History Characters / Imperivm

* SkillGateCharacter: This civilization is well-balanced in both stats and skills and has very adaptable options, to the point that, although it is designed to employ smart planning, it can also work reasonably well without any given strategy (only not as good as others). This makes it a good starting place for new players.

* SkillGateCharacter: The Egyptian civilization is often recommended for new players, as its high defense, easy units and patient strategy allow the player to take his time to figure out the workings of the game.

* ArcherArchetype: They have both archers and javelin throwers, and their heroes are armed with bows instead of swords.

* DropTheHammer: Norman chiefs carry massive war hammers that look more like anvils fixed at the end of poles. Druids also carry smaller versions, but presumably only for ceremonial purposes.

* WalkingShirtlessScene: The mace warriors.

* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Or axe, in this case.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Several units.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Several of their units are barefoot, as per the Egyptian stereotype (although this a case of {{Flanderization}}, as warfare was one of the few occasions in which Egyptians always wore footwear).

* AnAxeToGrind: Axemen, naturally. They're slow but one of the more powerful Gaulish melee units.

* AnAxeToGrind: This civilization has famed double-headed axe warriors. Also, one of their heroes wield one.

* AnAxeToGrind: Elite guards wield heavy axes.

* AnAxeToGrind: Their axe warriors.

* AnAxeToGrind: Though they like more to throw them.

* AngryBlackMan: Mauritanian fighters have this ability in-universe, as they can increase their fury to finish weakened enemies.

* BaldOfAwesome: Roman priests are shaven.

* BaldOfAwesome: Some of their heroes, as well as their Mauritanian fighters.

* BaldOfAwesome: Their priests.

* TheSneakyGuys: Guerrilla fighters, which are both invisible and self-sustaining.

The ancient world's MegaCorp of adventurous merchants and ruthless traders. Lacking any trusty warriors aside from the Sacred Legion, Carthage employs insanely huge masses of expendable mercenary forces from all North Africa to just plain bully their opponents while their Punic masters count gold coins and think on their next conquest.

* RedheadHero: Many of their heroes, but also the Higlanders.

** In their natural state, German guerrilla fighters can inflict more damage than their Iberian homologues, but they are less tough and lack any self-feeding abilitie, so they cannot lurk for long periods of time like Iberians do.

* BalfOfAwesome: Their priests.

* GradualGrinder: The expected results of their human wave tactics. Numidian footsoldiers are especially good at this, as they inflict damage by dying, and they can be replaced quite easily.

* GradualGrinder: Their light infantry and archery erode the energy of the enemy during their attacks, and their priests and chariots of Osiris can poison them in a stable basis. This means the enemy is constantly losing both energy and health while fighting Egyptians, leaving them vulnerable to counterattacks.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Their ability to wage guerrilla warfare is actually better than the canonical masters at this, the Iberians: they are the fastest in the game, have their own invisible fighters, and most of their units are designed to skirmish and ambush anyway. However, while Iberians have adaptable warriors with decent stats in most fields, making them competent at pitched battles and maneuver warfare as well, Germania is pretty much limited to fight exclusively in guerrilla fashion.

** In their natural state, German guerrilla fighters can inflict more damage than their Iberian homologues, but they are less tough and lack the Iberians's self-feeding abilitie, so they cannot lurk for long periods of time like they do.

As in their pyramids, time is on the side of the Egyptian civilization. Their debilitating spells, skillful specialized warriors and strategic defenders make sure that, the longest the battle is, the nearest they will be to finish their enemies to dust.

* ArmorIsUseless: Their character designs have them barechested or lightly armored most of the time. Even their unit with the highest defense, the Guard of the Nile, is actually a guy in a loincloth who carries a big shield.

* CarryABigStick: Guards of the Nile are armed with an interestingly drumstick-looking club.

* GradualGrinder: Their light infantry and archery erode the energy of the enemy during their attacks, and their priests and Chariots of Osiris can poison them in a stable basis. This means the enemy is constantly losing both energy and health while fighting Egyptians, leaving them vulnerable to counterattacks.

!Rome

Divided in Republican and Imperial at the third installment, Rome is the main civilization of the ''Imperivm'' franchise. It didn't dominate the ancient world for centuries for nothing; in this case, it stands out for its well structured professional army, whose tight formations and elite soldiers can tear down almost any conventional enemy in a pitched battle.

* JackOfAllStats: Their shields are thick and their swords are sharp, both literally and figuratively.

* PraetorianGuard: Literally: Imperial Rome’s elite unit is the Praetorian Guard.
* SacredLanguage: They have character quotes in Latin.
* ShockAndAwe: Priests can summon Jupiter's lighting against their enemies. Whether it inflicts them damage, kills them instantly or does nothing at all depends of the enemy in question.

!Gaul

* AnAxeToGrind: This civilization has famed axe warriors. Also, one of their heroes wield a double-headed axe.

!Iberia

Whenever invaders put their eyes on Hispania's fertile lands, they must first face the threat of its ferocious indigenous tribes. Iberians are allrounders, with deadly cavalry and well equipped infantry. They capitalize on their toughness, strategic versatility and uncanny ways to gain experience to crush their enemies.

* CompositeCharacter: In real life, Hispania was populated by a number of often very culturally divergent tribes, not by a single civilization as portrayed in the game for obvious gameplay reasons. For this reason, several of its units are based on warriors of those different peoples. Lancers and priestess are clearly inspired by the ''scutarii'' and ''damas'' of the southern Iberian coast; militiamen wear Celtiberian mercenary attire yet wield southern falcatas; slingmen look very Lusitanian; and elite guards are presumably based on the northern Celtic people, the only who wielded axes in Hispania.
* DeadlyDelivery: An unusual variation: intentionally or not, slingers are easy to mistake visually for Iberian peasant units, as they wear similar unarmored tunics and don't show any visible weapons when they are not fighting. A careless player might believe he's looking at peaceful villagers and then get surprised that they pull out slings and start wrecking havoc.

* JackOfAllStats: As a civilization. They have the best charge cavalry in the game, footsoldiers that are all from useful to excellent in their respective fields, some nasty structure tricks, and decent magic units. They only lack all-healing units like the druids and special powerhouses like Fand warriors or Norman chiefes, and they can still compensate it pretty well with enough teamwork and experience.

* SkillGateCharacter: This civilization is well-balanced in both stats and skills and has very adaptable options, to the point that, although it is designed to employ smart planning, it can also work reasonably well without any complex strategy (only not as good as others). This makes it a good starting place for new players.

!Carthage

The ancient world's renowned MegaCorp of adventurous merchants and ruthless traders. Lacking any trusty warriors aside from the Sacred Legion, Carthage employs insanely huge masses of expendable mercenary forces from all North Africa to just plain bully their opponents while their Punic masters count gold coins and think on their next conquest.

** War elephants are cool and can bully enemy armies when well used, but they have a ton of weaknesses: they are slow as molasses, eat your supply of food alive, and although their quantity of hit points is enormous, they are actually not very tough, so even very inferior units can threaten them if they manage to overwhelm them.

* GradualGrinder: The expect results of their human wave tactics. Numidian footsoldiers are especially good at this, as they inflict damage by dying, and they can be replaced quite easily.
* HighPriest: Their Moloch shamans are presumably equivalent to real life Baal Hammon priests.

* WeHaveReserves: Their mercenary forces are overly disposable, with an option designed to obtain economic benefit from their deaths and even a kind of unit even designed to die. In general, Carthage's modus operandi is sending human waves until the enemy cries uncle. Instructionals for the game often joke that if your Carthaginian troops don't have a number advantage of 10-1 over your enemy, you are losing the war.

!Britannia

Rome's bane from the northern islands, Britannia is ''Imperivm'''s barbarian artillery. Though slow and heavy, their insanely powerful Highland and Norman warriors are human tanks on the battlefield, and the long-range expertise of their support men and heroes make this faction dangerous from any position.

* CompositeCharacter: As with the Iberian faction, this civilization is a rather surprising union of Britannian tribes that in real life weren't exactly friendly to each other. They have Caledonians, Highlanders and continental units working along with vaguely Iceni-looking warriors.
* DropTheHammer: Norman chiefs carry massive war hammers that look more like anvils at the end of poles. Druids also carry smaller versions, but presumably only for ceremonial purposes.
* {{Druid}}: They have their own druids, although less useful (and more scary-looking) than Gaul ones.

* DumbMuscle: The thing this civilization is best at is marching forward and crushing everything in their way. Even their most convoluted trick, the druids's ability to invisibilize armies, is best applied when used to ensure a pitched battle.

* MightyGlacier: Insane fighting stats yet pathetic slowness are the main characteristics of this civilization. They even replace cavalry with an extra kind of heavy foot troop, the Caledonian fighter.

* ShieldsAreUseless: Both Highlanders and Norman chiefs carry their shields on their backs and never use them on the battlefield. Not that they need them a lot, though. (Footsoldiers also have their shields on their backs in default mode, but they grab it quickly when they switch to attack.)

* ViolentGlaswegian: Highlanders.

!Germania

!Egypt

** Praetorians are so powerful that, with the right support of healing priests, they can dip into BoringInvincibleHero territory.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Their ability to wage guerrilla warfare is actually better than the canonical masters at this, the Iberians, as practically all the Germans units are designed for skirmishing and ambushing, and they have their own invisible units to boot. However, while Iberians have also adaptable warriors with decent stats in most fields, making them competent at pitched battles and maneuver warfare as well, Germania is pretty much limited to fight exclusively in guerrilla fashion.

** Even their heaviest footsoldiers are awfully armored, which means they are not fitted for the sustained fighting those units are usually designed for. However, their big maces and axes are ''not'' for show.

* HitAndRunTactics: All the units in this civilization are modelled to hit and and run. In particular, as with Iberian guerrilla fighters, German guerrilleras can easily approach unsuspecting enemies, bring a rain of javelins on them, and then escape before they can react.

* GradualGrinder: Their light infantry and archery erode the energy of the enemy during their attacks, and their priests and Chariots of Osiris can poison them in a stable basis. This means the enemy is constantly losing both energy and health while fighting them, leaving them vulnerable to counterattacks.

* RockBeatsLaser: Most of those guys would not look out of place in a ''Literature/ConanTheBarbarian'' story, but their rudimentary tactics can wear down an unaware enemy easily.

* WeHaveReserves: Their mercenary forces are overly disposable, with an option designed to obtain economic benefit from their deaths and even a kind of unit even designed to die. In general, Carthage's modus operandi is sending human waves until the enemy cries uncle. Instructionals for the game often joke that if your Carthaginian troops don't have an advantage of 10-1, you are losing the war.
* ZergRush: To put it simply, Carthage lost the unit lottery: most of their unit classes are ill equipped, have low stats or are just plain absent (for example, they lack cavalry or defensive units), and even their heroes are quite bad compared to most civilizations. However, they have the right abilities to gather gigantic masses of fighters and send them to the battlefield one after another. What they cannot accomplish by warrior skill, they accomplish by sheer numbers.

* CompositeCharacter: As with the Iberian faction, this civilization is a rather surprising union of Britannian tribes that in real life weren't exactly friendly to each other. They have Caledonians, Highlanders and Norman units working along with vaguely Iceni-looking warriors.

* {{Druid}}: They have their own druids, although less useful and more scary-looking than Gaul ones.

* DumbMuscle: Not counting the occasional help of druids, the thing this civilization is best at is marching forward and crushing everything in their way.

* StealthyColossus: Britannian druids can invisibilize both heroes and their squads.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Their ability to make ambushes in the most classic sense (that is, hiding and hitting) is actually better than the canonical masters at this, the Iberians. However, while Spaniards have adaptable warriors with decent stats in most fields, Germania is pretty much limited to wage warfare exclusively this way.

* FragileSpeedster: Although all their units lack defense, their cavalry is good and even the non-riding ones are fast on their feet.
* GlassCannon: Even their heaviest footsoldiers are awfully armored, which means they are not fitted for the sustained fighting those units are usually designed for. However, their big maces and axes are ''not'' for show.
* HitAndRunTactics: Lack the self-feeding abilities of their Iberian homologues, German guerrilleras are unfit for lurking for long periods of time. Their best tactic is approaching their unsuspecting enemies, bringing a rain of javelins on them, and then getting the hell out of there.

Divided in Republican and Imperial at the third installment, Rome is the main civilization of the ''Imperivm'' franchise. It didn't dominate the ancient world for centuries for nothing; in this case, it stands out for its well structured professional army, whose formations and elite soldiers can tear down any conventional enemy.

!Hispania

Whenever invaders put their eyes on Hispania's fertile lands, they must first face the threat of its ferocious indigenous tribes. Iberians win by outsmarting their opponents; they capitalize on their tough skirmishers, strategic versatility and nasty ruses to pin their enemies down and crush them.

* HitAndRunTactics: Iberian cavalry is openly designed for this action: their attack stats increase dramatically at their initial charge and then drop down until they leave the battlefield, making them useful for hit-and-run-and-hit-and-run-etcaetera tactics.
* JackOfAllStats: A civilization filled up with both strongmen and sneaky guys.
* LightningBruiser: Their cavalry fluctuates between this and FragileSpeedster depending on their timing, as said above.

* SufferTheSlings: The slingers. They get nerfed from the second to the third game, but they are still a menace.

The ancient world's renowned MegaCorp of adventurous merchants and ruthless traders. Lacking any trusty warriors out of its Sacred Legion, Carthage employs insanely huge masses of expendable mercenary forces from all North African nations to just plain bully their opponents while their masters count gold coins and think on their next conquest.

** War elephants are impressive and can serve well to bully enemy armies when well used, but they have a ton of weaknesses: they are slow as molasses, eat your supply of food alive, and although have an enormous quantity of hit points, they are actually not very tough, so even very inferior units can threaten them if they manage to overwhelm them.

* HitAndRunTactics: Although not so much to do the actual kill, tuaregs are good to annoy slow enemies via control of range.
* MightyGlacier: War elephants.

* RockBeatsLaser: Most of those guys would not look out of place in a ''Literature/ConanTheBarbarian'' story, but they scared Rome for real.

!Carthago

The ancient world's renowned MegaCorp of adventurous merchants and ruthless traders. Lacking any trusty warriors out of its Sacred Legion, Carthago employs insanely huge masses of expendable mercenary forces from all North African nations to just plain bully their opponents while their masters count gold coins and think on their next conquest.

* WeHaveReserves: Their mercenary forces are overly disposable, with an option designed to obtain economic benefit from their deaths and even a kind of unit even designed to die. In general, Carthago's modus operandi is sending human waves until the enemy cries uncle. Instructionals for the game often joke that if your Carthaginian troops don't have an advantage of 10-1, you are losing the war.
* ZergRush: To put it simple, Carthago lost the unit lottery: most of their unit classes are ill equipped, have low stats or are just plain absent (for example, they lack cavalry or defensive units), and even their heroes are quite bad compared to most civilizations. However, they have the right abilities to gather gigantic masses of fighters and send them to the battlefield one after another. What they cannot accomplish by warrior skill, they accomplish by sheer numbers.

Divided in Republican and Imperial at the third installment, Rome is the main civilization of the ''Imperivm'' franchise. It didn't dominated the ancient world for centuries for nothing; in this case, it stands out for its well structured professional army, whose formations and elite soldiers can tear down any conventional enemy.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Several of their units are barefoot, as per the Egyptian stereotype.

* WallStone: Republican tribunes are not especially good in attack, but their stoppage abilities mean they can block an enemy and hold him there without receiving damage for a long time.

* MadeOfIron: Legionaries. Despite being the most basic type of footsoldier, they have the innmunity skill you usually find in lancers or defenders in other civilizations.

* WalkingShirtlessScene: Their footsoldiers, presumably the G-rated version of the supposedly historical custom by Gaul tribes to go FullFrontalAssault in their warfare. The lack of armor also helps to explain their little defense.

* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: Their militiamen. Even although they are just a tough but relatively light unit, they can be mass recruited with one button click and then turned into regular citizens when they are not needed.

** Warriors from the Sacred Legion are the only Carthaginian unit that has a good armor and relatively high stats, but they are filthily expensive, rather slow and generally inferior to their equivalents from other civilization. They are best used as finishers in punctual battles and little more.

* SoftSpokenSadist: The Mauritanian fighters. They have surprisingly soft voices for guys who look like Wrestling/BobSapp's long lost brothers, and most of their lines are about spilling blood.
* RockBeatsLaser: Most of those guys would not look out of place in a ''Literature/ConanTheBarbarian'' story, but they are the only faction of the game that scared Rome shitless in real life.

* WeHaveReserves: Their mercenary forces are overly disposable, with an option designed to obtain economic benefit from their deaths and even a kind of unit even designed to die. In general, Carthago's modus operando is sending human waves until the enemy cries uncle. Instructionals for the game often joke that if your Carthaginian troops don't have an advantage of 10-1, you are losing the war.

* DumbMuscle: Not counting the occasional help of druids, the strongest point of this civilization is marching forward and crushing.

* ShieldsAreUseless: Both Highlanders and Norman chiefs carry their shields on their backs and never use them on the battlefield, Not that they need them a lot, though. (Footsoldiers also had their shields on their backs in default mode, but they grab it quickly when they switch to attack.)

* CarryABigStick: The civilization's heavy warriors carry almost cartoonish spiked maces.
* CripplingOverspecialization: Their ability to make ambushes in the most classic sense (hiding and hitting) is actually better than the canonically masters at this, the Iberians. However, while Spaniards have very adaptable warriors with decent stats in most fields, Germania is pretty much limited to wage warfare exclusively this way.

* FragileSpeedster: Although all their units lack defense, their cavalry is good and the non-riding ones are fast on their feet.

* HitAndRunTactics: Lack the self-feeding abilities of their Iberian homologues, German guerrilleras are unfit for lurking for long periods of time. Their best tactic is hiding until their unsuspecting enemies are on target, bringing a rain of javelins on them, and then getting the hell out of there.

As with their pyramids, time is on the side of the Egyptian civilization. Their debilitating spells, skillful specialized warriors and strategic defenders make sure that, the longest the battle is, the nearest they will be to finish their enemies to dust.

* ArmorIsUseless: Their character designs have them barechested or lightly armored most of the time. Even their unit with the highest defense, the Guard of the Nile, is actually a guy in a loincloth yet carrying a big shield.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Several of their units, as per the Egyptian tradition.

* BoringButPractical: Legionaries are a relatively simple type of unit, the kind that would be pretty useless in most civilizations, but their immunity to damage makes them a mainstay of the Roman armies.

When invaders put their eyes on Hispania's fertile lands, they must first face the threat of its ferocious indigenous tribes. Iberians win by outsmarting their opponents; they capitalize on their tough skirmishers, strategic versatility and nasty ruses to pin their enemies down and crush them.

* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: Their militiamen. Even although they are just a tough but relatively light unit, they can be mass recruited with the right option and then turned into regular citizens when they are not needed.

* MightyGlacier: Insane fighting stats yet pathetic slowness are the main characteristics of this civilization. They even replace cavalry with an extra kind of heavy troop.

* StealthyColossus: British druids can invisibilize both heroes and their squads.

* DeadlyDelivery: A surprising variation: intentionally or not, slingers are easy to mistake visually for Iberian peasant units, as they wear similar unarmored tunics and don't show any visible weapons when they are not fighting. A careless player might believe he's looking at peaceful villagers and then get surprised that they pull out slings and start wrecking havoc.

* JackOfAllStats: A civilization with both strongmen and sneaky guys.

* AwesomeButImpractical: Warriors from the Sacred Legion are the only Carthaginian unit that has a good armor and relatively high stats, but they are filthy expensive, rather slow and generally inferior to their equivalents from other civilization. They are best used in punctual battles as finishers and little more.

* WeHaveReserves: Their mercenary forces are overly disposable, with an option designed to obtain economic benefit from their deaths and even a kind of unit even designed to die. In general, Carthago's modus operando is sending human waves until the enemy cries uncle.
* ZergRush: To put it simple, Carthago lost the unit lottery: most of their warriors are ill equipped, have low stats or are just plain absent (for example, they lack cavalry or defensive units), and even their heroes are quite bad compared to most civilizations. However, they have the right abilities to gather gigantic masses of fighters and send them to the battlefield one after another. What they cannot accomplish by warrior skill, they accomplish by sheer numbers.

* WalkingShirtlessScene: Their mace warriors.

* RockBeatsLaser: Most of those guys would not look out of place in a ''Literature/ConanTheBarbarian'' story, but they are the only faction of the game that scared Rome shitless in History.

* BarbarianLonghair: Everybody there has a long, very Celtic mane of hair.

* MightyGlacier: Insane fighting stats yet pathetic slowness are the main characteristics of this civilization.
* ShieldsAreUseless: Both Highlanders and Norman chiefs carry their shields on their backs and never use them on the battlefield, Not that they need them a lot, though. (Footsoldiers also had their shields on the back in their default mode, but they take it when they switch to attack.)
* StealthyColossus: British druids can invisibilize heroes and their squads.

* GlassCannon: Even their heaviest footsoldiers are awfully armored, which means they are not fitted for the sustained fighting those units are usually designed for. However, their big maces are not for show.
* HitAndRunTactics: Lack the self-feeding abilities of their Iberian homologues, German guerrilleras are unfit for lurking for long periods of time. Their best tactic is hiding until their unsuspecting enemies are on target, bringing a rain of javelins on them and then getting the hell out of there.

* ShockAndAwe: Priests can summon Jupiter’s lighting against their enemies. Whether it inflicts them damage, kills them instantly or does nothing at all depends of the enemy in question.

* ActionGirl: Their warrior women. They were the first example of this in ‘’Imperivum’’.
* AnAxeToGrind: One of their heroes wield a double-headed axe.

The ancient world's renowned MegaCorp of adventurous merchants and ruthless traders. Lacking any trusty warriors out of its Sacred Legion, Carthago employs insanely huge masses of expendable mercenary forces from all North African nations to just plain bully their opponents while their masters count gold coins.

* WeHaveReserves
* ZergRush

* ThrowingYourSwordsAlwaysWorks: Or axe, in this case.