Hero

A Hero is a special unit typically referring to historical figures. They are not available in the standard game, but they often appear in campaign scenarios and sometimes as "must-survive" heroes; that is, the game is lost if that unit is killed. Starting with Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, heroes have the ability to treat their own wounds, an ability they do not have in previous games of the series. Heroes from that point on also are immune to conversion.

The Explorer in Age of Empires III acts as the player's Hero because of his ability to faint when out of hitpoints and cannot be killed. Other Heroes in Age of Empires III are Alain Magnan, Morgan Black, Sahin The Falcon and Elisabet Ramsey, who appear in the Campaign aspect of the game.

In Campaigns

 * Cleopatra's Barge
 * Hero Alexander
 * Hero Archimedes
 * Hero Caesar
 * Hero Corlis
 * Hero Hannibal
 * Hero Hector
 * Hero Herisfon
 * Hero Jason
 * Hero Perseus
 * Hero Tiberius
 * Hero Xerxes
 * Mirror Tower
 * Zenobia's Tower

In Campaigns

 * In addition there is a unit appearing in each Campaign of The Conquerors Expansion to have a different name and are not considered as heroes: Hun Commander (Tarkan), Baveica (Horse)and Lonely Hermit (Woad Raider).
 * * means Exclusive to the Conquerors Expansion and ** means originally a hero unit exclusive to custom campaigns in the Age of Kings Disc (Harald Haardraade was originally shown as a fast moving monk and William the Conqueror was originally shown as a Cavalier (which was replaced by Alexander Nevski)).

Unseen
The following characters are the main protagonists of their respective campaigns, yet have never personally appeared in the gameplay. However, they are available in the Scenario Editor of Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten.

In Custom Campaign

 * Note: Alexander Nevski, The Frankish Paladin, Gawain, Minamoto, and the Black Prince despite not appearing in Campaigns have an icon. Minamoto didn't have it in the original Age of Kings.