| “ | You know what's bad about gold? It attracts flies. | ” |
| —The Sheriff, referring to the Sioux in the Black Hills as "flies". | ||
William "Billy" Holme is the main antagonist in the Act II: Shadow campaign for Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs. He is first assigned to protect Chayton Black from the Lakota, but he is later promoted to the title of sheriff.
Biography[]
| “ | Sworn to preserve and protect, Sheriff Holme sees this territory as a land of conflict and opportunity. He's a survivor - a tour of duty during the Civil War has given him a gruff, sometimes jesting, view of life. With his long-time friend Chayton by his side, Holme is not a man to let events simply unfold for themselves. | ” |
| —In-game history section | ||
Billy Holme was a hardened Civil War veteran on the Union side who later became quartermaster of Fort Laramie.
After Chayton Black first meets him, they protect Miners and Settlers from Sioux raids successfully over the length of a year before parting ways. Ten years later, Chayton meets again with Holme (now a sheriff), who has discovered gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota and offers Chayton a partnership in the mine.
When the Americans claim this gold, tensions between the Sioux and American settlers erupt after the miners continue to invade Sioux lands to strip them of their resources. At first, Chayton allies with Holme, but, when Holme asks Chayton to raid a Sioux village and kill even women and children, Chayton refuses after realizing that his old friend has become corrupt and leads an attack on Holme's base. Holme flees, and Chayton searches for him with the help of native Sioux who discover him in a cave.
After killing his team of bandits armed with gatling guns, Chayton tries to convince Holme to stop attacking the Sioux villages (he had explained to Colonel Custer that it was Holme and not the Sioux that had begun the attacks), However, Holme refuses and tries to kill Chayton with a quick shot from his pistol. Chayton draws his gun quicker and shoots the aging sheriff.
Mortally wounded, Holme stumbles backwards into some powder kegs before falling with them down a mine shaft, where said kegs explode. Chayton expresses disappointment at his former friend's decision and slowly walks away from the smoking hole.
In the Definitive Edition, Billy and Chayton became friends when they both served in the Civil War, and thus are already familiar with each other at the beginning of the story. Chayton suffered severe wounds during the war at one point and Billy dragged him to safety. Chayton stuck up for Billy when rumors spread about him pulling gold teeth from corpses.
Personality[]
As an American Civil War veteran, Sheriff Holme sees unsettled American territory as land of conflict and opportunity, and this has given him a gruff, sometimes jest, view of life.
This eventually leads him into a conflict with Chayton over the proper use of force against others. He eventually lets his greed get the better of him, however, and is shown to be uncaring about others when it comes to money-making.
He even tells Chayton in their final confrontation that he would have cruelly killed U.S. settlers in place of Native Americans if they had claim to the territory instead.
Billy's personality remains largely the same in the Definitive Edition, albeit he is more open about using racist language and about manipulating Chayton in order to maintain his loyalty. His apparent greed also extends way back to his Civil War days, according to rumors about him pulling gold teeth from corpses after battles.
In-game unit[]
| “ | A grizzled Civil War veteran. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
Holme fights with a pistol and a knife, and has the ability to train Renegados, but cannot move or attack while doing so.
Like other heroes, Holme has many hit points, but if he falls, he will collapse instead of dying and need to regenerate enough hit points to be rescued by allies. He can collect treasures but, unlike Explorers, cannot build Trading Posts and Town Centers, and has no special abilities.
Abilities[]
Health Regeneration: Regenerates 0.25% hit points per second after 3.5 seconds idle.
Units[]
| Age | Unit | Cost | Pop. |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 Renegado
|
110 coin | 4 |
In-game dialogue[]
Holme speaks Western American English, and his dialogue files before the Definitive Edition are reused files of Saloon units (Pistolero, Renegado, and Comanchero), but with the pitch raised slightly.
The WarChiefs[]
- Select 1 Yeah?
- Select 2 I'm ready
- Select 3 Whatcha need?
- Move 1 Sure thing
- Move 2 Alright
- Move 3 Okay
- Attack 1 You got it!
- Attack 2 I'll get 'em!
- Attack 3 Right
- Death
- Grunt 1
- Grunt 2
- Grunt 3
- Revive
Definitive Edition[]
- Select 1 Yeah?
- Select 2 I'm ready
- Select 3 Whatcha need?
- Move 1 Sure thing
- Move 2 Alright
- Move 3 Okay
- Attack 1 You got it!
- Attack 2 I'll get 'em!
- Attack 3 Right
- Death
- Grunt 1
- Grunt 2
- Grunt 3
- Revive
Trivia[]
- He is named after Kevin "The Sheriff" Holme, a veteran game developer of Ensemble Studios.
- Holme is shown to carry a rifle on his back, but it is never used. He uses his revolver in combat instead.
- Holme's civilization during the To Stop a War scenario is copied from Amelia's Black's Falcon Company (United States).
- In The WarChiefs, it was unknown how Holme would have been able to get so many outlaws after being defeated by Chayton the first time, but in the Definitive Edition, it turns out he is the leader of The Hole in the Wall Gang. Similarly, Holme is much more racist than in The WarChiefs, since Holme did not make any racist comments about the Sioux, and made it clear with Chayton that he would not judge him for being half Sioux. By stark contrast, Holme repeatedly makes racist comments in the Definitive Edition and quickly sees his friendship with Chayton disintegrate immediately after the ten year time skip, while it took Holme ordering a massacre in the original game for Chayton to turn on him. In The WarChiefs, Holme's greed was explicitly stated to have come from the gold found in the Black Hills, whereas the Definitive Edition gives Holme a reputation for greed and horrible crimes from the Civil War.
- In the Definitive Edition, Sheriff Billy Holme appears on the United States' "Sheriff" Home City Card.
Gallery[]
