Heroes (Age of Empires II)

This article is about the heroes in Age of Empires II. For heroes in other games of the series, see Hero.

Joan the Maid's icon in *Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition*

Heroes are special units in Age of Empires II. Unavailable in regular games, heroes typically refer to historical figures. As such, they are often featured in campaign scenarios. There, they are often must-survive units, i.e. their death means instant defeat. With The Conquerors, all heroes are immune to conversion and gain the ability to regenerate hit points. Heroes often have unique icons and sometimes even unique unit designs, and usually have good combat stats, making them very valuable in-game.

In the Definitive Edition, all heroes except the Hunting Wolf and the Mounted Samurai have a distinct, golden glow that helps tell them apart from common units.

Some scenarios contain hero units that only appear once to a few times, and cannot be spawned in the Scenario Editor. An example of such a hero unit is Prince Juan in the scenario The Old World of the Francisco de Almeida campaign.

List of heroes[edit | edit source]

The Age of Kings[edit | edit source]

Hero	Type	Sprite	Campaign appearances
Aethelfirth	Infantry	Woad Raider	Legionaries on the Horizon!
Archbishop	Monk	Monk	An Unlikely Alliance
Archers of the Eyes	Archer	Arbalester	The Siege of Jerusalem The Lion and the Demon The Emperor Sleeping The Right Partner
Bad Neighbor	Siege weapon	Trebuchet	The Lion and the Demon
Belisarius	Cavalry	Cataphract Centurion (DE)	Legionaries on the Horizon!
Charlemagne	Infantry	Throwing Axeman	The Saxon Revolt
Charles Martel	Infantry	Throwing Axeman	Tours
Constable Richemont	Cavalry	Unique	A Perfect Martyr
Duke D'Alençon	Cavalry	Unique	The Maid of Orleans
El Cid	Infantry	Champion	Brother against Brother The Exile of the Cid
Emperor in a Barrel	Civilian	Trade Cart	The Emperor Sleeping
Erik the Red	Infantry	Berserk	Vinlandsaga
Frankish Paladin	Cavalry	Unique	The Saxon Revolt
Friar Tuck	Monk	Monk	None
Gawain	Cavalry	Cavalier	None
Genghis Khan	Cavalry archer	Mangudai	Crucible
God's Own Sling	Siege weapon	Trebuchet	The Lion and the Demon
Guy Josselyne	Cavalry	Paladin	A Perfect Martyr The Saxon Revolt
Harold Haardraade	Monk	Monk	None
Hrolf the Ganger	Infantry	Berserk	None
Hunting Wolf	Animal	Wolf	The Horde Rides West Pax Mongolica The Great Ride Honfoglalás Raising the Banners A Most Unlikely Man
Jean Bureau	Siege weapon	Bombard Cannon	A Perfect Martyr
Jean de Lorrain	Siege weapon	Bombard Cannon	The Siege of Paris
Joan of Arc	Cavalry	Unique	The Maid of Orleans The Cleansing of the Loire The Rising The Siege of Paris
Joan the Maid	Infantry	Unique	An Unlikely Messiah The Sack of Rome
King Arthur	Infantry	Champion	None
Kitabatake	Infantry	Samurai	None
Kushluk	Cavalry	Cavalier Unique (DE)	A Life of Revenge Emperor of the West The Sack of Rome A Most Unlikely Man An Unlikely Alliance Echoes of Heroes
La Hire	Infantry	Champion	The Cleansing of the Loire A Perfect Martyr
Lancelot	Cavalry	Paladin	None
Lord de Graville	Archer	Arbalester	The Siege of Paris
Master of the Templar	Cavalry	Unique	The Siege of Jerusalem
Minamoto	Infantry	Samurai	Kurikara
Mordred	Cavalry	Paladin	None
Ornlu the Wolf	Animal	Wolf	Crucible Vinlandsaga The Triple Alliance La Noche Triste The Digvijaya Echoes of Heroes
Reynald de Chatillon	Cavalry	Unique	Lord of Arabia The Horns of Hattin
Richard the Lionheart	Cavalry	Paladin	The Lion and the Demon The Emperor Sleeping Cyprus
Robin Hood	Archer	Longbowman	None
Roland	Cavalry	Knight	None
Saboteur	Siege weapon	Petard	Pax Mongolica
Shah	King	King	The Horde Rides West
Sheriff of Nottingham	Infantry	Long Swordsman	The Elopement
Siegfried	Infantry	Champion	The Saxon Revolt
Sieur Bertrand	Cavalry	Knight	An Unlikely Messiah The Sack of Rome Tales of La Canela
Sieur de Metz	Cavalry	Knight	An Unlikely Messiah
Sir John Fastolf	Cavalry	Unique	The Cleansing of the Loire
Subotai	Cavalry archer	Heavy Cavalry Archer Unique (DE)	The Horde Rides West The Promise Pax Mongolica Mongol Raiders
Tamerlane	Cavalry archer	Mangudai	Amir of Transoxiana
The Black Prince	Cavalry	Cavalier	None
Theodoric the Goth	Infantry	Huskarl	All Roads Lead to a Besieged City Legionaries on the Horizon! The Battle of Guadalete
William Wallace	Infantry	Champion	The Battle of Falkirk A Kingdom of Our Own

The Conquerors[edit | edit source]

Hero	Type	Sprite	Campaign appearances
Admiral Yi Sun-Shin	Warship	Turtle Ship	Noryang Point
Alexander Nevski	Cavalry	Cavalier	None
Attila the Hun	Cavalry	Cataphract Unique (DE)	The Scourge of God The Fall of Rome
Bleda the Hun	Cavalry	Mangudai Steppe Lancer (DE)	The Scourge of God
El Cid Campeador	Cavalry	Unique	Brother against Brother The Enemy of my Enemy Black Guards King of Valencia Reconquista
Harald Hardraade	Infantry	Berserk	Hastings
Henry V	Cavalry	Paladin	Agincourt
Imam	Monk	Monk Unique (TF)	The Enemy of my Enemy
King Alfonso	King	King	Brother against Brother Black Guards
King Sancho	King	King	Brother against Brother
Nobunaga	Infantry	Samurai	Kyoto
Pope Leo I	Monk	Monk	The Fall of Rome
Scythian Scout	Cavalry	Light Cavalry	Bukhara Djeriba Gold The Scourge of God
Scythian Wild Woman	Infantry	Unique	The Great Ride The White Elephant
William the Conqueror	Cavalry	Unique	Hastings

The Forgotten[edit | edit source]

Hero	Type	Sprite	Campaign appearances
Chand Bhai	Monk	Unique	A Promising Warrior Battles of Tarain
Cuauhtemoc	Infantry	Elite Eagle Warrior	None
Francesco Sforza	Infantry	Condottiero Unique (DE)	An End and a Beginning O Fortuna The Hand of a Daughter The Ambrosian Republic A New Duke of Milan
Francisco de Orellana	Gunpowder cavalry	Conquistador	Tales of La Canela The Split The Amazones The Cannibals
Frederick Barbarossa	Infantry	Teutonic Knight	None
Gonzalo Pizarro	Gunpowder cavalry	Conquistador	The Split Tales of La Canela The Triple Alliance (DE)
Jarl	Cavalry	Tarkan Unique (DE)	York Honfoglalás
Khosrau	Cavalry archer	Elephant Archer	Bukhara
Osman	Cavalry archer	Heavy Cavalry Archer Unique (DE)	Bapheus
Prithvi	Archer	Crossbowman	A Promising Warrior
Prithviraj	Cavalry archer	Heavy Cavalry Archer Unique (DE)	A Promising Warrior The Digvijaya The Elopement Battles of Tarain
Queen	Civilian	Unique	None
Saladin	Cavalry	Mameluke	None
Sanyogita	Civilian	Unique	A Promising Warrior The Elopement
Savaran	Cavalry	Cataphract Unique (DE)	Bukhara
Vlad Dracula	Cavalry	Boyar Unique (DE)	The Dragon Spreads His Wings The Return of the Dragon The Breath of the Dragon The Moon Rises The Night Falls

The African Kingdoms[edit | edit source]

Hero	Type	Sprite	Campaign appearances
Abraha Elephant	Cavalry	War Elephant	None
Babur	Cavalry	Imperial Camel Rider	None
Dagnajan	Cavalry archer	Unique	A Fallen Crown
Gidajan	Infantry	Unique	Welcome Home
Guglielmo Embriaco	Archer	Genoese Crossbowman	None
Henry II	Infantry	Two-Handed Swordsman	The Pasunda Bubat Tragedy
Huayna Capac	Archer	Slinger	None
Itzcoatl	Infantry	Jaguar Warrior Unique (DE)	None
Little John	Infantry	Spearman	None
Miklos Toldi	Cavalry	Magyar Huszar	None
Musa ibn Nusayr	Cavalry archer	Camel Archer	Consolidation and Subjugation
Mustafa Pasha	Gunpowder unit	Janissary	None
Pacal II	Archer	Plumed Archer	None
Pachacuti	Infantry	Kamayuk Unique (DE)	War of Brothers
Princess Yodit	Civilian	Unique	Path of Exile
Richard de Clare	Cavalry	Light Cavalry	None
Su Dingfang	Archer	Chu Ko Nu	None
Sumanguru	Cavalry	Cataphract Unique (DE)	The Lion's Den
Sundjata	Cavalry	Light Cavalry Unique (DE)	Hunted
Tariq ibn Ziyad	Cavalry archer	Genitour Unique (DE)	The Battle of Guadalete Consolidation and Subjugation Crossing the Pyrenees
Tristan	Cavalry	Magyar Huszar	None
Yekuno Amlak	Infantry	Shotel Warrior	Path of Exile
Yodit	Infantry	Gbeto Unique (DE)	None
Zawisza the Black	Cavalry	Hussar	Kurikara

Rise of the Rajas[edit | edit source]

Hero	Type	Sprite	Campaign appearances
Bayinnaung	Cavalry	Elite Battle Elephant Unique (DE)	The Burmese Tigers The Mandalay Cobra The Royal Peacock
Bui Bi	Monk	Unique	A Three-Pronged Attack
Dinh Le	Cavalry	Paladin Unique (DE)	A Three-Pronged Attack
Envoy	Cavalry	Light Cavalry Unique (DE)	A Dangerous Mission
Gajah Mada	Infantry	Unique	Unconditional Loyalty The Pasunda Bubat Tragedy
Jayanegara	King	King	None
Jayaviravarman	Infantry	Karambit Warrior	Quelling the Rebellion
Le Lai	Infantry	Two-Handed Swordsman	The Mountain Siege
Le Lai	Infantry	Champion	The Mountain Siege
Le Loi	Infantry	Champion Unique (DE)	The Dai Viet Uprising The Mountain Siege The Battle at Hanoi The Final Fortress
Le Trien	Infantry	Champion	A Three-Pronged Attack
Luu Nhan Chu	Archer	Arbalester	A Three-Pronged Attack
Raden Wijaya	Cavalry	Cavalier	The Story of Our Founders
Sunda Royal Fighter	Infantry	Unique	The Pasunda Bubat Tragedy The Burmese Tigers The Mandalay Cobra The White Elephant
Suryavarman I	Cavalry	Elite Battle Elephant	Usurpation A Dangerous Mission
Tabinshwehti	Cavalry archer	Elephant Archer	The Burmese Tigers The Mandalay Cobra
Udayadityavarman I	King	King	Usurpation
Wang Tong	Cavalry	Cataphract Unique (DE)	None

The Last Khans[edit | edit source]

Hero	Type	Sprite	Campaign appearances
Alaric the Goth	Cavalry	Unique	The Giant Falls (formerly)
Ataulf	Infantry	Unique	The Giant Falls
Cuman Chief	Cavalry	Unique	Blood for Blood A New Home
Cusi Yupanqui	Infantry	Unique	The Field of Blood
Girgen Khan	Cavalry	Unique	Saving the Huts
Henry the Lion	Cavalry	Knight
Ivaylo	Cavalry	Unique	A Most Unlikely Man An Unlikely Alliance Tsar of the Bulgars Echoes of Heroes Where the One-Eyed Man is King
Ivaylo (dismounted)	Infantry	Unique	Spawned when Ivaylo is killed
King Bela IV	King	King
Kotyan Khan	Cavalry Archer	Unique	Raising the Banners The Battle at the Kalka River Saving the Huts
Leif Erikson	Warship	Longboat
Le Lai	Cavalry	Unique	The Mountain Siege
Mounted Samurai	Cavalry	Hussar	Kurikara
Sosso Guard	Infantry	Unique	The Lion's Den
The Middlebrook	Warship	Longboat
Tokhtamysh Khan	Cavalry	Keshik	Amir of Transoxiana
Tsar Konstantin	Cavalry	Unique	A Most Unlikely Man
Topa Yupanqui	Infantry	Jaguar Warrior	Like Father, Like Son
Urus Khan	Cavalry Archer	Kipchak	Amir of Transoxiana A Most Unlikely Man Tsar of the Bulgars
Vasco da Gama	Warship	Caravel
Vytautas the Great	Cavalry	Unique	Cyprus (DE)

Trivia[edit | edit source]

In the Definitive Edition, there is an option in the game's settings where attempting to kill a hero unit will prompt a message asking if the player wants to proceed in killing the unit, which will usually trigger defeat. This helps prevent accidental deletion.
The golden glow is also present in one non-heroic unit: the Khan.