Characters / Total War: Warhammer - The Kingdom of Bretonnia

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"For the Lady!"

"I give my body, heart and soul, to the Lady whom I seek. No plea for help shall find me wanting. No obstacle will stand before me. No evil will taint the lands bequeathed unto me. When the clarion call is sounded, I will ride out and fight in the name of liege and Lady. That which is sacrament, I shall preserve. That which is sublime, I will protect. That which threatens, I will destroy, for my holy wrath will know no bounds. Honour is all. Chivalry is all. Rejoice, for we, the Knights of Bretonnia, will be your shield."

The second largest and most powerful nation of men in the Old World after the Empire, the Kingdom of Bretonnia is also known as the Land of Chivalry, a proud kingdom with a culture revolving around the ideals of nobility, social birthright and a strict code of honour. It is a traditional, feudal society, broadly divided between the nobility, a complex hierarchy of dukes, counts, barons and lords, and the peasantry, who serve them in exchange for protection and land to farm.

At the center of Bretonnian culture is their patron deity, the Lady of the Lake, an enigmatic goddess of virtue, purity and nobility who once aided the first Royarch, Gilles le Breton, in unifying Bretonnia. She is the embodiment of the Bretonnian code of chivalry, the ideal lady that every Knight aspires to love and serve, and it is she who rewards a Knight's courage and virtue by allowing them to drink from her Holy Grail, imbuing them with her divine blessing.

Bretonnia is widely considered to be the fairest land in the Old World, a realm of fertile farms, rolling hills and verdant forests, where noble Knights slay monsters and rescue fair damsels, while content peasants farm the fields. While not entirely untrue, this idealistic view belies a darker side of Bretonnia when it comes to its peasants, who for the most part are extremely poor, illiterate and ill-fed, with few, if any, rights. Many of the noble Knights are oblivious or uncaring to their plight, more interested in glory and chivalry than safeguarding the basic needs of the smallfolk.

Still, when the Knights of Bretonnia do go to war, they prove undeniably proficient, and have more than earned their prestige as the most powerful heavy cavalry in the Old World. But a Bretonnian army rarely consists of Knights alone - peasants are drafted to form ranks of solid, if unremarkable foot troops and bombard the enemy with dishonorable projectile weapons that no Knight would ever deign to use. As the peasants desperately try to hold the line, the Knights ready for a glorious charge, crushing the enemy underneath a storm of blessed steel and iron-shod hooves.

The brave Knights of Bretonnia have always been a bulwark against the foul creatures that threaten mankind's survival. Now, with the world in ever-growing peril, it is no longer enough for the Dukes to sit idle. Like the Grail Companions of old, the Dukedoms of Bretonnia must unite under the banner of their King, and the flower of Bretonnia will reveal its thorns. With lances dipped and a prayer to the Lady on their lips, the Knights of Bretonnia march forth in the greatest Errantry War in history, ready to purify the land of evil and institute an age of chivalry.

Originally a Non-Player Character in Total War: Warhammer, available only in custom games and multiplayer, the Bretonnia Patch upgraded Bretonnia into a fully-fledged playable faction for the Old World campaign. In Total War: Warhammer II, they are playable in the Mortal Empires combined campaign for owners of both I and II, and also became playable in the Eye of the Vortex campaign with the Potion of Speed FLC. In Total War: Warhammer III, they are playable in the Immortal Empires combined mega-campaign for owners of I, II and III.

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General Tropes

Couronne

Bordeleaux/Bordeleaux Errant

Carcassonne

The Chevaliers de Lyonesse

• Achilles' Heel:
  • Anti-Large units, an obvious weakness that comes with an army so famous for their cavalry. This would not have been too much of a problem if not for the fact that most of their infantry that would normally have to deal with countering such horse-slaying foes are either mere peasants or slightly-above-mediocre squires and pilgrims. Much like Dwarf players, a Bretonnian player trying to counter this in multiplayer by not taking as much cavalry are now left with a substandard frontline and backline that does everything worse than their opponent's equivalent units.
  • Surprisingly, ranged units are also extremely problematic for Bretonnia, especially when protected by spearmen. The large size of a cavalry target means most shots of even an inaccurate volley are going to hit and most ranged units can shoot over the heads of their friends and right into the cavalry attacking them, since cavalry are taller than infantry. This lets ranged units, especially armor-piercing ones, trade very well against Bretonnian knights.
  • On the campaign, bad climate. Their casualty replenishment is already the lowest in the game so they feel the pain of unsuitable climate more than any other faction. A bad enough climate may stop their armies from replenishing at all.
• Adaptation Expansion: Since Bretonnia was never given much support on the tabletop game and thus had fewer unit types compared to most of the other main factions, Creative Assembly had to get... well... creative, and made some new units that either never existed in the original source material or were so obscure that they had practically one line in the lore, such as the Hippogryph Knights (8th edition Rulebook), Grail Guardians (Grail Knights the player can choose to accompany the Fay Enchantress), Foot Squires (infantry brought back from much earlier editions of Bretonnia) and the Blessed Field Trebuchet.
• Adaptational Badass: Bretonnians have the potential to be a far bigger player in the Total War games than in the lore of the main universe, where they mostly serve as Always Second Best to the Empire and generally act as both the Empire's sidekick and a bit of a Butt-Monkey due to their smaller population, less-sophisticated technology and smaller economy. Their greatly expanded roster and lack of a population limit means that Bretonnia can field vast armies on par with the Empire or Ulthuan.
  • They have also acquired more power beyond their borders than in usual Warhammer lore, conquering most of Araby. In the original lore they did invade Araby (along with several Imperial knightly orders) in retaliation for a ruthless Arabyan invasion of Estalia but this took place centuries ago and the Bretonnians went home after they felt they'd enacted sufficient retribution.
• Adaptational Wimp: In the lore the Bretonnians have the mightiest navy in the Old World, with their vessels being described as immense fortresses in their own right. This has historically protected them from raids by the Norsemen and allowed them to dramatically strengthen their economy through trade. Since these Total War installments lack naval combat, the games treats these battles as armies landing on an island to fight it out, which ignores Bretonnia's naval prowess.
• Always Second Best: Bretonnia has played second banana to the Empire for most of their shared history. This has been the cause of an intense rivalry, with both nations alternately being friend and foe.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Though not a direct threat to the well-being of the world like the Greenskins, Chaos, Skaven, Dark Elves and Undead, it can still be difficult to consider the incredibly oppressive nobles of the royal families to be good guys when one takes into account the 90% taxes placed on the common people, the removal of almost any freedoms (including migrations for those who simply wishes to get the hell out of there), the ban on most weapons for the lesser classes and incredibly harsh and brutal punishments on criminals, their families and loved ones. It is important to note that, depending on the noble at hand, "criminal" can be defined as "Anyone who dares to look at my winged horse without my permission while not kissing the ground I walk on"! It should be noted, however, that the carte blanche nobles enjoy over their peasantry allow for amazing amounts of wiggle room for the more charitable amongst them. Most nobles in Bretonnia, for example, recognize that having their peasants die of starvation doesn't serve their long-term interest and tend to redistribute some of their tax income back to the peasants post-collection, to prevent the death of their economic base. Others may simply reclassify parts of the harvest as the peasants "weeding the fields" ("weeds", of course, being edible, but not taxable). Peasants are also allowed to leave their villages temporarily on pilgrimages, and most nobles are perfectly willing to accept the occasional peasant "falling prey to outlaws" and not returning. Of course, some nobles simply are that cruel/ignorant/desperate.
• Army Scout: Yeomen are peasant scouts doing the very dishonorable work of simply trying to watch for the enemy army and gather information. Despite their important work they cannot ride on a Bretonnian warhorse and must make do with the peasantry’s horses, and it takes years of thankless service plus an exceptional feat for a peasant to be elected in this relatively privileged position. The Knights still mock them, comparing them to mice, in spite of how important it is to know where their enemies are. In game, they form a unit of fast cavalry made for harassing flanks.
• Arrows on Fire: Peasant bowmen can be hired with flaming arrows, which increases morale damage but reduces armour piercing damage. Unlike in previous Total War titles where this was a turn on/turn off ability all archers had, the fire arrows are a permanent buff to the unit.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Bretonnia's somewhat old-fashioned ideals of chivalry and manhood mean that only anointed knights (and thus, former Knight Errant) can inherit landed titles, and only Grail Knights can become king. This means that any landed noble must know how to fight, and every king has to not only know how to fight but to be very, very good at it.
• Badass Creed: Among the different knightly vows, the Grail Vow is particularly badass.
  "...That which is sacrosanct I shall preserve.
  That which is sublime, I will protect.
  That which threaten, I will destroy.
  For my holy wrath will know no bounds..."
• Badass Normal: Even moreso than the Empire, as they make no use of firearms and technology and have even less magic. Bretonnia is effectively medieval France/England dropped into a horrific Dark Fantasy world with the occasional monstrous mount or immortal Grail Knight mixed in, and they make do with only steel, faith and courage.
• Badass Army: The Knights of Bretonnia, famed throughout the Old World as its best cavalry, together with the better armed peasantry and the mages of the Cult of the Lady. Lacking even the gunpowder weapons wielded by the Empire, they charge into the fray with their lances in formation, designed to send as many bodies flying as possible, while calling upon the blessings of the Lady to carry them through tough spots. Even if they tend to get slaughtered, the peasants still charge against the various horrors of the Warhammer world with little more than spears, and sometimes blades, alongside the clothes on their backs.
• BFS: It is Bretonnian tradition that, when a Knight of the Realm gives up his position and takes the vow of a Questing Knight, they discard their lance in favour of the time-honoured weapon of the Quest, a large two-handed greatsword that the knight wields with expert proficiency on horseback.
  • Squires bear claymores, and fight on the ground.
• Born in the Saddle: Bretonnia places a very high stock in their cavalry selection, which is considered the most extensive, and among the highest of quality in the Old World. As of Mortal Empires, every single Lord and Hero option now starts with a horse unlocked on the campaign map!
• Blue Blood: The knights of all Bretonnia all belong to the nobility of the country. Going back to the companions of Gilles Le Breton, the ruling class is the only one allowed to become real warriors defending their kingdom and are expected to be very good at it. Of course, being nobles, they benefit from all the luxury they can grab though.
• The Cavalry: Bretonnian Knights are some of the finest, and most skilled, horsemen in the entire Old World. Countless victories have followed the thunderous heralding of Knights charging.
• Cannon Fodder: Peasants make up the entirety of Bretonnian foot troops. Unlike the state troopers of the Empire they're under-equipped and under-trained and their job, generally speaking, is to die in droves holding the enemy in place while mounted nobles charge them in the flank.
  • As of the Bretonnia patch, they now have Peasant Mobs who have little to no training, wear no armor at all and only wield farming tools. Their only use is to act as living meat shields, or to absorb cavalry charges.
  • And in Mortal Empires the modified "expendable" trait means that when Peasant Mobs get torn apart in a fight, other units in the army don't react at all^note normally when a unit routs, allies near it suffer a drop in leadership.
• A Commander Is You: A Spammer/Elitist faction. They have access to hordes of weak, but cheap peasant infantry backed by powerful artillery in the form of trebuchets and devastatingly powerful cavalry in the form of the best mounted selection in the Old World, such as powerful Questing Knights, Knights of the Realm, superhuman Grail Knights, and Grail Guardians. Their campaign playstyle discourages the use of too many peasant units as their economy will suffer if the levy support cap is exceeded, forcing army compositions to be focused solely on quality and melee.
  • The Chevaliers de Lyonesse puts a bit more emphasis on Spammer due to providing hefty bonuses for peasants, pilgrims and squires, making them surprisingly able to fight evenly against the infantry of other factions that would normally outclass them, albeit with the drawback of having somewhat weaker cavalry than the other Legendary Lords.
• Cool Helmet: All Bretonnian knights wear (barring the Questing Knights) Medieval great helms, all from different eras.
• Cool Horse: Bretonnian Warhorses are specially bred to bear knights and full armour, possessing higher than average endurance, and as a result are some of the finest in the entire old world.
• Crapsaccharine World: At first glance Bretonnia appears to be a honourable, idyllic kingdom, with its bright colors, chivalrous knights and almost Disney-esque castles, especially when compared to the decidedly grimmer and less romanticised Empire. However, beneath the veneer is an extremely oppressive system where the peasantry live in perpetual poverty and the nobility are regarded as practically infallible. Ironically, earlier editions were much less Python-esque. Knighthood was something one earned, and the nation was far more egalitarian. Interestingly, there are some traces of the previous editions in the game: The Foot Squires. The unit is made up entirely of peasants, but isn't considered Expendable, and their flavour text states that they actually have a chance of becoming knights. It's a very small chance, requiring them to perform a great deed or service to their lord in battle, but it's still a chance.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Their focus on amazing cavalry, which includes a wide assortment of heavily armored knights, comes at the detriment of everything else being subpar at best. Their infantry never rises above mediocre, their ranged options are very limited, they have one damaging but extremely slow artillery piece, and they don't have especially good magic. All in all, this means they have two heavy disadvantages:
  • When faced against factions that have numerous options for negating cavalry charges and/or excel at fighting cavalry, Bretonnia really suffers.
  • In campaigns, where the objective is to conquer and hold cities (and thus, constant fights on walls or in relatively narrow streets), they're forced to rely on their subpar units to do most of the work of taking the walls. They will eventually become great at attacking cities due to their large numbers of dangerous flying cavalry, but they will always have a hard time defending them; cavalry units can't defend walls, leaving the job to the aforementioned subpar units. When the invaders eventually break past the walls, most of the Bretonnian cavalry are (usually) trapped in narrow streets with little opportunity to flank the enemy.
• Church Militant: The Church of the Lady is served by the superhuman Grail Knights, living saints, and the fanatical Grail Pilgrims.
• Dead Guy on Display: The Grail Reliquae, the remains of a Grail Knight that is carried into battle by questing pilgrims who are empowered by the magic of The Lady that pours from the corpse.
• Decade Dissonance: Despite living right next to the Empire, Bretonnia is perpetually stuck in an Arthurian-esque early middle ages setting.
• Demoted to Extra: Bretonnia has fourteen dukedoms, but due to the game's region/province system the dukedoms have been combined into provinces consisting of two dukedoms each, which makes the dukedoms who have turned into non-capital regions this by default. In addition, with the Bretonnia update, the dukedoms of Aquitaine, Brionne, Gisoreux, L'Anguille and Montfort were removed as factions (as they were in non-capital regions) and incorporated into the dukedoms who had their province capitals.
• Deconstructive Parody: With its theme park knights of the Chivalric Romance alongside exaggerated flaws of actual feudalism, many fans of Bretonnia find the crapsack lot in life of the peasants to be absurdly grim to the point of hilarity. To wit, a noble takes 90% of his peasants' harvest (which was later clarified that they redistribute enough of that later at least so the peasants do not starve to death), and peasants are generally portrayed as genuinely being so pathetic and stupid that the knights' complete lack of concern for them is understandable to a degree, making it often times hard to take seriously, as deplorable as the Knights often are.
• Doesn't Like Guns: The knights of Bretonnian all have a cultural hatred of ranged combat. Their kingdom's founder and greatest hero, Gilles Le Breton, was killed by an anonymous arrow in the prime of his life, and this Undignified Death made his surviving companions hate all shooting weapons and pass that hatred down through the generations. As a result, guns and crossbows are nonexistent in Bretonnian armies, and bows are restricted to peasant levies.
• Dragons Versus Knights: Bretonnia is heavily based on Arthurian myth and chivalric romance, and the theme of the heroic knight laying low a fearsome monster is consequently often used. Naturally, the archetypal foe of its wandering knights, and the most coveted by ones seeking to earn a name, is the dragon. Gilles le Breton, Bretonnia's first king, rose to fame when he fought and killed the legendary dragon Smearghus, who had been ravaging his land's countryside. His descendant, Duke Bohemond Beastslayer, himself slew a dragon in his younger years and crafted his mace's shaft from its thighbone. Jasperre le Beau, also called Jasperre the Dragonslayer, is particularly skilled at this; he killed the dragon Malgrimace while rescuing the king's daughter, and in his wanderings since then has killed many other dragons in addition to other monsters. In-game, most knights use lances and have an anti-large bonus, making them particularly well-suited to fighting monsters like dragons.
• The Dung Ages: The life of a Bretonnian peasant is taken straight out of Monty Python, and tends to be covered in dirt, sweat, and literal dung.
• Elective Monarchy: How the Bretonnians select their new king, though their process is much less intricate or codified than the Empire's. Bretonnia's royal laws say only a Grail Knight can be crowned king. When a king dies, the dukes choose a Grail Knight from amongst them to succeed instead (with the consent of the Grail Enchantress, who can refuse to crown him). The king's hereditary heir to his dukedom (only dukes have ever been kings) is usually favoured if he already is a Grail Knight, but in the history of Bretonnia practically all of the dukedoms can boast of having had at least one king in their family trees.
• Elite Mooks: The Kingdom of Bretonnia brings along Grail Knights, knights who have spent years questing for near immortality and great power, granting them unlimited stamina and burning lances. Unlike most other cavalry, they can charge in different formations and they never tire thanks to the blessing bestowed upon them from the Lady of the Lake, meaning that these guys can make endless circle charges where even the notorious Empire Demigryphs would eventually begin to wear down.
• Empowered Badass Normal: Grail Knights, who have drunk from the Grail of the Lady of the Lake, gaining enhanced speed, strength, toughness, and near-perpetual physical youth. The process of becoming a Grail Knight involves years or decades of questing to prove their valor and nobility, and only one who demonstrates he is both pure and powerful can achieve that status. And even in death, they provide might to questing pilgrims when the remains are carried out in battle.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: A mix between medieval England and France during the age of chivalry, along with some influence from the Arthurian legends. Also like in medieval England, the nobility speak in French accents whilst the lowly peasants speak in English ones.
• Fantasy Gun Control: Bretonnian law forbids the carrying and use of crossbows, and in the modern age this blanket ban is extended to black powder weapons, giving Bretonnia no access to cannon or handgunner troops.
• Feudal Overlord: Bretonnia is a feudal kingdom, so this goes without saying. Noble lords hold all the land, unlanded noble knights defend it, and the peasants work it. Peasants obey knights, knights obey lords, lords obey dukes, dukes obey the king (the king is also a duke, as Bretonnia has no crown lands).
• Fleur-de-lis: A very common symbol in Bretonnia.
• Foe-Tossing Charge: The knights of Bretonnia have access to one special cavalry formation named the Lance formation (all the way from Knight Errants to Grail Knights), a three models wide formation representing a column of knights charging at high speed and their tipped formation allowing greater penetration into the enemy ranks, giving hefty bonuses to charge, attack, speed, and defense.
• Foil: Mechanically, they are an almost direct inversion to the Dwarfs. While Dwarfen infantry is some of the best in all the world, and backed by a variety of powerful and versatile siege weaponry and some of the best ranged options for wanton slaughter like the Irondrakes, they have absolutely no cavalry and are exceptionally vulnerable to flanking charges by cavalry as their few Anti-Large units are also severely lacking in armor. Bretonnia, meanwhile, has a veritable toolbox of cavalry options that cover most possible combat scenarios but have only one (expensive) siege weapon and the worst infantry and ranged options in the game.
• French Jerk: The Bretonnians are legendary for their arrogance and self-righteousness, especially among the nobility, who all speak in French accents on the battlefield and the campaign map.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: A number:
  • The knights of Bretonnia don't give a crap if the peasants fighting alongside them die. To reflect this, the vast majority of peasant units have the Expendable trait, which makes it so any friendly unit that sees them rout won't have their morale affected unless they also have the Expendable trait (i.e. are also peasants).
  • There are also exceptions to this: Battle Pilgrims and those of their number that carry Grail Reliquaes, who the nobles view as doing the right thing in following Grail Knights around, praising them, and carrying the bodies of deceased Grail Knights as a holy relic. The second group is the Trebuchets, because trebuchets are extremely expensive, hard to build, and rare, and even the knights begrudgingly accept that they need the peasants crewing them to do the dirty work for them. Then there are the Mounted Yeomen and Mounted Yeomen Archers, who are the highest rank a peasant can achieve without becoming a knight, as the Yeomen are made up of highly experienced peasants who have performed at least one great feat, and as such are viewed as somewhat valuable and hold important positions such as militia sergeant or jailor, while the mounted Yeomen are Yeomen who are particularly favoured by their liege. Finally, the Foot Squires are peasants, but the knights have actually put some time and effort into training and equipping them, and the squires are also useful for doing various menial tasks outside of battle.
  • Due to their famed arrogance, Bretonnian knights dislike following a knightly General that hasn't taken and then completed knightly vows equal to or higher than their own. Because of this, knights have increased upkeep if their commander is a knight who hasn't taken a certain number of vows, with more powerful units requiring higher vows.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation:
  • The vows a Knight must take get progressively more difficult and challenging as they proceed through their journey, with only the most dedicated ever attaining the vaunted title of Grail Knight. This is not true in the game, with the vast majority of Bretonnian players agreeing the Questing Vow is the hardest and most time-consuming of all three Vows while the Grail Vow is the easiest.
  • Most Bretonnian armies in lore are hordes of poorly-armed peasants who are there to form a line of battle while the noble, elite knights do all the heavy hitting. Due to the Peasant Economy, though, most of your ingame armies are going to consist of huge numbers of expendable knights protecting a few valuable peasant units, which is completely opposite the faction's lore.
  • In background material, the Empire and Bretonnia are stated to have never mounted successful invasions of each other due to being unable to push armies through the few heavily defended passes through the Grey Mountains, in addition to being unable to forcefully impose their cultures and government systems on each other; as a result, their rivalry has settled into a centuries-long stalemate with little hope of progress one way or the other. In the game, there's nothing particularly impeding either faction from conquering the other's lands, and this if anything tends to happen fairly often.
• Gardening-Variety Weapon: Peasant Mobs tend to be armed with mixed assortments of farming tools, such as sharpened pitchforks and spades, due to not being permitted to own true weapons and these beings the best they could grab on short notice when drafted.
• The Good Kingdom: Being an actual Kingdom, Bretonnia technically does count as this trope though it subverts many aspects of the trope. Peasants are treated poorly and the ruling class refuses to evolve technologically, but are ultimately a staunch member of the Order faction.
• Heroic Vow: All Bretonnian knights errant swear the Knights' Vow when they become knights and get a liege. All questing knights swear the Questing Vow when they give up their service to quest for the Grail. All grail knights swear the Grail Vow before they're allowed to drink from the grail. Peasants, meanwhile, have a vow as well. They're not required to swear it (most probably doesn't even know it exists, since it was written by a noble), but they're required to live by it anyway, or else. This vow system has been incorporated as a campaign mechanic, Lords and Heroes are allowed to go on quests to receive different titles and vows, all the way up to the Grail Vow, with a variety of increasing bonuses being applied to the character.
• Hero-Worshipper: Battle Pilgrims are Bretonnian peasants who decide to abandon their feudal duties to follow Grail Knights around, acting as some kind of combined squire, bodyguard and cheerleading squad. Because of said reverence for Grail Knights, most Battle Pilgrims get away with said abandoning as most nobles see this devout celebration of Bretonnian heroes as a just and proper thing for a peasant to do, even if it robs them of a labourer or two. Needless to say, since Grail Knights live dangerous lives by default, following one around without the weapons, training or Blessing of the Lady is insanely dangerous, and most Battle Pilgrims tend to go a little loopy in the head before long if they weren't already. This also leads into what they do should their Grail Knight ever die; see Dead Guy on Display for more.
• Holy Hand Grenade: The Blessed Field Trebuchet fires erupting projectiles of holy water instead of rocks, giving them magic damage instead of regular damage. They also don't cause friendly fire.
• Honor Before Reason:
  • Very big on it, to the point where advanced weaponry that would give them an advantage is outright spurned.
  • In gameplay, the player is under obligation to respect the rules of chivalry. Among other things, this means no wars against fellow Bretonnians, no sacking settlements or killing captives if the foe is civilized, always razing the cities and killing the captives for uncivilized foes, no ambushes, no raiding, and no establishing brothels or giving out bribes. If one gains the Blessing of the Lady through a Heroic Victory it also means no backing down from a fight under any circumstances.
  • For additional context, Raiding and Ambushing is considered taboo by the standards of Bretonnian virtues, even if the targeted recipient is the foulest of adversaries like Chaos and Undead. Because of this, any Bretonnian army that engages in such dishonorable behavior will automatically lose Chivalry every turn.
• Horse Archer: Yeomen Mounted Archers.
• Horse Back Heroism: A given, but the Grail Knights best exemplify this.
• Immortality Seeker: Questing Knights, who seek to prove their valor to the Lady of the Lake that they might sip from her grail and become Grail Knights. Few survive the process, as it weeds out the craven and the selfish for whom immortality is the only motivation. These guys eschew helmets and shields, and go into battle wielding two-handed swords from horseback.
• Immune to Bullets: Bretonnia may be stuck in the Middle Ages, but due to the blessings of the Lady of the Lake, many of their units have magical protection against guns, allowing them to hold their own against the Empire, Skaven, and Dwarfs, all of whom use guns.
• Jousting Lance: While lances are the weapons for the heavy cavalry of many factions, the Knights of Bretonnia take their use to even greater lengths, having developed a special formation to enhance the effectiveness of the weapon. Jousting tournaments are also one of the favourite pastimes of the Bretonnian nobility, and is the primary method used to settle disputes between Knights. In-game, the special Lance Formation gives Knights increased stats and power while charging, and special tournament grounds can be built for powerful buffs.
• Knight Errant: All Knights strive to be this, but the ones who act the most like this are the Questing Knights, Grail Knights in training that wander the land, and do chivalric deeds, like slaying monsters, and rescuing damsels.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Bretonnia is known for the importance it places on its knights, who usually fit this image on the superficial level, though their disregard and treatment of the peasantry tarnishes it considerably. As a knight supposed to all be paragons of virtue (which is presumed to include the Virtue of Empathy that the vast majority of knights fail to exhibit) to become a Grail Knight, but Bretonnia's nobles' sense of morals is a bit different from the usual person's, it tends to come down to a player's own interpretation whether the Grail Knights are genuinely of this trope.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Knights, being the zealous warriors they are, have a reputation for charging at the first sign of a foe. Knight Errants, the lowest ranking ones, are overly enthusiastic about this even compared to the others, and tend to die a lot more because of it.
• Lightning Bruiser: Grail Knights are the strongest cavalry in the game, and quite possibly, the setting, as they are super human living saints, knights that all other knights strive to be. They're also very fast, hit very hard, and wear heavy armor. Between the armor, high melee defense, and The Blessing of the Lady (which reduces physical damage by 20%) they can confidently charge into almost any infantry unit in the game.
• The Lost Woods: The Forest of Loren occupies the land in the southeastern part of what is nominally Bretonnia, though few go there willingly and even fewer return. There is a good reason for that. In the campaign map, Loren was previously represented by a conspicuous blank spot in the world map, and the province where the forest is located had no settlements and thus could not be controlled by any faction. After the Wood Elves patch, it was filled with settlements belonging to Wood Elves and Forest Spirits.
• Lord of the Ocean: The only deity other than the Lady of the Lake that gets much attention in Bretonnia is Manaan, the god of the sea in just about every human land. The trident on Bordeleaux's shield represents this devotion to Manaan in that coastal realm.
• Medieval Stasis: While the Empire is a constantly-evolving culture, the Kingdom of Bretonnia has remained relatively unchanged for hundreds of years. Justified, because it's suggested that the Wood Elves of Athel Loren are deliberately keeping them like this to act as an easily-manipulated shield for their realm.
• Merchant City: The city of Bordeleaux is renowned for its trading port and its wine market, both being unique buildings in-game. According to All There in the Manual L'Anguille is another example, being ruled by Merchant Princes and having a port that rivals Marienburg's with an ancient elven lighthouse, but this is not reflected in-game.
• Our Gryphons Are Different: Bretonnian lords can be mounted on Hippogryphs, huge monsters with the body of a horse, and the wings, head and foreclaws of a bird. Unlike in the tabletop game, there are flying knights mounted on Hippogryphs as well, known as the Royal Hippogryph Knights. Hippogryphs are savage, highly aggressive and would attack anyone or anything with very little to no provocation or warning. Unlike the Gryphon, who only kills for food, the Hippogryph species are unnaturally bloodthirsty animals who would wantonly slaughter every animal on sight as a simple act of pure aggression. This makes them especially attractive mounts for lordlings who are often Challenge Seekers.
• Our Mages Are Different: In the Empire, magic is taught to all those with the gift at the Imperial Colleges of Magic, and is greatly understood and generally accepted (or at least tolerated) by most of the populace. Bretonnia is centuries behind her rival in this regard, as magic is still regarded with widespread fear and superstition. Bretonnia's wizard units are Always Female members of the Cult of the Lady^note Only magically-gifted girls are selected for training; the boys are never seen again... — Prophetesses are Lords, Damsels are Heroes. At the time of release, only Damsels were available, and they only had access to the Lore of the Heavens; now both are available, and they can use the Lores of Life and Beasts as well.
• The Paladin: The Grail Knights, knights who have finished their quest and drunk from the Grail. A literal Paladin is also available as a Hero Unit.
• Pegasus: The mounts of Pegasus Knights, and some Lords. Unlike most examples of this trope, Pegasus are highly aggressive animals, and are very territorial (like the Hippogryphs and Gryphons, they're products of a steady mutation). They will devour human, greenskin, and anything else edible if their hungry, or will attack just for the heck of it if in a foul mood. Pegasus Knights are highly mobile, if somewhat squishy, air cavalry, who can quickly launch devastating aerial assaults, and the Royal Pegasus Knights, Grail Knights mounted on Pegasi are even deadlier.
• The Proud Elite: Most of the nobility, from lesser knight, to dukes to the king himself, is very proud of their families' lineage, most claiming lineage from one of Gilles's knightly companions. As such intermingling with a less prestigious noble family is very rare and frowned upon, while marriage between a noble and a peasant is essentially unheard of. Any Knight worth his armor will carry himself with infinite pride. There are some hints in the background that the pride of the nobles has some merit, as they are remarked as being universally both physically quite impressive for humans, and for being beautiful enough that even the notoriously egotistical high elves consider them attractive. Further lore hints this is because the nobility have a few drops of elvish blood in them, which may be making their already swollen egos that much worse.
• Poisoned Weapons: Peasant bowmen can be hired with pox-infected dung arrows, which cause the poison debuff. Like with fire arrows, these archers are hired seperately from their vanilla counterparts.
• Praetorian Guard: The Knights of The Lionhearted, a Regiment of Renown for the Knights of The Realm who serve as the king's personal bodyguards. The Grail Enchantress also begins the campaign with a unit of Grail Guardians, who are implied to be this to her.
• Promoted to Playable: In February 2017, Bretonnia was given an overhaul that included additional Legendary Lords, a few new units and its own Grand Campaign.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: Less so than the Empire and the Norscans, but the nobles of Bretonnia revel in battle.
• The Quest: The search for the Grail is a central institution in Bretonnian culture, and many knights will enter years-long pilgrimages to earn the Lady's favor. Those who succeed may drink the contents of the Grail and become immortal Grail Knights.
  • This became an entire mechanic in their Mortal Empires update. Now Lords and Heroes get to select a set of "Vows" in a special menu, replacing the static Skill implementation of the Vow system. Each Vow gets a hefty bonus buff associated with it, and there's different tiers of Vows a character can unlock. However, the character must go on a quest (which can range from sending them to assassinate a character, or building a special building) before the Vow is applied to the character.
• Redshirt Army: Alongside, or rather under the knights of Bretonnia, fight the Men-at-arms, peasants selected by the local nobles to act as a much needed if expendable infantry unit. These men having the barest of training and equipment are quite mediocre, and only their cheapness may make them attractive.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Pink is a fairly common color on the heraldry of many knights, who are, naturally, considered the paragons of Brettonian manliness, as is using a unicorn for an emblem or helmet mascot. All the same, you probably wouldn't laugh at the guy wearing pink and with a golden unicorn on his helmet if he's thundering at you full tilt with a lance aimed right at your chest. Especially if said lance is wreathed in holy fire, or he's seated on the back of a hippogryph.
• The Rival: Their relationship with Araby is one that is far less friendly than that with The Empire, a given considering how their conflict is heavily based on the many wars between the real-life Christian Crusaders and the Muslim Saracens. In fact, as of the Tomb Kings patch, Bretonnia has conquered nearly all of Araby. In Warhammer lore they have rather more justification for this than the real life crusades; unlike the complicated reasons for those the Bretonnians attacked Araby in retaliation for the Arabyans staging a brutal invasion of the Old World through Estalia.
• Robbing the Dead: The Holy Wardens of La Maisontoaal, a Regiment of Renown for Battle Pilgrims, are implied to have taken enchanted weapons from the fallen knights of the area, although they see it more as a means to continue the fight for their fallen superiors rather than a means of getting free stuff.
  • Battle Pilgrims in general do this if the Grail Knight they're following kicks the bucket, stripping the body of reliquae before turning it into an idol as well (see Dead Guy on Display).
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Only noblemen can become knights^note Technically, peasant can also become knights through performing a great deed in battle or providing a great service to their lord, but it is extremely rare, to the point that, through the entirety of Bretonnia's history, it only happened three or four times, and considering the perks and privileges bestowed upon them when going through knighthood, it's safe to say that many of them are very eager to get off their asses and start slaying enemies in the name of The Lady.
• Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Looting a settlement is considered shameful, even if the targeted settlement belongs to an uncivilized faction.
• Siege Engines: Bretonnian knights look down on siege engines but aren’t foolish enough to disdain such weapons entirely. Bretonnia exclusively use the Field Trebuchet to launch rocks at the enemy. In game, the Field Trebuchet is the only war machine available to Bretonnia, alongside it's variant, the Blessed Field Trebuchet.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Damsels and Prophetesses, who are dressed like princesses but are still powerful mages.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The Peasant Reserve system in the DLC is based on Bretonnia's reliance on a medieval peasant economy and lack of a true professional army, which means that mustering too many peasant levies will cause a negative impact on the economy due to the lack of workers.
• Torches and Pitchforks: This is the role of the Peasant Mob. Sadly for them, they do not have the intimidation-factor in other works where these sort of mobs have the luck of only going after a single witch, mad doctor or werewolf. They must now go up against trained soldiers and massive packs of unholy horrors that can kill common people as easily as most men can squash bugs. Safe to say, this makes the peasant mob Cannon Fodder per excellence.
• Upper-Class Twit: An unfortunate number of Bretonnian nobles are this, but that ones that specifically take the cake are the Knight Errants. Junior knights that have yet to proven themselves as Knights of the Realm, they tend to die in large numbers "bravely" charging the hordes of evildoers in an attempt to gain glory and honor. Of course, this does mean that higher ranking knights (and thus higher ranking lords) tend to be at least somewhat competent, being made up of those who managed to survive long enough to learn from their mistakes.
• Vestigial Empire: Modern Bretonnia is built on the same territory that once held the Elven colonies in the Old World, with many of their cities being built on the ruins of the old Elven cities. Even their new architecture takes cues from the old, and inspires much of their mythology about the fey folk and the Lady.
• We ARE Struggling Together: Downplayed. Bretonnian factions start out neutral to each other but are discouraged from wars or raiding, as they suffer heavy chivalry penalties for doing so. The player is instead encouraged to research heraldry techs, which lets them peacefully confederate the dukedoms. Similarly to the dwarfs, low public order in Bretonnian provinces spawns orcs, beastmen or vampires and not Bretonnian rebels.
• We Have Reserves: Knights don't really care about commoners fleeing or dying in battle (though unusually for this trope this is more a case of Proud Warrior Race Guy disdain than simple evilness). However, despite peasants being cheap and plenty in number, hiring too many of them for battle will reduce the income and growth of your regions because there are now fewer people working or farming. However, as of Warhammer II, this no longer applies to the Peasent Mob unit, which means you can send them to die in utter drives with no averse effect to the Bretonnian economy.
  • On a strategic level, too. Bretonnian casualty replenishment rates are atrocious but their economy is strong and their recruitment capacity is often very high, so instead of waiting around and healing casualties a Bretonnian general is more likely to just merge or dismiss damaged units and recruit new ones.
• White Magician Girl: Prophetesses and Damsels are women born with magical talents who, after being taken by the Lady and taught magic with her, return to Bretonnia and act as counselors and support in the battlefield. The Damsels exclusively wield lores related to nature such as the Lore of Life or the Lore of Beast or the Lore of Heavens.

Legendary Lords

Louen Leoncoeur

King Louen Leoncoeur, Duke of Couronne and High Lord of Bretonnia

"I am the Lion!"

Voiced by: Stephane Cornicard

Louen Leoncoeur is the greatest leader of the Bretonnians since Gilles the Uniter. A mighty Warrior-King, his subjects know well that he is the pinnacle of Knightly perfection and honour. Highly skilled on the field of battle and a master of tactics and strategy, Louen has never known defeat. Commoners and nobles alike speak his name with the same reverence, likening Louen to the mighty Companions of Gilles from ages past; some even say that the blood of Gilles runs in his veins. As ferocious yet honourable in diplomacy as he is in war, King Louen the Lionhearted is renowned far beyond the borders and Bretonnia itself, and respected by all. After more than twenty glorious years on the throne, Louen still appears to be in the prime of his life, though scholars whisper that he is close to his ninetieth year. It is said that he intends to turn his attentions to cursed Mousillon, cleansing it of taint and restoring its former glory. If Louen does this, the lands of Bretonnia will be united under his banner once and for all.

Louen leads what was initially known as the main Bretonnia faction, simply named "Bretonnia", but was renamed "Couronne" as of The Potion of Speed update.

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• Animal Motifs: His heraldry (shared with the main Kingdom of Bretonnia faction) features a golden lion on a field of red and blue, and Leoncoeur himself is often referred to as "the Lion-Hearted". He even has his own posse of Lion-themed knights, the Knights of the Lionhearted, a regiment of super powerful Knights of the Realm. This references the first duke of Couronne, who hailed from Lyonesse and at a young age, alongside his brother, slew the last lion in Bretonnia!
• Anti-Magic: His shield has been enchanted to protect him from magic.
• Ascended Extra: Louen has always been an important character in the background setting, but he never really got involved in current events in most of the tabletop game's history.
• Armor of Invincibility: His Armor of Radiance, a set of highly ornate plate armor that is said to manifest such powerful light that it makes his foe blinded by its radiance. It's available in Mortal Empires through a quest, and gives him immense surviability, both a hefty armor bonus and a powerful ward save.
• Big Brother Mentor: He became this to a young Kranz during the course of Prince of Altdorf, offering the young prince heaps of encouragement, advice, and assurances on his competence in ruling. By the end of it, Karl has an enormous amount of respect for the elderly Royarch, and Louen has much affection for the young prince.
• Bling of War: His war gear is appropriately ornate.
• The Champion: Louen is The Lady of the Lake's appointed champion in the world, and everything he does he does in her name.
• Cool Crown: The Crown of Bretonnia, which is adorned with fleurs-de-lys and blessed with a kiss from the Lady of the Lake; the crown has passed from king to king since the coronation of Gilles' son.
• Empowered Badass Normal: Like every Grail Knight, he was a uniquely formidable and driven man before drinking water provided by the Lady of the Lake made him akin to a demigod.
• Final Boss: Of the Beastmen campaign, alongside Karl Franz.
• Flaming Sword: Wields the Sword of Couronne, something of an Excalibur analogue and Ghal Maraz' Bretonnian counterpart. In the lore it is said to blind people due to the radiance of it's flames.
• Friendly Rivalry: Whilst their two nations constantly compete to outdo each other, Karl Franz and Leon are noted to be on good terms in the fluff, and start with good relations on the campaign. Franz's normal greeting for the diplomacy screen even says "Welcome, brothers from across the Grey Mountains!" In the Beastmen Campaign, the two of them even decided to die beside each other, alongside the rest of humanity in one final Last Stand.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: Bretonnian Lords need to take Knightly Vows to take Knight units in their armies without severe penalties. As he was already a Grail Knight before becoming King of Bretonnia, Leoncoeur already has all three vows at the start.
• The Good King: Famous throughout Bretonnia as a wise and noble ruler. He will hear any case put to him while at court, even from peasants.
• Healing Factor: His skill "The Lady's Champion" grants him health regeneration.
• Heroic Lineage: Is a blood descendant of Gilles le Breton through a cadet branch (the main branch being the dukes of Bastonne). Louen will occasionally say "I am the blood of Gilles" when selected on the map.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Is many decades older than Karl Franz, but they share a common bond of being defenders of mankind. The Total War original novella also goes into detail about how deep their friendship is.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Like all Bretonnian kings Louen is a grail knight, marking him as the pinnacle of Bretonnian chivalry. In addition he is often held up as an exemplar of the chivalric ideal even compared to other Grail Knights, being regarded as a "Fount of Honor", a skill which lets him bestow other knights with the same virtues. Another skill, "Exemplary Conduct" reflects that Louen is the living embodiment of the Lady's virtus, and gives a large boost to Paladin's and Chivalry. That being said... none of this seems to have prevented him from fathering a bastard son, like some other king you might have heard about. Additionally, despite reports of wisdom, compassion and justice from his listening to pleas from peasants that were brought to him from some sort of noble, he still keeps the rigid confinements of Bretonnia's feudalism and shows no interest in reworking it. Some lore says that he is aware of how much the peasant condition is horrible, but is also aware that trying too drastic changes would turn the entire nobility of the kingdom against him.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: The Lion's Shield, an enchanted shield has been carried for many years since he first became a knight and has been reworked to protect him from magic.
• The Magnificent: Called the Lion-Hearted for his heraldry and bravery in battle.
• Older Than They Look: Looks to be in his prime, but is whispered by scholars to be about 90 years old; presumably this is due to drinking from the Grail, which has stopped him ageing. In fact, Leoncoeur was already king of Bretonnia before Karl Franz was born.
• Our Gryphons Are Different: His trusty hippogryph Beaquis serves as a mount only he can use.
• The Paragon: As King of Bretonnia, Louen Leoncoeur has become the gold standard by which knights judge themselves.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: As the king of Bretonnia, he's also the most powerful fighter among them, and has carved his way through countless evildoers.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: The kings of Bretonnia are required to be great knights before they can take the throne. Louen's earning of Grail Knight powers in the lore came from trying to fight off a necromancer with a large undead army along with only sixteen other knights (his father didn't like that he had returned from his Questing Vow empty-handed).
• Universally Beloved Leader: His aptly named skilled "Adored by All" gives a hefty diplomacy boost to everyone on the map, such a respected Royarch Louen is. He's infact considered the greatest king since Gilles Le Breton himself, and all of Bretonnia admires and loves him for his prowess and honor.

Morgiana le Fay

Morgiana le Fay, the Fay Enchantress

"I protect Bretonnia."

The Fay Enchantress is the mortal representative of the Lady of the Lake. She is the most influential person in the whole realm of Bretonnia. She has the power to command the Grail Knights, who are bound to her by oath, and she even has the right to depose the King should she feel that he has abused his position. This has only occurred once, during the reign of Ballaume the Brave, who was banished and exiled by the Grail Knights at the Fay Enchantress's command. When the King leaves no heir it is the Fay Enchantress' responsibility to appoint his successor.
The Fay Enchantress has gone by many names, although whether this means that there have been many of them is less certain. It is the belief of some Bretonnians that the Fay Enchantress has lived as long as the Kingdom itself, making her thousands of years old. Others believe that she is a constantly reincarnated mortal, reborn again with every passing generation.

Morgiana le Fay leads the subfaction "Carcassonne".

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• The Archmage: This is the role she serves to Bretonnia due to being one of, if not the mightiest magician they have, and a master of the Lore of Life.
• Ambiguously Human: Throughout Warhammer lore it is unclear whether Morgiana is actually human, or at least entirely human. Several of her in game quotes sound elvish, she being practically the only known human being able to ride a Unicorn (an elvish mount) then of course there's the matter of her being the high priestess of the Lady of the Lake, who in the main canon is eventually revealed to be the elven goddess Lileath. Whom Morgiana can actually be heard beseeching in game. Her long, straight blonde hair, laurel-wreath headband, golden tiara, and flowing white robe/dress with a golden girdle also make her look like a less-ostentatious High Elven mage, and incidentally prevent one from seeing her ears...
• Amulet of Concentrated Awesome: She has the Girdle of Gold, woven with powerful magic and protection spells. In the tabletop it acts as a powerful item, but here it's been relegated to a skill.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: You don't become The Lady's personal mortal representative without learning a devastating spell or two.
• Benevolent Mage Ruler: Even though she might not be the direct ruler of Bretonnia, all the nobles, knights and kings must obey her word no matter what the command might be, giving her the highest form of authority in the land. And so far, she has a pretty long history of being rather responsible with her power. Not to mention she leads her own subfaction. That being said, she does have a darkside, and there's always the question of the missing children who are abducted, and brought to her tower never to be heard from again.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: Grail Guardians are Grail Knights specifically chosen to protect her. Morgiana needs no protection.
• The Chooser of the One: Should there be no heir to the throne, it becomes her job to pick a new one.
• Colony Drop: When equipped with the Chalice of Potions, Morgiana can call down three free Comets of Cassandora from the Lore of Heavens without the need for the Winds of Magic.
• Court Mage: Serves Bretonnia in this capacity, along with being their highest religious authority. It should be noted she, not Louen, has ultimate authority in the land. Her ultimate skill, "Lady of the Land" even goes as far to say the Fey Enchantress is a living embodiment of Bretonnia, and grants a bunch of powerful bonuses (including public order and untainted).
• Damage Over Time: One of the factors that make Morgiana a popular Lord choice in online multiplayer matches (besides having access to the healing magic of the Lore of Life) is Mist of the Lady, a passive aura that constantly damages enemy units in a radius around her, much like the Mortis Engine of the Vampire Counts.
• Green Thumb: She uses the Lore of Life, spells based on nature and healing.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Less so than the Everqueen, but she's still a force of good, as well as possessing, beautiful golden hair.
• Hand Blast: In close combat she fights using blasts of green magic. In a manner highly reminiscent of Wood Elf spellsingers....
• High Priest: Or priestess in this case, being the immortal, living representative of the Lady, and one of the highest authorities in the land. Her skill, "Beacon of Devotion, even notes she is the spiritual representative of the Lady.
• Lady of War: A refined, gorgeous, proper highborn lady of the court who isn't afraid of being knee deep in the dirt with the Knights under her command.
• The Lancer: To King Leoncoeur, the Balthasar Gelt to his Karl Franz.
• Legacy Character: Possibly. There has been a Fay Enchantress since the earliest history of Bretonnia, however it is unknown whether the position is an inherited one, or if it is filled by a single, immortal being.
• Mage Tower: The Tower of the Enchantress, a unique building in the city of Carcassone. Children are abducted, and brought there, for some unknown purpose, though her special skill, "Secrets of the Otherworld" hints she brings them to another dimension to be trained in the arts of magic.
• Magic Mirror: Her aptly named 'Morgiana's Mirror, in the lore it enables her to peer into the hearts and minds of enemy wizards, so that she can discern their intentions and prepare herself against them. It increases her magic resistance, and Winds of Magic reserve.
• Power Floats: In her unmounted form. Who needs to walk when the magic of the Lady keeps you afloat?
• Unicorn: She can ride the graceful unicorn Silvaron as a mount option. The only human, infact, able to do so.
• Undying Loyalty: Grail Knights are utterly devoted to her, and would follow her every whim. One of her unique skills, "Sacred Duty" notes how utterly loyal Grail Knights are to her, and give a hefty bonus to their stats as a result.
• Voice of the Legion: Her voice has a lingering echo effect.
• White Mage: She primarily acts as a buffer and a healer.

Alberic de Bordeleaux

Lord Alberic de Bordeleaux, Duke of Bordeleaux

"My reputation precedes me."

The enemies of Duke Alberic of Bordeleaux are correct to shrink from his presence, for he is a mighty opponent - a knight almost without equal who has never been bested on the field of battle by mortal adversary or enchanted blade. As one of Bretonnia's greatest exponents of lance and sword, he has on many occasions stood shoulder to shoulder with King Louen, facing down the forces of evil wherever they may be found in the name of his patron-god Manann and the Lady of the Lake.
Alberic is renowned for his personal courage and astounding self-discipline. He is also notorious for expecting all of his household knights to reach the same standard and for dismissing those who do not. As a result, he has the smallest household of any of the Dukes, but the knights there are some of the greatest in the realm.

Alberic leads the sub-faction of "Bordeleaux" in the first two games. In the third game's Immortal Empires campaign, he instead leads the sub-faction "Bordeleaux Errant", located in Lustria.

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• Anti-Cavalry: Alberic has one of the highest anti-large bonuses of all legendary lords, has a special ability that grants units around him a hefty anti-large bonus, and his unique "Champions of Bordeleaux" ability in campaign grants a massive anti-large bonus to Knights of the Realm in his army, allowing them to stand toe-to-toe with other factions' cavalry of much higher tiers.
• Ascended Extra: Outside of some flavor text describing how he once defeated a Norscan lord in single combat and how he is rather strict with who he hires, not much was ever known about him. And here he is, a legendary Lord for Bretonnia. He even got to narrate the Bretonnia trailer.
  • The Generic Guy: Yet his face is the one shared by other non-Legendary Bretonnian Lords, his armour is a recoloured variant of the non-Legendary Bretonnian Lords, his ostensibly unique dragon helmet is simply another variant of the non-Legendary Bretonnian Lords', he wields the same type of sword and shield as the other non-Legendary Bretonnian Lords with the same animation set, his mount options remain the same as the other non-Legendary Bretonnian Lords, and his dialogue in battle and on the diplomacy screen is one of the versions spoken by the non-Legendary Bretonnian Lords (despite the voice actor recording new lines for the opening speech of his sole quest battle and the Bretonnian trailer). Putting aside his somewhat unique skillset (which includes a passive ability that massively increases the amount of gold earned by a port settlement he's garrisoned in), Alberic's truly visually unique feature (his Trident) that would have made him stand out... doesn't show up on his ingame model.
  • Mortal Empires somewhat fixed this by giving him a unique skill tree, which emphasizes his down-to-earth nature and his connection to the sea.
  • The Doomsayer patch finally gave him his unique trident as a modeled weapon, giving him a distinct visual feature, as well as a very powerful anti-large aura of effect bonus, giving him his own gameplay niche as well.
• Arch-Enemy: He utterly despises Aranessa Saltspite and her pirate cronies, believing them to be a walking disgrace to Manaan, so much so that he has a special quest that requires him to raze the Pirate Principality and stomp it into the ground.
• Badass Bureaucrat: Despite being a very skilled Knight, Alberic's true strength is his knowledge in administration. He makes heavy use of shipping lanes found by the ancient Elves to further increase his trading profits, represented by his skill "Shipping Lanes", and has a keen eye when it comes to coastal planning which make coastal settlements run at higher capacity, shown by his skill "Coastal Expansion". He can also reduce the construction time and cost of resource buildings. In an amusing bit of Gameplay and Story Integration, the best way to use him in the first game was to park him in Marienburg and never move him again, since he had a skill to give a whopping 150% boost to income from the port city he was stationed at (for the second game, it was changed to a much smaller buff to port cities faction-wide to prevent this).
• Badass Normal: Alberic is not a Grail Knight, just a regular Knight of the Realm. He's still almost as tough as Louen, and has a significant anti-large bonus that makes him popular in multiplayer.
• Benevolent Boss: Alberic's "Appoint Revees" skill has him going directly over the heads of his nobles and appointing peasant administrators, causing his "Peasant's Duty" province commandment to get supercharged.
• Bling of War: The Golden Dragon sticking on top his great helm may be impractical but it sure as hell is cool. He also wears a set of gold plate armor.
• Born Under the Sail: Bordeleaux is a duchy with a strong maritime tradition, as their devotion to Manann proves, and Alberic is no different. He has multiple skills to boost port settlments, and the third game made his entire faction immune to sea attrition of any sort, explicitly because Alberic and his commanders, as devoted to Manann, are experienced sailors.
• Braids of Action: He himself doesn't wear a braid, but one of his special items, the Braid of Bordeleux is one. Said to be a braid cut from the hair of the god Manann himself, this was a sacred artefact of the first Duke of Bordeleaux. Its dark hair is entwined with kelp and sea shells, and salt water constantly drips from it. It gives him his special anti large aura of effect, and a leadership malus to all enemies in the region he's in.
• Cool Helmet: The man has a freaking golden dragon on top of his helmet.
• Conflicting Loyalties: Is very torn on whether he should stay and rule his Dukedom to the best of his abilities, or go for the Grail Quest, which has been a childhood dream of his; this would also force him to leave said Dukedom until he completes the Quest or dies pursuing it. Due to his age, he's fast running out of time, and he grows more indecisive as the years pass on.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: To his knights. Alberic is renown for demanding an impossibly high standard of his household, to the degree that he has the smallest one of all the Dukes. The ones who can stand it are some of the finest knights in Bretonnia as a result, however.
  "I spent three years in Duke Alberic’s household. Hated every single second of it. But you know, no opponent scares me now."
• Elite Army: He may not have the biggest army due to being incredibly picky with his soldiers, but he has some of the best in the land as a result of this. He even gives basic training to the peasants serving under him. His campaign bonus has him grant bonus experience for Knightly units. The third game also adds a melee defense bonus to a good number of units in his army.
• Father Neptune: Most of his bonuses come from the seas that surround Bretonnia, he himself is a worshiper of the Sea God and wields a trident in battle. His powerbase in lore comes from Bordeleux's Badass Navy and small, but elite Knight Corps, and he's a Grumpy Old Man. At this point he's only missing a beard.
• Front Line General: He has a tendency to lead his men into battle from the front, inspiring them to acts of valor and one of his unique skills, "Lead from the Front", grants everyone around him a small leadership buff, alongside a large resistance to charge damage.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Averted. Like many Bretonnian minor lords, Alberic wears one of their distinctive great-helms in battle, which completely hides his face. Played straight in the cinematic trailer, however, in which Alberic goes into battle without a proper helmet.
• Making a Splash: His trident gives him the ability to use Wrath of Manaan, a water-flavored wind spell, twice per battle.
• Prongs of Poseidon: The Trident of Manaan, which grants Alberic the ability to summon massive sprays of water to disrupt formations and send units flying., and confers to him a very good ability in killing other mounted units.
• Religious Bruiser: In contrast to most Bretonnian's who venerate the Lady before all overs, Alberic worships the Sea Lord Manaan, and starts with his vow unlocked. It makes sense, since his Dukedom is so reliant on the sea to stay afloat.
• The Teetotaler: The Dukedom of Bordeleaux has an abundant wine production (as represented by a unique building called the Vineyards of Bordeleaux) and the typical stereotype of a Bordelaux native is being stinking drunk constantly. Alberic, meanwhile, reverses the stereotype by not partaking at all and demands the same of his household.

Repanse de Lyonesse

Repanse de Lyonesse, Damoiselle de Guerre

"Onwards, for the Lady!"

Voiced by: Ali Dowling

In the Imperial Year of 2007, a vast Chaos horde spilled from the Sea of Chaos onto northern Bretonnia, slaying all who stood in its path, felling King Louis the Bold, and putting Couronne to siege. Repanse, a mere shepherdess living in the hills of Lyonesse, received a vision from the Lady of the Lake telling her to cleanse the land of the invaders. Inspired by her vision, the peasant girl took the armour of a fallen knight, caught a fleeing warhorse, and grasped an ancient sword and a banner of Bretonnia from a Grail Chapel before riding into battle. Seeing such a humble personage clearly blessed by the Lady, the disheartened knights of Bretonnia rallied to her ancient banner, driving the Chaos horde back and forming a great lance that broke the siege of Couronne. Repanse herself decapitated the Chaos Lord Kharan the Blighted, and was knighted, ennobled, and proclaimed the Duchess of Lyonesse by the new king.

Repanse de Lyonesse is a free DLC legendary lord, and leads the sub-faction "Chevaliers de Lyonesse".

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• Action Girl: One of the series strongest examples. Case in point, she can cut a horse in two with that claymore of hers.
• Adaptational Badass: Zigzagged in that, while she's become more "traditionally" powerful, with a very powerful magic sword and decent melee stats that puts her in a weight class similar to Louen and Alberic, she's lost the ability to No-Sell magic and drain it as she had in tabletop. In terms of the setting, she's been upgraded from a (albeit blessed) Knight of the Realm all the way to a Grail Knight in her own right.
• Ascended Extra: She was a Lord option in the tabletop all the way back in in the games fifth edition, and was a Posthumous Character in the universe itself, being many centuries dead. She's gotten her own spotlight in the Total War continuity, as a very important character in her own right.
• Authority Sounds Deep: In contrast to the other women of Bretonnia, namely the mystical damsels, Repanse's voice is very hardy, not quite masculine, but deep and very authoritarian; she's clearly very accustomed to ordering soldiers around.
• Badass Army: Oh yeah. Her Chevaliers are an Errantry War composed of veteran Knights and hardened foot soldiers, tempered by countless battles and the horrible conditions of the Thirsty Desert. All of her skills are focused on making her men, mainly the peasentry, from farmers into effective warriors.
• Bling of War: She wears a set of ornate, golden/silver warplate, both practical and gilded.
• Boyish Short Hair: She has a very distinct bowl cut that gives her a gallant look.
• BFS: She wields the Sword of Lyonesse - a mighty relic warblade- into battle, which can be activated for a brief but large burst of melee power. It belonged to a long dead, devout and honorable knight. Led to the sword by the Lady herself, Repanse found it in a mystical grail chapel, and claimed the blade for herself to wield.
• Burn the Undead: Her "Banish the scourge" skill gives her and her entire army flaming weapons when fighting any Undead faction.
• The Bus Came Back: She was benched in 5th edition of the tabletop and never returned due to the timeline's constraints - she had already been dead for centuries! Here she has made a comeback.
• The Champion: Even among Grail Knights, Repanse is considered one of the most favored of all the Knights of the Bretonnia and is a favorite of the Lady. She considers herself an expression of her deities will.
• The Cavalry: Acts as this in her battle quest for her sword, arriving in the nick of time to save Dwarf prospectors from a fight with Tomb Kings they couldn't win. For bonus points, and pun nonwhistanding, this battle pretty much requires you to use cavalry, as you start on the opposite side of the map from the Dwarfs, who are attacked from the very moment you press "Start Battle"; infantry simply cannot get to the fight in time to save the Dwarfs^note Sure, it might get there in time to save one of the groups of prospectors, but you're required to keep all three alive to win.
• Doomed Hometown: Her village was raided and her family hacked apart by Chaos Raiders from Norsca. She saw the vision of the Lady of the Lake in the smoke from her burning hometown.
• Fantastic Racism: She starts with a minus 80 relationship with all Undead factions^note To give an idea, this is the same malus that Eltharion, who had his homeland ravaged and his family killed by Grom the Paunch, gets against Greenskins, her "Banish the Scourge" skill gives her entire army bonuses when fighting them and her final battle involves destroying either the Tomb Kings or the Vampire Coast for good. To be fair, the number of good undead in that setting (and not the Ambiguously Evil ones like Vlad or Anti-Villains like Settra) can be counted on one hand. ^note  Ironically, most of those few potentially good ones "live" in Nehekhara.
• Jeanne d'Archétype: A very blatant one, being a humble peasant girl who saved Bretonnia at its darkest moment by breaking a siege and winning the favour of its underaged king. To the point her name was translated as Jeanne in the French version of the game. Her story had a much happier ending, however.
• Lady of War: She is Duke, and an accomplished, gallant knight of the Grail, but she also retains her femininity to an extent. Her title, "Damoiselle de Guerre", even means "maiden of war".
• A Mother to Her Men: Repanse is noted to be strict, but very caring towards the lowborn foot soldiers in her army, a very rare trait to have for a member of the Knighthood, most likely stemming from the fact she was a peasant herself. She provides a huge amount of different buffs to her peasant units.
• Power Glows: Her Halo of Maidenly Wrath creates an explosion centered on her that throws, damages and blinds nearby enemies.
• Rags to Riches: She was born into Bretonnia's oppressed peasantry, but her deeds earned her the Dukedom of Lyonesse — notably, she's the only woman to ever hold a title that high, and one of the very few members of the peasantry to ascend to the nobility at all.
• Really 700 Years Old: Repanse was born three-hundred years before the reign of Magnus the Pious in the Empire, which makes her about five centuries old by the time of Karl Franz's coronation. This is all thanks to the blessings of the Grail making Repanse The Ageless. Notably, this means she's significantly older than King Leoncoeur, who is suggested to be a mere ninety years old.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Like several other legendary lords, she starts nowhere near her nominal territory. Justified as her campaigns pick up during an Errantry War, and the temporary regent starts as Repanse's vassal. This is also a minor case of Gameplay and Story Integration as Bretonnian nobility is not averse to trying to get peasants who 'rose above their station' like Repanse killed this way. She seems to hold this opinion in-universe too, because if her complaining is anything to go by she would rather be anywhere else.
• Religious Bruiser: She lives her life solely in the name of the Lady, and is one of the Lady's most devoted knights.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In the official Warhammer timeline, Repanse lived a mortal's lifespan half a millennium before Karl Franz or Louen Leoncour were even born. Here, she's a grail knight and thus The Ageless.
• Stereotype Flip: An armoured warrior with a greatsword is not that unusual in Bretonnia, but a female one? Absolutely. Yet unlike the Damsels and Prophetesses of the Lady, Repanse is a fearsome frontline fighter.
• Unexplained Accent: Has a French accent like most of the nobility, despite being a peasant, who are depicted as having English accents.

Legendary Heroes

The Green Knight

"None shall pass!"

"Protector of Bretonnia!"

The Green Knight is a well-known figure of Bretonnian folklore, and stories and poems about him are amongst the most popular in Bretonnia. A common character in puppet shows and plays performed for peasants and kings alike, he is bedecked in strange ivy-covered armour and intones his famous line: "None shall pass!" The traditional nemesis of the valiant Questing Knights of these tales, the Green Knight challenges them to duels so that they might prove their worth to the Lady herself, and thus sip from the blessed Grail.
Little do most realize that these stories are bound in fact. The Green Knight is the sacred protector of Bretonnia, and his spirit-essence is intertwined with the land and the Lady of the Lake herself. The knights who have encountered him speak of the sky clouding over to create the darkness of twilight, and a green mist seeping from the earth; slowly taking the shape of an eldritch figure riding a snorting steed. As well as materializing to test Questing Knights in their faith, the Green Knight will appear when these sacred places are defiled by those with evil-hearted intent. Amongst the Beastman herds of the tainted forests, he is known as Shaabhekh, literally the "Soul-Killer'" for he has slain untold thousands of their kind throughout the centuries. He bursts from within the boles of the most ancient trees, or gallops furiously from still lakes or rushing waterfalls to wreak his terrible vengeance against those interlopers. As quickly as he appears, so too will he fade into mist once his righteous slaughter is complete.
The Green Knight is a Legendary Hero unit (the first to be added to the game, in fact) that can be summoned by any Bretonnian faction for a limited time when the player has gathered enough Chivalry points through the Campaign.

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• Animal Motifs: As Gilles, he carried the red dragon of Bastonne as his heraldry, having earned it from slaying a dragon.
• Big Damn Heroes: His specialty is arriving on the nick of time to assist beleaguered Bretonnian forces, which he does in the trailer, rescuing Alberic from a Vargheist. In-game, it's recommended to summon him when things are getting desperate. He even rescues a wounded Karl Franz from a Bodyguard Betrayal in Prince of Altdorf.
• Complete Immortality: The Green Knight has tested Questing Knights since Bretonnia was founded, and every Grail Knight must defeat him in battle. It is fair to say that neither time nor wounds can kill him.
• Cool Horse: Rides the Shadow Steed, a green, armored ghost horse, which is as ethereal as its rider. Unlike other characters, the Green Knight cannot go unmounted, and has no option to go on foot.
• Cool Sword: Wields the Dolorous Blade, which burns with a strange greenish light and effortlessly cuts through his foes. It grants him an ability that increases his already insane attack power tenfold.
• Dark Is Not Evil: A very grim, and terrifying figure to be sure, and something undead in nature. The Green Knight, however, is universally seen as a symbol of hope by Bretonnia, and has spent the centuries protecting the country and its people from those who would do it harm.
• Disc-One Nuke: He is already at Level 30, even at the earliest stages of the game. However, since he can only be used for a limited amount of time with each summon, it is not recommended to use him until things get a bit more desperate.
• The Dragonslayer: Among his many deeds in-life, he was also renowned for slaying a mighty dragon named Smearghus.
• The Dreaded: Inspires terror in all his foes, though the Beastmen in particular speak of him with dread, as he has slain untold thousands of their kind over the centuries.
• Emerald Power: The name and appearance of this guy says it all.
• Eternal Hero: He's been around for centuries and never truly dies in battle.
• Expy: He's a Composite Character of the Green Knight, as well as 'King Arthur himself from Arthurian mythology.
• Foil: To Grombrindal and Alith Anar. They are all kings that took on new identities after death and became powerful, supernatural warriors whose primary motivation is the defense of their people.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Questing Knights who encounter him speak of how his eyes are ablaze with a fey light, and in game they are represented as such.
• Hero Killer: As of a patch, the Green Knight traded some of his durability and Lightning Bruiser status for a truly ridiculous amount of Armor Piercing Damage, making him highly effective against Lords, other heroes, and upper tier monsters.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: There is only one reason why this near unstoppable fighter is defeated quite a few times during the trials of Questing Knights; he's holding back against all of them. The enemies of Bretonnia do not get that luxury from him.
• Lightning Bruiser: The Green Knight is really tanky, being able to hold off a large force by himself, due to the fact he posses several abilities that add up to an eighty percent reduction to physical damage. This combined with his high attack power, means you are likely to get several hundred kills with him. And since he's mounted on a spectral warhorse, he's still damn fast like any other knight.
• Losing Your Head: Several accounts speak of the Green Knight being decapitated and picking up his head once again.
• Our Founder: He's actually Gilles le Breton, the first Grail Knight, and the founder of Bretonnia.
• Our Spirits Are Different: In this case, the fey spirit of an ancient knight, whose true nature is unknown. He is attached to the Lady of the Lake and protects sacred places and tests Questing Knights. As a spirit, the Green Knight doesn't fear anything, can pass through terrain at will, attacks that aren't magical barely scratch him, and cannot truly be slain but instead returns shortly after dissipating.
• Red Baron: While the Bretonnians know him as the Green Knight, the Beastmen fear him as Shaabhekh, which means the Soul-Killer.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: He earned his crown battling hordes of greenskins and remained an active fighter after being crowned. Even in death, he still fights to protect his people.
• Shrouded in Myth: Who or what he actually is is unknown. It is popularly speculated that he is Gilles le Breton, the founder of Bretonnia, reborn as a protector spirit.
• Threshold Guardians: He is one to the Questing Knights — defeating the Green Knight in single combat is the final test before the knight is allowed to drink from the Holy Grail.
• You Shall Not Pass!: "None shall pass!" is one of his famous phrases used in plays, typically directed at Questing Knights seeking the Grail.

Henri le Massif

"Paladin of Bretonnia!"

A powerful Grail Knight, Henri was one of the first knights to flock to the banner of Repanse of Lyonesse as she began throwing back the Chaos invasion, and is the first and foremost of her protectors amongst the Chevaliers de Lyonesse. A mighty warrior and a powerful monster hunter, Henri is said to have slain enough monsters to fill the menageries of Couronne many times over, and would always seek out such foes first in the enemy battle line, knowing that the Lady would protect him.
Henri is a legendary hero exclusive to the Chevaliers de Lyonesse. He functions as a unique Paladin, with some additional bonuses and options available to him.

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• The Big Guy: He is called "Le Massif" for a reason, with most flavor text about him talking about his noticable size above the other paladins of Bretonnia. He's even considered a large unit, even on foot.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: To Repanse. While The Champion of Repanse on paper, stats-wise she is more than capable of standing up for herself.
• Canon Immigrant: Unlike Repanse, Henri is not from an official Bretonnian armybook but has his origins in a White Dwarf article.
• Expy: Of Bertrand de Poulengy and Jean de Metz, the first companions and bodyguards of Jeanne d'Arc.
• Hunter of Monsters: Has a decent anti-large bonus due to having the Grail Virtue of Valor, allowing him to stand up to much larger and stronger foes, which he willingly seeks out.
• King Mook: He's a Paladin, but compared to generic Paladins, Henri has superior stats, his unique skills makes him a beefier fighter and increase the capabilities of peasant units and mount-wise he can mount a Hippogriff instead of a Pegasus.

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