History Main / HeroUnit

** Blizzard continued the concept in ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'', with heroes being ''significantly'' more powerful than their regular units. (Zeratul, the hero Dark Templar, can do over 100 damage in a single hit.) One character even got its own unique sprite in game.

* ''VideoGame/WarCraft'' originally had most heroes, at least in part II, as simply being a more powerful version of a regular unit, that was usually given a different team color than your regular units. Blizzard continued the concept in ''VideoGame/StarCraft'', with heroes being ''significantly'' more powerful than their regular units. (Zeratul, the hero Dark Templar, can do over 100 damage in a single hit.) One character even got its own unique sprite in game. In ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'', heroes really came into their own, with each having distinctive spells and appearances that pretty much took over the gameplay; additionally, unlike ''[=StarCraft=]'', they could be built in multiplayer. Many user-created maps were made as essentially ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}''-like [=RPGs=], and ultimately resulted in the birth of the MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena genre. Blizzard themselves got into the act with the Bonus Orc Campaign in ''The Frozen Throne'' ExpansionPack being effectively this. On top of this, in ''[=WarCraft=] III'' the importance of Heroes lead Blizzard to ease up penalties for their deaths--unlike other units, Heroes could be reborn at an altar, and if a mission required the hero to stay alive, the Hero wasn't considered dead until the Altar was destroyed and you'd lost any possibility of building more.

** ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' brings back the hero units in both forms. The classic heroes are available in the campaign, sometimes possessing different abilities, depending on the mission they're in, and being an essential part of ''[[VideoGame/StarcraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm Heart of the Swarm]]'' and a core mechanic for certain [[VideoGame/StarcraftIICoOpMode Co-op mode]] commanders. The mechanic for RPG-style heroes exists, but they are not implemented in the game itself, and must be created manually in the editor. Like the original ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'', they cannot be used in multiplayer, unless one counts the Protoss Mothership, which a player can only have one of at a time.

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* ''Noblemen: 1896'' has armies led by a Nobleman (a JackOfAllTrades or MasterOfAll who leads and finances the army) and his Officers. The Officers are modified versions of regular units and have far greater stats and often carrying weapons not available to regular units. Another advantage is that the Officer gains experience at drastically higher rates than regular units and it's very common to have Officers that are far stronger than their noblemen leaders.

** ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' brings back the hero units in both forms. The classic heroes are available in the campaign, sometimes possessing different abilities, depending on the mission they're in, and being an essential part of ''[[VideoGame/StarcraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm Heart of the Swarm]]''. The mechanic for RPG-style heroes exists, but they are not implemented in the game itself, and must be created manually in the editor. Like the original ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'', they cannot be used in multiplayer, unless one counts the Protoss Mothership, which a player can only have one of at a time. Some commanders in co-op mode make use of hero units.

* ''VideoGame/{{Ys}} Strategy'' on the DS gives you two types of units literally called the hero and heroine. The actual fighting methods differ depending on which country you're playing as but the common trait is that they're stronger than everything else. Their power is cranked up further when the player chooses to directly control either- not only overcoming ArtificialStupidity but boosting movement and offense power.

** The first game has its Commanders as the linchpin of the gameplay, with them as the standard builder unit in the game. Losing the Commander often meant losing the game. If not automatically, then because of the fact that a good chunk of your base or army is usually destroyed when a killed Commander goes up in a massive explosion.

* ''VideoGame/{{Ys}} Strategy'' on the DS gives you two types of units literally called the hero and heroine. The actual fighting methods differ depending on which country you're playing as but the common trait is that they're stronger than everything else. Their power can be cranked up further when the player chooses to directly control either by not only overcoming ArtificialStupidity but literally boosting movement and offense power.

* ''Videogame/EndlessLegend'' allows players to hire heroes from the mercenary market, who can be assigned to armies (granting large bonuses to attack, defense, movement, et cetera) in addition to being a powerful unit in combat (or support), or can be assigned to cities to grant bonuses to food, science, industry, or [[PracticalCurrency Dust]]. Every game starts out with one Hero, a settler, and two basic infantry units. Heroes can't be permanently killed; if one falls in combat, they're returned to your Academy to heal slowly or be revived instantly with a large sum of Dust.

* In ''Videogame/XCOM2'''s two DownloadableContent missions (Alien Rulers, and Shen's Last Gift), [[MissionControl Central Officer Bradford]] and [[TheEngineer Chief Engineer Lily Shen]] (respectively) take to the field as the highest ranking soldier in your squad. Bradford uses an impossibly-customized and ludicrously overpowered assault rifle, while Shen uses a tier 3 AttackDrone, has powers mutually exclusive in normal Specialists, and her special attacks are cooldown-based instead of once-a-mission.

* ''VisualNovel/MajiDeWatashiNiKoiShinasai'': During the Kawakami War segment, pretty much the entire main cast, barring a few exceptions, become these, effortlessly knocking aside all of the portrait-less characters in seconds. Momoyo takes it to a whole new level, requiring three of the other most powerful characters just to ''hold her off!''.

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'': The actual mages and other powered individuals during the Mage vs Martians battle, who were allowed to use their full power since the {{Muggle}} students believe that it's all special effects that's part of a game, were explicitly called Hero Units (this series loves its gaming references).
* The HQ/Commander units and other heroes for TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 and TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyBattle, are often combat beasts who have 4 wounds and 4 attacks, when even EliteMooks often only have 1 wound and perhaps 2 attacks. That said getting one of these heroes killed will often spell disaster for your warband.

** ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' brings back the hero units in both forms. The classic heroes are available in the campaign, sometimes possessing different abilities, depending on the mission they're in. The mechanic for RPG-style heroes exists, but they are not implemented in the game itself, and must be created manually in the editor. Like the original ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'', they cannot be used in multiplayer, unless one counts the Protoss Mothership, which a player can only have one of at a time.

* ''VideoGame/TotalAnnihilation'' had its Commanders as the linchpin of the gameplay, with them as the standard builder unit in the game. Losing the Commander often meant losing the game. If not automatically, then because of the fact that a good chunk of your base or army is usually destroyed when a killed Commander goes up in a massive explosion.

* In the ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' series, [[FrontlineGeneral generals are deployed with the rest of your army]]. On the field, the General's Bodyguard is usually a large group of heavy cavalry (e.g., knights or lancers, although some of the later-set games give them revolvers as well). Sometimes, especially in the early game, they're the ''only'' heavy cavalry around, and a well-timed charge by the general can make or break a battle. On the other hand, if the general dies, [[MoraleMechanic every unit in the army loses some of its morale]] and the army loses the passive benefits of [[RPGElements their traits]]. Unled armies are also disadvantaged in other ways; depending on the game, armies without a general might not be able to replenish their numbers, hire mercenaries, purchase new units from nearby cities, or call in naval fire support.

*** Lords are essentially regular generals, in charge of the armies the Legendary Lords don't lead. They are named characters in their own right, but will not respawn if killed.
*** Heroes are the more typical type of Hero Unit. They can operate separately from armies and can be sent to scout out territory, boost cities and provinces, assassinate enemy units and prevent enemy heroes from doing the same. They can also be attached to armies, serving as powerful one-model units on the battlefield. They're faction-unique, each faction having a number of types to choose from, usually including a hero suited for assassinations, such as Imperial Witch Hunters, a more melee-oriented hero, such as the Beastmen's Gorebulls, support heroes geared towards buffing other troops and a selection of spellcasters.

** ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' uses these as an extension of the TacticalRockPaperScissors along with Myth units (beasts taken from the different mythologies used in the game) and ordinary human soldiers. Heroes beat Myth units, Myth units beat normal units, normal units beat heroes (if only [[ZergRush due to superior numbers]], as the heroes can take them one-on-one easily enough). The main campaign has several unique heroes as main characters, more powerful than normal heroes and effectively immortal. The expansion pack race, the Atlanteans, had an interesting twist on this -- most infantry troops could become a HeroUnit for additional cost and population slots, which would increase their stats and make them effective against myth units. Although it's entirely possible to reach your population cap with infantry units and ''then'' convert them all to heroes.

** In ''VideoGame/HaloWars2'', some of the leaders on both the UNSC and Banished sides can directly appear on the battlefield as incredibly powerful units with various special abilities. The UNSC has Sergeant Forge, Jerome-092, Sergeant Johnson, and Morgan Kinsano, while the Banished has Decimus, Ripa' Moramee, Pavium, and Voridus. Additionally, some leaders can train subordinate hero units of their own; on the UNSC side, Captain Cutter can train Sunray 1-1[[note]]Jerome before the March 2018 patch[[/note]] (uniquely, Cutter's hero is a squad unit rather than a single-model one), Isabel and Anders can train one Spartan each, Jerome can train three other Spartans, and Serina can build a Bison APC, while on the Banished side, Atriox can train an Atriox's Chosen, Let 'Volir can train one Sangheili Honor Guardsman, Colony can train a Mgalekgolo Captain, and Yapyap THE DESTROYER can train up to six Goblins[[note]]three before the March 2018 patch[[/note]].

[[[[caption-width-right:350:It's the one [[LargeAndInCharge twice the height of everyone else]].]]

** ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer'' expands on this concept, having three distinct types of Hero Units.
*** Legendary Lords represent individual characters of importance in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' lore, such as Emperor Karl Franz, Warboss Grimgor Ironhide, Archaon the Everchosen or Orion the King in the Woods, each faction starting with two or so, more being available through DLC. They act as generals for armies and are very powerful units in their own right, being quite able to fight several normal units at once. Even if they die, they can be recruited again in a few turns, and will not "die" permanently as long as their faction exists. The one you choose at the start of the game will serve as your faction's leader.
*** Lords are essentially regular generals, in charge of the armies the Legendary Lords don't lead. They will not respawn if killed.
*** Heroes are the more typical type of Hero Unit. They can operate separately from armies and can be sent to scout out territory, boost cities and provinces, assassinate enemy units and prevent enemy heroes from doing the same. They can also be attached to armies, serving as very powerful units on the battlefield. They're faction-unique, each faction having a number of types to choose from, usually including a hero suited for assassinations, such as Imperial Witch Hunters, a more melee-oriented hero, such as the Beastmen's Gorebulls, and a selection of spellcasters.

** Tanya and her ilk from ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlertSeries''.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fovzxno.png]]

* ''VideoGame/HaloWars'': [[TheEmpire The Covenant]] have their [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking leaders]], who can be quite important to have out on the field, as their other units tend to be on the "[[GlassCannon subve]][[FragileSpeedster rsive]]" side of the FactionCalculus scale. You can also only [[PowersViaPossession use your faction superpower by controlling them directly]]. On the other hand, the [[UnitedNationsIsASuperPower UNSC]] have [[EliteMooks Spartans]]; while not as [[OneManArmy singularly powerful]] as the Covenant's leader units, they are still quite badass in their own right and can [[EnemyExchangeProgram hijack]] enemy vehicles or commandeer friendly vehicles for a power boost. The limit on how many of these units you can have still goes for both sides, though[[note]]But their respective population caps are also independent from the main one in either case[[/note]]; namely, one leader for the Covenant and three Spartans for the UNSC.
** In the campaign, Sgt. Forge and SPARTAN Red Team function as a quartet of Hero Units. If one of them goes down, there is even text reading "You have a downed hero."

* In ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'', the player controls the Hero Units, who aside from fighting enemies is also responsible for giving orders and collecting resources. Each Hero has unique [[ThePowerOfRock guitar solos]] that all do different things. Eddie Riggs commands [[HeavyMithril Ironheade]], Doviculus commands the [[IndustrialMetal Tainted]] [[TheLegionsOfHell Coil]] and [[spoiler:Drowned Ophelia]] commands the [[GothicMetal Drowning Doom]].