A Commander Is You: The Mario faction. In the first two games they were the Pariah Faction, being seriously underpowered.
In Heroes IV, they have traces of a Ranger faction, having three ranged units — two of which have no distance penalty — and one melee unit with long reach. Their magic is mainly focused on healing and blesses.
Badass Preacher: Monks in III, IV and V, and Sisters in VI (though the latter serve more as The Medic).
Badass Normal: In a world filled with magic and monsters, they are basically puny humans who manage to win most of the time lorewise.
This is especially prominent in Heroes 1: for both Heroes 1 and 2, the only non-humans in the Knight faction are a few scattered heroes, none of the troops have any magical ability, and the heroes themselves only have it if a spellbook is bought. In Heroes 2, victory was achieved with the help of the rather magical Sorceress and Wizard factions, but in Heroes 1, Lord Ironfist won through on his own.
One of the two sons of Morglin Ironfist, the canonical winner of the first game's campaign. "Good, kindly and honorable", Roland was forced to flee when his "not so good" brother Archibald blamed him for the murders of the various seers charged with finding a successor to their dead father. Calling his Knight, Wizard and Sorceress allies, he started a civil war against his brother, a conflict constituing the plot of the second game's campaign. Canonically the winner, he turned Archibald to stone until the future generations take pity of him. Later married to Catherine Ironfist, Roland came to her aid in the Armaggedon's Blade campaign against the demon Kreegans, who imprisoned him during the M&M's VI.
Queen of Erathia, Roland's wife, and Big Good of the third game, where she leads the good factions to liberate Erathia from multiple invaders after her father's death. She ultimately has to fight him, after he was ressurected as lich by the Necromancers and took their control. She ultimately appeases her undead father and end the war by finding and letting him kill the traitor Lord Haart, who assassinated the king in the first place. She reappears in Armaggeddon's Blade, this time fighting against the demon Kreegans as they try to create and use the titular Artifact of Doom.
The founder and king of the little kingdom of Palaedra, populated by the refugee of Erathia after their original world was destroyed, and that they had to flee to another planet. The Heroes IV's The True Blade campaign deal with him searching the titular sword, a sign of appartenance to the Griffonheart family that an imposter, Sir Worton, claims to have, challenging Lysander for the throne.
Sadistic Choice: Having to choose between asking the Oracle of the Dawn either where are his lost siblings, or who the imposter Worton's true parents are.
Tomato in the Mirror: The campaign ends with Lysander accidentally drawing the sword from its sheat, thus proving that he is himself a Griffonheart.
Isabel (V)
The main character of V's campaigns, Isabel is the new spouse of Nicolai, King of the Griffin Empire, occuped to repel a sudden demonic invasion. Joining him to fight by his side, and helping Markal to raise him via necromancy after his death, she will eventually be revealed to be the central element in the Demon Sovereign Kha-Beleth's Evil Plan, aiming to making her bear his child who will become the Dark Messiah. She is eventually kidnapped by Agrael/Raelag and impersonated by the succubus Biara, thus turning the Empire into an even more Knight Templar-ish nation.
Lawful Stupid: A particularly Egregious example: The first map starts with an encounter with some Peasants refusing the conscription. Her reaction? ''Kill 'Em All''!
Nicolai's uncle, charged by Isabel to call for help from Wizards and Elves, much to his dismay. Reappears later in the campaign to form a Four Man Band with the Wizard Zehir, the Ranger Findan and the Warlock Raelag. Killed by fake!Isabel in Hammers of Fate. A younger version of him appears in Clash Of Heroes. He is Freyda's father and commander.
Godric's daughter and a major Haven character in Hammers of Fate. After serving under fake!Isabel, she defects and takes the rebels' side. In the end of Tribes of the East, Isabel makes her the next Queen, starting the Unicorn dynasty.
Unexplained Recovery: Was supposedly killed by Markal in V campaign, only to reappear in Hammers of Fate. Apparently Markal just didn't bother to kill her.
That's pretty much true — Markal said that he "can kill and raise her, but it's too much trouble".
Barbarian's Town (I, II) / Stronghold (III, IV, V-TotE expansion, VI)
"We walk our own path, alone."
The Barbarian Tribe faction. Populated with Goblins, Orcs, Cyclops and the like, with the exception of the fourth game, were Orcs and Goblins were replaced by human barbarians and beastmen. The Brute Force Faction, they are since the fourth game pure might (though still able to gain magic skills an to eventually learn spells), while in the last two games they more or less totally drop magic, gaining instead the Warcries' ability, filling the troops with Unstoppable Rage. Their Might Hero is the Barbarian, and their Magic Hero the BattleMage/Shaman.
Leeroy Jenkins: The Berserker unit in IV, who can't be controlled. In VI, it's actually encouraged: the official Orcs' strategy motto is "Rush now, think later!".
One-Man Army: The Barbarian Hero in the fourth game, even moreso than the other heroes.
Mayincatec: In VI. In V, they were closer to Mongols.
A classical Barbarian Hero, Crag Hack (who shares his name with a Might and Magic dwarf hero), has is Day In The Limelight in III-Shadow of Death, where he was part of a group of four heroes aiming to stop the necromancer Sandro's Evil Plan, after having been his Unwitting Pawn. With Sandro and the genie Solmyr, he is one of the few character of the old universe deemed by Ubisoft as sufficiently of an Ensemble Darkhorse for gaining a Continuity Cameo in Ashan's backstory, apparently as The Dreaded.
Author Avatar: Originally a Jon Van Caneghem tabletop game's character.
My Name Is Not Durwood: not pleased with being constantly called "Mister Hack" by Sandro in Shadow of Death.
Tarnum (Heroes Chronicles, NPC in IV)
The main protagonist of Heroes Chronicles, Tarnum started out as a bloodthirsty warlord, but "the Ancestors" decided to punish him after he died by denying him access to the afterlife, systematically ressurecting him as a hero in any Antagarich's factions, charged to perform various heroic deeds. Tarnum eventually atoned, taking a young Waerjak as his adoptive son. He is also the second most important protagonist in IV's barbarian campaign, acting as The Mentor for Waerjak, before being captured and presumately killed by a warlord. Waerjak eventually find him Back from the Dead, and Tarnum reveal to him his past and how he finally redeemed himself but chose to stay among the mortals.
Badass Bookworm: Unlike his barbarian fellows, Tarnum became a well educated man, learning languages and customs from various cultures, and teached Waerjak so, who notes that it doesn't stop him for being even more Badass than the average Barbarian Hero.
The Hero of IV's barbarian campaign, Waerjak grew the same concern than his adoptive father Tarnum: already weakened by the destruction of Enroth (the world of I-II-III), the barbarian were also stupidly fighting themselves instead of uniting their force. Waerjak eventually decided to do unite them himself, peacefully if possible, but is confronted to a Sadistic Choice when he has to chose between saving Tarnum from a barbarian warlord, or liberating barbarian slaves.
First, but illegitimate son of the Duke of Griffin. With his sister Irina and the Orc Kraal (the Duke's master-of-arms) as his only friends, and finally fed up with his life, he flees to the Orc's Pao Islands to become a Barbarian.
Warlock's Town (I, II) / Dungeon (III, V, VI as a minor faction) / Asylum (IV)
"Hide, listen, watch, learn... And when the time is right, strike from the shadow."
The Evil Sorcerer faction, specializing in power, both in creatures and in destructive magic. While they are powerful, they are often limited by the expensive prices of their armies and lower growth rates. It has largely remained the same with each game, despite having dark elves in V. Their Might is either the Overlord or the Thief, and their Magic Hero the Warlock/Sorcerer.
A Commander Is You: Elitist faction, bordering on Game Breaker. A bit of Guerilla, too, with the Thief hero in IV, and the Stalker unit in V.
Black Mage: At least in V, Warlocks have a Chaos Magic affinity and possess vast destructive spellpower.
The "not so good" brother of Roland, Archibald accused him of killing the seers charged to chose a successor after their father's death. Given how obvious who the real murderer was, Roland, after flying the royal castle, started a civil war against his brother. Archibald canonnically lost, and was Taken for Granite, until the PCs in Might and Magic VI freed himso that he helps them save the world. He then became a prominent member of the Necromancers' guild.
The Archmage: Turns out he both has an extensive knowledge of magical rituals (which is why he has to be freed) and is better at necromancy than many necromancers despite being a Warlock rather than a Necromancer.
The main character of IV Chaos' campaign. A ruthless Pirate Girl, Tawni Balfour was way too happy at the death of her father, the feared Captain Black, and took the opportunity to conquer the Gold Sea above all pirates.
The protagonist of the Inferno and Dungeon campaign in V, Raelag starts out as Agrael, the (secretly elven) Dragon of the Big Bad Kha-Beleth, charged to kill Nicolai, and succeedding at the end of the Haven campaign. But, in love with Isabel, he betrays his master and comes in contact with the Spirit Advisor Tieru, who reveals to him the Dark Messiah prophecy, and purges him of his demonic influence. Later, we play as Raelag at his rise to power after his return among the Dark Elves, and his tentative to foil Kha-Beleth's schemes.
The Untwist: The "revelation" that Agrael and Raelag are one and the same comes late in the campaign, but many Genre Savvy players caught immediately the Significant Anagram, the similarity between their special abilities and the not so subtle Foreshadowing.
The Nature Faction. Originally serving as the counterpart to the warlocks in the first two games, they eventually became more associated with elves from the third game onward. As one might expect with a faction of elves, they are more associated with speed than the other factions at the cost of defense, and favor nature-themed magic. Their Might Hero is the Ranger/Archer, and their Magic Hero the Sorceress (I and II)/Druid (III and IV).
Debatable. They've only one shooter, Elves, except in I, II and V, where there's also Druids. They do, however, have a general tendency toward Fragile Speedster.
A half-elf Ranger assisting Catherine and Roland in Armaggeddon's Blade, and the heroes Crag Hack, Gem and Yog in Shadow of Death. In a quite egregious case of Nice Job Breaking It, Hero, he ends up destroying the world with the aforementionned sword when it clashes with another Infinity+1 Sword, the Sword of Frost. Easily recognizable due to his red hair and black and white skin.
Necromancer's Town (II) / Necropolis (III, IV, V, VI)
"Life is change, chaos, filth and suffering. Death is peace, order, everlasting beauty."
The Undead Faction. First seen in Heroes II, the necromancers serve as a counterpart to the wizards. Their strategy is primarily to overrun their enemies with hordes of undead, with their Necromancy skill and their higher growth rates to emphasize this. In IV they were merged with the demons, but from V onward they were back to strictly commanding the undead. Their Might Hero is the Death Knight, and their Magic Hero the Necromancer.
Black Knight: The Death Knight Hero in III, IV and VI, and a creature in III.
Fearless Undead: All undead creatures keeps their moral neutral no matter the modifiers.
Dark Is Not Evil: ...and the "evil" part seems to be an in-universe case of Your Mileage May Vary. Slave let his aunt Sveltana, a necromancer, raise his children.
Our Ghosts Are Different: In all games save in I and II, where they were neutral Game Breaker units thank to their ability to create a new ghost for every enemy unit killed.
Game Breaker: In IV. Since they usually get the first move, having them wait gives them two turns in a row. Dividing them into separate stacks with this tactic means that a small group of vampires can take out a far stronger single stack of other creatures, especially if they're melee and slow.
Dual Mode Unit: They switch from six legs and two arms (with ranged attacks) to two legs and six arms (efficient in melee)
The Necrocracy: Altern between Types I and II, even if the fourth game implies they have a decent part of living subjects.
Might & Magic VI and VII between them weakened this for the Enroth setting, making clear both that it was entirely possible for living humans to lead the most powerful faction of necromancers, and that liches were a relatively recent development. VII also revealed that Deyja has a decent amount of living citizens — they just don't play as important a role in the necromancers' armies as the undead.
Arguably the most popular character of the entire series, Sandro was the only undead hero of the first game. A lich with the classical necromancers' obsession to Take Over the World, Sandro was nearly successful in doing so by basically planning the entire events of the third game's campaign, as seen in the prequel The Shadow of Death, thus being the mastermind behind the invasion of Erathia. Unfortunately for him, his first plan, involving two Artifacts of Doom, was foiled by a group of four heroes (including Crag Hack and Gelu), and the credit for his second plan was stolen by the lich he was planning to control as The Man Behind the Man. Sandro make a Continuity Cameo in V and VI, being regularly mentionned as The Mentor of Markal and several necromancers, sadly Killed Off for Real.
The main character of IV Death's campaign, Gauldoth earned his nickname when, as a young necromancer apprentice, he tried to cast a spell to survive the destruction of Enroth (the world of I-II-III). It... '''partially'' worked, leaving him Two-Faced, with one side of his body becoming undead. The campaign deal with him creating the small nation of Nekross, finding his old master, and ultimately having to fight him when he's revealed to be serving an Omnicidal Maniac mysterious figure.
Genre Savvy: One of his most interesting traits. Gauldoth don't even try to Take Over the World, even when given the perfect opportunity, saying that it always fail for the necromancers to try so.
Dangerously Genre Savvy: His Kick the Dog moment involve letting a priestess he just befriended finish a ritual he started. Said ritual was never achieved before, and for a good reason: it automatically kill the one finishing it.
Pet the Dog: Sure, Gauldoth raises deads and summons demons, but he's very careful to protect his living subjects from them. This earns him the name "Father Gauldoth".
Unholy Holy Sword: Gauldoth find at one point in the campaign that the Angel's Blade, a powerful weapon against Demons, was created by a Demon to begin with. But since he only need it to open a teleporter, it doesn't bother him too much.
Markal (V)
A Necromancer proposing to Isabel to revive her husband King Nicolai, after he was killed by Agrael, while his real aim his to avenge the death of his master Sandro, killed by the Wizards.
A Necromancer trying to prevent the Dark Messiah prophecy. The Big Good of TotE Necropolis' campaign, previously seen in Dark Messiah Of Might And Magic as the main antagonist and final boss.
Creepy Twins: Subverted. She is a necromancer, Kiril is a demon master, but both are friendly.
Dark Is Not Evil: Try to find friendlier necromancers than her and Sveltana.
How Do I Shot Web?: Anastasya is a novice necromancer, giving Sveltana an opportunity to teach her (and the player) the basics of raising and controlling undead.
Never Trust a Trailer: She's set up as an antagonist in the intro, with her undead army fighting Anton, which never happens in the actual campaign. Being narrated from Anton's perspective, the intro is intentionally misleading.
Self-Made Orphan: Accused of having killed her father at the start of VI. Her campaign is dedicated to finding out who brainwashed her into doing it.
Academy
Wizard's Town (II) / Tower (III) / Academy (IV, V)
The Magocracy Faction. Debuting in II, the wizards are rivals to the Necromancers and the Warlocks. They specialize in magic and ranged attackers at the cost of weaker melee creatures, as well as costly prices. In II and V they were in a desert setting*
Their native terrain in II was Wasteland rather than Desert, but a blasted wasteland is another sort of desert
, while in III and IV they were native to the snow. Their Might Hero is typically the Alchemist, and their Magic Hero the Wizard/Mage.
Steampunk: A little shade of it, most notably with the Gremlins in V being the only ones to avert Fantasy Gun Control.
Academy's Iconic Characters
Gavin Magnus (IV, background of III)
The inexplicably immortal ruler of the wizard faction of Bracada, and later the Big Bad of IV's Order campaign The Price Of Peace, where he tries to brainwash the entire world to end all wars. turns out even a god-slayingsword can't kill him. But it's sufficient to leave him in a catatonic state, presumably forever.
Face Heel Turn: He was the leader of the good side in Might and Magic VII, even if he left a lot of things in the hands of his Terran advisors. The destruction of Enroth caused him to jump off the slippery slope, however, culminating in most of the other tropes describing him here.
Humanoid Abomination: Not even himself know how he became immortal. He also has some weird abilities, like writing with an uncanny perfection, or spotting even an insignificant error in the construction of a room, while being at the other end of it.
A Genie in a Bottle who gave his word to serves the man who liberated him "as long as he will walk this earth", and the man turned out to be Gavin Magnus, the immortal ruler of Bracada. Eventually, Solmyr had to betray his master when he had to oppose Emilia Nighthaven and help Gavin Magnus brainwash the entire world.
Spell My Name with an S: His name is spelled "Solymr" in IV, where he gets his own half of a campaign, but the spelling from III is better remembered, even though he was just a generic hero there (although well-liked due to starting with the powerful Chain Lightning spell).
The main protagonist of IV's Order campaign The Price of Peace. A few years after miraculously escaping the destruction of Enroth, she united refugees of her old world in the nation of the Great Arcan, hoping to resist the various warlords of the region and introduce a bit of order. She would eventually clashes with Gavin Magnus and his plans. She ends the war victorious, but with her legs paralysed.
Scaled Up: As part of his ascension, judging by his skull.
Though it's worth noting than the skull in question isn't a real one, but a jewelry. However, Word Of God confirms that, if Sar-Elam was still physically human, he could turn into a Dragon on whim.
Zehir (V)
Son of The Archmage Cyrus, and twice protagonist and Big Damn Hero, in V vanilla and Tribes of the East. Most of his involvement in the plot consists of cleaning up the mess left by the other heroes. He even lampshades it.
The Legions of Hell faction, composed of various demons, most icconically imps, cerberi and devils. Since the fifth episode (though the fourth already had some flavorful spells), they relies heavily on demons' summoning. Generally considered one of the weakest factions in term of stats, and due to lacking flyers and shooters. Their Might Hero is the Demoniac/Demonlord and their Magic Hero the Heretic.
Always Chaotic Evil: So far, the only Demon hero not completely evil has been Suraze in IV. The other Inferno heroes in this case were Agrael (secretely a Dark Elf) and Kyril (Human).
Unwitting Pawn: To the Angels' plans. Like his twin sister
H3 Fortress
"H3 Fortress" (III)
The nation of Tatalia is home to this Fortress faction. Consisted of lizardmen and beasts from the swamps, they are the definition of a technical faction, relying very much on the abilities their creatures have. Also, when the Stronghold focus on Attack, the Fortress focus on Defense, making them another Brute Force faction. Their Might Hero is The Beastmaster, and their Magic Hero is the Witch.
A Commander Is You: Technical, so very, very much. The only creatures they have that don't have any particular ability are the Gnoll and the Lizardmen.
Brown Note: The Basilisks turn enemies into stone, while the Gorgons (different from the Medusas, being based on the Dungeons & Dragons design - that is, a scaled cow) instantly kill a part of the targeted stack.
When the original Forge faction was scrapped due to fan complaints, the Conflux was introduced instead. Consisting of elemental creatures, their armies were weaker than most, but made up for it with boosted growth rates, with the Phoenix in particular being the only tier 7 creature with an initial growth rate of 2. Their Might Hero is the Planeswalker, and their Magic Hero the Elementalist.
A faction of dwarves exclusive to Ashan. Their heroes use a special magic, Rune magic, that uses resources and can be applied to creatures throughout battle. As is expected of the dwarves, they specialize in defense, with several abilities nodding to this. Their Hero is the Runemage.
Our Dwarves Are All the Same: The only unit that isn't a dwarf in some way is the fire dragon. Even the Thanes are basically giant dwarves (who teleport and shoot lightning).
Playing with Fire: Their Dragon-God Arkath, the Fire Dragons and the Flame lord. This also serves as their element of choice, even if their native terrain is snow.
The first naga and aquatic faction in the series. Their battle system is based around all aspects of water as well as honor, favoring to fight enemies one on one. Their Might Hero is the Samourai, and their Magic hero the Monk.
Conservation of Ninjutsu: Their special ability is a defensive bonus triggerable when fighting enemies one-to-one.
Dummied Out, What Could Have Been: Sanctuary was considered for inclusion into Heroes V early during development, but was cut. Some concept art◊ (apparently based on India rather than Japan) and references to the faction in the game resources in V are all that was left.
You Are The Translated Foreign Word: The upgrades to a few of the creatures are basically the creatures' names in Japanese. For example, the Snow Maiden becomes the Yuki Onna, which is pretty much the same thing.
The first daughter of the Duke of Griffin, forced to accept an Arranged Marriage with the family's long antagonist Duke Gerhart of the Wolf Duchy. Liberated by her brother Sandor, she then integrates the Sanctuary faction.
Creator Cameo: Subverted: One of the developers is named Irina, but she joined only after the character was named.
Determinator: Hinted in the loading screen text for her first mission. "Tether a Griffin's wings, and she'll learn to fly with her claws."
Like a Fish Takes to Water: Literally, in her case. She quickly learns the naga customs and rises higher among them than realistically could back in the Empire.
◊ * , a Coral Priestess, Sar-Elam, a Griffin, Urgash, (Second:) Michael, Anwen, a Juggernaut, Gotai, a Ghoul, Wulfstan, Solmyr, a Cyclops, Zehir, (Third:) Godric, Catherine, Roland and Archibald, Arantir, Raelag, (Fourth:) Corak, Crag Hack, Kha-Beleth, Sandro, Sheltem .)
