History VideoGame / AgeOfMythology

There's also a much lesser-known tabletop game made by Eagle Games, as well as a TurnBasedStrategy game for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS called ''Age of Empires: Mythologies'' developed by Griptonite Games and published by THQ.

* ACommanderIsYou: See the different examples [[Characters/AgeOfMythology in the game's Character sheets]].

** The mainland in Vinlandsaga (which players will have to migrate to after running out of resources on the starting island) is filled with Skraelings. Unlike wild animals, they don't yield food, are not visible under the fog of war, and attack all units on sight.

* DropTheHammer:
** The campaign requires you to rebuild Thor's hammer {{Mjolnir}} [[spoiler:and use it to close the gate to Tartarus that Gargarensis almost managed to open]].
** The Norse Hersir wields a war hammer to battle.

** Expanded Mod adds in numerous new units, buildings and technologies, and overhauling or tweaking existing ones, adds in new minor gods for "weaker" major gods (Persephone for Hades, Sobek for Set and Frigg for Odin) focusing on historical accuracy, and bringing Age of Mythology to a generally larger scale and more in line with main Age of Empires games, including various nods to them.
** Legends of Middle Earth, also known as LOME, replaces the existing civilizations with ones from the ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' series, these civilizations are lumped into general civ groups, such as Elves, Men, Orcs, Southern Folk and originally the Easterlings replacing the Chinese, with the major gods representing a specific race or group, included are a few campaigns, including a WIP voiced custom campaign called The New Shadow, however it should be noted that the future of the project is at risk due to the lead developer wishing to move forward with personal projects.
** Several other mods replace one of the existing factions with another pantheon, such as the Aztecs, Slavs, and Celts.

During the ''Age of Empires'' 25th anniversary celebration, a second UpdatedRerelease, ''Age of Mythology: Retold'' was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDDto-UL9CI announced.]]

** Many male gods who are traditionally described as youthful and handsome instead appear old and grey.

* AttackAttackAttack: The preferred strategy of the Nords, who gain favor by actually fighting. Their buildings are also built by infantry, which makes it easy for them to build forward bases. In addition, their laborers can be converted into Heroes using a God power, or into infantry.

** There's also the Nord Einherjar, who dual-wield axes.

** Although dwarves are mythical creatures in Norse mythology, the dwarves in-game are not classified as myth units.

** The gazelles found in Egyptian maps are Thompson's gazelles, a species found excusively in Sub-Saharan Africa.
** Similarly, the baboons found on the same maps resemble mandrills, a species endemic to West African forest habitats far from Egypt. [[AllThereInTheManual Their encyclopedia entry]] confirms that the developers [[ShownTheirWork were aware of what baboon species did live in ancient Egypt]] (mentioning Olive and Hamadryas baboons) but [[RuleOfCool likely went with mandrills anyway for their iconic facial colouration]].

* NintendoHard: The Titan difficulty on Random Maps, with the AI set to Attacker. The AI opponents are brutally efficient, and will have easily both outclassed and outnumbered players who were used to the (comparatively) leisurely pace of Campaign maps. If you haven't got a working, fully stocked army by the 15 minute mark, you may as well throw in the towel, as the odds are high that your foe's legions are already en route.

* NotSoWeak: Villagers, while the weakest human unit in the game, can still put up a fight if you need them to. There are even some technologies (such as Ra's Skin of the Rhino) and a relic (Pygmalion's statue) that make them better in a fight, though it's usually best to keep them safe regardless. Special mention goes to the Norse gatherers, which can be upgraded into Ulfsarks in an emergency.

%%* SpeakingSimlish: The Atlanteans.

** On the water it's Arrow Ships > Ramming Ships > Siege Ships > Arrow Ships and buildings. Naval myth units are only countered by the Argo (the only hero ship in the game, available to Poseidon worshippers), and Nereids for Atlanteans who worship Oceanus.

* AnachronismStew:
** The Greeks, Egyptians and Norse civilizations as depicted in the game come from different time periods and are themselves a mash-up of various eras from Antiquity. The Greeks are a double example, as they are based on Archaic and Classical Greece, about two centuries and a near total collapse of civilization after Mycenaean Greece, the time period in which the Trojan War was supposed to have taken place
** The Chinese in ''Tale of the Dragon'' also combine elements from different dynasties.

** Out of 31 missions of the "Fall of the Trident" campaign, in all but 3 missions, your enemy represents the same civilisation as the one you're currently playing, albeit worshipping the other major god.
** "The Golden Gift" and "Tale of the Dragon" campaigns are entirely Scandinavians Vs Scandinavians and Chinese Vs Chinese, respectively.
** "The New Atlantis" usually makes sure that you and your foes would be of different civilisations, but there are few cases of mirror matchup. Rampage (9) is another Scandinavians Vs Scandinavians scenario, while last three scenarios have both you and your opponents playing as Atlanteans.

* DiscontinuityNod: One of the taunts you can send to other players is a guy asking "What happened to all the stone?" in bewilderment, a reference to how one of the resources from the [[VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII previous game]], Stone, was replaced by Favor.

* MutualDisadvantage: Counter units are still classified the same as any other basic soldier and thus vulnerable to counter units themselves. Depending on which types they are and which types they're designed to counter, both combatants may get huge bonuses against each other (e.g. Hypaspists versus Axemen, both Infantry that counter other Infantry).

* NoCampaignForTheWicked: ''Narrowly'' [[AvertedTrope averted]], as while the ''Fall of the Trident'' campaign has you playing as Arkantos all the way through, you do get to use the Major Gods favored by your enemies (Poseidon, Set and Loki) at least once, and let's you play as Gargarensis' forces during a NightmareSequence.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Isis is the only playable major goddess in the original version of the game. Subverted with the release of first the ''Titans'' and then the ''Tale of the Dragon'' expansion packs, both of which add female major gods: Gaia for the Atlanteans, and Nu Wa for the Chinese.

** On the water it's Arrow Ships > Ramming Ships > Siege Ships > Arrow Ships and buildings. Naval myth units are only countered by the two naval Hero units, the Argo for Poseidon-worshippers, and Nereids for Atlanteans who worship Oceanus.

** The Greeks, Egyptians and Norse civilizations as depicted in the game come from different time periods and are themselves a mash-up of various eras from Antiquity.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Much of the Egyptian language represented in this game is completely gibberish, compared to the Greeks and Norse, which used Icelandic as a close equivalent to what Norseman would have said. According to one of the designer, Greg "[=DeathShrimp=]" Street, resources were limited and they recorded the dialogue that sounds most "authentic" to them.

* AllMythsAreTrue: Greek, Egyptian, Norse and Chinese mythology are true, including more modern elements of the Atlantis myth and some AKindOfOne species based on mythological creatures and gods. Also, Leviathan (for the Egyptians) and Behemoth (for the Atlanteans) from Jewish mythology and some (more or less inspired by myths) creatures likely made up by the creators of the game show up.

* PandaingToTheAudience: One of the new faunas in the Tales of the Dragon expansion is, of course, pandas. And no, WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda is NOT the Titan for the Chinese civilization.