History Characters / Dominions

* {{Romani}}: Portrayed in the Late Age as Fortune Tellers, who live in the [[TheLostWoods Black Forest]] despite its dangers.

* FactionCalculus: Bogarus is most definitely the Cannons, with a touch of Subversive in the form of its Stealthy flagellants. Rus is more of a Powerhouse, while Vanarus is more Balanced.

* {{Expy}}: Early Age is pretty heavily based off [[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian Cimmeria]]
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: As above, Cimmeria in Early Era with a mix of Germanic tribes. Middle Era is roughly Germany, and has some Romanian cultural flavor for Late Age.

** Shinuyama can recruit Kappas, [[TheBlank Noppera-bo's]], [[TechnicallyLivingVampire geriatric bloodsuckers]], and [[BakenekoAndNekomata Nekomata witches]] with gold. The Bakemono goblins can summon almost all of the Oni with their magic, while the witches can summon a wide variety of ''Hengeyokai''; this includes Bakenekos, [[{{Kitsune}} Kitsunes]], {{Tanuki}}, and [[TsuchigumoAndJorogumo Jorogumo]]. The Tengu can still be summoned, but most will only answer to a Tengu King or another Air mage that Shinuyama's money can't buy.

'''R'lyeh - Fallen Star'' (Middle Age)\\
'''R'lyeh - Dreamlands'' (Late Age)

* {{Cthulhumanoid}}: The middle and late age inhabitants of R'lyeh are versions of TabletopGame/DungeonAndDragon's Illithids, and, as such, have squids for heads and can fire powerful mind blasts to incapacitate their enemies.

* TheRemnant: At least one aboleth Mind Lord has survived all the way to Late Age. His description mentions that he finds Illithids useful as overseers and as food.

* FactionCalculus: Yomi and Jomon are both Subversive, having mostly weaker troops than their peers, but making up for it with powerful and mobile commanders; Yomi also has freespawn, giving it a touch of The Horde. Shinuyama is more-traditionally The Horde, especially after a BalanceBuff in Dominions 5 that let you fit six Bakemono to a square.

* HandSeals: The five "* sign" spells, hand gesture spells that are based on divine magic and a standard path unique to Jomon.

%%* {{Youkai}}

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The "Chuds" referred to in Bogarus (way back in ''Dominions 3'') and featuring in Vanarus (back in ''Dominions 4'') didn't make much sense until ''Dominions 5'', since many Slavic myths portray them as short characters with somewhat-villainous traits. ''Dominions 5'' clarified that the Chuds/Chudes represent the historic Chudes that lived north of Slavic lands, rather than the mythical ones; though, since the name is not Baltic, [[SadlyMythtaken this causes other weirdness]].

** Rus in particular is a bit of CultureChopSuey, with the Baltic parts getting more representation than the Slavic parts; Rus considers the Sun to be feminine, for example, while Slavic mythology considered it to be masculine. [[note]]To be exact, there were two Sun personifications, male and female, usually seen as brother and sister. According to some legends, each of them took the luminary role for half of year than gave the position to the sibling. More often through Sun-the-sister was seen as secondary, relatively unimportant and kinda unreliable. Or maybe she was demoted and became unimportant due to her treachery. [[/note]] In Slavic folklore, the "Chuds" (called Chudes in the Early Ages) are believed to represent the Finnic and Baltic peoples that the Slavs wiped from what is now northwestern Russia, though the East Slaves also listed them among the founders of the Kievan Rus'. There's also the reverence for bears, [[SadlyMythtaken which is largely Finnic]].

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The "Chuds" referred to in Bogarus (way back in ''Dominions 3'') and featuring in Vanarus (back in ''Dominions 4'') didn't make much sense until ''Dominions 5'', since many Slavic myths portray them as short characters with somewhat-villainous traits; ''Dominions 5'' clarified that the Chuds/Chudes represent the historic Chudes that lived north of Slavic lands, rather than the mythical ones; though, since the name is not Baltic, [[SadlyMythtaken this causes other weirdness]].

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The "Chuds" referred to in Bogarus (way back in ''Dominions 3'') and featuring in Vanarus (back in ''Dominions 4'') didn't make much sense until ''Dominions 5'', since many Slavic myths portray them as short characters with somewhat-villainous traits; ''Dominions 5'' clarified that the Chuds/Chudes represent the historic Chudes that lived northwest of Slavic lands, rather than the mythical ones; though, since the name is not Baltic, [[SadlyMythtaken this causes other weirdness]].

[[folder:Sauromatia]]
'''Sauromatia, Amazon Queens''' (Early Age)

The Sauromatians were an Early Age confederacy of nomadic tribes particularly noted for being ruled by an upper class of women warriors. Although both men and women fought on the battlefield, most positions of power and influence were occupied by women in almost all the major tribes, a hallmark of the influence of the Amazons who were integrated into the confederacy early on. Like early Ulm, the Sauromatians tended to value strength of arms over the mystical arts; as a result, most of their sorceresses and priestesses were also accomplished warriors, while divination and tending the dead were frequently left to those too old or weak to fight.

The one notable exception to this tendency towards female leadership was found among the tribe of the Androphags, who dwelled in the Swamps of Pythia. They rejected women leaders entirely, instead being ruled by powerful WitchKings who possessed uncannily long lifespans and an affinity for sorcerous practices involving blood and death. While all Sauromatian tribes flayed the skins of their enemies -- with prominent warriors displaying their own collected skins as a sort of macabre battle standard in the field -- the Androphags took things one gruesome step further by additionally consuming their flesh, meaning they were often abhorred by their fellow tribes. Additionally, with horses scarce in the swamps, the Androphags turned to taming the fierce serpentine creatures that populated their home, including the fearsome and resilient Pythian Hydra, known for its many heads and regenerative powers.

The Sauromatians would eventually be conquered by the Empire of Ermor. Even after their integration, however, aspects of Sauromatian culture survived to influence the Empire of Pythium which would arise after Ermor's cataclysmic collapse.

* AmazonBrigade: A large portion of Sauromatia's armies is composed of women.
%%* CastingAShadow
* BloodMagic: Part-and-parcel for a society of savage reavers. The Androphags passively acquire a couple of Blood Slaves for Sauromatia each turn, making Sauromatia one of the few nations with passive Blood income. Sauromatia isn't particularly good at Blood Magic, however, since its Blood Mages are either Witch-Kings (who are few in number) or the Amazonian Warrior-Sorceresses (who don't have much time to hone their skills).
* Myth/ClassicalMythology: Circe (under her ancient Greek name "Kirke") is a hero in Sauromatia, living on an island just off-shore. The first Witch-King was taught by her.
* {{Crossdresser}}: Sauromatia's best "foot" mages are the Enaries, men who dress and speak like women to better-coerce the spirits.
* ImAHumanitarian: The tribe of the Androphags practices cannibalism.
* LongLived: The Androphag Witch-Kings have lived for hundreds of years, as a result of [[ToServeMan eating the flesh of the Partholonian elves]]. This isn't natural for them, however, and most of them have forgotten everything from those times gone by.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Sauromatia is not well-known for its magic; the Amazons they absorbed, the Jade Amazons to be exact, failed to change that aspect of Sauromatian society. Even the Amazonian mages have to be better at fighting than spellcasting, to keep up with the hordes. The Witch-Kings are the exception, but they're a slim minority.
* OurHydrasAreDifferent: Hydras can recruited from the capitol for a hefty price. Sauromatia is also capable of summoning the Daughter of Typhon.
%%* VirginSacrifice

[[folder:Therodos]]
'''Therodos - Telkhine Spectre''' (Early Age)

In the time of a previous Pantokrator, the powerful sea spirits known as the Telkhines left the sea with their power of shape-changing. They founded the kingdom of Therodos and made themselves god-kings over the humans. Great sages, they invented metalworking and made artifacts for the Pantokrator's servants and taught it to their Daktyloi servants. They eventually discovered the means of creating a malefic poison by means of mixing stygian water and sulfur, which rendered the land poisonous to life. For this, the Pantokrator destroyed their kingdom and imprisoned them in Tartarus, with only some of their servants surviving on the shattered islands, the rest barred from the underworld and unknowing of their undead existence.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: A hint of Cretan and Minoan Island Kingdoms mixed with Greek city-states.
* FaunsAndSatyrs: The Hekaterides are the mothers of the Satyrs.
* MagicDance: The sacred dance of the Hekaterides and their Melian and Kourete brought joy, stability, and fertility to Theorodos, and in-game inspire troops and reduce unrest.
* PoisonousPerson: The Telkhine are constantly surrounded by the fumes of the Telkhine Maediction, killing everything around them.
* MysteryCult: The guilds of the Kabeiros craftsmen were organized like this, members advancing through mystic initiations, that often involved an excessive amount of drinking.
* ScrappyMechanic: It's a nation made from sacred units who are alive, and need gold as much as any nation... Yet its population dies inside the dominion, completely ruining the very meaning of playing, and the concept of joy and stability the sacred dancers.

[[folder:Tir na n'Og/Eriu]]
'''Tir na n'Og, Land of the Ever Young''' (Early Age)\\
'''Eriu, Last of the Tuatha''' (Middle Age)

In the Early Age the blessed isle of Tir na n'Og was the home of the Tuatha, a fay race descended from the Nemedians. Like their ancestors, the Tuatha waged war against the Fomorians, but their attempted invasion was ultimately foiled, forcing them to withdraw back to their home once more. Their descendants, the Sidhe, would become the ruling class of Tir na n'Og, ruling over a kingdom largely populated by the lesser Fir Bolg.

The Middle Age would see the coming of another wave of invaders, this time from the human realms. After a long and drawn out war, the Sidhe would be overwhelmed, withdrawing to new homes beyond the mortal realm, while the Fir Bolg dwindled to a minority in their own homeland. The former realm of the Tuatha would be partitioned between the Logrians, who would found their own realm of Man, and the Milesians, who would dub their new realm Eriu. With the disappearance of the Pantokrator and the rise of new Pretender Gods, however, the Sidhe would return to the mortal realm to reclaim their former status as rulers of the land.

* CantArgueWithElves: The more-"Elven" races are in charge in both of these factions, and the Tuatha in particular holding world-conquering ambitions that were only [[BreakTheHaughty briefly interrupted]] by losses before and after the Early Ages. The Fir Bolg are only half-"Elven", and serve as peasants to their Tuatha step-siblings and Sidhe nephews.
* DeathByCameo: The only traces Eriu leaves in the Late Ages are the Bean Sidhe for Man; at this point, they're [[OurBansheesAreLouder proper Banshees]].
* TheFairFolk: The Tuatha and their Sidhe descendants are mystical beings skilled in magic, poetry, and other crafts and capable of weaving {{glamour}}s to move stealthily among other lands and peoples.
* MagicMusic: All of the "true Elves" in Tir na n'Og and Eriu use Spellsongs for their magic, which makes their spells longer to cast but far less tiring. The Fir Bolg do not use Spellsongs, practicing the Druidism of their Nemedian ancestors instead. The Tuatha even had exclusive "music" spells in Dominions 3 and 4, [[{{Nerf}} though not in 5]].

[[folder:Rus/Vanarus/Bogarus]]
'''Rus - Sons of Heaven''' (Early Age)\\
'''Vanarus - Land of the Chuds''' (Middle Age)\\
'''Bogarus - Age of Heroes''' (Late Age)

%%* CrystalDragonJesus: The Exarchs and Eparchs.
* FactionCalculus: Bogarus is most definitely the Cannons, with a touch of Subversive in the form of its Stealthy flagellants. Rus is more of a Powerhouse, while Vanarus is more Balanced.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Inspired by Slavic mythology and the history of UsefulNotes/KievanRus. The Early Age is more of a Rus/Baltic mix.
** Rus in particular is a bit of CultureChopSuey, with the Baltic parts getting more representation than the Slavic parts; Rus considers the Sun to be feminine, for example, while Slavic mythology considered it to be masculine. [[note]]To be exact, there were two Sun personifications, male and female, usually seen as brother and sister. According to some legends, each of them took the luminary role for half of year than gave the position to the sibling. More often through Sun-the-sister was seen as secondary, relatively unimportant and kinda unreliable. Or maybe she was demoted and became unimportant due to her treachery. [[/note]] In Slavic folklore, the "Chuds" (called Chudes in the Early Ages) are believed to represent the Finnic and Baltic peoples that the Slavs wiped from what is now northwestern Russia. That said, mythology portrays them as beatiful but cowardly midgets (Finnic people for sure aren't) with love for gold and gems and being very adept at hiding. In this game they are instead magical superhuman race of normal height, which is really random. There is an explanation in the manual - devs heard the word "Chud", but could not find anything about it in Latvian mythology, and thus decided to reinvent it's meaning themselves. Why didn't they check Eastern Slavic mythology in the first place? No explanation for that.
** Vanarus, now ruled Norse Elves, uses Norse names for units and leaders. Rus in all ages is considered to be a part of "Norse" nation group and can worship Norse gods. Supposedly, it is an analogue of Rurikids' times, but in real-life it's them who got very quickly gone culturally Slavic. Not to mention that Novgorod, city that was closest to Norse, was not part of 'Kievan' Rus, unless one use as a name for all of Rus' lands combined (which will be factually wrong but hey).
** Amusingly enough, Pithium have absolutely no role in Rus/Vanarus/Bogarus history despite all the influence Bysantium had on Russian culture in real life; even the word "Russia" (Byzantine name for Rus) was eventually adopted.
* LanguageOfMagic: Bogarus has wizards who practice this, though they are but one of many traditions that have set up in the cities.
* InNameOnly: not nearly as much as most "Rus(sia)-inspired Fantasy Culture" out there. Still, if you expect it to be as close to mythology as other nations, you will propably be disappointed. Well, atleast nobody worships bears here...
* OpenSecret: BloodMagic, while still looked down upon in Bogarus, is ''quite'' common there. Blood Mages are the cheapest mages in the Empire, the most respected Mages in the Empire know a little, and one of the church factions is built around [[ThePenance the belief that it can be good]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Vanheim/Midgård]]
'''Vanheim - Age of Vanir''' (Early Age)\\
'''Vanheim - Arrival of Man''' (Middle Age)\\
'''Midgård - Age of Men''' (Late Age)

----

* EarnYourHappyEnding: In the Late Age,the humans of Jomon have successfully broken the might of their bakemono and oni masters.

* InNameOnly: not nearly as much as most "Rus(sia)-inspired Fantasy Culture" out there. Still, if you expect it to be as close to mythology as other nations, you will propably be disappointed. Well, atleast nobody worship bears here...

** Rus in particular is a bit of CultureChopSuey, with the Baltic parts getting more representation than the Slavic parts; Rus considers the Sun to be feminine, for example, while Slavic mythology considered it to be masculine. [[note]]To be exact, there were two Sun personifications, male and female, usually seing as brother and sister. According to some legends, each of them took the luminary role for half of year than gave the position to the sibling. More often through Sun-the-sister was seing as secondary, relatively unimportant and kinda unreliable. Or maybe she was demoted and became unimportant due to her treachery. [[/note]] In Slavic folklore, the "Chuds" (called Chudes in the Early Ages) are believed to represent the Finnic and Baltic peoples that the Slavs wiped from what is now northwestern Russia. That said, mythology portrays them as beatiful but cowardly midgets (Finnic people for sure aren't) with love for gold and gems and being very adept at hiding. In this game they are instead magical superhuman race of normal height, which is really random. There is an explanation in the manual - devs heard the word "Chud", but could not find anything about it in Latvian mythology, and thus decided to reinvent it's meaning themselves. Why didn't they check Eastern Slavic mythology in the first place? No explanation for that.

** Rus in particular is a bit of CultureChopSuey, with the Baltic parts getting more representation than the Slavic parts; Rus considers the Sun to be feminine, for example, while Slavic mythology considered it to be masculine. [[note]]To be exact, there were two Sun personifications, male and female, usually seing as brother and sister. According to some legends, each of them took the luminary role for half of year than gave the position to the sibling. More often through Sun-the-sister was seing as secondary, relatively unimportant and kinda unreliable. Or maybe she was demoted and became unimportant due to her treachery. [[/note]] In Slavic folklore, the "Chuds" (called Chudes in the Early Ages) are believed to represent the Finnic and Baltic peoples that the Slavs wiped from what is now northwestern Russia. That said, mythology portrays them as beatiful but cowardly midgets with love for gold and gems and being very adept at hiding.

** Rus in particular is a bit of CultureChopSuey, with the Baltic parts getting more representation than the Slavic parts; Rus considers the Sun to be feminine, for example, while Slavic mythology considered it to be masculine. In Slavic folklore, the "Chuds" (called Chudes in the Early Ages) represent the Finnic and Baltic peoples that the Slavs wiped from what is now northwestern Russia.

* Crossdresser: Sauromatia's best "foot" mages are the Enaries, men who dress and speak like women to better-coerce the spirits.

* ClassicalMythology: Circe (under her ancient Greek name "Kirke") is a hero in Sauromatia, living on an island just off-shore. The first Witch-King was taught by her.

%%* BloodMagic

* Irony: Save for maybe Agartha, Late Age Marignon is the most technologically-advanced nation in Dominions 5. They were still burning witches a century ago! (Well, ''real'' witches, but still...)

* TheConspiracy: A certain Late Age Ulmic hero hints that the [[DealWithTheDevil pact Marignon made]] may have been because of that. Said unit has it made clear in its description that "he is sent to destabilize and ensure Marignon's downfall". [OhCrap He is a demonologist and a blood mage expert in espionage]].

* MagicMusic: All of the "true Elves" in Tir na n'Og and Eriu use Spellsongs for their magic, which makes their spells longer to cast but far less tiring. The Fir Bolg do not use Spellsongs, practicing the Druidism of their Nemedian ancestors instead.

* FactionCalculus: Bogarus is most definitely the Cannon, with a touch of Subversive in the form of its Stealthy flagellants. Rus is more of a Powerhouse, while Vanarus is more Balanced.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Inspired by Slavic mythology and the history of UsefulNotes/KievanRus. Early age is more like Rus/Latvian mix.
* SadlyMythtaken: For some reason Early Age is based on Latvian mythology instead of Eastern Slavic. This lead to some really strange things, like very distinct Latvian "Perkunu" among supposedly Rusian nation, or outright mistakes. For example, Chud (basically Slavic dwarf/halfling mix - short people who live undeground, mine gold and very good at hiding) became tall long-lived magical superhumans. For additional weirdness, there is an explanation in the manual - devs heard the word "Chud", but could not find anything about it in Latvian mythology, and thus decided to reinvent it's meaning themselves. Why didn't they check Eastern Slavic mythology in the first palce? No explanation for that.
** Interestinlgy enough, Eastern Slavic mythology already have it's own tall, gracecul and heroic "elves" - Volots. They are not present in Latvian mythology through, which clearly have priority.
** Sun being female deity is very Baltic thing as well - in Eastern Slavic mythology sun is one of symbols of masculinity.

%%* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Middle and Late Ages.

* BladeOnAStick: Their most basic units use pikes, and most of their melee units use spears.

* ColonyDrop: The way they arrived in the world of ''Dominions''. Basically, R'lyeh was the name of an Aboleth city in the depths at first. Then, a distanst star on which lived tentacled creatures somehow got dislodged from heavens and smashed on top of the city. The survivors founded the Lovecraftian version of the R'lyehian Empire and started to rule over the Aboleths' slaves.
* {{Cthulhumanoid}}: The middle and late age inhabitants of R'lyeh are versions of DungeonAndDragon's Illithids, and, as such, have squids for heads and can fire powerful mind blasts to incapacitate their enemies.

%%* LightEmUp

* ColonyDrop: The way they arrived in the world of ''Dominions''. Basically, R'lyeh was the name of an Aboleth city in the depths. The tentacled creatures lived in a distant star which somehow got dislodged from heavens and smashed on top of the city. The survivors founded the Lovecraftian version of the R'lyehian Empire and started to rule over the Aboleths' slaves.
%%* {{Cthulhumanoid}}: Middle and Late Ages.

%%* LightIsNotGood

%%* GaiasVengeance: Especially Late Age.
%%* GreenThumb

%%* OurCentaursAreDifferent

%%* VirginSacrifice