Heartwarming / Total War: Warhammer II

• Like with Isabella and Vlad von Carstein in the last game, the second of the Total War: Warhammer series gives the player the ability to play as factions led by Legendary Lords with bonds beyond the political:
  • The High Elves are led by the brothers Tyrion and Teclis. These two, despite being as different as night and day, are utterly devoted to one another. The reason Tyrion initially gained such a reputation as a warrior among the Phoenix King's court? He challenged anyone who dared to make fun of his crippled younger brother to a duel.
    • This gets shown directly in Tyrion's armour quest battle. His army is getting hammered by Malekith's troops then the Dark Elves are flanked by Teclis. Given that Teclis is half a world away during the game he must have worked very hard to get there in time to help his beloved brother.
    • No less heartwarming is the fact that if you play Teclis, you still participate in this battle, and instead Tyrion is the one who suddenly reinforces you. No matter what, the brothers always have each-other's backs.
  • In a perverse way, Morathi and Malekith, the leaders of the Dark Elves. Despite founding a civilisation built on sadism, betrayal, and out-and-out evil, they are similarly close (or squickily even closer, depending on what edition of the table-top lore you read). Morathi will stop at nothing to see her son achieve what she believes to be his birthright. Of course this is subverted to a degree by the fact that it is well established throughout the lore that Morathi backs her sons' ambitions only so long as they benefit her own goals, whatever they may be at the time. Indeed Dark Elf history is filled with power plays between the two, with each attempting to outdo or manipulate the other. Though the pair do love each other, it is a very toxic, twisted form of love.
• Kroq-Gar's selection screen animation can count as one of these. After roaring at the camera in challenge, he then turns and pets Grymloq. Various scenes with him in the diplomacy screen also show that Grymloq has taken a liking to the leader of a faction that the Last Defenders have good relations with.
• In the High Elf intro cutscene, Tyrion and Teclis have an argument, about Teclis's longstanding desire to protect the world as a whole, unlike Tyrion who just wants to defend Ulthuan. Despite scorn from the other elves, and extreme annoyance from his beloved brother, Teclis still carries on with his role of guardian to the younger races, simply because it's the right thing to do.
  • Winning a battle as a High Elven army shows a grand celebration in the battle report on the world map.
• When the High Elves complete a ritual the completion text mentions that, for just a moment, Caledor Dragontamer and his mages have the weight of their burden maintaining the Vortex lifted.
  • This picks up in the final battle. While the other races get awesome moments of supremacy, the Asur take a different route. Caledor Dragontamer and his mages' Heroic Sacrifice finally is rewarded as the Vortex is perfected and they ascend, becoming one with it... and freed from their burden.
• When Total War: Warhammer II was released, some fans noticed a unique hero would pop up when playing as the High Elves and building a new army: Alastar the White Lion. Like Tyrion and Teclis, this character has a unique model, powerful anti-infantry attacks, and a completely unique skill tree compared to all the other High Elf Lords a player can hire, but wasn't in any of the promotional materials for the game or the background lore of the setting. When asked where he came from, CA revealed Alastar was a unique addition for a fan who visited their studio as part of the Make A Wish Foundation. They decided on a whim to make a character for this TW fan, used his face for the Lord's model, collaborated with him on his unique skill tree, and put him in the game!
  • Even better, CA was asked on Reddit if there was a memorial that could be donated to, and they responded "Oh, he's still alive, he emailed us the other day to tell us how happy he is to see Alastar in the game... I believe he's still doing fine and in fact getting better."
  • Even years after the game's release, CA hasn't forgotten about him. The same update that brought White Lion Chariots to the High Elves also gave him the option of riding in one.
• Like with the previous game, you get the opportunity to make the iconic Crapsack World a far better place if you play the right race (mainly the High Elves, and to a lesser extent the Lizardmen) and winning the grand campaign.
  • This is especially true in the case of the the High Elves. Much of their lore is focused on their tragic decline, and how all their power, courage, and determination just isn't enough to ward off their oncoming extinction. Yet with the right planning and a deft command of the battlefield, you have the power to rebuild and repopulate Ulthuan, reforge the Elven empire, and finally bring Malekith to justice, utterly defying the Asur's status as a Dying Race.
  • While downplayed with the Lizardmen due to their extreme tendencies, due to how open to interpretation the Great Plan is, and the fact that it's implied in-game that everything you do while playing as a Lizardmen faction is essentially your own interpretation, you can go out of your way to forge long-lasting alliances with other Order races, especially the High Elves, and even help them in defeating their enemies. Nothing quite like watching your Saurus Warriors fighting alongside Empire State Troops or High Elven Spearmen against a common enemy.
• The Shield of Civilization mechanic returns for Mortal Empires, which allows High Elves and Lizardmen to make peace with the various good-aligned Old World races after Archaon shows up.
• There is a Tomb Kings event where your troops uncover the remains of Alcadizaar's army. You can either bury them with proper Nehekharan customs or harvest the remains for canopic jars. The former does give a hefty bonus to infantry units.
  • Another one is the fact that you can build a pyramid to Alcadizaar. The very fact that you get the above event and the ability to build his pyramid is something that was not present in the original lore. In the original tabletop lore, Alcadizaar wasn't even given a proper burial after he killed Nagash since everyone was already dead in Nehekhara, not to mention dying due to the Fellblade the Skaven gave him and dropping dead near the River Mortis forever forgotten by time. Here in Total War: Warhammer II, by some turn of events, the Tomb Kings actually heard about what he did and the whole situation, they found his body and gave him a proper burial with a pyramid of his own to boot. All for one man that managed to save the world from Nagash and his plan of turning the world of Warhammer into a land of the dead.
    • Tomb Kings again and kinda unusual. When your empire grows at one point you gain the Great Power trait that causes you to get a -15 to relations with everyone...with the sole exception of Tomb Kings to whom you get a +15 to relationships with them due to Great Power. Yes, while you are looked at with fear and jealousy by other factions, Settra and company marvel at your greatness. This actually causes the Tomb Kings to be one of the very few factions you can count on. Crazy isn't it?
• In a world as rampant with the forces of Order not trusting one another as Warhammer, there's something almost sweet about Repanse de Lyonesse's Quest Battle being to offer completely unasked-for aid to the neighboring Dwarfs against the undead. Let that sink in - the Dwarfs never ask you to do this, Repanse simply recognises that the Dwarfs need help, and she's equipped to give it.

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