History VideoGame / TotalWarWarhammerIII

** At one point during the ''Realm of Chaos'' campaign the Advisor notes that it would be easier if the entrance to the Forge of Souls could be opened by any old daemon's soul but they require the formerly mortal souls of Daemon Princes and they need to be completely devoted to one god so the playable Daemon Prince is out, hence the dangerous expeditions into the Chaos Realms. However rogue armies can spawn led by Daemon Princes and devoted to one god and with the ''Champions of Chaos'' add-on there's also Valkia and Azazel leading major factions, Daemon Princes of Khorne and Slaanesh respectively. No explanation is given as to why they won't do.

* {{Utopia}}: Cathay stands out in the Warhammer setting. While other races are defined primarily by their flaws, with some factions reaching comical levels of CrapsackWorld, Cathay is governed by immortal, benevolent beings who genuinely care for their people's welfare, and is equal if not superior to everything other Order factions can do (e.g. having magic on par with the High Elves ''and'' technology on par with the dwarves, etc.) Many of the lore snippets given during the loading screens consist of other characters gushing about how wonderful Cathay is. This was stated to be intentional by the game's writer in an interview, where he confirmed Cathay is being presented in an initially positive light in order to make a good first impression with the fans, and that its darker sides will be explored later.

* AmphibianAtLarge: A specialty of the Nurglish roster. They have access to Plague Toads of Nurgle and Toad Dragons, the former being monstrously sized mutant cyclopean amphibians that sometimes serve as mounts for Plaguebearers and the latter being mutated dragons that resemble gigantic winged amphibians.

** Tiktaq'to has [[PunnyName Itzi-Bitzi]] the Skink Chief, from the 5th edition Lizardmen army book. A commander of Tlaxtlan, Itzi-Bitzi is the only servant of the slann lord Zltep to hear his final words; an unfinished prophecy that fortells the ultimate doom of the enemies of the lizardmen. Called the "Incantation of Xetlipocutzl", the fragment of prophecy is a SupernaturalFearInducer that passively reduces the leadership of enemy armies in the local region.

* DemonOfHumanOrigin: Daemon princes, such as Be'lakor and the player-named Prince, are former mortals who were rewarded with daemonhood by the Dark Gods. The ''Realm of Chaos'' campaign revolves around capturing the souls of four daemon princes within the domains of the Dark Gods, as their one-human nature gives their souls a special property necessary for the ritual to reach the Forge of Souls. Among the Warriors of Chaos race, army lords who attain enough marks of chaos can eventually morph into daemon princes, in a similar fashion to daemon heralds becoming exalted greater daemons.

* DownerBeginning: Of all the playable factions in the game, Kislev starts its campaign in the most dire straits. On top of a civil war brewing between the Great Orthodoxy and Katarin's court (both of whom are struggling to inherit the legacy of Tzar Boris Ursus), the nation is suffering from an EndlessWinter because its patron god Ursun has been captured and ''mortally wounded by one of their own.'' Thankfully, players can [[EarnYourHappyEnding solve all of these problems throughout the course of the Kislev campaign]] by unifying the warring factions and [[spoiler: bringing Ursun and Tzar Boris back to life.]]

*** Of particular note within the Cathayan roster are the Celestial Lions. These were originally mentioned in a minor lore snippet in the 8th Edition Core Rulebook as some of the denizens of Ind that the Everqueen and her entourage must face whenever they venture to the Tower of the Sun every decade and did not have any association with them, but were eventually added to their roster in a later update.

* HuskyRusskie: All of the male Kislevite units are this to a degree, combined with MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong (to the point that with the exception of Kostaltyn and the Patriarchs, Kislevite males use the Norscan/Chaos Warrior skeleton rather than the regular human skeleton used by the Imperials, Bretonnians, and Cathayans). It's especially apparent with the huge Boyars and Tzar Boris Ursus himself, who wrestled with a giant polar bear and made it into his loyal mount. Even the God-Slayer, being a former Kislevite prince, retains his cultural accent as a hulking [[DemonOfHumanOrigin Daemon Prince.]]

* As a nod to him originating from the ''Literature/GotrekAndFelix'' novels, Malakai Makaisson's segments of the ''Thrones of Decay'' trailer features cameos from the eponymous duo.

* Trailers: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAr7yUlM0Po Announce Trailer]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JWqlDxEQps Trial By Fire Trailer]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=033FWxL22A0 The Dawn of Grand Cathay]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Bbp98oMsjA Join the Ogre Kingdoms]], [[https://youtu.be/dnIEzBpsfDE A Covenant With Chaos]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uebto73ZUFQ Chaos Undivided]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w_xeRJfwc0 Sons of Kislev]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HkK1ldsuVU Immortal Empires teaser trailer]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCRTUdarkuM Champions of Chaos Launch Trailer]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqhc3mK06r0 Immortal Empires Release Trailer]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiHvsinEn58 Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs]], [[https://youtu.be/Ro4KbCpcXZM Shadows of Change]]

** The Grimhorn Rhinox Riders have been renamed to Crushers.

* AmphibianAtLarge: The Plague Toads of Nurgle are a demonic example, being monstrously sized mutant amphibians that sometimes serve as mounts for Plaguebearers.

* AnimalMotifs: Kislev is associated with {{Russian Bear}}s. Cathay is primarily DragonsUpTheYinYang, though they do have slight lion and bird motifs given units such as the Jade and Jet Lions, Celestial Lions, Onyx Crowmen, and Great Moon Birds. Tzeentch has quite a strong [[FeatheredFiend avian]] theme, while Slaanesh features a lot of [[ScaryScorpion scorpion]] imagery. Nurgle is primarily associated with flies, but also incorporates units based on slugs, toads and other "filthy" animals and Khorne goes in for dogs and, to a lesser extent, bulls. Similarly, the Chaos Dwarfs are have a heavy association with bulls given their Mesopotamian influences.

** The forces of Chaos have many monstrous mounts for both mortals and daemons alike. Khorne has [[RhinoRampage rhino-like]] [[MechanicalMonster daemonic machines]] called Juggernauts, Tzeentch has Discs of Tzeentch, Nurgle has [[AmphibianAtLarge monstrous toads]] known as Plague Toads, and Slaanesh has Steeds of Slaanesh.

* OurOgresAreHungrier: The Ogre Kingdoms, first teased in ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammerII'' as mercenary units available to all factions, make their debut in this game as a full playable race.

** The Kislevites, living in a land of biting cold and furious storms, have managed to master the [[KillItWithIce Lore of Ice]] and the [[WeatherManipulation Lore of Tempest]]. With the Lore of Ice, the witches can not only freeze their foes to death or slow them down, but can also use that very same ice to empower the weapons of their allies. The Lore of Tempest, wile not as cold as the Lore of Ice, makes up for it by bringing along intense winds, hellish hail and biting blizzards, all wile keeping the same winds against the backs of your soldiers. They also have a third lore, the Lore of the Hag, which is naturally associated with Mother Ostyanka and the Hag Witches. Like the Ice Witches, this lore draws from the land of Kislev itself, specifically its woodlands, fens and oblasts, to confound and bewitch their enemies with various curses and hexes. Uniquely, when spells from this lore are overcast, they instead become blessings that can augment friendly forces.

** Kislev specializes in [[BearsAreBadNews polar bear cavalry]]. Not only can their Lords and Heroes ride bears, they field whole units of bear cavalry and sleds. Meanwhile, Mother Ostyanka and the Hag Witches ride sleighs pulled by elks and the Things in the Woods respectively. Tzarina Katarin and the Ice Witches can ride monstrous Frost Wyrms, and the former has her signature Ice Court Sleigh as her unique mount.

-->'''Drazhoath the Ashen:''' You address the lord of the Black Fortress. When I say you are shorter than me, it is true.\\

** The Kislevites, living in a land of biting cold and furious storms, have managed to master the [[KillItWithIce Lore of Ice]] and the [[WeatherManipulation Lore of Tempest]]. With the Lore of Ice, the witches can not only freeze their foes to death or slow them down, but can also use that very same ice to empower the weapons of their allies. The Lore of Tempest, wile not as cold as the Lore of Ice, makes up for it by bringing along intense winds, hellish hail and biting blizzards, all wile keeping the same winds against the backs of your soldiers. They also have a third lore, the Lore of the Hag, which is naturally associated with Mother Ostyanka and the Hag Witches. Like the Ice Witches, this lore draws from the land of Kislev itself, specifically its woodlands, fens and oblasts, to confound and bewitch their enemies with through various curses and hexes. Uniquely, when spells from this lore are overcast, they instead become blessings that can augment friendly forces.

** Similarly, N'Kari never had a miniature, but he was heavily alluded to in the endings of multiple campaigns in the second game. Now he makes his full-on appearance.

* CanonForeigner: As AscendedExtra factions that weren’t extremely fleshed out in the past, both Kislev and Cathay have Legendary Lords that are entirely new to the series (and the entire ''Warhammer'' franchise as a whole). Kislev has Kostaltyn, the zealous Supreme Patriarch of the Great Orthodoxy, while Cathay has Miao Ying and Zhao Ming, the children of the Celestial Dragon Emperor. On the Daemonic side, the God-Slayer is also an original character who sports unique [[CharacterCustomization customizability]] to boot.

** Kislev specializes in [[BearsAreBadNews polar bear cavalry]]. Not only can their Lords and Heroes ride bears, they field whole units of bear cavalry and sleds. Meanwhile, Mother Ostyanka and the Hag Witches ride sleighs pulled by the Things in the Woods.

* TheMusketeer: All Kislevite infantry units (excluding the Tzar Guard) are some form of this, using gun-axes, swords and pistols, or bows with spears. Streltsi have been shown firing from the back ranks while the front ranks swing their axes (a feature carried over from ''VideoGame/TotalWarThreeKingdoms'').

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: While it was long implied in the lore that the Dragon Emperor of Cathay was a literal Dragon, the game outright confirms this. In fact, it reveals that he and his family have been ruling the region of Cathay since before the coming of Chaos. All of them, including the Cathayan Legendary Lords, can [[{{Weredragon}} freely switch between human and dragon forms in battle]]. As Cathay is a FantasyCounterpartCulture of ImperialChina, they are all of course Eastern dragons.

** The Kislevites, living in a land of biting cold and furious storms, have managed to master the [[KillItWithIce Lore of Ice]] and the [[WeatherManipulation Lore of Tempest]]. With the Lore of Ice, the witches can not only freeze their foes to death or slow them down, but can also use that very same ice to empower the weapons of their allies. The Lore of Tempest, wile not as cold as the Lore of Ice, makes up for it by bringing along intense winds, hellish hail and biting blizzards, all wile keeping the same winds against the backs of your soldiers.

* ElementalEmbodiment: The absolutely massive and aptly-named Elemental Bears, which are literal chunks of the land of Kislev that have risen to fight. The ''Shadows of Change'' DLC also gives them access to the Elemental Incarnates of Beasts, massive {{Wendigo}}-esque creatures that are the primal spirit of the wilds made manifest.

** In-lore the Chaos Dawrves kill Skaven outright, seeing them as too scheming and untrustworthy to be worth taking as laborers in a twisted form of VillainRespect. Since this would make fighting and raiding Skaven much less rewarding, this isn't represented in-game. In fact, with their huge numbers, Skaven can be some of the more lucrative targets of slave-raids.

* GenocideBackfire: The Ogre Kingdoms are one of the biggest problems for Cathay's western borders, and the only reason the ogres are there is because they moved there after Cathay nearly exterminated them thousands of years ago. A player can choose to take this one step further by conquering Cathay as the Ogres.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
** At the end of the announcement trailer, immediately after the WhamShot revealing that [[UnexpectedCharacter the Empire of]] [[EnsembleDarkhorse Grand]] [[HufflepuffHouse Cathay]] [[UnseenNoMore would be playable at launch]], a man who is revealed to be the Advisor himself looks right at the camera and smirks, acknowledging how Creative Assembly managed to pull the wool over everyone.[[note]]While fans had assumed Cathay would be playable at some point, no one expected them to be one of the core races playable ''at launch''.[[/note]]

* PantheraAwesome: The Cathayan Jade and Jet Lions, which are monstrous leonine constructs. The former is designed to be a conduit to magic, while the latter is designed to be an AntiMagic shield.

* RussianGuySuffersMost: As the “Bulwark of the North,” Kislev is the first stop for any major Chaos invasion from the Chaos Wastes. Due to suffering from these incursions for hundreds of years, it has formed a culture devoted to fighting Chaos in all its forms. Even by those standards, its campaign starts off in an especially grim place: its main god Ursun has been captured and mortally wounded, and the nation itself has been torn asunder by political and religious strife following the death of its greatest Tzar.

** A developer blog states that Skrag the Slaughterer's in-game portrayal is heavily influenced by Rorschach from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', complete with him paraphrasing Rorschach's "You're locked up in here with me" SignatureLine during his Quest Battle.

* TakeOverTheWorld: The Immortal Empires add-on now models pretty much the entire Warhammer World (with the absence of Nippon and Ind and Khuresh being inaccessible for the time being). It would take a ''long'' time, as the map is huge and the number of enemy factions borders on the absurd, but a skilled player could in fact bring every single territory under your faction's control.

* AnimalMotifs: {{Russian Bear}}s for Kislev and DragonsUpTheYinYang for Cathay. Tzeentch has quite a strong [[FeatheredFiend avian]] theme, while Slaanesh features a lot of [[ScaryScorpion scorpion]] imagery. Nurgle is primarily associated with flies, but also incorporates units based on slugs, toads and other "filthy" animals and Khorne goes in for dogs and, to a lesser extent, bulls.

* ContinuityCameo: In ''Immortal Empires'', a few Legendary Lords begin the campaign accompanied by a HeroUnit with [[MauveShirt a unique name and trait]], based on minor characters from the lore or the lord's own backstory:

** Archaon the Everchosen has an Exalted Hero named Prince Ograx, a beastman-turned-human who accompanied him on his quest to become the Everchosen. Here, he's SparedByTheAdaptation, as Archaon had sacrificed Ograx to claim the Slayer of Kings. His unique trait, "The Great", increases his weapon strength by 15% and provides a moderate anti-large damage bonus.

* FatBastard: The Great Unclean Ones, Nurgle's Greater Daemons.

** The Ogre Kingdoms get meat from [[ImAHumanitarian defeated enemies,]] regardless of who they are. Fair enough, they're not picky eaters. However they can also somehow do this with the non-biological daemons and, in ''Immortal Empires,'' the entirely fleshless Tomb Kings. They can also eat defeated [[{{Plaguemaster}} Nurgle armies]] to no ill effect from the diseased flesh.

** The forces of Chaos have several of these, such as Lords of Change, Bloodthirsters (besides Skarbrand, whose wings are ruined), and Daemon Princes.

* TheGreatWall: As is fitting for a fantasy version of ancient China, Grand Cathay has the Great Bastion — a meandering, titanic wall that protects its northern border against the Chaos Wastes. Built in ages past and infused with the literal life essence of the Celestial Dragon Emperor, it is placed under the control of his favorite daughter, Miao Ying the Storm Dragon. Each of the Bastion’s three gates (the Snake, Turtle and Dragon Gates) have unique building chains and commandments, and holding all three of them at once will trigger certain campaign bonuses.

* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: {{ZigZagged}}. While it is true that several ranged units (such as the Crane Gunners, Iron Hail Gunners and Sky Junk crew) are all-female, many other ranged and melee units in the Cathayan roster are actually mixed-gender. The in-universe lore does state, however, that Cathayan girls are especially encouraged to learn archery in order to emulate the Moon Empress. Kislev also zigzags this, as the all-female Ice Guard are primarily archers but can also be quite vicious in melee, while the only pure melee units in Kislev's ranks are the male Tzar Guard. Every other infantry unit is a hybrid that both shoots and fights.

*** '''Satyang, the Sentinel of the Sky''' (Legendary Hero)

** The forces of Chaos have many monstrous mounts for both mortals and daemosn alike. Khorne has [[RhinoRampage rhino-like]] [[MechanicalMonster daemonic machines]] called Juggernauts, Tzeentch has Discs of Tzeentch, Nurgle has [[AmphibianAtLarge monstrous toads]] known as Plague Toads, and Slaanesh has Steeds of Slaanesh.

* LivingStatue: The Cathayans are known to deploy these. These include titanic Terracotta Sentinels that brandish [[{{BFS}} giant guan daos]] alongside the Jade and Jet Lions.

* ScrewDestiny: The player's chosen legendary lord can do this at the end of the ''Champions of Chaos'' campaign. [[spoiler: After the player has defeated the three other contenders for the massed souls of Zanbaijin Archaon himself arrives, declaring that no one Chaos God can be ascendant over the others and that, as the Everchosen of Chaos, the souls are his destiny to claim for Chaos Undivided. The player's lord then tells him in no uncertain terms where he can stick his destiny and can then defeat his army, kill him and usurp his role as Everchosen, putting their god in ascendance anyway.]]

** One of the events for Ogre Kingdoms is about finding a valley with diminutive multi-colored horses with big eyes, giving the finder's army food. The title of the event is [[Franchise/MyLittlePony My Tiny Horse.]]

* SiblingRivalry: The children of the Dragon Emperor and Moon Empress are known to bicker with each other, with Miao Ying and Zhao Ming having a particular rivalry. However, they are capable of putting aside their differences for the sake of Grand Cathay—and [[BigBrotherInstinct saving a missing younger sibling.]]’

%%* AmphibianAtLarge: The Plague Toads of Nurgle are a demonic example.

** '''Chaos Dwarfs''': An ''Elitist/Economost/Industrial/Ranger'' faction. The Chaos Dwarfs boast heavily armored units with powerful ranged capabilities, including some of the strongest war machines in the game such as the Iron Daemon and Dreadquake Mortar. They also possess powerful monstrous units such as Bull Centaurs, Bale Tauri, and K'daai Destroyers. However, just like their uncorrupted cousins Chaos Dwarf units are expensive and limited in number, and other than Greenskin slaves and Hobgoblins serving as CannonFodder they lack reliable mid-tier options. Their campaign mechanics are extremely intricate with a heavy focus around resource management and industrial development evocative of a Creator/ParadoxInteractive game.

* GiantFlyer: Lords of Change, Bloodthirsters (besides Skarbrand, whose wings are ruined), Daemon Princes and the Cathayan Dragon siblings (when in dragon form).

* HorseOfADifferentColor: In the announcement trailer, brief shots are dedicated to showing off Kislev's [[BearsAreBadNews polar bear cavalry]], while the Khornate army is supported by Skullcrushers -- mortal chaos knights riding [[RhinoRampage rhino-like]] [[MechanicalMonster daemonic machines]] called Juggernauts. The Cathay Trailer reveals that the Cathayans have Longma riders while Tzeentch has Chaos Warriors SkySurfing on Discs of Tzeentch. The Ogres have multiple monstrous examples, ranging from Mournfangs to Stonehorns.

** All campaigns end with a shot of the advisor [[spoiler:having a white crow (Sarthorael in disguise) perch on his shoulder before marching off to parts unknown with his tome in hand, revealing that the ''Realm of Chaos'' campaign is actually a StealthPrequel to the original game.]]

* HardCodedHostility: With the exception of [[TheSocialExpert Daemons of Slaanesh]], all daemonic factions are automatically at permanent war with any non-Chaos-aligned race they meet. The only exceptions to this are the Skaven (who are closely related to Chaos) and the Ogres (who are as likely to work for Chaos as against them).

** Building up friendly relations with an ally, sticking by them, standing up for them, and helping them out feels like it should be the best way to secure a confederation, but it's actually the worst. AI factions will almost never confederate if they feel safe, so the best way to secure a confederation is to [[FalseFriend actively undermine and sabotage them in ways that don't damage your relations]]. Preferred tactics for this include 'borrowing' their armies and intentionally getting them killed and securing a military alliance then declaring war on their neighbors, and even then you may have to threaten them into accepting the confederation.

** The descriptions of the Changeling's skills include [[Film/SpiderMan1 "You know, I'm something of a wizard myself,"]] and [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-put-on-my-robe-and-wizard-hat "I put on my robe and wizard guise."]]