History Characters / AgeOfEmpiresIICampaigns

Civilizations [[Characters/AgeOfEmpiresIICivilizations here]].

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Age of Kings Campaigns]]
!William Wallace (Celts)

!!William Wallace
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoe2_1_williamwallace.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:256:some caption text]]
The main protagonist of the Celtic learning campaign that bears his name. Appears in the final map as a champion unit.\\\

* AdvertisedExtra: Only controlled in the last scenario, when he arrives with his army to boost the player's forces after the battle has already been going for a while.
* BarbarianLonghair: Sports a magnificent mane in both the cutscenes and his unit icon. However, his sprites are those of a normal champion (we are probably expected to think that the man is hidden under the [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic helmet]]).
* {{BFS}}: Equipped with a five foot long claymore, his model in game wields one too.
* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: [[spoiler:In history, he evaded capture from the English until 1305 when a Scottish knight loyal to England, John de Menteith, turned him to the English. He was eventually was hanged, drawn and quartered by the English. In the game, he seems to have been killed in battle by the English, with his body drawn and quartered in the end.]]
* TheHero: Of the First Campaign, though you only get to use him later in the last scenario.
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Though he is not the star of the Edward Longshanks campaign, he was the first focal character in Age of Empires II and he is killed in the final scenario of the Edward Longshanks campaign.]]
* HeroAntagonist: Since he is the enemy in the Edward Longshanks campaign, he is your major opponent in the "Hammer of the Scots" scenario.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Just like ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'', this media depicts Wallace as an ideal and romantic hero who fights against a tyrannical oppressor, while in real life things were... a tad different.
* KeystoneArmy: [[spoiler:In the "Hammer of the Scots" scenario, he leads a band of warriors against the English, as well as being protected by his bodyguards. However, killing him will cause his army to surrender.]]
* MakeAnExampleOfThem: [[spoiler:He was butchered and scattered throughout Scotland by Longshanks in order to warn the Scottish of anyone who might fancy themselves a heroic rebel. It did the complete opposite as Robert the Bruce renounce his vassalage and oppose England.]]
* OneManArmy: One of the strongest heroic units.
* SilentProtagonist: After much fanfare, he arrives in the last scenario to lead the last charge against the English, but he doesn't have spoken lines (other than the standard Celtic replies to the player's commands).
[[hardline]]
!!Edward I "Longshanks"
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoe2_2_edwardlongshanks.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:256:some caption text]]
The king of England in the William Wallace campaign, does not appear in person. In the expansion ''Lords of the West'' he gets his own campaign and appears throughout the campaign as a Paladin unit.\\\

* AbusiveParents: His one word toward his son, Edward I. Decrying him as a craven and putting little faith in him, giving Aymer de Valence sole authority to suppress Robert the Bruce's rebellion.
* AntiHero: He's this in the Britons campaign from ''Lords of the West''. His son Edward II describes him as a cruel, foul-tempered king. He's not really a VillainProtagonist like John the Fearless though because his motives are more justified, as he is imprisoned by a band of rebels at a young age and inherits a deeply divided Britain. Additionally, he's shown to possess some redeeming traits and tries to be an effective king above all else, despite some of his brutal methods.
* AndThatsTerrible: He stole the Coronation Stone and crowned himself King of Scotland!!
* BigBad: Of the first campaign. Is PromotedToPlayable in ''Lords of the West''.
* EvilBrit: He is the King of England and a very naughty boy.
* TheGhost: While he appeared in the William Wallace campaign in cutscenes, he himself is not seen in the game. Obviously, this is averted in his own campaign.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: His villainy is far more accentuated in game. Probably to be blamed on an UnreliableNarrator. He's seen in a better light in his own campaign, though his nefarious traits aren't overlooked, either.
* StarterVillain: Rather competent by all accounts, even defeating Wallace at Falkirk. In game the least dangerous main opponent, justified of course since it's a tutorial campaign.
[[hardline]]
!Joan of Arc (Franks)

!!Joan of Arc
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoe2_3_joanofarc.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:As "Joan the Maid" and "Joan of Arc"]]

The protagonist of the Frankish campaign. Appears as two different units: Joan the Maid, which walks on foot, has little attack and has no armor, and her more powerful knight version, who has high attack, but is not as strong as other mounted heroes.\\\

* {{Breastplate}}: Averted, even in cutscenes she wears a perfectly functional full plate armor.
* AChildShallLeadThem: She becomes the head of the French army before 18.
* CoolSword: Owned by Charlemagne, or so is said.
* EscortMission: Many knights are tasked with protecting her through the campaign (Sieur Bertrand, Sieur de Metz, the Duke of Alençon, etc). They can be killed in battle but as long as Joan survives it's okay.
* TheFundamentalist: Her portrayal in the Grand Dukes of the West campaign verges on this; the final cutscene making it clear that the Burgundians consider her little more than a lunatic with an unrealistic BlackAndWhiteMorality view of the world.
* TheHero: Of the second campaign. The game credits her with turning the tide of UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar and turning the French feudal leves into an unified national army.
* HeroAntagonist: She is the enemy of the Burgundian in the Grand Dukes of the West campaign.
* TheHeroDies: After the fifth scenario, though this is much a ForegoneConclusion.
* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: Both playable versions of Joan are capable of combat, even though their historical counterpart was reputed to have never killed a person.
* PluckyGirl: The game shows Joan as a seventeen years old girl determined to chase the English out of her country at any cost.
* SilentProtagonist: Her unit doesn't have dialogue, other than the standard French female villager responses.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Only female warrior featured in the game.
* TookALevelInBadass: Goes from being a powered up villager to powered up cavalry unit after the first mission.
* UndyingLoyalty: To the Dauphin Charles.
* WorkingClassHero: A common peasant girl that rises morale for her faith in victory.
[[hardline]]
!!Guy de Josseline
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoe2_4_guyjosselyne.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:256:some caption text]]
The fictional narrator of the Joan of Arc campaign. Has an unique model as cavalry in the final level. Voiced by Spencer Prokop.\\\

* AuthorAvatar: Sort of. One of the developers of the game, Creator/SandyPetersen, [[http://aok.heavengames.com/gameinfo/ask-sandyman/latest-ask-sandy/ has a French ancestor named Josselyne.]]
* BeenThereShapedHistory: Though fictional, he ends leading the French in the Battle of Castillon, that ended UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar and expelled the English from the continent.[[note]]Except for Calais.[[/note]]
* TheLancer: To Joan.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Determined to avenge Joan in the sixth and last scenario of the Frankish campaign.
[[hardline]]
!!Sieur Betrand and Sieur de Metz
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoe2_5_sieurbertrandsieurdemetz.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Sieur Bertrand (Left) and Sieur de Metz (Right)]]
Two French knights who escorted Joan of Arc to Chinon so that she may meet the Dauphin.\\\

* ThoseTwoGuys

!!Dauphin Charles VII
The Dauphin (Prince) of France. Joan's mission is making him King of France, instead of the English.\\\
[[hardline]]
!!Duke Jean d' Alencon
A French duke who aids Joan of Arc in breaking the siege of Orleans.\\\
[[hardline]]
!!La Hire
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoe2_6_lahire.jpg]]

A French BloodKnight, represented by an extremly powerful champion. He serves as TheLancer to Joan first, and then Guy.\\\

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: La Hire was long dead before the Battle of Castillon, yet he's present in "A Perfect Martyr", which represents said battle.
* {{BFS}}: The unit representing him, the strongest infantry swordsman, wields one.
* TheBigGuy: To Joan in the third scenario and to Guy in the sixth.
* BloodKnight: Sounds almost psychotic.
-->'''La Hire:''' The blood on La Hire's sword is almost dry.
* LargeHam: "Ah, La Hire wishes to kill something".
* MadeOfIron: La Hire is the ONLY unit in all of Age of Empires 2 who is simply "grievously wounded" if he gets killed in the 3rd Joan of Arc scenario, in spite of you being able to see his corpse rot. Gameplay limitations aside, he reappears for the 6th scenario but if he falls in battle there, it will be confirmed that he has perished.
* NeckSnap: His plan for a few English soldiers at Patay, according to Josseline.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname[=/=]RedBaron: La Hire means "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Wrath]]". For the curious, [[AllThereInTheManual the historical La Hire's name was]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Hire Etienne de Vignolles.]]
* ThirdPersonPerson: La Hire never says the word "I". Just "La Hire."
[[hardline]]
!!Sir John Fastolf
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoe2_7_sirjohnfastolf.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:256:some caption text]]
An extremely arrogant English knight, and the antagonist of the third level in Joan of Arc. Represented by the KnightlyLance hero unit.\\\

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Continuously dismisses Joan's forces as a bunch of worthless rams and cattle. It counts as HypocriticalHumor, given that most of the time he's just sending [[WeHaveReserves wave upon wave]] of knights and rams to attack your base.
* BonusBoss: In the third scenario he will personally storm your base with some elite troops if you destroy one of the English Castles, but neither killing him nor defeating his ''bloody tough'' armies is vital to win the scenario.
%%* EvilBrit
* FaceDeathWithDignity: If killed, he says "I die for England." He actually survived the battle of Patay in real life, and was labelled as a DirtyCoward for ''the next 13 years'' for it. Even after that his reputation never fully recovered, and Shakespeare immortalizing him as the buffoonish Falstaff did not help.
* HypocriticalHumor: He mocks Joan's reliance on knights and rams while commanding a force of nothing but knights and rams himself.
* KnightlyLance: As is typical of commanders in the Joan of Arc campaign.
* MirrorBoss: As a unit, his base stats are identical to Joan's aside from having worse line of sight. He also attacks you with knights and rams in a scenario where you're likely to use a lot of knights and rams yourself.
* WakeUpCallBoss: "Fastolf's Army advanced to the Imperial Age." He is the first enemy AI that hits the Imperial Age, all while the player can only advance to the Castle Age. A battle with him becomes Cavaliers and Capped Rams vs the player's Knights and Battering Rams. Thankfully, he seems somewhat handicapped and only has a few Imperial Age technologies available to him.
* WeHaveReserves: He never runs out of knights.
[[hardline]]
!!Jean de Lorrain
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoe2_8_jeandelorrain.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:256:some caption text]]
A French cannoneer who fought in the Siege of Paris.\\\
[[hardline]]
!!Lord de Graville
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoe2_9_lorddegraville.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:256:some caption text]]
[[hardline]]
!!Constable Richemont
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoe2_10_constablerichemont.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:256:some caption text]]
The Breton nobleman and commander of the French army.\\\

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: He was involved in the Battle of Patay but doesn't appear in "The Cleansing of the Loire," and he wasn't present in the Battle of Castillon but he appears in "A Perfect Martyr."
[[hardline]]
!!Jean Bureau
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoe2_11_jeanbureau.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:256:some caption text]]
A French artillery commander and siege engineer in the Battle of Castillon.\\\

* PaperTiger: He somehow has the worst stats compared to a normal Bombard Cannon.
[[hardline]]
!Saladin (Saracens)

!!Saladin
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoe2_12_saladin.jpg]]
%% [[caption-width-right:256:some caption text]]
The leader of the Saracens, and the protagonist of his campaign, as well as a FinalBoss of the Barbarossa campaign. Does not appear in-game, but in the expansions he's introduced as an heroic Mameluke unit.\\\

* CulturedBadass: The narrator highlights how refined and educated he, and the rest of the Saracen civilization, is.
* TheGhost: He never appears in the campaigns.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: As the narrator noted, he became more and more ruthless as the crusaders continued the war. However, his admiration for Richard the Lionhearted seems to restore his gallantry, as he provides food and medical aid to him after the Siege of Acre and signs a peace treaty with the Crusaders the following year.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: In reality, the gentle treatment of prisoners mentioned by the narrator after the battle of Hattin only extended to barons and higher-ranked nobles (except Reynald). The other captured knights and soldiers were sold into slavery if they couldn't afford a ransom, while Templars and Hospitallers were beheaded (except the Master of the Templar, who was ransomed), as were turcopoles (locally recruited Christian horse archers), as Saladin considered them traitors to Islam.
* SilentProtagonist: He has no lines of dialogue; even when he specifically appears as an enemy player in the last Barbarossa mission, the Saracen reaction to the Teutons' arrival in the Holy Land is spoken by "Saracens" instead of Saladin himself. Averted in the ''Definitive Edition'', where the aforementioned line of dialogue ''is'' said by Saladin.
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: The narrator, a captured crusader, routinely notes how different Saladin and [[HeroWithBadPublicity his portrayal by Europeans]] is.
* TheWorfEffect: In ''Battles of the Forgotten'', it is mentioned that Saladin was often defeated by Richard the Lionheart during the Third Crusade, after the siege of Acre (which he lost, by the way).

!!Reynald de Chatillon

A French knight working for the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the first enemy of the Saladin campaign. Is represented by the KnightlyLance hero unit.\\\

* ArchEnemy: Ends up becoming one for Saladin.
* BlackKnight: He is a knight and a complete psychopath.
* TheDragon: For Jerusalem, in the battle of Hattin.
* FieryRedhead: Has red hair and moustache.
* FrenchJerk: He's referred to as a "wicked French knight" by the narration.
* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: Considering how brutal the real Reynald was, what the game lists his actions are is arguable tame by comparison.
* KnightlyLance: Like most French campaign commanders.
* OffWithHisHead: Captured and beheaded by Saladin himself.

!!Richard the Lionhearted

The FinalBoss of the Saladin campaign, a minor ally in the final level of Barbarossa and the protagonist of the Cyprus scenario in the Battles of the Forgotten. Represented by a powerful paladin unit.\\\

* AscendedExtra: Becomes the main protagonist of Cyprus.
* GeniusBruiser: A resourceful tactician and an expert warrior. Subverted in Cyprus, where his answer to hostilities from the local Sicilians and Cypriots is to steamroll their defenses and crush them until they surrender, with no finesse whatsoever.
* GratuitousFrench: Mentioned that he spoke French, rather than English.
* {{Jerkass}}: Even the narration of Cyprus admit that, despite his military prowess he has many social faults and his behaviour outside of combat leaves much to be desired. This may explain why Philip August of France and King Tancred of Sicily aren't too fond of him.
* OutOfCharacterMoment: In the Barbarossa Campaign, he appears with a small force outside the Saracen's walls surrounding Jerusalem, but sounds more fatalistic and stoic. He is also very likely to die and only serves as a brief distraction for your enemies. Averted in ''Definitive Edition'', where he starts out with a large base and more troops, finally more than a match for the Saracens.
** In ''Battles of the Forgotten'', he appears instead as a rather rude, straightforward monarch who adopts brute force to solve any situation he's in (like forcefully invade and conquer Messina and Cyprus), and his later tactical exploits against Saladin depicts him as a military genius so great you'd think they're describing your standard MaryTzu. (While he indeed won against Saladin multiple times, he was unable to actually conquer Jerusalem, as stated in the narration).
* WorthyOpponent: Ends up being one for Saladin after Acre.

!Genghis Khan (Mongols)

!!Genghis Khan

The protagonist of the Mongol campaign. Appears only in the first level, as a powerful mangudai unit. Voiced by Rick May.\\\

* AchillesInHisTent: Slipping into TheGhost, the second scenario of his campaign commands you to defend Genghis's tent from his enemies, but he does not appear as an unit. It is at best unclear if he's ''inside'' the tent; if the tent is destroyed, the narrator will [[DeadpanSnarker merely quip]] that the Khan will not like it.
* AdvertisedExtra: He only appears at the beginning of the first scenario and is never playable.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Even his heroic unit is quite powerful, you just never get to use him.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Infamous for inflicting horrible tortures and executions on prisoners and defeated.
* ForTheEvulz: After destroying Khorezm, the Mongols enjoy themselves making mountains out of the decapitated heads of men, women, children, horses, dogs and cats, and sow the Khorezmian fields with salt.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: In the campaign, you have to defend Genghis Khan's tent during he second scenario, which is represented by a lavish Mongol wonder. In reality, Genghis Khan was famous for keeping the same modest lifestyle he was born in, sleeping in a common yurt even at the height of his conquests. The cutscenes are true to the latter.
* GreaterScopeVillain: His conquest of Cumania ultimately leads to the events of the Kotyan Khan campaign, but Genghis himself is only mentioned once, and most of the actual fighting is overseen by his lieutenant Subotai.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade:
** The cutscene after "Crucible" says that Genghis ordered the chiefs who refused to follow him to be boiled alive. According to "The Secret History of the Mongols", it was Genghis's rival Jamukha (who is not referenced in the campaign) who had Genghis's generals boiled alive after capturing them.
** In "TheHorde Rides West", Genghis sends two assassins disguised as merchants to kill the Shah of Khorezm without being at war with him yet. In the event that inspired this scenario, a caravan of actual Mongol merchants were rounded up by a Khorezmian governor [[KickTheDog and executed]] [[VillainBall for no apparent reason]] (and [[LeeroyJenkins without informing the Shah to boot]]). When the Shah refused to punish the governor for this (mostly because said governor was also his uncle) and executed the Mongol envoys demanding restitution, the Khan's outrage resulted in Genghis' RoaringRampageOfRevenge and the [[DisproportionateRetribution complete destruction of Khorezm as a state]] (Genghis also tried to assassinate the Shah later, but he escaped to an island in the Caspian Sea; the game's mission is therefore a combination of multiple events). Even historians sympathetic to Genghis agree that [[StrawmanHasAPoint he used merchants as spies anyway]], however.
* TheHorde: Leads one.
%%* HorseArcher
* LargeHam: In the one speaking role he has.
* ModestRoyalty: Despite owning half of Asia, he dies in a yurt as humble as the one he was born in. The narrator hints that his descendants won't be as humble.
* RagsToRiches: His mother hunted rodents to not die of starvation. His children eat from Persian gold plates.
* RapePillageAndBurn: "Four Mongol tribes follow the standard of Genghis Khan. The rest of the world will soon learn ''fear''". Oh, indeed.
* TakeUpMySword: He gets his son Ogatai to take his bow, and continue the Mongol conquest into Europe.
* VillainProtagonist: Arguably he can be considered one.
* YouAreInCommandNow: According to the narrator, in his deathbed he "refuses to die" until one of his sons agrees to take control of his horde and invade Europe, upon which he names him his heir.

!!Ornlu The Wolf

A wolf carrying a minor role in the Genghis Khan campaign. The task to convince the Uighurs to join Genghis, is to kill Ornlu and his pack. A renamed version of him, called Son of Ornlu, inexplicably appears in Montezuma. He is a very powerful wolf.\\\

* BreakoutVillain: Despite his minor role, he is the best remembered of the fictional characters invented for the game. The fan made expansion ''Forgotten Empires'' gives Ornlu his very own Hero icon. Yep, the fans decided that spending their time making a Hero icon for only scenario-available Ornlu the Wolf was worth the time and effort.
* MythologyGag: There are references to him in both Age of Mythology and Age of Empires III. And he turns up in the Montezuma campaign and Vinlandsaga missions in the Conquerors as well.
* SavageWolves: Ornlu is such a problem for a particular tribe that they will pledge loyalty to Genghis if he resolves it for them.

!!Kushluk

The antagonist of the second level of Genghis Khan. Represented by a cavalier unit.\\\

* DirtyCoward: He flees as soon as he sees Genghis' men coming.
* TheHorde: Leads one.
* GetBackHereBoss: Flees immediately after the defeat of the Khara Khitai.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: He sports a brutal one over his left eye, who is missing.
%%* WarmupBoss

!!Subotai

TheLancer to Genghis, and later, Ogatai. Represented by a cavalry archer. Also appears in the Kotyan Khan campaign as the antagonist.\\\

* AssistCharacter: The Wolves gain a speed boost when they're directed at enemies, attack very quickly, and have the healing factor bestowed upon all Hero units.
* BigBad: For the first half of the Kotyan Khan campaign.
* BigDamnHeroes: In the last scenario after forty minutes of Hungarian siege, he arrives followed by a generous amount of saboteurs to save the day.
* CanineCompanion: His two hunting wolves. Possibly a reference to his title of "Dog of War."
* TheHeavy: Set in motion Kotyan's evacuation from Cumania, after suppressing the Kipchaks then laying [[CurbStompBattle a brutal beat down on the combined Cuman-Rus' forces]] in the Battle of Kalka River. He continued to pursue Kotyan with an elite army and Chinese siege weapons.
* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: Subotai was actually extremely obese and had to be pulled around in a cart. He was such an asset to the Mongol army as a strategist that nobody minded hauling him around. Age of Kings presents Subotai as a rather lean man and the fastest military unit in the game.
* TheHorde: Leads the ones that conquer Russia and Hungary.
%%* HorseArcher
* TheLancer: To Genghis and later his son.
* TheQuietOne: He has lines, but they are short.
-->'''Subotai:''' Subotai's here!
** Averted in the Kotyan Khan campaign, where he's ''very'' [[TheComputerShallTauntYou taunt-ative]].
* RightHandAttackDog: His wolves.
* ThirdPersonPerson: His BadassBoast when he arrives in the last scenario.

!Barbarossa (Teutons)

!!Frederick Barbarossa

The protagonist of the teuton campaign. Appears in the final level, after his death, as the Emperor in A Barrel unit, which is a trade cart with more health. The expanions added him as a unique Teutonic Knight unit.\\\

* AntiClimax: His death during the long march towards the Holy Land; he drowns in the cutscene after the penultimate mission.
* EscortMission: Technically the last one, where the player has to make sure that a cart containing Barbarossa's ''body'' reaches Jerusalem.
* FieryRedhead: Barbarossa means "Red Beard" in Italian. While the cutscenes are not colorized, his expansion-available unit hows him with red hair and beard.
* TheGhost: Never actually seen in game.
* TheHero: Though some people may consider him a VillainProtagonist.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: The real Barbarossa had to put down rebellions in Germany, but not one [[PragmaticAdaptation seemingly comprised of all electoral princes going up in arms at once right after his election]]. He wasn't the leading man in Germany's expansion to the east, but something that Henry the Lion did mostly on his own (Henry ruled Saxony, which was by the frontier then, so any expansion of the frontier resulted in the Lion's own land and wealth being increased). And his conflict with the Lion himself wasn't as black and white as presented in the game (see below).
* PragmaticAdaptation: Barbarossa launched ''five'' wars in Italy, and the conflict with the Pope (who was sometimes on the side of the Emperor against the Italian rebels and often had different goals than them) was far more tortuous and complicated than just a dispute over who had authority over the other. It also involved several popes, including ''three'' of them at once (rather than two as in the game), and Barbarossa switched allegiance between two popes more than once.
* PuppetKing: The UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire is an ElectiveMonarchy and the electoral princes, the Church and the Italian merchant cities have grown accostumed to consider the imperial title meaningless. Barbarossa's long time objective is to put an end to this.

!!Henry the Lion

TheStarscream to Barbarossa, later implied to be the narrator of his campaign, commanding forces in the second and fourth levels though he does not appear as an unit until Definitive Edition, where he's an heroic knight. Voiced by Spencer Prokop.\\\

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: In the game, he betrays Barbarossa and tries to usurp the Imperial throne, is defeated but forgiven, then betrays him again at the absolute worst time. [[PutOnABus The second time is the last.]]
* TheDragon: He was meant to be Barbarossa's Dragon in-game. He ends up turning on Barbarossa twice and becomes The Dragon for the Lombard League the second time.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: He has his own interests and betrays Barbarossa twice when they conflict with his.
* FaceHeelTurn: Twice.
* TheGhost: Never seen in game.
* HistoricalInJoke: His final narration ("I'm an old man now. What harm could I possibly do?") [[note]]Henry was ''notorious'' for destroying the city of Bardowick in 1189, when he was in his late 50s/early 60s. ''Only the churches of the city were left standing after he was done''.[[/note]]
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade:
** In reality, Henry the Lion never tried to usurp the Imperial throne and title from Barbarossa, nor took up arms against him while Barbarossa was fighting Poland. Henry the Lion was the one that made war in the east (against the last remaining Pagan tribes in the Pomerania region, rather than the actual Kingdom of Poland) [[StrawmanHasAPoint though it was to serve his own interest and his troops were renowned for their cruelty]].
** His part in the campaign(s) against Milan, where he served Barbarossa faithfully, is not mentioned.
** The Lion didn't rebel and ally with the Lombard League against Barbarossa either. All he did was not providing troops for Barbarossa's fifth Italian campaign (having supported and fought himself for him in other previous ones) because he was waging another war in the east at the time. When Barbarossa was defeated he blamed it on Henry, declared him an outlaw and stripped him of all his lands. The fact that Henry (who was actually Barbarossa's cousin) had collected ''a lot'' of land and power during Barbarossa's reign made him the perfect scapegoat, because many other nobles resented him already for that. The Lion did, however, return to Germany with a vengeance when Barbarossa left on Crusade, but was defeated and submitted to Barbarossa's son's authority years later.
* NarratorAllAlong: Implied in the last cutscene. Henry the Lion and the narrator share the same voice actor, but this is also true of [[ActingForTwo many unrelated characters]] in the game, so they disregarded it before TheReveal.
* PragmaticAdaptation:
** His HistoricalVillainUpgrade.
** In the cutscenes, he goes into exile in England and when his identity is revealed, he claims to be too old to take up arms again. In real life, he took exile in Normandy (part of France, but ruled by the King of England [[note]]Henry II, who was also his father-in-law; this also makes Henry Richard the Lionheart's brother-in-law [[/note]], destroyed a city (Bardowick) in revenge for siding with Barbarossa against him, was defeated by Barbarossa's son, accepted to submit in exchange for a minimal part of his former lands, and ''then'' decided he was too old to fight and became a quiet patron of the arts.
* {{Put on a B|us}}oat: He marches to exile in England after betraying Barbarossa a second time.
* TheStarscream: He appears twice, and he betrays Barbarossa twice.
* YouAllMeetInAnInn: He tells the story to the player in a tavern.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Conquerors Campaigns]]
!Attila (Huns)

!!Attila the Hun

The protagonist of the Hunnic campaign. Is an extra powerful cataphract unit in the HD version, and a unique cavalry unit in Definitive Edition.\\\

* AntiClimax: As with Barbarossa. Death by nosebleed in his wedding night seems pretty anticlimatic for such a ruthless, powerful leader. [[note]]His funeral was still pretty badass. His men considered tears unmanly and so cut their bodies to shed blood.[[/note]]
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: He is both a powerful unit in the campaign and noted for his fighting in the cutscenes.
* BadBoss: The cutscene leading to the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields has Attila throwing the first spear and then turning back to his army to say that whoever remains still while Attila fights is a dead man.
%%* BeardOfEvil
* CainAndAbel: With Bleda, though it is [[EvilVersusEvil impossible to say who's who]].
* CoolSword: Wields a rusty blade, which he claims to be Mars' sword.
* EvilVersusEvil: There is no love lost in his fight for power with Bleda.
* ForTheEvulz: After massacring his way through Gaul, he puts the heads of his victims in a line of stakes. There are enough to cover all the way from Gaul to Pannonia (modern Hungary).
* HiddenDepths: The stories of the Franks and Romans portray him more as a monster than a man and he leads his Huns in plenty of RapePillageAndBurn campaigns. However, he personally negotiates an alliance with the Scythians, he eats from a wooden plate and cup instead of using the huge quantities of gold he obtains for his Huns, he spares one of the narrators, Father Armand, after the Battle of Châlons and he decides to turn his army around when at the gates of Rome.
* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: The first scenario begins with Bleda's death (at least in most plays) and Attila leading the Huns alone against Persians and Romans. In real life, Bleda and Attila ruled together during the invasion of Persia and the first invasion of the Roman-held Balkans... and the surviving sources imply that Bleda dominated over Attila.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade:
** A very minor one, if the player so chooses. In real life Attila killed Bleda in a calculated power grab. If the player chooses to save Bleda from the Iron Boar then in the mission Attila still has to kill Bleda in self-defense.
** Later on, Attila has the chance to rescue some Hunnic Villagers and a Scythian prince that are prisoners of the Romans. The prince allows you to ally with the Scythians against the Romans and Persians. In real life, the Huns demanded the Romans to hand over several tribes who had willingly defected to them over their opposition to Bleda and Attila, and had their leaders crucified for converting to Christianity. It was the Huns who took Roman prisoners and negotiated their release for gold. And the Huns didn't as much ally with the Scythians as simply invade their lands and force them to serve in their army.
* HopelessWar: The [[AllPropheciesAreTrue Hunnic shamans predict]] that Attila will lose at the Catalaunian Fields, but that the enemy's leader will be killed. Attila considers it a just trade and fights anyway.
* TheHorde: Leads a brutal one into Europe.
* ModestRoyalty: Attila continues to eat from a simple, wooden bowl while plundering the Romans.
* OutWithABang: Maybe it's not as glorious as dying in battle, but having a fatal nosebleed while getting to know his brand-new wife has quite the appeal.
* RapePillageAndBurn: The whole Attila Campaign can be summed as this.
* RedBaron: "The Scourge of God."
* SilentProtagonist: Despite being a playable unit in the first and last scenarios, he never speaks, barring the Huns' generic military unit sounds shared with the Mongols.
* SinisterScimitar: In ''Definitive Edition'', his hero model wields a single-edged curved saber fitting a nomad marauder.
* StarCrossedLovers: The Roman emperor's sister offered him her hand, and he was very aboard the idea ([[AltarDiplomacy mainly because it gave him a claim on the Empire]]). Unfortunately, the Emperor really wasn't hot about it, and Attila ultimately never even met the gal face to face.
* VillainProtagonist: Despite the upgrades, the narrator clearly thinks of him and the rest of the Huns as wicked.

!!Bleda the Hun

The brother of Attila, and a WarmupBoss in his campaign. Represented by a Mangudai with melee damage, inexplicably. In Definitive Edition he's an heroic Steppe Lancer instead.\\\

%%* BeardOfEvil
%%* CainAndAbel: With Attila.
* DirtyCoward: Bleda challenges Attila to hunt the "Iron Boar" at the beginning of the first Attila the Hun campaign scenario. He has Archers hidden in the place where the Iron Boar lairs. If Attila decides to betray Bleda and return to camp, the Archers will testify against him to the rest of the Hun army causing half of the army to attack Attila. If Attila saves Bleda from the Boar, Bleda will order his archers to attack Attila.
* EvilVersusEvil: His conflict with Attila.
* HealingFactor: Subverted in that Bleda is actually a named, regular unit and lacks the healing factor of the Hero units of the game. Even in the map editor, he appears under the regular units tab and not under the Hero units tab. This was fixed in ''The African Kingdoms''.
* HorseArcher: Technically. Averted completely in the ''Definitive Edition'', where he's represented as a Steppe Lancer (albeit with 0 range instead of the usual 1).
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Bleda uses the same model as the Mongol unique unit, the Mangudai... which makes no sense because the Mangudai is a horse archer and Bleda is a melee unit. This results in Bleda running up to units and firing an arrow from his bow at point blank range upward away from his enemies...
** Rectified in ''Definitive Edition'', where he gets to wield a spear instead.
* UngratefulBastard: If Attila kills the Iron Boar before it can kill Bleda, then Bleda will order hidden archers to kill Attila. He actually acknowledges that Attila saved his life before giving this order.

!!Flavius Aetius

The West Roman general fighting Attila in the latter part of the campaign, although he never appears.\\\

* ClimaxBoss: Though you never see him directly in game, the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields count as this.
* HeroAntagonist: Technically for Attila's Campaign.
%%* TheGhost
* MightyWhitey: He was raised among the Huns, making him [[ToKnowHimIMustBecomeHim Rome's best choice to deal with them]].
* RetiredBadass: Retires after the battle of the Catalaunian Fields, allowing Attila to invade Rome.
* ToKnowHimIMustBecomeHim: Lived among the Huns before joining Rome's army and fighting them.
* WorthyOpponent: To Attila.

!!Father Armand

The source of information for Attila's campaign and his atrocities, as he tells Attila's tale to the narrator. A peaceful monk who's troubled by what he had to witness... or maybe not.\\\

* DistressedDude: Attila decided to abduct him after the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, and made him complicit in his following raids and brutalities.
* EvilFeelsGood: After relating to his young acolyte all of Attila's crimes, Armand actually confesses ''he misses when he participated to the bloodbath.''
* RetiredMonster: His tale first presents him as a victim of a tribal chief's cruelty, right until Armand admits he ''enjoyed'' serving Attila.
* ShellShockedVeteran: The Catalaunian Fields left a ''deep'' impression on him.
%%* OriginalCharacter
* WhamLine: His last words about being forced into Attila's campaign as a soldier. "Sometimes... [[EvilFeelsGood I miss it]]."
* YouWillBeSpared: Attila was reluctant to kill a holy man, so he integrated him to his retinue instead.

!El Cid (Spanish and Saracens)

!!Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, a.k.a. "El Cid"

The protagonist of the Spanish campaign, represented by a Champion at first, but after acquiring [[CoolHorse Bavieca]], a KnightlyLance.\\\

%%* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking
* {{BFS}}: His sword Tizona. However, while on horseback he wields a jousting lance instead.
* BigDamnHeroes: In the fourth scenario, where he has to save King Alfonso's troops from the Black Guards.
* CoolHorse: Bavieca.
* DashingHispanic: Probably the most iconic hispanic badass.
* ElCidPloy: [[TropeNamers Obviously.]] The player can't let the enemy damage [[OfCorpseHeIsAlive his tied-up corpse]] in the last scenario or the ruse will be discovered.
* TheHero: Undisputed, even by his enemies.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: A lot is made of his honorability and religious tolerance. In real life, the first things he did after taking Valencia were burning alive the governor and turning the main mosques into churches (even though his forces also included Muslims and he was ''de jure'' under the command of a Muslim lord, Mutamid).
%%* KnightInShiningArmor
* KnightlyLance: El Cid Campeador is represented by a Knight unit.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Which made him famous for his loyalty.
* OneManArmy: Probably the strongest hero unit the player is ever given control of.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: He becomes King after taking Valencia.
* SilentProtagonist: Doesn't speak in his campaign.
* WorkingClassHero: While an aristocrat, he's a minor noble and the crux of his conflcit is with the far more powerful King Alfonso.

!!Jimena Díaz

The wife of El Cid, and the narrator of his campaign. Voiced by Melinda Renna.\\\

* DelayedNarratorIntroduction: She only clarifies her true part in El Cid's story when the second mission starts.
* HappilyMarried: To El Cid.
* TheHighQueen: Is the wife of El Cid, and becomes sole-reigning queen of Valencia after the defeat of Yusuf.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The only female narrator, until Maria in the Ivaylo campaign.
* WidowWoman: In the last mission, since El Cid was killed right before it starts.

!!King Sancho

The king of Castille, and an useful ally to El Cid in the first map, until he dies. Represented by the non-combatant king unit.\\\

* CainAndAbel: The Abel to Alfonso.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: In the cutscenes, Sancho is bearded and Alfonso is not. In the scenarios, it's the opposite.
* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: In the game, he is portrayed as the victim of Alfonso's ambition. In reality, Sancho was the greedy ruler who wanted to add his brother's crown to his own list of titles. [[note]] Their father Ferdinand divided his kingdom among his three sons in his will: the eldest, Sancho, received Castile; the second, Alfonso, León; and from the latter, the region of Galicia was carved off to create a separate state for García. Ferdinand's two daughters each received cities: Elvira that of Toro and Urraca that of Zamora. In giving them these territories, he expressed his desire that they respect his wishes and abide by the split. However, soon after Fernando's death, Sancho and Alfonso turned on García and defeated him. They then fought each other, the victorious Sancho reuniting their father's possessions under his control in 1072. However, Sancho was killed that same year and the territories passed to Alfonso, as depicted in-game.[[/note]]
* TheGoodKing: As part of his HistoricalVillainDowngrade.
* SacrificialLion: Is assassinated between maps by Alfonso.

!!King Alfonso

The villainous king of León, and after Sancho's death, of Castile. He is constantly fighting and allying with El Cid through several maps. Represented by the non-combatant king unit.\\\

%%* AristocratsAreEvil
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: While Alfonso did historically betray a brother, that brother was García, not Sancho. In fact, Alfonso and Sancho double-teamed on García before turning on each other.
* BeardOfEvil: He sports one in the animated cutscenes, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation although he is clean-shaven in the scenarios.]]
* CainAndAbel: The Cain to Sancho.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: He keeps backstabbing El Cid even after being rescued by him.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: In the cutscenes, Sancho is bearded and Alfonso is not. In the scenarios, it's the opposite.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: In the game, he seems to lack any positive trait.
%%* KarmaHoudini
* PetTheDog: His one redeeming moment was when he insisted on attending El Cid's funeral in the final cutscene.
%%* {{Slimeball}}
* UngratefulBastard: Is one towards El Cid.

!!Yusuf

The leader of the Black Guard Berbers that invade Spain to stop the Christian advance in the Reconquista. Never appears in game.\\\

* BigBad: Of the later half of El Cid's campaign.
* EnemyCivilWar: Is gone after his defeat in the fourth mission, because he has to take care of a Berber civil war in Africa.
* TheFaceless: Jimena notes that his face is always covered.
* TheFundamentalist: In contrast to the local Muslim rulers like Mutamid.
* TheGhost: Never appears in person.
* GoneHorriblyWrong: The Iberian Muslims call him to help them against the Christians, but then he proceeds to submit ones and others alike.
* OutsideContextProblem: Christians and Muslims have been fighting each other in Spain for centuries. The Almoravids then arrive with the intention to swallow everything for themselves.

!!Mutamid

The friendly Muslim King of Zaragoza. He puts El Cid at his service after he is exiled by King Alfonso. Never appears in game.\\\

* CompositeCharacter: A combination of three historical kings: al-Mutamid of Seville, al-Qadir of Toledo, and al-Mutaman of Zaragoza.
%%* TheGoodKing
* IdleRich: No wonder the moment El Cid is not by his side, his kingdom goes down and he is deposed by Yusuf.
%%* NiceGuy

!!Count Berenguer

The Count of Barcelona, trying to expand his territories by attacking the Moorish cities of Zaragoza and Valencia that El Cid is tasked to protect. Does not appear in person.\\\

%%* AristocratsAreEvil
* AdaptedOut: His [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramon_Berenguer_II,_Count_of_Barcelona twin brother]], who was his co-ruler for a while, before the brothers fell out and divided their possessions between them.
* ArrangedMarriage: His [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramon_Berenguer_III,_Count_of_Barcelona nephew]] is married to El Cid's daughter to unite them after the wars. [[note]]Said nephew was also his co-ruler, due to the circumstances of his brother's death.[[/note]]
* BigBad: He has nothing to do with Yusuf, but whenever he isn't around, Berenguer can be trusted as an opponent.
* TheGhost: Never appears in person.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Zig-zagged due to the reverse treatment given to El Cid, and the fact that Berenguer himself was suspected of fratricide[[note]]His brother, Ramon Berenguer, died in a HuntingAccident, which is widely blamed on him. It was because of this accusation that his rule was troubled, and he eventually had to appoint his nephew as co-ruler (the one who married El Cid's (second) daughter)[[/note]].
* KarmaHoudini: Although he is briefly imprisoned, he escapes real punishment.[[note]]Historically, he resigned in 1097, leaving his nephew as sole ruler of Barcelona. After the resignation, records on his life became more obscure. Still living under the accusations of his brother's assassination, the guilt of which may have been determined by trial by combat, which he lost, he went to Jerusalem, either on pilgrimage, as a penance, or as part of the First Crusade, and perished there between 1097 and 1099.[[/note]]

!Montezuma (Aztecs)

!!Montezuma

The focal character of the Montezuma campaign, though arguably not the protagonist; that would probably be his nephew, Cuauhtemoc. Never appears in person.\\\

* DecoyProtagonist: [[NeverTrustATitle Despite giving his name to the campaign]], the real protagonist is Cuauhtemoc.
* DistressedDude: For part of the campaign.
* TheGhost: Never seen in person in the campaign.
* IdleRich: Never seen doing anything towards the maintainence of his empire.
* NonActionGuy: A major problem during the invasion of the Spanish.

!!Cuauhtemoc

The protagonist and narrator of the Montezuma campaign, becoming emperor after his uncle's death. A Jaguar Warrior in La Noche Triste is heavily implied to be him, and was later made into an actual hero unit in the shape of an Eagle Warrior.\\\

* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Cuauhtemoc is the narrator for the Montezuma campaign. The story is some sort of journal or a chronicle written down by him. The first scenario starting cutscene is prefaced with "Passed down to you by Cuauhtemoc, Eagle Warrior of Tenochtitlan." The second starts with him as Cuauhtemoc, Jaguar Warrior of Tenochtitlan. The fifth mission dramatically and slowly starts with Cuauhtemoc, Emperor of Tenochtitlan. He then relates his crowning by the priests, which is not so awesome because Tenochtitlan had just been wracked by warfare and the only reason he succeeded was due to Montezuma's death. [[note]]Historically, Cuauhtemoc also ascended the throne after his predecessor's death. However, said predecessor is Cuitláhuac (Montezuma's brother), not Montezuma himself. Cuitláhuac died after a reign of 80 days, likely due to smallpox.[[/note]]
%%* CarryABigStick
* NemeanSkinning: Expected when he is Jaguar Warrior, to wear a Jaguar skin.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: The Jaguar Warrior armed with a very high attack during the fourth scenario of the campaign is implied to be Cuauhtemoc; at the time of the scenario, Cuauhtemoc is a Jaguar Warrior and the particular Jaguar has the same voice actor. He is the sole unit you begin the scenario with and recruits other soldiers to eventually retake the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. However, he is not a Hero unit and if he dies it is not mentioned and the scenario continues.
* WarriorPrince: Cuauhtemoc mentions a few times that he's Montezuma's nephew, and seems to be the unseen commander of your troops during the campaign.
* YouAreInCommandNow: After Montezuma dies in La Noche Triste. [[note]]Historically, the details of Montezuma's death are unknown, with different versions of his demise given by different sources.[[/note]]

!!Hernán Cortés

The antagonist of the Montezuma campaign. He never appears in person.\\\

* BigBad: Of the Aztecs' campaign.
%%* TheGhost
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: A common trait among the conquistadors although they do fight for glory as well (their own or Spain's).
* OutsideContextProblem: To the Aztecs. The Tlaxcalans have a few skirmishes with him, but soon become allies.

!Battles of the Conquerors (Several)

!!Henry V

The protagonist and leader of the Britons in the Agincourt scenario. Represented by a powerful Paladin unit.\\\

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking
%%* TheHero
* EscortMission: Becomes one by the end of the map, when your only objective becomes taking him back to England.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething
%%* StiffUpperLip

!!William The Conqueror

The protagonist and leader of the Franks in the Hastings scenario, represented by a paladin unit.\\\

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Is a quite strong paladin unit.
%%* TheHero
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Much like in RealLife.

!!Harold The Saxon

The antagonist of the Hastings scenario, the leader of the Saxons. Does not appear in person.\\\

* EvilGloating: Although YMMV on the evilness, he gloats a whole lot during the mission. As soon as William's forces get in a transport ship and set for England, he says, with all due smugness:
--> '''Harold''': ''Go home, young William. This island will remain Saxon!''
* TheGhost: He's never seen.
* SmugSnake: Constantly gloats and brags to William, even when his defeat is imminent.

!!Harald Hardraade

A Berserker and leader of the Vikings appearing in Hastings, whom can be allied with William, if the player chooses, and can be used as an army. Represented by a ranged berserker unit.\\\
* TheBerserker: He is a Berserker. That throws axes.
%%* FieryRedhead
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: He can live up to the very end of the scenario and even participate in the final objective of destroying Harold the Saxon's Castle even though he is your rival to the throne, as opposed to RealLife where there wasn't any significant contact between them and Harald launched his own invasion that was separate from William's. The endgame cutscene mentions him dying at the Battle of Stamford Bridge before Harold fights William.
%%* HornyVikings
* TheLancer: To William, if they choose to ally.
* TookALevelInBadass: He was actually present in ''Age of Kings'' under the name Harold Hardraade, being essentially a glorified Monk (with extra HP, as well as twice the speed and conversion rate of a normal monk). From ''Conquerors'' onward, he's a powerful warrior who can chop enemies to pieces by lobbing axes at them.

!!Erik The Red

The protagonist of the Vinlandsaga scenario, represented by a Berserker unit.\\\
* TheBerserker: As any good viking hero should be.
* BoldExplorer: Notable because, unlike most other heroes, he is not a warlord or aristocrat in any way. He is actually a fairly common viking man, and not doing conquest, actually just exploring instead. If anything, he's trying to save his fellow vikings from famine by searching for a better land.
* CompositeCharacter: Erik the Red was forced out of Norway, went to Iceland, was forced out of Iceland, founded the first Viking settlement in Greenland. Erik stayed in Greenland while his son, Leif Erikson, founded the first settlement in Vinland. In the game, Erik is forced out of Norway, but Iceland is not in the map. Instead, he goes directly to Greenland, which is already settled by (hostile) Norse, and then founds a settlement in Vinland.
%%* FieryRedhead
%%* HornyVikings
%%* WorkingClassHero

!!Charles Martel

The protagonist and leader of the Franks in the Tours scenario, represented by a Throwing Axeman unit.\\\

* TheHeroDies: He can, and it's one of the few times where the Hero CAN die without any consequence. One of his soldiers claim the Franks hearts will not be in the fighting, but there are zero repercussions. He survived the battle in real life and the ending cutscene treats him as if he survived regardless of gameplay events.
* RedBaron: "The Hammer"

!!Yi Sun-Sin

The protagonist and leader of the Koreans in the Noryang Point scenario, represented by a Turtle Ship.\\\

* CoolBoat: He rides around in a suped-up Turtle Ship, the only Hero ship unit. He also invented them.
%%* FatherNeptune
* TheHeroDies: An inversion of Charles Martel. He can die in the game and the scenario will continue on. HOWEVER, after winning the mission the narrator states that he died in the fighting as he did in real life but the Koreans still won the battle and eventually the war [[ElCidPloy with his nephew putting on his armor and pretending that he is still alive until the battle is won]].
* OneManArmy: His personal ship is fully capable of finishing the mission on its own once the player gets it.

!!UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga

A samurai in the Kyoto map, who is executed in the beginning, leading to the revenge wished by his second Hideyoshi. Is represented by the samurai unit.\\\

* EverythingsBetterWithSamurai: Is represented by Japan's unique unit, the Samurai. Although subverted, since he inevitably dies.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: His "rescue" attempt.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: The scenario begin with Mitsuhide's betrayal, but none of Nobunaga's ruthless deeds, many of which are speculated to be the cause of said betrayal, are mentioned.
* SacrificialLamb: Dies just to allow Hideyoshi to swear revenge.

!!Toyotomi Hideyoshi

The protagonist of the Kyoto map, and the antagonist of the Noryang Point map, leading Japanese in both occasions. Does not appear in person.\\\

* BigBad: Of Noryang Point.
* TheHero: Of Kyoto.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: After his master's death, he destroys three cities to get revenge.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Forgotten Campaigns]]
!Dracula (Turks, Slavs and Magyars)

!!Vlad Dracula
The protagonist of the campaign, and the head of the Kingdom of Wallachia. Represented by the Boyar unit, slightly reworked in ''Definitive Edition''.\\\
%%* ArchEnemy: Vladislav and the Ottomans.
%%* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking
* BadassInCharge: Does manage to kill Vladislav in hand-to-hand combat.
* TheCaligula: Veers into this by the fourth mission in the HD edition, where he murders a monk for flattering him unrighteously.
* DeadpanSnarker: Surprisingly has his moments in the HD edition, commenting on the auspiscious start to his travel (he just got shipwrecked) and appreciating another boyar's decoration of his castle (impaled corpses).
* DisproportionateRetribution: (HD only) He kills a monk for flattering him.
* DressingAsTheEnemy: In the third map (HD only), he disguises himself as a Turkish merchant (inexplicably represented with the king unit) to take over an Ottoman garrison.
* FrontlineGeneral: Deconstructed in ''DE'': personally leading a charge against the weakened and demoralized Turks in Târgoviște gets him killed by a volley of arrows, allowing the Turks to turn the tables on the Wallachians.
* HowWeGotHere: The narration before the game (HD edition) is done by a bystander looking at Vlad's impaled head in Istanbul.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: This being Vlad ''[[MeaningfulName the Impaler]]'', it could only be expected. Happens to countless mooks through his campaign and eventually to Vlad himself (only his head, though and only in ''HD Edition'').
* KickTheDog: (HD only) In the later levels, he stakes innocents and murders monks for flattering him.
* NightmareFetishist: The first mission sees him praising a fellow Wallachian nobleman's sense of decoration... which is impaling people right in front of his castle.
* PerspectiveFlip: ''DE'' does one by changing the character who "knew" Dracula to a peasant soldier who fought alongside Dracula. The ''DE'' narration emphasizes the popularity Dracula had among the peasantry, while leaving out or justifying the more unsavory things he did. ''DE'' also implies that the peasantry did not know the "true" Dracula, while the HD narration includes quotes from the man himself and a closer look at him, WartsAndAll.
* VillainProtagonist: Arguably, the main character portrayed least sympathetic. He at one point murders a monk for flattering him, and stakes several hundred Ottoman soldiers, all of which happened in real life. The fourth mission of his campaign also requires the player to burn down undefended ''Wallachian'' villages.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: To the Ottomans.
* YouKilledMyFather: Vladislav killed his brother and father.

!!Danislav, Jakub and Istvan
The three voivode princes who become the closest allies to Dracula. Represented by a cataphract, a paladin and a cavalier, respectively, while in ''DE'' they're all heroic knights. \\\

* AdaptedOut: They're not depicted beyond the first scenario in ''DE'', and play no significant role to the story.
%%* BadassInCharge
%%* BadassCrew
* AFatherToHisMen: Seems primarily motivated by the well being of their peoples, rather than Dracula, who is motivated by spite and revenge.
* HorsebackHeroism: Through three different units, all of them are heavy cavalry sans Danislav in the first scenario, who's an Ax Thrower.
* TheLancer: To Dracula.
* LaResistance: Against Vladislav in their first appearance.
* NotQuiteDead: The narrator of the Dracula campaign in ''HD'' is Istvan, having survived the night raid on the Turks. Averted in ''DE'', where the identity of the narrator isn't revealed, only that he's leading a pilgrimmage to Dracula's rumoured final resting place: the Monastery of Snagov.
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: After serving as somewhat important characters for the ''HD'' campaign, they all unceremoniously die in the final battle of the fourth level, where only Dracula survives, with nobody even mentioning their deaths.

!!Vladislav II
The leader of the Dăneşti clan, and the usurper of the throne of Wallachia, as well as the murderer of Draculas father and older brother. A secondary antagonist of the campaign. Represented by a cavalier unit, and later a king unit.\\\

* BadassInCharge: In his first appearance.
* HopelessBossFight: In his first appearance, his unit is ridiculously strong, and meant to be fled from.
* ItsPersonal: With Dracula.
* StarterVillain: Presented as a major threat, but is quickly defeated and killed off in the second mission.
%%* TheUsurper

!!Murad II
The sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who sends Dracula to Wallachia after Vladislav takes over. Represented by the king unit.\\\

%%* AdiposeRex
* BigGood: Serves as this in his only appearance in the first level.
* TheGoodKing: Was sultan while he and Dracula were still allies. After his death, his ambitious and more ruthless son Mehmet took over, and things went awry.

!!Mehmet II
The son of Murad, becoming the enemy of Dracula unlike his father.\\\

* ArchEnemy: To Dracula, after Vladislav and Murad's deaths.
* BigBad: Since he leads the Turks, the main enemies, from mission 3 and onward.
* TheEmpire: The Ottoman Empire.
%%* TheGhost

!!Radu
The younger brother of Dracula, and the leader of the Ottoman troops against him in the fourth mission. \\\

* CainAndAbel: With Dracula.
* TheDragon: To Mehmet.
%%* TheGhost

!Sforza (Italians)

!!Francesco Sforza
An Italian mercenary, captain of his platoon after his father's death, and the main protagonist of the campaign. Represented by a condottiero unit in the HD edition, later given his own unit in the Definitive Edition. \\\

%%* AntiHero
* ArchEnemy: To Carmagnola in HD, then [[WeUsedToBeFriends Piccinino]] in ''DE''.
* BaitTheDog: He sieges Milan, and deliberately starves the innocent citizens of the city, but when they surrender, he makes sure to provide plenty of food for them.
* BatmanGambit: Defeats Carmagnola this way.
* TheDragon: To Filippo, at first.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: Eventually turns on him to become Duke of Milan.
* AFatherToHisMen: Unlike his father.
* FounderOfTheKingdom: He secured for his family the duchy of Milan.
%%* GenerationXerox
%%* TheHero
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Well, he's a mercenary. He doesn't care for politics; he just needs his employers to be able to pay him. On the other hand, his famous granddaughter Caterina (contemporary of Machiavelli) was notorious for her political intrigues.

!!Muzio Sforza
The father of Francesco. After his death, Francesco takes over his soldiers. Represented by a condottiero unit.\\\

* AdaptedOut: The ''Definitive Edition'' has Sforza's campaign start after Francesco takes over his soldiers, meaning that his death is not shown (in fact, he only receives a mention in one of the post-episode slides).
* AntiHero: More so than his son.
* BadBoss: Dialogue with Francesco has him berating his son for letting his soldiers eat and rest at all. This said, he's not a tyrant, just a hardass.
%%* GenerationXerox
%%* OnlyInItForTheMoney
* PartingWordsRegret: He calls his son Francesco a coward for not wanting to follow him across a river with a strong current. Muzio ends up drowning in said river.
* PetTheDog: Dialogue implies that he gave Francesco a proper childhood, despite his ruthlessness.
* SuicidalOverconfidence: Wanders straight into a powerful current, and unsurprisngly dies for it.

!!Carmagnola
A Venetian mercenary general, and the closest the campaign has to a main antagonist. Represented by a cataphract unit. \\\

* ArchEnemy: To both of the Sforzas. Averted in ''DE'', which moves the whole campaign forward in time and thus Carmagnola is a minor obstacle in the battle for Brescia and promptly disappears.
* BatmanGambit: Used by him against Malatesta, and later by Sforza against him.
* BigBad: Until the third mission, at least.
%%* TheChessmaster
* DemotedToExtra: His camp is on of the two obstacles for the conquest of Brescia in ''DE'', then he doesn't reappear again. Justified since the reworked campaign focus more on Francesco's later life than his initial trials.
* ISurrenderSuckers: Pulls this off to trick and defeat Malatesta.
* OutGambitted: Goes both ways: In the second mission, he completely out-gambits Malatesta through XanatosSpeedChess, in the third however, he is OutGambitted by Sforza.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After his forces are defeated in the third mission, he disappears from the campaign. In real life, Venice pulled off a YouHaveFailedMe: they called him back under the pretence of discussing the future, and he was promptly tortured and executed, and this is offhandely mentioned in the cutscene.
* XanatosSpeedChess: Pulls this off to defeat Malatesta, after the destruction of his siege tower.

!!Filippo Maria Visconti
The Duke of Milan, and Sforza's distrustful employer. Represented in-game by a king unit. \\\

* DaChief
* ParentalSubstitute: A really weird and screwed up example; as noble Italian families were used to internal backstabbing and feuding, his alternatively abusing and rewarding Sforza was basically acknowledging he considered the mercenary as the son he didn't have.
* SmugSnake: Distrustful and paranoid, one moment he has Sforza blamed and incarcerated for Carmagnola's escape, the other he's offering him the hand of his daughter if he defeats the Venetians.
* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: Filippo Maria himself is described as ugly and unsightly, but his daughter Bianca Maria is briefly seen as a MsFanservice.
* UngratefulBastard: Blames Malatesta's death on Francesco and has him thrown into jail. Surprisingly averted in ''DE'', where when Francesco, who previously ditched him despite being engaged to his daughter, returns to Milan and asks for help against the King of Naples, Visconti welcomes him back and allows him to marry his daughter. In turn, this alienates his other employee, Piccinino.

!!Malatesta
A mercenary employed by Filippo, fighting against Carmagnola. Represented by a paladin unit. \\\

* AdaptationExpansion: ''DE'' expands his role significantly, such that it's easier to see that he's meant to be [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismondo_Pandolfo_Malatesta Sigismondo Malatesta]], one of Francesco's sons-in-law.

* NotQuiteDead: In DE he returns in the final mission in command of the Venetian forces.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Like most Condotierri
* OutGambitted: By Carmagnola, in the second mission.
* SacrificialLion: Only in ''HD''.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: In the Scout section it's mentioned that he's defending Pizzighettone in the north. He only appears in the end, having succesfully defended Pizzighettone, only to die chasing after Carmagnola.
* WorthyOpponent: After being defeated following the backstab attempt on Sforza, he praises Sforza's skills.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: The Venetians made him turn on Sforza after they make significant progress against Milan.

!!Simone and Geremio
Two spies sent by Sforza to infiltrate Carmagnola's camp. Represented by a man at arms unit.\\\

* AdaptedOut: They do not appear in ''Definitive Edition'', as the campaign in ''DE'' focuses more on Sforza's battles against Piccinino and Micheletto.
* BadassNormal: While they have the health and armor of normal man at arms, they have a ludicrously high attack, enabling them to OneHitKill pikemen, necessary to retain stealth during the attack. However, they retain that high damage after the scenario turns into "build and destroy", making them lethal units.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Geremio, whom upon seeing a rat in the sewer, goes on rambling about how rats caused the plague. While they are on their way to a lethal stealth mission. Simone quickly shuts him up.
* NoSympathy: Simone towards his teammate.
* StraightManAndWiseGuy: Geremio has to be reminded of their mission by Simone.
* TerrifiedOfGerms: Geremio freaks over the possiblity of rats bringing back the plague.
* ThoseTwoGuys: They act together for the first part of the scenario.

!!Niccolo Machiavelli
A mere college student who's very interested by Sforza's many adventures. He only appears in ''HD Edition''.\\\

* AdaptedOut: He does not appear in ''Definitive Edition''. [[note]]When Micheletto is still alive, Machiavelli hasn't even been ''born'' yet.[[/note]]
* IShouldWriteABookAboutThis: Ultimately, he feels so inspired by Sforza's tale he announces his decision to write a full-blown criticism essay about ruling and power. [[note]] While Machiavelli does mention Sforza several times, he's only one of the many examples he uses, such as Cesare Borgia, who he apparently respected more.[[/note]]
* MachiavelliWasWrong: Downplayed -- he's rather quick to assume Sforza should have used more extreme methods, only for the old condottiero to point why it would have failed. So, it's about Machiavelli growing ''closer'' to the pragmatic approach his book actually preaches, instead of the full KickTheDog strategy his thinking was flanderized into.
* PlotDevice: His interest to learn about Sforza's struggles gives the {{Narrator}} a reason to tell the campaign.
* PragmaticHero: Completely fascinated by the concept. He himself has shades of it, noting that the man holding interesting information is cold and hungry and so letting him enter into the library to warm himself and giving him food, subtly bribing him into telling his story.
* ThroughHisStomach: Entices the old condottiero telling Sforza's life-story to continue by giving him food. The man is happy to let himself being bribed as he was hungry.
* YoungFutureFamousPeople: At this point in time, Machiavelli is a mere student who only has the barest hints about the book he's gonna write.

!!Micheletto (Attendolo)
Cousin of Francesco.\\\

* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: At the end of the campaign in ''Definitive Edition'', the narrator reveals himself to be Micheletto, both ally and enemy of Francesco.
* WorthyOpponent: In the epilogue, Micheletto harbors no ill will towards Francesco, despite having fought against him

!!Piccinino
A former butcher and now condottiero mercenary serving Visconti, he's first an ally of Francesco, and later enemy when he deserts Visconti. Only appears in ''Definitive Edition''.\\\

* FluffyTheTerrible: "Piccinino" sounds like a cute form of "Piccino", meaning "small, tiny". Not exactly the name you'd expect from a cruel and ruthless mercenary captain.
* GreenEyedMonster: Implied, as he deserts Milan and challenges Francesco when the latter is forgiven by Visconti and allowed to marry Bianca Maria, pretty much assuring him the position of Duke.
* TheRival: He's a friendly one in the first scenario, then he becomes Francesco's opponent for a while.
* SmugSnake: Incredibly so in ''Prodigal Son'', where he will often make snide remarks and downright childish taunts as you mind your business and prepare your forces.
* SurroundedByIdiots: In ''His Own Man'' he will angrily and rhetorically asks his soldiers why they think he pays them for when his final stronghold is breached.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: He and Sforza were overall on amiable terms, as much as two mercenary captains of that time could be.
* WhatTheHellHero: Downplayed, but in ''His Own Man'' he criticizes Sforza's use of the relic to conquer the various cities, pointing out that he's far from a saint.

!Alaric (Goths)

!!Alaric
The protagonist of the campaign, and king of the Goths. Represented by a huskarl, and later a cavalier unit. In ''Definitive Editon'', he gets his own unit, which resembles a mounted huskarl.\\\

* ActionDuo: With Athaulf.
* BadassInCharge: He's in charge of the Goths, and showed his badass credentials by leading the sack of Rome.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: He lost three of his brothers to wars against the Huns and witnessed their brutality first-hand.
* TheDogBitesBack: The first three scenarios have him trying to obtain a land for his people from the Romans. In the final scenario, he has enough and decides to show the Romans how much he and the Goths are fed up with their plotting.
* TheHighKing: Of the Goths, along with Athaulf.
* PetTheDog: During the sack of Rome he orders his men to leave churches intact, for some reason.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Like, you know, looking for a proper land for his people and ''sacking Rome''.

!!Athaulf
The second-in-command of Alaric. Represented by a woad raider, and then a knight unit in HD, while he gets represented as an heroic unique Champion in ''DE''.\\\

* ActionDuo: With Alaric.
%%* BadassInCharge
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: One of the things he had recurring dreams of is the coming of [[spoiler: Attila the Hun]].
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: Acts this way to Galla Placidia when he captures her. He ends up marrying her later in life.
* NarratorAllAlong: He is the narrator in ''DE''.
* TheLancer: As Alaric's second-in-command.
* PromotedToPlayable: He serves mostly as the leader of the other half of the Visigoth army and acts as a friendly army for Alaric, but in the final mission, he becomes the leader after Alaric dies.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Given when he's a woad raider.

!!Honorius
The emperor of the Western Roman Empire, and thereby the main antagonist of the campaign.\\\

* BigBad: Though whether he is a HeroAntagonist is debatable, he is certainly the main antagonistic force in the campaign.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: The reason he ultimately fails. He is close to an alliance twice with Alaric, but both times breaks it for no apparent reason. Eventually, Alaric gets fed up with this. Though the second time, Saurus did it without the permission or order of Honorius.
* DirtyCoward: During the sack of Rome, he is nowhere to be seen, but the people and even his sister have been left behind.
* TheEmperor: The Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
* TheGhost: He is never actually seen in the game.
%%* SmugSnake

!!Saurus
A Gothic chieftain, responsible for attacking Alaric for no reason, destroying the option of peace. Represented by a knight lancer hero unit in HD and by an heroic Champion in the Definitive Edition.\\\

* DirtyCoward: As remarked by Alaric, when his fortress is defeated, he is nowhere to be seen. Averted in ''A Kingdom of Our Own'', where he makes a last stand against Alaric's forces in an attempt to prevent them from conquering Gallia.
* TheDragon: To Honorius. He still fights for the Empire in ''Definitive Edition''
* DrivenByEnvy: Implied to be the case, as he distrusts Alaric (the man who became king of the Visigoths in his place) and he possibly sabotages the diplomatic attempt at Ravenna hoping that Alaric dies in the following war against Rome.
* KnightlyLance: HD only, he gets a massive sword for the Definitive Edition.
* VillainBall: Grabs it when he attacks Alaric and Athaulf, bringing a whole lot of unnecessary trouble onto himself.

!!Galla Placidia
The sister of Honorius. Represented by the Joan the Maid unit.\\\

* AdaptedOut: From the definitive edition.
* DamselInDistress: Unusual case, where you have to kidnap the DamselInDistress.
* TheIngenue: Implied. She simply acts confused when Athaulf pretty plainly states that he will not harm her.
* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: Poor gal was an innocent victim from the sacking of Rome and certainly didn't ask to be married to a Goth warlord. Her daughter Honoria later went and ''proposed'' to Attila, which made her partially responsible for the Hun attacks against the Roman empire. Historical sources confirm it provoked a ''huge'' rift between Galla Placidia and Honoria.

!Battle of Bari (Byzantines)

!!Panos, Michael and Andreas Nautikos
The main protagonists of each of the missions of the campaign. All represented by champion units, except in ''DE'' where Michael is a Longswordsman while Andreas is a Cavalier.\\\

%%* BadassFamily
* BadassInCharge: Andreas.
* GenerationXerox: Subverted in ''DE'', where each hero of the Nautikos family looks different.
* TheHero: Mostly Panos, who leads the siege of Bari first against the Emir and later against the Lombard, and Michael, who gathers troops to fight the rebellious Melus. Andreas does contribute to the defense against the Norman siege, but at the last moment decides that the resistance is futile and leaves.
* MeaningfulName: The bloodline founded by a sailor was given the name "Nautikos", Greek for the sea.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Andreas Nautikos eventually decides that he had enough fighting Normans and leaves Bari with a merchant. Downplayed in ''DE'', where he does his part to the very end and boards a ship to Byzantium to ask for more reinforcements.

!!Louis II
The Carolingian emperor, appearing in the first mission. Represented by a king unit, and a cavalier.\\\

%%* TheHighKing
* SuicidalOverconfidence: Even when at the mercy of the Lombards, he insists on taking over Bari.
* SmugSnake: Shows traits of this, in his belief to take over Bari.

!!Admiral Melus
A Byzantine admiral of Lombardi descent, rebelling against the empire in the second mission. Represented by a cataphract.\\\

* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: What his army essentially is. Michael got suspicious when he gathered such army in the first place.
* AscendedExtra: He gets much more screentime and is a bigger threat in ''DE''.
* BigBad: Of the second mission. In ''DE'' he's arguably one for the whole campaign.
* TheQuisling: In ''DE'' he pretty much sides with the Lombards and later encourages the Papal States and the Empire to attack Bari.
%%* SmugSnake
%%* TheStarscream

!!Stephanos Pateranos
The commander of the garrison at Bari during the Norman invasion. Represented by a cataphract in ''HD'' and a King in ''DE''.\\\

* BadassInCharge: Averted in ''DE'' where he doesn't fight but directs the defenders and spouts a RousingSpeech or two.
* DistressedDude: Has to be saved by Andreas during the third mission.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure

!!Basilius Boioannes
Byzantine general sent by the Emperor to quell Melus' rebellion and protect Apulia from the combined forces of Lombards, Italians and the Holy Roman Empire. Only appears in ''DE''.\\\

* AdaptationExpansion: He and the scenarios focused on him expand the story of the Byzantine domain in Apulia and tells what happened to Melus and his brother Dattus.
* CombatPragmatist: In ''The Best Laid Plans'' he decides to build a huge fortress to hold off the enemies and is more than happy to resort to underhand strategies (such as causing an avalanche or raiding a defenseless monastery) to deprive his enemies of advantages.

!El Dorado (Spanish and Incas)

!!UsefulNotes/FranciscoDeOrellana
The main protagonist of the campaign. Represented by a conquistador unit.\\\

* BadassInCharge: Is easily the strongest hero that you get to control in the game.
* BigDamnHeroes: In one mission, he saves one native tribe from an aggressive neighbor. In the next mission, while exploring the Amazon jungles, de Orellana can optionally save the region from a volcanic eruption by diverting a river into it's path. In the mission right after this, he goes out of his way to save the crew of a Spanish ship from bloodthirsty cannibals.
* DarkIsEvil: Black hair, black eyepatch and rather prone to slaughter or exploit natives.
* EyepatchOfPower
* TheHero
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: One mission, while exploring the Amazon jungles, de Orellana orders his soldiers to massacre the first native village he comes across. He says that they desperately need the food from that village to avoid starvation, and for the rest of the mission the player can choose to ask the rest of the villages for food peacefully.
* JustFollowingOrders: In the first mission, de Orellana assassinated four men on orders from Gonzalo Pizarro.
* KickTheDog: Several missions feature de Orellana launching unprovoked attacks on natives, using threats of violence to extort food or supplies from them, outright enslaving them, plundering their temples (thereby destroying their heritage), carrying out assassinations, and blackmailing adulterous merchants.
* VillainProtagonist: He is a conquistador, and he acts like it. While some of his atrocities are carried out on orders of the expedition leader, Gonzalo Pizarro, most of them were done freely.
* WronglyAccused: Of abandoning Pizarro, while in actuality, the strong current of the river kept him from returning.

!!Gonzalo Pizarro
The commander of Orellanas expedition, until he is lost. Represented by a conquistador unit.\\\

%%* DaChief
* VillainProtagonist: A conquestador, and not above ordering the assassination of a rival explorer's sergeants.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: A consequence of following the events strictly through the eyes of Orellana. He is never mentioned again after Orellana is forced to abandon him. In RealLife, he returned to Quito with a starving expedition, but rebelled against the king and was executed six years later.

!!Delicola
A suspicious Native American chieftain who leads Orellana astray with his stories. Represented by a plumed archer unit.\\\

* TheArcher
* EscortMission: IN the short time he is in the players control, it feels like this, as he is not a hero unit, but a fairly weak renamed regular unit, that has to be kept alive.
* HeroAntagonist: Could be seen as this, as he works against Orellana, but mainly to save his people.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Done deliberately as he flees from the conquistadors. This carried on into real life, where he was never heard of again.

!!Juan Cortejo
The leader of another Spanish expedition team who got shipwrecked and kidnapped by cannibals. He and his crew got rescued by Francisco de Orellana.\\\

* DarkestHour: He admits that he abandoned hope of surviving his captivity.
* ForcedToWatch: The cannibals who kidnapped his crew killed and ate some of his crewmen, and left the corpses of three impaled on stakes in his holding pen.
* RevengeBeforeReason: He says he wants revenge against the cannibals, but de Orellana just wants to escape the jungle. Downplayed in that the player needs gold to build the fleet that will take them out, and one of the options for getting it is to attack the cannibals.
* SayYourPrayers: He did this while held by the cannibals, and attributes de Orellana rescuing his crew to God answering said prayers.

!Prithviraj (Gurjaras[[note]]Indians prior to ''Dynasties of India''[[/note]])
!!Prithviraj
Warrior king of India, represented first by a crossbowman unit, then by a heavy horse archer, who becomes unique in ''DE''.\\\

* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Slightly subverted, he was already in reciprocated love with the girl in question, Sanyogita: when her father refused to consider Prithviraj and tried to have her married to someone else he sneaked into the city and eloped with her.
* ArcherArchetype: His weapon of choice is the bow and arrow.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Blinded and tortured, he's challenged by his enemy Mohammad Godhi into a contest of archery. Using hearing alone, Prithviraj shoot him dead in the chest.
* RefugeInAudacity: He tended towards recklessness in grand style. Case in point, he outright ''abducted'' his beloved princess from her father's palace the day she was to pick a husband.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Makes himself a powerful Raj and repeals the armies of Godhi.
* TogetherInDeath: His wife Sanyogita commits suicide upon learning of his demise.

!!Sanyogita
A princess of India who falls in love with Prithviraj and later marries him, which causes a huge amount of problems. Represented by a powerless Queen unit.\\\

* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Jayachandra really wasn't happy when his daughter decided to marry his bitterest foe, but had to swallow the pill after being trounced by Prithviraj in war.
* {{Elopement}}: Her father tried to lock her away to dissuade her from persisting in her love for Prithviraj. The third mission is all about Prithviraj taking her away and fighting dad-in-law for it.
* EngagementChallenge: If Prithviraj decides to visit the guru, it results in this. Sanyogita declares her love for the prince when he manages to beat her champion.
* LoveRuinsTheRealm: The narration subtly hints at this. You can't deny pursuing her came with many, many complications for Prithviraj.
* PluckyGirl: She defied her father to marry Prithviraj. And by "defy", we mean she openly picked him as the man she wished to wed ''in front of Jayachandra and a whole army of suitors vying for her hand''.
* TogetherInDeath: Upon learning of her husband's demise, she immediately threw herself on a pyre to join him.
* WomenPreferStrongMen: The first map gives Prithviraj three ways to make Sanyogita fall for him, either killing an entire pack of wolves, or [[RescueRomance rescue her from a rival king]], or thoroughly trashing her champion in her EngagementChallenge.

!!Chand Bardai
A poet in Prithviraj's court and the narrator of the campaign.\\\

* ActionSurvivor: Chand is ''not'' a warrior, yet he follows Prithviraj everywhere, be it for hunting tigers or warring against another raja.
* CrutchCharacter: Despite being a hero, his usefulness rapidly drops off once you get ordinary monks in on the action, as he can neither convert units, nor pick up relics.
* HealingHands: His unit basically functions as a monk, so he can do this.
* PurpleProse: Courtesy of being a poet, his speech slightly leans towards the violet-tinged end of the spectrum.
* TheStoryteller: His function was to record and spread his king's exploits. It's rather appropriate for him to narrate the campaign.

!Battles of the Forgotten

!!Khosrau II

The protagonist and leader of the Persians in the Bukhara scenario. Represented by a heroic Elephant Archer.\\\

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: He himself take precautions to gather troops and resources to fight the White Huns who are plagueing Persia.
* WarElephants: He is represented by an Elephant Archer unit.

!!Aella of Northumbria

King of Northumbria and main antagonist of York scenario.\\\

* BigBad: He killed Ragnar Lodbrok, causing his sons to invade the British Isles to avenge the death of their father.
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: The Blood Eagle is hardly a nice way to go, or to be displayed after death.
* LaserGuidedKarma: What? You thought that you could kill the big bad viking Ragnar Lodbrok and go away unscathed? Too bad for you and Northumbria...

!!Álmos

* BloodOath: Upon the Magyars' arrival in Etelköz, the seven chieftains of the Magyars take an oath to pledge their loyalty to Álmos.
* HorseArcher: He is represented by a Mangudai unit.

!!Árpád

* ExactWords: Svatopluk of Moravia allows the Magyars to 'take as much as you want' when Árpád's messenger comes to buy land from him. The Magyars then proceed to seize Svatopluk's kingdom from him.
-->'''Árpád:''' Leave our land, Svatopluk, until it is not too late!
-->'''Svatopluk:''' How come it is your land?
-->'''Árpád:''' We paid for it with the horse! You gave us grass, soil and water. Now we own everything.
* FounderOfTheKingdom: The founder of the Principality of Hungary at the end of the Honfoglalás.

!!Minamoto no Yoshinaka

* TheLancer: To his brother, Minamoto no Yoritomo, as defender of Kurikara.
* TheGhost: He's not playable once you take control of Kurikara.

!!Taira no Kiyomori

* BigBad: Leader of the Taira clan, enemy of Minamoto and notorious villain even in other Japanese media.
* DuelBoss: When it's time to siege Kyoto, he's your ally and cannot be harmed. Once you have conquered the town he can be fought, though you don't have to take him one on one, unless you [[InvokedTrope invoke it]].
* DefiantToTheEnd: He still fights after the deaths of his vassals, the destruction of his army and the loss of the capital.

!!Osman Bey

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The narration mentions that he's incredibly strong, stronger than anyone else in his service.
* FounderOfTheKingdom: The petty beylik that he creates would eventually become the mighty Ottoman Empire.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Starts as an envoy of the Rum Sultanate, then inherits a small Byzantine village as a fief, and will eventually become the founder of the mighty Ottoman Empire.
* HorseArcher: He's represented by a Heavy Horse Archer unit.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The African Kingdoms Campaigns]]
!Tariq ibn Ziyad (Berbers)

!!Tariq ibn Ziyad
The main protagonist of the Berber campaign, represented by an heroic Genitour unit, gets a unique makeover for ''DE''.\\\

* ArbitraryMinimumRange: Being a Genitour, he cannot attack close enemies.
* HorseArcher: Sort of.
* JavelinThrower: His weapon of choise are javelins.
* OutOfFocus: He's much more present in the conquest of Iberia, but vanishes as the action shifts to France.
* PutOnABus: Along with Musa, he is returned to Damascus while the campaign continues.
* TheRival: A friendly one with Musa

!!Musa ibn Nusayr
The second protagonist of the Berber campaign, represented by a Camel Archer unit.\\\

* BigDamnHeroes: His first appearance when he brought reinforcement for Tariq
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Once he appears in the second mission, the player controls both his and Tariq's army in the following missions.
* HorseArcher: Camel Archer to be exact.
* OutOfFocus: Likewise, he disappears after the third mission where al-Ghafiqi takes over.
* PutOnABus: He is returned to Damascus after the third scenario.
* TheRival: A friendly rival of Tariq as the narrator points out.

!!Abd ar-Rahman al-Ghafiqi
The new protagonist after the third scenario, represented by a Genitour unit.\\\

* HorseArcher: He is a Genitour
* ItsPersonal: He wants revenge for when the Franks defeated him 10 years earlier.
* SympatheticPOV: He is the enemy in the Tours single mission which was released much earlier than ''The African Kingdoms''. Also the Berbers' player colour is yellow, similar to what it is in the Tours mission. Given that the final mission takes place just before Tours, [[spoiler: and the narrator points out that they are going to face off with Charles Martel next in the epilogue.]]

!Sundjata (Malians)

!!Sundjata
Young prince of the Mali, born lame and weak, he has to defend his country from the wicked Sumanguru and forge a powerful empire. Appears as an heroic Light Cavalry unit but gets a unique makeover for ''DE''.\\\

* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: Since most of the African countries fear Sumanguru's sorcery, Sundjata claims that he has sorcery on his side in the form of his baobab wood crutch, which is used as a relic to gather allies under his wing.
* CombatPragmatist: When he learns of the mines of gold and salt around Djenné he decides to pillage them to weaken Sumanguru's power.
* TheChosenOne: His birth and destiny were prophetized by an old shaman to the king.
* TheGoodKing: Contrasting the wicked Sumanguru.
* HandicappedBadass: Born lame and weak, he grew into the Emperor of the strong Mali Empire.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Like actively winning back his kingdom from the much stronger Ghana Empire.

!!Sumanguru
The main villain of the Malian Campaign, he's the emperor of Ghana and Sundjata's rival. He's rumored to be a sorcerer. Represented in game as a heroic Cataphract unit in HD and by a unique mounted lancer in ''DE''.\\\

* AchillesHeel: Rumors said that he can only be killed with the spur of a rooster. In game, disrupting his control over the rich mines of Djenné weakens his grip on his allies.
* BadBoss: Implied, as in the pivotal battle against Sundjata, both his allies can be persuaded to betray him and switch sides.
* BigBad: Of the Malian Campaign as a whole.
* DefiantToTheEnd: After his defeat he retreats in his capital where he has to be eliminated once and for all.
* SorcerousOverlord: He's rumored to be a sorcerer, who can summon the spirits and grant victory to his armies in battle thanks to his magical instrument.

!Francisco de Almeida (Portuguese)
Nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against the Moors and in the conquest of Granada in 1492.\\\

* AntiHero: Fights loyally for his king, but became ruthless in the aftermath of his son's death.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: His son was killed in Egypt between the fourth and fifth scenarios. Francisco's grief is a leading point in the fifth scenario, appropriately titled "A Son's Blood".
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: He kills the Emir by destroying his castle out of anger for said Emir's FaceHeelTurn. And then, when his son dies, he betrays Afonso de Albuquerque and goes on a rampage against his enemies on anger.

!Yodit (Ethiopians)

!!Princess Yodit
The royal princess of Ethiopia who was betrayed by her greedy nephew Gidajan and forced to flee Ethiopia and brew a terrible revenge on her kingdom. As Princess Yodit, she's represented as a defenceless Queen unit, but she also has a model as a heroic Gbeto unit.\\\

* ActionGirl: Though alas, not in the campaign itself.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: She catches the attention of the Syrian Prince she wishes to marry by showy military actions.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Granted, Gidajan started it, but still...
* KickTheSonOfABitch: For all the bad things she did, Gidajan deserved it.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Against her own kingdom under Gidajan, to a tremendous extent.
* ShroudedInMyth: The real Yodit (also known as Gudit) was an obscure, semi-mythical figure who may have not existed but was known for her destructive behaviour and for burning down churches.
* VillainProtagonist: She's definitively not a nice girl, unlike previous heroine Joan of Arc.

!!Dagnajan
King of Aksum and Yodit's brother, father of Gidajan. He's the main enemy in the third scenario and appears as a heroic unique Elephant Archer.\\\

* AdvancingBossOfDoom: After 50 minutes in game, his humongous army will march towards the unsufficiently protected mountain pass, and you will be defeated if he makes it to the pass. The only way to win the scenario is to stop him earlier.
* HorseArcher: Well, Elephant Archer, so not as fast. Still a Mighty Glacier to deal with.
* MisplacedRetribution: Technically, the one who conspired against Yodit was Gidajan. However, killing him does bring havoc on Aksum, as Gidajan and his brother take advantage of Dagnajan's demise to fight for the throne.

!!Gidajan
Yodit's nephew, a scheming bastard who tries to take the power in Aksum but is fought and defeated by Yodit. Appears in game as a unique unit resembling an Eastern Swordsman hero.\\\

* AssholeVictim: On the receiving end of a rather cruel revenge, he still deserves it.
* BigBad: Of the whole campaign, being the cause for Yodit's exile and the final enemy she must overcome.
* CainAndAbel: His war with his brother which allowed Yodit to gain some grounds from him.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Even after conquering Aksum and bringing down his castle you have to kill his hero unit in order to stop his continuously spawning army.
* EvilNephew: He framed Yodit for blasphem, which would have meant a life imprisoned if she hadn't escaped. It rightfully ticked her off.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: His plot to frame and exile Yodit ends up biting him in the end.
* SinisterScimitar: His weapon of choice.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rise of the Rajas Campaigns]]
!Gajah Mada (Malay)

!!Gajah Mada
The main hero and Majapahit general for the campaign; appears as a unique, champion-like unit. Unusual for the series, Gajah is the narrator for his own campaign, a trait he shares with Bayinnaung.\\\

* CoolSword: Wields a longsword with both hands, though apparently his weapon of choice in real life was a combo of [[BladeOnAStick spear]] and [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe shield]].
* DownerEnding: He's had a good career going on nearly uniting the Malay Archipelago, until his plot to make Sunda submit went awry. His career crashes down and many people want him dead. Hayam Wuruk gives him an exile mansion far away in honor of his services, but Gajah Mada considers it a FateWorseThanDeath and spends the rest of his time recounting that he was not a hero, but an ambitious fool who was just paying the price of his ambition. And for those who knew Indonesian history? That marks the decline of the Majapahit empire that he built so far.
* FateWorseThanDeath: After his downfall, Gajah Mada considers death as something better than being demoted, exiled and having to spend the rest of his life in obscurity, contemplating the brutal consequences of his hubris. However, it may be subverted that he, the narrator of his own campaign, never said he was DrivenToSuicide, meaning that while he considered a glorious death in battle better than exile, death by suicide was worse (even if his belief never forbade suicide).
* {{Foil}}: To Bayinnaung. Both men were the right-hands of their sovereigns before said sovereigns' assassinations [[note]]While in-game, Jayanegara was depicted as dying from an illness, he was almost certainly murdered. Historically, exactly who the mastermind was remains a mystery; some even pointed their fingers at Gajah Mada.[[/note]], and had far greater capabilities than their sovereigns. Their sovereigns also became well-known for their vices before their deaths. However, unlike Bayinnaung who was humble but decided to crown himself, Gajah was ambitious but never ascended the throne. In the end, Bayinnaung died a king covered in glory and fame, while Gajah was exiled.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Saving the life of his king from the rebels was good, but this act made the king arrogant and tyrannical, which resulted in his assassination.
* OffModel: His hero unit is unique, though he vaguely resembles a Champion or a Two-Handed Swordsman.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: He goes in battle bare-chested, imitating the look of modern statues. According to texts, he had the good sense of wearing a breastplate.

!Suryavarman I (Khmers)

!!Suryavarman I
The main hero of the campaign who became king of Angkor, appears as a unique Elite Battle Elephant hero.\\\

* TheGoodKing: Despite the below-mentioned coup d'etat, he's this.
* TheUsurper: The first scenario of his campaign involves Suryavarman's usurpation of the throne from King Udyadityavarman.

!Bayinnaung (Burmese)

!!Bayinnaung
The main character of the Burmese campaign, represented by an Elite Battle Elephant hero and later by a monk. Like Gajah Mada, he's the narrator of his own campaign, a rarity for the series.\\\

* AnimalMotifs: He often compares himself to a [[PantheraAwesome tiger]], a mighty predator for his enemies.
* BadassPacifist: In ''The White Elephant'', Bayinnaung decides to subjugate his enemies by showing them the power of the Buddhist faith and sends relic-carrying monks to subdue them.
* TheCallHasBadReception: A prophecy announcing the rebirth of the ''Cakkavatti'' (a Pali term for ''Universal Ruler'') was obviously about the newborn prince, rather than said prince's milk-brother, born on the same day.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Bayinnaung's son [[note]]implied to be his successor Nanda Bayin[[/note]] certainly thinks so, as he believed that his father ''willed himself to die'', in order to "conquer himself".
* {{Foil}}: To Gajah Mada. Both men were the right-hands of their sovereigns before said sovereigns' assassinations [[note]] While in-game, Jayanegara was depicted as dying from an illness, he was almost certainly murdered. Historically, exactly who the mastermind was remains a mystery; some even pointed their fingers at Gajah Mada.[[/note]], and had far greater capabilities than their sovereigns. Their sovereigns also became well-known for their vices before their deaths. However, unlike Bayinnaung who was humble but decided to crown himself, Gajah was ambitious but never ascended the throne. In the end, Bayinnaung died a king covered in glory and fame, while Gajah was exiled.
* TheGoodKing: He's ultimately hailed as the ''Universal Ruler'', a prophesied prince renowned for his wisdom and might.
* TheHeroDies: In the final scenario, after visiting all four Buddhist temples, he dies, leaving his sons to finish the scenario.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: By the time of the penultimate scenario, Bayinnaung has grown tired of the Nat shamans and has to fight the Nat Enchantresses on the mountains to prove the strength of Buddhism.
* TakeUpMySword: He succeeds his brother-in-law as king of Toungoo after Tabinshwehti's assassination.
* UndyingLoyalty: To his milk brother, Tabinshwehti. Even when the King started to show himself UnfitForGreatness, Bayinnaug refused to hear about usurping him.

!!Tabinshwehti
Bayinnaung's sworn brother and King of Burma, he appears as a unique Elephant Archer and is playable in the first part of the campaign.\\\

* TheAlcoholic: Deconstructed, as the attachment to Portuguese liquor brings about his ruin and death.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Bayinnaung's narration implied that his addiction to alcohol took place over several years. Historically, between his addiction and his demise, only about ''a year'' had passed.
* BigDamnHeroes: In the second scenario, finding his camp soon enough can turn the tide on your Shan opponents, as his advanced units and siege weaponry can make short work of their defenses.
* FamilyOfChoice: Since Bayinnaug was his milk-brother, Tabinshwehti showered him with honors and considered him his most trusted general and advisor. ''Bayinnaung'' actually was a title Tabinshwehti bestowed upon the guy, meaning "the King's Elder Brother".
* RefusedByTheCall: Everyone believed the ''Cakkavatti'' (''World Ruler'') prophecy was about him. Tough luck, since the fated prince was his sworn brother Bayinnaug.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: At first, though eventually he becomes slobbish and weak due to the influence of alcohol, which leads to his demise.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Not him, but the Portuguese who introduced him to drink. [[note]] His premature death has been called "one of the great turning points of mainland [Southeast Asia's] history" (historian Victor B. Lieberman). The Portugese's name had been lost to history; what is known about him is that he was a mercenary-turned-winemaker, and Tabinshwehti had given him a royal handmaiden as wife. Before Tabinshwehti's assassination, Bayinnaung had arrested him, paid him off, set him on a ship, and sent him out of the country.[[/note]]

!Lê Lợi (Vietnamese)

!!Lê Lợi
The hero of the Vietnamese campaign, leading his people in war against the Ming. He appears as a souped up Champion unit in ''HD Edition''. In ''Definitive Edition'', he's represented by a unique champion-like unit.\\\

* ArchEnemy: He's this to the Ming. Subverted in the outro of the final battle, where he acknowledges that the Ming are simply too powerful to remain as enemies and decides to mend fences as soon as the siege ends, going as far as inviting Wang Tong and the surviving Chinese generals to a lavish banquet. [[note]]As noted in the narrations, as emperor, Lê Lợi sent diplomatic messages to the Ming imperial court, promising Vietnam's loyalty as a vassal state of China and cooperation. The Ming imperial court accepted this arrangement, much as they accepted the vassal status of Korea under the Joseon dynasty.[[/note]]
* CombatPragmatist: Since he cannot fight the Ming head on, he resorts to guerrilla tactics.
* CoolSword: He wields a massive sword said to be of divine origins, which also represents his campaign. According to legends, its blade and handle were found by two different people, assembled and gave to him. After Lê Lợi was done with fighting the Ming, he threw the sword in a lake, where a massive dragon turtle took it back. His campaign marker is in fact a giant turtle holding a sword in its mouth.
* TheHero: The main protagonist of the eponymous campaign. He's also more present in combat compared to the other heroes in the previous campaigns.
* PetTheDog: After a grueling and tiresome siege with his nemesis, he not only invites Wang Tong and his lieutenants to a banquet to celebrate peace, but he also allows the surviving Ming soldiers to return home without further delay or harassment.
* WorthyOpponent: For Wang Tong, and vice versa.

!!Lê Lai
One of Lê Lợi's allies, represented first by an heroic Two-Handed Swordsman and later by a Champion in ''HD Edition'', and by a unique cavalry unit in ''Definitive Edition''.\\\

* HeroicSacrifice: When the Vietnamese army is under siege by the much stronger Ming forces, Lê Lai volunteers to pretend to be Lê Lợi and leads a charge against the Ming with his loyal men, acting as a decoy to help his lord and the rest of the army escape. While his ploy is successful, Lê Lai is captured and executed by the Ming.

!!Đinh Lễ, Lê Triện, Lưu Nhân Chú, Bùi Bị
The four lieutenants of Lê Lợi aiding him in the battle against the Ming. They are represented by a Cavalier, a Champion, an Arbalest and a unique Monk unit.\\\

* ArcherArchetype: Lưu Nhân Chú, who claims that none can escape his bow.
* BadassBoast: Each of them has one if you select them in the beginning of the battle.
* TheBigGuy: Lê Triện, who is tasked with the bloody task of stopping the enemy reinforcements and starts with all the military buildings available.
* EliteFour: They serve as this for Lê Lợi, acting as his trusted lieutenants to coordinate the three-pronged siege of Nghe An.
* MasterSwordsman: Lê Triện's main skill is swordsmanship.
* NotAfraidToDie: Đinh Lễ is ready to ride for his country, even if it means to die.
* YouShallNotPass: Lê Triện's part in the fifth scenario is to hold back the Ming reinforcement and prevent them from enlarging Wang Tong's troops.

!!Wang Tong
The cunning general of the Ming Empire, who appears as a unique Cataphract hero in ''HD Edition'', and as a unique cavalry unit like Lê Lai in ''Definitive Edition''.\\\

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Before revealing his identity, Wang claimed that he "fought in many more Ming wars before retiring". Historically, Wang was severely punished for his failure against Lê Lợi. [[note]]His punishments included imprisonment with possibility of execution, seizure of his "iron scroll" (an item granted by emperors which conferred privileges/ immunities), and his family being struck off the records (becoming {{Unperson}}s.)[[/note]] He was only pardoned in 1439 (more than 5 years after Lê Lợi's death), and managed to have a CareerResurrection in 1449 with the coronation of a new emperor. Soon after, he proved himself during the defence of Beijing against the Oirats led by Esen Taishi, and was rewarded with a promotion, along with having his confiscated properties returned to him. He died in 1452, while still holding the second post.
* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: At the end of the campaign in ''HD Edition'', the narrator reveals himself as Wang Tong, the Ming general and nemesis of Lê Lợi. In ''Definitive Edition'', the identity of the narrator was not revealed, but likely to be a Vietnamese historian recalling the feats of a great king.
* BigBad: As the commander of the Ming armies in Vietnam, and sent by the Ming Emperor himself, he serves as the main antagonist of the Lê Lợi campaign.
* TheDreaded: His reputation preceeds him, as noted when he decides to take arms and march against Lê Lợi after the fall of Hanoi's garrison halfway through the campaign.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: His voice actor is definitely not a native Mandarin speaker, as he ''mispronounces his own surname''.
* WartsAndAll: In his narration, he noted that while Lê Lợi did much good during his reign, the state of affairs deterioriated under his successors. Contrast with the unnamed narrator in ''Definitive Edition'', which omitted the deterioration. Similarly, Wang did not shy away from the sufferings the Ming occupiers inflicted upon the Vietnamese peasants.
* WorthyOpponent: After his defeat, he regards Lê Lợi as an opponent worthy of respect.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Last Khans Campaigns]]
!Tamerlane (Tatars)

!!Tamerlane
Leader of the Timurid Empire, represented by a cavalry archer.\\\

* AscendedExtra: His name was one of the many name that the AI player will use if playing the Mongols in the original ''Age of Kings'' as well as an unused hero unit. Come the ''Definitive Edition'', where he has his own campaign. As a result, his name is no longer in Mongolian, instead he is now used for Tatar players.
* CombatPragmatist: As part of his strategic prowess, when facing off against the Sultan of Delhi's armored elephants, he sent a small brigade of camels carrying burning hay. The sight of flaming camels spooked the elephants enough to stampede in the other direction.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He wasn't descended from a Khan, and yet he picked up several pieces of the old Mongol empire and conquered vast amounts of land from Persia to Delhi.
* HandicappedBadass: He's called "Timur the Lame" because arrow wounds in his right leg and hand impeded his movement. He is still a highly cunning individual who earned his leadership by [[CuttingTheKnot throwing his helmet at an end post in a foot race]]. His cunning had proven rather deadly on the battlefield.
* ImplacableMan: He swears he ''will'' find Tokhtamysh to make him rue his betrayal. In the last outro, he made good on this promise.
* LargeHam: Everytime you hear him speak, he is always over the top.
* OnlyAFleshWound: In the first map, his unit can be killed as many times as you please, he will always spawn back into his castle.
* PetTheDog: In spite of his taste for genocidal ravages, Tamerlane spared many artisans and philosophers, deporting them to Samarkand instead. [[note]] In RealLife, Tamerlane was a [[WickedCultured very active patron of arts and science]] and wanted his capital city to grow even more refined and cultured.[[/note]]
* RapePillageAndBurn: Pretty much all of his campaign and easily the worst of them all. Makes Attila and Genghis Khan looks tame by comparison.
* VillainProtagonist: He's ''fiendishly'' brutal for a conqueror. Since he apparently styled himself TheScourgeOfGod, he probably enjoyed it, too.
* WickedCultured: He actually has a policy of systemic deportation to Samarkand regarding artists and craftsmen, wanting for his capital city to become a rich blend of cultures and sciences.

!!Tokhtamysh
Khan and starting ally to Tamerlane. Represented by a unique Steppe Lancer.\\\

* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: Downplayed, but he's the beddragled refugee relating all of Tamerlane's atrocities to the rich lord in the framing device.
* HorseArcher: Represented by one, and during Tamerlane's campaign into Persia provided him with some.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Formerly the ruler of the Blue Horde portion of the Golden Horde, he made the big mistake of betraying Tamerlane. It leads him to become a terrified, starving refugee ranting about his rival's cruelty and pressing people to flee instead of fighting. Subverted when he returns as an ally during Vytautas scenario in the Polish campaign.
* LikeASonToMe: How Tamerlane viewed him. Tokhtamysh deciding to backstab him wasn't well-received as a consequence.
* TheStarscream: Tokhtamysh betrayed Tamerlane after the latter destroyed enough Persian cities. He vastly underestimated Tamerlane's ability in combat and fled north to the Golden Horde, then west to Lithuania after meeting his respective defeats.

!Ivaylo (Bulgarians)

!!Ivaylo
The main character of the Bulgarian campaign, represented by an unique cavalry unit who can dismount like a Konnik.\\\

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Inverted. He's betrayed three times during the campaign, likely steming from his lowborn background (and the connections among his opponents).
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: So, the valiant swineherd who rightfully defended peasants' rights finally gains his happy ending after toppling the tyrant and becoming king instead, right? Not so much when his whole court is filled with classist snobs who hate him for killing the previous king.[[note]]It should be noted that many of Ivaylo's noble predecessors and successors didn't fare much better than him; the Bulgarian bolyars were an unruly lot. In the century beginning from Ivan II Asen's (grandfather of Ivan III, Ivaylo's rival) accession, only five Tsars ruled Bulgaria for a decade or more: Ivan II, Michael II (Ivan II's son), Konstantin, George Terter I and Theodore Svetoslav (George's son, who did not immediately succeed him)[[/note]]
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Started off as a simple swineherd, and inspired peasants to take up arms against the marauding Tatars. When the corrupt Bolyars focused on putting the militia down rather than fight off said Tatars, the rebellion was born with him at the helm.
* HeirInLaw: Marrying the Empress Dowager who was also regent to her young son was a good way to consolidate his claim to the throne. However, it wasn't enough, as Ivaylo literally had no other supporters, within Bulgaria or overseas.
* HeroesPreferSwords: While he's based on a Konnik, his weapons are a simple wooden shield and a sword.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: The campaign paints him as a humble man fighting to liberate the common man. While much of Ivaylo's character may be lost to time, history is fairly certain he was abusive to Maria. [[note]]Maria was previously the wife of Tsar Konstantin, and she had a son with Konstantin named Michael. With Ivaylo, she only had a daugher; Ivaylo was also her third husband.[[/note]]
* MultipleLifeBars: Despite the unique sprite, he has the same gimmick of the Konnik: as such, a "slain" Ivalyo is merely dismounted, though he will die for real if he's killed when on foot.
* RebelLeader: Deconstructed. In Ivaylo's time, being a leader of what type of rebels determined your fate. If you are a leader of rebels who hailed from nobility, your chances of succeeding are higher (e.g. Konstantin). If you are a peasant rebel leader, you had to deal with bolyars who had proven themselves hostile repeatedly to even tsars from nobility, never mind about a ''peasant'' tsar.
* ShootTheShaggyDogStory: Poor guy only wanted the aristocracy to stop dumping on peasants, and as such led a rebellion against his own government. Even after he became king, the nobility hated him so much they couldn't wait to usurp him immediately when he left for a moment, sending his wife and child into exile and making Ivaylo's followers lose any hope of the situation bettering itself. His plea for Nogai Khan to help him regain his throne sees him forced to assault innocent people for the Khan to ''consider'' hearing his request, and he's ultimately murdered when Nogai decides to reject his offer.
* TheHeroDies: Killed by Nogai Khan rather unceremoniously.
* WorkingClassHero: He started life as a swineherd. The nobility never forgave him for this. Reflected in his hero unit, which is without armor save for a square wooden shield and carries a simple sword as his weapon.
* WonTheWarLostThePeace: Ivaylo defeated Konstantin in war and was never defeated in battle, but he never had a stable reign, and his situation became untenable after George Terter's coup.

!!Tsar Konstantin
Tsar of Bulgaria in "A Most Unlikely Man", represented by a three-horse chariot. He was chronologically the second Tsar in Maria's narration, as he forced Mitso Asen (Ivan III's father) into exile.\\\

* AltarDiplomacy: Konstantin's marriage to Maria was to secure an alliance with the Byzantine Empire, although complications soon developed [[note]] As a condition for the marriage alliance, the Black Sea ports of Mesembria and Anchialos were to be handed over to Bulgaria as her dowry should Maria give birth to a son. After their son Michael was born, Michael VIII refused to honor the surrender of Maria's promised dowry, souring the improved relationship. Maria realized that her uncle's behaviour would undermine her position in the Bulgarian court, so she openly put up her husband to attack Michael VIII. [[/note]]. Although not mentioned in-game, Konstantin married his second wife Irene because of her connections as well [[note]] She was a granddaughter of Tsar Ivan Asen II and great-granddaughter of Ivan Asen I, one of the co-founders of the Second Bulgarian Empire, which was independent from the Byzantines. Irene died without issue in 1268, before Konstantin's marriage to Maria. Konstantin's wife and children from his first marriage remains unknown.[[/note]].
* HandicappedBadass: Got paralyzed from the waist down after falling off his horse, and so got confined to a chariot. Statswise, he has as much attack as a Paladin, and so can put up a fight, assuming he attacks at all.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Once governed Bulgaria well, and kept the Byzantines and Tatars in check. Then he fell off his horse, ensuring that the nobles assumed greater power. To set the scene of the Rebellion, Ivalyo had him killed by the end of the first scenario.
* UngratefulBastard: One way through the scenario is to ally with him, then defeat the Tatars and the remaining two Bolyars. Instead of giving Ivaylo the promised title of Bolyar, Konstantin then sets off to crush the rebellion while scoffing at Ivaylo's status as peasant.

!!Maria Kantakouzena
(Former) empress of Bulgaria\\\

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Maria downplayed Konstantin's reign considerably, as Konstantin was able-bodied for more than a decade, which is longer than the reigns of many of his predecessors and successors [[note]]In the century beginning from Ivan II Asen's accession, only five Tsars ruled Bulgaria for a decade or more; Konstantin was one of them.[[/note]]. Similarly, she downplayed her own role in Konstantin's reign after his paralysis; historically, Maria was regent during this period of time and so played her part in the decline of Bulgaria.
* BlackWidow: All ''three'' of Maria's husbands died violently, although mostly not of her doing. [[note]]Her first husband Alexios Philes died in captivity as a [=POW=] after defeat in battle.[[/note]]
* TheExile: She is exiled to Constantinople after Ivaylo loses power. [[note]] Both her children were exiled together with her, although both the game and historical records did not depict their interactions (if any).[[/note]]
* OddCouple: Deconstructed to hell -- the nobility was infuriated to see the Empress marry a swineherd who led a rebellion against them and killed ''her former husband''. [[note]]The marriage also greatly strained Maria's ties with her uncle Emperor Michael VIII of the Byzantine Empire.[[/note]]
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Not discussed in-game, but historically, she's linked to almost every major player in the Ivaylo campaign. She's a wife to Konstantin and Ivaylo, and cousin-in-law to Ivan Asen III and Nogai Khan.
* NarratorAllAlong: Though it's not much of a surprise.
* PoliticallyActivePrincess: As mentioned, Maria was a niece of Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos and thus a cousin of the wives of Nogai Khan and Ivan Asen III. According to her contemporary Georgius Pachymeres, Maria supported her uncle's military coup d'etat and she prompted him to blind the legitimate emperor John IV Laskaris, who was a brother of Bulgarian empress Irene, the second wife of Tsar Konstantin.[[note]]Michael VIII was initially co-emperor with John IV for the Empire of Nicaea. Michael managed to conquer Constantinople from the Latin Empire in 1261. With this conquest, Michael was able to proclaim the Byzantine Empire restored....with him as sole emperor. As one might expect, this complicated relations between Konstantin and Michael; Konstantin wanted cordial relations with the Byzantines, but Irene supported anti-Michael factions in the Byzantine court. In 1268, Irene died without issue, allowing Konstantin to take Maria as his third wife. After their marriage, Maria's own ambitions within the Bulgarian court complicated matters. As a condition for the marriage alliance, the Black Sea ports of Mesembria and Anchialos were to be handed over to Bulgaria as her dowry should Maria give birth to a son. After their son Michael was born, Michael VIII refused to honor the surrender of Maria's promised dowry, souring the improved relationship. Maria realized that the behaviour of her uncle would undermine her position in the Bulgarian court, so she openly put up her husband to attack Michael VIII. [[/note]] She was also the regent after Konstantin's paralysis and during most of Ivaylo's (short) reign.
* TellMeAboutMyFather: Ultimately, the whole campaign is Maria explaining to her (unnamed) daughter what kind of man fathered her.
* WomenPreferStrongMen: In the second mission, she comments that Ivaylo's military successes are really ''alluring''. The post-mission cutscene has her marrying him.

!!Ivan Asen III
Bulgarian noble and rival to Ivaylo. A son, nephew, grandson, great-grandnephew and great-grandson of tsars of Bulgaria.\\\

* AintTooProudToBeg: According to Nogai Khan, Ivan went groveling to him, begging for help just like Ivaylo. Nogai still considers Ivaylo better than him.
* TheBadGuyWins: Ivan did rule as tsar for about a year after Ivaylo's reign. Ivan's successor George Terter I was also his brother-in-law[[note]] George's second wife was Ivan's sister, although George's heir and eventual successor to Bulgaria was from his first wife.[[/note]]. Of Ivaylo's opponents, only Ivan and George Terter escaped a violent death; Ivan eventually returned to the Asen estates in the Troad (the Biga Peninsula in the northwestern part of Anatolia, Turkey) and died there in 1303[[note]]The estates in the Troad were given to Ivan's father Mitso after his own exile by Konstantin. [[/note]]. Also, not only did Ivan die in peace, his descendants thrived in Byzantium as a noble dynasty for generations.
* HeroicLineage: Although not mentioned in-game, Ivan's claim to the Bulgarian tsardom was not only from his father; his mother was a daughter of Tsar Ivan Asen II and granddaughter of Ivan Asen I (his namesake and one of the co-founders of the Second Bulgarian Empire, which was independent from the Byzantines); two of Ivan III's uncles were also Tsars of Bulgaria.
* DirtyCoward: Everybody was very unimpressed when he ran away because it was evident he wouldn't be able to vanquish Ivaylo on his own. [[note]] When Ivan and his wife escaped to Constantinople, the enraged Michael VIII (his father-in-law) refused to receive them for days for their cowardice. [[/note]]
* HistoryRepeats: Just like his father, Ivan reigned for about a year, and got himself exiled to the Byzantine Empire where he lived out his days.
* {{Nepotism}}: Although not elaborated in-game, Ivan is actually Nogai Khan's brother-in-law. [[note]]Their wives were daughters of Michael VIII of the Byzantine Empire, and half-sisters (Nogai's wife was one of Michael's illegitimate daughters). Yes, they are also related to Maria Kantakouzena.[[/note]]
* SmugSnake: In the second scenario he makes some very smarmy taunts at Ivaylo. He even has a breakdown when his troops are unable to recover the Church in time.
* UnfitForGreatness: Despite his Heroic Lineage, he was the last Asen who was Tsar of Bulgaria. [[note]]After his exile to the Byzantine Empire, his descendants intermarried with various Byzantine noble dynasties.[[/note]]

!!Nogai Khan
Leader (but not khan) of the Golden Horde. Represented by a heroic horse archer.\\\

* BloodKnight: Apparently, the smell of burnt flesh and the taste of blood are a joy to him.
* EyeScream: Lost one eye when fighting his brother for the post of commander of the Golden Horde. He's very chill about it, though.
* GracefulLoser: His reaction when Ivaylo burns his great tent is to laugh and call him a WorthyOpponent.
* HeroicLineage: More infamous than heroic, but he's a great-great-grandson to Genghis Khan.
* KarmicDeath: Although not depicted, Nogai died a violent death slightly less than 20 years after he killed Ivaylo.
* KickTheDog: After forcing Ivaylo to take part in the attack against the Poles, he listens to his plea for help, only to have him unceremoniously killed a little later.
* TheManBehindTheMan: The reason why he doesn't take command over the Golden Horde. He already rules it from the shadows and prefers it this way. [[note]]Historically, this returns to royally bite him in the ass when he installed Tokhta as khan about a decade after Ivaylo's death. Within a decade, Nogai was defeated in battle and killed, while Tokhta massacred his sons.[[/note]]
* ThirdPersonPerson: Possibly to sound more grandiose or unhinged, Nogai Khan refers to himself in this fashion.
* WorthyOpponent: Praises Ivaylo's strength right after being defeated by him.

!!George Terter
Bulgarian noble and one-time ally of Ivaylo. He proclaimed himself Tsar of Bulgaria after Ivan Asen III fled Tarnovo. Represented by a heroic cavalry unit.\\\

* TheBadGuyWins: Another example from the campaign after Ivan Asen III. George ruled as tsar for more than a decade. Although he was forced into exile at the end of his reign, he was allowed to return to Bulgaria after his son Theodore Svetoslav seized the throne and exchanged thirteen high-ranking Byzantine officers captured in a campaign for him. Theodore then settled George in a life of luxury in an unidentified city until his death. [[note]]What was even more remarkable was that when Theodore was young, George had used him as a hostage ''twice''. The first was when George divorced his mother and married Kira Maria, sister of Ivan Asen III, to cement his grip on the throne; both Theodore and his mother were then sent to the Byzantine Empire as hostages. The second was when Theodore was sent to ''Nogai Khan'' as a hostage.[[/note]]
* FaceHeelTurn: Starts off as an ally to Ivaylo, even helping him protect the Bulgarian village in ''Echoes of Heroes'', only to run to Tarnovo after Ivaylo defeated the Romans and declare himself Tsar before sending murderers after Ivaylo.
* RefugeInAudacity: Another trope which describes his accession. Before his accession, George was a Bulgarian bolyar with little to distinguish him from his peers (His ancestors were unknown and his wealth unremarkable). Then, by being at the right place (Tarnovo) and the right time (Ivan Asen III losing his marbles and fleeing the capital, and Ivaylo away fighting for his life), he rallied the bolyars and seized the throne.
* ToWinWithoutFighting: How he won the tsardom. Ivan Asen III fled the capital, while Ivaylo was away fighting for his life, so he rallied the bolyars to proclaim him Tsar.

!!Kasim Beg
A Tatar mercenary who helps Ivaylo on his quest. Represented by a heroic Keshik.\\\

* BladeOnAStick: Being a Keshik, Kasim wields a spear from horseback.
* TheLancer: Plays this role a surprising humber of time for Ivaylo, being playable in three of the five scenarios and loyal to the man even when his own compatriots have turned their backs on him.
* PetTheDog: When a lone and poor Ivaylo is fleeing Bulgaria, Kasim is willing to go to Nogai Khan and intercede for him. He's even at the outpost assigned to Ivaylo in the last portion of the scenario.
* RightHandAttackDog: In his first appearence, he's seen with a hunting wolf beside him.
* SpannerInTheWorks: In his first appearence, he suggests Ivaylo to slay the Khans among the Cumans and Tatars to make them revolt against the Mongols, while in the second one he and his raiders can pillage the back of the Roman base, depriving them of gold and wood.
* TokenHeroicOrc: From the Bulgarian's point of view, the Tatar Kasim may as well be a NobleDemon.

!Kotyan Khan (Cumans)

!!Kotyan Khan
Leader of the Cuman tribes, represented by a unique Horse Archer unit.\\\

* CoolMask: Wears a traditional Cuman metal mask over his face.
* OneHundredPercentAdorationRating: Alas for the Hungary nobles, Kotyan was extremely beloved by his bloodthirsty, warrior subjects. So when he was murdered, they didn't take it well. At all.
* TheExile: Courtesy of the Mongol invasions.
* TheHeroDies: He was murdered by the very nobility he wanted to trust. Cue RoaringRampageOfRevenge from his grieving warriors.
* HopeBringer: To his followers, who refused to be brought low by their plight as they still had him with them.

!!Béla IV
King of Hungary, represented by a King unit.\\\

* AltarDiplomacy: At the end of the campaign, his son - the future Stephen V - married Kotyan's daughter Elizabeth, sealing the goodwill between the two peoples.
* TheGoodKing: Welcomed the Cumans into his realm. Shame he couldn't stop suspicious nobles from assassinating Kotyan. Even after the Cumans ravaged the countryside in response, he requested their assistance after being taken advantage of by Duke Frederick.
* OnlySaneMan: The only person in Hungary to think the Cumans could peacefully live there, and maybe protect it from the Mongols. Unfortunately, his nobles ''had'' to murder Kotyan.

!!Frederick II
Duke of Austria.\\\

* BigBad: For the second half of the campaign, especially after Kotyan got murdered under his auspices.
* ManipulativeBastard: Nominally went to Hungary to help protect it from Mongols, but mostly took advantage of King Béla IV. He schemed with Hungarian nobles to have Kotyan murdered, with the assumption that the Cumans would be too disorganized to fight back, only to say that the Cumans shouldn't have been trusted when they ravaged the countryside in vengeance. He then forced Béla to swear fealty to the Holy Roman Empire after the Mongols left the latter in a desperate situation.
* OneSteveLimit: Mentioning his title is vitally important when talking about him, as his liege is also Frederick II, but that one was Holy Roman Emperor.
* VillainousBreakdown: In the final scenario, he will react with disbelief and outrage when he's defeated by the Cuman/Hungarian forces.

!Pachacuti (Incas)

!!Viracocha Inca
The eighth Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco (beginning around 1410), represented by a unique Slinger.\\\

* DecoyProtagonist: The narrator in the first mission pretty much established him as the hero of the story, until he runs away in the second mission which establishes Cusi Yupanqui as the actual hero and the titular Pachacuti.
* DirtyCoward: He flat-out dumped his subjects and fled with his favourite son when a warlord marched on Cuzco.
* FounderOfTheKingdom: He was the first ruler of the Inca Empire. [[note]]Historically, Pachacuti was the one who founded the Inca as an empire; Viracocha "merely" ruled over a kingdom, athough one chronicler, Sarmiento de Gamboa, states that Viracocha was the first Incan to rule the territories he conquered, while his predecessors merely raided and looted them.[[/note]]
* GodEmperor: There's hints he considered himself this trope -- a firm belief he was TheChosenOne designated by the gods, and his towering ego. Bonus point for being named after an ''actual'' deity.
* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: The reason why Cusi is TheUnFavourite, as he would rather stay and fight along his subjects than preserving his own skin.
* ParentalFavoritism: Urqu is his favorite son and the one he wishes to be his successor, this continues even when Cusi has proven to be the more capable leader.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Ran away like a coward and abandoned his people to their fate in Cuzco.
* SmugSnake: He boasted of being a military genius, but his successes were mainly the contribution of his two generals.

!!Cusi Yupanqui/Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui
The actual protagonist of the campaign, represented by a heroic unique unit.\\\

* CainAndAbel: The victory at Cuzco only served to turn his father into a GreenEyedMonster and turn Urqu against him because he is TheUnfavorite.
* HopeBringer: He is not a military genius at first, but his courage has inspired many soldiers including the two generals to stay in Cuzco and defend it despite Viracocha choosing to abandon it.
* MeaningfulName: ''Yupanqui'' was Quechua for "with honour", so he's fittingly the WisePrince.
* OnOneCondition: He refused to formally name his son Topa Yupanqui his successor until the youth proved he could rule, and rule ''well''.
* RedBaron: "Son of the Sun", for he led the Incas out of the darkness and into a golden age of prosperity.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: He's a prince of the Kingdom of Cusco, and even if he's rather green in matters of command and war, he still tries to do right by his people.
* TheUnFavourite: Despite most commoners and nobles respecting him a lot more compared with Urqu, his father still much prefered Urqu over him.
* WisePrince: Inca-flavoured.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lords of the West Campaigns]]
!Edward Longshanks (Britons)
For more information on Edward Longshanks and William Wallace, see the Age of Kings folder.

!!Edward II
The heir of England and son of Edward Longshanks. He is the narrator of the Edward Longshanks campaign.\\\

* InadequateInheritor: Since his father done so much while he did so little, he was already in a bad shape. He hoped that studying his father's success will teach him something, [[spoiler:it left him indecisive about how he should follow his father's example. If you read up his reign and learn that he was defeated by Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn and was forced to abdicate in 1327, his reign was a failure.]]
* {{Narrator}}: He serves as the narrator of the campaign, studying his father's accomplishment in order to be a good king.

!!Gilbert de Clare
Earl of Gloucester and a powerful Marcher Lord who defects from the Baronial cause and aids Longshanks in taking down Simon de Montfort. \\\

* OpportunisticBastard: Edward II's narration implies he switched his support to Longshanks largely because he saw de Montfort's faction starting to fracture and wanted to back the inevitable winner.

!!Simon de Montfort
Earl of Leicester, French aristocrat and leader of the rebel baronial faction that seizes power from the weak Henry III and imprisons the young Longshanks.\\\

!!Llywelyn ap Gruffydd
A Welsh nobleman who supported Simon de Montfort's rebellion.\\\

* BullyingADragon: He initially supports Simon de Montfort's rebellion, and despite Longshanks utterly crushing the Baronial revolt, later goes out of his way to antagonise Longshanks, going so far as to marry de Montfort's daughter Eleanor. This backfires horribly for him when Edward - already looking to expand the Kingdom of England - retaliates with a full-scale invasion of Wales.
* LargeHam: To say the least, he doesn't seem to fancy the thought of submitting to the English crown.

!!Baibars
The sultan of the Mamluk Sultanate.\\\

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Despite promising vengeance by the end of the second mission, he becomes a complete nonentity for the remainder of the campaign as soon as Edward begins his conquest of Wales.
* TheSiege: He leads the siege of Acre and Tripoli. He was forced to uplift the siege after an hour of a war of attrition by Edward Longshanks and his allies.

!!Dafydd ap Gruffydd
Llywelyn's brother siding with him against Longshank's conquest of Wales.\\\

!!John Balliol
The King of Scotland installed by Edward Longshanks after King Alexander III died without a male heir.\\\

* EmbarrassingNickname: After he was defeated by Edward Longshanks, he gave him the name "Toom Tabard," which means 'empty coat.'
* PuppetKing: He was installed into the Scottish throne by Longshanks so that he can influence the land.
** Subverted very quickly, though. He promises Edward that he can handle the rebellion in Berwick, only to do nothing to stop the city's soldiers and eventually deciding Edward's military intervention against the uprising is going too far, at which point he leads the Scottish army in open revolt against the English.

!!Aymer de Valence
A Franco-English earl of Pembroke.\\\

* HeroKiller: [[spoiler:It is he that personally killed William Wallace.]]
* YouAreInCommandNow: [[spoiler:He is given command by Edward Longshanks to suppress Robert the Bruce's rebellion due to his failing health. When asked if he should be giving command alongside Edward I, Longshanks chide that his craven of a son will only improve Scottish's morale.]]

!!Robert the Bruce

The Scottish vassal of Edward Longshanks.\\\

* BraveScot: A Scottish vassal turned rebel leader and [[spoiler:King of Scotland]].
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: His portrayal here is less than flattering, to say the least. [[spoiler: He revels in having murdered John Comyn in a church, and mocks Aymer de Valence's sense of chivalry. Once he turns on you he spends much of the rest of the scenario throwing obnoxious taunts in your direction.]]
* TheStarscream: [[spoiler:He eventually betrays you by rallying the Scottish as well as murdering John Comyn to lay claim to the Scottish crown.]]

!The Grand Dukes of the West (Burgundians)
For more information on Joan of Arc, see the Age of Kings folder.

!!Philip the Good

* {{Foil}}: To Joan of Arc. Whereas Joan is a passionate idealist, Philip is a prudent pragmatist who sees everything as a means to and end. To a degree, he's also a foil to John the Fearless. While both are Machiavellian leaders, their methods are extremely different. Whereas John commits heinous acts of cruelty on [[spoiler:innocent civilians just to assert superiority over the Armagnacs]], Philip does not hold grudges and even goes as far as to [[spoiler:eventually spare mercy to Jacqueline of Hainaut, despite her being his greatest threat to power]]. He's also charitable to fellow noblemen who can prove beneficial to his own goals, earning him his nickname.
* NonIndicativeName: Depending on your perspective, of course. Although he's civilized and charitable, he doesn't hesitate capturing Joan of Arc and selling her to the English and burns down enemy camps.
* NothingPersonal: His last words to Joan of Arc as she was taken away by the English.
-->"Alas, Joan, it is nothing personal. It is only politics."
* OpportunisticBastard: Despite his public goodwill, his goals are extremely self-serving and he is described as a ruthless politician by the narrator.

!!John the Fearless

* JustDesserts: Considering his treatment towards the Armagnacs, it should be no surprise that he is [[spoiler:assassinated after meeting to discuss diplomacy with them]].
* VillainProtagonist: In just the ''first'' mission, he [[spoiler:murders the entire families of innocent civilians and forces the 15-year-old son of the slain duke to publicly forgive him]], largely out of petty drama. If you thought sheer ruthlessness was reserved only for leaders of TheHorde, think again.

!!Bernard d' Armagnac

!!Jean de Bourbon

!!Charles d' Orleans

!!Jacqueline of Hainaut

* TheHighQueen: She's the most powerful threat to Philip the Good among fellow Burgundians.
* LadyMacbeth: She often berates her husband Humphrey for his cowardice and is the main opponent that Philip the Good must defeat in their two missions, in contrast to Humphrey only being optional the second time.
* RecurringBoss: She's the main antagonist of both the fourth and fifth missions, having escaped prison in-between to seek vengeance against Philip the Good.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Averted. She is only the first of ''two'' female arch-rivals to Philip the Good.
* UnholyMatrimony: With Humphrey of Lancaster. Even the title of the fourth mission[[note]]"An Unholy Marriage"[[/note]] is synonymous with this trope.
* WorthyOpponent: She ultimately becomes this to Philip the Good. He is impressed by her strength and skill regardless of her gender and status, and he [[spoiler:allows her to retain most of her holdings after defeating her a second time]].

!!Humphrey of Lancaster
The Lord Protector of England who aids Jacqueline of Hainaut\\\

* DirtyCoward: For all his big talk, he never fights Philip the Good in-person and mostly sits comfortably in England while Jacqueline does most of the fighting for him alongside his comparatively small army. Both Philip ''and'' Jacqueline have little respect for him by the end.
* WeAREStrugglingTogether: He's the Lord Protector of England, acting as regent for the young Henry VI. At this point England is *allied* to Burgundy in the Hundred Years' War, yet Humphrey, via his marriage to Jacqueline, is waging his own private war against Philip. [[spoiler: This comes back to bite him in "An Unholy Marriage"; once defeated it's mentioned that the English nobility are *not* impressed with his antics in waging war on an ally; by the events of "The Hook and Cod Wars" he's so bogged down in English politics his actual support for Jacqueline is far less than she'd hoped for.]]

!The Hautevilles (Sicilians)

!!Frederick Roger

The young boy who the narrator is speaking to during the cutscenes. He is the grandson of Frederick Barbarossa on his paternal side, and of Roger II of Sicily on his maternal side. He would later become King of Sicily and Holy Roman Emperor (remembered as Emperor Frederick II). Though not specifically seen or mentioned, he is also the leader of the Germans in Genghis Khan 5, "The Promise".\\\

* AChildShallLeadThem: He's already king of Sicily by the time of the narration, a title he holds since the age of three (his mother acts as Regent).
* LongTitle: Holy Roman Emperor, King of Sicily, Jerusalem, Burgundy & Germany.
* TheGoodKing: The narrator implies he'll grow into this. History would agree as Emperor Frederick II was referred to as stupor mundi (the wonder of the world) by contemporary chroniclers. He was a polyglot, speaking 6 languages, would help create the Italian language among many other cultural achievements.

!!Robert Guiscard

The founder of the Hauteville dynasty, who took the lands of Southern Italy from the other Norman barons who settled there, along with his brother who settled in Italy first.\\\

* AmbitionIsEvil: Described as ruthless and cunning by the narrator. He took advantage of his reputation to gain an audience with a Norman baron and then seized their lands for himself.
* FrontlineGeneral: A brave fighter, willing to fight up front against his foes. Justified, as Normans are the same as Vikings who only respect strength and skill in battle. As long he fights on the front, more Normans will flock to him.
* RedBaron: The Italians called him "Guiscard", or "Clever Fox" as his reputation grew.
* YoungConqueror: In his youth, he carved out the Italian half of the Kingdom of Sicily and fought off the Lombards and Bysantines.

!!Roger Bosso

Younger brother to Robert Guiscard, Roger Bosso was the first to claim the island of Sicily to rule.\\\

* FrontlineGeneral: Same as his brother, only more focused on taking down enemy generals to take their lands.
* HonorBeforeReason: Averted. He knew the limits of honor and was a smart and patient man.
* KnightInShiningArmor: Unlike Robert, Roger was patient and chivalrous. His chivalry made him a very popular ruler with his men.

!!Bohemond

Bastard child of Robert Guiscard, he leads the Normans of Sicily to war against the Byzantines and during the crusades.\\\

* HeroicBastard: So much that plenty of Normans still wants to follow his lead in combat.

!! Roger II of Sicily

Son of Roger Bosso, though he was raised mostly by his mother in a multi-cultural court, before rising as king of Sicily and Southern Italy. More a diplomat than a warrior like his father and uncle, Roger II's displomacy would allow him to unite all the Norman conquests in Italy under his banner. He is the protagonist of the final mission of the campaign, where he must repel the invading Holy Roman Empire (Spurred by the Pope condemning Roger II's tolerance of other faiths), while placating the Italian City States, the Byzantine Emperor and Saracens to consolidate the kingdom of Sicily.\\\

* WeAREStrugglingTogether: Much of his mission consists of either allying or destroying some of the local rival powers to focus on the real one, the Holy Roman Empire. Many of these factions are also hostile to the Holy Roman Emperor.

!!Sikelgaita
Robert Guiscard's second wife and Lombard princess. She is Bohemond's stepmother.\\\

* WickedStepmother: Throughout the "Bohemond and the Emperor" scenario, she constantly mock Bohemond and brags that her son will inherit the family wealth.

!!Alexios Komnenos
Emperor of Byzantium, due to the conflict against Bohemond and the Normans he's kinda like an archenemy to him.\\\

* TheEmperor: Of the Bizantine Empire.
* EvilIsPetty: After being bested by Bohemond, he willingfully delays the arrival of reinforcments to Antioch, leaving the Normans alone against the giant army of Turks.
* FrontlineGeneral: He personally leads his army in the third scenario.

!!Tancred de Hauteville, Baldwin of Hainaut, Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert of Flanders, Robert Curthose

Crusaders of the First Crusade, they accompany Bohemond in the defense of Antioch against the Seljuk siege.\\\

!!Kerbogha
The Turkish leader that sieged Antioch during the First Crusade.\\\

* KeystoneArmy: Defeating him will end the scenario early. However, good luck trying to reach him as he has a massive army outside the walls and that's without the actual army that periodically attacks you.

!!Emperor Lothair III
The Holy Roman Emperor who partake in the Crusade against Roger II.\\\

* BaitAndSwitchBoss: He is your Teuton enemy at the start of "Wonder of the World." However, after some time passes, he eventually leaves and gives command to Henry the Proud, who is the father of Henry the Lion. The opponent's name even gets changed from the transition.

!!Robert of Selby
Roger II's English chancellor and adviser.\\\

!!al-Idrisi
Roger II's Muslim adviser.\\\

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dawn of the Dukes Campaigns]]

!Algirdas and Kestusis (Lithuanians)

!!Algirdas and Kestusis
Lithuanian princes who fight together to protect and later rule their land against the multiple threats of german crusaders, rebellious Slavs and Tatars. Represented by heroic cavalry units armed, respectively, with a club and an axe.\\\

* CarryABigStick: Algirdas' weapon of choice is a mace.
* EvilUncle: Kestusis ends up being this to Jogaila, thinking he's unworthy of Algirdas' legacy and putting him in jail to await execution when he makes a deal with the Teutonic Order.
* FaceHeelTurn: Kestusis starts off as a playable character as long as Algirdas is still alive, but in the last scenario, set after Algirdas' death, he becomes the main antagonist opposing Jagiello.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Kestusis' famed escape from a Crusader's prison is only narrated through a cutscene.
* SiblingTeam: So formidable they manage to halt the invasion of crusaders from the west and keep eastern invaders such as Tatars and Slavs back.
* TheUsurper: In their first scenario they attack their own capital and force their brotherst Jaunitus and Narimantas to flee because they were planning to ally with the Teutonic order and let them add Lithuania to their lands.

!!Jaunitus
Elder brother of Algirdas and Kestusis, with sympathies for the Teutonic Knights.\\\

* CowardlyBoss: According to Kestusis, he always was all bark and no bite.
* LesCollaborateurs: Which is why his brothers tagteam to dethrone him.
* StarterVillain: An early antagonist who's well protected but can be defeated with ease.

!!Narimantas
Algirdas and Kestusis' other brother, he supports Jaunitus with his army and has ties with the Tatars.\\\

* TheDragon: To Jaunitus in the first scenario, using more experienced and stronger soldiers to support his defenses.
* Foreshadowing: Of the third scenario, which pits the Lithuanians against the Tatar hordes near Smolensk.
* StarterVillain: An early antagonist who's on the offensive but not too difficult to overcome.


!!Dmitry of Moscow
Leader of the Muscovite Rus and rival of Mikhail of Tver, Algirdas and Kestusis face him in Russia to help their ally Mikhail and breach his fortified city. Represented by a unique cavalry unit.\\\

* ClimaxBoss: The last big main obstacle fought by the two brothers before the final scenario.
* CombatPragmatist: He's content with staying inside the heavily fortified Kremlin and let the Lithuanians waste their forces against the rest of the city.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: While in the Lithuanian campaign he's just another enemy to fight, it's worth mentioning that Dmitry was the first prince to openly rebel to the Mongols and defeated the Tatars at the battle of Kolikovo in 1380.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: He doesn't move from the Kremlin. After all, the Lithuanians cannot even dent its defenses.
* WorthyOpponent: Recognized as such by both brothers and the scenario's title.

!!Jogaila/ Wladyslaw II Jagiello
The narrator of the Lithuanian campaign and later the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Represented by a unique cavalry unit.\\\

* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: Becomes the narrator of the Poles campaign's [[DistantEpilogue final scenario]] set years after the death of his queen Jadwiga and their child, and is still mourning their loss.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Of the Jadwiga campaign.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Not quite a nobody, being the son of Algridas, but we first meet him chained in a cell, telling his father's and uncle's story to a fellow prisoner before being freed by his followers. He later becomes one of the most powerful men in eastern Europe. Under him the Lithuanian - Polish Empire would become for a time the largest nation in Europe, surpassing France and the Holy Roman Empire.
* HeartbrokenBadass: The untimely loss of Jadwiga and their daughter is still felt by him over a decade after their deaths, while he's at the height of his power.
* InadequateInheritor: His uncle, Kestusis, believed him to be a poor successor to the role of his father, Algridas (Kestusis' [[SiblingTeam brother]]), after Algridas' death, when Jogaila made a deal with the Knights Teutonic, who had raided Lithuania for years. Jogaila... disagreed.
* MeaningfulRename: He initially goes by his birth name of Jogaila, but before marrying Jadwiga of Poland he's baptized and takes the name of Wladyslaw II Jagiello to be closer to his Polish subjects. Jadwiga in her description mentions how for her he'll always be Jogaila.
* RecurringCharacter: Appears across all of the ''Dawn of the Dukes'' campaigns.

!Jadwiga (Poles)

!!Jadwiga
Protagonist of the Poles' campaign, a revered and capable heroic queen later revered as a Saint. Appears as a unique mounted Queen unit capable of converting enemy units.\\\

* ArrangedMarriage: Was originally betrothed to a prince William whom she loved dearly, only for it to turn out to be a trap set for him, and she is instead made the wife of Jagiello for political purposes, though in time she grows to love him as well.
* DeathByChildbirth: Tragically, neither Jadwiga or her infant daughter live long past her birth.
* HealingHands: Her heroic unit has the traits of a monk and thus can both heal allies and convert enemies. When she levels up, her healing becomes more efficient.
* TheNeedsOfTheMany: Puts the greater good of Poland and Lithuania ahead of everything else, even on her deathbed.
* RedBaron: Eventually known as the Star of the Poles.
* WartsAndAll: While she's a devout Catholic, she makes no attempt to justify the marauding commited by the Teutonic Order under pretense of spreading Christianity.

!!Vytautas the Great
Son of Kestusis and pretender to the throne of Lithuania, he's Jogaila's rival. He first appears in the Lithuanian campaign and makes consistent appearences in the Polish campaign, eventually becoming playable. Represented by a unique, paladin-like unit.\\\

* BoisterousBruiser: Very loud and straightforward on the battlefied, anxious to fight his enemies head on. During the final battle he shows some tactical acumen by using the very same ambush strategy used against him to deal a decisive strike to the Teutonic Order.
* EarlyBirdCameo: It's never explicitly stated, but Vytautas is a strong candidate for the anonymous lord narrating the Tamerlane campaign - particularly given that Tokhtamysh and Vytautas end up with a scenario of their own in Jadwiga's campaign.
* JustYouMeAndMyGuards: ''Duel of Dukes'' starts off with Jogaila and Vytautas fighting each other for Lithuania. As he lose more cities, he'll summon Rus and Teutonic mercenaries to aid him in combat.
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: When Jogaila and Jadwiga are able to conquer most of the Lithuanian towns he controlled he submits to them and join forces, getting the title of Duke on the condition that he serves Jogaila.
* TheLancer: [[spoiler:Becomes Jogaila's ally in the Polish campaign following some negotiations, and supports him for the rest of the campaign]]
* PetTheDog: He sent Jadwiga a magnificent cradle made of silver and covered in engravings.
* PragmaticVillainy: While he's a pagan and his father fought hard to keep the Christians out of Lithuania, he's not adverse to bargaining with the Teutonic Order and even offer them Lithuanian lands to colonize for their service.
* PromotedToPlayable: He becomes fully playable near the end of the Polish campaign.
* RecurringCharacter: He appears in two of the three campaigns.
* TheRival: To Jogaila, his cousin.
* SmugSnake: As seen in his portrait without his CoolHelmet, Vytautas is rather smug and a schemer.
* SoreLoser: When you conquer one of his cities in ''Duel of Dukes'' he'll sometimes claim that "he never liked that city anyway", trying to downplay your victory. Subverted after the ambush of the Golden Horde, which actually gives him an idea for a future battle against the crusaders.

!!Ulrich von Jungingen
The 26th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, he leads his order from Prussia against Lithuania and Poland and serves as the main antagonist of the Polish campaign. Represented by a unique cavalry unit.\\\

* BigBad: While the Teutonic Order is the main antagonistic force of the first two campaigns, Ulrich himself only shows up during the Polish campaign as antagonist and last obstacle to be eliminated.
* CoolHelmet: Wears an imposing full helmet adorned with wing-like horns.
* DefiantToTheEnd: To his defense, he goes down fighting his enemy in a last-ditch attempt to turn the tides of the battle.
* FinalBoss: He's the last enemy fought in the campaign, both his faction and his hero unit itself (as killing him will cause the retreat of the enemy army).
* HornsOfVillainy: The decoration of his helmets, if you exlude the wing-like decorations, are rather horn-like.
* InsistentTerminology: Insultingly refers to Jogaila as "pagan king" despite the fact that Jogaila himself has cast away his pagan origins and was baptized.
* KeystoneArmy: His death causes the retreat of his forces. Justified, as the Teutonic Knights were already on the losing side of the battle and his assault was an attempt to encourage his troops.

!Jan Zizka (Bohemians)

!!Jan Zizka
Protagonist of the titular campaign, Jan Zizka is a one-eyed experienced mercenary whose skills will lead Bohemia to greatness. Appears as a unique cavalry hero wielding a mace.\\\

* CarryABigStick: His weapon of choice is a large flanged mace, which is also the symbol of his campaign alongside a chalice.
* DyingWish: As he dies from the plague, he requests that his skin be used to fashion a drum so that with it he may continue to inspire his men from beyond the grave with its sound.
* EarlyBirdCameo: He's one of the many mercenaries available for Jogaila to hire in the final mission of the Jadwiga campaign.
* EyepatchOfPower: Lost his right eye during his youth and later loses his remaining good eye in battle. [[HandicappedBadass Not that it diminishes his military genius.]]
* GeniusBruiser: A mighty warrior whose experience and tactics would turn the Bohemian army into a nigh-unstoppable juggernaut.
* HandicappedBadass: He starts the campaign with only one eye, and loses the other later on [[EyeScream to an arrow]]. This does not hinder his genius in any way as his genius military tactics allow him to win every battle until his death from the plague, though after the latter, he no longer takes to the field as a hero unit.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Denounces the Teutonic Order as a bunch of fanatics, though eventually Jan Zizka himself becomes a zealous fighter for the Hussite cause.

!!Emperor Sigismund
The main antagonist of the Bohemian campaign, he's the Holy Roman Emperor trying to suppress the Hussite revolt in Bohemia. Represented by a unique cavalry unit.\\\

* BeardOfEvil: Has a full pointy beard that makes him look villainous.
* BigBad: The main antagonist force for the Hussite and Jan Zizka's most ferocious opponent.
* TheEmperor: The ''Holy Roman'' Emperor, to boot. Which is why he's bearing down on the Hussite.
* VillainousBreakdown: He's initially smug, confident and considers his opponents as nothing more than armed rabble. By the time Jan Zizka has defeated him again in the snowy fields around Kutha Hora, Sigismund has become the shadow of his former self, and considers Jan Zizka something like a divine punishment against his hubris.

!!Zawisza
A Polish mercenary in service of Sigimsund and a former friend of Jan Zizka.\\\

* TheDragon: To Sigismund in the fifth scenario.
* GracefulLoser: He takes his defeat in stride, all things considered. After all, Jan Zizka spares him and just ransom him back to Poland.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: He's a mercenary, so he's serving Sigismund for money.
* RhymesOnADime: Uniquely, he speaks in rhymes when talks.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dynasties of India Campaigns]]

!Babur (Tatars and Hindustanis)
!!Zahir ud-Din
A descendent of Tamerlane who fled Transoxiana with his mother after the death of his father.\\\

* MommasBoy: Zahir deeply loved his mother, [[spoiler:even at the end of the campaign he still misses the simple time he spent with her.]]
* VillainousLineage: A twofer, as he's not only the descendent of [[UsefulNotes/TimurTheLame Tamerlane]], but UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan as well.

!!Babur

!!Qutlhug

!Dravidians (Rajendra)
!!Rajendra
A young man who is ever haunted by his fear of corruption after suddenly inheriting his fathers empire.\\\

* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: Begins his campaign as an idealistic youth weary of moral corruption, but ends up a ruthless conquer who casts such concerns away.

[[/folder]]

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* CoolPet: The Wolves gain a speed boost when they're directed at enemies, attack very quickly, and have the healing factor bestowed upon all Hero units.

!!Francisco de Orellana

[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoe2_6_lahire.jpg]
%% [[caption-width-right:256:some caption text]]

The Dauphin (Prince) of France. Joan's mission is making him King of France, instead of the English.

A French duke who aids Joan of Arc in breaking the siege of Orleans.

[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aoe2_6_lahire.jpg]]

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The protagonist of the campaign, and the head of the Kingdom of Wallachia. Represented by the Boyar unit, slightly reworked in ''Definitive Edition''.
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The three voivode princes who become the closest allies to Dracula. Represented by a cataphract, a paladin and a cavalier, respectively, while in ''DE'' they're all heroic knights.

The leader of the Dăneşti clan, and the usurper of the throne of Wallachia, as well as the murderer of Draculas father and older brother. A secondary antagonist of the campaign. Represented by a cavalier unit, and later a king unit.

The sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who sends Dracula to Wallachia after Vladislav takes over. Represented by the king unit.

The son of Murad, becoming the enemy of Dracula unlike his father.

The younger brother of Dracula, and the leader of the Ottoman troops against him in the fourth mission.

An Italian mercenary, captain of his platoon after his father's death, and the main protagonist of the campaign. Represented by a condottiero unit in the HD edition, later given his own unit in the Definitive Edition.

The father of Francesco. After his death, Francesco takes over his soldiers. Represented by a condottiero unit.

A Venetian mercenary general, and the closest the campaign has to a main antagonist. Represented by a cataphract unit.

The Duke of Milan, and Sforza's distrustful employer. Represented in-game by a king unit.

A mercenary employed by Filippo, fighting against Carmagnola. Represented by a paladin unit.

Two spies sent by Sforza to infiltrate Carmagnola's camp. Represented by a man at arms unit.

A mere college student who's very interested by Sforza's many adventures. He only appears in ''HD Edition''.

Cousin of Francesco.

A former butcher and now condottiero mercenary serving Visconti, he's first an ally of Francesco, and later enemy when he deserts Visconti. Only appears in ''Definitive Edition''.

The protagonist of the campaign, and king of the Goths. Represented by a huskarl, and later a cavalier unit. In ''Definitive Editon'', he gets his own unit, which resembles a mounted huskarl.

The second-in-command of Alaric. Represented by a woad raider, and then a knight unit in HD, while he gets represented as an heroic unique Champion in ''DE''.

The emperor of the Western Roman Empire, and thereby the main antagonist of the campaign.

A Gothic chieftain, responsible for attacking Alaric for no reason, destroying the option of peace. Represented by a knight lancer hero unit in HD and by an heroic Champion in the Definitive Edition.

The sister of Honorius. Represented by the Joan the Maid unit.

The main protagonists of each of the missions of the campaign. All represented by champion units, except in ''DE'' where Michael is a Longswordsman while Andreas is a Cavalier.

The Carolingian emperor, appearing in the first mission. Represented by a king unit, and a cavalier.

A Byzantine admiral of Lombardi descent, rebelling against the empire in the second mission. Represented by a cataphract.

The commander of the garrison at Bari during the Norman invasion. Represented by a cataphract in ''HD'' and a King in ''DE''.

Byzantine general sent by the Emperor to quell Melus' rebellion and protect Apulia from the combined forces of Lombards, Italians and the Holy Roman Empire. Only appears in ''DE''.

The main protagonist of the campaign. Represented by a conquistador unit.

The commander of Orellanas expedition, until he is lost. Represented by a conquistador unit.

A suspicious Native American chieftain who leads Orellana astray with his stories. Represented by a plumed archer unit.

The leader of another Spanish expedition team who got shipwrecked and kidnapped by cannibals. He and his crew got rescued by Francisco de Orellana.

Warrior king of India, represented first by a crossbowman unit, then by a heavy horse archer, who becomes unique in ''DE''.
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A princess of India who falls in love with Prithviraj and later marries him, which causes a huge amount of problems. Represented by a powerless Queen unit.
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A poet in Prithviraj's court and the narrator of the campaign.

The protagonist and leader of the Persians in the Bukhara scenario. Represented by a heroic Elephant Archer.

King of Northumbria and main antagonist of York scenario.

The main protagonist of the Berber campaign, represented by an heroic Genitour unit, gets a unique makeover for ''DE''.

The second protagonist of the Berber campaign, represented by a Camel Archer unit.

The new protagonist after the third scenario, represented by a Genitour unit.

Young prince of the Mali, born lame and weak, he has to defend his country from the wicked Sumanguru and forge a powerful empire. Appears as an heroic Light Cavalry unit but gets a unique makeover for ''DE''.

The main villain of the Malian Campaign, he's the emperor of Ghana and Sundjata's rival. He's rumored to be a sorcerer. Represented in game as a heroic Cataphract unit in HD and by a unique mounted lancer in ''DE''.

Nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against the Moors and in the conquest of Granada in 1492.

The royal princess of Ethiopia who was betrayed by her greedy nephew Gidajan and forced to flee Ethiopia and brew a terrible revenge on her kingdom. As Princess Yodit, she's represented as a defenceless Queen unit, but she also has a model as a heroic Gbeto unit.

King of Aksum and Yodit's brother, father of Gidajan. He's the main enemy in the third scenario and appears as a heroic unique Elephant Archer.

Yodit's nephew, a scheming bastard who tries to take the power in Aksum but is fought and defeated by Yodit. Appears in game as a unique unit resembling an Eastern Swordsman hero.

The main hero and Majapahit general for the campaign; appears as a unique, champion-like unit. Unusual for the series, Gajah is the narrator for his own campaign, a trait he shares with Bayinnaung.

The main hero of the campaign who became king of Angkor, appears as a unique Elite Battle Elephant hero.

The main character of the Burmese campaign, represented by an Elite Battle Elephant hero and later by a monk. Like Gajah Mada, he's the narrator of his own campaign, a rarity for the series.

Bayinnaung's sworn brother and King of Burma, he appears as a unique Elephant Archer and is playable in the first part of the campaign.

The hero of the Vietnamese campaign, leading his people in war against the Ming. He appears as a souped up Champion unit in ''HD Edition''. In ''Definitive Edition'', he's represented by a unique champion-like unit.

One of Lê Lợi's allies, represented first by an heroic Two-Handed Swordsman and later by a Champion in ''HD Edition'', and by a unique cavalry unit in ''Definitive Edition''.

The four lieutenants of Lê Lợi aiding him in the battle against the Ming. They are represented by a Cavalier, a Champion, an Arbalest and a unique Monk unit.

The cunning general of the Ming Empire, who appears as a unique Cataphract hero in ''HD Edition'', and as a unique cavalry unit like Lê Lai in ''Definitive Edition''.

Leader of the Timurid Empire, represented by a cavalry archer.

Khan and starting ally to Tamerlane. Represented by a unique Steppe Lancer.

The main character of the Bulgarian campaign, represented by an unique cavalry unit who can dismount like a Konnik.

Tsar of Bulgaria in "A Most Unlikely Man", represented by a three-horse chariot. He was chronologically the second Tsar in Maria's narration, as he forced Mitso Asen (Ivan III's father) into exile.

(Former) empress of Bulgaria

Bulgarian noble and rival to Ivaylo. A son, nephew, grandson, great-grandnephew and great-grandson of tsars of Bulgaria.

* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Not discussed in-game and slightly less extensive than Maria Kantakouzena. Ivan is a brother-in-law to Nogai Khan and a cousin-in-law to Konstantin during Konstantin's second marriage [[note]]Ivan and Irene were both grandchildren of Tsar Ivan II Asen.[[/note]].

Leader (but not khan) of the Golden Horde. Represented by a heroic horse archer.

Bulgarian noble and one-time ally of Ivaylo. He proclaimed himself Tsar of Bulgaria after Ivan Asen III fled Tarnovo. Represented by a heroic cavalry unit.

A Tatar mercenary who helps Ivaylo on his quest. Represented by a heroic Keshik.

Leader of the Cuman tribes, represented by a unique Horse Archer unit.

King of Hungary, represented by a King unit.

Duke of Austria.

The eighth Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco (beginning around 1410), represented by a unique Slinger.

The actual protagonist of the campaign, represented by a heroic unique unit.

The heir of England and son of Edward Longshanks. He is the narrator of the Edward Longshanks campaign.

Earl of Gloucester and a powerful Marcher Lord who defects from the Baronial cause and aids Longshanks in taking down Simon de Montfort.

Earl of Leicester, French aristocrat and leader of the rebel baronial faction that seizes power from the weak Henry III and imprisons the young Longshanks.

A Welsh nobleman who supported Simon de Montfort's rebellion.

The sultan of the Mamluk Sultanate.

Llywelyn's brother siding with him against Longshank's conquest of Wales.

The King of Scotland installed by Edward Longshanks after King Alexander III died without a male heir.

A Franco-English earl of Pembroke.

The Scottish vassal of Edward Longshanks.

The Lord Protector of England who aids Jacqueline of Hainaut

The young boy who the narrator is speaking to during the cutscenes. He is the grandson of Frederick Barbarossa on his paternal side, and of Roger II of Sicily on his maternal side. He would later become King of Sicily and Holy Roman Emperor (remembered as Emperor Frederick II). Though not specifically seen or mentioned, he is also the leader of the Germans in Genghis Khan 5, "The Promise".

The founder of the Hauteville dynasty, who took the lands of Southern Italy from the other Norman barons who settled there, along with his brother who settled in Italy first.

Younger brother to Robert Guiscard, Roger Bosso was the first to claim the island of Sicily to rule.

Bastard child of Robert Guiscard, he leads the Normans of Sicily to war against the Byzantines and during the crusades.

Son of Roger Bosso, though he was raised mostly by his mother in a multi-cultural court, before rising as king of Sicily and Southern Italy. More a diplomat than a warrior like his father and uncle, Roger II's displomacy would allow him to unite all the Norman conquests in Italy under his banner. He is the protagonist of the final mission of the campaign, where he must repel the invading Holy Roman Empire (Spurred by the Pope condemning Roger II's tolerance of other faiths), while placating the Italian City States, the Byzantine Emperor and Saracens to consolidate the kingdom of Sicily.

Robert Guiscard's second wife and Lombard princess. She is Bohemond's stepmother.

Emperor of Byzantium, due to the conflict against Bohemond and the Normans he's kinda like an archenemy to him.

Crusaders of the First Crusade, they accompany Bohemond in the defense of Antioch against the Seljuk siege.

The Turkish leader that sieged Antioch during the First Crusade.

The Holy Roman Emperor who partake in the Crusade against Roger II.

Roger II's English chancellor and adviser.

Roger II's Muslim adviser.

Lithuanian princes who fight together to protect and later rule their land against the multiple threats of german crusaders, rebellious Slavs and Tatars. Represented by heroic cavalry units armed, respectively, with a club and an axe.
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Elder brother of Algirdas and Kestusis, with sympathies for the Teutonic Knights.
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Algirdas and Kestusis' other brother, he supports Jaunitus with his army and has ties with the Tatars.
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Leader of the Muscovite Rus and rival of Mikhail of Tver, Algirdas and Kestusis face him in Russia to help their ally Mikhail and breach his fortified city. Represented by a unique cavalry unit.
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The narrator of the Lithuanian campaign and later the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Represented by a unique cavalry unit.
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Protagonist of the Poles' campaign, a revered and capable heroic queen later revered as a Saint. Appears as a unique mounted Queen unit capable of converting enemy units.
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Son of Kestusis and pretender to the throne of Lithuania, he's Jogaila's rival. He first appears in the Lithuanian campaign and makes consistent appearences in the Polish campaign, eventually becoming playable. Represented by a unique, paladin-like unit.
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The 26th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, he leads his order from Prussia against Lithuania and Poland and serves as the main antagonist of the Polish campaign. Represented by a unique cavalry unit.
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Protagonist of the titular campaign, Jan Zizka is a one-eyed experienced mercenary whose skills will lead Bohemia to greatness. Appears as a unique cavalry hero wielding a mace.
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The main antagonist of the Bohemian campaign, he's the Holy Roman Emperor trying to suppress the Hussite revolt in Bohemia. Represented by a unique cavalry unit.
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A Polish mercenary in service of Sigimsund and a former friend of Jan Zizka.
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A descendent of Tamerlane who fled Transoxiana with his mother after the death of his father.
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A young man who is ever haunted by his fear of corruption after suddenly inheriting his fathers empire.
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* AnAxeToGrind: Is the Berserker unit, although he does not throw axes like Harald Hardraade.

* AnAxeToGrind: He's a souped up heroic Throwing Axeman.

The protagonist of the campaign, and the head of the Kingdom of Wallachia. Represented by the Boyar unit, slightly reworked in ''Definitive Edition''. \\\

* AnAxToGrind: Being a Boyar hero, he uses an ax, though the narrator find his CoolSword in the intro. His hero unit is modified in ''Definitive Edition'', now resembling a Boyar wielding a longsword rather than the usual bardiche.
* ArchEnemy: Vladislav and the Ottomans.

* AnAxeToGrind: Kestusis wields one as his weapon, looking like an heroic Leitis with an axe instead of a spear.

* AnAxeToGrind: An inversion of Bleda and his melee bow, Harald takes the model of a melee unit, the Berserker, and uses it to throw axes at enemies, like the Frankish Throwing Axeman. He also throws these axes very rapidly and would be a one man army if it weren't for his low HP. He doesn't look as silly as Bleda because his animation is specifically cut off to make it look like he's doing an overhand throw.

The main protagonist of the Celtic learning campaign that bears his name. Appears in the final map as a champion unit.

The king of England in the William Wallace campaign, does not appear in person. In the expansion ''Lords of the West'' he gets his own campaign and appears throughout the campaign as a Paladin unit.

The protagonist of the Frankish campaign. Appears as two different units: Joan the Maid, which walks on foot, has little attack and has no armor, and her more powerful knight version, who has high attack, but is not as strong as other mounted heroes.

The fictional narrator of the Joan of Arc campaign. Has an unique model as cavalry in the final level. Voiced by Spencer Prokop.

Two French knights who escorted Joan of Arc to Chinon so that she may meet the Dauphin.

A French BloodKnight, represented by an extremly powerful champion. He serves as TheLancer to Joan first, and then Guy.

An extremely arrogant English knight, and the antagonist of the third level in Joan of Arc. Represented by the KnightlyLance hero unit.

A French cannoneer who fought in the Siege of Paris.

The Breton nobleman and commander of the French army.

A French artillery commander and siege engineer in the Battle of Castillon.

The leader of the Saracens, and the protagonist of his campaign, as well as a FinalBoss of the Barbarossa campaign. Does not appear in-game, but in the expansions he's introduced as an heroic Mameluke unit.

A French knight working for the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the first enemy of the Saladin campaign. Is represented by the KnightlyLance hero unit.

The FinalBoss of the Saladin campaign, a minor ally in the final level of Barbarossa and the protagonist of the Cyprus scenario in the Battles of the Forgotten. Represented by a powerful paladin unit.

The protagonist of the Mongol campaign. Appears only in the first level, as a powerful mangudai unit. Voiced by Rick May.

A wolf carrying a minor role in the Genghis Khan campaign. The task to convince the Uighurs to join Genghis, is to kill Ornlu and his pack. A renamed version of him, called Son of Ornlu, inexplicably appears in Montezuma. He is a very powerful wolf.

The antagonist of the second level of Genghis Khan. Represented by a cavalier unit.

TheLancer to Genghis, and later, Ogatai. Represented by a cavalry archer. Also appears in the Kotyan Khan campaign as the antagonist.

The protagonist of the teuton campaign. Appears in the final level, after his death, as the Emperor in A Barrel unit, which is a trade cart with more health. The expanions added him as a unique Teutonic Knight unit.

TheStarscream to Barbarossa, later implied to be the narrator of his campaign, commanding forces in the second and fourth levels though he does not appear as an unit until Definitive Edition, where he's an heroic knight. Voiced by Spencer Prokop.

The protagonist of the Hunnic campaign. Is an extra powerful cataphract unit in the HD version, and a unique cavalry unit in Definitive Edition.

The brother of Attila, and a WarmupBoss in his campaign. Represented by a Mangudai with melee damage, inexplicably. In Definitive Edition he's an heroic Steppe Lancer instead.

The West Roman general fighting Attila in the latter part of the campaign, although he never appears.

The source of information for Attila's campaign and his atrocities, as he tells Attila's tale to the narrator. A peaceful monk who's troubled by what he had to witness... or maybe not.

The protagonist of the Spanish campaign, represented by a Champion at first, but after acquiring [[CoolHorse Bavieca]], a KnightlyLance.

The wife of El Cid, and the narrator of his campaign. Voiced by Melinda Renna.

The king of Castille, and an useful ally to El Cid in the first map, until he dies. Represented by the non-combatant king unit.

The villainous king of León, and after Sancho's death, of Castile. He is constantly fighting and allying with El Cid through several maps. Represented by the non-combatant king unit.

The leader of the Black Guard Berbers that invade Spain to stop the Christian advance in the Reconquista. Never appears in game.

The friendly Muslim King of Zaragoza. He puts El Cid at his service after he is exiled by King Alfonso. Never appears in game.

The Count of Barcelona, trying to expand his territories by attacking the Moorish cities of Zaragoza and Valencia that El Cid is tasked to protect. Does not appear in person.

The focal character of the Montezuma campaign, though arguably not the protagonist; that would probably be his nephew, Cuauhtemoc. Never appears in person.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The game describes Montezuma as slow to make decisions and seemingly afraid of going into combat. In real life the office of the Emperor is tied into military promotion. The warriors who come from noble families have a head start on commoners when it comes to rank so they always end up as the rulers but they have to prove themselves in battle time and time again until they become Emperor.
* DecoyProtagonist: [[NeverTrustATitle Despite giving his name to the campaign]], the real protagonist is Cuahutemoc.

%%* TheGhost

The protagonist and narrator of the Montezuma campaign, becoming emperor after his uncle's death. A Jaguar Warrior in La Noche Triste is heavily implied to be him, and was later made into an actual hero unit in the shape of an Eagle Warrior.

The antagonist of the Montezuma campaign. He never appears in person.

The protagonist and leader of the Britons in the Agincourt scenario. Represented by a powerful Paladin unit.

The protagonist and leader of the Franks in the Hastings scenario, represented by a paladin unit.

The antagonist of the Hastings scenario, the leader of the Saxons. Does not appear in person.

A Berserker and leader of the Vikings appearing in Hastings, whom can be allied with William, if the player chooses, and can be used as an army. Represented by a ranged berserker unit.

The protagonist of the Vinlandsaga scenario, represented by a Berserker unit.

The protagonist and leader of the Franks in the Tours scenario, represented by a Throwing Axeman unit.

The protagonist and leader of the Koreans in the Noryang Point scenario, represented by a Turtle Ship.

A samurai in the Kyoto map, who is executed in the beginning, leading to the revenge wished by his second Hideyoshi. Is represented by the samurai unit.

The protagonist of the Kyoto map, and the antagonist of the Noryang Point map, leading Japanese in both occasions. Does not appear in person.

The protagonist of the campaign, and the head of the Kingdom of Wallachia. Represented by the Boyar unit, slightly reworked in ''Definitive Edition''.

* BerserkButton: Becomes very outraged when Reynald and his henchmen starts pillaging the caravans for no reason.

* BerserkButton: In Cyprus, mistreating his beloved sister Joan is his. He conquered the whole island of Cyprus and captured his king Isaac Comneus just for it.

* NiceHat: Wears a comfy-looking fur hat.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: ''Pachacuti'' means "He who overturned time and space" in Quechua. Seriously, a superhero would wear it proudly.

A Byzantine admiral, rebelling against the empire in the second mission. Represented by a cataphract.

!Prithviraj (Hindustanis[[note]]Indians prior to ''Dynasties of India''[[/note]])

* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Jayachandra really wasn't happy when his daughter decided to marry his bitterest foe, but had to swallow the pill after being trounced by Pritviraj in war.

* ActionSurvivor: Chand is ''not'' a warrior, yet he follows Pritviraj everywhere, be it for hunting tigers or warring against another raja.

!Prithviraj (Indians)

* AdultFear: His beloved King and brother quickly fell under the sway of alcohol, becoming so slobbish that his whole court started to dream about deposing him, and Bayinnaug was unable to convince him to kick the habit before his assassination.