The Penguin is a unit in Return of Rome, Age of Empires II, and Age of Empires III.
Age of Empires II[]
The Penguin is a cheat unit in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten. However, it does not appear in the Age of Empires II: The Forgotten Empires mod. It is an infantry unit with comparatively high armor and damage output. It appears in the Scenario Editor.
Penguins in the HD Edition have the same unit responses as human units, but are given realistic penguin noises in the Definitive Edition.
This unit is present in the Age of Empires game mode in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome with the same attributes.
Trivia[]
- In the HD version, the Penguin resembles an Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), the largest species alive and a native to Antarctica. In the Definitive Edition, it instead resembles a crested penguin (genus Eudyptes), which live mostly in New Zealand.
- Although created as a joke, an actual Penguin Gaia unit (either as a weak huntable like Deer or gatherable, like Box Turtles) wouldn't be out of the geographical scope of Age of Empires II. The word "Penguin" (from Welsh Pen Gwyn, "White Head") was used first for the Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis), a flightless seabird that was found in the North Atlantic during the Medieval period, from Maine and Greenland to Norway and Spain, and was hunted to extinction in 1844. Actual penguins (of the species Spheniscus humboldti) live along the Pacific South American coast and were consumed by the Incas.
- The player can obtain a Penguin unit as an Easter egg in the Definitive Edition in the Vinlandsaga scenario. Doing so will also unlock the "Eternal Gratitude" achievement.
- The attributes of the unit, all being powers of 2, its appearance as a Penguin, and the name of the achievement "Eternal Gratitude" are all tributes to xOmnicron aka Scripter, the lead author of UserPatch for Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, which fixed several issues with the game and solved compatibility issues with modern systems. Scripter uses names on aoezone and other Age of Empires-related websites and social media with the word "scripter" suffixed by different powers of 2, such as scripter16 and scripter64.
- Penguins are also available to each player in Antarctica, where it replaces the Scout Cavalry or Eagle Scout.
- Usage of the "i don't exist" cheat was part of the Penguin Party event in September 2022. Using the cheat unlocked a special cosmetic mod.
Age of Empires III[]
“ | Penguin goes noot noot | ” |
—In-game description |
“ | noot noot | ” |
—In-game description |
The Penguin is a cheat unit in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean.
The Penguin is only available in skirmish and campaign modes by typing the cheat code "I don't exist" in the chat box, unless cheats are disallowed in a multiplayer game, but it can be accessed in the Scenario Editor.
The cheat code "I don't exist" requires completing certain challenges during the "Ageiversary" event. Otherwise, it is unusable.
Trivia[]
- The unit itself and the summon cheat code, "I don't exist", refer to their Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition counterpart's visual and its cheat code.
- Their in-game descriptions refers to "Noot Noot", a sound emitted by the character Pingu Penguin in Pingu that became an Internet meme.
Gallery[]
Cheat units in the Age of Empires series | |
---|---|
Age of Empires | BabyPrez (removed) · Big Bertha · Black Rider · Crocodile (Alpha) · Dragon · Elephant (Alpha) · Flying Dutchman · Gazelle (Alpha) · Laser Trooper · Lion (Alpha) · Medusa · Nuke Trooper · Saint Francis · Stealth Archer · Winsett's other Z · Winsett's Z · Zug 209 |
Age of Empires II | Alfred the Alpaca · Cobra Car · Furious the Monkey Boy · Penguin · Photonman · Saboteur · Sharkatzor · Stormy Dog · VMDL |
Age of Mythology | Bella · Football · Flying Purple Hippo · Forkboy · Lazer Bear · Methane Chicken · UFO · Walking Berry Bush |
Age of Empires III | BigAndy · Flaming Hot Dog Cart · Fluffy · Flying Purple Tapir · Gatling Camel · George Crushington · Guardian Lion · Honey Badger · Lazerbear · Learicorn · Leonardo's Tank · Mediocre Bombard · Monster Ice Cream Truck · Penguin · The Tommynator |
Age of Empires IV | Photon Man |
Animals in Age of Empires | |
---|---|
Until Definitive Edition | |
Huntables | Gazelle · Elephant |
Predators | Alligator · Lion · Crocodile |
Marine creatures | Shore Fish · Tuna · Salmon · Whale |
Animal Kings | Lion (Alpha) · Crocodile (Alpha) · Gazelle (Alpha) · Elephant (Alpha) |
Other | Lion (tame) |
Decorative | Bird · Dragon |
Cut | Horse · Goat |
Including Return of Rome | |
Huntable | Deer · Ibex · Iron Boar · Javelina · Ostrich · Rhinoceros · Wild Boar · Zebra |
Herdable | Cow · Goat · Goose · Llama · Pig · Sheep · Turkey · Water Buffalo |
Predator | Bear · Dire Wolf · Jaguar · Komodo Dragon · Rabid Wolf · Snow Leopard · Tiger · Wolf |
Civilian | Bactrian Camel · Camel · Donkey · Horse |
Military animals | Alfred the Alpaca · Furious the Monkey Boy · Penguin |
Decorative | Wild Bactrian Camel · Wild Camel · Wild Horse |
Marine animals | Box Turtles · Dolphin · Dorado · Marlin · Perch · Snapper |