Age of Empires III/Characters

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Introduced in Age of Empires III

The Black family

• Awakening the Sleeping Giant: The Circle does this to them thrice over.
• Badass Family: The most notable members are great fighters, even Stuart Black.
• Beware the Nice Ones: If you mess up with them or their beloved ones, they'll make you pay. HARD!
• Doom Magnet: They have a tendency to attract problems wherever they go, however...
  • Determinator: ...they always find a way to solve said problems.
• Generational Saga: The campaigns in III and The Warchiefs focus on them.
• The Gump: Tend to find themselves smack dab in the middle of various important events on American soil.
• The Hero
• The Protagonist: Of III and The Warchiefs campaigns.

Morgan Black

"Why do you call me "Frenk"? I’m Scottish, you Turkish dog!"

A Scotsman born into the Black family, he joined the Knights of St. John at an early age.

In Blood, he's defending the last bastion of the Knights on the island of Malta from the soldiers of the Ottoman Empire, led by Sahin the Falcon. After driving them out of Malta, he and his superior, Alain Magnan, discover records of the Circle of Ossus, who sought eternal life. Believing that the Ottomans were after the "Fountain of Youth", Morgan is sent to the New World to thwart them. On his way there, he tangles with Elisabet "Lizzie" Ramsey, Sahin's entourage, and the Spanish, before unearthing a plot far more sinister than he'd originally suspected.

After all's said and done, Morgan and Lizzie have another encounter and have four sons, two of which were Phillippe (father of John) and Stuart Black.

---

Tropes related with him:

• Awful Truth: After discovering that Alain is a member of the Circle of Ossus, he swears his revenge for the traitor's manipulation.

"This is Knights' business now. Alain made me a pawn in the Circle's game. He has betrayed the Knights of St. John, and he'll answer for it."

• Badass Beard: A long beard and great prowess with the sword.
• Bonnie Scotland: Despite being in the Maltese army, he was born in Scotland. Considering there was no real "Maltese" nation at the time, just the Knights of St. John (a traditional Christian warrior order ALA the Knights Templar or the Livonian Order) that happened to control Malta after getting kicked off of Rhodes, this isn't that surprising.
• Cool Ship: The St. Elmo.
• Cool Sword
• Cursed with Awesome: After drinking the water of the Fountain Of Youth, he gains eternal life.
• Enemy Mine: He fights alongside Lizzie's pirates and the Ottoman Turks against Alain, who was working for the Circle of Ossus.
• Heroes Prefer Swords
• The Knights Hospitallers
• Knight in Shining Armor: An honorable, loyal knight.
• The Lancer: To Alain. Up till the end anyway.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: He is a proud Scottish.
• Spin Attack: His Oberhau attack, which basically murders everything around him.

John Black

Kanyenke: "Too slow, John Black. You were faster once." John Black: "And your eyes were better once. Your arrow missed the mark. My shot was the one that took him down."

Morgan's grandson, and the protagonist of the Ice campaign. John is a rough-and-tumble woodsman who runs a mercenary company oft employed by the colonists. It's said that he has more enemies than friends.

---

Tropes related to him:

• Back-to-Back Badasses: With Kanyenke. The player spends the entire campaign (sans the last mission) controlling both of them.
• Bash Brothers: With Kanyenke again.
• Berserk Button/Beware the Nice Ones: He is said to hold grudges for a long time, and nowhere is this more apparent when he tracks Warwick all the way across the North American landmass in retaliation for killing his uncle Stuart and kidnapping Nonakhee.

"Nonakhee goes home. This will end badly, and I don't want her to see it."

• Cold Sniper
• Heroic Sacrifice: Since he gets cornered in the mountain by Warwick and his troops, he blows the mountain and dies in the process. Amelia, her granddaughter, mentions that he died as a hero.
• Private Military Contractors: He leads a company of these guys.
• Rummage Sale Rejects
• Taking You with Me: In the climax of Ice, he takes with him Warwick's soldiers, most of the Circle's troops present in the mountains, and most of the Russian army with him. As Amelia said in the narration, he made a lot of enemies in life, but he died as a hero, and the Circle took a hit so hard that it took decades for them to recover.

Stuart Black

"Stuart may not be the commander my grandfather Morgan was, but if he thinks the colony is threatened, I believe him." -- John Black

The only member of the Black family who appears in a campaign but isn't the main character of it. John's uncle, Morgan's forgotten son, and a keen businessman. He leads a small colony which has recently come under attack from the Natives, causing him to call for John's mercenaries, which kicks off Ice.

Tropes related with him:

• Good Old Fisticuffs: He fights with his bare fists.
• Killed Off for Real
• The So-Called Coward: He's a total wimp in every manner imaginable and has nowhere near the esteem of the rest of his family. But he will fight for you if you order it, and it's implied that he resisted the Circle's torture for a fair while before they finally killed him.
• The Unfavorite: Morgan's least favorite kid.

Amelia Black

The protagonist of Steel, and the narrator of all the campaigns in both III and Warchiefs, Amelia runs the Falcon Company as it falls on hard times following the expensive battles waged by her father Nathaniel. She seeks to regain some pf the family fortune by building a railroad straight to the west coast, but gets caught up in the Mexican War. While helping to defend a fort, she meets a French woodsman named Pierre Beaumont, who promises her a cut of his claim to a gold mine in exchange for the cooperation and use of her workers and equipment. Little did she know of what lay in store for her...

She's the daughter of Nathaniel Black and mother of Chayton Black. Her husband is a Sioux, but he does not make an appearance.

---

Tropes related with her:

• Action Girl: She is skilled with her gun.
• Gameplay Ally Immortality
• Narrator All Along: She is the narrator of Age of Empires III and The WarChiefs.
• Nice Hat
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: What she seeks after Cooper's death.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: She fights with a shotgun, and has a special attack with it which has a damage area.

Their allies

Sahin the Falcon

"We do not have to fight, Frenk. Do you never question foolish orders?"

The leader of the Ottoman army which invaded the last bastion of the Knights of St. John. After he is repulsed by Morgan Black, he sets sail for the New World, in search of the Fountain of Youth.

Tropes related with him:

• Badass Mustache
• Enemy Mine: He fights alongside Morgan in the final mission of Blood.
  • Good All Along: It turns out that he was a hero.
• Impossibly Cool Clothes: Among the finest combat-capable wear the Ottomans have to offer.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: He menaces Morgan in Blood. Or would be menacing him if it weren't for the fact that, in addition to being less competent than Morgan, his troops tend to get offed in large numbers by the wildlife, the Spanish, Pirates, and the environment itself (Morgan's troops go without saying). He fails to defeat Morgan in any of their engagements in spite of numerical and technological superiority and (more often then not) the advantage of defense, and ends up getting captured by the Spanish treasure fleet to be burned alive in Spain. He only escapes this fate by being rescued by Morgan, who happened to be raiding the treasure fleets at the time.
• The Musketeer: He is able both in ranged attacks and hand attacks. He has a special attack with his sword.
• My Name Is Not Durwood: He always refers to all Europeans, but especially Morgan as 'Frenks', much to Morgan's annoyance.
• Nice Hat
• The Rival: To Morgan.
  • Back-to-Back Badasses: Turns out he was Good All Along, and he ends fighting alongside Morgan in the last mission.
• Sobriquet: "the Falcon"
• What the Hell, Hero?: He calls out Morgan for blindly following Alain Magnan's orders, before the reveal.

"Open your eyes! The Circle wants the lake because they think it is the Fountain of Youth! All I have been trying to do is keep it out of the hands of the Circle! And Alain Magnan!"

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Ramsey

"Oh, come now; you sent my best ships to the bottom. The least you can owe me is a little civility. Are you going after the treasure fleet?"

Leader of a large band of pirates, she first meets Morgan Black as he's making his way to the New World. After her band was defeated, she escapes with the remnants of her forces to Cuba, where she encounters Morgan again.

Tropes related with her:

• Action Girl
• Arranged Marriage: She escaped from one in her backstory.
• Babies Ever After: It's implied by both the events after the Circle's defeat in Blood and by the narrator herself (Amelia) that she's the mother of Morgan's children. Several sources also tell that Lizzie kept with her two of them, while Morgan kept with him both Philippe and Stuart Black.
• Cool Ship: Paris Burning. It's named for the city she hates the most.
• Defeat Means Friendship: The second time Lizzie and Morgan meet, Lizzie is willing to help Morgan... if he does heroic things in Havana.
• Enemy Mine: She assists Morgan in the last two missions of Blood.
• Guns Akimbo: She fights with a pair of pistols.
• Pirate Girl: She became the leader of a group of pirates to escape from an Arranged Marriage.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: She has noble blood.

Kanyenke

John Black's most trusted ally.

Tropes related with him:

• The Archer
• Back-to-Back Badasses: With John Black in Ice.
• Badass Grandpa: In Steel and Fire.
• Badass Native: He has a big line of sight and great ability with the bow and the knife.
• Bash Brothers: With John Black.
• Big Brother Instinct: He's very protective of Nonakhee, and only lets his friend John Black have something with her.
• Older and Wiser: In Steel and Fire.

Nonakhee

Kanyenke's sister and John Black's "unofficial" girlfriend.

Tropes related with her:

• The Archer
• Damsel in Distress: In the third mission of Ice and the second mission of Fire.
• The Heart
• The Medic: She has a special skill to heal. It is mentioned she healed John more than once.

Major Cooper

Amelia's ally during most of Steel.

Tropes related with him:

• Badass Beard
• Badass Grandpa
• Badass Mustache
• Gameplay Ally Immortality
• Guns Akimbo
• Mook Maker: He can train Hussars on the spot.
• Majorly Awesome
• Suicidal Overconfidence: He tries to stop Beaumont on his own, but does not prepare well and one of the white wolves kill him.

Colonel/General George Washington

A Colonel in the British Army during III, General of the Continental Army in Fire, future President of the United States.

Tropes related with him:

• Big Damn Heroes: The last mission of Steel.
• Colonel Badass: During III.
• Cool Sword
• Four-Star Badass: During Fire.
• Historical Domain Character: Needless to say, he was real.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Towards Nathaniel Black, during Fire.

Simon Bolivar

Tropes related with him:

• Badass Spaniard: Though he's fighting for the freedom of South America.
• Gameplay Ally Immortality: Though if he goes down in battle the advance will halt until he's healthy again.
• Good-Looking Privates
• Heroes Prefer Swords
• Historical Domain Character: Simón Bolívar was a real figure.
• Rebel Leader: He is fighting agaist the Spanish domain, just like his real life counterpart.

Their enemies

Francisco Juan Delgado de Leon

A spanish conquistador who wants the treasure of the natives for his own personal gain.

Tropes related with him:

• Ambition Is Evil
• Aristocrats Are Evil
• Badass Spaniard
• Cool Sword
• Nice Hat
• Video Game Cruelty Potential: One of the side missions in the map he appears includes killing him.

The Circle of Ossus

• Ancient Conspiracy: The "Religion of the Circle", which the Circle of Ossus is implied to follow, is a common name for the ancient Celtic faith, or druids.
• Elite Mooks: the Boneguard.
• Omniscient Council of Vagueness: It's about as vague as is possible for the main antagonists of an entire game.

Alain Magnan

“You and your band of misfits will be wiped from the New World, Morgan!”

Morgan Black's mentor in Blood.

Tropes related with him:

• Ambition Is Evil: Wants the Fountain of Youth for himself.
• Badass Beard: Has one, showing his status as a Cool Old Guy.
  • Beard of Evil
• Cool Old Guy: Was Morgan's mentor and the leader of the Knights of St. John.
• Cool Sword: He's a cavalry swordsman.
• Da Chief
• Evil All Along
• Gameplay Ally Immortality: In his earlier appearance. Averted later because of the truth about him.
• Killed Off for Real
• The Mentor: Before he's revealed to be Evil All Along, that is.
• The Reveal: He was a member of the Circle of Ossus.

Warwick

"You’re delaying the inevitable. The New World belongs to the Circle of Ossus now."

The Big Bad of Ice.

Tropes related with him:

• Exclusively Evil
• Aristocrats Are Evil: A British governor among the Colonies, though he prefers force and intimidation to diplomacy and subtlety.
• Kick the Dog: Attacks a village to capture John Black, who is away. When he sees the John isn't there after all, he burns the village to the ground and kidnaps, and later kills, Stuart Black.
• Killed Off for Real
• Self-Made Orphan: In his backstory it's implied that he has something to do with the death of his parents.

Pierre Beaumont

"I will show you how I like to kill."

A mysterious French trapper who has a claim to a gold mine in the mountains. Having no means to mine it out himself, he offers Amelia a cut of the gold in exchange for the use of her equipment. With his sinister manner and fondness for knives, however, he's not as he appears...

Tropes related with him:

• Badass: Easily capable of holding his own in a fight against muskets and rifles, despite only ever using his knives.
• Badass Beard: He has a big beard which makes him look more threatening. He is really skilled with knifes.
• Beard of Evil: His beard helps him look more scary.
• Evil All Along
• Evil Smells Bad: He hasn't taken a bath for a long time.
• Gameplay Ally Immortality
• Killed Off for Real
• Knife Nut: He is very skillful with knives, when he drops them or fights hand to hand.
• Smug Snake: He's always certain that his traps and soldiers will be able to kill Amelia. They never do.

Introduced in Age Of Empires III: The WarChiefs

The Black family

Nathaniel Black

"General Washington, my father gave his life to protect the colonies. I would do the same, without hesitation."

The half-Iroquois son of John Black and Nonahkee and the protagonist of Fire. A devoted patriot who fights for the colonists when the revolutionary war breaks out, Nathaniel devotes a great deal of his time (and his family's fortune) for the cause and is eventually memorialized for his efforts.

---

Tropes related with him:

• Badass Native: He, a half Iroquois warrior, was part of the Independence war.
• It's Personal: Kuechler kidnaps Nonahkee, driving Nathaniel to act with bloody vengeance through the war.
• Someone to Remember Him By: In the original game, his purpose is basically to allow the Black family to continue after John's Heroic Sacrifice.

Chayton Black

Amelia's half-Sioux son, and the protagonist of Shadow.

---

Tropes related with him:

• Badass Native: He's part Iroquois, part Sioux, and has the Black family's blood in his veins.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Finally comes to the realization that he's been helping Holme murder innocent Sioux for Holme's personal gain, and thenceforth resolves to correct his mistake by tearing down the fort he just helped build.
• With Us or Against Us: After Holme's death, Custer decides that the time for negotiation with the Sioux is over, and that Chayton will have to side with either the Americans or with the Sioux. He chooses to stay with the Sioux.

Their enemies

Sven Kuechler

Leader of the Hessians hired by the British during The American Revolution. He raids an Iroquois encampment and captures Nonahkee, resulting in a grudge from Nathaniel.

Tropes related with him:

• Ambition Is Evil
• Drill Sergeant Nasty
• Gameplay Ally Immortality
• Nice Hat
• Senseless Sacrifice: An evil version of this.

William Holme

"Their blood's the same color. It's gold that matters, kid. Only gold."

Tropes related with him:

• Ambition Is Evil: He wanted to get the gold from Sioux terrains. He has no problem on killing them for getting that, even if they are innocent.
• Big Bad Friend: He uses Chayton for his own ends and turns on him the moment he can no longer manipulate him.
• Big Bad/Evil All Along
• Disney Villain Death
• Gameplay Ally Immortality
• Mook Maker: He can train Pistoleros.
• Nice Hat
• Poisonous Friend
• Too Dumb to Live: He ends up cornered by his ex-partner Chayton Black and chooses to back into a cliff face surrounded by TNT. After talking for a bit, Holme attempts a Quick Draw shot on Chayton, forgetting that A) his gun was at his back while Chayton had his at his side and B) Native Tribes have a quick reaction time and Chayton was half Sioux. You can guess how it ends.

General George Armstrong Custer

Tropes related with him:

• Badass Mustache: His big mustache.
• Foregone Conclusion: The final battle in Shadow is the Battle of Little Bighorn. Guess how it ends.
• Historical Domain Character: Naturally.
• Honor Before Reason: He insists on attacking the Sioux despite all.
• Lawful Stupid
• Nice Hat
• Suicidal Overconfidence: A wiser general, on seeing that most or all of his auxiliary forces and supplies had been compromised, might have chosen a means of attack other than a straight cavalry charge against the Sioux.

Introduced in Age Of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties

Japan

General Sakuma Kichiro

Tropes related with him:

• The Archer
• Flechette Storm: His special attack.
• Gameplay Ally Immortality
• My Master, Right or Wrong
• Number Two: He is the second most important warrior to Tokugawa.
• Parental Abandonment: His fathers were killed by his master. But he doesn't know this until near the end of the Japanese campaign.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy
• Samurai

Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa

Tropes related with him:

• Historical Domain Character

Daimyo Mototada

Tropes related with him:

• Historical Domain Character
• Mook Maker: As a daimyo, he can create several class of soldiers.
• Seppuku: Instead of dying in battle, he chose to die in this way.

Other daimyoes and generals

Tropes related with them:

• Mook Maker: As daimyoes, they can create several class of soldiers.

China

Captain Huang Xian

Tropes related with him:

• The Archer
• Badass Longcoat
• The Captain
• Cool Sword
• Gameplay Ally Immortality
• Grenades: In two of his special moves.
• Nice Hat

Lao Chen

"Every time that boy opens his mouth, I want to fill it with my fist." -- Talking about Jinhai in the cutscene prior to the first mission. And not without reason.

Tropes related with him:

• Back-to-Back Badasses: In the entirety of the China campaign, the player is always controlling him and Huang.
• Badass
  • Badass Beard
  • Badass Mustache
• Bald of Awesome: He is bald and very strong.
• Combat Pragmatist: See his fighting animations: punches, stomps...
• Deadpan Snarker
• Gameplay Ally Immortality: As per the game's standards. Depleting his (regenerative) health bar only debilitates him.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: He fights barehanded. His special attack consists on a very potent punch.
• The Lancer: To Huang.
• Older and Wiser
• Shoryuken: His Anchor Punch attack.
• This Is Reality: He sees the world as it is.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: He is shirtless during all the campaign. It may have to do with his work.

Admiral Jinhai

"I have already had my fill with crowded ports and foreigners. I crave conquest. I crave glory."

Tropes related with him:

• Ambition Is Evil: His lust for conquests eventually leads him to betray his own fleet.
• The Archer: In-game fights with an arc.
• Badass Longcoat: Sans the Badass part, he's a coward.
• Gameplay Ally Immortality: Cannot be killed, and can regenerate his own HP.
• Hypocritical Humor: In the first cutscene of the China campaign.

"You know as well as I do that the Emperor is a pompened old fool."

• Jerkass: He mistreats all his subordinates and is an insufferable person.
• Loophole Abuse: He tries to do this before the final mission:

"It is not mutiny when you are the Admiral!"

• Rich Bitch: Male example. He is insufferable and bratty, so the characters hate him.
• Spoiled Brat

India

Lt. Nanib

Tropes related with him:

• Beware the Nice Ones
• The Captain: Of the Sepoy forces under Colonel Edwardson's command and during the Sepoy Revolt.
• Heel Face Turn
• Turned Against Their Masters
• Rebel Leader: Commands the Sepoy Revolt after defecting from the BEIC forces.
• The Quisling: Considered this by the rebels early on. That changes when he leads the Sepoy revolt against the British.
• The Lancer: To Colonel Edwardson until the Sepoy Revolt.

Colonel George Edwardson

Tropes related with him:

• Colonel Badass: Even his subordinates fear him.
• Cool Sword
• Evil Brit: As expected from someone integrating the BEIC.
• Fearless Fool: Keeps fighting until the end. Gets mortally wounded in the final battle and dies after the BEIC falls.
• Gameplay Ally Immortality: Cannot be killed, and can regenerate his own HP.
• Mook Maker: He can create Sepoys.
• Nice Hat
• Pet the Dog: He's actually rather nice to Lt. Nanib at the start of the campaign. That changes with the Sepoy Revolt.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy
• Start of Darkness: Thanks to the death of his brother in his backstory.
  • He Who Fights Monsters

Sepoy Pravar Patel

Tropes related with him:

• The Lancer: To Lieutenant Nanib.
• The Musketeer: Somewhat more literally. A Sepoy is the unique Indian version of the regular Musketeer unit.