History Awesome / CrusaderKings

* The Children's Crusade event. Unlike in real life, the crusaders can in fact reach the Holy Lands, and once they do, it's a near certainty that they'll take Jerusalem. If you happen to support them beforehand, the leader will be so grateful that you can easily arrange a marriage alliance with him and [[MagnificentBastard steal the Holy Kingdom for yourself in the future]].

* The Children's Crusade event. Unlike in real life, the crusaders can in fact reach the Holy Lands, and once they do, it's a near certainty that they'll take Jerusalem. If you happen to support them beforehand, the leader will be so grateful that you can easily arrange a marriage alliance with him and [[MagnificentBastard steal the kingdom for yourself in the future]].

* The Children's Crusade event. Unlike in real life, the crusaders can in fact reach the Holy Lands, and once they do so, there's a near 100% chance that they'll take Jerusalem. If you happen to support them beforehand, the leader will be so grateful that you can easily arrange a marriage alliance with him and [[MagnificentBastard steal the kingdom for yourself in the future]].

* The Children's Crusade event. Unlike in real life, the crusaders can in fact reach the Holy Lands, and should they do so, there's a 100% chance that they'll take Jerusalem. If you happen to support them beforehand, the leader will be so grateful that you can easily arrange a marriage alliance with him and [[MagnificentBastard steal the kingdom for yourself in the future]].

* If you have a pet cat, it's possible for the cat to become injured or killed in battle. One of your options with this event is to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge personally hunt down and kill the enemy commander]]. Successfully killing the bastard who hurt your kitty is ''very'' satisfying.

[[AC:The Main Games (Vanilla CK, CKII)]]

* If you have a pet cat, it's possible for the cat to become injured or killed in battle. One of your options with this event is to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge personally hunt down and kill the enemy commander]]. Successfully killing the bastard who hurt your kitty is ''very'' satisfying.

[[AC:The Expansions (Sword of Islam, Legacy of Rome, Sunset Invasion, The Republic, The Old Gods, Sons of Abraham, Rajas of India, Horse Lords, Reaper's Due, Jade Dragon, Holy Fury)]]
* Defeating the Aztec Invaders and driving them into the sea. They came across the ocean and began slaughtering the cities of Western Europe in massive human-sacrifices, but you proved stronger and threw them out. You receive a pop=up when the last territory of the Aztec Empire falls, declaring that one day Europe will go across the Atlantic and take revenge.
* Invading China. Throughout the game China is a massive superpower that regularly harasses and lords its power over the west. By invading China you prove that your realm is the greater power, and you install a member of your family on the Dragon Throne.
** Or being invaded ''by'' China and winning. Not only do you get 2000+ gold in war reparations, but you get a ''ton'' of prestige and a good amount of piety on top of it.
--> And so the Dragon recoils...
* Reforming a faith doomed in real life and allowing it to flourish in your name. Especially for the Norse, since the character you are reforming the faith with, [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority has fought to seize the Holy Sites of the Nordic Faith and becomes ''the Fylkir of all Norsemen'']].
** Or taking the few ailing provinces of Zoroastrianism, reconquering the Empire of Persia for the traditional god, restoring the High Priesthood and becoming [[TheChosenOne "the Saoshyant"]].
** Or spitting in the face of history by forming the Kingdom of Israel, constructing the Third Temple, and restoring the High Priesthood as a Jewish ruler.
** [[RuleOfThree Or]] giving the middle finger to Christianity and [[BackFromTheBrink reforming and restarting Hellenism]], restoring the old Hellenic Faith, [[Myth/ClassicalMythology and declaring yourself Pontifex Maximus.]]
** [[OverlyLongGag Or]] giving the middle finger to Christianity by making one of the [[UsefulNotes/HeresiesAndHeretics heresies]] the ''official'' faith, such as Catharism or Lollard Christianity, and unseating the Pope in Rome with [[PuppetKing your own.]]
* Expanding your Republic into new territories, becoming a regional power and controller of multiple trade hubs under your family's name.
** [[RemovingTheRival Crushing other merchant republics]] in your region to become the undisputed merchant empire of the region.
* Taking down the Abbassids as a Zoroastrian ruler is a seemingly impossible task given the latter's tendency to blob the Middle East. However, with the right amount of daring and luck, an aggressive Zoroastrian can hit the Abbassids hard before they have a chance to build up their numbers. A few lost holy wars will push up their decadence to an unsustainable level, causing a revolt to fracture the bloated Arabian Empire. It then becomes a simple matter of pushing the remaining Muslim states back into the deserts from which they came and restoring the true faith to the Persian Empire.
* Restoring UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire (''Legacy of Rome'') and the Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, UsefulNotes/{{Jerusalem}} and {{UsefulNotes/Rome}}; not only do you reunite Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, ending the Great Schism of 1054, but you also get the ''Reconquest Casus Belli'' for '''every single Kingdom formerly under the Western Roman Empire''', [[DawnOfAnEra turning Rhōmaiōn back into]] [[TheEmpire the beacon of civilisation]].
** Gets even better with the ''Holy Fury'' expansion - you can [[BackFromTheBrink revive Hellenism]] and do all of this, marking the return of the ''[[UsefulNotes/TheGloryThatWasRome true Roman Empire]]'', [[HesBack with the power and fury of the Olympians by your side.]] It even comes with the flavor text [[WhosLaughingNow "Let the Galileans burn for a change."]]
* The Sons of Abraham expansion has a event chain where your child is the [[TheAntichrist Antichrist]]. [[DemonicPossession Almost]] [[UsefulNotes/HeresiesAndHeretics everything]] [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness that]] [[BargainWithHeaven happens]] [[CrazyAwesome as a result]] [[PowerBornOfMadness can qualify.]]
** The once-per-playthrough appearance of a JeanneDArchetype, with all the insane martial stats that come with her. Whether you choose to [[UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc play her legend]] [[DownerEnding straight]] [[SubvertedTrope or subvert]] [[EveryoneLives the popular opinion amongst the nobles in your court]], though...
* Essentially the whole of Rajas of India on a meta-level of awesomeness; expanding the world map all the way to India and essentially allowing the following:
** Uniting the realm of [[BrickJoke Hindustan]] as a sub-continental superpower...
** [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority Re-enacting]] [[BadassArmy the]] [[AnythingThatMoves conquests]] [[InvincibleHero and]] [[YoungConqueror achievements of]] UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat...
** ''[[LetsSeeYouDoBetter Surpassing]]'' [[LetsSeeYouDoBetter the conquests and achievements of Alexander the Great.]] [[UpToEleven By conquering the one place he didn't: India.]]
** [[TakeAThirdOption Re-enacting the conquests of]] ''Ashoka'' the Great, naming yourself [[TheEmperor Samrat Chakravartin]], and surpassing him by taking the southern lands he never conquered. And then, [[UpToEleven going westward to repay the Greeks with interest]]...
* The Scholarship focus makes it possible for ''you'' to have awesome ForScience moments. By choosing to study the stars, you will eventually stumble upon heliocentrism. Along the way, you can openly snub your religious head (if you're not said head yourself), when he asks you to stop. At the very end, you can publish your results, angering the clergy and faithful, but also earning considerate prestige.
** Or alternatively, you could try figuring out the mysteries of the firmament, and get your hands on [[Creator/HPLovecraft The Necronomicon.]] There is also a chance you will [[GoMadFromTheRevelation go insane]] with the knowledge you've found. Your heir will remark after your death that [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow someone broke in and stole a dusty old tome]], after murdering [[EldritchAbomination two oddly-behaving servants]], whose bodies were in a [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm confusing state of disassembly]].
* In "Horse Lords", a Mongol Khagan who conquers enough of Mongolia before the 13th Century can declare themselves to be the greatest of Khans, gaining the title ''Genghis Khan''.
** As any nomad, completing the nomadic achievements, as they test your knowledge of nomadic mechanics and your ability to pick wars to fight when the ''entire world'' is likely to be in defensive pacts against you:
*** "One Arrow Alone can be Easily Broken but Many Arrows are Indestructible" [[note]]Obtaining a population of 150 thousand[[/note]];
*** "Steppe by Steppe" [[note]]Conquer the entire steppe region[[/note]]
* In ''Reaper's Due'', your ruler can [[spoiler: become immortal]].
** [[spoiler: [[AndIMustScream Not that you can't be maimed, disfigured, or lose eyes and limbs to disease.]]]]
** You do, however, have a two-in-three chance of [[{{NoSell}} shrugging off]] [[spoiler:the touch of TheGrimReaper itself, causing Death to throw their hands up and leave in impotent frustration]].
* Using UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}} as a HumanSacrifice [[http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=827765389 to Odin]]. The Old Gods strike back!
* ''Holy Fury'' adds [[AwesomeMomentOfCrowning Coronations]], which are almost always this. You can chose to get crowned by the [[DivineRightOfKings Pope himself]] or get crowned by a local Bishop who may be [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments your most loyal vassal]] (or possibly a heretic, giving a spiritual middle finger to the Pope). You can even get crowned in a battlefield, perhaps in the middle of a war [[FieldPromotion your predecessor started]].
* One possible event added in ''Holy Fury'' for getting a bloodline can result in your character being nicknamed either ''[[AwesomeMcCoolname The Dragon]]'' or ''[[AwesomeMcCoolname The Dragoness]]''. It's so cool that one of the requirements to actually get the nickname is for the variable ''this_has_[[LampshadeHanging super_cool_nickname]]_trigger'' to be false.. [[spoiler: After they die and a fair amount of time has passed, there is a chance that people will start to believe they ''[[LegendFadesToMyth really were a dragon]]'', complete with their portrait changing to a picture of a dragon and their culture becoming Dragon. If this happens, rulers of their bloodline get a special event for executing people by burning them alive]].
* Legendary Journey; after your warrior lodge have enough renown, you can go to an infidel kingdom and fight their best warriors to the death. Some of the warriors are a man who wrestle and kill a stag with his bare hands, an Oriental kungfu master, a literal bear, and a old man who turns out to be a very muscular genius. Finishing the journey causes your name to be worshiped in your realm, a woman faints simply by gazing at your heroic figure, and you create your own legendary bloodline.
* If you have the right traits, it is possible to start an event chain that ends with you [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu slaying Cthulhu himself]].

[[AC: Meta]]
* In the majority of the Seven Deadly Sins trailers, The King usually [[ButtMonkey suffers as a direct result of his own flaws and vices]], but in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cle3Vxjl5Vc Envy]] we get to [[ThrowtheDogaBone actually see him unambiguously win for once]], pulling off a plot that ends with two thirds of his brother's kingdom under his direct control.
* After a very long period of badly worsening performance both before and after the "Can I Castrate?" issue, Paradox managed to impressively optimize the game at the release of The Reaper's Due...to a level even ''better'' than the game's initial state and before India was added to the map.
* If you search "descendants of Charlemagne" in Website/{{Google}}, several of the listed descendants now use their portraits from [=CK2=] for the listing at the top.

* [[MagnificentBastard Seeing your plotting and political manoeuvring come to fruition as you ascend in power and prestige.]]

[[AC:The Expansions (Sword of Islam, Legacy of Rome, Sunset Invasion, The Republic, The Old Gods, Sons of Abraham, Rajas of India, Horse Lords, Reaper's Due, Jade Dragon )]]