History VideoGame / MedievalIITotalWar

* {{Cuckold}}: A possible trait for generals, which causes people to respect them less.

* DarkIsNotEvil: In the Teutonic campaign, the super-intimidating Teutonic Order can also have Chivalrous generals. Ditto followers of the Sun God in the Americas campaign.

** Likewise, the city of Kiev depicted as a rebel-controlled settlement. However, Kiev was the capital of the Kievan Rus.

** If the pope has the "Secretly Female" trait, then she can lead armies into battle.
* AdaptationalHeroism: In the Kingdoms campaigns the Teutonic Order and New Spain are both portrayed in faction descriptions and the campaign intros as cruel villains, but there's nothing preventing the player from playing these factions as [[TheGoodKingdom just realms]] characterized by low taxes, chivalrous governors, and mercy to defeated enemies.

** Scotland is portrayed as essentially "Braveheart Land". Scotland's special units are mostly highlanders (medieval Scottish armies actually consisted mainly of Scots from the lowlands and border areas) who all seem to be variants on Creator/MelGibson's William Wallace, complete with ahistorical kilt and woad, Averted by their Noble and Heavy pikemen and Swordsmen units later on and their Scots Pike Militia and non-unique units earlier on (And the Highland noble units also somewhat avert it as soon as they have their armour upgraded, trading in their kilts for heavy chainmail).

** Likewise, the Kievan Rus is completely absent from the base game with the capital Kiev depicted as a Rebel-controlled city.

* AscendedExtra: Captains are the commanders when a general or family member is not present and they are vastly weaker; occupying whatever the first unit in your army's lineup is and sharing that unit's stats. HOWEVER, if you win a major battle with one (and he survives, isn't knocked out of combat, or is a reinforcement unit), then he can be given the honor of a name, a offer to be welcomed into the family, and an immediate bonus to commanding skills due to his amazing victory.

** Portugal was a vassal to the Spanish kingdoms but at the start of the game, they are a fully independent nation.

** In the base game, the player can select Russia despite the fact that it wasn't a fully formed country in the 1100s with much of its area at the time controlled by the Novogorod Republic and the Grand Duchy of Moscow respectively. Averted with the Teutonic campaign of the ''Kingdoms'' expansion pack which changes the name of the Russian faction into the period-accurate Novigorod.

** Every faction is portrayed as having the exact same system of monarchical governance, including the ''Republics'' of Venice and Novgorod.

** The Late era campaign of the 'Stainless Steel' mod depicts the Byzantine Empire as being splintered into three isolated but still united territories. In reality, those three territories became new nations in their own rights and considered each other to be pretenders to the throne of Byzantium.

** In the base game, the player can select Russia despite the fact that it wasn't a fully formed country in the 1100s with much of its area at the time controlled by the Novogorod Republic and the Grand Duchy of Moscow respectively. Averted with the Teutonic campaign of the ''Kingdons'' expansion pack which changes the name of the Russian faction into the period-accurate Novigorod.

As such, the player controls one of many kingdoms in medieval Europe, starting in the [[TheHighMiddleAges late 11th century]] (shortly before the First Crusade). The goal is to prevail over ones neighbours and carve out an empire to rival Rome. In addition to the lands covered in the first ''[[VideoGame/MedievalTotalWar Medieval]]'', this game allows the player to discover America and face the mighty Aztec Empire while expanding his kingdom to the New World.

** Spain exists as a playable faction at the 1100 AD start date for the game. Historically, Spain did not exist as a fully unified nation until 1467. At the start of the 10th century, the Kingdom of Castille was the major Spanish-speaking, Christian monarchy in the Muslim-dominated Iberian Peninsula.

** Spain exists as a playable faction at the 1100 AD start date for the game. Historically, Spain did not exist as a fully unified nation until 1467. At the start of the 10th century, the Kingdom of Castille was the dominant Spanish-speaking, Christian monarchy in the Iberian Peninsula

* ''VideoGame/SilmarillionTotalWar'': In contrast to ''Third Age Total War'', ''Silmarillion: Total War'', this mod depicts the First Age of Middle Earth, and is based on the titular [[Literature/TheSilmarillion]], and the all-out war that ensued between the Free Peoples and the forces of Morgoth.

* GratuitousFrench: They throw a few French words into the dialogue.

* DoorSlamsYou: One possible cutscene shows an assassination failing because his target accidentally does this to the assassin. Sometimes, this kills the assassin when he accidentally stabs himself.

** The isolated cities of Timbuktu and Arguin, separated from the rest of the map by thousands of miles of trackless wasteland south of Spain, can produce thousands of florins each turn with the construction of a single mine in each city, with no serious risk of losing either to invaders.

* BiTheWay: It is possible, though unlikely, for a general or princess with gay traits to still have a decent amount of children with their spouse.

* BadassGrandpa: The more battles a general has won, the stronger he gets even if he's old.

* YouHaveFailedMe: The Pope's Inquisition will attempt to hold your faction responsible for to high levels of paganism and heresy - targeting first the Priests and then dynasty members in order of preference. Unless their piety is higher they stand a good chance of being burnt at the stake for it.

* NotTheIntendedUse: While the campaign is intended to emulate RealLife historical rivalries and areas of conflict, you are perfectly free (and even encouraged in some cases) to avoid that. For example, when playing as Russia, several campaign guides advise that you load your starting forces onto a ship and take them to Scotland. There are several Rebel settlements present to gain a foothold and, being an Eastern Orthodox rather than Catholic faction, you don't have to worry about excommunication when the time comes to wage war on your Catholic neighbors. Russia's biggest weakness is its impoverished, resource-poor territories which keep it from reaching its [[MagikarpPower elite, late-game roster units]] for a very long time. The territories of the British Isles and western Europe generally don't have this problem, turning Russia into a juggernaut. Plus, you'll be very far from the eastern edge of the map when the Mongols show up, another major obstacle for the Russians when remaining in their historical territories.

** The English longbowmen are pretty much the epitome of this. You'll be hard-pressed ''any'' ranged unit that can consistently cause as much damage at long range, short of extreme late-game artillery units like the culverin. Longbowmen can get into shooting matches with multiple artillery units and consistently win. Taken even further in [[GameMod the ''Stainless Steel'' mod]], where the longbowmen have range comparable to most artillery units. And in that mod, [[GameBreaker Scotland can use them, too]]. Given the longbowmen's historical successes, this is pretty much TruthInTelevision.