History Characters / AgeOfEmpiresIIOriginalCivilizations

* {{Scotireland}} Woad Raiders are based on the Picts of ancient Scotland and the Celtic wonder is the Rock of Cashel castle in Ireland.

** The Britons in this game almost entirely represent the English, which at the beginning of the game's time period would've referred to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the east and south of present-day England. Actual "Britons" would've referred to the inhabitants of what is today Cornwall, Wales, northwest England and Strathclyde. Though notably, the Vortigern scenario in the Victors and Vanquished DLC ''does'' use them over the Celts to represent the Celtic Britons, with the Anglo-Saxons instead being represented by the Vikings.

* ACommanderIsYou: '''Ranger:''' They have access to the entire European Archery Range (no Elephant Archer) roster. Their non-Skirmisher foot archers have range bonuses from Castle Age onwards. Their UU is the Longbowman. They have an unique tech (Yeomen) which increases the range of their foot archers and towers. Finally, their Team Bonus increases the workrate speed of the Archery Ranges. All of this comes at the cost of them having poor Infantry, Cavalry and Siege lines.

* DoesNotLikeGuns: Like mentioned above, they are the only old world civilization with no gunpowder units of any kind prior to ''The Forgotten'', which gave them Cannon Galleons.

* TheNonDescript: Perhaps due to their constant migration throughout history, the Goths are often used in campaigns for any European culture that lacks its own civilization or isn't 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 original Barbarossa and Genghis Khan campaigns. They are also placeholders for the Lombards in the Bari campaign, despite the existence of the Italians civilization (which, being representative of northern Italy, included the Lombards).

* OutOfFocus: They only appear in single scenarios in Conquerors, The Forgotten, and Victors and Vanquished. Justified, since Japan was pretty isolationist.

** The Britons in this game almost entirely represent the English, which at the beginning of the game's time period would've referred to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the east and south of present-day England. Actual 'Britons' would've referred to the inhabitants of what is today Cornwall, Wales, northwest England and Strathclyde.

** Their previous 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 East Asians).

** Their Cavalries can't access the Hussar and Paladin upgrades as well as the Bloodlines tech.

* NonIndicativeName: Their historical basis is the medieval Kingdom of England, ''not'' the Celtic Britons that would eventually become the Welsh. The only thing resembling the Welsh is their NationalWeapon, the longbow.

* OutOfFocus: They only appear in single scenarios in Conquerors and The Forgotten. Justified, since Japan was pretty isolationist.

Can build Caravanserai in Imperial Age.\\

'''AI Player Names''': Canute IV, Chief Thorgest, Erik Bloodax, Halfdan the Black, Harald Bluetooth, Harald Hardraade, Harld Hardrada, Harald I Fairhair, King Godfred, Jarl Thorfinn of Orkney, Jarl Osbiorn, Magnus Olafsson, Magnus the Strong, Olaf Haraldson, Olaf Tryggvasson, [[Literature/Nibelungenlied Siegfried]], [[Literature/TheSagaOfTheVolsungs Sigurd]], Sweyn Forkbeard

* SkillGateCharacter: The Britons have a straightforward tech tree and are considered one of the easiest civilizations for newer players to play, due to the faster working shepherds giving an edge early game, faster creation time for Archery Range units allowing for archer rushes, and cheaper Town Centers makes it more conducive for booming strategies. 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]]

* SkillGateCharacter: Newcomer and low-tier players will create a large army of Longbowmen and wither down any enemies that come near them thanks to their line of sight. More experienced enemy players counter this by building arrow-resistant 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.

* 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.

* SkillGateCharacter: Much like Britons, the Celts are a straightforward and easy to play civilization. Their faster-working lumberjacks are really helpful during a wood-centric economy period early in the game. They are even the playable civilization of the tutorial campaign.

* 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).

* 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.