History Characters / TotalWarWarhammerTheWoodElves

* KnightInShiningArmor: The infamous Great Stag Knights; an elite band of Wild Riders who ride white, furred ''giant'' [[TheMarvelousDeer marvelous deer]] into battle against the foes of the forest. Thought only to be myths made up by drunken peasents, these Sylvan Knights are some of the hardiest warriors the Wood Elves can field, while remaining LightningBruiser; they wear extra heavy armor (for Wood Elves), but are ''even quicker'' then regular Wild Riders and hit harder due to the fact there riding prehistoric mega-fauna, making them arguably the best Shock Cavalary in the entire game, and one of the only examples of shock monstrous cav.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The ''Lost Sylvan Knights'' Regiment are the wandering souls of Stag Knights who lost themselves in the forest, now being reduced to spectral, damned ghosts who take there vengence out on outsider. They have the ''Undead'' Special Rule, meaning they behave like Vampire Count units (morale damage causes them slowly to disappear rather then run away), with ''Ethereal'', ''Fear'', and ''Terror''.

* ArcherArchetype:
** While bows are considered traditional weapons by all Elves, the Wood Elves take this to the top. The magic connections with their forests allow them to grow their bows directly out of tree limbs and prune them off, leaving them with superior quality longbows, and they are famous for their use. Regardless, the Wood Elves have ''the best'' and most versatile archer options.
** Even their lowest tier archer units can fire while moving while the high level ones can fire in any direction at any time without having to regroup.
** Waywatchers, their most elite archer units, can hide in any terrain and inflict significant extra armor piercing damage when in a safe position. Deepwood Rangers with Swiftshiver Arrows (slightly less elite) have the highest damage output for archers by a significant margin along with doing magical damage that bypasses physical resistance, though their range is poor.
** Although their basic Glade Guard are outranged by High Elf archers, Waywatchers have a massive 190-meter range and certain lords and heroes have a passive ability that buffs the range of all units by 10%.
** In campaign their archers are even more outrageously dangerous as lords have a skill tree devoted entirely to buffing ranged units in their army, increasing missile damage, rate of fire, and ammunition along with a passive ability that buff damage ''even more'' while the lord is nearby.

* TheArcher: The twins are equipped with the '''Talon of Dawn''' and the '''Talon of Dusk''', a pair of enchanted longbows specialized towards slaying different targets. This is is represented in-game by them being able to switch between a powerful single-shot or a wide arrow-hail, very similar to the Bolt Throwers of the Asur and Druchii.

* TheArchmage: Ariel is one of the most powerful wizards on the face of Mundus and probably ''the'' most powerful wizard in the whole of the Old World, manipulating Athel Loren with naught but her thoughts. The Cloak of Isha that Orion wears is made for him by Ariel every time he resurrects, and the attrition caused by non-Wood Elf armies in Athel Loren is partially thanks to her.

* MakeMeWannaShout: Instead of attacking physically, Ariel can use her magical voice to literally shout enemies into submission.

* OneDegreeOfSeperation: Downplayed somewhat, but she actually had a sister named Allisara, who was the wife of Malekith, thus making Ariel the sister-in-law of the Witch King.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Not Athel Loren itself, but still there. Some of the more moderate wood elf clans such as Laurelorn Forest have realized that instantly killing any trespassers on sight isn't worth the diplomatic incidents and costly wars. They're more likely to gently but firmly escort you out of their woods if you ignorantly trespass -- you might also just be on the receiving end of a beating if you cause trouble.

*** This has since been changed in later editions of the game: Most provinces only provide their bonuses to the territories directly adjacent to themselves.

** In ''Mortal Empires'', the Wood Elves no longer use amber. Instead, they need to increase the health of their magical forests (Athel Loren, plus some one-province outposts spread across the map) by conquering (or allying with the owners of) neighbouring provinces and solving quest battles. Each healed outpost aids in the healing of Athel Loren, turning the Wood Elves into a turtling race designed around keeping their borders steady.

* FantasyPantheon: They still share the same gods as the other Elves, but unlike the ''Asur'' or ''Druchii'', don't make much distinction between the Cadai and Cytharai, worshipping both fairly equally. The top of the pantheon is shared between Kurnous and Isha.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Like their kin, upon death, their souls are either sent to Mirai (the Black Pit) to become servants of Ereth Khial, or (more likely) devoured by Slaanesh along the way. Wood Elves manage to avoid this fate by binding their souls to Athel Loren itself, strengthening the magical barriers that flow through it. This gives them triple incentive to protect the forest, as not only is it their home, it's the only thing protecting their souls from enslavement or oblivion.

* {{Avatar}}: The earthly avatar of Kurnous, the Elven God of the Hunt, and is considered a demi god to his people.

* ResurrectiveImmortality: He dies every fall and is reborn ever spring. Even if killed in battle, his rebirth is only a season away.

* BladeOnAStick: The faction as a whole makes heavy use of spears for their melee units. Wild Riders use regular spears to skewer their foes, but the Waydancers with Spears wield irregular weapons that seem to be a cross between a sword and a spear, which make them adapt at killing both infantry and large units. The Eternal Guard use long spears and can be equipped with shields, making them a solid choice for being the wall that protects your archers.

* BadassBaritone: Speaks ''very'' deeply for an elf.

* HomeFieldAdvantage: Extremely so. The Wood Elves neither have the numbers nor the metal to forge armors, but what they have is an entire magical forest to wield and which quite literally fights alongside them. When fighting in forests, they have a pretty large in-game advantage: Specifically most lords have skills that provide really big bonuses, but *only* when that lord's army is currently in a province considered forest terrain. These bonuses range from higher attack power, to extra ammo, to ward saves that negate a good portion of any damage received.

** In-game however this is rather heavly averted with their mechanics: Every one of their cities gives a bonus to relations with a race that starts nearby, and this bonus increases as the health of the forest does. This makes it reletively trivial to gain non-agression pacts and trade deals with your neighbours.

*** This has since been changed in later editions of the game: Most provinces only provide their bonuses to the territories directly ajencant to themselves.

* HomeFieldAdvantage: Extremely so. The Wood Elves neither have the numbers nor the metal to forge armors, but what they have is an entire magical forest to wield and which quite literally fights alongside them. When fighting in forests, they have a pretty large in-game advantage: Specifically most lords have skills that provide really big bonuses, but *only* when that lord's army is currently in a porvince considered forest terain. These bonues range from bonus attack power, to extra ammo, to ward saves that negate a good portion of any damage recived.

* HomeFieldAdvantage: Extremely so. The Wood Elves neither have the numbers nor the metal to forge armors, but what they have is an entire magical forest to wield and which quite literally fights alongside them. When fighting in forests, they have a pretty large in-game advantage.

** As expected of a race with excelling in lightly armoured fast moving or stealthy units with no seige weapons they tend not to do great when attacking heavly fortified cities either.

* StealthExpert: Wood Elves are one of only two factions that have access to the "masterful ambush" stance, which in III hides an army on the campain map but uniquely allows it to still move, allowing the Wood Elves to launch agreesive ambushes as apposed to most empires defensive ones.

* StealthExpert: as mentioned above Orion gives his entire army stalk during ambushes, hiding *any* unit from the enemies sight unless they are suber close. Cue things like Treemen and heavy cavalry appearing from thin air into the poor victims already disorganized lines.

** Finally most lords have access to a skill that increases this chances further, while also buffing ranaged attack power during ambushes. Oberon has an even better skill that gives his whole army stalk [[note]]hides the unit in question from sight unless its really close to an enemy[[/note]] during an ambush, which is exactly as terrifying to be on the end of it as it sounds.

* StealthExpert: as mentioned above Oberon gives his entire army stalk during ambushes, hiding *any* unit from the enemies sight unless they are suber close. Cue things like Treemen and heavy cavalry appearing from thin air into the poor victims already disorganized lines.

The Wood Elves hold themselves to be the only true Elves left, spurning both the sanctimonious arrogance of the High Elves, and the murderous decadence of the Dark Elves, instead embracing both the light and dark aspects of their souls. To outsiders, their motives can seem inscrutable, and their nature capricious and arbitrary. In truth, the Asrai care little for the affairs of the other races, except to keep their prying eyes and hands away from Athel Loren.

* JackOfAllTrades: Compared to the generic Glade Lord. Orion won't be as good in melee or ranged as one who has specialized in either, but he can specialize in both, unlike [[MutuallyExclusivePowerups them]].

* FantasyPantheon: They still share the same gods as the other Elves, but unlike the ''Asur'' or ''Druchii'', don't make much distinction between the ''Cadai'' and ''Cyrathai'', worshipping both factions fairly equally. The top of the pantheon is shared between Kurnous and Isha, of whom Orion and Alarielle are the avatars of.