History VideoGame / AgeOfEmpiresIII

* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: The "George Crushington" cheat unit. It's a giant, hopping bust of Washington that headbutts enemies to death with a [[WrittenSoundEffect BIFF! or a ZOINK!]] and shoots fireballs from its eyes.
--> '''George Crushington:''' '''''[[PreMortemOneLiner "CHECK IN YOUR WALLET. THAT'S ME ON THE DOLLAR BILL."]]'''''
--> Introduced later: '''''"CHECK IN YOUR POCKET. THE QUARTER IS ME, TOO."'''''

* AuthorAppeal[=/=]CreatorThumbprint: One of the chief developers is an Aztec fanboy. This is basically why the Aztecs were upgraded to playable faction in the first expansion rather than the Inca, who had to wait until ''Definitive Edition''.

** In the original game, going for a Revolution while playing as a European faction instead of advancing through the Imperial Age is cheaper with a 1000 each of food, coin, and wood compared to the 4000 food and 4000 coin. At first, you will unlock many unique units such as [[GatlingGood Gatling Guns]], Ironclad Warships, and Colonial Militia units. However, doing so will permanently turn all your settlers into Colonial Militia, leaving players out with no way to gather resources unless they have a factory and trading posts ready prior to revolting. Unlike the Ragnarok god power in ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' (where this gameplay mechanic is inspired from), you are also barred from creating new settlers to replace your transformed ones. Furthermore, players will lose their Home City Cards in exchange for new ones. ''Definitive Edition,'' however, would overhaul the system to be more viable.

* BeastOfBattle / RightHandAttackDog:

** In the Campaign, the Circle has a thing for guardian white wolves and jaguars.

** The Black family's arc[[note]]From "Seven Years War" from ''Ice'' to "Yorktown" in ''Fire''[[/note]] with George Washington begins and ends with wars involving American, British and French parties.

* BossAlteringConsequence: In the final mission of the ''Shadow'' campaign in ''[[ExpansionPack The WarChiefs]]'' and ''Definitive Edition'', [[spoiler:Chayton Black and the Lakota/Sioux go to war against General Armstrong Custer in the battle of Little Bighorn. The player can let Custer go in with all of his forces, which is a sure way to be defeated, or they can ally with the other Lakota/Sioux tribes and amass a small army in order to destroy as much of Custer's towns and buildings as they can before the attack, in order to reduce the number of forces at Custer's disposal, making the mission ''way'' easier]].

* ClassicCheatCode: tuck tuck tuck.

* CreatorsCultureCarryover: Despite supposedly beginning in 1492, featuring maps from both continents, and civilizations that never set colonies in North America like the Portuguese, Germans and Ottomans, the original game drew most of its inspiration from colonial New England and the 18th century Anglo-French wars in North America. North American maps and natives were overrepresented in comparison to South American ones, and they often represented post-Contact, and sometimes even Wild West-era natives.

* DivergentCharacterEvolution: While the various factions have unique units, bonuses and Home City options, one recurring trend in the original game had been how the European civilizations still tended to look and play rather similarly, which became much more pronounced after ''The Warchiefs'' and ''The Asian Dynasties'' were released. ''Definitive Edition'', however, has made each of the original civs more varied in both aesthetics and gameplay, especially with ''Knights of the Mediterranean'' and the 25th Anniversary Update.

* FrenchJerk: Napoleon.

* GenerationXerox: Nathaniel and his grandson Chayton protagonize the ''Fire'' and ''Shadow'' acts of ''The [=WarChiefs=]''. Both are half Native, half Anglo-American (though with the halves reversed, and Chayton also has partial Iroquois ancestry in his mother's side), who desert their mother's side to join [[spoiler:their father's side in]] a war they consider just, altering their appearance until they get a hybrid look [[spoiler: and ruining the Black family's Falcon Company's finances in the process.]] Both also seem to be the CelibateHero type, with no children until after they finish their wars in their 40s, but this is the case of all Blacks except John.

* GentlemanAdventurer[=/=]GreatWhiteHunter: The European explorer.

** ''The African Royals'' adds the Ethiopian and Hausa civilizations, two Historical Battles and several new Skirmish/Mutliplayer maps showcasing African Villages.

** French Cuirassiers, Spanish Lancers, Sioux Dog Soldiers, and mercenary Elmeti and Hackapells are all fast cavalry capable of both absorbing and dishing out absurd amounts of damage.

** Update 13690 for the ''The African Royals'' DLC of the ''Definitive Edition'' introduced back the "Arabia" map from ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII''.
** The ''Knights of the Mediterranean'' DLC for the ''Definitive Edition'' introduced back the "Black Forest" map from ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII''.

** The Saloon where you hire mercenaries is a typical Wild West saloon. ''Definitive Edition'' rectifies this by having Saloons/Cantinas exclusive to North American civs, while the Europeans get more appropriate Taverns instead.

* SettlingTheFrontier: Every skirmish/multiplayer game has your chosen civilizations establishing settlements in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and even Europe (with some supplies shipped from their home cities). While this has been progressively downplayed since the release of ''Definitive Edition'', this remains a major motif for the European and North American civs, whose Discovery/Exploration Age structures resemble glorified log cabins.

** European and North American units: Veteran -> Guard -> Imperial.

* SettlingTheFrontier: Every skirmish/multiplayer game has your chosen civilizations establishing settlements in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and even Europe (with some supplies shipped from their home cities). While this has been progressively downplayed since the release of ''Definitive Edition'', this remains a major motif for the European and North American civs.

* ThemeParkVersion: Of the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. ''At the same time'', no less. But they even it out by providing tons of detailed background information for ''every'' type of soldier, animal, and plant in the game's world!

** European and American units: Veteran -> Guard -> Imperial.

** Female villagers have French lines despite the Coureour des Bois being AlwaysMale. After the 25th. Anniversary update for ''Definitive Edition'', the same is true of both the male and female Ottoman villager, replaced with the Yoruk.

** If you've unlocked it, you can unleash either one or (after you unlocked another) two waves of "minutemen", which have middling HP and decent ranged attack, their main advantage being the [[ZergRush massive and sudden]] (you can train dozens in seconds) onrush of soldiers. The two waves can each only be used once, and their current health uniquely starts lowering immediately after they are trained, meaning that these units are only supposed to be used as an emergency last line of defense.

** ''Knights of the Mediterranean'' adds the Italians and the Maltese as playable civilizations and several maps showcasing the Mediterranean Houses taking the place of Native civilizations.

* EasyLogistics: Home City shipments can't get lost at sea or delayed due to bad weather, and paying for a blockade is a one-time investment.

** The German flag, however, merits its own entry. It has a bizarre crowned, black, two-headed eagle over a white background, seemingly [[CompositeCharacter a combination]] of the Prussian (crowned, black, one-headed eagle on a white background) and Holy Roman Empire flags (non-crowned, black, two-headed eagle on a yellow background). ''Definitive Edition'' changed it to the yellow imperal standard of the Holy Roman Empire.

* SpeakingSimlish:
** Certain Native units, such as scouts, generic warriors, and those belonging to tribes whose language is now forgotten.
** British units speak in a nonsensical pseudo-Elizabethan patois.

* CreatorsCultureCarryover: Despite supposedly beginning in 1492, featuring maps from both continents, and civilizations that never set colonies in North America like the Portuguese, Germans and Ottomans, the original game drew most of its inspiration from colonial New England and the 18th century Anglo-French wars in North America. North American maps and natives are overrepresented in comparison to South American ones, and they often represent post-Contact, and sometimes even Wild West-era natives.
** It gets worse when you realize that the original game only had three South American maps (Amazonia, Pampas and Patagonia) and two native tribes, the Inca and the Tupi, with the Carib as a questionable third. Patagonia didn't have natives at all (and for that matter, still doesn't). After much criticism, ''The [=WarChiefs=]'' added three more South American maps (Orinoco, Andes and Araucania) and the glaringly absent [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arauco_War Mapuche]] as natives. Criticism was still garnered from the fact that the Inca remained a minor tribe in spite of building a far more powerful polity than the three additions and also being [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Inca_State longer-lived]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebellion_of_Tupac_Amaru_II more relevant]] to the game's time period than two of them (Sioux and Aztecs).

** ''VideoGame/NapoleonicEra'', which changes the focus of the game to Europe (although it also has a well-developed American civilization, led by Washington) and the eras so there is more focus on French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

** ''Definitive Edition'', meanwhile, has also seen its own share of mods beginning to pop up, from gameplay tweaks to multiplayer-compatible overhauls that make units more historically accurate.

* GentlemanAdventurer[=/=]GreatWhiteHunter: The explorer.

** ''Definitive Edition'' removed the need to grind for cards for Skirmish and Multiplayer modes (Campaign mode still requires card unlocking), making the entire deck accessible to the player, but with only 25 cards active at a time, a decision that had a ''huge'' impact in the core gameplay itself. In addition, several civs got new cards that gave them new techs and armies.

** Going for a Revolution while playing as a European faction instead of advancing through the Imperial Age is cheaper with a 1000 each of food, coin, and wood compared to the 4000 food and 4000 coin. At first, you will unlock many unique units such as [[GatlingGood Gatling Guns]], Ironclad Warships, and Colonial Militia units. However, doing so will permanently turn all your settlers into Colonial Militia, leaving players out with no way to gather resources unless they have a factory and trading posts ready prior to revolting. Unlike the Ragnarok god power in ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' (where this gameplay mechanic is inspired from), you are also barred from creating new settlers to replace your transformed ones. Furthermore, players will lose their Home City Cards in replace of new ones.

** Honorable mentions go to the Doppelsoldner, Landsknecht and Boneguard's two-handed-swords, the several Japanese units using katanas, and the pirate and corsair's SinisterScimitar.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: In ''Definitive Edition'' the Colonial Age is now known as the Commerce Age, Plantations are now known as Estates, and many instances of the word "Colony" were replaced. This was done in the wake of the George Floyd riots and the destruction of statues honoring colonial figures, though it's also reflective of the game's wider scope encompassing Africa and the rest of the Old World.

** The original game's focus on the New World still leaves echoes in the European civilizations' SettlingTheFrontier elements and the Home City shipment system, even as ''Definitive Edition'' significant expands the game's scope and mechanics.

** Mercenaries only relevant to the Old World like Swiss Pikemen, Black Riders, Landsknetchs, and the entire Ottoman civilization (especially post-25th. anniversary update), are harbingers from early development when the game was also supposed to feature European maps rather than only American.

** The Maltese were the initial playable faction in the Campaigns. They were overhauled and turned into a proper playable faction in ''Knights of the Meditarranean''.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: In ''Definitive Edition'' the Colonial Age is now known as the Commerce Age, Plantations are now known as Estates, and many instances of the word "Colony" were replaced. This was done in the wake of the George Floyd riots and the destruction of statues honoring colonial figures, as the era has come to be associated with both slavery and Native American exploitation and genocide.

** Despite the original game ending sometime after the Napoleonic Wars, the white bandits that aren't pirates (Pistolero, Renegado, Comanchero) speak Spanish and wear Wild West-attire, resembling Mexican-American outlaws in the West after the Mexican-American War. ''Definitive Edition'' rectifies this with the addition of "colonial" bandits in the African maps.

** The Saloon where you hire mercenaries is a typical Wild West saloon.

* SettlingTheFrontier: Every skirmish/multiplayer game has your chosen civilizations establishing settlements in America/Asia (with some supplies shipped from their home cities).

* AscendedFanfic: ''Definitive Edition'', especially by the 25th Anniversary Update, has incorporated various elements from the ''VideoGame/NapoleonicEra'' mod for the original game, from having the Swedes as a playable civilization to Revolutionary France as a fleshed-out Revolution option for the French.

** Native English speakers are stuck with the British speaking in 16th century Early Modern English, though the American and British hero units in the campaigns and the Outlaw Riflemen mercenaries do speak Modern English.

* WeAllLiveInAmerica: Despite supposedly beginning in 1492, featuring maps from both continents, and civilizations that never set colonies in North America like the Portuguese, Germans and Ottomans, the game obviously draws most of its inspiration from colonial New England and the 18th century Anglo-French wars in North America. North American maps and natives are overrepresented in comparison to South American ones, and they often represent post-Contact, and sometimes even Wild West-era natives.
** It gets worse when you realize that the original game only had three South American maps (Amazonia, Pampas and Patagonia) and two native tribes, the Inca and the Tupi, with the Carib as a questionable third. Patagonia didn't have natives at all (and for that matter, still doesn't). After much criticism, ''The [=WarChiefs=]'' added three more South American maps (Orinoco, Andes and Araucania) and the glaringly absent [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arauco_War Mapuche]] as natives. Criticism was still garnered from the fact that the Inca remained a minor tribe in spite of building a far more powerful polity than the three additions and also being [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Inca_State longer-lived]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebellion_of_Tupac_Amaru_II more relevant]] to the game's time period than two of them (Sioux and Aztecs).
** Despite the original game ending sometime after the Napoleonic Wars, the white bandits that aren't pirates (Pistolero, Renegado, Comanchero) speak Spanish and wear Wild West-attire, resembling Mexican-American outlaws in the West after the Mexican-American War. ''Definitive Edition'' rectifies this with the addition of "colonial" bandits in the African maps.
** The three trade units are the travois (used by the North American plains natives), a Wild West-era stagecoach, and a classic Union Pacific locomotive called "the Iron Horse".
** The Saloon where you hire mercenaries is a typical Wild West saloon.
** The French use the Fleur-de-Lis and have Canadian coureurs-de-bois instead of settlers. However, their leader is Napoleon, who lost most existing French American colonies in his lifetime instead of setting them. He's most likely the French leader because he is familiar to Americans as the man who sold the Louisiana Purchase.
** The town center's emergency militia units are called Minutemen, the name of the rebel militia in the American Revolutionary War, and look the part in their overcoats, leggings and tricornes.
** The original game's ExpansionPack ''The [=WarChiefs=]''[='=]s new mechanic, Revolution, turns your settlers into American Revolutionary-era "Colonial Militia" and allows you to ship Civil War-era Gatling Guns and ''CSS Virginia''-style ironclads, even if you don't choose Washington as a revolutionary leader. The result is the same even when choosing José Bonifácio, who fathered the much later and much less traumatic Brazilian independence. The mechanic was overhauled entirely for ''Definitive Edition'', where not only more revolution options were introduced, but each revolution option has its own identity.

** In addition to Revolutionary France being almost a distinct civilization in itself, the "Napoleonic Era" cards grants access to Imperial Age upgrades, as well as a new set of powerful Home City shipments emphasizing firepower, unit veterancy and artillery.

* GameMod: Quite a few have come out for the game. Some of the notable ones are:

* MythologyGag: The Armor of Arkantos increases hero and explorer hitpoints when claimed.

*** The multiplayer-only "Thirty Years War" starts with every player having a Command Post. Scattered across the map are Villages that must be captured by killing their guardians. Each Village generates resources and provides population support, or can be raided for extra income. The civilization with the highest amount of captured villages is the winner. Only the Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Sweden civilizations are allowed to play.

*** "The Napoleonic Wars" starts with players building their armies during a treaty period and then fighting to control all the strategic points. Only the British, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Maltese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Sweden civilizations are allowed to play.

*** The multiplayer-only "Thirty Years War" starts with every player having a Command Post. Scattered across the map are Villages that must be captured by killing their guardians. Each Village generates resources and provides population support, or can be raided for extra income. The civilization with the highest amount of captured villages is the winner.
*** "The Italian War" starts with every faction having a fortified city, with four City-States scattered across a river that must be captured in order to win.
*** "The Napoleonic Wars" starts with players building their armies during a treaty period and then fighting to control all the strategic points.

The first expansion pack, ''Age of Empires III: The [=WarChiefs=]'', was released in 2006 and featured three of the native civilizations of the first game as playable: the Aztecs, the Sioux and the Iroquois. It also had several other additions, such as new buildings (the Saloon and the Native Embassy), units (gunpowder cavalry, petards and spies), and the chance to advance to an alternative fifth era for the European civilizations through a Revolution against the mother country. The three new civilizations also had unique twists, such as the firepit (where villagers can dance in order to obtain a bonus, like creating healing priests, gaining more experience and raising the population limit) and unique big buttons for many buildings. Its single-player campaign, this time composed of two acts, (''Fire'' and ''Shadow'') extended the Black family's lore by focusing on Amelia's father and son respectively, with Amelia starring again as the narrator and providing a cameo appearance in ''Shadow''.

''Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties'', the second ExpansionPack, was developed this time by Big Huge Games and Ensemble Studios, and was released in 2007. This ExpansionPack added another three new civilizations to the game, this time from the FarEast (ImperialChina, Japan and India). It introduced new unique bonuses for these civilizations, like the Export resource and the Consulate, a building where Asian players can buy European armies and technologies. This time, the single-player campaign is set in three different historical events: the unification of Japan, the Chinese Treasure Voyages and the Sepoy Mutiny in India.

On April 10, 2021, during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OJ14RVFDGQ the AoE IV-centered Fan Preview event]], a new civilization (the United States) and an African-oriented expansion (eventually called ''The African Royals'') were announced, with the United States being available for free for a limited time by completing a set of challenges; afterwards the civilization must be purchased. ''TAR'', on the other hand, introduced two new civilizations (Ethiopians and Hausa), several new maps, and a bunch of Historical Battles scenarios. It was released on August 2, 2021. A new civilization (Mexico) was released in December 2021, and another new expansion, ''Knights of the Mediterranean'', was released on May 26, 2022, featuring the Italians and Maltese.

* HoldTheLine: Several missions in the singleplayer campaigns either end after the line is held, or after the enemy is cleared ''after'' the line is held.

* AllThereInTheManual: Original game boxes featured extended guides showcasing comprehensive history background behind the game settings and civilizations (partly present in the game), three unique strategies for each of the eight European nations, units' costs and statistics comparison, and more. Product developers also published an art book called "[[https://www.behance.net/gallery/735352/Age-of-Empires-III-Collectors-Edition-Art-Book Art of Empires]]" with plenty of magnificent paintings and other graphical depictions down-scaled in the game, with a lot of extra content, including high-resolution portraits, drawing concepts, and cut-out material. Pretty much absent for the expansions, which came with simple manuals only and were released after the premiere of the art book.

* AnyoneCanDie: Armies aside, a fair amount of main and supporting characters bite the dust across the campaigns. The countdown includes [[spoiler:Daimyoes Mototada and Ishida (among many others)]] in ''Japan''; [[spoiler:Admiral Jinhai]] in ''China''; and [[spoiler:Colonel Edwardson]] in ''India'', [[spoiler:and one can assume that the Leaders of the Resistance also die, because historically, that war of independence failed]]. That's not counting the characters who died of old age in the decades that pass between acts. [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in the game itself, where the vast majority of the heroes don't die upon losing all of their hit-points, but are critically wounded, temporarily disabled, and can be recovered after some time.

** Crossbowmen and Musketeers have Dutch and German lines despite not being available for their respective civilizations, due to them being originally available during development. Falconets have Portuguese lines and female villagers have French lines, as well (although this might be because you can also rescue villagers of recruit them in native settlements). Priests have Spanish and Ottoman lines despite these civilizations receiving unique alternatives (Missionaries and Imams, respectively).

* BadassLongcoat: The shotgun-carrying Renegados. The technology "Great Coat" increases your Settlers's hit points, regardless of climate and the fact that their clothing doesn't change.

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: The Ming Chinese in the ''China'' campaign [[spoiler: landed in the Americas and fought a secret war amongst themselves before erasing almost all traces of their presence]].

* BilingualBonus: A peculiar subversion. Native speakers of French, Spanish, German, Russian, Portuguese, Dutch, Turkish, Hindi (Indians), Mandarin (Chinese) and Japanese will have little trouble understanding the phrases used by these civilisations, as they use the modern variant of their respective languages, complete with regional dialects[[note]]Some Japanese units for instance respond in the regional dialect associated with Hiroshima[[/note]]. Native English speakers, on the other hand, are stuck with the British speaking in 16th century Early Modern English, though the American and British hero units in the campaigns and the Outlaw Riflemen mercenaries do speak Modern English.

** ''Japan'' begins and ends with a castle siege.

** The priests in the vanilla games do not automatically go to units and heal them, they have a skill button for it instead, which confuses players who shifted between the vanilla [=AOE3=] to other AOE games-not to mention being very impractical due to the small area of effect and long recharge time. Fixed in the expansions.
** In contrast to previous games: Camels don't have an anticavalry bonus, mounted archers and gunners are better against other cavalry than against infantry, and all melee infantry (and musketeers) get a bonus against cavalry, not just the one with spears.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: The Chinese explorer is a Shaolin master who can convert defeated enemy units into disciples.

* DownloadableContent: ''Definitive Edition'' has the ''The African Royals'' and ''Knights of the Mediterranean'' DLC expansions, each of which add two new civilizations (Ethiopians/Hausa for the former, Italians/Maltese for the latter), and three ''Hero Cosmetic Packs'' (one of them free), which allows you to change the look of your civ's HeroUnit.

** The ''Japan'' campaign takes place during the unification of Japan at the end of the Warring States Period and ends with the battle of Sekigahara.
** The ''India'' campaign takes place during the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857.

* EscortMission: At some point, you'll have to face a mission where you need to escort a unit not affected by GameplayAllyImmortality and whose death spells game over for that mission:
** In ''India'', in the mission "Raid in Delhi", your objective is to free Bahadur Shah and gide him to safety. Unlike other missions, Bahadur Shah isn't subjected to GameplayAllyImmortality, so if he's killed, it's a NonStandardGameOver.

* GameplayAndStorySegregation:
** [[ShownTheirWork The in-game units' info shows the developers do know that the game representations aren't accurate]], but nonetheless, there are many breaks from reality - for example, muskets can fire around every three seconds in-game, while they took significantly longer to reload in real life (the Musketeer's in-game unit info states that a competent musketeer could fire 4 shots per minute).
** The ''Japan'' campaign allows the player to advance to the Industrial Age, which gives you access to your main anti-building artillery... and allows you to upgrade your Trade Routes to ''railroads''. In ''1600''.

* GenderIsNoObject: Female villagers and some campaign heroes.

* GoingNative: A recurring motif for the Black family, with Morgan's Scottish lineage being infused with Iroquois, American and finally Sioux blood. Tellingly, Chayton Black in ''Shadow'' is nigh indistinguishable from the Sioux tribesmen [[spoiler:he ultimately sides with]].

** Russian Opriknichiks are fragile and have relatively low base damage which makes them easily killed by opposing military units, but have a very strong anti-building attack and a huge damage multiplier against settlers. A dozen of them can cripple an enemy's economy within a minute.
** The Portuguese' unique version of the Skirmisher, the Cassador, amplifies this with even more ranged damage and even less HP and melee damage compared to the basic version.
** Swedish Hakkapelits serve as a Fortress Age hybrid of Hussars and Dragoons, but what makes them notable is having sacrificed a lot of HP for the ability to hit like a truck with an incredible 48 damage in Melee (compared to a Hussar's 30).
* GratuitousForeignLanguage: The British speak [[{{Simlish}} some sort of mangled Middle English]]. The Chinese speak modern Mandarin despite being modelled after the Qing dynasty. The Settlers and Villagers, when ordered to work, state their soon-to-be occupation.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: After escaping death and punishment throughout the campaigns, almost every BigBad in the game eats the dust: [[spoiler:the renegade Daimyoes and Jinhai]] do so in-game, while [[spoiler:Holme and Edwardson]] do so in those campaign's final cutscene.

** ''Definitive Edition'' heavily tones down this portrayal, replacing the Fire Pit with the Community Plaza and removing the War Chief's "Nature Friendship" ability in favor of the less mystical "Recruit Guardian".

* MisplacedWildlife: A few slip-ups appear regarding treasure guardians. Black panthers, tigers and giant pandas in Japan, snow monkeys outside Japan and Komodo Dragons in any Asian map (none of the maps are located near Komodo).

** Caribbean island maps are booming with capybara, deer, tapirs and turkeys. The first campaign has most of them in Cuba, and also cougars.
** Ironically, the original game's effort to feature many (but only) American animals, down to the use of American bird songs only, results in this trope for the first two scenarios of the campaign, set in Malta. The designers using wolves and elk seem an attempt to reduce this by using animals passable for Old World ones (American elk are close relatives of European red deer despite their name), but wolves and deer never lived in Malta either.

** Though jaguars used to range further north in the past, they got nowhere near Dakota during the lead up to Little Bighorn.

* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed:
** "Due to a twist of fate", Captain Jian Huang shares his background [[spoiler:and due to Jinhai's mutiny, position]] with his HistoricalDomainCharacter superior, Admiral Zheng He.
** Nanib Sahir to the historical Nana Sahib.
* NotTheIntendedUse: The War Chief's taming ability can be used to turn human guardians, not just animals. If you avoid killing any outlaws, you may end with a decent-sized force of scimitar-wielding pirates and gun-toting bandits. This can be a little game changer if you are playing Sioux (very poor infantry) or Aztecs (no gunpowder and cavalry units, at all).

* PantheraAwesome: The whole package of big cats appears with ''The Asian Dynasties'', jaguars, cougars, lions, tigers, white tigers, snow leopards and leopards, in the form of black panthers. They are all quite nasty to face, especially the ones available as trainable units.
* {{Permadeath}}: Mission-critical units who are not affected by GameplayAllyImmortality fall into this such as [[spoiler:Bahadur Shah]].

** ''The [=WarChiefs=]'' introduces a specialised building that can train mercenaries, amongst which the player can find pirates and corsairs.

** The Yojimbo mercenary is identical to Sanjuro from ''{{Film/Yojimbo}}''.

* SiegeEngines: Artillery units.

** When the Maltese Depots are destroyed, they blow up, damaging anybody close enough to them.

** The German flag, however, merits its own entry. It has a bizarre crowned, black, two-headed eagle over a white background, seemingly a combination of the Prussian (crowned, black, one-headed eagle on a white background) and Holy Roman Empire flags (non-crowned, black, two-headed eagle on a yellow background). ''Definitive Edition'' changed it to the yellow imperal standard of the Holy Roman Empire.