Penguin

The Penguin is a unit in Return of Rome, Age of Empires II, and Age of Empires III.

Age of Empires II

Wild animal

Penguin
Animal
Introduced in	Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - update 141935
Hit points	5
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Speed	0.74
Line of Sight	2
Collision size	0.3
Behavior	Flees from nearby units

The Penguin as a wild animal was introduced in update 141935 of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. They are timid decorative animals which contain no food.

Cheat unit

Penguin
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten
Type	Infantry
Training
Cheat code	i don't exist
Statistics
Hit points	64
Melee attack	16
Attack bonus	+8 vs Standard building +8 vs Stone defense
Reload time	2
Melee armor	4
Pierce armor	4
Speed	0.9
Line of Sight	6

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 Inca.
• 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 xOmicron 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. The unit's appearance refers to a running gag where Scripter asked for an Antarctica-themed civilization.
• With update 42848, Penguins were available to each player in Antarctica, where it replaced the Scout Cavalry or Eagle Scout. The feature was removed again with update 44725. Instead, harmless Gaia-controlled Penguins roam the map. Akin to Wild Horses, they hold no food and cannot be hunted by Villagers. These Penguins are not distinct units, but actually Deer modified via map script.
• 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
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition - Knights of the Mediterranean
Type	Infantry Heavy infantry Hand infantry Cheat unit
Training
Cheat code	I don't exist
Statistics
Hit points	64
Resistance	40% Hand 40% Ranged
Speed	4.5
Line of Sight	6
Kill XP	45
Hand attack
Damage	16 Hand
Range	1
Rate of Fire	2.0
Bonus damage	8.0x vs. Building 5.0x vs. Cavalry 3.5x vs. Shock infantry

“	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" originally required completing certain challenges during the "Ageiversary" event. It was made available to all players with update 13.58326.

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

Views of the Penguin in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

A parade of Penguins in Age of Empires II: HD Edition

A Penguin in Age of Empires III

PENGUIN vs EVERY UNIQUE UNIT AoE II Definitive Edition