Placidia
The sister of Honorius. Represented by the Joan the Maid unit.

* AdaptedOut: From the definitive edition.
* DamselInDistress: Unusual case, where you have to kidnap the DamselInDistress.
* GoodIsDumb: Simply snorts confused when stated pretty unvaguely that Athaulf won't harm her.
* TheIngenue: Implied. She simply acts confused when Athaulf pretty plainly states that he will not harm her.
* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: Poor gal was an innocent victim from the sacking of Rome and certainly didn't ask to be married to a Goth warlord. Her daughter Honoria later went and ''proposed'' to Attila, which made her partially responsible for the Hun attacks against the Roman empire. Historical sources confirm it provoked a ''huge'' rift between Galla Placidia and Honoria.

!Battle of Bari (Byzantines)

!!Panos, Michael and Andreas Nautikos
The main protagonists of each of the missions of the campaign. All represented by champion units.

* BadassFamily
* BadassInCharge: Andreas.
* GenerationXerox
* TheHero: Mostly Panos, who leads the siege of Bari first against the Emir and later against the Lombard, and Michael, who gathers troops to fight the rebellious Melus. Andreas does contribute to the defense against the Norman siege, but at the last moment decides that the resistance is futile and leaves.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Andreas Nautikos eventually decides that he had enough fighting Normans and leaves Bari with a merchant.

!!Louis II
The Carolingian emperor, appearing in the first mission. Represented by a king unit, and a cavalier.

* TheHighKing
* SuicidalOverconfidence: Even when at the mercy of the Lombards, he insists on taking over Bari.
* SmugSnake: Shows traits of this, in his belief to take over Bari.

!!Admiral Melus
A Byzantine admiral, rebelling against the empire in the second mission. Represented by a cataphract.

* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: What his army essentially is. Michael got suspicious when he gathered such army in the first place.
* BigBad: Of the second mission.
* TheQuisling
* SmugSnake
* TheStarscream

!!Stephanos Pateranos
The commander of the garrison at Bari during the Norman invasion. Represented by a cataphract.

* BadassInCharge
* DistressedDude: Has to be saved by Andreas during the third mission.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure

!El Dorado (Spanish and Incas)

!!Francisco de Orellana
The main protagonist of the campaign. Represented by a conquistador unit.

%%* BadassBeard
* BadassInCharge: Is easily the strongest hero that you get to control in the game.
* BigDamnHeroes: In one mission, he saves one native tribe from an aggressive neighbor. In the next mission, while exploring the Amazon jungles, de Orellana can optionally save the region from a volcanic eruption by diverting a river into it's path. In the mission right after this, he goes out of his way to save the crew of a Spanish ship from bloodthirsty cannibals.
* EyepatchOfPower
* TheHero
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: One mission, while exploring the Amazon jungles, de Orellana orders his soldiers to massacre the first native village he comes across. He says that they desperately need the food from that village to avoid starvation, and for the rest of the mission the player can choose to ask the rest of the villages for food peacefully.
* JustFollowingOrders: In the first mission, de Orellana assassinated four men on orders from Gonzalo Pizarro.
* KicktheDog: Several missions feature de Orellana launching unprovoked attacks on natives, using threats of violence to extort food or supplies from them, outright enslaving them, plundering their temples (thereby destroying their heritage), carrying out assassinations, and blackmailing adulterous merchants.
* VillainProtagonist: He is a conquistador, and he acts like it. While some of his atrocities are carried out on orders of the expedition leader, Gonzalo Pizarro, most of them were done freely.
* WronglyAccused: Of abandoning Pizarro, while in actuality, the strong current of the river kept him from returning.

!!Gonzalo Pizarro
The commander of Orellanas expedition, until he is lost. Represented by a conquistador unit.

%%* BadassBeard
* BaldOfAwesome
* DaChief
* VillainProtagonist: A conquestador, and not above ordering the assassination of a rival explorer's sergeants.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: A consequence of following the events strictly through the eyes of Orellana. He is never mentioned again after Orellana is forced to abandon him. In RealLife, he returned to Quito with a starving expedition, but rebelled against the king and was executed six years later.

!!Delicola
A suspicious Native American chieftain who leads Orellana astray with his stories. Represented by a plumed archer unit.

* TheArcher
* EscortMission: IN the short time he is in the players control, it feels like this, as he is not a hero unit, but a fairly weak renamed regular unit, that has to be kept alive.
* HeroAntagonist: Could be seen as this, as he works against Orellana, but mainly to save his people.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Done deliberately as he flees from the conquistadors. This carried on into real life, where he was never heard of again.

!!Juan Cortejo
The leader of another Spanish expedition team who got shipwrecked and kidnapped by cannibals. He and his crew got rescued by Francisco de Orellana.

* DarkestHour: He admits that he abandoned hope of surviving his captivity.
* ForcedToWatch: The cannibals who kidnapped his crew killed and ate some of his crewmen, and left the corpses of three impaled on stakes in his holding pen.
* RevengeBeforeReason: He says he wants revenge against the cannibals, but de Orellana just wants to escape the jungle. Downplayed in that the player needs gold to build the fleet that will take them out, and one of the options for getting it is to attack the cannibals.
* SayYourPrayers: He did this while held by the cannibals, and attributes de Orellana rescuing his crew to God answering said prayers.

!Prithviraj (Indians)
Warrior king of India, represented first by a crossbowman unit, then by a heavy horse archer.
----

* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Slightly subverted, he was already in reciprocated love with the girl in question, Sanyogita: when her father refused to consider Prithviraj and tried to have her married to someone else he sneaked into the city and eloped with her.
* ArcherArchetype: His weapon of choice is the bow and arrow.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Blinded and tortured, he's challenged by his enemy Mohammad Godhi into a contest of archery. Using hearing alone, Prithviraj shoot him dead in the chest.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Makes himself a powerful Raj and repeals the armies of Godhi.
* TogetherInDeath: His wife Sanyogita commits suicide upon learning of his demise.

!!Sanyogita
A princess of India who falls in love with Prithviraj and later marries him, which causes a huge amount of problem.
----

* {{Elopement}}: Her father tried to lock her away to dissuade her from persisting in her love for Prithviraj. The second mission is all about Prithviraj taking her away and fighting dad-in-law for it.
* EngagementChallenge: If Prithviraj decides to visit the guru, it results in this. Sanyogita declares her love for the prince when he manages to beat her champion.
* LoveRuinsTheRealm: The narration subtly hints at this. You can't deny pursuing her came with many, many complications for Prithviraj.
* PluckyGirl
* TogetherInDeath: Upon learning of her husband's demise, she immediately threw herself on a pyre to join him.
* WomenPreferStrongMen: The first map gives Prithviraj three ways to make Sanyogita fall for him, either killing an entire pack of wolves, or [[RescueRomance rescue her from a rival king]], or thoroughly trashing her champion in her EngagementChallenge.

!Battles of the Forgotten

!!Khosrau II

The protagonist and leader of the Persians in the Bukhara scenario.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: He himself take precautions to gather troops and resources to fight the White Huns who are plagueing Persia.
* WarElephants: He is represented by an Elephant Archer unit.

!!Aella of Northumbria

* BigBad: He killed Ragnar Lodbrok, causing his sons to invade the British Isles to avenge the death of their father.
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: The Blood Eagle is hardly a nice way to go, or to be displayed after death.
* LaserGuidedKarma: What? You thought that you could kill the big bad viking Ragnar Lodbrok and go away unscathed? Too bad for you and Northumbria...

!!Álmos

* BloodOath: Upon the Magyars' arrival in Etelköz, the seven chieftains of the Magyars take an oath to pledge their loyalty to Álmos.
* HorseArcher: He is represented by a Mangudai unit.

!!Árpád

* ExactWords: Svatopluk of Moravia allows the Magyars to 'take as much as you want' when Árpád's messenger comes to buy land from him. The Magyars then proceed to seize Svatopluk's kingdom from him.
-->'''Árpád:''' Leave our land, Svatopluk, until it is not too late!
-->'''Svatopluk:''' How come it is your land?
-->'''Árpád:''' We paid for it with the horse! You gave us grass, soil and water. Now we own everything.
* FounderOfTheKingdom: The founder of the Principality of Hungary at the end of the Honfoglalás.

!!Minamoto no Yoshinaka

* TheLancer: To his brother, Minamoto no Yoritomo, as defender of Kurikara.
* TheGhost: He's not playable once you take control of Kurikara.

!!Taira no Kiyomori

* BigBad: Leader of the Taira clan, enemy of Minamoto and notorious villain even in other Japanese media.
* DuelBoss: When it's time to siege Kyoto, he's your ally and cannot be harmed. Once you have conquered the town he can be fought, though you don't have to take him one on one, unless you [[InvokedTrope invoke it]].
* DefiantToTheEnd: He still fights after the deaths of his vassals, the destruction of his army and the loss of the capital.

!!Osman Bey

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The narration mentions that he's incredibly strong, stronger than anyone else in his service.
* FounderOfTheKingdom: The petty beylik that he creates would eventually become the mighty Ottoman Empire.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Starts as an envoy of the Rum Sultanate, then inherits a small Byzantine village as a fief, and will eventually become the founder of the mighty Ottoman Empire.
* HorseArcher: He's represented by a Heavy Horse Archer unit.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The African Kingdoms Campaigns]]
!Tariq ibn Ziyad (Berbers)

!!Tariq ibn Ziyad
The main protagonist of the Berber campaign, represented by an heroic Genitour unit.

* ArbitraryMinimumRange: Being a Genitour, he cannot attack close enemies.
* HorseArcher: Sort of.
* JavelinThrower: His weapon of choise are javelins.
* OutOfFocus: He's much more present in the conquest of Iberia, but vanishes as the action shifts to France.

!Sundjata (Malians)

!!Sundjata
Young prince of the Mali, born lame and weak, he has to defend his country from the wicked Sumanguru and forge a powerful empire. Appears as an heroic Light Cavalry unit.

* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: Since most of the African countries fear Sumanguru's sorcery, Sundjata claims that he has sorcery on his side in the form of his baobab wood crutch, which is used as a relic to gather allies under his wing.
* CombatPragmatist: When he learns of the mines of gold and salt around Djenné he decides to pillage them to weaken Sumanguru's power.
* TheChosenOne: His birth and destiny were prophetized by an old shaman to the king.
* TheGoodKing: Contrasting the wicked Sumanguru.
* HandicappedBadass: Born lame and weak, he grew into the Emperor of the strong Mali Empire.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Like actively winning back his kingdom from the much stronger Ghana Empire.

!!Sumanguru
The main villain of the Malian Campaign, he's the emperor of Ghana and Sundjata's rival. He's rumored to be a sorcerer. Represented in game as a heroic Cataphract unit.

* AchillesHeel: Rumors said that he can only be killed with the spur of a rooster. In game, disrupting his control over the rich mines of Djenné weakens his grip on his allies.
* BadBoss: Implied, as in the pivotal battle against Sundjata, both his allies can be persuaded to betray him and switch sides.
* BigBad: Of the Malian Campaign as a whole.
* DefiantToTheEnd: After his defeat he retreats in his capital where he has to be eliminated once and for all.
* SorcerousOverlord: He's rumored to be a sorcerer, who can summon the spirits and grant victory to his armies in battle thanks to his magical instrument.

!Francisco de Almeida (Portuguese)
Nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against the Moors and in the conquest of Granada in 1492.

* AntiHero: Fights loyally for his king, but became ruthless in the aftermath of his son's death.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: His son was killed in Egypt between the fourth and fifth scenarios. Francisco's grief is a leading point in the fifth scenario, appropriately titled "A Son's Blood".
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: He kills the Emir by destroying his castle out of anger for said Emir's FaceHeelTurn. And then, when his son dies, he betrays Alfonso de Albuquerque and goes on a rampage against his enemies on anger.

!Yodit (Ethiopians)

!!Princess Yodit
The royal princess of Ethiopia who was betrayed by her greedy nephew Gidajan and forced to flee Ethiopia and brew a terrible revenge on her kingdom. As Princess Yodit, she's represented as a defenceless Queen unit, but she also has a model as a heroic Gbeto unit.

* ActionGirl: Though alas, not in the campaign itself.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: She cacthes the attention of the Syrian Prince she wishes to marry by showy military actions.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Granted, Gidajan started it, but still...
* KickTheSonOfABitch: For all the bad things she did, Gidajan deserved it.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Against her own kingdom under Gidajan, to a tremendous extent.
* ShroudedInMyth: The real Yodit (also known as Gudit) was an obscure, semi-mythical figure who may have not existed but was known for her destructive behaviour and for burning down churches.
* VillainProtagonist: She's definetively not a nice girl, unlike previous heroine Joan of Arc.

!!Dagnajan
King of Aksum and Yodit's brother, father of Gidajan. He's the main enemy in the third scenario and appears as a heroic Elephant Archer.

* AdvancingBossOfDoom: After 50 minutes in game, his humongous army will march towards the unsufficiently protected mountain pass, and you will be defeated if he makes it to the pass. The only way to win the scenario is to stop him earlier.
* HorseArcher: Well, Elephant Archer, so not as fast. Still a Mighty Glacier to deal with.
* MisplacedRetribution: Technically, the one who conspired against Yodit was Gidajan. However, killing him does bring havoc on Aksum, as Gidajan and his brother take advantage of Dagnajan's demise to fight for the throne.

!!Gidajan
Yodit's nephew, a scheming bastard who tries to take the power in Aksum but is fought and defeated by Yodit. Appears in game as a unique unit resembling an Eastern Swordsman hero.

* AssholeVictim: On the receiving end of a rather cruel revenge, he still deserves it.
* BigBad: Of the whole campaign, being the cause for Yodit's exile and the final enemy she must overcome.
* CainAndAbel: His war with his brother which allowed Yodit to gain some grounds from him.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Even after conquering Aksum and bringing down his castle you have to kill his hero unit in order to stop his continuously spawning army.
* EvilNephew: He framed Yodit for blasphem, which would have meant a life imprisoned if she hadn't escaped. It rightfully ticked her off.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: His plot to frame and exile Yodit ends up biting him in the end.
* SinisterScimitar: His weapon of choice.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rise of the Rajas Campaigns]]
!Gajah Mada (Malay)

!!Gajah Mada
The main hero and Majapahit general for the campaign; appears as a unique, champion-like unit. Unusual for the series, Gajah is the narrator for his own campaign, a trait he shares with Bayinnaung.

* DownerEnding: He's had a good career going on nearly uniting the Malay Archipelago, until his plot to make Sunda submit went awry. His career crashes down and many people want him dead. Hayam Wuruk gives him an exile mansion far away in honor of his services, but Gajah Mada considers it a FateWorseThanDeath and spends the rest of his time recounting that he was not a hero, but an ambitious fool who was just paying the price of his ambition. And for those who knew Indonesian history? That marks the decline of the Majapahit empire that he built so far.
* FateWorseThanDeath: After his downfall, Gajah Mada considers death as something better than being demoted, exiled and having to spend the rest of his life in obscurity, contemplating the brutal consequences of his hubris.
* {{Foil}}: To Bayinnaung. Both men were the right-hands of their sovereigns before said sovereigns' assassinations [[note]]While in-game, Jayanegara was depicted as dying from an illness, he was almost certainly murdered. Historically, exactly who the mastermind was remains a mystery; some even pointed their fingers at Gajah Mada.[[/note]], and had far greater capabilities than their sovereigns. Their sovereigns also became well-known for their vices before their deaths. However, unlike Bayinnaung who was humble but decided to crown himself, Gajah was ambitious but never ascended the throne. In the end, Bayinnaung died a king covered in glory and fame, while Gajah was exiled.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Saving the life of his king from the rebels was good, but this act made the king arrogant and tyrannical, which resulted in his assassination.
* OffModel: His hero unit is unique, though he vaguely resembles a Champion or a Two-Handed Swordsman.

!Suryavarman I (Khmers)

!!Suryavarman I
The main hero of the campaign who became king of Angkor, appears as a unique Elite Battle Elephant hero.

* TheGoodKing: Despite the below-mentioned coup d'etat, he's this.
* TheUsurper: The first scenario of his campaign involves Suryavarman's usurpation of the throne from King Udyadityavarman.

!Bayinnaung (Burmese)

!!Bayinnaung
The main character of the Burmese campaign, represented by an Elite Battle Elephant hero and later by a monk. Like Gajah Mada, he's the narrator of his own campaign, a rarity for the series.

* AdultFear: His beloved King and brother quickly fell under the sway of alcohol, becoming so slobbish that his whole court started to dream about deposing him, and Bayinnaug was unable to convince him to kick the habit before his assassination.
* AnimalMotifs: He often compares himself to a [[PantheraAwesome tiger]], a mighty predator for his enemies.
* BadassPacifist: In ''The White Elephant'' Bayinnaung decides to subjugate his enemies by showing them the power of the Buddhist faith and sends relic-carrying monks to subdue them.
* TheCallHasBadReception: A prophecy announcing the rebirth of the ''Cakkavatti'' (a Pali term for ''Universal Ruler'') was obviously about the newborn prince, rather than said prince's milk-brother, born on the same day.
* {{Foil}}: To Gajah Mada. Both men were the right-hands of their sovereigns before said sovereigns' assassinations [[note]]While in-game, Jayanegara was depicted as dying from an illness, he was almost certainly murdered. Historically, exactly who the mastermind was remains a mystery; some even pointed their fingers at Gajah Mada.[[/note]], and had far greater capabilities than their sovereigns. Their sovereigns also became well-known for their vices before their deaths. However, unlike Bayinnaung who was humble but decided to crown himself, Gajah was ambitious but never ascended the throne. In the end, Bayinnaung died a king covered in glory and fame, while Gajah was exiled.
* TheGoodKing: He's ultimately hailed as the ''Universal Ruler'', a prophesied prince renowned for his wisdom and might.
* TheHeroDies: In the final scenario, after visiting all four Buddhist temples, he dies, leaving his sons to finish the scenario.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: By the time of the penultimate scenario, Bayinnaung has grown tired of the Nat shamans and has to fight the Nat Enchantresses on the mountains to prove the strength of Buddhism.
* TakeUpMySword: He succeeds his brother-in-law as king of Toungoo after Tabinshwehti's assassination.
* UndyingLoyalty: To his milk brother, Tabinshwehti. Even when the King started to show himself UnfitForGreatness, Bayinnaug refused to hear about usurping him.

!!Tabinshwehti
Bayinnaung's sworn brother and King of Burma, he appears as a unique Elephant Archer and is playable in the first part of the campaign.

* TheAlcoholic: Deconstructed, as the attachment to Portuguese liquor brings about his ruin.
* BigDamnHeroes: In the second scenario, finding his camp soon enough can turn the tide on your Shan opponents, as his advanced units and siege weaponry can make short work of their defenses.
* FamilyOfChoice: Since Bayinnaug was his milk-brother, Tabinshwehti showered him with honors and considered him his most trusted general and advisor. ''Bayinnaung'' actually was a title Tabinshwehti bestowed upon the guy, meaning "the King's Elder Brother".
* RefusedByTheCall: Everyone believed the ''Cakkavatti'' (''World Ruler'') prophecy was about him. Tough luck, since the fated prince was his sworn brother Bayinnaug.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: At first, though eventually he becomes slobbish and weak due to the Portuguese influence, which leads to his demise.

!Lê Lợi (Vietnamese)

!!Lê Lợi
The hero of the Vietnamese campaign, leading his people in war against the Ming. He appears as a souped up Champion unit.

* CombatPragmatist: Since he cannot fight the Ming face to face he resorts to guerrilla tactics.
* TheHero: The main protagonist of the eponymous campaign. He's also more present in combat compared to the other heroes in the previous campaigns.
* WorthyOpponent: For Wang Tong, and vice versa.

!!Lê Lai
One of Lê Lợi's allies, represented first by an heroic Two-Handed Swordsman and later by a Champion.

* HeroicSacrifice: When the Vietnamese army is under siege by the much stronger Ming forces, Lê Lai volunteers to pretend to be Lê Lợi and leads a charge against the Ming with his loyal men, acting as a decoy to help his lord and the rest of the army escape. While his ploy is successful, Lê Lai is captured and executed by the Ming.

!!Đinh Lễ, Lê Triện, Lưu Nhân Chú, Bùi Bị
The four lieutenants of Lê Lợi aiding him in the battle against the Ming. They are represented by a Cavalier, a Champion, an Arbalest and a unique Monk unit.

* ArcherArchetype: Lưu Nhân Chú, who claims that none can escape his bow.
* BadassBoast: Each of them has one if you select them in the beginning of the battle.
* TheBigGuy: Lê Triện, who is tasked with the bloody task of stopping the enemy reinforcements and starts with all the military buildings available.
* MasterSwordsman: Lê Triện's main skill is swordsmanship.
* NotAfraidToDie: Đinh Lễ is ready to ride for his country, even if it means to die.
* YouShallNotPass: Lê Triện's part in the fifth scenario is to hold back the Ming reinforcement and prevent them from enlarging Wang Tong's troops.

!!Wang Tong
The cunning general of the Ming Empire, who appears as a unique Cataphract hero.

* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: At the end of the campaign, the narrator reveals himself as Wang Tong, the Ming general and nemesis of Lê Lợi.
* BigBad: As the commander of the Ming armies in Vietnam, he serves as the main antagonist of the Lê Lợi campaign.
* WorthyOpponent: After his defeat, he regards Lê Lợi as an opponent worthy of respect. [[note]]Historically, while Wang was severely punished for his failure against Lê Lợi, he managed to have a CareerResurrection when he proved himself in 1449 (more than 15 years after Lê Lợi's death), during the defence of Beijing against the Oirats led by Esen Taishi, and was rewarded with a government postion, along with having his confiscated properties returned to him.[[/note]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Last Khans Campaigns]]
!Ivaylo (Bulgarians)

!!Ivaylo
The main character of the Bulgarian campaign, represented by a cavalry unit.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Inverted. He's betrayed three times during the campaign, likely steming from his lowborn background.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: So, the valiant swineherd who rightfully defended peasants rights finally gains his happy ending after toppling the tyrant and becoming king instead, right? Not so much when his whole court is filled with classist snobs who hate him for killing the previous king.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Started off as a simple swineherd, and inspired peasants to take up arms against the marauding Tatars. When the corrupt Bolyars focused on putting the militia down rather than fight off said Tatars, the rebellion was born with him at the helm.
* HeirInLaw: Marrying the Empress Dowager was a good way to consolidate his claim to the throne.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: The campaign paints him as a humble man fighting to liberate the common man. While much of Ivaylo's character may be lost to time, history is fairly certain he was abusive to Maria. [[note]]It should be noted that historically, Maria was previously the wife of Tsar Konstantin, and that she had a son with Konstantin named Michael. With Ivaylo, she only had a daugher; Ivaylo was also her third husband.[[/note]]
* RebelLeader
* TheHeroDies: Killed by Nogai Khan rather unceremoniously.
* WorkingClassHero: He started life as a swineherd. The nobility never forgave him for this.

!!Tsar Konstantin
Tsar of Bulgaria in "A Most Unlikely Man", represented by a three-horse chariot.

* HandicappedBadass: Got paralyzed from the waist down after falling off his horse, and so got confined to a chariot. Statswise he has as much attack as a Paladin, and so can put up a fight, assuming he attacks at all.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Once governed Bulgaria well, and kept the Byzantines and Tatars in check. Then he fell off his horse, ensuring that the nobles assumed greater power. To set the scene of the Rebellion, Ivalyo had him killed by the end of the first scenario.
* UngratefulBastard: One way through the scenario is to ally with him, then defeat the Tatars and the remaining two Bolyars. Instead of giving Ivaylo the promised title of Bolyar, Konstantin then sets off to crush the rebellion while scoffing at Ivaylo's status as peasant.

!!Maria Kantakouzena
(Former) empress of Bulgaria

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: While Maria's narrations portray herself as a mere bystander in the various Bulgarian political struggles, she was historically no naive princess; she was a niece of Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. According to her contempory Georgius Pachymeres, Maria supported her uncle's military coup d'etat and she prompted him to blind the legitimate emperor John IV Laskaris, who was brother of Bulgarian empress Irene, the second wife of Tsar Konstantin.[[note]]Maria later became Konstantin's third wife before marrying Ivaylo.[[/note]]
* TheExile: She is exiled to Constantinople after Ivaylo loses power.
* OddCouple: Deconstructed to hell -- the nobility was infuriated to see the Empress marry a swineherd who led a rebellion against them and killed ''her former husband''.
* NarratorAllAlong: Though it's not much of a surprise.
* TellMeAboutMyFather: Ultimately, the whole campaign is Maria explaining to her (unnamed) daughter what kind of man fathered her.
* WomenPreferStrongMen: In the second mission, she comments that Ivaylo's military successes are really ''alluring''. The post-mission cutscene has her marrying him.

!!Ivan Asen III
Bulgarian noble and rival to Ivaylo.
* DirtyCoward: Everybody was very unimpressed when he ran away because it was evident he wouldn't be able to vainquish Ivaylo on his own.

!!Nogai Khan
Leader of the Golden Horde.
* BloodKnight: Apparently, the smell of burnt flesh and the taste of blood are a joy to him.
* EyeScream: Lost one eye when fighting his brother for the post of commander of the Golden Horde. He's very chill about it, though.
* GracefulLoser: His reaction when Ivaylo burns his great tent is to laugh and call him a WorthyOpponent.
* HeroicLineage: More infamous than heroic, but he's a great-great-grandson to Genghis Khan.
* TheManBehindTheMan: The reason why he doesn't take command over the Golden Horde, he already rules it from the shadows and prefers it this way.
* WorthyOpponent: Praises Ivaylo's strength right after being defeated by him.

!Kotyan Khan (Cumans)

!!Kotyan Khan
Leader of the Cuman tribes.

* OneHundredPercentAdorationRating: Alas for the Hungary nobles, Kotyan was extremely beloved by his bloodthirsty, warrior subjects. So when he was murdered, they didn't take it well. At all.
* TheExile: Courtesy of the Mongol invasions.
* TheHeroDies: He was murdered by the very nobility he wanted to trust. Cue RoaringRampageOfRevenge from his grieving warriors.
* HopeBringer: To his followers, who refused to be brought low by their plight as they still had him with them.

!!Béla
King of Hungary.

* TheGoodKing: Welcomed the Cumans into his realm. Shame he couldn't stop suspicious nobles from assassinating Kotyan.
* OnlySaneMan: The only person in Hungary to think the Cumans could peacefully live there, and maybe protect it from the Mongols. Unfortunately, his nobles ''had'' to murder Kotyan.

!Tamerlane (Tatars)

!!Tamerlane
Leader of the Timurid Empire, represented by a cavalry archer.

* CombatPragmatist: As part of his strategic prowess, when facing off against the Sultan of Delhi's armored elephants, he sent a small brigade of camels carrying burning hay. The sight of flaming camels spooked the elephants enough to stampede the other direction.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He wasn't descended from a Khan, and yet he picked up several pieces of the old Mongol empire and conquered vast amounts of land from Persia to Delhi.
* HandicappedBadass: He's called "Timur the Lame" because arrow wounds in his right leg and hand impeded his movement. He is still a highly cunning individual who earned his leadership by [[CuttingTheKnot throwing his helmet at an end post in a foot race]]. His cunning had proven rather deadly on the battlefield.
* VillainProtagonist: He's ''fiendishly'' brutal for a conqueror. Since he apparently styled himself TheScourgeOfGod, he probably enjoyed it, too.

!!Tokhtamysh
Khan and starting ally to Tamerlane.

* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: Downplayed, but he's the beddragled refugee relating all of Tamerlane's atrocities to the rich lord in the framing device.
* HorseArcher: Represented by one, and during Tamerlane's campaign into Persia provided him with some.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Formerly the ruler to the Golden Horde, he made the big mistake to betray Tamerlane. It leads him to become a terrified, starving refugee ranting about his rival's cruelty and pressing people to flee instead of fighting.
* LikeASonToMe: How Tamerlane viewed him. Tokhtamysh deciding to backstab him wasn't well-received as a consequence.
* TheStarscream: Tokhtamysh betrayed Tamerlane after the latter destroyed enough Persian cities. He vastly underestimated Tamerlane's ability in combat and fled north to the Golden Horde, then west to Lithuania after meeting his respective defeats.

!Pachacuti (Incas)
[[/folder]]

* RapePillageAndBurn: Invoked by the Keshik, who can generate gold as they attack enemies and buildings. And the Tamerlaine campaign makes clear that their reputation was earned.

* FamilyOfChoice: Since Bayinnaug was his milk-brother, Tabinshwehti showered him with honors and considered him his most trusted general and advisor. ''Bayinnaug'' actually was a title Tabinshwehti bestowed upon the guy, meaning "the King's Elder Brother".

* TheHeroDies: He was murdered by the very nobility he wanted to trust. Cue RoaringRampageOfRevenge from his grieving warriors.

!!Bela

* HorseArcher: Represented by one, and during Tamerlane's campaign into Persia provided him with some, at least until...

* NarratorAllAlong: Downplayed, but he's the beddragled refugee relating all of Tamerlane's atrocities to the rich lord in the framing device.
* TheStarscream: ... he betrayed Tamerlane after the latter destroyed enough cities. He vastly underestimated Tamerlane's ability in combat and fled north to the Golden Horde, then west to Lithuania after meeting his respective defeats.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Zig-zagged due to the reverse treatment given to El Cid, and the fact that Berenguer himself was suspected of fratricide[[note]]His brother, Ramon B., died in a HuntingAccident, which is widely blamed on him. It was because of this accusation that his rule was troubled, and he eventually had to appoint his nephew as co-ruler (the one who married El Cid's (second) daughter[[/note]].
* KarmaHoudini: Although he is briefly imprisoned, he escapes real punishment.

* ArrangedMarriage: His nephew is married to El Cid's daughter to unite them after the wars.
* BigBad: He has nothing to do with Yusuf, but whenever he isn't around, Berenguer can be trusted as an opponent.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: A pretty major one.

TheLancer to Genghis, and later, Ogatai. Represented by a cavalry archer.

* {{Foil}}: To Bayinnaung. Both men were the right-hands of their sovereigns before said sovereigns' assassinations [note]]While in-game, Jayanegara was depicted as dying from an illness, he was almost certainly murdered. Historically, exactly who the mastermind was remains a mystery; some even pointed their fingers at Gajah Mada.[[/note]], and had far greater capabilities than their sovereigns. Their sovereigns also became well-known for their vices before their deaths. However, unlike Bayinnaung who was humble but decided to crown himself, Gajah was ambitious but never ascended the throne. In the end, Bayinnaung died a king covered in glory and fame, while Gajah was exiled.

* {{Foil}}: To Gajah Mada. Both men were the right-hands of their sovereigns before said sovereigns' assassinations [note]]While in-game, Jayanegara was depicted as dying from an illness, he was almost certainly murdered. Historically, exactly who the mastermind was remains a mystery; some even pointed their fingers at Gajah Mada.[[/note]], and had far greater capabilities than their sovereigns. Their sovereigns also became well-known for their vices before their deaths. However, unlike Bayinnaung who was humble but decided to crown himself, Gajah was ambitious but never ascended the throne. In the end, Bayinnaung died a king covered in glory and fame, while Gajah was exiled.