History Characters / CivilizationIThroughIV

** The Legion, a unique unit of Rome in both ''V'' and ''VI'', deserves a mention of its own because it can perform some of the functions of Workers/Builders, such as constructing a Fort (in ''V'' and ''VI''), building a Road (in ''V''), and clearing terrain (in ''VI'').

** The Legion, a unique unit of Rome in both ''V'' and ''VI'', deserves a mention of its own because it can perform some of the functions of Workers/Builders, such as constructing a Fort (in ''V'' and ''VI''), building a Road (in ''V''), or clearing terrain (in ''VI'').

* ProudIndustriousRace: Rome is usually an excellent choice for those who want to mix gains in conquest and expansion with massive infrastructure construction. In ''IV'', both Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar prefer to base their playstyle on this or that ratio of production and military, and for Augustus, such an approach is especially fitting due to the combination of his leader traits (Industrious/Imperialistic). Remarkably done in ''V'', as Rome's unique ability directly encourages them to expand widely, but only after they have built up the capital to the point where the bonus starts to make a difference. Finally, in ''VI'', it is worth noting Trajan's leader bonus, which allows you to start developing any new city not from scratch.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: Ramesses II in the {{UsefulNotes/SNES}} port of ''Civ I''.

* CanonForeigner: Sort of. Japan's only available on the {{UsefulNotes/SNES}} version of ''Civ I''.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: ''Civ VI'' uses the "Ramses" spelling for their version of Egypt's most famous male Pharaoh, when his previous appearances in the series used "Ramesses".

The Aztecs migrated into modern Mexico around the 12th century, building their capital of Tenochtitlan on an island in Lake Texcoco. Originally vassals of a larger power, the Aztecs forged a Triple Alliance with the city-states of Texcoco and Tlacopan, overthrew their masters, and under Montezuma I came to dominate central Mexico. Their religion required constant human sacrifice, leading to staged "Flower Wars" that provided captives for this purpose during lapses in real conflict. As can be imagined this did nothing to endear the Aztecs' subjects to their new overlords, and when the Spanish arrived in 1519, the conquistadors found no shortage of allies willing to turn against Montezuma II. A combination of misplaced religious awe, a sizable technology gap, Montezuma II's incompetence, and foreign illnesses spelled the end of the empire.\\\

One of the oldest known civilizations, the city of Babylon had stood in the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) since the 24th century BC. By 1727 BC the old Sumerian civilization had faded away, but under Hammurabi the city-state of Babylon flourished as a center of trade, science and culture, reunifying the surrounding region. More than that, Hammurabi left behind a legal code with explicit crimes and specific punishments that was used for over a thousand years. Though the Babylonian empire went through a decline, Nebuchadnezzar II led it into a renaissance in 605 BC, expanding into Syria and creating wonders like the famed Hanging Gardens. After his death, Babylon declined once more, falling to Cyrus II of Persia in 539 BC, Alexander the Great in 331 BC, until eventually the city and its achievements were reduced to so much rubble.\\\

France has been home to Celtic and Germanic tribes since Roman times, but its modern history stretches back to 843 when the Treaty of Verdun established three successor kingdoms to Charlemagne's Holy Roman Empire; today's France grew from the western portion. Over the medieval period, France consolidated under a series of royal dynasties, fighting off foes like the British, Vikings and Germans, as well as unruly nobles at home, until by the 14th century, France was the dominant power of Europe. In 1643, the French monarchy reached its greatest glory under the "Sun King" Louis XIV, but less than a hundred years after his death, the liberal ideals of the French Revolution would turn Europe upside-down. From the ashes of the old order, Napoleon led France's armies to nearly conquer a continent, and even after his defeat France remained a world power. Despite the ravages of two world wars, today France retains its status as a great nation of high culture, and has put aside its rivalry with its old foe Germany to form the core of the European Union.\\\

Even before becoming a unified country, Germany sent shockwaves through Europe around 10 BC with the crushing defeat of the Roman legions attempting to conquer the barbarians beyond the Rhine and Danube rivers. Like its neighbor France, modern Germany grew from the Holy Roman Empire, but unlike its brother Germany had more difficulty consolidating. Though a major medieval power, internal struggles between its component fiefdoms, as well as disputes with the Pope, kept it from becoming a strong monarchy, and by 1500 the German people were divided among domains such as Austria and Prussia. But after the Napoleonic Wars and rising nationalist sentiment, Prussia's prime minister Otto von Bismarck led a campaign to subdue Austria, humble France, and unite the Holy Roman Empire's successor states into the German Empire in 1871, suddenly upsetting the continental balance of power with a military-industrial powerhouse. Following the tragedy of World War One and the horrors of World War Two, today's Germany has renounced militaristic expansion in favor of economic production, and alongside its historical rival France forms the heart of the European Union.\\\

''The'' empire for the western part of the globe, Rome was founded in the 8th Century BC and would continue to exist in some form for over two thousand years. After becoming a republic, Rome began expanding its rule into the rest of Italy, eventually bringing it into conflict with the rival Mediterranean power of Carthage, which it finally defeated in 146 BC. In the unrest that followed a general named Julius Caesar took power as a dictator, and his successor Octavian formally declared Rome an empire. At the height of its power in 117 AD, Rome controlled North Africa, Western Europe, southern England, the Balkans, Anatolia, and the coasts and river valleys of the Middle East, but the empire eventually stagnated and fractured. The western half finally fell to barbarian invaders in 476 AD, while its eastern portion would continue as the Byzantine Empire. Rome had an incredible impact on western history thanks to its achievements in law, engineering, language, and tactics, so much so that medieval Europe was largely concerned with trying to match its predecessor, much less surpass it.\\\

The [=amaZulu=] are South Africa's largest ethnic group, and rose to prominence in 1787 when a chieftain named Shaka transformed the tribe into a regional power. Shaka's reforms included a more centralized state, new weaponry, a new military organization, and new tactics that allowed the Zulu to carve out an empire in southeast Africa. His successors would fall victim to infighting and alternatively ally with, betray, and battle the Boer Dutch and English settlers encroaching on Africa at the time. Though the Zulu were able to give the British Empire its worst defeat at the hands of an African opponent with the 1879 Battle of Isandlwana, by the end of the Anglo-Zulu War they were defeated, divided, and eventually absorbed as a British colony.\\\

Jolly old England. If you went back in time and told a Roman citizen that this rain-soaked and rugged backwater island at the edge of the civilized world would one day be the centre of a global superpower far surpassing even Rome at its greatest extent, they would think you were completely out of your mind. Yet this small nation off the coast of northwest Europe would grow from humble Celtic, Norse, Anglo-Saxon and Normal origins, blending them all into the seat of the largest empire in history. Following the usual medieval wars, plagues and crusades, England rose to prominence in the mid-1500s under the rule of Queen Elizabeth, who ushered in a golden age of arts and literature, defended her country from Spanish conquest, and revitalized England's navy to make it the world's greatest sea power. Over the subsequent centuries England built an empire that stretched from North America to Asia, and by Queen Victoria's reign in the 19th century, British possessions included India, Australia, and a swathe of Africa "from Cape Town to Cairo." This empire gradually eroded due to the stress of maintaining it while fighting two world wars, but modern England is still an economic and naval force to be reckoned with, and today English remains the international language of trade, helped by great literary works from Beowulf to the works of [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare]] and [[Creator/JRRTolkien Tolkien]].\\\

Jolly old England. This small country off the coast of northwest Europe mixed a blend of cultural influences - Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and French - into the largest empire the world has ever known. Following the usual medieval wars, plagues and crusades, England rose to prominence in the mid-1500s under the rule of Queen Elizabeth, who ushered in a golden age of arts and literature, defended her country from Spanish conquest, and revitalized England's navy to make it the world's greatest sea power. Over the subsequent centuries England built an empire that stretched from North America to Asia, and by Queen Victoria's reign in the 19th century, British possessions included India, Australia, and a swathe of Africa "from Cape Town to Cairo." This empire gradually eroded due to the stress of maintaining it while fighting two world wars, but modern England is still an economic and naval force to be reckoned with, and today English remains the international language of trade.\\\

* CrutchCharacter[=/=]MagikarpPower: The Zulu in ''V'' fits into ''both'' areas. They have a weak earlygame, very strong midgame (more or less thanks to the Ikanda unique promotions and the Impi), but a very weak lategame. Many players who play the Zulu will use the Medieval Era mid-game spike to start conquering their neighbors, because once the Zulus have access to gunpowder units, they can no longer access to the Ikanda unique promotions. Thus being said, the Zulu can ''still'' have a strong lategame Domination presence providing they found a religion quickly and grab the Holy Warriors belief (which allows recruitment of pre-industrial units) and keep the Ikanda unique promotions. In addition, their "Iklwa" unique ability with half the maintenance cost for melee units is still useful late-game, as it allows the Zulus to free up their gold production for something else.

''Civilization VI'', meanwhile, captures Shaka's tactical innovations with "Amabutho" leader bonus, which lets the Zulu to form corps and armies one civic earlier than normal, and stronger to boot. The Zulu's "Isibongo" ability automatically upgrades units that conquer cities into corps or armies with the appropriate civic, and lets garrison units increase their city's loyalty. On top of this, the Zulu's Ikanda improvement provides housing and allows corps and armies to be trained immediately, without a Military Academy, while the famed Impi are cheaper to build and maintain than normal Pikemen, and gain experience faster as well. The net result is an army that only grows stronger when it conquers enemies, and doesn't have to spend much time integrating new lands into the empire before moving on to the next war.

In ''Civ VI'', England has all the tools needed to forge a mighty naval empire. Its Royal Navy Dockyard gives naval units a movement boost and generates additional gold on other continents, while the Sea Dog is an improved Privateer that can terrorize the mid-game sea lanes. Initially its special ability was "British Museum," doubling the number of artifacts and archeologists its Archeological Museums supported, but ''Gathering Storm'' recognized England as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution with the "Workshop of the World" ability, letting England get more from its iron and coal deposits, granting Military Engineers two extra charges, improving the yields from powered buildings grant additional yields, and allowing Dockyard buildings to store extra resources. Queen Victoria's "Pax Britannica" leader bonus provides a free garrison unit, which can later include the famous Redcoat, in newly-founded or newly-conquered cities on distant shores, and her unique agenda compels her to ensure that the sun never sets on the British Empire.

True to history, Egypt in ''Civ VI'' excels at creating great monuments along rivers, and its "Iteru" ability lets it build city Districts on flood plains and construct Wonders faster if they're next to a river, while floods do no damage at all to Egyptian lands. Its Sphinx improvements produce culture and faith, as well as additional bonuses if built next to such Wonders. Egypt's Maryannu Chariot Archers can help defend its empire in the early era, while Egyptian Cleopatra's "Queen of the Nile" agenda will drive her to form alliances with powerful neighbors as extra insurance against attack. On the other hand, Egyptian Cleopatra's "Mediterranean's Bride" ability means that other civilizations get additional gold, food, and alliance points from trade routes with Egypt, so her rivals may find it more beneficial to coexist with Egypt than to try to conquer it. Ptolemaic Cleopatra on the other hand focuses on both internal growth and beautiful lands through floodplains with her "Arrival of Hapi" ability, granting resources on floodplains bonus food and culture, and floodplains themselves gain bonus appeal instead of an appeal penalty. Egypt under Ramesses II focuses on building many buildings and wonders as his "Abu Simbel" ability grants the civilization culture equal to fifthteen percent of a buildings production cost or thirty percent of a wonder's production cost.

* RedChina: Mao Zedong was a recurring representative of the whole Chinese civilization but censorship laws when distributing the games over to China lead to using more historical leaders in later games as representatives of China, such as Qin Shi Huang and Wu Zetian. Though it averts this for the most part in ''VI'' (unless a player chooses to adopt certain ideologies in their government), China under Wu Zetian in ''VI'' not only gets a bonus towards offensive espionage missions and intrigue, her civilization's colors are red and gold like the flag of People's Republic of China, giving a not-so-subtle nod to communist China.

* DiscOneNuke: The ''Civ IV'' "Oracle Slingshot." Start building the Oracle wonder as soon as possible, but hold out on completing it until you research Archery and Metal Casting, then choose Machinery as your free technology. This gives you Cu-Ko-Nu at a time when your neighbors probably aren't done with the Ancient Era techs.

* SpotOfTea: When Elizabeth sends a delegation to you in ''VI'', she'll also send a demonstration of this newfangled "cuppa" made by boiling dried leaves in water.

* ProudMerchantRace: In ''IV'', England's Stock Exchange is a superior replacement for the Bank, while two of England's three leaders have the Financial trait, allowing them to print even more money.

* DarkHorseVictory: In ''V'', keeping a close eye on Greece under Alexander's control is good enough advice. Understandably enough, each of your games in ''Civilization V'' will have different civilizations as leaders and underdogs. It's common knowledge that due to his AI Traits and civ ability, Alexander will always go for a Diplomatic Victory, and when Greece is the game leader, it will be a clear contender for victory, just like any civilization in this role. What's really noteworthy is that Greece tends to pose a threat even if they lag behind in score, technology, and other aspects. Since votings for the World Leader will automatically take place as soon as ''any'' civilization enters the Information Era (or as soon as half of all civilizations are in the Atomic Era), [[OneStatToRuleThemAll usually crucial science]] is not that important for Greece, as they only need to have enough delegates to achieve their favorite Diplomatic Victory. Although technically every diplomatically oriented civ has a chance to take advantage of this fact, Greece is the one that does so most often, given Alexander's complete obsession with making all city-states his allies and his firm determination for victory. With all that being said, it's not surprising that Greece in ''V'' is generally considered to be one of the most dangerous civs to have in one's game, since if you don't try to interfere with them from the very beginning, Greece will almost certainly claim the final gold regardless of their actual level of development.

* DarkHorseVictory: In ''V'', keeping a close eye on Greece under Alexander's control is good enough advice. Understandably enough, each of your games in ''Civilization V'' will have different civilizations as leaders and underdogs. It's common knowledge that due to his AI Traits and civ ability, Alexander will always go for a Diplomatic Victory, and when Greece is the game leader, it will be a clear contender for victory, just like any civilization in this role. What's really noteworthy is that Greece tends to pose a threat even if they lag behind in score, technology, and other aspects. Since votings for the World Leader will automatically take place as soon as ''any'' civilization enters the Information Era (or as soon as half of all civilizations are in the Atomic Era), [[OneStatToRuleThemAll usually crucial science]] is not that important for Greece, as they only need to have enough delegates to achieve their favorite Diplomatic Victory. Although technically every diplomatically oriented civ has a chance to take advantage of this fact, Greece is the one that does so most often, given Alexander's complete obsession with making all city-states his allies and his firm determination for victory. With all that being said, it's not surprising that Greece in ''V'' is generally considered to be one of the most dangerous civs to have in one's game, since if you don't try to interfere with them from the very beginning of the game, Greece will almost certainly claim the final gold regardless of their actual level of development.

* DarkHorseVictory: In ''V'', keeping a close eye on Greece under Alexander's control is good enough advice. Understandably enough, each your game in ''Civilization'' will have different civilizations as leaders and underdogs. It's common knowledge that due to his AI Traits and civ ability, Alexander will always go for a Diplomatic Victory, and when Greece is the game leader, it will be a clear contender for victory, just like any civilization in this role. What's really noteworthy is that Greece tends to pose a threat even if they lag behind in score, technology, and other aspects. Since votings for the World Leader will automatically take place as soon as ''any'' civilization enters the Information Era (or as soon as half of all civilizations are in the Atomic Era), [[OneStatToRuleThemAll usually crucial science]] is not that important for Greece, as they only need to have enough delegates to achieve their favorite Diplomatic Victory. Although technically every diplomatically oriented civ has a chance to take advantage of this fact, Greece is the one that does so most often, given Alexander's complete obsession with making all city-states his allies and his firm determination for victory. With all that being said, it's not surprising that Greece in ''V'' is generally considered to be one of the most dangerous civs to have in one's game, since if you don't try to interfere with them from the very beginning of the game, Greece will almost certainly claim the final gold regardless of their actual level of development.