History VideoGame / DawnOfWar

* RatedMForManly: In the grim darkness of space, there are only BIG MEN. [[AndZoidberg And the Sisters of Battle.]]

* OffModel: Some commanders look rather off without pieces of their iconic wargear. Gorgutz without his bosspole just seems short.

''Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War'' is a RealTimeStrategy game by Relic Entertainment, the same people who would eventually be behind ''VideoGame/CompanyOfHeroes'' and who previously brought us ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'' and ''VideoGame/ImpossibleCreatures''. Obviously a licensed game of [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} the tabletop game]], the series is unquestionably the single most successful interpretation of the ''Warhammer 40,000'' universe in video game form in the history of the franchise.

* SwordAndGun: By many troops made for close-combat, though [[DropTheHammer some]] [[PistolWhipping use]] [[BladeOnAStick things]] [[ChainsawGood other]] than [[PowerFist swords]]...

* BadassBaritone:
** All Space Marine units except the Scout Marines, who are Tenors.
** The various Tau Empire units such as the Broadside Battlesuit and the Ethereal himself.
** The Sisters of Battle have the Confessor Commander.

* ContraltoOfDanger: The Eldar Farseer's voice is notably deeper than that of other Eldar units (even male ones), as is the voice of the Autarch. From ''II'' onwards Howling Banshees have voices like this as well; in the first game their voices are high-pitched and slightly squeaky. Almost all Sisters of Battle units also have such voices. Inquisitor Adrastia from ''Retribution'' boasts the deepest female voice in the series.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Normally avoided as described in the article but most units have a clear preference of using either melee weapons or guns and won't survive long when fighting in the wrong element. For a demonstration of this, try winning a firefight with [[BloodKnight Khorne Berserkers]] or [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Nobz]], or a melee with [[GlassCannon Dark Reapers or Fire Warriors]].

* FiveManBand:
** The Imperial Guard Commander squad in ''Winter Assault'', ''Dark Crusade'', and ''Soulstorm'', as follows:
*** TheLeader: The Lord General, who is in charge of the Guard forces and the first commander in the squad.
*** TheLancer: The Commissar, who's usually the first reinforcement selected and most similar in combat abilities to the Lord General, being good at both ranged and melee.
*** TheBigGuy: The Priest, who wields a giant Eviscerator chainsword and imparts the ability to be temporarily invulnerable.
*** TheSmartGuy: The Psyker, on account of his powerful psychic powers.
*** TheChick: The Kasrkin Bodyguard. Can only be added to the squad in Campaign Mode using a special piece of wargear, and doesn't have any special abilities.
** The player's squads in ''Dawn of War II'' and ''Chaos Rising''.
*** TheLeader: The Force Commander.
*** TheLancer: Tarkus.
*** TheBigGuy: Avitus.
*** TheSmartGuy: Cyrus.
*** TheChick: Thaddeus.
*** TheSixthRanger: The Dreadnought; Jonah Orion.
* [[FourPhilosophyEnsemble Five Philosophy Ensemble]]:
** Avitus is The Cynic (scornful of civilians and Guardsmen, concerned only with killing the enemy)
** Thaddeus is The Optimist (considers being a SpaceMarine to be an adventure, eager to protect The Emperor's subjects)
** Cyrus is The Realist (concerned with getting results, tries to keep the group focused on their priorities)
** Tarkus is The Apathetic (focuses on executing his duty to the best of his ability, leaves the worrying to others higher up the chain of command)
** [[spoiler:Davian Thule]] is The Conflicted (confused at first, coming to terms with his new existence, slower than he used to be)

* LuckyTranslation: The French translation keeps the unit lines referring to trukks, since it just happens to be a homophone for the equivalent of whatchamacallits or thingies- aka gubbinz, the mechanical parts that keep ork machines (barely) functional.

* ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud: Rather infamously, official Russian dub for the first ''Dawn of War'' "translated" the animal-like noises Kroot troopers makes as... actually voiced phrase "animal noises", likely taking the script too literally and not bothering to check.

* ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud: Rather infamously, official Russian dub for the first ''Dawn of War'' "translated" the animal-like noises Kroot troopers makes as... actually voiced phrase "animal noises", likely due to sound file being named that way and localisation team not bothering to check.

* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: Wave 16 of the Bloodied Colosseum is a MirrorMatch against the players' own heroes; the clones have the same stats, weapons, and abilities; they can even revive one another if not taken down quickly. Depending on matchups, this can make it nearly unbeatable, as the AI use your own superpowered abilities to take out your best heroes before you can get a shot off, oe else keep picking each other back up faster than you can kill them. Woe betide you if you have a [[OneHitKill Lord General armed with a sniper rifle.]]

* InappropriatePride: Khornate Berserkers leaving a transport vehicle will sometimes happily claim they murdered the pilot.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: InUniverse. Firaeveus Carron is quite possibly the least knowledgeable Khornate ever, what with building temples to Khorne (Khorne ''explicitly'' does not want temples built to him, as time spent building them is time not spent fighting and shedding blood) and claiming that they will choke the enemy to death (a method of killing that results in no bloodshed and no skulls to take). To make matters worse, the aforementioned temples are used to project a shield (because hiding behind defenses is completely and absolutely how to endear yourself to the god of VillainousValour) that poisons any non-Chaos units that step inside it (again, no blood or skulls. Also, that's Nurgle's thing, so the "sacrifices" would be going to him and not Khorne). [[spoiler:And to top it all off, upon his stronghold's defeat, Carron flees like a DirtyCoward while [[VillainousBreakdown crying about Chaos abandoning him]]. You know you've failed as a follower of Khorne when your Chaos cultists show more bravery in standing their ground and fighting to the last man.]]

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: InUniverse. Firaeveus Carron is quite possibly the least knowledgeable Khornate ever, what with building temples to Khorne (Khorne ''explicitly'' does not want temples built to him, as time spent building them is time not spent fighting and shedding blood) and claiming that they will choke the enemy to death (a method of killing that results in no bloodshed and no skulls to take). To make matters worse, the aforementioned temples are used to project a shield (because hiding behind defenses is completely and absolutely how to endear yourself to the god of VillainousValour) that poisons any non-Chaos units that step inside it (again, no blood or skulls. Also, that's Nurgle's thing, so the "sacrifices" would be going to him and not Khorne).

'''Sindri:''' [[WhatAnIdiot You were stupid enough]] to [[BearerOfBadNews personally deliver ill news]] to [[BadBoss Lord Bale]], and [[YouHaveFailedMe we cannot abide stupidity]]...

*** Cryus complains "He leads us in circles! Why does he command!?" [[spoiler:His treachery is born from an inability to tolerate the incompetence within the Blood Ravens' leadership any longer, having started with Boreale's disastrous mishandling of the Karauva Campaign in ''Soulstorm''.]]
*** Avitus yells "KILL THEM ALL! Let there be BLOOD!" in a frenzy. [[spoiler:His treachery stems from his despair at his Chapter Master's own Chaos allegiance and feeling that nothing he did mattered, with the only thing he has left being killing.]]

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs:
** ''Dark Crusade'' introduced the Tau and with them their relic unit, the Greater Knarloc, a giant bipedal monster with a gaping maw and tiny arms that's essentially 40K's take on the ever-popular ''Tyrannosaurus rex''. It's unfortunate that it's also, arguably, the most useless relic unit in the game in terms of combat value, but damn if it isn't awesome to charge your enemy with a roaring, stomping alien Rex on steroids.
** ''Dawn of War II'' finally introduced the Tyranids, and while they're usually associated with an insect swarm, certain reptilian features in their design are unmistakable. Some of their creatures, especially the larger ones, wouldn't look out of place in a ''Film/JurassicPark'' movie and are every bit as awesome as this implies.

* SwordAndGun: By many troops made for close-combat, though [[DropTheHammer some]] [[PistolWhipping use]] [[BladeOnAStick things]] [[ChainsawGood other]] [[AnAxeToGrind than]] [[PowerFist swords]]...

-->'''Aun'el Shi'Or'es:''' Return to the tombs that spawned you, monsters!\\